Assamite Clan Newsletter
March, 2006
by Tom Duncan
For the past month, I have been experimenting with Olugbenga and No
Secrets of the Magaji. What I have found is exceptional potential,
saddled with some potentially serious drawbacks. What follows is what I
have learned - may you use it to accelerate your journey to victory
with our Laibon brethren.
Olugbenga
Clan: Assamite (group 4)
Capacity: 7
Disciplines: OBF QUI ani cel
Laibon magaji: When contesting a vampire, you may use the blood on that
vampire or on Olugbenga as pool to pay for the contest. Olugbenga gets
+1 intercept against bleed actions. (The blood curse does not affect
Olugbenga.)
No Secrets From the Magaji
Type: Action
Requires: magaji
+1 stealth action. Requires a ready magaji.
Put this card on this magaji and untap him or her. The magaji with this
card gets +1 intercept when attempting to block vampires. If this
magaji is tapped, he or she may attempt to block a vampire as if
untapped. Burn this card if this magaji attempts to block a vampire but
is not successful. A vampire may have only one No Secrets From the
Magaji.
It is easy to see the foundation of an intercept/combat or even wall
strategy when using this combination as the basis of your build. A
standing +2 intercept against bleed actions, combined with the ability
to block as many actions per turn as are taken by your predator or
prey, provided they aren't directed at another player.
No Secrets has a rather drastic burn clause, however, and +1 intercept
won't catch everything. If your predator is stealth-boosting bleeds,
+2 probably won't suffice most of the time, either. It becomes very
apparent that you will need to add some sources of intercept to ensure
that you can continue to block actions. You can use any (or several) of
the media locations, equipment like Sport Bikes, or retainers like Mr.
Winthrop to achieve this end. Let's not overlook Market Square, our
clan specialty. Olugbenga's [ani] also provides use of the very
stackable Raven Spy for additional permanent intercept (Raptor, too!),
and Instinctive Reaction for use on your Predator's turn. Guardian
Angel is an excellent choice for more protection against bleeds, and
the prevent it provides is helpful considering each successful block
could result in combat. Shaman is an excellent selection for Laibon, as
well:
Shaman
Type: Retainer
Requires: laibon
Cost: 1 blood
Unique mage with 2 life. Requires a ready Laibon.
This Laibon has +1 intercept. When acting, this Laibon can shuffle this
retainer back into your library to get +1 stealth.
Speed kills
What good is tooling up with permacept if you get ousted
on turn five by a speed-bleed predator before you even draw into a No
Secrets? None, really. You will have to run multiple copies of No
Secrets to increase your chances of getting one early. This will allow
Olugbenga to act on your turn in the opening stages of the game, and
not have to worry about untapping to block. It is still beneficial to
include a few Black Sunrises in your build, to cover for occasions when
a No Secrets is not in play, or to allow your other vampires (who
presumably have [qui]) to attempt to block an action that you might not
want block with Olugbenga (like perhaps Enkidu rushing Olugbenga).
As you put additional permanent intercept in play, the
likelihood of your No Secrets being burned decreases - until you
encounter block fails cards like Elder Impersonation superior. It is in
this case that you will be glad you have extra copies of No Secrets in
your library. Another way to deal with block fails (or even block
denial like Seduction) is to include a Direct Intervention or two. The
advantage of Direct Intervention is that it can be used to cancel any
given card that might ruin you, like a Conditioning or Walk of Flame.
The best solution I have found (that was suggested to me) so far,
though, is this:
Ubende
Clan: Ishtarri (group 4)
Capacity: 7
Disciplines: CEL PRE for obf qui
Laibon magaji.
For fourteen Pool, you can put two Magaji in play, and
have another option for your additional No Secrets. You can focus the
Ravens and Raptors on Olugbenga, and Sport Bike and Mr. Winthrop on
Ubende. You can include an Animalism Skill card for her if such is your
desire. Two Magaji with +3 or so permanent intercept and potential for
more from a media location is a fairly strong defensive presentation.
Add a Yoruba Shrine to your play area, and all you have to do is never
see a Propaganda. (Direct Intervention could come in handy here again,
unless your predator has three in-hand and ousts you anyway. I'm not
saying this happened to me at the GLRQ, but it might have.)
With all of these options for increasing your permanent intercept
potential, it is easy to see how your deck could start to fill with
defensive tools, decreasing the amount of room you have left for the
other important cards you will need for Pool Management, oust mechanic,
and combat. While your Magaji can take tooling actions and still be
available to block, your forward momentum will be practically none. A
weenified support cast of [obf] Computer Hackers or traditional Wall
ousting technology like Smiling Jack could be used, but without Eagles
Sight for blocking key cross-table actions, this tactic could backfire.
To minimize combat cards, you can turn to weapons. This will also
require more tooling, either in the form of actions or insta-equip
cards like Concealed or Disguised Weapon. The method I explored
attempted to allow for a combined method of getting equipment and
weapons without having to take an action:
Pier 13, Port of Baltimore
Type: Equipment
Cost: 2 blood
This equipment card represents a unique location and does not count as
equipment while in play.
