VEKN Official Assamite Newsletter December 1999



Assamite Clan Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 5 (November and December 1999)

Written by Todd Banister



Review of Last Month:

In the last newsletter I showed how the Assamites could use the Infernal

Familiar to unlock vast amounts of hidden strength from within the clan.

Remember, this hidden power comes from your creative imagination and not

just from the new cards they can play. Always be creative! So far the

recruiting of the Infernal Familiars is working quite well. In most of the

games over the past two months I have been able to keep consistent pressure

on my prey and that has lead to a steady dose of victory points. I am now

getting more victory points in each game than when I started out on the

Assamite campaign but still not enough to consider them a legitimate

tournament clan. We still have a long way to go.



Since the last newsletter came out at the end of October, I have written an

analysis of the Independent Clans that were released in the Dark Sovereigns

and Ancient Hearts expansion sets. If you missed the analysis you can find

it at: http://intj.home.mindspring.com/jpa/strat_indclananalysis.htm. I had

a fantastic time writing this article and came to a new level of

understanding on how to play the Assamites.



Also, since the last newsletter I have read two books that dealt with the

Assamites. The first is a work of fiction that is aptly named Assamite

(ISBN: 1565048091) and is written by Gherbod Fleming. This is book seven of

thirteen in the clan novel series printed by White Wolf. Assamite is a very

enjoyable book and both Thetmes and Al-Ashrad make appearances in it as

well. The second book is a non-fiction work titled The Assassins: A Radical

Sect in Islam (ISBN: 0195205502) and is written by Bernard Lewis. This book

goes into detail the history of assassins and sheds light on the real world

location and hidden secrets of Alamut. The Assassins is an awesome book and

I recommend it to anyone that wants to know what White Wolf based the

legends of the Assamites on.





Main Discussion of December: Finding a way to allow combat to gain victory

points

One thing that I continue to notice is that most people playing the

Assamites try to build decks that resemble typical rush combat. Most of

these Methuselahs soon learn that playing a rush style combat deck with the

Assamites generates a lot of destroyed minions around them but rather few

victory points. Why is this?



A successful rush combat deck needs to be deadly in combat while still being

as fast as possible. The Assamites have the first condition easily met with

their combination of celerity and quietus. The second condition is where the

Assamites tend to fall apart. They are simply not fast enough due to them

only having one vampire with the celerity/quietus combination with a

capacity below seven. Over the course of a typical game an Assamite player

averages only a little over three vampires out at any given time. This leads

to the assassins not having enough available rush actions and basic bleeds

for one pool to finish any Methuselah off very quickly. So what can you do?



I have studied most of the Assamite decks that have been posted online and

none of them seem to get around them having insufficient number of actions.

Therefore I believe the key to the Assamites is not to create more actions

but to be as efficient as possible with the actions that they have. It would

be ideal if the Assamites had a way to deal damage to their prey's pool

supply while concentrating on what they do best - combat. Luckily for them

there is a way to do this now without having to wait for the coming

expansion set. The card that makes this possible is Fame.



Fame: Unique Master

Put this card on a ready vampire. If he or she goes into torpor, the

{vampire's controller} burns three pool. Each Methuselah burns one pool

during his or her untap phase if this vampire is in torpor.



The basis of the Fame decks has been around since the Jyhad days but not

until the recent rule changes did it make its way into dedicated combat

decks. Now the famous vampire becomes a target that when hunted down acts

like a bleed for four pool (three for the initial sinking and one during

your prey's untap phase for being in torpor). With just three actions (sink

the famous vampire, rescue and sink again) the Assamites can effectively

bleed for seven pool in a single round and most importantly the pool loss

can not be bounced or reduced. That is impressive for any combat deck.



But what makes Fame work better for the Assamites over the other clans? The

answer comes in the card that defines the essence of the assassins.

Contracts give the Assamites a form of permanent rush combat that is

desperately needed in order to continually punish the hunted vampire. With

just one Contract the famous vampire can no longer quietly escape from harm

due to you not having a single Bum's Rush or Haven Uncovered. Another

advantage that the Assamites have in the Fame style deck is the use if Foul

Blood. If for any reason the famous vampire has to hunt (due to having zero

blood) a well-placed Foul Blood can send the vampire back into torpor and

cost the Methuselah another three pool.



