Mr.Soulstone Posted August 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2012 Circus Marcus would be fun And I am trying to play Marcus competitively as practice for the UK GT's so if anything Overkill is perfect :1_Happy_Puppet1: Concerning using the Mauler as a body guard, first of all there is still the issue of speed, I don't yet have a set way of using Marcus, I generally just do whatever it looks like he can do on the field, but generally he just cover hops and does his thing! And I personally believe that Marcus is one of the few Masters who, if they die in a game, the crew can continue to function at near full effectiveness, he is slightly more expendable than others. I wouldn't want to spend 7ss if all he is gonna do is camp near Marcus, considering his defence isnt great and his main effectiveness is in the "Ripping of Faces" Mr. Soulstone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephalumps Posted August 18, 2012 Report Share Posted August 18, 2012 (edited) The mauler isn't too terrible at what it does. It has a good set of combat stats, and some pretty fun triggers. The two issues it runs into are (based on my limited experience with it): 1) Speed. It never gets the drop on anything, unless you double walk + Melee Expert. That's not too bad, but it's also not a lot of damage, and it usually leaves him pretty vulnerable. That leads to his other problem which is... 2) Squishiness. Like all beasts, for whatever reason, the SLM is kinda soft. Yes, it has 8 Wds with HtW 1, and it gains HtK, but it's not too hard for your opponent to just beat it down with focused fire. Since it's a bigger critter that wants to be in melee, it can be easy for that to happen, especially against crews that operate based on volume. Also, even though the SLM is a "big" critter, it doesn't do well fighting other "big" models (ones with high "low" damage,) because they can usually just chop him down (lack of Armor really hurts here.) So, it's a finicky model. You want to get it engaged and ripping face ASAP, because once it starts taking hits, it's just a matter of time before they beat your bear to death. The good news is, between HtW 1 and conditional HtK it'll stick around longer than most beasts (take what you can get!) and be even better at ripping face before it bites the dust. Do as much damage as you can, while it's around. I don't think its a terrible model, but you really need to get used to how best to set it up for success, and unfortunately being slow is generally not a good thing in Malifaux. I also think that if Beast based crews had access to decent healing (say, if Myranda wasn't awful,) he'd be a lot stronger, because you could potentially tank a lot more damage with him. Edited August 18, 2012 by Nephalumps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omenbringer Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 I also think that if Beast based crews had access to decent healing (say, if Myranda wasn't awful,) he'd be a lot stronger, because you could potentially tank a lot more damage with him. I think Miranda gets a bit more hate than she deserves. She can Furious Cast Primal Flame three times per activation, still perform a Melee Strike and activate a friendly beast immediately following hers for the expenditure of 1 Control Card. The only other models in the game with that kind of healing potential are Som'er Teeth Jones (who will take a Wd to do it three times), the Slop Hauler (who is limited as to targets and will require an All Action) and the Freikorps Librarian (that will require the expenditure of two control cards (one just to be able to activate and the other for Furious Casting) and is all it can do for the turn). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgraz Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) She can Furious Cast Primal Flame three times per activation, Except that she needs an above average Ram to succeed. Compared to the two you listed, she is awful when it comes to healing. Som'er is a (1) action auto success and the librarian can discard any crappy Ram suit and then only needs a 4 of anything to succeed. Edited August 21, 2012 by dgraz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omenbringer Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Not that I disagree competely with you Dgraz, but Som'er also has a lot of other stuff he is trying to accomplish each turn (Get Your Bro being one of the main ones) and he has to take a Wound to do it three times per turn. As for the Librarian you need to have that low :rams to flush at the start of her activation (not something that is gurantied even with drawing an additional control card and an early turn activation). Though you could hire a Freikorps Librarian in a Marcus crew solely for healing, most times the lower costed Miranda is going to be a better choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgraz Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Lets not forget another cheap ass minion that Somer can bring that has some of the best healing in the game.....somer doesn't need to do it. For the librarian it's much more likely that you can cast it 3 times using any ONE Ram card.....there are only 7 cards in the deck that allow Myranda to do it....really less, because I won't throw away a severe or the RJ on a healing flip in "most" cases. I would discard a 10 Ram once then use a 4,5,6,7 of any suit on the Librarian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
011121 Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) I cannot grasp the miranda hate, I found her to be excellent. Yes she needs good cards to play well but you can the same of an awful lot of models in the game. What she provides for the card investment is unparalleled flexibiity in a support minion. She can heal, she can beat stick, she can be fast, she can be anything any beast up to her ss limit can be, which is an awful lot, but what's more she lets you get that beast when you need it rather than having to guess you'd need it ahead of time. Far as I'm concerned Marcus is Miranda's back up, not the other way around. The librarian may be a better healer (or a more consistent one) but it has no where near miranda's flexibility and it sucks up the extra card it gives you (while making it impossible for you to get another arcane resevoir). That hurts. Edited August 21, 2012 by 011121 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgraz Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Sorry, I've