Prisoner Steak, Rare+

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Raid the Vaults

Schemes: Take Prisoner, Ensnare, Outflank, Deliver a Message, Sweating Bullets

My list:

Ensouled Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Yannic Waller
Midnight Stalker
The Ferryman
Crooked Man
Dead Outlaw

Pool: 6
Schemes: Ensnare, Deliver a Message (Midnight Stalker)

Opponent had:

Rasputina & Wendigo
Snow Storm
Blessed of December
Ceddra
December Acolyte
Silent One with Magical Training
Silent One

Pool: 4
Schemes: Ensnare, Take Prisoner (Dead Outlaw)

Turn 1:

Well, what's the most sensible thing to do with your master on turn one? Well... maybe charge enemy henchman, master, totem and a bunch of minions? Right, we'll go with that.

Jack Daw absolutely failed each of his attacks, though, so there was some degree of worry about his well-being. At least there was more than a decent set-up for Draw Them In next turn.

Montresor and Jack Daw were relatively early activations - which only meant that they were slowed and staggered the next turn. Joining in on the slow/staggered team were Crooked Man and Dead Outlaw, plus Lady Ligeia was cheering them up by just being slow. 

Most of that was Rasputina's doing, although models such as Snow Storm and Silent Ones certainly helped. 

Staggered was annoying especially on Crooked Man, as I kept trying to figure out how to move the guy outside of his activation - only to realize that yeah, not going to happen because of Staggered. So Crooked Man just wobbled forward with its mighty Mv of 2, doing nothing else. 

Eventually Blessed of December leaped from its deployment position to the right to herd Dead Outlaw to a nice little blast zone with Lady Ligeia and Montresor. 

Yannic Waller had smashed one ice pillar and went behind the hull of a ship to hide from Acolyte of December. 

Midnight Stalker started to climb up on a building to perhaps contest center-right marker next turn. 

Ferryman went to contest the strategy marker on bottom-right quarter, and those were the most meaningful parts of the turn from my perspective.

Turn 2:

Arcanists won initiative. Rasputina did horrible things on her turn. Some of which were already hinted in the description of turn one. Slow and staggered, everywhere!

I must have forgotten to take a picture on turn two, though, because sure as hell I didn't take down Snow Storm on turn two. 

Instead, Jack Daw did Draw Them In twice. Damage done wasn't all that impressive for a full master activation, but it did have a heavy toll on opponent's hand that, I heard later, had five severes.

Early on Blessed of December leaped to put a dent on Dead Outlaw. And after a blast from Rasputina and a couple of damage from Blessed of December last turn, moderate damage (with negative modifiers) was all that it took to take down Dead Outlaw before it had the time to activate. 

Bummer? Sure. However, I did not know Dead Outlaw was opponent's Take Prisoner target. Whoops. 

Montresor spent his entire activation to get as many models within his stagger aura, and Crooked Man interacted a scheme within 3" of Blessed of December. He also put up his Mining Law aura, getting two markers required for Ensnare next turn. Shame, that Blessed of December had Deadly Pursuit.

Since I had such secure position on the center-left marker, Ferryman felt confident enough to miss its attacks against Silent One that had Magical Training upgrade. 

Likely there was some more nuance to this turn, but I got not picture. My memory ain't what it used to be.

However, Midnight Stalker leaped, walked and delivered a message to Rasputina.

Both players scored strategy, with Midnight Stalker giving Outcasts 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

Arcanists got the initiative again, and Rasputina did a bad, bad thing. This time around I think it was Montresor, Midnight Stalker and Jack Daw that got the cold shoulder - and most Jack's damage with Draw Them In was negated with Freeze Over. Oh well.

At least Jack Daw was able to land hazardous terrain on Snow Storm before bursting away with speed and pushing Montresor a little closer with bonus action. Snow Storm wouldn't have any of that aura, and walked a tad away to blast with Ice Tornado. Talk about Anger Issues. The upgrade, I mean. That didn't go away because models were damaged. However, staggered expired.

Montresor was able to toss a noose around Snowstorm's head and pull it back within Hanging Ropes aura. 

I had not realized how much I had damaged Snow Storm already. When Midnight Stalker leaped to it and half-heartedly poked it with a knife, the thing just died, though opponent tried to save it by spending a soulstone. Go figure? Stalker was then able to charge Wendigo that had two health remaining, but botched that attack.

Throughout this entire winter storm laced with tormented vengeance spirit, Yannic Waller tried to come and arrange a little democratic elections, and yeah, that went just about as you might expect, given the circumstances. Acolyte even kept shooting harpoons at her before repositioning to control strategy marker in top-left quarter.

Yannic had consolidated power of Crooked Man now that it was no longer staggered. Idea was to place a scheme marker with trigger, which succeeded. However, Blessed of December activated right next and deleted Crooked Man from the board with a Red Joker on damage flip. That... that guy just spent two turns to advance a total of 2" and place two scheme markers. Three, if you count Yannic's contribution.

Anyway, Blessed was now free to go and claim the vault that was worth two points for Arcanists.

Sightless Snow and Ceddra removed Lady Ligeia after she had tried to yell for a bit. 

Ferryman had managed to land no-heal on Snow Storm, before it failed an attack against Silent One. Ashamed, Ferryman backed to control strategy marker on bottom-right quarter.

Both players scored strategy for a 3-2 lead for Outcasts.

Turn 4:

Everybody died. GG.

Okay, well, more specifically  Wendigo died to three attacks from Midnight Stalker before the enforcer leaped to strategy marker worth two points for Outcasts.

