Aeslin vs Autumn knight

[SEV]

11 minutes ago, ooshawn said:

i'm US eastern standard time, and i'm comfortable with vassal, though not as much as most of these guys

This is not Faux, but I would like to see a Master beatdown competition (5 rounds), March madness single elimination style 😀.

[ooshawn]

I gotta be honest, that actually does sound kinda quick and fun 

[Corwin]

20 minutes ago, SEV said:

This is not Faux, but I would like to see a Master beatdown competition (5 rounds), March madness single elimination style 😀.

In the old days when we could all hang out in a store together the local Henchman ran a March madness event each year. A $5 buy in, winner gets the pot.

[Maniacal_cackle]

On the topic of why Aeslin, Into Thorns is a crazy good trigger.

Anything that let's you reposition enemy models can win games. It can secure kills safely, it can deny points, etc.

[Maniacal_cackle]

Our local Titania player has dragged models around the table with it.

It is pretty brutal when used multiple times on a single model.

[ooshawn]

yeah , but you gotta also understand i'm coming from the PoV of a complete fae crew where every single model has that Crow trigger. The value of the melee attack goes up substantially if that goes off, but if it doesn't , it's at best okayish. The whole crew fights for those crows

[Maniacal_cackle]

2 minutes ago, ooshawn said:

yeah , but you gotta also understand i'm coming from the PoV of a complete fae crew where every single model has that Crow trigger. The value of the melee attack goes up substantially if that goes off, but if it doesn't , it's at best okayish. The whole crew fights for those crows

Henchmen can stone for suits. Not to mention she can use her ranged ability even when engaged, which has it built in.

I'm not sure I've ever seen Aeslin use her melee attack. It is probably a secondary consideration xD

There should rarely be a situation where you want the trigger and can't get it with Aeslin.

Not having to fight for high crows is exactly one of the reasons she appeals.

[ooshawn]

8ss for 2x min 3 shots, IF there is a marker there. I'd just have to see it I guess, someone will have to play her vs me. A rou. has a teleport, condition removal, h2w, flay with 6 severe damage. just seems better than aeslin for the points

[Alcathous]

5 hours ago, ooshawn said:

8ss for 2x min 3 shots, IF there is a marker there. I'd just have to see it I guess, someone will have to play her vs me. A rou. has a teleport, condition removal, h2w, flay with 6 severe damage. just seems better than aeslin for the points

The fact that Aeslin can sit 8" off center on effect the conflict is huge. Aside from min 3, you're setting up for big plays for another model with the injured. Aeslin isn't and solo champion, but she is an aggresive support model that wins games for those who learn how to use her. Bonus points for secret scheming with Study and Draw Out Secrets.

Rougs have to be in melee to get their min 2 attack off. It's only min 3 if you have the card. I don't often stone to keep Aeslin alive, but also I don't often have to because she's a ranged model that should always have a front line to support her. Rougaru are great runner hunters and late game marauders, but DF 4 is enough of a downside that they cannot create the anvil that Aeslin + tank can be.
 

[Hawkoon]

4 hours ago, Alcathous said:

The fact that Aeslin can sit 8" off center on effect the conflict is huge. Aside from min 3, you're setting up for big plays for another model with the injured. Aeslin isn't and solo champion, but she is an aggresive support model that wins games for those who learn how to use her. Bonus points for secret scheming with Study and Draw Out Secrets.

Rougs have to be in melee to get their min 2 attack off. It's only min 3 if you have the card. I don't often stone to keep Aeslin alive, but also I don't often have to because she's a ranged model that should always have a front line to support her. Rougaru are great runner hunters and late game marauders, but DF 4 is enough of a downside that they cannot create the anvil that Aeslin + tank can be.
 

I think you're completly right here. I think a lot of the theaoryfaux going on spends way too much time discussing killing, when we should discuss scoring. The fact that Aeslin can use a SS for draw out secrets to place a potentially scoring maker is often overlooked, and something Neverborn has very few other options for doing reliably.

[katadder]

she is probably my 2nd most played master after schill, and certainly most played in NVB and I always take aeslin. She has study as well as the trigger for draw out secrets. 

[Azahul]

Likewise, I don't think I've ever seen Aeslin attack a model that wasn't within 2" of Underbrush. When the entire crew can make them and Titania can move them and a bunch start where the combat is going to be anyway it's pretty trivial. Anywhere Aeslin wants to shoot is basically guaranteed to have a marker.

 

In addition to how good she is at scoring, it's worth noting that she applies Injured on an AOE attack that moves its target. She can get Injured onto so many important targets so easily. First shot to move the initial target, second to get the injured onto another 1-2 models that might set up another model for an easier kill.

 

Titania and Aeslin both benefit enormously from having their min three attacks on range 8 instead of melee like most beaters. That means any model that wants to retaliate needs to spend one, maybe two AP (due to the quantity of Severe terrain and/or the opponent being staggered) closing the gap, greatly improving their durability. They're great pieces.

[ooshawn]

someone show me their strats, i want to learn the ways...teach meeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Cats Laughing]

Side note, we played a Keyword escalation league when M3E came out and I took the Fae keyword which meant Aeslin was my Henchman leader for the first game. 3 AP on Aeslin feels sooooo much better than just 2. Being able to move and then Decay twice was quite nice.

