Worst Pinata Indeed

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th edition.

Strategy: Flank Collapsing Mines

Schemes: Assassinate, Breakthrough, Frame Job

My list:

McMourning, Insanitary & Corpse Curator
Sebastian
Rogue Necromancy
Rafkin
Kentauroi
2x Flesh Construct
2x Little Gasser

Pool: 4
Starting scheme: Breakthrough

Opponent had:

Jakob Lynch, Wildcard & Hungering Darkness
Gwyneth Maddox
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Graves
Mr. Tannen
2x Illuminated
Beckoner

Pool: 3
Starting Scheme: Frame Job on an Illuminated

Turn 1:

Well, I enjoyed grafting immensely. They're a fun, unique-feeling mechanic. Based just on one games for both titles, the crew upgrade system works really well in changing the entire crew. 

McMourning flipped top-right strategy marker to Resurrectionists, grafted two Flesh Constructs and end-of-activation graft went to Sebastian. One Flesh Construct lobbed a scheme marker 4" into deployment zone (with by Corpse Curator I think), walked and charged to Mr. Tannen at bottom-right strategy marker and tossed off his graft again as a scheme marker - to centerline, this time.

Mr. Tannen and Mr. Graves were both guarding the strategy marker, so Flesh Construct needed some real muscle to deal with the pair. Little Gasser flew in as a reinforcement.

Okay, Rogue Necromancy was on the lower half of my flank, but that one had... plans. Namely, the plan was to wait threatening models to activate, then take a double leap and an interact to drop a scheme marker to enemy deployment. Sure, that cost me two soulstones, but yikes that mobility is, again, utterly crazy. 

Honeypot wake up to the situation a tad too late, and Resurrectionists were able to score double Breakthrough.. An Illuminated eventually came to challenge Rogue, but points were already scored.

Center, though.

Lynch and Illuminated went together to the centerpoint, flipping the marker there for Ten Thunders. I decided to use Sebastian's graft to leap between Lynch and Illuminated, poisoning them. He injured Illuminated somewhat - enough that opponent revealed Frame Job. Oh well.

Soon after there were Gwyneth and Kitty at the center too. After they were done, Sebastian was still alive, but only barely. Two health. That was not ideal for a Big Gasser explosion, so the little guy that Sebastian had sawed off of Illuminated exploded, catching only Illuminated in radius. Instead of Sebastian, Illuminated, Kitty, Gwyneth and Lynch.

Illuminated died to the blast, after having been dealt damage by medically experimenting Rafkin. Flesh Construct was able to leap, walk and flip center strategy marker back to neutral.

Kentauroi was going to top-left, flipping the marker to Resurrectionists. However, Beckoner and Hungering Darkness walked to dominate the place, neutralizing the mine.

Scores went 3-2 for Resurrectionists, which meant top-right mine collapsed right away.

Turn 2:

After breaking through, McMourning found it imperative to take the high ground. Which probably wouldn't be too hard, provided Rogue Necromancy was already on one that was way past centerline.

Starting from bottom, Flesh Construct failed to land a hit on Mr. Tannen, and decided to screw the attempt and prepared Shielded for himself. I thought survival would be the best option here to contest strategy marker, but yeah, there was this Delirium thing that walked Flesh Construct effortlessly away with very first action Mr. Graves directed at it.

I don't quite remember what Mr. Tannen did, I suppose his actions weren't that successful then. One of them was to drop a scheme marker on centerline. Delirium triggered though, this time on Rogue Necromancy, falling the beast from top of terrain.

Rogue and Illuminated duked it out, neither managing to do anything useful to either. But Rogue Necromancy did leap back to the tent. 

In the center Sebastian died in two attacks by Gwyneth.

Rafkin did shenanigans, charging Flesh Construct and giving it poison and pushing Rafkin himself to engage Gwyneth and Kitty. All of the enemy models there had poison token, so Cloud of Fumes looked real nice right there.

I guess it could have been nice if enemy did any attacks. Which they didn't. Lynch may have attempted something, but the important bits were Lynch and Gwyneth dropping schemes on the centerline late in the turn. 

