My First Very Own Ratsplosion

 Two 50ss games of Malifaux

Game 1:

Strategy: Flank Break the Line

Schemes: Catch and Release, Breakthrough, Spread Them Out, Assassinate, Bait and Switch

My list:

Leveticus, the Pariah with Servant of Dark Powers & 2x Hollow Waif
Rusty Alyce
Johan Creedy
Soul Battery
Scavenger
2x Necropunk
2x Abomination

Pool: 4
Schemes: Catch and Release (Necropunk Standing), Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

Hoffman the Inventor & Mechanical Attendant
Melissa KORE
Peacekeeper
2x Hunter
2x Watcher
Medical Automaton

Pool: 4
Schemes: Spread Them Out, Assassinate

Turn 1:

I somehow had misread Leveticus's card horribly, and for whatever reason I was thinking he had Armor +1. This lead to me severely overestimating his durabilitiy. So before game even began, he heralded himself inside forest, all way too close to a Hunter and Hoffman himself.

Eventually Leveticus went to strategy marker, moved it next to himself on the opposing table side and put a scheme marker for Spread Them Out. 

Hoffman laser beamed Leveticus for three points of damage, and the Hunter landed another three with a Red Joker on damage. Though the damage block had been a severe, Leveticus was already down to half of his health remaining!

Other than that both crews played it safe. In or near Leveticus' quarter there was Hollow Waif, Catching and Releasing Necropunk, Abomination and Soul Battery against Hoffman, Hunter and a Watcher.

In the center Johan and Rusty Alyce were slowly getting themselves towards center to face Peacekeeper, Medical Automaton and perhaps Melissa. 

And to the top-right quarter we had the rest, Scavenger, Necropunk, Abomination and Hollow Waif facing Hunter, Watcher and Mechanical Attendant.

Turn 2:

No masks in starting hand for Necropunk leaps, but surely things would change over the course of this turn? 

Abomination went to throw a strategy marker to Hoffman, hopefully trading action points with a master. And it succeeded... kind of. Hoffman did walk and throw the thing back to the centerline, but he also lasered Leveticus down to three health remaining. Leveticus sheepishly trotted away and went to pick a fight for someone his own size - a Watcher. He did get the heal trigger, but that just wasn't enough to deny opponent a possible assassination.

Watcher disengaged and went into contact with strategy marker Leveticus had moved last turn, and Hunter tried to do some damage in to Leveticus - fortunately failing with that.

Medical Automaton ran to base contact with Hoffman's strategy marker.

Soul Battery went to drop Desperation on Catch and Releasing Necropunk, just in case. 

Melissa, Peacekeeper, Mechanical Attendant and even Hunter top-right spent their activations both advancing and shooting Scavenger that was in melee with Hunter. And eventually they managed to do it before Scavenger had even activated. 

Watcher top-right did schemes and flew towards my deployment zone. 

So, after all the studied opponents and whatnot, I still didn't have any masks in my hand for Necropunk leaps even when they were left as the very last models to activate. 

Necropunk top-right had concentrated earlier, and spent his Focused to attempt leap with two cards. Nope. So instead he just scraped Hunter for a bit.

But the more important Necropunk below used his Focus for a leap, too. Nope. But he was able to cheat from top of deck with Desperation. Aaaand... nope. No Catch and Release for me this turn, or even a single additional scheme marker.

Fortunately my models had given Augmented hard time while getting killed, so they had not been able to deliver even one strategy marker to my side, unlike Leveticus. However, Hoffman was able to reveal Assassinate for a 1-1 tie. 

Turn 3:

... and then came the turn when everybody just exploded. Hunter top-right? Gone. Watcher bottom-left? Gone thanks to 3x Soul Reaping. Medical Automaton? Dead. Peacekeeper? No more. 

That might have looked good if Amalgam didn't also lose Necropunk top-right, both Abominations and Johan Creedy. 

Points-wise Augmented took a leap, and pretty much claimed strategic victory, as I had only four models left that were able to interact. 

But, Necropunk did get to Hoffman to score Catch & Release. Opponent got their first strategy point, and even Spread Them Out on top of that for a 2-3 lead for Guild.

