Sell Marcus to me

[ThePandaDirector]

So with Marcus seeming to be getting a bit more love during this years Gencon, I was wondering about him as a Master. Currently I have Perdita and Seamus, both very different from Marcus, and I'm wondering if those more familiar with him could help me get past my reservations.

Pros

- Unlikely any of my opponents will field him or have even fought him before

- More variety compared to Perdita and Seamus (more flavour and choice)

- I like animals (don't beleive what other people tell you).

- He's supposedly a challange, which I can't say I don't like the sound of.

Cons

- Don't like his current model or some of the other miniatures likely to be fielded with him. Therefore book 3 will likely becrucial in offering some better miniatures for him.

- The biggest roadblock is that I can't really find any visual unity in a Marcus crew. I like my crew to make sense fluff-wise and to be visually unifified even if a wide palette is used. Most Marcus crews make it look like he stepped out of a zoo rather than collecting the beasts around him. I have ideas for unifying him with his minions, but I have some doubts there.

- I am slightly worry that he might become a big bandwagon in the near future, with perhaps a little too much Book 3 love making him less original and less of a challange (= bad). Knowing Wyrd this seems unlikely.

- Wyrd have yet to produce a Giant Panda - here's hoping for one in Twisting Fates.

So I don't mind the challanges in gameplay, I'm not much of a serious gamer, but from a hobbyist perspective his crew both has great variety and too much variety. Of course if his alternative and avatar form are rubbish my choice is almost made up for me.

Any advice or guidance would be appreciated.

[DireTrollJake]

I am in the same camp right now. As is, he seams like fun to me (I've played around some when I was very new, bad results) but Avatar form will likely be my make it or break it.

[Sway]

I'm a relatively (five games) new player using Marcus as my first master. While it's quite possible to play a variety of styles with Marcus depending on what animals you bring, I play him because of his speed and I bring speedy models with me. I love that I can play most games by focusing on objectives rather than just killing my opponent. Marcus himself is great because his Wildheart ability allows him to be excellent at one thing at a time. I tend to use the speed and Df boost to get into position and let the enemy come to me. Then I boost Cb and to damage put the hurt on whoever dares approach me.

Lack of attack power is Marcus's big weakness. Most of his minions either don't hit hard enough or don't last long enough to continue to hit hard. But I've loved the challenge of learning to play the game without rushing into combat.

Visual unity really isn't so hard. Avoid the bright colors of the Marcus box set art and you'll be fine. Once I find time I plan to have mostly dark blues, purples, and grey in my paint scheme. And remember, he's getting an alternate model so if you wait, you may find that one more to your liking.

I recommend some of the Marcus diaries to get you excited and to learn more about his playstyle.

[ooshawn]

Between me and and the guy who writes in pink, you can probably learn all you want about marcus. First off, his crew is not super competative if your going against a crew with better rules, unfortunetly that's just how he is. That' being said, in the hands of a experienced player going into a game, you can easily tie someone in points or pull ahead. though many times its not going to just be a landslide unless the other person is ill prepared. Most likely his avatar and a few minions will make him stronger, with book 3 coming out.

On another note, marcus can earn you points now, but he isn't a master you can play in a gaining grounds tournament and expect to play all rounds and not switch out to another master and just rape everyone. He's not pandora or the dreamer for sure. Marcus will earn you points for using hold out with molemen, and frame for murder and a few other good schemes. Your gonna have to switch to Colette or rasputina to earn full points using other schemes and strategies. Marcus definitely has to have another arcanist crew to pair with to be successful.

Hope this helps.

[Fulgrima]

Honestly I would say get him because he is the bestest ever but if you don't like the model then its best not to as you will get less enjoyment out of it. Its always best to go model first and it sounds like you are not a fan of most of them.

However he does have massive variety in what you can take with him with all the beasts from any faction but don't forget you still have access to the normal arcanist goodness like coryphee.

[ukrocky]

His crew choice is so varied, and he's surprisingly competitive when used properly

[ThePandaDirector]

Thanks for the advice all.

I'm not a competetive player by any stretch (doesn't mean I don't try to win), so I'm not bothered about tournaments.

I had an idea for 4 Marcus crews, each themed around a season, with different selection in each. I like Sabertooth Cerberus, Silurids, Waldgeists, but definitely not Molemen or Myranda's mini (even though she's in all my lists). I also considered December Acolyte for winter Marcus (I'll admit 'Tina has a lot of nice models). Basically, if avatar and alternative Marcus float my boat, I'll buy his crew, otherwise I can always make his crew out of puppets =]

[Buhallin]

Rasputina was my first Arcanist master, and I love using the Cerberus with her so I painted mine in a white tiger pattern. Goes very well with the winter theme.

[Stern]

His crew choice is so varied, and he's surprisingly competitive when used properly

only when your name is craig johnson...

[Naravus]

Silurids. Take them :happypuppet1

A strong base design helps unify models, regardless of how different they look. I like your idea of a crew for each of the seasons.