VEKN Brujah Newsletter May 2002 Introduction: In the last newsletter I mused about "attempting the impossible" with Brujah: Stealth bleed and Intercept. I will start this month with Stealth bleed and some thoughts on the preconceptions other Players have about the Brujah: the original combat monster, Bruise and Bleed masters etc. While this can often be used to your advantage (many people are per se afraid of fighting against a Brujah, even if your deck has only marginal combat potential), it is amazing how many different faces this clan has. You can not simply reduce the Brujah to one generic strategy (as for example the Malkavians and their S+B). While Joe Average (aka Yuri The Talon) will have his problems with stealth bleeding, there is a very well exploitable angle towards this maybe not overly original, but immensely playable strategy. For this reason this month's deck is one of the by now almost classic Brujah archetypes. I made it as "pure" as possible, but you will see the main elements of it quite often in more toolboxy Brujah decks as well. Fiction: The woman adjusts her niqab and slips into a deserted lane in downtown Tunis. If it weren't for her pale complexion, she would easily pass as an ordinary, modestly clothed muslim woman. Then again a modest muslim woman would not be stalking backyards in the business district of the Tunisian capital, let alone without the company of a male family member. That's why she avoids even the sparse patches of light cast by the few and dim lamps lining the streets. Brachah is out here "trashing", searching through the waste of Al-Maghreb Consulting for the missing pieces of evidence. With the information Dre had supplied after his Munich investigation - many company names and addresses, and more importantly, the name of a Tunisian business man involved in the UBAE-Mausoleum-sanguis.com scheme - the clan was close to understanding the flow of money, influence and returned favors that fueled their enemy's conquest. Brachah had come to Tunisia in the guise of a tourist, had warded of the usual marriage proposals her appearance caused in this corner of the earth ("18 camels", not much more than on her first visit here back in 1672) and managed to get an intimate interview with Mr. Khellil. Now all that's missing is the final confirmation of Al-Maghreb's central role in organizing the North African operations - and it looks like the good people at the office had just gotten rid of some waste business papers... Two days later the same woman could be seen hurrying through the modern Halfahouine quarter. Police sirens cut through the night, following the sound of a brief gun fight not two blocks away. Brachah is heading in the opposite direction, the still warm gun hidden in the folds of her garment. Things have gone a little wrong after the unexpected visit of two young Palestinians to her tourist hotel earlier this evening. She had thought to have escaped after a wild taxi chase through the city and transforming into a local once again, but after she saw the two lurking figures again following her, violence seemed to be the only way out. So violence it was. Now she is looking for a still open cafe, where she, although not welcome in this men's haven, could maybe convince the waiter to let her make a quick call to headquarters before laying low for a while. She almost passes the derelict phone box, well camouflaged with graffiti. Her gaze fixed on the road she just came down she fishes for some coins and starts to dial. "Mrs. Brachah for you, Sir." Mr. Winthrop holds out the receiver to the Don, who, freshly risen to another night's work, is just grooming his hair. "At least I think so, Sir", adds the old factotum. Frowning the Brujah justicar grabs the handset. "Pronto!" he barks. His eyebrows start to work as he tries to understand the garbled words coming to him from the other side of the Atlantic. "There is going to be a big meeti...", Brachah manages to communicate before the static takes over again. "Repeat!" "...Khellil has confirmed... many important persons from the Italian business... here... car sale..." "What car sale?" "Not cars! It's Car... Investment Forum, like... You remember, the ancient town here in Tunisia? Cartha..." "Carthage", the Don murmurs as his eyes narrow and the receiver crumbles between his trembling fingers. Strategy: Stealth bleed - the ultimate cheese? Bleeding is the most straightforward method to win a game of V:tES. Adding stealth to the bleed action makes blocking attempts difficult, so combining bleed and stealth should guarantee a straightforward path to victory. In theory this is true, many Malkavian SB decks stand witness to this assertion. Still, stealth bleeding is not the be-all-end-all of V:tES strategies, as there are numerous ways to counter it. Extreme intercept seems to be the natural counter, but really isn't as dedicated intercept decks tend to have next to no offensive of their own. The Brujah, if confronted with SB, tend to kill the threatening vampires before they can take actions - not an easy, but very effective defense. Speed weenie decks just outrace their SB predator, and bounce decks happily use the massive bleeds to further their own goals. Bloat decks just shrug off the damage and move forward. Etc. pp. But still SB is wildly (and rightly feared), which