So Jack Daw....isn't he hanging around somewhere??

My Jack Daw only primed

  So with the start of the wave 2 we got our first new outcast master, Jack Daw.  Jack is the master seen on the hanging tree, which is the big tree in the center of the square in Malifaux City.  In the first edition, he was just a character in the outcast faction that could take hanged models from the resurrectionist  faction.  He was almost impossible to kill due to his special rules, and the back of his card read like an encyclopedia entry.  The text was packed on there even in a smaller font to cover every special rule.  The other interesting thing about Jack was that he was a mercenary, so he could be hired out of faction for 10 stones, instead of just working with the outcasts.  Another special rule allowed you to hire the Hanged for their standard cost as well.  If there was one thing that adding Jack to your crew did, it was add special rules.
   Now before I start this new paragraph, I just want to point out that this is my opinion.  I enjoyed playing version 1.5, but it was hard to be really casual about playing, or the crew you played with.  In version 2.0 I feel like I can play a number of different crews as each model has fewer options, while still keeping their individual flavor.  This is one of the biggest points of contention between 1.5 and 2.0.  When you look at his card, it is a perfect example of being to complex to play.  In Jack Daw's 1.5 card, there are 19 individual entries from attacks to special rules to abilities, some of which just control what happens when certain card are played.  It means you constantly had to be checking his card, or knowing what was important every time he attacked, or was attacked.
   Now in 2.0 the biggest change for Jack is that he is a master.  The second biggest change is that he now has 8 entries on his card, 2 (0) actions, 2 attacks, and 4 abilities.  This means just starting out you have 11 less things to learn, and combine with his crew.  With his upgrade cards adding a bit of trouble you can include a few new attacks and an added ability.  Jack Daw's new upgrade ability is to attack cursed upgrades to other models, and then make them pay action points to flip the upgrade back over.  Most of the "curses" mean giving damage when the model tries to do an action or walk.  It makes it very difficult to attack, walk, anything as long as this upgrade is attached and face up.
   I have had very little time to play during the wave 2 beta.  Because of this I have set up a game to play on Thursday with Jack Daw.  This is my first crew list that I will be trying out.  A couple of outcast, and a few other tormented models.

•  Jack Daw - cache 4 - Firing Squad, Guillotine Injustice, Writhing Torment
• Montrerer - 9 - The Creeping Terror
• Lady Ligeia - 4
• The Guilty - 5
• The Guilty - 5
• The Hanged - 9
• Nurse - 5
• Hans - 8

   So lets see if I can explain this mess.  I am using the first three to stop the other side from reaching their goals, The Guilty and the Hanged as objective grabbers, with the nurse backing them up, and Hans for board control, both stopping the opposing crew, and getting markers down when needed.  With what Jack can do I don't think that I will have any issues shutting the crew down, as long as I can get close enough to get those curses on them.

My proxy for Hans, just because I don't own him

   Now this crew choice does bring up another interesting point.  There are no models for about 2/3 of my crew choice.  I have Jack, The Hanged, a nurse (Miss Pack) and that is all. I am going to proxy for the rest as long as my opponent will allow it, just using some other random models I have, and in the case of Hans, using the Freikorps Hunter. Without actual crew out for all the models in wave two, I think this will come up more and more especially as I look at "new" masters in the 2nd edition.
   So now how can we improve on this already great master with an avatar?  We get another way to add the tormented characteristic to an enemy.  So in his premanifest we get a 7 versus willpower new attack to give out the condition.  After manifesting, he gets a bit better.  First of all, a + flip on all duels.  Now this is pretty big considering that everything except a damage flip is a duel, so all attack and defense gets that extra card, which makes it easier to get that positive flip on the damage also.  He then makes everyone in a 4 inch bubble insignificant, and so they cannot take interact actions.  Finally he gets a new attack against models that he has attached his cursed upgrades to with a cast of 7 and a sweet 4/5/6 damage spread.  If he happens to kill the model, he get to draw 2 cards on a tome trigger.  Overall a very nice improvement to the model when he changes to the avatar state.  At a cost of three soulstones, I would still call it a deal easy.

   So this has been my least favorite kind of post, Theoryfaux.  This is where I decide things will work a certain way before I have even put a model on the table.  When I get to these kind of posts on the forums, a lot of times I just skip right over them.  So here is what I am thinking.....  It has been a rough month for me as far as gaming goes, and I have not gotten to the game store in about a month....however, I will be headed up Thursday night and I already have a game with this crew planned.  So what I am thinking, is along with my Theoryfaux, I will put up a battle report for my next post see if what I THOUGHT would happen actually worked on that way.  The thinking is that I will either prove my theory and can hold my head up high, or that I suck and I will have to make sure from here on out that I play games with masters before I open my big mouth.  I should have that battle report out on Saturday, so until then I hope you enjoyed reading and I will talk to you again soon!  Thanx!!