Rotten+Belle


 * Rotten Belle, Resurrectionist Minion** toc

"//These beautiful undead ladies were once the staff of Madam Sybelle's Saloon, before Seamus killed them along with their madame and made them his retinue of undead prostitutes. Even after their undeath they recall some of the skills of their trade, using it to lure unsuspecting enemies into their deaths.//"

//"In Malifaux, there's no problem you can't solve without sending a few dead hookers at it."// - Eric Johns, Game Designer

=__Overview__= The Rotten Belle is a staple Resurrectionist minion. They provide great board control abilities with decent de-buffs, and surprising toughness. They are also very cost-efficient, being one of the best support models available for their cost. Rotten Belles do lack in the damage department but that's what the other parts of your crew are for, aren't they?

Though mainly considered to be the servants of Seamus, most Ressurectionist masters will consider putting these women to use.

Never mind who can resist the //lure// of fielding zombie hookers?

=__Mobility__= At first you wouldn't think that a shambling zombie prostitute would be a quick model, but she can actually move along quite well.

Their walk is 4", which is the average for most models. However, if taken with Seamus  and/or Molly, they become surprisingly fast. //Belles of the Ball// (Seamus' ability) boost their movement to 6" when activating within 8" of him, while //Extraordinary Dead// (Molly's ability) gives them an additional +2 Wk in a 4" aura.Together this can enhance the Walk of the Belles to 8" - making them amongst the fastest models in the game!

They also ignore severe terrain movement penalties due to their //Shambling// ability, which basically means she almost always going to be moving her full Wk distance.

=__Offense__= Rotten Belles aren't built for damage but rather manipulation and debuffing. While Belles won't often kill any given model outright they can reliably hit and take the odd point of damage from the model they are in combat with.

Melee
The Belles have two melee attacks - //Grimy Parasol// and //Teeth and Nails//. The //Parasol// has better overall damage and 2" range but its Cb is below average, while //Teeth and Nails// has an above average Cb of 6, has the Rot trigger associated with it (which gives and additional flip for your damage if you flip (or cheat) a crow in the attack duel), and deals the same severe damage as the //Grimy Parasol//, and the trigger Rot associated with it. Typically most will likely use your //Teeth and Nails// in melee, except when the enemy is out of its range or tries to disengage.

Spells
While their damage output is lacking, their spells make up for it. Unfortunately (except when casting //Lure//) their Ca is low, but that's what cheating is for (to help you succeed when its really important).

Lure
//Lure// is their signature spell (//"//come hither brains..//."//), and is the main reason to take these lovely ladies in your crew. This spell pushes an enemy model their Wk towards the Belle and, should the push end with the victim in melee with the Belle, the Lady must make a free melee strike against the misled target. Due to the women being //Seductive// (really? I mean... REALLY?), the Belles receive an additional +4 Ca and a Mask suit to their Ca when casting //Lure//, which makes casting this spell very easy (a 4+ card of any suit will make the spell succeed). The applications for Lure are almost endless, you can pull models away from support, off objectives, make them drop treasure (this is stipulated in Treasure Hunt), move your own crew around 'out of activation', push them off cliffs or high buildings. It has a lot of tactical uses and understanding how best to use it is very important. It also has a range of 18", which is huge. Make sure you know the rules for pushing and moving towards something as you will be using this spell a lot.

The remaining two spells the Belles have are debuffs and are both useful, even if both require an 8+ card to be cast successfully and each take 1 AP out of the Belle's action pool. They both have decent range too, and can really disrupt the plans of an opponent.

Distract
A long ranged spell (but isn't a ranged attack) with a range of 15" that casts //Slow// on the target model, and plus an additional model within 3" of the original target per crow in the casting total. Since this Spell already has a Crow in its casting, it will affect 2-3 targets (3 if the card flipped/ cheated in casting the spell is another Crow suit). It needs an 8+ of any suit to cast but due to a Belles regular low Ca a big card is ideally what you want to use to make sure it gets through as making a group of models slow can be a real game changer. Remember it tags up to another two models where they do not have to make a resist, only the target does, so if there's a group of models that has one low Wp model target that one if you can.

Undress
//Undress// (trust me, you don't want to think about it... and if you do, don't let me think about it...) reduces an enemy models Df by -2 until the end of the turn. It's just enough for other models in your crew to be able to hit easier and get the all important 'straight flip' on damage. Not much finesse required in choosing a target but sadly it cannot be stacked (there is only so much clothes a girl can take off) but -2 Df is quite a lot on its own and shouldn't be considered trivial by any means.

=__Resilience__= 8 Wds, Slow to Die and Hard to Wound 1 for only 4ss. Yes please! Sign me up for some dead hookers :). If for nothing else Belles make great objective holders due to these three traits, they aren't invincible but they do take a concentrated effort to put down, and often this is enough to demoralize your opponent and lead them to think they expended all that effort just to kill a 4ss minion.

For their humble price of 4 points, Rotten Belles are unarguably among the toughest minions. While their Df is very low (3), and their Wp is only average (5), with //Hard to Wound// and 8 Wds killing them is much harder than hurting them. Even when they go down, they can make a last action due to their Slow to Die ability which can be any of their spells.

