Damiano with little/no Steelheads

[Jake the Dog]

Anyone tried it with success?

[PG_LunarSol]

Anyone tried it with success?

Most of the time I hear its the way to play him. Surefoot on Galleon gives you a DEF 15, ARM 19 jack immune to KD projecting the +2 DEF, no KD buff to everything around him. Nyss, Pirates and a bunch of stuff love him as much if not more than Steelheads.

[MagnustheJust]

I felt dirty doing it, but I won a tourney with a MacBain!!list and this list :

Cap'n. Damiano {+6}
~ Vanguard - 5
~ Mule - 2{8}

the Piper - 2
Orin Midwinter - 2
Harlan Versh - 2
Gudrun the Wanderer - 3

max Boomhowler & Co. - 9
max Croe's Cutthroats - 10

It was in December of last year, so my Rocinante conversion was not legal just yet...

[absent]

It's hard to find a list damiano can't do well with, he is amazing and generic all at the same time.

[Tucker]

Yes, he does very well with most infantry, though the key is to give him units that make complimentary use of his spell list.

For example, one could take a couple of heavy jacks and little too no shooting, other than Steelhead Riflemen. Since Damiano won't be casting Deadeye, he can give the jacks lots of focus and cast Warpath. If you take Gun Mages you will be casting Deadeye more often, so you'll want to skimp on warjacks and take a good, heavy hitting unit like Forge Guard to make up for both the lack of heavy jacks and the fact that Gun Mages don't do much damage.

I like Boomhowler & Co with Damiano, since they make great use of his feat and Sure Foot, while Forge Guard are a good target for Death March and both the Nyss Hunters and Boomhowler get nasty with Deadeye. Still, I usually take at least one unit of Steelheads with him in order to make use of his coins.

[Ger]

Surefoot on Galleon gives you a DEF 15

Errr what? I'm not even sure which jack you are referring to. Gallants the only Def 13 heavy jack we have access to and he clocks in at Arm 18/20....Vanguard?

[MagnustheJust]

Errr what? I'm not even sure which jack you are referring to. Gallants the only Def 13 heavy jack we have access to and he clocks in at Arm 18/20....Vanguard?

Surefoot adds +2 to the defense of the target model, as well as any within 3 inches, along with the no knockdown...

[PG_LunarSol]

Errr what? I'm not even sure which jack you are referring to. Gallants the only Def 13 heavy jack we have access to and he clocks in at Arm 18/20....Vanguard?

Gallant. I meant Gallant. DEF 13 + Surefoot bumps him up to 15.

[iknowinternet]

It's pretty much the only way I play him. He makes Boomhowler even more of a nightmare than usual, for the reasons previously mentioned. Having Gun Mages +UA + Mule is also a really nice flanking firebase for him, since Deadeye lets the Mages do easy Crit Brutals, and the Mule is *devastating*

[Ger]

Surefoot adds +2 to the defense of the target model, as well as any within 3 inches, along with the no knockdown...

Yes I subtracted -2 and then wondered what base Def 13 jack he had meant given the stat-line.

Gallant. I meant Gallant. DEF 13 + Surefoot bumps him up to 15.

Ah ha. It's not a bad idea. I keep forgetting Gallant's Def when it comes to considering him...and I keep thinking he's got Blessed for some reason. I agree he's a good surefoot target. Could also use a Vanguard. (Which is what I was wondering if you meant)

[MinaFangirlOfEverblight]

It's pretty much the only way I play him. He makes Boomhowler even more of a nightmare than usual, for the reasons previously mentioned. Having Gun Mages +UA + Mule is also a really nice flanking firebase for him, since Deadeye lets the Mages do easy Crit Brutals, and the Mule is *devastating*

i see what you did there =3

[rydiafan]

I run the pirate suite.with him. Sea Dogs with Death March are broken.

[Ger]

I run the pirate suite.with him. Sea Dogs with Death March are broken.

I tried it out last thurs. Death march gave them an unexpected extra threat range with their guns which a combination of money shot + dead eye made murder machines. I think one out of all 15 shots missed? It was pretty nuts.

[PG_LunarSol]

Ah ha. It's not a bad idea. I keep forgetting Gallant's Def when it comes to considering him...and I keep thinking he's got Blessed for some reason. I agree he's a good surefoot target. Could also use a Vanguard. (Which is what I was wondering if you meant)

Magical Sword, but not Blessed. It does have Purgation with Constance though, which can sometimes be the same thing/better.

The DEF on Gallant is really his primary selling point, which took me quite a while to realize. Without it, he's basically paying 3 points for Shield Guard and a free Focus with Harlen, which never seemed like that great of a deal. He'd be a much stronger sell swapping either ability in the Affinity slot for full time Purgation. As is, I'm not sure DEF 13 is quite worth it on its own, but a DEF 15 heavy is certainly something worth paying attention to.

[Ger]

Full time purgation would make him so silly broken though. Full time blessed might be balanced but really strong. I did just realize he totally gains Purgation on his open fist which I didn't realize before. (Affinity grants it to his melee weapons)

Def 15, Arm 19, KD immune reach heavy is pretty difficult to deal with. Feat for movement immunity and Arm 22 will further cement where an enemy doesn't want it. The Magic MaT 7 weapon also shuts down certain incorporeal assassinations. Though that's more a match up bonus. Also if you are doing that you may be best leading with Gallant in your first wave. Which Rociante hesitates to do because then he can't guard dog/defensive strike.

