Von Schill Tactica

[Kurgan]

I am Looking at von Schill as my first malifaux box,

but i cant find info on his abilities.

Yes I know He is in Rising Powers but I do not Have that book available to me.

Can Someone give me a run down on his and his crews basic ablilties and what they are like to use.

Just a basic idea of how they interact.

[Buck Dog]

I just typed out an essay in response, but it got eaten by the Wyrd servers.... or maybe by that Sketch, so here is my shortened version !

I haven’t played The Freikorps yet, but here is what I have picked up from reading Rising Powers :

All Freikorps have special armour which is especially effective against magical attacks and effects. Also, all Freikorps get a bonus to Will Power which helps against terrifying models and morale duels.

Von Schill is aces. Once I get him, I can see him being an auto-include in my Viktoria lists. He is very tough and exceptionally quick... if you add a student of conflict to your crew to give him fast, then his range is just scary. He is only so-so in melee, but he is great at shooting, he also has a couple of abilities that make him very effective in hunting down undead and constructs. He also has various abilities which help buff the rest of the Freikorp. This gives rise to an interesting tactical decision.... do you unleash Von Schill and let him cause havoc amongst your enemies crew, or hold him back and have him buff your crew ?

The Freikorpsmann is an fairly average trooper. Good armour, ok melee and ok shooting, both of which can be improved with the right cards, but other than that there is not much to say.

The Freikorps Librarian is an interesting minion, which again I can see working its way into my Viks crew a lot. It is a caster, which has offensive magic, counterspells, buffs and debuffs.

The Freikorps Specialist has a flammenwerfer.... It Werfs Flammen !

The Freikorps Trapper is a sniper like Hans, but with added movement and positioning abilities. He also has a couple of abilities which help out against undead and beasts.

I am not 100% sure how I am going to run the Friekorp, but I imagine it will be a case of offensive defence. If you want to expand your crew, then you can take any other mercenaries for no additional costs, and I can see Taelor or Johan being added a lot as the Freikorp are a little lacking in punch. Also, if you decide to start another crew then don’t forget that as all of the Freikorp are mercs, then they can be added to most other crews.

I hope this helps !

[oozeboss]

My first game with the Freikorps will be this Friday. I'm running the box as von Schill mastered, and using Hamelin the Ratcatcher to take them up to 35ss (actually 39, with the Henchman rule).

I'll put my observations up here after the game.

:thcow2::thcow2::thcow2::thcow2::thcow2:

[karn987]

Well it will be a while coming, but they are on my list of Tactica's I'm going to work on. :/

I guess a simple thing to say is, they can be really tough despite their average wounds. They do lack a mid SS Beat-stick like Teddy or the Executioner. BUT since they are Outcasts, you can hire any other Outcasts you want. So just take Taylor or Johan and you will add some much needed power to them. Misaki is another great option.

The crew plays like what they are, an elite highly organized unit. They work really well together, compliment each other nicely, and tend to make up hte weak points for each other. Your Librarian can be an amazing healer and most people will just be healing with her all game long. But that's more then fine, being able to do 3 healing flips a turn is amazing, especially when you take in their decent df and great Wp (yay stubborn!).

They will also absolutely wreck Undead and cause a lot of trouble for Constructs (Levy's vanilla crew is in big trouble against them *shakes fist*).

Edited December 13, 2010 by karn987

[Doctor Amos]

The Freikorps Specialist has a flammenwerfer.... It Werfs Flammen !

*cough* http://asset.soup.io/asset/0972/2729_a8b8.jpeg *cough*

[karn987]

*cough* http://asset.soup.io/asset/0972/2729_a8b8.jpeg *cough*

*nearly falls out of his chair laughing*

Wow that caught me off guard, niiicceee =D

[Buck Dog]

*cough* http://asset.soup.io/asset/0972/2729_a8b8.jpeg *cough*

+ 10 internets to Dr. Amos

[Doctor Amos]

+ 10 internets to Dr. Amos

::adds them to my collection:: I'v been waiting to use that one since I first saw the specialist.

