A Promotion

 Two 50ss games of Malifaux.

Game 1:

Strategy: Standard Plant Explosives

Schemes: Harness the Leyline, Make It Look Like an Accident, Leave Your Mark

My list:

Jack Daw, Ensouled & Jaakuna Ubume
Montresor
Kari Zotiko
Batsch & Amalie
Ferryman
Crooked Man
2x Drowned
2x Dapperling

Pool: 1

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe, Tomb Delver & 2x Cryptologists
Sidir Alchibal
Desper LaRaux
2x Rough Rider
2x Ruffian
Huckster
Hopeful Prospect

Pool: 3

Turn 1: Tormented Makes It Look Like an Accident, Wastrels are going to Leave Their Mark

With some help from Montresor, Drowned went to place a strategy marker past the centerline near the left board edge. Dapperling was there for emotional support.

Montresor also gave a walk for the Ferryman. 

To the right table edge, Drowned placed a scheme to be a homing beacon for Crooked Man. Dapperling just walked and prepared a shield. Jaakuna, who had been deployed along with them, lured Hopeful Prospector off a cliff for accident reveal party. 

Finally Batsch & Amalie pushed Ferryman forward, who dropped its explosive, bonus charged Hopeful Prospect and beat down his hopes of living.

A big fight ensued at the center. Jack Daw was teasing Sidir with waterlogged upgrades. Kari summoned a Drowned to Sidir, and Crooked Man took out one of enemy scheme markers with its greed. It looked like enemy had Leave Your Mark, so Jack Daw had placed one scheme marker to deny points.

Sidir and multiple other models as well were able to kill Ferryman, though.

Tormented took two from scheme and strategy, while Wastrels got one point from their mark.

Turn 2: Tormented attempts Breakthrough, Wastrels are going to Take the Highground

Sidir was able to get more than 2" away from my models. He started shooting Jack Daw, and dealt in nasty damage, which was patched up by Kari as much as possible. 

Wastrels cut up the slack with planting explosives. A Ruffian, Desper, Cryptologist and Lucas McCabe all spam explosives on a whim.

I had been placing scheme markers as inconspicuously as possible until Jack Daw made his big move. I had been carefully saving up for this moment - opponent would still have one model left to activate when Jack Daw bonus moved to enemy deployment, dropped scheme and charged back... and managed to kill the only model left to activate. Tormented continue being tormented.

Worse still, my crew was pushing towards enemy deployment zone with explosive tokens. As a result, opponent was able to take the lead in planting explosives. Fortunately one of their Rough Riders were too close to deployment, so Wastrels got only one point from Take the Highground. But this tied the scores to 3-3.

Turn 3: Tormented finishes Breakthrough, Wastrels are going to Search the Area

Sidir started blasting around with his machine gun. Crooked Man died, summoned Drowned died, hired Drowned from the left died. Not all of them went down by Sidir, but most of them did. However, no-one tried to deny Breakthrough, so Tormented claimed two points from that.

Jack Daw picked up a neutral marker, placed it to enemy deployment and went to bother Sidir.

Lucas single-handedly placed all the required markers for Search the Area, and there was little I could do to prevent that.

My investment from last turn paid off, when I was able to get both the bonus points from strategy, and had six to five advantage with strategy markers.

Scores went 7-5.

Turn 4: Tormented Assassinates Sidir, Wastrels push for final Breakthrough

We did not play for the entirety of the turn. Jack Daw slams an upgrade to Sidir, and lands a Red Joker on him that ticks him down to one health, thanks to hard-to-kill. Bonus action automatic damage finishes the target. 

We did take a few activations past that, but eventually it was apparent that McCabe wouldn't be able to score full scheme and full strategy points for a draw.

So about a 9-10 against 7-8 victory.