One of the most important things about playing the Fame deck is the

selection of who gets to be hunted. You should take your time in choosing

your victim, as your deck's overall performance will be directly affected by

this decision. I have noticed that in most decks players will include a few

token weenie vampires that help round out their decks. These vampires tend

to show up very early in the game as blockers and such. The token vampires

make good targets due to them being fairly weak and easily sinkable. Another

strategy in choosing the hunted is to find your prey's main vampire that is

blocking other player's actions and make them famous. Selecting the

interceptor will increase your chances of being able to rush into combat via

the Contracts. A third strategy is to pick out your prey's main bleeder and

drop Fame on them. Choosing the heavy bleeder will definitely slow your prey

down because now there are two Methuselahs (you and your grand prey) that

want to see this vampire sent to torpor. This creates a temporary ally in

your grand prey and gives you a chance to oust your prey before he picks up

an additional victory point and six pool. Regardless of the strategy you

choose, the one thing that remains the same with most of the famous vampires

is that they tend to play fairly conservative for the remainder of the game

for fear of being caught. Always keep this in mind and try to use this to

your advantage.



Another aspect to this deck is to consider when is the proper time to play

Fame and rush the vampire. The first thought is to start pounding on your

prey as soon as possible but more times than naught this leads to trouble.

This is because many Methuselahs will slow down or even stop transferring

out additional vampires when they realize what your deck plans to do. This

puts more pressure on your deck to perform and leaves you with even more

pool to burn through for a victory point. About the optimal time to begin

playing Fame and rushing the victim is when your prey transfers down to

around ten to twelve pool. Now your victory point is just a few trips to

torpor away instead of being numerous visits.



Now that you have a grasp on who to make famous and when to rush the last

thing to consider is how do you get them out of torpor so that you can dunk

them again? There are two cards in the game that make this task easier for

the rescuer and they are Humanitas and the Catacombs. Both of the cards give

the rescuer an additional plus one stealth and they burn one less blood if

the action is successful. Both can be stacked on the same vampire to allow

them to rescue the victim at plus two stealth and not have to pay any blood

for the action. One last thing to remember is that when rescuing someone

else's vampire from torpor you do not have to always pay the cost of the

action. Simply announce that you are going to rescue the famous vampire in

torpor and have them pay for your action if it is successful. This is a

fantastic way to keep the hunted low on resources and makes them very

susceptible to a well-aimed Foul Blood.





December's Fiction Section:

Just seventeen minutes after the gunshots sliced through the Atlanta night,

Thetmes and three other assassins gathered in an abandoned building located

just four miles south from the Ritz Carlton hotel. This vacant building was

prearranged to be one of the meeting places in case any "unusual

disturbances" occurred during their stay. Having a pack of local Brujah

storm the hotel with deadly intentions clearly fell into this category.



During the escape from the hotel, Thetmes had been contemplating why the

Brujah chose to make their strike at this time. What had set them off? Had

Rake been able to learn that the Assamites had actually helped the Ventrue

on the attack against Atlanta? Had Rake taken offense to them setting up the

meeting with the Prince and planting explosives within his lair? Or had they

been double-crossed somehow? It was true that Thetmes did not see the

Nosferatu when the chaos broke out but then again how many times does one

see a sewer rat unless they want you to? Either way, Thetmes and his brother

would have much to talk about whenever their paths crossed together again.

That much is for sure.



When Parnassus finally arrived at checkpoint called Masyaf (named after an

ancient citadel located close to Alamut), the coterie of the Assamites was

complete and the escape plan could resume. As Parnassus approached the Calif

of Alamut the first thing that Thetmes noticed about him was that there was

blood on his hands and no visual signs of injury on his body. It was obvious

that Parnassus had been in a fight and he had not taken the worst of the

exchange. As Parnassus bowed in front of the warmaster, Thetmes instructed

him to report on his actions.



Straightening up from bowing Parnassus began by stating "The 'pets' and the

scrolls that were obtained from the Prophet were successfully delivered to

Al-Ashrad and they will meet us in Savannah later tomorrow as planned."

Glancing at his blooded hands he continued with "I ran into a group of the

local Brujah on the way back and let us just say that two of them will no

longer be bothering us for some time." The anger in his voice spilled over

as he forced himself to calm down in front of his elder.



While remaining silent, Thetmes nodded in approval and after a short period

of time turned to the other clan members and asked, "Does anyone know who is

leading this raid against us? Is it Rake himself?" Stepping out of the

shadows Fakhr al-Mulk came forward still holding his sniper rifle. He

replied "I was on guard with Abd al-Rashid on the top of the hotel when he

informed you of the attack. We believe that the leader of the assault is not

Rake himself but actually his favorite childe. As far as we could tell the

raiding party consisted of about eight to ten kindred that split into four

groups in order to continue their search for us."



The Prince of Atlanta's favorite childe calls himself Tyrannos and was known

in the city as a brash loud mouth that hid behind his sire. Tyrannos was a

brutal vampire that uses his status to berate the local kindred without fear

of retaliation. In just the past twenty years, Tyrannos had made a bunch of

enemies that would love to see him get what he deserved.



