This Is Not a Breakthrough

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Corner Recover Evidence

Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Search the Area, Breakthrough

My list:

Jack Daw, Spirit of Betrayal & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Kari Zotiko
2x Hanged
Crooked Man
Guilty

Pool: 6

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 1

Turn 1: Tormented picks Breakthrough, Honeypot takes Leave Your Mark

Hanged and Guilty placed two scheme markers, Montresor watched Crooked Man to make a leap at one of them, and then during Crooked Man's own activation he did the same for the second marker to get in range to interact and pick up the strategy.

At least it took Beckoner and Mr. Graves some effort to get an Illuminated in range to do the same for Ten Thunders.

Since Ten Thunders looked like they were trying to assault Crooked Man with shenanigans, Jack Daw activated and brought the undead miner a little further into safety, and slapped injustice upgrade on Gwyneth as well.

Since opponent had not been trying to reach the center point until the very end of the turn, I was out of tools to deny Leave Your Mark... or was I? Kari used silver whistle to give a walk for another Hanged, and then the minion charged Kara and Hungering Darkness, who had been doing the scheming business. My idea was to score rams or tomes for the melee attack to block at least one point from Ten Thunders, but the attack missed. Bonus did hit, slowing Kara as well as giving her staggered.

Lynch charged the Crooked Man, but brings him only down to two remaining.

So, Ten Thunders took the lead with 3-1, since both scored strategy and Resurrectionists took Breakthrough just to abandon it.

Turn 2: Tormented picks Assassinate on Kara, Honeypot takes Take the Highground

Kara was in big trouble. I had a thirteen and a black joker in hand, and she was still staggered. Montresor charged and hit with both attacks, bringing her down to two remaining. Cursed to Watch gave an action for the Hanged, who had to use the black joker to secure kill. Assassination scored.

However, Illuminated was able to kill the Crooked Man and collect the evidence. Hanged did the same for Kara's evidence, and dropped a scheme for two thirds of my next turn's schemes.

Hungering Darkness and Lynch both had miserable activations, missing most of their attacks. Resurrectionists had better success, but they were burning through their soulstones with reckless abandon. This maxed out the injustice upgrades, targets being Lynch, Hungering Darkness, Gwyneth and Illuminated. None of them were able to get rid of their upgrades just yet.

Another Illuminated and a Beckoner took positions on high ground, and so was Mr. Graves who had been sitting on top of a terrain since turn one. 

Although Ten Thunders were occupying enough terrain to get two points from Take the Highground, Gwyneth invited Montresor to play at Mr. Graves's table, thus getting his nasty aura away from any upgraded enemy models.

Resurrectionists managed to catch up a little, but game was still 5-4 for Ten Thunders.

Turn 3: Tormented picks Runic Binding, Honeypot makes it look like an accident

Jack Daw activates first, and removes Hungering Darkness with Drawn to Betrayal. He shot an Illuminated down to two health remaining, although Lynch who went down to seven health remaining was a juicy target, too. I just didn't want to scare him away from between my scheme markers.

The damaged Illuminated activated right away, but failed to do anything meaningful - except give Runic Binding for Resurrectionists.

Montresor walked to get at least two models under his aura, but failed remaining actions. 

Lynch also suffered a multitude of rams, but at least he got a point from Make It Look Like an Accident by forcing Guilty to fall, and summoned Hungering Darkness back. Guilty then legged it as far as it could, but Kitty managed to drag it back for Hungering Darkness to charge and kill with the crew bonus. 

Gwyneth eventually came to pick up the strategy marker from the Guilty. However, a Hanged was able to finish off the already activated Illuminated, scored Reposition so that it could move from melee with Hungering Darkness, pick up the strategy marker and pull Hungering Darkness back into melee. 

Kari and Hanged were able to finish off Lynch. Another Illuminated went to place schemes for next turn, and Beckoner seemed to be doing the same.

While Ten Thunders did get two points from their scheme, they didn't get a point this turn from Strategy. Scores tied at 7-7.

Turn 4: Tormented picked Leave Your Mark, Honeypot wanted to Reshape the Land.

We played only a few activations in, as Jack Daw was able to pick up marker from Lynch, kill Hungering Darkness again and pick up it's marker as well. Beckoner committed to Reshaping the Land, after which Kari went to stand on the center point and dropped a second marker for Leave Your Mark. She tolled Mr. Graves into a corner and tied him up with a Drowned. I still had eight action points plus signatures left to do my scheme. While there was a fleeting chance Ten Thunders might deny a point from Leave Your Mark, it was next to impossible to deny both.

So it became a 10/9-8 win for Jack Daw. 

Eekiryo's once-in-a-lifetime hat trick

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th edition on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Plant Explosives

Schemes: Runic Binding, Scout the Rooftops, Leavy Your Mark

My list:

Kirai, Envoy of the Court & Ikiryo
Datsue Ba
Lost Love
Goryo
Shikome
Gwisin
2x Enslaved Spirit

Pool: 6

Opponent had:

Charles Hoffman, the Inventor & Edie
Peacekeeper
Melissa
2x Hunter
Warden
2x Watcher

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Both crews pick Scout the Rooftops

Edie overclocks a bunch of robots, namely a Watcher, Hunter and the Peacekeeper. The peacekeeper wreckingballed on top of the platform in the center.

Before that, something transpired. Warden went to hug the centerline, which prompted Goryo to walk and charge at it. Signature action gave a Seishin, and the charge attack sliced a good chunk off of Warden. The seishin walked through the warden to give it Spiritual Chains token. 

Let's go back to the Peacekeeper. It tossed an explosive down from the platform, and did another wrecking ball to get to Goryo. The ghost thought his time was up, and procced two irreducibles on Peacekeeper. Goryo was left with three health. Melissa charged and did two Gatling Guns on Goryo, who procced vengeance again. And yet the ghost was standing, with one health remaining. Well, he was incorporeal and behind a cover, after all. It was finally electrocuted off the board by Hoffman. 

Let's go back to the Peacekeeper. Kirai had attempted to save the Goryo by coming to swirl it away from danger. She summoned a Gwisin to Warden as well, and hit the Peacekeeper with Sundering. Rams and one raise did a whole lot of damage to it.

Finally Ikiryo used her bonus and charged Peacekeeper and flipped no other than the Red Joker. Five damage. Peacekeeper dead. Removing that bot has always been such a migraine. I was dumbfounded. Anyway, Ikiryo then walked on top of the platform, past Hunter to give it Spiritual Chains. The Hunter had come on top of the platform to drop an explosive.

Enslaved Spirits dragged along the both edges of the board. Datsue Ba on the left swirled the spirit a bit forward and went to place a scheme on a hill. Shikome did the same on the other side on a huge poison container.

Watchers did the scheme for Guild, and the hastened version even went as far as to drop an explosive. Hired Gwisin walked and charged at it, no doing anything at all. 

Lost Love tried to deny opponent Scout the Rooftops by going on top of the building on the left, but another Hunter dragged him down from there. He used his soulstone ability to leap behind Ikiryo, but Hunter leaped to tease him even further. Luckily the shot missed.

Urami got no strategy, but both crews took a point from scheme. Guild took the lead at 2-1.

