Seeking Advice on my collection!

[Astraeos]

Hi,

I'm not entirely new to Malifaux as I had played 1st edition a few times with my old Lady J crew, but for 2nd edition I decided to play Ten Thunders. Admittedly, it was for the Asian themes which I love! I play Japanese Sectorial Army in Infinity and Mishima in Warzone Resurrection so you can see where my tastes lie.

I've played Ten Thunders a couple of times in 2nd edition but haven't always found them easy to get to grips with. I think so far I've won two games out of about five and I know I still have a bit of learning to do. I'm also a bit of an enthusiastic collector and so far have amassed a reasonable arsenal of models!

I'm looking for advice on what I have. Please stick to just this list as apart from the Rail Crew and Dark Debts (and possibly the Crossroads Seven) boxes I don't plan on getting anything too major for a while.

Masters- Misaki, Lucas McCabe, The Brewmaster, Mei Feng, Jakob Lynch.

Totems- Shang, Luna, Kamaitachi, Emberling, Hungering Darkness.

Henchmen- Sidir Alchebal, Ototo, Yamaziko, Kang, Hungering Darkness.

Enforcers- The Lone Swordsman, 3 Samurai, Yin the Penangalan.

Minions- 3 Torakage, 3 Thunder Archers, 3 Tengu, 3 Wastrels, Dawn Serpent, 2 Komainu, 3 Oiran, 2 Katanaka Snipers, 3 Rail Workers, 4 Illuminated (one's purple), 3 Fermented River Monks.

Not Exactly Ten Thunders Minions and Such- 3 Ronin, 2 Guild Guard, 2 Guild Austringers, 4 Guild Hounds, 3 Moon Shinobi, Apprentice Wesley, Fingers, Johan, Whiskey Golem.

 

I was thinking of getting the Rail Crew for the more durable characters inside it (EDIT- Bought them!) and the Dark Debts (EDIT- Bought this too) boxes to try out the Illuminated.

[Tokapondora]

Not entirely sure on what you want advice on - is it which units to buy or how to pair them or just some general tactics?

For buying, Mei's box would really just give you a new master and Kang - I never really find myself taking Rail Workers if there's Komainu to be had. Buying Lynch gives you a new master as well and a set of fairly strong minions. Personally Id go for Lynch because I find him more fun to play, but... And of course Shenlong because Yu exists and yada yada. For single units, any of the ancestors would be a nice addition (personal fav; Yin).

Overall with that list though, you seem to be flexible enough. Lacking a bit in the healing/condition department (Chiaki/Johan/Shittymonks), but overal as schemey as TT is gonna get, decently killy too, maybe a bit lacking in durability (hinthint; Yin (maybe izamu (or toshiro i suppose (what was the other one again?)))).

McCabe obviously likes to go with the Dawn Serpent/hounds/something that can keep up, depends on the schemes, but that speaks for itself really. Don't forget that while he loves to buff things, he is quite capable of jumping into the action as well. Generally best used on smaller units, hunting down scheme runners around the center stage, while the stronger units you brought grow strong enough to hold the opponent's huge things at bay/mash 'em into a pulp. What I like most in a McCabe crew is how your entire crew has the ability to completely scatter if you suddenly feel the need to scheme hard turn 4+ or something, or pull back together when they're "done" scheming because of their amazing speed (Serpent/Illuminated/Yu/Luna&co/Nimble anything).

The brewmaster obviously does well with things like Yin and the Komainu, though personally I tend to largely ignore the poison aspect in favour of swilling everything/draining their hands after which I just send in some serious hurt. The -WP/Another Round bubble is obviously nice, but what's really important is your 12" control bubble, where debuffs appear whenever anything useful from your crew comes near. Always keep something strong in charge range of yourself in case an enemy pops in dead center, always hold on to a stone or two to suit up, and make sure to always keep your opponent guessing. He has a lot of different debuffs, and while swill/pick yer poison tend to be obvious picks, a well-timed obey or You're Drunk can change the course of games.

Misaki is largely seperated from her crew in that she doesn't provide any form of benefit to them, though is perfectly willing to gobble their support up. It all depends on how you're planning on using her. Wanna send her into the enemy deployment zone turn 1 and have her kill whatever you want her to kill after which she honourably croaks turn 2-3, a push or two may be nice but you're mainly gonna be needing your crew built to complete all your schemes, ignoring the fact that you even have a master. Want to play her guerilla-style, where she picks off stragglers and keeps the fear of her charging into the heart of your opponent's crew ever present, she does quite well with something fast to fly alongside/opposite of her or some dedicated archer or sniper marking targets for easy pickings and bleeding the enemy crew every step of the way.

[Astraeos]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear on what I was asking!

Basically I guess it's just general advice for what I own and what would pair well with whatever else there is!

A little advice on future purchases wouldn't go amiss, but I'm not seeking a shopping list just yet. As I mentioned, I was looking at either Rail Crew or Dark Debts as in yesterdays game I was playing against the Rail Crew (straight from the box with upgrades) in a 35SS game. The Strategy was Reckoning and the Schemes were Protect Territory, Bodyguard, Take Prisoner and Murder Protege. Being a fairly unsubtle person I picked Murder Protege against Kang (not knowing how difficult he is to kill) and Bodyguard with Sidir Alchebal as I had previously won a game that had that scheme with said Henchman.

I was looking at McCabe but found that I couldn't get all the upgrades I wanted while filling in with some hitty stuff for Reckoning. Not thinking Brewmaster could help I chose to use Misaki with Sidir Alchebal, a Jigoku Samurai and three Torakage. I lost as my big guns were on a rooftop and my opponent was canny with his moves, sending workers into buildings or running along the walls where they couldn't be spotted. Misaki did manage to charge Kang who had rushed in to kill a Torakage and very nearly managed to kill him! He would've sided next turn as I won the initiative flip but my opponent used to soulstone to force a re-flip, which I lost! Anyway long story short I only ends dup killing one Rail Worker while everything else in my crew died! This was when I felt the need for some more durable front line fighters, I only had one Samurai built. Next time I have a game like this I might even consider using Samurai in a minions kind of role.

[Skitt_Happens]

I disagree with Tokapondora's assessment of rail workers - I find them very useful 5 stone models. Not so much for tanking as I think brothers do that better, but they hit well above their weight for a 5 stone model with a 2/4/5 damage and a (0) action to gain  to attack and damage for the rest of the turn. Also being living and construct can be helpful when Toshiro is about summoning (I recommend buying Toshiba - he does so much in TT when there's no competition for scrap or corpse markers). Rail Workers are not an auto-include but I've rarely felt let down by them. Illuminated are also brilliant (wah-wah-waah! ) so you can't go too far wrong.

With what you've got, I'd look at taking the dawn serpent and Ototo with McCabe and Badge of Speed. Ototo becomes an absolute monster when he can walk and flurry - I've killed Misaki without being enraged - and your opponent will avoid hitting him unless they know they can finish him, because he becomes absolutely mental when enraged with nimble! And of course, a reactivating dawn serpent speaks for itself.

[Astraeos]

Having personally faced Rail Workers recently, I don't think I could go wrong with them either! Thanks for the advice Tokapondora and Skitt Happens. I'm thinking Yin and Toshiro should be at the top of my shopping list along with Dark Debts!

[Astraeos]

I ordered a Yin for my collection, I should have her next week sometime!