Christian

Strategy: Turf War, Standard Deployment

Terrain: Ruins, Trees and Tombstones

Standard Deployment

Sonnia Crew

Chosen Schemes: Search the Ruins, Assassinate

Sonnia and her Totem Purifying Flame, Samael Hopkins, Brutal Effigy, Witchling Handler, 2x Witchling Stalker, Thalarian Queller, Sanctioned Spellcaster; 8 Soulstones left on her pool.

Pandora Crew

Chosen Schemes: Hold up the Forces, Power Ritual

Pandora and her Totem Poltergeist, 2 x Sorrows, Teddy and Baby Kade, Candy and Doppelganger; 7 Soulstones left on her pool.

Obviously, both players stored a couple of Soulstones for attacking/defending purposes and to keep their Soulstone Users alive.

Result after 5 Rounds: Sonnia 4 VP (3xStrategy, 1xAssasinate): Pandora 3 VP (2xStrategy, 1xHold up the Forces).

Lessons learned:

Sonnia and her Crew worked as expected, and she is a hard beater (14’’ flame burst) but needs Soulstones to protect her. Replacing the Effigy with the Emissary is great, and Sonnia’s opponent was very scared recognizing this big monster on the table. The synergies of the Witchling Handler and her Witchling Stalkers and Minions covered their needs. Empowering Movement is very strong – Samael is able to enhance his movement as well. The Thalarian Queller and the Spellcaster died fast due to the Self Loathing attacks from Pandora and Candy, so Sonnia used them to force Pandora to use actions for them instead of walking or scheming. Good job! The Counterspell Areas worked fine as well, however, discarding a card didn’t trouble Pandora much as her Crew was not very card consuming in this game. Sonnia’s tactic was to claim markers for Turf War and to prevent Pandora running for her schemes and strategy. Besides killing enemies, both crews used the possibility of the strategy to neutralize turf war marker in the appropriate quarter. Sonnia, the Emissary and the Queller focused their attacks to damage Pandora in order to achieve the scheme. Unfortunately, Pandora noticed this scheme to late and run into Sonnia with her Misery/Mood Swing Bubble and her Terrifying Ability.

After 5 rounds, Sonnia, the Emissary and one Witchling Stalker survived. The most value member was Sonnia as she hits hard and was able to prevent damage using enough Soulstones. Concerning schemes, Search the Ruins was fine, however, the opponent did everything to prevent dropping scheme marker on terrains. Finally, Sonnia’s Crew couldn’t gain VPs for it. Assassinate was a good choice as her opponent has only one master. However, Pandora was hard to hit, but with “focus fire” her health went down to half, enough to gain 1 VP. Gaining the 2^nd VP for this scheme seemed unreachable against her, particularly as Candy stands next to her and hold her goody basket to heal.

The Spellcaster and the Queller are “nice to haves” but have no reason for running schemes. Sonnia used them only for distraction purposes.

Playing against Pandora was easy: just avoid her bubble and the misery auras of her followers and keep high cards safe to manage terrifying duels. Additionally, as “Opportunist” was a hard counter against conditions, the Guilds avoided to strive for Focus.

Pandora’s Crew seemed to be played harder. Her and Candy’s Misery/Mood Swing Bubble and Self Loathing Attacks worked great, killing most of the opponent’s crew members. Doppelganger supported both by luring enemies into the bubble. Teddy and Kade were forced to battle Samael and the Effigy/Emissary and both Neverborn died accordingly, but not without Samael taking with them. Unfortunately, both players treated “terrifying” as used once per activation and not once per (attack) action. Pandora wanted to use the Sorrows for running the scheme “Power Ritual”. One of the sorrows managed to run on the right flank, but the other one was stopped by the Emissary. Loosing 1-2 rounds, it was enough to destroy the tactics and Pandora gave up the scheme, favoring “Hold up the forces”. As Sonnia and her crew are mainly ranged attackers, it was hard for them to approach to the enemies.

