Lawyer,+Secretary's+Aide


 * Lawyer, Secretary's Aide, Guild Minion** toc

=__Overview__= The Lawyer is part of the Guild's Elite Division, under Lucius. While he can be taken with Lucius, he can also be taken by Guild Masters directly, and also by Marcus due to his //Beast// characteristic. The Lawyer is one of the trickier Guild minions to make good use of. He does not carry a weapon, only having the default Bash attack all Malifaux models have. He is not a damage dealer, and does not work like any of the other Guild models.

The Lawyer brings some very specific abilities to the Guild which are not available elsewhere. He is primarily a spellcaster, but has no damage-dealing spells in his list. Instead, he provides a significant control element to the crew he is part of. He is very card dependent, with his "offensive" spells requiring Crows (in two cases) and a 7 or better to cast.

=__Mobility__= The Lawyer only has a 3" Walk and a 5" Charge, making him a fair bit slower than the majority of the Guild. In addition, he tends to want to use his //(2) Furious Casting// ability, leaving him without any AP remaining to move. It is best to move him using other methods such as //Obey//, Lucius' //Reinforcements//, or by putting him in a Death Marshal's //Pine Box//, and then when he is positioned appropriately to begin casting with him.

=__Offense__= The Lawyer is a spellcaster, with an average range of 8" and a long range of 12". He is a support and control caster, with no spells that actually deal direct damage. The Lawyer does have //Furious Casting//, which allows him to cast 3 spells for 2 AP by discarding a Control card.


 * //Censure//:** The Lawyer chooses one type of action (Walk, Charge, Strike, Cast) and prevents the target of the spell from using that action until the end of the target's next activation unless it discards two Control cards each time the action is declared. This can affect the same model multiple times, but a different type of action must be chosen each time. This is a useful spell to limit the choices your opponent has with their models. It requires a 7 to cast, with no suit requirement, which makes this a decent fall-back option for the Lawyer. Remember that //Focus// and //Channel// actions will avoid a //Censure// on Strikes or Casts.

//**Cross Examination**//: This counts as a Morale duel when resisting, and is likely to be one of the Lawyer's most used spells. It requires a minimum of a 7 of Crows to cast, but can force a target that fails to resist the spell to fall back.

//**Defense**//: This is likely to be the second most common spell the Lawyer casts. It is his "buffing" spell, for use on his own crew. //Defense// grants a target model //Hard to Wound 2//.

//**Prosecute**//: Target non-Master model is not considered a friendly model by its crew for the purposes of selecting a target for Talents or Spells for the remainder of the encounter. This is one of the most situationally useful spells in the Lawyer's arsenal. It requires a 9 or better to cast, and does not require a suit. It can be a handy turning point to the game, blocking certain models' abilities from affecting their own crew.

//**Closing Argument**//: This is a very tough spell to get off, not only because it requires a minimum of a 10 of Crows, but also because the range is very close. It's not often that your Lawyer will want to be in melee, but if he does find himself engaged with the right card in hand, this is a fantastic spell to cast. The effects are tricky, but here is the breakdown: If you have the chance to get this off, it is worth casting nearly every time. It's good to then follow up with a //Prosecute// where helpful, or a //Cross Examination// targeting the next threat.
 * 1) The target is //Paralyzed//. This can be a huge help.
 * 2) The Lawyer receives a positive twist on all Casting, Defense and Resist flips.
 * 3) The target receives a double negative twist to Defense and Resist flips.
 * 4) Effects 2 & 3 last until the end of the Lawyer's __next__ activation.

The last note on the Lawyer's offense is his single Trigger, //Confuse//. Whenever you have a Crow in your cast, this Trigger reduces the target's Resist total by 1. This means the Lawyer is even better at landing spells on targets, as his two hard-hitting spells require a Crow to cast.

=__Resilience__= The Lawyer's primary defensive talent is an ability called //Red Tape//**.** This spell states that Strikes or Casts targeting the Lawyer receive a negative twist on the Attack, Casting, and Damage flips. The downside to this is that if the attacker uses a //Focus// or //Channel// action, they receive a positive twist on the Attack and Casting flips instead. Unfortunately, even a talent as handy as this one isn't enough to keep the Lawyer alive. He still has a pitifully low defense and with only 6 Wds, he is not going to last long against most offensive style models.

What all this means is that the Lawyer's going to need help if you want to keep him alive. Try to keep him behind your front lines if you can and make sure you've got some backup in case your opponent tries to attack him.

=__Tips and Tricks__= The Lawyer is a VERY situational model that can help turn the tide against the right crew, or can be next to useless. In fact, he probably works best against his fellow Guild mates.

Use //Cross Examination// with your //Slow to Die// action if you have the Crow in hand. It's always good to force something to run away as you die.

Cross Examination can make a huge impact on certain opponents. If you set him up early to furious cast against 3 prime targets you can burn any good control cards from your opponents hand pretty easily. Alternatively, you can sit on those cards until the end of the turn when you opponent is tapped out and then you can make those moral duels stick! Killing a model is sometimes overrated, and can be achieved just as easily with a good Moral duel.

Move him around with //Obey//, //Pine Box// (Death Marshals), //Reinforcements// (Lucius). Save his AP for //Furious Casting// if possible.

Lucius can use //Issue Command// to make the Lawyer //Walk//.

Use //Prosecute// against Shikome to stop the use of //Hunting Partner//. Using //Prosecute// on Showgirls in a Colette crew, especially the Coryphee Duet, limits Colette's movement around the board.

Use //Prosecute// against Lelu or Lilitu to cause both of them to start taking damage from their bond, since they will have no friendly twin sibling anymore.

=__Master-Specific Tips__= The Lawyer can be taken in a Marcus crew due to his //Beast// characteristic. This adds an additional spellcaster to Marcus' crew, who uses Crows instead of Tomes.

Lucius - He works well with Lucius simple for his ability to give an otherwise weak crew Hard to Wound 2. Lucius can move him around and with the generally high activations in a Lucius crew, you can get the Lawyer to activate early for defense or late to keep him out of immediate danger from a counter attack.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= His //Defense// spell is a benefit to any model in your crew. Imagine it cast on a 5 wound Guild Hound, who under normal circumstances would be killed with 1 or 2 hits. Now put Hard to Wound 2 on it, and it should last at least 2 hits - even from most masters. There are very few models that have a min damage of 5, even after any triggers. Put that same spell on a nice 10 wound model, maybe with armour such as the Guard Captain and the spell starts to really look good.

=__Playing Against [Minion]__= If you are playing against a Lawyer, you may have lucked out, the Lawyer can be pretty hard to use properly. His only defensive ability creates a negative twist to hit, but you might still hit him. With limited wounds most focused strikes should kill him in 2 actions. Blasts, WP duels and paired weapons all will do the trick as well.

If he does get his spells off, they can be hard to resist, but even if your model fails, it won't actually take damage, so that is a bonus, and your opponent is going to have to hold back several high cards (rams) to make them stick meaning they are not being used on critical strikes. Bonus.

Watch out for //Prosecute// if you have Talents that require you to target friendly models. For example, Marcus taking a Shikome and the Shikome targeting a Sabertooth Cerberus with //Hunting Partner//. If the Cerberus is not friendly, then it cannot be chosen.

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