Scaredy-Jack

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Informants

Schemes: Take the Highground, Make It Look Like an Accident, Search the Area

My list:

Jack Daw, Spirit of Betrayal & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Ferryman
Batsch & Amalie
Carrion Effigy
Hanged
2x Guilty
Dapperling

Cache: 4

Opponent had:

Tiri, Nomad & Oroboro
Iron Matron
Parson
First Light
2x Ancient Construct
2x Aua Warrior

Cache: 2

Turn 1:
Both crews pick Take the Highground.

Bygone started by draining a stone to give everyone in their crew Shielded.

Montresor and Jack Daw claimed the center marker, while Dapperling held the top-right. Aua Warrior did the same for Bygone bottom-left.

Jack Daw had been able to plant Injustice on Iron Matron, who promptly removed the upgrade during her own activation. Good news was that Bygone no longer had any soulstones.

Iron Matron and PArson held the leftmost marker. Oroboro had been there as well, but Montresor had dragged the thing down with noose.

Batsch & Amalie could have gone to contest the marker along with Hanged, but instead decided to maintain status quo and heal the slightly injured Hanged.

Guilty took one Ht 2 terrain, and another Guilty tried to do that as well. However, Tiri made it fall from a roof and become a craven as well, so Ferryman had to take the position instead.

Ancient Construct and Tiri were holding required terrain pieces for Explorer Society. However, neither managed to claim a third terrain. Both had the same number of strategy markers as well, so scores tied at 2-2.

Turn 2:
Both crews pick Make It Look Like an Accident.

Finally we had a proper injustice galore, with Parson getting one, Iron Matron getting one, Ancient Construct and even Tiri having one as well. 

I sunk too many actions into trying score two points from Iron Matron that Jack Daw or Montresor had been able to yank down from building. Oroboro also took a decent beating, even proccing it's demise. It decided to escape the heat and rolled off into my deployment. 

Batsch & Amalie got nearly killed by at least Parson, possibly Iron Matron as well. Eventually Ancient Construct came to toss the fungus back to my deployment. A two health Batsch and three health Oroboro would just have to duke it out between themselves in the coming turns. 

Tiri claimed a point from Ferryman by making it fall with Earthquake. Then she walked down to strategy marker and killed the Guilty there.

First Light and Aua Warrior tried to score second point from Make It Look Like an Accident, but miraculously enough they failed. Just one more damage would have sufficed. Ferryman, however, overperformed by taking two good swings at Aua Warrior, tossing it into fire which eventually melt the thing in the end phase.

However, this wasn't enough to keep Tormented playing the strategy. Scores went 4-3.

Turn 3:
Both crews pick Ensnare.

Surprise! Neither Oroboro or Batsch & Amalie died. 

Another surprise! ... actually, no-one died, although it was not for the lack of trying. Jack Daw, Iron Matron and Ancient Construct in the middle were all at seven. Parson was down to five. Even Ligeia and Hanged took a couple of points here and there.

Tormented spent their early activations trying to deny opponent points from Ensnare. In the end that didn't work out, but at least I made the Society work for it. 

My Ensnare got misplayed, so I didn't get any points from it. However, this time around I was able to take the lead in scenario. Scores went 6-4, which was bad but not insurmountable.

Turn 4:
Both crews pick Search the Area

Ancient Construct and Batsch & Amalie became casualties. 

Carrion Effigy was able to land a Craven token on Oroboro that had skittled to top-right strategy marker that was held by Dapperling.

However, Iron Matron ruined my area searching completely by getting away from melee with Daw and charging the Ferryman, who I wanted to interact twice and third time with Montresor.

First Light messed up it's scheme marker placement for Search the Area, so there was that small hope at least. 

... except that then Tiri activated and landed a nasty Earthquake on Jack Daw, making him Craven and throwing Montresor away from the marker at the center as well. This lead to both players having two strategy markers, so a 8-6 victory for Tiri.

Eleven and counting

 

Lantern Year 17 hunt & showdown: Frogdog level 2

Phobaro, Vanqusha, Leihovia and Rofiheen hunt the Frogdog.

Phobaro falls in love with a rock. Settlement does innovate drums, so there's that. Bouncing Leaves take a re-roll from Leihovia, as she didn't want that broken arm. One of the better outcomes during hunt was to ambush the Frogdog with dead monster's stench.

Two survivors lost their survival at Overwhelming Darkness, and one halved it. That's just... great.

At least Leihovia descended to Worm Tunnels, only to become Enfeebled. She got +1 strength token from eating a bony protrusion.

My hopes weren't high for the showdown.

And early on it did look like the dice have just grown to hate me. Those 3+ wound rolls failed half of the time. Only 2+ was performing any good.

Frog's direct attacks were a non-issue, even when they came out of traps. Throughout the entire showdown only one attack carried through to armor points after dodges and whatnot? 

