Nicodem

[Iamwyrd]

OK, I play Rasputina normally. But literally everybody that I play malifaux with says Nicodemus has no playability whatsoever. An no one should even spend the money on his box set. So I was hoping someone could help me make a list with Nicodemus that is somewhat a challenge to play against maybe even a winning list. If the list works I will not steal the credit And will give credit were credit is due. I just want to show everybody that every model has a strong side or tough at least.

Thanks

[Justin]

Take the soul stone level of the game you are playing, divide by five. Use that many punk zombies.

Also buy some mindless zombies.

...ok, I'm kinda joking, but Nicodem is pretty damn good. Good enough that even doing what I just said CAN work. I don't know what those guys are talking about.

[Q'iq'el]

Always agree with the monkey, to be on the safe side!

But really, Nicodem is just a plain powerhouse. All you need to make him work is an extra box of Mindless zombies, which do not even raise the SS count of your crew. If you add 2 Vultures and Bête Noire for example, your team turns into killing machine. You can also add whatever undead there is (Crooked Men, Necropunks, Canine Remains, Belles, Flesh Constructs etc.) and he'll be able to reanimate them all for more flexibility.

The shortest possible review of the crew:

Pros:

- As a master Nico has a very powerful main damage spell (Decay). Not only can it end in blast, but the said spell/blast will damage opponent and heal friendly undead. You can cast it in melee and you have no risk of damaging own models at all (you can even heal them).

- As a master Nico buffs the undead to crazy levels. With him Punk Zombies Strike at Cb 9 (!!!) and defend with Df 7. Pull 12 or 13 and you'll be dealing with the Total of 21+ which is almost unseen among non-master models. Even Lilith has to burn Soul Stones to defend from that.

- As a master Nico rises Mindless Zombies with great ease. 3 is probably enough, but you could easily create 6~9 in a single encounter (you make them whenever you kill someone with Decay, whenever you use (0)Arise pulse and whenever you kill with the Silver cane). He can then use Mindless Zombies to cancel hits landing on him, or can turn them into better undead with Reanimate (they count as counters).

Cons:

- Typical Nico team is slow. You need to buy Necropunks or some other fast models to overcome that weakness.

- Nico himself and his crew have decent Wp and while Df is rather good across the board, Nico's own Df is bad. At Df3 he can't reliably defend from melee.

This however is mitigated by two factors - one, he can sacrifice Mindless Zombies to cancel hits landing on him. It's particularly brutal, because you must be hit first - in other words, you complete the opposed duel, make the opponent cheat, use a Soulstone perhaps... and then just cancel it all with the sacrifice of an insignificant model you have abundance of.

The second way to defend from melee weakness is the Rigor Mortis spell. Because it is not ranged, you can cast it at targets in melee. If you paralyze the target, you can disenage without generating the disengaging strike. The problem is Nico's slowness makes such an escape difficult (but it's good enough to move away a bit and blast the attacker with Decay).

- I think his team may be somewhat weak against ranged attacks. Granted Nico himself is a powerful caster, but only med-range. He can protect his team with Fog, but if I'm not mistaken the most powerful shooters can see through it, so it's not as good as Tina's pillars or Lilith's Illusionary Forest.

I play against Nico regularly and he is really brutal. I played against Tina once and while her Overpower trigger can be very dangerous, it works only if your hand is particularly good. Nicodem's crew (especially Zombie Punk Samurais) works great all the time, with the insane buffs Nico gives them.

[Justin]

I believe fog blocks LoS.

Unless you're referring to special abilities seeing through it like those Lady Justice can grant?

[Justin]

http://wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=11573&highlight=cover

[Q'iq'el]

I believe fog blocks LoS.

Unless you're referring to special abilities seeing through it like those Lady Justice can grant?

and

http://wyrd-games.net/forum/showthre...ighlight=cover

Well, since the rules are WiP in this area, nothing is definitive.

However I was thinking about abilities allowing for ranged strikes through Fog, rather than charging. Lady J and Lilith both can ignore cover for the charging purpose, but in case of Lady J, even the Illusionary Forest or Ice pillars wouldn't work.

Besides, the Fog Nico produces is an around him, not a terrain element. It gives Soft Cover for the models in range of the effect, but it would never protect from charges to begin with (even if you stand "behind" the area where the aura is active). That's how I understand the wording at least.

There also are abilities like Bullet Bending or Hunter, which do ignore cover. Those wouldn't be able to shoot through the Illusionary Forest or Ice Pilars into the models behind them (as they block LOS completely), but can shoot at models inside Illusionary Forest or protected by Fog.

Last but not least, there are effects like Hans' Goggles which make him ignore spells affecting LoS. Those again, would not work against Illusionary Forest or Ice Pillars, because these are pieces of terrain created by spells, but not the spells affecting LoS. Nicodem's Fog, on the other hand, is an aura - a spell affecting all the models within it, which would be perfectly easy to ignore for Hans.

So while Fog is a spell intended for protection from ranged attacks (soft cover), it is one inferior to the protection offered by other masters and that was my point. It is effective against simple shooting, but most crews and models focused on ranged attacks have ways to get through it. In extreme case, against Perdita's crew where almost everyone has some form of Hunter, Bullet Bending or similar ability, the Fog is almost completely useless.

Edited May 31, 2010 by Q'iq'el

[Justin]

and

Well, since the rules are WiP in this area, nothing is definitive.

However I was thinking about abilities allowing for ranged strikes through Fog, rather than charging. Lady J and Lilith both can ignore cover for the charging purpose, but in case of Lady J, even the Illusionary Forest or Ice pillars wouldn't work.

Besides, the Fog Nico produces is an around him, not a terrain element. It gives Soft Cover for the models in range of the effect, but it would never protect from charges to begin with (even if you stand "behind" the area where the aura is active). That's how I understand the wording at least.

I'm not certain why we're talking about charges, but fog actually would protect from them if it blocks LoS, as you need LoS to charge.

Now, it's true that it's a work in progress, but I'm working on the assumption that the ruling will be that it blocks LoS. That seems to be the direction pretty much all the marshals were heading in that thread.

Could change, of course.

[Q'iq'el]

I'm not certain why we're talking about charges, but fog actually would protect from them if it blocks LoS, as you need LoS to charge.

We are talking about charges, because you've mentioned Lady Justice and her ability to ignore LoS affects only charges.

However, Nicodem's Fog is not a LoS blocking effect and never was. That's what I'm trying to convey.

It's a :aura6 that grants Ht5 Soft Cover to models in range. There's no physical terrain or LoS blocking feature you place on the table.

All you get is that when someone targets model in the range of the , that model has Soft Cover Ht5. Ht5 is important only because it means even large models like Mature Nephilim can benefit from it (model would have to be ht15 not to benefit from Soft Cover granted by this spell).

However, all these models would still be in LoS and so would be the models standing behind the area of this effect.

[Justin]

We are talking about charges, because you've mentioned Lady Justice and her ability to ignore LoS affects only charges.

However, Nicodem's Fog is not a LoS blocking effect and never was. That's what I'm trying to convey.

It's a :aura6 that grants Ht5 Soft Cover to models in range. There's no physical terrain or LoS blocking feature you place on the table.

All you get is that when someone targets model in the range of the , that model has Soft Cover Ht5. Ht5 is important only because it means even large models like Mature Nephilim can benefit from it (model would have to be ht15 not to benefit from Soft Cover granted by this spell).

However, all these models would still be in LoS and so would be the models standing behind the area of this effect.

Ah, yes, I did mention Lady Justice.

I'm tired.

While I agree with you in principal, I suggest you take that argument up with the rules marshals before they come out with the next FAQ.