Tanuki On A Stick

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Corner Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Power Ritual, Ensnare, Espionage, Hold Up Their Forces

My list:

McMourning & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Rogue Necromancy
Corpse Curator
Kentauroi
Nurse
Gravedigger
Canine Remains

Pool: 3
Schemes: Ensnare, Hold Up Their Forces

Opponent had:

Hungering Darkness & Dark Bet
Gwyneth Maddox
Koji
Kara
Illuminated
2x Beckoner
Tanuki

Pool: 4

Schemes: Ensnare, Hold Up Their Forces

Turn 1:

Well, scheme pool... was. There was little sense in picking other than Ensnare and Hold Up. Both Power Ritual and Espionage required interacting in enemy deployment zone, and our crews weren't really specialized in getting there. Let Them Bleed wasn't appealing option either. Super-healing Rogue Necromancy was annoying for reveal, and not a bloody chance I would try to get Gwyneth down to half of her health remaining.

It's been a while since this game was played, so I'll have to be brief.

Resurrectionists had a nasty bottleneck right out of their deployment zone. McMourning was able to summon a Flesh Construct, and Sebastian did a Canine Remains, but there was a staggering blob of models in close proximity to each other in confined spaces. And Hungering Darkness had ran to center line, and I was worried that it might just walk and charge next turn to engage, like, Rogue Necromancy, Sebastian, Corpse Curator, McMourning, Nurse and two Canine Remains. 

So, summoned Flesh Construct went to engage and buy some time for the gathering to dissolve. 

Ten Thunders were spread out a little better, with Gwyneth and Illuminated going to top strategy marker, and Beckoner plus Hungering Darkness were near middle. Remainder of Honeypot was going  towards bottom-right quarter.

Turn 2:

Kentauroi picked up a Canine Remains, picked up an intel and backed off. Canine Remains was to pick up even more intel, but then Illuminated charged the dog. Although attacks missed, interacting was out of the question.

Flesh Construct did astonishing job at surviving - it ate up the entirety of activation of both Honeypot masters. Wow. I thought this opened up the game for McMourning to dominate the northern part of map by charging Illuminated. First attack hit and dealt respectable damage. However, next two attacks didn't pass Terrifying (10), and by then I no longer had cards in hand.

Too late I realized my mistake by disengaging Illuminated with Canine Remains - after all I had Hold Up Their Forces as one of my schemes!

Rogue Necromancy went to charge a Beckoner that was hanging around with Koji in between two strategy markers. Attacks did nothing, but Koji did a suspicious scheme marker next to Rogue Necromancy. 

Sebastian, Corpse Curator and summoned Canine Remains were holding back in the middle, unsure what to do. 

Kara had walked and charged Gravedigger, but not before she had done shenanigans to get an intel. 

Both players received strategy point, but Ten Thunders also got Hold Up Their Forces for a 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

McMourning managed to butcher up Illuminated this turn, as well as engaging Gwyneth. He had received a couple of brilliance tokens from cheating. Gwyneth and Beckoner drained most of Resurrectionists' soulstones by attacking McMourning. Nurse patched him up as well as she could and positioned herself for Bedside Manner as I was afraid Hungering Darkness would try to take out McMourning. 

However, my fears were unfounded when Hungering Darkness went to pick up intel from Kentauroi.

Kentauroi disengaged from Hungering Darkness, and failed its Ride With Me, so I could not bring it to engage Lynch. 

However, summoned Canine Remains and Corpse Curator were able to score Ensnare for me from Lynch. Jakob tried to murder Corpse Curator, which failed. He deliriously moved away from Corpse Curators melee range, which made Hold Up Their Forces hard to accomplish this turn. Sebastian still tried by using Blood Poisoning on Jakob Lynch, even buying the trigger with a soulstone to move Canine Remains into contact with Lynch. Failed.

Koji was able to pull of Ensnare before Rogue Necromancy activated. When it did, it failed to kill Beckoner, bringing her down to one health remaining. Beckoner disengaged before Zombie Chihuahua was able to stink her dead. 

Gravedigger wasn't able to shoo the big cat away with a shovel. In response, Kara brought Gravedigger down to two health remaining.

Resurrectionists scored strategy, and both players got their Ensnare for a 3-3 tie.

Turn 4:

Hungering Darkness finally turned its attention to McMourning, and so did Beckoner and Gwyneth. The good doctor was out of soulstones now, but still alive and kicking. Nurse healed Resurrectionists master for a bit and went to engage Hungering Darkness. Canine Remains picked up intel and went to engage Gwyneth, which was finally enough for Hold Up Their Forces.

Situation looked grim, but then Kentauroi stampeded Tanuki and skewered the little crap with filthy spear. Situation was all bright and sunshines after that. 

In the middle Lynch killed Corpse Curator and Canine Remains, and even had the action points to go and sit on a strategy marker that had been moved after Sebastian picked up intel. 

Rogue Necromancy went to kill the escaping Beckoner and the Chihuahua challenged Koji. Because that's what Chihuahua's do. 

Kara turned Gravedigger into a corpse marker, and it was time to tally the points.

Resurrectionists got their second scheme, but no other points were scored this turn. It was a 4-3 lead for McMourning..

Turn 5:

It was a meticulous turn for sure. 

Gwyneth tried to kill Canine Remains that had intel, but thankfully didn't succeed. I don't remember what Hungering Darkness did, likely attacked McMourning. But that situation was locked there now, as McMourning had to stay in place to block Beckoner's way to get to Canine Remains.

Lynch and Kentauroi weren't even activated before the remainder of turn was metaplayed.

Sebastian stole intel from Koji, who in turn had to escape from two ill-placed böryokudan scheme markers. 

Rogue Necromancy picked up intel and made a gambit to kill Kara with a single strike. It did not kill Kara with a single strike. Instead, the monstrosity offered itself as a force to be held up for Ten Thunders.

Resurrectionists were able to get their third strategy point, but neither end scheme got scored. Ten Thunders also got their second strategy point, but also managed to get Hold Up Their Forces for a 5-5 draw.

Blessed Audition

 A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Standard Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Deliver a Message, Outflank, Espionage, Power Ritual, Take Prisoner

My list:

Seamus Baker with The Whisper & Copycat Killer
Strange Lady with Grave Spirit Touch
Bete Noire
White Rabbit Co.
Dead Doxy
Bone Pile
Dead Dandy

Pool: 5
Schemes: Outflank, Espionage

Opponent had:

Rasputina & Wendigo
Snow Storm
Blessed of December with Soulstone Cache
December Acolyte
2x Silent One
Ice Dancer
Hoarcat

Pool: 1
Schemes: Outflank, Deliver a Message (Blessed of December)

Turn 1:

Let's go from left to right. 

Dead Dandy places a scheme marker for Espionage, also bluffing Power Ritual. Since there was only a tiny bottleneck for Bone Pile and Dead Dandy to get through to strategy marker, Silent One blocked that passage with an ice pillar. Bone Pile had to use its second action to remove the thing.

Silent One was accompanied by a Hoarcat, but both were still far away from strategy markers. 

Acolyte of December was deployed on top of a building, where it took a shot at Strange Lady, damaging it a little. Strange Lady did not approve, and Obeyed the thing off the building, dealing a couple of damage points from the fall. Which was somewhat impressive, as Strange Lady was still distracted from Seamus amputating a Mourner off of her. 

Blessed of December walked and leaped to strike at Strange Lady, not doing much.