 

Also as others have noted, Titania's ranged (no gun) attack is often better than the melee attack, and the Into Thorns trigger moving opponents around into or out of melee as needed can be quite useful control on top of the extra damage. 

[ooshawn]

i want a escalation league..... so badly. with injuries , upgrades, equipment etc

[Adran]

7 hours ago, ooshawn said:

i want a escalation league..... so badly. with injuries , upgrades, equipment etc

There are people that have adapted the M2 set to use in M3. 

From memory the largest choice is do you use the updated M3 ability effects or the M2 abilities as written on the card. I don't think either breaks the game, its probably more what works best for your players. (If they are new to M3, they might not know the M3 shove aside rules for example because they don't own an M3 shove aside model )

[melkore]

A bit of a necro but I'm just coming back to the game.  Aeslin is one of the only models in the faction that can drop a scheme marker from an attack.  That attack also happens to hand out injured.  Aeslin also can eat corpse/scrap markers for more scheme markers and denying resources to the enemy.  In scheme marker heavy GG2 pools, that will become more important.  She one of the most efficient models Neverborn has for dropping markers from range.

She's not a front line model, but more of a finesse piece to make sure there is an Underbrush where Titania/Killjoy needs it and applying injured where possible to soften up targets for Titania/Rex/Rider/etc.

My list back in GG0/1 usually started with Aeslin, Rider, and Hinamatsu.  Aeslin can bring the Underbrush/Injured, Rider make sure Hina can get to where she needs to be, then Hina can lure them in to a kill box then poof, dead model.  Yes, Knights can also germinate, but they are also 1" melee and Challenge has rarely mattered because anything that is coming to kill a squishy model can also kill an autumn knight.  My knights usually end up shuffling up the table then getting gunned down because it doesn't trigger the parry defensive trigger and most guns/ranged attacks people bring, as 6 factions have models that ignore concealment, don't care about concealment to make hiding in underbrush worth it if they've played against Titania before.

I do wish Counterspell was better and covered all Fae models within 6 instead of just models targeting Aeslin.

I would gladly pay an extra stone over Knights.  All of the Fae minions are pretty situational at best.

Waldgeist, slow unless the map is littered with severe terrain to ambush through, decent for models that need to stay where they are put.  I've taken Changelings instead to copy germinate or whatever I need as the game progresses as Stealth/Disguised is usually enough to get them to drop a marker before something walks up and bops it.

Bultungin, a confused model with all the worst aspects of both keywords.  Dies to a swift wind and is hamstrung by pack mentality/old ways.  Easily replaced with Wicked Dolls and Eldrich Magic upgrade

Rougaru, Df4, sz3, and 9 health on a 8ss minion in a faction littered with fantastic versatile models in that price range. 

• Vasilisa is Armor+2, mv6, df/wp6 sz2, who can make those Wicked Dolls faster and turn them in to stitched when they die.
• Or for one more soulstone, Hinamatsu.
• Or one less for Tuco to get stealth, a ranged attack not needing a crow and a lure bonus action
• Serena Bowman is still pretty good even post nerf
• Razorspine Rattler is even a contender in this range due to it's unimpeded, better defenses AND ambush

I didn't even get to Wrath the 7ss henchmen with Bring It and a 3" pulse for 2/3/4 damage to bring models in to underbrush and is better than the Autumn Knight in pretty much everything it does.

Titania easily transitions over to an all-stars list leaving most of her keyword behind, but Aeslin is one of the Fae models I would keep in my list for GG2. 

[Maniacal_cackle]

One thing worth mentioning about Rougarou is the 2/4/6 damage track with three different ways to have the damage flip cheat able (rams, focus, or mask). And can even cheat against double negatives!

It can be a bit card hungry, but I'm loving it with Chimera at least. Not always relevant, but the ability to go "right, you take 6 now" is hilarious.

[santaclaws01]

1 hour ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

One thing worth mentioning about Rougarou is the 2/4/6 damage track with three different ways to have the damage flip cheat able (rams, focus, or mask). And can even cheat against double negatives!

It can be a bit card hungry, but I'm loving it with Chimera at least. Not always relevant, but the ability to go "right, you take 6 now" is hilarious.

Possibly even 7 or 8 with emmy and killjoy hazardous terrain. 

[LexLock]

The Rougarou's Intimidating Roar is a great friendly movement tool; no flip and 6" of movement, just don't target minions and you can deadly pursuit to keep up with your crew..

[extremor]

5 hours ago, LexLock said:

The Rougarou's Intimidating Roar is a great friendly movement tool; no flip and 6" of movement, just don't target minions and you can deadly pursuit to keep up with your crew..

Why no flip?

[Alcathous]

25 minutes ago, extremor said:

Why no flip?

You do need to flip, there's just no chance of failure if you relent.

[Morgan Vening]

23 minutes ago, Alcathous said:

You do need to flip, there's just no chance of failure if you relent.

You still flip for the attack, right? Cause you need to hit any target numbers (not in this case), and offensive triggers.

There's just no defensive flip (and no defensive triggers).

But it's still the top card flipped, which can matter because of certain deck-stacking abilities.

[Alcathous]

@Morgan Veningexactly right. Normally the card matters when relenting for the TN or for triggers, but in the case of Rougaru's roar, the trigger is enemy only and there's no TN. But 6" movement on Rex/Emissary/Aeslin/Titania can be real good. It's a simple AP transfer, really, but the Rougaru is fast enough to make it up in later turns.