Combo Breaker

Had a 50ss game of Malifaux.

My list was:

Molly & Necrotic Construct
Philip & Nanny + Grave Spirit Touch (Claim Jump)
Mortimer
Rogue Necromancy
2x Crooligans
Dead Doxy
Dead Dandy

Pool: 2

Schemes: Claim Jump, Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

Asami Tanaka & Amanjaku
Ama No Zako
Minako Rei (Claim Jump)
Shadow Emissary
Yokai
Obsidian Oni

Pool: 5

Schemes: Claim Jump, Hidden Martyrs

Strategy was Symbols of Authority.

Turn 1:
As Ama No Zako started speeding towards my nice line of strategy markers, I considered it my best option to reposition the Rogue Necromancy quickly to catch the flying oni.

Minako Rei did a Katashiro, who was able to charge Philip and the Nanny, scraping in some damage.

My two Crooligans were attempting to do secure Spread Them Out, as well as hopefully get to enemy strategy markers that were behind the black box.

I misplayed Molly's rule - I re-activated Dead Dandy, who would be gravely insulted if someone was to call him by the keyword Forgotten!

Turn 2:

Philip & Nanny get a bit scared of Shadow Emissary, and backs off. Emissary isn't afraid of Philip & Nanny, but still back off to block the enemy strategy markers being overrun by children.

Ama No Zako continued its race towards victory and bargained to remove my strategy marker. Ambushing Rogue Necromancy beat it down to two hit points remaining and with poison +1. To get that last point in, one of the Crooligans teleported to melee and tried to throw debris at the enemy. It failed twice to even get through Terrifying. Well. At least next turn dispatching Ama would be no problem. Right?

Molly asks endless questions from the Yokai, and succeeds in dropping a scheme marker next to it. Which it takes away immediately with Interact. Didn't remember that it was so easy to remove the markers. So I didn't score anything on second turn, and opponent got one from strategy.

Turn 3:

It was a jaw-dropping turn. Ama No Zako has one hit point left and is within the LoS to Molly, so taking multiple identical actions would kill it. Rogue Necromancy was uninjured, Terrifying (11), Hard to Wound, Hard to Kill, and had a healthy stack of five poison counters.Just how on Earth did I lose Rogue Necromancy to Ama No Zako?!

Here's how. Either opponent bought the proper suit to Ama No Zako's healing trigger or it accidentally came up and dealt moderate damage, healing itself back to four health with bought trigger. Then it takes a second swing, and during damage flip, a wild Red Joker appears, bringing Rogue Necromancy down to one hit point. Then it makes dark bargain and attacks a third time, removing my only hard hitting model from board. Absurd. Perhaps there was a reason the Crooligan was so afraid last turn - it saw this coming.

But it doesn't end there.

Yokai moves about 20" without making even a single move action and trashes a second strategy marker from me. Damn those monkeys! They're at it again, messing up my yard.

An obsidian oni comes to tie up Molly, Dead Doxy and Mortimer in melee and having the burning ground thing on. Molly disengages and gets to a total of three burning tokens.

Philip & Nanny take a flight from the thick of action, and a Crooligan teleports to them. I aim to get to the last strategy markers that are now mostly undefended. Sure there's a dragon nearby, but hey. I got baby carts.

At least Dead Dandy takes one enemy strategy marker away, and I get enough schemes on board to get Spread Them Out.

Necrotic Machine manages to kill Yokai. I reveal Spread Them Out, and opponent reveals Hidden Martyrs. Aw heck. I'm still behind in points with 2-3.

Turn 4:

Crooligan snatches enemy strategy marker from behind the black box. Ama No Zako takes it's second strategy marker.

There's an absurd brawl in the middle, where Mortimer assists Dead Doxy in putting out the flames on her, and getting burning +2 because of it, and then Dead Doxy assists Mortimer twice to do the same. Minako Rei reveals her Claim Jump, which was a harsh blow for my game. We went to 3-5.

Turn 5:

We didn't play the last round completely when it became apparent that even mathematically I could not get a draw. I could have realistically gained two points, and with luck Mortimer might have dealt enough damage to Minako Rei to make her ineligible for Claim Jump, but there was no way for me to block either Ama No Zako or some Asami hair-things from taking the last strategy marker.

It was fun and exciting game again even if my record of gaining the upper hand at the last possible moment is now broken.