Help me prepare for an upcoming Tournamet (Iron Scorpious )

[Baratta]

Hello,

I have an upcoming tournament this weekend were the TO has decide to use the Iron Scorpius rule. (You can only play a master once), it will be 3 rounds. I haven’t much experience preparing for a tournament with this characteristics so any input is appreciated. I usually play one master at most two (Nellie is usually the one I use) for tournaments so I adapt my list depending on my opponents faction with just minor changes, in this case I want to prepare 3 list and go with them. I will post the Rounds and my ideas, here goes.

•             Round 1

Extraction (Rams)/Standard Deployment

(Paired Rams) Surround Them

(Number 5) Undercover Entourage

(Number 6) Inescapable Trap

(Number 10) Take one for the team

(Number 13) Public Demonstration 

I was thinking Lucius with 2xThralls+1xGuardian+The Jury as they can take the middle and hold on very effectively and take out what they engage. A watcher for Surround them and if he has Hench/enforcer take Public Demonstration, if he does not Take one for the team with the watcher. A possibility is to use the Terracota and a Queller for SS and a card cycle. Also the Queller can put suppression markers and give out ignore armor if its needed. 

•             Round 2

Ply for Information (Rams)/Flank deployment

(Paired Rams) Surround Them

(Number 2) Dig Their Graves

(Number 6) Inescapable Trap

(Number 8) Search the Ruins

(Number 10) Take one for the team 

I like Nelly for this as I like her with PLY with 3 Hench and LLC (Phiona/Frank/Jury). Scheme wise there are two possibilities, go for the watcher and try (Surround them and Take one for the Team) while we are engaged and plying or go Kill scheme and try Dig their Graves(Phiona is good at this) and maybe Search or Surround them.

•             Round 3

Headhunter (Tomes)/Close Deployment

(Paired Tomes) Eliminate the leadership

(Number 1) Cover Breakthrough

(Number 4) Hold up their forces

(Number 8) Search the Ruins

(Number 13) Public Demonstration

This is where I am not very comfortable, I didn’t play much 2017 so I am no very experience with Head Hunter, the times I played it I used Nellie and  never did to well, I usually dropped the head and couldn’t pick it up. I think Lady J is viable here with Sword fighter and closed deployment. Scheme wise I think Eliminate + Search the Ruins. List I am thinking something like Frank + Peace keeper + Recruiter+ Brutal effigy. If you have any good suggestions here it will greatly appreciated as my experience with Lady J is very limited, I prefer Perdita for killy Strats but not for dropping heads at range for my opponent to pick up.

I have a lot of Guild miniatures and access to almost everything except Mccabe and the brutal emissary really don’t like both. I haven’t played much Hoffmann or Sonnia(I think Sonnia for Blasting in Extraction might be interesting). If you have any suggestion I would really appreciated it as I am taking this week to prepare for the tournament and I am looking to bounce ideas with other people’s experience and not sure havin just 3 master will be a bad idea and put me in a bad spot/bad match up.

[Lokibri]

Always, always, always taking perdita on ply! Nino feels just so unfair when you got him in a safe and overlooking position.

I agree with Round 1 lucius. Sounds very doable. Queeg could be an alternative for the guardian.

Lady j for round 3 would also be my pick or you go for hoffmann. Extremely difficukt to take down and a ball of death rolling over your opponent.

[4thstringer]

2 hours ago, Baratta said:

Hello,

I have an upcoming tournament this weekend were the TO has decide to use the Iron Scorpius rule. (You can only play a master once), it will be 3 rounds. I haven’t much experience preparing for a tournament with this characteristics so any input is appreciated. I usually play one master at most two (Nellie is usually the one I use) for tournaments so I adapt my list depending on my opponents faction with just minor changes, in this case I want to prepare 3 list and go with them. I will post the Rounds and my ideas, here goes.

•             Round 1

Extraction (Rams)/Standard Deployment

(Paired Rams) Surround Them

(Number 5) Undercover Entourage

(Number 6) Inescapable Trap

(Number 10) Take one for the team

(Number 13) Public Demonstration 

I was thinking Lucius with 2xThralls+1xGuardian+The Jury as they can take the middle and hold on very effectively and take out what they engage. A watcher for Surround them and if he has Hench/enforcer take Public Demonstration, if he does not Take one for the team with the watcher. A possibility is to use the Terracota and a Queller for SS and a card cycle. Also the Queller can put suppression markers and give out ignore armor if its needed. 

