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Initial Impressions, Processing Tormented


SoulGambit

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I have some games under my belt!

In those games I did not play the Tormented keyword so, like before, take all of the advice here with a grain of salt. I just learn best by trying to articulate what is going on to someone else, and helpfully this thread can serve as a jumpstart for people thinking about Jack Daw's Crew.

Please post your own thoughts and strategies. Feel free to call me out for being wrong, or letting someone know if you have a different opinion. I have thick skin.

In particular, Tormented are a complicated and interwoven crew.

Jack Daw, 15ss (Free)
The main man of Malifaux himself, Jack Daw was once known as a bundle of special rules whose primary method of defense was being so complicated that the enemy would rather ignore him than actually read his card. His transition to 3e has done a lot to help with that. He keeps a few special rules that force the opponent to think about him differently, while presenting that all in a relatively streamlined package.

Defensively, Jack Daw is a powerhouse so long as he is properly supported by his crew. Df 5, Wp 7, Terrifying (12, effectively 13 vs models within 6"), with 6 Wds isn't impressive ay first glance. However, any time Jack Daw takeS damage he can discard a card to reduce his damage to 1, regardless of what it originally was.  

That is a solid defense that requires specific tech to get around, with the downside being that your opponent will know your Master before picling their crew, and so they will bring that tech. Be aware of models who can proc multiple instances of damage while ignoring terrifying. Blasts, Pulses, damaging Auras and Shockwaves are the bane of Jack Daw. Likewise, placing pressure on your hand becomes a brutally effective tactic. Your opponent has to commit if they want to bring Jack Daw down, but if they commit it is easy to give poor ol' Jack a run for his money. If your opponent only brings one or two models who can counter Jack, then the best defense becomes a good offense.

Speaking of Offense, Jack Daw (and his crew) centers around setting up combinations and taking advantage of them. Dead Man's Collar is Jack's big payoff attack at Stat 6 vs Mv, Dmg 2/3/4. Attacking Mv is great: few things have high Mv, nothing has defensive triggers off of Mv, ajd Staggered is going to reduce that Mv by 2. Otherwise, at first glance its bad. If the opponent is Staggered, you force the opponent to discard a card and, on a Rams, deal +2 Damage (for 4/5/6, just shy of Seamus' Gun). A Crows trigger will either give Execute (which happens after their discard if they are Staggered) or let you Push a Tormented model anywhere in LoS 3" towards the opponent. Note the opponent's models with Cursed Upgrades count as Tormented.

His 8" ranged attack is Stat 6 vs Wp, Dmg 2/3/3 and attaches an Injustice Upgrade to the target. Injustice is going to give that model Staggered at the beginning of every turn. It has that Push trigger built in, and on a Mask Trigger Jack can Place himself in base contact with an Enemy Model hit by the attack.

His last offensive action is Whispered Truths, which is a 3" Pulse centered on him. Enemy models need to pass a TN 13 (effectively 14, thanks to his Aura) Wp Duel or recieve Slow. If Jack Daw is in the right location at the right time, this can be devestating to an opponent's Crew. I am worried that Jack Daw won't survive such a situation by default, but it is incentive for the enemy to not try swarming Jack.

Now the question is: is the payoff worth the setup in itself? That answer is definately no, Jack Daw does not accomplish enough with the setup to think of that payoff as worth it (with the exception of the execute trigger), unless that bonus damage is directly getting you VP. That doesn't make it bad, it just means that you shouldn't be using Curses and applying Staggered only because of what Jack Daw can do with it. Staggered is a good condition, and you need it to do some work on its own before worrying about what Jack Daw can do. That is, apply Staggered and Curse Upgrades because those actions apply value in and of themselves, and think of them as opportunities for Jack as a bonus. The threat of utilizing the payoff is also valuable, since if something has Staggered while near Jack, the opponent will want to get rid of that ASAP because it is possible you will use it to delete a model.

Mobility wise Jack Daw is a Mv 5 model that ignores intervining terrain and models. As a bonus action, he can push any Tormented model (including himself) 6" towards another Tormented Model. This gives him devent movement with some setup, and while I feel Jack Daw is better served disrupting the opponent, he can go for a Strategy or Scheme in a pinch.

