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[ AHRIMANES NEWSLETTER ]
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1.0 - Editorial
1.1 Word From the Editor
1.2 Next Issue
2.0 - Concepts
2.1 Crypt Card Focus
2.2 Library Card Focus
2.3 Sign Off

--[1.1 - Word from the Editor]-----------------------
There is no deck this issue, as I have been off on Honeymoon, so I have not had chance to play. However there is plenty of card discussion and planning, which should keep you going until next time. Also now I am married I should finally have some spare cash to buy some Legacies of Blood cards and I will be able to make group 3-4 decks.

--[1.2 -Next Issue]------------------------------------
A run down of the impact of Nights of Reckoning - what do Hunter Crypts bring, and can we use them to our own ends? Also we will delve further into the Legacies of Blood, and maybe even a deck!

--[2.1 - Crypt Card Focus]--------------------------
This month we cover the only Advanced vampire in the Ahrimane line up, and thus we will look at the Base version at the same time, and also what you end up with when Merged, of course I am writing about Maria Stone.

Maria Stone Advanced
Clan: Ahrimane (group 3)
Capacity: 5
Disciplines: FOR cel obf pre pro spi
Advanced. Sabbat: -1 strength. Sterile.
[MERGED] Maria doesn't suffer -1 strength from her special text, and she has superior Spiritus [SPI].
Rarity: LoB:U

Maria Stone
Clan: Gangrel antitribu (group 3)
Capacity: 5
Disciplines: FOR cel obf pro
Sabbat.
Rarity: BH:U2 KMW:PAn

She is a bridging vampire, between group 2 and group 4, like Sobayifa. However she is also an Ahrimane in name if not in nature, given her skill spread. Now as previously written, Maria is a good anarch, but a poor Ahrimane. No ani, and -1 strength means that she will struggle in most traditional forms of Ahrimane combat. Plus unless you can merge her she only has two clan skills at basic, which then leads to comparisons with Nettie Hale who is better 'out of the box'. In previous issues we have had decks that used FOR (Ahrimanes Share issue 7) and PRO (Ahrimanes No Muricia issue 8) so Maria would strengthen the crypt a little in those, although the lack of ANI would be a problem. I have experimented with merging vampires, but with the current low level of Advanced vampires it is difficult to get more than two in a crypt so the card mechanisms to draw them out clog up a deck rather than helping. I feel that Maria as an Ahrimane will nearly always be left out for other vampires in the Crypt as she isn't worth all the investment you have to take. A shame, but there you go.

--[2.2 - Library Card Focus]------------------------
First up is Vulture's Buffet (VB), a card that I have been using quite a lot, and regular readers will have spotted in the last few decks from previous issues.

Vulture's Buffet
Type: Action
Requires: Spiritus/Obfuscate
+1 stealth hunt action. If this hunt is successful, the acting vampire untaps.
[obf] Remove a minion or retainer in any Methuselah's ash heap from the game to move 1 blood to this vampire from the blood bank.
[spi] As [obf] above, but move 2 blood.
[SPI] As [spi] above, and you gain 1 pool.
Rarity: LoB:R

Now Engling Fury used to be the card of choice for Ahrimanes, as a refill and untap. However with VB, so long as you can remove a target minion or retainer you are on to a winner, especially as VB is listed as a Hunt action so can be modified by cards and abilities that affect hunting, and also at SPI you gain one pool! In last months issue I used VB with Sandra White as the target, but another easy option is any of the retainers that are commonly used in an Ahrimane deck such as Raven Spy and Murder of Crows. Our feathered friends often end up in the Ashheap, but now they can be recycled for blood and profit. There has also been a spate of cards that move ANI retainers to and from the Ashheap such as Call the Wild Beast, Pack Master and Summon Spirit Beast, these can easily be combined to make a true banquet for the Ahrimanes! When I first read this card I thought it could only be used on other Methuselahs Ashheaps, which would be more restrictive, however the fact that is can be used on other Ashheaps should not be overlooked especially if they are recycling Minions themselves - obvious targets are Shambling Hordes, but there are of course others. I fear this card will end up as difficult to get as Engling Fury, so start collecting them now!

Equipment and The Wildebeest!?!
Sure normally The Wildebeest doesn't allow you to use equipment, but there is some equipment that you can use, that being the Location-equipment or Locquipment as someone once named it.

Wildebeest, The
Type: Action
Requires: Ahrimane
Cost: 1 blood
+1 stealth action.
Put this card on the acting Ahrimane. This Ahrimane gets +1 strength and -1 stealth and gets an optional maneuver each combat. He or she cannot use equipment and cannot have retainers (any retainers on this vampire are burned). A vampire can have only one The Wildebeest.
Rarity: BL:R1 LoB:R

As you can see, The Wildebeest only prevents the use of Equipment, and once in play Locquipment is no longer Equipment, which allows its use. So what Locquipment is there? You will have to look up the card texts yourselves, as there is quite a list, and I have only shown ones that can be used by a 'normal' Ahrimane.

San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain - never as good as it seems, mostly because of the limitations of D actions against Predator..
Lyndhurst Estate, New York - good for votes, if very expensive, may get updated in the forthcoming Sabbat set? This gives a built in Awe, which could be used in an Ahrimane vote deck.
Dartmoor, England - this can be useful, if you are playing with the ANI or PRO actions, perhaps with Sense Death to get past those annoying chump blockers? Also can help with Tier of Souls, Army of Rats and Murcias Call - all of which feature in Ahrimane decks.
Inveraray, Scotland - plus bleed! This is always good, and with the various bloat/untap options available quite easy to get working. However Heart of the City is better, if harder to get hold of, card,.
Ruins of Villers Abbey, Belgium - need maneuvers, in an Ahrimane deck? Unlikely.
Palatial Estate - lots of people decry this as expensive, but it can keep your Wildebeested rusher out maiming people like she should! Plus like all Bloodline decks there is no clan Hunting Ground, so take your blood gain where you can.
Sacre Cour Cathedral, France - prevents those allies blocking you, take that Imbued! It is also good for any table with The Unmasking, or Carlton Van Wyck, both of which seem to show up regularly.
Winchester Mansion - you are unlikely to need DEM.
Pier 13, Port of Baltimore - normally good, but you can't use the Equipment it generates if you have The Wildebeest.
Catacombs - can help with a Fame rush rescue cycle, or even drag out your own minions if it's all gone wrong, which with limited prevention it can with Ahrimanes. Normally better on a non-Wildebeested vampire, as it could be combined with Humanitas for free rescuing!
Local 1111 - similar to the Palatial Estate, it can bloat up any other Sabbat vamp, at the cost of an action. It is also better on a non-Wildebeested vampire and it can be used to generate some cross table goodwill.

--[2.3 - Sign Off]-------------------------------------
Well the Imbued have arrived and literally crashed into the local Vtes scene. They have only played in one game so far, but that got them a 2 vp draw on a table with Blood Brothers, Turbo Baron, Aabbt Politics and Arika Votes. Unfortunately the Turbo Baron was shut down by the Imbued due to the fact that the Dawn Operations had no effect on them! We will have to see what progress they make in coming weeks.

Sam