Montag's Tourney 10/28/17, Painting updates, and Hamelin!!!

Howdy folks!!

It has been quite a while, but I came back with actual updates!

This time it's painting, along with a Tournament last month.

First up, Schrodinger's Cat! This is a limited edition proxy crew for Hamelin, this guy in particular is a replacement for Nix. I had a ton of fun painting him, and I worked with some fluorescent orange pigment to do the glow on him. I really liked playing with the idea that he was phasing his tail through himself, he is incorporeal after all.

It is kinda weird that he has a human hand for his left and a regular paw for his other feet

One Dapper Fella

Along with Nix I'm working on the Midnight Stalker, this is a WIP but he's mostly done. I've got to finish the base, highlight the black, and put in some accent colors. This guy has been worth his weight in gold in games though!

Speaking of games, there was a small tournament held at Montag's on 10/28/17 and it was my first test of using this crew in a tournament setting. Overall I won 2 of three games, losing only to Dreads' Sonnia list - which is a very bad match up for me - and even that game wasn't terrible in differential for me.

Game 1: Paul's Jack Daw

Standard, Guard the Stash

Claim Jump, Dig Their Graves, Accusation, Undercover Entourage, Last Stand

I won this game at the end of turn 3, the score ended up as 6-1. Nix essentially controlled the entire left side with some backup by Hamelin, kept him from scoring Guard the Stash, while Hannah held the other side and got support from Bleeding Disease sources like the Obedient Wretch and Stolen, occasionally the Midnight Stalker would come in and hold models from moving closer to the Stash,.

Game 2: Dreads' Sonnia
Corner, Reckoning
Claim Jump, Frame for Murder, Accusation, Hidden Trap, A Quick Murder

This strategy right here I discovered in the middle of this game, and now it's a staple!

I knew this game was going to be an uphill battle from the start, Sonnia is one of my worst match ups I could have against Hamelin. He ended up blasting my rat engine to pieces from turn one from a very long way away. I managed to crawl back and get Nix and the Midnight Stalker into his crew and build up the blight from the Plague Pits. I ended up only losing 3-5, so not terrible. 

The awesome thing is, though, that I discovered with the combination of the Midnight Stalker and Plague Pits prevents the elimination of the marker (unless you have Don't Mind Me) and just absolutely piles on the blight! Even with condition removal, Dreads' models were gaining a large amount of blight in short amounts of time.

Game 3: Karl's Parker

Flank, Stake a Claim

Can't remember the rest!

This game was relatively fast. I had control of most of the game, and after I engaged with Nix on turn 1 it was hard for him to get out of the area while I was killing multiple models. He called it early on turn 2 or 3 so it was 10-1 in my favor.

In the end I got 3rd - and the certificate didn't have anything filled out on it :( but that's ok.

I plan on providing more insight into my new iteration of Hamelin as it is quite a competitive list with the new upgrades from Book 5. Right now it's tough to get free time, especially since it's the day after Thanksgiving right now, but I also plan on painting more regularly as I have lately.

Stay painted!!!

Austin Malifaux Tourney 7/29/17

I guess I gave away the best part immediately...

Howdy guys!

Again, long time no post. Work has been getting crazier and crazier, with each new success comes a new responsibility or project, so real life is taking priority over my hobby stuff lately. I think I'll be able to gather some more free time soon enough, the end of the quarter usually helps with less office time. But I've also started traveling for work, and it's sounding like there might be more of that in store so who knows.

Anywho, even though I haven't done anything new with painting I managed to make it to a Malifaux Tournament in Austin last week! Sadly it's the last one being hosted by their resident Henchman Robert Stull - he's been incredible with support for both his community and the Houston community, and his presence will be sorely missed, but he's going for bigger and better things so we all wish him luck!

Pre Tourney

I hadn't played very many games prior to the tourney, probably about a month straight of not playing so I knew I'd be pretty rusty. I stuck with only bringing my Viktorias again, as I'm used to the meta and feel that the crew is working so well now with the Hodgepodge Emissary. I was pretty confident they could do a good job.

My wife and I planned on visiting my in-laws that live nearby, so we thought we'd drop her off prior to the start of the tourney. Traffic was worst than we anticipated, and we left a little later than planned, which resulted in me running about 15 min after the start time. Luckily (or unluckily) my first opponent was Houstonite Travis so he was understanding, plus we play each other so often that our games go very fast.

