Math Mathonwy

Hooray, a new GMorts Unboxing article! Great! I like these for the most part. Those arrows are rather big, though, to say the least. The big guy doesn't really evoke mindless zombie to me (he looks kinda purposeful and what was he supposed to be in life?) but OTOH I do like the variation.

OK, that's hilarious! :D Agreed!

The Wolsung Ogres are a bit bigger than big humans. I think he should be perfect size for Ryle. This is an Ogre on a 30mm base: http://shop.microartstudio.com/images/Wolsung_Miniatures/W00036_Wolsung_OgreBruiser_02.jpg

One problem with Assassinate would've been that then Paralyzing Lilith would've been counterproductive (since it heals her to full). I was also afraid of committing McM to killing her since I was worried that my opponent would have Assassinate as well. Now, Francisco and The Judge are certainly powerful enough to kill Lilith but they aren't fast enough to catch her if she decides to hide. And since she doesn't require LOS, she can use her abilities from safety is she feels threatened. Bodyguard meant that The Judge didn't do much but OTOH I needed someone to do the Strategy (so it might as well be the premiere 9SS beatstick, right?). Bodyguard was probably the safer choice while Assassinate would've been more risky but could've won me the game way more handsomely had it worked out. There are most likely some mistakes there. Like maybe it was Francisco who fluffed an attack and Sebastian who gave the Cursed Object and not the other way around but the important bits should be mostly correct. I do write these when I get home after the game (well, this one was so long that I had to finish it on a coffee break the next day at work but it was mostly done) so things are still fresh in my mind. But I wouldn't be able to maintain this level of detail over a tournament's worth of games. I should try to take photos of the game, though, definitely, just to enliven the reports if nothing else.

Very nice reportage - thank you for writing them! Interestingly all the games bar the last ended after turn 4. Was this a factor overall in the tournament, do you think? Really interesting lists! I think I heard a rumble which was probably the sound dgraz made when he read your list for game 3. Marcus with no beasts! But even aside from that, I thought that all of your lists were pretty unorthodox aside from the one in game 1. Ice Golem, for example, came completely from the left field! Any thoughts on why you seem to go so hard against the conventional wisdom of Marcus builds? It seems to work, though! Game 4 was a real nail-biter. I was sure that you had lost when Marcus bit the dirt so early but it just goes to show that keeping your eye on the prize can lead to wonderful things.

My suggestion: Address the player like this: "Sorry, this might sound silly, but I'm sorta distracted by you shuffling your deck. Would you mind not doing it? Thank you, much obliged" and then smile No reason to start flinging accusations of cheating or whatever. Just talk it out.

Sybelle is good with anyone. She is relatively durable, hits somewhat hard, and, most importantly, buffs Belles. She is silly good with Molly since Call Belle works on Molly. Sebastian is incredible if you deal out Poison and you can make any Resser crew do that. Of course he is a complete no-brainer with McMourning but works nicely enough with others as well. For 7SS he is durable and has nice utility. Valedictorian is the basic beatstick Henchman. She is very durable, can do a nasty debuff, is relatively fast and hits quite well. No specific synergies (outside of Molly's upgrade can give her Black Blood and Molly can make her do stuff) which is probably why she is such a solid package for anyone. Toshiro is also very nice for buffing so if you have a numerous force, he is a very good choice. Can also summon nicely if your Master isn't focused on that. Those are IMO the most generally useful ones. The rest are a bit more situational. Mortimer is kinda expensive for what he does though he does work nicely with Nico. Philip and the Nanny seem, on paper, as the worst Henchman in the game. I do understand what they are about but they aren't overwhelmingly good in what they do and can do nothing else. Datsue-Ba isn't bad at all but quite vulnerable to enemy Ca actions and works best with a Spirit focused crew. I feel like I forgot someone but can't think of who...

This guy should be out next month, I believe (I'm going to use him as a Flesh Construct proxy):

I highly concur with Dirial! I fully understand the interpretation that Focus wouldn't affect Slug but I really don't see it as the only possible interpretation and, going by RAW, I would be inclined to to say that it would affect. But I can really see this ruled either way in the FAQ.

