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Tonight's game


ElPuto

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Symbols of Authority

- Punish The Weak

- Covert Breakthrough

- Take Prisoner

- Hold Up Their Forces

- Inescapable Trap

 

Tonight I'll face a friend of mine with Arcanists. 

Pointed on Mei Feng and Brewmaster as my possible choices: what do you suggest to take with them as list?

Mei is probably good with Punish The Weak and Hold Up Their Forces.

Fingers could be good in Covert Breakthrough.

Both the Masters (better Brewie) can isolate enemy models to score easier on Take Prisoner.

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15 minutes ago, InvokeChaos said:

How'd the game go? Who did you end up picking?

Faced Colette, Cass, Carlos, Myranda, 2 Perfs, Effigy.
Lost 8-4, unfortunately, but was my first game with Mei, so it didn't go so badly after all.

I took Punish the Weak and Hold Up Their Forces:

Mei + 5 SS

- Press the Advantage

- Seismic Claws

- Vapormancy

Emberling

Kang

- Equality

- The Peaceful Waters

Sparks

- Hidden Agenda

Shadow Emissary

- Conflux of Combat

Mechanized Porkchop

Monk of Low River

Rail Worker


Chose Mei for the mobility, relative tankiness and killing power.

Kang was there to tank for Hold Up and for Punish, Equality to maximize his staying power, so the LRM (a bad choice from me, he could have been something different). The list was good, the Conflux too, I just overcommitted the Porkchop and the Emissary, so my bad about their bad positioning.

Emberling and, as I said, LRM were bad choices, given my unexperience with the Master.

Sparks was one of my favorite models here, did always a great job, giving Fast to Kang in one situation, another target for Punish. Not too shabby at all. Hidden Agenda was there for a needed fast from Emissary, 'cause who knows what happens.

 

So, after game thoughts, I should have hired better runners, 'cause I didn't take any Symbols, got my points from Hold Up twice and Punish the Weak twice.

Maybe I will write a bit of a battle report, if anyone is interested.

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27 minutes ago, Nikodemus said:

I approach Symbols of Authority games much like Stake a Claim. Lots of AP needed for moving and interacting to get strategy points. I've seen plenty of people botch that in their first SoA game.

Always nice to hear how people play their games.

Will write a short report then :)

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Tonight's game vs Neverborn:

Ours

- Guarded Treasure

- Show of Force

- Search The Ruins

- Take Prisoner

- Recover Evidence

 

Show of Force, in my head, goes against Ours: the models carrying Upgrades (usually then the most expensive in the list) have to be within 6" of the Center, not counting for the Strategy. So I'm headed towards Take Prisoner and Search the Ruins.

Shen, Brewie or Mei are my mates. Shen and Brewie can move stuff around, denying points. Correctly, you will say that Brewie wants to be engaged while my opponent can run around thanks to the Strategy, but my opponent will play for sure Titania (prolly Lilith or Pandora), so two up to three Masters that wants to play near my stuff, keeping me in their bubbles too. Brewie, then, is not a bad choice. The roster is made of tanky Masters (not the tankiests in the game, but not shabby or squishy at all), able to play into Take Prisoner and to camp into Ours without too much worrying (except for an angry Nekima). Brewie can control her thanks to Swill, Mei can jump around, Shen is defensively really strong. Search the Ruins is not that difficult to score, we've plenty of choices (Shen can even move markers with Wandering River Style).

Thinking about Crime Bosses or Fuhatsu to counter some push effects (alike Rougarou's), Anna Lovelace for eventual place effects and Ca vs Incorporeal, don't know what else.

Am I focusing on the game in the right way?

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4 hours ago, ElPuto said:

Tonight's game vs Neverborn:

Ours

- Guarded Treasure

- Show of Force

- Search The Ruins

- Take Prisoner

- Recover Evidence

 

Show of Force, in my head, goes against Ours: the models carrying Upgrades (usually then the most expensive in the list) have to be within 6" of the Center, not counting for the Strategy. So I'm headed towards Take Prisoner and Search the Ruins.

