Team Marcus

[Nephalumps]

Double posting because the thoughts just won't stop coming.

I'm still struggling to find a Beast that would fit into my Silurid list, especially one set in the sewers (don't think bears go down there often..)

You're not familiar with the Malifaux Sewer Kodiak?

An odd option: McTavish. Its a sketchy dude with an alligator pet. Totally fits in with a sewer crew, and he has some decent synergy with Marcus thanks to his beast-Obey.

I think the blessed will replace the cerberus in most lists.

It does the same things and trades a bit of offensive power for more durability. It also has a higher CA for jumping around.

I'm actually coming around to this opinion myself.

When I first read the rules for the Blessed of December, I was underwhelmed. It seemed like a weaker Cerberus, and more something that would add mobility to a Rasputina crew than something to seek out for Marcus.

Now, I'm thinking it might be the 2nd best 8 SS choice for him, behind the Shikome. Some thoughts as to why:

- Almost the same threat range as the Cerberus (1-2" less, depending on your combination of actions,) but with an easier to access Leap.

- Lower base damage, but close to the Cerberus. However, the Blessed doesn't lose Melee Expert, so its # of attacks is going to stay the same until the bitter end (more on this in a bit.) The Cerberus will likely be down 2 attacks the moment another model connects with an attack. Plus, Melee Expert allows for an extra attack with any weapon, whereas Three Headed is Bites only. That distinction comes in handy when your target ends up outside of Bite range - Blessed can opt to just make another Ragged Claws attack, but the Cerberus is left sucking wind.

- Hard to Wound, combined with two different ways to heal. If the Blessed ends up in a scrap with a model that produces Corpse counters, it can feasibly heal during the fight via Feral Bite, then get a healing flip after it kills it's target by using Ravenous. Also, Blessed has a good Df value for a minion, so that makes it that much harder to take down.

- Blessed can actually make use of any suited high card you get: :masks for Leap (though you only need a 5+, a higher suited card works if its all you've got,) :rams for her "Grip of Winter" trigger, :tomes for her "Gorge on Flesh" trigger, and :crows for her "Rip Throat" trigger.

Plus, 3 of those are triggers that directly result in a damage increase (or, a more likely high damage flip with the 's,) so for 3 of the 4 suits you can cheat in a high card on the attack to ramp up Blessed's damage. Whatever type of high card you get, Blessed can use.

- December's Pawn: Mightas well get something for that Black Joker that just screwed you.

- Terrifying: even though its a low value, its a good way to burn out your opponent's control hands on crappy flips, and its also hearwrenching for your opponent to flip a high card/Red Joker when they needed a 5/6 to pass.

All things considered, the Blessed seems like a really nice choice for her cost. I can still see the Cerberus being an asset for raw power and Roar shenanigans. However, it also wouldn't surprise me if the Cerberus fell into "just" being one of the better choices for Myranda's Transformation due to it being at the top end of her Transformation limit and it being non-Unique.

Poor Cerberus. All they need to give him is something like "Eat Your Fill," and he'd be pretty solid for his cost. Or a helmet to protect his Glass Jaw.

Edited September 30, 2011 by Nephalumps

[dgraz]

Speaking of "noteworthy moments" - did you ever get a chance to have another run at Seamus? How'd it go?

Played last night. Total disaster.

Strategy: Shared Treasure Hunt - Standard Deployment.

Marcus with x2 Shikome, Myranda, x3 Night Terrors, and Jackalope. (6ss pool) Schemes: Hold Out and Assassinate (cuz that b*tch needs to die). Announced.

Seamus with Sybelle, x2 Belles, Dead Doxy, x2 Punk Zombies. (6ss pool) Schemes: Hold Out and Body Guard. Announced.