Other things on his card include Injustice, which lets him heal when a Tormented model in his crew would draw a card, instead of drawing that card. This mostly happens to the ubiquitous Torment ability, which lets Tormented models draw when they damage an enemy model with an attached upgrade. It can also turn Fickle Tormenter, a bonus action 4" Pulse that lets Jack draw 1 Card for each enemy model with an attached curse upgrade in range, into healing instead of card draw. He also gets a 6" Aura that lowers enemy's Wp value by 1 while they are in it, supporting some of his Crew's attacks as well as Terrifying.

I do feel like Jack Daw will be taking either The Whisperer or Grave Spirit's Touch to most matches. Grave Spirit's Touch feels like the better beginner upgrade to attach, since it creates more space for mistakes. Regeneration +2 goes a long way on Jack Daw. However, I suspect that will eventually become The Whisperer. Jack Daw likes having cards and killing things. The Whisperer mitigates the need for cheating and creates a further source of Card Draw, which Jack Daw can convert into Health.

Jack Daw's ideal turn involves using Drawn to Betrayal as a bonus action to move a Tormented Model into place, hitting enemy objective runners / other models that need to move a lot with Suppressed Memories, and capitalizing on existing Staggered and/or Card Pressure to do massive damage (or Execute) with Dead Man's Collar. Whispered Truths to slow/damage a large chunk of the enemy crew, as well as Fickle Tormentor to draw/heal are situationally amazing abilities that shouldn't be ignored, but are not Jack Daw's Bread and Butter.

One thing I'm starting to think is that Jack doesn't need as much of his Keyword Crew as people think, although the synergy is definately there.

Lady Ligeia (2ss, Free)
Our Lady of Agonized Screams is a cheap totem with a powerful aura and some niche utility.

Her defensive statline of Df 5, Wp 4, Wd 4 with Incorporeal means as soon as the opponent tries to kill her, she is going down. Offensively she is running Stat 4 vs Df on a 0" Melee attack that deals 1/2/3 damage and Stat 4 vs Wp on a 10" Gun attack that deals 2/3(Blast)/4(Blast) damage. Her ranged attack has a built in trigger that lets it Stagger anyone it damages, which is nice. The Melee attack has a Rams tigger that forves an enemy model to either discard an attached upgrade or take 2/3/4 bonus damage and Injured +2.

However, the real value she supplies to the Crew is in her aura and stripping curses from The Guilty. She gas a 6" Aura and all enemy models inside of it need to discard a card to cheat fate, which is a powerful debuff that is made even more powerful in a crew with lots of Terrifying and with the ability to punish empty hands with Execute. The other thing she can do, using her Melee Attack, is hit The Guilty with a Rams Trigger when it has a Curse Upgrade (such as from Horrifying Whispers, you'll see). This not only removes the upgrade, but lets Ligeia draw a card from Tormented for her troubles.

Montressor, 9ss
Lurch seems to have become an undead hangman, and Jack Daw's right hand man. I can only imagine Jack has hikself and his crew get fitted for nooses like someone might get fitted for a fine suit, with Montressor taking the measurements. Anyways, he is a 9ss Henchman with a 50mm base. His size and abilities make him well suited to zone control.

Defensively he is not bad. Df 6, Wp 5, Wd 10 with Terrifying 11, Hard to Wound and Demise (Eternal) is pretty difficult to get through. This is good, because he has a giant target on his face. He prevents the Staggered Condition from ending on enemy models withing 6", as well as gives them 1 damage if they activate in that bubble while Staggered. Offensively he has a Stat 6 vs Mv, Dmg 2/3/4 1" melee attack and a Stat 6 vs Df, Dmg 2/3/4 10" Gun attack. The melee attack has a built in trigger to Stagger enemies, has Execute on a Crows, and deals +1 damage to Staggered enemies on a Rams. The ranged attack has a built in trigger to pull an enemy 3" towards him, and a Crow trigger to inflict Slow. As a bonus action, he further punishes people in a 6" Pulse who are Staggered with 1 damage, or 2 damagw if they also have a Curse on them.