Game 1

Vs. Travis (Reva)
Standard
Turf War

• Claim Jump
• Frame For Murder
• Leave Your Mark
• Set Up
• Tail 'Em

Chosen: Claim Jump and Set Up

Travis: Frame For Murder and Leave Your Mark

A very pretty table, that just so happened to create a choke point

So Travis pulled a fast one on me and decided not only to swap from Ten Thunders - the faction he's been playing for about a year or more) - back to Rezzers, and on top of that Reva! I had never faced his Reva before and was instantly worried. He seemed less confident though, as he thought this was probably his worst kind of match up. Rezzers tend to be very packed together, and this map had an obvious choke point in the middle, and his crew didn't have nearly the resilience he's used to with Rezzers. It seemed to be in my favor.

Things didn't go that well, though...

At first the game seemed to be doing well. Without the Yasunori from his Asami crew I didn't feel that threatened about my Viks making it to his crew. I did the usual creep with the Viks, with terrain and the big models blocking avenues to the sisters. He threw Reva right into the scrum and killed one of my Winged Plagues.

Crucial turn 2 set up and initiative...

So, as with most of our games together, it all really came down to initiative of turn 2. I stoned for cards in case, and even after stoning to re-flip initiative I still lost it. The first activation he ran his master away after hitting the Hodgepodge, then I proceeded to do what I always do turn 2...

Lets blend some models in a whirlwind...

I managed to get Blood into a good clump, despite Big Jake being lured by a Belle into the choke point blocking my movement. In the first hit I managed to get everyone in Whirlwind range down to 1 wound left! It was looking great...

...but Travis managed to make me miss my second attack on Sybelle, ending another Whirlwind. And with my last attack from Melee Expert he threw out the Red Joker in defense.

I just couldn't believe it. It was such a magnificent play I couldn't even be mad about it (par for the course when playing against Travis).

Well it goes without saying, with this kind of level of play, Blood died almost immediately afterward due to being in range of about 4 very angry and almost dead models.

It went pretty downhill from there. Reva was cleaning up model after model, with Corpse Candles blocking lanes and getting in the way. Travis played the crew like clockwork.

Big Jake and Hannah trying to save what they could...

It was just grasping at VP for my crew, I knew he was getting his full 10VP after Blood whiffed. It wasn't all that bad considering, as we ended the game 6-10. I managed to get 2 rounds of Turf War, a VP for Claim Jump, and all points for Set Up.

This game, though, probably knocked me down a tier in standings and I felt that I should be able to pick it up in round 2.

Game 2

Vs Steven (Sandeep)

Flank

Headhunter

• Claim Jump
• Accusation!
• Leave Your Mark
• Show of Force

Chosen: Claim Jump and Leave Your Mark

Steven: Claim Jump (don't remember the other one)

Steven is a relatively new player, and I think Sandeep was his first crew. I was a little worried as usually he's extremely solid, but I saw that he didn't have Cassandra so I knew this would be easier than usual - Cass is just messed up with Practiced Production.

A bit of a weird way to stand...

I set up Winged Plagues on opposite ends to prepare for Leave Your Mark. Either Hannah or the Hodgepodge were going to take Claim Jump into their hands as they were probably going to stay in the middle. Viktoria was going to take care of Headhunter for sure.

In the beginning moves he took a shot at Big Jake who didn't get hurt. I set up the rest of my crew as usual (I can't recall a game where I don't move in the block formation I usually do outside of close deployment).

He had Sandeep and some other models relatively close to each other past the river, so I knew that I should be able to take care of the master next turn as long as the Banasuva doesn't block my lane.

Om nom nom...

Well, I won initiative and proceeded to run directly to Sandeep. I managed to easily kill him and the two models close by with AP to spare, all before the Banasuva came out. All in all it was a good play, and left Steven on the reactive side while I had no opposition to my VP.

Hannah acts as Janitor and cleans up some heads...

I believe at the end of the game I had managed to only lose a single model. I ended up winning 10-2 and was going to the third round strong.

