Survival Elections

 A 50ss game of Malifaux, 3rd edition. My intention was to use options that I have used less often, and that I can't use in 4th edition. 

Strategy: Standard Cursed Objects

Schemes: Breakthrough, Load 'em Up, In Your Face, Spread Them Out, Leave Your Mark

My list:

Leveticus & 2x Hollow Waif
Yannic Waller
Ashes and Dust
Marlena Webster
Hard Stop Herbert
2x Catalan Rifleman
Abomination

Pool: 5
Schemes: Load' Em Up (schemes), In Your Face

Opponent had:

Charles Hoffman & Mechanical Attendant
Melissa KORE
Peacekeeper
Guild Steward
Hunter
Warden
2x Watcher

Pool: 5
Schemes: Spread Them Out, Leave Your Mark

Turn 1:

Hollow Waifs spent their activations concentrating, while Hoffman loaded up Peacekeeper, Melissa and Attendant, before double-walking to the center of the board. Mechanical Attendant slammed a piece of destructible hazardous terrain to open up way for Peacekeeper.

Yannic Waller tried to take a cautious walk, taking cover from a wall and consolidating a Catalan Rifleman closer. 

Melissa punished Yannic with her gatling gun, dealing in a total of three damage after a damage block..I got worried for her safety, because Peacekeeper was yet to keep its peace for the turn. Marlena Webster took a double walk inside tall grass to tether Yannic's soul.

However, Peacekeeper was more into leaving a lasting mark, and took a double walk to place a scheme marker near center point. 

There were now Peacekeeper, Hoffman and Melissa near each other in the center. Although Guild Stewanuki and Mechanical Attendant were also near the trio, they had already activated. Catalan Rifleman was able to stun both Peacekeeper and Hoffman before Leveticus activated. Hoo boy. First action point was to transfer some of Hollow Waif's essence for Yannic Waller, and then blast Peacekeeper twice with Unmaking. After he was done, Peacekeeper was down to two health remaining.

One Watcher was hugging both table edges. Warden was kind of aiding the one to the right, and Hunter was with the left one. Ashes and Dust took a walk+charge at the left Watcher, dealing just one point of damage, but scoring Like the Wind for some additional movement.

Another Catalan Rifleman landed a solid two-pointer on rightmost Watcher. Augmented saw Hard Stop Herbert rolling slightly past centerline on the right, and they were hating. Oh dear. That meme betrays my age. Anyway, he dropped a scheme there. Abomination was on the same flank, trying to figure out what to do.

Turn 2:

Augmented won initiative, and so Hoffman activated. He took a walk to get near Peacekeeper and healed it for four. 

Before Watchers would do something annoying like drop their cursed token on my models, Ashes and Dust activated and secured a strategy point for me, along with a scheme marker.

Guild Steward healed Peacekeeper back to full and removed its stun. Oh well. There's plenty more irreducible damage where it came from. To keep Peacekeeper within 3" of Hoffman for In Your Face, Yannic decided to sacrifice herself for democracy. She walked near Hoffman and blasted democratic elections, healing herself, Catalan Rifleman and Leveticus, while damaging Hoffman, Peacekeeper and Warden.

Her sacrifice was in vain, though, since Peacekeeper wanted to keep peace elsewhere. It walked, charged and flurried Marlena Webster... dead. Strategy point for Augmented. So, Leveticus would have to get within 3" of the thing, then.

I started trying to soften it up first, and Catalan Rifleman was indeed able to flip a double severe with negative modifiers. I think he also stunned somebody, perhaps Melissa. However, Mechanical Attendant took a double walk to heal Peacekeeper for a bit.

So... Leveticus walked and charged in, right on top of Marlena's corpse. He managed to flip a double severe with negative modifiers with double Necrotic Decay. Boom. Peacekeeper gone. Then he casually unmade Mechanical Attendant dead. Ew. That's all I have to say. Eww. However, Leveticus was now at four health remaining without Augmented having dealt even one point. It was all my own handiwork.

Melissa and Warden dealt with Yannic, bringing her down to one health remaining. 

Hunter was speeding towards my deployment zone.

Hard Stop Herbert pushed onward, dropped a scheme near Watcher on the right, and charged the steel pterodactyl, not doing much.

The Watcher disengaged and flew to receive cover from my remaining attacks. But Catalan Rifleman didn't shoot it - he took a double walk behind a cage, where centerline meets the table edge. Hollow Waif walked and siphoned Watcher instead, but dealing only one point of damage, so it now had just one point remaining. Unfortunately Abomination that had ran to Herbert's first scheme wasn't close enough to cover Watcher inside Entropy aura.

Hunter kept creeping towards my deployment zone, which had me believe opponent might have picked Breakthrough.

So, Amalgam got their In Your Face, but so did Augmented get their Leave Your Mark. Both got strategy points for a 2-2 tie.

Turn 3:

Augmented got initiative again, and decided to fly with the Watcher who had one point remaining to place a scheme.

Yannic had to activate to advocate for democracy again, giving her the sorely needed health point to get her above Hard-to-Kill threshold. Other than that she didn't do much, except drain action points from opponent. Because of Hard-to-Kill, it took both Melissa and Warden to kill her. Melissa did shoot Catalan Rifleman down to one health remaining. I wanted to try to save him, and brought Abomination in to the fray instead. Unfortunatly it was only able to get Warden within no-heal aura, but at least it took Hoffman's entire activation. Augmented got their strategy point that way. 

Either the Catalan Rifleman at one health or Hollow Waif to the right killed Watcher, scoring strategy for Amalgam.

Hunter did a scheme marker NOT in my deployment zone, so it wasn't the breakthrough I suspected. Now my guess was all spread out. 

Hard Stop Herbert climbed on top of hill to place a scheme marker, while the Catalan Rifleman hiding behind a cage did the same. Ashes and Dust dropped sixth marker.

Leveticus took a double walk out from tall grass, and charged in between Hoffman, Melissa and Warden. At the end of turn. Warden went down to one health remaining.

Guild Steward only healed Warden for a bit, and went to place a scheme marker suspiciously more than 10" away from both Watcher's scheme, and one that Hunter placed earlier this turn. 

So, Augmented got their Spread Them Out, but so did Amalgam get their Load 'Em Up. Both got strategy for a 4-4 tie.

Turn 4:

Leveticus wrecked Warden for strategy point, and dealt some damage to Melissa. As he was engaging both Melissa and Hoffman, he was quite annoyingly there, blocking interacts. And he had used Necrotic Decay to get to two health remaining, so a very juicy target indeed. Somehow Hoffman had to spend all of his action points in killing the old man, before he got teleported to Hollow Waif to the right. 

Since Melissa was now unengaged, I was worried that she might do some miraculous flips and yeet Leveticus to the Waif on the left, so Hard Stop Herbert took a point of falling damage, Onward and walk to stand in front of Leveticus. 

Melissa did indeed try after dropping a scheme marker, and dealt moderate with negative modifiers against Herbert. No blast trigger though.

Guild Steward also dropped a scheme marker and walked into position to do even more next turn. Hunter dropped a marker and went to tease Hollow Waif. Hollow Waif teased Hunter back, and tried to position so that Deadly Pursuit couldn't be used to best effect.

Ashes and Dust just kept hanging around in the enemy deployment zone.

My easiest curse token targets had been the Catalan Riflemen, but the one who had a single point of health left had started running towards bottom-right corner, and was out of reach. The other one was hiding behind the cage. Warden had carried a curse token, so Amalgam gained a narrow lead of 5-4.

Turn 5:

Melissa did the unimaginable, and walked and charged to take a shot at the Catalan Rifleman who was literally in contact with two table edges. And scored the kill. 

Opponent was able to place all and every scheme marker for Leave Your Mark and Spread Them Out without me being able to do anything to that. Ashes and Dust got In Your Face uncontested.