The final bit of utility Montressor brings, and what I suspect he will spend many turns doing, is using a 10" Friendly Tormented Models Only Obey as an action. He can even target the same model twice! This can help with positioning and damage.

Mobility wise Montressor is a 50mm model with Mv 5 and no built in movement shenanigans outside of "being a Tormented Model in Jack Daw's Crew." Moving on.

Overall, he is a nice Tarpit model with a phenominal ~14" diameter circle of board presence against Staggered models. Mostly he will be there for his Auras and his Obeys, but sometimes Execute will come in handy. As soon as Montressor hits the table the opponent needs to think differently about their Staggered models, since suddenly they start taking constant chip damage abd Staggered becomes a persistent issue. If the enemy starts trying to avoid Montressor, you win. Your goal is to make killing Montressor an equally bad idea.

Jaakuna Ubume, 8ss
This Lady of the Lake is more on the take and any swords you see will be handed to you sharp end first. Ahem.

Jaakuna is a model I have grown to like a lot more the more I played her and got a feel for how much of what kind of pressure she can handle with what support. Like Montressor, she is a tarpit model, but one focused on damage (and with Crooked Man, applying Staggered). Where Montressor needs support on offense, Jaakuna really needs support on defense.

With a stat line of Df 5, Wp 6, Wd 7, Incorporeal, Serene Countenance, and Vengeance Jaakuna is well protected against large numbers of small models, but will die quickly to a dedicated beater. Jaakuna is a tasty target for your opponent's big bad enemies, and she will fold like wet tissue paper against Focused Attacks and attacks with a built in Positive Flip. You need to be aware of those models and either play Jaakuna around them or support her enough that any model going for her will, at best, trade out.

Offensively she has a 1" Melee attack with Stat 6 vs Df, Dmg 2/3/5. On a Mask she can either push someone hit uo to 3" (which is +1 damage most of the time) and Place herself in base contact, or she can Stagger them. If she kills someone with a Crows, Jack Daw gets a welcome 1/2/3 Healing. She has a 10" Gun attack with Stat 5 vs Wp, Dmg 2/3(Blast)/4(Blast) that, with a Mask, will push anyone damaged up to 3" in any direction. However, her real claim to fame is having a Stat 7 Lure and her Drowning Aura bonus action, which makes a 3" Aura around her Hazardous Terrain, meaning it deals 1 damage to anyone who moves within it, even if that move was 0". I know that doesn't feel like a lot of damage, but 1 damage can quickly add up, and it softens enemy for your other models.

Mobility wise she is Mv 5 with Incorporeal and nothing else to write home about. Her Lure can make the rest of your Crew faster, or bring enemies to you.

There are also some great combos you can have with Jaakuna.

- With a Crooked Man in LoS, Drowning Aura also gives out Staggered, which will apply mid movement. This makes positioning models easier, since the enemy needs to be much closer to actually reach Jaakuna.
- Drowned can shoot Jaakuna with a Mask to push everything within a 3" Pulse of her towards her, damaging them from the aura. Jaakuna doesn't even suffer the status effects from the attack.
- Models that have a push on their attack deal an effective +1 damage. Nurse(s) + Jaakuna are a potent combination.
- With a friendly Crooked Man, use her with sone Severe Terrain. If she is in Severe Terrain and she applies Staggered to enemy models, it will usually take them at least two actions to reach her in Melee.

Jaakuna plays like a lot of Jack's Crew: She needs setup, but can get some real work done if she is set up. Her setup is supporting models, especially on defense, and her payoff is zone control, damage, and Staggered spread around a potentially large amount of the opponent's crew.

The Hanged, 8ss
I used to love playing The Hanged in 1e and 2e. Wanting to get them back on the table is part of the appeal of breaking in to the Tormented Crew, and their transition to 3e has done well by them.

The first thing to note about The Hanged is that they are Minions who can use Soulstones. That is huge, especially when we start talking about Upgrades. The other unique thing about them is Forever Doomed, which causes Black Jokers they flip to count as Red Jokers, and the Red Jokers opponents flip against them to count as Black Jokers. This... I'm not sure how to feel about that ability. It feels a bit NPE (removes excitement of a Red Joker from the enemy), but is a great ability when it goes off. It also means their stats are effectively slightly higher than what is printed on the card, though not by a full +1.

