Ahrimanes Newsletter #4 ==================================================== [ AHRIMANES NEWSLETTER ] ==================================================== 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 came up with the following. Deck Name : All In favour MOD Crypt [13 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 9 average: 7.16 ------------------------------------------------------------ 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