Wellington League #1

Just wanted to get an official post for the Wellington guys to congratulate them on a well-run League. Cheers also to Steamforged for providing prize support in good faith - it makes me glad to be a pundit when we can make stuff like this happen :)

Final scores, in a unique .jpg format:

Top 3 were Union, Butchers and Engineers.

Cornerstones (7) - Calculus

Similar to the Fishermen, I had initially written up the Alchemist Cornerstones article on Vitriol. But however ridiculously amazing Vitriol is, she doesn't fit the concept of the cornerstone. She is by all accounts a superstar player with borderline captain damage and scoring ability, reigned in only by her 4 INF cap. She might be in every list but all she cares about is herself - getting goals and getting take-outs.

We need to look for a model that fits the playstyle of the Alchemists, is not particularly flashy, but somehow makes its way into most Alchemist lists. If he were popular (and admittedly more efficiently designed), I'd bet my left arm this model would be Katalyst - he's got good all around stats and he ties "all the conditions" together with his Traits and Plays. The reality, as we all know, is that this isn't the case.

I've gone with Calculus - I think if you're not running the Midas + Vitriol + 3 Union teams, you're probably taking Calculus in your team. Her inclusion in this list is even better since she gets so much slack from Alchemist players for being useless, or "straight worse" than Hemlocke....... yet still seems to make her way into rosters - there must be something there....

Her stats are even more average than Luke Wilson. The only thing worthy of any note is her lower than average TAC, but for an Alchemist backliner, it's as you'd expect.

The most interesting stat she has is her health boxes - 15. Just a little bit more than you'd expect, and in my experience, quite enough to make a difference.

Man, does this playbook suck. Push on 1 is probably the best thing on here. The non-momentous damage spread is also not too bad, although with her low TAC she's probably not getting the results you want without some serious help.

TL;DR - she doesn't want to get into combat, but she does have an ok chance at getting out, and can do decent damage if you get enough Crowding Outs going (realistic output - not great).

This is where Calculus bakes her bread and butters it - two excellent character plays that fit the Alchemist style of condition and control. Like an acid-bathed shampoo treatment.

First, we have the ever-popular Blind. Fresh off a nerf, Blind has lost it's AoE component and its TAC & MOV debuffs have been halved in exchange for a KICK debuff and 2" extra range. Is it still a good play? It sure is. It's an all around FU debuff that makes a pretty big difference to any player that has not yet activated. It has a good range. It only costs one, meaning you can use any spare INF on it. The downside of course is that you are prone to missing on only 1 die, but it's the kind of control play that's worth Bonus Timing.

Noxious Blast - it's an AoE. It causes 2 DMG and poison when it hits - actually pretty significant damage for 2 INF if you can get it on 2 or more players, especially late turn. Not only that, but it stacks up well with all of Smoke's shenanigans. It's just a good, reliable play and the main reason she'll usually take at least 2 INF.

She only has one character trait, Poisonous Fumes, which instantly poisons any model that advances within 1" or starts their activation within 1".
Underwhelming on the surface, but getting another 2-3 models poisoned stacks up condition damage pretty fast. It sets up Venin's heroic play pretty well too - 5 condition damage on multiple models is pretty brutal, and not that hard to pull off if your opponent sends multiple models in on her. At worse it will make your opponent dump some momentum, which you will surely want as an Alchemist player.


So why is this model a cornerstone player? I have no idea. She has super average stats, only one trait, two character plays that you can find on another competing model and a crap playbook. Why would you prioritize her over the very similar Hemlocke or Mercury?

Let's overanalyze a bit, as one tends to do in these situations:

• Calculus throws out a lot of poison with relatively little effort - she has a 3" AoE that poisons both on hit and on entry, and also deal 2 instant damage (same as poison). She poisons people who attack her without 2" melee (which is the majority of the game).
  Poison is a condition. Alchemists like conditions, and condition-causing AoEs. So Alchemists like Calculus' style.
  Basically, she deals out quite a lot of conditions and poison damage for a relatively low INF investment.
• She is reasonably resilient with her 15 boxes and an average defensive stat line. This, combined with the Poisonous Fumes is what really differentiates her from Hemlocke, outside the friendly guild aspect. Having a team full of 5+/0 squishies can backfire in many matchups.
• She is usually INF neutral. Most of them time she will use her 2 INF to chuck a Noxious Blast, but often she will be happy with just 1 for a Blind. This is the first point of distinction with Mercury - being 2/4 INF is quite a bit more valuable than 1/4 INF for a support model, even considering the potential Flask INF buff for Mercury.
• Blind is still good. I think Blind is the second thing that separates her from Mercury. Having a 1 INF play that can really do work in the right situation seems to be a feature of several Cornerstone players.
• The final point of distinction from Mercury is that she is female, meaning she ignores Charmed [Male]. Having an effective +1 to hit vs some key models in the game is clutch when using Character Plays.

