Going Friekorps.

[GKP]

So I finally stopped hemming and hawing over a crew, and went with one I like. I picked up Von Schill's box, and I'm going to be using it here for a while. In the future, I would like to expand, so I suppose I have some questions.

1: Supplementing the Wiki, what are some sound Von Schill tactics?

2: keeping as close as possible to an only korps list, what should I expand to?

3: any painting tips on the korps?

[hippodruid]

The 'Korps is pretty solid as it is, so if you want to expand, you won't have to go very far. The Strongarm suit is a natural pick and maintains the fluffiness and the synergy with VS. The Convict Gunslinger is also a very solid pick in a crew that focuses heavily on ranged damage

[i_was_like_you]

1: Very dependant on Strats and Schemes, but the Wiki is a good start.

2: That all depends on whether you want to run the crew with VonSchill every time, or if you want to hire him and his freikorps on with the Viks (or some other master from another faction). The freikorps can be a nice surprise when you declare one faction, but pop out VonSchill and the crew with some other master calling the shots. It costs more stones, but it can be worth it.

3: Take inspiration from military uniforms, then (early 1900s) and now.

[MisterSparkles]

So I’ve recently posted about some freikorps stuff. Check here for some recent chats on the topic. http://www.wyrd-games.net/showthread.php?41350-New-player-needs-advice

Hope some of this helps

1. VS tactics I feel are pretty straightforward. He can handle pretty much anything by himself. Keep him bouncing around or in cover to avoid an opponent focusing him down. Keeping him by the rest of the Korps helps out the rest, as they get a pretty serious bonus (Slow to die) from it.

If deploying first I don’t really mind having him deploy on one half of the board all by himself. This causes the opponent to possibly deploy stuff to deal with him, and he can either take the challenge or just rocket boots to the other side of the board.

Librarian: She is the trick to winning games. Keep her safe and run her up far enough to allow for a furious cast of heals.

Specialist: As the other article says, I generally drop him in favor of something else.

SAS: I generally use to draw fire and get in close combat to wreck people. He isn’t invincible, but with the LIB and all his armor he generally takes a lot to bring down. Keeping a 6+mask in your hand to let him leap will allow you to get him into place when your opponent isn’t expecting it. After using him for awhile, I keep trying to use his shooty weapon, but in most cases I would have been better off just moving him into close combat.

Trapper: I love this guy. Get him into a good position and shoot with focus shots (unless shooting at someone with Hard to wound, your dmg will go up using normal shots). He usually isn’t the best guy out on the field or doing the most dmg, but I do love picking off people without much fear of reprisal. So cover + focus shot = something your opponent will want to kill

Freikorpsmen: Not bad, not great, but they get the job done. I like using focus shots with these guys too. I also use these guys to move around into cover draw fire.

2. I like Laz, armor and free heal feels like it fits in, kind of like a freikorps tank.

Taylor is also the more sensible choice. Hard to wound makes it like she has the armor. Her close combat skills and magic attack make her an EXCELLENT addition.

3. I am NOT the one to give you any tips here, but would also love to hear what people say.

[Ryu]

1. As has been stated Von Schill can do it all, however usually you'll want him close to the Librarian - this will grant you two nearly invincible units and is a real pain to deal with for most crews.

Play to your opponent's weakness. Your crew is so versatile due to decent movement (great on Schilly), decent ranged and melee attacks, superior durability, healing, and willpower (via stubborn). This allows you to adapt to most situations and exploit the weakness of your enemy.

On objective based strategies (Line in the Sand, Treasure Hunt, etc) I love to bring two trappers to lock down the area. If you can get them to a vantage point overlooking the objective it causes nightmares for many crews as you pelt away at them as they approach, after they interact, and while they retreat (for Treasure Hunt).

2. Strongarm Suit is a no brainer, as has been stated. Taelor is also very useful albeit a bit slow, I don't use her as much as others.

Another trapper or two

More Freikorpsmann (Freikorpsmann spam lists are surprisingly effective when the scheme is killy).

Other models that aren't thematic but work well:

Wong! This guy is great and can shutdown cast-y crews

Oiran, lots of support

Desperate Mercenaries

3. Army themed as many others have stated. That seems to be the norm.

[brib4169]

You can also run minion haemlin near the librarian so you are isothermal for something more than healing. Just be careful, freikorps are not immune to his pulse as it does wds and not damage.

