Lilith

= = include page="inc_1.5rules" = **Lilith, Neverborn Master** = toc

=Overview= == = = A high-speed, melee-focused Monster (I mean Mother... I mean Master... anyway). Lilith typically leads her blood-thirsty brood of Nephilim to the battlefield where they may feed on the blood of their victims. She plays a "divide-and-conquer" strategy, stealing victims from their crews with her infamous //Transposition// and throwing them to her children to eat, while simultaneously delivering her matured monsters into the heart of the enemy to progress her Blood-Harvest.

None can hide from Lilith's predatory senses as the //Master of Malifaux// ignores all terrain that would block her LoS and most that would hinder her movement. She can even employ Malifaux to her purposes - sliding anyone in a large section of the board in a direction of her choice with an //Earthquake//, while blocking LoS and charge lanes with an //Illusionary Forest//.

Lilith is one of the fastest, most evasive and powerful opponents anyone would ever dread to face. However, she is not an army on her own and can frequently become a victim of her own arrogance when used unwisely (employing her as a front-line fighter is a mistake many new players make when using Lilith). With a little forward thinking however, you can have huge gains for both Lilith and her crew.

=Mobility= With an incredible Wk of 6", Cg of 9" and //Fast//, Lilith is unquestionably one of the most mobile Masters in the game. Lilith is also able to dash through Hazardous, Severe and Water terrain without penalty thanks to //Master of Malifaux//. She can even skip across a lava/acid pit without injury provided she doesn't stop in the middle of it. She can even charge many opponents who cannot see her as //Master of Malifaux// lets her ignore terrain that would block her LoS. While other opponents must take their time getting through a forest, Lilith dashes right through it would skipping a beat.

‍Earthquake
Occasionally Lilith is faced with opponents smart enough to use their own forces to block charge lanes and/or LoS (//Master of Malifaux// allows Lilith to see through all terrain, but it does not let her look through models). If needed, she can clear her problem with an //Earthquake// which shifts models 2" in the direction of her choice. With a diameter of 24" few will escape this. She can even use it three times (don't forget that Lilith is //Fast//) in one activation which can throw almost everyone 6" in the direction of her choice (excluding her - it's a Pulse so the caster remains where they stand).

Though //Earthquake// doesn't deal damage on its own, it has potential to be deadly (e.g. push models 6" into a lava flow or other hazardous terrain; throw enemies off high locations - thank you gravity, etc). You can even use it to push enemies towards your minions (e.g. have your Brood backed up against Impassable terrain so they won't move when the tremor happens, then //Earthquake// their meals toward them). Creative use of this spell can help you get onto objectives or force enemy models to drop counters (like the Treasure) and push them off/away from objectives. ‍

‍Transposition
This lets Lilith switch the positions of two models. Given the //Master of Malifaux// ignores terrain for LoS, it lets her target nearly any model on the board and in range. She can have a fast model run behind a building near the enemy Master or a critical Minion and then //Transposition// it with something powerful (like a Mature Nephilim). You can do it to two enemy models if you want, switching their position and causing havoc, or switch an enemy model with one of your own, either bringing the target closer to you for the kill or sending another model out to get a kill or both at once. Remember, when you are targeting your own models with this even if they win the Resist Duel you can still have them chose to tie the duel and thus fail but you still have to make that initial flip so this can get a bit card intensive.

Lilith __cannot__ target herself with //Transposition// because it has a resist flip (and thus is an attack). However the Cherub (or other Totem) can cast it on her. ‍

=Offense= Lilith has a number of tools to aid her on the offense, least of which is certainly not her Greatsword. With an above average Cb of 7 and a 2" reach she can hit almost any model in the game and the positive flip on damage from the Greatsword helps her get by Hard to Wound and get the damage flip up to the all important straight flip.

Master of Malifaux
The offensive part of this ability is the "ignores Terrain when drawing LoS" part. This means that she can target models through any terrain with her spells and attacks as long as she can get in range. She can be on the other side of a 1" wall or on the floor above and attack through it. This makes her an extremely good assassin as she can dart in, kill a model through a wall and then stay in complete safety because no other model in the game can attack her back. It also creates interesting situations like engaging a sniper through the floor of the building they are sitting in; they are in your Melee range and LoS so you have them engaged, thus preventing them from being able to make ranged attacks.

