Molly Disappointments

[daemonkin]

Last night I took Molly for the first time. 25SS against probably the worst Master to face - Hoffman. He had no living models and most minions had 'Immune to Influence'

My crew was: Molly, 3 Crooligans, RN, Belle and the rest in Soulstones (4SS cache)

His was: Hoff, Guardian, Hunter, Arachnid swarm

My Strategy was Turf War (Get more of mine in his half than he had in my half) and he had Recon (table quarter control) both strategies seemed to complement each other as it was all about positioning.

My problem was that against this crew I couldn't really do anything. The RN was the only model that actually tried inflicting damage and succeeded in hurting the hunter but in return was paralyzed by the swarm and then died.

The only saving grace was the Crooligans who with hidden deployment and The Mist and Curiosity Calls managed to get up the board and serve up a 4-0 victory but it felt like aI spent the entire game avoiding him.

Very tactical and a fun game but just not what i am used to.

D.

[Pierowmaniac]

Just posted about this exact match up a few minutes ago in another thread.

http://www.wyrd-games.net/showthread.php?33497-Quick-immune-to-influence-question

Basically I'd consider it possibly the worst possible match up Molly can face.

The Hoffman crew effectively keep Molly out of the game, with almost all of her abilities requireing WP duels with the enemy.

Luckily you did have a fairly good strategy to go for, which enables Molly to at least buff her crews movement.

Consider taking Madame Sybelle in future games as she has very good synergy with Molly and with the right cards in hand (high masks) you can slingshot belles across the board using molly movement buffs and Sybelles 'Call belle' ability, but in practise Ive found it very rare to have both a 7:masks and 9:masks in hand to pull this trick off

Molly's admitedly frustrating to play at the moment (as a leader), but hopefully the new story packs will give her some usefull minions.

Personaly I'm also hoping to get and paint a 'grave spirit' soon so I can attach that to Sybelle to increase her resilience.

[Bruglyother]

Honestly, this doesn't sound that bad. I understand that Molly struggled with dealing with Hoffman's crew, but the fact is that in Malifaux, you don't always have to, and this story seem to really illustrate that. If you pulled off a 4-0 victory, then you played well and achieved your goal, without having to engage all the time.

This is honestly one of the hardest lessons to learn and really wrap your head around. Just like the often stated fact that you can win with no models left on the table, it is also true that you can win without ever engaging your opponent's crew. (In both cases, you need the right strategy and schemes obviously.

Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to downplay your concerns. Just pointing out that it's not always about being able to deal with your opponent's crew.

[daemonkin]

Hi Brugly I do realise that and I often point out that I often win games despite not having any models left or preventing the opponent from achieving a minor victory but denying him an objective.

It may have been analysis paralysis since it was the first time with Molly i had no idea how hard they hit or how fragile they were.

More games will help decide. I'm sure Molly with a Master will work very well.

D.

[thebarbalag]

Molly with Seamus, particularly his Avatar is devastating, but I hold out hope for her leading a crew as well.

[Gruesome]

In that matchup is one of the two times with Molly that I have literally passed actions with the leader of my crew since she had nothing left she could do in a particular turn. She was where I wanted her to be and just had no spells or actions that could affect anything.

Molly is such a mixed bag for me. She typically either shines or is near useless.

I agree that Molly+Seamus+Avatar is great fun and actually the root of my favorite crews to play at the moment.

As far as your winning that match-up 4-0... Not sure how that went down. His list seems odd to me, but I do not want to monday-morning quarterback it without knowing anymore than a list and strats.

[daemonkin]

We typically play select crew and models before strategy - just that some of the guys have a limited selection of models and are familiar with only their own stuff. This is changing as guys experiment with different builds so we will in future select strategy before crew.

D.

[Blog]

I honesty wouldn't play Molly in a game lower than 35ss. She needs as many options as possible when she's being used as a master. Your game with her may have not been seen so awesome if you didn't fight an ItI crew lol

[Elohel]

I completely agree with RustySteampunk, Molly is best in 35 ss games. She really is a 9 point SUPPORT model that can suicide herself to kill an enemy master when stuff gets desperate.

I have only used her with Seamus and his Avatar, but I see her fitting in very well with Nico as well. She can copy his spells which can lead to an additional cast of Rigor Mortis or Reanimator, and while Nico can bring out the unnamed undead, Molly can summon named beasties like Sybelle.

[Fetid Strumpet]

Point of clarification, Molly cannot suicide to kill an enemy master. Philosophy of Uncertainty was changed in the actual card so that it cannot target enemy masters.

[Ratty]

She's also quite fun with Hanged, SS Whispers on enemy Masters..

