Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Covert Game of 3rd

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 3rd Edition.

Strategy: Flank Covert Operation

Schemes: Sabotage, Secret Meetup, Public Demonstration, Catch and Release, Leave Your Mark

My list:

McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Batsch & Amalie
Leftovers
Rafkin
Corpse Curator
Nurse
Guild Autopsy
Canine Remains
Enslaved Spirit

Pool: 3
Schemes: Catch and Release (Guild Autopsy), Public Demonstration (Curator, Nurse, Canine Remains, Enslaved Spirit)

Opponent had:

Shenlong & 2x Aspiring Students
Sensei Yu
High River Monk
Lotus Eater
2x Fermented River Monk
2x Wandering River Monk

Pool: 5
Schemes: Secret Meetup (Batsch&Amalie a Wandering River Monk), Sabotage (a power generator to right)


Turn 1:

First turn Monks claimed top-right quarter with Shenlong, Yu, both Fermented River Monks and a Wandering River Monk. That was unfortunate, since I really hadn't much else than Batsch & Amalie and Enslaved Spirit going there, having set up McMourning's factory along the bottom fork of my flank deployment.

Which I messed up, by the way. I charged McMourning too far from Corpse Curator, so I wasn't able to summon a Flesh Construct. To cut my losses, McMourning gave some extra legs for Guild Autopsy and Rafkin.

Only the two versatiles of my crew got away from bottom-right quarter.

Monks also spent quite a bit of time meditating, but they were still far more spread out that Experimentals. High River Monk, Lotus Eater and a Fermented River Monk were in a position to easily redirect to center-left strategy marker, and the second Wandering River Monk was speeding uncontested towards bottom-left strategy marker.


Turn 2:

Soon enough a Fermented River Monk went to charge Batsch and Amalie. With the last possible attack Batsch & Amalie backed off from engagement range. 

... from that point on, models just kept piling up to the narrow passage between a container and nurgle tower. 

Shenlong had charged in to drop Enslaved Spirit dead, but somehow failed at that. Nurse, the spirit, Guild Autopsy and even Lefovers surrounded Shenlong. Right next to that septic blob were the Batsch & Amalie, Fermented River Monk and Wandering River Monk, so that's a concentration of 41 point plus one master.

In the center, High River Monk and Fermented River Monk were attacking Corpse Curator, dealing plenty of damage, but the armored skeleton had like ten points of poison for heals. Later, McMourning walked in to summon a Flesh Construct to the mix.

Rafkin took a double walk near center-left strategy marker to screen Canine Remains, who was a claimer for me this turn. 

Monks claimed bottom-left strategy marker, Experimentals got the center-left. Experimentals had ganged up on Shenlong to claw both scheme reveals. However, Monks also got one of their scheme - Secret Meetup with Philip & Nanny and either Wandering or Fermented River Monk.

Scores went 3-2 for Resurrectionists.


Turn 3:

Shenlong wanted to kill Guild Autopsy, but first he had to remove Enslaved Spirit. This did happen, but it took two action points. McMourning's extra legs saved Guild Autopsy, when Shenlong cheated a Red Joker for damage with dragon kick thing. Nurse also lost 66% of her health.

Nurse could be sacrificed, so Zombie Chihuahua healed Guild Autopsy for five. 

Yu and Fermented River Monk tried to kill Batsch & Amalie, the pair was gobbling up soulstone refreshments in record time between their waltzes. Same kind of happened at the center, where Corpse Curator miraculously managed to survive yet again. So did all the Monks, too, despite Corpse Curator, Flesh Construct, Canine Remains and McMourning mauling High and Fermented River Monks.

Near the center-left marker, on top of a building, Rafkin was barely holding up against Lotus Eater and eventually even an Aspiring Student - who was about to become first casualty for Monks after purposefully botched blood transfusions by Rafkin.

Wandering River Monk relocated to center-left strategy marker.

Leftovers and another Wandering River Monk claimed top-right strategy marker.

Resurrectionists continued with 4-3 lead.


Turn 4:

... and then there was a traditional turn where everybody died. Or at least Batsch & Amalie and Canine Remains, High and Fermented River Monk, and both Aspiring Students did.  

Since Yu and Shenlong were camping near the right edge of the board, I figured scoring Public Demonstration end condition might prove problematic, especially after losing also Canine Remains. Nevertheless, Nurse parked nearby and Zombie Chihuahua tried to go and stall the master and henchman. But I considered more important to try to secure all strategy points, and bottom-left strategy marker was way out of my reach. McMourning and Guild Autopsy ran towards is fast as they could, but still it would take a lot to get there next turn.

Fortunately both High River Monk and Fermented River Monk died from the center so that Corpse Curator was free to claim center-right.

Leftovers would have liked to go to deny extra movements for Shenlong and Yu, but before they got the chance to activate, Wandering River Monk leaped to push the thing inside severe terrain.

Ten Thunders didn't get a strategy point, but scored their second scheme of Sabotage. Resurrectionists got strategy, continuing the 5-4 lead.


Turn 5:

Last turn was mostly just about if Experimentals could get bottom-left strategy marker and end point from Catch and Release - and if Monks would get center-right claim as well as their schemes.

Public Demonstration was denied easily enough. Corpse Curator did t


ry to deny Secret Meetup end condition by removing enemy scheme with Dredge Up, but that didn't amount to much even when the resulting melee attack scored crow trigger.

