Going into M3E

[Regelridderen]

So I've got Pandora and Dreamer ready to play, three games of M2E under my belt and signing up for an M3E tournament.

So of course I could use a few pointers to help me through and make some crews that 'work'.

Of course I'm not delusional and have zero hopes of winning the tournament, so what I'd love is your perspective on how to approach these S&S. Keeping within keywords - and my painted models :

PANDORA, Poltergeist, Candy, Kade (+ Miss Ery), Iggy, Carver, Sorrows (3)

DREAMER, Lord Chompy Bits, Coppelius, Miss Ery, Widow Weaver, Bandersnatch, Stitched Together (3), Insidious Madness (3), Alps (3), Daydreams (3)

Hooded Rider

Seeing as it is my first 3 games of M3E, I was also considering, whether I could/should just focus on just one crew with minimum substitution.

These are the S&S :

ROUND 1
Corrupted Idols
Standard Deployment
(1.) Detonate Charges
(5.) Dig Their Graves
(7.) Take Prisoner
(8.) Power Ritual
(11.) Deliver a Message

ROUND 2
Turf War
Corner Deployment
(2.) Breakthrough
(6.) Hold up Their Forces
(9.) Outflank
(10.) Assassinate
(12.) Claim Jump

ROUND 3
Plant Explosives
Flank Deployment
(2.) Breakthrough
(3.) Harness the Leyline
(10.) Assassinate
(12.) Claim Jump
(13.) Vendetta

Thanks for your help.

[Maniacal_cackle]

For the Dreamer, you realllllly want some stitched together. Since he is a summoner, you want some of all his minions. And stitched together are the most powerful minions you have for dealing damage. Other than that, you seem to have a powerful pool of models for both crews (though I've only read Pandora, haven't played her). Can you buy/borrow some?

Dreamer would be super solid on the turf war pool and the plant explosives pool. Unsure about the corrupted idols pool, but looks doable (haven't played that much corrupted idols with him).

I don't know Pandora well enough to comment on pools.

[Regelridderen]

2 hours ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

For the Dreamer, you realllllly want some stitched together. Since he is a summoner, you want some of all his minions. And stitched together are the most powerful minions you have for dealing damage. Other than that, you seem to have a powerful pool of models for both crews (though I've only read Pandora, haven't played her). Can you buy/borrow some?

Dreamer would be super solid on the turf war pool and the plant explosives pool. Unsure about the corrupted idols pool, but looks doable (haven't played that much corrupted idols with him).

I don't know Pandora well enough to comment on pools.

Right, forgot about the Stiched Togethers, they're ready as well.

[CzaszkaA]

First of all, welcome to Neverborn

I think you have quite solid line up. You may want to add extra healing for corrupted idols - like Serena, or just push markers by teddy and heal him by consuming summoned minions? And as mentioned earlier - stitched are really good in Dreamer crew, not only for damage but also bringing back cards you removed by lucid dreaming.

For plant explosives I recommend models that can either cover a lot of board or are not bother by being engaged (hooded rider with ride with me, coppelius with agile, doppelganger with don't mind me).

For Dreamer - remember that Daydreams are insignificant and summons cannot interact the turn they're summoned and you should be fine

[Maniacal_cackle]

5 hours ago, Regelridderen said:

Right, forgot about the Stiched Togethers, they're ready as well.

Oh cool.

Well, a core of Bandersnatch + Widow Weaver + 2-3 daydreams +1-2 stitched together should be great for Turf War and Plant. Maybe toss in Teddy and/or coppelius.

You're looking to set web markers down far enough from enemies that they don't go destroy them, but close enough you can do your thing. They're the core of your maneuverability, and open up lots of strats. Edit: set up for a 12" hop the first turn, usually by having Bandersnatch set down a web 12" away from widow weaver.

Turf war strategy, all 5 schemes are viable, so tailor to the opponent. If you want to claim jump, grab Teddy. He is the best claim jumper. Breakthrough is hard to score the second point, but getting your widow weaver/bandersnatch combo in the enemy base will make them expend a lot of resources stopping you, so is fine to just get one point. Have lord Chompy bits do his thing, but if they start the breakthrough strategy, teleport him back to your base with dreamer. Your opponent probably won't take breakthrough due to small deployment zone.

Plant, any strategy but harness should be fine. Breakthrough will be much easier this time through due to large deployment zones, so watch for both with your opponent. Use Lord Chompy to deny scheme marker schemes if they take them.

Corrupted idols... Whatever the crew, take some models that you're happy to sacrifice (such as wicked dolls) for moving the markers. Also take as much card draw as possible (such as two ancient pacts on daydreams). Take prisoner and deliver a message are really your only viable picks for dreamer, and you really want to teddy + Serena for take prisoner, and then use your tomes for repositioning the enemy. Edit: power ritual should be fine on flank deployment actually.

