But They're Just Cannons

 A 50 point game of Warmachine on War Table.

My list:

Kishtaar with Wind Storm & Inviolable Resolve
- Ravener
- Jackal with Advance Deployment, Clawed Fist and Hunter Rifle
- Jackal with Advance Deployment, Heavy Bolter and Hunter Rifle
Ulkor Barragers
Assault Reavers & Standard

Opponent had:

Ilari Borisyuk with Avenging Force and Something
- 3x Dire Wolf with Evasive, Cannon and Scrap Saw
Sergeant Lazarenko
Sergeant Sergei Krol
2x Winter Korps Infantry with Rocketeers & Standard

Scenario was Recon from Steamroller 2024.

Khador started, and their formation was rather symmetrical one. Infantry Korps at flanks, warjacks and warcaster kind of there in the middle, and sergeants were supporting the infantry units, Krol on the left and Lazarenko to the right.

Orgoth hid a Jackal, Ulkor Barragers and Ravener behind a forest, another Jackal and Warwitch Coven to the left and Assault Reaver unit going into Dust Devil objective terrain, getting stealth from a command card.

And Kishtaar. Well. Yeah. I realized I had no good target for Inviolable Resolve either in range, or even in the list, she just cast Wind Storm and ran to objective. Whoo boy. Not to self: check those threat ranges once in a while.

So, despite Wind Storm, a Dire Wolf was able to charge nine points of health off of Kishtaar. Ouch.

Other Dire Wolves were less successful in their endeavors, and one of the Jackals only took a few points of damage. 

Ilari and Lazarenko were proccing their Prowl inside of a batch of tall grass, Lazarenko claiming the 30mm objective. Infantry Korps unit to the right played Stealth on them to offer some protection against harpoons of Assault Reavers.

The other Winter Korps unit went to secure enemy flag terrain along with Sergeant Krol.

On my turn, first models to activate were Ulkor Barragers that removed half of Winter Korps from the left, as well a few boxes off from centermost Dire Wolf.

Then, thanks to my interesting choice with Kishtaar's placement, she was now in a bad place. She did use her feat, cast +2" range spell, shot with a Jackal and spent her own shots at the centermost Dire Wolf, but could not wreck it. She had zero focus points, again. At least Power Swell gave one.

However, I did not consider that enough of a protection. Jackal with ranged attacks only had to spent its entire payload against the Dire Wolf, and even then got it only down to one hit point remaining. There were no other attacks I had available, so Rifle-Claw Jackal had to spent its feat shot against the Khadoran heavy at one health remaining. Both Jackals formed a wall of steel to block LoS to Kishtaar, and the ranged-only version even had Shield Guard card played on it.

Assault Reavers went to shoot Infantry Korps to the right. Being their Prey target, four models able to attack reduced the number of Korps by equal amount while still controlling flag zone.

Well, Ilari had his feat turn, and Beat Back on Dire Wolf cannons were able to open up LoS for both Dire Wolves during Hour of the Wolf. Fortunately Ilari had been spending his time shooting at Assault Reavers for secured feat procs, so his sniper shots downed only two of those. Remainder of Winter Korps in the right took out a third Assault Reaver.

First Dire Wolf shot against Kishtaar was shield-guarded by Jackal, but the other one was not. Damage roll, however, was not enough to end the game. She now had three hit points remaining.

Winter Korps on the left were able to seriously injure Shield-Guarding Jackal - so much so, that it only had about two boxes remaining in Movement. 

But hey, game continued. Did Kishtaar learn her lesson yet? Oh no, why would she! She just kept shooting at a Dire Wolf, killing of Sergeant Lazarenko with ricochet shots. She was, again, left with just one Focus for damage block. Oh well.

Ulkor Barragers went to pick up cache and killed all but one Winter Korps on the left. I had tried to repair broken Jackal with Old Faithful, but rolled a beautiful "1" for the amount. War Witches gave two points of focus for it, and one for the still functional Jackal. 

Broken Jackal killed the last Winter Korps on the left, which meant Khadoran flag terrain was no longer controlled. Ulkors were also blocking enemy 30mm objective. 

Assault Reavers retreated to Orgothian flag terrain zone, and Orgoth went to have four point advantage in scenario thanks to an off-point gained earlier.

However, Kishtaar still had to survive a grenade pod barrage from Sergeant Krol and a fully boosted cannon shot from Dire Wolf. Big cannon missed, and so did the little cannons. We ended the game there, as scoring two while denying me every point was unlikely with the forces currently on board. Victory for Orgoth.

Richard, nooo!

A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Flank Turf War

Schemes: Assassinate, Search the Ruins, Take Prisoner, Breakthrough, Claim Jump

My list:

Madame Sybelle with Grave Spirit Touch & Carrion Effigy
Bete Noire
White Rabbit Company
Flesh Construct
Gravedigger
Rabble Riser
2x Rotten Belle

Pool: 4
Schemes: Take Prisoner (One of the Buckaroo's), Breakthrough

Opponent had:

Clampetts, Fisherfolk & Bruce
Uncle Boggs
Aunty Mel
Sir Vantes
Hermits
2x Buckaroos

Pool: 5
Schemes: Assassinate, Search the Ruins

 Turn 1

Madame Sybelle did not consider turfs adequately settled last time around, so the henchman master and Clampetts had to settle the scores again.

Both Buckaroos went towards top-left quarter, and since the other one of them was my chosen prisoner, I dedicated a Rotten Belle, Rabble Riser and Bete Noire for the pair.

Another Rotten Belle and Gravedigger went towards bottom-right quarter, trying to hide behind the building.

White Rabbit Company crafted a hat for Flesh Construct, who I thought would be taking damage soon enough, as he was Aunty Mel's adversarial target. Hermits blasted White Rabbit Company, which had me worried for their safety, so Madame Sybelle tried to act as a body block between them and Bayou. It kind of worked, though Madame certainly was in a precarious position after Sir Vantes pushed her closer.

Flesh Construct was my last model to activate, and it went to flip center marker for Resurrectionists. Aunty Mel took a shot at the thing, dropping its fancy hat already.

