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 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!

Autumn Awakening - 50SS Fixed Faction report - part 2

Autumn Awakening - 50SS Fixed Faction tournament - part 2

Round 2

Round 2 - Interference, Flank Deployment
Convict Labor, Take Prisoner , Exhaust Their Forces, Catch And Release, Occupy Their Turf

This I round I was paired with Mark and his Sonnia. Although encounter didn't necessary favored Rider crew (except Mech Rider who is brilliant in Interference) I decided to use same list as on round 1.

Mark brought this crew (from the top of my ind):
Sonnia - Cherufe's Imprint (4/5SS pool)
Malifaux Child
Dr Grimwell
Orderly
Brutal Emissary - Conflux of Incineration
Watcher
Witchling Stalker
Death Marshal
Big Jake

Mark picked Convict Labour and (to be confirmed as he didn't score any point from second scheme at this game).
I took Exhaust Their Forces and Take Prisoner (Sonnia)

I knew the key in this game will be to kill Emissary but I did a massive mistake by choosing wrong target for Take Prisoner. I should take it on Witchling Stalker or Malifaux Child instead and put a lot of pressure on Sonnia.

Deployment (Levi deployed first at the bottom of the picture)

As we had to play quite fast I had no chance to take enough notes and photos to make a full report so I'll try to describe briefly the most important moments in the game.

Turn 1

Sonnia and her crew moved quite aggressively towards me using flame pillars (x2) to block my LOS to her models. I took quite defensive stance making sure that Mech Rider will get regeneration trinket from my Emissary to keep it alive as long as possible and I moved along my right flank with Pale Rider and Mech Rider when Hooded and Dead Riders were staying on my left flank ready to jump towards centre of the table if needed, Levi was able to take one shot at Death Marshal dropping him to 2 wounds left.

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Sonnia 0

Turn 2
A crucial moment this turn was my win in initiative flip which allowed Levi to burn his Oathkeeper and kill both, Brutal Emissary and Death Marshal. Sonnia in response unleashed the hell killing Waif and hurting nearby Dead and Hooded Riders.
I chased off Watcher with my Pale Rider and moved Mech Rider towards quarter on my right flank summoning Arachnid this turn as well.
Mark dropped markers for Convict Labour. Dead Rider killed Orderly hiding near pillar at the centre of the table.

Upkeep phase:
Sonnia: +1VP Interference, +1VP Convict Labour

Score after turn 2: Levi 0 - Sonnia 2

Turn 3

Hooded Rider tagged Sonnia for Exhaust Their Forces but died of Grimwell's charge. Levi attacked Grimwell but did minor damage.
Dead Rider killed Child and swung at Jake (missed) and Sonnia (hit) making her Horror Duel (14) test but she passed. Mech Rider summoned another Arachnid and now I could easily claimed two table quarters. Pale Rider was chased Watcher away from my the table quarter contested now by Arachnid.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Interference, +1VP Exhaust Their Forces
Sonnia: +1VP Interference, +1VP Convict Labour

Score after turn 3: Levi 2 - Sonnia 4

Turn 4
Levi tried to kill Grimwell but left him on three wounds only. Thankfully Mech Rider summoned Metal Gamin (to threaten Watcher) and then charged him finishing him off (Mark was out off soulstones by this time). Dead Rider killed Watcher and attacked Sonnia but with no effect. The Jake killed Dead Rider (who was already on last two wounds). Pale Rider moved towards centre of the table killing Big Jake.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Interference
Sonnia: +1VP Convict Labour

Score after turn 4: Levi 3 - Sonnia 5

Turn 5

Big Jake re-spawned near Witchling Stalker and negated me pint for strategy but I knew I'll win this game despite the fact that we were short of time to finish this turn as I was closed to Sonnia with my models and additionally I tagged her with Exhaust.

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

Final score: Levi 7 - Sonnia 5

It was tight game which confirmed my opinion that Sonnia is not perfect model for Take Prisoner and rather must die quickly before she can inflict loads of damage ;)


Round 3

Round 3 - Stake A Claim, Corner Deployment
Convict Labor, Neutralize the Leader, Show Of Force, Search The Ruins, A Quick Murder

Final round I played against Mike and his Reva. It would be his fourth game running her and my first game against her.

