Reinforcements! or When Monsters Need Mercs

Introduction

Malifaux offers many factions and each faction has strengths and weaknesses to exploit. This is shored up a bit by offering the ability to use mercenary models at the cost of an extra SS to their cost. The question is, when do you use them and why? My side of the blog is of course from a purely Neverborn perspective so lets take a look at the mercenaries that will help to bring Malifaux back to its rightful owners.

Neverborn Gaps

Neverborn are a very strong faction, full of casting and melee actions which are focused mostly at short range. They have a lot of brutal movement tricks and tend to be full of glass cannons (models that can deliver powerful attacks but tend to die quickly to any concentrated assault). The one thing Neverborn as a faction tend to lack are solid ranged attacks. Shooting is just not their thing. There also aren't many condition removing models in Neverborn, making it hard to get around being set on fire or paralyzed.   When looking at options for Merc models, we want to see ways to fix these gaps in the Neverborn arsenal, though there's something to be said for beefing up what can already be done.

Han(d)s On!

*all images in this blog do not represent the
actual models. Its just fun to imagine them
this way.

This guy. If you have ever gone up against him, you know how annoying he can be. Snipers in Malifaux are extremely good and nearly always benefit from the Focus action. Hans is the best of the best when it comes to taking models off the board and focus and board wide range make it ridiculously hard to hide from him. When you know your opponent is going to be bringing nasty support pieces that will stay far out of your range, pay Hans to get rid of them for you.

Johan 

Steel driving man

Johan is a brute who loves crushing constructs and tyrant models. He also has an ability called Rebel Yell which removes conditions from models. There's very little that isn't fantastic about this. Normally you will see him in M&SU crews but he's cheap enough that he fits well into Neverborn's plans. Take Johan if you know you might come up against some serious conditions or any masters with the Tyrant type. (Dreamer, Hamelin, Shenlong)

Convict Gunslinger

Seen trouble all their days

So you like to shoot things? What are you doing playing Neverborn? Well, ok there's some options for you. Convict Gunslingers are awesome bullet slingers. They get even better when you can Obey them and do more ranged damage. Bring 1-2 of them and maybe a gremlin or two and suddenly Zoraida has a gunline. No one will expect that!


Freikorps Trapper

Oh look, another sniper. Coming it at a bit cheaper than Hans, this guy has a lot more mobility with slightly less damage potential. Still he gets the job done.

Just watching the neighbor's Netflix

Sue

When the man comes around.

The Man in Black is a good option if you are facing Resurrectionists or Ramos and don't want dead enemies coming back to haunt you. He is also very good for schemes that require lots of markers by granting allies Finish the Job. He is also very strong vs Ca Leaders like Rasputina, Sonnia or Pandora with his Man in Black ability.






Killjoy

Come on we all thought it.

Remember when I said sometimes mercs are about doing more of what Neverborn already does? That's Killjoy. He lives (unlives?) to destroy things, and Neverborn are very good at helping him accomplish this goal. His Blood Sacrifice ability means that he's going to hit the table exactly when he needs to, so no worries about him being beaten up before he gets there. Comboing him with Bad Juju and Eternal Fiend could mean that killing a single swamp fiend unleashes two beat sticks in the enemy's midst. He can also help spread the love in a Lilith crew with all the Bad Blood. Killjoy's downside is that he will be incredibly expensive at 13SS.

Bishop

It doesn't matter what your Defense is!

This cage fighting maniac works very well in his versatility of using either Df or Wp for his melee attacks, meaning that a nearby Pandora or Sorrows will be able to use Misery off his attacks. He can also trigger to ignore quite a few annoying Df abilities.

Lazarus 

I'll be back with another overused quote.

This guy does it all. Melee, Ranged, self healing construct. Which makes him perfect for Collodi crews. His Assimilate ability allows him to steal a (1) action from any nearby friendly construct. He can take Gamble for Your Life from a Stitched Together, Obey from Vasilla, or oddly enough Sew Fate from a Voodoo Doll. Neverborn have plenty of good construct options for Lazarus to play around with.

Taelor

Sorry did you NEED those kneecaps?

This model is another nightmare for any summoning crews you are going up against. Her ability, Welcome to Malifaux allows her to charge models that are summoned anywhere near her and her damage potential along with a 3" melee range makes her an expensive but intimidating model no matter what crew she tags along with. Giving her Fears Given Form will mean that she dominates any part of the board that she happens to be on. Summoning Leaders should be terrified of her, honestly any model that gets in her way should be terrified of her.





Conclusion
This is in no way an exhaustive list but its a good place to get started on options for mercs if you are playing Neverborn. In most cases mercs are pretty niche, filling out spots in lists where there are known weaknesses, and even more so when you have a pretty solid idea of what your opponent is going to be bringing. In most cases you can stay in faction fairly easily with Neverborn but there are some times that having the extra range, conditions removal or healing becomes a key that helps you survive a specific match up.
I'd like to once again thank the players at A Wyrd Place on Facebook for helping with some ideas for Outcasts I haven't gotten a chance to try yet.
Until next time, Keep Cheating Fate -- John Fox