Assamite Newsletter, February 2005
Otto Koskinen
Otto Koskinen
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Simpy said, it is amazing.
The Kindred Most Wanted, new set released last weekend.
Flurry on..
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NEW TECH; OLD FACES
All experience is an arch to build upon
-Henry Adams
Selective Silence
Combat, Quietus
Only usable on the first round of combat.
[qui] Maneuver.
[QUI] Only usable before range is determined. This vampire burns 1
blood to set the range for this round. Skip the determine range step
this round.
MonoQuietus combat is now possible. That is all I really need to say
about this card. Range control is immense, when combined with the
older strikes, Taste of Death and Blood Sweat. And now there is a
maneuver outside of Celerity and Fake out for Quietus as well. Very
nice.
Web of Knives Recruit
Action, Assamite 1 pool
+1 stealth action.
Put this card in play in your uncontrolled region with 3 training
counters. During your untap phase, burn a training counter from this
card. You may burn counters from no more than two recruits each untap
phase. When the last training counter is burned, move this card to
your ready region; it becomes a 3-capacity, non-unique Assamite with
Celerity [cel], Obfuscate [obf], Potence [pot], Quietus [qui] and 3
blood who is Blood Cursed.
Now, this card.. Wow. Never mind that it takes three turns and costs a
pool. It also has no capacity limit, letting all those Embraces make
recruits, bringing more and more Assamite into play. Spawning weenie
horde decks got a huge boost with the independent clans with the new
set, I believe. Not a thing I personally cherish, but decks like that
can be taken out with preparation reserved for other types of decks as
well.
But beyond that? Any multi acting assamite deck will do well to pack
at least a few copies of these puppies, if for nothing else then for
additional chump blockers, bleeders, and general act-around guys.
Khabar: Glory
Action, Assamite
+1 stealth action. Unique. Not usable if any non-mandatory actions
have been performed this turn.
Put this card on this acting Assamite and untap this acting Assamite.
This Assamite gets +1 bleed. If your prey is ousted while this card is
in play, you gain an additional 4 pool. Burn this card during your
next untap phase.
So, you untap after you perform the action. Leaving you free to bleed,
vote, or any number of harmful actions you might consider taking
against your prey. Also leaves you untapped for bounce, since if you
notice you burn this card on your NEXT untap phase, leaving you a good
hefty amount of time to deflect or do any other number of out-of-turn
tricks at your disposable. Of course, the Malkavians are kings when it
comes to out of turn acting what with their network, and who better to
fit in that Zöe and Victoria, the AssaMalk queens. Deck like that?
Tricky to get to work, I'd say, but it's not by far impossible. Not by
a long shot.
Ossian
Ally, 3 pool
Unique werewolf with 4 life. 2 strength, 0 bleed. Red List.
Ossian may enter combat with any vampire as a +1 stealth (D) action.
In the first round of combat with a vampire who has played a card that
requires Auspex [aus] during this action, that vampire cannot use any
maneuvers or strikes. Ossian gains 1 life at the end of each round for
each blood the opposing vampire used to heal damage or prevent
destruction that round.
Yet another great general Ally. Personally, I feel it is time to start
packing anti-ally tech soon, what with Carlton and Ossian around, and
do not forget the old good allies either. Muddled and Escaped to name
a couple, which I frequently see as well.
But, as for Ossian. There is very little of him not to like. Free
stealth rush, and he nukes many small vamps easily.
So, he does not get additional strikes, nor a press. In fact, he gets
nothing out of being a werewolf, short of the rush. But, he has a
built-in taste of vitae. An he is an ally, having no upper life cap.
Technically, you could have an Ossian in play with N+1 life on him.
Not too shabby, when you consider he can chuck that life to a more
needy vampire via Rave.
Slapping a Hawg or a gun on Ossian is a good bet, generally speaking.
Procurer
Ally, 2 blood
Ghoul with 1 life. 1 strength, 0 bleed.
Procurer may move 1 blood from the blood bank to a ready vampire you
control as a +2 stealth action.
He's non-unique, practically free when you consider that it is only 2
blood what you pay from him, and he pays it back pretty reliably
having 2 stealth.
Blood Doll insta combo. Progeny decks will enjoy having these guys
around. And the best of all, in a pinch, one more chump blocker to
take that vicious Potence rusher's bum's rush, and ruin the day.
From a Sinking Ship
Master, 1 pool
Take control of a minion controlled by a Methuselah with fewer than 4
pool. Not usable to take control of a vampire with a capacity above 6.
Only one From a Sinking Ship can be played in a game.
And last but not least, this baby. Not an Assamite specific, but just
so good, it is not even funny. I admit, it has a VERY narrow window in
which you can use it. But then again, consider an Assamite bleed deck
which just got a lot stronger with the inclusion on Khabar: Glory and
Web of Knives Recruit, which has a very good potential to get it's
prey down to 3 pool very rapidly. Also, note that it's not just your
prey. As the card says "From a sinking ship". Anyone who is looking at
the barrel of a gun is fair game for this card. Just simply awesome.
