Is It Third Pandemonium Already

 A 50 point game of Warmachine over War Table.

My list:

Kishtaar with Second Sight & Unnatural Darkness
-Jackal with Hunter Rifle, Assault Shield and Bloodthirst
-Tyrant with Belcher, Shield Cannon and Hunter head
Ulkor Barragers
Assault Reavers + standard
Warwitch Coven
Grhotten Keeper

Opponent had:

Ilari with Superiority and Avenging Force
-Medveditsa
-Dire Wolf with Long Axe, Plow Shield and Shield Guard
-Great Bear with Heavy Cannon, Blasting Fist and Slammer head
Winter Korps Infantry + Standard
Winter Korps Officer
Mortar Team

Well, the objectives that disappeared were to 50mm ones. Funny, huh? Both players had only, like, committed their entire battlegroup there. 

Ulkor Barragers and Warwitches were going left to 40mm objectives, and Assault Reavers to secure caches. Khador wasn't really contesting the caches, and the only model on that front (Korps Officer) went towards center terrain objective instead. 

Since Khador started they were in range to take the first shots. Rocketeers downed to Ulkor Barragers, and both Dire Wolf and Medveditsa charged at Assault Reavers in one heck of an overkill.

Kishtaar pretty much wasted her feat, although I suppose units were too spread out to capitalize on it anyway. Kishtaar was able to kill Winter Korps officer, denying Khador objective point on second turn. 

The lone Ulkor was able to get close enough to contest Orgoth 40mm marker, and mostly managed to clear Winter Korps Infantry unit with help from Tyrant's belcher. Only mostly, though. Two managed to pass their tough rolls at a crucial moment, so they were left alive to score Khador's 40mm objective. 

Orgoth still did get the point lead from picking up cache, but... that was pretty much the game. 

Superiority and feat move from Ilari easily brought the now MAT 10 Medveditsa within 1" of Kishtaar who had one focus point for damage blocks. 

Game over.

Rematch

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal. Based on the earlier experiences of players in question, Jack Daw1 & Hoffman1 is a rough, rough match-up for Augmented. We wondered if the ruthless Wardens would be able to bring any solace for that, and this is that game.

Strategy: Flank Corrupted Ley Lines

Schemes: Claim Jump, Sabotage, Catch and Release, Runic Binding, Spread Them Out

My list was:

Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Montresor with Servant of Dark Powers
Jaakuna Ubume
The Ferryman
Hanged
Crooked Man
Guilty

Pool: 4
Schemes: Catch and Release (Hanged), Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

Hoffman & Mechanical Attendant
Joss
Melissa KORE
Guardian
2x Warden
Watcher
Medical Automaton

Pool: 5
Schemes:

Turn 1:

Montresor heralded himself within about 6" of the center point, and the lodestone was loaded up on Ferryman. Guild had it on Watcher.

I hesitated to come in view of Augmented arsenal in the middle, so I tried to delay activating anything on top. This meant Lady Ligeia creeping behind the house, and Guilty plus Ferryman going to bottom-left strategy marker to tag it. 

Opponent was playing the same game as I did, so in the end I had to open up the middle. Jack Daw sped through the house and landed Curse of Injustice on a Warden that had taken position four or five inches below the center point. He was then able to push the bot to strategy marker at the center. 

Jaakuna walked to lure Crooked Man a little away from my deployment, and Montresor was cursed to watch how Crooked Man would take another step closer to centerline.

Hanged cursed Guardian with forbidden knowledge.

Hoffman had pulsed power tokens all around him, and took a double walk closer to center. He gave Guardian Fast. While Hoffman's position looked nice for some staggering shenanigans, Guardian entered the fray soon enough. Threat saturation just got real with only two models involved.

Guardian removed Hanged's upgrade, and Mechanical Attendant tried to fix its mental scars from forbidden knowledge. But a blowtorch can only do so much in a case like that, and only one damage was removed. 

Fortunately Montresor was able to stagger Hoffman, and Melissa missed her shot against Montresor anyway. 

The other Warden was going towards top-right strategy marker, and finally when Crooked Man activated, he first tried to use Earthquake on the bunch of models at the middle. Failing that, he charged Warden and scraped the paint off of the machine. Malifaux Mining Law got passed, with a scheme marker to boot.

Joss was approaching Guilty and Ferryman south to the biggest house on board, and that was turn one.

Turn 2:

Hoffman overcharged Guardian again, but only charged Hanged. This resulted in a loss of soulstone, as while the other attack failed with Black Joker, second attack compensated by delivering in a severe. After damage block Hanged was left with five health remaining.

I got a little worried about my Catch and Release as a whole, so Jaakuna Ubume activated, lured Hanged away and walked to protect Montresor with Drowning Aura.

But then Melissa activated and shot a weak damage on Jaakuna, followed by second shot with cheated Red Joker on damage flip. So she disappeared.

After such a display I didn't want to see that greatsword hacking on Montresor, so Jack Daw spent two activations landing Curse of Injustice on Guardian before charging in. 

Unfortunately, though, Guardian was not yet staggered, so Mechanical Attendant was able to repair it for a couple of damage points and push it into melee with Montresor. 

Montresor didn't have much other choice than to walk into melee with the Guardian, stagger it with melee attack and asphyxiate Hoffman, Warden and Guardian. 

Medical Automaton rushed to center to offer some healing starbucks oil for Augmented models around. 

