Som'er vs. Marcus - Breakout

This week, we joined in the Divergent Paths global event by playing the Self-Righteous Man's Scenario. Again, we had three Malifaux players at the club - so my opponent, Ben, was playing at a handicap - simultaneously playing a 50ss against the Wild Ones while playing against my Gremlins!

Gremlins:

Som'er with Family Tree and Dirty Cheater
Skeeter
Trixiebelle with Gun for a Lady
Lenny with "I'll Love it and Pet it..."
Lightning Bug
Rooster Rider
Banjonista
Bayou Gremlin
Bayou Gremlin
Bayou Gremlin

Schemes: Plant Explosives, Outflank

Arcanists:

Marcus
Myranda
Rogue Necromancy
Dawn Serpent
Luther (Blessed of December)
More details to come...!

Schemes: Entourage (revealed), Cursed Object

Deployment:





Turn One was a bit uneventful. Som'er, given Masks by the Skeeter, summoned two of three possible Bayou Gremlins, the third failing due to a Black Joker. The Lightning Bug blasted Lenny to heal them all up, and the Banjonista shuffled everyone forwards.



The Arcanists moved up behind the hedge, taking advantage of the cover to shrug off the shots from the Bayou Gremlins. The Rogue Necromancy Stalked the Rooster Rider, which ran up behind the Arcanists to pull it away from the pack.



Cheating the Initiative with Trixie, the Gremlins broke the Prisoner out of the Wagon at the very start of Turn Two for 2 VP, much to the frustration of the Arcanists.



A battle for control of the Prisoner broke out, with one poor Gremlin being surrounded by half of the Arcanists - who gave him a Cursed Object! Lenny tried to save the poor Gremlin from the curse of giving VP to the enemy, being immune to Conditions himself, but his minimum damage of 3 was reduced by his own damage-reduction aura, leaving the Gremlin on one Wd after his first attack.



Naturally, he flipped a Black Joker on the damage flip of his second attack. Damn it, Lenny!



Trixie tried to make up for Lenny's mistakes by charging in herself, but not before using (0) "Presents? For Me?" to carry a Scheme Marker dropped by one of the Bayou Gremlins into the fray. Despite only charging in as she needed to get into Melee anyway, she managed to leave the Dawn Serpent on only one Wd with some help from Lenny.



The Rogue Necromancy took an opportunity to turn the Rooster Rider into a Corpse Marker while the Gremlins were busy, and Luther leapt in to eat another Bayou Gremlin. Trying to block Marcus in, and with nothing much else to do, the Skeeter flew around behind the fight and got in his way. At the end of the Turn, Trixie's 'Presents' exploded for 3 VP to the Gremlins!



The Banjonista chose the start of Turn Three to show off his potency, allowing Trixiebelle to disengage, shuffling Som'er and the Gremlins in the forest around, and using (1) Pluck the Strings to hand out Paranoid (discard a card or take 2 damage when you activate) to four of the Arcanists! Unfortunately, he failed to kill the Dawn Serpent with his Banjo "Music" attack - allowing it to heal up to full with it's (0) action!



Disengaged from the Dawn Serpent, Trixie pushed the Prisoner out of reach of the Arcanists and charged back into the fray, but failed to finish anything off - even with Lenny's help. On his own, though, Lenny managed to squish one of the dogs and engage most of the Arcanists left in the fray - including a newly-shapeshifted Myranda. However, he failed to keep Marcus in combat, a problem for the Gremlins as he had revealed the Entourage scheme...!



Near the end of the turn, one of the dogs ran up to the Prisoner, securing a VP that I had thought they would be going without. Luther also leapt into the fray and turned a Gremlin to mist, while Som'er took pot shots at Marcus, trying to blow up a Gremlin with Cursed Object with the blasts from his gun, but failing - just! Marcus, at least, had to chew a handful of Soulstones to avoid taking too much damage.



