Bristol Vanguard's first Malifaux event
Previously in Tournament Reports.
"We didn't go away empty handed though as Aaron won Best Painted."
...
"Well while the top players were busy I almost snuck in a tournament victory, I was very happy with this result, especially as I didn't expect much from this event, really thinking it would be a warm up."
...
My crew was:
Hmm, this crew hits as hard as mine and the Rider I had feeling would be targeted by the Mature if I gave David the chance.
Breakthrough was revealed by both of us, with Close deployment you do not have to go far to drop the marker.
We also both had a hidden scheme, I decided that I would have the Rogue Necromancy Vendetta Teddy. Hoping to get an early shot for a locked in 1VP and aim for 3 but take the 2 if push came to shove.
With a hidden scheme I guessed that Teddy or the Nephilim would have Vendetta on Mechanical Rider.
I lost the flip for deployment, I kept the Rider on a flank and the rest was in Myranda's bubble all 12" on and ready to fight.
The thing of note from David's deployment was the Mature mirroring the Rider (though it had a Tot friend). At this point I took that as an indication that the Mature was picking the Rider to kill.
Due to the fear of Vendetta I started the game with the Rider actually running towards (and behind) the bubble of Beasts, if the Mature was coming I wanted it to get stuck fighting something else first and hopefully never killing the Rider.
Unfortunately for me, Teddy was hidden and David did not activate it until the Rogue Necromancy had to go, even with a beautiful shot on an Illuminated I simply moved, I really wanted to lock this VP in.
David's Neverborn kept their distance early avoiding the Dawn Serpents breath and opting to shoot with the Illuminated.
The Tot sprinted and dropped a marker and it was on to pretty much the deciding point of the game.
The second turn.
Teddy, Myranda, Marcus, an Illuminated, the Dawn Serpent, another Illuminated, the Rogue Necromancy and eventually Lilith all got involved in one big scrap.
Unfortunately the Neverborn master turned the tide, I had got my first VP for Vendetta but the low defense three-headed undead beast was bested.
Marcus attempting to save Myranda used Alpha on her, and rather than turning into a Sabertooth instantly I went to attack the Teddy.
I failed the Terrifying check, I didn't have the card to pass, what a waste, what a mistake.
This little pile of fighting continued into turn 2 and as the Mature at one point got involved and never revealed a scheme I crossed my fingers that the (now dead) Teddy had either chose the Rider.
David scored the VP for Strategy on 2, Marcus killing 2 Illuminated in a single activation allowed me to tie and hold us both from scoring on 3.
The Tot continued to sprint and drop markers, the Jackalope failing to Leap every time to charge the baby.
Eventually Mechanical Rider gave it ago but the Tot's df6 and my low card flipping meant that it's marker dropping days were not over.
As the ruckus continued the Dawn Serpent had been slain as had the Cat form of Myranda.
With Marcus alone and the Mechanical Rider being held back it was up to him to "tactically retreat" and go place markers where David would not have time to remove them.
As we were in turn 4 the Mechanical Rider all but killed the Mature, I would easily take it's final wound in the last turn and Marcus was in "the top left" corner right by David himself.
Unfortunately time had kept me from a decent score here and David revealed his hidden scheme.
Plant Evidence.
I never suspected it, the Tot had successfully placed five markers to score 6VP in schemes, without the extra turn Marcus was prepared but had not placed his and Mechanical Rider could not obtain another VP for a victorious slaughter.
"This weekend was another corker and due to great Saturday night and I guess my strong result on the first day as well as Ben making (but unfortunately not winning) the Masters finals it was one of the best I have had"
The Night before and travelling to Bristol
Liam Hall and his Vanguard are based in Bristol, for those as bad at Geography as me Bristol is about a two hour drive from Poole.
This was amazing.
Not only did it mean the event was a lot cheaper it would be one of the very few times that myself and the Western part of SMP (joined by Mike Asquith) could just leave and return from an event in the same day.
With being so close I stayed at Jan and Aaron's the night before to make lifts easier and got a little practice in, well, a single game of Collect the Bounty which I had not yet played.
I managed to beat Aaron although his deck was his best friend and I felt that I had a decent grip on the Strategy.
Having the schemes and strategies announced prior to the event made for a different and very interesting lead up experience.
Creating a pool knowing exactly what the games would be meant in the end I "reverse engineered" my hundred soul stone list based on 4 lists and a sprinkle of "just in case".
Not sure this is the way to go, I know Ben Crowe for example didn't approve or schemes being revealed a head of time, but I commend Liam for trying it out and it saved me lots of time on the day, only one game did I not get 5 turns in.
This was amazing.
Not only did it mean the event was a lot cheaper it would be one of the very few times that myself and the Western part of SMP (joined by Mike Asquith) could just leave and return from an event in the same day.
With being so close I stayed at Jan and Aaron's the night before to make lifts easier and got a little practice in, well, a single game of Collect the Bounty which I had not yet played.
I managed to beat Aaron although his deck was his best friend and I felt that I had a decent grip on the Strategy.
Having the schemes and strategies announced prior to the event made for a different and very interesting lead up experience.
Creating a pool knowing exactly what the games would be meant in the end I "reverse engineered" my hundred soul stone list based on 4 lists and a sprinkle of "just in case".
Not sure this is the way to go, I know Ben Crowe for example didn't approve or schemes being revealed a head of time, but I commend Liam for trying it out and it saved me lots of time on the day, only one game did I not get 5 turns in.
