Nekima

[Sybaris]

N2E , short for Nekima 2nd edition, is finally on the table.

 

She still is heavily front-loaded, in that her offence is far more interesting than her defense. She puts a large threat on the table, and one that is not easy to avoid it for a long time. Low-wound models are very vulnerable to her strike. However she cannot reliably engage Masters or Henchmen that can withstand her initial assault, she needs support. In fact, she has to be extra-careful to avoid a counter charge when she commits to kill anything.

 

With the timely arrival of the Lilitu and Black Blood Shaman, support is available. The Black Blood Shaman can provide for needed modifiers in combat at the cost of a wound, and he can also heal her if needed.

 

The Lilitu can drag foes into Nekima's embrace, although she can do something even worse with Lilith's thirsty mandrake and synnergise with tot's pounce. Being close to an unactivated Nekima is unnerving for almost any model in the game...however dragging the wrong model within range could get Nekima killed or crippled before she has a chance to get her sword going.

 

Nekima has synnergy with many masters that Neverborn can field. She can play the Wp game for Pandora, has movement shenanigans for Lilith and is a Nephilim, can be a powerful target for Obey. Those masters also benefit from Nekima's presence because she attracts so much attention. I am not sure if the Dreamer, Collodi and Lynch will find much use for her though.

 

"The True Mother" upgrade serves as a booster for the "Growth" mechanic that nephilim may want to use. She has access to Nexus of Power and Fear given Form, but unlike other Nephilims, she can no longer benefit from Flay unless she spends a soulstone and you have a great Mask to spend on the hit, and then have another severe to cheat.

 

Nekima is very costly, in fact this is her main flaw when looking at her staying power. With upgrades, she can get to 17ss on her own, which is quite crazy. That being said, if you need a glass cannon of dramatic proportion, that's your girl.

 

 

 

So how will you use Nekima (if you intend to )?

 

[Hateful Darkblack]

Sybaris, thanks for your analysis. I know you have long been the big proponent of Nekima and improvements. I was wondering if you thought she'd been done justice.

 

I've actually just bought Nekima because of the improvements. I'm likely to use her mostly in Lilith Crew, since that's where I see the most synergy. I could see her in a Pandora Crew, especially if Pandora hired a few Terror Tots to go along, but mostly I'm expecting to field her with Lilith.

[Fetid Strumpet]

I still maintain that her min dmg is too high. For me she is an auto include model in every NB list as I can't see a single arguement in any NB master outside of *maybe* Lucius where she isn't silly good. It will be interesting to see over the long run of the game if this turns out to be the case or if I'm wrong.

I certainly hope I am.

[Myth]

I think she ended up in a decent place, though I don't think she's likely to be an auto-include in any of my crews - her expense and (lack of) durability means I'm only likely to take her in crews built specifically to support her (and possibly with a heavy influence based on if there is the right terrain on the board to keep her alive until she can get to the enemy.)

 

I used her quite a few times during the beta, and she certainly had some games in which she performed well - she excels at clearing out clusters of weak enemies that aren't able to really threaten her. She also had games where she was a quick loss of 15+ SS, as she is very vulnerable to getting carved apart by elite foes. You really need to pick your battles carefully with her, and while her mobility does help with that, it can definitely be a tricky balance. Lilith and Zoraida, who both can provide her some bonus movement at the right moment, are the Masters I find worked best with her.

[D-A-C]

I still maintain that her min dmg is too high. For me she is an auto include model in every NB list as I can't see a single arguement in any NB master outside of *maybe* Lucius where she isn't silly good. It will be interesting to see over the long run of the game if this turns out to be the case or if I'm wrong.

I certainly hope I am.

 

What???

 

How is her min damage of 4 in any way too high? And how is she an 'auto include' auto include in every NB list.

 

Lets compare her to Teddy and Mature Nephlim, both of which are in the ball park of being similar and are both 2 SS cheaper.

