Chucklemonkey

Oh bugger, sorry about that.

Had a great time at this. Don't think i can fault anything. Thanks to David and joe for organising and Alan, James, Barry and Paul for being such good opponents.

No just an iron mask.

Bugger, glad i hadn't used that upgrade yet. So only stitched benefit from that upgrade at the moment? Can't recall if beckoners are darkened off the top of my head. Will edit for clarity when at a computer.

Mr Graves An 8ss enforcer with a very respectable 9 wounds and lots of abilities to make him slightly more resilient than your average heavy hitter, Mr Graves also has a few other tricks up his sleeves. He is a Nephilim, Darkened and a Mimic. Abilities Black Blood, Hard to Kill, Armor 1 and Ruthless As stated, above, Mr Graves' abilities all just make him that little more resilient and trickier to deal with. Attack Actions Graves' standard Fence Post attack action has a healthy MI of 6 and a damage output of 3/4/6. Triggers include crushing strike, giving a + to the damage flip for each ram in the attack duel total. Also, on a mask - which Graves has built in to his attack - he can give a friendly Mr Tannen within line of sight the harmless ability. Graves also has the Show ya the Door action which can allow him to push a target within his melee range 6 inches and then allows graves to push into base contact. The use of this action to get a turn 1 or 2 speed boost for another of your crew is well established. Remember that it can only be used once per turn on friendly models. Also remember that as it is a push you can use it to skip past any difficult terrain getting in your way early doors. The attack has a trigger where on a ram you can take a fence post strike after succeeding. Tactical Actions Keeping the Peace A 0 action, where on a flip of a 5 of masks or higher, enemy models which declare a charge within 6 inches must pass a TN13 WP duel or the action fails. Always worth an effort if an enemy is nearby as Graves has no other 0 action competing with it. Also it's worth noting it is not just charges targeting Graves himself, but any charge within his aura no matter the target.

My final game of the tournament was against Euclid who was the henchman running the tournament. He was running a Von Schill crew. As this was only my 8th game of Mark 2 (and three of those games were against the Hoff) It was another master I was unfamiliar with, having only oreviously faced Mr Schill when he was a resurrectionist . The strategy was squatters rights and I took exactly the same list as in my previous game. Scheme wise I went for Deliver a Message and Assassinate. Euclid took protect territory and assassinate and his crew comprised of: Von Schill Bishop Freikorps strongarm 2 Freikorpsman 1 Freikorps trapper 1 Ronin Before going further I think the table we were playing on is worthy of a photo itself. Turn 1 Turn one mostly comprised of us moving our crews forward towards the centre line. I used as many movement tricks as the crew allowed simply to minimise the delays that would be encountered by moving throught the hazardous swampland. The Freikorps trapper however was in a position to get a beckoner in his sights and managed to get through on a straight flip at which point the Redjoker was cheated in and the Beckoner was no more. Turn 2 Moving the hungering darkness forward I used heed my voice to have the trapper retreat and advanced an illuminated and Mr Graves towards the marker on the right hand side of the table with the illuminated claiming it for his own. Joe had the strongarm move up to get into a position to head them off. My other two illuminated were able to get inside the building at the centre of the table trying to remain in enough cover to avoid the trapper, claiming another marker. His Ronin advanced with a view to claiming the marker on the left side of the board and the trapper shot at the darkness taking off a few wounds. At that point Bishop decided he didn't need any upgrades and as a result had 4 general AP. Charging the darkness and managing to kill him after the red joker made it's way out in the damage flip. Bishop then claimed the central marker. Turn 3 Although I won the initiative for the turn I was very reluctant to charge Bishop with the defensive trigger available to him but in the end my female illuminated charged and took out the mercenary with greater ease than I had anticipated, taking advantage of a hit with the flay trigger. With a freikorpsman advancing and Bishop moving in behind, I made a critical error in moving Lynch slightly too far forward with a view of trying to get into position to spread some brilliance via play for blood etc but Von Schill was in range after discarding his upgrades for further AP and once in melee with Lynch it was all over for the gambler. The Freikorps strongarm also charged Mr Graves and damaged him severely. In response a beckoner was able to put brilliance on the strongarm and Graves and the illuminated were able to respond in kind. Turn 4 Winning initiative and with my female illuminated in melee range of Von Schill it took a 2 interact action to deliver the message and then healed a few points of damage. The strongarm activated and killed Mr Graves after which my beckoner replaced his lost brilliance and walked forward to prevent it from dropping off again. Von schill charged the last unengaged illuminated in the tower and thus began a long and extremely undeadly melee scrap which lasted until the end of turn 6. The illuminated engaged with the strongarm was then able to finally kill the brute. Turns 5 & 6 The remaining Freikorps crew set about dropping scheme markers for protect territory all while my remaining illuminated lost their deadly edge and were unable to succeed in killing Von Schill. It was the fastest game of Malifaux I think I have ever experienced as we had rattled through all six turns with a good half hour left of our alloted time. The final score was a 10-5 loss. Things I Learned I learned a lot from this tournament. Firstly, and most importantly, was that I still really enjoy malifaux and my reservations regarding the changes between editions were entirely unfounded. On a more practical level though, I really need to get to know the schemes and strategies better and come up with a way of being comfortable splitting up Lynchs crew for those strategies and schemes that require being split along the center-line or that require some fast minions such as power ritual. I am due to get another game tomorrow in which I think I will try to take line in the sand just with a view to practicing such scenarios. In other friendly games I manage to get I may also ask for consent to try unusual combinations of schemes. It has made me see why there are a few people that like terror tots as scheme runners but I still feel that I should be able to acheive them without going for such an unthematic crew selection. Although, it didn't need learning, it re-inforced my opinion about the qualities of the illuminated. They really are absolutely terrific. I also learned that I cannot rely on my memory for battle reports and as such better notes will be taken for future games to be reported on. Also, despite the two losses, I didn't leave the tournament empty handed as there were small prizes available for most melee, shooting, and casting kills so I did get to take home a little trophy all the same.

