Holiday Sabotages

For Christmas I received a card game as a gift. The name was Saboteur, where dwarves mine a tunnel for gold and there is high chance of one being a saboteur. 

Time was running a bit short, so we, the four players, only had enough for one game of three rounds. These dwarves sure were angry and vengeful, and due to various levels of confusion, on one round we had the roles in inversed colours - it was as if there were three saboteurs and one proper, hole digging dwarf singing songs that get stuck in your head.

It was a nice little game. Quick to learn and to play, and served fun in adequate doses.

Seasonal Greedings

 We had a three player Dungeon Lords game with Festival Season and Minions Bearing Gifts, as is only proper for Christmas.

Once again randomized event was Ladies, I'm Back which is starting to become a statistical anomaly in its occurrence. 

 In this game every player got annoyance letters from the ministry. Four, three and one letter must have been one of the highest count I've ever seen I think. 

Thanks to Minions Bearing Gifts, first year fights went terribly for everyone. At least four tunnels were conquered from each player, and if I remember correctly, no player managed to capture all adventurers. 

Second year this trend only continued, and nearing the end of the year we wondered if we'd even get to positive numbers on the score board. Turned out everyone did - with eight, thirteen and seventeen points.

Baronification Continues

Christmas included two games of three players and one game of four players of Love Letter. 

Continuing tradition from last Christmas, the very first move my sister made was to guess I had the baron. 

I did.

Next round my mother did the same. 

And again, I did. It wasn't until fourth player joined us that I was no longer plagued by the baron on a constant basis. So absurd, but hey, at least it's memorable.

Only Misery Remains

 Played a 50 points game of Warmachine few days ago. 

My list was:

Cryx

 Lich Lord Venethrax [+26]
 - Defiler [8]
 - Harrower [16]
 - Helldiver [6]
 - Malice [15]
 - Skarlock Thrall [4]
General Gerlak Slaughterborn [6]
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist [4]
Misery Cage [2]
Saxon Orrik [4]
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (max) [11]

Opponent had:

Protectorate

Grand Scrutator Severius [+28]
 - Dervish [7]
 - Indictor [14]
 - Purifier [8]
Allegiant of the Order of the Fist [3]
Deliverer Arms Master [3]
The Covenant of Menoth [4]
Vassal Mechanik [1]
Choir of Menoth (min) [4]
Deliverer Skyhammers (max) [13]
Deliverer Sunburst Crew [5]
Knights Exemplar [9]
Temple Flameguard (min) [7]

Scenario was the one from main rulebook that needed to tag all five flags on the board. Protectorate generously gave Cryx the start (this is probably one of better, or even the best, scenario to go second.)

And I don't know what the heck. I knew a big AoE was coming my way via Sunburst crew. Yet I still did not bother to check if my Black Ogruns were not practicing social distancing. Boom! One dead, two on fire. Doesn't matter though. It's not like I was outnumbered over 2:1, right?

But that's not all. One thing I also didn't bother to check was if Saxon Orrik was deep enough in the forest not to be seen at all. Turns out he wasn't. Deliverers took a shot at him and the dice just wouldn't roll 3+ for deviation. Saxon down.

I have to admit I was a bit demoralized by this, but at least Deliverers had packed themselves real tight to shoot that fatal rocket. Defiler ran forward and Venethrax cast Blood Rain on them, killing... two. But at least three more had corrosion.

Venethrax and Skarlock manage to kill some warrior models to trigger Dead Weight on both Indictor and Dervish. 

Black Ogruns miss their harpoon on Purifier, but Rat 5 against Def 15 goes only so far. With Saxon dead, only one Ogrun got in range and, ech. It was going to get ugly.

At least Protectorate wasn't able to do anything productive with his Indictor and Dervish, and opted to clog my warjacks with infantry models. All those souls for Harrower and Malice.

Allegiant neared the flag that had Gerlak sitting next to it. It was either a choice of denying me a point with no Shifting Sands, or letting me have one point and be nigh invulnerable. Sands it was, which is recommended action when you got a Mat 8 murder machine ogling you.

On my turn I'm trying to figure out how to best deliver Malice to Indictor. Only feasible way is to trample to it, buy an attack and... alright, I just slapped myself on the forehead. While writing this I realized I trampled with Malice before casting Terminal Velocity. 

Anyway, Malice triggers Vision and Possession and brings Indictor and it's back arc to face Harrower. Venethrax Dead Weights Dervish and casts Terminal Velocity. Then Harrower charges Indictor and while damage had been okay-ish, the columns were not. Damn. That one missed focus point from Malice could have dealt the few remaining damage points to various systems, say, Cortex.

Helldiver had surfaced to tease Sunburst crew. Gerlak took a free strike from Allegiant to gain back strike bonus, but 8+ wouldn't come.