After interacting top-right strategy marker, Clampetts went near the center point to toss dynamites around. Aunty Mel was nearby as their back-up.

Sir Vantes led the charge of Hermits, Bruce and Uncle Bogg from Bayou bottom branching flank. They just had to cut through Madame Sybelle to follow through. Easy, right?

Turn 2:

Only thing more annoying than to tie up a Buckaroo is to tie up two Buckaroos. It was a weird mess how that panned out, but eventually Rabble Riser and Bete Noire managed to kill one. Take Prisoner target took a run towards bottom-left quarter, but fortunately it was well within Rotten Belle's reach to go and engage.

Aunty Mel killed Flesh Construct without breaking a sweat, and picked White Rabbit Company her next target. Hastily they sewed a hat for Madame Sybelle before trying to get as far from action as possible. I think they also beckoned Aunty Mel within 2" of Madame. At least they attempted that.

However, they would have needed to take both action points as walks away, as they were shot to pieces by Hermits and Clampetts. The Fisherfolk are also a scary good schemer, as they were able to leap, interact and end their activation to score reveal condition of Search the Ruins.

As I had been losing my turf markers left and right, Rotten Belle to the right and Gravedigger had to dedicate their activations to get a turf marker in a hard to reach place of bottom-right quarter.

So, scores went 2-2 as both players got strategy, Resurrectionists Take Prisoner and Bayou Search the Ruins.

Turn 3:

Prisoner Buckaroo disengaged from Rotten Belle, and I considered my chances about catching a model able to walk 18" a turn, take a 3" move whether I landed or missed a Lure, and able to push enemy models away with a tactical action. Good riddance, Buckaroo. Rotten Belle lured Rabble Riser closer for it to go and claim top-left quarter as Madame's turf. This also let Bete Noire to walk to enemy deployment zone and plant a scheme for Breakthrough.

Center brawl drained my resources. There were so many Anglers around, and annoyingly enough they were dealing damage only one point at a time, so they succeeded in creeping beneath Assassinate range of health. 

Aunty Mel took some good damage from Madame Sybelle, but Aunty wasn't too shabby damage blocker with soulstones either. Carrion Effigy had tried to come and somewhat restrict that, but it only had a point of health left. Sir Vantes broke the effigy to its components.

Rotten Belle on right re-took bottom-right quarter, and Gravedigger rushed towards Bayou deployment zone. Uncle Boggs had charged Madame Sybelle earlier in the turn, but had an emergency push towards Gravedigger by heroic intervention from Sir Vantes.

Clampetts had placed a scheme to a brick wall and leaped to a bigger rock formation to secure a second terrain piece for Search the Ruins end condition.

Prisoner Buckaroo had run into contact with bottom-left quarter strategy marker, but didn't have the action points to interact. Bayou did get Assassinate reveal condition, but so did Resurrectionists get Breakthrough and strategy point. It was a 4-3 lead for Resurrectionists! 

Turn 4:

In the ceter it was finally time for Madame Sybelle to fall, perhaps because opponent ran out of cards and had I cheated a little higher card, opponent would have had to shuffle deck for just one card. And look at that, moderate wound with one negative modifier. Ah well. Lesson learned. But she sure tanked like a pro in this match, and maybe even could have made it to last round.

Uncle Boggs charged Gravedigger, but dealt only two points of damage. Gravedigger then dug up a corpse and went to take a closer look - away from melee - and now able to interact a scheme. Bete Noire was doing the same at the top lane of Bayou deployment.

Rabble Riser tried to run and stun someone with his challenge, but Anglers cared little about the punk zombie.

Buckaroo got bottom-left quarter for Anglers and went into contact with another brick wall, and Clampetts walked and leaped to a crypt of sorts, tagging third terrain with a scheme marker. 

Rotten Belle at left made a futile attempt at running towards prisoner Buckaroo just to do something at least. She was essentially out of game anyway.

Bayou evens the scores to 4-4 tie with a strategy point.

Turn 5:

Game was pretty much done for at the center, top-left, bottom-left and bottom-right quarters, but there were some exciting elements going on in the top-right quarter. 

Well, center ties into that when Rabble Riser had walked and charged to try to kill Aunty Mel to neutralize bottom-left marker, burning through my hand in the process. 

Uncle Bogg also forced me to cheat and discard cards to protect Gravedigger. The Angler henchman managed to score Slow on Gravedigger that took away the option for me to score a surprise third strategy point and deny opponent one point, although truth be told - that somehow escaped my attention at the time. But with two action points Gravedigger would have been able to flip top-right strategy marker for Resurrectionists. Then he'd only have to survive Richard's charge attack without soulstones or cards in hand, easy!

However, by then I didn't even have enough cards in hand to get past Uncle Bogg's chatty. Not to mention overbearing stench of Richard, who was finally summoned into the game into contact with Gravedigger. Getting stunned would have messed up the digger's corpse inspection push.

So, Anglers scored strategy and both schemes, while Resurrectionists just got their Breakthrough for a grand total of 7-5 for Anglers.

Quit it, Richard!

 A 35ss practice game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Standard Turf War

Schemes: Detonate Charges, Harness Ley Lines, Assassinate, Vendetta, Hold Up Their Forces

My list:

Madame Sybelle with Grave Spirit Touch & Carrion Effigy
Bete Noire
Flesh Construct
Gravedigger
2x Rotten Belle

Pool:2
Schemes: Detonate Charges, Vendetta (Bete Noire on Aunty Mel)

Opponent had:

Clampetts, Fisherfolk & Bruce
Aunty Mel
Uncle Bogg
Sir Vantes
Buckaroo

Pool: 3
Schemes: Harness Ley Lines, Assassinate

Turn 1:

What's this? New player starting in this city? So, time to craft a 35 point list with Madame Sybelle. Since there was Assassinate in pool, I decided not to make that one all too easy and upgraded my henchman master with Grave Spirit Touch.

Rotten Belles turned turf markers to Resurrectionists, while Anglers turned their left marker with a Buckaroo. 

Buckaroo had Aunty Mel backing him up, but remainder of gremlins were either in the middle or going for it.

