Newb starting Reva (help/tips would be nice)

[Warharan]

Thus far I have a humble three (3!) games under my belt.
Started out with Freikorps (waiting for Hannah and prospectors but the rest I got. Painted) but recently I could buy a painted Reva crew for a pretty good price.

The following is on it's way to me:

• Reva+2 candles,
• Vincent,
• Wanyudo
• 3 shieldbearers
• Restless spirit
• 3 Lampads

On top of the listed I went and bought the Dead Rider plus the  Desiccated boxes.
(also on it's way as I type)

With these models in mind and the fact that I am still very, very much a beginner;
What would you recommend me trying out as a first list with Reva?
Any tips/guidelines/help for playing and/or crew building?

Thanks a bunch in advance.

 

[Passenty]

The most important part imo is to learn placement of your models - Shiledbearers x2 and restless spirit are the core for me and they put a lot of restrictions on where your models can be. You need to put out a corpse with restless spirit so the shieldbearer can eat it for the ritua, the same for candle. After your shiledbearer eats candle for the ritual you place the pyre through which you charge with shieldbearers and push reva through. As the ritual has 3" and there usally is some terrain on the way its not the easy. Remember that shieldbearers have "take the hit" ability so when you have 2 its very difficult to kill reva- just dump your hand take the hit with one until his in htk then protect him with second then heal both with reva or grave spirit touch upgrade, when you take the hit place into pyre so you gain shielded and burning which reva can use. When placing from tth you can hide behind ht3 reva so they cant finish off your shieldbearers. You wont have cards in hand usually but reva will hit with ++(burning and focus) so she will do some damage. I advocate carrion emissary and anna lovelace for the crew. The emissary is crucial as he puts out corpse at range increasing your threat range.

[Maniacal_cackle]

The first piece of advice is play everything!

I usually start with core box models (shieldbearers and Vincent), then branch out to other keyword models, and then versatiles. It also depends on what order you paint them.

One list you could try on anything but recover evidence is Dead Rider, Grave Golem, shieldbearer, restless spirit, bone pile x2. That is close to my standard list (Bete swapped for a bone pile for me), and it has a lot of options.

But I definitely recommend trying all the keyword models first! For ease of learning I usually suggest taking multiples of the same models - so maybe Vincent, 2 lampads, 3 shieldbearers plus some upgrades. Then mix in Wanyudo and Restless Spirit when you feel ready.

Emphasise exploring each model thoroughly over building a 'strong' list. Unless you understand the role of each model, you won't get strong results by copying someone else's list (and chances are you'll want to change things - my list is a modified version of Da Git's list).

[Maniacal_cackle]

After you get started, some questions to ask yourself to help shape your playstyle with Reva. She has so many different play styles, it is important to find one that works for you.

Are you using Reva as a beater or scheme runner?

If using her as a beater, you need a way for her to attack with her melee attack at range (through corpses or shielded). You also need to figure out how you're generating ~5 burning a turn to support her flips.

If using her as a scheme runner, you need to consider what the rest of your crew is doing to keep her free to scheme.

(I often swap between both roles when I use her).

How are you keeping Reva alive?

She is super squishy, so you have to figure out how to protect her: good positioning, shieldbearers, killing enemy threats, etc.

EDIT: Another angle to consider: Do you need to keep Reva alive? I often pick her into pools where it doesn't matter if she dies or not.

Which themes do you want to emphasise?

Revenant can produce a ton of burning, which can be really solid for Let Them Bleed.

They can also have a huge corpse focus (Reva + Restless spirit produce up to 12 corpses a game).

There is also a shielded subtheme, as well as a broad mobility theme (almost the whole crew is based around high movement or movement tricks).

Which ones do you like, and how can you abuse them?

[Da Git]

I love Reva, she's really fun to play since the Errata! Basically, if you're not getting a positive to almost every flip she makes, you're doing it wrong!

