Scaredy-Jack

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Informants

Schemes: Take the Highground, Make It Look Like an Accident, Search the Area

My list:

Jack Daw, Spirit of Betrayal & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Ferryman
Batsch & Amalie
Carrion Effigy
Hanged
2x Guilty
Dapperling

Cache: 4

Opponent had:

Tiri, Nomad & Oroboro
Iron Matron
Parson
First Light
2x Ancient Construct
2x Aua Warrior

Cache: 2

Turn 1:
Both crews pick Take the Highground.

Bygone started by draining a stone to give everyone in their crew Shielded.

Montresor and Jack Daw claimed the center marker, while Dapperling held the top-right. Aua Warrior did the same for Bygone bottom-left.

Jack Daw had been able to plant Injustice on Iron Matron, who promptly removed the upgrade during her own activation. Good news was that Bygone no longer had any soulstones.

Iron Matron and PArson held the leftmost marker. Oroboro had been there as well, but Montresor had dragged the thing down with noose.

Batsch & Amalie could have gone to contest the marker along with Hanged, but instead decided to maintain status quo and heal the slightly injured Hanged.

Guilty took one Ht 2 terrain, and another Guilty tried to do that as well. However, Tiri made it fall from a roof and become a craven as well, so Ferryman had to take the position instead.

Ancient Construct and Tiri were holding required terrain pieces for Explorer Society. However, neither managed to claim a third terrain. Both had the same number of strategy markers as well, so scores tied at 2-2.

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

Finally we had a proper injustice galore, with Parson getting one, Iron Matron getting one, Ancient Construct and even Tiri having one as well. 

I sunk too many actions into trying score two points from Iron Matron that Jack Daw or Montresor had been able to yank down from building. Oroboro also took a decent beating, even proccing it's demise. It decided to escape the heat and rolled off into my deployment. 

Batsch & Amalie got nearly killed by at least Parson, possibly Iron Matron as well. Eventually Ancient Construct came to toss the fungus back to my deployment. A two health Batsch and three health Oroboro would just have to duke it out between themselves in the coming turns. 

Tiri claimed a point from Ferryman by making it fall with Earthquake. Then she walked down to strategy marker and killed the Guilty there.

First Light and Aua Warrior tried to score second point from Make It Look Like an Accident, but miraculously enough they failed. Just one more damage would have sufficed. Ferryman, however, overperformed by taking two good swings at Aua Warrior, tossing it into fire which eventually melt the thing in the end phase.

However, this wasn't enough to keep Tormented playing the strategy. Scores went 4-3.

Turn 3:
Both crews pick Ensnare.

Surprise! Neither Oroboro or Batsch & Amalie died. 

Another surprise! ... actually, no-one died, although it was not for the lack of trying. Jack Daw, Iron Matron and Ancient Construct in the middle were all at seven. Parson was down to five. Even Ligeia and Hanged took a couple of points here and there.

Tormented spent their early activations trying to deny opponent points from Ensnare. In the end that didn't work out, but at least I made the Society work for it. 

My Ensnare got misplayed, so I didn't get any points from it. However, this time around I was able to take the lead in scenario. Scores went 6-4, which was bad but not insurmountable.

Turn 4:
Both crews pick Search the Area

Ancient Construct and Batsch & Amalie became casualties. 

Carrion Effigy was able to land a Craven token on Oroboro that had skittled to top-right strategy marker that was held by Dapperling.

However, Iron Matron ruined my area searching completely by getting away from melee with Daw and charging the Ferryman, who I wanted to interact twice and third time with Montresor.

First Light messed up it's scheme marker placement for Search the Area, so there was that small hope at least. 

... except that then Tiri activated and landed a nasty Earthquake on Jack Daw, making him Craven and throwing Montresor away from the marker at the center as well. This lead to both players having two strategy markers, so a 8-6 victory for Tiri.

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.

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.

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.

Back in His Element

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

Strategy: Flank Informants

Schemes: Reshape the Land, Search the Area, Leave Your Mark

My list:

Jack Daw Ensouled & Jaakuna Ubume
Montresor
Kari Zotiko
Ferryman
Hanged
Crooked Man
Guilty
Drowned

Pool: 4

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe, Relic Hunter & Luna
Sidir Alchibal
Desper LaRaux
2x Rough Rider
2x Ruffian
Huckster

Pool: 6

Turn 1: Tormented picks Reshape the Land, Wastrels pick Leave Your Mark

Ferryman ferried a Guilty with it to top-left strategy marker, where Guilty dropped two schemes to start bluffing Search the Area. Unfortunately opponent didn't commit to denying imaginary scheme.

I was also stressing out about Sidir, but fortunately I had two 13's in my starting hand. Jaakuna scaled on top of a building, lured Sidir closer and gave him the Rams upgrade. Next she did the special from crew card to yank Sidir to the building too, and used soulstone trigger to also deny him Masks.

So that was a 50% chance to fail any action. So out of three actions Sidir was able to do, he had a good chance of failing at least one. However, he sliced Jaakuna with just two attacks, and did a mortar strike and shot a third time. Well, at least that failed. 

