The 2nd of my "Ten Thunders surge" and really just a crew that appealed to me thematically and gameplay wise, Jakob Lynch's Honeypot are a really different style of crew to what I usually play. I tend to go for aggressive damage/scheming hybrid crews like Parker, Viks, Misaki and McCabe so playing a bubble control crew was a huge change of pace for me and something I enjoy a lot for that reason.
Keyword abilities-
Rig the Deck- The main keyword ability on everyone but Hungering Darkness, its a great way to sculpt your deck and guarantee most of what you want to happen will happen. Drawing the value of the ability (between 1-3, mostly 2) means you can see what's coming up for attack and damage flips or just to see if you can hit TNs on duels (for things like Tannen's Boring Conversation it's excellent). Not as useful when you have less cards in hand, but still good to see what's coming and plan accordingly.
Brilliance Tokens- They don't do anything when you first look, but boy there's a lot they can pull off. I'll go into a bit more on each specific model but you can do things like stop interact actions (Beckoners) give out pulse slow (Hungering Darkness, who can also use it for positives and to heal) or just to spike damage (Illuminated and Kitty both have melee triggers and Lynch has the Brilliance nuke)
The Party Never Ends- One of the things that plays into the Lynch denial bubble, this just gives Brilliance if enemies cheat fate within aura 6 of a model with this rule. With Gwyneth and Beckoners having it you can spread it out pretty well and it enables a lot more in the crew which is really nice.
Don't Bite the Hand- Defensive tech for Lynch and Beckoners, any enemy with Brilliance on them is at negatives to hit them. It's a more situational Serene Countenance but with how easy you can give out Brilliance in the crew it's a great way to shut down enemy beaters (I put it on at the start of the game for defensive reasons mostly)
Succumbed- Pretty simple, it gives models with it Brilliance tokens up to the value at the start of the game. Beckoners and Kitty start with 2, Illuminated and Depleted with 3. Lets them do that little bit more on the models that can use their own Brilliance up, otherwise it sits around for Huggy to pull off later
Keyword models-
Jakob Lynch- Lynch isn’t a master that’s going to dominate the game by themselves, but he is still pretty good at what he does. His entire kit is based around Brilliance and spreading it as much as possible, while he personally can’t gain it or Stunned which is really nice. He chooses 2 models at the start of the game to gain Brilliance for some early and irresistible spread, and when enemy models flip aces he gives them Brilliance, regardless of where they are on the board. He has an aura of 1 damage if enemies cheat fate, and his actions are mostly based around punishing models for having Brilliance. His bonus action pulse puts Brilliance on enemies if they fail a Tn14 Wp duel (and if they don’t top deck it they won’t want to cheat because of all the auras around) plus can give Brilliance and heal friendly models as a built in trigger so you’ll probably declare this every turn. His gun is low range but decent damage, gives Brilliance built in but the big one is to place Hungering Darkness in base contact with the target on a tome trigger. I like to do this late in turn 1 on Kitty after she’s moved up so that Hugh can spend his activation Obeying other things, and between Incorporeal and Inner Glow Kitty won’t actually end up down wounds. Lynch’s melee gives 2 Brilliance which is great, plus an option to reveal both players next cards and if the opponents is lower they take 2 damage. It’s potentially a 3rd card into the deck you’ve seen, or just the 2nd from Rig the Deck, and regardless of what it is you’ll know what will happen for your next AP so can plan ahead a little. His last big trick is the Brilliance nuke, which works like a Bleeding Disease or Blood Poisoning doing the full stack of damage but it caps at 5 and discards 2Brilliance if they don’t die. If they do though, you get to summon a Honeypot minion with cost equal to the amount of Brilliance on the target- mostly this will either summon Depleted or bring back dead Beckoners, but a clutch Illuminated summon is massive and can swing games a lot. The model summoned gets an upgrade that makes sure they die quickly unless they get topped up with Brilliance, but it’s a summon so who cares if they die?
Hungering Darkness- As far as totems go, this is the gold standard. Decent damage and obeys at good stats that both give out Brilliance as built in triggers, he is also quick and very tanky. Terrifying 11 with Incorporeal is already good, but he can also rip Brilliance off of all models in pulse 6 to heal 1 for each Brilliance removed which is a huge amount for a bonus action with no flip needed. As a henchmen he can stone as well, so he should very rarely die
Kitty Dumont- Kitty is in my Lynch core every time because of how amazing she is. On paper it isn't really apparent how good she is but it all adds up to make a deceptively great package. Fast for a great scheme runner, has movement tricks for other models (can play it aggressively to counter schemes and strat points). Draw Essence can work as a pseudo-shockwave but I would usually prefer to just use Unassuming Demeanor because with treating negatives as positives and Sharpened Brilliance she can do great damage (or still have good damage and add card draw). Her biggest boon early-game though is that every model that she moves through (or vice versa) has to take duels or they get Brilliance tokens. With Rig the Deck early on you can sculpt a really good hand while simultaneously building up Brilliance on your own models just by moving through Kitty to get up the board.