Marcus' Pool
As this was a 100ss fixed master pool event I should explain what I took with me here:
- Marcus
- Imbued Energies
- Imbued Protection
- Arcane Reservoir
- The Trail of the Gods
- Feral Instincts
- Seize the Day
- Jackalope
- Myranda
- Mechanical Rider
- Moleman
- 2 Silurids
- 2 Night Terrors
- 2 Canine Remains
- Arcane Effigy
- Johana
- December Acolyte
- Dawn Serpent
- Rogue Necromancy
The list is 100ss, having to pay for mercenary tax but not duplicate upgrades.
Originally I had a single soulstone miner in the list for Stake a Claim, but being Flank deployment it wouldn't prove the best for it.
I would speak about my thought process with lists, but as I took exactly what I expected each round I can do that later. So let's get on with the event.
Originally I had a single soulstone miner in the list for Stake a Claim, but being Flank deployment it wouldn't prove the best for it.
I would speak about my thought process with lists, but as I took exactly what I expected each round I can do that later. So let's get on with the event.
Round 1
Liam had actually already posted the first round pairings on twitter, the funny thing is I would travel to end up playing the gentleman who was driving me.
Mike Asquith.
Now Mike is fairly new, I was the one who demoed him so all in all this should be an "easy win".
I didn't go in expecting to lose but I knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park.
Mike was fielding Ramos and the Strategy and Schemes were as follows:
Mike Asquith.
Now Mike is fairly new, I was the one who demoed him so all in all this should be an "easy win".
I didn't go in expecting to lose but I knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park.
Mike was fielding Ramos and the Strategy and Schemes were as follows:
- Headhunter, Standard Deployment, 50ss
- A Line in the Sand
- Distract
- Cursed Object
- Breakthrough
- Spring the Trap
This was a fantastic scheme pool for Ramos. I also knew that Mike had a pair of Soulstone Miners.
He announced Breakthrough (obviously the Miner's job) and had a hidden scheme. This had to be Distract or Cursed Object in my mind, most likely the latter.
My crew was:
- Marcus
- Arcane Reservoir, Trail of the Gods, Seize the Day
- Myranda
- Imbued Energies
- Mechanical Rider
- Imbued Energies
- Dawn Serpent
- 2 Silurids
- 4 Soulstone Cache
Mike's Crew was something like:
- Ramos
- Arcane Reservoir, Combat Mechanic, Electric Summoning
- Electrical Creation
- Howard Langston
- Imbued Energies
- 3 Metal Gamin
- 2 Soulstone Miners
- 7 Soulstone Cache
Howard is scary, but was really the only thing I expected would kill any of my crew unless I got aggressive with Silurids.
The only other fear was quadruple magnetism against Mechanical Rider, I knew I would have to deploy on a flank and be prepared to run away if I deployed first.
I had also declared Breakthrough and had a hidden scheme, mine was Spring the Trap.
I knew Ramos could potentially magnetism away, but he would help by killing his crew for me if so, also Ramos is pretty slow other wise and I had the means to keep pumping out markers.
Luckily Mike lost the deployment flip so had spread his gamin out. I deployed Mechanical Rider in some trees opposite Ramos ready to take advantage of the scheme marker dropping trigger from the Chain Spear.
The rest of the crew was in Myranda's defense bubble bar possibly a Silurid on a flank behind some blocking terrain.
Mike had Howard fairly central, and I knew that my best bet would be to bait him into a fight and wipe him out in a single turn.
I set the bait, it was the Dawn Serpent, with Myranda's help and then Alpha too activate again and regain wounds Howard who had blown his energies upgrade turn 1 to get the dragon, he destroyed my hand a bit and I even had to drop stones, but not my models.
Marcus then used the Bear and Snake forms to hit Howard consistently "4 damage" "minus one for armour so 3"... repeat this 4 times, dead Langston.
With Big H being dealt with, Mike's main offense was gone and I knew that meant it would be a lot harder for him to score Strategy points without some trickery.
As the game continued pretty much everything went to plan. Mechanical Rider shot at Ramos to drop two scheme markers while a leaping Silurid dropped the third to score my full Spring the Trap points.
My Beasts continued to smash there way through Mike's tiny constructs, before dying though Mike's arachnids out numbering me were still able to hand over Cursed Objects.
Mike was smart, never wasting AP he had to give more people objects making it impossible for me to completely deny him the scheme and 3VP.
The Sabertooth was embarrassing on one turn as it couldn't kill a Metal Gamin and Marcus with extra combat AP and extra damage also couldn't kill another who was heading towards my deployment for Mike's Breakthrough.
As the game got into turn 4, Mike finally had his two Miners appear. An interesting tactic and one that would definitely give him a great chance to score his Breakthrough.
Mike made a big mistake here though, attempting to avoid Marcus and possibly my Dawn Serpent he put both Miners quite close together.
Mechanical Rider had not used it's Energies yet.
This allowed me to charge and engage both, I however also made a mistake, letting one escape with Mike cheating a Red Joker when I also had one in hand (6 vs 5 on stats). There was nothing else the RJ needed to do and this allowed Mike to secure an extra VP I could have denied him.
With my crew picking apart Mike's and the summoned Gamin all leaving markers behind I secured my full 10 VP. Mike in all the commotion was still able to use Ramos to grab Heads too and got himself a few points, but not enough to tie with me.
