Nekima and Lilitu Should Not Play Together

Yesterday I got a game in with a Pandora list that I was trying out a new combo for. I should say it's not a new combo to everyone - I know people have been talking about it and using it for several months - but this was the first time I had given this particular combo a try. My list was:

Pandora + 8 SS
- Primordial Magic
- Nekima
- Lelu
- Lilitu
- Terror Tot

The basic combo involved just Nekima and Lilitu. The rest of the list was built to compliment that combination of models.

Nekima activates and uses Nephilim Heart to give all Nephilim around her an additional Mask on one stat. In this case, she chooses CA. At that point, Lilitu can use Lure with an automatic double-Mask and thus automatically trigger Double-Take every time. As long as the target fails its resist, she's going to be casting the spell again. If they do pass their resist, Lilitu has two more actions with which to start the chain again.

The rest of the army was built to support this chain. Pandora was present so that every time someone failed a WP duel (as they would when they were testing against Lure), they would take 1 Wound if they were near enough to Pandora. Models attempting to target either Pandora, Lilitu or Nekima would have to succeed in WP duels first. Nekima would grab a couple of blood for herself over the first couple of turns (using Lilitu to heal herself back up if possible) so that if the cards came around, Lelu could sacrifice the Terror Tot to create a new Lilitu.



The combo worked wonderfully. On the first turn, Lilitu, with the help of Pandora and Nekima, was able to Lure a Belle and kill it with the continuing one point of damage for failing a WP duel, and the melee attacks for Lure ending in range of Lilitu. Over the course of the game, things just continued along that route. Crooked Men and Guild Autopsies all took damage from Pandora rushing through on a Pacify track, and Lilitu just picked one or two models to kill every turn while keeping herself and Nekima suitably protected. Once the opposing master made it into the fray (on turn three - not like he was holding back), Pandora dropped Project Emotions onto him and two other models, forcing all to flee with Mental Anguish. At that point, fleeing and Metal Anguish gave Seamus a double-negative-flip on WP resists and Lilitu Lured him into the lines and killed him.

The combination proved to be far more effective than I had expected. In the past I argued that if someone spent 27 points on this combo (13 for Nekima, and then 7 each for Lelu and Lilitu - need to take both twins or they will end up dying too fast), they should have a strong combo. The other issue is that there are several lynchpins for the combo to work. If Nekima dies, it falls flat. If Lilitu dies, you had better hope you have a 13 to resummon a new one (I never got that chance during the game yesterday) or your plan falls flat.

However, and admittedly after only one game, I find the combination may be too powerful as is. I would want to try it against other lists, but I have the feeling this particular build might go the way of my Hamelin crew - put away unless someone specifically asks to play against him simply because of the negative play experience.

Simply put, the automatic Double-Take Lure is quite powerful. In my limited experience using it, I would easily say it ranks among one of the most annoying combos I've seen out there. In conjunction with Pandora, it's essentially an automatic kill on any model within 18" of Lilitu (there are some exceptions, of course).



If I were to recommend changes to the abilities to bring them down to earth after only one game, I would suggest a change to Lure - that it cannot be cast on a model in base-to-base with you. Once Lilitu brings you into base to base with her, she cannot cast the spell on you anymore. The fact that after she casts the spell she can keep casting it on you even if you do not move makes it brutal as every time she'll get a free attack. Alternatively, change the Double-Take trigger so that it can only go off once when she starts casting Lure. So each Lure essentially can turn into two Lures, but not beyond that into three, four, five, etc. This will keep her ability still powerful, but manageable as she'll only be bringing in up to six Lures in a single activation.

Again, this is a gut reaction after a single game of seeing it in action. I am not usually one to complain about combinations in a game as overpowered, but I feel this might warrant attention.

The Zombie Horde Closes In

Last night while waiting for everyone to get home to get a roleplaying game in, Dan and Ellen headed over to our house and we got another game of No More Room in Hell under our belt. Since we were just playing for fun, we made up our own mission to try to avoid the undead hordes.

I played my three sisters, Alice, Rose and Katie. Laura played four Can Can Girls on tour from France. They had no idea what was happening and couldn't speak the language. They always had to walk in a line and thought the spectacle of zombies was just the greatest thing. Dan played a brute with a cricket bat, and Ellen played Kitty, a gunfighter and excellent fighter.

Our mission was to truck it across town and barricade the building against the zombies so we could rest for the night.

Rose, Katie and Alice all moved out quickly along the outskirts of town, trying to avoid the attention of the zombies nearby. Kitty joined with them and shot down any stragglers that started coming their way. Meanwhile, Dan and the Can Can Girls headed deeper into the town, trying to find a path around the zombies. Pretty quickly they found themselves being beset on all sides. Gunshots kept ringing out, but each shot fired just brought more zombies to the sound.

