Mei+Feng

include page="inc_1.5rules" **Mei Feng, Arcanist and Ten Thunders Master**

//"Ambitious Mei Feng uses her mastery of metal and fire elemental magic to insinuate herself into the Miners and Steamfitters Union, drawing the attention of Viktor Ramos and his Arcanists." -- So Who are the Ten Thunders Masters? // toc

=Overview= Mei Feng is a melee caster. She excels at fighting multiple opponents, being able to dart into combat using her own constructs as stepping stones, once engaged she can move from opponent to opponent laying down damage and burning tokens. Mei Feng can combo her spells and strikes together into chains, which though card intensive allow her to pull off some impressive feats.

=Mobility= Mei Feng is an exceedingly mobile Master. This helps make up for her lack of ranged options. While her Walk/Charge is slightly above average, she can use Railwalker to leap into the fray. Once engaged in melee, both her weapons have a method for allowing her to reposition. Jackhammer Kick requires her to be Placed into base to base contact with the defender upon hitting. Tiger's Claw has a trigger (Tiger's Fury) that allows her to push up to 2” and then make a second strike against another target (similar to Whirlwind but with a small move).

Mei Feng can do very little to aid her crew's mobility, but Seismic Punch deserves a mention. A (1) spell needing only a 3+ to cast and requiring a Df resist, Seismic Punch pushes all models in a 3” aura who fail their resist 3” directly away from Mei Feng. This can be used to give a small boost to her crew helping them get further across the board. This ability seems relatively weak compared to a lot of Mei's abilities, but there are a number of tricks which can make it extremely useful. See the Tricks and Tips section for more information.
 * Seismic Punch**


 * Railwalker**

This (1) spell requires a 7+ of any suite to cast and allows Mei Feng to hop into base contact with up to two friendly Constructs or Rail Workers. Each stop on the line must be within 5” of the last, so careful set-up beforehand is a must, but this does allow Mei Feng to travel up to 10” inches on a single AP. Any friendly Constructs (or Rail Workers) can be used as stopping point, but a Metal Gamin can make an excellent final stop. Their Walk is slightly above average making it easier to get them into position and, if they're protecting Mei Feng, they can use a 0 action to charge allowing them to stay by her side while she is engaged in combat. While the obvious use of Railwalker is to get into melee range, it is important to remember the spell is a place effect not a move or a push. Therefore it is just as useful for getting out of combat without taking disengaging strikes or for leap around hazardous or impassible terrain.

Railwalker has two triggers and each requires a Tome. Express line allows Mei Feng to hop to a third Construct or Rail Worker increasing the range of the movment to 15”. Terminus allows her to make a Jackhammer Kick after resolving the movement from the spell. In addition to being a free melee strike, Jackhammer Kick has a built in movement effect, this means that the Terminus trigger can allow Mei Feng to move 13”

=Offense= Offense is Mei Feng's real strength. She's never happier than when she's surrounded by horrific monsters pulling crazy feats of destruction amongst them. While Mei can deal with individual opponents, it is when she's in combat with multiple opponents that Mei really shines.

Mei has no ranged attacks, where's the fun in shooting things from a distance?
 * Ranged**

Mei has 2 melee attacks, Jackhammer Kick, and Tiger's Claws.
 * Melee**


 * Jackhammer Kick**

Jackhammer Kick is a very useful attack for a number of reasons. It has a 3" range, good cb (so Mei is quite likely to hit with it) and an average damage profile, so it's not bad as an attack, and gives a large combat reach (often forcing disengaging strikes on enemy models who can't reach Mei themselves). When Jackhammer Kick hits (but before damage is determined) Mei is placed in base contact with the target. This allows for some very interesting positioning tricks depending on the situation. Note that she is placed in base contact with the model, so can move to the far side of the enemy's base if she wants. This can often get Mei close enough to other enemies to perform a Tiger's Claws strike (more on that later). NOTE: moving Mei into base contact after a Jackhammer Kick is NOT OPTIONAL. Therefore it may be a bad idea to attack someone with it, if you are playing claim jump for instance, and it drags you out of the centre of the board. This is definitely one to be considered thoroughly before using. It can have great benefits if used correctly, but every now and then it may cost you if you aren't paying attention.

