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.

Laugh Off Standoff

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Corner Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Hold Up Their Forces, Power Ritual, Outflank, Death Beds, Information Overload

My list:

Seamus Baker & Copycat Killer
Strange Lady
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire
White Rabbit
Gravedigger
Rotten Belle

Pool: 5
Schemes: Power Ritual, Outflank

Opponent had:

Shenlong & 2x Aspiring Student
Sensei Yu
Fuhatsu
2x High River Monk
2x Wandering River Monk
Low River Monk

Pool: 3
Schemes: Death Beds (strategy), Outflank

Turn 1:

Monks had two strike teams of High River Monk, Wandering Monk and an Aspiring Student going to both corners, top-right and bottom-left. Top team was also reinforced with Low River Monk. High value monks and Fuhatsu were coming through from the middle. 

I had far less of a uniform crew. Copycat Killer and Gravedigger were going towards bottom-right, and after White Rabbit Co. crafted a hat for Bete Noire, both she and Rotten Belle were going towards top-right. 

Madame Sybelle walked inside a forest to take some concealment in case Fuhatsu would start shooting around. But instead Seamus charged from behind and stabbed Madame in the back, dropping a new Mourner on the board. Fuhatsu eventually shot a couple of damage points to the newly summoned model.

Mourner nearer to centerline as well as center point, and Strange Lady healed all the damage Seamus had done. No intel was picked this turn, which wasn't exactly a surprise with corner deployment.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and Bete Noire went to place a scheme marker for Outflank and Power Ritual before High River Monk would activate. Soon enough it did, and had Bete Noire down to two health remaining, plus Burning +2. But the hat had not been knocked over.

A little too enthusiastic Wandering River Monk on top went to pick up intel from strategy marker, only to become counter-picked by Mourner. Rotten Belle also benefited from this by getting intel from the marker that was placed.

In the center Seamus had taken Mourner by the hand and crafted a new Dead Doxy out of her before picking up intel from a strategic bystander.

Sensei Yu and Shenlong were trying to kill off the Dead Doxy once it had walked next to a strategy marker, but Regrettably (yeah, via masks), she survived with two health remaining and Burning +2.

Strange Lady told Gravedigger to walk forward a bit toward bottom-left, and Gravedigger did so. He also dug up a corpse to get within 1" of strategy marker, picked up intel and walked away from the tide of monks about to crash bottom-left.

I was a bit worried that various punchy shenanigans would soon drain Seamus of his intel, so Copycat Killer took a double walk to dropped Seamus to bottom-left corner. And right after another High River Monk came to set Seamus on fire, while Wandering River Monk was picking up intel. From strategy marker, though.

Madame Sybelle took a long walk out of forest and went to sit on center-left strategy marker after Fuhatsu had activated. If I remember correctly, Fuhatsu shot Dead Doxy in a forest and took a walk to cover more of the board with that horrifying gun.

However, Resurrectionists got both Outflank and Power Ritual, although this left Bete Noire with only one health remaining, and burning. Both crews got strategy, and scores went 3-1.

Turn 3:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, so the now hatless, burning Bete Noire at one health remaining was able to get an activation. She did some damage in to High River Monk before becoming the first casualty of the match. The monk also placed a scheme marker to the corner,

Mourner was able to nearly kill High River Monk before an Aspiring Student four-wind punched Low River Monk nearby to heal the beatstick minion. Now at four health remaining, I didn't think Rotten Belle would be able to kill High River Monk, so she proceeded to smack Low River Monk with a parasol.

Wandering River Monk on top went to pick up an intel, and walked to engage Rotten Belle.

In the center, Sensei Yu scored Death Beds from Dead Doxy. Shenlong walked to pick up intel from a strategy marker, and possibly attempted to strike Copycat Killer.

Four Winds Punch that pushed Low River Monk had actually come from Sensei Yu pressuring the totem to do that. With his actual activation, Aspiring Student walked and charged Strange Lady that had earlier healed Seamus. Boom. Six damage in with that 1/1/2 damage track. Well okay, Shenlong had switched his upgrade to High River Style. 

Fuhatsu charged Madame Sybelle, stunning her and pushing away from melee. He tried to shoot Strange Lady for a bit. Next shot went to Strange Lady, fortunately only dealing weak damage but still bringing her down to two health remaining, Burning +2.

Madame Sybelle managed to lash Fuhatsu down to five health remaining despite being stunned. 

Bottom-right, early on Seamus spent his entire activation killing another High River Monk, before Copycat Killer switched their places and went to sit on a strategy marker. This caused Wandering River Monk to go to bottom-left corner and drop a scheme marker. Aspiring Student charged Copycat Killer, and managed to broom the Little Seamus below the carpet. 

Gravedigger had picked up another point of intel and distanced himself from the local monks.

Resurrectionists had managed to block intel points from Ten Thunders, but this turn Shenlong managed to score both of his schemes for a 4-3 lead for Seamus. Resurrectionists were also all out of soulstones by now.

Turn 4:

From top to bottom, Rotten Belle was able to kill Low River Monk before it healed High River Monk any more. Mourner harassed High River and Wandering River monks without that much of an effect. Wandering River Monk leaped to pick up an intel and ran towards top-right corner. 

Later during turn, Seamus took a double walk and took Mourner by the hand to deliver himself next to Wandering River Monk to collect his intel.

In the center, Shenlong didn't manage to do anything with his activation. White Rabbit's fashion statements beat martial arts this time. White Rabbit gave a hat for Strange Lady before they went into position to pick up intel next turn.

Strange Lady had killed Aspiring Student and healed herself before Sensei Yu walked and charged her, smacking her down to two health remaining and Burning +2 once more. 

One of my first activations had been Madame Sybelle trying to kill Fuhatsu, but she only brought the enforcer down to one health remaining before Juggernaut healed him for four. Le Sigh. 

Fuhatsu was able to stun and push Madame Sybelle again.

Bottom-left Gravedigger went inside fog bank. Aspiring Student came to harass him, while the other Wandering River Monk went to pick up intel.

Both players scored strategy for a 5-4 lead for Resurrectionists.

Turn 5:

Early enough Seamus and Mourner were able to deny opponent Outflank by killing Wandering and High River Monks. 

This, however, made the other Wandering River Monk reckless at bottom-left corner. Because there was no incentive for him to go and pick Outflank, he leaped to strike Gravedigger with the 3" push attack. Despite concealment the attack hit sure enough, and pushed Gravedigger mere 0.5" away from being able to score both Outflank and Power Ritual.

Opponent had picked up enough intel in the middle so that the best course of action for Gravedigger was to drop a corpse push & walk to Wandering River Monk and pick up his intel. This robbed Ten Thunders at least one point.

In the center, Shenlong Four Wind Punched Sensei Yu to strategy marker, and as the situation unfolded, the result of the game now hinged on whether Shenlong flipped a 6+ for The Dragon Command's It. He did not, so game ended in 5-4 victory for Seamus.

McCabe's Special Talent

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Recover Evidence

Schemes: Vendetta, Leave Your Mark, Research Mission, Breakthrough, Sabotage

My list:

Seamus Baker & Copycat Killer
The Strange Lady
Mortimer
Keepside Strangers with Grave Spirit Touch
White Rabbit Co.
Dead Doxy
Dead Dandy

Pool: 6
Schemes: Vendetta (Mortimer on Sidir), Sabotage (Forest to the bottom-left)

Opponent had:

Lucas McCabe2 & Luna
Sidir Alchibal
Jessie Halliday
Mr. Ngaatoro
Rough Rider
2x Ruffian
Hopeful Prospect

Pool: 4
Schemes: Vendetta (Sidir on Strange Lady), Leave Your Mark

Turn 1:

Seamus summoned a Mourner out of Keepside Strangers, who in turn assisted the distraction away from Strangers. Then Seamus walked merrily with Mortimer down the corridor on right... And that's where the fun ended this turn.

