Way to go

 ... and the old year ends with a round of Skip bo.

Three players. 

Snow Cathedral

During my Christmas trip we played a three player Pillars of the Earth game. 

Apparently once in three years is good enough of a pace for this game. 

First boon cards were rather impactful - the extra worker and a free stone for each round. Or so we speculated. Next round there were pretty good boons too, the fortune teller and extra wood for each round. Or so we speculated.

Two of the players hoarded all of these boons, but surely enough it was the third player who eventually won the game. It was a close race, though, as there was only one point difference with the first and second player, with the winner scoring 52 points.

Those Bright Green Fields

 A couple of Christmassy Malifaux games.

First game:

Strategy: Standard Covert Operation

Scheme pool: Sabotage, Leave Your Mark, Public Demonstration, Catch and Release, Hidden Martyrs

My list:

Seamus, Aka Sebastian Baker & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle withGrave Spirit's Touch
Bete Noire
Jaakuna Ubume
Rotten Belle
Dead Doxy
Gravedigger

Pool: 5
Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Catch and Release (Dead Doxy)

Opponent had:

Charles Hoffman & Mechanical Attendant
Melissa K.O.R.E
Guild Steward
Guardian
2x Hunter
Riotbreaker

Pool: 4
Schemes: Catch and Release (Hunter), Hidden Martyrs (Attendant & Guardian)

Turn 1:

Seamus took a slice off of Madame Sybelle and raised another Dead Doxy while nearing the middle. After some movement shenanigans by various models Jaakuna Ubume was able to place the scheme marker for Leave Your Mark and activate Drowning Aura. 

I don't quite remember what was dealing damage to Jaakuna, possibly Melissa. However, she took more damage than I was comfortable with. And as it happened, Gravedigger was just a little too far from getting within healing range. 

And then I was reminded that Guardian actually had Fast from Hoffman.

I guess it's a kind of a consolation that I wouldn't have had time to heal Jaakuna when Jaakuna was attacked not once but twice by Guardian. But she didn't go down with one attack so the mech took three points of damage from hazards and vengeance. 

Bete Noire charged in to Guardian, trickling in a little damage. 

Guild side, Hoffman was in the middle with almost all of his crew within 6" with Riot Breaker and Hunter going left, Hoffman, Guardian and totem in the middle, Melissa and Hunter on the right.

Bete Noire and summoned Doxy were holding the middle with Madame Sybelle behind them. Seamus and Rotten Belle were on a hill a little to the left, and Catch and Release Doxy, Gravedigger and Copycat Killer were hiding far on the right.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists won initiative, which meant Seamus pushing out Urban Legend with Alone in the Dark. He also took Doxy by the hand, handed her a bladed bouquet and sliced a bite off of her. So Madame Sybelle in a way had now spawned both a Dead Doxy and Dead Dandy.

Mechanical Attendant came to repair Guardian a bit, and Madame Sybelle attacked Guardian and did a blast over Mechanical Attendant, but Undivided Attention was more of the thing, really.

Hoffman wasn't thrilled about the Alone in the Dark portion of Urban Legend, but activated anyway, gave Fast for Guardian and tried to attack Dead Dandy. Guardian was seriously buggering Madame Sybelle, so Gravedigger had to come to heal her.

Hunter on the right used this to its advantage and shot a harpoon to Gravedigger, dragging him to terrain hazard. Melissa, however, had to finish him and try a shoot Madame a little.

Since there was so much healing available to Guild, I didn't find it meaningful to attack Guardian with Bete Noire. Instead, she had gained Fast from Pounce so she walked to Mechanical Attendant that had three health remaining. No kill.

Catch and Release Doxy used Seduction to kill the Attendant instead.

Riotbreaker and Hunter were seriously teasing Seamus, but at least it was my master taking the heat instead of Rotten Belle, who was carrying claim token.

Copycat Killer continued with low profile, just concentrating.

Both players scored strategy, Guild both their schemes and Resurrectionists Leave Your Mark for a grand total of 3-2 for Guild.

Turn 3:

Seamus put his auras on again and tried to damage Catch and Release Hunter for a bit, but not doing much at that. Riot Breaker came to take a shot at Seamus. Madame Sybelle and summoned Dead Doxy were finally able to remove Guardian with most thanks to Seamus' aura.

But when Hunter mauled Seamus down to four health remaining and I was out of soulstones, it was time to escape the stage with Copycat Killer. 

Another Hunter took a shot at Dead Dandy and dragged him to a terrain hazard. I don't quite remember where Melissa had been shooting.

