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)
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