With the knowledge that Tyrannos was leading the attack, Thetmes now had an

answer but it only served to open up more questions. Is Tyrannos leading the

assault on his own or did another direct him? Was it Rake or someone else

outside the city? There were too many questions still to answer and not

enough time to worry about it now. Thetmes had learned in the past centuries

that things like this always has a strange way of working themselves out.

Now is not a time for solving riddles but rather for action.



As Thetmes scanned the group of assassins the only sound that could be heard

was the moaning of the wind coming from outside. As he gazed into their eyes

he knew what each of the Rafiq was thinking. Each and every one of them

wanted to strike back against the Brujah for their insolent actions and

spill their blood on the streets of Atlanta. Luckily none of them would act

out unless they were commanded or it was in self-defense. Addressing the

other Assamites, Thetmes stated "Tonight is not the night that we will begin

waging war openly with the Brujah. But do not think that they will go

unpunished for their actions. Everyone here will have their chance to serve

their vengeance upon these Munafiqun in the near future. Our mission here in

the States is over for now. We need to regroup with the others in Savannah

and return home to Alamut."



Sensing that the other assassins were not happy about leaving the Brujah

unpunished, Thetmes continued "We will not strike back against all of the

Brujah tonight but we will punish the individual that lead the attack!"

Quickly turning Thetmes ordered Parnassus to cripple Tyrannos but under no

circumstances send him to his Final Death. Thetmes continued with "Tyrannos

must be a reminder to all here in Atlanta of what will happen when they try

to oppose us. Finish your mission and rejoin us as soon as know that you are

not being followed." With that Thetmes turned to leave. Enough time had been

wasted here tonight but as long as one of them was able to spill blood of

the enemy then the group would remain focused on the mission at hand.

Parnassus would see to it that retribution was delivered.



In less than forty minutes, Parnassus was peering out of a third story

window in a run downed apartment building at the Prince's childe and another

Brujah. Tracking them down was actually quite easy since Tyrannos was

walking down the middle of the street waving his rifle around and calling

for the Assamites to come out and fight. Parnassus could not figure out if

this kindred really believed he was that powerful or was just simply a cocky

idiot. Either way it was time to find out.



Parnassus quickly worked his way down the interior stairs and then

cautiously opened the door to the outside at street level. Quickly glancing

around and finding no one looking, Parnassus stepped out of the building and

into the thick shadows. Concentrating on preparing for the battle to come

Parnassus did not see the empty beer bottles hiding in the darkness and

knocked them over with a loud crash. "So much for setting up an ambush"

thought Parnassus as he braced himself for what was to come.



Upon hearing the noise of glass breaking Tyrannos ordered the other anarch

to go and investigate while continuing to yell obscenities at the Assamites.

The Brujah reluctantly checked his shotgun to make sure it was loaded again

and quickly made his way around to the front of the building.



As the brute rounded the front of the building with shotgun in hand he came

face to face with the assassin. For a brief second both kindred stared into

each other's eyes without moving and with a flash both were set into motion.

Parnassus took a step backwards and in a blur of action launched himself

into the air while beginning to twist and turn trying to avoid the shotgun

blasts. But the slugs were never fired. When Parnassus landed he crouched

into a battle stance his and was shocked to see the Brujah casually lean

against the wall. After leaning the shotgun against the building he withdrew

a pack of cigarettes from within his leather jacket. Parnassus had not been

this surprised in ages.



The Brujah continued to startle the assassin when he yelled back to Tyrannos

"Don't see anything over here. I'm headed inside the building to check it

out." With a wicked smile that was partially hidden behind his long back

hair the anarch turned to Parnassus and offhandedly stated "Down to my last

two smokes. What a shame." Savoring the taste of the smoke the Brujah

exhaled and continued in a much lower tone of voice "Name's Akram, so you

can thank me later. Now hurry up before the rest of the gang shows up."



Even with the invitation Parnassus did not rise from his crouch. Instead he

concentrated a moment on the Brujah in order to read his aura. Just as soon

as he began concentrating the colors surrounding the kindred began to dance

in pale shades of black, orange and violet. This combination told the

assassin that the vampire in front of him was very excited and full of hate

but also slightly afraid. Parnassus still did not quite know how to

interpret the reading but felt sure that Akram was not being dishonest due

to the lack of usual light green color that surrounded a liar.



