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In lieu of the spring sale Wyrd is having, a local henchmen here in Ohio, Eldmor, has written up an article in which he lays out what he believes are "must-owns" for each faction.

His article covers a couple models in every faction. I'm personally a big fan of the Waldgeists and Doppleganger but I have no real frame of reference for the other factions.
Do you guys agree/disagree with his picks?

http://midwestwargaming.com/malifaux-welcome-malifaux-must-models/

I disagree with all of it really. What I love abut the game is there is no "bad models".

There are really good models but that's because usually they will fit the theme and synergize.

Now while I don't believe in must takes, there are part of your crew your probably going to take 99% of the time, just because of the synergy.

Such as Sonniia will have witchling stalkers/handeler(s) cause they help put things on fire and all synergize.

Rasputina will use frozen heart models, like Acolytes, gamin, silent ones to cast through.

To be fair, the article is must-own, not must-take. They're not going to wind up in every list, but it's worth owning them because they synergise with a lot more than their thematic crew.

Dogglegangers are Mimics which places them thematically with Lucius. But they're just fantastic everywhere. Manipulative synergises with Pandora, forcing Willpower tests, and the Dopplegangers ability to copy almost any models (1) action means it can do, well, almost anything.

Waldgeists thematically fit with Zoraida, but their ability to create cover is a huge benefit to any Neverborn crew which tends to be fast and fragile. Their ability to Root models in place is like wise a huge benefit to any Neverborn crew, being able to immobilise enemies.

They're not must-takes. There's going to be plenty of combinations of scheme and strategy where you've got other models you want to take, but they synergise so well across the faction that you really should have them available.

 -Loki- wrote:
To be fair, the article is must-own, not must-take. .

well said

Hmm, I guess I have a different sense of "must-own."

Resurrectionists, for example, I feel a must-own would actually be Necropunks, or Rotten Belles. When it comes to damage dealing there are several options, so I don't think the Valedictorian is necessarily your must-own beater. But I can see where he approaches it by it's versatility. But Necropunks, or their semi-equivalent Crooligans, as they're always useful - especially in GG 2016.

For his Outcast selection I agree with Hannah, she's a good force multiplier, provides denial for things like Lure, and the option to Bury models makes her very versatile. I guess I can see Convict Gunslingers for their general usefulness, but I may also include Ashes and Dust, as he's both a scheme runner and a decent beater and goes well in any crew. But that seems more like a personal taste, and his high SS cost may be a bad taste to some players. Not to mention Johan, as a 6 SS condition remover and decent melee attack she can fit in to every Outcast crew as well.

I strongly disagree with that list.

Slop haulers are just fantastic and a gremlin list is probably not complete without one.

Several others in the list are strong but hardly essential.

Then there's stuff like Guild Hounds and Gunslingers, both of which I'd put very low on the priority list- they're not bad, but nothing I'd suggest should be a high priority or one I'd even say a faction collection would be incomplete without.

Of that list, there are six I'd say I strongly consider in any list that can field one.

And some of those descriptions don't tell you anything relevant or emphasize weird things.