He brought:

Reva - Litanny of Faith, Guise of Death, Blood Mark (4SS pool)

Vincent - upgarde with gives him From Shadows

3x Nurse

2x Dead Doxy

Carrion Emissary with general Conflux

I knew that taking Levi for this game equals straight 3VPs for Mike but I wanted to use Crooligans for the first time and see how Sue and Freikorps Specialist will perform as corpse marker removing tools.

So I brought:

Levi - Pariah of Bone, Oathkeeper (4SS pool)

2x Hollow Waif

Freikorps Specialist

Sue

Dead Doxy

2x Rotten Belle

Necropunk

2x Crooligan

Mike picked Neutralize the Leader and A Quick Murder (Specialist)

I picked Search the Ruins and A Quick Murder (Carrion Emissary)

Deployment (Reva deployed first at the top of the picture):

As it was the last game and we had to hurry I took virtually no notes and just some pictures so I'll will generally describe what happened during that game.

I knew hiding Levi is not great idea so I went straight into the jaws of the death (so towards Reva) with plan that I'll try to put as much pressure on her as I can to allow my scheme runners stay alive as long as possible.

Levi killed Candle with charge and summoned Abomination. Mike used extra 1'' of walk (Emissary) to move his Nurses faster, then Doxies used their movement shenanigans to push one Nurse and Reva further).

I failed to inflict major damage on Reva with Levi (my cards were bad) and he was 'killed' in return pretty quick. Sue tried shooting contest with Vincent but was loosing it badly so I eventually moved him away.

We both had similar amount of Claim markers on the table so in the ended no one scored any pints for strategy however Mike made I mistake and thought Vincent was on his side so he didn't drop Claim Marker at one stage of the game when in reality Vincent was already on my side.

On turn 3 I was able to kill Emissary and one Nurse (I was lucky as with first shot at Nurse she flipped Black Joker on the defense and couldn't use her defensive trigger) but Reva used her shenanigans to jump into base contact with Corpse Marker and then charged Specialist (who I thought was perfectly safe from 

her) killing him.

Two Nurses and Doxy wreck a havoc in my crew and I couldn't do much about strategy however I was able to drop 3 markers for Search the Ruins. Unfortunately I wasn't bale to put 2 markers on Mike's side so I couldn't score for VPs for this scheme. 

At the last turn I knew I will loose by one point unless I lure away Nurse from Crooligan and then drop Claim marker but Nurse was lucky to flip Crow on Take Your Meds against Crooligan paralyzing it...

Just for he craic I tried to kill Reva but she stayed on last 2 wounds at the end f the game.

Eventually we scored this way:

Levi: +3VP A Quick Murder, +2VP Search the Ruins
Reva: +3VP A Quick Murder, +3VP Neutralize the Leader

Final score: Levi 5 - Reva 6

I think Reva is very, very strong master and maybe even too strong with her range threat and ability to choose to attack Df or Wp, disallowing to reduce damage from her attack and ignoring cover or not to have to randomize when attacking enemy model who is already engaged.. She kills way to easy and I see her as new Levi (before his Channel was cuddled). I'm sure when Mike gets more practice she will be my new nightmare...

So in the end I finished as second on the tournament but the most important was that I had a chance to play 3 games in one day and I'd like to thanks to my opponents for those great games I had.

Also big thanks to Robert who was organizing this event.

Till next time!

Autumn Awakening - 50SS Fixed Faction report - part 1

Autumn Awakening - 50SS Fixed Faction tournament - part 1

Last Saturday, which was 01 October, I was attending the 50SS fixed faction GG2016 tournament in Lisburn (Belfast).

