Trouble Playing Bayou

[FateWitch]

Hey all! So I dabbled a bit in 2e, but never took things too seriously. Jumped into 3e buying Zoraida (her alt box was too good to pass up) and Titania (she was suggested as a good place to start).

Now I'm looking to play a Faction and focus on events. I love the Bayou models and so here I am. However I'm having a hard time grasping how a couple masters are generally played.

I tried out Zoraida for the first time tonight, and lost horribly against Levi. Granted they were mostly bad decisions on my part, but I also don't feel like the crew clicks with me like Titania's did. It could be that I need to adjust to the crew, but are there any tips for playing her in Bayou?

Also listened to the deep dive on Mah, but (as expected) she can't pulse out as much Focus any more. Has that impacted her playstyle?

Generally just trying to come to grips with the faction. Had a blast playing Zoraida even though I got stomped.

Looking at learning Mah, Zoraida, Ulix, and Brewmaster.

Not looking for anything super in depth here, but just a general overview of what Zoraida and Mah are trying to do. Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Math Mathonwy]

Zoraida and Mah are my favourite two Masters so I definitely approve of the choice!

Zoraida I mostly play super focused on the Strat and Schemes. First Mate and Silurids are very difficult to stop from scoring and doubly so when Zoraida can Obey them and through them.

Zoraida's main function for me is to Obey the enemy out of position and my own dudes into position. Oftentimes the best way to do so is through Charges so you get some attacks as a bonus but don't go out of your way for them most of the time unless the opponent has left a very juicy target near their big beater or some such. If there are choke points on the table Obeying enemies who have already activated to create traffic jams is best in life.

So yeah, be somewhat surgical in your violence and focus on scoring and she is very, very powerful. She does have a bit of a learning curve but after you get to grips with her, the opponent is going to have a way steeper learning curve against her.

Her favourite strats are ones that favour spreading out or extremely elite lists (as Obeying a handful of enemy big beaters is lots of fun and she can act as a force multiplier for your own).

Finally, her card manipulation is fantastic. If you can get a read on the opponent's hand you can either activate her early to get rid of a good hand while being very liberal using up your own or you can save her activation for later when she can better disrupt opponent's scoring.

As for Mah, she still likes to pulse Focus but isn't all about it anymore. Don't be reckless with her as she has pretty good damage output but isn't very durable so, again, be surgical and patient in looking for the right opportunities. She can be perfectly happy just Pushing stuff around for the first two turns and doesn't need to get stuck in too early.

Her crew is way more killy than Zoraida's, though, and you can build her crew in many different ways. Roosters are very fast and dangerous, Survivors and Test Subjects are super durable for their cost and one Bushwhacker is always amazing to threaten sniping an enemy Totem or whatnot on the first activation of the game.

Hopefully there was something of use there. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask!

[FateWitch]

Thank you, Math! I think I may have been too focused on Obeying my own models instead of putting my opponent into a tough position by Obeying his models. Also definitely misplaced my Silurids and got them killed early on.

How do you feel about Juju? It did decently in my game (I forgot about soulstones for it too), but it also seems fairly squishy. Is it mostly a counter-attack piece? An abomination stopping it from healing hurt too. Killed a desolation engine and didn't even think about the consequences haha.

Loving the game and looking forward to learning more about the Bayou.

[Math Mathonwy]

Obey is such a "world is your oyster" tool of insane versatility that spotting the angles with it certainly takes time and practice. But that's what I love about Zoraida - almost every loss feels like it would've been winnable with a bit of a different approach.

I kinda like Juju. He has grown on me. He gets a bit of a bad rap but he isn't bad. His problem is that he is quite vulnerable to certain things (denying healing definitely being one of them!) so he can be a liability depending on what he's facing. But on the flip side, he can be very good in the right situation and I've had him survive while being stuck in the thick of things the whole game.

Whiskey Golem is worth a try as a beater for Zoraida, though. I also used to use Francois every once in a while with her but the errata probably made him worse in that role. I've also considered Alphonse but haven't tried him yet.

[FateWitch]

I gave the Whiskey Golem a go, but didn't position him very well either. Got stuck in with Rusty real quick to stop her from firing, but Levi fired into the combat and flipped really well even at a negative (he didn't channel or have focus) and hit my Whiskey Golem for severe twice. That was on turn one too.

I definitely see what you mean about Obey! After chatting with you on here I feel that exact way about the game. I could have won it if I had played a bit differently even though I lost 1 to 5.

I'll have to experiment and see what works for me and what doesn't as far as Juju goes and knowing its limits on the battle field.

Just got all the alt Ulix models in so I'm even more excited now! Thanks again for all the help!