Game report 22.09.16 50SS Leveticus vs Colette

Game report - 22.09.2016

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Colette (Owen)

Deployment: Corner Deployment
Strategy: Headhunter
Schemes: Convict Labour, Exhaust Their Forces, Show of Force, Set Up, Undercover Entourage

Owen brought:
Colette (6SS pool) - Cabaret Choreography, Practiced Production, Arcane Reservoir
Joss - Imbued Energies
Cassandra
Howard Langston
Performer
Steam Arachnid

I brought:
Levi (4SS pool) - Pariah of Bone, Oathkeeper, To Earth Return
(killing machine)
Madame Sybelle - Scout the Field, Bigger They Are
(model to be kept 6'' of the table centre for Show of Force purpose, damage dealer, Waif anchor)
Yin - Scout the Field
(model to be kept 6'' of the table centre for Show of Force purpose, Wp de-buffer, Waif anchor)
The Hanged
(damage dealer, Waif anchor)
2x Rotten Belle
(support models who would try to lure enemy closer to me)
Dead Doxy
(support model to help position my models with her Take the Lead action, Waif Anchor)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Owen picked Convict Labour and Undercover Entourage (Colette)
I took Show of Force and Undercover Entourage (Levi)

My plan for a game was to utilize my movement shenanigans to drag single enemy model close to my models, stick Wp de-buff on it and kill it. Then I would pick up the head marker and do this trick again.
Also my crew had 3 models with Terrifying (All) characteristic and Levi's range attack is against enemy Wp I knew the key to the game will be correct use of Yin which had a debut this game.

Deployment (Colette deployed first; Levi's crew is at the bottom of the picture):

Turn 1
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Owen moved his models towards the centre but kept in mind to stay out of LOS from my models in case if I decided to lure him. Howard took a wide swing on my right flank. Colette's crew also dropped some scheme markers so those could be removed later for Practiced Production purpose and she summoned first Dove.
- I moved towards the centre of the table as well. Thanks to Call Belle action I was able to lure Arachnid closer to me once. Apart of this nothing interesting happened that turn.

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Colette 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Between high mobility of his crew, Practiced Production and Prompt action Owen put enough scheme markers for Convict Labour. Howard flanked me on my right even more.
- I was able to lure Arachnid between my models and kill it but thanks to my poor control hand and Owen's good hand I had to spent more resources on doing that so I wasn't able to pick the head this turn.
Yin also put Gnawing Fears on Joss and Owen had to Prompt him out of the danger zone (as far as possible from my crew). I have parked Sybelle within 6'' of the centre to start scoring Show of Force.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Show of Force
Colette: +1VP Convict Labour

Score after turn 2: Levi 1 - Colette 1

Turn 3
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Yin activated first and put Gnawing Fears on Cassandra. She also attacked Cassandra with The Fear Behind the Eyes and put on Cassandra No Escape condition (so no Walk/Charge actions for her till the end of the turn). Knowing that Cassandra is in the grave danger Owen used Prompt to push her into safety. I was happy from this outcome as Colette had to activate early this turn.
- Howard moved up to the far corner of the table so I decided to shift a pressure on him. I lured him once but second time failed (my control hand was terrible again despite stoning for cards). If second time was successful, then he would be in range for other Belle for additional lure and then I planned to moved Hanged there, drop Howard by half wounds and then Levi would sacrifice Waif to get into position for finishing Howard. Plan was good but cards said no... Anyway I moved Hanged and Levi closer to Howard to threaten him on next turn.
- I picked the head marker this turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Headhunter, +1VP Show of Force
Colette: +1VP Convict Labour

Score after turn 3: Levi 3 - Colette 2

Turn 4
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Hanged attacked Howard twice. I think I made a mistake here as I should activate Levi, burn Oathkeeper, walk once and attack Howard 3 times with Levi. Anyway heavily bruised Howard run away behind LOS blocker before I was able to finish him off.
- Yin discarded Scout the Field and attacked Colette behind LOS blocker giving her Gnawing Fears. I was lucky with flips as the third time in the row I had bad control hand after stoning for cards.
- As Owen kept hiding his models away from me I wasn't able to lure anything and pressed forward towards centre of the table to 'lure' him out his way ;)
- Levi bored to the teeth by now attacked the only possible target - Dove lurking nearby and killed it.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Show of Force
Colette: +1VP Convict Labour

