2 for 1 - Lilith

Hello there! Ben has invited me to jot down some notes on my ideas about the wave two models that one of my favourite wave one masters benefits from. It won't surprise many of you that I chose Lilith. What might surprise you is that this was actually tough to write. Lilith is a real toolbox master who can do perfectly well without recourse to wave two models - what she got in wave one will still do her proud.

What has changed is that wave two has brought all the factions more tools for dealing with Lilith and her crew. In light of this arms race, the models I've picked to have a look at are those that can either augment Lilith's own abilities (do the same thing, just more efficiently) or those that try and "counter the counters" so to speak.

The first two models on my list are all about the first of those - and focus on the growth mechanic to some extent.

Black Blood Shaman

This is a great support model, capable of having tots grow without the need for the rapid growth upgrade to be taken, or even without models dying in that activation. Alternatively, it can act as a second "growth area" for tots to make things easy for the Lilith player.

Both these pale next to the shaman's ability to tinker with the black blood ability that a lot of Lilith's crew (and Lilith herself) have. Giving out black blood to models that don't have it, being able to hand out positive flips and - even better - being able to heal models (including Lilith) is golden. Lilith herself can ensure the shaman is protected and/or in a good spot with her tangle shadows too.

I often find myself giving room to the Black Blood Shaman these days and I'm sure I haven't even scratched the surface of his possibilities yet.

Nekima

Ah! The rebellious big sister had to get a mention I suppose, if only because she brings Lilith an alternative to the Mature Nephilim as an in-theme large beatstick. Nekima has some not-so-subtle advantages though, namely the ability to take multiple upgrades, use soulstones and a better Statline on top of a third action point in the form of Melee Expert.

Nekima isn't cheap at all, but she can cause havoc in the right list too. She is as close to a master as a henchman gets, and certainly isn't unkillable - but nekima will slaughter enemy models like nothing else.

As well as speeding up the kill-rate of a Lilith crew, through upgrades (and even more cost!) she can bring new terror tots to the table - a trick that can really help out with claiming those objectives in turns 4 and 5 as well as supplying an activation advantage just when it's most needed.

So, with the black blood tinkering and growth mechanics of a Lilith crew boosted, it's time to take a look at patching a few holes and weaknesses that other players might try to exploit. Only one of the next three models is a neverborn though...

Tuco

The former Ortega who found his true calling is a model that I've seen many neverborn players dismiss in this edition. For me, he gives some new opportunities for the Lilith crew to take advantage of. Firstly, we have a model who can "from the shadows" - allowing some interesting tangle shadows tricks to happen a turn to two earlier in the game. We also have a decent shooting attack with blast damage, a very useful push effect with a surprisingly nasty trigger and a defensive trigger that can enable Lilith to have an easier time dealing with high Wp targets.

Tuco is a model that will probably be either under or over estimated by your opponent - make sure to play on that!

McTavish

This guy should not be underestimated by anyone! His gun adds a lot to Lilith's crew - not only for the possibility of some long range damage, but also because it ignores cover, doesn't randomise targets, and gets more accurate if swampfiends are within 6" of the target - a huge distance when you see it on the tabletop. Since Lilith has a great fondness for Waldgeist, a nasty little synergy builds itself.

McTavish is also no slouch in close combat, with a whopping reach of 3" and a decent damage spread - on top of soulstone use and multiple upgrades being a henchman. If this wasn't enough, he also has synergy with Lilith (and her crew's) terrain generation abilities by improving the quality of their cover and even supplying some of his own. Certainly worth the cost, McTavish is a nasty addition to a swampfiend-based Lilith crew.

Which brings us to the wild card entry here. A model who seems to have to direct synergy, but does have a host of new options for Lilith.

Sue

The man in black himself! So, why do I think that Sue is a model to look at for a Lilith player? Well, let's start with the "hurt" ability. Additional card draw is never bad. Another decent ranged attack, this one backed up by a built-in critical strike trigger allowing for a very decent "weak" damage, is another consideration to be sure, but the reason I like him with Lilith his his ability to offer her a lot of protection from those who would try to target her weakest link - her willpower. 

Since many attacks that target Wp are casting actions, with a (0) action, Sue can provide a bubble that will give Lilith the comfort of her enemies being on negative flips for many things that would give her trouble. 

With additional actions that can push out burning (something Neverborn doesn't really do) and the ability to give "finish the job" to models as well, there are a load of new options that are opened up to a clever player.

