Elephant Gun Indeed

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th edition on vassal.

Strategy: Corner Recover Evidence

Schemes: Take the Highground, Graverobbing, Runic Binding

My list:

Molly, Chaotic Conductor & Noxious Nephilim
Strange Lady
Archie
Grave Golem
Philip & the Nanny
Night Terror
Gravedigger

Cache: 2

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe, Dismounted Hunter & Luna
Sidir
Alleyway Echo
Desper LaRaux
2x Rough Rider
Ruffian
Hopeful Prospect

Cache: 3

Turn 1: Both pick Take the Highground, because what else are you going to pick?

Molly takes three walk actions. What an effective use of master action points! Well, she was dropping corpses left and right. I wanted to test if Gravedigger was any good with conductor Molly, and I suppose the first turn was alright. The digger was able to onward, walk and interact the strategy marker I had placed to bottom-right quarter far from everything.

Molly and Night Terror climbed on top of a rock, while Philip & Nanny journeyed up, preparing a shielded on top of a hill. 

Large building next to my deployment had a well-built roof since it was able to hold Archie, Grave Golem, Noxious Nephilim and even Strange Lady. Archie had been pushed around so it could take a couple of swings at nearest Rough Rider, dealing weak damage before leaping on top of the building.

Wastrels had spread out in a similar fashion. Alleyway Echo was slithering towards enemy strategy marker on top, and one Rough Rider was keeping a building to the right... and the rest were at or near the center. Lucas, Sidir and Ruffian were holding a rock near center. Sidir even managed to shave off some four or so points from Archie.

Both scored two easy points from Take the Highground

Forgotten took the lead with 3-2.

Turn 2: Both pick Make It Look Like an Accident.

What a mess.

Out of my 21 action points, I counted that at least THIRTEEN went directly into removing Sidir Alchibal from board, and I'm not even counting action points that went into positioning towards that end goal! And that count included two attacks from Archie (one via Strange Lady's soulstone trigger since Archie had been slowed), and three attacks from Grave Golem.

And Sidir didn't even die.

Well, at least Noxious Nephilim was able to drag him off the rock to score a point from Take the Highground, and the slew of action points thrown at the henchman gave Forgotten the second point as well.

But sheesh. The center was so crowded that I lost Noxious Nephilim and Archie - and just as an added insult the one who did the killing shot against Archie was Hopeful Prospect.

Just about all Resurrectionist models were at the center, sans Gravedigger, and Strange Lady who was involved in the center game. So were the Wastrels, even Desper LaRaux who stubbornly wanted to remove Noxious Nephilim from board instead of doing schemes or whatever Desper enjoys doing.

Since Wastrels had also the same scheme as Forgotten, Luna, Rough Rider, Lucas and Hopeful Prospect at least had to spend an assortment of action points, but not THIRTEEN! 

Anyway, opponent had easy time scoring strategy, since I hadn't been able to drop any  strategies. 

Scores tied at 5-5.

Turn 3: Forgotten takes Reshape the Land, Wastrel takes Ensnare

Grave Golem activated and took three swings at Sidir who was at three, and the henchman died in the perfect world. But one has only to open up the news feed to notice this is not the perfect world. Golem missed every attack.

At least Philip and the Nanny trampled over Sidir with prams? Well... kind of. They did hit their attack, but Sidir was able to discard Timeworn Blade to reduce that damage. Deadly Banter was able to damage him somewhat, but he had been healed for a bit in-between. Sidir activated, used an artifact to teleport to rock formation. He started blasting with machinegun, but Philip & Nanny pushed him to melee with Molly. This scared Sidir, who was at two or three, enough that he just walked away from melee.

Molly paraded Philip & Nanny on top of the rock, and thankfully Sidir failed the damage check. Sidir was now at one health remaining, and Molly had prepared Adaptable at some point in the game. I figured out a hilarious way to end this miserable affair. Molly laughed maniacally, which was enough to push Sidir over the edge. Literally. Mask trigger gave him a point of falling damage. 

Throughout the game Desper had taken quite the trampling from Molly's parades and abandoned token, and Night Terror was able to randomly snipe Desper off from the board. I guess that kept me in the game.

Luna was tearing Grave Golem, and Hopeful Prospect shot it off the board - not! That would've been a bit too much, really. Hopeful Prospect to kill both Archie and Grave Golem.

Instead it just procced Golem's demise, and gave it a tick of poison.

Eventually Alleyway Echo used secret passage to charge Grave Golem. It hit and carved Golem down to one. Opponent had no cards in hand when the Echo tried to use Timeworn Blade to trigger Terror of some kind of lane. He flipped too low to succeed... so in the end it was Hopeful Prospect who indeed caused both Archie and Grave Golem to go down. Bleh.

Ruffian had easy time scoring two point Ensnare from Philip and the Nanny. Fortunately Gravedigger had equally easy time planting ga



zillion scheme markers (two, plus two from previous round) 

Ground was littered with strategy markers for Wastrels, so I didn't even bother contesting the strategy.

Explorer Society took the lead with 8-7

Turn 4:

It feels like rather rare that both players have fully scored their schemes by the last turn. Fortunately neither player had yet scored extra point from strategy, so there was some other objective around when Forgotten were so far behind in attrition.

Philip & Nanny picked up one of the strategy markers, and went to drop a scheme into forest that was just within 6" of enemy deployment. 

Eventually Molly was able to deliver the remaining three, and although we initially played the extra point tad wrong, Explorer Society had no trouble getting a ton of schemes to the big building near Resurrectionists deployment. Unfortunately strategy was tied as well, which lead to 10-9 victory for Lucas McCabe.

Rat is a four letter word, suppose Nix is as well

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th edition.

Strategy: Flank Boundary Dispute

Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Assassinate, Scout the Rooftops

My list:

Hamelin, Piper & Benny Wolcomb
Nix
Fumigator
Tunnel Rats
Johan Creedy
2x Rat Catcher
Stolen

Pool: 4

Opponent had:

C. Hoffman, Inventor & Edie
Peacekeeper
Clipper
Warden
2x Hunter
2x Watcher

Pool: 4

Turn 1: 
Plague picks Scout the Rooftops, Augmented leaves their mark.

Early on Guild put Peacekeeper on the central platform without having even been activated yet. I was horrified, all my models were easily within reach of a 12" charge threat. 

Nix had to spend an eleven and a twelve from my hand to land Blight token on Peacekeeper before walking within 3" of the scary robot. In the end it was a good trade since it kept the scary robot in check, unable to do much. 

Clipper had flied with Hoffman closer, and they both went to drop enough scheme markers to center point to account for Rat King's devour abilities.

Benny and Hamelin had spawned more than enough rats for that Rat King to form. Rat Catchers had not managed to do the same, especially when Benny turned one of the rats into a scheme marker for Scout the Rooftops. Rat King did little else except that it removed a pylon.

Johan Creedy managed to leap to Peacekeeper. He started hammering Hoffman with relic hammer, but managed barely to scrape off some paint.

Stolen and Tunnel Rats dropped enough schemes for Scout the Rooftops. Augmented had over-secured their Leave Your Mark, so that was two points for both. However, two Watchers and the Hunters ensured that Plague fell behind in scenario and Guild took the lead with 3-2.