So all up - Calculus might be a pretty ideal finale to the Cornerstones series. She isn't particularly impressive, especially after the Blind nerf - but she keeps finding her way onto Alchemist teams. Unfortunately, we still have one to do for the dirty, dirty Union.

Dealing with Calculus

No great wisdom you haven't heard before here:

• Attack with 2" melee models to avoid that poison condition, which makes a pretty big difference. If these have Anatomical Precision, all the better :)
• Likewise, if you are going to try to take her out, use as few models as possible.
• She doesn't not like to get crowded out since it hurts her characters plays. Not much of an escape mechanism if she is isolated either.
• Staying spread is a pretty good way to minimize the impact of Noxious Blast, and a high DEF can make Blind miss more often than not.

Cornerstones (6) - Siren

Finding a subject for the Fishermen Cornerstones article was difficult. I think they are one of the least synergistic teams in the game in terms of their interactions and playstyle, while also being one of the most balanced teams in that they don't really have any real auto-include characters in the vast majority of matchups - Sakana probably being the closest.

Thus I had initially opted to write about Sakana over Greyscales (my two initial candidates for the fishiest fishes around), finished the article, had it all ready to post, had started to write the next Cornerstones article.... and then it hit me. I was focusing too much on the 'auto-include' aspect and not enough on the 'core support' aspect, which I think is more important. And nobody fills the later role on the Fishermen squad more than Siren, one of only two Fisherman to received a nerf since the beginning of the game. She lies somewhere between the sneaky mobility and speed of the Fish and the douchy control of the Morticians. Delightful.

Without further ado, following our format for the evening, the Stats:

• She is fast - really fast. Among the fastest natural human movers in the game. Throw in 2" melee and she has a pretty good 11" melee threat.
• Her TAC is bad. Generally one of the worst TACs for human model. Despite this, you will probably want to get in combat with her at some stage.
• Her KICK is average at 3/6", good enough for what she needs to do, and resulting in an unbuffed 15" scoring threat.
• Her defensive stats are not great at 4+/0 and measly 10 health. She does however have several defensive traits that help her out in this department.
• And we have that standard 2/4 INF again.

Overall, outside of her MOV, her stats are not impressive at all - much like most Morticians, funnily enough. Let's have a look at her Playbook:

The playbook itself is not fantastic. The damage is mediocre (mostly due to the few columns) and her Tackle is both high up and non momentous (mostly likely only hitting it after a charge). The double dodge on two is nice though. She does have two interesting momentous results however - a dodge on 1 success (Fisherman specialty for counter attacks or momentum farming) and a GB/GB on 3 hits (come back to that later).

One of the advantages of having a poor TAC is you have a short playbook - 3 columns long means there is a high propensity to wrap on the charge, especially if you can get around ARM somehow. Getting a Tackle + Momentous Dodge on a well placed charge can be a game winner, and Siren has both the MOV and KICK to make it happen.

Moving on to the heart of most Cornerstone players, the Character Plays:

Siren has two character plays that both mess with people.

Lure is a play that pulls enemy players out of position via a Jog (ie. affected by ground/terrain). The faster the enemy player, the better! It is one of the best ways for Fish to isolate and crowd up on an enemy player in order to get a takeout. With an 8" range, she can pull someone in from 17" away! That's more than the space between the two deployment lines (not that you will want to do that first activation, but it shows you the threat range).
It's also an excellent way to set up for a Kraken/Corsair harpoon to further isolate someone.

Siren's second play, accessible via either 3 playbook successes or 3 INF is Seduced, effectively an objectively worse version of Puppet Master (shorter range, less options, and the lower cost is offset by the 1 INF returned by Puppet Master). Despite this, it's still a very useful play.
The primary use of this play is to force an enemy model to pass, thus getting the ball back into your control (or set up a pro snap shot!). Like Puppet Master, the threat of it is often stronger than the actual effect and your opponents will often drop the ball in order to avoid this. Have a retriever ready to capitalize!
The secondary use of Seduced is to force an enemy model to make an attack - this is especially good if the target of the play has a low momentous KD result (Kraken, Ghast, Stave, Tapper, Fangtooth....) to KD a player that has not yet activated. You get a momentum and a KD'ed enemy model. Winner.

















Siren's three traits are all defensive and help make up for her subpar defensive stats:

First is Beautiful, rendering her almost immune to targeting character plays. Engineer bolt shots, Puppet Master, Dirty Knives, Shutout, Heavy Burden, Chain Grab.... - any targeted character play you can think of suffers a -5 RNG penalty when targeted at Siren (note that if she is out of range as a result, she is no longer a valid target for the play).
This makes her both a solid backfield or flanking model, and an excellent kick off player (especially vs the aforementioned Engineers).

