Regelridderen

If, say two Coryphee or three Steam Spiders combine and two of them have Focused +1 each, what will be the Duet’s or Spider Swarm’s Focused condition be?

Then don’t worry about a thing ☺️ I do find tournaments fun - you can either go to win, or casually to meet new players and face crews that you don’t see in your normal meta, it’s what you make of it I guess.

It was one of those classic stories. Hopeful artist aim for the stars, when love struck crimeboss and casino owner enters, stage right, and promises him the world - only for a night of sweet, sweet love. And when the crime boss won’t take no for an answer it ends with the inevitable dance off. STRATS : Covert Operations, Flank SCHEMES : Breakthrough, In Your Face, Catch and Release, Vendetta, Spread Them Out. HONEYPOT : Lynch + Huggy + 8 Stones Kitty Dumont Gwyneth Mr. Tannen Lone Samurai 2x Beckoners THOUGHTS : I ditched my usual Illuminated for Beckoners, as I wanted to be able to Catch the performers on their poor Wp and beat them up. Lynch2 is probably the better, but here was a chance to turn monkeys into junkies. PERFORMERS : Mr. Cooper + 3 Monkeys + 5 stones Baritone Lola Carlos Vasquez Ferdinand Vogel Gunsmith w. Magical Training Gunsmith THOUGHTS : Lynch hates getting shot, and I could get the best shooters in the biz and teleport them around while giving them +flips on the defense. Vogel is a great Circus act to complement the performers, both providing healing and Wp attacks. While scheming would be left for Lola and Carlos. SETUP : TURN ONE : Both crews were reluctant to advance. Knowing very well it could spell Doom for the crew. Lynch passed, and Cooper sent a Flying Monkey up to survey and make way for his deadlier performers. Yet, the lecherous monkey fell for the siren’s call of two Beckoners and soon found itself in the midst of the Honeypot, a brilliant sheen now glowing from it’s wings. Seeing where it headed Cooper sent a Gunsmith to dispatch of the monkey, but the Hungering Darkness immediately called for it through the Beckoners. Cooper worked his magic Presto-Change-o-ing himself and the second Gunsmith to center and Vogel off to the flank. But suddenly the Despicable Mr. Tannen got in the way. The Gunsmith rushed into help his buddy and bladres 4 health off of Tannen. Only to see Lynch come in block LoS between the two, while pumping his mate full of Brilliance - but sadly not managing to kill her.During the fighting Baritone Lola scuttled off on the flank, while Vogel dumped a scheme marker by the objective on the other, turning into a mighty werewolf to face the Lone Samurai and Kitty. TURN TWO : A fierce fight for initiative, each crew cheating twice ended with Lynch winning and turning both Gunsmiths into addicts, one Illuminated, one Depleted. Cooper did his best to block the Honeypot advance throwing himself and Carlos in the way, then stabbing Tannen to death with a neat Sword Trick. Carlos proceded to set the Honeypot on fire and blocking their way with a big Pyre, but died to the claws of the Illuminated Gunsmith as the Beckoners doused the flames. Huggy set his sight on Lola who hid by the far objective dumping yet another scheme marker, while Cooper vanished in a puff of smoke.All alone Vogel/Beast made a boo-boo. He let out a mighty Roar turning both Sammie and Kitty into Adversaries, then charged deling out two impressive Severes and a Weak damage, before the Sammie hit him for seven, letting Kitty advance remove the scheme marker and claim the objective. SCORE : Performers 1 (Strat) vs. Honeypot 3 (Strat, In Your Face, Vendetta (Sammie vs. Vogel). AFTERMATH : It was fun if quick, the Performers eff’ed up. Getting into a center scrum instead of leveraging their superior mobility, but I never considered how fast Mv7 will get you in Trouble, when used against you. On the positive side, I finally think I’ve got the hang of how to unpack via Presto-Changeo.