But now there was an unhealthy amount of robots in the middle, and Lady Ligeia appeared to shout at them. And shout she did, also staggering Medical Automaton. 

Ferryman also ran to hug the center marker and succeeded in marking Guardian with no-heals for this turn. That starbucks just wasn't delicious enough to heal. I suppose things taste somewhat more bland when you're suffocating. Anyway. Guardian then smacked Montresor. And a damage flip was second black joker in a turn. The one attack that did hit landed a moderate au naturel, so that could have been far worse for me for sure. Even damage block came up as a severe.

Warden on top injured Crooked Man slightly, and the other Warden tried to knock away Ferryman from center objective, but didn't score any hits. Crooked Man tried earthquaking Mv 2 Hoffman, but he was protected by the selfless Mechanical Attendant, who also became staggered.

Hanged walked and charged Hoffman for Catch and Release, and Joss did a hasty reposition towards center. Watcher fluttered to tag the center.

First turn ended with a 2-1 lead for Resurrectionists. Although no robots had been wrecked yet from Augmented crew, situation did appear rather grimy for Guild. In regards to Montresor's auras, Augmented had just about the worst possible arrangement there could be. 

Turn 3:

Jack Daw got the initiative, and Hanged decided to pull out of melee to protect a scheme point. It offered some more forbidden knowledge with masks for Warden on top-right quarter and took a couple of swings the the thing. First one missed, but second one dealt double severe despite negative modifiers.

This left Hoffman free to charge Montresor, and sure enough Charles was able to pound Montresor down to one health remaining. This forced Montresor to activate before it was too late. He did a whopping five points of damage with bonus action. He also gave a walk for Crooked Man and did a point or two of damage in to Guardian. 

Guardian procced Montresor's demise, but more importantly, knocked the already activated henchman 4" away from other staggered models that were down to one or two health remaining. 

Jack Daw activated next, took a walk to get within 6" of Crooked Man and tossed the lodestone for Crooked Man. With last action he dismantled Medical Automaton with dead man's collar. After that I thought I needed more cards than suffocation aura as the affair with Montresor had been resource intensive, so Jack Daw used Fickle Tormentor.

Mechanical Attendant healed Guardian before I got to apply the final few points of damage. Remaining turn devolved into bashing the other Warden who was giggling with one hit point remaining. First Warden tried to kill itself by attacking Ferryman, failing at that. Then Ferryman gave Catch of the Day for Melissa and tried to kill Warden, failing at that. Lady Ligeia concentrated real hard and tried to yell Warden, who was still at one hit point remaining, down. Failing. At. That.

Eventually Crooked Man managed to quake the Warden dead before dropping a scheme marker with bonus and going to tag top-right quarter. Sheesh.

Joss charged Ferryman and did five points of damage through armor. Fortunately the second attack missed. Melissa also failed to dispatch Lady Ligeia. 

Guilty continued to spam scheme markers, and Watcher disengaged from Ferryman - only to engage Jack Daw. 

Scores went to 3-3, when both players scored strategy, but Guild also got their Catch and Release with Watcher.

Turn 4:

Although Guild survived last turn far better than how it looked like, it took only a few activations for us to call it a game. Ferryman activated first and flailed uselessly around. He did manage to land Mark of Vengeance on Watcher, though.

Watcher then disengaged from Jack Daw and flew to top-left quarter to tag strategy marker, but the poor bird was now with one hit point remaining. 

Montresor activated and did not Black Joker his bonus action, so the Watcher died. 

That was when we ended. Outcasts had pretty much secured six points at that point, while Guild would at most get five. 

Joss and two Wardens couldn't get their Ruthless to bear all that much throughout the game, so maybe this game was inconclusive when it comes to our little test. But needless to say, Jack Daw is still a rough, rough matchup for Hoffman.

Hatemail for the Four Winds

 A 50ss game of Malifaux

Strategy: Corner Plant Explosives

Schemes: Hold Up Their Forces, Information Overload, In Your Face, Ensnare, Power Ritual

My list:

Dr. McMourning with Killer Instinct & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Carrion Emissary
Rafkin
Kentauroi
Nurse
Little Gasser

Pool: 4
Schemes: In Your Face, Power Ritual

Opponent had:

Shenlong & 2x Aspiring Students
Sensei Yu
Banying
High River Monk
Charm Warder
2x Wandering River Monk
Low River Monk

Pool: 4
Schemes: Ensnare, Hold Up Their Forces

Turn 1:

McMourning kept spamming astonishing amounts of poison on his models (well, Rafkin did, actually), while Shenlong and other monks kept enlightening themselves in corner deployment - absolutely zero shots were fired between teams.

Kentauroi, Nurse and Zombie Chihuahua were going towards top-left corner. Little Gasser placed a scheme marker to my deployment corner and wobbled forward. 

Everything else was hanging around in the graveyard. McMourning crafted a soulstone out of a zombie Carrion Emissary propped up. One Mindless Zombie survived the turn.

A Wandering River Monk was going towards both top-left  and bottom-right corners, and everyone else meditating between them.

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and Kentauroi went to drop a scheme marker to top-left corner for Power Ritual.

After that, I tried to stall by activating Mindless Zombie, Zombie Chihuahua and Little Gasser, but opponent had Aspiring Students and other non-critical models to activate. I wanted models such as High River Monk and Shenlong to do their activations before committing to anything meaningful. But that plan had to be revised.