Win 10-7
10-7 is a nice win, in a sense I was fairly happy not to smash Mike 10-0 or something, closer games are much more fun and my last round 1 10-0 didn't work out well for me.
The only other fear was quadruple magnetism against Mechanical Rider, I knew I would have to deploy on a flank and be prepared to run away if I deployed first.
I had also declared Breakthrough and had a hidden scheme, mine was Spring the Trap.
I knew Ramos could potentially magnetism away, but he would help by killing his crew for me if so, also Ramos is pretty slow other wise and I had the means to keep pumping out markers.
Luckily Mike lost the deployment flip so had spread his gamin out. I deployed Mechanical Rider in some trees opposite Ramos ready to take advantage of the scheme marker dropping trigger from the Chain Spear.
The rest of the crew was in Myranda's defense bubble bar possibly a Silurid on a flank behind some blocking terrain.
Mike had Howard fairly central, and I knew that my best bet would be to bait him into a fight and wipe him out in a single turn.
I set the bait, it was the Dawn Serpent, with Myranda's help and then Alpha too activate again and regain wounds Howard who had blown his energies upgrade turn 1 to get the dragon, he destroyed my hand a bit and I even had to drop stones, but not my models.
Marcus then used the Bear and Snake forms to hit Howard consistently "4 damage" "minus one for armour so 3"... repeat this 4 times, dead Langston.
With Big H being dealt with, Mike's main offense was gone and I knew that meant it would be a lot harder for him to score Strategy points without some trickery.
As the game continued pretty much everything went to plan. Mechanical Rider shot at Ramos to drop two scheme markers while a leaping Silurid dropped the third to score my full Spring the Trap points.
My Beasts continued to smash there way through Mike's tiny constructs, before dying though Mike's arachnids out numbering me were still able to hand over Cursed Objects.
Mike was smart, never wasting AP he had to give more people objects making it impossible for me to completely deny him the scheme and 3VP.
The Sabertooth was embarrassing on one turn as it couldn't kill a Metal Gamin and Marcus with extra combat AP and extra damage also couldn't kill another who was heading towards my deployment for Mike's Breakthrough.
As the game got into turn 4, Mike finally had his two Miners appear. An interesting tactic and one that would definitely give him a great chance to score his Breakthrough.
Mike made a big mistake here though, attempting to avoid Marcus and possibly my Dawn Serpent he put both Miners quite close together.
Mechanical Rider had not used it's Energies yet.
This allowed me to charge and engage both, I however also made a mistake, letting one escape with Mike cheating a Red Joker when I also had one in hand (6 vs 5 on stats). There was nothing else the RJ needed to do and this allowed Mike to secure an extra VP I could have denied him.
With my crew picking apart Mike's and the summoned Gamin all leaving markers behind I secured my full 10 VP. Mike in all the commotion was still able to use Ramos to grab Heads too and got himself a few points, but not enough to tie with me.
Win 10-7
10-7 is a nice win, in a sense I was fairly happy not to smash Mike 10-0 or something, closer games are much more fun and my last round 1 10-0 didn't work out well for me.
Round 2
My next opponent would be the lovely Mr BendyBoards himself, the svelte Lee Battrick:
- Reconnoitre, Corner Deployment, 50ss
- A Line in the Sand
- Assassinate
- Bodyguard
- Take Prisoner
- Plant Explosives
My crew was:
- Marcus
- Arcane Reservoir, Seize the Day, The Trail of the Gods
- Jackalope
- Myranda
- Imbued Energies
- Mechanical Rider
- Imbued Energies
- 2 Canine Remains
- 2 Night Terrors
- Moleman
- Arcane Effigy
- 4 Soulstone Cache
Lee's Crew was something like:
- Seamus
- 2 Rotten Belles
- Madame Sybelle
- 2 Necropunks
- Flesh Construct
- 2 Canine Remains
- Soulstones and Upgrades
My crews plan was simple, lot and lots of little beasts to go hide in corners and win Strategy while Mechanical Rider did the same and would be my Bodyguard.
With Lee not having Mad Haberdashery I wrote Assassinate down immediately, Marcus and Myranda (with possibly help from the Jackalope) would fire straight into Lee's crew, carving a path through his models to help me further out number him and eventually kill Seamus.
From my single practice game I realised that the two Canine's should head the same direction, as they would help each other with poison.
The Moleman would follow but stay close to my original quarter and a single Night Terror would threaten Lee's.
A similar contingent headed the other way, dog, Arcane Effigy (doing the same as Moley) a Night Terror and Mechanical Rider acting very cagey.
Myranda though, she acted far from cagey as I ran directly into the centre of the board.
I knew there was a risk and I hoped that Lee would activate Seamus before he did as the main thing I was afraid of was that man's gun.
Still with Df7 and stones I had faith Myranda could survive and that she did.
My Myranda missile was a success and Marcus was able to join in.
Lee used stones and cards to avoid Seamus' death, hoping that some failed Wp duel my side could heal him into a somewhat healthy state.
Unfortunately, a enhanced Marcus and Three-headed Sabertooth Cat are enough to take almost anything down.
It took my entire hand (which the Flesh Construct enjoyed) but I locked in 3 VP for Assassinate and also importantly kept a lot Lee's crew boxed into his corner locking me in VP for Strategy and denying his.
This game, which I was unsure about due to not playing Lee before, Recon without Ramos and Seamus a master I have not faced much meant initially I didn't have faith it would be going this well.
