Pine Box; is it just a party trick?

[Regelridderen]

Pine Box seems like a neat ability, but is it worth it?

You spend an action on giving an enemy Distracted and possibly cheating away a moderate card, when it reactivates. On the positive side, the duel will rarely be at a disadvantage, as it is against Sz., so it is an equalizer vs. High df models, and it can work to momentarily shut down an engagement for scheming etc.

But is there a point in using Death Marshall Recruiters and Jury to gang up on the buried. Or even hiring Agent 46(+ doppelganger) to Box on a Stat 6-7? Can you build an aggressive strategy on it?

[Starrius]

I think the benefit of it is for removing models from the board for a small period of time after it has activated. This can free up board positioning

[Ludvig]

After they've activated you can remove them to score or deny certain strategies/schemes but it doesn't have the potential of the last edition where you could take something out for pretty much the rest of the game. 

[Ogid]

Not sure how viable it'd be. The big problem with Pine Box is the range 0'' and that the models with that ability aren't fast or have movement tricks. Most mele attacks are range 1'', so you'll find yourself wasting actions to be able to use that attack... DMR with Focused+1 can deal some good damage if severe damage is cheated tho and in a Lucius/J crew it could set up prisioner/isolate a model you want to kill by ordering that model to move away, among other shenanigans...

The Jury can bury with a trigger in her spell (8'') and the Emissary has a short range spell (2'') that also buries; those seems more reliable than the Pine Box if what you want is just burying them to attack with the DMR. Doppleganger could also make good use of Pine box because she has Lure (with a reposition trigger) and when copied it gets a stat 7; however the unbury into b2b part could hinder her as make her Disguised useless.

[Mortarion]

From my experience so far, Pine box is extremely situational in M3E. In the right situations, it can (in theory) help you score or deny schemes and strats by simply removing a model from the board in one action regardless of how tough it is. However, since Death Marshals are not super fast I doubt those situations will occur often. At some point I will try a list built upon burying, with Jury and DMR to damage the buried models, but I am quite convinced it will be a wierd gimmick list rather then an actual viable option.

In M2E, you took the Death Marshals for their Pine box. In M3E you take them for other reasons. The Pine box is just a bonus in my opinion. And when all the stars align every 20:th or so match and you can actually use it when it matters it will become one of those "That's awesome!!"-moments.

[Regelridderen]

So a neat party trick...

[Gnomezilla]

What’s a class of enemy that has low Wp but is traditionally difficult to remove by quickly killing it?...and tends to be in crews with lower model count?... 

 

I haven’t buried much, other than those mannequins, but do need to remember that it’s a way to reposition models into engagement (unless effigy did the burying) and hazardous terrain at the same time.

[solkan]

Pine Box Express withdrawal.  

I think people are under rating the ability to

• Bury an enemy model while completely ignoring its Wp and Df triggers.
• Completely ignore the better Wp and Df on higher cost models, and instead go against the Sz, which is more likely to be 2, and at best 3 or 4.

Honestly, I think the more likely situation is that Death Marshal is going to get Pine Box off against a target that's in the way; or threaten to do that to lone harassing models.  

[Adran]

Are you protecting a marker, or even being a take the hit model? Do you have an important aura running? 

There are certainly good times for the pine box to be used, it's a case of things working at the right time. I probably wouldn't plan on using it every game, but I can see it making a crucial difference every now and then 

[Myyrä]

It can be useful for getting some end of the game kills on the last turn. Still pretty gimmicky.

[solkan]

4 hours ago, Ogid said:

The big problem with Pine Box is the range 0'' and that the models with that ability aren't fast or have movement tricks.

Okay, wait a second.

• Death Marshals gain Fast if they activate within range of an enemy undead model.
• Death Marshal Recruiters have the aura giving themselves and nearby Marshal models a 2" push towards Corpse Markers or Undead models (not restricted to enemy Undead!) in LoS
• Domodores, Exorcists, and The Jury all have ways of making enemy models Undead temporarily
• The Domodores "Command Corpse" works on Death Marshals, Brutal Emissary, and the Pale Rider.

Yeah, it runs into problems because you end up having to bubble together, but it's slightly better than nothing, and Emissary or Pale Rider do make pretty good rally points.

Seems to me the question is, would you rather get Ride With Me from the Pale Rider for 11 as a "One Foot Toward the Grave" beacon, or from a Mounted Guard for 10 and bank on turning the Guard Patrol into a Death Marshal when it gets killed twice.

 

[eddy]

Remember that recruiters aura let push 2" towards death marshals as they are undeand

 

[eddy]

Full burry focused list

 The Jury Crew (Guild) Size: 50 - Pool: 6 Leader: The Jury Lead-Lined Coat Totem(s): Brutal Effigy Effigy of Fate Hires: Domador De Cadaveres Domador De Cadaveres 2 Death Marshal Recruiter Death Marshal Recruiter 2 Death Marshal Death Marshal 2 References: Brutal Emissary

[Morgan Vening]

On 10/20/2019 at 6:12 AM, solkan said:

Okay, wait a second.

• Death Marshals gain Fast if they activate within range of an enemy undead model.
• Death Marshal Recruiters have the aura giving themselves and nearby Marshal models a 2" push towards Corpse Markers or Undead models (not restricted to enemy Undead!) in LoS
• Domodores, Exorcists, and The Jury all have ways of making enemy models Undead temporarily
• The Domodores "Command Corpse" works on Death Marshals, Brutal Emissary, and the Pale Rider.

Yeah, it runs into problems because you end up having to bubble together, but it's slightly better than nothing, and Emissary or Pale Rider do make pretty good rally points.

Seems to me the question is, would you rather get Ride With Me from the Pale Rider for 11 as a "One Foot Toward the Grave" beacon, or from a Mounted Guard for 10 and bank on turning the Guard Patrol into a Death Marshal when it gets killed twice.

The bubble can be a hindrance, for sure. But it's also a massive benefit, as unless the opponent can surgically remove the DMR's, or you're already at Minion Cap, Grim Recruitment is gonna frustrate.