The basic game haven’t changed much. Some language has been made more precise in the rules, but that’s about it. - As others have explained Titles have come out, and in your case you’ll want Perdita2, as she’s suddenly taken a subpar crew into broken territory - along with a versatile guild mage. The latest expansion Madness of Malifaux introduces a new breed of hyper efficient masters, where one action easily escalates into three, mostly invalidating existing model collections, if you’re more into winning than having an even game. Hopefully designers realize that this is a wrong path to take, when you invalidate 90% of your product. Otherwise we’re hopefully seeing an M4E just beyond the horizon. - Most discussion have migrated to Discord, for unknown reasons, so the forums are dying out. - But just get back in the game. You’ll feel right at home and have loads of fun. Most of the broken stuff only get to reign tournaments for a year before nerfs (and the next wave), and most faux players just want some fun and a great game.

@The Neon Gnome I’m really looking forward to story - if only to paint it up. At first glane they don’t seem at Madness ridiculousness, which is only good, but they do seem to be able to do some really, really cool stuff.

Not really true, I actually got out of the Dojo and faced a real live opponent - at least I believe they were, they all wore masks, so maybe… STRAT : Cursed Objects, Corner Deployment. SCHEMES : Set the Trap, Breakthrough, In Your Face, Catch and Release, Public Demonstration. ANCESTORS - the usual suspects Spiritwalker + Soul Porter + 6 Stones Yin Toshiro 2x Kabuki Samurai In Your Face, Catch & Release (Kabuki) vs ELITE/MIMICS Lucius + Scribe + 3 Stones Agent 46 2x Geryon 2x Guild Lawyers Investigator Set the Trap, Catch & Release (Investigator) TURN ONE : Lots of shuffling. A central forest blocked the straight line between corners. The ancestors held back a bit, slowly advancing, weary to overextend and fall into a wave of out-of-activations. Yet first blood was drawn, when a Kabuki with Yin Reliquae met a Geryon on the center line. TURN TWO : The fight was on, the first Geryon was Pulled bloody out of the scrum, when the Scribe had his back, but Lucius isn’t the only one with out-activation pranks, and the Geryon fell apart to a charging greatsword - bringing my Yin/Kabuki far away from the Agent 46 coming round the forest stapping the Samurai in the weak bits. Yet the sneaky Mimics sent an investigator up to question the Spiritwalker about his immigration status - luckily they were in order and Yan was let go. SCORE : Ancestors 1 (Strat) vs Elite 1 (Catch and Release) TURN THREE : Another Geryon fell, while the Agent saw his chance to kill the samurai. Fearing more surprises from 46 the ancestors focused on taking him out, but it took a lot of shuffling as Yan Lo wanted to see it happen up close, giving Lucius’s Hidden Sniper time to appear and put some wounds on a Kabuki, who’d just turned his sword against Yan Lo on a lawyer’s orders - the agent went down though, and since Yan suddenly realised he had to move to win, he executed the investigator as well. While the Yin/Kabuki and Yin teamed up against a poor lawyer. SCORE : Ancestors 3 (Strat + In Your Face) vs Elite 2 (Strat) TURN FOUR : To no surprise the first lawyer died quickly, then Lucius’s Hidden Sniper took out the Kabuki. Feeling the pressure Toshiro ran towards the opposing corner, but an impudent lawyer threw up some red tape and sent him back across the center line. Yin engaged the Lawyer, but also got caught in the red tape of bureacracy, but the Yin/Kabuki managed to reach Lucius, stabbing him once just for funsies. SCORE : Ancestors 5 (Strat + Catch and Release) vs Elite 2 (Strat) TURN FIVE : The Elite put up a brave fight, trying to Set a Trap and Lucius engaging the Kabuki to deny points, but the ancestors would have none of it. Reserving a couple of high masks for Obeys allowed Toshiro to reach the corner deployment from 14” away, and freeing Yin from being engaged to the Lawyer, so the Vampire could charge in and tear Lucius away from the Kabuki and dump him in pool of lava. SCORE : Ancestors 8 vs. Elite 3 AFTERMATH : Lucius is a tough crew to play. He can juggle a lot of actions, but quickly loses his punch, when you hit his beaters. It didn’t help that he held Lucius back and wasn’t able to channel actions into the Geryon. The Geryon was an interesting choice, the Extended Reach was a challenge that wasted a lot of actions, while HtK demanded some thought. The kabuki did their usual amazing stuff - Yan did not like the few times they turned around to hit him. Nor did the Kabuki enjoy the Hidden Sniper. They’re great at doing their job, but they are brutale glass cannons, when out of their element. The samurai might not have accomplished much, but he did manage to hold back Agent 46, and adding staying power was what he was there for. This ancestor crew isn’t easy to play. You get a lot of synergies, but need to be ever mindful of positioning and cards to make it work. Especially Yan’s activation is hard, he wants his suits, and he isn’t getting the freebies he’s designed to get. The big advantage is it’s ability to shift focus and gears with most of it’s models being Mv6. - Thumbs up to my opponent. I think, I have more games with Lucius, than he have Malifaux, but he had a better eye on schemes/strats than I’ve ever had. He’ll be a force to be reckoned with, once he cracks his take on Lucius - or switches crews. Till then, he’ll take some hard beatings.

