Would Hamelin loose me friends?

[graeme27uk]

If I were to start playing Hamelin would I start losing friends?

No one else in our group has him, though from what I have read and what I hear he is about as much fun as Pandora for others to play against. So if I did get him, would I be just ruining games for other people?

What about Hamelin's avatar? Is that also considered too nasty to play?

[Clousseau]

Hamelin is not fun to play against, and also, from what I can understand, not much fun to use either. Maybe you can find a different way to use him (no rats?).

Sorry.

[Sandwich]

If I were to start playing Hamelin would I start losing friends?

No one else in our group has him, though from what I have read and what I hear he is about as much fun as Pandora for others to play against. So if I did get him, would I be just ruining games for other people?

What about Hamelin's avatar? Is that also considered too nasty to play?

IF you want to pick up Hamelin, make sure you and your pals FULLY understand EVERY mechanic he has.

Make sure they're clear that

1.) Insignificant models cannot target Hamelin (Unless he manifests) and must win a Wp->13 to target Rat Catchers.
2.) The Stolen are terrible models to target.
3.) Hamelin can Obey any model in the game (Either (1)Obedience or his Haunting Melody Pipes trigger)
4.) Soulless are NOT affected by Terrifying.
5.) If Hamelin manifests and all models in the game have a Blight Counter, you'll be dealing a significant amount of chaos.
6.) Card manipulation is a great bet if you use things like Headshot versus Nix.
7.) He can completely change his crew makeup mid game.
8.) He can be VERY fast.
9.) He can become unstoppable if you do not work hard early to slow him down.
10.) Rats can quickly get out of hand and shouldn't be allowed to roam free if it can be helped.

And while you're playing do your best to be kind with your Obey potential, especially after he manifests.
There's a whole lot of douche potential for Hamelin, so its up to you to consciously decide whether or not Obeying your opponent's heavy hitter into killing their master is worth the frustration.

- - - -

He can be a lot of fun if you go for unorthodox lists that don't meta his potential.
Etc

[Ozz]

He is utterly horrible to play against if your opponent does not understand what happens. First game i won due to i was using the dreamer and he also did not understand what the dreamer did. Second was a draw due to terror on the 7th turn.

But once you know what your doing against him, and what to kill/how to protect your models it becomes an easier game, and it can become a challenge for you as well, just remember rats are not immune to terrifying so they flee like crazy

[omnivision6]

Hamelin is really boring to play. Like sandwich said, understand everything. It makes the game go at a normal pace. You really shouldn't lose any friends cause...its just a game,lol. If they refuse to play Hamelin, bring out another crew.

[graeme27uk]

I am left in a quandry then. I like the fluff of Hamelin, his look and the concept of "I am the Plague!". Blight counters also sound like an interesting mechanic as well.

However, from the above comments, I am not sure whether currently Hamelin would be a good crew/master to pick up.

Does he play the way Wyrd intended him to? Did they consider that he would be game-breaking and are there any ways of rectifying this?

[Ozz]

If your friends are playing Colette, Dreamer, Kirai ect then hamelin should be fine. If they play Seamus, Raspy ect then perhaps a little OP but it all depends on how you play him, less OP if you take a less "fluffy" list. And as Magicpockets and others will tell you there are counters to him, just make sure to make sure your opponents learn how to counter him as well. If you like his fluff, then you should get him and play him the way you like.

[MrSpiffypants]

Wow, no love for Hammy? While I have been on the receiving side of Hamelins bad-touch a time or two, it's important to remember that it requires a fair bit of talent to get the most out of Hamelin. Sure it can feel like Hamelin is walking around with "god-mode" on, but once you realize your goal isn't to just kill him, he's actually fun to play against. Even more so if you stop thinking of him as the Master of a crew and more like the Tyrant of Plague that he is.

Malifaux's brief description is, "A character driven skirmish game", and baby does Hamelin have that. His story in book two sold me on the game. It was so awesome I'm having to bite my tongue here and not rob you people of its ending. Suffice to say, the secret to beating Hamelin is on page 237.

The only word of caution I'll give is that Hamelin (much like Pandora) has a very powerful ability. So when you start becoming proficient with that ability, if your opponents don't start learning their own tricks and how to counter yours it can seem like things are unfair. Try swapping crews and playing again.

There is a rumor that Hamelin's due for an update, and that may be true. I've only found three things that are silly (not broken!) with him.
1) If things go your way early, your turns can get pretty long
2) a wp 13 duel to shoot a rat catcher, but shooting zombies or Simulacrum 29 is ok? Heck his armor ability has him covered in rat! Why would you not see this guy as a threat?
3) Avatar of Contagion melee is a 2/3/5 flip, Master of Plague is 0/3/9. 10 damage feels wrong.

Whew, this is way too long. Play Hamelin, be a good sport, have fun.

[magicpockets]

I play Hamelin, routinely steamroller people, won Masters with him - and it really hasn't lost me any friends. And he's nothing in filth levels compared to Somer

If you like him, play him - just bear in mind it can turn into a NPE for you and your opponent if you let the game turn into "Hamelin by numbers" (i.e. playing certain things a certain way every time because it wins easily). Try to spice it up with various crews and play styles (Hamelin himself has three distinct play styles, and many more with different slants to his crew) - for example try playing with Hamelin, Nix, his totem and 6x Stolen

Overall I do like playing my Hamelin crew and have put a lot of work into finding ways to play him powerfully. I just wish people would put as much effort into learning how to play against him instead of whining he's so broken.

[Cthulhurising]

Hamelin was my first crew. I raise rats. I play Skaven in Fantasy. I have so many jokes with my friends that when people bring candy for game night, I get cheese instead.
Hamelin fit perfectly. Play him. I think he's fun. I love his lore.
The way I learned to get around people hating me for playing Hamelin? I played him more. I explained what I was doing, what I could be doing and what I couldn't do and why. It drags out the game some for a few times sure, but after a lot of nitpicking and discussion my crew up here came to the basic realization of "..w.ait... this guy is godmode? why?" and anymore I lose half the time. If the strats don't go my way, its usually because Hamelin and Nix are really the only two strong independant models and I can't get to where I need to fast enough to do everything so I'm denied points or the opponent brings down my crew in the proper order to make it fall apart.
But if you go into playing with your friends and don't warn them... thats bad. Don't let them find out he can't be targeted by insig models once you turn their master insig. etc and like others said. Its a game, when you one shot an enemy master cause you used his "Fate Is Meaningless" and then just cheated in a severe for 9 damage... don't gloat. Lol.

Basically, don't be a douche and remember he breaks a lot of the core rules, so explain why.

Worst match up I had?
Perdita
Executioner
Watcher
Austringer x2
Nino.

She ran my rats into the ground with the executioner and shot the rest of my army apart. I got stomped pretty bad. Hamelins not "quite" yet a god. He's just a poor, disease hobo with some remnents of a god. Anyone who says otherwise I challange to come up here and fight the people I do. :P ^_^