When making a crew, I don't actually have any auto-takes, but the first 3 models I look at usually are:

• 1 Shieldbearer - good for defence, pretty resilient (can easily get shielded +2 a turn) and hitty for his cost. Can produce corpses or give himself shielded for attack vectors. A really neat trick is to use his shield to push friendlies 2", then 4" with the trigger (my favourite target is the Grave Golem!). A nice model to give GST to to make even more resilient. Blasphemous ritual is always good and you have heaps of corpse markers/candles to use!
• Restless Spirit - 4ss incorporeal corpse dropper, shielded giver. What more could you want for his cost?
• 1 Lampad - I know they get beat up on the forums and I don't think they're great by any stretch. That said, they give an awesome burning battery that can turn into a schemer.

Supporting these my most common takes are Dead Rider, Bete Noir & either a Nurse or Bone pile with GST. This gives the whole crew a lot of speed and flexibility. Good resilience. I especially like Bete here (better than with Seamus) as Revenant have corpse markers for days for her bury shenanigans and having + to hit just adds more to the crew's card efficiency between her and Reva. Her Scarlet Temptation has been known to come up once or twice too for Feed on Grief, The Unquiet Dead, Death Urge, terrorise or other Wp attacks. There are quite a few movement tricks in the crew as well which can trigger Pounce.

Other models are Grave Golem, Emissary, Vincent (only if facing a summoner), and sometimes Wanyudo (beware the glass cannon!)

Draugr are ok, but are really finesse to get the most out of them as they're surprising super squishy.

For Mechanical's questions

Are you using Reva as a beater or scheme runner?

I use her as a beater, depending on the situation, I tend to either use her as a harrier, attacking through Corpses or just get her stuck in and kill stuff. Don't forget you can charge 7" and attack through corpse/shielded model 8" (corrected from 12") away for by far the best reach in the game. This means that if the stars align, you can move her 7", so she's 8" away form the Corpse counter (30mm) and then 2" from the enemy model leaving you just over 11" away, so a standard Mv5, 1"ml model can't get to you without help.

How are you keeping Reva alive?

If the opponent can kill Reva, then play the harrier game. They shouldn't be getting to her with more than maybe 1 attack per model (unless they have special actions). If they play that game better than you or just out range you (eg. I had a game up against 3 Freikorps scouts), than throw her in there and use her speed to pick them off/tie them up.

Otherwise, with how I've designed crew, I have lots of hand efficiency with lots of + flips, so I can save my high cards/stones for defence. Additionally, I have healing from Reva/the Nurse/Bone Pile (in addition to any kills, if desperate, a nifty trick is to use Feed on Grief to kill a Corpse Candle within 6" to heal 3-4 wounds!), Shieldbearer can jump in to take hits or Nurse can pull her out.

If the opponent is focusing on Reva, then the Lampad and especially the Rider can pick off the strays and then come in to beat face (the rider loves his turn 3 pulse of doom!)

Which themes do you want to emphasise?

I primarily focus on burning. Not on the enemy, but on me. Reva should always be getting those + flips!

There should be lots of Corpses with the candles and death going on.

Shielded is really minor with only the Shieldbear and Restless Spirit doing it, but be ready to take advantage of it!

Things to be aware of!

Blasts! Shieldbearers and Lampads have Df 4, Candles Df 2... Things like rocket launchers, Sonnia, Raspy, etc can really wreck your day.

Armour (especially 2+). Reva on 1/2/3 damage does not make a happy girl... Reva has been known to offer her services to Von Schtook as valuable in-the-field work experience for a promising Student of Steel in such cases... (if second masters are a thing for you McMourning is amazing against armour & there's threads going around to get a Flesh Construct summoning engine (haven't tried it myself)

[Paddywhack]

5 hours ago, Da Git said:

Draugr are ok, but are really finesse to get the most out of them as they're surprising super squishy.

And they don't really hit that hard...  

