Ophelia+Lacroix

include page="inc_1.5rules" **Ophelia LaCroix, Outcast Henchman** toc

=__Overview__= Ophelia is a gunfighter, capable of dishing out good amounts of damage from a distance. She leads a crew of her most trusted kin on raids against human settlements, using her prowess with her pistolas to bring back loot. All of her kin are companioned to Ophelia, allowing them to activate together and get the first strike! She is also the only Henchman that Som'er may take, and she is key to his Crew.

However, Ophelia is more than just a trigger finger. She also has a host of abilities to enhance the gremlins around her, making her a fun and useful tool to any gremlin list, whether it is led by Som'er or herself.

=__Mobility__= With a Walk value of 6 and the potential to gain Fast, Ophelia can use her three actions to walk up to 18" across the table. No fancy tricks needed here, the girl has legs!

=__Offense__= Ophelia will probably be one of the better offensive models in your crew. Here are some ways she can put the fear of Green into some humans:

The Pistol
With a Combat of 6, decent damage, and an average range of 8", Ophelia's pistol is a good weapon to start out with. But if she gets a Ram in her combat total, she may use her Calculated Luck trigger and double the damage inflicted. This works similar to the Dumb Luck trigger, except that Ophelia only suffers 1 Wd, making this a much less costly ability. With this trigger, Ophelia can do anywhere between 4 and 8 Wounds with her pistol, making it more lethal than a hit from Seamus's .50 cal. (For those not in the know: that's pretty lethal).

To make things even better, Ophelia may use her Dumb and Lucky zero action to give a friendly Kin within 6" an automatic Ram to their Combat stat. Keep in mind Ophelia is a Kin herself, so she may target herself with this ability. In fact, this may often be your best use of it. So with the use of this zero action Ophelia's damage output becomes one of the best in the game.

Also remember that Ophelia's Pistol is Paired, so she always gets a +flip to hit. This not only increases her odds of hitting, but cancels out the -flip when shooting models in cover, so that you may still cheat.

Finally, don't forget that Ophelia has the Gunfighter trait allowing her to use her pistol as a melee weapon. So, although she may prefer to stay at a range, Ophelia may do just as much damage up close and personal.

Bent Gun Barrel
This reduces the range of Ophelia's strikes for the remainder of the turn, but makes them ignore Armor. So, if you are up against an opponent with Armor and you can make it in close, the use of this ability if fairly self explanatory! Use it and shoot away. It's a zero action, so Ophelia still gets all of her shots.

Dirty Shot
This ability adds some +flips to hit in exchange for a -flip on damage. It is useful when up against a high defense opponent in Defensive Stance, or targeting a model which trades high defense for lower Wounds. (Like Coryphee, although using Somer's Pull My Finger is more effective for taking them out) It's also a good if you are attacking a model which has few Wounds left, but you absolutely need to hit! For example, Ophelia only has 1 AP left and an enemy model with 2 wounds left is poised to run up and bash her face in next activation. Knowing that all she needs to is hit, she casts Dirty Shot to make an attack with 3 +flips, which will probably hit. It does receive the -flip to wound, but since Ophelia does a minimum of 2 Wounds, so long as she hits, the enemy is toast. (Note: this only works if you have a card to cheat so you know the spell will work, and it is discounting the treacherous black joker.)

Right Between the Eyes
This spell deals damage at a range, and in fact has a bit farther range than her pistol (2" farther, to be exact). It has 3 +flips to damage and a max damage of 5, making it potentially slightly more damaging than her pistol. However, since it is not a pistol strike, you may not use the Calculated Luck Trigger. Because of this, her pistol will almost always be better. Additionally, it is a spell that targets the opponent (not one which makes Ophelia generate a strike, like Dirty Shot) so your opponent has the opportunity to resist. This forces you to be the one to cheat first (unlike a strike, which simply depends on who is initially losing the duel). That's a pretty significant disadvantage, as opposed to simply shooting her pistol. So, more often than not, simply shooting Ophelia's pistol is better than casting this spell. However, it is good a good spell for Ophelia's totem, the Young LaCroix, and on the rare occasion that Ophelia may find the range useful. There is one situation that you will want to use it over a regular pistol shot and that is against Spirits. It is a spell strictly and not a pistol shot, like Dirty Shot, so it will deal full damage to Spirits.