Turn 2:
Plague picks Detonate Charges, Augmented Makes It Look Like an Accident

A Hunter pulled down Rat King from center platform, but didn't manage to kill it. The Rat King got to Watcher before it was able to activate and surprisingly enough killed it. This was incredibly good news for Tunnel Rats, who were then able to deliver a strategy marker to enemy deployment zone.

The platform saw some intense fighting. Nix charged in to guard two strategy markers, and to get Hoffman, Peacekeeper and Clipper within loose bowels range. Hoffman lost his Blight token, though, because Nix considered it better to stun him.

Hoffman beat Johan down to two remaining, and Johan smacked five points of damage back with a Red Joker. Both Peacekeeper and Clipper spent most of their activations trying to kill Johan, but only brought him to one remaining. At moments like those the cost of ten makes sense for Nix. Clipper did snipe the Rat King off from the board, though.

Fumigator charged in to guard a strategy marker he just threw around. Attacks missed, checks failed.

Hunter attacked him back and brought him down to four remaining. At least Hunter took two points from hazardous terrain throughout the turn. 

Hamelin and Stolen played volleyball with two strategy markers with Watcher and Warden. 

Rat Catchers brought in so many rats that another Rat King formed and tore Hunter down to three health remaining. The catchers managed to throw away one enemy strategy marker back to their side, which meant a strategy point for me this turn.

However... I had been so busy navigating the high-stakes puzzle at the center that I was not able to get enough schemes to score even one point from Detonate Charges. I decided to keep the scheme, though, since I think I managed to bluff Leave Your Mark of my own.

So, Guild kept the lead at 6-3. Sure, point situation was not ideal, but board state did not look too bad.

Turn 3:
Plague kept Detonate Charges, Augmented takes Breakthrough. 

... things were really starting to heat up at the center. And holy moly Nix is a terrifying model if opponent lets it be - the doggo absolutely dominated the platform, essentially continuously giving Slow to Clipper, Hoffman and Peacekeeper. However, Peacekeeper was able to kill Johan as the first activation. Not much I could do about that. 

Hoffman and Clipper placed schemes on the centerline. One was removed by a devouring Rat King, another was removed by obeyed Clipper. 

Third one, late in the turn, was placed by Warden, and that one stuck.

Edie placed one in the deployment, so I kept a keen eye one the surviving Watcher. I left Benny as my very last model to activate, and that was enough for Guild to ditch their Breakthrough. Instead, Watcher delivered a strategy marker to my deployment. 

However, Stolen had managed to throw another strategy marker to enemy deployment, so Plague managed to claim the upper hand at strategy. They finally managed to score Detonate Charges as well, so scores tied exactly at 6-6. Round ended with seven rats on board without me particularly even trying to summon them... those raises just kept coming.

Turn 4:
Plague picks Take the Highground, Augmented tries to Assassinate Nix.

Guild started by taking out one of my strategy markers out of their deployment zone, and then guarding it with a Hunter. 

I considered my options. I wanted to kill Hoffman before he'd activate, so I thought that opening up two strategy markers by moving Nix behind Peacekeeper would work, especially as Hoffman had blight token to remove for the spectral bite, and I had a 13 in my hand.

Nix landed Red Death just fine, just ripping off Shielded from Hoffman. Then the good boy bit Hoffman, and Hoffman said: bad boy! Nix was so shocked from those words, which essentially functioned as the Red Joker for Nix.

Then Peacekeeper activated, and beeped as well: Bad, bad boy! Nix was so devastated that he drew Black Joker for defense. 

After Peacekeeper was done castigating Nix, he was reeling with five health remaining, and Guild got their first point from Assassinate.

Hamelin activated and went to guard the strategy markers Nix had left. He did crew action on Hoffman, leaving him down to four health. Then he obeyed Nix to attack. Attack hit home and Guild master was done.

Losing master's full activation was a hit Guild could not take. Tried as they might, Nix endured all the attacks made against him - thanks to blight tokens. 

And because Nix refused to die, Guild didn't have enough actions left to challenge strategy. 

A 10-7 victory for Plague.

This was first time I used two Rat Catchers and Nix with the piper, and I was almost horrified at how well they all functioned together. Last two turns there was a constant mass of six to seven rats on board, which meant Nix could wantonly cancel enemy actions, after which they'd just get blight right back. 

A Promotion

 Two 50ss games of Malifaux.

Game 1:

Strategy: Standard Plant Explosives

Schemes: Harness the Leyline, Make It Look Like an Accident, Leave Your Mark

My list:

Jack Daw, Ensouled & Jaakuna Ubume
Montresor
Kari Zotiko
Batsch & Amalie
Ferryman
Crooked Man
2x Drowned
2x Dapperling

Pool: 1

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe, Tomb Delver & 2x Cryptologists
Sidir Alchibal
Desper LaRaux
2x Rough Rider
2x Ruffian
Huckster
Hopeful Prospect

Pool: 3

Turn 1: Tormented Makes It Look Like an Accident, Wastrels are going to Leave Their Mark

With some help from Montresor, Drowned went to place a strategy marker past the centerline near the left board edge. Dapperling was there for emotional support.

Montresor also gave a walk for the Ferryman. 

To the right table edge, Drowned placed a scheme to be a homing beacon for Crooked Man. Dapperling just walked and prepared a shield. Jaakuna, who had been deployed along with them, lured Hopeful Prospector off a cliff for accident reveal party. 

Finally Batsch & Amalie pushed Ferryman forward, who dropped its explosive, bonus charged Hopeful Prospect and beat down his hopes of living.

A big fight ensued at the center. Jack Daw was teasing Sidir with waterlogged upgrades. Kari summoned a Drowned to Sidir, and Crooked Man took out one of enemy scheme markers with its greed. It looked like enemy had Leave Your Mark, so Jack Daw had placed one scheme marker to deny points.

Sidir and multiple other models as well were able to kill Ferryman, though.

Tormented took two from scheme and strategy, while Wastrels got one point from their mark.

Turn 2: Tormented attempts Breakthrough, Wastrels are going to Take the Highground

Sidir was able to get more than 2" away from my models. He started shooting Jack Daw, and dealt in nasty damage, which was patched up by Kari as much as possible. 

Wastrels cut up the slack with planting explosives. A Ruffian, Desper, Cryptologist and Lucas McCabe all spam explosives on a whim.

I had been placing scheme markers as inconspicuously as possible until Jack Daw made his big move. I had been carefully saving up for this moment - opponent would still have one model left to activate when Jack Daw bonus moved to enemy deployment, dropped scheme and charged back... and managed to kill the only model left to activate. Tormented continue being tormented.

Worse still, my crew was pushing towards enemy deployment zone with explosive tokens. As a result, opponent was able to take the lead in planting explosives. Fortunately one of their Rough Riders were too close to deployment, so Wastrels got only one point from Take the Highground. But this tied the scores to 3-3.

Turn 3: Tormented finishes Breakthrough, Wastrels are going to Search the Area

Sidir started blasting around with his machine gun. Crooked Man died, summoned Drowned died, hired Drowned from the left died. Not all of them went down by Sidir, but most of them did. However, no-one tried to deny Breakthrough, so Tormented claimed two points from that.

Jack Daw picked up a neutral marker, placed it to enemy deployment and went to bother Sidir.

Lucas single-handedly placed all the required markers for Search the Area, and there was little I could do to prevent that.

My investment from last turn paid off, when I was able to get both the bonus points from strategy, and had six to five advantage with strategy markers.

Scores went 7-5.

