M2E+Coppelius

// "But the most hideous figure could not have awakened greater trepidation in my heart than this Coppelius did." - E.T.A. Hoffman, "The Sandman" //
 * Coppelius, Neverborn Enforcer**

=__Overview__= A creepy melee model with high speed and a penchant for ambushes. Coppelius uses a lot of Horror Duel mechanics, as well as his own personal **Plucked Eyeball** mechanic for healing and summoning. As a Nightmare that can summon Alps, he is most often seen with the Dreamer. He can also work well with other Masters like Pandora because of all the Horror Duels he causes, and Zoraida who can help him get more actions for collecting eyes. toc

=__Mobility__=

Coppelius has a very high **Wk 7**, but not many other special movement tricks and no special way to bypass terrain or other models. His **Cg 6** is actually lower than his **Wk**, but a Charge is still worth it because Coppelius benefits so much from making multiple attacks and getting more eyeballs.

=__Offense__= Coppelius loves to attack enemy models in melee with **Long, Clawed Fingers**. The attack is likely to hit with its 2" reach and **Ml 6** Masks; when it misses, it's still a good place to spend your high cards, since hitting is very valuable for him. The damage is only 1/3/4, but Coppelius prefers to kill his opponent slowly because each hit also gives **Plucked Eyeball +1** (see Tips and Tricks for more details). Both of his excellent Triggers make this attack more dangerous.

//Remove Eye// requires a Crow and makes the damage automatically Moderate (you won't flip for damage in this case). Furthermore, it causes all enemy models within 4" (including the target) to make a TN 12 Horror Duel. This can drain cards from your opponent or **Paralyze** enemy models, and is great later in the turn (when the opponent's hand is depleted) or when there are other **Wp** debuffs happening. It's great to use when you're charging into a group of enemy models and you've already got a lot of **Plucked Eyeballs** or if you just happen to flip a Crow on the Attack Duel, since Moderate damage and a Horror Duel for free is hard to argue with.

//I Want Them Both// requires a Ram and gives Coppelius another Attack against the same target. It's a great way to accumulate multiple eyes at once. The second Attack can't generate Triggers, so it can't cause a Horror Duel or chain up further. It's great to use when you're charging an individual model without backup, or when you're looking to get more **Plucked Eyeballs**.

One of the nice (if subtle) things about **Long, Clawed Fingers** is that none of the additional effects requires that Coppelius damages the target. This means you can collect an eyeball and trigger additional attacks or Horror Duels even if the damage is prevented by Soulstones. Exactly how this works is hard to say, but presumably the victim plugs their empty eyesocket with a Soulstone, cotton wadding or magical healing solution.

Coppelius can cause damage with **Nightstalker**. Whenever an enemy within 3" fails a Horror Duel it takes 2 damage. This makes those Horror Duels even more dangerous (see Tips and Tricks for more details).

=__Resilience__= Coppelius starts off somewhat easy to hit thanks to his **Df 4**, but still has some protection from **Terrifying (All) 12** and **Wd 10**.

Once he ramps up, though, Coppelius is very hard to kill. If he can pluck enough eyeballs he can reach **Df 7**, and even if he does get hit he can heal himself with a (0) **Savor Delicacy**.

=__Upgrades__= Coppelius is an Enforcer and can take one Upgrade. He doesn't necessarily need any, but several can be very helpful.

On Dreaming Wings
This is expensive at 2 ss, but it can give tremendous mobility to Coppelius. It gives him +1 **Wk**, and it gives him and every nearby Nightmare **Flight**. This is a really good bonus for a model that relies on positioning, but the Upgrade is Rare 1, so you may want to let the Dreamer or a Teddy take it instead. Coppelius also becomes so fast with this Upgrade that friendly models often won't keep up with him to retain the **Flight** buff, so it's mostly just providing the bonus to himself.

The Mimic's Blessing
This helps protect Coppelius against ranged attacks and gives some card flow if he's killed. Handy if you're facing ranged-intensive high-damage enemies, which probably means Guild and Gremlins. It also protects Coppelius somewhat from charges, which is useful if he's operating solo and ends the turn exposed as he sets up to charge himself.

Retribution's Eye
Coppelius already loves eyes and discarding them to do things, so this Upgrade is right up his street. Being able to ignore **Armor** makes his modest damage spread more threatening against a lot of models and the option to ignore pesky defensive Triggers is handy to have on a mobile model like Coppelius. This is generally a solid upgrade if you want Coppelius to threaten more elite models as well as easily overpowering scheme runners.

=__Tactics and Tips__= Coppelius has two subthemes: eye-stealing and horror. Because of the way these work out, at the start of the game he wants to find solitary models and steal their eyes a lot. Once he's done that, he's more confident and will benefit from charging into crowds and causing Horror Duels and damage all over the place.

Focus on the eye mechanic early in the game. Focus on the Horror Duels later in the game -- but keep gathering more eyes, too!

The Eyes Have It
Many of Coppelius's abilities revolve around his own custom Condition mechanic, **Plucked Eyeball**. This is a powerful self-buff with multiple uses:
 * On its own, each ** Plucked Eyeball ** gives Coppelius ** Df +1 **, up to a maximum of ** Df +3. **
 * Coppelius can use ** Savor Delicacy ** and discard a ** Plucked Eyeball ** to heal himself or a friendly model within 2" 2/3/5. Remember this flip can be cheated! This requires nothing but an eyeball and a (0) Action, which doesn't compete with other (0) Actions.
 * Coppelius can summon an Alp with (1) ** Crescent Moon ** . This costs one ** Plucked Eyeball ** and a 6 or better card of any suit to meet the TN.