Turn 2: Both crews pick Detonate Charges

Enslaved Spirit and Datsue Ba on the left didn't have much else to do other than to drop bombs. Hired Gwisin managed to scrape off Shielded off from the Watcher, who leaped away from melee, dropped a scheme and went to guard the strategy marker it had dropped last turn.

Ikiryo tried to kill off a Hunter that came to engage with Deadly Pursuit... and it wasn't that far off. Again. Red Joker straight from the deck. Hunter was left with two health remaining. 

Lost Love teleported to Kirai, swirled Seishin closer and ate it to heal. He picked up enemy strategy and tried to heal the summoned Gwisin, but didn't succeed.

The summoned Gwisin killed the Warden with vengeance, and during it's own activation went to engage Hoffman as a delay tactic. That tactic failed when Melissa single-handedly shot the Gwisin off the board, shot some damage to Enslaved Spirit and Lost Love. 

Fortunately Hoffman had a miserable activation. He walked on top of a rock.

That's it. 

But that wasn't his only contribution, though, because Edie climbed on top of platform, dropped a pylon, which made Hoffman blast three points of damage to Ikiryo and stagger her.

Shikome used bonus action to walk and drop a couple of schemes next to Melissa. 

Enslaved Spirit to the right had walked and dropped the bomb right after Melissa had shot it, just in case. Watcher nearby dropped two schemes to the spirit, which basically confirmed Detonate Charges at that point. Kirai spent a couple action points to get to the other side of the container, swirled Enslaved Spirit away from those schemes and for some odd reason used her last action to give a charge to Shikome. The bird lady charged Hunter who had two points left, and scraped a one point in. I mean... Kirai could have also interacted a scheme near Watcher. Somehow that completely escaped my attention.

Urami got a point from scheme and a point from strategy. Guild lost their scheme, but took a point from strategy as well. Scores tied at 3-3.

Turn 3: Urami picks Take the Highground, Augmented took Grave Robbing with Remains markers. 

Guild started. Hunter leaped away from melee, planted a scheme marker near Lost Love and charged it dead, thus scoring first half of Grave Robbing already. Melissa and Watcher handled the second half.

Then Ikiryo activated, moved Shikome for a bit, and attacked Edie. She, uh, Flipped Red Joker out of deck. Does this count as a hat trick? She managed to kill Edie with her activation.

Kirai summoned an Enslaved Spirit to Hunter who was at two health, moved and dropped a strategy.

The Spirit shot Hunter for a single point of damage, wheee. Hoffman had to spend all his activation removing that spirit, and failed to construct a pylon.

Second Hunter went to drop a bomb on my deployment after Datsue Ba made Take the High Ground impossible to deny. In the end, Urami was controlling five terrain pieces. 

Shikome was able to deny strategy point for Guild this turn. Both crews scored full points from scheme, and scores went 6-5 for Urami.

Turn 4: Urami picks Search the Area, Augmented picks Make It Look Like an Accident

Seriously injured Hunter went to place a second explosive to my deployment zone. Ikiryo did the same vice versa, and moved Shikome right next to a neutral marker dropped by Edie. Watcher would have none of that, so it leaped and walked to engage Shikome. It placed a pylon as well, which shot Gwisin on a rock, and scored convulsions. This gave Guild a point from scheme.

Gwisin was still in quite good health, so I decided to put two more schemes with an Enslaved Spirit to the right. It had started scheming last round, so there were four markers there. 

Unfortunately the second Hunter managed to kill Gwisin, securing Guild a second point from strategy. But it was also a point from Search the Area for Resurrectionists. Melissa charged and shot Kirai with riot rounds. She placed an explosive as well.

Riot rounds forced Kirai to take a walk, pick enemy strategy and swirl to place it to enemy table half. 

Hoffman went to place yet another marker.

Datsue Ba was able to swirl Shikome away from melee with a Watcher, so she was able to pick up neutral marker and deliver it to enemy deployment.

Both got strategy as well as extra point from strategy, and both got two points from their schemes, so game ended in a 10-9 victory for Resurrectionists.

Make It an Accident

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Informants

Schemes: Ensnare, Take the Highground, Harness the Leyline

My list:

Molly, Chaotic Conductor & Noxious Nephilim
Archie
Keepside Strangers
Carrion Fate Emissary
Rabble Riser
Night Terror
2x Crooligan

Pool: 4

Opponent had:

Lynch, Wild Card & Hungering Darkness
Gwyneth Maddox
Kara
Koji
Mr. Tannen
2x Illuminated
Beckoner

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Both crews pick Take the Highground

Honeypot had a bit easier time fulfilling their scheme, as they had a bit more options to leap on near their deployment zone. It wasn't exactly tough for Forgotten either, as they had such a repertoire of movement tricks. Carrion Fate flied a Crooligan on top of building on the right, and the same happened with another Crooligan and Noxious Nephilim to the left. Third piece was taking a charge at an Illuminated contesting center-right strategy marker and swinging the minion a couple of times before leapin on top of a rock.

Another Illuminated to the left and Koji had two terrain pieces, and near the centerpoint Kara and Hungering Darkness were holding a flooded building for their scheme.

Molly went parading on a tent near center, too. I thought that her unusual defense ability would work wonders on such a small platform, and I needed someone to place markers for Ensnare, as well as bait Honeypot uniques nearby.

Scores went 3-3.

Turn 2: Forgotten picks Ensnare, Honeypot picks Make It Look Like an Accident.

Hungering Darkness charges Keepside Strangers and nearly kills them. A Crooligan from left discarded a card to leap to Keepside Strangers, dropped a scheme next to Hungering Darkness and went to engage the thing. Keepside Strangers had already spawned one scheme marker last turn for a possible Breakthrough at one point or another.

Crooligan messed up Honeypot's scheme big time, since they were planning on throwing a kid off a window. Just a little too late Honeypot realized that the second Crooligan on top of building had Shielded. 

Forgotten got their Ensnare soon enough, as Gwyneth charged in to kill Night Terror. Turns out Night Terrors are garbage players at card games, because Gwyneth had no trouble card sharking the minion dead. However, Illuminated ones seem equally as bad at playing with ice cream, as Archie was able to pummel the guy to mist. 

Lynch nearly killed Carrion Emissary, damaging it down to two health remaining. It flied away, scared of gambling any more and instead placed two scheme markers while also contesting center-right strategy marker.

Beckoner walked to contest the same marker, tying the control. She was able to lure Crooligan off the building, but no-one believed it was an accident since the kid was shielded.

Now defenestrated Crooligan went to control bottom-right strategy marker.

Rabble Riser and Noxious Nephilim squabbled with Koji and Illuminated, neither side making much of a progress.

In the center Kara tried the only possible action for Honeypot to score their scheme, and attacked Molly. Attack hit, but didn't score Rams.

Molly was Forgotten's last model to activate, and she slapped Kara off from kitchen counter with parade baton. She had to use two Parade Routes on Crooligan to get it to contest strategy marker in the center.

Forgotten took the lead with 6-4.

Turn 3: Forgotten picks Reshape the Land with schemes, Honeypot attempts Breakthrough.

Gwyneth finishes Carrion Emissary before it is able to activate. Archie makes a tit-for-tat exchange with Beckoner, killing her before she activates.

Koji and Illuminated to the left nearly kill Rabble Riser. In fact they would have if it wasn't for a lucky Rams during Rabble Riser's attack when he was still at one health remaining.