•             Round 2

Ply for Information (Rams)/Flank deployment

(Paired Rams) Surround Them

(Number 2) Dig Their Graves

(Number 6) Inescapable Trap

(Number 😎 Search the Ruins

(Number 10) Take one for the team 

I like Nelly for this as I like her with PLY with 3 Hench and LLC (Phiona/Frank/Jury). Scheme wise there are two possibilities, go for the watcher and try (Surround them and Take one for the Team) while we are engaged and plying or go Kill scheme and try Dig their Graves(Phiona is good at this) and maybe Search or Surround them.

•             Round 3

Headhunter (Tomes)/Close Deployment

(Paired Tomes) Eliminate the leadership

(Number 1) Cover Breakthrough

(Number 4) Hold up their forces

(Number 😎 Search the Ruins

(Number 13) Public Demonstration

This is where I am not very comfortable, I didn’t play much 2017 so I am no very experience with Head Hunter, the times I played it I used Nellie and  never did to well, I usually dropped the head and couldn’t pick it up. I think Lady J is viable here with Sword fighter and closed deployment. Scheme wise I think Eliminate + Search the Ruins. List I am thinking something like Frank + Peace keeper + Recruiter+ Brutal effigy. If you have any good suggestions here it will greatly appreciated as my experience with Lady J is very limited, I prefer Perdita for killy Strats but not for dropping heads at range for my opponent to pick up.

I have a lot of Guild miniatures and access to almost everything except Mccabe and the brutal emissary really don’t like both. I haven’t played much Hoffmann or Sonnia(I think Sonnia for Blasting in Extraction might be interesting). If you have any suggestion I would really appreciated it as I am taking this week to prepare for the tournament and I am looking to bounce ideas with other people’s experience and not sure havin just 3 master will be a bad idea and put me in a bad spot/bad match up.

 

Ok, so to me, Rnd 1 is a good nellie round so I would bring nellie for that one if you are comfortable with her.  I like her a lot in extraction.

Ply is good with Lucius or Hoffman, and I would bring a list that had Nino and abuela, so that you can make it painful to try to ply you.  Getting an early activation that plys three models can really make it hard for your opponent, but make sure you control where things are so they can't easily focus hit for severe on you.

 

Headhunter is for Austringers.  I would bring LJ if you are comfortable with her, Though if you don't take Lucius in Rd. 2 he is also quite good at Headhunter 

[thewrathchilde]

I agree with Lokibri- for Ply Perdita w/Nino, Frank, and a Master Hunter is almost an auto-take that is very difficult for your opponent to over come without significant effort. If you don't like Perdita for it then my back-up for Ply is often Lucius though you already have him selected for Extraction. 

I like Lucius for Extraction though I am not a fan of the Jury and would want an Investigator in there too. You get so much benefit out of Thralls an Investigator and a Scheme Marker..... alternately you could look at flipping them and run Lady J in Extraction. I think this is the better choice and would save Lucius for later. Lady J can do Extraction, Undercover very easily with either Take One (Effigy) or Surround Them pretty well. Her with Frank and Phiona in the middle are the unstoppable force pushing the marker forward with her towards ht enemy deployment zone. 

Game 3 is the one that screams Lucius- Thrall kills, Thrall Kills, drop Scheme Marker Thralls attack again if needed, Lucius Issues Command to move a model and pick up the head...... and he can let models interact while engaged. And Public Demo with Lucius is basically 3 x free points. Alternately it could be a good pool for Nellie as well. Fast is more AP to get to and pick up heads. With Phiona and Allison Dade you can also get the marker dropping going for Search, etc. 

[Rufess]

I would switch Lucius and Nellie for round 1 and 2. Nellie with her henchmen all-star team can be able to fight for the middle place for scoring Extraction. And the combination of activation control and push and place of Nellie also means easy point on Inescapable Trap and Public Demonstration.

Lucius, on the other hand, would be prefect choice for round 2. The push and the (1) interact action from issue command can gain intel in a single AP. The don't mind me aura and combine with thrall extra attack will make Dig Their Graves much more easy.

[Baratta]

Thank you for your comments. That’s exactly what I needed, comments to get me to think outside of my box. Will make some crew lists so you can comment on them. Perdita for ply with Nino and Frank hadn’t crossed my mind.

I see suggestion for two miniatures I don’t have (Monster Hunters and Investigators) one reason I stopped playing Perdita was the lack of MH miniature, I don´t feel comfortable proxing them and photocopying the cards from the book, Do you think they are worth it to go through that trouble?

Hoffmann I haven’t played before so not sure how to proceed with him, any suggestions? I have hear Frank + Ryle + go real well.

[thewrathchilde]

9 hours ago, Rufess said:

I would switch Lucius and Nellie for round 1 and 2. Nellie with her henchmen all-star team can be able to fight for the middle place for scoring Extraction. And the combination of activation control and push and place of Nellie also means easy point on Inescapable Trap and Public Demonstration.

