Covert Game of 3rd

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 3rd Edition.

Strategy: Flank Covert Operation

Schemes: Sabotage, Secret Meetup, Public Demonstration, Catch and Release, Leave Your Mark

My list:

McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Batsch & Amalie
Leftovers
Rafkin
Corpse Curator
Nurse
Guild Autopsy
Canine Remains
Enslaved Spirit

Pool: 3
Schemes: Catch and Release (Guild Autopsy), Public Demonstration (Curator, Nurse, Canine Remains, Enslaved Spirit)

Opponent had:

Shenlong & 2x Aspiring Students
Sensei Yu
High River Monk
Lotus Eater
2x Fermented River Monk
2x Wandering River Monk

Pool: 5
Schemes: Secret Meetup (Batsch&Amalie a Wandering River Monk), Sabotage (a power generator to right)

Turn 1:

First turn Monks claimed top-right quarter with Shenlong, Yu, both Fermented River Monks and a Wandering River Monk. That was unfortunate, since I really hadn't much else than Batsch & Amalie and Enslaved Spirit going there, having set up McMourning's factory along the bottom fork of my flank deployment.

Which I messed up, by the way. I charged McMourning too far from Corpse Curator, so I wasn't able to summon a Flesh Construct. To cut my losses, McMourning gave some extra legs for Guild Autopsy and Rafkin.

Only the two versatiles of my crew got away from bottom-right quarter.

Monks also spent quite a bit of time meditating, but they were still far more spread out that Experimentals. High River Monk, Lotus Eater and a Fermented River Monk were in a position to easily redirect to center-left strategy marker, and the second Wandering River Monk was speeding uncontested towards bottom-left strategy marker.

Turn 2:

Soon enough a Fermented River Monk went to charge Batsch and Amalie. With the last possible attack Batsch & Amalie backed off from engagement range. 

... from that point on, models just kept piling up to the narrow passage between a container and nurgle tower. 

Shenlong had charged in to drop Enslaved Spirit dead, but somehow failed at that. Nurse, the spirit, Guild Autopsy and even Lefovers surrounded Shenlong. Right next to that septic blob were the Batsch & Amalie, Fermented River Monk and Wandering River Monk, so that's a concentration of 41 point plus one master.

In the center, High River Monk and Fermented River Monk were attacking Corpse Curator, dealing plenty of damage, but the armored skeleton had like ten points of poison for heals. Later, McMourning walked in to summon a Flesh Construct to the mix.

Rafkin took a double walk near center-left strategy marker to screen Canine Remains, who was a claimer for me this turn. 

Monks claimed bottom-left strategy marker, Experimentals got the center-left. Experimentals had ganged up on Shenlong to claw both scheme reveals. However, Monks also got one of their scheme - Secret Meetup with Philip & Nanny and either Wandering or Fermented River Monk.

Scores went 3-2 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 3:

Shenlong wanted to kill Guild Autopsy, but first he had to remove Enslaved Spirit. This did happen, but it took two action points. McMourning's extra legs saved Guild Autopsy, when Shenlong cheated a Red Joker for damage with dragon kick thing. Nurse also lost 66% of her health.

Nurse could be sacrificed, so Zombie Chihuahua healed Guild Autopsy for five. 

Yu and Fermented River Monk tried to kill Batsch & Amalie, the pair was gobbling up soulstone refreshments in record time between their waltzes. Same kind of happened at the center, where Corpse Curator miraculously managed to survive yet again. So did all the Monks, too, despite Corpse Curator, Flesh Construct, Canine Remains and McMourning mauling High and Fermented River Monks.

Near the center-left marker, on top of a building, Rafkin was barely holding up against Lotus Eater and eventually even an Aspiring Student - who was about to become first casualty for Monks after purposefully botched blood transfusions by Rafkin.

Wandering River Monk relocated to center-left strategy marker.

Leftovers and another Wandering River Monk claimed top-right strategy marker.

Resurrectionists continued with 4-3 lead.

Turn 4:

... and then there was a traditional turn where everybody died. Or at least Batsch & Amalie and Canine Remains, High and Fermented River Monk, and both Aspiring Students did.  

Since Yu and Shenlong were camping near the right edge of the board, I figured scoring Public Demonstration end condition might prove problematic, especially after losing also Canine Remains. Nevertheless, Nurse parked nearby and Zombie Chihuahua tried to go and stall the master and henchman. But I considered more important to try to secure all strategy points, and bottom-left strategy marker was way out of my reach. McMourning and Guild Autopsy ran towards is fast as they could, but still it would take a lot to get there next turn.

Fortunately both High River Monk and Fermented River Monk died from the center so that Corpse Curator was free to claim center-right.

Leftovers would have liked to go to deny extra movements for Shenlong and Yu, but before they got the chance to activate, Wandering River Monk leaped to push the thing inside severe terrain.

Ten Thunders didn't get a strategy point, but scored their second scheme of Sabotage. Resurrectionists got strategy, continuing the 5-4 lead.

Turn 5:

Last turn was mostly just about if Experimentals could get bottom-left strategy marker and end point from Catch and Release - and if Monks would get center-right claim as well as their schemes.

Public Demonstration was denied easily enough. Corpse Curator did t


ry to deny Secret Meetup end condition by removing enemy scheme with Dredge Up, but that didn't amount to much even when the resulting melee attack scored crow trigger.

Resurrectionists couldn't deny Ten Thunders schemes, but they did lack the models to go and claim additional strategies.

Wandering River Monk wasn't able to grab Catch & Releasing Guild Autopsy, who was also claiming a strategy point from bottom-left.

Game ended in a narrow 7-6 victory for McMourning.

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

 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Stuff the Ballots

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

My list:

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

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

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 5
Schemes: Outflank, Protected Territory

Turn 1:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 2:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 3:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 4:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 5:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Palm Beaches or Lava? Everyone chooses lava!

 Strategy: Wedge Plant Explosives

Schemes: Ensnare, Take Prisoner, Let Them Bleed, Death Beds, Hold Up Their Forces

My list:

Dr. McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Carrion Emissary
Kentauroi
Nurse
Bone Pile
Guild Autopsy
Canine Remains

Pool: 4
Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Death Beds (Corpse)

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 4
Schemes: 

Turn 1:

I got to choose deployments, and decided to force opponent to split his crew. However, this didn't work quite so well, as opponent had three ride-with-me's and chain gangs available, as well as Desper's unparalleled mobility. 