However, this game, it highlighted an important lesson. Have a plan.
This game was going pretty much as well as I could ever hope for, it was "how I wrote it up".
Lee continued to try and push forwards, a canine remain killed by Ramos and another taken by my pack.
The Necropunks pressed forwards but this was not enough and the Jackalope also attempted to run interference.
The Effigy and Moleman did a little dance each turn making sure I held on to VP and the pile of Gamin Mechanical Rider had made kept him surrounded and safe for me to lock in my other scheme.
Sybelle had been fairly useful throughout the game, allowing the Lure of the Belles to be too much and get him his full 3VP for Plant Explosives.
In the final turns of the game she had a good go at Marcus.
With the Rotten Belles even getting their nails in it felt like a last desperate attempt at Assassinate from Lee.
Turn 4, Sybelle engaged with a battered and bruised Marcus. "She'll pass".
Take Prisoner, Lee had tricked me, but not remembering the rules for the full 3VP didn't finish of a single wound Night Terror and only scored 2.
With time not being my friend we didn't get our 5th turn and I couldn't get the full 10 twice in a row.
I had scored as much at the point as I could and though Lee had locked in a similar amount of VP for his schemes I didn't allow him to score a single VP for Recon.
Win 8-5
Outnumbering Lee was the key, and as a funny aside, maybe the only reason Lee and I couldn't fit all five turns in (that and the amount of activations) was originally Lee had only selected and deployed 40ss.
I did think his crew looked small, but I wasn't certain. Lee checked and I obviously allowed him to deploy the extras. A very funny thing to happen, but another reason I tend to use "The Breach" app on my phone as I know I'd end up doing something similar.
Lee was a great opponent and at the time I was meant to have him as my round 1 opponent the following week at Isle of Faux, Spoiler, Lee couldn't come due to other commitments which was a shame but I hope to give him a chance at redemption in the future.
With Lee not having Mad Haberdashery I wrote Assassinate down immediately, Marcus and Myranda (with possibly help from the Jackalope) would fire straight into Lee's crew, carving a path through his models to help me further out number him and eventually kill Seamus.
From my single practice game I realised that the two Canine's should head the same direction, as they would help each other with poison.
The Moleman would follow but stay close to my original quarter and a single Night Terror would threaten Lee's.
A similar contingent headed the other way, dog, Arcane Effigy (doing the same as Moley) a Night Terror and Mechanical Rider acting very cagey.
Myranda though, she acted far from cagey as I ran directly into the centre of the board.
I knew there was a risk and I hoped that Lee would activate Seamus before he did as the main thing I was afraid of was that man's gun.
Still with Df7 and stones I had faith Myranda could survive and that she did.
My Myranda missile was a success and Marcus was able to join in.
Lee used stones and cards to avoid Seamus' death, hoping that some failed Wp duel my side could heal him into a somewhat healthy state.
Unfortunately, a enhanced Marcus and Three-headed Sabertooth Cat are enough to take almost anything down.
It took my entire hand (which the Flesh Construct enjoyed) but I locked in 3 VP for Assassinate and also importantly kept a lot Lee's crew boxed into his corner locking me in VP for Strategy and denying his.
This game, which I was unsure about due to not playing Lee before, Recon without Ramos and Seamus a master I have not faced much meant initially I didn't have faith it would be going this well.
However, this game, it highlighted an important lesson. Have a plan.
This game was going pretty much as well as I could ever hope for, it was "how I wrote it up".
Lee continued to try and push forwards, a canine remain killed by Ramos and another taken by my pack.
The Necropunks pressed forwards but this was not enough and the Jackalope also attempted to run interference.
The Effigy and Moleman did a little dance each turn making sure I held on to VP and the pile of Gamin Mechanical Rider had made kept him surrounded and safe for me to lock in my other scheme.
Sybelle had been fairly useful throughout the game, allowing the Lure of the Belles to be too much and get him his full 3VP for Plant Explosives.
In the final turns of the game she had a good go at Marcus.
With the Rotten Belles even getting their nails in it felt like a last desperate attempt at Assassinate from Lee.
Turn 4, Sybelle engaged with a battered and bruised Marcus. "She'll pass".
Take Prisoner, Lee had tricked me, but not remembering the rules for the full 3VP didn't finish of a single wound Night Terror and only scored 2.
With time not being my friend we didn't get our 5th turn and I couldn't get the full 10 twice in a row.
I had scored as much at the point as I could and though Lee had locked in a similar amount of VP for his schemes I didn't allow him to score a single VP for Recon.
Win 8-5
Outnumbering Lee was the key, and as a funny aside, maybe the only reason Lee and I couldn't fit all five turns in (that and the amount of activations) was originally Lee had only selected and deployed 40ss.
I did think his crew looked small, but I wasn't certain. Lee checked and I obviously allowed him to deploy the extras. A very funny thing to happen, but another reason I tend to use "The Breach" app on my phone as I know I'd end up doing something similar.
Lee was a great opponent and at the time I was meant to have him as my round 1 opponent the following week at Isle of Faux, Spoiler, Lee couldn't come due to other commitments which was a shame but I hope to give him a chance at redemption in the future.
A Huge Pot of Yum
Bristol Independent Gaming was a great venue and lunch was held in what will be the main gaming hall.
This bit was huge and I look forward to what people like Liam will host there in the future.
Lunch was simple yet effective. Chilli Con Carne.
