Favorite Scheme runner?

[4thstringer]

Who do you like for scheme running?  That guy to run to the middle of the table for line in the sand and plant evidence/explosives?   

 

My favorites are partially due to my limited models but right now it is the Guild Guard and the Guard Sergeant.  

 

The Guard are cheap and relatively durable for their price, and their investigate ability can really make the difference when your opponent is trying a marker based scheme.

 

The Sergeant's ability to move his scheme markers lets you pile them up in one spot, rather than having to move around placing markers all over the place.  This is incredible for line in the sand, plant explosives and such.  

 

 

I've heard the Watcher is good for this as well.  Who are your favorites?

 

[Tuttleboy]

I'm playing Hoff for my slow grow league and the champ for schemes is a Watcher for him. I like to run a pair in marker heavy schemes and give 1 Hydraulics and the other Programmed Directive on the first turn doing what I can to get the Power Overload trigger.

[NoHero]

Depends on the rest of your crew and master, but Guild Hounds and wastrels are also good options. Watchers are always a good go to.

[LunarSol]

It's rare 1, but I'm pretty convinced the Brutal Effigy is top of his class for this.  Respectable Wk with surprising durability with decent Def, Armor and HtK for a cheap cost.  Accomplice and Finish the Job are sweet icing on the top.

 

For models on the table, the Hounds with 4 for 12 points are tough to beat.  Terrific speed doesn't hurt either.  Their biggest concern is that you don't have to kill all of them to stop them, and they're reasonably easy to 1 shot and almost certainly taken out in 2.

 

For the rest of the dirt cheap, Watchers are quite fast, but have no ability to fight back against opposing runners.  Wastrels have the best damage output but I'm wondering if they lost a little too much outside of McCabe where they provide incredible card filtering options.

 

That leaves the Guild Guard, who might just still be the right pick.  They're just tough enough to be difficult to kill, particularly when benefiting from the Def bonus and their scheme denial is pretty impressive.

[Gipsy_Danger]

Wastrels and Hounds are both awesome with McCabe, but Hounds are great with any master

[Therril_83]

The last couple of games I've played with Guild I've used the Pale Rider as one of my hitters, and I've come to respect his scheme dropping qualities aswell. From turn 2 onward, he's pushing 4" and dropping a marker each turn for a (0)-action, and especially for schemes like Plant Evidence and Breakthrough, he can make a big impact.

[zFiend]

I have been mainly been using Death Marshall's due to lack of figures

[Meliondor]

I do not like Hounds. If you play 4 of them, your opponent needs only to kill 3 and the last one is useless.

 

Guild guard is nice, because of defense abilities. 

 

But I prefer witchling stalkers and soon Pistoleros. Because they are able to get rid of opponents scheme runners, while also planting their own scheme markers.

 

 

Austringers and pathfinders will also be great additions. Cheap enough to place markers, but also very useful.

[LunarSol]

I have been mainly been using Death Marshall's due to lack of figures

 

Death Marshals are actually pretty good at it thanks to Unimpeded, Finish the Job and Pine Box letting you manage opposing scheme runners.  The only problem is for 12 points you're down a whole model compared to the 4 point options without much of a survivability difference.  A pair of them can certainly get the job done though, and should not be a neglected option, particularly with Austringer support.

[Hunt.er]

Guard Sergeant and Guild Hounds. The Sergeant  can move the markers at the right place and the Hounds are not only good for dropping markers, but for protect them also, cause they can charge for (1) getting effectively 3 attacks against an enemy close to the marker. Thats why a last standing dog isnt worthless as said above.

[Hagisman]

Death Marshals are actually pretty good at it thanks to Unimpeded, Finish the Job and Pine Box letting you manage opposing scheme runners.  The only problem is for 12 points you're down a whole model compared to the 4 point options without much of a survivability difference.  A pair of them can certainly get the job done though, and should not be a neglected option, particularly with Austringer support.

12pts vs 4pts? How so?

 

Take two Death Marshals you have 12pts of effective transport units that if you are smart can set your opponent up for allowing you to score VP. Make them second guess whether you have line in sand or plant explosives. They always do well against melee crews when plant explosives is out on the table. Because my opponent doesn't usually guess that I have it.

[LunarSol]

12pts vs 4pts? How so?

 

Take two Death Marshals you have 12pts of effective transport units that if you are smart can set your opponent up for allowing you to score VP. Make them second guess whether you have line in sand or plant explosives. They always do well against melee crews when plant explosives is out on the table. Because my opponent doesn't usually guess that I have it.

 

 

 

I was saying that when you pay 12 points for 2 Death Marshalls, you have a whole figure less than when you pay 12 points for any of the 4 point options, but their abilities are often strong enough to make up the difference.

