Thoughts After Playing Mei Fang

[edonil]

So, got in three games with Mei Fang yesterday. Once against Ramos, once against McMourning and once against Dreamer, all at 20SS. Have to say, I really enjoyed playing her, but wanted to share some of my thoughts and get some feedback from other people.

First game, he got Claim Jump and I got Reconniter. (As an aside, don't like this Strategy at 20SS, trying to get 4VP is ridiculously hard with so few models) I brought Mei, the Emberling, two Rail Workers and two Fire Gamin. Found out afterwards I messed up her Tiger's Fury trigger, but even with that, this crew did pretty well. I lost Mei (happened all three games) because I was being too aggressive, but I also got to absolutely hammer Ramos. If it wasn't for his armor and counterspell, he'd have died on Turn Two.

The Fire Gamin were pretty useful with her as cheap constructs, but the exploding mechanic is actually what got her killed. The Rail Workers, though...good Lord, I love these guys. Very versatile, and that 2/4/5 damage line makes them absolutely disgusting, especially with the versatility of Replacement Limb. These guys might find their way into pure TT lists I bring with other Masters, or with other Arcanists.

Also learned how short the range of Railwalker was. 5" isn't very long. I think that she's going to want more than a few cheap Constructs to chain her out, especially if she's going to be your heavy hitter (a role she can really excel at).

The Emberling is kinda nifty for his extra card, but I'm not sure she actually needs the little guy. If you're running the Rail Golem, then he'd definitely be handy for handing out the Burning Tokens by Saccing him, but that's about it. Vent Steam maybe?

Ultimately lost this one because I couldn't score any VP for Recon, and Mei died so I didn't get my Bodyguard points. My opponent got his points for Kill Protege (one of the Rail Workers)

The game against McMourning was Shared Treasure Hunt. This one was over almost before it began thanks to Von Schill grabbing the Treasure Turn Two, while I was barely in position. This time, with a correct understanding of Tiger's Fury, Mei brought McMourning down to 2 Wounds and Von Schill lost 4 wounds, all with one activation. We both burned every Soulstone we had, and I brought myself down to one card in hand (the Black Joker... ). And then McMourning won Initiative for Turn Three, and undid all of my work while killing Mei. Not exactly her finest hour.

Brought Kang along for this one, with a Rail Worker and an Archer, and I have to say I'm not sure I'd do it again for that Strategy. Kang doesn't add a whole lot in something like that. It also doesn't help that it was 20SS, a size I don't think he really fits into. He does hit hard, and can take a few hits, but that's almost a bad thing against McMourning and collecting Body Parts. The Archer, however, was hilarious. If I hadn't forgotten my 0 spell, I'd have one shot a full health McMourning with a double Severe Red Joker. Oh well. Got pretty close, though.

Lost this one to forfeit so we could get in a third game. This time it was Dreamer, bring a Daydream, Night Terror, Stitched, and Coppelius. I brought Mei, two Rail Workers, a Fire Gamin and an Archer. First time against Dreamer lost and almost all of my crew to Chompy in turn one. Primary lesson learned- spread the hell out against Chompy. Oi. Anyway, so the Rail Workers and the Gamin were dead in the first activation of Turn Two, which left Mei and the Archer. The Archer didn't do a whole lot this game, but Mei dropped both Chompy and Dreamer (roundhouse kicked the kid in the face). Unfortunately, a bad hand of cards meant that she didn't kill anything else.

Honestly, I love this Crew. Want to get in some larger point games (I'm used to 35, but there's a 20 point tourney I was trying her out for coming up) and I think she adds a lot of versatility to the faction. The Rail Workers are just solid overall, and I think will find their way into a lot of lists. Didn't get the Rail Golem or the Metal Gamin so don't have any opinion on them yet.

[StormLordXIII]

Thanks for this really helpful post - I ordered Mei Feng and according to FedEx, she should arrive next week - so excited!

It seems to me from your write up that she is a lot like a scalpel - when she gets in combat, she can absolutely destroy things Chuck-Norris style, but if she is unsupported things may turn out very badly for her... Perhaps Kang's function is more bodyguard/tank than heavy hitter.

However, knowing that she can destroy the Dreamer in one activation is heartening. Her play style seems really cool - can't wait!

One question - I don't have the rulebook in front of me yet, but it seems as though Mei's combos and triggers get a little complicated... are her rules easy to comprehend, or is she a bit tricky in respect to both her play style and her triggers?

Thanks again for posting!

[edonil]

The Triggers are a little crazy. I spent the whole first game wishing I had printed out Ratty's cheat sheet (doing that this week) for her. However, the combos all naturally lead into each other, so that isn't too big a deal. Just make sure you read them carefully...the one that tripped me up is Tiger's Fury. You have to attack a different target for the next attack after your 2" push, which makes things kinda crazy. Misaki is more of a scalpel to me, Misaki is a machine gun. She wants a target rich environment, so you can keep chaining out her attacks to do the most damage possible.

