New (Nicodem) player requiring assistance.

[DarkFather69]

Hi all;

I have just recently gotten into Malifaux and have started my experience with the Nicodem box set. Four games only, under my belt so far with 2x Draws and 2x Losses.

Well tonight (just moments ago actually), most of my order that I placed had arrived. I have a game organised for tomorrow morning at the LGS and was wondering if I could get some assistance on building a list? Below is a complete list of what I own, and the game is set to be a 25 pointer against (possibly either) Pandora and/or Collodi (If opponent uses both then Collodi will be a henchman).

What I own:

Nicodem Box Set

McMourning Box Set

Seamus Box set

2x The Hanged

Grave Spirit

Killjoy

3x Crooked Men

6x Mindless Zombies

2x Vultures

2x Canine Remains

I would like to stick with Nicodem as my Master for the crew. Could anyone provide me any assistance pls?

Cheers

DF

Edited November 11, 2011 by DarkFather69
spelling error

[fritz the cat]

its really going to depend on your strategies and schemes. Do you have a pre planned strategy? If not... I suggest going to the wiki tactica http://www.pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com and looking up the nicodem entry

[AdrianMills]

I would start with something like

Nicodem, The Undertaker -- 7 Pool

1 Vulture

Mortimer, The Gravedigger

Crooked Man

Crooked Man

Crooked Man

Crooked Men give you blasts and shafted counters which could really mess with Pandora's push shennigans. Then summon what else you need based on your stragties and schemes. Never faced Pandora yet so this is best guess

[Ratty]

I'm a big fan of Hanged against Pandora, Wp7 means they have fairly good defence and chance of hitting her, and if you can get a single strike on her then she at on all her incites, pacifies and most importantly to stop any strikes targeting her.. Blasts are also good. Not to mention spamming Decay on a model next to her, Necropunks might be worth a go as they can jump to her and then you can fire Decays onto them.

[SoulG]

A nice starting point is

Ressurectionists Crew - 25 - Scrap

Nicodem, The Undertaker

--

6 Pool

Grave Spirit [1ss]

• Canine Remains
  [2ss]
  
  
• Canine Remains
  [2ss]
  
  
• Punk Zombie
  [5ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  
• The Hanged
  [8ss]
  
  

Flavor to taste/strategy. Consider two or three Crooked Men instead of the Punk Zombie / Belle. The Hanged is amazing against Pandora. The Canine Remains can go off and complete objectives, only to become bigger stuff when they die. Alternatively, send the Canine Remains forward and bounce Decays off of them.

Also, seriously consider Seamus instead of Nicodem--especially if you go the Crooked Men rout. His Trail of Fear really hurts Pandora, especially with a Hanged in play.

I'm less familiar with Collodi, but blasts really seem like the way to go on paper. Beware Stiched Together.

[ravenborne]

Nicodem is a really solid Rezzer master against both NB Masters. The trouble is the crews should really vary based on which one you are facing. A couple of tips:

Collodi is going to outmaneuver you and get in some version of an alpha strike, so be prepared. Draw him in and try to get as many puppets as you can in a bunch by placing your models well. The puppets will kill a few models, then you need to wait till the very end and summon Punk Zombies (don't start with them in this fight). Once you bring them place them so that Slice and Dice reaches as many puppets as you can. You will slaughter a lot of dolls if you are patient and draw him in this way. Also take bells to help pull the dolls into place. I won a tournament game this way in this exact matchup.

Vs Pandora, Hanged are great. Two are actually worth it. Also crooked men are good with their 6 wp, and they can place shafted markers around which can mess up pandoras board control with her pushes.

The trouble is not knowing which you will face, but if you start with lots of cheap stuff, you can summon the ones you need, the hanged being the exception. Maybe include one if you only know the faction is NB, the NB players seem to dislike them. And if you take a grave spirit and link him to the hanged it's obnoxious.

Edited November 12, 2011 by ravenborne
Grammar

[DarkFather69]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I read through everything and settled on...

Nicodem

1x Vulture

2x Canine Remains

1x Crooked Man

Mortimer

1x Nurse

Long story short - I was defeated on the 6th turn. Lost initiative and had a terrible control hand (no card over 6).

