Mei Feng as an Arcanist Master

[Soul Puppet]

I played my first ever game with Mei Feng this week, 30SS in Shared Contain Power against Yan Lo. I lost 5-8 but it was an enjoyable game.

As I've just started with her, I took what I thought was a fairly generic crew:

Mei Feng (8 stones)

Emberling

Rail Golem

Willie

Metal Gamin

Railworker

My question is, are there any models that you think work particularly well with her as an Arcanist Master? I have seen people mention Kaeris and Large Steam Punk Arachnids and I will probably try those out at some point but what else?

[Sybarite]

Mei Feng, Emberling, Kaeris with student, metal gamin and rail golem make a pretty nasty team

[His Fattness]

Gunsmiths and Johan are both great adons for Mei. Gunsmiths give you some very solid ranged damage. While Johan teamed up with Kang can be crazy good, especially when going up against a heavy spirit or armor crew.

[djkickz]

30 stones, meifeng, rail golem, duet, LSA, 7 cache?

[Mr. Goggles]

30 stones, meifeng, rail golem, duet, LSA, 7 cache?

Major no on the duet. What makes the duet so great is the use soulstone ability, and you will be burning those on mei's crazy trigger series to get the suits you want/need and the high totals to make sure they're not resisted. I hesitate to take them in anything besides Colette for that simple reason. You could make an argument for one coryphee and use those 7 soulstones for more models (the crew you list is basically 4 models) as the coryphee is very fast and can set up some crazy railwalker moves. With just four models you will get out activated by everybody.

The LSA, however, is a GREAT model for Mei. I compare it to the rail workers because it's the same cost. It's hardier, more mobile, and hits harder (and more times!). There are three things the rail workers do that are better then the LSA in a Mei crew. First, the rail workers can see through all the clouds you should be throwing out, that is very helpful. Second, the adaptive weapons they have can be huge in certain situations, but are usually very situational. And last, if you're running the golem, having at least one rail worked out there is almost a requirement because of the very easy (0) to throw a burning counter on the big fella.

No Emberling is also a bad idea. That extra steam cloud that's pretty easy to get off (The golem doesn't have the tome in his CA, so you have to get lucky/cheat to get that tome in there, and you want your tomes for Mei), arcane reservoir, and of course, he can give the golem hella burning tokens in a pinch all make him a great model for Mei at 2 SS.

With Mei I look at 3 models as near auto includes with her. The Emberling for an extra steam cloud and arcane reservoir (reservoir alone is worth it imo). Seismic punches from the Emberling are also a great way to move your crew forward. The LSA for the reasons listed above. And of course the golem because he hits like a truck - when used properly - and tends to be just hardy enough to survive anything besides a master thrown at him. After those 3 I like to take at least one railworker to hand out burning tokens, be a jump point, and be a general nuisance (Ahhh, I flipped a tome! Armor bitch!). I've learned Willie is a lot of fun, he has a burning token generation trigger, he's great against object, and if you play against Rasptina, he looks at an ice pillar and it goes away. That plus not needing to see what he's shooting makes him a very useful piece. He's our Austringer! (kinda). Johan is fun too because of how well he swings his hammer when around a M&SU member. I've yet to use the metal gamin, but I hear good things about them, and they're constructs as well, so they have that going for them.

And Kaeris. The basic idea (hey, burning tokens, Kaeris uses burning tokens, I wonder if she would be good with Mei) is dead on the money. Mei hands out burning tokens without trying, it's like McMourning with body part counters. If there aren't 20 or so out there after Mei's activation, you either killed everything with a counter, or did something terribly wrong. After that, activate Kaeris, snap your fingers, and watch the world burn...

As far as guys I wouldn't take, Joss is just too overpointed to be useful even though he is a construct as well so he has some synergies with Mei there, but he costs the same as the rail golem, and I'd much rather have the golem then him. Any models that need high masks to work are also a bad idea, if things are going right you should be burning those on Mei's combo chart, so that rules out things like Performer/Mannequin units.

You definitely have a good solid group for now, and have a good idea on how to move forward. There are lots of other things too that people don't try or talk about too much, I like the Steampunk Arachnids myself, but that's mostly a personal preference. Union Miners are silly, but fun. Honestly, if they have M&SU somewhere in their rules, you really can't go wrong.

[Adran]

Corephyee are certainly a possibility. You will probably want to play them a little more conservative than you would with Colette, as you are probably going to have less soulstone, and Mei does love her soulstone.