Uncle Bogg had moved Sir Vantes quite a bit up the board already, so Bete Noire charged him to shake things up. She managed to deal two points in through armor before Fading Away from Filthy Spear's strike.

Bruce healed Sir Vantes and drooled up a pool.

Flesh Construct made its likely most successfull projectile vomits up to date by scoring a severe against Sir Vantes, blasting through Bruce and Uncle Bogg. 

Madame Sybelle had taken hiding position behind a pile of crates, but was moved away from her cover by either Sir Vantes or Clampetts. Both kept attacking her, but Gravedigger was there to heal about half of the damage being done.

Turn 2:

Rotten Belle on the left did three points of damage to Buckaroo. The two picked up a fight, but Belle was not impressed by the rodeo. 

Madame Sybelle tried to kick the drooling puppy, but botched the strike and left the abomination standing with one or so health. 

Boggs or Sir Vantes moved Bruce about to drop a scheme marker on centerline. Sure enough that happened, but Carrion Effigy was able to siphon that dog-fish-thing off the board with a focused shot. 

Attacks in the middle kept failing by both sides of the game so there was nothing to report. Gravedigger crafted another launch pad fo Bete Noire and placed a scheme marker for Detonate Charges before walking on top of it. 

Bete Noire had charged herf vendetta target, but scored only two wounds. Rotten Belle on the right failed both Lures at Flesh Construct, so instead of detonating charges the thing just kept flailing at Sir Vantes.

Both players scored strategy, but no scheme reveals were made.

Turn 3:

Rotten Belle on left nearly killed the Buckaroo. The thing was at one health remaining after she stopped swinging her parasol. However, then Aunty Mel activated and slapped casual six points of damage to Bete Noire. Good thing I had used Fade Away. Next he showed the ropes for Buckaroo and healed it with Red Joker.cAnd here for a moment I thought I had been making progress...

Larger trio of Boggs, Sir Vantes and Clampetts stoped fooling around and killed both Gravedigger and Flesh Construct. This neutralized both of my strategy markers. Buckaroo managed to get to interact with bottom-left strategy marker, giving a strategy point for Bayou.

Scores were still even, though, as Carrion Effigy landed a lucky shot against Aunty Mel. Afterwards, Bete Noire did not take kindly being called a White Whale, and would have knifed Aunty dead if it hadn't been for a moderate damage block. This got Vendetta for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Uncle Bogg summoned Richard, and those plus Sir Vantes avenged Aunty Mel that had been beckoned by Madame Sybelle to her death by damaging the henchman master enough to score Assassinate.

Buckaroo ran to bottom-right strategy marker, and was quickly engaged by another Rotten Belle there.

Clampetts leaped away from melee to deal with Harness Ley Lines. That she did, but also opened up Detonate Charges for me by Rotten Belle and Bete Noire that had earlier been buried by some non-damaging action.

Neither player scored strategy, but Resurrectionists got Detonate Charges, while Bayou snatched Assassinate and Harness Ley Lines. This gave gremlins the lead at 4-3.

Turn 5:

And for a stylish ending, Richard somehow managed to execute Madame Sybelle. This left Uncle Bogg free to deliver Sir Vantes to centerline for scheme markers and to interact with center strategy marker.

Clampetts were able to deliver another two markers to centerline, while Bete Noire that had buried again just ran away to table corner to get Vendetta end.

Scores went 7-4 for Bayou.

Sword Hat Trick

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Corner Stuff the Ballots

Schemes: Sweating Bullets, Espionage, In Your Face, Hold Up Their Forces, Take Prisoner

My list:

Ensouled Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Hans
The Ferryman
Auguste Hart
Crooked Man
Drowned

Pool: 6
Schemes: Sweating Bullets (Montresor), In Your Face

Opponent had:

Colette Du Bois & 3x Mechanical Doves
Cassandra Felton
Shadowlark
Coryphee Duet
Angelica Durand
Blackbird
2x Showgirl

Pool: 0
Schemes: Espionage, Sweating Bullets (Cassandra Felton)

Turn 1:

Performers started performing right off the bat - Coryphee Duet was delivered some 28" inches from one corner of the board to another. While that could have been a relief, there were now two ballot boxes guarded by Coryphee Duet. Not gonna challenge those, yeah.

Shadowlark and a Showgirl were going towards the bottom two strategy markers, while remaining performer troupe were tromping towards marker in the center. 

Blackbird, another Showgirl and Cassandra Felton were out there in the open, however, not quite close enough to Hans' clockwork rifle. Hans just took a little walk to the edge of a cargo container to start shooting next turn.

Jack Daw, however had taken a double walk to inaudibly whisper to a Mechanical Dove. Dove was not impressed, but showgirls beckoned poor Jack's ensouled mind and walked him right next to Cassandra Felton. So, Coryphee Duet was not the only model that was flinged over 24 inches this turn by performers. 

So, at the end of first turn, remaining Tormented models were lagging dangerously far behind. Ferryman had managed to Black Joker its Lost In the Fog against Montresor. This had repercussion for the next turn, so let's go there.

Turn 2:

Cassandra started by nimbling past Jack Daw, suspiciously engaging Tormented master within 6" of center point.

As I did not know opponent had Sweating Bullets on Cassandra, I tried to figure out a way to deliver Montresor to Cassandra. But, if Ferryman used Lost in the Fog to move Montresor close enough to get to Cassandra, I most certainly would not get strategy points this turn. So thanks, Black Joker on turn one. 

In the end, I chose strategy points that Ferryman went to pick. 

Jack Daw, though, managed to land some Anger Issues on Cassandra, and then walz past Blackbird and Showgirl with Burst of Speed. Draw Them In also dealt a point of damage to Showgirl. I had been saving a one of rams from first turn in my hand just for Hans, and he was able to snipe off Showgirl from the board. Let's call that the sniper rifle trick.

However, next Colette did a sword trick on Jack Daw. Well, that only buried Tormented master, but I did groan inside a little when I looked at my Espionage bluff scheme marker - my only scheme marker - on my deployment zone. 

