M2E+Sidir+Alchibal


 * Sidir Alchibal, Guild / Ten Thunders Henchman**

=__Overview__= Sidir Alchibal is a solid Henchman and a bit of a 'Jack of all trades'. Slow, but reliable, he can dish out a fair amount of damage when the mood strikes him and has interesting synergies with other models for the Guild and Ten Thunders.toc

=__Mobility__= Sidir is slow, there's no getting around it. Usual Guild tricks involving putting him in a Death Marshal's **Pine Box**, and The Judge making him **Stand for Judgement** can come into play to help him get up the board a bit faster in Guild crews, but the amount of maneuvering required to pull this off reliably can leave you questioning whether it is really worth the effort. If you want a nimble Henchman backing you up, Sidir is not it.

Speed based Ten Thunders crews might find him a little cumbersome, particularly if you were relying on his buffs for melee Masters like for example Misaki and Mei Feng who tend to be very nimble. That doesn't mean they don't have way to speed him up a bit. Mr Graves and him can be partners in crime with him showing Sidir the door to help him get across the table, Sensei Yu can also push him around with his **Airburst** action and the Oiran can also **Lure** him if she has some crows at hand. On the master side of things, McCabe and Shenlong (**Wandering River Style**) have an easy time giving him some extra mobility too.

His **By Your Side** upgrade can offer an unexpected movement bonus once per turn; a move up to 5 inches to defend a friendly model, plus any extra mileage you can get from placing him in base to base with said model. Worth thinking about if you have taken that Upgrade.

=__Offense__=

Attack Actions
Sidir has two (1) attack actions;
 * 1) **Mrityu Blade** - This is a modest attack, pretty standard across the board, with a 2 inch reach, **Ml** 6 and average damage spread of 2/3/4. A nice bonus is the //Critical Strike// trigger off the Ram, although unfortunately this is not baked in, making it more of a 'nice to have' trigger than part of what Sidir does best - you'll want to save any Rams for later...
 * 2) **Machine Gun** - Sidir is better with his gun than his blade and has a slightly better severe damage to boot. A reasonable range of 12 inches sees this becoming his primary mode of attack, particularly given his slow speed. //Stutter Fire// triggers on the Ram allowing you to repeat this Action a second time but against a different target and declaring no further Triggers. Handy, and if you happen to have a fist full of Rams, its worth the cheat.

Tactical Actions
The reason you may want to hang on to your Rams is down to one of Sidirs Tactical Actions:


 * Empty the Magazine** - While less accurate than his normal shots, this one point tactical action can ruin a lot of peoples days very quickly. This is NOT a Ranged Projectile Attack, has the same range as his **Machine Gun** attack but specifies it may NOT be taken while Sidir is engaged. This Action targets a single model and all models within 2 inches, forcing a TN 12 **Wk** duel; any failures suffer 2 points of damage and gain the **Slow** condition. If you can pull this off on a group of models with average **Wk** values, that's a lot of **Slow** for your opponent to deal with in one turn. Further to this, the trigger on a Ram, //Cull the Weak,// deals a further 2 damage on failure to any models who were **Slow** before this Action was declared. Unfortunately this Action can only be taken once per turn, and requires models to already be **Slow** if you want to get the most out of it; but if Sidir is in the thick of it, defending other models or Markers, repeating this Action once a turn can soon make people wary of ganging up on (or approaching) Sidir. Be warned, this is an indiscriminate Action in that is can hit your own models too.

The **Black Sheep** Upgrade, **Promises** is a highly aggressive Upgrade as it confers a positive twist to all **Ml** and **Wp** duels to any friendly model within 6 inches that has an Upgrade attached. This can make Sidir lean more towards a melee orientated role, but is also a fantastic buff for any other Upgrade carriers nearby.

Finally, it's worth a mention here that Sidir is **Ruthless**; that is, he is immune to **Wp** duels during his own Activation, so **Manipulative** does not work on him.. He will cheerfully gun down seemingly innocent looking children (Candy) and kittens (Hoarcats) in the street and not bat an eyelid. Marvelous!

