ToMB 2.0 - Lucius: His Governor's Secretary

Hello, its me again. In the past few months, I started picking up Lucius as my new "main" master. Quotations because while he is the one I've been playing a lot casually there is still a lot I am learning. There are a lot of models that I think Lucius needs outside his crew box so I will most likely go over budget.

Lets take a look at the main box first.

Examining the Box

Malifaux 2e Box

Contents:

• Lucius Gustavius FitzWilliam Mattheson, Master, Living, Mimic, Dual Faction Guild/Neverborn. 
• Scribe, Peon, Totem(Lucius), Living, Mimic, Dual Faction Guild/Neverborn.
• Captain Dashel, Henchman, Living, Guardsman.
• Guild Lawyer x 2 - Minion, Living, Mimic.
• Guild Guard x 2 - Minion, Living, Guardsman.
  Note: There was a misprint on the new Guild Guard cards, they are both have the Guardsman characteristic. 

Lucius Gustavius FitzWilliam Mattheson

A master manipulator, there is not much in Malifaux that Lucius does not already know. Even less that he didn't help instigate.

What can I say about Lucius, first off just looking at the statline he doesn't look to be much. He's got master level Willpower, a high defense, low wound count, and a pretty slow walk. His real power comes from his abilities and tactical actions. This is going to get wordy. 

Abilities

• Devil's Deal - This is pretty situational if you spend a soulstone you chose to deal 3 damage to a nearby friendly model to add one soulstone to your pool. Unless you have some models outside of the core set who can heal themselves or have high enough defenses that its not a huge lose to take wounds I would put it on the back burner for now.
  Note: This does not extended to soulstone use by other models, re-flipping initiative, and redrawing two cards.
• Highest Authority - This is the one ability that I would tattoo to the back of my hand. Negative flips against an opponent's attack are powerful, because they can't be cheated. If Assassination is on the table this will probably force your opponent to either burn a soulstone or use AP to focus in order to get back to a straight flip.
• Elite Training - Another situational ability, great if you like to push Lucius close to where the action is or if you want to keep a bodyguard around Lucius. Positive attack flips to a nearby friendly minion, need I say more?
• Commanding Presence - Unlike some support masters, Lucius has put so much fear into his men that when he walks he inspires them. A minion within 18" and LoS may take a horror duel TN 13 to perform a (1) Action. This is better than Lucius's Issue Command tactical action due to range and allows Lucius to get into better placement.
  Note: This is the only way Lucius can issue orders on Austringers.

Attack Action

• Sword Cane - Typically if Lucius is in melee you want to get him out. But this is great deterrent if you have a ram in hand and the target has yet to activate. Double ram trigger causes Red Tape which causes double negative on to attack flips by the target.

Tactical Actions

• What Lackeys Are For - This is a get out out of melee action. Place a scheme marker next to lucius and replace him with a target model within 10". I would definitely swap out for a strong melee model. The place scheme marker is good for that extra Spring the Trap, Protect Territory, etc... marker. Low TN compared to
  Note: This is Lucius's only tactical action that affects models other than minions.
• Guild Intelligence - Very situational, this allows for minions to ignore the engaged restriction on performing interact actions. Not just placing scheme markers, but picking up Head Markers, drop Claim makers, take ownership of stake a claim markers, etc...
•  Issue Command - 50% of my activation are taken up by this ability, it gives a minion non-austringer (1) action. Can only be used once per model a turn, so if you fail you can't use it again. On the downside short range, but it gets longer when targeting Mimics or Guardsmen which synergize really well with the rest of the crew.
• Take Aim! -  Grants Focus before the minion's action takes place. Some models have abilities and/or triggers that you just want to get off. One particular
• Guild Rifleman - Gains +1 Ram if it uses Focus.
• Subterfuge - This allows a minion to perform an interact after they take the command action 
• Get Down! - This gives Defensive +1. But only until that model's next activation. I recommend saving this for models that have already activated in the turn or a model that is in immediate danger.