Much to my astonishment Hoffman was not able to kill Copycat Killer.

Both players scored strategy, and resurrectionists also got their second scheme, Catch and Release from Melissa.

Scores go even 4-4.

Turn 4:

Fourth round was absurd when everyone just kept failing, over and over again. Hoffman struggled to kill Copycat Killer but finally did it. Sybelle was not able to kill Guild Steward, Melissa was not able to kill Seamus and the best that Riot Breaker and one of the hunters could do was to kill Rotten Belle who had like three boxes remaining.

Despite the lack of major breakthroughs in the actual combat, points were scored. Both players received their strategies, and there were three schemes for Leave Your Mark. Now, they only needed to stay there for another round...

Scores go 5-5.

Turn 5:

I suppose Seamus was a little frustrated from not being able to kill as he pleases and had his revenge on poor Melissa, killing her against all odds. This was serious setback for Guild because now the last strategy point was out of their reach.

In the middle, both summoned models were killed and two out of three schemes for Leave Your Mark were removed. 

So in the end it all boiled down to Bete Noire, who had a claim token and had been buried last round. She was able to secure a location within 2" of strategy marker and outside of melees, so game ended 7-6 for Resurrectionists.

Game 2:

Strategy: Corner Cursed Objects

Schemes: Spread Them Out, Public Demonstration, Hidden Martyrs, Secret Meetup, Breakthrough

Jack Daw, Ensouled & Lady Ligeia

Montresor

Yannic Waller

Hanged

Crooked Man

2x Guilty

Prospector

Pool: 3
Schemes: Public Demonstration (Yannic and Guilties), Hidden Martyrs (Crooked Man and Prospector)

Opponent had:

Jakob Lynch & Hungering Darkness

Kitty Dumont

Gwyneth Maddox

Mr Graves

2x Illuminated

Tanuki

Pool: 5
Schemes: Hidden Martyrs (Tanuki and Illuminated), Secret Meetup (Kitty and Montresor on a huge hill on my side)

Turn 1:

Corner deployment with no super fast crews meant that engagement on first turn was a bit limited. Hanged managed to land Forbidden Knowledge on an Illuminated and Jack Daw did a moderate damage on it with Inaudible Whispers.

I had Yannic, a Guilty and Prospector coming from right behind the house, with a loose blob of Guilty, Crooked Man, Hanged and Jack Daw getting to middle. Montresor and Lady Ligeia were a bit behind.

Ten Thunders were in a tight blob instead, with only Hungering Darkness and the aforementioned Illuminated a little distance away.

Turn 2:

Second round was intense when Lynch launched Hungering Darkness to Jack Daw. This act certainly dominated the entire round. I activated Hanged to put up Entropic Curse and stagger Hungering Darkness with noose.

Hungering Darkness started attacking Jack with some minor damage... except for the last attack. That one dealt whopping seven damage. At least damage block shaved a couple points off and incorporeal mitigated one, but still over 50% health gone after second enemy activation was too much.

At least Jack Daw managed to heal adequately and make a severe payback against the beast. Gwyneth wasn't able to do much, and neither did Crooked Man who tried to Earthquake the nice line of Lynch, Gwyneth and an Illuminated.

Mr. Graves moves and charges Crooked Man and Red Jokers some damage in to Crooked Man. 

A Guilty ran to protect Crooked Man and failed to stagger unpainted Illuminated. Another Illuminated tried to scintillate Hanged and Crooked Man, but managed to damage only Hanged.

Yannic walked and charged Mr. Graves with Run and Gun, giving in severe damage with negative flip which also sped Hungering Darkness' demise. Tanuki tries to heal Mr. Graves for a bit, but fails.

Even Lady Ligeia scores a blast off of Mr. Graves, so Mr. Graves is at one health remaining while Hungering Darkness is at two. Kitty Dumont pushes unactivated Illuminated a bit and goes to help Hungering Darkness and Mr. Graves.

But its too late when Montresor just pings Mr. Graves dead with Asphyxiation. Either he or another Guilty landed staggered on Kitty.

I did not try to kill Hungering Darkness because I wanted to score Public Demonstration. 

Opponent had not killed a Cursed Object model from me, and if I had not lucked out with Mr. Graves, I would not have either. Scores go 2-0 for Jack Daw.

Turn 3:

Opponent wins initiative and thus is able to heal Hungering Darkness for five. It tries to attack Guilty, but Black Jokers the damage. But that meant it lost Curse of Reckoning since no models were damaged in that activation.

