Fiona the Black 35 point Four Star list

[Kite66]

So, I have been playing with Damiano for awhile and (after deciding Gorten might not be the best 2nd caster as I will play both as attrition casters) am looking to expand into the caster who origionally caught my eye, Fiona the Black. After looking through her rules and spells the first time, I knew I should not play her until I get some games under my belt.

35 point Four Star contract

Fiona the Black (hard to make a list with her, without her)
Nomad

Sylys
Kell Bailoch
Saxon Orrik
P Eiryss

Kayazy Eliminators
Kayazy Eliminators
Kayazy Assassins (Full)
Underboss
Nyss Hunters (full)


Ok, now the rundown of why I did what I did.
The nomad, is a free beatstick. Does there need to be another reason?
Sylys is there to upkeep as well as allow Fiona to Influence or Soulfirea high Def model before having to boost. Also doesn't make having an arcnode manditory as the range increase is nice.
I picked Kell because A) he shoots ghosts and B) to help deal with shieldwalls. Also a Nonokrion target.
Saxon Orrik, I am a bit iffy about him. While being able to allow the Assassins to freely move though trees, I'm not sure if he would be more useful than Gorman.
I decided on P Eiryss as she (with Nonokrion and the plethra of units that walk through others) can take down a warcaster or disrupt an annoying jack. Also she can plink off solos/UAs hiding while not needing Nonokrion.
Eliminators - Telgesh Mark, hard to hit and can threaten a large amount of models.
Kayazy Assassins, Roth's Mercy to gum up chargelanes or keep things locked in combat (or free myself), a big unit that can use Nonokrion Brand for killing spirits as well as making use of Affliction.
Lastly Nyss Hunters, kinda didn't want to get them if only for the reason of transporting the things but they bring some things I had a hard time trying to get in. A unit (ie not a solo) for Nonokrion Brand for shooting as well as for killing spirits. A unit that really loves Roth's Mercy to keep Cylena alive when needed. Lastly a unit that can hit hard, that was the hardest thing for me to find; nonspecific hard hitting.

Everything, except the jack of course, was taken also on the count that it has at least an average or higher defense per her feat. On the flip side of that, an army full of blast templates or someone like P Kreoss will ruin my day. Luckily that is where the other list will come in.
I was tempted to take a full unit of Press Gangers (as well as a chunk of pirate solos) to use to block charge lanes with Mercy, with the added bonus of getting an extra focus throughout the game but I wouldn't hedge all my bets of making full use of that. But decided against such ideas.

Also no Rhupert or Boomhowler as they will be in my Highborn Damiano list.

[canadianone]

hmmmmm, that nomad, while taking a nomad is almost never a bad decision, i would recommend a mariner here instead. The idea is that with nonokrion brand on it, you can snipe casters and support solos that are hiding behind jacks. This can be really helpful, because it basically forces casters/locks to stay 20 inches away, or get shot with a boosted pow14 shot. also, the mariner adds a lot of survivability by keeping her on her feet. Another tip might be to try to fit in a sea dog deck gun for that extra focus, but you can probably get away with out it.

[Kite66]

I had been debating on the Marnier but the major problem is there is nothing in this list that wants to be near something like that to load it. If I put that in then I will have to get a solo (McNallie) to load it. As I can tell, the most I can take out is Kell which leaves me needing 2 more points.

Not a fan of the deck gun. It is 2 points that will never do anything throughout the game and I feel that Sylys will be doing the same thing as them... but much better.

[Skorpius47]

I've done a lot of research and studying with Fiona, so I'll throw in a few of my cents for ya. These are just suggestions, of course:

I've always felt that Kayazy Assassins and Kayazy Eliminators do the same thing, and the Eliminators do that thing a lot better. By having everything as an inherent ability, you don't have to pick and choose the time the unit becomes a threat. They're always a threat, and you can use that to your advantage by putting the two units up the flanks and distracting your opponent. The ladies are just way too good to pass up and outshine their bigger brothers in so many ways.

Roth's Mercy is a very cool spell and I feel it's much better used on a unit with Tough. Since the Roth's Mercy and Tough activate on the same step (disabled), you can choose which one to trigger, which is usually Tough. If you make the Tough roll, the model is knocked down. If they don't make it, you can choose another model in the unit to be destroyed. Because your opponent won't know which model is actually being destroyed if it's getting destroyed at all, the combo begins to muck up their order of operations and activations. A full unit of Press Gangers is top notch because of their Tough ability, they are cheap, and they can also trigger Cultists by having one dude way back with Fiona out of unit formation. Plus, Lass can stick around if you want her to so she can Seduce various warrior models into position to get rapid-Influenced from Fiona. You could also plop in a Rhupert to give Tough to a different unit, like Steelhead Halbrediers, Sam & Devil Dogs, or even to the Nyss themselves.

Nyss are pretty darn good, but you also have some other options if you wanted to get some points. A full unit of Steelhead Riflemen isn't a bad idea, despite being a bit more expensive than two minimum units, and you can get Tough and Pathfinder from Rhupert if you bring him along. Croe's Cutthroats work fairly well with Lass's Seduction if you bring along Press Gangers so they can get their Back Strike bonuses, but they're also super annoying with Tough, Roth's Mercy, and Croe's inherent ability to replace Grunts in him unit. Not knowing where Croe will go can be a bane sometimes and continues with the theme of throwing your opponent's activations out of whack.

