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 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!

Game report 25.06.16 50SS Leveticus vs Ramos

Game report - 25.06.2016

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Ramos (Owen)

Deployment: Standard Deployment
Strategy: Extraction
Schemes: Convict Labour, Leave Your Mark, Exhaust Their Forces, Mark For Death, Detonate The Charges

Owen brought:
Ramos (6SS pool) - Arcane Reservoir, Under Pressure, Field Generator
Joss - Imbued Energies, Bleeding Edge Tech
Coryphee
Performer
Large Arachnid
2x Steam Arachnid
Mobile Toolkit

I took:
Levi (6SS pool) - Pariah of Iron, Tally Sheet, Desolate Soul
(killing machine and Abomination summoner)
The Valedictorian
(highly mobile beat-stick;  Waif anchor)
Ryle
(heavy beat-stick and good shooter; Construct healer; Waif anchor)
Hunter
(scheme runner; Waif anchor)
Necropunk
(scheme runner)
Flesh Construct
(high wound tarpit; Waif anchor)
Hodgepodge Effigy
(soul stones re-charger; scheme runner)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

We both picked same schemes: Detonate The Charges and Exhaust Their Forces.

My plan for the game was:
- 'tank' Extraction marker with Ryle, Valedictorian and Flesh Construct to secure points for strategy and tag enemy models for Exhaust Their Forces. Ryle would heal them as much as possible. Also I intentionally had larger SS pool than usual as I suspected to use it mostly for damage prevention on both of my Henchmen.
- Necropunk should at some stage leap closer to enemy models and drop scheme marker for Detonate Charges. Also one of the 'tanking' models should be able to drop second marker for this scheme.
- Levi was to annoy enemy crew and kill low wound models like Arachnids and summon Abomination in their places to annoy even more enemy crew.

Also I wanted to use models which I ever used so far (Ryle) or used only once (Valedictorian, Flesh Construct and Hunter).

Deployment (Ramos was deploying first):

Turn 1
Initiative: Ramos

Key actions/moments:

- We advanced towards the Extraction marker. I flanked enemy crew with Hunter (left flank) and Valedictorian (right flank).
- Ramos summoned 3 Spiders from what was left from Mobile Toolkit when Joss decided to smack it to pieces ;)
- Levi walked twice and killed one newly summoned Arachnids and got one Abomination its place. It died quickly as well but absorbed enemy crew a lot ;)

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Ramos 0


Turn 2
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Levi started his deadly dance once Hodgepodge gave him Loyalty to the Coin and Accomplice him. He attacked 3 Arachnids and killed them all summoning also 2 Abominations. Good man! ;)
- Ramos summoned 2 new Arachnids and granted all his models Df buff and Joss and Coryphee killed my Abominations. I didn't mind as their sole purpose was to stand there and annoy opponent.
- Ryle, Hunter, Flesh Construct and Hodgepodge Effigy made sure I'll get VP for strategy and move Extraction marker this turn. Hunter also dropped scheme marker close enough to Large Arachnid.
- Necropunk leaped and drop another scheme marker near Joss and Coryphee but Performer used Siren Call on them to push them away from it. So I had a little choice and Valedictorian walked once and dropped another scheme marker near enemy models which allowed me to score max points for Detonate The Charges this turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Extraction, +3VP Detonate The Charges
Ramos: +1VP Extraction

Score after turn 2: Levi 4 - Ramos 1

Turn 3
Initiative: Ramos (Owen flipped Red Joker on initiative and I flipped 13... What a waste...)