Infuriated, Jack Daw threw curses left and right - specifically, to the Rough Rider center-left, and Sidir to the right. He also lost Tomes, so next turn if  he continues to pass 75% of his actions, someone will suffer. (Spoiler: That someone was Jack Daw.)

Since opponent was so clearly trying to leave his mark, Crooked Man went to crook his scheme markers and even craft up his own. I forget who removed that scheme marker, so Kari had to waste a soulstone to give Crooked Man another interact. Montresor was to do the last required marker for Reshape the Land one pointer, but failed because my hand was empty.

At least Hanged, my second last activation, landed a Rams out of deck on Lucas to remove one scheme from Wastrels. and also pulled Rough Rider from contesting central strategy marker.

Scores went 1-2 for Wastrels, as they were able to get one point from the half mark they had left of themselves. Jack Daw was just spewing bad words in all directions, and failed to reshape anything.

Turn 2: Tormented Picks Search the Area, Wastrels pick Reshape the Land

Guilty placed third scheme for Search the Area, used Onward to get to enemy deployment zone and dropped a scheme marker there, too. Opponent left my three markers alone, and as such I was able to grab the one point from Search the Area. Later Ferryman placed the marker for end condition, walked and charged Rough Rider and McCabe.

Tormented gang is on fire at the center - figuratively. In the center Rough Rider died to Ferryman, Hanged and Kari - and even McCabe went down to five. And that was only after he healed for two and three. 

Montresor charged Sidir and punched in the face for five points as he punched himself in the face for five points. Ouch. That upgrade sucks. Second attack brought Sidir down to two, which sucked even more, because Sidir has hard-to-kill. However, Sidir was also staggered, and Kari had summoned a Drowned on the roof. Even a stat 5 begins to have an effect on a stat 3 defender. Sid went down to one, which was a sitting duck for Jack Daw's automatic damage sprint. Which he did, killing Sidir and dropping right next to already injured Ruffian. He smacked the minion dead, and picked up his litter, too. Meaning, scheme marker.

It was a delight to watch the opponent struggle with Sidir's three Jack Daw upgrades, but Sidir himself didn't seem to bother. He was making his flips just fine, even damaging Jack Daw for three points.

Luna, Huckster, surviving Rough Rider and even Desper were dropping schemes for Reshape the Land. I couldn't remove the markers fast enough, and he had too good schemers anyway. However, I did manage to set up Breakthrough for next turn. 

Because I had chosen violence, I fell behind on strategy points. Scores went 3-5 for Wastrels.

Turn 3: Tormented picks Breakthrough, Wastrels pick Search the Area

Noose was tightening for Wastrels. They fell so much behind on action points.

However, the death train started losing steam... kind of. Breakthrough scored two points just fine after the first activation, but Tormented managed to kill just one model this turn. Though in all honesty, that model was Lucas McCabe. 

To dodge around his horsey-healing tricks, Tormented had do ping him for one point, and only from hazardous terrain and tactical action. I need to savor this turn, because that's exactly what happened. Well, one point of damage came from a Drowned or something, but Lucas didn't proc his heal just yet. Eventually Montresor was cursed to watch as Kari tolled Lucas into hazardous terrain, leaving him at two health. He had taken one point from hazardous already during his own activation, as he rode Huckster to my deployment zone. Jack Daw was then free to either kill Lucas by rolling over him twice, or deny opponent points from Search the Area. I made the scoring-wise incorrect decision to kill Lucas, but in my heart I know it was the right decision for the wrongs he's done against the humanity. Even in this game he trampled a mistreated, crooked miner with several lung diseases under the hooves of his horse.

So, Huckster and Desper were able to secure two points from Seach the Area for Wastrels. Breakthrough scored two for Tormented, who also took the upper hand in strategy. It was still a 6-7 lead for Wastrels.

Turn 4: Tormented picks Public Demonstration on Desper. Wastrels pick Frame Job on Luna.

Desper was the first to activate, and went to bottom-right corner. Now, if I only would receive a soulstone or two from somewhere... like from the Guilty who had just one health left...

... which certainly could have happened, if Jack Daw didn't go and kill the Ruffian a hit away from killing Guilty. 

Unfortunately Hanged went to charge Luna to bluff Assassinate. That he did, but also scored a point for Wastrels from Frame Job.

Me activating Jack Daw that early was mostly to save up lesser minion activations, as well as Kari and Ferryman for their movement tricks. But I certainly didn't need both of those models, or even furthest Drowned. However, no amount of stalling found me an opening to rush two minions to Desper. 

Double points on turn four, however, tied the scores to 8-8.

Machine Gun of Injustice

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

Strategy: Flank Informants

Schemes: Grave Robbing, Public Demonstration, Breakthrough

My list:

Jack Daw, Spirit of Betrayal & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Kari Zotiko
Guilty
Guilty 2
Drowned
Drowned 2
Crooked Man
Bone Pile

Pool: 6

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe Tomb Delver & Cryptologist
Sidir   
Desper
Jessie   
Rough rider
Rough rider
Ruffian 
Huckster  

Turn 1:

Schemes: Tormented: Public Demonstration on Lucas. Wastrel: Grave Robbing with Remains

Tormented picked Public Demonstration on McCabe. Wastrels picked Grave Robbing with 

True to the deployment's name, two flanks quickly formed. 