Unfortunately that was not the only trick this turn saw - Shadow Lark Red Jokered a surprise shot trick against Drowned, killing it in two shots. Shadowlark's backup dancer was then able to go and place a vote on center-left box. 

Coryphee Duet was able to place three votes, one to top-right and one to center-right strategy marker. 

Montresor was able to slow and stagger Cassandra with a tossed noose. A Mechanical Dove had flown to block Montresor, but Lady Ligeia, the melee monster we all know and love, was able to remove that blockage. 

Both players scored strategy.

Turn 3:

Montresor started turn by charging Cassandra. She had only three health remaining after that. 

After what had happened to Jack Daw I wasn't exactly feeling secure that Montresor would still stand there, engaging Cassandra in the end phase, so I decided to unbury Jack Daw, take a double walk and charge Cassandra. The only killable cost 8 model died, so I had to take In Your Face as soon as possible.

And, sure enough, soon Montresor was standing next to Colette, and where one Montresor stood was now Angelica Durand. And Auguste Hart was sword tricked off the board before he had activated. This, at least, gave him a chance to remove that failed bluff scheme marker from my deployment zone. 

A Mechanical Dove flew next to Hans and started being Annoying. I was impressed. That was actually effective use of Annoying rule. It just takes an insignificant model with Puny to meaningfully pull off. If Hans wanted +10" range, he needed to concentrate - which would only give him Distracted from Annoying. So, no +10" range. Also, his field guide referencing would be next to useless, too. 

Coryphee Duet walked and charged The Ferryman, and hilariously enough Red Jokered it down to one health remaining. Then the thing just split up into two. Ferryman, who was distracted, had one chance to kill the un-activated Coryphee, and obviously it just failed that. Coryphee killed the enforcer. 

Hans was able to demote one of the Coryphees into a mannequin.

Crooked Man crooked hard against odds against charging Shadowlark and voting Showgirl. It survived, although he did fail every single one of his own actions, though.

Blackbird was speeding towards my deployment corner, so, and Espionage it was. As if that wasn't clear enough from five or so scheme markers in a pool where only one scheme required markers. 

Outcasts had not placed even a single vote this turn, but Arcanists got their second strategy point. Points were still 2-2, though, thanks to killing Cassandra In Your Face.

Turn 4:

If game had not been ridiculous enough as of yet, things were about to change. 

Colette sword-tricks Montresor back to my deployment zone, as Angelica had been able to remove the scheme I had placed in the center to be a homing beacon for Montresor. 

Montresor walked and charged Blackbird, but only managed to drop another scheme marker thanks to Set the Scene. 

I had been carefully waiting for opponent to burn through his control hand so that Hans would have his best shot at injuring Blackbird seriously enough.

So, he took a shot. Attack dealt a point of damage through Shielded +1, but opponent drew Get Off the Stage straight from the deck. So, Hans was teleported near center. He still had LoS to Blackbird, though, so he took another shot. Two points in, and again Get Off the Stage from top of deck. So Hans was taking snap shots at Blackbird while getting teleported from scheme marker to scheme marker. 

Jack Daw couldn't figure out a way to meaningfully contribute to scoring, so he went to kill a Coryphee. At least he managed to do just that. 

Crooked Man crooked even harder than last turn, as neither Showgirl nor Shadowlark were able to kill that Df 4 model who was at three health remaining. Yay! Go, Crooked Man!

However, Outcasts were not able to score any points that turn. Arcanists got a strategy point, as well as Espionage reveal. Points went 4-2 for Arcanists.

Turn 5:

So... Montresor had one turn to run about 38" for In Your Face. I might have a shot at Sweating Bullets, but not at scenario. Arcanists had potential for all three points. We ended the game, as even if I somehow denied all three points from Arcanists and scored my maximum of one, I'd still lose.

Heist at Hogwarts Transcontinental

A 50ss game of Malifaux.

My master of choice was not a master at all, but a dom. 

Strategy: Flank Turf War

Schemes: Assassinate, Deliver a Message, Breakthrough, Outflank, Take Prisoner

Madame Sybelle
Carrion Tanuki
Mortimer
Keepside Strangers
White Rabbit Company
Mourner with Grave Spirit Touch
3x Rotten Belle
Dead Dandy

Pool: 1

Schemes: Take Prisoner (coatless Witchling Thrall), Deliver a Message

Opponent had:

Sonnia Criid & Purifying Flame
Samael Hopkins
Witchling Thrall with Lead Lined Coat
Witchling Thrall

Witchling Handler

Hex Bow

Sanctioned Spellcaster

Pool: 5

Schemes: Assassinate, Outflank

Turn 1:

There was a bit of a distance between deployments, after all, so Mourner felt secure enough to blaspheme the corpse she was mourning for to give focus for Sybelle, White Rabbit, Keepside Strangers and a Rotten Belle. She took a walk and focused herself, so that she was protected by a cloud. White Rabbit crafted Mourner a fancy, nice hat for solace and comfort in these trying times.

That was until Samael, Sonnia and Hex Bow all took cover behind a wall and started blasting away at Mourner. Down to one health remaining and burning, new fancy hat already ruined.

Rotten Belle's had started to lure Carrion Effigy closer to heal Mourner, but suddenly there was no time for that and I was not ready to lose such an important piece against Ruthless thralls. Madame Sybelle had to beckon Mourner away from the fog, next to Keepside Strangers. A Rotten Belle had to walk to assist those flames away. What a miserable funeral.

Fortunately Keepside Strangers had a strong sense of decency, and they sidekicked themselves to Madame Sybelle, lobbing a basketful of snakes over fence where witch hunters had formed a conga line of execution. 

And wow, look at that. Severe damage. Hex Bow suffered the most, while Samael and Sonnia's sufferings were mitigated a little by arcane shielding. And that was just the first activation. Remaining snakes were tossed at Witchling Thrall that was to become prisoner. Now that I think about it, I wonder why I even did that. Perhaps my reasoning was to soften the thrall a bit to maybe make it heal itself instead of beating everything to a pulp. Anyway, how could I have known the thrall was a snake enthusiast, and just walked closer to see where those adorable snek were coming from.

