Oriax vs Zahara

 A 50 point game of Warmachine on War Table.

My list:

Oriax the Soul Slaver with Redline and Windstorm
-Molok
-Ravener
-Jackal with Arc Node, Dispel Mace and Claw
Assault Reavers + Standard
Grhotten Keeper
Reaver Commander

Cards: Careful Recon, Blessing of the Gods, Duck and Cover, Lucky Penny, Old Faithful

Opponent had:

Kapitan Zahara Vilkul with Avenging Force, Iron Flesh and Superiority
-2x Great Bear with Aggressive, Battle Mace, Heavy Cannon Shield
2x Winter Korps Autocannon Infantry + Standard
2x Winter Korps Officer

Cards: Blessing of the Gods, Careful Recon, For the Motherland, Lucky Penny, Old Faithful

Khador did a straightforward iron fist attack with heavies at the center and squishy infantry at the flanks. Iron Flesh went on one Great Bear, Superiority on the other.

Orgoth filled up Ravener, which was sent to handle 50mm objective. Assault Reavers screened Oriax and Molok. Reaver commander was hiding in the woods at 40mm marker, while Jackal and Grhotten Keeper were warming themselves up right behind burning cloud. 

Much to my surprise Khador ditched scenario play altogether and jammed center with both infantry units. Great Bear with superiority was inside dense fog in the center, along with Zahara. Iron Fleshed Great Bear took cover behind burning terrain.

I tried to clear up a charge lane for Molok to get to superior Great Bear. My number of available attacks was relatively low, so I guess I should be happy that out of thirteen infantry models that were hanging around in the middle only five stood up after Oriax and his pals were done.

Jackal managed to critically dispel Iron Flesh from Great Bear, but he and Grhotten Keeper had to enter the burning terrain and take the continuous effect. 

In the end, Reaver Commander failed to kill the one critical model that stood in the way of Molok's charge. Oriax had used feat, put Redline on Molok and moved him around by 2". However, Molok had to walk up to a Winter Korps grunt, smack him with abyssal mace and teleport to Great Bear. Khadoran jack was left with eight damage boxes remaining after Molok had used all of his attacks, so that one free charge could have been crucial. Oh well

Despite Star-Crossed Khador didn't have much of a trouble trashing both Molok and Jackal, but now Zahara looked available for assassination if Orgoth would be able to remove Winter Korps meatwall first.

Oriax went incorporeal and charged a Korpsman, took soul from it and teleported Ravener for a bit. 

Molok had earlier possessed superior Great Bear to strike at Zahara, which had left the Khadoran warcaster with ten boxes remaining. Turned out that Ravener wasn't even needed - two Assault Reavers got to Zahara, did a combined melee attack and slapped exactly ten points in. 

Victory for the Orgoth.

Laugh Off Standoff

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Corner Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Hold Up Their Forces, Power Ritual, Outflank, Death Beds, Information Overload

My list:

Seamus Baker & Copycat Killer
Strange Lady
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire
White Rabbit
Gravedigger
Rotten Belle

Pool: 5
Schemes: Power Ritual, Outflank

Opponent had:

Shenlong & 2x Aspiring Student
Sensei Yu
Fuhatsu
2x High River Monk
2x Wandering River Monk
Low River Monk

Pool: 3
Schemes: Death Beds (strategy), Outflank

Turn 1:

Monks had two strike teams of High River Monk, Wandering Monk and an Aspiring Student going to both corners, top-right and bottom-left. Top team was also reinforced with Low River Monk. High value monks and Fuhatsu were coming through from the middle. 

I had far less of a uniform crew. Copycat Killer and Gravedigger were going towards bottom-right, and after White Rabbit Co. crafted a hat for Bete Noire, both she and Rotten Belle were going towards top-right. 

Madame Sybelle walked inside a forest to take some concealment in case Fuhatsu would start shooting around. But instead Seamus charged from behind and stabbed Madame in the back, dropping a new Mourner on the board. Fuhatsu eventually shot a couple of damage points to the newly summoned model.

Mourner nearer to centerline as well as center point, and Strange Lady healed all the damage Seamus had done. No intel was picked this turn, which wasn't exactly a surprise with corner deployment.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and Bete Noire went to place a scheme marker for Outflank and Power Ritual before High River Monk would activate. Soon enough it did, and had Bete Noire down to two health remaining, plus Burning +2. But the hat had not been knocked over.

A little too enthusiastic Wandering River Monk on top went to pick up intel from strategy marker, only to become counter-picked by Mourner. Rotten Belle also benefited from this by getting intel from the marker that was placed.

In the center Seamus had taken Mourner by the hand and crafted a new Dead Doxy out of her before picking up intel from a strategic bystander.

Sensei Yu and Shenlong were trying to kill off the Dead Doxy once it had walked next to a strategy marker, but Regrettably (yeah, via masks), she survived with two health remaining and Burning +2.

Strange Lady told Gravedigger to walk forward a bit toward bottom-left, and Gravedigger did so. He also dug up a corpse to get within 1" of strategy marker, picked up intel and walked away from the tide of monks about to crash bottom-left.

I was a bit worried that various punchy shenanigans would soon drain Seamus of his intel, so Copycat Killer took a double walk to dropped Seamus to bottom-left corner. And right after another High River Monk came to set Seamus on fire, while Wandering River Monk was picking up intel. From strategy marker, though.

Madame Sybelle took a long walk out of forest and went to sit on center-left strategy marker after Fuhatsu had activated. If I remember correctly, Fuhatsu shot Dead Doxy in a forest and took a walk to cover more of the board with that horrifying gun.

However, Resurrectionists got both Outflank and Power Ritual, although this left Bete Noire with only one health remaining, and burning. Both crews got strategy, and scores went 3-1.

