Introduction: Sometimes the going gets tough even for the Brujah newsletter editor... As I am terribly busy with my job and moving house I can only give you a very brief and somewhat redundant issue this month. I'm working on an extensive analysis about the post Final Nights combat environment, but there is no chance to finish it in time for this issue. Instead I will present a new version of the Brujah toolbox deck from June and take the chance to write some subjective things about deck development. The encouraging thing lately was that my writings here do not seem to go unnoticed. Thanks to all those people that gave me feedback! Also I note that our clan is gaining momentum again, with a Brujah prince deck apparently winning the German Championship (Could someone write a report please - I'd be terribly interested in what went on there) and even my fellow Ventrue newsletter editor Rob Treasure trying his able hand at the princely game of block and destroy. Euro Brujah seem to be the most popular and effective Brujah decks in competitive play these days. Fiction: "Guns, you idiots! You should have brought guns!" The Prince of Atlanta is clearly in no mood to be amiable at the "informal gathering to learn from our mistakes", as the Don termed it. The mistakes in question occurred during "operation devil dance" - the Rome fiasco of hertzBl00ds italian tour, staged to lure the Giovanni/Ventrue conspiracy into dropping their masks and presumably also to cover some more clandestine moves the Don orchestrated. Hector Sousa, who is representing the team at this meeting, uncomfortably scratches his red goatee as Rake scatters an arsenal of both ancient and top modern weapons onto the big mahagony desk. "Stupid bastards! Is everybody only watching Kung Fu movies these days," he bellows as the Don elegantly catches a hand grenade on its way to the thick Persian carpet. "Rake, please calm down...," he murmurs as his enraged follower simultaneously loads a shotgun and furiously swings an Uzi. Appolonius coughs while unsuccessfully subduing a burst of laughter, which is followed by a burst from Rake's submachine gun that tears into a gloomy oil painting hanging about 5 feet right and behind the Don. "What's wrong with the guy?" asks Miranda Sanova through the deafening noise. Crusher shrugs: "Some Fred Durst wannabe tagged his Viper. You know that he's pretty anal about his cars, do you?" While most of the room is diving for cover, Hector stands up and screams in a very Fred Durst manner: "Those fucking idiots in Baltimore fucked up the whole fucking thing from fucking day one, you f...!" The "informal" meeting quickly turns into chaos. The Don fishes a piece of shrapnel out of his tumbler and wonders how to compensate for the portrait of Willem Savelkoul Sr., the ancestor of this place's owner and the first lawyer for the clan in New York. Or Nieuw Amsterdam, as it was called in those days when no spoiled middle class kids armed with spray paint would have been around to enrage his trusted marshall in the southern provinces... Strategy: A typical tale of deck development Call me a masochist, but after the initial posting of the Brujah toolbox deck in the June issue I was determined to play it. My main motivation: Although after all those years of playing I think that I can recognize a good deck when I see it on paper, you should never dismiss anything before a real play test. So I tried it in one of those "last game of the evening" affairs, when everybody just wants to have a relaxing end of the night, and lo and behold: It didn't do too bad, gaining 2 VPs. Of course the environment was not cut-throat competitive, but the deck was the moving force for most of the game. Mainly due to the fact that I had more minions out than anybody else - always a huge advantage, but also something it was build to achieve. Normally one game is not necessarily enough to iron our weaknesses, but as I thought this was crap all the way through, I got valuable hints on how to make it better. (For all those that aren't familiar with the original version, please feel free to check it at www.thelasombra.com/newsletters/brujah_june_2001.htm) The obvious changes I immediately made: I switched from generic potence combat to a mixture of close range punishment through Torn Signpost/IG/Disarm and