The most value member are Pandora herself. She was hard to hit, deals tons of damage. Unfortunately, her Totem got lost in the second round, loosing its bubble. Additionally, “Opportunist” helps for duels due to the Shielded Condition of the main part of Sonnia’s Crew. Teddy seems to be strong, but he goes down too fast. Doppelganger was a good choice, and in the last round she managed to engage Sonnia for achieving 1 VP for “Hold up the Forces”. She moves, casts lure on Sonnia and with the trigger (after discarding a card due to the Counterspell Aura), she was able to push close enough to be in range.

After Round 5, only Pandora, Candy, one Sorrow and the Doppelganger survived.

 

Both players agreed that it is very important to have enough Soulstones. After Round 4, all Soulstones were spent. The Sorrows seemed to be fantastic scheme runners but need to be fast enough (or clever enough) not to be stopped by engagements. Obviously, choosing the right schemes is mandatory for evolving tactics. “Power Ritual” is a hard scheme to achieve, where the others seemed to be a little bit easier. Turf War is a great Strategy, particularly the possibility to neutralize enemy markers by killing opposite crew members in the appropriate quarter. Pandora could be played more aggressive. Maybe she can store Focus in the first two rounds. Afterwards, she should be able to move to large enemy crews together with Candy and Poltergeist (if alive). Maybe Pandora can use the Teddy/Kade combo to eliminate the most dangerous foes fast, accepting the death of both in the 3^rd round.

Indeed, the Effigy/Emissary replacement mechanism is terrifying for the enemy. Using Aura of Vengeance could be helpful for healing purposes (for Samael and Sonnia). Using Soulstones for the Witchling Handler and the Thalarian Queller works nice, however, Sonnia’s Player didn’t use it.

The mechanisms of M3e work fine, both players are very happy with their crews.

@Alverstar: I tried the Family members 2 times with the Beta, but to be honest, they did'nt do their job well. They're no synergies to run the game smart. I used to use Francesco and Abuelo in M2E as well as Nino and sometimes Santiago. The only synergy I found was the "Adversary (family)" condition, granting a + flip for duels...

However, in M3e I wanted to check the 4SS-6SS models how they work, but they left the board to fast (against Viks and Von Schill) to build an opinion

Additionally, I gave the Austringer and the Investigator a chance to check how they are able to control the board or to help running schemes. I took the Investigator as "Harness the Line" was in the scheme pool (and my oponent chose it - wow, I'm a fortune teller ) and I tried to tease him accordingly. But as described - the Viks and von Schill were to fast.

Lessons learned: less crew members (to use Tough as Nails), less low level members, more Soulstones in the pool  I will try the Brutal Emissary or Effigy next time with Perdita, or choose her besides other master like Sonnia or Lucius. Hopefully, with the open beta 1.30 (or 1.31), Family gets a buff

 

Review/Remarks:

Guild:

- Perdita defintively needs support around her - some beater/melee expert to protect hear against other beaters (Francesco?), or a healer (Brutal Effigy?); to work with Hero's Gamble, you need to activate her late in the turn, but obviously it's to late for her (sometimes). Analyze Weakness is great, but you need to spend an Action Point which is necessary for attacking opponents. Maybe change Analyze Weakness to a Bonus Action? Target Practice is great as well, but it depends too much on the matchup and chosen schemes. 

- Tough as Nails: didn't work in this matchup

- Bravado worked fine for the Family Members

- Guild misses board control; due to the lack of massive damage output it's very difficult to fight against massive threats

 

Outcasts:

- Viks are great, particullary their healing powers (Into the Fray) and syncronized attacking. With half a dozen Soulstones you are able to prevent damage dramatically.

Great mobility with the Rocket Boots and Battle Tempo they are able to move up to 22'' over the board, with fast (Student of Conflict), one of the Viks can attack twice, while the other Vik only attack once, but with a mask trigger she can attack again. Means: 4 attacks with the 2 Viks, maybe with some Soulstones to gain +flips. Alternatively, they stored some Focus Conditions before they are attacking an enemy? If the enemy survives (surprisingly) or other enemies stand around their dead crew member, the Viks are vulnerable (no shielded condition 'cause they used the Boots) - with enough Soulstones to prevent damage, they will survice. Next round - thanks to INTO THE FREY, they are going to restore health

Wonderful!

- Von Schill is amazing - he can equip his mates, good damage output, fast movement and charge abilities.... love him!

