Mortimer: Exhume

[Mandoryan]

Played two games last night, one with Seamus (my main man) and one with Nico. I brought Mort along with Nico and realized something: exhume seems to be a waste. In the two games I've played using Mort I've only ONCE gotten a corpse counter from exhume. It's not that hard to cast it, but then there's only a 1:4 chance that you'll flip a raven. In a game limited to (usually) 6 turns it seems like he'd be better off running 2xWK in the early turns and smacking someone with his shovel instead of WK then exhume all the time. Maybe no one else tries to exhume at all and I've been a chump? Or maybe I'm missing something?

[DangerousBeans]

No that seems about right. I'm not taken with Mort at all.

[Mandoryan]

Thank goodness, I thought I had completely missed something. Guess he's coming out of my nico lists to fit in some other dead stuff.

[nilus]

Exhume is really there for Mortimer to do when hes not doing what he is better at. For those first few turns when models haven't really got into killing range. Its not 100% effective but if it works it basically gives you a free 5 point model so it can't work all the time.

As far as take Mortimer out of your lists. Think of him as much more then a corpse counter generator. He has a decent range attack with a blast and he has really wicked melee combos. He's not just there to dig up bodies, hes there to make some new ones.

[WEiRD sKeTCH]

He's also good for getting extra movement out of your shambling horde.

Fresh Meat can be used on one of your own models or one of your enemies models to get that slow mess of corpses out there!

[Werecat]

I have no desire to play Mortimer anymore. The only thing that really appealed to me was Exume, and I've never EVER gotten it to go off. Everything else is kinda fun, I guess, but there are other models that do it better. It's too bad, as I really like his model. They should make exume a 0 action or a 2 action, but let us cheat the flip for the crow. That way, you can only get a max of one corpse a turn, but you can actually get it reliably!

[greenstuff_gav]

i always found Exhume was a good thing now Scavenge doesn't work; after casting its so long as you flip any Crow; a good excuse to cheat fate and burn off those rubbish crows in your control hand!

[quozl]

I don't think you can cheat the flip, Gav.

[WEiRD sKeTCH]

You can only cheat fate when the rules say that you can.

Thus you cannot cheat the flip when you successfully cast Exhume.

[Magno]

When first using Mortimer, I would try exhume in round 1 or 2. Whether it succeeded or not, I hated having Mortimer lagging behind.

If you can't even cheat the flip, then it's typically a waste of time for me. Usually I end up flipping a raven just to get the cast off, I am sitting on 1 or 3 ravens in my control hand (having saved one from the previous round) and so the chances of flipping that raven suite is much small and a waste of an (ALL) action when Mortimer can do so much else.

[greenstuff_gav]

Magno summed it up; i usually have to cheat just to get the spell off and tend to have rubbish cards in my Control Hand; Exhume was a good method of burning 'em off.
(although isn't Exhume a (1) action, not all? ;) )

if Exhume isn't cheatable, should we alter its wording? "only one corpse counter maybe created a turn" ; thus if it fails, he can try again...

[ork56]

I have yet to succeed with Exhume, and am def reconsidering him in lists compared to Sebastian.

[jmp_mydog]

I've gotten exhume off once or twice. But where he really shines is if you flip a graveyard as the special terrain feature. Get him there and he's generating two corpses a turn.

It's not like you pick your list before you know where you're playing (unless it's a tourney). He's better at getting your punk zombies set up to charge.

[AoM]

Mortimer is "teh hawtness," as the kids say. Exhume is just a bonus. If you get it off, that's great. If you've got nothing better to do that turn, give it a try. Otherwise, get in there and hit people with a shovel.

The model is awesome, and he's a great asset in melee. I take him with Seamus a lot. Fluffwise, he's there to dig up some whores. Gameplay-wise, he's there for dirt flinging and shovel smacking.

Bring him an a few Undead Dogs. It's a party waiting to happen.

[Persevering1]

You just said it. Mortimer's "Zombie Companion" is one of the better parts of the model, rather than "Exhume". Teamed with dogs, Mortimer provides a great attack team that can then be mirrored by Sebastian (who can also Companion a set of dogs).

Mortimer can make dogs of his own, as can Sebastian. Even better.

In addition to Mortimer's versatility (melee and ranged attacks), Mortimer has "Fresh Meat". That spell is great. Its utility in getting your models across the board as fast as possible is phenomenal. Use the spell as often as possible if tactically appropriate.

In all, Mortimer has some great strengths. "Exhume" is really only a fraction of what he brings to a Crew.

[pomes70]

I agree with a lot of the above sentiments. Nico is my main crew and I've played only a couple of times. I kept thinking I could finally get my mindless zombies in a hoarde, but it just doesn't happen with Mortimer. Definately useful for moving the undead along using "Fresh Meat", but I kept wasting time having him exhume and he was never where I needed him to back up Nico. Next time, I'll forget the exhume and use him for more range and melee attacks while Nic sends forth the undead and reanimates those that perish.

[Zee]

Personally, I try to put Mortimer into every[!] list I play. Reasons:

1. Exhume, while risky, is NASTY when you get it off early game. Why, look, I spent an action and GAINED a frikkin Punk Zombie or Rotten Belle. Or, started fueling Body Parts, or even saving it for a Flesh Construct.

2. He's got a frikkin shovel! A reach weapon with a great trigger, and some good damage output.

3. He can fling AOE of dirt, which is interesting.

4. His spell list is really versatile.

5. He can companion someone who really needs to go further, and can double "Fresh Meat" to get them in place.

6. Dude. SHOVEL.

[Mandoryan]

Looks like I'll have to give him another shot and just pretend he doesn't have exhume. To be honest I completely forgot Fresh Meat (would have been really handy in my last game where everything was severe terrain).