Turn 4: Tormented Assassinates Sidir, Wastrels push for final Breakthrough

We did not play for the entirety of the turn. Jack Daw slams an upgrade to Sidir, and lands a Red Joker on him that ticks him down to one health, thanks to hard-to-kill. Bonus action automatic damage finishes the target. 

We did take a few activations past that, but eventually it was apparent that McCabe wouldn't be able to score full scheme and full strategy points for a draw.

So about a 9-10 against 7-8 victory.

Game 2:

Strategy: Wedge Informants

Schemes: Harness the Leyline, Detonate Charges, Ensnare

My list:

Seamus AKA Sebastian & White Rabbit Co.
Madame Sybelle
Keepside Strangers
Mortimer
Batsch & Amalie
Dandy
2x Mourner

Pool: 3

Opponent had: 

Jakob Lynch, Dark Bet & Hungering Darkness
Gwyneth Maddox
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Tannen
Kara
2x Illuminated
Beckoner

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Both... uh, yeah.

What a weird mess of a turn.

Early on Gwyneth was catapulted to the hill near my deployment, which acted as a catalyst for some shenanigans.

First Keepside Strangers and Seamus activated, Seamus charging to Gwyneth, nearly killing her with Dead Dandy. She, however, did not die. Instead Honeypot poured all their attacks on Seamus, who in turn took a severe beating. 

Madame Sybelle tried to save Seamus by beckoning him to her... but then Jakob leaped to an Illuminated, took a walk and charged to Seamus. Redchapel master flipped a one. Lynch, on the other hand, flipped the Red Joker. Whoa. Lost master on turn one. 

Worse yet, opponent was able to control the majority of informants. 

And both had picked the easiest scheme on the roster, Detonate Charges. And both players failed to complete it. 

Honeypot scored a strategy point, and that's it.

Turn 2: Both kept their Detonate Charges

We moved on from the insanity of turn one... or did we? Madame Sybelle was promoted. She had crows in hand, so she gave concealment aura for White Rabbit Co, catching both Jakob Lynch and Gwyneth within the radius. One walk later Gwyneth died to knives in the dark, as she had two health remaining. 

Lynch and Hungering Darkness killed my second-in-command as well. 

Center was not looking good for Redchapel. But to be honest, it did not look good for Honeypot either - White Rabbit, Mourners and various other models had managed to land Slow on a bunch of enemy models. I don't think I have ever seen that much Slow on board. 

Both players were able to complete Detonate Charges for two points. Honeypot, however, continued to dominate the strategy, and got a 4-2 lead.

Turn 3: Redchapel chooses Runic Binding, Honeypot tries to rob graves.

It was a rough turn. Both crews pulled all tricks up their sleeve to remove enemy schemes and plant their own at the center-up strategy marker. I suspected opponent had Grave Robbing with strategy markers, so it was imperative for me to get those scheme markers off near my Mourner. And not only that, but have my third marker for Runic Binding.

In the end Redchapel was able to bind Kitty, Hungering Darkness and an Illuminated. And just as Redchapel was not able to remove the Ten Thunders scheme any longer and Mourner had fallen to one health remaining, she activated and ran the heck away from strategy marker.

Mortimer and Keepside Strangers were able to kill an Illuminated that was contesting a strategy marker near the Strangers. Both players had two strategy markers by when, and were contesting the center one with two models.

As my last activation Mourner flipped a lucky Masks on her melee attack against Hungering Darkness, bowling the monster off the center marker.

Suddenly Redchapel turned the tables around when Honeypot was not able to rob any graves, and lead the game with 5-4.

Turn 4: Redchapel Ensnares, Honeypot at least Leaves Their Mark

Last turn was intense as well. Redchapel got easy Ensnare off of Hungering Darkness. 

However, both Dead Dandy and White Rabbit Co. died before they were able to activate. This coupled with Batsch & Amalie deciding to Mushroom Cloud Mr. Tannen instead of walking to make placing scheme markers difficult at the center, as well as contesting the marker there cost Redchapel the game - there were not enough models to bring to center. 

Honeypot got double points from strategy, and also two points from Leave Your Mark.

So, Jakob Lynch won by the skin of their teeth with 8-7 in this exciting and weird game that just happened.

This is not a dispute, this is a massacre

 A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Wedge Boundary Dispute

Schemes: Frame Job, Take the Highground, Public Demonstration

My list:

Seamus, Last Breath & Copycat Killer
Strange Lady
Madame Sybelle
2x Dead Dandy
2x Mourner
Gravedigger

Pool: 3

Opponent had:

C. Hoffman, Steel Sculptor & Mechanical Attendant
Peacekeeper
Melissa KORE
Clipper
2x Hunter
2x Watcher

Pool: 2

Turn 1: Resurrectionists took Public Demonstration, Guild picked Take the Highground

Lines were closing in with such almost never-seen-before symmetry. Guild did take it further to the centerline, but they had to with their scheme, which Augmented scored without issues.

Resurrectionists had a bit more issues since they had no effective placement tricks outside of Seamus. Strange Lady at least gave interacts left and right so that both players got all of their strategy markers past centerline.

Public Demonstration did require some struggle. Clipper didn't go where I expected, so Madame Sybelle had to move it on top of the highest building near my deployment. Hoffman had not yet activated, so I was worrying he would give a walk for Clipper. It was about half an inch away from Strange Lady's aura, so Seamus had to Secret Passage, strike twice to score Shove Aside and then Secret Passage away. 

Thus, both players scored full points turn one for a 3-3 tie.

Turn 2: Resurrectionists took Assassinate on Clipper, Guild picked Search the Area

Seamus activated and killed Clipper with a line of 13, 12 and 11 in my starting hand. In a perfect world, that is. Opponent was flipping good and cheated severes from hand as required. Clipper was brought down to three, after which is just activated and ended activation within 6" of Hoffman to heal four. Strange Lady got to the building as well, charged and moved Clipper off the building. I still had Dead Dandy and Mourner to deal with it.

Despite Dandy attacking it with a stat of 6 versus willpower of 4 and a three for minimum damage, the bugger just somehow wriggled until the end of turn with three health remaining. Infuriating.

Oh, ho, ho. You sweet summer child. THAT was supposed to be infuriating? How about this.

Hunter activated, charged Dead Dandy. Red Joker and a Pouncing Strike to Mourner that deals in damage. Second action point was to attack Mourner, which killed her and scored Pouncing Strike to Dead Dandy, which killed a second minion that still had not yet activated. Hunter got Fast, but fortunately at least that harpoon attack missed it's target, but that... that stuff right there was crippling.

Gravedigger died as well before it got to activate.

At least all of these models dying before they got to activate had something positive to come out of it. Augmented got zero points from their scheme, because there was no-one left to activate to score those points.

However, Augmented absolutely dominated the strategy this round, and Resurrectionists only got one point from their scheme as well. Scores were a 4-4 tie.

Situation was grim, but we still continued because there was some game left thanks to no points from Search the Area.

Turn 3: Resurrectionists took Runic Binding, Guild picked Breakthrough

I tried to block opponent from scoring full points from Breakthrough, and at least I did make him exert some effort to do that. 

Sybelle was in a good position to affect strategy, but Hunter was in a better position to affect Sybelle. Hunter would need to die, but Sybelle just wasn't able to do that alone in one activation.

