Zoraida box + ADVICE!

[Hatchethead]

Neverborn wyrdos, lend me your ears! I'm in the process of ordering the Zoraida box, staring at the web store shopping cart and wondering: Zoraida box + any three blisters, creating a viable and fun crew. What three blisters would you add? Voodoo Doll? Doppleganger? Waldgeist? A Neph of some kind? Goblins?

I already own the contents of the Dreamer box, some Alps, a blister of Day Dreams and Teddy.

Any thoughts? Cheers!

Edited February 8, 2011 by Hatchethead

[K.blas]

Well seeing as a Hoodoo Doll is summoned so it's "free" I'd say pick one up regardless. As for what I'm running right now, I'd add in a couple of Stitched, and a Coppelius.

[Ciaran]

The Voodoo Doll is a must for most of us. I would also look at a Doppleganger and a blister of Waldgeist.

[Rathnard]

The best thing about Zoraida is that she works well with the majority of minions available to her. Unfortunately it's also her greatest negative - you're so spoilt for choice that there's pretty much no definitive Starter crew"

In general, Zoraida is better off taking minions that will actually hurt her opponents, since she does very little damage-dealing herself. Additional support-style minions like the doppelganger or Hamelin are still great and definitely have their place with Zoraida, but they generally shouldn't be the first minions you take.

The only definite that you should add is the voodoo doll - that thing is essential to Zoraida's playstyle. Other than that, here's a few options off the top of my head, in no particular order:

Mature Nephilim: An excellent Obey target - it kills things dead when you can obey it another three times for additional charges/strikes. The negative is that you'll already have Teddy and Bad Juju fulfilling the beatstick roles. They can't be obeyed like the Mature Neph can, which is reason enough to get him...but it still feels a little superfluous.

Rami or Freikorps Trapper: A sniper that Zoraida can obey for some scary ranged threat - something the Neverborn generally lack. They both have their own advantages over the other so either one is good. I'd personally pick Rami though, because Gremlins are hilarious.

Convict Gunslinger: Too many people take this Merc, but it's for a good reason - he's your go-to guy for mid range shooting.

Friekorps Specialist: A dude with a flame thrower. He's your alternative to the gunslinger in the role of mid-range shooter. Generally he's not as damaging but he's more resiliant and capable of burninating lots of enemy minions at once with his flame thrower.

Lilitu and Lelu: A support minion and a melee beatstick, respectively. Both are incredible for their cost but you need to have both on the table or they'll take 3 Wd per turn. Fortunately Zoraida can circumvent this with her Hex spell - making her the only Master who can feasibly take one of the twins in her crew without the other. It's still well worth buying both however.

Waldgeist: With a forest on the board they're fantastic, but even without they make for a very resiliant melee minion. Armour 2 rocks.

Terror Tots: Not very tough but extremely fast thanks to their sprint spell. I very often take one or two of these minions purely for the purpose of claiming objectives (which, you know, is how you win games most of the time) Alps (which you have) make a decent alternative if needed but they aren't as fast and once within 6", are even less resiliant.

Ronin: I've just discovered how awesome these guys are with Zoraida and they've now become my next purchase. They make great 6SS Melee beatsticks who can ignore armour, but the best thing about them for Zoraida is that you can spend soulstones mid-game to hire another one! For a Master that doesn't usually need all her Soulstones, that's a phenomenal option.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Rathnard

[Hatchethead]

So Voodoo Doll is the must-have. No surprise there.

Thanks for the super in-depth response, Rathnard. Lemme see ...

Mature Neph sounds like fun, but you're right. With Teddy and Juju on the bench, there are more pressing matters to attend to.

Any excuse to justify the purchase of a Trapper. The mini rocks my socks. Rami too (the entire Ophelia "family" in fact; so much character, love 'em).

Already have a 'slinger. Damn near a necessity in the majority of my Rezzer crews. Solid choice.

Specialist. Who can argue with a flamethrower? I'd probably opt for a Trapper ... BUT, if I were to ask the Magic 8 Ball, "Will I someday find myself painting the Freikorps box?" Chances are I'd see, "All signs point to yes." Might be best to avoid buying them piecemeal, Trapper included.

Lillitu and Lelu. I've been using slapdash proxies for these two, and I've considered purchasing for my Dreamer crew. Knowing they work well with Zoraida certainly sweetens the pot.

Waldgeist and Terror Tots. Hrm. I can certainly see them being useful, but I'm not super crazy about them otherwise. I doubt I'll include them in the original order but I may end up adding one or the other (or both) to my collection down the road, if only for utility.

I already have me some Ronin. It'll be nice to find a use for them, actually. They were a "boughten 'cause me likey" purchase.

Gotta be honest, the Doppelganger is in the shopping basket. Between the Dreamer and Zoraida, there's gotta be an excuse to justify the purchase! She was one of the models that initially drew me to Malifaux.

Soooo ... Voodoo Doll, Lillitu, Lelu and maybe the Doppelganger? I know, four blisters. I'll manage. That or the Doll, Trapper and Doppelganger. I can see justifying two Trappers down the road should I end up with the Von Shill box. Or swap the Trapper out for Rami. I suppose I could drop the Doppel and do a Doll, Lillitu, Lelu, Rami/Trapper combo. Hrm.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Hatchethead
Indecisions

[Doctor Amos]

Voodoo Doll, Rami Lacroix, and Dopplganger. Let the organ-grinding machine gun begin!

[Rathnard]

The Doppelganger is a great minion. I personally classify him as 'support' but in all honesty her mimic ability almost lets you double up on a given minion for a turn. Not to mention the flip for initiative...

However despite having the model, I rarely field her in my crew. It's not that I find she's bad, I just tend to find other minions more interesting and characterful.

Anyway, if you really like the Doppelganger model, get it. She'll do just fine in a Zoraida crew and you really shouldn't be passing up a model that drew you into the game in the first place.

[Doctor Amos]

Adding a Doppleganger + Zoraida + a Voodoo Doll lets you get an obtuse number of the same action from the model of your choice. Using a sniper, like a Lacoix or Hans, gives you a level of destructive long-range firepower that few crews can meet. But, really any trick gets interesting if you can do it six more times than people expect.

[Hatchethead]

Well, I've slept on it and I've decided to postpone my purchase of Zoraida. No more Masters until I've properly mastered the Masters I already own! I've also decided to surrender my stake in the Outcast faction, abandoning Leveticus and delaying (indefinitely) the purchase of Hamelin ... though I may end up with Nix at some point. Beautiful model. Hard to resist.

Rezzer and Neverborn. Focus!

Which isn't to say your input hasn't been helpful. I'll likely process the purchase of the Doppelganger, Lelu, Lellitu and maybe even a Trapper. The Dreamer's crew could use a little variety. And let's not forget Collodi and Molly.

After all, I never said anything about denying myself more minions. And Henchmen don't count! :thumb:

Edited February 9, 2011 by Hatchethead