=__Resilience__= Sidir really is Mr. Average in terms of resilience with a **Df** of 5 and **Wp** 6, pretty standard for a Guild Henchman.

While Sidir misses out on the more traditional tools a defensive Henchman might usually have, he does still have a couple of things going for him:
 * 1) **Laugh Off** - Enemy Lures, Pushes, Pulls, doing Walk as part of an Obey etc... have no effect on Sidir.
 * 2) His **Mrityu Blade** has a defensive trigger on a Ram and Mask (Ram built into his **Df** stat), **Riposte**. This can only be declared after a melee attack fails against him and offers him a free strike at his opponent with a negative twist. Nice to have, and certainly worrisome for enemies with a low **Ml** score.
 * 3) **Ruthless** - Sidir is immune to **Wp** duels during his Activation. While mentioned above in a more offensive capacity, this handy Ability also offers a measure of protection against things like **Terrifying**. Incredibly useful against crews which rely on you failing **Wp** tests to get their own way (Pandora, I'm looking at you!)
 * 4) Finally, Sidir has a second Tactical Action called **Always There**. This allows him to heal 2 points of damage in exchange for discarding a card. Since this is not a healing flip, it cannot be cheated, but it IS reliable, and if you have low cards to spare and Sidir has taken a beating it's definitely worth a look.

=__Upgrades__= Sidir has access to the universal **Black Sheep** Upgrade, general Guild and Ten Thunders Upgrades (depending on his Faction) as well as his own unique Upgrade. His choice of Upgrades can drastically change Sidir's role in any encounter.

Promises (Black Sheep)
Aggressive and supportive at the same time, **Promises Made** gives Sidir a 6 inch aura that gives models with at least one Upgrade attached positive twists to all **Wp** and **Ml** duels. While Upgrade heavy crews benefit the most from this Upgrade, having Sidir hang out with any melee based Master, Henchman or Enforcer (with an Upgrade of their own!) can really swing things in your favor. The support element comes from the **Wp** buff, really useful against **Horror** heavy or **Manipulative** crews.

Vengeance Bullet (Guild)
Given Sidir's potential as a Ranged Damage dealer, **Vengeance Bullet** can be a tempting buy. A one-use item; still a little too situational to see regular play, and given his other 1 stone options, this Upgrade is not high up on Sidir's list.

Lead Lined Coat (Guild)
Expensive, but certainly gives Sidir an extra layer of protection. If you can see a lot of direct damage coming his way, this is an Upgrade to consider.

Plant Evidence (Guild)
Depending on your Schemes, this Upgrade can be a life-line, or an utter waste. Since Sidir is so slow to move about, it's usefulness decreases further and will really only come into its own in more defensive Schemes. Slightly more useful than **Vengeance Bullet** but not by much.

Broken Promises (Ten Thunders)
Another pricy Upgrade and a one use only one to boot; **Broken Promises** gives Sidir an aspect of protection against enemy attacks when he really needs it by forcing negative flips on them. A little too expensive to really be worth considering.

Recalled Training (Ten Thunders)
For 1 stone, this is a fantastic Upgrade, but on Sidir it might be a little wasted. Yet another one use item, it gives positive flips to the bearer for the rest of the Turn. If **Empty the Magazine** had a damage spread, or **Always There** had a healing flip instead of a straight heal, this would be an amazing Upgrade for Sidir. As it is, this is only good.

Servant of 5 Dragons (Ten Thunders)
Sidir does not need additional **Wp** as much as other models due to his **Ruthless** and **Laugh Off** Abilities, but a bit more is always nice. **Cleanse the Earth** is a handy Ability to have on anyone, although you are betting on your opponent being Scheme Marker heavy. Once again, Sidir's poor movement makes it likely he won't be where you need him to be when you could use this Upgrade the most.

By Your Side (Sidir Alchibal)
This Upgrade allows Sidir to intercept an Action directed at a friendly model within 5 inches and LOS. It places him into base contact with the target and makes him the new target of the enemy Action. A very useful Upgrade made even better by Sidir's resistance to Lure etc... through **Laugh Off**, and handily gives him an out of Activation movement too.

