Game report 30.12.16 50SS Levi vs Puppet Seamus

Game report - 30.12.2016

50SS Levi (daniello_s) vs Puppet Seamus (Owen)

Because of this special time of the year (and special table we were about to play on) we decided to use masters which are uniquely fitted into the winter time: Santa Seamus and his Rotten Elves vs Santa Levi and his four Reindeer team ;)

Owen brought:
Seamus (6SS pool) - Red Chapel Killer, Bag O'Tools
Madame Sybelle
Carrion Emissary - Carrion Conflux
Copycat Killer
2x Rotten Belle
2x Necropunk
Canine Remains

I took:
Levi (4SS pool) - Oathkeeper
(killing machine and Abomination summoner with the melee attack only)
Hodgepodge Emissary - Conflux of Aetheral
(model which allows to use four horsemen list)
Dead Rider
(heavy beat-stick; Waif anchor)
Hooded Rider
(second heavy beat-stick; Waif anchor)
Pale Rider
(scheme runner; Waif anchor)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Owen picked: Catch and Release and A Quick Murder (Dead Rider)
I took: Take Prisoner (Rotten Belle - Misaki Puppet) and A Quick Murder (Carrion Emissary)

Deployment: Levi deployed first (at the bottom of the photo):

Turn 1
Initiative: Seamus

Key actions/moments:

- Typical turn full of positioning. I tried to stay rather at the distance just to force Seamus to jump as close as possible to me if he wanted to hit one of my Riders on turn 1. Hodgepodge Emissary gave Regeneration trinket to Hooded Rider and transformed itself into Mech Rider.
- Seamus took bait and jumped very far to take a single Focused shot at Dead Rider but I cheated Red Joker for defense and Seamus missed. Thanks to that he was rather exposed and I hoped to snatch inititative on turn 2 to hit him hard.

Upkeep phase:
No VP scored by either side

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Seamus 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Seamus

Key actions/moments:

- Seamus unfortunately won initiative and shot Dead Rider really hard (Focus + shot) - 2 out of 8 damage was reduced thanks to Riders passive ability. Then Seamus used nearby Mindless Zombie to jump away into safety. This Seamus + Carrion Emissary combo is so annoying...
- Levi shot Carrion Emissary twice and left it on 4 wounds remaining (with Slow on the top of it). Then Carrion Emissary blocked me off Owen's crew again.
- Pale Rider killed Canine Remains.
- Necropunks leaped successfully twice and put Catch & Release on Pale and Mech Riders.
- Hooded Rider charged one Necropunk but Black Joker flipped on damage prevented me from killing it... Bollocks... Dead Rider charged other Necropunk and torn it to pieces.
- Mech Rider failed to summon anything this turn.
- Because Owen had more models within Extraction marker he placed it 3'' away from me at the end of the turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction
Seamus: 1VP Extraction, 1VP Catch and Release

Score after turn 2: Levi 1 - Seamus 2


Turn 3
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Levi snatched opportunity to finish off Carrion Emissary but unfortunately he also failed to kill nearby Mindless Zombie.
- Seamus jumped again and fired at Dead Rider (Focus + shot) but I was able to tie the flips which put Seamus on single negative flip which resulted with Weak damage and 2 of it was prevented with Dead Rider's ability. After that I decided to put a huge pressure on Seamus and Dead Rider charged hit hitting him 3 times. Twice I pulled Seamus away from his crew and with third hit I forced hit to take Horror Duel which he passed. I should really pulled him again instead. The good thing was that Seamus was left on the last wound (I flipped Red Joker on damage once) and he burnt lots of stones to prevent some of this damage.
- Unfortunately Owen was able to lure Seamus away 4 times which got him away from my other Riders and engaging one of the Waifs.
- My hand was severely depleted by now (and generally I had quite poor cards this turn) so I failed to to kill Seamus off. What's worse I activated Hooded Rider to early and Madame Sybelle was able to tagged summoned nearby Arachnid with Catch and Release without being counter-attacked by Hooded Rider.
- Copycat Killer jumped into base contact with Seamus, focused and fired at Hooded Rider. I was able to to put him on negative damage flip but he pulled Red Joker... Crap crap crap...
- Owen again had more models within Extraction marker he placed it 3'' away from me at the end of the turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction, 3VP A Quick Murder
Seamus: 1VP Extraction, 1VP Catch and Release, 3VP A Quick Murder

Score after turn 3: Levi 5 - Seamus 7

Turn 4
Initiative: Seamus

Key actions/moments:

- Seamus focused and shot Levi removing it from the table this turn. He also summoned a Rotten Belle this turn.
- Hooded and Pale Riders tried to kill Sybelle but Owen bounced off 2 attacks cheating defensive with high cards so I was able to put her on last wound only. Then Owen used similar trick to lure Sybelle into safety...
- Mech Rider summoned another Arachnid, then she focused and fired at Seamus (who was in hard cover) but despite my high flip Owen bounced it off with Red Joker cheated from his hand...
- Brave Waif charged wounded Necropunk and killed it.
- Copycat tarpit my models nicely at the end of the turn.
- Owen placed the Extraction marker further away again.
- I pushed towards the Extraction marker to secure points for strategy. By this time I knew I won't win this game and all I can hope for is a draw. There was still a chance to achieve it as the Belle I marked for Take Prisoner was isolated from the rest of her crew.
- Just for the records. This turn Owen's control hand looked like that: Red Joker, 2x13, 11, 9 and one low card. Try to beat that, Levi! :)