Steve was pretty flabbergasted at how I was able to kill effectively, but I told him that now that he's seen the trick he can better prepare for it. Plus it's a bit stacked against him, as I've been playing the Viktorias almost exclusively for 3 years, and he's a new player. He appreciated the game though, as he has the same mentality as me when it comes to learning games - get absolutely pummeled often, and soon enough you'll be doing the pummeling. 

Game 3

Vs Hans (Neverborn Collodi)

Close Deployment

Interference

• Claim Jump
• Eliminate the Leadership
• Dig Their Graves
• Search the Ruins
• Recover Evidence

Chosen: Claim Jump and Search the Ruins

Hans: Eliminate the Leadership and Dig Their Graves

What, you don't want to come closer?! Aww...

So this game had me facing Hans, who I've previously played before with my Viks against his Lilith. After our last game he quickly decided not to use Lilith and repeat what happened last time, although I was more scared of him using Lilith than he was of my Viks!

It was close deployment, and I got right on the line while he stayed waaaaay in the back. I knew with close deployment it would be easier to run certain schemes and so I chose Claim Jump and Search the Ruins, knowing he'd want to stay away from my crew in the middle as well as keep getting VP from Interference. I knew with Big Jake I could claim a weak corner while running schemes.

I did my usual walk forward, and ended up getting my Winged Plagues engaged by a Changeling - for the rest of the game hahahaha!

I was preparing for the best use of Whirlwind and figured I should get Envy and the Mysterious Emissary - mostly because they were close together, and I remembered that Collodi is actually pretty tough to kill with his dolls nearby. The route to them was much easier as well.

Turn 2 board state

As you can see I spread out pretty far due to Envy's ability to obliterate stuff. He ended up missing the Hodgepodge so I came out smelling like roses.

I didn't get initiative, but due to an unsuccessful attack it was like I did!

So what do I usually do on turn 2?

Om nom nom... (that used to be Envy and the Emissary)

I managed to catch a few models in Whirlwind and eat them right up. It seemed like it was easy pickings from this point on.

But I was wrong...

Apparently not playing against Collodi often showed me how good he could be with this game. He ended up picking apart my crew one by one every turn, starting with Viktoria of Blood and Ashes...

Oh no...

...and managed to kill enough of my crew to have me sweating!

Not as weak as I thought, huh?

In the end he managed to pick up from the loss of his key models and score a bit of VP. It was looking like he may get a win after all, but then he realized that I had markers around the center ready for Search the Ruins. This is when he decided to get to the middle, but it was too late! He picked up one marker, but then the Hodgepodge went and put one in its place.

The game was mine 10-6, but it was pretty eventful!

The scoring came down, and at Top Table Travis was playing against a very good Lilith player and ended up losing. This, coupled with my large win in round 2 and decent win in round 3 bumped me up to second place! I got some Descent miniatures with my winnings as I don't need any more stuff for Malifaux.

All in all it was a great sendoff tourney for Robert, we'll miss him dearly but he said he's coming to the next Houston one before he leaves.

Oh, did I say earlier that I don't need any more Malifaux stuff?

I think I died and went to heaven when they released this announcement for GenCon. Anyone who knows me knows I'm nuts for cats (we own five and yes we know that's crazy we regret it too)!

The fact that this is a crew proxy for Hamelin makes it sooooo much sweeter! Hamelin is the only other Master I'm interested in right now in terms of competitive play, and making a kitty crew just makes me want to learn him so badly! I got a practice game with him this week and it was awful, so I've got a lot of work ahead of me!

I can't wait to get this crew, and I'm definitely going to paint it. I mean, usually I want to paint stuff, but rarely do (I haven't even put together last year's GenCon crew!) but I'm painting this whole crew no matter what. I want to paint my cats as models hahahahaha!

I mean, they're so awesome. Look at that Nix proxy! I'm going Cheshire Cat with a little acid trip on him, blues, greens, yellows, pinks, the whole works - like a Tzeentch model. The Stolen even have cats on them!!!

So... yeah... I'm cat crazy. Also, they're called the Sisterhood of the Cat, while Hamelin's other box is called The Brotherhood of the Rat. It's just so darn clever.

Oh, and litter box scheme markers. And yarn ball markers. So many ideas.

Anyway, before I get even weirder, I'll let you go!

Descent Miniatures: Merriod WIP

So cool!

The red tentacles help it stand out as the Master model

Howdy folks!

