Sonnia crew - suggestions?

[Kotep]

Soooo, after much debate over what to grab next, I finally picked up the torch and the blade crew box. 

 

Any suggestions on what models fit with this box to round it out? I'm still pretty new to the whole of Malifaux and would greatly appreciate some steering in the right direction. 

 

Thanks!

[Sonova]

If you are unfamiliar with the mechanics a Freikorps specialist is one of the easier ways to spread Burning, but I'd proxy rather than buy unless you want a Von Schill crew. If you are playing with avatar rules, Fire Gamin are also pretty solid. Witchling Handlers can also help your Jawas get around quicker as well as make your non witch hunter models pass out burning. Pistoleros are also solid buddy models for your Witchlings and will probably see use in other crews too. 

[LunarSol]

Definitely the Freikorps Specialist.

[Claymore65]

I'm a fan of some of these:

 

-Austringer: Cheap, can attack without LOS and can help with schemes a bit. Very cheap, very versatile.

 

-Peacekeeper: A melee masher that will rarely disappoint. Big, dangerous, versatile (has a harpoon that drags foes in and gives them slow), and very survivable, you won't feel bad spending the SS on this guy.

 

-Witching Handler: A very thematic choice. Her aura will make your Witchlings faster, but that's not all. Her sword has a trigger kind alike Sonnia's reincarnation upgrade, and she has a (0) that can buff people's attack so hand out burning. This allows you to use other ranged units with Sonnia more effectively, as they'll still hand out burning.

 

-Freikorps Specialist: He's a burning handing out monster. His Flamethrower lets him ignore cover as burns away any resistance, and he can reliably put out a lot of fire every turn. He also will blow up in fire if he dies (I think he still does that), and is immune to blasts and enemy auras, allowing him to stay close to your troops without fear of your opponent simply blasting him to death. Not too expensive, versatile, and powerful.

 

-Francisco Ortega / the Judge / Ryle: Having a more melee oriented henchmen is definitely a plus. Samael is excellent in my opinion, but if you prefer your henchmen to be a melee fighter Guild has plenty of perfect melee-focused henchmen to fit your fancy.

 

-Executioner: This guy is tough, durable, and powerful. He brings melee power to your crew if you want it.

 

-Watcher: It's a cheap little flying robot. Flight, wk 6 and Armor +1 for a little resilience makes him a fantastic little objective grabber. He can also eliminate cover from enemies (making Sonnia's blasts even better), has a little bit of card advantage, and can serve as LOS for your master. Overall, a great little 4SS model for any Guild crew, not just Sonnia.

 

-MORE Witchling Stalkers: You'll find Witchling Stalkers are awesome. They are versatile, powerful in melee, hand out oodles of burning (from melee, ranged, or simply from blowing up when they die). They also have condition removal, which is a fantastic to keep in mind. They're rarely a bad choice in any Guild force, and Sonnia only uses them better.

 

Basically, you have a ton of chances to expand, but that's what I suggest.  

[Thaarup]

Sonnia is a very versatile master, so pretty much every model brings something she can use...it all depends on how you play or what you want to do.

Try to take a look at the different models and pick what you like. One thing that almost certain though is that you could probably use another batch of Witchling Stalkers.

 

 

One interesting model that did not get mentioned already is the Pathfinder (and traps). The Pathfinder on his own is a quite effective ranged model with some additional utility. The ability to place friendly traps, that Sonnia can then use to get a high damage blast is also a very effective tool. You have the option of cheating low card for defence and a higher card for Sonnia. With the Trap having WP 6, Sonnia also gets an extra attack flip to the duel. As the Trap only have 3 Wd plus 2 armour, the best approach is often to target the trap twice for two times medium damage. This will result in (2x) 3 damage from two blast actions with an effective range of 8" from the trap. On top of that the pathfinder will get to use the scavenger rule to draw and discard a card from hand. 

[MasterDisaster]

Claymore65 bascially nailed it on the head for me. The only thing I'd add is maybe Guild Riflemen, they are surprisingly efficient when groups close to each other however they work better with other crews. Lovely models though!

[VeZuri]

Claymore65 bascially nailed it on the head for me. The only thing I'd add is maybe Guild Riflemen, they are surprisingly efficient when groups close to each other however they work better with other crews. Lovely models though!

With a Witchling Handler the roflmen should be able to hand out Burning with the best of them. Adding Dashel to the mix would give even more synergy, but that'd get prohibitively expensive in no time flat, so probably not efficient.

 

Take with a bucket of salt, as this is purely tactical theory. I'll give it a shot (heh heh) at some point once my Guild Arsenal Box arrives and see how it works in practice.

[Dracomax]

I've had a lot of luck bringing one or two Death martials with Sonnia. It gets even better if you bring a witchling handler, so they hand out burning, but they are good even without it.

 

Mostly because they shoot better than the witchlings, have an inherently better walk, or harder to kill, and when they die they place a scheme marker. They also have the fantastic Pine box. Which can be used on a charge. I'm not saying replace all your witchlings with DMs, (for one thing, for every 3 DMs, you could have 4 Witchlings and 2 SS left) but swapping out 1 witchling for a DM is usually not a bad idea.

[Kotep]

Thanks for all the replies!

I ordered a Witchling Handler and plan on grabbing another box of Stalkers today. I've been looking at the Death Marshals and wondering if they would fit with this crew...so good to hear they'll go along.