@regleantwhen it comes to Honeypot, I prefer the old casino master. It just has a certain charm turning opposing models into junkies and prostitutes. Although, number two offer great mobility and versatility - and I think, probably is the better choice most times - and I just love to Rig The Deck. With my Ancestors I’ve found a fast hard-hitting style based around Kabuki Warriors and mostly Spiritwalker that’s just loads of fun. Basically min3 beaters with constant ++flips to hit and damage and multiple activations. I’m still finding my way around McCabe (Rollins), I like the Tomb Delver, but I’ve no real preference.

I’ve decided to throw my attention to my Thunders for the moment - I’ve collected and painted Last Blossom, Ancestor/Retainer, Honeypot and Wastrel + most versatiles - and will likely add Story to the collection as well. So I thought it about time, I started playing with them too. I think my ‘tournament pack’ will end up with Ancestor/Retainer for the more fighty focused, Wastrel for the most scheme-y and corner deployment and Honeypot for what’s in between. These, to me, are the most fun/rewarding and I love themes more than the rest. But what are your preferences?

So as I’m starting to get the hang of Honeypot and Ancestors, I thought it was time to branch out and get a feel of the Wastrel keyword in a face off vs Ancestors. STRATS : Carve a path // Corner Spread them Out, Vendetta, Breakthrough, Load ‘Em Up Sabotage One flank was heavily forested, while the rest was littered with mountains and stone pillars. ANCESTORS Spiritwalker + Soulporter + 5 Stones Yin Toshiro 2x Kabuki Samurai Plan was to attach Yin to the Spiritwalker and have a flying scheme/guntower, while the took a hard center. Trying to avoid the forested area. Going for STO and Bre. WASTREL Tomb Delver + Luna + 3 Stones 2x Rough Riders Sidir Desper Wanyudo Dawn Serpent Plan was to win through speed. Sending Wanyudo and Dawn Serpent through the forest, while letting the rest engage the Ancestors. Going for Bre. and Sab. TURN ONE Lots of stumbling, the Wastrels wanted to capitalize on their looted cards, let Luna uncover a scap marker and tripped over their feet, as they tried getting out of their own bubble. The fiery duo regretted their initial plan and took a turn playing the ball more towards the centre, where they teamed up with Sidir. While the rest got divided by a mountaing as they advanced fast, pushing their marker across the centerline. The ancestors also blundered, where Yan / Yin should take the flank a samurai and a Kabuki went to kick ball. While Toshiro and the other Kabuki went center. Yet the old guy still held the aces, the soul porter kicked the Yan Reliquae to Yin and the Yin reliquae to the Kabuki walking down the center. Then Yin flew out and suddenly ol’ Yan was in the center with 4 actions + a charge from Yin ending in one dead Rough Rider and Desper badly wounded. It looked like a bad day to be robbing old guys’ tombs. TURN TWO By freakish luck and poor Yin flips, Desper managed to survive and punt his ball further up field. He was up to 2 health thanks to a mirror, but didn’t get far himself due to slow. An overconfident Toshiro decided to ignore him, instead to move into position to benefit the minions, and the Soul Porter went for the kill - but a lucky soulstone kept Desper alive. Tomb Delver tried to circumvent shooting at Yin by shooting Yan with his Pepperbox and blasting, but forgetting about Lunas Hunting Partner, allowed Yin to live - only to go down to a very focused Rough Rider. While on the other side, Sidir managed to pepper the Kabuki, before it closed in, taking the ball with it across the line, and Sidir then got cut down under the orders of Toshiro. Then got charged by Wanyudo - to get in and punt the second ball over the centreline A Stunned Yan never really made a dent in this round, although he did Obey the sammie to punt the ball across the centreline By the end of the turn, all 4 balls was across the centre, yet no schemes were revealed. SCORE : Wastrel 1 vs Ancestors 1 TURN THREE The fight was on, dead bodies piled up everywhere, and the Kabuki quickly dispatched the Wanyudo. Luna and the The Rough Rider took out the other Kabuki, scaring Yan Lo to flee and