[i_was_like_you]

Oiran are a nice, cheap replacement for Performers, allowing you to lure enemy models to you. Makes up for the slow movement of the Specialist or Taelor, should you decide to run either of them. Minion Misaki is also a fun choice, as she is also quite versatile.

Another paint scheme you can go with is Hulk Hogan from Suburban Commando. I started down that road, but after painting my Specialist, I opted for an Outcasts ochre military uniform instead.

Edited April 20, 2013 by i_was_like_you

[Sonova]

TBH all you really need is a Strongarm + 1 blister of Korpsmen and 1 more trapper and you are pretty much set for anything.

Lazarus is nice but he doesnt really bring a lot to the table since your shooting is already solid. If you had to add anything add some more melee centric models.

[Claymore65]

Other tips:

1. Remember your options when expanding. If you find you need more melee hitting power, try out Ronin. They are cheap (5 SS), fast, deadly and ignore armor. If your meta has a lot of Kirai spirit shenanigans, try buying a Mercenary with a magic weapon (Taelor is one of the best, but there are also many great options, like non-master Misaki or Johan).

2. Remember all of Von Schill's awesome abilities. If you're facing Ramos, don't forget you have a pulse that can inflict slow on contructs. It works on Hoffman, but you have to be careful on the range as he can stop pulses originating a certain distance from him. If you're facing ressurectionts, especially Nicodem, don't forget Von Schill not only get's bonuses against them, but he also can remove all corpse counters in a certain distance of him. This can be fantastic against Nicodem especially, as Mcmourning can turn them into body part counters and Nicodem's mindless zombies count as Corpse counters anyway.

3. Card Management: For the Freikorps, you don't have to worry too much about card management. With the Viktorias you may want lots of high masks so you can do a Whirlwind bomb, but it's normally not too big a deal with the Freikorps. The only card management thing to keep in mind is that you should ALWAYS (if possible) keep an Rams in your hand for the Librarian. The Librarian gives you an extra card, but you have to use one on her turn. If you give her a rams, she only needs a very low card to use here healing skill. That rocks!

4. Rely on Volume of Attacks (sometimes). If you're facing Hoffman and he already killed your Specialist (as he ignores Armor) don't forget you always deal at least one damage. With each Freikorpsman dealing 1-2 damage each turn, you can deal a surprising amount of damage. If you have a very heavy armor meta, try out Ronin or Taelor (or anyone else who ignores armor) to help you out.

5. Von Schill is quick: This game is all about your schemes and strategies. Von schill himself with nimble and augmented jump (almost always one of your instinctual abilities) can reach most objective very quckly. Augmented Jump lets you get out of any combat you want to (you ignore any kind of disengaging strike). If your opponent's armor is too high, Von Schill is still pretty darn good in melee and his knife ignores armor.

Overall, you chose a fantastic starting Crew that will serve you well, either with Von Schill as a master or as a Henchmen for anyone else (I love him with the Viks). Have fun!

[i_was_like_you]

5. Von Schill is quick: This game is all about your schemes and strategies. Von schill himself with nimble and augmented jump (almost always one of your instinctual abilities) can reach most objective very quckly. Augmented Jump lets you get out of any combat you want to (you ignore any kind of disengaging strike). If your opponent's armor is too high, Von Schill is still pretty darn good in melee and his knife ignores armor.

Boy does it ever.

A Peacekeeper Hoffman train had charged up on my Trapper (who couldn't deploy via From the Shadows because Hoffman had the Watcher). Then I activated VonSchill, jumped over to the Peacekeeper, and carved it up dead. Used my other (0) on Leader to activate the Strongarm Suit, who leapt over the the wall, and started putting a hurt on Hoffman. Leader has so much potential in a lot of situations.

[Pie]

Boy does it ever.

A Peacekeeper Hoffman train had charged up on my Trapper (who couldn't deploy via From the Shadows because Hoffman had the Watcher). Then I activated VonSchill, jumped over to the Peacekeeper, and carved it up dead. Used my other (0) on Leader to activate the Strongarm Suit, who leapt over the the wall, and started putting a hurt on Hoffman. Leader has so much potential in a lot of situations.

Not to mention how awesome Von Schill's anti-construct pulse is against a Hoffman crew. And if you're playing against Ressers, don't forget that Von Schill has a lot of undead hate in addition to Construct hate. I played a game today where Von Schill wrecked a Pale Rider on account of ignoring Armor, ignoring Hard to Wound, and a positive damage flip with a brutal trigger.

