Seamus Crew + Love the Fluff

[Go Canucks Go]

Hello, first post but I'm hooked on this game and the world of Malifaux. Funny I'm a Warhammer 40k guy then got into Warmachine and here I am now. I first purchased all the books and I'm currently hooked on reading all the fluff! Im on book 2 know (Rising Powers) and I have never been captured by such a world as Malifaux. So now that I'm obsessed with game I went out and bought a Neverborn Crew (Zoraida) and my Seamus Crew, here is what I currently have. Any Ideas and tactics, Models that would help me would be great. Trying to keep a theme going with the fluff, I'm more about the fun and keeping with Character. Congrats to the creators of Malifaux.

Seamus Avatar

Seamus Alternate

Copy Cat Killer

Grave Spirit

Rotten Belles x3

Crooked Men x3

The Hanged x2

Molly

Jack Daw

Necrotic Machine

Madame Sybelle

Desperate Mercanary x2

Convict Gunslinger

Edited March 21, 2012 by Go Canucks Go

[Valcurdra]

Welcome!

I highly recommend so dead doxy's once they are released as they look pretty powerful on paper.

http://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/

Has some great info and tips for new players. Best place to start.

Some personal advice I would add is try not to do everything at once. Use the same models a few times each to try and get used to them and them maybe branch out and slowly try new stuff.

I would start simple with 25ss games take Seamus+totem, sybelle, a few rotten belles. Upgrade to 35ss after a few games and add new units. Add molly and the avatar last as they are pretty complex.

[Kadeton]

Seamus' crew generally lacks a lot of hitting power, so you might want to look at the Dead Rider as well (he works great with the Grave Spirit).

[SoulG]

Lets see... I don't know how much $$ you're working with, but...

You are probably going to want Nicodem's Box Set (mostly for the Punk Zombies), possibly 2 packs of Canine Remains as well. This'll also set you up for the other rezzer masters. There's an old-school trick involving putting a Belle together with 2 dogs and/or a Punk Zombie. It's the ol' pull and stab.

A nice gimicky list that can actually do well involves a Nurse, McTavish, and Sue (utilizes Nurse's buffs w/ Shrug Off and Manifesting the Avatar) along with 2 Belles to keep your Nurse moving.

Von Schill, Dead Rider, and Grave Spirit are generally awesome Rezzer models you'll use a lot.

[rancor709]

+1 to soul g

I will add seamus was my first master andgiving him some minions with punch helps overtime you'll eant 2 packs of night terrors as well. Von schill deadrider and bete noire grave spirit in various combinations are the core of tournament nonkirai lists.

[Fetid Strumpet]

Welcome to Resser's. I'd agree with almost everything said on here about models to buy. I'd also recommend one more, you want another Resser master available to you. I'm not saying that because Seamus cannot win, he certainly can, and he is really up there for my favorite master in a fluff sense, but because his effectiveness drops exponentially if your opponent isn't using a significant amount of living models. You will want an option to use something different if you local meta get flooded by players using mostly non-living models, as most of the game is currently. Having the option will help make Seamus more fun in the long term, as you can break him out when effective, and put him away when things that don't get scared come around.

[SoulG]

Here's -the thing- with Seamus. You have speed 6 belles. That means you have speed 6", 2" Melee range models that can pull other models close to them. In other words, in Seamus Lists, you must focus on using your Belles as part objective runner part objective denier--that combination is the only thing that Seamus really brings to the table (aSeamus is a good melee beat-stick, though).

On crew composition, beware the tendency to Belle Spam. Sybelle + 3 Belles isn't a terrible thing in itself (I can't tell you how many times I've had Sybelle dive for an objective my opponent thought was safe and call a belle to claim it), but you need to spend those other 11-13ss on models that kill stuff.

Seamus (+Molly) allows for one of the few non-card-intensive ways for us to claim objectives in the center of the board activation 1.

When doing "A Line in the Sand" Belles can go from objective counter to objective counter easily.

Note that Belles under Seamus, even with Seamus and Molly, are not our best objective runner-Night Terrors are. You take Belles with Seamus because Lure can somehow deny your opponent a strategy and/or pull his models off of objectives you couldn't otherwise get. Otherwise, you take Night Terrors/The Drowned with McM or maybe Nico. Notably, I would almost never use Belles for Plant/Destroy Evidence.