So today I got a chance to put some paint to plastic! I wanted to get started on significant work for my Descent miniatures. Although I've already painted the Zombies for the game as a test on basing I consider these Merriod models as my true first tries. The Zombies are absolutely hideous, the sculpts are some of the worst I've dealt with, and I lost a lot of motivation after trying those models out. Content-wise I can't complain about the Zombies, as you get a ton of cool stuff in the box and one batch of bad models doesn't ruin the whole thing (especially with cool models like the Merriod). Also, outside of the missions where they're mandatory, they aren't going to get any use so a bad paint job isn't the end of the world.

So as I was deciding on what to work on next my wife suggested the Merriods, as they're simply the coolest sculpt in the box tied with the Shadow Dragons. They are also my favorite monster in the base game due to their awesome abilities and annoying defense. So I got to laying some base coats on the guys, then after getting into the groove I found that I got almost the whole thing done in a sitting! All I have left to do is shade and highlight the blue skin, after that add the water effects and other basing elements and they're done. They're suitable enough to play as is in fact. If I'm not especially lazy I'll shade the grey on the stomach and tentacles.

It was also a cool coincidence that the base matched a tile in the game. I didn't plan on it matching, as I tried to do so with the Zombies and didn't do such a great job. I just wanted to make an interesting base and figured even if it didn't match it would look cool.

Overall it was a simple paint job, I didn't want to spend too much time on the monsters as I really am trying to follow through with having a fully painted set (at least of what I own). Lately I've been trying to keep in mind that not every model has to be perfect, and to try to get a standard that not only leaves me happy with the result but is also timely. I can't have every model done to the same 3-4 session standard, it's just not feasible especially with the new job demands.

Anyway, here are some more pics and WIP, when it's done I'll give an update!

Keep slinging paint!

The Hodgepodge Emissary Tactica (Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Donkey)

Howdy Mali-Folks!

Today I'll be talking about the Hodgepodge Emissary, from his special nuances and upgrades down to his relation to my Viktorias crew. He has a lot of synergies with each individual master for Outcasts and it would take a long time for me to explore all his options, not to mention my limited table experience with him, limits me to only talking about his abilities in the context of general tactics and Viktoria synergies.

I managed to go a very long time without having actually read his card, entirely due to the fact that I absolutely hated this model. When they previewed the Emissaries I was excited. The Carrion is huge and intimidating, the Brutal was a massive dude with a caged man, the Shadow was a giant cool dragon, the Arcane was a fiery bull, then the Hodgepodge was... a hoarder on a donkey. He's a quirky model with character, and would fit in perfectly in the Gremlins faction (and is reminiscent of the Lucky Emissary), but not in my beloved Outcasts. Because of my aversion to the model I had no desire to buy it, which inadvertently led me to not read the card. That was a mistake on my part, and as soon as I read it I instantly thought he would fit in perfectly in my Viktorias list, and ultimately lead me to think that I've done as much if not all I can to make my list as good as it can be for me.

So what's he like?

General Stats

He's a 10ss Enforcer, with a notable lack of the "Living" characteristic. He has a good 6 for both WP and DF, 10 wounds, with a walk and charge of 5. He has a height of 3 so he can see over the average model if needed.

This isn't terrible, in fact it's pretty decent. Although he does have a crappy charge it isn't a bad set of stats.

Front of Card Abilities

So he's got three abilities on the front of his card that make him pretty interesting. Power Sink is a common ability among the Emissaries and can be very frustrating. Essentially the guy gets a version of Regenerate at the end of his activation and heals a number of wounds equal to the number of Strategy VP you've gained during the game. This translates into more healing as long as the game is going your way. Couple this ability with the next one, Hard to Kill, and you've got an annoying combination. Healing and Hard To Kill is a time honored combination in this game, and with the right timing can prove to be just annoying as all get out to your opponent. Because these are passive it's only a matter of understanding when you should activate to get the most out of the abilities.

His last, although to me his most powerful, ability is Instinctual which allows him to use 2 (0) abilities a turn as long as they're different. I've loved this ability with Von Schill as it's a very efficient ability, especially if you have (0)s that are awesome. For Von Schill this was Finish the Cur that allowed extra free attacks, and for this guy it's no different as his (0)s are pretty awesome.

Back of Card Abilities - the Nitty Gritty

So this is where the guy starts to shine in my book.