Things I realised and noticed from this game...

Nurse: Good for buffing the dogs early on, then after that... pretty much useless (Pandora team had only 1 'ranged' attack and Nico was never Melee'd).

Canine Remains: Awesome, under 'speed' and pumped on stimulants. Caused quick damage on 2 Sorrows (both linked to Baby Kade), then died and left me 2 nicely placed Corpse Tokens.

Crooked Man: Wow, just wow. Really got to get all 3 into play at some time.

Vulture: Meh. Did it's job ok. Gathered Counters for me and all, which was good. Never had a chance to Eyes & Ears it or anything else.

Nico & Mortimer: Meh.

Really wished I had a Rogue Necromancy at one point, but that'll be here soon, I hope.

All in all, I had a great game. Can't wait to play someone/anyone tomorrow. Gotta go through my list of owned minis and work out what I have that combines really well.

MVP for me was Crooked Men. Damn they were cool.

Cheers

DF

[DarkFather69]

Seems I am up for another Pandora game this Wedensday, different player. His list will most likely be...

Pandora

3x Sorrow

Baby Kade

Candy

may or may not include Primordial Magic

I have changed my starting line-up to the following...

25 points:

Nicodem

Grave Spirit

Mortimer, The Gravedigger

Flesh Construct

Canine Remains

The Hanged

25 points, 3 SS Cache, and no Schemes (players have agreed to hold off using Schemes while we get more used to the basic rules), so a further 4 SS for not implementing schemes.

Activation Phase 1 - Plan:

1) a)Mortimer attempts to Exhume, then either moves or attempts Fresh Meat if enemy model in range. Zombie Companion targetting Grave Spirit.

1) b)Grave Spirit Links to Nicodem and attempts to Magical Extension Nicodems Fog.

2) Nicodem moves attempts Reanimator summoning a Canine Remains. Will then Bolster Undead, move again, then attempt Fog. Grave Spirit will be moved to be in B2B with Nicodem.

3) The Hanged will move towards nearest enemy mini, then attempt Hangman's Knot if in Range - as set up for following activations)

4) Flesh Construct will either Move, Double Move (if I have a crappy card in control hand to discard), or triple move (if card is a Joker [black]) towards nearest enemy mini.

5) Canine Remains will keep pace with Flesh Construct.

6) As above.

Activation Phase 2: Will depend on outcome of Activation Phase 1, of course.

Thoughts, criticisms?

Cheers

DF

[fritz the cat]

Seems I am up for another Pandora game this Wedensday, different player. His list will most likely be...

Pandora

3x Sorrow

Baby Kade

Candy

may or may not include Primordial Magic

I have changed my starting line-up to the following...

25 points:

Nicodem

Grave Spirit

Mortimer, The Gravedigger

Flesh Construct

Canine Remains

The Hanged

25 points, 3 SS Cache, and no Schemes (players have agreed to hold off using Schemes while we get more used to the basic rules), so a further 4 SS for not implementing schemes.

Activation Phase 1 - Plan:

1) a)Mortimer attempts to Exhume, then either moves or attempts Fresh Meat if enemy model in range. Zombie Companion targetting Grave Spirit.

1) b)Grave Spirit Links to Nicodem and attempts to Magical Extension Nicodems Fog.

2) Nicodem moves attempts Reanimator summoning a Canine Remains. Will then Bolster Undead, move again, then attempt Fog. Grave Spirit will be moved to be in B2B with Nicodem.

3) The Hanged will move towards nearest enemy mini, then attempt Hangman's Knot if in Range - as set up for following activations)

4) Flesh Construct will either Move, Double Move (if I have a crappy card in control hand to discard), or triple move (if card is a Joker [black]) towards nearest enemy mini.

5) Canine Remains will keep pace with Flesh Construct.

6) As above.

Activation Phase 2: Will depend on outcome of Activation Phase 1, of course.

Thoughts, criticisms?