- Leveticus/Hollow Waifs - not sure how good he really is, in this scenario he did his bloody work, but he did not face any threats.

 

Battle Report 27.01.2019

Strategy: Plant Explosives

Schemes: Breakthrough, Harness the Line, Power Ritual, Deliver a Message, Vendetta

50 Soulstones

 

Player 1:

Leader: Guild, Perdita Ortega (Attacker)

Crew List:

·         Perdita Ortega (Lead lined Coat)

·         Nino Ortega (Expert Marksman)

·         Enslaved Nephilim

·         Monster Hunter

·         Monster Hunter

·         Pistolero de Latigo

·         Pistolero de Latigo

·         Investigator

·         Austringer

3 Stones in the Pool

Chosen Schemes: Deliver a Message (Viktoria), Breakthrough

 

Player 2:

Leader: Outcast, Viktoria Chambers (Defender)

Crew List:

·         Viktoria Chambers

·         Viktoria Chambers

·         Eleazar Leveticus

·         Hollow Waif

·         Hollow Waif

·         Leopold von Schill

·         Student of Conflict

10 Stones in the Pool

Chosen Schemes: Harness the Line, Deliver a Message (Perdita)

 

Deployment: Standard

Terrain: Ruins & Forests

Explosive Tokens on Perdita, Nino (2), Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter

Eleazar Leveticus (2), Leopold (2), Student of Conflict

Turn 1:

Player 1 (Guild): draws 5c, 5m, 6c, 6t, 9r, 12t – did not stone for new cards

Player 2: (Outcast) draws 2m, 2t, 6r, 11t, 11c, 11m – did not stone for new cards

Player 2 (Outcast) wins Initiative and gives it to Player 1 (Guild), none of the players cheat Initiative; Player 2 (Outcasts) gains 2 pass tokens.

 

Both Viks and the Student move 2’’ due to Battle Tempo.

 

·         Pistolero: Concentrate (pushes 4’’due to Bravado) – Walk

·         Von Schill: Load up Rocket Boots to Vik (she pushes 2’’, gains Focus +1) – Load up Rocket Boot to the other Vik (she pushes 2’’, gaines Focus +1) – load up Assault Shield to Leveticus

·         Pistolero: Concentrate (pushes 4’’ due to Bravado) – Walk

·         Student of Conflict: Move – Interact (drops Scheme Marker)

·         Monster Hunter: Concentrate (pushes 4‘‘ due to Bravado) – Walk

·         Hollow Waif: Focus – Focus

·         Monster Hunter: Concentrate (Pushed 4‘‘ due to Bravado) – Walk

·         Hollow Waif: Walk – Walk

·         Nephilim: Frightening Reminder on Perdita (pushes 4’’ away and is focused due to 6t which she cheats in) – Obey (failed)

·         Outcast spends a Pass Token

·         Austringer: Move – Move

·         Leveticus: Sanguine Evocations (he changes order of cards) – Move – Move – Move

·         Investigator: Move – Move

·         Outcast spends second Pass Token

·         Nino: Concentrate (pushes 4’’ due to Bravado) – Move

·         Vik/Blood: Move – Interact (she drops Scheme Marker on the Centerline) – Concentrate

·         Perdita: Target Practice TN13 (she cheats 9r) to destroy an enemy scheme marker – Move – Concentrate – Hero’s Gamble (she gets 6m, 11t, 10c, 13r)

·         Vik/Ash: Move – Concentrate – Concentrate

Total: Player 1 (Guild) 0 vs. Player 2 (Outcast) 0

Turn 2:

Player 1 (Guild): Draws 3 new cards, now 7r, 8t, 10t, 10c, 11t, 13r – do not stone for new cards

Player 2: (Outcast) Draws 3 new cards, now 1c, 10t, 10m, 11t, 11c, 11m – do not stone for new cards

Player 2 (Outcast) wins Initiative with 13t, none of the players cheat Initiative; Player 2 (Outcast) gains 2 pass tokens.

 

Both Viks and the Student move 2’’ due to Battle Tempo.