A genius way to fill a big group of gamers belly, a big bowl of tortilla chips a huge vat of tasty chilli and a lovely bowel of grated cheese. Plates, forks, help yourself. Beautiful.
In the hall was also a throne, I had a sit even though I was doubtful I would be King of anything.
This bit was huge and I look forward to what people like Liam will host there in the future.
Lunch was simple yet effective. Chilli Con Carne.
A genius way to fill a big group of gamers belly, a big bowl of tortilla chips a huge vat of tasty chilli and a lovely bowel of grated cheese. Plates, forks, help yourself. Beautiful.
In the hall was also a throne, I had a sit even though I was doubtful I would be King of anything.
Round 3
Back from lunch and time to play a new opponent.
David Edgerton-Smith who would be playing Neverborn:
David Edgerton-Smith who would be playing Neverborn:
- Collect the Bounty, Close Deployment, 50ss
- A Line in the Sand
- Breakthrough
- Distract
- Vendetta
- Plant Evidence
My crew would be quite different from the last game:
- Marcus
- Arcane Reservoir, Seize the Day, The Trail of the Gods
- Jackalope
- Myranda
- Imbued Energies
- Mechanical Rider
- Imbued Energies
- Rogue Necromancy
- Imbued Protection
- Dawn Serpent
- 4 Soulstone Cache
Unfortunately for me, David wasn't just running Neverborn, the faction I believe I have the least experience against, but he was running the killer Lilith in a killer strategy, something roughly like:
- Lilith
- at least Living Blade
- Cherub
- Terror Tot
- Mature Nephilim
- Retribution's Eye
- Teddy
- 2 Illuminated
- Stones and Upgrades
Hmm, this crew hits as hard as mine and the Rider I had feeling would be targeted by the Mature if I gave David the chance.
Breakthrough was revealed by both of us, with Close deployment you do not have to go far to drop the marker.
We also both had a hidden scheme, I decided that I would have the Rogue Necromancy Vendetta Teddy. Hoping to get an early shot for a locked in 1VP and aim for 3 but take the 2 if push came to shove.
With a hidden scheme I guessed that Teddy or the Nephilim would have Vendetta on Mechanical Rider.
I lost the flip for deployment, I kept the Rider on a flank and the rest was in Myranda's bubble all 12" on and ready to fight.
The thing of note from David's deployment was the Mature mirroring the Rider (though it had a Tot friend). At this point I took that as an indication that the Mature was picking the Rider to kill.
Due to the fear of Vendetta I started the game with the Rider actually running towards (and behind) the bubble of Beasts, if the Mature was coming I wanted it to get stuck fighting something else first and hopefully never killing the Rider.
Unfortunately for me, Teddy was hidden and David did not activate it until the Rogue Necromancy had to go, even with a beautiful shot on an Illuminated I simply moved, I really wanted to lock this VP in.
David's Neverborn kept their distance early avoiding the Dawn Serpents breath and opting to shoot with the Illuminated.
The Tot sprinted and dropped a marker and it was on to pretty much the deciding point of the game.
The second turn.
Teddy, Myranda, Marcus, an Illuminated, the Dawn Serpent, another Illuminated, the Rogue Necromancy and eventually Lilith all got involved in one big scrap.
Unfortunately the Neverborn master turned the tide, I had got my first VP for Vendetta but the low defense three-headed undead beast was bested.
Marcus attempting to save Myranda used Alpha on her, and rather than turning into a Sabertooth instantly I went to attack the Teddy.
I failed the Terrifying check, I didn't have the card to pass, what a waste, what a mistake.
This little pile of fighting continued into turn 2 and as the Mature at one point got involved and never revealed a scheme I crossed my fingers that the (now dead) Teddy had either chose the Rider.
David scored the VP for Strategy on 2, Marcus killing 2 Illuminated in a single activation allowed me to tie and hold us both from scoring on 3.
The Tot continued to sprint and drop markers, the Jackalope failing to Leap every time to charge the baby.
Eventually Mechanical Rider gave it ago but the Tot's df6 and my low card flipping meant that it's marker dropping days were not over.
As the ruckus continued the Dawn Serpent had been slain as had the Cat form of Myranda.
With Marcus alone and the Mechanical Rider being held back it was up to him to "tactically retreat" and go place markers where David would not have time to remove them.
As we were in turn 4 the Mechanical Rider all but killed the Mature, I would easily take it's final wound in the last turn and Marcus was in "the top left" corner right by David himself.
Unfortunately time had kept me from a decent score here and David revealed his hidden scheme.
Plant Evidence.
I never suspected it, the Tot had successfully placed five markers to score 6VP in schemes, without the extra turn Marcus was prepared but had not placed his and Mechanical Rider could not obtain another VP for a victorious slaughter.
Loss 7-2
Never afraid to speak the truth I have a couple of complaints about this game.
First off, I have nothing against David personally, he came across like a nice chap and gave a little banter, however he seemed on edge all the time, like I was trying game him or something.
Maybe I was getting negative vibes that were not there.
During one of the first turns David took a trigger that was built in, but he never declared it and I was unaware of it.
Now triggers don't need to be declared until totals are decided but I feel it's good etiquette to say.
If you disagree that is fair. However taking your trigger once you've dealt damage but you never declared it is against the rules.
"It's built in" is fair enough, but you still need to declare.
I told David this, in a polite and friendly manner, I said I didn't mind but "for future reference"...
