New Poster, Long Time Player, Same Old Problems.

[Gnas]

Hi everybody. I'm Gnas, I'm from Lexington, KY.

I've been tabletop gaming for 15 years, and I've played Malifaux since the month that it originally came out oh so many years ago. I consider myself a competent gamer, with a good understanding of general tactics, spacing, list composition, etc. I took a long hiatus from the game because I felt like there were just some crews which were straight up better than others, and decided to give it another chance with the new edition, since I like the mechanics and style of the game.

I have Rasputina, Lucius, Hoffman, Hamelin, and Jack Daw to run as masters. My personal favorite to run is Lucius, although I tend to find myself running Rasputina most of the time. I prefer a good mid range play style.

On to the important thing.

I seem incapable of hurting things, and I wonder if I'm just missing something, or if I don't understand some kind of mechanic somewhere. Since M2E came out, I've played six games of Malifaux, five times against the Viktorias, and once against Sonnia Crid. I've run Rasputina five times and Lucius (beta) once to a record of 2-4. The game I played against SC seemed well balanced, there was a good back and forth, and I won. Every game against the Viks has featured my crews wall crawling in an attempt to not be instantly killed by Hans, and then the Viktorias chess match me into a corner and whirlwind me to death (if I try to fight at all). The only game against the Viktorias that I won featured me using the terrain to my advantage, and straight up hiding behind a building using Rasputina to cast Ice Pillars to close off all entrances to where my crew was while I dropped Scheme Markers for the win. In that particular game we each shot at each other one time. No models died, and it was generally not fun, in any way, apart from the fact that hey, I got a victory.

I feel like the "glass cannon" concept of the Viktorias is completely false. I haven't managed to kill either Vik in any of the matches that I've played, as my opponent simply conserves all of his SS to protect himself (what's with SS so heavily favoring the defender now?), and on the next turn uses the Malifuax Child to heal both Viks, and now that he's within range of something, he kills it, and he's back to full health. I have nothing to out shoot Hans with, unless I forward deploy my December Acolytes on a suicide mission... even then 14 points to ensure that 8 points goes down isn't a good trade.

What am I missing?

[Omenbringer]

Which models and Upgrades are you taking with her? From what I have seen of her Shattered Heart upgrade, the Ice Golem's Toss tactical action and those Ht 1 Frozen Heart models (Wendigo and Ice Gamin), she is usually pretty well protected and yet still able to effect the battlefield. There isn't much that can out threat 23" even with dense terrain placement. The angels seem to really be the key with her.

Fenton Crack seems to grasp her well enough, perhaps with a bit more information he can offer some targeted advice.

[Claymore65]

For Anti-Viks, never group up your own guys too much. The Viks can kill most things in one activation. If you group up too much, that's just begging for a Whirlwind. Try to stay at range with the Viks. They are surprisingly vulnerable to Ranged/Casting actions. If Hans is giving you trouble, take advantage of terrain. He can't see you everywhere, and every time he has to move he get's reduced ranged and power. What other units is your opponent using? Rasputina is an excellent master. Your opponent must be very skilled to move that fast and powerfully.

[Fetid Strumpet]

Paralyzing the Viks is also almost as good as killing them.

[Omenbringer]

Few things Counter Hans like a well placed From the Shadows deployed December Acolyte, especially if you happen to have a High :rams card to cheat in to trigger Pull and Drag. On a successful hit he gets the Slow Condition in addition to the damage and with the trigger you can get him engaged in melee where the large rifle is useless.

It's also another Frozen Heart model if Rasputina can get up to him.