Copycat Killer was able to press strategy a little, but that was not enough because Madame Sybelle was tied up. Usually it should be the other way around with Madame Sybelle, I suppose. 

At least Dead Dandy had been able to remove Clipper before it activated.

Seamus was imperative in making the Runic Binding go off, so both crews took full points from schemes. Only Guild did strategy, though, so they got a 7-6 lead.

Turn 4: Resurrectionists took Ensnare, Guild picked Assassinate on Seamus

Although it was a desperate situation for Seamus, we did some activations to confirm. Strange Lady was able to get a point from Ensnare easily enough. Opponent activated Hoffman first to get rid of one of my strategy markers, which in itself was bad but Seamus did a secret passage to a Watcher that had Hastened and Fast conditions. He was able to kill it, but it took all actions so he wasn't able to push back the strategy marker Hoffman had just tossed away. This put Seamus out of reach from most Guild models.

Madame Sybelle was able to kill the Hunte



r that was tormenting her, but since that took both actions as well, there was little she could do to affect strategy. 

The surviving Mourner was able to damage the second Watcher before it got to activate, but did not score a kill. 

Around there we stopped game, because Dead Dandy alone in my deployment zone wasn't going to tip the strategy over to me. In the end scores werent' that terrible despite the outrageous rampage of Hunter on turn two. Game was a 9-8 loss which could have been a 10-8 loss if opponent was able to deal a couple more points in to Seamus.

Truly Obscene Feasts

 Two 50ss games of Malifaux 4th edition.

First game:

Strategy: Standard Recover Evidence

Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Scout the Rooftops, Grave Robbing

My list:

Kirai Ankoku, Lady of Vengeance & Ikiryo
Kuchisake-Onna
Lost Love
Batsch & Amalie
Carrion Effigy
Goryo
Shikome
Gwisin
Enslaved Spirit

Pool: 4

Opponent had:

Jakob Lynch, Wild Card & Hungering Darkness
Kitty Dumont
Sen
Mr. Graves
Mr. Tannen
2x Illuminated
Beckoner

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Urami picks Scout the Rooftops, Honeypot Leaves Their Mark

Shikome went to pick up the initial strategy marker from far right, while an Illuminated did the same far left. 

Kitty, an Illuminated, Lynch and Hungering Darkness all kept spamming scheme markers near the center point as I was piling my own near it to bluff Leave Your Mark and Scout the Rooftops. 

Kuchisake-Onna summoned a seishin and made a Gaki near the centerpoint, which had Honeypot quite concerned. I think it was Lynch who killed the Gaki as soon as possible, which only prompted a second strategy marker for Honeypot. Bummer. High risk high reward did not pay out... yet.

Goryo had gone to place a scheme marker on top of a cliff near centerpoint. Batsch & Amalie copied it, so there were two. 

Carrion Effigy ran next to a bridge, and Lost Love stood by the effigy's side and went to drop a scheme marker on the terrain piece.

However, Kirai was just about the last model to activate. There were Seishins near the middle so she made an additional Gaki, feasting away the mark Honeypot left. Kirai also gave Ikiryo an action to drop a third scheme marker for Scout the Rooftops.

So, Urami scored two from schemes, but zero from strategy. Honeypot did vice versa, since they were able to pick up the extra point from strategy. Scores tied at 2-2.

Turn 2: Urami picks Detonate Charges, Honeypot stays with Leave Your Mark

The turn was defined by the action happening at the centerpoint. Urami began slapping scheme markers on top of the terrain for Detonate Charges - Scout the Rooftops lead to Leave Your Mark as well. And, well, Honeypot kept scribbling their initials to the hand best as they can.

One notable moment was when Ikiryo walked and charged someone, and then killed herself and blasted Adversary on the entire enemy crew, except for one Illuminated and Beckoner who were hanging around near the left edge of the table. 

Adversary proved to be deadly, as both Hungering Darkness and Kitty Dumont died without too much effort. And then to add an insult to injury, Kuchisake-Onna took a swing at Sen, and scored Red Joker, leaving Sen standing with just one hit point.

Gwisin, Goryo and Batsch & Amalie near each other proved to be a fortress. Attacks kept pouring at Goryo, but in the end phase it had only a few damage boxes marked in after Gwisin took a hit here and there, and the fungal duo did a little jig to cheer their spirit.

Honeypot managed to take a point from Leave Your Mark this time around, but Urami got two from Detonate Charges. Both got strategy, but Urami took the extra point as well for a 6-4 lead.

Turn 3: Urami picks Take the Highground, Honeypot chooses Make It Look Like an Accident

Sen who had just a single hit point left beckoned Gwisin from top of the terrain to score a point from Make It Look Like an Accident. Gwisin then did everything it could to run away, but Mr. Graves would have none of that and killed the target.

Enslaved Spirit died as well, although it first tried to go and claim the red roofed building for scheme. Illuminated in the middle died to Goryo and Kirai.

Shikome, Lost Love and Kuchisake-Onna did Take the Highground, but Kuchisake did summon Ikiryo as well. And as if there hadn't already been enough brutal attacks by Urami models, Ikiryo charged Mr. Tannen and killed him with a single action point. Ikiryo went off the board again, just in case.

Both crews took full points from schemes, but this time around Honeypot was left with no strategy points. This gave Urami a 9-6 lead.

Turn 4:

We didn't play fourth turn, as Honeypot at most might score a tie, and that would have required Urami models doing pretty much nothing.

Game 2:

Strategy: Corner Informants

Schemes: Detonate Charges, Scout the Rooftops, Search the Area

My list:

Hamelin, Plaguebringer & Obedient Wretch
Nix
Fumigator
Tunnel Rats
Tuco Ortega
Rat Catcher
2x Stolen

Pool: 6

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe, Tomb Delver & 2x Cryptologist
Sidir Alchibal
Desper LaRaux
2x Rough Rider
2x Ruffian
Huckster
Hopeful Prospect

Pool: 3

Turn 1: Both crews pick... surprise surprise, Scout the Rooftops.

Although not much else happened other than troops closing in, it was apparent that Wastrels were not practicing enough social distancing. Rat Catcher summoned a couple rats, one of which went to drop blight on a Ruffian, from which it spread to a Rough Rider and a Cryptologist.

McCabe went to contest the marker in the center, and a Stolen ran to gave him pox after the kid had been lured by Hamelin and disoriented by fogs from Fumigator.

Five Wastrels were coming from the right, three of whom had bunched up. Nix was able to blast one Blight in there, from where it spread to Sidir, a Ruffian and the Hopeful Prospect.

Tunnel Rats was saved for the last activation, and dropped a scheme for Scout the Rooftops, and then used Secret Passage to deliver another marker to Wastrel side of the board, getting two points from scheme. Wastrels didn't have such a trick up their sleeve, and instead had to do with one. 

I gave strategy to Wastrels to move the markers around. I didn't know if that would pay off, but in my last Informants game I was at the receiving end of this, so I wanted to try it out.

So, a 2-2 tie again.

Turn 2: Both crews pick... surprise surprise, Detonate Charges

First activation was Rough Rider trying to shoot Tunnel Rats dead from a vantage point. But thanks to rotten luck and some cards from hand, stat five with a plus fate was not able to cut through def four. This had major repercussions, since Tunnel Rats was later able to walk on top of tall tower and contest the strategy marker on the Wastrel side, plus drop a scheme marker near enemy models with Biting Insult. Opponent was able to claim the marker back, but that required two models instead of one.