I didn't want Tanuki and Lynch to continue healing the enemy henchman, so Hanged had to activate first and put Entropic Curse on. It also landed Forbidden Knowledge on Kitty and charged her in hopes of drawing a card.

Unpainted Illuminated kills a Guilty, securing a strategy point for Ten Thunders.

Lynch shot Hungering D... oh. Lynch shot Hungering Darkness to Yannic Waller, but I just realized that it had staggered! Oh well, these things happen. 

Yannic Waller fails to kill Hungering Darkness and Crooked Man fails to kill Illuminated, but Jack Daw does both. Kitty goes to place a scheme marker next to Montresor after another Illuminated, Gwyneth and what else kills second Guilty, leaving me with nearly dead Yannic for Public Demonstration.

Both players scored strategy and Ten Thunders managed to score both of their schemes so scores go 3-3.

Turn 4:

However, we quit the game. Opponent had Kitty with two health, Tanuki with one health within 6" of Montresor, and only Gwyneth was at their full health. Lynch could have healed Tanuki and Kitty for one health, but Montresor could have just pinged both of them down to one health remaining again and possibly even kill with actual action points.

Launching Hungering Darkness like that was a gamble that didn't pay off this time, although it could have had I not been able to kill Mr. Graves with such damage flips.

Decent Murder

Third lantern year hunt for Purgatorio settlement was Screaming Antelope. 

We had three players this time around. Since the settlement was still in its infancy the game was upgraded to 1.6. 

Nothing too bad happened during hunt except for seeing a carpet of ticks. Vangel, Kelpo, Alina and Hilima found the Antelope standing behind the carpet and showdown began.

Screaming Antelope wasn't too keen on hitting survivors with it's attacks, but it still gave some damage with trample and a trap. This is where Vangel the prima donna received Ghostly Beauty disorder.

Lantern Year 4 - Murder!

As it happened, Vangel murdered Kelpo, whose name translates into English as "decent".

He was going to be banished into darkness, but instead was re-rolled to come back with Immortal. So... I don't know, we got quite of a diva in our hands. Ruthless fighting art, Prima Donna, Ghostly Beauty and Immortal disorders... he sure got some character in his, well, character.

This also gave the settlement their death principle, which was chosen to be cannibalization.

Settlement innovates Inner Lantern.

Since one of the more decent survivors died so unnecessarily, another must come via shared experiences. 

A single augury intimacy gave the settlement a new decent kid also.

Next it's Butcher, though. Will Purgatorio continue to wreck monsters this easily? We'll see in a year or two...

Time of Sands

Few days ago I played two rounds of Forbidden Desert with three players.

First round went awry rather quickly when we misplayed one thing. We shuffled the end phase deck in incorrect place, which in turn spawned way too many sun beats down cards in quick succession.

But even with such a whoopsie, the game mechanics were surprisingly solid, although some "use any time" gears weirded me out a little, like the jetpack. Somehow it feels wrong to use it when it is another player's turn.

The second game was a tough race against sand. We had Navigator, Explorer and Archeologist in the team, and I must say the Navigator seems very effective indeed. Without him, we would have lost without the victory in sight.

As it happened, we still lost, but it was one damn turn away from victory. There were like seven cards in deck with one sun beats down coming, with Navigator having zero water in his flask. We were drawing four cards at the end of turn.

Surely enough the adventurers did not escape the desert.

There is something wrong with my hand

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Standard Guard the Stash

Schemes: Vendetta, Hidden Martyrs, Spread Them Out, In Your Face, Public Demonstration

My list:

Seamus with The Whisper & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire with Grave Spirit Touch
Gravedigger with Killer Instinct
Dead Dandy
2x Bone Pile

Stones: 5
Schemes: Vendetta (Bone Pile on Iggy), Hidden Martyrs (Bete Noire & Dead Dand7)

Opponent had:

Pandora, Tyrant Torn & Poltergeist
Candy
Dorian Crowe
Iggy
Hooded Rider
2x Sorrow
Wicked Doll

Stones: 5
Schemes: Hidden Martyrs (Sorrow & Poltergeist), Spread Them Out

Turn 1:

Game started with me having a card no higher than 10 in hand. Alright, no biggie.

Bete Noire walked near Dead Dandy, Seamus and Madame Sybelle in the middle and put some focus on them and walked towards center point. Pandora was about to stun her, so she had to Fade Away while she still could.

Dorian Crowe pushed most of enemy crew up for a bit and dumped his cigar on Candy. Way to provoke some temper tantrums!