At least the ratio of our forces had been kept about the same as in start.

Opponent then flooded Malice with attacks, and destroyed despite its Def 13 Arm 20. Protectorate souls don't protect that well, I guess. 

But this had been about expected. But what severely hampered the future of Cryx was when the only damage Harrower took was just enough to break melee hand. I was left with Venethrax, Gerlak, a weaponless Harrower, Helldiver far from anything, and Misery Cage. 

Venethrax butchers Dervish, and Gerlak misses Allegiant again. Harrower gave Indictor a friendly scratch. 

Opponent had steadily collected flag points, and was able to score all five. But that wasn't all.

Allegiant also killed Gerlak, something removed Harrower, Severius beat Helldiver into a wreck with a stick, and a lucky shot from Sunburst crew removed one focus from Venethrax, and still four points came in.

Three remaining Exemplars tore through Venethrax's focus camp and left him dying. Then the last remaining Flameguard charged the warcaster and dealt the killing blow.

Only Misery Cage remained to witness the crimes committed here. 

Kill Stealing Rorsh

 Although games have been a little scarce lately, I still got in one 50 point game of Warmachine.

My list was:

Skorne

Lord Arbiter Hexeris [+27]
- Bronzeback Titan [17]
 - Cyclops Savage [7]
 - Cyclops Shaman [8]
 - Rhinodon [12]
Extoller Soulward [3]
Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]
Venator Dakar [4]
Void Spirit [4]
Legends of Halaak [8]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Venator Slingers (min) [8]

Opponent had:

Cryx

Iron Lich Asphyxious [+28]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Reaper [13]

 - Slayer [10]

Bane Lord Tartarus [6]

Rorsh [15]

Bane Riders (min) [12]

Bane Warriors (min) [10]

Because of some time constraints, we opted for Annihilation scenario from main rule book - that one has guaranteed six turns, so game wouldn't drag on endlessly.

Opponent deployed in a corner, giving us both a headache on terrain layout - the factory building, corrosion cloud effect and burning difficult ground made the effective board rather tiny.

Opponent brought his warjacks behind the building, Bane Riders behind rubble and Bane Warriors, Tartarus and Rorsh & Brine in the open near the board edge. Asphyxious scorched the mace wielding Legend of Halaak with Hellfire.

Cyclops Shaman positioned itself to serve as an Ashes to Ashes platform, and three Bane Warriors died. Rhinodon had Cloak of Ash and Bronzeback had Banishing Ward to fend off any troublesome Parasites. A couple of slingers took erosion shots at Slayer, but didn't do much. The naginata wielding legend tried to cripple enemy arc node, but failed to land a hit.

At least the Cyclops Shaman ate Cryxian activations - Asphyxious cast Parasite on it, and then Tartarus and a single Bane Warrior that was within charge range failed to kill the warbeast. Rorsh needed to score the killing blow by shooting into melee.

Naginata legend obviously died, but all in all not a terrible second round.

Asphyxious had been left without focus, and I knew I shouldn't try a spell assassination. But that's what I did, anyway. It's all Cyclops Savage's fault! Because I had access to future sight animus, I decided to go for it. The result was a worthless feat that dealt nine points to Asphyxious.

Bronzeback wrecked Deathripper, and Slingers continued to pepper Slayer to season. This time it lost most of its damage boxes - left claw being the only functional system. 

This time removing Bronzeback took most of opponent's turn. Bane Riders with Scything Touch, and Reaper weren't enough to bring it down - Rorsh had already distinguished itself as a finalizer, and dealt the last remaining point of damage.

Bane Warriors and Tartarus took a bit over half of Rhinodon's health away.

Had I not used the feat, I think I might have been able to get Bronzeback to Reaper with two or three Beat Backs. But there is a good chance of a Deathripper not surviving three Bronzeback melee attacks, and worst result would've been Bronzeback engaged in melee and thus not able to act as a channeler.

I would've probably tried to remove the last Bane Warriors with Ashes to Ashes, deal the last remaining points to Slayer with a Hellfire and maybe Black Spot something, or more Ashes to Ashes. 

Turn 4 I have to live with my decisions, and I lose two Slingers to free strikes from Slayer. Looking back now I wouldn't have needed to - the warjack had lost its movement, hadn't it? Remaining Slingers do manage to remove four hit boxes from Slayer, which incidentally was all it had remaining.

Last remaining Legend makes a Christmas miracle and slays Bane Lord Tartarus with a single combo-strike. Cyclops Savage clears Bane Warriors near Rhinodon, and then Hexeris uses Black Spot on Brine.

Beast Handlers enrage Rhinodon, patch it up a little and prod it towards the big pig. Retaliatory Strike fails to destroy any life branches, and things end up with one dead Brine. 