Score after turn 4: Levi 4 - Colette 3

Turn 5
Initiative: Colette

Key actions/moments:

-  I suspected that Owen has Entourage on Colette and I was right. Owen started to set up scheme markers for this. I knew she will use Disappearing Act to hop into my deployment area as she did later this turn. To put some pressure on her Sybelle discarded Scout the Field and attacked Sybelle once hurting here a lot. Cassandra borrowed Prompt from Colette to push her in LOS of scheme markers and prepare her to 'jump' ;) Hanged walked once and attacked Colette but missed. Then Colette used Disappearing Act to get into my deployment area.
In return I lured her twice. Owen immediately moved Dove to block any more lures on Colette so my Doxy used Take the Lead to push Dove away. Then other Belle lured Colette once only because Performer used her lure on this Belle to drag her away from Colette and I had to walk once to see Colette again. Thankfully lure was successful and I walked her away from my deployment zone.
Yin walked once and put Gnawing Fear on her again, then attacked her and dropped her below half of her wounds.
- I positioned Levi incorrectly the bottom of turn 4 and Howard was able to move and charge him killing Levi. Thankfully Waif was close enough to centreline and Levi was able to re-spawn within Owen's half of the table.
- Game ended on this turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +2VP Undercover Entourage
Colette: +1VP Undercover Entourage

Final score: Levi 6 - Colette 4

Few comments after game:

- It was very tough game as Owen played very well and kept his models away from LOS and reacted very good with Prompts to move threatened models into safety.
- I'm happy with performance of my crew although I might replace Sybelle with Rusty next time as she will bring additional fire power to my team at the cost of losing some movement shenanigans between Belles.
- Yin is good... really good ;) Her Wp de-buff works great and I'll be happy to take her again if I decide to run Bone-Levi.

Till next time!

Game report 08.09.16 50SS Jack Daw vs Dreamer

Game report - 08.09.2016

50SS Jack Daw (daniello_s) vs Dreamer (Gavin)

Deployment: Close Deployment
Strategy: Collect the Bounty
Schemes: Convict Labour, Hunting Party, Exhaust Their Forces, Set Up, Search The Ruins

Gavin brought:
Dreamer (4SS pool) - Restless Dreams, Tantrum, On Wings of Darkness
Nekima - The True Mother, Rapid Growth
Bishop - Mimic's Blessing
Doppelganger
2x Terror Tot
Primordial Magic

Jack Daw (4SS pool) - Writhing Torment, Twist and Turn, 3x Injustice
(Curse-giver and reliable hitter who also supports his Tormented crew)
Mad Dog Brackett
(shooting support who can negate any bonuses for cover which improves his and Dead Outlaws chances to hit enemy models)
Johana - Bigger They Are
(hitter who can punish heavily models with upgrades attached plus condition removal)
The Guilty
(used to Torment Johana and Mad Dog 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)
Jaakuna Ubume
(lure-support to drag enemy models into open where Mad Dog and Outlaws can hit them with their guns)

Gavin picked Hunting Party and Convict Labour
I took Hunting Party and Search The Ruins

This game was the first test of Mad Dog. I was really interested in giving him (her in my case as I'm proxy this model with girl with saw-off shotgun) a try. My idea for the game was to use lure from Jaakuna and Mad Dog's Blown Apart Marker to utilize very good shooting abilities of crew. Also I wanted to practice this crew as I love the idea of Jack and his gang punishing heavily any enemy model with upgrade attached (Outlaws in distance, Johana in melee).

Deployment: Dreamer deployed first (Jack's crew at the bottom left side of the picture)

I decided to keep my models in the loose bobble instead of stretching them out along whole table. This should allow me to concentrate damage on one or two models a turn.

Turn 1
Initiative: Dreamer

Key actions/moments:

- Dreamer's crew pushed aggressively toward the centre line with Bishop flanking me on my left and Nekima on the right. Dreamer and Doppelganger moved towards the centre section and Tots were running on my right flank to drop scheme markers ASAP. Doppelganger walked into the wooden area and used Blend In action to put me on negative flips if I decide to use Sh actions against her. Dreamer walked once and started to shoot my models - Johana was hit twice and Nurse once (for 4 damage and Paralyze trigger).

