Wednesday 30 November 2016

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!

Sunday 20 November 2016

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!