1.0 - Editorial
1.1 Word From the Editor
1.2 Next Issue
2.0 - Deck Overload
3.1 Vtes in Sun Erik Torstensson
3.2 Origins Andrew Weston
3.3 JOL Andrea
3.4 Sign Off

--[1.1 - Word from the Editor]-----------------------
Well if you paid attention to last months Newletter you will have noticed that a little plan of mine is even better than I thought, and LSJ has agreed with it.For those of you who didn't, an Ahrimane with The Wildebeest can still recruit a Swarm to place on others, but if blocked the Swarm will burn rather than be placed on the Ahrimane. This is excellent news, and surely a basis for some deck or other? Anyway the more attentive may also have noticed that there is a lack of Abombwe in this newsletter, which was promised last issue.Well that has been postponed until NL 18, or two months time, after the release of 3rd Edition, and the breakdown of that in issue 17.Instead we have three Ahrimane decks that have been created by other players, and then presented here for your pleasure.

--[1.2 -Next Issue]--------------------------------------
Third Edition!New crypt cards, maybe some with SPI, and new library cards, which may well be powerful new tools for the Sabbat.Of course the Ahrimanes are all Sabbat, so can immediately benefit from anything that comes along, however with the reprints there will be options to use cards that have been in quite limited circulation previously, such as The Hungry Coyote and Powerbase: Montreal. Also there will be the new rules, and draft cards, which sound interesting but is it the end for flavour text?I mean something's got to go right?

--[3.1 - Deck: Vtes in Sun]---------------------------------------
Deck Name : The reincarnation of an ornithologist, mark II Deck Author : Erik Torstensson
Winner of Vtes in the Sun 2006 Constructed.

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 2 max: 7 average: 5.34
3x Muricia 7 ANI PRE SPI Ahrimane:4
3x Effie Lowery 5 ANI SPI obf Ahrimane:4
1x Batsheva 6 ANI PRE obt pot Guruhi:4
1x Gentha Shale 6 ANI PRE pot spi Ahrimane:4
1x Célèste Lamontagne 5 ANI PRO for !Gangrel:4
1x Fish 5 ANI POT pre Guruhi:4
1x Bobby Lemon 4 ANI pro Gangrel:3
1x Mouse 2 ani Nosferatu:3

Library [90 cards]
Action [13]
2x Army of Rats
7x Enchant Kindred
1x Engling Fury
2x Entrancement
1x Muricia's Call

Combat [28]
9x Aid from Bats
9x Carrion Crows
5x Taste of Vitae
5x Terror Frenzy

Combat/Action Modifier [6]
6x Swiftness of the Stag

Equipment [3]
3x .44 Magnum

Event [1]
1x Dragonbound

Master [10]
5x Blood Doll
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Pentex Subversion
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper, The
1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch

Reaction [24]
4x Cats' Guidance
6x Falcon's Eye
7x Forced Awakening
7x Speak with Spirits

Retainer [5]
5x Raven Spy

For once I have tried a deck!Sadly it was not one of my own, but this deck.It worked well, and I managed to get a GW without bleeding with it - a combination of Army of Rats, Dragonbound and Smiling Jack did for my prey.Well that and torporing Ian Forestal in the third turn of the game, and then keeping him there for the rest of it.The previous game was less successful, but lets forget about that.

--[3.2 - Deck: Origins ]---------------------------------------
Deck Name : Ahrimanes Toolbox
Deck Author : Andrew Weston
Finalist at Origins 2006
Authors Notes :
I think most Ahrimane decks tend to look somewhat similar. I've been working with much the same deck as I did when we were playtesting the clan locally, before Bloodlines was released. Inevitably, my decks have 4 copies of Howler. I would probably add a fifth, if I had one. I usually avoid Nettie, but thought she might go well in a deck with more than a couple of allies. She did serve me well, though I did not face a lot of intercept... or, rather, people who wanted to intercept me.
The deck builds slowly, often letting my prey get away with more than I would normally be comfortable with. I don't mind so much, however. This deck excels in the endgame. Also, by the time my prey is close to ousting my grandprey, I have a few Falcon's Eyes and/or Nose of the Hounds, so Howler can slow them down somewhat, should the need arise. At Origins, I also noticed that I was often overlooked due to other conflicts elsewhere, often caused indirectly by my own inaction (due to slow build-up). This worked to my advantage greatly. I'm always happy to see other people fight each other. For example, my predator in the first game at Origins was a Tupdog deck, something I greatly feared but had not yet encountered. I managed to subtly encourage him to go after his predator and even a crosstable "threat" instead of me. In the end, the only combat that involved Howler and a Tupdog was when I Falcon's Eye'd another attack against my grandpredator. I was intending to both cripple my predator, who was about to have a free ride and also to cycle some combat cards. Alas, Howler paid for that combat with some massive damage, but I still managed to survive and eventually win the game.
I figured that there would be a lot of Imbued at Origins (there was not), and thus that there would also be a lot of ally-stealing going on (Metagame assumptions: 0 for 2). Most of the ally-stealing that occurred that day was by myself with my lone copy of Entrancement. The crowning moment was in the final game when I refused to block my prey's War Ghoul recruit action, to the disbelief of the other players. When it came to be my turn, I Pentex Subversion'ed his only blockable vampire, and took the War Ghoul for my own.I think this made up for some earlier idiocy involving Aranthebes that I'd rather not go into. Suffice to say, I shouldn't be playing serious games without sleep. Not sure what else I can say about this deck. Hopefully, it's fairly easy to pick apart. Like most Ahrimane decks, it's rather toolboxy. I think this is their main strength. They can quickly switch from wall to rush to bleed as needed.