attach himself to the Porter, while stripping health off the Tomb Delver, letting Tomb Delver pick up a Time Worn Bull Whip and start ripping the samurai’s armor apart. Unfortunately, just missing one fatal hit. The Dawn Serpent burned the Yin/Kabuki to a crisp then took up position one inch between the two balls. And no one seemed to care that Desper punted his ball into the end zone and dropped a scheme marker. SCORE : Wastrel 3 (Strat + Bre.) vs Ancestors 2 (Strat) TURN FOUR : Both masters went down this turn, Yan from the fiery Breath of the Dawn Serpent, that not only would claim his life, but also the Porter and set Toshiro on fire. Tomb Delver from getting skewered by the samurai, then shot to pieces by a desperate Yan Lo. Toshiro charged in to engage the dawn serpent, but no effect. Meanwhile Desper was happily leaping about, setting up a bomb. SCORE : Wastrel 5 (Strat + Sab.) vs Ancestors 2 TURN FIVE : The scum was inconsequental at this point, only thing left was for Desper to score a final Sabotage point. SCORE : Wastrel 6 (Sab.) vs Ancestors 2 - AFTERMATH I didn’t expect this. The ancestors lost to hubris, as they in their bloodlust ignored Desper - who singlehandedly scored 4 points. Their big failure was to allow Yan to engage and getting bogged down. While he should have been off scoring points. Meanwhile I have a lot to learn about unpacking and moving the Wastrels around. It might have been smarter to send riders off through the forest, and getting the Wanyudo and Dawn serpent into the fight, or maybe have looked into a huckster or two for dedicated scheming. The Yin / Yan combo showed lots of potential. Yin can do great in a fight, but her strength is speed/scheming. While I’m sure if Toshiro had had all the minions with him, the center would have been much harder to deal with. Good game and lots of learning from the dojo.

I’m also musing on a list with double kabuki, double samurai and Toshiro. A 12” death bubble with 12” reach. And the armored samurai will bring something good to an otherwise squishy list.

Indeed, I’ve found he does more shooting than I imagined, but of course the shooting is very good - especially vs armor/incorporeal. So in the end it’ll be a choice between the two, dependent on style, opponent and schemes. Which is just good game design.

So ol’ Lo was messing with his hoodoo dolls, when Collette stopped by for a less than friendly visit. STRAT : Cursed Object - Flank Deployment ANCESTORS Spirit Walker + Soul Porter + 8 stones Toshiro Yin 2 x Kabuki Warriors Sun Quiang SCHEMES : Leave Your Mark, Set the Trap vs PERFORMERS Colette + 3 doves + 1 stone Dorian Crowe Showgirl (HM) w. Magical Training Angelica Durand (HM) Carlos Vasquez Cassandra Felton SCHEMES : Hidden Martyr, Breakthrough TURN ONE The performers chose a denied flank, while the ancestors congregated in the center. Yin met the duet, while Carlos took a bloody nose from a Kabuki. TURN TWO Things got serious, Carlos quickly lost his life, while both Cassandra and the Showgirl got bloodied, in return one of the Kabukis went down, as Dorian flicked a cigarette in his eye and his wig caught fire. Yin kept the duet busy, while Sun scrambled to keep her alive. SCORE : Ancestors 2 (Strat + Leave Your Mark) vs Performers 1 (Strat) TURN THREE The remaining Kabuki opened the ball by lopping off the head of Dorian, while the duet turned it’s attention toward Sun Quiang. Leaving Yin free to join the center scrum, so soon the Showgirl joined the dead, and Toshiro could turn her corpse into an ashigaru and kill off Angelica… SCORE : Ancestors 3 (Strat) vs Performers 1 TURN FOUR With the performers decimated, we decided to call it quits. Cassandra would surely die, while there was little chance that the performers would get more than one point from Breakthrough and Strat, while theancestors would likely score the 2nd point of LYM and the strat likely ending in a 5-3 result at best. AFTERMATH It was the performers first outing since first, so unsurprisingly they took a beating - although they also took the coolest kill with Dorian. Meanwhile the Kabukis once again proved themselves deadly with abundant +flips. Sun is likely a waste, and going forward will see himself replaced with Manos or a Samurai.

