Game report 11.01.17 50SS Leveticus vs Jakob Lynch

Game report - 11.01.2017

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Jakob Lynch (Gavin)

Deployment: Flank Deployment
Strategy: Interference
Schemes: Claim Jump, Accusation!, Eliminate the Leadership, Frame For Murder, Show of Force

Gavin brought:
Jakob Lynch (1SS pool) - Endless Hunger, Wanna See A Trick
Hungering Darkness - Addict
Mr Graves - Retribution Eye
Mr Tannen
2x Illuminated
Beckoner
Mysterious Emissary - Conflux of Hunger

I took:
Levi (5SS pool) - Pariah of Iron, Survivalist
(killing machine or at least believed widely to be still this kind of monster and Abomination summoner with the melee attack only)
Rogue Necromancy
(beat-stick, Waif anchor)
Johana
(beat-stick, condition removal, Waif anchor)
Mechanical Rider
(summoner, Waif anchor)
Freikorps Librarian
(healing support, Waif anchor)
Terracotta Warrior
('damage prevention' support)
Brutal Effigy
('healing support for Levi)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Gavin picked Show of Force and Frame For Murder (Mr Tannen)
I picked Eliminate the Leadership and Frame for Murder (Terracotta Warrior)

That was my first time when I used Rogue Necromancy and I was expecting it performing good especially when backed by Terracotta's Warrior protection.
Also it was my third game with Levi when Eliminate the Leadership/Neutralize the Leader was in the pool and I wanted to check how he is going to work when I won't play him as usual. Because of that I decided to bring to his crew Brutal Effigy, Librarian and put Survivalist on Levi himself.

Gavin used heavily theme crew with Mysterious Emissary as the backup. He gambled a lot with 1SS in the pool however with the amount of pushes (Graves, Emissary) and Lure he had superior mobility and Lynch can easily get 3 extra cards if he needs to. Also I was aware that his crew has really strong punch and if my model will get lured and tagged with Brilliance it is as good as dead so I decided to play defensively and eliminate enemy models one by one rather than get into massive brawl.

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

Turn 1
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- I moved my models rather conservatively. Mech Rider, Librarian, Brutal Effigy and one Waif moved along my left flank. Levi, Johana, Necromancy, Warrior and second Waif moved closer to the centre of the table but kept save distance from enemy models and stayed away more than 6'' from centre of the table.
- Warrior gave 'protection' to Johana and Necromancy and swapped Pariah of Iron for Survivalist.
- Gavin pushed his crew towards centre of the table ready to spread them out on turn 2. Only Beckoner moved along his left flank and lured one Illuminated who run far along this flank hiding behind the shed. Emissary also successfully summoned one Changeling.
- What I noticed was that Tannen was suspiciously moved forward so I assumed he is the one with Frame for Murder and I developed cunning plan - move my Levi twice and shot him hoping for weak damage flip. Then I would try to hit Tannen with Necromancy's range attack which damage I would cheat for weak bringing Tannen to last wound with Poison +1 and thanks to that I would avoid giving away a possible points for Frame for Murder. So Levi moved twice and attacked Tannen but I flipped severe damage. Oh well ;)

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Jakob Lynch 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Jakob Lynch

Key actions/moments:

