| R Back |  |
Ahrimanes Newsletter #16 |
http://anarch.co.uk |  |
1.0 - Editorial
1.1 Word From the Editor
1.2 Next Issue
2.0 - Deck Overload
3.1 Vtes in Sun Erik Torstensson
3.2 Origins Andrew Weston
3.3 JOL Andrea
3.4 Sign Off
--[1.1 - Word from the Editor]-----------------------
Well if you paid attention to last months Newletter you will have noticed that a little plan of mine is even better than I thought, and LSJ has agreed with it. For those of you who didn't, an Ahrimane with The Wildebeest can still recruit a Swarm to place on others, but if blocked the Swarm will burn rather than be placed on the Ahrimane. This is excellent news, and surely a basis for some deck or other? Anyway the more attentive may also have noticed that there is a lack of Abombwe in this newsletter, which was promised last issue. Well that has been postponed until NL 18, or two months time, after the release of 3rd Edition, and the breakdown of that in issue 17. Instead we have three Ahrimane decks that have been created by other players, and then presented here for your pleasure.
--[1.2 -Next Issue]--------------------------------------
Third Edition! New crypt cards, maybe some with SPI, and new library cards, which may well be powerful new tools for the Sabbat. Of course the Ahrimanes are all Sabbat, so can immediately benefit from anything that comes along, however with the reprints there will be options to use cards that have been in quite limited circulation previously, such as The Hungry Coyote and Powerbase: Montreal. Also there will be the new rules, and draft cards, which sound interesting but is it the end for flavour text? I mean something's got to go right?
--[3.1 - Deck: Vtes in Sun ]---------------------------------------
Deck Name : The reincarnation of an ornithologist, mark II Deck Author : Erik Torstensson
Winner of Vtes in the Sun 2006 Constructed.
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 2 max: 7 average: 5.34
3x Muricia 7 ANI PRE SPI Ahrimane:4 3x Effie Lowery 5 ANI SPI obf Ahrimane:4 1x Batsheva 6 ANI PRE obt pot Guruhi:4 1x Gentha Shale 6 ANI PRE pot spi Ahrimane:4 1x Célèste Lamontagne 5 ANI PRO for !Gangrel:4 1x Fish 5 ANI POT pre Guruhi:4 1x Bobby Lemon 4 ANI pro Gangrel:3 1x Mouse 2 ani Nosferatu:3 Library [90 cards] Action [13] 2x Army of Rats 7x Enchant Kindred 1x Engling Fury 2x Entrancement 1x Muricia's Call Combat [28] 9x Aid from Bats 9x Carrion Crows 5x Taste of Vitae 5x Terror Frenzy Combat/Action Modifier [6] 6x Swiftness of the Stag Equipment [3] 3x .44 Magnum Event [1] 1x Dragonbound Master [10] 5x Blood Doll 1x KRCG News Radio 1x Pentex Subversion 1x Powerbase: Montreal 1x Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper, The 1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch Reaction [24] 4x Cats' Guidance 6x Falcon's Eye 7x Forced Awakening 7x Speak with Spirits Retainer [5] 5x Raven Spy
For once I have tried a deck! Sadly it was not one of my own, but this deck. It worked well, and I managed to get a GW without bleeding with it - a combination of Army of Rats, Dragonbound and Smiling Jack did for my prey. Well that and torporing Ian Forestal in the third turn of the game, and then keeping him there for the rest of it. The previous game was less successful, but lets forget about that.
--[3.2 - Deck: Origins ]---------------------------------------
Deck Name : Ahrimanes Toolbox
Deck Author : Andrew Weston
Finalist at Origins 2006
Authors Notes :
I think most Ahrimane decks tend to look somewhat similar. I've been working with much the same deck as I did when we were playtesting the clan locally, before Bloodlines was released. Inevitably, my decks have 4 copies of Howler. I would probably add a fifth, if I had one. I usually avoid Nettie, but thought she might go well in a deck with more than a couple of allies. She did serve me well, though I did not face a lot of intercept... or, rather, people who wanted to intercept me.
The deck builds slowly, often letting my prey get away with more than I would normally be comfortable with. I don't mind so much, however. This deck excels in the endgame. Also, by the time my prey is close to ousting my grandprey, I have a few Falcon's Eyes and/or Nose of the Hounds, so Howler can slow them down somewhat, should the need arise. At Origins, I also noticed that I was often overlooked due to other conflicts elsewhere, often caused indirectly by my own inaction (due to slow build-up). This worked to my advantage greatly. I'm always happy to see other people fight each other. For example, my predator in the first game at Origins was a Tupdog deck, something I greatly feared but had not yet encountered. I managed to subtly encourage him to go after his predator and even a crosstable "threat" instead of me. In the end, the only combat that involved Howler and a Tupdog was when I Falcon's Eye'd another attack against my grandpredator. I was intending to both cripple my predator, who was about to have a free ride and also to cycle some combat cards. Alas, Howler paid for that combat with some massive damage, but I still managed to survive and eventually win the game.