... and yet it was intense and distressing. Early on Indigestion came up, so that sphincter just wouldn't shut up! It was a hair's breath away that survivors would have been farted into oblivion. When showdown ended, Leihovia (who suffered intestinal prolapse... from a fart... I don't want to know how) had four stink tokens, and only one location that would be able to take the stink. Leather Armor set had reduced to one, two or no points remaining in locations with two stink. They were fine. But Gorm set guy with leather shield had multiple heavy levels and four stink, archer had only one armor point, light injury levels and two stink tokens.

I don't think I could have done it if tactic had not been Attack Pattern. However... Leihovia finally got the Fist & Tooth mastery. Finally!

And one of the lesser survivors even got Otherworldly Luck

Lantern Year 18: Dark Dentist

1: Settlement innovates INNER LANTERN FINALLY.
2: Phobaro scavenges a scrap
3-4: Phobaro attempts face painting for intimacy, succeeding once.
5: Phobaro paints even more faces, this time for battle.

Phobaro and Vanqusha drank a love juice and did a new kid, Vanbaro, as a result.

Settlement develops Grappleclaw, Frogdog head and vest and Lure Lantern.

Lantern Year 18 hunt & showdown: Dragon King level 1

Since Goliheen has sworn to not hunt anyone else, I do a quick Dragon King. He is accompanied by Lostit, Defeadred and Vanqusha.

And what a hunt it was! 

Lostit stumbled upon doppel den, and only Goliheen did not get transformed into an evil doppelganger. So there was now murder on the timeline.

Titans in the dark gave evil Defeadred a point of movement... not that it mattered much, because right after Lostit and Defeadred leaped into lava river. I assume purposefully.

Vanqusha and Goliheen were left alone to fight the Dragon King. Last hunt card was a crypt, which the survivors defiled just out of spite.

To their defense, hunters did score three wounds and even impressed Lordly Roar out of the deck... right before dealing the killing blow to last survivor.

I took an additional casualty to get a million endeavors from being defeated.

Lantern Year 19 - Season of the Spiderling

HOO BOY. Five deaths from showdown, and now four more from settlement event. And then there is murder on the timeline... And murdered got exiled. Eleven deaths in one go! That just might be the record.

So, settlement got seventeen endeavors.

That gave settlement four more survivors, Abando, Bailaut, Tappi-O and Hävi-ö. One endeavor went into battle paint. Settlement has now a healthy population of eight. Or that at least would have been, had the year been normal. 

Instead, I noticed in time that Slenderman ambushed my four person settlement right away.

Survivors managed two wounds in to the monster before everything went dark.

So, here's the showdowns of this rather long-running campaign:

1: White Lion level 1
2: Gorm level 1
3: Gorm level 1
4: Butcher level 1
5: Gorm level 1

+

1: Gorm l1
2: Gorm l1
3: Gorm l1
4: Butcher level 1
5: Gorm level 1
6: Spidicules level 2
7: Spidicules level 1
8: Lion Knight l1, Phoenix l1
9: Slenderman l1
10: White Lion l1
11: Frogdog l1, Lonely Tree l1, The Hand l1, White Lion l1
12: White Lion l2, Lion Knight l2
13: The Hand l1
14: Screaming Antelope l2
15: Dragon King l1
16: Butcher l2, Lion Knight l3
17: Frogdog l2
18: Dragon King l1
19: Slenderman l2

Next campaign is likely to be People of the Stars, because now I can.

Megapunk

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Recover Evidence

Schemes: Make It Look Like an Accident, Public Demonstration, Frame Job

My list:

Rusty Alyce, Trigger Happy & 2x Hollow Waifs
Ashes & Dust
Marlena Webster
Maurice
Hard-Stop Herbert
2x Scavenger
Necropunk
Bloodwretch

Cache: 1

Opponent had:

Kaeris, Iron-Threaded & Eternal Flame
Fire Golem 
Elijah Borgmann
Firestarter
Carlos Vasquez
2x Firebranded
Fire Gamin

Cache: 2

Turn 1:
Amalgam picks Frame Job on Ashes & Dust, Wildfire took Make It Look Like an Accident

I thought I would be able to take an easy Frame Job, but opponent had read the starting schemes carefully enough and would not attack Ashes and Dust who went to pick up the starting strategy marker.

Marlena Webster went into base contact with the Arcanist starting strategy, which I assumed would give me lead in the strategy. More on that later.

Firestarter made a guy on a wheelchair fall from a roof. That's some Lucas McCabe level of problematic behavior right there. Anyway, Arcanists took their point from Make It Look Like an Accident, but Herbert took triple-walk to the top-right corner of the board for safety and leylines.

Carlos waltzed to the base of the big hill on my deployment, and set a bunch of people on fire. During end phase Maurice, Scavenger and Alyce herself were on fire. He also removed a scheme marker Scavenger had put up to claim extra point from strategy, a homing beacon for Rusty Alyce... and scheme marker for Frame Job that never got framed. 