- I noticed was that Gavin got two Aces during this turn and he didn't discard anything at the start of the turn so I expected him to have quite good hand with at least two Aces which he can use to inflict a huge pain to my Levi at the end of Jakob's turn. And I wasn't surprised that he pushed Lynch with Graves a bit closer to Levi.
- Necromancy snatched opportunity and fired at Graves wounding it with blast which clipped Jakob. Gavin used his one stone to prevent one damage.
- Emissary pushed Lynch closer to Levi so I faced a choice - either gamble and try to kill Jakob who was in soft cover (remainder - if I cheat attack against him I would suffer two damage each time I do it...) or attack Graves and run away. I decided to push my luck so I activated Brutal Effigy, gave Levi Fear Not The Sword condition, then I chain activate Levi burning the Oathkeeper at the start of his activation and started pounding Jakob. Levi had to use all his APs burning stones to negate soft cover but the end of his activation Lynch was dead and Levi was on 3 wounds (I had to cheat attack once but healing from Fear Not Sword was very helpful). Yay! Minus of this situation was that Levi was exposed to attacks but at least I scored 3VPs for Eliminate the Leadership.
- To my surprise Gavin didn't jump on Levi with the rest of his crew. He lured Necromancy once and shot it with Illuminated which inflicted 4 damage. I used Warrior's protection to prevent this damage which put huuuge target on Warrior from now on (which I really wanted to happen). Second Illuminated failed a Horror Duel when declared charge against Necromancy.
- I spread my crew making sure I get point for Strategy. Gavin did same thing plus he moved Mr Tannen closer to my crew just enough to clip Levi and some of my other models with Tannen's Cooler aura.
- At the end of the turn Gavin declared Show of Force which confused me a bit as I wasn't sure if he has Eliminate the Leadership and he was bluffing with not attacking Levi this turn or he has Frame for Murder on Tannen. Also at the end of the turn Gavin showed me that he had 4 Aces on the hand and said if I didn't kill Jakob he would inflict some serious pain on Levi or Necromancy (probably the latter). I was lucky anyway ;)

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Interference, 3VP Eliminate the Leadership
Jakob Lynch: 1VP Interference, 1VP Show of Force

Score after turn 2: Levi 4 - Jakob Lynch 2


Turn 3
Initiative: Jakob Lynch

Key actions/moments:

- I put protection on Necromancy again and moved Warrior close to engage Huggy. Also I pretend I check if Warrior has LOS to Johana and Rogue Necromancy. Gavin took a bait and killed Warrior with Huggy giving me 3VP for Frame for Murder.
- Necromancy torn one Illuminated to pieces. Beckoner put Brilliance on the Necromancy, but Johana removed it as I expected second Illuminated to charge the beast. Indeed Illuminated charged it but failed to inflict any substantial damage. Librarian healed Necromancy anyway.
- Mech Rider started summoning Arachnids and I was confident in keeping my left flank for the rest of the game.
- At the end of the turn I decided to have fun and walked once and then fired at Illuminated who was in melee with Necromancy. First randomized hit Necromancy so I declared trigger to take a free swing with beast at Illuminated hurting it a lot. Second shot went into Illuminated himself which allowed me to declare Smell Fear with Necromancy. This would kill Illuminated but I flipped Black Joker on attack.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Interference, 3VP Frame for Murder
Jakob Lynch: 1VP Interference, 1VP Show of Force

Score after turn 3: Levi 8 - Jakob Lynch 4

Turn 4
Initiative: Jakob Lynch

Key actions/moments:

- Huggy tried to inflict the pain on Mech Rider but thanks to damage reduction I avoided loosing it. Anyway, just for protection measure I retreated Rider closer to Librarian who healed her a bit.
- Necromancy killed Illuminated. Levi killed Tannen (he was too annoying) and then I jumped on Graves with Levi and Johana killing him. This move allowed me also to negate Gavin point for Strategy this turn despite the fact that second Changeling was summoned by Emissary and supported Beckoner on this quarter.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Interference
Jakob Lynch: 1VP Interference, 2VP Frame for Murder

Score after turn 4: Levi 9 - Jakob Lynch 7


Turn 5
Initiative: Jakob Lynch

Key actions/moments:

- Levi killed Beckoner with charge and then shot dead Changeling. Gavin moved Huggy closer to centre of the table and we agreed to call this game here.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Interference
Jakob Lynch: 1VP Show of Force

Final score: Levi 10 - Jakob Lynch 8

Few comments after game:

- Playing Levi with Eliminate the Leadership is big gamble. He works ok with Survivalist and healing support from Brutal Effigy and Librarian but he will require 5+ stones just for damage prevention I think. Still I will use him when this scheme is in the pool as it is great challenge and I really like it.
- As predicted Necromancy in absolutely devastating beat-stick. When something is unlucky to be charged by it, then the poor bugger is in big trouble. Also her Ca range attack is really great and can nicely hit models with Df 5 or lower. Backed by Terracotta Warrior it stays longer with 5+ wounds and is really bog threat to opponent.

Till next time!

