M3e Mei Feng Tactica

[DuBlanck]

A ~6" place is a free Detonate Charges with obfuscated set-up, a Kobe (or yeeted?) Dug Grave, a Taken Prisoner or Delivered Message or Held Up Force, Claim Jumped.

Or it is a mere 8" threat extension on the Metal Golem, potentially over a house/wall/whatever.

If you want to play Mei in a pool, but sadly it is Corner and your rail layers aren't fast enough to cover both flanks... Chuck a Metal Gamin 4" at one corner and another 4" at the other, then they have an 8" walk to give you the full 12" RTR teleport to their Walking Forge Scrap Markers. That lets you hold a lot of your other mobility tech for later in the ruen, if so desired.

The Rail Worker will be a little behind, sure, but it's worth it to have two full-distance lines running, and he's maybe one AP behind the rest of the crew.

I think one Rail Worker is almost always worthwhile, two is strictly pool-dependent, and three is a why did they even bother with a third sculpt even in M2E situation.

Edit: As for competition with a Metal gamin, I will naturally reach for two Gamin and one Rail Worker, and I'll drop a Gamin before the Rail Worker in the event that I have to - usually there's enough Scrap going down from the other two or three Walking Forges, and beyond Scrap and Shielded the Gamin rarely have much of an active impact on the game, whereas a Worker can slap someone for acceptable damage once the rail network is ready.

[Mycellanious]

14 hours ago, frumpypigskin said:

I struggle with the idea of using a rail worker to boost the efficiency of another model. 

He spends turn 1 punting the other model twice. Say it's corner turf or Idols and you really need to cover a flank. This boost your Metal golem or X model 8-10" up the board. Great! But then the poor little rail worker is stuck 4-5 inches out of your deployment zone. For him to be effective he'll usually then have to spend all of turn 2 walking up the board to then become relevant again on turn 3. 

 

Alternative being a metal gamin, double walks and let the golem rail walk 8" plus 30mm and then activate. Turn 2 the gamin can either railwalk and shield the golem or give him extra scrap to fuel his own Shield or he can magnetise to the golem then use his 2 ap from a position 12" up the chosen flank. 

I just like using railwalk to distribute my crew much better than using rail workers' punting skills. 

I can see how using one to boost an OOK Model might be ok. But you're still left with the same problem of a stranded rail worker. 

Unless you just punt once (or 2 models once each) and then leave him next to a scrap to railwalk from... It's not as much acceleration as punt + charge punt. But let you do something else with the worker sooner....

 

Does anyone have a good combo or scenario/deployment setup for the little ol rail workers? 

 

The most common way I deploy the Foundry, is with Kang blocking LoS to the Forgeling, and 2 Railworkers 4" from Kang in base contact with a Metal Gamin (on the left and right sides of Kang). I activate the Railworkers first, and have them Toss the Gamin, then Walk behind Kang. This puts them in range for The Worker's Champion and within an inch of the Scrap Marker im going to drop in base contact with Kang. Normally, I try to generate this with the Forgeling, but you'd be surprised how often you dont have a 4 Rams in hand. So make sure you have a backup way to generate the Scrap, usually Mei's bonus action. 

That said, a lot of what I do with Railworkers is pull a bait-and-switch. If the enemy goes hard on Kang, the Railworker RtR next to him and Tosses him out of engagement. If my opponent uses Analyze Weakness, a Railworker can Toss the affected model behind him to safety (dont forget that range is measured from the Tossing Railworker, not the target, so in this scenario you get an extra 2.") They can be just as strong a denial piece as an enabler. 

[Jinn]

1 hour ago, Mycellanious said:

The most common way I deploy the Foundry, is with Kang blocking LoS to the Forgeling, and 2 Railworkers 4" from Kang in base contact with a Metal Gamin (on the left and right sides of Kang). I activate the Railworkers first, and have them Toss the Gamin, then Walk behind Kang. This puts them in range for The Worker's Champion and within an inch of the Scrap Marker im going to drop in base contact with Kang. Normally, I try to generate this with the Forgeling, but you'd be surprised how often you dont have a 4 Rams in hand. So make sure you have a backup way to generate the Scrap, usually Mei's bonus action. 

How do you deal with the burning generated by the Forgeling? Or do you go with it first and then try to cleanse Kang? I really wish that stupid Fiery Presence ability was optional. It is so damn annoying having to worry about it during deployment.

