Marcus

include page="inc_1.5rules" **Marcus, Arcanist Master**

//I have my eyes...// //I have my cunning...// //And I have my strength.// == toc

=Overview=

The beastmaster of Malifaux, Marcus causes animals of all varieties and alliances to succumb to his will and follow him into battle. The more recent background for Marcus reveals him as a highly intelligent individual with an interest in attaining immortality. Like the rest of the Arcanists he is aligned with the Miners and Steamfitters Union, but is thus far only rarely involved in the plans and machinations of the Union's Leader - Ramos.

Marcus is one of the few Masters who can easily hire Minions from any faction... as long as they have the Beast characteristic. For the most part he's a hit-and-run ,melee style Master, but he is also something of a Jack of all Trades. His spells and Talents allow him to able to specialise in one or two styles from turn to turn, but is otherwise quite fragile should your opponent draw a bead on him.

Marcus is typically seen by many players as one of the weakest Masters in the game. However the fact that multiple players have won major tournaments with him suggests that he is in fact very capable, if also a challenge to use well. In any case he is certainly a fun and versatile Master to play, and if you decide to start a Marcus Crew, his wide choice of minions inevitably winds up encouraging you to expand to additional Masters, since you'll have the models to form the foundation of those crews.

A Note on Wild Heart
Wild Heart is a cheap, (0) Action spell that allows Marcus to select two or three (depending on whether you flip the tome) of a variety of different effects for the rest of the turn. The usefulness and application of these effects will be described in more detail below but for now, it is worth pointing out that this spell is what gives Marcus his flexibility from turn to turn, and in all likelihood it will be the first spell you cast with Marcus each and every turn.

=Mobility= Marcus appears to have average mobility at a glance, with a modest Wk of 5 and a Cg of 8. Scout prevents any severe terrain from slowing him down, but his real mobility comes from his cheapest and most versatile spell - Wild Heart.

Wild Heart - Speed
If Marcus needs to get somewhere fast, the Hare effect (Wk increases to 8") from Wild Heart allows Marcus to move two 8" Wks for 16" per turn. Combined with the the Serpent effect, Marcus could even add a (0) action charge to hurtle forward 24" in a single activation. Bare in mind that you don't have to charge an enemy model or even be within range to Cg a model. So charging, for instance, a friendly model from across the table is fair game. A charge which doesn't end in melee does not end your activation either, so you're free to (0) Charge some distant target, then Wk twice to a safer position.

=Offense=

Melee
Marcus' melee attack, the Shillelagh Strike (say that three times fast!) is his primary means of doing damage, however the damage stats of 1/2/4 are not that impressive compared to many other Masters. It gets much more potent when Marcus uses Bear (+2 damage) and Eagle (positive twist to hit) from Wild Heart, and both Serpent and Tiger lets you use Marcus's second (0) action to make one more strike if needed. Together, this allows Marcus to make up to three strikes with his Shillelagh, at a positive twist to hit and dealing 3/4/6 damage. It's not as devastating as the dedicated melee Masters like Lady Justice, Lilith and Viktoria, but it's still a formidable volume of damage.

It's also worth noting that the Shillelagh is a Magical weapon, which makes Marcus quite valuble for smashing apart spirit heavy crews like Kirai's!

Primal Reaction and Feral
Primal Reaction is the automatic trigger on Marcus's Shillelagh, while Feral is a (0) action, Wp-resist spell. Both effectively just turn other models into beasts and, while they do very little themselves, they allow Marcus to target that model with two of his more powerful abilities - Stare Down and Alpha. Unfortunately, the wording on Instinctual prevents Marcus from casting both Wild Heart and Feral in the same turn (since they are both cast actions). This means that Feral is really only going to be useful if you NEED to keep your distance from the target, or you plan to combine it with Stare down and then Alpha (which is discussed in more detail below). Otherwise, if you want to turn your opponent into a beast you're almost always better off casting Wild Heart and just beating your opponent in the face with the Shillelagh.

