Lady+Justice

include page="inc_1.5rules" **Lady Justice, Guild Master ** //"The long arm of the Governor General, Lady Justice is the calm, practical, and blind leader of the Death Marshals - a pivotal pillar of the Guild. Putting more value in action than words, Justice leads her corrupted crew with her Great Sword and uncanny ability to hunt the wicked forces of the Resurrectionists without suffering from their necrotic influence."//

//"Justice is always violent to the party offending, for every man is innocent in his own eyes."// //--Daniel Defoe (The Shortest Way with Dissenters)// toc

= =

**Overview**
Lady Justice is one of the most powerful close-combat fighters in the game. Every opponent dreads facing her Judgement in Melee as her greatsword is capable of felling most with a single swing.

Lady Justice (or "L.J." to her close friends) often activates before her crew to inspire them to follow and act with greater passion. She is a true inspiration, very straightforward and quite powerful, making her both an easy Master for new players to use and learn the game while maintaining such power and effectiveness that she is still feared by even veteran players.

=Mobility= Lady Justice has some notable speed to help her get into melee (where she excels). A Walk of 5" is higher than average, and a Charge of 8" will get her where she needs to go - more so given //Blindfighter// allows her to Charge and ignore LoS when doing so, making it possible for her to dash through obscuring effects (such as a Forest). She must still charge in a straight line, but being able to dash through an effect that would restrict LoS can be handy.

Justice is swift and comes without mercy.

=Offense= Lady Justice is a fantastic sword savant, preferring to charge into battle and ruin a crew by passing her sentence to each one in turn. She is adequate with ranged attacks, and uses her spells to buff herself and to share her sword experience with her allies.

**Ranged**
L.J. carries a pair of Guild-issued pistols, which she is decent with (being paired, she gets a +1 Card flip when seeking to hit her target). Even so, if she is in pistol range of a target (10") she will also be in Charge range (8" to move plus +2" range on her sword) so it's more likely she'll seek to deal with her foes up close than keep her distance.

Justice does have one other ranged attack (well... more an anti-undead nuke!!) that comes in handy when she is surrounded by hordes of undeath. //Restore Natural Order// requires a high cost to cast - Justice can do nothing except cast the spell (no actions before it, no actions after it) and it requires a card with a strength of 12+ to use (suit irrelevant). If employed, ALL undead within 12" of her suffer 3 Wounds. This will end all Canine Remains and Mindless Zombies in the affected area (gone - just like that) while dealing a very painful blow to any other undead in the blast radius.

**Melee**
"L.J." is the Guild's melee expert. With a CB of 7, few can dodge her sword which typically deals 4/5/7 damage with each slash, thanks to her free //Critical Strike// (should a Ram be flipped/cheated with the attack, the damage rises further to 5/6/8!). If that wasn't enough, the //Greatsword// always gets +1 card flipped when determining damage which maximizes the chances of moderate or severe damage occurring.

And it doesn't stop there. "L.J." only has one (0) option available to her (meaning she is free to use it each activation) - //Sword Style//. It's a spell that costs her a 6+ card to cast, but it increases the power of her blade for the turn to seemingly godly levels. When cast she receives three choices on what she would like to gain and each have the benefits:
 * //Fate// increases "L.J.'s" CB to 9 with any suited card used to cast the spell, and increases it to 11 CB if the card used to the cast the spell was a Ram. Once cast, you have full bragging rights prior to each attack to say "//Dodge this...//"
 * //Vengeance// allows you to fulfill the vendetta someone has against the target (this is Malifaux - everyone is guilty of something). This gives the //Greatsword// another +1 Card flip when determining damage (so +2 Flips total, given that //Greatsword// already flips an extra card when determining damage). This will often assure you of getting severe damage being dealt to the target.
 * //Onslaught// throws "L.J."'s calm and peaceful demeanor aside, preventing her from using //Critical Strike// (returning its damage to its default 3/4/6), but in exchange it grants her a trigger: anytime she attacks a defender with a Mask flip and damages the subject, L.J. gets to make a free Melee Strike against the victim. If the second strike also flips a Mask and damages the victim, L.J. gets another attack, and so on - carving the foe down to nothing. While //Fate// and //Vengeance// may seem more appealing than this card burn, //Onslaught// does have its place and can prove quite handy (especially against targets that are //Hard to Kill//).

