Collodi

[Arquin]

I have been playing Collette and am thinking about picking up another box set, specifically Collodi. How does he play? Does he seem to enjoy a reasonable bit of success? I don't mind losing, but want to win a game here and there. Finally, how easily does he play? I don't have a lot of time to meta game and Colette has been a bit of a bear to master. I could go for a less complex gang. Thanks!

[Blacktao]

Collodi is fun but you need to know how al of his models work, so they can synchronize with each other

models I reccomend are: Stitched Together for their "gamble your life".

You wil not always win with it but I already played 2 games with him and I lost 1 en won 1

greetz Black

[tadaka]

This weekend had a new player try out his new collodi crew very little mini wargaming exp. Gave him about 10 min of talk on how the crew works and he tabled all 3 people he played by turn 3. I would say he is easy to pick up. That being said he is a bit of one trick pony as he has very limited options. This will get a little better as the book 3 models come out

[Koschai]

I would say he is easy to pick up. That being said he is a bit of one trick pony as he has very limited options.

So what is the trick?

I actualy have Collodi but have not yet fielded him (I kind of fell for Malifaux and have more crews that I can realistically play, and am still expanding), though I am looking at maybe using him in the near future. I know his playstyle is a lot about moving and pulling strings with marionettes making him potentially very manouverable but how does that come together for a win?

Are there any good tactica's out there beyond pullmyfinger?

[tadaka]

Basicly right now you got 3 total available models. Stiched marionettes and wicked dolls.

So you take him his 4 marionettes, up to 3 stiched and ass tons of wicked dolls. In a 35 point list i take 2 stiched.

You spend first activation on giving all your dolls fast.

You then move your stiched out toward objectives.

At this point you toss off activations of your wicked dolls untill he is out of models

Then move collodi across the bord with marionettes.

Place collodi where you want him and have wicked dolls use 0 action to join him and kill stuff it works very well. Next few turns you just keep him fighting collodi as your stiched go for vp

[karn987]

While Collodi is fun when running it as a Leader, I've had better success with running him as a henchmen and taking Zoraida as my Leader. The reasons are simple, variety. If you take Zoraida as your Leader, you get access to a wide variety of models and something like Bad Juju gives Collodi the big punch it needs. Otherwise, as you've seen, your severly limited to what you can take... Marrionettes, Stitched Togethers, Wicked Dolls, and the Widow Weaver. While this can certainly be effective and some people have put this limited list to the board with great success... it is limited and has it's weaknesses.

As far as complexity... Collodi is not simple... it just really isnt, there is a learning curve to it. But once you get there, it becomes like riding a bike. The hardest this is remembering how your models move and mastering Collodi and it's Marionettes. Once you have that down, it simply becomes an excercise in applying what you've learned. Compared to Colette, Collodi is a fair amount simpler but certainly not lacking in options. In fact the biggest issue I've found with new players and Collodi is Analysis Paralysis where you have to many things you can pull off in one turn and you can't figure out what to do. But the best way to fight this is say "f it" and pick a course of action and stick to it.

Don't be intimidated and by all means ask for help if you need it. Also the article on Collodi on the Tactica Wiki is rather solid and should help you get off your feet. Heck once you get the hang of it, maybe you can help us flush it out even further!

Edited August 16, 2011 by karn987

[Ciaran]

This weekend had a new player try out his new collodi crew very little mini wargaming exp. Gave him about 10 min of talk on how the crew works and he tabled all 3 people he played by turn 3. I would say he is easy to pick up. That being said he is a bit of one trick pony as he has very limited options. This will get a little better as the book 3 models come out

Heck yeah. I'm sculpting them as stand ins until they're out, just for that reason.

Pairing him with a Master extends his usability by amazing amounts. He's a beast. A wooden, spindly beast....

[Ciaran]

If you take Zoraida as your Leader, you get access to a wide variety of models and something like Bad Juju gives Collodi the big punch it needs. Otherwise, as you've seen, your severly limited to what you can take... Marrionettes, Stitched Togethers, Wicked Dolls, and the Widow Weaver. While this can certainly be effective and some people have put this limited list to the board with great success... it is limited and has it's weaknesses.

The Effigy Dolls as well... That starts opening up a bit of options.

[Draznar]

Yea I can't wait to find out what those dolls do

[kennedy]

I've been playing Collodi a lot recently, mainly paired with Zoraida. As has already been said, Collodi + Zoraida opens up so many options that you don't get with just Collodi.