Well, Mr. Ngaatoro and Ruffian approaching from the right weren't a concern either, but where to begin...

White Rabbit had crafted a hat for Keepside Strangers before running off to left. Despite not being entirely out of my deployment zone, it was still too close.

Rough Rider started shooting White Rabbit, as did Jessie who had been delivered closer by Rough Rider. Harpoon struck true, and even soulstone flare wreaked havoc on my smattering of Dead Dandy, Doxy and White Rabbit. Terrible as it was, Strange Lady had to activate early to heal White Rabbit. 

Lucas had given Timeworn Blade for Sidir, but just took a double walk and an interact to center point with the remaining activation. 

I though that White Rabbit would have better chances of survival against Sidir if Keepside Strangers blocked line of sight. Strangers also had a juicy spot where to throw some snakes. A Ruffian and Jessie were standing within blast distance of each other. So, Strangers teleported and started yeeting snakes. Both attacks missed, though. So zero progress was being made there.

Sidir activated, took a walk and started shooting Keepside Strangers. 

Boom.

Red Joker on damage. 

Fortunately Keepside Strangers had Shielded +1 as well as the hat from White Rabbit, so they were left with three health remaining. White Rabbit wasn't as fortunate, and died to blast. 

At least the second shot missed, but then there was Fast Hopeful Prospect right behind Sidir. He managed to shoot Keepside Strangers down to one health remaining.

Not a problem, though? I just had to win the initiative next turn so as not to lose this important tech piece.

Turn 2:

Hooray! I had a 13 and a 12 in hand. And I flipped initiative before opponent had done so, and was quite confident in getting initiative.

Boom.

Red Joker on initiative for Wastrels. 

I see. So that's how we're going to play.

Rough Rider was able to shoot Keepside Strangers dead, as also opponent had a 13 in his hand.

This game was starting to look like an absolute train wreck, but at least Mortimer was able to decay one un-activated Ruffian dead before Mr. Ngaatoro missed his attack.

Sidir shot Strange Lady down to half of her health remaining despite me attempting to intervene with soulstones, thus scoring Vendetta. 

To get at least strategy point this turn, Copycat Killer teleported Seamus to left. He activated Urban Legend with masks and charged Ruffian. Just one attack hit, though. everything else completely failed.

Lucas, however, was intrigued by the innocent-ish talent scout and charged Seamus to demonstrate his talents in treating children, teenagers, animals, doctors and nurses, the elderly and mentally disabled. 

Well, I still might be able to score by walking and charging Ruffian, and then Obeying Dandy to interact with Strange Lady. That did require some luck to accomplish, as Dandy had only a stat of 4 and was Distracted. Luck was not the name of this game, so Strange Lady just charged Jessie Halliday and missed all her attacks and failed to heal herself.

Even Dead Doxy failed to seduce Ruffian to at least make the strategy marker drop.

Ugh. Horrifying turn.

Scores go 3-0 for Explorer Society.

Turn 3:

FINALLY I began in succeeding in some duels. First, Seamus activates Urban Legend with masks, slaps Ruffian dead, takes a horse by the hand to get away from McCabe's reach, and interacted my very first real strategy point.

Rough Rider disengaged from Seamus, shot... somewhere... and attempted to throw Timeworn Blade to Lucas. Fortunately the action failed because of Alone in the Dark.

Seamus wasn't in too good of a shape, so evidence wielding Dead Dandy was to make the ultimate sacrifice and engage both Lucas and Sidir. This jolly, slightly overweight and generally happy chap of a gentleman was then lashed to death by no other than Lucas McCabe. It took two actions, after which he picked up the strategy marker that had been dropped. Lucas also dug up Timeworn Blade for Sidir.

Strange Lady, having all of her defenses negated by Timeworn Blade,  activated to heal herself for a bit, and kill Jessie with a steady flow of snakes. Only one attack hit, though, so there went that plan.

But it was not Sidir who activated - instead, Luna came to dig up a scrap marker for card draw. This gave Dead Doxy a chance to save Strange Lady, so she took her by the hand and lead her away from Jessie. Then Doxy charged Jessie and caned her down to two health remaining.

Finally Sidir activated, but instead of going for Strange Lady he throwed the blade for Hopeful Prospect and took a walk to get through Seamus' stealth. He took focused shot at Redchapel master, and with two shots brought him down to four health. One quick reflexes shot got Strange Lady down to three health, with Dead Doxy catching blast damage. 

Jessie disengaged from Dead Doxy and took a harpoon shot at Strange Lady, leaving her with just one health. And next, she dropped soulstone flare. I had no other cards in hand other than black joker. At least Doxy and Lady passed the test.

I was afraid that Hopeful Prospect would finish the job, but instead he made the correct move of starting to lay scheme markers for Leave Your Mark end condition.

To the right, Mourner and Mortimer did astonishing job at removing Mr. Ngaatoro before he was able to activate. However... unknowingly Mr. Ngaatoro had locked me out of even the possibility of scoring Vendetta reveal, or even end for that matter.

My last model to activate was the Copycat Killer, who brought Seamus to far right and ran as fast as he could towards my sabotage target.

Both players scored strategy for a 4-1 lead for Explorer Society

Turn 4:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and I wasted no time in teleporting Seamus back to near sabotage target. Immediately Rough Rider came to harass him - well, Seamus only had four points left and I no longer had any soulstones. Much to my relief, the shot missed. 

Worried that Lucas might take a double walk and a charge at Seamus made me activate the master before trying to save Strange Lady. His activation was... flawed. I was going to write something else, but I took a closer read at Sabotage - no enemy models allowed within 3" of Sabotage scheme markers. Oh well. I try to find consolation in the fact that I could have pushed the Rider away from those markers with Take by the Hand. Instead, Seamus just pulled the horse closer to kiss it on the mouth with a barely hidden cleaver.

In the center, Lucas was able to kill Dead Doxy with a single strike, and collect the evidence of what he had done. I think it was Jessie who shot Strange Lady off the board. 

Mortimer dug up a zombie, picked up evidence from Mr. Ngaatoro and moved closer to my third strategy point.

Mourner did respectable job at holding back the entirety of remaining Wastrels. Luna and Hopeful Prospect were able to bring her down to two health remaining. Sidir closed the turn by planting a scheme for Leave Your Mark, and killing the Mourner.

Scores went 5-3, or 5-2 if we actually go by the rules. 

Turn 5:

So, we were in the assumption that scores were 5-3. However, Explores Society did have three points pretty much confirmed, which meant loss even if Wastrels suddenly went insane and killed Sidir for my Vendetta end condition. 

So, game ended in 8-5 (as played), or 8-4 (misplayed scheme accounted for) for Wastrels. 

Blessed Audition

 A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Standard Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Deliver a Message, Outflank, Espionage, Power Ritual, Take Prisoner

My list:

Seamus Baker with The Whisper & Copycat Killer
Strange Lady with Grave Spirit Touch
Bete Noire
White Rabbit Co.
Dead Doxy
Bone Pile
Dead Dandy

Pool: 5
Schemes: Outflank, Espionage

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 1
Schemes: Outflank, Deliver a Message (Blessed of December)

Turn 1:

Let's go from left to right. 

Dead Dandy places a scheme marker for Espionage, also bluffing Power Ritual. Since there was only a tiny bottleneck for Bone Pile and Dead Dandy to get through to strategy marker, Silent One blocked that passage with an ice pillar. Bone Pile had to use its second action to remove the thing.

Silent One was accompanied by a Hoarcat, but both were still far away from strategy markers. 

Acolyte of December was deployed on top of a building, where it took a shot at Strange Lady, damaging it a little. Strange Lady did not approve, and Obeyed the thing off the building, dealing a couple of damage points from the fall. Which was somewhat impressive, as Strange Lady was still distracted from Seamus amputating a Mourner off of her. 

Blessed of December walked and leaped to strike at Strange Lady, not doing much.