Alpha
Put simply, Alpha is very difficult to pull off but if you do, it can be game winning. Taking control of your opponents best minion or even his Master can cause a huge amount of damage and if you manage to cast it before the target is activated, your opponent has lost their chance to use the model that turn. You'll want to use Alpha on your opponent's high-damage models, to maximize the destruction caused, and ensure that model is either unavailable to your opponent's turn or out of position for next turn. Remember, you can use Alpha against an opponent's Master, and unlike spells like Obey, you can deliberately use actions that sacrifice or kill the Alpha'd model as well.

Unfortunately (or perhaps thankfully) Alpha is not an easy spell to cast. The target needs to be a beast, you need a decent Mask to cast it and your opponent needs to fail the resist (and you can be sure that they'll be doing everything they can to avoid that). Generally, the best approach to using Alpha is to first see if you can turn your opponent into a beast and if not, makes sure you can switch to a new plan. Alpha requires alot of things to go right, so basing your entire plan on successfully casting Alpha is a dangerous ploy, only to be used when you can be sure of success and that the payoff will be worth putting Marcus at risk.

The first requirement, that your opponent needs to be a beast, can be achieved with either a Shillelagh Strike (which will generally need to be from a (0) action enabled by casting Wild Heart) or Feral. Which is better really depends on the situation. Marcus' higher Ca makes Feral harder to resist, and he can cast it from a distance (keeping Marcus safer) but more importantly, it leaves a (0) action free for a Stare Down on the target before casting Alpha, making it much harder for your opponent to resist. That said, a Shillelagh strike might be easier if your target has a low Df and/or high Wp, you were planning to cast Wild Heart regardless, or if you want the extra damage on the target anyway. The Shillelagh strike also has the advantage of being an opposed duel, meaning if your opponent is losing after the initial flip, you can wait to see what he cheats for his final total before deciding whether or what to cheat yourself. Burning a Soulstone to boost your own flip (whether it's for Feral or a Strike) is an option, but it's costly. If you also need to burn a Soulstone for Alpha, you've just spent two Soulstones to take control of your opponents model. So if you're going to spend those two SS on such an attempt, you had better be sure it will be worth the effort.

The second requirement, needing a high Mask, is generally dependent on the hand you draw but if you're planning to Alpha during the game then you'll know to save any high Masks you find. You could also supplement a moderate/low Mask with a Soulstone, which is an easy cost to pay if it means the Alpha goes off on a sufficiently strong model. If you get the spell off, the casting cost will usually be high enough to prevent most enemy minions resisting it. But if you want to Alpha a Master or other model with Use Soulstone then it's a different story, since you can be sure they'll cheat down their highest card for the resist and burn a Soulstone to prevent it. Burning your own Soulstone will make it much harder to resist and it's potentially worth it, but you're often gambling on flipping a better or at least similar card to your opponent's Soulstone flip, depending on their Wp. The best way to ensure a Master gets Alpha'd is to cast Stare Down (assuming you used Feral, rather than the Wild Heart/Shillelagh Strike combo). The positive twist flip should make it almost impossible for the Master to cheat and burning a Soulstone becomes a futile effort if your own Soulstone-infused cast is high enough.

Finally, it probably goes without saying, but being a Wp resist means you can't Alpha a model with Immune to Influence. Don't forget that. ;)