Jack Daw, no longer slowed, was able to go and place scheme markers to ensnare Ceddra or Sightless Snow or whoever it was at the time. The beast attacked Montresor, who ticked down to zero health remaining. I pondered if I should just leave the henchman for dead, as there were scheme markers close enough to score Ensnare. In the ended I decided not to, and that was when opponent revealed Ensnare. 

At least Montresor succeeded in killing the Silent One without upgrade.

Rasputina and perhaps even Acolyte - I forget the details - had killed Yannic Waller after she finally managed to arrange democratic elections. I hope that's not, like, foreshadowing whatever the hell is happening in the world right now. But I royally digress.

Ferryman charged Silent One with the upgrade, missing again. This time it backed down to strategy marker. 

So, both players scored strategy and Ensnare for a 5-4 lead for Outcasts.

Turn 5:

Last turn had enough variables to warrant for a play. Montresor managed to toss noose over Sightless Ceddra before dying without triggering Eternal. Idea was to deny Ensnare end condition from the Arcanists after they had spammed scheme markers all over the center area.

Rasputina moved away from Outcast scheme markers so as not to be within 2" of a marker at least. 

Leaping, Fast Midnight Stalker rectified that.

In the end, Jack Daw was able to place a scheme marker so that Sightless Ceddra would trigger  Ensnare end condition for Outcasts, but that just meant that he himself was Ensnared. 

Rasputina had enough models to score strategy. Both players scored Ensnare, but Outcasts got to deliver their message for a 7-6 victory.

Sword Hat Trick

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Corner Stuff the Ballots

Schemes: Sweating Bullets, Espionage, In Your Face, Hold Up Their Forces, Take Prisoner

My list:

Ensouled Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Hans
The Ferryman
Auguste Hart
Crooked Man
Drowned

Pool: 6
Schemes: Sweating Bullets (Montresor), In Your Face

Opponent had:

Colette Du Bois & 3x Mechanical Doves
Cassandra Felton
Shadowlark
Coryphee Duet
Angelica Durand
Blackbird
2x Showgirl

Pool: 0
Schemes: Espionage, Sweating Bullets (Cassandra Felton)

Turn 1:

Performers started performing right off the bat - Coryphee Duet was delivered some 28" inches from one corner of the board to another. While that could have been a relief, there were now two ballot boxes guarded by Coryphee Duet. Not gonna challenge those, yeah.

Shadowlark and a Showgirl were going towards the bottom two strategy markers, while remaining performer troupe were tromping towards marker in the center. 

Blackbird, another Showgirl and Cassandra Felton were out there in the open, however, not quite close enough to Hans' clockwork rifle. Hans just took a little walk to the edge of a cargo container to start shooting next turn.

Jack Daw, however had taken a double walk to inaudibly whisper to a Mechanical Dove. Dove was not impressed, but showgirls beckoned poor Jack's ensouled mind and walked him right next to Cassandra Felton. So, Coryphee Duet was not the only model that was flinged over 24 inches this turn by performers. 

So, at the end of first turn, remaining Tormented models were lagging dangerously far behind. Ferryman had managed to Black Joker its Lost In the Fog against Montresor. This had repercussion for the next turn, so let's go there.

Turn 2:

Cassandra started by nimbling past Jack Daw, suspiciously engaging Tormented master within 6" of center point.

As I did not know opponent had Sweating Bullets on Cassandra, I tried to figure out a way to deliver Montresor to Cassandra. But, if Ferryman used Lost in the Fog to move Montresor close enough to get to Cassandra, I most certainly would not get strategy points this turn. So thanks, Black Joker on turn one. 

In the end, I chose strategy points that Ferryman went to pick. 

Jack Daw, though, managed to land some Anger Issues on Cassandra, and then walz past Blackbird and Showgirl with Burst of Speed. Draw Them In also dealt a point of damage to Showgirl. I had been saving a one of rams from first turn in my hand just for Hans, and he was able to snipe off Showgirl from the board. Let's call that the sniper rifle trick.

However, next Colette did a sword trick on Jack Daw. Well, that only buried Tormented master, but I did groan inside a little when I looked at my Espionage bluff scheme marker - my only scheme marker - on my deployment zone. 

Unfortunately that was not the only trick this turn saw - Shadow Lark Red Jokered a surprise shot trick against Drowned, killing it in two shots. Shadowlark's backup dancer was then able to go and place a vote on center-left box. 

Coryphee Duet was able to place three votes, one to top-right and one to center-right strategy marker. 

Montresor was able to slow and stagger Cassandra with a tossed noose. A Mechanical Dove had flown to block Montresor, but Lady Ligeia, the melee monster we all know and love, was able to remove that blockage. 

Both players scored strategy.

Turn 3:

Montresor started turn by charging Cassandra. She had only three health remaining after that. 

After what had happened to Jack Daw I wasn't exactly feeling secure that Montresor would still stand there, engaging Cassandra in the end phase, so I decided to unbury Jack Daw, take a double walk and charge Cassandra. The only killable cost 8 model died, so I had to take In Your Face as soon as possible.

And, sure enough, soon Montresor was standing next to Colette, and where one Montresor stood was now Angelica Durand. And Auguste Hart was sword tricked off the board before he had activated. This, at least, gave him a chance to remove that failed bluff scheme marker from my deployment zone. 

A Mechanical Dove flew next to Hans and started being Annoying. I was impressed. That was actually effective use of Annoying rule. It just takes an insignificant model with Puny to meaningfully pull off. If Hans wanted +10" range, he needed to concentrate - which would only give him Distracted from Annoying. So, no +10" range. Also, his field guide referencing would be next to useless, too. 