 

Compared to Nekima:

 

 

Teddy

 

Stats Compared to Nekima:

 

-2Df, -2Wp, -1 Wd, -1Wk, +1Cg / Does not have Flight

 

Offense:

 

Smell Fear - a potential free ML strike for a failed enemy WP duel

Hug - A Ml 7 2" strike with 4/5/6 dmg and a Trigger

Flurry

Gooble You Up - Free movement for a better chance of activating Flurry and + to Att and Dmg flips

 

Defence:

 

Impossible to Wound

Terrifying 13 (All)

Regen +2

Heal 1/2/3 (On a Trigger)

 

 

Mature Nephilim

 

Stats Compared to Nekima:

 

-1Df, -1Wp, -2Wds, 0Wk, +2Cg / Also has Flight

 

Offense:

 

Monstrous Talons - Ml 6 2" strike with 4/5/6 dmg and Triggers

Flurry

Built in + on Monstrous Talons Att Flips

 

Defense:

 

Black Blood

Terrifying 12 (Living)

Armour +1

 

 

Nekima

 

Offense:

 

Melee Expert

Melee Master (potentially ... costs death of Lilith by Nekima)

Lorelie - Ml 7 3" Strike 4/5/6 with Triggers

Blood For Blood - Suffer one damage to give one damage

 

Defense:

 

Black Blood

Regen +1

Heal +2 (On a Trigger)

 

 

 

 

So Nekima is two SS more than Teddy or a Mature Nephilim, what exactly makes her so much better than those two similar models?

 

She has a few buffs like melee expert instead of flurry, a few better stats, but her defence is weaker, and she is costing you +2 extra SS. She is also missing useful things like a way to generate positive attacks (outside of burning a SS further adding to her cost) or Terrifying, both of which the other models possess.

 

I'm not saying she isn't a good model, she is, I have used her and cleaved my way through minion models, but she is very delicate and if activated too early will die a swift death.

 

I'm failing to see how she is an auto-include in almost all Neverborn Crews outside of perhaps Lucius? She is very Strategy/Scheme specific and needs the rest of the SS in your pool spent around her to help her maximize her potential.

[Mako]

I'm just going to remind everyone to stay calm and polite, as there's often a lot of emotion over nekima.

Some people see her as powerful, or an auto include, others see her as weak, or useless.

You're all entitled to think what you like, so long as you express it sensibly and accept that other people aren't wrong for disagreeing with you.

[The Godlyness]

They MUST be wrong for Disagreeing with me!!!!!!! I AM ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!!

 

That aside, a 13 stone Glass cannon will make it in my list if my Strategy's and Schemes say i need to kill things. Hiring her for objective games seems like a waste when i can hire 3 tots and sprint where i need to be. 

 

Is she good Yes. Is she Bad Yes. is she ugly..... Everyone has their preferences. (well don't say it to her face)

 

The same can be said of ANY model. A jackolpe has killed Many of my models and my teddy has failed to do things at other times.  But that is Malifaux where Wyrd things happen.

[dgraz]

 A jackolpe has killed Many of my models .

You mess with the Jackalope, you get the horns.

[The Godlyness]

You mess with the Jackalope, you get the horns.

 

QFT lol

[Joel]

I will I want to use nekima in my lists - sometimes.

Will I rush to get a metal one painted up - no.

Will I put myself at a disadvantage by waiting - nope.

Will I enjoy using her to smash face - yep!

Which in my book is right where a model should be

[Sybaris]

Nekima is more useful for the following strategies and schemes:

 

Turf War:

Use Nekima late in a scoring turn to try and swipe the central zone of enemy models. The Bloody Beauty can work very well, as can killing things outright. Beware that the enemy master may be there, and Nekima can usually not fight them on her own. She is also a very nice target for Blast mongers out there.

 

Reckoning:

Having a killer of this magnitude goes hand in hand with this stratgegy at first sight. However, most models of her cost range are much, much tougher than she is (or have fail-proof mechanism to ensure efficiency), and this may become a problem once she's locked in, and then Initiative becomes paramount to your crew. Do not bring her upgrade to this fight; wounded tots will present a VP opportunity for your opponents, unless you can grow them right away.

 

Assassinate:

An interesting Scheme for Nekima, as it is perhaps the only time you'll ever see an opportunity to use Birthright. That said, it's always a gamble to use and never (as far as i am aware) an efficient move. Playing tag with your leader will leave the opponent with a healed up Nekima with Melee Master so it could be just for the face of your opponent realizing this..but you won't see it useful often, in fact, i never saw a situation where it was beneficial. But it's very fluffy and the day it will work in your favor will be a fun time.

 

Make them suffer:

Easily the very best Scheme to use Nekima in, killing minions is what she does best.