- I tormented Mad Dog and Johana and because my hand was poor (9,8, 4,4, 2,1 after stoning for extra cards...) I wasn't planning to to major things this turn. However I saw a chance to remove this pesky Doppelganger and decide to go for it. I successfully lured her twice (good flips) into the open and close enough for Jack to attack her and Johana to be pushed in melee range for flurry. So Jack attacked her once giving her Fire Injustice and then Johana finished her with two strikes.
One Outlaw focused and shot Terror Tot in woods but missed. Other Outlaw used push from Jack and a single walk to get into range of Primordial Magic and hit it for 2 damage (By the way, Primordial made him insignificant in return).
Mad Dog used push and single walk to drop Blown Apart Marker near Dreamer who was hiding in the woods and then shot enemy master flipping Red Joker on single negative damage flip. Gavin prevented 1 damage so Dreamer was left on 3 wounds.

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Jack 0 - Dreamer 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Dreamer

Key actions/moments:

- Winning initiative was a key thing and I was able to flip 10 but Gavin re-flipped red Joker so he went first. If I were to go first poor Dreamer would be dead instantly...
- Dreamer activated first and brought Johana to the last wound with his shooting, then summoned Chompy behind the building.
- I knew Johana is in danger as Nekima could double-walk and smack her or use her Black Blood action to kill her so I runaway with her to be safe from danger and heal her with Nurse. Unfortunately Bishop took an opportunity to activate next and charge Nurse (walk first with his Swift) killing her. After this Gavin declared Hunting Party.
- I knew  have to start killing his beaters this turn so one Outlaw and Jaakuna shot Bishop hurting him and then Jack finished him off. At this stage I was getting VP for Collect the Bounty this turn.Jack also hit Chompy giving him Fire Injustice.
- Nekima and Tots dropped scheme markers for Convict Labour and Chompy walked closer to my models. Primordial wasn't able to do anything as second Dead Outlaw finished him off before he could activate.
- Mad Dog used push to get Nekima in range and shot her 2 times for 6 damage (one miss with Rapid Fire).
- Guilty pushed once to block Chompy from getting to close to my models. Guilty also dropped scheme marker for Search the Ruins.

Upkeep phase:
Jack Daw: +1VP Collect the Bounty
Dreamer: +1VP Convict Labor, +1VP Hunting Party

Score after turn 2: Jack 1 - Dreamer 2


Turn 3
Initiative: Jack

Key actions/moments:

- I used my first activation to finish off Nekima with Mad Dog's rapid fire. In return Chompy killed Guilty and then walked once and sacrificed himself to unbury Dreamer behind the building. Unfortunately for Gavin, Jack was able to get into position to attack Dreamer with his Ca action - first hit went through and I flipped Red Joker on single negative damage flip again. As Gavin had no more soulstones left (burned them for cards and one damage prevention) Dreamer was effectively dead. Jack also attacked Tot giving him Guillotine Injustice. Game was practically over now but we kept playing anyway.
- Dead Outlaw was able to kill one of the Tots. Second Tot run away behind building. Rest of my models started a hunt after last remaining Neverborn model on the table.

Upkeep phase:
Jack Daw: +1VP Collect the Bounty
Dreamer: +1VP Convict Labor, +1VP Hunting Party

Score after turn 3: Jack 2 - Dreamer 4


Turn 4
Initiative: Dreamer

Key actions/moments:

- Tot has died of the Dead Outlaws hand and I dropped two markers on opponent's half of the table for Search the Ruins. We called game here.

Upkeep phase:
Jack Daw: +1VP Collect the Bounty, +1VP Hunting Party, 3VP Search the Ruins

Final score: Jack 7 - Dreamer 4 (or 9-4 if we were to play turn 5).

Few thoughts after the game:
- Dead Outlaws and Bigger They Are upgrade is a very strong buff for Jack. It bumped nicely the damage output of his crew. I'll play this crew few more times as I think it is quite versatile.
- Mad Dog is interesting piece of support. His Blown Apart marker can ruin enemy's day (especially when Outlaw is lurking nearby and Jack was able to stack any Curse on this enemy model already) and his shooting is very strong. What is also important his main weakness - 1'' melee only, is nicely leveled with extra push from Jack so he can have a choice to push away from enemy model to shoot him freely after or to push closer to attack with his MI. I think I'll use him quite often in Jack's crew in nearest future.

Till next time!

