Where are you, Richard?

 A 50ss game of Malifaux, 3rd edition, Gaining Grounds 3.

Strategy: Standard Carve a Path

Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Catch and Release, Spread Them Out, Hidden Martyrs, Spread Them Out

My list:

Seamus AKA Sebastian Baker & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire + Grave Spirit Touch
Keepside Strangers
Carrion Effigy
Gravedigger
Necropunk
Dead Dandy

Pool: 4
Schemes: Spread Them Out, Hidden Martyrs (Necropunk + Dandy)

Opponent had:

Clampetts Fisherfolk & Bruce
Aunty Mel
Uncle Boggs
Sir Vantes
2x Buckaroo
2x Skulker Skin

Pool: 2
Schemes: Spread Them Out, Catch and Release (One of the Buckaroos)

Turn 1:

First turn was fairly straightforward positioning. I set up Necropunk far left to leap, walk + drop a scheme, with Copycat Killer and Gravedigger nearby as well. 

Seamus went center, and summoned a Dead Doxy out of Bete Noire. He managed to flip a moderate even with the double minus.

Keepside Strangers got to Seamus to kick a strategy marker, and walked back to not be so dangerously close to, well, everything.

Madame Sybelle, Carrion Effigy and Dead Dandy were closing in from the right.

Anglers had a heavy emphasis on the right, with just a Buckaroo and Skulker Skin going from the left. Aunty Mel, another Buckaroo and Skulker Skin were going towards center, and the remaining gremlins were right, or further right. Clampetts themselves eventually stomped their way past centerline, moving a strategy marker past centerline and dropping first scheme marker for Spread Them Out.

Turn 2:

Clampetts disengaged Madame Sybelle, who had charged in to tie up Clampetts and Sir Vantes. They then charged Carrion Effigy, smacked it dead with two strikes, and stomped deep into my deployment to drop a second scheme marker for Spread Them Out.

Eventually Dead Dandy went to try to remove first scheme marker Clampetts had done, but failed his check. 

I had some trouble Spreading my Them Out, so Bete Noire had to waste her activation to run to act as a homing beacon for Keepside Strangers, who leaped in and went to drop a scheme marker far to the right.

Dead Doxy went to place a scheme to the center before getting pushed to Uncle Boggs and Bruce by Sir Vantes, I think.

Seamus did nothing only a master could do. He just walked and kept kicking strategy markers, both friendly and enemy. In the end he wasn't even able to hinder Angler's progress that much. However, since Aunty Mel was standing, like, five inches from Seamus' face, I decided to sacrifice Copycat Killer instead. And look at the little guy! He shot Skulker Skin down to one health remaining.

Necropunk did the third scheme marker for Spread Them Out, and so died the Buckaroo who charged through Necropunk.

Scores went 2-2.

Turn 3:

Seems like I missed picture from turn three, but I think I can infer much of what happened. 

From left to right, Necropunk leaped to top-left corner, starting to cultivate the second part of Spread Them Out.

Buckaroo did the same. 

Aunty Mel made Copycat Killer go away, just as expected. Seamus, however, threw a wig on Copycat Killer's corpse and tossed a bar or lipstick that hit Copycat Killer squarely in the forehead, and raised him as a Rotten Belle. 

Situation in the small funnel from where I was delivering my strategy markers was a convoluted mess, but I managed to keep both my markers past the centerline, and so did Anglers.

Dead Doxy nearly canes down Bruce after the pup and Uncle Boggs had tried to kill her. Uncle Bogg also repositioned to engage Madame Sybelle, who was duking it out with Sir Vantes. She certainly needed some back-up, so Dead Dandy walked and charged Uncle Bogg.

Keepside Strangers placed away from Sir Vantes engagement range, climbed on top of a container and threw some snakes at Bogg. Damage was moderate, so Dead Dandy took more damage than anticipated, although the damaging itself was intentional to make him a more enticing target to kill.

Bete Noire charged Sir Vantes and tickled him for a bit before burying herself with a trigger.

Clampetts didn't have much of an activation after failing to stomp. 

Both players got strategy for a 3-3 tie.

Turn 4:

Madame Sybelle was able to withstand Sir Vantes' fury, although this finally drained all of my soulstones. She also did disengage half an inch to not be engaged by Uncle Bogg. Fortunately Uncle Bogg took the bait and ate Dead Dandy in one bite - that was Hidden Martyrs for me.

Keepside Strangers was able to shoot Bruce dead with snakes. Aunty Mel isn't as successful, although just one hit brings Gravedigger down to half of his health remaining. 