Rasputina and Wendigo blasts Bete Noire off the board before White Rabbit had the time to craft a hat. Off the board obviously meaning Fade Away in this context. Ice Dancer was there with Rasputina and her totem, dominating center. However, Mourner took up the challenge - or at least peeked in their general direction from behind some barrels. 

As my last activation Bete Noire popped up in my deployment zone and ran just past centerline, inside the building on right.

Snow Storm was feeling confident enough to take on Dead Doxy (with a hat), Copycat Killer and White Rabbit Company, which were slowly creeping towards outflank zone and a strategy marker there. Top right quadrant also hides a Silent One, somewhere, somehow.

Four ice pillars had risen up already, although one of them had been removed. 

Turn 2:

Again from left to right, Bone Pile and Hoarcat toss an informant between them, both gaining an intel point. Dead Dandy positions right behind the strategy marker after Hoarcat had tossed it back. Dandy placed a scheme marker in outflank zone.

Blessed of December is mauled pretty badly by Strange Lady and Seamus, but Silent One patches up the beast a little. Acolyte, Rasputina and Blessed of December all get fixated with attacking Strange Lady, and surely enough it takes three stones to keep her going. Not a single damage block was below two, though, so I had some luck in there. 

Mourner tries to go to interact with a strategy marker until she realizes she was a summoned model. Instead, she dropped a scheme marker touching the centerline. 

Either Rasputina or Silent One blocked Bete Noire's advance with an Ice Pillar, and after White Rabbit gave her a nice hat, she was forced to spend one action point to take a walk towards enemy deployment zone for Espionage. Then either Rasputina or Silent One blocked her advance again with an ice pillar. 

Ice Dancer, however, was able to get perfect line to get past Bete Noire and White Rabbit Company... three times, no less. This drained my hand, but I was able to keep Bete Noire fairly intact. 

Snow Storm got frustrated over my Disguised models, and went to charge White Rabbit Company instead. Future sales of haberdashery plummeted, as the duo was left with two health remaining. 

Dead Doxy went to outflank zone on right, and Copycat Killer came to wreck an ice pillar that had risen right next to Dead Doxy after she had activated. 

Both players scored strategy, but Resurrectionists got a 2-1 lead thanks to claiming Outflank.

Resurrectionists managed to maintain a healthy population of only four ice pillars with a cost of two action points.

Turn 3:

Hoarcat and Bone Pile start a duel in the outflank zone, while Dead Dandy claims an intel and goes into hiding behind a building. 

Ice Dancer provided Hoarcat with an emotional support ice pillar, and perhaps it was this turn when she healed Blessing of December instead? I forget. Anyway, Blessed of December leaps to Seamus and delivers a message to him. 

Seamus spends his entire activation delivering a heart-warming message to Blessed of December, too, and Seamus compliments Blessed's uncanny ability to play dead after he greeted the aspiring talent with bladed bouquet. He even had time to compliment an ice pillar's majestic stature with a slam action.

Bete Noire had faded away again, and popped up from Blessed of December's corpse. She and Strange Lady charged the already damaged Acolyte of December and killed him. 

Wendigo went to pick up an intel, and summoned Mourner went to take it from its cold, living hands. She even took half of the totem's health away. 

I think it was Rasputina who made Bete Noire fade away after Ice Dancer had tormented her with endless pirouettes. 

I wanted to keep the option to move Seamus right to get outflank on turn five, so White Rabbit Company took a grim, determined expression and crafted a hat for themselves. They walked within 0" of Snow Storm and poked it with needle and thread. Their bravery shall be remembered. 

Unfortunately, though, that's all that will be remembered as Snow Storm slapped them dead even through the hat. However, Copycat Killer survived at two health remaining.

My first activation had been to run Dead Doxy to enemy deployment zone. Thus, Espionage was complete. Resurrectionists also got a strategy point, while Arcanists got Deliver a Message for a 4-2 lead for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Duel between Bone Pile and Hoarcat continued without much of a progress for either side. I don't actually remember what Dead Dandy did, but looks like he was busy setting up new scheme markers for Outflank end condition. 

Silent One got an intel I think, and so did Bete Noire. Noire dropped a scheme marker for Espionage end condition as well. Strange Lady that had suffered from Slow starting from turn two had attempted to Obey Bete Noire to interact, but Bete Noire takes orders from no-one. 

Seamus walks and charges Wendigo that had moved below bell tower. He strikes the totem down and walks into contact with strategy marker. 

I'm not sure what Mourner did, probably just mourned how she couldn't land a hit against Wendigo. 

Rasputina was shooting Winter Strikes against Bete Noire and Strange Lady, securing Slow for Strange Lady four turns in a row. 

After getting intel, Ice Dancer and Silent One on the right tease Dead Doxy, and she is a little bummed by their harsh words. She is slowed, so she couldn't reposition to a better place to drop a scheme marker. 

Snow Storm makes Copycat Killer go splat, thus robbing me outflank end condition. The bestial henchman still had an action point left to interact a scheme for Arcanists' own flanking maneuvers. 

Resurrectionists scored no points this turn. Arcanists finally got their Outflank, as well as second strategy point. Scores tied at 4-4. 

Turn 5:

We did not play the last turn to the very end. Silent One to the left went to place an Outflank scheme marker, and Snow Storm did the same on right, so that was Outflank end condition for Arcanists.

Ice Dancer skated nearer to remove Dead Doxy's scheme marker with Don't Mind Me, but Doxy was able to lead Ice Dancer away fir Take by the Hand. She was then able to drop a scheme marker for Espionage end condition.

Arcanists missed on Deliver a Message, while Resurrectionists didn't get their Outflank.

After collecting intel points for two turns, Resurrectionists were able to carve a 6-5 victory with a third strategy point.

Jossittelua

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Standard Stuff the Ballots

Schemes: Ensnare, Espionage, Protected Territory, Outflank, Let Them Bleed

My list:

Sebastian Baker & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle
Bete Noire
Carrion Effigy with Fate
White Rabbit Co.
Bone Pile
2x Dead Dandy

Pool: 6
Schemes: Ensnare, Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Charles Hoffman & Mechanical Attendant
Melissa KORE
Joss
2x Hunter
2x Watcher
Medical Automaton

Pool: 4
Schemes: Espionage, Let Them Bleed

Turn 1:

First turn was rather slow for Resurrectionists - I proceeded to mine the strategy markers close to my deployment witch scheme markers for a potential Ensnare end condition. For that reason, both Dandies, Carrion Effigy and White Rabbit hadn't moved much beyond deployment zone. White Rabbit sew a hat for Madame Sybelle. 

Seamus carved a Mourner from Madame Sybelle, and the trio was closest thing to strategy marker in the center.  Bone Pile was a little further away not figuring out what to do. 

Farthest flanks were held by Bete Noire (left) and Copycat Killer (right), with Bete Noire charging a Watcher that had flown within her walk+charge reach.

Augmented had a Watcher on both flanks. Melissa and a Hunter supported by Medical Automaton were closing in from the middle of center and right ballot, and the rest were in the middle with Hunter and Joss in the frontline.

Voting in the center looked like it would become a hot topic next turn.

Turn 2:

Dead Dandies finished solving their identical murder mysteries at my side of ballot boxes. One Dandy went in the direction of rightmost ballot that had been claimed by Medical Automaton and Watcher. Another Dandy was sewn a fancy hat by White Rabbit. Rabbit went to remove a destructible box for moves next turn.

Bete Noire wasn't able to kill the Watcher on left with a single strike, so she couldn't fulfill his duty as a citizen just yet. 

Before Mourner was killed by plethora of Augmented action points, Seamus used his entire activation to drop a scheme just past the center ballots, take Mourner by the hand and drop two votes in the center. I would have certainly liked to do other things with Seamus, but I had messed up with Madame Sybelle by charging Joss and then hitting him again. I had originally planned to interact a scheme close to Joss. 

Fortunately Joss wasn't able to land his hits on Madame Sybelle - that irreducible damage track sure is scary! - only one weak damage with critical strike came in. 

