My First Very Own Ratsplosion

 Two 50ss games of Malifaux

Game 1:

Strategy: Flank Break the Line

Schemes: Catch and Release, Breakthrough, Spread Them Out, Assassinate, Bait and Switch

My list:

Leveticus, the Pariah with Servant of Dark Powers & 2x Hollow Waif
Rusty Alyce
Johan Creedy
Soul Battery
Scavenger
2x Necropunk
2x Abomination

Pool: 4
Schemes: Catch and Release (Necropunk Standing), Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

Hoffman the Inventor & Mechanical Attendant
Melissa KORE
Peacekeeper
2x Hunter
2x Watcher
Medical Automaton

Pool: 4
Schemes: Spread Them Out, Assassinate

Turn 1:

I somehow had misread Leveticus's card horribly, and for whatever reason I was thinking he had Armor +1. This lead to me severely overestimating his durabilitiy. So before game even began, he heralded himself inside forest, all way too close to a Hunter and Hoffman himself.

Eventually Leveticus went to strategy marker, moved it next to himself on the opposing table side and put a scheme marker for Spread Them Out. 

Hoffman laser beamed Leveticus for three points of damage, and the Hunter landed another three with a Red Joker on damage. Though the damage block had been a severe, Leveticus was already down to half of his health remaining!

Other than that both crews played it safe. In or near Leveticus' quarter there was Hollow Waif, Catching and Releasing Necropunk, Abomination and Soul Battery against Hoffman, Hunter and a Watcher.

In the center Johan and Rusty Alyce were slowly getting themselves towards center to face Peacekeeper, Medical Automaton and perhaps Melissa. 

And to the top-right quarter we had the rest, Scavenger, Necropunk, Abomination and Hollow Waif facing Hunter, Watcher and Mechanical Attendant.

Turn 2:

No masks in starting hand for Necropunk leaps, but surely things would change over the course of this turn? 

Abomination went to throw a strategy marker to Hoffman, hopefully trading action points with a master. And it succeeded... kind of. Hoffman did walk and throw the thing back to the centerline, but he also lasered Leveticus down to three health remaining. Leveticus sheepishly trotted away and went to pick a fight for someone his own size - a Watcher. He did get the heal trigger, but that just wasn't enough to deny opponent a possible assassination.

Watcher disengaged and went into contact with strategy marker Leveticus had moved last turn, and Hunter tried to do some damage in to Leveticus - fortunately failing with that.

Medical Automaton ran to base contact with Hoffman's strategy marker.

Soul Battery went to drop Desperation on Catch and Releasing Necropunk, just in case. 

Melissa, Peacekeeper, Mechanical Attendant and even Hunter top-right spent their activations both advancing and shooting Scavenger that was in melee with Hunter. And eventually they managed to do it before Scavenger had even activated. 

Watcher top-right did schemes and flew towards my deployment zone. 

So, after all the studied opponents and whatnot, I still didn't have any masks in my hand for Necropunk leaps even when they were left as the very last models to activate. 

Necropunk top-right had concentrated earlier, and spent his Focused to attempt leap with two cards. Nope. So instead he just scraped Hunter for a bit.

But the more important Necropunk below used his Focus for a leap, too. Nope. But he was able to cheat from top of deck with Desperation. Aaaand... nope. No Catch and Release for me this turn, or even a single additional scheme marker.

Fortunately my models had given Augmented hard time while getting killed, so they had not been able to deliver even one strategy marker to my side, unlike Leveticus. However, Hoffman was able to reveal Assassinate for a 1-1 tie. 

Turn 3:

... and then came the turn when everybody just exploded. Hunter top-right? Gone. Watcher bottom-left? Gone thanks to 3x Soul Reaping. Medical Automaton? Dead. Peacekeeper? No more. 

That might have looked good if Amalgam didn't also lose Necropunk top-right, both Abominations and Johan Creedy. 

Points-wise Augmented took a leap, and pretty much claimed strategic victory, as I had only four models left that were able to interact. 

But, Necropunk did get to Hoffman to score Catch & Release. Opponent got their first strategy point, and even Spread Them Out on top of that for a 2-3 lead for Guild.

Turn 4:

Outcasts got the initiative, and Necropunk leaped the heck away from Hoffman. He did drop a scheme marker for Spread Them Out, which was a mistake as both Hoffman and Melissa pursued him. They didn't get the little guy, but he did went down to two health remaining.

Rusty Alyce had been a total beast throughout this game, killing Mechanical Attendant and getting the second Watcher down to one health remaining, as well as dealing most damage in to Peacekeeper. So that gave a little hope for the remaining match.

But, Hunter bottom-left managed to pounce on Leveticus's chest, thus engaging him and denying him double walk + interact for third Spread Them Out marker. 

Hollow Waif tried to come and remove the construct that was now at one health remaining, but even with focus and bonuses from Entropic Siphon, she didn't get the kill. Leveticus had to smack the thing, buying two Rams with now plentiful Fate tokens. Essentially he healed four points, again being almost full health.

But you know what else was actually full? My table side, with ALL the strategy markers. 