One note of caution though - AoE character plays that do not target are not affected, so watch out for things like Blast Earth, Embalming Fluid, Lob Barrel,  or any of the Alchemist' flurry of condition AoEs. With 10 health, even a few points of damage is dangerous.

Second is Charmed [Male], boosting her to DEF 5+ against two thirds of the human models in the game. Seems good.

Finally we have Protected [Kraken], which grants Siren +1 ARM if she is within 4" of Kraken. This trait would be amazing without the positional requirement, as it sort of ties her into a backfield role if she wants to benefit. 5+/1 is a very good defensive stat and will protect her from most attacks, and with Lure, she can help set up Kraken to pull someone from a long ways away.
The downside of course is that she only gets it while near Kraken, and as mentioned Fishermen often spread out a lot, chasing the ball and such. Nevertheless, a nice bonus to have and being backfield is not usually a bad place to be.



In summary, Siren exists to do two things: control the enemy team's positioning and get the ball back to your team somehow. Fishermen benefit hugely from both aspects, and both her character plays feed the Fishermen play style, either in terms of scoring goals or getting isolated takeouts. And I need to play Siren a lot more.

Dealing with Siren

It's quite easy to see how deal with Siren - she is one of the squishiest models in the game and requires on both careful positioning and her triad of defensive abilities to keep her alive. If you can somehow get around these, you can take her out with ease:

•  Non- targeted attacks (pulses, AoEs) get around Beautiful. 
• Her low health is a definite weakness - chip away at her and force her to chew up momentum to live. This will keep her out of the fight.
• Charmed [Male] and the potential +1 ARM from Kraken are a huge part of what keep her alive. Threatening her with female fighter models (ie. Gutter, Brisket, Decimate, Vitriol, Cosset....) is a good way to scare her away. The only issue is to watch out for her counter attack if you do not have reach yourself. Gutter is probably the best Siren killer in the game as she ignores both Siren's stats buffs.
• As mentioned, you can consider dropping the ball back or holding it with a high DEF model with a poor KICK stat (I personally am incapable of rolling a 5+ on Character Plays, no matter how many dice I throw at it) is a good way to protecting yourself from Seduced.
• Finally, and most importantly, be wary of how easy it is to get Lured then Harpooned back into waiting school of Fish and swallowed by the ocean's tide.

Shedding Balls - NZ's first official Guild Ball tournament

Sunday April 3rd was NZ's first official* Guild Ball tournament, named Shedding Balls after its venue, The Shed, my local gaming congregation based in the central Auckland suburbs.

The tournament was announced a little over a month of ahead time, short notice all things considered. I had expected around 10-12 players total, all local, given the short timeframe, low entry fees and "unofficial" venue. The intent was mostly to just get the ball rolling on tournaments and capitalize on the upsurge of enthusiasm since late 2015.

We were extremely surprised to see the first 3 registrations were from Christchurch residents, who would be flying over 1000kms to attend our modest 1 day event. To make up for this, a good number of locals flaked out so that we didn't reach 16 players - that would have been far too official and generally awesome.

The event was set for 4 rounds in any case, pretty standard Organized Play options otherwise (45 min clock, 2 players on the bench, basic painting standard minimum). Given that we had 10 players, I announced that the finals would not be locked and rankings would be on VP, the eventual winner might not be undefeated.

Here's some neat photos of our participants playing sports games:

dat smile

Brewers v Brewers - entire game on a 1 foot square mid table

Legit Brewers goal

The final tally were as such:

1. Will (CH) 48VP (only 4-0 player) - Corsair
2. Chris 40VP - Shark  (beat Adam in round 2)
3. Adam (CH) 40VP - Midas
4. Jaksic 36VP - Tapper
5. Handsome Dave (CH) 34 VP - Esters
6. Peter 32VP - Obulus
7. Nick 28VP - Esters
7. Hungover Dave 28 VP - Midas
9. Sam 24 VP - Ballista
10. Martina 14 VP - Shark

No really interesting stats to speak of given the small numbers:

• Gutter was used every round by 2/3 Brewer players and 3/4 rounds on the Corsair team. Definitely nerfed into the ground :)
• Sakana used all rounds by all 3 Fish players
• Friday used all rounds by all 3 Brewer players.
• Calculus was played every round by both Alchemist players despite the Blind nerf. 
• The Mist nerf legitimately determined first place in the final game.

Much more interesting is the following haiku from local legend Nick Ng:

It was so humid
Drink Sports Drink during Sports Games
I fielded Stave twice

Art in its purest form. So much so that he won best painted. Not only can he paint with words, but also with a brush:

No pictures of his sweet models because I am a muppet

1st place trophy - Football Legend.