[GKP]

So how does one go about painting metal? Will spray paint serve as a decent base coat, to put a foundation over, or are there special rules for metal models? I'm assuming a grey base coat, and then trying my hand at desert cammo.

[i_was_like_you]

So how does one go about painting metal? Will spray paint serve as a decent base coat, to put a foundation over, or are there special rules for metal models? I'm assuming a grey base coat, and then trying my hand at desert cammo.

Yep, unless you want to try paint on primers or use an airbrush. They all have their merits when used properly.

With spray paint, make sure it's a kind that says metal on it (most do), use light coats, letting them thoroughly dry between layers, in a warm, wind free area, either wearing a painters mask, or at the least in a well ventilated area. Start spraying before the models, pass across them, then stop spraying once you've passed them, so that you don't get any sputters from the can on your models.

Grey can work, as can white or black. For most of my constructs, I spray 'em black, then paint metallic colors over top. For the Freikorps, as they were so armored, I treated them as constructs, sprayed 'em black, dusted them with gold to get a light and shadow effect, and then painted on their packs and fatigues. Evilbleachman seems to prime everything in brown, which is another midtone that's fairly easy to cover with a range of colors. It's all about what works for you.

[Sonova]

Black for high contrast work (e.g. if you want to go for a cell shaded look) with bright colours against deep shadows. It is also really good for undead because even just a rough dry brush makes them come out looking like they've clawed their way out of the dirt.

White for 'realistic' work because you can go for more subtlety with your pallete. White is generally better for the larger 'living' models with alot of skin/natural tones like horses. White is also generally harder to use than black because you need to layer and blend well or your models will look washed out or chalky.

I personally dont use grey very much but I use it for otherworldly skintones like bright pinks or blues since black makes them look too dark and white makes them look too cartoony.

For 'Korps I would go with black because they are a hardbitten merc group that doesnt get alot of free time to spit polish their gear. High contrast browns and khaki with some quick Agrax Earhshade/Devlan Mud/Quickshade will make them look good and dirty.

[Isambard Brunel]

Something fun I've been pulling lately:

Either through luck or good placement and maneuvering, if you end up with a Freikorpsman close to, but not engaging an enemy, you shoot him with the Specialist. You probably hit and make severe damage hella likely with the positive twist. Then drop 2 blasts in a chain out from the Freikorpsman that do 3 damage to everything under them. If you're lucky with range or if you have a Student of Conflict, you can take that shot again. If the Freikorpsman was at full health for the first shot, he'll still be alive for a second. Now you've dropped six damage on as many models as you can fit under two 50mm bases.

Blast damage is ridiculous in this game. If you know you're facing an even slightly numerous foe, take a Specialist all day.

You can tear the heart out of an enemy advance, all for the cost of one loyal Freikorpsman.

[i_was_like_you]

Blast damage is ridiculous in this game. If you know you're facing an even slightly numerous foe, take a Specialist all day.

You can tear the heart out of an enemy advance, all for the cost of one loyal Freikorpsman.

Taking one for the team, the Freikorps way.

[Adran]

Something fun I've been pulling lately:

Either through luck or good placement and maneuvering, if you end up with a Freikorpsman close to, but not engaging an enemy, you shoot him with the Specialist. You probably hit and make severe damage hella likely with the positive twist. Then drop 2 blasts in a chain out from the Freikorpsman that do 3 damage to everything under them. If you're lucky with range or if you have a Student of Conflict, you can take that shot again. If the Freikorpsman was at full health for the first shot, he'll still be alive for a second. Now you've dropped six damage on as many models as you can fit under two 50mm bases.

Blast damage is ridiculous in this game. If you know you're facing an even slightly numerous foe, take a Specialist all day.

You can tear the heart out of an enemy advance, all for the cost of one loyal Freikorpsman.

Typically people learn this one early (often the hard way) and don't clump so much if they are at risk of the enemy doing blasts. Its actually quite tricky for the friekorps to set up as they need to move the frikorps to just the right spot as it will need to be out side the enemy melee range. Your opponent then gets an activation to stop your plan, and then the Specialist attacks. To get the blasts you will normally need to use 3 cards from your hand, 1 good for the shot, 1 bad for the defense (as you need to get at leats a difference of 6 to allow cheating)and then a severe on the damage.

Nice play if you can get it, but there is plenty that can be done by an opponet wise to it to stop it.