ToMB - Models and Ideas

Not a massively long post tonight after the marathon of posts I made within 12 hours over the past two days, but just sounding some ideas out!

So my ToMB crew (if you haven't caught up) is Ironsides a rough brawler who enforces the will of Victor Ramos, and as they say; if you will it, it is no dream! Anyway, I want to go through a few things about her and her crew before I start and look at how I'm going to do this crew considering there is no crew box for them yet!

Before I continue, please be aware that I am not the Guru of Malifaux knowledge. I have many things to learn about the game and thanks to the excellent community I have improved my game tenfold but it's not complete (as you may have read in my batreps!). It is thanks to people like Dan and co on Before We Begin, the collective cast of the Malifools and Joe and Adam on Cheated Fates I have gained a better idea of the theory side of the game and am aware of a lot more things which happen in the game, not just putting a crew on a table and playing (although that is fun sometimes!). The things I'll talk about here are things that I've observed but they may be incorrect or I may have missed a trick/synergy with something so if you are reading this and know something I don't... please point it out! I want to get better but I also want this ToMB to be a real learning curve in the way of improvement in my game!


I want to have a little look at the cards and upgrades and what my first impressions of them are.

Ironsides: 
The lady herself - a brawler with some mean abilities.

Let's not fuck around... she's a combat beat stick with some amazing abilities, however not all is as rosy as it appears! She is VERY card intensive and although hard to put down. I have a feeling I will be relying on either a large cache or a hand! Must use very wisely!
So the adrenaline mechanic just pump her up giving her the ability to boost her (2) melee action, heal damage or move in base contact with a model within 6". For her, it is about keeping things close to gain the condition and get into combat. PLUS - Hard to kill! Why not! Throw it in the mix!
Downsides? Plenty, just with any figure. Card intensive - particularly on defense ability (which is awesome!). Other downsides? I haven't worked them out yet because I'm not Joel Henry and I can't look at a card and tell you EVERYTHING that is wrong with it! Damn him! Willpower, although 6, has no trigger so this could be a potential pitfall!

Upgrades

Some great upgrades for her here. I particularly like 'Frontline Leadership' where a model within 6" must take a TN13 willpower duel or attack her instead (if able)! 'Message from the Union' changes the dynamic of the crew, I love the idea of handing burning out but I'm not sure that I will be using it to start off with! 'Iron Determination's ability to discard the Red Joker for damage flip is insane and then the (0) action which uses all the adrenaline on her to heal her! 'Challenge the Crowd' is an interesting upgrade with double positive defense flips but again - not sure I will use it straight away. Really like her upgrades!

The Captain:

The Captain is one they simply don't know anything about. There is speculation from Guild explorer or a serving Captain on a line ship. Others think he was one of the first through the Breach as a member of the elite expeditionary forces. He does enjoy sharing stories with people though, although he hasn't confirmed which story is true! The Captain has a casual ability of controlling the wind (without Renee) in battle as well as a fucking big hammer!

So the Captain has a defensive ability like Ironsides but unlike the good lady, it triggers on a mask and pushes him 5" in any direction! Also on the front of the card: Middle of the Storm - models within 2" gain bullet proof +1 and Agile - immune to disengaging strikes.

On the back; Airburst (1) pushes a model 5" in any direction allowing both friendly and enemy models to be effected AND a trigger of a ram which hands out burning... say WHAAAAT?! Additionally, a relic hammer with two triggers and a 3/4/6 damage spread... hmm!
His tactical actions also can put up walls of wind which could be useful and push models away which can be incredibly useful when it gets to the last turn and you really need to sack people off interference!

Downside to him? 10SS... but you do get a Relic Hammer, Burning Mechanic and the ability to push - may well be worth it after all!

Upgrades

Casting Expert... What more do you need to say!? 3 AP is good AP!