McMourning was throwing grafts left and right, and was doing so from top of a Sz3 tower. What a sight it must have been. Because of those Flesh Construct had been able to leap and interact with center vault, tagging it for Resurrectionists. 

On top Kentauroi flipped strategy marker back to green team and charged Hungering Darkness. It managed to deal respectable damage in to the totem before being obliterated by the target. Neutral marker, again. And now I had only Little Gasser contesting top-left quarter. 

That was until Beckoner flipped top-left marker for Ten Thunders and touched Little Gasser dead. Well it exploded sure enough.

Looked like I would need to sacrifice Corpse Curator to score strategy this turn. It attempted Control Graft on itself to make a free leap to top-left marker and yeah, it was no other than Black Joker that turned up. Such is the price of greed - should have just ditched that graft and double interact the strategy marker. 

Instead, Curator did graft control to Rafkin, who did a sepsis on Gwyneth. 

At least scores evened out to 5-5, so no more mines went missing. Ten Thunders had scored strategy and double Harness Ley Lines. Although now as I'm writing this I see that the scheme markers needed to have no enemy models within 2", but yeah, new rules and all that.

Turn 3: MURDER

McMourning had a breakthrough, and now he had the high ground. Time to assassinate Kitty. I even had the first activation. Rafkin used graft token to leap to Kitty, tagging Gwyneth again with poison. Flesh Construct also took a dose, but Rafkin tried to remedy that with a couple medical procedures performed on Kitty Dumont. Only one of them was a success, though, so Kitty was left with one health and Poison in hazardous terrain. Since crows came up during the procedure that hit, there was also a Little Gasser now. 

Lynch blasted Rafkin off the table with  a couple of Ante Up's, and had actions to spare to kill Flesh Construct too. 

Little Gasser exploded all over Gwyneth and Kitty, killing my assassination target, after which Mr. Graves removed the second Flesh Construct. 

Enraged at the destruction of all of his creations, McMourning climbed down from his high ground, charged Gwyneth and killed her. 

So many people dying. Let's have a breather. Hungering Darkness heals for a bit and takes a double walk to get on top of McMourning's earlier tower.

... and the killing continued. Corpse Curator gave itself a leap next to Beckoner, killed her with Ancient Injectors and flipped strategy marker to neutral. 

Whoa. Six models just gone like that. Or seven if we count the Little Gasser, and of course we do.

But finally the killing ended. Not for lack of trying, though. Rogue Necromancy wanted to leap to enemy strategy marker bottom-left, but since it would not have been able to interact at all, it instead tried to eat the Illuminated. Only one bit hit, but at least it delivered poison so that during end phase Illuminated was at one health remaining.

Mr. Tannen walked on top of a tent thing in bottom-right corner, and thus claiming double points from Take the High Ground. Resurrectionists got no strategy because of Don't Turn Your Back, so the scores went 8-6 for Ten Thunders, which prompted another mine collapse next to Mr. Graves.

Turn 4:

Mr. Graves attempted valiantly to go and mess up McMourning's activations, but that just wasn't enough. Graft tokens proved too versatile, and last turn's carnage too great. Resurrectionists were able to secure all three remaining strategy markers, and game ended in a  8-8 draw.

Second game thoughts? Well McMourning's crew cards certainly make a difference in play styles, which is great. But as of now the graft tokens do seem a little too versatile, but their concept is awesome. 

Honeypot as an adversary didn't feel like the Honeypot I used to know. Maybe they have lost some crew identity, as Gwyneth seemed to be the only model that actually affected the deck. But still, this was an interesting and hard fought game nonetheless.

I miss Richard

 The very first Malifaux 4th edition game.

