Ahrimanes Newsletter #26 27.06.07 ==================================================== [ AHRIMANES NEWSLETTER ] ==================================================== 1.0 - Editorial 1.1 Word From the Editor 1.2 Next Issue 2.0 - Concepts 2.1 Crypt Card Focus 2.2 Library Card Focus 3.0 - Deck 3.1 Ahrimane Anarchs 3.2 Sign Off --[1.1 - Word from the Editor]---------------------- In this issue rather than detail specific cards I will look at ideas and combos that work well in an Ahrimane Anarch deck. Hopefully you will have read a little on the Anarchs, such as the best way to become Anarch from the Anarch Newsletters. I normally find eight Galarics Legacy works well, although the cardless action can be used in a pinch. Anyway this is my look at the Anarchs as they stand. --[1.2 -Next Issue]------------------------------------ The end of Strike:Combat Ends? Well maybe, certainly there will be a variety of methods to defeat this annoyance! Also there maybe some tasters for the Lords of the Night set, which is coming in September, hopefully it will feature some ANI cards at the least, given that the Ravnos have it as a clan skill. Will have to see what other treats it will bring. --[2.1 - Crypt Card Focus]-------------------------- This month I will give an overall rating for Anarchical Ahrimanes rather than specifically detailing individual vampires. Note that all references to skills ignore the usual inferior/superior definition, as Anarch cards only use inferior. Aiyana, The Wolfcatcher Aiyana has PRE and a low capacity means that she can get out a few sneaky Undue Influences. This is very useful, although making that action successful may require Squirrel Balance. Cynthia Ingold Cynthia has PRE, which is useful, as above, but she also has FOR which means that she can use Diversion - damage prevention! Effie Lowery Normally very good, however having Effie as an Anarch brings nothing new, as ANI and OBF doesn't really help. Gentha Shale POT gives Improvised Tactics, which with a Trap and Carrion Crows could be messy, but no other Ahrimane can use it. The requirement of being at long shouldn't be too much of a bind with the Ahrimanes, so perhaps an angle to try? Howler As with Effie, Howlers skills don't really benefit from being Anarch. She would of course gain some other advantages from Library cards, but they are detailed below. Juanita Santiago Another weenie for Undue Influencing, combined with the fact that Juanita is group 2, and thus part of the bigger Ahrimane grouping selection, means that she is definitely worth including. Maria Stone Normally Maria Stone is left in a ditch somewhere, with a Stake in her back, but as an Anarch she really excels. She can Undue Influence, and use the best parts of Diversion, she would require Merging to really work and her OBF and PRO don't really add much but a definite star in the Ahrimane Anarchs. Muricia Other than Undue Influence Muricia is another poor Anarch. Nettie Hale However Nettie's unusual skill spread gives her some options, especially with a couple of Fortitude skill cards. The Siamese Skillwise, another weak performer, but Undue Influence with the +1 bleed is worth the effort. I haven't included any Feral Spirited Gangrel or Gangrel Antribu as the set up would be very convoluted if you want to include SPI on them. However like any Anarch deck you will probably need to look outside of one clan, and here are a few likely choices. Bear Paw Brings more FOR into the mix, plus the ANI and PRE that normally power an Anarch deck. Camille Devereux, The Raven A reasonable vampire for the additional FOR she brings. Sennuwy, The Promoter Get some use out of the CHI on those Anarch cards. Indeed I have seen Reformation used twice in the same game to steal Assault Rifles - a bargain of a lifetime. Zhara Is very similar to Bear Paw, and indeed a little cheaper. --[2.2 - Library Card Focus]------------------------ Now having Anarchs opens up some options for the Ahrimanes that build on more tradition oust methods. A lot of Ahrimane decks use Smiling Jack for ousting, where as now you could use Anarch Revolt. They would probably need even more defending, as you would get the inevitable cross table votes, but using Howler to prevent minions 'going anarch' or blocking those cross tables with Falcons Eye should help, Of course you can also rush those that do cause problems. In fact the main problem would be the loss of other Master cards. Another option is to use Undue Influence as a 'rush' because then they have to decide if they will block and (hopefully) take a beating, or take the bleed and accept your