often leads to what I would like to call "social pressure" against playing them. Cheesy, monotonous, uncreative are just a few of the not-so-nice words piled upon this strategy. But should we care? I don't think so. Stealth bleed exists as one of the obvious strategical choices in V:tES, and every player should be prepared to deal with it. Even if these decks are not the most exciting stuff to play, they are needed to shake the meta game every time it becomes too "sophisticated". One observation I make quite often lately is that players, while trying to do something resembling effectiveness with say Ravnos end up with stuff that at its core is stealth bleed, just from an unlikely angle and most of the times far from being as effective as the good old Malkavian bleedfest. When the Brujah pick stealth bleed on the other hand, you can have serious bleeding power on almost equal terms with the best in this arena, but you still come from the "unlikely angle" so you will probably escape the ridicule and social pressure from the other players... So, let's have a look. Okay, you could have Constanza Vinti bleeding your prey with Dominate Kine, Bonding and Alacrity at +3 stealth for 3 (5 if he controls a Ventrue) which would cost her 4 blood - it qualifies for stealth bleed, but is far from effective. No, the card in question for Brujah stealth bleed is Carthage Remembered. Carthage Remembered Master, Brujah, 1 pool Put this card in play. Brujah Princes and Brujah Justicars get +1 stealth when attempting bleed actions. This card may be burned as a (D) action. Ventrue and Malkavians get -1 stealth when attempting that action. Why is it good? Well, getting stealth for bleeds by all your Princes and the Justicar (always wondered about the plural form, as there can only be one) is a nice thing to begin with. Note that Carthage Remembered is not unique, so you can play multiple copies to pump the stealth higher and higher. If it is not suddened straight away, you will benefit at least for one turn - and longer, if you keep it for a few turns, which is basically the idea anyway. Let's take a look on the problems concerning the usage of the card: You have to defend it: Your prey will most likely do everything to get rid of Carthage Remembered. The burn action is (at best) at zero stealth, but as you will be playing with quite sizeable vampires (that is if you don't go the weenie/PS route) you will need untap (read: Second Tradition) and some way to survive combats. Don't laugh, of course people should be afraid to be in combat with a Brujah in the first place, but you are a bleed deck. Legal Manipulations or Govern the Unaligneds don't kill vampires. The more you focus on bleed, the better it is to utilize S:CE in combat. The most difficult situation will arise when a weenie decks sets its mind on destroying Carthage - if it's your prey you should probably not play it at all and just rely on normal bleeds, or play it and let it go. Weenie decks are not renowned for their massive intercepting power and should be tapped out most of the times anyway. Be prepared to lose a Carthage as soon as you will be seen as the biggest threat on the table, as people will come cross table to destroy it. If you are ready to block them all, your deck is not focused properly - bleeding is your main goal. And one final thing: Do not play all Carthages, only enough to get the bleeds through. Dónal and Constanza with +4 stealth on bleed actions will turn the whole table against you. Get the folks to utilize it: Out of the box we have five Brujah that can profit from Carthage Remembered: Volker, Rake, Dónal, Constanza and the Don. Volker doesn't have any bleed discipline, Rake has superior Presence, Dónal and Constanza only superior Dominate, and finally the Don superior Presence and inferior Dominate. Because of the fabled Euro-Brujah twins Dominate looks like the best choice, but you will have an expensive crypt. Praxis Seizures and the Brujah Justicar vote can bring any of the smaller clan members into the picture, in this case Presence looks as the better alternative. Anvil, Theo and Tura Vaughn each come with inferior Dominate as well, so there are many possible crypts - all depending on how you plan to flesh out the core strategy. Watch out for other Brujah: Carthage Remembered effects all Brujah P/J, not only those you control. Be very careful if someone else has someone like Rake (who makes it into Toreador affairs quite often) on the table. Counter the counter strategies: Intercept/Rush: Well, you are the Brujah. End combat or fight (back) - it all depends on how your Carthage deck is structured. Bloat: Sudden their Minion Taps/Blood Dolls etc. Every serious bleed deck needs to consider bloat, and IMO MT is the most annoying thing that can happen. Cons. Boon, Voter Captivation etc. should be easier to handle, as you will have Princes on the table and decent intercept potential. Bounce: Bounce sucks. You could kill the bouncers first and bleed afterwards, but that would a) be bruise and bleed, and b) you wouldn't really need the Carthage Remembereds. Using out-of-clan disciplines is sketchy at best (Gwendolyn, Rake and Miranda offer Auspex for Revelations, Anvil and Gwendolyn Thaumaturgy for Perfect Clarity), so Contingency Planning is as good as it gets most of the time. I'd