 

More generally, how do people like the Metal Golem? It seems... lackluster to me for a 10SS Keyword model. Stat 5on a model with only 2AP (no flurry or whatever) is generally pretty bad compared to many other beaters (even the Arcane Emissary has Shove Aside rather than Knock Aside, which can almost be a 3rd AP some of the time). Is the Off The Rails action good enough to make up for these deficiencies? My main concern with it is that on the boards I usually play on a 6" push on a 50mm is almost never going to get you where you want to go without ignoring terrain. It would be amazing if models like the Metal Golem had some ability that destroyed destructible terrain of lower Sz on contact during pushes.

It is really disappointing when your gigantic charging ton of steel is stopped dead by a Sz 1 crate.

[Mycellanious]

16 minutes ago, Jinn said:

How do you deal with the burning generated by the Forgeling? Or do you go with it first and then try to cleanse Kang? I really wish that stupid Fiery Presence ability was optional. 

I use Kang to block LoS to the Forgeling since he has a 40mm base. You can deploy in such a way that only Kang gains burning when it Activates. And you probably want your Forgeling to go before Kang because its going to create Scrap for the crew to RtR to. 

[DuBlanck]

15 hours ago, Jinn said:

How do you deal with the burning generated by the Forgeling? Or do you go with it first and then try to cleanse Kang?

As long as he's not within 2" of more than 1 model that cares about Burning, then no-one cares about that Burning.

I'm stoning for that Ram if I'm not holding it Turn 1 (or if I only have Severe Rams), so that model will be Cleansed and be a railway stop. I use the Metal Golem instead of Kang because it blocks more LoS (I doubt that's significantly relevant very often), and you can still usually comfortably fit nearly the whole crew within 1" of that Scrap.

 

I like the Metal Golem for being card-independent thanks to the +flips, being another Steam Venter (which he can also Trigger off punching), and he's decently manoeuvrable thanks to that 6" push being able to take him out of engagement, potentially kidnap a model while doing it, and get an attack out of it. It's a little less flexible, but it is still movement and a melee attack for 1AP. Add to that he can eat the plentiful Scrap for Shielded+2 (laughing off anything below 4 damage) and eco-consciously re-plant that consumed Scrap with a LoS-blocking 50mm base to act as a beachhead, I think he's good.

I think he's a prime example of worth in Keyword and trash out of it.

Having said that, I wouldn't cry if they droppped him to 9ss.

[Mycellanious]

2 hours ago, DuBlanck said:

 

I'm stoning for that Ram if I'm not holding it Turn 1 (or if I only have Severe Rams), so that model will be Cleansed and be a railway stop. 

Do you mean stoning for cards? The Forgeling cannot use SS, and stoning for cards is still a gamble and means you cant dump a low hand to prep the deck for turn 2. I also dont think you should stone turn 1 for Mei's bonus, since with any 8 you can Press the Advantage for a Ram. 

Its nice to get that scrap down with the Forgeling, but not crucial imo. I do think it would be nice if the Forgeling could guarantee that scrap in some way, but worst comes to worst he just uses Walking Forge there and then Kang walks up and Mei uses her bonus to place a marker in base with him. 

[DuBlanck]

Yes, stoning for cards - could have been clearer.

Deployment and opponent depending, I'll occasionally bite the bullet and spend an 11 of Rams to get that Scrap Marker Trigger if I have to, but a 12 or 13 is worth saving for Mei.

It's not always worth it, but in Corner, or against Molly, or in Plant Explosives...

With how effective rushing and holding the centre line can be, there are a bunch of corner case situations where I think it would be well worth getting the extra inches to claim space or get Markers down, or just to prevent your opponent screening you out of space.

As for stoning to fish for Rams messing up your turn 2 hand sculpting - there aren't too many TNs I'm worried about, and if I'm not expecting to brawl Turn 1 then I can hold Weaks and Severes and bin Moderates, meaning I don't gimp myself terribly with respect to piling Weaks back into my deck.

[NoisyAssassin]

Had my first full 50ss game of Malifaux last night; Mei Feng vs Colette (previous games: ~20ss demo Levi vs Raspi, HH Kang vs Old Major, 35ss Mei vs Asami). 