Welcome aboard. I think there is a big Malifaux community in York so you shouldn't be short of games.

Just listened to episode 3 and now looking forward to more.

So game 2 was against Rory with viks crew. This game was corner deployment and the strategy was reckoning. For this game I took the following: Lynch - Endless Hunger - Wanna see a trick - Woke up with a hand Hungering Darkness 3 Illuminated 2 Beckoners Mr Graves My Schemes were Distract and framed for murder on my female illuminated. Rory took the following Vik of Blood Vik of Ashes Freikorps Librarian Vanessa Convict Gunslinger Student of Conflict 2 Ronins Rory also took distract and apologies but I can;t recall the other scheme. Deployment I deployed again with a view to shunting the Hungering Darkness up the board to begin the reckoning. With a smaller group of 2 illuminated and a beckoner further up the board. Rory deployed as follows Turn 1 Rory won the initiative and moved the Convict Gunslinger forward trying to get in range. In response the beckoner closest to Lynch moved forward and lured the Darkness towards her, he was subsequently pushed further forward by Graves after a ronin was moved forward. Most other models from both crews were warily advancing to the centre of the board but then my second beckoner activated and pulled the convict gunslinger forward and therefore into charge range of the Hungering Darkness. Vanessa activated and used her ranged attack to cause a few wounds on the Darkness. He then charged the Gunslinger and disposed of him swiftly. Crucially, the henchman vik was also in his melee range. Turn 2 Rory won initiative in this round and activated the Vik but couldn'tcharge the darkness so had to spend an action moving forward in order that she could strike him. With an upgrade that meant her attacks ignored incorporeal she got the darkness down to just a couple of wounds. In response the Darkness activated and did likewise. A Ronin peaked out from behind the trees and shot at Mr graves who was stood ominously in the backline. With the Darkness having activated and an overwhelming desire to kill the henchwoman viktoria I though my best bet was to pull her closer to Mr Graves so a beckoner did just that. It should be noted at this point that Rory was flipping some terrible cards and as a result had also blitzed through the majority of his soulstones on healing flips and the like. The master vik advanced to the left of the HD, and I moved my framed for murder target forward towards her. The librarian activated and performed some healing shenanigans which seemed to assist the gravely wounded Vik. Graves then charged at the henchwoman and managed to kill her. This freed up the darkness from melee which meant Vanessa was able to finish him off with ranged attacks. My last illuminated on the left flank ran forward as quickly as possible. With the other ronin and student moving cautiously into position. Turn 3 Master Vik charged one of my illuminated - unfortunately not my framed for murder target - and managed to kill him. I was able to charge her in return with my other male illuminated and cause a good few wounds. A ronin moved forward and shot at my female illuminated but her armour meant she didn't suffer greatly. A beckoner activated and gave that Ronin brilliance. Vanessa attempted to shoot the illuminated that her sister had and managed to cause a few more wounds. I walked the illuminated forward into melee range of the Ronin and she was subsequently charged by the second ronin. Despite me recycling aces in cheating down my defence flips the Ronin was unable to kill her. Note to self - never again put frame for murder on an illuminated. The second beckoner was able to lure the remaining viktoria past my lines and subsequently gave her brilliance and caused a couple of more wounds. With the Librarian trying and failing to heal anything it allowed me to charge the master with Mr Graves who finished off his second Vik. With the student proving ineffectual it was time for Lynch to activate and wake up with a hand. With three aces in hand I wanted to ensure that I succeeded in Reckoning this turn so after moving forward and shooting the ronin without brilliance and being succesful on giving her the condition, he played for blood and then finished his activation by dropping three aces on the table instantly killing the ronin closest to him and ensuring I get a point for the strategy. Turn 4 & 5 In truth turn 4 & 5 were spent with us all piling in and distracting and undistracting each other as pictured here. As the game finished I had succesfully distracted two of Rory's crew and he had distracted one of mine. Which together with the earlier reckoning success meant a win for Lynch.