Turn 3:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, so the now hatless, burning Bete Noire at one health remaining was able to get an activation. She did some damage in to High River Monk before becoming the first casualty of the match. The monk also placed a scheme marker to the corner,

Mourner was able to nearly kill High River Monk before an Aspiring Student four-wind punched Low River Monk nearby to heal the beatstick minion. Now at four health remaining, I didn't think Rotten Belle would be able to kill High River Monk, so she proceeded to smack Low River Monk with a parasol.

Wandering River Monk on top went to pick up an intel, and walked to engage Rotten Belle.

In the center, Sensei Yu scored Death Beds from Dead Doxy. Shenlong walked to pick up intel from a strategy marker, and possibly attempted to strike Copycat Killer.

Four Winds Punch that pushed Low River Monk had actually come from Sensei Yu pressuring the totem to do that. With his actual activation, Aspiring Student walked and charged Strange Lady that had earlier healed Seamus. Boom. Six damage in with that 1/1/2 damage track. Well okay, Shenlong had switched his upgrade to High River Style. 

Fuhatsu charged Madame Sybelle, stunning her and pushing away from melee. He tried to shoot Strange Lady for a bit. Next shot went to Strange Lady, fortunately only dealing weak damage but still bringing her down to two health remaining, Burning +2.

Madame Sybelle managed to lash Fuhatsu down to five health remaining despite being stunned. 

Bottom-right, early on Seamus spent his entire activation killing another High River Monk, before Copycat Killer switched their places and went to sit on a strategy marker. This caused Wandering River Monk to go to bottom-left corner and drop a scheme marker. Aspiring Student charged Copycat Killer, and managed to broom the Little Seamus below the carpet. 

Gravedigger had picked up another point of intel and distanced himself from the local monks.

Resurrectionists had managed to block intel points from Ten Thunders, but this turn Shenlong managed to score both of his schemes for a 4-3 lead for Seamus. Resurrectionists were also all out of soulstones by now.

Turn 4:

From top to bottom, Rotten Belle was able to kill Low River Monk before it healed High River Monk any more. Mourner harassed High River and Wandering River monks without that much of an effect. Wandering River Monk leaped to pick up an intel and ran towards top-right corner. 

Later during turn, Seamus took a double walk and took Mourner by the hand to deliver himself next to Wandering River Monk to collect his intel.

In the center, Shenlong didn't manage to do anything with his activation. White Rabbit's fashion statements beat martial arts this time. White Rabbit gave a hat for Strange Lady before they went into position to pick up intel next turn.

Strange Lady had killed Aspiring Student and healed herself before Sensei Yu walked and charged her, smacking her down to two health remaining and Burning +2 once more. 

One of my first activations had been Madame Sybelle trying to kill Fuhatsu, but she only brought the enforcer down to one health remaining before Juggernaut healed him for four. Le Sigh. 

Fuhatsu was able to stun and push Madame Sybelle again.

Bottom-left Gravedigger went inside fog bank. Aspiring Student came to harass him, while the other Wandering River Monk went to pick up intel.

Both players scored strategy for a 5-4 lead for Resurrectionists.

Turn 5:

Early enough Seamus and Mourner were able to deny opponent Outflank by killing Wandering and High River Monks. 

This, however, made the other Wandering River Monk reckless at bottom-left corner. Because there was no incentive for him to go and pick Outflank, he leaped to strike Gravedigger with the 3" push attack. Despite concealment the attack hit sure enough, and pushed Gravedigger mere 0.5" away from being able to score both Outflank and Power Ritual.

Opponent had picked up enough intel in the middle so that the best course of action for Gravedigger was to drop a corpse push & walk to Wandering River Monk and pick up his intel. This robbed Ten Thunders at least one point.

In the center, Shenlong Four Wind Punched Sensei Yu to strategy marker, and as the situation unfolded, the result of the game now hinged on whether Shenlong flipped a 6+ for The Dragon Command's It. He did not, so game ended in 5-4 victory for Seamus.

Is It Third Pandemonium Already

 A 50 point game of Warmachine over War Table.

My list:

Kishtaar with Second Sight & Unnatural Darkness
-Jackal with Hunter Rifle, Assault Shield and Bloodthirst
-Tyrant with Belcher, Shield Cannon and Hunter head
Ulkor Barragers
Assault Reavers + standard
Warwitch Coven
Grhotten Keeper

Opponent had:

Ilari with Superiority and Avenging Force
-Medveditsa
-Dire Wolf with Long Axe, Plow Shield and Shield Guard
-Great Bear with Heavy Cannon, Blasting Fist and Slammer head
Winter Korps Infantry + Standard
Winter Korps Officer
Mortar Team

Well, the objectives that disappeared were to 50mm ones. Funny, huh? Both players had only, like, committed their entire battlegroup there. 

Ulkor Barragers and Warwitches were going left to 40mm objectives, and Assault Reavers to secure caches. Khador wasn't really contesting the caches, and the only model on that front (Korps Officer) went towards center terrain objective instead. 

Since Khador started they were in range to take the first shots. Rocketeers downed to Ulkor Barragers, and both Dire Wolf and Medveditsa charged at Assault Reavers in one heck of an overkill.

Kishtaar pretty much wasted her feat, although I suppose units were too spread out to capitalize on it anyway. Kishtaar was able to kill Winter Korps officer, denying Khador objective point on second turn. 

The lone Ulkor was able to get close enough to contest Orgoth 40mm marker, and mostly managed to clear Winter Korps Infantry unit with help from Tyrant's belcher. Only mostly, though. Two managed to pass their tough rolls at a crucial moment, so they were left alive to score Khador's 40mm objective. 