I started out before the game a bit cranky. He admitted that he had read this entire thread so already knew what I was planning. Then he announces; "I'm taking a weird list...a hanged and 2 crooked men." Nice. I almost just went home. I make a snide comment....words are exchanged. He switches back to a more standard list but the damage is done. The psychological warfare worked and I'm already aggravated and off my game - there's a long history behind this....which I'll keep between he and I. Honestly, this aggravation goes all the way back to when I first started playing Marcus and he first started playing Seamus. Okay. I (0) Shrug Off...cuz that b*tch gotta die!

We deploy. I have to deploy first so I set Marcus/Myranda/Night Terrors/Jack - in the center with the Terrors slated to go for the treasure. I set up the Shikome (Prey on Seamus) on either flank since I knew if I deployed them both on one side, he would just deploy Seamus on the other side of the board. He deploys bunched up off center with Seamus on my far left with the 2 Punk Zombies close as bodyguards and the belles more toward my right.

We had a friend set up the terrain and I'm in terrain heaven here. 2 8" buildings, ~8 3" forests....LOS blocked everywhere.....it's a ninja spirit dream.

First round mainly positioning, but the Night Terrors and their amazing mobility are all over the treasure counter....he uses the belles to lure them away and break up my ability to take it turn one.

There's a kind've road down the center, so I use my last Night Terror (who is out of position by now) to (0) Flock Together and block the road so he can't get to the treasure counter on turn 2 And I use one of my Shikome to get in base with it (this is a ploy to make him think I'm going for the treasure with her, but it puts me in good position for an attack on Seamus turn 2) The other Shikome partners with Myranda down the right flank out of LOS.

Turn 2. I draw total garbage (1,2,3,5,,7,7 - and the 7's I held from my 1st hand) and lose initiative. He activates Sybelle and Shrieks at the the exposed Shikome causing damage . I decide that now isn't the time for a Shikome assault since I have crap for a hand. So I move the Shikome up to a balcony and attempt Guarantee Fate on Seamus which fails. It's at this point that he realizes and says that the building I'm standing on has no door yet (still a WIP) so we can't go into it. Okay....Impassable....sweet, I move the Shikome into it - leaving me even closer to Seamus but completely safe from the 2 Punk Zombies and their magic attacks. He says something snide about my movement (I guess since I wouldn't let him kill me).....words are exchanged. I become offended and go outside to cool off.

I attempt another (0) Shrug Off but flip the Black Joker. I go back in and go through the motions but it all spirals horribly out of control. Even Fate steps in to kick me in the sack - both Shikomes get their turn at Seamus.....both flip crap while he flips high and even cheating, his SS use beats it out...a charge and an extra attack from each one and not one hit....and they die as soon as they expose themselves. Followed by a random red joker flip for damage with a severe from a Punk Zombie for 10 dg on a slightly wounded Marcus...failed to flip the red joker for damage prevention.

He was able to use his belles and dead doxy to continually disrupt the night terrors with the treasure and I fought to get it back to my DZ but couldn't do it in 4 turns. At this point, he hasn't lost a single model. I finally just conceded and went home.

All things were against this game. I'm done playing Marcus against this guy's Seamus. After the first couple attempts and never even really challenging Seamus ever I haven't had an enjoyable game since and I really only play for fun. Every one just feels like I'm just beating my head against the wall. I may have painted myself or my friend here as a couple little b*tches, but he can be a great guy and fun to play, its just that we've been getting more and more at each other's throats over it for a long time. Thanks for the help, but Fate has decreed that this just isn't my fight. It's making me become far too competitive to have fun.

[Nephalumps]

All things were against this game. I'm done playing Marcus against this guy's Seamus. After the first couple attempts and never even really challenging Seamus ever I haven't had an enjoyable game since and I really only play for fun. Every one just feels like I'm just beating my head against the wall. I may have painted myself or my friend here as a couple little b*tches, but he can be a great guy and fun to play, its just that we've been getting more and more at each other's throats over it for a long time. Thanks for the help, but Fate has decreed that this just isn't my fight. It's making me become far too competitive to have fun.