With more practice I’m starting to reconsider whether Spiritwalker is the right choice. The Obey chain is just immensely resource draining.

Those ‘nerfs’ were well deserved, making those models playable. E.g. I loved Pandora Tyrant-Torn, as she made Pandora and not just the Woe crew fun to play, and now that she’s brought more in line with the rest of the game, It doesn’t need to be a bad experience Sadly, some went scott-free, like Perdita, and sadder still, the madness have hit, which skews the whole balance issue once again. I’ve no idea, why Wyrd bother with these nerfs, as it seems they’ve adopted a GW sales strategy of pumping out vastly overpowered stuff to let it reign the tabletops for a year before being put in line to get beaten by the next wave. We’ve seen it with Explorers, Burns and Madness now, so chucking it up to too little testing is naive at best. - The worst part is that it is a poor tactic. Wyrd can’t get stock on shelves, let alone the new stuff. Then launching these wildly imbalanced crews only leads to poor game experiences, which does make it ring false, when you try to sell it, as the best and most balanced mini game out there. They might as well spare players like you the negative experience of seeing your models nerfed. Then bring back original masters, like Dreamer to the game to open the playing field to this new meta - simply just give a rat’s arse about the balance issues and devote their energy to developing new, cool stuff. - I really like Malifaux and our local meta. I’ve got 21 crews of lovely models to prove it, but I’m seriously considering jumping back into Infinity until M4e drops.

I think, Yan2 holds the advantage, not needing Chiaki for the Reliquaries. And having Obeys to Channel his action in their hypercharged Greatswords. Yet, Yan1 has the advantage of even more healing, and the Kabuki are nothing if not squishy. The problem with Yan2 is being dependent on masks, that he won’t get with the Kabukis. If you can put a Reliquary on Toshiro, you can chain Obeys through the Daimyo’s gift - but then you need not one but two 7+ - and preferably a third ancestor, as both Yina and Yan is wasted on Toshiro.

Or Yin for that matter - along with protecting Yin and Toshiro, when they advance. My core is the 2 Kabukis with Yin and Toshiro. Then everything is interchangeable. Need even more mobility - throw in Manos. Need a little extra security give the Kabukis HtK - and a nice bonus action - via Silent Protector. Or how about throwing in a Samurai to provide cover fire? Etc.

I just painted up a couple of Kabukis. Got them to paint with the excuse to use them in my Honeypot, but found I haven’t got the room. Instead, I’ve been testing them out in Yan Lo, and that’s a whole different story : With the Reliquae of Yin, you get a beater with Terrifying 11, Distraction Aura - that’s nasty. With the Reliquae of Toshiro, build in +flips on hits. So when you’re not charging, all your melee attacks are basically Min3 focused Stat6 attacks. Add to this, the ability to sink actions and Focused into them via Toshiro’s Daimyo’s Gift / Foul-mouthed Motivation. Handing them focus via Sun Quiang or just Obeying via Spiritwalker. You get a lot of very hard-hitting attacks.