However, the other Catalan Rifleman took a double walk to Melissa and bonus action interacted her his own curse token. Herbert charged Melissa, but she was able to block all damage with soulstones.

So, it was Leveticus' job to deal the last remaining three wounds in. However... there was a 13 and Red Joker coming up with Sanguine Evocations, so game was pretty much decided there and then. Leveticus unmade Melissa and took a double walk to get within three scheme markers for a close 8-7 victory for Outcasts.

Game 2:

Strategy: Flank Covert Operations

Schemes: Load 'Em Up, Set the Trap, In Your Face, Catch and Release, Public Demonstration

My list:

Hamelin, the Piper & 3x Stolen
Nix
Benny Wolcomb
Yannic Waller
Fumigator
Disease Containment Unit
Tunnel Rats
Malifaux Child

Pool: 4
Schemes: Set the Trap, Public Demonstration (Malifaux Child, DCU, Fumigator)

Opponen had:

Jakob Lynch & Hungering Darkness
Gwyneth Maddox
Mr. Graves
Mr. Tannen
2x Illuminated
Beckoner
Tanuki

Pool: 3
Schemes: Catch & Release (Illuminated), Set the Trap

Turn 1:

At least Gwyneth, Mr. Tannen, Mr. Graves, Lynch and Tanuki were funneling though a narrow gap from the center of their deployment zone. Gwyneth had been moved around by various effects so that she was able to go to center-left strategy marker and drop a scheme marker.

Catching and Releasing Illuminated was going towards center-right strategy marker along with Hungering Darkness. Beckoner was almost hugging the table edge and running towards top-right strategy marker. Bottom-left was covered by the other Illuminated.

I realized I had not remember to hire a Malifaux Rat to my crew to do the final act of coronation. But I still carried on with the task of making enough rats to form a Rat King. 

Tunnel Rats and Fumigator placed one scheme markers and traveled towards the upper half of the board. Yannic Waller was leading the way. She took a point of burning along the way from hazardous terrain, because Fumigator and Tunnel Rats had managed to block other ways.

After placing her own scheme marker, Disease Containment Unit managed to lure a rat out of Fumigator's scheme marker with Rapid Response. 

Malifaux Child slapped the fourth marker and went to benefit from concealment from inside the tall grass. 

Nix went kind of halfway between bottom-left and center-left strategy marker. 

Hamelin took a walk forward and removed the scheme marker Gwyneth had placed, before obeying Mr. Graves to charge Tanuki. Bwahahaha. Unfortunately the little **** didn't die to fencepost-to-face.

Benny did a bunch of rats and walked on top of a hill.

Turn 2:

... and that was eight pass tokens for Ten Thunders. 

Hungering Darkness walked and charged Yannic Waller, slapping  her for severe damage. So she was at one health remaining, and burning. Fortunately democracy saved the day! Or... at least the turn. She did the elections and healed her back to two.

Beckoner went to top-right strategy marker and placed a scheme marker. Tunnel Rats did the same. 

Catch-and-releasing Illuminated walked near center-right strategy marker and tried to scintillate clouds somewhere. Benny, who was able to snatch Fast from a free scheme marker, walked within 2" of center-right marker and started shooting the Illuminated without much of a result.

Mr. Tannen, Mr. Graves, Lynch and Gwyneth claimed the center, re-establishing a scheme marker. Lynch was able to shoot respectable damage in to Hamelin with unrespectable Derringer.

Disease Containment Unit had been slowed by Hungering Darkness, so she wasn't able to move far enough to score Public Demonstration. Malifaux Child couldn't either. 

Rats formed into Rat King and tried to get closer to action with its two actions - remaining vigor from a delicious cheese offered by Stolen.

Last Illuminated went to bottom-left strategy marker and placed a scheme marker there.

Fumigator and Nix went to place required markers for Set the Trap. Hamelin obeyed Disease Containment Unit and Malifaux Child near Jakob Lynch. 

Outcasts managed to get both of their schemes, and claimed top-right strategy marker. Opponent took center-left, which seemed to be a hotspot to contest.

Scorest went 3-1 in favor or Hamelin.

Turn 3:

Since there was no tanukis nearby, Mr. Graves applied fencepost to Malifaux Child for lethal results. 

Rat King wanted to avenge the boy, and did get three attacks out to Mr. Graves, bringing him down to one health remaining. But Tanuki cheered him up above Hard-to-Kill threshold.

Benny Wolcomb went fast again and charged Illuminated that was holding center-right strategy marker. My intent was to kill the thing and claim that marker, but Benny did only like two points of damage. Tunnel Rats teleported nearby and tried to shoot the Illuminated with trench gun, without much of a result. Irony here was that I essentially offered Ten Thunders their Catch & Release this way. Oh well.

Yannic Waller managed to activate before Hungering Darkness, and used the power of democracy to survive for yet another turn. Hungering Darkness did bring her back down to one health remaining, though, and she still had burning. Fumigator had to assist that away for her not to die.

Gwyneth had done quite the move. She managed to call Hamelin, Disease Containment Unit and Rat King to play at her table - Hamelin being far from Stolen now, with only five or seven health remaining. I think she did some additional damage in to Plague master, so not only one but two Stolen had to walk close by. But even so, Hamelin decided to ditch the situation and went  outside of Boring Conversation range. He obeyed already activated bottom-left Illuminated away from strategy marker, and tried to remove scheme marker from under Gwyneth Maddox, failing at that. 

Nix walked in front of Hamelin to act as a bodyguard. 

Lynch went to place a scheme near Benny. 

Beckoner claimed top-right strategy marker, I claimed center-left. Ten Thunders got their Set the Trap, but also Catch and Release from Benny's voluntary embrace. 

Scores evened out to 4-4 tie.

Turn 4:

...and then everybody died. Hungering Darkness finally killed Yannic. Benny and Tunnel Rats were able to catch and release Illuminated from his life, thus denying a point.

Gwyneth and Mr. Graves killed Disease Containment Unit and Rat King. Hamelin obeyed Mr. Graves to raise Tanuki to fencepost. I think Mr. Graves actually passed the resist, he just obeyed Hamelin out of his own volition. However, Tanuki didn't die. Instead, Tanuki was obeyed to swing at Mr. Graves who was at one health remaining. Unfortunately Tanuki missed, too.

It was probably Nix that then was able to kill Mr. Graves, but not finish Tanuki.

Ten Thunders claimed bottom-left marker, Outcasts center-right for a 5-5 tie.

Turn 5:

Hungering Darkness and Lynch were able to kill my last public demonstrator, so that was a point off from me.

Tunnel Rats were able to teleport behind Lynch and drop a scheme with trigger, and charge him to engage. Mr. Tannen had come to center-right strategy to perhaps claim it, but Nix was obeyed to engage him.

Hamelin was able to walk and disengage to bottom-left strategy marker to claim it.

Game looked very much like a stalemate, as Lynch had a scheme marker next to Benny who was at less than half health remaining. He had already tried to injure Lynch down to half health remaining.

... and once again, rude, spitting kids won me the game. He started throwing up at Lynch from top of a hill, missing with first attack, but landing a solid (ew...) three points in with his last attack. Lynch was not at half of his health remaining.

It was a close fought 7-6 game in favor of Outcasts. 

Screw You, Benny!

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Flank Break the Line

Schemes: Death Beds, Assassinate, Detonate Charges, Hidden Martyrs, Catch and Release

My list:

Piper Hamelin & 3x Stolen
Nix
Benny Wolcomb
Fumigator
Tunnel Rats
Malifaux Child
Rat King
Winged Plague
Malifaux Rat

Pool: 5
Schemes: Detonate Charges, Hidden Martyrs

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 4
Schemes: Detonate Charges, Hidden Martyrs (Tanuki & Rough Rider, the one below)

Turn 1:

Nix started by planting a scheme marker for a new Rat King. He went hiding behind a wall. 