A Guilty, Kari, Lady Ligeia, Montresor and Jack Daw were on one, butchering up a Huckster and summoning a Drowned to Jessie.

Well, Jack Daw was kind of part of that flank a until Desper LaRaux yanked him from strategy marker in the center and planting him to face Rough Rider's and Sidir's gun barrels. 

To the right, models were piling up to a strategy marker near the center of top-right quarter. First, Crooked Man ran to contest the marker, trying to lure McCabe nearby. Due to some luck, this eventually succeeded after a Cryptologist, Rough Rider and Ruffian had failed to kill it. Granted, Crooked Man did have cover as he was inside a building.

Miraculously enough, McCabe was not able to score the kill either. However, one of the Rough Riders managed to score the kill. A hired Drowned and Bone Pile contested the marker, but Wastrels had it with Cryptologist, Rough Rider and McCabe. But I still had a Guilty left to activate that I had planned to onward-walk and walk to drop a scheme near McCabe for double points on Public Demonstration. However, Onward failed even with an empower.

Wastrels scored Grave Robbing with Remains marker, and Tormented also got a point from Public Demonstration. Both got strategy thanks to Desper hooking Jack Daw away from center.

Game was tied at 2-2.

Turn 2:

Schemes: Tormented: Assassinate Jessie. Wastrel: Leave Your Mark

Sidir shot Jack Daw down to four health remaining, so Kari had patch him up as well as he could. She also used soulstone trigger to move him to a slightly better defensive position. My next activations were Montresor charging Jessie, who was staggered, and almost killed her. Jessie was able to heal herself a bit, but finally Jack Daw scored  double points from assassinate.

Lucas, Cryptologist and Ruffian managed to kill both Bone Pile and Guilty as I was securing assassination. Both Rough Riders and Desper block center marker and drop two scheme markers for Leave Yout Mark. One Rough Rider was especially well placed so that Lady Ligeia and another Guilty were not able to go place even one scheme marker block Leave Your Mark double points. At leastLady Ligeia was able to claw Rough Rider down to three health remaining. 

Both players got strategy and doubles for their schemes, so scores were tied at 5-5.

Turn 3:

Schemes: Tormented: Runic Binding. Wastrel: Reshape the Land

Somehow Sidir was able to shoot both Jack Daw and Guilty dead in one activation. Sure, Daw was down to two hits with a raise, Guilty required just one without a raise. Rough start for a turn, but at least the dying ended there. Oh wait, it didn't. Later Lucas McCabe drowned Drowned in bullets, despite it being in cover and concealment. 

A Drowned and Montresor plant the required schemes for Runic Binding, which easily enough scores two points. But I was running out of action points now that Jack Daw and Guilty were gone before they were able to activate. Wastrels were able to drop scheme markers with impunity, with there being little I could do to remove them even if I suspected Reshape the Land.

Resurrectionists  were able to kill the already gravely injured Rough Rider. My losses were not quite 3:1, because Kari had been able to summon a Drowned, but it was a non-interacting, non-contesting model.

Both crews scored two points from schemes, but since Lucas McCabe had shot Drowned that had been controlling bottom-right strategy marker, Tormented lost a point from strategy.

Scorest went 8-7 for Explorer Society.

Turn 4:

Schemes: Tormented: Ensnare. Wastrel: Search the Area.

Both crews scored a point from their schemes. Tormented had quite a few movement shenanigans, but failed to utilize them well enough to push a required number of Wastrels away from contesting strategy markers, and so Explorer Society reached full 11 points again 8 by Resurrectionists.

Talent Deep Inside

 A 50ss game of Malifaux, 4th edition.

Strategy: Corner Boundary Dispute

Schemes: Reshape the Land, Ensnare, Harness the Ley Lines

My list:

Seamus AKA Sebastian Baker & White Rabbit & co
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire
Keepside Strangers
Batsch & Amalie
Dead Doxy
Mourner
Dead Dandy

Pool: 3

Opponent had:

Tiri, Nomad & Oro Boro
Iron Matron
Kett
Parson
First Light
Ancient Construct
Aua Warrior

Pool: 5

Turn 1: Redchapel: Ensnare, Bygone: Harness Ley Lines

There was next to no interaction between players thanks to deployment and strategy. Both players were busy delivering their strategy markers. I made a total of seven or eight interacts on markers, and eventually was able to get two markers past centerline, while Explorers got only one. Tiri did end up shooting Seamus for four points of damage, so my last activation was to teleport Keepside Strangers to him, move Seamus more than 6" away from Tiri, walk past centerline and drop a scheme marker for Frame Job.

Neither player scored schemes, although Explorers certainly could have had a shot at Harness Ley Lines for at least one point with their Toss and Steamroller shenanigans.

Turn 2: Redchapel: Frame Job on Keepside Strangers, Bygone: Scout the Rooftops

First Light shot Keepside Strangers, but attack was tied. I had to cheat to get the damage for Frame Job.

Madame Sybelle beckoned Bete Noire closer, after which Dead Doxy lured Bete Noire closer. Now she was ready to walk and charge to Aua Warrior, who by then was the only model on that flank. I had all of my strategy markers going that way. Sensing danger, Kett repositioned to attack Bete Noire from a mile away.