Shen, Brewie or Mei are my mates. Shen and Brewie can move stuff around, denying points. Correctly, you will say that Brewie wants to be engaged while my opponent can run around thanks to the Strategy, but my opponent will play for sure Titania (prolly Lilith or Pandora), so two up to three Masters that wants to play near my stuff, keeping me in their bubbles too. Brewie, then, is not a bad choice. The roster is made of tanky Masters (not the tankiests in the game, but not shabby or squishy at all), able to play into Take Prisoner and to camp into Ours without too much worrying (except for an angry Nekima). Brewie can control her thanks to Swill, Mei can jump around, Shen is defensively really strong. Search the Ruins is not that difficult to score, we've plenty of choices (Shen can even move markers with Wandering River Style).

Thinking about Crime Bosses or Fuhatsu to counter some push effects (alike Rougarou's), Anna Lovelace for eventual place effects and Ca vs Incorporeal, don't know what else.

Am I focusing on the game in the right way?

I think the assessment is overall solid.  Though if Show of Force wasn't appealing for moving to the center, I find it interesting you picked a scheme that requires you to be near the center. I do think search is a solid take in ours, fairly easy to straddle the lines, so to speak, especially for 10T

Take prisoner is made for 10T in my opinion, so I think you're definitely right for going towards that. Guarded treasure is another 10T favorite, and recover evidence can be surprising solid depending on crew comps. 

Brewie doesn't need to be engaged at all. I think bubble brewie is cool if you can get it off in 10T, but he works much better as a swill bot to make our already solid choices more capable.

As to your opponent's choices, I would say Lilith and Pandora are a more likely pick than Titania.  There's not a lot of scheme marker shenanigans here, and while she's not a bad pick, Ours actually encourages a bit more scrumming, which leads me more to the Lilith category. All three are solid choices though, so good mindset there.

Crime Bosses are money against neverborn.  Dopple/changelings with Lilitu is a thing and beckoners are actually decent picks now. And of course if you're looking at the autumn knights... there ya go. Anna is solid tech too, but I feel NVB doesn't ride the incorp train to heavily, and we have some other models with solid casts that might fill her role, but she's never really a bad take. 

So long story short, yes, I think you're looking at things the right way overall. My only possible counter to your line of thinking is that I find that Mei Fang either wants to strike out and be a nuisance or bubble up, and I'm not sure I would take her into ours because of that. If I really want to reach out and touch someone, I feel Misaki is a stronger play into nvb because she can be WP8 with servant and they have some nasty casts. She's not tied to her crew so you can play the ours game with the crew, and just mess with your opponent with a harrier Misaki who laughs at lures or places or pushes. And I wouldn't really play a bubble up list in ours.  Even a Vent Steam one. Shen is a great pick though and Brewie is always solid. 

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7 hours ago, InvokeChaos said:

I think the assessment is overall solid.  Though if Show of Force wasn't appealing for moving to the center, I find it interesting you picked a scheme that requires you to be near the center. I do think search is a solid take in ours, fairly easy to straddle the lines, so to speak, especially for 10T

Take prisoner is made for 10T in my opinion, so I think you're definitely right for going towards that. Guarded treasure is another 10T favorite, and recover evidence can be surprising solid depending on crew comps. 

Brewie doesn't need to be engaged at all. I think bubble brewie is cool if you can get it off in 10T, but he works much better as a swill bot to make our already solid choices more capable.

As to your opponent's choices, I would say Lilith and Pandora are a more likely pick than Titania.  There's not a lot of scheme marker shenanigans here, and while she's not a bad pick, Ours actually encourages a bit more scrumming, which leads me more to the Lilith category. All three are solid choices though, so good mindset there.

Crime Bosses are money against neverborn.  Dopple/changelings with Lilitu is a thing and beckoners are actually decent picks now. And of course if you're looking at the autumn knights... there ya go. Anna is solid tech too, but I feel NVB doesn't ride the incorp train to heavily, and we have some other models with solid casts that might fill her role, but she's never really a bad take. 