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction
Seamus: 1VP Extraction, 1VP Catch and Release

Score after turn 4: Levi 6 - Seamus 9

Turn 5
Initiative: Seamus

Key actions/moments:

- Owen pulled Sybelle and Seamus away from my crew. Seamus also summoned another Belle.
- Pale Rider killed Copycat Killer and pushed closer to Extraction marker. This way I freed up my models to go as I wanted to and thankfully Owen did what was pretty obvious in this moment - he delivered the Rotten Belle I marked as my prisoner right between my models! Yay! ;)
- Rest of the turn I marked that I really want to get to Sybelle/Seamus with my Hooded Rider or Levi as Owen thought one of those might be my Prisoner target. Just for fun I put Reactivate on Hooded Rider (Mech's 0 action) and then I pushed and moved all the way to get charge against Seamus and kill this pesky fellow just to make me smile :)
- Game ended this turn as we both scored max VPs during this game.

(above is photo of the Belle taken prisoner by Levi himself and by Mech Rider).

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction, 3VP Take Prisoner
Seamus: 1VP Extraction

Final score: Levi 10 - Seamus 10

This was extremely good game and really nice ending of the 2016 gaming year.

Till next time (which will be in 2017 ;))))!

Game report 22.12.16 50SS Levi vs Sonnia

Game report - 22.12.2016

50SS Levi (daniello_s) vs Sonnia (Owen)

Owen brought:
Sonnia (5SS pool) - Cherufe's Imprint, Counterspell Aura, Reincarnation
Fransisco - Wade In, Hermano de Armas
Samael Hopkins - Witch Hunt
Witchling Handler
2x Witchling Stalker
2x Guild Hounds

I took:
Levi (5SS pool) - Pariah of Bone, Oathkeeper
(killing machine or at least believed widely to be still this kind of monster and Abomination summoner with the melee attack only)
Rusty
(shooting support, Waif anchor)
Johana - Oathkeeper
(beat-stick, condition removal, Waif anchor)
Ashes & Dust
(mobile beatstick, scheme runner, Waif anchor)
2x Rotten Belle
(lure and slow casters)
Crooligan
(scheme runner)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Owen picked Convict Labour and Leave Your Mark.
I took Undercover Entourage (Levi) and Leave Your Mark

Deployment (Levi deployed first at the bottom right corner):

Turn 1
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- As usual turn 1 was all about movement and positioning. I kept in mind the range of Sonnia's attack after she would be 'towed' by Francisco so I did positioned my models as far as it was safe. I split my crew in two parts: Levi, Rusty, A&D, one Belle and Waif went along my left flank and Johana, second Belle and Waif along right. Crooligan jumped behind the building on the far left ready to drop scheme marker for Leave Your Mark on turn 2. Anything what would try to go towards Crooligan would be welcomed by my models on the left flank.
Owen split his crew in two also. Handler and two Stalkers run along his left flank and rest of his crew  moved towards centre of the table.
- Levi double walked and shot one Hound but Owen used Red Joker to put me on negative flip and Levi only did minimum damage.

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Sonnia 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Levi killed one Hound (the one which wasn't wounded) but because Sonnia was close to this Hound I had to use stones to get a suit.
- Sonnia then unleashed inferno a walked one and then bumped her Ca +2 and fire twice at Johana. Owen very good cards in his hand and I had really average hand (after stoning I had 11, 9 and then lower) so he was able twice to cheat high enough to get straight flip and do 2x severe damage on Johana plus he did blast Waif into pieces and put hurt Belle for 6 damage. Also Belle and Johana got +2 Burning. This was a gamble on his side as Sonnia was now exposed to A&D. I lured Rusty to get a clear shot at Sonnia and Belle tapped out one of the Burning from herself.
- Owen tried to keep Sonnia safe and he towed her with Francisco so I had to walk once with Rusty to get shot at Sonnia. Instead Rusty shot at Hound killing it and then walked once to get fire position at Sonnia next turn. Samuel walked once and put Burning +4 on Rusty (I prevented 2 damage of it later). Also once Stalker was lucky to shoot her and do Red Joker on damage (again I used stone for damage prevention).
- Johana extinguished burning from herself.
- Crooligan dropped scheme marker as planned and Handler plus other Stalker did the same.
- At the bottom of the turn A&D walked once and charged Sonnia hitting her twice and Owen used stoned to prevent some damage.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Collect the Bounty, 1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 2: Levi 2 - Sonnia 0