**Making Alpha easier**
Each book it seems, gives Marcus ways to mitigate the difficulty of alpha. It is still extremely difficult, and generally not recommended to build a crew around. However, there are certain models/abilities that give Marcus a better chance to gain dominance over his enemies, many of which you will be using anyways. It is helpful to know the times when it can happen rather than dismissing it as something that never occurs.
 * 1) //__Turning the enemy into a beast__:// Initially, the only way to do this was to use Marcus's (0) Feral or Primal Reaction trigger. With Book Two, we have the Raptor's enrage Cb trigger which goes off on a tome. With a Cb of 4, it won't happen often without a cheat or some luck, but Shikome can make its prey the Raptor's prey as well to help it out.
 * 2) //__Wp debuffs__:// With Book One, the only ways to do this was with Marcus's (1) Howl or (0) Stare Down, once the target was embeastened. (1) Howl precluded the use of (2) Alpha due to its AP cost. With Book Three, the Arcane Effigy can give Marcus +1 AP to use for a (#) Cast action, allowing him to (1) Howl in the same turn, assuming he's in position. It is worth noting that the Effigy makes it so you cannot use the Jackalope or any other Special Forces model (Kaeris, Lawyer, Rogue Necromancy), so it's a paritcular choice to use it. On the other hand, with Book Two, the Night Terrors (which you will often take for strat/scheme purposes) give a no-resist spell ((1) Night Falls), with a crow trigger to give all models within aura 6" -2 Wp. This is less out of the way than the Arcane Effigy.
 * 3) //__Getting Marcus into position__:// On Marcus alone, the only ways to do this and still have the AP left was to a) get him into position a turn early, and risk losing him to a bad initiative flip and a vicious alpha strike, b) use the Defend Me trigger to get into position (requires some planning), or c) Using the (0) Serpent Strike action from (0) Wild Heart to charge the target. These were functional, but limited. Keep in mind that (1) Obey (such as from minion Hamelin) cannot target master models. With Book Two, Marcus received access to the Performer (and Mannequin), which has (1) Siren's Call to make the target (Marcus or the intended alpah target) move its walk to toward it. You have to be //extremely// careful, because if Marcus is lured within 1" of the Performer, he receives Paralyzed, and there's nothing you can do about it. Additionally, if the target receives paralyzed, you can't do much with it during alpha, not to mention the fact that it probably hasn't activated yet, and you can't alpha strike Performer->Marcus. There are other ways (Book Two gives us Snow Storm as well, which can pulse push all models 2" in a direction, move models with Frozen Heart if you give it to Marcus/alpha target with a Silent One), but nothing really helped this out until Book Four's Oiran, which is the first Mercenary with a (1) Lure. On that model it's not difficult to cast, and the worst that will happen is that it will take a swing at Marcus (and you can cheat around if you feel it necessary). Oiran are solid 4(+1) point models anyway, so their hiring is not a waste.
 * 4) __//Giving Marcus more actions with which to work//:__ We've already talked about the Arcane Effigy, which frees up an AP to have him walk into position/(1) Howl/whatever so that he can (2) alpha. Book Two gave Marcus Shikome, which has a prey that is can give to a friendly beast for a (0) action. A model with a pray receives (+1) Fast while within 4" of the model, which gives Marcus even more stuff to work with. Keep in mind that while Marcus has a prey, he cannot attack another enemy model while that model is in play. If you do not remove the model from the game, you will greatly cut into your effectiveness for the rest of the encounter.
 * 5) __//Getting the high Mask://__ There's not much to help with this, honestly. Surge can be nice for those sort of things, but if the surge came off of Marcus casting (0) Wild Heart, he cannot cast (0) Feral. Other models can have Surge as well (Kaeris, Silent One), which gives you sight of more cards. Arcane Effigy has Arcane Reservoir, Sue has (1) Hurt to draw up to 3 cards in exchange for Wds, Hamelin, the Ratcatcher can Piper's Lure a model to its death in return for 2 cards, and Kaeris can take a Wd for an additional card. There are certainly ways to see a greater percentage of the deck each turn/throughout the game. However, this area is still pretty limited. Maybe it will be improved in future books?
 * 6) __//Immune to Influence://__ This is every Wp-based ability's bane. Other factions seem to have ways to dealing with it (Onryo's (1) Mark of Jigoku, Pandora's ability The Box Opens), but it's pretty sparse in the Arcanist arena. Nope, there's not much that Marcus can do to alpha a model with Immune to Influence (unless you want to hire Hamelin the Ratcatcher, which will allow you to hire The Stolen, due to it being Ht. 1, and then use its (1) Succumb, but that's a little tedious, and there are better things to do with your points).

With all of these things that make alpha easier, what you're probably thinking is "Well, I can get off Alpha pretty regularly, about once every other game. Hm... I wonder if... no! Is it possible? Can I get alpha off twice in a turn?" Puzzle that one out, will you?

// What people think when the stars align and you find yourself in a position to alpha a heavy-hitter: “If you’ve done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliway's - the Restaurant at the End of the Universe!” // // - The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglass Adams. //

=Resilience=

Marcus himself has respectable staying power with Df 5, Wds 10 and **Regenerate 1**. Regenerate is handy for recovering minor damage dealt to Marcus, but he lacks **Armor**, **Hard to Wound** or any other more significant damage mitigating abilities, so you still don't want Marcus to find himself the target of high damage attacks.