So a bit of a battle report bonanza today - although probably over several posts and hours - after taking part in Euclid's very succesful Fortune Falls event in Livingston. I had actually managed to get another game on the Friday evening against Hoffman but tryting to remember what happened in three games will be quite taxing enough so giving that one a miss for now. I still have the photos so may report on it later. With some very good players always attending the Livingston events my aim is invariably just to win one game and take it from there. Times where I get a bit lucky and finish high up the listings are always just a bonus to a great day out. With still being on the learning curve with Jakob that goal still seemed very apt. Game 1 So after the draw I was paired up against David, who it turned out was also a Hoffman player, Strategy for the game was Turf War My Schemes Bodyguard on the Hungering Darkness Kill Protege on Howard Langston - Announced I went with: Jakob -Woke Up with a hand -Wanna See a Trick -Rising Sun Hungering Darkness Beckoner Beckoner Mr Graves Illuminated Illuminated and after the arguments for her here the Doppelganger David took Hoffman Langston Joss Watcher Mobile Toolkit Mechanical Attendent, and the Guardian. Protect Territory - announced but I didn't hear the announcment. and Kill Protegee on the Hungering Darkness (Not sure on this, so I could be mistaken) This game didn't get past 2 turns as I don't think David was too aware of Lynch and his crew so, quite rightly, was taking some time to read all of the relevant cards throughout the game. Deployment I set up as below, with my other beckoner hiding out on the far right of the table with the intention of trying to lure models away from the turf war marker as and when required. David set up as below with a watcher slightly to the left of picture. Turn 1 So after winning initiative on Turn one I activated the Doppelganger who copied Mr Graves Show you the door action and used it on the Hungering Darkness punting him up the field. As she also hit the trigger she was still able to move up the field a little and hid near the large tree trunk in the centre of the table. David then activated Hoffman and spent some time going through what appeared a well rehearsed routine that I understood little. It did appear to be similar to his routine in game three reported on here: http://wyrd-games.net/community/topic/99451-malifaux-tournament-report-fortune-falls-50ss-08mar2014/#entry708497 Graves then moved forward and again pushed the hungering darkness closer to the centre of the table. Throughout the remainder of the turn the guardian Joss and Hoffman moved forward on my right side of the table warily approaching the centre line. I lured an illuminated forward in order to get him into charge range of that little group and then also walked the hungering darkness into melee range and hitting the Guardian for some damage and giving him brilliance. Langston wanted to charge at Huggy but ended up terrified of the darkness and getting paralysed for the remainder of the activation. The illuminated then charged the guardian and I think plinked off a few more wounds. David was also able to drop a scheme marker for protect territory Turn 2 Winning the initiative again I was able to replace the dropped brilliance on the Guardian which ultimately led to him becoming the only casualty in this game after being finished off by the Hungering Darkness. Joss activated moved, being careful to remain within HD's melee range and put some serious damage on to the Hungering Darkness. Hoffman had also magnetised to be in the centre of the board. Most of my other troops moved closer to the centre of the table. As time was close to being called David decided to run Langston back to his deployment zone, whilst another scheme marker was also dropped. It ended in a 3-2 loss for me with David getting one point for the Strategy and 2 for protect territory. I got 1 point for the heavily damaged HD bodyguard and one point from the strategy. The other two games of the day were very different with an extremely brutal 4 turn match up against the viks and a similarly butal quickfire 6 turn game against Von Schill