Alyce went to drop another scheme marker next to the building that was easily within 6" of both of our deployment zones to secure the extra point. She also managed to shoot five points in to a Firebranded, and summoned an Abomination. More on that later.

The Bloodwretch had escaped north, almost hugging the left table-edge.

Arcanist side, Fire Golem summoned a Fire Gamin and walked a tad closer, but that was it. However, Fire Golem, (now) both Gamins, Firestarter and the second Firebranded were going bottom-right... but not only. Elijah was able to walk and charge Marlena Webster, and dared to call her teddy a dude in a furry suit. Marlena was ENRAGED. More on that on later turns. 

Anyway, that flank was held by Marlena, Necropunk, Herbert and a Hollow Waif. Scavenger was sort of nearby, but at least I felt quite the discrepancy between power level of involved models. 

Both crews got the extra point of strategy as a courtesy of sacrificed peon. Arcanists got one point from Make It Look Like an Accident. Amalgam took their point from actual strategy... but so did Arcanists.

The Abomination (in full health) that had been summoned by Rusty Alyce was smacked dead by Kaeris herself, and she even had the action points left to spare to pick up the strategy marker. Oh well.

A 3-2 lead for Arcanists.

Turn 2:
Amalgam picks Harness the Leyline, Wildfire took Ensnare

From top to bottom, Bloodwretch placed a scheme for Harness Leylines late int the round.

 Ashes and Dust was able to charge and kill the already severely injured Firebranded, and claimed the strategy marker right away as well. 

Rusty Alyce shot Carlos a couple of times. She did okayish damage, but her empowered rams trigger was robbed by Carlos butterfly jumping into engagement range. Oh well. Carlos survived and went to kill Hollow Waif.

Another Savenger had just tried to attack Carlos. It took a whole lot of effort from Alyce, Scavenger and Maurice, but finally the fire dancer died. Another Scavenger went to pick up the strategy marker, and scrounged his way to stand in contact with Waif's strategy marker. 

Fire Golem and another summoned Fire Gamin caused the second Hollow Waif to die as well, although that happened during the end phase.

There was a whole bunch of twisting and turning happened at the bottom-right quarter, which eventually resulted in Marlena Webster getting hit hard by Elijah, and healing for a bit. 

Necropunk and Herbert placed the remaining two markers for Harness the Leyline, but somehow Hard-Stop Herbert was able to hard stop a Fire Gamin with just one attack. Unfortunately he was in base contact with Necropunk, who was also on fire. 

Curiously enough Outcasts managed to take the point from strategy. They also took two points from Harness the Leylines. Arcanists fell one TN 5 short of scoring two points from Ensnare, so Outcasts took a 5-4 lead.

Turn 3:
Amalgam picks Scout the Rooftops, Wildfire takes Frame Job on Elijah

Marlena Webster had been so severely damaged earlier that she had to activate. However, she was still pissed off about the furry remark and succeeded in all her attacks, healing both herself and Herbert, who had been smashed down to one health remaining. In the end this did not save Herbert, but at least it wasted precious action points from Fire Golem. She did give Arcanists a point from Frame Job, though.

Necropunk, however, did a miracle. It killed Elijah Borgmann. That must be its greatest achievement in, like, ever. Unless you count points scored, but hey, who counts those when a little guy punches a scary melee dude dead. 

Unfortunately whatever I threw into that melee were not ultimately able to block Arcanists from gaining the upper hand in strategy this round anyway. Outcasts did pick up two, but Wildfire had easy enough time picking up kills from previous turns. 

Scavenger to the left survived conflagrations and whatnot, albeit at one health remaining AND burning... but he had prepared Shielded for the occasion.

Rusty Alyce, Bloodwretch and Ashes & Dust were easily able to score two points from Scout the Rooftops. Also, Alyce shot off a summoned Fire Gamin off the board.

Both players managed to score two points, which made Outcasts still lead the game with 7-6.

Turn 4:
Amalgam picks Detonate Charges, Wildfire attempts Scout the Rooftops

In short, Wildfire was not able to burn down enough of Amalgam models to stop them contesting Scout the Rooftops. 

Arcanists were able to block Outcasts from getting a point from scenario, but Alyce was able to plant two scheme markers next to Fire Golem as just about the last activation. Game ended in 8-7 for Alyce.

Dragon King

 So, yeah, this guy is ready. The big bad who has delayed my painting progress throughout this year to a significant extent. But a while ago Dragon King was finally finished.

...

And as a reward it tore my ongoing settlement to pieces, essentially killing a total of seven survivors. Then came spiderlings and took four more... but I digress.

Also included some of the hedge maze pieces, two survivor characters and the Forge Priest.

Elephant Gun Indeed

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th edition on vassal.