So, thanks for reading this far if you have - and if you've got any questions about these models, or any other wave 2 models with Lilith, feel free to drop me a tweet.
Toodles. x

Joel (@Joel__Henry)

2 for 1 - Som'er

Star Spangled Gremlin with a Plan – A Shopping List for Som’er Teeth Jones

If mentioning one Gremlin model in another article made Ben need a bucket, then son you might just need an entire factory of buckets by the time this is through. 

When it comes to looking at Som’er in Wave Two, the list might as well read what is good for the faction (yes, they are. Shut it.). The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, most of Som’er’s bread and butter models (Piglets, Slop Haulers and of course, the Bayou Gremlin) are in Wave One. Also, the lion’s share of Gremlin models tend to be useful across all the Masters. Where the difference comes is how they interact with each of those Masters. For Som’er, this interaction can be broken down into one of his two play styles – either summoning or automating triggers. None of these models directly affect the former, so these five choices will play into the latter. 

With the triggers, you want to try and link as many models together with the same trigger suits. The big ones from Wave One are Rams (for Dumb Luck) and Masks (for Git Yer Bro). What this does is provide you with more value from your discarded cards. Why just set off one trigger when you can get loads of them?!

Two noteworthy models I have left off here is Rooster Riders and Sammy LaCroix. Roosters are pretty much interchangeable with Merris on this list, as they fill the same role. I believe that Merris offers a little more diversity for your points though. As for Sammy, well if you think investing that many points into a model to do what Som’er can do but worse, then you are deluded. It is worth pointing out that none of these are in any particular order.

Gremlins

Mancha Roja

The wrestler gets into the list due to the range of triggers he has on offer, all of which can be automated via the use of Som’er’s zero action Do It Like Dis (get ready to read a lot of that in rest of this article). He has one for each suit and without going into detail about what each one does (you have yes, you can read a card), three of them are intended to combo into one another with Mancha’s Melee Expert. However this is a pretty risky way of going about things. If one attack goes south, your entire combo goes down with it. The way I’d go about it would be to focus on the most useful triggers – the Ram trigger (netting you positive flips on damage, accessing the meatier parts of the model’s damage track) or Tomes for Arm Lock.

Mancha also gives you a chunky model (a choice pick for Reckoning crews) and a bit of control via his Whacked with a Gremlin attack. A word of caution: his Thousands Masks ability will be after the same low cards as Som’er for his own zero actions. When using those cards, think carefully and make sure you allocate the right cards for the right action.

Lightning Bug

Outside of triggers (which we’ll touch on in a sec), the Bugs give Som’er and pretty much any other Gremlin crew (save one Master) a boost against models with Incorporeal. This has been an area that Gremlins have struggled in since Version One. Having a model that can be hired en masse to deal with this hole and one that has a decent Ca (even if the damage is a bit lacking) is very handy.

Bugs also come cheap, which if you are thrifty with your stones like me, is comforting. Ignoring Armour is handy at the best of times but let’s think about it in relation to the Arcanists. Recon is Som’er’s strongest scenario due to the amount of bums he can put on seats. His counterpart for this game in Arcanists will be Ramos, who can pose problems for our heroic Gremlins with both numbers and the inane protection of said summoned models. These spiders will often be summoned in on very low wounds, with their Armour being their main protection. A trio of Lightning Bugs should go some way to clipping the wings of the Arcanists. 

The Lightning Bugs have three triggers. When they attack, they have to declare one. Som’er can help reign in these base urges and prevent things from going wrong (Yippee in the wrong situation will cause nothing but tears). Two points of note here. The Green Wrath does more damage and his triggered off Rams, the ‘damage’ suit for the whole rest of the faction if you will. A sneakier use of triggers would be chucking a Mask down with Som’er’s zero action. With the Bugs, you gain access to a trigger that heals all models within a small distance of the target. Masks also trigger Git Y’er Bro with our big hatted boss man. By combining the triggers of Som’er and the Lightning Bug in this situation, you can not only heal the newly summoned models (or anyone really) but bag yourself some cards through Som’er’s Survival of the Fittest too.

To quote Storage Hunters’ T Money, “MONEY!”

Burt Jebsen

Painted by @shiprib

Burt works like a second Francois LaCroix. Stick Dirty Cheater on him, go Reckless every turn and beat face. Where Burt gets interesting is, again, through chucking away Rams on Som’er’s Do It Like Dis. Burt gains this suit for triggers on his attacks and on his Defensive stat. The latter allows him to in a Lady Justice esque manner, hit suckers back that miss him.  On his Lucky Knife, we can see he has Crit Strike. Burt already has one Ram built in. We’re giving him another through Som’er. If you can get another Ram through the deck, Burt’s damage track jumps up to a scary 5/6/7. Nice. 