Strategy: Corner Recover Evidence

Schemes: Assassinate, Scout the Rooftops, Take High Ground

My list:

Dr. McMourning, Malpractitioner & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Rogue Necromancy
Rafkin
2x Flesh Construct
2x Little Gasser

Pool: 4
Starting scheme: Scout the Rooftops

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 4
Starting scheme: Scout the Rooftops

Turn 1:

Oh boy, were there roofs to scout. Corner deployment did make getting bonus points difficult, but neither player had problems delivering those markers in place. I could have done that with excessive ease had I remembered Drag Behind from Little Gassers. But, I didn't, so a Flesh Construct had to walk to make a marker on top of a nearby building. Rogue Necromancy went to place the other, because, wow... Speed 7 and a bonus leap of 7" + base? I'm not sure if I'm okay with such mobility.

Buckaroo with hastened speed of 8 took a double walk to pick up strategy marker near Rogue Necromany's building. Somehow I'm okay with that, though. At least it took some set-up, and it wasn't on a 10-point murder machine.

Kentauroi had dragged Rafkin near centerline in the middle, and McMourning... again with speed 7... took a double walk to pick up strategy marker before anyone got any ideas about denial. 

Sir Vantes attempted to deny Kentauroi a peaceful life right after. Hastened and leaping from puddle to puddle, it was able to charge a bunch of damage in, which fortunately didn't have that much of an impact thanks to crew upgrade. 

Rafkin patched up Kentauroi as well as he could, which meant one point. Yaaaay.

Sebastian took a walk and a charge at Sir Vantes, popping out a Little Gasser out of Sir Vantes. 

Zombie Chihuahua and a Little Gasser got left behind after turbo moves from remaining crew. 

What about the Angler angle? Aunty Mel was the one who delivered a scheme on top of the high tower, while Mossbeard did the same to a multi-part building top-center. 

Clampetts began stomping about, accidentally stepping on a Little Gasser that exploded for a bit of damage and poison next to Sebastian, McMourning and Sir Vantes. 

Uncle Bogg, Skulker Skin and Hermits were approaching from left table edge, but what they had in mind was anybody's guess. 

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

Turn 2:

But this is where our scheme paths diverged. McMourning picked up assassination on Sir Vantes, and Clampetts proceeded to light the beacons instead. 

McMourning spent his entire activation trying to erase Sir Vantes, but after Douglas was done the knight was still standing with two hit points remaining, which went down to one right after. At least he wasn't able to kill Kentauroi, who in turn slapped Sir Vantes dead and harvested. It grabbed McMourning by the collar and rode away to sunset with the good doctor. Reason being that McMourning was already damaged and poisoned, and I needed time to figure out how to deal with that.

Sebastian went past centerline to drop a scheme marker for Frame Job, perhaps. 

Mossbeard told such a harrowing story for Kentauroi - yelled it far away from top of building no less - that killed the horse. I don't quite remember who picked up the intel, but I figure it was Clampetts, whose silurid stomping shenanigans are crazy. They also placed a scheme marker to a noose.

Aided by Uncle Bogg's shenanigans Skulker Skin was able to go and place a scheme marker past centerline, just a little over 10" away from Clampetts' scheme. And then there was Buckaroo, who took a triple walk to drop a scheme marker.

Zombie Chihuahua and Little Gasser ganged up on the Buckaroo. If you can call a yapping Chihuahua and the smelly kid asking to pull its finger "ganging up." A Flesh Construct came to add some projectile vomit to the mix. 

Buckaroo was nearly dead. And I wanted him dead, so Rogue Necromancy walked down from the scouted building and tried to leap to Buckaroo... twice. No luck.

Uncle Bogg came to contest the center. Rafkin managed to land poison on the henchman with charge attack, and even did serious damage with a medical procedure (that's how you're supposed to do it, right?) as well as popping a NASTY zit that turned out to be a Little Gasser. Somehow Sebastian was cured of poison by that spectacle. 

Hermits charged in to engage Sebastian, and Flesh Construct in the middle walked and charged to engage Aunty Mel. No damage thanks to cover.

Anyway, both players scored strategy and scheme, but Bayou managed to double down on lighting the beacons for a 5-4 lead.