Carrion Emissary advanced next to a wall, concentrated and did a bunch of zombies. Before High River Monk would activate. Nurse sped up to Carrion Emissary for some Bedside Manner. Eventually this did save the bird after Shenlong and whatnot had shot the Carrion Emissary what they got. High River Monk then charged Emissary and did weak damage. But after second attack Nurse picked up the bird and cradled it away from danger.

McMourning did a thing, where he walked, ordered himself to walk a bit forward, dropped an explosive and charged Charm Warder. I didn't expect Charm Warder to die with one hit, but that just happened. 

A Wandering River Monk planted an explosive past centerline near top-left corner before walking back to safety.

Both players scored strategy, but Resurrectionists also got Power Ritual for a 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

Looks like third turn is missing a picture. 

Well, from my perspective one of the more pivotal moments was Fast High River Monk attacking the already injured Carrion Emissary, managing to kill it with flurry attack. There went my In Your Face end option.

To avenge that, Rafkin, Nurse and whatever I could conjure up spammed and stacked attacks and Poison on the High River Monk. Success rate was only moderate, but that was enough to soften up the target for McMourning to come and finish as one of my last activation for the turn.

Kentauroi placed another scheme marker and a strategy marker to top-left corner. 

Carrion Emissary's Zombies that now had a turn to activate went to stand on the explosive token McMourning had dropped to deny easy pick-ups. Sure, they died to whatever opponent directed at them, but at least they had to direct something at them.

Banying leaped to a scheme marker somebody... perhaps Yu? ... had dropped and went to tease my explosive carrying Little Gasser. Fortunately attacks didn't hit, but Little Gasser wasted his entire turn trying to pull off Pull My Finger -trick - failing both tries. 

Shenlong had Four Wind Punched McMourning and Sebastian both within 3" of two scheme markers, so there wasn't really a way I'd be able to deny Ensnare this turn. 

I was starting to run low on zombies to guard explosives, so Sebastian went to sit on the first one that McMourning had placed. I'm not sure if guarding explosives by sitting on them is the safest course of action, but whatever that works, I guess.

Both players scored strategy, and Ten Thunders scored Ensnare easily enough. Resurrectionists struggler with In Your Face, but eventually managed to get that for a 4-3 lead. 

Turn 4:

This turn McMourning went on an amazing rampage. He ordered himself to centerline to drop High River Monk's explosive, then charged Low River Monk, killing him in one hit. He had three health remaining, but he bought critical strike with a stone. There was still one Aspiring Student in McMourning's melee range, and that went down, too. While targets themselves weren't all that impressive to strike down, the fact that they hadn't been activated yet was a biggie.

Taking notes from Sebastian from last turn, Rafkin went to sit on an explosive. Wandering River Monk came to check if Rafkin was okay because that didn't look safe.

Shenlong Four Wind Punched McMourning into contact with Sensei Yu, so Hold Up Their Forces was secured for Ten Thunders.

Banying didn't do a particularly good job at getting rid of Little Gasser, so the other Wandering River Monk had to come and finish the guy who still wasn't finished with the Pull My Finger trick. 

Nurse was able to push Sebastian away from melee with Shenlong so that he was able to go and drop a strategy marker.

Kentauroi rode to Ten Thunders strategy marker, picked it up and went in position to drop it next turn.

Resurrectionists scored strategy, and finally Ten Thunders got their Hold Up Their Forces. Scores continued 5-4 in McMourning's favor.

Turn 5:

Resurrectionists had no trouble with getting the fourth point from strategy. But both scheme end conditions were out of question. 

Sebastian was able to kill Sensei Yu, and McMourning did the same to Nurse to deny a target for Ten Thunders schemes. But all that wriggling was in vain - three Four Winds Punches were able to deliver people and scheme marker to engage Rafkin and Sebastian.

That ability just blows (four times) my mind without a TN, with such a long range, high stat and no targeting restrictions. It managed to claw a close fought 6-6 draw for Douglas and Shenlong.

Prisoner Steak, Rare+

 A 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Raid the Vaults

Schemes: Take Prisoner, Ensnare, Outflank, Deliver a Message, Sweating Bullets

My list:

Ensouled Jack Daw & Lady Ligeia
Montresor
Yannic Waller
Midnight Stalker
The Ferryman
Crooked Man
Dead Outlaw

Pool: 6
Schemes: Ensnare, Deliver a Message (Midnight Stalker)

Opponent had:

Rasputina & Wendigo
Snow Storm
Blessed of December
Ceddra
December Acolyte
Silent One with Magical Training
Silent One

Pool: 4
Schemes: Ensnare, Take Prisoner (Dead Outlaw)

Turn 1:

Well, what's the most sensible thing to do with your master on turn one? Well... maybe charge enemy henchman, master, totem and a bunch of minions? Right, we'll go with that.

Jack Daw absolutely failed each of his attacks, though, so there was some degree of worry about his well-being. At least there was more than a decent set-up for Draw Them In next turn.

Montresor and Jack Daw were relatively early activations - which only meant that they were slowed and staggered the next turn. Joining in on the slow/staggered team were Crooked Man and Dead Outlaw, plus Lady Ligeia was cheering them up by just being slow. 

Most of that was Rasputina's doing, although models such as Snow Storm and Silent Ones certainly helped. 