Elsewhere the Lead Lined Coat Witchling Thrall had ran next to strategy marker on the center point. No models had seriously started closing in on the top-right outflank corner, so my trio of Mortimer, Rotten Belle and Dead Dandy felt quite at ease going for a happy picnic by wreckage of train that had been heading towards Hogwarts. 

Turn 2:

Guild easily got the initiative thanks to unspent pass tokens, and prison-to-be Witchling Thrall charged Keepside Strangers. Only one attack hit, so I didn't feel all that threatened there just yet. Carrion Effigy went to heal Mourner.

Then Sonnia activated and shot a severe Sapping Flames at Keepside Strangers. Whoop-de-doo what an action that is with Pyrotechnics. Keepside Strangers, Rotten Belle, Carrion Effigy, Madame Sybelle, Mourner and White Rabbit & Co. were all set on fire with just two blast markers. Horrifying. Sonnia also summoned a Hex Bow from Keepside Stranger's fires. 

Situation quickly jumped from concerning to alarming. Fortunately Hex Bows weren't succeeding in their attacks all that much, so I scrambled together a desperate plan to score at least the reveal of Deliver a Message: White Rabbit would make a hat for Keepside Strangers and take a double walk closer to Sonnia. Then Strangers would sidekick themselves to White Rabbit and go give a message to Sonnia, who was furthest in the line of the firing squad. 

I shouldn't judge the hat makers too harshly when they failed to sew a hat while they were burning. But fail they did, so they just had to take a double walk near Samael that had not yet even activated. I did have a couple of good cards in my hand, though, but it was still a precarious situation - opponent needed to just score moderate or two weaks to kill the hatters. 

Well, it was only a weak. And even Keepside Strangers survived long enough to deliver a message for Sonnia. After doing that, well, I can only say that Sonnia has never heard the saying "never shoot the messenger!" ... or, in the case of White Rabbit, "never watch with glee how the messengers burns to death in front of your eyes without you doing as much as lift a finger to help them"

I was worrying that the Witchling Thrall in the middle would take interest in helping out his brother, so Dead Dandy departed from the picnic trio to shake his cane furiously at Lead Lined Coated Witchling Thrall. Results were what's you'd expect in such a scenario.

Mortimer also took a slight detour and went to dig up a zombie from the middle of railroad tracks.

Picnic Belle went to flip top-right turf for Resurrectionists.

Thrall with the coat still had some resemblance of respect for an angry old man with a cane and hit him only once with enhanced fists. Unfortunately this excited either Purifying Flame or Sanctioned Spellcaster to drop a point of damage and Burning +1 to his top hat, which killed Dead Dandy in the end phase.

However, Witchling Thrall that needed to be alone, stayed alone. Madame Sybelle walked to engage it, but tried to beckon it to Rotten Belle for a charge at the row of Witch Hunters past the fence. Both Beckons failed, though.

If we look at just the scored, round was good for Resurrectionists that claimed a 3-1 lead. 

Turn 3:

Madame Sybelle started by disengaging from Witchling Thrall, and charged the Witch Hunter line. She killed the already injured Hex Bow, and even tickled Samael for a bit. She was also engaging the summoned Hex Bow. Soon enough she was also engaging Witchling Thrall, who charged her in the back. I don't quite remember all the actual attacks that rained on Madame Sybelle, but after Witchling, Samael, Hex Bow and Sonnia, she was down to three health remaining and Burning +6. Perfect for assassination.

Carrion Effigy tried to heal Rotten Belle and Mourner that had both been slowly cooking for a couple of turns. Mourner went to try and do some extra damage in to Samael, but results were not exceptional. Rotten Belle also tried to make her parasol count for something, but Sanctioned Spellcaster did not want to take a closer look. 

Mindless Zombie that had been summoned earlier walked and charged Witchling Thrall that had the coat. I suppose that's the way how to deal with such a melee monster - feed trash models to it. Unfortunately it did not have the appetite for Mindless Zombies - that one was eventually removed by a well placed single shot from Witchling Handler's collier revolver. Coatling Thrall, that had received Fast from Sonnia, was then free to go and try to dig up more zombies from inside of Mortimer. Fortunately all attacks missed. Mortimer was a bit more effective at landing hits, but they were just dropping weak ones against Lead-Lined Coat. 

Another Rotten Belle that had been hiding near my bottom-right strategy marker positioned herself to perhaps act more meaningfully during rounds four and five, as my choice of activating models seemed like it might become more limited in the near future. 

Miraculously I didn't lose other than Mindless Zombie that activation phase, although Carrion Effigy did burn out from the board in the end phase.

However... next turn would start with Madame Sybelle, Mourner and a Rotten Belle with enough burning to die without extra input from enemy - though Mourner had regeneration and was far away from anything, so maybe she'd survive.

Points went to 4-2, when Resurrectionists got  strategy and Guild got Assassinate but no strategy thanks to Hex Bow dying out in the top-left quarter.

Turns 4-5:

Resurrectionists had gained the edge in pass tokens last turn, so it was their free reign to pick a model to activate. Madame Sybelle killed Samael before she was put down and turned into a Witchling Stalker. 

After that it was mostly just Guild scrubbing the board with remaining zombies. Mortimer managed to survive as a blocker for a while, but even he succumbed at the end of turn four. Prisoner Witchling Thrall was able to kill Mourner, and whatever models there were in center had easy time dealing with two Def 4, Wp 4 models that were Rotten Belles.

At the end of fourth turn Resurrectionists still technically had the lead at 4-3, but Guild had essentially secured Assassinate end. Resurrectionists began last turn with just a single Rotten Belle, hidden behind the train.

So, last turn was pretty much just a matter of if Guild won 6-4 or 5-4. After shenanigans Hex Bow was able to run to Outflank corner. However, Witchling Thrall had more difficult a job in interacting bottom-left strategy marker and running within 3" of the other Outflank corner. Without handling from Handler the thrall fell short of his goal by about two inches. A 5-4 victory for Sonnia. 

