OFFICIAL V:EKN BRUJAH ANTITRIBU NEWSLETTER -- October 2001 Volume III, Issue 1 IN THIS ISSUE... * Introduction * Story Time! * Found in the Dustbin: Blood Brother Ambush * Center Stage: Julian Sanders * Deck of the Month: Battery Included * Editor's Soapbox =================================================================== INTRODUCTION: So who's da new guy, huh? =================================================================== Well, I'm sure not Wes. Before I start in on my own ideas, though, I'd like to congratulate Wes on his excellent job with the newsletter in the past; and I'm sure the Setites will have plenty to look forward to from the twisted depths of his mind. Which probably isn't even an insult, if you're a snake. ;) But with the previous editor developing a bad case of the slithers, this position was left vacant... which resulted in someone getting SHANGHAIED to fill the job, and that someone was me. =) Make of it what you will. But I do have some ideas, and I'm looking forward to the chance to parade them around and show off some new tricks. (Picture a circus elephant with Celerity.) For one, I'd like to take them in some new directions. Many people look at the !Brujah, and see Richter, Jacko, Hugo, and Victor Tolliver, and say "Rush!" And they're certainly very good at it, and you can make a quite-effective deck with them by simply including 60- 70 various POT or CEL combat cards. But that's not all these guys can do, and over the next few months, I'll try to explore some different facets and ideas; creating a bruise-and-bleed, stealth- bleed, and even turning them into voters... or even interceptors, as amusing as that might sound at first. So, enough with the babbling, and on with the show! This month features a card everyone's seen and looked at, and was even discussed recently on the newsgroup; a vampire that everyone's seen, but may NOT have looked at; and a bright-idea deck that might not win you any tournaments, but will definitely shake things up in your local metagame. =================================================================== STORY TIME! =================================================================== (sounds of static)"Uh. This thing on? Yeah, ...okay. Uh. Story time is, um, cancelled until further notice. Go find a poetry reading or something." ==================================================================== FOUND IN THE DUSTBIN: Blood Brother Ambush ==================================================================== Blood Brother Ambush: Action Modifier, Brujah Antitribu, 2 blood "Only usable when an action is blocked. Combat does not occur. Put this card into play. While in play, this card represents an ally with 3 life and 2 strength who can strike for 2R damage; this ally enters combat with the blocking minion. Blood Brothers may play cards requiring basic Potence as a vampire with a capacity of 3. Any cost in blood is paid with life. If a card would give them blood, give them life instead. Burn this card at the end of combat or if the combat is cancelled." Well, that's certainly a lot of text; that by itself and the 2-blood cost may turn a lot of people off this card completely, and certainly gives anyone a pause for thought. But it's probably worth it to at least CONSIDER including one or two in every !Brujah deck. Why? First and foremost, it gets around any annoying reaction cards, most especially the dreaded Obedience. There's nothing more annoying than taking a nice peaceful bleed-for-3 action with a handful of combat, only to have that fatass Lucian play 2nd Tradition and Obedience on poor Jacko. But BBA resolves BEFORE Obedience can be played, and Obedience may not be played against allies... which could be a very rude surprise. Second, it saves YOUR vampire from potentially risky combat. Pesky Gangrel and Tzimisce in front of you blocking all your bleeds and poking you in the eye? Let 'em poke the BBA for one; it doesn't care about those stupid claws. Tired of fighting the Illusionary Ravnos playing their Trap/Undead Persistence? You've got your OWN "not my vampire" card; screw 'em. No matter what they do to the BBA... it only cost you two blood. And you can even play the BBA when someone blocks a Rush action. Third, it's a clan-based card, meaning even poor old piss-ass Frederick the Weak (or conceivably, your Embrace/Creation Rites) can play this card when he gets blocked. Sure, he has to hunt next turn, but let's be realistic; he was going to torpor anyway. At least this way he gets a chance at hitting back. Now let's look at how it fights. It's an ally with 3 life and 2 strength that can play inferior Potence cards. As if that wasn't annoying enough, it can strike for 2R damage, meaning that while a simple maneuver might be enough to get away from a ravening Hugo, it won't save you from the BBA. And inferior Potence... not enough can be said about this. The BBA can play Immortal Grapple, ensuring that for your 2 blood spent you at least get 2 damage off someone. There are several basic variants that can be used: - A simple Trap will cause 6 damage to any otherwise defenseless minion, ...such as Lucian above, who was relying VERY heavily on his Obedience. In addition, you can 'draw out' offensive combat cards with a Trap, as opposing minions will need to hit for 3 on the first round or risk taking another shot for 2. - Adding in a few Growing Fury gives the potential for 2nd- or 3rd- round strikes of 4 each. No good against S:CE, but against anything else... - Using Pushing the Limit gives you a strike for 4 in the first round, which combines well with Immortal Grapple for a good single- shot combo that can't easily be got past. And besides all this... most of your !Brujah have Potence, and can play the same cards that your BBA can play. So even if you don't have the BBA in hand, Rigby is able to play Pushing the Limit too, and get almost the same effect (although you are putting Rigby at risk). I personally like tossing at least a couple BBA/Trap in a !Brujah deck, just to get my vamps out of a bad situation if nothing else. And it should certainly always be up for consideration -- 2 blood is cheap, compared to possibly losing a key vampire. ==================================================================== CENTER STAGE: Julian Sanders ==================================================================== Final Nights gave us a new friend, and he fills a gap in our clan that few people were aware of. We already have a six-cap, yes... but Sela's vast array of disciplines, title, and +1 bleed tend to make her quite a target and draw a LOT of unwanted attention. Julian, on the other hand,... Julian Sanders, Brujah Antitribu, 6-cap CEL pot PRE Sabbat. Julian gets one optional press each combat. Julian's disciplines are much more innocuous, especially the inferior Potence. But don't be fooled; he's as mean as they get. He's got the basic pot/CEL combo, meaning Torn Signpost/IG/Blur for 6 points of damage on the first round, and superior Celerity for all the utility cards it provides. His optional press is always handy to continue and possibly IG/Blur *again*, or (if necessary) to end combat and back away from a pesky opposing Trap or other potential problem. And his superior Presence lets him both bleed effectively with Social Charm/Aire of Elation AND play Enchant Kindred at superior to bring out all his friends like Rigby, Hugo, and Victor Tolliver. Sela is nice, but it's tough to overlook that +1 bleed and superior Potence. Julian gives us the option to NOT be obvious... something many people just don't expect from the !Brujah. ==================================================================== DECK OF THE MONTH: Battery Included ==================================================================== So, it's a pretty straightforward bruise-and-bleed deck. It includes both our Card and Vampire of the month, and it's got a couple neat tricks in it I'll explore in detail in future newsletters. The Enchant Kindreds should be played at superior, for pool gain and extra vampires. Try not to empty your crypt, or you'll end up wasting the EKs as bleed. Once you get set up and rolling, bleed heavily with your minions, using the Aire of Elation for an occasional boost, or the Legal Manipulations to provoke a block. Use the BBAs as necessary to save your minions (or just to surprise someone who blocked Frederick), but don't be afraid to discard duplicates, as eventually decks WILL just quit blocking you. For your predator, some Bum's Rush are included, as well as light permanent intercept; depending on your environment, you may wish to replace some of the Wakes with more Rush actions. The BBA gets absolutely no benefit out of the Torn Signposts (except cycling a card), so YOUR vampires are going to have to use them while intercepting, and here a Trap works well also. The Minor Boon idea is intended to be used when intercepting and vaporizing a predator's key vamp; you should be able to at least get one minion tied up this way. This can be credited to something I saw BJ Campbell do long ago, and while I'll save a long discussion of it for another newsletter, suffice it to say that it's always good to have Jost Werner unable to bleed you at *ALL* for the entire game. Deck Name: Battery Included Created by: DSR Description: Showcase deck for Blood Brother Ambush. Crypt: (12 cards) [Min: 13, Max: 26, Avg: 4.92] 1 Amelia (CEL POT PRE, Brujah Antitribu, 7, Bishop) 1 Evangeline (cel pot pre, Brujah Antitribu, 4) 1 Frederick the Weak (pre, Brujah Antitribu, 2) 2 Hugo (POT pre vic, Brujah Antitribu, 4) 1 Jacob Bragg (cel pot, Brujah Antitribu, 3) 1 Julian Sanders (CEL pot PRE, Brujah Antitribu, 6) 1 Richter (CEL for POT pre, Brujah Antitribu, 7) 2 Rigby (aus CEL pot PRE, Brujah Antitribu, 5) 2 Sela (cel obt POT PRE, Brujah Antitribu, 6, Bishop) Library: (80 cards) Master (11 cards) 1 Amusement Park Hunting Ground 4 Blood Doll 1 Hungry Coyote, The 1 London Evening Star, Tabloid Newspaper 3 Minor Boon 1 Waste Management Operation Action (13 cards) 4 Bum's Rush 6 Enchant Kindred 3 Legal Manipulations ActionMod (14 cards) 6 Aire of Elation 8 Blood Brother Ambush Reaction (8 cards) 8 Wake with Evening's Freshness Combat (30 cards) 9 Immortal Grapple 3 Taste of Vitae 8 Torn Signpost 10 Trap Retainer (1 card) 1 Mr. Winthrop Equipment (3 cards) 3 Sport Bike ==================================================================== TAMING THE ELEPHANT: Bruise and Bleed ==================================================================== While this newsletter is already long enough as is, I wanted to briefly touch on the idea of bruise-and-bleed as a strategy. Many people malign it as vulnerable to Deflection, weak on bruise, difficult to mix well, and other flaws. I believe that if built right, bruise-and-bleed can be VERY strong; but it takes changing your style around a little bit. ...Like not putting all your eggs in one basket. While the basic idea of bruise and bleed is to make the bleed large enough that people need to block or it hurts, it isn't very effective to do this with action cards. Using action cards telegraphs your intent to your opponent, and also guarantees that you'll have to kill all his vampires before ousting him, as he'll sacrifice as many vamps as he can when a bleed that'll oust comes through. It's much more effective to bleed for 1 initially, and use action modifiers to increase as necessary; this way your prey must consider ALL bleeds a potential threat, and is likely to let through a number of bleeds for 1 that normally wouldn't get by, while saving his Deflection for Sela (who can then Rush someone). The idea is to constantly keep your prey off balance and guessing; this can only help you in the long run. ...Or Rush actions. You don't need as many of them, since you only need to kill your prey's vampires if they're doing something that makes your bleeds ineffective, like Deflecting them. Otherwise, your Rush cards could go backwards against your predator, since all those bleeds for 1 become potential cardless Rush actions. Or better yet, those Rushes could be saved until you REALLY need them; after all, you're going to have a good bit of warning before Grendel does anything that'll knock tons of your pool off. So that's it for this month. I hope you've found it interesting, informative, entertaining, or hell, even suitable for the bottom of the bird cage as a printout. At least you did SOMETHING with it... and the bird might even build a !Brujah deck. ;) Next month: - Survivalist: Does it suck? - Rigby: inferior Auspex? - Avoiding the Googler: using your momos - and a bright, shiny, new deck!