The Masked Monster Mash

For a while now, the Commonwealth has been able to create a terrifying list of monstrous giants with spectacular speed and plentiful energy.

This has been possible through Kaufman's excellent movement abilities and Brunhilde's brilliant energy pulse for her fellow giants. Leshavult has also been able to emulate these types of lists by using the Witches to pump big models like the Jackalope and Loubard full of energy before they go on a murderous spree. Dominion however has not had access to as good monster-orientated support, until now. With the masquerade, Dominion has gained access to two models which can bestow energy on other models regardless of trait. One of these models makes a monster-centric list in dominion a real possibility. But how does it stack up against its Leshavult and Commonwealth counterparts and how will it function?

Master of the Masquerade

The Duchess’ card.

Firstly, who are these two new energy manipulating models? They are Creep, the rogue, and a noble, the Duchess. Although both can manipulate energy, Creep has a poor arcane stat which will need to be augmented by a fellow rogue or he will often fail when sapping energy. Therefore, Creep probably won't be a great fit for our monster-heavy, rogue-light list and the troupe will probably be better served by the other energy manipulating human. The Duchess then, by comparison, has no such problem with her adequate arcane of 4. In fact, one of her weaknesses is shored up by a friendly giant who will feature often in this troupe. So what does the star of this troupe do on the table?

The Duchess consists of a plethora of passive abilities and one excellent arcane ability which she will want to use as often as she can. 'Succubus' allows the Duchess to deal any character a relatively paltry X wounds in exchange for all her energy. As wounds are dealt instead of damage, this can be useful for finishing off low-wound high armour models like a critically wounded Joanna or Fancyhat. The best part of the ability though comes after this minor damage. For each wound dealt she can bestow a model within 8", including herself, 1 wound and 1 energy. This could include giving a friendly Gotchgut 1 energy and a friendly Boulder 1 energy or if she got a pink 3, she could even give herself all the energy and then use 'Succubus' again!

Interestingly it also doesn't target an "enemy" so it can be used on friendly models. In this case she can deal X damage to a friend and then target them for the second part of the ability to heal them for the X wounds, netting them X energy! This can be particularly useful on turn one when no-one is in range or later in the game or if all your opponent's models are high evade and you badly need energy on one model. So long as the initial X wounds doesn't kill them in this case it can essentially be used as a "Gain X energy" ability.

As for the Duchess' plethora of passive abilities she is still a typical human in that despite being a support model, she still has a melee damage bonus. The 'Concealed dagger' often won't be used as generally she shouldn't be at the front but it does synergise very well with her signature on a rising attack. A rising attack from the Duchess can therefore be a respectable amount of damage dealt or reduced. If she is relying on the reduction though, she is better suited to attacking models which have already activated to reduce how much use they can make of their bonus energy.

Her final three passive abilities can be awkward to actively use in this list, save for possibly the first ability we will look at. 'Network of spies' can be useful for general control of the initiative. This list however generally doesn't desperately need the first or second activation as much as some other lists may, although it can be useful for one variant of this troupe discussed later. 'Foreboding' is also a nice bonus but even harder to actively use. Generally, it will just dissuade opponents from attacking you, but for some models which favour many small attacks, it could cause some real damage. Finally, 'Strength from suffering' restores some wounds to the Duchess if any character suffers a catastrophe. This could be used actively if your troupe also includes the Revenant or Shabaroon, but for our monster-centric troupe, we won't be making use of these characters. Situationally though, you can make very risky bluffs with certain catastrophes or even suffer them on purpose to heal the Duchess in a pinch.

The Mortician

The Mortician’s card.

Although the Duchess has access to some methods of restoring wounds, a more traditional healer as well will be a great choice. The Mortician here would be fantastic due to his synergy with one of the giants and his ability to 'Reanimate' them. He is also very appreciative of any extra energy that the Duchess may be able to provide him due to his abilities which require more energy than he generates. When these abilities are necessary, the Mortician can assist the Duchess in keeping the troupe healthy with 'Healing'. He can also use his energy to harvest moonstones. As the rest of the troupe will want to get stuck in as soon as possible and stay as mobile as possible, the Mortician can be a great model to suffer 'Slow carry' and carry the stones. He is also relatively good at guarding these moonstones through the use of his signature move and his decent evade.

Gotchgut

Gotchgut’s card.

But what's better than healing damage? Preventing damage! The Duchess is very flimsy at 7 wounds and evade 0, but she has the exceedingly useful noble trait. This allows Gotchgut to take damage for her with 'Bodyguard' and avert one of her greatest weaknesses. Gotchgut is also a fantastic melee threat in his own right, so he will definitely appreciate any energy that the Duchess bestows upon him. He also has an active ability and a signature to push enemy models although these are both situational at best. These can be used in the final turns of the game to push models off moonstones for the Mortician or Duchess to harvest. Alternatively, they can be used to push enemies into disadvantageous positions between multiple giants and trolls, potentially saving your energy from stepping for more melee attacks!

