Mollyfaux: Reports From The Frontline

[Sholto]

I have finally bought a Molly crew and got my first game with her last night at G3 in Glasgow against the local Henchman, Barry.

First time ever playing Ressers This is Mollyfaux, so no Masters. Just purest-grade, finest-cut Molly.

I played 35ss against the Dark Debts, and after three turns we had to call it, but we worked out that Molly had won quite handily.

Setup: Shared Supply Wagon. I declared Breakthrough (because Molly has Boyle zombies) and Army of the Dead (because there was no way I would get Death After Death with Molly, right? and I wanted to try a Resser-only Scheme). Barry did not declare any Schemes, but he took Holdout and Frame for Murder on a Beckoner.

My crew: Given the Strategy, I went with Belles over Crooligans. More survivable, thus making my Wagon more survivable, able to Lure enemy models in for a good pasting and fast enough to get my Scheme. Molly, Rogue Necromancy, Grave Spirit (Linked to RN), 2 Rotten Belles, 2 Dead Doxies and Sybelle.

My plan: Keep the RN back for counter charging once it was safe from retaliation, and otherwise get my Belles into the thick of it and see what happens.

Things Wot I Done Learned:

• Rotten Belles and Sybelle are scary fast, and if you leave your Supply Wagon unguarded they can reach it and wail on it a couple of times from half-way across the table +1VP on Turn 2
  
• Belles of any description really don't put out much damage, esp against crews with armour.
  
• Terrifying really does work against the right crew. Two of the Depleted fled combat.
  
• Molly really needs Crows in hand, or she cannot do very much. Even to Imbue Vigour she needs a Mask. That said, she is an inviting target, but one that is very risky to go for. That alone gives her value. She can wander through the mayhem, failing to cast all sorts of spells, but her very presence draws enemy fire that she can easily weather or control. I managed to borrow the RN's damage spell once to good effect (killing off the Hungry Hippo) and I also managed to summon a Rotten Belle.
  
• Lure is awesome. I play Colette a lot and I like my movement tricks, so this feels like home to me. Summon a Belle where you want the RN to go, Molly gives the RN +3Wk, the Belle Lures it there and then the RN charges Jacob when he thought he was safe
  
• Dead Doxies are brilliant. Seduction (hi, Colette!) is an incredible spell, and these girls can spam it until it works, then put the target on -2Df. I did that to the Hungry Hippo! I was planning to kill the Hippo off with the RN at that point, but a Rotten Belle managed to kill it all by herself. Plus, when they die they can swap in a fresh Belle and heal themselves. Pure gold. (0)Inviting Approach is no Lure, but since it includes a strike and can be cast while engaged, it is basically a chance of gaining Melee Expert. Which is nice.
  
• The RN risked being underwhelming, but I did deliberately hold it back. The fact that its +2 attacks are with Fangs is a bit annoying - paired CB7 on the Claws is hard to give up. But, +2 attacks is better than none. I suspect that without its +2 attacks it will be close to rubbish, so keeping it unwounded until at least mid-game is my aim for now.
  
• Ironically, I ended up with more models than I had started with, thanks to undying Doxies and a summoned Rotten Belle. I doubt that will happen again for a while!
  
• We called it 6-0 to Molly at the end, and I think that is a fine showing for any kind of reporter, Undead or not. Next up, what can Crooligans do for me?
  

All comments and suggestions on playing Molly (by herself) gratefully received!

[Gruesome]

Nice description and I really like the brightness of your model. I wish I had been that bright.

[Pierowmaniac]

Nice write up. got to agree with most of what you said, but think you may have got lucky with the doxy (either that or I'm just very unlucky).

I'm guessing you've probably read the wirte up on my blog (as you left a comment )and also checked out the pull my finger web page.

Im hoping to do an update on my blog sometime after the GT when I find out how she performs there

[Sholto]

I did indeed leave a comment, and as you can guess I was so sorely tempted that I gave in

Seduction is interesting. It has such a devastating effect if it works that if you target the right model with it, you can watch your opponent burn through his hand/ SS pool to stop it going off. Channel the spell to avoid burning your own cards (Molly can borrow it and then SS the cast, of course). This is just based on one game, but I found the Jacob player was running out of cards due to resisting Seduction. This only intensified when he failed to resist it and saw what happened (dead Hippo). When the cards ran out it left him stuck against Terrifying, Pitiful and Strangely Attractive. There were a lot of failed Charges in that game due to this.

(Odd how focused Malifaux is on how your models feel about other models. Are they scared, repulsed, attracted, curious or sympathetic? It is very touchy-feely for a skirmish game )

Edited October 31, 2012 by Sholto