Game report 05.01.17 50SS Leveticus vs Pandora

Game report - 05.01.2017

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Pandora (Gavin)

Deployment: Standard Deployment
Strategy: Guard the Stash
Schemes: Claim Jump, Accusation!, Dig Their Graves, Recover Evidence, Undercover Entourage

Gavin brought:
Pandora (4SS pool) - The Box Opens, The Fugue State
Widow Weaver - Handbag
Candy - Fears Given Form
Mysterious Emissary - Conflux of Sorrow
2x Sorrow
Poltrgeist

I took:
Levi (4SS 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
(tanker for strategy, Waif anchor)
Strongarm Suit
(second tanker for strategy, Waif anchor)
Johana
(beat-stick, condition removal, Waif anchor)
Hodgepodge Emissary
(scheme runner, Waif anchor)
2x Necropunk
(scheme runners)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Gavin picked Claim Jump and Accusation!
I picked Claim Jump and Undercover Entourage (Levi)

It was our first game with Gaining Grounds 2017 schemes plus it was my first game against Pandora so I was expecting this to be fun.

For this game I decided to test Hodgepodge Emissary in Levi's crew. In theory with GG2017 he should be quite viable option since he can push and drop scheme marker and his Destined based action is about dropping more scheme markers so I thought to give him a shot.

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

Turn 1
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- First turn was as always about movement. Gavin pushed his crew aggressively towards centre line. Widow Weaver started to drop Web markers and Mysterious Emissary summoned Changeling.
I took more defensive stance keeping my models about half way from the Stash markers except Necropunks who moved full speed plus leaped to drop scheme markers for Claim Jump as far as possible on both flanks.
- My hand was really poor this turn. The best measure of this is that Emissary failed to give trinkets to Joss and Johana - I didn't flip 7+ and I had no cards to even cheat it...
- Levi took an opportunity (and gamble) and he walked twice to attack once Sorrow who exposed himself to far for his own good. I was lucky to hit it and I flipped severe on the damage. I didn't expect that to be honest.

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Pandora 0


Turn 2
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Levi took a Focus action to fire at second Sorrow in hard cover. Unfortunately my damage flip was weak only so I had to cheat the damage with my only severe card on my hand just to kill it. Then Levi missed a shot when he tried to hurt Changeling sitting near Stash marker.
- Dora killed Waif and did engage Necropunk.
- Mysterious Emissary created nasty hazardous marker on my side of the Stash marker and tried tarpit second Necropunk but I was able to leap with him and drop much needed scheme marker.
- Second web marker appeared near the Stash marker (the one which was close to the hazardous marker) and now it was quite tricky to position my models in this area so they wouldn't get hurt from the hazardous terrain and be affected by the Wp debuff from web markers.
- Joss took the risk to walk towards this marker and I had to cheat his Wk duel to avoid any damage from Hazardous terrain.
- Johana charged Poltergeist but was able to hit him only once.
- Strongarm secured me second Stash marker and Necropunk who was engaged by Dora leaped and dropped another scheme marker.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Guard the Stash, 1VP Claim Jump
Pandora: 1VP Guard the Stash

Score after turn 2: Levi 2 - Pandora 1

Turn 3
Initiative: Pandora

Key actions/moments:

- Pandora charged and killed Necropunk. Then she dropped scheme marker.
- Johana killed Poltergeist.
- Widow Weaver hit Joss and Paralyzed him. Then he dropped scheme marker.
- Strongarm attacked Candy. First attack went through and I flipped Red Joker on damage. Gavin prevented one damage. Second attacked sadly missed. Levi then followed up and killed Candy. Then he dropped scheme marker.
- Hodgepodge Emissary failed to punish Mysterious Emissary.
- Changeling tagged Joss with Accusation!
- My second Necropunk leaped and dropped scheme marker.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Guard the Stash, 1VP Claim Jump
Pandora: 1VP Claim Jump, 1VP Accusation!

Score after turn 3: Levi 4 - Pandora 3

Turn 4
Initiative: Pandora

Key actions/moments:

- Joss was Paralyzed again by Widow Weaver (-3Wp from Web markers plus poor hand again because why not?)
- Levi attacked Mysterious Emissary but couldn't kill him. Then Hodgepodge Emissary followed up and killed him but he needed both actions to do that.
- Changeling tagged Joss again with Accusation!
- Johana and Necropunk dropped scheme markers.
- Dora and Weaver dropped scheme markers.
- Strongarm failed Horror Duel against Dora and did nothing.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Guard the Stash, 1VP Claim Jump
Pandora: 1VP Guard Stash, 1VP Claim Jump, 1VP Accusation!

