Model Review- Lucas McCabe, Tomb Delver and Corpse Curator

 One of the newer reveals for the next Malifaux book, bringing one of the Masters I was most looking forward to- McCabe. My favourite crew to play in Ten Thunders, and one I played almost exclusively for a lot of 2020, anything new for Wastrel is something will always be very excited for. 

The new version of McCabe has a lot to like, and he loses the horse for a whole lot of really awesome versatility. Extended Reach is to be expected with his whip, and Depths of Malifaux has shown up on a lot of his keyword already but is also something to note as really great because it means most forms of terrain won't stop his crews from doing what they want to, and while he loses Looted Supplies he gains Claim the Riches which does the same thing but better (it also gives Shielded 1 and can trigger off any markers except for schemes). He plays really nicely with his Artifacts as well, because any friendly model that has one will create a 5" bubble around them where enemies get -1 to their attacks which is amazing and you can really play around with Artifacts in a defensive sense instead of just throwing the sword on things and watching them blend. Treasure Hunter lets you take a bonus action from an Artifact when you end your activation (meaning you also get another bonus action, so he can attach one to himself and then use an action from it anyway) and then you also have the choice to chuck it to another Wastrel or Minion within Aura 5 and gain Shielded on both McCabe and the recipient. Passing it off is a choice so if you want to keep something on McCabe for any reason (mainly for Life Leech) you don't have to give it away, although Shielded +1 and likely also Fast is very hard to pass up. If it hasn't already become obvious, my favourite upgrade to pass around with this version of McCabe is the Phantasmal Mask because it lets you play an aggressive defence where you can dive in and really mess with the opponent's plans with making their attacks less reliable (and then lower damage from Shielded) while you tick down their health as well via Life Leech which is amazing all around. Treasure Trove also has some really great triggers, because Jackpot! gives you potential for a ton of Focused in the crew which is always good, or Tomb Curse to force a bunch of duels mid-game that give out Stunned which hurts a lot in the right matchups. 

Take What You Can Carry is quite easily my favourite part of new McCabe's card and it makes an already great scheming crew ridiculously powerful in this regard. For a 6 of any suit, you can make any Wastrel on the table (but still in LoS) move 2" and take an Interact action at the cost of gaining Staggered (in effect making it once per turn per model). Staggered can be potentially a bit of a downside, but your good scheme runners in keyword (Desper, Hucksters and Rough Riders) have ways to get around this with their extra movement abilities that don't care about what their Mv stat is at all. Each trigger heals 2 on the target, but ending a condition or dropping a Scrap are both directly applicable in a lot of cases so you'll often want to use them. Using this is a great way to extend your movement and/or get into places you need to that you might not have had the AP on other models to get to and is really a game winner all by itself. The interactions that are the most immediately noticeable are with strategies, because this works great with Symbols of Authority and Break the Line (this one especially because you can just force it really deep quite easily). 

McCabe has 2 attack actions and both seem to be consistently low damage, although they are consistent in their damage and both have potential to control spaces on the table either for your models or the opponents. His Pepperbox is 2/3/4 damage with blasts on every level, which combined with giving everyone damaged Stunned you can spread out some really nice debuffs and chip out damage over a wide amount of models if the opponent bunches up. The Mask trigger on it to move any friendly model in LoS up to 3" in any direction is really great because it just lets you play with movement even better while damaging the opponent, giving you really nice angles and even synergising with Take What You Can Carry nicely to get into places where they need to score schemes or strategies. His Bleeder Lash is min 3, which alone is great, although it only goes up to 3/3/4 so doesn't spike very well although it is consistent on the lower level. 2" range, stat 6 with a possible positive flip is very good though, and he can kill models well enough with it. Combined with the sword to have him ignoring a bunch of defensive tech it becomes even better, and although the same can be said for almost anything he does have one of the highest min damages in his keyword so he is a good choice to keep it. Although he doesn't have the pulse duels and basic movement of the mounted McCabe he does keep something a bit similar, with his Ram trigger Crack the Whip to push enemies in his engagement range away from him and give them a little extra bit of damage, meaning he will potentially be min 4 on his target and pulsing damage (and forcing movement) for everyone else which plays well with a lot of schemes. Overall this new version of McCabe trades being able to very effectively operate solo for buffing up his crew a really good amount, like a lot of the new wave Masters being crew buffers instead of efficient by themselves (be that as beaters or schemers)

The Corpse Curator is an interesting piece in Wastrel crews although like a lot of the latest wave it is largely a piece that will be seen sometimes as a tech piece when needed. It is pretty good defensively for 6SS and Drag Behind and Dredge Up both give it a good niche in terms of getting markers where they need to be for Looted Supplies to trigger, and being able to make an attack off of Dredge Up is more just a nice thing to have rather than the main intention of it. In terms of anti-marker tech it also works well because it effects any non-scheme and you can move a lot of the more annoying markers that aren't Destructible out of the way to a place they're just useless which is almost as good as removing them anyway. Its melee attack is quite weak in Wastrel generally (it makes Netgun McCabe a bit better, but I wouldn't rate that super highly as far as interactions go) although the trigger on it does have some quite funny interactions with Symbiotic Relationship (enemy takes possible 2 damage from the Poison from it) being able to remove any marker (same as Wrastlers and Mancha Roja, but slightly less universally useful being on a trigger). Cursed Sludge is decent mid-game when the Curator can get into a scrum (but it is almost always applicable in Experimental) and affect a bunch of enemy models with Poison. The Tome trigger for Scrap drop is always nice, and Leaking Fluids could be useful just to make certain parts of the table more annoying for the opponent but is really more applicable for McMourning. The real big reason you take the Curator though is for Animated Remains, which lets you use it as a Scrap or Corpse marker (meaning it triggers Looted Supplies for free card draw) and you can deal 2 damage to it when you would normally remove a Scrap for Artefacts which isn't bad, but I don't find it hugely useful unless you want high amounts of Artefacts out without also generating a high amount of Scrap. There are definitely a lot of uses for the Corpse Curator, but in general I think it is mostly something you take when you feel like you really need the marker bonuses but otherwise I don't think it is massively essential for Wastrel crews. 

Model Review- Mei Feng, Foreman and Rock Hopper

 The next title teaser that got my attention is the new version of Mei Feng and her accompanying Rock Hopper. I'm not a huge fan of the change in playstyle of this Mei Feng just because it isn't really my favoured style of play I feel over the old one, although I do definitely like it and I'll play it for sure. The Rock Hopper I feel is in a bit of a weird spot and I really love the art (props to Wyrd for designing something that easily fits into the Nightmare Mei crew as well aesthetically) but the card is somewhat more niche compared to some other things in the crew IMO

New Mei is a lot more support oriented than the fighter the old version was, but the support she adds is worthwhile. She still has Ride the Rails as could be expected, but otherwise has changed entirely on her front of card to revolve around scrap markers and above all protecting her own crew, meaning this Mei is who you swap in when you hear the opponent is playing keywords with a lot of Armour ignoring (but not Irreducible, that has the same effect here as it does with fighter Mei). Shielded +1 on all friendly Foundry models within Aura 8 every turn is very nice because it makes them tankier, but it also synergises especially well with Sparks to make your bombs go that little bit further, and the 12" aura of choosing to ignore Hazardous Terrain is also really great in a lot of matchups (especially Mah Tucket, where you can use her Pit Traps for Ride the Rails thanks to Sparks and now ignore all the downsides). Mei also has her own ability to remove scrap markers within Aura 2 to reduce any damage from attacks to 0 which is very helpful because this version doesn't have Armour and with only 10 wounds is a bit fragile, so any extra reduction abilities (especially reduce to 0) come in handy because they save you Soulstones. She also has a once per activation ability that deals 1 damage to enemy models when a scrap marker is placed within base contact of them and 8" of Mei, so you can get a bit more aggressive with placing your scrap and force out irresistible damage in some great ways (Metal Golem for example now has a really great way to get around Hard to Kill). 