Strategy: Corner Recover Evidence

Schemes: Take the Highground, Graverobbing, Runic Binding

My list:

Molly, Chaotic Conductor & Noxious Nephilim
Strange Lady
Archie
Grave Golem
Philip & the Nanny
Night Terror
Gravedigger

Cache: 2

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe, Dismounted Hunter & Luna
Sidir
Alleyway Echo
Desper LaRaux
2x Rough Rider
Ruffian
Hopeful Prospect

Cache: 3

Turn 1: Both pick Take the Highground, because what else are you going to pick?

Molly takes three walk actions. What an effective use of master action points! Well, she was dropping corpses left and right. I wanted to test if Gravedigger was any good with conductor Molly, and I suppose the first turn was alright. The digger was able to onward, walk and interact the strategy marker I had placed to bottom-right quarter far from everything.

Molly and Night Terror climbed on top of a rock, while Philip & Nanny journeyed up, preparing a shielded on top of a hill. 

Large building next to my deployment had a well-built roof since it was able to hold Archie, Grave Golem, Noxious Nephilim and even Strange Lady. Archie had been pushed around so it could take a couple of swings at nearest Rough Rider, dealing weak damage before leaping on top of the building.

Wastrels had spread out in a similar fashion. Alleyway Echo was slithering towards enemy strategy marker on top, and one Rough Rider was keeping a building to the right... and the rest were at or near the center. Lucas, Sidir and Ruffian were holding a rock near center. Sidir even managed to shave off some four or so points from Archie.

Both scored two easy points from Take the Highground

Forgotten took the lead with 3-2.

Turn 2: Both pick Make It Look Like an Accident.

What a mess.

Out of my 21 action points, I counted that at least THIRTEEN went directly into removing Sidir Alchibal from board, and I'm not even counting action points that went into positioning towards that end goal! And that count included two attacks from Archie (one via Strange Lady's soulstone trigger since Archie had been slowed), and three attacks from Grave Golem.

And Sidir didn't even die.

Well, at least Noxious Nephilim was able to drag him off the rock to score a point from Take the Highground, and the slew of action points thrown at the henchman gave Forgotten the second point as well.

But sheesh. The center was so crowded that I lost Noxious Nephilim and Archie - and just as an added insult the one who did the killing shot against Archie was Hopeful Prospect.

Just about all Resurrectionist models were at the center, sans Gravedigger, and Strange Lady who was involved in the center game. So were the Wastrels, even Desper LaRaux who stubbornly wanted to remove Noxious Nephilim from board instead of doing schemes or whatever Desper enjoys doing.

Since Wastrels had also the same scheme as Forgotten, Luna, Rough Rider, Lucas and Hopeful Prospect at least had to spend an assortment of action points, but not THIRTEEN! 

Anyway, opponent had easy time scoring strategy, since I hadn't been able to drop any  strategies. 

Scores tied at 5-5.

Turn 3: Forgotten takes Reshape the Land, Wastrel takes Ensnare

Grave Golem activated and took three swings at Sidir who was at three, and the henchman died in the perfect world. But one has only to open up the news feed to notice this is not the perfect world. Golem missed every attack.

At least Philip and the Nanny trampled over Sidir with prams? Well... kind of. They did hit their attack, but Sidir was able to discard Timeworn Blade to reduce that damage. Deadly Banter was able to damage him somewhat, but he had been healed for a bit in-between. Sidir activated, used an artifact to teleport to rock formation. He started blasting with machinegun, but Philip & Nanny pushed him to melee with Molly. This scared Sidir, who was at two or three, enough that he just walked away from melee.

Molly paraded Philip & Nanny on top of the rock, and thankfully Sidir failed the damage check. Sidir was now at one health remaining, and Molly had prepared Adaptable at some point in the game. I figured out a hilarious way to end this miserable affair. Molly laughed maniacally, which was enough to push Sidir over the edge. Literally. Mask trigger gave him a point of falling damage. 

Throughout the game Desper had taken quite the trampling from Molly's parades and abandoned token, and Night Terror was able to randomly snipe Desper off from the board. I guess that kept me in the game.

Luna was tearing Grave Golem, and Hopeful Prospect shot it off the board - not! That would've been a bit too much, really. Hopeful Prospect to kill both Archie and Grave Golem.

Instead it just procced Golem's demise, and gave it a tick of poison.

Eventually Alleyway Echo used secret passage to charge Grave Golem. It hit and carved Golem down to one. Opponent had no cards in hand when the Echo tried to use Timeworn Blade to trigger Terror of some kind of lane. He flipped too low to succeed... so in the end it was Hopeful Prospect who indeed caused both Archie and Grave Golem to go down. Bleh.

Ruffian had easy time scoring two point Ensnare from Philip and the Nanny. Fortunately Gravedigger had equally easy time planting ga



zillion scheme markers (two, plus two from previous round) 

Ground was littered with strategy markers for Wastrels, so I didn't even bother contesting the strategy.