Oxfordian Mages:

Three mages in the artwork so I will try them all! Obviously they are all the same on the card but the upgrades are different. Once again, they benefit from being close. Infact they benefit so much they gain up to 2 tomes on their cast... that can't be bad right?! Arcane Shield is ridiculous when against low damage spread models, particularly since you can reduce the damage to 0! And finally on the front - positive flips to Wp duels while in LoS of an M&SU master or henchman... oh guess who I'm playing!!!
On the back I guess all those tomes come in useful! Furious casting trigger to unleash hell at 10" with 4 potential triggers to choose from. Burning, Slow, Ignoring Armour or push a target away from /or closer to Ironsides.
Elemental Strike with Death Touch could be handy!

Upgrades

3 simple upgrades which I can see me using on them at some point. Element Bolt at range 2" is better and has more potential depending how you set up but Nemesis Ward where all defense duels within 10" gain positive flips against an enemy crew's leader! Handy against the Viks! Saying that, Regen +1 on all models and protections from aura effects is fairly handy too! Even harder to put the crew down!

Mouse:

The ability to 'Arrest' models is fairly interesting but at 4" is slightly worrying how close you have to get with him! Healing, meh...okay and triggering on a Rope Lash is fairly good, again movement tricks!

Generic Upgrades:

Some interesting cards there. I can see myself using Imbued Energies with The Captain, if not Ironsides! Reservoir is a potential to use because I really really need the hand size and cards in my hand to make this work but it's only on a Leader... still, an excellent card! There are of course some other upgrades which I've skimmed over but for the moment with the way I view the crew, I don't see me using them... yet!

Currently my crew would look like this:

Ironsides (Cache 5)
- Iron Determination (1)
- Frontline Leadership (2)
- Arcane Reservoir (2)
The Captain (10)
- Patron's Blessing (2)
Oxfordian Mage (6)
- Doom Ward (0)
Oxfordian Mage (6)
- Blood Ward (0)
Oxfordian Mage (6)
- Nemesis Ward (0)
Mouse (4)
+2 SS

So a starter crew (with upgrades) comes to 41 soulstones! So I can play a 40SS game with my starter crew box!

Potential synergies with other models:
The crew has a strong pull towards the M&SU both synergistically and fluff(ally). With the upgrade of handing out burning, I may also try the synergy between her and the models associated with Kaeris crew. I will have a read of the Arcanist section of the book and see what I can add to it... Mech Rider maybe... DON'T SHOOT ME, I WAS KIDDING (but not really)!!!


Models to use?
There were a few possible ideas which crossed my mind when thinking about proxying models. I did think about using a range of miniatures from all over the place but I've seen some models which look amazing, on the other hand those models may not look right together, also, I want some flexibility on what I can have in my crew. With that in mind, I am going to be using the multi-part plastic kits from Through the Breach. I've seen the sprues and I think most of the models (particularly the Mages) will be perfect for using the kit for. The only one I think I will struggle with is Mouse but I have a rough idea about how I'm going to sort that but it will depend on getting my hands on the sprues and working out a few things.
I think I must be one of the only people in the whole Malifaux community that didn't back the bloody kickstarter, so I don't have the models! I'm going to have to order them! They cost under £20 each on Element Games so that would fill up my £40 budget but it does give me some spare model options for performers and M&SU later on if needed. I know it's kind of cheating getting those models but I'm going to donate everything left over from this challenge to WAAC on top of the other donations throughout the year.

Running Total:

Money to spend: £40
Money spent: £39.08
Money carried over: 92p

Time to get some stuff ordered I think!

Before I go, a quick note on my contribution of WAAC over the coming months. I want to raise money but also play Malifaux as much as possible which is why I am going to - donate 10p for every point I score with my Ironsides crew over the course of the coming months and I will donate 20p for every point my opponent scores against me when I'm using Ironsides! I know it doesn't sound a lot now but trust me... if you've read my batreps you'll know my opponents get the jump on me and score highly!

Well that's it from me!
I'll see you soon!