Turn 4:

Outcasts got the initiative, and Necropunk leaped the heck away from Hoffman. He did drop a scheme marker for Spread Them Out, which was a mistake as both Hoffman and Melissa pursued him. They didn't get the little guy, but he did went down to two health remaining.

Rusty Alyce had been a total beast throughout this game, killing Mechanical Attendant and getting the second Watcher down to one health remaining, as well as dealing most damage in to Peacekeeper. So that gave a little hope for the remaining match.

But, Hunter bottom-left managed to pounce on Leveticus's chest, thus engaging him and denying him double walk + interact for third Spread Them Out marker. 

Hollow Waif tried to come and remove the construct that was now at one health remaining, but even with focus and bonuses from Entropic Siphon, she didn't get the kill. Leveticus had to smack the thing, buying two Rams with now plentiful Fate tokens. Essentially he healed four points, again being almost full health.

But you know what else was actually full? My table side, with ALL the strategy markers. 

Outcasts get no points, while Guild claimed second strategy point for a 2-4 lead.

Turn 5:

After Hoffman mauled my scheme runner and rudely bulldozed the scheme marker it had placed, Leveticus ditched the idea of Spread Them Out. 

That was 50% of activations available for Guild, though, as they only got Melissa and the master on board. Hollow Waif had shot the second Watcher dead by now. 

However, neither did I have enough significant models for, well, pretty much anything. But at least Rusty Alyce was able to lob one strategy marker past centerline, and Leveticus did the same for a surprise comeback... of one point. Though Guild didn't get any more points, they still won with result of 3-4

Game 2:

Strategy: Standard Turf War

Schemes: Catch and Release, Detonate Charges, Death Beds, Claim Jump, Vendetta

My list:

Hamelin & 3x Stolen
Nix
Benny
Hans
Fumigator
Tunnel Rats
Obedient Wretch
Malifaux Child

Pool: 5
Schemes: Detonate Charges, Vendetta (Hans on Mr. Graves)

Opponent had:

Lynch Dark Bet & Hungering Darkness
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Graves
KOTO
2x Illuminated
Beckoner
Tanuki

Pool: 3
Schemes: Detonate Charges, Vendetta (KOTO on Fumigator)

Turn 1:

I deployed Hans to top-right corner slightly inside a building along with all the Stolen. I waited and waited his activation so that I might possibly get a good shot at something - perhaps Mr. Graves already - all the while building up a Rat King with Hamelin, Benny, Fumigator, Nix and Tunnel Rats. 

And lo, Hamelin was able to lure Mr. Graves quite a bit forward, eventually. But it was then that Hungering Darkness did a freaking triple walk to get to Hans. Uh. I did not anticipate that. To make matters worse, Hans failed to disengage twice, moving 0" with the first, and only 2" with the second attempt. 

Uh oh. 

Other than that, Malifaux Child went to flip bottom-right turf marker for Outcasts.

On the opposing side, Beckoner did the same bottom-left, where she was hanging around with Kitty Dumont. Lynch, who had pulled Hungering Darkness a little closer, was nearby with an Illuminated bodyguard.

Thanks to Hamelin's lure, Mr. Graves was way past the centerline. KOTO, Illuminated and Tanuki were holding top-left quarter. 

Turn 2:

... aaaand there went my two points. Hans got smacked off the board with just two attacks by Hungering Darkness. 

So that was super devastating. Fortunately there was some unexpected developments throughout the turn that still kept me in game. Mainly, Nix doing Nix things. 

Benny and Nix both attempted to maul Mr. Graves, but opponent managed to keep him alive with the help from KOTO, Tanuki and even Jakob Lynch himself. In turn, most of those models were also beating up Nix, who kept on hanging by the thread. This did take most of my soulstones, though. 

Eventually Hamelin had to lure both Nix and Benny away from the melee with Mr. Graves, as the amount of black blood getting spilled was going to get prohibitive. Kids with their vomiting disease and Obedient Wretch with bleeding disease managed to kill off the bouncer. 