Fortunately I was reading around opponent's cards, and noticed Illuminated's "Don't Turn Your Back" in time - I had this grand plan of flying Noxious Nephilim and Rabble Riser to bluff Search the Area for a bit, but making the markers for Reshape the Land instead.

Molly had to spend her entire activation to walk on top of central building and parade the Nephilim out of Illuminated's engagement range.

Kara continued to attack Molly, making the cat even more distracted. 

A Crooligan moved to remove a scheme marker some Honeypot model had placed on my deployment zone. That was my attempt to deny Breakthrough. Unfortunately Honeypot had plenty of more activation by then, but at least it forced Hungering Darkness to scheme around.

Both players scored full schemes and strategy for 9-7 lead for Forgotten.

Turn 4: Honeypot picks Assassinate on Molly

Noxious Nephilim tried to remove Koji from equation to get one strategy marker for Forgotten. Both of his attacks needed to hit, but the first one failed already unless I spent a thirteen from my hand - which I did. But second attack missed as expected.

Lynch scores one point from Assassinate, and also gives Molly slow. She had three health remaining. She had to activate next, and went over the central building to take a charge at Koji. Koji died, but so did Molly when Illuminated activated. 

Opponent was able to kill Keepside Strangers and Crooligan effortlessly. I still had one chance to tie the game - Archie pushing both Gwyneth and Mr. Tannen away from their respective strategy markers. Attacks hit well enough, but no masks were scored in any of the cases. Since it was double point round, Honeypot claimed a 11-9 victory.

Where are you, Richard?

 A 50ss game of Malifaux, 3rd edition, Gaining Grounds 3.

Strategy: Standard Carve a Path

Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Catch and Release, Spread Them Out, Hidden Martyrs, Spread Them Out

My list:

Seamus AKA Sebastian Baker & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire + Grave Spirit Touch
Keepside Strangers
Carrion Effigy
Gravedigger
Necropunk
Dead Dandy

Pool: 4
Schemes: Spread Them Out, Hidden Martyrs (Necropunk + Dandy)

Opponent had:

Clampetts Fisherfolk & Bruce
Aunty Mel
Uncle Boggs
Sir Vantes
2x Buckaroo
2x Skulker Skin

Pool: 2
Schemes: Spread Them Out, Catch and Release (One of the Buckaroos)

Turn 1:

First turn was fairly straightforward positioning. I set up Necropunk far left to leap, walk + drop a scheme, with Copycat Killer and Gravedigger nearby as well. 

Seamus went center, and summoned a Dead Doxy out of Bete Noire. He managed to flip a moderate even with the double minus.

Keepside Strangers got to Seamus to kick a strategy marker, and walked back to not be so dangerously close to, well, everything.

Madame Sybelle, Carrion Effigy and Dead Dandy were closing in from the right.

Anglers had a heavy emphasis on the right, with just a Buckaroo and Skulker Skin going from the left. Aunty Mel, another Buckaroo and Skulker Skin were going towards center, and the remaining gremlins were right, or further right. Clampetts themselves eventually stomped their way past centerline, moving a strategy marker past centerline and dropping first scheme marker for Spread Them Out.

Turn 2:

Clampetts disengaged Madame Sybelle, who had charged in to tie up Clampetts and Sir Vantes. They then charged Carrion Effigy, smacked it dead with two strikes, and stomped deep into my deployment to drop a second scheme marker for Spread Them Out.

Eventually Dead Dandy went to try to remove first scheme marker Clampetts had done, but failed his check. 

I had some trouble Spreading my Them Out, so Bete Noire had to waste her activation to run to act as a homing beacon for Keepside Strangers, who leaped in and went to drop a scheme marker far to the right.

Dead Doxy went to place a scheme to the center before getting pushed to Uncle Boggs and Bruce by Sir Vantes, I think.

Seamus did nothing only a master could do. He just walked and kept kicking strategy markers, both friendly and enemy. In the end he wasn't even able to hinder Angler's progress that much. However, since Aunty Mel was standing, like, five inches from Seamus' face, I decided to sacrifice Copycat Killer instead. And look at the little guy! He shot Skulker Skin down to one health remaining.

Necropunk did the third scheme marker for Spread Them Out, and so died the Buckaroo who charged through Necropunk.

Scores went 2-2.

Turn 3:

Seems like I missed picture from turn three, but I think I can infer much of what happened. 

From left to right, Necropunk leaped to top-left corner, starting to cultivate the second part of Spread Them Out.

Buckaroo did the same. 

Aunty Mel made Copycat Killer go away, just as expected. Seamus, however, threw a wig on Copycat Killer's corpse and tossed a bar or lipstick that hit Copycat Killer squarely in the forehead, and raised him as a Rotten Belle. 

Situation in the small funnel from where I was delivering my strategy markers was a convoluted mess, but I managed to keep both my markers past the centerline, and so did Anglers.

Dead Doxy nearly canes down Bruce after the pup and Uncle Boggs had tried to kill her. Uncle Bogg also repositioned to engage Madame Sybelle, who was duking it out with Sir Vantes. She certainly needed some back-up, so Dead Dandy walked and charged Uncle Bogg.

Keepside Strangers placed away from Sir Vantes engagement range, climbed on top of a container and threw some snakes at Bogg. Damage was moderate, so Dead Dandy took more damage than anticipated, although the damaging itself was intentional to make him a more enticing target to kill.

Bete Noire charged Sir Vantes and tickled him for a bit before burying herself with a trigger.

Clampetts didn't have much of an activation after failing to stomp. 

Both players got strategy for a 3-3 tie.

Turn 4:

Madame Sybelle was able to withstand Sir Vantes' fury, although this finally drained all of my soulstones. She also did disengage half an inch to not be engaged by Uncle Bogg. Fortunately Uncle Bogg took the bait and ate Dead Dandy in one bite - that was Hidden Martyrs for me.

Keepside Strangers was able to shoot Bruce dead with snakes. Aunty Mel isn't as successful, although just one hit brings Gravedigger down to half of his health remaining. 

Martyr number two, Necropunk, continued to spawn scheme markers while hugging the edge of the board. Unfortunately Skulker Skin was able to shoot a couple of wounds off from him.

Catching and Releasing Buckaroo got tired of trying to engage Seamus, and took a triple walk to go next to Madame Sybelle instead.

Clampetts was able to stomp around and kick a strategy marker to my deployment zone. After the mess that was my own strategy marker delivery, Bete Noire had to teleport in to kick one marker to Angler deployment after Seamus, Gravedigger and the Rotten Belle 

Both players scored strategy and second scheme for a 5-5 tie.

Turn 5:

Skulker Skin robbed me a chance at Hidden Martyrs, but the punk did score Spread Them Out end for me.

Gravedigger kicks the second strategy marker to enemy deployment. 

Aunty Mel and Clampetts secured fourth strategy point for Anglers. Catch and Release Buckaroo managed a successful disengage and ran out of reach.

I tried to figure out a way to get Bete Noire to act as a beacon for Keepside Strangers, but Sir Vantes had pushed them down from the container, which meant their LoS was severely restricted. 

Had Rotten Belle managed to disengage from a Buckaroo more than 1", perhaps Bete Noire could have done it, but Belle botched the disengage. There was no chance of Sidekicking Keepside Strangers to Bete Noire, walking and kicking enemy strategy marker out of my deployment, so game ended in a 8-7 victory for Anglers.