We were playing 3 games with following encounters:

Round 1 - Collect The Bounty, Standard Deployment
Convict Labor, Hunting Party , Leave Your Mark, Frame For Murder, Inspection

Round 2 - Interference, Flank Deployment
Convict Labor, Take Prisoner , Exhaust Their Forces, Catch And Release, Occupy Their Turf

Round 3 - Stake A Claim, Corner Deployment
Convict Labor, Neutralize the Leader, Show Of Force, Search The Ruins, A Quick Murder

I decided to go with Levi although Neutralize the Leader in Round 3 would mean I'm giving away 3VPs almost freely but who cares ;)

As we had to play rather fast I couldn't take many notes and photos during the games so you must excuse me to leave rather brief report from second and third game ;)

Round 1

This round I was paired with Gavin, so my well known opponent. Gavin mentioned during our previous game that he wouldn't mind to play against Rider Levi in nearest future so I decided to give him this opportunity now and I used my usual Rider list:

Levi (4SS pool) - Oathkeeper
Hodgepodge Emissary - Conflux of Aetheral
Dead Rider
Pale Rider
Mechanical Rider
2x Hollow Waif

Gavin brought Neverborn Zoraida with this crew (I think I have remembered it correctly):

Zoraida (7SS)
Voodoo Doll
Bad Juju - Hexed Among You, Mimic's Blessing
Widow Weaver - Mimic's Blessing
2x Silurid
Waldgeist

Gavin picked Frame for Murder (Waldgeist) and Leave Your Mark.
I took Hunting Party and Leave Your Mark.

I deployed first (left side of the picture):

Turn 1
Initiative: Zoraida

Key actions/moments:

- Gavin moved forward with Waldgeist and one Silurid on my left flank and rest in the middle section/right flank
- I prepared an assault on enemy models on my left flank with Dead Rider and Pale Rider supported by Levi. Rest of my crew kept the safe distance. My hand was so bad this turn (highest 6...) that I couldn't even give a Trinket to one of my Riders...

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Zoraida 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Zoraida

Key actions/moments:

- Levi sacrificed his Waif to get into fire position on one Silurid and he killed him.
- Gavin used Hem on one of Waifs and killed here.
- Dead Rider and Pale Rider failed to finished off Walgeist and left him on the last wound.
- Mech Rider summoned Arachnid and stayed out of the trouble. Hooded Rider engaged Silurid who leaped into the centre of the table.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Collect the Bounty

Score after turn 2: Levi 1 - Zoraida 0

Turn 3
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Hooded Rider killed Silurid and Dead Rider finished off Waldgeist.
- Doll tried to Hem Hooded Rider but failed. Bad Juju charged him but was able to do small damage (damage reduction on Rider was already high).
- Widow Weaver and Pale Rider dropped scheme marker for Leave Your Mark.
- Mech Rider tried to attack Weaver but failed.
- Levi double walk and hurt Weaver for 2 damage.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Hunting Party, +1VP Leave Your Mark
Zoraida: +2VP Frame for Murder, +1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 3: Levi 3 - Zoraida 3

Turn 4
Initiative: Zoraida

Key actions/moments:

- Dead and Hooded Rider killed Juju.
- Levi killed Doll. Zoraida focused and Obeyed Hooded Rider to kill last Waif (nasty trick ;)). That meant that on last turn Gavin would (possibly) get VP for strategy unless I kill Zoraida.
- Widow Weaver and Pale Rider dropped scheme marker for Leave Your Mark again.
- Mech Rider summoned another Arachnid, then attacked Widow Weaver but failed.
- As there was no Peon/Minion in Gavin's crew I scored another point for Hunting Party

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Collect the Bounty, +1VP Hunting Party, +1VP Leave Your Mark
Zoraida: +1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 4: Levi 6 - Zoraida 4

Turn 5
Initiative: Zoraida

Key actions/moments:

- Zoraida summoned Doll and braced for my attack. Widow Weaver dropped another marker for Leave Your Mark.
- I calculated quickly that if I drop marker for Leave Your Mark I'll win the game by one point so I could try to kill Zoraida (for pure fun).
Alternatively I could ignore her and kill Voodoo Doll to get point for Hunting Party and move Mech Rider closer to Gavin's scheme marker to negate him a point for Leave Your Mark but it wouldn't be that funny as trying to kill old witch, wouldn't it? ;))
So I tried to attack her with Paler Rider (who dropped final scheme marker and then hurt her), Hooded Rider and Mech Rider (Dead Rider was too far sadly) but I only bruised her heavily.
- Game ended this turn.

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

Final score: Levi 7 - Zoraida 6

It was a good game and we both enjoyed it a lot. Rider crew really fun to run although still I believe it is not very competitive crew.

TBC on part 2...

Game report 06.08.16 50SS Leveticus vs Hoffman

Game report - 06.08.2016

Riders are back again...