Time for a rematch and trying something new out : GUARD THE STASH // STANDARD HONEYPOT Jacob Lynch + Huggie + 3 Stones Kitty Lone Sammie Mr. Tannen 2x Illuminated 2x Beckoners Secret Meetup - Lone Sammie and Toshiro at center / In Your Face vs ANCESTORS Yan Lo + Soul Porter + 4cStones Yin Toshiro 2x Kabuki Warriors w. Silent Protector Sun Quiang Assassinate / Spread Them Out TURN ONE The honeypot was locked in between two big forests and driven for the center, while the ancestors held back and prepared for the onslaught of junkies. Aggression started when a careless Kabuki strayed too far forward and sniffed the pheromones of a beckoner and sucdenly found himself in the middle of the pack, and a Kabuki tug of war started, as the ancestors tried luring him back. A bloody fight broke out between the Lone Sammie and the Kabuki, but they were both too Hard To Kill. Turn ended with Toshiro ordering the other Kabuki to decapitate Tannen, and so he did - while Yin tried outflanking and dropping a scheme marker. TURN TWO Two kabukis and Toshiro took up the center, when the scrum got bad. Lynch managed to kill the Kabuki, but it was too depleted for even making a depleted. Sun got up to keep the rest alive, not considering the Lone Sammie would draw his Last Breath, and so he died, shortly followed by the Sammie to Yan Lo. Yin rushed too secure Spread Them Out, but didn’t foresee that Huggie could gulp her down in one bite. SCORE : Honeypot 2 (Strat, In Your Face) vs Ancestors 2 (Strat, Spread Them Out) TURN THREE Things weren’t looking good for the Ancestors, but a strong hand promised changes. The last Kabuki were chopping away at Lynch, while Yan blasted Kitty to kingdom come, but a good hand will only last you so far in a crooked casino, as Lynch had the brilliant Kabuki succumb to darkness and become Illuminated. The Soul Porter got in the way of the junkies and died, while Toshiro kept himself alife by summoning an Ashigaru, that beat Lynch to within an inch of his life. By sheer dumb luck, the ancestors managed to keep the Junkies at bay from securing their stash. SCORE : Honeypot 2 vs Ancestors 3 (Assassinate) TURN FOUR Not much left, but survival for the ancestors, yet Yan refused to go down trouble was, he was engaged by a pesky Illuminated, but got out via Treacherous Paths, pushed Lynch to his back line and killed him with the Darkest Magics and blew the face off a Beckoner - before healing Toshiro. Toshiro did his best to keep himself alive, but had no chance vs 2 illuminated and a raging Huggie, so now the Honeypot could finally get back to scoring the strat. SCORE : Honeypot 3 (Strat) vs Ancestors 3 TURN FIVE Yan was alone and did his best to stay alive. He didn’t accomplish much, yet still it took 3 illuminated Obey’ed by Huggy to bring him down. SCORE : Honeypot 4 (Strat) vs Ancestors 4 (Assassinate). AFTERMATH The Ancestors were too impatient and overextended themselves, but man oh man, having Toshiro and and the Kabuki together with +flips on attacks and damage was brutal, and Hard To Kill with the abundant kill caused endless headaches. The dual Beckoners will likely await summoning in the future. They didn’t accomplish much for 10 stones. And I need to learn patience with both Sammy and Tannen. Both losing Kitty and Sammie was a hard blow to the Honeypot costing 3 points But a good game, that was incredibly swingy, the amount of min3 beaters made it incredibly dangerous to make a mistake and overextend - 12 dead models died to teach that lesson.

Exactly.