 

I run Lady J with the same type of hard hitting crew that is frequently used with Nellie and find it to be very effective in something like Extraction. Lady J is a beast on her own in combat and paired with Frank, Phiona, and an Executioner or Judge usually has no problem holding a point.  When you are running Henchman heavy you also have less choices for something like Public Demo- its easier in something like Extraction than some other Strategies but I might lean towards Surround Them or Take One for the Team instead with either Lady J or Nellie. 

I prefer to save Lucius or Nellie for the strategies where having that extra AP and/or pushes to do things like pick up heads, rush over to get a Symbol marker, etc can make a huge difference in scoring. 

[thewrathchilde]

8 hours ago, Baratta said:

I see suggestion for two miniatures I don’t have (Monster Hunters and Investigators) one reason I stopped playing Perdita was the lack of MH miniature, I don´t feel comfortable proxing them and photocopying the cards from the book, Do you think they are worth it to go through that trouble?

I think it is worth it. In the Perdita list the MH provides the cheapest/best option to get a 4th Family member into the list and they are very good for their cost. I would also say the same for the Investigator- especially in something like a Lucius list with Thralls. In the Lucius list the you want to drop scheme marker/s where they can enable your Thralls to get the extra attack and having the Investigator in the mix gives you another push and more card draw plus they have a decent amount of wounds for their cost providing more fodder for Devil's Deal. Additionally they give you more offensive scheme/scrap/corpse with Remove Evidence and anti-scheme capability with Flash the Badge. 

I think the investigators are top and they were in my cart and on order virtually as soon as they were up for pre-order. If you can find an appropriate model I think they are definitely worth the effort to proxy. 

[Baratta]

So this are the list I came up with. I am having a really thought time deciding which master to use for the rounds. Round 1, I like Lucius/Lady J, round 2 I like Nelly/Lucius and maybe Perdita(proxing the MH) and round 3 i favor Lucius/Lady J. I am surprised that I like Lucius for every game,  round 1 he has staying power to hold the middle, round 2 thralls are great at ply with issue command and negatives to wound and round 3 he can make them interact while engage to pick up heads and he make Thralls a lot more killy.

 I am not considering Hoff as I have played him once and am not very experience, but he seems good at HH. Perdita maybe an option for round 2 (ply) as I can proxy the Monster hunters, Any thought on Nellie with Nino and 2 MH? Any comments on the lists are welcomed.

Game 1  Extraction

Leader: Lucius - Cache:(4)
   Deep Pockets 2ss
   Condescending 1ss
The Scribe 2ss
The Jury 8ss
Witchling Thrall 9ss
Witchling Thrall 9ss
Thalarian Queller 6ss
Guild Austringer 6ss --> Invetigator?
Guardian 7ss 

Game 2 Ply

Leader: Nellie Cochrane - Cache:(4)
   Delegation 1ss
   Guild Funds 1ss
   Misleading Headlines 1ss
The Printing Press 3ss
Francisco Ortega 8ss
   Wade In 1ss
   Lead Lined Coat 1ss
Phiona Gage 8ss
   Lead Lined Coat 1ss
The Jury 8ss
   Lead Lined Coat 1ss
Watcher 4ss
Guild Austringer 6ss
Guild Guard 3ss
Guild Guard 3ss

Game 3 Head Hunter

Leader: Lady Justice - Cache:(4)
   Swordfighter 1ss
   Badge of Office 2ss
Scales of Justice 3ss
Francisco Ortega 8ss
   Lead Lined Coat 1ss
   Wade In 1ss
The Jury 8ss
   Lead Lined Coat 1ss
   A Debt To The Guild 1ss
Phiona Gage 8ss
   Lead Lined Coat 1ss
   A Debt To The Guild 1ss
Death Marshal Recruiter 7ss
Brutal Effigy 4ss
Guild Guard 3ss 

 

[thewrathchilde]

Will provide a more detailed replay later if necessary.

 

my initial reaction is that I would switch the lists to rounds and take your Lady J list in Extraction and Lucius in Headhunter. Lady J is built in terms of damage output and survivability for something like Extraction where she and her crew can control territory and kill anything that comes close. You can take Undercover on her and move  the Extraction marker towards their deployment zone so you are getting the twofer out of it without spending additional resources beyond what you already will with the marker. Get while crew moves forward so it doesn’t cost you anything. The second scheme is a little trickier but there are some good options in the pool.

 

Lucius gives more mileage in Headhunter IMO where he can significantly enhance your ability to complete the strategy. The Thralls w/ scheme marker dropper and Lucius waking can get plenty of AP for killing and with Issue Command he can move them over to pick up the heads effectively plus enable them to do it while engaged. 