Martyr number two, Necropunk, continued to spawn scheme markers while hugging the edge of the board. Unfortunately Skulker Skin was able to shoot a couple of wounds off from him.

Catching and Releasing Buckaroo got tired of trying to engage Seamus, and took a triple walk to go next to Madame Sybelle instead.

Clampetts was able to stomp around and kick a strategy marker to my deployment zone. After the mess that was my own strategy marker delivery, Bete Noire had to teleport in to kick one marker to Angler deployment after Seamus, Gravedigger and the Rotten Belle 

Both players scored strategy and second scheme for a 5-5 tie.

Turn 5:

Skulker Skin robbed me a chance at Hidden Martyrs, but the punk did score Spread Them Out end for me.

Gravedigger kicks the second strategy marker to enemy deployment. 

Aunty Mel and Clampetts secured fourth strategy point for Anglers. Catch and Release Buckaroo managed a successful disengage and ran out of reach.

I tried to figure out a way to get Bete Noire to act as a beacon for Keepside Strangers, but Sir Vantes had pushed them down from the container, which meant their LoS was severely restricted. 

Had Rotten Belle managed to disengage from a Buckaroo more than 1", perhaps Bete Noire could have done it, but Belle botched the disengage. There was no chance of Sidekicking Keepside Strangers to Bete Noire, walking and kicking enemy strategy marker out of my deployment, so game ended in a 8-7 victory for Anglers.

Don't Be Such a... Rick, Richard!

 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Stuff the Ballots

Schemes: Take Prisoner, Outflank, Protected Territory, Sweating Bullets, Deliver a Message

My list:

Dr. McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Rogue Necromancy
Kentauroi with Grave Spirit Touch
Nurse
Guild Autopsy
Little Gasser
Canine Remains
Mindless Zombie

Pool: 2
Schemes: Sweating Bullets (Sebastian), Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Clampetts Fisherfolk & Bruce
Aunty Mel
Uncle Boggs
Sir Vantes
Mossbeard
Swashbuckler
Buckaroo

Pool: 5
Schemes: Outflank, Protected Territory

Turn 1:

There was relatively little engagement on the first round. I guess that's how it usually goes with McMourning2, as just about his entire crew was focused on getting corpse marker on the board. First Canine Remains ate Mindless Zombie, and from the Mindless Zombie's original corpse Sebastian summoned another Canine Remains that kept eating itself for even more corpses. 

Eventually McMourning activated, and gave an extra head for Sebastian, and a third leg for Nurse. He also summoned up a Flesh Construct as you'd expect.  

Little Gasser went full steam ahead towards bottom-left corner strategy marker. Zombie Chihuahua was stuck behind everyone because of a few bottlenecks and did nothing but stank. Which was a decent enough contribution, I suppose. 

While this whole circus was playing out, Anglers were navigating over and around the gibbet terrain in the middle. Sir Vantes lanced the pup Sebastian had summoned, and was holding another bottleneck along with Swashbuckler. Bruce and Uncle Boggs were guarding their back.

Buckaroo sped into contact with the strategy marker at top-right corner, while Clampetts went to hug the centermost ballots and place a scheme marker. 

I thought Rogue Necromancy might need some assistance up there, so Kentauroi took Sebastian along for a ride and charged Clampetts. It did some damage before taking a hike towards  center-right strategy marker.

Aunty Mel was hunting her white whale that was the Rogue Necromancy. Fortunately she didn't her prime target in range, and had to take a double walk to shoot Kentauroi with trigger from her bonus action. But damage was no other than Red Joker. 

Finally Flesh Construct charged Sir Vantes to clog up the narrow passage.

Turn 2:

Bayou got the initiative. Aunty Mel activated. However, after checking my upcoming cards with bonus, she didn't go for the kill on Kentauroi. Instead, she went to attack Rogue Necromancy. That wasn't a good omen, and soon enough after Aunty passed her terrifying check, Rogue's defense came up as Black Joker. Five or six damage. Ouch.

Kentauroi was now able to ride to ballots, plant a vote and charge Aunty Mel without much of an effect. 

Buckaroo placed two votes to top-right strategy marker after failing its Onward in between.

Clampetts heaved Kentauroi away from Aunty Mel and killed the thing. First hired kill. And now Rogue Necromancy was cornered, all alone, by Aunty and bayou master. At least it was able to walk and drop a scheme marker for Protected Territory. 

In the center, Flesh Construct miraculously endured Sir Vantes and Uncle Boggs. Uncle dialed Richard, who answered the call. But when the croc had time to activate, it had other targets. Sebastian had walked and charged to engage Uncle Boggs for Sweating Bullets. Richard attempted to execute Sebastian, but I certainly had low cards in hand to save him.