One Hunter engaged Bone Pile, and another leaped on Seamus and used deadly pursuit to go and engage White Rabbit and Dead Dandy. 

Carrion Effigy healed whatever damage Hunter had done to Bone Pile.

Scores went 2-1, with lead for Resurrectionists from revealing Ensnare.

Turn 3:

Madame Sybelle popped her aura and injured Joss heavily. After that opponent got totally fixated on killing Madame Sybelle. Joss, Hoffman, Melissa and even a Hunter that disengaged from White Rabbit and Dead Dandy all took their shots. Keeping Madame on board took all of my remaining soulstones, but she was left standing with two health. Undivided Attention and Alone in the Dark trigger on Urban Legend helped there immensely, although I don't think even a single point of damage was done via distractions. 

In the center, Seamus had put up his aura, placed a vote and a scheme marker.

Bete Noire dropped a scheme to left and placed her vote. White Rabbit and a Dead Dany were slowly, so slowly getting past the center line. 

Second Dandy went to place a vote on rightmost ballot before getting engaged by Medical Automaton. Since it looked like even fight, Watcher just dropped a scheme out of Dandy's LoS and another vote to the ballot. 

Effigy turned into Emissary tried to relieve Dead Dandy in melee with Medical Automaton by rotting and rending in their general direction, but failed to accomplish anything. Even bonus action failed because of no cards left to cheat.

Hunter and Bone Pile continued their less-than-lethal duel, and suddenly we were looking at the end phase. 

Bete Noire had scored me second strategy point for a lead of 3-1.

Turn 4:

Guild got the initiative, and Joss butchered Madame Sybelle as expected. It took only one strike, and as such Joss got some extra time to scribble his vote to the ballot. I made the mistake of activating Seamus first, taking Hunter by the paw to get a charge lane at Joss. Only one attack hit Joss and dealt minimum damage, so the henchman was still alive at one health. Mechanical Attendant was able to heal him for two.

What I should have done was to activate Carrion Emissary and put up Aura of Decay and go and charge Joss so even if it fails, Joss wouldn't be able to heal.

Fortunately Emissary was able to kill what remained of Joss with a single strike though, so there's that. 

Melissa charged and started shooting Carrion Emissary, bringing it down to two health remaining. This forced Bone Pile to stop scratching the chrome paint of Hunter and disengage to throw a healing bone for Carrion Emissary. 

Having now activated just about every model I could use for votes in the middle, Hoffman was left free to stuff his own stack of votes to center, resetting the points. Last action was an attempt to attack Carrion Emissary, but no hits were scored. 

Copycat Killer blasted Medical Automaton with half-pint flintlock, dealing a severe damage and bringing the automaton to one health. But the minion activated next, healed itself for two and tried to perform a surgery on Dead Dandy. Dandy did not approve and spanked the tiny robot dead with a single well placed hit with fancy cane. After violence, Dandy flamboyantly dropped his vote into the ballot. Watcher, however, claimed that box and came to engage Dandy.

Dandy on the left insulted a Hunter and charged it to engage. This forced Hunter to disengage, so it wouldn't be able to interact this turn. I had high suspicion opponent got Espionage for one of his schemes. 

Another Hunter that had been engaged by Bone Pile was now free to move and vote at Resurrectionists side right ballot.

I had become a little carried off with the Dandy beating R2D2 and spent all cards from my hand, so to score Protected Territory this turn White Rabbit had to make a hat to happen. After Bete Noire ran to Guild side left strategy marker, White Rabbit Co. concentrated and sew a hat for Bete, and walked to the same strategy marker. 

So, opponent was able to deny me a third strategy point, and got the second one himself. However, Resurrectionists scored Protected Territory for a total of 4-2 lead for Resurrectionists.

Turn 5:

We decided to play until game was clear. My first activation was to run Dead Dandy to engage Hunter, which already made scoring strategy point difficult for Guild. Melissa shot off Dandy's hat, but the gent stood still. 

Emissary went to engage both Hoffman and Mechanical Attendant. But when second Dead Dandy succeeded in removing opponent's scheme marker on centerline, we called it quits. Almost. We realized opponent might try to peck a point of damage in to Dead Dandy for Let Them Bleed end condition.

Resurrectionists got 5 or 6 points, while Guild might have scored 4 in best case scenario.

"Ah, how exciting! A proper murder mystery."

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Wedge Cursed Objects

Schemes: Vendetta, Catch and Release, Spread Them Out, Public Demonstration, Leave Your Mark

My list:

Seamus Baker & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle with Grave Spirit Touch
Mortimer
White Rabbit Co.
Bete Noire
Dead Doxy
Dead Dandy

Pool: 6
Schemes: Vendetta (Mortimer on Mr. Graves), Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 2
Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Vendetta (Hungering Darkness on Mortimer)

Turn 1:

Plenty of severe terrain made this horrible map a slog for my crew - not to mention me wanting to keep my distance from Hungering Darkness. As a result I really didn't get out of my deployment zone. Only Dead Dandy was running towards fulfilling some Spread Them Out. 

Madame Sybelle was at the tip of my deployment zone, where Seamus came to cleave her arm off and turn it into a Mourner. 

I suppose opponent might have charged deeper, but a hatted Bete Noire charged to Illuminated pair, dealing respectable four points of damage after Tanuki had activated. 

Hungering Darkness just charged Bete, slapped her for four points of damage and planted a scheme to center point. Yup. Not gonna challenge that anytime soon.

Mortimer had activated early, placing a corpse for Madame to blaspheme off the board. 

Turn 2:

Ten Thunders won initiative, and started flinging scintillating clouds to Mourner, Doxy and Madame Sybelle. They were passing those checks rather well, though. Out of four scintillating clouds only two hit Mourner, one Dead Doxy and one Madame Sybelle. 

Sybelle was my first model to activate, and she regenerated and put up Undivided Attention with rams trigger, healing her back to full. She managed to beckon the slightly injured Illuminated a little closer. After the other Illuminated had done its thing, Seamus activated to walk into the river and activated Urban Legend with unnecessarily bought masks for Alone in the Dark. 

Mortimer was already too front. Had not Red Joker saved his resist roll against Beckoner's lure, he might have been in a terrible position for Hungering Darkness to charge into.

Mourner interacted Illuminated for one point of damage, and fed on his grief. I managed to get a straight damage flip and cheated the severe in. Illuminated was now with only one health remaining!

Gwyneth tried to come and shoot Mourner dead, failing at that. I had worried a wild Tanuki would have appeared and healed the Illuminated. My hand was trash by now, so I decided to charge Dead Doxy into the Illuminated. Idea was that if Doxy failed to deliver the kill, I would have at least possibility of giving her a hat with White Rabbit, with automatic one point of damage from gaining Distracted. 

Fortunately she succeeded with her second attempt.

White Rabbit & Co. gave Seamus a fancy hat, which enraged Mr. Graves. He toppled Seamus' top hat with a fencepost - he landed a severe damage. Soulstone's damage block was two and the hat removed another two.

Jakob Lynch slapped Dead Doxy hard. She died. Boo.

But, Mortimer's Vendetta target was now in reach. Bete Noire appeared from Doxy's corpse, charged Mr. Graves and attacked him three times. Every single one of them missed. Great. Although that was because opponent kept spending high cards from his hand, so I guess they were away from Hungering Darkness' damage potential.

Tanuki removed Distracted from Hungering Darkness, which had come from unrequited love. The furball also gave focus for the monster. 

Mortimer activated next, and tried to land a shot at Mr. Graves anyway - but failed. He did manage to make a Mindless Zombie out of Red Joker, though. 

Finally Hungering Darkness activated, walked and charged Mortimer. I was suspecting a vendetta, which would be terrible news, really. I had next round to score Vendetta reveal, at most. 

Mortimer had to spend soulstones to block damage, and thankfully one attack missed, leaving Mortimer with six health remaining. 