Carrion Emissary opened my game by bringing zombies on board, which Canine Remains chewed to bits, and the bits were built into another Canine Remains that went to chew even more zombies. All in all, shuffling about like that gave me a Flesh Construct that had Emissary's Rot and Rend attack on the first turn, and extra legs for Kentauroi. 

All this took quite a few activations, and after Rough Rider and Ruffian had moved Sidir to mid-field behind center lava pool, I decided to launch Kentauroi missile to engage Sidir and maybe damage an already activated Ruffian. Well, it did not only that, but killed Ruffian with a single blow. I figured Kentauroi would survive at least one round with Sidir. It could have charged somewhere, but with second action it instead placed a scheme marker for possible Death Beds later on.

Tanuki and Luna had already activated, and Rough Rider in the right had shot summoned Canine Remains dead and dealt some damage to Flesh Construct, too. However, I had completely failed to take into account  that Lucas was able to charge over Luna without needing to resort to call his dog on the horse. So... Lucas severely damaged Kentauroi with two attacks, armed with Timeworn Blade. Which was then tossed for a fast Sidir. Two attacks was enough to beat the dead horse off the board even after Bone Pile had ran to toss a bone for heals. 

Sebastian had been shot by Ruffian and another Rough Rider, but was healed by Nurse. Flesh Construct was able to land a Rot and Rend on Sidir, but no blast over Lucas. Boo.

Desper relocated to center, ready to dominate left side. 

Turn 2:

Intense turn ensued. Ten Thunders won the initiative, and Tanuki was able to heal Sidir for a bit. That was the only move that deterred me from walking and charging him with Carrion Emissary with heal denying aura on. 

In the hindsight I probably should have done that anyway, but Emissary next to unactivated Lucas and Sidir seemed like a bad idea when removing Sidir most likely would need at least a few activations.

Instead, Flesh Construct walked and charged. It missed the first attack, parried by Sidir. The construct was now at three health remaining - it might actually die to second parry! It attacked anyway, and Sidir actually would have parried if I didn't cheat my highest card in. And look at that, Red Joker for damage. Unfortunately Sidir managed to block three of the six damage. 

Worried about Carrion Emissary's aura, Sidir was quick to activate and heal himself back to eight. He killed the Flesh Construct and started to shoot around, dealing two points to Carrion Emissary and two to Sebastian. 

Ruffian and Rough Rider to the left began to drain my soulstones away by shooting Sebastian repeatedly with success. Situation got so dire that Zombie Chihuahua had to blast Sebastian for all of his four Poison, and even Nurse was forced to open her bottle of painkillers for him. The Rough Rider even had the audacity to go and heal Sidir back to full with a lucky trigger for Ride With Me. 

Nurse did what nurses do best, and went on a killing spree. Ooops. That doesn't look quite right, but I can't figure what's wrong. Anyway, she walked and assisted McMourning's distractions away, charged Sidir, even catching fire. Sidir was stunned and pushed into lava. 

McMourning had, by the way, earlier walked on top of rocks and summoned another Flesh Construct. He grafted rusty bone saw for the Construct and pushed Carrion Emissary forward with Desperate Plot. 

The reason I didn't commit Carrion Emissary to heal and soulstone denying activities was that I was waiting for Desper to activate first. If Desper would engage Sebastian, I would be able to place strategy with Emissary. And if Desper would not, well, all the easier to score with Sebastian and kill Sidir at my leisure. 

However, that was a recipe for disaster. While good news were that Ten Thunders had to use all of their soulstones to block damage, bad news were that the damage blocks were never less than two. Flesh Construct with bonesaw managed to only trickle one point of damage in at a time.

Then, much to my horror, Rough Rider charged Carrion Emissary and Bone Pile that had walked to heal Emissary and shoot Sidir with a bone javelin. Now I had one attack to Sidir and the chance to plant a strategy marker.

But, I still had my hopes up to at least score Let Them Bleed even if Desper engaged Sebastian. Which he didn't. Instead, he went to place a strategy marker and concentrate.

Carrion Emissary flew to Sidir to take its one and only peck, and scored an impressive hit with double poison. Would've been nice to actually get that poison in, because Black Joker turned up at damage. Ah well. At least it managed to surround Tanuki with Mindless Zombies. Wait... why was Tanuki surrounded by zombies? Don't they crave fresh brains?

Lucas charged Nurse. So let's add nurses to Lucas' whipping portfolio of children, grandmothers, doctors and geishas. Or maybe not. Nurses probably were there already. Sadistic as only Lucas can be, he didn't even kill the Nurse, leaving her to slowly burn alive.

Sebastian was in range to charge Sidir, but Sidir was still at five health. To score Death Beds, both attacks needed to hit and deal at least one moderate or critical strike. Failing that I was looking at possibility of not scoring strategy this turn and Sidir dying to poison and burning, thus me not getting Death Beds. 

I deemed Sidir-removal important enough to not score strategy on first turn. But when Blood Poisoning missed Sidir, I just couldn't take the risk and charged Rough Rider instead, and placed strategy marker. Moderate damage and double poison on the Rough Rider helped a little. 

Canine Remains had walked to place a scheme and corpse marker to close right table edge for Death Beds end condition. 

So, both players did score strategy and no reveals were made. Scores went 1-1.

Turn 3:

Well, it was Resurrectionists that got the initiative. Carrion Emissary activated Aura of Decay just in case, and proceeded to butcher Sidir - failing at that. But he was now down to one health remaining. 

Lucas removed Sidir from Emissary's aura, killed a Nurse and dug up a Phantasmal Mask for Sidir. 

This was not enough to save Sidir, as Sebastian charged him and killed the henchman, scoring Death Beds. He also managed to saw some damage in to Rough Rider.

And just like that game turned rough for Ten Thunders. And it didn't exactly help that Resurrectionists kept passing their defensive flips with impunity. Luna dug up a Timeworn Blade for Rough Rider, who went to pick up my only explosive on the enemy table half, and charged Sebastian, managing only to remove my soulstones. 

Ruffian set himself on fire attacking Sebastian, and another Rough Rider on the right rode away from melee, shot Carrion Emissary with his rifle, and charged back.

First Mindless Zombie that Carrion Emissary had summoned last turn traumatized Tanuki down to one health remaining. Second Mindless Zombie felt pity for Tanuki, as the poor furry imagined itself as a teapot. 

Guild Autopsy scored a lucky severe against Desper, which looking back now was a bit of a game-changer. Now I had the option to reach for Let Them Bleed. 