Coppelius gains the **Plucked Eyeball** condition by attacking enemy models with his melee attack. Note that Coppelius doesn't have any trouble picking more than two eyeballs from a target, and can steal eyes from any enemy model just as well, whether they be people, humanoids, livestock, robots, magical dolls, spirits, beartraps, or the eyeless ghosts of ancient dreambats. Don't ask how he extracts eyes from eyeless dreambats. He just does. You don't want to know.

You'll want to look for opportunities for Coppelius to build up his eyeball cache and get better defenses when you can. Don't feel that you need to spend the **Plucked Eyeballs** as soon as you get them. It's often better to keep them for the **Df** until you get hurt (which is less likely with your higher **Df**), get more than three (at which point extras are redundant), or have an immediate need for some Alps.

Note that with a Charge or a nearby enemy, Coppelius can gain up to four **Plucked Eyeballs** in a single activation thanks to his //I Want Them Both// Trigger. He can get even more with a friendly Master giving him extra Activations or Actions through effects like **Obey** or **Fast**! Once he's set up with a good store of eyeballs, Coppelius is a much more well-defended model. He's vulnerable until he gets them, though, so it's best to keep him lurking hungrily in the shadows until he can find an opponent to rush out and consume.

The Lurking Horror
Coppelius has a set of mechanics related to Horror Duels:
 * Whenever an enemy model within 3" fails a Horror Duel it takes 2 damage. This happens even if the enemy model is immune to ** Paralyze **, and even if the Horror Duel was caused by another model.
 * Coppelius can cause Horror Duels with ** Terrifying (All) 12. **
 * Coppelius can cause a lot of Horror Duels with ** Long, Clawed Fingers ** on the Trigger // Remove // //Eye//. This affects all enemy models within pulse 4 of Coppelius of the target, so it's great to use on a clumped-up group of enemies.

These Horror effects synergize well with other models that give **Wp** penalties or feed off Horror, like Sorrow, Insidious Madness and Widow Weaver. They are also useful for models who can control enemy actions, since you can walk an enemy over to Coppelius then cheat down on the Horror Duel to **Paralyze** them (and deal damage).

Coppelius' Horror mechanic can cause serious problems for enemies, especially when he's using it on a mass of bunched-up enemies. However, it's a lot safer to do so once he's got **Plucked Eyeball +3** or higher, so often he'll focus on getting eyes early in the game, and the real terror comes out once he's built his defenses up.

With the Dreamer
Coming in the Dreamer's box, Coppelius is obviously meant to play nicely with the Innocent Menace. The standard Dreamer package can heal Coppelius, move him around, give him fast and generally make him more of a threat to your opponent. The Dreamer crew also has a sub-focus on **Wp** debuffs which helps Coppelius get the most out of **Terrifying.**

What Coppelius provides the Dreamer in return is a Nightmare that can tangle up or kill nearby threats and is quick enough to keep up with one of the game's fastest Masters. The Dreamer can pass off hits to Coppelius who then heals thanks to **Pleasant Dreams**; once Copplius gets some eyes he can heal the Dreamer his entire wound count with one use of (0) **Savor Delicacy**. This can make them an effective pair, but neither of them have the raw durability to survive in melee for long, so you're best focusing on hit-and-run tactics.

Other specific interactions with the Dreamer will depend on what upgrades the Dreamer takes.
 * ** Dreams of Pain ** means you probably won't hire Coppelius, since you can summon him for 1 AP. He requires a 12 to summon, but is a good option because you can call him right into combat and he'll continue getting stronger as long as he survives.
 * ** Otherworldly ** lets you chain activate Coppelius after the Dreamer, which is particularly nice if you just summoned him. This can give the Dreamer a get-out-of-jail free card when attacked (summon Coppelius, Activate Coppelius, pick up an eye, heal Dreamer) or pitch Coppelius into combat way upfield through the // It's My Dream // Trigger (summon 6" away, Activate, charge 6" + 2" reach). The ** Playtime ** Action on ** Otherworldy ** also works well with Coppelius' ability to make lots of attacks on rounds when your hand isn't great.
 * ** Restless Dreams ** and/or ** Tantrum ** tend to reduce the synergy between the Dreamer and Coppelius; Lord Chompy Bits will be out more often and the Dreamer will take less of a supporting role. With this setup you can probably expect less heat on Coppelius which may make it easier for him to hold down a flank on his own, running schemes or offing weaker models. Alternatively you could pair him with Lord Chompy Bits to double down on Horror and damage, but Teddy is probably better suited to this role.

=__Playing Against Coppelius__=

It's great if you can kill him at range! Using high-**Wp** or **Ruthless** models makes targeting him easier and anything with strong minimum damage can eat up his 10 Wounds quite quickly. It's much easier killing him when he has fewer **Plucked Eyeballs** and his **Df** is lower. Try not to give him an opportunity to counter-attack once you do go for him, as he can easily pick up an eyeball and undo up to 5 of the damage you've dealt him.

Be aware that preventing damage through Soulstones won't stop the additional effects on Coppelius' **Long Clawed Fingers** like it does with a lot of attacks. On the other hand Coppelius doesn't actually dish out that much damage on his own, so most Soulstone users can probably deal with him themselves.

Unless otherwise stated, all names and images on this site are property of Wyrd Miniatures, LLC. ([|Link])
 * __Ownership__ **