Batsch & Amalie healed Seamus a little, but had to position poorly to get him in range. 

Dead Dandy walked and scaled a terrain to drop a scheme marker for possible Harness Ley Lines next turn, but that plan went sour when Parson entered same terrain and smacked Dandy to two health points remaining. Tiri and First Light also entered the same terrain complex that was designated as quite a few different terrain pieces, dropping scheme markers as they went. 

Ancient Construct had tossed Iron Matron around, and Tiri goaded her for a wacky activation where she charged Seamus, used Pass Through to get away from melee and eventually went near center point, perhaps to challenge me dominating the strategy next turn. Seamus had a choice to deny Scout the Rooftops or go attack Iron Matron. He went for Iron Matron.

Scores went 4-2 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 3: Redchapel: Harness the Leyline, Bygone: Detonate Charges

Seamus started to search for talent inside Iron Matron, killing the thing in one activation,  although Sybelle helped with two out-of-activation attacks from signature action and masks trigger. This attack could have been even more devastating if Batsch & Amalie had been closer. 

Kett failed to kill Bete Noire, but Bete Noire was able to finalize Aua Warrior before it managed to activate, so it was a double or triple whammy on that side of table after the incident with Iron Matron. 

Dead Doxy had tried to make Madame Sybelle a homing beacon for Bete Noire, but black jokered Ominous Rustling. 

Ancient Construct charged Seamus, not doing much, but Tiri kept dropping scheme markers in contact with the Construct by using Defensive Energy. It was obviously Detonate Charges, because why not. That must be the easiest scheme to score as it is. However, White Rabbit Co. was able to ruin that with a stetson, and even harness some leylines with a fez. 

Keepside Strangers and Mourner also did markers for Harness the Leylines, but as the very last activation First Light was able to walk and scale into position to deny Harness double points and drop a scheme near Mourner for Detonate Charges. 

Scores went 6-3 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4: Redchapel: Scout the Rooftops, Bygone: Take the Highground

Game was quite clear, but we played anyway to get a full game for this report. By complete accident I started harassing Tiri's claims on highground by trying to engage her to hinder interacting. First Parson knocked aside Batsch & Amalie who scaled next to Tiri to dance, I guess. Mourner went to do the same, but Tiri used Voice of the Aua on Parson, who knocked aside them as well. 

Those were pretty much the relevant model interactions. Remainder of the turn was my models climbing on terrain to drop scheme markers, and Tiri held three pieces of terrain.

Scores went 10-5, with both having scored five from schemes. Strategy somehow had gone completely one-sided in favor of Redchapel.

Fresh Start for Lucas

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th Edition on Vassal

Strategy: Flank Boundary Dispute

Schemes: Scout the Rooftops, Detonate Charges, Ensnare

Seamus & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire
Dead Doxy
2x Mourner
2x Dead Dandy

Pool: 6

(List is short two points, I  somehow counted Mourners as costing 6)

Opponent had:

LucasMcCabe & Luna
Sidir
Desper
2x Rough Rider
2x Ruffian
Huckster

Pool: 6

Turn 1: Redchapel picked Detonate Charges, Wastrels Scout the Rooftops

Dead Dandies, Doxy, Bete Noire and a Mourner went in from one flank, while Sybelle, another Mourner, Seamus and Copycat Killer went from the other.

Wastrels had a little more open ways to spread out more evenly, but generally both Rough Riders, both Ruffians and Huckster were going against Bete Noire's gang. Doxy and Dandies arranged a Remains marker for Bete Noire to signature action to, from which she charged a Rough Rider that had delivered a scheme marker on top of a climbable crate. She wanted to block potential Scout the Rooftops, but managed to mangle Rough Rider down to one health remaining. 

Ruffians, Huckster and the other Rough Rider made great job at delivering strategy markers past the centerline, while Remains marker shenanigans slowed down that progress for Resurrectionists, having two strategy markers about one interact away from their deployment.

Seamus' gang managed to deliver one strategy marker past centerline, but Sidir just throwed it right  back after blasting a destructible terrain with signature action. Mourner and Sybelle were doing the interacts for me. Sybelle also beckoned Seamus a little closer to open up more Secret Passages. 

By the end of the turn Wastrels had spent their entire hand, which resulted in Lucas ditching Scout the Rooftops after he failed Ride With Me. Instead, he brought Explorer's third strategy marker to nudge centerline as well as attempting to throw artifacts left and right.

Seamus was last model to activate from Resurrectionists, and secret passaged into an unfortunate position right in middle of Desper, Luna and Lucas - but he dropped three scheme markers next to both Luna and Lucas. I was afraid Desper might try to yank one model away from the schemes, but that didn't come to pass because of a failed Acrobatic Movement.

Wastrels got no scheme points, but dominated strategy for one point. Detonate Charges went in full for Redchapel for a 2-1 lead.

Turn 2: Redchapel continued to Light the Beacons, Wastrels picked Detonate Charges.

Sidir and a Rough Rider shot Seamus off the board, but he was able to leap to Madame Sybelle with his demise. Sidir also shot a Mourner dead, so he was doing some heavy duty.

