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. 

Mature Audience

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Cursed Objects

Schemes: Breakthrough, Leave Your Mark, Public Demonstration, Set the Trap, In Your Face

My list:

Molly2 & Necrotic Machine
Philip & Nanny
Archie
Noxious Nephilim
Rabble Riser with Grave Spirit Touch
Rabble Riser
Night Terror

Stones: 5
Schemes: In Your Face, Leave Your Mark

Opponent had:

Nekima & Blood Hunter
Hayreddin
Mature Nephilim
2x Young Nephilim
Lilitu
Black Blood Shaman

Stones: 4
Schemes: In Your Face, Leave Your Mark

Turn 1:

Opponent started with shooting Mature Nephilim with Hayreddin and pulsing off focused with Black Blood Shaman. On my side Noxious Nephilim regurgitated a corpse marker and Rabble Riser who had Grave Spirit Touch pulsed focused for my crew,

I had brought Rabble Riser a tad too far, so Mature Nephilim was able to fly and charge it, triggering shove aside, clumping up my crew even worse than it already was. Necrotic Machine took a point of damage, and second attack against the Riser brought it to one health remaining.

Molly had to activate to heal the minion a bit, cheating a precious severe from my hand on the heal flip. Remaining attacks she tried to poke some fun at the Nephilim with her baton, but the Nephilim was too mature for her childish slapstick humor. 

Remaining Nephilim crew was vomiting corpses left and right and then eating those corpses with appetite. I didn't want to bother them and let them have their fun instead. At least that's what I passive aggressively tell everyone on my blog because Nekima didn't invite me to her party. 

Rabble Riser moved out of Archie's way, then Nekima took a double walk and charged the un-upgraded Rabble Riser, leaving him reeling at two health.

Archie pushes with Molly's ability,  leaps next to Mature Nephilim and slaps it around, leaving it alive with one health.

Philip & Nanny managed to land slow on Mature Nephilim, and Necrotic Machine gave the upgraded Rabble Riser a healthy dose of black joker on heal flip.

At the end of first round I had three models completely out of my deployment zone. 

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists win initiative, so it's one dead Mature Nephilim in the hands of Archie. Nope, not a single attack connected even with mournful memories.

Black line is deployment

Mature regenerates and at least doesn't do much of a damage on Molly's models as a consolation.

And then Molly is there to tickle Mature Nephilim again with her baton. She had not learned her lesson. This Nephilim didn't even crack a smile. Tough audience. But at least parade route succeeded, but I didn't check the lines beforehand well enough and turned out I could only get one irreducible damage on the thing, and three ticks of Black Blood on my models.

Eventually grave spirit touched Rabble Riser killed the Mature Nephilim that had cursed object on it. Then? A Young Nephilim grew into an additional Mature. 

Nekima scored a strategy by killing the regular Rabble Riser and failed to do anything against Archie. 

Philip and Nanny slowed both Nekima and the new and improved Mature Nephilim. Noxious Nephilim did good job in attacking Nekima, but with all the healing going on in enemy team I wasn't convinced I could take her down.

As I had lost an unactivated Rabble Riser I was woefully behind (or forward?) in activations so I didn't dare to mess up the obvious plans of Neverborn to score Leave Your Mark. 

But, I had managed to score In Your Face with Mature Nephilim so scores went even, 2-2.

At the end of second round I still had only three models completely out of my deployment zone.

Turn 3:

I had Red Joker in my hand and won the initiative after a little cheating contest. I decided to activate Archie first since I had my doubts if he was to live for another round. I still tried to heal him as much as I could - the problem was that whatever heal I could get in was pretty much canceled by Black Blood.

Anyway, Archie used Leap to engage Black Blood shaman. He was able to secure straight flip with Red Joker, and got a severe. Second strategy point for me.

Hayreddin single-handedly killed Archie, though. Nekima then takes a swing at Noxious Nephilim and tosses a corpse marker with proper suit to stun Necrotic Machine and Rabble Riser. Riser survived the damage and charged Nekima. 

And killed her! Rabble Riser killed Nekima! What is this! Yay! Hooray! 

Oh yeah, Rabble Riser was stunned and had essentially killed Nekima with Critical Strike. 

At least Noxious Nephilim was able to finish the job and start slowly wobbling towards enemy deployment zone.

Molly makes a feeble activation, failing to heal Philip & Nanny but succeeding to heal Necrotic Machine. My last soulstone is spent on saving Philip & Nanny from just about dying when Mature Nephilim charged them and got a severe for damage. Necrotic Machine is able to heal her for a bit.

Blood Hunter charges Noxious Nephilim, and I can't get an angle for Night Terror to go and plant a scheme in the middle - Lilitu and Young Nephilim had been positioned so that I had no window to interact. Because of that Night Terror went to kill Blood Hunter, but failed at that.

Scores go 3-4 for Neverborn when both players score Strategy, and Neverborn had killed Archie while he was close enough to Nekima.

Turn 4:

Hayreddin kills both Necrotic Machine and Rabble Riser, securing strategy. Noxious Nephilim does the same for Resurrectionists by killing Young Nephilim. 

