Rookie's Corner 5 - Mistakes Were Made

Perhaps only days away from the release of the Season Two rulebook I do wonder how relevant some of this stuff will shortly be, but let me regale you now with the ongoing face-palm that is my legendary gameplay (and that of my guests) off the back of a whole day of Guild Ball action. "Champion for Life" Darren managed to snag some time away from the girlfriend for a day of painful learning experiences having just picked up Masons, and we got in three games before Nick turned up and threw down in a final Brewers v Masons matchup.

I believe it's worth highlighting where things DON'T go well (i.e. where you screw up) and documenting such atrocities - readers are likely to follow along and nod sagely in agreement, or just as likely to scoff in abject scorn at our constant failure to remember even the most basic of rules and interactions. Or a little bit of both.

Either way - it's entertainment, right? I'm going to highlight the issues, then attempt to counter with a contrary success.


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FAIL - Morticians into Masons and I'm sitting on 9 Momentum Points, opponent is on zero. Silence activates and I heal Cosset for 4 hit points. Then I ship the clock. Then I remember I need to bring back Dirge.

I do this twice (two turns in a row)...

WIN - Absolutely the best spend of Momentum I made over three games (and yes, I spent it more than once - cheers) was receiving a pass with Obulus and Dodging off the receive 4". He was the last activation of note in the turn and it allowed a fully-charged ball-carrying Obulus to fly across the table, smash the stupid Monkey off the pitch (at a point in the turn where it wouldn't get me killed in response), Legendary Play to take the Loved Creature Momentum, get the first activation in the next turn, Take Out another damaged player (Decimate), and shoot successfully for the goal. And I'll tell you for free - that felt pretty damn good!


I'm still not sure what it is with the mental blocks around using Momentum. Over the course of the three games that day I lost count of the number of times both myself and Darren (mostly me, it has to be said) neglected to Counter Attack when it would have been super useful. I forgot to heal and clear conditions numerous times but I'm most frustrated at forgetting the bird so often given it's one of the (debatably only) real benefits to taking it.


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FAIL - Positioning players "correctly" (i.e. as part of the grand master plan that will almost inevitably be ruined by your opponent doing something incredibly unsporting... like moving his own guys around) remains a major challenge of the game. Case in point - Brick. Give him no Momentum and he's a happy lad threatening a clutch Counter-Charge in a 6" bubble. But give him no Momentum and end up having him easily engaged, preventing the free Counter-Charge? Sad panda. The Masons were further confounded in a later game against Brewers when Brick, returning to play after tanking the entire Brewers line-up, came in too close to save his friends and was engaged once again (and Taken Out again shortly after!).

WIN - Picture if you will Decimate, standing next to Chisel (on 3 hit points), standing next to an Icy Sponged Honour (on 6 hit points). The Masons are eying up a possible charge from Rage but what they didn't see was Ghast lurking on the wing next to a Knocked Down Brick. That's right boys and girls - I totally got to live the dream. Ghast's charge triggered an Unmasking that killed Chisel and a follow-up fire dice roll dealt 3 more damage to Honour, Taking Out two players in a single activation! And both of them had INF allocated and ready to spend. Awesome!


Both players need to be extra live to models returning to the pitch as it's a dangerous game whichever way you look at it. Chisel returning to the table can go Crazy! and already has Painful Rage up. And holy crap can she dish it out under those circumstances (albeit with a massive lead up the table from coming back on). If you're going first and you think you have everything under control when you've allocated your INF, don't be too surprised when an Icy Sponged player that you'd completely forgotten about comes back on in just the wrong place to really stick the boot in.


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FAIL - Focusing down your playbook to only aim for one thing. Some playbooks contain seriously sexy results and I was mired in the aforementioned Unmasking in a game later in the day against Masons when Ghast caught Honour napping within 4" of the board edge. I charged in to Unmasking her off but the dice decided it was not to be so I took the Knockdown result instead. Literally the second after I had applied the Knockdown token I remembered Ghast has a non-Momentous double Push on two hits. Two of those would have done it (I did choose to Push her with the second attack). As it was I was able to collect her in the first activation of the next turn.

WIN - Same game, two turns later and combination of some of my previous points. Honour comes back on the board to find Ghast looking a little too confident and still a little too close to the edge. Momentous Push/Dodge on three hits x 4 for lots of Momentum (after Decimate had INF-tanked Fear and contributed a Gang bonus) made for a relatively easy Take Out. Le sigh...


Have a thorough knowledge of ALL of your playbook. In the heat of battle I find that it's very much a case of "easy to say, hard to do". You're fine going into combat with a plan and a goal in mind, but make sure you scan the book carefully for those hidden gems. I keep hearing Ghast is one of the best Counter-Attacking models in the game and I might finally be starting to understand why!


