Seamus' list ideas?

[Dr. Pokett]

I'm very new to Malifaux, and have decided to join the ranks of the Resurrectionists!

I'd just like to know some opinions on how to play him and what to run in his lists!

[zFiend]

Welcome to Malifaux and Rezzers.

Well Belles are great with Seamus (as they are with any rezzer master). If you want to bring in some killing ability and hitting power then definitely a Hanged model.

I myself like to run Seamus with a couple of Belles, Sybelle, Copycat Killer and a Hanged. Depending on the game size but that's usually a basic building point. Dead doxies would go well in a Seamus list, they are in the beta atm.

Don't have enough time to post more now, but will continue if needed. There is a lot of Seamus posts in the rezzer forums, check them out at some point

[Mxbedlam]

I like taking a nurse with Seamus as well. Their ability to buff your crew, or paralyze the enemy is well worth taking, and at one of the highest Df in the game and a push trigger on attacks, they don't leave the table very often unless focused down. Belle + Nurse=Lock down models. Which frees Seamus up to back alley around dropping scheme markers or murdering your opponent's pieces.

[parich]

Another great addition to a Seamus list is the Nurse. At 5ss they're a great bargain utility piece. They won't kill much (anything) directly, but by discarding a card to gain the suit you can pretty much guarantee the trigger of your choice on Take Your Meds. In my most recent game, I held up both Lilith and a Mature Nephilim for 2 turns with a single Nurse (granted their base WP is pretty low and I had good flips) by hitting Paralyze the first time around and Hallucinogens the second time (as they weren't in melee range this is as good as paralyze for game purposes). Can't advocate taking one enough!

Canine remains are also good cheep scheme runners (6" walk) and the -1DF while within 1" of an enemy can help out the weaker members of your crew. Another model I've liked recently is Rogue Necromancy. Like the Doxies he's still in Beta, but can pack a pretty nasty punch and gives a ranged attack option to the crew.

[Pierowmaniac]

Based off his Upgrades you have generaly 2 or 3 styles of play open to you.

1) Mellee Assassin (with Bag o Tools)

2) Ranged Assassin (standard)

3) Terror (with Sinister Reputation)

List (Pool) wise - Id actually suggest you get used to having a pool rather than a set list, as no 1 list is suitable for all the possible Strat/Scheme combinations, and thats without factoring in your opponents faction choice.

But anyway pool suggestions:

Wave 1

Madame Sybelle

Belles

Bete Noire

Hanged

Crooked Men

Copy Cat Killer

Graveyard Spirit

Canine Remains

Hans

Wave 2

Dead Doxy

Drowned

Jukauna

Dead Rider

Izamu

Yin

Rogue Necromancy

Sue

[Vorschlag]

Seamus likes his girls So Bette Noire is another addition, especially with his Teleporting Hand Cannon.

While you don't want to cheese your opponents, crew selection is part of your tactics and strategy that you will develop with what is available to you.

Play a few games with different strategies and schemes before you settle on anything.

But Seamus' Belle heavy crew is fairly easy to set nice combinations up with due to how obscene Belle's lure ability range 18" casting on 8 and the trigger isn't too bad for a crew with discard or die abilities (seamus and sybelle).

Once you get used to luring your own models into positions try setting up traps, luring into a zombie punk to flurry lure into a a crooked mans shafted ability etc.

[cyenobite]

Not sure to start a new thread, or tack on to this thread... I'll tack on, since I guess it's relative.
So I'm a new player (only about 7-8 games played so far) using Seamus.
I'm losing big time in ALL my games so far. Have not come close to winning.
One opponent I've faced off against (about 5x) is Ophelia, who just manages to chew up my crew and leaves me really struggling after turn 2.

Today, his sniper (Francios?) took my Punk Zombie down to ONE wound on turn one, from across the table.
So, could anyone offer me some advice on how to play Seamus?
I'm using his crew box (Seamus, Copycat, Sybelle, 3belles) and I'm adding on a Punk Zombie (35 pts).

I just don't seem to be able to deal any meaningful damage.
I'm trying to play a ranged tactic (using Seamus and Copy), but since they can only shoot once, it's really not doing a whole lot.
Appreciate any advice (or even links to further reading).

Thanks!

[thebarbalag]

If you expect to be facing a shooting list, I would suggest Sebastian. His "Undercover" ability is pretty great. Might also want to look into Canine Remains if taking this route, or other things that generate, or benefit from Poison, just to get the most out of Sebastian.