Staggered was annoying especially on Crooked Man, as I kept trying to figure out how to move the guy outside of his activation - only to realize that yeah, not going to happen because of Staggered. So Crooked Man just wobbled forward with its mighty Mv of 2, doing nothing else. 

Eventually Blessed of December leaped from its deployment position to the right to herd Dead Outlaw to a nice little blast zone with Lady Ligeia and Montresor. 

Yannic Waller had smashed one ice pillar and went behind the hull of a ship to hide from Acolyte of December. 

Midnight Stalker started to climb up on a building to perhaps contest center-right marker next turn. 

Ferryman went to contest the strategy marker on bottom-right quarter, and those were the most meaningful parts of the turn from my perspective.

Turn 2:

Arcanists won initiative. Rasputina did horrible things on her turn. Some of which were already hinted in the description of turn one. Slow and staggered, everywhere!

I must have forgotten to take a picture on turn two, though, because sure as hell I didn't take down Snow Storm on turn two. 

Instead, Jack Daw did Draw Them In twice. Damage done wasn't all that impressive for a full master activation, but it did have a heavy toll on opponent's hand that, I heard later, had five severes.

Early on Blessed of December leaped to put a dent on Dead Outlaw. And after a blast from Rasputina and a couple of damage from Blessed of December last turn, moderate damage (with negative modifiers) was all that it took to take down Dead Outlaw before it had the time to activate. 

Bummer? Sure. However, I did not know Dead Outlaw was opponent's Take Prisoner target. Whoops. 

Montresor spent his entire activation to get as many models within his stagger aura, and Crooked Man interacted a scheme within 3" of Blessed of December. He also put up his Mining Law aura, getting two markers required for Ensnare next turn. Shame, that Blessed of December had Deadly Pursuit.

Since I had such secure position on the center-left marker, Ferryman felt confident enough to miss its attacks against Silent One that had Magical Training upgrade. 

Likely there was some more nuance to this turn, but I got not picture. My memory ain't what it used to be.

However, Midnight Stalker leaped, walked and delivered a message to Rasputina.

Both players scored strategy, with Midnight Stalker giving Outcasts 2-1 lead.

Turn 3:

Arcanists got the initiative again, and Rasputina did a bad, bad thing. This time around I think it was Montresor, Midnight Stalker and Jack Daw that got the cold shoulder - and most Jack's damage with Draw Them In was negated with Freeze Over. Oh well.

At least Jack Daw was able to land hazardous terrain on Snow Storm before bursting away with speed and pushing Montresor a little closer with bonus action. Snow Storm wouldn't have any of that aura, and walked a tad away to blast with Ice Tornado. Talk about Anger Issues. The upgrade, I mean. That didn't go away because models were damaged. However, staggered expired.

Montresor was able to toss a noose around Snowstorm's head and pull it back within Hanging Ropes aura. 

I had not realized how much I had damaged Snow Storm already. When Midnight Stalker leaped to it and half-heartedly poked it with a knife, the thing just died, though opponent tried to save it by spending a soulstone. Go figure? Stalker was then able to charge Wendigo that had two health remaining, but botched that attack.

Throughout this entire winter storm laced with tormented vengeance spirit, Yannic Waller tried to come and arrange a little democratic elections, and yeah, that went just about as you might expect, given the circumstances. Acolyte even kept shooting harpoons at her before repositioning to control strategy marker in top-left quarter.

Yannic had consolidated power of Crooked Man now that it was no longer staggered. Idea was to place a scheme marker with trigger, which succeeded. However, Blessed of December activated right next and deleted Crooked Man from the board with a Red Joker on damage flip. That... that guy just spent two turns to advance a total of 2" and place two scheme markers. Three, if you count Yannic's contribution.

Anyway, Blessed was now free to go and claim the vault that was worth two points for Arcanists.

Sightless Snow and Ceddra removed Lady Ligeia after she had tried to yell for a bit. 

Ferryman had managed to land no-heal on Snow Storm, before it failed an attack against Silent One. Ashamed, Ferryman backed to control strategy marker on bottom-right quarter.

Both players scored strategy for a 3-2 lead for Outcasts.

Turn 4:

Everybody died. GG.

Okay, well, more specifically  Wendigo died to three attacks from Midnight Stalker before the enforcer leaped to strategy marker worth two points for Outcasts.

Jack Daw, no longer slowed, was able to go and place scheme markers to ensnare Ceddra or Sightless Snow or whoever it was at the time. The beast attacked Montresor, who ticked down to zero health remaining. I pondered if I should just leave the henchman for dead, as there were scheme markers close enough to score Ensnare. In the ended I decided not to, and that was when opponent revealed Ensnare. 

At least Montresor succeeded in killing the Silent One without upgrade.

Rasputina and perhaps even Acolyte - I forget the details - had killed Yannic Waller after she finally managed to arrange democratic elections. I hope that's not, like, foreshadowing whatever the hell is happening in the world right now. But I royally digress.

Ferryman charged Silent One with the upgrade, missing again. This time it backed down to strategy marker. 

So, both players scored strategy and Ensnare for a 5-4 lead for Outcasts.

Turn 5:

Last turn had enough variables to warrant for a play. Montresor managed to toss noose over Sightless Ceddra before dying without triggering Eternal. Idea was to deny Ensnare end condition from the Arcanists after they had spammed scheme markers all over the center area.