 

Nellie's kind of the “get out of jail” card that can do just about anything. She can do Ply effectively or do any of the others as well.

i will add some commentary about the lists when I get time- your choices are perfectly reasonable but there are some choices I would make differently that I will discuss. 

[thewrathchilde]

since I already talked a little about the match list/leader to strategy here I will just focus on providing some feedback on the lists themselves.

Lucius Crew: I really like the Investigator with the Thralls for the reasons I mentioned earlier- the push, the card draw, and the extra attack you can get with any scheme marker dropper with the Thralls. I prefer the Investigator more than the Austringer and also like the Sanctioned Spellcaster for this slot in some cases. I kind of look at the Queller, Investigator, and Spellcaster as a flex slot that I swap or rotate out based on what I need in most lists- with Lucius I generally like to get 2 out of 3 into my list. Against most opponents it would be the Queller and the Investigator, against Ressers then it is probably the Investigator and the Spellcaster. I am also not a big fan of the Guardian. In its place I usually run 2 x Guild Guard and then save the extra point to get another upgrade on my Henchman or Lucius. The Guild Guard are surprisingly effective against a lot of DF. 4-5 targets and the Halt trigger on their Sh can catch a lot of people by surprise. Also if you switch and run this in Headhunter then their Investigate ability can really come in handy in conjunction with Guild Intelligence to let you deal with enemy scheme markers for either Covert Breakthrough or for Search the Ruins. 

I am not a fan of the Jury- either with Lucius or with the masters. If I am choosing my priority for Henchman with just about any Guild Master the Jury is my 3rd or 4th pick- I understand that she can give Masks which can be useful for triggers but with Lucius and Devil's Deal you normally aren't going to have a problem when he needs them for his triggers without having to burn an extra card to get them. When you don't need that ability I find Phiona or the Judge more survivable for the points and Phiona or Frank for beneficial for supporting Lucius (either El Mayor from Frank, or dropping markers with Phiona). In my Lucius lists I used to run Frank exclusively to even further buff Lucius so I can run him hear the front without too much concern; lately I have been running Phiona as much or more as I run Frank. It is almost always one or the other for me as I never have the points for both. With Phiona I usually go LLC and Transparency. I take Transparency even in pools where I don't need the markers for strats/schemes in order to capitalize off of Secret Objectives on Lucius when he doesn't need his (0) for Guild Intelligence. For the cost of the Jury you can get Phiona who is better with terrain w/unimpeded, higher defense when touching terrain, comes stock with Hard to Kill, and with the point you save from the Guardian swap for 2 x Guild Guard you can give her Transparency if you switch Lucius's upgrades around. 

 

For the Nellie list, as with the others, I would swap out the Jury for another choice. With most masters my Henchman trio (nothing earth shattering or original here) is Frank, Phiona, and the Executioner. I get more mileage out of the Executioner w/Ready to Work and he comes in handy for shutting down defensive triggers and eating scheme markers for me as well. I also am not a huge fan of the Watcher and would be more apt to add a Field Reporter, more upgrades/stones, or something else. The Watcher doesn't seem to add a lot of capability to enhance what the rest of the crew is doing with Nelliie. I would also probably consider swapping out the Austringer for a Queller or some other choice as well. You can always take the basic Nellie list and swap in Nino and a Monster Hunter and with Frank already in the list still be able to shut down Ply pretty well while retaining a lot of offensive capability. The list looks kind of wonky- Nellie w/Delegation, Misleading, Printing Press, Frank w/Wade In & LLC, Phiona w/LLC & Transparency, Executioner w/RTW, Nino, Monster Hunter, and a Guild Guard- but in theory could still be pretty effective and have a lot of punch. I usually think GG are better in duplicate but even in this its still a 3 x stone significant activation. If you can bring yourself to only run 7 x models counting on Nellie's Misinformation ability to make up the difference in activations then you an drop the Guard to take another upgrade on Nellie and add Hair Trigger to Nino....If you haven't had practice with Nino and the Family though to shut down Ply then you might be better off just going with the standard Nellie list. 

 

With Lady J I would offer the same commentary concerning the Jury. As above I run her with Frank, Phiona, and the Executioner. The Recruiter can be a great choice with her or the Queller provides another option if you are expecting armor or incorporeal. If you convert the Jury to the Executioner the point saved can go to another stone or upgrade on Lady J like Last Stand. Most of the time I run her with Vendetta instead of the Badge as with the Effigy and her heal it’s pretty easy to keep her full. I am not a fan of the Scales and typically would recommend a second Guild Guard instead. The biggest suggestion I would make is to run her in Extraction and then swap Lucius over to Headhunter as I mentioned in the previous post. 

[jchrisobrien]

I'm surprised about the Jury hate!  I can see she's not the best choice in the Lucius or Nellie list.  There's not a lot of need for masks in the listed crews.  I've had terrible luck with the Executioner.  I love the model, but my opponents usually target them early and kill them quickly before they get to shine.  I'll keep trying to make them work, though.  