Turn 3
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- A&D finished off Sonnia despite her desperate tries of preventing the damage.This also greatly depleted Owen's hand as he tried to protect Sonnia as much as possible.
- Stalker killed Johana.
- I failed to put Slow on Handler and then run away with wounded Belle.
- Francisco charged other Belle and left her on two wounds remaining.
- When Owen had no cards left in the hand I decided it is time for Rusty to get some fun and she used Rapid Fire against Samuel standing in hard cover. First shot went through and I pulled Red Joker on double negative damage flip which made Samuel's head explode. Fun, fun, fun ;)
- Levi burnt Oathkeeper, walked once and charged Stalker but failed miserably with his 3 attacks woundng it only for 1 damage... Fun ends here ;)
- Owen dropped third scheme marker for Convict Labour and my Crooligan secured me second VP for Leave Your Mark.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Collect the Bounty, 1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 3: Levi 4 - Sonnia 1

Turn 4
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- A&D charged Francisco and killed him.
- Handler dropped marked for Leave Your Mark.
- Levi sacrificed wounded Belle who close to Handler and then charge killing her with one strike.Then he walked away to get ready and secure me some VPs for Entourage next turn.
- Stalker shot Rusty and left her on 2 wounds 4 wounds remaining and +2 Burning. She run away behind LOS blocker and Belle extinguished one burning of her.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Collect the Bounty, 1VP Leave Your Mark
Sonnia: 1VP Convict Labour, 1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 4: Levi 6 - Sonnia 3

Turn 5
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Levi killed Stalker and summoned Waif on Owen's half of the table. Then A&D  walked 3 times to anchor her which allowed Levi to respawn and secure me 2VPs for Entourage.
- Stalker dropped scheme marker for Leave Your Mark.
- Game ended on this turn.




Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Collect the Bounty, 2VP Undercover Entourage
Sonnia: 1VP Leave Your Mark

Final score: Levi 9 - Sonnia 4

Few comments after the game:

- Ashes & Dust was MVP of the game. This model is crazy good but 13SS justifies his enormous flexibility.
- Rusty did her job too although killing Samuel was very lucky.
- Levi performed not bad although not killing Stalker with 3 attacks was a bit blah ;)
- Belles didn't lure almost anything but they presence did impact how Owen was placing his models.
- Sonnia with her blasts is a bonker. She is so powerful thanks to her range, blasts, burning and adding +2 to her Ca. She is more filthy than Levi ;)

Till next time!

Game report 15.12.16 50SS Leveticus vs Lilith

Game report - 15.12.2016

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Lilith (Gavin)

Deployment: Standard Deployment
Strategy: Extraction
Schemes: Convict Labour, Take Prisoner, Exhaust Their Forces, Public Demonstration, Set Up

Gavin brought:
Lilith (4SS pool) - Beckon Malifaux, Wicked Mistress, Summon the Blood
Nekima - Rapid Growth
Doppelganger
2x Young Nephilim
Beckoner
Terror Tot
Cherub

I took:
Levi (5SS pool) - Pariah of Iron
(killing machine or at least believed widely to be still this kind of monster and Abomination summoner with the melee attack only)
Mech Rider
(summoner, scheme runner, Waif anchor)
Rusty Alyce - From Aether
(shooting support, summoner, Waif anchor)
Johana
(beat-stick, condition removal, Waif anchor)
Terracotta Warrior
(life insurance for Johana and Mech Rider, scheme runner)
2x Necropunk
(scheme runners)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Gavin picked Public Demonstration (2x Young Nephilim and Tot) and Set Up (Mech Rider)
I picked Exhaust Their Forces and Take Prisoner (Beckoner)

The idea for the game was to summon Abominations with Rusty and Steam Arachnids with Mech Rider and push newly summoned models with 6'' of Extraction marker (together with summoners and Johana). Warrior would stay in the back and keep an eye on my Enforcers. Levi would try to harass Lilith and her crew as much as possible and Necropunks would leap and tag opponent for Exhaust.

Lilith is not great match up for Levi (and generally she is one of the strongest masters in the game thanks to her excellent abilities and actions) and I knew that my Waifs would be in grave danger pretty soon.

Deployment: Levi deployed first (at the left side on the of the photo below):

Turn 1
Initiative: Lilith

Key actions/moments:

- Gavin pushed aggressively and soon all Liliths crew was pretty close to the centreline of the table.
- I tried to play defensively but Lilith used her tricks and was able to use Wicked Vines on one of my models and then push her which effectively killed Waif. At this moment my blood lust kicked off and I decided to gamble heavily. Levi burnt Oathkeeper (Warrior swapped his Pariah of Iron for Oathkeeper), sacrificed one Necropunk (I know, I'm crazy...) and charged Lilith. Unfortunately Gavin had on his hand 2x13 and all my attacks missed... Nice...