Lilitu had failed to kill Rabble Riser, but we already know his fate. 

Mature Nephilim decides to ignore Philip & Nanny who had backed into safety, thus kind of ignoring themselves. Once opponent had only Blood Hunter remaining, Night Terror felt bold enough to leave melee and plant me Leave Your Mark.

Scores even to 5-5 in this one of the toughest games in recent memory.

Turn 5:

Hayreddin and two Mature Nephilims (Lilitu had grown at this point) kill Night Terror, thus getting a strategy point for Neverborn. However, the little guy survived long enough for opponent to be unable to plant third Leave Your Mark scheme on the table.

Philip & Nanny tried to kill Blood Hunter from blocking Noxious Nephilim's way into Neverborn deployment but left the totem alive with one health. Fortunately Molly succeeds to concentrate and move the thing with Parade Route. 

Noxious Nephilim is then able to cruise 13" into enemy deployment.

Opponent scores fourth strategy point and Resurrectionists get end condition of In Your Face.

That's 6-6. What a game!

Malifaux Vassal Tournament part I

I took part in a Vassal tournament for Malifaux. It was a round robin style tournament, which means five rounds. Here are the first three games. 

 First game was Corner Deployment Symbols of Authority, and scheme pool: Breakthrough, Vendetta, Assassinate, Claim Jump, Spread Them Out.

My list:

Seamus & Copycat Killer
Bete Noire
Grave Golem
2x Crooligan
Dead Doxy
Dead Dandy
Gravedigger

Pool: 6

Schemes: Breakthrough, Spread Them Out

Opponent was playing Neverborn:

Nekima + Inhuman Reflexes & Blood Hunter
Hayreddin
2x Corrupted Hound
2x Black Blood Shaman
Mature Nephilim
+1x upgrade somewhere

Pool: 9

Schemes: ???

Turns 1-2:

An aggressive advance by Resurrectionists ensures a bloody fight ensues sooner rather than later. Turns out Bete Noire isn't holding the entire Neverborn crew all alone, and she barely survives with one health point remaining after Hayreddin says hello. 

Nekima then charges Grave Golem, who had been nearing middle field along with Dead Doxy and Seamus. Five points of damage was worrisome, since I had no idea if Nekima had any anti-demise tech available. 

Crooligans and Gravedigger score Spread Them Out on second turn. 

Seamus somehow manages to bring Nekima down to one hit point remaining. Sadly worthless minions couldn't deliver the last point, so Nekima would activate at least once more.

Turn 3:

Nekima activates first, shoves aside Grave Golem and attacks Copycat Killer. Killer doesn't die thanks to minimum damage, but then something happens as a bonus. Dead Doxy in same melee with Nekima had suffered a little from Black Blood already and was at one hit point remaining, too.

Boom. A zero-action killed two of my unactivated models. 

At least Seamus managed to kill Neverborn master, but it was a heavy price to pay. Black Blood Shaman grows up as a Mature Nephilim and tosses a corrupted hound at Dead Dandy.

I had grand plans of scoring strategy and breakthrough on this very same turn, but unfortunately it happened so that my opponent ran out of available time - just when things started getting interesting. Game scored as a victory for me, but it certainly doesn't feel like a victory. Oh well. Such happens, even on Vassal. 

Game 2:

Flank deployment, Public Enemies. Scheme pool: Vendetta, Catch & Release, Let Them Bleed, Leave Your Mark, Research Mission

My list was:

Seamus & Copycat
Madame Sybelle
Mortimer
Grave Golem
Bete Noire
Mourner with Grave Spirit Touch

Pool: 6

Schemes: Catch & Release. Leave Your Mark

Opponent had:

Titania & Gorar
Hinamatsu
Aeslin
Malisaurus Rex
Hooded Rider
Autumn Knight

Pool: 5

Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Research Mission

Turn 1-2:

This game had a brutal start. Resurrectionists were ambushed at the Arctic Lodge and butchered to pieces - Grave Golem went dead on the first turn, as did Mortimer thanks to Red Jokerin' Hinamatsu. Mourner died at the start of second turn and somewhere in the process Titania beat up Seamus down to four hit points remaining.

I had sent Bete Noire to flank around, which was a mistake as the situation went from bad to critical in the blink of an eye. Or maybe a few blinks. 

Madame Sybelle and Copycat Killer took on Hinamatsu together, dealing in some minor points of damage.

My best luck was in getting a Red Joker with Seamus' damage flip against Hooded Rider. This had Madame Sybelle later kill the rider with a Critical Strike damage track of 5/5/6.

At the end of second round, both players scored strategy and opponent revealed Research Mission, bringing points to 1-2 for Neverborn.

Turn 3:

Seamus disengages, teleports to shoot Hinamatsu and teleports again to relative safety. Madame Sybelle only tickles Hinamatsu before dying herself to the puppet-thing. Malisaurus Rex eats Copycat Killer, and Titania, Autumn Knight and Aislin scare off Bete Noire from trying to scramble Leave Your Mark points. 