2nd place - an Australian prize for an Australian placing

One of the bonus prizes for the day - first Screamer goal!,
wooden spoon and player who lost to the eventual winner first round

Prize support courtesy of Ozball, Zombie Forge games and 8 Wired Brewing. Thanks heaps to them :)
We'll catch you next time around - June 5 in Hamilton for Nicon!



*Emphasis on official since NZ's biggest Warmachine tournament, Ides of March, inadvertently turned into NZ's first non-official Guild Ball tournament on Day 2.

Cornerstones (5) - Boiler

As we get deeper into the cornerstone series, it becomes harder to define which player in a line up most characterizes their guild's playstyle and therefore becomes as close to an 'auto include' in a lineup as you are likely to find.

When a new player thinks 'Butchers' - they initially think of a player like Boar who is all TAC, huge damage, and not much else. However as you get deeper into the Butcher playstyle, Boar falls out of the lineup pretty quickly when you take into account his weaknesses and his lack of synergy, and start to appreciate the many intricate layers of synergy and tactics that come with wasting opposing teams.

Boiler, I think, encompasses all aspects of the Butcher game style and is perhaps their best "support" model, for lack of a better option. Allow me to make my argument:

Stats

 

Like most Cornerstone players so far, Boiler's stats aren't particularly amazing. I would even say they are average across the board, with the exception of

• a good MOV stat - he is a winger after all, so being pretty fast is fitting.
• a below average KICK stat. 2/6" is not terrible and usually enough to pass the ball around or score a goal (75% odds without modifiers), but given his lack of repositions he probably won't be doing the later too often.

14 health boxes, 1" melee zone - really nothing of note here.

Moving on to the Playbook:

Again, not a particularly impressive playbook at first glance, given his TAC of 5. You might even question his status as a Butcher looking at that non-momentous damage result!

Like several Butchers, he has a low momentous Tackle result, a KD result about midway through his playbook, and a non-momentous GB result.

One thing he does have that no other Butcher has (at the time of writing) is a push dodge result, which is excellent for a 1" melee model. With a little luck, it can save his ass on a counter attack.

Overall, again like both Ratchet and Silence, a relatively uninteresting playbook, at least until you consider his other abilities and Traits:

Traits are where we start seeing Boiler's magic reveal itself.

Anatomical Precision is, in the majority of combats, an effective free hit. It helps him reach those higher playbook results quite easily (much like Gutter!). When you take Anatomical Precision into account, hitting that push-dodge on a counter attack is far more likely than it would first appear, and getting the two hits for the momentous 2 damage/Tackle is almost as certain as getting one hit.

Crucial Artery is also a powerful ability not only on the damage side of things, but also in terms of momentum control and Butcher synergies. In terms of momentum, making your opponent burn MP to heal/remove conditions without any conscious resource investment on your behalf is money. In terms of synergies, both Meathook and Fillet have strong synergies around the bleed condition which makes Boiler a great inclusion with either of these models.

Finally, we come to Boiler's coup de grace synergy with the team's Season 1 Mascot, Assist [Princess]. This trait turns Boiler from a good all-round support winger to the Butchers' highest potential killing machine, as it is the only damage buff in the team exclusive to one player.

Keep in mind this is without any of the Butchers' myriad of buffs like Get 'Em Lads!, Butchery, Tooled Up or The Owner. When you throw these in, almost any Butcher player can deal very high amounts of damage, but Boiler's Assist trait and relatively short playbook gives him that extra edge in the damage dealing department over even a dedicated beater like Boar.
The short playbook is key to multiplying damage buffs. For example, under the Owner + Ox's Legendary ie +2 to Playbook Damage, landing 8 hits with Boar gives you 6 damage. Landing just 6 hits with Boiler nets you 8 damage. Throw in a Assist from Princess and the same number of hits, and Boiler goes to 10 damage from one attack, never mind the bleed effect on top of that. BRUTALITY.


In short, Boiler's Traits allow him to deal a lot more damage than his stats or playbook demonstrate, and make him an excellent buff multiplier.

While Boiler's Traits reinforce his damage dealing capabilities (appropriate for a Butcher!), both of Boiler's Character Plays are support buffs for his team, one defensive and one offensive.

Swift Stance, while costing quite a bit, is a very powerful buff when used on DEF 4+ or DEF 5+ models (like Brisket or Fillet). Moving from 5+ to 6+ effectively halves the expected number of successful hits against you, which is a lot more than you get out of using it in making Boar DEF 3+. It is perhaps one of the strongest tank buffs in the game at present, not only allowing the recipient solid resistance against mass TAC dice, but also against Character Plays. The downsides to this play are as mentioned the cost of 2 INF and the short RNG of 4".