=__Resilience__= Ophelia has a very decent Defense of 6 and 9 Wounds. Although decent, these stats are not necessarily enough to keep Ophelia on the board, because she can be a big target. Keep her back, out of range. She will generally be able to out-shoot most opponents so there is no reason to get in close where they may be able to do more damage. Use the terrain to your advantage and stay in cover and out of reach. If Ophelia does find herself in close quarters, she may use her squeel! ability to move directly away if she is damaged. If you are worried she may need to use this ability, and you have no Masks, use her "Like Herding Squirrels" ability to be sure she can trigger Squeel.

Beyond that, also always keep in mind that Ophelia may Use Soulstones!

=__Soulstones__= Most of Ophelia's spells simply are not worth a Soulstone. They are all easy enough to cast that you should be able to cheat a mid-range card to succeed, although you may use a Soulstone on one if there is dire need for some situation or another.

That said, Ophelia loves her some Soulstones. She has two main uses for them: to kill things, and to stay alive. Pretty basic. If you're using Soulstones to kill things, use them to increase your combat totals so you will more likely be able to cheat in that high card with the Calculated Luck Trigger and do a massive 8 damage at a range. When using Soulstones to stay alive, use them either to boost her defense totals or prevent damage. With Defense of 6 most models without the Use Soulstone ability will find it very difficult to hit Ophelia when you are willing to spend a stone to keep them from doing so. Even models with Use Soulstone will (generally) be on par.

However, it is critical to know when to use a stone to boost defense, and when to use one to prevent damage. Although you can do both, if you are forced to do so then that means the attack hit and the stone used to boost defense did not help you all that much. If there is a swing coming at you that can deal massive damage but has a lower combat, use the stone on defense to try to stop the whole thing. If the swing coming at you has a high combat, but will probably only do 1-2 damage, simply saving the stone and preventing the damage may be the way to go.

=__Oooo! A Girl!__= This ability allows you to push a gremlins within 8" into base contact with Ophelia. It can easily be overlooked because she has so many useful zero actions, and some (particularly Dumb and Lucky) may seem like they will be used every turn. But do not overlook this ability!

Although it can be used for general utility (getting your gremlins into position to shoot, closer to an objective, or simply allowing them to keep up) there are a few really cool uses for this ability:


 * Combat:** Since this is a push, it ignores disengaging strikes, and may be used to get your gremlins out of combat.


 * Ya'll Watch This:** Use this ability to position a Bayou Gremlin, so that it may use Ya'll watch this to deal 2 automatic damage in a Pulse. (This ability is a 2 action and is short ranged, so the extra positioning helps a lot)


 * Pull My Finger:** If Som'er is your master, Pull him out from behind his terrain and then use Ophelia's second zero action to use Family Tree on him. This will let Som'er activate immediately after her. So, you pull Som'er 8 inches closer and then immediately activate him before your opponent can react to cast 3 Pull My Fngers, which require much lower cards than those cast by Mosquitoes. Additionally, Som'er is companioned to all nearby Mosquitoes, so they may activate at the same time as well! Som'er doesn't like being in the open, so be sure to kill whatever you target.


 * Slop Spray:** Use this ability to position the Slop Hauler for a good, old fashioned Slop Spray. Again, this ability is a Pulse that can not be resisted, but it is a short ranged 2 action, so positioning is crucial. It will lower the Defense of any non-gremlins hit by it, allowing your LaCroix to open up on them! (Also don't forget the "Shoot High, Boys" ability which will allow you to ignore any height 1 models in combat, if that landed the Slop Hauler in combat)


 * Pere Ravage:** Use this ability to get Pere Ravage into position so that he may use Oopsie once or twice, generating some nice pulse damage. You may even want to shoot him with one of your gremlins when he's done to trigger Ka-blooey! in the middle of the enemy crew. However, if you do use "Oooo, A Girl" to get him close, be sure to move Ophelia away afterward so she isn't caught in the blast!