Copycat Killer did a scheme marker for Light the Beacons as far from closest enemies as possible, but once opponent realized I was probably aiming for Light the Beacons, Desper did signature, walk and charge to get within 2" of the scheme marker.

Mourner was playing ball with a Ruffian for a Resurrectionists strategy marker, and tried to finish off Rough Rider with a charge - but failed. The Rough Rider rode away from melee to shoot Bete Noire with the strat marker tossing Ruffian taking a shot a Bete. This was becoming a burden on soulstone cache, so Bete thought it better to ditch the place and go place another scheme for Light the Beacons. 

Eventually Huckster scaled a nearby house and threw some scheme markers at Bete Noire. 

Dead Doxy charged Ruffian in an attempt to deny some interact in the middle. She did land one good hit, but that was about it. She used Double Up to get already Mourner as a back-up. They did block interacts, but Ruffian just got out of melee and shot Mourner for four points of damage and place third marker for Detonate Charges. 

Madame Sybelle tried to beckon Desper LaRaux away from a scheme marker for Light the Beacons, but failed at that. Seamus used Secret Passage to walk and place a scheme marker for Light the Beacons and charged a Rough Rider for a few points of damage.

However, Lucas spoiled the fun with a 16" double walk to interact Seamus' scheme marker away.

Wastrels scored two points from Detonate Charges, while they denied Redchapel of points for a 4-2 lead. 

Turn 3: Both Redchapel and Wastrels picked Runic Binding

Copycat Killer used crew signature to charge out from Desper's melee, delivered a strategy marker that had been moved during end phase to enemy deployment, plus walked into contact with it. 

Wastrels were quick to activate the Rough Rider with one health remaining, and delivered a strategy marker to Redchapel deployment zone. 

Seamus, in a vulnerable position, used Secret Passage to go near centerpoint to bluff Leave Your Mark by planting two schemes within 1" of center point. With last action he charged Ruffian, scored Shove Aside and tried to take a swing at the Rough Rider he tried to kill last turn. 

Sidir started shooting Madame Sybelle and brought her down to two health remaining. Sybelle had to activate right after that, and charged Sidir to place a third scheme marker for Runic Binding. She beckoned Luna next to her, thus having Sidir and Luna inside the Runic Binding area.

Desper did acrobatics, charged Madame Sybelle but missed. His vorpal blade went snicker-snack, so Madame finally died. However, Sidir and Luna gave two points from Runic Binding.

Redchapel passed, and a went to place a scheme marker for Runic Binding. Doxy activated next, killed Ruffian that had one health remaining and used Pouncing Strike to get to scheming Ruffian, but didn't score a hit. However, second action attack killed the Rough Rider who had one health remaining.

Luna and second Rough Rider did scheme markers for Runic Binding, but Dead Dandy heroically managed to delay the scheme by turning Wastrel scheme into one of Redchapel's own.

However, Lucas had no trouble with getting to place a new marker, and even had action points to spare to miss someone with netgun.

Bete Noire walked and signature-charged to Ruffian that was next to Dead Doxy. She landed a heavy hit of three raises and scored Onslaught. Unfortunately Onslaught attack didn't kill Ruffian, so she wasn't able to remove Wastrel scheme marker. Last attack also missed.

Wastrels took 7-4 lead.

Turn 4: Redchapel picks Ensnare, Wastrels Leave Your Mark.

Dead Dandy planted a scheme to bluff Leave Your Mark and walked to engage Luna, who still had Redchapel scheme marker nearby.

Miraculously Sidir failed to kill Dead Dandy, but brought him down to one health remaining. However, signature action removed one of Redchapel scheme markers, so Seamus had to signature charge, interact two schemes within 1" of center point and close enough to Luna and Lucas before. Last action was to charge Lucas, who took four points of damage which at this point of game was whatever. 

Opponent did think I had Leave Your Mark, so Rough Rider took off close enough to place two scheme markers next to centerpoint and my scheme markers. That Ensnare was CLOSE, but did result in two points for Redchapel.

Eventually Lucas was able to spam tons of scheme markers near centerpoint, this time more than 1" away from a scheme marker I still had there. Bete Noire signature charged away from melee, ruined Lucas's stack of scheme markers and moved  Explorer strategy marker away from my table side. 

Unfortunately Desper was able to maneuver to deliver a second strategy marker to my deployment zone. Redchapel passed, but once Huckster went to throw Redchapel strategy marker out Dead Doxy's reach, we called it a game. Wastrels won 9-6.

You know it's an entirely new edition of the game when LucasMcCabe doesn't do anything morally questionable or downright abhorrent. 

McCabe's Special Talent

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Recover Evidence

Schemes: Vendetta, Leave Your Mark, Research Mission, Breakthrough, Sabotage

My list:

Seamus Baker & Copycat Killer
The Strange Lady
Mortimer
Keepside Strangers with Grave Spirit Touch
White Rabbit Co.
Dead Doxy
Dead Dandy

Pool: 6
Schemes: Vendetta (Mortimer on Sidir), Sabotage (Forest to the bottom-left)

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe2 & Luna
Sidir Alchibal
Jessie Halliday
Mr. Ngaatoro
Rough Rider
2x Ruffian
Hopeful Prospect

Pool: 4
Schemes: Vendetta (Sidir on Strange Lady), Leave Your Mark

Turn 1:

Seamus summoned a Mourner out of Keepside Strangers, who in turn assisted the distraction away from Strangers. Then Seamus walked merrily with Mortimer down the corridor on right... And that's where the fun ended this turn.