And as I had pretty much lost the strategy for this turn, McMourning removed Flesh Construct from melee range of Lucas, and took a double walk to centerline far right.

Bone Pile charged Rough Rider that was engaging Carrion Emissary, but failed to do damage. In shame, it buried itself with second action point. Flesh Construct came charging in next, and succeeded in slapping the two required points in. Just for giggles the Flesh Construct attempted a Projectile Vomit over Ruffian engaging Sebastian, and managed to land two blasts, injuring another Rough Rider and Lucas McCabe. Drats. I could have just killed the melee target, but I was afraid to, because I needed one of them alive with half or less health remaining.

Desper went to place a strategy marker. 

Ten Thunders got the lead when both players scored both schemes, but Resurrectionists missed on strategy. A 3-4 lead for Ten Thunders.

Turn 4:

Sebastian butchered a horse and took its explosives. Tanuki was able to smash a Mindless Zombie dead, but Carrion Emissary came to avenge Mindless Zombie. Oh, what am I talking? Emissary for sure didn't come to avenge Mindless Zombie, it just wanted to peck Tanuki dead. Which it did. Dead. Tanuki died to death. Hahahaha. Ha.

Anyway... Luna dug a Timeworn Blade for Lucas, and the Ten Thunders master started whipping a hunchback for a bit before he got bored and went to place a third explosive for Ten Thunders. He tossed Timeworn Blade for Desper LaRaux. Guild Autopsy went to see if it would luck out a second time in a row against Desper, but no such luck.

Flesh Construct was able to kill another Rough Rider, and went to place it's explosive deep into Ten Thunders territory. McMourning did the same, and so did Bone Pile that emerged from Mindless Zombie. 

Both players secured strategy for a 4-5 lead for Ten Thunders. However, it was clear from the board state that Resurrectionists had won anyway, and we didn't play the last turn. While there was a desperate possibility for a fourth strategy point for Ten Thunders, schemes were unlikely. Resurrectionists, however, had three points 99% secured. 

RRRRRAMPAGE

 A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Corner Covert Operation

Schemes: Assassinate, Sabotage, Public Demonstration, Hidden Martyrs, Catch and Release

My list:

Dr. McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Rogue Necromancy
Corpse Curator
Kentauroi
Nurse
Guild Autopsy
Little Gasser

Pool: 3
Schemes: Hidden Martyrs (Nurse & Little Gasser), Catch and Release (Kentauroi)

Opponent had:

Rasputina & Wendigo
Snow Storm
Blessed of December
December Acolyte
Silent One
Ice Dancer
2x Hoarcat

Pool: 4
Schemes: Public Demonstration (Hoarcats and Blessed of December), Assassinate

Turn 1:

At first I had glanced that finally not so agonizing pool of schemes. But then when I had to actually pick them, I realized how bad it was. I had no reliable tools to get Assassinate when opponent had way to deal with big hits, and I hadn't paid attention how badly my side of the table favored Sabotage. And picking two from the remaining three schemes would mean a big chunk of my weakest models were important for victory points.

So, I ended up with Catch and Release and Hidden Martyrs. This way I only had three important low cost or minion models instead four to five. 

Since I didn't have reliable corpses on board after deployment, I activated McMourning first and took a leg off of Rogue Necromancy, then built it a new and improved leg. And yet there was still enough organic matter left from the initial amputation, that Sebastian was able to craft a Canine Remains of it. And yet there was enough left from the Canine Remains, that Canine Remains picked its own remains and dropped them somewhere nearby. 

It was quite not five loaves of bread and two fish, but it was close.

Rasputina blasted some damage to McMourning and Canine Remains, so I relocated Nurse to offer some assistance if need be. I got scared with all the ice pillars and potential blasts, so Little Gasser took a double walk towards bottom-right strategy marker, hugging the table edge and hiding behind a hill.

Corpse Curator, Guild Autopsy and Rogue Necromancy were hauling their slow and undead bulk through a forest. I figured top-left strategy marker would be way out of my reach unless I brought my fasted model, Kentauroi, to that flank. It rode for a bit with Sebastian, and continued to walk behind a batch of destructible terrain.

Acolyte had taken a vantage point from top of a small building. One Hoarcat was running towards each corner strategy markers.

Blessed of December was at center-left strategy marker with Snow Storm and Wendigo a little behind. 

Ice Dancer was in the opposing forest, with Silent One being silent a little further back. 

Turn 2:

Rasputina slows McMourning and kills Canine Remains before it is able to activate and spam more corpses. 

Acolyte of December opens fire twice on Kentauroi, dealing weak damage with each shot. This was... troublesome, since there were two victory points tied to that model. So I figured that I try to put some poison on it and heal with Sebastian's Blood Poisoning. The horse-thing was also Slowed, which would require some Nurse-shenanigans.

So, Corpse Curator tried to tease Blessed of December a little by dredging up an ice pillar marker and attacking through it, but it didn't do that much.

However, Hoarcat at top-left strategy marker activated early and went into position to claim the spot. This opened up a possibility of getting rid of the destructible terrain and walk-charge-ride-with-me to get there myself, too.

So, Guild Autopsy went to slam the terrain to death. 

This was all fine and dandy until Snowstorm made an ice tornado that also slowed McMourning and Rogue Necromancy. So there was quite a few models suffering from Slow now.

McMourning activated and pushed Nurse forward with Desperate Plot, giving her an extra leg, and summoned a Flesh Construct. 

I had waited far too long with my plans, and Blessed of December decided to jump out of its position and decidedly killed my Catch and Release model. Yeaaaaaah.

Nurse decided to remove slow from Rogue Necromancy, and the thing along with summoned Flesh Construct charged Snow Storm and Wendigo, just tickling Wendigo a little.

'Sebastian went to toss off some formaldehyde, because he was out of reach to charge Blessed of December. I didn't have high enough cards in my hand for Sebastian to call for another Man's Best Friend. 

Silent One healed Wendigo and Ice Dancer shuffled some pillars around. 

Since opponent clearly didn't let me activate Little Gasser after Hoarcat on the right had activated, I had to fly the gas balloon to center-right strategy marker to have a claim this turn.

By then situation didn't look good. Only McMourning would be able to bottom-right strategy marker next round, as center-left marker was quite contested. 

Scores go 1-1, both points from scenario.

Turn 3:

Since all sorts of gamins pop up when enough elemental or other kind of energy have high enough of a concentration, this turn should have seen a Carnage Gamin appear. 