Coryphee Duet walked and charged The Ferryman, and hilariously enough Red Jokered it down to one health remaining. Then the thing just split up into two. Ferryman, who was distracted, had one chance to kill the un-activated Coryphee, and obviously it just failed that. Coryphee killed the enforcer. 

Hans was able to demote one of the Coryphees into a mannequin.

Crooked Man crooked hard against odds against charging Shadowlark and voting Showgirl. It survived, although he did fail every single one of his own actions, though.

Blackbird was speeding towards my deployment corner, so, and Espionage it was. As if that wasn't clear enough from five or so scheme markers in a pool where only one scheme required markers. 

Outcasts had not placed even a single vote this turn, but Arcanists got their second strategy point. Points were still 2-2, though, thanks to killing Cassandra In Your Face.

Turn 4:

If game had not been ridiculous enough as of yet, things were about to change. 

Colette sword-tricks Montresor back to my deployment zone, as Angelica had been able to remove the scheme I had placed in the center to be a homing beacon for Montresor. 

Montresor walked and charged Blackbird, but only managed to drop another scheme marker thanks to Set the Scene. 

I had been carefully waiting for opponent to burn through his control hand so that Hans would have his best shot at injuring Blackbird seriously enough.

So, he took a shot. Attack dealt a point of damage through Shielded +1, but opponent drew Get Off the Stage straight from the deck. So, Hans was teleported near center. He still had LoS to Blackbird, though, so he took another shot. Two points in, and again Get Off the Stage from top of deck. So Hans was taking snap shots at Blackbird while getting teleported from scheme marker to scheme marker. 

Jack Daw couldn't figure out a way to meaningfully contribute to scoring, so he went to kill a Coryphee. At least he managed to do just that. 

Crooked Man crooked even harder than last turn, as neither Showgirl nor Shadowlark were able to kill that Df 4 model who was at three health remaining. Yay! Go, Crooked Man!

However, Outcasts were not able to score any points that turn. Arcanists got a strategy point, as well as Espionage reveal. Points went 4-2 for Arcanists.

Turn 5:

So... Montresor had one turn to run about 38" for In Your Face. I might have a shot at Sweating Bullets, but not at scenario. Arcanists had potential for all three points. We ended the game, as even if I somehow denied all three points from Arcanists and scored my maximum of one, I'd still lose.

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.

Anger Issues

 A 50ss game of Malifaux over Vassal.

Strategy: Corner Raid the Vaults

Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Hold Up Their Forces, Protected Territory, Death Beds, In Your Face

My list:

Ensouled Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Auguste Hart
Midnight Stalker
Malifaux Child
Hanged
Crooked Man
Guilty

Pool: 3
Schemes: Protected Territory, Death Beds (Corpse)

Opponent had:

Tomb Delving Lucas McCabe & Luna
Sidir
Koji
Kara
Huckster
Cryptologist
Tanuki
Ruffian

Pool: 4
Schemes: Death Beds (Scrap), In Your Face

Turn 1:

Montresor gave Hanged a little walk and lumbered towards center-left strategy marker along with Malifaux Child. Auguste was speeding to top-left strategy marker and for a long time seemed uncontested, until Ruffian that had Fast from Timeworn Blade took a full run towards top.

After Sidir had activated Jack Daw felt bold enough to hide behind a forest at the center, almost contesting center-right marker. Lady Ligeia and Crooked Man were lazily following him.

Hanged attempted to connect some Forbidden Knowledge to Kara, but the cat was just damn too menacing. Guilty ran to Hanged, and Midnight Stalker joined to form a trio that could seize bottom-right strategy marker next turn.

Lucas and Sidir were holding the middle behind center forest. Kara and Koji reinforced Sidir with claims to center-right strategy marker. Huckster was kind of everywhere, at the moment of picture she was inside the building near bottom-right strategy marker. Cryptologist was also jogging there, but with Mv 4 it was going to take a while.

Tanuki and Luna acted like the animals they were behind Lucas' back. 

Turn 2:

I was hesitant, because I was quite aware of the risks involved. But nonetheless, when I won the initiative, Montresor activated and ran into forest. Luna dug up artifacts-to-be, and then - Jack Daw charged and landed hazardous terrain aura on Sidir. Two Draw Them Ins later both Kara and Koji were engaged by Jack Daw and were staggered,

It was an oppressive move for sure, but now my master was next to Sidir, Koji, Kara and even within easy charge range of McCabe.

McCabe, however, didn't charge Jack. Instead, he tossed Phantasmal Mask for Sidir and went to contest center-left strategy marker. 

Lady Ligeia moved to complete the unholy trinity of Montresor, Jack and her. 

Huckster used secret passage to deliver a scheme marker below Kara and near Jack Daw. Death Bed mirror seemed likely. So, Guilty came to plant a scheme near Kara. Guilty received some consolation from Sidir after sharing his guilt. Sidir was staggered below the burden.

Sidir tried to give shielded for Koji and Kara with Phantasmal Mask, but didn't want to cheat to succeed. I guess it was the guilt. Or, maybe not, because he had no qualms about cheating attacks against Jack Daw. Jack received only three damage in total, but this drained all of my soulstones. 

Koji and Kara went berserk and tried to kill Jack Daw, to hell with hazardous terrain! Too bad none of the actions scored a hit. But Koji and Kara were down to three health both. Ouch. At least Crooked Man didn't manage to land earthquakes on Huckster. 

