Your Marcus favorite big minion which is NOT a henchman?

[poulpox]

So, trying lists and lists for my Marcus, I feel I've come a bit to a standstill with Marcus' available big-hitta friends: not wishing to use henchmen (VonS nor Kaeris), what are the big minions you lot like to field with the beast master?

So far my no1 has to be SnowStorm (mainly for Spirit, move shenanigans and more importantly Ice Pillars, SO useful to mess up those line of sight and do funky Marcus switch moves). I have then tried Rogue Necro, but really it just doesn't work well most of times (as we know the RN arrives with too few Wds left at the enemy's feet), although I am still to combine it with McTavish for some Obey to send it quickly ahead (I think that could be nice). My no2 I think is the Mechanical Rider which, although isn't a Beast, works well with the high pace of Marcus' style.

After this I must admit I fall a bit flat: there is Shikome I guess, but man I don't like this model so it won't come in my collection. Joss, too slow and killable. Mercs like Taelor are ok, but a little too one dimension.

It does feel like we're left with a horde of 5-6ss models which are great but very easy to deal with (and if you only take this kind of crew the opponent usually has a ball picking Kill Protege and Grudge), while our 8-10ss minions are somewhat a bit shabby.

So what say you?

[Kadeton]

Have you tried out the Blessed of December?

[96p]

Definitely Shikome and Aku Zoku Zan... but I use alternative models for both to fit them in the swamp voodoo style of my Crew.

[Cthulhurising]

Blessed of December's pretty solid, I've heard good things about the Slate Ridge Mauler (I get mine in a week or so, so I can post more on that then) but of all the things that give opponent the most trouble and seems to be my top picks?

The Razorspine Rattler and the Soulstone Miner.

I know the Rattler in particular gets a lot of grief, but I have had pretty good luck with him in the right situations. Treating him like a missile/assassin against vital targets. and the Miner? oooooooooooo.... so much love for that model. Move > Tunnel. Untunnel > discard soulstone > two attacks > back to tunneling. etc..

I'd try the miner before the rattler if you haven't tried either. but. I'd try both

[Ausplosions]

Aku Zoku Zan... .

Huh?

[brdparker]

I do enjoy making use of Marcus' Howl, anyway I can.

Shikome's attacks go against Wp, so you're looking at an effective 9:crows combat with a :plus against its prey, which is just silly.

Hamelin though, has to be my favorite to use, and I have built crews specifically around his playstyle. Even out of faction, the 10 SS has almost always been worth it. He is slow, but the enemy is probably not going to get to him before he can affect them, and the rest of the crew is fast enough to engage and muck up the enemy in time. Not to mention that his spells are not , and are all Myrandable should I choose to take her toss a Feral on him. Only downside is nothing that targets Df, so if they are Immune to Influence, I need to have another heavy hitter to work them down.

---------- Post added at 08:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 AM ----------

Huh?

I think they meant Ama no Zoko (spelling?) from the fourth book.

Edited September 29, 2012 by brdparker

[Rathnard]

Ooh, good question!

Of the ones I've used, I'd have to say the Shikome. I have a few alternate proxies for her, specifically a Dark Eldar Ur Ghul and, well, one of my ponies. I think it works well as an areal denial tool for one high value model (that, or your opponent risks it getting the prey assasinated), although she does have her weaknesses, and without a lure effect Marcus has trouble getting he out of melees that don't involve her prey.

I must admit I've been hooked on using Kaeris or Von Schill with Marcus for the most part, but there are definitely a few other minions I want to try out with him instead;

Blessed of December - Like the Sabretooth, but Better. What's not to like?

Kang - He's not a beast (until you plink him with a Raptor), but his stats are pretty decent and if you go for a crew of living beasts, he can help boost them up.

Ama No Zako - He seems worth the points, so I'm pretty keen to give him a shot at some point.

[dgraz]

Aside from Kaeris and Von Schill usage, my response is almost a carbon copy of Rathnard's post.

The only difference is that I have tried Ama No Zako, and I would gladly take her again....and twice on sunday.

[Odin1981]

Razorspine rattler (1)ap charges that are 12" plus melee range are golden. Also on the cheaper side 7 or 8 points for a big minion as well.

[Sniddy]

Why no love for the bear?

It's 7 SS so fairly cheap - the rip throat trigger can be brutal and once he gets mad...

Every time it hits the table it either acts as a bullet and attention magnet and still normally takes most of its ss in mods down with it or rips through the enemy...

Will try him with Mctavis soon....but Kang could be fun....seeing him as a great raspy bodyguard mind

[poulpox]

Thanks everyone for your ideas!

I think I am looking away from Henchmen because I want Marcus to be a stand alone master as opposed to run a henchmen to compensate for Marcus' "weaknesses" (and basically field 1.5 masters!).

As I feared a lot of suggestions are either book2 or even book3, but I see nonetheless that the Rattler has some love as well as Hamelin, which is a great idea, I love old Hamelin. I was also contemplating Killjoy (easily delivered by a Raptor or Jackalope).

I am quite reluctant to buy new models (I don't have the Bear, Shiko nor Blessed), but have plenty book1 mercs and minions and other book2 minions. I guess maybe those 3 are the ones I ought really to add, but I am just aware this means the old models won't any longer see the light of day

Now back to the box to dust off the snake and his piper friend!

[Cthulhurising]

Easiest way to solve your issue with using book 3 vs book 1, at least as far as the blessed goes,

Take the card for the blessed, but switch the model out for the tiger. That thing is basically the three headed cerberus 2.0 imo. More of a way to update an old model without putting a bunch of confusing errata on it that'd cause issues for people who don't get to check the offical stuff all that much.

But in my marcus crew, they're all desert themed and strictly beasts, so I'm using the tiger, with the blessed stats. (also found out the Reapers Bone purple wyrm makes for a wonderul sand wurm for a more beasty soulstone miner ) But at least the area i'm in, no one minds proxies or alternate models as long as it makes sense and doesn't betray the model. (like my scorpion shikome, shikome has claws, scorpions have pincers/tail. shikome has wings, scorpions can burrow (thus resulting in the same 'ignore terrain' movement) shikome is animalistc and single minded... etc etc) that could just be my area, but I imagine things are generally the same.

Oh, and i suggest Killjoy. I haven't run him yet with Marcus, but getting him out on the table is easy enough... but i've had soooooooo much awesome times with Killjoy.

best example? Lilith growth list vs my Collodi and lady Z.

I managed to catch Nekima with a voodoo doll and between an obeyed nekima, a kill joy, and a wicked doll (who died on turn 5 to Killjoy to activate his Eat Your Fill) i took out Lilith, Nekima, Lilitu, Mature nephlim, 2 Young nephlims, a Desperate Merc AND got my objective for a full 8 points. (I had a line in the sand and Collodi just stood there till turn 5) It was a wonderful game of luck and awesome sauce.

Plus, if you ever expand into resser territory.. Nico and Killjoy is wicked as well. He needs to be a master somehow...

Edited October 3, 2012 by Cthulhurising