Fumigator placed both scheme markers for Detonate Charges on a top-left Illuminated.

In the center, Kitty Dumont ran to center marker, so it was being held by both Lynch and Kitty. 

The other Illuminated managed to pull off a charge against Nix, but not killing the puppy. Right after Rat King tore the minion to pieces. I'm not sure if I've ever seen such a performance from Rat King... but that Focus+2 and Strength In Numbers certainly adds up!

Tunnel Rats and Malifaux Child went next to a building in the bottom-right quarter to perhaps teleport to bottom-left quarter one turn, as there was only Beckoner challenging both these models now. 

So, both players scored strategy, but Outcasts also got their Detonate Charges for a 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

Ten Thunders really hated that dog. 

Lynch, KOTO and even Hungering Darkness tried to slap the last few remaining damage points in to Nix, but opponent kept failing enough flips so that Nix had the insolence not to die second turn in a row.

This gave Fumigator free reign to flip top-right turf for Plague, as he was no longer engaged. 

Rat King went to engage remaining Illuminated, and nearly killed its second model. They didn't, but neither did the Illuminated remove Rat King.

Tanuki and Kitty claimed the center turf and dropped scheme markers there.

Beckoner took a double walk right next to bottom-right turf marker. That was time for Malifaux Child to teleport to bottom-left turf marker and flip it neutral. Tunnel Rats were then able to overpower Beckoner with two strikes from the mining tools. 

Both players scored strategy, for a 3-2 continuation in Hamelin's favor.

Turn 4:

Nix proved to be quite the survivor. I activated the dog early to get him away from bottom-left quarter to save that turf. I guess Lynch and Hungering Darkness figured out that killing the dog was not in their best interested, and removed Benny Wolcomb instead. Illuminated and KOTO did the same for Rat King.

Malifaux Child claimed bottom-left turf, while Tunnel Rats teleported right next to Tanuki and started to shoot Tanuki with a trench gun. 

Once it got to Hamelin's activation, I had the choice to either try to prevent scheme points from what looked like Detonate Charges setup against Nix, or kill Tanuki with a rat bomb. 

I never say no to a guaranteed Tanuki kill. 

So, Ten Thunders scored their Detonate Charges, but Outcasts got third strategy point for  a 4-3 lead.

Turn 5:

We didn't play the entire turn, as a key piece for any points died. Or, a couple did, in fact. I just didn't know that the Illuminated was one with Vendetta against Fumigator. Nix bit the Illuminated dead.

But what eventually ended the game was Obedient Wretch and a Stolen meeting their inevitable end of getting consumed from within by a total of four rats. Hamelin succeeded to surround Kitty with Malifaux Rats thanks to Unclean Influence, and then had enough successess to use Pustulent Tumors a total of four times right next to Kitty.

I don't think I have ever seen so many Pustulent Tumors happening all at once. Yikes.

That essentially ended game with a 5-3 victory for Outcasts.

I seek the moly land

 A friend visited over, and since it had been almost a year since our last Kingdom Death campaign found it's conclusion, we started a new one.

Prologue went fine-ish. One survivor died, the permanent strength survivor survived, no crippling severe injuries. 

Settlement phase, however, was phenomenal.

Moly, the dead survivor from prologue, was commemorated in the name of the settlement, which was from then on called The Moly Land. 

Prologue rewards included two love juices, and starting population was thirteen. After the very first moment of intimacy between people of the settlement, Xenia was born. Raised as a stark raving warrior, she was to be the future leader and hero of the Moly Land. 

I suppose survived considered Xenia stark raving, because she was always talking about this utterly weird nonsense concept - death. Only three prologue survivors had witnessed death, and one of them was ogling the lantern hoard without talking to anyone. 

So it was easy for the settlement to Accept Darkness as their society principle. And that was when Xenia really got more fuel for her fire, when she became the Orator of Death. She was adamant on enlightening the settlement on matters of death and dying.

Settlement developed Symposium.