Rasputina moved away from Outcast scheme markers so as not to be within 2" of a marker at least. 

Leaping, Fast Midnight Stalker rectified that.

In the end, Jack Daw was able to place a scheme marker so that Sightless Ceddra would trigger  Ensnare end condition for Outcasts, but that just meant that he himself was Ensnared. 

Rasputina had enough models to score strategy. Both players scored Ensnare, but Outcasts got to deliver their message for a 7-6 victory.

Let Them Weep

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Flank Cloak and Dagger

Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Outflank, Take Prisoner, Protected Territory, Deliver a Message

My list:

Kirai2 & Ikiryo
Datsue Ba
Kari Zotiko
Lost Love
Shikome
Gwisin with Grave Spirit Touch
Drowned
Seishin

Pool: 5
Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Misaki Katanaka & Shang
Ototo
Banying
Yamaziko
Minako Rei
2x Torakage

Pool: 5
Schemes: Deliver a Message (Torakage), Protected Territory

Turn 1:

Early on Ototo took position over a strategy marker that had been placed next to a lake. And that pretty much set the course for the first half of turn one, except for a tiny Seishin activation that gave a walk for Datsue Ba and Ikiryo.

Kari gave a walk for Gwisin and rushed closer to Ototo. 

I don't actually remember what Torakage did up there, because that looks like a one move. It probably moved and charged Kari, who had swirled past Ototo during Kirai's activation. This summoned up an Enslaved Spirit, which chain ganged Kari over Torakage. 

Shikome had also been pushed right next to a strategy marker, so she was able to interact with it and fly towards top-left corner to protect precious intel. 

Yamaziko took a double walk with bonus action and interacted an intel, too. Strategy marker was picked up by Lost Love, who teleported in to heal Kari after Misaki had jumped out of the shadows to beat Kari with a stick.

Gwisin charged Ototo to soften him up for Let Them Bleed next turn.

Below, Minako Rei went to pick up intel. Datsue Ba robbed her right after, and Drowned was able to claim a strategy marker that had been placed after Minako did her thing. 

Unfortunately, wicked granny wasn't the only one able to play that game. Banying leaped to a shadow marker, was able to deal a bunch of damage to Datsue Ba and steal the intel she had stolen. The insolence!

Ikiryo and Torakage were glancing each other menacingly nearby. Ikiryo had walked, and then tried to yell at a shadow, which went just about as effectively as you might expect. 

Turn 2:

Torakage ninja'd itself to a shadow marker, gave a message for Kirai and walked to my deployment zone. 

Kirai activated early to push people around, herself included. While Yamaziko kept passing summon checks, Ototo did much less so. Gaki appeared. Ototo did smack dead the Enslaved Spirit he had spawned last turn, and took half of Gaki's health away.

The end result of Ototo's attacks, Enslaved Spirit's useless claws and Gaki's feeble attacks was that Ototo was now down to four health remaining, unable to heal thanks to Kari.

Misaki continued to torment the top-left quarter, robbing Lost Love of intel and killing the love enforcer before he had the chance to activate. 

Shikome and Kari were able to plant scheme markers for Protected Territory.

Datsue Ba nearly killed off Banying, and I was happy that Let Them Bleed was also secured.

Until Shang healed Banying with Red Joker straight top of deck. 

Then I did what was most likely my greatest mistake throughout this game. I thought that Ikiryo could risk taking Karmic Fate. My brain somehow completely skipped about the Karmic Ties ability on Minako Rei.

So, she charged Minako and certainly did some damage in - but also dealing that damage to herself. Oh well.

At least Drowned was a champ with his projectile vomit. Both attacks hit Banying and scored blasts on both attempts. With the ensuing Poison this meant that both Minako and Banying would fall to 50% of their health remaining 

Minako summoned a Katashiro that nearly killed Ikiryo. Fortunately Minako didn't manage nearly as much, and Ikiryo was left with one health remaining.

Torakage below went to place a scheme marker near strategy marker.

Both players scored strategy point and both schemes for a 3-3 tie.

Turn 3:

What weird mess of a turn that was. Hot sport that was top-left quarter somehow got even more crowded than it already was. Nobody seemed to die there, but certainly they were within last 30% or less of their health remaining.

First of all, Ototo just took a step outside of Kari's no-heal range, healed itself with a severe and smacked the Gaki dead. 

Gwisin, Kari, a new Gaki and whatnot ganged up on Ototo, but managed to bring him only down to three health remaining, while Misaki did the same to Kari. 

An Enslaved Spirit dealt a couple points of damage to Yamaziko, while the opposing grandmother wasn't able to deal with the summoned spirit. 

Shikome dived far behind the train column to protect intel she had picked up on turn one. 

Shang came to heal Minako after she had killed Ikiryo. Resulting Wanyudo rolled over Datsue Ba for Burning +4.

Drowned tried to charge Banying, who managed to get his defensive trigger to leap off to threaten Kari who was at such low amount of health. This called for drastic granny measures. Datsue Ba disengage from the melee below and charged Banying, not doing much but at least engaging him.

There was a real possibility of Banying killing Datsue Ba, but that didn't come into being. Instead, during end phase, Datsue Ba went down to two health remaining. 

Both players scored strategy for a 4-4 tie.

Turn 4:

This turn the game fell apart for Resurrectionists. Ten Thunders got the initiative, and Ototo activated. He was rolling moderate wounds left and right, which was a little problematic with unactivated, incorporeal models with three health remaining. Gaki died, Kari died, and Ototo healed again. 