And whose a good boy? Nix is! And by good I mean of course super annoying. Good to see that the piece is conditionally as infuriating as ever.

Nix charged near Ruffian, Hopeful Prospect and Sidir. Would this trick pay off as well? He bit Sidir, who used his Tarnished Mirror to slap four damage back to Nix. Ouch. Bonus action was promptly the heal instead of revelers dropping. 

Welll, in the end Nix made took 50% off of Hopeful Prospect's activation, but he was able to remove blight from Sidir. My hand was relatively poor, just one ten, five empowers and... the Red Joker. I had difficult choice to make. A full-activation Sidir would mean horrible news to Nix, so a Stolen took double walk near the bunch and used Onward. No Tomes to empowers, and no Tomes from flip. So, Red Joker it was, to get off that bonus walk and re-apply blight to Sidir and Hopeful Prospect, and Desper LaRaux as a bonus as well. 

Ruffian beat the snot out of that Stolen, and Desper leaped out of Nix cancellation aura and charged the Stolen, killing them. 

Sidir walked and scaled on terrain, tried to shoot Nix but was canceled. He did a mortar strike and used soulstone to shoot Nix anyway, and managed to land in a couple of damage points.

New edition made it look like McCabe was sort of behaving better, but he relapsed into whipping a kid to death at the center. To his defense, the kid had already given him two poxes. 

A Rough Rider to the right climbed on the industrial platform and started shooting at Obedient Wretch, and brought her down to one health remaining. She thought since she'd die soon anyway, she went to at least take Hopeful Prospect with her. And didn't even die.

Tuco disillusioned Rough Rider away from contesting a strategy marker, and went to drop a scheme near the horse.

Plague had been able to dodge any too serious consequences for their actions... but then, something happened. No, that trend did continue, but it continued in such a way that it started to feel bad. Rat Catcher summoned a couple rats more, which eventually formed into a Rat King. With the remaining bonus and a single action point Rat King was able to kill an uninjured Rough Rider!

Somehow Wastrels had failed to plant any charges, and Plague lucked out full two points thanks to Tunnel Rats.

Both scored strategy, but Plague still had less points so they were able to move the markers for a 5-3 lead.

Turn 3: Plague picks Runic Binding, Wastrel stays with Detonate Charges

Now un-blighted Sidir was able to shoot Nix off the board. That could have been the beginning of a turning point for Wastrels, but then the Rat King ate Ruffian who had taken just one point of damage. Again with one action point and bonus. What is happening in here?! First summoned Gaki's eats all the schemes, now summoned rats do the same for models.

Plague did play a little too obvious Runic Binding, so Wastrels were able to wriggle out of maximum points, so Hamelin had to suffice with one. Tunnel Rats died in the process. 

Wastrels were pushing for the Detonate Charges this time a little more insistently, but Tuco was able to shoot off one of the markers, so Wastrels took zero once more. Plague also received strategy while Wastrels did not, so the situation looked grim after Hamelin was leading 7-3. 

Turn 4: 

Situation did in fact look too grim for McCabe, and we did not play the fourth round.

This Is Not a Breakthrough

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Corner Recover Evidence

Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Search the Area, Breakthrough

My list:

Jack Daw, Spirit of Betrayal & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Kari Zotiko
2x Hanged
Crooked Man
Guilty

Pool: 6

Opponent had:

Jakob Lynch, Dark Bet & Hungering Darkness
Gwyneth Maddox
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Graves
Kara
2x Illuminated
Beckoner

Pool: 1

Turn 1: Tormented picks Breakthrough, Honeypot takes Leave Your Mark

Hanged and Guilty placed two scheme markers, Montresor watched Crooked Man to make a leap at one of them, and then during Crooked Man's own activation he did the same for the second marker to get in range to interact and pick up the strategy.

At least it took Beckoner and Mr. Graves some effort to get an Illuminated in range to do the same for Ten Thunders.

Since Ten Thunders looked like they were trying to assault Crooked Man with shenanigans, Jack Daw activated and brought the undead miner a little further into safety, and slapped injustice upgrade on Gwyneth as well.

Since opponent had not been trying to reach the center point until the very end of the turn, I was out of tools to deny Leave Your Mark... or was I? Kari used silver whistle to give a walk for another Hanged, and then the minion charged Kara and Hungering Darkness, who had been doing the scheming business. My idea was to score rams or tomes for the melee attack to block at least one point from Ten Thunders, but the attack missed. Bonus did hit, slowing Kara as well as giving her staggered.

Lynch charged the Crooked Man, but brings him only down to two remaining.

So, Ten Thunders took the lead with 3-1, since both scored strategy and Resurrectionists took Breakthrough just to abandon it.

Turn 2: Tormented picks Assassinate on Kara, Honeypot takes Take the Highground

Kara was in big trouble. I had a thirteen and a black joker in hand, and she was still staggered. Montresor charged and hit with both attacks, bringing her down to two remaining. Cursed to Watch gave an action for the Hanged, who had to use the black joker to secure kill. Assassination scored.

However, Illuminated was able to kill the Crooked Man and collect the evidence. Hanged did the same for Kara's evidence, and dropped a scheme for two thirds of my next turn's schemes.

Hungering Darkness and Lynch both had miserable activations, missing most of their attacks. Resurrectionists had better success, but they were burning through their soulstones with reckless abandon. This maxed out the injustice upgrades, targets being Lynch, Hungering Darkness, Gwyneth and Illuminated. None of them were able to get rid of their upgrades just yet.

Another Illuminated and a Beckoner took positions on high ground, and so was Mr. Graves who had been sitting on top of a terrain since turn one. 

Although Ten Thunders were occupying enough terrain to get two points from Take the Highground, Gwyneth invited Montresor to play at Mr. Graves's table, thus getting his nasty aura away from any upgraded enemy models.

Resurrectionists managed to catch up a little, but game was still 5-4 for Ten Thunders.

Turn 3: Tormented picks Runic Binding, Honeypot makes it look like an accident

Jack Daw activates first, and removes Hungering Darkness with Drawn to Betrayal. He shot an Illuminated down to two health remaining, although Lynch who went down to seven health remaining was a juicy target, too. I just didn't want to scare him away from between my scheme markers.

The damaged Illuminated activated right away, but failed to do anything meaningful - except give Runic Binding for Resurrectionists.

Montresor walked to get at least two models under his aura, but failed remaining actions. 

Lynch also suffered a multitude of rams, but at least he got a point from Make It Look Like an Accident by forcing Guilty to fall, and summoned Hungering Darkness back. Guilty then legged it as far as it could, but Kitty managed to drag it back for Hungering Darkness to charge and kill with the crew bonus. 

Gwyneth eventually came to pick up the strategy marker from the Guilty. However, a Hanged was able to finish off the already activated Illuminated, scored Reposition so that it could move from melee with Hungering Darkness, pick up the strategy marker and pull Hungering Darkness back into melee. 

Kari and Hanged were able to finish off Lynch. Another Illuminated went to place schemes for next turn, and Beckoner seemed to be doing the same.

While Ten Thunders did get two points from their scheme, they didn't get a point this turn from Strategy. Scores tied at 7-7.

Turn 4: Tormented picked Leave Your Mark, Honeypot wanted to Reshape the Land.