Score after turn 4: Levi 6 - Pandora 6

Turn 5
Initiative: Pandora

Key actions/moments:

- Joss got Paralyzed yet again...
- Emissary tried to attack Changeling but failed (don't ask about my cards again please...).
- Changeling Blinked to Johana and gave her Accusation. Dora did same with Strongarm and she also killed second Waif.
- Johana needed tow attacks to kill Changeling.
- Strongarm did nothing as he failed Horror Duel again.
- Necropunk leaped and positioned himself to be sacrificed by Levi which would secure me points for Entourage. Levi had to to walk once close to the Hazardous marker. As I had really poor hand and couldn't pass Wk duel and Gavin flipped for hazardous terrain damage... severe!... Bollocks! Levi got 5 wounds (and I had no stones to prevent anything) so when he jumped into base contact with Necropunk he was below half of his wounds and not within enemy deployment zone. This costed me a win in this game as I was able to score only 1VP for Entourage instead of planned 2... Bad things happens in Malifaux...

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Guard the Stash, 1VP Undercover Entourage
Pandora: 1VP Guard Stash, 1VP Accusation!

Final score: Levi 8 - Pandora 8

Few comments after game:

- It was really good game. Loads of Wp duels is absolutely a nightmare especially when your control hand is below average all the time and you are at the mercy of the lucky flips. Also the last flip for hazardous damage broke my heart ;)
- Hodgepodge Emissary... Hmmm... Definitely I didn't use his all potential during this game but I think he can be quite interesting addition to Levi's crew however he occupies this 10SS spot and there is really heavy competition at the moment.

Till next time!

Game report 15.12.16 50SS Leveticus vs Lilith

Game report - 15.12.2016

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Lilith (Gavin)

Deployment: Standard Deployment
Strategy: Extraction
Schemes: Convict Labour, Take Prisoner, Exhaust Their Forces, Public Demonstration, Set Up

Gavin brought:
Lilith (4SS pool) - Beckon Malifaux, Wicked Mistress, Summon the Blood
Nekima - Rapid Growth
Doppelganger
2x Young Nephilim
Beckoner
Terror Tot
Cherub

I took:
Levi (5SS 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)
Mech Rider
(summoner, scheme runner, Waif anchor)
Rusty Alyce - From Aether
(shooting support, summoner, Waif anchor)
Johana
(beat-stick, condition removal, Waif anchor)
Terracotta Warrior
(life insurance for Johana and Mech Rider, scheme runner)
2x Necropunk
(scheme runners)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Gavin picked Public Demonstration (2x Young Nephilim and Tot) and Set Up (Mech Rider)
I picked Exhaust Their Forces and Take Prisoner (Beckoner)

The idea for the game was to summon Abominations with Rusty and Steam Arachnids with Mech Rider and push newly summoned models with 6'' of Extraction marker (together with summoners and Johana). Warrior would stay in the back and keep an eye on my Enforcers. Levi would try to harass Lilith and her crew as much as possible and Necropunks would leap and tag opponent for Exhaust.

Lilith is not great match up for Levi (and generally she is one of the strongest masters in the game thanks to her excellent abilities and actions) and I knew that my Waifs would be in grave danger pretty soon.

Deployment: Levi deployed first (at the left side on the of the photo below):

Turn 1
Initiative: Lilith

Key actions/moments:

- Gavin pushed aggressively and soon all Liliths crew was pretty close to the centreline of the table.
- I tried to play defensively but Lilith used her tricks and was able to use Wicked Vines on one of my models and then push her which effectively killed Waif. At this moment my blood lust kicked off and I decided to gamble heavily. Levi burnt Oathkeeper (Warrior swapped his Pariah of Iron for Oathkeeper), sacrificed one Necropunk (I know, I'm crazy...) and charged Lilith. Unfortunately Gavin had on his hand 2x13 and all my attacks missed... Nice...