On the last Turn, Lenny finally fell to all of the Beasts wailing on him, having failed to try and leave combat to (1) Toss Trixie away for the VP from Outflank. Som'er attempted to stop Marcus, but couldn't put enough damage on him or block his way - allowing Marcus to run his way into the Gremlin Deployment Area for 3 VP.



Sensing the Arcanists catching up to the Gremlin's 8 VP, Trixie failed to get her away to run to one of the flanks, but at least my 'pocket' Bayou Gremlin that had been hiding behind a house for the whole game managed to score a solitary VP from Outflank. However, with the 3 VP from Entourage, and another VP from the Scenario and Cursed Object, the Arcanists managed to match the Gremlins on 9 VP total - a draw!

With no option to report a draw currently, this might call for a rematch...!

See this game from the Arcanist's point of view here!

Painting Log - WIP Pigs!

Managed to get my Shifting Loyalties Hogs table-worthy, if not completely finished, only for Week 3 of our Campaign to be pushed back until next week. Oh well - I should be getting a regular 50ss game in instead, with one of the new Divergent Paths Encounters!







Now back to work on some actual Gremlins...

Painting Log - The Queue!

Got around to undercoating the Hogs and getting a start on them today. This means my painting table is now even more cluttered!

I snapped a quick picture of (almost) everything I'm working on at the minute:



Hopefully some more of these will be finished soon! If I'm quick enough, I might even have my Shifting Loyalties crew all painted by Week Three.... :)

Will O' The Wisp Review & Proxy

Since reading through the summaries of the new models from Ripples of Fate shortly after GenCon, I've been excited for the new Will O' The Wisps. Now that our local club's GenCon order has arrived, with a copy of Ripples of Fate, I've finally got my grubby mitts on the full rules for them.

The Wisps are 3ss Insignificant Swampfiends, with okay stats and Incorporeal to make up for their low wound count. They also have a nifty ability, Feed on the Lost, which drops Scheme Markers when nearby enemies fail a Wp duel, which works alongside their Wp-targeting melee attack. This ability and its ranged attack action, The Wisp's Call, which forces enemy models to walk towards it, will probably pique the interest of any Neverborn players who favour Pandora - it can pull a victim towards Pandora's Misery bubble, and cause plenty of Wp duels.

But it caught my eye because of a different master - Zoraida. They are Neverborn-only models, but Zoraida's Tarot Reading Upgrade allows her to hire Swampfiends out of Faction. As well as all of the utility above, the Will O' The Wisps have a (1) Tactical Action, Ever Changing Form. This action lets a Wisp take a (2) Tactical Action of another friendly Neverborn model, or one of its Upgrades. There are some restrictions - it can only be taken once per Turn, only during the Wisp's activation (no Obeying it!) and a single model can only be targeted by it once a turn. But even with these restrictions, the Wisps offer some amazing versatility for Zoraida.

Zoraida can pull off a lot of fun tricks with her Voodoo Doll, but it takes a fair bit of setting up - and not to mention her AP. The Wisps not only free up her AP, but can get a target Hemmed to almost two foot away from Zoraida - and out of her Line of Sight! And there's more - the Wisp's melee attack has a Trigger that hands out Slow. For 2 AP. a Wisp can Summon a Voodoo Doll and give Slow to both it and whatever target it manages to Hem. (It can also do something with The Wisp's Call, but there's currently some disagreement on exactly how it works..)

The one big problem with the Wisps is that their models aren't yet released. My solution is simple: a quick and dirty proxy! I dug through some old Wood Elf bits and hacked up so cork and made this:



I think it'll do for now. Hopefully I'll get a chance to try it out soon :)

Divergent Paths - Malifaux Global Event

Wyrd Games - Divergent Paths

I spy some new recruits for the Gremlins! Sure, they might not look especially Gremlin-y.. but we'll see what we can do. A bit of green paint, perhaps...

We'll be contributing to the Divergent Paths event from the 12th of September until it finishes. Stay tuned for more Battle Reports!