Lantern Year 1:  Xenia and a bunch of others hunted for level 1 White Lion. Bone Dagger and Bone Darts were the only weapons on top of Founding Stones. No wonder, then, that survivors were absolutely useless in attacking the beast. Fortunately White Lion didn't fare much better. It took a while, but eventually White Lion kicked the bucket. 

Rewards were utterly useless, though. At least settlement was able to develop Catgut Bow and some more rawhide armor pieces. Settlement developed Paint.

Gorm Climate forced hunters to skip next hunt, so Xenia was out when Moly Land set out to hunt for Gorm. 

Lantern Year 2: Open Maw Gorm level 1

We actually felt compassion for the Gorm. Its performance was so, so pitiful that it felt wrong to kill the giant baby headed beast. The beast just kept body-checking everyone and even missed most of those attacks. 

Once again survivors got a bunch of Love Juice. However, they were not used as Senaus, one of the prologue survivors, had become Matchmaker. Instead, after some Gormchymy settlement managed to snatch Wisdom Potion from abstinence. 

Since returning survivors were again denied further hunt, settlement bloated the innovation deck with Hovel so they'd not have to suffer that result again.

Lantern Year 3: Dark Dentist: Gorm level 1

Xenia leads her second hunting party, this time against Gorm. And while the showdown went rather well up until the last quarter of it, this showdown was the first time Xenia used the Orator of Death ability. That was a bad omen. Bad, bad omen. Because then a reaction caused Gorm to attack Xenia, deal a double hit which were none other than the dreaded double head. 

Well, she had Tough, so at least she had a pretty good chance of surviving with a 4+, with a re-roll?  

Nope. With her last words she encouraged the remaining survivors by telling them that this, this is the real meaning of death - while being decapitated by Gorm.

Gorm was put down, and Moly Land celebrated with death principle.

Lantern Year 4: Acid Storm

Year three was the last we got the time to play this time around. 

A quick list of development of Moly Land:

Innovation:

Language, Symposium, Paint, Hovel, Ammonia, Nigredo, Albedo

Locations:

Lantern Hoard, Skinnery, Organ Grinder, Bone Smith, Catarium, Gormery, Gormchymist

Principles:

Survival of the Fittest, Graves, Accept Darkness

Gear:

4x Cloth, 3x Founding Stone
Stone Noses
Bone Darts, Bone Dagger
Lucky Charm
Catgut Bow
Acid Tooth Dagger, Wisdom Potion
Rawhide Head, Vest, Gloves, Boots
Bandages

Resource:

3x Broken Lantern
Scrap
???
Perfect Bone
Acid Gland
Stout Heart
Handed Skull

Oriax vs Zahara

 A 50 point game of Warmachine on War Table.

My list:

Oriax the Soul Slaver with Redline and Windstorm
-Molok
-Ravener
-Jackal with Arc Node, Dispel Mace and Claw
Assault Reavers + Standard
Grhotten Keeper
Reaver Commander

Cards: Careful Recon, Blessing of the Gods, Duck and Cover, Lucky Penny, Old Faithful

Opponent had:

Kapitan Zahara Vilkul with Avenging Force, Iron Flesh and Superiority
-2x Great Bear with Aggressive, Battle Mace, Heavy Cannon Shield
2x Winter Korps Autocannon Infantry + Standard
2x Winter Korps Officer

Cards: Blessing of the Gods, Careful Recon, For the Motherland, Lucky Penny, Old Faithful

Khador did a straightforward iron fist attack with heavies at the center and squishy infantry at the flanks. Iron Flesh went on one Great Bear, Superiority on the other.

Orgoth filled up Ravener, which was sent to handle 50mm objective. Assault Reavers screened Oriax and Molok. Reaver commander was hiding in the woods at 40mm marker, while Jackal and Grhotten Keeper were warming themselves up right behind burning cloud. 

Much to my surprise Khador ditched scenario play altogether and jammed center with both infantry units. Great Bear with superiority was inside dense fog in the center, along with Zahara. Iron Fleshed Great Bear took cover behind burning terrain.

I tried to clear up a charge lane for Molok to get to superior Great Bear. My number of available attacks was relatively low, so I guess I should be happy that out of thirteen infantry models that were hanging around in the middle only five stood up after Oriax and his pals were done.