Game 2:

Strategy: Wedge Informants

Schemes: Harness the Leyline, Detonate Charges, Ensnare

My list:

Seamus AKA Sebastian & White Rabbit Co.
Madame Sybelle
Keepside Strangers
Mortimer
Batsch & Amalie
Dandy
2x Mourner

Pool: 3

Opponent had: 

Jakob Lynch, Dark Bet & Hungering Darkness
Gwyneth Maddox
Kitty Dumont
Mr. Tannen
Kara
2x Illuminated
Beckoner

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Both... uh, yeah.

What a weird mess of a turn.

Early on Gwyneth was catapulted to the hill near my deployment, which acted as a catalyst for some shenanigans.

First Keepside Strangers and Seamus activated, Seamus charging to Gwyneth, nearly killing her with Dead Dandy. She, however, did not die. Instead Honeypot poured all their attacks on Seamus, who in turn took a severe beating. 

Madame Sybelle tried to save Seamus by beckoning him to her... but then Jakob leaped to an Illuminated, took a walk and charged to Seamus. Redchapel master flipped a one. Lynch, on the other hand, flipped the Red Joker. Whoa. Lost master on turn one. 

Worse yet, opponent was able to control the majority of informants. 

And both had picked the easiest scheme on the roster, Detonate Charges. And both players failed to complete it. 

Honeypot scored a strategy point, and that's it.

Turn 2: Both kept their Detonate Charges

We moved on from the insanity of turn one... or did we? Madame Sybelle was promoted. She had crows in hand, so she gave concealment aura for White Rabbit Co, catching both Jakob Lynch and Gwyneth within the radius. One walk later Gwyneth died to knives in the dark, as she had two health remaining. 

Lynch and Hungering Darkness killed my second-in-command as well. 

Center was not looking good for Redchapel. But to be honest, it did not look good for Honeypot either - White Rabbit, Mourners and various other models had managed to land Slow on a bunch of enemy models. I don't think I have ever seen that much Slow on board. 

Both players were able to complete Detonate Charges for two points. Honeypot, however, continued to dominate the strategy, and got a 4-2 lead.

Turn 3: Redchapel chooses Runic Binding, Honeypot tries to rob graves.

It was a rough turn. Both crews pulled all tricks up their sleeve to remove enemy schemes and plant their own at the center-up strategy marker. I suspected opponent had Grave Robbing with strategy markers, so it was imperative for me to get those scheme markers off near my Mourner. And not only that, but have my third marker for Runic Binding.

In the end Redchapel was able to bind Kitty, Hungering Darkness and an Illuminated. And just as Redchapel was not able to remove the Ten Thunders scheme any longer and Mourner had fallen to one health remaining, she activated and ran the heck away from strategy marker.

Mortimer and Keepside Strangers were able to kill an Illuminated that was contesting a strategy marker near the Strangers. Both players had two strategy markers by when, and were contesting the center one with two models.

As my last activation Mourner flipped a lucky Masks on her melee attack against Hungering Darkness, bowling the monster off the center marker.

Suddenly Redchapel turned the tables around when Honeypot was not able to rob any graves, and lead the game with 5-4.

Turn 4: Redchapel Ensnares, Honeypot at least Leaves Their Mark

Last turn was intense as well. Redchapel got easy Ensnare off of Hungering Darkness. 

However, both Dead Dandy and White Rabbit Co. died before they were able to activate. This coupled with Batsch & Amalie deciding to Mushroom Cloud Mr. Tannen instead of walking to make placing scheme markers difficult at the center, as well as contesting the marker there cost Redchapel the game - there were not enough models to bring to center. 

Honeypot got double points from strategy, and also two points from Leave Your Mark.

So, Jakob Lynch won by the skin of their teeth with 8-7 in this exciting and weird game that just happened.

Talent Deep Inside

 A 50ss game of Malifaux, 4th edition.