Sebastian charges Blessed of December, as he was in range now that Blessed had used deadly pursuit to come closer to corpse marker. First attack hit and dealt some damage. I was wondering if I should turn the Kentauroi's corpse into a dog, but decided against it. Weak damage and Blood Poisoning would be enough to kill the enforcer. Also second attack hit - this time dealing weak+critical strike damage. However, the Blood Poisoning obviously failed.

Blessed of December had the option to either leap away or eat the corpse and butcher someone to heal even more. Blessed chose violence, too, but was just as successful as Sebastian. Guild Autopsy was left with two health remaining.

December Acolyte took a shot at Guild Autopsy and killed it despite friendly fire and cover. And with the next shot, down went the Zombie Chihuahua. 

Corpse Curator needed to land one point of damage to secure kill on Blessed of December with poison. Much to everyone's surprise, it dealt two! Hooray. And even got to place a toxic sludge marker with bonus action.

In the middle Rasputina had activated earlier in the turn, pushing Rogue Necromancy and Flesh Construct a little back before putting pillars in front of them, making it impossible to charge Snow Storm or Wendigo. Or herself, for that matter. 

McMourning took a walk, gave Rogue Necromancy's attack for Flesh Construct and pushed the summon to an ice pillar, giving it excess fat upgrade. 

Snow Storm charged Flesh Construct right after, and beat it down to two health remaining, upgrade being taken down with the first hit. 

So Flesh Construct activated and took a point of damage. And did what was most likely one of the most absurd activations I have ever witnessed. First attack on Snow Storm? Severe damage, that was reduced by a couple of points with a soulstone. Second attack was Pouncing Strike, so Flesh Construct declared that, dealt some damage again to Snow Storm and killed Wendigo with one savage bite. Last action was also Pouncing Strike, and damage killed Snow Storm and Flesh Construct jumped to Rasputina, dealing three damage that was actually zero because of an ice pillar. 

Silent One comes to try to remove Flesh Construct but fails at that. Little Gasser walks and charges Silent One and even flails frantically a couple of damage points.

Nurse went to claim center-left marker, but to my surprise Hoarcat from unclaimed top-left strategy marker walked and charged her and left her with one health remaining. 

Hoarcat at bottom-right was biding its time, just concentrating. Ice Dancer skated about and blocked Rogue Necromancy from reaching her with direct charge.

So instead Rogue Necromancy had to make an indirect charge, walking first. Nurse's chance to claim was neutralized by the Hoarcat, so Rogue Necromancy just needed to engage Ice Dancer. Too late, way too late I remembered about the Butterfly Jump. This meant Rogue Necromancy had to kill the dancer with just one strike. 

And, uh, it kind of did. Charge Through and focus made for a lot of plus modifiers for damage and surely enough it came up as severe, with Infect. 

So that was a brutal turn to the extreme. 

Scores go 1-1, since everyone was too busy bashing each others' heads to the concrete instead of scoring points.

Turn 4:

Nurse was fortunate enough to survive December's first activation - most likely because Rasputina was a little busy handling the Flesh Construct - which surely enough died. Nurse was able to heal herself a little and even got Shielded +1 for a little extra survivability. Walking and poking Hoarcat with surgical instruments, however, amounted to nothing.

It did take all of my good cards from hand, but Nurse survived Hoarcat's activation, again back at one health remaining. 

Rogue Necromancy walked and charged to Hoarcat at bottom-right strategy marker. Idea was to wait until Hoarcat activates and push Rogue Necromancy away from it with Desperate Pace. Instead, Hoarcat disengaged and went to purr at McMourning. McMourning wanted to pat the fine cat, but unfortunately he did it with rusty tools, three times no less. Cat was dead at that point. 

December Acolyte ran to collect a point from top-left strategy marker while Sebastian was running towards it too. 

Little Gasser continued to flail frantically: "Why are you not killing me?? I'm the Hidden Martyr!" Yeah... enemy didn't consider that thing enough of a threat to kill casually. 

Anyway, Corpse Curator was able to creep to claim center-left strategy marker, meaning I had third point pretty much secured thanks to Rogue Necromancy.

Turn 5:

Silent One started to shoot McMourning rather successfully through ice pillars, which lead me to suspect Assassinate. So instead of contributing meaningfully to anything else, the good doctor fled the scene with all of his action points. 

Rasputina wasn't able to accomplish much, so Nurse got to activate and heal herself again for a little. Hoarcat failed to kill her, and even December Acolyte missed its shot. I even cheated to save the Nurse. 

Here the joke is on me, since not protecting her that much would have given me the Hidden Martyr point. I had been completely fixated on letting Little Gasser be the one who does the dying, and keeping Nurse denying the center-left marker from being claimed by Hoarcat.

However, both Corpse Curator and Sebastian could have easily gone to engage the kitty. Although if I had done it with Sebastian, result would have been catastrophic since I would have just given opponent the Public Demonstration. 

Also Little Gasser was four points, Silent One six. So that's one half checked from Hidden Martyrs end condition. But thanks to no melee range Silent One was not engaging the Gasser. 

So... we had a game where zero points were scored from schemes.

However, it was a close 2-3 victory for Resurrectionists as Rogue Necromancy was able to claim third marker, while opponent got none.

Meeting Expectations

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Corner Guard the Stash

Schemes: Assassinate, Set the Trap, Spread Them Out, Load 'Em Up, Vendetta

My list was:

McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Rogue Necromancy
Corpse Curator
Kentauroi
Nurse
Guild Autopsy
Canine Remains

Pool: 4
Schemes: Vendetta (Autopsy on Black Blood Shaman), Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

Nekima with Inhuman Reflexes & Blood Hunter
Hayreddin
2x Mature Nephilim
Young Nephilim
Black Blood Shaman

Pool: 6
Schemes: Assassinate, Load 'Em Up (corpse)

Turn 1:

Black Blood Shaman did the focus thing with a corpse that Blood Hunter had regurgitated. 

All the remaining Nephilim models? At or near the centerline with Nekima dangerously close to Kentauroi.

Experimentals? They had barely left deployment zone...

Yeah, at least the way I play McMourning2 they have a real slow start. First Canine Remains start to generate corpses, somebody accidentally drops some formaldehyde and poisons everybody, also summoning more dogs to create more corpses... insanity! I even tried to place a sludge hazard marker on top of everyone, but failed to get a suit.

Anyway, Rogue Necromancy had been given some extra legs, so it and a summoned Flesh Construct went north to launch some projectile vomit at Mature Nephilim, both of them missing.

