The Fae - the wonderous fae...

[Sharp_GT]

1 hour ago, Pinocchio said:

In fact, out of the whole NB faction there isn't another model that can put scheme markers down next to an enemy model (unless you are doppleganger with don't mind me). I've taken Aeslin out of keyword because of this and I never regret it.

Stone intensive yes, but trade up 1ss for a VP, worth it, even better when you don't have to stone for it. 

dang, good points, I think I'm undervalueing her currently. With her and a doppleganger suddenly dig their graves looks a lot more sure fire!

I love opportunities like this, where you can draw a direct cost to VP relationship. In swampfiend crews with certain schemes, silurids read: 6ss - score 2vp. I like that aeslin has a trigger that basically reads: 1ss - score 1vp!

[melkore]

Outside of Aeslin, Gorar and a Knight I pretty much go to versatile models for Fae.  Her crew is full of expensive tool boxes that don't always fill the role when a more precise tool needed.

Often my lists have the Rider and/or Hinamatsu for beaters as Rougaru pretty much always die before delivery and I don't like Killjoy when there are flat out better versatile models +-1ss

The Emissary is pretty solid, I haven't gotten a ton of work out of it but extra terrain markers is always good

For scheming, I lean towards Wicked Dolls for stealth and creep along because Bultungin die to a stiff breeze and Waldgiest are just too slow for really anything in m3e.

I take a Knight or two for holding upgrades like Pact since they are pretty sturdy and throw out more markers unlike Rougaru or Bultungin.  I do take Bultungin against crews with a lot of conditions because Toss in the Mud is worth it over a Doll

[Le gob]

I only have 2 games with Titania and one of them was during the beta, but from my experience, I mostly share @melkore's point of view. 

Walgeist are too slow, and I don't bring them unless there are huge parts of severe terrain like forests or ponds on the board. The knights are just way better for +1SS.

I had the same experience with the Rougarou, both times it got gunned down before it could do anything.

Bultungin would be good if only they had some defensive abilities, but are really too squishy.

I tried killjoy, but wasn't keen on how it works.

So, I'm left with:

Titania, seems like a good master.

Aeslin, circumpstancial, can be good, can be bad

Groar, doesn't do much until it replaces something else.

The knights, good tarpits, but they won't score you any points.

And that's a bit short to make a decent team. No beaters, no scheme runners, you have to look for them OOK or in versatile.

 

I'm not experienced in M3E and might have missed some important interactions in the team, but to me it got a feeling of: I play Titania and some random OOK/versatile dudes instead of Titania and her crew.

[melkore]

3 hours ago, Le gob said:

Aeslin, circumpstancial, can be good, can be bad

I felt that way until I started to really lean in to stacking Injured on a target I needed to die.  Hitting models near underbrush on a stat 6 with a built in crow make that a 3/3/4 with blasts and each hit stacks Injured.  Throw that at a a damage sponge and getting them down to df3-4 before moving Titania or another model in for the kill has been pretty key.  Not to mention Titania keeps stacking Injured.

At worst she has been a marker generator and marker eater.  She went from a maybe to an always for me.

[Ogid]

I agree that a Fae style heavy on versatiles is viable; there are a lot of very good versatiles in NVB. The problem with that style is the underbrushes will also block your own crew and it'll be harder to fight with them near because of the lesser ammount at the start of the game. Also, almost every member of the crew get some kind of bonus fighting into or near of them.

However I think you are underselling some of their models:

Aeslin isn't circunstancial, she is one of the best models of the crew; even worthy OOK. The displacement, injured, blast attacks, scheme drops... everything she bring is golden. Plus she is Honorable and has counterspell, something very very good versus certain crews.

Knights aren't flashy, but they get the job done. They are one of the toughest minions (Armor+1, df6 H2W... lol) so they great upgrade holders and are cheap enought to be useful in Hold their forces. Offensively they have a good attack stat and average damage (but the triggers are all good damage wise), they aren't amazing beaters but are dangerous fighting near of the brushes or engaged with more than 1 model. And with parry and challenge most models trying to trade with them will kill themselves before doing any meaningful damage or will have to discard a lot of cards not attacking them

Killjoy and Rougarous hit very hard and with H2W they aren't that easy to kill even with df4, specially at ranged with all the concealment around. With the displacement capabilities of the crew thanks to the "into thorns" trigger, they shouldn't have to get that much out of position to attack. I don't think these belong to the vanguard of the team, just let Titania, Aeslin and the Knights catch someone in the brushes and then tear him appart with any of these. There are other beaters in NVB that are very good (Hinamatsu for example is amazing), but when there are underbrushes everywhere these beaters are way harder to maneuver than these 2.

Bultungins are crystal made, but they are also cheap, fast and have good scheme denial (plus they give you an underbrush at the start of the game). With deadly pursuit and toss in the mud they have 2 ways to dissengage and keep the schemes going. A doll engaged may dissengage with Creep along, but probably in the wrong direction or you could go for a premium runner, but those are much more expensive.

Walgeist bring some interesting perks that aren't easy to see. For 6 SS they aren't knights but they are tanky enough, can regen and force the other player to get stun/discard a card (which goes well with the Knight challenge for extra hand harass). They are unimpeded and cannot be displaced (most of the models only ignore the underbrushes, so they could be good when playing into other types of severe terrain or the Emissary ones). They aren't bad models for Hold up their forces. The best part of his kit imo is that with Ambush they can drop 2 scheme markers in 1 turn, add that to the displacement capabilities of the crew and you have an easy way to set up/score Detonate Charges, Dig their Graves, Harness the ley line or even Breakthrought (this last one is harder tho). A stat of 5 isn't impressive, but this crew handle a lot of injured and their triggers are pretty control focused (staggered, slow and reposition), the damage is ok. Also they are a cheap way to add more underbrushes if needed to fuel Aeslin and Titania abilities. It's niche but being swampfiends they could also enable a Titania/Zoraida double master... but I'm not sure how good that double master would be because Zoraida hates the underbrushes.

Titania can go OOK, and that's very good to adapt to other crews and not being very predictable (or if you expect a lot of anti-terrain in the other crew); but her keyword is very well rounded imo, so she can stay mostly in keyword and be fine.

[ovan00]

What do you think of the combo Kill Joe  and the upgrade on Serena Bowman? 

[melkore]

34 minutes ago, ovan00 said:

What do you think of the combo Kill Joe  and the upgrade on Serena Bowman? 

Serena is an Enforcer and the upgrade can only be put on minions.  I don't think there is a minion in Neverborn with Demise(Eternal)

[Pinocchio]

5 minutes ago, melkore said:

Serena is an Enforcer and the upgrade can only be put on minions.  I don't think there is a minion in Neverborn with Demise(Eternal)

It reads that the upgrades can be put onto non-insignificant models, so Serena can have it which in that case (until and FAQ says otherwise) can make for a pretty nasty surprise for your opponent

[Sharp_GT]

Blood price does not require a minion to hold the upgrade, but thiseffect does not work as a combo. This has come up before :

 

 

[melkore]

Oh weird I could have sworn it needed to be on a minion.  Good to know!

[Pinocchio]

4 minutes ago, Sharp_GT said:

Blood price does not require a minion to hold the upgrade, but thiseffect does not work as a combo. This has come up before :

 

 

Ah, that is an important distinction. Good to know for competitive play.

[Adran]

2 hours ago, ovan00 said:

What do you think of the combo Kill Joe  and the upgrade on Serena Bowman? 

I think the neverborn player will get very upset when Serena dies to the ritual and doesn't stop being dead. Demise eternal only heals you, and the only time that unkills you if is you were on 0 wounds.