Jakob+Lynch

include page="inc_1.5rules" **Jakob Lynch, Neverborn and Ten Thunders Master ** toc

=Overview=

Jakob Lynch is a support master, able to manipulate fate and stack your hand. His totem is the heavy hitter of the pair and, some would argue, the thing in charge. The Hungering Darkness not only can do damage but he can infect models with the Brilliance which it then uses to control and manipulate them. The Hungering Darkness has a parasitic relationship with the rest of its crew using them to keep itself fed with Brilliance.

=Mobility= While he only has an average Wk, Jakob Lynch can take an extra non-Spell action by discarding a card. Since Jakob typically wants to be just within range to cast his **Dead Man's Hand** spell, he will usually use this extra action for movement.

=Offense= Lynch is not the offensive powerhouse that his totem is, but he does bring several options to the table:

Lynch plays with two Red Jokers, because he's that kind of honest. The "normal" one, and just for him, as in, the Lynch model, the Ace of Masks counts as a red joker, i.e. 14 in duels and Severe damage. Nice, eh? Better really if you have it in your hand, because you're more likely to flip it for one your minions.
 * Ace in the Hole**

A very straightforward spell, if you're on Brilliance (as most of his crew should be) then you get a small movement buff. Due to the small range of this aura, the models need to be beginning their activation close to Lynch, making this a good Turn 1 spell to help you get out of the gate that much faster, especially when combined with Mr. Graves and the push from **Bar's Closed**.
 * The Source**

This is Lynch's signature spell and probably where most of his action points are going to be spent. The spell allows you to draw three cards, adding them to your hand, and depending on the even/odd value of the card flipped, your opponent will either get to draw a card or be forced to discard one. This spell is especially useful for helping to stack your hand (as you will gain all three cards except for aces and eights) before going into a big push with the Hungering Darkness. Due to the random nature of the spell's effect on your opponent's hand, it is not a reliable way to drain their hand of cards, and will generally provide them with the ability to card cycle more than anything else.
 * Dead Man's Hand**

Lynch has a reasonably decent Cb with his pistol, along with a middle of the road damage range and gunfighter, as you would expect with a pistol. The pistol does have a very interesting trigger, **Malifaux Roulette**, where rather than flipping damage as per usual, you instead randomly select a card from your opponent's hand. Based on the suit of this card, one of several effects is applied to the target model: This trigger is rather situational, but can see use if the target has high armor or your damage flip has several negative twists where the normal shot is unlikely to be of any serious utility. Most of the effects are debuffs (Paralyze, Poison, lowered stats) so if intending to use the trigger, try to pick a target that has yet to activate, where you'll get the most use out of the effect. Additionally, this trigger allows you to see a card in your opponent's hand, knowledge with is never bad. (Of note, if the card chosen is a Black Joker, your opponent gets to chose an effect to apply to Lynch instead!) His other pistol trigger, **Pip the Ace**, allows you to discard cards from your hand to receive additional positive twists to damage. This lets you discard low value cards from your hand to easily ramp up the pistol damage.
 * Holdout Pistol**

One of his signature abilities, this allows Lynch to place (not summon) the Hungering Darkness on the table whenever a model with Brilliance dies for the low price of two cards of the same value. The Hungering Darkness enters play with wounds equal to half the value of the cards, rounded up. Maximizing the amount of wounds that the Hungering Darkness comes in on is not necessarily a high priority, as it is a Spirit and has multiple ways to heal itself. Although this ability is not restricted and can be used when you kill one of your opponent's models, it will give them an entire activation to deal with the totem, as it does not immediately activate like the Dreamer or LCB. One common way to use this ability is to run a Depleted into a mass of your opponent's models. If it dies to a melee attack, it explodes, causing damage, spreading brilliance, and bringing in the Hungering Darkness.
 * Slave To Darkness**

=Resilience= Lynch truly has one job on the table: stay alive so that his totem can get to work. He has a moderate to low defense and low wounds (as far as Masters go), but several abilities that help him keep out of trouble. Most of these abilities are oriented to melee combat, so it is prudent to keep Lynch in cover or block LoS to prevent ranged models from taking shots at him as his crew advances up the board. Also note that many of his defensive abilities are reactive rather than proactive--in order for them to even come into play your opponent is already working on hunting down your master.