The Kentauroi went to act as a spearhead, and when I said Nekima was dangerously close I didn't quite mean what is in the picture - I nearly forgot to take one, and Nekima has already charged the centaur.

All my other models are in a blob around my table side strategy marker.

Turn 2:

Nekima kills Kentauroi in two connected blows. At least she had to spend all of her actions on attacks, but that cost me Red Joker from hand. 

Summoned Canine Remains picks up a bone from corpse curator, not doing anything particularly useful. And then I lost my chance at running Flesh Construct to attack Nekima - Mature Nephilim charged Rogue Necromancy, dealing heavy damage. 

Nurse pushed Rogue Necromancy into melee with the Mature Nephilim with painkillers. But that only called in additional Mature Nephilims. Rogue Necromancy started to be in such a shape that Zombie Chihuahua had to do some emergency blood poisoning on it.

Hayreddin relocated to middle-left marker.

And then it was time for some desperation. Desperate Plot was used to give extra legs for my vendetta carrier, Guild Autopsy. Masks ensured a second push for Sebastian, although he got no upgrades this time around. Rogue Necromancy was pulled from melee and its melee attack stitched on to Corpse Curator. I think last action was just to concentrate to remove distraction from last turn summons.

And whoa - that savage bite was impressive. First, Curator dredged up a corpse and went to bite Nekima through it, far enough not to trigger scamper. It was some solid four. Then Curator placed toxic sludge and dredged another bite at Nekima through it, dealing some damage again. 

Blood Hunter runs to throw up a corpse near Nekima. I suppose Nekima was going to hurl it back into Blood Hunter's throat and tear a bite out of it herself... but, Guild Autopsy walked with his brand new legs and shot the puppy dead. 

Finally Sebastian charged Nekima and did his things inside sludge marker, getting decent amount of poison in the process. Attacks, however, weren't so decent. Or actually they were, but damage blocks with soulstone by Nekima were even more decent. 

I had the difficult choice of charging into melee with Rogue Necromancy. I think I would have done that if Flesh Construct would have gotten even a single hit in with minimum damage against Mature Nephilim, but that was not to be. Now, the ten point beater with charge upgrade ran to get a victory point from top-left strategy marker.

Points went 1-1 from both players scoring strategy.

Turn 3:

A Mature Nephilim flies to engage McMourning, deals some damage but not overly much after damage blocks.

Sebastian walks to engage Nekima and finish her. She was at, like, four health remaining or so. But either attack missed or all damage was blocked. 

Black Blood Shaman walks and charges Sebastian. With such a damage track, expected damage was one at most. That was until opponent flipped Red Joker for damage. Five points. Not good, dying to Nekima's weak damage. Sebastian promptly used soulstone, trying to block at least two points of damage. Look at that, Red Joker. So the expected damage of one held true, after all.

Since it had worked so well earlier, Corpse Curator begins to dredge up various markers to attack Nekima. But this time around he had to do so with ancient injectors, and didn't score a single hit. At least there was now sludge marker beneath Nekima, Black Blood Shaman and Sebastian. 

Another Mature Nephilim kills off Zombie Chihuahua, so quick heals were now entirely on Sebastian's shoulders. 

I really, really wanted Nekima dead now that I had the chance. So, McMourning activates and disengages from Mature Nephilim to get line of sight to Sebastian. That much succeeds, and after desperate plot Sebastian became an oozing pile of hazardous terrain, right in contact with Nekima. Too bad both enemy models passed hidden bomb checks.

Surgery gave bone saw for summoned Canine Remains, and then I'm wondering what to do with last remaining action. I chose to hit Corpse Curator with surgical instruments to maybe get extra arms one day. I could have made a Flesh Construct instead, though. I don't understand why I didn't. I guess I was afraid that I'd lose Corpse Curator too easily, since it would have gone down to two health remaining or something. 

Then Hayreddin flies within sight of McMourning, loads his shotgun and shoots my precious Nekima-killing stat 7 bone saw dog with moderate damage while having negative modifiers. 

Didn't look like too many Neverborn masters would die this round unless I somehow removed Mature Nephilim that was engaging Flesh Construct. Rogue Necromancy abandoned its post at strategy marker, ambushed for a bit and charged the Mature. It brought the Nephilim down to five health. 

And finally Nekima activates. She buys shove aside for an attack against Sebastian, lands the hit and as a consequence takes only one point of damage from my clever upgrade shenanigans. With the extra attack Nekima was able to force me to do some additional clever upgrade shenanigans - with negative modifiers she was able to deal five points in to my vendetta carrier. Legs fell and "only" three points taken. 

Remaining attacks went to Sebastian and certainly took a toll on my soulstones, but the resurrectionist henchman persevered. 

Suddenly scared, Guild Autopsy creeps along to Corpse Curator and takes a focused shot at Black Blood Shaman, doing nothing. 

Young Nephilim just chills at bottom-right marker. 

Canine Remains runs to top-left marker, and then it was a time for a miracle. Flesh Construct released all of its pent up aggression from continuous failures and punches severe damage in to the Mature Nephilim on first try. Then it walks and vomits over Black Blood Shaman, but the construct was back to its usual business and missed. 

Nurse stunned the remaining Mature Nephilim and healed McMourning a little. 

So, I managed to claim a second strategy point this turn. But also opponent got to reveal Load 'Em Up on corpse markers for a prolonged tie 2-2.

Turn 4:

Nekima charges, engaging McMourning, Sebastian, Guild Autopsy and Corpse Curator. Since McMourning doesn't take charge attacks, my vendetta died with zero points scored. Boo. Also, all my remaining soulstones were spent, protecting my master. 

Nekima had somewhere around five health remaining. McMourning loaned Sebastian's bone saw for a bit and spent all of his action points on attacks against the Nephilim master. And finally, finally the beast fell!

But now McMourning was without protection of an additional Flesh Construct. Hayreddin and Mature Nephilim spent their activations on raining attacks against my master. But he lucked out and also got healed for seven by Nurse and blood poisoning from Sebastian. Nurse also tried to stun Mature Nephilim away from strategy marker, but failed.

Sebastian had went to contest middle-right marker that Black Blood Shaman had ran to control. This drew Young Nephilim from his post, tickling Sebastian with claws a little. 

Canine Remains, Rogue Necromancy and Flesh Construct went to place required markers for Spread Them Out.

Opponent got my strategy marker because Hayreddin was blocking McMourning's line of sight, and I got Spread Them Out, so the tie isn't broken and goes 3-3 instead.

