Mittens

 A couple of rounds of Exploding Kittens to pass the time with two players.

Gameplay is passable for two I guess, but it's quite a different experience with more than two. Now it's just two players hoarding most of the special cards to survive until the end of the deck.

Fury Unseen

 Had a 50 point game of Warmachine a couple of days ago. 

My list was:

Cryx
Lich Lord Venethrax [+26]
 - Deathripper [6]
 - Erebus [16]
 - Helldiver [6]
 - Seether [13]
 - Slayer [10]
Bloat Thrall [4]
Darragh Wrathe [9]
Misery Cage [2]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]

Opponent had:

Circle of Orboros

Iona the Unseen [+28]

 - Pureblood Warpwolf [17]

 - Rotterhorn Griffon [7]

 - Warpwolf Stalker [17]

 - Druid Wilder [4]

Bloodweaver Night Witch [4]

Tharn Bloodtrackers (max) [15]

 - Nuala the Huntress [4]

Tharn Bloodweavers [8]

Bloodtrackers picked Erebus as their prey. I wanted to reposition the character warjack so that it wouldn't be there for easy picking, but I had an annoying bottleneck on my side of the board. Oh well. There weren't any threatening AoE's around, right?

Pureblood Warpwolf sprayed Slayer, dealt some damage in and killed Bloat Thrall, which in turn injured an Ironmonger. 

I tried to offer some threat saturation for opponent by bringing Helldiver up and running arc node to channel some Blood Rains onto Bloodtrackers. Too bad only two Bloodtrackers were essentially killed. If four had died I would've been okay with the results, but six focus for two Bloodtrackers is rather a heavy price tag.

Bloodweavers attempt to take the circular zone on the right, and Bloodtrackers are ogling the one on the left. Rotterhorn Griffon attempts to flank Cryxian forces from the right. Helldiver and Bloat Thrall were acceptable losses, especially when I managed to use Terminal Velocity with Slayer and remove Pureblood.

That was the extent of my casualties inflicted, though. Some three Bloodtrackers and a Bloodweaver died, but tidings were grim.

I had tried to position Erebus so that if Warpwolf Stalker charged Seether, it would counter charge and make the warpwolf stationary. Turns out Bloodtrackers are enough to remove one pesky Seether from the board, and Warpwolf Stalker decided just to run towards Iona.

Bloodweavers dismounted Darragh, and flanking Griffon killed Warwitch Siren. Feralgeist charged an Ironmonger, thus engaging it. Suddenly all my support was severely crippled and I was down to one heavy warjack and an arcnode. 

Circle started to be ahead of the scenario, and when Iona had carelessly entered the charge range of Erebus, I decided it's my chance. And first attack hit the warlock, making her stationary and leaving her to two hit boxes remaining. But Iona had four transfers available, so.

Scenario loss for Venethrax after Circle forces were unable to tear through Venethrax and his focus camp of five. 

Ten

 Whoa, hey! It didn't take a year since Maurala settlement in the world of Kingdom Death got updated with additional misery. And we can thank Tabletop Simulator for that. It was clunky and tiresome and you couldn't play around with nifty miniatures, but at least lantern years pass.

Residents of Maurala wanted to cure Moldonial of his flower addiction, so we hunted for Flower Knight level 2 for lantern year 10. 

Hunt phase showered Moldonial, Padoral, Sibylla and... Pudge with courage and understanding and major boosts from triggered insights This was until Forest Wants What It Wants. Then, just about all survivors lost all leg armor and took a point of damage to head that ignored armor. 

Fight itself was carefully executed and it ended up with Flower Knight executed. We managed without a single severe injury roll, but only barely. Pudge and Sibylla would have started getting them on most hit locations. 

Showdown would have, again, been far more difficult if it wasn't for the almightiness of the Vespertine Bow. I'll probably house rule it as Cumbersome in my future solo playthroughs.

Anyway, survivors were victorious.

Lantern Year 11: Nickname.

Settlement event gave us a division of sorts. All my friends survivors had their name end with ... of the Antelope, and both of mine were that of the Lion. Go figure. A short moment of merriment like that was soon abolished when The Hand came and was about to carve four survivors plus Lantern Oven in two. Next session will begin with a showdown against the Hand.

Since the showdown was so successful, settlement phase was much less so. Maurala did erect Weapon Crafter, and settlement innovated Forbidden Dance and gave Synchronized Strike to Padoral and Moldonial. One augury gave us an intimacy right away, which gave us a dead mother right away. 

UPDATE:

We played The Hand showdown already, so I'm tacking it on to this blog post. It was standard procedure how you handle The Hand. Nohaus, Maximus, Baby of Silence and Moldonial challenged the godlike monster, and each survived until (and past) the applause. Maximus was left psychically scarred with Controlophobia, and Nohaus was left physically scarred with gaping chest wound, but other than that it was only success for Maurala. Baby of Silence gained +1 strength, accuracy and evasion, while Moldonial and Nohaus gained only +1 strength. Maximus was content with only surviving the clapping of applause and not dying. 