It's a great idea actually. Pretty strong combination.

[freelancerebel]

Death march on elite melee is stupid good. On sea dogs or Kayazy its just lols. If Hawk is around during vengeance on sea dogs they still get their extra die to damage. Plus vengeance makes gang easier to pull off. If I'm doing the math right seadogs with gang have mat 9 pow 10 3d6 on vengeance. Then they get their turn with rockbottom giving them payday LOLs.

[Ricky Racoon]

Wouldn't surefoot be pretty useful on Kayazy Eliminators? DEF 19 and Immune to KD and able to move through models? Why wouldn't that work? I'm pretty sold on reach jacks being a necessity to take advantage of warpath. If I go Kayazy, I can't use forgeguard, but I think Nyss can definitely fit the bill, with Damiano able to help them with taking single shots through deadeye or increasing their melee through deathmarch(as well as giving them vengence, giving them a potential 12.5" melee range). On feat turn, that's the Kayay being... uh, disgusting and the Nyss being pretty boss with their pow 12 weaponmaster attacks. You kind of give out on the Armor, that's true: these guys go into "stil ldie like flies" territory with his feat.

[MagnustheJust]

Wouldn't surefoot be pretty useful on Kayazy Eliminators? DEF 19 and Immune to KD and able to move through models? Why wouldn't that work?

Surefoot is target model. So you would have to keep them within 3" at all times. One good scatter from a 4 or 5 inch AoE would make a fine red paste out of them...

[PG_vytzka]

Since I still don't have Steelhead Riflemen I mostly skip the whole Steelhead thing and roll with Kayazies/Boomhowler/Sea Dogs/whatever. Wrong Eye and Snapjaw define Damiano for me better than Steelheads at this point

[PG_ikildkenny]

out of recent experience, I know for a fact, that SH Riflemen with moneyshot are AWESOME - 2 Man combined ranged attacks go up to RAT9 with reroll and POW15 ... a 6 Man unit killed half a hunter ^^

[LiamPiver]

I run him with Sea Dogs and Nyss. Very solid list to play against certain match ups. If you're playing against a mostly melee force, you'll out threaten them pretty easily and the damage output is pretty nuts. Cycling Death March between the two also puts you at really accurate Mat levels.

My normal Surefoot target is a Vanguard marshalled to Rutger Shaw. There's nothing sweeter than a PS 15 Rutger on Feat turn charging a Arm18 heavy and getting the flank bonus. Why yes, my Vanguard and Rutger just wrecked your Scythean.

I like Steelhead Riflemen as reinforcements so I can pop a coin and get a decent threat output with them.

[Hai-pe-neki]

Up on this!

Always invest even just 5 points in min. steelheads riflemen with him, to make use of his money shot coins. 3 rat 9 pow 15 rerolling to hit shots a turn are really great!

[lastspartacus]

I could never part Damiano from his steelheads. Its sacrilege.

[mikethefish]

I always use at lleast SOME Steelheads with the guy. Buffs with no Focus cost are nothing to sneeze at - plus they are somewhat useful all by themselves!

[Ricky Racoon]

Surefoot is target model. So you would have to keep them within 3" at all times. One good scatter from a 4 or 5 inch AoE would make a fine red paste out of them...

Yes it's single model, but keeping two eliminators near each other isn't a big issue, I believe. At range, stealth will generally trump being DEF 19 for protection, so you don't need to put them together. When they charge or run, however, having def 19 models that can move through models at will could be pretty cool. And, the great thing? It could work for two units, as well. Sure, at the onset they are spread out and don't benefit from the buff, but if they go in together, I'm pretty sure I could insert a high DEF cluster of killers in the middle of an opponents army. Their free strikes arn't to be ignore, especially if they have gang up.

[MagnustheJust]

Yes it's single model, but keeping two eliminators near each other isn't a big issue, I believe. At range, stealth will generally trump being DEF 19 for protection, so you don't need to put them together. When they charge or run, however, having def 19 models that can move through models at will could be pretty cool. And, the great thing? It could work for two units, as well. Sure, at the onset they are spread out and don't benefit from the buff, but if they go in together, I'm pretty sure I could insert a high DEF cluster of killers in the middle of an opponents army. Their free strikes arn't to be ignore, especially if they have gang up.

Don't get me wrong here - I think the theory itself is migraine inducing for your opponent. I just do not think it will work in application... at least not in my meta anyway. There are a lot of savvy sneaky gits in my meta.

[lastspartacus]

I should add that in fact I have never played Damiano in 70 or so games with anything BUT steelheads models. Tier every time baby

A note on the value of coins. Reform is never to be undervalued, and don't underestimate moneyshot on the Cav. I have used Deadeyed/Money Shotted heavy cav as excellent spot removal to get almost anywhere. 19"/16" rat7+3d6 pow14 to kill problem solos and such. No one ever expects them to do anything besides charge.

[MagnustheJust]

A note on the value of coins. Reform is never to be undervalued, and don't underestimate moneyshot on the Cav. I have used Deadeyed/Money Shotted heavy cav as excellent spot removal to get almost anywhere. 19"/16" rat7+3d6 pow14 to kill problem solos and such. No one ever expects them to do anything besides charge.

Even funnier - do this as a Ride By attack!!!