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Lilith 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Lilith

Key actions/moments:

- Levi surprisingly survived onslaught but he himself was able to hit her only once - I cheated severe damage and Gavin used his last stone to prevent 2 of it. I followed up later with Johana but was able to put Lilith on 2 wounds remaining only as Gavin used his last stone to prevent some damage.
- Second Waif was killed by Nekima so I had to be careful with third Waif. Unfortunately Gavin was able to copy Rusty's gun attack and shot last Waif. Of course he hit and was on single negative damage flip - 2x moderate which means bye bye Levi...
- Rusty tried to hit Lilith but missed (low flip on  my side, high on Gavin's side - because why not...). of course I failed to raise Abomination from scrap marker Rusty dropped previous turn and Mech Rider failed to summon Arachnid... Situation was absolutely desperate by this time.
- Because Gavin had more models within Extraction maker he placed it further away from me at the end of the turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction
Lilith: 1VP Extraction

Score after turn 2: Levi 1 - Lilith 1

Turn 3
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Surprisingly I won initiative as I flipped 12 and Gavin didn't want to cheat it with his highest card on the hand - Red Joker.
- Johana activated first and killed Lilith.
- Nekima took some swings here and there but I was able to either deflect them or reduce damage massively (Mech Rider reduced 3 damage of one attack).
- Necropunk Exhaust Nekima and finally I was able to summon Abomination and Arachnid this turn.
- Gavin dropped scheme markers close to Mech Rider buy luring Doppelganger and then moving her and dropping final marker.
- I thought about killing Tot with Rusty but decided to go after one Young Nephilim. Guess what? I failed :)
- Again Gavin had more models near Extraction and he placed it further away from me.
- After Gavin declared his schemes I considered this game as effectively lost.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction, 1VP Exhaust Their Forces
Lilith: 1VP Extraction, 3VP Set Up, 3VP Public Demonstration

Score after turn 3: Levi 3 - Lilith 8

Turn 4
Initiative: Lilith

- My hand was bad... After stoning with last soulstone for cards I had 9,6 then 4 and lower...
- Nekima killed Necropunk.
- I Exhaust Doppelganger and pushed towards Beckoner with Mech Rider.
- Johana failed to hit Nekima with 3 attacks...
- Tot killed Arachnid and changed into Young Nephilim who tar pit Rusty. Rusty tried to disengage once but failed. At least she summoned another Abomination.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Extraction, 1VP Exhaust Their Forces
Lilith: 1VP Extraction

Score after turn 4: Levi 5 - Lilith 9

Turn 5
Initiative: Levi

- Johana as usual missed 3 attacks on Nekima...
- Rusty tried to disengage twice - another fail.
- I Exhaust Doppelganger but she was lured away and then removed this condition.
- My only chance to draw the game was to successfully push Mech Rider summoning Arachnid which then would engage Beckoner. This would also allow me to Exhaust nearby already activated Young Nephilim with my Mech Rider. Problem was I had no 6 or above in my hand so everything was down to the flip... And for the first time during this game I was lucky with flips as I pulled 9. This way I was able to proceed with my plan and get full points for my both schemes and get a very lucky draw at this game.
- Game ended this turn.

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

Final score: Levi 10 - Lilith 10

Few comments after game:

- MVP for my crew was definitely Mech Rider. She absolutely awesome piece of support and her summoning is crazy good.
- From Aether upgrade - still I think it is not worthy of 2SS. Sure you can get around 2 Abominations during the game if you have spare 10 or you are lucky with the flips but in most cases this card is needed somewhere else. Not really sure if I'm going to use it again in nearest future.
- Terracotta Warrior is quite interesting although very squishy. Swapping upgrades is really handy and his protection condition keeps vital models a bit longer in the game.

Till next time!