Outcasts get no points, while Guild claimed second strategy point for a 2-4 lead.

Turn 5:

After Hoffman mauled my scheme runner and rudely bulldozed the scheme marker it had placed, Leveticus ditched the idea of Spread Them Out. 

That was 50% of activations available for Guild, though, as they only got Melissa and the master on board. Hollow Waif had shot the second Watcher dead by now. 

However, neither did I have enough significant models for, well, pretty much anything. But at least Rusty Alyce was able to lob one strategy marker past centerline, and Leveticus did the same for a surprise comeback... of one point. Though Guild didn't get any more points, they still won with result of 3-4

Game 2:

Strategy: Standard Turf War

Schemes: Catch and Release, Detonate Charges, Death Beds, Claim Jump, Vendetta

My list:

Hamelin & 3x Stolen
Nix
Benny
Hans
Fumigator
Tunnel Rats
Obedient Wretch
Malifaux Child

Pool: 5
Schemes: Detonate Charges, Vendetta (Hans on Mr. Graves)

Opponent had:

Lynch Dark Bet & Hungering Darkness
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Graves
KOTO
2x Illuminated
Beckoner
Tanuki

Pool: 3
Schemes: Detonate Charges, Vendetta (KOTO on Fumigator)

Turn 1:

I deployed Hans to top-right corner slightly inside a building along with all the Stolen. I waited and waited his activation so that I might possibly get a good shot at something - perhaps Mr. Graves already - all the while building up a Rat King with Hamelin, Benny, Fumigator, Nix and Tunnel Rats. 

And lo, Hamelin was able to lure Mr. Graves quite a bit forward, eventually. But it was then that Hungering Darkness did a freaking triple walk to get to Hans. Uh. I did not anticipate that. To make matters worse, Hans failed to disengage twice, moving 0" with the first, and only 2" with the second attempt. 

Uh oh. 

Other than that, Malifaux Child went to flip bottom-right turf marker for Outcasts.

On the opposing side, Beckoner did the same bottom-left, where she was hanging around with Kitty Dumont. Lynch, who had pulled Hungering Darkness a little closer, was nearby with an Illuminated bodyguard.

Thanks to Hamelin's lure, Mr. Graves was way past the centerline. KOTO, Illuminated and Tanuki were holding top-left quarter. 

Turn 2:

... aaaand there went my two points. Hans got smacked off the board with just two attacks by Hungering Darkness. 

So that was super devastating. Fortunately there was some unexpected developments throughout the turn that still kept me in game. Mainly, Nix doing Nix things. 

Benny and Nix both attempted to maul Mr. Graves, but opponent managed to keep him alive with the help from KOTO, Tanuki and even Jakob Lynch himself. In turn, most of those models were also beating up Nix, who kept on hanging by the thread. This did take most of my soulstones, though. 

Eventually Hamelin had to lure both Nix and Benny away from the melee with Mr. Graves, as the amount of black blood getting spilled was going to get prohibitive. Kids with their vomiting disease and Obedient Wretch with bleeding disease managed to kill off the bouncer. 

Fumigator placed both scheme markers for Detonate Charges on a top-left Illuminated.

In the center, Kitty Dumont ran to center marker, so it was being held by both Lynch and Kitty. 

The other Illuminated managed to pull off a charge against Nix, but not killing the puppy. Right after Rat King tore the minion to pieces. I'm not sure if I've ever seen such a performance from Rat King... but that Focus+2 and Strength In Numbers certainly adds up!

Tunnel Rats and Malifaux Child went next to a building in the bottom-right quarter to perhaps teleport to bottom-left quarter one turn, as there was only Beckoner challenging both these models now. 

So, both players scored strategy, but Outcasts also got their Detonate Charges for a 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

Ten Thunders really hated that dog. 

Lynch, KOTO and even Hungering Darkness tried to slap the last few remaining damage points in to Nix, but opponent kept failing enough flips so that Nix had the insolence not to die second turn in a row.

This gave Fumigator free reign to flip top-right turf for Plague, as he was no longer engaged. 

Rat King went to engage remaining Illuminated, and nearly killed its second model. They didn't, but neither did the Illuminated remove Rat King.

Tanuki and Kitty claimed the center turf and dropped scheme markers there.

Beckoner took a double walk right next to bottom-right turf marker. That was time for Malifaux Child to teleport to bottom-left turf marker and flip it neutral. Tunnel Rats were then able to overpower Beckoner with two strikes from the mining tools. 

Both players scored strategy, for a 3-2 continuation in Hamelin's favor.

Turn 4:

Nix proved to be quite the survivor. I activated the dog early to get him away from bottom-left quarter to save that turf. I guess Lynch and Hungering Darkness figured out that killing the dog was not in their best interested, and removed Benny Wolcomb instead. Illuminated and KOTO did the same for Rat King.

Malifaux Child claimed bottom-left turf, while Tunnel Rats teleported right next to Tanuki and started to shoot Tanuki with a trench gun. 