As Parnassus rose to his feet, Akram calm remained focused on enjoying his

cigarette. As the two kindred stared at each other, the shouting of Tyrannos

broke the silence of the night as he continued to issue random threats from

the side of the building. Akram continued with the lowered voice said, "Your

business is with Tyrannos and not me. I don't want any part of it when you

introduce yourself to him". Snickering Akram continued with "although I

would love to see his reaction on his face." While still holding the

cigarette in his mouth, the Brujah reached into his jacket and pulled out a

cell phone and added "You've got three minutes before I call the rest of

them here." Feeling like a gladiator the moment before entering into the

arena Parnassus answered back with "That will be more than I need".  As the

assassin walked passed Akram he muttered under his breath "We shall soon

meet again."



By the time the cigarette had burned down the sounds of the fight had come

to an end. The gunshots were the first to fade but the screams of pain still

hung heavily in the air. Tyrannos had frantically begged the Assamite for

mercy as many have done but it was to no avail. Parnassus had quickly

crippled the Brujah with a deep gash across the hunted's thighs with a

enormous blade and then continued to torture the kindred with repeated blows

to the legs and arms with his fits until Tyrannos slipped into torpor. As

the blood from Tyrannos slowly inched towards the street's gutters, Akram

pulled out his cell phone and mumbled quietly to himself "In the end,

everyone gets what they deserve".







December's Deck Idea Clinic: Teaching a Lesson

The Crypt:

Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus

Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus

Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus

Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus

Abd al-Rashid (5) CEL QUI obf

Abd al-Rashid (5) CEL QUI obf

Abd al-Rashid (5) CEL QUI obf

Victoria (5) AUS cel obf

Colin Flynn (3) aus cel

Harika Guljan (3) QUI

Zoë (3) AUS cel obf

Kanya Ahktar (2) cel



CEL - 11 (4 at minor and 7 at superior)

QUI - 8 (all at superior)

AUS - 7 (5 at minor and 2 at superior)



Total Capacity of Crypt: 59

Average Vamp Size: 4.92



The Library:

Masters: (20)

1x The Barrens

2x Blood Doll

5x Contract

1x Dream of the Sphinx

5x Fame

1x Fragment of the Book of Nod

1x Giant's Blood

1x Humanitas

1x Market Square

1x Quietus

1x Slave Auction



Combat: (42)

4x Acrobatics

5x Blood Sweat

2x Blur

2x Disease

2x Fake Out

6x Flash

2x The Khabar: Honor

5x Psyche

4x Pursuit

4x Taste of Death

6x Taste of Vitae



Actions: (12)

1x Ancient Influence

4x Bum's Rush

2x Catacombs

1x IR Goggle

1x Ivory Bow

1x Mr. Winthrop

1x Palatial Estate

1x Rumors of Gehenna



Reactions: (16)

2x Enhanced Senses

6x Forced Awakening

2x Foul Blood

1x Precognition

1x Spirit's Touch

2x Telepathic Misdirection

2x Wake with Evening's Freshness





Deck Comments:

The crypt for this Fame deck is split into two distinct sections. The brute

force section includes multiple copies of Parnassus and Abd al-Rashid and

will act as the weapon to drive the hunted into torpor. The other section of

the crypt is a collection of smaller kindred that will act in support and

generally perform the calling of votes, equipping and rescue from torpor

actions. This crypt also gives the deck light intercept from the seven

vampires that have the auspex skill. This is important because it gives the

deck a way to survive while cycling cards to set up the Contract/Fame

combination later in the game.



While having a lot of master cards (20) the Teaching a Lesson deck has

several ways of cycling cards with the use of the Barrens, Fragment of the

Book of Nod, Dreams of the Sphinx and a Rumors of Gehenna. The other library

cards give this deck nine rush actions, eight untaps, seven ways to

intercept and a ton of excellent options in combat. The combat cards can be

adjusted to your playgroup's meta-game. For example: if your group tends to

have more strike combat ends style decks then you can replace the diseases

for extra Psyches. Another adjustment that you can make is if your playgroup

tends to have large stealth and bleed decks then you can replace the Colin

Flynn for a Dorian Strack and some of the intercept cards for more

Telepathic Misdirections to allow for more ability to bounce.



All in all this is a fun (but very potent) deck to play and may be the best

Assamite deck that I have created so far. Please send me your comments and

let me know how it faired in your playgroup.





Coming in next month's issue

In the next newsletter I will show what happens to you when you hang around

a Nosferatu too often and will finally reveal how to fight back against the

growing number of weenie hordes. In the fiction section you will see that

power always comes with a steep price and to be careful what you wish for

because sometimes you actually get it. Until then beware of the shadows and

warn all of the Munafiqun of the coming storm.





Todd Banister

Prince of Atlanta

Scribe of the Assamites



Please send all comments and stories using Fame to:

T_Banister@Premier-Lending.com