End result: once an enemy is within sword reach of "L.J.", it won't be lasting long, and Lady J. doesn't just stop when her foe is dead (she's had enough experience to know sometimes the dead do come back). Should she feel assured her next attack will end her foe, she can forgo delivering a //Critical Strike// to instead render the remains of the target useless with //Final Repose//. If the attack does kill the target, the victim will produce no counters (no scrap, no corpse, no nothing...) which can frustrate Resurrectionists and Arcanist masters alike.

To annoy them further, Justice can employ //Final Repose// at range as an action. //Last Rites// sweeps away all Corpse and Scrap counters within 6" of L.J. that are not being carried. It's circumstantial and costs 1 AP to use, but if Justice is standing in a pile of bodies or a scrap heap with eager necromancers or inventors nearby, this quick action can turn their frowns upside down. That's what Lady Justice does - its her job to prevent things coming back when they should stay dead or left to rust.

Leadership
Justice isn't just a sword savant. She is also an inspiration to her Crew and will lead the charge so as to empower them with confidence to follow her lead. Anytime "L.J." kills an enemy model, all friendly models within 10" of her that are able to see her stand witness to her //Inspiring Swordplay// which buffs all friendly models, giving them +2Cb for the rest of that turn (//"if she can do it - so can we!"//).

Furthermore, L.J. can share her melee expertise with her Crew via her //Combat Prowess//. This spell, when cast, will grant //Melee Expert// to 2-3 targets that are within 3" of each other (and 10" from Lady Justice) giving each target affected a free Melee Strike for that turn.

=Resilience= She may have an above average DF of 5, but with 12 Wounds Lady Justice is the most durable of the Guild Masters (Soniia comes close at 10). She also has a pair of tricks for making her a less appealing target for foes to go after:

L.J. may not have an abundantly high WP (at 6) but it exceeds the average. More so, this WP increases to 8 (+2) when defending in duels of WP against the undead (she's seen enough death that even the undead don't phase her). It makes sense she is so fearless as Lady Justice has lead her Death Marshals against the forces of the undead. For her to see a half-rotten foe lurching towards her is just another day in her line of duty. A rather strong deterrent as anytime Lady Justice avoids being hit by a Melee Strike (regardless of whether the attacker is in her 2" melee range), and flips a Mask to do so, she uses the same duel totals that missed her to hit her foe with her Greatsword. Indeed, the easier she avoids the attack the deadlier her response will be.
 * Fear not Death**
 * Df-Riposte**

"//**Example**: a Rotten Belle attacks Lady Justice with "Grimy Parasol". The two players flip their fate cards; the Belle has a total of 11, Lady Justice has a total of 12. Both players cheat fate (and Lady Justice uses a soulstone), bringing the totals to Belle 16, Justice 20 (and she gets the Mask required to hit her trigger). Typically the duel would end as Justice parried the blow and avoided damage. However, since she used a Mask card in her defense the duel totals are used// //(Justice 20, Belle 14) but as if it had been Justice making the strike - meaning she has flipped an end total of 4 for the purpose of hitting the Rotten Belle (which may lead to the Belle being cleaved in half on its own activation).//"

=Soulstones= Lady Justice has an automatic cache of 4 Soulstones. This may seem sufficient, but due to her low defense, and her ability to get way ahead of her crew and into big trouble, you may be using Soulstones to keep Justice alive. Putting her against Masters, even the Resurrectionist Masters she excels at fighting, can put her at a severe disadvantage. Making sure you have the maximum number of Soulstones is important, as they go quickly.

Soulstones should be used in a couple different ways. First and foremost, they should be used to make sure Justice doesn't lose duels in which she is using her Df or Wp. Once Justice starts taking hits, she doesn't seem to last long. Next, use the Soulstones to prevent or heal damage. Keeping Justice at high health is important. Most of the Resurrectionists (and several of the other) Masters have the ability to do massive damage. Lastly, use Soulstones to help Justice win attack duels. The faster she puts her opponent down, the better.