We played only a few activations in, as Jack Daw was able to pick up marker from Lynch, kill Hungering Darkness again and pick up it's marker as well. Beckoner committed to Reshaping the Land, after which Kari went to stand on the center point and dropped a second marker for Leave Your Mark. She tolled Mr. Graves into a corner and tied him up with a Drowned. I still had eight action points plus signatures left to do my scheme. While there was a fleeting chance Ten Thunders might deny a point from Leave Your Mark, it was next to impossible to deny both.

So it became a 10/9-8 win for Jack Daw. 

Eekiryo's once-in-a-lifetime hat trick

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th edition on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Plant Explosives

Schemes: Runic Binding, Scout the Rooftops, Leavy Your Mark

My list:

Kirai, Envoy of the Court & Ikiryo
Datsue Ba
Lost Love
Goryo
Shikome
Gwisin
2x Enslaved Spirit

Pool: 6

Opponent had:

Charles Hoffman, the Inventor & Edie
Peacekeeper
Melissa
2x Hunter
Warden
2x Watcher

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Both crews pick Scout the Rooftops

Edie overclocks a bunch of robots, namely a Watcher, Hunter and the Peacekeeper. The peacekeeper wreckingballed on top of the platform in the center.

Before that, something transpired. Warden went to hug the centerline, which prompted Goryo to walk and charge at it. Signature action gave a Seishin, and the charge attack sliced a good chunk off of Warden. The seishin walked through the warden to give it Spiritual Chains token. 

Let's go back to the Peacekeeper. It tossed an explosive down from the platform, and did another wrecking ball to get to Goryo. The ghost thought his time was up, and procced two irreducibles on Peacekeeper. Goryo was left with three health. Melissa charged and did two Gatling Guns on Goryo, who procced vengeance again. And yet the ghost was standing, with one health remaining. Well, he was incorporeal and behind a cover, after all. It was finally electrocuted off the board by Hoffman. 

Let's go back to the Peacekeeper. Kirai had attempted to save the Goryo by coming to swirl it away from danger. She summoned a Gwisin to Warden as well, and hit the Peacekeeper with Sundering. Rams and one raise did a whole lot of damage to it.

Finally Ikiryo used her bonus and charged Peacekeeper and flipped no other than the Red Joker. Five damage. Peacekeeper dead. Removing that bot has always been such a migraine. I was dumbfounded. Anyway, Ikiryo then walked on top of the platform, past Hunter to give it Spiritual Chains. The Hunter had come on top of the platform to drop an explosive.

Enslaved Spirits dragged along the both edges of the board. Datsue Ba on the left swirled the spirit a bit forward and went to place a scheme on a hill. Shikome did the same on the other side on a huge poison container.

Watchers did the scheme for Guild, and the hastened version even went as far as to drop an explosive. Hired Gwisin walked and charged at it, no doing anything at all. 

Lost Love tried to deny opponent Scout the Rooftops by going on top of the building on the left, but another Hunter dragged him down from there. He used his soulstone ability to leap behind Ikiryo, but Hunter leaped to tease him even further. Luckily the shot missed.

Urami got no strategy, but both crews took a point from scheme. Guild took the lead at 2-1.

Turn 2: Both crews pick Detonate Charges

Enslaved Spirit and Datsue Ba on the left didn't have much else to do other than to drop bombs. Hired Gwisin managed to scrape off Shielded off from the Watcher, who leaped away from melee, dropped a scheme and went to guard the strategy marker it had dropped last turn.

Ikiryo tried to kill off a Hunter that came to engage with Deadly Pursuit... and it wasn't that far off. Again. Red Joker straight from the deck. Hunter was left with two health remaining. 

Lost Love teleported to Kirai, swirled Seishin closer and ate it to heal. He picked up enemy strategy and tried to heal the summoned Gwisin, but didn't succeed.

The summoned Gwisin killed the Warden with vengeance, and during it's own activation went to engage Hoffman as a delay tactic. That tactic failed when Melissa single-handedly shot the Gwisin off the board, shot some damage to Enslaved Spirit and Lost Love. 

Fortunately Hoffman had a miserable activation. He walked on top of a rock.

That's it. 

But that wasn't his only contribution, though, because Edie climbed on top of platform, dropped a pylon, which made Hoffman blast three points of damage to Ikiryo and stagger her.

Shikome used bonus action to walk and drop a couple of schemes next to Melissa. 

Enslaved Spirit to the right had walked and dropped the bomb right after Melissa had shot it, just in case. Watcher nearby dropped two schemes to the spirit, which basically confirmed Detonate Charges at that point. Kirai spent a couple action points to get to the other side of the container, swirled Enslaved Spirit away from those schemes and for some odd reason used her last action to give a charge to Shikome. The bird lady charged Hunter who had two points left, and scraped a one point in. I mean... Kirai could have also interacted a scheme near Watcher. Somehow that completely escaped my attention.

Urami got a point from scheme and a point from strategy. Guild lost their scheme, but took a point from strategy as well. Scores tied at 3-3.

Turn 3: Urami picks Take the Highground, Augmented took Grave Robbing with Remains markers. 

Guild started. Hunter leaped away from melee, planted a scheme marker near Lost Love and charged it dead, thus scoring first half of Grave Robbing already. Melissa and Watcher handled the second half.

Then Ikiryo activated, moved Shikome for a bit, and attacked Edie. She, uh, Flipped Red Joker out of deck. Does this count as a hat trick? She managed to kill Edie with her activation.

Kirai summoned an Enslaved Spirit to Hunter who was at two health, moved and dropped a strategy.

The Spirit shot Hunter for a single point of damage, wheee. Hoffman had to spend all his activation removing that spirit, and failed to construct a pylon.

Second Hunter went to drop a bomb on my deployment after Datsue Ba made Take the High Ground impossible to deny. In the end, Urami was controlling five terrain pieces. 

Shikome was able to deny strategy point for Guild this turn. Both crews scored full points from scheme, and scores went 6-5 for Urami.

Turn 4: Urami picks Search the Area, Augmented picks Make It Look Like an Accident

Seriously injured Hunter went to place a second explosive to my deployment zone. Ikiryo did the same vice versa, and moved Shikome right next to a neutral marker dropped by Edie. Watcher would have none of that, so it leaped and walked to engage Shikome. It placed a pylon as well, which shot Gwisin on a rock, and scored convulsions. This gave Guild a point from scheme.

Gwisin was still in quite good health, so I decided to put two more schemes with an Enslaved Spirit to the right. It had started scheming last round, so there were four markers there. 

Unfortunately the second Hunter managed to kill Gwisin, securing Guild a second point from strategy. But it was also a point from Search the Area for Resurrectionists. Melissa charged and shot Kirai with riot rounds. She placed an explosive as well.

Riot rounds forced Kirai to take a walk, pick enemy strategy and swirl to place it to enemy table half. 

Hoffman went to place yet another marker.

Datsue Ba was able to swirl Shikome away from melee with a Watcher, so she was able to pick up neutral marker and deliver it to enemy deployment.

Both got strategy as well as extra point from strategy, and both got two points from their schemes, so game ended in a 10-9 victory for Resurrectionists.