Boiler's second play is Marked Target, which at first seems like a pretty straight forward offensive threat buff for your team - everyone now charges the target from further away, Shank for example now getting a monster 14" melee threat even without Where'd They Go?. That is pretty scary.
However, in a game of alternating activations like Guild Ball, such a play is often used defensively or as a control element. Your opponent can react to the play and position differently, maybe taking pressure off your team at a crucial moment.
The second thing of note about Marked Target is that it can be cast for 1 GB off an attack with only 1 hit thanks to Boiler's playbook. Given Boiler's pretty good combat capabilities, it's usually better trying to cast it this way than trying to hit with 1 die, and you might even hit it off a wrap and take it over the non-momentous 1 damage. Also, given it's low cost (both in INF and GB) it is a pretty effective way to pop "one off" shield abilities like Clone or Gluttonous Mass.
Most impressively, you can even use it on a counter attack, which can expose an enemy to a charge they didn't see coming and make reacting to it very difficult!


Overall, I feel Boiler is a cornerstone players for the Butchers - not only can he certainly pull his weight in the damage dealing department, but he also brings some valuable utility and defensive support to the team which greatly opens up tactical space. His only attribute which makes me a bit sad is his 2/6" KICK, but 'tis a Butchers' life.

Dealing with Boiler

Despite the kid's many benefits, he does have a few weaknesses that can be exploited:

• As mentioned, the thing that sets Boiler ahead of the pack in terms of damage is Assist [Princess]. If you remove Princess from the table, as a Mascot, she is not coming back and this takes Boiler's potential down a few notches. Note that this is easier said than done since:
  a) Princess has Loved Creature which gives a MOV and TAC buff to the team on the turn she gets taken out (two stats you don't want Butchers to have more of) and
  b) while she can activate early to telegraph where Boiler will go, this can be used as a diversion by a clever Butcher player. Plus she's no slouch in the damage dealing department either!
• Like most Butchers, Boiler has a 1" melee, which makes him vulnerable to counter attacks, Don't Touch The Hair! and other such defensive ploys, as well as not being able to counter attack reach models himself.
• Swift Stance has a short range (4"), which together with the other Butcher buffs (primarily Ox), locks him into staying close to his team, for a winger.
• Keep the counter attack Marked Target in mind when attacking him, because it can really ruin your day :)

Oh Captain, my Captain!

Scalpel - the Season 2 Captain for Morticians...

It's very hard to know exactly what we expected pre-release from the second Morticians Captain. When you look at Obulus (after you've swallowed that little bit of vomit that rises from your gut when you recall the last time you had to face him) there's a lot to love/fear. His mobility and defensive qualities are superb, his Playbook is varied and serviceable, and Puppet Master of course is game-wreckingly on fleek. Combine all of this with his ridiculous INF stat and there's very little not to like (although Morticians being practically neighbours to Cryx players we can always find something to whinge about - for me it's his Kick stat... drives me nuts...).

A lot of players couldn't see the available real estate for a competing Captain given how much Obulus impacts the game but the actual issue is that a lot of players didn't even realise that other property existed in the first place! Steamforged have used the Season-release mode of system and Guild development cleverly (IMO) to take each team in different directions. Much as a Warcaster in Warmachine has a significant impact on their army plays the game, I believe Guild Ball Captains undoubtedly sway not only play-style and victory outcomes, but also team build and make-up (and this will only become more pronounced as future Captains are released).

In Scalpel's case, the comparisons are so vastly different that lining her up against Obulus and making arguments for or against on that premise alone is a flawed approach. Rather, take Obulus out of the equation entirely - clear your mind, your pre-conceptions and "bench marks", and start from scratch. Don't come back straight back with "but - Puppet Master!" or "but - Unpredictable Movement!". Imagine Scalpel is your only choice of Captain and commit to reconstructing your understanding of how Morticians work on the table and what each player brings to the team. That's how impacting the different Captains are in Guild Ball, and that is what we must do if we wish to move forward and get our minds out of the Obulus vortex of "but... she's not Obulus!".


All this said, let's go through the card and appreciate what we have in a stand-alone model before moving on to Guild synergies and other semi-immediately apparent sweet tech.


******


Instead of talking this out in terms of raw stats, I'm going to try a blanket approach addressing a number of key categories that handily summarises some of the impact that Scalpel's stats will have on how she plays, these being Mobility, Defence, Offence, and Support


MOBILITY

Scalpel has huge things going for her in this area of play. Her naturally high jog and sprint values (7"/9") allow her to reposition very well (she makes for an excellent ball receiver from the kick-off). A high sprint allows her greater freedom to engage enemy models without triggering charge responses and this is further enhanced by Slippery. The big money here though is having the option to trigger Second Wind by spending a point of Momentum instead of 2 INF - glorious. At full clip her total movement in a turn, before Dodges (from combat and/or ball shenanigans) is a mighty 16" (that's from one deployment line to the other!). Nice! Don't forget that when you score a goal your activation immediately ends - which means the conditions for Second Wind have been met (quote: "at the end of its activation") and it can now be triggered! If you choose to Dodge (first) from scoring a goal this allows Scalpel to redeploy a crazy 11". Add in any Guild Plot effects (Knee Slider?! Some wacky Season 2 Guild Plot card?) for further movement silliness.