Opponent started shuffling about, slowly claiming both markers in the middle. Whenever wastrels had action points yo spare, they took small shots at Nix. And damage kept piling in, leaving me worried fur the pup's safety. 

Before Sidir had activated, Hamelin took his shot. He stunned Sidir and made Malifaux Child interact a scheme for Benny. Last action went to move away from easy range of Machine Gun.

However, Lucas dug up a Timeworn Blade for Sidir, took a couple of walks and rode Sidir closer to Nix, again.

Sacrifices needed to be made, so Fumigator walked and charged to engage Sidir. Sidir dodged, disengaged and began to shoot. After all attacks targeted against Nix, the dog was still at four health remaining. But it had cost me three soulstones. 

Stolen grind out activations from Ten Thunders. I realized I had spent all of my 8+ cards when protecting Nix, so Benny didn't have a guaranteed Rat King coming up. Fumigator that had been supposed to plant at least one scheme to the rat bomb had had to relocate.

To boost Benny's chances of getting an 8+ straight out of deck, Malifaux Child backtracked to place a fourth scheme marker. Thus, Benny was able to get Fast. After all enemy models had activated, Benny began to activate Loyal Rats with Tiny Hats. First one failed, second one failed and third one...

Failed.

Great job, Benny. 

Rat King had walked and charged Ruffian who was hugging center-left strategy marker without much of an effect. Looking back now, that turn was a hideous mess. The only good things were stunning Sidir and Tunnel Rats going to toss a strategy marker to enemy side. 

Bah.

Turn 2:

Tunnel Rats continued their success story by using Secret Passage to get to strategy marker and toss it out of Rough Rider's reach. They also planted some minefields to discourage trampling hooves. Unfortunately minefields did not discourage rifle shots, one of which dealt a couple of damage points in.

In the center, Sidir actually was the first model to activate, and started shooting Fumigator. Sidir softened up the target, gave the Timeworn Blade for Rough Rider. The horseman shot Fumigator dead with double severes with negative modifiers. He also interacted a strategy marker and threw Timeworn Blade for Lucas.

Looked like Nix would reach three models with Drink Spirit, so Nix walked and charged Lucas to complicate the middle. Attack dealt respectable damage, but then came time to drink some spirits. Nix's future suddenly appeared to not... exist. Black Joker. And Fast master about to activate. 

Sure enough, Lucas activated next and started whipping the ghostly dog. It took the remainder of my soulstones and high cards from hand, but Nix was still standing! Only that... he had just one hit point.

Hamelin tried to come to save the day and stun Ruffian closest to Nix and offer some TN 13 willpower duels for, like, six enemy models from Fumigator's corpse. However, all my good cards had already been spent, so Hamelin needed 8+ straight from the deck. Both actions failed, so Nix was... still... at one health remaining. 

Lucas had given Timeworn Blade for Ruffian, who activated next. He chainganged himself into melee with Nix, and... failed first attack. Nix healed to two remaining. Unfortunately second attack hit, and Nix was back to one health. And the last attack? Missed! Woo hoo, who's a good boy?

Rat King healed Nix for one, and Stolen that were spitting on Lucas healed Nix up to five health. I love it how messed up that survivability is. 

Since Desper had leaped to Nix to plant a scheme, that gentleman burglar was going nowhere else this turn. Benny ditched his sorry attempt to bring in more rats, and ate a scheme marker for Fast. He took a double walk to drop a scheme near Desper. Winged Plague removed Desper's blight tokens to drop another scheme marker for Detonate Charges.

One Ruffian below brought a strategy marker to my side.

Both crews scored a strategy point, and both got Detonate Charges for a 2-2 tie.

Turn 3:

Lucas started with a headlong charge against Nix. While the wastrel master didn't do a whole lot against Nix, he did dole out a Phantasmal Mask for Sidir before riding away from melee. I figured Nix with four health might be able to take a whopping from Sidir, so Tunnel Rats activated. Strategy Marker was thrown just over 8" away from centerline and walked over 6" away from Rough Rider. 

Sidir charged Nix and put it down with two strikes. He was buying Rams for critical strike, so there was at least that expenditure on Sidir's part. Last action point went into shooting down Malifaux Child with a machine gun. 

The kid had been my other hidden martyr, so I was looking at the real possibility of fully losing points from Hidden Martyrs if Rough Rider on top decided to land two weak damages on Tunnel Rats. That was too big of a risk after losing Nix and Malifaux Child before they had even activated.

Hamelin took a double walk near the center, and at first tried to stun threatening Rough Rider. Piper's Influence failed, but at least Obey worked. Rough Rider took a dip inside minefield before running 5.5" away from Tunnel Rats.

Rat King tried to gnaw Ruffian off the board, but their majesty was offended by Ruffian's manners. Benny Wolcomb had to come and stick a blade into the wastrel minion's last hit point.

Those were the most important developments of the turn. Rough Riders relocated to middle and tried to shoot Rat King, but not getting it below half of its health remaining. 

Sidir had tossed Phantasmal Mask for Desper, who had leaped to transform Winged Plague into a soulstone. He couldn't charge because of Hamelin's aura. 

Kids were spitting at Lucas, Tanuki was swiping those way.

Both players scored strategy point, but Malifaux Child was turned into a victory point for Outcasts, so they got the lead with 4-3.

Turn 4: 

Outcasts actually got the initiative for change. And what a beautiful activation Hamelin had! First he Obeyed Rat King to interact strategy marker. Marker went next to Rough Rider. Then, Hamelin landed both a stun and an Obey to Rough Rider to throw the strategy marker even further. I think the last action was Obey, too, but I'm not sure about the target. 

Opponent didn't prioritize the situation in middle. Instead, Tanuki healed Lucas for a bit and threw a strategy marker deep inside my territory.

Rat King charged the pipered Rough Rider, and missed. Second attack, however, hit and got masks from Piper's Influence. Two attacks later, Rough Rider was dead before it had activated. So yay for that.

However, Desper recognized the danger of Outcasts getting four strategy points, so he leaped and walked to throw the strategy marker a little closer.

This, however, put Desper in the range of Tunnel Rat's trench gun. Rats were above half of their health, so they didn't have too much trouble in landing a moderate damage - which was enough to kill Desper. How? Well, Stolen kid had almost killed Desper by spitting at him. Had it not been a full three for damage block with a stone, the kid would have scored a henchman kill.

Benny had... done... something, I guess? Maybe he tried to attack Rough Rider or Sidir? Anyway, he did engage both for some added nuisance and apparently placed a scheme marker at some point. 

Rough Rider rode away from Benny along with Sidir. Their combined efforts resulted in dead Rat King and dead Stolen, plus some damage in to Hamelin.

Another stolen brough Lucas down to three health remaining, while the last Stolen attempted to deny enemy fourth strategy point, maybe. He went frantically flailing to Ruffian coming from the right, but missed. Ruffien killed the kid and charged resulting Malifaux Rat so that it was in contact with strategy marker. Ah well. At least the kid tried.

Both players score strategy for a 5-4 lead for Outcasts.

Turn 5:

Lucas tried to tie down Benny Wolcomb, and soon enough the godfather was within 2" of two enemy scheme markers. 

Hamelin does another awesome activation. First, he Obeys Tunnel Rats to use Secret Passage to get closer now that Lucas was securely in place. Then he stuns Rough Rider with Piper's Influence - and obeys Tanuki away from fourth strategy point for Ten Thunders. Last Obey went to Benny in an attempt to disengage him, but that didn't amount to anything.

Lucas had difficult choice to make now. I had no idea, but both Rough Rider and Tanuki were enemy martyr's. He would be able to get fourth strategy point even with stunned Rough Rider, but that would leave Hidden Martyrs with zero points. 