Back in His Element

 A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th edition on Vassal.

Strategy: Flank Informants

Schemes: Reshape the Land, Search the Area, Leave Your Mark

My list:

Jack Daw Ensouled & Jaakuna Ubume
Montresor
Kari Zotiko
Ferryman
Hanged
Crooked Man
Guilty
Drowned

Pool: 4

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe, Relic Hunter & Luna
Sidir Alchibal
Desper LaRaux
2x Rough Rider
2x Ruffian
Huckster

Pool: 6

Turn 1: Tormented picks Reshape the Land, Wastrels pick Leave Your Mark

Ferryman ferried a Guilty with it to top-left strategy marker, where Guilty dropped two schemes to start bluffing Search the Area. Unfortunately opponent didn't commit to denying imaginary scheme.

I was also stressing out about Sidir, but fortunately I had two 13's in my starting hand. Jaakuna scaled on top of a building, lured Sidir closer and gave him the Rams upgrade. Next she did the special from crew card to yank Sidir to the building too, and used soulstone trigger to also deny him Masks.

So that was a 50% chance to fail any action. So out of three actions Sidir was able to do, he had a good chance of failing at least one. However, he sliced Jaakuna with just two attacks, and did a mortar strike and shot a third time. Well, at least that failed. 

Infuriated, Jack Daw threw curses left and right - specifically, to the Rough Rider center-left, and Sidir to the right. He also lost Tomes, so next turn if  he continues to pass 75% of his actions, someone will suffer. (Spoiler: That someone was Jack Daw.)

Since opponent was so clearly trying to leave his mark, Crooked Man went to crook his scheme markers and even craft up his own. I forget who removed that scheme marker, so Kari had to waste a soulstone to give Crooked Man another interact. Montresor was to do the last required marker for Reshape the Land one pointer, but failed because my hand was empty.

At least Hanged, my second last activation, landed a Rams out of deck on Lucas to remove one scheme from Wastrels. and also pulled Rough Rider from contesting central strategy marker.

Scores went 1-2 for Wastrels, as they were able to get one point from the half mark they had left of themselves. Jack Daw was just spewing bad words in all directions, and failed to reshape anything.

Turn 2: Tormented Picks Search the Area, Wastrels pick Reshape the Land

Guilty placed third scheme for Search the Area, used Onward to get to enemy deployment zone and dropped a scheme marker there, too. Opponent left my three markers alone, and as such I was able to grab the one point from Search the Area. Later Ferryman placed the marker for end condition, walked and charged Rough Rider and McCabe.

Tormented gang is on fire at the center - figuratively. In the center Rough Rider died to Ferryman, Hanged and Kari - and even McCabe went down to five. And that was only after he healed for two and three. 

Montresor charged Sidir and punched in the face for five points as he punched himself in the face for five points. Ouch. That upgrade sucks. Second attack brought Sidir down to two, which sucked even more, because Sidir has hard-to-kill. However, Sidir was also staggered, and Kari had summoned a Drowned on the roof. Even a stat 5 begins to have an effect on a stat 3 defender. Sid went down to one, which was a sitting duck for Jack Daw's automatic damage sprint. Which he did, killing Sidir and dropping right next to already injured Ruffian. He smacked the minion dead, and picked up his litter, too. Meaning, scheme marker.

It was a delight to watch the opponent struggle with Sidir's three Jack Daw upgrades, but Sidir himself didn't seem to bother. He was making his flips just fine, even damaging Jack Daw for three points.

Luna, Huckster, surviving Rough Rider and even Desper were dropping schemes for Reshape the Land. I couldn't remove the markers fast enough, and he had too good schemers anyway. However, I did manage to set up Breakthrough for next turn. 

Because I had chosen violence, I fell behind on strategy points. Scores went 3-5 for Wastrels.

Turn 3: Tormented picks Breakthrough, Wastrels pick Search the Area

Noose was tightening for Wastrels. They fell so much behind on action points.

However, the death train started losing steam... kind of. Breakthrough scored two points just fine after the first activation, but Tormented managed to kill just one model this turn. Though in all honesty, that model was Lucas McCabe. 

To dodge around his horsey-healing tricks, Tormented had do ping him for one point, and only from hazardous terrain and tactical action. I need to savor this turn, because that's exactly what happened. Well, one point of damage came from a Drowned or something, but Lucas didn't proc his heal just yet. Eventually Montresor was cursed to watch as Kari tolled Lucas into hazardous terrain, leaving him at two health. He had taken one point from hazardous already during his own activation, as he rode Huckster to my deployment zone. Jack Daw was then free to either kill Lucas by rolling over him twice, or deny opponent points from Search the Area. I made the scoring-wise incorrect decision to kill Lucas, but in my heart I know it was the right decision for the wrongs he's done against the humanity. Even in this game he trampled a mistreated, crooked miner with several lung diseases under the hooves of his horse.

So, Huckster and Desper were able to secure two points from Seach the Area for Wastrels. Breakthrough scored two for Tormented, who also took the upper hand in strategy. It was still a 6-7 lead for Wastrels.

Turn 4: Tormented picks Public Demonstration on Desper. Wastrels pick Frame Job on Luna.

Desper was the first to activate, and went to bottom-right corner. Now, if I only would receive a soulstone or two from somewhere... like from the Guilty who had just one health left...

... which certainly could have happened, if Jack Daw didn't go and kill the Ruffian a hit away from killing Guilty. 

Unfortunately Hanged went to charge Luna to bluff Assassinate. That he did, but also scored a point for Wastrels from Frame Job.

Me activating Jack Daw that early was mostly to save up lesser minion activations, as well as Kari and Ferryman for their movement tricks. But I certainly didn't need both of those models, or even furthest Drowned. However, no amount of stalling found me an opening to rush two minions to Desper. 

Double points on turn four, however, tied the scores to 8-8.

It Just Had To Come vol whatever

 Two 50ss games



of Malifaux 4th edition.

Strategy: Wedge Informants

Schemes: Assassinate, Harness the Leyline, Runic Binding

My list:

Molly, Harbinger of Havoc & Necrotic Machine
Archie
Philip & Nanny
Night Terror
2x Rabble Riser
2x Crooligan

Pool: 5

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 4

Turn 1: Forgotten picks Assassinate on Mr. Tannen. Honeypot picks Assassinate on Philip & Nanny.

Eventually Archie leaped, walked and charged to punch a point out of Mr. Tannen. Respectively, same didn't happen for Honeypot, because I wasn't measuring up my distances correctly, and a Crooligan wasn't in fact contesting a marker on my side's quarter after she climbed on top of a building.

In the end, Archie's reckless charge was not a good choice, as opponent was able to remove him from the board. Certainly he disrupted most of the first round for Honeypot, ultimately leading to situation where Honeypot didn't score even a single point this turn. 

Well, not only Archie. There were other choices too, like taking a double walk to contest rightmost strategy marker with Molly, which left her in a precarious position for the upcoming turns.

Also, a Crooligan attacked a contesting Illuminated at the leftmost strategy marker, which didn't do much. But the way the kid shrieked from shadows had the Illuminated jump to Necrotic Machine, letting Crooligan to control the strategy.