Cursed Idols, Corners, scheme pool was Search the Ruins, Dig Their Graves, Detonate Charges, Take Prisoner, Hold Up Their Forces. I picked Search and Dig, Colette picked Search and Detonate. 

Mei Feng

Forgeling

Kang

Neil Henry: Magical Training

Metal Golem

Metal Gamin

Metal Gamin

Rail Worker: Magical Training

4SS

vs

Colette

Dove

Dove

Dove

Angelica

Cassandra

Coryphee Duet

Mannequin

Mannequin

Showgirl

Showgirl

5SS

 

T1 - Idol dropped in the far left corner, where I couldn't easily get to it. I ended up extending hard up the center, pushing the Metal Golem into Angelica with Freight Train, and charging her with Mei; she took some damage, but cheated hard to stay alive. Ended up in a big scrum with Mei, Golem, and Neil for me, and Colette, Angelica, Cassandra, and two doves for my opponent. I pushed a metal gamin and a rail worker up the right flank, while showgirl + mannequin pairs moved up both flanks. Kang a gamin, and the forgeling ended up chilling near the center. 0-0

T2 - I cheated initiative to drop the Idol in the center, in BTB with a gamin. Managed to kill Cassandra with the golem with severe damage on a negative flip, which really threw off my opponent. Other results from that scrum saw Angelic go down to Neil + Mei. Colette Presto-chango'd the golem far out of position using a dove, and Sword Trick buried herself. The duet killed the forgeling, which had  come to help remove the disgusting amount of Distracted that was being piled on Mei. Gamin in the center pushed the Idol for 1. On the left flank the mannequin was able to push the first idol. On the right flank I completed my rail network to the corner.  Kang was pretty out of position with no scrap nearby, so he moved and schemed. 1-1

T3 - Idol dropped in the center again.  Mei abandoned the scrum and moved to the right flank, trying to team up with the Rail Worker to kill a showgirl for the first point of Dig, but Manipulative + Distracted meant I only got 2 damage through. Gamin in the center pushed the second idol for 2 (leaving it on 1 health) and schemed, then died to the duet, which also pushed one of the center idols over to my side. Neil pushed the idol on his side further in to ensure the duet couldn't get it next turn. Colette popped up next to Mei and Sword Tricked her to get her out of the way. Everyone else on both sides ran around dropping schemes. We both revealed Search, and my opponent revealed Detonate. 2-4

T4 - Idol dropped in the right corner with a cheat. Colette Sword Tricked the gamin nearby and buried it, plus handed out more Distracted and Stunned. Gamin immediately activated, and my opponent put him down in what he thought was a safe spot. After some measuring I figured out I could still double rail walk to get a network for the rail worker to push the Idol, and let him pick a different marker to place me next to. Duet killed Neil, and moved to join the swelling Performers force on the right. Mei popped out on the left and triple moved to get next to the Idol in that corner. Someone (don't remember who was left, one of the earlier details may have been wrong) was able to push the first center idol back to his side. Everyone else ran around dropping schemes. 3-4

T5 - I dropped the Idol on the far left corner into btb with Mei using the red joker I had saved from the previous turn. She used both actions to toss both onto my opponent's side. Nothing else of much consequence happened this turn, some charges just because, and a few more schemes dropped. I was able to score the Idols, and we both scored the second half of both our schemes (there were 15+ scheme makers on the board between the two of us). Final score 6-6

Thoughts and takeaways - Colette is brutal, and the Performer crew just has so much mobility and control; definitely a fun and challenging fight! Railwalking continues to surprise my opponents with just how much slippery mobility and speed it gives me. However I did end up with Kang badly out of position for most of the game; M4 without any scrap to teleport to is rough (it worked out in the end though, as a scheme he placed got Mei perfectly positioned to let me push two Idols in the final round). Overall the crew feels just okay at brawling (both on attack and defense), but capitalizing on the rails does huge work keeping them from getting pinned down. Vs Colette or other control or tanky crews it feels like I should take out a key model or two then ignore fighting altogether. Mei especially feels like her specialty is actually scheme running, with 3AP and ride the rails. She's been okay but not spectacular in both games where I tried punching things with her, but great at getting a last point. I should have a Porkchop painted soon; looking forward to trying that in place of the second gamin, and for Idols I probably want Sparks for some healing; the damage adds up fast on minions. Also just grabbed some steam arachnid swarms for a versatile that can be mobile off the rail netwrok. So far a super fun crew to be learning the game with! 

