Assamite Clan newsletter. Volume 4, Issue 9
(September 2004)
Written by Otto Koskinen
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I'm fashionably late.
Sidekicks will continue when I get more material on it. As is, the
results I've had have not been as pleasing as I've liked.
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ANOTHER GLANCE AT VOTES
Oh yeah?
-Homer Simpson
Alamut
Master
Clan: Assamite
Cost: 1 pool
Master: unique location.
If an Assamite you control successfully bleeds another Methuselah, put
the pool lost by that Methuselah on this card. During {the referendum
of} a political action, you may burn X blood from this card to give a
vampire you control X votes for that referendum.
Lately, I've seen a rise at the Path of Blood in Alamut decks. That
is, decks which emphasize on bleeding and voting, mainly voting with
the help of Alamut.
Now, I personally dont think Alamut voter decks (as others think of
them) to be great. Frankly, I think they suck. Too fickle. Two
defenses to defeat one purpose gives too much leeway for others to
ruin your day. Your bleeding is cocked up, and you cant vote. You can
bleed, but your votes are screwed. Whee.. In both cases half of your
deck (or however much you've dedicated for the part screwed) is
wasted.
Now, you see man's gifts in adversity, not in luck, so for good
players/deckbuilders this propably is not as big of a problem.
As is, I myself have concluded that having Alamut in an Assamite bleed
deck is not exactly essential, but also, very useful.
Even if you dont use a single vote in your deck, playing Alamut is a
boon. Nothing like bleeding your prey down to 3 pool, only to have
your cross-table enemy come and steal it from you via Dramatic
Upheaval/Kindred Restructure. Well, no more.
You slap down Alamut in the early game, and by the time your oust is
near, you have 10+ counters on it. Should be enough to deny the
cross-table Ventrue from stealing your hard earned VP.
So, you ran into a prey who turtled up, and he bloats more than you
can bleed. Not as remote as you might think, due to the "Assamite
bleed for one(tm)" methinks, and this is also where Alamut comes
handy. Pop a few bleeds down your prey, rack up some counters, and
play the Dramatic Upheaval yourself, and nick someone else of their
VP. Do unto other, before they do it to you.
Here is presented an old deck of mine, modified to include Alamut
module.
Deck Name: Flurry of bleeds - Alamut mod
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 19, Max: 31, Avg: 6,25)
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1 Abd al-Rashid CEL obf QUI 5, Assamite:2
1 Badr al-Budur cel dom OBF qui 5, Assamite:2
2 Kalinda CEL OBF tha 6, Assamite:2
3 Yazid Tamari ani dom obf CEL QUI 8, Assamite:3
2 Suzanne Kadim aus CEL dom obf PRE 7, Toreador:3
1 Yusuf aus CEL obf qui 5, Assamite:2
1 Tansu Bekir cel OBF 4, Assamite:2
1 Zahir CEL OBF qui tha 6, Assamite:2
Library: (76 cards)
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Master (17 cards)
5 Alamut
6 Blood Doll
2 Heidelberg Castle, Germany
2 Perfectionist
1 Sudden Reversal
1 Underworld Hunting Ground
Action (10 cards)
10 Flurry of Action
Action Modifier (24 cards)
5 Cloak the Gathering
4 Conditioning
5 Faceless Night
6 Lost in Crowds
4 Marked Path
Political Action (6 cards)
3 Dramatic Upheaval
3 Kine Resources Contested
Reaction (9 cards)
7 Deflection
2 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Retainer (3 cards)
1 J. S. Simmons, Esq.
1 Robert Carter
1 Tasha Morgan
Equipment (2 cards)
2 Laptop Computer
Combo (5 cards)
5 Swallowed by the Night
Flurry of bleeds, used to bleed a bit, adding a couple counters to
Alamut. Excessive use of Blood Dolls for bloat, with a couple
Perfectionist due to their general hotness.
Bleed with Flurry, either inferior or superior, cycle or untap, then
act accordingly. Equip Laptop, to bleed more next turn, or stay
untapped to deflect.
Alamut in mainly for Dramatic defense/offense.
Master amount is excessive for as small a deck as this, but I've found
that many times I tend to Flurry inferior anyhow, to fish or flush my
hand.
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QUICK GLANCE
Marked Path
Cardtype: Action Modifier
Discipline: Obfuscate
Only usable after a successful (D) action.
[obf] Put this card on the acting vampire. If this vampire performs a
(D) action against the same Methuselah or his or her minions, this
vampire may burn this card to get +1 stealth.
[OBF] As above, but this vampire may burn this card to get +2 stealth.
Here's a card I see rarely used. The reason why I see it rarely is
obvious. You could instead play a card which gives you the stealth you
need exactly NOW, and on any action you want.
I've found this card to be a boon in decks which already pack obscene
amounts of transient stealth (16+) where they are likely to have soem
other stealth in hand already. Now, the reason why I like this card is
simple. It's usable after any D action, and *on* any D action as well.
But more than that, it's easy to cycle.
Ever played a heavy on the Obfuscate deck, and your prey just lets
your bleeds/actions go unblocked, hoping for a handjam?
This one wont break it, but it's a card you can cycle out of your hand
with ease, oft times.
Plus, this can be played in many Assamite rush decks. Target
acquisition is already second nature to us, due to our contracts being
+1 stealth to begin with. But sometimes, that extra stealth comes in
handy. Use this one after a successful rush, and afterwards bleed, and
burn for stealth.
Also, for all you Fatima players out there, I wouldnt miss out on this
one. Many times, weenie "nerd" vampires get thrown in the way of your
Bum's Rush, and that's when this card may well come in handy.
Want to multi-dunk via Fame, but dont have stealth for your weenies
(who should pack obf, with the exclusion of Sandra White) to get the
poor sod back up again?
Remember one of those bleed's you did? Yeah, could've slapped this one
on there.
It's a very small tech, but packing a couple Mask of thousand faces
and Marked Paths for your Assamite rush decks should come in handy,
especially if you are planning on the multi-dunk aspect.
Mask the bleed from a weenie blocked to be Fatima instead, and your
weenies should be able to bleed with impunity and freedom, thus
allowing the cycle of Marked paths.
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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.
Come join the Camarilla bashing. It's fun. Honest!!
To be honest, Sabbat get's it's fair share as well.
If you are interested more closely in Assamites, visit the site at:
http://www.thepathofblood.com/
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Contact me at:
Oko@city.fi
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