Key actions/moments:

- Joss burnt Imbued Energies and charged Valedictorian hitting it once and second damage I prevented fully. Then he Exhausted my girl.
- Hodgepodge and Levi did their usual dance and Levi killed 2 Arachnids and summoned 2 fresh new Abominations.
- Large Arachnid charged Hunter but did very little damage. Hunter Exhausted it in return.
- Ryle shot enemy models and healed himself as Ramos used Magnetism on him previous turn.
- Valedictorian walked once and stood on the only scrap marker on the table which made Ramos really sad panda :)
- I tarpit Joss with one Waif and Necropunk Exhausted Joss.
- Ramos Exhausted nearby Abomination.
- Owen dropped two scheme markers near my models but I was able to push Hunter away and he could only score 2VP for Detonate The Charges. I think he should wait with declaring this scheme for another turn and try to score full VP.
- I had more models near Extraction marker and placed it again at the end of the turn

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Extraction, +1 Exhaust Their Forces
Ramos: +1VP Extraction; +1VP Exhaust Their Forces; +2VP Detonate The Charges

Score after turn 3: Levi 6 - Ramos 5

Turn 4
Initiative: Ramos

Key actions/moments:

- Large Arachnid removed nearby scheme marker to buff her attack and damage flips and charged Levi 'killing' him.
- Flesh Construct and Hodgepodge Effigy were able to put Large Arachnid on the last wound with +2 Poison on it which killed it at the end of the turn.
- Valedictorian, Necropunk and Waif tarpit Joss and Coryphee. Valedictorian attacked Coryphee 4 times (one from the Lecture Notes trigger but either missed or didn't do enough damage and dropped it to last wound.
- Ramos summoned two new Arachnids and Ryle was able to kill only one of them.
- I had more models near Extraction marker again but forgot to place it. I reminded myself about it at the start of the turn 5 but decided not to do that as I was almost confident of the slim victory already.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Extraction, +1 Exhaust Their Forces
Ramos: +1VP Extraction; +1VP Exhaust Their Forces;

Score after turn 4: Levi 8 - Ramos 7

Turn 5
Initiative: Ramos

Key actions/moments:

- Owen made sure to get final points for Extraction and Exhaust Their Forces.
- I knew I score max of those as well so I allowed myself to hunt down as many enemy models as possible :)
Levi killed two Arachnids and summoned two Abominations.
- Brave Waif killed Coryphee ;)
- Valedictorian killed one of the Arachnids summoned this turn by Ramos (3 of them in total).
- Ryle charged Ramos and smacked him heavily.
- Game ended on this turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Extraction, +1 Exhaust Their Forces
Ramos: +1VP Extraction; +1VP Exhaust Their Forces;

Final Score: Levi 10 - Ramos 9


Few comments after the game:
- Levi was a monster that day. He was recycling Arachnids on massive scale summoning Abominations in return. Thanks to Hodgepodge Effigy I was constantly re-filling my SS pool. It was crazy even for mine standards...
- Ryle is very interesting model. He is quite tough, can heal himself or other Construct, use SS for damage prevention if needed and hits in melee like a truck. I like him already.
- Valedictorian proved again to be very useful model. High mobility plus very good attack ability and shooting down enemy triggers is really, really tasty.
- Hunter is an interesting model. I think he can be used to hunt down enemy scheme runners and his push at the end of the turn is nice. Not to mention auto-Slow on his harpoon attack.
- Flesh Construct didn't do much this game but his task was to be near Extraction marker and smack any enemy model which would get to close to it so in overall I was satisfied with it. Also it force Owen to keep the last card in his hand so he wouldn't Reactivate.

Till next time!

Q-CON 18.06.2016 50SS fixed faction tournament

Game report - Q-Con 18.06.2016

On 18.06.2016 I had a pleasure to attend to 50SS fixed faction tournament which was organized by Robert McCallum (Northern Ireland Henchman) as a part of Q-CON XXIII convent.

As a person full of sportsmanship attitude, I decided to bring Levi with me just because we all love this guy ;)

Round 1 

It looks like it is some kind a tradition (or something is wrong with my name) as I was a BYE again (like in Paddyfaux). Thankfully Rob gave me a game with his TT Lucas McCabe. It was the first time I played against this master so I was really glad that finally I had a chance.