For purposes of getting familiar with Seamus, staying mostly in theme, and getting used to the game, I'd recommend the following as a very general all-comer's list (note that all-comer's lists always hit a glass ceiling):

Ressurectionists Crew - 35 - Scrap

Seamus, The Mad-Hatter

--

6 Pool

+ Seamus, Avatar of Dread

[2ss]

Von Schill

[10ss]

Grave Spirit [1ss]

• Madame Sybelle
  [6ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  

Edited March 21, 2012 by SoulG

[Fetid Strumpet]

SoulG, I would very much dispute that Seamus is a good Melee beat stick, he really isn't. What he is good at is control. He is the best the ressers have in the control arena, given the right circumstances, he can totally shut down an opponents crew, especially if the models around you are not immune to morale duels. This won't happen very often, but it is something in his bag of tricks

In an ideal world you want to manifest Seamus in the middle of a cluster of enemy models, if you aren't facing something that will make Seamus miserable for dropping his WP, succumb to Darkness, and then use all your remaining 1 actions to use Bellowing of the Big Bastard. It's a 4" pulse that requires all models to take a 13 Morale duel. You want to do this because you want cards out of their hand, you want to force as many potential failures as you possibly can before a model gets a chance to activate in Seamus' Anathema aura. Everyone that fails, awesome, but it's equally good if you force them to get rid of cards from their hand, making it more likely they will fail when it comes to the harder WP duel from Terrifying. Also keep in mind Bellow is not a Terrifying duel, it is simply a morale duel, which is huge because it will affect non-living models. Undead, Spirits, and Constructs are the only models, I believe, that currently are immune to moral duels. This is huge because it will affect things like Nightmares and Soulless models as they are just non-living, and thus immune to Terrifying, they will still have to test for bellow.

The other advantage of Bellow has over a straight melee strike is that it has the potential to generate more strikes than one. Every model that fails will be attempting to beeline it away from Seamus as fast as their little legs will carry them, as soon as they reach the edge of Seamus' Melee range (3") he can make a disengaging strike on them... and remember aSeamus is Wicked. That means you will be doing dmg to them in addition to holding them in range of your Terrifying. Also remember that as they have failed a morale duel, and are falling back, so they get a negative twist to all their duels, making it more likely Seamus will hit them, and not have to cheat as often to make certain of it, or can take advantage of lower cards in his hand to spark triggers that either slow, paralyze, or trigger additional morale checks.

Properly set up and positioned, which is difficult to do, Seamus can totally obviate for the remainder of the game all models in his melee range. However, that being said, take one piece of advice to heart.

Never Manifest In Range of The Opponent's Beatstick.

The reason being that aSeamus is extremely Squishy. Even with Armor 2 Seamus' Def is only 3, and all the opponent has to do is pass one check, with his best melee model, to often put Seamus down for the count. Make certain when you start the game that you have a decent SS pool for Seamus, because he will need them.

[Go Canucks Go]

Thanks for all the comments guys, I was going to buy some Night Terrors but Heard that the Belles were that much better? Is Von Schill that good with Seamus?

[rancor709]

Von schill is awesome sauce. He's a death dealer with one of the best weapons ranges in the game. He has rocket boots, can't be held down in melee due to his rocket boots (augmented jump) he has nimble giving him an ap to use specifically 2 move every turn. Some excellent triggers that don't require a crow, and the best armor in the game. Did I mention his knife ignores armor.

[Fetid Strumpet]

It's not that he is particularly good with Seamus, its more due to the fact that he is honestly better than anything else the Ressers have access to.

[SoulG]

^ That.

Night Terrors are better objective grabbers, but if you're using Night Terrors, especially when you need to circle the board a few times. I'd use McMourning with them, though.

Also, I never really thought about the moral duel thing, Fetid. I guess when I've manifested it's always been against a few weaker enemies and I've not had an issue, but I'll give that playstyle a shot.

[Valcurdra]

Thanks for all the comments guys, I was going to buy some Night Terrors but Heard that the Belles were that much better? Is Von Schill that good with Seamus?

I personally think night terrors are worthless for Seamus since belles can be just as effective at running objectives in a Seamus crew.

Also I would much rather take Molly than Von Schill as a henchman too. She is pretty awesome with a seamus crew.

[Fetid Strumpet]

Well, Belles a a Stone more expensive, and in a Seamus crew that's huge as he has no Cache to speak of. They have to stay near Seamus if you want the speed buff on anything other than the first turn, and they are Df 3.

Night Terrors are actually better than Belles by a long margin, especially since you can flock them together, or run them scattered. The only place where they fall down is that they aren't undead, which means less models for Seamus to use Undead Psychosis around and no Corpse Counters for later animation.

As for Molly vs Seamus... wow. Keep in mind I'm the president of the Molly fan club and even I think she's 2SS overcosted and doesn't bring enough to a Seamus Crew to justify her cost, and I've been playing her pretty much in every Seamus list of mine since October purely because I like her character so much. I'd pay 12ss for Von Schill and still think he was a bargin as stat, mobility, and dmg wise he is one of the best models the Ressers have access to.

