Von+Schill

include page="inc_1.5rules" **Von Schill, Outcasts Henchman** toc

=__Overview__= Von Schill is the consummate Mercenary leading the group known as the Freikorps. He enjoyed a successful military career Earthside before plying his trade in Malifaux where he saw an abundance of opportunities.

Initially, Von Schill worked for the Governor General before the two of them had a rather unfortunate falling-out over a difference of opinion. Since then Von Schill has developed the signature armor that all his band wear, and he offers the services of his elite mercenary company and his considerable tactical acumen to those who can afford to pay.

Von Schill and his Freikorps play as a pretty straight-up-and-down crew. They have considerable speed with a usual Wk/Cg of 5/8, and balanced ranged and melee abilities across the board. Their biggest feature is that all Freikorpsmen have //Freikorps Armor// which grants //Armor +1//, //Magic Resistance 1// and ignore all Dg from Pulses, Auras and Blasts.

Overall he is a very tough Henchman with solid followers. They aren't flashy but they are efficient, and will get the job done.

=__Mobility__= Von Schill is one of the most mobile Leaders in the game and has absolutely oodles of AP to spend per turn with his combination of //Nimble// and //Instinctual//. He has a respectable Wk of 5, so if you have nothing better to do he can move 15" across the board in one turn at the very worst. While that may not seem like an absolutely massive amount it does mean he can easily get to his objectives or put pressure on quite early. With //Nimble//, Von Schill can take two Walk actions and still fire his Clockwork Seeker at a total threat range of 22", which makes picking out support models relatively easy.

The real crux of Von Schill's huge mobility comes down to his (0) action, //Augmented Jump//. With //Instinctual,// you will almost always be using this action in each turn for postioning and being a general nuisance. //Augmented Jump// grants //Flight// and enables Von Schill to move out of melee range without Disengaging Strikes, so you will never be tied up in a combat that you dont want to be. For example, if you are in combat with something like a Young Nephilim and survived their attacks, you can //(0) Augmented Jump// then //Nimble// Walk out of combat, and there's nothing they can do to you - you can then fire two shots with your Clockwork Seeker and still have another (0) Action available.

The combination of //Augmented Jump// and //Nimble// also means that you should never be slowed down from completing 'grab' type strategies that require you to move around the board. Remember that if Von Schill is carrying the Treasure in Treasure Hunt and uses //Augmented Jump//, he loses //Flight// but still can't be blocked when disengaging. Strategies and Schemes that require you to perform 'Interact' actions such as Deliver a Message and the aforementioned Treasure Hunt can be performed a lot more easily, and without sacrificing too much of your activation in order to complete the Strategy or Scheme.

As a Trigger on his Clockwork Seeker, when you use a Mask in your Attack duel total Von Schill can //Reposition// which gives him a 3" push in any direction. Think of it a little like Pandora and the pushes she gets via //Fading Memory//. Not quite as prolific or as far but still a very useful tool and can encourage hit-and-run attacks.

//Augmented Jump// also means you can approach the opposing crew from angles that they weren't expecting, by flying over buildings and the like. It is easy for Von Schill to be in the right place at the right time, and it is very hard to actually pin him down.

=__Offense__= Offensively, Von Schill is no slouch as he has a Clockwork Seeker (the same gun as Rusty Alyce) with excellent damage and range, that compares closely to Seamus' .50 Flintlock but with a longer range and higher Cb. With //Augmented Jump// and //Nimble// Von Schill usually gets to where he needs to be and then pegs them with the Seeker. As mentioned above, he has the //Reposition// Trigger, but if you manage to flip or play any Rams he can instead gain //Critical Strike//, taking his Dg to a very impressive 4/5/6!

As a hardened Mercenary, Von Schill also has //Ruthless// which can really take away from some models' defensive mechanisms and enable him to target them with impunity.

In melee, Von Schill can get it done, but it's not usually where he wants to be. His Hunting Knife ignores //Armor// in melee and has the //Brutal// Trigger with a Tome, but generally he is best out of melee. If you happen to have a high Crow in your hand while in melee with a Ht1 model, you can chop them up with your Hunting Knife and the //Skinning// Trigger, which gives you a card draw if you kill the model. This is only occasionally useful, but allows for some deck cycling.

Von Schill is extremely dangerous to Undead. His //Undead Knowledge// removes an Undead model's //Hard to Wound// ability and adds a positive twist on damage with both his melee and ranged strikes. You can also use //Last Rites// to get rid of any Corpse or Scrap Counters laying on the ground, denying them to any opponents who rely on them. It's a lot easier to use this to good effect than with other models that have this ability due to his amazing maneuverability.

