Tips on Avatar Justice

[mbowsher76]

I have made a personal commitment to play pure Guild for the next year.

In doing so I am looking over all my options and while looking over the avatars, Lady Justice's Avatar seems...odd. She has all these heavy melee stats like her normal form, but only moves 3" with no charge. I know she has a bunch off buffing, but I am not sure how she should be used. I am looking for some tips or suggestions from those who have tried her or have put some serious thought into how to use her.

Thanks in advance!

[nilus]

Still learning her but I see her as the center of a block of troops.

She buffs the troops and buries the troublesome models while they shoot better or get hit less. When models come into the blocks melee she kills them and then continues.

Her 12" Bury ability seems rather sick imho.

Also Glad to hear you have joined the right team

YEAR OF THE RAM!

[mbowsher76]

Lol, thanks Nilus. I have been playing Hoffman near exclusively (with a little Levi sprinkled in) and decided to just focus on the Guild outright. As someone who is often diverted by the new shinies, this is going to be a challenge, but one I am looking forward too!

[Necromorph]

Ideally, she'll be manifesting near the enemy. She has a push that moves her 6" and gives her a ++ to all duels with the model she pushed towards, definitely nasty. Once she manifests, I would make of priority to bury their meanest model with aetheric shackles, and do your best to keep it buried. After that its really about choosing which aspect you want each turn. If your crew is in the thick of it vs a high cb crew keep crows up, if you're in a position to really hurt your enemy, pop rams that turn.

After that its pretty much just keep pushing to enemies and beating their faces with true lady j style. Also, if something strong is threatening her in melee, don't underestimate her df trigger, it may not be riposte, but you can push the enemy into another friendly model to tie it up while you recover. This also leads to her even the odds ability that deals dg to an engaged enemy based on how many wd the friendly engaged model has taken. Von schill or.other such resilient models are key here. Imagine von schill at his slow to die mark, staying alive with a stone or two, and than hitting the model beating on him for 9 dg....ugh.

[nilus]

Got another combo idea.

Bury a model 12" away from you that you want to smack around. At the end of your turn lose the WP->wp Duel. Then place them in melee with you and your crew.

Sorta a reverse dreamer bomb. Instead of dropping all your models on top of an enemy model, have an enemy model drop in the middle of your crew

[cerealkiller195]

I feel that her lack of "mobility" is mitigated by the fact that you will use a turn or two before she turns into an avatar to get a good battlefield position. As it was said above her ability to push/place 6" towards clump of enemies shackle one of them and use her melee expert another model = fun.

She has always been a buffer/damage dealer, her avatar increases the want of cheap/disposable minions so don't be afraid to use them as such.

[Necromorph]

Yeah cheap minions, especially her death marshals are great. Their crap defense means many enemies will be hard pressed to hit them if you have crows up. I'd keep at least 1-2 survivable models so that she can do spell dg off of them and df trigger push to get nasty stuff away from her, as she really doesn't get any less squishy in her avatar form.

[AgentRock]

I can say with some authority that few things are as frustrating as trying to shoot something with your superior combat statistics (like Nino) and having to do a negative twist and getting stuck with the three you flipped out. Over and over again. That's imo her most effective ability.

[Pipeline]

Much is made of her not being able to charge so I've sketched out a comparison:

As a master, her charge is 8 inches which equates to a 10 inch threat. When charging, she gets on the damage(provided she even gets that far).

As an avatar using (0)In Pursuit, nominate a model and push 6 inches and :+fate in duals using cb, df, ca, and wp vs said nominee. From there, move once into melee for a combined threat range of 11. Or vice versa. Then attack.

A normal charge costs 2ap and you get on damage flip.

As avatar, this equates to her (0) and 2ap (move & strike). :+fate on the dual and one more inch to the threat range.

Plus, if she's already in melee with something, she can push out. No disengaging strike. Depending on the targets position, she might not have be able to charge anyway. Or push through something's melee range to get to your target.

Also take in to account that when the movement is broken up in two, she doesn't need to move in a straight line as per a charge action.

Then, if whatever she attacked survives and tries to strike back, she still has the :+fate from In Pursuit(and a potential bonus from Mark of Balance).

So we weigh on damage vs :+fate on dual(along with the flexibility the push provides). Otherwise, it looks like business as usual if she needs to get into melee and administer the stick of beat.

Then, of course, there's the topic of Sword Style...

[Pipeline]

Also, tips on how the hell I'm going to transport this thing without it breaking and what I'm supposed to do with the 97% of the base where her feet aren't would be greatly appreciated.

[Soundwave]

So, if she'd get cuddled, would she still be the Avatar of Balance? *shifty eyes*

[CRC]

Also, tips on how the hell I'm going to transport this thing without it breaking and what I'm supposed to do with the 97% of the base where her feet aren't would be greatly appreciated.