Kara had tried to attack Bete Noire, but also didn't land a single hit. Soul companions, those two. 

Lastly, Copycat Killer ran as far as he could and teleported Seamus hopefully for some scheme shenanigans.

Scores go 1-2, when both get strategy and Ten Thunders reveals Leave Your Mark.

Turn 3:

Hungering Darkness... Yeah.

That thing activated first, and slapped five points of damage to Mortimer. Then it killed Copycat Killer with one hit, which needed more than a weak damage. Lastly, it tickled White Rabbit Co. for five points of damage. That hurt, and even more when Hungering Darkness revealed vendetta on Mortimer. This was misplay on my part. Before game I had read that The Real Power rule would remove Hungering Darkness' totem status, which it doesn't. 

Madame Sybelle activated Undivided Attention, healing Mortimer, Mourner and White Rabbit company. She charged Mr. Graves, sinking in four points of damage. She also lashed Kara with tomes, dealing three points to the cat and Jakob Lynch. Not a bad activation per se, but pales in comparison to Hungering Darkness.

Tanuki activated next and healed Mr. Graves to seven health remaining, which was just enough that weak damage with Mortimer's Decay wouldn't give vendetta.

So, Mourner activated instead. She landed a severe damage on Mr. Graves with feed on grief. Once she realized how she had struck Mr. Graves' nerve, she didn't dare to grief him any more and instead took a walk and started mourning the dead, making corpse marker in the middle essentially a scheme marker. 

I think Gwyneth activated next, but didn't accomplish much. Maybe a couple points of damage to Mourner with her derringer or so.

This was Mortimers one and only chance of getting his vendetta. He walked and shot a Decay at Mr. Graves, spending my last soulstone for an additional card. It just needed to happen.

A one. And... a joker. Black one, though.

Lynch then killed Mourner and healed Mr. Graves back to seven. Well then. 

Seamus just took a double walk and planted a scheme marker. He tried to take Illuminated by the hand, but Seamus acted shy and tried to look afraid. 

Kara finally attacked Bete Noire, who was then able to fade away, and even tossed Madame Sybelle further away from the middle.  

White Rabbit Company sewed a hat for Madame Sybelle and used Beckoning Call on Illuminated. This time Seamus didn't look so suspicious, and Illuminated happily answered his beckoning. "Why, hello Love!" attack hit and dealt some damage, which were all pretty much healed right next. Seamus complimented on his healing abilities, which distracted Illuminated to miss its first attack. I suppose the Illuminated started to figure out he was being ridiculed and got enraged and hit the funny guy for six points of damage. 

Mr. Graves made his fencepost sing on Madame Sybelle. But that was all the fencepost did. Sing. No damage.

Dead Dandy placed a scheme marker to top corner and failed to convert nearby corpse into a scheme with Proper Murder Mystery.

Mindless Zombie took a walk and started to crave Mr. Graves' brains. Then it stopped craving the brains and wandered away. Beckoner came to greet the zombie, but it didn't quite understand it was being deceived with Beckoner's touch. 

Last, Bete Noire (who had slow) appeared from the Mindless Zombie and charged Tanuki. First attack missed. Second attack did not, but only Red Joker would have granted me strategy point this turn. No Red Joker. No point.

Except for Spread Them Out. Opponent had received vendetta and strategy, for 2-4 lead.

Turn 4:

Bete Noire makes an astonishing activation. First she murders Tanuki with Red Joker and declares One with the Night. With bonus action she charges Beckoner and lands three damage. Then she interacts a scheme marker. 

Hungering Darkness kills Mortimer, no surprises there.

Madame Sybelle walks for a bit, lashes three hit points off from Mr. Graves and tries to heal White Rabbit Co. with a trigger, failing at that. 

Kara charges to re-bury Bete Noire and walks and pounces on Seamus' chest. I get worried about the safety of my master, so he activates and uses Urban Legend. Two remaining actions are spent on beating the Illuminated with a bouquet, and while that may sound like an ineffective way to kill somebody, it brought the Illuminated down to one health remaining. So, Seamus took Illuminated by the hand and attacked him once more with "Why hello, Love!", but noticed some dandruff on his shoulders and became horrified for his lack of style.

Beckoner removed Bete Noire's scheme marker. 

White Rabbit sees Seamus' dandruff distress from miles away and rushes to his aid, tossing a splendid hat on his head from across the river. And a splendid hat it was - so outrageous in fact, that Illuminated fainted at the sight of it. And never woke up.

Gwyneth goes to engage White Rabbit Co.

Mr. Graves explains to Madame Sybelle: "I'm sorry, miss. Sometimes this fencepost goes, like, singing and stuff. I don't know why it does that. But when it doesn't, it does THIS!", attacking Madame Sybelle with a negative card from being distracted. Both cards were 13, though, and I had had only one card higher than 9 in my starting hand. No longer had that, though. And it was a severe damage with severe injury.

Then, Mr. Graves continues: "And then it does... THIS!", hitting her again for moderate damage with negative fate modifiers. I get to choose if Madame if left with one health and a hat, or three health and no hat. It was the hat that fell.

But, Lynch was left to activate. Essentially Wp 3 vs Terrifying of 11 saved Madame once, but not twice. Second attack hit and killed my henchman. Jakob goes to engage White Rabbit, too. 

Dead Dandy, on the other hand, placed a scheme marker and failed to convert the corpse again. This guy. There was a big fight with everybody getting killed at most a fifty meters away from him, and all he did the entire game was run into a forest and start making up imaginary murder mysteries. Well. There's a name for this kind of action. It's called dissociation.

We didn't play the last turn, because losing both Mortimer and Madame Sybelle in such a manner shut me off from game.

Scores went 3-5 for Ten Thunders, and they had Vendetta pretty much confirmed. Even if I got two points and opponent got zero it would have been a loss. Not even a tie. 

Biting Insult Bites Back

 A 50ss game of Malifaux over Vassal.

Strategy: Standard Turf War

Schemes: Assassinate, Detonate Charges, Dig Their Graves, Power Ritual, Outflank

My list:

Seamus2 with The Whisper & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle
White Rabbit Co
Mourner with Grave Spirit Touch
Dead Doxy
Gravedigger
Rotten Belle

Pool: 7
Schemes: Dig Their Graves, Outflank

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 3
Schemes: Detonate Charges, Outflank

Turn 1:

What a game. What a game. 

I really liked the scheme pool on this one. You could plausibly bluff almost any of these schemes. 

Game started ordinarily enough.

The map involved quite a few bottlenecks which divided Ten Thunders into two segments. Up were Kabuki Warrior, Chiyo, Tanuki and Geisha. Middle had another Bunraku, Hinamatsu, Youko and Bill on top of a container of some sort. Bottom part was, well, Bunraku.

Tanuki had placed a scheme marker in corner and for a long time I was quite certain opponent had picked Power Ritual. 

Resurrectionists had a slightly more coherent line, with Copycat Killer holding high up, Gravedigger at the strategy marker and Madame Sybelle, Seamus, Rotten Belle and White Rabbit Co in the middle with Mourner not far behind. Seamus summoned another Dead Doxy, and the pair went to take the bottom flank. Non-summoned Doxy had been given a comfortable hat. Gravedigger had dropped a corpse and a scheme to my top corner, hinting at Dig Their Graves or Power Ritual.

Turn 2:

Rotten Belle moves forward and lures Hinamatsu to middle. And she didn't even have to spend any action points for it! Although she kind of did use six action points for it. Hinamatsu walked and charged her dead. 

Since Kabuki had been measuring if he'd be able to charge Copycat Killer, I got concerned for his wellbeing. White Rabbit Co gave a hat to Seamus and beckoned Copycat to Gravedigger.

Youko comes to interact with the middle marker. That seemed like a perfect spot for Madame Sybelle to charge to, engaging both Hinamatsu and Youko. She managed to soften up the puppet a little, nothing fancy. 

