The Nellie Dilemma

[extremor]

Hello Folks 

I need your advice. A friend of mine plays nellie and has got the whole keyword and posesses no other guild models. He‘s quite new to the Game and struggles to get fun since the crew is Hard to Master. Mostly because the models die easy. I looked into the models, tactics, Videos, rewiews, batreps to give some advice. I also played nellie a few times.
I read that the Crew can spread distracted like candy and nellie plus Alison Dade make up for quite a good Team. I get all that. But it seems to be at a very short Range 6“-8“. Then again I always See rider or marshal plus 1-2 other versatiles or ook models to get rid of Enemy models/schemers…

long Story Short: how is it possible to play Nellie in keyword and not die turn 3?

[Strangely Brown]

Not a Nellie (or Malifaux) expert by any means, but I've played a bit with Nellie 2 (almost exclusively in keyword) and have had better luck with her than some of my other masters.  Can I ask how your friend's opponents are getting around things like serene countenance and manipulative?  Is it mainly using focus to get past the -ve flip & then maximising the damage on that single hit?

Distracted on a model that is facing a built-in negative feels like it should be quite effective at keeping things alive.  Also positioning near Phiona so only she can be the target of enemy attacks might help (esp. with LLC & near a scheme marker to get +ve flips to her duels), particularly against ranged attacks where she is likely to always be a legal target.  Cover also reduces the amount of damage that those focused ranged shots can do if your friend is struggling to get distracted on more distant models.

[extremor]

I played against nellie 2 today with Lucius 1. the Pool was: plant explosives, Power Ritual, deliver a message, sweating bullets, hold up their forces, ensnare. 
 

he took: nellie, totem, Allison Dade, undercover reporter, auguste hart, 2x Field reporter, false witness, newsie. 
 

I played: Lucius, Scribe, Alan Reid, 2x Investigator, lawyer, false witness, changeling. 
 

he did not hand out distracted that much, his schemerunner were easy targets to focus and most of his Models did not have staying Power. 
 

yes it was ecactly as you Said: a Single focused attack here and there and struggle to Hand out distracted at Range. 

[le_wahou]

Every minions in this keyword have this issue. I would advise to play without them, or maybe some newsies if you really need cheap actions.

You can try with :

New Voice Of Disorder Crew (Guild)
Leader:
  Nellie Cochrane, Voice Of Disorder
    Lead-Lined Coat
Totem(s):
  The Printing Press
Hires:
  Allison Dade
    Lead-Lined Coat
  Phiona Gage
  Auguste Hart
  Undercover Reporter

You have 15 soulstones left to add 1 or 2 models in guild mage, steward or orderliy to have some healing, or add 2 newsies

With this, you have 2 henchwomen, 1 Auguste as solid enforcer, the undercover who will either try to kill low cost models or stay far and scheme.

[Strangely Brown]

I don't think I've ever used newsies. I just can't see what they're for.

Can I suggest your friend looks at Phiona as a possibility, especially if Lucius is already going to be dropping scheme markers into the fighting area (she gets her +ve flips from any scheme marker, not just friendly)?  She provides some offensive threat, and makes it harder to target nearby journalists.

Nellie 2 can teleport Auguste very long distances from turn 2 or 3, so maybe putting bombs on him & chucking him upfield to drop those & then scheme for Power Ritual etc. would also force you to divert some key piece away from the rest of the crew?  Anyone chasing him down is going to be getting distracted, and he's quite tanky (again, LLC plus his ability to reduce damage with distracted) and if they're chasing him they're not attacking the models in the centre.

False witness would be good for Ensnare, as would Nellie 2's shockwave that drops a scheme marker.  The false witness will lose manipulative in order to drop the two scheme markers, but if they're near Phiona that might not be such a big issue.

I'm sure your friend is already aware of this, but I feel the best approach with Nellie is to distract opponents, diffuse their attention by sending Auguste away to score points and generally blunt their attacks.  Others will play her much better than I, but generally I find that when I win with Nellie it's because I've scored a lot of my points rather than denied my opponent a lot of their points, if that makes sense.  I think that I generally ignore my opponent and try to score my points (or set up to threaten to score) early.