We played following encounter:
Deployment - Flank
Strategy - Reconnoiter
Schemes - Convict Labour, Take Prisoner, Set Up, Hunting Party, Show of Force

I decided to use this crew:
Levi (3SS pool) - Pariah of Iron, Tally Sheet, Desolate Soul
2x Hollow Waif
Joss
Mechanical Rider
Johan
Hunter
Flesh Construct
Hodgepodge Effigy

My schemes were: Set Up (Lucas) and Take Prisoner (Oiran)

Plan was simple: try to provoke Lucas to get closer to me so I could charge him with Mech Rider and drop scheme markers with the trigger. Then Levi would try to take him down while rest of the crew would engage with enemy models.
Plan worked perfectly. On turn 2 I scored max points for Set Up and on turn 3 Levi torn Lucas to pieces (severe damage of 8 with melee is a scary thing). After I finished Lucas I was taking out enemy crew piece by piece until on turn 5 all what was left was one TT Brother, Komainu, High River Monk and Oiran who was engaged by Abomination (Levi killed nearby Katanaka Sniper that turn) getting me max points for Take Prisoner and I won this game 10-3 but because I was a BYE I got auto 10-5 win anyway.

I used for the first time Hunter and Flesh Construct and I'm pretty happy with their performance. Especially I like Hunter with his 3'' push at the end of the turn.

Few photos from the game:

Turn 1 - the trap on Lucas is set

Turn 3 - Levi is ready to whack Lucas to pieces

Turn 5 - Levi will bring Katanaka Sniper down summoning Abomination in the process. Joss and Hunter are waiting in case if Levi would need a help.

Round 2

This round I was to play against Declan and his Arcanists so I decided to bring Relic Hammer ladies with me. The choice was absolutely correct as I was about to face Ramos with Joss, Howard, Firestarter and horde of Arachnids.

For round 2 we had this encounter:
Deployment - Standard
Strategy - Extraction
Schemes - Convict Labour, Hunting Party, Exhaust Their Forces, Mark for Death, A Quick Murder

This turn I decided to go Bone Levi:

Levi (3SS pool) - Pariah of Bone, Desolate Soul
2x Hollow Waif
Rusty Alyce
Taelor
Johan
Dead Doxy
2x Rotten Belle
Hodgepodge Effigy

My schemes were: Hunting Party, A Quick Murder (Howard)

Plan for a game: lure Howard and deal with me asap then lure a minion a turn and kill it with Rusty/Johana/Taelor.

Again I started game really as on turn 1 I lured Howard really close and welcomed him with Rusty (Rapid Fire), Taelor and finally Levi. I took me 6 attacks to bring him down - Declan either cheated very high cards for defense or I flipped lousy for attack. Ultimately it was Levi who swung a killing blow at Howard.

Having him removed I focused on luring one Arachnid (Ramos summoned a bucket of them on turn 1 and 2) close enough to kill it with Rusty, when Levi killed Firestarter turn 2 and Joss killed from combined effort of Johana and Taelor on turn 3.
As I predicted Declan took Exhaust Their Forces and scored a number of points from this scheme. As a second scheme he had Mark of Death which he planned to use by tagging me with Arachnid and follow up with killing my model with Joss/Howard. Since both his beaters were down he could really score a strategy.
I pressed aggressively and on Turn 5 all what was left on Arcanists side was one Arachnid and Essence of Power.

I won this round 10-5.

Few photos from the game:

Turn 1 - crews approaching to the centre of the table. Howard was changed into Abomination already.

Turn 2 - Arachnid horde approaching. Levi and Co patiently awaiting a this swarm of constructs.

Turn 3 - Outcasts are 'processing' Arachnids into the scrap. Soon the table looked like a scrapyard.

Turn 4 - Taelor finishes Ramos and brings game to the end.

Round 3

Final round and my arch-nemesis: Mike and his Ressers.
Mike for first two rounds was using rather opponent friendly masters (Ressers as friendly masters... LOL! ;)): Yan Lo and Tara, but because there is a chemistry between us just for me he brought his beloved Kirai. Gloves off and ere we go ;)

Round 3 encounter:
Deployment - Close
Strategy - Collect The Bounty
Schemes - Convict Labour, Show of Force, Covert Breakthrough, Leave Your Mark, Frame For Murder.

