Rob Treasure#
OFFICIAL VEKN CLAN VENTRUE NEWSLETTER Vol.II No.6 Feb.2001
I've got a god damn cold, don't you just hate colds, what a half-assed
malady. Not really ill enough to stay home from work but ill enough to feel
rubbish once you get there!
The group seems to be very quiet after the Deja takeover. Are people finding
alternative news services or has volume just decreased ? Does anyone monitor
activity? It would be a shame to lose people.
Anyway, enough crap down to business.
INTRODUCTION
AGITATION NATION - Bringing out 'The Gimp'.
DECKS OF THE MONTH - Ventrue / Ventrue Antitribu possibilities and Tim Ejipe
's all Jyhad Ventrue deck.
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INTRODUCTION
London is now firmly under our control as the Sabbat's 'Crusade' was crushed
from the outset. Many powerful Methuselahs chose to use and abuse the
Camarilla Kindred and the refreshing lack of Anarchs and thinbloods made for
some entertaining confrontations. The final battle came down to five
puppetmasters but the Ventrue always had the upper hand with the days two
most decorated Methuselahs both vying for power using similar minions.
According to many reliable sources, a lot of skirmishes went on during the
day but lady luck was kind enough to steer the minions under my control away
from most of the violence. The final confrontation saw Beast, Sheldon Lord
of the Clog and Nikolaus Vermeulen cracking some heads for a while before
they were put down like the dogs they are. The Curse of Nitocris played a
large part in the endgame allowing for my Parity Shift votes to pass by
showing the voting council falsely diminished resources.
Details of the day have been scarce. The scribes have yet to broadcast any
reports or opinion.
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AGITATION NATION -
"Bring out The Gimp.."
"The Gimp's sleeping"
"Well go wake him"
This months slot on filthy play is all about getting yourself a gimp. Now.by
a gimp I don't mean a chained-up leather clad freak in your basement (or do
I hmmm. let me see), I mean another player that will do your bidding and aid
your cause. Whether though design or misadventure, getting a gimp is VERY
useful in a game.
Obviously there are very different levels of control, from a simple
gentlemen's agreement to aid each other in voting, to a full-on cowering,
golf ball in mouth 'do what I say or die'. The old stone / paper / scissors
deck theory can work in your favour here, if another player is mud scared of
your deck type - half the job is done. All it takes are a few well placed
threats or an example and you'll have yourself a helpful 'ally' across the
table.
This sort of ploy is very useful but also extremely fragile. You must be
certain of your hold on player X and watch out for counter deals from other
disgruntled players. Important not to push it too far as well, I have tried
to twist someone a bit hard in the past and had them abandon the game and
any VP's and go all out to do me in. Not good.
A variant on this tactic is oft used and affectionately called 'Wooden Spoon
' technique, where you play off 2 or more Methuselahs against each other,
pull your coat over your head and run for cover. I touched on this a bit in
previous A.N.'s but it warrants a bit more wringing out of it.
If you are an accomplished people watcher, the type of person who is
susceptible to persuasion can be quite easy to spot. If your prey is having
a go at your grand prey it is very easy to add bit of petrol to the fire and
sit back, collect power cards/combos and watch them beat the living shit out
of each other, giving you a potentially easy ride ? Also please don't forget
that in _encouraging_ the above scenario, you are also empowering your table
position EVEN further using the five player table law. Allow me to explain>>
A B C
D E
You (player A) will have a lot less pressure on you from player D (your
pred.) if B and C are clubbing each other to death freeing up E to put
pressure on D. Sounds complicated but REALLY does work. As we all know
having your pred. with no pressure on them ploughing into you can force you
to go totally defensive and ruin your day.
Obviously the above is dependant on many variables but in a game that can
turn on a pinhead, every little advantage should IMO be grabbed with both
hands (assuming you are playing to win of course J ). The Ventrue are one of
the best clans to help you accomplish the above strategems as they rely on
swooping strikes and periods of waiting before you unleash the storm.
By way of a half-assed conclusion >>>>>
At the superb London tourney on Sat 3rd I heard a comment in the final!!
that summed up the whole deal making aspect of the game for me in a
nutshell.
"I NEVER make deals"
There it is, simple enough and I am totally certain that the player in
question had their reasons but, as predicted by a couple of players they
were ousted minutes later. I can see the theory behind not making deals but
in my opinion, playing this way you are hamstringing your chances by half
before you even begin.