[Dracomax]

Things to keep in mind with the Death Martials Compared to Witchlings:

 

Cons

• On their own, they do not add burning.
• They cost more than a Witchling Stalker.
• The witchling stalker is harder to hit with Df attacks.
• Does not have any Df or Wp triggers.
• Witchlings hit in melee better, and harder.
• Witchlings have longer range on their Ranged attack.
• Witchlings have dispel magic

 

Pros

• They shoot better than the witchlings, and tend to do more straight damage.
• They Have Pine box. This (1)action is claw range¹.
• When they die, they drop a scheme marker.
• They have H2W, and the same number of Wds as a Witchling.
• The have +1 Wk over the Witchling Stalker, and it is unimpeded.
• They are harder to hit with attacks targeting Wp than Witchlings.

 

 

I think, in general, a mix of witchlings and DMs is great, but I certainly wouldn't replace Witchlings entirely with DMs unless you are bringing along a Witchling Handler to give them burning. However, That's a personal opinion.

 

¹Pine box is super awesome. Not only can you use it on a charge, Giving you a really good chance getting rid of a model that you would otherwise have a very difficult time killing—such as the Rail Golem, or Killjoy—but it can be used to safegaurd your own models, or get them out of danger, as well. And there are a few tricks that are absolutely nasty using it, like Distract and pine box so the enemy can't become undistracted.

[Kotep]

A mix of both WS and DM sounds good, plus the models look amazing in my opinion. Also, thanks for the comparison btw as I didn't know anything about DM.

 

I guess I'll be grabbing a box of DM as well today... (why does this game have to have such beautiful minis??)

[LunarSol]

I'd just get the Lady J crew. DMs a new master and you definitely want to have Judge in the toolbox.

[NoHero]

I'd just get the Lady J crew. DMs a new master and you definitely want to have Judge in the toolbox.

 

What LunarSol said.

[Kotep]

Grabbed the lady justice box. Now I've got some serious assembling to do! Then comes the fun part of trying to figure out how they all play.

Thanks for all the advice and tips!

[NoHero]

Forewarning the Scales of Jutice actual scales can snap very easily.

[Bengt]

In another thread someone said Sonnia could create Witchlings (Stalkers?). So how many spares would you want?

[Adran]

The number depends very much on how you play her.

I have faced a list that was based on summoning as many as possible, and he summoned 5 during the game, but never had more than 5 on the board at once, and he started with 3.

 

In other lists owning 3 is probably plenty. You may well get away with 3 in the summoning lists if you only start with 1 or 2 in your list.

 

In essence, I would play her, and get to know her and how you play her well.

If you go for the Reincarnation upgrade, then start using it in lists that don't have all your witchlings to start with. If you find in a resonable number of your games that you would summon past the 3, then buy another pack.

[Dracomax]

I'd start with her without the reincarnation upgrade, taking a typical Sonnia list, and then pay attention to how often you kill something with burning within 10" of Sonnia. Then, I'd try a reincarnation list, and see if you run out. If you enjoy the reincarnation style list, and were running out, then go ahead and purchase another stalker box. Even if you only use 1-2 of them most games, it will be worth it—and you can always sell off or trade individual witchlings.

[Kotep]

In another thread someone said Sonnia could create Witchlings (Stalkers?). So how many spares would you want?

The witchling handler can also make stalkers

[Dracomax]

I wouldn't go in expecting stalkers out of her, though. It's more of a "Neat! I get a witchling" than a consistent or planned thing.

[wizuriel]

Personally thinking of trying (35pts):

 

Sonnia + 4 SS

-Reincarnation

-Counterspell aura

 

Sam

-Lead coat 

 

Purifying Flame

Witchling handler 

2x guard 

 

I like the guild guards as objective grabbers and find them more survivable than witchlings. Hoping I can use the Witchling Handler with Sam/Guardsmen to spread enough burning to get a few witchling as the match goes on (worse case scenario can always "recruit" the guardsmen into witchlings if they take too much damage).

 

Though I wish the guards had higher sh

[Kotep]

True, and the Witchlings are damaged I believe. Just thought I'd mention it. She's a solid model anyway...

[Dracomax]

Personally thinking of trying (35pts):

 

Sonnia + 4 SS

-Reincarnation

-Counterspell aura

 

Sam

-Lead coat 

 

Purifying Flame

Witchling handler 

2x guard 

 

I like the guild guards as objective grabbers and find them more survivable than witchlings. Hoping I can use the Witchling Handler with Sam/Guardsmen to spread enough burning to get a few witchling as the match goes on (worse case scenario can always "recruit" the guardsmen into witchlings if they take too much damage).

 

Though I wish the guards had higher sh

Looking at that crew, it looks like a very static, unmoving crew, where you want the enemy to come to you, but stay out of melee(except for the handler, who is going to want to stay close to the others so her aura works) Would probably work bwtter for some strat/scheme combos than others.

 

For a crew that moves up a bit more, Try something like Fransisco, The Handler, and maybe gaurdian in a wedge, with Sonnia a bit behind. the idea being that the Handler puts up the aura, and the Fransisco and the Gaurdian keep people from moving past the flanks, while all three put out burning in melee. Sonnia covers the ranged attacks, and whatever else you bring gets ignored as they complete schemes.

[Thaarup]

Personally thinking of trying (35pts):

 

Sonnia + 4 SS

-Reincarnation

-Counterspell aura

 

Sam

-Lead coat 

 

Purifying Flame

Witchling handler 

2x guard 

 

I like the guild guards as objective grabbers and find them more survivable than witchlings. Hoping I can use the Witchling Handler with Sam/Guardsmen to spread enough burning to get a few witchling as the match goes on (worse case scenario can always "recruit" the guardsmen into witchlings if they take too much damage).

 

Though I wish the guards had higher sh

 

If you plan on bringing in some extra Witchlings I would recommend getting the "Disrupt Magic" upgrade (either drop Lead Coat or some SS). It really enhances all of the  Witch Hunters in general and causes a lot of disruption among enemy models when a Witchling is summoned right next to them.