Resurrectionists couldn't deny Ten Thunders schemes, but they did lack the models to go and claim additional strategies.

Wandering River Monk wasn't able to grab Catch & Releasing Guild Autopsy, who was also claiming a strategy point from bottom-left.

Game ended in a narrow 7-6 victory for McMourning.

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Scattered

 Did a few pieces of scatter terrain. Rows of gravestones will likely become small walls, while the others will function nicely as Sz 1 destructible terrain for Malifaux.




Monday, October 6, 2025

Those Foamy Cliffs

 A game of Malifaux4th edition. Since 4th edition requires a bit more terrain, especially terrain heights, I'm going light with the pictures since some of our terrain choices

Strategy: Standard Plant Explosives

Schemes: Make It Look Like an Accident, Search the Area, Public Demonstration


My list:

McMourning, Malpractitioner & Zombie Chihuahua
Rafkin
Leftovers
Kentauroi
Flesh Construct
Batsch & Amalie
Oskar
Dapperling

Pool: 6


Opponent had:

Sonnia Criid, Unmasked & Kazamir
Samael Hopkins
Witchling Handler
Hex Bow
2x Thalarian Queller
2x Witchling Stalker

Pool: 4


Turn 1:

Schemes: Search the Area (both)

This game my opponent was a beginning player in third edition, and this was very first game of fourth edition he had. I knew this so I left Rogue Necromancy home.

However, at the end of first round it became clear that opponent was quite overwhelmed by the system, and I get it - if you last game was a year ago and it was third edition, first you got to learn again how models interact with each other, how they attack, what are raises and all the basic mechanics around them. 

I wasn't quite aware of the starting point on turn one, so I was able to grab quite the headstart building up scenario and schemes. I had picked up Search the Area purposefully so that I'd just build up for Breakthrough next turn, not scoring points just yet.

Hex Bow and Samael proved to be ideal combo, and together they were able to shoot Flesh Construct off the board on turn one. Their side of the board also had Witchling Stalker and Thalarian Queller against Oskar and Batsch & Amalie. I guess Leftovers were there, too, but they were kind of all over the place anyway.

Remaining models were on the right. McMourning was able to walk and charge a Witchling Stalker, carving a Little Gasser out of it. It was an honest mistake, it completely slipped my mind that Sonnia summoned models by killing them... yeah. 

Someone was able to land the killing blow on the hired Witchling Stalker, so at least Witch Hunters sort of lost power by having a summoned model instead of a hired one. 

McMourning took in quite a bit of damage, as Witch Hunters directed most available attacks on him. This caused most of their crew barely leaving deployment zone. 

Oskar and Leftovers had brought a strategy marker past centerline, and Dapperling did a scheme marker on my deployment zone, and Kentauroi did one on the centerline.

Scorest went 1-0 for Resurrectionists.


Turn 2:

Schemes: McMourning picks Breakthrough, Sonnia keeps Search the Area.

Witch Hunters kept focusing on my models, and while they did respectable damage - both Kentauroi and McMourning would be gone in the end phase - it was clear opponent wasn't playing the scenario or schemes at all. I asked if he needed a hand with those. I had scored two points from Breakthrough after opponent's first activation so it wouldn't matter that much if opponent revealed his scheme to me, and we figured out a way to move forward a tad more aggressively. 

Since Search the Area for Witch Hunters looked next to an impossible one this turn, we decided to focus on building up Harness the Ley Line for next turn. After all, Witch Hunters had pretty much claimed the right half for them to do whatever. There was only Dapperling around.

McMourning died mostly because he black jokered Vial of Goo to poison a Witchling Stalker. He charged and killed it with two strikes, but without that black joker that would have been four points healed. Without thinking I went ahead with summoning one more Little Gasser, which got turned into a Witchling Stalker, which got turned into a Witchling Thrall.

Elsewhere my attacks were meager in their results - but I think by now every single one of my models had dropped their explosives to enemy table half, except for the Flesh Construct who died before being able to. Only Batsch might have been holding on to his explosive, I don't remember.

Scores went 4-0 for Resurrectionists, but at least Witch Hunters were now in way better position to play turn three. 


Turn 3:

Schemes: Late McMourning picks Frame Job with Rafkin, Sonnia takes Harness the Leyline.

Oskar died, Dapperling died, and I think opponent still had the same number of models with which they started the game. I had to make most of my action points.

For a while it looked like Rafkin wouldn't get to frame any jobs, but fortunately Sonnia deliberated on figuring out a way to go and scorch Batsch & Amalie or shoot Rafkin. But Rafkin was standing there, easy to shoot, so he got two points. 

Witch Hunters also had to spend quite a few actions securing their Harness the Leyline, so they weren't able to pick up or drop that many strategy markers just yet. Strategy went to Experimentals.

Scores went 7-2 for Resurrectionists.


Turn 4:

Schemes: Both pick Scout the Rooftops.

Since we were quite exhausted at that point, turn four was mostly theorized through. Claiming two points from Scout the Rooftops would have been an easy job: Opponent already had required terrain pieces, only the scheme markers were missing.

There was zero chance Experimentals wouldn't get their extra points from strategy, but that wasn't too hard for Witch Hunter either. They also had plenty enough actions points to rob me from a regular strategy point and claim it for themselves. Barring any unexpected results, most likely end scores looked like 8-6 for Resurrectionists.