So long story short, yes, I think you're looking at things the right way overall. My only possible counter to your line of thinking is that I find that Mei Fang either wants to strike out and be a nuisance or bubble up, and I'm not sure I would take her into ours because of that. If I really want to reach out and touch someone, I feel Misaki is a stronger play into nvb because she can be WP8 with servant and they have some nasty casts. She's not tied to her crew so you can play the ours game with the crew, and just mess with your opponent with a harrier Misaki who laughs at lures or places or pushes. And I wouldn't really play a bubble up list in ours.  Even a Vent Steam one. Shen is a great pick though and Brewie is always solid. 

Show of Force is out of my choices because of that, as I said.
For Take Prisoner and Search the Ruins, I've thought to something like this:

Shenlong (4SS Cache)
- Wandering River Style
- Yang

Peasant
Fuhatsu
- A Memory of Honor
- Recalled Training
Yamaziko
- Recalled Training
Shadow Emissary
- Conflux of Dawn
Ten Thunders Brother
Ten Thunders Brother
Thunder Archer

A bit short of SS in my opinion, the Archer can go out for another choice.
I will try to build a list for Brewie, and then compare with this one.

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13 minutes ago, ElPuto said:

Show of Force is out of my choices because of that, as I said.
For Take Prisoner and Search the Ruins, I've thought to something like this:

Shenlong + 4 SS
- Wandering River Style
- Yang

Peasant
Fuhatsu
- A Memory of Honor
- Recalled Training
Yamaziko
- Recalled Training
Shadow Emissary
- Conflux of Dawn
Ten Thunders Brother
Ten Thunders Brother
Thunder Archer

A bit short of SS in my opinion, the Archer can go out for another choice.
I will try to build a list for Brewie, and then compare with this one.

Archers are better now with the cost reduction, well suited for tables with a lot of terrain to hide behind or if you expect a lot of melee engagements (like vs NB). If you are taking Yamaziko why not put Blot Out the Sky on her instead of Recalled? This way you can park the archer and have him blast EoT while Yama is (0) braced. The archer can hide well behind Fuhatsu's big bum pretty well, too. Alternatively, if you want to have a solid upgrade on Yamaziko how about Smoke Grenades? This will protect her from range, making her impervious to Lures and Tangle Shadows and the like, not to mention something of a niche semi-counter to a Pandora as well. You can also drop the smoke bombs in a pinch, denying vision and board control in a key moment.
As an alternative to the archer, if there is a long clearing on the table, you might want to give Shenlong 1SS less in cache to bring in a Sniper. Emissary giving (0) blasts to Fuhatsu and the sniper is not a small matter. Also useful for the (0) Defensive upgrade for Fuhatsu, TT Bros and Yamaziko.

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2 minutes ago, Eclipse said:

Archers are better now with the cost reduction, well suited for tables with a lot of terrain to hide behind or if you expect a lot of melee engagements (like vs NB). If you are taking Yamaziko why not put Blot Out the Sky on her instead of Recalled? This way you can park the archer and have him blast EoT while Yama is (0) braced. The archer can hide well behind Fuhatsu's big bum pretty well, too. Alternatively, if you want to have a solid upgrade on Yamaziko how about Smoke Grenades? This will protect her from range, making her impervious to Lures and Tangle Shadows and the like, not to mention something of a niche semi-counter to a Pandora as well. You can also drop the smoke bombs in a pinch, denying vision and board control in a key moment.
As an alternative to the archer, if there is a long clearing on the table, you might want to give Shenlong 1SS less in cache to bring in a Sniper.

Isn't a bit too short playing with 3 SS? I'm always worried lol 
Usually we play a table made from 9 12"x12" quarters, full of heights and stairs. So it will be pretty full of terrain that gives cover or LoS blocking.

Nice suggestions tho.