Jackal managed to critically dispel Iron Flesh from Great Bear, but he and Grhotten Keeper had to enter the burning terrain and take the continuous effect. 

In the end, Reaver Commander failed to kill the one critical model that stood in the way of Molok's charge. Oriax had used feat, put Redline on Molok and moved him around by 2". However, Molok had to walk up to a Winter Korps grunt, smack him with abyssal mace and teleport to Great Bear. Khadoran jack was left with eight damage boxes remaining after Molok had used all of his attacks, so that one free charge could have been crucial. Oh well

Despite Star-Crossed Khador didn't have much of a trouble trashing both Molok and Jackal, but now Zahara looked available for assassination if Orgoth would be able to remove Winter Korps meatwall first.

Oriax went incorporeal and charged a Korpsman, took soul from it and teleported Ravener for a bit. 

Molok had earlier possessed superior Great Bear to strike at Zahara, which had left the Khadoran warcaster with ten boxes remaining. Turned out that Ravener wasn't even needed - two Assault Reavers got to Zahara, did a combined melee attack and slapped exactly ten points in. 

Victory for the Orgoth.

Laugh Off Standoff

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Corner Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Hold Up Their Forces, Power Ritual, Outflank, Death Beds, Information Overload

My list:

Seamus Baker & Copycat Killer
Strange Lady
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire
White Rabbit
Gravedigger
Rotten Belle

Pool: 5
Schemes: Power Ritual, Outflank

Opponent had:

Shenlong & 2x Aspiring Student
Sensei Yu
Fuhatsu
2x High River Monk
2x Wandering River Monk
Low River Monk

Pool: 3
Schemes: Death Beds (strategy), Outflank

Turn 1:

Monks had two strike teams of High River Monk, Wandering Monk and an Aspiring Student going to both corners, top-right and bottom-left. Top team was also reinforced with Low River Monk. High value monks and Fuhatsu were coming through from the middle. 

I had far less of a uniform crew. Copycat Killer and Gravedigger were going towards bottom-right, and after White Rabbit Co. crafted a hat for Bete Noire, both she and Rotten Belle were going towards top-right. 

Madame Sybelle walked inside a forest to take some concealment in case Fuhatsu would start shooting around. But instead Seamus charged from behind and stabbed Madame in the back, dropping a new Mourner on the board. Fuhatsu eventually shot a couple of damage points to the newly summoned model.

Mourner nearer to centerline as well as center point, and Strange Lady healed all the damage Seamus had done. No intel was picked this turn, which wasn't exactly a surprise with corner deployment.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and Bete Noire went to place a scheme marker for Outflank and Power Ritual before High River Monk would activate. Soon enough it did, and had Bete Noire down to two health remaining, plus Burning +2. But the hat had not been knocked over.

A little too enthusiastic Wandering River Monk on top went to pick up intel from strategy marker, only to become counter-picked by Mourner. Rotten Belle also benefited from this by getting intel from the marker that was placed.

In the center Seamus had taken Mourner by the hand and crafted a new Dead Doxy out of her before picking up intel from a strategic bystander.

Sensei Yu and Shenlong were trying to kill off the Dead Doxy once it had walked next to a strategy marker, but Regrettably (yeah, via masks), she survived with two health remaining and Burning +2.

Strange Lady told Gravedigger to walk forward a bit toward bottom-left, and Gravedigger did so. He also dug up a corpse to get within 1" of strategy marker, picked up intel and walked away from the tide of monks about to crash bottom-left.

I was a bit worried that various punchy shenanigans would soon drain Seamus of his intel, so Copycat Killer took a double walk to dropped Seamus to bottom-left corner. And right after another High River Monk came to set Seamus on fire, while Wandering River Monk was picking up intel. From strategy marker, though.

Madame Sybelle took a long walk out of forest and went to sit on center-left strategy marker after Fuhatsu had activated. If I remember correctly, Fuhatsu shot Dead Doxy in a forest and took a walk to cover more of the board with that horrifying gun.