Gwyneth Maddox- Gwyneth isn’t bad by any means, but I’ve come to find she is the one I drop first when I’m looking to fit other things in lists. Her front of card is great, especially Luck Thief, but mostly just doing what Beckoners do just a bit better, while the back has a few interesting options. Derringer is ok, but her melee is deceptive and she quickly turns into a min 3 model provided enemies have Brilliance on them (which is easy). Come Play At My Table is decent and is her way of shoving models around the table like most of Honeypot can do, plus it gives Brilliance on triggers and models with Brilliance already struggle to resist it. Hit The Jackpot I’ve found to be a great way of topping up your hand cause statistically speaking you’re far more likely to draw than the opponent is off it (and you draw 2 cards to their 1 if they pick right). In general I do like Gwyneth, but she tends to be doubling down on what I already have and not providing something to fill a gap so I don’t have a huge issue with dropping her
Mr Graves- board control and melee damage is what Graves does. He can move around models which I like doing for some early game extra movement on the rest of the crew (through Kitty and hitting the trigger its potentially 2 free Brilliance too) and he can force Wp duels for enemies that decide to charge within 6" of him (another 6" aura that punishes the opponent in a Lynch crew, what a surprise). Melee wise he is a stat 6 3/4/5 beater with 2" range which is nothing too fancy, he has Puncture on a ram and Injured on crows for some decent triggers too but the main thing here is Ruthless to get around Terrifying and Manipulative. He has Bodyguard to give nearby models cover, but with Black Blood there's a careful game to be played where you can help out friendly models but not splash onto them. Hard to Kill is nice but if you position badly or get moved by an enemy it means another possible Black Blood splash which isn't great
Mr Tannen- Tannen is squishy, but he is so annoying that you can easily justify him for 6ss. Manipulative props up his Df4 a bit, but it’s mostly his aura abilities you take him for. Betrayal to force enemies to discard before they cheat, on top of what is basically Misery:Brilliance and honestly really rude in keyword (plus it works when you put Brilliance on your own stuff too for extra movement). These are both aura 6 and combo ridiculously well with the rest of the keyword auras already (want to cheat? Discard a card, then gain a Brilliance and take a damage. Because you gained a Brilliance you either take a damage or push 2 and I choose which one) but then you also add in Boring Conversation. Rig the Deck makes it almost certain to happen, and it adds another Wp duel to almost any action in the game so you can shred the opponent’s deck and put them in a spot where they really have to cheat to achieve things near your crew. All of this paints quite an obvious target on Tannen though and he will die when someone wants him to, so keep this in mind and don’t swing him out too far where he will get killed.
Beckoners- Always hire 2. The extra Brilliance at game start is amazing, plus they put it out with Distracted and can Lure to pull things around when you need it. They also start with 2 Brilliance on them which is really nice for Huggy to pull off later in the game to heal. All in all Beckoners are great 5SS models that I would always hire both of for the beginning Brilliance, but they can put it out really well too and they add a little bit extra board control with The Party Never Ends and their bonus action (which you'll always do when not Stunned cause it's free) which shuts down Interacts within 6" at the cost of a Brilliance token.
Depleted- I'd very rarely hire Depleted (mainly for Reckoning/Public Enemies tarpitting of beaters) but when you can summon them with Lynch they're fantastic. Annoying to kill and great at locking down enemies, they're good at just denying something an activation by forcing it to kill them (which then hurts them and gives them Brilliance)
OOK/Versatile models-
Fuhatsu/Miss Guided- Lynch doesn't have huge damage potential and kind of needs an extra beater outside of the bubble hires. Fuhatsu gives this, and can put out obscene amounts of good shooting to force things to engage and just plain hurt them before they close, which benefits the bubble because then they're playing Lynch's game
Upgrades-
Trained Ninja- Should be great on Tannen to keep him alive a little longer, but once they're in his aura range they can hit him with whatever they have anyway. Nice way to make sure things get into the bubbles but it's not an always take.
Silent Protector- Put this on Hungering Darkness and he will never die. It's not super worth it on anyone else in keyword but I always bolt it onto Huggy's card and it has tons of value.
Masked Agent- Not really a great upgrade in Honeypot, because the models it can work on (Huggy and Graves) don't get enough out of it compared to other upgrades
Deployments-
Corner and Flank are bad because even with their movement tricks Honeypot is a slow keyword, so it's a tough time. Standard and Wedge are fine though, because the bubble will be halfway up the table by turn 2 so you can play your game from that point on.
Strategies-
Reckoning- You can do funny things with Depleted here and I really do enjoy the idea of it, but you have better options in Thunders. It's not super reliable cause the keyword can't kill huge amounts of models a turn and you're relying on janky plays or OOK
Turf War- Not bad but not fantastic either. The bubble in the centre can mess with backfield markers fairly well, and if they don't then Kitty can get there and do the job herself.
