Thinking about McMourning...

[edonil]

So, I'm considering picking up McMourning, and was curious where to start. I currently have Kirai and Seamus, and a lot of Resser stuff in general, so I luckily don't have a lot I'd need to pick up, but I don't really know where to start for looking at what to do with him. Anyone got any advice?

As a couple of specific questions, I'd like to know if the Canine Remains lists that I keep seeing are the best way to run him? And is Bete Noire a good choice with him?

One other thing I was curious about, has anyone tried running him with a Necrotic Machine? It seems like a good idea to turn him into Undead against anyone but Lady J...

[fritz the cat]

I definately dont think a "list" of canine remains is a good plan, I put 2 in my lists and usually spend a couple AP between his totem and him harvesting during the first turn just for parts to use later for fast, bad transplant etc. I figure with his high cash, I can afford to spend 2-4 ss for fuel. I definately wouldnt bring them by the truckload though

[osoi]

Unfortuantely you cant turn masters undead with the necrotic machine.

I tend to run McMourning with 2-6 Canines depending on what my strats are, using them to deliver Bete Noir works nicely but dont get hung up on using loads of dogs. I would look at trying to take 1-2 back up heavy hitters into the game with you otherwise McMourning will be left trying to do all the heavy liftig and while he can do it he cant be everywhere, he likes starting with a tank model too so depending on how much you are willing to spend on your tank / encounter size grave spirit + Flesh Construct or Grave Spirit + Dead Rider work well

[SoulG]

Dead Rider and at least one Rotten Belle. DR makes an excellent McMourning Delivery System, and a Belle can draw him back out of melee afterwards. You can strike basically anyone the enemy sends forward this way turn 1.

I usually get by with only one, MAYBE two sacrificial Canine Remains. After that, McMourning is more than capable of getting body parts from his enemies.

You'll need objective runners (Night Terrors/Necropunks) too.

[huntroll]

Dead Rider and at least one Rotten Belle. DR makes an excellent McMourning Delivery System, and a Belle can draw him back out of melee afterwards. You can strike basically anyone the enemy sends forward this way turn 1.

I usually get by with only one, MAYBE two sacrificial Canine Remains. After that, McMourning is more than capable of getting body parts from his enemies.

You'll need objective runners (Night Terrors/Necropunks) too.

This, although I don't own the Dead Rider, my friend who also plays McM has great success with him. I almost always take two Belles with him, because they have amazing synergy with him.

I used to take 2-4 dogs + his totem back in the days when you could get 6 counters from them and the Chihuahua could get you another 2 in every turn, but now that it got cuddled, I usually only take 1 Canine and the Chihua, kill the Canine on turn 1 for 3 counters and sac' the totem for another 3 after it casts Wracked with Pain on itself. Thats 6-7 Body Parts, enough to summon a Flesh Construct on turn one, or keep them until you can get some from enemies (or dead friendlies), move McM close to something which already activated that turn, and summoning a Rogue Necromancy in its face.

(In my experience, the Rogue Necromancy is a bullet magnet and goes down pretty easily with the focus it usually gets, so you should already summon it into melee with something it could hurt to get the maximum for 8 Body Parts.)

Also, with his SS cache of 6, Henchmen are REALLY good with him. Both Molly and VS has Slow to Die, which makes them much better for taking Bodyguard than McM, and both of them plays well with the good doctor.

VS adds a really tough heavy hitter with great mobility and range to your crew, who could also help you against Terrifying models (one of McM's biggest weaknesses), while Molly can give +3 to his Wk (which makes his already good threat range insane), debuff enemies or dish out even more Wracked with Pains/Dissections. I haven't tried her yet tbh, but she seems a good addition to his crew, if you don't need more asskickery with VS or you want to hire normal Mercenaries/summon a Rogue Necromancy (which is according to the current ruling not possible while you have Von Schill in play).

[SoulG]

My go-to list is

Ressurectionists Crew - 35 - Scrap

Dr. Douglas McMourning

--

7 Pool

Zombie Chihuahua [1ss]

Von Schill

[10ss]

Grave Spirit [1ss]

• Canine Remains
  [2ss]
  
  
• Dead Rider
  [10ss]
  
  
• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  

I tweak as necessary. If I need more objective runners I go Taelor instead and pick up another Night Terror. If I feel like summoning Rogue Necro instead of Flesh Constructs I'll go Jack Daw.

If It's McM + Another melee heavy hitter, I'll often launch that other heavy hitter first turn, move the canine remain up, and have McM Sling to the remains and move forward, so everything is in position for turn 2.

