Pandora vs. Shenlong - Steampunk Chores

In our first game in Weeks 7 & 8 of the Divergent Paths Event, we played the Child's Encounter - Steampunk Chores. In this Scenario, each Crew would earn VP for delivering at least two Scrap Markers to the Child in the centre of the board each turn. A pile of Scrap to each side of the board on the Centreline provided a source of Scrap Markers.

Scheme Pool: Hunting Party, Catch and Release, Show of Force and Occupy Their Turf

Neverborn:

Pandora with Voices, Aether Connection and Fugue State
Primordial Magic
Spawn Mother
Bad Juju with Eternal Fiend and Malifaux Provides
Doppleganger
Johanna
Will O' The Wisp
Will O' The Wisp

Schemes: Hunting Party, Catch and Release

Ten Thunders:

Shenlong
Sensei Yu
Lone Swordsman
Tengu
Wandering River Monk
Wandering River Monk
Shadow Effigy

Schemes: Convict Labour, Show of Force

Deployment:









Turn 1 saw both crews advance forwards, with a Wandering River Monk going for each pile of scrap, dropping Scheme Markers on the way (for Convict Labour). The Spawn Mother ran forwards and placed an Egg Marker for one of the Wisps to hatch. Pandora managed to Paralyse the Lone Swordsman and give him Mood Swings, a rather rude combo that alongside the Doppleganger almost guaranteed the Neverborn the first two Activations of Turn 2.





The newly summoned Gupps went to contest the right-hand pile of scrap while the Doppleganger moved up to contest the one on the left, although failed to use her mimicked (1) The Wisps' Call to keep the Wandering River Monk in place, and it wandered off with two Scrap Markers.



The Neverborn took the Initiative on Turn 2, charging the Wandering River Monk with the immortal Bad Juju, leaving it on low health and failing to score for Hunting Party. Pandora activated after the Paralysed Lone Swordsman and used two wins with Incite to push herself into Misery range of the Monk, Lone Swordsman and Shenlong. She attempted to Paralyse the Lone Swordsman again, but realised she was engaged with Shenlong, and Paralysed him instead. Not wanting to give up an easy Hunting Party VP, Pandora left the Wandering River Monk on 1 HP after her Inflicts, with her aura from Fugue State covering the Child Marker in case the Monk managed to get close enough to score.



Meanwhile, the Spawn Mother pumped out some more Gupps and killed a Tengu with a charge, scoring for Hunting Party while the little Swampfiends got to work gathering up Scrap. Sensei Yu attempted to heal the Wandering River Monk with Focus +2, but managed to flip nothing higher than a 3 (yet again, the cards really seemed to despise the Ten Thunders...). The Monk made a break for it anyway, but only managed to deliver one of it's two Scrap Markers, with no cards to cheat with after Pandora's Inflict spam.

The Doppleganger took a Scrap and headed for the centre, and Johanna stepped up to contest the Child Marker - which probably should have terrified Shenlong if either of us had realised he was a Tyrant! The Primordial Magic used it's Nullify to make the Lone Swordsman Insignificant, but also to cause damage from Misery.

With nothing contesting the centre, the Lone Swordsman scored for Show of Force.



The Ten Thunders reflipped Initiative for Turn 3 and won, allowing an angry Lone Swordsman to straight up remove Johanna, hitting his trigger that ignores Hard to Kill. Pandora made him suffer with Misery, taking him down with the help of the Primordial Magic, while the Doppleganger borrowed Bad Juju's Attack Action to deal with a Peasant for Hunting Party before continuing towards the centre to score. Bad Juju, given Slow and pushed backwards by Sensei Yu, did all he could - walk forwards.

The Spawn Mother pumped out even more Gupps and together they dominated the right flank.

Again, with no Neverborn contesting the centre, Sensei Yu scored for Show of Force.



Shenlong managed to shut Pandora down on Turn 4 by preventing her from using Soulstones and leaving her unable to deal with the rest of the attacks coming her way. Not before made him hit himself a few times, though!



The Effigy attempted to run away and avoid giving up points for Hunting Party, but Bad Juju cut it off.