The Finishing Touches

These three are a great start for this list, but generally, you will play with five or six models. So then, who else can fill in these slots?

Superspeed Giants

Dim and Dimmer’s card.

More giants is certainly an excellent addition for this troupe and with the Mortician why not include Dim & Dimmer. Dim & Dimmers Mortician synergy comes from the giant generating most of his energy after activating. He can therefore activate after a Mortician's 'Reanimation' and still make attacks, unlike the other monsters. He can therefore be a great choice against troupes with high damage outputs as he can keep coming back and swinging. The start of activation energy also makes him a great choice against dominion models that drain energy as he can regenerate energy after a drain.

If you're bringing two giants then there is one goblin in dominion who is certainly worth considering! With two giants and the Morticians reanimating abilities, 'Lard lover' is sure to always be active. With multiple giants 'Giant whisperer' is also sure to get plenty of use. Although it can be used on both friendly and enemy giants it will mainly be used on friendly giants in this list. Duchess can load a giant up with as much energy as possible, then the pipsqueak can use 'Giant whisperer' to catapult them up the board as much as possible. This can save them from spending energy on steps and allow them to spend more energy on making melee attacks!

The Mega Drain

Boulder’s card.

The first troll of the troupe, Boulder brings brawn like the previous giants but also brings a unique skill to drain enemies' energy. Although he has only 12 wounds, two less than Gotchut and Dim & Dimmer, he is still very tough with 'Tough skin' which reduces all types of damage, unlike the giants' specific damage reduction. Where he differs mainly from his giant compatriots is his ability to sap energy from enemies using 'Calcify' in the replenish step. He also has a brilliant signature that discards half the opponents' energy. With these two skills, Boulder can throw himself into the middle of the enemy's troupe, sap their energy, and leave the rest of your troupe to harvest moonstones.

Beast’s card.

Another character that can assist with energy disruption is the Beast. With 'Quite terrifying' he can also drain energy from models within 2". When working with Boulder, the duo can drain and disrupt huge amounts of energy when engaging the opponents' troupe. In addition to this, the Beast is also slightly more resistant to ranged attacks compared to other trolls and giants. This comes from his slightly better evade of +1 and 'Awake the beast' which discourages targetting him. Finally, much like the Duchess, the Beast has the excellent noble trait. This in combination with Gotchgut will give the Beast tremendous survivability as he drains all the opponents' energy!

Amphibious Assault

Bristlenose’s card.

Bristlenose possesses one of the best damage modifiers in Dominion with a +3 to all slicing melee damage. He is however held back by a lack of energy, a base of two. The Duchess fixes this problem superbly and can enable Bristlenose to make even more melee attacks. This energy advantage can be further compounded if you are drafting Bristlenose and have a water feature in your deployment. 'Amphibious' and 'Succubus' in combination can lead to Bristlenose having a truly terrifying amount of energy and causing a tremendous amount of destruction!

Overview

“I don’t like thinking of myself as important, but you’d be surprised to hear who I’ve helped in my time.”

So, how does this compare to Commonwealth and Leshavult monster lists? The main difference is going to be access to trolls and more importantly, the Mortician. By bringing this wizard as your healer you won't have access to as strong a healing spell as others, but unlike the other factions, you will be able to 'Reanimate' your monsters if they are slain. This can make the Dominion better at taking full advantage of Dim & Dimmer and can also ensure that Gotchgut will always be around to bodyguard any of your flimsy nobles.

When it comes to energy manipulation, this Dominion monster-based list doesn't have access to large energy pulses like Danica's catastrophes and Brunhilde's 'Epic ballads of giant heros'. What it does have access to however is the ability to stack large amounts of energy on one character, as opposed to a little on every character. This can situationally be better than a little energy on all giants if you need one super-powered activation. Otherwise, it will leave you with less energy overall when compared to the Commonwealth and Leshavult lists with their efficient energy pulses. The Dominion also lacks models such as Kaufman and Brother Daniel who can move large amounts of models in a very energy-efficient way. Generally, this will leave this troupe slower than its competitors and more starved of energy near the start due to the requirement to spend more energy on stepping.

There is however one trick with regards to energy that this troupe is undeniably better at, sapping energy. Although the other troupes have some methods to drain energy, neither have as many sappers or as reliable sappers with Boulder and the Beast. In addition to these two, Gotchgut also has a very situational signature to drain energy off opponents in melee. Another unique bonus is the initiative roll bonus that the Duchess provides which can be even more powerful if you gain the initiative in the setup. The increased chance to activate first can be brutal for Boulder and Gotchgut who can engage a troublesome enemy and sap their energy before they activate! With so many energy sappers and the Duchess for energy generation, you can build a troupe with a lot of energy manipulation. If built like this, this troupe can be a master of controlling where you want energy, whether it be on your own models or taking it off your opponents' models!