Cryx then removes Rhinodon as was expected, but no other damage was done. Asphyxious had to come and personally finish the warbeast. You know, the thing with minions and all that. 

Turn 5 Skorne has to start racking up some points. Thus Savage charges a Bane Rider, kills it and is then used to channel a Rorsh-killing Hellfire. Slingers fail their activation miserably, and Extoller manages to shoot a boosted pow 13 to Bane Rider only to trigger vengeance with minimum damage. Great job.

At least last remaining Legend removes one other Bane Rider. 

But then it's all too easy for Cryx to kill Cyclops Savage, all but one Slinger and Extoller. 

We didn't need to play the last round. Hexeris, one Beast Handler and a lone Slinger weren't going to give me the 20 points or so I needed for a win.

It's Golden

Fifty games of A Touch of Evil in this blog after this update. 

Which continues the long-running (currently at six years) campaign. And starts to look like it might one day be over.

Villain was Unspeakable Horror, to whom we had lost Katarina the Outlaw and Frederic Leon earlier. Was it to devour the souls of Heinrich Cartwright and Eliza the Witch Hunter?

Maybe, because on round two there was already one dead town elder and three (3) evil elders. All the elders of the coastal town had revealed their rotten core right from the start.

Early in the game the heroes had to suffer At Mightnight, They Come and the game saw at least the appearance of The Heretic, Matriach of Silence and The Outcast. 

Fallen demons were sprouting all over the countryside of Shadowbrook, and their 4+ to ignore a wound was a nuisance that caused a few greedy knock outs. But other than that the fight against Unspeakable Horror was rather steady. Shadow Track was surprisingly stable - probably again thanks to not too many Murders being committed. 

Doctor Manning was struck dead by the villain, then revived by Eliza, only to be killed again by her. Just wondering who's the real villain here.  

Sophie and Magistrate Kroft went mad from encountering the ancient demon, and Lady Hanbrook was seen running all around the locations until she was betrayed by, well, a Betrayer. 

Turning point for the game was when Eliza found Cross of Kandor, Family Bible, Sacred Stone and even had the Sacred Chalice - that was +8 fight dice on command. Heinrich had been keeping a collection of your everyday tools such as hatchets, axes and pitchforks - all the while being possessed by perhaps another demon, rival to Unspeakable Horror.

Half of the board was filled with summoning circles, but the rolls of 3+ were merciful. And the procession of cultists was sluggish at best, which was perhaps suggesting the heroes were hunting a greater demon of sloth after all.

This all culminated in a 30 fight dice attack with silver bullets against the villain when showdown began. The Ancient Evil stood no chance, and Katarina and Frederic Leon were avenged.

 Campaign statistics

Villains defeated: Spectral Horseman, Vampire, Siren, Bog Fiend, Volgovian Nutcracker, Delion Dryad, Scarecrow, Krampus, Sunken Seven, Gargoyle, Banshee, Reaper, Dreamweaver, Werewolf, Unspeakable Horror
Villains still to be defeated: 3, +1 investigation vs Shadow Witch

Heroes dead: Katarina the Outlaw, Frederic Leon Brother Marcus, Anne-Marie, Lucy Hanbrook, Harlow Morgan, Scarlet Shadow, Maria de la Rosa, Thomas the Courier, Adrianna, Valeria, Jack Fellows, Argot Blackwell, Inspector Cooke, Isabella von Took & Liliana, Lost Soul
Heroes remaining: 8

Stashed investigation: 8

Nostalgic

 A while ago I played a few board games from the childhood of Dearest. 

First one was called Taika Kengät, which apparently only has a Finnish edition. Name translates to Magic Shoes. The game had elves trying to find magic jewels from a realm torn asunder by an evil troll. Elves need to find proper shoes to travel from different area to another. Magic Shoes were the only shoes that could traverse any terrain.

It quickly dawned on us that this particular game, perhaps, had lost some of its enchantment in the latter years. The age recommendation of 5+ was there for a reason.

Another game was Sphinx, which was a bit more engaging and kept us entertained for two games. 

Burkstad Renaissance (Gwendor Thrice Cursed and Twice Lived)

 Lantern Year 21 hunt was a level 2 Gorm. 

First attempt to hunt was a miserable failure. Cat Eye Circlet wielding Vladimir got Tunnel Vision disorder, and Mortis decided to never show up in the showdown in the first place. With three underleveled survivors our forecast of winning wasn't looking all bright and sunshine. Also, it would have been a tad boring session for one of the players had we actually tried that showdown.

No, we fed Gwendor to Gorm to proc Hours Ring. 

Oh, the irony of having to use this rare item right after we built it last year. But hey, it's Burkstad after all.