Hope those thoughts spark some new lines of investigation, best of luck to your friend in unlocking Nellie!

[extremor]

I find newsies underwelming except maybe if you want to go intensivly for their Build in trigger. But hey. I am used to changeling who also die each Game but are far more resiliant. 
 

false witness are allright for false claim is good and with the no Cheat aura there is potential if you do combo them well (Placement is important). 

 

i realy want to like field reporter. Awesome models with nice bonus Action. But Hard to use without risking them. In nellie 1 they are Sweet if Slow news day is active. Or if you want to Pile up distracted on August hart First Turn. 
 

the undercover Reporter is awesome. I love the Build in crit strike to surprise low health models. The trigger on arson is fantastic and of you use lawyer or witness the Bonus Action lets you draw a Card. Good Model 

 

I adviced him to Look at some versautes and ook. After the Game. Imho Steward, grimwell, Melissa, lone marshall and lawyer are solid choices. But then again the question was how to play nellie in keyword and esp. How to spam distracted. I don’t see the „nellie hands out distracted like Candy“ what am i missing? How do you Spam distracted on several models, so your Crew is protected From Heavy damage of Focuses attacks by Beaters?????? I mean I play pandora and I know how Spamming a condition feels and That on several matchups still isnt enough to win. So i can’t See nellie do it with distracted. 

[Strangely Brown]

3 minutes ago, extremor said:

So i can’t See nellie do it with distracted. 

Well, again it may be a Nellie 2 thing.

• Auguste & Field reporters have a (short range but St 6) attack that hands out distracted.
• Nellie 2 hands out distracted on her main attack and her shockwave
• Auguste gives out distracted at the end of the turn to someone close to him
• Nellie's "spread the word" ability means you can multiply that effect out if there are models close to each other

I often take Nellie 2, Auguste & 3 field reporters (GG4 minion spam).  That's 5 models that can hand out distracted, and might (with Nellie's ability) spread that onto another model each activation.  given that you won't need to distract all the opponent's models to blunt incoming damage, it feels like that could be enough?

[extremor]

This evening nellie will go against mah… so I will try out some of your tips and advice. I will report 

[le_wahou]

Newsie can walk and interact. They are the cheapest model you have to do that. Their actions are not really relevant.

[extremor]

So the Game is done and was different than expected. 
 

We played corner deployment: cloak &dagger, deliver Message, sweating bullets, take Prisoners, outflank, death beds 

I played:

New Nellie Cochrane Crew (Guild)
Size: 50 - Pool: 5
Leader:
  Nellie Cochrane, Voice Of Disorder
    Lead-Lined Coat
Totem(s):
  The Printing Press
Hires:
  Phiona Gage
    Lead-Lined Coat
  Undercover Reporter
  Auguste Hart
  Field Reporter
  Field Reporter 2
  Guild Steward

The Strategy markers were spread out to the legt and Right. I took take Prisoners on his rooster Rider and outflank so my Crew had to split up  (and because of terrain). In one flank there was nellie, Auguste and one Field Reporter. The Rest on the other flank. I lost the mentioned Field Reporter First Turn to bushwacker fire. August killed That bushwacker in Return and Scored take Prisoner on his rooster turn 2. we both scored 1 for the strategy. Turn 3 I killed a Test subject, scored Outflank and nearly lost auguste. My opponents scored take Prisoners with steward. I scored the strategy and denied his. Then we talked the game through. 
 

XP:

I didnt get to use nellies spread the Word well. My opponent was clever to get around it and keep my Crew apart. Auguste was able to kill one bushwacker and soak a second one plus rooster Rider for 3 turns due to damage reduction. Shielded would have been Perfect. Nellie was his enabler and denied VP. Phiona + Llc Held up ma for 2 turns so the undercover Reporter could score and the second Field Reporter could deny pretty well.
the Crew still was squishy and would have been crushed of Not for phiona + Llc. Or if my opponent (who had bigbrain and trixie) would instead have Chosen a second rooster Rider and miner /whacker. 
nellie and August work well as a team. Pretty well to be honest. 
i don’t get the Field reporter to work. If only i could use 8xLLC. 😅 

 

next Time I want shielded on August and phiona. I want a Model to move nellie up the Board so she can use her AP more efficient.