[Mycellanious]

2 hours ago, NoisyAssassin said:

Had my first full 50ss game of Malifaux last night; Mei Feng vs Colette (previous games: ~20ss demo Levi vs Raspi, HH Kang vs Old Major, 35ss Mei vs Asami). 

Cursed Idols, Corners, scheme pool was Search the Ruins, Dig Their Graves, Detonate Charges, Take Prisoner, Hold Up Their Forces. I picked Search and Dig, Colette picked Search and Detonate. 

Mei Feng

Forgeling

Kang

Neil Henry: Magical Training

Metal Golem

Metal Gamin

Metal Gamin

Rail Worker: Magical Training

4SS

vs

Colette

Dove

Dove

Dove

Angelica

Cassandra

Coryphee Duet

Mannequin

Mannequin

Showgirl

Showgirl

5SS

 

T1 - Idol dropped in the far left corner, where I couldn't easily get to it. I ended up extending hard up the center, pushing the Metal Golem into Angelica with Freight Train, and charging her with Mei; she took some damage, but cheated hard to stay alive. Ended up in a big scrum with Mei, Golem, and Neil for me, and Colette, Angelica, Cassandra, and two doves for my opponent. I pushed a metal gamin and a rail worker up the right flank, while showgirl + mannequin pairs moved up both flanks. Kang a gamin, and the forgeling ended up chilling near the center. 0-0

T2 - I cheated initiative to drop the Idol in the center, in BTB with a gamin. Managed to kill Cassandra with the golem with severe damage on a negative flip, which really threw off my opponent. Other results from that scrum saw Angelic go down to Neil + Mei. Colette Presto-chango'd the golem far out of position using a dove, and Sword Trick buried herself. The duet killed the forgeling, which had  come to help remove the disgusting amount of Distracted that was being piled on Mei. Gamin in the center pushed the Idol for 1. On the left flank the mannequin was able to push the first idol. On the right flank I completed my rail network to the corner.  Kang was pretty out of position with no scrap nearby, so he moved and schemed. 1-1

T3 - Idol dropped in the center again.  Mei abandoned the scrum and moved to the right flank, trying to team up with the Rail Worker to kill a showgirl for the first point of Dig, but Manipulative + Distracted meant I only got 2 damage through. Gamin in the center pushed the second idol for 2 (leaving it on 1 health) and schemed, then died to the duet, which also pushed one of the center idols over to my side. Neil pushed the idol on his side further in to ensure the duet couldn't get it next turn. Colette popped up next to Mei and Sword Tricked her to get her out of the way. Everyone else on both sides ran around dropping schemes. We both revealed Search, and my opponent revealed Detonate. 2-4

T4 - Idol dropped in the right corner with a cheat. Colette Sword Tricked the gamin nearby and buried it, plus handed out more Distracted and Stunned. Gamin immediately activated, and my opponent put him down in what he thought was a safe spot. After some measuring I figured out I could still double rail walk to get a network for the rail worker to push the Idol, and let him pick a different marker to place me next to. Duet killed Neil, and moved to join the swelling Performers force on the right. Mei popped out on the left and triple moved to get next to the Idol in that corner. Someone (don't remember who was left, one of the earlier details may have been wrong) was able to push the first center idol back to his side. Everyone else ran around dropping schemes. 3-4

T5 - I dropped the Idol on the far left corner into btb with Mei using the red joker I had saved from the previous turn. She used both actions to toss both onto my opponent's side. Nothing else of much consequence happened this turn, some charges just because, and a few more schemes dropped. I was able to score the Idols, and we both scored the second half of both our schemes (there were 15+ scheme makers on the board between the two of us). Final score 6-6

Thoughts and takeaways - Colette is brutal, and the Performer crew just has so much mobility and control; definitely a fun and challenging fight! Railwalking continues to surprise my opponents with just how much slippery mobility and speed it gives me. However I did end up with Kang badly out of position for most of the game; M4 without any scrap to teleport to is rough (it worked out in the end though, as a scheme he placed got Mei perfectly positioned to let me push two Idols in the final round). Overall the crew feels just okay at brawling (both on attack and defense), but capitalizing on the rails does huge work keeping them from getting pinned down. Vs Colette or other control or tanky crews it feels like I should take out a key model or two then ignore fighting altogether. Mei especially feels like her specialty is actually scheme running, with 3AP and ride the rails. She's been okay but not spectacular in both games where I tried punching things with her, but great at getting a last point. I should have a Porkchop painted soon; looking forward to trying that in place of the second gamin, and for Idols I probably want Sparks for some healing; the damage adds up fast on minions. Also just grabbed some steam arachnid swarms for a versatile that can be mobile off the rail netwrok. So far a super fun crew to be learning the game with! 