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FAIL - Feeling pressured to respond in kind. Last game of the day saw the Masons pick apart a lone Esters on the approach thanks to the very handy work of Mallet and friends, and some solid focus from Darren. The Masons would sort out their activation order nicely and finish the turn disengaged from the Brewers and well at arms length. Nick was getting a little frustrated with this somewhat guerrilla warfare approach so he gapped it across the field with the whole team to force the issue. What he possibly could have done however is Tool Up Esters, bide his time, and lob 3-damage AoE fire and rough-ground death (and Dirty Knives!) into the Masons lines, force Darren to spend MP on healing and clearing conditions, and encourage him enter the fray and risk the ball.

FAIL - With most of his team engaged by Brewers in his deployment zone, instead of bringing Taken Out players back on the field in safe zones and out of threat ranges, Darren fed meat into the Hooper/Spigot grinder. He could have flanked hard instead of returning to the centre, burned Nick's clock (both players clocked multiple times in this game), forced heals into a concentrated area (or just let them die quicker and recycled/redeployed on return). To be fair to Darren, he was mentally and emotionally shattered after three games against Morticians and had he enquired at one crucial point about Friday's current health he would have smashed her dead instead of needlessly Pushing her around. Still, I think we learned a lot from watching it all go down.


You have a game plan and the nature of the game means this has to be flexible. But... you have a game plan. From watching this I learned that you should really evaluate carefully when it's time to change gears.


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Just some things to keep us all thinking. I assume there are plenty more coming over the following weeks; probably more so with refreshed rules to misunderstand and misinterpret. Woot!

Melee Ranges

As of Season 2, there are 98 models in the game (11 in the Season 1 Guilds, 14 for Union and 8 for Hunters, and -1 for Compound being in Alchemists/Engineers).

32 of these models have a 2" melee range, approximately one third (exactly one third if you consider Compound as two entities).

Here is the data in table form:

Guild	2” melee ranges
Engineers	2/11
Hunters	2/8
Brewers	3/11
Butchers	3/11
Masons	3/11
Union	4/14
Alchemists	4/11
Morticians	4/11
Fishermen	8/11
Total	33/99

Discussion

  Engineers are the at the bottom of the pack with only two 2" melee models (Colossus and Compound). This reinforces their general design of avoiding protracted combat when possible, only going in to get the ball or push players around for momentum, and having high KICK die stats so they can pass the ball around even if they are engaged.

  Hunters are next, with 2/8, but given that they are a brand new guild with 1 season worth of releases, they are probably on par with the next group.

  Brewers, Butchers and Masons are the next lot with 3 of their 11 players each. The three most melee-centric, scrappiest teams strangely have a pretty low number of 2" melee models (just over 1 in 4). There is an impression that Brewers have a lot of 2" melee due to Tapper and Hooper's inclusion in the team's starter box and their consequent inclusion in almost every Brewer lineup since.

  Next is the Union, which has the same percentage of 2" melee models as the previous group. Two of these models are only found in Union (Blackheart and Coin), while the other two models are arguably the most played Union models both inside and outside the Guild (Mist and Gutter). Funny that. They also received no 2" models in Season 2.

  The penultimate duo are the Alchemists and Morticians with four 2" melee models (just over one third) each. The Morticians had three in Season 1, while the Alchemists only had one - then the positions were switched in Season 2. Neither team is especially focused on combat, but are more goal-oriented than the previous scrappy teams (both very likely to take Mist as well). Their playbooks also, on average, have fewer reliable low momentous results than the fighting teams.

  Finally we have the Fishermen, who are way ahead of everyone else with 8/11 models (almost three quarters). Fish are not really a scrappy team and generally focus at getting out of melee, but having plenty of 2" melee models also gives them an edge in Ganging Up/Crowding Out, or attacking without getting counter-attacked in turn.
Fish skew the game average a lot - from 28% to 33.3%

Many consider 2" to be amongst the strongest abilities in the game. What is it about 2" melee that makes it so good?

• Threat Extension - Simply, you threaten an extra 1" in all directions. Pretty good in itself. You can also project your threat over other bases and in tighter gaps, which you are not able to do with a 1" melee.
  
