Mannequins

[Ludvig]

Hey!

I rarely see mannequins outside of Colette but their marker placing rule seems pretty neat in any crew and the attack with built in slow and a potential negatives trigger isn't too bad either. 

Are they not worth it despite all this?

 

[Rillan]

Its too huge investment to take Mannequins outside of Colette. There are better models for other masters. I dont know who are u playing against but in our local people just shoot Mannequin before u make something useful out of it and it will end up like * ha ha lol what was this >censored< joke for* 

 

[KingCrow]

I'd say it's the 3 wounds that makes me pass over them compared to other 4 cost models.  Armor +3 and their abilities are nice but the fact they can only take 3 hits is rough.  Also, the fact that they are Df 4 means that they are definitely going to get hit.  I don't even take them in my Colette crews.  

[WWHSD]

I think that a 4SS Insignifcant Peon is hard to find a home for.

[KingCrow]

If they were 2 or 3 SS and summonable like the birds, I think they'd see play.  To have a choice on her summon upgrade to summon either birds or Mannequins would be awesome. Maybe that's what they should've done for her wave 5 upgrade.  It would be so much better than her worthless Audience Participation one.  

[Ludvig]

Thanks for your input. I'll steer clear of them then.

[Fictor]

To be different... I play Mannequins a lot, the ability Magician's Assistant give me a lot of games, Set Up, Inescapable Trap... and a lot of more, this can be auto win.

If I take Mannequin I usually take a Performer to carry the Mannequin and can do the combo:  marker + Seduction in the middle of enemy crew

[Nutella]

They're pretty fun assuming you're using enough terrain and can keep them out of harms way. I've considered them outside of showgirl crews a couple of times. They can make scoring certain schemes much easier to do. They don't get seen a lot because your opponent can punish them for bad positioning pretty trivially, and also there are several other options in the faction that set up scheme markers almost as well for less risk.

They're certainly niche but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.. There's a weird trend going on where people only want to have models that are good enough all the time in all situations, but IMHO it's these niche case models that make creative play viable. I'm assuming the mentality is coming from people wanting the smallest list of models to practice with for competitive purposes..

In any case.. there's no harm in trying them out in a few games!

[WWHSD]

47 minutes ago, KingCrow said:

If they were 2 or 3 SS and summonable like the birds, I think they'd see play.  To have a choice on her summon upgrade to summon either birds or Mannequins would be awesome. Maybe that's what they should've done for her wave 5 upgrade.  It would be so much better than her worthless Audience Participation one.  

Hell, even if they stayed at 4SS but Colette could summon them then they'd probably see a lot more play. 

An upgrade like the "Dread Pirate Zipp" that lets Colette summon a Mannequin in base contact with herself, bury, and then unbury in base contact with a scheme marker (discard the marker) at the end of the turn would have been a cool upgrade.   

Edited January 22, 2018 by WWHSD

[Ludvig]

I don't own the models so I'd be buying Colette's entire set most likely. I might hold that off for a while and just concentrate on all the half-baked stuff I have for Marcus, McMourning and Mei. 

Being shot of the board turn one does not sound like the kind of tables I play on though.

[WWHSD]

16 minutes ago, Nutella said:

They're pretty fun assuming you're using enough terrain and can keep them out of harms way. I've considered them outside of showgirl crews a couple of times. They can make scoring certain schemes much easier to do. They don't get seen a lot because your opponent can punish them for bad positioning pretty trivially, and also there are several other options in the faction that set up scheme markers almost as well for less risk.

They're certainly niche but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.. There's a weird trend going on where people only want to have models that are good enough all the time in all situations, but IMHO it's these niche case models that make creative play viable. I'm assuming the mentality is coming from people wanting the smallest list of models to practice with for competitive purposes..

In any case.. there's no harm in trying them out in a few games!

Mannequins have a few problems with being a niche piece.

1. The crews that they fit best with already tend to do well in that niche without them.

2. They need another model to do anything useful. 

When  deciding whether or not to bring a Mannequin, I think most people end up just deciding to spend a point or two more to bring a Performer or Ice Dancer instead. They kind of fits the same niche but can operate independently if they need to.

 

[EnternalVoid]

To be honest any time I want to take a performer i consider taking a Mannequin.  What tempts me the most with them is if I think the ability to throw scheme markers will be important for my schemes *in 2017 they helped a lot with claim jump*.  With a Performer with Don't Mind Me you can still drop markers while engaged and with the mannequin put down two outside of the enemy engaging you.  That said I generally do not take a Mannequin unless I have a showgirl as the ability to drag it along helps getting it where you would want it *I love movement tricks*.  It also helps with concerns about being shot up as they can be moved into position faster.

One thing that has often caught my opponents by surprise is that they are decent at attacking for their cost with an average 5 Ml and 1/3/4 damage.  What often catches them by surprise is that it has a 2" reach and that the slow trigger is built.  I have also gotten the Mask trigger several times against a beater effectively hampering their offense for a turn before they activate.

I have also found them fairly durable or more minor tanky.  Yes like already mentioned, three hits kill them, but that is 3 AP.  And if they can slow the target it could take much longer to destroy them.  I have had them win against scheme runners because of this or hold up someone that went after my performer or an ice dancer while they did their jobs.

that all said I generally will only ever take one and that has been enough for me.

[KingCrow]

Could always use them in a Raspy crew (as that crew can sometimes have issues getting out scheme markers even with an Ice Dancer) and if they die, summon an Ice Gamin off its scrap marker. lol. 

[Adran]

14 hours ago, KingCrow said:

I'd say it's the 3 wounds that makes me pass over them compared to other 4 cost models.  Armor +3 and their abilities are nice but the fact they can only take 3 hits is rough.  Also, the fact that they are Df 4 means that they are definitely going to get hit.  I don't even take them in my Colette crews.  

Its the fact that they rely on high armour in the faction that so often gets anti armour counterpicked is what makes them a gamble. They do some good stuff, but so often 1 hit kills them.