I did some peek-a-boo Seamus things for a change and teleported, took a shot at Candy and teleported away. Opponent was able to play Red Joker from his hand to make the shot miss.

Hooded Rider rides with Candy, moves and charges Seamus and deals moderate damage which he blocks with a stone to one.

Copycat Killer runs from far-right near the strategy marker on my side, but doesn't teleport Seamus anywhere because I didn't want to lose Copycat Killer on the second round.

Grave Digger and Bone Pile were biding time on the left, waiting for Iggy to appear for some Vendetta.

Since Candy was a tad too far for Madame Sybelle to walk and charge, she instead walked, called Seamus from melee into safety and then took a second walk, positioning herself with a Dead Dandy so that Candy would not get my master within 4" of herself.

Dandy had tried to make a corpse for Bete to arrive next turn, but managed only to draw the silhouette of a corpse with a chalk. 

As a last activation for the round Candy got within 4" of Dandy and Madame Sybelle and even managed to Slow them. 

Turn 2:

My hand is kind of horrible, so I use a stone. Still, highest card I had was a ten. Two of them, in fact.

Madame Sybelle opens the turn and is stunned from Candy and then pushed by Pandora. She charges Candy and manages to deal a point of damage, wow! 

Pandora activates next and ruins everything. Seamus becomes Stunned and engaged in melee by a Sorrow that was summoned next to also stunned Dead Dandy. 

Fortunately Seamus manages to disengage, concentrate and shoot Candy that was engaged with Madame Sybelle. But even with two extra cards Seamus misses as opponent is able to cheat Red Joker to save her... again.

Wicked Doll and Dorian Crowe come to contest the middle-left marker along with Pandora so no chances for me to deny points there. 

A sorrow in the middle-left marker charged Gravedigger. While Dead Dandy had managed to make a corpse this turn, Poltergeist just removed it and even tossed Dead Dandy to hazardous terrain where he was then standing with two health remaining, and easily within 4" of a Life Leecher. 

Thus, Grave Digger made a corpse for Bete to appear and the two together killed the thing, which was a Hidden Martyr no less.

Bone Pile managed to land a hit to Iggy, and it was a little worrying that Iggy was reckless and brought himself to three, meaning moderate damage would now kill him next turn. Not good for Vendetta.

Copycat Killer tried to move Seamus to a little more defensible position, and another Bone Pile re-located itself to middle to heal Madame Sybelle. 

Hooded Rider, however, was able to ride, walk and charge Seamus, slapping him with full severe damage which was reduced to three. But after everything Seamus was not at four health remaining. 

Sorrow, Iggy and Wicked Doll had planted scheme markers, I had killed enemy martyr and I did not control any strategy markers, so it was a nasty 0-3 score for Neverborn.

Turn 3:

Well, look at that. Third round in a row with the highest card in my hand being a ten. This is probably some sort of a record for me. 

I had three pass tokens so I played that ten from my hand to cheat initiative. Seamus walked within 1" of building, teleported to another and took a double walk towards enemy bottom-right strategy marker.

Iggy uses reckless and goes to place a scheme marker. That would mean no Vendetta reveal for me. 

Madame Sybelle put on her aura and tried to charge Poltergeist, but the attack didn't really do anything. Activating Madame now was a mistake, I should have instead tried to shoot Iggy with Bone Pile. As it happened, Iggy activated next and went to two health remaining from being reckless. 

Pandora pushes Madame around and turns her into hazardous terrain and makes Bete Noire fade away once more and summons an additional Sorrow. Sorrows kill Copycat Killer, who leaves a corpse marker. Bone Pile could have taken three points of damage to heal two and try to scrape at a summoned Sorrow but I didn't think it was worth it and buried it instead.

One Sorrow went to contest strategy marker where Seamus was. Remaining Bone Pile went to control bottom-left strategy marker but was contested by Dorian Crowe. Grave Digger killed Iggy and left a corpse for Bete to reappear. She did so and went to control strategy marker. 

Hooded Rider and Wicked Doll also spawned some scheme markers, so opponent now had enough for Spread Them Out end condition. Situation was looking grim indeed.

Scores went to 1-4 for Neverborn.

Turn 4:

Woohoo! I got my first severe card to my hand this turn. And it was eleven. And it was the only one. Baffling.

But, opponent wins initiative. Sorrow close to Seamus activates and lands a stun on him and while I manage to dodge one of its attacks with my precious eleven, second attack hit home and would have killed Seamus if not for hard-to-kill. 

But, now Seamus was at one health remaining and Sorrow had Life Leech.

We ended the game there with a quite of a victory for Neverborn.