Explorer Society took the lead with 8-7

Turn 4:

It feels like rather rare that both players have fully scored their schemes by the last turn. Fortunately neither player had yet scored extra point from strategy, so there was some other objective around when Forgotten were so far behind in attrition.

Philip & Nanny picked up one of the strategy markers, and went to drop a scheme into forest that was just within 6" of enemy deployment. 

Eventually Molly was able to deliver the remaining three, and although we initially played the extra point tad wrong, Explorer Society had no trouble getting a ton of schemes to the big building near Resurrectionists deployment. Unfortunately strategy was tied as well, which lead to 10-9 victory for Lucas McCabe.

Rat is a four letter word, suppose Nix is as well

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th edition.

Strategy: Flank Boundary Dispute

Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Assassinate, Scout the Rooftops

My list:

Hamelin, Piper & Benny Wolcomb
Nix
Fumigator
Tunnel Rats
Johan Creedy
2x Rat Catcher
Stolen

Pool: 4

Opponent had:

C. Hoffman, Inventor & Edie
Peacekeeper
Clipper
Warden
2x Hunter
2x Watcher

Pool: 4

Turn 1: 
Plague picks Scout the Rooftops, Augmented leaves their mark.

Early on Guild put Peacekeeper on the central platform without having even been activated yet. I was horrified, all my models were easily within reach of a 12" charge threat. 

Nix had to spend an eleven and a twelve from my hand to land Blight token on Peacekeeper before walking within 3" of the scary robot. In the end it was a good trade since it kept the scary robot in check, unable to do much. 

Clipper had flied with Hoffman closer, and they both went to drop enough scheme markers to center point to account for Rat King's devour abilities.

Benny and Hamelin had spawned more than enough rats for that Rat King to form. Rat Catchers had not managed to do the same, especially when Benny turned one of the rats into a scheme marker for Scout the Rooftops. Rat King did little else except that it removed a pylon.

Johan Creedy managed to leap to Peacekeeper. He started hammering Hoffman with relic hammer, but managed barely to scrape off some paint.

Stolen and Tunnel Rats dropped enough schemes for Scout the Rooftops. Augmented had over-secured their Leave Your Mark, so that was two points for both. However, two Watchers and the Hunters ensured that Plague fell behind in scenario and Guild took the lead with 3-2.

Turn 2:
Plague picks Detonate Charges, Augmented Makes It Look Like an Accident

A Hunter pulled down Rat King from center platform, but didn't manage to kill it. The Rat King got to Watcher before it was able to activate and surprisingly enough killed it. This was incredibly good news for Tunnel Rats, who were then able to deliver a strategy marker to enemy deployment zone.

The platform saw some intense fighting. Nix charged in to guard two strategy markers, and to get Hoffman, Peacekeeper and Clipper within loose bowels range. Hoffman lost his Blight token, though, because Nix considered it better to stun him.

Hoffman beat Johan down to two remaining, and Johan smacked five points of damage back with a Red Joker. Both Peacekeeper and Clipper spent most of their activations trying to kill Johan, but only brought him to one remaining. At moments like those the cost of ten makes sense for Nix. Clipper did snipe the Rat King off from the board, though.

Fumigator charged in to guard a strategy marker he just threw around. Attacks missed, checks failed.

Hunter attacked him back and brought him down to four remaining. At least Hunter took two points from hazardous terrain throughout the turn. 

Hamelin and Stolen played volleyball with two strategy markers with Watcher and Warden. 

Rat Catchers brought in so many rats that another Rat King formed and tore Hunter down to three health remaining. The catchers managed to throw away one enemy strategy marker back to their side, which meant a strategy point for me this turn.

However... I had been so busy navigating the high-stakes puzzle at the center that I was not able to get enough schemes to score even one point from Detonate Charges. I decided to keep the scheme, though, since I think I managed to bluff Leave Your Mark of my own.

So, Guild kept the lead at 6-3. Sure, point situation was not ideal, but board state did not look too bad.

Turn 3:
Plague kept Detonate Charges, Augmented takes Breakthrough. 

... things were really starting to heat up at the center. And holy moly Nix is a terrifying model if opponent lets it be - the doggo absolutely dominated the platform, essentially continuously giving Slow to Clipper, Hoffman and Peacekeeper. However, Peacekeeper was able to kill Johan as the first activation. Not much I could do about that. 

Hoffman and Clipper placed schemes on the centerline. One was removed by a devouring Rat King, another was removed by obeyed Clipper. 

Third one, late in the turn, was placed by Warden, and that one stuck.

Edie placed one in the deployment, so I kept a keen eye one the surviving Watcher. I left Benny as my very last model to activate, and that was enough for Guild to ditch their Breakthrough. Instead, Watcher delivered a strategy marker to my deployment. 

However, Stolen had managed to throw another strategy marker to enemy deployment, so Plague managed to claim the upper hand at strategy. They finally managed to score Detonate Charges as well, so scores tied exactly at 6-6. Round ended with seven rats on board without me particularly even trying to summon them... those raises just kept coming.