Wild Heart
This spell can offer some defensive help to Marcus in the form of the Fox option, which grants +2 Df. That gives Marcus Df 7 total, which is well above average, and tough for any non-Master to hit reliably. It requires him to activate before enemy models can target him, but if you expect Marcus to weather a lot of attacks over the rest of the turn then you'll probably want to enable Fox. Otherwise, you're better off ensuring that Marcus is not going to be targeted in the first place, either because you've kept him out of range of any significant threats, or you simply kill/neutralize those threats with Wild Heart's more offensive effects and/or judicious use of Stare Down.

Primal Flame
If you have a 7+ Rams handy, Marcus can cast Primal Flame for a healing flip on either himself or another beast. However this is a spell you won't find yourself casting often. Marcus already has a very large toolbox of abilities and spells to make use of and most of the time you'll find yourself wanting to use Marcus' precious AP to do other things. For instance, if he's in combat with an enemy model he won't be able to kill, he's probably better off turning that model into a Beast and using Stare Down to neutralize it before (hopefully) escaping. That's not to say you should ignore the spell altogether - if you see a chance to use it then it may help Marcus recover some damage or keep another model fighting for one more turn. In any case, keep an eye out for those 7+ Ram cards - it's typically a good idea to hold onto any of those cards if you can in order to use this spell later in the game.

Defend Me
In short, this is an excellent trigger, and will often be the primary way you will keep Marcus alive. Marcus automatically gets the trigger against any ranged attack or Charge, as long as you have a friendly beast near enough. Molemen are exceptionally good for this role as can pile on their armor, enabling them to typically take 3 hits from the attacking model before dying. You can also use this to allow Marcus to get out of reach from the enemy model, so they will be forced to move again, and potentially disengage from the swapped model, before they can attack Marcus again.

The weakness to Defend Me is that the trigger will only work against charges and ranged attacks. So it's no good if you're already in melee, and models that can engage Marcus without charging will be able to ignore the trigger. Ronin, Coryphee, Necropunks, Silurid and the various Riders are all very capable of engaging models in melee from a distance without actually charging, so you need to look out for those sorts of models. You also need to remember that Marcus will only ignore 'ranged' attacks with the ranged icon. So Defend Me will work fine against an Unnatural Wasting from Leveticus, but not Necrotic Unmaking. Finally, while rare, there are a few models around that can ignore enemy triggers, Ryle being one of them. So watch out for those!



=Soulstones= Most melee-oriented Masters tend to get a lot of use out of taking some spare SS, simply because they're often in the thick of things and they really value those Soulstones for boosting defensive flips to stay alive as long as possible. Marcus tends to be the same, except he's unfortunately not as great in melee and generally much more squishy. While you'll want to keep out of those sort of extended brawls with other melee specialists anyway, it certainly helps a lot to have those extra Soulstones available to him, just in case. That said, you will probably find that the best use for Marcus' Soulstones will be ensuring you turn an enemy model into a Beast to cast Alpha on it. Burning two Soulstones (one for Feral or the Melee Strike, one for Alpha) is not unlikely and, against the right target, is well worth the expense. So if nothing else, Marcus loves him some additional Soulstones for that reason alone.

//Nerdelemental says: I think he's considered a low tier because, though he's very flexible with many different choices per turn, his stats are below par for a Master and reset every turn. Losing initiative on a turn following him going ape on an opponent leaves him a bit vulnerable until he can start rebeefing himself and killing the bigger threats. I always run him with **seven** Soulstones which I can use in survivability - using them offensively to ensure the take-down of the biggest threat with Marcus turns out to be part of his defense, too - you don't want to __almost__ kill what you launch Marcus at.//

=Tricks and Tips=

Stare Down
This is one of Marcus' more powerful buffing options, and can be used in either an offensive or defensive nature. Anytime you can cause your opponent to have a negative twist on their flips, it can keep them from being able to cheat cards from their hand. The Feral-->Stare Down -->Alpha trick is discussed above, but apart from that you will often have the chance to follow up a melee attack (triggering Primal Reaction) with a (0) Stare Down. Stare Down can make further hits easier, or can keep that piece from making return hits on Marcus.