I don't get it - it is quite usual for people to take time deciding on, e.g., cheating when defending in a duel. Or deciding where they get pushed from a defensive trigger or whatever. You would need to be slapping the chess clock utterly constantly or else your time could be used by the opponent.

First of all, and most importantly, thank you so much for the kind words, everyone! Much appreciated. Wait, that was your first? I was, for some reason, under the impression that you had played GW games during your youth. Damn, you're a quick learner to say the least, then! This would've been completely horrible! In the pre-game discussion with ZFiend I noted that Nurses are the only model that you can only underestimate or overestimate. There's no appropriate response to them, I don't think. I omitted it from the battle report but I actually played Cursed Object wrong, not in one way, but in two ways! I corrected it to the report, though, so I wouldn't look like a complete tosser (and that's how it would've worked if I had played it correctly). Nope. I'm really surprised myself how well I (think I) remember how it went down! Nurses are simply amazing. With Ressers I, too, tend to go with just one but, for some reason, two has served me really well during this league as the Guild. They are also surprisingly durable since they don't want to be close to the enemy, their Df and Wd are ok and their Df Trigger rocks. They also seem the be the only models in my crew who never do Scheme/Strat stuff since they are so busy being awesome.

"Trigger Happy: After damaging, immediately perform a Collier Pistol Attack against the same target. This Action may not declare Triggers."That is a separate Action. Completely different from Slug. What is an Action's Damage flip? This has not been defined but one would think that it is a Damage flip that results from the Action in question. Slug fits this criterion. Trigger Happy results in another Action, so it does not fit that criterion. As for the accuracy modifier, Focus bonus flip is not the same as an Accuracy modifier. You should not mix the two up.

