Jump to content

New player - Crew independent masters?


Legend

Recommended Posts

9 hours ago, Legend said:

I think Colette sounds awesome, especially the way she plays - but restricting myself to virtually only showgirls sounds as if it could feel a little bland.

There is actually very little reason to take Showgirls with Colette, she is a force multiplier that works with anything. Disappearing Act is "Showgirl or Minion", everything else is just "friendly model". Some of the other Showgirl models benefit from hanging around Colette, but she doesn't care herself. :)

Speaking of Arcanist Masters.

Marcus has a reputation for requiring beasts but he can also be played as an independent beatstick that doesn't care what the rest of his Crew does. He can also hire any beast in the game, and there are a lot of beasts, so you can cherry pick beasts from other factions if you feel like it.

One of Ironsides' best abilities buff nearby M&SU models. There are a fair amount of M&SU models though and Ironsides doesn't care which ones you take. Models that are supposed to flank or otherwide operate independently can be whatever.

Kaeris can benefit from having another model or two that put out burning but there is a number to chose from and you only need a few.

Ramos' signature ability is to summon Steam Arachnids so you'd always have those at the ready. He has some synergies with constructs, but what he summons can take of that, so you can pretty much hire what you want.

Rasputina has synergies with Frozen Heart and the other Frozen Heart have synergies with each other so you'll probably want to stay clear of her. :P 

Mei Feng want a couple of constructs to Railwalk on, but there is a variety to chose from and the rest of the crew can be whatever.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my experience there are almost no masters that have "must have" models. If you want a colettte crew filled with Sabertooth cerbrii and steam arachnids, then go for it. It can actually do quite well. Models which summon other models will want to have some access to the models they summon (Playing Ramos and not havign access to any spiders is probably not going to go all that well), but isn't entirely essential. 

Obviously there are some models that give bonus' to a type of model, so a Lucius crew will probably contain a high proportion of Minions, but which minions you pick will still vary  lot. And some models that really support a style of play will often be called auto includes, but aren't. (I'm referring to things like Slop haulers in a Sommer list for healing, Mortimer with Corpse bloat in a Nicodem list for corpse generation,  as things that can be really helpful if you are trying to play in that way, but the master certainly doesn't have to focus on that aspect). 

I would start with a crew box you like the look of and play taht a few times to learn the rules, and try and get a feel of the interactions of the models. Then afetr you feel you're comfortable with the rules of the game, either look at where you struggle, and buy non masters to fill those holes, or try a different master to let you see how they master has warped the game (they all do in some way).  Most people will do a combination of the 2 over time, but if you only want to play 1 master then its perfectly possible. 

It is a game of picking the right tool for the job set  before you, but sometimes using the tools you know well is better than picking the "right" tool and not knowing how to use it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be hesitant to call Lucius crew independent. In my opinion he requires 2-4 high quality minions that can take a beating and hang around to hit back. I would advice anyone starting him out on the guild side to invest in Wardens and/or Hunters (the latter are only available in Hoffman's boxed set). 

In my mind he has more stuff to consider when building your list than some other masters who can just throw in any old model they like. Compared to McCabe or Perdita he is restricted although he is more flexible than Hoffman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you're considering Guild I'd suggest looking into McCabe. He takes pretty much any models in his crew and makes them better. He's as much if not more of a force multiplier as Colette, with less "theme" suggesting your hiring process.

Though for the record, Colette likes hiring anyone. If you want theme for her, consider whoever you fire as part of a stage show. Wild west, magic, any kind of stage play. Her theme is everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh wow thanks for all the responses guys. There's so much more to consider than I originally thought! As I said earlier I really did think the majority of masters were like Rasputina where there isn't much leeway with her different models, this all just shows how wrong I was!

