Backdraft Arcanist models.

[WWHSD]

Can anyone that’s been lucky enough to get an update share more info about these models for the rest of us?

[cbtb11235813]

As far as I know, I'm the only one who got the update (or no one on AWP has chimed in with it as well). I won't say anything yet because I honestly don't know how much I can say. But expect more info very soon

[WWHSD]

Looks like Android users are reporting that they've started receiving the update. Would anyone care to give some model summaries for those of us without Androids?

[Franchute]

1 minute ago, WWHSD said:

 those of us without Androids?

Any arcanist has a robot sitting around! XD

[WWHSD]

It looks like it hit the Apple App store as well.

Fire Golem - It's a Rare 1 Enforcer and costs 9 stones. It's got a low but not horrible Df4 and got Wk6. As stated in the preview it has an ability that can reduce damage by reducing the model's burning value. Like Fire Gamin, he blows up when killed. He doesn't remove the burning condition at the end of the turn or take damage from Burning. At the end of his activation nearby models resolve their Burning condition and then remove half of it. He's got a close attack one with a poor damage track that inflicts burning and has a trigger to inflict more burning. He's got a slightly stronger ranged attack that inflicts Burning and has triggers to discard scheme markers or do more burning. He has a zero action that lets him transfer Burning from a model that he places in base contact with and one that lets him discard a card to give all models within 3 inches (including himself) Burning +1.

Fitzsimmons - He's a rare 1 Henchman that costs 8 stones. He's got a statline that you'd expect on a 8 Stone Henchman. He has an aura that allows nearby friendly M&SU models to reduce all damage they suffer by 1. At the end of his activation he can make a nearby scheme marker explode, enemies that fail a Wk duel take damage and get burning. He's got a close attack that gets a plus flip and has a weak damage track. It can do more damage if he is near friendly M&SU models. He's got a ranged attack that causes an enemy near a scheme marker to take damage and get burning. He has a zero that lets him end burning on an enemy model to place a scheme marker.

Saboteurs - 4 Stone rare 2 minions. They've got a nice statline for a 4 stone model but nothing crazy.  They can draw a card after damaging an enemy near a scheme marker.  They have Disguised. Nearby enemies that cheat fate suffer 1 damage. They have a close attack with a weak damage track that inflicts the Posion condition and a ranged attack that can only target enemies near scheme markers that delas damage and inflicts burning.  

 

[WWHSD]

Fitzsimmons's damage reduction aura worries me a little bit with the Mages. 

[Squirrelich]

Hmmm... first keyword GOLEM out there. 

[katadder]

2 hours ago, WWHSD said:

Fitzsimmons's damage reduction aura worries me a little bit with the Mages. 

Yeah that is probably going to see alot of play.

I like the golem for my kaeris crew, just waiting for my preordered box now.

Saboteurs I am not a fan off

[WWHSD]

1 hour ago, katadder said:

Yeah that is probably going to see alot of play.

I like the golem for my kaeris crew, just waiting for my preordered box now.

Saboteurs I am not a fan off

The Saboteurs look interesting, especially if you are going to have a lot of scheme markers out on the table. They're a 4 stone model that gives you some card draw and makes it a bit more costly for enemies to cheat. If I'm reading it correctly, the damage from the Sabotage ability will trigger the card draw from Set Up For Success if the enemy is close enough to a scheme marker. 

I'm don't get why they have poison on their close attack. Like a lot of other Arcanist models that can inflict the Poison condition, it doesn't have the Infect trigger that Marcus's poison upgrade is looking for.

I'm a little disappointed with the Ca 5 on Detonate Hidden Charges. It seem a little low for an ability that can only be used if the target is close enough to a scheme marker and deals 1 damage and 1 burning. My opinion on that could totally change once I've tried them on the table.

[katadder]

Only costly for them to cheat if near the saboteurs. With df5 and 5 wounds and only a melee range of 1 I can't see much of an effect from them. Maybe time will see.

Fire golem is definitely my reason for the box and fitzwilliams is ok too

[WWHSD]

7 minutes ago, katadder said:

Only costly for them to cheat if near the saboteurs. With df5 and 5 wounds and only a melee range of 1 I can't see much of an effect from them. Maybe time will see.

Fire golem is definitely my reason for the box and fitzwilliams is ok too

Getting them around Ironsides with her Challenge Aura up is one of the places I see that come in handy. Also getting them near enemy models that want to be doing things other than walking and attacking and that need to hit TNs seem useful.  

I do think that these guys get better when scheme markers are worth more.

[cbtb11235813]

Yay, now we can talk about these. Overall I think everything looks just "not bad". The Golem fits in Kaeris, but not sure it does enough to really help her out. The overall theme of this box seems like it all requires too much setup for not enough payoff. Maybe I will change my mind when I see them on the table though. For example, Fitzsimmons' attack maxes out at min 3, and only if 2 more M&SU are in range. Granted you probably aren't taking him to be a solo beater. He and the Saboteurs both need scheme markers near the enemy to get much use out of them. The card draw may definitely come in handy from them though. 