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DECK OF THE MONTH
For any new players wanting to build a workable Ventrue deck, check this
out. Sent in by Tim Ejipe [cheers Tim] it is made up of a single box of
Jyhad cards (with a pinch of trading[quite a bit of trading by the rare
count. Ed.]) which can be had for £20-30 sterling if you look hard enough.
What a bargain !
Ventrue All Jyhad
Crypt: 12
1 Courtland Leighton 4
1 Democritius 10
2 Emerson Bridges 8
1 Gideon Fontaine 3
1 Heather Florinth 6
1 Roland Loussarian 3
1 Rufina Solidad 2
2 Sir Walter Nash 7
1 Timothy Crowley 7
1 Violette Prentiss 4
Library: 90
Masters: 17
1 Anarch Troublemaker
1 Barrens, The
3 Blood Doll
1 Elysium: The Arboretum
2 Fortitude
1 Giant's Blood
2 Hostile Takeover
2 Information Highway
3 Minion Tap
1 Ventrue Headquarters
Minion: 73
Non-Disciplined: 11
1 Change of Target
2 Fifth Tradition: Hospitality, The
5 Second Tradition: Domain, The
3 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Political Actions: 15
3 Conservative Agitation
2 Disputed Territory
1 Dramatic Upheaval
5 Kine Resources Contested
3 Parity Shift
1 Ventrue Justicar
Dominate: 16
3 Bonding
2 Conditioning
5 Deflection
4 Govern the Unaligned
2 Seduction
Fortitude: 16
2 Day Operation
2 Freak Drive
2 Restoration
5 Skin of Rock
5 Skin of Steel
Presence: 15
5 Bewitching Oration
2 Legal Manipulation
8 Majesty
This deck actually was actually created with less than 1 box of Jyhad and
some trading, back in '95 when I started playing. I found this a while back
on paper in a drawer I had not looked in for ages. And back then I wrote
down the VP distribution after a game and "best actions" that occurred
therein. Mainly because I had no real idea what was possible in the game,
but also to test my deck building, having been a fair M:tG deckbuilder.
Funnily enough I think that this deck
can still kick major ass, even in a tournament environment.
>>Have to agree with you there Tim.
Second partial Deck o' the Month is my own idea of a !Ventrue / Ventrue vote
thang. Just a thought I had whilst sitting in my oak rocking chair,
pondering the shifting metagames around the world.
The idea being to proactively block the votes from either Camarilla or
Sabbat with the Closed Session type cards and use the power cards from both
clans to further your own sinister needs. I really like Powerbase: Madrid,
Demonstration and Ventrue HQ. What an evil combo.
7 vamps with Potence.. not sure whether to include the Disarm aspect ? With
Emerson, Kyle Strathcona, Laz and Vincent Day? Good for shock tactics, but
slow to plough through vamps using the bruise and bleed angle. Using both
clans will allow the inclusion of all the lovely new cards for the Sabbat
like Eternal Vigilance, Kindred Manipulation and Blood of the Sabbat. I
quite like the general idea of multiple actions with loads of Freak Drives
or Rutors Hand combo'ed with Blood of the Sabbat for steady blood gain and
lots of actions. Might go for tons of Fortitude for defence and offence with
the Disarms ?
Anyway not tried it yet, any ideas or suggested libraries ? What do you
think as a slant on the toolbox vote deck ? Quite a good discipline spread,
I would maybe use Pot For Aus Dom Pre.
1 Lazverinus (Archbishop) FOR POT DOM AUS + 2 Str
1 Kyle Strathcona (Cardinal) for POT DOM AUS PRE Useful ability
1 Suhailah (Prince) FOR pot +1 Bleed Useful ability
2 Emerson Bridges (Prince) FOR pot PRE DOM
2 Vincent Day for pot aus dom Useful ability
1 Ranjan Rishi DOM PRE for
1 Queen Anne (Prince) DOM FOR PRE aus
1 Juan Cali for aus
1 Vanessa DOM FOR pre aus
1 Sir Walter Nash (Prince) DOM FOR PRE
High cap crypt, powerful.mmmm any other suggestions ?
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Stop press. Trying to use and abuse Blood of the Sabbat the Q. poses itself
:
What qualifies successful D with regard to the BotS ?
That's me for this month, as usual mail me with any fascinating Ventrue
nibbles or glamour shots of your partners (female please).
Rob.Tr...@btinternet.com
In next month's offering.
-More laudanum, latex and licentious reference in Agitation Nation.
Specifically I might harp on a bit more about the five player table dynamic.
-Focus on the Clan : Democritus "IS there a practical use for his special
ability??"
-Off clan talk : "Just how good is Greta Kirshner ?"
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