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If you are doing Take Prisoner and Search the Ruins in Ours, you are basically eschewing scheme running for pure mayhem. I would sit in my half of the board, snipe and let them come to you. If your opponent has the same idea, it will be either lots of lures, or Changling/Trapper spam. Apart from a gun-line, I would pick heavy beaters, since you have nothing better to do for the first four turns than reduce opposing activations.

Once you have board dominance, you can score your schemes late.

The only NB crew I really wouldn’t like to face here is Dreamer, because attrition wars are very costly against real summoners.

I would choose Asami (I know the summoned don’t count, but they can still kill opposing models, and the melee focused NB getting to your scoring models), Shenlong for the superior gun-line or Mei Feng, for the defensive bubble. The terrain would be the deciding factor.

 

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Brewmaster (5SS Cache)
- A Barkeep Never Sleeps
- Binge
- Running Tab

Apprentice Wesley
Fuhatsu
- A Memory of Honor
- Recalled Training
Katanaka Crime Boss
Mr. Tannen
Moon Shinobi
Moon Shinobi
Terracotta Warrior

Unsure on Upgrades for Brewie, here I tend to play tankier pieces (especially thanks to Mr. Tannen), 2 models my opponent can't move, a bit of mobility more for Fuhatsu thanks to Obey (TCW will swap Running Tab for A Friendly Ear). Seems a list heavier on damage, don't know.

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2 minutes ago, anencephalous said:

If you are doing Take Prisoner and Search the Ruins in Ours, you are basically eschewing scheme running for pure mayhem. I would sit in my half of the board, snipe and let them come to you. If your opponent has the same idea, it will be either lots of lures, or Changling/Trapper spam. Apart from a gun-line, I would pick heavy beaters, since you have nothing better to do for the first four turns than reduce opposing activations.

Once you have board dominance, you can score your schemes late.

The only NB crew I really wouldn’t like to face here is Dreamer, because attrition wars are very costly against real summoners.

I would choose Asami (I know the summoned don’t count, but they can still kill opposing models, and the melee focused NB getting to your scoring models), Shenlong for the superior gun-line or Mei Feng, for the defensive bubble. The terrain would be the deciding factor.

 

My opponent owns Lilith, Pandora or Titania, that's why I mentioned some choices. I own Asami and Mei too, what is the defensive bubble you're talking about? I'm new to the Rail Worker gal.

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Her main feature is Vent Steam. It gives a neg flip to all ranged actions in an AoE of 4", which is enough to hold a whole crew.

You walk once, then get other models to push her upfield later in the turn (she often takes Wings of Wind as well, since she doesn’t have a 0 anyhow). She can then Vent Steam twice to put a pretty crippling double neg flip on anything incoming. This is usually enough to shut down lures and normal gun-lines. If you have Outcasts with umpteen focus Trappers, or other positive  flippers, you can even triple vent steam and rely on something like Sensei Yu to shunt her up the board. 

There is obviously a few uses for the defensive bubble. You can draw a shooty crew and sit for a few turns in the bubble and make them come to you, or use it to keep together a melee crew that doesn’t want to be picked off or lured apart on its way to where ever it was headed (usually the middle of the board). Since she is TT's only real summoner (with Toshiro), you can also stall out the start of a game, while padding out your activations with a few stone dogs. With a Low River Monk or two, you can really put the pressure on the opponent to do something. Of course, if you have lots of score early schemes, or you have to split up to tag Symbols of Authority, the bubble is not useful, but in the right match, it is priceless. She can be something of a hard counter to a few masters because of this ability alone.

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9 minutes ago, ElPuto said:

My opponent owns Lilith, Pandora or Titania, that's why I mentioned some choices. I own Asami and Mei too, what is the defensive bubble you're talking about? I'm new to the Rail Worker gal.

