Hamelin+The+Plagued

include page="inc_1.5rules" **Hamelin the Plagued, Outcast Master** //"An outcast and sewer dweller for many years, chosen by the Tyrant Vessel to be the carrier of plague in Malifaux, Hamlin feeds off the expiration of life and uses the power gains from the expired souls of the plague ridden to lure the lost and insignificant into the clutches of Tyrant Vessel."// toc

=Overview= The pied piper of Malifaux, Hamelin the Plagued swarms to control the table with an endless horde of summoned rodents and entranced children.

Hamelin revolves around board control combined with a single offensive threat. He employs spells and crew abilities to turn enemy models permanently //"Insignificant"// which grants Hamelin a degree of protection and mobility to allow him to move freely about the board achieving objectives. With this ability to make enemy models Insignificant, and his secondary ability to summon rats from models killed in his vicinity, he is able to create daunting board control problems for his opponents.


 * NOTE: 12/21/12 this model has been changed by [|Errata]. Nihilism has a 6" range, Indiscriminate Void now removes a The Stolen within 3" to cancel Hamelin dying and heal all wounds and effects, (but give -4 Ca until the end of the encounter), Bully is replaced with Ruffian (so allowed a Wp->13 duel), Fate is Meaningless is a (1) action, and Haunting Melody is a Wp->14 resist. Updated cards for Hamelin and his Crew are HERE. **


 * The notes below are work in progress, updating them to reflect the new changes. **

=Mobility= Hamelin is quite mobile. His walk and charge are quick, and with the **Fast(+1)** ability, he has an extra opportunity to move every turn. He has a somewhat limited 're-summon' option when slain, but otherwise has no means to teleport or switch places with models.

=Attacks=

Melee
The Black Staff is quite poor in combat, and even deals 2 Wd to Hamelin when you flip weak damage! It does however inflict Blight Counters which can power up //'Bleeding Disease'// used by Hamelin and the Stolen. His //'Fate is Meaningless'// allows him to ignore all positive or negative flips on his next action, making inflicting weak damage much less likely, as you can then cheat. It's Severe damage is 9 however, which given he can use //Fate is Meaningless// to ignore negative flips, he will always be able to cheat to. However, this does require 2 AP to do: 1 AP for Fate is Meaningless, 1 AP for the Strike.

Ranged
His Pan Flute does okay damage at 1/3/3 but its true power lies in hitting its severe damage ability, or hitting the Haunting Melody trigger. The severe damage ability works like Zoraida's Obey spell, in forcing the affected non-master model with Wp 5 or less to take a (1) Action or Charge action. The Haunting Melody trigger forces the opponent to make a Wp duel or become Insignificant. Which, incidentally, is a way to get around Immune to Influence models, when it comes to turning them Insignificant.

=Resilience= A very resilient Master. //Insignificant, Ht1, Harmless// or //Pitiful// models must win a Wp -> 13 duel when trying to target Hamelin. This gives some degree of protection, depending on your opponent and how many models you've made Insignificant during the course of the game.

Hamelin is hard to keep dead due to //"Indiscriminate Void"// which allows Hamelin to sacrifice one of his The Stolen within 3" before regaining all his wounds. He then receives -4 **Ca** until the end of the encounter. Ideally Hamelin is going to want to keep The Stolen near him to allow this to happen. Note that all effect also end on Hamelin when this happens, and he regains all his wounds. He also doesn't change position on the board, he simply sacrifices the Stolen within 3" and remains where he is.

=Spells=

Understand the Soulless
Hamelin's bread and butter. By sacrificing a friendly model, the victim of the spell becomes //"Insignificant"// for the rest of the encounter making Hamelin a little safer from them, and potentially denying them as a scoring unit. Try to make sure you sacrifice a Stolen child, as it will gain you a free Malifaux Rat which can either move to your rat pack or be used as sacrifice bait for another casting of this spell.
 * NOTE**: If Nix is within 4" of this spell's sacrifice, it will trigger the pit bull's //"Gorge on Pain"// to perform a free (0) action.

Irresistible Lure
With enough enemy models made //"Insignificant"//, this becomes Hamelin's primary damage spell. Enemy //"Insignificant"// and Ht1 models 12" from Hamelin move their Walk towards him, and any models that end their movement in base-to-base with Hamelin take an unmodifiable 0/3/6 damage flip! Casting this multiple times a turn can drag a full enemy crew into rat-swarm range, while doing a ton of damage as the Severe damage flip is quite high.