He did not seem to like this and considering if I were to play by the book and not be a reasonable person I could have him not get the trigger. I wouldn't do that though.
The thing I need to have a little whine about (yes, get out your tiny violin) is time.
David is fairly new to the tournament scene I believe so he may not know about the ongoing conversation about time.
I will also say that I do not believe he was a slow player.
However I feel I should've spoke up. David broke his Mature Nephilim during crew selection.
While the round was going he looked for glue and spent time fixing his model. This ate into the round.
I say, just ask if you can use the base for the moment. Nobody in their right mind is going to say "no, I won't let you use that model you just broke".
David also went to the toilet during the round, sometimes nature calls and I cannot take that against him, but considering the time already wasted and that he (rightfully) looked at my cards quite often (I applaud this, do this if you don't know your opponents stuff people) he ate into a good chunk of the round, easily enough time to get us our full 5 turns.
Now I will say it here as I did on SMP Radio, I still think even with an extra turn I lose.
However 7-2 is very different to 7-5 for example.
Yes "it is only toy soldiers" and this has hardly made me want to quit, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
I do not begrudge David, I hope to get a rematch against him sometime, he seemed a very capable and tactically minded guy, but unfortunately he was an example of a few things not to do during a tournament game.
With a loss I was not going to go and sit on the throne downstairs again, but I would still hope to secure myself a positive record.
I stared at the Best Arcanist trophy as the one thing I could get but I realised that many people were above me, most notable Martin Wodehouse who is the "Best Arcanist" in the UK Malifaux rankings and he was on three wins.
At this point I will quickly cover where the rest of SMP were.
Ben was, to no one's surprise on three wins.
Aaron was on two wins and a draw (his draw also on two wins and playing Arcanists).
Oz who had taken a loss to Aaron was on 1-2
Jan with his Gremlins trying to stop Oz from winning best in faction was on 2-1.
Never afraid to speak the truth I have a couple of complaints about this game.
First off, I have nothing against David personally, he came across like a nice chap and gave a little banter, however he seemed on edge all the time, like I was trying game him or something.
Maybe I was getting negative vibes that were not there.
During one of the first turns David took a trigger that was built in, but he never declared it and I was unaware of it.
Now triggers don't need to be declared until totals are decided but I feel it's good etiquette to say.
If you disagree that is fair. However taking your trigger once you've dealt damage but you never declared it is against the rules.
"It's built in" is fair enough, but you still need to declare.
I told David this, in a polite and friendly manner, I said I didn't mind but "for future reference"...
He did not seem to like this and considering if I were to play by the book and not be a reasonable person I could have him not get the trigger. I wouldn't do that though.
The thing I need to have a little whine about (yes, get out your tiny violin) is time.
David is fairly new to the tournament scene I believe so he may not know about the ongoing conversation about time.
I will also say that I do not believe he was a slow player.
However I feel I should've spoke up. David broke his Mature Nephilim during crew selection.
While the round was going he looked for glue and spent time fixing his model. This ate into the round.
I say, just ask if you can use the base for the moment. Nobody in their right mind is going to say "no, I won't let you use that model you just broke".
David also went to the toilet during the round, sometimes nature calls and I cannot take that against him, but considering the time already wasted and that he (rightfully) looked at my cards quite often (I applaud this, do this if you don't know your opponents stuff people) he ate into a good chunk of the round, easily enough time to get us our full 5 turns.
Now I will say it here as I did on SMP Radio, I still think even with an extra turn I lose.
However 7-2 is very different to 7-5 for example.
Yes "it is only toy soldiers" and this has hardly made me want to quit, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
I do not begrudge David, I hope to get a rematch against him sometime, he seemed a very capable and tactically minded guy, but unfortunately he was an example of a few things not to do during a tournament game.
With a loss I was not going to go and sit on the throne downstairs again, but I would still hope to secure myself a positive record.
I stared at the Best Arcanist trophy as the one thing I could get but I realised that many people were above me, most notable Martin Wodehouse who is the "Best Arcanist" in the UK Malifaux rankings and he was on three wins.
At this point I will quickly cover where the rest of SMP were.
Ben was, to no one's surprise on three wins.
Aaron was on two wins and a draw (his draw also on two wins and playing Arcanists).
Oz who had taken a loss to Aaron was on 1-2
Jan with his Gremlins trying to stop Oz from winning best in faction was on 2-1.
Round 4
Last round of the day, Stake a Claim, a favourite of mine with Marcus.
Who would I be against?
Jan.
Sorry mate.
Who would I be against?
Jan.
Sorry mate.
- Stake a Claim, Flank Deployment, 50ss
- A Line in the Sand
- Protect Territory
- Breakthrough
- Frame for Murder
- Outflank
My Crew
- Marcus
- Arcane Reservoir, Seize the Day, The Trail of the Gods
- Jackalope
- Myranda
- Imbued Energies
- Mechanical Rider
- Imbued Energies
- 2 Silurids
- Canine Remain
- Moleman
- 4 Soulstone Cache
Jan's Crew was something like:
- Somer Teeth Jones
- Encouragement
- Family Tree
- 2 Bayou Gremlins
- Burt Jebsen
- Dirty Cheater
- Lenny
- Lightning Bug
- Merris LaCroix
- Rami LaCroix
- Slop Hauler
- 4 Soulstone Cache
I was surprised Jan wasn't using his new favourite toy here, the Pigapult.