Remember, this does not let you see through larger models. So if a Ht 3 model is blocking your LoS to a Ht 2 model, this ability won't let you see past the Ht 3 to the model hiding behind it.

Whirling Death
To further enhance the deadliness of her weapon she has the //Whirling Death// action, which when you consider she is //Fast// lets her move (or be //Transpositioned//) into place and then strike every model in 2" of her (remember this includes your own models and that each strike is resolved separately but in the order of your choosing). At 3/4/6 damage this can put some serious hurt on anyone caught in it and any buffs you can give to her damage or debuffs to the enemy just further add to the pain. I suggest using this against already hurt minions, particularly ones that have 3 or 4 wounds remaining so that you can finish them off. Even with Df 8 you don't want to leave yourself surrounded if you can help it, so take a bit of an ego hit and go after the weaklings first.

Bloody Fate
Don't write this trigger off just because it doesn't deal any damage. Card cycling is an important part of Malifaux. This is not a trigger that is truly worth going out of your way for, but if you happen to get the dual Masks then go for it. If nothing else you have a chance of switching out a low card in your hand for a higher one.

==

Brood Mother
This is a powerful ability if used with the right minion. Since this lets you activate (following Lilith's activation) any Nephilim in range, your most likely choices are the powerful Nephilim like Nekima, Mature Nephilim or Lelu. With the first two choices the use is rather obvious. It gives you a powerful minion to help Lilith out and lets her set up easy kills for them and use them as battle buddies/bodyguards. For the last one, Lelu, the bonus there is much more subtle and lies with the Lelu's Bond with Lilitu. This lets you do a Companion Chain with Lilith starting it, then having a Lelu go who can Companion a Lilitu and have her go who can then companion another Lelu and have him go and finally the last Lilitu and have her go. This lets you have upwards of a 5 models Alpha strike which can be crushing to play against. All these models coming at you at once before you get the chance to activate a model will tear through most crews and lets you set up some very powerful combo's.

‍Black Blood
Like all Nephilim, Lilith has Black Blood. This serves as a nice deterrent for models with only a few Wds left as they could easily kill themselves by damaging you in melee. This can also be used in a very spiteful way against valuable targets. Models with Hard to Kill or/and //Use Soulstones// have a tendency to be left with 1 Wd after you go all out on them. So you move into base to base with them when you begin your attacks and deal as much damage as you can. Now if anyone wants to try and kill you Black Blood will drip death onto the model they are trying to save. This creates the interesting paradox: they have to kill you to survive but if they kill you they are going to lose an important model. If you know you can survive the hit and that the Black Blood is going to kill your target, let them hit you. You can always prevent/heal the damage and your target is dead. ‍

Alluring
Even though Lilith's Ca is on the low side of average it doesn't matter for this spell as it has no resist. Its main use is against a group of high Df models or one particularly high Df model (think Corphyee Duet). This is especially useful if your Crew is nearby and is set up to do most of the killing. Even against average Df models, this is a good action to use if Lilith has only 1 Ap left and your Crew is in a good position to capitalize on this debuff.

__NOTE:__ This spell does not stop charges from outside of 3" of her nor will it stop a model charging her at the 3" range of the Aura. It will only stop a charge against her if they start within the 3" range of the spell. This is mainly useful for those models with the 1 Ap charges but really is still useful against any model that ends up within that range because if you have to take a walk action to get in range of a strike, you may as well just charge instead. Also useful if Lilith is in obscuring terrain as most models can only see 3", so if they are able to her they will be too close to charge.

Earthquake
//Earthquake's// main offensive use is to open up charge lanes for your crew and Lilith herself, clearing enemy models out of the way so you can fit your model's bases in. This can also bring targets that were lurking just at the edge of a safe distance from your crew or behind cover into range. Another strategy is to keep your models out of LoS and then use //Earthquake// to shift them out from hiding and into LoS or into a clear charge range. While not terribly useful for the Mature and Young Nephilim with //Diving Charge//, this can be useful for all the rest of them. This can also be used in reverse; hide your models after they are done activating or pull them just out of enemy melee range. Lastly, this can also be used to push models into Hazardous Terrain (which only need a model to enter them through some means to set them off) or off of elevations like rooftops, cliffs, etc which will cause them falling damage. Be aware of your surroundings on the board and keep an eye out for good chances like this.