Obedience
This is very much like the Obey spell that Zoraida, Predita et al have. The target non-master model makes a **(1)** Action or a **Charge** controller by the Hamelin player. It has a low casting cost of 13 (and so required a 6 or any suit), but does require you to sacrifice a friendly model within 6". Unlike Obey, there is no limit on how often you can cast this per turn. Nix make's an excellent target for this spell as you can choose to tie the resist, sacrifice a model within 4" of Nix so he can use a **(0)** action (ideally his Emptiness ability) and force him to charge an enemy or attack and enemy that has come too close.

=Soulstones= Hamelin is not terribly Soulstone dependent. The ability to sacrifice models to draw cards, combined with fairly low casting ability spells, means that he won't be burning a ton of Soulstones to attack or cast spells. His damage is generally secondary to his desire to turn models Insignificant, so you won't use them for that either. Also, the ability to prevent damage is not necessary as he comes back to life after dying.

=Tricks and Tips=

Rat Movement
Malifaux Rats are slow and generally only take one action per turn. However, they should not be underestimated. //"Writhing mass"// (0) allows rats to place themselves in base-to-base contact with another rat that is within 5''. This allows one rat to move up, and each other rat to //"Writhing Mass"// into base to base with the rat that moved. This allows all but one rat to make an attack if at least one rat is within 5'' of melee range. Second, make sure your Rat Catcher uses his **(0)** Herd Rats ability to remove **Slow** from your rat horde.

The Void
A very interesting mechanic for hand manipulation. While Hamelin cannot refresh his hand, he becomes able to draw cards from either the top of the deck //or// discard pile when an opponent plays a Control Card. This means you can play a high card to force an opponent to take a ton of damage or cheat to beat it, allowing you to take a high card back into your hand. The trick is to force your opponents to make difficult decisions regarding when to cheat and when to leave it alone. Playing high cards when trying to turn a key model Insignificant will force them to cheat the card, which in turn allows you to take back the high card, and play it again and again. Also note that while you may discard cards, it behooves you to keep all cards, especially lows in your hand, as not only does Nix benefit from Weak damage flips, but it reduces the chances of flipping a straight low card in a duel!
 * NB:** Keep in mind that the cards used in the current duel are not available to reclaim in that duel, as they don't go to the discard pile until the duel is finished. For example, if you cheat a high masks in on a pipes attack to get the //Haunting Melody// Trigger, you may not pick it back up if your opponent cheats his Wp flip, as the Duel is not finished. A good way of making sure you remember is to keep your "currently being played" cards in a separate pile to your discard.

=Strategies and Schemes for Hamelin=

Strategies
//This section needs updating post errata.//

The ability for your Insignificant models to interact with dynamite means you can use your rat hordes, which can be in range of a model with Voracious Rats, to interact (set off dynamite).
 * A Line in the Sand (Intermediate)**

Your goal will be getting as many rats as possible and keeping your Rat Catcher alive. With such a high model count you can keep your opponent from even being able to fit models within the 3'' required of the center marker.
 * Claim Jump (Intermediate)**

Generally the kill strategies are based on positioning your rat horde in the right place to get the kills. The difficult position here is that getting the extra VP is difficult as Hamelin is not an offensive powerhouse.
 * Contain Power (Intermediate)**

Rat catchers are fantastic for this with their Ferret ability. Your priority will be to turn your opponent's Master "Insignificant" to allow your Rat Catchers another level of protection to achieve this.
 * Deliver a Message (Intermediate)**

The difficult portion is that with the markers potentially far apart, you may have difficulty getting to all of them in time.
 * Destroy the Evidence (Intermediate to Difficult)**

Make your opponent's Master Insignificant and win. Use your Stolen and all of Hamelin actions to launch Insignificant attempts at your opponent's Master.
 * Distract (Easy)**

Since Malifaux Rats count towards this total, you can end up with more models than you started with!!
 * Escape and Survive (Easy)**

This can be just as challenging as Destroy the Evidence, and for the same reasons.
 * Plant Evidence (Intermediate)**

With the ability to turn most of the opponent's army Insignificant, you can easily outnumber your opponent in many quarters.
 * Reconnoiter (Easy)**

This is the only strategy which rewards your opponents for killing your rat horde. You get to have them back, but since summoned models count, you just give your opponents another chance at a 2ss cost.
 * Slaughter (Difficult)**