Rasputina and Wendigo blasts Bete Noire off the board before White Rabbit had the time to craft a hat. Off the board obviously meaning Fade Away in this context. Ice Dancer was there with Rasputina and her totem, dominating center. However, Mourner took up the challenge - or at least peeked in their general direction from behind some barrels. 

As my last activation Bete Noire popped up in my deployment zone and ran just past centerline, inside the building on right.

Snow Storm was feeling confident enough to take on Dead Doxy (with a hat), Copycat Killer and White Rabbit Company, which were slowly creeping towards outflank zone and a strategy marker there. Top right quadrant also hides a Silent One, somewhere, somehow.

Four ice pillars had risen up already, although one of them had been removed. 

Turn 2:

Again from left to right, Bone Pile and Hoarcat toss an informant between them, both gaining an intel point. Dead Dandy positions right behind the strategy marker after Hoarcat had tossed it back. Dandy placed a scheme marker in outflank zone.

Blessed of December is mauled pretty badly by Strange Lady and Seamus, but Silent One patches up the beast a little. Acolyte, Rasputina and Blessed of December all get fixated with attacking Strange Lady, and surely enough it takes three stones to keep her going. Not a single damage block was below two, though, so I had some luck in there. 

Mourner tries to go to interact with a strategy marker until she realizes she was a summoned model. Instead, she dropped a scheme marker touching the centerline. 

Either Rasputina or Silent One blocked Bete Noire's advance with an Ice Pillar, and after White Rabbit gave her a nice hat, she was forced to spend one action point to take a walk towards enemy deployment zone for Espionage. Then either Rasputina or Silent One blocked her advance again with an ice pillar. 

Ice Dancer, however, was able to get perfect line to get past Bete Noire and White Rabbit Company... three times, no less. This drained my hand, but I was able to keep Bete Noire fairly intact. 

Snow Storm got frustrated over my Disguised models, and went to charge White Rabbit Company instead. Future sales of haberdashery plummeted, as the duo was left with two health remaining. 

Dead Doxy went to outflank zone on right, and Copycat Killer came to wreck an ice pillar that had risen right next to Dead Doxy after she had activated. 

Both players scored strategy, but Resurrectionists got a 2-1 lead thanks to claiming Outflank.

Resurrectionists managed to maintain a healthy population of only four ice pillars with a cost of two action points.

Turn 3:

Hoarcat and Bone Pile start a duel in the outflank zone, while Dead Dandy claims an intel and goes into hiding behind a building. 

Ice Dancer provided Hoarcat with an emotional support ice pillar, and perhaps it was this turn when she healed Blessing of December instead? I forget. Anyway, Blessed of December leaps to Seamus and delivers a message to him. 

Seamus spends his entire activation delivering a heart-warming message to Blessed of December, too, and Seamus compliments Blessed's uncanny ability to play dead after he greeted the aspiring talent with bladed bouquet. He even had time to compliment an ice pillar's majestic stature with a slam action.

Bete Noire had faded away again, and popped up from Blessed of December's corpse. She and Strange Lady charged the already damaged Acolyte of December and killed him. 

Wendigo went to pick up an intel, and summoned Mourner went to take it from its cold, living hands. She even took half of the totem's health away. 

I think it was Rasputina who made Bete Noire fade away after Ice Dancer had tormented her with endless pirouettes. 

I wanted to keep the option to move Seamus right to get outflank on turn five, so White Rabbit Company took a grim, determined expression and crafted a hat for themselves. They walked within 0" of Snow Storm and poked it with needle and thread. Their bravery shall be remembered. 

Unfortunately, though, that's all that will be remembered as Snow Storm slapped them dead even through the hat. However, Copycat Killer survived at two health remaining.

My first activation had been to run Dead Doxy to enemy deployment zone. Thus, Espionage was complete. Resurrectionists also got a strategy point, while Arcanists got Deliver a Message for a 4-2 lead for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Duel between Bone Pile and Hoarcat continued without much of a progress for either side. I don't actually remember what Dead Dandy did, but looks like he was busy setting up new scheme markers for Outflank end condition. 

Silent One got an intel I think, and so did Bete Noire. Noire dropped a scheme marker for Espionage end condition as well. Strange Lady that had suffered from Slow starting from turn two had attempted to Obey Bete Noire to interact, but Bete Noire takes orders from no-one. 

Seamus walks and charges Wendigo that had moved below bell tower. He strikes the totem down and walks into contact with strategy marker. 

I'm not sure what Mourner did, probably just mourned how she couldn't land a hit against Wendigo. 

Rasputina was shooting Winter Strikes against Bete Noire and Strange Lady, securing Slow for Strange Lady four turns in a row. 

After getting intel, Ice Dancer and Silent One on the right tease Dead Doxy, and she is a little bummed by their harsh words. She is slowed, so she couldn't reposition to a better place to drop a scheme marker. 

Snow Storm makes Copycat Killer go splat, thus robbing me outflank end condition. The bestial henchman still had an action point left to interact a scheme for Arcanists' own flanking maneuvers. 

Resurrectionists scored no points this turn. Arcanists finally got their Outflank, as well as second strategy point. Scores tied at 4-4. 

Turn 5:

We did not play the last turn to the very end. Silent One to the left went to place an Outflank scheme marker, and Snow Storm did the same on right, so that was Outflank end condition for Arcanists.

Ice Dancer skated nearer to remove Dead Doxy's scheme marker with Don't Mind Me, but Doxy was able to lead Ice Dancer away fir Take by the Hand. She was then able to drop a scheme marker for Espionage end condition.

Arcanists missed on Deliver a Message, while Resurrectionists didn't get their Outflank.

After collecting intel points for two turns, Resurrectionists were able to carve a 6-5 victory with a third strategy point.

Go back home, Richard!

 A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Standard Corrupted Idols

Schemes: Vendetta, Breakthrough, Outflank, Dig Their Graves, Hold Up Their Forces

My list:

Molly, Chaotic Conductor & Necrotic Machine
Philip & Nanny
Noxious Nephilim with Grave Spirit Touch
2x Rabble Riser
2x Night Terror
Crooligan

Pool: 5
Schemes: Dig Their Graves, Breakthrough

Opponent had:

Clampetts, Fisherfolk & Bruce
Aunty Mel
Uncle Bogg
Sir Vantes
Buckaroo
Hermits
Skulker Skin

Pool: 6
Schemes: Outflank, Breakthrough

Turn 1:

Molly was the defender during deployment, and for once there was a conscious choice on my part which half Bayou would have to deploy first - whatever side Aunty Mel was on. That aunt terrified Noxious Nephilim to no end.

So, Nephilim deployed to far left. Molly made it parade forward for a bit to interact a scheme, and later in turn the beast puked a corpse next to the scheme marker.

The beast also slapped three points of damage to Clampetts after the Angler master had launched itself to remove my poor Night Terror that had recklessly flown to toss corrupted idols around.

Uncle Bogg had pushed Sir Vantes forward, and the foul knight - along with Clampetts - tossed an even fouler idol twice, at least 3" into my table side. The thing was guarded by the 2" reach of the filthy spear of Sir Vantes.

Rabble Riser went to charge Sir Vantes, but that Armor +2 is a thing against a damage track of 2/3/4

I think it was the Hermits that shot a few points of damage in to Philip & Nanny that Necrotic Machine tried to heal. Aunty Mel was with the Hermits, there in the lower left quarter of the top right quarter. (Wasn't that clear?)

Crooligan had emerged From Shadows to claim Breakthrough, but a Skulker Skin seemed to have other ideas when it ran towards rightmost Outflank area. Remaining Night Terror took a flying double walk towards the Crooligan to perhaps support the kid one day.