[Soundwave]

Why settle for Either Night terrors or Belles?!

Ressurectionists Crew - 35 - Scrap

Seamus, The Mad-Hatter

--

8 Pool

+ Seamus, Avatar of Dread

[2ss]

Von Schill

[10ss]

• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  

[Fetid Strumpet]

Huzzah!

[rancor709]

Why settle for Either Night terrors or Belles?!

Ressurectionists Crew - 35 - Scrap

Seamus, The Mad-Hatter

--

8 Pool

+ Seamus, Avatar of Dread

[2ss]

Von Schill

[10ss]

• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Night Terror
  [3ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  
• Rotten Belles
  [4ss]
  
  

Know thats resser synergy at its finest.

[Cornelious1424]

I find that having Seamus in melee is not a bad thing. His Excessive Bleeding trigger, which he always gets when he hits a model, will make models insignificant for the game. That can really deny your opponent his strategy/schemes. You just need to be careful not to put Seamus into a crowd of enemy models, his HtW2 is nice but it means he pretty much always takes damage. Seamus really is a "bag of tools".

Belle spam used to be the better way of playing him, but I find that 2 is optimal in a 30-35ss game now in this post book 1 world. You will need models that can dish out some damage, like Punk Zombies or (even though I never use him) Von Schill.

[Fetid Strumpet]

Now keep in mind that I stand by everything I've said about Molly being not so good, but I have a VERY hard time not bringing her, as she and Seamus really got me into this game, and I almost cannot separate them.

With that being said as much as I love belles I'm finding that swarms work better with a Molly/Seamus combo. Firstly one of the biggest issues is that Seamus pretty much loses everything good once he gets locked in combat. He can't use his gun, he can't easily get away, as his Df is so low, and he can't use his Live for Pain spell to cause dmg, and more importantly, heal. So the brings a swarm of 3-4 Canine Remains (shudder) and 1-2 Desperate mercs seems to work fairly well. Firstly because it gives you activation control, which we all know is huge. Secondly it allows more models to take advantage of Molly's Terrible Secret/I] debuff, which really is the main reason to bring her. Additionally it provides Seamus with a plethora of tinyy, easy to kill models which he can kill himself, should he get in a pinch to activate his Necrotic Ministrations. A further benefit is that, played correctly, you have the slightest chance to pull of Army of the Dead because of the sheer #of counters that will litter the ground. And should you not be trying for that it gives Molly an opportunity to raise Sybelle+ from the remains of your own minions.

Still trying to find the best "Threat" to bring with a Molly/Seamus combo. Von Schill is out obviously as I'm bringing Molly. Dead Rider + Molly + Avatar + 3-4 Stones for cache means not a very big swarm will be around due to how expensive everything is. Thinking of trying the hanged or Datsue-ba. Not certain how well any will work, and even once found would get torn apart by a competitive crew. Ahh well. *wink*

[Go Canucks Go]

Sounds like I'm hearing both Belles and Night Terrors? I have the Belles so I'll try them out an go from there? Night Terrors jut don't seem to have the Synergy? Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Buhallin]

Seamus pretty much loses everything good once he gets locked in combat. He can't use his gun, he can't easily get away, as his Df is so low.

Eh? If you're trying to walk Seamus out of combat, you're Doing It Wrong. Barring a late game mess where you're down to almost nothing, you should always have a Belle in position to get him clear.

[Cornelious1424]

Eh? If you're trying to walk Seamus out of combat, you're Doing It Wrong. Barring a late game mess where you're down to almost nothing, you should always have a Belle in position to get him clear.

+1

[Soundwave]

Sounds like I'm hearing both Belles and Night Terrors? I have the Belles so I'll try them out an go from there? Night Terrors jut don't seem to have the Synergy? Correct me if I'm wrong.

They don't synergize particularly well per se (bar a -2 wp aura), but they add awesome mobility and objective grabbing. It's a pity they're not Undead, but you can't get everything for 3 stones.

Basically, you have NT's to get objectives, Belles to keep enemies off them and something else to kill stuff. Should work well enough most of the time, at least.

[Fetid Strumpet]

I'm trying to fit one into most of My Seamus lists for an objective runner and distraction. Additionally if I plan to manifest Seamus' avatar, having a Night Terror fly in near the models in his Terrifying aura with a Cold Darkness trigger on his spell means less chance to pass the WP duel required.

[rancor709]

Night terrors are excellent with his avatar couple that with there speed and low cost i tend to rate them more highly.a seamus list can dunction justfine without even hiring a belle. But when its objective running time the girls do a nice job, but a night terror doesnt require the postioning the ladies do..