Once it got to Hamelin's activation, I had the choice to either try to prevent scheme points from what looked like Detonate Charges setup against Nix, or kill Tanuki with a rat bomb. 

I never say no to a guaranteed Tanuki kill. 

So, Ten Thunders scored their Detonate Charges, but Outcasts got third strategy point for  a 4-3 lead.

Turn 5:

We didn't play the entire turn, as a key piece for any points died. Or, a couple did, in fact. I just didn't know that the Illuminated was one with Vendetta against Fumigator. Nix bit the Illuminated dead.

But what eventually ended the game was Obedient Wretch and a Stolen meeting their inevitable end of getting consumed from within by a total of four rats. Hamelin succeeded to surround Kitty with Malifaux Rats thanks to Unclean Influence, and then had enough successess to use Pustulent Tumors a total of four times right next to Kitty.

I don't think I have ever seen so many Pustulent Tumors happening all at once. Yikes.

That essentially ended game with a 5-3 victory for Outcasts.

Tanuki On A Stick

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Corner Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Power Ritual, Ensnare, Espionage, Hold Up Their Forces

My list:

McMourning & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Rogue Necromancy
Corpse Curator
Kentauroi
Nurse
Gravedigger
Canine Remains

Pool: 3
Schemes: Ensnare, Hold Up Their Forces

Opponent had:

Hungering Darkness & Dark Bet
Gwyneth Maddox
Koji
Kara
Illuminated
2x Beckoner
Tanuki

Pool: 4

Schemes: Ensnare, Hold Up Their Forces

Turn 1:

Well, scheme pool... was. There was little sense in picking other than Ensnare and Hold Up. Both Power Ritual and Espionage required interacting in enemy deployment zone, and our crews weren't really specialized in getting there. Let Them Bleed wasn't appealing option either. Super-healing Rogue Necromancy was annoying for reveal, and not a bloody chance I would try to get Gwyneth down to half of her health remaining.

It's been a while since this game was played, so I'll have to be brief.

Resurrectionists had a nasty bottleneck right out of their deployment zone. McMourning was able to summon a Flesh Construct, and Sebastian did a Canine Remains, but there was a staggering blob of models in close proximity to each other in confined spaces. And Hungering Darkness had ran to center line, and I was worried that it might just walk and charge next turn to engage, like, Rogue Necromancy, Sebastian, Corpse Curator, McMourning, Nurse and two Canine Remains. 

So, summoned Flesh Construct went to engage and buy some time for the gathering to dissolve. 

Ten Thunders were spread out a little better, with Gwyneth and Illuminated going to top strategy marker, and Beckoner plus Hungering Darkness were near middle. Remainder of Honeypot was going  towards bottom-right quarter.

Turn 2:

Kentauroi picked up a Canine Remains, picked up an intel and backed off. Canine Remains was to pick up even more intel, but then Illuminated charged the dog. Although attacks missed, interacting was out of the question.

Flesh Construct did astonishing job at surviving - it ate up the entirety of activation of both Honeypot masters. Wow. I thought this opened up the game for McMourning to dominate the northern part of map by charging Illuminated. First attack hit and dealt respectable damage. However, next two attacks didn't pass Terrifying (10), and by then I no longer had cards in hand.

Too late I realized my mistake by disengaging Illuminated with Canine Remains - after all I had Hold Up Their Forces as one of my schemes!

Rogue Necromancy went to charge a Beckoner that was hanging around with Koji in between two strategy markers. Attacks did nothing, but Koji did a suspicious scheme marker next to Rogue Necromancy. 

Sebastian, Corpse Curator and summoned Canine Remains were holding back in the middle, unsure what to do. 

Kara had walked and charged Gravedigger, but not before she had done shenanigans to get an intel. 

Both players received strategy point, but Ten Thunders also got Hold Up Their Forces for a 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

McMourning managed to butcher up Illuminated this turn, as well as engaging Gwyneth. He had received a couple of brilliance tokens from cheating. Gwyneth and Beckoner drained most of Resurrectionists' soulstones by attacking McMourning. Nurse patched him up as well as she could and positioned herself for Bedside Manner as I was afraid Hungering Darkness would try to take out McMourning. 

However, my fears were unfounded when Hungering Darkness went to pick up intel from Kentauroi.

Kentauroi disengaged from Hungering Darkness, and failed its Ride With Me, so I could not bring it to engage Lynch. 

However, summoned Canine Remains and Corpse Curator were able to score Ensnare for me from Lynch. Jakob tried to murder Corpse Curator, which failed. He deliriously moved away from Corpse Curators melee range, which made Hold Up Their Forces hard to accomplish this turn. Sebastian still tried by using Blood Poisoning on Jakob Lynch, even buying the trigger with a soulstone to move Canine Remains into contact with Lynch. Failed.

Koji was able to pull of Ensnare before Rogue Necromancy activated. When it did, it failed to kill Beckoner, bringing her down to one health remaining. Beckoner disengaged before Zombie Chihuahua was able to stink her dead. 

Gravedigger wasn't able to shoo the big cat away with a shovel. In response, Kara brought Gravedigger down to two health remaining.