Next time take Soulstone Cache on Neil, stone for Armor Piercing, and turn the Duet into a steaming pile pf Scrap and a Scheme marker

[NoisyAssassin]

3 hours ago, Mycellanious said:

Next time take Soulstone Cache on Neil, stone for Armor Piercing, and turn the Duet into a steaming pile pf Scrap and a Scheme marker

How big of a SS pool would you recommend if trying this? The duet has 10 health, so with his 2/4/5 track that's between 2-5 hits to kill it. And with Df7 it isn't going to be easy to beat by more than 5. He'll have Focus once from Kang, so the first hit should be cheatable, but after that it might be rough. And that's assuming he manages to come in without getting any Distracted or Stunned dumped on him (I was getting both in generous quantities), which would probably be doable if he hung back out of the scrum at the beginning. Maybe Railwalk once and Focus him T1, so he can go into T2 with Focus for 2 different attacks? And then stone for cards that turn, hope for severes to cheat in on damage?

[Mycellanious]

5 hours ago, NoisyAssassin said:

How big of a SS pool would you recommend if trying this? The duet has 10 health, so with his 2/4/5 track that's between 2-5 hits to kill it. And with Df7 it isn't going to be easy to beat by more than 5. He'll have Focus once from Kang, so the first hit should be cheatable, but after that it might be rough. And that's assuming he manages to come in without getting any Distracted or Stunned dumped on him (I was getting both in generous quantities), which would probably be doable if he hung back out of the scrum at the beginning. Maybe Railwalk once and Focus him T1, so he can go into T2 with Focus for 2 different attacks? And then stone for cards that turn, hope for severes to cheat in on damage?

Basic Foundry (Arcanists)
Size: 50 - Pool: 9
Leader:
  Mei Feng
Totem(s):
  Forgeling
Hires:
  Kang
  Neil Henry
    Soulstone Cache
  Rail Worker 3
    Magical Training
  Rail Worker 2
  Metal Gamin 3
  Metal Gamin 2

This is my basic Foundry crew; I adapt from this based on opponent and pool. 

I do often have Mei and Neil concentrate turn 1, unless my opponent has overextended or I really need to be in an area. Sometimes I even Railwalk twice and go Reckless to concentrate

My general plan would be to use Neil and a Gamin over 1-2 turns. I'd try to position Neil 12" from the Duet behind terrain (preferably a height 3 building) the turn before I strike. Basically, I'd like to Railwalk just once. If you have to Railwalk twice id expect it to take 2 Turns to kill it. 

Then, I'd use a Gamin as bait. Walk-Magnetism-Charge the Duet. I dont care about it, I care about scrap. It drops 1 guaranteed, then if the Duet kills it I get 2 more. I'd activate Neil last, Railwalk in, and consume 1-3 scrap to go up to at least stat 7 on the first attack. I'd stone for a Crow, to declare severe injury and set up my next 2 attacks (bring the duets df down to 5 or 6). If I drew a severe crow, I'd probably save it for this attack. I would not spend focus on this attack, I'm trying to debuff it not damage it. Then I'd spend focus and stone for tomes on the next 2 attacks. Since its now on 9 wounds from the attack, you'd need a moderate and a severe to ORKO. 

If Fate isnt in your favor, Neil can fairly reliably tank 2 attacks from the Duet. With Hard to Wound and stones, 2/4/5 is likely not going to chew through 7 wounds. This is of course assuming a worst case scenario where you lose initiative and your opponent chooses to have the Duet go first. If Neil goes first, it will probably die to 4 of his attacks. If your hand really is terrible, you can always Whirling Hammer to try and set up Mei or Kang, but if you consumed your scrap last turn id prolly just swing 4 times. 