In the end, Ten Thunders went to get their fourth strategy point. Benny beat up a few rats to get two schemes within 2" of Lucas, and Tunnel Rats just ran to get engaged with Lucas. 

A close fought 7-5 victory for Hamelin.

Planting Daggers

Two summer games of Malifaux in the pine woods of Kuhmo, both were 50ss. 

Strategy: Standard Plant Explosives

Schemes: In Your Face, Death Beds, Sweating Bullets, Power Ritual, Espionage

My list:

Ensouled Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Kari Zotiko
Midnight Stalker
Auguste Hart
Hanged
Prospector
2x Guilty

Pool: 3
Schemes: Sweating Bullets (Hanged), Espionage

Opponent had:

Dark Bet Lynch & Hungriest Darkness
Gwyneth Maddox
Mr. Graves
Kara
Soul Battery
2x Illuminated
Tanuki

Pool: 3
Schemes: Sweating Bullets (Gwyneth), In Your Face

Turn 1:

So, now with the new henchman in my possession, I wanted to try how Montresor-less Jack Daw would fare. What madness is this?! Why do I torment myself so?

Since scheme pool had Power Ritual, I remembered to bluff it - top left Midnight Stalker, and bottom-left Prospector. 

Top looked somewhat problematic, when there was pretty much only a Guilty and Midnight Stalker there, all of whom had explosive tokens. Against them, there was Mr. Graves and an Illuminated. So, Auguste had rather unpleasant job of running to engage Mr. Graves. 

Once the second Illuminated committed to center after Lynch had activated his aura, Jack Daw walked and charged the Illuminated. He managed to land the hazardous upgrade and even deal four points of damage in hopes of luring Hungering Darkness in the middle for Hanged to score Sweating Bullets.

That plan failed miserably, because Hungering Darkness did a full run & charge maneuver right to Hanged, who had already activated and whispered forbidden upgrades for Jakob. Otherwise good, I guess, but Hanged wasn't within 6" of center point. 

Fortunately Kari Zotiko was able to come and heal the damage Hungering Darkness had caused, and whistle a walk for Hanged.

Kara was approaching from the bottom-right, and Gwyneth and gone to center, staying just outside of hazardous aura of middle Illuminated. 

Tanuki was supporting middle, and Soul Battery was with Mr. Graves and Illuminated on top.

Turn 2:

Hungering Darkness began to beat the snot out of Hanged, which was easier said than done. Damage blocks were plentiful, and after three attacks that all hit, Hanged had taken only two points of damage in. But, as it was my Sweating Bulleteer, I could not risk it. Kari activated, charged Hungering Darkness for severe damage, and healed Hanged back to full, with complementary Concealment from the heal action.

But opponent just wouldn't leave it at that! Lynch activated, walked and charged Hanged, but damage was blocked. Although first Illuminated had to deal with her anger issues, just walking around and concentrating hard.

In the center, Gwyneth walked past the wall and charged Jack Daw, dealing a couple points of damage.

Lady Ligeia had exposed herself by walking into middle. Jack Daw healed Hanged for a bit, bought Masks and attacked Illuminated, pushing himself within 4" of Illuminated, Lynch, Gwyneth and Hungering Darkness. It's a shame I did not buy Rams for the upcoming Draw Them In, as Hungering Darkness, Lynch and Illuminated all failed the Mv checks. 

On top, Illuminated and Guilty went to place a strategy markers while Midnight Stalker did his thing, placing scheme on the centerline and speeding towards opponents deployment. 

Auguste was able to slap five points of damage in to Mr. Graves despite negative fate modifiers. Tanuki had to patch up the bouncer as best as it could before Mr. Graves missed all of his attacks. 

Bottom, Kara walked and tried to pounce on Kari. She failed, and instead charged Prospector, missing the attack completely. 

The round felt... wrong, because of the disparity of our flips. I scored severe and moderate damages with negative modifiers, blocked damage with severes and moderates and at least connected pretty much every attack I made. 

Opponent, on the other hand, missed every attack of Mr. Graves, Kara and Gwyneth, and half of Lynchs' attack as well. When he dealt damage, it was minimum or black joker. 

However, it's rare to see this uniform lines in Malifaux. All but perhaps one model fits inside a 4" or 5" wide corridor. 

Both players scored strategy, and Outcasts got Sweating Bullets for a 2-1 lead for Jack Daw.

Turn 3:

From top to bottom, Midnight Stalker was able to place a strategy marker and a scheme marker inside opponent's deployment area. With absurd damage flips, Guilty was able to kill the uninjured Illuminated that had placed a strategy marker last turn.

Auguste tickled Mr. Graves down to two health remaining. Tanuki failed to heal the bouncer, but did manage to remove Distracted. And finally Mr. Graves had had enough of chasing ghosts, and offered a deep dive interview to Auguste from his fencepost. Auguste died in two hits. Another Guilty charged Mr. Graves, bringing him down to one health remaining. Unfortunately Soul Battery was there to bring Mr. Graves over the Hard-to.Kill threshold before sacrificing himself for two soulstones.

In the center, hot damn I had not realized how awesome counter Kari or even Hanged's heal reduction aura is to Luck Thief! Hanged had activated early to activate his aura, so both Gwyneth and Lynch we vulnerable now like never before. 

Illuminated was able to heal herself a bit and steam off her anger issues with focused concentration. 

Jack Daw used all of his actions to kill Lynch. He might have had some actions to spare if he didn't have to cheat to succeed at Draw Them In, with the brilliance gained from that pushing him out of range from Gwyneth and Hungering Darkness. Final blow came from Unquiet Soul. 

Hungering Darkness considered Kari an easier prey than Hanged, but the attacks dealt in only weaks. Kari activated and healed herself, plus tried to smack the henchman leader for a bit now that it wasn't able to heal.

Prospector pushed himself out of melee, walked to centerline and dropped a scheme marker after Kara had missed all attacks against him.

So that was a second unfortunate turn for Ten Thunders in a row.  

Outcasts scored strategy and Espionage, while Ten Thunders got Sweating Bullets with Gwyneth for a 4-2 lead for Jack Daw.

Turn 4:

Mr. Graves survived against all odds, but at least Tanuki died against all odds. Jack Daw finally got his Guilt of the Many train running. Tanuki had to pay for the sins of everyone involved. Mr. Graves dropped an explosive, as did Kara. Lucky Guilty from last turn was able to pick up strategy marker that an Illuminated had left.

Hungering Darkness had been unlucky thus far in its attacks, but that all changed this turn when it was able to kill Kari and use its heal action before Hanged had activated Entropic Curse. Oh well. I was not in a position to complain. 

Midnight Stalker spawned all of his remaining strategy marker and scheme markers without anyone able to contest. 

In the middle Gwyneth took small steps in getting closer to my deployment zone for In Your Face end condition, and Illuminated tried all it might on removing Lady Ligeia - but Lady didn't even flinch. 

Outcasts scored strategy, and so did Ten Thunders with In Your Face to boot for a 5-4 lead for Jack Daw.

Turn 5:

As it was such a struggle for Ten Thunders, we did not play until the very end. When Jack Daw removed opponent's third strategy marker, it was about 7-5 game over for Jakob. 

Game 2:

Strategy: Flank Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Ensnare, Protected Territory, Outflank, Espionage

My list:

Hamelin the Piper & 3x Stolen
Nix
Benny Wolcomb
Hans with Wanted Criminal
Tunnel Rats
Rat Catcher
Winged Plague
Malifaux Rat

Pool: 6
Schemes: Protected Territory, Espionage

Opponent had:

Charles Hoffman & Mechanical Attendant
Joss
Melissa
Peacekeeper
Hunter
Medical Automaton
2x Watcher

Pool: 2
Schemes: Protected Territory, Ensnare

Turn 1:

Nix and Rat Catcher placed required scheme markers for Benny, and Hamelin obeyed Rat Catcher to do that again.