Make It an Accident

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Informants

Schemes: Ensnare, Take the Highground, Harness the Leyline

My list:

Molly, Chaotic Conductor & Noxious Nephilim
Archie
Keepside Strangers
Carrion Fate Emissary
Rabble Riser
Night Terror
2x Crooligan

Pool: 4

Opponent had:

Lynch, Wild Card & Hungering Darkness
Gwyneth Maddox
Kara
Koji
Mr. Tannen
2x Illuminated
Beckoner

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Both crews pick Take the Highground

Honeypot had a bit easier time fulfilling their scheme, as they had a bit more options to leap on near their deployment zone. It wasn't exactly tough for Forgotten either, as they had such a repertoire of movement tricks. Carrion Fate flied a Crooligan on top of building on the right, and the same happened with another Crooligan and Noxious Nephilim to the left. Third piece was taking a charge at an Illuminated contesting center-right strategy marker and swinging the minion a couple of times before leapin on top of a rock.

Another Illuminated to the left and Koji had two terrain pieces, and near the centerpoint Kara and Hungering Darkness were holding a flooded building for their scheme.

Molly went parading on a tent near center, too. I thought that her unusual defense ability would work wonders on such a small platform, and I needed someone to place markers for Ensnare, as well as bait Honeypot uniques nearby.

Scores went 3-3.

Turn 2: Forgotten picks Ensnare, Honeypot picks Make It Look Like an Accident.

Hungering Darkness charges Keepside Strangers and nearly kills them. A Crooligan from left discarded a card to leap to Keepside Strangers, dropped a scheme next to Hungering Darkness and went to engage the thing. Keepside Strangers had already spawned one scheme marker last turn for a possible Breakthrough at one point or another.

Crooligan messed up Honeypot's scheme big time, since they were planning on throwing a kid off a window. Just a little too late Honeypot realized that the second Crooligan on top of building had Shielded. 

Forgotten got their Ensnare soon enough, as Gwyneth charged in to kill Night Terror. Turns out Night Terrors are garbage players at card games, because Gwyneth had no trouble card sharking the minion dead. However, Illuminated ones seem equally as bad at playing with ice cream, as Archie was able to pummel the guy to mist. 

Lynch nearly killed Carrion Emissary, damaging it down to two health remaining. It flied away, scared of gambling any more and instead placed two scheme markers while also contesting center-right strategy marker.

Beckoner walked to contest the same marker, tying the control. She was able to lure Crooligan off the building, but no-one believed it was an accident since the kid was shielded.

Now defenestrated Crooligan went to control bottom-right strategy marker.

Rabble Riser and Noxious Nephilim squabbled with Koji and Illuminated, neither side making much of a progress.

In the center Kara tried the only possible action for Honeypot to score their scheme, and attacked Molly. Attack hit, but didn't score Rams.

Molly was Forgotten's last model to activate, and she slapped Kara off from kitchen counter with parade baton. She had to use two Parade Routes on Crooligan to get it to contest strategy marker in the center.

Forgotten took the lead with 6-4.

Turn 3: Forgotten picks Reshape the Land with schemes, Honeypot attempts Breakthrough.

Gwyneth finishes Carrion Emissary before it is able to activate. Archie makes a tit-for-tat exchange with Beckoner, killing her before she activates.

Koji and Illuminated to the left nearly kill Rabble Riser. In fact they would have if it wasn't for a lucky Rams during Rabble Riser's attack when he was still at one health remaining.

Fortunately I was reading around opponent's cards, and noticed Illuminated's "Don't Turn Your Back" in time - I had this grand plan of flying Noxious Nephilim and Rabble Riser to bluff Search the Area for a bit, but making the markers for Reshape the Land instead.

Molly had to spend her entire activation to walk on top of central building and parade the Nephilim out of Illuminated's engagement range.

Kara continued to attack Molly, making the cat even more distracted. 

A Crooligan moved to remove a scheme marker some Honeypot model had placed on my deployment zone. That was my attempt to deny Breakthrough. Unfortunately Honeypot had plenty of more activation by then, but at least it forced Hungering Darkness to scheme around.

Both players scored full schemes and strategy for 9-7 lead for Forgotten.

Turn 4: Honeypot picks Assassinate on Molly

Noxious Nephilim tried to remove Koji from equation to get one strategy marker for Forgotten. Both of his attacks needed to hit, but the first one failed already unless I spent a thirteen from my hand - which I did. But second attack missed as expected.

Lynch scores one point from Assassinate, and also gives Molly slow. She had three health remaining. She had to activate next, and went over the central building to take a charge at Koji. Koji died, but so did Molly when Illuminated activated. 

Opponent was able to kill Keepside Strangers and Crooligan effortlessly. I still had one chance to tie the game - Archie pushing both Gwyneth and Mr. Tannen away from their respective strategy markers. Attacks hit well enough, but no masks were scored in any of the cases. Since it was double point round, Honeypot claimed a 11-9 victory.

Rusty New Year

Two 50ss games of Malifaux 4th Edition.

Strategy: Corner Recover Evidence

Schemes: Public Demonstration, Scout the Rooftops, Reshape the Land

My list:

Rusty Alyce & 2x Hollow Waif
Marlena Webster
Ashes and Dust
Maurice
Vee
Scavenger
2x Abomination

Pool: 4

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 3

Turn 1: Amalgam picks Public Demonstration on Lynch, Honeypot picks Scout the Rooftops

I built up an awkward chain of activations to bring Rusty Alice to pick up the first strategy marker. I had placed it quite far to the left, well out of easy reach of both Amalgam and Honeypot models.

So in the end, Maurice tossed Ashes and Dust into mud for 2", and then Ashes and Dust went to drop a scheme marker for Alyce to jump into. Then all it took was a double walk and interact.

Honeypot had placed their marker closer to center, but terrain on my side blocked an easy denial of picking up that one. I had originally chosen Public Demonstration on Lynch based on his positioning - I thought he also might take a double walk and interact to pick up the evidence. However, I didn't take into account various abilities Honeypot had for additional movement. Instead plain Illuminated went to pick it up.

I didn't have any options to block Scout the Rooftops either. At least Honeypot wasn't fast enough to get the second point from scoutings.

After Illuminated had picked up strategy marker, I was sure Amalgam lost their scheme points this turn. However, Scavenger had advanced mid-field. He had shot the scoring Illuminated with shotgun without much of an effect. Although failure, this baited Lynch to eclipse himself closer and start hacking at Scavenger. I still had one Abomination left to activate, and it took a double walk to hug Lynch.

Both players scored strategy and one point from their schemes for a 2-2 tie.

Turn 2: Amalgam picks Detonate Charges, Honeypot picks Leave Your Mark

Amalgam minions were lit this turn. Scavenger and Abomination scared Lynch away after they brought him down to six health remaining or so. The second Abomination was able to kill the Illuminated that had picked up strategy last turn. 

After Lynch escaped, Hungering Darkness entered the brawl in his place, and got shot four points of damage from Hollow Waif thanks to a Red Joker.

Honeypot wasn't quite as adept at dishing out damage, but didn't fall much behind. Especially Maurice was a sorry punching bag, missing all of his attacks. At least he bled Injured all over enemy models while going down to four health remaining.

I was quite powerless to stop Honeypot from leaving their mark on the centerpoint, especially after Mr. Graves, Kitty and Illuminated spawned a total of four scheme markers there. Rusty Alyce could have gone and removed one of those, but instead she went to a terrain to place two scheme markers to it, thus scoring extra points from scenario.

Vee is amazing model to spawn a bunch of scheme markers, too. Her and Marlena were able to score Detonate Charges for two points from Hungering Darkness.

