Scottish GT 2014 - Tournament Report

[Sholto]

This was my first time at the Scottish GT, which was a two day event held at Common Grounds in Stirling. I had only been intending to attend the Story Encounter on the Sunday (which I had written for the event) but my wife told me I had accrued enough Gamer Dad Points to earn another day away, so I signed up for the GT event on the Saturday as well
 
With four games to play I decided to play my four Arcanist Masters once each. Strategies and Schemes were all determined randomly on the day.
 
There was a really good turn out, with players coming from England as well as one from the US. I don't think he came over specifically for this, though
 
Game 1
Strategy: Reckoning 40ss
Opponent: Andrew Smith, playing Lynch
Schemes: ALITS, Breakthrough, Protect Territory, Spring The Trap & Murder Protégé
 
Initial thoughts: For Reckoning, I decided Mei Feng would be best. She can kill more than one Minion herself per Turn, and Vent Steam is great against Ca-heavy crews and would really annoy Huggy. To beef her up I wanted hardy models that could take a kicking. I chose:-

• Mei Feng with Vapourmancy (for the free Vent Steam and to try her Ca attack), Seismic Claws (for the triggers) and Imbued Protection;
• Joss with Imbued Protection;
• Kang with People's Challenge;
• Metal Gamin (tough enough); and
• Soulstone Miner (for Breakthrough).

Andrew picked:-

• Lynch;
• Huggy;
• 2 Beckoners;
• 2 Illuminated; and
• 10T Archer

For Schemes I picked and announced Breakthrough and Protect Territory. There was no way I could do ALITS as I did not have enough models. Spring the Trap was no good as Lynch would never get into the thick of things and I had no way of spamming Scheme Markers. I could have done Murder Protégé. It would have had to have been on an Illuminated, and with no ranged attacks Andy would have probably kept that one back and forced me to overextend myself to reach it. Hey, no-one needs to force me to overextend – I do that all by myself.
 
A few notes on the game itself:-

• As is usual in tournaments, for the first game I basically forgot how to play. I ignored Protect Territory entirely, and also forgot about the Soulstone Miner until the end of Turn 2;
• I flung Mei Feng right into the heart of Lynch's crew on Turn 2. It was glorious. Stupid, but glorious. Even stupider when Spring the Trap is in the Scheme Pool, right? She didn't do much, and a Red Joker stopped her using her trigger to get out of there straight away. Stupid Red Joker. Vent Steam kept her safe from Huggy and the Beckoners, though, and when the 10T Archer rapid fired on her, her trigger got her safely away and out of LOS.
• Kang and Joss were too slow and did not get to contribute much. They both charged an Illuminated but my hand was gone and they ended up leaving it alive;
• Huggy was badly wounded by Mei Feng's Ca attacks off the Vapourmancy upgrade and with Burning would have been dead at the end of Turn 2. Instead he used Consume Brilliance in the middle of his own crew. It left three of his own models paralysed(!) but it kept Huggy in the fight;
• Mei Feng had an amazing Turn 3 in which she killed off the wounded Illuminated before taking Lynch on and Red Jokering him back to the casino pits of hell.

Result: I scored nothing for Schemes and I got 1VP for the Strategy. Andy had Murder Protégé on Joss and Spring The Trap. He got 1VP for that on Turn 2, for a 1:1 draw.
 
Game 2
Strategy: Reconnoitre 40ss
Opponent: Martin Cairns, playing Rasputina
Schemes: ALITS, Vendetta, Outflank, Assassinate and Distract
 
Initial Thoughts: For Reconnoitre it has to be Ramos, right? I thought so. I would summon Spiders and try to swarm the table every way I could. That meant Metal Gamin and a Mechanical Rider. I chose:-

• Ramos, with Field Generator (I wanted my swarm to be hard to put down) and Arcane Reservoir;
• Electrical Creation (for the Turn 1 scrap and free move);
• 3 Metal Gamin (and with Ice Gamin and a Golem on the table, this was a good move!);
• Mechanical Rider.

Martin took:-

• Rasputina;
• Ice Golem;
• 2 Ice Gamin;
• Wendigo;
• Silent One; and
• Blessed of December.

For Schemes I picked ALITS and Vendetta. With a swarm on the table ALITS is easy enough, and with Magnetism on the Metal Gamin I decided one of them could do for an Ice Gamin easily enough. Outflank is just too easy to stop most of the time, and Assassinate against Raspy is not easy, and certainly not without a fast, killy crew. Distract is one I do not have much experience of, but since I would be wanting to kill enemy models for Strategy VP, leaving them alive for Schemes did not seem like the best balance.
 