Rose found a car and lucked out to find keys in the ignition and a full tank of gas. She loaded up Kitty and her sisters and drove the car all the way to the back door of the hotel they were trying to reach. Katie, Alice and Kitty all jumped out and started barricading the front of the building against the zombies. Rose backed up and turned around, heading back to the Can Can Girls and Dan. Dan heroically jumped between the car and the surge of zombies and was tossed to the ground but managed to regain his feet before the zombies swarmed him. The Can Can Girls loaded into the car, filling it up.



Meanwhile, zombies were crashing against the hotel while the girls there kept piling furniture against the windows to brace. A large group of zombies started heading towards Dan and the ones at the hotel decided to head for easier prey.

Dan got bashed by the zombies again and as Rose began to peal out, he leaped on the back of the car, holding on for dear life. Rose spun the car around and drove back to the hotel. Everyone jumped out as the zombies bashed against the barricade. With a full group in the house, it did not take long before the house itself was barricaded up. With the hotel safe, the zombies soon lost interest and headed off.

Ronin

Painted up a few more models over the weekend and finally finished off my Ronin. Wasn't really going too fast on these guys since in the summer league at Huzzah I'm playing my Neverborn, so my Outcasts are sitting on the bench.

Collodi's Crew Painted

Just finished painting up Collodi's crew. I ended up going with the black clothes for Collodi himself. Overall I'm quite pleased with how they turned out, especially compared with the annoying color scheme of the official models. They're ready to get on the table now and do some fighting.

More Painted Models

Got a couple more models painted up yesterday before I ran out of primer. My first Marionettes is finished, as is my Desperate Mercenary.

I'm going for the same charcoal gray theme that I did for my Wicked Dolls here. I decided that the Marionettes were made of birch wood and clothed in the grays and blacks. Just like I did with the Wicked Dolls, I'm going to make one of them blackwood with off-white clothes. Still trying to decide how I want to paint up Collodi himself. I'm going to wait and see which scheme I like better on the Marionettes before I make that decision.




Then I've got the Desperate Mercenary. I painted him with the same deep red coloring that I've used for all my Viki and Freikorps crew since he's technically one of them, even though I'll be using him with Neverborn from time to time too.

New Painted Models

It's been a little while since I painted up anything for Malifaux. Got a few more done and posted.

First up is one of my Black Blood Shamans. Have a few games in with him already and he's proved pretty interesting. I haven't used him beyond being fuel for a grow list. I'll want to give him a try where he's not running around nearly dead after the first couple turns so he can actually support his crew more in the mid-game at some point.




Next is the first of my Ronin. I have the Outcasts on the shelf for the moment, but I still do want to get these girls painted up for when I bring the Vikis back out. It'll be nice to have some non-Freikorps choices available.




Finally, I've got the Wicked Dolls. I don't like the color scheme that's the official one on the site. Too colorful and bright. I went with more of a black leather look. And then thought it would be cool to go with one that was a white leather to mix things up. I'll be getting three more of these guys eventually. I think I'm going to stick with the black leather look for the other ones.

Hunger Games

Just finished reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My mother had been trying to convince me to read this one for a while and I finally got around to picked it up. Polished it off in three days (being unemployed helps a little with that).

Anywho, a pretty solid book and worth the read. It takes place in a future where America has long-since collapsed and the landmass is now taken up with a dozen Districts that have all been defeated and unified by one place called the Capitol. Now the people of each District are subservient to the citizens of the Capitol, each one known for its primary industry. Hunger is rampant among the Districts, and the police from the Capitol tend to be heavy-handed.

Every year for the past 74 years there have been the Hunger Games, a barbaric game where each of the dozen districts must send two children between 12 and 18, a boy and a girl, to compete against each other in a huge weeks-long deathmatch. Only one child will live. It's designed to be a constant reminder to the Districts that the Capitol has complete control over their lives.

Hunger Games is the first book in a trilogy and follows the actions of a girl who ends up going to the Hunger Games as a tribute.

It's a quick time, written to be easy to read and not overly long (I think it clocked in under 400 pages). Just finished the first book this morning and am already starting up on the second one.

Black Swan

There may be spoilers below.

A couple nights ago I ended up watching Black Swan at my parents' house. It was one of the movies from last year I was not very interested in seeing. The premise did not appeal to me, and overall I just felt I should pass on the movie. But my parents had the flick and Laura and I didn't have any plans, so we ended up watching it with them.

Fantastic choice.

I'll preface this by saying it's not a movie for everyone. It's not that easy of a movie to watch. There are some cringe-worthy moments, and some seriously f-ed up moments. You spend a good portion of the movie questioning exactly what's going on and what's real. Natalie Portman's character's decent into insanity is very well-played, and her paranoia and unease is apparent from the very early stages of the movie. It's another of those movies where you follow the point of view of a character whose point of view you cannot actually trust. I ended the movie still wondering which parts were actually real and which were not.

If you're interested in a heavy psychological movie, I'd recommend this one. But be ready for a few parts that unsettle you a bit. I was pleasantly surprised by the movie.