Lay Track as a bonus action is just amazingly worthwhile for the crew because it's a scrap marker drop on a 4 and 8" range is really great, but what it also does is give the potential to burn opponent hands and do chip damage. TN13 Df is high enough that it needs moderates to pass and 2 damage and Stunned isn't something the enemy will want to get, especially if you use the scrap placement to trigger Heated Iron as well and do another 1 damage that can't be resisted. Mass Hysteria on a trigger is great to have as well because affecting positioning is always great be it to move things out of position so they struggle to score or to break up Auras, but on this action its entirely just an incidental thing because of how actually landing damage isn't reliable. 

Steelcraft as a once per turn summon is honestly something I think is amazing, because with no flips and costing you 2 scrap markers (which you'll have an abundance of anyway) an essentially free Metal Gamin is great to have. They're solid enough minions already, but the cost of 2 scrap is effectively paid for as soon as it gets summoned (unless its Demise gets ignored, it drops 2 scrap when it dies) and only increases in value the moment it activates. I think if you have the AP to spare and you are in a position where you can summon, I would always do it just because it will very rarely be a bad decision in terms of resource cost. 

Her melee is low damage, but giving Burning is nice and it’s mostly going to be used for either healing friendly Constructs (most of the keyword) or for triggers. Scorched Remains for scrap is both a resource and extra possible damage from her so it’s great, while Shove Aside is a great combo of board control, free attacks and mobility for you which are all very useful. Impromptu Invention, like her other actions, is a mix of being able to be offensive or a buff to your own models, as it simply gives a condition at +1 value to any model you choose to target that hasn’t already been affected by this action that activation. Stat 7 vs Wp is excellent and you can do some really great things with it when you need to (Focused or Fast on your own models while Slow, Distracted, Staggered and Stunned are all useful on enemies). The triggers are both great too, with the Crow trigger adding an extra +1 (especially great for Focused or Distracted but you can use it for Burning or Poisoned too) and the Ram trigger giving you a pseudo-Obey that you can’t charge from. Any extra actions is very useful, and especially the combo of being able to give a Metal Golem Fast and then also take an extra action is insanely good value when it only costs you a 5 of Rams. 

The Rock Hopper is an interesting take because it lacks a lot of the things you would expect from Foundry Constructs (Vent Steam and Walking Forge) which hurts it a bit but what it does do is very interesting and it has its place in the crew. Where it is massively useful is vs Hoffman especially, but anyone that has the ability to discard scrap markers and/or takes higher amounts of armour the Rock Hopper does a lot of work. Ride the Rails compensates for Mv4 a bit, but Abandoned Machinery really does it the best giving it a free 4" push when it activates if there are no other friendlies within Aura 4 of it and Scamper giving more moves if enemies cheat near it. Rusted Metal keeps your scrap safe to allow rail networks to somewhat stay secure, and combined with his bonus action you can make sure that your crew are also not taking damage from anything other than Hazardous or Attacks (which includes things like Vengeance and Black Blood). This action is also very easy to get off, because it only needs a 4, and you can get a Soulstone for a Mask or a Scheme for a Crow which are both excellent resource generation. Rust Rash is kind of like a Shockwave-esque action to hand out Stunned, but it won't always be immediately beneficial and the main thing you'll be using it for is to have the incidental scrap generation from the Tome trigger because it's the cheapest and most reliable scrap trigger in the keyword with its possible 4" range. The other thing to note is its melee attack, which is a good stat with great range and ignores Resistance Triggers and Armour, so even though min 2 isn't great everything else about this attack is amazing. Knock Aside is a good trigger for affecting placement as well, but the best thing here is the ability to crack armour and punch through Resistance Triggers. I wouldn't take the Rock Hopper always, but in the right matchups it will be very worthwhile

Model Review- Tara, Timeless and Thirty-Three

 Skipping over Von Schill to go to the next Outcast title reveal, I am absolutely in love with this. Tara has always been one of my favourite masters, and this new card adds some really interesting dimensions to her gameplay while also giving her back a Death Marshal in her crew in the form of Thirty-Three. 

This new version of Tara is very interesting, as it allows some weird janky plays in true Tara form while being quite different to the original. From Nothing, Beyond Time and Stutter Time are all still what they were, although it's important to note Stutter Time at a high stat, with built in Glimpse the Void and now also with Fleeting Moments on it for Pass Token generation is really nice and plays well with some other tricks in the crew. 6s for her stats is great, especially on Mv which makes her pretty fast (although without her 2nd activation this time, a lower maximum distance). Lost in the Moment is very nasty and the ability to dictate the flow of the game is well worth the cost of 1 irreducible although that can stack up quite quickly if you abuse it too much (Regeneration +2 is a nice way of getting around it, but I would easily recommend the Emissary here for extra healing and even extra Regen to keep Tara going far longer than she should otherwise). Butterfly Jump also keeps her a bit safer depending on the table setup as it lets her escape when she needs to but also get into positions of cover or just flat out of line of sight, even working in some strategies to get her closer to where she needs to be faster (Symbols and Ley Lines) which will be very annoying for an opponent because trying to stop you can often help you instead. Looking at her actions, Stutter Time I've already mentioned is par for the course on Obliteration models but otherwise she is completely different to her previous form. Losing summoning is the biggest change, but she enables a lot in the crew and gives them some very good angles in terms of their movement potential in a few ways. 

Expedite pairs amazingly with Stutter Time for a way to unbury your own models further in position where you want them and then take a general or melee action. You can even use it with Tara to move up once turn 1, Bury something with Stutter Time and then immediately unbury it to get things further up the table far quicker (and she can do it more than on different models). Needing a 6 its pretty easy to get off and although it gives the target Slow it's in effect just taking that AP early, making it a bit of a worse (although still great) version of Obey. 10" range on it normally is also really great because it turns Tara into a lot more of a crew buffer, but I would mostly only use it as an alternative way to unbury your own models instead of From Nothing because it gives a lot more gameplay options. 

Obliteration's Claw is her attack and its mostly just ok to have (not having Glimpse the Void on it is really noticeable and the one thing I dislike a lot about this Tara) but being able to choose what it's resisted by (Df or Wp, whatever will put you at a higher advantage or avoiding defensive triggers) and Drag Through Time is really nice as well- it basically means you have another Unbury vector because of Lost in the Moment or the enemy gets Slow which is good either way. 