Yan Lo was trying to meditate, walk the spirit, as some might say, when suddenly loud noises emerge from the apartment above. Heavy beats to music with no melody. He slowly rose, took a sniff, then said : “Junkies… Here goes the neighbourhood.” GUARD THE STASH - WEDGE HONEYPOT Hungering Darkness + Darkest Bet + 4 stones Kitty Dumont Gwyneth 2 Illuminated Mr. Tannen Lone Samurai vs. ANCESTORS Yan Lo + Soul Porter + 4 Stones Manos Yin the Penangalan - Silent Protector 2 Kabuki Warriors Sun Quiang - Silent Protector TURN ONE Kitty opened the ball sparkling brilliance on the tight group of junkies and pushing Gwyneth to the front, but in that overextended herself and got Lured by a Kabuki warrior to taste his no-dachi. Tannen sped to the front, trying to calm the angry ancestors down, distracting the vsmpire Yin from eating her. Lynch got up called her back into safety, and Gwyneth took her place woving to hold them dpwn, as the illuminated started puking scintillating clouds. Meanwhile thevother Kabuki and the lone swordsman moved towards each other on the other flank. TURN TWO Tempers got hot, and Tannen moved to talk some sense into the old folks leader giving him a headache. While Kitty took a beating from Yin and the one Kabuki warrior, but as the scintillating clouds burst, it seemed impossible to finish the job, she just wouldn’t stay down. In turn she could do nothing vs. The healing powers of Sun Quiang. Yan fled the boring conversation, but was soon accosted by the Darkest Bet and Huggy, and as he couldn’t get far enough away from Tannen, his activation was completely wasted. And then the murders started… Manos sped in and skewered Tannen with a red joker damage, Kitty slapped a weakened Kabuki to death, and on the other flank The Lone Swordsman joined the fray, reducing the other Kabuki to one health with a single blow. Both sides were now depleted of soulstones. SCORE : Honeypot 3 (Strat, Vendetta Swordsvan vs Kabuki and Hidden Martyr Tannen) vs Ancestors 0 TURN THREE The Lone Swordsman drew his last breath then stabbed Yan Lo in the back with double rams and a Red Joker for damage the old man died, but the remaining kabuki had more finesse. On the other side Yin found a red joker on a fluke flip and ripped Gwyneth apart. Manos tried to reach the other Martyr illuminated, but was too scared when finally facing him - leaving Kitty room to move into the opposing deployment. The Kabuki were adamant in resisting Huggy, but with only 1 health it was no problem obeying it to walk knto a pyre and burning to death. SCORE : Honeypot 4 (Strat) vs Ancestors 0 TURN FOUR The bloodthirsty Lone Swordsman started by decapitating Manos and there were little reason to continue the game, as it was heading for an 8-0 AFTERMATH It was extremely swingy, even if the point scoring didn’t reflect it. Every time one side had the upper hand, some red joker would appear and swing the game. The Kabukis were a fun addition to the Ancestors, although they never really got the benefit of the Silent Protectors, and if only Yan had made it into the third, their distraction would have wreaked havoc. It was my first time with the Dark Bet instead of Lynch, and I see the merit in the healing and mobility he brings, but… I do think, I prefer the original Lynch. There’s really something about turning opponents into addicts, but man, the crew just works. It was my third Honeypot game, and I’m not sure, I really got Gwyneth down yet, I think, I’ll focus more on handing out early brilliance with her Derenger before getting up close.