The Jury is always in my Lady J (and Perdita) lists.  Both of them use masks a lot, and the DM Recruiter uses them too.  Another big plus in the Jury's favor is her healing and removing conditions.  I also like the scales a lot for card draw.  If you are pitching cards for the Jury, or for "justice on the edge of a blade" you should have plenty of chances to draw cards.  If you are even on cards you can do defensive and then draw one!

 

[thewrathchilde]

12 minutes ago, jchrisobrien said:

I'm surprised about the Jury hate!  I can see she's not the best choice in the Lucius or Nellie list.  There's not a lot of need for masks in the listed crews.  I've had terrible luck with the Executioner.  I love the model, but my opponents usually target them early and kill them quickly before they get to shine.  I'll keep trying to make them work, though.  

The Jury is always in my Lady J (and Perdita) lists.  Both of them use masks a lot, and the DM Recruiter uses them too.  Another big plus in the Jury's favor is her healing and removing conditions.  I also like the scales a lot for card draw.  If you are pitching cards for the Jury, or for "justice on the edge of a blade" you should have plenty of chances to draw cards.  If you are even on cards you can do defensive and then draw one!

 

I don't disagree that their are situations where the Jury and Scales can be beneficial.... I just tend to get more value out of some other choices. Lady J is mask hungry but usually it's an issue of sequencing for me. I like to activate her late in the turn when I can because she can tank effectively and then maximize her counterattack and built in plus flips when she didn't charge. At this stage I usually either don't have the spare cards to pitch for the masks or even if I do I can't interrupt the sequencing to activate the Scales to replenish her hand. Usually I either hold masks or use stones to get the masks she needs and then get at least get one card a turn back from the Queller. 

The Jury can provide some limited healing and condition removal but with Lady J you get those things anyway. With the Effigy in the list there is another source of healing for Lady J and for most of the other models in my list the limited healing she provides isn't usually making a difference in life or death for the average model. It's not that I "hate" the Jury; it's just in most cases I find the other options to be better choices. Out of all of the masters we have, Lady J can probably get the best mileage out of her for the masks, the fact she is a Guild Marshall, etc but I find the others fit specific roles for me that work better with the way I play her. 

I really dig the Executioner and get mileage out of him in every game. He is as/more survivable than the Jury for me and with Love the Job and Unfaltering he usually stays around for a few turns unless they put multiple things into him that can pack in the damage. I am pretty reserved with him and careful not to overextend him early so he can be ganged up on and taken out and a lot of times will try to target things that can maximize his abilities and give him chances to to heal, eat scheme markers, etc. He is suck a great counter to a whole range of marker dropping schemes and can be murder on someone trying to complete Search the Ruins or Guarded Treasure. 

Doesn't make the way I play her "right" or the only way to play her- just what works for me. 

 

[thewrathchilde]

@Baratta, I tried out my version of the Lady J list in the pool you have listed for game 1 tonight just to test out my theory and see how it worked. I played against a "fluffy" Lynch List w/Lynch w/Rising, Work Up, and Burn Out, Huggy with Addict, Yamaziko, 3 x Illuminated, 2 x Beckoners, and 1 x Depleted. He was focusing on resilience on being able to score the strategy, control the marker, and use the Beckoners to drag my models out of position to either be attacked when vulnerable or prevent them from controlling the marker. 

i took Undercover on Lady J and (against my better judgement) took Inescapable Trap because I felt with the grouping of models in the middle to fight for the marker that Transparency on Phiona would let me score it easily..... this was a mistake. I should have just took Surround them so I could kill first and scheme later and drop markers in the other corners after dragging the marker to the other deployment zone with Lady J. 

Lady J, Phiona, and Frank dominated the center backed up by the Effigy and the Queller with the Guild Guard providing me with finishers early to score that last point of damage or two in order to make sure I didn't accidentally give away 2 its early from Take One. As it turned oath took Undercover on Yamaziko and Public Demo on the 3 x Illuminated but I killed two of them turn two so he only scored one point from it. He conceded at the bottom of Turn 3 with 1 x Beckoner, Lynch, and Yamaziko as his only models left. I had taken a wound here and there (Lady J took 5-6 on turn 2 but healed back up from the Effigy's buff and her (0) action) and my only casualty had been the Executioner. 