Mei's Tiger's Claws melee attack is the real bread and butter of Mei Feng. It has a good Cb, and a good damage profile (though lower severe damage than Jackhammer Kick) and is paired. However, it only has a range of 1", so you have to be close to use it (though perhaps you can get close enough by Jackhammer Kicking the opponent first?). The Tiger's claws get a positive flip to damage flips when the opponent has a burning counter, and the claws also put a burning counter on the enemy (though sadly only after you damage them). This is all well and good, but the real juicy part of the Tiger's Claws, are the trigger if you flip a mask (or play a mask from your hand), which allows Mei to move up to 2", and then perform another Tiger's Claws strike against a different opponent (much like the Viktorias whirlwind trigger). Of course you need to hit the opponent and get the trigger, but each time you do, you can move 2" and attack another model. If you're careful with the cards in your hand (and use soulstones if you need to) this can cause Mei to jump back and forth between 2 or more enemy models, causing a good amount of damage, for only 1 action point! See the tricks and tips section for some nasty tricks to really pummel the opponent's models.
 * Tiger's Claws**

Mei only has 1 spell which causes damage itself, however some of her other spells can cause her to start up her attacks again.
 * Spells**

This is a spell which ignores armour, and causes a relatively small amount of damage with blasts on the moderate and severe damage. It is a 3" melee spell, so this again links in to Mei's general love of being in the thick of it, surrounded by enemies. Not only that, but the initial target (not models hit by the blasts) gains easy to wound on the next strike made against it. While this is useful for Mei to cause some pain (Scalding breath and then perform one of her melee strikes to cause a lot of damage), it is often better to simply attack enemies with a melee strike. Again, there are times when scalding breath is the right option (and remember it is a spell, so ignores the Spirit characteristic), but it isn't the right option every time. Also it's worth remembering that it doesn't have to be Mei who performs the strike with easy to wound against the target. You may wish to cast Scalding breath on it, and then have Kang or the Rail golem hit the target to maximise their high damage profile (and allow Mei to do other things).
 * Scalding Breath**

While neither of these spells causes damage to targets, both have triggers which allow Mei to perform a Jackhammer kick. Heed the warning above about Jackhammer Kick's automatic movement effect though.
 * Rail walker and Seismic Punch**

Oh, and every time Mei kills an enemy model, she gets to draw a card... which is nice.

=Resilience=

Mei has a very high defense and willpower, and average wounds for a master. She also has a few tricks to reduce damage and hide herself in obscuring auras. Best of all though, you can get her very well defended, using the triggers on her attacks, therefore avoiding the need to decide between agressive/defensive play in any give turn. NOTE: there is a link to a reference card which Ratty has made, showing a flow diagram of Mei's triggers. This is highly recommended, especially for Mei beginners.

If Mei is attacked before she has activated, she can suffer quite badly. Her high defense will go some way to protecting her, but against models with a good combat value and a few action points to attack with (for instance from melee expert, or flurry), she won't be protected for long. She is also similarly vulnerable to shooting attacks. However, It is often a good idea to keep Mei towards the back of your lines, using a trail of constructs and rail workers to give her access to the fight when she wants to get fighting (see the mobility section for more on Rail walker).

Once Mei has activated however, this is a totally different story. She has a **(0)** action to give her or a friendly model within 6" +2 armour. This is particularly useful for protecting fragile models such as Willie. It can also be cast via a trigger on Mei's Jackhammer Kick (called "Badass pose"... how cool is that?) though when cast as a trigger it must be cast on Mei. This is extremely useful if Mei is going to be stuck in the thick of the fighting for the rest of the turn as it means most models will have to do severe damage to her just to cause more than 1 wound at a time. Watch out for crews such as the Viktorias and Kirai who have a lot of models which ignore armour though.
 * Iron Skin**

Mei's other **(0)** action, and some might say her "signature spell" is Vent Steam. This forms a 4" obscuring aura around her, so with a few exceptions, enemy models will be unable to see her unless they are within 3" of her, and models behind her are hidden as well. This even avoids Lilith's ability to see through terrain (as obscuring markers are not "terrain"). Vent Steam is an extremely useful spell if you are playing against a ranged crew (such as Perdita's), but it also prevents models from being able to see to charge and cast spells at Mei too. As if that wasn't good enough, Mei (and many of her Rail crew) can ignore the obscuring trait completely (you can't see me, but I can see you!), so it doesn't hinder them at all. Be careful if you're using ranged models such as the Arcanists' gunsmith, or the 10 Thunders archers however, as you don't want to accidentally block their line of sight (this is easy to avoid with some careful movement). As if that wasn't good enough (how many times can I say that?), Mei can cast Vent Steam after hitting a trigger on either her Tiger's Claws strike, or Scalding breath spell. Surely it doesn't get better than that? Oh wait, it does! Once Mei casts Vent Steam (either as a **(0)** spell, or from her trigger) she automatically gets to cast Superheat, which can cause enemy models within the steam aura to gain a burning token.
 * Vent Steam**

