Crooked men- have you used them?

[Anung Un Rama]

I have nearly finished my three crooked men and i love the models....has anyone used them and do they have any synergy with any crews? I think they would be ok with Belles luring people on to the scheme markers that have been shafted. Anything else?

 

[Fetid Strumpet]

I don't personlly don't like them, and I never hire them. Benjoewoo and some of his group really like them I believe. I think the payoff you get from using them is just too small, personally. 

Im not sure if they are still doing it, but Benjoewoo I believe was doing a podcast called, funeral march, or something similar, and I believe in one of the early episodes they covered their fondness for crooked men. 

[Nukemouse]

I got them thinking they would help against perdita by chucking poison at them and stuff. But I've found they are more useful to just walk up onto the centreline thanks to finish the job and protection against SH/Projectiles, coupled with their very scary chance to paralyze. Their poison blasts are useful for McMourning and can certainly be a threat but they don't really do it that reliably.

I think they excel at schemes involving the centreline, as they are too slow to go past that but they are very good at scheming/defending your side of the board or the centreline.

[Shimian]

Nope, sadly never had any use for them. I like the models but they got too many downsides. Mostly the lack of Hard to Wound, in my opinion.

[benjoewoo]

Funeral Crashers--sadly we have encountered some technical issues preventing us from recording regularly.

There are some nice combos you can do with them, but at least in GG 2016, their utility is largely mitigated by most schemes allowing an enemy model within X" to negate the marker. The fact opponents generally don't have to remove the marker almost nullifies the Shaft ability. As for attacking, they're average or sub par, depending how you view the attacks, and so they're generally not making the cut.

[Nukemouse]

I dunno, the chance to paralyze on the melee with 2 inch range is pretty great in my opinion, especially with the threat of a big severe or a cheated in crow if the opponent doesn't cheat up or flip high, helping to drain cards. The ranged poison on blasts is also super good for any poison using crew. Their attacks seem pretty good for 5 cost models.

[Math Mathonwy]

 

I dunno, the chance to paralyze on the melee with 2 inch range is pretty great in my opinion, especially with the threat of a big severe or a cheated in crow if the opponent doesn't cheat up or flip high, helping to drain cards.

This is the big one for me. If you flip low against them, you are under a serious threat of Paralyzation and this is pretty damn golden. I think that they are severely underrated as people either haven't really tried them or have focused on Shafted (which is cute but not worth it, IMO). I actually can't remember a game where I've fielded a Crooked Man and it didn't end up Paralyzing at least one enemy model.

[Mason]

I use them as cheap drops against shooting factions like Guild, Outcasts, and Gremlins. They're pretty durable for their cost, can put out blasts of poison that McMourning really has fun with, and Finish the Job is always useful. Plus, with GG2016, it feels like there are more opportunities for Shafted to come into play.

[valhallan42nd]

I tend to use them more with Jack Daw. Their biggest weakness (wk4) is mitigated with the boost from his movement shenanigans. I tend to use them when my opponent declares Guild.

[Daysleeper]

 

This is the big one for me. If you flip low against them, you are under a serious threat of Paralyzation and this is pretty damn golden. I think that they are severely underrated as people either haven't really tried them or have focused on Shafted (which is cute but not worth it, IMO). I actually can't remember a game where I've fielded a Crooked Man and it didn't end up Paralyzing at least one enemy model.

 

exactly! shafted is to situational imho

[thebarbalag]

I've used them a fair bit. Cheap, relatively resilient, and finish the job is probably enough, but the ranged attack is kind of gravy, and Shafted, if you take the time to set it up (which requires Belles, and if you really want to nuke something, Jaakuna and a Drowned...), can be gross.

[DeleteAccount]

They are my goto budget beater undead piece. Nothing too fancy, but they are versatile enough between the gun and decent melee and that trigger can save your ass soooo much... They are also my goto budget summon with nico when I can't get a punk out, paralysis being again the main reason, though if you go necrotic crowning with nico, you can set up a mean blast fest too. Outside of those scenarios, you can provlbably do better with other choices.

[Kirby]

Crooked Men are definitely a sleeper model.  They're fantastic, but people don't really know about them or use them often enough.  They're remarkable summons, especially, but plenty solid to hire into the initial crew since they're pretty cheap and durable against shooting.  I use them from time to time with Jack Daw as well; they play quite nicely with Gluttony. 

[Paddywhack]

Their useful if you know your opponent is using a lot of ranged  weapons. They will fall very quickly in melee with their horrible DF and no other defensive tricks. I have never seen Shafted get used once sadly - too hard to get set up really. Their Walk of 4 is also a big deterrent to hiring them. If they had a W5 or some HtW in place of Shafted, I would take them more often. I've actually shifted to preferring Drowned, even though they are more expensive. The Df6 against all attacks and their Resiliant really lets them stay around. They are also W4 though, so still very slow. 

[valhallan42nd]

My problem with Crooked Men is not that they're bad, but are they 5ss Nurse/Rotten Belle good? I don't think so.

[thebarbalag]

 

My problem with Crooked Men is not that they're bad, but are they 5ss Nurse/Rotten Belle good? I don't think so.

Well,  they do something pretty completely different than those models, so I don't know that it's a particularly useful comparison. In fact, I would look at the synergy between the three rather than comparing them, especially since they're all in Ressers' 5ss sweet spot. The Crooked Man can be the finisher, or can add damage to the Belle's Lure, either by attacking, or Shafted.

[Wake of Godzilla]

I've not played with them for a while but I would think they are worth looking at again with the new schemes - adding an extra element of danger to messing with your scheme markers.

Also, I would look at Dead Doxie's rather than Belle's the push they have has a lot more control.

However that being said they do require a lot of setup to work.

[Munindk]

Before Guild Autopsies were released Crooked Men were my go to for ranged poisoning in a McMourning Crew, but now I'm not sure if they're worth fielding.

[Daysleeper]

 

Before Guild Autopsies were released Crooked Men were my go to for ranged poisoning in a McMourning Crew, but now I'm not sure if they're worth fielding.

They are if you expect performers on the other tableend