Looks really good so far. I look forward to seeing it progress.

Sounds interesting. I am really looking forward to trying out the Stiched as I get more games under my belt. Thanks very much for pointing that out. I have amended to prevent confusion. Also, I like the sound of your doppelganger list a great deal, it appears to be far more efficient than my previous teddy slingshot.

I'm certainly going to give Sue a go soon enough. I generally only use the convict gunslinger though

The Hungering Darkness Characteristics and Abilities So looking at the Hungering Darkness the first thing to note is that he does not intrinsically have brilliance. He is a spirit which is near as dammit as good as having his wounds doubled up to an impressive 14. Pretty useful given his paltry defence. Terrifying (Living) 12 is useful, although I personally have forgotten about enforcing terrifying tests since the game first came out. He is also incorporeal. Attack actions Tendrils - A melee casting attack with a ca of 6 and really useful in built triggers. The damage also receives a plus against targets with brilliance. With the built in mask you can heal two damage or inflict brilliance onto your target. Alternatively, with a ram in your casting total the damage can be increased to a very healthy 4/5/7. Heed my voice - A range 8, Ca 7 spell where the target non leader model allowing you to control the target for a 1 action. THis attack also gets a plus against targets with brilliance. With two masks in the cast against a target with brilliance you can make the effect permanent. Tactical actions Consume Brilliance - This model heals one damage for each model within six inches with the brilliance characteristic. Then those models must take a TN13 horror duel. As the HD's attacks are based of casting then the Endless Hunger upgrade is terrific with him as it grants casting expert. As such, the option of a walk into melee, a cast of tendrils damaging and giving the target brilliance and then another boosted attack or making the ffect permanent with Heed my voice becomes very acheivable.

Delighted to have your input. Painting wise, I can't take the credit. I had a friend at my local club paint up my Lynch crew in order that I had a single crew that I wasn't embarrassed to place on the table. I was going to just put pictures of each thing up as I reached their entry but I think I'll place them below as I think they are worth seeing. I also love expert cheater but have only used it in two games. Lynch's other upgrades can be so effective that it rarely makes it in. I also, completely agree with you on soulstones. The game I had earlier in the week I started with a cache of just one I think and used it for reflipping initiative. I didn't feel short in any way. Some pics of a couple more pieces

Seconded. Not that I don't want Joe to play.

Pretty much yes. In the games I have had so far I have only felt that I have needed the one. Of course I hadn't previously been concentrating on the brilliance mechanic so that may well change for Saturday's event. Beckoners are fantastic but i'm just not sure enough on trading one for a third illuminated given their resilience and therefore scheme scoring ability.

@Daemonkin - Certainly give Lynch a go, I have found him to be a really fun master in the games I have had with him. I have't really checked out Lucius yet but anything Neverborn appeals to me (apart from the dreamer oddly enough) so I am sure he will make his way onto my want list soon enough. @Madmansu - Good to hear. I'm not massively competitive and very much into the game on a try a few things and have fun kind of basis but I have found that Lynch works pretty well with that to. Well, I'm hoping to get another practice game before a tournament on Saturday and intend trying the following list: Lynch - Cache 3 -Woke up with a hand -Endless Hunger Hungering Darkness Beckoner Illuminated Illuminated Illuminated Mr Graves Depleted Depleted Really want to start using Tannen at some point too. Battle reports to follow.