Mei has the Lifer ability, so she's perfectly happy fighting against terrifying models. Indeed, it is a good idea to send Mei to hunt down terrifying models so that the rest of your crew won't have to worry about it. Watch out for avatar Seamus and Yin (who is not released at time of writing) though, as their aenethema will ignore lifer.

Mei is immume to slow as well. This doesn't often come into play, but if Mei happens to gain a burning token or other effect which causes slow, just ignore it, and carry on punching.

Finally, Mei is not just defensive for herself. All friendly models within 6" of Mei (including Mei herself) gain +1 Willpower. This can be useful, though the rail crew often ends up rather spread out (to allow Rail Walker to have maximum impact). It's one which is easy to forget (especially as there is a lot of text to remember on Mei's card) but every now and then it will be the difference between a win and a loss.

In general, Mei relies on her high stats, rather than sneaky abilities, to defend herself. She has no defensive triggers, and no will power triggers, so she only has those numbers to defend herself. (with subheadings like 'vs melee', ' vs ranged' and/or relevant spells and abilities)

=Soulstones= While Mei has good stats all round, this doesn't stop her from needing those precious soulstones. Mei has a higher than average cache of soulstones, and it is often a good idea to save the extra to get her up to 8. This allows you to really smash up those enemies once you've built up your hand. They can also be extremely useful in a pinch, of Mei is being attacked before she has activated.

In general, healing flips for Mei are not a very good thing. She really needs all of her action points to be hurting things. It is therefore a good idea to not get attached to your soulstones. If Mei is being attacked, decide if it is better to add another card to your defense flip, or perform a healing flip, and throw away a stone.

Similarly however, always remember to play to your strategy/schemes. Does Mei need to stay on high wounds? If not, then just grin and bear it, and then have Mei activate and use those soulstones to delete some models (after all, Mei on 1 wound is just as dangerous as Mei on full wounds).

(How badly the Master needs it's Soulstones and the best way for them to use it

=Tricks and Tips= Below is a small cheat card Ratty has made to help you keep track of your combos:

Ratty Quick Reference Card

This trick is particularly useful if you are playing against crews which excel at range (such as Guild or Gremlins), or models with nasty ranges spells. If placed correctly, Mei and the Emberling (Mei's totem) can form a wall of steam 6 or 7 inches long. This is plenty for your crew to advance behind, unhindered by those pesky bullets which so many people want to throw at you. Remeber Mei can companion activate with the Emberling, so at most, your opponent will have 1 activation before you put up your wall (unless they can companion activate too), and as both Mei and the Emberling have a high walk value, they should be able to advance at a pace which does not slow your crew down much, if at all.
 * Vent steam wall (with emberling)**

This is particularly good trick in the first turn or two, if you are using some slow models, such as Kang. Deploy the slow model (let's say Kang) as far forward as you can. Place the Emberling behind him (in base contact), and Mei Feng behind the Emberling (in base contact). First, activate Mei. Use Seismic punch, to push Kang and the Emberling forward 3" (as long as you set them up in a straight line, they will still be next to each other), then walk Mei Feng so that she is directly behind the Emberling again, and Seismic punch again (pushing them forward again). Perform whatever **(0)** action you wish. Next activate the Emberling (it doesn't have to be companion activated, a normal activation will do), and use magical extension to cast Seismic punch again. This will move Kang a further 3" forward, so before he's even activated, Kang can be nearly half way across the battle field. Don't worry too much about where Mei ends up, as you can either Rail Walker on constructs to get to the front of the fighting, or else use a torakage (or other movement tricks), depending on which faction you are using Mei as.
 * Seismic Punch Cannon**

This trick can also be expanded to your whole crew. Just make sure everyone is in front of Mei and within 3", and Seismic Punch away.

