Malifaux Vassal Tournament part I

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

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

My list:

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

Pool: 6

Schemes: Breakthrough, Spread Them Out

Opponent was playing Neverborn:

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

Pool: 9

Schemes: ???

Turns 1-2:

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

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

Crooligans and Gravedigger score Spread Them Out on second turn. 

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

Turn 3:

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

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

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

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

Game 2:

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

My list was:

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

Pool: 6

Schemes: Catch & Release. Leave Your Mark

Opponent had:

Titania & Gorar
Hinamatsu
Aeslin
Malisaurus Rex
Hooded Rider
Autumn Knight

Pool: 5

Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Research Mission

Turn 1-2:

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 3:

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

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

Turn 4-5:

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

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

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

Game 3:

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

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

Pool: 9

Schemes: Breakthrough, Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

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

Pool: 4

Schemes: Breakthrough, Spread Them Out

Turns 1-2: 

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

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

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

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

Turn 3:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn 5

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

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

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

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

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

Terrain update

 It's been a longest while since I did some terrain all by myself. I'm not counting these Streets of Venice buildings for this particular category - they were just build and paint, simple like that.

I made a hazardous terrain marker from some odd toy piece that had human-like figure bursting out from wall or something, and it looks rather nice. If you keep your eyes open in the flea markets, you can get wonderful material for terrain projects.

Additionally, since I bought some stretto bridges, I thought I needed a river so they wouldn't serve only as decorative bridges. Three river pieces were milliputty on the river banks, plasticard as river base and translucent acrylic mass on top of layers of paint. 

Also, since they were finished, I placed some Giant Stone Face terrain pieces for Kingdom Death to the picture.

Proper eight-ball

 Since it's the nature of this blog, I'll jot down a few rounds of mini-billiards. I don't understand how the thing is "travel sized", since it's still about 3ft by 5ft in dimensions.

About three or four rounds were played, and isn't that quite a change of pace from dice rolling and card shuffling. 

Sample size certainly isn't that comprehensive, but still there is enough variation during the game rounds to keep oneself interested, to an extent. I believe the variation decreases the more you play, but what do I know. I just did a few rounds of mini-billiards.  

2x Brawlmachine, Cryx vs Cygnar, vs Cryx

 Two games of Brawlmachine format. Scenario in both was the Binary.

Game 1:

My first list:

Master Necrotech Mortenebra [+24]
 - Harrower [16]
 - Inflictor [13]
Bane Lord Tartarus [6]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
Bile Thralls (min) [9]

Opponent had:

Major Beth Maddox [+30]
- Avenger [17]
 - Charger [9]
 - Firefly [8]
Arcane Tempest Rifleman [4]
Steelhead Riflemen (min) [8]
Stormblade Infantry [9]

First game is summed up rather quickly. I thought I was the underdog in this matchup because I was woefully outnumbered. But then I jammed Inflictor sitting next to enemy warcaster in a failed assassination attempt - and this is the crux of this matter, really. I went all in, and now Mortenebra was feating in a compromised position. 

Only after I realized that I might have had a real game without the assassination attempt - arm 21 def 13 warjack needs some effort to get rid of when its engaging your shooty warjack and warcaster. But that goes on to the territory of iffing. 

Short story short: Mortenebra was shot to pieces by Cygnaran arms.

Game 2:

Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Desecrator [14]
 - Slayer [10]
 - Stalker [8]
Bloat Thrall [4]
General Gerlak Slaughterborn [6]
Misery Cage [2]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]

Opponent had:

Bane Witch Agathia [+29]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Desecrator [14]

 - Reaper [13]

Pistol Wraith [5]

Bane Warriors (max) [16]

Right side of the board was between Gerlak and Bloat Thrall versus Bane Warriors. On the left side, everything else. 

Opponent ran Reaper to engage Stalker, which brought Reaper within charge range of my Slayer. There was just this wall between them. But Stalker leaped and softened up Reaper a little from back arc. Slayer charged and had no trouble of removing the ranged variant of same chassis.

Deathripper broke Stalker's cortex, and enemy Desecrator came to vivisect Slayer through the wall. It was not very successful vivisection as next to no damage was done. 

Slayer got some job done at wrecking enemy Desecrator, but it wasn't very impressive either. Well, the crabjack had essentially +2 def and +2 arm, so it wasn't completely unexpected.

My Desecrator shot some contesting Bane Warriors off the board, and I was able to leap to +2 control points over my opponent.

Unfortunately, opponent was able to bring Desecrator to contest my circular zone and my flag, thus scoring evening the scores to +1 for Cryx.