Yes, really not too sure about that part of it either. It all sounded a bit 'gates of antares' (failed kickstarter project).

Whilst not hugely into sci-fi, I would be interested if they went with the Dropzone Commander Scale. I do think Edonil might be right that they end up looking at a 28-32mm scale army game and just try to price it in the same way as Mantic's Kings of War.

The following models available to Lynch have the brilliance characteristic: Beckoners Illuminated Depleted Brilliance can be spread from the following: Lynch's hold out pistol, coated bullet trigger Lynch's Play for Blood attack action Hungering Darkness Tendrils, A sliver remains trigger Beckoners Despicable promises attack action Illuminated's scintillating cloud markers Depleted's smouldering grasp, just a touch trigger Depleted's Consumed ability

Upgrades Taking aside the general Neverborn upgrades, none of which look particularly worthwhile when compared to the thematic upgrades we have. Woke up with a hand - A very useful looking upgrade which gives Lynch an upgrade and an attack action. The upgrade means that if Lynch activates last in a turn he can draw two cards. This leads nicely into the attack action Which if succesful means that the target model suffering from the brilliance charateristic takes damage equal to the number of cards in Lynch's hand. Wanna See a Trick - Grants an ability whereby Lynch reveals any number of aces from his hand and a nearby model with brilliance will suffer two damage per ace. The Rising Sun - The upgrade which can allow the revival of hungering darkness. When it would be killed, bury it. When an enemy model with brilliance within 6" of lynch is killed unbury the buried hungering darkness. Expert Cheater - Any friendly model in Jakobs line of sight may cheat face down. Excellent for trying to thin down your opponents hand. Also, when you aren't too concerned at losing the duel, cheat in a face down ace, you'll get it back anyway and you might force your opponent to cheat in a high card. This upgrade also grants another defensive trigger, squeal, allowing lynch to push 4" away when damaged by an enemy melee attack Endless Hunger - A great upgrade which although limited to Lynch really benefits the Hungering Darkness. It gives the HD casting expert, which proves to really speed him up as he can then use both his general actions to get into position - if required - and with the casting action will still be able to put some good damage out. It also changes his terrifying (living) 12 to terrifying (all) 12. Addict - A plus to all attack and damage flips for darkened models against opponents with brilliance. A lot of the thematic crew choices already get similar bonuses but extra plus flips are always useful and it might also help out if you plan on bringing along some stitched togethers and/or Mr Graves. Just because they are darkened but don't have any intrinsic boosts against brilliant models.

Jakob Lynch So looking at his stats we have a master with an average defence and reasonable willpower, 10 wounds a walk of 4 inches and charge of 6. He has a very low ss cache of 1 which, considering bringing along the Hungering Darkness will mean you have two models in a crew who can utilise them might prove frustrating. Defence Defensively Lynch isn't as resilient as many other masters. His defence of 5 pales in comparison to the likes of Lilith and at only 10 wounds it might appear that he would fall to a brisk breeze. He isn't a frontline master however so will often be at the back of the line whilst some of your other models put in the hard graft up front. Either that or he is at the centre of a bunch of very hard support models that your opponent will have to get through in order to reach him. His greatest integral defensive asset however is the trigger hold em. Hold em means that if an attacker cheats an attack action against Lynch then, after the attack action is resolved, they will suffer two damage. Like a supercharged black blood this should prove to be invaluable as the suit is already built in. In addition, the trigger is not dependent on damage having been caused and as such will also trigger if they miss you with the attack. Abilities Ace in the hole Whenever an ace, played by another friendly model in his crew, would be placed in the discard pile then Lynch can place it in his control hand. What use is an ace? Well, for any actions that require discarding a card to get a bonus, always having an ace in hand is perfect. As such miniatures with the likes of flurry or rapid fire might be able to find a home in a Lynch crew. It is also excellent for ensuring a trigger can be declared for Lynch's hold out action. None for me - Lynch can never suffer from brilliance. Hold em - Discussed above. Infiltration - Crews led by this model may hire 4 Darkened miniatures irrespective of faction. Attack Actions Lynch's hold out pistol should not be overlooked. With a reasonable sh characteristic he should have a better than average chance of hitting most non master models. It has a range of 8 but can also be used in melee. Lynch can discard a card to declare a trigger corresponding to the discarded cards suit. As mentioned above this sits very nicely with Ace in the hole. The triggers range from increased damage to giving the targer slow. Play for Blood - A Casting of 8, this 8 inch range willpower duel will always have a reasonable chance of success. The loser of the duel suffers 2 damage. The casting of this also has a built in trigger that would give your target brilliance when succesful. Tactical Actions Mulligan - Discard three cards and then draw three cards. We have all suffered from a bad hand. Switch out 3 of those low cards. No doubt invariably for another three terrible cards. Pay Up - A zero action where, for every enemy model with the brilliance characteristic, flip a card from the deck and place an masks into your hand. This obviously would seem to play out better at the end of a turn when you have had a chance to place brilliance on models and has synergy with the woke up with a hand ability.

