My wife's first (Perdita) crew

[Hand_of_Vecna]

Our local store's first Malifaux is having it's first Malifaux tourney at the end of July and we have the Ortega starter and we'll be ordering more minis soon. The games are going to be 30ss but, you can bring up to 40ss to the table to build a crew after you know your scenario and your opponent's master.

We're considering a peacekeeper to give the crew a big mellee threat.

I've also heard that at +1ss the convict gunslinger outperforms the weaker Ortegas.

Or should we consider two 4ss models.

Also I'm thinking that the student on conflict might be a better buy than the enslaved nephalim.

Also my wife and I will be playing alot of games with proxies to get ready, aside from anything we run into in casual play at the store are there some specific crews she should prepare for?

Oh, I'd really appreciate quick responses, I need to call my store and cancell my ramos starter/order blisters (I ordered the starter before I realized I had much better options than the steampunkborg). Though I suppose the guild order could be seperate.

[kbdrand]

I like to add Death Marshals to my Ortega crew. You could also add in the Governor's Proxy if you will be facing off against crews like Pandora (or anything with a lot of WP duels). The Convict Gunslinger is good, but I don't know if I would say that it outperforms the Ortegas. It is a good complement to the whole "shooter" theme.

[Gremlin Swarm]

The Peacekeeper is brutal. It's expensive, and tends to draw fire, but you can use that to your advantage, since it's tough enough to last at least a couple of turns against most opponents. (Not to mention the melee threat.)

Adding a Convict Gunslinger is also good. That'll give you even more lead to spew at your targets. (Gotta love Trigger Happy--at least when it's on your side.) :guns:

I know a lot of folks don't like Hans, but having 2 Headshot models around can be nasty, if you're prepared to finesse them right, plus he has as much range as Nino.

BTW: Don't be afraid to use Papa Loco as a full-on kamikaze. I like to send him screaming in hell-bent-for-leather and blow him up to catch as many of the opposing models as I can, and it usually does pretty well. Lots of damage. Whatever you do, don't keep him too near your other models.

[TimeLapse]

The Ortegas is my fav to run, love the crew!

Well lets see here, the Ortegas box set lands you at 25SS on the nose,

For more Melee look no ferther then the executioner, Yeah he may not look like much but at 7 points he a steal!

Okay the break down why I think the executioner is good

First off paired melee weapons, getting that extra +1 is great!

He also has heath 9 witch is also great, team that up with slow to die and you got something.

Next love his job, healing each time he kills a model is great!

Now for the cream of the crop, Decapitate, Its head shoot but for melee and the best part is that it needs crows a suit that the ortagas rarely use.

Next look at the base damage, 3/4/5 now with the rams auto on the weapon you can always get Crit strike off with his claws, witch makes your base damage at lest 4/5/6 and if you get a ram in the attack the it goes to 5/6/7. Massively awesome!

If all that not good enough he has a terrifying 11 and he can get rid of Scrap and corpse tokens your opponents might need! And if you are playing VS undead he gets +2 to his willpower.

I mean he just gets better and better, and at 7SS he is great for adding that melee to your list.

Now for the downsides,

He only is movement 4 so use Obey to get him advancing faster, if you have the totem the use that to.

Next he has DF of 3 so if they have alot of shoot-y-ness keep him in cover and out of sight if possable.

And lastly his model is ugly! pew pew! gross... chest hear! ewww! but if you can stand the ugliness then he is your man!

If you have 40 points to chose from I would bring the ortega boxset (25SS) and the executioner with 3 witchling stalkers.

Witchling stalkers work well with there CB 6 swords and there desent shooting. Also they can replect magic. and resist it so they have some good built in defence, also they can make you opponent discard cards that coupled with the ex and nino makes for a good discarding list bsased on crows. So if you get rams go for the heavy damage if you get crows go for the discardingness.

Also keep in mind the stalkers explode when killed. run them up with papa and watch the wounds explonde in there faces!

So meny combos. But thats what I would buy is the Ortega boxset, the Ex and a witchingling stalker blister (Comes with three i believe. This gives you alot to work with, having the witchlings is important if you need alot of models on the table.

Hope this helps,

Andrew

Edited June 26, 2010 by TimeLapse

[Hand_of_Vecna]

Ok here's what I'm thinking.

default 30ss

nino-7ss

franchesco-5ss

executioner-7ss

enslaved nephalim-2ss

2 witchling stalkers-8ss

with 2 death marshals in reserve which can be switched with the withchling stalkers. How's that sound?

alternatively papa loco and 2 more ss could be the switch.

Edited June 27, 2010 by Hand_of_Vecna

[TimeLapse]

If you take any family members out the first i would look at is Francisco, where he could be good in a game he is weak with his health only being 6, and easily killed. You have to be extra careful with him.

I would say the most important family members is

Perdita,

Nino,

Santiago

But if you want a tournament worthy list that is hard to come up with here but here the last list three lists that did well for me.

This time I was playing vs a Leveitcus list

Perdita

Nino

Santiago

Papa loco

Convict gunslinger

This list went well I obeyed papa into his swarm of constructs that are forced to keep in base contact with each other to move killed them all! mahahahahaha!

This list was VS another guild list and he had Nino as well

Perdita

Nino

Hans

Santiago

Guildguard (I should have taken a stalker,... )

Hans is secretly really good, he has a lower cb of 5 but they up him in the errta to have rams and they gave him a damage chart of 2/2/5. He has Crit strick with rams so he always can have 3/3/6 and if he pulls a ram he gers 4/4/7. If you look close at his custom ammo ability and add in focus you can also get +2 to his damage flips makeing it vary cheatable damage. Also he has head shoot like nino.