Game report 02.12.16 50SS Leveticus vs Dreamer

Game report - 02.12.2016

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Dreamer (Gavin)

Deployment: Flank Deployment
Strategy: Headhunter
Schemes: Convict Labour, Hunting Party, Leave Your Mark, Catch and Release, A Quick Murder

Gavin brought:
Dreamer (7SS pool) - Dreams of Pain, Otherworldly, On Wings of Darkness
Mature Nephilim - Retribution Eye
Doppelganger
Mr Tannen
Insidious Madness
Alp
2x Daydream

I took:
Levi (5SS 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)
Hooded Rider
(beater, Waif anchor)
Valedictorian
(beat-stick, Waif anchor)
Johana
(beat-stick, condition removal, Waif anchor)
Hunter
(scheme runner, Waif anchor)
2x Necropunk
(scheme runners)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Gavin picked Catch and Release and A Quick Murder (Hooded Rider)
I picked Leave Your Mark and A Quick Murder (Mature Nephilim)

I was not sure if I should pick Leave Your Mark or Hunting Party. On the one hand Dreamer can spawn so many models that it would be easy to park one of these 4'' from my scheme marker and deny me VP for Leave Your mark. On the other hand I was worried that I'll have to chase those fast Insidious Madness models all over the place exposing my Henchman/Enforcers for counter-strike. Ultimately I decided to go for Leave Your Mark.

Deployment: Dreamer deployed first (Levi's crew at the bottom of the photo):

Turn 1
Initiative: Dreamer

Key actions/moments:

- Dreamer summoned Teddy (with Tannen's help of course), Lelu and Madness. Seeing two heavy hitters summoned on turn 1 didn't make me too happy to be honest but I decided to go aggressive and moved almost all my crew towards the centre point of the table. Only one Necropunk was moving along my left flank.
- I took a bit of gamble (big bit I would say) and I sacrificed Waif to jump in base contact with her with Levi which allowed me to fire 3 times into Mature Nephilim who was on the far side of the woods but not close enough to get cover. I knew Gavin used his hand heavily for summoning already so I believed this is my chance to start wrecking havoc. All 3 shots went in but first damage flip was a Black Joker... It that didn't happen I would kill Nephilim on turn 1. Now he was on 4 wounds left but thankfully I cheated one attack with high Mask which made him slow. Gavin then decided to move Nephilim close to Levi as he suspected to win initiative on turn 2 rather easily (Doppelganger of course).

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Dreamer 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- To my surprise I won initiative this turn as I flipped 12. To be honest it wouldn't happen if I didn't stone for cards first which got me whooping 1 and 4 ;)
- Levi immediately focused and killed Nephilim with single swing summoning Abomination in process as well.  That gave me juicy 3VP for A Quick Murder and head marker conveniently close to the Necropunk. Then I shot at Doppelganger in soft cover once (with focus) and wounded her for 3.
- Tannen walked close and shut any chances of picking this head marker so I used Hooded Rider to kill him and then got the head marker with Necropunk.
- Gavin pushed towards this big party which was going on in th middle of the table with Teddy, Lelu, Madness, Doppelganger and Dreamer. Unfortunately (for him) he made mistake with Dreamer as he walked once, then Focus and shot at Waif but did 3 damage only. He told me later he should walk once, fire at her and then summon Day Dream which would bring Lord Chompy as he planned before this turn started. Unfortunately (for me) I had no chances to get to Dreamer this turn as Valedictorian was tar-pitted with Madness and I was out of cards and failed to disengaged twice...
- Necropunk on the left flank failed to leap o he had to walk twice and get ready to drop marker next turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Headhunter, 3VP A Quick Murder

Score after turn 2: Levi 4 - Dreamer 0

Turn 3
Initiative: Dreamer

Key actions/moments:

- I stoned for cards this turn again and got... 2 and 3... Wow! ;)
- As I flipped 2 for initiative and Gavin flipped 5 I decided to spent stone on initiative re-flip. Guess what I flipped? 3 of course...
- Dreamer pushed Teddy twice and smacked Johana but one attack was a Black Joker. Then he summoned Madness which brought Lord Chompy.
- Valedictorian killed Teddy.
- Chompy killed Abomination and then hit Hooded Rider with the trigger to kill him unless I discard 2 soulstones or cards. As I had only one card in my hand at this stage I had to spent my last 2 stones to safe my Rider.
- Johana killed Lelu but she had to use both her APs as she missed first hit (Black Joker).
- Hooded Rider killed Doppelganger.
- Levi 'killed' Lord Chompy and Dreamer had to unbury in the worst position ever - between Valedictorian, Hooded Rider and later Levi. Then he focused and killed one Madness sitting in the woods.
- Madness walked between Valedictorian, Rider and Johana and forced me to take Horror Duel on them - only Johana passed it which made me really sad (I had no cards in my hand to cheat my flips).
- Other Madness and my Necropunk picked head markers.
- Second Necropunk dropped marker for Leave Your Mark.

