Hello again, fellow Wyrdos! I’ve returned from GenCon and the inevitable week following where I wander around and ask myself how this “real life” thing works again. Questions like why is everyone wearing “normal” clothes, and how come everyone gives me funny looks for speaking entirely in Firefly quotes? That said, we now return you to your regularly scheduled Monday Model. This week, we’re looking at another small keyword. They’re not quite Nephilim, but they’re about mid-way there. The Half-Bloods!

Like the Asylum models, the Half-Blood keyword is a few models that can all be hired in a Henchman-lead crew, though in this case any of them can come in any Neverborn crew, as they are all Neverborn, and all Versatile.

They all share two Abilities, On the Prowl, which allows them to Heal 1 and Push up to 2″ after killing an enemy model, and Evasive, which reduces all damage they take from Shockwaves, Pulses, and Blasts to 0. On the Prowl is nice, but Evasive is really what jumps out to me, making them great tech piece hires against crews that love indirect damage, and means you can bring them in Nephilim crews without needing to worry about Black Blood damage on your own models.

On the backs of their cards, they all share the same melee attack, Sharp Claws, all at stat 5 with a 1″ engagement, 2/3/4 damage spread, and a Ram trigger to heal equal to the amount of damage they deal. Beyond that, these models don’t have an obvious through-line like the Asylum keyword does, other than everyone but their minions have a gun, which is fairly unusual in Neverborn as a whole.

Their Henchwoman, Angel Eyes, is a sniper. Doubly odd in the faction, but will make a good pick to surprise your opponent. She enjoys ignoring attacks from Charges with Disguised, and has the Sniper ability, allowing her to reduce her Focus by 1 to gain 10″ to her projectile actions, of which she has two. This is separate from using Focus to gain positive flips to attack and damage, so she can actually spend a total of two focus on one attack for both effects. Her attacks also all ignore Friendly Fire, which in a faction with generally few guns is a great thing. If she gets stuck in melee, her Sharp Claws has an additional Reposition trigger to move up to 3″, and it’s built in! Her rifle at a stat 6 is normally 14″, going to 24″ with the Sniper ability, and ignores Cover–meaning she just has to consider Line of Sight and Concealment as far as terrain goes. As far as triggers, her rifle has Crit Strike–bringing her to a possible 4/5/7 if she stones for the Ram and flips or cheats one–along with Armor Piercing, and another Reposition trigger, though none of these are built in. As a bonus action she has a 6″ range sidearm, also on a stat 6. It only has a 2/3/3 damage track, but does have a Coordinated Attack trigger on a Mask to allow a friendly model to take a melee attack against the target.

Now what does all this translate to on the table? From just a “how can I use the most actions in a turn” perspective, ideally, you want Angel Eyes within 14″ of her target, so she can use her regular actions to Focus and shoot her rifle, and use the Focus to shoot her sidearm at the target again at 16″, preferably getting the Coordinated Attack trigger. From a practical perspective, you’ll want to of course temper that ideal and know when to forgo her sidearm in order to get the trigger needed for her rifle, and get that trigger as much as possible.

Next up we have our first Enforcer, Tuco Ortega. He adds Stealth and From the Shadows to the Half-Blood standard Abilities, which combine rather well to keep him safer than most if he starts outside your deployment zone. He also has Bravado, as his Ortega name would suggest, allowing him to Push up to 4″ towards and enemy when he Focuses. His Sharp Claws add a Flay trigger, allowing him to cheat the damage in spite of any negatives on a Mask. His stat 6, 8″ shotgun adds an additional blast on a Ram, draws tow cards and discards a card on a tome, and gives damaged models Staggered on a Mask. His bonus action is Disillusion, which at 6″ with a 6 vs Wp, moves an enemy model up to its Mv in inches, and on a mask gives the target Distracted +1.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t gotten a chance to use Tuco yet, but he seems like a solid toolkit to put on the table. Again, adding more unexpected guns to Neverborn, which can enable card cycling, and move enemy models with his bonus action (After starting up the table where they may need to get turn one and undoing some movement shenanigans with counter-movement shenanigans of your own) all seem like excellent options.

Now we come to Maurice. I have issues with his name, is there some fluff I’m missing, maybe where someone calls him a space cowboy, or possibly the gangster of love? Regardless, With Df 6 and Hard to Wound, he’s definitely the most front line of the group, though his gun is still his best attack stat, so actually being engaged isn’t ideal. This is compounded with his other Ability, Backup, which allows him to discard a card to shoot an enemy in range after it damages a friendly model within a 6″ aura around this horned space cowboy with a projectile action. His Sharp Claws attack is actually called Brutal Blade, but is identical to the melee attack of his other Half-Blood friends otherwise. He adds a Worthy Opponent trigger on a Tome, allowing him to draw a card, discarding one if he kills the target. His Shotgun is the same as Tucos, but is refurbished, so it loses one damage on severe and must declare a trigger if able, with the options being a Slug on a Ram to lose its blasts in exchange for +1 damage, bringing it to 3/4/4, or giving Injured +1 on a Crow. His Bonus action is Low to the Ground, needing a 5 to activate a 3″ aura around him which gives friendly models in it at all Cover until the end of the turn. Doesn’t matter if an enemy model’s LoS passes through the aura at all, if a friendly’s standing with and of its base in the aura, they benefit from Cover. On a Mask, he also has a reposition trigger.

Neverborn may not be, on the whole, as much glass cannons as they were in M2E, but they still appreciate moving up the board without getting shot too much beforehand. Maurice’s shotgun is nice, but you really bring him for his Cover–which will put him at Df 7.

Finally we have the minion of the Half-Blood, with a limit of 2, the Bloodwretch. They have Frenzied Charge in addition to the Half-Blood standard Abilities, allowing them to ignore the once per activation limit on Charging. They’re also pretty speedy, at Mv 6. Their Sharp Claws gain a Shove Aside trigger, pushing the target 4″ away, then pushing the Bloodwretch up to 4″ and taking a free attack so long as it targets a separate model. Their bonus action is Risky Maneuvers, taking a damage to gain Focus +1 and pushing up to 3″. Long story short, they’re food processors disguised as ping pong balls. They aren’t going to hit terribly hard, but they’re get to the target fast and hit them regularly, and then head off to scheme. On the scheming front, it’s important to note they can place two scheme markers a turn by placing one, using Risky Maneuvers to push away from it, and then place another one on the opposite side of their base, as their base will make up just a little more than an additional inch to get the markers just far enough apart.

As a crew, they won’t do anything too flashy, but will run like a good hunting pack, with Maurice keeping the Bloodwretches in cover until they’re close enough, while Angel Eyes softens the targets and calls out hits on them with her Coordinated Attack trigger, and Tuco either watches for stragglers or gets an early start on scheming.

In other crews, I think you’ll see the Half-Bloods come in as versatile models when either the enemy isn’t expecting to see any range, or you need some further anti-range defensive tech. Guild, Outcasts, and Gremlins, watch out for these guys and their Evasive. Mostly I expect you’ll see Angel Eyes, Maurice, and probably Tuco in various mixes, with the Bloodwretches coming in if you need cheap but solid and quick minions.

What do you think of the Half-Bloods? Have you used them and found something I missed? I’d love to hear about it, or any other specific model or models you’d like me to cover. See you next week