Turn 3:

Frame Job was where it was at for me. Anglers, on the other hand, seemed to act  more coherently than a bunch of murderhobos. Looked like they had an agenda other than murdering people and framing murdering people. After lighting the beacons, they proceeded to harness ley lines.

With all their combined might, McMourning, Rafkin and Little Gassers barely managed to kill Uncle Boggs - a feat that was possible by misplaying new and improved hazardous terrain. It was kind of a bummer, as it affected scoring this turn, because Rafkin was able to pick up the ensuing strategy marker. 

Mossbeard went to convert Sebastian's scheme marker, which was annoying as by then Uncle Boggs was still alive, and I had planned for Rogue Necromancy to kill him. Instead, it black jokered its leap. Ah. Well, it attempted again, spent a stone and was able to make a scheme within 2" of Sebastian. And just in time, as Hermits landed a blow on Sebastian, thus securing Frame Job for me.

Aunty Mel dispatched Flesh Construct in the center. 

Zombie Chihuahua and Little Gasser were able to drop Buckaroo down to one health and Poisoned. 

Skulker Skin and Clampetts secured another two-point scheme for Bayou, but received no strategy this turn. Resurrectionists scored a two-point Frame Job and strategy for a 7-7 tie.

Turn 4:

Anglers had harnessed all the power they could, so it was nothing but strategy for them from now on. Resurrectionists, on the other hand, still had not caused mayhem enough and wanted to detonate charges on top of their slaughter.

Eventually the game boiled down to if Clampetts would get two strategy markers - then  I would need to kill Bruce who was at one or two health remaining and collect the strategy. Failing that was certainly a possibility - after all McMourning had already activated, trying to saw that fishdog in two halves. I could have tried to projectile vomit the dog once with Flesh Construct, leap next to Bruce with Rogue Necromancy with an empowered trigger, take a swing and interact.

But, it didn't come even that far as Clampetts botched their Silurid Stomp while they either had no cards in hand, or not high enough. Game ended 9-7 for Resurrectionists.

So... how did I like my first game of fourth edition? Game is still action packed with crucially important decisions at every turn, so that's good. The flow does feel different, however. This was the corner deployment, and yet even Experimental - not known for its base speed, although exceptions apply - was easily able to go past centerline on turn one. It does feel like movement has been overcompensated for requirement to score on turn one. 

Also, the ease of spawning more and more Little Gassers felt almost abusive. Okay, it can explode into your own face, like it happened with Sebastian and McMourning. But two points of damage feels like a lot especially when three models in keyword have that trigger, and the models can explode themselves the turn they come into play.

But all in all fourth edition shows potential for a faster Malifaux that still feels like what Malifaux means for me. 

Farewell to third

 A 50ss game of Malifaux...third edition, maybe I need to specify.

Strategy: Corner Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Protected Territory, Power Ritual, Outflank, Take Prisoner, Deliver a Message

My list:

Seamus & Copycat Killer
Strange Lady
Batsch & Amalie
Oskar
Gravedigger
Dapperling
Rotten Belle
Dead Dandy

Pool: 5
Schemes: Take Prisoner (A Showgirl), Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Colette DuBois & 3x Mechanical Doves
Carlos Vasquez
Altus Keene
Irena Keene
Angelica Durand
Blackbird
2x Showgirl

Pool: 3
Schemes: Power Ritual, Protected Territory

Turn 1:

Corner deployment saw only limited engagement between the crews. Although there was one cannon shot. Rotten Belle lured Copycat Killer forward for a bit, and Strange Lady obeyed the totem even further. Eventually this led to Seamus teleporting to top-right quarter, walking, picking up intel and shooting Irena, before walking into safer pastures. The attack hit fine, buuut there was this Black Joker that came up on the damage flip. 

Other than Seamus, only Dead Dandy was walking towards top-right quarter, where two strategy markers were. His arrogance was outmatched only by his overconfidence. Irena, Altus, Mechanical Dove and even a Showgirl were going in the same direction. Even Carlos Vasquez was relatively close, although he was closer to center point, where he put a pyre marker next to Seamus.