Honestly, that sounds like the best course of action. I've run into similar situations with gaming friends of mine, and it almost always turn uncool once things start getting that competitive.

Consider: you're driving yourself nuts trying to trump his list, and he's trolling the Arcanist forums and using that information to build a counter-pick list! Once it gets to that point (and I've been at both ends of the spectrum,) its definitely time to step back, realize it isn't worth that much headache, and just play some fun games using other match-ups/scenarios/etc.

Damn sorry to hear the game was so unpleasant on top of all that though. It always seems like Fate likes to kick you when things are already bad - never will you roll/flip worse than when you're under the gun and already frustrated. This phenomenon has led to many-a "rage break" in the past (note that's "taking a break," not me snapping and breaking something. )

Based on what you've said before, it sounds like you can let off some steam in the future by ventilating Seamus a few times with Perdita + Co, eh?

[Cornelious1424]

It's making me become far too competitive to have fun.

Agreed. We haven't had a fun game since we changed up our usual Guild v Gremlins. Somehow, I don't think our future Collodi v Hamelin is going to help either. Maybe I'll just keep the Tyrant servant in his box and just play Kirai.

[Wormstrum]

Luck of the draw can be a bitch. Statistically, something good should have come of dropping 2 shikomes on Seamus, but if the card gods have it in for you there's not much you can do.

I do agree with taking a step back for the sake of keeping it fun and civil though. No sense in winning if you don't have fun doing it.

And yeah, collodi v hamelin is a rough match, since both pretty much hard counter each other.

Edit: Question on your shikomes, did you charge then use a fast action, or did you use +1 Nimble, Charge, Fast? May not have meant much depending how far away they are, but if it was the first option, you could have possibly gotten an extra attack each by using nimble to close distance and then using 2 general ap and fast for 3 attacks.

Edited September 30, 2011 by Wormstrum

[ThePandaDirector]

I've had casual games (mostly Warhammer) that stopped being fun very quickly (a Chaos army vesus an Empire blackpowder gunline is rather predictable). I think Malifaux is better because there are so many different schemes you can try and it's easier for people to have multiple crews should one match-up prove fruitless.

I do think that December Acolyte will replace Cerberus, but I can also see a change to either one balancing that.

What do people think of the Silurid list. I mean you start the game with 9 models then you can use the Jackalope to create the Spawning Pool, spawning Gupps bringing you to 12 (once the Jackalope comes back). That's quite a large crew for Marcus and all the Silurids have good synergy, the only issue possibly being board control, due to their Unstable Evolution, but Rain Dance - and a well designed sewer board =] - can overcome that. I'm personally really looking forward to the Spawn Mother, hopefully she's released soon.

Marcus

Jackalope

Spawn Mother and Gupps

5 Silurid

I also looked at McTavish after my last post and have to say I really like him.

Marcus

McTavish

3 Silurid

Rogue Necromancy/Spawn Mother

Moleman

For now I'll play it with RN (due to SM not being out), and I think I'll try swapping McTavish and Myranda around too. To bring it to 45 I take away a Silurid and throw in Spawn Mother/Rogue Necromancy and Myranda/McTavish. I think the only beast Myranda would work as in my list is the Rattler which should still work well, combined with the RN, plus that's two ranged attacks (with McTavish).

Overall I think it's quite clear the range of models I'm looking at, I love Silurids, RN and now McTavish (still have to pick an alternative model for the Moleman..) the only issue is finding the right mix, but I would say at 45ss I get everything I want.

[Wormstrum]

My only concern with the silurid marcus list is that papa loco says hi. Really, any list with even moderate AoE will tear through silurids like nobody's business, and they aren't quite as replaceable as zombies and the like.

It sounds like a fun list for fluffy social games, but not something I'd be likely to field against the local power gamer. Although the idea of somebody attacking a gupp only to cause the whole crew to leap to its rescue does amuse me.