Orgoth still did get the point lead from picking up cache, but... that was pretty much the game. 

Superiority and feat move from Ilari easily brought the now MAT 10 Medveditsa within 1" of Kishtaar who had one focus point for damage blocks. 

Game over.

Rematch

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal. Based on the earlier experiences of players in question, Jack Daw1 & Hoffman1 is a rough, rough match-up for Augmented. We wondered if the ruthless Wardens would be able to bring any solace for that, and this is that game.

Strategy: Flank Corrupted Ley Lines

Schemes: Claim Jump, Sabotage, Catch and Release, Runic Binding, Spread Them Out

My list was:

Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Montresor with Servant of Dark Powers
Jaakuna Ubume
The Ferryman
Hanged
Crooked Man
Guilty

Pool: 4
Schemes: Catch and Release (Hanged), Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

Hoffman & Mechanical Attendant
Joss
Melissa KORE
Guardian
2x Warden
Watcher
Medical Automaton

Pool: 5
Schemes:

Turn 1:

Montresor heralded himself within about 6" of the center point, and the lodestone was loaded up on Ferryman. Guild had it on Watcher.

I hesitated to come in view of Augmented arsenal in the middle, so I tried to delay activating anything on top. This meant Lady Ligeia creeping behind the house, and Guilty plus Ferryman going to bottom-left strategy marker to tag it. 

Opponent was playing the same game as I did, so in the end I had to open up the middle. Jack Daw sped through the house and landed Curse of Injustice on a Warden that had taken position four or five inches below the center point. He was then able to push the bot to strategy marker at the center. 

Jaakuna walked to lure Crooked Man a little away from my deployment, and Montresor was cursed to watch how Crooked Man would take another step closer to centerline.

Hanged cursed Guardian with forbidden knowledge.

Hoffman had pulsed power tokens all around him, and took a double walk closer to center. He gave Guardian Fast. While Hoffman's position looked nice for some staggering shenanigans, Guardian entered the fray soon enough. Threat saturation just got real with only two models involved.

Guardian removed Hanged's upgrade, and Mechanical Attendant tried to fix its mental scars from forbidden knowledge. But a blowtorch can only do so much in a case like that, and only one damage was removed. 

Fortunately Montresor was able to stagger Hoffman, and Melissa missed her shot against Montresor anyway. 

The other Warden was going towards top-right strategy marker, and finally when Crooked Man activated, he first tried to use Earthquake on the bunch of models at the middle. Failing that, he charged Warden and scraped the paint off of the machine. Malifaux Mining Law got passed, with a scheme marker to boot.

Joss was approaching Guilty and Ferryman south to the biggest house on board, and that was turn one.

Turn 2:

Hoffman overcharged Guardian again, but only charged Hanged. This resulted in a loss of soulstone, as while the other attack failed with Black Joker, second attack compensated by delivering in a severe. After damage block Hanged was left with five health remaining.

I got a little worried about my Catch and Release as a whole, so Jaakuna Ubume activated, lured Hanged away and walked to protect Montresor with Drowning Aura.

But then Melissa activated and shot a weak damage on Jaakuna, followed by second shot with cheated Red Joker on damage flip. So she disappeared.

After such a display I didn't want to see that greatsword hacking on Montresor, so Jack Daw spent two activations landing Curse of Injustice on Guardian before charging in. 

Unfortunately, though, Guardian was not yet staggered, so Mechanical Attendant was able to repair it for a couple of damage points and push it into melee with Montresor. 

Montresor didn't have much other choice than to walk into melee with the Guardian, stagger it with melee attack and asphyxiate Hoffman, Warden and Guardian. 

Medical Automaton rushed to center to offer some healing starbucks oil for Augmented models around. 

But now there was an unhealthy amount of robots in the middle, and Lady Ligeia appeared to shout at them. And shout she did, also staggering Medical Automaton. 

Ferryman also ran to hug the center marker and succeeded in marking Guardian with no-heals for this turn. That starbucks just wasn't delicious enough to heal. I suppose things taste somewhat more bland when you're suffocating. Anyway. Guardian then smacked Montresor. And a damage flip was second black joker in a turn. The one attack that did hit landed a moderate au naturel, so that could have been far worse for me for sure. Even damage block came up as a severe.

Warden on top injured Crooked Man slightly, and the other Warden tried to knock away Ferryman from center objective, but didn't score any hits. Crooked Man tried earthquaking Mv 2 Hoffman, but he was protected by the selfless Mechanical Attendant, who also became staggered.

Hanged walked and charged Hoffman for Catch and Release, and Joss did a hasty reposition towards center. Watcher fluttered to tag the center.

First turn ended with a 2-1 lead for Resurrectionists. Although no robots had been wrecked yet from Augmented crew, situation did appear rather grimy for Guild. In regards to Montresor's auras, Augmented had just about the worst possible arrangement there could be. 

Turn 3:

Jack Daw got the initiative, and Hanged decided to pull out of melee to protect a scheme point. It offered some more forbidden knowledge with masks for Warden on top-right quarter and took a couple of swings the the thing. First one missed, but second one dealt double severe despite negative modifiers.

This left Hoffman free to charge Montresor, and sure enough Charles was able to pound Montresor down to one health remaining. This forced Montresor to activate before it was too late. He did a whopping five points of damage with bonus action. He also gave a walk for Crooked Man and did a point or two of damage in to Guardian. 

Guardian procced Montresor's demise, but more importantly, knocked the already activated henchman 4" away from other staggered models that were down to one or two health remaining. 

Jack Daw activated next, took a walk to get within 6" of Crooked Man and tossed the lodestone for Crooked Man. With last action he dismantled Medical Automaton with dead man's collar. After that I thought I needed more cards than suffocation aura as the affair with Montresor had been resource intensive, so Jack Daw used Fickle Tormentor.