Prisoner Showgirl, Colette and another Mechanical Dover were hiding behind tall wall sections in a real close proximity. Blackbird and Angelica were with them, too, but not inside blast radius.

Rotten Belle was barely outside of deployment zone - Copycat Killer was inside deployment zone - and Gravedigger was just as clueless as what he should do.

Fungal gang had fully committed to going to bottom-left quarter, with Strange Lady slowly following them.

Turn 2:

Oh, second turn picture is out of focus. But from what I can gather, going from top to bottom, Seamus was transported back to center. Altus and Irena secured an intel point, and Dead Dandy ran to perhaps scheme and pick up strategy markers next turn. 

Altus and Irena had teased Seamus with Pyre markers before he got teleported, so there was two markers scorching Copycat Killer now. Tried as he might, Copycat Killer just could find the right cord to cut from Mechanical Dove that he was engaging.

Seamus tried to utilize his hand cannon to remove models near prisoner-to-be Showgirl, but for the second time in a row Seamus messed up his attack. Carlos, on the other hand, continued to spew pyres at Seamus this time at the center of the board.

Strange Lady, Gravedigger and Rotten Belle figured out how to pick up intel from an informant inside pyre marker, while Colette kept threatening fungal gang with stuns and whatnot. I think it was Seamus' gun that scared off Colette from the board this turn, so in that way there was at least a degree of success to his attack.

Anyway, before that, Colette had sword-tricked Oskar off the board. Batsch & Amalie were slowly dancing through a forest to pick up intel, and succeeded at that. Dapperling went to place a scheme marker for Protected Territory, but I couldn't figure out a way to put another marker.

Scores went 1-1, as both teams got strategy.

Turn 3:

Again from top to bottom, Dead Dandy planted a scheme for Protected Territory and charged to cane Mechanical Dove. Showgirl and Altus removed that marker as well as the Dandy.

Miraculously Copycat Killer survived the onslaught by Irena - although the totem got enough burning going on that he'd die during end phase. But still not quite willing to leave the entire top-right quarter for Performers free to roam, Copycat yeeted Seamus back there to contest. Before getting teleported Seamus had shot Blackbird off the board. My first recorded kill for the match. Yay.

Colette took position quite annoyingly within 2" of my prisoner target. 

I certainly tried to unpack that situation, but Colette was impervious to Rotten Belle's lures, and only a Mechanical Dove failed cordyceps check from Batsch & Amalie, who attempted to impress performers with their power of dance. Maybe anyone else would have been impressed, but after all these were professional performers. 

For the odd chance I'd score Take Prisoner, Gravedigger ran to engage Showgirl, but Colette just would not stop stepdancing. 

Angelica Durand went to remove Dapperling's scheme marker, and Oskar also had been laughed off the stage by Durand. 

Both players scored strategy for a 2-2 tie.

Turn 4:

Seamus finally got his cannon rolling, but that might have came a tad too late. But it certainly gave me some hope when Irena died to just one shot from Seamus' flintlock

But, there were still Showgirl and Altus scheming to no end. However, at least I managed to get Seamus standing on two strategy markers for the next turn.

Center was a mess thanks to Colette's stun shenanigans. 

I tried to launch Strange Lady at Colette in attempt to make her fade away, but that just didn't happen. 

Oskar and Batch & Amalie were busy collecting intel, so they couldn't contribute to trapping the center Showgirl. Dapperling also had to use his actions to push Oskar forward. 

Angelica and Carlos take positions at or near board corners, and there was little I could do to that. 

So, Arcanists scored both of their schemes, while Resurrectionists still got none. Both got their strategy points, however, for a 5-3 lead for Arcanists.

Turn 5:

Seamus picked up two intel and teleported off to place a scheme required for Protected Territory. Dapperling robber prisoner Showgirl of intel, and it was probably Oskar who picked the fourth point for the turn.

Gravedigger had placed a scheme under itself a few turns ago, so that was a check for Protected Territory end condition.

Prisoner showgirl also didn't take any steps away from the centerline, so that was also Take Prisoner for Resurrectionists. 