He has only one attack action, but it is very flexible and almost always useful. Call of the Lost is a Ca6 action with a built in Crow. It has both a range of 9 and melee 1 so you can use it regardless of being engaged and doesn't randomize in melee, but still capable of causing disengaging strikes. It has an average damage track of 2/3/4 so it's nothing to write home about. What he does have are very good triggers for all suits short of Rams, but with the built in Crow you'll always have something to do. The Crow trigger The Lonely Road is based on succeeding rather than damaging, so as long as you hit you get it. It forces the target to either discard a card or gain slow. Being that this is built in you can reliably use it for a bit of card control or condition control, especially if you start to use it in the last bits of the turn when they're down on cards. If there are no cards in their hand then it's time to hand out Slow and get an upper hand next turn. The Tome trigger Empty Road makes the target push 4" toward the Hodgepodge, very useful in schemes and strategies that require proper placement like Extraction, Turf War, Interference, etc. and can prove invaluable when needed. His Mask trigger Word of the Emissary lets you take the action again after damaging, but doesn't allow additional triggers as usual. This leads to an extreme amount of flexibility and use for the table, as every trigger can be crucial in the right situation and can default to handing out Slow as a backup. I've used him once and managed to get Word of the Emissary twice and got 4 shots out of the guy, even at minimum damage that is 8 right there. It's not 100% reliable but you can fall into that kind of efficiency that most players wouldn't expect, especially with his Power Sink ability making him usually activate toward the end of the turn to get a more efficient heal.

Although in the end I don't use him for damaging, I do find myself using him with 2AP to spare as his (0)s do all the work and surprised when he gets a decent amount of damage onto a model.

Now he has THREE tactical actions, and these are where he starts to shine.

His first is a 1AP action called Something in my Pack which centers around attaching his unique upgrades onto friendly non-Leader models. They can only have one of these "Trinket" upgrades at a time and there's no built in way of taking them off short of dying or having Hans shoot them off, so once they're on a model that's probably what they're going to have for the game.

These upgrades are absolutely awesome! He has 4 Trinket upgrades. Momento gives Companion to a model, Pretty Floral Bonnet gives Don't Mind Me, The Monkey's Paw gives Reactivate in exchange for the hefty price of two cards and guaranteed death at the end of the turn, and the Vitality Potion gives Regenerate +1. These are all extremely handy and can shift the dynamic of how a model behaves tremendously. This, in itself, is a strategy all its own as you can imagine the potential of several different models with these upgrades. Sue with Regenerate? Hannah with Don't Mind Me? Viktoria of Blood with The Monkey's Paw?!

The main drawback is that it takes 1AP to use this ability, but a certain Hannah can mitigate this...

He also has a (0) called A Weary Road, which needs a 7 and a discard. This allows the Hodgepodge to push 4" and place a Scheme Marker in base contact. This understated ability is one of the main reasons why I use him now, as it's essentially 2 AP for free - one for movement and one for the marker.

His other (0) is called The Piecing Together, a sort of nuclear scheme option. If you have at least two Destined from his Power Sink ability, you can get rid of the condition to allow up to 3 friendly non-peons and LOS - this can include himself - to push up to 3" and place a free scheme marker in base contact. This makes schemes like Search the Ruins, Set Up, and a few others essentially automatic. It's an absolute game winner if used correctly and can come out of nowhere - I can't wait until I get Set Up with this guy!

At this point I'll mention his upgrade Conflux of Avarice, which is only available if you use the Viktorias as your master. It gives a 6" aura I always forget about, but allows you to draw a card when a friendly model kills a model. If the model was not a mercenary you have to discard a card. Super handy! But the main part is his new (0) from the upgrade, Proper Motivation. This gives him a 3" push on a model within 6", and if the target was a mercenary they'd gain Focus for free. Granted this costs a discard, but it is absolutely bonkers in the Viktoria list.

Because he can use 2 different (0)s he becomes a scheme running beast with this, as he can put Pretty Floral Bonnet on himself, place a scheme marker while engaged, push 4" and place another scheme marker, Push another 3", then spend his last AP placing a marker on his other side outside of 4" from the last marker. That's 3 markers with 2AP. Another notable combination is pushing 3" from one (0) then another 4" and a marker with the other (0). That's a 7" move and marker placement without spending one AP. This guy can definitely run some schemes, not to mention live a long time from his heals and Hard to Kill.

