Shikome

"//The Harpies of Malifaux are both beast and spirit, savage and swift, and terrifying to face. Everything about them radiates the desire to hunt their chosen victim and few can escape the tireless nature of these winged women.//"
 * Shikome, Resurrectionist Minion** toc

=__Overview__= These Rare spirits are very deadly. Seldom alone, often hunting in pairs, and never found it great numbers (Rare 2), they are monsters to be feared. Once they have chosen their prey, they are relentless and single-minded in agenda to slay their prey. Incredibly fast, and viciously savage, they are frequently found in the forces commanded by Kirai.

=__Mobility__= Shikome are INCREDIBLY swift! A Wk of 5", a Cg of 8", and with **(+1) Nimble** giving them a +1 AP to use for Movement actions they have a charge threat range of 14" and/or can walk 15" in one turn. Don't forget that they have flight and so can sail over trouble terrain and over models (friend and foe) to help them get to their prey.

Indeed, once the Shikome has identified their Prey they can **"(1) Stalk Prey"** which will allow the Shikome to take a Walk action everytime their Prey takes a movement action; which usually maintains the distance between the two models. Once within 4" of their Prey, the Shikome gain **Fast** - meaning they can use **(+1) Nimble** to walk up to their food if not yet in range, and then unleash x3 Melee Strikes of the victim!

If dealing with a rather mobile foe (one that can outrun a Shikome - which would be impressive), the Shikome can even deal with that. Their spell "**(0) Denial of Sanzu**" prevents a target from taking any movement actions for that turn. Very useful for preventing a target charging a Shikome (getting the first strike is always an advantage in Malifaux) and further adds to the mobility possessed by the Shikome.

Furthermore, due to their **"Relentless"** nature, Shikome can never suffer from **Slow** or be **Paralyzed**. This makes the Shikome very swift in closing the gap between themselves and their chosen victim, and potentially makes them one of the fastest models on the board.

=__Offense__=

Melee
With deadly talons, Shikome can inflict serious injury to their foe. Without considering anything else, a Shikome has a CB of 6 and a damage score of 2/3/5 with their claws. This also comes with two triggers - Maul (triggered with a Crow Card and flips +2 additional cards when determining damage), and Poisonous (triggered with a Tome Card and inflicts the victim with 2 Poison Tokens). Due to the spiritual nature of the Shikome it can also choose to attack the flesh or soul of its target (using the victim's DF or WP to resist the attacks CB).

If that weren't enough, the Wickedness of a Shikome makes it risky to remove yourself from Melee with them. If it succeeds its disengaging strike against a foe trying to run, not only does it hold the victim in Melee but it also damages them (as if the Shikome had made an attack on it).

Shikome does also have a penalty AND a bonus which is active immediately when it comes into play (either hired or summoned). **"Single Minded"** insists that the Shikome can only attack a designnated target, which needs be announced to your opponent. This prevents Shikome from attacking anyone else until her prey is removed from play, which can be a determent. However, once within 4" of their Prey, the Shikome gains **Fast**, and flips +1 additional card both on attack and damage flips (maximizing the chances of accuracy and damage delivery). With Fast and Nimble, once a Shikome has its foe in range of its claws, its almost assumed that they will deliver x3 Melee strikes to their foe which is hard for anyone to survive.

Once their prey is dead, the Shikome may then act and attack freely.

**ERRATA:** - **'Single Minded'** the wording in the book is correct. "Before the Initiative Flip on Turn 1, this model's Controller must nominate an enemy model in play as this model's Prey." This model does not select a Prey when summoned.

Ranged
"**(1) Guarantee Fate**" is the one 'Ranged Attack' the Shikome possess, and it is quite nasty, although relatively hard to cast needing an 8+ Crow to cast. Used on a model, the victim will be at risk of suffering -2 Wounds unless it gets within 6" of the Shikome (sadly the spell does not stack on the same model, so you cannot get more than 2 wounds on a single target no matter how many times you cast it). After using this spell, the Shikome can make this even tricker for its foe to deal with by using its "**(+1) Nimble**" to backoff and make it even harder for the target to get within 6" of the Shikome. It can even be completely cruel and use "**(0) Denial of Sanzu**" on the target to prevent it taking ANY movement actions at all (and assuring the damage will be caused).