Howl
This ability works incredibly well if your opponent depends on a lot on Willpower-based Talents and Spells. Pandora is the poster child for this - the effective 6 point swing in relative Wp values make it swing It can also make it easier to make Feral work. Unfortunately, it would also help with making Alpha successful, but you need to find a way to get an extra Action Point for Marcus in order to pull that off. Right now, the Student of Conflict, the Arcane Effigy and a Hunting Partner from the Shikome are the only ways to do this. However the first two lose you the use of your Jackalope and the latter will only work if your close enough to the Shikome's prey

Pack Leader
This can be very handy if you want to Companion Marcus with another high damage model like the Shikome or Rogue Necromancy. That said, Marcus' (0) actions are in short supply and most of the time, you'll find yourself using your second (non-Wild Heart) (0) action on something else, like Stare Down or a melee/charge attack (gained via Wild Heart).

Surge
Don't forget Surge, lets you swap out crappy cards for better ones.

=Strategies and Schemes for Marcus= In general, Marcus is a very fast Master, and the pieces in his crew are often quick as well. This makes them very good at Strategies which requiring lots of Interact actions, or moving across the playing field. Because his damage output is often slightly lower than many other Masters, he is not as good with Strategies like Slaughter or Contain Power, but when played correctly, he can still be effective in those games. Unlike some other Masters, Marcus is much more dependent on his crew selection, and will have a greater impact on how well you do at a particular task. Let's take a look at the Strategies individually.

This strategy is one of the types mentioned above that Marcus tends to actually be quite good at. Marcus himself, and many of the minions which typically work well with him, are much faster than a lot of other crews, and so it is not difficult to reach the Dynamite Markers within the first 2 turns. In addition, very few of the models which work well with Marcus are Insignificant. Silurids, in particular, are great models with Marcus, especially for Strategies like this, utilizing their Leap spell. The best way to win this strategy is to activate as many of the Dynamite Markers as you can very early in the game, spreading out your forces to nab all 5 at once if possible. The Silurids can always use Self Preservation and/or Leap in order to get out of trouble if need be. Then after you've activated as many of the Markers as possible, find a place to hunker down and wait out your opponent.
 * A Line in the Sand [Easy to Moderate]**

This one can be a bit more difficult for Marcus since his crew is not quite as survivable as many others and often depends on melee attacks as well. So, a smart opponent will stay at a distance and try to pick you off with ranged attacks. Your best bet is to find a position that is easily defended, and close enough to the Claim Jump Marker that it will only take 1 turn of movement to get there. Try to keep as many pieces alive as possible, and then make a run for it in the last round. Again, Silurids are good here due to their Chameleon ability. Molemen are also exceptionally good, since you can Tunnel them in the early rounds to keep them relatively safe, and then use Dug In during the final turn to help keep them alive next to the marker.
 * Claim Jump [Moderate]**

Because this strategy is dependent on Marcus performing the kill, it can be a tough one to pull off. Your best bet in these games is to bring a Shikome, and then use Hunting Partner to give Marcus the bonuses against the opponent's Master. Then you can hopefully use the Shikome to soften up the Master first, and then let Marcus bat clean-up. You will want to use Wild Heart for Bear, Eagle, Serpent, or Tiger quite frequently in these games. Also be sure to use Stare Down as much as possible, as that will help you save a lot of Soulstones during your attack duels.
 * Contain Power [Moderate to Difficult]**

Honestly, just take Silurid. With (0) Leap and (0) Survival Instinct you can move one up to 15' towards the enemy Master, then (2) interact with him/her to achieve the Strategy. You'll probably lose the Silurid as a result but for achieving the Strategy, it's a small price to pay. If for some reason you can't or don't want to use Silurid, Delivering that Message becomes somewhat more tricky.
 * Deliver a Message [Easy]**

Without Silurid, the most difficult part about the Strategy is keeping your pieces alive long enough to perform the (2) Interact. Models that can move into position by either being pushed (Night Terrors), through +1 actions (Shikome's Fast and Nimble) or through (0) actions (Leap from a Sabertooth or Blessed of December) will work best in such a situation. Marcus can also perform the deed, since he can survive a bit longer with his Soulstones and can use a Serpent - (0) charge to get into melee range of the Master before making the (2) interact. However, any model you use to Deliver the Message will often die soon after taking the (2) interact, so make sure that model isn't essential for completing your Schemes or prevent your opponents Strategies or Schemes.