[SoulGambit]

First, there is no shame in losing to Ophelia. She's one of the stronger masters in the game, and hard for a newer person to face. Second, use cover. Ophelia should never have a clean shot on one of your models until they are close. Other than that, chain-lure enemy models and then stab them. Sebastian is an excellent model to bring against shooting, as was described.

[Rhonlore]

I like bringing Crooked Men to fights where I will be shot at continuously. Bonus is that they work well with Belles.

[Stadon]

The episode of Cheated Fates about Seamus had some good pointers on list building.  I particularly liked the suggestion of including a pair of flesh constructs as mobile blockers to break line of sight on seamus and let him teleport more freely.  

[Clement]

I'll also bring up the standard thing we often tell all new players of malifaux, especially when its losing to shooty crews.

ARE YOU SURE YOU ARE PLAYING WITH ENOUGH TERRAIN.

A very common mistake most new players make is not having enough terrain on the table. That can make shooting crews more dangerous, and the snipers of m2e can be even worse without adequate cover. Seamus especially suffers from the lack of cover. When the book says 25% of the board should be terrain, it really means it.

[kross1]

Personally I tend to play a list that has the first 30 or so points already decided, then spend the rest of those points to fill in objective runners, condition removal, extra hitting power, and so forth, depending on terrain, schemes & strategies. Find a few models your comfortable with, play them, then season to taste w/what you think will help.

Clement has a valid point about not enough terrain, Ophelia can & will be devastating against you if you don't have enough los blocking or cover providing terrain. Personally I play on tables w/lots of terrain, usually w/multiple levels and vantage points. When they say 1/4 of the table full of terrain, they mean full!

[zFiend]

I'll third the terrain. 

 

Also I don't think there's a once per turn restriction (beta cards) on Copycat killer's 0.49 Flintlock? Seamus has the restriction. I myself love to put a hanged among the very first models on a Seamus list. Seamus, Copycat and Hanged love to buddy up and wreak havoc. 

 

As a sidenote. I loved the Flesh Construct meat wall to let Seamus teleport freely!

[Fetid Strumpet]

I'm not really sure how flesh constructs are blocking Los so effectively. The only time I have trouble hiding Seamus is when the opponent has access to vantage points, and if he does the flesh constructs won't hide him because they aren't tall enough to block the vantage point. Interesting variances in meta I guess.

I don't tend to like bête with seamus. There are advantages to using her, but at the end if the day to use her effectively a 10+ card needs to stay in hand and you can't use it for anything but her survival. I really don't like dealing with that.

As many have said try to work a nurse into your list. In addition to what has been said about her she also can prove to be an effective scheme runner if she is ignored in favor of other threats, and she also can help turn Seamus into a melee monster if something locks him up and he can't jump away using red chapel killer, or push away via bored now.

For a ram from your hand use take your meds on Seamus, then accomplice him, and then use back hand and cheat a crow or spend a stone 3 times for up to 6 ml attacks with ml 7 with 3/3/5 As your damage spread, just remember if you do that you won't be able to use your 0 actions or walk or jump away if you kill your enemy with ap to spare as once you go mad all you can do that turn is ml attacks.

[chris_havoc]

I couldn't disagree more with Fetid on Bete in a Seamus list. I use her as a support piece kept behind my Belles and Sybelle and move them up as a group. This way the low Df of the Belles is offset by her Tenebrous Aura while she in turn is kept safe by being behind Sybelle and the Belles. So only when this group meets the enemy does one have to seriously consider keeping a 10 in their hand. Seamus and the Copycat can act fairly independently apart for this group.

[Fetid Strumpet]

Different experiences, and that's ok. I find that even when she works, unless she is perma paralyzing the enemy master she just never performs well enough. I don't find I need or want to protect my belles. If they die oh well.

Best thing would be for you to try her out and decide for yourself. I find that more belles and a nurse work WAY more effectively then bête could ever hope to. Others love using Seamus or the CCK to act as early delivery systems for her to get bête in the back ranks early. Its going to come down firstly to how your opponents react to her and how you like to manage your hand.

I tend to hold 1 high card for defensive purposes, to help offset those shots that are going to put a condition I can't clear off easily, or will do something else nasty that I don't want to happen, and I use all the other high cards for offense, for getting my belles slow through, for forcing cheats out with the CCK, and for actually connecting with the one .50 shot I get each turn. Adding bête's 10+ in hand as well just creates too much of a drain in my offensive capabilities, especially as it might be my only high card.