With all of these abilities, remember you may use the "Family Tree" ability to immediately activate the gremlin after Ophelia, so your opponent's crew may not react. (Although this would be redundant on Pere, as he is already a Kin and therefor comanioned to Ophelia)

=__Tricks and Tips While Joining a Crew__= There are two Masters which may hire Ophelia into their crew:

Som'er Teeth Jones
In a Som'er Crew, Ophelia operates best in the middle of a cloud of Bayou Gremlins. Her "Damnit, Calm Down!" adds a lot to the Crew, because it keeps the Bayou Gremlins from hitting each other when they miss. And since shooting with a lot of Bayou Gremlins is a very valid tactic, and they tend to miss a lot, this ability is absolutely key. Her "Shoot High Boys" ability also allows the Bayou Gremlins near her to fire into melee without flipping cards for other gremlins or piglets, which is nice because it allows piglets to stampede or maybe Francois or Pere to get into melee range while still allowing your gremlin gun line to function. Boh of these abilities (Damnit Calm Down, and Shoot High Boys) are short range auras which are always active, and do not require an action. So all you have to do is have Ophelia near your gremlins and she will make them a lot more effective. Like Herding Squirrels is also a good action to use while near a few friendly gremlins, as it allows them to use the Squeel! trigger automatically. However, this requires an action and isn't as essential, but if you see the need (nearby gremlins are stuck in with a melee opponent, etc) it is another option.

Ophelia also adds some good damage potential at a high Combat for a Som'er crew, which tends to focus on a lot of low-cost models with lower Combat. Her Combat of 6 coupled with her good damage output and Use Soulstone ability fills a large gap in the crew.

Just as a reminder, don't forget the "Oooo! A Girl!" antics described above!

Also remember that while joining a Crew, Ophelia may still connect one Young LaCroix totem, which is just an excellent model. For 2 soulstones it has very good defense and defensive abilities, a good shooting attack, and access to Ophelia's "Right Between the Eyes" spell. All in all, if Ophelia is in the crew, you should have as many of these as you can take. (And, if she is joining a crew, one is the max.)

Finally, Ophelia couples well with other Kin, if you are taking them, because she is companioned with them and they may activate at the same time. This, coupled with the Family Tree ability, may allow you to activate a number of models at once and get the drop on an opponent! However, it is worth noting, if you start spending too many Soulstones on Kin models, you may want to consider simply dropping Som'er and having Ophelia lead your crew. The whole purpose of Som'er is to create more Bayou Gremlins, Mosquitoes, and Piglets and then to manipulate them in various ways. If you find yourself relying on the Kin, Som'er has less purpose and dropping him to have Ophelia lead the crew will net you 14 Soulstones (the 8 she costs plus the 6 from her Henchman Reserve). Now, Som'er is definitely worth the 14 Soulstones, but only if you are using him to the best of his ability, so always examine who is the best model to lead //your// crew.

Zoraida
As a living, Wp4 minion, Ophelia is able to be hired by Zoraida! With her great ranged firepower and her presence allowing more than two of the Lacroix Kin, this can be an excellent choice for the Old Hag. Zoraida usually has little use for her own soulstones, so Ophelia is free to hog them all for her own Attack and Df flips.

As a Henchman, Ophelia will also allow you to hire a totem (Zoraida prefers to summon her Voodoo Doll). Ophelia's usual Young 'Uns might be a bit costly when you factor in the +1SS for hiring out of faction models, but there's nothing stopping you from taking a Primordial Magic. Aside from it's usual (great) Arcane Reservoir talent, it can also use it's Ca 5 to cast Ophelia's //Right Between the Eyes//.

If you decide to go all the way and hire most of Ophelia's Kin, you'll pay a premium for all those out of faction models, but the crew-buffing tricks from Zoraida could make this worth while. In any case, she'll funcion in much the same way as if she was leading her own crew, but with //Bewitch//, //Obey// and other shenanigans from Zoraida making up for the smaller crew size.