Cheers

DF

with the above list, Ive found great success linking the grave spirit to the flesh construct. He has a good chunk of wounds and hard to wound, but can get nickle and dimed very easily with his low defense. Personally, I'd almost prefer to link the flesh construct and just hide nico behind him. Also again a personal preference is that I really like to outnumber my opponent and you have 2x 7pt and an 8pt in a 25 point game. (not to say you have to load up on shmucks, but theres some quality choices at 4 points) Also this list is very very slow if you dont get off fresh meat which hurts in alot of strategies

take all this with a grain of salt though, as ive never faced pandora before

[SoulG]

There is a common trap to rezzers about having your first turn set up and NEEDING certain cards to pull it off. Kirai and Nicodem are the worst offenders. In your case, you need a mask and two crows (at least one of which being a 9+). Plan your turn out assuming you have a good hand and have a contingency that assumes you get nothing you need.

Why no Crooked Men after you sung their praises last game? They are wonderful for bouncing blasts off of Sorrows and it might lighten the number of 7+ pt models you have...

If you have the black joker in your hand, save it until the time is right. Just knowing you can't draw it may be enough, and you might need that fast later on.

That -said-. That is likely a new Pandora player using a box set (or box set + totems). You may want to consider just making it a box set game simply to be a good sport.

[Gruesome]

I would not burn the cards or soulstones casting reanimator to bring in a canine remains.

As mentioned above, if you were a big fan of Crooked men, they would give more utility. Punk Zombies are also fantastic with bolster. I am also trying to learn them better, but a crooligan might be fun. Also, later you mention wanting to use hangman's knot on the Hanged to draw someone closer. If thats the case, consider summoning a Belle instead of the dog. Lure has a greater range and with the belle's +4Ca bonus, has a better chance of success.

Basically, I think almost anything you could summon would be better than the dog.

Was the intention that the dog would be getting corpse counters back to nicodem that the flesh construct was killing?

[DarkFather69]

Was the intention that the dog would be getting corpse counters back to nicodem that the flesh construct was killing?

Yes that was the plan, also the Canine Remains have a Trigger that reduces defenders WP by -2 until games end. Pandora and her group are very WP heavy on their attacks, and so far I have seen that WP tests are pretty much her groups 'bread and butter' for dealing mass amounts of low wounds.

This leads me on to the using of the Flesh Construct (but I fear I have either misread, or read too much into, his ability).

Immune to Influence: Ignore effects that require the use of Wp when defending in a Duel.

Have I read too much into this ability? Am I correct in thinking that the Flesh Construct is pretty much immune to any effect of an attack that has Rst: Wp? For instance Project Emotions, or any of the other Rst: Wp abilities/spells/duels that a Pandora-led group constantly casts? Would this also work against Pandoras own ability of dealing a wound to a model within 12 inches if they fail a Wp duel? Again, I fear I have read way too much 'power' into this ability. If I have done so, then I will be taking a long hard look at the list I have proposed to use.

Cheers.

DF

[SoulG]

You are correct!

Sadly, Pandora strips that ability from all models within 12" automatically.

[DarkFather69]

You are correct!

Sadly, Pandora strips that ability from all models within 12" automatically.

Say what?! Looks up card... sigh. Well that changes that then... New list.

Nicodem

Grave Spirit

Mortimer, The Gravedigger

2x Canine Remains

Crooked Man

The Hanged

Try to exhume with Mort, Reanimate a Belle with Nico, Buff everyone with Nico, Use Belle &/or The Hanged to 'lure' someone if in range, attack with the canines.

Cheers

DF

[i_was_like_you]

As you seem to be a fan of the Hanged, maybe consider picking up Jack Daw as well. By actually running it in a Rezzer crew, you're less prone to the drawbacks that you'd face if you hired the Hanged through Jack's ability instead.

I've played against a Seamus crew with both Hanged and Jack Daw. It wasn't a fun match. I believe I only barely scraped by on VP due to Deliver a Message. As you're still not using Strategies and Schemes (which is a good move at first and I highly recommend it), you're limited to all out annihilation of your opponent's forces. Good combinations of ranged attacks, or spells that pull enemy models into your range, coupled with resilient models that can take as much of a beating as they can dish out will serve you well.