I used this crew:
Levi (3SS pool) - Pariah of Bone, Tally Sheet
2x Hollow Waif
Rusty Alyce
Johan
Dead Doxy
2x Rotten Belle
Hodgepodge Effigy
2x Necropunk

I picked: Frame for Murder (Necropunk) and Leave Your Mark.

My plan on the game was to use lure to drag enemy models away from Kirai and Lost Love and kill them scoring strategy while Necropunks would run for Leave Your Mark and Frame For Murder.

Till round 3 everything was running OK and the score was 3-3 although I made terrible mistake and didn't put sucker-Necropunk close enough for Mike to kill him. Then I made (at least) few more mistakes and Mike was able to beat me heavily and I lost the game 4-8.
I was hoping to deal with Kirai herself on turn 1 as I was able to lure her into open and charged her with Levi. Unfortunately my control hand was crap this turn and I had no high card to cheat severe damage. Then Rusty would finished her off with her shooting. Also if I had won initiative on turn 2 Kirai would be shred to pieces by Levi but Mike re-flipped initiative with high card and run away with her.

Few photos from the game:

Turn 2 - Levi ready to whack Kirai. Unfortunately she won initiative and run away into the building.

Turn 3 - Levi charges Izamu killing it but Izamu swings his blade before he dies at Levi dropping killing him... Crap...

Turn 4 - I'm trying to grab some points but Mike is playing very well giving me no chances to win this game.

In the final classification I have landed ultimately on the 3rd place so I can honestly say it was a good day ;)

Big thanks for all my opponents for 3 great games (I'm gonna get you one day, Frenchie! ;)) and big kuddos for Rob for all his effort in organizing this event - it was really a pleasure to attend it.
We will see at the Q-CON next year! ;)

Till next time!

Game report 22.05.16 50SS Leveticus vs Ramos

Game report - 22.05.2016

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Ramos (Owen)

Deployment: Standard Deployment
Strategy: Collect the Bounty
Schemes: Convict Labour, Show of Force, Exhaust Their Forces, Covert Breakthrough, Neutralize the Leader

Owen brought:
Ramos (5SS pool) - Arcane Reservoir, Under Pressure, Field Generator
Joss - Imbued Energies, Bleeding Edge Tech
Cassandra - Imbued Energies, Smoke and Shadows
Howard Langston - Imbued Energies
Mobile Toolkit
Steam Arachnid

I took:
Levi (3SS pool) - Pariah of Iron, Tally Sheet
(killing machine and Abomination summoner)
Ashes and Dust
(beat-stick and scheme runner;  Waif anchor)
Howard Langston
(heavy beat-stick; Waif anchor)
Johana - Oathkeeper
(anti-construct beat-stick; Waif anchor)
Necropunk
(scheme runner)
Soulstone Miner
(anti-construct hitter; Waif anchor)
Hodgepodge Effigy
(soul stones re-charger; scheme runner)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Owen picked: Show of Force and Covert Breakthrough.
I took: Neutralize the Leader and Covert Breakthrough.

I was absolutely surprised when Owen declared at the bottom of turn 1 that he didn't take Neutralize the Leader. Surprised but glad ;)

My plan was to check if I can push through Arcanist's defenses and kill Ramos. I knew it won't be easy as there will be a wall of Spiders, Joss and Howard between me and Ramos but I wanted to test it anyway.

Deployment (Levi deployed second, left side of the photo):

Turn 1
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- As always first turn was (almost only about the movement. We pushed forward. I flanked enemy crew with A&D (left flank) and Howard (right flank) with centre hold by Johana, Miner and Levi.
- Owen used the famous trick of course: kill Toolkit with Joss to summon 3 Arachnids of the first scrap marker.
- I noticed that enemy Howard moved close enough to try the first blood with Levi. So Levi sacrificed A&D and jumped in base contact with close enough to charge Howard. First hit flipped severe damage, second moderate but third bounced off - Owen hard super strong control hand: 2x13, 12 and 11 so I couldn't finish off my victim... Bad things happens in Malifaux...