Kill-stealing the kill-stealer

 Visited some friends in Vaasa, which meant a round of Arkham Horror, 3rd edition.

Scenario was Silence of Tsathoggua.

Investigators we had were Jenny Barnes the dilettante, Wendy Adams the urchin, Mark Harrigan the soldier and Stella Clark, letter carrier.

Investigators had a smashing success in their first few turns. In fact, two clues were found in the very first round. Stella bought shotgun with money from Jenny, and deliverer Mark to fight some monsters. As expected, he removed those with zero effort.

Same could not be said about the dilettante, who rolled and re-rolled a total of nine dice, but scoring only a single point of damage to grasping fungus.

Really early there an anomaly emerged in Riverdown district, but investigators were able to normalize things in just one round, too. 

It all seemed... too easy. 

However... Jenny started getting spammed by Lore checks with her mighty lore of 1, and despite focusing and re-rolls other players managed to pick only one doom token from the board at a time. Letter carrier became Tainted. Harrigan was more than adept at beating down monsters, but then again, that's all that he did. And that did not count too much for the scenario victory, except for when he shot down the elite Dhole that had been experimented upon, almost wrecking Corpse Picker on the same turn. 

For the longest of time only one Clue token was on the scenario sheet, while doom tokens kept popping up in there. Even Jenny had managed to pick up clues and had two in her possession, but did not succeed in planting even one of them on scenario sheet after six dice worth of rolls. I sure felt useful with my character.

After the letter carrier punched a street kid, clues started dripping where they should, and a new wing was opened in the science building to test the found Mi-Go stuff. Unfortunately, a street was eaten off the city by a gigantic maw. So investigators were in a bit of a hurry.

And soon enough, Tsathoggua awakened as investigators were unable to stop the amount of doom spiraling out of control. 

What struck me as a bit odd was how easy it was to stop Tsathoggua from gobbling up the city - although we did have perfect investigator for that, Stella, who was able to add a success by spending a focus point. Which meant that converting clue tokens into stops cost only one clue from scenario sheet. 

Anyway, we were a bit unprepared as the awakening happened so unexpectedly. This left into drastic measures. Harrigan had the Mi-Go brain box thing, so Jenny gave Harrigan her determination to find Isabella as well as her glamorous dress. Next, Harrigan absorbed Wendy's talents and personality, and most importantly, a lucky cigar case.

So, two investigators were robbed of their personalities and Harrigan, in his new fancy dress and brandishing a shotgun, went to shoot Tsathoggua for a bit. 

A Dhole had spawned in the same district as science building, and Stella had enough health to survive for two rounds, so there was somewhat of a limit. However, first round of attacks dealt twelve damage in to Tsathoggua. That's an impressive number of wounds for seven dice worth of attacks. Combined with automatic damage from tokens on scenario sheet, this meant the big bad evil had just four health left after first attack. 

Robbed of her personality Jenny, as a final act of defiance, tried to kill steal Tsathoggua with Astral Projection. Well, that amounted only to one extra damage.

Next turn.

Before Harrigan activates, Jenny tries to kill-steal the beast again with Astral Projection. She had three re-rolls at her possession, so she just might do that! Alas, two extra damage was the best she could do.

But then Wendy, the other robbed investigator, announced she would intervene in my kill-steal attempt. And there it was, two extra successes. So, that just happened. Kill-stealer got kill-stealed.

Guess Who Just Got a Promotion

 A 50 point game of Warmachine over War Table.

My list:

Oriax the soul Slaver
-Molok
-Ravener
Assault Reavers & Standard
Gnashers
Halexus the Warlord

Opponent had:

Khador Winter Korps
-Great Bear with Slam, Heavy Cannon and Blasting Fist
-2x Dire Wolves with Evasive, Ice Hammer and Scrap Saw
Shock Trooper Gunners
Winter Korps Infantry, 2x Auto Cannon, Standard
Winter Korps Infantry, 2x Rocketeer

For once my army was not hopelessly outnumbered. It was only outnumbered in all fronts. Khador had three heavies versus my two, and three infantry units versus my three. Oh, wait, I had one solo while Khador had zero. 

And what a solo that was.

Khador started. Zahara and both Dire Wolves claimed top-left rectangular zone, while Great Bear, rocketeer unit and Shock Troopers were pushing through a bottleneck in the middle. Autocannon unit was skulking near enemy flag, threatening my rectangular zone with at least contesting.

Halexus claimed my flag, and Assault Reavers were taking cover in craters partly inside the center circular zone. Molok got Inviolable Resolve, and Oriax hid behind the character warjack. Ravener hid in forest, going to score my rectangular zone.

Khador just kept advancing, Zahara and Wolves protected by the forest at left. Oriax had cast Windstorm, so Khador's ranged targets were somewhat limited. Still, the Rocketeer unit lunged forward and started shooting Assault Reavers in craters. They actually killed two of them with direct hits. 

Great Bear went contesting circular zone, with Shock Trooper Gunners backing it up. Autocannons went somewhere in between circular zone and my rectangular zone without contesting either. However, they were in a rather well defended spot.

Ravener had easy time collecting points from my rectangular zone. But then I had a decision to make. Should Halexus keep the flag, or go on a rampage?

Why, rampage of course! You don't win games by earning points, now, do you? And surely enough Halexus got his prime target - closely packed infantry formation. He absolutely massacred those, and still had three souls after he was done. Whoa. He was also contesting Khadoran rectangular zone.

Unfortunately I had called Gnashers from ambush. To at least do something with those, they just went to engage Zahara and a Dire Wolf, so opponent might have some trouble clearing the zone entirely.

Assault Reavers picked Shock Trooper Gunners as their next prey, but they managed to kill only two of them. 

Oriax used feat and loaded up Ravener and Molok. He also cast Star Crossed, which was completely forgotten about. Oh well... At least Molok set itself on fire and killed two khadoran infantrymen.

Gnashers... were just removed. It only took Zahara and Dire Wolf to do that, so one Dire Wolf was free to kill Halexus. It looked all but inevitable when first attack critically froze Halexus. And yet, after Khador passed turn, Halexus was still standing. Those damage rolls were absurd.