Both players scored strategy, but Amalgam did it twice. Both crews got two from scheme, so Amalgam got the lead at 6-5.

Turn 3: Amalgam picks Grave Robbing, Honeypot picks Take the Highground

With great trouble Amalgam was eventually able to score Grave Robbing reveal from Hungering Darkness. Ashes and Dust was able to pick one enemy remains for the second point, but Mr. Tannen used his invisible hand to turn another remains into a scheme marker. So I needed to kill one more model for two points from scheme. I certainly tried, but Mr. Graves was too difficult to take down with the models I still had left to activate.

Oh well. At least Rusty Alyce was able to royally screw Honeypot by taking a walk to contest bridge terrain that was controlled by Kitty Dumont. She took a shoot at Beckoner to summon Abomination, and shoved Kitty off the bridge for good measure anyway.

Mr. Tannen had one terrain for Take the Highground, but the summoned Abomination was now contesting the second piece Honeypot had.

Illuminated was able to take a double walk to scale on the hill, but would have needed to also succeed in his bonus action, since you have to go 100% supported with scale terrain. This action failed when opponent didn't have any cards in hand, which robbed Honeypot scheme points this turn.

Honeypot did manage to claw strategy point from Maurice, though. Hungering Darkness gave the point for Amalgam, so Alyce's lead grew to 8-6.

Turn 4: Amalgam picks Runic Binding, Honeypot picks Make It Look Like an Accident

Mr. Graves was able to fell a Hollow Waif from top of terrain, but she was left alive with two health remaining or so. To deny Make It Look Like an Accident, she tried to hide behind the same building she had stood on. Lynch did some odd shenanigans with eclipses and whatnot, and went to kill her anyway.

Vee had managed to craft a perfect Runic Binding if Lynch had stayed in place. I was weighing if I should reveal the scheme for just one point now that Honeypot had surely secured two. In the end I decided to take the one point as I was ahead in points anyway.

Various models were able to kill the summoned Abomination. Rusty Alyce attempted a hail mary set of perfect actions. First, she needed to shoot Beckoner dead with one shot, then Scrounge to Abomination's corpse to touch both Abomination's strategy marker and pick up Beckoner's strategy. She managed just that, and we called it a game. Game ended in 10-8 victory for Rusty Alyce. At best Lynch could have narrowed it down to 10-9.

Game 2:

Strategy: Flank Boundary Dispute

Schemes: Detonate Charges, Harness Ley Lines, Public Demonstration

My list:

Rusty Alyce, Rider Remade & Soul Battery
Marlena Webster
Vee
Hard Stop Herbert
Scavenger
Abomination
Necropunk
Angel Eyes
2x Bloodwretch

Pool: 3

Opponent had:

Hoffman, Steel Sculptor & Mechanical Attendant
Peacekeeper
Melissa KORE
2x Hunter
Warden
2x Watcher

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Amalgam: Public Demonstration on Peacekeeper. Augmented: Public Demonstration on Hard Stop Herbert.

Early on Vee pushed Alyce and Marlena a wee bit forward. That was the first mistake. 

Hoffman gave Melissa fast and extra walk, so she got into position to blast Rusty Alyce four times, hitting with each shot. Each shot dealt two damage. 

I had a bunch of 13's on my hand, so Marlena Webster took a walk and shot Melissa with her healing shot, but only managed to heal two points from Alyce.

And then Peacekeeper walked and used Wrecking Ball to charge Marlena. Fortunately it did only three damage or so, but this left Marlena a prime target for assassination next turn.

However, Peacekeeper was now in easy to reach position for Public Demonstration, and that was indeed what happened. Rusty Alyce jumped over a fence to get Peacekeeper within 6", and summoned two Abominations to the demonstration target before galloping away much like brave sir Robin.

Hard Stop Herbert and Bloodwretch were delivering a strategy marker to top, where it looked like Warden and Watcher would be the main adversaries. 

Another Watcher as well as Hunter were delivering two strategy markers towards bottom, where I had Scavenger and Bloodwretch.

I was able to present Augmented a dilemma to either score one point from Public Demonstration or one point from strategy, but not do both. They took the strategy.

Amalgam took the lead with 3-1, as their public demonstration was a SMASHING success.

Turn 2: Amalgam: Detonate Charges. Augmented: Assassinate on Marlena Webster

Peacekeeper started smashing Marlena as the first activation of the turn, scoring Assassinate both reveal and end condition instantly. It still had actions left to smash Necropunk in one hit.

I wanted to bring Rusty Alyce to middle, but Melissa's gatling gun had put the fear of god in Alyce. Both Abomination and even Bloodwretch went to engage Melissa. They were all dealt with easily enough, but Melissa wasn't able to blast everyone dead, as she had to scale on top of terrain to yeet my strategy marker back whence it came.

Angel Eyes took a shot at Watcher, who stumbled out of her reach with crew card shenanigans. The thing leaped to bully my strategy markers even more. Finally Scavenger was able to put an end to the Watcher's rampage over my precious little markers, and out of spite scrounged Watcher's corpse off from board. Which was a short-sighted mistake.

Vee was important model to score Detonate Charges, as she passed Secret Inspection checks left and right without cheats. This left Hard Stop Herbert able to walk, scale and interact Augmented strategy marker away, which in the end was the factor that forced Melissa's hand.

Lastly, Rusty Alyce charged Peacekeeper after detonating some charges, and managed to dish out five damage or so. However, she was now in a precarious position even if she had managed to heal up back to seven or so, and Augmented had the start next turn.

Only Hoffman scored strategy this turn, but Rusty Alyce got two scheme points easily enough.

Amalgam was still leading with 5-4.

Turn 3: Amalgam: Graverobbing. Augmented: Detonate Charges

... and this is where everything fell apart.

Although Peacekeeper failed to kill Rusty Alyce, she was equally unable to kill Peacekeeper. I had the option to run away with last action, but instead I was greedy and tried to finish the thing for graverobbing purposes. I didn't have the cards to secure that, so obviously it failed miserably, and now Alyce was sitting with two health remaining.

Hoffman healed Peacekeeper a little, charged and killed Rusty Alyce.

Peacekeeper was at three health remaining without Shielded. Abomination tried to claw it dead. I thought that if I a managed to land a total of two points and Injured to the robot, it'd die. But damage was only one, without Injured. So Mechanical Attendant just moved, schemed and healed Peacekeeper back to unfortunate amounts of health.

I still threw everything I got at Peacekeeper to score schemes, but killing took the effort of my entire remaining crew. The flips were absolutely miserable.

However, Scavenger was MVP of sorts. He took off from melee with Hunter, Scrounged to Guild scheme marker and shot the Peacekeeper dead. This gave me a point, and denied a point for Augmented. But the thing was, Scavenger was my second to last activation - it was impossible to get extra point from Graverobbing. And Augmented dominated the strategy markers, and most of the board so totally that we didn't continue the game even if Amalgam was still leading the scoreboard with 6-5.

Turn 4: Amalgam: Runic Binding. Augmented: Take the Highground.

Third turn was such a horrid spectacle that we did not play fourth turn. It was clear Augmented would get four points, while Amalgam had a minimum and maximum of one. 

Augmented won with something around 9-7.

Fun fact: I didn't receive Red Joker in any of my flips throughout the game. Not even in checks that essentially waste Red Joker. Same can't be said of the Black Joker, who certainly made an appearance every single turn.