Malifaux Child came to wrestle center-left strategy marker from the clutches of McCabe. This, however, prompted Russian to shoot the kid with derringer and then walk a little closer after he failed to score a kill. Tanuki ran to secure the vault for Ten Thunders. Oh well. At least it wasn't healing Koji or Kara.

Auguste went to control top-left strategy marker and began an interview with no-one. That's his thing. 

Hanged went to place a scheme marker near bottom-right strategy marker, and after Midnight Stalker failed to leap, he ran to at least secure the marker.

Cryptologist went to provide his aura to the troubled lot near middle. 

Both players scored strategy, and neither revealed schemes. But the situation was rapidly turning sour for Ten Thunders. However, Jack Daw was vulnerable now. They had their chance.

Turn 3:

Unfortunately Jack Daw won initiative. While opponent passed admirably Draw Them In checks even while the models were staggered, there were just too many checks. Only Koji died, though. Lucas whipped up another Timeworn Blade for Sidir and went to whip a kid to death. 

Guilty was only guilty of compassion. He tried to pet the kitty. Kitty died. Tenderly Guilty dug up a pretty Death Bed for the kitty and scored a scheme for Outcasts. 

Sidir tried to remove Jack Daw, but managed to bring him down to two health remaining. As a final act of defience Sidir did Blade Storm, prompting tests for Montresor, Lady Ligeia, Guilty, Jack Daw, Huckster who was at one health and Cryptologist who was at one remaining, too. 

It would have been cool to lose Jack Daw this way, but it was not to be. Only Huckster died.

Montresor activated and did his things, killing Cryptologist. It started to look like game over, so Ruffian tried to make the unlikely shot that would kill Jack Daw, who got both concealment and friendly fire.

Attack did not land, and we did not continue the game. My gambit paid off in a brutal manner. 

She Just Doesn't Care

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Flank Carve a Path

Schemes: Breakthrough, Hidden Martyrs, Secret Meetup, Public Demonstration, Catch and Release

My list:

Jack Daw, Ensouled & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Jaakuna Ubume
Malifaux Child
Hanged
Crooked Man
2x Guilty

Pool: 5
Schemes: Hidden Martyrs (Guilties), Catch and Release (Hanged)

Opponent had:

Youko Hamasaki, Unseen & Chiyo
Bill Algren
Shojo
Kunoichi
2x Bunraku
Tanuki
2x Geisha

Pool: 4
Schemes: Hidden Martyrs (Geisha and Kunoichi), Secret Meetup (Crooked Man, somebody and building in top-left quarter) 

Turn 1:

Chiyo, a Geisha and Bunraku were delivering a strategy marker from top in such a manner that I instantly suspected Breakthrough. 

Jaakuna and Crooked Man were doing the same, but closer to middle, while the second strategy marker from Ten Thunders was also sitting in the center gathering of Youko, Kunoichi, Geisha, Shojo and Tanuki.

The middle gang would have likely killed Lady Ligeia already when Geisha lured her early in the turn. Montresor couldn't do much else than walk and watch an action for Lady, or risk losing Betrayal aura. Boring Conversation already had an effect, because Montresor kept yawning cards off my hand.

But, Guilty, Hanged Montresor and Lady Ligeia were bringing one of my strategy markers from bottom side and the two minions even managed to push it to centerline. Bill Algren, however, came to end such a folly with his stoic posture. A Bunraku was a little bit farther, but close enough to act as his aide. 

Jack Daw was going to center too with Malifaux Child and another Guilty. Jack Daw dealt a couple of damage points to Geisha that were promptly healed by Tanuki. She wouldn't even share Guilty's guilt. 

Turn 2:

Chiyo ran past centerline, and Geisha and a Bunraku pushed strategy marker to the totem. That ball was now way out of my reach. 

Jaakuna pushed my strategy marker past centerline, activated Drowning Aura and moved to keep the marker inside her aura. 

A Guilty had charged into the thick of action, engaging Kunoichi, Youko, Shojo and whatnot. I started to get really worried when Shojo gave him five poison. before activating Boring Conversation... Losing martyr to a bottle of wine wouldn't be... ideal. 

I don't quite remember what Montresor did other than walk within 6" of the majority of Ten Thunders' models. Chances are he listened some boring conversations, and was suddenly slowed by Geisha's sharp wit.

Crooked Man managed to stagger Guilty, Youko and Kunoichi. It's just that Kunoichi didn't care about that with her nihilistic tendencies. Oh, I would make her care! Crooked Man also activated Malifaux Mining Law with crows trigger.

First, Malifaux Child drew Geisha, Youko, Shojo and Kunoichi in. Well, make that Geisha only. Kunoichi still refused to care.

Jack Daw used Draw Them In on Montresor, even bought a Rams with a soulstone. And yet Kunoichi refused to even twitch her eye. Apparently Shojo was her uncaring drinking buddy, since she also passed every and all movement tests.

Alright, Kunoichi. You win this round of nihilism. At least Geisha fell a little easier with one inaudible whisper. And Youko just took two damage in just because her soul was not quiet. Oh wait... but how's that possible when she isn't keyword Tormented? 

Well, that's because I'm not advancing chronologically. Fortunately Kunoichi failed to kill the Guilty, so Youko had to finish the job. And she did, gaining Punish the Wicked upgrade in the process.

At the bottom of things, another Guilty had walked forward to kick my strategy marker back to my side of the table. I didn't believe I would be able to push through Bill and Bunraku, and they might very well start kicking the marker to bottom-right corner where it would be quite out of reach.

However... now I had my second Hidden Martyr in the charge lane of Bill Algren, who would kill the thing with two minimum damages. Hanged had to come to rescue. It walked and managed to land Forbidden Knowledge on him, and even stagger Bill with an attack.