Scalpel also has Dodge effects on five out of her seven Playbook results. A Momentous Dodge on one hit can allow her to disengage from combat before triggering Second Wind so she may not even have to take a Parting Blow (for which she would be Slippery anyway). Her high Kick stat also makes her a reliable ball handler which can potentially give her a surprising 4" Dodge after making a successful pass. While this option can band-aid slower players, taking something already good and making it better is where you start to bend the power curve in any given area of the game.

Adding further to her mobility is her Legendary Play - Voodoo Strings. This effectively makes her running threat on any given model 13" (sprint 9", Push 3" from Voodoo Strings, melee zone 1"). Sweet. If she passes the ball and Dodges you could find that a model 17" away from Scalpel at the start of her activation is suddenly taking knives to the face (and she'll arrive on the doorstep with 4INF to spend if she was fully loaded!). And when she's done rinsing something with her choppy knives you she can then Second Wind away.

If Season 2 Plot cards allow for further mobility buffs then Scalpel is among those models that will only benefit further.

Finally, if she finds herself on the wrong end of a pointy stick, her high speed allows her to get back in the mix quickly and remain a part of the game.


DEFENSE

I can imagine a world where Scalpel's base stats are 5+/1 but I'm not sure that even Morticians players deserve that many lynch mobs, pitchforks and torches coming their way. 4+/1 base is a serviceable and all-round average looking defensive stat. Slippery immediately lifts this to 5+/1 on Parting Blows which is cool, if a little more niche for the times that you're engaged by 2" melee zone models and couldn't Dodge out from being engaged.

Once again, Second Wind plays a big part in Scalpel's impact on the game as far as her personal defense goes. The best way to avoid getting hit is to not be on the receiving end of a punch and she can do this very well by repositioning herself away from reprisal. Dodge on 1 hit means a counter-attack with TAC 7 forces the hand of other 1" melee zone players to Push/Dodge themselves or look for a Knock Down and anything that's preventing damage coming her way can be seen as helpful. DEF 4+ also means she isn't a Momentum tap for enemy models (and becoming 5+/1 using Defensive Stance is a surprisingly handy number).

Let's take this a step further and imagine she's been punching the model that is most likely to be closest to her after the Second Wind movement. What if you've been consistently getting 4 hits against that model from her TAC 7 attack actions? Then you've possibly been removing INF from that model using Tormented Agony, maybe leaving them with little to nothing when you're done. Now she quite possibly can't even be attacked by that now INF-less player.

Tormented Agony also starts to look very nice against models with Knock Downs on low end results on their Playbook. These guys don't tend to get truckloads of INF handed out - they get 1-2INF to dish out the Knock Down(s) for someone else to capitalise on later. Tormented Agony can remove this low result Knock Down from the equation completely!

In a pinch she could even put Wake the Dead on herself although there are likely more amusing options to be found amongst her team.

With 17 hit points she takes a bit of punishment and this needs to be taken into account when considering how survivable she can be. Also easy to overlook is the fact that her icy sponges are nice and high - the right Plot card and a quick heal will put her almost back to full.


OFFENSE

The obvious starting point here is TAC 7 with Anatomical Precision. I'm going to operate on a basis that you won't be charging too often with Scalpel though - her natural speed and Legendary, and not proc'ing Defensive Stance from your opponent means that sprinting into combat (or just jogging up) is going to be a more common sight. This means that, on her own and unsupported (i.e. no TAC buffs, no Singled Out or Tooled Up etc) she will be most consistently getting 3-4 hits against the average model (i.e. 4+/1 defensive statline). That's 1-2 damage per INF (with Momentous options in both the 3 and 4 hit columns) - not amazing by any stretch. But she's also doubling down on these by getting additional effects. A Momentous Push/Dodge with 1 damage on three hits is great. Four hits gets you Momentous 2 damage and a Tormented Agony.

The more I look at Tormented Agony, the more I like it (see note above about stripping players with easy access to Knock Down results) and the more I see useful opportunities to trigger it (I think Engineers are going to really hate her - engage Ballista in combat and strip off his INF - no filthy crossbow/MP generating shenanigans for you!). Strikers hate her too because they'll lose INF to take shots at goal, or buff themselves with Super Shot, or sprint into position for the shot. A model holding the ball that has no focus can only get rid of it by dropping it (and they can't pick it up again in that activation). Killing INF on a ball carrier could be massive (no pass = no Dodge from passing and also no Momentum gained).