• Engage Multiple Models & Gang Up/Crowd Out - This is the main benefit for a fighting model like Gutter. Not only can she hit 2-4 people somewhat reliably with a Scything Blow in most fighting situations (effective 5" AoE of death) without getting Crowded Out by 1" melee ranges, but she can also provide Gang Up bonuses for the rest of her team on those same models (big deal for someone like Tapper as well).
  A 1" melee model cannot attack two separate enemy models without also getting Crowded Out. As such, 2" melee is a pretty good TAC buff in context.
• No counter attack - This is a big one for footballers like Mist, or Fishermen in general. Being able to attack an enemy model and generate momentum while staying safe from counter attacks is a pretty big deal. It also allows you to play the ball better as you are not losing dice on the pass.
  Another benefit is being able to KD someone with a 1" melee range from 1.1" away, thereby forcing them to use momentum or select character plays to get into combat and actually do something.
• Unpredictable Movement - 2" melee is WAY better than 1" melee for this trait. It effectively grants you one-off attack immunity against all 1" models and all 2" models unless they get B2B with you. The same logic holds true for the fabled Don't Touch the Hair! plot card.
  Likewise, 2" melee models can get around Unpredictable Movement if the target only has 1" melee!
  It's why people hate Obulus and Greyscales so much (both of which also have a dodge on 1 success, so are getting out of there anyway if they have any momentum and you don't have KD).

At the same time, I can't think of a downside to 2" melee. Perhaps being able to manoeuvre around a 2" melee model without taking a parting blow may be situationally beneficial?

At the same time, it is worth noting that 2" melee does not automatically make you good. Rage is often seen by Butcher players as a 'better' version of Boar, as the other abilities and stats he has outweigh his lack of 2" melee. The same thing can be said of Graves - despite having both 2" melee, TAC 6, Scything Blow, Crucial Artery and a long charge distance, Mortician players get hung up on his 1/4 INF over anything else.

Guild Ball is a complicated system with many pieces, and 2" melee is one of the stronger ones. Fishermen's (and Alchemists'/Morticians') high number of reach models is balanced out by the generally lower combat and damage dealing potential, either via playbook or lower TAC scores.


Conclusion - Fish OP.


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Appendix 1 - Raw Data

Alchemists
1": Midas, Calculus, Mercury, Flask, Katalyst
2": Vitriol
1": Venin, Smoke
2": Compound, Naja, vKatalyst
Total - 4/11

Brewers
1": Friday, Scum, Spigot, Stave, Stoker
2": Tapper, Hooper
1": Esters, Quaff, vSpigot
2": Mash
Total - 3/11

Butchers
1": Ox, Brisket, Boiler, Princess, Meathook
2": Boar, Shank
1": vBrisket, Truffles, Fillet
2": Tenderizer
Total: 3/11

Engineers
1": Ballista, Salvo, Velocity, Ratchet, Mainspring
2": Colossus
1": Pin Vice, vVelocity, Broodmother, Hoist
2": Compound
Total - 2/11

Fishermen
1": Angel, Salt
2": Shark, Siren, Kraken, Jac, Greyscales
1":  vSiren
2": Sakana, Corsair, Tentacles,
Total: 8/11

Masons

1": Honour, Harmony, Marbles, Flint, Tower
2": Mallet, Brick
1": vHarmony, Wrecker, Hammer
2": Chisel
Total - 3/11

Morticians

1": Cosset, Dirge, Silence, Casket,
2": Obulus, Graves, Ghast
1": Scalpel, Vileswarm, Bonesaw
2": vGraves
Total - 4/11

Union
1": Decimate, Avarisse + Greede, Fangtooth, Hemlocke, Minx, Rage, Snakeskin
2": Blackheart, Gutter, Coin, Mist
1": Harry the Hat, vRage, Strongbox
2": X
Total: 4/ 14

Hunters
1": Chaska, Egret, Fahad, Zarola, Jaecar, Theron
2": Hearne, Seenah
Total - 2/8


Game total - 33/99 (32/98 as Compound is under two teams)

Cornerstones (8) / Character Assassination (3) - Blackheart

The final article in the Cornerstones series is an exception on two counts - it is the first to feature a Captain, and is also a Character Assassination. Get ready for the whine.

I decided to include the Union's captain as their Cornerstone because the Union as a team is so individualistic and devout of synergistic special rules. They have a dedicated support model (Hemlocke) and a dedicated scorer (Mist) but for the most part are all "core" brawlers with unusually good KICK scores. #justunionthings

Let's start by looking at these stats. On the whole I'd say they are good for a captain, but not necessarily amazing.

• 5/7" MOV is pretty average, by itself anyway.
• TAC 6 is very good, and common on captains.
• 3/6" KICK is an average solid stat.
• 3+/2 is a solid, tanky stat line. 16 boxes may be a little bit low for a Captain, but it's not too bad.
• 4/6 INF is also standard for a captain.

Note also the 2" melee. So we can see he is pretty solid all-around - decent kicker, and pretty good in a scrap. Moving on to the playbook.

This playbook could either be seen as very good or freaking amazing depending on how well you use Blackheart.