The game itself:

• Ramos never managed to summon more than 2 Spiders a Turn, but reliably summoned 2 Spiders every Turn for 3 Turns;
• The Mechanical Rider stayed out the game for Turns 1 & 2 (literally avoiding Raspy at the back of the table) before springing to life on Turns 3 & 4, charging the Blessed, making two more Metal Gamin and dropping two Scheme Markers on the centre line;
• The Metal Gamin got me Turn 1 points for Vendetta and another Metal Gamin finished off the unlucky Ice Gamin on Turn 3;
• Magnetism severely wounded the Ice Golem, which was an early target for this ability;
• The Soulstone Miner popped up on Turn 2 in charge range of Raspy, making it a serious threat. The weakened Ice Golem charged it and flailed before the Soulstone Miner killed it and headed off to drop Scheme Markers on the centre line and claim a table quarter all by itself;
• Ramos found himself melee'd by the Blessed. Pesky Leap. Two Spiders, a Metal Gamin and a charging Mechanical Rider could not kill it (even on Df5), and it took Ramos himself to magnetise away and kill it off with Electrical Fire;
• Martin, being a scrupulously fair player, had warned me beforehand of the Ml8 on his Wendigo. I promptly forgot. Raspy moved to within 6" of Ramos and Paralysed him with an irresistible attack total. The Wendigo then companion activated and Devoured him in one bite! Nice move, Martin
• I ended the game with 5 Spiders and 3 Metal Gamin, as well as the Rider and the Soulstone Miner. Summon the swarm, indeed.

Result: Thanks mainly to the Rider I got ALITS, and the Metal Gamin had got me 2 points for Vendetta. Thanks to the swarm, although also in large part to the Soulstone Miner popping up in a quiet quarter, I got 3 points for the Strategy. Martin got no Strategy points, but did get the full 3VP for Assassinate. I do not recall his other scheme. I won the game 8:3.
 
Game 3
Strategy: Turf War 50ss
Deployment: Corner
Opponent: Barry Kelly, playing Pandora
Schemes: ALITS, Plant Evidence, Murder Protégé and Assassinate. I don't remember the fifth one.
 
Initial Thoughts: Given that I was playing "4 Masters in 4 Games" it was either Kaeris or Colette. I did not want to risk Colette against horrible Pandora, who might do nasty things to her and who might match her for mobility so went with Kaeris. I figured the Burning would be good, but I also wanted to do a gunline with Kaeris and try and reproduce some Perdita action in the Arcanists. The table had a gallows in the middle with open space around it. Lots of cover, but also no LOS-blocking terrain except around the edges. I was hoping to shoot the enemy to bits before they reached me and to take models that could ignore cover. I chose:-

• Kaeris, with Blinding Flame for the triggers, Purifying Flame for the healing (because Turf War) and Arcane Reservoir;
• Lazarus, for that big gun of his, plus he is hard to kill and can heal;
• 2 Gunsmiths, because if I could get burning on something they would have the positive flips to ignore cover, and because it can be easy to give them Fast;
• Sue. Not only does he do the Burning thing, help out with Scheme Markers and have positive flips on his gun, but his neg Ca aura is huge against Neverborn and other Arcanists. The Merc Tax is worth it when you need that ability;
• Performer, to Lure friendly and enemy models and to get rid of Scheme Markers;
• Soulstone Miner (Plant Evidence is so easy with this guy); and
• Eternal Flame, for the healing.

Barry took:-

• Pandora;
• Teddy;
• Baby Kade;
• Candy;
• Three Sorrows; and
• The Poltergeist.

For Schemes I picked Murder Protégé on Teddy, who I reckoned was heading my way post haste anyway, and Plant Evidence. I had enough models to do ALITS so that would have been an option, but it does not sit well with a gunline-style crew. Assassinate against Pandora? I had never played against her so this would have been a total gamble.
 
How went the game?:-

• Brutal. Never having played against Pandora I had no idea what to expect. I did know what to do when Teddy came charging into melee with my gunline, though. Burn it. Burn it with fire! Despite Kaeris getting ready to drop major amounts of Burning on him she Black Jokered the Horror Duel and got hurt for her stupidity when Teddy clawed her. Barry started to Lure Teddy away and tried to hide him with the Poltergeist, but it was no use. I had too many shots and Teddy died alongside the totem;
• The Soulstone Miner popped up miles away and started laying down the Scheme Markers. Candy cleverly popped back to her deployment zone to take him on, but I sent a Gunsmith to help out and Candy pulled back;
• I held my gunline mostly within 6" of the middle, ensuring Sue was first to activate each Turn for that awesome aura of his;
• The Performer started popping enemy Scheme Markers. I was fairly sure she would become an instant target, so I left this until Turn 3 and onwards to start doing;
• Pandora had enough of Kaeris by this point and came in for the Assassinate. A Red Joker on the damage flip was still not enough to kill off Kaeris, and Pandora did not last long on her own once Kaeris set her on fire;
• Shooting attacks that work in melee (Sue, Gunsmiths and Kaeris) and a model that just has excellent melee attacks all by itself (Lazarus) make for a gunline that doesn't mind mixing it up hand to hand at all. An excellent crew;
• Card draw was excellent. When Kaeris had nothing so shoot at, she would shoot her own models and get Burning on them, and then draw it off with her (0) Action to draw up to three cards. Sue has card draw as well.

Result: An over-eager Teddy gave me full Kill Protégé points and the Soulstone Miner got the rest of the Scheme points. I also got 3 Strategy points for holding mid-table. Pandora picked up 1VP for Plant Evidence, for a 9:1 win to me.
 