Since there was now Clampetts, Sir Vantes, Hermits and Aunty Mel in a relative proximity of the center, another Rabble Riser sticked around near Philip & Nanny and Necrotic Machine to do some damage next turn.

Far to the left Buckaroo took a full 18" walk towards my table edge. 

Turn 2:

Second strategy marker appeared in the center. Hermits, Sir Vantes and even Clampetts ensured that it was on my side of the table and out of my reach.

However, Molly and her endless parading also put one Idol on the enemy side, and Noxious Nephilim charged Clampetts, flew past them and took the idol within its 2" melee range. 

Clampetts, Bruce and what else had damaged Noxious Nephilim for a few points of damage. That wasn't too dangerous in itself, but Aunty Mel relocated to the second floow of building in the middle. Necrotic Machine had to run to heal the Nephilim, but failed its heal thanks to me trying to fish card from Molly's bonus action. Oh well.

Philip & Nanny was able to slow both Sir Vantes and Clampetts, and by now Sir Vantes was looking seriously damaged. Instead of doing damage, Rabble Riser to the right went to place a scheme marker near the Angler enforcer. The other Rabble Riser had suffered damage from various effects - mostly from Clampetts dynamites - and went to place a scheme marker near the corrupted idol that Noxious Nephilim was guarding, next to Uncle Bogg. Then it charged past Sir Vantes, and that point was the only one it managed to do this turn.

Night Terror scraped some damage in to Skulker Skin, but wasn't going to stay and challenge it any longer than necessary. Skulker removed itself from melee with On The Move and took a couple of shots at Night Terror, bringing it down to two health remaining after poisons.

Crooligan went to place a scheme for Breakthrough, and Buckaroo did the same in the opposite corner of the board.

Both players scored strategy and Breakthrough for a 2-2 tie.

Turn 3:

What a rollercoaster of a turn, but that is kind of fitting for the chaotic conductor. First, Aunty Mel starts shooting her adversary target, Noxious Nephilim. First attack - Red Joker on damage. Second attack - Black Joker on damage. It might be that she managed to score a weak hit with trigger from her bonus action. All in all the beast survived, albeit down to around one or two health remaining. 

Noxious Nephilim activated to regenerate four. It tried to remove Bruce before it would be able to heal Sir Vantes or the Hermits, but only landed a weak hit with last attack. Fortunately it had rams, so it received a little bit of healing. 

Molly managed to score Dig Their Graves by parading Hermits through the scheme marker right to it's grave. 

Idols near the center were being thrown around like ragdolls. Molly's built in trigger to interact with Parade Route was put to heavy use, but that wasn't helping much against teamwork by Uncle Bogg and Clampetts.

Both Rabble Risers went down this turn, one of them being eaten by Bruce. Crooligan and Night Terror spammed scheme markers in enemy deployment zone.

Opponent had Skulker Skin at the outflank zone on right, and Buckaroo did a quick retreat to the zone on left. Two out of three strategy markers were on my side of table now, and Sir Vantes was harassing Philip & Nanny, who were the last model to activate for me. I had three soulstones remaining, but I managed to pull off a nice combo with accidental roll-over with two soulstones. The pram rammed through Sir Vantes right next to corrupted idol, and scores went 3-3 as Resurrectionists got Dig Their Graves, and Bayou got Outflank.

Turn 4:

A third idol appeared on the center point, which complicated things, as soon enough it was apparent that I was losing the attrition game hard. Aunty Mel had no trouble killing Noxious Nephilim, and eventually even Philip & Nanny had to go. They spent my last soulstone trying to get a moderate block, but failed to do so.

However, Molly's parades and whatnot launched one idol way past centerline, and again I somehow managed to wriggle out of a desperate situation by using obscure actions. Strange Behavior by Necrotic Machine was able to dislodge it from melee with Uncle Bogg, free now to interact. Two idols secured for me.

Skulker Skin stopped outflanking and instead went to throw an idol that had spawned on the third turn to my side, and i had ran out of action points to do anything to the environmental threat that was corrupted idol next to riverbank.

Buckaroo also stopped to outflank and went into position to scheme next turn for Breakthrough.

Clampetts also leaped closer to my deployment zone. I think they were the culprits in removing Philip & Nanny this turn, though.

Scores continued with hard-fought 4-4 tie.

Turn 5:

Bayou got to choose which table edge the idol would appear. Strangely enough, I think Skulker Skin was Bayou's MVP, scoring two strategy points and two halves of scheme points all by itself for a total of three.

Crooligan teleported to center and planted a scheme for Dig Their Graves, and tossed the idol on centerline. Aunty Mel, however, went to toss it right back in a dynamite tennis fashion.

Before all that happened I was still aiming for three strategy points, so Molly went to throw an idol far enough that Aunty Mel would not be able to throw that one back. Looking back now, it would have been way more beneficial to try to drop schemes for Dig Their Graves end condition.

Buckaroo and Clampetts secured Breakthrough for Bayou, and the first one mentioned didn't Black Joker it's bonus walk either. So Bayou was able to score seven points out of eight.

Resurrectionists could only get their Breakthrough for a total of five. A 7-5 victory for Clampetts.

Well that escalated quickly

 A 50 point game of Warmachine on War Table.

My list:

Cryx Blackfleet
Captain Aiakos
-Reaper
-Slayer
-Deathripper
Satyxis Raiders + Sea Witch
Ogrun Party Pirates
Ogrun Ironmongers
Satyxis Blood Witch

Opponent had:

Cryx Unlimited

Iron Lich Asphyxious
-2x Desecrator
-2x Deathripper
2x Bane Warriors
Pistol Wraith

Well, this just might be shortest Warmachine game post in a while.

There wasn't much nuance to the fight - Asphyxious misjudged 9" walk from Reaper + 10" range. Only a single Bane Warrior had to be cleared from between the lane Reaper with Careful Reconnaissance and enemy warcaster that had zero focus. Turn 2 caster kill.

Hopeless Prospect

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Standard Plant Explosives

Schemes: In Your Face, Deliver a Message, Espionage, Protected Territory, Take Prisoner

My list:

Leveticus & 2x Hollow Waif
Rusty Alyce
Ashes and Dust
Marlena Webster
Desolation Engine
Scavenger
Abomination

Pool: 4
Schemes: Take Prisoner (Huckster), Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe2 & Luna
Sidir Alchibal
Desper LaRaux
Mr. Ngaatoro
Rough Rider
Huckster
Hopeful Prospect

Pool: 7
Schemes: Take Prisoner (Scavenger), Espionage

Turn 1:

Right during the deployment I had a dilemma: Sidir was in the middle, so should I deploy my Def 3 chunk of desolated flesh to middle, where it might do something, or to board edges where it might be a bit safer?

Because of the building in the middle, I chose to deploy it quite deep in my deployment zone to rush it to building that offered LoS block for the thing. Wastrels got the initiative and Luna dug up a Timeworn Blade for McCabe. 

After taking cover in the center, my other models stalled as much as they could, with Hollow Waifs just shuffling around and concentrating. Eventually Outcasts had to move a bit more forward, and Scavenger activated to push Ashes and Dust for a bit. 

But that was after McCabe had taken a double walk and concentrated for a bit near center line. Rusty Alice brought her gun to bear, dealing .. two points of damage, despite hitting twice. Well, at least she shot two soulstones off the Wastrel cache!

Sidir took a double walk and started shooting Rusty Alyce, getting two points of damage through Alyce's armor. 

Leveticus placed a scheme marker to bluff Espionage, and walked behind some barrels to try to unmake Hopeful Prospect. 

