Arcanists

Variety is the spice of live, or at least thats the expression. And for me at as far as gaming is concerned I would say its true. I have been playing Ressers pretty much exclusively for the past several months. Keep in mind that in my book Leviticus is a Resser master. They just misprinted his rulebook entry or something. I own a few other Factions, such as a single Guild crew, The Ortegas, who I play sparingly. And a small Arcanist force. I picked up Rasputina for Ellen since she liked her hat and the Hoarcats which work well with Raspy. I later picked up Ramos for myself, wanting a new challenge to work with. And a Challenge he is. I haven't won too many games with the old man. But they have been relegated to the back burner as I master the ressers I own. I have always been pretty good with McMourning, I have proven I'm pretty damn good with Kirai, winning damn near all the games I play with her. Even Nicodem the Master I used to refuse to play is now in my top tier. I am on a 5-1 streak with the old man, my sole loss coming against an opponent who used questionable tactics. Point is I have a good grasp on my Ressers. Seamus could use some work, but I still feel comfortable with him. Its usually at this point that Gamer ADD kicks in and I want a new challenge. Hence, the Arcanists!



I'm starting with Raspy since I've owned her the longest. She's the Ice witch who can really do a ton of damage to your opponents models. Her best abilites are her Ice Pillars, which creates a blocking terrain to give you cover and force your opponet where you want them. And the damage spell December's Curse. December's Curse can do massive damage and she can cast it over and over again so long as she gets a Mask in her casting total. Its her most reliable way to kill off your opponents models. She is a really heavy hitter and works well with the new release, Silent Ones, who can act as a mirror for her to cast her spells through, thus keeping her further out of harms way. Hoarcats, since they can do heavy damage and work very well with little or no support. And then usually people take a heavy hitter, such as an Ice Golem, Joss, or A Saber Tooth Cerberus. The first two can really take a beating, and the Ceberus is really quick and good at hiding from a beating. All three can do a decent chunk of damage. Rasputina's biggest weakness is speed. Crews that can engage her too quickly give her trouble becasue she really needs to keep them at bay and blast them as much as possible.



On to the next master I bought, Ramos. The old man is a much like his female counter-part a spell blaster. He also has the ability to summon Mechanical Spiders. Ramos likes to let his spiders and his good buddy Joss do the heavy hitting while he picks things off with his long range magic blasts. he has a lot of tricks up his sleeve that can do auto damage. I need to pratice with him more though because I dont really know much else about him. At the moment the biggest weakness is Me. I don't know how to play him right and that usually means he's not doing enough each game. Im gonna practice with him a bit in the coming weeks and see if I can get better.



Ms. Du Bois is the Queen of tricks in Malifaux. her ability to whip her crew all around the Board is uncanny. And every one of her girls has a nasty trick up her sleeve. I've only faced her 3 times and player her 1 time. But I think I have the hang of her abilities. She works well with a lot of Show Girls since a lot of her abilities key off them. She also really likes having a few of her totems, the Mechanical Doves flying around for support. Colette's Strongest spell is Disapearing Act. Its not a sure thing, but if you manage to trigger the 3 Tome ability you one shot kill any non-master in the Game, AND make it into a new Mannequin. Colette never heads to battle with out Cassandra, her body-guard, friend, and Hotty Companion. Cassandra can be a nightmare for some crews. She is hard to hit, VERY fast, and hits pretty hard. Colette also likes bringing her Show Girls to the party with their Mannequins. Colette I think will have a hard time dealing with very heavy hitting armies. They can generally get by her tricks and force her to start burning her soul stones.




The last Arcanist master is Marcus. He is a very strong master in my eyes and is often under-rated. But I don't own him, and Im not sure I plan to buy him. He requires you use Beasts from every faction and I just don't think I want to buy Neverborn beasts to play him.


So thats my brief run down of the Arcanist Faction. Im hoping to get a solid handle on them in the near future so i can start using them as an alternative faction to compete with in Tournaments.