Mah Tucket vs. Asami... vs Ironsides!

Today was supposed to be Week 3 of our Shifting Loyalties Campaign, but due to some absences we ended up playing a three-player Encounter - 'Loot!'

In this Encounter, two of the players had to fight over a Treasure Marker, gaining a hefty amount of VP for holding it at the end. A randomly determined player would be the Wildcard, having a separate, secret Strategy to themselves. Fittingly, the Gremlins were the Wildcard - having to get Scheme Markers close to the Treasure Marker.

As we were quite short on time, and there was a lot going on, this will be more of a 'Highlights' than a 'Battle Report'...!

Gremlins:



Mah Tucket with Know the Terrain, Out for Blood and Dirty Cheater
The Little Lass with Lead-Lined Apron
Trixiebelle with A Gun for a Lady
Lenny with "I'll Love it and Pet it..."
Lightning Bug
Slop Hauler
Bayou Gremlin
Bayou Gremlin

Schemes: Plant Explosives and Cursed Object

Ten Thunders:



Asami Tanaka with A Heavenly Design, Feigned Weakness and Grasping Strands
Amanjaku
Ohaguru Bettari
Shadow Emissary with Shadow Conflux
Wandering River Monk
Bunraku
Wastrel
Tengu
Tengu

Schemes: Power Ritual and Plant Evidence

Arcanists:

Toni Ironsides with Arcane Reservoir, Challenge the Crowd and Iron Determination
Joss with Imbued Energies and Bleeding Edge Tech
The Firestarter with Imbued Energies
Arcane Emissary with Ironclad Conflux
Large Arachnid
Steam Arachnid
Steam Arachnid

Schemes: Bodyguard on the Emissary and Cursed Object

Deployment:



Mah and the Little Lass chose not to advance with "Get Off My Land!", and the Chores for the first round was a Rams, granting +1 MI to all friendly Gremlins.



The Ten Thunders took the first move, cautiously advancing a Wastrel. In response, the Gremlins sent a Rooster flying into the Bunraku and Wandering River Monk, which put out some damage but failed to put either enemy down. Surviving the retaliation, the Rooster was pulled out of combat with Trixiebelle's 'Lure' for the Lightning Bug to heal up by blasting Lenny - only for the Lightning Bug to flip a Black Joker..!




Meanwhile, the Arcanists advanced, running straight for the Treasure Marker, with Ironsides actually sitting on it. The Emissary pulled the Firestarter forwards, who could Reckless and discard Imbued Energies to swoop in and pick up the Marker, even with it needing a (2) Action.

Ignoring the poorly positioned Rooster, who would rampage through the Gremlins if not healed, the Ten Thunders used their Tengu to drop Scheme Markers all along one side of the board.

Lenny prevented the Bunraku from advancing closer by tossing a Piglet in its path, while a panicking, Mah stepped in to solve the Rooster situation, pushing into base contact with the Rooster Rider with her (0) let Mah Handle This and pushing it away towards the Slop Hauler.



Realising she still had three AP left and a target in her sights, she walked up and used her (1) Aim For the Sore Spots, spending a Soulstone and cheating a high Tome to hit the trigger that let immediately charge the Shadow Emissary, whacking it for a ridiculous 10 damage! (I didn't realise at the time that the trigger let her charge as a (1), so she only got two attacks off... not that she didn't do enough damage!) As a bonus, she now had a 3" melee engagement range - trapping two more Ten Thunders in combat! Mah survived the retaliating Dragon, flipping nothing but twelves and thirteens.



Getting the initiative on the second turn, with +1 MI from Chores again, the Gremlins went first. Seeking to stop the Firestarter, the Little Lass charged in with her Medium Sized Spoon, but failed to finish the Firestarter off or stop them from disengaging - allowing them to run off with the Treasure. Ironsides then killed the Little Lass, despite her Lead-Lined Apron. While the Ten Thunders continued dropping Scheme Markers all over the other side of the board, the big hitter of the Arcanists turned towards the Gremlins, zapping the poor fishing Gremlin for two damage, while the Large Arachnid gave a Gremlin a Cursed Object.