Great Bear and last remaining Shock Trooper Gunner only removed three Assault Reavers. Those guys were really pushing their luck. My objective, however, did not do so well after autocannons destroyed it. So, points went even.

Orgoth reprisal was brutal. Those souls really make things happen. Ravener gobbled up three souls, and Oriax made himself incorporeal and charged last remaining contestant from my rectangular zone. Halexus was thawing, while Assault Reaver killed lone Gunner still on the center zone. And Molok, well, that beast tear Great Bear to pieces in just one activation. And because Halexus was still contesting enemy rectangular zone, Orgoth received two point lead.

So, Khador started their fourth turn. Dire Wolf proceeded finally to smash Halexus off the board... and still did not do that. However, that was because of Tough roll. Zahara used enough velocity to lend her axe to Halexus' cerebellum, and the pesky solo was finally over.

Another Dire Wolf had to go to engage center zone and try to wreck Molok with some amazing rolls. While damage was okay, it did not break any systems. Orgoth remained leading by two points.

Next, however, Orgoth did a daring operation. Molok used Break Through and walked away from melee with Dire Wolf, engaging  enemy rectangular zone. So, it had to destroy Wolf and contest for me to win game this turn.

However, four strength 19 attacks just were not enough to remove a Khadoran heavy even if that heavy was the slightly lighter variant.

Last Assault Reaver activated and decided to lob his harpoon at the heavy that had lost it's movement. It was engaged in melee and had concealment. Essentially Rat 5 vs Def 11. It was a hit, and double sixes came up as the damage roll. That was more than enough to score center zone. Oriax went to enemy flag, while Ravener stayed in my rectangular zone for a 5 point difference for Orgoth. 

The Dead Hate the Tanuki

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Raid the Vaults

Schemes: Death Beds, Information Overload, Let Them Bleed, Ensnare, Power Ritual

My list:

Dr. McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Dead Rider
Corpse Curator
Kentauroi with Grave Spirit Touch
Nurse
Guild Autopsy

Pool: 4
Schemes: Death Beds (corpse), Ensnare

Opponent had:

Jakob Lynch, Dark Bet & Hungering Darkness
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Graves
2x Illuminated
2x Beckoner
Tanuki

Pool: 4
Schemes: Information Overload, Ensnare

Turn 1:

I deployed Kentauroi to top-left corner, Dead Rider to top-right. Only Dead Rider dropped a scheme marker to bluff Power Ritual and counteract Information Overload. Once the situation in the middle started to look clear, I decided I had no time to make such bluffs. 

As is usual for my McMourning, turn started real slow. Sebastian crafted a dog out of Corpse Curator, and the dog crafted a corpse out of the corpse curator. I realized this was actually the extent of corpse markers this turn, so, yeah, it took me a lot of activations to accomplish... nothing, really. Oh well. At least Sebastian got a new head, and Corpse Curator sported a fancy trio of legs. Sebastian was amputated for a second corpse marker first turn.

Corpse Curator had been mauled by my own troops down to two health remaining, but Nurse, Catalyst and poison heal from end phase brought it back to full. It went to place a scheme marker right past the right flank of my deployment wedge, where Guild Autopsy had crafted a soulstone out of curator-dog-corpse. 

So yeah, there Experimentals were. Barely out of their deployment zone.

Beckoner had placed a Power Ritual looking scheme marker to Ten Thunders left corner and was still hugging wedge deployment line, but everyone else was within about 3.5" of centerline, on centerline, or past it. That did not bode well for my strategy game.

In the center there was Lynch as the spearhead, Beckoner just about on the center point and Hungering Darkness right next to strategy marker. It had placed a scheme marker with its third action point. Death Beds? Ensnare? Information Overload?

Tanuki and Kitty were a little behind the center bunch. Mr. Graves and an Illuminated were approaching from the left, and then we had a single Illuminated coming from right.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and Canine Remains picked up a bone and delivered it near Lynch, and interacted a scheme marker, too. 

With their first activation Hungering Darkness charged Sebastian right away. Thanks to good damage blocks, Sebastian was only reduced down to two health remaining. Well, he did still have a spare head.

So I decided to take a little risk with Sebastian and drag a scheme marker close to Lynch with Corpse Curator. It managed to make a sludge marker, too, so that's a bonus. 

From then on my memory on activation order is gone, so let's go from right to left.

Illuminated placed a scheme marker on bridge. Dead Rider was pushed a bit forward with Desperate Pace, and on its own activation it rode into the river, charged the dastardly scheming Illuminated and went to control strategy marker at bottom-right, worth two points for Resurrectionists.

Guild Autopsy was just crafting soulstones and shooting dogs. It had tried to shoot a Beckoner, but Black Jokered the damage after declaring Wild Shot. What a champ.

Kitty tried to charge Corpse Curator, but the curator proved to be just as unassuming as Kitty's attacks were. All missed. However, she left a scheme marker with bonus action, and things were looking a lot like Information Overload. 

Nurse had healer Sebastian for three, and Sebastian healed one from Catalyst and two from poison. 

McMourning was swimming in corpses like Scrooge McDuck in coins, but he wasn't nearly as greedy. He crafted a fine Flesh Construct out of the surplus before climbing on top of crates to pace Dead Rider forward.

After Lynch had charged and killed Canine Remains (and placing a scheme marker) Sebastian made a new puppy with whom to play fetch. Remaining attacks, as well as Flesh Construct's attacks, brought Hungering Darkness down to four health remaining until I remembered how useless it is to attack Endlessly Hungering Darkness. Oh well. 

Tanuki and Illuminated went to raid the center-left marker. We all know what Tanuki was raiding from that. Well, we might even have a pretty decent guess what Illuminated was craving, too.

To block Mr. Graves from walking and charging Kentauroi, Kentauroi charged in first. Unfortunately charge attack missed, but the second one scored a bit of damage and a trickle of poison.

Beckoner in the middle went to contest center-right marker, and the other Beckoner at Ten Thunders bottom-left corner took a double walk to maybe become relevant one day.