Results on using her are going to vary based on how you play and your meta. Proxy her and try her for a bit and make up your own mind.

[zFiend]

Fetid. I really like and appreciate your posts, because you go into such detail as to why you prefer something. Thank you. It's always a pleasure to read your posts!

[cyenobite]

I still need to read through these posts more closely, but wanted to say thanks for the tips. 

I know this question will be hard to answer, but... How do you usually play Seamus' Crew - As a Melee group, a Ranged group, or strictly movements/schemes?
I tend to see them as a Ranged group since Seamus and Copycat are both Ranged, but they seem kinda limited (unless you get lucky flips). Should I change my way of thinking on his crews? 

Yet another question: Does Seamus' Crew benefit at all by staying closely grouped, or spread the models out across the board? With Ophelia (and Perry?) with his exploding attack, that can be devastating, so when I see him, I def try to keep things spread out. But I'm wondering about going against other crews that don't have any sort of exploding attack. Particularly the Belle's... do they benefit by acting as a group at all?

 

Lastly: I can't seem to find any battle reports on youtube. Maybe if I saw how other's played him, I could pick up some pointers, but there doesn't seem to be anything on youtube (I did find one old M1.x version, but that doesn't help me because a lot of the rules changed). If anyone knows of a good battle report, that shows a Seamus WIN, I'd appreciate it - and if not... Lets get some battle reports for M2e up on youtube! I'm sure there are a lot of new players out there now, looking for BatReps!

 

No really... this is lastly
A few mentioned above to get Sebastian. I searched a few online stores, and Wyrd, and can't seem to find him for sale at all. Kinda limits my options

[Clement]

Belles to profit from working in groups since if a single belle lures a model into multiple belle's engagement ranges, they ALL get to pounce.

 

Having said that, often I the way I run Seamus has him bouncing off around the board dropping scheme markers and shooting dudes while the CCK follows along and cleans up any survivors.  Seamus' crew is mostly on their own.

 

Your best shot at getting Sebastian at this point would likely be to get the Body Of Evidence box.  It's the McMourning crew, but you might find Sebastian, the Nurses, the flesh construct and the Canine remains all useful right out of the gate.  McMourning himself is pretty awesome too

[Vorschlag]

Never underestimate your belles, for their cost they are one of the best minions in the game, not only do they have the best lure in the game (high casting and all suits included) but they also have a nice little trigger (and pounce ).

 

Don't forget to use your belle's to lure your own pieces onto position aswell, I would say when Seamus' "standard" (fluffy) crew are run correctly they are more about "map control" luring things to where Seamus, the copycat killer and Sybelle can do their work and pulling them back out when you need to.

 

This means you get alot more movement tricks than alot of crews (if you take the three belle's) and also don't forget Sybelle's call belle it's more valuable than it seems on first glance.

[Stadon]

I'm not really sure how flesh constructs are blocking Los so effectively. The only time I have trouble hiding Seamus is when the opponent has access to vantage points, and if he does the flesh constructs won't hide him because they aren't talk enough to block the vantage point. Interesting variances in meta.

Yeah, I am less concerned with a model on vantage point terrain when I run a crew with multiple belles. Being able to turn a lure into 3+ falling damage is a pretty good deal.

[EnternalVoid]

Yeah, I am less concerned with a model on vantage point terrain when I run a crew with multiple belles. Being able to turn a lure into 3+ falling damage is a pretty good deal.

 

Unless it is Raspy, stupid Counterspell taking out the suits make Lure impossible for Belles.

[zFiend]

Never underestimate your belles, for their cost they are one of the best minions in the game, not only do they have the best lure in the game (high casting and all suits included) but they also have a nice little trigger (and pounce ).

 

Don't forget to use your belle's to lure your own pieces onto position aswell, I would say when Seamus' "standard" (fluffy) crew are run correctly they are more about "map control" luring things to where Seamus, the copycat killer and Sybelle can do their work and pulling them back out when you need to.

 

This means you get alot more movement tricks than alot of crews (if you take the three belle's) and also don't forget Sybelle's call belle it's more valuable than it seems on first glance.

 

This. Very much. Good post Vorschlag.

[cyenobite]

New Seamus question: Are there any particular schemes you prefer with Seamus (and crew) over another?
Explanations are encouraged.