The last action to note, Rewind makes up the biggest part of her new card IMO and is the thing I love the most because of just how janky it gets. As a control action it is amazing, and it plays into the theme of zone control with Tara being able to choose any model (which I'll elaborate on later, because it has different applications) and drop an Echo marker in base contact. Stat 6 vs Wp is decent enough, and TN12 means when you're using it on your own models and relenting you need a 6 at minimum to get it off so it does need a little bit of card knowledge (which Obliteration has in some sneaky ways). After any activation, which means you can do it any and every time you choose should something move away from the Echo (or you just want to nudge things around it to get better angles), you can choose to place the model you targeted and put it back into base contact with the Echo and then give them the choice of 1 damage or removing the Echo (more of a choice for friendly models, because enemies will want to remove the Echo and stop you messing with them). When using it on your own models it works best as a means of being able to throw a beater forward in their own activation and hit things as much as possible before pulling them back to a safer position where they won't be overextended (a new twist on the classic Beast Bomb) or even just to relocate things across the board before they can activate to give you more angles on attack runs or reaching points on the table to score (and then you can pull them back anyway if you take the damage to keep the Echo on the table). Against enemies it's really mostly aggressive denial, because there are a lot of schemes and strategies that need careful placement to score and you can just put them away where they can't do anything to get back and score that turn. It's best in pools with Claim Jump, Catch and Release, Research Mission or even just scheme marker based schemes you can easily deny them with the right activation order. In terms of triggers, built-in Mend for a heal 2 is great for your own models if you need to heal them, and it's always just nice to have. Burn Out is amazing here in all ways, because Fast on your own models for the yoyo tactic is very helpful while offensively it can be a very easy 2 damage and then Unbury for another friendly model, and Alternate Timeline letting you drop the Echo anywhere within 4" of the target means you can use it to really mess with placement and it gives you some great potential reach in terms of slinging models forward and then bringing them back to safety, or forcing enemy models into positions where they can't get back to affecting the game how they want to. All in all it's a great alternate to the Bury mechanics of the rest of the crew, and it lets you really mess with the opponent through placement in a lot of ways. 

The fact that Tara has a Death Marshal in her crew again is something I love on its own, but Thirty-Three does some really funky things for the crew that I like a lot. Beyond Time and From Nothing are standard and I don't think they're really anything to write about here because they don't have any especially huge applications out of the norm, but the rest of the front of his card is really excellent in making her something that is a deceptively good scheme runner and just a pest in general with how hard to lock down and mobile she is. Mv6 Incorporeal is amazing and Slippery works very well too in keeping her able to move away from things that try and stop her (and if they do get into base contact, Pine Box) so she can most of the time be exactly where she wants to be, especially when you add it to From Nothing and the Bury shenanigans Obliteration have. Her Peacebringer is good but not an amazing beater track so don't expect her to be gunning down anything she touches despite the bonuses from Pass Tokens (which you have other and often better ways to spend), it's mainly just a way to stack damage onto Buried models with Finality (it also works on any undead that are on the table, but Obliteration want to Bury things anyway and it has more applications there) or be very annoying with Hole in the World to affect enemy placement in some nasty ways. Like Tara above you can play around with putting things where they really don't want to be and play a hard denial game by using Thirty-Three, enabling a gameplay style Obliteration were already good at but now benefit even more. Placing the enemy within 6" of where it currently is is a huge move, especially when you can stack it with Two Places at Once for an effective 8" place in the right setup making it very hard for things to get back to where they wanted to be (even more so if you stack it with Rewind to shove them back there again and really waste time). Pine Box is always nice and synergises really well with Obliteration, plus having that damage track from the Ram trigger is extra nice because you're usually Burying models with the intention they come back significantly weaker if at all, so being able to get it that extra step closer to dead on the action you're Burying is very nice efficiency. A Year in a Minute is the last thing 33 has and it really is just one last way to double down on making sure Tara's crew (or Lady J but that's not what has my attention here) have as much of an advantage on the table as possible be it in cards or AP. For a 5 of any suit and with the triggers built in she can force card discard when enemy models are Buried or he gives them Slow, forcing a choice from the opponent to either lose cards from their hand or lose AP on their models which are already being shunted around the table against their will. It's a great example of Obliteration forcing bad choices on the opponent, and if she can do this early near a large portion of the enemy crew you can use it as a way to not only make the opponent think as I mentioned, but increase the efficiency of Glimpse the Void drastically which is something that in turn helps this ability function a lot better. Decomposition is great to throw out some chip damage (in Marshal when you can make models count as Undead its even better) but I think Backtrack is the more useful one as it lets you fish out some fairly useful 6s and 7s for your own stuff as well as the Black Joker to avoid seeing it again. I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of Thirty-Three because I love this card and art a lot, and it'll see play with both versions of Tara I feel. 

Model Review- Outcast Starter Set

 Before we get the full release of the newest Malifaux book Wyrd Miniatures are putting out a series of new starter sets for each faction that contains a Henchmen Hardcore valid crew of 4 Versatile models that can be used by anything in the faction and some of which belong to specific keywords. The Outcast set is strange in that it's all Syndicate keyword, meaning it belongs to the Explorers Society's Anya Lycaryen but is also all available for the Outcasts as a faction (and only Anya can take them in Explorers). I managed to get it all painted recently and figured I'd also write up my thoughts on the models too

Yannic Waller- The henchman of the set, Yannic does a lot of very good things to support the crew although she does a lot more for Syndicate as a whole. 5s for pretty much every stat, 7 wounds with Hard to Kill and being a henchman for stones she is fairly average for 7SS in that regard. Gunfighter on her shotgun is quite nice and 2/4 blast/5 blast is a decent enough track IMO while not being super amazing either. Her 2 tactical actions are very nice, with Democratic Elections acting as a bunch of ping healing and damage (in an equal ratio) with ways to bump up the damage or drop a scheme marker (provided you heal more enemies, so you won't always want to do it). Consolidate Power as a bonus action is good enough, and with a heal on a ram trigger it's just a nice little bit of support for very little cost. Price of Progress is less important on Yannic than the others but it still gives you a means to save on Soulstone use (and Democratic Elections is a great way to heal back up so the cost of it is less meaningful). The last thing to note is her card package which is better in Syndicate because it has a lot more synergy but is still really useful in Outcasts in the right situation. Shouting Orders (Syndicate) is great in this starter set and really works in the Henchman Hardcore situation, but otherwise isn't huge and is more just a nice thing to have. Ingenuity though is huge, and a 6" aura of helping card discards at the cost of discarding scheme markers within 2". It's a steep cost if you aren't throwing out markers without taking Interacts (and the AP cost or the scheme is important to note because the card draw often won't be worth it when considering that). 