=Tricks and Tips= Lady Justice is all about acting first; both in charging (best defense is a good offense - dead don't strike back... most of the time) and being an example for her crew to follow. **"Inspiring Swordplay**" and **"Combat Prowess"** are only useful if L.J. activates prior to the affected models.

Being able to hit an opponent multiple times is very important for Lady Justice. Ideally there should be no foes near her when she ends her activation. This will help ensure her survival.

**Movement**
Waiting for the bad guys to come to you is a good plan of action. Parking Justice in the middle of an area that will have high traffic (like the middle of the board) can be highly effective. She has multiple ranged attacks that weaken enemies, and her melee attack has a 2" range.

Due to her notable speed and free Melee Strike, Lady Justice actually has 3 options on how to get her targets in sword range:
 * Charge 8" and attack twice (once from the charge, once from Melee Expert) - Threat range of 10"
 * Walk twice (10") and attack once (from Melee Expert) - Threat range of 12"
 * Walk 5", attack once (from Melee Expert), Walk 5" - Threat range of 7"

Charge is usually the best call when attacking a foe in melee. It gives a +1 Card flip when determining damage for the attack. When added to the other effects L.J. has, she will be flipping 3 cards to determine damage more often than not. Should the first attack not end the target, you will still have your free Melee Strike from **(+1) Melee Expert**. Even if you are within Walking distance of your target, you should consider Charging for the extra damage flip.

Walking has a decent amount of potential for Lady Justice as it allows her to travel the field a bit faster (+2" can mean quite a lot over a number of turns). If she enters melee range of a target, she uses what extra movement she has to maneuver herself to the best position for herself (//e.g. using her enemy to block LoS to her//). If she can walk up to an opponent with only 1 AP, she can attack her foe with Melee Expert (+1) and, after resolving the attack, decide what to do with her remaining 1 AP (//attack again if the target still lives, or Walk 5" if the target is dead, or shoot a target 10" away with her Peacekeepers//).

**Melee**
Keep in mind **Melee Expert** only lets you take a melee action and is NOT a third general Action Point. If possible, always use **Melee Expert** before using up a general AP. It's common sense but something that can be forgotten in the passion of battle.

Better to have Lady Justice take on foes one-at-a-time than charging her into the thick of things. She has powerful damage output, but her best defense is to kill anyone before they can hit her.

It may not be wise to get into the heat of a scuffle, but if you have a chance to take out a large number of scrap counters (whether walking or sitting on the ground), by all means, walk into the fray and deliver **"(1) Last Rights"** to take them out.

Do not cast **Sword Style** until you are in melee range with a target. Don't get cocky and throw away a card just because you feel sure you'll get into melee range. Get there first, then power up.


 * Sword Style** is L.J.'s only (0) action and any //turn// she's to attack with her Greatsword, it should probably be used. It only costs 1 card and its effects apply to every Melee Strike she will make - including those gained from **Riposte**:
 * **Sword Style: Vengence** is the easiest style to use and L.J.'s "Defensive" style. Any 6+ card can be used to cast it, and it improves the execution power of L.J.'s blade by giving it +2 Flips for determining damage (one from **Vengence**, and one from her Sword itself). This will help L.J. deal severe damage to her foes and is best used against low DF/high WD targets//.//
 * **Sword Style: Fate** can be quite powerful as the easier Justice hits her target, the more damage she will deal to them. It automatically gives her a CB of 9, and if cast with a 6+ Ram card, this increases to a CB of 11 (highest CB in the game). Very useful against high DF foes. **NOTE: Fate does not help Riposte as the attack is made from the difference between the attacker and defender's totals**.
 * **Sword Style: Onslaught** reduces L.J. damage output as it prevents her using **Critical Strike** (and also"**Final Repose**"), but it can potentially (highly unlikely) turn a single Melee strike into a 12-strike combo. It is great for hacking up **"Hard to Kill"** cockroaches as the first strike/s will reduce the target to 1 WD, before the following //coup de grace// ends the issue.

If playing against Resurrectionists, be sure to use "**Final Repose**" with each kill you make. If there is even a chance you could kill the creature with the blow, use it (better to reduce your damage to prevent corpse counters appearing, then accidently kill a foe and leave counters behind). If you aren't even close to killing the model, or there are no Resurrectionists on the board, use **Critical Strike**.