Second attempt went a little better, except if it wasn't for our inept hunters Gwendor, Vladimir, Purvina and Mortis who somehow got around five extra events during hunt phase. Fortunately nothing excessively punishing showed up, since it's not like Dash is the only thing keeping survivors alive against level 2 Gorm, and Madflies giving Frenzy to Mortis locked away her survival actions. She was also the one who had +5 evasion and Rawhide Armor.

Oh well. Maybe we'd manage with 25% of our number frenzied.

In the end survivors found a strange path that had the hunters ambush Gorm.

Fetid Grotto gave also Gwendor frenzy. Half of the team without survival actions. Oh, and Gwendor had also donned Death Mask, so that was -4 to severe injuries with no possibility to dodge.

When Mortis crawled back to settlement on the first hunt attempt before Hours Ring, she obviously had seen this coming and knew what'd be best for everyone involved.

Thanks to ambush, survivors at least got some wounds in to the beast. Four, in fact, on the ambush turn. Might have been a good start, but it ended up with Gorm retching on three survivors. Miraculously no-one rolled head location, and game continued with heavy injury levels only.

Gorm does Body Check, which is almost beneficial if it damages survivors - at least it pushes you away from the end-of-turn retch. Nice in theory, but Gorm failed to score any hits. All four of us had now received a baptism of vomit. 

So, any accidental retches could prove fatal from now on, so Vladimir - now with less Tunnel Vision in this parallel universe - starts checking hit locations rigorously every turn.

Next, Gorm draws it's duration card that gives adjacent survivors severe injuries when it lands down.

For the heck of it, Purvina wounds the beast despite its +5 toughness tokens. 

Gorm wallops Purvina around a bit with a large trout, but deals no serious damage.

It was a showdown that had the potential to go south without a moment's notice - but this time that note never came. Purvina with her Lantern Halberd dealt half of the wounds, and the remaining survivors did the rest. 

Lantern Year 22

Finally the oppressive Gorm Climate subsides. Inspired by this heroic showdown, a new age of arts, sciences and strange ideas began in Burkstad. First, survivors perform a magnificent theatrical masterpiece called "The Hunt of Gorm level 2" in hunt re-enactment. Gwendor is nominated as the favorite survivor, and Lefasu was the least favorite survivor. 

Gwendor, being the Prima Donna he is, overdoes his part and slays Gorm again. Because that's what happened, right? Too bad it was played by Lefasu.

The rumors about this play had reached far, and Armored Strangers had come to silently spectate the stage play. Their review had some mixed signals though, as they impaled a survivor to a lantern halberd guidepost and left it on the outskirts of the settlement.

Settlement innovates Sculpture, so that's another category of fine arts altogether. And also groundbreaking new science was made in the form of special innovating Albedo via gormchymy. 

But what would a renaissance be without it's l'uomo universale? Love Juice blessed the settlement with it's sixth savior.

Gwendor becomes a tinker with Augury and shrine ritual is a success. Mortis hones her proficiency with grand weapons in Nightmare Training. Vladimir learn Synchronized Strike and to leave her impact to this new and wondrous age, Purvina dances the Forbidden Dance. 

Fortunately the critics had already left the settlement.

Next, Sunstalker level 2.

Population: 9

Principles:
Protect the Young
Graves
Barbaric + Ultimate Weapon


Innovations:
Language
Hovel
Ammonia
Bed
Nigredo
Symposium
Lantern Oven
Paint
Family
Bloodletting
Inner Lantern
Cooking
Shrine
Drums
Momento Mori
Scrap Smelting

Nightmare Training

Song of the Brave

Sculpture, Albedo, Guidepost


Locations:
Lantern Hoard
Bone Smith
Skinnery
Organ Grinder
Catarium
Gormchymist
Gormery
Weapon Crafter
Leather Worker
Skyreef Sanctuary

Plumery

Gear:
1x Cloth
3x Stone Noses
Full Rawhide Set
1x rawhide vest, 1x Rawhide Gloves, 1x Rawhide Headband
Gorment Boots
2x Skull Helm
Bone Dagger
Bone Darts
Rib Blade
Greater Gaxe
2x Leather Shield
Cat Eye Circlet
3x Monster Grease
Lucky Charm
Monster Tooth Necklace
Bandages
Catgut Bow + Claw Head Arrow + Hollowpoint Arrow
Full White Lion Suit
Scrap Sword
Flower Knight Badge
Cycloid helm + vest
Death Mask
Whisker Harp

Hours Ring

Lantern Halberd



Resources:
3x Monster Bone

3x monster hide
2x Skull
1x Broken Lantern

Dense Bone

Meaty Rib (organ, bone)

Jiggling Lard (organ, hide)

Milky Eye (organ)

Stout Hide

2x crab spider

1x nightmare tick

Sinew
2x Lion Claw
2x Great Cat Bones
4x Iron

3x small feathers

1x tail feathers

1x pustules (organ)

1x black skull