“We have some Squatter’s Rights to establish and your old rival Lilith is said to be making a move as well.” The Secretary was addressing McMourning. “Lilith? But I turned her into hamburger?!” “She got better.” “Aw damn it. Call the Judge, I need him along.” “Didn’t he explode? No, wait, let me guess, he got better? OK, but I want you to promise to keep him in one piece this time! Don’t let him access explosives.” “Sure thing, sir. Oh, I got a whole shipment of really suspicious looking dolls. They were apparently dug up from an old burial ground or something. I think they belong to the Neverborn so I’m going to be giving them back. Though I will keep this one doll that looks like a red joker. I’m pretty sure that it will bring me good luck!” A 50SS game of Squatter’s Rights with ALitS, Assassinate, Bodyguard, Cursed Object, and Take Prisoner in the Scheme pool. Standard Deployment. My opponent was the same one as on the first round (the pairings went a bit strangely but we were both in the running for the first meaningful place in the league (meaningful since the organizers won’t be getting the prizes). He has had some great wins lately and has really upped his game. Even though he has played a total of one match outside of the league but he’s a veteran of other skirmish games and a great tactician. The pool was rather challenging, I thought. Or rather, Cursed Object was a no-brainer but then the second one was really difficult for me to choose. I don’t like Take Prisoner, especially against Lilith’s crew. Bodyguard is always risky and especially with Tangle Shadows on the table. Assassinate is tricky, especially since I know my opponent to be rather careful playing her. After a quick consultation with my trusted Faux co-conspirator (I’ll give you a hint: his name begins with a Z and he’s known for his filthyness) I was still vacillating between Assassinate and Bodyguard but in the end opted for Bodyguard since The Judge is hardy and I was hoping to keep him to one side Squatting markers. He should make short work of Tots, at least. My list was almost the same as last with just a Stalker making an appearance due to the higher points limit: McMourning with Badge of Office, On the Clock, and Plastic Surgery Sebastian with Lead Lined Coat Francisco with Wade In The Judge Two Nurses Witchling Stalker Zombie Chihuahua 6 pool My opponent brought Lilith with Beckon Malifaux, Living Blade, and Wicked Mistress Barbaros with Nephilim Gladiatus Mature Nephilim with Rapid Growth Young Nephilim Three Terror Tots Cherub 6 pool We had the same number of models and I was really worried by the damage dealing aspects of the Nephilim crew and knew that Tots with Cherub will make for excellent Scheme runners. In our previous game I managed to Paralyze Lilith for several turns and that sounded like a plan this time as well. Turn 1 The usual jockeying for position. The Tots spread out with two on the left flank and one on the right. To the right went also Cherub and the Young. Mature flew straight on top of the middle Squat marker and Lilith and Barbaros took position behind a wall slightly to the right of center. On my side Judge with one Nurse in tow challenged the two Tots on the left side while the rest of my crew advanced as more or less a single ball funneled by the terrain towards the center but somewhat to the left. A Nurse pumped McMourning with four Poison and Sebastian moved away with the Stalker shielding McM from Catalyst. McM took center position with the ability to Push into melee with the Mature if I win Initiative. The only flips were Lilith trying to make life difficult for the good Doctor by placing the Illusionary Forest to shield Mature and then doing all sorts of nasty thing to the Doctor. Luckily El Mayor meant that my defensive stats were rather high to say the least and therefore I escaped relatively unscathed. Turn 2 We tie for Initiative, re-flip and I win. McM activates in Sebastian’s Catalyst and pushes into melee with the Mature. I hit once, Focus, hit, cheat the Red Joker and kill the Mature healing up from the damage done by Poison and Black Blood in the process. That was brutal. For McM’s (0) I push the Chihuahua and then chain activate it. I somehow forgot the woods template and the poor doggie is too slow to properly reach Lilith since Barbaros is blocking the way. So I only stink up Barbaros and tie him into melee with the mighty Ml2! Barbaros decided to have none of that, nimbling away laughing at the doggie’s feeble attempt to stop him and charges into McM while letting out a Challenge. El Mayor kept McM still rather safe though he was hit once and thrown back a bit. Judge hauled Francisco along and advanced on top of the leftmost Squat marker. Lilith Tangled herself next to Barbaros, moved the forests to hamper Francisco, squatted the center marker and tried some witchery on the Judge but the stalwart defender of all that is right was unswayed. A Tot Sprinted next to Judge and the two others Squatted two Markers. The Young advanced and the Cherub shot at the doggie hitting for weak damage, giving him Slow and pushing him out of position. Francisco maneuvered around the forest and Squatted a Squat. The Nurse on the left moved up. The other Nurse and Witchling Stalker moved up centrally to be ready to support McM. Sebastian sauntered over to give Barbaros some Induction action. End of turn McM pushed into Melee with a Tot on the right. Barbaros takes the Induction damage opting not to prevent splashing some Black Blood on Sebastian. I’m finding that my maneuverability leaves a bit to be desired. My original plan was to Squat with McM but since the Mature was there and I had the Red Joker in hand, I just couldn’t resist. The end results however was that I had only one Squat while my opponent had three. I also didn’t manage to give out a Cursed Object. 