Back at doing "Nothing"

[CustosUmbra]

Oh boy, was it a long time. 

Last time I played Malifaux (before it died out in our community due to Beta) was almost a year ago.. And tomorrow I'll finally get to play it once again! 

So I've been wondering - how is our girl Tara doing? She's one of my two main Masters (the second one is Von Schill), and I wanted to know if there are any fresh tips and tricks at playing Obliteration. 

[OhRlyeh]

Well 2(3?) Major US tournaments this year have been won by Tara, so I'd say pretty good. Consensus seems to be that she and Levi are the two strongest masters in OC. Cody is the player who won those tournaments and he talks about his sick Tara strats in this Third Floor Wars podcast episode. There is also an Outcast Player's Discord channel where he discusses some of his tara tech more in depth and other people share their Tara tricks. https://discord.gg/7p4W6N5 <--join there

She does some new really interesting new things. She is the only real summoner in OC and is pretty solid in all the schemes except Reckoning (for obvious reasons) 

 

[CustosUmbra]

Ah, it felt so good to be back! 

Obliteration is so dammed fun, even playing against...  Kaeris... Though Talos felt a bit underwhelming: he soaked a lot of damage, tied up Carlos for the entire game (killing him on turn 4) but that's about it. Is it worth taking Scion over Talos, or should I just save SS for in-game use? 

[S4lt]

Talos is generally considered to be a bit useless. He can't keep up with the crew and drops surprisingly easily. 

Notable out of keyword and versatile models worth looking at are Prospectors, Scavengers and Hannah. 

Scion is great into some strats and schemes. Less useful in others.

[CustosUmbra]

Ah, shame. Both Scion and Talos have such cool minis. 

I guess I could fit Hannah instead. But if I do so, would it be better to also add Lazarus or Librarian to the crew? To have a target for Hannah's bonus action? 

[ShinChan]

1 hour ago, CustosUmbra said:

Ah, shame. Both Scion and Talos have such cool minis. 

I guess I could fit Hannah instead. But if I do so, would it be better to also add Lazarus or Librarian to the crew? To have a target for Hannah's bonus action? 

Until there is a FAQ, Hannah can use her  action to take any "general tactical action", like Charge or Walk. Take this with a pinch of salt, since it has been a very discussed topic lately.

For the Scion, I think she is situational, but not bad, it's more like you'll probably won't want to include her in every list.

Talos is still playable, due to its "Carnifex" role, which is being big and scary, so unless you're facing a very mobile crew, he will force your opponent to take care of him or suffer with his damage track. So for me, it's the same as the Scion, but with the added restriction that you'll want to bring some movement trick to support him. For that, I recommend the Emissary, because can easily give him 2-5" of movement every turn + everything else that the emissary brings to the table (Nothing Beast with regeneration is awesome). Tara with Don't Mind Me or using those sweet pass tokens from Aionus to get the Companion on someone  Since those 3" of movement from the  action of the emissary gives you a free scheme marker, you can consider bringing someone to take advantage of it, like the Student of Conflict or my personal preference, a Dead Outlaw. Any of those can use Covetous Cravings to put fast on an enemy model without giving it the chance to avoid it (it's a simple duel, not opposed) or give it to one of your models.

[Zeus]

Note Covetous Cravings action can only give fast to a friendly model. But I still often take Student with Tara to give out fast for an easy unbury.

[CustosUmbra]

Welp. Played my second game and my first 50 SS one. It was against Kirai on Corrupted Idols and I had an absolute blast.. Though I regrett picking Hannah and a Librarian for my crew. Should've picked Talos and the Scion instead. 

The game ended in a draw - I scored 1 VP both for Deliver the Message and Dig Their Graves + 1 VP for the Strategy, while my opponent scored 2 VP for the Strategy + 1 VP for Deliver the Message (miscalculation on my part - I forgot to reapply Fast to Lost Love after unburying Tara next to him; if I haven't forgotten he'd die from Age to Destruction). 

The MVPs were the Nothing Beast with SofDP Upgrade, who through his Accelerate Time action killed off four enemy models in total, healing for 8 through the course of the game; Karina, who ran up to Tara just in time to ressurect her and helped to Tara to jump where she was needed.

Also Wretches are so awesome! Built-in Glimpse the Void and high mobility really help with schemes. Have yet to try out the Hunters, but really don't want to proxy in this game, so that'll have to wait until three months after their release) 

[Da Git]

I've been playing a couple of games with Tara of late an have really enjoyed using Ashes and Dust. He's speed and Incorporeal allow him to keep up with the crew, he hits hard, is very sturdy and is arguably the best flanker in the game.

Although i hate to sound like a broken record, Rusty would make a good fit to as all the Obliteration Incorporeal models would ignore her pit traps on top her general shooty-badassery! Bonus points if you manage to unbury enemies on top of her pit traps!