The Hinamatsu Kidnap Strategy

[Kensan Oni]

Hi all.

I'm new, and I got maybe a game under my belt by the time you are reading this, and I got half a plan. I don't know if it's a good plan. I'm not what to do with it, but it's a heck of a plan.

Min Crew needed for this plan.

Youko (Although I suppose Hinamatsu could be leader for this idea)
HInamatsu
Geisha
Banraku

So, the idea is that you position the Baraku a little ahead, the Geisha behind, and Hinamatsu in the rear. On turn two, you target an activated model on your opponents side with Lure ( Move the target its Mv toward this model. ), and drag them all the way from across their half of the table, using a chain of lures, where you can beat up on them away from the support of the pack.

I realize that this is commitment of six action points on the second turn to pull this off, but I've never had a Skirmish Game where I could do this before, and this is exciting to me!

The problem, of course, is I have no idea how I capitalize on this. Is there a scheme that would benefit from this? What beaters do I need to help pull off a payoff for doing this?

[Adran]

The idea is valid. You need to work out a way to make it actually score you points.

If you want to do this I would try it with 2 or 3 geisha, as if you just want them for their lure, you don't want to be spending big points on it. Your turn 1 should probably walk a Geisha and use it to lure the other geisha, before that geisha moves twice to get in place for all that luring.

 Reckoning is the game where this might help, bringing the models to you to allow you to concentrate your forces, but it can also be good set up for schemes, such as detonate your charges, dig your graves, hold up their forces, Take prisoner or deliver a message.

 

This plan was more effective in previous editions with longer ranged Lures, and models that got to attack models that moved up to them, so its not new for malifaux. In addition to those schemes where it is going to help you, it can also ruin opponents plans by removing them from their support, or just being in the wrong place for the job they wanted to do.

 

[zavros]

I agree with Adran, 2 geisha could get enough lures, you might not even need that many as your opponent is probably also moving up the board. 

There's 4 schemes I can think of where lures are useful specifically for you.

Detonate charges- its easier to do when you can get their activated guy in the right spot

Dig their graves- lure them over, plant a scheme, and hit them with 1-2 beaters

Take prisoner- the perfect lure scheme, just get a guy by himself. Choosing a low cost guy for this can let even a geisha hold him down.

Vendetta- get your target near, hit them with other guys to get their health low enough, then hit them with the vendetta model to score.

In youko, there's other dirty things you can do with lures. Getting a model into a geisha or kabuki warriors distraction aura will let you get away with a lot of youko's and chiyo's actions. You can lure models just in range of someone with 2" reach, getting them engaged in an awkward spot. 

Offensively you can lure people off of scheme positioning like outflank or claim jump. For turf war, lure a model into the zone where you want to kill it.

[Jesy Blue]

Easy Mode:  Both Hinamatsu & Kabuki Warriors have the Rip & Tear trigger on their Lure; you could have them staggered to the side of each other, then Lure, Rip & Tear, attack. Then repeat with the next one.  Then repeat with the next one again.

[Ogid]

+1 to what they said; Lure models you can get points out of it/you really need to get rid off. Also take in count a lured model will move towards the center of said model, so you will need to Lure + Move to the side of it to leave the path open for a new lure of a model behind; which could be very action ineficient and will make your chain of lures fail if you don't nail the first lure of each activation.

The best friend to these kind of shenanigans is the distraction aura (Kabuki and Geisha). I'll tell you how I'd set that up:

I'd start getting a Kabuki into engagement range of the model I want to lure (and starting to soften it); which is easy to do with his bonus action (and being sure to leave the lure path open). Then I'd Lure it with a Geisha (first action) and make that Geisha charge to the side of the model (second action, leaving the path to the rear clear again), giving it slow (+ 50% distracted) and putting it again in range of the aura. Then Lure with Hinamatsu.

Doing it this way the other model will have a  to resist the 2 lures and the Geisha attack (which means they couldn't cheat fate, so the lures and the conditions are almost guaranteed unless red jocker happens, and also you can cheat lowish cards with the trigger you want; for example Hinamatsu's Rip and Tear). And even if you couldn't kill it with hinamatsu, that model will be out of position, slowed and (probably) distracted. The Kabuki would be probably fine, these are hard to kill in mele; the Geisha would be maybe a little out of position with that charge forward, but if the model lured is worth it; the 4 points trade is OK.

Have fun!

[Kensan Oni]

I want to thank you for all the responses.

I would love to include the Kabuki's to my roster, and I'm sure I can do so in casual play, but I so need the models released so I can do this officially.

[zavros]

I'm currently planning on a proxy with this. [8-Ball, Greenskin Oni Skin] It comes out pretty soon.

[Ogid]

2 hours ago, zavros said:

I'm currently planning on a proxy with this. [8-Ball, Greenskin Oni Skin] It comes out pretty soon.

That one looks like if one of the Asami's onis eated the Kabuki and kept the mask as a trophy XD.

[Maniacal_cackle]

Chaining lures like that will sometimes be useful, and it'll be good to learn to do it. Most likely it'll be for some critical thing like take prisoner or assassinating a particular model (like a Vendetta target).

Learning when to do one or two lures will probably be important. I suspect three or more starts to get inefficient, but that's the thing about Malifaux. There are tons of niche situations, and you want to have tools ready to go in the toolbox.

Experiment with it!