The Doppleganger and one of the Gupps managed to deliver enough Scrap and to score and secured the victory for the Neverborn by getting another from Catch and Release on the last turn- it had been a close game, VP wise, up until this point, despite the heavy losses on the Ten Thunders side.

Painting Log - Gupps!

Some tabletop-ready Gupps and their Spawn Mother:



You only get enough Gupps in the Amphibious Assault box to make three bases of three, but some magnets allowed me to stretch that to four when needed! Here they are in their usual gangs of three:

Pandora vs. Ironsides - Day in Court

In my second game as Pandora (the first being against Yan Lo, in which she and her Incorporeal buddies were ripped apart by Ca Attacks), I played the 'Day In Court' Encounter for Divergent Paths, trying to influence the fate of the Self-Righteous Man. In this Scenario, there is a 50mm Judge Marker in the centre of the board. The first crew to take damage from an enemy Attack Action would score 3 VP. Until then, all models had access to two Ca Actions - Litigate, and Approach the Bench. The first Action hands out Fees +1, which causes you to take +1 damage when you damage an enemy, and take 1 damage per Fees if you are within 3" of the Judge at the end of the Turn. The second action forces the enemy to take a walk towards the Judge.

Neverborn:

Pandora with Voices, Fugue State and Aether Connection
Primordial Magic (proxied by an old metal Sorrow)
Iggy with Depression
Doppleganger with Mimic's Blessing
Johanna
Guild Lawyer
Sorrow
Sorrow
Gupps

Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Public Demonstration

Arcanists:

Ironsides with Arcane Reservoir, Iron Determination and Warding Runes
Arcane Emissary with Ironsides' Conflux
Angelica
Amina Naidu with Warding Runes (proxied by a suitable model from the female multipart kit)
Oxfordian Mage with Blood Ward
Oxfordian Mage with Doom Ward
Performer

Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Hunting Party

Deployment:







Turn 1 began with the Lawyer handing out Fees to Angelica and advancing to get into position for Public Demonstration.

Ironsides then activated and revealed her gameplan... "You Lookin' at Me?"! This (1) Action pushes a model it's Cg towards her and forces them to make an attack. Uhoh. The Lawyer was incensed by her taunts, making a move towards her, but managed to cheat high enough to avoid getting close enough to start a fight. At this point, though, it was pretty clear to whom that 3 VP was going to!

While the Neverborn stalled for time by moving the Primordial Magic away behind a building and a Gupps around the other side, Angelica activated and used her Encore to push one of the Mages into range of the Lawyer.



Iggy ran forwards to allow the Sorrow to piggyback along with Misery Loves Company, but not before being pulled a little further by Amina's Summons. Burning wouldn't give the 3 VP away, so he set one of the Mages on fire.



The white-haired Oxfordian Mage discarded a card to take three Ca actions - fees, fees and more fees! The poor Lawyer ended up with Fees +3, meaning he'd be taking 3 damage at the end of the turn.



Pandora tried to make the most of the two Sorrow's Misery auras, but played it safe for now, not causing many Wp duels. The Doppleganger and Johanna both tried to Rebel Yell the Lawyer's Fees away, but just couldn't find the Rams they needed. The second Mage activated and lowered the Burning condition on their friend by 1.



Not seeing any way to escape the inevitable, the Doppleganger didn't cheat the initiative on Turn 2, allowing the Arcanists to go first. Ironsides chose a Sorrow to incite with her "You Lookin' at Me?" and, despite cheating low as much as possible (even with a Black Joker to hit!), the Sorrow gave up the 3 VP, and only for a single damage, too.



Ironsides repositioned to contest the Judge, allowing Pandora to walk forwards and punish her by making her hit herself repeatedly, even flipping a Red Joker for damage. After soulstones, Ironsides was left on 3 wounds - a single failed Wp duel would end her, thanks to the three Misery auras, but the two Sorrows and the Lawyer would score 3 VP at the end of the Turn from her being within 4" of them. Of course, the Lawyer would have to survive a second round of Fees first...!

Iggy survived a barrage from one of the Mages, but came out of it with Slow, meaning all he could do was walk up to Amina and the Mages and use his (0) to give them a Wp debuff. Moving up also meant he could protect the Sorrows with Martyr, which could lead to some VP being saved!