Mechanical Attendant healed Guardian before I got to apply the final few points of damage. Remaining turn devolved into bashing the other Warden who was giggling with one hit point remaining. First Warden tried to kill itself by attacking Ferryman, failing at that. Then Ferryman gave Catch of the Day for Melissa and tried to kill Warden, failing at that. Lady Ligeia concentrated real hard and tried to yell Warden, who was still at one hit point remaining, down. Failing. At. That.

Eventually Crooked Man managed to quake the Warden dead before dropping a scheme marker with bonus and going to tag top-right quarter. Sheesh.

Joss charged Ferryman and did five points of damage through armor. Fortunately the second attack missed. Melissa also failed to dispatch Lady Ligeia. 

Guilty continued to spam scheme markers, and Watcher disengaged from Ferryman - only to engage Jack Daw. 

Scores went to 3-3, when both players scored strategy, but Guild also got their Catch and Release with Watcher.

Turn 4:

Although Guild survived last turn far better than how it looked like, it took only a few activations for us to call it a game. Ferryman activated first and flailed uselessly around. He did manage to land Mark of Vengeance on Watcher, though.

Watcher then disengaged from Jack Daw and flew to top-left quarter to tag strategy marker, but the poor bird was now with one hit point remaining. 

Montresor activated and did not Black Joker his bonus action, so the Watcher died. 

That was when we ended. Outcasts had pretty much secured six points at that point, while Guild would at most get five. 

Joss and two Wardens couldn't get their Ruthless to bear all that much throughout the game, so maybe this game was inconclusive when it comes to our little test. But needless to say, Jack Daw is still a rough, rough matchup for Hoffman.

Hatemail for the Four Winds

 A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Corner Plant Explosives

Schemes: Hold Up Their Forces, Information Overload, In Your Face, Ensnare, Power Ritual

My list:

Dr. McMourning with Killer Instinct & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Carrion Emissary
Rafkin
Kentauroi
Nurse
Little Gasser

Pool: 4
Schemes: In Your Face, Power Ritual

Opponent had:

Shenlong & 2x Aspiring Students
Sensei Yu
Banying
High River Monk
Charm Warder
2x Wandering River Monk
Low River Monk

Pool: 4
Schemes: Ensnare, Hold Up Their Forces

Turn 1:

McMourning kept spamming astonishing amounts of poison on his models (well, Rafkin did, actually), while Shenlong and other monks kept enlightening themselves in corner deployment - absolutely zero shots were fired between teams.

Kentauroi, Nurse and Zombie Chihuahua were going towards top-left corner. Little Gasser placed a scheme marker to my deployment corner and wobbled forward. 

Everything else was hanging around in the graveyard. McMourning crafted a soulstone out of a zombie Carrion Emissary propped up. One Mindless Zombie survived the turn.

A Wandering River Monk was going towards both top-left  and bottom-right corners, and everyone else meditating between them.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and Kentauroi went to drop a scheme marker to top-left corner for Power Ritual.

After that, I tried to stall by activating Mindless Zombie, Zombie Chihuahua and Little Gasser, but opponent had Aspiring Students and other non-critical models to activate. I wanted models such as High River Monk and Shenlong to do their activations before committing to anything meaningful. But that plan had to be revised.

Carrion Emissary advanced next to a wall, concentrated and did a bunch of zombies. Before High River Monk would activate. Nurse sped up to Carrion Emissary for some Bedside Manner. Eventually this did save the bird after Shenlong and whatnot had shot the Carrion Emissary what they got. High River Monk then charged Emissary and did weak damage. But after second attack Nurse picked up the bird and cradled it away from danger.

McMourning did a thing, where he walked, ordered himself to walk a bit forward, dropped an explosive and charged Charm Warder. I didn't expect Charm Warder to die with one hit, but that just happened. 

A Wandering River Monk planted an explosive past centerline near top-left corner before walking back to safety.

Both players scored strategy, but Resurrectionists also got Power Ritual for a 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

Looks like third turn is missing a picture. 

Well, from my perspective one of the more pivotal moments was Fast High River Monk attacking the already injured Carrion Emissary, managing to kill it with flurry attack. There went my In Your Face end option.

To avenge that, Rafkin, Nurse and whatever I could conjure up spammed and stacked attacks and Poison on the High River Monk. Success rate was only moderate, but that was enough to soften up the target for McMourning to come and finish as one of my last activation for the turn.

Kentauroi placed another scheme marker and a strategy marker to top-left corner. 

Carrion Emissary's Zombies that now had a turn to activate went to stand on the explosive token McMourning had dropped to deny easy pick-ups. Sure, they died to whatever opponent directed at them, but at least they had to direct something at them.

Banying leaped to a scheme marker somebody... perhaps Yu? ... had dropped and went to tease my explosive carrying Little Gasser. Fortunately attacks didn't hit, but Little Gasser wasted his entire turn trying to pull off Pull My Finger -trick - failing both tries. 

Shenlong had Four Wind Punched McMourning and Sebastian both within 3" of two scheme markers, so there wasn't really a way I'd be able to deny Ensnare this turn. 

I was starting to run low on zombies to guard explosives, so Sebastian went to sit on the first one that McMourning had placed. I'm not sure if guarding explosives by sitting on them is the safest course of action, but whatever that works, I guess.

Both players scored strategy, and Ten Thunders scored Ensnare easily enough. Resurrectionists struggler with In Your Face, but eventually managed to get that for a 4-3 lead. 