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Hoffman (Gavin)

Deployment: Corner Deployment
Strategy: Headhunter
Schemes: Convict Labour, Show of Force, Leave Your Mark, Undercover Entourage, Set Up

Gavin brought:
Hoffman (7SS pool) - Field Mechanic, On Site Assimilation, Remote Mines
Mechanical Attendant
Peacekeeper - Plant Evidence
Ryle - Vengeance Bullet
Samael Hopkins - Witch Hunt
Watcher

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)
Pale Rider
(scheme runner; Waif anchor)
Mechanical Rider
(summoner and scheme runner)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Gavin picked Show of Force and Set Up (Pale Rider)
I took Leave Your Mark and Set Up (Ryle)

Plan for a game was this:
- Play (rather) defensively for first two turns
- Pale Rider plus anything summoned by Mech Rider should pursue Leave Your Mark scheme
- Dead Rider should pick enemy model and push it along with him closer to my crew so I could kill it and grab the head marker.
- If possible remove Peacekeeper as soon as possible because I was expecting Hoffman to Machine Puppet him a lot and he would put huge amount of damage on my guys.
- The most important point - have fun with Rider list ;)

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

Turn 1
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Emissary (represented this time by Hunter ;)) gave Regeneration Trinket to Pale Rider, pushed with (0) action and summoned Hooded Rider.
- Pale Rider double walked along my left flank, Hooded Rider hid behind the forest, Dead and Mech Riders hid behind another forest on my right flank
- Hoffman gave Targeting Systems to Peacekeeper and Patchwork Plating to Ryle. He also looped in Ryle and Peacekeeper. Peacekeeper advanced towards middle of the table, when Samael and Ryle were flanking me on their left. Hoffman used Ryle as the the taxi.
- Levi double walked and shot at Peacekeeper in the soft cover hitting him for 4 damage.

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Hoffman 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Despite my below average hand I decided to go after Peacekeeper. Levi burnt Oathkeeper and attacked 3 times him (Focus+Attack twice and attack with burning SS to negate cover once) but couldn't finish him. Hoffman healed Peacekeeper a bit and gave him Fast. I decided to gamble and I charged Peacekeeper with Dead Rider. First hit went through and I dropped him to the last wound dragging him with me towards my models. Second attack sadly missed... Peacekeeper flurried at Dead Rider killing him in process (Red Joker on damage during first attack) then decided to shot at Waif. And that was his undoing as I flipped high Tome and not only this deflected the shot but also triggered Unmade and Peacekeeper suffered final wound! :))
- Mech Rider took an opportunity and pushed summoning Metal Gamin (proxied as Necropunk as seen on photos), then walked and picked the head from Dead Rider.
- Ryle shot at Mech Rider but I was able to flip Tomes on defense flips so Mech Rider suffered only 2 wounds in total.
- Watcher flew over the building and was quickly engaged by the Pale Rider who also dropped scheme marker near Watcher.
- Hooded Rider jumped into the wood and took defensive stance.
- Samael double walked into the forest to be within 6'' of table centre.
- Metal Gamin used Magnetism on Attendant wounding it for 2 damage.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Headhunter
Hoffman: +1VP Show of Force

Score after turn 2: Levi 1 - Hoffman 1

Turn 3
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Pale Rider killed Watcher and pushed dropping another scheme marker behind the building and picked the head from Watcher.
- Samael put Burning +4 on Hooded and Mech Rider.
- Ryle shot Waif but hit only once for 2 damage.
- Levi shot at Hoffman wounding him.
- Hoffman walked once, used Machine Puppet on Ryle who missed Mech Rider with shooting and then used O.S.A on Mech Rider to make him attack Hooded Rider but this attack missed the target.
- Hooded Rider charged Hoffman tearing him to pieces (Red Joker on damage).
- Mech Rider summoned another Metal Gamin and removed Burning +2 from himself
- Metal Gamin used Magnetism on Attendant killing him.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Headhunter; +1VP Leave Your Mark
Hoffman: +1VP Show of Force

Score after turn 3: Levi 3 - Hoffman 2

Turn 4
Initiative: Hoffman

Key actions/moments:

- Ryle charged Mech Rider but thanks to the built in 3 Tomes and flipped/cheated fourth one Mech Rider survived the attack.
- Hooded Rider attacked Samael twice but missed.
- Samael put Burning +4 on Hooded Rider but failed to do it twice.
- Mech Rider hit Ryle dropping two scheme markers next to Ryle and then pushed away summoning third Metal Gamin. Levi walked once, dropped third scheme marker 4'' away from Ryle and shot at Samael in soft cover (with Focus of course) but missed.
- Pale Rider walked and dropped scheme marker.
- One Metal Gamin walked to Ryle and other used Magnetism on him.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Headhunter, +1VP Leave Your Mark, +3VP Set Up
Hoffman: +1VP Show of Force

Score after turn 4: Levi 8 - Hoffman 3

Turn 5
Initiative: Hoffman

Key actions/moments:

- Samael tried to put Burning on Hooded Rider put failed. Ryle killed Metal Gamin. Then both of them died after the hail of blows from different sources (Levi + Metal Gamins killed Ryle and Pale plus Hooded Rider killed Samael). I picked one of the head markers with Mech Rider.
- Game ended here.

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

Final Score: Levi 10 - Hoffman 3

Second game with Rider list and I definitely felt more comfortable using it..
Each Rider was fulfilling his role very good (maybe except Dead Rider who was sadly traded for Peacekeeper) and it would be really hard to me to decide which one is the best ;)
I need to think about upgrades on Levi next time. Maybe I'll bring To Earth Return again. Desolate Soul with such low SS pool (3) is not the best option I think. Oathkeeper is always welcome of course.

Till next time!

Game report 21.07.16 50SS Leveticus vs Hoffman

Game report - 21.07.2016

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Hoffman (Gavin)

Deployment: Flank Deployment
Strategy: Extraction
Schemes: Convict Labour, Show of Force, Leave Your Mark, Covert Breakthrough, A Quick Murder

Gavin brought:
Hoffman (3SS pool) - Field Mechanic, On Site Assimilation, Remote Mines
Mechanical Attendant
Peacekeeper
Guardian
2x Hunter
Pistolero De Latigo
Watcher

I took:
Leveticus (5SS pool) - Pariah of Iron, To The Earth Return 
(ex-ultimate killing machine)
Joss - Oathkeeper
(tanky model; Waif anchor)
Ryle
(second tanky model in the list; Waif anchor)
Hooded Rider
(flanker and heavy hitter; Waif anchor)
Flesh Construct
(backup scheme-runner; Waif anchor)
Necropunk
(scheme runner)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Gavin picked: Leave Your Mark and Covert Breakthrough
I took: Leave Your Mark and A Quick Murder (Peacekeeper)

Game strategy:
- Secure Extraction with Joss and Ryle spending soulstones for damage prevention if necessary. Flesh Construct to support Henchmen if necessary.
- Hooded Rider to flank and kill enemy scheme runner(s) and later in the game to secure Extraction points if needed.
- Necropunk to run Leave Your Mark scheme, supported by Flesh Construct if necessary.
- Levi.... hmmm... to kill as much as possible?.. ;)

This game was a baptize of fire for Hooded Rider. Also it was second game I used Ryle. I was really eager to see their performance.
Also it was third time Gavin played Hoffman.

Deployment flip won Hoffman and forced Levi t deploy first.

Turn 1

Initiative: Hoffman

Key moments/actions:

- General note: my control hand was crap (highest single 10, single 7 and rest 5 and below including Black Joker)
- Hoffman granted Watcher Hydraulics modification (Nimble) and Peacekeeper with Targeting Systems modification (auto-Rams during one activation for all MI and Sh actions). He also looped some of his models. Then Watcher used his Sky-Eye action on my Waif and walked 2 times dragging with him Hoffman behind the building.
- One of the Hunters dragged my 'exposed' Waif into open and tore her to pieces... Nice start of the game... Rest of his crew pushed towards middle except Guardian who tried to flank me.
- I moved Joss and Ryle behind the low wall (hard cover). Hooded Rider moved closer to Hoffman and Watcher but stayed out of LOS. As Gavin used all his control hand Flesh Construct did benefit from Reactivate and run all the way along the flank to do get Leave Your Mark next turn. Necropunk re positioned himself to the centre of the table (behind LOS blocking woods) to avoid Hoffman, Watcher and Guardian. Levi focused and shot at Peacekeeper in the hard cover but flipped weak damage on single negative flip. If he flipped moderate/severe I could declare To The Earth Return trigger. Then he shot twice at Hunter who killed Waif and reduced him to 2 wounds left,