Defensively, they are Df 4, Wp 6, Wd 8, Incorporeal, Terrifying 12 models that can use Soulstones. This makes them resilient against swarms, but weak against bigger focused attacks. They are also the workhorses of your crew if you include them, and thus worth committing a beater to take out.

Offensively, they have a 1" Melee Attack with Stat 6 vs Mv, Dmg 2/3/4 that forces a Discard against Staggered opponents. They deal +1 damage off of a built in trigger against enemies with Upgrades attached (which both they and Jack Daw can easily set up). A Tomes lets them drop Scheme Markers in base contact with people they hit. A Mask lets them Stagger someone. They have a 10" Gun Attack that is Stat 6 vs Df, Dmg 2/3/4 that applies Stagger on hit. A Mask lets The Hanged place themselves in base contact with an enemy model. They also get a powerful Bonus Action in Horrifying Whispers. It is a 10" Range, Stat 6 vs Wp attack against enemies only that attaches Forbidden Knowledge on hit. A Mask gives that same Place in base contact with opponent effect, while a Crow forces the opponent to either discard a card or suffer three damage. Forbidden Knowledge is a Curse Upgrade that is going to force the opponent to discard a card and take 2 damage on theur next activation, or choose to let you Push the model 3" at the end of its activation while still discarding a card. The last thing on its card is Entropic Curse, which is a 4" Aura as an action that lowers the healing of all models (yours too!) by 2hp per instance of healing. It is a situational aura, but great in the moments you need it.

Mobility wise these guys are suffering everywhere but a Tormented crew. Mv 4 hurts, even with Incorporeal. However, not only does Jack Daw have a lot of tricks to push The Hanged around, but The Guilty become waypoints for The Hanged. Have them use Horrifying Whispers or Toss the Noose on The Guilty, who count as enemies, while cheating in any Mask. Then the Hanged Places itself in base contact with The Guilty, up to 10" away! If Horrifying Whispers was used, then Lady Ligeia can claw the curse off the Guilty and net you a card for her trouble. In terms of placing Scheme Markers, these guys can do that while attacking the enemy with their Tomes trigger on their melee attack, meaning they are probably going to be contributing directly towards your VP.

These guys do well with Upgrades, and which upgrade you choose can change how they play. Grave Spirit's Touch gives an obvious Regeneration 2 and ups their terrifying to 13 (if they are near Jack Daw that can be an effective 14!), making them more resilient and protecting your 10ss investment. The Whisperer lets takes pressure off of your hand to get those triggers off, while further supplying cards to fuel Jack Daw when they kill things. The negative twist on incoming Wp attacks will protect them against things like Obey. Killer Instinct takes them from having aweful movement to having pretty good movement, while also giving the odd soulstone and letting them ignore terrifying/manipulative.

Crooked Man, 7ss
These guys are glass cannons that dole out setup instead of damage. A defensive statline of Df 4, Wp 5, Wd 8, Hard to Wound and Blast Resistance +2 won't let them last long. A low defense means that they are going to consistently take about 3-6 AP to take out. Their armor against Blast Resistance is situational at best.

Offensively, Crooked Man is most known for his Shafted ability on the frony of the card. Anyone within LoS of Crooked Man, ignoring distance, that takes damage from hazardous terrain gains the Staggered Condition. They have a 1" Melee Stat 6 vs Df attack, dmg 2/3/4 that doesn't allow the opponent to declare Resistance Triggers. A Rams lets it deal +1 damage against enemies with upgrades, while a Crows lets it apply Slow. However, most of the time they will want to use their ranged attack. It has an 8" range, stat 6 vs Mv, Dmg 2/2/3 with a single Blast at all damages, even weak! More importantly, anyone damaged is Staggered. They also have a bonus action in Malifaux Mining Law, a 6" Aura that turns the area 1" around friendly Scheme Markers into Hazardous Terrain that will deal 1 Damage and apply Staggered on a flip of 6+. A Mask Trigger lets then replace all enemy scheme markers in Burst 3" with friendly scheme markers, while a Crow Trigger lets them just drop a friendly Scheme Marker.