Catalan Brawler- A bit of a hybrid bodyguard/tank/beater the Brawler is in a bit of a weird spot but it is still useful. 8 wounds at Df5, 8 wounds, Armour 1 and Hard to Kill is already nice, then you look at Juggernaut as their bonus action and Cage Fighter on a Df trigger and they have a really good defensive package, which then works with Condor Security forcing enemies to hit him and keep your other models safer if you can get the positioning well enough. Toss in the Mud for aggressive condition removal isn't huge and you'll use it more on your own models which is still a good niche, but in the right situations (Kaeris and McMourning especially) it will be very nasty and something the opponent will try to avoid a lot. Their Brass Knuckles is ok damage and Staggered works well for control (and is great with Jack Daw) and Hold Down synergises great with any guns you take (Rusty Alyce or Mad Dog for example)

Catalan Rifleman- 2 simple and effective cost 5 minions, as far as Versatiles go they are pretty well designed IMO because they're good but will never overshadow keyword competition outside of their one specific role. Very weak defensive stats although Hard to Kill is nice, and Mv5 is fairly good but it's their actions that really make them worth taking. Bonus action Interact at the cost of a card (which with Yannic becomes cycling) lets them be very versatile in what they do, and although both their attacks are projectile actions Expert Shot ignores Friendly Fire and the Clockwork Rifle ignores cover so you're only really suffering from Concealment. Warning Shot for ranged Distracted can be useful, and both triggers are helpful in the right situation (the action in general is really nice with Viks for example) and the Clockwork Rifle has a fairly average damage track but Stunned on a trigger is also very good because of how rare it is in Outcasts. Whatever the trigger you want in any situation you can also choose to have it at the cost of a wound via Price of Progress which is helpful, but when they don't have a high amount of wounds it becomes something to remain careful of. 

Model Review- Easterling Dragon Cult Acolytes

 In anticipation of (what likely is) the next book for MESBG, Forge World have released a few things over the last few months teasing the conflict between Dale/Erebor and the Easterlings. For me this means more options for my Easterling army, and I've got the new Dragon Cult Acolytes myself now so thought I'd write about how I think they work best as an addition to my original tactica.

Looking at their profiles, 11 points per model looks like it's steep and in Easterling armies cost of warriors already stacks up really fast so that can be an issue. They do have Black Dragon statlines though with Fight 4 and Courage 4, plus Unyielding Combat Stance and 2 attacks which make them look like great frontline warriors and really nasty backed up by 2 pikes. However, I would personally not advise making your entire front line Acolytes as they are only Defence 4 and very likely to be killed should they lose a fight, and still Strength 3 so not fantastic at killing things themselves either. They also lack the Phalanx special rule to protect them from being trapped by their own models, which is an issue if you play a phalanx more rigid but if you play more fluid with them (which is probably better in general with Acolytes anyway) you can easily make sure that you will have spots to retreat to should you lose, although 2 attacks backed up by 2 pikes (and possibly even a banner) should be getting you winning fights more often than not. The other big thing they have to keep in mind is Throwing Daggers, which promotes a bit more aggressive play than Easterlings traditionally play with, but it adds more potential damage output and that alone is always nice to have so I definitely rate it fairly highly. They do have a unique special rule that gives them a bonus to Jump, Climb and Leap tests making it impossible for them to roll lower results when attempting them, but that part of the rule is ultimately far more niche and the other part (ignoring In the Way when striking over barriers) is way more useful and plays into their role as linebreakers of sorts and less defensive warriors. 

In general the main thing I will be using them for is as a scalpel to apply where pressure is most needed and maximising the pike benefit there to make sure you throw 4 dice at things you don't like, which will almost always be more than the opponent will have (assuming you use them to attack other warriors, because you have fantastic duellists in your own characters). Mixing them in at a 50:50 rate or slightly less with regular sword/shield Warriors (which for me ends up being 2-3 in a warband) to waste opponents time by sitting around shielding while your more aggressive Acolytes can thin the ranks makes for a very interesting use of a loose phalanx, and although it needs a bit more finesse to use it is likely to get better results than without using Acolytes at all. 

On the Table- Malifaux, Arena Rex

Another weekly update, I've had a few longer-standing orders arrive now so I'm getting into some projects I've really been looking forward to! 

I picked up the Outcast starter set to make sure I still had all the Outcasts faction, and now I've painted them I also have the faction all painted too. There are a few small issues I have with the models (the Riflemen are pinheads) but overall the new preassembled stuff is pretty good quality I've found and they painted up pretty easily. 

The first of the orders I've been waiting on, I'm really excited to get all the Helleniki for Arena Rex finished. With these I have the entire cohort painted, and I'm already looking at Gorgons or Morituri for more options to play with

Bushido- the Bakemono Hordes

 For my 2nd Bushido faction I picked up the Bakemono part of the Savage Wave, and I really love the little guys a lot because they are so fundamentally different to the ninja. I've got a few games in with them now and I decided to start writing things down for them too, but unlike the Shadow Wind Clan I won't be talking about everything in the faction, just the Bakemono side and not Oni/Onisho

Communal-

Bakemono Horde- The most logical place to start because this is the card you will always use with any Bakemono, and it defines a lot of their playstyle simply by being there. As soon as a single Bakemono model goes into your warband you get this card, and it becomes a Ki pool for every Bakemono in your warband (they all place their Ki on it, and they can all spend from the pool). This means you have a lot more variety than normal in what you would be doing with any of your models at any given time and the 1 Ki stat on a lot of them is somewhat negated (although not for Fear and Disguised, your biggest enemies) as you can perform Ki Feats almost at will. That said, the Horde card gives you a few other options as well and some of these are quite good, albeit expensive in Ki. Summon from the Shadows is the most expensive one and requires it to be your activation but getting an entirely new model out of it is well worth that cost. All of the Horde Bakemono are useful and it’s really a matter of just deciding which one you need in any given situation, but I see myself using this almost every turn I can because it is such a powerful thing to be able to add to the crew. Mob Mentality is a great way to get around Cowardly for cheap, but it has diminishing returns throughout the turn as it gets more and more expensive to use. In the right circumstance it will be amazing, but often it will also not be worth the cost of paying for it if you keep using it in a turn. Shadow Walk is simple but effective and a 3” place is always great, especially on some of the bigger base models like Boomers and the animals where you get extra distance out of it, but the tradeoff is they are harder to keep out of LoS. For that there is Darkness, and for 5 Ki you can ensure that most enemy models only have 4” of LoS which means early game you can use it to advance very safely while the opponent can’t (it shuts down running as well as the obvious charging and shooting, because Run needs to target a point on the table). In general, all of the Ki Feats on the card are powerful and I tend to find myself hiring a few models with higher Ki stats as standard just to feed the card a bit easier, although there are a lot of ways to do so.

Themes- 

Thousand Eyes- My favourite theme for Bakemono, you get some really nice bonuses from it and still access to the full Bakemono roster. Being able to give Bakemono of choice Group means you have the ability to easily gang up on enemy models and hit them where it hurts, taking models out of the game for a turn with attacking them twice. Darkness for free on turn 1 gives you safety in advancing while also saving 5 Ki you probably would’ve spent anyway, letting you bank it for later turns and use them for whatever you want, and the Ki Feat it gives you access to is also amazing with Co-Ordinated Attack. You can use it on your bigger hitters like Rinsho, Bat Riders, Ig and Ook to guarantee more damage, and even through strategic summoning you can get it to be activated without any chance of being stopped by the opponent which is massive. 