[Wodschow]

I don't get it.. It's fun because it's.. German?

He got a flamethrower, it throws flames?! English?

[Jonas Albrecht]

*cough* http://asset.soup.io/asset/0972/2729_a8b8.jpeg *cough*

I laughed.

[Uncle]

Okay, this is all going largely off book theory, since I've never played the Freikorps, but I have to admit I find them the simplest crew to understand on paper. Therefore, I'll blather for a bit!

Von Schill is obviously going to be your Master if you play pure Freikorps (the other option being to run them with the Vickies). As such, let's start off with him.

He has fairly good stats across the line, and Nimble and Instinctual really help with making him more effective. Like the rest of the Freikorps, his damage isn't anything to write home about, but he certainly has a lot of utility.

If you're going up against a force with a lot of Constructs, well, Von Schill can Magnetic Pulse. Against Ressers, he does extra damage and can Last Rights. Plus, he has the amazing Slow to Die and Use Soulstone combination, meaning that he never has to die until the last soulstone has been used.

Judicial use of his triggers can make him either surprisingly mobile or have him do quite a bit more damage. All in all, a solid guy who can get the job done. Keep in mind he has no spells or magical weapons, though, so spirits might be a little tough (but they're tough for the whole crew).

Freikorpsmen are your bread and butter unit, and to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of them. They're very tough to shift defensively, with an effective WP of 7, armor and magic resist of 1, and immunity to damage from pulses, auras, and blasts, but what they bring to the table offensively just doesn't do it for me. Of course, they are only four soulstones to hire, so I'm likely judging them more harshly than I should, and they can certainly fill out numbers once you're done with the more impressive Freikops.

The Librarian is likewise not my favorite unit, although she brings some magic and card manipulation to the fight. Combat-wise, she's roughly equivalent to a Freikorpsman and costs nearly twice as much, so if the ability to get an extra card (and damage spirits) is worth that much to you, go ahead.

Special mention must be made to her spells. Aetheric Theories really doesn't impress me much, but Block Connection and Magical Buffer can both be incredible when used correctly. Block a caster's preferred suit and suddenly, for example, Colette isn't summoning any birds. Or get rid of a CB suit to make Lilith less scary. +2 Defense is pretty darned good, too.

I guess I'm waffling a bit on the Librarian, and that's okay. She's useful, but risky. There, is that better?

Freikorps Specialist is the guy that really puts the love of this crew into me. He is, effectively, a Freikorpsman with a big flamethrower that costs one more soulstone to hire. Oh, and just about anything trying to strike him will be at a -1 flip (there's not a lot out there with Wp 7+).

In addition to the obvious uses for him (get up close and burn stuff), I would recommend keeping him fairly close to Von Schill so you can use Willing to Die to Detonate Tanks as the poor guy eventually goes down. Of course, that will take the place of the Flammenwerfer's explosion, but it's far more likely to do serious damage as opposed to the kaboom.

The Trapper is probably the trickiest model to use in the roster, because it's a long-ranged sniper who tends to get deployed off on his own to shoot some stuff up. Also, the Clockwork Rifle's damage leaves quite a bit to be desired on the low end, which means that against a fast-moving force, he can plink once or twice and then get mobbed by the enemy's main force. As such, the best places to put him are either in a position where such retribution is likely to result in a counter-counter-attack on your part, or somewhere difficult to get to in general.

Against a beast- or construct-heavy force he'll shine, but keep in mind that his damage output, like the rest of the Freikorps, is on the low side.

Hope this helps!

[HopelessHeretic]

I've played freikorps only a handful times since they are still very new, but here are my impressions.

The Freikorps give a lot of masters major headaches (Ramos is a great example) due to how good their armor is. In my experience they are a very defensive oriented force. Every minion has only 6 wounds but with armor 1 and being immune to almost every indirect damage source means that they are surprisingly resilient.