Upgrades

• Surprisingly Loyal - The defensive trigger is really difficult to pull off. You need to burn a stone and have the right suit to get it off. The main thing you want is the Personal Retinue giving you access to 4 of the following to hire:
• Beckoner (Minion)
• Candy (Henchman)
• Doppleganger (Enforcer)
• Mr. Graves (Enforcer)
• Mr. Tannen (Enforcer)
• Changeling(Minon)* 

Downside is that these models are mostly Enforcers and Henchmen, but on the plus side you probably won't be taking too many of these models. On the Neverborn side you are looking at 8(10*) Guardsman models to choose from.

*Beta rules only as of blog post. Rules not finalized.

• Secret Objectives - I only take this if I plan on dropping a lot of scheme markers. I then place Lucius in the middle of a bunch of misplaced markers to give him some insurance.
• Legalese - This is a must take. Every so often you have an enemy aura that detriments you models(such as decaying Aura).
• Secret Assets - This gives Lucius is only range attack, but it requires a Ram of greater than 6 and higher than your opponents defence flip.
• Useless Duplications -  Really helps that its ability can force an opponent to have to randomly flip to see if they hit the right target. Its other ability is good if you have a mimic meatshield, such as Tannen, Graves, or even Candy.

Scribe

Seen from the shadows, but never remembered. A silent and reliable assistant.

Not much to say. I never use totems, but he is really inexpensive for 2ss. The main reason you'll want him is to remove conditions off Lucius. The side benefit is that he can give other mimics +1 defense. This helps putting Lucius and Lawyers at Df 7. Sadly The Scribe has terrible defense and will probably be targeted first to get rid of the bonus. If you have to use him for defense boosts make sure that your opponent doesn't have line of sight to him. Typically I leave this guy in my bag, but I might start using him more often.

Captain Dashel

Promoted beyond his station, even his men still lovingly refer to him as sarge.

I keep this guy around just to give (0) action focus to Guild Rifleman and Warden models. His melee has both triggers already built in. Not the best model in melee, but he can give slow to an enemy.  I have never used his tactical action to give reactivate, mostly because none of my minion models have hard to kill and are rarely left with low enough wounds for me to warrant using it. Typically I use him as a support model.

Guild Guard

Standard Guild militia. some say they have the shortest life expecting of those who work for the Governor. Sans the accountants.

These guys are your standard Guild minion. I find two of their abilities to be really good; Patrol and Investigate. Patrol ups the defense of nearby Guild Guard models making these guys durable for their cost, Investigate allows them to be placed in base with nearby enemy scheme markers without wasting any AP. Typically I use these guys to hold down areas and as distraction pieces.

Note - I really like the female Guard model pictured above, but I have lost her left hand twice. It wouldn't have been an issue, but I specifically bought a second box so she could have both hands.

Guild Lawyer

Two faced, backstabbing cutthroats who would indict their own mothers if it would help further their career. 

Like Lucius Guild Lawyers are Mimics and have Highest Authority, a good combo with their high defenses. While not the most imposing of a model, Lawyers bring a lot of conditions to spread around such as Slow, Paralyzed, Fees(Target takes 1 damage when they damage), and Poison. It also acts as a support model with the ability to give Hard to Wound and positive flips to horror duels to allies. Typically I use these guys for support.

Note - The Lawyer Model with the hat and cane has a problem with the contact point where his fingers meet the palm of his hand. As such there might be need to finagle it to not break off. In my case I pinned his cane to his jacket.

Thinking Outside the Crew Box

In my mind Lucius's current crew is mainly support with two low point, stationary scheme runners. There is a lot to be desired with this box, but it does come with two Lawyers which are a necessity for a mobile Lucius list. Here is the short list of models that I am going to try to use to fill the holes my crew:

• Guild Rifleman - Minion, Low Cost, High Damage. Synergize well with Lucius's Take Aim! and Captain Dashel's Aim and Fire. Lucius's Issue Command range is increased for this model.
• Warden - Minion, Average Cost, Highly Durable, Range Paralyze Trigger. Lucius's Issue Command range is increased for this model.
• Guardian - Minion, High Cost, Highly Durable, Minor Healing and Support.
• Hunter - Minion, High Cost, High Damage, Range Slow Built-In, Scheme Runner.
• Death Marshal - Minion, Average Cost, Durable, Can Bury Enemy, Scheme Runner.
• Executioner - Enforcer, High Cost, Terrifying(Living), High Damage, Decapitate Trigger, Scheme Marker Removal.

