Perdita Imbalance

[jesters89]

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to pose a question to the community. At 25ss is Perdita's crew imblanaced? I've played several games over the last couple of weeks and have caught a lot of flack for Perdita and her family being "overpowered" relative to other crews. A few qualifiers: we've only played 25ss and my primary opponents have been Rasputina and Outcasts. We've mostly used the starter boxes with one or two model swaps.

Frankly, I don't think the crew is overpowered. I think different bands have different learning curves... In fact, some of the most vehement criticism has come from a guy who has not even played a game yet. His criticism is based on reading statlines in the rulebook.

I'm just curious about the community consensus on crew balance, especially Perdita's crew.

Thanks,

J

[AoM]

Definitely don't think the Ortegas are too powerful at 25ss. They are certainly one of the more efficient builds at 25, but they're not broken at all. And when you move into larger Scraps, they definitely won't complain as much.

Outcast mercenaries vs. Ortegas at 25 ain't a bad match at all. I like to bring a Convict Gunslinger instead of Johan, but that's personal preference. Played that exact game this past weekend. If it wasn't for run of 1's, 2's, and 3's flipped in duels with only 5's and 6's to cheat with, the Outcasts would have won.

Try out Rasputina with a December Acolyte or Joss. They add a bit more punch sometimes.

[jmsetzer]

I've played against Perdita's band three times; the third time was the charm! Thanks to the steamborg and spider swarm and Ramos being able to kick out more little spiders to replace other little spiders that get shot, I was able to get to her. Oh, plus the 'borg can attack a model, then bat it away and make a charge--that helps close the gap. Also I had my little spiders moving pretty quickly when they were shot at and missed--actually used a couple of high cards for that purpose specifically to great effect.

Of course, Gargathor now knows those trick and I'm sure will have a stratgey ready next time we throw down ;-)

[Haight]

I don't think perdita's crew is overpowered. Do i think its a VERY good crew ? Absolutely, and i think it has one of the lowest, if not the lowest, learning curve of them all.

That said, The 'Tina player is probably irritated because his ice pillars do squat all against bullet bending. The outasts i'm not sure what their gripe is, because viktoria is positively filthy even without access to Ronin.

The thing about perdita is that she's a great combination of resource management, excellent shooting, and counter-denial (bullet bending), along with denial (obey). Her DF is fantastic at a whopping 8, and her other stats are good to great as well, with the sole exception being her WD count which is on the low end of the spectrum for masters.

I'd encourage your naysaying friend to play a few games with, and against Perdita. The Family Ortega is a great set, but it does have weaknesses (like Obey'ing Papa Loco - which if he's unharmed, is not going to end well for him, or probably some other models on your side of the board). Santiago only gets frightening when he's half dead already, and nino is a tad fragile - some long range threat can put him in his place if you don't allow him to set up shop and start Trigger Happy'ing off salvo after salvo. Placement and terrain help against him.

Francisco is a good melee and ranged threat, but you can mitigate him like most other models like that. Draw him out into the open, and go from there.

Cover is key against the ortega clan - if you don't use cover, they will chew you apart, so you have to use it as much as possible. Viktoria's crew box may have some issues with this as most of them are predominantly melee focused, while Perdita's box is ranged focused.

All in all i think the best move is to get some games and illustrate the beneficial aspects of cover, in tandem with gently moving up the SS cap. Once you get to 35 stones, things start really balancing out in terms of mitigating options.

[nilus]

I think people nailed it on the head. Its a matter of learning curves. Perdita's curve is really pretty much a straight line. They are a pretty easy crew to get a hang of quickly. Let them get more practice and I am sure they will stop saying she is unbalanced.

If they really complain then suggest they take up another of the easier crews to get a feel for. Seamus, Viktorias, and Lilith are all really straight forward as well.

[Angus Khan]

To add to what's already been said, not only do the Ortegas have a very small learning curve but Rasputina also has a very big one. She is very hard to master, so its understandable if she would lose a lot (at first) to the Ortegas.

To answer your question: no, the Ortegas are not overpowered.

[Isoulle]

I think one of the biggest things is that the Ortega boxset is one of the most effective boxsets. Once you start switching out models other factions do quite well v them. Some of the boxsets are more tournament worth than others which is not surprising since they're theme based.

[jesters89]

Thanks for the input guys. This pretty much reinforces what I've been telling the folks that feel Perdita is broken. I bought the minis because I love the feel (and to use in the Deadlands rpg), not for play-style; however, after getting sucked into Malifaux and playing with the crew I'll be the first to say that Perdita and the family have a small learning curve. That said, I feel once my buddy figures out 'tina and company he'll derive a lot of satisfaction from his wins.

Thanks again,

J

[Wulfen]

Also, at 25SS, Perdita doesn't get much in the way of soulstones in the game, so most other boxsets have much more control if they get a bad hand or flip. Perdita can really be stuck with what she has.

So yes, they are very, very good at 25, but other crews have advantages over them.

[Pavic]

I'd just like to say that I am the poor bastard that has been playing Tina against jesters. I never called foul on Perdita as we both agreed that the real issue was the learning curve of the Tina combined with the slowness of her box set (Nino is always a nightmare for me, even with good terrain use). That being said, I have made considerable improvement in using Tina over the few games jesters and I have got in, and with the load of new models I received last week, I am sure that I will be getting some sweet revenge on the Ortega family in the very near future.

[AoM]

Perdita stuck with a bad hand? Surely you jest, good sir.

[nerdelemental]

Rasputina like slightly bigger games than Perdita, too, by the way. Try a 35 stone game (with proxies perhaps) and see if that doesn't help Raspy out a bit.

[Scorpio]

In fact, some of the most vehement criticism has come from a guy who has not even played a game yet. His criticism is based on reading statlines in the rulebook.

Yeah, you can ignore that guy.