gain. A good card to add here is Tier of Souls for responsible bleeding as it only works on bleeds on your Prey. Also steals blood, which works well in combination with Smiling Jack. Of course you will need the ANI skill cards, but they are an automatic add. I mentioned last month the use of Rayzeel's Song to untap allies, and a good ally to use it on is Cry Wolf as he burns if he is tapped at the beginning of your turn. Recruiting Cry Wolf can be a little risky, but with The Summoning you can pull him out safely without the risk of Torpor. However you will need either multiple Cry Wolf or some way of topping his life back up, as he won't last that long otherwise. You could always include some Ossian, as having him untap, and potentially rush twice a turn could be good. I have been playing a JOL game with XZealot (who probably should be a co author on this NL) where he had Ossian with Talbots Chainsaw and multiple untaps from Precognizant Mobility. Something that always looks like it should be used by the Ahrimanes, but rarely is, is The Wildebeest. Now the normal problem is the lack of damage prevention, however with Diversion you can readily gain it. You also gain additional strikes; so can really dish out some pain - in combination with the usual Carrion Crows. Of course Howler doesn't actually have either FOR or CEL, but it would be worth including some skill cards or Spontaneous Power to gain it. Next is the use (abuse?) of Vultures Buffet, with the additional Anarch Hunting bonuses. Adding Anarch Free Press, and Hospital Food means that a SPI Vultures Buffet gains four blood and one pool. Going back to XZealot, he has been using D'Habi Revanant as that has the Burn option to get it into the Ash Heap. However as mentioned above Cry Wolf will normally go to the Ash Heap quite quickly, so that gives you another target for the Vultures. Status Perfectus will help overcome S:CE on blocks (which is the subject of next months newsletter). It is a little unwieldy as it requires two untapped vampires to use, but you can overcome that with use of Speak with Spirits. You can also use it to move blood between vampires, which can be useful, especially in decks with limited numbers of Blood Dolls. --[3.1 - Deck: Ahrimane Anarchs ]--------------------------------------- Deck Name : Ahrimane Anarchs Another sample deck, rather than a tried and tested one. This uses some of the above ideas in combination with the more usual Ahrimane tactics to hopefully put plenty of pressure on your prey. If anyone has a successful Ahrimane Anarch deck please send it to me and I will post it in a future NL. Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 8 average: 5.84 ------------------------------------------------------------ 2x Howler 8 ANI PRE SPI obf Ahrimane:2 2x Siamese, The 7 PRE SPI ani pro Ahrimane:2 2x Cynthia Ingold 6 SPI ani for pre Ahrimane:2 2x Nettie Hale 5 ani cel pre pro spi Ahrimane:2 2x Juanita Santiago 4 ani pre spi Ahrimane:2 1x Maria Stone Adv 5 FOR cel obf pre pro spi Ahrimane:3 1x Maria Stone 5 FOR cel obf pro !Gangrel:3 Library [90 cards] ------------------------------------------------------------ Action [20] 2x Army of Rats 1x Heart of the City 1x Status Perfectus, The 2x Summoning, The 3x Tier of Souls 8x Undue Influence 3x Vulture's Buffet Ally [3] 2x Cry Wolf 1x Ohoyo Hopoksia (Bastet) Combat [23] 9x Aid from Bats 9x Carrion Crows 2x Pack Alpha 3x Taste of Vitae Master [23] 2x Anarch Free Press, The 2x Animalism 3x Blood Doll 2x Dreams of the Sphinx 8x Galaric's Legacy 1x Hospital Food 2x Powerbase: Los Angeles 2x Smiling Jack, The Anarch 1x Spontaneous Power Reaction [18] 3x Cats' Guidance 4x Falcon's Eye 4x Friend of Mine 7x Speak with Spirits Retainer [3] 3x Raven Spy --[3.2 - Sign Off]------------------------------------- Well another month, and another outing for the Ahrimanes in a Qualifier Tournament. Not quite so successful this time, as I wouldn't have qualified, but sixth place in a seventeen player tournament is good. First game I ended up ousting myself with Smiling Jack, which was just before time - if I hadn't gone out I would have gotten an extra 0.5 vp, and then made the final. Second game was a four player sweep for me, so that was good. Third game I was ousted in about four turns by an OBF dom deck, which got me before I could set up. However the final featured two Rotschreck decks, plus the OBF dom deck that ousted me, so I think sixth place was a very good thing, as I got to go home to the wife rather than suffer that table. BloodBATH V is the next tournament, so I will have to see how it goes there. Sam *