A Tackle on 2 hits is good for Morticians, against lending her some credibility as a ball handler in her Attacking Midfielder role. Consider her threat on goal - sprint 9" and Kick 6", but with Voodoo Strings she can also Push a player into to whack/generate MP/Dodge off for extra range and MP to fuel the shot at goal. Sweet.

Voodoo Strings does a lot for her threat range - it's a seemingly heavy-handed repositioning of players but don't overlook the following:

- 8" is a massive range in Guild Ball.

- it doesn't require LOS.

- Pushes ignore rough-ground penalties but once you're in rough-ground you're sucking down a -2" MOV penalty to get out (or spending MP to Glide).

- you don't have to Push every (any!) model 3".

- you can screw order of activations by blocking models with their friends.

- drag in someone who has used Unpredictable Movement to escape your clutches. Obulus or Midas. Or that damned blasted cat.

- you are moving enemy models 3"! That's 3" further for them to punch your dudes, kick at goal, pass a ball, use "Come on, Mate!". Jogging to engage can suddenly becoming needing to sprint to engage. Aura effects no longer apply where they were supposed to (Ox, Spigot et al). Esters has to move first to use her Legendary. Brick's counter-charge bubble has shifted. Multiple models are Pushed through Embalming Fluid. Friendly models are no longer engaged. And a bunch more stuff that I couldn't think of in 20 seconds... This gives her enormous flexibility in the activation order of your team too and plays to your understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, as much as it does knowing your own team.


Yes it would be better if it was "Push in any direction". But it would also arguably be broken as balls too. I like it as is - it requires skill and finesse. I like that this is something being encouraged in the Morticians Guild - we're not hurr-durr Butchers for crying out loud! And there's always that one time that she positions to Push a model towards her and them harass them off the table with Push/Dodges.


SUPPORT

Ok, there's a few things here that I've spotted or considered...

- Voodoo Strings effectively increases the threat range of every model in your team.

- Used in the reverse it can pull models away to increase the survivability of your team and/or protect a ball carrier.

- Wake the Dead on Ghast looks cool. It makes an already horribly difficult to Take Out model even trickier to deal with. Strangely it also looks quite amusing on a mascot too.

- Second Wind Dirge can move 18" in a turn. Get the ball to him and set that birdy free! Then wait it out and Bonus Time a budgie kick when you're ready. This is superb for keeping the ball away from goal-focused teams (Fish) or models (Strikers), or possibly a mirror match into Obulus.

- Second Wind Cosset might not actually die immediately after committing to combat!

- Second Wind Mist can Smoke, sprint, Where'd They Go and Second Wind jog a total of 20" (or 22" if you Second Win advance starting in cover!). That's quite a picture if you can then get the ball to Mist later in the turn for a Snapshot. Bonesaw by comparison can sprint/Second Wind 14" - still plenty of advance to get within striking rage of a goal (pro-tip - Bonesaw is shit. Don't take him).

- Some sort of sideways possibility where you Tormented Agony a bunch of INF onto a model near the table edge for someone else to then Push off the edge? Somehow?


To be fair there's a lot less to see here than I had hoped and a lot of it plays around with Second Wind and the assumption that you aren't just using it on Scalpel anyway.


******


Scalpel. Yes, I know she's not Obulus. But maybe give her a decent shot anyway and you might find yourself surprised. Even with a different Captain, Morticians still provide an engaging game that is fun to play :)

I'd like to read up on the thoughts of more experienced players than I regarding the new Captains being released for other Guilds, so feel free to step up and put digital pen to paper. Cheers.

Cornerstones (4) - Mallet

Mallet is the first 'non-support' model I have selected for this series, mainly because Masons do not really have a player that falls into this category. The closest would be Marbles (the mascot), and you could make an argument for Tower being that support player, although it would be hard to make a case for him as a cornerstone since he doesn't make lineups very often.

Mallet, on the other hand, is pretty much in every Masons team. Why is that, you might ask? In short, it's because he does it all, and helps others do it too. He fits perfectly into the Mason shtick of reliability, lack of flashiness, adapting to the particular turn by focusing resources towards a particular plan or players' skill, and being a tough old boot.

As usual, we begin by looking at the stats:

 Much like the other Cornerstone players, Mallet's stat line is not particularly impressive outside his signature Mason 2 ARM - He may be an old man, but he's a tough old Mason man.

• 4"/6" is quite slow, but he partially makes up for it with his traits (ie. Extended Reach)
• TAC 5 is reasonably average, but he gets a big buff via his reliable Singled Out play.
• KICK 2/6" is below average, but Football Legend brings it up to solid 3/7" at all times.
• 3+/2 is a typical resilient Mason stat, and with 16 boxes he tends to stick around
• 2/4 INF stock standard stuff.
• He also has a 2" melee!