The Gremlin Slop Hauler healed the Rooster Rider out of the 'Danger Zone', then Trixiebelle took some shots at the Emissary, hitting a trigger that let her pull the Rooster Rider into base contact with her. This got the Rooster Rider far enough to Reckless and chase after the Firestarter, ready to charge her on the next turn.



The newly summoned Piglet proved his worth by giving a Cursed Object to the Bunraku.



Meanwhile, the Arcanists sent some Steam Arachnids after the Tengu to try and hinder their plans.



Mah finished off the Shadow Emissary, having survived another barrage of attacks with high flips, then whacked the Wandering River Monk to death and damaged the Wastrel, having hit the trigger on Aim For the Sore Spots that let her take an attack after bumping her range to 3" again.





The fisherman Gremlin charged the Arcane Emissary, hoping to prevent it going after the Rooster Rider, and Lenny threw a Piglet into the fray in an attempt to stall it further, hurting the Bayou Gremlin in the process. Joss managed to hand out a Cursed Object to Asami, meaning my Lightning Bug didn't have to try and kill the poor Bayou Gremlin before the Arcanists scored a VP.



On what would be the final turn, the Gremlins cheated the initiative flip (thanks to Trixiebelle's ability), going first and getting to draw a card every time a Gremlin died thanks to the Chores for the turn. The Rooster Rider started the turn by charging the Firestarter, which clung to life with a lot of cheating and Soulstone usage.



Lenny moved into position for Mah to pull herself out of combat, but Ironsides tricked the poor Wp 1 Lenny into moving into combat with her and taking a swing, taking four damage himself from her trigger. Ironsides then pulled the Bettari into combat as well, and ended by doing some more damage to Lenny. Having lost Lenny as a Mah delivery system, Trixiebelle used Reckless and ran forwards to Lure her out of combat instead. The Bayou Gremlin stuck in combat with the Large Arachnid took a swing at it, only for Mah to sacrifice it for a positive flip to all Gremlin melee attacks for the rest of the turn (harsh!). After the Arcane Emissary activated, killing the Pig with his (0), the fisherman Gremlin with a (1) and zapping the Lightning Bug for five damage, leaving three smoking Corpse Markers, Mah activated. Now out of combat, she used Aim For the Sore Spots again, hitting the charge trigger thanks to a Soulstone and a cheated Tome, flinging herself at Ironsides. Flipping and cheating some high Rams, her Critical Strike trigger - buffed further by Lenny's Rams aura - almost took Ironsides out, forcing more Soulstone usage. The Slop Hauler and Piglets took the last activations of the turn, the Hauler running in and dropping a Scheme Marker for Plant Explosives, scoring 2 VP from the Large Arachnid and the Emissary, while the Piglet gave another Cused Object to the poor Bunraku for another VP.



It was at this point that we had to finish. The Gremlins were sitting on the most VP scored during the game, but the Arcanists revealed Bodyguard, scoring a good amount of VP, and the Ten Thunders also scored a healthy amount with their many Scheme Markers. However, having failed to kill the Firestarter, the Arcanists were sitting on another 4 VP from the Strategy. Had we played another turn it would have been another story - not only was there a Rooster Rider in its face, but a summoned Yokai, too...!

Despite running out of time, it was fun to play a three-player Encounter. Not many systems can pull off games with more than two players, especially three, but the Schemes and Strategies of Malifaux seem to solve the usual problem of one player being massively ganged up on.

Mah was definitely MVP for the Gremlins this game, although the Rooster Rider and Trixiebelle were great, as well as Lenny and his Piglet summoning. I'm looking forward to trying them all again in a one-on-one!

Painting Log - First of the Rooster Riders!