Parker and why is he Malifaux on hard mode

[Ray]

So I got in a game yesterday with a mate of mine. Oh my. Parker is quite the brain buster and I really struggled to make him work. The store owner and regular comments it's basically Malifaux on super hard mode. Aiii! 

Is there any advise out there for a good crew that synergizes with Parker? I'm looking for a good base to work with. I'll tweak the crew depending on the schemes and strategies. 

Many thanks

[Amberleigh]

First Buys should be Wokou Raiders and some Dead outlaws, as they are all bandits they synergise well with Parker.
I havent had a game with Parker just yet but im an Avid outcast player, so its only a matter of time.

Parker seems to be a Master that messes with resources such as scheme markers, soulstones and the like. I would suggest maybe reading up his entry on Pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com

[beevison]

I wouldn't say that I'm necessarily an "experienced" Parker player. I've probably played somewhere between 8-10 games with him with varying degrees of success.

Thing I would say is that Parker is incredibly fluid and flexible (within limits). From the very beginning of any given turn you want to be thinking about what your crew needs to be done. Often you'll find that Parker has something that will allow you to do this. Also don't be afraid to change that plan as the turn goes on. A lot of the time I get bogged down with an idea I had at the start of the turn which is no longer useful later on.

I think a lot of the problem with Parker and how people view him, is that there is no "handbook" or "how to" for Parker. In all the games I've been successful with him, it's because I've not tried to play him like I have in other games, and played him like I think he needs to in that specific game. In games I've done badly it's usually because I tried to do something I did in another game against a different crew. In 90% of my games the whole crate of dynamite blowing up enemy scheme markers shenanigans to be meh. Then I come up against Collodi and I'm using it every turn to force the effigies to spread out. Hail of bullets is great in some games, but against Lilith, or Zipp?? Not so much.

As to crew, I tend to play very thematic crews. So his crew box plus dead outlaws. I haven't tried Wokou raiders yet. I almost always take Sue and a Convict Gunslinger. But, even in tournaments I like to go with thematic crews.

Hope that helps...

[Ludvig]

Don't play him but I've faced him a few times. He isn't considered superpowered but he has some pretty stiff competition in outcasts so I'm not sure he's really bad either. I think he mostly isn't very straightforward so might take a while to master.

[Ray]

1 hour ago, beevison said:

I wouldn't say that I'm necessarily an "experienced" Parker player. I've probably played somewhere between 8-10 games with him with varying degrees of success.

Thing I would say is that Parker is incredibly fluid and flexible (within limits). From the very beginning of any given turn you want to be thinking about what your crew needs to be done. Often you'll find that Parker has something that will allow you to do this. Also don't be afraid to change that plan as the turn goes on. A lot of the time I get bogged down with an idea I had at the start of the turn which is no longer useful later on.

I think a lot of the problem with Parker and how people view him, is that there is no "handbook" or "how to" for Parker. In all the games I've been successful with him, it's because I've not tried to play him like I have in other games, and played him like I think he needs to in that specific game. In games I've done badly it's usually because I tried to do something I did in another game against a different crew. In 90% of my games the whole crate of dynamite blowing up enemy scheme markers shenanigans to be meh. Then I come up against Collodi and I'm using it every turn to force the effigies to spread out. Hail of bullets is great in some games, but against Lilith, or Zipp?? Not so much.

As to crew, I tend to play very thematic crews. So his crew box plus dead outlaws. I haven't tried Wokou raiders yet. I almost always take Sue and a Convict Gunslinger. But, even in tournaments I like to go with thematic crews.

Hope that helps...

This does! Im looking for more reports and articles others have put up but it's been scarce. Your input helps a lot. Thanks for sharing. 