These guys are deceptively decent scheme runners. They only have Mv 4 while ignoring Severe/Hazardous terrain, but Malifaux Mining Law lets them Move Move drop a Scheme Marker. That said, they usually want to be attacking. 

These guys are going to care a whole lot about positioning. They want to be at the fringes, with eyes on scheme markers and with severe terrain between them and their opponent. A Staggered enemy is going to have a hard time traveling 8" with any degree of force available afterwards.

I almost want to say these guys would be amazing with Killer Instinct. The only issue is, I'm not sure they are 9ss worth of amazing. The 4" Push at the end of their Activation lets them move twice, use Malifaux Mining Law to drop a Scheme Marker, then kite out of harm's way, while also slowing the opponent down. They also get the chance to shoot once or twice, then push out further out of the way of opponents.

Drowned, 6ss
Similar to Crooked Man, these are slow and offensively focused models. Df 4, Wp 5, Wd 7, Vengeance +1, Hard to Wound and Combat Reflexes isn't great. They can be hard to pick off in Melee due to Combat Reflexes so long as you are willing to burn cards, but that can get expensive and still doesn't help against any sort of ranged attention.

They are also pretty slow, having only Mv 4 with the ability to ignore Hazardous and Severe Terrain. And... thats it. You are going to need to rely on Jack's movement shenanigans to really get them where they need.

Offensively they can make up for it as a disruotion piece. Their 1" Melee attack has Stat 6 vs Df and 2/3/5 damage. A Rams does +1 damage against targets with an upgrade, while a Crows lets them apply Stunned and Push the target 3". Their ranged 8" attack is Stat 5 vs Mv, 1/1(Blast x2)/1(Blast x3) that also applies Distracted +1 and Poison +1 to models it damages. A rams trigger lets it deal +1 damage to the initial targrt if they have an upgrade, while a mask lets them push all enemy models within Burst 3" of the target 3" towards the target or a Riptide Marker. On that note, one of the blast tokens they drop per turn can be a Riptide Marker, which means it sticks around as Hazardous Terrain (1 Damage + Staggered) until the end of the turn. The combo with Jaakuna Ubume was stated above, turning her into a mini blender of death. You can also use it to push enemy models out of position. Finally, as a Bonus Action is a range 8" stat 5 vs Wp attack that Staggers an opponent.

In a Kirai Crew, you can use Summoning to overcome the Drowned's slow speed and fragility, while also making the Daze trigger on their melee attack automatic. Jack Daw doesn't have that, but he can maneuver them in to position. Distracted is also no joke when it comes to keeping enemy beaters in line, which is probably the Drowned's biggest contribution t the crew. The Jaakuna Special is a nice gimmick when it goes off, but it is a gimmick and requires the opponent to be playing a bubble crew. It may be worth getting Focused on the Drowned, just to get off the bigger blasts with Projectile Vomit.

Upgrades are worth considering on the Drowned. Like Crooked Man, they like the maneuverability fixing that Killer Instinct provides. Grave Spirit's touch supplies Combat Reflexes + Terrifying, which may prevent the enemy from cheating their terrifying duel (I'm not sure on this. Raw seems to say yes but it feels weird). If that works, Grave Spirit's Touch can make The Drowned pretty resilient.

Dead Outlaw, 6ss
These guys are completely new to me, and offer a lot of synergy with Tormented models. They are a fragile shooty support piece...? Honestly, they are a bit of a confused model that does its work in tandum with Tormented Models, primarily The Guilty.

Their defensive statline of Df 4, Wp 5, Wd 7, Hard to Wound isn't going to do them any favors. Mobility wise they have Mv 5 as well as Run and Gun, which lets them Charge and Shoot at the same time. As a bonus action they can set up a 6" Aura where, any time a Scheme Marker is dropped by anyone, they may push a Tormented Model (including themselves) 3" towards it. This synergizes well with Crooked Man and The Hanged, who can drop scheme markers as part of what they normally do.