This talent means that Lynch always cheats last in an **opposed** duel. This guarantees that you will always know what **Cb** (or **Ca** or **Wp** or whatever) total your opponent is bringing to bear against you and you can adjust your cheat accordingly.
 * Cheatin' Bastard**

A (0) action that pushes Lynch 4" away from enemy models if he is in melee combat.
 * Quick Retreat**

An automatic defense trigger that pushes Lynch 4" away from enemy models after being damaged by an enemy attack.
 * Squeel!**


 * Five of a Kind**
 * Df/Wp** trigger that allows you to shoot an attacker after successfully resisting an attack.

While not a defensive ability per se, this states that Lynch can never receive the Brilliance characteristic. The biggest impact that this has gameplay-wise is that he cannot receive reactivate from the Hungering Darkness, but it is a ability that meshes well with the fluff.
 * Never Touch the Stuff**

=Soulstones= Lynch starts with a relatively unimpressive cache of 2 soulstones, but has the option of beginning the game with the Hungering Darkness off the table for an additional +2 ss to his cache. He will tend to want a moderate amount of soulstones, mainly to fuel the Hungering Darkness, who has the **Use Soulstone** talent as well.

=Tricks and Tips=

Ways to give opponents Brilliance

 * The Hungering Darkness has a melee attack, **Tendrils**, that gives Brilliance.
 * The Hungering Darkness has a spell, **(1) The Light Insight**, that gives a target Brilliance. It requires a 4 mask or higher and is resisted with Wp.
 * Beckoners give an opponent Brilliance when they hit with their ranged attack, **Honeyed Words**.
 * Beckoners has a trigger on their **(1) Come Hither** spell that requires a tome, and gives Brilliance if the target is within the Beckoner's melee range after the spell.
 * The Depleted have a defensive trigger, **Reduced to Cinders**, which requires a crow. If the Depleted is killed by the attack, it generates a 2 inch pulse that does damage and gives Brilliance. can explode when they die, with a defensive trigger. This causes damage and gives Brilliance.
 * The Illuminated have a trigger, **Filled With Stars**. It places a 50mm marker touching the defender that gives the Brilliance characteristic.

Ways to prolong Brilliance on an opponent

 * The Hungering Darkness has a Cb trigger, **You Are Mine**, that requires an additional mask that makes the Brilliance characteristic last until the end of the encounter.
 * The Hungering Darkness has an automatic Ca trigger on **(1) The Light Inside,** also **You Are Mine**, that makes the Brilliance characteristic last until the end of the Encounter.
 * Brilliance doesn't go away when a model is within 6" of a Beckoner, because **The Party Never Ends**.

Benefits of opponents having Brilliance

 * At the end of the activation phase, the Hungering Darkness drains 1 Wd from one target with Brilliance within 5", or loses 1 Wd if it can't.
 * The Hungering Darkness gets a positive twist on Casting flips targeting a model with Brilliance.
 * The Hungering Darkness gets a positive twist on Tendrils damage when targeting a model with brilliance.
 * The Hungering Darkness can drain 1 Wd from each target within 6" with Brilliance. Targets get a Df->14 to resist.
 * Hungering Darkness' Heed My Voice Spell ignores immunity to Wp duels if the target has Brilliance.
 * Opponents with Brilliance get two negative twists on Attack and Casting flips when targeting a Beckoner.
 * A Beckoner can use (0) Know My Client to get a +2 to Ca and Wp when targeting a model with Brilliance.
 * The Beckoner's Come Hither spell pushes a target's Cg instead of Wk if the target has Brilliance. Usually this is more Push, but some models (notably the Depleted) have a lower Cg than Wk or no Cg at all.
 * Mr. Graves gets a free ram (which gives automatic access to the Broke Something triggers) when making a melee attack against a model with Brilliance.
 * The Depleted get a positive twist to Smoldering Grasp damage flips against a model with Brilliance.
 * The Depleted can push 5" toward models with Brilliance with (0) Drawn to the Light.
 * The Illuminated get an extra positive damage twist against them when they use Brillshaper to get a positive damage twist.