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Lilith 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Lilith

Key actions/moments:

- Levi surprisingly survived onslaught but he himself was able to hit her only once - I cheated severe damage and Gavin used his last stone to prevent 2 of it. I followed up later with Johana but was able to put Lilith on 2 wounds remaining only as Gavin used his last stone to prevent some damage.
- Second Waif was killed by Nekima so I had to be careful with third Waif. Unfortunately Gavin was able to copy Rusty's gun attack and shot last Waif. Of course he hit and was on single negative damage flip - 2x moderate which means bye bye Levi...
- Rusty tried to hit Lilith but missed (low flip on  my side, high on Gavin's side - because why not...). of course I failed to raise Abomination from scrap marker Rusty dropped previous turn and Mech Rider failed to summon Arachnid... Situation was absolutely desperate by this time.
- Because Gavin had more models within Extraction maker he placed it further away from me at the end of the turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction
Lilith: 1VP Extraction

Score after turn 2: Levi 1 - Lilith 1

Turn 3
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Surprisingly I won initiative as I flipped 12 and Gavin didn't want to cheat it with his highest card on the hand - Red Joker.
- Johana activated first and killed Lilith.
- Nekima took some swings here and there but I was able to either deflect them or reduce damage massively (Mech Rider reduced 3 damage of one attack).
- Necropunk Exhaust Nekima and finally I was able to summon Abomination and Arachnid this turn.
- Gavin dropped scheme markers close to Mech Rider buy luring Doppelganger and then moving her and dropping final marker.
- I thought about killing Tot with Rusty but decided to go after one Young Nephilim. Guess what? I failed :)
- Again Gavin had more models near Extraction and he placed it further away from me.
- After Gavin declared his schemes I considered this game as effectively lost.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction, 1VP Exhaust Their Forces
Lilith: 1VP Extraction, 3VP Set Up, 3VP Public Demonstration

Score after turn 3: Levi 3 - Lilith 8

Turn 4
Initiative: Lilith

- My hand was bad... After stoning with last soulstone for cards I had 9,6 then 4 and lower...
- Nekima killed Necropunk.
- I Exhaust Doppelganger and pushed towards Beckoner with Mech Rider.
- Johana failed to hit Nekima with 3 attacks...
- Tot killed Arachnid and changed into Young Nephilim who tar pit Rusty. Rusty tried to disengage once but failed. At least she summoned another Abomination.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction, 1VP Exhaust Their Forces
Lilith: 1VP Extraction

Score after turn 4: Levi 5 - Lilith 9

Turn 5
Initiative: Levi

- Johana as usual missed 3 attacks on Nekima...
- Rusty tried to disengage twice - another fail.
- I Exhaust Doppelganger but she was lured away and then removed this condition.
- My only chance to draw the game was to successfully push Mech Rider summoning Arachnid which then would engage Beckoner. This would also allow me to Exhaust nearby already activated Young Nephilim with my Mech Rider. Problem was I had no 6 or above in my hand so everything was down to the flip... And for the first time during this game I was lucky with flips as I pulled 9. This way I was able to proceed with my plan and get full points for my both schemes and get a very lucky draw at this game.
- Game ended this turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction, 1VP Exhaust Their Forces, 3VP Take Prisoner
Lilith: 1VP Extraction

Final score: Levi 10 - Lilith 10

Few comments after game:

- MVP for my crew was definitely Mech Rider. She absolutely awesome piece of support and her summoning is crazy good.
- From Aether upgrade - still I think it is not worthy of 2SS. Sure you can get around 2 Abominations during the game if you have spare 10 or you are lucky with the flips but in most cases this card is needed somewhere else. Not really sure if I'm going to use it again in nearest future.
- Terracotta Warrior is quite interesting although very squishy. Swapping upgrades is really handy and his protection condition keeps vital models a bit longer in the game.

Till next time!

Game report 02.12.16 50SS Leveticus vs Dreamer

Game report - 02.12.2016

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Dreamer (Gavin)

Deployment: Flank Deployment
Strategy: Headhunter
Schemes: Convict Labour, Hunting Party, Leave Your Mark, Catch and Release, A Quick Murder

Gavin brought:
Dreamer (7SS pool) - Dreams of Pain, Otherworldly, On Wings of Darkness
Mature Nephilim - Retribution Eye
Doppelganger
Mr Tannen
Insidious Madness
Alp
2x Daydream

I took:
Levi (5SS pool) - Pariah of Iron
(killing machine or at least believed widely to be still this kind of monster and Abomination summoner with the melee attack only)
Hooded Rider
(beater, Waif anchor)
Valedictorian
(beat-stick, Waif anchor)
Johana
(beat-stick, condition removal, Waif anchor)
Hunter
(scheme runner, Waif anchor)
2x Necropunk
(scheme runners)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Gavin picked Catch and Release and A Quick Murder (Hooded Rider)
I picked Leave Your Mark and A Quick Murder (Mature Nephilim)

I was not sure if I should pick Leave Your Mark or Hunting Party. On the one hand Dreamer can spawn so many models that it would be easy to park one of these 4'' from my scheme marker and deny me VP for Leave Your mark. On the other hand I was worried that I'll have to chase those fast Insidious Madness models all over the place exposing my Henchman/Enforcers for counter-strike. Ultimately I decided to go for Leave Your Mark.