Remember, because this spell is a Pulse all models affected by it are moved simultaneously. So if model A is in the way of model B and the push will take Model B into Model A, it would not hit Model B because both A and B would move at the same time.

Transposition
//Transposition// represents one of Lilith's greatest threats when coupled with //Master of Malifaux//. This gives her an immense amount of battlefield control for both offensive and defensive purposes. She can bring vulnerable ranged models like Nino and the Freikorps Trapper up to the front while simultaneously sending dangerous melee models like the Executioner to the back. You can send your faster models forward (generally Terror Tots) and switch them with a much more dangerous model like the Mature Nephilim or Lelu. A popular tactic is to //Transposition// a powerful Nephilim with an enemy model near your real target and scoring a double kill (the //Transpositioned// Nephilim killing its target and the rest of the crew killing the model switched with the Nephilim). You can quickly clear off an objective while taking it for your own by switching the enemy model on it with your own. The possibilities go on and on. You need to keep your eyes open for situations where this spell can be useful and be prepared to spend a Soulstone to bring the casting total up as high as possible. Because the impact of this spell can be so high your opponent will most likely throw their highest cards to try and resist the spell.

Remember, Lilith __cannot__ target herself with this spell because it has a resist flip (and thus it is an attack). So even though she can't target herself with it, having the Cherub (or any other Totem) cast it on her works just fine.

=Resilience= Lilith is a very hard Master to take down. She has a respectable 10 Wds (making her not as fragile as The Dreamer or Pandora) and an extremely high Df of 8 (considering the average Df is 5-6; and this isn't even taking into consideration her ability to //Use Soulstones//). This gives her a big advantage over most models and assures she will win most defense duels and the attacks that do land are more likely to get negative twists on the damage flip. Lilith's only real worries are models with //Use Soulstone// or extremely high Cb. This is not an assured defense since you still have to win the duel and a barrage of attacks from several weak models still has the chance of getting through, so don't be cocky with her. Unlike Pandora she has very little to be gained by risking her in the open.

//Editor's Note: Need to make mention of Lilith's weakness to attacks that get around her Df like blasts, pulses, Wp-based attacks and Ca-based attacks.//

Disappear
This Trigger has the required suit built right in and really you should be using it every time you dodge an opponent's attack. Against models that are going to make more than one attack against Lilith (eg: a model that just used //Flurry// against her, or Lady Justice attempting an //Onslaught//), you want to be sure to win the first duel and use this trigger to increase the gap between you and the enemy model. The effects of this trigger do not stack, but even -2 Cb is a huge advantage for you, so don't forget it. If you are just starting to play Lilith, make a note for yourself if you need to, but remember to always use this trigger when you're in melee.

Illusionary Forest
One of the few terrain creating spells in the game. Even if only 3" in diameter, this spell can become the bane of your opponent's existence. A model (even with Hunter) can not see from one side of an Obscuring effect to the other side, meaning it cuts LoS through it and lets you hide large models like Nekima while they would otherwise be in the open. Besides the LoS blocking benefits, it is also Severe terrain for all models except friendly Nephilim, so you can use it to slow down enemy models to either catch them or to keep them from reaching their melee range to you. If you're using Waldgeists, you can create an on-demand forest for them to use their abilities through and further increase their usefulness. This spell also does not go away during the Resolve Effects step; it stays in play until it is cast again by a friendly model (meaning only one //Illusionary Forest// can be on the field at a time). This is a good spell to cast with your totem as there is no resist, so their generally low Ca won't make a difference and being able to place this anywhere within 12" without needing LoS to the location you are placing it lets you keep the Totem in hiding the whole time.

