Getting the most out of Schemes?

[Obeisance]

I had my first three of games over the weekend. 25 soulstones.

Ramos- win

Lady Justice - draw

Gremlin girl? - loss

Rasputina is savage. It's also pretty amusing freezing over terrain repeatedly to prevent the enemy moving. Boohahaha.

In 2/3 games I wiped the enemy out to a man and still drew/loss due to objectives.

I've realized that winning at Malifaux isn't about beating face- it's about keeping your eyes on the objectives and not letting them slip out of your grasp.

So the question is- what schemes do you generally choose with a Rasputina crew and why?

Do you generally announce them for the extra points?

[nilus]

Well from running tournaments here are the two schemes chosen almost all the time(if I don't restrict them)

Hold Out

Body Guard

The theory is that unless the Strategy calls for the opponent getting into your deployment zone then most likely they won't go anywhere near it. And if you have lost your Master you are in for a loss anyways so might as well get points if he/she lives.

As far as announcing. In casual games I mix it up but in a tourney I always announce. Most tourneys go off number of VPs to determine a winner so those extra points for announcing are to valuable to lose.

[Obeisance]

Hold Out is totally worth it. It makes your enemy want to move towards you.. it means they won't be aiming as often. And moving into ice spam range.

Bodyguard.. hm. I'm not so sure that really works with a basic crew. Everything is explody.

[Mentat_Canis]

With the Arcanist I find that Sabotage is great and so is power ritual or grudge, it is great because Bodygard is used so much and I think Hold Out is not good because most schemes get you into the middle of the table so its not that hard getting into there control area.

[Uncle]

Personally, I'm a big fan of Sabotage (which, honestly, Cassie can pull off turn 1) and Bodyguard, since Colette just does not die. I can see Power Ritual and Hold Out as being useful, but for my Showgirls, I really believe that those two take the cake.

[Obeisance]

How is Power Ritual good?

You have to get to within 8" of each board edge. Isn't that hard? o.O

[Adran]

Power ritual is good for one reason. 3 VP

It can be hard, but you can do it by turn two with a collette crew designed for it if you want, and that is then 3 VPs locked away safely.

It gives you a chance of reaching 9 VP, and most people can only get to 8 VP for completing every thing

[Obeisance]

I think I'd might give it a shot when I go up to 35pts.

At 25pts, I've got a total of 6 models. Hitting all 4 corners with little exploding ice people is a little difficult.

[Uncle]

Power ritual is good for one reason. 3 VP

It can be hard, but you can do it by turn two with a collette crew designed for it if you want, and that is then 3 VPs locked away safely.

It doesn't even really take a Colette crew "designed for it." If you're taking Cassie and at least one Coryphee, you can get your crew into position to trigger both far corners T2, and then use Dance Partner to avoid being too spready out.

Combine that with, say, Bodyguard (because Colette does not die), or with Sabotage (you're already in your opponent's half of the field--might as well bust something), and you've got a relatively easy 5 VP going for you.

[quotemyname]

You made the comment that Malifaux games are not about beating face. This is entirely true, and a good thing you realize this after just three games. It's one of the things that beginners have trouble realizing. However, keep in mind that killing SOME models does help. So if you plan on doing some damage to your opponent's crew (and with 'Tina this is certainly possible), consider taking schemes that simply reward you for doing what you already planned on.

In fact, this is pretty much always a good idea. This is why bodyguard is so great. You want to keep your master alive anyway (Leveticus and such being the exception), so why not get EXTRA points for it?

Good luck with your experimentations!

[Obeisance]

So I had a 25 game tonight.. Neverborn's Zorida.

I was losing from turn 1. I didn't realize that's how Voodoo Doll worked.

Turn 1 - Summon the Doll. Link to Convict Gunslinger. Gunslinger shoots 4 damage off Rasputina.

The rest of the game was him charging my own models or pushing me away from objectives.

Pretty horrid game. =/

[Jonas Albrecht]

Pretty horrid game. =/

Only if you didn't learn anything.

[Obeisance]

So two questions:

a) How do I counter Zoroida?

What are the better/best masters? (Any faction)

Obviously Pandora and Zoroida are up there. Others?

[Rathnard]

a) Well high Wp crews and crews with immune to influence models will help you resist her spells, but I wouldn't focus on taking a crew with just that since she can still just obey her own models or cheat flips against yours with a soulstone (she rarely needs her stones otherwise).

Zoraida's biggest weakness is that she isn't particularly effective if she's without her crew. It's not like she can pull a Lilith and just start beating face - she has almost no offensive power of her own. So if you can pick off most of her crew then you don't need to worry about Z.

Actually killing Zoraida is not easy. She's very fast and extremely hard to pin down. Still, an attack that includes a flip to hit will effectively neutralise her proper manners. And rushing her with a decent minion/Master will at least force her to stay on the run, rather than throwing spells around.

I don't think there's any 'best' masters. The strategies and schemes seem to iron out most of what people might think are unbalanced. For instance Perdita sitting back with a shooty crew is not easy to crack, but if she's sittng back then she's not likely to be fulfilling her strategies/schemes.

On the whole, Lilith and Perdita are the easiest to use well. Seamus is also quite nasty and I've seen Leviticus do some very bad things to other crews.

To be honest I've never considered Zoraida to be an overly powerful Master - I've just had quite alot of experience with her.