The lefthand Sorrow activated and used his (2) to Paralyse the Arcane Emissary - an action I had underestimated as the Sorrows are so slow and fragile! Angelica used her Encore to reposition the Emissary.



Amina activated and dropped a mountain of paperwork on Iggy, dealing with him and his Martyr aura so that one of the Oxfordian Mages could guarantee a kill on one of the Sorrows - with 1 wound left and a minimum damage of 2, Pandora's Martyr couldn't help the poor Sorrow.

The Doppleganger and Johanna tried again to help the Lawyer out, but with no cards left in hand and miserable luck neither could fish out the Rams they needed. This left the last Sorrow to sway the Judge, luckily not missing the 5 of anything he needed to escape Ironsides.



Meanwhile, away from all this chaos, the Performer tried to take on the Gupps, who left her on 1 wound in return. On the other side of the board, the Primordial Magic made its way forwards some more for Leave Your Mark.

At the end of the Turn, the Lawyer succumbed to his Fees before he could score for Public Demonstration, meaning the Neverborn could only score a single VP from it alongside the 1 VP from having the Judge swayed to their side. The Arcanists had managed to score for Hunting Party, meaning the score was now 4-2 to the Arcanists.



Due to the Neverborn flipping a Black Joker for initiative, Ironsides got to start Turn 3, using her Adrenaline to heal up and hitting Pandora, only for her to slip away with Fading Memories, positioning her where she could engage Ironsides, the Mage, the Emissary and Amina.

Pandora activated after Ironsides, cranking up the Misery, using her (0) Incite to deal damage to Ironsides twice, her Voices upgrade preventing the damage from being reduced. Three uses of (1) Incite was enough to grind Ironsides down, as well as one of the Mages, thanks to the two Misery auras increasing the damage of a failed Incite test to 3!



The Gupps foolishly activated before the Performer, forgetting about Manipulative and failing to do the last bit of damage needed and letting it run off into the Neverborn half of the table.

Angelica activated and used her Encore to move Amina up to the Judge, ready to try and sway him. She then used her Showgirl trickery to teleport a Scheme Marker to the Performer, ready to score Leave Your Mark. The Doppleganger borrowed Johanna's Relic Hammer and wailed on Amina with her (0) Mimic, then engaged her to try and prevent her from swaying the Judge. Unfortunately, her feeble Fists couldn't keep Amina engaged, and she managed to get away and sway the Judge to the Arcanist's side - as well as killing a Sorrow with her (0) thanks to the Sorrow having no cards to discard!

The Emissary tried to blast Pandora, but she Soulstoned the damage away and pushed closer with Fading Memory, engaging Angelica.

The last Mage flurried away at Johanna, leaving her Slow. She moved forwards so that in case of death she could Finish the Job and drop a Scheme Marker for Leave Your Mark.

At the end of the Turn, the Arcanists had scored another VP from Hunting Party as well as one from the Judge and another from Leave Your Mark, while the Neverborn scored 1 VP from Leave Your Mark - the Primordial Magic finally finishing its sneaky run along the back of the large building. The score was 7-3 to the Arcanists.



At the start of Turn 4, Pandora discovered that she could use the 4/4/5 damage track on the Arcane Emissary's Relentless Charge, usually only usable once per turn during a charge, to do some serious damage to it, with Misery finishing it off. She used her (0) Incite to damage the Mage, but not enough. The Mage made the most out of not being dead by flurrying at Johanna, leaving her Burning, Slow and on 1 wound. Johanna activated and performed a drop and roll to stay alive.



The Doppleganger and Amina swapped places again, the Doppleganger having failed to Relic Hammer her to a pulp by a small margin.





The Performer continued scoring for Leave Your Mark and the Doppleganger managed to sway the Judge back, but even with the Gupps running back from the flanks to help the Neverborn couldn't make up the huge gulf in VP, leaving the Arcanists to run away with the victory. At least either way we had contributed to the Self-Righteous Man becoming a Lawyer of some description...!