guns, esp. .44 Magnums and an Ivory Bow. The reason: The deck went quite smoothly, but I felt that I had not enough combat. The permanent threat of a Magnum with additional strikes goes a huge way towards intimidating my prey, as the first game showed that not many people are willing to block a Brujah. The second changes came through the arrival of Final Nights, which gave me one card I thought useful: The Summoning as a way to get those retainers (Marijava Ghouls and Mr. Winthrop) and allies (Arms Dealer) I need. The second version also included the meat hook as I wanted to see how it worked. Never got to use it though, but in two games I swept once and died to a stealth bleed/corruption FoS deck in the second match after 1 VP, beating a !Nos courier deck with Animalism combat. I was happy about this performance, but obviously saw even more ways for improvement. The political angle was useless, so apart from a few prayer cards everything went out. Intercept was a problem, but I can't see many ways to solve this problem. Instead I included some rush to scare away those pesky Obfuscate losers. Pool gain is only okay if I have Blood Dolls early on, so I want more. And also more superior Presence, as Social Charm and Legal Manipulations coupled with a healthy amount of ready minions should guarantee some blood income. The tap effects were slightly overkill, so everything apart from Mind Numb and Misdirection went out. Some additional slight modifications: More untap and Judgement: Camarilla Segregation for those Final Nights decks appearing left and right. So: hertzBl00d is in its third incarnation right now, ready to be fielded again. Note that all these adjustment were somewhat following the local meta game. Toolbox decks should normally be happy without taking these things into account, but of course they should ride the wave as everybody else and exploit certain opportunities - locally that is the lack of intercept at the moment. Deck: Return To The Isle Of Men (The title is a tribute to an admirable, yet unfortunately defunct band, and in this context implies a revisiting of a cradle of western civilization, i.e. Rome. ;-) Basically this is hertzBl00d Mk. III, with alterations as described above. A Brujah toolbox affair: Presence bleed at heart, with good, if not extreme, combat abilities and some casual intercept stuff. Should do reasonably well against everything apart from diehard combat, Fortitude and intercept decks that can beat stuff up. Actually any form of reliable intercept would suck, as without equipment and retainers it won't work that well. Crypt: (13 cards) [Min: 8, Max: 23, Avg: 4] 1 Angel (cel, Brujah, 2) 1 Antoinette DuChamp (cel pre, Caitiff, 1) 1 Anvil (dom CEL POT pre tha, Brujah, 6, Primogen) 1 Black Cat (CEL pot pre, Brujah, 5) 1 Brachah (for CEL PRE, Brujah, 5) 1 Dre (cel pot, Brujah, 3) 1 Hector Sosa (pre POT, Brujah, 4) 2 Rake (aus cel pot PRE, Brujah, 6, Prince) 1 Uma Hatch (cel pre, Brujah, 3) 1 Vasilis (pre, Brujah, 2) 1 Volker (CEL pot, Brujah, 5, Prince) 1 Yuri (cel pot pre, Brujah, 4) Library: (85 cards) Master (15 cards) 1 Al's Army Apparatus 4 Blood Doll 1 Dreams of the Sphinx 1 Guardian Angel 1 Heidelburg Castle, Germany 1 KRCG News Radio 3 Misdirection 2 Presence 1 Warzone Hunting Ground Minion (70 cards) 2 .44 Magnum 4 Aire of Elation 1 Arms Dealer 1 Blur 1 Brujah Justicar 4 Bum's Rush 1 Consanguineous Boon 1 Delaying Tactics 2 Disarm 1 Distraction 1 Dramatic Upheaval 3 Flash 2 Immortal Grapple 1 Ivory Bow 1 Judgment: Camarilla Segregation 2 Legal Manipulations 5 Majesty 2 Marijava Ghoul 1 Meat Hook 2 Media Influence 2 Mind Numb 1 Mr. Winthrop 1 Praxis Seizure: Venice 2 Pursuit 3 Side Strike 5 Social Charm 1 Sport Bike 3 Taste of Vitae 2 The Summoning 3 Torn Signpost 3 Undead Strength 6 Wake with Evening's Freshness Final Note: That's it for this month. "In der Kürze liegt die Würze", as we say in Germany, which roughly means: The shorter, the better. Don't know about these common pieces of wisdom, but anyway, I can't help it this time. Any comments, suggestions or praise please send to skaffen_amtiskaw"at"runbox"dot"com Any abuse please direct to /dev/null Thanks for reading Skaffen Chantry Elder Of Munich "You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun." (Al Capone, as quoted by Rake, Prince Of Atlanta)