One of the best uses of Seismic Punch is when Mei is stood on an objective (for instance an evidence marker in destroy the evidence) but is surrounded by enemies. Cast Seismic Punch using a high card (if you flip one, or play one from your hand), then use a soulstone to increase the value of the cast. With Mei's high casting value, this should put the casting value above what any minion can achieve (it may not work on masters, as they have access to soulstones too). You can then push all of those minions 3" away, and then activate the marker. WARNING: this does tend to leave Mei exposed to a lot of threats, so only use it when it will help you to win the game. Don't use it if Mei being alive is more useful to you than activating the marker.
 * Other Seismic Punch Tricks**


 * Defensive Stance Rail Walker**

Rail Walker is a very useful spell for many different tasks. One major benefit is that it generally means that Mei does not use many (if any) action points on walking, during the game. This therefore nulifies the downside of Defensive Stance (reducing walk speed), and making Mei extremely difficult to move.


 * The Mei Tank**

If your opponent is trying to activate a marker, or get through a bottle neck in the scenery, there is no better way to ruin their day, than put Mei on defensive stance, rail walk to where you need to be perform a Jackhammer kick (from the Rail Walk if you have the right suit) if you need to, put up Iron Skin (from Jackhammer Kick if you have the right suit) and/or put up Vent steam (from either a Tiger's claw strike, or a Scalding breath spell with the right suit). Remember if you don't get the suits you need for the triggers, you can cast either Iron Skin or Vent steam as a **(0)** action.

You now have a high defense, soulstone user, who gets double positive to her defense (flip 3 cards, choose highest), who potentially has +2 armour and/or a 4" obscuring aura around her. Lady Justice might be able to get through all of that, but most other models in the game will bounce off. Just watch out for attacks which target your will power, and actions which might move her off the marker. Mei still has a great willpower, but it's not as good as her defense when she's on defensive stance.

=Strategies and Schemes for Mei Feng= (General overview, then maybe specifics on what strategies/schemes are good and bad)

=Mei Feng in Brawls=

__**Kaeris**__ - This is one of the best options in a brawl for Mei for the fact they both extensively use burn counters and share many of the same models in their crew lists.

__**Rasputina**__ **-** With crew selection there isn't much synergy here, but with Tinas ability White Out you add another source of obscuring for Mei. Another thing to do is have Tina hide behind the steam cloud with the ice gamin and disposable minions at the tip, Tina is behind 3 inches obscuring and cant be targeted but can bounce her spells out from a safe distance.

=Building a Crew= When starting a Mei Feng crew, you will have to buy the Rail Crew box set (Mei is not available to purchase individually at present). This allows you to build a crew for either Arcanists, or 10 Thunders, which will affect which other models you may wish to purchase. The Rail Crew contains Mei Feng, Kang, the Emberling, and 3 Rail Workers. This is all that you need to play either an Arcanist crew, or 10 thunders crew at the 25 soulstone level.

Mei can hire fire gamin, metal gamin, Willie the demolitionist, and a Rail Golem regardless of which faction she is used with. She may never use any models which have the frozen heart ability.

=Starting Mei Feng= When starting a Mei Feng crew, you will have to buy the Rail Crew box set (Mei is not available to purchase individually at present). This allows you to build a crew for either Arcanists, or 10 Thunders, which will affect which other models you may wish to purchase. The Rail Crew contains Mei Feng, Kang, the Emberling, and 3 Rail Workers. This is all that you need to play either an Arcanist crew, or 10 thunders crew at the 25 soulstone level.

Mei is not an easy master to understand. There are a lot of knock on effects to virtually every action she performs, and it can be confusing for inexperienced players. That being said, if you really want some cool half man/half machine ninja people, then go for it. The best advice when starting a crew is to go with something you like the look of. It might take a few games to get the hang of it (Mei took me around 5-7 games to fully understand, and around 10 games before I actually won with her)., but as long as you like the models, and like the play style, you'll stay interested, and therefore get the hang of it eventually. Don't worry if you don't remember everything the first time around (in fact, I guarantee you won't remember everything first time round).

=Playing Against Mei Feng= With Vent Steam, her melee prowess and mobility, Mei can be a handful to deal with. She will often use many soulstones offensively, much like the Viktorias. Although counter intuitive, Mei is weakest in melee against another beefy beater. Her average wounds for a master leave her a bit vulnerable when she's low on soulstones - but she doesn't rely on them nearly as much as Misaki does.

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