From top of my head, I think it was this turn when Kara tried to take the highground, but Molly gave her a walk off from top of building, essentially to the joint corner of the two rightmost buildings in the picture.

Scores went 2-0 for Resurrectionists. Was the Archie gambit worth it? We'll see!

Turn 2: Forgotten picks Scout the Rooftops. Honeypot picks Detonate Charges

I had been playing Scout the Rooftops from turn one forwards, but it still took a lot of work somehow to claim two points from it. Molly and her jinkies were essential in achieving that after Mr. Tannen took a double walk to block my earlier set up.

Kara came to block the marker on my side after shredding up a kid on the roof of a building. Fortunately Philip & Nanny kept pram ramming the cat so hard that during end phase it died to feeling utterly abandoned.

The second kid cheered and ran to Gwyneth to play some exciting new card games, but was beaten to death by a card deck instead. One of the Rabble Risers also died, and the other one at something like two points remaining was moved right next to a bunch of scheme markers for a Detonate Charges.

At least Necrotic Machine was also able to remove one illuminated, so there were losses on both side.

But Forgotten had the heavier toll, so Ten Thunders were able to start collecting strategy points.

Both teams got two from their schemes, so scores went 4-3.

Turn 3: Forgotten picks Grave Robbing, Honeypot picks Take the Highground

... Allrighty, oh-kay'y. 

I mean, once you play this game enough, statistical anomalies are bound to happen.

The turn was a total disaster. My own estimation was that Resurrectionists were struggling in this game, and were rather fighting for a draw rather than victory. But this turn just tilted the scales so far into loss.

The thing was, that I had just a single 13 in my hand. That was from previous turn, by the way. Meaning that I did not draw it on turn three. This is important information.

After we ended the turn, I tallied my discard pile AND my hand. Here we go:

1x 13
1x 11
1x 8
2x 7
3x 6
3x 5
1x 4
3x 3
4x 2
3x 1
Black Joker.

I mean, it was hilarious in its own way. But it did lead to such a one-sided situation, that we could end the game right there and then to a 4-6 victory for Ten Thunder. Sure enough, that point difference wasn't too bad, but Ten Thunders had such an overwhelming majority in contesting models that not scoring two points from strategy was just not going to happen. 

I had the 13 in my hand, and figured that if I just would receive 11+ in my hand, opponent would be able to deny two points for my scheme only with a Red Joker. But that 11 in the stats was not in starting hand. 

So, let's get on to the second game.

Game 2:

Strategy: Flank Plant Explosives

Schemes: Assassinate, Ensnare, Make It Look Like an Accident

Last Breath Seamus & Copycat Killer
Strange Lady
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire
Dead Doxy
2x Mourner

Pool: 5

Opponent had:

Steel Sculptor Hoffman & Mechanical Attendant
Peacekeeper
Melissa
Warden
2x Hunter
2x Watcher

Pool: 5

Turn 1: Redchapel picks Ensnare, Augmented picks Make It Look Like an Accident

I must admit I was dreading those harpoons. But you got to move some models in this game, I guess. Mourners seem rather good for their extra walk to drop bombs right off the bat. Unfortunately there were mechanical bats doing just the same for Augmented, and also four legged canine/feline hybrids, that the lone Mourner found herself against top-right.

Another Watcher went to place a strategy marker bottom-left. I managed to arrange Bete Noire there doing just the same, but also charging it with bonus from crew card. Damage was good, but most of it was healed by Mechanical Attendant anyway.

Another Mourner went to place a scheme marker near center point, trying to bait either Peacekeeper or Hoffman himself there, but neither seemed to be that interested. Although I think Peacekeeper attacked her once, but she leaped away with concealment token. Strange Lady did the same, and last attack went to Seamus who had been moved there by Copycat Killer. By then Hoffman had already committed to everything but attacking.

I did realize my Seamus shenanigans were off by a large margin, because I could have done what I wanted so easily with just a well placed Secret Passage. Oh well. At least Seamus was able to claim Ensnare with two points.

Opponent couldn't make Make It Look Like an Accident work, but they did claim strategy. So did Resurrectionists for a 3-1 lead.

Turn 2: Redchapel picks Frame Job with Mourner, Augmented picks Breakthrough

I tried to bluff Madame Sybelle as the potential Frame Job target, but I had picked Mourner who had just three health remaining. However, this particular opponent had a history for giving me easy Frame Jobs, so he was really hesitant to attack anything at all near the center. Some non-damage action pulled Madame away, but she just charged right back. Mourner walked away to place a bomb, but charged right back. And in the end, Hoffman refused to frame a job. 

To confuse opponent even more, Seamus wasted his activation by dropping three scheme markers on top of a building to bluff for Search the Area. Well, it wasn't a total waste - I was also building up for Scout the Rooftops next  turn.

Copycat Killer also had teleported on the building, and shot Melissa that had climbed on top to contest Search the Area. He shot Melissa with the monster cannon, and fell from the building, nearer enemy deployment zone to place a strategy marker there.

Fortunately all this also lead to a situation where he couldn't claim Breakthrough, so neither player got scheme points.

Bete Noire managed to slice a Watcher into scraps, but it took every action she had.

Warden, Hunter and Peacekeeper punched through Dead Doxy, who took admirably long before she died. 

With great difficulty both players had managed to drop five bombs. Augmented, however, had placed two of those on my deployment zone, so they received the bonus points, catching up on the scores to 4-3 lead for Redchapel.

Turn 3: Redchapel picks Scout the Rooftops, Augmented kept Breakthrough

Augmented kept Breakthrough. Although I did have first activation, I wasn't in a position to deny it. 

This turn, however, went absolutely horribly for Redchapel in other ways as well. 

My plan had been to discard walk with Mourner to pick up the bomb she had placed earlier, then take a double walk. Later, Strange Lady would give her the interact required to score extra point from strategy. However, I wasn't paying attention to the actual deployment line, and the Mourner scaled a terrain to get on top of a fateful building to receive cover from possible attacks. She did receive those, sure, but wouldn't be able to plant the explosive! Strange Lady did give her at least the interact to place a scheme marker for Scout the Rooftops, but... wait, there's more.

Seamus had to teleport in to save the day, but even that I managed to mess up. He teleported, placed bomb in enemy deployment, walked to scale terrain and placed a second scheme marker for Scout the Rooftops bonus points. Except that he didn't. Instead, he picked up the neutral bomb Mourner had left when she eventually had died.

Last two paragraphs summed up probably my most horrible case of self-sabotage in the entirety of my Malifaux career. First, the Mourner robbed me of a point - I was one strategy marker short of receiving victory point from strategy. Then, I didn't have the models to place enough scheme markers for Scout the Rooftops bonus points. GAH.

Opponent was able to score Breakthrough with ease, and then focus on killing my models and ensure strategy.

Scores tied at 6-6, as Resurrectionists had been able to claw at least the bonus points for strategy. 

Turn 4: Redchapel picks Leave Your Mark, Augmented picks Assassinate on Strange Lady

I had the option to pick either Detonate Charges or Leave Your Mark. Since I already got one next to center point, I thought I'd have my shot at that, because opponent likely would avoid my scheme marker like the plague. 

Opponent was quite sure I had picked Detonate Charges, but decided to drop some scheme markers to the center anyway, just in case. Once that started happening, I tried to redirect what was left - mostly just Bete Noire - to engage models there so they'd not make even more schemes. 

