Tuesday 6 September 2016

GG2016: Application of Reva for murder-use



Going to do a quick spiel on Reva and how she rolls with schemes and strats, some of this will obviously be theory-faux as I certainly have not had a chance to try all of them out with her yet.

I will note a ‘generic’ build for her that I’d probably use a lot, with swap outs depending on what is required.

Reva
Blood Mark (although have found I haven’t been using this a lot)   1
One of the 2 limiteds (always make an allowance for this)               1
Maniacal laugh (still actually not used this)                                      1
Vince                                                                                                  8
Deal with Death                                                                                 1
My Little Helper                                                                                 1
Carrion Emissary                                                                               10
My Little Helper (can be swapped to yin if needed)                          1
Yin                                                                                                       8
+ve to disengage                                                                                  1
Shield Bearer                                                                                        6
Shield Bearer                                                                                        6
Necropunk                                                                                            5

So that is 50 stones on the nose, but in all honesty I’d be tempted to drop man-laugh and the upgrade on Yin to have 6 in the cache, both Reva and Vince can really make use of the stones to not die.

So I’ll just go over GG2016 as that is what we mostly play in our parts, but if you guys want thoughts on any of the book strats or schemes, by all means let me know!

Also will rate them like a did the Hoff article, with Poor/Good/Great. First one will be good to score points off of, 2nd one will be to stop opponent scoring points. So a Poor-Good would mean poor at scoring points, but good at blocking them.

Extraction: So this is about bullying people in the middle and stopping the opponent moving it to their side. With Shieldbearers being oddly survivable, Yin in to be a pain..and if you’re feeling saucy, you could swap the Emissary out for Izamu, you’ll easily win that contest. But this is true of most killy masters. Great-Good

Interference: Not bad as in all honesty she can be the ‘home base’ holder, while still being able to effect a lot of the board. Her ability to be able to get some ‘out of reach’ bodies (hounds, night terrors etc) is good, that
and a late candle summon and push could possibly knock some enemies out of the ability to score. For a non-summoning master, in a summoning strat, she is actually pretty strong. Good-Good

Head Hunter: As akin to a Perdita crew, not particularly great at this as she generally kills stuff at range. One option here is to possibly have a a Crooligan start deep up field to pick up heads. But yeah, be careful with this one. Good-Good

Guard the Stash: Oddly I’ve played the most on Guard the Stash. I find she works pretty well on this as she can happily keep the centre area well controlled and in threat with a few corpse markers around. Take a Yin/Izamu to just tie things up, maybe a Belle to drag someone off of the objective and you’re golden. Good-Great

Collect the Bounty: This is absolutely great for her. Take some Belles,. Spit out Corpse Candles as they won’t give up points, drag with Belles to put things into range, kill with Reva. Very strong here given the damage she can output, without giving up VP. Vince can help out quite heavily here also, deploying deep up field, popping MLH and killing something turn 1, then bolting back into cover. Great-Great

Schemes

Convict Labour: Actually not too bad on this one. She has mobility if needed to get up and put markers down herself. She also has the ability to flip corpse markers into scheme markers. The Emissary has similar shenanigans (not even for a cast). Corpse Candles can push markers up into position in preparation for turning into scheme markers. That and Necropunks are hella solid. Good-Great(you’ve got spare mindless zombies that can stumble over there, or atleast be pushed up).
Take Prisoner: I just generally loathe this, and doesn’t really suit Reva’s “murder everything off of the board…because she cares…” style. So is doable, especially with her Tome-charge trigger, just hold out for late in the game and make sure you don’t kill the model. That or Izamu, or Yin. She is probably better at defending against it as you just make sure anything near your models dies (also given how easily Vince and Reva can get out of dodge, you should be fine. Poor-Great

Exhaust Their Forces: *yawn….*. This is the whole mark and don’t kill vs, kill everything. It is a passable option for her. Given her CC range, Izamu’s Ml range etc… and pushes available to Ressers, you could do this if you shimmied your crew around it. Defending against it, if you really wanted to, you could take some Belles, and Emissary etc…keep things at a range and out of position to stop them getting exhaust on you. Good(in the sense most can do it)-Good

Leave your mark: Options here are Necropunks, Crooligans or Reva doing a teleport charge up into the enemies back line. This isn’t really a ‘build a crew around it’ scheme as more ‘take a model or 2 that can do it’. But given her board presence, she can normally kill enemy sneakers that are having a crack at it against you, without her needing to redeploy. Good-Great

Hunting Party: Given Reva is your major damage dealer, it isn’t great, but if you have Vince, Izamu, Emissary, Yin etc…you should be able to kill a minion a turn. Or if the enemy are being a little coy, and do the whole one peon up the back style thing, Reva could be up the back turn 2 if she needs to be to murder the little fool. Defending against is pretty easy, don’t take any minions and do the exact thing I just ripped on against the enemy. Fun side is though, if someone gets near your Corpse Candle, and Reva has not yet activated. You can kill your own corpse candle and then get her to summon a new one in a safer area… Good-Great

Show of Force: Sure… in the sense that you take a variety of enforcers and Vince, put some cheap upgrades *cough* My Little Helper *cough* etc on them, and hold the centre. Try to avoid if Recon is in the mix, although it would still probably be doable. Defending against is easy as your beaters in the middle should be pretty nasty..that and Reva can help out. Good-Good