However, Resurrectionists got both Outflank and Power Ritual, although this left Bete Noire with only one health remaining, and burning. Both crews got strategy, and scores went 3-1.

Turn 3:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, so the now hatless, burning Bete Noire at one health remaining was able to get an activation. She did some damage in to High River Monk before becoming the first casualty of the match. The monk also placed a scheme marker to the corner,

Mourner was able to nearly kill High River Monk before an Aspiring Student four-wind punched Low River Monk nearby to heal the beatstick minion. Now at four health remaining, I didn't think Rotten Belle would be able to kill High River Monk, so she proceeded to smack Low River Monk with a parasol.

Wandering River Monk on top went to pick up an intel, and walked to engage Rotten Belle.

In the center, Sensei Yu scored Death Beds from Dead Doxy. Shenlong walked to pick up intel from a strategy marker, and possibly attempted to strike Copycat Killer.

Four Winds Punch that pushed Low River Monk had actually come from Sensei Yu pressuring the totem to do that. With his actual activation, Aspiring Student walked and charged Strange Lady that had earlier healed Seamus. Boom. Six damage in with that 1/1/2 damage track. Well okay, Shenlong had switched his upgrade to High River Style. 

Fuhatsu charged Madame Sybelle, stunning her and pushing away from melee. He tried to shoot Strange Lady for a bit. Next shot went to Strange Lady, fortunately only dealing weak damage but still bringing her down to two health remaining, Burning +2.

Madame Sybelle managed to lash Fuhatsu down to five health remaining despite being stunned. 

Bottom-right, early on Seamus spent his entire activation killing another High River Monk, before Copycat Killer switched their places and went to sit on a strategy marker. This caused Wandering River Monk to go to bottom-left corner and drop a scheme marker. Aspiring Student charged Copycat Killer, and managed to broom the Little Seamus below the carpet. 

Gravedigger had picked up another point of intel and distanced himself from the local monks.

Resurrectionists had managed to block intel points from Ten Thunders, but this turn Shenlong managed to score both of his schemes for a 4-3 lead for Seamus. Resurrectionists were also all out of soulstones by now.

Turn 4:

From top to bottom, Rotten Belle was able to kill Low River Monk before it healed High River Monk any more. Mourner harassed High River and Wandering River monks without that much of an effect. Wandering River Monk leaped to pick up an intel and ran towards top-right corner. 

Later during turn, Seamus took a double walk and took Mourner by the hand to deliver himself next to Wandering River Monk to collect his intel.

In the center, Shenlong didn't manage to do anything with his activation. White Rabbit's fashion statements beat martial arts this time. White Rabbit gave a hat for Strange Lady before they went into position to pick up intel next turn.

Strange Lady had killed Aspiring Student and healed herself before Sensei Yu walked and charged her, smacking her down to two health remaining and Burning +2 once more. 

One of my first activations had been Madame Sybelle trying to kill Fuhatsu, but she only brought the enforcer down to one health remaining before Juggernaut healed him for four. Le Sigh. 

Fuhatsu was able to stun and push Madame Sybelle again.

Bottom-left Gravedigger went inside fog bank. Aspiring Student came to harass him, while the other Wandering River Monk went to pick up intel.

Both players scored strategy for a 5-4 lead for Resurrectionists.

Turn 5:

Early enough Seamus and Mourner were able to deny opponent Outflank by killing Wandering and High River Monks. 

This, however, made the other Wandering River Monk reckless at bottom-left corner. Because there was no incentive for him to go and pick Outflank, he leaped to strike Gravedigger with the 3" push attack. Despite concealment the attack hit sure enough, and pushed Gravedigger mere 0.5" away from being able to score both Outflank and Power Ritual.

Opponent had picked up enough intel in the middle so that the best course of action for Gravedigger was to drop a corpse push & walk to Wandering River Monk and pick up his intel. This robbed Ten Thunders at least one point.

In the center, Shenlong Four Wind Punched Sensei Yu to strategy marker, and as the situation unfolded, the result of the game now hinged on whether Shenlong flipped a 6+ for The Dragon Command's It. He did not, so game ended in 5-4 victory for Seamus.