Grave Golem pops up behind Hinamatsu and smacks it dead, bringing me another strategy point. Opponent's points for this round were on Hinamatsu, so points went 2-2.

Turn 4-5:

Rest of the game isn't much of a game any more - sure, Grave Golem stood strong (which means dying repeatedly to a wet sock)  and opponent wasn't able to score strategy easily, but he did manage to munch Seamus with Malisaurus Rex. That thing charges FAR.

But it was really Neverborn playing whack-a-mole with Bete Noire and Grave Golem constantly going up and down. 

In the end, it was a steady victory for Neverborn with 5-2, when he scored both end conditions from his schemes.

Game 3:

Scenario was Recover Evidence with standard deployment. Scheme pool was Breakthrough, Vendetta, Assassinate, Spread Them Out and Runic Binding. This time I was against fellow Resurrectionists. I thought I might as well give Kirai a go with following list:

Kirai & Ikiryo
Datsue Ba
Lost Love
2x Drowned
2x Seishin
Hanged with Grave Spirit Touch

Pool: 9

Schemes: Breakthrough, Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

Molly & Necrotic Construct
Rogue Necromancy
Archie
Forgotten Marshal
2x Crooligan
2x Night Terror

Pool: 4

Schemes: Breakthrough, Spread Them Out

Turns 1-2: 

These turns saw lots of action. I had deployed Ikiryo, Kirai, Seishin, Drowned and Lost Love around middle of the board, Datsue Ba far left and Hanged, Seishin plus another Drowned far right. Ikiryo challenged a Crooligan in mid-field right next to Rogue Necromancy, and Kirai summoned an Onryo to tie up Archie. Datsue Ba failed to startle a little kid, but did enter midline almost unchallenged.

Ikiryo brought a Crooligan down to one hit point remaining, having it drop its intel marker. Rogue Necromancy obviously bit a severely damaged Ikiryo in two halves, having her drop her intel marker. 

Night Terrors and one Crooligan bunch up on the right, and Hanged manages to put its upgrade on one of the Night Terrors and remove half of its hit points. Another Night Terror runs to a forest deep in my side of the board, which probably meant opponent had Breakthrough as his scheme. But the Night Terror did not survive a spiritual triple barrage by Kirai - who flipped two 13's with a negative flip on attack against target in concealment, and then a red joker for her last attack.

Neither player revealed any schemes yet, so points were 1-1 at the end of second round. 

Turn 3:

I waste Kirai's, re-summoned Ikiryo's and Drowned's full activations trying to take down Rogue Necromancy at 6 hit points. Only Drowned managed to do two points in. More damage was done to my models via Molly's Lethe's Caress.

Datsue Ba speeds into enemy deployment zone, hopefully getting a point of Breakthrough next turn.

I learned that Hanged are not  especially good models against Night Terrors - the attached upgrade only helps them! Had not Seishin managed to walk another Drowned twice, I'd have had bat beasts flapping in my deployment zone to whom I'd not be able to do a thing. But the Drowned came and secured another strategy point to me. 

Enemy Crooligans schemed somewhat, but nothing I considered worrisome just yet. I had my Gaki sitting next to evidence marker, most likely giving me third strategy point on turn 4, so I didn't want to commit it to remove enemy scheme markers.

Archie fails to jump but does not fail to destroy Onryo. 

Kirai scores strategy, getting ahead in points 2-1. 

Turn 4

Forgotten Marshal had been a bit of a useless model for the entire game, failing at every summon he tried to make. To make up for his deficiencies, he killed two of my models with Peacebringer. Gaki and Seishin were gone. Fortunately Gaki had already managed to pick up Evidence marker. 

Datsue Ba interacts for a scheme marker and walks as deep into enemy territory as possible. Hanged walks to enemy deployment zone on the other side of board. 

Archie leaps and smacks already injured Drowned dead with one attack, and flurried a second attack at Ikiryo, killing it too. With his final action Archie picked up evidence marker.

Kirai barrages a Crooligan dead and re-summons Ikiryo, who then positions for next round to collect that particular Crooligan's evidence or scheme marker. 

Rogue Necromancy chases Datsue Ba, but doesn't get near enough to deny Kirai a point.

Kirai scores Breakthrough and Strategy, and Molly scores Strategy for 4-2

Turn 5

Lost Love collects last evidence marker for Kirai, and Kirai collects enemy scheme marker since I was suspecting opponent had Spread Them Out. 

Rogue Necromancy slaughters Datsue Ba, who had left a scheme marker deep into enemy deployment zone. But not deep enough - Molly was able to reach it with her marker removal ability. This meant I wouldn't gain Spread Them Out. 

Archie leaped, walked and schemed into my deployment zone. Kirai parked right next to the big boy. 

Kirai scores Strategy for a final result of 5-2 for Kirai.

Up until fourth turn it was a difficult game, and even there had its terrifying moment when Peacebringer downed two of my models, while one died to Molly's Caress and one to Archie. But as I had some success in denying Molly's scheme runners, losing that many models in a couple of activations wasn't enough to turn the tides that were favoring Kirai.