Waldo's Weekly - Curtain Call

[Hobby Wyrd]

Hey Wyrdos!

Waldo took up birdwatching this week, equipped with homemade binoculars lovingly crafted from paper towel tubes. He’s mostly just thrown sunflower seeds around and claimed making a mess is crucial for attracting good birds. While we clean up his mess, let’s take a look at some new releases who might lend your crew their talents… for the right price, of course.

Shadowlark and Blackbirds

Shadowlark

Shadowlark is a highly mobile assassin that excels at controlling a flank. Phantasmal Blade’s great damage track allows her to remove weak models or apply Distracted to disable stronger models. This makes Shadowlark a strong 1v1ing model even against higher Cost enemies, provided she gets the jump on them. With her phenomenal Shadow Jump Trigger and Diving Charge, she’s hard to tie down and is ready to do a lot of damage. At range, Surprise Shot’s Unexpected Ferocity Trigger allows her to do enormous damage once someone else sets up Distracted.

High damage isn’t her only draw. She can also support her Crews in a few ways. Phantasmal Blade’s built-in Distracted will keep weaker models alive around Shadowlark. Thief’s Pocket is a perfect way to complete Schemes like Ensnare or to Drop Scheme Markers for friendly effects.

In Performer

In Performer Shadowlark has options. She can run up a flank and Drop Scheme Markers with Thief’s Pocket, or she can stay closer to the battle and help with the Performer Distracted game with Phantasmal Blade. Disguised is helpful here as with her speed she can stay out of enemy melee ranges, and force enemies to spend an Action Walking up to her.

Possibly the most exciting thing about her in Performer is her ability to boost the Scheme Marker Dropping capabilities of the Keyword. With Don’t Mind Me and Thief’s Pocket she can easily Charge into an enemy model’s engagement range, take a swing, Interact and use Thief’s Pocket to Drop a Scheme Marker. That’s a very easy way to set up Scheme Markers for proximity-based Schemes.

Speaking of Thief’s Pocket, it is especially efficient in a Performer Crew as it allows a player to discard cards from either their Hand or Configuration. This means that Shadowlark can place a bad card into the Configuration with Repository to draw and then use that card in the Configuration to fuel Thief’s Pocket.

In Witness

In Witness, Shadowlark pushes the assassin angle to 11. As a Witness Crew will be able to set up free suits with the Configuration, Shadowlark is able to guarantee a Trigger without spending a Soulstone. This means that Shadowlark can plan on getting Shadow Jump or Execute Trigger each Activation. Shadowlark plays especially well with Damian Ravencroft, Aspirant as his Maintain Order Ability can decimate an opponent’s hand, giving Shadowlark the opportunity for a timely Execute to finish off models.

Shadowlark is also very beneficial to a Witness Crew in that she’s a speedy model in a Keyword not known for speed. Between Mv 6 and Thief’s Pocket, she’s a superb in-Keyword choice for Schemes that require Markers on the enemy table half like Espionage or Protected Territory. If she needs a little boost to get there, targeting her with Damian Ravencroft, Unbound’s Absolute Control Action or Bellaventine Thrope’s Outmaneuver Action will allow her to go the extra distance.

Blackbird

Like Shadowlark, Blackbirds are a great way to put Distracted on enemy models. Both Phantasmal Knife and Spotlight can give out Distracted. This means that they are one of the better options for Crews that want a guaranteed way to Distract enemies.

Beyond placing Distracted on enemies, Blackbirds are awesome at Dropping Scheme Markers. Much like Shadowlark, Blackbirds have Thief’s Pocket, but in addition to that, they have the Set the Scene Ability. Set the Scene allows a Blackbird to Drop a Scheme Marker next to enemy models that lower or end their Distracted Condition. Between these two things, a Blackbird can easily Drop two to three Scheme Markers a Turn. If they’re not used for scoring, all those extra Scheme Markers can Move enemies away from objectives with Spotlight’s “Next Act!” Trigger.

In Performer

If Shadowlark was good for a Performer Crew’s Distracted game, Blackbirds are amazing. Spotlight is the real star as targeting an enemy model that is engaging a Performer model means that Spotlight will give out Distracted +2 instead of Distracted +1. This plus the Quick Reflexes Trigger means that a Blackbird can place a large amount of Distracted on multiple enemy models in a single Activation. One thing to note is that Spotlight is not restricted to enemy models, so a Blackbird can place Distracted on friendly models for Colette Du Bois’s False Reality Action.

When not playing with Distracted, the incidental Scheme Markers Dropped by Blackbirds are very helpful to a Performer Crew. Extra Scheme Markers help a Performer Crew in a lot of ways, like giving Colette Du Bois more locations to Unbury, powering up Colette Du Bois, Smuggler’s Magical Flourish Attack, and giving Cassandra Felton Scheme Markers to move with Changing Plans.

In Witness

In Witness, Blackbirds are there to weaken enemies so they cannot kill important Witness models. Building in Triggers with the Configuration means that a Blackbird can count on Confusing Feelings or Quick Reflexes to spread out more Distracted on enemies.

In Witness, Blackbirds are surprisingly sturdy. Using the Configuration to gain the m needed for the “Get Off The Stage!” Ability combined with the incidental Scheme Markers a Blackbird Drops means that a Blackbird can easily move an enemy out of Attack range.

That's all for this week, Wyrdos! If anyone's already managed to track down Ms. Tina Grenville and her Blackbirds for a rare photo, feel free to post it below!

[Chou]

Love the models, especially the winged lady!