Justice tends to be looked at as a Melee based Master, and her pistols are ignored (mainly because her Melee attacks are just so darn unforgetable). But they have a place. Should Justice kill a target and still have an AP left but be too far away to get back into Melee, pull out the pistols and take a shot. You might knock off another opponent.
 * Ranged**

Don't forget her pistols are //Paired//; meaning you get to a +1 flip on your attack. Sometimes that can be the difference between a hit and a miss (and a kill or a flesh wound).

Hold onto 6+ Strength Cards - especially Rams (for **Critical Strikes** and **Sword Style: Fate**) and Masks (for **Sword Style: Onslaught** and **Riposte**). If you get the Black Joker, it is never a bad idea to hold on to it. Better to attempt to hit than not hit at all.
 * Control Hand**

Using the Scales of Justice's ability, Balance, is an opportunity to load your hand. Holding the Black Joker in place of a high card is never a bad idea--you cannot cheat a flipped Black Joker; you can always Cheat on a one.

=Strategies and Schemes for Lady Justice= The Death Marshals are designed more for search and destroy schemes and tactics rather than defending an area. Because of their average movement (4"-5" Walk) they have a hard time with walking a long ways to their objectives. It is important, therefore, that you make sure your Strategies and Schemes point everyone in the same general direction.

Because of Lady Justice's ability to "kick tail", the head on Strategies are easier for her. **Contain Power**, **Slaughter**, **Supply Wagon**, and **Deliver a Message** involve her Crew going out to find their enemies to face them head on, and defeat them.
 * Strategies**

Strategies that involve moving to the enemies' side of the board are more dificult for this crew. **A Line in the Sand**, **Treasure Hunt** and **Reconnoiter** are especially difficult.
 * A **Line in the Sand** leaves the crew spread out, protecting markers so they don't become unflipped.
 * **Treasure hunt** requires a model to move to the center of the table and back (the best model for this job is Lady Justice or The Judge).
 * **Reconnoiter** requires the crew to be spread out too far to be able to gain/give backup readily.

A good rule of thumb for Justice is make sure all your goals are in the same area. Most Schemes fall into offensive (like **Assassinate** and **Frame for Murder**) and defensive (**Hold Out** or **Break Through**). If you have a Strategy that is going to force Lady Justice and her crew across the board, make sure your Schemes are centered there too. If you have to take out the entire crew, make sure you can fulfill your secondary goals as well. Death Marshals are better at charging into battle than slinking around the board; if you can, choose Schemes that reflect this.
 * Schemes**

=Lady Justice in Brawls= (Overall, then mention specific Masters to pair with)

=Building a Crew= Lady Justice's crew works very well together, though there are a few items lacking. Generally, Arcanists, Neverborn, and Resurrectionists don't work with the Crew and don't offer Mercenary models.

The Scales of Justice, Lady J's personal totem, is always a good addition to the crew. He has two fantastic aspects that help the crew out immensely. Francisco and Santiago Ortega are good additions to the crew if you want more firepower, as is Nino for cover. Guild Austringers are always a good addition to any Guild crew with their 12" range (18" with a (2) action). The Executioner is a beast, who mows through living and undead models at a sedate pace, but enjoys every minute of the kill.
 * Guild**

To help offset Lady Justices lack of defenses, a Guardian can be a good addition to her crew. He can grant her some much needed armor and take some of the wounds she would be taking herself.

Range is an important element in Malifaux. Picking up The Trapper or Hans is a good plan, but any of the Outcast Mercenaries make good additions to a Guild crew. Guild minions tend to be very good at dealing ranged damage already so you should always evaluate if the Mercenary model you are hiring is worth the increase SS cost over a Guild model with similar abilities and cost
 * Outcast**

=Starting Lady Justice= "L.J." is one of the only guild Masters that is beloved by the people. Her Crew, despite it's secrecy and mystery, share this light. When hunting the filth that has encroached upon Malifaux, she is commonly accompanied by the Judge, and three Death Marshals. The Crew that comes in her starter set is:

Lady Justice (Cache 4) 3 Death Marshals (4-ss a piece //**[total of 12-ss]**//) The Judge (7-ss)
 * TOTAL = 19-ss**

This encourages players to look to expand quickly as if you play a standard game (25-ss) with this box set alone, you will be forced to burn 2 Soulstones (//i.e.// 25-19 = 6-Stones remaining. L.J. bring a Cache of 4-Stones. The max number of Soulstones you can bring at a standard game is only 8, meaning you will have to lose 2 of the 10 Soulstones you have). To avoid doing this, pick up the Scales of Justice, or a different 2-stone Totem.