Bill hit Hanged a couple of times, and it spent soulstones to block a total of five damage. Bill pushed Hanged out of Catch and Release range, but thankfully opponent had not removed the upgrade, and I was able to push Bill back to scoring range.

One Guilty dead, another still living. That's Hidden Martyrs for me. However, the Geisha was also a martyr along with Kunoichi. Both players scored strategy, so it was 2-3 lead for Outcasts.

Turn 3:

If last turn had been intense, this was even more so. 

Bill Algren, who had healed to full and gained Fast mauled my Catch and Release model horrendously. All three attacks hit, and one even scored Red Joker on damage. Last attack hit when Hanged had one health remaining. However... Red wasn't the only joker on damage flips that this activation saw. It's a miracle!

Hanged didn't wait for Bunraku to come and finish what Bill couldn't. It teleported away by giving Guilty the Forbidden Knowledge, cheating in Black Joker for masks. It kicked strategy marker behind Montresor and ran as fast as it could. Which isn't a lot with Move 4. 

Opponent didn't give me time to do movement shenanigans with my various models. Bunraku walked, used bonus action and charged Hanged, killing it. It looks like Hanged was... Caught and released.

Bunraku and Chiyo pushed a strategy marker to my deployment zone. 

Jaakuna did the same and activated Drowning Aura. But the aura wasn't enough to deter Geisha from pushing my marker outside of enemy deployment. 

Meanwhile, I had created an absolute hell for opponent to navigate. Crooked Man had two scheme markers in the thick of enemy blob of models, all hazardous terrain. Moreover, Jack Daw had walked, pushed my strategy marker past centerline and landed 3" aura of hazardous terrain on Shojo. 

Opponent had no cards left in hand, so if I was going to stagger Kunoichi, it would have to happen now. Malifaux Child went to use Draw Them In (unfortunately without rams) to get her that. Youko failed, Tanuki failed. But guess who two didn't fail? Yeah. Still no stagger on Kunoichi. 

Youko makes a rather impactful activation when she pushed Shojo with hazardous aura away, and Kunoichi next to my strategy marker. Finally Kunoichi was staggered! Probably because there were no flips involved. Hidden Ledger left only trash cards on top of my deck when only Montresor was left to activate, and she even kicked Ten Thunders strategy marker to my side of the table. Sure, that was five points of damage in to her during her own activation, but whoa. 

Montresor, who had Slow, had his time to shine. I knew there were a two, four and six in the three cards from Hidden Ledger. 

Since opponent had no cards in hand, and I had one (a twelve), and Kunoichi was staggered, I figured Crooked Man had realistic chance of Earthquaking her even with a guaranteed "2" that was coming. Well, he didn't.

At least a blind Asphyxiation worked, but Kunoichi was still with three hit points remaining. Two after she activated and pushed my strategy marker past centerline. Catastrophy! Victory point, denied!

My another Guilty had earlier tried to charge Bunraku who had killed Hanged, but dealt in just one damage.

Outcasts are cast out from point scoring this turn, so it's a 3-3 tie.

Turn 4:

Ten Thunders won the initiative, and Geisha activated first to make Jaakuna slow, so she wouldn't be able to interact with strategy markers this round.

Montresor made his move next, bringing Kunoichi and Tanuki down to one health remaining. He tried to make an out-of-activation kill for a Guilty that was fighting with Bunraku, but managed to deal only one damage with two strikes. At least the puppet became staggered. 

I had been worried that Bill would have killed my second Guilty martyr, but instead he went to charge Montresor and pushed him over 6" away from Kunoichi. 

So, Jack Daw had to activate to use his bonus action to push Montresor closer to Kunoichi. He then made a melee attack against Youko and scored a Burst of Speed that collaterally damaged Tanuki dead. I was worried that Shojo would go to heal Kunoichi, so instead Jack Daw killed Kunoichi eventhough she was at one health remaining, thus dying when she activates. Youko was left with two health.

Situation looked devastating for Ten Thunders... but, then Shojo activated. By now opponent had no cards in hand, so Shojo was not able to rely on getting the triggers she wanted. Slurred Speech? Rams, which healed Youko for two. Biting Insult? Rams, which healed Youko for two. 

Youko then disengaged from Jack Daw and murdered Crooked Man who had not yet taken even a single point of damage with two strikes. Somehow it was no longer looking that strong of a position for Outcasts...

At least the Guilty didn't die to Bunraku's blades. However, it took both actions and the bonus action with crows for the trigger to kill that thing.

Malifaux Child was able to secure me my second victory point, but thanks to losing two action points in the form of unactivated Crooked Man, I wasn't able to deny opponent their third point.

Chiyo went to place a scheme marker on my deployment to scare me a little. 

Scores go 4-4.

Turn 5:

Jaakuna went to push my marker deep into enemy deployment zone. Montresor interacted twice with Ten Thunders strategy marker to make it impossible for opponent to score.

Shojo had put up Boring Conversation and walked and charged to engage Malifaux Child. 

Jack Daw tried to charge Bill Algren, but wasn't able to Slow him with two strikes. My plan had been to give Slow for Bill so he wouldn't be able to kill Guilty. Then, Malifaux Child needed to come and heal Guilty for at least two to score Hidden Martyrs end condition. However, Bill was able to bury naginata into my martyr. 

Bunraku went to kick my strategy marker to center line, so no strategy points for me or the opponent.

Chiyo was no longer able to secure end condition for Secret Meetup alone, so the game ended with the same score total as last round: 4-4 draw.