Turn 4:

This turn McMourning went on an amazing rampage. He ordered himself to centerline to drop High River Monk's explosive, then charged Low River Monk, killing him in one hit. He had three health remaining, but he bought critical strike with a stone. There was still one Aspiring Student in McMourning's melee range, and that went down, too. While targets themselves weren't all that impressive to strike down, the fact that they hadn't been activated yet was a biggie.

Taking notes from Sebastian from last turn, Rafkin went to sit on an explosive. Wandering River Monk came to check if Rafkin was okay because that didn't look safe.

Shenlong Four Wind Punched McMourning into contact with Sensei Yu, so Hold Up Their Forces was secured for Ten Thunders.

Banying didn't do a particularly good job at getting rid of Little Gasser, so the other Wandering River Monk had to come and finish the guy who still wasn't finished with the Pull My Finger trick. 

Nurse was able to push Sebastian away from melee with Shenlong so that he was able to go and drop a strategy marker.

Kentauroi rode to Ten Thunders strategy marker, picked it up and went in position to drop it next turn.

Resurrectionists scored strategy, and finally Ten Thunders got their Hold Up Their Forces. Scores continued 5-4 in McMourning's favor.

Turn 5:

Resurrectionists had no trouble with getting the fourth point from strategy. But both scheme end conditions were out of question. 

Sebastian was able to kill Sensei Yu, and McMourning did the same to Nurse to deny a target for Ten Thunders schemes. But all that wriggling was in vain - three Four Winds Punches were able to deliver people and scheme marker to engage Rafkin and Sebastian.

That ability just blows (four times) my mind without a TN, with such a long range, high stat and no targeting restrictions. It managed to claw a close fought 6-6 draw for Douglas and Shenlong.

Prisoner Steak, Rare+

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Raid the Vaults

Schemes: Take Prisoner, Ensnare, Outflank, Deliver a Message, Sweating Bullets

My list:

Ensouled Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Yannic Waller
Midnight Stalker
The Ferryman
Crooked Man
Dead Outlaw

Pool: 6
Schemes: Ensnare, Deliver a Message (Midnight Stalker)

Opponent had:

Rasputina & Wendigo
Snow Storm
Blessed of December
Ceddra
December Acolyte
Silent One with Magical Training
Silent One

Pool: 4
Schemes: Ensnare, Take Prisoner (Dead Outlaw)

Turn 1:

Well, what's the most sensible thing to do with your master on turn one? Well... maybe charge enemy henchman, master, totem and a bunch of minions? Right, we'll go with that.

Jack Daw absolutely failed each of his attacks, though, so there was some degree of worry about his well-being. At least there was more than a decent set-up for Draw Them In next turn.

Montresor and Jack Daw were relatively early activations - which only meant that they were slowed and staggered the next turn. Joining in on the slow/staggered team were Crooked Man and Dead Outlaw, plus Lady Ligeia was cheering them up by just being slow. 

Most of that was Rasputina's doing, although models such as Snow Storm and Silent Ones certainly helped. 

Staggered was annoying especially on Crooked Man, as I kept trying to figure out how to move the guy outside of his activation - only to realize that yeah, not going to happen because of Staggered. So Crooked Man just wobbled forward with its mighty Mv of 2, doing nothing else. 

Eventually Blessed of December leaped from its deployment position to the right to herd Dead Outlaw to a nice little blast zone with Lady Ligeia and Montresor. 

Yannic Waller had smashed one ice pillar and went behind the hull of a ship to hide from Acolyte of December. 

Midnight Stalker started to climb up on a building to perhaps contest center-right marker next turn. 

Ferryman went to contest the strategy marker on bottom-right quarter, and those were the most meaningful parts of the turn from my perspective.

Turn 2:

Arcanists won initiative. Rasputina did horrible things on her turn. Some of which were already hinted in the description of turn one. Slow and staggered, everywhere!

I must have forgotten to take a picture on turn two, though, because sure as hell I didn't take down Snow Storm on turn two. 

Instead, Jack Daw did Draw Them In twice. Damage done wasn't all that impressive for a full master activation, but it did have a heavy toll on opponent's hand that, I heard later, had five severes.

Early on Blessed of December leaped to put a dent on Dead Outlaw. And after a blast from Rasputina and a couple of damage from Blessed of December last turn, moderate damage (with negative modifiers) was all that it took to take down Dead Outlaw before it had the time to activate. 

Bummer? Sure. However, I did not know Dead Outlaw was opponent's Take Prisoner target. Whoops. 

Montresor spent his entire activation to get as many models within his stagger aura, and Crooked Man interacted a scheme within 3" of Blessed of December. He also put up his Mining Law aura, getting two markers required for Ensnare next turn. Shame, that Blessed of December had Deadly Pursuit.

Since I had such secure position on the center-left marker, Ferryman felt confident enough to miss its attacks against Silent One that had Magical Training upgrade. 

Likely there was some more nuance to this turn, but I got not picture. My memory ain't what it used to be.

However, Midnight Stalker leaped, walked and delivered a message to Rasputina.

Both players scored strategy, with Midnight Stalker giving Outcasts 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

Arcanists got the initiative again, and Rasputina did a bad, bad thing. This time around I think it was Montresor, Midnight Stalker and Jack Daw that got the cold shoulder - and most Jack's damage with Draw Them In was negated with Freeze Over. Oh well.

At least Jack Daw was able to land hazardous terrain on Snow Storm before bursting away with speed and pushing Montresor a little closer with bonus action. Snow Storm wouldn't have any of that aura, and walked a tad away to blast with Ice Tornado. Talk about Anger Issues. The upgrade, I mean. That didn't go away because models were damaged. However, staggered expired.

Montresor was able to toss a noose around Snowstorm's head and pull it back within Hanging Ropes aura. 