Corrupted Idols- So long as you can manipulate where the Idols drop you can do this really well, but if you don't you'll struggle. Pretty matchup dependent (Tara you will lose) because they aren't the fastest but they can lock down a zone and dominate it pretty well.
Plant Explosives- Another one they're ok with but not amazing, I would go for Misaki, McCabe or Mei Feng here myself. It's the lack of speed that hurts because while you can get a couple of bombs out the rest will be a lot harder and you can get outmanoeuvred by the opponent
Schemes-
Detonate Charges- Not bad to do because you can lure enemies into where you need them, and both points are on paper just as easy.
Breakthrough- Difficult to pull off the max points because Kitty is the one you're relying on here. I'd skip it
Harness the Ley Line- Centreline schemes are great for Lynch and this is no exception. The difficulty is in maintaining the bubble while spreading out enough to get the markers out (Kitty can help here with Lingering Contamination)
Search the Ruins- I'd take it because it only needs you to be in the opponent's table half so it's reachable early enough to score both and keep most of the crew together
Dig Their Graves- Pretty good option because of the bubble- drag something in and kill it.
Hold Up Their Forces- Beckoners are great here (if only Depleted weren't Insignificant) and pulling things in to just engage them and shut them down is well worth the effort if its scoring you VP.
Take Prisoner- Drag things in with Beckoners, sit next to them and keep them alive while shutting them down when they want to accomplish things and you'll have an easy time with it
Power Ritual- Just don't. The deployment where this is easiest on paper (Corner and Flank) are the worst for Lynch to play into, and he doesn't have the speed to reach where they need to in order to score.
Outflank- You don't want to split the crew with Lynch, so you don't want to play Outflank either
Assassinate- Lynch isn't exactly tanky, and your healing in keyword is mostly locked to Huggy. Take OOK healers if you can fit it, otherwise just play cagey with Lynch and try not to get him killed.
Deliver a Message- It's not a bad option, but it's also not a great one either. I'd take it over others depending on what's in the pool
Claim Jump- This one is veeeeery nice for Lynch. Keep the bubble in the centre, anything comes near your chosen model you shove it away with almost any option in the keyword
Vendetta- Some decent options here (Huggy is amazing) and a few jank ones as well (Lynch can target things like Coryphee Duet, Riders and 2nd masters) make it something I like to take fairly often
GG1
Strategies-
Symbols of Authority- Having to reach the backfield makes this a tough one so I don't really recommend it, but you could play a denial game and hope Kitty gets deep enough to claim a couple of Symbols.
Recover Evidence- Very good provided you take damage dealers (1-2 Illuminated for sure here, probably also Fuhatsu). Drag things in, kill them and claim the evidence before repeating. Things get in your bubble to disrupt have a Beckoner further back to say no Interacts and shut them out of scoring as long as possible
Corrupted Ley Lines- My favourite strat for Lynch just because he has so much to deny it and he isn't terrible at it as a keyword. Being able to drag opponents around with so much in the crew is huge and your threat vectors for ripping lodestone bearers away from where they need to be makes for a tough threat. Kitty is also just a pretty great bearer in general
Public Enemies- Not bad, but you also rely on mid-high cost models that aren't the tankiest and don't do huge amounts of damage for the most part. What you're likely up against will win fights far easier than you will, so I wouldn't take Lynch here just because it's an uphill battle
Schemes-
Breakthrough, Take Prisoner, Vendetta, Assassinate, Claim
Jump- Nothing changed here, so my points from above are still my opinion on
them.
Sabotage- Getting right to the back is pretty hard in-keyword (Kitty can do it but not enough reliably for both points). I wouldn't take it
Catch and Release- Not too bad so long as you can
keep minions alive but both options can pull it off well enough given keyword
tricks, just have to play carefully
Let Them Bleed- Honeypot is control, not damage. I guess you can keep them damaged and shut down but it's a lot harder to pull this off when you don't have many decent damage sources.
Leave Your Mark- Not a bad choice because you can just hard deny the middle of the board for Interacts in general while you do what you want
Research Mission- Lynch doesn't have any in-keyword marker generation, so you don't take Research Mission. It's that simple
Spread Them Out/Runic Binding- You don't have the reach to spread out enough for either of these schemes, so I wouldn't take them with Lynch. His game plan doesn't play nice with either scheme because they ask for you to spread out across the table and not bubble
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- With the ball you can push deep on 1-2 of
the markers and then make sure they get pushed into the opponent’s zone, while
your shutdown can stop them doing anything to put them back. Because it’s
mostly around the centreline the slower speed of Lynch’s crew doesn’t mean too
much and you can get to where you need to be easily enough
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- As a crew that doesn’t drop their own non-scheme
markers, I don’t rate this with Honeypot
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