Kirai was able to activate, and did a bunch of swirly shenanigans. She also healed Darsue Ba for a little. Unfortunately Misaki was more than able to kill Datsue Ba right next, so Urami chances of victory were rapidly dwindling.

However, it's wonderful in Malifaux how absolutely weird stuff can happen that just might turn the tide around. Drowned activated and started vomiting. Both attacks scored at least moderates. I did place an incorrect amount of Riptide Markers, but fortunately that didn't actually affect anything. Only Banying and Misaki took damage from those. But still that was, like, nine points of damage from a couple of 1/1/1 attacks. Impressive.

Unfortunately, those were just about the only results I made this turn. Shikome tried to walk, challenge-teleport to Yamaziko and extort the ancient law of granny-for-a-granny, but the challenge failed. Instead, Shikome had to meekly walk right next to Yamaziko and nudge her menacingly.

Kirai also wasn't able to land an Ikiryo summon on Ototo, although she did get masks for the first Thirst for Vengeance. I just didn't have a high enough card in my hand. 

Ten Thunders were able to get the lead at 5-4 by scoring strategy.

Turn 5:

We did not play last turn, as in the best of cases Resurrectionists would gain five points, and at their absolute worst Ten Thunders would get six, with seven being most likely outcome.

I don't tend to blame RNG too much in this game, but I must say that it did start to feel a bit excessive handicap when the only severe card I got to my starting hand was on turn 5 - which we didn't play. But what can you do - sometimes that just happens. 

We Own... Gahk

 A 50ss game of Malifaux on Vassal.

Strategy: Flank Stuff the Ballots

Schemes: Outflank, In Your Face, Let Them Bleed, Protected Territory, Espionage

My list:

Molly, Chaotic Conductor & Necrotic Machine
Philip & Nanny
Batsch & Amalie
Keepside Strangers with Grave Spirit Touch
Oskar
2x Dapperling

Pool: 4
Schemes: Espionage, Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Youko Hamasaki & Chiyo
Bill Algren
Hinamatsu
3x Bunraku
Tanuki
Geisha

Pool: 5
Schemes: Protected Territory, Espionage

Turn 1:

Map was extremely challenging to say the least. So much severe terrain that it would be enough for three tables worth of Malifaux. 

Anyway, I started to dismantle my deployment with Fungal models. Batsch & Amalie went to take a charge from Bill Algren. Damage block was severe, so yay for that. Waltzers were within 6" of Oskar, so Oskar was able to plant a free scheme for Espionage before walking and not managing to do anything useful. 

Dapperlings were the same, barely getting out of deployment. But at least there were two markers secured for Espionage end condition.

One Bunraku was going to bottom-right corner, where Crooligan was just concentrating around. Another Bunraku went to top-left corner, where there was... nobody at all. Free reign for the puppet.

Well, Philip and the Nanny was at top-left quarter's strategy marker. They had been trying to stay far from Hinamatsu's charge range - and succeeded at that. Molly, however, wasn't as lucky. Hinamatsu walked and charged to mutilate the parade conductor. Attack failed. 

I was a little worried about those six potential attacks coming for Molly the next turn, so I somehow thought it was a good idea to teleport Keepside Strangers to Hinamatsu and try to plant Slow on her. I did have the crows in my hand for that, but the nine wasn't high enough. 

At least Hinamatsu took Distracted +1 and a severe damage from handful of snakes... but now they were... right there. Next to Hinamatsu. Only a miracle would save them next turn.

Third Bunraku had lured Bill a little closer for his Batch-bashing, and Tanuki was following close behind. Chiyo sprinted to have her pinky toe inside my table side, and there was little I could do to that toe right now.

Youko was inside a forest  within a couple of walks to center or top-left quarter strategy marker, not quite within 6" of Keepside Strangers and Molly. 

Geisha didn't want to tear her dress like her master, so she took the long way out from forest after dropping a scheme marker for most likely some counter-espionage. 

Turn 2:

Resurrectionists got the initiative, and started with Crooligan to place a scheme marker and a vote to bottom-right box.

This left Hinamatsu all the time it needed to rip Keepside Strangers into shreds... or so I thought. While it took all the better cards in my hand to save the Strangers, they actually survived the onslaught of onslaughts. So they still had one activation going on for them. They sidekicked themselves to Necrotic Machine and started blasting Bill Algren with snakes to no effect. But, they had survived.

Next Bill tried to kill the Strangers, and brought them down to one health remaining. But all the heals in the keyword were not Forgotten, and soon enough after Necrotic Machine and Molly had activated, Keepside Strangers were still at four health remaining even after an angry Bunraku attacked from the bushes.

On the fungal side of things, a Dapperling managed to go and place two votes to center ballots before Youko walked within interact distance. Oskar kept flailing at Bill, dealing in some respectable damage that was soon healed by Tanuki. Well, at least Oskar enabled an interact for Batsch & Amalie. 

The Dancing Duo had had enough of Tanuki and tried to kill the little *hit, but took a point of poison from scheme marker they had just placed. And Beer Goggles caused the attack to miss. Damn you Tanukiiiii....!

Two remaining Bunrakus went to their respective corners. However, at the bottom there was this Crooligan, who fortunately didn't take in even a single hit. Philip & Nanny at top-left quarter voted and slowly pushed prams through burned down forest to act as a homing beacon for orphan kids.