Escort- You lose access to some of the funniest models in theme in the animals and cavalry, but you get Ki from your casualties all game (but not summons) and access to Distraction which is quite good for setting up Surprise Attacks. Not a huge bonus, but it is good if you want that. I prefer Thousand Eyes though because I love the animals too much. 

Mushroom Crazed Lunatics- More of a fun option IMO, this theme is where you take a ton of melee models and run straight at the opponent to do as much damage as possible early. Rinsho, Cave Bat Rider and then whatever else to taste, get them up the table with Run and get stuck in ASAP. Every model gains Bansai! so even though you can only Run and Charge you can pretty easily get into most places you want to (although terrain is an issue because you can only move in straight lines). Losing the theme bonus when you declare any other action hurts though, and any scenario where you have to Interact with objectives I would recommend Thousand Eyes especially just because it’s the same access to models (but also with extra Ronin added) and a better bonus with less downsides. In zone games this is definitely a very funny option, but it definitely takes more care to play in a way where you can win games. 

Profiles-

Horde Bakemono (Archers, Beaters, Bushi, Raiders and Spearmen)- The core of any Bakemono warband, and as your summons they’ll always see play somewhere. All of them are Cowardly and 1 Ki so very weak to Fear and Disguise, but they all have Tiny and Camouflage (4”) to help them defensively which is really nice to have and helps you be really hard to shoot most of the time. They have 2s and 1s in their stats with most being 2 melee 1 ranged (Archers are the opposite, and Raiders have 2s in both) and overall not fantastic, but not terrible either given their cost and how they’re able to be summoned in. They benefit a lot from Themes and the Communal card, but overall you’re using them to soften things up with lower value activations before the hitters can have a greater effect. Archers can help get little bits of chip damage out which helps things like the Bats in particular, although any chip damage is good, Beaters are solid attack pieces with a bonus to their damage which is unique for the Horde Bakemono, and Bushi have Combo Attack which can also be really nice when it works (although at 2MP and cost 1 for Combo you have to make sure it’s hitting something that you can maximise output, likely using Coordinated Attack). The Spearmen and Raiders are both very defensive Bakemono but in different ways, with the Raiders shining when you can run them into enemies and roll all defence (because Parry and Armour 1 are both great to help here) to exhaust the opponent and make them weaker for when a better hitter arrives, while Spearmen are best at sitting in zones or on objectives where they can be annoying and threaten to score, but if an opponent attacks them they get to benefit from Reach and attack first. All of the Horde Bakemono have a use, but IMO the Bushi is the weakest because its main use is very situational and requires a lot more setting up (and in that setup, your other Horde models will already be good)

Boomers- As straightforward as they look, Boomers shoot things and they shoot them well. Their Arquebus has amazing range bands, and +4 damage with Pierce 3 means they will pretty much always have a positive to damage rolls so they can deal as much damage as possible. Ranged pool 2 isn’t great, but they have easy access to boosts being Bakemono and when they get to 4 they will do more than enough work. Reload (2) keeps them from shooting a lot and it’s often better to throw them into the fray with Endless Numbers so you can re-summon them instead of spending time reloading (although with your likely activation advantage you’ll also have opportunities to safely Wait). 

Giant Cave Bat/Cave Bat Rider- either variety of bat is fast, deals good damage and has a great amount of wounds for going with Bakemono. Both options are a bit costly, but for what they do it’s well worth the take depending on what you want. The Giant Bat has Aloof so can’t make any scenario actions, but as a Flank piece it will do a lot of work picking out wounded and weaker targets. Bats both have Sixth Sense, Fear (4) and Dodge which all really help keep them safe, and Cloudwalk on a 50mm base so they have really crazy fast movement (Move 5 before their buffs) as well as Poison (2/1) on their Bite attack so they can tick things down easier even if they don’t manage to kill them. 6 wounds in both cases is good, and when they wound non-Soulless models with the Bite they heal 1 so they aren’t the most fragile models you have access to. Getting +1 move when you target enemies that have wounds marked is amazing, and turns them into a super reliable threat of both models and objectives in the case of the Rider. You also gain Sweep Attack 0 here, which is also useful because it plays into Bakemono’s theme of wasting the opponent’s resources and if you manage to hit something with this they’ve lost 2 activations in the melee exchange and then standing up, while you’re free to just walk away and affect something else. The Rider costs a bit more because it brings a bit extra compared to the regular Bat, the main thing being Cavalry (3”) for even more of a speed boost and Banzai! so they can charge all around the table like crazy. Especially at Move 6 nothing is safe from the Bat Rider, and it also has Reach and Push Defence 0 to keep itself safer if needed. 

Ig and Ook- both of these guys are bodyguards for the Herald and Council Bakemono (currently only Wei-Shu, but future proofing) and they have a bit better stats than most. MP3 is great to have and their weapons are both really good, Soulless keeps them safer from a few different things and they can both be resummoned assuming there are Herald or Council models in play which makes them really great. They both have defensive tools in Shield (Ig) or Reach (Ook) and Counterstrike Defence (1), while both also have pushes for 0 usually on the first exchange of any given time they’re attacked (Ook has Attack, Ig has Defence). I really like both of them and Crimson Sky Mushrooms is perfect on either, I usually have both in my lists.Kaihei and Alpha- While Kaihei and the Alpha are excellent and fairly cheap individually, they need to run in a pack to get their best effectiveness which means the cost starts to add up and then competes with Bakemono needing Ki for their Communal card. The whole mechanic of them ganging up on a single target and then tearing it apart is great and pretty easy for them to get off with the Alpha for Group, and their attacks are great for only having 2 dice standard (which is no downside given said advantages from ganging up with Group). They’re all quick, have decent defensive tech for their costs and with a Ki stat of 2 can go up against Fear (which they have in-built protection from with Fear (4) themselves) and Disguise which is nice to have but in general they do more for and benefit better from an Alphas list with Oni. 

Nian and Rider- Both fairly straightforward models because they have no Ki Feats of their own, the Nian and Rider are made for aggression and are primarily fast missiles. Same as the Cave Bat, the Rider gives Cavalry (3) and Banzai! at the cost of losing Cloudwalk, Intimidate, Fearless (read- all very very good) and changing up the Bite attack quite significantly. The Rider I feel is an ok option because it does a whole lot that is very good, but the Nian without Rider is really great because it brings a whole lot more to the table in terms of how it interacts with scenarios instead of just being a cavalry model that’s made to run in and attack the enemy. Throw Attack is the biggest factor here for me because with Brutal (both of which you lose with the Rider) you can chuck enemies out of zones or make them prone when it matters, which will help a lot especially in zones where you’re usually relying on cheap numbers and you can now get a higher cost model in there that can put other things outside. In general I think both are well worth taking, but the 3 less rice and difference in rules between them makes the riderless Nian win out I think

Okina and Oto- This pair are almost entirely support, with 1s in both MP and RP, but the support they give the warband is pretty great. They’re slow but Cavalry 2” means they are always moving at least 2” so they’re at least consistent, and Leadership (2/5”) for all Bakemono is a massive bonus when it comes to Fear tests and is probably the best counter to it that all Bakemono have. The 2 Ki Feats they have are very expensive but also really great for the benefits they give and are decent range, which is really the reason you take them. Marching Beat helps speed up your warband and get them all up the table quicker which helps in almost any situation, while the ability to give Bakemono Virtue tokens (which can then be spent for +1 melee strength, Last Stand or Bravery, all excellent) is well worth the cost of 6 Ki provided you can hit a few models with it at once and get more of a benefit. On the table though 4” either side is a pretty wide bubble to fit things into though, and you can easily get a lot of your warband in it.