Often the best way to transport large and awkward minis, is to magnetize them. Then you can move them around as parts.

I haven't seen how she goes together, so I don't know how good a candidate she is, but I've had great success with it in the past.

[cerealkiller195]

there is a thread in the "miniature showcase" sub forum that shows the miniature built but unpainted. It seems like the spirits rest in these "bowls" that lay on Lady J's hand. I figure you can put a magnet where the spirits connect

[nilus]

Also, tips on how the hell I'm going to transport this thing without it breaking and what I'm supposed to do with the 97% of the base where her feet aren't would be greatly appreciated.

She actually fits really well into my Malifaux bags pluck foam tray. Need to lay her on her back and slightly tilted.

As far as the rest of her base. You can always take the Warhammer approach and do lots and lots of skulls

[FearLord]

As far as the rest of her base. You can always take the Warhammer approach and do lots and lots of skulls

Balance for the balance God?!

[Talos]

I have been looking at the Guild avatars and I am slowly being won over my Lady J's it just looks like it would be really fun to play.

But can someone explain her spell Restore Equilibrium I dont really understand the text.

I painted Lady J's box set nearly a year ago and I still have never used her so looking forward to actually playing her once I get the avatar painted up.

[Wodschow]

But can someone explain her spell Restore Equilibrium I dont really understand the text.

It's like Perditas Spellbreaker on everything within 10".

Tokens include Blight, Poison and Burning.

Exactly wat constitues an effect is still being discussed.. But just think of it as any buff/debuff imaginable and you won't be far off.

So it's sort of a double edged sword as it removes good stuff aswell as bad stuff from both your own models aswell as the opponents.. Very circumstancial, especially with the high AP cost.

Much like Fate, the Great Leveler - you have to weigh the pros and cons of casting them, which is perfectly in line with the Avatar of Balance, nay?

[Vlad the Mad]

I've had a few days to look at Book 3 now, and here's my first impression of LadyJ (pure Theoryfaux).

Although she always was a melee orientated master with a small level of crew support present, the latter has been enhanced at the cost of the former. By losing Sword Style and -1 Cb, her damage capacity drops somewhat, although this is partially mitigated if one uses In Pursuit. She still can deal out a lot of damage with her Greatsword + Critical Strike, and should not be considered an avatar one needs to hold back - Melee Expert should preferably not be wasted. Her pistols are gone, and she has no ranged offensive capacity bar her spells.

Her defense remains the same, and she gets Hard to Kill on top of it. Although the "nuclear deterrent" that is Riposte is gone, with Reposition Foe and In Pursuit properly used she's arguably more resilient than before. Still not enough to actually call her actually resilient, but certainly better than before. On the other hand, Ht3 and a 50mm base is not really helping...

Mobility has been commented on before, and as someone has already mentioned, due to In Pursuit being a push, you have an easy way out of melee should it get to hot. However, as you have to move towards an enemy model, you opponent might influence your possible movement paths by placing his models cleverly. Also, being an (0) action, you might want to use one of the other two (0) actions instead, based on the situation. Still, I get the feeling she's actually more mobile than before.

Her spells are very varied and give you a tool for almost any circumstance. Yet, all of the spells except Blind Justice need an extra suit, and to make things even more "interesting", she used all the suits except Rams. As most of them have a resist as well, high cards are preferred. This is IMO her biggest weakness, and probably the reason why Fate, the Great Leveler is a (0) action spell. As none of her spells have the ranged mark, I have a feeling she's a caster & supporter Avatar that wants to be in or very close to melee combat.

Last but not least, her Mark of Balance. More than any other Avatar (just had a short glance at them all), she seems to influence your crew hiring decisions. Taking Witchling Stalkers is all good and fine, but their high Cb and Df might actually turn out to be weakness rather than a strength. You might want to hire a good balance of minions with low Cb and low Df, as depending on whether Ram or Crow is up, they are going to cause a lot more trouble for you enemies. Finding the proper mix here is probably going to be very important to mastering the Avatar of Balance. Also, her spell Even the Odds works much better with minions with many wounds (Guardian anyone?), as she'll be able to inflict more Dg on enemy models.

Those are my first impressions, but I'd like to hear from you what you think are the best minion choices to make use of the Mark of Balance.

Also, as mentioned above, I think the Guardian is great with her, as before the manifestation he can cast Protect on her to make sure she gets those requirements done without getting killed, and after the manifestation all those wounds he sustained can be "transferred" to enemy models via Even the Odds. Keeping him alive at just the right number of wounds sounds a bit tricky, but I believe it is a viable "combo".

[Vlad the Mad]

Those are my first impressions, but I'd like to hear from you what you think are the best minion choices to make use of the Mark of Balance.

Sorry to bump this up, but I'd really like to hear what others think about this, it doesn't matter if it's experience or Theoryfaux.