Much like A Line in the Sand, this strategy will require fast movement, especially since you now must reach your opponent's deployment zone. Marcus himself can easily do this in 3 turns through the use of Wild Heart's Hare option, but be careful about overextending him, or letting him get attacked by your opponent's whole crew. It might be best to move around from the sides. Again, Silurid or Molemen are your best bets here, though the Shikome with (+1) Nimble can be a good inclusion as well.
 * Destroy the Evidence [Easy to Moderate]**

Oftentimes, this strategy will end up coming down to something very similar to Contain Power, so that is why it is not always too easy for Marcus. However, depending on your Strategy, and if you pick the right Schemes as well, you can make it a tough choice for your opponent if they want their Master all the way on the other side of the table from yours (i.e. pick things that will put Marcus on your opponent's side of the table).
 * Distract [Moderate to Difficult]**

Marcus and many of his units are fast moving, and good at hiding. But they can be rather frail. You also have great options between taking lots of low cost non-Insignificant models, or only a few, more powerful models. So you can really cater to your own personal style for this strategy. Again, Silurids are probably great choices here with their (0) action that lets them escape from engaged models. They can quickly be 15" away across the table using just their (0) actions!
 * Escape and Survive [Moderate]**

This strategy falls into the category with A Line in the Sand and Destroy the Evidence, but is likely even easier, since you will be targeting full terrain pieces, and not just 30mm markers. In addition, you can try to target multiple terrain pieces all in one area, which allows you crew to stay closer together. With high speed models, this one should be a breeze. Pick the right Schemes, and you don't even have to worry too much about losing a model or two just to plant that piece of evidence.
 * Plant Evidence [Easy]**

Because of the vast number of non-Insignificant models at Marcus' disposal, he is probably one of the best Masters for this strategy. You could fit 8 Molemen in a 25 SS crew, which would be more non-Insignificant models than any other crew can field. You might struggle to keep them all alive, depending on your opponent's strategy, but it is at least a starting point, and it would be frustrating for your opponent to try to hunt down each one and whittle through their armor. It is certainly recommended using some of the more beefy pieces available to Marcus as well, but you get the picture.
 * Reconnoiter [Easy]**

Unfortunately, mauling your enemies is not what Marcus and his crew are primarily designed for. With the right Minions, it is certainly more possible than it might seem at first. Here is where you will want to use things like the Shikome and the Sabertooth Cerberus. A well-timed Alpha on one of your opponent's weak-minded, but strong-armed models can really go a long way in these matchups.
 * Slaughter [Moderate to Difficult]**

Similar to Claim Jump, since this strategy requires a very defensive approach, Marcus might not seem the most adept at first for this one. However, remember that an opponent cannot attack the Wagon if it is within the melee range of one of your pieces, which makes the Moleman absolutely perfect for this job. You can keep just one back with the Wagon while Marcus and the rest of your crew complete your Schemes or work on stopping your opponent.
 * Supply Wagon [Easy to Moderate]**

Marcus' quick movement will help his crew get to the Treasure Counter first in most games. It is hanging onto after that point which gets tricky. A Shikome is often your best option, since it has Nimble, and can gain (+1) Fast in the right scenarios. So it could move up to 16" with the Counter in one activation if the stars align. Probably best to hand the counter off to a Moleman in the deployment zone, however, have him Tunnel for the armor, and then become un-tunneled just before the end of the game to ensure you get the full 4 VP.
 * Treasure Hunt [Easy to Moderate]**

Because this strategy is dependent on the number of models you have on your opponent's half of the table, it is often tempting to take many of the smaller cost models available to Marcus. However, those ones are also quite obviously weaker and easier to kill. Turf War often becomes somewhat similar to Slaughter, as the easiest way for your opponent to deny your strategy is for you to have no models left at the end of the game. A balanced crew will likely be your best bet, with some cheap models to force your opponent to risk losing their own models by attacking your main force, or letting you slip by just to take out the little guys.
 * Turf War [Difficult]**