But even getting 4-8 damage will cripple the Duet because it will seriously impact its ability to Dance Apart. Which brings me to my other worst case assumption: he doesnt split the Duet. If he decides to split the Duet near a Scrap marker, Neil's gonna go ham. Even with just 2 attacks, hes prolly gonna wreck a df6 5 wound Corephyee, particularly if this is turn 2-3 and he has focus stacked. 

What do you think? Is it doable? I've yet to play Colette so its mostly theoryfaux, but I've seen Niel dismantle some machines. He killed the Arcane Emissary in 3 hits, then turned around and oneshot a SS miner with his 4th (but im not gonna pretend that wasnt lucky). Anyone have a better plan?

[Vangerdahast]

 

Neil is an Enforcer, he can't use Soulsotnes (only Masters and Henchmen can).

 

[CD1248]

1 hour ago, Vangerdahast said:

 

Neil is an Enforcer, he can't use Soulsotnes (only Masters and Henchmen can).

 

Soulstone Cache upgrade allows him to.

[MuMantai]

2 hours ago, Mycellanious said:

Then, I'd use a Gamin as bait. Walk-Magnetism-Charge the Duet. I dont care about it, I care about scrap. It drops 1 guaranteed, then if the Duet kills it I get 2 more. I'd activate Neil last, Railwalk in, and consume 1-3 scrap to go up to at least stat 7 on the first attack. I'd stone for a Crow, to declare severe injury and set up my next 2 attacks (bring the duets df down to 5 or 6). If I drew a severe crow, I'd probably save it for this attack. I would not spend focus on this attack, I'm trying to debuff it not damage it. Then I'd spend focus and stone for tomes on the next 2 attacks. Since its now on 9 wounds from the attack, you'd need a moderate and a severe to ORKO. 

I have two problems with this.

First: You walk/charge a gamin next to the duett, dropping a scrap there. Why would the duett ever stay there? It is Agile, it can just walk away. Or Angelica walks it away, or Colette places it away, or whatever other movement trick.

Second: For this to work, everything has to hit. You have to hit three attacks, with most likely even odds (7 vs 7, then 6 vs 6), and have to hit severe and moderate in damage. And even when it works, this will most likely cost you your full hand.

 

Getting attacks in on the duett is good, it is a very costly model and threatening it is a good way to get it out of the game. Colette won't have many healing effects most likely, so any damage sticks.

If you get a scrap marker next to the duett, go for it. If you can kill it, it most likely is worth your hand and Neill in the process. But if you can't, it can also be an idea to Railwalk in, get a hit or two in with Neill, and Railwalk out again. Or maybe you can ignore it. It is 12 stones of a model that can do a lot, but only so much. If you can play around it, you don't need to kill it.

[Vangerdahast]

4 hours ago, CD1248 said:

Soulstone Cache upgrade allows him to.

Good point. I don't use this Upgrade, maybe I should think more about it.

 

[DuBlanck]

I feel this does overlook the Keyword's vulnerability to Armour/Shielded ignore.

One of my big problems (conceptually, locally we don't hardball counterpicks that much currently) is that there are lots of low-Df, low-Wd models relying on their Armour, and no Hoffman to super-invincible Mei's models.

[NoisyAssassin]

11 hours ago, Mycellanious said:

What do you think? Is it doable? 

I hadn't thought of going for Injured on it first to help land the later hits, that's an interesting idea. It does require a lot of cards and some stones though, so I think unless a great hand comes up or the Duet needs to die for some reason, it may still be more effective to focus on some of the other performers. Talking to my opponent, my having killed both Angelica and Cassandra apparently reduced his level of available shenanigans significantly. 

And yeah, he never danced it apart, so it lost some AP, but was never vulnerable to killing just a single Coryphee. 

Interesting that your core doesn't include the Golem; in both my games it's done really solid work for me. Do you just find it too expensive?

[Mycellanious]

3 hours ago, NoisyAssassin said:

I hadn't thought of going for Injured on it first to help land the later hits, that's an interesting idea. It does require a lot of cards and some stones though, so I think unless a great hand comes up or the Duet needs to die for some reason, it may still be more effective to focus on some of the other performers. Talking to my opponent, my having killed both Angelica and Cassandra apparently reduced his level of available shenanigans significantly. 

And yeah, he never danced it apart, so it lost some AP, but was never vulnerable to killing just a single Coryphee. 