As for Warjacks, I'd highly suggest going with a Rover if you only want one Warjack. Three initial attacks in melee allows it to use Focus to boost instead of buying attacks, and it can also shoot something if it's not in combat. Rocinante is also another popular choice, offering Fiona +2 DEF, a Mariner-like cannon, and Nomad-like Reach. If you're open to using two Warjacks, adding in a Buccaneer to add Knockdown for your Nomad wouldn't be a bad idea at all, especially if you bring along Sam & Devil Dogs to Marshal it. If you bring a Mariner, you absolutely don't need Dougal. There are tons of living models in the list that could stick near the Warjack and load it for you. I've had Sylys load up the cannon numerous times, or even Fiona herself. And any number of Grunts can do that for you as you pinball the Mariner up the field between your models.

[Kite66]

So, drop the assassins for a full unit of pressgangers, trade the nomad to a marnier and toss in a solo? I'd be thinking about Grogspar, makes Fiona not fall down and keeps the gang on their feet. Also an aoe from him couldn't hurt.

[Skorpius47]

So, drop the assassins for a full unit of pressgangers, trade the nomad to a marnier and toss in a solo? I'd be thinking about Grogspar, makes Fiona not fall down and keeps the gang on their feet. Also an aoe from him couldn't hurt.

There's actually some tech involved with keeping a Knocked Down Press Ganger on the ground. They make wonderful attack magnets to keep your other dudes alive, and they don't engage other models when knocked down so you can shoot the other dudes on your next turn. Grogspar isn't a bad dude though, but I often feel the need to bring along Dougal all the time with him. They're like a 4pt, two model unit of sorts in my mind.

Here, this is what I would use under Four Star:
Fiona + 6pts
> Mariner - 8pts
> Freebooter - 6pts
Press Gangers (max) - 6pts
Steelhead Riflemen (max) - 9pts
Kayazy Eliminators - 3pts
Kayazy Eliminators - 3pts z
Sylys Wyshnalyrr - 2pts
Kell Bailoch - 2pts
Saxon Orrik - 2pts

Roth's Mercy goes on Press Gangers.
Nonokrion Brand goes on the Riflemen.
Telgesh Mark goes on whomever seems best; a sniper or an Eliminator.
Saxon gives Pathfinder to the appropriate unit.
One Press Ganger stays out of formation all the way back by Fiona while the other 9 move up the board.
Kayazy Eliminator units go up the flanks for assassinations.
Sylys is the Mariner loader.
Riflemen shoot at Warjacks under Affliction.

Like I said, I have done a lot of Fiona study and practice. This is what I feel works best for me under Four Star, so feel free to take it and modify it for your own needs. As for Highborn, I'm currently in the process of testing out Gun Mages and Long Gunners but I have little to no experience with them just yet. Theorymachine says that Long Gunners will be absolutely beastly with Nonokrion Brand and Afliction, taking out several Warjack aspects in one activation, but that might not be a real world scenario.

Hope this helps.

[Thamarite Merc]

I don't see good reasons for the Freebooter in your list, Skorpius. Unless a lot of knockdowns are to be expected, he is just inferior to the Nomad in almost every aspect. Plus, Fiona hasn't much love left for melee jacks, anyway. I also dislike max Riflemen, they are overcosted by 1 pt, when for just one more point you get either Nyss Hunters or two min Riflemen.

Upgrading the Freebooter to Snackjaw, by either dropping one of the Eliminator teams or reducing the Riflemen to min while upping the Mariner to Roci sounds more reliable as melee option, or, on the other hand, just dropping the Freebooter for a Mariner-to-Rocinante plus a one-max-Riflemen-to-either-max-Nyss-or-two-min-Rifles upgrade plus adding Gorman and Dougal sounds like a stronger ranged option.

In both of your lists, I don't really get, why you choose Saxon over Rhupert Carvolo. Both can give Pathfinder. On top of that there is one mediocre shot from Saxon or the option to deal out Tough/Fearless or increase DEF from Carvolo, when Pathfinder isn't needed. As a buffing solo, Rhupert can usually stay safely behind lines, so his lack of Stealth is easily remedied in most lists.

[Nagus]

Fiona the Black (hard to make a list with her, without her)
Nomad

Sylys
Kell Bailoch
Saxon Orrik
P Eiryss

Kayazy Eliminators
Kayazy Eliminators
Kayazy Assassins (Full)
Underboss
Nyss Hunters (full)

Your List looks almost perfekt in my eyes. I would recomend to upgrade Eiryss to the epic version. You need some punsh in the army and there are always 3 Options for that: A&H/Ragman/Gorman. Kell and Saxon are not that important with Fiona imho. But with one of the damage options you won't have that many problems against high Arm armys. I love W&S with her but it's hard to get them into a 35 point list. Your list will strugel against chain lightnings, ashes to ashes caster or gunlines with dead eye. But if your second list can handel these casters, you will force your enemy into a bad matchup.