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

Score after turn 3: Levi 6 - Dreamer 1

Turn 4
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Levi smacked Dreamer 3 times but this little bugger passed all hits on nearby Madness. Then Dreamer tagged Rider and Valedictorian for Catch and Release.
- Johana followed up with smacking Dreamer which bruised him heavily this time.
- I picked another head and dropped next scheme marker.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: 1VP Headhunter, 1VP Leave Your Mark
Dreamer: 1VP Catch and Release

Score after turn 4: Levi 8 - Dreamer 2

Turn 5
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- Valedictorian 'switched off' Dreamer's triggers with his (0)AP action and finished small bugger. Then I tried to kill Madness, 2 Alps and Day Dream and only Madness survived this onslaught. I was also able to push Rider and shake off Catch and Release condition from him.
- One Necropunk dropped final scheme marker and Hunter picked head marker.
- Game ended this turn.

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

Final score: Levi 10 - Dreamer 2

Few comments after game:

- I think Gavin's mistake with Dreamer on turn 2 costed him a lot of VPs as Chompy would hurt my Johana a lot and then Dreamer could unbury in safer distance than on turn 3. Also my lucky initiative flip on turn 2 helped me a lot and wrecked Gavin's plans a bit as well.

- Necropunks are worth of gold. Amazing scheme runners.

- Hooded Rider is great too. Push and place my friendly model in base contact with him is awesome. And he hits like a train.

- Valedictorian is pretty interesting too. Mobile, resilient and hard hitting too. Switching enemies triggers is like a cherry on the top of the cake. Really good model.

- I'm also happy with Hunter. His push at the end of the turn helps positioning him. Also his + to attacks against models which hasn't activated yet can be really surprising for the opponent. Finally his Chain Harpoon with auto-Slow effect is really handy. Only downside of this attack is that if he decides use trigger and push enemy model towards him it must be full 8'' but you can't have everything, can you? ;)

Till next time!

Game report 20.10.16 50SS Leveticus vs Dreamer

Game report - 20.10.2016

50SS Leveticus (daniello_s) vs Dreamer (Gavin)

Deployment: Standard Deployment
Strategy: Extraction
Schemes: Convict Labour, Exhaust Their Forces, Take Prisoner, Frame for Murder, Detonate Charges

Gavin brought:
Dreamer (6SS pool) - Dreams of Pain, On Wings of Darkness
Angel Eyes - Strange Alliances
Doppelganger - Mimic's Blessing
Mr Tannen
Beckoner
2x Alp
2x Daydream

I took:
Levi (5SS 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
(beater and strategy 'tanker', Waif anchor)
Rusty Alyce - From Aether
(beat-stick, shooter, Abomination summoner, Waif anchor)
Lazarus
(shooter, strategy 'tanker', Waif anchor)
Watcher
(scheme runner, cover-negating model to set up targets for Rusty and Lazarus)
Necropunk
(scheme runner)
Mobile Toolkit
(support model for Lazarus and Joss)
2x Hollow Waif
(Levi's life insurance)

Gavin picked Exhaust Their Forces and Frame for Murder (Tannen)
I picked Detonate Charges and Take Prisoner (Beckoner)

This game was a grand debut of Watcher and Mobile Toolkit. Watcher is great addition to Levi's crew as he can help Levi and any other good shooters like Rusty, Lazarus, Mad Dog to hit targets lurking behind the cover. Mobile Toolkit brings cheap activation and can buff friendly Constructs which Levi use to bring with himself thanks to Pariah of Iron upgrade.
Also for this game I decided to give another chance to From Aether upgrade to finally decide is it worthy of those 2SS.