One other thought I had that I'm going to need to try out is the Arcane Effigy...like I said, wasn't too impressed by the Emberling, but I think the Effigy and her could get along great. Gives her an additional Casting action, and it's not too hard to keep her within 6" in the first couple turns...so, give her the +1 AP, then go nuts. Charge, Tiger's Fury to get to your target, do your damage, then cast Scalding Breath, hopefully get the trigger to Vent and then Superheat, wrap it all up with the extra AP to Railwalker away. Going to have to get him to try that out...

[El Indio]

Thanks for the info! Sounds like Mei is a lot of fun, even if the games didn't go your way.

I found myself nodding along with you when you mentioned that Kang didn't quite work out at 20SS. Looking at him, I appreciate everything the big guy brings to the table, but not all of it will be useful every game, such as his morale-boosting abilities (especially with all those constructs Mei wants to have around). Have you considered Johan as your heavy hitter for low-point games? You don't get quite as many bells and whistles, but the raw combat stats are almost identical.

Were you able to use the Vent Steam/Superheat trick at all? Since Superheat works on all Vents, which the Emberling has, too, it's something I'm curious to try out.

As for Mei's survivability issues, I'm thinking at least one Metal Gamin might be useful there. Hard Case in particular looks like a potential lifesaver.

[nilus]

I like her a lot and you really need to get some Metal Gaiman with her since they do a lot for her(help mitigate wounds and give her more models to jump off)

Like someone else said, she is very much a hit and run model. All her defenses go away at the end of the turn so you need to make sure that after she is done activating she is somewhere safe and protected. She can easily go down if jumped before she activates in round.

[Ratty]

It's also about gauging how much you can do in an activation (and a small amount how much you want to do, it's very easy to splurg all your cards and SSs in one activation). You either have to hit and run, be able to take out all threats in her activation, or be able to block the enemy with the rest of your crew before the turn ends and her defenses drop.

[Iamwyrd]

I feel her against ramos, Sonnia, witchlings, or anything with counterspell or disrupt magic she is going to have a tough time as she is a melee caster. When I played against deadpool his witchlings were my bane. I also made a stupid misjudgment on range, so I didn't really get to try her out fully.

[decker_cky]

Thanks for posting your experiences. Nice to see how others have done. I can't wait for my order to show up.

I think Kang would almost work better in a non-Mei list built around M&SU members (Johan, Miners, etc..) rather than constructs, and certainly more in games of 30+SS than 20SS.

Sounds to me like you had a few times where it might have made sense to make 1 less attack and to instead railwalk your way out of danger at the end of Mei's activation. I think she's a master you really need to keep in mind that she can shoot in, do some damage, then shoot out.

[Mach_5]

Mei does not *need* to be run construct-heavy. She can happily do the railwalker dance off of Railworkers, so with 3 of them in your crew and perhaps one or two more constructs (a metal gamin and rail golem for example) your crew could still be mostly living.

[FearLord]

I think Mei lists in general will be more effective in slightly larger games where she can a) have more stepping stone models on the board and will havemore targets closer together to get the benefits of her Tiger's fury trigger...

Really good to see people's experiences playing her though - I'm still waiting for her to come in my Gen Con order, but I'm already regretting not splurging on Metal Gamin and the Rail Golem - having had a quick flip throughout the book I've got to say the big guy looks to be possibly the most fun rules design I've seen...

[decker_cky]

Mei does not *need* to be run construct-heavy. She can happily do the railwalker dance off of Railworkers, so with 3 of them in your crew and perhaps one or two more constructs (a metal gamin and rail golem for example) your crew could still be mostly living.

I know...I just think Kang has the biggest benefits specifically around Johan and in lists including union miners (who can work on schemes then overload the area around Kang and Johan when needed).

Kang is nice around rail workers, but I'm not sure he's overall the best value (that's 8SS that encourages you to bunch up rather than making a nice rail walking net) compared to something like a rail golem which provides the same beatstick, and can be used as an extra rail walking point.

Regardless...to get real utility out of Kang, you want at least 3 rail workers in the list, and that won't work at 20SS.

[Mach_5]

No argument there!

[necroon]

Thanks for the great write-up! I was a little concerned I'd be too busy punching the air and making possibly racist kung-fu sounds to learn anything myself.

[nurglez]

I received my gencon order a few days ago, been looking at the cards a fair amount but havent got any games in yet (or actually assembled my models yet either). I got the Rail crew and a rail golem, and the golem looks like a lot of fun.

I hadn't even considered using an arcane effigy over the emberling, that does sound like a good thing to consider.

[FancyZergling]

I have played about five games with her. I realized that depending on Railwalk after the third or fourth turn will really hurt you, instead use it to hit and run the first two turns then bringing her in in three and four to clean up. Kaeris is also fantastic with her, between vent steam and flame pillars you can position your stuff far more easily, then when Mei hands out the burning tokens, Kaeris will accelerant and immolate. This can be even more awesome when the student of conflict. Student of Conflict with her is just amazing, handing out fast on those key turns really can turn the game!