Tormented Wildfire

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Carve a Path

Schemes: Spread Them Out, Breakthrough, Vendetta, Load 'Em Up, In Your Face

My list:

Jack Daw Ensouled & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Auguste Hart
Midnight Stalker
Malifaux Child
Crooked Man
Dead Outlaw
Guilty

Pool: 5
Schemes: Vendetta (Dead Outlaw on a Firebranded), Breakthrough

Opponent had:

Kaeris & Eternal Flame
Elijah Borgmann
Carlos Vasquez
Fire Golem
The Firestarter
2x Firebranded
Fire Gamin

Pool: 0 (!)
Schemes: Load 'Em Up (Pyre marker), Vendetta (Firestarter on something, somewhere)

Turn 1:

Outcasts started doing cautious activations like Auguste kicking the strategy marker near Malifaux Child and hiding behind the forest, with Lady Ligeia joining soon. Guilty just walked north a bit and concentrated, things like that.

Arcanists were also hiding behind terrain, delivering one marker from top behind the houses and another in midst of graveyard.

But then Fire Golem walked within charge + collier revolver range, and Dead Outlaw attacked. Hoo boy, that was a mistake. 

Kaeris set the ground close to Outlaw on fire, Eternal Flame pushed the marker to my grudge holder, and Firestarter and Fire Gamin started raining death over him. 

Midnight Stalker couldn't carry out with his plan of delivering strategy marker to enemy table half already and had to go assist some flames off of Dead Outlaw. 

Jack Daw healed him as much as he could, and Crooked Man managed to drop a scheme marker to trigger Too Greedy To Die to get Dead Outlaw slightly closer to safety.

Malifaux Child had kicked a strategy marker almost past the forest.

Arcanist side, Elijah, Firebranded and Carlos were moving in the graveyard along with Arcanist strategy marker. They narrowly escaped an earthquake unleashed by Crooked Man. 

Eternal Flame, Fire Golem, Firestarter and Fire Gamin were about there in the middle, with my vendetta target Firebranded and Kaeris behind buildings.

Turn 2:

Kaeris activated first and set the world burning. Fortunately she wastes most of her action points on taking shots with negative modifiers against Midnight Stalker. This buys time for Dead Outlaw to run to safety, albeit on Burning +4 and injured +2. 

Firestarter flies to unreachable position behind a building. Crooked Man concentrates on earthquake attack and manages to stagger Carlos and Firebranded. 

Eternal Flame attempts to detonate some pyre markers, but isn't too successful at it. Montresor, however, takes a run towards Carlos and Firebranded in the graveyard to get them inside his nasty aura. 

I don't remember what Carlos did except for kicking arcanist strategy marker forward. 

Malifaux Child moves a bit forward and is Just Like Jack Daw, healing Montresor a little before being shot off the board by Firebranded. 

Guilty delivers a strategy marker to opponent's table half. Fire Golem draws away his fire and comes into contact with him. Instead of punching Guilty it kicks my strategy marker back to my table half. Midnight Stalker leaps to bring the marker back to scoring position, but so does Dead Outlaw's vendetta target Firebranded for Arcanist strategy marker. 

Elijah comes to charge Montresor, which invites Jack Daw to charge him and try to do some Guilt of the Many tricks without much of a success. At least Elijah got Curse of Reckoning. Dead Outlaw, however, was healed somewhat and assisted by Lady Ligeia, so I might have a shot at Vendetta later in game. 

Scores go 1-1.

Turn 3:

Just as I had managed to heal Dead Outlaw back to relative functionality, Kaeris activated and blasted a marker on top of Dead Outlaw and Lady Ligeia as well as dealing in some damage. 

Jack Daw replied in kind, dropping Curse of Reckoning also on Carlos and moving so that Draw Them In reached also Eternal Flame. So there were now three staggered models within 6" of Montresor.

Elijah activates and keeps swinging at Montresor despite hazardous gnawing him down to one health remaining. Then he heals for a bit by calling the Burning Man as well as giving Montresor and Jack Daw burning +2. 

Lady Ligeia moves in to get a little mileage out of betrayal aura. Firestarter makes a re-appearance and pushes Montresor full 5.5" away from his position. Yeah, that would have been 10" without the severe terrain.

Montresor walked and charged back.

Firebranded heals things with Embrace the Flame and walked away from the dreaded Montresor. 

I don't remember what Eternal Flame or Fire Gamin actually did, but Auguste sprang forth from inside the forest and tied them plus Firestrarter in melee by chasing some ghosts. 

Dead Outlaw's vendetta target came to push strategy marker deeper into Outcast territory. I figured this was my best chance of getting even one point out of Vendetta, so Dead Outlaw walked and charged, landing minimum damage on Firebranded, which was fortunately enough. 

Guilty had been trying to soften up Firebranded but didn't put his heart into it. But neither did Fire Golem in killing Guilty, who was left with Burning +3 and two health remaining thanks to an untimely black joker. 

Midnight Stalker brought Outcast strategy marker to Arcanist deployment zone. 

Carlos, seeing how his anger issues had almost killed Elijah, backed off to cool down a little, losing Curse of Reckoning and staggered far away from Montresor. 

Finally, Crooked Man walks a little and shoots Firebranded in the graveyard dead. 

By now I had zero models left without burning. 

But at least scenario game was looking good. Outcasts scored two points, one from strategy and one from vendetta. But Arcanists revealed Load 'Em Up with pyre markers.

Scores go 2-3 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Outcasts had one pass token from last turn. Opponent cheated on initiative with 13, and I had to do the same. Jack Daw let all hell loose, killing both Elijah and Eternal Flame and giving some anger issues to Firestarter. 