If you take Ophelia on her own with Zoraida, she'll get no use out of her ability to improve the gremlins around her. However she will still be a force to be reckoned with in her own right. //Like Herding Squirrels// will keep her from taking too much damage in melee and using //Dumb and Lucky// on herself will ramp up the damage from her Pistol Strikes to insane levels. As usual, Zoraida will only add to this. She can //Bewitch// Ophelia's targets to prevent them cheating and use //Obey// to get the most out of Ophelia's Pistol shots.

The Neverborn also have a perfectly good healer available for Ophelia in the form of Candy. She's more expensive than a Slop Hauler (who Zoraida cannot take due to being Wp5), but she's also harder to kill off and can do more than just heal Ophelia every turn. Another horrible trick for keeping Ophelia safe is to //Abduct// her with a Stitched Together after Ophelia has activated. This will keep her buried for the rest of the turn, only to return next turn, fresh as a daisy and ready to slaughter some more enemy models.

The main negative for Ophelia is she prevents Zoraida from taking any other non-Kin Special Forces, in particular the Effigies and Wicked Dolls (though Zoraida can still summon Wicked Dolls, since Special Forces only affects hiring). This needn't be a massive problem, but it's at least worth considering when you're looking at using Ophelia in a Zoraida crew.

=__Tricks and Tips While Leading a Crew__= While leading a crew, Ophelia may only hire Gremlin and Kin models, but that is all she needs! All of the Kin models have excellent ranged combat, and Francois even has decent melee attacks for when the enemy gets close (Ophelia as well, for that matter, because she does have the gunfighter ability). Even so, the Crew as a whole prefers to keep back, at a range and killing from a distance and using their limited melee when they have too. Keep them in cover, in case of return fire. Also, keep in mind, if one your models is in melee you may still fire at the enemy with your kin with no fear of hitting your own models thanks to the "Aim High" ability.

Also remember that all of your Kin are companioned to each other while Ophelia is in play, so as long as they are within 6" of each other, they may all activate at once. This ability is best utilized to activate before an opponent and lay down fire on his or her most vulnerable models, killing them before they have a chance to activate and retaliate. Use this deadly potential only when you are in range, and ready to take out a few models. If you activate all of your Kin together first turn before they are even in range of taking a shot, all you have done is allowed to see where you are positioning your models. Make no mistake this potential is for one thing: eliminating opposing models. You should also remember Ophelia's "Family Tree" ability which can get one non-kin gremlin in on the simultaneous activation. Usually it is best used on a slop hauler, so you can lower the enemy model's defense before the rest of your kin lay into it, but your situation may dictate another choice! However, this entire ability is negated as soon as Ophelia dies, so your opponent will be gunning for her! Use Soulstones, range, and cover to keep her alive!

Ophelia may also use her Dumb and Lucky ability on any of the kin in range so that they may automatically trigger Dumb Luck, if she is not already using it on herself. It is usually best used on herself, as she suffers fewer Wounds from her damage dealing ability but, as always, situations may dictate otherwise. (For example, Ophelia is out of range for shooting, she only has 1 wound left, etc)

Finally, remember the "Oooo! A Girl!" antics described above.

Strategies and Schemes
There are really no Strategies which the LaCroix are bad at. With a minimum Walk value of 5 and the Reckless ability (ability to gain Fast) on every model in the Crew, they are great objective grabbers. Ophelia will also have access to the very cheap, fast Bayou Gremlins which are eligible to hold objectives and are great in things like Reconnoiter.

When it comes to killing power, the LaCroix do fine as well. They can lay down the hurt from a range and do not need to run any of their own models directly into harm's way to do so. (Well, maybe Pere, but he will generally take out enough models in the process to make it worth it) This makes them excellent for things like Slaughter.

Decent for any Strategy and masters of none, they are never a bad choice, no matter what you flip. Their only real weakness is a lack of melee, but they even have limited access to this ability.

As for Schemes, generally stay away from anything which requires getting close (like Steal Relic) because the LaCroix do their best damage from a range. Other than that, try to pick Schemes which compliment your Strategy. (For example, if you get Slaughter, you may want to take Kill Protege, since you will be gunning for the opponent's highest Soulstone model anyway.)