Offensively, beyond the charge and shoot thing, they can ignore Friendly Fire involving a Tormented Model on either end. They have a 12" Gun attack that can also be used as a 1" Melee attack. It is Stat 5 vs Df, Dmg 2/3/4. On a Tomes it forces an enemy model to drop an enemy scheme marker in base contact with it. A Mask lets it apply Staggered. A Crow lets it apply Slow (or +1 damage if the enemy is already Slow). They have an enemy only Stat 6 vs Wp psuedo Obey that requires the enemy to be within 3" of an enemy scheme marker. A Mask trigger on this lets them inflict Staggered, while a built in trigger causes the controlled action to deal +1 damage.

Support wise, they can also consume Scheme Markers (yours or your opponent's) to give your models Fast.

These guys pair very well with The Guilty, who can count as an enemy model. Take as a first turn, the Guilty moves 10" or so forward. Then Dead Outlaw activates their aura and charges  shooting the Guilty in the back with a tomes. This drops an enemy scheme marker, allowing a Tormented Model to push 3" towards it. If you are worried about the Scheme Marker you can consume it with Covetous Cravings. You can also shoot the same or a different Guilty for another enemy Scheme Marker. On the slightly less masochistic side of things, Guilty can always be controlled by "At Gunpoint," dealing more damage in the process!

Dead Outlaw's "Too Greedy to Die" aura is just gold in this crew. Hanged drop scheme markers when hitting anyone with their melee attack, even allies. Crooked Man can drop a scheme marker as a bonus action. In the above example, you can place two enemy scheme markers for 6" of pushing, then move a Crooked Man up to replace them with your scheme markers, netting you another 6" of movement spread amongst your crew.

The Guilty, 5ss
These guys! They are cheap significant models that also happen to enable a lot of the synergy of the crew. First, they count as enemy models to friendly Tormented models. I've been going over the synergy in the models who can do that, but the highlights are being the Dead Outlaw's slave at gunpoint as well as a teleportation point for The Hanged.

Defensively they are Df 6, Wp 4, Wd 6, Hard to Wound. Really, their big defense is being only 5 stones and their Demise (No Rest for the Wicked) ability, ehich attaches a Curse to the enemy model that kills it. This curse will increase your hand size by 1, and also summon another Guilty when that model dies.

Offensively, they have a pretty basic Stat 5 vs Mv, Dmg 2/3/4 1" Melee attack that applies Staggered on a Mask. They also get an 8", Stat 5 vs Wp, Dmg 2/2/4 attack that gets a positive twist on opponents near corpse markers. It also heals the Guilty by 2 if it kills someone. Finally, as a bonus action, it has a Stat 5 vs Wp 8" range attack that applies Staggered.

They are about what you can expect out of a 5ss model and solid for that. They are only notable for the terrible things other Tormented models can do to them and for targetting Mv with their melee attack. That said, you will probably take 1-2 of them in most Tormented keyword crews.

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Out of Keyword Models of Note

Kirai Ankoku, 15+1ss
Kirai is an excellent second master most of the time. In the particular case of Jack Daw, they share Jaakuna and Kirai and can summon Drowned. Jack's Crew needs Masks more than Crows, so she isn't competing for resources so much. As a fun interaction: Lady Ligeia can punch the summon upgrades off of Summoned Drowned.

Sloth, 7ss
He gives enemy models slow, your models fast, and heals. He also has some anti healing tech.

Asura Roten, 8ss
I like this model more than most, although sadly I've only been able to proxy her at the table a few times. There are situations where choking the enemy on a large numbee of insignificant models that can still interact matters. She can also heal Undead a set value of 2, potentially multiple at a time. My only hesitation in a Jack Crew is that Asura Roten hates moving on her own, and Jack is only great at repositioning Tormented Models.

Datsue Ba, 9+1ss
Datsue Ba is only notable for having Lantern of Souls and, when you want Anti Demise, you tend to *really* want it.  Otherwise she is going to be too expensive fot the tech she brings, unless you are very good at summoning Turns 2 and Turn 3 Onryo off of her.

Manos, The Risen, 9+1ss
Manos is an excellent card in general. He is a beater with Leap, a 2" Melee Range, and Lantern of Souls. When he dies he drops an excellent Reliquary Upgrade that supplies Regeneration 2 and Demise (Eternal). Just put that baby on Jack Daw to feel truly immortal.