[fritz the cat]

My go-to list is

Ressurectionists Crew - 35 - Scrap

Dr. Douglas McMourning

--

7 Pool

Zombie Chihuahua [1ss]

Von Schill

[10ss]

Grave Spirit [1ss]

• Canine Remains
  [2ss]
  
  
• Dead Rider
  [10ss]
  
  
• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  

I tweak as necessary. If I need more objective runners I go Taelor instead and pick up another Night Terror. If I feel like summoning Rogue Necro instead of Flesh Constructs I'll go Jack Daw.

If It's McM + Another melee heavy hitter, I'll often launch that other heavy hitter first turn, move the canine remain up, and have McM Sling to the remains and move forward, so everything is in position for turn 2.

really, night terrors?

I use them to great effect with seamus, but i'd have thought the loss of corpse counters for mcmourning would be bad. Though... I suppose the advantage of night terrors over necropunks and crooligans is that they dont use the mask he wants to keep for triggers to get free melee hits off spells.. hrm, something to think about

[d_mun]

I had some great success with McMorning this past week. I've been experimenting for a couple of months and I'm pretty happy with this as my go-to list.

Ressurectionists Crew - 35 - Scrap

Dr. Douglas McMourning -- 8 Pool

Zombie Chihuahua [1ss]

Molly Squidpiddge [9ss]

Canine Remains [2ss]

Canine Remains [2ss]

Canine Remains [2ss]

Canine Remains [2ss]

Crooligan [4ss]

Crooligan [4ss]

Flesh Construct [7ss]

It lets me get enough bp counters for the rouge necro first turn or the flesh construct. The Crooligans are my objective grabbers, and they are arguable for Necropunks and Night Terrors. I think it's a flavor to taste aspect, since I really like the bonus to McMorning though when he's in their fog, their mobility, defensive trigger and I've been taking Molly anyway.

Molly has been really good. Imbue Vigor makes my flesh construct fly across the table, easily keeping up with the Doc. The Shocking Truth gives some control abilities and Terrible Secret is a death sentence for any model. When I get the Necrotic Machine I'll probably switch out a Canine Remain so I get her spells further up field.

Hope this helps.

[SoulG]

really, night terrors?

I use them to great effect with seamus, but i'd have thought the loss of corpse counters for mcmourning would be bad. Though... I suppose the advantage of night terrors over necropunks and crooligans is that they dont use the mask he wants to keep for triggers to get free melee hits off spells.. hrm, something to think about

Night Terrors are more reliable than Necropunks and don't fight with McM for Masks. Really, after the Canine Remains and his totem I don't care about body parts. I get enough from the enemy. I usually summon two Flesh Constructs / maybe a RN instead of one per game. Going after a corpse counter and summoning take up 2 of McM's attacks--minimum--which are too precious in my opinion

I had some great success with McMorning this past week. I've been experimenting for a couple of months and I'm pretty happy with this as my go-to list.

Ressurectionists Crew - 35 - Scrap

Dr. Douglas McMourning -- 8 Pool

Zombie Chihuahua [1ss]

Molly Squidpiddge [9ss]

Canine Remains [2ss]

Canine Remains [2ss]

Canine Remains [2ss]

Canine Remains [2ss]

Crooligan [4ss]

Crooligan [4ss]

Flesh Construct [7ss]

It lets me get enough bp counters for the rouge necro first turn or the flesh construct. The Crooligans are my objective grabbers, and they are arguable for Necropunks and Night Terrors. I think it's a flavor to taste aspect, since I really like the bonus to McMorning though when he's in their fog, their mobility, defensive trigger and I've been taking Molly anyway.

Molly has been really good. Imbue Vigor makes my flesh construct fly across the table, easily keeping up with the Doc. The Shocking Truth gives some control abilities and Terrible Secret is a death sentence for any model. When I get the Necrotic Machine I'll probably switch out a Canine Remain so I get her spells further up field.

Hope this helps.

Use a Grave Spirit, not the NM (although buying one for later summoning isn't a terrible idea).

Crooligans don't give McM + Defense, although they do help against shooting. How have they been as objective grabbers?

Do you summon with McM every turn with this list?

[d_mun]

Sorry about that, I meant defense against ranged. For grabbing objectives they've been really great. They start up the field, get a speed boost when they start near Molly and can leap frog really far. Crooligan A is near Molly puts up it's fog and can then move 8" forward (+2 for Molly, +2 For being in the fog). Next gets placed in the fog, and then can move 6". So the leap frogging plus their From the Shadows ability they have a big head start to getting where they need to be.

For summoning I get something just about every turn. I usually activate McMorning last and try to summon something into mellee so even with Slow it gets to make an attack.

[brdparker]

I used to take 2-4 dogs + his totem back in the days when you could get 6 counters from them and the Chihuahua could get you another 2 in every turn, but now that it got cuddled, I usually only take 1 Canine and the Chihua, kill the Canine on turn 1 for 3 counters and sac' the totem for another 3 after it casts Wracked with Pain on itself.