[Wormstrum]

So tonight I got to proxy a list based on what's in my paint que. Fought The Dreamer in a 35point shared slaughter. My schemes were Sabotage and Grudge on an Alp. His were Kill Protege on the Cerberus and Eye for an Eye

I fielded:

Marcus

Jackalope

Silurid x3

Shikome

Cerberus

Moleman

His crew was:

Dreamer/LCB

Stitched x2

Coppelius

Daydream x3

Alps x3

Going in I knew it would be rough. My model selection was far from optimal for dealing wth the nightmares and they were immune to my howl/roar shenanigans. That combined with the fact I would basically be starting 10 points down due to the stitched does not die ability and it was an uphill battle from the start.

Won't do a full report, just some of the key moments:

The worst thing that happened was turn 2 I lost initiative and LCB managed to just barely make it into range of Marcus and tag him with a claw strike which triggered onslaught as well as hitting the red joker for damage. Marcus took 8 dg followed by 4 damage even after prevention flips on both ><

Losing my master turn 2 was rough, but I kept going and managed to take out a good portion of his models in the following activations. Downed 2 alps, the dreamer, a daydream, and one of the stitched.

Turn 3 I lost initiative again and bad things happened. The remaining stitched picked on my poor wp4 silurids, the remaining alp tied down my moleman and another silurid who both only had 1 wound left forcing them to pass. The cerberus put 4 points on LCB but then got cut down immediately after, and coppelius paralyzed the third silurid before it could reach my sabotage target.

Turn 4, another failed initiative flip and coppelius almost killed the shikome, but left her with poison 2 which killed her before she could activate and get the sabotage objective. Decided to call it at that poiint as everything was either dead, or about to be dead.

Totaled everything up, and the models I did take out managed to keep him from getting the full 4vp on slaughter as well as denying him eye for an eye. Final score was 5-2 Dreamer.

Overall I feel I did alright. Aside from some absolutely horrible card luck I managed to hold my own. Adding to my collection of models to draw from when hiring would help a lot, and if stitched didn't have that damn rule it would have been a much closer fight. Looking forward to next week when I should have my crew fully painted.

[Nephalumps]

Overall I feel I did alright. Aside from some absolutely horrible card luck I managed to hold my own. Adding to my collection of models to draw from when hiring would help a lot, and if stitched didn't have that damn rule it would have been a much closer fight. Looking forward to next week when I should have my crew fully painted.

Sounds like you gave him one helluva fight, despite some not so great luck! And, that's all you can do in those situations.

Losing Marcus early is definitely a huge blow - I find he ends up pulling a lot of the weight in his crews when there's killing to be done, and losing him early/having him negated is usually extremely detrimental. The fact that you fought back to a 5-2 game after that is a good nod to your determination.

[Adran]

Turn 3 I lost initiative again and bad things happened. The remaining stitched picked on my poor wp4 silurids, the remaining alp tied down my moleman and another silurid who both only had 1 wound left forcing them to pass. The cerberus put 4 points on LCB but then got cut down immediately after, and coppelius paralyzed the third silurid before it could reach my sabotage target.

Is there a reason you didn't use Self preservation with the Silurid to move him ouside the 1" range. You could even leave him inside the 2" talon range to allow it to attack the Alp without suffering any further damage himself.

[Wormstrum]

Wasn't aware it was a 1" range at the time. In all honesty it wouldn't have mattered much. Coppelius and LCB were both more or less untouched and all of my remaining models were about to die. But I'll keep that in mind next time.

[Nephalumps]

If it helps, the Alps just got hit with the bat a few times, so future Dreamer matches should be a little less harrowing (though the Alp changes by no means de-fang that nasty, nasty crew.)

----

Over the weekend, I had the chance to get a pair of games in. One was a 45 SS game vs Kirai, which ended the same as every game vs. Kirai: tabled by turn 6. For the life of me, I can't seem to pick the right crew and schemes to not make these games a complete blow out.