Deployment: Dreamer deployed first (Levi's crew at the bottom of the photo):

Turn 1
Initiative: Dreamer

Key actions/moments:

- Dreamer summoned Teddy (with Tannen's help of course), Lelu and Madness. Seeing two heavy hitters summoned on turn 1 didn't make me too happy to be honest but I decided to go aggressive and moved almost all my crew towards the centre point of the table. Only one Necropunk was moving along my left flank.
- I took a bit of gamble (big bit I would say) and I sacrificed Waif to jump in base contact with her with Levi which allowed me to fire 3 times into Mature Nephilim who was on the far side of the woods but not close enough to get cover. I knew Gavin used his hand heavily for summoning already so I believed this is my chance to start wrecking havoc. All 3 shots went in but first damage flip was a Black Joker... It that didn't happen I would kill Nephilim on turn 1. Now he was on 4 wounds left but thankfully I cheated one attack with high Mask which made him slow. Gavin then decided to move Nephilim close to Levi as he suspected to win initiative on turn 2 rather easily (Doppelganger of course).

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Dreamer 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- To my surprise I won initiative this turn as I flipped 12. To be honest it wouldn't happen if I didn't stone for cards first which got me whooping 1 and 4 ;)
- Levi immediately focused and killed Nephilim with single swing summoning Abomination in process as well.  That gave me juicy 3VP for A Quick Murder and head marker conveniently close to the Necropunk. Then I shot at Doppelganger in soft cover once (with focus) and wounded her for 3.
- Tannen walked close and shut any chances of picking this head marker so I used Hooded Rider to kill him and then got the head marker with Necropunk.
- Gavin pushed towards this big party which was going on in th middle of the table with Teddy, Lelu, Madness, Doppelganger and Dreamer. Unfortunately (for him) he made mistake with Dreamer as he walked once, then Focus and shot at Waif but did 3 damage only. He told me later he should walk once, fire at her and then summon Day Dream which would bring Lord Chompy as he planned before this turn started. Unfortunately (for me) I had no chances to get to Dreamer this turn as Valedictorian was tar-pitted with Madness and I was out of cards and failed to disengaged twice...
- Necropunk on the left flank failed to leap o he had to walk twice and get ready to drop marker next turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Headhunter, 3VP A Quick Murder

Score after turn 2: Levi 4 - Dreamer 0

Turn 3
Initiative: Dreamer

Key actions/moments:

- I stoned for cards this turn again and got... 2 and 3... Wow! ;)
- As I flipped 2 for initiative and Gavin flipped 5 I decided to spent stone on initiative re-flip. Guess what I flipped? 3 of course...
- Dreamer pushed Teddy twice and smacked Johana but one attack was a Black Joker. Then he summoned Madness which brought Lord Chompy.
- Valedictorian killed Teddy.
- Chompy killed Abomination and then hit Hooded Rider with the trigger to kill him unless I discard 2 soulstones or cards. As I had only one card in my hand at this stage I had to spent my last 2 stones to safe my Rider.
- Johana killed Lelu but she had to use both her APs as she missed first hit (Black Joker).
- Hooded Rider killed Doppelganger.
- Levi 'killed' Lord Chompy and Dreamer had to unbury in the worst position ever - between Valedictorian, Hooded Rider and later Levi. Then he focused and killed one Madness sitting in the woods.
- Madness walked between Valedictorian, Rider and Johana and forced me to take Horror Duel on them - only Johana passed it which made me really sad (I had no cards in my hand to cheat my flips).
- Other Madness and my Necropunk picked head markers.
- Second Necropunk dropped marker for Leave Your Mark.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Headhunter, 1VP Leave Your Mark
Dreamer: 1VP Headhunter

Score after turn 3: Levi 6 - Dreamer 1

Turn 4
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Levi smacked Dreamer 3 times but this little bugger passed all hits on nearby Madness. Then Dreamer tagged Rider and Valedictorian for Catch and Release.
- Johana followed up with smacking Dreamer which bruised him heavily this time.
- I picked another head and dropped next scheme marker.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Headhunter, 1VP Leave Your Mark
Dreamer: 1VP Catch and Release

Score after turn 4: Levi 8 - Dreamer 2

Turn 5
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Valedictorian 'switched off' Dreamer's triggers with his (0)AP action and finished small bugger. Then I tried to kill Madness, 2 Alps and Day Dream and only Madness survived this onslaught. I was also able to push Rider and shake off Catch and Release condition from him.
- One Necropunk dropped final scheme marker and Hunter picked head marker.
- Game ended this turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Headhunter, 1VP Leave Your Mark

Final score: Levi 10 - Dreamer 2

Few comments after game:

- I think Gavin's mistake with Dreamer on turn 2 costed him a lot of VPs as Chompy would hurt my Johana a lot and then Dreamer could unbury in safer distance than on turn 3. Also my lucky initiative flip on turn 2 helped me a lot and wrecked Gavin's plans a bit as well.

- Necropunks are worth of gold. Amazing scheme runners.

- Hooded Rider is great too. Push and place my friendly model in base contact with him is awesome. And he hits like a train.

- Valedictorian is pretty interesting too. Mobile, resilient and hard hitting too. Switching enemies triggers is like a cherry on the top of the cake. Really good model.