During your influence phase, this minion may equip with a non-location,
non-unique equipment card from your hand (this minion must meet the
requirements, if any, of the equipment card). Pay the cost as normal.
This is not an action and cannot be blocked.
Having Pier 13 allows you to go about your business, and
tool up at the end of your turn. I also included a Nod trifle to move
some gear around without having to take actions with my other minions.
The drawback to this tactic is that if the Pier doesn't come early,
it is of no benefit. It doesn't reduce the cost of equipment, and by
late-mid game, you may not be able to afford more equipment. You will
not be able to use the Pier to get any unique equipment either, so no
Kali's Fangs or Blood Tears of Kephran can find their way to
Olugbenga during your influence phase. To offset, you can use free
equipment like Leather Jacket, IR Goggles and Phased Motion Detectors,
but you will need more of them to be effective, which will eat up your
card slots. To get a Pier early, you will add additional dead cards to
your deck in the form of extra Piers. If you are fortunate enough to
draw a Pier and a Learjet in your opening hand, this won't be much of
an issue, but let's not count on that.
An option I chose not to explore, but will with my next mod, is:
Vast Wealth
Type: Master
Master.
Put this card on a ready minion you control. While you control this
minion, this minion can equip with the first piece of equipment you
find in your library (working down from the top) as a +1 stealth
action. (Pay cost to equip.) Shuffle afterward.
Vast Wealth will allow you to use fewer equipment cards,
because you will scan your library for them instead of having to draw
them into your hand. You can use multiple copies of the card at little
risk of creating dead slots, because unlike the Pier, it is not unique.
Theoretically, all of your vampires can have a Vast Wealth.
Another option to consider is:
Jack of Both Sides
Type: Action
Cost: 1 blood
+2 stealth action. Requires a ready vampire.
Equip or employ an equipment or a retainer from your hand. The cost of
that card is reduced by 1 pool or by up to 2 blood.
JoBS will allow you to equip or employ from your hand, enabling your
equipment, weapons, and retainers to enter play at a reduced cost and
additional stealth. Combined with Vast Wealth in the right quantities,
you can get your tools a bit cheaper when you draw them, and at their
standard cost when you don't.
Natural Progression
The next logical step from Olugbenga and No Secrets/intercept is
Sniper Rifle, at least on my thought-train.
Sniper Rifle
Type: Equipment
Cost: 2 pool
Weapon, gun.
2R damage each strike. Only usable at long range. If the bearer blocks
an action, he or she may set the range for the first round of combat to
long; if he or she does so, skip the determine range step that round,
and the bearer's initial strike that round must be with this weapon.
Since the Magaji are set up to block multiple actions, why not let
them set range? In theory, it is sound strategy, as they are likely to
block more often than they act. You can run a few Selective Silences
for support when in combat on your turn, or a decent stealth package to
avoid being blocked. In practice, what I found is that at the
tournament level most combat doesn't happen. When it does, it is
usually at range. If your opponent does not end combat, you can expect
some manner of ranged capability. For the dedicated Immortal Grappler,
they will either be able to set range on you, or a few Selective
Silences will suffice, and you will just have to be careful. Sniper
Rifle + Projectile + Taste of Death is indeed a gratifying combination
to successfully employ, I agree, but .44 + Blur is still the most
efficient and universally applicable, in my opinion. I'm not just
saying that because I was the prey of an Ubende No Secrets Concealed
.44 deck who tooled faster than I did during round three of the GLRQ,
either. No, wait. I am.
All this reliance on equipment means having your roll completely
thrown by a Drawing out the Beast or Terror Frenzy. For this, you will
want Aye:
Aye
Type: Master
Master: trifle.
Put this card on a Laibon. This Laibon may tap this card to cancel a
Frenzy card played on him or her as it is played.
That's all you really need to know. Excellent protection from
Rotschreck, too. There is additional text on the card, as follows:
"This Laibon may burn a blood and tap three of his or her Aye to be
able to play reaction cards and attempt to block as if untapped for the
current action. If this Laibon burns a minion, equipment, or location
in play, he or she burns one Aye. Burn this card if this Laibon has
more Orun and Aye than his or her capacity." Stacking Aye to gain the
same effect as a No Secrets is just silly, and so long as you don't
go around Arson-ing or Garrote-ing willy-nilly, Aye can keep Olugbenga
from a serious bam-boozling. [That is, take care not to activate the
burn clause, and Aye can prevent a frenzy from landing Olu in torpor,
for those less familiar with casual English nuances]
Going Forward
Thwarting your predator by blocking just about everything he attempts
to do will help keep you in the game, but what about victory? If all I,
er..., you ever do is tool up and block, you won't be able to oust
your prey. Assamites are traditionally slow bleeders, and in a build
heavy on equipment, locations, and retainers, combat ousting will be a
difficult task at best.
With equipment gaining tech in place, it seems logical to use Laptop
Computers for a little bleed boost. Jack of Both Sides will also enable
J.S. Simmons and Tasha Morgan. This boost, coupled with Khabar: Glory
and perhaps the aforementioned Computer Hacking could be the answer.
