Stumbling through the Plague and Land Mines

[TheJoyInGaming]

17 minutes ago, Jesy Blue said:

are not cumulative, page 30, so you'd only get 2 cards.

Maybe combine it with a Prospector & get 2 cards and 2 Soul Stones a turn.

They aren’t cumulative if they affect the same model. Protection Money reads that the model with the ability is the one that draws the card. Therefore, if an enemy marker is dropped between 2 models that each have Protection Money they would both draw a card since each of the two models are only affected once by the enemy scheme marker dropping. A good example of this is the callout box about Bushwhackers on pg. 30 pdf.

Sample list:

Mr. Slugworth Of Slugworth Chocolates Incorporated 
Size: 50 - Pool: 6
Leader:
  Hamelin
    Servant of Dark Powers
Totem(s):
  Stolen
    Wanted Criminal
  Stolen 2
  Stolen 3
Hires:
  Benny Wolcomb
  Freikorps Librarian
    Wanted Criminal
  Rat King
  Rat King 2
  Winged Plague
  Winged Plague 2

I have been liking some healing in my Hamelin lists so after much deliberation between the effigy, emissary, and the Librarian I chose the Librarian. She provides a decent damage track, more card draw, and also doesn’t mind the Wanted Criminal upgrade.

Edited November 10, 2019 by TheJoyInGaming

[Jesy Blue]

Ahhhhhh, loophole!  This may have legs.  Tiny scurrying legs.

I have done Wanted Criminal on Stolen before.  It was obnoxious but not game breaking.  I did hold up Howard Langston for 2 turns as he had to take 2 swings at the Stolen and then kill the 2 Rats blocking his path, but that is 1 good out of like 5 attempts.

[TheJoyInGaming]

1 minute ago, Jesy Blue said:

Ahhhhhh, loophole!  This may have legs.  Tiny scurrying legs.

I have done Wanted Criminal on Stolen before.  It was obnoxious but not game breaking.  I did hold up Howard Langston for 2 turns as he had to take 2 swings at the Stolen and then kill the 2 Rats blocking his path, but that is 1 good out of like 5 attempts.

I love tiny scurrying legs! Weird...

By Wanted Criminal do you mean Soldier for Hire since it gives Hard to Kill?

[Jesy Blue]

Yeah, that one...

5 day weekend, I'm in and out of consciousness, sorry.

[TheJoyInGaming]

I found myself with a moment before homework today, so here is an “update”!
 

Mischief In The Confectionery  
Size: 50 - Pool: 6
Leader:
  Hamelin
    Servant of Dark Powers
Totem(s):
  Stolen
    Wanted Criminal
  Stolen 2
    Wanted Criminal
  Stolen 3
Hires:
  Benny Wolcomb
  Hans
  Rat King
  Rat King 2
  Winged Plague
  Winged Plague 2

I dropped the Librarian and added Hans so I had to shuffle the WC upgrade to a second Stolen. I still like the Librarian with Hamelin, and will test it further, but I have been greatly desiring a model that can provide 6 damage on severe. Other considerations include The Nothing Beast (Swagger and Protection Money help with giving Fast much more reliably so he can teleport more often) and Arik (Kinetic Amplifier helps dissuade some common counters to this crew and can be used more often due to the increased card draw). I may need to switch a Rat King to a Rat Catcher if I use Arik though as 3 Stones only is a little scary.

Hans I will be using for now as I like in theory how he can switch between damage and debuffing so easily. Warning Shot also provides one of the only, if not the only, enemy movement effects in Outcasts that is not dependent on your model’s positioning ie Lure is move towards your model.

That is all for now. Hope your November is going well readers!

Shalom!

[TheJoyInGaming]

My wife decided to surprise me with an unplanned game of Malifaux last night for my birthday so I actually have something to talk about.

The Scenario

*Plant Explosives- Standard

Harness the Leyline

Claim Jump

Deliver a Message

Dig Their Graves

Power Ritual

 

My Crew

Mischief In The Confectionery 
Size: 50 - Pool: 6
Leader:
  *Hamelin
    Servant of Dark Powers
Totem(s):
  Stolen
    Wanted Criminal
  Stolen 2
    Wanted Criminal
  Stolen 3
Hires:
  *Benny Wolcomb
  Hans
  *Rat King
  *Rat King 2
  Winged Plague
  *Winged Plague 2


My Wife’s Crew

Team Ninja Strike! 
Size: 50 - Pool: 7
Leader:
  **Misaki Katanaka
Totem(s):
  Shang
Hires:
  *Minako Rei
    Trained Ninja
  **Yamaziko
    Trained Ninja
  Sun Quiang
  Torakage
    Silent Protector
  Torakage 2
    Silent Protector

Pre-game Plan
I chose Harness and Dig because I had all the available Actions needed to Drop the Scheme Markers. Corpses from Stolen and Rat Kings could also be controlled by me to Drop where needed to set up an easy Dig Their Graves. I cannot score the 2nd point of Deliver on Misaki, Claim Jump didn’t have anybody likely to live at all, and I don’t trust the Winged Plagues to make it across the board for Power Ritual.