Public Nightmares

I found some time for a game of Malifaux. Round was standard 50 soulstones. 

Strategy: Public Enemies with Wedge deployment

My list:

Seamus & Copycat Killer
Mortimer
Bete Noire
Hanged with Grave Spirit Touch (Vendetta)
2x Rotten Belle
Dead Doxy
Gravedigger

Pool: 1

Schemes: Breakthrough, Vendetta

Opponent had (something like):

Dreamer with Ancient Pact & Lord Chompy Bits with Inhuman Reflexes
Serena Bowman
Coppelius (Vendetta target)
Stitched Together
Insidious Madness
Daydream with Ancient Pact
Daydream

Pool: 8

Schemes: Assassinate, Breakthrough

Turn 1:

It was wedge deployment, so action started right from the first turn. Seamus shot a severe injury in to Coppelius, which was a bit more than I was comfortable with - killing Coppelius was tempting, but he was my vendetta target!

Coppelius returned the favor with dealing casual six points in with a moderate damage, push and poking Seamus' eye a bit.

Bete Noire charged Lord Chompy Bits, dealing four points of damage which was nice surprise, although it might be inconsequential because of regenerate and various heal abilities. 

I forget which model, perhaps Dreamer himself, dropped Seamus down to three health remaining which was the moment when Copycat Killer had to come in to save the day. 

Belles, Mortimer and Hanged kill off the Daydream who has Ancient Pact, and I'm left wondering if it was worth about six action points or what. Perhaps it is safe to say that a daydream happened - a model died to black joker! 

Turn 2:

Hanged activates, desperate to whack Coppelius with dead man's collar for vendetta. Hanged succeeds, but it wasn't until my second attack was half-way through when I realized that if I killed Coppelius, I wouldn't be able to reveal Vendetta. Dang. Fortunately opponent denies Hanged's kill by cheating fate. 

Seamus kills Coppelius, sure, but not before it could land its pulse effect on four models, slapping Slow on Mortimer and getting one Alp to manifest. 

Dreamer charges Gravedigger and switches positions with Lord Chompy Bits. Gravedigger tries to kill Lord Chompy Bits who only has four health remaining. After he was done and Lord Chompy Bits activates, it is back at seven health and there is another extra Alp on the board. Gravedigger dug his own grave. Badum-tshhh.

All Rotten Belles and Dead Doxy charge the newly emerged Alp, and fell it down to two wounds or something.

Bete Noire speed towards enemy deployment zone, but is followed by Stitched Together. 

Then there was this brawl at the middle of the board that included Serena, Insidious Madness, Alp and Dreamer versus Hanged and Mortimer. This fight continued for pretty much the rest of the game with neither side getting to do anything useful.

Resurrectionists score two, and opponent reveals Assassinate.

Turn 3:

Bete Noire takes a run deeper into enemy deployment zone, and Seamus does the same. 

Lord Chompy Bits kills a Belle, which means opponent can score strategy this turn. 

Stitched Together charges Bete Noire, who buries herself. Later I, for some reason, deny myself a point from Breakthrough by teleporting Seamus away from a Daydream.

Belle kills Alp and starts backing off with a precious bounty token. Hanged kills another Alp, so now I'd need one extra point from already wounded Insidious Madness. Mortimer, go! Well. Decay does a little damage, but alas, not enough. He manages to summon a Mindless Zombie, though.

No other reports from the middle. Just whiffs and failures.

Neverborn evens out scores to 2-2.

Turn 4

Seamus continues to lay eggs on the enemy deployment zone. On top of everything, he is also the Easter Bunny. 

Lord Chompy Bits moves to my deployment zone and interacts. Mortimer has to come and deny the initial point from Breakthrough. 

Nothing happens against the Hanged. Sure, he's around half health remaining or so, and that was only because of one lucky severe injury. But still going "strong." 

Bete Noire jumps from Gravedigger's corpse and runs back to enemy deployment zone. 

Resurrectionists go 3-2 with revealed Breakthrough.

Turn 5

I think the important bits from turn 5 can be summed: neverborn murders Mortimer, and as last activation Copycat Killer comes and teleports Seamus within 4" of Lord Chompy Bits, denying the point that would have given draw.

Neverborn go to 3 points from strategy, and resurrectionists to 4 from Breakthrough end condition.

Two letters in no particular order

 A short update on two games of Love Letter with two players to pass long days and longer nights.

(Make that three four games.)

I'll use this blog post to also jot down four games of Labyrinth and two games of Sphinx.

Telekinetic

Since there was one weekend with less of other pressing matters, it could be sanctified for gaming purposes! Yay. Another game of Warmachine on the following day with 50 points.