//Note:// It is worth noting that although the LaCroix have little weakness in terms of strategy, they do have a notable one in terms of other masters. Hamelin the Plagued's ability "Bully" prevents height 1 models from being able to target him, and all of your available models are height 1. Additionally, outside of Pere, you have few blasts or pulses to target him indirectly (unlike Som'er). On the whole, if you know your opponent is taking him and particularly if you flipped something like Contain Power, you may be in trouble. But, other than the one bad match up, the LaCroix are a fantastic fighting force!

Building a Crew
As stated, Ophelia may only select Gremlin and Kin models (although all Kin models are also gremlins anyway). This makes building her crew rather simple.

Ophelia LaCroix Young LaCroix Francois LaCroix Pere Ravage Rami LaCroix Raphael LaCroix
 * List of Gremlin Kin Models**

The Kin are clearly the best models for her because of her synergy with them, so you will generally include them all. This includes the 3 Young LaCroix which she may connect while leading a crew. For 2 Soulstones, they are some of the more efficient models in the game!

A crew with all of the Kin models listed above (with three copies of Young Lacroix) will total up to 28 soul stones. Luckily, Ophelia has a Henchman Reserve of 6, which means she gains six additional Soulstones for crew selection, but also caps her Soulstone Cache at six. So, if you take all of the unique LaCroix and three of the young LaCroix in a 25 Soulstone game, you will actually have 3 additional Soulstones left over for Ophelia's cache, thanks to her henchman reserve. Alternatively, dropping one Young LaCroix for 2 more Soulstones isn't a terrible idea, since Ophelia loves her Soulstones. As usual, it depends on your situation.

If you are playing a larger game, you have a few options for additional Gremlins, since you have no more Kin to take!

The Gremlins who focus on manipulating pigs (the Hog Whisperer, Taxidermist and Pigapult) are generally not good options since Ophelia may not take pigs, and their abilities tend to be reliant upon them. This leaves us with the Slop Hauler and Bayou Gremlin. The Slop Hauler is an absolutely excellent choice, as he adds a lot of utility to a LaCroix Crew, lowering enemy defense to make their already devastating shooting even more effective. The Bayou Gremlin is probably not quite as ideal, however it is only 2 Soulstones and has a wide range of abilities and is also great for grabbing objectives. So, if you need sheer numbers, some Bayou Gremlins may be a good bet, but if you need things dead, you may want to reach for those Slop Haulers.

Starting Ophelia
Ophelia is an excellent leader to begin your Malifaux collection. She is versatile, intuitive, and just generally good and fun. Also, all of the models which you purchase for her are fantastic models for Som'er, and he is a good master to expand out to when you want a few more options.

__The Ophelia Boxed set comes with all of the LaCroix kin except the Young LaCroix:__ Ophelia LaCroix Francois LaCroix Pere Ravage Rami LaCroix Raphael LaCroix

They are all unique models, so the boxed set provides one of each.

After you have that, you will probably want the Young LaCroix (she can take 3) followed by a blister of Slop Haulers and a blister of Bayou Gremlins when you are ready to expand, since they are the two best options for her, besides her kin.

=__Playing Against Ophelia__= With the exception of Ophelia and Francois, the LaCroix have very little melee combat. Use this to your advantage! Get up close to them. Although the other LaCroix may be able to shoot into melee without flipping to see who they hit, the LaCroix you are near still will not be able to shoot, since models in melee may not use ranged weapons (Ophelia herself is an exception to this, since she is a gunfighter and it is why she is listed alongside Francois as good in melee).

Kill Ophelia! Without her, none of the Kin may Companion each other to activate at once. Not to mention she is a good model in general, and adds a lot of utility to the crew. Since she is a Henchman, she has access to fewer Soulstones than an actual Master, so taking her down is very possible.

If Ophelia is leading the crew, watch out for Pere Ravage. As per his entry, Ophelia can use //Ooh a Girl!// and Companion to effectively slingshot Pere about 18" into the midst of your crew and detonate the fellow before you have a chance to react. Try to kill him early, or use abilities like //Obey// on him to turn him on Ophelia (he is easily influenced, with an effective Wp of 1). Failing that, at least try to keep your crew spread out enough to minimize the effect Pere will have.

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