However, after all this I had ran completely out of activations to deny any points for Arcanists, so the - possibly last game of Malifaux third edition for me - ended with a 8-6 victory for Colette.

You Reap What You Seethe

 A 50pts game of Warmachine Mk4.

My list:

Cryx Dark Host
Goreshade the Bastard & Deathwalker
-Nightmare
-Reaper
-Seether
Bane Warriors + Officer & Standard
Pistol Wraith

Opponent had:

Khador Winter Korps
Tatiana Sikora
-Great Bear with Aggressive, Battle Mace and Cannon Shield
2x Man-O-War wrecking Crew
Winter Korps Infantry
Sergeant Sergei Krol
2x Battle Mechanik

Scenario was Best Laid Plans where 50mm objectives were lost.

It was certainly a bummer that 50mm objectives went off when I had over 50% of my points on warjacks, but hey, such happens. 

Khador went to caches with only Winter Korps Infantry, and I challenged them with Seether and Pistol Wraith. 

Nightmare and Reaper were coming in from the middle, but were screened by a dense fog terrain. Goreshade and Deathwalker were going to take care of the flag terrain, while Bane Warriors were going to 40mm markers. 

Khador had a group of Man-O-Wars and their Mechanik to the left, Winter Korps to the right and everything else in the middle.

Khador had started the game and tried to play it safe - but it was a little bit too safe. Bane Warriors were able to claim 40mm scenario point without anyone contesting. 

Reaper shot a Man-O-War dead with harpoon, and Nightmare tried to keep Reaper's back. 

Winter Korps Infantry tried to claim both caches on the right, but Seether ran to engage them. Pistol Wraith had been a tad too far from my claimable cache, so it just had to run next to it. 

With Tatiana's feat Khador devastated both Reaper and Nightmare, leaving Goreshade staring at an uninjured khadoran heavy  warjack and two Man-o-War's. That looked like ouch time.

Winter Korps Infantry backed off, which in another situation might  have been a good move - after all, the six or so points managed to direct my 16 points away from the action.

Man-O-War's to the left engaged Bane Warrior, and that was pretty much the start of turn three.

Winter Korps Infantry had made kind of a blunder with the caches, and Pistol Wraith was able to claim two points, bringing the difference to three for Cryx.

Bane Warriors tried to remove a unit of Man-O-War's, but without a charge bonus one of them was left standing, contesting both 40mm objectives. Oh well. At least Goreshade was able to use his feat and run along with Deathwalker to get points from flag terrain. After feated Bane Warriors ran to contest enemy flag terrain, points difference was four for Cryx.

Khador tried to assassinate Goreshade, and that almost succeeded. Great Bear and two Man-O-Wars brought Goreshade down to two health remaining, with Deathwalker remaining. 

Thus it was a scenario victory for Cryx. 

Bygone, Forgotten

 A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Wedge Stuff the Ballots

Schemes: Sweating Bullets, Outflank, Let Them Bleed, Take Prisoner, Deliver a Message

My list:

Molly, Chaotic Conductor & Necrotic Machine
Batsch & Amalie
Oskar
Archie
Keepside Strangers
Forgotten Marshal with The Whisper
Crooligan

Pool: 6
Schemes: Take Prisoner (Aua Warrior), Deliver a Message (Archie)

Opponent had:

Tiri, Nomad & Oro Boro
Barbaros
Kett
Parson
The First Light
Ancient Construct with Servant of Dark Powers
Aua Warrior

Pool: 6
Schemes: Outflank, Deliver a Message (Barbaros)

Turn 1:

Tiri had a worrisome gang gathering up to top. Barbaros and Ancient Construct were spearheading the attack, with Parson next in line, followed by Tiri and First Light in the reseve.

Bygone remainders were going bottom, which meant Kett, Aua Warrior and Oro Boro.

It was a problematic situation, as it looked like I wouldn't be able to stop Bygone from getting top ballots, and top-left quarter would most likely collapse too, as there was only Molly and Keepside Strangers guarding the place. Batsch & Amalie were there also, but he was bound to his place for a while, as Oskar went to sit next to center ballots. Archie was unsure what to do, so he parked up behind Oskar in the center. So my heaviest guys were at the center where there was zero enemy models. Oh well.

