Null and Void- Malifaux M3E Tara Tactica

I'm back with another M3E keyword tactica, this time on Tara and the Obliteration keyword! This keyword is super fun to play, really tactically deep (there's a lot of minutia I know I won't be going into, this is deliberate) and all around something I just love playing. As one of my favourite keywords in the entire game on all levels, I'm super excited to get into the discussion!

Keyword abilities/actions-

From Nothing- The crew's main ability, this lets them unbury at the start of their activation by removing Fast from any model (although you'll want it to be on enemies to maximise AP control and because it's simply easier). The only one that lacks this is Talos (and I'll get into why this is very bad later) but overall it's a great way to boost up your placement and get into positions where your opponent have a selection of bad decisions to make. 

Glimpse the Void- A pretty common Tome trigger on the crew, this forces enemies to take TN14 Wp duels or be buried. This is great because then you can rough them up with (almost) the entire crew and they can't easily escape it, especially if they've already activated. More a little bit of control for your opponent that helps you out rather than something to plan your game around, but if you’ve got it you may as well declare it.

Stutter Time- Pretty simple bonus action on the crew, it's 6" range TN10 and resisted by Wp giving enemies Fast and burying friendlies with From Nothing. By itself it may seem pretty bad, but it's the enabler for all the other janky placement tricks they have by turning on From Nothing. Use it on Masters and models that have already activated and watch as they have no way to stop you unburying near their models.

Beyond Time- This lets the models that have it target buried models with actions ignoring range and LoS, which considering the amount of bury tricks the crew has is quite helpful. The main use for it is to kill models with annoying defensive abilities that work of auras or give them movement, because neither will trigger if they are buried.

Time is Meaningless- All the Void creatures have this, which gives them + flips in opposed duels with enemy models. It's good because they can apply fast themselves, but it won't always happen because models can activate and use their fast or you will want to end it to unbury near them.

Age to Destruction- Quite simple, it just deals damage to any model that starts its activation with Fast within aura 4 of models with this ability. It means you're punishing people for trying to deny your anti-Fast tricks and it can be a good way to get through awkward numbers of wounds (or the much-hated Hard to Kill/Regen combo)

Bury/Unbury
The main gimmick of the crew, this deserves its own section because of how tricky it is. With how many vectors the crew has for unburying after they bury themselves, you can pull around and jump across the table very quickly and trick your opponent into dedicating resources to parts of the table you will abandon soon after, primarily where you can't score/they can't deny. This plays into Glimpse the Void as well as you can put their models into these positions and keep them there with little investment yourself, which can be a real pain for an opponent and make it hard for them to score. 

Keyword models

Tara- As the master of the crew Tara naturally exemplifies the scheming/control-based nature of the Obliteration keyword. Her front of card is somewhat expected with decent stats (Df5, Wp6 and Mv5) and most of the common abilities of the crew (everything listed above apart from Time is Meaningless) with 2 other additions. Her Df trigger on a Mask is really great because it always happens, and simply makes projectile actions fail if she gets a mask of any number which is a great way to keep her alive against shooting heavy lists that don’t care about her mobility as much. She also has Adrift in Time which allows her to activate twice if she is the crew’s Leader (which she will be, there isn’t much reason to ever hire her as a second master) but gaining Slow at the start of her second activation. A 5AP master is still excellent though and does work, especially looking at the back of her card. Apart from Stutter Time she has her Soulstone Sword as an attack action, and at stat 6 vs Df, 1” range and 2/3/5 damage it’s not terrible especially as a way to guarantee Glimpse the Void which is built in. She has Leeching Strength on her Stutter Time (which is very reliable at stat 7) but otherwise that’s as much as she does offensively as she is a rather passive master. Her 2 tactical actions are where she really shines though, as Timeslip is a very easy placement trick that lets her place anywhere within 6” of her current location for a 6 of any suit, and on a crow she can do a 3” pulse that strips Fast off of enemies, and then for each instance of Fast removed a friendly in the pulse gains Fast and the crew gets a pass token which is excellent. Using this to not only annoy the enemy crew but to set up your pass tokens and get Tara into great scheming positions is well worth the moderate card it costs and should almost always be used because of how reliable it is. Her other action makes her the Outcast summoner (no Hamelin isn’t, his summons are indirect and incidental and no longer his primary gimmick) allowing her to name any number of Obliteration minions (those being Void Wretches and Void Hunters, both good options in different circumstances) and summon them with the Voidling upgrade. This upgrade buries them which isn’t a huge hassle, and the TN is variable based on what models you choose (1 Wretch needs an 8 of tomes, a Hunter needs an 11 of tomes and 2 Wretches needs a 12 of tomes). Tara in general though is a versatile master who herself will perform any number of marker schemes and can do a ton in the turn which is a great thing to have leading your crew. She is somewhat fragile but once Karina factors into it she will survive far longer than she has a right to.

