Death+Marshals

//"Employed to deal with the Resurrectionist menace of Malifaux, Death Marshals live by the tenant of "Know Thy Enemy". Trained in the dark art of Necromancy, but forbidden in employing it, the Death Marshals are infamous for the enchanted coffins they drag about. Any locked into one of these boxes suffer horrific visions whilst finding their link to Malifaux's magic severed (furthering their torment)."//
 * Death Marshal, Guild Minion** toc

=__Overview__= Death Marshals are the Guild's primary anti-Resurrectionist agents. They are trained in necromancy but forbidden its use, and their bodies alter physically with the weight of this knowledge. They hide their pallid appearance with the standard Death Marshal uniform: a high-collared duster and wide-brimmed hat. Their primary weapon against the undead threat is an enchanted pinewood coffin, which they use to imprison their foes, inflicting horrific visions upon them and severing any link to the magic of Malifaux.

Death Marshals are found mostly in Lady Justice crews, where they bring a number of useful abilities and spells to the crew.

=__Mobility__= With a relatively slow walk of 4", the Death Marshals are not going to cover much ground quickly, and unfortunately they have no abilities themselves or in Lady Justice's crew to make them quicker. However they do make up for this by having a good ranged attack.

=__Offense__= The Death Marshals are trained extensively in the use of their main mundane weapon, the Bladed Peacebringer, and they are quite proficient in its use.

Ranged
The Death Marshal's Peacebringer is already a good firearm, before it is placed in the highly trained hands of its owning Death Marshal. It has a good range of 10" and decent damage stats.

Melee
When the enemy gets too close to shoot in the head, the Marshals resort to the sharp blade that forms the end of the Peacebringer hand grip. The Marshals are nearly as proficient wielding their Peacebringer in melee as they are at ranged combat, with similar damage output and the same ability to hit but without a Ram built in.

Triggers
Thanks to their training, the Death Marshals have two Triggers that help them rid Malifaux of the undead menace.

//Cb-Critical Strike//
Part of a Death Marshal's training against the undead is knowing their weakness: their head. Any Death Marshal knows this is where to aim and this is represented by //Critical Strike//. This Trigger adds +1 Dg for every Ram you flip when you make the strike. A Death Marshal can automatically choose to activate this Trigger when firing his Peacebringer and can also activate it when using their Peacebringer in melee, so long as they flip Rams in their Attack Duel.

//Cb-Final Repose//
Another key part of the Death Marshal's training is the complete destruction of the undead corpse, making them impossible for even the most skillful Resurrectionist to use. In order to activate this Trigger, once again the Death Marshal must flip a card with a Rams suit in their Attack Duel, and the Trigger states that after a defender is killed, it doesn't drop any counters, making the corpse useless to any gravedigger on the board.

Spells
A Death Marshal's training is heavily focused around fighting in groups and using their pine coffins to seal their foes away.

//(1) Finish the Job//
This spell is the paramount synergistic spell that lets the Death Marshals function incredibly well together. It adds +1 point of damage per Rams in the casting total to Melee attacks made by all friendly Death Marshal models within the spell's radius. This includes Lady Justice and The Judge, increasing their damage potential by a great amount. This will also always add at least +1 damage if successfully cast, as the Death Marshals have an innate Rams attached to their Casting Value.

//(2) Pine Box//
The signature ability of a Death Marshal and his primary method of defeating his opponent. It is a short ranged ability that is quite handy, as it allows you to bury any target model either friend or foe. Though useful, it is very limited in its application, as it is both very difficult for the Marshal to cast, needing at least an 8 of Crows, and very short-ranged. The fact that it is a (2) spell also means that the Marshal is already in Melee range of his target, so probably had to survive at least one attack. Its use in burying a friend is that the target model will not be able to get shot, and essentially gets pulled along by the Marshal. The downside to burying a friendly model is that the model will have to win a Willpower versus Willpower Duel to get out of the box, unless you have the Marshal killed by some means.