Resurrectionists scored strategy, and both players got their Ensnare for a 3-3 tie.

Turn 4:

Hungering Darkness finally turned its attention to McMourning, and so did Beckoner and Gwyneth. The good doctor was out of soulstones now, but still alive and kicking. Nurse healed Resurrectionists master for a bit and went to engage Hungering Darkness. Canine Remains picked up intel and went to engage Gwyneth, which was finally enough for Hold Up Their Forces.

Situation looked grim, but then Kentauroi stampeded Tanuki and skewered the little crap with filthy spear. Situation was all bright and sunshines after that. 

In the middle Lynch killed Corpse Curator and Canine Remains, and even had the action points to go and sit on a strategy marker that had been moved after Sebastian picked up intel. 

Rogue Necromancy went to kill the escaping Beckoner and the Chihuahua challenged Koji. Because that's what Chihuahua's do. 

Kara turned Gravedigger into a corpse marker, and it was time to tally the points.

Resurrectionists got their second scheme, but no other points were scored this turn. It was a 4-3 lead for McMourning..

Turn 5:

It was a meticulous turn for sure. 

Gwyneth tried to kill Canine Remains that had intel, but thankfully didn't succeed. I don't remember what Hungering Darkness did, likely attacked McMourning. But that situation was locked there now, as McMourning had to stay in place to block Beckoner's way to get to Canine Remains.

Lynch and Kentauroi weren't even activated before the remainder of turn was metaplayed.

Sebastian stole intel from Koji, who in turn had to escape from two ill-placed böryokudan scheme markers. 

Rogue Necromancy picked up intel and made a gambit to kill Kara with a single strike. It did not kill Kara with a single strike. Instead, the monstrosity offered itself as a force to be held up for Ten Thunders.

Resurrectionists were able to get their third strategy point, but neither end scheme got scored. Ten Thunders also got their second strategy point, but also managed to get Hold Up Their Forces for a 5-5 draw.

The Dead Hate the Tanuki

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Raid the Vaults

Schemes: Death Beds, Information Overload, Let Them Bleed, Ensnare, Power Ritual

My list:

Dr. McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Dead Rider
Corpse Curator
Kentauroi with Grave Spirit Touch
Nurse
Guild Autopsy

Pool: 4
Schemes: Death Beds (corpse), Ensnare

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 4
Schemes: Information Overload, Ensnare

Turn 1:

I deployed Kentauroi to top-left corner, Dead Rider to top-right. Only Dead Rider dropped a scheme marker to bluff Power Ritual and counteract Information Overload. Once the situation in the middle started to look clear, I decided I had no time to make such bluffs. 

As is usual for my McMourning, turn started real slow. Sebastian crafted a dog out of Corpse Curator, and the dog crafted a corpse out of the corpse curator. I realized this was actually the extent of corpse markers this turn, so, yeah, it took me a lot of activations to accomplish... nothing, really. Oh well. At least Sebastian got a new head, and Corpse Curator sported a fancy trio of legs. Sebastian was amputated for a second corpse marker first turn.

Corpse Curator had been mauled by my own troops down to two health remaining, but Nurse, Catalyst and poison heal from end phase brought it back to full. It went to place a scheme marker right past the right flank of my deployment wedge, where Guild Autopsy had crafted a soulstone out of curator-dog-corpse. 

So yeah, there Experimentals were. Barely out of their deployment zone.

Beckoner had placed a Power Ritual looking scheme marker to Ten Thunders left corner and was still hugging wedge deployment line, but everyone else was within about 3.5" of centerline, on centerline, or past it. That did not bode well for my strategy game.

In the center there was Lynch as the spearhead, Beckoner just about on the center point and Hungering Darkness right next to strategy marker. It had placed a scheme marker with its third action point. Death Beds? Ensnare? Information Overload?

Tanuki and Kitty were a little behind the center bunch. Mr. Graves and an Illuminated were approaching from the left, and then we had a single Illuminated coming from right.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and Canine Remains picked up a bone and delivered it near Lynch, and interacted a scheme marker, too. 

With their first activation Hungering Darkness charged Sebastian right away. Thanks to good damage blocks, Sebastian was only reduced down to two health remaining. Well, he did still have a spare head.

So I decided to take a little risk with Sebastian and drag a scheme marker close to Lynch with Corpse Curator. It managed to make a sludge marker, too, so that's a bonus. 

From then on my memory on activation order is gone, so let's go from right to left.

Illuminated placed a scheme marker on bridge. Dead Rider was pushed a bit forward with Desperate Pace, and on its own activation it rode into the river, charged the dastardly scheming Illuminated and went to control strategy marker at bottom-right, worth two points for Resurrectionists.

Guild Autopsy was just crafting soulstones and shooting dogs. It had tried to shoot a Beckoner, but Black Jokered the damage after declaring Wild Shot. What a champ.

Kitty tried to charge Corpse Curator, but the curator proved to be just as unassuming as Kitty's attacks were. All missed. However, she left a scheme marker with bonus action, and things were looking a lot like Information Overload. 