Forgotten Marshal and Necrotic Machine took a walk and concentrated, and Forgotten Marshal summoned a Night Terror. Kett blasted them all with a shockwave.

Crooligan had been deployed next to bottom ballots, where he concentrated hard on who to vote for. Oro Boro was scary close, and such were the developments of first turn.

Turn 2:

Ancient Construct lobbed Barbaros to Molly's face. How rude. The upper class that was Keepside Strangers were shocked at this vulgar display and teleported to Molly, though they were already right next to Molly. But, the idea was to get out of Barbaros's melee range to back off and toss snakes at Barbaros like the true upper crust of the bourgeois. 

But then Barbaros just handed a note for Molly. Well he handed it stuck to macuahuitl, but still. 

Crooligan put two votes in to bottom ballots before Oro Boro indeed came to attack him. 

Let's go from bottom to top from here. Aua Warrior took position inside a towerish structure that's barely visible in the picture, where eventually Night Terror caught up to it, declaring Aua Warrior as a prisoner. Before that, however, Forgotten Marshal had to summon a Rabble Riser  to go and engage Kett, who had earlier been able to blast Necrotic Machine and Forgotten Marshal both with Alter Gravity. 

Oskar did a total of three votes to center ballots. Impressive from a man turned into fungus. 

But then there was this problematic rubble tower in between top left and right quarters. 

I had to stall as much of my activations as possible to see where Tiri would go for Deliver a Message.  And she went behind the building. Ach.

I figured a plan to Parade Route Archie to a better position, but that proved difficult as Molly was caught in the ring by Barbaros. Fortunately she was able to Parade Route Barbaros away first before parading with Archie. Balck Blood and whatnot had caused quite a bit of wounds to Molly, Batsch & Amalie and Keepside Strangers, so Batsch put up a jig for heals. 

Parson and First Light were nearing the top ballots, but weren't there quite yet. Archie was able to leap and charge (without making an attack) to Tiri to hand over a message.

It was a 3-1 opening for Resurrectionists.

Turn 3:

Going from top to bottom this time around, Tiri and First Light went to outflank zone to place the required scheme marker. Archie leaped to engage Ancient Construct and did an exercise in futility by attacking the thing while it had Shielded. First Archie leaped to top-right quarter ballots, placed a vote and charged back in a flurry. 

Fortunately Archie survived the attacks by Parson and Ancient Construct rather well... until with last possible attack Parson rolled double severes with negative modifier. Oh well. Happens. At least the big guy survived long enough for Crooligan to teleport to the same ballots to continue voting. He also dropped a scheme marker in anticipation of Deliver a Message end condition.

Molly and Keepside Strangers continued in trying to damage Barbaros. The nephilim henchman had already managed to plant two votes to top-left quarter ballots. 

Kett killed the Rabble Riser, but then Oskar, Necrotic Machine and Forgotten Marshal ganged up on Kett and failed to do much of anything. Forgotten Marshal at least managed to summon  another Night Terror to go and engage Oro Boro. The first summoned Night Terror was there too, although that one went down after Aua Warrior charged it. 

Outcasts got their first strategy point and their other scheme, so now Resurrectionists only had 4-3 lead.

Turn 4:

Oskar, Batsch & Amalie, Necrotic Machine and Forgotten Marshal finally managed to push through Kett and claim bottom-right quarter.

Night Terros were keeping Aua Warrior and Oro Boro surprisingly busy, thus making opponent claiming third ballots unlikely. 

Archie and Crooligan both died, so Parson and Ancient Construct pushed through to Keepside Strangers and Molly. 

Scores went 5-4, but we did not play the last turn. It seemed impossible for opponent to get third ballots, but they would most likely be getting Outflank. While neither had a good chance at Deliver a Message, four scenario points for Resurrectionists seemed likely thanks to those Night Terrors refusing to die.