Well, Mr. Ngaatoro and Ruffian approaching from the right weren't a concern either, but where to begin...

White Rabbit had crafted a hat for Keepside Strangers before running off to left. Despite not being entirely out of my deployment zone, it was still too close.

Rough Rider started shooting White Rabbit, as did Jessie who had been delivered closer by Rough Rider. Harpoon struck true, and even soulstone flare wreaked havoc on my smattering of Dead Dandy, Doxy and White Rabbit. Terrible as it was, Strange Lady had to activate early to heal White Rabbit. 

Lucas had given Timeworn Blade for Sidir, but just took a double walk and an interact to center point with the remaining activation. 

I though that White Rabbit would have better chances of survival against Sidir if Keepside Strangers blocked line of sight. Strangers also had a juicy spot where to throw some snakes. A Ruffian and Jessie were standing within blast distance of each other. So, Strangers teleported and started yeeting snakes. Both attacks missed, though. So zero progress was being made there.

Sidir activated, took a walk and started shooting Keepside Strangers. 

Boom.

Red Joker on damage. 

Fortunately Keepside Strangers had Shielded +1 as well as the hat from White Rabbit, so they were left with three health remaining. White Rabbit wasn't as fortunate, and died to blast. 

At least the second shot missed, but then there was Fast Hopeful Prospect right behind Sidir. He managed to shoot Keepside Strangers down to one health remaining.

Not a problem, though? I just had to win the initiative next turn so as not to lose this important tech piece.

Turn 2:

Hooray! I had a 13 and a 12 in hand. And I flipped initiative before opponent had done so, and was quite confident in getting initiative.

Boom.

Red Joker on initiative for Wastrels. 

I see. So that's how we're going to play.

Rough Rider was able to shoot Keepside Strangers dead, as also opponent had a 13 in his hand.

This game was starting to look like an absolute train wreck, but at least Mortimer was able to decay one un-activated Ruffian dead before Mr. Ngaatoro missed his attack.

Sidir shot Strange Lady down to half of her health remaining despite me attempting to intervene with soulstones, thus scoring Vendetta. 

To get at least strategy point this turn, Copycat Killer teleported Seamus to left. He activated Urban Legend with masks and charged Ruffian. Just one attack hit, though. everything else completely failed.

Lucas, however, was intrigued by the innocent-ish talent scout and charged Seamus to demonstrate his talents in treating children, teenagers, animals, doctors and nurses, the elderly and mentally disabled. 

Well, I still might be able to score by walking and charging Ruffian, and then Obeying Dandy to interact with Strange Lady. That did require some luck to accomplish, as Dandy had only a stat of 4 and was Distracted. Luck was not the name of this game, so Strange Lady just charged Jessie Halliday and missed all her attacks and failed to heal herself.

Even Dead Doxy failed to seduce Ruffian to at least make the strategy marker drop.

Ugh. Horrifying turn.

Scores go 3-0 for Explorer Society.

Turn 3:

FINALLY I began in succeeding in some duels. First, Seamus activates Urban Legend with masks, slaps Ruffian dead, takes a horse by the hand to get away from McCabe's reach, and interacted my very first real strategy point.

Rough Rider disengaged from Seamus, shot... somewhere... and attempted to throw Timeworn Blade to Lucas. Fortunately the action failed because of Alone in the Dark.

Seamus wasn't in too good of a shape, so evidence wielding Dead Dandy was to make the ultimate sacrifice and engage both Lucas and Sidir. This jolly, slightly overweight and generally happy chap of a gentleman was then lashed to death by no other than Lucas McCabe. It took two actions, after which he picked up the strategy marker that had been dropped. Lucas also dug up Timeworn Blade for Sidir.

Strange Lady, having all of her defenses negated by Timeworn Blade,  activated to heal herself for a bit, and kill Jessie with a steady flow of snakes. Only one attack hit, though, so there went that plan.

But it was not Sidir who activated - instead, Luna came to dig up a scrap marker for card draw. This gave Dead Doxy a chance to save Strange Lady, so she took her by the hand and lead her away from Jessie. Then Doxy charged Jessie and caned her down to two health remaining.

Finally Sidir activated, but instead of going for Strange Lady he throwed the blade for Hopeful Prospect and took a walk to get through Seamus' stealth. He took focused shot at Redchapel master, and with two shots brought him down to four health. One quick reflexes shot got Strange Lady down to three health, with Dead Doxy catching blast damage. 

Jessie disengaged from Dead Doxy and took a harpoon shot at Strange Lady, leaving her with just one health. And next, she dropped soulstone flare. I had no other cards in hand other than black joker. At least Doxy and Lady passed the test.

I was afraid that Hopeful Prospect would finish the job, but instead he made the correct move of starting to lay scheme markers for Leave Your Mark end condition.