Toshiro, the Daimyo, 9+1ss
This is a model that has tremendous synergy with Jack Daw's crew. However, Jack Daw can't easily supply corpses, making this a 16-20ss investment since you really want to take a Gravedigger. Toshiro supplies some healing and Focused to your Crew. He gives your powerful Minions a positive twist to their attack flips and, potentially, more actions. He also spawns 2 to 4 Ashigaru per game, and Ashigaru can be a gamechanger.

Ashigaru prevent Charge Attacks on a crew that wants to hand out a lot of Staggered, forcing eben more inefficiency on the enemy's actions. Further, they can Take the Hit for friendly models in 2". Jack Daw's Crew tends to center around models who are either fragile, or who require a specific focus. Ashigaru change the math, forcing your opponent to overcommit to kill your models. Even ignoring kill runs, Ashigaru can eat things like Obey that would otherwise cripple a model.

Anna Lovelace, 10+1ss
There are hypotherically crews that are really shut down by Hostile Work Environment and/or Gravity Well. I'm not sure what those matchups aee, but it is worth noting they exist.

Carrion Effigy, 4ss
Its a cheap significant model that can heal.

Carrion Emissary, 10ss
This guy buffs surrounding Undead's Mv by 1 in a Crew where everyone in keyword is Undead, including the Master. He is a notable beatstick in his own right, highly mobile, and can summon Mindless Zombies.

Dead Rider, 11ss
Dead Rider is almost always worth considering. They are an independent, mobile beater that makes other models in the crew faster, with a gameswinging bonus action to boot.

Archie, 9+1ss
Archie's cost efficiency is well documented. If you need a beater+Scheme Runner combo with leap, he's your guy. Debatably, he is the bar you should compare other 10ss purchases by.

Bone Pile, 6ss
In some matchups you *really* need Condition Removal. In those matchups, Bone Piles can be a Godsend, especially with Grave Spirit's Touch attached. They heal, remove conditions, and are passable offense all at the same time for their stone cost.

Gravedigger, 6ss
You take Grave Digger if you are also taking something else that needs Corpse Markers, particularly Toshiro. They generate focus, drop corpse markers, and are near objective runners that can count Corpse Markers as Scheme Markers.

Nurse, 6+1ss
Nurses are an old favorite of mine, and they still feature in a lot of my lists in 3e. They supply healing and Condition Removal, plus a slew of buffs, plus teleporting damaged models out of combat, plus hand manipulation. They even hit decently hard. Their only downside is how fragile they are.

 

 

 

 

 

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Strategies and Schemes
 

Turf War
Jack Daw seems to be pretty good at this. This Strategy tends to bring Crews closer together, and ignoring terrain tends to matter more. Models also like to want to move around a lot, so Staggered is providing a lot of value in terms of containing the enemy. Montressor and Jaakuna are both able to block out fairly large portions of the board and make it difficult to operate in there. I'm a bit worried about how fragile some of Jack Daw's kit is (Crooked Man, Drowned, Guilty, Dead Outlaw) but it is managable and Jack Daw can be plenty killy himself.

Plant Explosives
Here is what instinct told me when approaching this strategy: give your tokens to extremely mobile models that can plant them far away from the opposing crew to score victory points. That works for the first two victory points. After that, if the enemy is able to mount a defense, that approach tends to fold. It *can* work with Molly due to sheer mobility. Jack Daw can't even begin to do that unless he outsources to a friendly Manos or Archie.

Instead, he can move his models to just in front of the centerline in Turn 1-2, drop markers, and play shallow. Setup Guilty at key points you need to patrol and let Hanged Slingshot to them to project enough force to protect your markers. Have Jaakuna and Montressor picks one or two Markers and just sit on top of them. A Toshiro with Ashigaru setup may be valuable here as well. Once you get a marker down on the table, don't let it move. You can also Stagger and slow down the enemy objective runners to minimize how much they can get done. The Hanged are often enough force to compete with such mobile objective runners, and with Killer Instinct + The Guilty as anchorpoints can feel free to go hunting.

Corrupted Idols
Take Guilty, spread them out, and make them hold your Idols first. If the enemy kills them... meh? Use Montressor and/or Jaakuna to zone people away from idols. You may want an emergency Manos/Archie when racing to an idol is prudent. If an enemy tries to sit on an idol, you can use Dead Outlaw to put a gun to their head until they move it back.