Both players scored strategy, while neither announced any reveal parties. Scores went 1-1.

Turn 3:

... and just like that - out of a sudden - attacks stopped failing.

Keepside Strangers kicked their side to Molly, keeping outside of Hinamatsu's reach. The puppet, however, spent one action point to walk over and clawed them dead with just two strikes. And that was even when being poisoned and within 3" of Necrotic Machine.

Dapperling at the center placed a scheme marker over center line and voted, before getting clawed down to one health remaining by Bunraku. This somehow aggravated Tanuki in its drunken stupor, and the furry little beast got mayhaps its first recorded kill.

As I was planning on scoring both schemes this turn, my models weren't wasting actions on hitting Bill Algren. Instead, Oskar blasted Tanuki twice with a mushroom cloud. Once spores had settled, Tanuki was no more. 

Batsch & Amalie shot Bunraku with a mushroom cloud and went to vote at the bottom-right quarter ballots with the help of Oskar. 

Another Dapperling charged Bunraku and bloomed a scheme marker more than 3" away from Bill. 

Philip & Nanny took a walk that much further away from Bunraku at top so they could place a scheme marker for Protected Territory. Right next Crooligan jumped to Philip to remove a scheme marker from Ten Thunders deployment zone. It also dropped a marker for Espionage. 

This unfortunately gave way for Bunraku to claim bottom-right ballots box.

Necrotic Machine had a pleasing activation, when it charged Youko and injected a total of four damage points in to her, catching both Hinamatsu and Youko under neurotoxin aura before either had activated. Youko whacked Necrotic Machine with her words, but they weren't quite sharp enough to scrap the construct. In fact, a little positive reinforcement from Molly went a long way into repairing the damage those harsh words had caused.

Lastly, Ten Thunders had no cards in hand in the end phase, so Necrotic Machine punched Bunraku for fun and profit. Gone was the puppet.

Both players scored strategy. I revealed both schemes, but Ten Thunders only got their Protected Territory. So it was 4-3 lead for Molly.

Turn 4:

Going from bottom to top, Bunraku placed a scheme marker on the centerline. 

Batsch & Amalie placed a scheme marker for Protected Territory end condition, and Crooligan continued spying in the enemy deployment zone. 

Bill and Oskar were locked in a deadly duel, not really contributing to victory points any longer. 

Dapperling managed to bloom Chiyo's scheme marker away from my deployment. 

At the center ballots Geisha lured Youko away from melee, and Qi and Gong master spent all of her action points to empty the box.

Necrotic Machine and Molly had managed to bring Youko down to two health remaining, with one Poison spilling over for turn five. Hinamatsu somehow managed to either miss all its attacks, or damage got blocked with soulstone, or Black Joker came up on damage flip.

Because Philip & Nanny didn't know what Bunraku would do, they dropped two votes to top-left ballots and pursuited towards top-left corner. Bunraku was just within range to Risky Maneuver and walk itself to my deployment zone and drop a scheme.

Neither player scored strategy, but Ten Thunders did get their Espionage. Scores went 4-4.

Turn 5:

Molly pushed Philip & Nanny towards top-left corner and gave them an interact afterwards. With hindsight it would have been much better to use that one on Necrotic Machine to place a vote to center box, but that's hindsight for ya.

With her last action Molly tried to finish off Youko, but dealt only a single point of damage. 

Necrotic Machine wasn't able to get an attack in. It disengaged from Hinamatsu, used Strange Behavior and walk to engage Youko. I can only wonder why on earth  didn't interact with the ballots instead. Oh well.

Neither player was able to do much to deny scheme end conditions for the other, but Resurrectionists managed to get the lead with votes. Until Youko activated. She disengaged and got within 10" of Crooligan that had placed a vote to bottom-left quarter strategy marker. Riddles landed without a sweat, and getting past target number of We Own You.

Just before Youko succumbed to poison, she commanded Crooligan to place a vote to the box, ending the game in a 6-6 draw.

Don't Be Such a... Rick, Richard!

 50ss game of Malifaux.

Strategy: Flank Stuff the Ballots

Schemes: Take Prisoner, Outflank, Protected Territory, Sweating Bullets, Deliver a Message

My list:

Dr. McMourning, Insanitary & Zombie Chihuahua
Sebastian
Rogue Necromancy
Kentauroi with Grave Spirit Touch
Nurse
Guild Autopsy
Little Gasser
Canine Remains
Mindless Zombie

Pool: 2
Schemes: Sweating Bullets (Sebastian), Protected Territory

Opponent had:

Clampetts Fisherfolk & Bruce
Aunty Mel
Uncle Boggs
Sir Vantes
Mossbeard
Swashbuckler
Buckaroo

Pool: 5
Schemes: Outflank, Protected Territory

Turn 1:

There was relatively little engagement on the first round. I guess that's how it usually goes with McMourning2, as just about his entire crew was focused on getting corpse marker on the board. First Canine Remains ate Mindless Zombie, and from the Mindless Zombie's original corpse Sebastian summoned another Canine Remains that kept eating itself for even more corpses. 

Eventually McMourning activated, and gave an extra head for Sebastian, and a third leg for Nurse. He also summoned up a Flesh Construct as you'd expect.  