Hamelin was able to obey a Hunter back to enemy deployment zone. 

Supercharged Peacekeeper, however, was a bit of a problem. It hit with harpoon gun and moved plague master to a distressing position behind a wall, with closest models being the Peacekeeper and already activated Hoffman. 

Benny conjured up some rats and walked forward to perhaps save Hamelin next turn. Hired Malifaux Rat formed the Rat King. 

Both augmented Watchers speeded towards strategy markers nearest to outflank corners, so I thought opponent might have that scheme. Hans brandished his clockwork rifle and took aim - missing the bat completely.

Winged PLague had placed an Espionage scheme to my deployment zone, and Tunnel Rats were inside a fog bank and near blocking terrain to mayhaps leap to score schemes next turn.

Guild had Melissa and Hunter flankin from top, Joss from below center and the big guys with supporting models in the middle, enjoying the fiddling performance Hamelin was putting out for them dangerously close.

Turn 2:

Sure enough, the Watchers placed scheme markers and interacted with strategy markers in both corners, but more akin to Protected Territory. So I wouldn't be able to deny them point this turn in any feasible way, but Hans shot the one on top-right corner anyway. This time he scored a hit, but didn't drop a scrap marker on board.

Joss was such a terrifying Nix-killer that the Rat King just ran to block Joss' charge lane to the good boy. With 0" melee range Rat King wasn't in reach to declare a charge. Joss was content on beating up the three kids in a trenchcoat, but landed only two points of damage.

Center saw some odd action. Hoffman overcharged Peacekeeper once more, walked closer and attacked Hamelin with enhanced blowtorch, setting the piper's cape in flames. 

That was not enough to stop him from piping, though. First he stunned Peacekeeper with Piper's Influence, and then obeyed it away with 2" push and 4" walk, behind Medical Automaton so that at least one action would be wasted on a walk. He also obeyed Nix to walk a little forward behind a strategy marker and Rat King. He also obeyed Rat Catcher forward.

Medical Automaton attacked Peacekeeper to use Bedside Manner - it never occurred to me that it is possible to use the ability this way, too - to place it in front of it. The bot also removed Stunned, so Hamelin was in deep trouble.

Benny sacrificed himself and walked and charged Peacekeeper. And even after four attacks, Benny was still standing with three health to boot! Although that was mostly due to one damage block being Red Joker. 

Hunter also spent its entire activation shooting Benny, bringing him down to one health and depleting all of Plague's soulstones. Two surprise shots by Mechanical Attendant later Benny was gone. Might have been the noblest thing he ever did in his life.

Nix had activated Loose Bowels, interacted an intel and placed a scheme marker on the centerline for Espionage. 

Throughout the turn toll on my hand had been heavy, and in an attempt to save Benny I had cheated every 8+ card from my hand. I needed more to secure scheme points this turn.

So, a Stolen walked forward and spat at something before splitting into two rats. Another Stolen, then, charged one of those rats and managed to kill it for a card draw. A three. Not good. So, despite Hamelin being in such a precarious position, second Stolen used Inevitable Fate and became two rats. And YES. It was no more and no less than the exact eight needed. Unfortunately not Crows, but that would have to do.

After Melissa had shot Winged Plague dead that had flown into a cloud to get intel, Tunnel Rats used their teleports action and failed the check. Two kids, your sacrifices were not in vain. Tunnel Rats teleported to Guild deployment zone to place a scheme. Rat Catcher went to place a second marker to center line.

Phew. What a turn. Both players scored strategy, and Espionage for Plague, Protected Territory for Guild. It was a 2-2 tie.

Turn 3:

Hoffman overcharged Peacekeeper, walked past the wall in middle and charged Hamelin. He only had five health remaining for now, so he had to figure out whether his life was worth a thing in this situation. Unfortunately he decided it was, so he obeyed Peacekeeper to charge Mechanical Attendant and stunned Peacekeeper afterwards. He obeyed Rat King within 0" of Joss and walked so that Peacekeeper would not be able to melee him. 

This... was not good, after all. Peacekeeper decided to ditch the effort and go after Tunnel Rats. Luckily enough the Rats survived, but only with three health remaining. Some combination of a Hunter and Melissa removed this super important model from me. 

Before all this happened, though, I had tried to block Peacekeeper's movement with Malifaux Rats, but there were only two of them. Medical Automaton and Mechanical Attendant were plenty enough to remove those. 

At least opponent had used good cards in accomplishing all of that, so Joss had to beat Rat King with no cards, and he had also been slowed by Rat King's ability. No damage to Plague, but Rat King landed three hits on Joss. Nix also charged the henchman to get within interaction range of a strategy marker, but failed to kill Joss. However, he was seriously injured and would have to go down next turn.

Hans didn't do anything of note, and even the Watcher he had damaged last turn was able to hide behind a dense cloud. Why am I paying this guy?

Plague was struggling with strategy markers, and were not able to score strategy this turn. But Guild had no such problems thanks to Hans' magnificent performance. Scores went to 3-2 lead for Guild.

Turn 4:

Hans scored his first kill and second damage instance in the game by shooting down the Watcher at bottom-left corner. Not during his own activation, no. He had to be OBEYED to do that.

Rat King nibbled Joss dead with just one bite, and thus had a chance to aid in scoring Protected Territory next turn. 

Nix picked up Intel and moved along with the strategy marker.

Hamelin had disengaged by stunning Hoffman into a hazardous marker, obeyed Hans and likely also gave an attack for Rat King before it had killed Joss.

Rat Catcher picked up intel and tried to place itself behind Melissa so that Hunter would not get a clear shot at him. Unfortunately Peacekeeper was able to get a lane to charge him, that meant no points for me this turn from strategy.

Thanks to Hans, or should we say Hamelin, neither did opponent. He was able to collect two intel this turn because he had been so busy with killing my models. 

Painstakingly opponent spawned scheme markers in the middle with Hoffman and Medical Automaton. I didn't think much of it as I had completely forgotten there was Ensnare in the pool. Looking at the picture now it's... kind of obvious, isn't it?

However, Hamelin had already activated, so points stayed at 3-2.

Turn 5:

It's turn five, and Hans scored his first OWN kill in the game by shooting top-right Watcher dead. This actually had an effect in the game as because of activation orders, Guild just could not get three intel this turn either. But neither did Outcasts, as Mechanical Attendant came to steal the intel Nix had.

Hamelin obeyed Nix to interact a scheme marker into enemy deployment, and that's when opponent scored Ensnare.

Melissa went to secure Protected Territory end condition, and Medical Automaton placed a scheme marker that was hugged by Hoffman.

Rat King walked to place a scheme marker deep in the enemy table side, and Nix charged right past Mechanical attendant to place a second scheme for Protected Territory whatever condition.

Scores went to 5-4 victory for Guild.

And Trust Was Broken Forever

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Corner Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: In Your Face. Take Prisoner, Hold Up Their Forces, Ensnare, Death Beds

My list:

Pipering Hamelin & 3x Stolen
Nix
Benny Wolcomb
Disease Containment Unit
Midnight Stalker
Rat Catcher
2x Winged Plague

Pool: 5
Schemes: In Your Face, Ensnare

Opponent had:

Jakob Lynch & Hungering Darkness
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Graves
Mr. Tannen
2x Illuminated
Beckoner
Tanuki

Pool: 3
Schemes: In Your Face, Hold Up Their Forces

Turn 1:

So we got a rather challenging map for this strategy. We picked our masters before map, so I was stuck with slow Hamelin2 & Benny machine. But hey! One of the one occasions where two Winged Plagues might be a real option.

Well, Rat Catcher, Benny, Winged Plague and Nix managed to place the required scheme marker for Benny with the help from Hamelin's Obey. But that was for the next turn. 

