Battle Report - Train Heist

Another Battle Report is up over at forgotmytea - this time we played the Train Heist scenario from Ripples of Fate. I very much recommend listening to the suggested music as you read...!

This was my second game as Dreamer (yes, getting more and more into Neverborn...). Summoning with him is great fun, and he has a fantastic support toolbox. I'll try and get some more Battle Reports up soon, as well as painting progress once I've finished greenstuffing all of Chompy's gaps!

Battle Report - Lucid Dreaming

This week, the Neverborn faced off against the Arcanists in the Trickster's Scenario.

The writeup is over at my opponent's blog - forgotmytea!

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!

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...!

Wong vs. Sandeep - Panicked Flight

Unhappy with losing the Self-Righteous Man to the Arcanists, Wong has followed rumours and hearsay to find the Inquisitive Child, chased by Witchling Stalkers, in the hope of finding an apprentice. Sandeep appears to have similar goals, ambushing Wong with the help of some Sanctioned Spellcasters! (Apparently Wong and Sandeep are the favourites at the moment!)

Gremlins:

Wong with A Gremlin's Luck and Do Over
Sammy LaCroix with Oooh, Glowy!
Trixiebelle with A Gun for a Lady
McTavish with Mud Toss
Rooster Rider
Lightning Bug
Wild Boar
Stuffed Piglet

Schemes: Plant Evidence, Make them Suffer

Arcanists:

Sandeep Desai
The Valedictorian
Arcane Emissary
The Scorpius
Sanctioned Spellcaster
Sanctioned Spellcaster
Ice Gamin

Schemes: Protect Territory, Bodyguard (Arcane Emissary)

Deployment:





Both forces deployed split into two, to try and get the most VP out of the Witchling Stalkers. In this scenario, each Stalker killed after Turn 1 would grant 1 VP to the Crew that killed it. Additionally, on every Turn after the first, if the Inquisitive Child is within 6" of a Deployment Area then that Crew would also gain a VP. I was a bit hasty in charging my Rooster Rider forwards to claim the Inquisitive Child, forgetting to take a picture beforehand! Trixie's ability to cheat the Initiative flip combined with the Rooster's Reckless and a Wk of 7 allowed the Rooster Rider to move up to the centre of the board and push the Child 4" towards my corner of the board.



In my haste, I also forgot about the Wild Boar's Bayou Rampage. Oops! This meant that the Boar would be charging the Rooster Rider when it activates. To get around this a bit, I moved McTavish up and dropped a Hunting Screen - forgetting that McTavish wasn't a Gremlin, and so didn't negate Bayou Rampage. Double oops. Fortunately I could cheat down the Wild Boar's attacks and ignore it for the time being. Meanwhile, one of the Sanctioned Spellcasters moved up with Sandeep's placement ability and a walk, then fired off a shot at the Witchling Stalkers - flipping a Red Joker! As the Witchling Stalkers wouldn't grant VP until Turn 2, the Spellcaster had to show a bit of restraint, but left both of the Stalkers on low health.



The rest of the Gremlins took cover behind the hedge, ready for an ambush. Trixie dropped a Scheme Marker for Wong to send flying into the air, and Wong took a shot at one of the Stalkers, who pushed towards him with his defensive trigger.

Sandeep summoned a Wind Gamin, attaching Commands in Flame to negate Slow but leaving the Gamin unable to Cheat Fate. Said Gamin flew off towards the corner of the board.

Wong's Scheme Marker came back down next to the train platform, which was conveniently on the Arcanist's side of the board. The Lightning Bug revealed a Tome, pushing the Child within 6" of the Gremlin's corner of the board.



Cheating the Initiative again, McTavish went first, taking aim at the Witchling Stalkers and blowing one off the board with a Red Joker. These two Stalkers really were not having a good day! The other Stalker was able to cheat and avoid death briefly before the Valedictorian flew in and took it out. A VP each!

Slightly out of shot, the Rooster Rider went charging into a Sanctioned Spellcaster to tie it up.



On the other side of the board, Sandeep blew a Stalker away, but not before randomising and putting a chunk of damage on Sammy. Trixie, with her Gun for a Lady, took out the other Stalker and then took shots at Sandeep, blowing herself backwards.

The Lightning Bug, forgetting that I needed him to handle the Wild Boar, dropped a Scheme Marker for Trixie to use with her (0) Presents? For me? and a second for fuel Wong.

The Stuffed Piglet then ran into combat with Sandeep. Uhoh..



The Arcane Emissary charged and obliterated the Rooster Rider. Sammy LaCroix ran up to counter the Emissary next turn with her Jynx, and was charged by The Scorpius - clearly it knew about Sammy's efficacy in our last game!

The Sanctioned Spellcaster got to work placing Scheme Markers and running into the corner of the board, going for Protect Territory.

Wong fired his Lightning Jump into the 'combat' between Sandeep and the Stuffed Piglet, hitting the Piglet. Severe damage killed the Piglet, doing Blast damage to Sandeep from the attack, the Piglet's Bacon Bomb *and* the Pulse! The Crows trigger on Lightning Jump let Wong take another shot at Sandeep (and Do Over would've given a third Lightning Jump, if we hadn't misremembered how it works - need to get the second Generalist Upgrade Deck, I guess!). Despite all this, Sandeep survived, as Wong fluffed the rest of his AP. Wong send a Scheme Marker flying, despite not being near enough to a terrain piece for Plant Evidence (the train track didn't count, we had agreed).