- I'm also happy with Hunter. His push at the end of the turn helps positioning him. Also his + to attacks against models which hasn't activated yet can be really surprising for the opponent. Finally his Chain Harpoon with auto-Slow effect is really handy. Only downside of this attack is that if he decides use trigger and push enemy model towards him it must be full 8'' but you can't have everything, can you? ;)

Till next time!

Game report 29.11.16 50SS Levi vs Sonnia

Game report - 29.11.2016

50SS Levi (daniello_s) vs Sonnia (Owen)

Deployment: Standard Deployment
Strategy: Guard the Stash
Schemes: Convict Labour, Hunting Party, Exhaust Their Forces, Neutralise Leader, Occupy Their Turf

Owen brought:
Sonnia (5SS pool) - Cherufe's Imprint, Counterspell Aura
Fransisco - Wade In, Hermano de Armas
Samael Hopkins - Witch Hunt
Witchling Handler
Exorcist
2x Witchling Stalker

I took:
Levi (3SS pool) - Pariah of Iron
(killing machine or at least believed widely to be still this kind of monster and Abomination summoner with the melee attack only)
Joss
(tanking model to sit closely to one of the Stash markers, Waif anchor)
Johana
(beat-stick, condition removal, Waif anchor)
Ryle
(second tanking model to sit closely to one of the Stash markers, Waif anchor)
Freikorps Librarian
(healing support, Waif anchor)
Necropunk
(scheme runner)
Brutal Effigy
(Levi's healing support, scheme runner)
Terracotta Warrior
(backup scheme runner, 'life insurance' for Minions/Enforcers, upgrade swapper for Levi)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Owen picked Hunting Party and Neutralise Leader (surprise!)
I took Neutralise Leader and Convict Labour

I intentionally took Levi for this game as I wanted to test how long Levi can survive when he has Survivalist upgrade on him (swapped from Pariah of Iron thanks to Terracotta Warrior's action) and support from Librarian and Brutal Effigy.
I was a bit unsure which schemes I want to take and I made a first mistake here - I should take Exhaust Their Forces and Hunting Party as I think those two would be easier to achieve. Oh well... ;)

Deployment: Sonnia deployed fist (Levi's crew deployed at the bottom of the picture):

Turn 1
Initiative: Sonnia

Key actions/moments:

- Sonnia and her crew moved aggressively towards centreline. I tried to be less aggressive however I noticed overextended Stalker on my right flank and I clipped him first with Ryle's range attack, then Levi sacrificed his Waif to get two shots at Stalker finishing him. Unfortunately I made huuuge mistake and placed Warrior in wrong place which Owen used against me - Sonnia thanks to push from Francisco was able to fire at him once and wounded him. She was in perfect position to attack next turn.
- My other mistake was trying to flank Sonnia along my left flank. I didn't notice there is quite narrow gap between two buildings which could be blocked with Sonnia's fire wall.

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Sonnia 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Sonnia

Key actions/moments:

- My misery started on this turn. My highest card was 9 and  carried over from previous turn and rest of them was 4 and lower. Then Owen won initiative with high card (11). Well in matter of fact he won all initiatives from now on (turn 1 I won but I allowed him to go first) with high cards. This allowed him to control the game easily.
- Owen activated Sonnia bumping her Ca +2, walked once and attacked my Warrior again. I couldn't even put him on negative damage flips (low Df flip and bad control hand) which he used to cheat for straight damage flip and severe damage. That killed Warrior and clipped Johana, Waif and Effigy for 3 damage each with +1 Burning. This really hurt me ;) As last AP she raised flame wall to cut off Joss from getting to close to her or Stash marker. It also disallowed me to get to her with Johana.
- Samael attacked Johana with Ricochet trigger which killed Waif... Sweet...
- I tried to retaliate and attacked Exorcist with Ryle (walk, push, attack) but I missed and then I walked with Levi once and charged him - just one hit went through for 3 damage (hurray!!!).
- Necropunk dropped two scheme markers and I made another mistake - instead of walking with Joss once and dropping 3rd scheme marker I decided to walk once and hit Stalker. Guess what? I missed...
- Librarian healed Johana twice (3 damage healed). Johana spotted that Francisco pushed Sonnia a bit double walked and got into melee range with her. And if I only measured distance more correctly I would make sure I stayed more than 2'' from her but I was already devastated with the game I didn't notice that.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Guard the Stash
Sonnia: 1VP Guard the Stash, 1VP Hunting Party

Score after turn 2: Levi 1 - Sonnia 2

Turn 3
Initiative: Sonnia

Key actions/moments:

- My control hand was again horrible. After using stone for cards I had 12 and then 4 and lower...
- I was hoping to win initiative and flurry with Johana at Sonnia but Owen won initiative and killed Johana easily.
- Levi killed Exorcist but couldn't do much as my flips were pathetic again. Necropunk tried to tarpit Handler so he leaped and flurry at her damaging her slightly.
- Owen put a lot of pressure on Levi and dropped him to below of the half of his wounds.
- My mistake was that I overextended Levi and couldn't heal him with Librarian (too far) not get to him with Effigy (which died of Francisco's attack).
- Joss couldn't hit Stalker again... I was ready to call the game now but decided to play next turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Guard the Stash, 1VP Convict Labour
Sonnia: 1VP Guard the Stash, 1VP Hunting Party, 1VP Neutralise Leader