played her too many times to be able to agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omenbringer Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Lets not forget another cheap ass minion that Somer can bring that has some of the best healing in the game.....somer doesn't need to do it. I included him earlier, though I am not really a big fan of him. As I said earlier he is very limited. He is only hireable by one Master and a Henchman (vice a faction like Myranda), can only heal two types of model (much like Myranda though paired with Marcus it isn't actually a large problem), and requires an all action to do. He is cheap but also very squishy (and fairly immobile when spaming the healing). For his points I'd rather have a pig and a SS or 2 Bayou Gremlin's. Myranda may not be the best Healer in the game but she does at least have the potential (most crews dont even have that). Of course I have only toyed with Marcus' crew so will differ to your experience Dgraz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Soulstone Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 I think I will start to use Myranda now, after reading all this I think that the Mauler is a situational model. I can move Myranda around quickly having her heal up my critters then when I need the combat ability of the Mauler, have her transform close enough so that the Maulers slowness doesn't matter! I think the bonus of a fast moving Veterinarian that can turn into a 4 armed death bear appeals to me! Thanks all Mr. Soulstone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephalumps Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 I'm with dgraz on this one: Myranda isn't a good healer, even on her own merits, let alone compared to other healing models. For me, the biggest issue is that the range of Primal Flame. Rg 4 is depressingly short, and with a crew that tends to be as mobile as Marcus' crew, it's hard enough to be in range of healing to begin with. Let alone being in that miracle situation where can actually make Furious Casting/Primal Flame work out for you (for the most part, I've found its just there to flip a bunch of cards to try and get one Primal Flame cast out.) I will say: the SRM is one of the better critters Myranda can transform into. You can transform into the bear, and still walk forward to punch something. Plus, it's one of the more durable beasts for you to turn into, for what that's worth. :-P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borthcollective Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 How about some McTavish Bear Obey for some extra speed. I really wish they would just give McTavish the beast characteristic so that Myranda didn't have to go through all the hoops to copy his spell and so we didn't have to pay the merc cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephalumps Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Yeah, something like that faux-Obey is what the SRM really wants. His biggest issue is speed (if you can get him there, he'll do a fine job of clawing things up,) so if you can figure out any way to kick him up the table faster, I think it'll make him more effective overall. Alternatively, as was mused when they were spoiled, something like the Oiran to Lure things into your range could work. But I don't necessarily love that idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Soulstone Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Hmmm, I certainly wouldn't use the Oiran, they don't fit at all with the theme and I like to use the Beasts as much as possible! Although I may have to have a look at Mctavish, I just realised its the only model and I haven't glimpsed at the rules for Only concern being the cost of both Mctavish and a SRM but its worth a try! Thanks chaps! Mr. Soulstone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geistwald Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 McTavish is pretty expensive for a SRM wrangler, and he doesn't seem terribly good at it. Now there's Hamelin who can have a complete crew built around him, costly but damn useful. How about obey and piper's lure in the same breath, that's 8-11 extra inches for the mauler. Not mentioning the whale of useful things he can do for the crew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranhamoose Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 However, the Oiran would be an interesting visual component to a circus themed Marcus crew, depending on how you painted them. As far as Hamelin goes, his cost would be even more worth it if they announced ressers. It'd also help against any scavenger masters, not that you'd know that wen you hire your crew. McTavish, while not the best with his "obey" still wouldn't be a bad model. He's at least pretty good at the other stuff he does and a Marcus crew usually doesn't have much in the way of ranged combat, but yeah, you have a good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omenbringer Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 I'm with dgraz on this one: Myranda isn't a good healer, even on her own merits, let alone compared to other healing models. For me, the biggest issue is that the range of Primal Flame. Rg 4 is depressingly short, and with a crew that tends to be as mobile as Marcus' crew, it's hard enough to be in range of healing to begin with. Let alone being in that miracle situation where can actually make Furious Casting/Primal Flame work out for you (for the most part, I've found its just there to flip a bunch of cards to try and get one Primal Flame cast out.) Virtually all the healers have a short range for their healing actions (with the exception of the Librarian whos is a bit better in this regard). Gremlins are also very mobile and there healers can suffer from the same issue you mention (the main reason I rarely hire a Slop Hauler). She may not be the best at it but she does have the potential. I will say: the SRM is one of the better critters Myranda can transform into. You can transform into the bear, and still walk forward to punch something. Plus, it's one of the more durable beasts for you to turn into, for what that's worth. :-P I like this about her very much (once again why I dont think she deserves all the hate she gets). Perhaps its just my experiences with and against her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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