Rinsho- Big beater supreme, the Rinsho are amazing at hitting things and surviving longer than most Bakemono. They’re steep cost, but the potential damage they can do with 3 MP and Brutal 1 makes them pretty reliable, and Armour stacked with Regenerate 2 (or 4 with their Ki Feat) means they take a beating back and keep going with their 8 wounds. Auto passing Fear is really great, and being able to easily get Combo Attack 0 and bumped up to Fear 6 (at the “downside” of Aggressive) just feed into what they do best.

Tra-Peng- The scout Bakemono, Tra-Peng has some interesting tools but I don’t really find them useful enough to justify taking him. His attacking stats are actually pretty decent, but with no ranged attack (I’d like a bat ranged attack along the lines of the Temple Villagers’ bird) and a very bad melee weapon he is going to always be defending and rarely doing any damage (Sidestep 0 is amazing but not other models in the warband can do similar). Giving a model Stunned is ok and Snare can really waste enemy activations if the tests are failed, but the control from Shugenja is just flat out better and they also bring the option for more enhancements at the same time. Tra-Peng can possibly threaten objectives early with his Scout, but that’s about the only benefit I see from him that I can’t make up for with something else.

Trak- As a Bakemono Samurai Trak has a bit of melee tricks that the others don't, and he's really fun because of it. While still MP2 he has Co-Ordinated Attack (Bakemono) which is very easy for him to achieve with summons, and with Prowess he can reroll a dice if needed so he is very consistent for a fairly cheap Bakemono (especially with possible Brutal +1 with Kurouma Koryu). Pierce and Parry are both good to have in the right situation too, and overall although Trak isn't a super powerhouse Samurai he does bring a lot of good tricks that combo very nicely off of other Bakemono to turn him into a surprising threat. Combo and Powerful Attack are also both great, despite both of them costing a dice (which makes it easier to gain Brutal though) and should at least be considered in the right situation. 

Tribal Brutes/Uk-Kang- A bit tankier melee options than most Bakemono with their 6 wounds, Regeneration 1 and Armour 1, they sit in between the Horde Bakemono and Rinsho in terms of their role I think. Bravery is really nice to have vs anything with Fear, although Stupid means they won't be able to affect scenario objectives which can be a big downside as well. The Tribal Brutes can give a bit of a bonus to Bakemono charging (another way to get around Fear) and being able to gain Fear (6) keeps them a bit safer and makes up for their MP2 a little bit. Uk-Kang is fairly similar stat-wise, although loses War Cry and the possible Fear for a couple of weapon bonuses (Push Defence is especially great, but Chain Weapon is nice when it will work). Bodyguard on any Bakemono is really good for scenario play, because it means Uk-Kang can engage and try and push things away very often and defend zones. Thrash as a Ki Feat is situational, but it lets him be a little bit more consistent and stops the opponent from blunting your attack with Dodge which is nice

Wei-Shu- At the moment the only Herald model, Wei-Shu is one of the models I consider an autotake because of how reliably helpful he is. Being able to easily give your squishy Bakemono extra wounds is great but the rest of what he brings is even better. He can really easily throw rocks with the event which is very funny, although his melee is almost nonexistent, his Ki stat of 3 is excellent and it plays really nicely with Mind Control, which almost guarantees you will be passing Fear and Disguise tests when you want to be using this. Disguise is harder because a lot of your models will still be unable to target, but it is good to have nonetheless and helps make up for a very big weakness. Psychic Drain also costs very little for a very big gain and I would use it fairly often.

Wu-Zang- in terms of non-Herald Shugenja I think Wu-Zang is quite easily my favourite, because his Ki Feats are amazing. 2 Ki isn’t great for getting them off but Willpower makes it fairly reliable, and although his actual combat stats are garbage he makes up for it otherwise. Grasp of Darkness to give enemies Slow and Weak can keep your stuff safer (and combos with some other debuffs from Bakemono Shugenja) and Curse Fate can cripple your opponent’s beater models as well from a huge distance. Curse Fate is probably the most universally available, but Psychic Venom is also a really great way of doing damage with Wu-Zang and probably his only way of doing so as well. 

Xi-Han and Zoo- Xi-Han may appear a bit expensive for a Shugenja and doesn’t look that great, but then you factor in him hulking out with Reiji Kinoko and it makes a bit more sense. His Mushrooms range attack is pretty great, being able to give things a choice of debuffs that kind of vary in usefulness depending on the rest of the warband (Frightened for example is useless if you don’t take Fear models, but quite good if you do and Blind vs Sixth Sense is similar) but Impetuous and Aggressive is always nice to have. Zoo is a good combat model that can pull a few tricks out when needed, but overall I’m not a huge fan of the pair because I’d rather a few other models especially when it comes to Shugenja

Zung-Fu- While he is very mediocre in terms of combat, he has a few tricks that make him great at ki feats (2 ki with Willpower is reliable enough against most things) and his feats themselves are great. Shadow Tendrils is simple but -3 move is really good at stopping things from getting into positions where they can counter your plans (if they need to get to objectives or your VIM, this has a big effect) and Strip Soul can be higher cost but it really shuts down enemies even more than a simple reduced movement could. 8” range is great, and both actions are well worth using in certain situations, but I don’t rate Zung-Fu as highly as some other Bakemono and he is in a bit of a contested spot

Ronin Options-

Hiretsuna- Unlike in the Shadow Wind Clan Hiretsuna isn't a list filler and isn't a particularly cheap option for Bakemono, but he does have some real value in being able to use Swift Executor (and Vitality, but that gets costly) every turn with a lot of reliability so he makes for a great objective runner with his extra Camouflage and movement bonuses. 

Nightwing Swarm- This is the best thing Bakemono have with regards to tying up big melee models and locking them in combat. It’s really quick, and Durable and Regenerate combined means you have something that is just a real pest to remove while it bogs down whatever it’s in combat with. It has a few things to make it near impossible to shoot at while it advances, on top of the usual Darkness tricks Bakemono can do, and although it’s Insignificant it does a lot to just annoy enemies while the squishy goblins can do the actual scoring.

Terrain-

Cavern Hole- I like this because it can be used as a way to put pressure on an opponent really early by summoning Bakemono really deep into the opponents table half and threaten scoring. I wouldn’t always take it if it comes at the expense of an extra model but it is something I take often

Idol of the Deep- With how your Ki Feats are such an important part of the warband, being able to get Believer into it is amazing. It makes summoning cheaper, Mob Mentality a lower cost for longer (but this is also very hard to manage) and in general your Ki Feats on Shugenja easier to throw out. Placing it is going to be a bit of a learning curve because it should be easy to reach but still in positions where it can both threaten a good amount of the table and keep somewhat safer from destruction

Totem Pole- This card is autotake because it gives an absolutely massive bonus. It has to be placed near the centre of the table which gives it a lot more potential to be destroyed by opponents, but just giving 2 free Ki a turn to the Bakemono Horde card is a steal for 2 Rice. It also gives cover, and thus can trigger Camouflage on all of your Bakemono.