I had not realized how much I had damaged Snow Storm already. When Midnight Stalker leaped to it and half-heartedly poked it with a knife, the thing just died, though opponent tried to save it by spending a soulstone. Go figure? Stalker was then able to charge Wendigo that had two health remaining, but botched that attack.

Throughout this entire winter storm laced with tormented vengeance spirit, Yannic Waller tried to come and arrange a little democratic elections, and yeah, that went just about as you might expect, given the circumstances. Acolyte even kept shooting harpoons at her before repositioning to control strategy marker in top-left quarter.

Yannic had consolidated power of Crooked Man now that it was no longer staggered. Idea was to place a scheme marker with trigger, which succeeded. However, Blessed of December activated right next and deleted Crooked Man from the board with a Red Joker on damage flip. That... that guy just spent two turns to advance a total of 2" and place two scheme markers. Three, if you count Yannic's contribution.

Anyway, Blessed was now free to go and claim the vault that was worth two points for Arcanists.

Sightless Snow and Ceddra removed Lady Ligeia after she had tried to yell for a bit. 

Ferryman had managed to land no-heal on Snow Storm, before it failed an attack against Silent One. Ashamed, Ferryman backed to control strategy marker on bottom-right quarter.

Both players scored strategy for a 3-2 lead for Outcasts.

Turn 4:

Everybody died. GG.

Okay, well, more specifically  Wendigo died to three attacks from Midnight Stalker before the enforcer leaped to strategy marker worth two points for Outcasts.

Jack Daw, no longer slowed, was able to go and place scheme markers to ensnare Ceddra or Sightless Snow or whoever it was at the time. The beast attacked Montresor, who ticked down to zero health remaining. I pondered if I should just leave the henchman for dead, as there were scheme markers close enough to score Ensnare. In the ended I decided not to, and that was when opponent revealed Ensnare. 

At least Montresor succeeded in killing the Silent One without upgrade.

Rasputina and perhaps even Acolyte - I forget the details - had killed Yannic Waller after she finally managed to arrange democratic elections. I hope that's not, like, foreshadowing whatever the hell is happening in the world right now. But I royally digress.

Ferryman charged Silent One with the upgrade, missing again. This time it backed down to strategy marker. 

So, both players scored strategy and Ensnare for a 5-4 lead for Outcasts.

Turn 5:

Last turn had enough variables to warrant for a play. Montresor managed to toss noose over Sightless Ceddra before dying without triggering Eternal. Idea was to deny Ensnare end condition from the Arcanists after they had spammed scheme markers all over the center area.

Rasputina moved away from Outcast scheme markers so as not to be within 2" of a marker at least. 

Leaping, Fast Midnight Stalker rectified that.

In the end, Jack Daw was able to place a scheme marker so that Sightless Ceddra would trigger  Ensnare end condition for Outcasts, but that just meant that he himself was Ensnared. 

Rasputina had enough models to score strategy. Both players scored Ensnare, but Outcasts got to deliver their message for a 7-6 victory.

Let Them Weep

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Flank Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Outflank, Take Prisoner, Protected Territory, Deliver a Message

My list:

Kirai2 & Ikiryo
Datsue Ba
Kari Zotiko
Lost Love
Shikome
Gwisin with Grave Spirit Touch
Drowned
Seishin

Pool: 5
Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Misaki Katanaka & Shang
Ototo
Banying
Yamaziko
Minako Rei
2x Torakage

Pool: 5
Schemes: Deliver a Message (Torakage), Protected Territory

Turn 1:

Early on Ototo took position over a strategy marker that had been placed next to a lake. And that pretty much set the course for the first half of turn one, except for a tiny Seishin activation that gave a walk for Datsue Ba and Ikiryo.

Kari gave a walk for Gwisin and rushed closer to Ototo. 

I don't actually remember what Torakage did up there, because that looks like a one move. It probably moved and charged Kari, who had swirled past Ototo during Kirai's activation. This summoned up an Enslaved Spirit, which chain ganged Kari over Torakage. 

Shikome had also been pushed right next to a strategy marker, so she was able to interact with it and fly towards top-left corner to protect precious intel. 

Yamaziko took a double walk with bonus action and interacted an intel, too. Strategy marker was picked up by Lost Love, who teleported in to heal Kari after Misaki had jumped out of the shadows to beat Kari with a stick.

Gwisin charged Ototo to soften him up for Let Them Bleed next turn.

Below, Minako Rei went to pick up intel. Datsue Ba robbed her right after, and Drowned was able to claim a strategy marker that had been placed after Minako did her thing. 

Unfortunately, wicked granny wasn't the only one able to play that game. Banying leaped to a shadow marker, was able to deal a bunch of damage to Datsue Ba and steal the intel she had stolen. The insolence!

Ikiryo and Torakage were glancing each other menacingly nearby. Ikiryo had walked, and then tried to yell at a shadow, which went just about as effectively as you might expect. 

Turn 2:

Torakage ninja'd itself to a shadow marker, gave a message for Kirai and walked to my deployment zone. 

Kirai activated early to push people around, herself included. While Yamaziko kept passing summon checks, Ototo did much less so. Gaki appeared. Ototo did smack dead the Enslaved Spirit he had spawned last turn, and took half of Gaki's health away.

The end result of Ototo's attacks, Enslaved Spirit's useless claws and Gaki's feeble attacks was that Ototo was now down to four health remaining, unable to heal thanks to Kari.

Misaki continued to torment the top-left quarter, robbing Lost Love of intel and killing the love enforcer before he had the chance to activate. 

Shikome and Kari were able to plant scheme markers for Protected Territory.

Datsue Ba nearly killed off Banying, and I was happy that Let Them Bleed was also secured.

Until Shang healed Banying with Red Joker straight top of deck. 