Basically his base stats aren't great, even supbar in MOV and KICK, but both those stats are improved by his other abilities.

Moving on to arguably his most valuable asset, his sweet playbook:

This is a stellar Mason playbook, and plays a huge part in landing him a spot in this series. Masons, while lacking flash on the surface, rely on very diverse playbooks to set up a situations where their specialist players can pull the trigger. This playbook tells you Mallet's specialization is either apt at being a grindy workhorse working the centre of the pitch (Momentous KD, Push, Tackle and some sweet 1 hit GB results, all with 3" reach), or a burst damage dealer (good damage on 4/5 successes columns).

Like most Mason playbooks, the momentous results are early in the playbook. This plays into the grindier, slower style of the team of making plays happen around a solid center of Attacking and Defensive Midfielders. Compare this type of playbook to say Alchemists, who have very few momentous results on 1 hit, and really want to avoid drawn-out combat.

There are two standout results: Momentous KD on 3 (same as Brick, which makes it quite low for a Mason) and Momentous GB on 1, which is one of the big parts of him being the star all-rounder centre (see the below section on Character Plays).

Damage is excellent, with a momentous 2 on 2 hits, 3 damage on 4 hits and 4 damage on 5 hits. Basically, if you load him up and set him up properly, he can deal some serious damage.

Of course, we can't really talk about this man's playbook without looking at his Character Plays:

Mallet has only two character plays - both can only be triggered as the result of an attack, and both are RNG: P, meaning their can only target the model Mallet has attacked. This fits in with the Masons' design as a melee-centric faction with very few ranged plays (Goad and Shutout are the only two at the time of writing).
Secondly, both plays are triggered off only 1 success and are momentous.

Singled Out is a solid TAC buff that all Masons can make great use of, especially when not charging. Not much to say about this - more TAC is more good.
Smashed Shins is also a situationally excellent play early turn if Mallet can get it on a key striker, effectively shutting down their scoring potential (even a Super Shot/One-Legged Stance Angel becomes a 2/6" KICK after a Smashed Shins).

Essentially, Mallet can either control the enemy's football game, or set an enemy model up to get wrecked. Both are better early turn, but Mallet himself makes great use of Singled Out (and it gives you momentum) so any time is good.

Moving on to the Character Traits:

First we have the same aura as Spigot, namely Football Legend. I won't repeat what I wrote about Spigot here in its entirety, but suffice to say that Masons are slightly better kickers than Brewers to begin with, so the benefits are slightly more accented on Mallet, and given his usually aggressive positioning on the field, almost anyone in the Masons lineup can become a scoring threat.

Secondly, we have Extended Reach, which grants Mallet a 3" melee zone during his activation (the only model in the game with this trait at present). This makes Mallet excellent in scrums, since he can make attacks where others would not be able to and helps make up for his low MOV by giving him a decent 9" charge range.

Finally, we have Forceful Blow, which basically means Mallet hits freaking hard on a charge and can also reposition enemy models if he wishes.

These later two abilities, combined with his damage-heavy playbook, have led to the popular first turn Mallet Missile tactic with Honour - kick off with Mallet, load him up on 4 INF, use Honour's legendary and Superior Strategy to give him an extra activation and even more INF, Tool him Up with Marbles, sprint Mallet up the field and use his second activation to charge into the enemy and take out a valuable player, perhaps score a goal or whatever.

This play highlights the Masons playstyle perfectly - they are also able to adaptively pool their resources into making a specific play happen each turn. Mallet can either be an enabler - either in terms of ball control, player control, or damage - or the trigger, depending on what you need that turn. And that is what makes him the cornerstone of his team.

Dealing with Mallet

Mallet really wants to get into combat. His damage is there, his plays are there, and other than his Legend aura, his abilities rely on hitting people in combat. His 3" melee helps make that happen.
On the other hand, he doesn't really have a good way of getting out of combat IF you get into his face. His 3" reach can help keep you at ARM's length, but then limit his potential. He is thus prone to getting bogged down in an unfavourable melee, if you can engineer it.

He also likes to be one of the earlier activations for the Masons since he does not really require any set-up to do what he needs to do and has general applications, and is a pretty reliable source of momentum generation. This telegraphs his play somewhat, and he will usually be predictably be allocated a nice chunk of the influence pool.

Finally, like most Masons, he has a low DEF which makes him susceptible to character plays, or abilities ignore ARM (Ox's plays, Anatomical Precision, etc.). Use this to move him around, slow him down, or otherwise hamper his ability to position effectively. Or just take him out - his slow speed will hurt his ability to get back into position.