I figured that there would be a lot of Imbued at Origins (there was not), and thus that there would also be a lot of ally-stealing going on (Metagame assumptions: 0 for 2). Most of the ally-stealing that occurred that day was by myself with my lone copy of Entrancement. The crowning moment was in the final game when I refused to block my prey's War Ghoul recruit action, to the disbelief of the other players. When it came to be my turn, I Pentex Subversion'ed his only blockable vampire, and took the War Ghoul for my own. I think this made up for some earlier idiocy involving Aranthebes that I'd rather not go into. Suffice to say, I shouldn't be playing serious games without sleep. Not sure what else I can say about this deck. Hopefully, it's fairly easy to pick apart. Like most Ahrimane decks, it's rather toolboxy. I think this is their main strength. They can quickly switch from wall to rush to bleed as needed.
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 8 average: 6.67 4x Howler 8 ANI PRE SPI obf Ahrimane:2 3x Siamese, The 7 PRE SPI ani pro Ahrimane:2 3x Nettie Hale 5 ani cel pre pro spi Ahrimane:2 2x Cynthia Ingold 6 SPI ani for pre Ahrimane:2 Library [90 cards] Action [14] 1x Ahrimane Protectorate 1x Aranthebes, The Immortal 2x Army of Rats 3x Engling Fury 1x Entrancement 2x Heart of the City 1x Muricia's Call 3x Nose of the Hound Action Modifier [2] 2x Squirrel Balance Ally [5] 1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter) 1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin) 1x Neighborhood Watch Commander (Hunter) 1x Ohoyo Hopoksia (Bastet) 1x Procurer Combat [15] 4x Aid from Bats 6x Carrion Crows 2x Drawing Out the Beast 3x Pack Alpha Combat/Action Modifier [8] 8x Swiftness of the Stag Equipment [1] 1x Leather Jacket Event [1] 1x Unmasking, The Master [19] 1x Animalism 5x Blood Doll 2x Direct Intervention 1x Fame 1x Guardian Angel 1x KRCG News Radio 1x Metro Underground 1x Pentex Subversion 3x Perfectionist 1x Powerbase: Montreal 1x Rack, The 1x Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper, The Reaction [18] 4x Cats' Guidance 5x Falcon's Eye 9x Speak with Spirits Retainer [7] 3x Murder of Crows 1x Owl Companion 3x Raven Spy
I have also tried this deck, only once, and it didn't work. The combination of a predator playing Bloodwork and Circumspect Revelation - I can't block!!! With a prey playing Turbo Baron, meaning half the time I can't block (Daring the Dawn) and the rest of the time taking more actions than I can react to. However it felt quite solid, and I liked the combination of Carlton Van Wyk and Ohoyo Hopoksia.
--[3.3 - Deck: JOL ]---------------------------------------
Deck Name : Ahrimane Raptors
Author : Andrea
Authors Notes :
It is an old (pre Legacies) Ahrimane deck with the goal of piling 7 raptors on a cat, and then slowly pass through everyone. It could use some tweaking (more now) The Erciyes Fragments, whenever they exist provide the additional push. Starts to be efficient when down to 3 players.
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 10 average: 6.67
3x Howler 8 ANI PRE SPI obf Ahrimane:2 2x Siamese, The 7 PRE SPI ani pro Ahrimane:2 2x Sundown 6 ANI POT obf pre Nosferatu:3 2x Nettie Hale 5 ani cel pre pro spi Ahrimane:2 1x Cock Robin 10 ANI OBF POT aus for justicar Nosferatu:3 1x Cynthia Ingold 6 SPI ani for pre Ahrimane:2 1x Juanita Santiago 4 ani pre spi Ahrimane:2 Library [90 cards] Action [24] 7x Enchant Kindred 5x Engling Fury 1x Entrancement 3x Muricia's Call 2x Nose of the Hound 3x Nosferatu Bestial 3x Shepherd's Innocence Action Modifier [2] 2x Aire of Elation Action Modifier/Combat [2] 2x Swallowed by the Night Combat [11] 3x Chameleon's Colors 3x Pack Alpha 5x Staredown Combat/Action Modifier [5] 5x Swiftness of the Stag Master [15] 4x Animalism 5x Blood Doll 1x Erciyes Fragments, The 3x Heidelberg Castle, Germany 1x Hungry Coyote, The 1x Rack, The Reaction [19] 3x Cats' Guidance 4x Falcon's Eye 6x Forced Awakening 6x Speak with Spirits Retainer [12] 4x Murder of Crows 8x Raptor
This one I haven't tried, it is certainly more unusual for an Ahrimane deck, with its supporting Nosferatu. I think it may prove hard to balance all the blood costs even with the five Engling Furys.
--[3.4 - Sign Off]-------------------------------------
I am looking forward to the Third Edition set, as there has already been some very promising spoilers posted. Something that leaps out is Abbot and Keep it Simple, as these two cards in combination with existing cards may mean the end of bleed damage for the Ahrimanes!
Sam
*