=Marcus in Brawls= The primary advantage to using Marcus in Brawls is to add the Beast characteristic to a piece and then use Marcus' other abilities to buff your pieces. In general, however, Marcus does not have a lot of synergy with the other Masters. With the right combination of abilities, it can be interesting to take Myranda in your crew, and then set it up so that she can also use the Spells of your other pieces that started without the Beast characteristic. Marcus also makes for a good secondary attacker in a Brawl, sort of as a clean-up man. Use your other Master to whittle down an opponent and then let Marcus use his high speed and maneuverability to come in and get the last hit for the kill.

Marcus can be paired with the following masters in a Brawl: Ramos, Rasputina, Colette Du Bois, Mei Feng or The Viktorias

=Building a Crew= A full list of models available to a Marcus crew is shown here.

As well as all the normal Arcanist or Mercenary minions, Marcus is able to select Beasts from any Faction at no additional cost. This grants him a significant array of models from every faction to select for his crew. It also means that you need to be wary of taking conflicting special forces minions. He's able to take minions linked to 5 of the 6 available special forces (he can't take any Kin, i.e. the LaCroix Gremlins), and many of these, like Kaeris, Von Schill and the Rogue Necromancy, are solid choices for a Marcus crew.

Of the Beasts available to Marcus, some of the most useful include; - Jackalope - Malifaux Raptor - Night Terror - Shikome - Silurid - Waldgeist

A good rule of thumb for Marcus is to to use Beasts for any melee component you want in your crew, but don't be afraid to include non-beasts with ranged attacks. A purely melee-oriented Marcus crew may let you take full advantage of Marcus's Beast synergies, but he really benefits from having some support pieces that can deal some damage from range. Ranged attacks add another dimension to your Marcus crew that your opponent needs to deal with, and it's especially important when you want to deal with models that you rather not get too close to.

Good non-Beast choices for Marcus would be; - Kaeris - Von Schill - McTavish - Freikorps Trapper

Remember that these are by no means comprehensive lists of what Marcus can use effectively. Marcus can make very good use of other Beasts and non-Beasts so while the above models will work quite well with Marcus, that shouldn't stop you with experimenting with other models that you might want to try.

It's worth noting that Marcus doesn't absolutely need beasts in his crew to work, so you can use pretty much any non-beast minion you want if you don't plan to Howl, Pack Leader or Primal Flame those models. That said, one beast minion that's defintely worth thinking about when designing a crew is the Malifaux Raptor. The Raptor's Enrage trigger allows you to effectively turn your own non-Beast minions into Beasts for the rest of the game, enabling all those benefits that come with being in a Marcus crew. However the Raptor does cost 2SS and needs to deal at least 1 wound to your minion to turn it into a beast. So if you're taking one purely to turn a friendly model into a Beast, you're effectively buying that model at a premium. Fortunately, the Raptor has other uses that are detailed in it's own page.

=Starting Marcus=

Marcus' box set starts you off with Marcus, Myranda, his right-hand woman, a Razorspine Rattler and a Sabertooth Cerberus. Unfortunately, this isn't a very good selection of minions for Marcus, especially for a new player. Both the Razorspine and Sabertooth are considered very average models, and Myranda is a difficult minion for players to use well, especially for beginners.

It's for that reason that most people recommend foregoing the Marcus Starter and getting a starting crew through individual purchases. A good, basic starting list would be;

Marcus Jackalope (1) 3x Silurid (15) Waldgeist (6) - 23SS

The entire list consists of beasts that aren't difficult to use well, and give to a good chance of completing the wide variety of strategies and schemes you might face in-game. The Jackalope is Marcus's (excellent) totem, the Silurid are blindingly fast minions who match Marcus' own hit and run style very well, and the Waldgeist provides both resiliance and the ability to move forests around to provide cover.

From there, you can expand your collection into the wider array of beasts and non-beasts as you see fit.

=Playing Against Marcus= (How best to deal with the Master and it's crew, things to watch out for, etc.)

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