We'll see what I decide to go with at the end of February, I will be at TempleCon's Gaining Grounds tournament so I should be able to get a few games in there.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them down below in the comments section or you can find me on twitter at @DontEatRawHagis.

A Return to Purple: Assembly Progress....lack of bases

So made some progress last night on my three new crew boxes I'll be adding to my Neverborn from yesteryears.

Zoraida, new Lilith, and Pandora boxes are assembled, as well as Miss Ery, Tuco, and Black Blood Shaman. Need to just assemble one of the regular plastic teddies. Some notes on assembly of these crew boxes.

First of all, the plastic models are absolutely amazing sculpts, no argument there. Out of the three I recently assembled though, I was surprised that the newest one (Zoraida) was so complex. Some of the decisions on where to split the model just seemed weird, but I'm not a sculptor/modeler so take that for what its worth. Each silurid had a separate tongue which wasn't terribly difficult to deal with but was something to take care of. Also the silurid standing on the rock had a very thin left leg making it a challenge to get it to stand nicely.

Now I love the pose, so maybe the frustration was worth it. So my main complaint with this box is that a lot of the key contact points (legs/arms) really could have benefited from more notched joins. Its just odd that some had them while others did not. Overall, though I am quite happy with all of these boxes and really can't say they were that difficult. The Bad Juju model is stunning and is the main reason I bought the box, but know I'll get a lot of good use out of Silurids in the upcoming year.

Zoraida herself was interesting, her dress is similar to the female Illuminated model. She goes together pretty easily, but all of her voodoo dolls (while cool) took extra time to get put on the model. Speaking of, the actual voodoo doll model has some super thing plastic areas which look like they will probably break off with excessive use.

For now I am awaiting on the Secret Weapon Blasted Wetlands bases to arrive. I am doing these three boxes on these wetlands and Lucius is based on DragonForge Lost Empires already. I forget what Lynch is on since he has been built and based for over a year and a half.

Dragonforge 30mm Lost Empire

Secret Weapon 30mm Blasted Wetlands

Thanks to some friends on Google Hangouts who pointed me to the actual secret weapon video showing ideas on making getting the bases all water-effect fancy.

So looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I think this is a good challenge for me in the hobby area, since its something I've never done before. I have most of the materials already just need to track down some water effects liquid from the hobby store.

Played 2 Missions of Firestorm: Planetfall...

Yesterday Jerico and I sat down to learn Firestorm: Planetfall. I have been in love with the models ever since Jeremy first posted up the news about em way back. I held off just knowing there'd be a ton out there to play. Disclaimer, this was a learning game, anything below could be wrong and incomplete since we were playing through the starter box. Also, just random impressions throughout this, but thought some may be interested.

So the first mission is a simple move and occupy, no opposing forces. These intro games are played on a 2'x2' and each gets larger.

Now I've been told that its is standard Spartan Games ruleset with some obvious caveats, differences, and unique rules, but for me it was my first time playing a Spartan Game so it was all new to me. Its the exploding 6 dice, etc. so I won't go into that.

As far as occupying a building can be done with infantry units and once they're inside they are hard to dislodge, especially if you get up close (see Close Quarters Combat below). This is one of the main ways to score points in the game, grabbing and controlling objectives. A secondary way to score is for every squad you kill of your opponents (as they have points associated with them).

So the second mission is where we got to see the Directorate (me) face off against the Aquan Prime (Jerico). This was fun. Victory is obtained by getting your planetfall (forget name) tracker down to zero. We started at 12, this is done as I mentioned before by killing squads, but more importantly by controlling victory point scoring buildings (there was one). Besides having infantry occupy to control you can have entire squad that has the "Track & Hold" ability (like my scout buggy).

Think it took about 5 turns to get the game to a finish point. It was quite close, but once my infantry got in the building it was just time that i needed to really win. We did identify that tanks should not try and move up on a building to shoot for any real reason (at least the units we used). As you would expect its best for the tank to sit back and just blast the building. The reason for this is one of my favorite parts of planetfall....Close Quarters Combat (CQC).