Chiyo runs to place a scheme on top outflank area and Mourner takes a double walk to get into a more relevant position with her aura. Bunraku runs to bottom outflank area, and Seamus puts on his aura and comes to tickle Hinamatsu. At least the puppet had to spend some resources to stay at five health remaining. The corpse of Rotten Belle  wasn't all that rotten or even so belle, when Seamus rised a Dead Dandy from the marker.

Dead Doxies manage to get the hatted Doxy to bottom outflank area, and even place a real scheme marker hugging the table edge. I had been worried on where Bill Algren was about to go, and he came to dance with Doxies instead of the (g)rave party in the middle. 

A Bunraku and Kabuki Warrior came to engage near the center while Tanuki and Geisha were still far from action. Gravedigger continued to secure Dig Their Graves end condition and interacted with strategy marker as well. 

Very last action for me was to take a double walk with Copycat Killer and engage Chiyo with Seamus, who also had a comfortable hat.

Scores go 1-2 for Resurrectionists when both score strategy and Doxy and Seamus both lost their hats at outflanking maneuver. 

Still looking like a normal, regular game for sure.

Turn 3:

I knew I was in for some rough time when in the first fourteen cards there were eight severes and only one card below six.

You'd imagine such draws at least gave me a good headstart? Nope. Hinamatsu activated first and attacked Madame Sybelle five times, not missing a single attack. It took four of my soulstones to even keep Madame at four health remaining...

Or maybe they didn't all go when Hinamatsu was mutilating Madame. Perhaps some were used when Bunraku attacked her. But that was only after White Rabbit had given a fancy hat for Madame and beckoned Kabuki Warrior away to do something distracting with Seamus, who was at the top outflank area.

Madame's survival was paramount, so Mourner walked and charged Youko and surprisingly claws her for some damage. Now Youko would need to spend possibly even two actions to get to Sybelle, and perhaps Bill would reconsider repositioning himself from bottom.

Tanuki healed Hinamatsu back to full. Seamus activates Urban Legend aura and spends remaining actions beating Chiyo with a bouquet. Not his best moment, nearly killing a kid with a bouquet. And only nearly. Kabuki Warrior charges Seamus and invades his personal space to such an extent that Copycat Killer is not able to place himself in melee with Chiyo. But at least he had one focused stat 5 attack versus Chiyo's defense of 4 and remaining health of one? Yeah, that he had, and... missed.

Yeah, but now there was a nice aura of automatic damage in the middle. And while scoring Dig Their Graves with Madame Sybelle's hat would probably mean Sybelle dying next turn, I was ready to make that trade. 

Except Madame Sybelle missed melee attack and missed Beckoning Call. Dead Dandy missed with his fancy cane, but at least landed a solid biting insult with Urban Legend triggering a damage on the puppet. Sheesh... that was already four mostly wasted action points.

It was somewhat of a comfort when Bill Algren with fast condition tried to challenge the summoned Dead Doxy, failed and then heroically intervened the other Dead Doxy. Instantly he saw the error of his ways and regretted all the wrongs he had done when Doxy flipped masks.

Bunraku at bottom had placed a scheme marker and went to engage summoned Doxy. By now it was clear that opponent had Outflank. Good thing that I had two 3" pushes available with stat 5 versus wp 5, the other of which would be with negative fate for Bill's defense. 

Failed, all failed. 

What is happening in here?! 

I feel like I had solid moves planned, but really - all that I actually achieved this turn was to strike a kid in the face with a bouquet and insult a wooden puppet! Well alright, there was that attack by Mourner against Youko that did a little damage, but that damage wasn't impactful.

Scores even out to 3-3 when both players get strategy and Ten Thunders reveals their outflank.

Turn 4:

Grave Spirit be praised! Resurrectionists won the initiative. Seamus activated, and thanks to The Whisper I knew I had no masks in initiative flip, in starting hand or three upcoming cards. As if I needed those soulstones anyway.  So Seamus was able to take Madame Sybelle by the hand and lead her away from Hinamatsu. He activated Urban Legend with bought Alone in the Dark and attacked Bunraku once, missing. Second attack went to Hinamatsu as I didn't want to attack Df 7 Bunraku. Guess what? It was a miss.

Bunraku tries to come to kill Madame Sybelle and almost succeeds at it when first attack spent my last soulstone in damage block and toppled her comfortable hat. Second attack fortunately missed.

Not a problem. There were plenty of hats where they came from! White Rabbit Co. came to offer their services immediately and tried to use beckoning call to move Bunraku to give it distracted and staggered. Madame Sybelle's scarlet temptation even gave negative fate for Wp 4 Bunraku. Yeah, miss. Needle and thread? Miss. So that's already seven action points of aggression towards the Bunraku, out of which only one insult hit home.

Gravedigger charges Bunraku next and misses. Last action goes to heal Madame Sybelle, and at least that was a decent severe. Next challenger was Mourner, who lands On Your Heels with Feed On Grief against Bunraku. Shocking. I actually hit with an attack and dealt one (1) damage point. Well, it was positive for me and negative for Bunraku. Although that doesn't guarantee anything as I learned in this game. Claw attacks scored On My Feels when they... missed. Ten action points. Two successes. 

By then Tanuki had not activated, but the lucky On Your Heels made it possible for me to block any easy line of sights to Bunraku. During the Bunraku beatings Bill Algren had killed Dead Doxy with one strike and Kabuki Warrior had done the same to Copycat Killer. 

Things were growing more desperate by the minute. But all was not lost! Bunraku was at half health remaining, so Madame Sybelle could get straight flip against it despite some distractions. Yeah, miss.

Alright. We still got one more chance. Kill Bunraku with last attack and score Pulled Here and There. Two fate cards. Bleeder Lash, go! AND LOOK AT THAT! Indeed Masks came up with a decent card of 10 and opponent had 9 and Red Joker was still in my deck. With original stats the attack would have hit. But because of extra defense from Bunraku's Df-trigger, the attack missed by one. Just for giggles Madame Sybelle tries Undivided Attention and flips Rams for healing trigger. But card value if five and needed six. Such a bad luck was no longer even annoying, it was straight out hilarious. Twelve actions, two successes. Two points of damage done by me, one by opponent.

But as it happened, Hinamatsu activated and went to attack Dead Dandy, failing her attacks. But then she takes Aggressive Stance and things take a surreal turn. Both players had taken notice of the absurd levels of bad luck and tiny cards Resurrectionists had got and deck was nearing empty. High cards were expected when Madame Sybelle, Mourner, Seamus, White Rabbit Co and Dead Dandy had to take Willpower 13 checks of gain Distracted. Not a single card was above four! They all failed!

Seriously? At this point one couldn't help but audibly laugh at the situation.

Dead Dandy activates next and turns a scheme Tanuki had placed into a corpse. 

Throughout the turn I had struggled to get required suits for my cards for anything to work. To end the train wreck of a turn with at least a psychic satisfaction of insulting a cute little furry, Dead Dandy declared a distracted Biting Insult at Tanuki.

And the thing is... Biting insult has no triggers at all. And that was where I managed to flip the Red Joker!

That really broke the bank and my stomach muscles still hurt from laughing spasms as I write this.

Turns out that yeah, it can get a lot, lot worse.

We didn't play fifth round when scores went to 3-4 for Ten Thunders from strategy.

I had relatively secure one point coming but zero chances of any additional points, while Ten Thunders had Outflank with 100% certainty and quite likely Detonate Charges and fourth strategy point. 

Those Bright Green Fields

 A couple of Christmassy Malifaux games.