Turn 4:
Plague picks Take the Highground, Augmented tries to Assassinate Nix.

Guild started by taking out one of my strategy markers out of their deployment zone, and then guarding it with a Hunter. 

I considered my options. I wanted to kill Hoffman before he'd activate, so I thought that opening up two strategy markers by moving Nix behind Peacekeeper would work, especially as Hoffman had blight token to remove for the spectral bite, and I had a 13 in my hand.

Nix landed Red Death just fine, just ripping off Shielded from Hoffman. Then the good boy bit Hoffman, and Hoffman said: bad boy! Nix was so shocked from those words, which essentially functioned as the Red Joker for Nix.

Then Peacekeeper activated, and beeped as well: Bad, bad boy! Nix was so devastated that he drew Black Joker for defense. 

After Peacekeeper was done castigating Nix, he was reeling with five health remaining, and Guild got their first point from Assassinate.

Hamelin activated and went to guard the strategy markers Nix had left. He did crew action on Hoffman, leaving him down to four health. Then he obeyed Nix to attack. Attack hit home and Guild master was done.

Losing master's full activation was a hit Guild could not take. Tried as they might, Nix endured all the attacks made against him - thanks to blight tokens. 

And because Nix refused to die, Guild didn't have enough actions left to challenge strategy. 

A 10-7 victory for Plague.

This was first time I used two Rat Catchers and Nix with the piper, and I was almost horrified at how well they all functioned together. Last two turns there was a constant mass of six to seven rats on board, which meant Nix could wantonly cancel enemy actions, after which they'd just get blight right back. 

Contrary to popular belief...

... peons DO count for strategies. Stay tuned! 

A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Informants

Schemes: Detonate Charges, Frame Job, Harness the Leyline

My list:

Kirai, Envoy of the Court & Ikiryo
Datuse Ba
Kuchisake-Onna
Oskar
Shikome
Gwisin
2x Enslaved Spirit

Pool: 4

Opponent had:

Dreamer, Fast Asleep & Lord Chompy Bits
Bandersnatch
Widow Weaver
3x Alp
2x Stitched Together
2x Daydream

Pool: 4

Turn 1:
Urami picks Frame Job with Ikiryo, Nightmare harnesses the leyline.

From top to bottom, Lord Chompy Bits took a double walk to threaten top-left strategy marker after Enslaved Spirit had ruined his bed that Dreamer had made. 

Ikiryo goes to bluff Harness the Leyline, Detonate Charges and Frame Job to the top-left marker. Alp leaped, walked and charged the totem. I had to cheat to fail the defense, which I did, to score two points from Frame Job.

Kirai eventually summoned a Gwisin out of the very same Alp, as I was a bit worried Lord Chompy Bits might chomp Ikiryo next turn.

Nightmare had both Daydreams loitering in their deployment zone, and one Stitched Together to guard the strategy marker.

In the center there was a big melee. Hired Gwisin and Shikome had taken position there to control the center marker before Dreamer came to beat up my minions. Fortunately there were not other Nightmare models there to power up the bat. After he and another Alp were done, both Gwisin and Shikome were down to five health remaining. Oskar wanter to join the party, and smacked the Alp down to three plus poisoned. And yet this packing up of models within 4" of Dreamer wasn't enough to give me control of the center marker, when Stitched Together took a double walk to start contesting. Oh well.

Below, Widow Weaver placed a shadow lair for Bandersnatch to teleport to. This eventually enabled Bandersnatch to drop a scheme marker to the centerline and charge Seishin Datsue Ba had been saving up for an extra activation.

Scores went 2-2 from my full scheme and opponent getting 1+1.

Turn 2:
Urami has a public demonstration on Dreamer, Nightmare assassinates Kuchisake-Onna

Such a brutal turn.

In the end, the totems were brawling near the top-left marker, both contesting it. In the picture there is Enslaved Spirit that has not yet resolved the flicker token.

A Stitched Together abandoned a strategy marker to kill Shikome, who had tried to escape the center.

Another Stitched Together removed the hired Gwisin. I was quickly running out of minions to score Public Demonstration!

To get any points at all from scheme I had to do a silly activation with Kirai, delivering the summoned Gwisin and Enslaved Spirit within 2" of Dreamer and dropping a scheme nearby, essentially not using any of her master abilities. 

Below, opponent was eventually able to kill Kuchisake Onna - although not before she had activated and summoned Seishins and a bunch of Gakis. Gakis were instrumental in killing the Alp that was contesting strategy marker there. Unfortunately all the Seishins were removed by Daydream arcing its attack from under a bed nearby, and even grabbing the minion to itself.

Widow Weaver and Bandersnatch were able to overpower Datsue Ba at the bottom-right marker. 

Resurrectionists lost a staggering amount of models, but at least all three Alps went down with them as well.