I won't say opponent had easy time killing Strange Lady. She did take some effort for sure, but if Peacekeeper, Hoffman, Hunter and Melissa decide with all their action points that you're getting assassinated, you kind of... are. 

I was passing as much as possible to make my last move, Seamus dropping three schemes for Leave Your Mark. Unfortunately Augmented still had one activation left, and that was Mechanical Attendant, who was able to teleport to Hoffman, walk and drop a scheme. This denied me one point.

Resurrectionists were the worse bombers this turn, too, so opponent got three points and Resurrectionists only one. This ended the game in 7-9 victory for Guild.

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.

Those Foamy Cliffs

 A game of Malifaux4th edition. Since 4th edition requires a bit more terrain, especially terrain heights, I'm going light with the pictures since some of our terrain choices

Strategy: Standard Plant Explosives

Schemes: Make It Look Like an Accident, Search the Area, Public Demonstration

My list:

McMourning, Malpractitioner & Zombie Chihuahua
Rafkin
Leftovers
Kentauroi
Flesh Construct
Batsch & Amalie
Oskar
Dapperling

Pool: 6

Opponent had:

Sonnia Criid, Unmasked & Kazamir
Samael Hopkins
Witchling Handler
Hex Bow
2x Thalarian Queller
2x Witchling Stalker

Pool: 4

Turn 1:

Schemes: Search the Area (both)

This game my opponent was a beginning player in third edition, and this was very first game of fourth edition he had. I knew this so I left Rogue Necromancy home.

However, at the end of first round it became clear that opponent was quite overwhelmed by the system, and I get it - if you last game was a year ago and it was third edition, first you got to learn again how models interact with each other, how they attack, what are raises and all the basic mechanics around them. 

I wasn't quite aware of the starting point on turn one, so I was able to grab quite the headstart building up scenario and schemes. I had picked up Search the Area purposefully so that I'd just build up for Breakthrough next turn, not scoring points just yet.

Hex Bow and Samael proved to be ideal combo, and together they were able to shoot Flesh Construct off the board on turn one. Their side of the board also had Witchling Stalker and Thalarian Queller against Oskar and Batsch & Amalie. I guess Leftovers were there, too, but they were kind of all over the place anyway.

Remaining models were on the right. McMourning was able to walk and charge a Witchling Stalker, carving a Little Gasser out of it. It was an honest mistake, it completely slipped my mind that Sonnia summoned models by killing them... yeah. 

Someone was able to land the killing blow on the hired Witchling Stalker, so at least Witch Hunters sort of lost power by having a summoned model instead of a hired one. 

McMourning took in quite a bit of damage, as Witch Hunters directed most available attacks on him. This caused most of their crew barely leaving deployment zone. 

Oskar and Leftovers had brought a strategy marker past centerline, and Dapperling did a scheme marker on my deployment zone, and Kentauroi did one on the centerline.

Scorest went 1-0 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 2:

Schemes: McMourning picks Breakthrough, Sonnia keeps Search the Area.

Witch Hunters kept focusing on my models, and while they did respectable damage - both Kentauroi and McMourning would be gone in the end phase - it was clear opponent wasn't playing the scenario or schemes at all. I asked if he needed a hand with those. I had scored two points from Breakthrough after opponent's first activation so it wouldn't matter that much if opponent revealed his scheme to me, and we figured out a way to move forward a tad more aggressively. 

Since Search the Area for Witch Hunters looked next to an impossible one this turn, we decided to focus on building up Harness the Ley Line for next turn. After all, Witch Hunters had pretty much claimed the right half for them to do whatever. There was only Dapperling around.

McMourning died mostly because he black jokered Vial of Goo to poison a Witchling Stalker. He charged and killed it with two strikes, but without that black joker that would have been four points healed. Without thinking I went ahead with summoning one more Little Gasser, which got turned into a Witchling Stalker, which got turned into a Witchling Thrall.

Elsewhere my attacks were meager in their results - but I think by now every single one of my models had dropped their explosives to enemy table half, except for the Flesh Construct who died before being able to. Only Batsch might have been holding on to his explosive, I don't remember.

Scores went 4-0 for Resurrectionists, but at least Witch Hunters were now in way better position to play turn three. 

Turn 3:

Schemes: Late McMourning picks Frame Job with Rafkin, Sonnia takes Harness the Leyline.

Oskar died, Dapperling died, and I think opponent still had the same number of models with which they started the game. I had to make most of my action points.

For a while it looked like Rafkin wouldn't get to frame any jobs, but fortunately Sonnia deliberated on figuring out a way to go and scorch Batsch & Amalie or shoot Rafkin. But Rafkin was standing there, easy to shoot, so he got two points. 

Witch Hunters also had to spend quite a few actions securing their Harness the Leyline, so they weren't able to pick up or drop that many strategy markers just yet. Strategy went to Experimentals.

Scores went 7-2 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Schemes: Both pick Scout the Rooftops.

Since we were quite exhausted at that point, turn four was mostly theorized through. Claiming two points from Scout the Rooftops would have been an easy job: Opponent already had required terrain pieces, only the scheme markers were missing.

There was zero chance Experimentals wouldn't get their extra points from strategy, but that wasn't too hard for Witch Hunter either. They also had plenty enough actions points to rob me from a regular strategy point and claim it for themselves. Barring any unexpected results, most likely end scores looked like 8-6 for Resurrectionists.

Totem Duel

 A game of Malifaux, 4th edition.

Strategy: Flank Boundary Dispute

Schemes: Public Demonstration, Harness the Leyline, Frame Job

My list:

Kirai, Lady of Vengeance & Ikiryo
Datsue Ba
Carrion Fate
Kuchisake-Onna
Lost Love
Shikome
Gwisin
Seishin

Pool: 6

Opponent had:

Hoffman, Inventor & Edie Clark
Peacekeeper
Melissa KORE
Guardian
2x Hunter
2x Watcher

Pool: 4

Turn 1: 

Schemes chosen: Urami: Frame Job with Shikome. Augmented: Harness the Leyline

I was considering either Harness the Leyline or Frame Job, but then I noticed hard nerfs that Harness Leylines had received at some point. However, I decided try and bluff it by moving Shikome as my first activation to the centerline and planting a scheme marker.

Augmented took the bait, and Peacekeeper walked down from a stone formation and charged the minion for two victory points for me.

Shikome survived relatively well, but her position so vulnerable that Kirai walked for a bit and pulled her back with a heal. 

Soon enough Ikiryo walked and charged Peacekeeper and slapped it down to seven health remaining. 

Melissa shot a bunch of damage to Kirai, some of which was redirected to Gwisin.

Kuchisake moved a strategy marker, walked and shot two seishins right to Peacekeeper. One of the seishins gave a walk for Ikiryo for her to go and engage Melissa as well as Peacekeeper, and be in contact with a strategy marker.

Edie gave an action to one of the Hunters, who tried to shoot Ikiryo with harpoon. This failed, but Hunter felt confident that throwing enough harpoons at Df 3 target would eventually do the trick. Which it did. 

Carrion Fate interacted a strategy marker, flied with Gwisin towards  top-left quarter and interacted again the same marker.