Turn 5:

Flesh Construct goes to place a scheme marker and stand on top of it. 

But then Black Blood Shaman goes to engage Rogue Necromancy. Curses! Now I needed to somehow remove the vendetta target before placing a marker for Spread Them Out. Fortunately I had tools for that - after Young Nephilim had tried to maul Sebastian dead, Corpse Curator takes a double walk and puts up Cursed Sludge. 

I suppose Sebastian had been flipping too good throughout the game. He had been scoring hits quite regularly, so obviously now he had to miss. So it was on Rogue Necromancy to remove Black Blood Shaman with one strike. This was possible, though - the shaman had five health remaining. One severe would do nicely.

Buuut it was only a moderate. There went my Spread Them Out.

Fortunately Hayreddin and Mature Nephilim were struggling with Assassinate, too. Mature didn't exactly miss his attacks, no, but one unfortunate black joker on damage and a severe heal from Nurse caused McMourning to have full health when Hayreddin activated. 

Hayreddin wasn't able to do it alone, so no assassination points for Neverborn.

No Spread Them Out for Resurrectionists.

No strategy points for anyone, anywhere.

The tie became eternal, 3-3 draw. 

Sad Fate of Sebastian's Kennel

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Plant Explosives

Scheme pool: Assassinate, Deliver a Message, Breakthrough, Take Prisoner, Hold Up Their Forces

My list:

McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Corpse Curator
Carrion Effigy
Kentauroi
Bone Pile
Little Gasser
Canine Remains

Stones: 5
Schemes: Hold Up Their Forces, Deliver a Message

Opponent had:

Youko Hamasaki &  Chiyo Hamasaki
Bill Algren
Shojo
2x Kabuki Warrior
Bunraku
Tanuki
Geisha

Stones: 4
Schemes: Take Prisoner (Nurse), Deliver a Message

Turn 1:

The tip of my wedge had a tractor that divided my crew. Below was Nurse, Bone Pile, Carrion Effigy and Zombie Chihuahua. Above, the rest within 1" of a 30mm marker. 

Slowly building up corpses started with Canine Remains taking a bite out of Corpse Curator. Sebastian made a new Canine Remains from that corpse, which duplicated its own corpse in turn. That mechanic is just silly. Flask of formaldehyde poisoned most of the crew.

McMourning's plan had been to walk for a bit, then use Desperate Pace first on Sebastian to make him chatty, and then Kentauroi for absurd speed boost. I may have been a little extravagant managing my hand, and was left without proper cards for Desperate Paces. I had to give Sebastian a spare head, because he was blocking Kentauroi's push anyway.

Kentauroi and Little Gasser began speeding top, although Little Gasser was lured in to a bad position by Kabuki Warrior, who had Bill Algren and Shojo as his buddies. 

The massive blob of Canine Remains, Sebastians, Corpse Curators and McMournings were greeted by Youko, another Kabuki Warrior and Tanuki. Youko landed a traumatizing riddle on the Insanitary, dealing three damage as by that time I didn't have cards in my hand.  

Nurse failed to heal McMourning, so Zombie Chihuahua repositioned itself to stink fourth point of Poison for McMourning.

Bone Pile sniped a critical javelin through Tanuki as is only proper. Carrion Effigy healed the lost bone.

Below, Qi and Gong had sent Chiyo and Bunraku. And Geisha I suppose, although she was hardly out of Ten Thunders deployment zone. 

Turn 2:

Ten Thunders won initiative, and Kabuki Warrior charged the poor little Gasser, killing it with charge attack, so he still had plenty of action points to plant first explosive.

I was somewhat afraid of Bill engaging Kentauroi, so to secure a strategy point for me, the equestrian monstrosity rode with itself, walked and planted an explosive into forest.

In the middle, another Kabuki Warrior charged into fray, engaging Bone Pile and Nurse. 

Nurse disengaged from Kabuki, assisted distracted away from McMourning by solving the dreaded riddle and then charged back to Kabuki Warrior in an attempt to stun him. No such luck.

Shojo gets to forest near the middle and starts Boring Conversations, getting both Canine Remains and McMourning under the area. At least McMourning is able to navigate through such discussions by summoning a Flesh Construct to block LoS. He gives Sebastian's bone saw for a Canine Remains and pushes Bone Pile away from melee and Flesh Construct next to Shojo. Corpse Curator is given a spare head. That's quite a few actions there, but one came from quick reflexes. 

Bill kills a puppy, but Sebastian is there to make a new one.

A surprise for the round came from Canine Remains who had rusty bone saw - it charged Shojo just for giggles, and giggle it did with successful boring conversation check, successful attack flip and double severes even with accuracy penalties. With blast damage to boot, which spilled to Kabuki Warrior. I wish Sebastian was as proficient using his saw.

Bunraku had placed a strategy marker and charged Bone Pile. Chiyo felt safe enough to run past Bunraku's and Bone Pile's squabbling. Carrion Effigy just healed whatever Bone Pile had suffered, and Bone Pile scraped one point of damage in to the puppet.

At least Corpse Curator did something useful down below by conjuring its first sludge marker for the game. 

Youko, Tanuki and Geisha were hanging around the tip of Ten Thunders' deployment zone, lifting spirits and asking riddles. I think Shojo created three pass tokens in total from this round.

Most useful activation of the turn was when Zombie Chihuahua charged Kabuki Warrior in the middle, accomplishing only foul odor and blocking McMourning's path to enemy strategy marker. 

Scores go 1-2 for Resurrectionists when I reluctantly reveal Hold Up Their Forces. 

Turn 3:

Qi and Gong starts the turn with ten pass tokens with still more to come. And what a brutal turn it was.

Shojo put up boring conversation, which turned out to be a hideous ability when combined with Distraction aura from Kabuki Warriors. Well, of course willpower 3-4 on my models highlighted the problem... 

While I still had the chance, Carrion Effigy went to place a strategy marker so that I'd gain a point this round.

Bill Algren charged Sebastian, severing off his extra head and leaving him with four wounds remaining.

Kentauroi had to come and charge Kabuki Warrior that was sitting dancing near Shojo to block his charge to Sebastian. Stampede dealt a point of damage to both models, but this model was no miraculous Canine Remains and failed Boring Conversation check.

Kabuki Warrior? Killed the Kentauroi in two clean swipes. 

Sebastian summoned a Canine Remains and walked within 1" of Bill.

Youko forced Carrion Effigy to pick up the strategy marker it had placed earlier, so I had to figure out a way to get strategy marker past the centerline. Opponent didn't have such worries as Ten Thunders had already three markers placed. 