Von Schill: Quickly becoming my favorite Henchman if her had decent spells he would be a perfect master. He has nimble and as a result it is tempting to run around and shoot everyone, but you should resist this. His willing to die aura make all of your minions much better as it practically guarantees that your librarian wont die and that you will have some retaliation. All of Schill's zero actions are good and he has instinctual. Several time while playing I wished that I could use more than 2. Against undead he seems incredibly powerful, and to a certain extent he is, but he struggles to take down the masters since undead knowledge does not apply to them (since they aren't undead).

The Librarian: I feel that most people on the forum under appreciate the librarian. She is amazing and a steal at seven points. You get an extra point and for the cost of 2 cards (one ram to activate and one for furious casting) you can make 3 healing flips. This makes you low wound very defensive crew able to play an attrition game if need be. Most players will likely target Schill first; since he is the linchpin of the crew. You will use a soul stone to save him then make three healing flips with your librarian now they have to kill him all over again. Lastly, and probably most important if the librarian is within 6" of Schill she is nearly un-killable. She has slow to die so use the action to cast her healing spell. If she has not activated she has about a 1 in 4 chance of saving herself and if she has and you dropped a ram she does it almost for free.

Freikorpsmen: Great for 4 points the armor alone makes them worth it, but they also get flurry, scout, crit. strike, and brutal. there obvious weakness is their low damage on the weak flip which can be a pain but feel the extra damage from the triggers make up for it. Oh and did I mention they are 4 points?

The Specialist: I really didn't think he was that special until I kept him near schill detonate tanks as a slow to die action is fantastic although it does need clarification. Focused burn is nice and I find that he is really good at frying alps.

The Trapper: This guy is an odd one. In my first game against the dreamer I tried to use him to kill the dreamer turn one by using his reposition trigger (which is built in) to get in a stop to target the dreamer only, but my opponent dropped high cards then eat him with chompy. The second game I used him to drop mcmornings totem on the first turn. I like that he can shoot something and backup and that he can steal corpse counters from ressers and his large threat rang but not really sure what he is for. His main draw back just like everyone else is the low weak damage.

I also think that good additions to this crew would be either taylor for some really powerful melee or killjoy since your whole crew is slow to die and well it's killjoy.

-Heretic

[Wodschow]

I'm kinda tired, so here's just a few points in random order:

The Freikorps are nicely designed to work as a small elite group keeping a short distance between its members, normally in other crews you wouldn't play like this in fear of blasts, but thanks to their armor they ignore those completely.

There's several advantages to this, one is Von Schill's Slow to Die bubble which should certainly be emphasized upon as the others have said aswell.

The Librarian also have a nice buffing aura, it might be a bit difficult to get off though and should seldomly be prioritized over her Healing, which I by far consider to be the best of the her skills.

Like the Heretic said she simple doesn't die as long as she's close to Von Schill, so you can just keep healing your normal troopers.

If you can manage to get Corpse Counters on the Trapper, he too can cheat death with a (1) slow to die action, but it's a bit more circumstancial.

Speaking of the Trapper, he have the ability to be placed anywhere on the board, but I think you'll be better off not isolating him. Just place him where you'll be going with your group, get a few early shots in on the enemy and use his trigger to gradually withdraw and join your group.

Other than Von Schill's gun (which by the way is awesome, not sure why the others aren't impressed by this one as it has the highest raw damage output of any ranged weapon in Malifaux, but nvm that), you have a very low weak damage all across the crew.

It is somewhat mitigated by the high severe damage and the common access to damage improving triggers.

What this means is that you'll want to cheat in high cards that more often (which again makes the Librarian a good addition as her abilities essentially mimics Liliths' Rush of Magic).

Hmhmm..

Oh yea and Von Schill have some pretty neat talents for fighting Undead and Constructs.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Wodschow

[oozeboss]

I'm running my von Schill crew for the first time this Friday in a 35ss game, using the box + Hamelin (the Ratcatcher) for a bit of oomph factor.

I'll post up my observations and thoughts after that, but regardless of performance, sitting on the sewer base inserts makes them very ... errrm ... 'thematic' (one hesitates to say that anything sewerish is appealing).

:marshmell:marshmell:marshmell:marshmell:marshmell

[Buck Dog]

I'm running my von Schill crew for the first time this Friday in a 35ss game, using the box + Hamelin (the Ratcatcher) for a bit of oomph factor.