Marlena Webster took position to tether both Rusty Alyce and Leveticus. By then Mr. Ngaatoro and Hopeful Prospect had paired up, approaching center line from bottom of the map. Huckster concentrated, and rather unfortunately managed to Black Joker the Secret Passage. 

In the center, McCabe and Sidir were holding the center point against Rusty Alyce and Desolation Engine. Just a little further up, Desper had crossed the centerline and was stalked by Abomination. 

Top of map had Rough Rider to take a shot at Ashes and Dust, which missed and then the tasmanian devil took a full 14" walk next to Rough Rider.

Turn 2:

Going from top to bottom, Rough Rider and Ashes and Dust just looked at each other, shrugged and carried on with their own stuff. Ashes and Dust dropped strategy marker and scheme marker, while Rough Rider just rode past the thing, walked for a bit and dropped strategy.

Scavenger was not able to move past gravestones, so it just took a walk and shot Desper LaRaux with shotgun, doing a bit of damage. Abomination also charged Desper, but only managed to give Desper a free 3" leap. Oh well. Desper leaped a little to place a strategy marker just past Abomination's walk range and went to engage Scavenger. This was one of the last activations of the round, and certainly raised suspicion that Explorer Society had just tagged their prisoner.

Hollow Waifs kept shuffling about, the one in top-right quarter walking to catch Desper under entropy aura, where he already was anyway. 

And then the middle, wow, what a mess. Lucas managed to stun Rusty Alyce, and we misplayed one thing a little and gave Sidir one Fast too many. Well, at least Lucas forgot about his own Fast the turn before. 

Sidir and Lucas shot Alyce down to four health remaining. She activated and decided to heal a couple of point instead of shooting. Which she also tried, twice, without much of an effect this time around. However, Desolation Engine was now free to activate and it charged Sidir. The ten point amalgamation of living flesh and machine only managed to take a parry to the face. 

Marlena Webster walked on top of size 2 pipe to cover more area with her tethering aura. She also tried to take a shot at Hopeful Prospect, and that prospect certainly had reason to be hopeful, as this attack also missed. Leveticus took a double walk and placed strategy marker before Hopeful Prospect and Mr. Ngaatoro tried to hack him up. That was five points of damage caused by Leveticus without him doing anything. 

Huckster was able to teleport a little closer, but failed the second Secret Passage - much to my frustration, too, as Huckster was my prisoner target!

Both players scored strategy, and Explorer's Society also tagged their prisoner for a 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

Going from top to bottom, Ashes and Dust waited until Rough Rider activated to go and place a scheme marker for Protected Territory. Eventually Scavenger did the same. Rough Rider was able to shoot one Hollow Waif dead and heal Desper a little.

Desper failed to leap, so he had to walk to place a scheme marker on my deployment zone. 

In the center things were heating up. Abomination walked to deny healing for McCabe and Sidir while Wastrels were busy setting up their Fast-train. Fast Sidir hacked Desolation Engine into an Abomination, who actually did, like one or two points of damage or so. Entropy and built-in tome trigger caused more damage to Sidir than all the combined attacks of my crew. 

Rusty Alyce was able to chip four points of health off from McCabe. Fast Huckster failed to use Secret Passage, so she just walked to place a scheme marker on center line, before she noticed an enormous teddy bear towering over her, just wanting to give a hug. Marlena Webster had walked to engage the prisoner. 

Mr. Ngaatoro, Leveticus and Hopeful Prospect were locked up in a weird brawl that didn't seem to be going anywhere. But unfortunately last attack from Mr. Ngaatoro hit and scored two points of poison, meaning neurotoxins would be active next turn, too. 

Both players scored strategy, Outcasts got their territory protected and prisoner tagged, and Explorers got Espionage. This was when opponent realized he had completely forgotten about the scheme marker required in his own deployment zone for the End condition.

What sort of 4D chess was this Huckster playing?! First she Black Jokered Secret Passage after concentrating, and now there was important reason for her to go back to Explorer Society deployment zone.

Scores balanced out at 4-4.

Turn 4:

Wow. Just wow. 

I don't think I have seen such carnage in Malifaux before - or at least, only few times. 

Fast Lucas McCabe brandished his lash, and he started striking at the tormented and miserable amalgamations of undead flesh and machine, killing both of them with two strikes. No-heal auras were thus long gone, so Marlena had to try and kill Sidir that only had like three health left. Marlena healed with a severe in an attempt to endure until next turn and took her swing - and took two points of damage from parry. Oh joy.

Nope, she didn't. Sidir butchered her and her teddy with two attacks, and started to shoot with his machine gun just for giggles - and look at that, Red Joker on damage against last remaining Hollow Waif. 

Brutal.

Huckster placed an explosive now that center only had Rusty Alice nearby and took a walk towards own deployment zone. Apparently Alice was a wee bit shaken, watching the carnage unfold, and pretty much missed all of her attacks.

On top side, Rough Rider went to protect one strategy marker Wastrels had planted after Ashes and Dust dropped an explosive to woods and flew to protect the marker it had dropped earlier. 

Scavenger also dropped a strategy marker and shot a severe damage against Rough Rider. 

Desper failed his jump again and had to walk to place strategy marker. 

Below, Leveticus and Mr. Ngaatoro continued their deathmatch, which looked a whole lot more threatening now that all Waifs were gone. 

Despite me putting all the effort into killing Mr. Ngaatoro early in turn, Leveticus only managed to score a weak damage against the henchman. In response, Mr. Ngaatoro beat the old man down to two health remaining. When did they start this game of chicken? Turn two?

Anyway, an honorable mention goes to Hopeful Prospect. He took one shot at Leveticus that missed, and got damaged because of it. And he lost his remaining three health points just because of activating. Poor guy.

Scores continued with a 5-5 tie.

Turn 5:

Leveticus finally scored his kill, and still had action points to place a scheme marker for Protected Territory. 

Rusty Alyce tried to attack McCabe twice, but neither shot hit home. Using the rapid fire felt a bit useless as Sidir still had five health remaining, but I still decided to go for it. And a severe it was. Way too late, but at least I got another kill. 

Rough Rider starts shooting at Scavenger, who bids his time to figure out what to do. For sure he'd not stay in enemy table side, though. Except... he did. Just not in a way I expected.

Lucas McCabe activated and placed a scheme marker on centerline, and started shooting the Scavenger. Double moderates on both attacks were enough to score a kill.

So, now we can add summary execution of prisoners to the long line of Lucas McCabe's heroic actions. In our games that guy has been so beyond abhorred in his moral choices that I should compile an actual list. 

Anyway, we ended game there because Scavenger was the last part able to affect game state in any meaningful way. 

It was a hard fought 7-7 draw when both crews scored full points from strategy, and everything else but end condition of Take Prisoner. 

Richard? Now that's a good boy!

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Plant Explosives (gg0 version)

Schemes: Power Ritual, Claim Jump, Search the Ruins, Detonate Charges, Hold Up Their Forces

My list:

Seamus & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle
White Rabbit Co.
Mourner
Dead Doxy
2x Rotten Belle
2x Dead Dandy

Pool: 4
Schemes: Power Ritual, Search the Ruins

Opponent had:

Clampetts, Fisherfolk & Bruce
Aunty Mel
Uncle Bogg
Sir Vantes
2x Hermits
Buckaroo

Pool: 4 
Schemes: Search the Ruins, Detonate Charges

Turn 1: 

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

Bayou was somewhat bottlenecked by the weird building in the middle. Uncle Bogg, Bruce and one of the Hermits got stuck on each other, and the head count almost included Sir Vantes, too, if it wasn't for the 3" push that ignores models.  Sir Vantes took position at front, ready to charge the plethora of models in his reach. Too bad only Madame Sybelle did not have a disguise.