Little Gasser went full steam ahead towards bottom-left corner strategy marker. Zombie Chihuahua was stuck behind everyone because of a few bottlenecks and did nothing but stank. Which was a decent enough contribution, I suppose. 

While this whole circus was playing out, Anglers were navigating over and around the gibbet terrain in the middle. Sir Vantes lanced the pup Sebastian had summoned, and was holding another bottleneck along with Swashbuckler. Bruce and Uncle Boggs were guarding their back.

Buckaroo sped into contact with the strategy marker at top-right corner, while Clampetts went to hug the centermost ballots and place a scheme marker. 

I thought Rogue Necromancy might need some assistance up there, so Kentauroi took Sebastian along for a ride and charged Clampetts. It did some damage before taking a hike towards  center-right strategy marker.

Aunty Mel was hunting her white whale that was the Rogue Necromancy. Fortunately she didn't her prime target in range, and had to take a double walk to shoot Kentauroi with trigger from her bonus action. But damage was no other than Red Joker. 

Finally Flesh Construct charged Sir Vantes to clog up the narrow passage.

Turn 2:

Bayou got the initiative. Aunty Mel activated. However, after checking my upcoming cards with bonus, she didn't go for the kill on Kentauroi. Instead, she went to attack Rogue Necromancy. That wasn't a good omen, and soon enough after Aunty passed her terrifying check, Rogue's defense came up as Black Joker. Five or six damage. Ouch.

Kentauroi was now able to ride to ballots, plant a vote and charge Aunty Mel without much of an effect. 

Buckaroo placed two votes to top-right strategy marker after failing its Onward in between.

Clampetts heaved Kentauroi away from Aunty Mel and killed the thing. First hired kill. And now Rogue Necromancy was cornered, all alone, by Aunty and bayou master. At least it was able to walk and drop a scheme marker for Protected Territory. 

In the center, Flesh Construct miraculously endured Sir Vantes and Uncle Boggs. Uncle dialed Richard, who answered the call. But when the croc had time to activate, it had other targets. Sebastian had walked and charged to engage Uncle Boggs for Sweating Bullets. Richard attempted to execute Sebastian, but I certainly had low cards in hand to save him.

Swashbuckler had placed two votes into center ballots while out of Sebastian's chatty line of sight. 

McMourning pushed Little Gasser as a desperate measure, and had also done so for Sebastian. 

Guild Autopsy had placed a vote in center-left ballots before Nurse walked over to take his place. Little Gasser, instead of placing a vote to bottom-left marker, did a scheme marker for Protected Territory. 

As a result, Resurrectionists had a grand 3-1 opening.

Turn 3:

Going from top to bottom, Aunty Mel wasted no time in getting rid of Rogue Necromancy. Buckaroo and Clampetts dominated top-right and center-right strategy markers, and there wouldn't be anything I could do to challenge then throughout the entire game. 

However, Flesh Constructs and Sebastian's bone saw managed to cut through both Sir Vantes and Uncle Boggs, so attrition game looked like it was going to me in the center.  Especially after McMourning replaced the dead Flesh Construct with another. 

Hired Canine Remains stamped its paw mark on a voting paper and dropped in center ballots before being harrowed to death by Mossbeard's tales from the whatever number of seas Malifaux has.

Nurse and Little Gasser continued voting and scheming around bottom-left and center-left strategy markers. 

McMourning used desperate pace on Sebastian to push him away from center, closer to the marker in top-left quarter.

And... I guess... that was it, for the turn? So many models died. Sir Vantes and Uncle Boggs, Canine Remains, Rogue Necromancy and Flesh Construct.

Both players got the strategy points, but Bayou was able to score their Protected Territory. They caught up to 4-3 for Resurrectionists.

Turn 4:

Blasted and bother! Sebastian was just outside of walk & interact distance of top-left quarter's strategy marker, so instead he just walked closer and dropped a scheme for Protected Territory end condition. 

Aunty Mel took a double walk to get Sebastian within shooting distance next turn.

Clampetts walked to bottom-right quarter's strategy marker, planted two votes and Silurid Stomped away. 

In the center, Flesh Construct was trying to kill Swashbuckler, and Swashbuckler was doing the same for Flesh Construct, with both being just about as effective. Mossbeard pretty much secured the center for Bayou. However, after desperate pacing Guild Autopsy twice, McMourning walked to threaten the center at least.

Little Gasser ditched the voting and went to protect territory instead. 

Resurrectionists missed their strategy point, so scores evened out to 4-4.

Turn 5:

Last turn was about wrestling the activation order. If that was the aim, though, Resurrectionists did some poor choices in regards to initiative, as they started game. My reasoning was that I needed that top-left quarter strategy marker more than victory itself.

So, Sebastian picked up that point, and Aunty Mel was left with no effective options. 

Nurse and Little Gasser secured Protected Territory end condition, while Flesh Construct and Swashbuckler were fruitlessly duking it out. Mossbeard went to sit on scheme marker at the center that had been placed earlier. 

In the end, I wasn't able to get ahead in the order of activations and Bayou was able to force McMourning activate before Clampetts. He did mess up with Mossbeard, but trying to push Clampetts twice only halfway succeeded. Not that it would have mattered much. 

Clampetts was able to walk, Silurid Stomp and interact to get Protected Territory and deny me Sweating Bullets. 

Resurrectionists got their third strategy point and Protected Territory easily enough for a 6-6 draw.

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.