Upkeep phase:

No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Hoffman 0

Turn 2

Initiative: Levi

Key moments/actions:

- Control hand this turn was good. I had Red Joker, 12 and few moderate cards (9 and lower).
- Levi finished off Hunter and hurt Peacekeeper, not as much as I hoped to but he gave him Slow.
- Gavin put enormous pressure on another Waif so I had to use my high cards to save her.
- Ryle charged Hunter but my flips were terrible and Gavin flipped/cheated higher than me so Ryle missed everything. Then Guardian charged Ryle and hurt him slightly. Joss couldn't stand this beating of his buddy so he burnt Oathkeeper, moved and charged Guardian but hit only once. Seeing this things Hooded Rider rolled over his eyes in disbelief and killed Guardian with a single swing of his sword during the charge.
- Watcher dragged Hoffman along the back of the table so I decided to tarpit Hoffman with Necropunk and I charged nearby Watcher (1 damage inflicted). I knew this was a suicidal mission but I suspected Gavin trying to drop so scheme markers and at least it would delay him with this task. As predicted Necropunk died of Hoffman torch but it Hoffman's took two actions to kill him and third action he spent at the start of his activation to borrow Necropunks leap but failed.
- Flesh Construct got Reactivate this turn again so he easily dropped scheme marker for Leave Your Mark.
- We both score Extraction by having 3 models each within the marker.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Extraction, +1VP Leave Your Mark
Hoffman: +1VP Extraction

Score after turn 2: Levi 2 - Hoffman 1

Turn 3

Initiative: Hoffman

Key moments/actions:

- Control hand was terrible again despite using stone for cards...
- Rider pushed and killed Watcher tar-pitting Hoffman.
- Levi killed Pistolero and crippled heavily Hunter who was later finished off by Joss.
- Peacekeeper tried to shoot Levi but missed.
- Ryle walked, pushed closer to Peacekeeper but missed.
- Hoffman couldn't disengage from Rider so he walked once and hit him (1 damage thanks to damage reduction on Rider).
- Flesh Construct secured another point for Leave Your Mark.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Extraction, +1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 3: Levi 4 - Hoffman 1

Turn 4

Initiative: Hoffman

Key moments/actions:

- Please don't mention my control hand...
- Peacekeeper flurried, hit Ryle with Ram and flipped Red Joker on damage... Ryle was gone...
- Levi killed Attendant and hit Peacekeeper for 2 damage. Joss charged Peacekeeper but hit only once dropping him to last wound.
- Rider couldn't hit Hoffman and Hoffman couldn't disengage again and hit Rider once.
- Flesh Construct secured final point for Leave Your Mark.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Extraction, +1VP Leave Your Mark

Score after turn 4: Levi 6 - Hoffman 1

Turn 5

Initiative: Hoffman

Key moments/actions:

- Have I asked you not to mention my hand before... ;)
- Peacekeeper flurried at Joss. Then I witnessed deja vu as he did exactly same thing like with Ryle - first hit went through and flipped Red Joker on damage. Second hit finished Joss...
- Levi finally killed Peacekeeper.
- Flesh Construct walked towards the Extraction marker.
- Rider and Hoffman traded some blows but with moderate effect.
- Game ended this turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Extraction, +2VP A Quick Murder

Final score: Levi 9 - Hoffman 1

Few comments after the game:
- Focus+attack on Levi is a must now. I think I only flipped moderate damage once during this game and the rest thanks to negative flips were weak damages. And if you plan to use To The Earth Return be ready to use Focus+Focus+attack if something is in heavy cover.
- Hooded Rider... I love this guy already. Mobility and damage output is awesome. And I even didn't use his marker removal trigger yet! Awesome model.
- Ryle - thanks to my miserable cards and flips during the game he couldn't do much but I feel the power in this model.

And now the best stuff - my hand on turn 5 before I spent last stone for cards (I drew 4 and 5...):

Sweet wasn't it?

Till next time!