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

Turn 1
Initiative: Levi

Key actions/moments:

- We both pushed forward (but not insanely far ;)) towards centre of the table. Dreamer summoned 2x Insidious Madness and Coppelius. As one Madness, Daydream, Coppelius and Tannen were in rather nice tight group I was eyeing to get a possible shot with blast on them with Lazarus next turn. Levi unburied in the forest in the central part of the table so he had good choice what to shoot at next turn.

Upkeep phase:
No VPs scored by either side.

Score after turn 1: Levi 0 - Dreamer 0

Turn 2
Initiative: Dreamer

- Tannen used his action to give Dreamer +2 Masks for any flips. Mobile Toolkit gave Lazarus + on damage flips so Alp tried to tarpit Lazarus. Lazarus burnt Oathkeeper, 2x walked and fired at Daydream hitting it with blast. This killed Daydream and Coppelius, put Madness on last wound and hit Tannen for 2 damage.
Moving Lazarus like that was risky stuff as he was pretty exposed to attacks but I wanted to remove some models from Dreamer's crew (Coppelius mainly).
- Dreamer summoned Teddy (yay!) and Daydream which put him on Waking +4 and brought Lord Chompy near Lazarus.
- Levi successfully randomized between Teddy and Lazarus and killed big huggy boy, then fired at Madness killing it and hurt Tannen.
- Chompy attacked Lazarus but Armour reduced most of the damages, same from attacks from Angel Eyes.
- I used opportunity and Necropunk and Watcher dropped two scheme markers between 2 Alps and Chompy for Detonate Charges.
- Rusty walked once and hit Angel Eyes for 3 damage (1 prevented). She also summoned Abomination from the scrap she summoned on turn 1.
- Joss prepared a charge at Chompy.
- I had more models near Extraction marker so I placed it 3'' towards my deployment area.

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

Score after turn 2: Levi 4 - Dreamer 1

Turn 3
Initiative: Dreamer

- Chompy and Angel Eyes together finished Lazarus.
- Rusty used Rapid Fire at Angel Eyes which forced Gavin to use all his remaining stones for damage prevention. Then Levi killed Angel Eyes and hit Doppelganger.
- Alps were tar-pitting me and brave Mobile Toolkit killed one of them by flipping Red Joker on damage. Unfortunately one Waif died of the Alp which triggered summoning another one...
- Tannen put on Joss -2 Walk/Charge condition so I was able to walk once and fired at Doppelganger hitting her.
- Madness put Exhaust on Watcher.
- Again I had more models near Extraction marker so I placed it 3'' towards my deployment area.

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

Score after turn 3: Levi 5 - Dreamer 3

Turn 4
Initiative: Dreamer

- Chompy tried to wreak a havoc in my crew but I did tarpit him with Abomination on previous turn and all he could do was killing this Abomination.
- Levi took a chance and killed Tannen and Doppelganger.
- Madness put Exhaust on Watcher.
- I tried to kill Madness with Joss to negate Dreamer a point for Extraction but I failed...
- Because we had to finish earlier that day we knew it is the last turn so Necropunk leaped and double walked to Beckoner to give me points for Take Prisoner.
- Game finished on this turn.

Upkeep phase:
Levi: +1VP Extraction, +3VP Take Prisoner
Dreamer: +1VP Extraction, +1VP Exhaust Their Forces, +2VP Frame for Murder

Final Score: Levi 9 - Dreamer 7

Few comments after the game:
- I wasn't able to fully test Watcher at this game. My shooting targets were already in the open so Watcher could engage in scheme running rather than spotting the targets. But I see great potential in this model and will use it extensively in coming games.
- Mobile Toolkit is nice, little addition to my crew and he boosts Lazarus very good. If I have spare 3SS and need another activation Toolkit will be my choice.
- As for From Aether upgrade - I summoned just one Abomination this turn and however I had two scrap markers ready on turn 3 and 4 I had no card to spare for this action (and flips failed). On the one hand this upgrade gives Rusty (0) action which she lacks on her card but on the other hand it is a bit dependable on good flips (especially later in the game when the action gets really hot) as in most of the cases I had a hard decision whether to use the high card to summon Abomination or use it for defend/attack flip and latter was almost always more important. So overally I think this upgrade could cost 1SS instead of 2 and at this case it would be pretty good choice for Rusty but now I think it would be good only fro Show of Force.

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...