Smuggler Colette

[dancater]

So big thanks to T&G Productions for breaking out our darling Smuggler Colette.

This is my early hot take on my favourite master and her new title.

So she teams with Pandora, which is cool, I already love the Mistress of Woe as well. They share a 7SS Enforcer Dorian Crowe who looks pretty damn solid, incorporeal with solid stats and two truly awesome bonus actions, sadly he is Neverborn so no OOK for Arcanists. But I can see him in a lot of either Colette crews.

Colette herself. She has I think changed the least in core play style of all the revealed Arcanist's so far. She has gone from a tricksy support schemer with her crew to a more control orientated schemer I think. More terrain marker schtick, the Malifaux Burns titles have truly plentiful terrain marker creation, it is going to make those models with terrain destruction like Blow it to Hell hugely useful. Between her Decoy Markers (creating max 1/turn) and Dove/Decoys (start with up to 3 and can summon up to 1/turn) she can really create a lot of weird attack vectors and also have some great emergency escape paths. The survivability of the Decoy Markers and Doves will be HUGE in her success or failure.

Cassandra is a superb inclusion with her. Otherwise I don't see a great deal of change in her crew, with what models are powerful and those models (Ice Dancers notably) which struggle. She doesn't really bring anything to her crew directly, but she changes the theme from trying to catch the Showgirls to trying not to get displaced by the crew.

As a title she will not hugely change opponent crew selection, the main thing will be something, anything with terrain destruction needs to be taken in possible.

I'm not sure, at least in GG2 that I see huge this scheme/strat pool is OG-Colette and alternatively this is Smuggler Colette. The Performer crew is largely the same. I think Smuggler Colette is powerful but different and the same scheme/strats/opposition you liked OG-Colette into will remain a solid option for Smuggler Colette, this is more about us as players having a different nuance of playstyle into the pool depending on our mood. 

Overall, not absolutely blown away, not shocked (except a little that she paired with Pandora) with some out of left field changes. But pleased, I think that Smuggler Colette will provide an option for a more aggressive Performer crew, Colette has functional offensive options and especially offensive movement. I'm not sure which Colette sees more table time, but both will.

 

[LinenMusician]

[RayMet]

Dorian Crowe looks like Klaus from The Umbrella Academy

[SEV]

Whoa! This Colette can cover a lot of ground (like the whole table). This is hard to evaluate. At first glance she seems weaker than OG Colette, but she could be deceptively powerful (scheming all around the place from the confort of a table corner can be nice. She can also lunch surprise attack from weird angles (a nearby dove can be a real threat now).

I like Dorian in NB. He brings marker removal and Scheming capacity... He seems more redundant in a Performer crew but opportunist distracted seems like a nice tool to have.

[Jordon]

I really like the nod to her old M1E avatar. Seems like I'll be dusting those off to be used as decoys, which is really awesome. In terms of theme, I'm not really getting the sense of "smuggling" however. Smuggling initially had me thinking of soul stone or card manipulation but neither seem to be the case here. 

I agree with @dancater in that she doesn't really seem to switch it up as much as the other alternate titles. She seems to be a bit less distracted oriented and more of an opportunist now. I really like that doves can be treated as decoys as traditional marker removal won't affect them. 

No one thing really blows my mind here. It's cool that she can project her actions through decoys, but we already have two other masters who can do similar things. That and I find both of her attack actions just "okay". 

Overall I think she's interesting but doesn't really change up much for Colette. 

[Thatguy]

I don't like the new Colette art.

She looks positively matronly. 

[Jordon]

1 minute ago, Thatguy said:

I don't like the new Colette art.

She looks positively matronly. 

Agreed. Doesn't really seem to match all the magical shenanigans that her abilities suggest. I'll likely be sticking to Cooper 

[Adran]

9 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

I don't like the new Colette art.

She looks positively matronly. 

I must admit I pictured a more "getting dirty and crawling through tunnels" smuggling outfit for her, rather than that of a fancy lady.  I may use Avatar Colette models as decoy markers on principle though. 