It wasn't too bad as long as I can remove already injured Desecrator with feated Bane Warriors and what was left of Slayer. But still, three Bane Warriors and the aforementioned Slayer together didn't put a dent to enemy warjack. Two Bane Warriors missed and one didn't get that many points through armor. Only cannon was broken down.

It all went downhill from there. 

Desecrator contesting my zone and Bane Warriors my flag while controlling enemy circular zone... all this meant that opponent got to +1 points. All in all, I wasn't able to get rid of that Agathia's lead. Five rounds is surprisingly short amount of time.

Reaching Tendrils

Had a game of Malifaux with 50 soulstones. Strategy: Corrupted Ley Lines. Deployment: Standard. Schemes: Breakthrough, Take Prisoner, Assassinate, Hidden Martyrs, Research Mission

My crew:

 Kirai & Ikiryo
Datsue Ba
Lost Love (martyr)
Drowned
Shikome + Killer Instinct
Seishin
Onryo (martyr)
Dead Doxy

Pool: 7

Schemes: Breakthrough, Hidden Martyrs

Opponent had:

Asami & Amanjaku
Ama No Zako
Ohaguro Bettari
Minako Rei
Kamaitachi
Shadow Emissary
Akaname

Pool: 6

Schemes: Breakthrough, Assassinate

Turn 1:

On first turn, Kirai summons a Shikome, who tries to navigate to get to enemy deployment zone soon enough. It is slowed down by a Minako Rei summoned Katashiro, which I try to charge with Seishin. For some reason Seishin failed to remove it.

Datsue Ba, Drowned and Ikiryo were closing in to the middle, while Ama No Zako, Shadow Emissary and Ohaguro Bettari were doing the same on the opposing side. Both masters were behind their respective frontlines. Ama No Zako already engaged Ikiryo and did some heavy damage in.

Asami summons an Obsidian Oni to engage my hidden martyr Onryo whom I had pushed to the front to hopefully get it killed.

Turn 2:

Summoned Shikome gets to enemy deployment zone after disengaging from Katashiro. 

A brawl in the middle ensued in its full. Lost Love soothed most of the apparently spiritual damage away from Ikiryo. Ohaguro Bettari lured Datsue Ba to forefront where Shadow Emissary charged the old judge and heaved her to Ama No Zako.

Duel of the lanterns burned through plenty of my soulstones, but the judge of souls survived. In turn, she (along with Drowned) brought Ama No Zako down to three or two hit points remaining. Ikiryo was still left to activate, but she was not the one who would kill Ama No Zako, thanks to slow from Akaname, and, well, the fact that when she activated, Ama No Zako was no longer there. 

I tried to take Ikiryo by the hand and lead her out of the melee, but there was this "drats" moment when I said that "now's the time for black joker since it hasn't come up yet." And there it was. 

Obsidian Oni bursts into bits and damages Onryo, but doesn't kill.

Katashiro isn't interested about Seishin engaging it, and instead flutters to my deployment zone and slaps a scheme marker on board. 

Both players score strategy, and opponent reveals Breakthrough. Ten Thunders leads 1-2.

Turn 3:

Either last turn or this turn there was a sudden explosion of Tengus everywhere. Two of them were summoned with one action. These were then trying to heal Ama No Zako with mediocre success. Ama No Zako didn't have the time to wait and charged Onryo instead, killing it. Your sacrifice was much appreciated.

Minako Rei charges Seishin, who had not been activated yet. She gained Fast from the deed and speeded to strategy marker on my left side.

I didn't want so many models there sowing scheme markers, so Kirai disengaged from Shadow Emissary or Ohaguro Bettari and shot Katashiro dead with spirit barrage. 

Summoned Shikome plots a scheme marker in the enemy deployment zone, and the other Shikome runs as fast as it can towards enemy strategy marker on the right. 

Both players score strategy, but Resurrectionists get to reveal two schemes, Breakthrough and Hidden Martyrs. Points go 4-3 for Ressers.

Turn 4:

My first activation is to bring Shikome to enemy strategy marker and put a scheme marker to enemy deployment zone.

Kirai has... some troubles. Namely, a dragon and Asami's mother look-a-like raining death on her for two rounds. Resurrectionist master was in a bad shape that even Lost Love couldn't fix to healthy levels. Certainly she drained action points away from opponent like Hamelin, but she was not able to hold on to her hit points - opponent would score assassinate reveal this turn.