=__Tactics and Tips__= Sidir can be a great many things to a great many Masters and has the ability to plug small gaps in any crew. He is at his best at range, watching over valuable territory; or advancing into the heart of the enemy, providing support to other models.

Any model that has the ability to debuff the enemy with **Slow** from range will help Sidir fulfil his role as an AOE damage dealer. Ten Thunders can offer help in the form of:
 * The Katanaka Sniper's **Poison Dart**.
 * A Wastrel triggering //Strangemetal Shiv// from **Cast-offs**, damaging with the attack action then triggering //"And then he just strolled away..."// to get out of Engagement range before Sidir shoots.
 * Lucas McCabe with his **Netgun**.
 * A Thunder Archer triggering //Karimata Arrowheads// with his **Blessed Longbow**.
 * Although at much shorter range, Ototo can also pass out **Slow** with his **Thunder-strike** action on his **Call the Thunder** upgrade as a 3" pulse. Ototo can barrel in, Thunder-strike and then Sidir can **Empty the Magazine** into the are to try and maximize damage, though do be careful that Ototo will probably have to test too.

The Guild, in addition to the Wastrel and Lucas, can bring **Slow** with:
 * The Peacekeeper's or Hunter`s **Chain Harpoon**.
 * //In the Vitals// being triggered from a Guild Pathfinder's **Hunting Musket**.
 * The Brutal Effigy can give a target **Slow** from the trigger on it's **Chastiser.**

An interesting addition to the above comes in the form of Mr. Tannen, who can use **Bore to Tears** to debuff an enemy's **Wk** value, making it MUCH easier for Sidir to damage and **Slow** them with **Empty the Magazine**. As Tannen can be taken as Ten Thunders, he is an excellent friend for Sidir in this Faction; alternatively he may be taken as part of a Lucius crew, allowing Guild players to have access to this trick under more limited circumstances.

=__Leading a Crew__= Sidir is more of a follower than a leader, if you want a Henchman to lead your crew there are much better options than Sidir. While he has some tricks up his sleeve, his lack of basic built-in defense Abilities and reliance on other crew members to make his Abilities really shine make him a weak choice for leading a crew of his own.

Strategies and Schemes
Sidir benefits from long lines of sight, and clustered enemies, any Schemes which rely on you dominating sections of the board or defending a particular piece or place could make good use of Sidir.

Building a Crew
Sidir works well alongside any models which can give out the **Slow** condition (detailed above) to boost his AOE shooting ability; but he is equally happy to follow in the shadow of a stronger character, particularly when you take either of his two favorite Upgrades (**Promises** and **By Your Side**). He works as an excellent melee character buffer, but given his slow speed is usually suited to provide these services to Upgrade users with a more steady pace - Misaki, for example, is unlikely to be in one place long enough to benefit from Sidir's **Promises** aura, whereas Lady Justice would keep pace just fine. As mentioned above, Sidir likes to have groups of enemy models to pick on, so any way to force models together is useful. Oiran, Performers, The Judge etc... can all help to set up a nice cluster of enemy models ready for Sidir to **Empty the Magazine**.

=__Playing Against Sidir Alchibal__= Watch out for other models who can hand out **Slow**, making Sidir much more of a threat. His Upgrades will usually give you some clues as to what he plans on doing in any given Encounter - watch out for him buffing heavy melee models like Lady Justice with **Promises**. If Sidir is being a companion piece it can be almost impossible to get him away from whoever or whatever he is guarding due to **Laugh Off**, focus on the object of his attention instead. Despite being a large and intimidating fellow, Sidir's defenses are not too threatening; no inbuilt **Armor**, **Hard to W****ound** or **Hard to Kill** means he will go down to focused fire, just be sure you don't leave him alone long enough to heal himself up. His slow **Wk** can make him easy to avoid with quick crews and clever use of LOS to deny his shooting. Try not to engage Sidir in melee with weak models, the chances of him being able to **Riposte** if you fail to hit him can turn the tables in his favor.

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