CQC is sort of reminiscent of ARO in Infinity. Basically if a squad ends a move within 4" of an enemy squad the chance for CQC occurs. The attacker decides first if he/she will CQC, then the defender. This is great because, like Infinity ARO, it keeps both players involved and you both feel like you're really doing something even though it isn't your turn. Then each squad rolls their unmodified CQC die (different stat) for their entire squad and starts reporting damages. In this case, during CQC attacks, squads don't get to use their shields to defend so the damage can help turn the tide before the main ordinance attack which is about to come. This is also why its bad for a tank to move up to a building which is occupied and try and take out infantry because it gives them free shots.

So after both sides complete CQC and casualties are removed (closest ones to squad first), the main ordinance attack occurs. This is where a vehicles/troops main weapon is fired. You can do things like focus (if you haven't moved) or consolidated shot where all vehicles in the squad fire at an enemy (which some reduction in dice pools but still helpful when a bunch of buggies are trying to take out a tank).

Anyways, I know this is long, but its random thoughts from the game. Loved it a bunch. Here are some photos I took before the game.

Live Free or Die Cheating 2015 Malifaux Event

This is the 2nd annual "Live Free or Die Cheating" Malifaux event. This will be a Gaining Grounds 2015 event held on May 2nd, 2015.

This year we are trying something different, as the event will be held at a private hall. Milly's Tavern, in Manchester, New Hampshire. If we can sell at least 24 tickets. Otherwise it will be held at the Game Castle, like last year.

By reserving and buying this ticket you are guaranteeing a spot at the event which includes the following (regardless of location):

• 1 ticket for enterance to the event
• 1 Lunch time meal
• 1 on-site cash-bar (only if at Milly's Tavern)

Note: A portion of your ticket fee will go towards charity (to be decided) and to prize support.

Reserve your spot today!

This event is NON-REFUNDABLE due to the deposit required on the location.

Event registration for Live Free or Die Cheating 2015 powered by Eventbrite

A Return to Purple: Neverborn is the new Rezzers in 2015

A Return To Purple

This is the start of what I plan to be the coverage of my journey back to purple. I'll be playing Neverborn in 2015. For me, it is a return to where I started. Lilith was my first master back in Malifaux 1st Edition. While I still plan to use my old metal models, and some new-to-me metal models I picked up with the recent price reduction on Wyrd's old stock. I am really focusing on the 4 plastic boxes I have with other stuff sprinkled in.

I have already assembled and primed and played a few games with Lucius (you won't see them in the list below as I've already assembled and based them). I will be building new plastic Lilith, Pandora, and Zoraida boxes. I am looking forward to this in fact. Initially, I felt overwhelmed that I'd be able to build all of these, and get them on the table with color. I even went as far to have a quote done on getting them commission painted and decided, I'd just challenge myself with painting them all myself.

What I'm listing here is all of the stuff I plan on using for my 2015 Neverborn year that needs to get assembled, primed, and painted. I will be putting just about all of these on swamp bases from Secret Weapon miniatures. I may have missed some, but at least this is as complete of a list that I can think of right now. It comes to 18 30mm bases, 5 40mm bases, 5 50mm bases. Stay tuned as I'll try and post things up as I go both from a modeling and a gameplay perspective. As always, listen to Joe and I on Cheated Fates Radio.

ToMB - End-of-June, Sonnia Criid (Dave's)

Hi,
I've been working on the Sonnia Criid Avatar piece.  I'm really pleased with it.  The hair still needs doing, but it's getting close to finished.  Thought you'd enjoy.  I hope to finish it by the next posting.

Dave

Tale of Malifaux Bloggers: Molly and her Students

School is in session. For this months ToMB (May/June) I present one of the larger purchases for a Molly crew. In this month's purchase we take a look at the University of Transmortis box set. This box came out about 11-12 months ago, in 2013. It was a highly anticipated product at the time as it was our first chance to physically see what a Malifaux 2E stat card was made out of.  It also shipped with a number of M2E specific story missions.