Von Schill also has access to a (1) action, //Magnetic Pulse//, that is a 4" pulse that gives all Constructs //Slow//. This can be extremely handy, but dont rely on it too heavily against Ramos (who can ignore it with //Perfect Machine//) and Hoffman (who has //Perfect Machine// and also //Dampening//, which stops the generation of Blasts, Pulses and Auras within 3" of him). It can work wonders against their Constructs, but you will definately have to watch your positioning.

=__Resilience__= Von Schill is one of the most resilient models in the game, if for no other reason than he has //Slow to Die// and //Use Soulstone//. This means that as long as you have Soulstones and don't flip the Black Joker to heal, he cannot die from taking Wounds. This amazingly strong combination is tempered by the fact that you won't always want to be munching down on Soulstones like candy, but it does mean that you needn't worry about Damage Prevention flips or Cheating and Soulstoning your Resist and Defense flips if your opponent has generated a ridiculously high total. However, it is important to note that Von Schill can be killed or sacrificed by abilities that do so without inflicting damage, such as //Headshot// or Leveticus' //Entropic Transformation//.

In addition Von Schill also has //Armour +1// and //Magic Resistance 1// and can ignore Dg from Blasts, Pulses and Auras thanks to the ever-handy //Freikorps Armor//. He has a mid-ranged Df and a respectable 10 Wd too.

He has a solid Wp of 6 plus //Stubborn//, so he can win most Wp Resist duels comfortably (although remember that //Stubborn// only comes into play when you are the defender).

Von Schill also augments the resilience of his crew around him with another (0) action, //Hard-Ass//, that gives friendly models within the Aura +4 Wp when involved in Morale Duels. It's worth noting that Von Schill is not affected by it as he is the origin of the Aura, and the bonus only works for Morale duels, not spells or abilities with a Wp resist. It can still be very handy if you are facing a lot of //Terrifying// models or other sources of Morale duels. In addition, friendly Freikorps models in close proximity to Von Schill gain //Slow to Die//.

=__Soulstones__= Sometimes you will want to spend Soulstones avoiding attacks, and sometimes you will want to spend them to boost Clockwork Seeker strikes, although with Von Schill's healthy Cb you should be able to avoid doing this. Mostly, you will use them for Healing flips on //Slow to Die// actions. Von Schill benefits from having a sizable chunk of Soulstones to use, though this will of course depend on whether or not you are using Von Schill as your Leader, or if he is assisting a Master. If Von Schill has joined a Master, maximizing your cache is often the best idea, as you will have multiple models fighting over the use of that precious resource.

=__Tricks and Tips While Joining a Crew__= As a Mercenary Henchman, Von Schill can join almost all of the Masters in the game. Although he's expensive at 10 Soustones for any non-Outcast crew, he can bring some excellent mobility and ranged support, especially to crews that are traditionally lacking in these areas. He can use //Hard-Ass// to boost the Wp of a crew and is a major irritant to any Construct or Undead-heavy crews. However, remember that if you hire Von Schill you will not be able to hire your own Faction's Special Forces or an Effigy, which is especially important with Masters like McMourning or Nicodem who have the capacity to summon Special Forces models. Unless you decide to bring in some more Freikorps, Von Schill is unlikely to have any real synergy with your crew and will act as a lone operator. Never forget that Von Schill is an option, but be careful to consider whether or not he is the best option for his cost. Hiring Von Schill also removes the limit on out of faction mercenaries you hire, but because of his Friekorps rule, you can only hire Friekorps as mercenaries.

Von Schill (and the other Freikorps) are very often seen in crews led by the Viktorias, complimenting their melee dominance with some ranged support. You're free from having to pay the Mercenary fee of Von Schill, since you're hiring him in-faction, and since the Viktorias' typical crews rarely rely on any in-built synergy you're not losing anything by adding in some Freikorps support.

The greatest part about Von Shill is all his power comes from abilities and AP, not spells, plus he has oodles of triggers in a variety of different suits meaning he will often have some useful trigger going off meaning you can save your cards for your master.

=__Tricks and Tips While Leading a Crew__=

Strategies and Schemes
Von Shill is one of the most versatile models in the game, capable of being useful in almost every situation. He can grab objectives, pick of key models, and support his troops in several key ways. He can work in isolation, can't be tied down, or can work at the focus of a team approach.

What Shilly is not great at is dealing huge amounts of damage, especially in melee, so Slaughter and Kill Protege may not be the best options.

[|Freikorpsmann]
Freikorpsmen are good, balanced models, but having too many with //Flurry// puts a fairly severe strain on your control hand. Melee is really where the 'korpsmen want to be. I'd recommend two of them.

