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Looking at starting - looking for help with paired starter box selections


hausdorff space

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Hi,

I'm pretty sold on this game and am trying to make some final decisions on what forces I want to buy.

Mainly, I'm going to be buying a Ramos starter/army, and a second starter box - for some initial play.

And I want the two boxes I buy to be reasonably well paired against one another. I don't mind if they aren't the easiest boxes to play, I just don't want one box to truly dominate the other.

So what would people suggest I get to play against Ramos?

(and what if I wasn't playing Ramos)

The main force I am considering right now is Pandora, but I am open to all other ideas.

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Well with 28ss in the Box Ramos is by far the box with the most soulstones in it.

Points-wise I would suggest the Ortegas or Zoraida (25ss each)

If you are looking into expanding your army the Rasputina Box (21ss) or the Marcus Box (22ss) might be worth it, since they are Arcanists too.

As a mix of the above two options you could choose the Victorias. They weight in at 24ss and are all mercenaries, so you can use them with any other army if you like.

As for what makes a good match-up in playstyles I cannot say, for I don't have played all the starter boxes. Besides, your planned Panodora weights in at 23ss. I hope that is of at least some help to you.

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Welcome fellow Arcanist! :D

If you're buying Ramos, then get Rasputina with lots of ice constructs for your second crew. In a brawl, Rasputina can add some nice direct damage spells to the mix which Ramos is usually lacking, and in turn, Ramos can use the ice golem and ice gamins as cruise missiles. (Not to mention they drop scrap counters when they die so Ramos can make even more spiders.) Also, Rasputina's December's Touch spell really helps out Joss or the Borg with an additional armor 2.

Alternatively, you could get a Levi crew when more models are released... Levi and Ramos have all sorts of synergy.

EDIT: Sorry, I thought you were asking what crew would go along with Ramos... my bad...

For an opponent to Ramos, the Death Marshals are particularly brutal with such abilities as last rights which can really limit the number of scrap counters Ramos has access to.

Also, Zoraida or Lillith could work, although Lillith can present quite a challenge for Ramos if you're not careful.

The Ortegas aren't bad... their ranged attacks make for an interesting matchup against Ramos' melee oriented crew.

Edited by Angus Khan
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thanks for the replies guys.

...hmmm.

Well to clarify my situation a little more (was in a rush yesterday). I intend on buying two starters mostly for 'demo'/starter and basic gaming purposes. Though I fully intend to make one into my main force.

I'm sold on arcanists as my main faction, though I'm not convinced about two master expansions - I like my forces themed and I find the distinct differences between the masters (in each faction) offputting.

That said, I couldn't decide between Rasputina and Ramos.. Ramos has been selected purely as a gaming mate of mine has ordered me the brass aracnid.

And, I'm not too worried about the SS differences between the boxes as I do plan on expanding both boxes to at least 30pts.

So, I'll be getting Ramos, his totem and some more spiders... that makes one 'starter'. The others I have mainly been looking at are Pandora (her playstyle sounds very enjoyable), Somer (he just plain sounds like themey fun), and Rasputina (though I'm really not sure about getting two things from the same faction). The Guild (Ortega and Justice) also seem very playable, though I personally find them rather vanilla.

Being indecisive I'm failing to really make any decision on what to get. And figure it'd be best decided by determining the 'best' opponent forces. (given a Malifaux playgroup around here will be pretty much non-existent for the foreseeable future)

From the replies so far I guess Ortegas are more what I'm looking for interesting match up where they don't over power one another?

Where does Pandora stand in combatablity with Ramos (and vice versa)? What about Rasputina?

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Pandora can be an interesting matchup with Ramos... neither master is particularly interested in being in the other's face, so it would seem to be fairly balanced against each other. (Also, since both masters require a bit more finesse, neither player would feel one crew is "better" than the other for demos)

Now that I think about it, Pandora and Ramos would be actually be a pretty good pairing.

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As a side nte: Ramos+ totem+ another spider swarm chould be around 38ss. Maybe you should only use the totem and left the third swarm for construction purposes, though that might not be necessary against Pandora, since her crew usually do not drop scrap counters. (no constructs)

Pandoras crew itself clocks in at 23ss out of the box. Maybe you could add a young nephilim once they are out to have a more straghtforward model for demos.

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Now that I think about it, Pandora and Ramos would be actually be a pretty good pairing.
cool.

...
I'm not to worried about sticking with exact starter box sizes (I'd add/remove models as necessary), nor complexity, I really just want two 'compact' themey forces that play well against each other.

- If I get Pandora I have no intention of playing anything but a legion of sorrow (no nephilim, etc).

I went with some of my favorite minis, so it was easy for me to pick Legion of Sorrow & Cult of December box sets. I love all of those minis.
They are nice minis.

...how do you feel Legion of Sorrow vs December would play?

Anyone have any thoughts on the fairness of Ramos starter playing against Rasputina starter.

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...how do you feel Legion of Sorrow vs December would play?

Anyone have any thoughts on the fairness of Ramos starter playing against Rasputina starter.

That's an interesting mix... Rasputina can lay down the law with direct damage magic, while Ramos uses all of her dead constructs to make even more spiders. Ramos might have trouble killing her minions off in the first place however, since steamspiders don't put out much damage. (Unfortunately, their low damage output also leaves them high and dry when faced with ice pillars... they need severe damage to destroy them.) However, this is balanced by the fact that with Evasive 3, Rasputina will have a very hard time killing more than one spider at a time with December's Curse.

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Well, if you want to play the starter boxes as they are coming you will end with Ramos having an advantage in soulstones, so you should stake the field against him. Alternativley wait for teddy to go with your sorrow-kids. That would be pretty themey imo and should make for a good mix.

As for Ramos VS Rasputina: No idea, I haven't met both on the field yet.

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One note on Ramos's soulstone count. I asked about this a while ago in the context of balancing starter box tournaments and it was suggested that Ramos's starter box be counted as 19 points - one steamborg and one spider swarm, with the other spiders used for being able to split up.

This doesn't align with the *bases* that are included in the box, but it does make the point total much more in line with the other boxes, gives extra spiders so that you're not proxying the instant a swarm splits or builds, and generally seems to come off much more balanced for the starter. And having played Ramos as my first and primary box, once you get the hang of him one steamborg and one spider swarm is plenty to lay some hurt on.

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