Karina- Tara's totem, Karina is actually pretty good. Although she's Insignificant and has very low defensive stats, she has a few great actions that help the crew out. First is Stutter Time with Glimpse the Void as a trigger (although she needs a 6 to get it off) and her Channeled Healing action is both a good heal and a way to unbury models that isn't From Nothing. Her 2nd bonus action isn't going to be as commonly used as Stutter Time, but Time Warp can be used to flip your discard pile and fate deck without shuffling either, so if you knowingly ran out of severes mid-way through the turn and Karina hasn't activated you can get them all back without flipping any extra cards. She also has Necromancy Savant on her front of card, meaning if Tara is killed by an enemy (not Poison or Burning) within 8" of Karina you can discard a card to heal Tara 4 and bury her, which is great and fairly low cost. For her cost of 0 in a Tara crew, she is definitely a worthwhile piece. 

Aionus- The most expensive model in the crew, Aionus is a fairly important 10 stone piece because he provides a ton of versatility to the rest of the crew. His stats are excellent (Df and Mv6, Wp7) and he has a couple of fairly standard Obliteration abilities (Beyond Time and From Nothing) on top of some great unique abilities. A Stitch In Time lets him pass off Fast or Slow on models he kills to models in LoS (great in Tara where you hand out Fast to your opponents) and he can also choose to give any enemy that buries within aura 8 of him Fast or Slow with Time is a Flat Circle which adds another little bit of control. His last ability is his best though, because Buffering lets you spend your pass tokens to make the opponent pass when they would activate a model with Fast. They need LoS to Aionus but that isn’t a huge issue, and it lets you dictate both activation order and where your own models can unbury (because you safely bank that Fast so something can pop out). His back of card is purely attacks like most Obliteration, and he has Stutter Time, but otherwise is pretty unique. His melee attack is stat 6 vs Wp and 1” range, doing 2/3/4 damage and giving either Fast or Slow and with a trigger to deal +1 damage by ending a condition on the target (so fairly reliably). Eventuality is 8” range stat 6 vs Wp, is enemy only and cannot target the same model more than once an activation but it simply deals damage equal to the turn number so late game it is great damage. It has Glimpse the Void and Leeching Strength (deal 1 damage to buried model, Aionus heals 1) as triggers which are both useful too. His last attack though is going to be used far more on friendly models than enemies (and thus relented) and just unburies the target within 3” in LoS and outside of terrain. The built in trigger though is simply an after resolving gain 2 pass tokens, so using it to both unbury your own models and gain a pass token advantage is huge for their style of play.

Scion of the Void- The Scion is deceptive, because you look at its cost and assume it isn't great but really it's fantastic and should always be taken. Cost 6 for 6 wounds is pretty par for the course and the stat line of 5s all round on the front of card is decent, and looking at the abilities of the Scion it only gets better. Fade Away built in on both Df and Wp for consistent 2 damage reduction and bury (unless they ignore your triggers or deal irreducible) is really quite fantastic on such a low wound model and only gets better when you consider healing in the crew, plus it stacks with stones so you can just stone to make it 0 damage. You can take actions while buried using the Scion and even measure range through Obliteration minions that are on the table (making your summons even more annoying) but with the downside of taking a damage each time you take an action buried (this is where Karina comes in handy). In terms of actions she has Stutter Time plus 2 other excellent attacks, with Hungry Emptiness being a 10" range condition removal that deals 2 damage for each condition (great against things like McMourning or Kaeris where they like having conditions). It's stat 5 resisted by Wp so nothing amazing, but it's a good action in its niche and has 2 good triggers- Surge for card draw and Siphon Strength to steal health from buried models and heal the Scion. The other attack is the same as a Void Wretch so pretty bad damage (1/2/3) but at stat 6 it is at least reliable and it has Glimpse the Void as one trigger, but Diffusion as the other which is excellent. It can only be declared if both models are buried, but it adds +2 damage to the action (making it 3/4/5) and the target must discard a card. If you set it up (which isn't too difficult) then you will easily be tearing through models that get buried between this and the rest of the crew being able to hit them. 