The way that I've started thinking of Collodi is like a 16 stone bomb. He and his Marionettes can literally pick one thing on the board and nuke it just about every turn, if necessary. Or, they can go and achieve almost any interaction based strategy very quickly as well.

For me, the first turn with Collodi is all about setting up. I've found that it's beneficial to use the first turn to maybe accomplish something that's close to your starting position or just stall so that Zoraida can voodoo doll something good on your opponent's side of the board. I've found that I like tossing Filled with Stones onto Collodi himself during this turn, as it has no detriment to him and really makes your opponent less likely to be able to kill Collodi easily (not that it was easy to begin with).

After first turn, I've found that I pick something I need to do and then throw Collodi at it. Giving the Marionettes Fast from Puppet show and Melee Expert from Breathe Life makes them little killing machines. With 4-5 paired attacks per doll once you get there, your opponent can easily run out of cards to cheat with. That allows you to use Zoraida's Obey with relative impunity. With Zoraida using her voodoo doll to good effect and Collodi crushing anything that gets in his way, your opponent really has to play well to get out of that mess, and that's before considering any of the other models you've put on the table

Collodi is good fun and is rapidly becoming one of my favorite pieces.

[GamerGaeth]

If you're going to play Collodi, you want to remember that possibly your greatest threat is anything that can spam blasts/pulses. Collodi is going to typically end up clumped together in a ball of puppety death, and Sonnia/'Tina/etc can really do a lot of damage with a couple blasts.

[Bacon_bits]

I was actually planning to proxy some of the puppets from Puppet Wars as the effigies. Planning to use a model from that faction as the effigy of that faction. The Ronin for the Hodgepodge Effigy and so on.

[KoreyMalifaux]

If you're going to play Collodi, you want to remember that possibly your greatest threat is anything that can spam blasts/pulses. Collodi is going to typically end up clumped together in a ball of puppety death, and Sonnia/'Tina/etc can really do a lot of damage with a couple blasts.

This is something that's been on my mind since I purchased his box. With the addition of Kaeris soon, I see my beloved puppets getting blown to pieces :explode:

[thebarbalag]

Blasts aren't so bad, as you have to see them to target them...and that's what Stitched Together are for (in addition to being dead killy). As for pulses/auras, who wants to be that close to a Stitched Together?

Otherwise, you can still keep a little spread out when you need to. You don't get as much benefit from Puppet Show, and the willpower buff, but sometimes being spread out is more important.

And don't forget, throwing Casting Expert on a Fast Stitched Together can net you the super-deadly Gamble Your Life (Wp 8 when close enough to Collodi), and three Deepest Fears (which can, with the right suit, Slow your targets). That's a lot of kill for one model...especially if your opponent is stupid/unfortunate enough to kill one after it activated.

[jty3]

I have the Colette crew, too and also had the same idea about starting Collodi. Sounds like he has a very unique playstyle that could be very infuriating for opponents.

[Calmdown]

You dont really have much to worry about from blasts. 3 Stitched can beat most crews in a stand up fight on their own. All your Marionettes have to do is bounce Collodi round and help them out a bit with anything that's Immune to Influence.

Collodi is pretty ridiculous, you should autopilot your way to victory against most people of equal skill or less regardless of master they play. I'm tempted to get him just so my opponents who play Neverborn can be on the receiving end of some retardedly badly balanced models for a change.

[Talos]

I would not call Collodi that overpowered. I only got a draw using him against you Calmdown.

Cunningstunt beat me pretty badly using Lilth. Although I did get a turn 2 win against him when he used Hoffman.

He is good but I would not call him overpowered or a autopilot model. Maybe your hatred is more on Stitched than Collodi .

[Necromorph]

Yeah those stitched with him can be a pain. Slap collodi in the middle of a 2-3 stitched formation to boost their wp to 8 and use them like little, rotten gun turrets-of-mind-melting-awesome. It's pretty sick...I proxied Collodi once before he was realease, but then never bought him because his scult is awful. Maybe with the release of Z's Avatar and the Widow weaver I might reconsider.

[Hatchethead]

Maybe your hatred is more on Stitched than Collodi .

This.

I've only played two games against them (versus Dreamer) and I already hate them with a white hot passion.

[Talos]

You do have to watch out with Stitched when playing against Zorida as she can obey them and do gamble your life. If she wins she damages one of your models if she loses she damages one of your models