8 minutes ago, Jordon said:

Doesn't really seem to match all the magical shenanigans that her abilities suggest.

I'd say the magical shenanigans were largely based around you hitting the wrong target and her not being where you thought she was, so I'm not sure that they can easily been shown on a model (or at least as I'm reading them) 

 

[Thatguy]

13 minutes ago, Jordon said:

No one thing really blows my mind here. It's cool that she can project her actions through decoys, but we already have two other masters who can do similar things. That and I find both of her attack actions just "okay". 

I think she's going to be pretty effective at disruption. Stagger + moving an enemy 8" is pretty big. But without a way to get the Distracted markers upfield it might not be as good as it sounds. The doves will probably have to do that heavy lifting there. 

It seems like her big use is Don't Mind Me + being able to scheme at multiple points in the map. I could see her doing two or even three interacts a turn. 

Given that she doesn't seem to have a huge crew synergies in this title, maybe you just take the best OoK beaters and let her handle most of the scheming.

 

[retnab]

Raspy is weeping at how much better Smuggler Colette is at arcing spells than her.  Ignores range, ignores los, 7 speed summonable totems with flight can be arcing points, can scheme through it, can use triggers without discarding... December badly needs a look at after this.

[Jinn]

I already posted it in the Discord, but Cassandra's Upstage uses her own actions and card abilities when copying Routine Performance. Which means an Interact will apply Distracted within 6 from the targeted marker. She also cannot use the Doves as Decoys.

[Thatguy]

The more I look at the new Colette the more I like her.
Like Routine Performance doesn't specify non-charge general action, so you can get a little more mobility out of Distraction markers and Doves.

Also the summon doesn't specify Enemy only. It makes me wonder if it would be worthwhile to bring a Mannequin to shoot for doves.

Also, Colette's ability to scheme all over the place seems pretty strong with the new Performer Harata's Haka. If Colette is in the Tutu pulse, she's got a potentially huge threat range of no resist moves. Unless I'm reading the rules interaction wrong.

[Jinn]

39 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

The more I look at the new Colette the more I like her.
Like Routine Performance doesn't specify non-charge general action, so you can get a little more mobility out of Distraction markers and Doves.

Also the summon doesn't specify Enemy only. It makes me wonder if it would be worthwhile to bring a Mannequin to shoot for doves.

Also, Colette's ability to scheme all over the place seems pretty strong with the new Performer Harata's Haka. If Colette is in the Tutu pulse, she's got a potentially huge threat range of no resist moves. Unless I'm reading the rules interaction wrong.

I don't know if it counts as Colette placing the marker actually, I think it's her obeying a marker to take an action. I may be wrong.

[HomelessOne]

New day, new title, new "what's the wording actually mean?"

Welcome to Malifaux! haha

[Thatguy]

22 minutes ago, Jinn said:

I don't know if it counts as Colette placing the marker actually, I think it's her obeying a marker to take an action. I may be wrong.

You may be right.

Though it does say, "as though it were this model" which makes me think that you'd use Colette's current stats and conditions for everything. Like if Colette were distracted you'd take the on an attack. "(and using this models stat card)" seems to make it a bit more confusing. If it was just reminder text, you wouldn't normally include "and", right?

[Morgan Vening]

2 hours ago, Jordon said:

I really like the nod to her old M1E avatar. Seems like I'll be dusting those off to be used as decoys, which is really awesome. In terms of theme, I'm not really getting the sense of "smuggling" however. Smuggling initially had me thinking of soul stone or card manipulation but neither seem to be the case here. 

I agree with @dancater in that she doesn't really seem to switch it up as much as the other alternate titles. She seems to be a bit less distracted oriented and more of an opportunist now. I really like that doves can be treated as decoys as traditional marker removal won't affect them. 

No one thing really blows my mind here. It's cool that she can project her actions through decoys, but we already have two other masters who can do similar things. That and I find both of her attack actions just "okay". 

Overall I think she's interesting but doesn't really change up much for Colette. 

