M2E+Peasant

toc Pion, Rare 2
 * Peasants, Ten Thunders, Totem (Shenlong)**

=__Overview__= Rather than being a sole manifestation of the Master's power, Peasants represent local farmers and villages and as such, Shenlong can hire up to 2 of these totems rather than the standard 1 due to their being **Laborers**. Although you can get away with hiring one and summoning the second one.

The primary purpose of Peasants is **Provide for the Temple** by handing out conditions to boost the warriors prowess. Simply requiring a 5 of anything, this can give a friendly model within 1" a choice of **Defensive +1**, **Focus +1**, **Burning +1**, **Poison +1**. Unfortunately, this action can only be taken once per turn. The possibilities with this spell are endless as Shenlong and Sensei Yu thrive on conditions for their **Style** upgrades. Fermented River Monks also love a sip of the good stuff (**Poison**) from where ever they can get it and pretty much anybody can get good use out of **Focused** and **Defensive**

They also have a (2) action **Sacrifice for Shenlong** which allows him to immediately take a **(0)** action. This is a great way to give Shenlong some out of activation **Defensive** if he looks like he's about to be threatened or change his **Style** (again, **Low River Style** is good as it allows him to build up **Defensive**) so he can use his **(0)** to gain conditions. This is also a great option as Peasants are frequently left behind (especially when summoned), if they're out on their lonesome and you have another one, feel free to sacrifice one to get some conditions on Shenlong, just be careful as this is the best time for your opponent to kill the other one.

Although **Insignificant Peons**, at the start of the turn after Initiative Flips, Shenlong can either choose to perform a (0) Action or have a Peasant within 6" perform an **Interact Action**. When this happens, a second Peasant is summoned into base contact with the first Peasant. Note, this can't take the total Peasants above 2.

=__Mobility__= Peasants have slightly below average walk and charge as well as being pretty much at the bottom of the priority list to recieve pushes.

The only thing they have going for them is being able to sacrifice themselves and hope that the other is near the master to be resummoned at the start of the next turn via **Witness a Miricle**.

=__Offense__= Peasants have the mighty **Broom** of Doom as their sole attack option. With a **Ml** of 4, **Rg**1" and a 1/1/2 damage track they're not going to worry too many people. If you do manage to hit, the target is swept 1" away from the Peasant. This can be very situationally useful to attack your own models when that extra 1" is absolutely critical. Note that because of the push, if you charge and hit with the first attack, unless blocked by terrain or another model, it'll be pushed out of range for the second attack.

Although this is a very poor attack, you should never forget about it. If towards the end of the turn when both players have run out of cards and there's a model with only 1wd left (**Hard to Kill** anyone?), charge the Peasant in, Fate favours the bold and in Malifaux, "Bad Things Happen!"

=__Resilience__= With **Df**4, **Wp**5 and 4 **Wds**, Peasants will go down to a stiff breeze. However, they should be fairly low on the opponents threat list, so should be mostly ignored.

If the opponent does decide to kill them, Peasants are **Devoted**, an ability that gives the player 1 soulstone if the Peasant is killed by an enemy attack. This can prevent an enemy from wanting to kill something that generates a Soulstone & can be resummoned back into play.

=__Tips and Tricks__= The first trick with Peasant begins in the selecting crew stage of the game... If you're strapped for stones, only hire 1. Then on the first turn, summon a second one in with Shenlong's **Powerful Chi** and **Witness a Miracle**.Not only does this net you 2 free soulstones (at the cost of a **(0)** action on Shenlong and a **Slow** Peasant), but it also gives you a Scheme Marker with can be great for Schemes like Power Ritual.

Use **Provide for the Temple** really amp up whichever **Style Upgrade** Shenlong or Sensei Yu are currently carrying. Or if planning to change can pre-empt it to help them along their new Style. **High** and **Fermented River Styles** really like to have a large stack of **Burning** and **Poison** to really give **Lightning Kick** and **Stumble** some punch. **Wandering River Style** can also chew through **Focus** as if it were candy if you intend to use **Mighty Gust** a lot (and it really is a great action, effectively giving your models two AP for one of yours, or almost removing a standard combat model for a turn {push out of combat, make **Slow**, then no more charges and attacks!}).

Alternative, there's not a model in the game that doesn't like a bit of **Focus** or **Defensive**. A particular evil combo is to take Shenlong, 2 Peasants (or summon one) and 2 Katanaka Snipers. First the Peasants give the Snipers **Focus**, then they can take 2 **Focused** shots a turn (one from the Peasants, one from using **Focus** as a **(0) AP** thanks to Shenlong's **Knowing the Wind and Stone Ability**).

=__Playing Against Peasants__= Peasants are really not hard to take down. However their direct threat is really low and everytime you kill one, you'll be giving your opponent an extra Soulstone to their Cache. If you do want to kill them then the best best time is when one has used **Sacrifice for Shenlong** or early in the game/turn before they can give people Conditions. Otherwise, you really shouldn't leave one alive as your opponent can summon the one you killed back, smile and say "Thanks for the Soulstone!" (or should anyway!).

Also, having some condition removal of your own can really limit the Peasant's (and the crew in general) effectiveness.

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