Nothing Beast- The biggest of the Void creatures, Nothing Beast is a big beatstick that plays well with the rest of the crew and really makes the most of their tricks. He has all the standards for a Void creature (From Nothing, Time is Meaningless, Beyond Time and Incorporeal) plus Stutter Time, with Terrifying 11 added to make him tankier (which at Df/Wp6 and Incorp it adds up). On the back of his card are some interesting Tactical actions that won't always see use but can come in handy, with one being a bonus action (thus competing with Stutter Time) to give a 3" aura of concealment for a 4 and the other being slightly more complicated. For a 6 he can hit enemies in a 6" pulse that makes them take a TN14 Wp duel or take 2 damage and Fast, but models with Fast it becomes a very rough TN16. This is nice cause your crew use the Fast on them and it's extra damage going out, but you have to be careful with it too. His last action of note is his Obliterate attack which is 2" range, stat 6 and resisted by Wp (these are all good already) and has 3/4/6 damage base. It has Glimpse the Void on it, and on a crow Leeching Strength which lets you deal 1 damage to any buried model to heal NB 1 wound(could be a summoned Void Wretch kept buried to feed him)

Talos- I'll be honest, he's not great. Even though he is an Armour 2 Terrifying beatstick with min 3, he doesn't do much that synergises with the crew at all and he lacks all of the unique abilities or actions that make the Obliteration crew tick. He brings his own little burning package for buried enemies but it's more cute than anything, and giving him From Nothing would go a long way to making him useful. 

Void Wretch- Pretty simple models, these little guys are cheap and not really fantastic by themselves but they synergise great with the crew and are pretty easy summons. 2 of these for a 10 of Tomes from Tara is a great spend, and they can do a ton to help the crew out (spread Fast, bury your own models, even just scheme run the turn after they're summoned). May not be super tanky or great damage but with Incorporeal they can keep alive for longer than they realistically should and they are really only scheme runners/roadblocks anyway. 

Void Hunter- Yet to be released, the Void Hunters are an additional minion for Tara (and thus summon) that occupy a sort of middle ground between the Nothing Beast and the Void Wretch in that they’re a hybrid beater/scheme runner. Stat-wise they exist straight in the middle, although they share the Nothing Beast's Mv of 6 which is excellent. Terrifying 10 is more of a card drain than actual defensive tech but Df/Wp5 with Incorporeal is still good (especially on something you can just summon back). Their front of card is otherwise the exact same as a Wretch and the Nothing Beast, but their actions are a bit more unique. Their main melee attack is stat 5 with built in Glimpse the Void, 1" range and resisted by Df, but it gets a + to the duel if you have no cards in hand (with another if the enemy is Fast) and is a respectable 2/3/5 damage. They have a ram trigger for +1 damage if they end a condition on the target which is great too, although their other attack is a bit more clutch in its utility. It's resisted by Wp like most of the other Void attacks, and is 2/3/4 damage plus Distracted 1. The trick to it is it an only target buried models, and unburies the target as a result of the action so can be used to drag things out of position and put them in bad spots if they were likely to unbury soon. The tome trigger on it is very useful too, as it buries the Hunter and then draws a card so is a nice resource gain.

OOK/Versatile models-

Hodgepodge Emissary- A great model in the crew despite not having much synergy, the Emissary does a lot to support the crew in relevant ways. It has a 6 inch range heal that only needs a 6 to go off and can attach the excellent Trinket upgrades at the same time, a bonus action to put up an aura of soulstone generation when models die, and the better bonus action to push a model 3” and then drop a scheme marker. Combine that with 3 inch auras for passive heals on models’ activations and increasing their Mv by 1 for that activation (not as relevant with Tara as most other crews but situationally good), plus it having Manipulative and Hard to Kill it is well worth the 10SS investment in a lot of pools.