First game:

Strategy: Standard Covert Operation

Scheme pool: Sabotage, Leave Your Mark, Public Demonstration, Catch and Release, Hidden Martyrs

My list:

Seamus, Aka Sebastian Baker & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle withGrave Spirit's Touch
Bete Noire
Jaakuna Ubume
Rotten Belle
Dead Doxy
Gravedigger

Pool: 5
Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Catch and Release (Dead Doxy)

Opponent had:

Charles Hoffman & Mechanical Attendant
Melissa K.O.R.E
Guild Steward
Guardian
2x Hunter
Riotbreaker

Pool: 4
Schemes: Catch and Release (Hunter), Hidden Martyrs (Attendant & Guardian)

Turn 1:

Seamus took a slice off of Madame Sybelle and raised another Dead Doxy while nearing the middle. After some movement shenanigans by various models Jaakuna Ubume was able to place the scheme marker for Leave Your Mark and activate Drowning Aura. 

I don't quite remember what was dealing damage to Jaakuna, possibly Melissa. However, she took more damage than I was comfortable with. And as it happened, Gravedigger was just a little too far from getting within healing range. 

And then I was reminded that Guardian actually had Fast from Hoffman.

I guess it's a kind of a consolation that I wouldn't have had time to heal Jaakuna when Jaakuna was attacked not once but twice by Guardian. But she didn't go down with one attack so the mech took three points of damage from hazards and vengeance. 

Bete Noire charged in to Guardian, trickling in a little damage. 

Guild side, Hoffman was in the middle with almost all of his crew within 6" with Riot Breaker and Hunter going left, Hoffman, Guardian and totem in the middle, Melissa and Hunter on the right.

Bete Noire and summoned Doxy were holding the middle with Madame Sybelle behind them. Seamus and Rotten Belle were on a hill a little to the left, and Catch and Release Doxy, Gravedigger and Copycat Killer were hiding far on the right.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists won initiative, which meant Seamus pushing out Urban Legend with Alone in the Dark. He also took Doxy by the hand, handed her a bladed bouquet and sliced a bite off of her. So Madame Sybelle in a way had now spawned both a Dead Doxy and Dead Dandy.

Mechanical Attendant came to repair Guardian a bit, and Madame Sybelle attacked Guardian and did a blast over Mechanical Attendant, but Undivided Attention was more of the thing, really.

Hoffman wasn't thrilled about the Alone in the Dark portion of Urban Legend, but activated anyway, gave Fast for Guardian and tried to attack Dead Dandy. Guardian was seriously buggering Madame Sybelle, so Gravedigger had to come to heal her.

Hunter on the right used this to its advantage and shot a harpoon to Gravedigger, dragging him to terrain hazard. Melissa, however, had to finish him and try a shoot Madame a little.

Since there was so much healing available to Guild, I didn't find it meaningful to attack Guardian with Bete Noire. Instead, she had gained Fast from Pounce so she walked to Mechanical Attendant that had three health remaining. No kill.

Catch and Release Doxy used Seduction to kill the Attendant instead.

Riotbreaker and Hunter were seriously teasing Seamus, but at least it was my master taking the heat instead of Rotten Belle, who was carrying claim token.

Copycat Killer continued with low profile, just concentrating.

Both players scored strategy, Guild both their schemes and Resurrectionists Leave Your Mark for a grand total of 3-2 for Guild.

Turn 3:

Seamus put his auras on again and tried to damage Catch and Release Hunter for a bit, but not doing much at that. Riot Breaker came to take a shot at Seamus. Madame Sybelle and summoned Dead Doxy were finally able to remove Guardian with most thanks to Seamus' aura.

But when Hunter mauled Seamus down to four health remaining and I was out of soulstones, it was time to escape the stage with Copycat Killer. 

Another Hunter took a shot at Dead Dandy and dragged him to a terrain hazard. I don't quite remember where Melissa had been shooting.

Much to my astonishment Hoffman was not able to kill Copycat Killer.

Both players scored strategy, and resurrectionists also got their second scheme, Catch and Release from Melissa.

Scores go even 4-4.

Turn 4:

Fourth round was absurd when everyone just kept failing, over and over again. Hoffman struggled to kill Copycat Killer but finally did it. Sybelle was not able to kill Guild Steward, Melissa was not able to kill Seamus and the best that Riot Breaker and one of the hunters could do was to kill Rotten Belle who had like three boxes remaining.

Despite the lack of major breakthroughs in the actual combat, points were scored. Both players received their strategies, and there were three schemes for Leave Your Mark. Now, they only needed to stay there for another round...

Scores go 5-5.

Turn 5:

I suppose Seamus was a little frustrated from not being able to kill as he pleases and had his revenge on poor Melissa, killing her against all odds. This was serious setback for Guild because now the last strategy point was out of their reach.

In the middle, both summoned models were killed and two out of three schemes for Leave Your Mark were removed. 

So in the end it all boiled down to Bete Noire, who had a claim token and had been buried last round. She was able to secure a location within 2" of strategy marker and outside of melees, so game ended 7-6 for Resurrectionists.

Game 2:

Strategy: Corner Cursed Objects

Schemes: Spread Them Out, Public Demonstration, Hidden Martyrs, Secret Meetup, Breakthrough

Jack Daw, Ensouled & Lady Ligeia

Montresor

Yannic Waller

Hanged

Crooked Man

2x Guilty

Prospector

Pool: 3
Schemes: Public Demonstration (Yannic and Guilties), Hidden Martyrs (Crooked Man and Prospector)

Opponent had:

Jakob Lynch & Hungering Darkness

Kitty Dumont

Gwyneth Maddox

Mr Graves

2x Illuminated

Tanuki

Pool: 5
Schemes: Hidden Martyrs (Tanuki and Illuminated), Secret Meetup (Kitty and Montresor on a huge hill on my side)

Turn 1:

Corner deployment with no super fast crews meant that engagement on first turn was a bit limited. Hanged managed to land Forbidden Knowledge on an Illuminated and Jack Daw did a moderate damage on it with Inaudible Whispers.

I had Yannic, a Guilty and Prospector coming from right behind the house, with a loose blob of Guilty, Crooked Man, Hanged and Jack Daw getting to middle. Montresor and Lady Ligeia were a bit behind.

Ten Thunders were in a tight blob instead, with only Hungering Darkness and the aforementioned Illuminated a little distance away.

Turn 2:

Second round was intense when Lynch launched Hungering Darkness to Jack Daw. This act certainly dominated the entire round. I activated Hanged to put up Entropic Curse and stagger Hungering Darkness with noose.

Hungering Darkness started attacking Jack with some minor damage... except for the last attack. That one dealt whopping seven damage. At least damage block shaved a couple points off and incorporeal mitigated one, but still over 50% health gone after second enemy activation was too much.

At least Jack Daw managed to heal adequately and make a severe payback against the beast. Gwyneth wasn't able to do much, and neither did Crooked Man who tried to Earthquake the nice line of Lynch, Gwyneth and an Illuminated.

Mr. Graves moves and charges Crooked Man and Red Jokers some damage in to Crooked Man. 

A Guilty ran to protect Crooked Man and failed to stagger unpainted Illuminated. Another Illuminated tried to scintillate Hanged and Crooked Man, but managed to damage only Hanged.

Yannic walked and charged Mr. Graves with Run and Gun, giving in severe damage with negative flip which also sped Hungering Darkness' demise. Tanuki tries to heal Mr. Graves for a bit, but fails.

Even Lady Ligeia scores a blast off of Mr. Graves, so Mr. Graves is at one health remaining while Hungering Darkness is at two. Kitty Dumont pushes unactivated Illuminated a bit and goes to help Hungering Darkness and Mr. Graves.

But its too late when Montresor just pings Mr. Graves dead with Asphyxiation. Either he or another Guilty landed staggered on Kitty.

I did not try to kill Hungering Darkness because I wanted to score Public Demonstration. 

Opponent had not killed a Cursed Object model from me, and if I had not lucked out with Mr. Graves, I would not have either. Scores go 2-0 for Jack Daw.

Turn 3:

Opponent wins initiative and thus is able to heal Hungering Darkness for five. It tries to attack Guilty, but Black Jokers the damage. But that meant it lost Curse of Reckoning since no models were damaged in that activation.