=Tricks and Tips=

Wicked
Lilith's speed and maneuverability easily lets her get to spots your opponents would rather not have her. Popping in behind fragile but critical models like the Freikorps Librarian immediately invokes the thought of trying to disengage with that model and run, but //Wicked// makes them think twice. Not only will you keep them in your melee range, but you will also get to damage them and with 3/4/6 for her Greatsword's damage, that is 1/4 to 1/2 of the toughest models in the games Wds. Most players aren't going to take that risk without there being no other way around it, which helps you focus a lot of attention on Lilith, often letting your other models escape some attention in the hopes of killing Lilith or at least getting in her way. This works best when you get into range of multiple models, threatening as many of them as you can (especially ranged models without Gunfighter) and following up with something that has Terrifying like the Mature Nephilim and attempting to cause them to Flee (a Fleeing model makes a Fall Back move which will cause disengaging strikes if leaving a models melee range).

Rush of Magic
While this doesn't actually increase your hand size, it does give you a slight edge by letting you filter your hand a bit. That slight increase in the chance of getting a good card is always worth it especially since Lilith's Nephilim crews tend to be rather dependent on Mask's. This gives a good chance of getting another Mask you need.

Blood From Stone
Honestly this is not the best trade-off. 2 SS for 1 Blood Counter may not seem like a whole lot, but consider the Terror Tot and Young Nephilim; the Tot is 3SS cheaper than the Young Nephilim and if you use //Grow// from the Tot with the Blood Counter generated from this action, you are essentially getting 1 free Soulstone out of it. But the SS's used for this ability come from your in-game pool to which you have a maximum of 8ss in it and each is a precious resource. Other Nephilim have Blood Counter based abilities and it's really up to your own discretion if this is worth using. If you have most of your Soulstones still, another Young Nephilim can make a big difference but so could the 2 SS's, there is no real right or wrong decision here. Most likely, you will only use this action in cases of emergency when you really need that 1 additional Blood Counter.

=Strategies and Schemes for Lilith= Lilith and her crew are extremely good at 2 things: killing things and moving around the board. Most likely you will want to focus on these two aspects of the game when picking your Schemes. Some of her favorite Schemes are:
 * **Assassinate:** Lilith is very good at singling out models and taking them down. Even against Masters she is extremely efficient at this. This is a great choice against any Master except Lady Justice whose Reposte trigger can be to much too handle for Lilith's melee focused style of play.
 * **Kidnap:** No need to announce this one to get the 2 VP and as you read, Lilith is very good at kill based objectives. Pick some targets that don't have that high Df or lack any melee power and hunt them down.
 * **Reclaim Malifaux:** This scheme must be announced (last line of its main body, easy to miss) but it's a fairly easy 2 VP Scheme since it's all based around speed and has nothing to do with interacting with your opponent. Although most opponents will make it hard to get the last 1 or 2 interactions, but it's nothing you can't handle. It caters nicely to Lilith's speed and aggressive style of play. Send out a few Terror Tots early in the game and have them //Sprint// around to make the interactions and by the end of the game you should have easily got all the interactions you need and have a second wave of Nephilim to bring into the fight. This Scheme is terrain dependent though, so make sure your board setup will work for this Scheme.
 * **Breakthrough:** With the speed of a typical Lilith crew you should have no trouble getting as many of them as you need into your opponent's deployment zone. With a few of the heavy hitters (eg. Mature Nephilim or Lilith herself) there should be little problem in making sure they outnumber anything else foolish enough to come too close. You do need to be careful against enemies with good ranged attacks, but an //Illusionary Forest// can often help provide some blocking cover.

=Lilith in Brawls= Everyone can benefit from Brawling with Lilith in at least some way. Her Melee prowess can nicely compliment all of the Masters while her board control abilities are universally sought after.

Brawling with Zoraida
What Zoraida will bring Lilith is mainly //Obey, Bewitch// and a few additional tricks. Using //Obey// on models like the Mature Nephilim, Nekima, and Lelu can greatly increase their threat range. Any time a minion could use another (1) action or a (2) Charge, Zoraida can help. In addition, using //Bewitch// to prevent your opponents models from cheating fate drastically improves your own crew's offensive and defensive capability against those models. A timely //Bewitch// from Zoraida can thus neuter the effectiveness of an enemy model against your fragile Nephilim and help your own models dismember that model into tiny bite-sized chunks.

