Generalist Crew?

[Yuanti]

I am just getting into Malifaux and I've always loved playing the "generalist" teams (humans/elves in BB, space wolves/GK in 40k) that have a little bit of everything available.

I'm not looking for the overpowered crew, just the crew that has melee options, ranged options, and spell options. It seems to be that Sonnia might be the crew, but I just have the bare bones rules book and a rasputina/ophelia crew to learn the game with so I'm not sure of her crew's melee options.

Marcus also seemed like a likely choice, but I don't know that he has really any ranged options.

I'm going to be posting this in Guild page as well as I like the look of some the crews there. Thanks in advance for the advice.

[El Indio]

One interesting thing about Malifaux is that, with armies being so small and mercenary options so plentiful, you can really tweak your force in many different directions. For instance, Ramos is a support caster and spell-slinger, whose armies tend to be more melee-oriented, although he has a good ranged attack in Electrical Fire. But add a Convict Gunslinger to the mix, and suddenly his army's got a more generalist feel.

As for Marcus, he can be something of a jack(rabbit) of all trades, with his Wild Heart spell. He can get buffs to speed, damage, defense, accuracy -- but the Beasts that he prefers don't have much by way of ranged power. They can have a lot of speed, though.

Rasputina may be your best bet, actually. She's an offensive magical powerhouse who can make the most of the various ice spirits and constructs, which tend to be melee-oriented. The December Acolytes are great harriers, with a very long (for Malifaux) 12" range on their harpoon guns.

Finally, come October/November, Arcanists will have a great splashable ranged option. The Gunsmith is amazingly versatile, kind of like a Convict Gunslinger who trades some raw damage for specialist options and mid-game punch (as well as, one hopes, a cringe-inducing model for something far cooler). He'll fill a lot of holes in my current lists.

[the imp]

I can really only speak with any authority regarding Rasputina. With the options available to her from book two, I think she makes a fine generalist. Her crew suffers a little on mobility, but all of the constructs have a ranged attack and armor, which helps them survive. The Silent Ones provide some additional support as does the option to take a gunslinger or gunsmiths.

One of the things I think it helps to wrap your head around is that the entire faction and all of the mercenaries are at your disposal. When you choose to play Arcanists, you're really playing all four masters; even if you choose to only collect minions related to one of them. Need more speed? Look at the beasts that usually end up in Marcus's crew. More firepower? Add some exploding spiders or a gun smith. Need a melée monster? Get a corphee duet.

My Cult of December collection is almost fully painted and I'm leaning towards adding Marcus and The Order of the Chimera next.

[Yuanti]

Thanks guys. I really like Raspies units from their looks (especially the silent ones and acolytes). It is helpful to know that you can add the options to her crew to help her deal with things. How do her Ice Gamin's stack up versus the Witchlings and Death Marshalls? They are all the same points and the guild units seems to be a lot better statwise all around.

Finally, is Sonnia a really hard matchup for Rasputina or is her counterspell something she can deal with?

[El Indio]

I'm still fairly new to this game, too, so take this with a grain of de-icing salt, but advantages and disadvantages of a piece depend on where one looks.

The Gamin is Ht1, while the other two are Ht2, so they can hide completely behind terrain features that might only give cover to the Marshal and Stalker. It has a zoned damage buff, like the Marshal does, but the Gamin's is a (0) action that always goes off, with a wider area and no reliance on suits (and a wider range of targets), while the Marshal's is a spell that costs an AP. The Gamin has a higher Charge move than the Guild models, so it can hit harder, faster. It has Armor, which makes its wounds last longer and its cover work better. It is immune to Morale Duels, so you can always rely on it in even the most terrifying situations, and Statue allows it to function as a little roadblock.

Most importantly, the Gamin is a cheap Ice Mirror target for Rasputina. Anyone who has played Warmachine and encountered a Cryx Arc Node swarm knows the tactical value of extended attack vectors.

I guess it all boils down to what you value most, and what you prioritize. Each of these pieces is a workhorse for its respective Master, as well as some cross-play value with other Masters (Ramos can appreciate the Gamin, for example). The Guild models are the more obvious damage-dealers, but that's because they're Guild. But the Gamins have some nasty tricks: run one into a pack of Finish The Jobbing Death Marshals and see how they like an explosion of ice shards to the face.

[Math Mathonwy]

The December Acolytes are great harriers, with a very long (for Malifaux) 12" range on their harpoon guns.

The common wisdom on the forums seems to be that they suck immensely.

[the imp]

The common wisdom on the forums seems to be that they suck immensely.

I disagree with that somewhat. Acolytes serve a very specific purpose and outside of that they are indeed worthless, but given the nature of Malifaux, I think that makes them very well designed. I typically use acolytes to capture objectives in early game and to act as speed bumps. They might be a skosh overpriced to be a throw away unit, but I have found them to be very useful in the right scenario.

[G&TBoy]

+1 I think the Acolytes are decent not amazing but filled a hole in a pure December force prior to the book two additions. True there are now minions I would take before them at 35 stone games but when playing a larger game I think they have there use's.

[ratch]

personally Ramos can make a good Generalist, and with the new additions here in a month his potential to win greatly increases. right now he is pretty gimped unless you stay away from anything fluff or obvious lol. at least thats what i was told. however, i enjoy my fluffy characters. Which is what i love the most about the next releases. i can still play Fluff with Ramos and have some compitition to boot.

Ramos

BA/Toolkit

x2 LSA

x2 Miners

Alyce

30SS

Gunsmith

to bring me to the 35SS mark. depending on the GS price i may swap a Miner or LSA to include the GS in 30ss lists. however the GS is one of the ones i am vague on their descriptions.

the list has a decent "Generalist" feel, you have some good Melee, plus a couple ranged units and a decent support caster. throw in aRamos to get that bigger boost and BAM you can have more punch and from what i understand the ability to spawn LSAs xD and once i have the models from the new releases its time to expand to Raspie =] who was one of my 3 orignal choices for masters when i started this.

[swordsman82]

For a generalist crew that has everything i would lean toward Raspy. She has ranged in her spells, and melee in her constructs. They are also in general tougher then most models (everything should have some type of armor in her lists).

As for fighting Sonnia is really a hard fight for Raspy to take on. She counters alot of what Raspy does best and melts her Constructs with ease. Best bet is to drain Sonnia's hand so she can't throw out counter spell, then have raspy blast away at here. Also targeting her army over her helps with this. If you play against Sonnia be ready for a hard fight.