.... then again who knows what their rules will look like in M3E now 😆

[katadder]

I think the golem will really help kaeris. Kaeris can put out what 10 burning? Imagine taking that and still having 5 burning left at the end of the turn and that's not including what the golem adds.

[WWHSD]

1 minute ago, cbtb11235813 said:

Yay, now we can talk about these. Overall I think everything looks just "not bad". The Golem fits in Kaeris, but not sure it does enough to really help her out. The overall theme of this box seems like it all requires too much setup for not enough payoff. Maybe I will change my mind when I see them on the table though. For example, Fitzsimmons' attack maxes out at min 3, and only if 2 more M&SU are in range. Granted you probably aren't taking him to be a solo beater. He and the Saboteurs both need scheme markers near the enemy to get much use out of them. The card draw may definitely come in handy from them though. 

.... then again who knows what their rules will look like in M3E now 😆

The Golem looks like it hits some of the things Kaeris needs. He's got a reliable way to tag a lot of models with burning and he can turn burning into damage during the round without having it go away completely, 

[Squirrelich]

I hope the golem sees some play.
Turn 1:
Carlos, drops scheme maker, blows it up. Carlos and Golem both get +2 burning (requires a TN and chucking low cards to fail the simple duel in order to get burning), pushes 5" (with another TN).
Golem, places next to Carlos as a zero, sucks up his 4 burning to add to the existing 2 Carlos gave him and is ~6" up the board for a zero

Now the Golem essentially has 6 extra wounds for the loss of what, ONLY moving Carlos 5" turn 1 and some low cards to gain burning and maybe 3x mid range cards if you can't flip a 6? Maybe not in close deploy, but seems legit to me. And even if someone tries to death by 1000 cuts the golem Kaeris's 2 SS totem can heal it, to mention if you have any other models that care to spend AP giving it burning.

I'm going to be trying the golem out.

[WWHSD]

1 hour ago, 7thSquirrel said:

I hope the golem sees some play.
Turn 1:
Carlos, drops scheme maker, blows it up. Carlos and Golem both get +2 burning (requires a TN and chucking low cards to fail the simple duel in order to get burning), pushes 5" (with another TN).
Golem, places next to Carlos as a zero, sucks up his 4 burning to add to the existing 2 Carlos gave him and is ~6" up the board for a zero

Now the Golem essentially has 6 extra wounds for the loss of what, ONLY moving Carlos 5" turn 1 and some low cards to gain burning and maybe 3x mid range cards if you can't flip a 6? Maybe not in close deploy, but seems legit to me. And even if someone tries to death by 1000 cuts the golem Kaeris's 2 SS totem can heal it, to mention if you have any other models that care to spend AP giving it burning.

I'm going to be trying the golem out.

If Carlos has Practiced Production he drops the Scheme Marker for free and is able get in a walk. That lets you place the Golem 10 inches up the table with its zero.

Carlos can discard to heal if the Golem ends it's activation near him if I'm reading the ability correctly.

[Squirrelich]

5 minutes ago, WWHSD said:

If Carlos has Practiced Production he drops the Scheme Marker for free and is able get in a walk. That lets you place the Golem 10 inches up the table with it's zero.

nice! I'm definitely going to steal this idea.

[WWHSD]

After looking at him again, Fitzsimmons is going to be really good with the Mages. 

He gives them an extra point of damage reduction and + flips on Wp duels through their Student Loans ability. If a Mage puts burning on something, Fitzsimmons and get rid of burning on the enemy to drop a scheme marker next to it. He can then use his Arson attack twice and when his activation ends to blow up the scheme marker. If something tries to get into Melee with the Mages Fitzsimmons is going to be usign a Ml6 attack with + flip and a 3/4/5 damage track to protect them. 

Fitzsimmons is going to be great at Dig Their Graves if he's in a crew that can hand out burning before he activates. 

[Clockwork_Fish]

The Fire Golem looks really fast, with its tactical action and high walk.  I can’t imagine he’s easy to pin down.

[dannydb]

so was thinking on things before, and how good fitzimmons would be with mages, with protected by the union!

then relised for a point more is amina just better for helping keep them alive?

 

the golem might be good in meifeng or kaeris is guess, or the saboteur's with collette

[WWHSD]

22 minutes ago, dannydb said:

so was thinking on things before, and how good fitzimmons would be with mages, with protected by the union!

then relised for a point more is amina just better for helping keep them alive?

 

the golem might be good in meifeng or kaeris is guess, or the saboteur's with collette

I think Amina has a higher potential but depends on activation order and being able to win some duels and needs to spend some AP to do it. Fitzsimmons works just by being in the right place. 

[Jinn]

Fitzsimmons also makes Kaeris effectively Armor +2 while near him, which makes for a safer spot to place grab & drop targets.

Joss can be Armor +3, and Langston Armor +2.

Putting Bleeding Edge Tech on Fitzsimmons in a Ramos crew makes for some extremely tanky spiders.

Combined with the Steamfitter, both Ironsides and Fitzsimmons himself can be effectively Armor +2.