On the up side, I did try out Myranda, a Raptor, and a Silent One. Turn 1, I get a decent "Beast Out" hand, but it didn't matter: I flipped a high Tome for the Raptor's attack, a low something for the Silent One's Df flip, and weak damage for the Raptor's attack. It's almost like fate wanted me to try out the combo!

And, over the next two turns, the combo worked pretty well. I didn't realize it, but Myranda can help out the Silent One (or vice versa) by casting North Wind and standing near her (though for the Silent One to help Myranda, she needs to give her Frozen Heart with her (0) Action.) 13" range on Freeze is pretty sick, and it helped soften up Kirai's crew pretty well before the two forces clashed.

I actually completely flubbed here: the Silent One can actually heal itself with it's Ice Wind spell, but I skipped over the "including this model" clause in the spell's description. Between the Raptor's initial peck, and Immediate Vengeance, the Silent One was softened up enough for a random ranged attack from the Hanged to finish it off. If I had realized Ice Wind could have healed the Silent One, she probably would have lived long enough to kick out more damage (possibly even longer, if Myranda could have pulled through with a few Primal Flames.)

Overall, not a bad combo at all, though I still really don't like how hand dependent it is to get up and running, and I really don't like how relatively useless the Raptor is afterwards. I tried to make him a menace, but I was worried the little goon would end up turned into a Gaki, so I ended up hiding him most of the game (which fit into the shared strategy as well, for what that was worth.)

Also, thinking more about it, I'm not entirely sure that two Silent Ones isn't a better play to begin with. No need to worry about your opening hand, no need to risk extra damage on the beast out, and if one dies you still have a model that can fling spells around. Plus, its overall cheaper - 12 SS total vs 15 SS total - and you don't have a "dead weight" model.

However, Myranda's flexibility is nice. She can hang back and kick out spells early game, then shapeshift into something to do heavy lifting once things get nasty. I was a complete idiot and didn't turn her into a Shikome, which ended up being a pretty significant mistake (the bear she turned into ended up fleeing after doing very little damage.) Plus, since Myranda doesn't have any competition for her (0) action, you can easily have her and her spell flinging buddy activate at the same time.

Fun combo, and I'll definitely try it again, though I need to focus on ways to make the Raptor more useful after he's done his turn 1 duty.

The second game I had over the weekend was a "for funsies" three player game. It was a nice reaffirmation of Marcus' effectiveness after being tabled: Marcus himself took out both Viktorias and Von Schill (finally, my nemesis!), the Shikome chipped damage into one of the Viktorias early game, then finished off Collidi <sic>, after the Cerberus got a hold of him. If I had been able to get to Zoriada, Marcus' crew would have accounted for all of the Soulstone users on the table!

For as much heat as Marcus draws, the funny part is that he himself is very solid. Though he isn't quite the best melee master in the game, he's can be a great combination of fast, hard to hit, accurate, and/or hard hitting, based on the situation. Combine that with his Stare Down debuffing, and I've come to appreciate how potent Marcus can be.

The biggest issue I have now is building a crew around him that works - with so many options, it can be difficult to narrow the choices down to what is best for the given scenario.

[Orboros]

Tried out the Blessed today for the first time, god she is awesome.

She is the minion i always wanted, thank you Wyrd!!

[Nephalumps]

Tried out the Blessed today for the first time, god she is awesome.

She is the minion i always wanted, thank you Wyrd!!

Please, elaborate! Others are curious as to what went so well with her.