I really like Hamelin, but he is the last person I would go to for some oomph.... to me he adds more of an ooooh factor.

Personally, I would go for Johan and the Student of Conflict for the same points. I can see having fast on Von Schill, The Librarian or Trapper being very useful; and although Johan isn't too flashy he is solid and hard hitting, which I think suits the Freikorp very well.

Have fun and I look forward to hear how you get on.

[Doctor Amos]

I don't get it.. It's fun because it's.. German?

He got a flamethrower, it throws flames?! English?

You're Danish. It's hard to explain.

[Wodschow]

You're Danish. It's hard to explain.

Please do at least attempt to elaborate it for me :/

I take it that it's a reference to something that I have no clue what is.

[Doctor Amos]

Please do at least attempt to elaborate it for me :/

Well, you hear words like Flammenwerfer or durchbrennenluftblasen or Finoogleyminglewanaf on a semi-regular basis. American speakers do not. It simply sounds funny to them.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Doctor Amos

[Wodschow]

Well, you hear words like Flammenwerfer or durchbrennenluftblasen or "Fin oogley mingle wanaf" on a semi-regular basis. American speakers do not. It simply sounds funny to them.

Yes, all the time

And thank you for your time I suppose what you said makes some sort of sense.

Edit: And sorry for going so off-topic here.. Hmhmm..

[nilus]

Yeah it comes down to Americans find long German words kinda funny.

[Sezar]

These are my early Christmas presents brought to me by Santa this morning, as I've been a really good boy (well, not that good, you know).

This friday will put the Friekorps in action, can't wait! As I already own most of the mercenaries cause the Viktorias were my second crew of choice, I know I will have some time either by going pure 'korp or within the Viks.

Misaki is for my Vikkies, and Jack Daw & the Hanged for everyone, but mostly for Seamus.

I'm happy today :dance:

[Whatsicle]

I've done the Friekorps a couple of times now, and I have to say... awesome. Just awesome.

The Trapper is the best thing since sliced bread. 16" range and you can deploy him 12" away from the enemy? Deploy last, use them high cards... And, on his last shot, he can reposition into safety behind a building or something. Just phenomenal - he has played a direct role in victory every time, which surprises me, because, to me, he only looks mediocre on paper.

Von Schill is equally impressive. Hard Ass? Haha, take that Pandora / Ressurectionist / Everyone Else, WP ~11 everywhere. His pistol is equally fantastic - with nimble he gets to run up there, take a couple high powered shots, motivate his crew, and then activate the Werfer of Flammen or the trapper to finish someone important off. Seamus never saw it coming, heh heh heh...

The Specialist I'm undecided about. I feel like he should be awesome but he has yet to actually do anything. Keep in mind that slow-to-dying "detonate tanks" won't work in melee - it specifies "makes a ranged strike against..." which is a pretty big let down.

Friekorpsmen are another one of those 'meh' units, but with critical strike and brutal, not to mention their armor, they do do a pretty good job of screening the librarian, specialist, and Von Schill.

All in all, I love them to death. Not quite as fun to play as my incredibly cheesy and unsporting Lilith list, but a great deal more fun than anyone else by a long shot. Especially if you have the points to add Hans in also... >D

[LastDinosaur]

Nice to see someone sharing actual experience with them.

Anyway, couldn't help to notice this:

Von Schill is equally impressive. Hard Ass? Haha, take that Pandora / Ressurectionist / Everyone Else, WP ~11 everywhere.

Isn't Hard-Ass only for morale duels? I don't have my book here, but I think it is.

Still good for Terrifying and such, but Pandora doesn't really use them.

[Gensuke626]

Isn't Hard-Ass only for morale duels? I don't have my book here, but I think it is.

Still good for Terrifying and such, but Pandora doesn't really use them.

Hard-ass is only for Morale duels, but still, stubborn helps to put a much needed damper on Pandora's Mind Bending.

[ItchyDani3l]

Wow! Now you guys make me want to start a VonSchill crew xDDD