Although flavor-wise Mortimer is paired with Nicodem and Sebastian is paired with McMourning, there's nothing to stop you from running Sebastian as your dog factory while Nicodem brings in the better models.

Don't overlook using a pair of Vultures to extend Nicodem's range on spells. I've very nearly taken out McMourning turn one using Decay through Magical Extension and / or Eyes and Ears (as they were not engaged in melee). The only thing that had saved him was a lucky red joker flip from spending a soulstone for an extra card. Any number less, and I'd have finished him off. Spamming a spell may be cheap, but it's oh-so-effective when need be. Besides, nothing seems to break an opponent's morale more than losing their master that early in the game.

If you're still playing without terrain, paying attention to and being good at judging ranges is paramount (despite what may have been said about it not being an essential skill for Malifaux). Having an open field with just the Ht of models to provide any obstruction to LoS can be a terrifying game, indeed, especially when facing down models with long ranges (16"& 18" or the Pigapult's 24").

If you are using terrain, judging range is still important, but using the terrain to your advantage while making it work against your opponent is key. If your LGS doesn't have terrain or TerraClips, get creative with inexpensive items like cardboard or styrofoam. Any terrain is better than no terrain at all.

Edited November 14, 2011 by i_was_like_you

[DarkFather69]

Jack Daw - Check. Will add him to my next order.

I played my game this afternoon using the above minis. It was great. Crooked Men *big thumbs up*. The fear alone of their Cave In spell is enough to turn a players attention to them. That freed up my The Hanged and my summoned Rotten Belle to Lure in and Hangmans Knot a Sorrow to death in one round and in another to Lure in and Whisper From Beyond yet another Sorrow. In the end, Pandora was dropped by a Cave In, taking Severe damage from a 5 (3x Blast) damage flip. Boosted Canines took care (eventually) of Candy, and a summoned Flesh Construct working with a Lure'ing Rotten Belle, tag teamed Baby Kade to take him down.

When things work... DAMN!! This Nicodem group simply ate through the Pandora group. But I'm not silly. I know I was very lucky this game.

As to the above post...

Store has scenery (as do I at home). I actually have a dedicated gaming room with a 6'x4' tabletop and a 8'x4' Gaming Cabinet that I built, with help from the wife.

Estimating ranges is not a strong ability with me, but I do my best. Still getting my head around the idea of a 3'x3' gaming surface. Been playing on 4'x4' or 4'x6' for too long.

I am slowly looking into all the different possibilities with the minis I currently own, and can't wait for my next order of goodies to arrive.

Cheers for all the help/assistance guys/girls.

Cheers

DF

[i_was_like_you]

Glad to hear it went well. Seemed like a fairly well rounded list. Sounds like you rounded it out even more with the models you summoned. Yeah, when everything goes right, it can be amazing. Other games you wonder who took all the cards higher than six out of your deck. I watched a guy at one of our LGS get stuck with the black joker on important flips, three turns in a row.

Have you been using the Crew Creator that Ratty made?

http://malifaux.com/Crew.php

It's amazing for whipping up crew ideas. It's even very smart phone friendly. Got a new idea for a crew and don't wanna lose that idea, plug it into the creator, click text, copy paste it over onto a memo so you have it for later.

3'x3' is so limiting some times. We've worked on our crew until we think we've got it just right to handle anything. Then our opponent is playing a Speed Racer crew like Colette or Collodi, and they just achieved half of their VP in one turn. Great, just great. Oh, look, now they're eliminating any models we get near our objectives...

Power Ritual with Colette is an automatic 2 VP. Those Cories are just too fast. Taking Kill Protegee has proven to be a good way to balance that out, as Cassandra has died against me in every game I've played against Colette. Usually in the first few turns.

So far I've been fortunate enough not to have had to face down Collodi, but that time will come.

But I digress.

It's handy to have quite a few good crew builds ready for a range of opponents, strategies, and schemes. If you know you're facing a fast crew, consider having your own fast crew ready to go, or maybe one with enough staying power, which, with Nicodem, rezzing more models into the fight should offset our terrible losses early on.