To the right, Mourner and Mortimer did astonishing job at removing Mr. Ngaatoro before he was able to activate. However... unknowingly Mr. Ngaatoro had locked me out of even the possibility of scoring Vendetta reveal, or even end for that matter.

My last model to activate was the Copycat Killer, who brought Seamus to far right and ran as fast as he could towards my sabotage target.

Both players scored strategy for a 4-1 lead for Explorer Society

Turn 4:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and I wasted no time in teleporting Seamus back to near sabotage target. Immediately Rough Rider came to harass him - well, Seamus only had four points left and I no longer had any soulstones. Much to my relief, the shot missed. 

Worried that Lucas might take a double walk and a charge at Seamus made me activate the master before trying to save Strange Lady. His activation was... flawed. I was going to write something else, but I took a closer read at Sabotage - no enemy models allowed within 3" of Sabotage scheme markers. Oh well. I try to find consolation in the fact that I could have pushed the Rider away from those markers with Take by the Hand. Instead, Seamus just pulled the horse closer to kiss it on the mouth with a barely hidden cleaver.

In the center, Lucas was able to kill Dead Doxy with a single strike, and collect the evidence of what he had done. I think it was Jessie who shot Strange Lady off the board. 

Mortimer dug up a zombie, picked up evidence from Mr. Ngaatoro and moved closer to my third strategy point.

Mourner did respectable job at holding back the entirety of remaining Wastrels. Luna and Hopeful Prospect were able to bring her down to two health remaining. Sidir closed the turn by planting a scheme for Leave Your Mark, and killing the Mourner.

Scores went 5-3, or 5-2 if we actually go by the rules. 

Turn 5:

So, we were in the assumption that scores were 5-3. However, Explores Society did have three points pretty much confirmed, which meant loss even if Wastrels suddenly went insane and killed Sidir for my Vendetta end condition. 

So, game ended in 8-5 (as played), or 8-4 (misplayed scheme accounted for) for Wastrels. 

Hopeless Prospect

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Standard Plant Explosives

Schemes: In Your Face, Deliver a Message, Espionage, Protected Territory, Take Prisoner

My list:

Leveticus & 2x Hollow Waif
Rusty Alyce
Ashes and Dust
Marlena Webster
Desolation Engine
Scavenger
Abomination

Pool: 4
Schemes: Take Prisoner (Huckster), Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe2 & Luna
Sidir Alchibal
Desper LaRaux
Mr. Ngaatoro
Rough Rider
Huckster
Hopeful Prospect

Pool: 7
Schemes: Take Prisoner (Scavenger), Espionage

Turn 1:

Right during the deployment I had a dilemma: Sidir was in the middle, so should I deploy my Def 3 chunk of desolated flesh to middle, where it might do something, or to board edges where it might be a bit safer?

Because of the building in the middle, I chose to deploy it quite deep in my deployment zone to rush it to building that offered LoS block for the thing. Wastrels got the initiative and Luna dug up a Timeworn Blade for McCabe. 

After taking cover in the center, my other models stalled as much as they could, with Hollow Waifs just shuffling around and concentrating. Eventually Outcasts had to move a bit more forward, and Scavenger activated to push Ashes and Dust for a bit. 

But that was after McCabe had taken a double walk and concentrated for a bit near center line. Rusty Alice brought her gun to bear, dealing .. two points of damage, despite hitting twice. Well, at least she shot two soulstones off the Wastrel cache!

Sidir took a double walk and started shooting Rusty Alyce, getting two points of damage through Alyce's armor. 

Leveticus placed a scheme marker to bluff Espionage, and walked behind some barrels to try to unmake Hopeful Prospect. 

Marlena Webster took position to tether both Rusty Alyce and Leveticus. By then Mr. Ngaatoro and Hopeful Prospect had paired up, approaching center line from bottom of the map. Huckster concentrated, and rather unfortunately managed to Black Joker the Secret Passage. 

In the center, McCabe and Sidir were holding the center point against Rusty Alyce and Desolation Engine. Just a little further up, Desper had crossed the centerline and was stalked by Abomination. 

Top of map had Rough Rider to take a shot at Ashes and Dust, which missed and then the tasmanian devil took a full 14" walk next to Rough Rider.

Turn 2:

Going from top to bottom, Rough Rider and Ashes and Dust just looked at each other, shrugged and carried on with their own stuff. Ashes and Dust dropped strategy marker and scheme marker, while Rough Rider just rode past the thing, walked for a bit and dropped strategy.

Scavenger was not able to move past gravestones, so it just took a walk and shot Desper LaRaux with shotgun, doing a bit of damage. Abomination also charged Desper, but only managed to give Desper a free 3" leap. Oh well. Desper leaped a little to place a strategy marker just past Abomination's walk range and went to engage Scavenger. This was one of the last activations of the round, and certainly raised suspicion that Explorer Society had just tagged their prisoner.

Hollow Waifs kept shuffling about, the one in top-right quarter walking to catch Desper under entropy aura, where he already was anyway. 

And then the middle, wow, what a mess. Lucas managed to stun Rusty Alyce, and we misplayed one thing a little and gave Sidir one Fast too many. Well, at least Lucas forgot about his own Fast the turn before. 