Because the buildings were blocking such a part of my corner of the table, most of my crew was stuck inside the bottom-right quarter. Nix took the lead, with Hamelin nearby. The piper managed to stun an Illuminated, woohoo. 

One Winged Plague was going up towards second strategy marker from top, and Midnight Stalker did Midnight Stalker things and got within easy distance of top-right strategy marker. 

At least it wasn't any easier for Honeypot. 

Mr. Graves was going towards bottom-left strategy marker with both Illuminated, Mr. Tannen and Lynch nearby. Tanuki offered Mr. Graves some foul-mouthed motivation. 

Kitty had given most of Honeypot crew some extra brilliance  and went right from their top-left corner deployment. Beckoner was running towards rightmost marker, while Hungering Darkness was the last model to activate from Honeypot. The biggie didn't go too far to the right and was nearing the second strategy marker from top. 

Turn 2:

Benny did a bunch of rats. This was when I realized I would not be able to Obey rats to forming a Rat King. So the earliest turn to get a Rat King was... three. Uh oh. 

A Winged Plague in south walked for a bit in between two houses and placed a scheme for potential Ensnaring of, say, Mr. Graves. This might have been a possibility if it wasn't for Jakokb Lynch shooting Benny Wolcomb with a Hungering Darkness. A perfect target to ensnare!

Well, at least if the Winged Plague hadn't just placed a scheme marker tad too far from Hungering Darkness. Hamelin had to activate, remove the scheme, obey Disease Containment Unit to interact a scheme marker and obey Nix to disengage. Would opponent activate Hungering Darkness next, or would Nix have time to scheme?

Yeah, opponent did just that. Hungering Darkness had been stunned so it's activation was not all that impressive, but I missed my opportunity to Ensnare. Fun fact: had Benny not cooked up a bunch of rats, I would've got the scheme.

Nix placed a scheme anyway and attempted a Bleeding Disease on Jakob's totem, failing at that. 

Kitty Dumont went to pick intel, and Winged Plague was able to claim one, too. Midnight Stalker followed suite, leaping to strategy marker and retreating behind house. Beckoner was able to run unopposed within 1" of the top-right strategy marker. 

Below, Mr. Graves took the bait and attacked another Winged Plague. Bait was... effective. Too effective, in fact, when Mr. Graves was able to pin down the plague bat with his fencepost in one strike. That lead to gross explosion, which enabled the dreaded kids to target Mr. Graves. 

Surely enough the spitting kids wreaked havoc once again. One of the kids spat two points off of Hungering Darkness, and another did a severe on Mr. Graves. Unfortunately heal from Tanuki was severe, too. 

Illuminated were just running towards action or concentrating, except for the one that picked up intel. Mr. Tannen kept taking his short, gentlemanly Mv4 walks towards action, still not quite getting Plague within Betrayal and Delirium aura. 

Both players scored strategy for a 1-1 tie.

Turn 3:

Thanks to spawns from last turn, opponent started with eight pass tokens. Hamelin1 certainly manages this a lot better.

Hungering Darkness started beating Benny right off the bat. Damage was being done. Soulstones were being used. And yet, Benny fell down to one health remaining. But I got my Ensnare. Woo hoo.

Fortunately I had plenty of  tomes in my hand, so Disease Containment Unit was able to offer some field meds for Benny, getting him back to four health. Throwing flame at Mr. Graves was a useless affair. 

Beckoner snatched a point of intel and activated pleasant distractions. Which was troublesome, as Midnight Stalker had a point of Brilliance from start of game. 

Benny tried to save his butt just by activating, trying to poke Hungering Darkness with his rusty sword. He did a whole lot of nothing, but at least got two points of Shielded from ending his activation.

By now Hungering Darkness had accumulated seven points of Blight, and opponent realized the risks involved there. Lynch drew his derringer, loaded it up and shot Tanuki in the back, teleporting Hungering Darkness into safety. Remaining attacks went into shooting Benny with a modicum of success. 

Rat Catcher managed to give moldy cheese for the remaining Winged Plague, which prompted Kitty to pick up intel in haste. As this brought strategy marker within interaction distance of the Winged Plague, it did just that and flew to charge Beckoner. No hits.

Illuminated models started to activate. They walked and used Scintillating Clouds on my swarm of weak models. After surviving the first volley, I got scared for the safety of my rats and formed a Rat King in haste.

Surprisingly, Benny survived this turn. He only took two attacks from Hungering Darkness, two shots by Jakob, two Scintillating Clouds and some despicable promises to face. However, he was at one health remaining, so he couldn't have done it without four soulstones he had to use, and Shielded+2 he got. 

Mr. Graves killed a rat, and kids kept spitting at the burly bouncer. Tanuki ran to bottom-left strategy marker and healed Mr. Graves with well placed albeit foul words. 

Both players scored strategy, and Outcasts had also revealed Ensnare for a 3-2 lead.

Turn 4:

I had a suspicion Ten Thunders might have In Your Face, as they had been focusing so much on Benny. My plan was to activate Benny first and run like hell. 

Too bad Ten Thunders won the initiative, and Benny was in a precarious position. Cheat? Take a point of damage. Flip a one? Take a point of damage. Yeah, he didn't survive Lynch's activation and opponent was able to declare their In Your Face. 

But it got worse. Quickly. Remaining shots went to Nix, who was brought down to one health remaining. 

So it was time for emergency medikit. Disease Containment Unit activated, pushed a couple of rats, Nix as far from danger as possible while also healing the dog for two, plus Hamelin a little closer to Mr. Graves. She was also able to burn Mr. Graves for a bit. 

Grave mister didn't run away. He had had enough of this trenchcoat that had an uncanny resemblance to three kids on top of each other. He struck Rat King with fencepost and brought it down to one health remaining. Not good news with regards to Black Blood. But some sacrifices had to be made. That was my six action points standing there, having only contributed to game one action point away from Mr. Graves.

Hamelin activated and did two Bleeding Diseases on the bouncer, killing him and Rat King in the process. In Your Face, I guess. Last action was another Bleeding Disease on Tanuki, bringing it down to one health and even stunning the little... thing. 

Mr. Tannen got furious over the death of his accomplice, and decided to come and knife a puppy. If you can call Nix a puppy. And wow, look at that. Back to one health remaining. 

I figured Nix didn't have much to lose, so he walked past Mr. Tannen and attempted to Drink Spirit. It succeeded, but both Illuminated and Mr. Tannen passed those tests with impunity. There goes nothing, Nix thought and bit Mr. Tannen. No ones out of deck, and attack hit without boosts. Mr. Tannen had only two points left after some kids had shown their appreciation, so both of the undercover Neverborns went down in the same turn. 

Tanuki was horrified and shivered like only a tiny, drunken critter can shiver in terror. It picked up intel and ran as far as possible from anyone's line of sight.

Kitty picked another intel after Rat Catcher had already activated. Winged Plague and Midnight Stalker tried to tickle the Beckoner, but Beckoner survived. 

Soon enough it became apparent why Illuminated didn't kill Nix.

Ten Thunders scored strategy and all their schemes, Hold Up Their Forces included. Outcasts got only In Your Face, so tides had turned into 4-5 lead for Ten Thunders.

Turn 5:

There was some hope in Nix not dying, because opponent needed a few of my models alive for Hold Up Their Forces. 

However, Illuminated wanted to pet the dog and they petted it hard. Real hard. Nix died before he was able to activate.

My brain had an accidental moment of flatulence when Midnight Stalker had already leaped away from Beckoner's melee range last turn. I kept thinking that I needed a high enough Masks for a leap to leap away and get to Ten Thunders deployment zone for In Your Face end condition. 

My plan was to start sacrificing children. They ran and charged and did whatever to block Illuminated from moving to engage Disease Containment Unit and Hamelin. Waves after waves children were turned into rats. Rats kept dying both because of my own attempts and the enemy.