Even Minako Rei had charged her, and to deny her from reaching my strategy marker on the right, Kirai summoned Onryo to block her. To my horror I realized then that I might actually kill Kirai with the two summon upgrades I had going on.

Opponent charges Ama No Zako to my point scoring Shikome and kills it. Then one of those pesky Tengus removes the essential scheme marker. Two victory points, gone.

Opponent reveals Assassinate, and points even out to 4-4.

Turn 5:

Since game was far from complete, we continued for fifth round. Ohaguro Bettari and Datsue Ba had died somewhere along the game, but Ikiryo was still in the game. Dead Doxy had received the lodestone from dying Shikome. 

After Shadow Emissary fails to kill Kirai, she is down to two hit points remaining and I had two models with summon upgrades. Doomed. Just for giggles Kirai then hit Minako Rei and got the karmic debt. Kirai had just one hit point since summoned Shikome had activated.

Minako Rei succeeds in one of the more stylish assassinations I've yet seen: she attacked Onryo, which procced vengeance, which killed Resurrectionist master.

Since reaching tendrils is a gun action, Ikiryo had engaged Asami, as well as Dead Doxy. Asami ends the game by killing Ikiryo with a random severe injury, and had used last stone to get Pulled here & there trigger. She pulled herself away, then pushed Minako Rei to corrupted ley line in the middle and pushed Dead Doxy away.

Opponent scored assassinate and strategy, and I had to suffice for only Hidden Martyrs. 

It was tough and exciting game where draw hinged on just one reaching tendrils.

Kingdom Death Showdowns

 Ten is a nice, round number, isn't it?

Well, that's the number of perished settlements for Kingdom Death. Time for some numbers! I'll take a look on how many times throughout the perished settlements I/we have faced particular monsters. 

Format I'll use is level 1/level 2/level 3 hunts.

Quarries:

White Lion 23/5/2
(Beast of Sorrow x3)

Screaming Antelope 15/9/6

Phoenix 4/4/1

Gorm 19/3/2

Flower Knight 5/5/4

Spidicules 6/1/1

Sunstalker 5/2/0/1

Dung Beetle Knight 1/2/1

Lion God 3/1/1

The lack of level 3 quarry hunts is a little embarrassing. But my excuse is that I've played Protect the Young quite a bit, and they make the transition to level 3 quarries a lot slower - if ever. 

Both Spidicules and Dung Beetle Knight have been used only in one campaign, so their low count is understandable. Although hunting Spidicules level 1 six times is not understandable - perhaps it has been around for two settlements, I don't remember.

Nemesis:

Butcher 11/3/2

King's Man 3/3/2

The Hand 8/2/1

Watcher 4

Gold Smoke Knight 2

Manhunter 4/3/2/2

Slenderman 2/1/3

Lonely Tree 1/1/2

Butcher level 1 stands out from this list. How can there be eleven encounters in ten campaigns? The reason is Clinging Mist. Another weird set of numbers is King's Man level 1 only thrice and Slenderman level 1 only twice. But that's because of four settlements failed before Lantern Year 9, and one campaign of People of the Sun.

The magic eight ball of The Hand encounters must be because there is an odd chance of encountering him twice in the same campaign. Level 2's are probably around the same count if I ever get to make a 20 destroyed settlements update - with the 1.5 version you get to meet level 2 Hand only with the Heart Flute. 

Seems like settlements either succumb right at the beginning or at the end game bosses with no middle ground to cover. 

But I think this blog entry has run its course. What's good to see is that there's no "dead weight" in my expansions - they are all in good use. 

The Classic

 What's been missing throughout the years from this blog?

The most iconic board game of all times, Chess. It's odd to think it's been around fifteen years since I actually last played this game. 

I think I never was even a decent chess player, but oh my how rusty I was anyway. First two rounds I lost in less than ten moves. 

For third, I set myself a goal: at least ten moves. But it turned out to be a bit longer, when I scrambled on the board for around fifty moves before I lost. 

I don't generally enjoy Chess too much. It doesn't quite have emergent storytelling properties or any random variation in gameplay, which more often draw me. But still it was a nice change of pace to get back to the basics. 

Enerva Settlement

With the end of our long running co-op campaign of Kingdom Death, I decided to start another settlement of my own. Earlier I've kept tons of detailed notes about the individual survivors and settlement, but I think I'll leave that one out at least for this settlement. I won't be using Gorm either, since it has had such a prominent role in the last few campaigns I've done. 

Let's get this thing started.

