Are Molemen that bad?

[Bullfrog]

Are Moleman just bad? I cannot seem to understand what their role is in a Marcus crew (cheap scheme runner?). I know they are only 4ss but I cannot tell if I am missing a trick with them or not. I was thinking of ways I could throw them up field with Cojo but that does not seem to be helpful since I would have to set up scheme markers for them to tunnel towards after.

Anyone else have luck with them? 

[Jinn]

6 hours ago, ncwojtyna said:

Are Moleman just bad? I cannot seem to understand what their role is in a Marcus crew (cheap scheme runner?). I know they are only 4ss but I cannot tell if I am missing a trick with them or not. I was thinking of ways I could throw them up field with Cojo but that does not seem to be helpful since I would have to set up scheme markers for them to tunnel towards after.

Anyone else have luck with them? 

Nope, they're just bad. They were trash last edition too, I think it's just their model identity at this point.

[Jordon]

I'd probably put them in my top 3 worst models within Arcanists as they really just don't work. They're clearly designed as a cheap scheme runner but they're abilities make them cumbersome to use as they don't work on their own. You need to hire them as a pair to hopscotch off each others scheme markers. Beyond that, they have a bury effect that only works once you get hit, however they're so unbelievably frail that they often don't survive that single shot. 

In my opinion, they need a complete re-work. Sure giving them armour/health would help, but honestly even if they were more durable, they'd still be awful as they just don't really work as intended. Which is especially a shame given how badly Marcus needs cheap scheme runners. Hoarcats are they only other cheap scheme runners and unfortunately they're not very good either. 

[Plaag]

22 hours ago, ncwojtyna said:

Are Moleman just bad? I cannot seem to understand what their role is in a Marcus crew (cheap scheme runner?). I know they are only 4ss but I cannot tell if I am missing a trick with them or not. I was thinking of ways I could throw them up field with Cojo but that does not seem to be helpful since I would have to set up scheme markers for them to tunnel towards after.

Anyone else have luck with them? 

yes, they are bad

[Adran]

I'm not sure what I would hire molemen for this edition. I did used to get good value from them in previous editions. But you did need them paired with another model, and a reason to want lots of scheme markers.  In this edition there isn't as good a model to pair with, there is less reason to flood the board with markers and they just aren't as survivable as I would want for multiple models to do that job. 

[Mycellanious]

There biggest issue is that the rely on your other, more expensive models dropping scheme markers so they can keep up with the crew. 

Why would I spend the Activation of my expensive model trying to make my 4ss model useful? Cheap models are supposed to support your crew, not require support. For this reason adding them to your crew actually can make then worse than the sum of their parts.

Technically they have a possible little denial role. You can leave them 15" from the Centerline to try and threaten your opponent's Schemes but like, their Bonus is Friendly Scheme Marker only and they can only remove Markers by Interacting. If you wanted something for this role, why would you not just hire a Sabateur??

And finally, they dont have any way of discarding Upgrades, so if you put things on them that upgrade is gone until they die. 

[Sergey Novikov]

I think molemans are rather good scheme runners. But they really need big brother for delivery. Someone who able to place first scheme marker for tunnels. I tried 2 of them them with Cerberus/Blessed (Cojo are always busy with some fighting/pushing ). They are good if you deliver them into opponent deployment zone. With size 1 they are self-sufficient in digging holes and covering within terrain. In worst case, someone more expensive than 4ss will go to hunt them in own deployment zone. 2 molemans looks like 8 wasted points. But they are able to drop 2 scheme markers with teleportation other the field. And they are able to runaway very very fast if you have scheme markers within 10 inches.

If you need Breakthrough or Spread Them Out  - they can do it. (Sabotage is not an option now)

Yes, they are useless for other schemes.

[Jordon]

So when talking specifically about Marcus, I found myself replacing them with a Razorspine. With Ambush and Deadly Pursuit, they can usually do the job of two molemen. Well they can't drop markers quite as far as two molemen but they make up for it by being more survivable and they can actually benefit from mutations. The Blessed will also work in a pinch, but it sort of seems like a waste of its talents. 

 

[Morgan Vening]

On 5/2/2021 at 3:54 PM, Jinn said:

Nope, they're just bad. They were trash last edition too, I think it's just their model identity at this point.

I disagree they were trash last edition. They weren't great by any stretch, but they had two fairly important abilities.

1) They could take a hit or three with Armor+2 (which also helped Marcus, especially against early alpha strikes)
2) They could frustrate attempts to move them with Dug In.

They have since lost both abilities, and they also don't even help with Activation control like they did in 2nd.

They're clearly so much worse now.