[|Freikorps Specialist]
This guy is amazing. While he's the slowest of the Freikorps models, the Flammenwerfer is an amazing weapon as you engage the enemy. The Specialist also has an awful lot of staying power and utility in melee. He can engage clusters of enemies and tie them up, and then take an awful lot of them out when he goes down. He doesn't damage Freikorps models when he explodes, but when he detonates his own tanks it can also hurt your own Freikorps despite their Armor, as it is a Pulse which generates Strikes rather than dealing damage directly. When the Specialist is in the right place he can put a halt on entire crews as they try to restore their board position. Models with a Wp less than 7 also take a negative twist to all Cb duels against him in melee, making him really hard to bring down without paired weapons or Focused strikes.

[|Freikorps Trapper]
You can deploy this guy after all other models have deployed, and quite close to enemy lines, making him a constant threat. He has //Hunter// and //Scout// to maximize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages of terrain, and //Ruthless// to ignore //Harmless// and similar abilities. He has a built-in Trigger to push him 3" after every successful attack. After that his main drawbacks are poor damage and relative vulnerability. For all of his pushes he still can't keep up with Von Schill, which means that he isn't always going to get a //Slow to Die// action. Unlike many other primarily ranged models, he has no abilities to help extricate him from melee engagement.

[|Freikorps Librarian]
She gives you one more card to your hand, but you have to discard one when you activate her. She gains the suit of the discarded card, which given the otherwise very low CC of her healing spell makes her one of the best healers in the game as long as you can afford to discard a Ram. She has //Furious Casting//, allowing her to heal up to three models (or one model three times) in a single activation. Remember to keep her in range of your soldiers and of course, Von Schill himself - a //Slow to Die// healer is tough to take out. As a bonus, she can buff all nearby Freikorps with some +Df. She has even //Counterspell//. On offense she's weak, and is not a frontline fighter. She is a decent ranged caster with limited range, capable of throwing out blasts with the right Trigger. She has //Block Connection// to make enemy spellcasters' lives harder and //Aetheric Theories// to make her own fellows' easier, although in a typical Von Schill crew she won't cast this ever as she is the only model that uses spells. Plan your turns. The Librarian is a versatile model. With the right suit she can deal with many problems.

Von Schill Starter Box
The starter box is a very solid 25 Soulstone crew for the Freikorps. It contains Von Schill, two Freikorpsmen, a Specialist, a Trapper and a Librarian.

Expanding From the Starter
One thing you will notice is the lack of melee hitting power and the lack of magic weapons. Fortunately, Von Schill is in a faction where both melee fighters and magic weapons abound. You can pick up the Viktorias and use them as your Master while Von Schill goes to Henchmen duties, or just pick up some solid models such as Taelor, Misaki, or Johan, who all fill the melee role and carry magic weapons. Other options include the Convict Gunslinger for more ranged attacks plus some nice Triggers and Spells, Desperate Mercenaries for some cheap bodies, and Ronin for solid non-magical melee models that come at a relatively cheap cost by Outcast standards and can help deal with any armoured problems you may encounter.

For some more advanced options, Hamelin is also a good addition and adds another dimension to the crew, as well as giving the Librarian a good target for her //Aetheric Theories//. Jack Daw is another model that can add a different feel to the crew and can be quite an asset in some situations.

All in all, Von Schill works pretty well with any of the Mercenaries and each can add another layer to his playstyle.

=__Playing Against Von Schill__= A basic Freikorps crew will struggle against a more mobile opponent as when Von Schill can't enforce his will everywhere, he will likely stretch himself thin and leave himself short. Likewise, a Guild gunline will quickly decimate many of Von Schill's minions as although they have //Armor// they dont have a large amount of Wounds to back it up, and with the proliferation of //Critical Strike// in the Guild a fair bit of carnage will often ensue. The Freikorps' low Wounds also make them vulnerable to attacks which deal Wd instead of Dg, like many of the abilities of Leveticus and other models in his crews, as these will bypass their //Armor// entirely.

If you can, try and split the Friekorps up, with abilities like //Lure//, baiting models, or with spells like //Flame Wall//, //Illusionary Forest//, //Ice Pillars//, or even a Crooked Man's //Shafted//, which manipulate the board and movement. The Freikorps durability diminishes when they aren't in close proximity to Von Schill, so if you have any way to pick the crew apart go for it.

The Freikorps also struggle a little against Spirits (due to their lack of magic weapons) and in melee. Von Schill can get around this as he can hire any mercenary and is not restricted just to Freikorps, but it is a definite weakness at starter box level. The Outcasts in general, however, have a lot of solid melee models, almost all with magic weapons.

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