Combining him with Amina would make for a lot of tankiness, probably more than you need honestly.

 

The Fire Golem seems to have excellent synergy with Kaeris apart from the usual 'don't activate near Kaeris if she has Grab & Drop or you'll lose your burning' anti-synergy, which is always clunky. Unfortunately, your opponent should be able to remove any burning you applied with your other models before the Golem gets to go, (assuming they had a cleanse, if they didn't then they're gonna hurt badly) because no burning models have accomplice.

This guy should be able to dive after Kaeris into groups pretty effectively if she's used swooping angel's new immolate trigger to apply burning in a .

 

The Saboteurs will live or die on their ability to draw cards. They're mediocre scheme runners compared to Wind Gamin (even steam arachnids, which are nothing special, are better at scheming with their better stats, armor, and unimpeded) and they have no tricks to remove markers. They have disguised, but if that was a good enough defense then Desperate Mercenaries would have been okay at 4ss.

The key problem for me is that I'll probably be relying on my opponent to place markers to get that card draw, as, despite appearances, Arcanists aren't all that good at getting scheme markers next to enemies. Mech rider can do it, but she's 12ss. Performers + Mannequin can do it, but you need to hire Mannequins which I try not to do.

Oh yeah, Fitzsimmons can do it and Kaeris' aura with G&D can do it (not that she's usually near enough to my crew for that to happen past T2). G&D is likely the best bet, considering the Saboteur's ranged attack isn't a  so you won't randomise with the model that flew next to the enemy.

 

 

 

I hope Kaeris is good one day.

[Sweet Tooth]

I played a game this weekend and proxy'd in these new Arcanist buddies against a Gremlin Brewmaster crew. I rather enjoyed the shenanigans, but do see these models as dependent on crew/strats & schemes.

Played Symbols, Punish the weak, Dig their graves, Undercover entourage, search the ruins, recover evidence.

Declared Faction: Arcanists 
Crew Name: Kaeris 50ss 
Leader: Kaeris - Cache:(4)
   Grab and Drop 1ss 
Malifaux Child 2ss 
Fitzsimmons 8ss 
Carlos Vasquez 9ss 
   Stunt Double 1ss 
   Practiced Production 1ss 
Cassandra 8ss 
   Smoke and Mirrors 1ss 
Fire Golem 9ss 
Saboteur 4ss 
Saboteur 4ss 

I took Undercover on Cassandra & Search the ruins. The idea was to light everyone on fire turn 1 with the Golem's (0) at the edge of Kaeris's G&D aura so that the crew could fly towards the middle and drop their markers. Cassandra would go up the middle and take a few hits, leaving more markers with her Smoke & Mirrors trigger. Then the saboteur's would have their pick of targets near scheme markers. Carlos would be an extra burning anchor for the Golem to jump to in later turns as needed & could blow up any markers that were poorly placed or if I needed more burning on nearby friends/enemies. Fitz could also use his (0) to drop a marker on the opponent's side of the table once Kaeris lit them up.

The saboteurs did well against models of similar beefiness (i.e. a slop hauler and a bayou gremlin) and I'd say I drew a card about half the time they attacked a model near a marker. The anti-cheating aura is cool, but I found the 3" range to be a tad limiting since neither myself nor my opponent was really cheating cards on low cost models that often. I think I only did 1 point of damage with it.

The Fire Golem felt pretty tanky and my opponent chose not to go after him due to the damage mitigation, so he ended the game with Burning +7. 

Fitz was ok. He dropped a marker once with his (0). Cassandra copied his Arson once with Understudy. His 'protected by the union' aura didn't really come up since the Brewmaster crew was leaving more poison than damage with their attacks. But his Picket Line attack is dope. The MI 6 and built in positive flip is sweet and it's not hard at all to keep two other M&SU models nearby for that min 3 damage.

I won the game 7-6 (3 from Undercover, 2 from Search, 2 from Symbols). It was a lot of fun playing with these new models and I can't wait to pick up the box at GenCon this week.

[Adran]

3 hours ago, Jinn said:

 

The key problem for me is that I'll probably be relying on my opponent to place markers to get that card draw, as, despite appearances, Arcanists aren't all that good at getting scheme markers next to enemies. Mech rider can do it, but she's 12ss. Performers + Mannequin can do it, but you need to hire Mannequins which I try not to do.

Union miners with file false claim.

And if you can get enough card draw I reckon people will pay for a mannequin.

[WWHSD]

1 hour ago, Sweet Tooth said:

The saboteurs did well against models of similar beefiness (i.e. a slop hauler and a bayou gremlin) and I'd say I drew a card about half the time they attacked a model near a marker. The anti-cheating aura is cool, but I found the 3" range to be a tad limiting since neither myself nor my opponent was really cheating cards on low cost models that often. I think I only did 1 point of damage with it.

I pictured the main use for that to be slamming the Saboteurs in near an enemy model that has abilities that really require cheating to get off. Drop them near something like a summoner and force them to try and move away of have to deal with the Saboteur.