I chose my list to try out Benny for the first time. Since he can use Woozy Rat to Drop an enemy Marker I gave my favorite two Stolen Wanted Criminal for the extra card draw. The Focus from Swagger could also make them more reliable with Vomiting Disease and Moldy Cheese. The other Stolen would blow himself up. Benny is supposed to make 3 Rats Turn 1 and move up the board. Afterwards he would focus on counter scheming.

My Vermin were chosen because of Unclean Influence and needing additional Actions for Loyal Rats. The Winged Plague can Drop 2 Markers more reliably than a Prospector because Unclean Influence is more reliable than needing a 6+ of crows. I chose 2 Rat Kings over a Rat King and a Rat Catcher again because of Unclean Influence. I figured that the best case scenario for a hired Rat Catcher was to walk twice and use his bonus to move Rats but that seems like a waste when compared to a hired Rat King. The Rat King can be made Fast and do all sorts of shenanigans before using an Action to kill itself and net me a Rat Catcher. I get far more value in Actions this way, a card, and a Corpse at the low cost of 1 additional stone and a Pass Token for my opponent.

Hans was chosen because of Reference the Field Guide and his dual role as a damage dealer and a condition bot. His gun is also very reliable in that it ignores Cover, Concealment, and Friendly Fire whilst being able to extend its range through Sniper.

Cohesively this crew is very flexible with its options after its brief Turn 1 set up. In addition, this list pressures my hand very little. The key actions I want to get off are Unclean Influence (4), Woozy Rat (6), and Loyal Rats (8). Fast from Moldy Cheese (10) is a bonus, though not actually necessary; and it can occur more frequently due to Swagger. In addition, I don’t care for any suit in particular as I am diving headlong into Rats instead of hoarding crows for Taint for Bleeding Disease. This low hand pressure, combined with the good amount of card draw available (5 cards from Expendable and Protection Money), means I can afford to discard more often for Nihilism, Sack O’ Rats, and Reference the Field Guide and/or just start widening the resource disparity between my opponent and myself more quickly.

Well... I am tired and out of time. I will get to the actual game later. Happy November!

Shalom!
 

P.S. Ain’t my wife just the best?

[TheJoyInGaming]

First Impressions

My first thought on seeing my wife's crew is that Hans will not have free reign to shoot whom he pleases as he is limited to Misaki, Shang, Sun Quiang, and any summoned Katashiro. I know my wife's preference for giving Explosives to Misaki and Yamaziko so I expected that they would split up and focus on planting them when Misaki is not carving up my crew. My wife's decision to pay for dual copies of Silent Protector for her Torakage was surprising given that my Rat Kings can close the distance so well and have Onslaught. Sun Quiang was also surprising to see, though upon further thought the Last Blossom keyword does have a number of place effects to trigger King of Medicine and they would likely appreciate Bedside Manner. Misaki had the tools to greatly minimize the impact of Winged Plague, by killing them, or my Rat Kings, by knocking them below half health. My only concern at this point beyond my Turn 1 set up is to kill Shang, likely with Hans, as that will reduce Misaki's positional flexibility and rob her of 4 cards over the course of the game due to the lack of Arcane Reservoir.

Game Summary

My Wife was the attacker and I chose for her to deploy her group of Misaki, Shang, Sun Quiang, and Yamaziko. I deploy my forces in a large bubble on the left half of the table because my deployment had a building right smack in the middle of the edge of deployment. I make sure to deploy Hans where he can see Shang. She deploys the rest of her forces.