Events- 

Ambush- This is a great way to give Flank to models you want to put into awkward positions for the opponent and get them threatening enemies in as good a way as possible. It’s fairly cheap for what it does, and I like to slot it in for Boomers so they can pop out on a flank where they can get around cover and start killing models

Sneak- Being able to use the Shadow Walk Ki Feat in LoS of an enemy can be very powerful in the right situation, although I’m not a huge fan of taking Sneak because there are so many other things I could want for 2 Rice before I want this.

Throw a Rock!- Often it isn’t a very good take, but it is very very funny and I fit it in whenever I can. Wei-Shu chucking rocks at enemies with Ranged Stat 4 is something that will catch anyone by surprise and although it won’t do much damage it will be great for making both players laugh when it does anything

Unearthly Howls- Being for Kaihei it’s only really included here on a technicality, but in lists with the full pack this card is well worth taking. Fear (6) on them is a great way to both keep them safer while they can also use it as yet another debuff to drag down the opponent and tear them apart

Enhancements-

Endless Numbers- Being able to buy the Horde keyword for a non-Horde Bakemono is very good, but ultimately with the restrictions on it (non-Animal so you can’t resummon the Riders) it is only going on a select few targets. I would personally only take it on either Rinsho (for reliable fighters that you can recycle) or Boomers (because the gun is amazing, who wouldn’t want it to keep shooting all game?). 3 Rice per hired profile is quite expensive though, and in almost every case I would only take 1 with Endless Numbers or 2 without because that 6 Rice is super steep.

Red Spot Mushrooms- For Horde Bakemono, being able to be even more of a horde is a very tempting possibility. At the cost of Impetuous you get -1 cost on the model attached, which adds up if you take it more than once. It’s a small downside for being able to squeeze in other things that might add more power to the warband and should always at least be considered. 

Equipment-

Most of the Mushroom equipment can only be taken if you also take a Bakemono Shugenja, which isn’t really a restriction because you are almost always taking Shugenja anyway

Crimson Sky Mushroom- At the cost of ticking down 1 health a turn and no healing, you get absolutely massive buffs to your melee and damage rolls so you can hit things ridiculously hard and still have safeguards in defence. I think it works best on Ook to give you a crazy defensive model that basically forces a “don’t touch” model for most enemies, and a model that can also hit back when it needs to. Putting it on Ig or Ook also gives you someone you can summon it back on and they keep it when they come back, which is excellent

Deep Mushrooms- A single use Fearless at the cost of a Berserk marker is decent to have, but the downside is important and Bakemono have enough other ways to negate Fear that this is a far lower opportunity cost for me.

Dokutsurutake Mushroom- This one is really funny because it has the potential to turn all your Bakemono into poison bombs, but at 4 Rice its really steep and for it to only be a potential benefit I don’t really like it. I think in Mushroom Crazed Lunatics to double down on the hilarity of the theme it has legs, but otherwise I wouldn’t take it

Ghost Heart Mushroom- One use, but getting Sixth Sense and Intangible for a turn is very good on its own, letting you get wherever you want to go to attack or interact with objectives, but getting Ki Block on top is amazing. Bakemono already have very good Ki control and being able to stop their opponent generating Ki at the same time is a huge potential swing. Cost 2 is somewhat high, but at the same time it’s worth it

Nightblood Mushrooms- Kind of a weaker Crimson Sky but you can take 3 of them for 1 Rice each, so you get a lot out of it still. Instead of getting bonus dice, the model that uses it loses the upgrade to gain +2 melee strength, Aggressive, Cloudwalk, Fearless and Tough (+1) for that turn at the cost of Impetuous and 2 wounds at the end of the turn. That in itself is a huge amount of bonus traits for 1 Rice, and you can use it for a ton of things. It’s cheap and effective and if I have the Rice to spare on it I would chuck it on the models I’m using for attacking. 

Poisoned Weapons- Fairly simple one, and its cheap, but isn’t a high priority to me. Most things you either have better equipment for (a lot of the mushrooms but particularly Crimson Sky)

Shitake Mushroom- For 2 Rice it’s super niche and unless you know for sure you can get it to work in a game it will not be worth the cost for you.

Soul Medallion- Immediately adding 4 Ki to the Horde card when the attached model dies is a great benefit for 1 Rice, but at the same time it isn’t high on my list of priorities. It can work amazingly well in Escort for huge Ki boons when your models die, but I don’t like to plan for my models to die at all and try to avoid it.

Model Review- Viktoria Chambers, Twin Blades and Kenshiro, The Tactician

 As the month goes on we're seeing a lot more for the next wave of Malifaux, which means a ton of new Titles for old Masters and supplemental models to go with them. The first Outcasts model we've seen is a new version of the Viktorias who were the first tactica I ever did on this blog and so I'm really excited to talk about them again along with the new Mercenary model Kenshiro the Tactician. 

Instead of having 2 Viks on separate bases (and 2 separate Master activations) you now instead get both on one 50mm base and a free Student of Conflict to make up for the activation difference. This card is weird to me because it looks like it both intends to be a beater and a support piece at the same time and although it can do good work at either role, it isn’t especially amazing at either. The one thing this version of the Viktorias is over the old ones is tanky, and with everything it brings you will be able to resist deceptive amounts of damage while also healing up fairly reliably. Into the Fray combos perfectly with Servant of Dark Powers to let them heal 4 every time they kill a model, while Combat Finesse and Bulletproof +2 really seriously blunt most efforts to damage them which makes this Viktoria a much better thing to consider when looking at killy pools that have Assassinate in them. Battle Tempo is fairly standard, and with Mv6 and 3AP you can get very good distances with the pair whether its for charging or for simply scheme running (although with Ronin you probably don’t need this as much) and with Diving Charge they can get into some places they wouldn’t normally be able to (also note for scheme running here, it basically just gives them 1AP where they ignore terrain so you may as well do this even if you don’t want to attack). 

As for their bonus actions, Claim the Bounty is great potential card draw if you can get a lot of markers into it, while One Thousand Cuts is a somewhat high TN for just a 1” Hazardous aura (compare it to Vent Steam which has a bigger benefit with no flip needed). They’re both ok and being bonuses you may as well declare one, but they are still somewhat weak when you look at what you need to pull them off. Treasure Seekers is a good way to drop scheme markers while engaged, and needing a 3 is pretty reliable without factoring in any of the other things that they can do with it. Friendly Mercenary models discarding a card to gain Focused +1 is great (for a 3 and a card the Viks can get the effect of an Interact and a Focus action) and the trigger on it is helpful to burn enemy hands and get them closer to the Viks where they likely don’t want to be. 