I think they are a great model for ignoring the enemy crew and achieveing objectives. I've used them for that, and they work well with Meis personal scheme as they typically have the 0 action to spare somewhere useful.

I probably wouldn't play them and the Golem in 30 stones as you are sinking a huge amount of your forces into 2 models, and it makes it very hard for either of them to earn their points. They are also both relatively hardy, but not to the extent that they can face a whole enemy crew on their own.

A lot of this matter on how you want to play Mei. She can certainly use lots of models to make her awesome, and put the focus on her doing stuff and hitting triggers. Or you can go away from that, so not need quite so many rail walking points and hand crafting.

Otherwise I agree with Mr Goggles run down. Any constructs and anything MSand U work well with her. Personally I would probably start with the Union Miners (they can be effectively Crazy fast if you want) and the Kaeris box. Johan would be a fairly early pick up, and then I would see what I struggled with.

[Mr. Goggles]

I think they are a great model for ignoring the enemy crew and achieveing objectives. I've used them for that, and they work well with Meis personal scheme as they typically have the 0 action to spare somewhere useful.

I didn't even think of that, the duet can almost guarantee 2 VP if you plan on taking Mei's scheme. While I still don't think they're the best fit for Mei, they could be really fun in placing the railroad.

[Sybarite]

Yeah don't ever skip the emberling. She's awesome with mei. Arcane reservoir and vent steam are very valuable.

The Metal gamin is really good too. She's really hard to kill, can soak wounds and heal and make solid and dependant jump points for Mei. Companion can be really good for railwalking.

[Marcalla]

Don't forget about seismic punching with the emberling to move models a second time or to move a second "base" of models. If you activate mei first you can get up to 11" extra movement from models that havn't activated yet.

Johan with Kang and union minions are dangerous to say the least. Also don't forget about union miners ("Miners, not minors you idiot") but always take in a pair to get the bonus flip's, they can be buried and pop out next to kang/johan for bigger buffs.

[Clement]

My first time up against Mei Feng, she took the following list for 35 points

Mei Feng -- 6 Pool

Emberling [2ss]

Large Steampunk Arachnid [5ss]

Mechanical Rider [8ss]

Rail Golem [9ss]

Steamborg Executioner [10ss]

The Strategy was Shared Line in the Sand (Gaining Grounds) and while each of these models in an otherwise tiny crew is a wrecking ball on its own... what made this crew VERY hard to deal with is that all of the huge bases meant Mei Feng could Rail Walker to just about anywhere.

[ooshawn]

coryphee duet is the best arcanist model in the game for several obvious reasons. Also they are viable with any arcanist master.

[micahwc]

("Miners, not minors you idiot") QUOTE]

"I don't follow you".

[Rapton]

I hadn't thought of using Keiris with mei feng before, but will give it a shot in a game i have tomorrow against S'omer. I usually use fire gamin in my list for the extra bits of fire it adds to the battlefield. But fear that they may be points misplaced.

[011121]

I hadn't thought of using Keiris with mei feng before, but will give it a shot in a game i have tomorrow against S'omer. I usually use fire gamin in my list for the extra bits of fire it adds to the battlefield. But fear that they may be points misplaced.

They were pretty much made to go together. Kaeris of course hands out burning counters like candy and she also provides some well appreciated fire power to a Mei list. Mei of course give Kaeris the big beatstick she often lacked. On the down side though both are pretty soulstone hungry, actually Mei is soulstone rapacious. So managing the supply can be a head ache. You may have to let one of them take one for the team.

Edited May 10, 2013 by 011121

[Marcalla]

Its a quote from Galaxy Quest. And a play on words.

[Sybarite]

It breaks my heart that Mei Feng won't be able to hire Kaeris as a henchman in Malifaux v2

[Chrisgossett]

I agree about kaeris and 2.0 but just think she will be a stand alone master now and that will be exciting

[Sybarite]

I agree about kaeris and 2.0 but just think she will be a stand alone master now and that will be exciting

Yes that is of course really nice - it's just a shame that they'll break up. :'(

But it will definitely make Kaeris very interesting.

[SilverBullet]

A model I have had some success with (and which hasn't been mentioned yet) is the soulstone miner, especially for setting up those long range rail walks. Also handy in a pinch for some extra soulstones, particularly if you team Mei with Kaeris.

Some people also like to take Miners, but I find them a little hit and miss.

Otherwise I think that you have covered everything I would potentially take.