However... it wasn't Illuminated that went to engage Hamelin and D.C.U. It was Hungering Darkness. With Looming Darkness trigger. A continuous barrage of derringer shots kept raining on Disease Containment Unit, and without the armor she would have died. 

But Hungering Darkness needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. So, Hamelin activated. He failed to stun the totem because scaary, but then proceeded to use Bleeding Disease on Hungering Darkness three times. Three, because on failed.

This left me out of options to even try to get both Ensnare and third point of strategy. Strategy seemed like safer bet, and Winged Plague, Rat Catcher and Disease Containment Unit managed to claim the intel required. 

Midnight Stalker ran to Ten Thunders deployment effortlessly, but so did Kitty Dumont. 

Game ended in 6-6 draw, with Ten Thunders getting only In Your Face and Outcasts strategy and In Your Face.

Only Tanuki lost.

Having been shot in the back by its own master, trust was broken forever. 

Bleak Joker

A 50ss game of Malifaux with the new Gaining Grounds season four.

 Strategy: Corner Raid the Vaults

Schemes: Espionage, Ensnare, Sweating Bullets, Death Beds, Protected Territory

My list:

Hamelin, the Piper & 3x Stolen
Benny Wolcomb
Nix
Catalan Brawler
Midnight Stalker
Obedient Wretch
Rat Catcher
Winged Plague

Pool: 3
Schemes: Ensnare, Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Lynch Dark Bet & Hungering Darkness
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Tannen
Wanyudo
Samurai
2x Illuminated

Pool: 5
Schemes: Death Beds (Strategy), Ensnare

Turn 1:

Outcasts were the attacker, and for whatever reason I picked corner that had a nasty bottleneck. Okay, the reason was ease of access, but why didn't I take left corner on my side of the table? I somehow managed to block Hamelin so badly that he had to obey Benny and Catalan Brawler out of his way. But that was one of my last activations. Before, Benny's rat factory yields four rats that would not be able to combine because I had not bought a Malifaux Rat to my crew.

So, I had Catalan Brawler, Rat Catcher, Nix, Hamelin, Winged Plague, Stolen and a bunch of rats around my un-scorable strategy marker. Benny was there too, but was obeyed to walk forward by Hungering Darkness. Fortunately Illuminated were just about farthest models there was.

Remaining Stolen were going top near table edge, with Midnight Stalker as their vanguard. Obedient Wretch was going bottom-left. 

And damn that double delirium dipping looked scary. Majority of Honeypot were within one walk away from contesting center markers with Kitty already at centerline... in corner deployment!

Wanyudo and Hungering Darkness were going towards center-left marker, Mr. Tannen and an Illuminated toward center-right. Lynch and another Illuminated would be able to divert anywhere. Samurai seemed to be going towards top marker. How would the situation unfold?

Turn 2:

Hungering Darkness started by charging Benny, and punched a rat out of him with a Red Joker for damage. Fortunately damage block was a severe, but still four points in... At least the remaining attacks didn't do much else than made me spend high cards from my hand.

I figured Benny was as good as dead unless he would get the benefits of Condor Security. Thus, Catalan Brawler walked and planted a scheme marker. Target Benny now, Honeypot!

Or not. Wanyudo walked and charged Catalan Brawler through Hungering Darkness, Benny, Malifaux Rat and Catalan Brawler. The rat took 50% damage and was set on fire. Wanyudo's attack hit, which meant another roll through the three of my models. This time Benny failed and the rat failed check, but at least a new one popped out of Benny. There was such sorrow and grief over the death of the Malifaux Rat that a funeral pyre was assembled in loving memory.

Benny and Nix were doing all they could to remove Wanyudo and even Hamelin tried to play a merry tune, but the burning wheel was left with three health remaining. Hamelin had also tried to push Obedient Wretch into range to go and place a scheme marker for Protected Territory, but my enforcer was slightly out of range to do that. So instead she threw Jakob Lynch with a rat. 

Lynch had come to contest center-left marker to place a scheme marker, and with all the Hungering Darknesses and Wanyudos about it looked like I wouldn't be able to deny opponent a strategy point. But at least Wretch was holding a sure point for me, too.

Stunned Kitty Dumont along with Samurai went towards top-right marker, but Samurai stopped for a shot against Midnight Stalker before getting within 2" of the strategy. Midnight Stalker did leap, walk and interact a scheme marker. 

Mr. Tannen and an Illuminated went to center-right marker and placed a scheme marker, with Illuminated also one-shotting a Stolen with Scintillating Cloud. Another Illuminated went to reinforce Hungering Darkness & pals. 

Rat Catcher went to look for a chance to start scheming next turn. It was his Dark Bet. 

A Rat King had been formed early in the turn, but it couldn't move anywhere because of all the models in front of it. Fun fact: opponent had seven pass tokens at the start of round two.

Winged Plague went to take two blight tokens away from Wanyudo to place a second scheme marker for ensnaring Honeypot. Then it took a random charge at already activated Mr. Tannen but managed to give only a point of blight during end phase. 

Scores go 1-1 with both players getting strategy.

Turn 3:

Benny got fast from Lynch's scheme marker and started to dismantle Wanyudo. And - managed to do exactly that. Although it was kind of costly, since Benny now had Burning +7 thanks to a rats funeral pyre. That later turned into Burning +8 before it was quenched by a mud puddle Catalan Brawler managed to find somewhere. Brawler walked within 2" of center-left strategy marker to contest it. 

When Hungering Darkness eventually activated, Outcasts got their Ensnare scheme. Catalan Brawler was mauled down to one health remaining. Mr. Tannen would walk closer to start a TN 11 Boring Conversation and made some despicable promises to Catalan Brawler. They must have been despicable indeed, because Catalan Brawler died from delirium just from hearing those.

Nix charged to nibble Mr. Tannen, but those Boring Conversation checks... bloody hell. I'm not sure if Tannen took even a single point of damage. 

Lynch had activated his aura and charged to mutilate Rat Catcher. He had plenty of actions left after doing that, so he was able to place a scheme marker, near bottom-left strategy marker. He was too far away from contesting the marker, so Obedient Wretch went 2" away from it and placed a scheme for Protected Territory. Then she failed Lynch's aura and delirium struck her away from getting a victory point. Ah well. 

Both Illuminated were flinging Scintillating Clouds while there was still an impressive four model gathering for the Wp-check. Only a rat died, but that was rat Benny might have needed for shield. 

Stolen had given Rat King Fast, so that thing was able to do a double walk, gnaw at Lynch's scheme marker and even nibble his feet - successfully! What a hero.

North side of things, Kitty Dumont had managed to activate before Midnight Stalker and place a scheme and another scheme close to my enforcer. Surely enough he was ensnared. 

Midnight Stalker didn't have much of a choice after Obedient Wretch had botched scoring for this turn. Stalker became Fast, and that 6" leap is... extreme. He was easily able to take a double walk to top-left strategy marker and place a scheme marker for Protected Territory, and even had some millimeters to spare!

Hamelin obeyed Samurai away from strategy marker, but that didn't help too much as there was still one Illuminated within 2" of it. He failed to remove pyre marker, too. 

So, scores went 4-4 when both players scored both of their schemes and a strategy.

Turn 4:

Finally Benny died to Hungering Darkness' tentacles, and even Hamelin took some four points of damage. 

Kids manage to puke Mr. Tannen dead. I'm no longer even surprised.  Nix uses Loose Bowels and charges an Illuminated, not doing much other than contesting center-left marker. 

Lynch murders Rat King and places a scheme marker while contesting bottom-left strategy marker. Obedient Wretch does the same sans murdering anyone.  

Hamelin takes a double walk and this time succeeds to remove the pyre marker. Only after taking a happy walk through it, but hey. Got to be impressive flutist in the middle of raging inferno.