5 hours ago, Da Git said:

you can charge 7" and attack through corpse/shielded model 12" away

You mean 8" right? I wish it were still 12". That would make Reva much stronger. 

[Maniacal_cackle]

3 hours ago, Paddywhack said:

 

You mean 8" right? I wish it were still 12". That would make Reva much stronger. 

The limit should be just over 11", for the target.

8 inches to the corpse, 30mm for the base, and 2" for Reva's melee range.

Although the word 'through' implies the corpse is 12" away which is definitely wrong xD

[Maniacal_cackle]

Also, to support Da Git's point - the crew is built around positive flips rather than card draw. So you absolutely have to abuse that (and get good at knowing where the jokers are).

Burning (for Reva and Draugr), focus (from blasphemous ritual), and built in positives on Bete really add up. You can see an extra 10+ cards a turn this way.

It also means you will be more likely to get the triggers you want - for example, masks on Bete and Shieldbearers.

(Of course for now you should use a bone pile instead of Bete, they fill similar roles, except the bone pile can't swap to backup beater as easily).

[Paddywhack]

1 hour ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

Although the word 'through' implies the corpse is 12" away which is definitely wrong xD

Ah! Yep, read that wrong. 

[Da Git]

Ah... that's what I get for not checking before I posted! It is 8", my bad! I edited the post to make it more clear and added that this allows to attack from just over 11" from an enemy to minimise reprisal.

Honestly, I think 8" is fine and I don't want her to go back to this unreachable murder-machine she was in M2E!

Although I wouldn't say no to the upgrade with the built-in trigger for irreducible (although then you could still Soulstone prevent) damage on her Reaping attack   Cause that wouldn't be broken at all...

[Paddywhack]

5 hours ago, Da Git said:

Honestly, I think 8" is fine and I don't want her to go back to this unreachable murder-machine she was in M2E!

Not a real problem now with 1AP charges being a thing. 12" would be fine with current rules and make her worth her while. Even just upping it to 10" would help, though really it's her keyword that's really lackluster now. 

[Warharan]

Given the models I own I think I'll use the following for a first game:

1st Reva Cortinas Crew (Resurrectionist)
Size: 50 - Pool: 10

  Reva Cortinas
  Corpse Candle
  Corpse Candle 2
  Vincent St. Clair
  Wanyudo
  Restless Spirit
  Lampad
  Shieldbearer
  Shieldbearer 2

Any upgrades I should consider (or keep the full 10 stones?)
 

[Maniacal_cackle]

5 hours ago, Warharan said:

Given the models I own I think I'll use the following for a first game:

1st Reva Cortinas Crew (Resurrectionist)
Size: 50 - Pool: 10

  Reva Cortinas
  Corpse Candle
  Corpse Candle 2
  Vincent St. Clair
  Wanyudo
  Restless Spirit
  Lampad
  Shieldbearer
  Shieldbearer 2

Any upgrades I should consider (or keep the full 10 stones?)
 

For upgrades, maybe throw a grave spirits touch on a shieldbearer so you can see what that is like. It is a popular choice for the model (though I personally don't like it).

[Mikes]

Jumping on to this topic, how useful are people finding the emissary with reva? It seems with his corpse creation shenanigans he has some synergy here.

[Maniacal_cackle]

1 hour ago, Mikes said:

Jumping on to this topic, how useful are people finding the emissary with reva? It seems with his corpse creation shenanigans he has some synergy here.

Some people swear by the Emissary. I haven't tried it out too much, but there's definitely some excellent elements. Some thoughts:

• If you're doing it purely for corpse positioning, Grave Golem (or Archie) is generally better (since you usually have enough corpses, the question is getting them into position).
• If you're doing it for corpse generation, then a restless spirit or gravedigger or mourner is better (because Emissary needs an 8 )
• If you're doing it for both the corpse generation and the placement, it can be efficient, but your hand is going to hurt. Can be a good option on corner deployment when there is less early game pressure on your hand and grave golem isn't a good option.
• His other bonus action, the stop soulstone reduction and heals, is AMAZING. Solid reason to take the model in any crew that needs to deal with soulstone reduction and heals (like arcanists, or henchmen in general)
• Has solid attacks as well (as long as he has straight flips, so focus from shieldbearers is really good for him).