Not as an offensive weapon but as a Gremlin firing device which would make it a lot more difficult for me to take 4VP for Strategy.
We both revealed Breakthrough, I also had Protect Territory and Jan had a hidden scheme.
My assumption from previous games was Frame for Murder on Merris.
I have triple walked and attacked her with Marcus in many games before. He and I both know her importance, especially with the Strategy and Breakthrough.
I do not want to be horrible, but this game was a dismantling.
Jan knows I am fairly confident with this Strategy and I had nothing to fear.
I joked he should just give me the win and we go and chill. Obviously and thankfully Jan refused and took me on.
Early doors Jan made a questionable move with Rami being deployed 18*9 on, as I deployed second I put Mechanical Rider in the nearest corner of my flank 18*9 and the first turn used fast to charge, kill Rami and place a marker. Rami had at least killed a Moleman before his time.
For a few minutes I did wonder if Jan had baited me into a Frame for Murder.
I was game, as this would only be 2VP and I'd still be far a head, also a dead Rami is better than a live and kicking one for me.
Mechanical Rider would be gunned down eventually, by the Bayou Boss himself, but not before killing the Lightning Bug and placing yet more scheme markers. A glorious death.
It wasn't Jan's "sucker" and the game continued on, Silurids leaping in opposite directions. Marcus and Myranda making a b-line towards the Gremlins.
The zombie dog headed towards the direction of Merris, if she was Jan's "sucker" I wasn't going to kill her with Marcus that's for sure.
Also the dead dog could also follow and undo any work Merris attempted.
Somer doubled his bayou buddies and the Slop Hauler kept everyone fresh.
As the game moved on Myranda dived towards Burt and in a quick change of outfit murdered him as a big kitty cat.
This left a free zone for a Silurid to continue on and start locking in those Strategy points.
This game would show me that the Jackalope is great vs Gremlins. Where normally the 6ss of Canine Remains plus Jackalope is a Soulstone Miner I was glad this game it wasn't (a concious decision anyway due to Flank).
Ml4 isn't great, but nor is Df5, 3 damage minimum however against 4 wound models which may not be on full wounds anyway is excellent.
The Jackalope killed a Gremlin who dived at Marcus, this turned out to be the "Sucker".
Thanks to the totem doing the work Jan only got 2VP for this but then allowed Marcus to make a quick U-turn and go find his best pal Merris.
As we continued the Jackalope would kill a Gremlin a turn, protecting the centre line from ever being crossed.
Silurids would start placing scheme markers once the Strategy had become too far out of reach for Jan and the Sabertooth Cerberus.
Well Burt wasn't enough, it then killed Lenny, the Slop Hauler (maybe a Gremlin) and eventually fought Somer.
At this stage it was turn 5. Marcus had used his Hare speed to meet Merris, show her the back of his Shillelagh and pick up all those Scheme markers she dropped.
What a pal.
Somer killed the Cerberus as I then didn't bother cheating and went for a charge with a Silurid for a laugh as I had some high rams for Blood Frenzy.
The Bayou Boss survived the swampfiend, but he was all that was left of Jan's crew.
The Silurids were protecting territory and some spare markers were getting my other 3VP giving me a nice round 10.
Win 10-2
My Cerberus did get a little lucky in this game to kill as much as it did, but just like round 2 I had a plan, I stuck to it and got my 10VP.
This would leave me on a decent VP difference but with Martin about and Tim Porter also on 3-1 I did not believe that I would be getting any trophies this weekend.
Still a decent result and all eyes on the rest of the team.
Not as an offensive weapon but as a Gremlin firing device which would make it a lot more difficult for me to take 4VP for Strategy.
We both revealed Breakthrough, I also had Protect Territory and Jan had a hidden scheme.
My assumption from previous games was Frame for Murder on Merris.
I have triple walked and attacked her with Marcus in many games before. He and I both know her importance, especially with the Strategy and Breakthrough.
I do not want to be horrible, but this game was a dismantling.
Jan knows I am fairly confident with this Strategy and I had nothing to fear.
I joked he should just give me the win and we go and chill. Obviously and thankfully Jan refused and took me on.
Early doors Jan made a questionable move with Rami being deployed 18*9 on, as I deployed second I put Mechanical Rider in the nearest corner of my flank 18*9 and the first turn used fast to charge, kill Rami and place a marker. Rami had at least killed a Moleman before his time.
For a few minutes I did wonder if Jan had baited me into a Frame for Murder.
I was game, as this would only be 2VP and I'd still be far a head, also a dead Rami is better than a live and kicking one for me.
Mechanical Rider would be gunned down eventually, by the Bayou Boss himself, but not before killing the Lightning Bug and placing yet more scheme markers. A glorious death.
It wasn't Jan's "sucker" and the game continued on, Silurids leaping in opposite directions. Marcus and Myranda making a b-line towards the Gremlins.
The zombie dog headed towards the direction of Merris, if she was Jan's "sucker" I wasn't going to kill her with Marcus that's for sure.
Also the dead dog could also follow and undo any work Merris attempted.
Somer doubled his bayou buddies and the Slop Hauler kept everyone fresh.
As the game moved on Myranda dived towards Burt and in a quick change of outfit murdered him as a big kitty cat.
This left a free zone for a Silurid to continue on and start locking in those Strategy points.
This game would show me that the Jackalope is great vs Gremlins. Where normally the 6ss of Canine Remains plus Jackalope is a Soulstone Miner I was glad this game it wasn't (a concious decision anyway due to Flank).