We talked through the next two turns when he conceded and agreed that it would have ended up a 7-5 win in my favor if I were unable to chase down Yamaziko with Phiona and Frank or if I did catch her and take her below half or kill her that the victory margin would expand in my favor. He scored 1 x point for Extraction, 1 x point for Public Demo, and 3 x points for Endercover. I scored 4 x points for Extraction and 3 x points for Undercover. Had I taken Surround Them instead of Inescapable Trap (like I knew I should) then I could have scored the full 10 pts. I wasn't able to score Inescapable Trap as I killed through his core crew to fast to score it. On turn 2 and turn 3 I "could" have scored it but would have had to choose to not kill his last Illuminated and Huggy which would have let me score the Inescapable twice but would have let him score 1 more point for the strategy and would have given him more models and AP on turn 3 to challenge my control of the center and the marker. 

I definitely think that at least with Lady J, Undercover and Surround Them are the schemes of choice. If you decide to stay with Lucius then Public Demo is a good option as well with 2 x Thralls and the Queller or Investigator. 

 

[Baratta]

7 hours ago, thewrathchilde said:

@Baratta, I tried out my version of the Lady J list in the pool you have listed for game 1 tonight just to test out my theory and see how it worked. I played against a "fluffy" Lynch List w/Lynch w/Rising, Work Up, and Burn Out, Huggy with Addict, Yamaziko, 3 x Illuminated, 2 x Beckoners, and 1 x Depleted. He was focusing on resilience on being able to score the strategy, control the marker, and use the Beckoners to drag my models out of position to either be attacked when vulnerable or prevent them from controlling the marker. 

i took Undercover on Lady J and (against my better judgement) took Inescapable Trap because I felt with the grouping of models in the middle to fight for the marker that Transparency on Phiona would let me score it easily..... this was a mistake. I should have just took Surround them so I could kill first and scheme later and drop markers in the other corners after dragging the marker to the other deployment zone with Lady J. 

Lady J, Phiona, and Frank dominated the center backed up by the Effigy and the Queller with the Guild Guard providing me with finishers early to score that last point of damage or two in order to make sure I didn't accidentally give away 2 its early from Take One. As it turned oath took Undercover on Yamaziko and Public Demo on the 3 x Illuminated but I killed two of them turn two so he only scored one point from it. He conceded at the bottom of Turn 3 with 1 x Beckoner, Lynch, and Yamaziko as his only models left. I had taken a wound here and there (Lady J took 5-6 on turn 2 but healed back up from the Effigy's buff and her (0) action) and my only casualty had been the Executioner. 

We talked through the next two turns when he conceded and agreed that it would have ended up a 7-5 win in my favor if I were unable to chase down Yamaziko with Phiona and Frank or if I did catch her and take her below half or kill her that the victory margin would expand in my favor. He scored 1 x point for Extraction, 1 x point for Public Demo, and 3 x points for Endercover. I scored 4 x points for Extraction and 3 x points for Undercover. Had I taken Surround Them instead of Inescapable Trap (like I knew I should) then I could have scored the full 10 pts. I wasn't able to score Inescapable Trap as I killed through his core crew to fast to score it. On turn 2 and turn 3 I "could" have scored it but would have had to choose to not kill his last Illuminated and Huggy which would have let me score the Inescapable twice but would have let him score 1 more point for the strategy and would have given him more models and AP on turn 3 to challenge my control of the center and the marker. 

I definitely think that at least with Lady J, Undercover and Surround Them are the schemes of choice. If you decide to stay with Lucius then Public Demo is a good option as well with 2 x Thralls and the Queller or Investigator. 

 

Thank you for all the feedback, you make very good points and have tempted me to change the match up. the tournament is tomorrow so I will give feedback monday.

[jchrisobrien]

thewrathchilde, I like your points on the Executioner, I'll have to start using him more. 

[thewrathchilde]

1 hour ago, jchrisobrien said:

thewrathchilde, I like your points on the Executioner, I'll have to start using him more. 

thx, the big thing is not to throw him out there like an indestructible tank. With his ability to discard the upgrade to Charge as a (1) action you can protect him (keep him back, behind terrain, in the second echelon) and then walk charge if needed. A lot of time I am able to just lead with other models and have him as the 2 or 3 punch into their lines and then can often drop the upgrade to give him an extra AP after the charge for either that 3rd attack on a target or to give him an extra AP to attack something else, reposition afterwards, etc. 

If you get into a strategy/scheme pool with him where your opponent is having to drop scheme markers to score then you can really live the dream with him. 

[Baratta]

Hello,

Overall Iron Scorpius is a great experience but not something I would do regularly. All players that attended went for it which also was great. Here is a brief summary, if you have more question feel free to ask.

Game 1 - Extraction

Was against a Neverborn playing Lilith, I went with Lady J and dropped the Jury for the Executioner and the scales for another Guild Guard.