1-0 for Lilith! Turn 3 We tie for Initiative, re-flip and I win. The Nurse on the left activates, moves a bit and spies Lilith through a crack between scenery, Francisco and the Illusionary Forest, throws away a Crows, tells Lilith to take her Meds and promptly flips a 13 of Crows. Paralyzed. Barbaros looks in dismay at her Mistress’ relapse into her bad drug habit. Taking the three damage from Poison, he lets out a challenge and hits Sebastian for one Damage. And then hits Sebastian again for similar effect but also pushing him. The Judge Stones for a Ram and cheats high to hit the Tot and kill it in one shot. Then he Squats. Young Nephilim charges McM and flips a Red Joker for damage. Badge of Office saves the Doctor but Young does some more damage on his second swing. McM Focuses and misses the Tot he is engaged with. Then I do something idiotic and try to hit the Tot again - why didn’t I give out a Cursed Object?? In any case, I miss again. I Push the Stalker towards the Action while keeping him out of Barbaros’ LOS. The Cherub kills the doggie with a lucky shot and flitters over to the Young and Tot vs McM fray. Witchling Stalker charges into the Young but misses both his attacks. The Tot in the McM fight gives McM a Cursed Object and hits him a bit. The central Nurse looks at her Master and decides that healing ten points of Damage is worth the Paralyze, especially with the Stalker around. The other Tot moves into the center next to Lilith and Barbaros and gives Sebastian a Cursed Object. Sebastian moves and gives Barbaros a Cursed Object. Lilith comes out of her stupor. Francisco moves to engage all three Nephilim in the center and tries to give Lilith a Cursed Object but fails due to the Challenge. We both score for Cursed Object (Sebastian’s and Barbaros’ respectively) and for the Strategy. Turn 4 We tie for Initiative, re-flip and I win. Third time in a row! I have a twelve of Crows and a Red Joker in hand - we know what that means, right? Yup, the left Nurse does some Take Your Meds and Barbaros decides to join her Mistress in abusing drugs and both end up Paralyzed. Francisco chain Activates and Flurries at the Tot in the center. I had the Twelve of Rams in hand so was confident that I can kill the little guy. I missed with my first two swings (the first with a Black Joker) and on the third had to cheat in the Twelve but did kill the Tot. Young decides to show what the Nephilim are made of. He gives the Stalker a Cursed Object and then hits McM getting the trigger for another Attack. Red Joker on the Damage again. I use my last Soulstone for prevention and prevent two still getting five damage. Ouch! He hits again netting Moderate at negative flips and getting the Trigger for the Push. The Tot Pounces hitting as well and getting Moderate. And finally, Young hits again and kills the Doctor. That one Young caused close to 20 Wounds in one activation. I did have the Nurse in position with a seven of Crows in hand to heal McM but it was not to be. Sheesh! “My name is Young Nephilim. You killed my mature uncle. Prepare to die!” Here’s a pic courtesy of my opponent. McM used to be between the Tot, Cherub and the Young. And the blasts are Illusionary Forest Markers. Oh, and since it's from my opponent's POV, the left and right are reversed compared to the text. Stalker tries to avenge but fails miserably. The Tot goes to work on ALitS dropping a Marker onto the center line and Sprinting into position for another Marker next turn. The Judge ponders on the meaning of life and sits tight. Cherub moves into the center and the final Nurse Focuses and throws away Crows Paralyzing the Young. Sebastian hands out a Cursed Object to Barbaros and moves to engage the Cherub, Lilith and Barbaros. I reveal Bodyguard, we both score for Cursed Object as well as the Strategy. All tied up at this point. Turn 5 My opponent finally wins the Initiative. Lilith activates, does various shenanigans including a Cursed Object onto Francisco, setting up the forest and Luring him into it, giving Slow, Pouncing, me getting Black Joker in defense and her getting double positives in the damage flip netting a, you guessed it, the Black Joker. Wicked Vines is her final deed. That was certainly all sorts of stuff happening but not amounting to all that much in the end. The central Nurse activates, moves, throws away a Crows and paralyzes Barbaros. The Cherub tries to disengage from Sebastian but doesn’t get away. Stalker tries to kill the Young but fails again and again. Francisco gives out a Cursed Object to Lilith. Sebastian tries to kill the Cherub but fails. The Tot does Scheme Marker for Line in the Sand and moves towards the center. The left Nurse moves and Paralyzes Lilith. The Judge keeps on contemplating. We flip for an extra turn and get a ten but unfortunately its late and the venue is closing so we call the game. I win 9-8. Had we played next turn, it’s quite likely that the game would’ve ended 10-10 depending a bit on my Paralyzing luck. I actually feel that my opponent played a stronger game than me but the Paralyzes won me the game. They did drain my hand but I always got a Crows to throw away and a high card to make the Paralyze work. I also got the Red Joker in hand twice. Now, McM dying was certainly bad luck the other way so it wasn’t all sunshine and puppies. Those Youngs hit hard! Especially when they get Red Joker for damage twice. I prioritized killing the Tots (though McM failed in his attacks) and keeping Lilith and Barbaros Paralyzed in order to use them for Cursed Objects. I was deeply worried about my opponent having Assassinate and thought that killing the Mature would put a spanner in those plans. The Judge didn’t do much and Sebastian mostly kept Barbaros occupied. Witchling Stalker had abysmal luck and didn’t do anything. The Nurses however did way more than their share. A good game and my opponent has really learned a lot of the game.