Covert Breakthrough: Again go with a build for this over relying on Reva. Although if desperate she could do a last turn teleport charge, with an (0) teleport and hopefully with a (1) left to drop an extra marker..not ideal…but hey.. 2 Crooligans can do it no worries at all. Again you can probably block enemy schemers if they try this with a well deployed Corpse Candle and an angry Reva. Good-Good

Undercover Entourage: Yup! Great. If you want it on Vince, he can start 6” away from where he needs to be at the end of the game. He has a little bit of healing available to him. Reva is also really good for this with teleports and huge charge ranges. She also has a little bit more ability to heal if she needs it. Factor in, if she gets there early and safe, due to her large threat bubble, she can still help out in other areas. With the enemy trying it, just smash the crap out of any henchman or master that is looking that way inclined. Great-Great

Neutralise the Leader: Again this is one of those ones where you need to rely on your opponent to put their leader in harms way. But, if you factor in the caveat, that Vince has a way to stop stones being used, there may be the occasional ‘gotcha’ moment when a lady J Yolos in with a full cache, and then learns she can’t stone for damage prevent *cue actual maniacal laugh…* Also if you just sat down and factor in, lets say you have lady J, surrounded by 3 corpse markers. If you can land each hit, and pop each marker with each hit, that is a minimum of 12 damage…if she can’t prevent that..there is going to be rage and regret.  As to avoiding death, well, Reva is bloody mobile, but also super squishy, so it would just be a matter of playing a bit cagey with her and having a decent amount of stones available if you do get caught. Another positive factor with Reva, is she can still influence the board, while being quite a safe distance away. Amazing-Great

Catch and Release: I hate this one in general It’s keeping models alive. I suppose you could mix this up with a Nurse and Take Prisoner..but eh.. I don’t like it and Reva likes killing. Against an enemy, just kill them if they get close. Can also use Reva’s push to get someone out of combat so they can ‘un tag’ themselves. Annoying though. Good (due to Nurse shenanigans) – Good (as no worse than anyone else really)

Frame for Murder: Pick a crooligan or something cheap, get it in the way etc. This one really relies on the opponent doing what you want, so not ideal. Against, very bad for Reva, given she can be prepped to do amazing amounts of damage early in the game, from a long way off, and is a master.. you’ll probably lose 3 points on this IMHO. Good-Poor

Detonate the Charges: Great, given you should have plenty of corpses on the field by late turn 2. Get a Corpse Candle to shuffle them into position, use either Reva or the Carrion emissary to flip the ones you need, boom, sorted. Defending against is the same for everyone, don’t bunch up, be aware of anyone charging in with finish the job etc. Great-Good

Set up: Same as above with Detonate the Charges, that corpse moving couples with flippin them is great. Especially if you can get some activation control. Defending against is very similar. Although Reva and Vince really shouldn’t be in an area where this could get them. Be aware of your Yin/Izamu etc that will be in the thick of things. Great-Good

Search the Ruins: Eh, Candles and her can do the corpse push-flip etc, and by top of turn 5 there should be corpses everywhere to be ready to use that. Defending is just another ‘eh’. Great-Good

Mark for Death: Great for Reva! Imagine a stalwart Shieldbearer runs up and draws a red x on some dudes forehead and says “Yo Reva, this one, I cut one of his limbs off also!!” Reva happily nods then murderizes the poor enemy. The now absolutely blood covered Shieldbearer grins and gives her a thumbs up.  This one is really hard to block. That and you’d need to be aware that a single Shieldbearer could give it up twice for a single marking. Great-Poor(due to Shieldbearers).

Public Demonstration: Not bad with Shieldbears as they can stick around if needed, then just throw a Night Terror or Necropunk up late in the turn to get. Also Reva’ can do 3 odd pushes if need be, so can help get people into position. Mix with a Belle for maximum movement shenanigans. You’re close-in enforces may cause some issues on this one, Vince and Reva should be able to skirt the danger zone. That, or just do the maths and kill what you think has the ability to be pushing this scheme against you. Great-Good

Inspection: Ressers have good things that can chill out in the right areas, cool, easy. If It isn’t a diagonal board and Reva has a corpse available, she can reach either end from the middle, so would be useful for killing any little fellas the opponent puts there to get it. Good-Great

A quick Murder: If the opponent didn’t plan for this, excellent. Also given Reva can be in punching range the top of turn 1, all good in the hood!! Factor in Vince deploying up field to lay some hurt, amazing! Defending against is pretty easy, just make sure you keep your most expensive model safe..easy. Great-Good

Occupy their Turf: Another build the crew around it. Have 3 Crooligans sitting safely up field that all bolt at the end of turn 2.. awesome 3 VP, couple that with Leave Your Mark…all the profit. Again Revas range is helpful in defending any little squishy things running for your deployment. Good-Good

So there we have my thoughts on Reva’s crew. To me she is a little bit of a tool-boxy generalist, with a bent toward massive damage output if needed, coupled with unprecedented board presence (provided you can get corpses where you need them). Factor in Vince sort of force multiplying damage output for Reva, as well as being a solid model. I feel a Reva-Vince duo can run with just about any crew and get most things done that you need of them.




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