Models that can hit hard and most importantly, do so at an aggressive cost (like Burt or Fran) are essential in Som’er summoning lists if you can find the points. They can deal with big threats by dealing solid slabs of damage, which redshirt Gremlins just can’t manage as reliably. Naturally, Burt is also solid in Reckoning lists with Som’er for the same reasons. On a side note, Burt’s Hard to Kill could be manipulated with the amount of healing Som’er can bring with him. 

Gracie

Out of the three Masters I currently play (the fat one, the female one, the Harry Potter one) Som’er can run Gracie the best. This comes from (surprise surprise) controlling her triggers. Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Som’er gives Gracie a Ram. Not only is she now not falling asleep in after attacking, but she is hitting for at least four points of damage. Get her in combat and she is doing this at least four times a turn with Riled Up.

An upgrade I rarely touch with Som’er (Pig Feed) provides extra profit with Gracie. You can either push her along (negating her piss poor movement stat) or if she is already in fisticuffs, make her attack again. Since Gracie will be taking wounds via her own abilities and by being a massive target for the enemy, Som’er’s plentiful healing cannot be underestimated in this case either. 

Merris LaCroix

Merris is the only model on this list that doesn’t offer any major synergy with Som’er (aside from a one action that could net you the right cards for discarding). Rather, she is a fantastic solo piece that can accomplish objectives and lay markers with the best of them. Not that Som’er won’t have a crew comprised of models who excel in this or anything. Nope.

What I like about Merris is how she takes the traditional Gremlin speed and adds flexibility to it. Gremlins have always had legs across flat surfaces but we have never had the ability to take it to the skies and gain the benefits that brings (ignoring terrain, putting markers in daft places). Merris allows you to do that.

Merris effectively has four AP to use within a turn for placing markers, including Reckless and her zero action Bombs Away. Bombs Away does require a card to be discarded but you should have a few spare if a Gremlin or two have been squashed, thanks to Som’er’s built in card draw. Another point for Bombs Away is its flexibility. The action places a marker but it isn’t an interaction action. This allows you to place it when engaged (good for schemes) and closer to other markers (also good for schemes). Combine this with Flight, you have a model that can surprise the opponent by attacking from curious angles. 

A final point on Merris. She is just as useful sitting amongst a horde not doing much, thanks to her Smoke Trail ability. With most faction’s (If there are any others. Just thought I’d get one jibe at the others in, since people are always so quick to do it to Gremlins. One Love) answer for hordes of Gremlins being blasts, Smoke Trail stops those stone dead. It is also a worthwhile ability to consider for Turf War where you may not have loads of guys, but models will be getting pretty close. 

Like a (Bayou) Boss

That’s Som’er in Wave 2. Like I said at the start, a few models have been omitted. If you think I have made a gross error in my selections, do let me know on the Wyrd Boards (Dumb Luck) or Twitter.

-Dominic Westerland (@dumb_luck89).
Also, Big Hat.  

2 for 1 - Marcus

Top Picks to add to Marcus' Arsenal

In the second instalment of this little series of looking at the Wave 2 Malifaux release from a master to master basis and what works well with them, we're taking a look at another Arcanist and someone I have been covering a bit on my blog, the master of beasts, Marcus.

Wave 2 is monumental in size and still fairly new to most people, so this article hopefully will give you a few ideas what to be testing with your usual masters.

Warning, these are thoughts and opinions. They could be utter rubbish.

Arcanists

5. Spawn Mother and Gupps

Yes, I'm cheating.

As with the Silurids, the Perfect Camouflage and Silent combination is great in a Marcus crew as if you go full beasts you tend to get out-shot.

Gupps can do almost everything a Silurid can do for half the cost, their leap is shorter and does need a mask, something the Marcus' crew does oddly (for Arcanists) need a lot.
They can even become Silurids!

Spawn Mummy, she has a solid stat line and being in Arcanists could get to Def7 which is always good.

Nourish the young is great as the +2cg is meant to combine with Leap but this means it works with everyone's big cat the Sabertooth Cerberus.

All in all, she's a Henchman Beast, this opens a lot of doors and she makes even more beasts, Marcus will be happy.

4. Blessed of December

First of all Leap with the mask built in. Hoorah!

A lot of similarities with this can be drawn to the Cerberus, with not only Leap but a potential "Infinite" combat attack using Rams (but only against non-constructs).

Speaking about the combat attack Ml7 is fantastic, all the triggers have potential and the Blessed is a great combat attacker. Added to this, healing up after killing anything and Hard to Wound can keep it around for a lot longer.

Frozen Heart also has applications against crews that are dependant on Horror Duels and are heavy on Terrifying.