In this game both my Nino and Hans were take down names until it was a clear victory for me.

This list was VS Lilith, and agaist one of the better players in our goup.

Perdita (I was playing Sonia but the list would work well with Perdita)

Nino

Executioner

The convict gunslinger

Witchling stalker

Witchling stalker

This is my latest and greatest list, I love the executioner and his melee abilities, so much more useful then Francesco.

This is what my new Perdita default list will be in the next tournament/game i play

Perdita,

Nino

Executioner

Papa loco/witchlig stalker (If im playing a master with obey then its two stalkers!)

Santiago/Convict gunslinger (This all depends on the game i play but the convict gunslinger has gunfighter and that makes im good in melee as well as long range. But Santiago has Crit hit and can make his base damage go 4/5/7. Both have paired guns and both have trigger happy.)

I dont really see the use for death marshels everything they can do a witchling stalker dose better. I guess the death marsh guys have a better ranged ability but the stalkers have CB 6 in close combat and if they dont kill there target and die themselves they blow up wound there target anyways. and there good vs magic attacks, they have hunter and scout making them great for getting around and shooting though soft cover.

I hoe this helps,

-Andrew

Edited June 27, 2010 by TimeLapse

[Ropetus]

While the Ortega starter works quite nicely for the first games it is very gimmicky. Once your opponents learn to deal with it, start using terrain to block LoS and quickly engage them in melee the shooters are Toast.

If you play the Ortega game the objective is to balance the force a bit. You definitely need something to use for a counterattack in case your shooters (especially Santiago and Nino) get tied in melee. However, you don't want this to have too much of a cost on your ranged firepower.

This is why I think Death Marshals and Witchlings are the best additions. Both are cheap is SS so you can bring many and they are solid shooters and good in melee as well. While Witchlings have +1 melee Dg and Immolation Demise the Marshals are much tougher and more effective shooters. Ideally, these units should be the ones to take first contact with your opponent's melee units.

When Guild Guard get released, they should work in a control role using Cordon and Halt! to limit enemy movement. I think they should be even more effective in a shooty crew than Marshals or Stalkers.

Of the family members, I find Francisco the most important. That guy is the name of flexibility, and is very cheap as well. While he is the weakest shooter of the family (still no slouch) he has much improved melee skills over the others. Anything standing in his melee range is going to get three Cb7 minimum 3 Dg strikes flying at their way. Only some 9+ point models can survive that. He is not that survivable though so he is not made for the frontlines. I usually keep him in reserve and charge him in when another family member gets tied in melee. The ideal situation is to use Obey to grant him a Charge so he can Flurry on his activation for optimal killiness. All in all, he costs 1 SS over a Stalker or Marshal and is better in melee than a Stalker and a better shooter than a Marshal.

Santiago I like the next most. That guy is a supreme killer and quite survivable as well, if you can steer clear of melee (that's why its important to keep some cheap models as bodyguards). He needs to stay close, but not too close, to your enemies so he can be a bit tricky to use. If you can get him at 4 Wd and occasionally heal him he will quickly earn some casualties with the free Walk Action and Trigger Happy. If you have a few high :masks in your hand, don't bother Rapid Firing as that will likely be an overkill. Regular shots with some Triggers might allow you to damage a second model as well (getting those triggers is surprisingly easy with paired weapons).

Nino I have found rarely does much in a game. However, we have A LOT of terrain in our games and my opponents play very cautiously most of the time. He is perfect for picking up a single model in his LoS and laying waste with a few nigh unstoppable Cb 9 shots. Headshot is a luxury and should only be used if you can secure a kill or empty their hand. However, that is a very nice denial tool as your opponent knows they cannot waste all their cards while Nino remains still waiting to activate. When properly shielded from fast melee units he can hold a table quarter by himself.

Papa I have found the least useful but my main opponents have been Pandora, Seamus and Gremlins. Against Pandora she just dies before he gets enything done (Self Loathing is massively effective against him!) and the Gremlins dont really care if he blows up one Piglet with him. Seamus's Belles Lure him in the entirely wrong place as soon as he shows himself. I've got to try him against some other crews as well to see how he fares. He has a lot of potential against non-Wp based crews with fragile models. However, I think against Ressers or Ramos his effect will be minimal since those models can be summoned back with ease.

Perdita is pretty much a Solo Master. She doesn't have much to offer to her Minions (only the occasional Obey) and doesn't really need their help to do her job. With her high stats she can also survive with a smaller Soulstone cache than most Masters. This also leads to her Totem not being an integral part of her tactics (unlike for example Rasputina or Nicodem). However, the Enslaved Nephilim is a great addition for the extra Obey. This makes it the perfect companion for Fransisco. It has solid combat capacity for a 2 SS model so it can make a nice bodyguard for Santiago/Nino as well. As Perdita's only spell usable by Magic Extension is Obey, the Governor's Proxy has surprisingly little to do if you take it. That's why I advice against it unless you're playing a Wp centric crew (Seamus, Pandora or Zoraida basically).

Some people like using Hamelin to bring in Primordial Magic as Perdita's Totem for +1 Ca and extra Control Card over the Nephilim. Although I'm not sure if that's worth +1 SS and of course bringing Hamelin only to bring the Totem is a bit dumb. You better have a plan for him as well if you do this.

-Ropetus

Edited June 27, 2010 by Ropetus