Nurse had healer Sebastian for three, and Sebastian healed one from Catalyst and two from poison. 

McMourning was swimming in corpses like Scrooge McDuck in coins, but he wasn't nearly as greedy. He crafted a fine Flesh Construct out of the surplus before climbing on top of crates to pace Dead Rider forward.

After Lynch had charged and killed Canine Remains (and placing a scheme marker) Sebastian made a new puppy with whom to play fetch. Remaining attacks, as well as Flesh Construct's attacks, brought Hungering Darkness down to four health remaining until I remembered how useless it is to attack Endlessly Hungering Darkness. Oh well. 

Tanuki and Illuminated went to raid the center-left marker. We all know what Tanuki was raiding from that. Well, we might even have a pretty decent guess what Illuminated was craving, too.

To block Mr. Graves from walking and charging Kentauroi, Kentauroi charged in first. Unfortunately charge attack missed, but the second one scored a bit of damage and a trickle of poison.

Beckoner in the middle went to contest center-right marker, and the other Beckoner at Ten Thunders bottom-left corner took a double walk to maybe become relevant one day.

Resurrectionists had been able to score Ensnare from Lynch, but so were the Ten Thunders able to score Information Overload. Both players got strategy for a 2-2 tie.

Turn 3:

And then we had a bit of a weird turn. 

This time going from left to right, Mr. Graves beat Kentauroi down to one health, so it had to activate right away to regenerate at least a little. It was able to infect Mr. Graves with poison, and cut him down to two health remaining. Last attack scored Like The Wind trigger, which was more appropriately Like Brave Sir Robin. Illuminated tried to walk and charge to finish the centaur, but missed. As I didn't Sir Robin to hold that flank all alone, I sent Canine Remains to bolster that front. Yup. Doesn't look good, there in the west.

Tanuki healed Mr. Graves for one and schemed, while Beckoner also dropped a scheme marker and walked to secure center-left strategy marker. 

Lynch and Hungering Darkness weren't really up to the task in holding center, but at least the real master healed itself back to full. 

Flesh Construct did more than anyone could have expected - all three attacks hit Lynch, and even scored one severe in the process. This had a heavy toll on Honeypot's soulstone stash, and so the former master survived with four health remaining. 

Kitty had activated early enough to drop a scheme marker near Corpse Curator, who soon enough triggered Ensnare for Ten Thunders. Curator went to place a scheme marker near already activated Illuminated on the bridge. 

Most of my brain's processing power went into figuring out how to score Death Beds this turn. And surely enough, that plan worked! Nurse with movement of 7 was able to charge then un-activated Illuminated with accompanied stun and 3" push past centerline. That didn't help me too much, as Illuminated activated next, healed back to four and charged Nurse for two points of damage.

My problem was that while there was a scheme marker close enough, there was no corpse marker within 2" of the Illuminated. So, McMourning had to abandon center and charge the Illuminated and do an impromptu amputation, before killing Illuminated next to a scheme and a corpse marker. 

Situation was tough. Opponent had Kitty and Beckoner near center-right strategy marker, while I only had Corpse Curator there. Opponent also had center-left marker, while I had bottom-right that's worth two. So, it was up to Sebastian to try to deny Ten Thunders a point. He walked through Hungering Darkness and disengaged with -2 Mv. He was able to get within 2" of the Vault, but he was in a precarious position. He was ending his activation, which prompted a check from Feed the Darkness. Cheating would give Brilliance for Sebastian because of Beckoner, which in turn would trigger Delirium, getting him out of strategy marker's reach. And that's exactly what happened.

However, as the very last activation on this turn, Dead Rider was able to get line of sight to Beckoner that was contesting center-right. Rider passed the check for Revel in Death, and made a melee attack against the Beckoner that had four health and Poison +1. Flips were excessive, and that contestant went down. 

Scores went 4-3, lead being that of Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

... and carnage ensued. 

Ten Thunders got the initiative, and Lynch butchered Flesh Construct before it was able to activate.

Kentauroi used this opportunity to regenerate to five health, ride away from melee and stampede Mr. Graves down to one health. Charge attack scored a hit with my only 13, killing the bouncer. This left Kentauroi free to charge Tanuki and Beckoner, stampeding both but missing the attack.

Sebastian had healed back to full, but he had been dodging his fate long enough. Nine action points from Hungering Darkness finally did its trick. Sebastian, gone. 

Illuminated at top-left strategy marker claimed the vault and massacred Canine Remains. 

Tanuki, then, went on a drunken rampage and smashed Kentauroi dead with a jug. It also went to talk dirty to Lynch before deliriously wandering towards center. Later in the turn, that heinous Tanuki had to pay for it sins, when Dead Rider walked, raised three Mindless Zombies and rode back to bottom-right strategy marker. One of the Zombies with respectable melee stat of 6 put wrong to right by removing Tanuki from board with a double severes with negative modifiers. Justice!