Reckoning
Jack Daw has more than enough punch to pull off reckoning. The Hanged along with Montressor supply a rather excellent mix of resilience and damage. 

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1. Detonate Charges
The Hanged solve this. Just attavk an enemy with a Tomes twice and you win. Pull double duty with a friendly Crooked Man.

2. Breakthrough
Tormented isn't good at this. Pass unless you already plan on havibg an Archie or a Manos.

3. Harness Layline
Normally, this scheme is far too action inefficient to rely on. You tend to get the points, but it costs a lot. However, Tormented have a lot of ways to put down a cluster of Scheme Markers (Crooked Man primarily, The Hanged if you get lucky or attack your own models).

4. Search the Ruins
Depends on the terrain. If all you need to do is go a bit past the centerline to drop markers, you're good. If terrain is sparse there may be problems. Tormented look like they can play a wide approach really well, which means this scheme is pretty doable.

5. Dig Their Graves
You probably want a Gravedigger for this, just in case. The Hanged make the reveal VP very easy. The end of game vp doesn't require a Gravedigger, but is much easier with one.

6. Hold Up Their Forces
Mmm... so, Guilty can do this well. Otherwise, I feel like there is too many high cost models. Its an easy 1 VP, but getting that second one is rough.

7. Take Prisoner
This is doable using Jaakuna's lure or Jack Daw's Drawn to Betrayal to move the model out of position. I'd say its probably going to be a good pick, but you need to watch for the enemy suiciding themselves on your hazardous terrain.

8. Power Ritual
I would say pass on this almost always. Tormented can't be that seperate and can't easily operate that deep. Corner deployment changes this slightly, but only slightly.

9. Outflank
This is an extremely action efficient scheme, and so is worth considering just because of that. You can run your Crew up the center and still have models split off. You can split your crew into two and survive. All you need to do is have models present.

10. Assassinate
I don't think Jack Daw brings enough damage to really get this done reliably. He is kore of a slow grind and heavy on the status effects. On the other hand, Executing an enemy Master is just a blast when it goes off! I think this will come down to knowing your matchups, and I'm not there yet.

11. Deliver a Message
Tormented are pretty good at this. They can yank enemy Leaders out of position, and they can use Hanged to drop scheme markers next to them late in the game.

12. Claim Jump
Pick Montressor or Grave Golem for maximum fun! Include some regeneration and/or healing though. Seriously though, I would pit Tormented's "Stay in one place" skills pretty high.

13. Vendetta
This is going to come out to matchups too much. If you can pick a good model you plan to kill anyways with The Hanged or Montressor, you are probably in a good spot. Thats not a big pool, however, and a lot of the other Tormented Models tend to be fragile.

-----

The Lists


Tormented Thematic Learning List A (Resurrectionist)
Size: 50 - Pool: 3
Leader:
  Jack Daw
    Grave Spirit's Touch
Totem(s):
  Lady Ligeia
Hires:
  Montresor
  Guilty
  Guilty 2
  Dead Outlaw
  Hanged
    The Whisper
  Hanged 2
    The Whisper
References:
  Curse of Injustice
  Punish the Wicked
  Forbidden Knowledge

Tormented Thematic Learning List B (Resurrectionist)
Size: 50 - Pool: 3
Leader:
  Jack Daw
    Grave Spirit's Touch
Totem(s):
  Lady Ligeia
Hires:
  Jaakuna Ubume
  Guilty
  Guilty 2
  Dead Outlaw
  Drowned
  Crooked Man
  Hanged
References:
  Curse of Injustice
  Punish the Wicked
  Forbidden Knowledge

I can't fit Drowned + Crooked Man + Jaakuna on the same list as Montressor, sadly. Those seem to be two different and important kits to learn, while Dead Outlaw + Guilty + The Hanged seem to be the Crew's bread and butter.

Both Soulstone caches are almost definately too low. The first list will probably be tried with The Whisperer and Killer Instinct so I can get a feel whether cards or Soulstones are more important to the Crew. When I try Killer Instinct, I may try The Whisperer to get a feel for Jack Daw without regeneration.

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