[Battle Report] Seamus vs. Rasputina, 30 SS

[Doc Bosch]

My friend Andy and I played a a 30ss game of Malifaux today. Here were the crews:

Andy had Rasputina, an Ice Golem, 3x Ice Gamin, and a Silent one. His strategy was Deliver a Message, with schemes Reflections of December and Stake a Claim (announced).

I had Seamus, Madame Sybelle, 3x Rotten Belles, the Copycat Killer and a Crooked Man. My Strategy was Supply Wagon and my schemes were Army of the Dead and Hold Out (announced).

We flipped a Badlands encounter, with corners deployment and a soulstone vein near the center of the table. I don't really have a proper wargaming table or terrain, so everything got kitbashed from stuff laying around my apartment. Use your imagination, and try not to laugh.

Please note that I have been drinking this evening, and will vacillate wildly between past and present tense.

TURN ONE

Both sides moved forward. Seamus and the Belles waded across the river, trying to spread out to avoid blasts. The Copycat Killer and the Crooked Man moved up the side and then cut across toward the bridge, taking shelter behind the low wall of an old ruin. Sybelle attempted to Lure the Chosen One closer but failed. Rasputina cast Ice Pillars to block the bridge, since that was clearly the best way to get the supply wagon across the river to the center of the map.

Here's the end of turn one:

The supply wagon is between the river and the white ruin in the lower-right, near Sybelle.

TURN TWO

I won initiative but I didn't really want to expose anyone to December's Curse quite yet. I spent my first activation having the Copycat Killer blow the Ice Pillars apart with his .50 Flintlock. The Chose One moved up to the Soulstone Vein and flubbed a casting flip. Sybelle Lured the Chosen a little closer, then hit him with a Shriek for weak damage. She companioned the Belles who chain-cast Lure with marginal success. It took all three of them to get the Chosen One down onto the wall near where they were hiding with Seamus. Here's a photo:

Rasputina activated and moved forward, bringing the totem with her. She got close enough to cast December's Touch and give Armor 2 to the Chosen One, which proved... fortuitous. Seamus considered shooting the Chosen One, but decided to Charge instead to get around her Cover. The Charge and followup attack did a grand total of... 2 damage, compliments of the the Touch-granted Armor. The Ice Gamin moved further up the flank (in retrospect, I think Andy mistook their Walk for the Ice Golem's, which kept them out of the fight longer than they should have been). Seeing where the Supply Wagon was going to wind up, the Crooked Man ran onto the bridge and attacked Raspy with a Cave In. Raspy took 2 wounds, but her crew didn't catch any blast damage. Here's a photo from the end of turn 2:

The Ice Gamin are mostly out of frame, but you can see one on the far left.

TURN THREE

The Chosen One starts the round by giving Seamus Frozen Heart and then using Turn to Ice to keep him from moving. Seamus responds by stabbing the Chosen One 3 times, managing to NOT killer her thanks to bad card luck and a Black Joker. He uses Womanizer to activate a Rotten Belle, who Lures the Chosen One over and beat her to death with an umbrella. Rasputina throws December's Curse at the Crooked Man on the bridge and triggers Overpower, killing him very dead. With his Slow to Die action he throws a shafter marker as close to her crew as he can manage, hoping to prevent her from moving trips into position to block the Wagon. Raspy throws up another set of Pillars then walks toward Seamus and falls directly into the Shafter Marker's range, eating 3 wounds.

A Rotten Belle lured Raspy in closer. The Essence of Power through a December's Curse at the Belle in retaliation, but a lucky Red Joker on the defense kept her safe. Another Belle grabbed the Chosen One's corpse counter (in retrospect I don't think she should have been able to do that, lacking Graverobber) and Lured Raspy closer still. The Ice Gamin continued their glacial-paced flanking maneuver. Sybelle ran up to the Wagon, which shortly outpaced her.

End of Turn Three:

TURN FOUR

Andy wins initiative and decides that with Rasputina already in melee, he might as well go ahead and Deliver the Message, scoring 4 VP. She then Freeze Overs the wall to keep Seamus locked down, and uses December's Touch to giver herself some protection from the coming assault. Sybelle hauls her ass up to the wagon and slaps the Ice Golem with her riding crop for a bit of damage. The Golem swings back and returns 6 damage to Sybelle. Seamus stabs Raspy, but having learned my lesson with the Chosen One I go for Slit Jugular instead of damage and run Andy down to 2 cards in his hand and 0 soulstones. Womanizer gets a Rotten Belle activation, who lures Raspy into the middle of my crew but Raspy's armor completely absorbs her melee damage. The Gamin finally get into the fight with some Ice Blasts and muss the hair of a Rotten Belle. That Belle slapped Raspy to no good effect. The Copycat Killer moved up toward the fight.

End of Turn Four photo:

TURN FIVE

I win initiative and Seamus did what he does best- murders some poor woman. With Raspy dead, he turns and shoots an Ice Gamin with the .50 flintlock but doesn't manage to kill it. The Ice Golem takes out Sybelle and slams the Wagon for one damage. I wasn't sure if the Wagon was entitled to any kind of Defense flip- we decided that the wagon has Df 1 and no flip, so attackers only miss it if they flip the Black Joker. Not sure if that's right and too tipsy to consult the book. There was a big kerfluffle between the Belles and the Gamin that didn't really accomplish much but had out a few wounds. The Copycat Killer ran over to protect the Wagon and shot the Golem, but only inflicted weak damage. A gamin killed a belle. Another Belle lured the Golem away form the wagon.

Turn five photo:

TURN SIX

A Belle ducks into the river and Lures the Ice Golem closer, but on its turn the Golem charges right back and kills the Copycat Killer. Seamus fires at the Golem and uses Live for Pain, but doesn't manage to kill it. Two gamin fire at the wagon and manage to destroy it. Nooooooooo! Belles lure the Golem back down, so I can try to kill it. We flip for encounter's end but get a 12 and keep going.

Turn six:

TURN SEVEN

Seamus stabs the Golem to no good effect, but a Womanized Rotten Belle finally manages to kill it. It explodes, reducing Seamus to 1 wound. He is promptly finished off by an Ice Gamin. Nothing else of interest happens, and the round and the game end.

End of game:

Final score:

Andy gets 4 points for Delivering the Message to Seamus, but both of his schemes fail.

I get 2 points for Hold Out and 1 for Army of the Dead, but the destroyed wagon gets me nothing. Andy wins, 4-3.

You may note that this battle report gets less detailed as time goes on. I assure you that the level of detail does not at all have an inverse correlation with my blood alcohol content.

[the_madhatter1]

Noce report, like the dice terrain! Just wondering if you remembered seamus's necrotic ministrations? as am am not sure he would have gone down if you had remembered.

[Regnak]

Nice report and great use of household objects!

[Doc Bosch]

Noce report, like the dice terrain! Just wondering if you remembered seamus's necrotic ministrations? as am am not sure he would have gone down if you had remembered.

... !

Son of a....

Well, that's what these early games are for- to get all the horrible rookie mistakes out of the way. Thanks for the reminder!

Jonas also pointed out to me that the Ice Gamin shouldn't have been able to kill the wagon with ranged attacks.