Remainder of the turn was more peaceful. Nurse just went to scheme with a corpse, and Corpse Curator lobbed a scheme marker near another corpse marker. McMourning ran into the river to, perhaps, one day plant a scheme marker for Ensnare end. I'm not quite sure what Kitty did, and Zombie Chihuahua was not sure what it was doing when it tried to bite Beckoner. 

Guild Autopse went to place a scheme marker near top-right strategy marker, if Hungering Darkness or someone decided to reposition there next turn.

Both players got their strategy, and scores continued 5-4 in favor for Resurrectionists

Turn 5:

Last turn was kind of intense wrestling on the activation order. Ten Thunders gave Resurrectionists the initiative, which meant I would have to score first - all but giving Information Overload for Ten Thunders.

Resurrectionists kept activating Mindless Zombies, Chihuahuas and whatnot no delay important activations. 

Lynch killed a zombie, placed a scheme, charged and killed another zombie, and walked in delirium to control center-left marker along with Beckoner. Mindless Zombies and Chihuahuas had been trying to kill the pleasant distraction, but it didn't work out. 

Eventually Hungering Darkness activated, disengaged, concentrated and charged Nurse. Good thing that she had an extra leg, because she fell from no damage taken to one health remaining with a Red Joker. 

Guild Autopsy had to pick up the scheme it had planted earlier and carry it a couple of inches closer to Hungering Darkness for a possible Ensnare end condition.

I was running out of action points, so Corpse Curator dragged a scheme marker originally planned for Death Beds to Ensnare Hungering Darkness. Nurse was healed herself for a bit, pulled herself away from melee and walked to bottom-right strategy marker to place a scheme marker. 

Finally it was clear that I would have the last activation, and last to activate from Ten Thunders would be Kitty Dumont. I had the markers for Ensnare on Hungering Darkness, but not Death Beds. Opponent was sure to get Information Overload and the strategy while Ensnare looked unlikely.

My last two models to activate were McMourning and Dead Rider. I chose Dead Rider to ride to control bottom-left strategy marker. So it was up to Kitty to decide the game now. She dislodged from melee with a bonus action, and went to remove Guild Autopsy's sorry scheme marker. 

Now I could score either Ensnare or Death Beds, but not both. And sure enough, opponent got the Information Overload and strategy point. But so did Resurrectionists, barely claiming victory by 7-6.

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.

Christmas in a Pine Box

 Some Christmas games of Malifaux.

First game:

Strategy: Standard Plant Explosives

Schemes: Information Overload, Protected Territory, Sweating Bullets, Power Ritual, Hold Up Their Forces

My list:

Molly Squidpiddge & Necrotic Machine
Philip & Nanny
Archie with the Whisper
Forgotten Marshal with the Whisper
Rabble Riser
Night Terror
2x Crooligan

Pool: 3
Schemes: Protected Territory, Hold Up Their Forces

Opponent had:

Charles Hoffman, Inventor & Mechanical Attendant
Melissa K.O.R.E
Peacekeeper
Guild Steward
2x Hunter
2x Watcher

Pool: 2
Schemes: Sweating Bullets, Power Ritual

Turn 1:

For a change I did not deploy Crooligans via From the Shadows, and deployed them instead to both of my corners. There they were able to bluff Power Ritual while making Information Overload more difficult for opponent.

Guild also had Watchers to their farthest flanks, and one of them placed a strategy marker to one of their corners. 

Hoffman, Peacekeeper, Steward and Mechanical Attendant were closing in from the middle, while Hunters were also at flanks, just not as far there as Watchers.

Peacekeeper was Guild's spearhead, and Forgotten Marshal went to summon a Night Terror to engage the scary enforcer. 

Night Terror was providing concealment for Molly, Necrotic Machine and Philip. Archie thought it was safe to leap, walk and place an explosive near a trench, but Hoffman offered him some electric current. Melissa was more traditional and filled Archie with lead. Worried for his safety, Molly ran to remove one pylon near trenches and heal Archie for two by making him discard a moderate card.

Turn 2:

Turns out I overestimated Archie's survivability once again. Melissa didn't manage to do much, so Necrotic Machine went to heal Archie back to seven health. But then Hoffman himself activated, walked and charged Archie - and killed him with two strikes.

So, instead of spamming explosive markers around the board, Night Terror and one Crooligan from one of my corners went to tie up Guild Steward and Mechanical Attendant so that it would be difficult for them to come and heal Hoffman. I had plans for that guy.

And once healers were tied, Molly started disturbing Hoffman with her stories. She had to turn Archie's corpse into Lost Knowledge first, and still was able to land only one batch of three irreducible damage to Guild master. 

Rabble Riser was fighting a Hunter on the left, while Hunter did the same with Rabble Riser. Neither was doing any progress. Watchers were flying towards my corners, and one of them planted an explosive token on board. 

Hunter on right tried to shoot Forgotten Marshal, but was distracted by Philip and the Nanny's boring conversations.

After Guild Steward removed Slow from Peacekeeper that had been caused by Philip and the Nanny, Peacekeeper smacked a summoned Night Terror dead and rather walked than charged to engage the prams. 

Another Crooligan teleported to Necrotic Machine in the middle and went to place a strategy marker. 