So how does this dude fit in to the Viktorias crew?

If you recall my last post on the Viktorias I mentioned what they needed and who I included. One of those models was the Strongarm Suit, a great model that fit the bill but found that it was lacking in scheme running. Being that he was 10ss and the Hodgepodge was 10ss it was a simple swap but opened up the list wide! Suddenly I no longer lacked scheme running options throughout the game, still had sustainability with him, and provided even more options for killing with the Viktorias.

Here are a few notable plays I've used the Hodgepodge for:

• Place Pretty Floral Bonnet on Hannah so that while she's engaged she can place markers behind her for schemes, her base is big enough to prevent models in front of her from denying schemes like Claim Jump
• Place Momento on the Student of Conflict so that if one of the Viktorias dies she has the option of immediately activating after the surviving half and teleport them out of trouble
• Place the Monkey's Paw on Viktoria of Blood! If I anticipate her not living after her activation I can instead discard two cards for her to Reactivate and cause more mayhem in case she lives!
• Place the Vitality Potion on the Hodgepodge for even more healing shenanigans, or place it on Hannah to make her sustain longer. I've found it to be more successful on the Hodgepodge though
• As mentioned earlier use his two (0)s to move 7" and place a marker for free, or push out to place a marker that won't be denied and move right back into engagement
• Push another target 3" to get better positioning or get rid of conditions like Lilith's Wicked Vines
• Place Monkey's Paw on a scheme runner like Winged Plague to get a crucial extra scheme running activation, this can be necessary for Strategies like Stake a Claim where a lack of movement options like Leap prove detrimental

These are all brand new options that open up just by including him instead of the Strongarm, who mostly only multiplied my hitting capabilities and synergized with Hannah well. The healing option he brings alone warrants his inclusion.

This all is coupled with the fact that he still brings the necessary traits I mentioned in my earlier post that the Viktorias need. He adds in scheme running, he has staying power naturally, he has a big 50mm base that blocks LOS, he's the full package.

I'll just have to get over his model... it's not terrible just out of place.

Anyway, that's my quick(ish) write up on the Hodgepodge Emissary, if you have Outcasts I invite you to try him out as he's actually one of our best options of scheme running and flexibility. I believe he has something to offer every Outcast list. Let me know what you think!

Austin Malifaux Tourney 5/20/17

Good day internet!

Jeez, I've really neglected this blog as of late. My page views definitely show this, as I was going from 300 views a day down to 20 now. I'll do my best to keep this more up to date, especially now that I'm getting into my groove at work and don't have to stay so late anymore. Hopefully.

Earlier when I had heard the date for the upcoming tournament in Austin I started to do some real evaluation of my current lists and felt I needed to make some changes. I no longer felt any love for Leve, his nerf just sucked the fun right out of his play (not to mention his viability). I tried to branch out to other masters like Jack Daw and Parker Barrows, even made Parker get a win or two by making his lists semi-viable. I'm getting close to having an alternate master through Hamelin, as he's actually fun to play but still competetive. In the end, though, my attempts to find a second master to bring as a tech list made me start to think more about my main list, the Viktorias, and how to make it better.

Long story short: my disgusting dislike to the Hodgepodge Emissary's model kept me from actually reading the card until recently without realizing it. Once I'd read it I threw out my disdain for the thing and immediately swapped out the Strongarm Suit for it. A future post may come around explaining how he's absolutely perfect for the list, and how he's my favorite scheme runner in Outcasts.

So with the addition of the Hodgepodge Emissary I went to the tournament with only one list and no fears. Okay, some fears, but mostly confidence.

Game 1

Standard
Extraction

• Claim Jump
• Dig Their Graves
• Leave Your Mark
• Tail 'Em
• A Quick Murder

Opponent: Patrick (Molly - Rezzers)

Getting ready to rumble...

My first match was set up against Patrick, an awesome dude who has a great attitude about the game. I've faced his Molly before, using Leveticus I believe but I can't quite remember. Knowing what was across the table, I chose A Quick Murder on Phillip and Leave Your Mark. 