Animalism also allows for Army of Rats, and so long as there are No
Secrets from Olugbenga, it will likely have some staying power (Perhaps
"power" isn't the word to use. Annoyance might be more
appropriate).
In any deck that will dedicate itself to "tooling up", a Storage
Annex can allow you to prepare for your forward push while you set up
your defense. Drawing the forward cards during the earliest stages of
the game might result in them being discarded and lost. If one of them
is a Storage Annex, you can save a piece of equipment until you draw a
Jack of Both Sides, store a Khabar: Glory until you draw into some
Computer Hackings, or Keep an extra No Secrets ready for your next turn
in case someone manages to burn the one in play. I did not personally
test this method, despite the multiple recommendations I received from
the man known as Antero on the Path of Blood. Another benefit is that
in the case of Khabar: Glory and No Secrets, anyone who manages to
steal your Annex will likely be disappointed by what they find in it.
Combat
It's bound to happen, but what end should you hope to serve with it?
Blocking an action is the primary goal, but serious minion removal is
not likely. Offering some sort of consequence to the opposing minion
would be nice. Your goal should be to win the war of attrition - do
enough damage each time you block to eventually put the acting vampire
in a pickle: getting blocked means going to torpor. Guns and additional
strikes is effective here, but you might have room for Selective
Silence and Taste of Death should you choose to forego that whole
attrition thing. Olugbenga's [ani] will provide Carrion Crows for a
little extra damage, and you can protect yourself from your
opponents' guns or cancel their Flak Jackets with Drawing Out the
Beast or Terror Frenzy. Traditional gun combat should include Taste of
Vitae.
On the pro-active side of combat, Haven Uncovered might shine over
Contracts, because every time the target minion tries to burn it, you
can block, thus giving you combat opportunity on your turn AND your
opponents turn. It is this same concept that tempted me to try
XTC-Laced Blood, though I talked myself out of it. Olugbengas lack of
[CEL] means that you will not be able to use Psyche! to re-start
combat, either, making pro-active combat a bit of a prayer.
As a point of reference for you to use when building your
Olugbenga-based deck, I present the following deck list:
Deck Name : Olu blocks All v1.2
Author : Tom Duncan
Description:
Olugbenga Intercept Combat with a mini-bleed module.
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 7 average: 5.75
------------------------------------------------------------
4x Olugbenga 7 OBF QUI ani cel magaji Assamite:4
3x Ubende 7 CEL PRE for obf qui magaji Ishtarri:4
1x Michael diCarlo 5 CEL obf qui Assamite:4
1x Petra 5 ANI OBF aus Nosferatu:4
1x Kamau Jafari 4 QUI obf Assamite:4
1x Ali Kar 3 obf qui Assamite:3
1x Clarissa Steinburg 3 ani obf Nosferatu:3
Library [90 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action [16]
1x Army of Rats
3x Computer Hacking
3x Jack of Both Sides
3x Khabar: Glory
6x No Secrets From the Magaji
Action Modifier [10]
5x Cloak the Gathering
2x Elder Impersonation
1x Forgotten Labyrinth
1x Lost in Crowds
1x Spying Mission
Action Modifier/Combat [4]
4x Swallowed by the Night
Combat [18]
5x Blur
3x Carrion Crows
2x Drawing Out the Beast
3x Selective Silence
1x Taste of Death
4x Taste of Vitae
Equipment [12]
3x .44 Magnum
3x Flak Jacket
1x IR Goggles
2x Laptop Computer
1x Learjet
1x Leather Jacket
1x Sport Bike
Master [18]
2x Aye
5x Blood Doll
1x Direct Intervention
1x Fame
1x Guardian Angel
1x Haven Uncovered
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Market Square
1x Sudden Reversal
2x Vast Wealth
1x WMRH Talk Radio
1x Yoruba Shrine
Reaction [6]
4x Black Sunrise
2x Confusion of the Eye
Retainer [6]
1x J. S. Simmons, Esq.
3x Raven Spy
1x Shaman
1x Tasha Morgan
Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder.
Other Avenues to Explore
Olugbenga offers other options, as well. For example, both Yazid and
Amaravati have [ani], which might produce a Black Hand or [Dom] Bleed
build with Olugbenga appearing as the defensive specialist, or part of
a pro-active Terror Frenzy/Selective Silence/Mass Reality/Assault
Rifle/Projectile combat ousting package (counter to the common warning,
I would ONLY try this at home). Olugbenga might also find himself among
his Laibon brethren instead of his clan-mates in a sect-based or
title-based deck. I will leave these explorations up to you, though I
encourage you to share what you discover with the rest of us.
************************************************************************
Find everything you need to know about playing Assamites at
www.thepathofblood.com!
Comments, Suggestions, and Submissions should be sent to:
veknpontiac@yahoo.com
My apologies for any gaping holes in logic or simple grammatical errors
and misspelled words. This newsletter did not undergo the usual two
weeks of editing my previous offerings have enjoyed. Many thanks to
Antero for his reports and suggestions.