Nico v Ramos.... Suggestions?

[Borzag]

Hey all,

So, our little group currently has an undefeated Ramos player. Keep in mind this is going up against Lady J and Pandora. PANDORA ffs.

So I've been asked to school Ramos.

Could be easier said than done. My main Resser master (and until the GenCon stuff arrives, my ONLY Resser master) is Nico, who I'm rather fond of. It's the top hat. Essentially it's a summon-off, and the Ramos player is the Australian distributor and had early access to the Toolbox.

Here's what I have to play with:

- Nicodem's box (Nico, Mortimer, 3 PZs)

- 4 Dead Doggies

- 3 Necrpunks

- 2 Vultures

- 1 Grave Spirit, aka the Partridge in the Pear Tree (YOU WERE ALL THINKING THIS)

- Speaking of trees... 2 Hanged

- Jack Daw

- Killjoy

- Bete Noir

- 3 Crooked Men

- 2 Belles (the 3rd one's still in pieces)

- 1 Flesh Construct

- 6 MZ's, 3 of them extra dapper thanks to the Hats & Guns set.

In the other corner we have.... most of the Arcanist line-up now that I think about it. Also, more than likely some board control (Most of the games have been on severe bayou terrain. I'm assured this is coincidence).

Any suggestions? I'd normally just run a raise list, but with that much Arachnid on the board I'm reluctant to try it as I won't have much time. Yes I can counter it with my own Arachnid, Float & Flight, but it could be tricky. Plus this would require Mortimer, and.... yeah I have not had much luck with Mortimer in the last year. And no, I can't take Rafkin, and unless my GenCon stuff arrives I probably can't take Seamus either.

Assuming a core strategy, does anyone have some good all-round ideas? If need be I can pick up extra items as, again, the opponent is the Australian distributor so it won't be an issue (I'm thinking Frankie #2). I've also been asked to put Ramos's head on a platter, so we can probably think of that as a Scheme on its own.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers!

Borzag (congrats on reading this far! Have a cookie.)

[FearLord]

What sort of size game are you talking?

Anything that ignores armour would be good for taking down Ramos (unless he uses the Guardian, which personally I would - in which case you'd really be better off ignoring him..)

[Borzag]

Good question.... At a guess 35, although some ideas for 25 would also be handy (in case it's box set equivalent + totems)

[Q'iq'el]

I'll write more when I get back home (unless you get enough input by then ), but I'd like to make a point about terrain.

If you play regular encounter rules and can actually choose your master depending on the terrain you draw, it's all OK. But if you plan to pitch one master against another, talk it through with him and remove the terrains putting one of the masters at serious disadvantage. It simply isn't fun and it doesn't work very well either.

[sephiroa]

try jack daw,

only ramos has spells,

i have ramos AND nico, ramos has its weaknesses, he kinda is like neverborn, glasscannon, the only problem is a gaurdian, if you have those, try ro ignore them, and go for his arachnids.

turn 1 ramos will be summoning, turn 2 maybe the same, and his minions will go forward, the only problem is that ramos his crew doesn't drop any corpse counters,

take him with power, not with numbers, jack daw, bete and 4 doggies to summon some PZ. ramos can handle a lot of spamming, crews like collidi and grmlins are funny, simply because if he puts an arachnid in melee, he can let them go boom, only to summon another one again,

his swarms will be the problem, when they scatter, make sure to bomb them with decay + it wil heal your undead,

ramos is weak, and strong when used properly, try something and tell us how it went

[Borzag]

Cheers for the quick replies guys

Quick question for everyone: thoughts on Necropunks v Dogs? I can get 3 punks for the cost of 4 dogs, yes I lose the extra corpse, but I gain a bit more mobility & survivabilty, and if Jack doesn't work I can get 2 of these guys on Ramos to slow him down a little.

[sephiroa]

dogs are good for corpses, and are fast, are good for destroy evidence.

necropunks, are fast as well, harder to kill and very good to give slow, i would go for necropunks.

jack will work, only ramos can do something against him, so avoid ramos, or cast severed ties when near him, it's annoying like hell,

[Borzag]

Whee, my GenCon stuff arrived!

This gives me a few more things to play with:

Drowned

Dead Doxie

Guild Autopsy

+1 Punk Samurai

+1 Crooked Man

Plus, of course, both flavous of Seamus, standard and Extra Bulky.

Now, assuming I don't use Seamus (having never used him, I'm not sure how I'd go), would anyone recommend running those on the day?

[Calmdown]

Do you have to school him with Nicodem? Ramos vs Nicodem is kind of like two people with no arms having a game of Tennis.

Anyway.

The thing Ramos really hates is people getting in his face. This does two things; it stops him being as effective an attacker, and it ties him down so he cant get near his corpse counters. The ideal situation here is to get him into combat as soon as possible and then make sure he stays there, which limits the range at which his Arachnids and other constructs can die and still be a resource on the ground. Ramos may be a good summoner, but Nico is a better one. Also remember that you should have a card advantage thanks to summons. If you can summon stuff over and over into Ramos' face to hold him in place whilst also doing damage to him, then you're golden.

The thing here is that it's really more about how you play than what list you take, as the list will look pretty standard. Consider Punk Zombies, Belles (remember - you can use Belles to pull Nico forward), a Vulture, and dogs (both for corpses, and for killing SPAs, since a Nico-buffed doggie will beat up an SPA). Consider Bete (because Ramos has a hard time hitting Df 7 in melee, much less Df 9). Expect to summon your Flesh Construct.

GL!

[Q'iq'el]

I'd also think Bête paralyzing Ramos would be extremely annoying for him. Especially that he can pop out of sacrifice effect, so she can use his Swarm together and Scatter to appear on the board.

[Fetid Strumpet]

Ramos is a construct isn't he? That means he's non living and therefore Bete can't paralyze him.

[Q'iq'el]

Ramos is a construct isn't he? That means he's non living and therefore Bete can't paralyze him.

Ahh, you are right. I thought Perfect Machine goes around it but the wording is different. Yup, you are right.

I guess Nicodem has to do everything himself.

[Cornelious1424]

Bette is still awesome for Slit Jugular or in this case "Cut Wire" (red wire, blue wire, red wire....). Making your opponent discard cards/soul stones or kill target model, can be a head ache.