Having now played 2 games with McM, I'm curious what the cuddle was. Is this the V2, or was there another errata on the forums about this?

[huntroll]

Having now played 2 games with McM, I'm curious what the cuddle was. Is this the V2, or was there another errata on the forums about this?

Its the V2.

If McM kills something with Dissection, it won't leave any counters and Get the Stick now doesn't produce 2 Body Parts from nothing.

Before V2 you could gain 8 Body Parts on turn 1 by simply killing a Canine with Wracked with Pain + Dissection and using Get the Stick twice with his Totem.

It was really a bit over the top, but there are Masters much worse than McMourning who have mostly avoided the cuddle bat from Book 2 (I'm looking at you Dreamer and Hamelin), so I don't see why it was so necessary.

[brdparker]

Ah, I see. So I've been playing correctly then. Good to hear.

[tadaka]

It was never ment to make bp from thin air. There was 2 ways to read the card. They changed the wording to be clear.

[Organ Bank]

I try to do this:

2 dogs, MCM and Chihuahua.

1) MCM hits dog 1 with wracked with pain: +1 BP

2) Scalpel sling the same dog, killing it: +1 BP

3) Pick up the corpse counter it leaves: +2 BP

4) Dissection on 2nd dog, cheat to mod damage: +3 BP

5) Sac Chihuahua: +2 BP

6) Use 1 BP for Fast and move

= 8 BP

I may be doing this wrong though...

[Stonedog-7]

I try to do this:

2 dogs, MCM and Chihuahua.

1) MCM hits dog 1 with wracked with pain: +1 BP

2) Scalpel sling the same dog, killing it: +1 BP

3) Pick up the corpse counter it leaves: +2 BP

4) Dissection on 2nd dog, cheat to mod damage: +3 BP

5) Sac Chihuahua: +2 BP

6) Use 1 BP for Fast and move

= 8 BP

I may be doing this wrong though...

I'd do the following

1) Chihuahua Wracks with pain on canine +1BP

2) McMourning in melee range of Chihuahua - Wracks with pain it cheating to get Scalpel Magic trigger +2BP (1 from Wrack, 1 from melee swing)

3) Pick up corpse counter and change it (also picking up the BP the chihuahua had) +2BP

4) kill wounded dog with melee attack +1BP

5) Pick up second canine corpse and change it +2BP

only need 1 dog & totem that way

[Shank Seamus!]

Why would you take grave spirit with von schill? It doesn't improve his armour because he's not undead...

[fritz the cat]

Why would you take grave spirit with von schill? It doesn't improve his armour because he's not undead...

use it to buff other things? that way can have both grave spirit for the armor goodness, and chihuahua

for its.. um... doggy goodness?

[SoulG]

It's for adding +2 Armor to Dead Rider. And my Go-To list is now, officially:

Ressurectionists Crew - 35 - Scrap

Dr. Douglas McMourning

--

7 Pool

Zombie Chihuahua [1ss]

Von Schill

[10ss]

Grave Spirit [1ss]

• Dead Rider
  [10ss]
  
  
• The Drowned
  [4ss]
  
  
• The Drowned
  [4ss]
  
  
• The Drowned
  [4ss]
  
  

Edit Von Schill if necessary and edit Drowned if I need something faster.

[JuJubee]

If you start with the dogs in range on McM then you dont need the Scaple Sling and you can get a flesh construct first turn

[SoulG]

You Scalpel Sling to move McM 7" up the field.

[JuJubee]

I understand moving him but at the same time if he gets too close too early bad things happen. If I can I try to do his big move turn 2 or 3 and get him into combat.

[fritz the cat]

I understand moving him but at the same time if he gets too close too early bad things happen. If I can I try to do his big move turn 2 or 3 and get him into combat.

true, but one of the big disadvantages of the corpse factory build is that for the first few turns you spend it all in your deployment zone. Having that first turn move, and being able to use your disposal pieces to out activate the opponent can help mitigate that weakness to some extent

[JuJubee]

It all comes down to situation. If you're against someone slow its fine but someone who is gonna cross the board might not be the smartest idea. When I'm against gremlins I don't like to get into their shooting range too quickly. Also the dead rider can help compensate for shorting his move.

[SoulG]

Everything in context! And the whole "Too far up the field" thing is why you include a Dead Rider and/or Rotten Belles. After he's done, they pull him out. Assuming there's enough of the opponent's stuff still alive that it matters. I will admit that it is a -bad idea- against masters that can alpha strike (Ortegas, Colette).

Otherwise, if you out-activate them? You can actually throw McM in there at the end of the turn. Next turn activate him after he has some damage to kill stuff / heal it back, and then pull him out.