15/05/2014

#ToMB Claw & Fang Vol. 9

Marcus Month 3

We last left Claw and Fang with me pulling my hair out, teetering on the edge of a rage quit, not knowing whether to come or go.

My idea was maybe doing 2 #ToMBs, possibly doing half of two, gaming with Marcus and painting with a Ten Thunders master.
Well for the observant of you, you will see that I have already started a new #ToMB in the form of Dark Debts.

So what of Claw and Fang?

First of all, I'm not giving up on the big man. My main issue is still there, lack of plastics I want to buy and/or paint, but as I stated before, I want to carry on playing with the crew, learning more and adding to it.

It does occur to me that doing #ToMB at once may be difficult, right now I will ease my foot off the gas with Marcus so that I don't have a huge pile to paint and probably not change up the crew too much, especially as I am fitting 3 months into 1 for Lynch.

Month 3 Choices

The third month gives me another "$25" add this to the $14 I had left over, I actually have a respectable $39 to get what I feel I need.


Cojo oh Cojo, I would love to say I've gone back and forth on this model but actually I have not, I have just been down on him.
I love the miniature and I still think he has some places in certain schemes and is still probably solid in Squatters Rights thanks to his reach.

However, in larger games of 45-50 soul stones and even lower in Reckoning, I want to have something a little bit more hitty and better than the Donkey Kong impersonator.

An obvious choice would be simply to go for a second Cerberus and I will state right here that it is maybe the correct thing to do when collecting Marcus, especially so you own the model for Myranda to change without having to have the first Cerberus die.

With #ToMB I want to learn more though, learning how to play with 2 cats is a factor but not as interesting as a completely new model.
The other factor in not going for kitty number two is I am not 100% sure how I want to paint it, bar maybe just Red XIII again with a little more conversion.
This though I will save for a later date.

If I go for a replacement to Cojo it also has to be a beast too, something that can be Alpha'd, healed by Myranda and targeted with all the other good stuff like Hunting Call.

Without this being a beast, it will be all in on the Sabertooth Cerberus, being that I feel it's a glass cannon I don't want even more of a target on it, let alone almost every target ever.

The other effect I said I'd like my crew to have is blasts.
Blasts are another way that can potentially help with being out activated, blasts are also pretty handy in Turf War with a lot of the enemy heading towards the centre.
It also helps me play a standoffish game if I have it at range.





My two choices were Rogue Necromancy and Dawn Serpent.

Rouge Necro is an amazing model in game, Three Headed like the Cerberus is great, especially as it works with shooting.
It has Terrifying that is much better than the other beasts so far and it has Impossible to Wound!
Sick.
A Ml7 3/5/6 Attack is the nuts and Acid Breath (both of these are effecting by having three heads) which is Rg12 Ca5 3/3 blast/4 blast, though admittedly it can be only used once per Activation.
The key there though, per Activation, this doesn't stop Alpha giving it another go.

All in all the Rogue Necromancy is gross and getting all these benefits for being a Beast is disgustingly good.
Oh and he is an Enforcer, so there has to be some Arcanist upgrade potential.
At worst, it would mean a 12 soulstone investment but you could use Imbued Protection to get the Rogue Necromancy up to def5 with a little life saver.
I will have to investigate this further.

Dawn Serpent is a plastic kit which is on the horizon and I already have the proxy almost everyone has, the Bushido "Mizuchi" dragon model.
Oddly not an Enforcer but also the same cost as Rogue Necro at 10ss.

It has something I was angry Cojo didn't and that is speed. Wk6 and Flight is super useful and something small that makes me very happy.
His Df is 1 higher than the Necro at 5, no Impossible to Wound but like Cojo the Dawn Serpent has Hard to Kill.
Wp6 is also a good thing defending against certain crews and Counterspell can definitely mess up some enemy spells ruining it's day when they need those suits.

The serpent's Fangs are also Ml7, lower damage spread than the Monstrous Claws of the Necro but the addition of Poison+2, though the Necro still looks a little better here with Infect built in.
Either way, still respectable.

The serpent also has a ranged blasting attack in the form of Breathe Fire, a shorter range but a higher stat of 7. 2/3 blast/4 double blast is arguably better if not as reliable but it doesn't have a once per activation restriction and it does give Burning to the target meaning arguably the damage spread is higher.

Finally the (0) on the card is quite interesting in the Marcus crew, Call Unto the Chi relies on having other models with Ca actions.
Not only does Marcus and Myranda have a ton, let's not forget Leap is a Ca and my month 2 addition has Magnetism.
For each of these friendly models within 6 the Dawn Serpent heals 1 damage, even only 1 can be powerful as this might put it back out of Hard to Kill range.

 So what do I buy?









Month 3 Spending


Originally I was just going to hold out and go for the Dawn Serpent, but the release may not come in time so that factor is something I will ignore.

Both the Necro and the Serpent have a lot going for them.
The Necro has raw power over the Serpent, but the Serpent has tricks and speed over the Necro.
I would love to hear others opinions on this.
So please, leave in the comments or Tweet me, what would you choose?

My choice therefore is actually an easy one, with all that spare monies, I will simply go for both, so a list of the 3 months spending is:

Claw and Fang - $50
Metal Gamin - $21
Dawn Serpent - $15
Rogue Necromancy - $15
Total Spent - $101
Money remaining - $9

This is nice as I still have $34 next month, giving a lot of room for choice again.

Buying these IRL saying $110 is £65, spending money at Element Games this will all add up to:


Claw and Fang - $28.89
Metal Gamin - £11.90
Dawn Serpent - £9
Rogue Necromancy - £8.49
Total Spent - £58.28
Money remaining - £6.72






Painting Thoughts


Carrying on the video game theme is easier with one of these than the other.
The Dawn Serpent instantly makes me think of two things.

First is Dragonball Z which has video games but is not one, the funny coincidence here is the character is called Shen Long (Shenron in the cartoons), just like the mono-Ten Thunder master.


The second though, is what I will go for and is another Pokemon, this time one of my favourites.
Gyarados. 


The Dawn Serpent art makes him look very similar to Gyarados and it basically is a...




Another great JRPG, I do love Mistwalker.

Getting around to the Rogue Necromancy, there has to be some video game monster cerberus I can be inspired by.
Right now until I see a plastic kit on the horizon, I'll probably be looking for an interesting proxy or I will not even paint the Necro.
If I do, then it'll be fairly basic until I get a model I like.


Onwards

Due to me filling my plate with twice the #ToMB action, this post is a little delayed and month 4 is not far away.
Next volume of Claw & Fang I will endeavour to have not only a battle report, but my month 4 purchasing plans and maybe even a little bit of painting (admittedly I have to double check what I have and haven't shown).

Until next time, let's go blow up our enemies

-Ben (@Psientologist)

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