Sidir and Lucas shot Alyce down to four health remaining. She activated and decided to heal a couple of point instead of shooting. Which she also tried, twice, without much of an effect this time around. However, Desolation Engine was now free to activate and it charged Sidir. The ten point amalgamation of living flesh and machine only managed to take a parry to the face. 

Marlena Webster walked on top of size 2 pipe to cover more area with her tethering aura. She also tried to take a shot at Hopeful Prospect, and that prospect certainly had reason to be hopeful, as this attack also missed. Leveticus took a double walk and placed strategy marker before Hopeful Prospect and Mr. Ngaatoro tried to hack him up. That was five points of damage caused by Leveticus without him doing anything. 

Huckster was able to teleport a little closer, but failed the second Secret Passage - much to my frustration, too, as Huckster was my prisoner target!

Both players scored strategy, and Explorer's Society also tagged their prisoner for a 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

Going from top to bottom, Ashes and Dust waited until Rough Rider activated to go and place a scheme marker for Protected Territory. Eventually Scavenger did the same. Rough Rider was able to shoot one Hollow Waif dead and heal Desper a little.

Desper failed to leap, so he had to walk to place a scheme marker on my deployment zone. 

In the center things were heating up. Abomination walked to deny healing for McCabe and Sidir while Wastrels were busy setting up their Fast-train. Fast Sidir hacked Desolation Engine into an Abomination, who actually did, like one or two points of damage or so. Entropy and built-in tome trigger caused more damage to Sidir than all the combined attacks of my crew. 

Rusty Alyce was able to chip four points of health off from McCabe. Fast Huckster failed to use Secret Passage, so she just walked to place a scheme marker on center line, before she noticed an enormous teddy bear towering over her, just wanting to give a hug. Marlena Webster had walked to engage the prisoner. 

Mr. Ngaatoro, Leveticus and Hopeful Prospect were locked up in a weird brawl that didn't seem to be going anywhere. But unfortunately last attack from Mr. Ngaatoro hit and scored two points of poison, meaning neurotoxins would be active next turn, too. 

Both players scored strategy, Outcasts got their territory protected and prisoner tagged, and Explorers got Espionage. This was when opponent realized he had completely forgotten about the scheme marker required in his own deployment zone for the End condition.

What sort of 4D chess was this Huckster playing?! First she Black Jokered Secret Passage after concentrating, and now there was important reason for her to go back to Explorer Society deployment zone.

Scores balanced out at 4-4.

Turn 4:

Wow. Just wow. 

I don't think I have seen such carnage in Malifaux before - or at least, only few times. 

Fast Lucas McCabe brandished his lash, and he started striking at the tormented and miserable amalgamations of undead flesh and machine, killing both of them with two strikes. No-heal auras were thus long gone, so Marlena had to try and kill Sidir that only had like three health left. Marlena healed with a severe in an attempt to endure until next turn and took her swing - and took two points of damage from parry. Oh joy.

Nope, she didn't. Sidir butchered her and her teddy with two attacks, and started to shoot with his machine gun just for giggles - and look at that, Red Joker on damage against last remaining Hollow Waif. 

Brutal.

Huckster placed an explosive now that center only had Rusty Alice nearby and took a walk towards own deployment zone. Apparently Alice was a wee bit shaken, watching the carnage unfold, and pretty much missed all of her attacks.

On top side, Rough Rider went to protect one strategy marker Wastrels had planted after Ashes and Dust dropped an explosive to woods and flew to protect the marker it had dropped earlier. 

Scavenger also dropped a strategy marker and shot a severe damage against Rough Rider. 

Desper failed his jump again and had to walk to place strategy marker. 

Below, Leveticus and Mr. Ngaatoro continued their deathmatch, which looked a whole lot more threatening now that all Waifs were gone. 

Despite me putting all the effort into killing Mr. Ngaatoro early in turn, Leveticus only managed to score a weak damage against the henchman. In response, Mr. Ngaatoro beat the old man down to two health remaining. When did they start this game of chicken? Turn two?

Anyway, an honorable mention goes to Hopeful Prospect. He took one shot at Leveticus that missed, and got damaged because of it. And he lost his remaining three health points just because of activating. Poor guy.

Scores continued with a 5-5 tie.

Turn 5:

Leveticus finally scored his kill, and still had action points to place a scheme marker for Protected Territory. 

Rusty Alyce tried to attack McCabe twice, but neither shot hit home. Using the rapid fire felt a bit useless as Sidir still had five health remaining, but I still decided to go for it. And a severe it was. Way too late, but at least I got another kill. 

Rough Rider starts shooting at Scavenger, who bids his time to figure out what to do. For sure he'd not stay in enemy table side, though. Except... he did. Just not in a way I expected.

Lucas McCabe activated and placed a scheme marker on centerline, and started shooting the Scavenger. Double moderates on both attacks were enough to score a kill.

So, now we can add summary execution of prisoners to the long line of Lucas McCabe's heroic actions. In our games that guy has been so beyond abhorred in his moral choices that I should compile an actual list. 

Anyway, we ended game there because Scavenger was the last part able to affect game state in any meaningful way. 

It was a hard fought 7-7 draw when both crews scored full points from strategy, and everything else but end condition of Take Prisoner.