Ornate Machine Gun | HC 1K Series

Card draw simulator

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HungryColquhoun · 3228

Ornate Machine Gun

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I'm continuing my series with a deck each Sunday and using the new Hemlock Vale cards. This deck allows Skids to shoot every action with the Ornate Bow, which I think we can all agree is awesome...


Overview

  • This deck uses Cleaning Kit with Ornate Bow to fire arrows without needing to reload, giving up to 9 damage in a turn (12 if you buy an action with Skids's ability) and using to test. People used to do this with Venturer, however he exhausts whereas Cleaning Kit does not. Your high is also used to evade, meaning you can deal with enemies however you like.

  • Cleaning Kit with its 3 supplies only gets you so far. To restock your Cleaning Kit you have both Emergency Cache ••• and Contraband ••, making it easier to get supplies into double digits. You can also of course knock arrows when the opportunity presents itself (which, with Skids's ability, it often does). You should spend ammo off your Bow first for this reason, as the supply is technically unlimited.

  • With Cat Burglar, The Moon • XVIII, Fox Mask and Lola Santiago, this deck gets boosts to both and to . Fox Mask in particular is especially easy to refill with your high .

  • Consistency here comes through 3 strong tutor cards: Backpack ••, Calling in Favors and Prepared for the Worst. This is further supported by card draw from Easy Mark, Manual Dexterity and occasionally Contraband ••. Calling in Favors doubles as a healing card, allowing you to return allies to your hand and replace them with someone healthy.

  • Last but not least, this deck has some pay-to-win. Lola Santiago can buy clues, and Streetwise can pump up your (pairing nicely to Fox Mask). Also, you're Skids - you can buy an action! Resource generation is Faustian Bargain, Easy Mark, "Watch this!" and Emergency Cache ••• (you can split the latter between supplies and resources).


Campaign starter and planned progression

In the Thick of It makes this a 30 XP deck. 0 XP deck is as follows (and link here):

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A recommended order of purchases/upgrades is:


Final thoughts

So I tested this out in Return to The Forgotten Age, and even in the first scenario the 0XP deck paid off (extremely minor spoilers ahead). I managed to get my one copy of Ornate Bow out, plus Cleaning Kit and a Fox Mask. It was just at the time when Ichtaca comes into play when who should show up but a Serpent from Yoth. There was also Boa Constrictor ready to catch up with us soon if the pair weren't dealt with swiftly. I hadn't used any ammo or supplies on the Cleaning Kit and Bow up to that point.

The moral of the story is, I paid for an extra action and shot the crap out of them - turning a potentially tricky situation into nothing and all inside of a single turn. From that point on I knew I would like this deck, firing the Ornate Bow several times in succession just feels good. I remember when Hyperphysical Shotcaster came out with TSK, I said over on Reddit, "Well why would you ever use Ornate Bow now, the Shotcaster is one handed, easier and costs less XP?" With Cleaning Kit, the extra damage once again sets the Bow apart - especially for its modest 3XP cost. I was hoping to get this posted before the combo was widely known, but the recent review of Cleaning Kit by maxamaster90 covered this just a few days ago (great minds, and all that)! Are there any quirky weapons you're a fan of? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

24 comments

Mar 10, 2024 flexonesilver · 1

Big props for the deck, literally last night had the same idea, the only main differences are the allies, as I went with a couple of Venturer and Delilah O'Rourke.

Mar 10, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@flexonesilver Thanks, much appreciated! For me the Venturer became a bit surplus to requirement when Emergency Cache ••• came into the deck, and I do enjoy the boost that Cat Burglar provides. Delilah O'Rourke is definitely a solid pick, I just ever so slightly prefer the boost and pay-for-clues from Lola. I also found the damage from the Bow good enough without Delilah, but it depends on the needs of your group in multiplayer to an extent (e.g. if you are the only one dealing damage).

Mar 10, 2024 sergeyvpopov · 33

Did one with Kymani for the Vale arkhamdb.com but our Vale campaign is lost at the sea...

Mar 10, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@sergeyvpopov Yeah Kymani looks like a great user too. Personally I'd tend towards using British Bull Dog to keep their second hand free for Thieves' Kit or Grappling Hook, especially as their innate enemy management is already so good, but on the flip side it's cool you can take two copies with In the Thick of It from the first scenario.

Mar 10, 2024 Wolf · 73

Fantastic deck! I wanted to build something similar since I saw Cleaning Kit. Can't wait to get Hemlock Vale in a few weeks! :D

Mar 11, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@Wolf Thanks for the kind words! Yeah I think Cleaning Kit is great to be honest and adds value to all sorts of assets. While using it with the Bow is perhaps the most distinctive combo it does make a load of other assets pop too (Old Shotgun seems like a very good pairing to it). Still also waiting on my copy of the Hemlock Vale campaign and playing other standalones and campaigns in the meantime, so you're not the only one!

Mar 11, 2024 koaexe · 25

Awesome deck. Back when Scarlet Keys dropped I though Blur+Dirty Fighting+Venturer were peak supports for Ornate Bow but turns out Cleaning Kit this cycle is even better. Can't wait to pick up Skids again!

Mar 11, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@koaexe Thanks, I appreciate it! Yeah I think Cleaning Kit had really simplified how much support Ornate Bow needs to work, so much so you can drop Venturer for one of the many better Rogue allies. Agree that's it's always good to have an excuse to run Skids too!

Mar 11, 2024 david6680 · 56

It is hard for me to play a Rogue without a Lucky Cig Case but I may try this one out.