I'm getting a sense that Sue seems to rank high in a number of posts. I'll be watching this space 

[izikial]

I found the hail of bullet markers fantastic. Either to block enemy paths (held a death marshal recruiter out of los of his crew for 2 turns) or as portable cover for my self (carefull of lurs)

Dont use parker as a beater. I found that his damage is consistant but consistantly low

Cards or ss, depending on the limited upgrade you take changes what your better at. And buold around this. If you love ama then go for the one that gives you card cycling to make up for her low values. However if you prefer alice and her ability to make aboms then take the ss based upgrade to fuel her

Most of parker and his crew have pittyfull damage. Bring something that can fight as you will need it and parker can do alot of schemes solo

Some modles im keeping an eye on

Envy, hes better when he shoots at enemys near markers and parker drops thouse markers

Gluttony, tag some one with the hungry condition and then pop them with parker or anyone with a built in drop it trigger to lead them around and spike higher damage

I think there is something there useing nix and benny as a front line and useing the upgrade to shoot everyone engaged

[beevison]

Happy to help. 

Sue is just generally great with Parker. Helps against Ca actions that Parker is vulnerable to. (although Parker quickly outdistances Sue most games)

His gun is reliable damage, which is always nice. And the card draw is is amazing for Parker as his thematic crew has alot of discard card tricks.

@izikial I definitely agree. Whilst Parker can put out a steady amount of damage. The damage is not the purpose, often its for the trigger (drop it) or card drain (dynamite). I've never tried Envy with Parker, but I can see why that would be pretty worthwhile. 

I tend to find that combination of abilities like Hail of Bullets, Dynamite, Stick up, You were told to duck etc... are incredibly powerful at forcing your opponent to play in ways they don't want to. In a sense you're preventing an opponent from playing the way they want to and playing to your plan. It's hard to accomplish, but when it works you feel like the puppet master.

[izikial]

Picking up on something Beevison said, thats a shift i had to accept. Parkers crew alot like the crossroads 7 guys. Gives your oponant alot of control with how they deal with you (theu can pick the opyion that hurts them least) Now on the face of it that is realy bad. But its just around making sure neither option is good. With the dm recruiter i talked about earlyer. He has to discard cards to do things as i had put his hands in the air. Now you think. Oh well he can just discard cards and hasnt realy suffered. Well when you consider that he has to discard to attack burryed people and discard to keep guild marshals alive already then the two cards tends to hit a bit harder. So yes your oponant chooses the option that fits them best. Just taylor your effects to the modles they will hurt most

[James Dyson]

@beevison and @izikial have already said most of what I'd say, but I will add that the Hodgepodge Emissary with Conflux of Stolen Goods is really useful.  His ability to make enemy scheme markers for Parker to eat without the enemy needing to be nearby is great for the first few turns, and more card draw/ cycling is always helpful.

[apes-ma]

5 minutes ago, Diceman87 said:

@beevison and @izikial have already said most of what I'd say, but I will add that the Hodgepodge Emissary with Conflux of Stolen Goods is really useful.  His ability to make enemy scheme markers for Parker to eat without the enemy needing to be nearby is great for the first few turns, and more card draw/ cycling is always helpful.

I am keen to try that out - I feel like the scheme pool has to be just right to spend 10SS on the Emissary though. Parker and his crew tend to be quite low in damage output, and spending 10SS on a support piece means it's much harder to fit something in to do some killing if/when killing needs to be done.

[beevison]

I think I tend to be on @apes-ma side for this. Whilst I agree Hodgepodge will help out in early turns. I'm not sure how comfortable I feel running a 10ss model with Parker. 

To be honest I'm ok with on the first turn using soul stones to attach new upgrades. You're going to gain them back later anyways.

The extra card draw seems useful. But problem is that it depends on putting out trinkets. Which requires a 7... So a fair portion of the time you aren't drawing, you're cycling.

It's definitely something I will try out. But I'm unconvinced as to how useful it will really be compared to using the 10ss for 2 Bandidos or a Dead Outlaw and Effigy, or if you're that worried about ss and card draw, Hodgepodge Effigy and Ronin for seppuku fun times.

[apes-ma]

3 minutes ago, beevison said:

I think I tend to be on @apes-ma side for this. Whilst I agree Hodgepodge will help out in early turns. I'm not sure how comfortable I feel running a 10ss model with Parker. 

To be honest I'm ok with on the first turn using soul stones to attach new upgrades. You're going to gain them back later anyways.

The extra card draw seems useful. But problem is that it depends on putting out trinkets. Which requires a 7... So a fair portion of the time you aren't drawing, you're cycling.