Trinket upgrades-

• Memento- Gives Companion, it’s useful but not mandatory. Nice to have with the pass token generation as well to save your cards
• Pretty Floral Bonnet- Don’t Mind Me lets any model you choose be able to Interact far easier which helps, but you mainly use it to unbury and immediately drop schemes for things like Harness Ley Line but more importantly Detonate Charges or second point Deliver a Message
• Vitality Potion- Regen +1 should go on one of the more important models in the crew. Aionus, Nothing Beast or Tara primarily, but also decent on Karina and the Scion.

Prospector- always good. Feeds stones to the crew which is great given the amount of essential henchmen and triggers (plus suits for Tara's summoning) and it's all around a good scheme-based model which plays into Tara's favoured pools.

Upgrades-

Servant of Dark Powers- As far as upgrades go Servant is excellent, but it isn't that great in the context of Tara. She isn't likely to hire minions in most cases so the terrifying isn't a factor, while the extra movement and healing aren't really that useful to the crew either. 

Wanted Criminal- Not worth it enough here because the enemy can just choose to not drop markers near the models with it, or the model with it will be burying/unburying and thus not on the table to draw cards. Swagger is good but on the minions Tara will be hiring (if any) it is largely pointless because they won't be attack pieces, and Expert Thief is fairly average an action. 

Soldier for Hire- Hard to Kill on any of the Living pieces in the crew is great (Basically only Karina) but the rest of the card doesn't really justify spending 2SS on it. 

Deployments- Because of the mobility and relocation inherent in the crew Tara really doesn’t care much for deployment types. As always it will affect scheme decisions but Tara and crew can get where they need to be quite easily because of From Nothing.

Strategies-

Reckoning- Not a great pool for Tara. She can do some tricks in it with her crew, and she has a couple of good beaters but it doesn't make up for the fact that the crew has a heavy reliance on henchmen and doesn't have a good spread of damage dealing

Turf War- Not terrible because she can pop in and out messing with Turf markers, but she doesn't have the durability or killing power to play it right through. I'd skip her for Viktorias or Von Schill here. 

Plant Explosives- Pretty good pool for Tara because a lot of her stuff can bypass enemies to get where they need to be (through buries mainly but also Tara’s placement and double activation). Load up the models with places, especially Tara, and go nuts jumping around dropping bombs in awkward positions. Burying and then killing models with bombs is also a great way to just remove them from the game and not have to worry about it while being a real pain to your opponent.

Corrupted Idols- Easy strat and probably Tara’s best, Idols naturally benefits crews with heals or summons and Tara has both. Summon Wretches turn 1 to continually cycle through pushing Idols, use your pass token supremacy to dictate where they drop and your easy placement to navigate the table with ease.

Schemes-

Detonate Charges- Tara doesn’t have anything especially geared towards Detonate but the crew isn’t strictly terrible at it either. It’s something I would look at Tara as a counter to rather than her scoring it herself and spring for another easier scheme.

Breakthrough- You've got mobility and you've got scheme marker placement. This is one you can do, but as always I only recommend it in Flank because of greater spread and more potential to flank. 

Harness the Ley Line- This one is super easy because again, it’s moving and interacting. Being able to drop wherever you want (especially with Aionus or Pretty Floral Bonnet) and start interacting to score VP makes Harness easy VP for the crew- use disposable Wretches and Tara herself to almost solo it.

Search the Ruins- The crew can push deep with their tricks and get right where they need to for interacting, so even though it’s more difficult than some other options on here it’s definitely more than doable and in the upper half of scheme selection

Dig Their Graves- Nothing Beast, Void Hunters and Void Wretches all don’t drop markers here which makes the second point harder for both parties, but in general this isn’t something I’d be taking with Tara. The crew is far more geared towards interacting and marker placement, and this scheme rewards crews not only with interacts but also quick killing. It’s ok to take but it doesn’t necessarily gel with what Tara is doing

Hold Up Their Forces- Drop Wretches into things, score VP. It’s pretty easy to do but you have to be careful with the Fast game and activation order to achieve it at best effect.