[Cats Laughing]

My first Team Marcus game, a rambling romp in the desert:

(note, because it's my first Marcus game and my opponent is also relatively new to Malifaux, there are many mistakes, please try not to harp on them, thank you

(biggest mistake is that I Alpha'd the immune to influence Peacekeeper, yes we both learned from that)

30stones Marcus (Claim Jump) vs Hoffman (Treasure Hunt)

My list was:

Marcus

2x Sabertooth Kitties

4x Molemen

Jabberwocky (Jackalope)

5 Stones

Schemes: Sabotage and Stake a Claim

vs

Hoffman

Peacekeeper

Guardian

Watcher

Executioner

"Mobile Appliance" as my opponent called it (Mobile Toolkit)

6 Stones

Scheme: Holdout

I placed my claim jump in the south and selected two terrain peices in the north for my schemes (thinking to force my opponent to split his forces to try to stop me, while my tigers+marcus speed could cover either scheme or strategy after stopping my opponent's strategy).

Corners deployment, Peacekeeper, Hoffman + Toolkit at point, with Guardian and Watcher behind, Executioner nominally flanked to south. Marcus and one Sabertooth at point, with second Sabertooth flanked to north for schemes, with Molemen and Jackalope to south for strategy.

First turn, Hoffman wins Initiative:

Peacekeeper activates first and drags Hoffman and Toolkit up to treasure hunt objective using 3 walks. Marcus ponders the big gamble, estimating that the Peacekeeper is less than 10" away (charge + 2" melee range), and notes a high mask in his hand (as well as the red joker) and decides to go for it. Wild Heart for the (0) charge and hare (Sabertooth #1's base was nominally in the way of a direct charge so needed to be able to hop over its base) and a successful Alpha (soulstone to put wp resist out of range) and the Peacekeeper began punching Hoffman in the face. Hoffman burnt through a few soulstone to keep from dying and was left with only a few wounds remaining.

Hoffman decides that cowardice is the better course of action, picks up the treasure and begins walking back towards his deployment zone. I burn through my red joker to leap my first Sabertooth into a position to charge and triple head bite Hoffman. He burns through soulstones pumping up DF flips and survives with just one wound remaining.

Nothing else of mine can reach Hoffman (oh for a gun to shoot him with) and the remainder of the turn is uneventful (moleman go plodding off towards the claim jump marker).

Turn 2, Hoffman wins initiative

With the initiative, Hoffman activates, assimilates Slow to Die from the Watcher, then uses Machine Puppet on himself to punch the Sabertooth in the face, killing it with severe damage and a double ram critical strike. He then walks further away, dragging the Toolkit along.

Marcus is unhappy about the loss of his kitty, and Feral's the Peacekeeper and casts Alpha on it, forcing it to follow Hoffman and shoot him. The first shot I target the Toolkit, causing a feedback wound on Hoffman, who uses Slow to Die for a healing flip (1 wound returned), then miss Hoffman with the second shot as Hoffman burns through another soulstone (he had 1 left).

The Guardian walks up to Hoffman and protects him (arrrgh!).

My second Sabertooth charges in to kill the Watcher and put some minor damage on the Peacekeeper.

Some of the Moles move towards the claim jump, while others make a move for the sabotage, stake a claim and holdout areas.

Turn 3 I finally win initiative, but no long have any high masks (or even low) in my control hand.

So much for Alpha. Without that shenanigan available, Marcus decides the Peacekeeper needs to die and puts some damage into it, while pack leadering the second Sabertooth to finish the job. I kill it with my (0) and 2 general AP remaining on the Sabertooth (used the three head strikes for the kill) and try to leap into Hoffman but can't flip a mask Instead I figure I can put some damage on the Guardian to make Hoffman an easier kill later, so charge, doing some minor damage. Hoffman and the Guardian combine to kill the Sabertooth (Guardian strikes and Machine Puppet).

Then we call the game for time issues (FLGS was closing)

Marcus loses 4-6

Hoffman had the treasure counter in his possession in his deployment zone and his holdout scheme. I had skipped on completing sabotage in turn 3 to put some damage into the Guardian and Marcus was a few inches away from the stake a claim terrain, so I only had my Claim Jump.