As I was running out  of actions at the center, Lost Love had to reposition there to throw a strategy marker past centerline. This left Datsue Ba alone with a Seishin to face against Hunter, Hoffman, Watcher and even a Guardian. 

Oh, minus that Seishin, because Datsue killed the thing herself with Lantern of Souls. Well, thanks to Seishin's valiant sacrifice, both players (and not only Guild) scored a point from strategy. Guild didn't get their scheme and abandoned it for a 3-1 lead to Resurrectionists.

Turn 2:

Schemes: Urami picked Scout the Rooftops. Augmented picked Assassinate on Datsue Ba.

Going from top to bottom, Gwisin eventually placed two schemes - one to corner, one past centerline to bluff both Harness the Leyline and enable double points from Scout the Rooftops.

And, uh, Peacekeeper. Yeah. That thing killed Carrion Fate in just one activation. Didn't even empower anything. Carrion Fate had a rotting fate. 

Kirai wasted two actions to get in a summon. An extra Shikome tried to engage Peacekeeper before it had wronged fate.

Melissa and Hunter smacked the summoned Shikome down to two remaining. Watcher had ran to a strategy marker, and as my last activation Kuchisake tried to kill both Watcher and another Hunter to the right, but failed the attacks despite benefiting from Adversary.

Hired Shikome activated late in the turn and went to place a scheme for Scout the Rooftops. Edie spammed actions here and there.

There was this final gathering of Watcher, Hunter and Hoffman against a granny. Hunter started clawing her, which got her down to six health remaining. She had to activate to save herself, and summoned Ikiryo to bodyblock Hoffman. She tried to skin a metal robot, but did only a few points of damage. But she scored crows and healed for a bit.

Watcher had interacted, leaped and interacted a strategy marker deep into Resurrectionist deployment zone. To at least remove that terrifying schemer, Ikiryo charged it, but failed to kill. I don't remember what actually killed the Ikiryo - probably some combination of Edie's shenanigans. But yeah, Ikiryo died, but Lost  Love teleported in to re-summon it. She smacked Hunter down to two remaining from the summon attack, and then charged the Watcher dead.

However, Hoffman had walked on top of terrain when first (or second, however you count it) Ikiryo had blocked Datsue from view. He scored two beam attacks, managing to stagger her and bring her down to two health remaining. 

Guardian went to toss one of my strategy markers back to wrong table half.

Resurrectionists fell behind in strategy, but had scored doubles from Scout the Rooftops. Datsue was still clinging to her dear life, so Assassination succeeded only in half. Scores went 5-3.

Turn 3:

Schemes: Urami picks Detonate Charges, Augmented picks Scout the Rooftops.

Hunter started beating Datsue Ba, who was at two health remaining. And look at that - she survived. It did take two of my highest cards from hand, though. But then the granny skinned Hunter, healed for a bit and even infused a soulstone. That somewhat eased the pain of losing Carrion Fate that easily.

The other Hunter went to engage Gwisin at top-left corner after shooting summoned Shikome dead.

Kirai attempted to remove Peacekeeper, and did it in a costly manner. She walked on top of a stone, used crew action to bring Ikiryo to hit Peacekeeper - and then hit it again with soulstone trigger from Soothe Spirit. Not sure how that counts as soothing, but at least Peacekeeper fell to two health remaining.

With a single raise and soulstone trigger, Peacekeeper would be able to smack Ikiryo off the board and not die to Vengeance. The robot decided to take it's chances, and died to vengeance. Ikiryo did go down to one health remaining, though, so she activated and walked and charged... somewhere? She didn't  really accomplish anything, though.

Melissa shot Ikiryo dead with quick reflexes, and damaged Kuchisake down to four health remaining. Kuchisake, feeling threatened by the presence of a tiny, not yet activated Watcher, summoned Ikiryo back after walking to within 12" of Lost Love. Ikiryo was able to kill the bat with summon attack.

Hoffman went to place a couple of scheme markers on top of terrain, and shoot Datsue Ba down to one health remaining.

Edie spammed actions again, but used one action to go and engage hired Shikome. Ikiryo charged Edie, and while she landed a hit, she wasn't able to free Shikome to do any scheming. Shikome walked away from melee, then, and walked and charged Hoffman on top of the terrain to block Scout the Rooftops.

Lost Love teleported to Ikiryo to plant a couple of scheme markers to Edie for a victory point.

Augmented scored strategy, but missed Scout the Rooftops. They didn't abandon the scheme, because they had it set up pretty well.

Scores went 6-4 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Urami was able to even out the number of strategy markers and claim a point from Take the Highground. Augmented scored the strategy too. They weren't able to remove Shikome from blocking the double points from Scout the Rooftops.

Game ended 9-7 for Resurrectionists. 

Both totems seemed... Intense. For both crews I'd dare to say that they were the MVP's of the match.

Decaying Ghosts

 A 3rd edition game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Corner Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Protected Territory, Ensnare, Hold Up Their Forces, Information Overload, In Your Face

My list:

Kirai, Envoy of the Court & Ikiryo
Kari Zotiko
Jaakuna Ubume
Lost Love
Goryo with Grave Spirit Touch
Gwisin with Grave Spirit Touch
Gwisin
Seishin

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

Opponent had:

Kastore, Fervebt & Marathine
Barbaros
Gwyll
Leech King
Cavern Nephilim with Grave Spirit Touch
Urnbearer
Blood Vessel

Pool: 3
Schemes: Protected Territory, In Your Face

Turn 1:

There was little engagement between forces. Cavern Nephilim and Kastore went top-left, so I was hesitant to commit there. So I didn't. 

Barbaros was flying near right table edge, and the remainder of Returned were in between these two flanks.

Urami had Ikiryo nearest to Kastore, with non-GST Gwisin and intel picking Lost Love close by... too close!

Near the center point there was also a juicy gathering for Kastore - Jaakuna, Kari and Goryo all within blast ranges. 

GST Gwisin and Kirai were going bottom-right, although Kirai was still near enough the center to cover it with her auras.

Turn 2:

Kastore walked and charged Ikiryo, and blasted both Lost Love and Gwisin... with a red joker on damage. Whoopsie. Second attack killed Ikiryo easily enough.

Cavern Nephilim picked up intel and walked forward, past centerline.

In the center Kari made a gambit, walking and charging to engage Gwyll and Urnbearer, almost catching Blood Vessel. The trio beat Kari down to three health remaining.

Goryo ran away with intel, and Lost Love teleported to Kirai and went to pick up bottom-right intel, far from most  threats. He was now at two health remaining, and it looked like Barbaros might be within shenanigans+walk+charge range, so grave touched Gwisin went to engage him. And engage for Hold Up Their Forces.

Seishin took a double walk to heal the other Gwisin pitifully. Gwisin then walked to take a swing at Kastore. He did a surprise moderate with negatives, but his purpose was to Hold Up Their Forces.

Kirai went to place a marker for Protected Territory, Jaakuna did the at the center. Goryo had accidentally spawned an Enslaved Spirit, whose defensive flips were through the roof. Leech King and Blood Vessel dealt just a single point of damage in.

Both crews got strategy, while Returned got In Your Face from Ikiryo. Urami got both of their schemes for a 3-2 lead.