We tied 7 vs 7 in a game that I should have lost, 7 – 4. He took Inescapable Trap (2pts) dopple was great for this (LadyJ and Frank were close both times he scored it, as they were also engaged) and Public demonstration (2pts) Lady J killed a Waldgeist so he could only score 2 pts. I took Surround them (1pt) as he took the scheme marker from my corner that the guild guard placed, Lilith switched a Guild guard and killed him and the other was engaged with Mr., Graves and died next turn. I sent both in one flank and the Brutal Effigy on the other, I took Take one with the Brutal and his mistake was killing it turn 5 when he was trying to put the other scheme marker, he should have just engaged it and not killed it. He gave me the Tie there, as we both scored 3 pts for extraction. I really didn’t like Lady J as she kept the middle with frank ant the recruiter but I think she doesn’t help much with the schemes. My mistake was not taking undercover as suggested, but _I thought lady J would die, at most I would have scored 2 pts I think as he moved the extraction to my side and I never got to move it to his side as he always had more miniatures. Executioner did nothing all game, Lilith rooted him all game long I think that was great play on his part. I think a great play would have been to take Undercover and fake Surround them.

Game 2 - Ply for Information

Was against Resser so I prepared for Nico, I was surprised when he announced Kirai which I had never played against.

I won 8 vs 2, I took a Sanctioned spell caster to deny lures and he didn’t have a single lure (But CA vs Ethereal was great). Nelly and the Watcher dominated this game, he took Inescapable Trap (2pts) which was hard to not give as he started with a Hanged and summoned a second one so there where not many places for me to go outside my setup, his other scheme was Dig their graves (0 pts) as I did not lose any miniatures (Nelly and Jury healing was more than enough to keep everything alive) I took surround them and scored (2 pts), his crew was very slow so he could only contest one corner as the watcher fly and move 6 was more than enough to secure 2 markers, he sent Ying after the watcher which I don’t think was a good play as he is move 4. I also took Dig their graves (3pts) which I think I scored easily because of a misplay on his part. I burn my activation first turn dropping low cards to see where he would move to, he went to my right flank and there were 2 big building there  which I used to funnel his miniatures, I didn’t move out and proceed to shoot with frank just to ping DMG in Izamu, he then proceeded to summon Ikiryo engaged with frank and Phiona (I didn’t know he could do that) but it turn to be in my favor as I scored dig first turn with Phiona with transparency. Second turn I also burn activation and he was reluctant to engage as I would score ply, so he just stayed outside of charge range and moved up beside the buildings, I shoot Kirai hoping he would summon Ikiryo and he did, well I Plyed it twice and killed it for another dig grave, he just DMG frank which was OK for me, this put him on the back foot sot turn 3 he started to move closer and I just went the opposite way, Nelly started giving slow to his miniatures specially Izamu and that how the rest of the game went, he used Kirai to walk, walk place scheme marker for Trap, and I was always one ply, last turn we tied and that was game. It really showed he didn’t have much experience versus nelly as summoning Ikiryo was a mistake I could exploit.

Game 3 – Headhunter

Was against another Resser player I know well, and there was no surprise here, I know I would face Nico vs Lucius which was not good for me.

I really didn’t know how to approach this game, Nico is a really hard match up for me as he can just stay back and summon all game long, out activate me and flood me over with his horde of zombies. I thought of playing Sonnia and just blast and hope for the best, but the board did not favor Range as there was a lot of blocking terrain (buildings) and a lot small ht2 boxes to block LOS, and what I killed would give him easy access to heads. So Lucius would have to try and beat him. I took both thralls and a guardian for Hold up there forces a queller to put markers down and limit his summoning and his lures. My plan was to go for Hold up there forces and search in the middle as there was a lot of terrain there with a big building in the middle where I places both thralls behind so if he sent anything through they would be engaged with them, the scribe in the middle of them to up there DF, first turn he summoned a Kentauri and a necro punk and sent them on the other flank (I thought cover breakthrough) and sent the investigator and the guardian to engaged them, he managed to put down to schemes before I could killed them and took two head for (2pts) on round 2 and 3, Investigator ate his scheme markers for cards(Really liked him). He amassed a great force of Kentauri and punk zombies, and went in turn 3 he couldn’t commit all to one side of the building so he had to split them up, he had two belles that couldn’t do nothing for the first 2 turns as they didn’t have LOS and they were to one side so a suppression marker eliminated there suits for lure, ha held them back as to not give me more heads. I scored (3 pts) for hold up there forces which he tried to deny luring either one of his miniatures or one of mine but between the 2 thrall and 1 guardian and Lucius able to push/move them I scored all 3 pts as he had more miniatures. The Guardian resisted and so did the Thralls I only lost one Thrall turn 4. He pushed everything turn 3 and 4 to deny my scheme markers for search, and I knew I wouldn’t score point there. The Thrall attacked Asura for the heal on turn 4 and red joker de DMG so a head dropped that he pick up with a belle luring me and a kentauri so he was able to score (2pts) for Head hunter. Turn 5 he started to pick up my scheme markers and lured my surviving thrall and killed my scribe, Investigator removed some scheme markers but I know he would score 3 pts for cover as I I just didn’t have the AP any more to deny it, I thought he had search, but I realize he didn’t put any scheme markers down in the middle, so I thought Eliminated the leadership… So my guardian and thrall keep the middle and I sent Lucius to the one of my deployment corners opposite were he had most  his forces (he has 3 kentauri and 3 punk) and prepared to give negative flips and for stones and try to survive round 5 and not give him points for eliminate. He didn’t have any scheme marker for Cover so I was hoping he didn’t have enough AP to put Scheme markers and attack Lucius to get full point as I was capped at 5, (2 pts for heads and 3pts for Hold)  I was sure I lost as he had (2pts) for HH and he would score (3pts) for cover, and he just had to reduce Lucius to half wounds for (1pts) of eliminate and it would be 5 vs 6 in his favor. He went to put the scheme marker for cover but the problem was that he didn’t have the AP to get pass my miniatures and put 3 scheme markers, as Lucius had legalize so that corner was off limits, so he only scored (2pts) for cover and he did not attack Lucius, the game ended 5-4 in my favor, as it turn out he had also picked Hold up there forces (really bad pick as I never had 2 miniatures together and the Belles never got a good angle to use lures because of the suppression markers).