Brawling with The Dreamer
Both crews are heavily based around speed and melee power and even share some models (Lelu & Lilitu). The Dreamer brings a nice surprise element to the table while Lilith draws most of the enemy's attention. Have the Dreamer bring out his Nightmares and LCB at the right moment and aim to snap the enemies back while he's trying to fend off the Nephilim tearing into his front.

Brawling with Pandora
While Lilith and Pandora have very little direct synergy, there is still a lot to be gained here as each one fills in for the weakness of the other. Pandora is focused on Wp based effects so her melee is extremely lacking and Lilith is extremely melee and board control focused but lacks alternate means of attacks. So they cover for each other very nicely. They make an extremely aggressive pair as there is nothing like seeing a Terror Tot run up to you only to be //Transpositioned// with Pandora and then to have your Master be forced to Fall Back as a Mature Nephilim chases them down.

=Building a Crew= The full list of models available to a Lilith crew is available here.

Lilith mainly prefers to work with Nephilim because their play style fits hers: aggressive, fast moving and melee focused. There is a lot of synergy between the Nephilim as well, especially with the release of Nekima and the Black Blood Shaman from Rising Powers. As a whole, Nephilim are hyper-fast and one of the most dangerous melee crews in the game.

Some good choices are the classic Nephilim: Terror Tot, Young Nephilim, and Mature Nephilim. The Tot can turn into a Young which can then turn into a Mature, so just by taking the fastest and cheapest of them you can morph them during the game to get the combat power-houses you need mid to late game. Lilitu and Lelu are fantastic choices for Lilith, especially Lilitu whose powerful Lure gives you another way to get models into position, say dragging a weak model out of the enemies lines and into yours to feed your Tots. Paired with Lelu they make an exceptionally deadly pair, bring 2 sets of them and you have a potential 5 model alpha strike with Lilith //Brood Mothering// one of them and then Companion chaining through the rest.

The Black Blood Shaman brings a lot of support power to the Nephilim, giving you access to more healing and Poison for your crew. At the same time it helps increase the number of Blood Counters you generate and can pull some interesting tricks on your opponent. Nekima is the big Nephilim on the block; her combat ability exceeds Lilith's in every way except she lacks //Use Soulstone//. She also brings powerful support options to your Nephilim focused crews, helping generate more Blood Counters and powering up your Nephilim with various buffs.

Besides Nephilim almost any model will work decently with Lilith, but her real power lies in the Nephilim. The one exception to this are the Waldgeists who forest based attacks have good synergy with Lilith's //Illusionary Forest// and act as good tanks for the Nephilim with their solid armor and Wds.

Suggested Models:
 * Terror Tot
 * Young Nephilim
 * Mature Nephilim
 * Lelu
 * Lilitu
 * Black Blood Shaman
 * Nekima
 * Waldgeist
 * Malifaux Cherub or Primordial Magic

Cherub Vs Primordial Magic
Both Totems are very useful and bring different things to the table. There is no right choice for which is the better choice. It really boils down to your play style and what you want out of your Totem. If you want more cards, the Primordial Magic is the choice for you. If you want some additional support abilities with high movement, the Cherub is your bet. Really it comes down to the Cherub's //Love// spell against the //Arcane Reservoir// as they both have a Ca of 5 and the Tomes on the Primordial Magic does nothing for Lilith's spells.

Nephilim Blood Factory
A Nephilim Blood Factory crew consists of 1 or 2 cheap living models which will be killed by your Nephilim to gain Blood Counters from. With the use of some models from Rising Powers you can nearly double or triple your investment in these models by quickly turning Terror Tots into Mature Nephilim. These are considered somewhat cheesy lists though as Lilith does not need to make use of these mechanics to this degree to win games. Use them at your own discretion.

One possibility for a living model to kill for a Nephilim Blood Factory is Gupps (accompanied by a Spawn Mother). Have Terror Tots kill Gupps for Blood Counters, then turn the Corpse Counters back into more Gupps using the Spawning Pool. As an added benefit, you can field Silurid to claim objectives quickly while your Nephilim are growing.