Once it became apparent that opponent would not score strategy this round, Kitty Dumont placed a scheme marker to top-right strategy marker, walked and was drawn to Hungering Darkness' brilliance. Samurai tried to take cover and also placed a scheme to center-right strategy marker. 

Midnight Stalker had leaped out of sight of anyone and placed a scheme while contesting the two point strategy marker. 

Scores went to 5-4 for Hamelin. However, Outcasts were killing Honeypot at a steady pace of one model per two rounds, while Plague was running low on relevant models for strategy. Game was far from over.

Turn 5:

Hungering Darkness was greeted by a screaming, frantic kid whose purpose was to deny potential Interacts. Kitty went to bottom-right marker for two point strategy. She tried to dislodge Stolen kid with reaching tendrils but failed. 

Lynch walked for a bit to interact and call Hungering Darkness away from such a bothersome child. 

I charged with Nix to an Illuminated, although now I wonder why wasn't I trying to get end condition from ensnare? Who knows, but at least Nix used Loose Bowels second time in a row. That has to count for something.

Hamelin removed a scheme marker next to center-left strategy marker, interacted one of his own and shot an Illuminated dead with a Bleeding Disease. I cheated the attack to hit with my last card in hand although I wasn't in a desperate need to kill the minion... and obviously that was when Lynch's delirium struck Hamelin, who was forced more than 2" away from center-left strategy marker, making that poin moot. 

Hungering Darkness walked and interacted a marker. It bought and additional card to obey Nix within 3" of the two scheme markers still around. The additional, bought card was... Black Joker. That was harsh, but I guess that epitomizes the slogan "bad things happen."

Because of that Black Joker game ended in 6-6 draw, when Outcasts got only end condition of Protected Territory and opponent got Death Beds and strategy.

Chilled Rat Cubes

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Flank Covert Operation

Schemes: Breakthrough, Catch and Release, Set the Trap, Load 'Em Up, Vendetta

My list:

Hamelin the Piper & 3x Stolen
Nix
Benny Wolcomb
Mad Dog Brackett
Obedient Wretch
Prospector
Catalan Rifleman
Malifaux Rat

Pool: 5
Schemes: Set the Trap, Vendetta (Nix on Blessed of December)

Opponent had:

Rasputina & Wendigo
Blessed of December
Arcane Effigy
Ice Golem with Soulstone Cache
Ice Dancer with Magical Training
2x Silent Ones

Pool: 6
Schemes: Breakthrough, Load 'Em Up (Ice Pillar)

Turn 1:

Catalan Rifleman, Obedient Wretch and Prospector put scheme markers for Benny as fast as possible, because I was afraid of Rasputina shooting my rats dead before they would be able to form a Rat King.

Fortunately opponent wasn't too concerned with emerging scheme markers and Benny was able to make a Rat King just fine. However, it was then when Rasputina just shot Rat King off the board with two blast attacks, damaging Mad Dog Brackett and Benny Wolcomb quite a bit in the process. 

The mentioned gang was traveling south on the left side of my deployment zone, slowly as ever.

Hamelin and Prospector were greeted by the Ice Golem in the middle, and Prospector was left alive mostly because opponent forgot about flurry. Ice golem was the only Arcanist model past center line.

Blessed of December went to top corner marker, so Nix sniffed in its general direction and went to close in for vendetta.

Ice Dancer was going for bottom corner marker. Silent One and Arcane Effigy were somewhere getting to center-right strategy marker while Wendigo, Rasputina and another Silent One were sitting in their deployment zone. 

Mad Dog Brackett destroying an Ice Pillar, there were still five of them when turn ended.

Turn 2:

Outcasts won initiative, so Prospector put a scheme marker with bonus action and disengaged from Ice Golem. Now the thing was at least in hazardous terrain. 

Almost the entirety of my turn could be summarized as: I tried to kill the Ice Golem.

All the Stolen vomited on it, Hamelin moved it a bit in hazardous terrain, Mad Dog Bracket shot it with armor piercing rounds, Catalan Rifleman shot it. Benny only tried to use Swarm Them on it before going to a little better position for future scoring.

Sure, Silent Ones kept healing the thing, but still that was egregious amount of resources needed to kill an enforcer, especially when you take into account how much it stalled my advance.

But finally, as the very last activation for me, Obedient Wretch tossed a rat on the golem and down it went. 

The kill came with a cost, however. Nix had tried to go and bite Blessed of December. But Blessed had the two inch push built into its melee, so my strategy points looked grim. Nix used a focus point and three soulstones in defending against the attacks, but still Blessed landed a hit. However, it didn't push Nix away from strategy marker range and came to engage the spectral hound instead, while Ice Dancer tagged bottom corner strategy marker.

Killing Ice Golem sure gave me some hope, but still the situation was tad oppressive.  I managed to keep the amount of ice pillars steady, but it took a lot of action points. Malifau Rats and Stolen are good for the job, though, unless the kids need to puke on something.

Anyway, scores went 0-1 for Arcanists.

Turn 3:

Nix managed to beat the heck out of Blessed of December and possibly might have even killed it if not for their vendetta. The target leapt into safety and let them both score top corner marker.

Prospector is finally killed by a Arcane Effigy. 

And my crew? Well, most of the action points for me this turn went into dealing with ice pillars. Ice Dancer started speeding towards my deployment zone from the left with a screen of ice pillars. Mad Dog Brackett had to remove those so that Obedient Wretch was able to walk and place a scheme marker next to Ice Dancer. 

Catalan Rifleman dropped a scheme to give Benny Wolcomb fast, who later took a double walk to place a scheme near Wendigo and a Silent One. 

Hamelin had a bit of a useless activation when I misplayed Obey - apparently Obey makes enemy scheme markers. So instead he walked Arcane Effigy into hazardous terrain. There were also some Eyes in the Walls of an ice pillar. Even those got rats inside of them!

So, points went 3-3 when both players got strategy, Outcasts both their schemes and Arcanists Load 'Em Up.

Turn 4:

Blessed of December goes to place a scheme marker on my deployment zone. Scary fast model, that one. But Bleeding Disease also has a scary range, and with two tries Nix is able to kill the vendetta target.

Rasputina staggers and slows the entire bunch of Mad Dog Brackett, Catalan Rifleman and Obedient Wretch. Mad Dog had already activated. He had tried to remove Ice Dancer, but that didn't go as planned. Instead, Ice Dancer moves into my deployment zone and places a scheme marker, with four Ice Pillars worth of LoS block. One was removed by Stolen, but still the dancer was unassailable.

Benny tried to beat Wendigo, not succeeding. 

Hamelin managed to move a Silent One away from center-right marker. Benny was the one who actually scored strategy that turn, as he could engage Wendigo but Wendigo not him. 

Scores stay even 4-4, as Outcasts score strategy and Arcanists get Breakthrough.

Turn 5:

Benny was as useless a fighter as ever, and still couldn't remove Wendigo. Rasputina on the other hand was almost able to push Wendigo to my deployment zone. Stolen tried to come and engage it but frantic flailing is frantic flailing. At least sniper rifle was far more effective, and killed Wendigo before it could place third scheme marker for Breakthrough end condition.

Obedient Wretch had ran to bottom-corner strategy marker.

Ice Dancer had placed the second Breakthrough marker and was screened by a wall of ice. Mad Dog could have blown it to hell, but what was the use because she had already activated?

Rasputina placed three ice pillars near herself, but Hamelin was able to land a zero damage Bleeding Disease on her with soulstone bought Music in the Air, thus denying Load 'Em Up.

Nix was alive, Blessed was not.

Scores jumped to 6-4 for Outcasts. 

That amount of ice pillars was just crazy. I was lucky to have picked the piper Hamelin, as now at least I had the action points and actions to remove them - and still there were twelve of them on board when game ended.