TLDR: it is an excellent model in its own right, and often worth considering in many crews. If you're taking it purely for corpses, I think there's better options (but I'm quite stingy with target numbers).

[Warharan]

9 hours ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

For upgrades, maybe throw a grave spirits touch on a shieldbearer so you can see what that is like. It is a popular choice for the model (though I personally don't like it).

Thanks. I'll give that one a try and test it.
This means  no other upgrade is worth it? (generally speaking/ situational?)


(loving the feedback btw. Makes the steep learning curve for a newb a bit more manageable )

[MrPieChee]

The Whisper is a good option on Reva for the card draw. When playing into a summoner, its worth taking on Vincent too.

[Adran]

17 hours ago, Warharan said:

Any upgrades I should consider (or keep the full 10 stones?)
 

For a game where you are learning the crew, its probably better to try it without any upgrades. I always find it can confuse me when I learn model A and it does thing X when thing X was on an upgrade, so I end upo unlearning what the model did from the first game with upgrades. 

Its also slightly less things for you to think about, and after you get an idea of what models in yiur crew do what, you start to see when various upgrades fit what you want. (Does a model often seem to have critical flips? Intuition from the whisper might be good. Likewise do you want the model to last a turn or 2 more? regeneration from Grave spirits touch might be useful. 

[Maniacal_cackle]

I agree the Whisper is very good, but it is hard to play (and remember), so it is fine to skip it while learning.

I usually end up skipping upgrades with Reva, though, since thats how my stones work out when I take all the models I want xD

[knps]

For me it sounds more cheap to bring a Toshiro and summoning Ashigaru(s) instead of hiring a Shieldbearer.

[Warharan]

6 hours ago, knps said:

For me it sounds more cheap to bring a Toshiro and summoning Ashigaru(s) instead of hiring a Shieldbearer.

Thus far in our (very small) local meta none of us take OOK models.
Things might change once we get a good grasp of the rules.
(and we are well on our way, playing every friday for just over a month now)
And more importantly we get a good grasp of our crews/models.

Note that we do use versatiles though.

[Maniacal_cackle]

6 hours ago, knps said:

For me it sounds more cheap to bring a Toshiro and summoning Ashigaru(s) instead of hiring a Shieldbearer.

I feel they play different roles - shieldbearer is there for holding burning, moving other models, pulsing focus, and take the hit. Only one of those overlaps. Toshiro can do some of those things, but only to his minions.

6 minutes ago, Warharan said:

Thus far in our (very small) local meta none of us take OOK models.
Things might change once we get a good grasp of the rules.
(and we are well on our way, playing every friday for just over a month now)
And more importantly we get a good grasp of our crews/models.

Note that we do use versatiles though.

I think this is a great way to play at first.

If one person starts going OOk sooner than the others, they will potentially have quite a big advantage (especially if they snag some of the lists from the forums).

If you're enjoying no OOK, go for it. After a tournament this weekend, my local meta may go back to being more casual and I may focus on keyword games as well.

[Mxbedlam]

As far as OOK I think Ana Lovelace is amazing in a Reva crew. She can explode Corpse Candles to get Pyres and corpses at range.

[Stumpyfjord]

If you use Anna to blow up the corpse candle, you don’t get the corpse marker, right? 
 

You would get the pyre.

[Maniacal_cackle]

4 hours ago, Stumpyfjord said:

If you use Anna to blow up the corpse candle, you don’t get the corpse marker, right? 
 

You would get the pyre.

You would think that the ability specifies no corpse, but it doesn't.