=Strategies and Schemes for Jakob Lynch=

One common way to use Lynch's **Slave to Darkness** ability is to run a Depleted into a mass of your opponent's models. If it dies to a melee attack, it explodes, causing damage, spreading brilliance, and bringing in the Hungering Darkness. Another useful target for this is an insidious madness that has been made brilliant permanently (usually be HD casting the spell on it in turn 1 with its casting expert). The madness can be sacrificed to bring in HD at the beginning of a turn and give you a reflip (with positive flip) on initiative to make the most of its return.
 * Hungering Darkness Bomb**

**Schemes**
Lynch is one of the few masters in the game with two schemes unique to just him. The schemes are exclusive, as they involve whether or not the Hungering Darkness is beginning the game in play:

For this scheme the Hungering Darkness must begin the game off the table. The objective of the scheme is deviously simple: get a five card straight in your hand. One thing to be cautious about with this scheme--the Hungering Darkness requires numerical doubles in order to be summoned into play which can work at cross purposes with this scheme. If you end up with a 4 card straight in your hand at the start of a turn, this only leaves you with a two card leeway and discourages cheating. Much of this can be mitigated by liberal use of **Dead Man's Hand** or a model with **Arcane** **Reservoir**, and is a scheme that you should be looking to finish as early in the game as possible.
 * Read'Em And...**

For this scheme the Hungering Darkness must begin the game on the table. In order to be successful with this scheme, all enemy models must end the game with Brilliance and there must be at least two enemy models left on the table. This is a poor scheme to take against Resurrectionists or some Outcasts, as they can summon additional models into play, making it difficult to herd and drug the opposing crew.
 * Spread the Light**

=Jakob Lynch in Brawls= (Overall, then mention specific Masters to pair with)

=Building a Crew=

Beckoners are a good model for this crew. Their lure is very useful, and they can give Brilliance at a range. The Depleted are a cheap model The Illuminated offer a way to give enemy models Brilliance at a range, with the possibility of leaving a cloud that effects all nearby models with the Brilliance characteristic. Mr. Graves and Mr. Tannen are the two unique models traditionally associated with Jakob. Mr. Graves serves the role of beatstick/board control, Mr. Tannen provides debuffs to the enemy crew.

=Starting Jakob Lynch=

The Dark Debts starter box comes with Jakob Lynch, Hungering Darkness, and three Illuminated. The first two buys after this should be Beckoners and Depleted. The Beckoners are a serious workhorse for Lynch (no pun intended) as they are able to hand out Brilliance from range, debuff enemy models, and lure enemies into your crew's attack range. The Depleted form the backbone of your initial crew and are very fast and very hardy for such cheap minions.

Additional special note should be made to models with **Arcane** **Reservoir** or that enable additional card draw (Arcane Effigy, Sue, Freikorps Librarian, Jack Daw); Lynch is very good at building up a strong and varied hand, and the ability to keep 7 cards makes accomplishing his scheme easier, summoning the Hungering Darkness easier, and just generally having good cards for cheating fate.

=Playing Against Jakob Lynch=

Jakob is not the main threat. Darkness is what really does the damage. Understanding how the Darkness comes out and working to prevent it is critical.

Battling his crew can be tougher than it might seem at first. His weak minions are not easy to kill, and they often cause Brilliance which is bad for you. Charging in with big hitters will likely play into Jakob's hands. Ranged strikes and hit and run tactics can be very effective as they can have trouble chasing models.

That being said, Jakob himself is not the hardest model in the game to put down if he is out of SS's -- and with him goes his totem...

All of the models that make up the core crew for Lynch have the Brilliance characteristic and a significant number of them get attack/damage bonuses against models with Brilliance. Having them attack each other is just one way to get that Obey spell to go a little bit further.
 * Obey**

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