Turn 1 is mostly me doing my set up and her maneuvering. I started with only 1 ram in hand which meant that unless Shang moved forward I could not guarantee that Hans could kill him. This was complicated by the fact that Shang's large MV stat could allow him to maneuver behind a couple buildings out of LOS about mid-board. After doing my set up and ending with 5 Rats (2 from my self-exploding Stolen and 3 from Benny) I had 2 Rams in hand, and was biding my time to kill Shang as I had yet to see the Black Joker despite going through a decent chunk of my fate deck. Misaki unburied at this time and used Lightning Strike 3 times on a group of Hamelin, Benny, 2 Rats, and a Winged Plague. By the end of the duels Hamelin and Benny had each taken two damage, I had go down a Rat, and cycled some cards whilst she was able to place a Shadow Marker in the middle of my bubble. Still no Black Joker... I finally decided to activate Hans and used Reference the Field Guide and a Red Joker to hit Shang for min damage 4. Following this, a foolish Torakage double walked near Hamelin and Challenged him (which finally turned over my Black Joker) since I had only two cards in hand. Hamelin then shrugged, lured the Torakage over, and hit him repeatedly with his Staff until the Torakage was at Blight 4 and Injured 4. He then used Unclean Influence to maneuver my Vermin into safer positions, have my first Rat King drop a Scheme Marker, and have my second Rat King kill the Torakage. Minako walked and summoned. My Fast Rat King walked, Interacted, and then exploded into a Rat Catcher to get me a card. Yamaziko triple walked at some point over to my table half and the Rat Catcher Concentrated and used his bonus to move my Rats.

Turn 2 was very eventful so I do not remember the sequence of events well. Basically my Hamelin led a bubble of Winged Plague and Rats to engage the other Torakage, Sun Quiang, and a Katashiro to gain Blight and use it for Festering Wounds. Yamaziko was placing Explosives at her leisure and Hans killed a Katashiro that was trying to claw up one of my Winged Plagues. Misaki did not have the best of luck as she unburied near a Fast Rat King and proceded to use her entire activation to only deal 2 damage. The Rat King proceded to retaliate by dealing a total of 13 damage back to her through Onslaught Triggers (no cheating from my hand required) which was reduced to only 9 damage after prevention. Benny ate a Marker for Fast and then walked over to the pile of Festering Scheme Markers to gain 5 Rats. Minako walked to Hamelin to Deliver a Message. A Winged Plague died at some point. The Rat Catcher turned Misaki into a Rat (which gave my remaining Rat King 2 Explosives) and that is the end of Turn 2. 

Score: 2-1 (My Rat King had dropped his Explosive with Unclean Influence. 

My wife considered conceding as she was now down to only 4 models (Minako, Yamaziko, Torakage, and Sun Quiang) and I had 13 models (Hamelin, 2 Stolen, Benny, Hans, Rat King, Rat Catcher, Winged Plague, 5 Malifaux Rats). We decide to keep playing and go to Turn 3, which didn't end up lasting very long. She could not afford to use her large swath of Pass Tokens as both her Torakage, and Sun Quiang, were half dead. Through my massive action advantage I was able to outmaneuver her and score Dig on Sun Quiang and get another 3 Markers for Harness down. At that point we called the game. We discussed it and the likely score would have been 8-3 as she had too few models for counterplay left.

Takeaways

My first takeaway is that using Benny's engine requires an even great mastery of positioning than regular Hamelin. My second takeaway is that writing my limited BatReps is going to be much more difficult as there are so many more models to keep track of and this one is flaming hot garbage. Benny's engine was very fun to use and seemed to be powerful, though the schemes allowed him the chance to use my wife's markers against her. I actually liked the Winged Plague in this list a lot, and would struggle to bring a Prospector instead. In this list the Winged Plague can basically refund themselves in Rats whilst cautiously moving up the board. Due to Wanted Criminal I was able to more reliably give my Kings Fast, and I was able to kill Sun Quiang with Vomiting Disease. It also allowed me the flexibility to blow up my other Stolen Turn 1 for more Rats. I think I made the right call in hiring a King to use a bunch of Actions Turn 1 before exploding into a Rat Catcher to move my Rats. Hans was a rockstar this game, though I think that is mostly due to my wife's unfamiliarity with the model. He was staring at Shang for several Activations before my hand was sculpted to kill him and in future games I think she will very clearly see my intent.

My biggest takeaway is that I... love... this... list! I think I will try different variants from now on to iron out any kinks. As an aside, I actually really like Benny's sculpt. Whilst ugly as all get out, his sculpt really oozes character in a way that reminds me of the Wyrd Metals that I prefer.

Sorry for having you readers slog through all of this but hope you found some enjoyment!

Shalom!

Edited November 21, 2019 by TheJoyInGaming

[SoulGambit]

Have you played against Charm Warders as Hamelin? If so, what are your experiences? Is your wife not picking them for tactical or fun reasons?

I am trying to assess how much of a problem they actually are.