Score after turn 3: Levi 3 - Sonnia 5

Turn 4
Initiative: Sonnia

Key actions/moments:

- Finally my hand was good but it was a little too late for that...
- Handler dropped Levi to last wound with Burning +1 condition. Levi then killed her (had to walk once) and tried to hid but Sonnia picked finished him up easily.
- Necropunk survived surprisingly this turn.
- Librarian walked twice to make sure she can contest one stash marker.
- Ryle walked once, then pushed towards Sonnia hitting her for 6 damage (moderate + critical strike) which she prevented for 1 damage. Joss walked twice and engaged her as well.
- Owen moved Stalker to negated me point for Convict Labour.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Guard the Stash
Sonnia: 1VP Guard the Stash, 2VP Neutralise Leader

Score after turn 4: Levi 4 - Sonnia 8

Turn 5
Initiative: Sonnia

Key actions/moments:

- Sonnia used her (0) action to bump her Df +2 and she had +2 Df from Francisco from last turn so she disengaged from Joss and Ryle and walked away as far as she could behind the woods.
- Ryle used his push to get LOS to her and charge her. I was lucky to hit twice with 2x moderate damage killing her (Owen was out of soulstones at this moment).
- As Owen used all his cards already I tried to kill Samael with Librarian (Furious Casting). Samael was in soft cover but I tried anyway - all 3 shots missed.
- Joss walked once and finally hit Stalker but that left him on last wound (and negate me point for COnvict again).
- Necropunk died from Samael's hand.
- Game ended on this turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Guard the Stash, 3VP Neutralise Leader
Sonnia: 1VP Guard the Stash, 1VP Hunting Party

Final score: Levi 8 - Sonnia 10

Few comments after a game:

- I lost this game due to the combination of my mistakes (way too many of them), my poor control hand on turn 2 and 3 (which disallow me to either defend myself or attack) and Owen's initiative flips (he won all initiative on every turn except first). Still I was happy to pull 8VPs as the final score which is not bad.

- Levi and Neutralise Leader - well, this scheme for some reason was created to gut him (and Dreamer). With the build I tested (Survivalist, Brutal Effigy and Librarian) it is possible to play him with this scheme in the pool however it is extremely tricky to do as you have to position him and supporting models extremely carefully and Levi is reliable on where you put Waifs to sacrifice them jumping in base contact with them. I'm not sure if it is worthy to try playing him this way but I'll give it a go again anyway (and I hope GG2017 will do something with Neutralise Leader scheme).

- And finally about Levi and damage dealing. With his nerfing he was gutted massively. As I seasoned Levi's player I can see how he descended from way too good damage dealer to moderate damage dealer (unless opponent is kind enough to serve you his models in range for Levi's melee attack). I think Sonnia is better damage dealer than him - she can easily clip several models with one attack (with Burning on the top of it) from safe distance of 14'' with very high Ca plus she can influence situation on the table with brilliant flame wall action. Teamed with Francisco (and Malifaux Child) she is extremely dangerous and can easily punish enemy.

Till next time!

Game report 19.11.16 50SS Jack Daw vs Seamus

Game report - 19.11.2016

50SS Jack Daw (daniello_s) vs Puppet Seamus (Owen)

Deployment: Flank Deployment
Strategy: Interference
Schemes: Convict Labour, Leave Your Mark, Take Prisoner, Frame for Murder, Detonate Charges

Owen brought:
Seamus (7SS pool) - Red Chapel Killer, Bag O'Tools, Unnerving Aura
Madame Sybelle - Unnerving Aura
Carrion Emissary - Carrion Conflux
Copycat Killer
Punk Zombie
Rotten Belle
Necropunk
Canine Remains

I took:
Jack Daw (4SS pool) - Writhing Torment, Twist and Turn, 3x Injustice
(Curse-giver and reliable hitter who also supports his Tormented crew)
Hodgepodge Emissary - Conflux of the Damned, The Suffocating Injustice
(another Curse-giver and scheme runner)
Johana - Bigger They Are
(hitter who can punish heavily models with upgrades attached plus condition removal)
The Guilty
(used to Torment Johana and Emissary and scheme runner)
Nurse
(annoying toolbox with her Take Your Meds action)
2x Dead Outlaw
(range support whose damage spread bumps up once he hits models with upgrade attached)
Big Jake
(Interference scoring model which can hold most of the times a quarter by himself)

Owen picked: Frame for Murder (Punk Zombie) and Leave Your Mark
I took: Frame for Murder (Nurse) and Detonate Charges

Before the game I was'n sure if the mobility which Jack offers with his crew would be enough against jumping all around Seamus who can summon models and this pesky Carrion Emissary which blocks LOS with his markers and spawn annoying Mindless Zombies but I decided to give it a go.
Also it was the first time when Donkey Man was to be used for longer than 1 activation (as he was used in Levi's crew so far :)). I wanted to try this model as so far I wasn't to convinced about it's usability especially since it costs 10SS and Outcasts have very good choice in this point bracket in their faction.
Also I was proxying Big Jake to find out if he is must-have in Outcasts when Interference is a strategy.