Firestarter shoots Dead Outlaw even more dead and escapes where his issues should hurt no-one. 

Auguste chases ghosts, freeing himself from melee and then walking and charging Carlos Vasquez. He could have died to Auguste's crazed swipes, but the attack missed and Carlos went butterfly jumped away. 

Firebranded healed something, and most unexpected MVP enters the match. Lady Ligeia misses Kaeris with projected voice and does one point of damage in melee. Yay. But, the thing was that neither Fire Golem or Fire Gamin were able to kill her from three hit points remaining despite she having Injured +2. Crazy. This wasted one action point from Kaeris, who then charged Montresor. 

After Kaeris had done her thing, Montresor was at four health remaining and Burning +11, with his demise ability used for the turn.

Midnight Stalker placed scheme in enemy deployment zone and Crooked Man kicked a strategy marker to enemy table half.

Opponent scored nothing, while Outcasts took strategy and Breakthrough. 

Jack Daw was at Burning +9, Montresor +11, Auguste at +7, Crooked Man and Midnight Stalker at +2.  Guilty had burned to crisp. 

Kaeris, Fire Golem and Fire Gamin were almost or entirely unharmed, although Carlos had taken heavy damage and Firestarter somewhat.

So, model-wise situation wasn't ideal. But scores went to 2-5 from strategy and breakthrough for Outcasts, and Arcanists didn't get schemes or strategies.

We didn't play last round.

Those Bright Green Fields

 A couple of Christmassy Malifaux games.

First game:

Strategy: Standard Covert Operation

Scheme pool: Sabotage, Leave Your Mark, Public Demonstration, Catch and Release, Hidden Martyrs

My list:

Seamus, Aka Sebastian Baker & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle withGrave Spirit's Touch
Bete Noire
Jaakuna Ubume
Rotten Belle
Dead Doxy
Gravedigger

Pool: 5
Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Catch and Release (Dead Doxy)

Opponent had:

Charles Hoffman & Mechanical Attendant
Melissa K.O.R.E
Guild Steward
Guardian
2x Hunter
Riotbreaker

Pool: 4
Schemes: Catch and Release (Hunter), Hidden Martyrs (Attendant & Guardian)

Turn 1:

Seamus took a slice off of Madame Sybelle and raised another Dead Doxy while nearing the middle. After some movement shenanigans by various models Jaakuna Ubume was able to place the scheme marker for Leave Your Mark and activate Drowning Aura. 

I don't quite remember what was dealing damage to Jaakuna, possibly Melissa. However, she took more damage than I was comfortable with. And as it happened, Gravedigger was just a little too far from getting within healing range. 

And then I was reminded that Guardian actually had Fast from Hoffman.

I guess it's a kind of a consolation that I wouldn't have had time to heal Jaakuna when Jaakuna was attacked not once but twice by Guardian. But she didn't go down with one attack so the mech took three points of damage from hazards and vengeance. 

Bete Noire charged in to Guardian, trickling in a little damage. 

Guild side, Hoffman was in the middle with almost all of his crew within 6" with Riot Breaker and Hunter going left, Hoffman, Guardian and totem in the middle, Melissa and Hunter on the right.

Bete Noire and summoned Doxy were holding the middle with Madame Sybelle behind them. Seamus and Rotten Belle were on a hill a little to the left, and Catch and Release Doxy, Gravedigger and Copycat Killer were hiding far on the right.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists won initiative, which meant Seamus pushing out Urban Legend with Alone in the Dark. He also took Doxy by the hand, handed her a bladed bouquet and sliced a bite off of her. So Madame Sybelle in a way had now spawned both a Dead Doxy and Dead Dandy.

Mechanical Attendant came to repair Guardian a bit, and Madame Sybelle attacked Guardian and did a blast over Mechanical Attendant, but Undivided Attention was more of the thing, really.

Hoffman wasn't thrilled about the Alone in the Dark portion of Urban Legend, but activated anyway, gave Fast for Guardian and tried to attack Dead Dandy. Guardian was seriously buggering Madame Sybelle, so Gravedigger had to come to heal her.

Hunter on the right used this to its advantage and shot a harpoon to Gravedigger, dragging him to terrain hazard. Melissa, however, had to finish him and try a shoot Madame a little.

Since there was so much healing available to Guild, I didn't find it meaningful to attack Guardian with Bete Noire. Instead, she had gained Fast from Pounce so she walked to Mechanical Attendant that had three health remaining. No kill.

Catch and Release Doxy used Seduction to kill the Attendant instead.

Riotbreaker and Hunter were seriously teasing Seamus, but at least it was my master taking the heat instead of Rotten Belle, who was carrying claim token.

Copycat Killer continued with low profile, just concentrating.

Both players scored strategy, Guild both their schemes and Resurrectionists Leave Your Mark for a grand total of 3-2 for Guild.

Turn 3:

Seamus put his auras on again and tried to damage Catch and Release Hunter for a bit, but not doing much at that. Riot Breaker came to take a shot at Seamus. Madame Sybelle and summoned Dead Doxy were finally able to remove Guardian with most thanks to Seamus' aura.

But when Hunter mauled Seamus down to four health remaining and I was out of soulstones, it was time to escape the stage with Copycat Killer. 

Another Hunter took a shot at Dead Dandy and dragged him to a terrain hazard. I don't quite remember where Melissa had been shooting.

Much to my astonishment Hoffman was not able to kill Copycat Killer.

Both players scored strategy, and resurrectionists also got their second scheme, Catch and Release from Melissa.