Forgotten Marshal put on a camera and filmed his most successful boxing video ever and uploaded it to youtube - Hunter was put into Pine Box. Summoning failed, though. 

Necrotic Machine was engaging Charles Hoffman, and by then I was misremembering that Guild Steward was five points. I thought I didn't have Hold Up Their Forces secured, so Philip and Nanny didn't push away from Peacepeeker with Deadly Pursuit. 

Soo... Guild scores Sweating Bullets and strategy, Resurrectionists got Hold Up Their Forces and strategy for a 2-2 tie. 

Turn 3:

Necrotic Machine poisons Hoffman and drains his last soulstone away. Melissa shoots Rabble Riser away from board and opens way for Hunter to go and place an explosive. And it does that, but only after Molly had disturbed Hoffman down to one health remaining. 

Hired Night Terror attempts to sacrifice itself by killing Guild Steward, but only manages to bring him down to one health. I see a pattern emerging here.

Guild Steward fortunately fails his motivational speech, but poison was dispelled from Hoffman's system. 

Forgotten Marshal walked on top of hill to summon third Crooligan and shoot Hoffman with Peacebringer, thus avenging the butchering of Archie.

Hunter inside Marshal's pine box wasn't able to get out. Peacekeeper also didn't manage to destroy a baby carriage. I suppose that didn't sit well with its protocols. Although it took all of my soulstones to protect the henchman.

A Crooligan that was engaging Mechanical Attendant went back to Forgotten Marshal and placed scheme marker and third explosive for me. Another one went to hide behind building, hiding a scheme marker there. 

Both players score strategy, but Resurrectionists also snatched Protected Territory for a 3-4 lead.

Turn 4:

Crooligans began to spam scheme markers all over the place. Melissa tried to discipline the kids a little with her gatling gun, but not a child listened. Watchers essentially did the same to my corners.

Night Terror was finally able to kill Guild Steward that had an explosive token, but died itself to reprisal. 

Hunter still wasn't able to get out of Forgotten Marshal's pine box. Another one attacked Molly and dealt good enough damage if we don't take into account it was turn four already. Forgotten Master disengaged, and disturbed Peacekeeper to death. Necrotic Machine moved forward to place fourth explosive marker next turn.

Guild wasn't able to get their strategy point this round, but did scored Power Ritual. Resurrectionists got strategy, still continuing with one point lead of 4-5.

Turn 5:

Situation looked difficult for Guild. Watcher failed to kill Philip and Nanny who had only one point of health left. That could have given at least strategy point for Guild by giving Peacekeeper an opportunity to plant an explosive. 

Resurrectionists had so many vectors to score at least two of the three possible points, and it seemed unlikely that Guild would get strategy point this round that we ended the game when Molly managed to kill Peacekeeper. Victory for Molly. 

Game 2:

Strategy: Standard Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: In Your Face, Outflank, Information Overload, Power Ritual, Take Prisoner

My list:

Molly, Chaotic Conductor & Necrotic Machine
Grave Golem
Rogue Necromancy
Noxious Nephilim
Forgotten Marshal with The Whisper
2x Crooligan

Pool: 4
Schemes: Information Overload, Take Prisoner (Mr. Graves)

Opponent had:

Jakob Lynch, Dark Bet & Hungering Darkness
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Graves
Soul Battery
Illuminated with Silent Protector
Illuminated
Beckoner
Tanuki

Pool: 3
Schemes: Outflank, In Your Face

Turn 1:

Information Overload and Power Ritual in the same scheme pool in same deployment made for a quite similar start as last game - both Crooligans were deployed regularly to place a scheme marker to both of my corners. 

Ten Thunders had Hungering Darkness in far-left with Mr. Graves nearby. Hungering Darkness took a double walk and concentrate, guarding the strategy marker with its 2" melee range. Forgotten Marshal summoned a Night Terror that eventually went to engage Hungering Darkness in hopes of wasting its action points, or perhaps walking away next turn to place a scheme. 

Noxious Nephilim flew to the hill on right, within walking distance of both strategy markers. 

Grave Golem inside a cloud for some concealment. Rogue Necromancy had a whopping 6" move from activating near Molly and ambushing. It walked and interacted with strategy marker, and later interacted a scheme marker past centerline

Even if I had two 10-point rather resilient models in the center, a whole throng of everything else than Hungering Darkness, Mr. Graves and Kitty Dumont looked overwhelming in a big blob like that. Kitty was going towards the rightmost strategy marker.

Turn 2:

Hungering Darkness slapped Night Terror dead and charged Rogue Necromancy, almost killing it. Scared of such a display of power, Rogue Necromancy activated, pushed itself out of melee by discarding a card with Molly, and then took a double walk away from action to protect the intel token.

Mr. Graves ran to cover the same leftmost strategy marker that Hungering Darkness had been guarding. History repeated itself when Forgotten Marshal summoned another Night Terror to block future interacts for Mr. Graves.

A Crooligan jumped to Forgotten Marshal to plant a scheme past centerline, in contact with table edge. When the Night Terror activated, it charged Mr. Graves to deny him any meaningful interaction.