 Iper, Luma, Voxada and Noctamum finish the prologue without much of a hassle. One severe injury is caused, and Noctamum has to skip next hunt. This makes her a perfect candidate for being the first speaker.

Luma receives the +1 permanent strength, and Iper scores the killing blow. 

In the aftermath, settlement gains a total of 12 survivors. 

Lantern Year 1: First Day

Settlement develops 2x bone darts, bandages, skull helm, bone blade and bone dagger. 

Iper, Luma, Voxada and Laifuseus hunt for level 1 White Lion, and hunt phase gave survivors quite a bit of courage already. And showdown itself, well, it was one of the cleanest level 1 showdowns I've seen. Only Laifuseus had to take a severe injury from Bloody Claw, which brought him instantly down to four bleed tokens. I did waste a Founding Stone when Lick Wounds came up because you kind of need to play safe for the very first hunt you do.

Age triggered for Iper, Luma and Voxada, out of whom the latter gained Otherworldly Luck fighting art. 

Endeavors:
1-3: The basic infrastructure
4: Nose infrastructure.

Lantern Year 2: Triathlon of Death

Survivors for Triathlon were Voxada, Theonous, Zoronuro and Konahim.
Race: Voxada, Zoronuro, Theonous, Konahim
Debate: Zoronuro, Voxada, Theonous, Konahim
Fight: Theonous, Voxada, Konahim, Zoronuro

Laifuseus acts as the Voice of Reason and triggers Bold for himself, and becomes the Orator of Death.

Settlement develops Catgut Bow, Monster Grease, King Spear, Cat Eye Circlet, Rawhide Whip, Rawhide vest, headband, waist and arm, plus boots from Triathlon. 

Love Juice triggers life principle, that's going to be Survival of the Fittest this time. The baby is born addicted to flowers, +2 courage and Tough fighting art. 

Endeavors:

1: Settlement innovates Ammonia.
2: Matchmaker does her thing... except this intimacy was devastating, crippling even. It took me five re-rolls to gain one additional baby!
3: Stone noses.
4: Voxada does Augury, only survival gained.

Year 2 hunt & showdown - White Lion level 1

Right on the first hunt space the White Lion ambushes Iper, Luma, Laifuseus and Nodalus, an the first card the Lion draws is the Ground Fighting. 

Lion went down with as easily as the first one, which I suppose means it put up a little more fight than the first one, since survivors were a whole lot better geared this time.

Luma with her King Spear deals about 80% of the wounds, and even scores the killing blow.

Lantern Year 3 - Triathlon of Death

So we have an athletic settlement, or at least very competitive one. I don't know if tabletop simulator has a broken shuffle algorithm or what, but that's what I used to shuffle deck. 

Race contest Firbab the First Baby, Zoronuro, Theonous, Konahim
Debate contest: Theonous, Konahim, Zoronuro, Firbab the First Baby
Fight: Konahim, Zoronuro, Theonous, Firbab the First Baby

I guess that's one fast, but inarticulate baby that's still a baby in the fighting pit. Also worthy of a mention is how heated the second and third place was for arguments during debate contest - it wasn't until third tiebreaker that solved the winner.

Emerging Spidicules gave Rival's Scar to Zoronuro, and an unnamed, yet Zoronuro's honored rival. This triggered finally death principle, and I took Graves. Laifuseus gains a permanent point of luck.

Endeavors:

1: Matchmaking with a success without re-rolls.
2: Settlement innovates Inner Lantern.
3-4: Two useless auguries by Noctamum

Settlement develops Luck Charm, and gained Rawhide Boots from triathlon.

Year 3 hunt & showdown - White Lion level 1

Iper, Luma, Laifuseus and Nodalus hunt yet again for a White Lion. I really want that Claw Head Arrow, no? Hunt phase had survivors wonder Lion's Sculpture and wander in Aromatic Breeze. Finale gave three extra resources.

Showdown was suddenly scary, and a frightening reminder that no matter how self-confident you may feel, Kingdom Death can surprise you in a nasty way. Well, nobody died so there's that. But it wasn't until fourth turn when survivors actually started to score wounds, while lion seemed unable to miss. It also continuously picked the wrong targets and not Luma, who had the most armor points. 

But then, when the lion picked up Bloodthirsty mood, things paradoxically eased up a little and hunting party gathered themselves. Iper had to take a severe head injury, which left him feeling Immortal. 

Lantern Year 4 - Gorm Climate

Since I'm not using Gorm in this campaign, I'm not going to add Gorm Climate onto the timeline ad infinitum. Result was thankfully 9, which gave Zoronuro a point of courage for a much needed second Matchmaker. 