The early part of his playbook is quite good on a defensive level - momentous dodge on 1, and a double dodge + 1 DMG on 2. This is followed by a Tackle. So definitely not too impressive in the momentum or damage department so far, but good for mobility. If all you set up for is getting low results, you can at worst farm momentum and move around as much as a Fisherman (a 3+/2 Fisherman that destroys people in combat).

Then shit starts to get real - KD and momentous GB/GB on 4 hits in order to activate Commanding Aura (more on that soon). 4 hits is a pretty likely result with TAC 6 on a charge with no other modifiers.
When you move into the 5 and 6 successes column, all his results basically read "3 momentous + whatever other result you want, bro". Double dodge, KD, Tackle - it's all there. I dunno why the Momentous 3 with no other result is there, as it will never ever be chosen. I am guessing it's a legacy thing.
5+ hits is where it gets freaking amazing - with a little set up and Commanding Aura, getting 5 hits is not that unrealistic for old Blackheart. He'll wreck someone and move around like a ballerina while doing in.

Anyway - good striker playbook with lots of mobility and good options for counter attacks. Then if you get 5+ successes, he starts tearing holes in people while doing it too. Momentously. Sickening.

Ok, I'll admit I've never seen Blackheart use Misdirection. With the amount of mobility he has, he's usually just better killing someone and removing all their INF rather than spending 4 INF to steal one. It's a nice strong play to have in situations where he get pinned down however.

Commanding Aura, however, is ridiculous for Union. Sure, you can get it in Brewers on Union models, but you probably won't get it on too many Union models since you want those Brewer synergies on your team. Having it on 4 fighting Union models (who aren't bad at scoring goals, btw) with access to Coin however - that's another realm of BS altogether. Commanding Aura pushes Blackheart's personal damage significantly by allowing him to reach those 5/6 successes somewhat reliably with minimal set up. With 6 INF, he is crushing people and getting momentum like a boss at the same time. Nevermind Gutter, Decimate, Avarisse, and all that....

This is when I start to rage (more) about Blackheart. What you have here is a way for a beatstick tank to move 2" for free at the start of it's activation, basically guaranteeing him an exit from almost every combat for 1 INF (dodge 2", then momentous dodge for 1). Seems good. Oh, it also makes him an effective 7/9" MOV (better, even). Fast as Shark? Seems legit for a walking killing machine. Who is also a 3/6" KICK for lolz.

Oh wait, he also has a legendary with two super strong effects - an immediate 2" dodge for all friendly guild models OR +1 DEF for everyone. You usually just see the first one even though +1 DEF on all friendly guild models (who are all likely at least 4+/0 or better) is pretty ridiculous. Even stronger when you consider that after Blackheart has activated you'll probably have 6 momentum to defensive stance and counter attack, rendering your team nigh invincible for a turn. Seems legit.

Anyway, as mentioned, you probably won't see that +1 DEF because all his fellow douchebags dodging 2" and getting out of combat or getting ready to wreck someone you thought was safe or scoring goals from miles out is pretty good. In fact, it's pretty good JUST for Blackheart to gib someone unexpectedly from 13" away. And all it costs you is the INF to run/charge.

Dealing with Blackheart

Weaknesses? Few to none.

• He is not a stellar kicker, but he is a very good striker due to high mobility and momentum generation. More than good enough to reliably put the ball on the post multiple times.
• He does little for his team outside feat and commanding aura, but that tends to be enough since he can move that aura around to basically wherever he wants, even when MOV debuffed (unlike Tapper), thanks to his low-playbook dodges and Shadow Like. Even in the worse case scenario if he is completely shut down from moving and isolated (which requires a LOT of investment), he still has a 10" threat on Misdirection to dump his INF somewhere.
  Not to mention that his team is made up of highly independent models that are pretty awesome all on their own, so throwing in +1 TAC and DMG  and DEF/2" dodge is alright.
•  His DEF of 3+ makes him a little vulnerable to character plays, I guess.....

VetRage is clearly designed to be the beater/brawler of the Union captains but it's hard to outfight 2" melee + Commanding Aura (functionally identical to vRage's Legendary with less set up and a smaller area - but every turn) + a nasty playbook - and this does not even consider Blackheart's amazing mobility and decent KICK stat. Not only does he strongly compete with vRage in the damage dealing department, but he certainly leaves him in the dust in terms of scoring goals. There is a reason Union has been on top of the overall guild rankings for a long time, even after receiving a good chunk of nerfs to their models - that reason is this god amongst guildballers.

All I can say is - thank the powers that be for the Season 1 errata, bringing him back into line... or should I say, almost back into line.

Thus ends the Cornerstones series. Thanks for reading.

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.