Resurrectionists had been able to score Ensnare from Lynch, but so were the Ten Thunders able to score Information Overload. Both players got strategy for a 2-2 tie.

Turn 3:

And then we had a bit of a weird turn. 

This time going from left to right, Mr. Graves beat Kentauroi down to one health, so it had to activate right away to regenerate at least a little. It was able to infect Mr. Graves with poison, and cut him down to two health remaining. Last attack scored Like The Wind trigger, which was more appropriately Like Brave Sir Robin. Illuminated tried to walk and charge to finish the centaur, but missed. As I didn't Sir Robin to hold that flank all alone, I sent Canine Remains to bolster that front. Yup. Doesn't look good, there in the west.

Tanuki healed Mr. Graves for one and schemed, while Beckoner also dropped a scheme marker and walked to secure center-left strategy marker. 

Lynch and Hungering Darkness weren't really up to the task in holding center, but at least the real master healed itself back to full. 

Flesh Construct did more than anyone could have expected - all three attacks hit Lynch, and even scored one severe in the process. This had a heavy toll on Honeypot's soulstone stash, and so the former master survived with four health remaining. 

Kitty had activated early enough to drop a scheme marker near Corpse Curator, who soon enough triggered Ensnare for Ten Thunders. Curator went to place a scheme marker near already activated Illuminated on the bridge. 

Most of my brain's processing power went into figuring out how to score Death Beds this turn. And surely enough, that plan worked! Nurse with movement of 7 was able to charge then un-activated Illuminated with accompanied stun and 3" push past centerline. That didn't help me too much, as Illuminated activated next, healed back to four and charged Nurse for two points of damage.

My problem was that while there was a scheme marker close enough, there was no corpse marker within 2" of the Illuminated. So, McMourning had to abandon center and charge the Illuminated and do an impromptu amputation, before killing Illuminated next to a scheme and a corpse marker. 

Situation was tough. Opponent had Kitty and Beckoner near center-right strategy marker, while I only had Corpse Curator there. Opponent also had center-left marker, while I had bottom-right that's worth two. So, it was up to Sebastian to try to deny Ten Thunders a point. He walked through Hungering Darkness and disengaged with -2 Mv. He was able to get within 2" of the Vault, but he was in a precarious position. He was ending his activation, which prompted a check from Feed the Darkness. Cheating would give Brilliance for Sebastian because of Beckoner, which in turn would trigger Delirium, getting him out of strategy marker's reach. And that's exactly what happened.

However, as the very last activation on this turn, Dead Rider was able to get line of sight to Beckoner that was contesting center-right. Rider passed the check for Revel in Death, and made a melee attack against the Beckoner that had four health and Poison +1. Flips were excessive, and that contestant went down. 

Scores went 4-3, lead being that of Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

... and carnage ensued. 

Ten Thunders got the initiative, and Lynch butchered Flesh Construct before it was able to activate.

Kentauroi used this opportunity to regenerate to five health, ride away from melee and stampede Mr. Graves down to one health. Charge attack scored a hit with my only 13, killing the bouncer. This left Kentauroi free to charge Tanuki and Beckoner, stampeding both but missing the attack.

Sebastian had healed back to full, but he had been dodging his fate long enough. Nine action points from Hungering Darkness finally did its trick. Sebastian, gone. 

Illuminated at top-left strategy marker claimed the vault and massacred Canine Remains. 

Tanuki, then, went on a drunken rampage and smashed Kentauroi dead with a jug. It also went to talk dirty to Lynch before deliriously wandering towards center. Later in the turn, that heinous Tanuki had to pay for it sins, when Dead Rider walked, raised three Mindless Zombies and rode back to bottom-right strategy marker. One of the Zombies with respectable melee stat of 6 put wrong to right by removing Tanuki from board with a double severes with negative modifiers. Justice!

Remainder of the turn was more peaceful. Nurse just went to scheme with a corpse, and Corpse Curator lobbed a scheme marker near another corpse marker. McMourning ran into the river to, perhaps, one day plant a scheme marker for Ensnare end. I'm not quite sure what Kitty did, and Zombie Chihuahua was not sure what it was doing when it tried to bite Beckoner. 

Guild Autopse went to place a scheme marker near top-right strategy marker, if Hungering Darkness or someone decided to reposition there next turn.

Both players got their strategy, and scores continued 5-4 in favor for Resurrectionists

Turn 5:

Last turn was kind of intense wrestling on the activation order. Ten Thunders gave Resurrectionists the initiative, which meant I would have to score first - all but giving Information Overload for Ten Thunders.

Resurrectionists kept activating Mindless Zombies, Chihuahuas and whatnot no delay important activations. 

Lynch killed a zombie, placed a scheme, charged and killed another zombie, and walked in delirium to control center-left marker along with Beckoner. Mindless Zombies and Chihuahuas had been trying to kill the pleasant distraction, but it didn't work out. 

Eventually Hungering Darkness activated, disengaged, concentrated and charged Nurse. Good thing that she had an extra leg, because she fell from no damage taken to one health remaining with a Red Joker. 

Guild Autopsy had to pick up the scheme it had planted earlier and carry it a couple of inches closer to Hungering Darkness for a possible Ensnare end condition.

I was running out of action points, so Corpse Curator dragged a scheme marker originally planned for Death Beds to Ensnare Hungering Darkness. Nurse was healed herself for a bit, pulled herself away from melee and walked to bottom-right strategy marker to place a scheme marker. 

Finally it was clear that I would have the last activation, and last to activate from Ten Thunders would be Kitty Dumont. I had the markers for Ensnare on Hungering Darkness, but not Death Beds. Opponent was sure to get Information Overload and the strategy while Ensnare looked unlikely.

My last two models to activate were McMourning and Dead Rider. I chose Dead Rider to ride to control bottom-left strategy marker. So it was up to Kitty to decide the game now. She dislodged from melee with a bonus action, and went to remove Guild Autopsy's sorry scheme marker. 

Now I could score either Ensnare or Death Beds, but not both. And sure enough, opponent got the Information Overload and strategy point. But so did Resurrectionists, barely claiming victory by 7-6.