Rats do not block movement of models trying to get into contact with the wagon, but do prevent your opponent from attacking the wagon. Remember that Hamelin's Irresistible Lure can move models out of the way of the wagon if necessary.
 * Supply Wagon (Intermediate)**

Rats are bad at taking the objective, Hamelin is pretty good at this, but you may want to wait until you've created the safest Insignificant model level before attempting this.
 * Treasure Hunt (Difficult)**

Spend your game turning everyone Insignificant. You then only need a single rat in your opponent's Deployment Zone to win!
 * Turf War (Easy)**

Schemes
//This section needs updating post errata.//

Turning models Insignificant is not useful for killing your opponent. It is not impossible, but this is certainly not the easiest scheme to take part in.
 * Assassinate (Difficult)**

Hamelin is exceptionally difficult to kill for good, as by turning your opponent's biggest combat threats Insignificant, he can easily avoid death.
 * Bodyguard (Easy)**

Similar to the Turf War description. With the ability to remove your opponent's ability to counter your claim, it makes it easy to keep this.
 * Breakthrough (Easy)**

You have the ability to kill a few models, so if you can pick a few models that your opponent is likely to keep together, your rat horde can tear through them.
 * Extermination (Intermediate)**

You will likely fail this scheme unless you turn everyone insignificant and remove Nix and Hamelin from play somehow.
 * Eye for an Eye (Difficult)**

Considering most of your models will be sacrificed at some point, you will only want to put this on your Rat Catcher, and selectively leave your target significant. However, without your Rat Catcher, the rats are a lot less powerful. A difficult choice.
 * Frame for Murder (Difficult)**

Hamelin doesn't need or use a ton of Soulstones, so your goal will be to NOT use Soulstones during the game.
 * Gather Soulstones (Intermediate)**

Launch your rat horde at your target and you will most likely succeed.
 * Grudge (Easy)**

Make your opponent Insignificant (much like Turf War and Breakthrough) and you will succeed.
 * Hold Out (Easy)**

Should be fairly easy, but targeting a ranged or exceptionally mobile protegee will make this fairly difficult (yet certainly not impossible).
 * Kill Protegee (Intermediate)**

Can be fairly easy in larger point games, however it requires you get within 6'' of at least 4 models. Be prepared to take some fire.
 * Plague on Malifaux (Intermediate)**

With a high model count, you can afford to have a model sit on a hill for a little while. Best taken with Strategies which will require you to be in your opponent's half of the board anyway.
 * Stake a Claim (Easy)**

There are very few masters who excel at this strategy, but Hamelin can do it quite well by being untargetable and able to suck in Masters with Irresistible Lure.
 * Steal Relic (Intermediate)**

This strategy always seems to be a big risk. If your opponent wants to kill you, it may be a problem. However, if your opponent prepares a Scheme where he needs non-Insignificant models, you can beat him senseless.
 * Thwart (Intermediate)**

=Hamelin in Brawls= Hamelin has only two options for friends to bring along in a brawl.

Leviticus, Steampunk Necromancer
=Building a Crew= It's pretty well established that Hamelin should take an escort of The Stolen for his own survival. It equally goes without saying that he'll want some Malifaux Rats available (even if not on the board at setup, as each Stolen will generate one when they die PROVIDED you have a spare model to do so!).

The Obedient Wretch, Rat Catcher, and Nix can only work with Hamelin, and while they may not be useful to your Strategy, consider them for what they can offer. Don't restrict yourself to the idea that they are must-haves.

Other Crew Suggestions:
 * Hiring a Sorrow can give Hamelin more casting ability by linking with him and casting one of his powerful spells, with the ability to spend a Soulstone. It will drain his Wd, but may be worth it anyway.
 * Terror Tots are a popular choice in a Hamelin crew, since they can Grow and Mature after he hires them to become inexpensive but powerful Nephilim minions.
 * Desperate Mercenaries are also popular, either as minions or to feed Terror Tots.

Hamelin can only hire models that are **Height 1, Insignificant**, and/or **Soulless**. He cannot hire Constructs, Gremlins, or Henchmen of any kind. This can limit his options of a crew, but he is not without some choices. Hamelin's crew list is here.

=Starting Hamelin= Buy the starter box //(x3 Rats, x3 Stolen, Nix, and Hamelin), t//hen look to purchase x9 more rats, and x3 more Stolen to really make Hamelin shine.

After that, consider a blister of Rat Catchers (to make your Malifaux rats far more effective) and an Obedient Wretch.