Things learned:

-Alpha doesn't work on Immune to Influence Models, stop cheating my friend

-Alpha would be super cool if it did

-I probably could have simply trashed the Peacekeeper with Marcus and the nearby kitty with straight attacks, and the game would have played differently.

-Keep your eye on the schemes and the clock. I could have Sabotaged my target terrain on turn 2 and had VP in my pocket for at least a draw.

Team Marcus Game 2 - Kitties in the Trenches

For my second Team Marcus game, I drew Slaughter against my Guild opponent's Distract. Standard deployment, so I scrapped my originally plan of trying to bunker Ramos up the table with a Guardian (as it would take Ramos 4.5 turns of walking to make it into my opponent's deployment zone) and decided Marcus should be tough enough to make it to the end of the game and fast enough to make it into my opponent's deployment zone.

(second Marcus game, so possibly still some mistakes, though I learned from the big one in the above game)

30 stones Marcus (Slaughter) vs Sonnia (the aptly named Distract)

My list:

Marcus

2x Sabertooth Kitties

2x Hoarcat Prides

Jackalope

7 stones

His List:

Sonnia

Peacekeeper (booo!)

Nino

Witchling Stalker

Misaki

?? stones

Schemes, he announced Holdout, I announced Grudge on the Witchling Stalker and Sabotage on an open bunker just across the halfway point.

Turn 1, Sonnia win initiative:

Peacekeeper relentlessly moves up to "hold" my Sabotage objective. We alternate moving models up, with both Sabertooth kitties fail their leap towards the Sabotage objective so instead move into stalker move friendly terrain. Turn ends with Marcus as one of last models (him and the Jackalope). He decides to throw caution to the wind, wild hearts up some +2 Damage, Hare (for the extra speed) and the (0) action charge. One walk and a (0) charge and he's in the Peacekeeper's face laying down a severe damage, and touching the Sabotage terrain. I choose to learn the lesson from game one and take my Sabotage VP now, rather than whack the Peacekeeper a second time.

Turn 2, Sonnia wins initiative, but on a very low flip, so Marcus spends a soulstone to flip a 12 and take Initiative:

Marcus activates first and combines wild heart (+2 Damage, +2 Def and (0) attack) with his general AP to turn the Peacekeeper into scrap. Companioned Jackalope moves into position to prevent a charge by Misaki. Sonnia takes two moves to get LOS on Marcus and Flamebursts the Jackalope into oblivion (Defend Me trigger), putting a few points onto Marcus with the resulting blast. Hoarcats move up. Misaki charges and Marcus burns a stone to make the charge miss. More moving closer by both side, except Nino, who puts 5 pts into a Sabertooth (both failing again to Leap and therefore failing to engage Nino).

Turn 3, Marcus wins initiative,

Marcus again activates first and kills Misaki, with Wild Heart bonuses. Thought about attempting to Alpha Misaki into Sonnia, but didn't draw any masks, so too risky to rely on the flip+soulstone method. Pack Leader lets a hoarcat charge and eat the Witchling Stalker (yay Grudge scheme complete). Sonnia lights herself on fire (Inferno) then attempts to flameburst Marcus again, hitting a nearby hoarcat instead (blast damage on Marcus again Misses completely with second casting, though I think I needed to burn a stone for that. Finally a Sabertooth kitty pulls off leap and is able to charge Nino. He burns the rest of his hand on cheating and Nino manages to survive. Nino then disengages and kills the damaged Sabertooth, spawning a new Jackalope. My last set of Hoarcats charge Sonnia, but are damaged and only do 1 pt to her. Inferno then kills that pride and damages the other (it does what? grrrr, lesson learned).

Turn 4, Sonnia wins initiative,

Sonnia again lights herself on fire, then whacks the damaged hoarcats once, taking them to one wound, and then Violates them. Poor poor kitties. They somehow become a Witchling Stalker...