Aunty Mel and another Hermit rushed behind a rock on right flank. Buckaroo with a bomb was soloing the left flank.

Resurrectionists offered almost a unified front piecemeal. Going from left to right, Copycat Killer had teleported Seamus within 1" of blocking terrain after the master had dropped a scheme marker to top-left corner. 

Rotten Belle with explosive token and a Dead Dandy were also there on the left front, biding their time as their only real threat was the Buckaroo... oh, and the Clampetts. But they were not directing their rage against the pair. They started tossing dynamite on the widow weeping for her recent loss that had overextended her sorrow by trying to feed on Sir Vantes' grief. She didn't succeed at that, but she certainly caught the sizzling dynamites. Mourner even shared the fireworks with Madame Sybelle, taking five points of damage herself, and three to Madame. 

White Rabbit felt uncomfortable around gremlins, so they crafted a hat for Dead Doxy and went into hiding behind a mud house to the right. Dead Doxy admired her hat in front of the hut.

I now realized I forgot to drop the corpse marker from Mourner deployment. That could have been an easy-ish scheme marker to the corner where he instead wasted an actual action point planting marker for Power Ritual.

Explosive carrying Rotten Belle to the right lured the Dandy a little closer, preparing to flank from far right. 

Turn 2:

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

Before opponent would finish what he started with Mourner, she charged the Angler master. Attack did not amount to anything, but Sir Vantes started to feel a little grief. Soon enough Madame Sybelle failed Undivided Attention with a black joker, so she, already injured, decided it's best to die with high heeled boots on. She actually did rather well against Sir Vantes, after she and Mourner were done, the knight in shining coat of snail slime was down to two health remaining.

However, Sir Vantes killed the Mourner, healed himself for two points and stunned Madame. And set Dead Dandy on fire with Bait the Waters. How does that even work out?! Bruce licked the Sir's wounds away, so in the end he was missing just one point of health.

Since situation was about to get tough for Madame, White Rabbit Co. offered her some support with a fancy new hat, and again went hiding, this time inside some fog terrain.

Hermit and Aunty Mel to the right didn't manage to kill Dead Dandy that had exposed himself. Rotten Belle to the right took position to plant a bomb next turn, while Dead Doxy started her long road towards bottom-right corner. 

Buckaroo to the left bonus walked, dropped a bomb and charged Copycat Killer, but did not score enough damage to kill. Clampetts, I think, shot a couple points of damage to Dead Dandy in the middle, leaped to forest on the left and did a scheme marker there at end of activation. She may have tried to attack Copycat Killer too, but there the bugger is still standing in the picture with one health remaining. 

Copycat Killer made a relatively big mistake in trying to shear the creature during live rodeo. He managed only to poke damage to it. Worried about the damage he'd done, he tried to plug the hole with a bullet from his half pint flintlock pistol. While Buckaroo got decent damage out of these attacks, the 6" of free movement was also a problem. 

However, I didn't and wouldn't get strategy points this turn unless Seamus used Secret Passage to get to the weird building in the middle, walk and place both a strategy and a scheme marker. Although now that I think about it, maybe I could have done without a scheme marker for one more turn and shot Buckaroo instead. Oh well. 

Dead Dandy went to place a scheme marker next to a wall, and turned Mourner's corpse into a scheme marker. 

Rotten Belle to the left had taken a double walk to get into contact with enemy strategy marker. 

Scores went 2-1 for Resurrectionists, as they got their Search the Ruins.

Turn 3:

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

Madame Sybelle took some serious beating in the middle by Hermit, Sir Vantes and even Bruce. She lost her hat and used up my remaining soulstones. But still she was standing during end phase, with two health remaining! 

She tried to kill Bruce, but instead damaged Hermits. Two points got through its armor. Second attack hit Bruce, but left the puppy with one health remaining. 

White Rabbit proved to be a bloodthirsty beast when it, too, scored two points of damage to Hermits that had been pushed around by Uncle Bogg to drop a scheme next to terrain. Hermits removed itself from melee with scuttle and charged Sybelle. Uncle Bogg had placed a strategy marker, too, but according to all safety procedures he is sitting on the explosive in the picture. 

Rotten Belle to the right goes to drop a strategy marker while Hermits and Aunty Mal on that flank kills Dead Dandy and nearly Rotten Belle, thanks to a moderate damage with three negative modifiers to the flip. 

 Clampetts kills Coopycat Killer, staggers Rotten Belle and leaps to interact a strategy marker and do a scheme marker with silurid shenanigans. Buckaroo runs to remove a scheme marker from my top-left corner.

Staggered Belle wasn't going anywhere soon, so she just picked the box of explosives from ground and shambled to Bayou side of table. 

Burning Dandy in the middle did a double walk to perhaps make a scheme marker before succumbing to flames. 

Seamus took a secret passage, doubly walked to bottom-left corner and placed a scheme marker there for Power Ritual. 

Both players scored strategy, Bayou got Search the Ruins and Resurrectionists did Power Ritual for a lead of 4-3.

Turn 4:

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

Madame Sybelle, however, did score a kill against Hermits in the middle. First kill for Resurrectionists, yaaay! At least that was what I suspected would happen. Nope, White Rabbit's needle and thread was Resurrectionist's most impressive instrument of death in this game.

Dead Doxy drops a scheme for Power Ritual end and hopes Rotten Belle survives long enough to lure her, as there was now grave concern that top-right corner would be gone during fifth round. She at least had the hat. No such luck, however. Aunty Mel kills Rotten Belle to the right with her bonus action and goes pick up her explosives. Aunty's Hermits had earlier charged past Belle's engagement range to drop their explosives on my side of table. 

Bruce manages to bite off half of what was left of Madame Sybelle, and Sir Vantes carried through with the rest. 

Uncle Bogg went to secure the mud house on my right side, while Clampetts interacted a scheme, stomped almost next to White Rabbit Co. and dropped an explosive. Shenanigans brought up a scheme marker that started to look a lot like Detonate Charges on White Rabbit.

Buckaroo goes to drop a scheme marker in forest in the center on my table edge.

Situation looked grim. Due to less than ideal placement of strategy markers to the left, Rotten Belle was able to squeeze in one strategy marker adjacent to board edge - but she wouldn't be able to drop the second bomb she had with the marker Seamus had dropped earlier.

Seamus dropped a strategy and a scheme to bottom-left corner and took a double walk towards his earlier, misplaced explosive. 

Before burning to ashes, Dead Dandy placed a scheme marker for Search the Ruins end condition.

Both players got their strategy, and Bayou finally got their Detonate Charges for a 5-5 tie.

Turn 5:

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

It looked like I was at Clampetts's mercy with Power Ritual, so Dead Doxy with the hat just ran into contact with a terrain piece, out of sight of Aunty Mel. 

Seamus was able to walk to the troublesome strategy marker, pick it up, move away and drop it again. Most efficient use of 4 AP master's action points, let me tell you!

Rotten Belle was thus able to place my fourth explosive to the ground, and there was exactly enough scheme markers next to terrain to score Search the Ruins.

Clampetts had no trouble in getting to my top-right corner to convert my scheme marker there, so Power Ritual was ruined.

Throughout turn I had been burning through my stash of pass tokens and DAMN wasn't the mobile hat booth of White Rabbit Company more popular than it has ever been! Bruce, Buckaroo, Uncle Bogg and Sir Vantes all trampled over each other to reach the booth. 