The way I see it, is she's not so much a "this plays significantly different" as she is a counterpick against certain crews that could screw OG Colette.

Opponent declares Tara or Lady J, or anything else that screws over buried models? You take this one. Opponent has the option to put out Stunned at range (list is growing)? You take this one. Opponent is heavy beater melee focused? Disguised, and Now You See Me, wreck their day (3+ AP per meaningful hit).

[Jordon]

2 hours ago, retnab said:

Raspy is weeping at how much better Smuggler Colette is at arcing spells than her.  Ignores range, ignores los, 7 speed summonable totems with flight can be arcing points, can scheme through it, can use triggers without discarding... December badly needs a look at after this.

Yeah this is a tough pill to swallow for an already struggling keyword.

I guess in Raspy's defense, she does have an easier time creating pillars compared to decoys. She can also do more damage if you obliterate your hand/stones triggering onslaught, or just get lucky with blast flips.

However the point remains that this really seems to step on her toes. I think it'd be a bit easier to understand if it were coming from a different faction. However having arguably the strongest master stealing the one iconic mechanic from the weakest master (and doing it much better) is a bit frustrating.

[eddy]

1 hour ago, Thatguy said:

Also, Colette's ability to scheme all over the place seems pretty strong with the new Performer Harata's Haka. If Colette is in the Tutu pulse, she's got a potentially huge threat range of no resist moves. Unless I'm reading the rules interaction wrong.

 

If i am correct every one is making mistake that Colett is taking actions through routine but it says "target may take..." so one performing action is dove/marker so it works only if target (dove/marker) is within Haratas aura

[Jordon]

4 minutes ago, eddy said:

If i am correct every one is making mistake that Colett is taking actions through routine but it says "target may take..." so one performing action is dove/marker so it works only if target (dove/marker) is within Haratas aura

So I can "concentrate" with my dove and then make use of that focus via Routine? That actually sounds better

[Thatguy]

3 minutes ago, eddy said:

If i am correct every one is making mistake that Colett is taking actions through routine but it says "target may take..." so one performing action is dove/marker so it works only if target (dove/marker) is within Haratas aura

I think there's bound to be some confusion. Markers have been used for LoS before, but I don't know that they've ever taken actions. Like what happens when you walk with the marker through hazerdous terrain?

[Jordon]

Or terrifying? Does the dove use it's WP? However that doesnt make sense when you use a decoy marker

[eddy]

2 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

I think there's bound to be some confusion. Markers have been used for LoS before, but I don't know that they've ever taken actions. Like what happens when you walk with the marker through hazerdous terrain?

I guess nothing happens. Same if enemy has def triger that does dmg etc.

[eddy]

6 minutes ago, Jordon said:

Or terrifying? Does the dove use it's WP? However that doesnt make sense when you use a decoy marker

You use collet stat card so normal terrifying with stat 6. About spending resources im not sure if you can use doves becaues of "as thoug it were this model".

On the other hand it would mean that if Colett has focus and she is making dove atack, dove could spend "fictional focus"(generated when coping her card and stat) instead of removing it from Colett. If you know what i mean XD

[Jordon]

Seems like new Colettes true power lies in confusing the players rather than the models.

[Thatguy]

34 minutes ago, Jordon said:

Or terrifying? Does the dove use it's WP? However that doesnt make sense when you use a decoy marker

I'm sure you'd use Colette's WP

 

The "As if it were this model" doesn't specify for what contexts it does or doesn't include. Without clarification I assume it means all contexts. Otherwise it would need something like: "for the purposes of" to spell out the limited contexts where the token counts as the Colette model. 

Like if you wanted to Charge as your general action, it means that it counts against Colette's once per activation charge limit. It would mean that is the token took damage or gained a condition, during that action, it would happen to Colette since it counts as her. If you had a distraction marker Concentrate the Focus would go on Colette. Or if you spent a focus it would be Colette's. 

You couldn't use Routine Performance to shoot Colette and summon a dove, since both count as the Colette model and models can't target themselves with attack actions.