My list was:

Cryx

Dark Host
Lord Exhumator Scaverous [+27]
 - Deathripper [6]
 - Leviathan [16]
 - Reaper [13]
 - Ripjaw [7]
 - Skarlock Thrall [4]
Bane Lord Tartarus [0(6)]
Bane Warriors (max) [16]
 - Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [0(5)]
Wraith Engine [15]

Opponent had:

Protectorate

Exemplar Interdiction
Grand Scrutator Severius [+28]
- Blessing of Vengeance [13]
 - Crusader [10]
 - Indictor [14]
 - Hierophant [3]
Exemplar Bastion Seneschal [0(5)]
Vassal Mechanik [1]
Vassal of Menoth [0(3)]
Vassal of Menoth [0(3)]
Choir of Menoth (min) [4]
Exemplar Bastions (max) [15]
Exemplar Cinerators (max) [13]
 - Exemplar Cinerator Officer [5]

Cryx won starting roll and chose to go first because I was confident in the disparity between the speed of our forces.

Wraith Engine took one flank, and was to face Indictor and Blessing of Vengeance and an assortment of solos. Both armies had their infantry go in the middle, and one flank was a duel between Deathripper and Crusader. Ouch.

Second turn I was able to start shooting. Reaper dragged one Bastion to its death, and Leviathan managed to kill Bastion Seneschal in one shot. 

Opponent then engaged with most of his army, which was good news for Bane Warriors. I figured that if I don't use my feat on turn 3, I won't have a feat because of Severius' own. Scaverous allocated some focus for Leviathan, and started with casting feated Feast of Worms on Cinerators, and a Telekinesis on Crusader that was barely standing on zone on the right. 

Here we both forgot defensive strike from Bastions. It might not have changed things that much - my warjacks would've needed to dedicate themselves for Bastions, and maybe Feast of Worms would have gone to different direction, saving a couple of Cinerators. But as it happened, both units vanished from the board. Even one Machine Wraith entered the fray. Scaverous netted a total of six souls, which is about on par with Asphyxious3 on feat turn. Go figure.

Opponent removed Wraith Engine as was expected, but most of the Banes survived even after two Ashes to Ashes, which was unexpected. Crusader smashed Deathripper to bits, so opponent would start scoring points from scenario soon. 

There were some options for me to assassinate Severius, some more illegal than others. Fortunately the warcaster fell to shooting, since I had completely forgotten about the fact that Severius had fried Ripjaw's cortex system earlier in the game, meaning it should not have been able to run as far as it did. I had planned to launch Feast of Worms on top of Hierophant, but then I kind of forgot even that and spent my 13 focus spamming some worthless telekinesises... 

Well, at least Severius died. 

Test brawl

 Had a 25 point game of Warmachine on Vassal. 

Brawlmachine format has been evading me for a while, but this is no longer the case. We played the Ignition scenario.

My list was:

 Asphyxious the Hellbringer [+24]
- Malice [15]
 - Nightwretch [7]
 - Slayer [10]
Machine Wraith [2]
Necrotech [2]
Pistol Wraith [5]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]

Opponent had:

 Bane Witch Agathia [+29]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Desecrator [14]

 - Reaper [13]

 - Skarlock Thrall [4]

Bane Warriors (max) [16]

I chose to go second to start scoring. I felt the new and improved Bane Warriors of Agathia were oppressing, so as soon as I got the chance I slapped Calamity on them. Worth it? I don't know. I lost Nightwretch and entire unit of Cephalyx Overlords, but hey, Calamity!

Opponent had used feat on turn 2, but this didn't stop me from scoring two scenario points by walking my army far too close to enemy lines. This ended up with Desecrator shooting the cortex off of Malice, the loss of aforementioned models and even six points of damage to Asphyxious after using focus to mitigate damage.

But Asphyxious' forces survived, with fourteen focus on Asphyxious to boot. First Slayer activates to trample, and removes movement from enemy Reaper. Vociferon shoots a Hellfire to Reaper, and even Malice comes to take a focusless harpoon shot at it. And yet the thing survived with cortex and helldriver intact. 

Asphyxious charges to a group of nicely lined Bane Warriors, and manages to kill all five and still ended his turn with six focus. Pistol Wraith had been sitting on a flag, attempting to score points but now there was a Bane Warrior sitting within range to contest. The bane was shot.

It's turn 3, and Asphyxious leads the game by three points.

Now he just needed to survive a shot from Desecrator, three focus worth of attacks from Reaper and whatever Agathia would be able to deliver.

The heavy warjacks bring Asphyxious down to two focus remaining, plus half of his damage grid dusted off. It wouldn't be easy for Agathia to finish him, and eventually she didn't. And since there were no contesting models near Pistol Wraith, game ended in favor of Asphyxious.

Warmachine in Stopped Motion

 

This game was played a long time ago actually, many months ago. But it took me a great while to actually complete this video, but now it's here! Never mind the Warwitch Siren that I forgot to deploy!