It's definitely something I will try out. But I'm unconvinced as to how useful it will really be compared to using the 10ss for 2 Bandidos or a Dead Outlaw and Effigy, or if you're that worried about ss and card draw, Hodgepodge Effigy and Ronin for seppuku fun times.

The other aspect of the Emissary's new conflux is that it can make Parker discard an upgrade as a (0), which will trigger Limited Supplies and draw a card, and it means that Parker doesn't have to faff about trying to do that on his own turn if, for some reason, there isn't an opportunity to. Which might be good? I am not sure... I mean, 50% of his actions (or something) demand you to pay a soulstone or discard an upgrade! I suppose it's a super secret tech hire against Jack Daw?!

[beevison]

@apes-ma Actually a (0) to discard an upgrade would be useful. There have been occasions where I've found myself trying to figure out ways to discard an upgrade I no longer need. (Coordinated heist I'm looking at you) So yeah that could be useful. 

I mostly play against Neverborn, Gremlins (A LOT of Gremlins) and Ressers. And I tend to find that Parker has the tools to deal with all of these. Of course against some of these factions some of his tools are completely useless. 

Mild tangent there. But yes I will definitely be trying out the Hodgepodge with Parker. 

[apes-ma]

6 minutes ago, beevison said:

@apes-ma Actually a (0) to discard an upgrade would be useful. There have been occasions where I've found myself trying to figure out ways to discard an upgrade I no longer need. (Coordinated heist I'm looking at you) So yeah that could be useful. 

I mostly play against Neverborn, Gremlins (A LOT of Gremlins) and Ressers. And I tend to find that Parker has the tools to deal with all of these. Of course against some of these factions some of his tools are completely useless. 

Mild tangent there. But yes I will definitely be trying out the Hodgepodge with Parker. 

Hmmm, I often find I have the OPPOSITE problem - I want to do two different actions that will both discard an upgrade, and then he will be an upgrade down, which isn't a particularly good spot for him to be in I find (although it can be fine). You can always get rid of an upgrade by shooting something (although that uses an AP).

[James Dyson]

 My meta has a good number of resurrectionists, and they like to play cagey, sit-back style crews (i.e. Reva and Kirai) so I probably over-value the Emissary's ability to drop an enemy scheme marker, and his Ca attack to get through incorporeal.

Another model I've had decent success with is Big Jake in table-quarter style strategies/ Headhunter games.  

[apes-ma]

To actually contribute to Parker being Malifaux on hard mode, I would totally agree. I REALLY want to like Parker, and to an extent I do, but I feel like you have to work needlessly hard for everything that he does. And I don't necessarily mean in a tactical sense, just in a "why do I have to jump through all these hoops" sense. As an example, take the ability No Witnesses. It makes a friendly model take a (1) attack action, but it has a six inch range. And if it wasn't a bandit you have to discard a soulstone or discard the upgrade. AND you need to meet the (admittedly low) target number. Or The Job's Not Done Yet - push a model it's walk, that's cool! But it needs an 8! That's the hard mode aspect of Parker. He can generate soulstones like they're going out of style, but then he has to use them up to pay for abilities and to keep himself alive (since he needs to be on the frontlines near enemies and has no defensive abilities) - the whole thing feels like a rube goldberg machine that generates resources, just to feed back into the machine to generate more resources.

[beergod]

The thing with Parker is that he is a toolbox. you can get what you need when you need it. the biggest mistake that I see with players is that they try to tailor him to the list instead of the moment. His upgrades are not all super powerful that you need to keep one on him and when you discard them you get the soulstone to get them back if used with a non Bandit.  

See that the enemy is bunched up, d send a dead out law to tangle them, shoot them all and then drop dynamite a couple times.  

Need to block movement, drop a hail of bullets

Need to crack armor, his new one. The cards all have a primary ability, the rest is just bonus points

 

[beevison]

@beergod agree completely and this matches what I said. Most masters have a set way of playing. Or a few different set ways of playing. 