Deployment: Seamus deployed first (Jack's crew at the right/top of the pictures):

Turn 1
Initiative: Seamus

Key actions/moments:

- Seamus took an opportunity and killed Nurse straight away giving me 3VP for Frame for Murder and exposing himself. Then I put some pressure on Seamus by attacking him with Dead Outlaw which forced Owen to use 3 soulstones for damage prevention and left his master at 8 wounds left. Unfortunately Seamus was lured back by friendly Belle and then covered with Shards marker by Carrion Emissary so I couldn't follow up with more attacks. Instead I prepared my models to jump on him on turn 2 (Jack, Dead Outlaw and Johana were ready to assault him).
- Rest of the models (mine and his) spread out to snatch quarters on next turn.

Upkeep phase:
Jack Daw: 3VP Frame for Murder

Score after turn 1: Jack Daw 3 - Seamus 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Jack Daw

Key actions/moments:

- I won initiative and I was ready to punish Seamus but... Well after I drew my cards the highest was 6 so I used soul stone for cards and I got 11 and 7... With such hand I knew I'm absolutely toasted and I won't be able to either do some significant damage or even defend myself. Anyway Dead Outlaw attacked Seamus twice but was able to hit only once (surprise!) hitting him for 2 damage (1 damage was prevented).
- Owen straight away blocked my LOS to Seamus with Shards and I couldn't follow up with my other models.
- As even my flips were really bad this turn I took defensive strategy and spread my models to get point for strategy this turn. Jack tried to attack but all he could do was to kill Copycat. Seamus of course raised Rotten Belle from the corpse marker and re-positioned into the safety.
- Enemy Necropunk started to drop scheme markers for Leave Your Mark and I couldn't afford to chase him and deny this points as I had to secure points for startegy and I was already heavily outnumbered. The future of this game looked quite bleak.

Upkeep phase:
Jack Daw: 1VP Interference
Seamus: 1VP Interference, 1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 2: Jack Daw 4 - Seamus 2

Turn 3
Initiative: Jack Daw

Key actions/moments:

- I guessed correctly that Owen has Frame for Murder on Punk Zombie so I hit him twice with Jack leaving him on last wound with Fire and Guillotine Injustice so he couldn't attack and had to discard two cards at the start of the activation or he would die. What I forgot I could 'Obey' him to declare attack which would kill him anyway (Firing Injustice) and still wouldn't give Owen any points for Frame for Murder.
- Owen pushed more towards my quarters with his models but he guessed that I have Detonate Charges and pulled his models away from my markers (he had 3 Belles by this time). As he was out activating me he was able to negate me points for Strategy by luring my models either towards the 6'' area around the centre of the table or into his table quarter. At this stage I was ready to call the game but we agreed to play next turn.

Upkeep phase:
Seamus: 1VP Interference, 1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 3: Jack Daw 4 - Seamus 4

Turn 4
Initiative: Seamus

Key actions/moments:

- Owen summoned Flesh Construct (with Carrion) and additional Belle. He also killed Johana by putting her on last wound (Seamus) and then luring with successful Pounce. Of course his lure came with Crow which forced me to drop my last card so Flesh Construct got Reactivate Condition.. With his last two activations Madame Sybelle walked twice and called Belle to negate me one quarter and Flesh Construct engaged my models on other quarter.
- At this time there was nothing I could do so I called the game.

Upkeep phase:
Seamus: 1VP Interference, 1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 4: Jack Daw 4 - Seamus 6

Few comments after the game:
- Unfortunately this game proved me that it is very difficult to win Interference against Ressers which can summon two models a turn (Seamus and Carrion) and drag me around with such an ease using Lure. I think that apart of Hamelin who can try to play out-activating and tar-pitting game with his Rats (which is booooring) and Levi who can try to kill and summon Abomination plus hire Mech Rider, Outcast don't have anything to offer in the Interference. Which is sad...
- As for Hodgepodge Emissary... I really don't know what to think about him. He is neither supporting his crew nor can do solid damage. I can't also use him as scheme runner as he is not that resilient and can be put down quite fast. For 10SS model I would expect more than to give some Trinkets which might be useful sometimes but it also requires taking specific model which would synergies with it. And when I see how great Carrion Emissary is and how many useful things he brings to the crew I simple astonished how big difference is between those two Emissaries. It shouldn't be, simple it shouldn't...
I'll give it a try again with Jack crew for this additional Curse I could spread but definitely will not even consider it in Levi's crew.
- Dead Outlaws - now this guys are so great in Jack's crew that one is a must have now and I won't hesitate to take two quite often. I'm really, really happy with them.
- Big Jake - he is a must have with Interference/Reconnoiter. For 5SS you have model which helps you to hold a quarter. The down side is that you must protect him and keep him on the back as loosing before you have scored at least 3VPs for strategy him might cost you a game. Still I think this is kind of half-measure for Outcast faction in terms of Interference/Reconnoiter as we don't have summoning master as most of the factions do at this stage.

Till next time!