[zFiend]

Death marshalls are actually quite good at scheme running and making schemes, if the enemy sends a model after them to deny them from doing schemes just Pinebox them, you don't even need to kill them which might take a lot longer. The box is just an insanely useful tool. In my last games I've gone up against Death Marshall and I'm starting to hate the box, one game I think my Sybelle got boxed for 2-3 turns. Last game my topnotch shape Mr. Graves got boxed 

[doubledragon]

+1 for The Pale Rider. 0 action to push 4" and drop a scheme marker is the best you're going to get when it comes to schemes.

[Sonova]

Death marshalls are actually quite good at scheme running and making schemes, if the enemy sends a model after them to deny them from doing schemes just Pinebox them, you don't even need to kill them which might take a lot longer. The box is just an insanely useful tool. In my last games I've gone up against Death Marshall and I'm starting to hate the box, one game I think my Sybelle got boxed for 2-3 turns. Last game my topnotch shape Mr. Graves got boxed 

 

This is why there is ALWAYS room for death marshals.

[zFiend]

This is why there is ALWAYS room for death marshals.

 

Exactly. And they can Pinebox on Charge.

[Hagisman]

Exactly. And they can Pinebox on Charge.

Can they? Its a Cast action.

[Morgan Vening]

Can they? Its a Cast action.

I thought so too. So I looked it up.

 

Charge doesn't care what the stat ability is (Ml, Sh, Ca). It only cares if it's a (claw), not (gun) or (empty). Dang, I miss the icons.

 

And Pine Box is a (claw) attack.

 

Woot! Charging wit' da box!

[Dracomax]

Yeah, the pine box charge really turned my opinion of the DM around this edition.

 

Honestly, Still not feeling Judge as a beatstick, but I am starting to respect him as a model mover and scheme manipulator. stand for justice is worth 6 SS alone, IMO.

 

I hate to use pale rider as a scheme runner, but in most of my crews, he and the lone martial are among the best simply because they have the movement to get it done while everyone else is busy stopping the enemy, and he has the survivability (and push)to make it difficult to pull enough models out to stop him. I still have t4rouble pulling 6 on a rider's 0 though...

[Sonova]

Yeah, the pine box charge really turned my opinion of the DM around this edition.

 

Honestly, Still not feeling Judge as a beatstick, but I am starting to respect him as a model mover and scheme manipulator. stand for justice is worth 6 SS alone, IMO.

 

I hate to use pale rider as a scheme runner, but in most of my crews, he and the lone martial are among the best simply because they have the movement to get it done while everyone else is busy stopping the enemy, and he has the survivability (and push)to make it difficult to pull enough models out to stop him. I still have t4rouble pulling 6 on a rider's 0 though...

 

Its really hard to go past a model that can shoot twice and still drop a scheme marker. The only thing really stopping him from being a must pick is the fact that his cost is restrictive and stuff like Ophelia can still put him down in like 1 round of shooting. 

[Dracomax]

I'm actually a fan of the drop marker,push 4, marker, move 6; rinse, repeat with the Rider.

 

I'm not sure even Ophelia could put him down in one round after round 3 or so without getting really lucky. The damage reduction isn't armor, it just works like armor. I think you would need something like a Mcmourning poison bomb, at that point, to have one model do it. Her entire crew, or a significant portion therof might do it, but Assuming she has to hit him twice, that's 8 extra damage that she has to do to drop him, and if she doesn't, he gets heals. And it isn't like the pale rider is a slouch on Df.

 

The bigger threat is that most crews can take potentially take him down in the first two rounds, especially if you get overconfident.

[Sonova]

Can be done. Especially if you bring along trigger deniers... :cough: Sammy :cough:

[Meliondor]

a 12 point scheme runnter...

 

For the same points you can get a Lone Marshal and a guild guard. So you can place scheme markers on different side and also deal damage, have an activatin more and so on.

 

I am really no friend of the Pale Rider. 12 points is just so expensive...but yeah, he can place scheme markers without loosing dmg. He is strong enough that he can win games nearly alone (shooting every turn while accomplishing schemes), but he can also loose you a game if you flip the balck joker on an early turn and your opponent lands a too lucky hit.

[zFiend]

 

I thought so too. So I looked it up.

 

Charge doesn't care what the stat ability is (Ml, Sh, Ca). It only cares if it's a (claw), not (gun) or (empty). Dang, I miss the icons.

 

And Pine Box is a (claw) attack.

 

Woot! Charging wit' da box!

 

 

Yeah. They can.

[Therril_83]

a 12 point scheme runnter...

 

For the same points you can get a Lone Marshal and a guild guard. So you can place scheme markers on different side and also deal damage, have an activatin more and so on.

 

I am really no friend of the Pale Rider. 12 points is just so expensive...but yeah, he can place scheme markers without loosing dmg. He is strong enough that he can win games nearly alone (shooting every turn while accomplishing schemes), but he can also loose you a game if you flip the balck joker on an early turn and your opponent lands a too lucky hit.

I wasn't a big fan of him on paper, but since I own him I thought I'd give him a testdrive to see what he was capable of, and I was positively surprised.

And you're right, you don't take him to be a scheme runner, but it's an added perk to a decent damage dealer.