=__Resilience__= Shikome are not fragile creatures by any means. A DF of 5 will keep them dodging most attacks, while their WD of 7 will allow them to take notable punishment before dropping. Being a Spirit, all damage they take from non-magic sources is halved (meaning against crews without magical means of dealing damage, the Shikome has an effective WD of 14!).

As mentioned before "**(0) Denial of Sanzu**" helps the Shikome maintain the benefit of being able to charge first, adding to its survivability.

Just be very careful when playing against Leveticus. A single cast of "Unnatural Wasting" will cause 5 wounds in a healthy Shikome... an he can cast 3 spells per activation...

=__Tips and Tricks__= Shikome are pretty straight forward. If on the board, their first priority is to kill their Prey! This can be any enemy model that is in play, and indeed a pair of Shikome may opt to hunt the same target.

"**(0) Hunting Partner**" only affects friendly Beasts, but it does give them the advantage of fast, and a plus flip to hit and damage against the Shikomes prey. Within the resurrectionist faction this only applies to Rogue Necromancy, Night Terrors and another Shikome. It is worth using on another shikome with the same prey as it adds another positive modifier to the attack and damage flips. The bonus from the Hunting Partner will last until the closing phase. Don't assume that Shikome need to kill their prey. They don't necessarily want the kill - they just want their chosen victim dead (by their hand or another). If your other forces can remove the target, go for it. There won't be a penalty and by doing this your Shikome will be free to attack whomever they want.

Don't assume Shikome must go towards their prey. While they may only be able to attack that specified model, they don't have to make it a priority (although while the victim lives the Shikome is limited in what it can do). You can choose to take a long route to get to the foe if you want, as it may be safer for the Shikome to do so (they are hardy, but not indestructible).


 * "(1) Stalk Prey"** only works if you activate it prior to the Prey's activation and only occurs if they take a move action.

Once the Shikome has killed their Prey (or have just be summoned) they can skip their turn to declare themselves hunting "**(all) New Prey**". It depends on your style of play, but its usually not that recommended as giving up a turn to just say //"I'm coming for you and only you"// can be quite wasteful as in that same turn you could have your Shikome move to attack any model in charge range. However, this taunt can be useful - especially if you want to get rid of a target that is on the opposite side of the board (using **"(1) Stalk Prey**" can quickly make up for the turn you used up selecting "**(all) New Prey**")

=__Master-Specific Tips__=

**Kirai**
Shikome can be summoned by Kirai, but as it requires you to sacrifice 2 spirits to do so, as well as -3 Wounds (-4 if you want to summon it 12" away from Kirai), it's not going to be used often - especially as Shikome are Rare, which limits you to only having a maximum of two of the banshees on the board at anytime. However, they are deadly monsters and can be very useful once on the field.

The incredible mobility of a Shikome is very useful for Kirai. Having this banshee fly 15" up the field will provide Kirai with a means to rapidly travel the field with her **"(0) Into the Spirit World"** - giving her a jump of 15". Paired with her ability to summon Ikiryo up to 12" from there, this can extend the summoning range of Ikiyro to 27"! Thats over 2/3rd a battlefield!

Shikomes are immune to **Slow**, and so they do not suffer from 'summoning sickness' and can act at full speed and strength immediately after being summoned.

**Marcus**
Shikome may be Spirits, but they are also Beasts meaning Marcus can put them in his crew at no extra costs. They are very useful as their "**(0) Hunting Partner**" comes into full glory when running with a pack of beasts as almost the majority of minions taken by Marcus will be beast (and they can all join the Shikome's kill).

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= (As with Master-Specific Tips, going into any specific Synergies with other Minions.)

=__Playing Against Shikome__=

Ideally you want to keep the Shikome away from its prey. If you can keep the prey alive and away from the Shikome (admittedly easier said than done) it is effectively unable to do very much. Engage it in melee with something that is not its prey - it cannot attack your model unless it uses an all action to change prey. It may try and make a run for it, but with disengaging strikes you can really restrict how fast it can be in this manner.

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