This is a deck which I've been thrilling to build up for a good while,
but I had to use "sub-par" card for it, like hacks over Khabar:
Glories and Fake outs over Selective silences, and some other minor
tweaks. What with KMW out, I'm finally confident in this deck enough
to start playing around with it again.
Deck Name: Project Q
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 11, Max: 28, Avg: 4,92)
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1 Ali Kar obf qui 3, Assamite:3
1 Julius qui ser 1, Caitiff:2
1 Harika Guljan QUI 3, Assamite:2
1 Anwar cel obf qui 4, Assamite:2
1 Yusuf aus CEL obf qui 5, Assamite:2
2 Badr al-Budur cel dom OBF qui 5, Assamite:2
1 Abd al-Rashid CEL obf QUI 5, Assamite:2
1 Zahir CEL OBF qui tha 6, Assamite:2
1 Henri Lavenant pot qui DOM OBT 7, Lasombra:3
1 Melek cel OBF pre QUI 7, Assamite:2
1 Yazid Tamari ani dom obf CEL QUI 8, Assamite:3
Library: (90 cards)
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Master (16 cards)
2 Alamut
1 Barrens, The
5 Blood Doll
1 From a Sinking Ship
1 KRCG News Radio
1 Market Square
1 Obfuscate
2 Sudden Reversal
1 Underworld Hunting Ground
1 WMRH Talk Radio
Action (11 cards)
2 Arson
1 Flurry of Action
4 Khabar: Glory
4 Web of Knives Recruit
Action Modifier (17 cards)
6 Cloak the Gathering
3 Conditioning
3 Faceless Night
3 Lost in Crowds
2 Marked Path
Political Action (6 cards)
2 Consanguineous Boon
4 Free States Rant
Reaction (10 cards)
1 Black Sunrise
7 Deflection
2 Wake with Evening`s Freshness
Combat (18 cards)
1 Flash
2 Pulled Fangs
7 Selective Silence
5 Taste of Death
3 Weighted Walking Stick
Ally (3 cards)
1 Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
1 Ossian
1 Procurer
Retainer (3 cards)
1 J. S. Simmons, Esq.
1 Mr. Winthrop
1 Tasha Morgan
Equipment (3 cards)
1 Ivory Bow
1 Laptop Computer
1 Sport Bike
Combo (3 cards)
3 Swallowed by the Night
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WEENIES GALORE
One father is enough to governe one hundred sons, but not a hundred
sons one father.
-George Herbert
Are you controlled by your progeny? Do you wake up at morning having
that mewling prat and his sixteen brethren whining for blood, blood,
BLOOD?
Yeah. Do you find yourself playing with weenie vampires a lot,
generating more and more minions be it through ally cards or progeny
cards?
Do you consistently find yourself looking for the smallest vampire who
can get the job done for you, when building a deck? I do.
The reason I'm bringing this up is; the last two tourneys that I've
been playing with, and some random gaming experiences added into it, I
myself have fallen for the usefulness of playing mid-to-low caps. Not
exactly weenies, but when I had Tariq and four AUS support minions
out, controlling every twitch on the table, I did feel a passing
moment of remorse. Then I swept the table, and I forgot all about it.
Anyhow, in all events, I enjoyed it immensely when I played with those
decks. Immensely. I had the ability to do a lot of things, which gave
me a lot of control over the table, especially when it came down to
tableactions. Stealing Powerbase: Montreal, and the likes.
Is giving cards like Tumnimos for the Ravnos a "bad move" what with
seeing at the European Championships and already well working Ravnos
Carnivale Embrace deck. Even two in one finals. Is creating progeny
cards, non-unique allies bad for the game? Since, there are people who
talk about weenie decks and horde decks being already immensely good,
and that they are playing on the "broken" essence on the game, which
is the ability of horde decks to acto so damn much, that it doesnt
matter if some of their actions do get spoiled.
I myself dont mind it to a point, although I feel like throttling
someone when I notice my predator playing a 1-cap Computer hack Anarch
revolt deck.
Decks like that are just plain simple wrong, in my opinion, but that
decktype left out, I dont see weenies as being bad for the game.
After all, they are still weenies. Ossian for one makes an excellent
weenie controller. Cards like Aranthebes: The immortal I'd like to see
more.
Aranhebes is a great card as an anti-weenie card but it's not great
just because of it giving -1 bleed to all them nasty weenies. What
makes it so great, is that it also has a dual function, which has
nothing to do with weenies. Which means I am able to put it into my
decks without worrying about needing to discard, as opposed to say
Delaying tactics, which although is a great card has only one
function.
Next time you are building a deck, see if you can pinch out a couple
Embraces or Web of Knives into your deck. I know I will. There is just
no reason not to, when you start going over their usefulness.
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Next month:
NEW FACES; OLD TECH
New Assamites from KMW
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PATH OF BLOOD
Have you heard of it?
No, I am not talking about the card anymore.
The Path of Blood is the best on-line site dealing with Vampire: The
Eternal Struggle.
Mainly dealing with Assamites, naturally.
Join the ever growing community of Assamite fanatics!
If you are interested more closely in Assamites, visit the site at:
http://www.thepathofblood.com/
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