rather try to run them out of bounce cards or try to banish the bouncers first... Unfortunately with the new ruling if you go the Presence route, you can't use Psychomachia anymore after being blocked at stealth. Decks: Ceterum censeo carthaginem delendam esse Most often I see Carthage Remembered in Euro-Brujah toolbox decks that vote and kill and block and bleed, and hope to do the later at some stealth. My goal was to build a highly focused stealth bleed deck based on Dominate - it does not vote (much), it does not fight, and it only blocks to defend the Carthage and prevent other extremely nasty stuff. Mostly it bleeds, although the Governs offer pool gain as well if need be. This is my first deck ever that uses Preternatural Evasion as a S:CE if you ever get blocked or can't play Obedience when blocking. Bondings instead of Conditioning because intercept is quite popular locally at the moment, and with his card you can start bleeding with modest stealth as soon as your first Euro-Prince hits the table. Bounce will be the biggest problem for this deck, as with Carthage Remembered you always bleed at stealth - Contingency Planning is the only possible solution, but I'm quite dubious about this card. Because bounce is so good, there are also some Deflections as additional defense. Some of the additional cards are largely motivated by our current local meta game: casual intercept and some determined bouncers led me to choose Bonding over Conditioning, the weapons plus Army Apparatus make for a certain attrition factor - you block a lot with this deck, and especially Volker who cannot play Obedience and bleed very well is a prime candidate for wearing down aggressive opponents. All in all: If you want to play with Carthage Remembered, this is hardcore - and probably not very creative, but it cycles very well and proved to be very successful the two times I fielded it so far. Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 22, Max: 36, Avg: 7,50) ---------------------------------------------- 3 Dónal O'Connor CEL DOM POT 8, Brujah, Prince 2 Don Cruez ani CEL dom pro POT PRE 10, Brujah, Justicar 3 Constanza Vinti CEL DOM POT 8, Brujah, Prince 2 Anvil dom CEL POT pre tha 6, Brujah, Primogen 2 Volker CEL pot 5, Brujah, Prince Library: (75 cards) ------------------- Master (14 cards) 5 Blood Doll 4 Carthage Remembered 2 Dominate 1 Information Highway 2 Zillah's Valley Action (11 cards) 11 Govern the Unaligned Action Modifier (9 cards) 9 Bonding Political Action (6 cards) 3 Banishment 2 Parity Shift 1 Praxis Seizure: Barcelona Reaction (23 cards) 6 Deflection 8 Obedience 9 Second Tradition: Domain, The Combat (10 cards) 5 Flash 5 Preternatural Evasion Equipment (2 cards) 1 .44 Magnum 1 Ivory Bow In Memoriam This is a possible Presence variant using mainly Rake and loads of freshly appointed Princes. It is at the same time more versatile and more fragile, as you are trying to get the necessary titles the hard way by taking political actions. I developed this deck out of the old "Prince Charming" design (see the November 2001 newsletter) that I had dusted off to play once again for our latest tournament and that has proven to be quite modularized. I swapped out most of the aggressive votes in favor of straight Presence bleed, added Carthage, kept the pool-gain (slightly toned down on Voter Caps of course), vote-gain and combat (avoidance) stuff and finally enhanced the blocking abilities slightly to better protect the Carhages. Crypt: (12 cards) [Min: 10, Max: 24, Avg: 4,5] 1 Antoinette DuChamp (cel pre, Caitiff, 1) 1 Anvil (dom CEL POT pre tha, Brujah, 6, Primogen) 2 Brachah (for CEL PRE, Brujah, 5) 3 Rake (aus cel pot PRE, Brujah, 6, Prince) 1 Uma Hatch (cel pre, Brujah, 3) 1 Vasilis (pre, Brujah, 2) 2 Volker (CEL pot, Brujah, 5, Prince) 1 Yuri (cel pot pre, Brujah, 4) Library: (86 cards) Master (14 cards) 4 Blood Doll 3 Carthage Remembered 1 Creepshow Casino 3 Presence 2 Sudden Reversal 1 Warzone Hunting Ground Minion (70 cards) 3 Aire Of Elation 3 Alacrity 5 Bewitching Oration 2 Brujah Justicar 3 Consanguineous Boon 1 Disputed Territory 7 Enchant Kindred 5 Flash 1 Kindred Restructure 7 Legal Manipulations 9 Majesty 2 Marijava Ghoul 1 Mr. Winthrop 2 Parity Shift 1 Praxis Seizure: Berlin 1 Praxis Seizure: Dublin 1 Praxis Seizure: Paris 1 Praxis Seizure: Rome 9 Second Tradition: Domain, The 3 Voter Captivation 3 Wake with Evening's Freshness Final words: Well, Newsletter No. 17 from my pen is coming to an end. Next month, if nothing more intriguing crosses my mind, I will present the intercept counterpart, thus rounding up the "impossible strategies" for Brujah. It will not be a Second Tradition Euro-Brujah deck, so much is promised., and it might contain "more stupid stuff to do with Arms Dealers"... Comments etc. are welcome at skaffen_amtiskaw@mail.ru All abuse goes to /dev/null Thanks for reading Skaffen Chantry Elder of Munich, Archon of The Cold Dawn "I came to Carthage, where a caldron of unholy loves was seething and bubbling all around me. I was not in love as yet, but I was in love with love; and, from a hidden hunger, I hated myself for not feeling more intensely a sense of hunger. I was looking for something to love, for I was in love with loving, and I hated security and a smooth way, free from snares." (from the Confessions of St. Augustine)