[micahwc]

"I don't follow you" is the response given to the quote in Galaxy Quest, assuming my faulty mind remembers correctly.

[Marcalla]

Ahh... Close, its "You lost me." I'm afraid you'll have to settle for the lifetime supply of rice-o-roni.

[sliverwind]

Using only the mechanical rider coryphee duet and her totem mei feng gets to your side of the board and whirlwinds half your crew to death. So yeah I'd say all 3 of those are viable choices for her.

The same is also true of 3 constructs plus a student of conflict to give her fast.

[Rathnard]

I've had alot of fun with Mei as an Arcanist. My 30SS list has generally been;

Mei Feng

Kaeris 8

Emberling 2

Essence of Power 2

2x Rail Workers 10

Willie 6 (+2SS Cache)

Kaeris and Mei really are BFFs - they synergise so well with each other. Activate Mei first, and she can Vent Steam, then punch a pile of models to hand out Burning Counters before Kaeris uses Accelerant to finish them off (no LoS needed).

Activate Kaeris first, and she can use her own Ignite attack to hand out burning counters to a few enemy models for Mei to punch later, block an avenue of attack with Flame Pillars and/or assasinate a model with random fire attack spell (can't remember the name).

Not only that, but Kaeris is quite capable of going out on her own to hold part of the table herself. That alone is invaluble for a crew that otherwise wants to stick together.

Flame Pillars plus Seismic Punch is another great combo. I'm sure you can work out the details for yourself.

Oh, and she can cut herself for an extra card - another perk that Mei will really appreciate.

The Emberling gives an extra card (which again, Mei really needs), can be another source of Vent Steam and gets great use out of it's magical extension. Specifically, Seismic Punch is great for moving models around (it's often my first action of the game) and Scalding Breath is pretty potent with a soulstone and/or a Channel behind it, especially when you're bouncing the blasts onto other models.

Essence of Power was a later addition to my lists, but it works pretty well with Kaeris. The to damage helps her spells and he's a cheap way to get an extra AP via Magical extension. ie. Just cast Flame Pillars every turn with it.

Alot of people don't seem to rate the Rail Workers but honestly, I've found them to be excellent in Mei's crew. LSPAs might look better on paper (and they're certainly not a bad choice, I'm sure), but the Rail Workers offer much more in synergy with Mei Feng. Shapes in the Steam mean they never need to worry about Mei's Aura preventing charges, they can hand out Burning Counters to prime Mei and Kaeris and the to attack on their claws means they're both card efficient and effective against models like Zoraida and Lucius.

Willie is Solid Gold. Not only is he a hilarious model with a great background, but he's the best area denial tool I've ever used. People hate going near his dynamite counters and he's actually really good at damaging models without having to make an opposed duel. It makes him a priority for my opponents to deal with, and I don't mind that at all in a crew list that includes Kaeris and Mei.

As for others;

I don't think Gunsmiths are a good choice, simply because they can't see through her steam clouds and the rest of the crew wants to engage their potantial targets in melee anyway.

The Soulstone Miner is solid but he's a poor replacement for a Rail Worker or LSPA, since Mei usually won't have him available to Railwalk off of.

Kang is great when you need a difficult to kill melee tank, plus he can punch models into Flame Pillars with his shovel.

I've had trouble fitting in Johan (Willie is far more entertaining) but at least in theory he's a solid model in a crew full of M&SU members.

It was originally Sssk put me on to Steampunk Arachnids, and for 3SS they're actually a great little model for Mei's crew. They're a cheap jump point for Rail Walker, can drop an opponent's defense and if push comes to shove, can explode for some unavoidable damage. If I'm down a few SS, this is what I add.

I'm sure the Rail Golem is amazing. But I've never used it, on account of not liking the sculpt. ;P

[Matney X]

My first time up against Mei Feng, she took the following list for 35 points

Mei Feng -- 6 Pool

Emberling [2ss]

Large Steampunk Arachnid [5ss]

Mechanical Rider [8ss]

Rail Golem [9ss]

Steamborg Executioner [10ss]

The Strategy was Shared Line in the Sand (Gaining Grounds) and while each of these models in an otherwise tiny crew is a wrecking ball on its own... what made this crew VERY hard to deal with is that all of the huge bases meant Mei Feng could Rail Walker to just about anywhere.

How did this crew play out? I've wondered about the SBE in a Mei Feng list for a few days, but haven't been able to play it (I don't have any 50mm based creatures )