=__Resilience__= The Death Marshals are fairly resilient against the Undead. Although they posses a below average defense, they have a good willpower stat, which is boosted when defending in willpower duels against the Undead.

//Hard to Wound 1//
The Death Marshals possess the uncanny ability to avoid the brunt of the attacks that are directed toward them. //Hard to Wound 1// means that any model attacking them gets a negative twist to the damage flip on their weapons, meaning Marshals take fewer wounds (to one degree or another). In a way this is also deck control (if they flip over that 13 Masks with the 2 of Rams, you'll be taking weak damage, and they won't get to use that 13 this turn) so make sure you remember to tell your opponent about this very handy ability before they flip the cards for their damage.

//Slow to Die//
There is a rumor amongst the general Malifaux populace that the Death Marshals are exposed to Resurrectionist death magic or perhaps it is their hardened resolve. Whichever of the two is the true answer, Death Marshals are capable of making a (1) action right before they depart this wretched world.

//Fear Not Death//
Quirky at best. This gives a Death Marshal +2 Wp when they are the defender in a duel where the attacker is undead. Very useful when dealing with Ressurectionists, but quite circumstantial and not ground shaking. Don't forget it though. Sometimes only 2 points of difference can be the difference between standing firm in the face of danger and running for the hills.

=__Tips and Tricks__= //Slow to Die// doesn't have many applications with a Marshal. Your options really are to make an attack (Ranged or Melee) or use //Finish the Job// to boost any nearby Marshals. The latter can have more merit than the former if there are unactivated Marshals nearby, but firing off one last round or getting off one final slash can also be worthwhile.

//Pine Box// only works if the Marshal hasn't activated yet as it requires both AP. If you can fool your foe into charging you, and you survive, lock them in the box the turn afterwards.

Don't fool yourself into thinking //Pine Box// ends problems. Indeed, locking your opponent's nastiest nasty in the box may only make the Marshal even MORE of a target (kill the Marshal, get back the prisoner).

Should you get lucky and get one of the biggest threats on the board locked up, consider leaving the field. Walking 8" per turn may not be a lot of distance, but to have a 4 Soulstone model leave a fight while preventing a 9 Soulstone enemy model returning to the battle can be a good trade-off. Just delaying the return of a monster can pay off, as it may force your foe to expend minions to rescue them - minions that could be used better for many purposes.

=__Master-Specific Tips__=
 * Lady Justice**: As her box set comes with three Death Marshals, she can get use of these minions right off the bat. Their main role is to soften up the enemy before she gets there, with their excellent damage spread on the Peacebringer - once she's engaged with the enemy, it's likely that the Death Marshals will want to follow her in or focus on picking off stray models, as the risk of hitting Lady Justice may be too high to take.


 * Perdita Ortega**: While they may not be part of the dreaded Ortega family, the Death Marshals can still be a solid 4 Soulstone ranged attacker. They'll fall behind her if you're not careful, but once they're in position they can start doing what they do best. If all else fails, //Obey// can force the Death Marshal to Charge into place. It's unlikely for you to want to take them in multiples.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__=
 * Death Marshals:** With //Finish the Job// and //**Critical** **Strike**//, Death Marshals teamed up can be capable of some serious damage. Don't forget that Lady Justice, the Judge, and the Exorcist get the damage bonus too!


 * Executioner**: You can use //Pine Box// on this melee monster, keeping him and his poor Wd and Df stats hidden away until you drop him on top of the enemy where he excels.

=__Playing Against__= While cost-efficient minions from a distance, Death Marshals are average up close. With //Slow to Die// they'll get a parting shot in, so try to minimize the potential damage they can do by taking them out in melee. Remember that it can be difficult to get close to them when they're in the company of powerhouse melee models like the Judge, Executioner, or (obviously!) the head death marshal herself - Lady Justice.

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