[Cats Laughing]

Been playing Molly exclusively for a short while but due to several issues have therefore gotten in only 4 games. All have been boxed set + totem games, though the last I borrowed a model from the local Henchman to summon Sybelle.

I've had my ups and downs with her so far.

Game 1: Crushing defeat to Rasputina in a shared Slaughter. Terrain allowed Rasputina herself to hole up in a second floor window with ice mirrors + silent one northwinds, giving her almost full board control. Molly finally managed to steal Decembers Curse and lob it back at Raspy, but by that point it was too late.

Game 2: Tie against Sonnia in a game where a single crooligan managed to complete the entire destroy evidence strategy and pull off the break through scheme for 6 vp, while the remainder of my army, including two additional summoned crooligans failed to pull off the grudge scheme (falling short by only 1 wd). Selecting grudge was a mistake, but a summoned Sybelle in place of either summoned Crooligan would have likely won the game.

Game 3: Tie against Lady J in a game where the Rogue Necromancy killed Lady J, the Executioner and a Death Marshall (with those last two being turn 6 kills). A brainfart on my part with Molly + Totem, allowed my successful "Philosophy of Uncertainty" to turn into a sacrificed Necrotic Machine, dead Molly and fully healed Executioner. We may have played that wrong, but I could have played the activation order of that turn differently and had a different outcome. Losing Molly and Totem to that brainfart essentially turned a winning game into a losing game that only became a draw via Rogue Necromancy heroics.

Game 4: Tie vs Somer in a shared Reconnoiter. Really needed to work some magic to tie shared Recon in a game where I was outnumbered 2-1 in significant models. Later, I tried counting up points and I think I was playing 24 stones (I lack the models to spend all my pts) vs 39? stones (Somer, 2 Warpigs, 3 Piglets, 7? Bayou Gremlins...), so a Draw is pretty decent, imho. The Rogue was once again a pretty major component, whacking a Warpig in one round, surviving the other Warpig's attentions, handing out Acid Breath to both Molly and Ponto (the Necrotic Machine) and terrifying several gremlins/piglets. Got to borrow a Sybelle and summon her for more terror and killing. Crooligans didn't kill many Gremlins, but managed to survive all game and at least grab one corner to offset the corner the Gremlins held.

I do admit that in all these games I haven't been facing optimal lists or cut-throat players, but I have been enjoying the games and trying to get the most out of Molly and crew.

[ukrocky]

Executioner wouldn't get slow to die against PoU if I remember right. Keep it up though, as long as you're having fun!

[Cats Laughing]

Executioner wouldn't get slow to die against PoU if I remember right. Keep it up though, as long as you're having fun!

After the game I was thinking either slow to die or love the job wouldn't work off philosophy, but during game we weren't sure and flipped that it worked.

On the bright side I keep seeing reasons why the games should have been wins for me rather than draws. So I'm happy.

[Mergoth]

She's also quite fun with Hanged, SS Whispers on enemy Masters..

... hadn't considered that. That's nasty. Must try that soon. >:-)

@daemonkin. As (afaik) Ireland's most experienced Molly player, my advice to you is bring ALL the Belles (Sybelle, 2 Doxies, all the Rotten Belles you can fit in) and a RM. When you get the hang of it it plays with Collette-crew-like movement shenanigans.

[daemonkin]

Yeah I realised that the moment my opponent went - "Immune to Influence!"

I also forgot about it several times during the game. The only time it bit him was when he tried a disengaging strike against Molly (who was the defender and therefore ItI does not kick in) and Hoff took 2 damage thanks to her trigger.

@Mergoth I was thinking just that but I need some Dead Doxies. They are difficult to find in the UK stores.

D.

[Dessicated]

Mail order... The interwebz can generally solve all the issues of hard to get models.. And totally my goto, since I dont have a store within 600km that sells Malifaux

[daemonkin]

All UK stores that I frequent - Maelstrom, Wayland and Square Orange (preference) have no Dead Doxies.

D.

[CRC]

Executioner wouldn't get slow to die against PoU if I remember right. Keep it up though, as long as you're having fun!

Why not? He's being killed, not sacrificed or removed from the game or something.

However, Love the Job won't save him from PoU because he's not being killed by lack of wounds.

[OldManMyke]

Go with Firestorm, best retailer in the UK for Malifaux

[daemonkin]

Just ordered dead doxies from wayland. Dispatched immediately. Next game will be all belles hopefully depending on strategy.

D.

[Rameses]

So you'll all have to excuse my ignorance, but what does RN stand for in the crew line up?

[Fetid Strumpet]

Rogue Necromancy.

[Rameses]

OIC thanks...