There is a helpful review that decomposes the students (see what I did there) over at GMort_Chaotica's blog. If you're looking for great unboxing/reviews take a look at his stuff, its quite informative. One word of caution, when looking at the stat cards keep in mind that these cards are no longer legal stat cards. Even though they are M2E, they went through a re-work during the Wave2 open beta Wyrd ran at the beginning of 2014. This was done in order to bring their abilities/stats more in line with what M2E Wave 1 and Wave 2 models ended up being. This is understandable since this box went to print well before M2E was done. Make sure to grab them over at the Wyrd site before they go away when Wave 2 book/cards become available (that's when they'll be removed from the site; low-res, hi-res).

The models are all Iron Zombies and can be used in the story encounters (some of the rules are a little weird, but for a good 'ol fun game they're worth giving a try; there is also a 1-player mission). The rulebook for the story encounters comes with the box.

The box retails for $40, so we will be using the $14.51 + $25 from this month, so I'm short $0.49 which I'm just going to borrow from next month. I will have $24.51 for next month.  The following models/stat cards come in this box:

• The Valedictorian
• Student of Sinew
• Student of Steel
• Student of Viscera

Ok so on to the models, first off they're stunning. These are some of the most amazing and beautiful models Wyrd has produced. The Valedictorian is of course my favorite model, but all are in a league of their own, really showing what the transition to plastics has enabled from a modeling perspective.

I have had these fellas primed for about 9 months, and they are on the painting table, but other models are taking their slots in the queue for now. I'm hoping to get to them in the next month or so. Stay tuned for some painted Iron Zombies next month hopefully.

Before we jump into what each model does, let's review why they're good in a Molly crew and specifically why I use them in my crews. The simplest answer is that 3 of the 4 models can be summoned by Molly when taking the Forgotten Life upgrade card because they are Horror minions. The beauty of this is that each of the iron zombies / students are tailored to combat (exploit) specific model traits/characteristics.

All the iron zombies also have Flurry, which can be pre-loaded by using Molly's (0) Whispers of Future Flesh to have them move before activating and then when they activate they are in position to use their Flurry. All of the iron zombies also have Armor +1 as well as the Hard to Wound +1 and a (0) Lecture Notes to remove the ability for a model to take triggers. This is great against models with Squee or other triggers allowing them to move away.

So from a summoning standpoint you can summon the right model for the right job against the right enemy models. For a quick recap on what Molly can summon with this upgrade here are the card requirements to summon certain models (notice the students).

The student of Sinew and Steel require the same 11 crow that a Punk Zombie does but the Student of Viscera needs a 12 crow. The Sinew and Steel variants have the same stat lines but differ in that sinew is better suited against undead models, while steel is better suited against constructs. They have terrifying which targets undead/constructs, ignore hard to wound/armor and have triggers gaining ++ to damage flips against undead/constructs.

So lets take a quick look at the other models:

Valedictorian

• Key Remarks: 
• Henchman - Access to using soul stones to mitigate damage, valid Bodyguard and Entourage candidate (due to mobility from flight, armor, and hard to wound)
• 50mm base - This is often over looked but can really help. This coupled with the 3" Ml attack. Meaning getting and keeping models in engagement range is a little easier. Add in Unnerving Aura or Decaying Aura and she can put the hurt on. This also makes her a great model to help carry out Deliver a Message against an enemy master since she can get there and engage early to take the action next turn (or be moved by Molly/Necrotic Machine)
• Overall she is pretty resilient, and for 10ss a great Henchman to use in various situations. Give her a try and you'll be happy you did, just remember like any other model in Malifaux she has a specific purpose and should hired and used in specific roles

Student of Viscera

• Key Remarks:
• Slither - This ability alone makes this model worth the 12 crow needed to summon. Slither allows for a 9" movement (not a push) ignoring severe terrain. After moving the model can take a (1) Ml action. It is basically an alternative to a charge action. The charge of this model is 6" and because its a charge would suffer penalties due to terrain; so thats a 8" threat range. With (2) Slither the model gets 11" threat range. Now just remember if you summon this model you'll want to either remove the Slow condition (with someone like Chiaki or Johan) so it can use this ability the turn it is summoned
• 50mm base - As mentioned above this allows for a larger range of models it can hit. Just remember if summoned it can't take interact actions the turn it summons in. But a 50mm base model with 2" Ml attack doing 2/3/5 is pretty slick.

So that's it for this month. A quick overview of the models and why I think they're great for Horror Molly. Let me know how you fair with them.