I deployed first and got my crew right in the middle bunched together. When he deployed he was right in the middle as well, except for three Crooligans he placed to my near a building. From what I could tell these three models were his main scheme runners and I immediately thought of aiming the Viks at them rather than the main crew in order to deny VP. The Viks are fast enough to get right back into the fight, but only if they can dispatch the Crooligans fast enough. I held off activating them until I saw what he planned on doing with the Crooligans and moved everyone else up the middle to entice him to leave the Crooligans unsupported as if they were unopposed.

Sorry so blurry, but you can see where the Crooligans were by where the Corpse Markers are...

When it came time for the Viks the Crooligans had already activated and got fairly close together. Using the Student I teleported Ashes closer, who then teleported Blood closer, walked, and teleported again. Blood then chain activated and killed two Crooligans, leaving the third for next turn. When my opponent saw that happen he started to realize his scheme running is going to be challenging, as I assumed he chose Leave Your Mark due to the proximity to my line.

The turn ended with Molly summoning a Necrotic Machine right in the middle of my main crew as a distraction as well as to throw some duels on me. One of his Crooligans got away from me, but I used the Winged Plague to get on top of the scheme marker to deny next turn.

Turn two is where the magic happened. I got initiative and went to work.

The Student walked and teleported Ashes closer to the fray in the middle. Ashes teleports Blood, buffs her, and unleashes her into the back area of his crew. I couldn't quite reach Phillip but got a few models taken down leaving Phillip vulnerable and not many models capable of killing Blood. 

There was a scuffle in the middle, but ultimately I didn't lose anyone. My Winged Plague ran up the right for Leave Your Mark, while the other one picked up the enemy marker and chased down the Crooligan to deny VP again.

Turn three saw the death of Phillip and me scoring for A Quick Murder, as well as a few other casualties. I had forgotten to take pictures at this point so I don't recall much. In the end the Hodgepodge had to replace the Winged Plague at scheme running because the Belle was doing a good job at denial, and the Hodgepodge was doing an excellent job at it. That guy is just so darn mobile in this crew and makes scheme running a breeze, not to mention the utility he brings to the crew.

At the end of turn 4 the game was over, I had won 7-5, with him surprising me by getting Dig Their Graves and Leave Your Mark. Considering I had his crew on the ropes for most of the game he had made it a much closer game than I would have anticipated on turn one.

Game 2

Flank
Guard the Stash

• Claim Jump
• Frame For Murder
• Accusation!
• Covert Breakthrough
• Mark For Death

Opponent: Hans (Lilith Neverborn)

Glorious!

So I had only taken one picture of this game, but it was a memorable one! I was facing Lilith, a bane for this list as Dreads has knocked my confidence of this match up. On top of that he was using Wicked Vines as his main ability, something I've never seen myself on the table but have read about. I ended up choosing Frame For Murder (Blood) thinking Lilith will certainly kill her, as well as Covert Breakthrough considering how close the deployment zones are in Flank Deployment.

We both creeped to the center, while Lilith used Tangled Shadows to place my Winged Plague near her and killed him for Mark For Death, which wasn't a good start. He also started placing markers from the Mysterious Emissary that would injure me when on or nearby. I could tell he was trying to bottleneck me from having a direct route to Lilith, and Lilith placed her forest markers right next to the Stash marker making it even harder to approach her.

On turn two he moved closer and bogged up my left lane up the center with Depleted. He placed more markers on the right center lane in front of my Viks to keep them from coming closer. When Lilith activated she managed to get Wicked Vines on both my Viktorias which was super frustrating, but when I asked about the ability he mentioned that the condition would go away if they're pushed which was something I forgot. When I heard that I remembered why Dreads prefers Tangle Shadows over Wicked Vines and had to do some clever stuff to get out of it. I had Big Jake charge Ashes to get his trigger to push her 3" getting rid of her Wicked Vines. Then I had the Hodgepodge use his (0) to push Blood 3" and both sisters were free to move, if a little bloodied by the end of it. I think Blood had 2 HP left while Ashes had 4, it was a bit scary.

With my sisters free I decided to go around the markers he made, something that surprised him as he didn't expect that mobility. Ashes, being pushed from Big Jake toward the left-center, moved and teleported Blood to the left side and buffed her damage. Blood, who was given Fast by the Student, let loose and Whirlwinded right into his main crew. This resulted in bloody glory, as Blood managed to kill the Emissary, two Changelings, a Tot (I think) and LILITH.