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Ramos 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Ramos
I flipped 10 for initiative and Owen burn soulstone to re-flip his - 11! Crap...

Key actions/moments:

- Howard knowing that Levi would finish him off didn't wait too long and 'killed' Levi. A&D wanted to take him out and charged but my hand wasn't too good again and Owen had two high cards from previous turn and again I couldn't kill Howard this turn but left him on last 2 wounds.
- My Howard killed Arachnid to secure point for Strategy this turn.
- Joss burnt Imbued Energies, moved and charged my Howard beating severely. Ramos summoned two Arachnids near Howard so Johana burnt her Oathkeeper and charged one of those Arachnids killing it and then swung and killed second Arachnid.
- Miner was blocked by the other Arachnid and couldn't charge and kill enemy Howard so he killed blocking Arachnid.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Collect the Bounty
Ramos: +1VP Show of Force

Score after turn 2: Levi 1 - Ramos 1

Turn 3
Initiative: Ramos

Key actions/moments:

- Joss killed my Howard
- Levi shot at enemy Howard who was engaged by A&D. Randomizing went on A&D but Levi used his trigger to make A&D have a free swing at Howard which killed him. Then I made horrible mistake and tried to go after Cassandra so Levi sacrificed it and got in melee with her. Unfortunately Owen had again higher card than me and what worse it was a Mask so she used her defensive trigger to push away from the second hit. Ramos just waited for that and he killed Ashen Core. I told you it was a horrible mistake ;)
- Johana flurried at Joss but he spent soulstones to prevent majority of the damage.
- Necropunk started to drop scheme markers in safe sector of the table for Covert Breakthrough.
- Dust Storm engaged two Arachnids who were in the run for their Covert Breakthrough. Unfortunately one of those disengaged successfully and was able to drop scheme marker.

Upkeep phase:
Ramos: +1VP Collect the Bounty; +1VP Show of Force

Score after turn 3: Levi 1 - Ramos 3

Turn 4
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Levi killed Cassandra and Dust Storm killed Arachnid. Johana tried to kill Joss but he stayed on last two wounds.
- Ramos used Magnetism on Joss to put him on last wound which gave him Reactivate. Then Joss tried to kill Johana but I used high cards to bounce off as much as possible and save her for this turn on the last wound. Waif walked and desperately swung at Joss but missed. Thankfully Owen over-extended Joss who was too far from centre point of the table and couldn't score point for Show of Force this turn.
- I gave a chase after Ramos with Soulstone Miner and had Levi re-spawned near Joss and Ramos.
- Necropunk and two enemy Spiders dropped more scheme markers.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Collect the Bounty

Score after turn 4: Levi 2 - Ramos 3

Turn 5
Initiative: Ramos

Key actions/moments:

- Ramos killed Johana and Miner.
- Levi walked once and killed Joss summoning Abomination. Then he took a single shot at Ramos wounding him for 4 damage. I was short of 1 more wound on Ramos to score single VP for Neutralize the Leader. Abomination walked once but Ramos succeeded on Df 10 duel and avoided any further damage.
- Dust Storm killed Arachnid.
- Game ended on this turn

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Collect the Bounty; +3VP Covert Breakthrough
Ramos: +3VP Covert Breakthrough

Final Score: Levi 6 - Ramos 6

Few comments after the game:
- I haven't played A&D for long time and forgot how to run it properly. On the other hand Ramos and his Arachnids are not the best opponent for it as Ramos' attacks ignore Armor and Arachnids can block Dust Storm from reaching Ashen Core. Lesson learnt hard way yet still valuable lesson.
- Ramos is very difficult to take down especially with his healing when friendly construct dies withing 8'' and LOS. Not to mention you have to push through tank like Joss plus Howard and Cassandra. Still I'm tempted to try to kill him again if I have a chance :)
- If Owen took Neutralize the Leader he would won by one point but I think Levi is able to win the game even with Neutralize the Leader in the scheme pool. Not easy to achieve but doable.

Till next time!