The Wild Boar chewed on McTavish again, dealing some damage this time.

At the end of the Turn, the Gremlins scored 3 VP from killing Stalkers (in writing this, I realise this should have been 4, as I had Make Them Suffer and the Stalkers are Minions, although I ended up scoring the maximum VP for the Scheme anyway) and taking the Child hostage, while the Arcanists scored 2. Wong's Scheme Marker came back down, but failed to hurt Sandeep.



Winning the Initiative without Cheating for once (13 against 12.. poor Arcanists!), Sammy went first, using her Jynx to shut down the Emissary and trying to walk out of combat with the big robot scorpion, but failing to do so.

While a Wind Gamin ran for the corner of the board and placed a Scheme Marker, McTavish went after the Marker in the other corner, hoping to get a Rams with his (0) that would let him eat the Marker and take a shot at the Sanctioned Spellcaster, but unwilling to cheat a 13 of Rams he just ate the marker and pushed into engagement with it. The Spellcaster attempted to run away and failed, but the Valedictorian joined the fray and left McTavish on next to no health.



The Scorpius and the Arcane Emissary obliterated poor Sammy LaCroix. Wong hopped the hedge and tried to blast the Ice Gamin away for Make them Suffer, failing to kill it but getting close enough to a tree to place a Scheme Marker at the end of the turn with his (0). Sandeep charged Wong, seeing him in the open, doing some damage. He then pulled the Scorpius towards himself and into combat with Wong, healing himself a bit in the process, then pushed out of the melee and dropped a Scheme Marker with (0) As Your Deed, So Your Destiny.

The Lightning Bug went reckless and ran up to the wagon in the corner, placing a Tomes on himself to place a Scheme Marker by the wagon at the end of the turn.

Trixie ran up to the Wild Boar, taking a Scheme Marker with her, and took out the Sanctioned Spellcaster. The Wild Boar then finally ran up, headed for an enemy Scheme Marker, only for the Ice Gamin to engage him.

At the end of the Turn, Wong's Scheme Marker came back down by the tree, damaging the Scorpius and Sandeep, and the Lightning Bug placed his Marker. The Gremlins scored 2 VP, for the Child and Make Them Suffer.



Taking the initiative a fourth time, McTavish tried to kill the Sanctioned Spellcaster, but failed to end it. Perhaps he should have gone for the Corpse Marker and tried to heal, but his Gator clearly saw the Spellcaster as a tastier snack!



Trixie carried her Scheme Marker "present" up to another terrain piece, and used her Gremlin "Lure" to push the Wild Boar towards the Scheme Marker it had been going for. She then took a shot at the newly-unengaged Ice Gamin, cheating a Red Joker with the Rams trigger for a double positive flip for damage and ending the poor Gamin.

The Valedictorian left a dead McTavish behind and flew over to engage the Wild Boar, perhaps afraid it would Charge the Arcane Emissary. The Boar was having none of this, however, and ate the Scheme Marker he had been chasing with his (0) and successfully left combat to engage the Emissary.



Sandeep pulled the Emissary away from the Wild Boar, healing himself again, and tried to finish Wong with the Scorpius. Wong survived the assault once more, activating and discarding Do Over to draw two cards, both of which happened to be thirteens! He used his (0) BOOM! to discard the enemy Scheme Marker and do pulse damage to the Scorpius and Sandeep, disengaged himself from the combat and flung some Lightning at the pair.

The Lightning Bug, ignoring the Wind Gamin's Armour +1, ran around the Wagon and buried the Wind Gamin, placing a Tomes on himself to remove the enemy Scheme Marker at the end of the Turn. However, with a Push from sacrificing the buried Wind Gamin, the Arcane Emissary charged the Bug, killing it and preventing it from removing the Marker.

At the end of the Turn, the Gremlins scored 2 VP, for the Child and Make Them Suffer, as Trixie had killed the Ice Gamin. The Arcanists revealed Bodyguard on the Emissary, scoring 1 VP.



Wong made the most out of getting the initiative on Turn 5. Poor Sandeep. The Scorpius went down alongside him, taken out by the Pulse damage.





The Valedictorian tried to kill the Wild Boar, and Trixie fired into their combat. No matter what she hit, McTavish would be avenged!



Finally, the Sanctioned Spellcaster ensured the Arcanists would be scoring for Protect Territory.

At the end of the game, the Gremlins scored 2 VP, one for the Child and another for Make Them Suffer, as the Scorpius is apparently a Minion! The Arcanists went up to a total of 8 VP after scoring Bodyguard and Protect Territory, but with 2 VP from Plant Evidence the Gremlins won with a total of 11 VP! A victory against the Arcanists at last!

Most importantly, of course, the Gremlins secured the Inquisitive Child. And a Rooster Rider died in the course of the game... leaving a Rooster for the Child to befriend, perhaps...?

We shall see!