Ahrimanes Newsletter #4
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[ AHRIMANES NEWSLETTER ]
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1.0 - Editorial
1.1 Word From the Editor
1.2 Next Issue
2.0 - Concepts
2.1 Crypt Card Focus
2.1.1 All in Favor, Howl "Yea" deck
2.1.2 All In favour MOD deck
2.2 Library Card Focus
3.0 - Deck
3.1 Ahrimane Howling deck
3.2 Sign Off
--[1.1 - Word from the Editor]-----------------------
Hello, this is my first newsletter, and as such I thought I would copy the
format of the previous Ahrimanes newsletters to provide some sort of
continuity between those and this - I hope that Alexander Gyhlesten doesn't
mind too much. I am Sam Marsh (Jazzbeaux), Prince of Bath, and have been
playing this game since September 1994 in the bad rulebook days of Jyhad.
--[1.2 -Next Issue]---------------------------------
Well the next issue will be later in the year, once Legacies of Blood
arrives. This set promises new Ahrimanes, and hopefully new and reprinted
Spiritus cards. Ideally it would include a reworded The Wildebeest, where
you could still use Animal Retainers - you know it makes sense. I mean with
Pack Alpha, and the various Retainer seeking and stealing cards available
The Wildebeest is currently sidelined in most Ahrimane decks.
--[2.1 - Crypt Card Focus]-------------
Una. Now most players can see the use of Una in an Ahrimane deck, as she
has the common in-clan skills, votes and a nice special. Plus for those
that like to keep to the background she is a she - and all Ahrimanes are
meant to be female.
Una
Clan: Gangrel antitribu (group 3)
Capacity: 9
Disciplines: ANI FOR PRE PRO dem
Sabbat Archbishop of Dublin: Cards that require Fortitude [for] cost Una 1
less blood to play.
Rarity: Gehenna:U
A Sabbat vote deck with ANI PRE and SPI could be quite powerful as all three
disciplines have a wide scope of abilities, which will make it difficult for
your opponents to guess what your deck will do. You will need to build up
your voting power with a few Cardinal Benedictions, but these can be forced
through with Swiftness of the Stag and Chameleon's Colors or even a Día de
los Muertos! Below is a deck that follows a similar concept, although it
would require some tweaking to lever in Una and any of the cards that have
come out since this deck was created.
Name of tournament: QC Championship Qualifier: Gatineau 2004
Location: Gatineau, Québec, Canada
Date: September 26, 2004
Number of players: 14
Number of rounds: 3 + F
Charles Lechasseur's Tournament Winning Deck
Here is my winning deck. This deck was built before Anarchs came out and I
didn't have time to tweak it before the tournament. It doesn't have a lot of
permanent votes, so I was lucky to not face any dedicated political decks.
Deck Name: All in Favor, Howl "Yea"
Created By: Charles Lechasseur
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 24, Max: 38, Avg: 7.67)
----------------------------------------------
3 Cailean ANI dom OBF POT PRE 10, Nosferatu Antitribu:2, Archbishop
3 Howler ANI obf PRE SPI 8, Ahrimanes:2
3 Siamese ani PRE pro SPI 7, Ahrimanes:2
2 Cynthia Ingold ani for pre SPI 6, Ahrimanes:2
1 Nettie Hale ani cel pre pro spi 5, Ahrimanes:2
Library: (85 cards)
-------------------
Master (12 cards)
1 Blood Doll
1 Creepshow Casino
2 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Giant's Blood
1 Golconda: Inner Peace
1 Legendary Vampire
4 Minion Tap
1 Powerbase: Madrid
Action (6 cards)
4 Enchant Kindred
2 Engling Fury
Action Modifier (14 cards)
1 Awe
5 Bewitching Oration
4 Forgotten Labyrinth
4 Voter Captivation
Political Action (18 cards)
1 Ancient Influence
2 Ancilla Empowerment
1 Banishment
3 Cardinal Benediction
1 Conservative Agitation
1 Crusade: Mexico City
2 Domain Challenge
2 Dramatic Upheaval
5 Kine Resources Contested
Reaction (15 cards)
2 Cats' Guidance
3 Deflection
2 Falcon's Eye
4 Speak with Spirits
4 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Combat (13 cards)
4 Chameleon's Colors
6 Majesty
3 Terror Frenzy
Ally (1 cards)
1 High Top
Combo (6 cards)
6 Swiftness of the Stag
With a quick shuffling of cards, bearing in mind any lost skills and banned
cards I cam up with the following.