My plan was to poison Bunraku and then leave melee with Bone Pile in Cursed Sludge. So, Corpse Curator managed to land another sludge marker with a red joker, placing it under Chiyo. I would have been happy for just one point of damage to guarantee Chiyo's eventual death, but second attempt with Dredge Up dealt severe damage despite negative modifiers. 

I also wanted to kill Bunraku Bone Pile, so I started to activate Canine Remains to see how the situation develops. I had either Bone Pile or McMourning to drop a strategy marker. Buuut then Bunraku activated, escaped melee with Risky Maneuvers and dealt four points in to Bone Pile, which fortunately still had four more. Opponent scores a second hit, and obviously it had to be Rams that it flipped - meaning critical strike. Moderate damage would now kill Bone Pile. I didn't have high enough cards in my hand to dodge the hit, but at least I managed to score a tie, which meant triple negatives. And look at that... moderate from four cards!

Uh. At least that decided what I had to do with McMourning. Except that Kabuki Warrior in middle had killed Zombie Chihuahua, and a Geisha had lured Bill Algren away from Sebastian - right there to block path for McMourning, who had originally planned to walk to enemy strategy marker, pick it up and then place a marker past centerline.

Instead, he tried to push the Bunraku in to burning hazard, but failed. Last two actions had to be walk and interact. 

One Canine Remains had ran to engage Youko to maybe deliver a message one day.

So, I lost Kentauroi and Bone Pile to less than likely flips. What was a steady game had become a struggle instead.

Ten Thunders doesn't reveal any schemes, so scores go 2-3 for Resurrectionists. 

Turn 4:

Ten Thunders wins initiative, and Bunraku goes to place Bone Pile's explosive marker touching Resurrectionist's deployment zone. 

Flesh Construct jumped at the chance to kill Shojo now that Boring Conversation wasn't up yet, but brought her only down to two health remaining. And then there was that dreaded conversation again with Shojo also healing from it. 

Canine Remains finally delivers a message to Youko Hamasaki, but so does Geisha to McMourning. Nurse had given McMourning some painkillers without succeeding anything else, really. Youko asked her some riddles and then owned her, disengaging and moving to Bunraku. 

I lost all of my Canine Remains this turn, but not before one of them did severe damage in to Bill Algren. It probably shouldn't go like this, but come to think of it - majority of my crews damage came from Canine Remains in this game, with only Flesh Construct coming even close.

While Sebastian was attacked by Bill and Kabuki Warrior, both had had to spend actions on killing puppies. So Sebastian survived, with one health remaining. Fortunately this was all he needed to summon one more Canine Remains.

Kabuki Warrior in the middle had disengaged to engage Carrion Effigy, but didn't score a hit. McMourning managed to disengage by using my last soulstone (Distraction aura + conversation), pick up enemy strategy marker and even use Desperate Pace on Carrion Effigy to push it away from melee.

So, the effigy went to a little safer place to plant a strategy marker.

But my joy was short lived, because in the end phase opponent revealed also Take Prisoner. Scores were 4-5 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 5:

Ten Thunders started killing my un-activated models left and right. Kabuki Warrior started the ordeal by killing Sebastian and luring Shojo from the forest. This was Flesh Construct's chance to shine, and shine it did - finally Shojo was dead. And the construct was engaging a higher cost model that had already activated.

Although Corpse Curator succeeded to place fourth strategy marker for me, Youko was able to remove one. To protect one McMourning had tried to disengage twice from Kabuki Warrior, failing both times with Kabuki Warrior flipping a severe to move reduction. 

So, McMourning just implanted his rusty tools to Nurse, who was in a nasty position. If I wanted points from Hold Up Their Forces, she needed to engage someone of higher cost. However, if she was engaged, Ten Thunders would get their prisoner. I thought it best to leave her next to Bill and Geisha who had already activated that turn.

Bunraku had no trouble in getting a scheme marker next to McMourning, and Kabuki Warrior in the middle even charged to kill Carrion Effigy just for giggles. 

In the end I had lost more models than I had had at the beginning of the game. Five of them were Canine Remains, which is especially impressive since I began the game with just one. 

Even Zombie Chihuahua had been killed, bringing the total of innocent puppies killed to six. Apparently Qi and Gong thought it appropriate to also kill their keeper. I guess no dogs allowed in their holdings. 

Game was a 6-6 draw.

Battle of the Upgrades

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Covert Operations

Schemes: Assassinate, Catch and Release, Sabotage, Hidden Martyrs, Secret Meetup

My list:

Dr. McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Rogue Necromancy
Rafkin
Corpse Curator
Kentauroi
Nurse
2x Canine Remains

Pool: 6
Schemes: Assassinate, Sabotage (House in enemy deployment)

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe & Luna
Sidir Alchibal
Jessie Halliday
Rough Rider
Cryptologist
3x Ruffian

Pool: 6
Schemes: Assassinate, Secret Meetup (Cryptologist & Rafkin and box pile in the middle-left.)

Turn 1:

McCabe advanced in a strict line formation in the middle, I don't think I've seen such a straight-ish line in Malifaux before. It was Ruffian, then Lucas-Jessie-Cryptologist-Luna in almost base contact conga-line, two Ruffians, Sidir and Rough Rider. 

Luna dug up a scrap marker which Lucas turned into Timeworn Blade for Sidir. Most opponent's models were raining lead on Kentauroi, which caused it to lose its extra legs - a sacrifice I wouldn't have had to make!

Resurrectionists started slow with Rafkin spewing Poison all over the place and then Canine Remains wreaking havoc on Corpse Curator for corpse markers. McMourning used Desperate Plot on Rogue Necromancy (no upgrades), Kentauroi (legs) and Corpse Curator (legs). McMourning also tried to craft projectile vomit on Zombie Chihuahua, but failed.

Unfortunately Sidir had managed to land Slow on Kentauroi, and I had to use Ride With Me instead of Shrug-off to get McMourning away from the place called Stuck. 

Catalyst from Rafkin, Nurse and Perverse Metabolism had Kentauroi at full health when turn ended and I regretted giving up on extra legs so easily... but that's what hindsight tends to do.

Rogue Necromancy and Zombie Chihuahua take a walk behind my building to form up a formidable rightmost flank. Rogue Necromancy even tried to puke over the enormous gathering of wastrels, but didn't get a hit.