The remaining Sabertooth then leaps into combat with Sonnia and tries 4 bites, which do some damage and force her to burn a few cards and stones. Nino kills the new Jackalope. Marcus charges in with Wild Heart up and kills Sonnia, but is forced to use all but 1 soulstone to seal the deal. Her death kills the Witchling Stalker and puts 6 on the fresh Sabertooth and 6 on Marcus, leaving him with 1 wound. The witchling stalker then blows up, killing the Sabertooth and forcing Marcus to spend his last soulstone on a damage prevention flip.

I flip a 5...

End result: 4-6 Marcus dies and loses, Sonnia succeeds at Distract and Holdout while stopping my slaughter.

Looking back, I probably shouldn't have charged in with the damaged Hoarcats on Sonnia with inferno. I probably also should have tried to eat the Witchling Stalker with my Sabertooth kitty instead of Sonnia in that final turn. I might have also done well to not go for all or nothing with Sonnia on the last turn. I suppose I could have gambled with Initiative on turn 5 to try to kill her before she could get Inferno up.

Oh well, most fun I've had losing...

[brdparker]

Had an interesting thought for Marcus dealing with Stalkers/Loco/Ice Gamins/Pere/Anything else that deals Dg when it dies.

Requires: 2+ Hoarcat Prides (or Myranda)

Keep the two together within 3" of each other (preferably on the other side of an obscuring terrain of some nature, like forests) while the target is walking past. Move the one out, and nom it's face (a cat eating Papa Loco! How silly's that?) Mind you, you only need to one against the Gamin or Pere, but it still seems doable with the others.

Has anyone tried this as a viable tactic against bomb-type models?

EDIT: nm, realized that it only affect living models. Well that leaves out the gamins. Other than that though...

Edited October 6, 2011 by brdparker

[TreeNinja]

I want in the club. I just took 1st this last Sunday with Marcus, which was awesome, because of my opponents face. That look of "how did I just get beaten by Marcus". And I would like number 33.

[Ratty]

Little Marcus Approves of this endeavor.

[ukrocky]

Got a 4-0 win last night vs rasputina, could have been 8-0 if I really wanted but chose to get Marcus more kills! Now 25 games unbeaten...madness...o.O

[Orboros]

Got a 4-0 win last night vs rasputina, could have been 8-0 if I really wanted but chose to get Marcus more kills! Now 25 games unbeaten...madness...o.O

Madness? THIS IS MARKUS!!

[ukrocky]

I think I've decided he's gonna get retired after the GT!

[Fulgrima]

Welcome aboard the good ship Marcus Cats and Joe plus I like it Ratty I like it alot

[Fulgrima]

I think I've decided he's gonna get retired after the GT!

Mabye I can once again be the best by default

[Only Perfect]

Retired you say? Surely you just mean he will take a vacation.

[Nephalumps]

I think I've decided he's gonna get retired after the GT!

After an epic run like yours, Marcus deserves the break!

A request: would you be up for doing something like a "Top 5 Tips for Marcus Players" post, once you conclude your Marcus rampage? Going 25-0 (possibly more after the GT) with Marcus is no mean feat, and any insights you can provide for what made Marcus do so well for you would probably be extremely helpful for those starting out (or still struggling) with Marcus.

In general, I think it'd be great if the community could put together a consolidated source of Marcus tips that an interested player could reference. There's some great Marcus tips on this forum, but unfortunately a lot of it is buried in threads like this, which can make it difficult for new Marcus players to sort out the information.

The Marcus entry on the Pull My Finger wiki is actually great, but I know that as a newer player, I'd be much more likely to check the forums for info, before I'd find my way to the wiki.

Just a thought. Marcus is one of the hardest Masters in the game to use, but not because he's bad (his rules are actually pretty great.) Success with Marcus is tied to a bunch of little things, and mastering those things is crucial to long term success with him.

Any resource that could help players suss out those "intangibles" would be an awesome resource, I think, and it'd also help promote a better understanding of what is definitely one of the more misunderstood Masters in the game.