Yes, I finally managed to kill Lilith, which is a tall order to fill considering how hard Lilith is to kill traditionally.

In the end, though, it wasn't enough and I lost 8-9. It was mostly due to screw ups on my part because I was so focused on killing Lilith that I made some dumb decisions that made me miss some Strategy VP for being out of position. Had I just made some clear decisions with Hannah and the Hodgepodge I would have gotten all my VP and won the game, or at least tie it. Oh well, lessons learned, and dead Lilith.

Game 3

Close

Reconnoiter

• Claim Jump
• Eliminate the Leadership
• Accusation!
• Search the Ruins
• Undercover Entourage

Opponent: Josh (Marcus Arcanists)

This is gonna get messy...

My last game proved to be very interesting. With Close deployment I saw an advantage, but then he decided to use Marcus and I saw that Close can work for either of us and would come down to positioning and initiative. While I was very comfortable with my crew and he was unfamiliar with Viks I felt more confident but still wary. He initially had his crew right on the line all bunched up, but then asked me what my crew did and decided to spread out rightfully. Because I chose Eliminate the Leadership and Search The Ruins I knew it would be a toss up if I didn't kill Marcus fast, and I was really relying on the Hodgepodge living long enough to place markers for Search the Ruins.

Marcus' ridiculous walk range...

With close deployment I knew the action was going to start right away, and after a few moves to throw out activations we started getting to it. He moved Cojo right into my lines with Marcus in tow close behind to the right. I threw Blood right into them, killed Cojo, but didn't manage to hurt Marcus as he passed off all the damage onto his nearby friendlies. As predicted, this game is going to go down to initiative.

Needless to say I lost initiative... 

Long story short, Marcus killed Blood. I thought I had the resources to weather the storm, I had 3 stones for damage prevention, the Red Joker to stop at least one attack, positives to defense to have him cheat first for the most part, everything was in order. In his last attack I had only two damage left and flipped the Black Joker for damage prevention. If only a moderate card showed up, which was a decent chance considering my hand and how many weak cards were flipped, I would have lived through it and just went to town. Alas, it didn't, and I had to become creative.

I had Ashes eventually get in there and do the work Blood usually did. She managed to kill Marcus at the end of turn two. Throughout the game I had dominated Reconnoiter, something I don't think I would have been able to do without the Hodgepodge and Big Jake - the newest additions to my Viks crew. 

Despite losing Blood early on I managed to get a win 7-3! It was a great game full of surprises, with our best fights happening to our worst models - a Winged Plague and Jackalope were flipping face cards like it was going out of style.

At the end of the tournament I found that I had reached 3rd place, not bad at all! I used my store credit to buy more Descent stuff, for some reason I'd reawakened my love for the game and want to get it on the table.

Speaking of Descent...

I've finally started to get this game organized and easier to get on the table. I consolidated all my Descent stuff, putting expansion cards and stuff with my main box and got all the minis together. I took a container I bought with this idea in mind, cut some magnetic sheets I bought a while back on Amazon for cheap, and placed it in the container. The sheet is adhesive so no gluing was needed.

I had the idea to put some small rare earth magnets on the bottom of the bases, but saw that it would be more of a chore than I anticipated. I'd need to drill holes for every model to place the magnets, and it didn't seem to be a strong magnet considering how small it was. Being that a bigger magnet wouldn't be as universal depending on the model size and it would elevate the base way more than I wanted I had to think of a better solution. I remembered seeing people use washers, and it was kind of like how I used nickels for my old Orks, and thought that would be a good solution. I traced each different sized base and went to Home Depot, bought some washers and glued them on.

Success!

It worked like a charm! I've got most of the models magnetized, but the ones I bought for the heroes turned out to be too large and I'll have to figure out a different sized washer for them. The big models have warped bases, which normally don't matter for the smaller bases but these ones look like floppy pizzas. I'll have to fix them before I place washers on them in order for the base to be flush with the washers.

I really want to get working on these guys because I absolutely love this game, it's by far my favorite board game and is the closest offering to a light RPG as I've seen. The rules are very approachable and every game has a memorable moment. I'll keep this blog posted as to my progress, I feel that this project will have me much more motivated to finish than usual!

Until next time, keep gaming!