=__Tips and Tricks__=

Lure Shenanigans
You will take Belles mostly for their //Lure// spell. The more //Lure// you have, the merrier, so one is usually not enough. I like to take two, but in larger points even three or more could be a good option. Just be careful to take enough Minions with higher damage output to complement their weakness in combat.

//Lure// can be used on your own forces to push them up the board or out of Melee. A push does not allow for a disengaging strike - thematically you can consider the enemy model to be 'distracted' enough for your friendly model to escape ;). When casting //Lure//, remember if the target ends the push within your melee range, you MUST make a melee strike against it even if the target is a friendly model (in the above example, the Belle smacks their friend for being stupid for getting involved in such a scuffle). If the model is within 1" you can make a Bash (slap) attack against it, so you will be less likely have to cheat to avoid hurting your own dudes.

Rotten Belles also have //Companion (Sybelle)//, so if you include the Madame in your army you will be able to perform some alpha strikes or, more likely, alpha //Lures// by activating the two of them together (this can drag victims right across the map into your den of lustful evil).

This is the Rotten Belle's third and final spell which has the shortest range of all three but is no less useful. If successful it reduces the target's Df by 2 which can be usefull
 * (1) Undress**

She's not just a Lure-bot
Please whatever you do don't forget the Rotten Belles other spells, yes lure is great but so are her other spells, when the opportunity presents itself the others will win you games as well but you will often have to play a big card to succeed, it will be worth it though.

=__Master-Specific Tips__= Due to how Rotten Belles work they are really effective in almost every Ressurectionist crew usually left at just one or two as thsi gives you access to their control abilities without sacrificing a significant drop in the offensive punch of your crew. They are just a solid minion.

Seamus
Seamus has great synergy with the Belles as they are his creations after all. Other than the movement buff mentioned previously, he can reduce the enemy's Wp in an aura by 2 with his (0) //Trail of Fear// ability (all the Rotten Belle's spells target Wp). He can also Companion a Belle or even better, Madame Sybelle with //(0) Womanizer// to enable some nasty alpha strikes. Of course he can also summon more of them from corpse counters. //Undress// helps make up for his moderate Cb on the //.50 Flintlock// and //Distract// can further push the speed advantage that you may have over your opponent. Casting //Lure// on Seamus will boost his movement, and you can often deploy him deliberately out of position to be Lured toward the Rotten Belles for another 8" of movement.

McMourning
Belles are also great choice for McMourning. While the good doctor has brutal damage output and great threat range, he is a bit squishy for a Resurrectionist. He benefits a lot from having an enemy model separated from its crew to slice into Body Parts, and from having a way of escaping dangerous situations. They also give him some abilities that affect Wp, which is something which he is often lacking. As he can't summon Belles, be careful with your undead courtesan, or take 2-3 of them to make sure you have acces to Lure every time you need it.

Nicodem
Just like the other two male Ressers, Nicodem also likes having some girls around (maybe the old man has a "thing" for a corpse in a corset? Don't ask, don't tell...). They can lure unsuspecting enemies into his horde of undead, just to increase its size and he has an easier time summoning them than Seamus if he needs more board control.

Kirai
Unlike the masters in Book 1, Kirai doesn't benefit as much from Rotten Belles. Even without Belles, her preferred crew has more movement shennanigans compared to the other Resser crews, she has less synergy with non-Spirit models and she can only take one Belle, which often isn't enough.

Molly
Molly has a lot of synergy with Belles (she is one of them after all...). Like Seamus, she can increase their movement and with //(0) Impossible Knowledge and// she can give them Necrotic Spray, which make hitting them in melee literally painful for living models. Molly can also summon Belles from two corpse counters if you need more of them.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= One of the best partners for the Belles is the Convict Gunslinger because she can //Lure// a victim within 10" of him, which he can //Rapid Fire// it to death. They also have great synergy with Crooked Men due to the ability to //Lure// models into their Shafted markers, as well as the Hanged with their good ranged damage output. Honestly every Resser minion who can deal enough damage synergies with them well.

=__Playing Against Rotten Belles__= The first encounter against Rotten Belles is usually a painful one for a beginner. Having your crew pulled into their deaths can be very demoralizing.You will see them in a lot of Ressurectionist crews (except perhaps Kirai and her spirits) because they are a valuable minion that, while not causing a lot of damage directly, can impact position on the board and achieving objectives. Fortunately there are lot of ways to avoid or minimize the threat of undead hookers for any faction.

First, terrain is your best friend - if they don't see you, they can't Lure you. A low Wk (from, say, a //Defensive Stance// action) can also be beneficial too as you can't be lured out of position too badly.

All of a Rotten Belle's spells target Wp, and Resser crews have very few ways to remove Immune to Influence. A larger based Immune to Influence model (Flesh Construct, Peacekeeper, Guardian, Ryle, Teddy, any of the Riders, etc.) blocking LoS to your models can be a good idea.

If these are not available for you, try to include as much Minions with high Wp and/or Stubborn or Smoldering Heart as possible. The Governor's Proxy for the Guild can also be handy. While Belles still can //Lure// your models, they most likely have to cheat, reducing your opponents Control Hand. They also pose more threat at range than in melee, so fast melee based crews (Lilith, the Dreamer, Marcus, etc.) can simply rush their crew, ignore the Belles and take out the real damage dealers.

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