 

·         Vik/Blood: uses Sisters in Spirit (other Vik was placed next her base) – uses Loop from the Rocket Boots (first flip fails; cheats with 10t) – charges Perdita, first attack with Focus failed (Perdita cheats 13r) – second attack with focus hits for severe damage, Perdita usea a stone to prevent 1 damage to get finally 4 damage, Vik draws a card due to the tome trigger (Black Joker, discarded) – third attack with soulstone hit for a + flip causing 1 damage (after Perdita prevents 1 damage with another stone and reduced damage due to her armor).

·         Perdita: Delivers a Message to Vik, scoring 1 VP – attacks Vik and deals 2 damage (after Vik prevents 3 damage with a soulstone – second attack with Red Joker (Vik uses another soulstone for a + flip and deals no damage due to flipping a black joker for damage – BAD THINGS HAPPEN! – Hero’s Gamble for 1m, 7c and 10r

·         Vik/Blood: uses Loop from the Rocket Boots (first flip failed, she cheats with 11m – charges Perdita with first attack plus focus for 2 damage (as Perdita uses her last soulstone to prevent 3 damage) – deliver message for scoring 1 VP – second attack with focus, flipping a red joker and deals 3 damage (after reducing damage with  Perdita’s armor); due to the mask trigger, other Vik can make another attack, but she misses.

·         Pistolero: attacks Vik/Blood with focus causing 3 damage (after Vik prevents 1 damage with a soulstone) and Vik gains the Adversary condition (family) – second attack causes 1 damage.

·          Leveticus: Move – uses Channel to gain a + flip and attacks with Unmaking for moderate damage (mask trigger did not come into play) – uses Sanguine Evocations for better cards on the draw pile – second attack hits for another 3 damage

·         Nephelim: Obey (failed) – move

·         Student of Conflict: move – interact action (she drops a scheme marker on the centerline)

·         Investigator: Charges Vik/Ash for 1 damage – attacks for another 1 damage

·         Hollow Waif: move - move

·         Monster Hunter: Concentrate (and pushes 4’’due to Bravado) – Interact Action (places Strategy Marker for his Plant Explosive Token)

·         Hollow Waif: move – move

·         Austringer: double move – uses Raptor to attack Vik/Blood for 2 damage (due to the ram trigger), but she prevents 2 by using a soulstone

·         Leopold von Schill: double move – attacks Perdita with friendly fire, nevertheless he deals severe damage and kills her. Her Plant Explosive token moves to Vik/Ash.

·         Monster Hunter: Concentrate (and pushes 4’’ due to Bravado) – move

·         Pistolero: double move

·         Nino: move – interact (he places a strategy marker and loses his plant explosive token)

Player 1 (Guild) gains 1 VP for the strategy.

Total: Guild 2 – Outcast 1

Turn 3:

Player 1 (Guild): Draws 6 new cards, now BJ, 1t, 9m, 9c, 10t, 12r – can’t stone for new cards

Player 2: (Outcast) Draws 6 new cards, now 3r, 4r, 5m, 7r, 9m and RJ – used a stone for 2 new cards

Player 2 (Outcast) wins Initiative by cheating with his RJ; Player 2 (Outcasts) gains 1 pass token.

 

Both Viks and the Student move 2’’ due to Battle Tempo.

 

·         Vik/Blood: uses Setting Sun for gaining Shielded +1 (both Viks) – attacks Pistolero causing weak damage (3); due to the ram trigger, Investigator takes 1 damage – second attack deals 3 damage, killing the Pistolero, healing two damage on the current Vik and one damage on the other Vik due to Into The Fray – third attack hits Investigator for 5 damage (moderate damage plus one for the ram trigger)

·         Vik/Ash activates due to Synchronized after discarding a card: both Viks add +1 to their Shielded Condition (Setting Sun), first attack (with focus to ignore the Intimidating Authority of the Investigator after she dropped a card) to hit her for moderate damage (4), killing the Investigator and healing 2 points of damage on the other Vik due to Into the Fray. Next action is the Interact action (drops Strategy Marker for the Plant explosive token she got from Perdita) –charges the Nephilim for moderate damage (4), killing it as well. But she gets one damage due to Black Blood, and Player 1 draws 1 card (Demise Nephilim) but heals the last damage on the other Vik due to Into the Fray

·         Nino: Concentrate (pushes 4’’ due to Bravado) and he drops the token for a Strategy Marker in the enemy zone.