I really enjoyed this game. Even though it was only my second game with Pandora, and the first went terribly, I felt as if her playstyle clicked. I'll have to try her some more - when I'm not trying to get wins for the Gremlins, that is!

Painting Log - The New Queue!

Featuring the Neverborn...!



Also, I couldn't resist a painting up a Golden Piglet after reading Ulix's story 'The Price of Pork' in Crossroads. I'll have to play the Hog Wrastlin' Story Encounter at some point...!

Reinforcements: Hang on, that's no Gremlin...

A sneak preview...!

Wong vs. Shenlong - Rampage

In the second of this fortnight's Divergent Paths Encounters, Wong faced off against Shenlong. The Encounter was Rampage - the Self-Righteous Man, changed by his passage through The Breach, undergoes a horrific change into a Werewolf, and the Ten Thunders and Gremlins both have plans to try and contain him. A Werewolf Marker starts in the centre of the board, attacking anyone who comes close for 2/4/6 damage and moving into base contact. Players score 1 VP for each Scheme Marker within 3" of the Werewolf at the end of each Turn, and then the Scheme Markers are removed.

Gremlins:

Wong with A Gremlin's Luck, Do Over and Dirty Cheater
Trixiebelle with A Gun For A Lady
Sammy LaCroix with Oooh, Glowy
McTavish (Glowy)
Merris LaCroix
Rooster Rider
Lightning Bug
Stuffed Piglet

Schemes: Plant Evidence, Entourage (Trixiebelle)

Ten Thunders:

Shenlong
Peasant
Sensei Yu
Ama No Zako
Katanaka Sniper
High River Monk
Tengu
Tengu

Schemes: Bodyguard, Line in the Sand

Deployment:



Forgot to take a picture before the Katanaka Sniper, Rooster Rider and Ama No Zako had activated...



The Katanaka sniper began the game by taking a shot at the Rooster Rider and doing severe damage. The Rider flew forwards and planted a Scheme Marker near the Werewolf, taking cover behind the clocktower. Unfortunately Ama No Zako, unhindered by the severe terrain of the forest and tore the Rider to shreds.



The Tengu and the rest of the Ten Thunders got to work placing Scheme Markers, enraging the Werewolf in the process but luring it in for scoring on Turn 2. Sammy prepared to jump out and Jynx Ama No Zako, while Merris and Trixie dropped Scheme Markers to fuel Wong's fireworks and McTavish blew the injured Tengu away.



At the end of the Turn, Wong placed a scheme marker next to the Werewolf - they wouldn't score this turn, but they'd come in handy later.



McTavish started Turn 2 by jumping out of cover and laying down a Hunting Screen for Wong, who was foolishly in the open. The Katanaka Sniper took the shot anyway, but the sight of a pet Gator put them off!



Sammy ran forwards and tried to Jynx Ama No Zako but failed terribly and had to be 'Lured' away from danger by Trixie.



While Shenlong and the Peasants were busy sweeping, the Stuffed Piglet ran forwards to block a charge lane and annoy the Sensei.



Sensei Yu, undetterred, killed the Stuffed Piglet anyway and wondered off to try and secure Line in the Sand. The death of the Stuffed Piglet allowed the High River Monk to charge Wong, but not before Wong activated himself - running forwards and using his (0) BOOM! to blow up three of the Ten Thunders' Scheme Markers.

Meanwhile, Ama No Zako and the Tengu placed more Scheme Markers for Line in the Sand, and the Lightning Bug and Merris ran in to move the Werewolf and place Scheme Markers to score from the Scenario.



Turn Three started with McTavish spending the entirety of a godly Hand to blow Ama No Zako away, making good use of his (0) and a discarded Rams to take a third shot.



Shenlong, rightly furious, took his anger out on Merris and the Lightning Bug, but not before Merris set a Scheme-running Tengu on fire with one of her molotovs. Trixie got herself into position to start running forwards for Entourage, while Wong used his Poof! trigger to escape combat with the High River Monk, using a Soulstone for a positive flip on his attempt to cast BOOM! only to flip a Black Joker on the positive flip. Oops. If that wasn't bad enough for Wong, the Monk and a Peasant then trapped him in place and set him on fire.



