50SS Jack Daw (daniello_s) vs Dreamer (Gavin)
Deployment: Standard Deployment
Strategy: Guard the Stash
Schemes: Convict Labour, Take Prisoner, Leave Your Mark, Exhaust Their Forces, Neutralize the Leader
Gavin brought:
Dreamer (5SS pool) -Dreams of Pain, Otherworldly, On Wings of Darkness
2x Daydream
2x Alp
Teddy - Mimic's Blessing
Baby Kade
Mr Tannen
Sorrow
I took:
Jack Daw (4SS pool) - Writhing Torment, Twist and Turn, 3x Injustice
(Curse-giver and reliable hitter who also supports his Tormented crew)
Lady Ligeia
(Annoying model who would co-operate with Desolation Engine to maximize the damage fro his pulses)
Desolation Engine
(resilient hitter who will tank one of the Stash markers and try to kill weak models to summon Abominations)
Johana
(yet another hitter plus condition removal)
The Guilty
(used to Torment Johana and Desolation Engine)
Nurse
(annoying toolbox with her Take Your Meds action)
2x Winged Plague
(scheme runners)
Gavin picked Exhaust Their Forces and Convict Labour
I took Take Prisoner (Mr Tannen) and Neutralize the Leader
I haven't used Desolation Engine for ages but I always wanted to try it with Jack Daw especially when I can take Lady Ligeia as well. The trick to pull was position Ligeia between group of enemy model and charge something nearby with Desolation Engine. Then utilize his pulses to make enemy do as many Df duels as possible which cannot be cheated due to the Ligeia's aura. Scramble was taken to add extra 1'' of Walk/Charge to the Engine plus to make sure it won't be slow down by severe terrain (those woods in the middle of the table).
I was planning to take Leave Your Mark but seeing Dreamer and amount of all of these small, annoying models like Alp or Daydream (not to mention Dreamer's summoning abilities) I knew it will be really hard to keep scheme marker 4'' away from enemy models.
For Gavin it was a first game with Dreamer.
Deployment (Dreamer deployed first):
Turn 1
Initiative: Dreamer
Key actions/moments:
- Desolation Engine and Johana were Tormented as usual. I kept my models near the middle section of the table and only Winged Plagues were moved max to the edge of the table.
- Thankfully Gavin had terrible control hand (despite burning soulstone for extra cards at the start of turn 1) and couldn't summon anything more than Day Dream and Alp. Still he easily out-activated me and used tons of pushes to charge my Winged Plague with Teddy. Of course Teddy ate poor Plague without the problem. I couldn't save it as my hand was also terrible this turn (highest 10, then one 7 and 6 and all the rest lower than 4). Still I was quite happy that Teddy went really far away from the rest of his crew and wouldn't be that easily pushed on turn 2.
Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.
Score after turn 1: Jack 0 - Dreamer 0
Turn 2
Initiative: Dreamer
Key actions/moments:
- Dreamer summoned Lelu and Lilitu. Also his crew started to drop scheme markers near centre line which gave me a clear hint what is his first scheme.
- I was able to charge one Alp with Desolation Engine and kill it summoning Abomination which walked straight between Lilitu and Tannen (also close to Dreamer and Daydream) which stopped Gavin's advance towards one of the Stash markers. I secured those markers with Guilty and Winged Plague. Nurse paralyzed Tannen. Rest of the crew advanced towards table centre ready to attack next turn.
Upkeep phase:
Jack Daw: +1VP Guard the Stash
Score after turn 2: Jack 1 - Dreamer 0
Turn 3
Initiative: Jack
Key actions/moments:
- I did gamble a bit and Johana burnt Oathkeeper to get close to Teddy and she did flurry. All 3 attacks hit with the straight damage flips and of course I didn't kill Teddy as I flipped 10 damage total (2x weak, 1 moderate). Thankfully Jack was nearby and he walked, killed Teddy and hit Kade giving him Fire Injustice. Unfortunately this also meant that Jack was too far to support rest of his crew this turn but I really needed to remove Teddy from the game.
Abomination walked close to Dreamer so he wouldn't be able to summon anything this turn. Downside of this was that Tannen put Exhaust on it. Desolation Engine attacked Lilitu but she had Whispers in Blood on her plus Tannen was nearby and I couldn't cheat attacks so easy. Lilitu heavily bruised survived the attack.
- Gavin secured Stash markers and tried to score VP for Convict Labour but I walked with Guilty towards his scheme marker and negate this point. Dreamer had to get out from Abomination and summoned Insidious Madness only.
Upkeep phase:
Jack Daw: +1VP Guard the Stash
Dreamer: +1VP Guard the Stash, +1VP Exhaust Their Forces
Score after turn 3: Jack 2 - Dreamer 2
Turn 4
Initiative: Dreamer
Key actions/moments:
- Johana pushed thanks to nearby Jack and flurry at Lelu killing him with single attack (Red Joker on negative damage flip). She also kept Kade engaged with her 3'' range hammer. I pulled my trick this turn (after Lilitu killed Winged Plague) and walked Ligeia between Dreamer, Lilitu, Madness, Alp and freshly summoned Coppelius. Then I walked Jack twice and killed Coppelius. This would allow me to push Engine and attack Dreamer but between using damage prevention and good Df flips Dreamer survived on the last wound. Well at least it allowed me to score +1VP from Neutralize the Leader. If I had any Ram on my hand Nurse would give Engine +2 damage to his MI attacks which would allow me to kill Dreamer definitely...
- Dreamer's crew tried to withstand my assault but couldn't get to second Stash marker. They Exhaust Abomination again who was tar-pitting Tannen (and made sure I score Take Prisoner) and dropped scheme markers for Convict Labour.
- Unfortunately we had to finish the game at this turn.
Upkeep phase:
Jack Daw: +1VP Guard the Stash; +1VP Neutralize the Leader, +3VP Take Prisoner
Dreamer: +1VP Convict Labour, +1VP Exhaust Their Forces
Final score: Jack 7 - Dreamer 4
I'm pretty happy with Engine's performance during this game. It really benefits from Jack's push and Ligeia's no cheating aura. Plus if it would die I would have two Abominations near Stash marker anyway which would help me score points for strategy. Ligeia is pretty interesting model although I have feeling that she shouldn't cost more that 3SS as she is so fragile and needs a lot planning or she would die really easy.
But the most important thing is that I started to feel Jack well again. I was better with positioning and utilizing his attacks/support than the last time ;)
Till next time!
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