How to use Nurses?

[Cherubis]

I've taken them in multiple games (since I started wth McM's box) but haven't been able to get any real mileage out of them. 10 SS spent on 2 generally feels like 10 SS wasted. Their 0 Actions are nice, but I find that I'm compelled to activate more urgent models prior to the Nurses that by the time they can do Bedside Manner, for instance, most of the threat to my models have already activated. Any tips and or hints?

[Chev Chelios]

I'm thinking the same thing.I've been trying to figure out if even one is worth it just to hang around McMourning.I like the idea of a doctor and nurses too. It was one of the things that attracted me to the set.

[baylock]

one is worth it to make the canine remains an kamikaze rocket cause you can due fury casting and send an it out boosted

[greenstuff_gav]

one is ok for a bit of backup healing (something rare in many crews) and occasionally setting off kamikaze minis... but i think 2 is over doing it (and infact recruited my 2nd nurse into the Neverborn thanks to Zoraida )

[Raintar]

Yeah the Nurse/Canine Remains strategy is pretty strong but will fail if it has no units to back it up.

The best I've seen Nurses do is when you use them with Zoradia and you buy Terror Tots instead of Canine Remains. They Sprint SOOOO fast and do so much damage it's ridiculous. Add in Papa Loco and the list is incredibly nasty.

[dboeren]

When I originally started McMourning was one of the masters I was interested in, but I eventually went with Marcus instead.

Part of the reason was the much higher cost of McMourning with all the Canine Remains I'd need and a bit of grumpiness at having to buy two Nurses that didn't seem worth having.

One Nurse looks useful to me to pump up my Canine Remains, but a second I believe is a points drain and I'd rather have another combatant instead.

[Anatoli]

I always use one single nurse, to heal Sebastian/Mortimer and use her base to base contact boosts. The canine remain bomb seems like an interesting idea though.

I also think that 2 would be too many in a scrap.

[Headcase2]

I sometimes take a single nurse when playing Nico or McM. For certain scenarios the reactivate is fantastic (treasure hunting Vultures :1:), and the aforementioned suicide shock troopers can be an unholy terror. I tend not to use painkillers on them most of the time, as I often want them to get killed, triggering Slow to Die if applicable and dropping a corpse counter since they didn't live long enough to get sacrificed.

When it comes to targets for Massive Dose, I often use Punk Zombies instead of Canines. Super fast Cb 11 (or even 13 in Nico's aura) paired katanas with reactivate... scary as hell. Give them painkillers anyway if you're going for a real suicide run and don't expect them to survive till they can reactivate. And you could of course always play Killjoy and use that last AP to go for the summon (Immortal Rocket Canines charging into the midst of the enemy work better for this, since they're cheaper).

Oh, and one last thing: if you're playing a scenario that doesn't need your master alive you can always massive dose him. McM on speed makes the souped-up Punks mentioned earlier look like toddlers with toy weapons. Lots of fun, I recommend trying this at least once, just to see the look on your oppponent's face when you first carve up half his crew and then, with a smile, sac your own master.

Anyway, maybe not the most competitive model, but

Nurses rock! :nurse:

And look cute doing it.

[Natty]

Don't forget Ropetus' idea where you use Zoraida to hire a Nurse and Papa Loco, soup him up, go crazy with him, then shrug off the effect at the end of his activation so that he doesn't die from the drugs.

[Anatoli]

How can you hire models from other factions other than the Outcasts? Doesn't sound right.

[Satyrwyld]

How can you hire models from other factions other than the Outcasts? Doesn't sound right.

Zoraida can hire any model with WP <=4.

[Iamwyrd]

Zoriada allows u to hire models with wp 4 o less from any faction.

Aw beat me to it.

[Hookers]

zoraida can hire models with low wp

eerrr... derp, didn't see the second page, nevermind

[Anatoli]

OK a friend pointed that out to me yesterday. Don't know how I feel about it since I would prefer that factions only hire external minions from Outcasts. Especially if she can hire Papa Loco which is a very good unique character. It becomes a no brainer to hire him if you play a Zoraida crew.

[Natty]

OK a friend pointed that out to me yesterday. Don't know how I feel about it since I would prefer that factions only hire external minions from Outcasts. Especially if she can hire Papa Loco which is a very good unique character. It becomes a no brainer to hire him if you play a Zoraida crew.

Well, don't forget that it doesn't say that she gets to hire them any cheaper. He costs 1 more because he is out of faction, and same with the nurse. All that combined with some perfectly disgusting models in the Neverborn line and I bet a lot of people don't even use that ability of Zoraida (especially if you are using Zoraida's little pet Silurids, since hiring less than 3 or 4 at once is silly, and that right there is a huge chunk of your crew).

[Melnibonean]

Here's something that people seem to be ignoring... Zoraida can hire models from any faction with WP 4 or less!!!!!

:aetsch:

Oh my, I am so damn funny!!!

[815yujie]

When I originally started McMourning was one of the masters I was interested in, but I eventually went with Marcus instead.

[ddot]

:hijacked:

On the topic of Zoraida hiring Papa Loco and Nurses, it actually makes really good sense to me. Depending on the strategy, it could be very effective with the nurse reactivating Sliurids or even Bad Juju (that's brutal.) Actually, papa loco's above-average speed with re-activate could be devastating. (IIRC, sacrifice only prevents models from leaving counters, so it should still trigger the BOOM! effect.)

Actually, it could be all sorts of fun. If you can try it out, I say go for it.

[Ropetus]

(IIRC, sacrifice only prevents models from leaving counters, so it should still trigger the BOOM! effect.)

Sacrifice causes you to not leave counters. However, all those abilities have to be looked at individually. Some are worded "when this model is killed" while some state "killed or sacrificed". The first kind naturally do not trigger on being Sacrificed while the latter will. Killed and Sacrificed are totally separate effects, the only thing in common is that both remove models from the game.

I'm quite certain BOOM! triggered only on being killed. However, you won't need it since you can Shrug Off the Massive Doses and continue your mass destruction next turn.

-Ropetus

[ddot]

Point taken... and that sounds even better, combined with Obey, he can effectively get off 2 activations and a "free" 1 AP action. Beautiful.

[gru6y]

Just don't forget how does the reactivation with massive dose work.

You need to treat the model you want to reactivate after it has already activated, so for those extra offensive uses will have to keep the nurse in the middle of fight, which I prefer to avoid.

[Wodschow]

@gru6y:

... Why?

Edit:

Speed doesn't kill you untill the closing phase, same with Stimulant. It's only Painkillers that kill you right after the activation.

[gru6y]

Does it?

Crap. That's how you end up when posting without your book on you.

Let me just shut up and crawl under my rock for now...

[hippieshopper]

Hey, I have a question.

I like the dog bomb idea too, and I heard that you can't use mindless zombies to do that. Where in the rules does it say you can't use cannon fodder like that?

[Wodschow]

@hippieshopper:

Nurses' Massive Dose targets friendly undead.

Mindless Zombies aren't friendly, except when you control them at the end of the activation phase (after any Nurses have already had their activation).