Soul Battery, an Illuminated and a Beckoner all claimed an intel token from strategy markers. Necrotic Machine was also able to claim one intel, and so did Grave Golem while it was walking with pride. 

Lynch made a scary opening by taking two walks and a charge against Molly. I didn't feel like I had enough tools to deal with Luck Thief, so Lynch was now at just about the worst position imaginable. 

Another Crooligan teleported to Noxious Nephilim to walk and scheme.

Since opponent was holding Kitty's activation, I had to activate Noxious Nephilim first and bring it to guard strategy marker - just not interact with it, because Kitty might steal the intel. However, Kitty did not she walked to where centerline met table edge and planted two schemes.

Both players scored strategy, Resurrectionists got Information Overload, Ten Thunders Outflank for a 2-2 tie.

Turn 3:

After Night Terror had clawed Mr. Graves within 1" of Crooligan, he killed the summon, but left the kid intact. 

Lynch shuffled around for a bit and summoned Hungering Darkness next to Molly, and with last action Red Jokered a damage flip to Molly. At least damage block was a severe.

Concerned for master's safety, now somewhat healed Rogue Necromancy charged Hungering Darkness and managed to deal quite a bit of damage that were all healed when Hungering Darkness activated. Hungering Darkness managed to bring both Molly and Rogue Necromancy to low levels of health, but at Molly proved to be an adept healer when she Red Jokered her own heal flip, and gave a little boost to Rogue Necromancy, too. Getting savagely mauled by a monster and a drug addict disrupted Molly's parade and she failed to connect Parade Route to Grave Golem. 

Grave Golem had been pushed into melee with Lynch's delirium, but I wasn't too worried about this turns strategy. I had intel on Rogue Necromancy and Necrotic Machine, and both Lynch and Hungering Darkness had already activated. Grave Golem flailed fruitlessly at something, while an Illuminated killed second Crooligan. Tanuki did... something? and Beckoner ran forward to bring her problematic brilliance aura to middle. 

Noxious Nephilim tried to claw at Kitty, but didn't do enough. At least opponent burned through their soulstones in the process.

To make surviving a little easier next turn, Necrotic Machine came to attack Hungering Darkness and managed to poison it for two. Yay, no more triggers.

However, very last activation was an Illuminated in the middle that had to walk over a wall. It charged Necrotic Machine, and scored severe with a +1 from sharpened brilliance.

It had been a tough situation anyway, but losing an intel point like that made me lose strategy for this turn.

At least the Crooligan on left tagged Mr. Graves a prisoner, so scores were still a 3-3 tie.

Turn 4:

Molly tried to keep me playing the scenario by letting Grave Golem walk with pride to a strategy marker, then parading Rogue Necromancy to spam some movement duels to Lynch, Hungering Darkness, Beckoner and Illuminated. That didn't have much of an impact, though. 

This turn Hungering Darkness managed to kill Rogue Necromancy before it had even activated. Mr. Graves tried to beat a kid with a fencepost, but didn't succeed. The kid then jumped to Forgotten Marshal and charged Soul Battery. Crooligan scored severe damage, but that just triggered hard-to-kill. And then it was perfect opportunity for Soul Battery to sacrifice itself. Yay. First dead honeypot model in this game where I had two 10-point and one 9-point beater. And that kill was opponent's bonus action anyway.

Forgotten Marshal hadn't been able to summon anything for two full rounds. I was running out of activation points to claim points. At least Forgotten Marshal was able to put Mr. Graves inside the Pine Box. I was considering to smuggle my prisoner to my side of the table in a casket. 

Grave Golem claimed a second intel token on its own activation and speeded away from any sources of counter-intelligence. Lynch, however, disengaged and engaged the enforcer in melee. 

Noxious Nephilim nearly killed Kitty Dumont, but "nearly" wasn't enough. Kitty's unassuming demeanor started to actually threaten Nephilim's existence. 

Both players scored strategy, but Ten Thunders also claimed In Your Face from Rogue Necromancy.

Turn 5:

Kitty and Illuminated removed Noxious Nephilim after it had failed to kill Kitty once again.

Lynch summoned Hungering Darkness on the hill so that it was able to go outflanking with a scheme marker. Forgotten Marshal brought Mr. Graves as far past the centerline as possible, and then Crooligan teleported to block Mr. Graves advance as well as possible. It removed Hungering Darkness' scheme marker and scraped two points of damage to Forgotten Marshal. 

I had planned that if all else fails, Grave Golem might distance itself from melee, charge Forgotten Marshal, kill him and thus unbury my prisoner back on board. 

But unexpectedly I was able to claim enough intelligence to get third victory point from strategy. I had also Information Overload secured. Crooligan had ruined opponent's Outflank, and Kitty had chosen to try and secure Outflank, thus Ten Thunders also missed In Your Face end condition.

Miraculously Resurrectionist managed to carve a 6-5 victory although they did not manage to kill even a single model. The only one that Ten Thunders was Soul Battery, to it's own bonus action.

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.