So I won but the only game I feel confident about was game 2, game 3 I would have lost if he picked another scheme and did give me 2 heads trying to score breakthrough so early, he could have waited to do it at the end but it was also do to him trying to score Hold that made go for it.

Well its seems lady Luck was on my side. I was first place in the tournament, so thank you every one who put there two cent in, specially @thewrathchilde

I hope you like the summary of the game and really appreciate all the input, as it helps in improving my gameplay.

 

[thewrathchilde]

17 hours ago, Baratta said:

I really didn’t like Lady J as she kept the middle with frank ant the recruiter but I think she doesn’t help much with the schemes. My mistake was not taking undercover as suggested, but _I thought lady J would die, at most I would have scored 2 pts I think as he moved the extraction to my side and I never got to move it to his side as he always had more miniatures. 

with her it depends on the schemes; with Undercover she helps by being incredibly tanky. Between her native (0) action heal, stones, and the (0) action from the Effigy she usually can effectively tank against all but the most dedicated kill runs and/or Red Jokers. With her in the middle (+ Frank, Phiona, and the Executioner) you should be killing out enough of their stuff that you are winning the extraction battle in most games and moving the Extraction marker in the direction that is advantageous to you. In this case moving it towards their deployment zone to enable you to score Undercover and hit the other corners for surround them. 

Even though you don't need it I usually drop markers in both my corners first turn for Surround Them just to make it harder for them to deny. I can't score 2 x pts for my own corners but now they have to get to both. 

Sounds like a good game! A little more experience with Lady J in this type of list and strat/scheme pool and it will come more easily. She is actually a really good match against Lilith. She has all the tools to fight against her (Blind Fighter, MI 7, Condition Removal) and can do really well in this type of game. 

17 hours ago, Baratta said:

Game 2 - Ply for Information

Was against Resser so I prepared for Nico, I was surprised when he announced Kirai which I had never played against.

I won 8 vs 2, I took a Sanctioned spell caster to deny lures and he didn’t have a single lure (But CA vs Ethereal was great). 

Awesome! Kirai is a tough match. Glad it worked out for you. 

17 hours ago, Baratta said:

Game 3 – Headhunter

Was against another Resser player I know well, and there was no surprise here, I know I would face Nico vs Lucius which was not good for me.

 

Don't sell yourself short. Sounds like you played a tough game and paid attention to what you needed to in order to pull it out. I probably would have considered Public Demo for the second scheme. It is usually easy to score with Lucius pushing Thralls around and can be scored quickly so you can focus on other things. Against a lot of opponents Search is probably a good choice but with something like Nico that can snowball over the course of the game it can be hard to get what you need near the end for Search. It's easier with Lucius enabling Don't Mind Me so you can drop at the end no matter what he has but you still have to get there and have models to do it with. 

 

17 hours ago, Baratta said:

 

Well its seems lady Luck was on my side. I was first place in the tournament, so thank you every one who put there two cent in

I hope you like the summary of the game and really appreciate all the input, as it helps in improving my gameplay.

AWESOME! Congratulations. Good report and I am glad we (the forum) were able to add something of value to you in your preparation. Nothing is better than seeing a little more activity lately on the board and some of the good discussion about models, strategies, and preparation for a tournament. Great job with the win!