New Player with Leveticus Questions

[FilthyRich]

Hello, I'm new to Malifaux (one game under my belt with Zoraida) and I find myself wanting to pick up Leveticus. I realize he is a difficult Master to play and to learn with but he and Zoraida are the two Masters that most interest me. So, I've come here with a few questions.

I've read a number of the "New to Leveticus, what should I buy" threads and I think there is a lot of information there outlining what a Leveticus player should go after when starting out. I don't want to retread old ground but I do have a few questions regarding the number of models to get.

I plan on buying:

Leveticus Box Set

Blister of Hollow Waifs

Blister of Steampunk Abominations

Desolation Engine

Blister of Necropunks

Killjoy

Canine Remains

Is one additional blister of SPAs enough (6 total models)? How many SPAs are normally generated in a 35 pt game? Also, is one Desolation Engine enough? Do enough SPAs get generated throughout an encounter to bring up a second Desolation Engine? Are two Desolation Engines overkill?

Due to what appears to be a raging Malifaux addiction I already have an additional set of models that can be fielded with Leveticus:

Collodi Box Set

Wicked Dolls

Jack Daw

The Hanged

Rotten Belles

Crooked Men

I guess my next question is what else/next? I've seen Ryle suggested with varying amounts of success. I've seen the Dead and Hooded Riders suggested (which I'll probably hold out on for initially out of symapthy for my wallet). I've also seen the Ramos spider constructs mentioned as well. Are the Riders the best next purchases? Obviously, when Ashes and Dust is released that will be the next "must have" purchase, but for models out now does anyone have any advice and/or favorites?

Thanks in advance for any and all pieces of advice and suggestions.

[Scurry]

the riders will be almost essential for levi once his avatar comes out. at the moment i tend to use one of them in a game as a fast hard to kill model (usually hooded since alot of my opponents like to shoot).

i think 6 spas should be enough depending on who you play same with the deso engine

i personally dont like ryle (prefer alyce and have seen him die too easily) but he does drop 3 scrap counters when he dies so that is 3 more spas

other than that you seem to have a lot of the more popular/usefull models already

[karn987]

Think SPA's should be fine, I rarely get more then that onto the table unless I'm focusing my list on generating them. As for Desolation Engines... 1 is generally enough, but I have had games where I've had 2 on the table at once. Though again, this was a list focused around generating lots of them and pushing Ashes and Dust to be his best.

Ryle is really hit or miss. He's very good on paper but has trouble when he is actually in the game. There are a few reasons for this but not the time or place to get into them. Simply, if you like Alyce more use her. She is very effective and is the standard model for Levy, it's Ryle who is the usual swap in for her when you want. But basically... you can't go wrong with Alyce, she can be quite a beast.

As for the Riders... well look at it this way.. .you will own all 4 of them eventually if you plan on playing A. Levy. They are some of the stronger minions in the game and while they don't have much dirrect synergy with Leveticus, they do have 1 powerful one... the ability to kick imense amounts of ass. You'll find something useful from each of the Riders and the hard part will be what Rider to bring really. Or do what i do and just bring all of them at once.

Start with the Hooded Rider though, over all his Night ability makes him invaluable vs the guild and some Arcanists lists.

The Ramos Spider swarms are very nice, and can hit amazingly hard for what they are. They are also a good answer for some of the hardest to kill masters in the game because they can pull reactivate shinanigans with Alyce and then self-destruct at the end of it. Never knock the impact of AE damage, even as little as each spider does alone, it adds up.

Otherwise you have all my favorites and usual recomendations. I don't like using the remains for the 2nd Waif trick, personally I don't believe it's needed. But some people swear by it so there is certain truth to it, especially against very fast crews like Colette and Collodi. Otherwise I love playing his vanilla crew and the Riders so I tend not to stray to far from them. Necropunks are my usual objective grabbers and otherwise you've got all the power you really need.

Though when he finally comes out... Lazarus from Book 3 will pretty much occupy a constant spot in most of my lists. :rocketwho

[TheBugKing]

Two other additions that I find invaluable are Jack Daw (His ability to prevent cheating and soulstone use makes some of Leveticus' spells auto kills) and Bette Noir.

Betty is a bit of a case by case basis, but against predominantly living crews she can be counted upon to completely remove one model from the game with sever spine.

That and she is such a pain to kill.

[FilthyRich]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions, they've been very informative. I'm going to stick with the 6 SPAs and 1 Desolation Engine for the start and play some games to gauge when to add more. There's always time to add more later!

Scurry and Karn, you've convinced me to give the riders another look and I'm going to dig a little deeper into the wallet to get a Hooded Rider to start with. I'll keep the Dead Rider on my "soon" list.

I do have another question, how many soulstones would you recommend to leave in the cache? What is a good amount to shoot for? In other threads I've seen the following as a popular list:

Leveticus (2 Cache)

Alyce

SPA x 4

Ashes and Dust

I'm probably going to hold off on proxy'ing Ashes and Dust to begin with as I have plenty of other options to field and learn at this early stage of my Malifaux career.

Would a decent starting list be something like:

Leveticus (4 or 1 cache)

Alyce

SPA x 4

Hooded Rider

Necropunk (x 2?)

I've also seen the Killjoy + Necropunk combo mentioned leaving a 1 cache in the "standard" list. Obviously, these need to be tailored to the Strategy and Schemes, but I was just hunting for options and from some of the lists that I've seen, it seems that Leveticus isn't that SS hungry?

When fielding more than one Rider, what is recommended to commonly leave off the field in its place? And from what Karn said, an all Rider + Leve list is effective prior to A. Leveticus release (and I think only two of the Riders are out so far still)? I need to read about A. Leveticus it seems.

Thanks again for all the help!

Edit: Okay hunted out some of the A. Leveticus info. And now I see why I'll want to invest in all the riders, way cool.

Edited August 30, 2011 by FilthyRich

[infernosolarc]

I would favor the Watcher over Necropunks, personally. Fly 7, instead of Leap. Lots of utility. Slow to Die. And it leaves Scrap for SPA's instead of Corpse counters.

[CannibalBob]

I need to read about A. Leveticus it seems.

aLeviticus is built entirely around riders. It is not so much that he wants them, but rather that he needs them to function. His death-rebirth cycle is tied to riders and no longer to Hollow Waifs - so if you want him to have the ability to resurrect himself he has to have at least one rider on the table.

He also has a number of abilities that key off of riders. He himself is even mounted and he has a rule called "the fifth rider". He gains abilities based off of what riders are currently on the table (he gains different abilities for each different rider). He also has the capability to summon a rider once per game.

Basically you need at least one rider model to play with aLeviticus - although you will probably want all 4 for more options.

He still has his nasty mechanical arm attack along with the trigger that lets him discard cards for , however he no longer has the :crows suit built into his cb. However, one of the riders gives him that :crows on his cb as long as it is on the table (Dead Rider or Pale Rider I think). Since he loses most of his attack spells, but keeps his melee and gains speed I think if nothing else you will want that particular rider.

Edited August 31, 2011 by CannibalBob

[Necromorph]

Riders will be awesome with him, and I would plan on buying all 4 at some point (I know I will!).

Ryle hasn't done squat for me, but the new Lazarus model from book 3 seems to be a much better ranged construct for him if you're going for shootiness with Levi and Alyce.

I still need to buy more SPA's but 6 should be OK unless you plan on running Ashes and Dust in which case I'd have at least 8.

Other than that, you seem to have a pretty solid group of models for Levi.