Then I did what was most likely my greatest mistake throughout this game. I thought that Ikiryo could risk taking Karmic Fate. My brain somehow completely skipped about the Karmic Ties ability on Minako Rei.

So, she charged Minako and certainly did some damage in - but also dealing that damage to herself. Oh well.

At least Drowned was a champ with his projectile vomit. Both attacks hit Banying and scored blasts on both attempts. With the ensuing Poison this meant that both Minako and Banying would fall to 50% of their health remaining 

Minako summoned a Katashiro that nearly killed Ikiryo. Fortunately Minako didn't manage nearly as much, and Ikiryo was left with one health remaining.

Torakage below went to place a scheme marker near strategy marker.

Both players scored strategy point and both schemes for a 3-3 tie.

Turn 3:

What weird mess of a turn that was. Hot sport that was top-left quarter somehow got even more crowded than it already was. Nobody seemed to die there, but certainly they were within last 30% or less of their health remaining.

First of all, Ototo just took a step outside of Kari's no-heal range, healed itself with a severe and smacked the Gaki dead. 

Gwisin, Kari, a new Gaki and whatnot ganged up on Ototo, but managed to bring him only down to three health remaining, while Misaki did the same to Kari. 

An Enslaved Spirit dealt a couple points of damage to Yamaziko, while the opposing grandmother wasn't able to deal with the summoned spirit. 

Shikome dived far behind the train column to protect intel she had picked up on turn one. 

Shang came to heal Minako after she had killed Ikiryo. Resulting Wanyudo rolled over Datsue Ba for Burning +4.

Drowned tried to charge Banying, who managed to get his defensive trigger to leap off to threaten Kari who was at such low amount of health. This called for drastic granny measures. Datsue Ba disengage from the melee below and charged Banying, not doing much but at least engaging him.

There was a real possibility of Banying killing Datsue Ba, but that didn't come into being. Instead, during end phase, Datsue Ba went down to two health remaining. 

Both players scored strategy for a 4-4 tie.

Turn 4:

This turn the game fell apart for Resurrectionists. Ten Thunders got the initiative, and Ototo activated. He was rolling moderate wounds left and right, which was a little problematic with unactivated, incorporeal models with three health remaining. Gaki died, Kari died, and Ototo healed again. 

Kirai was able to activate, and did a bunch of swirly shenanigans. She also healed Darsue Ba for a little. Unfortunately Misaki was more than able to kill Datsue Ba right next, so Urami chances of victory were rapidly dwindling.

However, it's wonderful in Malifaux how absolutely weird stuff can happen that just might turn the tide around. Drowned activated and started vomiting. Both attacks scored at least moderates. I did place an incorrect amount of Riptide Markers, but fortunately that didn't actually affect anything. Only Banying and Misaki took damage from those. But still that was, like, nine points of damage from a couple of 1/1/1 attacks. Impressive.

Unfortunately, those were just about the only results I made this turn. Shikome tried to walk, challenge-teleport to Yamaziko and extort the ancient law of granny-for-a-granny, but the challenge failed. Instead, Shikome had to meekly walk right next to Yamaziko and nudge her menacingly.

Kirai also wasn't able to land an Ikiryo summon on Ototo, although she did get masks for the first Thirst for Vengeance. I just didn't have a high enough card in my hand. 

Ten Thunders were able to get the lead at 5-4 by scoring strategy.

Turn 5:

We did not play last turn, as in the best of cases Resurrectionists would gain five points, and at their absolute worst Ten Thunders would get six, with seven being most likely outcome.

I don't tend to blame RNG too much in this game, but I must say that it did start to feel a bit excessive handicap when the only severe card I got to my starting hand was on turn 5 - which we didn't play. But what can you do - sometimes that just happens. 

We Own... Gahk

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Flank Stuff the Ballots

Schemes: Outflank, In Your Face, Let Them Bleed, Protected Territory, Espionage

My list:

Molly, Chaotic Conductor & Necrotic Machine
Philip & Nanny
Batsch & Amalie
Keepside Strangers with Grave Spirit Touch
Oskar
2x Dapperling

Pool: 4
Schemes: Espionage, Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Youko Hamasaki & Chiyo
Bill Algren
Hinamatsu
3x Bunraku
Tanuki
Geisha

Pool: 5
Schemes: Protected Territory, Espionage

Turn 1:

Map was extremely challenging to say the least. So much severe terrain that it would be enough for three tables worth of Malifaux. 

Anyway, I started to dismantle my deployment with Fungal models. Batsch & Amalie went to take a charge from Bill Algren. Damage block was severe, so yay for that. Waltzers were within 6" of Oskar, so Oskar was able to plant a free scheme for Espionage before walking and not managing to do anything useful. 

Dapperlings were the same, barely getting out of deployment. But at least there were two markers secured for Espionage end condition.

One Bunraku was going to bottom-right corner, where Crooligan was just concentrating around. Another Bunraku went to top-left corner, where there was... nobody at all. Free reign for the puppet.

Well, Philip and the Nanny was at top-left quarter's strategy marker. They had been trying to stay far from Hinamatsu's charge range - and succeeded at that. Molly, however, wasn't as lucky. Hinamatsu walked and charged to mutilate the parade conductor. Attack failed. 

I was a little worried about those six potential attacks coming for Molly the next turn, so I somehow thought it was a good idea to teleport Keepside Strangers to Hinamatsu and try to plant Slow on her. I did have the crows in my hand for that, but the nine wasn't high enough. 

At least Hinamatsu took Distracted +1 and a severe damage from handful of snakes... but now they were... right there. Next to Hinamatsu. Only a miracle would save them next turn.