Endeavors:

1: Matchmaker. Took one re-roll, but triggered Society Principle on LY 4.
2: Settlement innovates Bloodletting, so for some atrocious luck there.
3: Settlement builds Weapon Crafter.
4-5: Voxada does augury that results in Intimacy that takes away two re-rolls.

Society Principle was Collective Toil, with extra resources and population. 

Settlement develops lion beast katar, claw head arrow, monster grease and skull helm.

Year 4 showdown - Butcher level 1

Zoronuro, Iper, Luma and Nodalus encounter the Butcher. First round (that's second actually) gave Butcher four wounds, which is pretty darn good prospect. This was possible by punching Butcher to the gut, knocking it down. Butcher also started lightly by roaring everyone knocked down - guess he wanted to knock everyone else down, too.

Showdown looked relatively easy - sure there were bleed tokens here and there, but nothing Nodalus couldn't take care of with his bandages. There were only three cards left in AI deck, and nobody had died.

Then the traps started pouring in... soon enough there were two bleed tokens on the heroine of the fight, Luma, three on Iper, two on Zoronuro and one on Nodalus. 

And last AI card was the dreaded Infinite Kick.

There was only one chance for Luma to win the day and the lives of four promising survivors. And she did not botch it. Victory gave also the Butcher's Cleaver, so there was a sigh of relief tinted with satisfaction.

Lantern Year 5 - Stranger in the Dark

The Lamplighter paid a visit to Enerva settlement, and dimmed - not extinguished - Lepuri's lantern light. And then starts the craziness that is story events... First, Laifuseus is nominated for Hands of Heat, and he gains branded feet after one re-roll.

As settlement gains its fifth innovation, Hooded Knight comes over and just leaves with unfinished business.

And then enters Manhunter, after whom story events continue in the form of Flower Knight, who gives the addiction and the flower to Laifuseus. 

Endeavors:
1: Settlement innovates Symposium
2: Matchmaker that took away two re-rolls. I've had horrible luck at these and starting to run out...
3-4: Iper scavenges the darkness for 1 broken lantern and 1 lost survival.
5: Lepuri scavenges the darkness, but finds only threats there.

Lantern Year 5 Showdown Manhunter level 1

Iper, Luma, Laifuseus and Nodalus take on the challenge. 

Showdown certainly didn't start as planned, when first AI card drawn gave a severe injury, hamstrung, to Nodalus. But then again, Luma avenged the permanent injury in full by dealing in four wounds to Manhunter on the first round - with added extra broken funny bones. 

Afterwards Manhunter just took in a pile of wounds up until it was no AI cards remaining, when Luma - my personal favorite - had to take a severe head injury. Fortunately it was only a concussion that made her Squeamish. 

Lantern Year 5 hunt & showdown: Flower Knight level 1.

Luma, Laifuseus, Zoronuro and Iper hunt for Flower Knight. 

Iper encounters the Cloaked Stranger, who gives him a little understanding. Luma consumes clean water and douses her head into the stream. The water is so pure that it cures her Squeamish disorder.

Survivors sacrificed enough of themselves to reach the Gracious Aroma of Forest Wants What It Wants, and are then struck with Whispering Leaves. Only Laifuseus loses all of his insanity, though, before showdown starts.

First AI card drawn is Entrancing Gaze, which may prove to be problematic. Second card: Hypervigilance.

What is this Flower Knight I've never encountered before?! Looks like I'll have to pray to get through the showdown.

It was terrible. It was stressful. It was how it should be in this game. When the survivors lured Flower Knight two spaces outside of Fairy Ring, things eased out a little bit as Hypervigilance no longer triggered each turn and Entrancing Gaze was easier to navigate.

But it was a tough fight, with multiple survivors at heavy injury levels - no severes were rolled, but it was only a matter of time. I had no spare time to collect extra flowers or egg sacs, every action was needed to perform optimally against Flower Knight.

Damn, I respect this monster again a little more.

Lantern Year 6 - Cracks in the Ground

Cracks bless the settlement with additional founding stone and nothing worse. Armored Strangers decide to destroy a random innovation, but Enerva settlement sees that as a price too heavy to pay at this moment. Four nameless survivors that have given their re-rolls for greater causes face the King's Man, but are mercilessly butchered. 

Settlement does not have the resources to innovate this year, because I prioritize Vespertine Bow. 

