Visitors from the Deadlands
For all factions in Moonstone, it’s usually evident that there are a couple of sub-factions within them.
In the Commonwealth, for example, the majority of characters are generally split into either Gnomes or Humans. This continues to be true in Shades, roughly divided between the Risen and the Spirits. Some Spirits have been seen in Moonstone before, but the Shade Spirits are very different from those seen before and with a completely new playstyle!
‘Resonance’
The best place to see this is on Marley's card - a character likely to be seen in every Shades Spirit troupe. Much like Hoff or Diana, Marley is great at supporting and improving the effectiveness of his chosen keyword.
The first passive ability that Marley possesses is 'Resonance' - a bizarre defensive ability that only triggers when a nearby friendly Spirit is targeted by an enemy’s Arcane ability. On the face of it, this doesn't do much. Your opponent draws the same number of Arcane cards still and you just see a little more of the deck. However, that additional two cards can sometimes be the difference between spotting a bluff or letting one slip past. Sometimes that additional two cards might be a couple of blue 2's which now makes your opponent’s call of a blue 2 look a little... suspicious...
But that's not all! Some Spirits make more direct use of this with a set of bizarre new abilities to give them an upper hand when being attacked at range. Characters like Snag, Morag and Jerry Heir all have abilities which grant them various boosts and boons if their resist hand contains specific cards. Of course, it’s never guaranteed you'll see those cards, but if you were to happen to draw a few more then it may be a little more likely you'll see what they need!
'Slip through the Deadlands' and Other Spirits
The next ability on Marley's card which plays well into the Spirits playstyle is 'Slip through the Deadlands'. This quite simply allows all nearby spirits to place 1" instead of moving 1" when performing a step action (once per turn). This grants the Spirits a huge boost in mobility. As a reminder: a step allows a model to move 1”, ending its movement within the 1” (front base edge to front base edge). A place lets a model end within 1" - meaning they could move 1” plus their base size. Placement effects also don't take any terrain into account, so these placements can be done over terrain and through or into awkward places on the board.
1" step on the left, 1" place on the right.
Spirits generally fall into two categories: slow, and hence make great use of Marley’s boost, or speedy and become even faster with the boost! Within Marley's box, Sen'Ara is a perfect example of the first - saddled with a 2" move per turn. However, using 'Blink' she can use one of her energy to place 1" (displacing herself a grand 1"+40mm for her base) for the low price of only 1 energy, still retaining 3 energy for a 'Siren Song'! Morag on the other hand is already pretty speedy with her 'Shadow Stride' ability. However, sometimes she doesn't have the energy for two of them. Maybe she's injured or needs some energy to harvest. Either way, a 'Blink' bestowed upon her by Marley can make up for these shortcomings, or even allow her to take a different approach and save her energy instead for 'Hunting Ritual'.
‘Horror’ and Other Curses
One of the final features present on Marley's card which bears relevance for the rest of the Shade Spirits is 'Horror'. This is an example of something the Shade Spirits have plenty of: a long-term effect, much like a curse. These 'Curses' are given to enemies as negative abilities until the character that cast the curse is slain. Thus far it's Marley himself, Snag, and Jerry Heir who can put these long-term effects on an enemy. In the case of Marley, it's a simple one. The character who is cursed simply loses 2 Wds at the end of the turn in the Discard Step. Furthermore, you can stack this effect. So long as the ability in question doesn't prevent you from giving it to the same character again, you can load up curses on a single model to cause them massive damage later in the turn. For example, if Marley managed to cast 'Horror' on Gotchgut three times in one game, that's 6 Wds he's suffering in the Discard Step. Just make sure you keep Marley alive so Gotchgut doesn't lose those curses!
As mentioned, there are currently two more Shades with access to these 'Curse' like effects. Snag is likely to be familiar as they've been out for a while, but they have a similar Curse to Marley - except it's 1 Wd to characters in an area, instead of 2 Wds to one character. This can be devastating against Gnomes and other such troupes with models who like to stick close to each other. Jerry Heir's curse by comparison is a bit less blunt. He can't target anyone who already has 'Frightened' so it is the first that can't stack, but it does let you move enemies around at the start of the Discard step X" by flipping the top card of the Arcane deck. As this is done at the start of the discard it is resolved before Snag's curse, allowing you to get even more enemies in range of 'Deadwood Curse's area of effect.
General Playstyle
With all this in mind, how do the Spirits play? Generally, using their mobility in most cases. With the right stone drop, the Shade Spirits can swoop in, grab enough stones to win via harvesting and other means, and then play defensively. Between their speed and defensive arcane tricks, the Spirits should be able to stay safe so long as they can avoid combat. Alternatively, the Spirits can use this mobility to avoid melee and other dangerous situations... after laying down some curses on their opponent. Then they can watch their enemies slowly whither away at range in the discard step, whilst they evade and stay back. The Spirits can then return to the fight at the game's end to scoop up the Moonstones they need to win!
Attrition is therefore their next best friend alongside their mobility, similar to the Risen. Except where Risen are slow and shrug off and absorb blows and other horrific damage, the Spirits simply dodge and evade, never allowing those blows to hit in the first place!