Strategy: Corner Boundary Dispute

Schemes: Reshape the Land, Ensnare, Harness the Ley Lines

My list:

Seamus AKA Sebastian Baker & White Rabbit & co
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire
Keepside Strangers
Batsch & Amalie
Dead Doxy
Mourner
Dead Dandy

Pool: 3

Opponent had:

Tiri, Nomad & Oro Boro
Iron Matron
Kett
Parson
First Light
Ancient Construct
Aua Warrior

Pool: 5

Turn 1: Redchapel: Ensnare, Bygone: Harness Ley Lines

There was next to no interaction between players thanks to deployment and strategy. Both players were busy delivering their strategy markers. I made a total of seven or eight interacts on markers, and eventually was able to get two markers past centerline, while Explorers got only one. Tiri did end up shooting Seamus for four points of damage, so my last activation was to teleport Keepside Strangers to him, move Seamus more than 6" away from Tiri, walk past centerline and drop a scheme marker for Frame Job.

Neither player scored schemes, although Explorers certainly could have had a shot at Harness Ley Lines for at least one point with their Toss and Steamroller shenanigans.

Turn 2: Redchapel: Frame Job on Keepside Strangers, Bygone: Scout the Rooftops

First Light shot Keepside Strangers, but attack was tied. I had to cheat to get the damage for Frame Job.

Madame Sybelle beckoned Bete Noire closer, after which Dead Doxy lured Bete Noire closer. Now she was ready to walk and charge to Aua Warrior, who by then was the only model on that flank. I had all of my strategy markers going that way. Sensing danger, Kett repositioned to attack Bete Noire from a mile away.

Batsch & Amalie healed Seamus a little, but had to position poorly to get him in range. 

Dead Dandy walked and scaled a terrain to drop a scheme marker for possible Harness Ley Lines next turn, but that plan went sour when Parson entered same terrain and smacked Dandy to two health points remaining. Tiri and First Light also entered the same terrain complex that was designated as quite a few different terrain pieces, dropping scheme markers as they went. 

Ancient Construct had tossed Iron Matron around, and Tiri goaded her for a wacky activation where she charged Seamus, used Pass Through to get away from melee and eventually went near center point, perhaps to challenge me dominating the strategy next turn. Seamus had a choice to deny Scout the Rooftops or go attack Iron Matron. He went for Iron Matron.

Scores went 4-2 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 3: Redchapel: Harness the Leyline, Bygone: Detonate Charges

Seamus started to search for talent inside Iron Matron, killing the thing in one activation,  although Sybelle helped with two out-of-activation attacks from signature action and masks trigger. This attack could have been even more devastating if Batsch & Amalie had been closer. 

Kett failed to kill Bete Noire, but Bete Noire was able to finalize Aua Warrior before it managed to activate, so it was a double or triple whammy on that side of table after the incident with Iron Matron. 

Dead Doxy had tried to make Madame Sybelle a homing beacon for Bete Noire, but black jokered Ominous Rustling. 

Ancient Construct charged Seamus, not doing much, but Tiri kept dropping scheme markers in contact with the Construct by using Defensive Energy. It was obviously Detonate Charges, because why not. That must be the easiest scheme to score as it is. However, White Rabbit Co. was able to ruin that with a stetson, and even harness some leylines with a fez. 

Keepside Strangers and Mourner also did markers for Harness the Leylines, but as the very last activation First Light was able to walk and scale into position to deny Harness double points and drop a scheme near Mourner for Detonate Charges. 

Scores went 6-3 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4: Redchapel: Scout the Rooftops, Bygone: Take the Highground

Game was quite clear, but we played anyway to get a full game for this report. By complete accident I started harassing Tiri's claims on highground by trying to engage her to hinder interacting. First Parson knocked aside Batsch & Amalie who scaled next to Tiri to dance, I guess. Mourner went to do the same, but Tiri used Voice of the Aua on Parson, who knocked aside them as well. 

Those were pretty much the relevant model interactions. Remainder of the turn was my models climbing on terrain to drop scheme markers, and Tiri held three pieces of terrain.

Scores went 10-5, with both having scored five from schemes. Strategy somehow had gone completely one-sided in favor of Redchapel.