Thanks to Armored Strangers, come 13  endeavor settlement phase.
1 Zoronuro the Matchmaker gives settlement +1 population at the cost of 1 re-roll.
2 Laifuseus the Matchmaker gives settlement +1 population with no re-rolls.
3 Iper scavenges a Broken Lantern
4-5 Kholkho is given age and gains Burning Focus.
6-7 Nossos is given age and gains Ambidextrous
7 Augury Intimacy with two re-rolls gives +1 population.
8 Augury Intimacy gives +1 population.
9 Augury makes Laifuseus a Tinker, which gives even more endeavors.
10-12 Augury Intimacy with two re-rolls gives settlement +1 population.
13 - 14 Laifuseus uselessly scavenges the darkness for an augury trinket.

Lantern Year 6 hunt & showdown Spidicules level 1

Iper, Luma, Laifuseus and Zoronuro hunt for Spidicules, and find broken lanterns and spiderlings on their way to the monster. What's to be expected, right? Hungry Ground also spitted out a broken lantern before showdown began. 

Showdown wasn't exactly hard. It was just weird and unexpected, as by far I've played against Spidicules the least. If we do not count the Lion God. Luma deals the killing blow again.

Lantern Year 7 - Plague

Well I'm not all that sorry for innovating Bloodletting early any more! Yay, the dreaded early plague and all it can is to annoy me for a bit. And drain me of my rapidly dwindling re-rolls. I needed to spend two. 

Voxada receives +1 evasion from Phoenix Feather. He's starting to look rather promising survivor, but I'm scared to risk him in actual hunts because of Otherworldly Luck and it's immense effect during settlement phase.

Bone Witch is merciful this time and offers to teach Iper Extra Sense fighting art. But he's Immortal, why would he need that?

1: Laifuseus' Matchmaker succeeds
2: Zoronuro's Matchmaker succeeds... barely.
3: Settlement innovates Cooking and I'm starting to get a little worried about the lack of Paint.
4: Iper scavenges another Broken Lantern. 
5: Augury intimacy takes away two re-rolls... sigh...
6: Augury intimacy succeeds... barely.

Lantern Year 7 hunt & showdown - Spidicules level 1

Without Paint I'm not going to challenge any level 2's... at least yet. So it's one more Spidicules before I'll call this update done. Should have done that sooner, because Golden Ember freaks out the entirety of hunting party - Luma received Hemophobia, Iper Vermin Obsession, Voxada Binge Eating and Laifuseus Motion Sickness. Well, it's not game over yet, but without fist & tooth mastery this combo of disorders doesn't look too good.

But it's Survival of the Fittest. When Pulverize smashes Voxada's body and legs to heavy injury levels I get a little anxious, but they were the only real damage that was done - once Spidicules is down to zero AI cards it's so easy to prolong the showdown. Especially when you have an Immortal survivor with 21 insanity. 

Sadly, post-showdown that's only twelve any longer, but settlement gained +2 population, 2x web silk, iron, broken lantern on top of the regular prizes. 

Lantern Year 8 - Lights in the Sky
Iper takes a look at the Sunstalker and gains Burning Ambition, while Laifuseus sees the Dung Beetle Knight far away in the distance. 

1: Settlement innovates Petal Spiral. Can't get much worse luck in innovations than this...
2: Settlement builds the Silk Mill
3-4: Lights in the Sky inspired auguries give Intimacy +1 population without issues.
5-6: Iper uses Petal Spiral to train his sword proficiency.
7: Last Augury gives Intimacy +1 pop without re-rolls.

I'm getting a little frustrated that I can't make anything useful with the resources I've gathered from the Spidicules. Nonetheless, settlement develops Silk Body Armor to do something at least. 

Next hunt will probably be Spidicules again, but that's for later.

Below is my track for re-rolls. 

Population 28, Survival limit 6

Iper
Luma
Voxada
Noctamum XXX
Laifuseus
4Theonous
3Zoronuro 
2Konahim XXX
Nodalus, hamstrung XXX
1Firbab the First Baby XXX
Lepuri XXX -1 permanent strength from Lamplighter, -1 survival
Noname2 XXX
Nossos, with Ambidextrous
Kholkho, Burning Focus fighting art.
NonameXXX
NonameXXX
NonameXXX
Noname Whee XXX
Nonamm XXX
Nomname XXX
Noname XXX
NonameXXX
Noanna
Chantur
Undebea
Agyruu
Sylch - found from silk nest
Tranaloka - found from silk nest

Arachnic Heart organ,
2x Unlaid Eggs organ,
Spinnerets organ scrap
Stomach organ,
Large appendage bone