I didn't want Tanuki and Lynch to continue healing the enemy henchman, so Hanged had to activate first and put Entropic Curse on. It also landed Forbidden Knowledge on Kitty and charged her in hopes of drawing a card.

Unpainted Illuminated kills a Guilty, securing a strategy point for Ten Thunders.

Lynch shot Hungering D... oh. Lynch shot Hungering Darkness to Yannic Waller, but I just realized that it had staggered! Oh well, these things happen. 

Yannic Waller fails to kill Hungering Darkness and Crooked Man fails to kill Illuminated, but Jack Daw does both. Kitty goes to place a scheme marker next to Montresor after another Illuminated, Gwyneth and what else kills second Guilty, leaving me with nearly dead Yannic for Public Demonstration.

Both players scored strategy and Ten Thunders managed to score both of their schemes so scores go 3-3.

Turn 4:

However, we quit the game. Opponent had Kitty with two health, Tanuki with one health within 6" of Montresor, and only Gwyneth was at their full health. Lynch could have healed Tanuki and Kitty for one health, but Montresor could have just pinged both of them down to one health remaining again and possibly even kill with actual action points.

Launching Hungering Darkness like that was a gamble that didn't pay off this time, although it could have had I not been able to kill Mr. Graves with such damage flips.

New Season of Absurd

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Corner Guard the Stash

Scheme pool: Catch & Release, Public Demonstration, Assassinate, Breakthrough, In Your Face

My list:

Seamus2 & Copycat Killer
Madame Sybelle with Grave Spirit Touch
Bete Noire
Dead Doxy with Killer Instinct
Bone Pile
Mourner
Gravedigger

Stones: 5
Schemes: Catch & Release (Bone Pile), Assassinate

Opponent had:

Lynch & Hungering Darkness
Kitty Dumont
Gwyneth Maddox
Mr. Graves
3x Illuminated

Stones: 3
Schemes: Catch & Release (one of the Illuminated), Assassinate

Turn 1:

Since deployment was corner and neither of us had exceedingly fast crews, first turn consisted mostly of positioning. 

Highest card I had in my hand was a seven. I still wanted to try to summon with Seamus, so he punched Madame Sybelle with his bouquet, and managed to land a moderate wound on his henchman with three negative cards... and then proceeded to fail the summon, although I considered I had a pretty good chance of drawing at least an eight with two cards when I tried to summon Rotten Belle. And highest card I had in my hand was a seven, so it was extra insulting that I could have summoned at least a Dandy. Oh well.

I sent Gravedigger to reach strategy on bottom-left. Bete Noire and Mourner were hanging near the middle-left marker behind a building. Ten Thunders had been slow to start their journey, only one Illuminated was within walk distance of middle-left marker. Kitty was behind it.

Madame Sybelle and Dead Doxy were hampered by forest terrain in the middle as they were closing in on middle-right strategy marker. They looked like they'd be facing two Illuminateds and Hungering Darkness, with Lynch and Mr. Graves not too far behind them. 

Bone Pile was stalking Hungering Darkness and Copycat Killer positioned himself so that Seamus had the option of going to top-right marker. 

Turn 2:

Second turn was hilarious in a way - it just might have been my unluckiest turn so far in Malifaux! Fortunately opponent didn't do that well either.

Seamus did succeed to summon a Dead Doxy, though. Undivided Attention from Madame Sybelle, Scarlet Temptaion from Dead Doxy and Urban Legend from Seamus at least made it hell for opponent to do anything constructive in the middle melee. Hungering Darkness and two Illuminated were raining death on Madame, but at the end of turn she was still standing with seven health thanks to some stones, regeneration and healing from Bone Pile.

But the only damage to Hungering Darkness came from Urban Legend.

Gravedigger went to control bottom-left marker, but Kitty came to contest. Mourner had to take two walk actions to go to control middle-left marker because she was just pixels away from getting within 2" of the marker with one walk. Gwyneth came to contest.

Seeing as there were four models opponent had within 2" of middle-right marker, Seamus opted out of the business with Copycat Killer and went to control top-right marker instead. Bone Pile, my Catch & Releaser, engaged Hungering Darkness. But also Ten Thunders scored Catch & Release with Illuminated engaging Sybelle.

Scores go 2-2.

Turn 3:

Resurrectionists win initiative, which means Madame Sybelle and Undivided Attention. She kills opponent's Catch & Release piece. Then Hungering Darkness activates and fails attacks against Bone Pile. It takes another swing and kills my Catch & Release piece with Red Joker on damage. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Since Hungering Darkness activated so early, I decide to kill it now. Seamus charges the beast and fails his entire activation, doing absolutely nothing at all except for Urban Legend.

But killing Lynch's totem was very much a possibility. I really got the distraction machine going, and it was actually a hideous combo I managed to pull off. Dead Doxies took Hungering Darkness "by the hand" while Scarlet Temptation denied Hungering Darkness from cheating, moved it a bit while engaged by Seamus and Madame (meaning unresisted Distracted +1 and a melee attack from Seamus), then Seamus hitting and declaring Bloody Display, pushing Huggy within his own melee range and 1" of Sybelle... 

There were a few annoying failures in the process and Hungering Darkness still didn't die. Although it took all stones opponent had to keep it on board.

Mr. Graves took some interest on Seamus and introduced the master to his fencepost. This took all of my stones and still damaged Seamus for five. Doxy with Killer Instinct was later able to turn the remains of Bone Pile into a soulstone.

Illuminated deals severe damage to Bete Noire with just one attack, so it was time to Fade Away. But then it is free to charge Gravedigger down to two health remaining. I manage to escape with Accidental Roll Over, and as Kitty left bottom-left strategy marker, Gravedigger was able to use Deadly Pursuit to go and control it. 

Kitty, Gwyneth and Lynch bring Mourner down to one health. 

Bete Noire pops up from a corpse Gravedigger had created after accidental roll over, charges Lynch and scores me Assassinate.

Scores go 3-4 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Ten Thunders wins initiative, and activates Hungering Darkness and heals back to seven health. At least this made it possible for Bete Noire to kill Lynch, who goes down with just one attack. Bete Noire takes second action to bring herself to control bottom-right marker.

Mr. Graves takes unhealthy interest over Seamus again, but thanks to a lucky damage block Seamus still has enough health not to be considered half-assassinated. 

Illuminated on bottom-left kills Gravedigger and controls the strategy marker.

Kitty Dumont kills Mourner and controls middle-left marker. Illuminated in middle kills Madame Sybelle, and Gwyneth tries to kill Bete Noire, failing at that.

Then. It is quite rare that five absolutely crucial duels work in your favor.

There were Illuminated, Mr. Graves and Hungering Darkness contesting middle-right marker and situation was that even if I had all of my models within 2" of the marker, I still wouldn't control it. I only had Doxy, Bete Noire and Seamus alive that were relevant to the scenario. Summoned Doxy and insignificant totem weren't much of a help.

But eventually an absurd plan started to unfold.

Seamus amputates Copycat Killer - check.
Seamus summons Rotten Belle without soulstones or required cards in hand - check.
Seamus succeeds in Urban Legend - check.
Summoned Doxy charges Illuminated so that Hungering Darkness is again under Scarlet Temptaion - check. 
Take By the Hand on Illuminated works - check.
Summoned Belle manages to lure Mr. Graves away from strategy marker - check.
Dead Doxy with Killer Instinct Takes By the Hand Hungering Darkness and pushes it away from marker - BLACK JOKER.

So that was it, then. Or?

Dead Doxy starts to cane Hungering Darkness and first attack deals weak damage and gives Distracted +1. Second attack gets Red Joker for damage. Caning Hungering Darkness dead certainly was less elegant way to solve the problem, but it somehow it worked. So yeah, I lucked out there.

We did not play fifth round, since I got a strategy this turn while opponent did not and could not reveal scheme, so scores went to 3-5. 

If opponent scored strategy and gets a point from scheme, scores would still go 5-6 as I had secured Assassinate.