Game report 01.09.16 50SS Jack Daw vs Ramos

Game report - 01.09.2016

50SS Jack Daw (daniello_s) vs Ramos (Owen)

Deployment: Flank Deployment
Strategy: Extraction
Schemes: Convict Labour,Take Prisoner, Hunting Party, Set Up, Quick Murder

Owen brought:
Ramos (6SS pool) - Under Pressure, Field Generator
Joss - Imbued Energies, Bleeding Edge Tech
Cassandra
Howard - Imbued Protection
Large Arachnid
Mobile Toolkit

Jack Daw (3SS pool) - Writhing Torment, Twist and Turn, 3x Injustice
(Curse-giver and reliable hitter who also supports his Tormented crew)
Bishop
(beat-stick who can punish enemy models when they miss the hit against him)
Johana - Bigger They Are
(another hitter plus condition removal)
Hans - Advanced Sight
(range support)
The Guilty
(used to Torment Johana and Bishop)
Nurse
(annoying toolbox with her Take Your Meds action)
Dead Outlaw
(range support whose damage spread bumps up once he hits models with upgrade attached)
Lady Ligeia
(annoying model who should be used to tame a bit enemy heavy hitters)

Owen picked Hunting Party and Quick Murder (Bishop)
I took Hunting Party and Take Prisoner (Ramos)

I decided to play for fun and test Bigger They Are and Advanced Sight upgrades (although table didn't favor Hans) and test Dead Outlaw. Also since I painted new models recently (Bishop, Hans and Dead Outlaw) I wanted to use them this game.I knew it would be a tough game as Ramos' Arachnid factory means the Extraction marker will be claimed by him and placed away from me almost every turn so I will have to push towards it which will expose my models to his heavy hitters. Oh well, life can't be always easy aka I can't always bring Levi with me ;)

Deployment: Ramos deployed first (Jack's crew at the bottom of the picture)

Turn 1
Initiative: Ramos

Key actions/moments:

- As usual Mobile Toolkit use a walk twice and then was charged and killed by Joss to generate two scrap marks. Then Ramos summoned 2 Arachnids from the scrap marker. Howard and Cassandra started to flank me on my left staying behind the house.
- On my side I tormented Bishop and Johana. Hans focused and wounded Howard. I took rather defensive stance with my crew and kept them in quite tight bobble not to close to the Extraction marker but I made sure I won't be too far from next turn.

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Jack 0 - Ramos 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Ramos

Key actions/moments:

- Cassandra punished Nurse and shot her twice for 4 damage in total. I knew Howard is lurking nearby so I decided to bait him with The Guilty so first I parked Ligeia near Cassandra (who used Southern Hospitality of course) and then I charged Cassandra with Guilty. Only one hit went in for 2 damage. As I expected Howard moved in to action and killed Guilty with single swing (Decapitation trigger). I could try to defend Guilty but Howard still had two swings (Flurry) so I decided to keep my cards. After that Owen declared Hunting Party. Ramos summoned two more Arachnids. Two of them secured Extraction marker and one engaged Bishop. Last Arachnid was killed by Hans so I could claim VP for Hunting Party as well.

- I tried to capitalize on the fact that Cassandra and Howard were exposed so I pushed Ligeia closer to Howard so she could get him in her no cheating zone and then Jack attacked Howard 3 times followed by Dead Outlaw. Owen had to discard Imbued Protection to save Howard and I was short of cards with my last attack so I failed to kill him but I left him on the last wound with Firing Injustice attached.
Bishop used the push from Jack to move away from Arachnid, walked one and charged Large Arachnid (who was within Ligeia's aura) and hit Large Arachnid twice leaving it on last wound. Johana attacked Arachnid but failed miserably.

Upkeep phase:
Jack: +1VP Extraction, +1VP Hunting Party
Ramos: +1VP Extraction, +1VP Hunting Party

Score after turn 2: Jack 2 - Ramos 2

Turn 3
Initiative: Jack

Key actions/moments:

- As I won initiative I had to try to take the opportunity and do as much damage as possible. Jack activated first and finished off Howard with one attack. Then he 'obeyed' Bishop to attack Large Arachnid and finish it (+1VP Hunting Party for me). Then I tried to punish Cassandra but my hand was below average and despite the fact that Cassandra was affected by Ligeia's aura she was able to deflect one attack and I was able to attach to her Fire Injustice only.
- Cassandra walked away from Ligeia (Nimble) and killed Nurse with the double blast (+1VP Hunting Party for Ramos) which clipped Jack and Bishop for 3 damage and Dead Outlaw for 2. Then she attacked Bishop hitting him for next 2 damage. But what worse I realized how good Owen's hand is when he discarded 8 for Southern Hospitality and my highest card on hand was 8...
- I failed to realize that Bishop is in danger and I activated Ligeia who walked closer to Cassandra but not far enough to protest Bishop. Joss used this opportunity and burned Imbued Energy for extra walk and then charged Bishop. Despite my reasonable high flips Owen punched through Bishop's defense by cheating attacks with high cards. This gave Owen full VP for Quick Murder. Johana tried to retaliate on Joss but Owen used his last stones for damage prevention.
- Dead Outlaw finished Cassandra and put Curse of the Covetous condition on Joss (till end of the game he can only do walk/interact action unless he drops scheme marker or takes 3 damage at the start of his activation)
- Owen placed Extraction marker further away from my crew.

Upkeep phase:
Jack: +1VP Extraction, +1VP Hunting Party
Ramos: +1VP Extraction, +1VP Hunting Party, +3VP Quick Murder

Score after turn 3: Jack 4 - Ramos 7

Turn 4
Initiative: Jack

Key actions/moments:

- Jack hit Joss twice giving him Firing Injustice and Drowning Injustice. Jack accidentally killed also nearby Arachnid (Red Joker on damage). Hans hit Joss twice and Joss was left on the last wound with no soulstones available for damage prevention so all he could do was to stay and do nothing.
- Johana killed another Arachnid (final VP for Hunting Party).
- Owen realized I have Take Prisoner on Ramos and he run away towards the corner of the table.
- Dead Outlaw finished Joss but I was to far to grab VP point for strategy this turn. Owen placed it further away at the end of the turn.

Upkeep phase:
Jack: +1VP Hunting Party
Ramos: +1VP Extraction

Score after turn 4: Jack 5 - Ramos 8

Turn 5
Initiative: Ramos

Key actions/moments:

- Ramos run away to the corner and secured Extraction marker with two Arachnids.
- I couldn't reach Ramos so I tried to kill one Arachnid with Jack (single attack) and Johana (charge) but I failed...
- Hans killed third Arachnid who tried to tarpit my models.
- Game should end now as we used to play 5 turns usually like on the tournaments, but as it was friendly game and we had time Owen flipped card for turn 6 and... 11! ;)

Upkeep phase:
Jack: +1VP extraction
Ramos: +1VP Extraction

Score after turn 5: Jack 6 - Ramos 9

Turn 6
Initiative: Ramos

Key actions/moments:

- I won initiative but decided to Owen go first. He moved Arachnid away of Ramos along the table edge.
I knew I have a chance to draw this game but for some reason I made the terrible mistake - I moved Jack instead of activating someone else... So I triple walked to Ramos who then used Magnetism on his Arachnid and run away from Jack...I forgot about this pesky Magnetism...
- As nothing else could be done, Johana killed Arachnid and Hans killed last Arachnid. Dead Outlaw walked away from Extraction marker as I hoped to have turn 7 and chase down Ramos. Game sadly ended this turn ;)

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Final score: Jack 6 - Ramos 9

Few comments after the game:

- Bigger They Are upgrade and Dead Outlaw are extremely useful in Jack's crew. Stick the Curse on enemy model and hit it with you beast-stick with attached upgrade or shoot it with Dead Outlaw. I'll use this combo quite often as I see huge potential in this combo.
- Hans and Advanced Sight upgrade... I'm not really convinced about this upgrade. Hans is good fire support especially since he can shoot into melee without randomizing but I think this (0) action competes too heavily with Reference to Field Guide which is more important for Hans. Also I think it is better to invest 1SS in Scout the Field than take free Advanced Sight.
- Lady Ligeia is quite ok but I think she is a bit overpriced. She can be annoying and once played carefully can do a lot of trouble but she is pretty squishy. I would consider her if she was for 3SS but as she costs 4SS I would rather get either scheme runner like Winged Plague or support piece like Hodgepodge Effigy.

And finally it is extremely difficult to play Extraction against Ramos as he gets those Arachnids with such ease and you have to first goes through his beat-sticks (Howard, Joss) and then those Arachnids to get the to the marker. I don't think I would have a problem playing Levi or Viks but for Jack it was a bit too much this time :)

Till next time!