Ml4 isn't great, but nor is Df5, 3 damage minimum however against 4 wound models which may not be on full wounds anyway is excellent.
The Jackalope killed a Gremlin who dived at Marcus, this turned out to be the "Sucker".
Thanks to the totem doing the work Jan only got 2VP for this but then allowed Marcus to make a quick U-turn and go find his best pal Merris.
As we continued the Jackalope would kill a Gremlin a turn, protecting the centre line from ever being crossed.
Silurids would start placing scheme markers once the Strategy had become too far out of reach for Jan and the Sabertooth Cerberus.
Well Burt wasn't enough, it then killed Lenny, the Slop Hauler (maybe a Gremlin) and eventually fought Somer.
At this stage it was turn 5. Marcus had used his Hare speed to meet Merris, show her the back of his Shillelagh and pick up all those Scheme markers she dropped.
What a pal.
Somer killed the Cerberus as I then didn't bother cheating and went for a charge with a Silurid for a laugh as I had some high rams for Blood Frenzy.
The Bayou Boss survived the swampfiend, but he was all that was left of Jan's crew.
The Silurids were protecting territory and some spare markers were getting my other 3VP giving me a nice round 10.
Win 10-2
My Cerberus did get a little lucky in this game to kill as much as it did, but just like round 2 I had a plan, I stuck to it and got my 10VP.
This would leave me on a decent VP difference but with Martin about and Tim Porter also on 3-1 I did not believe that I would be getting any trophies this weekend.
Still a decent result and all eyes on the rest of the team.
Results
In the end I had knocked Jan down to 20th place.
Travel buddy Mike Asquith came 14th
Travel buddy Mike Asquith came 14th
Aussie had got a win and with that Best Gremlin and 11th.
My 3-1 was enough to get me 6th a fine result and only a few VP from Martin who got best Arcanist.
Just 3VP...
To the podium...
Wait...
Controversy. Liam had only trophies for the winner and runner-up.
Now while this was his tournament, once this was announced I was not happy about it straight away.
This event had 36 players signed up, why not have a podium?
In the end this would mean that a team mate would be affected and although I know he was very chuffed with his placing and I was super proud the lack of silverware was a gutter.
Aaron won Best Guild and Third Place
Second Place was Adam Perry (@Kogan_Style) who was the one who drew with Aaron earlier in the day but had a better VP differential.
The Winner?
Well who would have expected anyone else but Mart...
SMP's own Ben Crowe in First Place and now UK No.1
Just 3VP...
To the podium...
Wait...
Controversy. Liam had only trophies for the winner and runner-up.
Now while this was his tournament, once this was announced I was not happy about it straight away.
This event had 36 players signed up, why not have a podium?
In the end this would mean that a team mate would be affected and although I know he was very chuffed with his placing and I was super proud the lack of silverware was a gutter.
Aaron won Best Guild and Third Place
Second Place was Adam Perry (@Kogan_Style) who was the one who drew with Aaron earlier in the day but had a better VP differential.
The Winner?
Well who would have expected anyone else but Mart...
SMP's own Ben Crowe in First Place and now UK No.1
Huge congrats to the big man, prior to the GT I was already impressed by Ben, I would grill him for it but consistently getting 2nd place at events was/is incredible.
It now seems he consistently is getting 1st.
Time for the rest of the team to pick up the slack.
It now seems he consistently is getting 1st.
Time for the rest of the team to pick up the slack.
Jan didn't go away empty handed, Austin took the Best Gremlin Trophy he wanted but gave him something else.
The Yellow Shirt.
The Yellow Shirt.
Conclusion
Great event, great people, great venue.
Thanks to Liam Hall for putting on a great event, I will 99% likely be at any Malifaux event he runs in Bristol.
Just have trophies for the podium yeah?
Just have trophies for the podium yeah?
Shout outs to Alex Hill for winning best Ten Thunder and finally letting me put a face to a name (though he is just Rargleblarg in my head still).
Shout out to the Wintons, Andy is doing very well at the moment, James also won more than anyone else monetary wise with people tipping him for defeating Spooner and also I believe getting a prize in the raffle.
Finally of the Wintons, Cathy, she went 3-1 with Mei Feng (as did Tim Porter) helping prove that my favourite master clearly is not rubbish.
Also, Cathy inspired me to get on a paint a model I've had since I started Malifaux.
Willie, tee hee.
It was also good to see some of my tournament favourites, Zac Goldenhall, Martin Wodehouse, Lee Battrick, Mike Marshall and many others.
Shout out to the Wintons, Andy is doing very well at the moment, James also won more than anyone else monetary wise with people tipping him for defeating Spooner and also I believe getting a prize in the raffle.
Finally of the Wintons, Cathy, she went 3-1 with Mei Feng (as did Tim Porter) helping prove that my favourite master clearly is not rubbish.
Also, Cathy inspired me to get on a paint a model I've had since I started Malifaux.
Willie, tee hee.
It was also good to see some of my tournament favourites, Zac Goldenhall, Martin Wodehouse, Lee Battrick, Mike Marshall and many others.
Thanks to Liam for allowing me to steal some photos (and one from Mike A).
Apologies for the delay, my Isle of Faux 2 report will hopefully be out soon.
Apologies for the delay, my Isle of Faux 2 report will hopefully be out soon.
- Ben (@psientologist)
