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Parker's Weak Points


KingCrow

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I recently started playing in a Vassal league where we were randomly assigned a Master that we've never played before in a faction we've never really dabbled in and I got Parker.  So far, he has been amazing.  I've won 4/5 of my games (practice and league) and had fun while doing it, even the one I lost!  Also, he basically has a way to help in any scheme and strategy.  With the ability to swap out upgrades to counter the situation he's in, make friendlies take attacks and interacts out of activations, push everyone around, condition removal, and all his other abilities, he seems like a great generalist master. 

As a new Outcast/Parker player, I obviously have not figured out everything about him/the faction and so my question follows: What do people think Parker's other weak points are and what would you do to shore up those weaknesses?

I've found that one of his weak points are definitely his high TN's for his abilities (most require 7+, except for his main ability to attach upgrades) and his potential susceptibility to Alpha Strikes.  A friend suggested taking Survivalist to help counter Alpha strikes by giving Hard to Kill and the positive's to heal and while I haven't had an Alpha strike against Parker yet, I can definitely see it coming in this league. I also feel as though he is basically required to bring more than a few models in each game compared to what I've run in my usual Arcanist crews.  It could be that there are just not enough models with the Bandit keyword, and Parker must absolutely bring the Emissary because it's definitely worth getting three cards and an enemy scheme marker each turn to get a "free" upgrade for Parker (although again, this needs a 7 or 8 to get off).

Please let me know what you think and thanks for the help!

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I think you've really hit the nail on the head:  Parker has really high TNs for his many actions.  

I've also found that he lacks serious damage output (bar an Empty the Chamber, but that's not going to be a regular occurrence) and with the Emissary, you've devoted serious space in your crew to this stone/ card engine with no outlet for those resources.  Now, Anna/ Mad Dog/ Sue would be good outlets - which comes to the next issue.  Furthermore, Bandits in general use a lot of :ToS-Range: and Sh actions, which are the most restrictive attack actions in the game (Cover, Engagementn, Armor, Incorporeal all negatively impact them).

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His TNs are his weakness, but, he is very hard to kill as he generates Stones like no other master, with the Emissary and his actions you should be able to generate 2-3 stones a turn, add his surprise armor, 14 wounds, Docs low heal flip and mobility he is very hard to take down

He can hit soft so a beater is needed, good thing outcasts have a ton of beaters both t the henchman and enforcer level. 

Do not dismiss the dead outlaws they are more durable than the look, and with Parker able to shoot into combat and hit everyone dropping scheme markers for them to eat they can tar pit pretty well

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@Diceman87 @beergod 

I've found that Anna works amazingly if you need to have models engaged but still do damage to them. I've used Midnight Stalker for Hold Up Their Forces scheme and then had Anna fire into the group with that sweet minimum three damage to great effect.  It's especially great if you get the horror duel trigger.  

In the one game I used the Dead Outlaws, they definitely stayed around longer than they should have.   I ran a Dead Outlaw and a Wokou Raider together and with the scheme markers dropping from the Raider and Parker, the Outlaw stayed alive and did some mean damage.  Never got a chance to use its Curse of the Covetous though. Seems the Dead Outlaws can be cheaper tarpits with pushes from Parker and using their Curse of the Covetous but all their damage is in their shoot action.

I'm torn on who else to bring as a Beater.  I feel that you almost need to bring Mad Dog because of his 0 action to place the marker to ignore cover which makes your crew way more effective but that leaves the crew without any sort of melee tarpit.  I'd like to try the Nothing Beast but his defense would be crap because of the card draw in the Parker crew. 

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I'm biased because I love the miniature, but what about Strongarm as a beater? Apart for the high Wd and Armor 2, he can charge whatever he wants, can shoot like a pro and the Ml attacks can be a wrecking ball. The (0) action can buff whatever you need that turn (and boy, +2 sh one turn as you close in, and then +1Ml damage the next can be gold). 

I will put a Parker crew together in some future and this is one of my first candidates on the crew's roster. But it's just an idea for now. Someone with more experience can give an opinion about it?

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As stated before, shooting has some of the most restrictions.  What are people's thoughts about using two of "The Guilty" with Parker and Mad Dog? You give Parker and Mad Dog the Tormented characteristic and then have The Guilty engage in melee combat with the enemy. Due to their Sympathy of the Damned ability, other Tormented do no flip a card for shooting into engagement.  Also, the Dead Outlaws are Tormented so they would benefit from this too.  Lastly, The Guilty are decently tanky with Hard to Kill and Df 6.  You could throw the regen trinket from the Emissary on one and heal them up with Doc.  

My crew idea for this would be something like 

Parker
-Coordinated Heist
-Survivalist
-Oath Keeper

Doc

Mad Dog
-Lucky Poncho

Emissary
-Conflux of Stolen Goods

The Guilty

The Guilty

Dead Outlaw

This still leaves you with another 9 soulstones for a beater or whatever you wanna take.  Maybe add in a Wokou Raider or something else that hits hard and is already Tormented (Envy perhaps?).  This obviously works really well with killy schemes and strats and since you have 8+ models, could be decent for schemes.  I need to try this out on Vassal and report back how it does or if someone else wants to try it a few times, that would be great! :D

As a last thought, having this many minions would allow for more minions to benefit from discarding Hidden Steel Plate.

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