Take Prisoner- Another one where you can unbury late turn and score easily, well worth considering (especially with Void Hunters being summoned in to be an annoyance)

Power Ritual- If this isn’t one of Tara’s best schemes I don’t know what is. Obviously dependent on the deployment (I would still never take it into Standard or Wedge) but it’s significantly easier with Tara’s crew than most

Outflank- Easy to score both from and not difficult to deny with Glimpse the Void. Well worth taking for 2VP because you should be able to score it without hassle (i.e. if the opponent kills what you have on one side you can reach it again easily)

Assassinate- Tara isn’t necessarily easy to kill, she’s slippery, but if something can catch her out she won’t be hugely safe. It’s not something I’d recommend taking her into (her crew also isn’t fantastic at scoring it) but it’s possible

Deliver a Message- Another one based around movement and interacting? Yes, this is a Tara scheme. The crew can easily get into position to score both VP, and her relocation also means that she can counter it by just popping off into the void last turn (doesn’t even matter that she counts as dead if Assassinate isn’t in the pool)

Claim Jump- If you play the bury/unbury game well, this can be quite easy. But with the way Tara’s crew unburies off enemies it has to be played to carefully so the model isn’t engaged at the end of the turn

Vendetta- There is one really standout option in this crew for Vendetta, and that is the Scion of the Void. Being a pretty survivable henchmen itself, but also able to dish out a ton of damage while buried the Scion can easily get the points for Vendetta and stay alive.


All in all, Tara and her Obliteration crew are one of my favourite things to play in Malifaux, because their nature as a slippery scheming crew that annoys the enemy is something I find incredibly fun and very thematic.

GG1

Strategies

Symbols of Authority- Hard to defend because of the nature of the crew, but you can leverage Glimpse the Void enough in addition to your own models appearing in engagement that you can threat very easily.

Recover Evidence- Because of how this strategy shuts down burying, you don’t take Tara into this. It’s just too much of a major downside to even consider her IMO.

Corrupted Ley Lines- With the crew's reliance on burying for movement changing they aren't fantastic, but you can still make the most of Lodestone carrying through careful planning of activations and placement. Tara is a good choice here but by no means a standout best. 

Public Enemies- Not really great for Tara for the same reasons as Reckoning. It’s doable if the scheme pool is ok but I would look elsewhere. She can bury things and then kill them to still gain Bounty tokens without it escaping but it’s not reliable enough to make a whole game plan around.

Schemes

Breakthrough, Take Prisoner, Vendetta, Assassinate, Claim Jump- Unchanged, see above for my thoughts on them

Hidden Martyrs- With how I hire crews for Tara this doesn't really work as I tend to mostly hire very expensive models to start and summon in minions. The Scion and Prospectors are 2 things I use often that can work but I wouldn't take the scheme on principle, preferring to take interact schemes. 

Sabotage- Same as Search the Ruins in terms of difficulty. You should be able to at least get the first point easily enough with Tara alone.

Catch and Release- This one is very doable for Tara, just means you need to hire a minion. Do it with Void Hunters, unbury them into scoring position late in the turn, then bury again later to get them out of danger and unbury in safer positions. 

Let Them Bleed- Not something I would take with Tara. It’s not how she plays and it shouldn’t really be something you would even consider choosing with her crew.

Leave Your Mark- Like every other crew, I still say don't take this scheme. 

Research Mission- Not really that great because you can’t leverage the amount of markers you get out with the crew in a way that makes it easily scored. You’re relying on incidental stuff and the opponent to get the most use out of it.

Spread Them Out- This is a Tara scheme. In any situation she’s not shut down by the strat she can easily get the markers out where she needs to score the points.

Runic Binding- Scheming keyword with tons of reach means point 1 is super easy especially once you look at being able to unbury models in the triangle and block them in. 2^nd point is a bit tough but that’s most crews

GG2

Strategies

Symbols of Authority, Corrupted Ley Lines- Same as in GG1, my thoughts are the same.

Turf War- Same as it used to be, same opinion as before

Break the Line- Even though you can’t just chuck summoned Void Wretches onto it with how GG2 works, you can move in such janky ways that this strat isn’t a bad place to drop Tara into. Tara herself can do a ton of work to shove markers deep into enemy zones and the rest of the crew just have to do a little bit of work to make sure there are more markers being pushed.

 

Schemes

Breakthrough, Vendetta, Assassinate, Hidden Martyrs, Research Mission, Let Them Bleed, Catch and Release, Spread Them Out- These are all very much the same as before and I wouldn't change how I play them now.

Detonate Charges, Claim Jump- They’re the same as GG0, same as my thoughts there.

Death Beds- Almost no marker generation even when they die, and you want to be killing models after they get buried. Never take this with Tara because you will never score it