At an enormous cost Resurrectionists got two points from Public Demonstration, while Neverborn took the lead with 5-4 from two from schemes and the strategy.

Turn 3:
Urami assassinates Lord Chompy Bits, Nightmare detonates charges

Chompy Bits gets under the bed, and it and Dreamer remove Oskar without too much of an issue. Another Enslaved Spirit took a flicker token as well. Kirai summoned a second Gwisin to the center, so she was rather well protected from Dreamer and Lord Chompy Bits next turn.

The Gwisins and Enslaved Spirit were able to kill a Stitched Together at the center, and Oskar and possibly Kirai herself killed Lord Chompy Bits... the first time around. Dreamer summoned it right back, but at least now the totem was no longer counting towards strategy.

So, only masters were contesting the central marker. As my last activation Ikiryo went to charge and kill a Daydream, and went to claim the marker for Resurrectionists.

Datsue Ba was severely mauled by Widow Weaver's spell action, so she took flight from melee with Bandersnatch. Fortunately the spider did not follow and instead teleported to a shadow lair to drop scheme markers near Gaki for Detonate Charges. 

This time I was able to be the only player getting strategy points, plus full scheme points. However, the lone Gaki was easy target to get full points from Detonate Charges as well.

Scores tied at 7-7.

Turn 4:
Nightmare attempts to Take the Highground.

Widow Weaver came to contest the strategy marker that had Datsue Ba guarding it. But that was not enough, Chompy Bits just walked out of engagement and charged the granny. Thanks to a prepared Shielded she was left alive, but Bandersnatch was able to leap to a shadow lair that had been conjured up by Widow Weaver. Datsue Ba died, and Bandersnatch continue on its way on top of Ht 2 terrain. 

Gwisin was unable to kill Daydream with a single attack. However, Ikiryo and Kirai did much better against Dreamer, getting that kid off from my lawn. Permanently. 

It was looking good, since I would a



t least be able to block Take the Highground from Neverborn with my last Gwisin. Both Ikiryo and Kirai were controlling the central marker. At worst game would end in a draw. Opponent only had a Daydream left to activate.

...

...

Yeah.

Daydream targets Kirai and succeeds with the attack, claiming an extra raise from fright token.

And Stitched Together was able to easily get to contest the strategy marker on top of centerpoint.

So, the game suddenly turned to 9-7 loss for Resurrectionists. 

A Promotion

 Two 50ss games of Malifaux.

Game 1:

Strategy: Standard Plant Explosives

Schemes: Harness the Leyline, Make It Look Like an Accident, Leave Your Mark

My list:

Jack Daw, Ensouled & Jaakuna Ubume
Montresor
Kari Zotiko
Batsch & Amalie
Ferryman
Crooked Man
2x Drowned
2x Dapperling

Pool: 1

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe, Tomb Delver & 2x Cryptologists
Sidir Alchibal
Desper LaRaux
2x Rough Rider
2x Ruffian
Huckster
Hopeful Prospect

Pool: 3

Turn 1: Tormented Makes It Look Like an Accident, Wastrels are going to Leave Their Mark

With some help from Montresor, Drowned went to place a strategy marker past the centerline near the left board edge. Dapperling was there for emotional support.

Montresor also gave a walk for the Ferryman. 

To the right table edge, Drowned placed a scheme to be a homing beacon for Crooked Man. Dapperling just walked and prepared a shield. Jaakuna, who had been deployed along with them, lured Hopeful Prospector off a cliff for accident reveal party. 

Finally Batsch & Amalie pushed Ferryman forward, who dropped its explosive, bonus charged Hopeful Prospect and beat down his hopes of living.

A big fight ensued at the center. Jack Daw was teasing Sidir with waterlogged upgrades. Kari summoned a Drowned to Sidir, and Crooked Man took out one of enemy scheme markers with its greed. It looked like enemy had Leave Your Mark, so Jack Daw had placed one scheme marker to deny points.

Sidir and multiple other models as well were able to kill Ferryman, though.

Tormented took two from scheme and strategy, while Wastrels got one point from their mark.

Turn 2: Tormented attempts Breakthrough, Wastrels are going to Take the Highground

Sidir was able to get more than 2" away from my models. He started shooting Jack Daw, and dealt in nasty damage, which was patched up by Kari as much as possible. 

Wastrels cut up the slack with planting explosives. A Ruffian, Desper, Cryptologist and Lucas McCabe all spam explosives on a whim.

I had been placing scheme markers as inconspicuously as possible until Jack Daw made his big move. I had been carefully saving up for this moment - opponent would still have one model left to activate when Jack Daw bonus moved to enemy deployment, dropped scheme and charged back... and managed to kill the only model left to activate. Tormented continue being tormented.

Worse still, my crew was pushing towards enemy deployment zone with explosive tokens. As a result, opponent was able to take the lead in planting explosives. Fortunately one of their Rough Riders were too close to deployment, so Wastrels got only one point from Take the Highground. But this tied the scores to 3-3.