Swashbuckler had placed two votes into center ballots while out of Sebastian's chatty line of sight. 

McMourning pushed Little Gasser as a desperate measure, and had also done so for Sebastian. 

Guild Autopsy had placed a vote in center-left ballots before Nurse walked over to take his place. Little Gasser, instead of placing a vote to bottom-left marker, did a scheme marker for Protected Territory. 

As a result, Resurrectionists had a grand 3-1 opening.

Turn 3:

Going from top to bottom, Aunty Mel wasted no time in getting rid of Rogue Necromancy. Buckaroo and Clampetts dominated top-right and center-right strategy markers, and there wouldn't be anything I could do to challenge then throughout the entire game. 

However, Flesh Constructs and Sebastian's bone saw managed to cut through both Sir Vantes and Uncle Boggs, so attrition game looked like it was going to me in the center.  Especially after McMourning replaced the dead Flesh Construct with another. 

Hired Canine Remains stamped its paw mark on a voting paper and dropped in center ballots before being harrowed to death by Mossbeard's tales from the whatever number of seas Malifaux has.

Nurse and Little Gasser continued voting and scheming around bottom-left and center-left strategy markers. 

McMourning used desperate pace on Sebastian to push him away from center, closer to the marker in top-left quarter.

And... I guess... that was it, for the turn? So many models died. Sir Vantes and Uncle Boggs, Canine Remains, Rogue Necromancy and Flesh Construct.

Both players got the strategy points, but Bayou was able to score their Protected Territory. They caught up to 4-3 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Blasted and bother! Sebastian was just outside of walk & interact distance of top-left quarter's strategy marker, so instead he just walked closer and dropped a scheme for Protected Territory end condition. 

Aunty Mel took a double walk to get Sebastian within shooting distance next turn.

Clampetts walked to bottom-right quarter's strategy marker, planted two votes and Silurid Stomped away. 

In the center, Flesh Construct was trying to kill Swashbuckler, and Swashbuckler was doing the same for Flesh Construct, with both being just about as effective. Mossbeard pretty much secured the center for Bayou. However, after desperate pacing Guild Autopsy twice, McMourning walked to threaten the center at least.

Little Gasser ditched the voting and went to protect territory instead. 

Resurrectionists missed their strategy point, so scores evened out to 4-4.

Turn 5:

Last turn was about wrestling the activation order. If that was the aim, though, Resurrectionists did some poor choices in regards to initiative, as they started game. My reasoning was that I needed that top-left quarter strategy marker more than victory itself.

So, Sebastian picked up that point, and Aunty Mel was left with no effective options. 

Nurse and Little Gasser secured Protected Territory end condition, while Flesh Construct and Swashbuckler were fruitlessly duking it out. Mossbeard went to sit on scheme marker at the center that had been placed earlier. 

In the end, I wasn't able to get ahead in the order of activations and Bayou was able to force McMourning activate before Clampetts. He did mess up with Mossbeard, but trying to push Clampetts twice only halfway succeeded. Not that it would have mattered much. 

Clampetts was able to walk, Silurid Stomp and interact to get Protected Territory and deny me Sweating Bullets. 

Resurrectionists got their third strategy point and Protected Territory easily enough for a 6-6 draw.

Go back home, Richard!

 A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Standard Corrupted Idols

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

My list:

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

Pool: 5
Schemes: Dig Their Graves, Breakthrough

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 6
Schemes: Outflank, Breakthrough

Turn 1:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 2:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 3:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 4:

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

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

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

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

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

Scores continued with hard-fought 4-4 tie.

Turn 5:

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

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

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

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

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

Richard? Now that's a good boy!

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Plant Explosives (gg0 version)

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

My list:

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

Pool: 4
Schemes: Power Ritual, Search the Ruins

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 4 
Schemes: Search the Ruins, Detonate Charges

Turn 1: 

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 2:

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 3:

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 4:

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 5:

Surprisingly, Seamus did not shoot anyone dead this turn.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Richard, nooo!

A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Flank Turf War

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

My list:

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

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

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 5
Schemes: Assassinate, Search the Ruins

 Turn 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 2:

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 3:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 4:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 5:

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

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

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

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

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

Quit it, Richard!

 A 35ss practice game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Standard Turf War

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

My list:

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

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

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 3
Schemes: Harness Ley Lines, Assassinate

Turn 1:

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

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

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

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

Bruce healed Sir Vantes and drooled up a pool.

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

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

Turn 2:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 3:

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

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

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

Turn 4:

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

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

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

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

Turn 5:

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

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

Scores went 7-4 for Bayou.