Idea behind using up my pass tokens was to wait until everyone had activated, miraculously score masks trigger from Beckoning Call to remove a Bayou scheme marker, and then try to move or disengage if need be away from remaining scheme marker. But eventually White Rabbit got staggered by Clampetts, so now White Rabbit would have to do with 1.5" of movement inside tide markers. 

Well, that plan fell short at the masks -trigger part that never happened.

Bayou had brutally enforced their Detonate Charges end condition, and had more than enough markers for Plant Explosives and Search the Ruins. 

And as Resurrectionists lost their Power Ritual while scoring remaining points, it was still a 8-7 loss for Seamus. 

Also... absolutely mind-blowingly, Seamus did not even shoot at anyone in this entire game. 

But They're Just Cannons

 A 50 point game of Warmachine on War Table.

My list:

Kishtaar with Wind Storm & Inviolable Resolve
- Ravener
- Jackal with Advance Deployment, Clawed Fist and Hunter Rifle
- Jackal with Advance Deployment, Heavy Bolter and Hunter Rifle
Ulkor Barragers
Assault Reavers & Standard

Opponent had:

Ilari Borisyuk with Avenging Force and Something
- 3x Dire Wolf with Evasive, Cannon and Scrap Saw
Sergeant Lazarenko
Sergeant Sergei Krol
2x Winter Korps Infantry with Rocketeers & Standard

Scenario was Recon from Steamroller 2024.

Khador started, and their formation was rather symmetrical one. Infantry Korps at flanks, warjacks and warcaster kind of there in the middle, and sergeants were supporting the infantry units, Krol on the left and Lazarenko to the right.

Orgoth hid a Jackal, Ulkor Barragers and Ravener behind a forest, another Jackal and Warwitch Coven to the left and Assault Reaver unit going into Dust Devil objective terrain, getting stealth from a command card.

And Kishtaar. Well. Yeah. I realized I had no good target for Inviolable Resolve either in range, or even in the list, she just cast Wind Storm and ran to objective. Whoo boy. Not to self: check those threat ranges once in a while.

So, despite Wind Storm, a Dire Wolf was able to charge nine points of health off of Kishtaar. Ouch.

Other Dire Wolves were less successful in their endeavors, and one of the Jackals only took a few points of damage. 

Ilari and Lazarenko were proccing their Prowl inside of a batch of tall grass, Lazarenko claiming the 30mm objective. Infantry Korps unit to the right played Stealth on them to offer some protection against harpoons of Assault Reavers.

The other Winter Korps unit went to secure enemy flag terrain along with Sergeant Krol.

On my turn, first models to activate were Ulkor Barragers that removed half of Winter Korps from the left, as well a few boxes off from centermost Dire Wolf.

Then, thanks to my interesting choice with Kishtaar's placement, she was now in a bad place. She did use her feat, cast +2" range spell, shot with a Jackal and spent her own shots at the centermost Dire Wolf, but could not wreck it. She had zero focus points, again. At least Power Swell gave one.

However, I did not consider that enough of a protection. Jackal with ranged attacks only had to spent its entire payload against the Dire Wolf, and even then got it only down to one hit point remaining. There were no other attacks I had available, so Rifle-Claw Jackal had to spent its feat shot against the Khadoran heavy at one health remaining. Both Jackals formed a wall of steel to block LoS to Kishtaar, and the ranged-only version even had Shield Guard card played on it.

Assault Reavers went to shoot Infantry Korps to the right. Being their Prey target, four models able to attack reduced the number of Korps by equal amount while still controlling flag zone.

Well, Ilari had his feat turn, and Beat Back on Dire Wolf cannons were able to open up LoS for both Dire Wolves during Hour of the Wolf. Fortunately Ilari had been spending his time shooting at Assault Reavers for secured feat procs, so his sniper shots downed only two of those. Remainder of Winter Korps in the right took out a third Assault Reaver.

First Dire Wolf shot against Kishtaar was shield-guarded by Jackal, but the other one was not. Damage roll, however, was not enough to end the game. She now had three hit points remaining.

Winter Korps on the left were able to seriously injure Shield-Guarding Jackal - so much so, that it only had about two boxes remaining in Movement. 

But hey, game continued. Did Kishtaar learn her lesson yet? Oh no, why would she! She just kept shooting at a Dire Wolf, killing of Sergeant Lazarenko with ricochet shots. She was, again, left with just one Focus for damage block. Oh well.

Ulkor Barragers went to pick up cache and killed all but one Winter Korps on the left. I had tried to repair broken Jackal with Old Faithful, but rolled a beautiful "1" for the amount. War Witches gave two points of focus for it, and one for the still functional Jackal. 

Broken Jackal killed the last Winter Korps on the left, which meant Khadoran flag terrain was no longer controlled. Ulkors were also blocking enemy 30mm objective. 

Assault Reavers retreated to Orgothian flag terrain zone, and Orgoth went to have four point advantage in scenario thanks to an off-point gained earlier.

However, Kishtaar still had to survive a grenade pod barrage from Sergeant Krol and a fully boosted cannon shot from Dire Wolf. Big cannon missed, and so did the little cannons. We ended the game there, as scoring two while denying me every point was unlikely with the forces currently on board. Victory for Orgoth.

Richard, nooo!

A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Flank Turf War

Schemes: Assassinate, Search the Ruins, Take Prisoner, Breakthrough, Claim Jump

My list:

Madame Sybelle with Grave Spirit Touch & Carrion Effigy
Bete Noire
White Rabbit Company
Flesh Construct
Gravedigger
Rabble Riser
2x Rotten Belle

Pool: 4
Schemes: Take Prisoner (One of the Buckaroo's), Breakthrough

Opponent had:

Clampetts, Fisherfolk & Bruce
Uncle Boggs
Aunty Mel
Sir Vantes
Hermits
2x Buckaroos

Pool: 5
Schemes: Assassinate, Search the Ruins

 Turn 1

Madame Sybelle did not consider turfs adequately settled last time around, so the henchman master and Clampetts had to settle the scores again.

Both Buckaroos went towards top-left quarter, and since the other one of them was my chosen prisoner, I dedicated a Rotten Belle, Rabble Riser and Bete Noire for the pair.

Another Rotten Belle and Gravedigger went towards bottom-right quarter, trying to hide behind the building.

White Rabbit Company crafted a hat for Flesh Construct, who I thought would be taking damage soon enough, as he was Aunty Mel's adversarial target. Hermits blasted White Rabbit Company, which had me worried for their safety, so Madame Sybelle tried to act as a body block between them and Bayou. It kind of worked, though Madame certainly was in a precarious position after Sir Vantes pushed her closer.

Flesh Construct was my last model to activate, and it went to flip center marker for Resurrectionists. Aunty Mel took a shot at the thing, dropping its fancy hat already.

After interacting top-right strategy marker, Clampetts went near the center point to toss dynamites around. Aunty Mel was nearby as their back-up.

Sir Vantes led the charge of Hermits, Bruce and Uncle Bogg from Bayou bottom branching flank. They just had to cut through Madame Sybelle to follow through. Easy, right?

Turn 2:

Only thing more annoying than to tie up a Buckaroo is to tie up two Buckaroos. It was a weird mess how that panned out, but eventually Rabble Riser and Bete Noire managed to kill one. Take Prisoner target took a run towards bottom-left quarter, but fortunately it was well within Rotten Belle's reach to go and engage.