The Scales of Justice is Master Specific (can only be hired by Lady Justice) and is very useful to the Death Marshals. First, he has Magical Extension - the best spell to cast with this is L.J.'s **Combat Prowess**; you can send the Scales off with half of the crew, and they can all gain a Melee-only AP. The Scales also give you Balance, a zero ability that allows you to discard a card, and drew a new one. This can be useful if you're trying to stack your Control Hand to help Justice.

Another good buy is the Executioner. He is a 7ss model, and while he is slow, he is a compliment to Lady Justice's crew. He is terrifying ->11, making him one of the few models in the Guild that are. He has paired weapons which give him a better chance of hitting his target, and your opponent can't activate Df triggers against him. He also has the ability to heal himself.

More firepower is always a good idea. Picking up one or two long ranged guns (Austringers, The Trapper, Nino) will help lay cover fire for the more melee-based crew. While this may not be helpful in later turns (due to the worry of shooting Justice or one of your other crew members) it could make the difference between winning and losing.

=Playing Against Lady Justice=

Range
The Death Marshals Crew is as capable at a a distance as they are in Melee combat. Range is your ally. This crew doesn't move quickly, or have many special abilities that make movement easier, so you'll have a good long time to shoot and cast at them as they cross the board. Knowing that you'll face a Justice crew means you can pick stronger ranged elements. Rami Lacroix and other long range shooters will quickly put damage on a Lady Justice Crew.

Mobility
One thing which hampers a Lady Justice crew is movement. Lady Justice nor her crew members have many movement tricks, and as a result, you can use this to your advantage. Taking schemes which rely on your movement across and around the board are ideal. Forcing a Guild player to commit to an attack, only to slip out of harms way will go a long way to pulling her out of position.

Low Defense
Lady Justice and her crew have comparably low defenses. As a result putting a large volume of spells and attacks into your opponent is a good strategy. Forcing her to use soul stones to avoid damage or mitigate incoming damage significantly hampers her abilities in melee combat, where a bad flip without a good card to cheat with will cause a missed attack at a key moment.

Lady Justice
The hard hitting Master of this crew has a lot of Wds, and can take a lot of Dg. Unfortunately her low (by comparison) Wp and Df allows for more damage to get through. A Lady Justice player may very well burn a number of Soulstones to prevent damage. Sending multiple models at her once she's close enought to charge makes it difficult for Justice to fight - she's taking damage from all sides, making her vulnerable. Slow Justice down, make as many Ranged Strikes as you can at her, and wear your opponents SS pool down.

Judge
The Judge is a dangerous member of the Death Marshals. He is proficient with his Sword and his Pistol, and has spells that put those weapons to good use. Again, taking him out with Ranged Attacks is going to be the key. Once he is within the 12" mark he can start doing damage. At 8" he becomes even more deadly. Giving him multiple melee opponents makes him vulnerable, but not as vulnerable as Justice (thanks to blades and bullets/bullets and blades). He is Hard to Wound and Slow to Die, so be aware of what assets are around when you finally off him.

Death Marshals
These Guild members are steadfast and sure. But with only 6 Wds they die fast enough. Pinebox is a huge annoyance, but it is a Melee range spell (1"). The Marshals prefer to shoot at things at a distance, but are still able to hold their own in Melee. Using spells and Ranged Strikes to take them out is a good idea. Because Death Marshals are the cannon fodder of this crew, they should not be seen as a priority unless they are stopping you from getting to an objective.

**Guild Hounds**
These dogs are really great in packs. Blast and Aura attacks do wonders for neutering their threat. Part of their effectiveness is in their ability to move forward quickly when paired up. As a result, any ability that can take them out of range of each other will cause them to slow down and continue to be Insignificant.

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//"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." -Benjamin Franklin// **"(0) Sword Style"**