Shenlong began Turn Four by charging the trapped and unable-to-squeal Wong, who somehow managed to survive with Soulstones and Dirty Cheater and Poof! away again, discarding a card to gain Defensive +1 just in case.



Sensei Yu used his push to send the High River Monk after Wong, but McTavish gunned him down before he could get to him. Sammy got to work removing Scheme Markers, turning one into a Stuffed Piglet, while Trixie stole Sensei Yu's Scheme Marker with her (0) Presents? For Me?!



Trixie tried to run into the Ten Thunders Deployment Area, but was stopped by Shenlong and the Sniper, who also took out Wong at last. Sammy continued turning Scheme Markers into Stuffed Piglets while Sensei Yu tried to repair their Line in the Sand.



Finally, Sammy broke cover to plant a Scheme Marker for Plant Explosives, her Stuffed Piglets distracting the Ten Thunders.

At the end of the game, the Gremlins had racked up enough VP from the Werewolf to take the victory!

Ulix vs. Sandeep - Gathering Scraps

It's the second fortnight of the Divergent Paths Global Event, and we started with the Inquisitive Child's Encounter - Gathering Scraps. In this Scenario, the players are attempting to gather scraps of fabric to assist the Inquisitive Child in repairing and upgrading her newly acquired Teddy. The two forces start with three Fabric Markers carried by their Master and their two most expensive models. Each player would score 1 VP at the end of the game for each Fabric Marker they control.

Gremlins:

Ulix with Husbandry, Dirty Cheater and Hunting Bow
Penelope
Old Major with Corn Husks
Gracie
The Sow
Slop Hauler
Merris LaCroix

Schemes: Power Ritual, Cursed Object

Arcanists:

Sandeep
Joss
Mechanical Rider
Luther (Blessed of December)
Performer
Ice Dancer

Schemes: Power Ritual, Breakthrough

Deployment:









Ulix, drawing a strong hand, started off by summoning a War Pig (with the help of Merris and Gracie) and two Piglets.



The Arcanists advanced cautiously, with The Sow threatening the corner - prepared for the Ice Dancer, as the Arcanists had revealed Power Ritual. Sandeep summoned a Poison Gamin, attaching the upgrade which makes it unable to attack but granting it an aura which gives nearby allies positive flips to theirs.



The Mechanical Rider's summoned Wind Gamin prepared to intercept Merris, only to receive a Pig Charge from an angry Piglet. Flipping a Rams, the Piglet stampeded into Joss.. only to quickly become bacon.



Meanwhile, Luther swiftly dealt with The Sow, freeing up the corner of the board for the Ice Dancer - besides the two one-health Piglets, that is.



Sandeep managed to summon Banasuva, but one of the War Pigs (yes, Ulix managed to summon another!) met it with a charge, encouraged by Old Major, flipping a Red Joker for damage. Ouch!





The War Pig went on a rampage with its second AP, taking out a Gamin and doing some severe damage to Joss.





Some positioning with Old Major and an arrow in the rear from Ulix sent Gracie in to finish the job, but she failed to end Joss and his 'ignore everything' axe Corpse Marker-ed her before she could activate (and reactivate). That gamble definitely did not pay off!

Gracie also dropped her Fabric Marker, which Sandeep managed to run away with.



The furious War Pig tried once more to kill the invincible Joss, but soulstones kept him around. Easily distracted, the War Pig stampeded into Sandeep.

Meanwhile, Merris and the Performer fought over a corner for Power Ritual.





Old Major tried to do what the other Pigs couldn't, but was just out of charge range. The Ice Dancer and Luther got to work placing Scheme Markers for Power Ritual and Breakthrough.



Old Major made it over the fence at last. Ulix, riding along, used his Prod to get Old Major to finally put Joss down. Unfortunately a resummoned Banasuva took out Old Major in return, dropping another Fabric Marker for the Arcanists to take.

At this point the Gremlins were thoroughly beaten, with the Arcanists controlling five of the six Fabric Markers. Despite Cursed Object usually being an easy scorer for the Pigs, they had been too preoccupied with avenging Gracie to score anything!

Hopefully the Gremlins will have better luck with the Self-Righteous Man and the Trickster...!