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 8 average: 6.67
4x Howler 8 ANI PRE SPI obf Ahrimane:2
3x Siamese, The 7 PRE SPI ani pro Ahrimane:2
3x Nettie Hale 5 ani cel pre pro spi Ahrimane:2
2x Cynthia Ingold 6 SPI ani for pre Ahrimane:2

Library [90 cards]
Action [14]
1x Ahrimane Protectorate
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
2x Army of Rats
3x Engling Fury
1x Entrancement
2x Heart of the City
1x Muricia's Call
3x Nose of the Hound

Action Modifier [2]
2x Squirrel Balance

Ally [5]
1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)
1x Neighborhood Watch Commander (Hunter)
1x Ohoyo Hopoksia (Bastet)
1x Procurer

Combat [15]
4x Aid from Bats
6x Carrion Crows
2x Drawing Out the Beast
3x Pack Alpha

Combat/Action Modifier [8]
8x Swiftness of the Stag

Equipment [1]
1x Leather Jacket

Event [1]
1x Unmasking, The

Master [19]
1x Animalism
5x Blood Doll
2x Direct Intervention
1x Fame
1x Guardian Angel
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Metro Underground
1x Pentex Subversion
3x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
1x Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper, The

Reaction [18]
4x Cats' Guidance
5x Falcon's Eye
9x Speak with Spirits

Retainer [7]
3x Murder of Crows
1x Owl Companion
3x Raven Spy

I have also tried this deck, only once, and it didn't work.The combination of a predator playing Bloodwork and Circumspect Revelation - I can't block!!!With a prey playing Turbo Baron, meaning half the time I can't block (Daring the Dawn) and the rest of the time taking more actions than I can react to.However it felt quite solid, and I liked the combination of Carlton Van Wyk and Ohoyo Hopoksia.

--[3.3 - Deck: JOL ]---------------------------------------
Deck Name : Ahrimane Raptors
Author : Andrea
Authors Notes :
It is an old (pre Legacies) Ahrimane deck with the goal of piling 7 raptors on a cat, and then slowly pass through everyone.It could use some tweaking (more now) The Erciyes Fragments, whenever they exist provide the additional push.Starts to be efficient when down to 3 players.

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 10 average: 6.67
3x Howler 8 ANI PRE SPI obf Ahrimane:2
2x Siamese, The 7 PRE SPI ani pro Ahrimane:2
2x Sundown 6 ANI POT obf pre Nosferatu:3
2x Nettie Hale 5 ani cel pre pro spi Ahrimane:2
1x Cock Robin 10 ANI OBF POT aus for justicar Nosferatu:3
1x Cynthia Ingold 6 SPI ani for pre Ahrimane:2
1x Juanita Santiago 4 ani pre spi Ahrimane:2

Library [90 cards]
Action [24]
7x Enchant Kindred
5x Engling Fury
1x Entrancement
3x Muricia's Call
2x Nose of the Hound
3x Nosferatu Bestial
3x Shepherd's Innocence

Action Modifier [2]
2x Aire of Elation

Action Modifier/Combat [2]
2x Swallowed by the Night

Combat [11]
3x Chameleon's Colors
3x Pack Alpha
5x Staredown

Combat/Action Modifier [5]
5x Swiftness of the Stag

Master [15]
4x Animalism
5x Blood Doll
1x Erciyes Fragments, The
3x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Hungry Coyote, The
1x Rack, The

Reaction [19]
3x Cats' Guidance
4x Falcon's Eye
6x Forced Awakening
6x Speak with Spirits

Retainer [12]
4x Murder of Crows
8x Raptor

This one I haven't tried, it is certainly more unusual for an Ahrimane deck, with its supporting Nosferatu.I think it may prove hard to balance all the blood costs even with the five Engling Furys.

--[3.4 - Sign Off]-------------------------------------
I am looking forward to the Third Edition set, as there has already been some very promising spoilers posted.Something that leaps out is Abbot and Keep it Simple, as these two cards in combination with existing cards may mean the end of bleed damage for the Ahrimanes!

Sam
*