Having said all that though, there's only a few which really appeal to me, mainly for aesthetic/thematic reasons. I was so set on The Guild (either Sonnia or more probably Lucius) but now after seeing what you've all written about Colette, and what Bengt said about Mei Feng, I'm undecided again! I'm picking up the rulebook from my local store tomorrow morning so I think I'm going to just go mad on reading all the lore and all, and try and make a decision just based on what I think is 'coolest' out of the masters/crews I've been considering.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The big rulebook has half the masters, the so-called 'Wave 1' release. Unfortunately many of the ones you expressed an interest in were in 'Wave 2', the book called Crossroads. Maybe we can narrow it down a little more by asking if you want a master who supports the rest of the crew (Colette, McCabe, etc.), or one who charges in and does the damage itself (Mei Feng), or who stays back but still does the damage itself (Sonnia)? I think I'm hearing a love of support masters, but.

There is a point of overlap between Guild and Arcanists; unfortunately for you, it's Hoffman, who is absolutely the last choice for being independent of his crew (he must have constructs, and unlike others bound to a keyword, hasn't even got a ranged attack independent of keyword) via the box set of Ramos (also keyword bound to constructs, although he has at least the ranged attack support). Normally we'd suggest it as a compromise, but it isn't what you want at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Gnomezilla said:

The big rulebook has half the masters, the so-called 'Wave 1' release. Unfortunately many of the ones you expressed an interest in were in 'Wave 2', the book called Crossroads....

Oh dang, right, yeah I was worried I'd get into this problem. To be honest I wasn't entirely sure what Crossroads was. I half-assumed that all the masters would be in the big rulebook, I thought Crossroads only had henchmen and other subsidiary models in.. it's good to hear I was wrong though, more information is never bad. I'll definitely be after Crossroads soon, although it will more likely be in a week or so rather than a day or two.

The masters I'm primarily interested in looking in to are (in probably the following order);

Lucius (with the guild lawyer(s) for sure, plus other models I like thematically that would also work alright, hounds for example)
Sonnia
Colette
..maybe Tara

Other ones I'd look into, but are much less likely contenders are;

Molly
Mei Feng
Hamelin 

It would be too good to be true if all those top masters were in the same rulebook.. they're not.. are they? 

I think you're right about my preference of support masters, those are the ones I think I'd gravitate towards. There might be some exceptions if I love a certain model or something, but a supporting master definitely sounds as if it would suit my playstyle a little more. Though again, obviously I haven't played a game yet, I'm just getting all this from what I've read about Malifaux so far, and how I generally prefer to play in other games.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortinatly you are right

Sonnia, Tara, Mei Feng are in the first book the rest are in the 2nd (3rd book does not have masters)

 

Personally i suggest Tara as she really does not need a thematic crew to work at all, can hire death marshals (in my opinions one of the coolest models).  I usually run her more freicorp than her own list.  Also on the lore side the void stuff is this weird pieces of nothingness which are not spirits upside is the cant drop corpses if you are facing resser players.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm that is rather annoying! Thanks for letting me know though. I may pick up Crossroads first then as it seems a lot of the masters I seem to prefer are in that book. It will be a while before I get round to actually playing a game anyway, as I'll need to paint all the models and all that. However I will browse through both the books quickly at the shop and see if anything particularly catches my eye! 

I do like Tara (and the void sounds interesting!), but I feel I'd do better off picking one of the ones that originally really just jumped out as cool to me, especially since they're all a lot less crew dependent than I thought at first. Honestly though thanks for all the input! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Legend said:

Eh I've never heard of the Wyrd Chronicles and I love all the lore stuff! Thanks for the info! I'm gonna google them now :D

Most of the lore in the rulebooks is an ongoing storyline which started in the 1st edition books. You can either get those old books digitally from drivethroughrpg for I think $7 each (there are four 1st ed books) or listen to it on the Tales of Malifaux podcast (it's about halfway through the third book now and there is a new episode every other week).

The lore in chronicles is mostly stand alone stories, they are also found at drivethroughrpg.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information