Interesting that your core doesn't include the Golem; in both my games it's done really solid work for me. Do you just find it too expensive?

I dont own the Golem, is probably the main reason. But I also like the Gamin a lot because putting out shielded is great in this crew, and they are nice throwaway activations. 2 Gamin also put out more scrap so there's that. But also its because when you declare Mei Feng your opponent goes "ok, so Metal Golem and I need armor piercing," and this is a good crew that throws conventional expectations for a loop. Plus, Neil is an absolute unit and only in specific situation would I expect the Golem to do more damage than Niel

[dannydb]

I don't think neil is the way to go for trying to get around armour 

 

Honestly, best bet is prob analyse weakness on the duet from acolyte as its rst wp or put a bunch of conditions on it 

[KingCrow]

Anyone had any luck using Joss with Mei and crew? Joss ignores armor and has a Construct-only Obey. Plus, bring the Mobile Toolkit (which is what I usually do) and you've got another way to give out Power Tokens.

[NoisyAssassin]

Had my second full game with Mei last night. 

Reckoning on Flank vs Sonnia Criid. Schemes were Breakthrough, Harness, Outflank, Assassinate, and Claim Jump.

We both picked Harness, and I took Claim Jump with Kang while he took Outflank.

 

Lists were:

Mei Feng (Arcanist)

Forgeling

Kang

Neil Henry

Metal Golem

Mechanized Porkchop

Rail Worker (Magical Training)

Rail Worker

4ss

vs

Sonnia Criid (Lead Lined Coat)

Purifying Flame

Guild Steward

Samael Hopkins (Expert Marksman)

Witchling Thrall

Witchling Handler

Witchling Stalker

Sanctioned Spellcaster

Sanctioned Spellcaster

4ss?

 

T1 - He pushed hard for the flanks, with Sonnia and Sammael sticking towards the middle. I had split my force into porkchop, worker, Neil, and forgeling on one side, and everyone else in the middle. I really missed having 2 metal gamin for starting off rail lines; Mei had to Freight Train for a trigger, then push 2" and walk, walk to get a first rail down for her group. Mostly worked out, but not as nice as getting to rail walk her once or twice. She also lost out on Kang's Focus pulse because of this. We both played aggressively, and ended up killing a model each (purifying flame and worker with magical training).    (0-0)

T2 - Lots of scrumming, rail walking, and my models being lit on fire (seriously, this crew puts out a ridiculous amount of burning; maybe bring an effigy next time if I can pick one up?). I killed the witchling thrall and a stalker, while he killed my second rail worker (turning it into a new stalker), and the forgeling. It was obvious he was going for Outflank by this point, but Kang whiffed his attack against the spellcaster holding the right corner (at one health too!), so he was able to score it, while I scored Harness.     (2-2)

T3 - I killed the witchling handler in the left corner with Neil + Porkchop, who make a nice murdery tag-team (they took out a thrall, stalker, and handler by this point - his entire left flank force), and the sanctioned spellcaster in the right corner with Kang. He killed the metal golem with the other spellcaster. Otherwise some scheming, repositioning, and attacks that didn't kill anyone. Mei was able to pick up a scheme marker on the center to stop him scoring Harness. At this point I controlled both corners, but hit bit disappointment when I revealed Claim Jump, only to realize that I had misread it. It's center point, while I had been thinking center line. So Kang was sad and out of position.    (3-3) 

T4 - We realized we were running out of time until the store closed, so we decided that this would be the last turn. I cheated initiative to get Mei out of Sonnia and Samel's lines of fire before they could blast her to death (she was the only viable way for him to score a third point on Reckoning this turn). Sonnia was able to move and take a couple potshots at her though, doing some damage but not enough. Everyone else left on both sides just wandered about placing scheme markers on the centerline for Harness.     (4-4)

(T5 - if there had been a 5th turn it's likely that he would have been able to kill Mei for another point of Reckoning, and plausible that he'd be able to score the second point of Harness as well. I could probably have gotten Kang to the center for Claim Jump)