3. Night Terror

Going away from the more expensive model, we come to a lovely cheap beast, 3 soulstones in fact.

A low Df of 3 isn't that tough, but Hard to Kill and Incorporeal makes up for this a lot.

Attracted by Noise as well as the Blind trigger are very anti-shooting and as I said previously, this is something Marcus could do with. Letting a Hard to Kill model tie up a guy with a gun and stop him killing your RSR or Cojo is very useful.
Night Falls being similar against the more Ca heavy guys.

The only real downside to the Night Terror is that it is Insignificant however, if they were not, this game would be busted.

Borderline broken? Sounds worth taking!

2. The Sow

Can't believe I'm doing this, I have a "Gremlin" in this list.
Wait while I get a bucket to be sick in...

Now The Sow is the Gremlin faction's version of what is most definitely the best beast for Marcus to hire in wave 1, the Sabertooth Cerberus.
Three-headed is here, Terrifying too and this one is against everyone and TN12.

The Sow has the gimmick of Birthing where it can make Piglets, which let's not forget are also beasts and are just more small models to help control activations.
The spell itself uses crows, which isn't something the crew tends to use much so that's also handy.
Also Farrowing means even if The Sow is taken down, we still get two Piglets to play with.

Furious Mauling may not have the highest Ml at 5, but the 3/5/6 damage spread is awesome and it has a healing trigger. 2" reach is better than the Cerberus and on top of all of this a Cg of 9" means a decent 11" threat range even without leaping shenanigans.

Df4 is low though and my worry is The Sow can get beat down. It's just a Minion too, so no potential for upgrades for protection.

Lastly as nice little note Smell Fear is on the front of the card, usually this is an upgrade. Good stuff.

1. Rogue Necromancy

Well if I put the Gremlin's three-headed model on the list, then I had to put in the Resurrectionists.

Terrifying is here as well, but at TN13 all, even higher than The Sow.
Df4 too the same amount of wounds but with Impossible to Wound meaning the Rogue Necro should stick around longer.

Smell Fear is also here on the front of the card, so that is 4 nice ticks in boxe.

The back gets even better, like The Sow's 3/5/6 damage spread, the Rogue Necro gets that too, but at Ml7, this is nasty.
That's good enough as it is, but we get a sprinkle of poison and extra damage flips according to what triggers we'd like to cheat.

These reasons are enough to be high up the list. The reason it is top.

Acid Breath, 12" range shooting attack on a beast! This out ranges the Dawn Serpent and like the ickle dragon it comes with blasts.

It is limited to once per activation, but that is due to the 3/3 blast/4 blast spread which poisons the target.
Luckily, we have Alpha at our disposal and this means we can create ourselves a nice little gun battery.

There we are

What wave 2 models would you take in your Marcus crews?

Do you totally disagree with things on my lists?

Who would you like us to cover next?

Any feedback, please leave it in the comments or get a hold of me on twitter.
Also don't worry, I'll be banging on about Marcus again soon.

Thanks again.

Byeeeeee

-Ben (@psientologist)

2 for 1 - Mei Feng

Top Picks to add to Mei's Arsenal

This is the first in what I hope will be a little series of looking at the Wave 2 Malifaux release from a master to master basis and what works well with them.

I realise that is not how everyone plays the game, it is usually about factions, but as discussed on this weeks @malifools a lot of people do pick Masters and not factions.

The reason for this article (and hopefully future ones) is Wave 2 is HUGE and still fairly new to most people.

I for one am still taking crews and "testing" Wave 2 models.

Also, if you go to tournaments with the Soulstone Pool system or an equivalent, this may help you make some decisions.

Warning, these are thoughts and opinions. They could be utter rubbish.

Arcanists

5. Coryphee

Nasty, fast, deadly.

The Coryphee is a Wk 7 Construct, this is something I look at and get excited about when using Mei Feng as her power comes from Rail Walker.

Wk 7 allows the Coryphee to easily become the second or third "stop" for Mei.

At 7 Soulstones, it is a big chunk cheaper than the current (wave 1) fast constructs Big H and the Rail Golem.

The downside is that 4wds is very low and will be annihilated fairly easily, if hit.

Don't stay bunched up with these.

Solid all around model with only Dance Partner being the only part of the card that doesn't synergise with Mei Feng specifically.

4. The Firestarter

Ok, so this isn't a construct, but can offer a few other things.

First of all, this is M&SU, this may sound like a stretch but other M&SU things will still be in your crews, regardless of the addition of the Foundry.

Unsurprisingly, this guy is all about Burning.