Mar 11, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@david6680 For me the combo of Backpack •• and Prepared for the Worst were reliable in getting Ornate Bow out quickly, and on top of it there's a few cantrips here (Easy Mark, Manual Dexterity and Contraband •• depending on how you use it) that you mill your deck a fair bit too - so LCS felt surplus to requirement.

You could always keep Contraband at level 0 to afford Relic Hunter and put it in (swapping out Manual Dexterity for LCS), but it's another asset to play and with all decks the primary concern should be is it going to add a lot of value? As the tutoring is especially strong here (with Backpack •• upgraded early) I'd say no, but it's also far from a bad idea. Make the change if you want to!

Mar 11, 2024 Primpod · 1

At l0 (and maybe beyond), you can also Sleight of Hand in the cleaning kit so you get 3 free shots for a card.

Mar 11, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@Primpod It's a reasonable idea for sure! However with how most scenarios flow (i.e. a big boss at the end) and with the fact you can always knock an arrow to conserve the Cleaning Kit (and, of course, evade) it's rare you'll find situations where the 9 damage is necessary early on. If you're keen on it in the XP 0 deck, likely you'll want to spec more for damage and so swapping out Intel Report (which specs you a little towards clue finding) would not be a bad idea.

Mar 12, 2024 AldricH · 1

Is it all this way better on Kaymani Jones? he can even use Cleaning Kit lev3

Mar 12, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@AldricH I don't believe so, as they already have great enemy management so a functionality for very high damage is a bit wasted on them. I also don't believe Cleaning Kit ••• is worth it IMO, I wrote a review of the card. I gave more detail on Kymani in the fourth comment down, they also go by they/them not he/him.

Mar 12, 2024 OnThinIce · 13

For skids, Bow & cleaning kit is a good combo, even in the expert mode. I've just finished a 4P TFHV campaign with the main-fighter skids, it got smooth with Daring, Strong-Armed and Watch this. Also seems the wolf mask is better than the fox.

Mar 12, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@OnThinIce I'm interested in your take on Wolf Mask, were you using the boost occaisonally to conserve ammo and/or Cleaning Kit supplies? Or did you just find it refilled more reliably? For me I steered away from boosts generally, so Fox Mask was more useful as it boosted the primarily stat of and gave some clue finding with - with the Bow blocking clue-finding by agility outside of events due to it taking up two handslots (so no Thieves' Kit).

Mar 13, 2024 OnThinIce · 13

@HungryColquhoun I played in expert mode so i only use to fight. As I said I use that in a main-fighter deck, so I care more about enemy management, normally I wont leave with enemy alive. That cause wolf better than fox. 2 copy of 3xp Emergency Cache is enough for the entire campaign, even for the longest night. You still have your time to reload an arrow by haste or your .

Mar 13, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@OnThinIce Yeah if you're killing all enemies then it's definitely the better pick! I think for me I want to be about 50-50 evading/killing, which is the useful niche where this operates better over Guardian decks (e.g. for high health non-hunter enemies, one action to evade is better than several actions to kill). On Emergency Cache ••• being enough, I definitely saw instances where Contraband was really helpful and stopped me needing to fuel up again over the course of a scenario. Contraband •• is more of a luxury upgrade (hence why it's left to last) but I do prefer it to anything else that could be on the deck.

Mar 28, 2024 Julioriquelme · 99

Very nice deck. Thinking about running something very similar with Jenny in TFA. She has less but it is very easy to build a pay-to-bust deck for her. Only con is that I wanted to use the Green Man Medallion and it competes for same slot, but maybe it can be easly solved making something illegal. Let's see.

Mar 28, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@Julioriquelme Thanks! I think if you run this on Jenny, you can start to consider other ways of boosting - e.g. Track Shoes or the hunky boyfriend. Contraband •• I would say could be left as base Contraband and you pick up Relic Hunter if you're keep on Green Man Medallion. Contraband •• is a nice to have (and I do really like it here, especially with the option of card draw) but it's also by no means essential using the level 0 version.

Mar 30, 2024 kriger · 1

Awesome deck! You've made of of the worst investigators ever a valid option, congratulations!

Mar 30, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@kriger Thanks, I definitely appreciate it! I know what you mean, I was trepidatious about playing Skids for the longest of times. However (!) his ability is actually one of the best out there - perhaps you'll get more than 3 turns use of an Ally like Leo De Luca, perhaps not. Skids can buy extra actions when they're most meaningful - which especially sets him apart with the Ornate Bow IMHO.

For Hospital Debts (given that's what was scaring me off!), I never suffered the penalty all through RtTFA. Given other investigators can trigger it, it clears vastly easier than most investigators' weaknesses. A 2 XP penalty is also a lot better than trauma. I think it will trigger once per campaign if you're unlucky, most of the time you'll be fine. This deck definitely gave me renewed appreciation of Skids, before I'd have considered him a standalone investigator only.

Mar 30, 2024 kriger · 1

Liked his ability, even his card pool, but his statline is terrible, his signature and weekness are bad, and he is just not great in everything in particular. Never had the chance to play him in a two men party in any campaign...

Mar 31, 2024 HungryColquhoun · 3228

@kriger Yeah the statline is a bit iffy, higher or higher would have been nice! Still 4 is alright and his ability really sets him apart (it's like having the main component of Leo De Luca but with no opportunity cost). Obviously the more you use the ability the more you feel the cost - but it's still good IMO!