I don't agree with the resource generation malarkey. I tend to see that as incidental. What it allows is for you to keep up your style of play of being a toolbox and allowing you to do what you need to do. If I have to pay a soulstone to attach the upgrade crate of dynamite to blow up a marker in the middle of the opponents crew. That's worth it. If it's just to blow up a single marker and maybe hit a couple of models. No not at all. The point isn't even the damage here, as with the hail of bullets. The point is that in both cases you are forcing an opponent to play a different way. 

@apes-ma I do agree that some of his TNs are a little on the high side. And I struggle with that so much. Especially considering that in most turns I find myself doing critical things.

In general I agree that Parker isn't easy to play. But, what I don't agree with is that he is ineffective. I just tend to think people are looking at him wrong.

[ShinChan]

When you guys need to hire someone who really hits hard within Parker's crew, what would you be your main options?

I'm a bit stuck with that part, depending the crew and mission, sometimes I need someone that can kill strong stuff.

[beevison]

I've found that if something absolutely must die, combination of Convict gunslinger and Mad Dog rapid firing will do the trick for most things. 

Ashes and Dust is always fun.

[beergod]

I have what I call the core. 2x Dead outlaws, 1x bandidos, and Doc Mitchell

After that depending on opponent and schemes I like to take one of Strong arm Suit, Taeylor,  Lazurus, Mad Dog or Aionus

I then Like Sue and one other 4-6 stone model

[apes-ma]

1 hour ago, beergod said:

I have what I call the core. 2x Dead outlaws, 1x bandidos, and Doc Mitchell

After that depending on opponent and schemes I like to take one of Strong arm Suit, Taeylor,  Lazurus, Mad Dog or Aionus

I then Like Sue and one other 4-6 stone model

I've only tried him once, but I'm liking McTavish in the "expensive model" spot - his Shoulder attack is great with Parkers new "Deadan Walking" condition since it's long range, doesn't randomise, and ignores cover, and he gets good use out of random enemy markers that Parker and co can leave strewn around the battlefield. If the pool means you can get away with not having a spendy model I like to squeeze in a Wokou Raider as well - built in Drop It is nice to push them around, give Parker market food, heal Dead Outlaws etc., the On attack is nice, they fairly durable in melee, and are so mobile. They also make great No Witnesses targets.

[DXXXVIII]

I often read the argument of "he's a toolbox" but thats kind of a weak argument when all his tools are mediocre compared to the tools other masters have.
Oh, you CAN jump though  lot of hoops and a 8 to make another model generate an additional AP and move it up to its walk... or you could just obey the model for a 7 to do a walk... or you could pay a  7 to make the model fast so it can walk or do something else. All these other  options are toolboxes as well but  toolboxes using less ressources and being less situaional.
Compared to some all-solving hammer.-abilities... his toolbox just  doesn't  shine.
And dont take me wrong, hes fun and i like and play my parker crew but hes far from anything but good.

[beevison]

I'm not going to argue that some of his TNs are too high. An 8 for a walk action is stupid, to the point where I tend to avoid using it unless I have the cards for it. 

I think it comes down to how you want to play the game. I have a tendency to figure out what my opponent and act aggressively to mess with that. Every one always talks about activation control is key. And I don't completely disagree. But if you can force your opponent to do things that they don't want to do with their activation's then that doesn't matter so much.

I don't know, like I said in my initial post I've played at best 10 games with Parker. So I'm by no way experienced and it may mean that as I play more I come round more to the "he's no good" way of thinking. But, I seem to getting him to work and work very well (75% of the time :P). Time will tell, but I don't agree with him being bad. But, I'm biased.

[Sol_Sorrowsong]

Pretty much everything I could say ha been touched on, but I can pass up a good Parker post. I love the cowboy theme and robbery bravado. I think he plays best like a thief than a thug (scheme first shoot second).  No personal experience buy I've heard lack luster remarks about woku raiders but Sue...BUY SUE! He's just too good to leave behind in most games.  Dad outlaws are also strong but take a little time to get used to.  Personally I feel he needs a melee beater to keep people at shooting range. I've used bishop pretty well, but he's spendy. I just got the alt Taylor miss deed so will try her when I get the chance.

Keep at it!