Aunty Mel killed Flesh Construct without breaking a sweat, and picked White Rabbit Company her next target. Hastily they sewed a hat for Madame Sybelle before trying to get as far from action as possible. I think they also beckoned Aunty Mel within 2" of Madame. At least they attempted that.

However, they would have needed to take both action points as walks away, as they were shot to pieces by Hermits and Clampetts. The Fisherfolk are also a scary good schemer, as they were able to leap, interact and end their activation to score reveal condition of Search the Ruins.

As I had been losing my turf markers left and right, Rotten Belle to the right and Gravedigger had to dedicate their activations to get a turf marker in a hard to reach place of bottom-right quarter.

So, scores went 2-2 as both players got strategy, Resurrectionists Take Prisoner and Bayou Search the Ruins.

Turn 3:

Prisoner Buckaroo disengaged from Rotten Belle, and I considered my chances about catching a model able to walk 18" a turn, take a 3" move whether I landed or missed a Lure, and able to push enemy models away with a tactical action. Good riddance, Buckaroo. Rotten Belle lured Rabble Riser closer for it to go and claim top-left quarter as Madame's turf. This also let Bete Noire to walk to enemy deployment zone and plant a scheme for Breakthrough.

Center brawl drained my resources. There were so many Anglers around, and annoyingly enough they were dealing damage only one point at a time, so they succeeded in creeping beneath Assassinate range of health. 

Aunty Mel took some good damage from Madame Sybelle, but Aunty wasn't too shabby damage blocker with soulstones either. Carrion Effigy had tried to come and somewhat restrict that, but it only had a point of health left. Sir Vantes broke the effigy to its components.

Rotten Belle on right re-took bottom-right quarter, and Gravedigger rushed towards Bayou deployment zone. Uncle Boggs had charged Madame Sybelle earlier in the turn, but had an emergency push towards Gravedigger by heroic intervention from Sir Vantes.

Clampetts had placed a scheme to a brick wall and leaped to a bigger rock formation to secure a second terrain piece for Search the Ruins end condition.

Prisoner Buckaroo had run into contact with bottom-left quarter strategy marker, but didn't have the action points to interact. Bayou did get Assassinate reveal condition, but so did Resurrectionists get Breakthrough and strategy point. It was a 4-3 lead for Resurrectionists! 

Turn 4:

In the ceter it was finally time for Madame Sybelle to fall, perhaps because opponent ran out of cards and had I cheated a little higher card, opponent would have had to shuffle deck for just one card. And look at that, moderate wound with one negative modifier. Ah well. Lesson learned. But she sure tanked like a pro in this match, and maybe even could have made it to last round.

Uncle Boggs charged Gravedigger, but dealt only two points of damage. Gravedigger then dug up a corpse and went to take a closer look - away from melee - and now able to interact a scheme. Bete Noire was doing the same at the top lane of Bayou deployment.

Rabble Riser tried to run and stun someone with his challenge, but Anglers cared little about the punk zombie.

Buckaroo got bottom-left quarter for Anglers and went into contact with another brick wall, and Clampetts walked and leaped to a crypt of sorts, tagging third terrain with a scheme marker. 

Rotten Belle at left made a futile attempt at running towards prisoner Buckaroo just to do something at least. She was essentially out of game anyway.

Bayou evens the scores to 4-4 tie with a strategy point.

Turn 5:

Game was pretty much done for at the center, top-left, bottom-left and bottom-right quarters, but there were some exciting elements going on in the top-right quarter. 

Well, center ties into that when Rabble Riser had walked and charged to try to kill Aunty Mel to neutralize bottom-left marker, burning through my hand in the process. 

Uncle Bogg also forced me to cheat and discard cards to protect Gravedigger. The Angler henchman managed to score Slow on Gravedigger that took away the option for me to score a surprise third strategy point and deny opponent one point, although truth be told - that somehow escaped my attention at the time. But with two action points Gravedigger would have been able to flip top-right strategy marker for Resurrectionists. Then he'd only have to survive Richard's charge attack without soulstones or cards in hand, easy!

However, by then I didn't even have enough cards in hand to get past Uncle Bogg's chatty. Not to mention overbearing stench of Richard, who was finally summoned into the game into contact with Gravedigger. Getting stunned would have messed up the digger's corpse inspection push.

So, Anglers scored strategy and both schemes, while Resurrectionists just got their Breakthrough for a grand total of 7-5 for Anglers.

Quit it, Richard!

 A 35ss practice game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Standard Turf War

Schemes: Detonate Charges, Harness Ley Lines, Assassinate, Vendetta, Hold Up Their Forces

My list:

Madame Sybelle with Grave Spirit Touch & Carrion Effigy
Bete Noire
Flesh Construct
Gravedigger
2x Rotten Belle

Pool:2
Schemes: Detonate Charges, Vendetta (Bete Noire on Aunty Mel)

Opponent had:

Clampetts, Fisherfolk & Bruce
Aunty Mel
Uncle Bogg
Sir Vantes
Buckaroo

Pool: 3
Schemes: Harness Ley Lines, Assassinate

Turn 1:

What's this? New player starting in this city? So, time to craft a 35 point list with Madame Sybelle. Since there was Assassinate in pool, I decided not to make that one all too easy and upgraded my henchman master with Grave Spirit Touch.

Rotten Belles turned turf markers to Resurrectionists, while Anglers turned their left marker with a Buckaroo. 

Buckaroo had Aunty Mel backing him up, but remainder of gremlins were either in the middle or going for it.

Uncle Bogg had moved Sir Vantes quite a bit up the board already, so Bete Noire charged him to shake things up. She managed to deal two points in through armor before Fading Away from Filthy Spear's strike.

Bruce healed Sir Vantes and drooled up a pool.

Flesh Construct made its likely most successfull projectile vomits up to date by scoring a severe against Sir Vantes, blasting through Bruce and Uncle Bogg. 

Madame Sybelle had taken hiding position behind a pile of crates, but was moved away from her cover by either Sir Vantes or Clampetts. Both kept attacking her, but Gravedigger was there to heal about half of the damage being done.

Turn 2:

Rotten Belle on the left did three points of damage to Buckaroo. The two picked up a fight, but Belle was not impressed by the rodeo. 

Madame Sybelle tried to kick the drooling puppy, but botched the strike and left the abomination standing with one or so health. 

Boggs or Sir Vantes moved Bruce about to drop a scheme marker on centerline. Sure enough that happened, but Carrion Effigy was able to siphon that dog-fish-thing off the board with a focused shot. 

Attacks in the middle kept failing by both sides of the game so there was nothing to report. Gravedigger crafted another launch pad fo Bete Noire and placed a scheme marker for Detonate Charges before walking on top of it. 

Bete Noire had charged herf vendetta target, but scored only two wounds. Rotten Belle on the right failed both Lures at Flesh Construct, so instead of detonating charges the thing just kept flailing at Sir Vantes.

Both players scored strategy, but no scheme reveals were made.

Turn 3:

Rotten Belle on left nearly killed the Buckaroo. The thing was at one health remaining after she stopped swinging her parasol. However, then Aunty Mel activated and slapped casual six points of damage to Bete Noire. Good thing I had used Fade Away. Next he showed the ropes for Buckaroo and healed it with Red Joker.cAnd here for a moment I thought I had been making progress...

Larger trio of Boggs, Sir Vantes and Clampetts stoped fooling around and killed both Gravedigger and Flesh Construct. This neutralized both of my strategy markers. Buckaroo managed to get to interact with bottom-left strategy marker, giving a strategy point for Bayou.