=Playing Against [Master]=

C Hoffman
This Master is exceptionally difficult to deal with. His crew is often filled to the brim with "Immune to Influence models", which are very difficult to make "Insignificant." Constructs in range of a model with "Voracious Rats" do become rats when they die and do not leave scrap counters behind. When playing against Hoffman, it makes sense to save a few high cards to turn a few key models Insignificant with the Pipes' Haunting Melody trigger.

Perdita
The Ortegas are exterminators and quite difficult to deal with. The entire family is able to "Shrug Off" the effects of being made Insignificant or brushing off Blight Counters. Their eldest members, Papa Loco and Abuela, both have blast attacks which will demolish clustered rat packs. The younger members are all focused on range and will quickly remove any Rat Catchers, and even Hamelin, from a safe distance before you can close the gap. They aren't indestructible however, and your summoned numbers may still bring them down. Change tactics from trying to make your opponent Insignificant (because it won't last) to focusing instead on playing a numbers game to maximize your Strategy and Scheme against these legendary gunslingers.

=Playing Against Hamelin= Playing against Hamelin can be tricky business, as unlike a lot of Masters, the Strategies, Schemes and crew you chose will make a huge difference in the game (yes it usually makes a difference, but more so with Hamelin ). Games against Hamelin can be won or lost in the pre-game phases so choose carefully, specifically:

Strategies
Playing against Hamelin can be difficult if you need significant models to accomplish your Strategies. This makes strategies like "Destroy Evidence" difficult to complete. Likewise strategies that involve lots of models (controlling table quarters etc.) are difficult to win against Hamelin. In some of these situations, it may be worth re-flipping your Strategy (a shared Claim Jump for instance).

On the other hand, Slaughter is generally an easy Strategy to win against Hamelin as every rat you kill earns you 2 points, even if it comes back.

Crew Selection
Crew choice can make a big difference playing against Hamelin. Some general guidelines:
 * Minimize your Ht 1 and Insignificant models, as Hamelin and the Rat Catchers are Ruffians requiring you to win a Wp 13 duel to target them. He also benefits from Insignificant enemies and his powers grow the more Insignificant his foes are.
 * Models that can remove counters and effects are Solid Gold against Hamelin. They allow to to strip blight counters and more importantly, the Insignificant effect that Hamelin likes to cast so often. Guild in particular have a great selection of these models, with the Ortegas (**Shrug off**), Perdita (**Spellbreaker**) and Witchling Stalker/Handler (**Dispel**) all able to remove effects. Outside the Guild, both Sue and McTavish have **Shrug Off**, so they themselves can be difficult models to deal with.
 * Models with long-range weapons are a plus as rats do not block LoS. Stay away from the rat mobs until you have killed the Rat Catchers (which can be difficult without attacks that ignore armor...hint hint).
 * Take models that cause terror. Rats and Rat Catchers can be incredibly inconvenienced by them and 1-2 Terrifying models can wreck havoc on the rats.
 * It possibly goes without saying, but high Wp models can be a sound choice against Hamelin. While it won't shut down Hamelin's spells, it will at least make it harder for him to do what he wants to do.
 * Immune to Influence models are much harder for Hamelin to affect with his battery of spells, but it's by no means foolproof. The Haunting Melody trigger will still work and both the Stolen have ways to strip a model's Immune to Influence for a turn. So while these models are a decent choice (especially in numbers), don't assume they're foolproof.
 * Just like Zoraida, Hamelin loves facing models that have (1) actions to deal damage to themselves. Thus care must be taken to avoid getting obeyed by Hamelin with models like the Samurai Punk Zombie, Papa Loco and possibly Sue (if he didn't activate first and cast Tread the Line).

Schemes
Make sure to take schemes that Insignificant models can accomplish (Kill Protegee, etc. See the Strategy section for other guidelines on what to pick). If you're using Neverborn you can almost always take the "Kidnap" scheme (pick x3 rats) as the rats will die almost every turn.

//**Note**: It may seem like a good idea to use Hamelin's previous form (Hamelin the non-plagued) against this army of rats, but the success ends only on the thematic idea of it all. Black Death may be able to kill all rats within 18" of Hamelin for only x2 Spell castings, each requiring a Card with a value of 12+, but don't forget that anytime a Rat dies within 6" of Hamelin the Plagued or one of his Ratcatchers, a new one appears - making the "Black Death" a benefit for the "Plagued" to have onside.//

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