Takeaways - Sonnia + Samael put out a hefty amount of ranged pain, and I didn't feel like I had the resources to threaten either one of them. The rest of his crew was okay at fighting, but honestly did most of their damage by exploding when I killed them. Obviously Claim Jump isn't as good as I thought it was, while Claim Jump looks to be much more reasonable to achieve with rails than I initially thought. Especially if I pick up some soulstone miners. Speaking of which, I'm not liking Magical Training on a rail worker; they're just too squishy and easy to put in harm's way. Thinking soulstone miner or steam arachnid swarm? Two games in a row I've had the miner get hit with a severe flip the first or second turn, bringing him to 1 health. And Kang has been...pretty okay? He stays alive well, but his attacks aren't great, and I haven't gotten to get the best use out of his Focus pulse (see T1 commentary above - this game he put it on the golem and a worker T1, then Mei once later in the game). It seems like his 9ss could be better spent elsewhere unless I have a very specific use in mind for him. Mei herself continues to feel like a high quality scheme runner/anti schemer, but not a great brawler, so next game I'll try to focus on using her for that. 

Currently on the workbench to hopefully try soon - Fuhatsu and a Steam Arachnid Swarm

Cheers!

 

[DuBlanck]

On 10/29/2019 at 6:37 AM, KingCrow said:

Anyone had any luck using Joss with Mei and crew?

You have just reminded me to pack him for Nationals.

He was in a solid 25% of my crews when I started Malifaux, and he's not been off the shelf since before the beta.

I can see him being decently tasty being fed spare scrap for massive slaps, or getting flung over a house to land on the face of any particularly difficult opponent models.

 

On 10/31/2019 at 7:03 PM, NoisyAssassin said:

Kang has been...pretty okay?

I don't really get Kang.

Focus is great, and an early Turn 1 pulse to Focus the whole crew is really great, but he really doesn't do enough otherwise, and he doesn't hit enough of the crew with later-game pulses.

I don't think I've used the "Discard to prevent Slow/Distracted" more than once or twice ever. The crew doesn't have more than one or two cards to waste against crews that spam those conditions, so unless he's just trundling along behind Mei and the Rail Golem to protect them before their big activation, I don't really see it ever being good enough to justify his cost.

The only time I can see him truly being useful is in something like Reckoning where's there's not too much to lose by hanging a long way back, effectively setting up a 'local' Scrap Rail Network in your own half, and using Kang's pulse early Turn 1 and 2, and Concentrate Turn 1 on everyone else, to carry a load of Focus into the later game... And that still feels like conceding a bit too much area and momentum to the opponent.

[NoisyAssassin]

7 hours ago, DuBlanck said:

I don't really get Kang.

So far I'm thinking that he might have a place in Idols, if you can control the drops and/or set up the appropriate rail networks. Being able to push an idol and then immediately juggernaut to heal is pretty nice, and he's beefy enough that the opponent won't be able to match him with a cheap model (although he's far from cheap himself). Will definitely do more testing, but as I finish more models to give me options I foresee sitting him on the bench for a while.

 

Quote

Anyone had any luck using Joss with Mei and crew?

11ss seems really expensive for what he offers. If his Command Construct didn't require a suit I'd be more tempted to try him out. He's also pretty slow, but am I reading it correctly that he can use Transfer Power on himself to lose and then gain a power token for the 2" push? If so, that's nice for the turns where you don't have a 8+ of tomes or want to stone for the Command. Might also give him a go against a crew with lots of Terrifying, since Arcanists don't have a lot of Ruthless (that I've noticed)?

[DuBlanck]

18 hours ago, NoisyAssassin said:

So far I'm thinking that he might have a place in Idols

I'm going to try that tonight - Kang, Joss and a Medical Automaton, with a Survivor to launch Scrap to try and make up for the reduction in Walking Forges that paying for the big boys necessitates.

It's pretty much "models I intended to try before Nationals" soup. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Your points about Joss are all very valid, but the patented Rail Worker Pneumatic Launch System might help with that...

[Fetid Strumpet]

As an aside my most played against master is Mei, and my opponent is a big proponent of Sparks, and more recently Minako Rei. She’s pretty much become a defecto auto include.
 

Scrap drops very regularly so she always has the resources to summon on hand. The Katashiro are bonkers summons, especially in any scheme marker based pool, and they really fork your opponent. Kill them and they are going to drop a scrap, allowing another access point for her rail walking shenanigans, with the prospect of Minako just bringing in replacements. Don’t kill them and Mei gets access to 2 effective free leaping models a turn to run her schemes or just be annoying.

Coupled by the fact that Minako herself is just annoying to deal with because of her Kharmic fate Mechanics.