As Viktorias their main thing is always going to be their attack actions, and these Viks don’t disappoint. Whirlwind of Blades is fairly standard 3/4/6 damage, but with a 2” move built in they can pull some nice tricks with it, and stat 6 with a positive is really great too. The triggers on it are really just there to punish things that engage you even more, with Critical Strike to boost the damage (5/6/8 when you need it is something else) or Sweeping Strike to add blasts for when enemies are bunched up and you can clear them out. Combat Maneuver I see as a means of setting up your own crew more often than not and something that really lets you play aggressively and score points as early as possible (or alpha strike which makes your beaters even better) or later game throw enemies out of position where they can score to deny them VP. Being a Mv resist and Sz 2 or less means there are definitely easy counters to it, but if they do choose things you can easily target with this for things like Claim Jump it will be very annoying when the Viks jump in and throw them away from scoring. The triggers on it are really for each separate purpose, as Swift Action is far better in letting you throw your own models up the table for less AP (or letting you do it on more models) and Bladed Flourish is a great way to deal damage to a higher amount of models, and 3 damage ignoring Armour is often the best you will be able to do reliably to models with high armour so you can use it as a way to aggressively reposition the opposing crew and also doing good damage to them. In general I think this version of the Viks is less to my personal playstyle than the old pair, and although I will definitely try them in scheme pools where they need specific placement and these Viks can deny them a lot better.

A shared piece with Yan Lo, Kenshiro does a lot of work for both keywords but being a 7SS model that is primarily a tech piece puts him in a bit of an awkward spot. Master Tactician and Combat Tactics, his main unique rules, are both really good but Master Tactician especially is a bit awkward in when and how it's used (which ultimately is a good thing that it isn't game defining, but it could still be a little bit more open) but has a great trigger on it so it will see use often enough. Fleet of Foot I find most interesting with the original Viktorias honestly, because Battle Tempo isn't a massive push and so not really affected by becoming a move all that often and the new Viks don't really have pushes, but Dragon's Bite becomes so much easier to pull off in this way and that's a really scary potential move when you can manage it. It's also obviously great for charges around/over terrain when you need to and in general is pretty nice to have. Seeking the Blade just helps you get a little extra bit more card efficiency and synergises best with Combat Tactics to know when you need to cheat off the top of the deck (and can pull it off) and A New Horizon is always great when it matters, especially needing such a low card like Kenshiro does. He's decently fast with Mv5 Incorporeal and Battle Tempo so he can keep up with the rest of the crew without much worry which is nice too. Reverse Momentum is a melee attack that you could come to expect on a support model with 1/2/3 damage, but its stat 7 and everything else on it that makes it really something quite good. First off being able to move any model you hit is great, and with the new Viks as well you can hit your own models to pretty aggressively position a crew which was already insanely fast so your scheming power (and potential alpha strike) is very high, and although Coordinated Attack makes it a little bit awkward (they still need to be engaged by that model for the trigger to work) it is also amazing with any of the beaters in Mercenary to get extra damage out. The Weeping Blade is also really good, turning him into a 3/4/5 damage model ignoring Armour and Incorporeal (both things Viks don't like to see generally) and letting him be a great supplementary hitter that supports the rest of the crew with hitting things. You're gonna need the cards for either trigger, because as an Enforcer he doesn't have access to Soulstones (and can't get max benefit from upgrades, but that's another point) but if you have them its well worth it. I'm not sure exactly what not to take with Viks to get him to fit in the core crew(because the core of Ronin, Vanessa, Big Jake is always well worth taking) but he is definitely something I will flex in when it comes to it and I can see myself putting him on the table a lot (also because I'm working on Yan Lo's crew and I see him working there as well)

His reliquary upgrade is nice, but especially in a Viktorias crew I would ultimately hope not to see it because it means things are dying and you're losing models (obviously it'll happen, but you always want to keep as much alive as possible). If he does die though it will hopefully be in a way that lets your other models stay alive a bit longer, but I'm not sure he is a particularly high priority target so that's not super likely. 

Bushido List Discussion- Building Around Dudiko

 Another list discussion, but this time going to Bushido and talking about how I build lists for Dudiko. A really nice sniper model and one of my favourite sculpts in the game, so I've played around a lot with her and I think the 2 list variants below are my favourite ways to use her even though she isn't especially a huge focus of either of them. 

Ghost

Dudiko

-Disguise

Karapan

Kouhei

-Poisoned Weapons

Hiretsuna

Theme- Skirmish Mission

Herbal Remedy

Jigoku Berry

Poison Vial

Shadow Moves

Smoke Bomb x3

While being a list with Dudiko in it, this is also my main list for Shadow Wind Clan and something I really love to play. It has a lot of ninja tricks, some really efficient killing and enough scenario jank to make it fun. Kouhei is your killer with his rapid firing poison knives, and Karapan also is a great way to burn out enemies quickly as it is a great budget killer too. Ghost is there to be Ghost and fit wherever he is needed to score VP as much as possible, and Hiretsuna ideally avoids trouble and sneaks onto an idol where it can do the most work. In terms of Dudiko, she tends to hide where it's safer and she can start shooting things as well as she can, taking advantage of Camouflage to keep from being hit back, and ideally she can do this while in a position to take zones or reach objectives. 

Axiam

Ghost

Dudiko

Karapan

Hiretsuna

Theme- Skirmish Mission

Herbal Remedy

Jigoku Berry

Shadow Moves

Smoke Bomb x2

This list Dudiko is in because she is a North Star Ninja, and the list is made to get more out of Axiam's ability to take any North Star Ninja's Ki Feats. I've talked about how best to use this facet of Axiam a bit in my KKZ overview so I won't talk about it that much here, but like the list above you have a variety of ninjas to do different jobs, Karapan to be a cheap harassment piece and in the middle of it is Dudiko to be able to snipe out key pieces that pop up on the table.

In general both of these lists rely on the rest of the warband to be bigger threats and get stuck into the opponent where they have to be dealt with, while Dudiko is more of a scalpel to shoot out weaker enemies or support pieces. All the events in here are made to maximise the mind games and damage potential of the warband while also keeping them safe, which Dudiko also helps to do with her own smoke bomb effect. Skirmish Mission is really just the best option of the themes as I've said before as it lets you get a little bit extra efficiency with your terrain and equipment cards to tailor them to the exact situation you're looking at and I really like that part of the theme, plus Disguised is really nice to have on anyone and getting it every turn for free is great. 

On the Table- Wonder Woman 1984, Fallout

 Another hobby update, I'm still working away on a bunch of projects and getting things completed. Jumping around a bit more to spice things up in lockdown, but I'm also managing to finish a whole lot of different systems so I can happily call everything fully painted and be ready to play everything once things open up again. 

First up I finished a model I wanted to paint for a while, the Golden Eagle model from Wonder Woman 1984. This sculpt is really nice and was quite simple to paint up, so as a night's project it was a nice thing to get done

A few weeks ago I picked up a bunch of models for Fallout: Wasteland Warfare for the Brotherhood of Steel and Enclave. Both of these are my favourite factions in the lore and they even share a couple of models in-game so I have a bit of variety in terms of playing the game, and the sculpts are amazing. As a big Fallout fan, I'm really happy I finally bit the bullet and bought into the game because I can also use all my Batman terrain for it as well.