Scores go even 4-4.

Turn 4:

Fourth round was absurd when everyone just kept failing, over and over again. Hoffman struggled to kill Copycat Killer but finally did it. Sybelle was not able to kill Guild Steward, Melissa was not able to kill Seamus and the best that Riot Breaker and one of the hunters could do was to kill Rotten Belle who had like three boxes remaining.

Despite the lack of major breakthroughs in the actual combat, points were scored. Both players received their strategies, and there were three schemes for Leave Your Mark. Now, they only needed to stay there for another round...

Scores go 5-5.

Turn 5:

I suppose Seamus was a little frustrated from not being able to kill as he pleases and had his revenge on poor Melissa, killing her against all odds. This was serious setback for Guild because now the last strategy point was out of their reach.

In the middle, both summoned models were killed and two out of three schemes for Leave Your Mark were removed. 

So in the end it all boiled down to Bete Noire, who had a claim token and had been buried last round. She was able to secure a location within 2" of strategy marker and outside of melees, so game ended 7-6 for Resurrectionists.

Game 2:

Strategy: Corner Cursed Objects

Schemes: Spread Them Out, Public Demonstration, Hidden Martyrs, Secret Meetup, Breakthrough

Jack Daw, Ensouled & Lady Ligeia

Montresor

Yannic Waller

Hanged

Crooked Man

2x Guilty

Prospector

Pool: 3
Schemes: Public Demonstration (Yannic and Guilties), Hidden Martyrs (Crooked Man and Prospector)

Opponent had:

Jakob Lynch & Hungering Darkness

Kitty Dumont

Gwyneth Maddox

Mr Graves

2x Illuminated

Tanuki

Pool: 5
Schemes: Hidden Martyrs (Tanuki and Illuminated), Secret Meetup (Kitty and Montresor on a huge hill on my side)

Turn 1:

Corner deployment with no super fast crews meant that engagement on first turn was a bit limited. Hanged managed to land Forbidden Knowledge on an Illuminated and Jack Daw did a moderate damage on it with Inaudible Whispers.

I had Yannic, a Guilty and Prospector coming from right behind the house, with a loose blob of Guilty, Crooked Man, Hanged and Jack Daw getting to middle. Montresor and Lady Ligeia were a bit behind.

Ten Thunders were in a tight blob instead, with only Hungering Darkness and the aforementioned Illuminated a little distance away.

Turn 2:

Second round was intense when Lynch launched Hungering Darkness to Jack Daw. This act certainly dominated the entire round. I activated Hanged to put up Entropic Curse and stagger Hungering Darkness with noose.

Hungering Darkness started attacking Jack with some minor damage... except for the last attack. That one dealt whopping seven damage. At least damage block shaved a couple points off and incorporeal mitigated one, but still over 50% health gone after second enemy activation was too much.

At least Jack Daw managed to heal adequately and make a severe payback against the beast. Gwyneth wasn't able to do much, and neither did Crooked Man who tried to Earthquake the nice line of Lynch, Gwyneth and an Illuminated.

Mr. Graves moves and charges Crooked Man and Red Jokers some damage in to Crooked Man. 

A Guilty ran to protect Crooked Man and failed to stagger unpainted Illuminated. Another Illuminated tried to scintillate Hanged and Crooked Man, but managed to damage only Hanged.

Yannic walked and charged Mr. Graves with Run and Gun, giving in severe damage with negative flip which also sped Hungering Darkness' demise. Tanuki tries to heal Mr. Graves for a bit, but fails.

Even Lady Ligeia scores a blast off of Mr. Graves, so Mr. Graves is at one health remaining while Hungering Darkness is at two. Kitty Dumont pushes unactivated Illuminated a bit and goes to help Hungering Darkness and Mr. Graves.

But its too late when Montresor just pings Mr. Graves dead with Asphyxiation. Either he or another Guilty landed staggered on Kitty.

I did not try to kill Hungering Darkness because I wanted to score Public Demonstration. 

Opponent had not killed a Cursed Object model from me, and if I had not lucked out with Mr. Graves, I would not have either. Scores go 2-0 for Jack Daw.

Turn 3:

Opponent wins initiative and thus is able to heal Hungering Darkness for five. It tries to attack Guilty, but Black Jokers the damage. But that meant it lost Curse of Reckoning since no models were damaged in that activation.

I didn't want Tanuki and Lynch to continue healing the enemy henchman, so Hanged had to activate first and put Entropic Curse on. It also landed Forbidden Knowledge on Kitty and charged her in hopes of drawing a card.

Unpainted Illuminated kills a Guilty, securing a strategy point for Ten Thunders.

Lynch shot Hungering D... oh. Lynch shot Hungering Darkness to Yannic Waller, but I just realized that it had staggered! Oh well, these things happen. 

Yannic Waller fails to kill Hungering Darkness and Crooked Man fails to kill Illuminated, but Jack Daw does both. Kitty goes to place a scheme marker next to Montresor after another Illuminated, Gwyneth and what else kills second Guilty, leaving me with nearly dead Yannic for Public Demonstration.

Both players scored strategy and Ten Thunders managed to score both of their schemes so scores go 3-3.

Turn 4:

However, we quit the game. Opponent had Kitty with two health, Tanuki with one health within 6" of Montresor, and only Gwyneth was at their full health. Lynch could have healed Tanuki and Kitty for one health, but Montresor could have just pinged both of them down to one health remaining again and possibly even kill with actual action points.

Launching Hungering Darkness like that was a gamble that didn't pay off this time, although it could have had I not been able to kill Mr. Graves with such damage flips.