Turn 3:

Cavern Nephilim started dropping scheme markers past center line. Kastore removed a Gwisin, and came to threaten center. Goryo charged him and dealt four points in, and Seishin ran nearby to offer its weak heal in case Goryo survived Kastore.

Kirai was able to summon Ikiryo out of Barbaros. She also picked up intels.

Barbaros and Leech King were attempting to murder the Enslaved Spirit, and oh my god were those defensive absurd again. It still continued to survive, albeit down to one health remaining. 

Urnbearer lured Gwyll away from Kari's melee, who was then able to pick up intel after Jaakuna had picked up one too. Jaakuna was trying to go top-left, where there were no longer heavy hitting dangers around. 

Grave touched Gwisin walked to guard Kirai, and Ikiryo just took a double walk to perhaps blast Leech King, Barbaros and Blood Vessel with a projected voice.

Both crews got strategy, so Resurrectionists continued with 4-3 lead.

Turn 4:

Kastore rampaged through Goryo and Seishin, killed Seishin and charged Kirai. Gwisin took the attack, although that didn't stop her from being damaged with blasts.

Finally Enslaved Spirit is killed, but another one was summoned in its place, along with a Gaki. 

Ikiryo walked and charged into the bunch instead, but managed to die to Gwyll's decays.

Kirai continued swirling and picking up intel, also trying to save half-wounded Gaki in the process. It could have been used for Protected Territory end condition had it survived.

Goryo and Kari finally kill the Urnbearer. Kari floats aimlessly, not quite deciding if she should push for intel or Protected Territory end condition. Jaakuna does kind of same.

However, Blood Vessel leaps to Kastore, walks and uses bonus action to plant a scheme for protected territory.

Lost Love survives, and that's it.

However, thanks to Kirai's weird summons Urami was able to contest strategy markers so that Returned failed to pick three intel for this turn. They did, however, reveal their Protected Territory.

Scores continued in 5-4 favor of Resurrectionists.

Turn 5:

Kastore kills my extra summons, freeing Leech King and Barbaros to pick up intel - which they did. So much in fact that a single steal wouldn't  rob Returned of their strategy points this turn.

Gwyll managed to shoot Kari down to one health remaining. Didn't know ghosts decayed this effectively. 

Lost Love had managed to teleport away to safety to Jaakuna, who was holding the marker for Protected Territory.

However, having lost both Gaki and Enslaved Spirit before they were able to activate, I wasn't able to make enough scheme markers to counter Marathine's removals.

Cavern Nephilim easily got to my deployment and to drop a scheme there. 

Kirai tried to summon a new Ikiryo to Blood Vessel in an attempt to deny a point from Protected Territory, but failed to score masks on Thirst for Vengeance. I did have a twelve of masks in hand, though, but I had to save that one.

GST Gwisin got to engage Leech King, and Goryo disengaged from Gwyll, walked and used bonus action with the aforementioned twelve of masks to teleport to Barbaros for Hold Up Their Forces.

Counting scores, Urami got fourth strategy point plus Hold Up Their Forces. However, Returned scored their third strategy point as well as both schemes, so we were looking at a tough 7-7 draw.

Machine Gun of Injustice

A 50ss game of Malifaux 4th Edition on Vassal.

Strategy: Flank Informants

Schemes: Grave Robbing, Public Demonstration, Breakthrough

My list:

Jack Daw, Spirit of Betrayal & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Kari Zotiko
Guilty
Guilty 2
Drowned
Drowned 2
Crooked Man
Bone Pile

Pool: 6

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe Tomb Delver & Cryptologist
Sidir   
Desper
Jessie   
Rough rider
Rough rider
Ruffian 
Huckster  

Turn 1:

Schemes: Tormented: Public Demonstration on Lucas. Wastrel: Grave Robbing with Remains

Tormented picked Public Demonstration on McCabe. Wastrels picked Grave Robbing with 

True to the deployment's name, two flanks quickly formed. 

A Guilty, Kari, Lady Ligeia, Montresor and Jack Daw were on one, butchering up a Huckster and summoning a Drowned to Jessie.

Well, Jack Daw was kind of part of that flank a until Desper LaRaux yanked him from strategy marker in the center and planting him to face Rough Rider's and Sidir's gun barrels. 

To the right, models were piling up to a strategy marker near the center of top-right quarter. First, Crooked Man ran to contest the marker, trying to lure McCabe nearby. Due to some luck, this eventually succeeded after a Cryptologist, Rough Rider and Ruffian had failed to kill it. Granted, Crooked Man did have cover as he was inside a building.

Miraculously enough, McCabe was not able to score the kill either. However, one of the Rough Riders managed to score the kill. A hired Drowned and Bone Pile contested the marker, but Wastrels had it with Cryptologist, Rough Rider and McCabe. But I still had a Guilty left to activate that I had planned to onward-walk and walk to drop a scheme near McCabe for double points on Public Demonstration. However, Onward failed even with an empower.

Wastrels scored Grave Robbing with Remains marker, and Tormented also got a point from Public Demonstration. Both got strategy thanks to Desper hooking Jack Daw away from center.

Game was tied at 2-2.

Turn 2:

Schemes: Tormented: Assassinate Jessie. Wastrel: Leave Your Mark

Sidir shot Jack Daw down to four health remaining, so Kari had patch him up as well as he could. She also used soulstone trigger to move him to a slightly better defensive position. My next activations were Montresor charging Jessie, who was staggered, and almost killed her. Jessie was able to heal herself a bit, but finally Jack Daw scored  double points from assassinate.

Lucas, Cryptologist and Ruffian managed to kill both Bone Pile and Guilty as I was securing assassination. Both Rough Riders and Desper block center marker and drop two scheme markers for Leave Yout Mark. One Rough Rider was especially well placed so that Lady Ligeia and another Guilty were not able to go place even one scheme marker block Leave Your Mark double points. At leastLady Ligeia was able to claw Rough Rider down to three health remaining. 

Both players got strategy and doubles for their schemes, so scores were tied at 5-5.

Turn 3:

Schemes: Tormented: Runic Binding. Wastrel: Reshape the Land

Somehow Sidir was able to shoot both Jack Daw and Guilty dead in one activation. Sure, Daw was down to two hits with a raise, Guilty required just one without a raise. Rough start for a turn, but at least the dying ended there. Oh wait, it didn't. Later Lucas McCabe drowned Drowned in bullets, despite it being in cover and concealment. 

A Drowned and Montresor plant the required schemes for Runic Binding, which easily enough scores two points. But I was running out of action points now that Jack Daw and Guilty were gone before they were able to activate. Wastrels were able to drop scheme markers with impunity, with there being little I could do to remove them even if I suspected Reshape the Land.

Resurrectionists  were able to kill the already gravely injured Rough Rider. My losses were not quite 3:1, because Kari had been able to summon a Drowned, but it was a non-interacting, non-contesting model.

Both crews scored two points from schemes, but since Lucas McCabe had shot Drowned that had been controlling bottom-right strategy marker, Tormented lost a point from strategy.

Scorest went 8-7 for Explorer Society.

Turn 4:

Schemes: Tormented: Ensnare. Wastrel: Search the Area.

Both crews scored a point from their schemes. Tormented had quite a few movement shenanigans, but failed to utilize them well enough to push a required number of Wastrels away from contesting strategy markers, and so Explorer Society reached full 11 points again 8 by Resurrectionists.