Kentauroi takes a charge at a Ruffian and killed it with Rear Up trigger.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists won initiative, so Kentauroi charged Lucas McCabe. Both hits landed and dealt respectable damage, but Lucas used a stone to block three damage out of the six. Another Rear Up was nothing to write to blog about. But, Lucas also received poison +2 from a lucky crows. 

Lucas then did seven damage with three attack, gaining three more poison.

Zombie Chihuahua runs to engage Sidir and tries Blood Poisoning on Kentauroi, obviously failing at that. Opponent didn't prioritize killing Kentauroi, though, and instead dragged Sidir away from melee with Rough Rider and started shooting McMourning.

Nurse goes to heal Kentauroi but does that only for one, but at least she got tomes for Shielded +1. And even now opponent didn't take care of the horse and was shooting McMourning with Sidir instead. This lead me to suspect opponent might have Assassinate. Sidir also triggered Quick Reflexes and tried to shoot Zombie Chihuahua. At point blank range. With a machine gun.

McMourning then activates, pushes Rafkin a little forward with Desperate Plot, heals Kentauroi with bought trigger on Plastic Surgery, and then he took a double walk behind Rogue Necromancy. Looking back at that choice it was a horrible mistake to do. 

Luna and Cryptologist then whack Kentauroi dead.

A Canine Remains runs to engage a Ruffian that was looking suspiciously claimative. Another ran within 2" of  leftmost strategy marker. Both Ruffians shoot Nurse off the board, and had it not been for one Black Joker, Rafkin would have lobbed three formaldehydes over Jessie, Luna and Cryptologist. But only two happened. 

Rogue Necromancy takes an aimed vomit at Ruffian and scores moderate damage. That's even more poison, distracted and damage for Cryptobiologist and Jessie. 

Corpse Curator charged Luna and dealt two damage, enough to secure kill in the end phase. It also tried to attack Lucas through a corpse marker but failed the attack. And failed the Cursed Sludge, which I would've needed to claim marker with Corpse Curator...

Sidir had tossed Timeworn Blade first to Ruffian who was shooting Nurse, and Ruffian tossed it to Jessie, who came to shoot Corpse Curator with her harpoon. 

Both players score strategy, Resurrectionists with Canine Remains and Ten Thunders with Jessie. Ample poison on Lucas also gave Resurrectionists Assassinate for 2-1 scores.

Turn 3:

Resurrectionists wins initiative, so Corpse Curator activates before it dies to wreak maximum havoc annoyance before it curates itself. It fails to land a hit on Cryptobiologist, but does score moderate damage on McCabe even with two negative modifiers. But the most important thing was to get a Sludge marker below Cryptobiologist and Lucas.

Ruffian in the middle failed to kill Zombie Chihuahua, so to make itself even more annoying, the totem doggo activated Annoying and went to engage Sidir.

Rough Rider walked for a bit, then rode Cryptologist out of melee with Corpse Curator and healed the target for three. Then it shot Zombie Chihuahua dead. 

Jessie Halliday was only on three health remaining, so I wanted her dead. Rafkin charged, and since he had metallic arms, he was able to make three attacks - one of which hit - and dealt one damage after opponent used soulstone to block damage. Still two health remaining and Hard to Kill.

Jessie activated, so I discarded a card for Catalyst on Rafkin to trigger. Jessie failed to disengage, and did some archeological digging on my sludge marker instead. 

McMourning walked a bit forward and desperately plotted on Rogue Necromancy and Rafkin. Rafkin's hidden bombs dealt a point of damage on Cryptologist. Plastic Surgery gave the doctor a bit of poison before Sidir started to rain death on the master. Machine gun brought him down to six health, but he had enough poison to heal himself back to eight, so no Assassinate for Ten Thunders this round.

Canine Remains without claim token charged a Ruffian in the left, dealing no less than three points of damage. This prompted Ruffian to kill the second Canine Remains that had claim token and which had not activated yet.

Rogue Necromancy walks and ambushes forward to place a scheme marker near my sabotage target. It didn't feel good to use a ten point beater enforcer as a scheme runner, but you do what you gotta do.

Then a kind of a miracle happened, when Lucas failed to kill Corpse Curator with four attacks. He did remove Curator's extra leg and punch it down to two. I had been so certain I would lose the Curator especially when Lucas had Timeworn Blade. I guess I needed to figure out a new target for the pretty gravestone I had already carved.

Anyway, lastly Lucas rides with Cryptologist past Corpse Curator. Cryptologist beats Rafkin for a bit, most notably getting rid of his poison. And five health. 

Opponent had put everything into making sure Secret Meetup would trigger this turn. Well, everything except measuring how far Rafkin was from the terrain piece. To make matters worse, Ten Thunders had already claimed the strategy marker that he could have claimed this round, so it was a zero point turn for Lucas. McMourning got one from strategy, so scores went 3-1 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Sidir activates first and makes a couple devastating attacks at McMourning, bringing him down to three health remaining, and a trigger shot at Rogue Necromancy dealt six damage. Such a flip was certainly worrisome, but the thing had hard to kill at least. 

So, McMourning was more of a concern. He took a nudge walk to get within three corpse tokens, created a Flesh Construct and walked the heck out of there. Well, not out of 2" from strategy marker, though. Next?

Freaking Rough Rider shoots Rogue Necromancy. Terrifying? Nothing! Three negatives on damage flip from accuracy? Moderate on four cards! Which means only one health remaining. What is happening in here? Second shot, that's what happening, which scores a hit and kills Rogue Necromancy. 

I guess that Sidir and Rough Rider thought that "if you're acting like a 5-point scheme runner, we're going to act like you're a 5-point scheme runner, too!" Even Zombie Chihuahua survived more attempted attack actions than Rogue Necromancy.

So, there went at least one sabotage point. At least the pretty gravestone got a target.

Corpse Curator charged Lucas and managed to dismount him with a severe damage. Then it placed another sludge marker. Replacing the model removed Lucas from melee, so he walked for a bit, placed a scheme marker close to secret meetup terrain and shot Rafkin down to one health remaining.

Then something went wrong with the meetup. Rafkin killed Cryptologist.

Ruffian failed to kill Canine Remains, who then disengaged and took a bit at Lucas, even making a point of damage. Flesh Construct killed Rough Rider, and we called it a game. 

For last round, even in pure theory it was game over for Ten Thunders. Canine Remains denied strategy point for opponent. While Ten Thunders did score Assassinate, Resurrectionists got their third point from strategy for a total score of 4-2. Even in most unlikely circumstances scores would go 5-4.