Third Bunraku had lured Bill a little closer for his Batch-bashing, and Tanuki was following close behind. Chiyo sprinted to have her pinky toe inside my table side, and there was little I could do to that toe right now.

Youko was inside a forest  within a couple of walks to center or top-left quarter strategy marker, not quite within 6" of Keepside Strangers and Molly. 

Geisha didn't want to tear her dress like her master, so she took the long way out from forest after dropping a scheme marker for most likely some counter-espionage. 

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and started with Crooligan to place a scheme marker and a vote to bottom-right box.

This left Hinamatsu all the time it needed to rip Keepside Strangers into shreds... or so I thought. While it took all the better cards in my hand to save the Strangers, they actually survived the onslaught of onslaughts. So they still had one activation going on for them. They sidekicked themselves to Necrotic Machine and started blasting Bill Algren with snakes to no effect. But, they had survived.

Next Bill tried to kill the Strangers, and brought them down to one health remaining. But all the heals in the keyword were not Forgotten, and soon enough after Necrotic Machine and Molly had activated, Keepside Strangers were still at four health remaining even after an angry Bunraku attacked from the bushes.

On the fungal side of things, a Dapperling managed to go and place two votes to center ballots before Youko walked within interact distance. Oskar kept flailing at Bill, dealing in some respectable damage that was soon healed by Tanuki. Well, at least Oskar enabled an interact for Batsch & Amalie. 

The Dancing Duo had had enough of Tanuki and tried to kill the little *hit, but took a point of poison from scheme marker they had just placed. And Beer Goggles caused the attack to miss. Damn you Tanukiiiii....!

Two remaining Bunrakus went to their respective corners. However, at the bottom there was this Crooligan, who fortunately didn't take in even a single hit. Philip & Nanny at top-left quarter voted and slowly pushed prams through burned down forest to act as a homing beacon for orphan kids.

Both players scored strategy, while neither announced any reveal parties. Scores went 1-1.

Turn 3:

... and just like that - out of a sudden - attacks stopped failing.

Keepside Strangers kicked their side to Molly, keeping outside of Hinamatsu's reach. The puppet, however, spent one action point to walk over and clawed them dead with just two strikes. And that was even when being poisoned and within 3" of Necrotic Machine.

Dapperling at the center placed a scheme marker over center line and voted, before getting clawed down to one health remaining by Bunraku. This somehow aggravated Tanuki in its drunken stupor, and the furry little beast got mayhaps its first recorded kill.

As I was planning on scoring both schemes this turn, my models weren't wasting actions on hitting Bill Algren. Instead, Oskar blasted Tanuki twice with a mushroom cloud. Once spores had settled, Tanuki was no more. 

Batsch & Amalie shot Bunraku with a mushroom cloud and went to vote at the bottom-right quarter ballots with the help of Oskar. 

Another Dapperling charged Bunraku and bloomed a scheme marker more than 3" away from Bill. 

Philip & Nanny took a walk that much further away from Bunraku at top so they could place a scheme marker for Protected Territory. Right next Crooligan jumped to Philip to remove a scheme marker from Ten Thunders deployment zone. It also dropped a marker for Espionage. 

This unfortunately gave way for Bunraku to claim bottom-right ballots box.

Necrotic Machine had a pleasing activation, when it charged Youko and injected a total of four damage points in to her, catching both Hinamatsu and Youko under neurotoxin aura before either had activated. Youko whacked Necrotic Machine with her words, but they weren't quite sharp enough to scrap the construct. In fact, a little positive reinforcement from Molly went a long way into repairing the damage those harsh words had caused.

Lastly, Ten Thunders had no cards in hand in the end phase, so Necrotic Machine punched Bunraku for fun and profit. Gone was the puppet.

Both players scored strategy. I revealed both schemes, but Ten Thunders only got their Protected Territory. So it was 4-3 lead for Molly.

Turn 4:

Going from bottom to top, Bunraku placed a scheme marker on the centerline. 

Batsch & Amalie placed a scheme marker for Protected Territory end condition, and Crooligan continued spying in the enemy deployment zone. 

Bill and Oskar were locked in a deadly duel, not really contributing to victory points any longer. 

Dapperling managed to bloom Chiyo's scheme marker away from my deployment. 

At the center ballots Geisha lured Youko away from melee, and Qi and Gong master spent all of her action points to empty the box.

Necrotic Machine and Molly had managed to bring Youko down to two health remaining, with one Poison spilling over for turn five. Hinamatsu somehow managed to either miss all its attacks, or damage got blocked with soulstone, or Black Joker came up on damage flip.

Because Philip & Nanny didn't know what Bunraku would do, they dropped two votes to top-left ballots and pursuited towards top-left corner. Bunraku was just within range to Risky Maneuver and walk itself to my deployment zone and drop a scheme.

Neither player scored strategy, but Ten Thunders did get their Espionage. Scores went 4-4.

Turn 5:

Molly pushed Philip & Nanny towards top-left corner and gave them an interact afterwards. With hindsight it would have been much better to use that one on Necrotic Machine to place a vote to center box, but that's hindsight for ya.

With her last action Molly tried to finish off Youko, but dealt only a single point of damage. 

Necrotic Machine wasn't able to get an attack in. It disengaged from Hinamatsu, used Strange Behavior and walk to engage Youko. I can only wonder why on earth  didn't interact with the ballots instead. Oh well.

Neither player was able to do much to deny scheme end conditions for the other, but Resurrectionists managed to get the lead with votes. Until Youko activated. She disengaged and got within 10" of Crooligan that had placed a vote to bottom-left quarter strategy marker. Riddles landed without a sweat, and getting past target number of We Own You.

Just before Youko succumbed to poison, she commanded Crooligan to place a vote to the box, ending the game in a 6-6 draw.