Turn 3: Tormented finishes Breakthrough, Wastrels are going to Search the Area

Sidir started blasting around with his machine gun. Crooked Man died, summoned Drowned died, hired Drowned from the left died. Not all of them went down by Sidir, but most of them did. However, no-one tried to deny Breakthrough, so Tormented claimed two points from that.

Jack Daw picked up a neutral marker, placed it to enemy deployment and went to bother Sidir.

Lucas single-handedly placed all the required markers for Search the Area, and there was little I could do to prevent that.

My investment from last turn paid off, when I was able to get both the bonus points from strategy, and had six to five advantage with strategy markers.

Scores went 7-5.

Turn 4: Tormented Assassinates Sidir, Wastrels push for final Breakthrough

We did not play for the entirety of the turn. Jack Daw slams an upgrade to Sidir, and lands a Red Joker on him that ticks him down to one health, thanks to hard-to-kill. Bonus action automatic damage finishes the target. 

We did take a few activations past that, but eventually it was apparent that McCabe wouldn't be able to score full scheme and full strategy points for a draw.

So about a 9-10 against 7-8 victory.

Game 2:

Strategy: Wedge Informants

Schemes: Harness the Leyline, Detonate Charges, Ensnare

My list:

Seamus AKA Sebastian & White Rabbit Co.
Madame Sybelle
Keepside Strangers
Mortimer
Batsch & Amalie
Dandy
2x Mourner

Pool: 3

Opponent had: 

Jakob Lynch, Dark Bet & Hungering Darkness
Gwyneth Maddox
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Tannen
Kara
2x Illuminated
Beckoner

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Both... uh, yeah.

What a weird mess of a turn.

Early on Gwyneth was catapulted to the hill near my deployment, which acted as a catalyst for some shenanigans.

First Keepside Strangers and Seamus activated, Seamus charging to Gwyneth, nearly killing her with Dead Dandy. She, however, did not die. Instead Honeypot poured all their attacks on Seamus, who in turn took a severe beating. 

Madame Sybelle tried to save Seamus by beckoning him to her... but then Jakob leaped to an Illuminated, took a walk and charged to Seamus. Redchapel master flipped a one. Lynch, on the other hand, flipped the Red Joker. Whoa. Lost master on turn one. 

Worse yet, opponent was able to control the majority of informants. 

And both had picked the easiest scheme on the roster, Detonate Charges. And both players failed to complete it. 

Honeypot scored a strategy point, and that's it.

Turn 2: Both kept their Detonate Charges

We moved on from the insanity of turn one... or did we? Madame Sybelle was promoted. She had crows in hand, so she gave concealment aura for White Rabbit Co, catching both Jakob Lynch and Gwyneth within the radius. One walk later Gwyneth died to knives in the dark, as she had two health remaining. 

Lynch and Hungering Darkness killed my second-in-command as well. 

Center was not looking good for Redchapel. But to be honest, it did not look good for Honeypot either - White Rabbit, Mourners and various other models had managed to land Slow on a bunch of enemy models. I don't think I have ever seen that much Slow on board. 

Both players were able to complete Detonate Charges for two points. Honeypot, however, continued to dominate the strategy, and got a 4-2 lead.

Turn 3: Redchapel chooses Runic Binding, Honeypot tries to rob graves.

It was a rough turn. Both crews pulled all tricks up their sleeve to remove enemy schemes and plant their own at the center-up strategy marker. I suspected opponent had Grave Robbing with strategy markers, so it was imperative for me to get those scheme markers off near my Mourner. And not only that, but have my third marker for Runic Binding.

In the end Redchapel was able to bind Kitty, Hungering Darkness and an Illuminated. And just as Redchapel was not able to remove the Ten Thunders scheme any longer and Mourner had fallen to one health remaining, she activated and ran the heck away from strategy marker.

Mortimer and Keepside Strangers were able to kill an Illuminated that was contesting a strategy marker near the Strangers. Both players had two strategy markers by when, and were contesting the center one with two models.

As my last activation Mourner flipped a lucky Masks on her melee attack against Hungering Darkness, bowling the monster off the center marker.

Suddenly Redchapel turned the tables around when Honeypot was not able to rob any graves, and lead the game with 5-4.

Turn 4: Redchapel Ensnares, Honeypot at least Leaves Their Mark

Last turn was intense as well. Redchapel got easy Ensnare off of Hungering Darkness. 

However, both Dead Dandy and White Rabbit Co. died before they were able to activate. This coupled with Batsch & Amalie deciding to Mushroom Cloud Mr. Tannen instead of walking to make placing scheme markers difficult at the center, as well as contesting the marker there cost Redchapel the game - there were not enough models to bring to center. 

Honeypot got double points from strategy, and also two points from Leave Your Mark.

So, Jakob Lynch won by the skin of their teeth with 8-7 in this exciting and weird game that just happened.