 

Murder protégé:

A tricky scheme for Nekima, because obviously, her presence also means that she will be the target of this Scheme. Given her fragility, there are good odds that it will be taken, too. You can use this to your advantage, especially if the Bodyguard Scheme is around as well. With flight and a high walk, She can get the enemy into a race after her across the table, but if caught, she does go down quickly.

 

Frame for murder

An interesting take with this, because she's worth so much and because the opponent obviously cannot let her alive close to its models. The whole idea is to have dealt enough damage with her by the time she'll go down.  It's also way to "draw" Murder Protégés as well since it'll be on Nekima too.

 

-------

 

Anything with objective markers is not her cup of tea and she may actually hinder your ability to control the table. That being said, like many potent models, she can play "denial" tactics in those situations that are not optimal for her. Not many "objective grabbers" will go around her, and with "the bloody beauty" you can attempt to ruin their day. If you are really intending to use Nekima for objective games, i advise to bring "The True Mother", as any tot she can spawn will be put to good use for scoring purposes (or require enemy attention).

 

So overall, she can "support" Schemes and Strategies she isn't optimal for, but the question remains if she can support those enough to be worth the cost (and a risk of casualty) in those encounters. Imho, there are a few times you'll be better served with more model count.

 

Nekima is also very SS and Card hungry. She has no modifiers in her attack, and her defense is quite low, meaning she will eat your hand cache if you let her.  These resources won't be around for your Master later in the game. This is maybe why you'll sometimes be better served with more models or a lesser beatstick.  Matures or Teddies, for example, are far less needy and present quite a bit of a threat too.

 

---

 

Anyway have good fun with her, there are certainly many more tricks to be found with the model, so i hope to see some reports of your findings.

[AgentRock]

I wouldn't hesitate to throw her in with Lynch. Lynch doesn't really need the Brilliance thing anymore. Nekima benefits from a stacked control hand as much as anybody else does (possibly more, since she can control her triggers better.) And you get to watch your opponent consider starting to cut himself so he can feel something again after playing against Huggy and Nekima in the same game. 

[Sybaris]

 When i pondered about the various NB masters and came to think about a Lynch crew, i assumed the player would default to a duo of illuminated, given brilliance would be aplenty. Glad you're considering using her then

[rancor709]

You mess with the Jackalope, you get the horns.

And Dgraz won the Thread

[rancor709]

She's a big hitty stick with the ability to use stones cb 7 and nice bucket of wounds on df 5 2 base ap and Melee expert. She's worth every bit of her stones. For me she is strong consideration in a lot of lists and match ups. But I like big hitty threats its a play style thing. I would always reach for her over a mature nephlim. On that front Nekima wins hands down. Teddy it a tougher choice. Overall I think she came out okay but you'll see her in a lot of Reckoning lists, just like you'll see Izamu in a lot of Reckoning lists

[Sybaris]

At least she will be actually fielded in more competitive environment, before she was pretty much never seen there. I doubt she'll be in all NB crews though, especially once people will have learned how to deal with her.

[Hateful Darkblack]

Do you think she'd benefit from synergy with a Doppelganger?

 

Seems like the Initiative bonus helps Nekima, and the ability to copy Lorelei helps the Doppelganger. But boy howdy is that expensive.

[Sybaris]

The doppleganger is definitely amongst the top support piece for the neverborn imho, not just Nekima. Being so offensively oriented, it's only natural that the large nephilim benefits from it more than say, a sturdy model who can afford getting hit.  For all that counts, if you want to spend Nekima in a blaze of glory, that's definitely one way. Frame for murder comes to mind in there.  Of course, this does take a large chunk out of your crew, so you'll have to manage your resources wisely both before and during the game.

[Sonova]

I am looking forward to meeting this spectacular bullet catcher on the field.

[Wence]

I like Nekima in that she is a very tactical model that can do a ton of useful stuff, but puts herself at major risk in doing so.  Bloody Beauty is often a game winner in Pandora and Nephilim lists, allowing you to do a lot of repositioning of enemy crews for Misery and Pounce damage.  While I haven't tried her with Jacob, I can see her being a good addition to that crew.  She's definitely not an auto-include for me, as 13-16SS usually eats up the potential for other options.

 

You have to respect the opinions of people that see problems with the model though.  She can use Soulstones, attacks with a high minimum damage that can force a high TN horror duel in an AoE when it kills, and can re-position opposing crews en masse.  I think there are a lot of things in the game that are ahead of her in cost-to-benefit ratio, but those are separate discussions.