Scores were still even, though, as Carrion Effigy landed a lucky shot against Aunty Mel. Afterwards, Bete Noire did not take kindly being called a White Whale, and would have knifed Aunty dead if it hadn't been for a moderate damage block. This got Vendetta for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Uncle Bogg summoned Richard, and those plus Sir Vantes avenged Aunty Mel that had been beckoned by Madame Sybelle to her death by damaging the henchman master enough to score Assassinate.

Buckaroo ran to bottom-right strategy marker, and was quickly engaged by another Rotten Belle there.

Clampetts leaped away from melee to deal with Harness Ley Lines. That she did, but also opened up Detonate Charges for me by Rotten Belle and Bete Noire that had earlier been buried by some non-damaging action.

Neither player scored strategy, but Resurrectionists got Detonate Charges, while Bayou snatched Assassinate and Harness Ley Lines. This gave gremlins the lead at 4-3.

Turn 5:

And for a stylish ending, Richard somehow managed to execute Madame Sybelle. This left Uncle Bogg free to deliver Sir Vantes to centerline for scheme markers and to interact with center strategy marker.

Clampetts were able to deliver another two markers to centerline, while Bete Noire that had buried again just ran away to table corner to get Vendetta end.

Scores went 7-4 for Bayou.

Sword Hat Trick

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Corner Stuff the Ballots

Schemes: Sweating Bullets, Espionage, In Your Face, Hold Up Their Forces, Take Prisoner

My list:

Ensouled Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Hans
The Ferryman
Auguste Hart
Crooked Man
Drowned

Pool: 6
Schemes: Sweating Bullets (Montresor), In Your Face

Opponent had:

Colette Du Bois & 3x Mechanical Doves
Cassandra Felton
Shadowlark
Coryphee Duet
Angelica Durand
Blackbird
2x Showgirl

Pool: 0
Schemes: Espionage, Sweating Bullets (Cassandra Felton)

Turn 1:

Performers started performing right off the bat - Coryphee Duet was delivered some 28" inches from one corner of the board to another. While that could have been a relief, there were now two ballot boxes guarded by Coryphee Duet. Not gonna challenge those, yeah.

Shadowlark and a Showgirl were going towards the bottom two strategy markers, while remaining performer troupe were tromping towards marker in the center. 

Blackbird, another Showgirl and Cassandra Felton were out there in the open, however, not quite close enough to Hans' clockwork rifle. Hans just took a little walk to the edge of a cargo container to start shooting next turn.

Jack Daw, however had taken a double walk to inaudibly whisper to a Mechanical Dove. Dove was not impressed, but showgirls beckoned poor Jack's ensouled mind and walked him right next to Cassandra Felton. So, Coryphee Duet was not the only model that was flinged over 24 inches this turn by performers. 

So, at the end of first turn, remaining Tormented models were lagging dangerously far behind. Ferryman had managed to Black Joker its Lost In the Fog against Montresor. This had repercussion for the next turn, so let's go there.

Turn 2:

Cassandra started by nimbling past Jack Daw, suspiciously engaging Tormented master within 6" of center point.

As I did not know opponent had Sweating Bullets on Cassandra, I tried to figure out a way to deliver Montresor to Cassandra. But, if Ferryman used Lost in the Fog to move Montresor close enough to get to Cassandra, I most certainly would not get strategy points this turn. So thanks, Black Joker on turn one. 

In the end, I chose strategy points that Ferryman went to pick. 

Jack Daw, though, managed to land some Anger Issues on Cassandra, and then walz past Blackbird and Showgirl with Burst of Speed. Draw Them In also dealt a point of damage to Showgirl. I had been saving a one of rams from first turn in my hand just for Hans, and he was able to snipe off Showgirl from the board. Let's call that the sniper rifle trick.

However, next Colette did a sword trick on Jack Daw. Well, that only buried Tormented master, but I did groan inside a little when I looked at my Espionage bluff scheme marker - my only scheme marker - on my deployment zone. 

Unfortunately that was not the only trick this turn saw - Shadow Lark Red Jokered a surprise shot trick against Drowned, killing it in two shots. Shadowlark's backup dancer was then able to go and place a vote on center-left box. 

Coryphee Duet was able to place three votes, one to top-right and one to center-right strategy marker. 

Montresor was able to slow and stagger Cassandra with a tossed noose. A Mechanical Dove had flown to block Montresor, but Lady Ligeia, the melee monster we all know and love, was able to remove that blockage. 

Both players scored strategy.

Turn 3:

Montresor started turn by charging Cassandra. She had only three health remaining after that. 

After what had happened to Jack Daw I wasn't exactly feeling secure that Montresor would still stand there, engaging Cassandra in the end phase, so I decided to unbury Jack Daw, take a double walk and charge Cassandra. The only killable cost 8 model died, so I had to take In Your Face as soon as possible.

And, sure enough, soon Montresor was standing next to Colette, and where one Montresor stood was now Angelica Durand. And Auguste Hart was sword tricked off the board before he had activated. This, at least, gave him a chance to remove that failed bluff scheme marker from my deployment zone. 

A Mechanical Dove flew next to Hans and started being Annoying. I was impressed. That was actually effective use of Annoying rule. It just takes an insignificant model with Puny to meaningfully pull off. If Hans wanted +10" range, he needed to concentrate - which would only give him Distracted from Annoying. So, no +10" range. Also, his field guide referencing would be next to useless, too. 

Coryphee Duet walked and charged The Ferryman, and hilariously enough Red Jokered it down to one health remaining. Then the thing just split up into two. Ferryman, who was distracted, had one chance to kill the un-activated Coryphee, and obviously it just failed that. Coryphee killed the enforcer. 

Hans was able to demote one of the Coryphees into a mannequin.

Crooked Man crooked hard against odds against charging Shadowlark and voting Showgirl. It survived, although he did fail every single one of his own actions, though.

Blackbird was speeding towards my deployment corner, so, and Espionage it was. As if that wasn't clear enough from five or so scheme markers in a pool where only one scheme required markers. 

Outcasts had not placed even a single vote this turn, but Arcanists got their second strategy point. Points were still 2-2, though, thanks to killing Cassandra In Your Face.

Turn 4:

If game had not been ridiculous enough as of yet, things were about to change. 

Colette sword-tricks Montresor back to my deployment zone, as Angelica had been able to remove the scheme I had placed in the center to be a homing beacon for Montresor. 

Montresor walked and charged Blackbird, but only managed to drop another scheme marker thanks to Set the Scene. 

I had been carefully waiting for opponent to burn through his control hand so that Hans would have his best shot at injuring Blackbird seriously enough.

So, he took a shot. Attack dealt a point of damage through Shielded +1, but opponent drew Get Off the Stage straight from the deck. So, Hans was teleported near center. He still had LoS to Blackbird, though, so he took another shot. Two points in, and again Get Off the Stage from top of deck. So Hans was taking snap shots at Blackbird while getting teleported from scheme marker to scheme marker. 

Jack Daw couldn't figure out a way to meaningfully contribute to scoring, so he went to kill a Coryphee. At least he managed to do just that. 

Crooked Man crooked even harder than last turn, as neither Showgirl nor Shadowlark were able to kill that Df 4 model who was at three health remaining. Yay! Go, Crooked Man!

However, Outcasts were not able to score any points that turn. Arcanists got a strategy point, as well as Espionage reveal. Points went 4-2 for Arcanists.

Turn 5:

So... Montresor had one turn to run about 38" for In Your Face. I might have a shot at Sweating Bullets, but not at scenario. Arcanists had potential for all three points. We ended the game, as even if I somehow denied all three points from Arcanists and scored my maximum of one, I'd still lose.