Game 4
Strategy: Squatter's Rights 50ss
Deployment: Flank
Opponent: Greg Piskocz, playing Jack Daw
Schemes: ALITS, Breakthrough, Bodyguard, Outflank & Vendetta.

 

Initial Thoughts: Jack Daw?! Eek. I had to play Colette, so the choice was elite Collette or full Showgirls. I went full Showgirls, because I had an idea that Jack Daw was all about taking down elite models (I don't know if that's true, but it felt true). As I assembled my own crew I could hear Greg wondering aloud what he would take if he was me. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what separates a real Table 1 player from me. I rarely have solid reasons for my own choices let alone thinking about other people's. On the other hand, maybe it was a bluff. Maybe he wanted me to take Mech Rider for Bodyguard, because he knew a way to ignore its Df trigger. Or maybe it was an elaborate double-bluff and he didn't want me to take Mech Rider for Bodyguard so if I thought he wanted me to take it then I wouldn't take it. It had been a long day. This was Game 4. I knew my own name. Colette would fill me in on the rest as we went. I chose:-

• Colette, with Practiced Production (for the Scheme Marker spamming), Cabaret Choreography (for the summoning of the Doves from Above) and Arcane Reservoir;
• Cassandra with Smoke and Mirrors (for the Scheme Markers and the push);
• 2 Coryphee;
• 2 Performers;
• 1 Mannequin; and
• (you guessed it) a Soulstone Miner (to either help with Breakthrough or claim a distant Squat Marker).

Greg took:-

• Jack Daw;
• 2 Guilty;
• Johan;
• Taelor;
• Bishop; and
• Hodgepodge Effigy

(I like that list. Elite lists appeal to me, as do Relic Hammers)
 
Since I would be on the centre line anyway for the Strategy, and since I could spam Scheme Markers, ALITS seemed like a good Scheme. I had Cassandra and a Duet, so Breakthrough would be hard to deny. I went with those two. For Outflank it would be easy to get my models in the table corners, but it is still an easy Scheme to deny and I had no idea what movement tricks Jack Daw came with. Bodyguard would have been fine on Cassandra, and was an option. Vendetta was not a good choice – I did not want to go toe to toe with this list. At. All.
 
About the game:-

• I spammed Scheme Markers in and about my own deployment zone as usual. These would be discarded later to let me keep the ones placed remotely by Practiced Production;
• Jack Daw and his Hammer Horrors took the middle three squat markers. He sent a Guilty after the one in the left hand corner, who managed to hold up Cassandra for a Turn or two (pesky Df 6), and he sent the Effigy after the other. The Soulstone Miner popped up and killed the Effigy before flipping that marker over to my side. I was left with 2 to his 3 but he had a 1VP edge on me, having claimed his sooner than I could claim mine. I might have been more ambitious with a Prompted Duet to get the middle markers flipped, but I did not want to risk exposing it to the unknown powers of Jack Daw;
• Bishop, a summoned Dove and a Performer died early on, and after that I played keep away;
• Jack Daw did something horrible and mean and Colette ended up unable to take Tactical Actions. No Prompt for you, missy! She was upset and pouted for 2 whole AP to remove it;
• Cassandra ended up with the sort of activation that makes you want to keep playing her in every crew. She lobbed a Scheme Marker 6" using a (0) Action, Nimbled along, lobbed another 6" into JD's deployment zone using a (1) Action and used the Understudy action to borrow Seduction from the Performer and cast it to remove an enemy Scheme Marker;
• Colette was all set for a final activation. She would Prompt the Performer three times to push round the hill and remove all the enemy Scheme Markers with Seduction, denying Greg his Breakthrough. It would be glorious. Instead, he popped out for a toilet break and when he came back he had a brain-wave and made Colette Tormented. When Colette activated Jack Daw made her push 3", taking her out of line of sight of the Performer. Noooo!!! Genius move by Greg to end the game on, and we were done.

Result: I got full points for ALITS and Breakthrough but only 1VP for the Strategy. Greg scored 2VP for the Strategy and full points for his own Schemes (Bodyguard on Taelor and Breakthrough), for an 8:7 win to Greg. To be honest, I was expecting 10:0, so was well chuffed with this result.
 
If there's one common theme here, it's the Soulstone Miner. Forget the Mechanical Rider, because this wriggly wee guy is fast becoming my Scheme Crutch. There just always seem to be a job he can do well.
 
Playing 4 Masters in one day was very entertaining and nowhere near as brain-melting as I thought it would be. Obviously not everyone has access to that many Masters in their chosen Faction, but if you get the chance it is a fun challenge. And it lets me get loads more models on the table, which is what this is all about
 
Brilliant event, very well organised and a joy to play in, and I came sixth overall and won loads of goodies in the raffle. Later, there was beer. The perfect end
 
And on the Sunday, there was this:-

 

[Adran]

Cheers for the report.

I'm glad to hear that other people do this kind of stupid tournement plan. (doing it in a restricted hiring pool tournement makes it even tougher, but at least then most of the brain melting happens before the day).

 

Well doen on the games, sounds like a good time.