 

[Maniacal_cackle]

Oh, disclaimer, I'm new to Neverborn myself!

[Wyamphri]

Pandora lives and dies on positioning.  If you don't know the opponents threat ranges, damage tracks, etc, I wouldn't recommend playing her until you get a few games in and broaden your knowledge a bit. That being said...I love Dora and she's a blast in this edition. Her crew has alot of killing potential and control. If you wanna play her, here's a very basic list I use if I don't wanna put much thought into it and it feels pretty good:

Pandora, Poltergeist, Candy, Kade, Teddy, Carver, and Sorrow 

[Regelridderen]

13 hours ago, Wyamphri said:

Pandora lives and dies on positioning.  If you don't know the opponents threat ranges, damage tracks, etc, I wouldn't recommend playing her until you get a few games in and broaden your knowledge a bit. That being said...I love Dora and she's a blast in this edition. Her crew has alot of killing potential and control. If you wanna play her, here's a very basic list I use if I don't wanna put much thought into it and it feels pretty good:

Pandora, Poltergeist, Candy, Kade, Teddy, Carver, and Sorrow 

Ha! I’d pondered the exact same list – if only to get a chance to test all the woes out

[Mut]

15 hours ago, Wyamphri said:

Pandora lives and dies on positioning.  If you don't know the opponents threat ranges, damage tracks, etc, I wouldn't recommend playing her until you get a few games in and broaden your knowledge a bit. That being said...I love Dora and she's a blast in this edition. Her crew has alot of killing potential and control. If you wanna play her, here's a very basic list I use if I don't wanna put much thought into it and it feels pretty good:

Pandora, Poltergeist, Candy, Kade, Teddy, Carver, and Sorrow 

Agreed on positioning; range is super important to Pandora, especially the 6" mark where Mood Swings, Misery, and The Box Opens all turn her into a terror for your opponent. Candy is an absolute monster in 3E, and Sorrows are fantastic at tying things up or scheme running. 

I really recommend Serena Bowman with Teddy in a Pandora crew if you have the points to spare. Her extra healing is always welcome and being able to use her Tendrils attack while hanging back with Pandora is super useful. She makes Teddy an even more effective beater when she can reach out and lay down a 2/4/6 track with a possible blast before he even attacks, weakening things up sufficiently so he can get the kill and heal.

[Wyamphri]

I haven't tried Serena yet with the crew but I've been going over the idea myself.  She would definitely be really strong with the crew 

[Regelridderen]

And of course Serena is the only one, I haven’t got in my collection - yet she seems to be the model, that everyone swears by

[Wyamphri]

She's strong, but I've played plenty of games just fine without her. I've been using her as a crutch, so I've stepped away from her for the time being. She is really good though, especially for dreamer and pandora 

[Ogid]

17 hours ago, Regelridderen said:

Ha! I’d pondered the exact same list – if only to get a chance to test all the woes out

I guess Iggy is a joke to you 😜

[Regelridderen]

11 hours ago, Ogid said:

I guess Iggy is a joke to you 😜

Don’t get it? 😛

[Regelridderen]

Whoopie!

Just returned from the tournament. It was a blast, I dragged things out, so I never got to finish a game, only managed two turns in the first and four in the remaining two. Only played Dreamer, as I quickly realized, that trying out a whole new Master wouldn’t be fair to the rest of my opponents. 

Round 1 vs the family. 

Great game vs the Family. Really showed me the potential of the Dreamer, as I summoned, Lucid Dreamed and Fiendish Gambled like there was no tomorrow. If turn 3 had come around, I’m sure the family had been in tears. But as it was, I lost 2 - 1 ( and chomped Perdita ).

Round 2 vs. Parker Barrows. 

I got wrecked. I learned that you need to buy soul stones. But my big problem was, that I didn’t win a WP duel till end turn 3, and I barely won any duels at all, I played to claim Turf War and managed a draw at 3 - 3. 

Round 3 vs Sonnia

Now my teeth where whetted, and I just went aggressively headfirst into the witch hunters, ignoring the threat of Burning. I completely outflanked my opponent, killed most of his minions and dumped explosives all over the place. MVPs were Coppelius and the ‘spiders’, as they’re speed and web sheananigans allowed the rest of the crew to concentrate on wrecking face. Both Summoning and Lucid Dreams played a minor role in this game. The game ended with a win 3 - 1. 

-

I’m glad to see, that Dreamer can play very differently, and there is a ton of fun in his playstyle. My biggest problems were, not knowing my cards and abilities by heart, and equally the Schemes and Strategies. Its hard to make a good plan, if you’re not completely aware of your objectives, and it also makes it harder to learn, how your opponent plays. But a few more games and this will be learned by heart. 

I didn’t win the tournament of course, but I did win for best painted army - which by a stroke of coincidence happened to a Serena Bowman, so soon my Nightmare keyword will be complete

 

[Maniacal_cackle]

@Regelridderen well done!