·         Von Schill: Move – Interact (drops a scheme marker on the centerline) – load up Assault Shield to himself, giving him the Shielded +2 Condition.

·         Monster Hunter: Concentrate (and pushes 4’’ due to Bravado) – Interact Action (drops a scheme marker within 3’’ of the enemy deployment zone).

·         Student of Conflict: move – interact action (she drops a scheme marker on the centerline)

·         Monster Hunter: double move towards the enemy deployment zone

·         Leveticus: takes 2 damage (Channel) to gain a + flip, attacks Nino and causes moderate damage, killing Nino – move – interact action (takes strategy marker to gain a Plant Explosive Token)

·         Pistolero: takes 1 damage to gain fast; shoots Student of Conflict with Focus for moderate damage (2) – shoots (failed) – shoots (failed)

·         Hollow Waif: move – Concentrate

·         Austringer: Angry Raptor attacks Vik/Blood and causes 2 damage (after she prevents 1 damage with a soulstone) – shoots Von Schill and causes 2 damage, which he negates with his Shielded +2 condition – shoots again and causes 2 more damage (after reducing damage due to the armor)

·         Hollow Waif: move – attacks monster hunter and deals 1 damage, monster hunter gains the condition Injured +1.

Player 1 gains 1 VP for the Strategy (now have 2 Strategy Markers) and one for the Scheme Breakthrough although the Hollow Waif is inside the 3’’ range but she doesn’t count for such purposes. Player 2 gains 1 VP for the Strategy and 1 VP for the Scheme Harness the Line.

Total: Guild 4 – Outcast 3

Turn 4:

Player 1 (Guild): Draws 6 new cards, now 2r, 3m, 3c, 5c, 12r, 13c – can’t stone for new cards

Player 2: (Outcast) Draws 6 new cards, now 7m, 9t, 11c, 12m, 12t, 13t  – doesn’t stone for new cards

Player 2 (Outcast) wins Initiative with a 13+2 Pass tokens; Player 1 (Outcasts) gains 3 pass tokens.

 

Both Viks and the Student moved 2’’ due to Battle Tempo.

 

·         Vik/Blood: places her sister close to her base due to Sisters in Spirit and gives both the Shielded +1 Condition due to The Setting Sun. Moves towards the Pistolero – charges him and attacks with the black joker. Second Attack causes 6 damage, which he was able to reduce to 5 spending a pass token. However, he is dead.  

·         Vik/Ash activates due to Synchronized after discarding a card – move – charges and deals 4 damage – second attack deals 3 damage, killing him and frees his raptor.

·         Raptor: uses Circle Overhead (failed) – Circle Overhead (succeeds and places another raptor) – Charges Vik but misses

·         Hollow Waif: uses Entropic Siphon and causes 1 damage and add +1 to Injured Condition – Uses Pulse transfer (flipping the red joker) and deals 2 more damage for the +2 Injured Condition.

·         Monster Hunter: dies because she was activated within 3’’ range of the Hollow Waif, taking the last damage.

·         Von Schill: Move – Interact (places a Strategy Marker for a Plant Explosive Token) – charges raptor and kills him with 3 damage.

·         Monster Hunter: interact (drops scheme marker within the enemy deployment zone.

·         Student of Conflict: Interact (Drop scheme marker on the centerline) – move

·         Raptor: move

·         Leveticus: interact (drops scheme marker on the centerline) – move -interact (drops strategy marker for his plant explosive token)

·         Hollow Waif: move move

Player 2 (Outcast) gains 1 VP for the Strategy.

 

Total: Guild 4 – Outcast 4

 

Player 1 surrenders, as he has no possibility to gain additional VPs. Player 2 is going to gain 3 VPs (Strategy, End condition for both schemes) in the last round.

Estimated End: Player 1 (Guild) 4 vs. Player 2 (Outcast) 7; Outcasts did not lose any crew member, Guild lost all but one monster hunter.

I guess you can't use Nekima and Lilith in one crew cause both are masters.