This means Mei can be set up to hit harder with her Tiger Claws if The Firestarter has been burning things already and once you've started to stack up burning you will actually be able to earn VPs if they are the cause of death as long as the Firestarter is about.

The other great combination and the main reason he is on the list, is the combination of him and the Emberling. FIRE!

3. Mechanical Rider

Painted by @OldManMyke

Again, another fast construct with a Wk of 6.

Not only is the Mechanical Rider a great second or third "stop" like the Coryphee is, the Rider can then start creating new stops from the second turn onwards.

Also Mech Rider has a couple of things over the Coryphee.

First is that it can take a lot more abuse, this is expected however at it's cost.

The second bit is Fated Strike draws cards!

I love card draw as we all know, but the "Mei Haters" always complain she is card dependant, sometimes even suit dependant. Well this can help go a long way to sort those things out.

Mechanical Rider also has a lot more it's own tricks up it's sleeve and remains a fantastic addition to any Arcanists arsenal.

2. Arcane Effigy

This little guy is another significant non-peon, with Hard to Kill to add to her pool.

It's a construct, it's only 4 soulstones and has got a higher defense than the Metal Gamin (though only armour +1).

On top of this you get what is probably the cheapest access to condition removal she can get and if that's not all Arcane Radiance synergises well with her too.

It essentially means that you get her inbuilt Mask trigger without having to pick it, if they do decline to get Burning, they're discarding cards and that might just be better.

1. Willie

He is Willie!

Ok, I'll elaborate, but I don't feel I should need to.

First of all he is Foundry and synergises with her themed crew as he did in 1.5.

He has blasts at range, something there isn't really the largest selection of for Mei Feng to choose from, Vapormancy is a thing and Kang can shoot.

Willie has a fair bit of scheme marker interaction, this is also something, the Foundry especially lacked outside of Ten Thunders.

6 Soulstones is a bargain. He isn't a construct, but bar maybe Kang, he is the only thing you'll probably take that isn't.

Ten Thunders

5. Toshiro the Daimyo

I have to admit Toshi is mostly here as I just like him.

However, Daimyo is potentially a strong ability with Rail Workers a stable of Mei Feng crews everywhere.

Implacable Assault and this for ++Attack, with the + to damage makes the likeliness of negative damage flips quite low.

War Eternal is a great trigger that can be used in a similar fashion to why the Mechanical Rider is good with Mei, get those 7's, dig for that mask to Leap Aside.

Mei doesn't use corpse marker's so not only is The Daimyo's Price some free value, it also works very well with the Avatar, Focused may not be much of a shackle to throw off but I think we can all appreciate more ways of giving her minions Fast.

The War Fan is also a great addition, especially with it's Samurai Champloo trigger, again Mei has slow crew members, so let's push that Worker up and give him an even scarier threat range!

4. Mr Tannen

Painted by @PanzerHarris

Mr Tannen is a very unique guy, simply having him around can swing combats your way thanks to Cooler.

Letting you cheat and your opponent potentially not being able to, means that with Mei specifically you can set up stronger attacks or even set up a perfect Leap Aside.

Bore to Tears is a similar ability, helping Mei's slower crew catch a hold up it's foe and Yawn can have a similar and potentially more powerful effect on combats like Cooler.

Leave it to Luck also can help Mei Feng, not with her Kick from Punch Street Fighter combo, but if she wants to leap, burn or slash at multiple enemies, doing these all at a starting total of 8 is pretty ace.

Finally, my favourite thing about Tannen is he can get Chatty, not Mei specific, just a powerful ability.

3. Komainu

This guy comes in at the same cost as a Rail Worker, isn't quite better or worse.

What it does is attacks from a different angle and I can see mixing these up against different opponents.

Attacking Willpower rather than Defense can be huge is certain match ups.

Rend the Soul is a solid attack, comparable to the Rail Worker but this can put out Slow and for more synergy, yes that's right, it's Burning again.

Like Rail Workers, Construct, tick, Hard to Kill, tick. A good little doggy/lion statue thing.

2. Shadow Effigy

Ctrl+C Ctrl+V Arcane Effigy

While the Shadow Effigy doesn't have quite as synergistic abilities on the back of it's card as the Arcane.

Remember the Mission is fantastic and Blend Into Shadow can turn a combat or help Mei leap the hell out of there (well usually further into there, no not there, there).

1. Willie

Well I'm not explaining this again.

Hope this helps

What wave 2 models are you looking forward to using in your Mei Feng crews?

Do you totally disagree with things on my lists?

Who would you like us to cover next?

Answers on a postcard... sorry no, in the comments or on twitter.

Thanks for reading.

Byeeeeee

-Ben (@psientologist)