What's with the attitude? Dude, seriously.

You're super welcome to join us, Tehmik! We are rather active with usually one or two game nights per week. Our Tuesday venue, Poromagia store has really great tables and terrain and on Sundays we tend to gather at Happi which is also nicely stocked.

You should ask your gaming group as opposed to here. I would have no problems (though I do like less well-known minis better as proxies - GW models really evoke the GW worlds in my mind). Personally, were I to proxy Insidious Madnesses, I would probably go for these: http://www.modiphius.com/shop.html#!/~/product/category=9099174&id=37140793

I will be chronicling for sure. As for McMourning's saga - I have a match today so will be updating today or tomorrow. Edit: eh, I wrote this part of the reply yersterday for the most part - the match was yesterday and I will be updating today most likely. I did like your crew! I agree that going with, say, five super elite models is often a bit of a trap in Reckoning and your crew selection, though a bit surprising in how many cheap models you had, was indeed durable and worked really well. Besides, a 4SS Metal Gamin is, against Arcanists, probably worth 6SS or something if you get to use Magnetism like you did. My experience with Lucius is minimal, but our local guru plays him and his lists are super scary. That's an interesting view that you don't mind much if a game goes only to turn four. It does hamper some traditionally late-blooming crews but I do understand the wish to minimize the effect of tie-breakers. So yeah, sounds like the right decision, definitely. I do think that Wave two opened up the TT a lot and that boosted the TT Mei Feng (arguably more than the Arcanist Mei Feng). I also think that the rep of Mei Feng is strongly affected by the original view on how she should be played which, I feel, has kinda changed. Endless railwalks and endless Locomotion from the Railgolem were emphasized early but now people have kinda realized that they eat too many resources and you really don't need all that many Railwalk points. Arcanists do have the upper hand on very high-cost models, though, what with Langston and Mechanical Rider. And since those are very visible they also skew the opinion. So yeah, while looking at her for the next league I think that it really is a toss-up between the two Factions. Both have their pros and cons.

Why isn't Slug the Action's damage flip? It's a damage flip directly caused by the Action. Seems pretty clear-cut to me.

Have you seen the metal Necrotic Machine? It's huge (much bigger than Molly). So there is a very real chance that the plastic version might be bigger than the Nightmare Whiskey Golem. And suddenly the box isn't sparse anymore.

Apparently writing reports and plans (and contracts - urgh) and attending meetings is now the whole of my work. I want to code again! *breaks down sobbing*

My Monday has been saved - an Argentbadger tournament report to sink into when taking a break from writing a gazillion reports and attending meetings! Hooray! This was an especially interesting one since I'm planning on taking Mei Feng for our Slow Grow League in the spring. Though unfortunately I'm going Arcanist rather than TT, but still, "seeing" her in tournament action guided by a pro was both educational and entertaining. All in all an interesting set of games. The two in the beginning you handled like a pro though I was sorta surprised that you decided to kill Joss even after being rather certain that he had the Frame for Murder since Joss really isn't that hugely destructive and you could make him slow to further limit him. But OTOH you took him out so efficiently, that it likely was for the best - especially as Lazarus could've been a Frame for Murder target as well. I also thought that the crew compositions were a bit surprising for a Reckoning. In the second you took control and never gave it up. I'm not sure that the Guild list was all that optimal (our resident Lucius master would take a very different list) but OTOH Tannen for example seemed to work really well. The third was super close. A bit better handling of the Cursed Objects could've turned things around. A bummer that it didn't go to the fifth round. The fourth was really an uphill battle. Reconnoiter against Ramos is really difficult and MythicFox is a tough, tough opponent. Again, too bad about the game getting cut off on the fourth round. Though here things probably wouldn't have changed. What did you think about the scheduling? Would three rounds have been better? Also, any final thoughts on Mei Feng? Do you think that you hampered yourself by going for her everytime, in hindsight? But yeah, fantastic reporting once again - thank you so much for doing these!

I see that you cracked. I've been resisting the urge for well over a month now - everytime I see this thread title, I have been sorely tempted to answer something like "It's just a Snickers bar, I swear!"

What is this based on?

Earth's Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method album is probably the most Malifauxy album ever.

And here I was thinking that a smokey Tara would be nice in that you could leave the Void Critters translucent (just some washes and paint the eyes) as well as Tara's monster arm and her blade and then paint the rest of Tara and Katrina normally.