Deck Name : All In favour MOD
Crypt [13 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 9 average: 7.16
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3x Una 9 ANI FOR PRE PRO dem archbishop !Gangrel:3
3x Howler 8 ANI PRE SPI obf Ahrimanes:2
3x Siamese, The 7 PRE SPI ani pro Ahrimanes:2
2x Cynthia Ingold 6 SPI ani for pre Ahrimanes:2
1x Nettie Hale 5 ani cel pre pro spi Ahrimanes:2
1x Juanita Santiago 4 ani pre spi Ahrimanes:2
Library [85 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action [6]
4x Enchant Kindred
2x Engling Fury
Action Modifier [12]
2x Approximation of Loyalty
1x Awe
5x Bewitching Oration
4x Voter Captivation
Combat [14]
4x Chameleon's Colors
6x Majesty
4x Terror Frenzy
Combat/Action Modifier [6]
6x Swiftness of the Stag
Master [12]
1x Blood Doll
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Feral Spirit
1x Giant's Blood
1x Legendary Vampire
4x Minion Tap
1x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Madrid
Political Action [18]
1x Ancient Influence
2x Ancilla Empowerment
1x Banishment
3x Cardinal Benediction
1x Conservative Agitation
1x Crusade: Mexico City
2x Domain Challenge
5x Kine Resources Contested
2x Templar
Reaction [15]
2x Cats' Guidance
3x Falcon's Eye
5x Speak with Spirits
5x Wake with Evening's Freshness
Retainer [2]
2x Raven Spy
Of course this issues Library Card opens up a whole box of crypt options, as
you will soon discover.
--[2.2 - Library Card Focus]-------------
Spontaneous Power. This in combination with Feral Spirit gives you the
ability to give any Gangrel or Gangrel Antitribu superior Spiritus. Or
alternatively give anyone inferior Spiritus, which should double the
playable options on most Spiritus/plus other cards.
Spontaneous Power
Type: Master
Cost: 2 pool
Unique master.
Put this card on a vampire and choose a Discipline. This vampire gains 1
level of the chosen Discipline. While in play, this card counts as a master:
Discipline card.
Rarity: Promo: 20050611
Now Spontaneous Power is not cheap, but it opens up a lot of options. You
could use the various out of Gangrel clan skills that exist - such as Auspex
for a solid blocking wall, Celerity which could be combined with The
Wildebeest or Pack Alpha for combat nastiness, or even use Obfuscate to get
those actions to succeed.
Of course it can be used to plug the skill gaps in the basic Ahrimane crypt,
with a flexibility that you can't get from the usual Master: Discipline
cards. I have used it in the deck below for that very reason. Yes, you
could have previously done this with Sanguine Instruction, but that
obviously costs actions, and like Go Anarch! is an action that I would
regularly try to block purely because if someone wants that ability then not
having it will disrupt his or her plans.
--[3.1 - Deck: Ahrimane Howling]--------------------
Author: Sam Marsh
Description: My version of a Bruise/Bleed deck, it will take a while to set
up, but once the elements are in place it will be able to put a lot of
pressure on your prey. Like any deck there is weaknesses, but hopefully
they have been reduced to a minimum. POT rush decks will be a problem, as
will weenie bleeders - but then most decks struggle against that.
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 8 average: 6.25
3x Howler 8 ANI PRE SPI obf Ahrimanes 2
3x Siamese, The 7 PRE SPI ani pro Ahrimanes 2
2x Cynthia Ingold 6 SPI ani for pre Ahrimanes 2
2x Nettie Hale 5 ani cel pre pro spi Ahrimanes 2
2x Juanita Santiago 4 ani pre spi Ahrimanes 2
Library [90 cards]
Action [18]
4x Enchant Kindred
4x Engling Fury
3x Heart of the City
2x Nose of the Hound
5x Wildebeest, The
Combat [30]
5x Carrion Crows
2x Chameleon's Colors
3x Pulled Fangs
8x Scorpion Sting
3x Song of Serenity
2x Staredown
2x Strength of the Bear
5x Taste of Vitae
Combat/Action Modifier [6]
6x Swiftness of the Stag
Master [18]
1x Animalism
5x Blood Doll
2x Depravity
4x Life in the City
4x Perfectionist
1x Presence
1x Spontaneous Power
Reaction [18]
2x Cats' Guidance
4x Falcon's Eye
2x Forced Awakening
2x Guard Dogs
2x Instinctive Reaction
2x Pack Tactics
4x Speak with Spirits
--[3.2 - Sign Off]-------------
Well that's it for now; I hope this newsletter has helped to fire your V:tes
imagination. If you have any comments or suggestions please let me know.
Sam
*