So, with March looking like a month where I am actually going to manage to get a good few games of M2E under my belt and a local GT due in June, I wanted to pick a master and use him exclusively to really try to get to grips with him until getting slaughtered at the big tournament. It came down to the choice between Lynch and Mei Fang and although, I had picked up Lynch thinking I would use him more as 10T, it turns out that I just can't seem to be drawn away from Neverborn for long so I will be using Lynch in his Neverborn guise and really trying to get him to work for me. Whilst no doubt there will have been plenty of Lynch discussion in my hiatus from the game, I thought I would start this log/discussion to give my thoughts and reports whilst also angling for feedback from those of you out there who have been able to play more games with him than I have. I intend to discuss Lynch's abilities, upgrades and the minions available to him in depth at a point that is not so late at night but after getting a game in with him this evening I thought that would be a good little place to start. 50ss game I was looking to try out a teddy slingshot discussed here Lynch - Endless Hunger Hungering Darkness Beckoner Mr Graves Teddy Kade Lelu Lilitu My opponent took the following Hoffman (Not sure on upgrades) Peackeeper Hunter Guardian Warden Lawyer Austringer Mechanical Attendant The strategy was Turf War and my schemes were assassinate and plant evidence. As you can see from my list, I limited the upgrades I took as I didn't want to make the crew too complicated to begin with. I also did not concentrate on the brilliance mechanic instead taking a very general Neverborn crew. I will be concentrating more and more on brilliance through the month, although I know that Argentbadger, in our local tournament scene, has had great success with 10T Lynch without focusing on brilliance. It was my opponent's first game with Hoffman in Mark 2 so it was very much a learning experience for both of us. This isn't the place for a full report but highlights did include Teddy getting the Peacekeeper down to 1 wound left in turn 1, Lynch using his hold out pistol to damage and slow the warden and then killing him next turn with another good shot, Graves beating Hoffman to a pulp with a fencepost and the Hungering Darkness killing a Hunter and an Austringer. From my opponents point of view, after the death of his peacekeeper he actually managed to kill teddy with a lawyer, The Austringer raptor striking poor Lilitu to death and the Hunter actually being worth taking in this edition. I eeked out a narrow victory as a result of the succesful assassination. Initial thoughts Hungering Darkness is a wonderful 0 cost model and ultimately means that if you bring Lynch to the table, then unlike other masters with a measly 3 general AP, you essentially get 5 general AP split across two activations. With Endless hunger you also get a nice casting expert action too. While the hungering darkness can't do melee like Lilith, and Jakob can't do card control like Zoraida (basing this on Zoraida from mark I), they can both do well in their respective speciality and both be on the table at the same time. Whilst Lynch wouldn't win a one on one fight with many masters he still seemed to be more than adequate, with verynice triggers both offensively and defensively and a couple of useful 0 actions. Anyway, that's really just my general thoughts from tonight's quick game. I look forward to posting more detailed breakdowns and battle reports as the summer progresses as well as posting pics of my crew. I would love to hear how you all have been finding Lynch as a true Neverborn citizen!

It was great last year so i'm down for this again