Lynch snorted a line of sparkly crystals off the back of Mr. Tannen's hand : "Aaaah! What's this you say. Misaki want's us to blow up some warehouse in the jungle? Jolly well, man let's do so, a man must obey his mistress...". When Kitty Dumont's spectral shape suddenly emerged from the ground : "Bad news, boss. There's a bunch of bounty hunters on our tail, and they're up to something.". "Brilliant!" Lynch replied : "Time to feed the darkness...". PLANT EXPLOSIVES – CORNER DEPLOYMENT HONEYPOT CREW Jacob Lynch + Hungering Darkness and 4 stones Gwyneth Maddox Kitty Dumont Mr. Tannen 2 Illuminated The Lone Swordsman SCHEMES : Hidden Martyrs, Deliver a Message vs FRONTIER Basse + Bernadette + 5 stones Austringer Pathfinder 2 Rough Riders Johnathan Reichart Tannenbaum SCHEMES : Outflank, Power Ritual TURN ONE Oh <ins. expletive> the board was filled with severe terrain for my opponent to ignore. It was fairly easy to deduce that his schemes would be, so the Honeypot chose to go hard for the center. While Bernadette and Johnathan each hitched a ride towards a corner, while Basse took his little posse to face the gamblers. A few scintillating clouds burst through the air, a trap was summoned and promptly turned into a depleted and that was the end of first turn. TURN TWO Basse and Lynch were locked in a deadly melee, depleting most of the gambler's stones, while the frontiersmen on the flanks planted explosives and scheme markers, and Johnathan turned around to aim for hitting the center scrum T3. Yet, the illuminated were now raining down scintillating clouds around the centre. And Kitty managed to drop a bomb just across the centre line, while Lynch handed Basse a crumbled old note saying "Ha! Ha!" - to which he got a shot gun red joker in return "Ouch!", but then Tannen snuck into position with a slight grin and started to talk, although he was greatly annoyed by a frikkin bird attacking out of nowhere. SCORE : Honeypot 2 (Strat + Deliver a Message) vs Frontier 2 (Strat + Outflank) TURN THREE Seizing initiative, Tannen started babbling away. He needed to secure the centre for Johnathan's charge, if only that pesky bird would leave him alone. Meanwhile the pathfinder blew up the depleted and summoned yet another trap, that Lynch quickly identified as having a drug problem. Then Johnathan charged and ripped the head off of Tannen and made a martyr of him. Basse blasted Lynch to kingdom come, and meanwhile the frontiersmen were dropping bombs in my backyard. Kitty returned to block their way, while the Huggy Obeyed a rough rider to pick up his bomb and then asked the lone swordsman to decapitate him, the swordsman then brought the bomb to other half and set his sights on Bernadette Basse, but unfortunately he couldn't reach her. And Gwyneth stumbled across the centre line to drop a bomb of her own. SCORE : Honeypot 4 (Strat + Hidden Martyr) vs Frontier 4 (Strat + Power Ritual) TURN FOUR As if things weren't bad enough being down a master, Basse blew away Gwyneth and an Illuminated in two shots then picked up her bomb. Johnathan charged another illuminated, but only beat to its final health. The Lone Swordsman drew his Final Breath and woved to kill Bernadette, but... failed miserably from a black joker, then got beaten down to 1 health in return. Huggy went to block the path of the rough rider on the far edge to ensure there would be no Power Ritual - at least that was succesful. SCORE : Honeypot 4 vs Frontier 4 TURN FIVE Final turn had some heavy demands. Basse needed a 3+ of Mask and would then be able to drop two bombs. Huggy needed to get close to either of the two murder machines to score 2nd point of Hidden Martyr. And someone would need to place a Honeypot scheme marker next to Basse - and the lone swordsman would need to survive pick up and drop a bomb. Bernadette started, but failed killing the Lone Swordsman, Kitty then summoned dark tendrils and pushed her out of the way, allowing the swordsman to do his bomb shuffle. Huggy tried to disengage the Rough Rider after it failed to hit him, but lo and behold he was stolen the 2" he needed to engage Basse. And as the final flip, Basse dropped a bomb flipped a 2 of masks. ending the game. FINAL SCORE : Honeypot 5 (Strat) vs Frontier 5 (Strat AFTERMATH A great game as always. The Honeypot was severely outclassed on mobility, but that's the nature of the game, when you've decided your crews before strats and schemes. I'd never faced the Frontier before, but man are they fast! I struggled a lot with the timing of Gwyneth and got nothing but a couple of cards for her 9 stones, and I got very little from Kitty - even if she was instrumental in the strat. And I never saw Lynch really cash out. What saved me was the Obeys of the Hungering Darkness. It allowed me the reach and the actions I needed to topple a flank - even if the cards were against me. I might have been to cautious with Huggy in the end, but after losing Jacob, the Darkness was my ace in the hole. My opponent had a couple of lucky red jokers on damage, but what really blew my game was Tannenbaum forcing me to discard severed at the end of turn, he didn't do much more, but that was annoying as F. And then I need to remember to properly read the 2nd score point of the schemes,

Yes, it’ll affect the game - not seriously though. And not for people trying to get a feel for the game.

Bases or faction logos from boxes work great as markers. If you happened to stuff like GW 25 mm bases, they’d work too - they would be the wrong side, but they’d work, and the important thing would be that both crews were using the same sizes. Conditions, health etc. Is easily tracked with the app. Along with turns, scoring objectives etc. - or wet erase markers on the (sleeved) cards. But don’t worry too much about not liking the game. It’s the best mini game out there.

Here’s a few WIP from the syndicate, and I allowed myself to take them out for a spin :