BasHamer's Lilith Bus
Another intriguing and somewhat offbeat experimental Lilith Crew model is the "Lilith Bus," which focuses on Lilith's Earthquake and Transposition spells. This type of crew uses Sorrows, an Arcane Effigy, and a Brutal Effigy instead of Nephilim minions, with other models (such as Tuco) added on top. The Sorrows Link to Lilith, which causes her damage, but the Brutal Effigy then heals Lilith to recover that damage. With this Crew, Lilith (with added AP from the Arcane effigy) can cast Earthquake four times in a turn, followed by the Sorrows each casting the spell gain, which can move your whole Crew 12" forward each turn. Lilith can also switch an enemy model with a Linked Sorrow using Transposition, then attack that model -- and the Sorrow will return to base contact with Lilith at the end of Lilith's activation.

=Starting Lilith= Lilith's Starter Box gives you a nice mix of Nephilim to get you going but you really need to pick up a pack of Young Nephilim to go along with it and at least allow your Terror Tots to use their Grow Spell. Once you have this core of Nephilim you can then expand in whatever direction you want. Pick up the totem that favors your play style and then start selecting minions that suit your needs:
 * Terror Tot, Young Nephilim, and Mature Nephilim-> You can always use more of these, they are all around very solid.
 * Lelu & Lilitu -> Provide some diversity to your Crew and potent support abilities from Lilitu, as well as their ultra-dangerous Alpha Strike potential.
 * Black Blood Shaman-> A true support model, you only want to take this when you have a hefty amount of other Nephilim to buff.
 * Nekima-> Extremely expensive but a terror on the battlefield as well as a potent support model and battle buddy for Lilith.
 * Waldgeist -> A good utility model, most Nephilim are not slowed down by woods so shifting the layout of the battlefield rarely hurts you.
 * Tuco -> A mobile model that adds ranged combat and unique effects to a Nephilim Crew.

=Playing Against Lilith= Lilith is a hard Master to play against, not because she is hard to understand but because she is relentlessly aggressive and quick. She will be constantly looking for models to //Transposition// to her or //Lure// away from your line and pick off. She will seek to ambush your ranged models, sending quick Nephilim around the flank to attack you from hiding via //Diving Charge//. You also are not very likely to get many shots on them with ranged models either, they are going to stay out of LoS until they can pounce upon you and have more than enough speed and maneuverability to dart in and out.

A key thing to understand is that Nephilim are not all that tough; they are all offense. They are some of the most dangerous models in melee but they bleed just like anyone else. Don't be afraid to get into melee with them if you have the initiative. They have no Armor or Hard to Wound and only average Df in most cases. What they rely on to stay alive is their speed and deterrents like Black Blood and Irresistible. If you have the chance to get a Nephilim, go after it and make sure you kill it. But don't over extend yourself; sending a model out chasing one alone is almost always a death sentence for that model as another Nephilim will be on your tail before you can escape. It's a good idea to keep your crew together when fighting them as models left in the back or off to a side make easy pickings due to their speed.

Armor is a good idea against Lilith as very few of the Nephilim's abilities can get around that kind of protection and you can better soak their high damage hits. Hard to Wound is not all that useful against them as they tend to have solid Weak damage and with the Flay trigger on several of them, it doesn't matter all that much.

As always, you want to play to your Strategies and Schemes. If you're going to hunt them down, be ready to have them come at you with everything they've got. Healing can be important and models like the Executioner are extremely useful against them, as are hyper-durable models like the Ice Golem. If you're going to take ranged attacks, only take a few of them and make them powerful options with long ranges like Nino, Guild Austringer or Hans. Most of the rest will be of little value against the Nephilim's quick closing speed. If you are worried about the Nephilim growing too much, then take Constructs and non-living models like Spirits and Nightmares so you can deprive them of this resource.

Lastly, don't let Lilith distract you too much. Yes she is a Master and very dangerous, but that Mature Nephilim or Lelu lurking in the back is just as dangerous as her and with Transposition you could very quickly be forced to deal with that monster.

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