The defensive bubble is vent steam, a (1) action to give a :-fate to all Sh and Ca actions targeting friendly models within :aura of Mei Feng. If you do that 2 times(and you can take that action from a trigger she gets on an upgrade) you make any models in that :aura almost immune to Sh or Ca actions, so you only have to worry about Ml attacks, and your crew can't get easily pulled apart by lures/pushes/moves.

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4 minutes ago, anencephalous said:

Her main feature is Vent Steam. It gives a neg flip to all ranged actions in an AoE of 4", which is enough to hold a whole crew.

You walk once, then get other models to push her upfield later in the turn (she often takes Wings of Wind as well, since she doesn’t have a 0 anyhow). She can then Vent Steam twice to put a pretty crippling double neg flip on anything incoming. This is usually enough to shut down lures and normal gun-lines. If you have Outcasts with umpteen focus Trappers, or other positive  flippers, you can even triple vent steam and rely on something like Sensei Yu to shunt her up the board. 

There is obviously a few uses for the defensive bubble. You can draw a shooty crew and sit for a few turns in the bubble and make them come to you, or use it to keep together a melee crew that doesn’t want to be picked off or lured apart on its way to where ever it was headed (usually the middle of the board). Since she is TT's only real summoner (with Toshiro), you can also stall out the start of a game, while padding out your activations with a few stone dogs. With a Low River Monk or two, you can really put the pressure on the opponent to do something. Of course, if you have lots of score early schemes, or you have to split up to tag Symbols of Authority, the bubble is not useful, but in the right match, it is priceless. She can be something of a hard counter to a few masters because of this ability alone.

Oh really cool, now you made my choice even harder lol

3 minutes ago, santaclaws01 said:

The defensive bubble is vent steam, a (1) action to give a :-fate to all Sh and Ca actions targeting friendly models within :aura of Mei Feng. If you do that 2 times(and you can take that action from a trigger she gets on an upgrade) you make any models in that :aura almost immune to Sh or Ca actions, so you only have to worry about Ml attacks, and your crew can't get easily pulled apart by lures/pushes/moves.

Thanks mate!

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Decided to go for the safer list, the one I got in mind for a bit longer and made with models I know better.
Won 9-7 vs Titania in a really close game.

Titania (5SS Cache)
- Pact
- Royal Indignation
- Something something something
Aeslin
- Fears Given Form
- Don't know what else
Nekima
- Fears Given Form
- Don't know what else
The Thorn
The Tooth
Young Nephilim

Used this one:
Shenlong (4SS Cache)
- The Peaceful Waters
- Wandering River Style
- Yang

Peasant
Fuhatsu
- A Memory of Honor
- Recalled Training
Yamaziko
- Recalled Training
- Smoke Bombs
Shadow Emissary
- Conflux of Dawn
Monk of Low River
Ten Thunders Brother
Thunder Archer

Thanks to everyone who helped me, especially @Eclipse for the Smoke Bombs advice. Yamaziko tanked a lot of hits, with :-fate from Stubborn, :-fate from Smoke Bombs, :+fate from Honorable. WOW, really good. Fuhatsu tanked some hits too but healed many Wd thanks to Juggernaut and the Monk. Lost only one model, the brave Brother I put engaged with Aeslin (my designed Prisoner) on 4th Turn to stop her from moving away, re-engaged her later with Yamaziko. LRM + Emissary did a great job, making my hand better in 3 Turns out of 5.
My mate admitted to have built a bad list, without thinking too much about Strategy or Schemes. He did 2 from Strategy, 3 from Search the Ruins, 2 from Show of Force.
I scored 3 from Strategy, 3 from Take Prisoner and 3 from Search the Ruins.
MVP of the game was the mighty Fuhatsu, who did 10 damage on Titania with 5 shots on her, put Nekima in 3 shots down to 1 Wd (later killed by the Archer) and killed Thorn in melee. For one more point over a Samurai, I'm liking him a lot more (still don't own them). A Samurai seems a bit of a trap, especially into NVB with Wp 4.

Thanks guys, have fun, see ya the next game ahah

Edited by ElPuto
typo
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