drafterman Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Encounter Size: 50SS Factions: Arcanists vs Outcasts Terrain and Layout: On what ended up being my side, there was a building (HT 5, blocking, impassable, hard cover), a rocky outcropping (HT 3, blocking, impassable, hard cover) and a couple of groves (HT 5, dense, severe, soft cover). On what ended up being his side, there were two buildings and a rocky outcropping. In the middle was a frozen pond, about 4" in radius (HT 0, severe) flanked by a couple of low walls (HT 1, blocking, impassable, climbable, hard cover). Deployment: Close Strategy: Turf War Schemes: - A line in the sand - Distract - Breakthrough - Outflank - Cursed Object Crew: Note - We're both getting started, so we have limited models, so our selected crews might not have been optimal for the selected strategies/schemes. Me: - Rasputina (Arcane Reservoir, December's Pawn, Shattered Heart) - 7ss - Ice Golem (Imbued Energies) - 11ss - Wendigo - 3ss - December Acolyte - 7ss - December Acolyte - 7ss - Ice Gamin - 4ss - Ice Gamin - 4ss - Ice Gamin - 4ss - SS Pool - 6 My selected schemes: Breakthrough & Outflank (both unrevealed) Him: - Von Schill (The Shirt Comes Off) - 1ss - Lazaraus (Scramble) - 12ss - Steam Trunk - 3ss - Hans - 8ss - Freikorps Librarian - 7ss - Freikorps Trapper - 6ss - Freikorps Trapper - 6ss - Freikorpsmann - 5ss - SS Pool -3 His seletced schemes: Breakthrough & A line in the sand (both unrevealed) Crew deployment: I drew high card and opted to deploy first. My idea was to have the December Acolytes secure the scheme VPs while the rest of the crew goes for the Strategy. I had the acolytes deploy on the left and right sides, just on my side of the centerline (close deployment + 6" basically means they have to stay on my side of the table) close to table edge. The right side was pretty secure as the placement of the grove created an alcove near the edge where he could hide out of side. Unfortunately, there was not a large enough gap for me to cross into the enemy half without moving through the forest, putting me in harms way and slowing my move. The other Acolyte hid behind a house, out of sight. The rest of my crew huddled behind the rocky outcropping about 10" from the center. His team was divided into three groups. Von Schill, the Librarian, and a Trapper were around the corner of the house my Acolyte was hiding behind. Hans, the other Trapper and the Freikorpsmann were behind the other house well within his side of the table. The Steam Trunk and Lazarus were near the rocky outcropping on his side, on the right half of the table (in line to come harass my other Acolyte). Turn 1: Ice Golem tosses two Gamin toward the center of the table while the third moves toward the right-side Acolyte, activating his +1 damage aura. The Acolyte creeps forward a bit to drop a Scheme Marker on his side of the table. Lazarus was unable to see the Acolyte, so he shifts around a bit, and he was unsure of what to do with the Steam Trunk. His snipers focus on one of the Gamin, reducing it to 2 wounds. Von Schill pops around the corner of the house and basically completely obliterates the Acolyte there before he can do anything. This really shakes up my plans. In return I start sending the Wendigo out that way. Rapsutina uses the forward position of one of the Gamins to lob some Curses at Lazarus. I had to use a walk to get within range, but with two shots I was able to do about 5 wounds, one of which was a blast that caught the Steam Trunk. - No Victory Points Earned. Turn 2: Von Schill and company move down my left flank, the Trapper and Librarian dropping scheme markers along the way. Hans and his buddies take out my Gamin (despite assuming defensive positions), eliminating my chances of getting VP that turn. Between the Steam Trunk and his native healing ability, Lazarus healed all the way up. The Acolyte and and Gamin pair creep up the right-side of the board, dropping a few more scheme markers and assuming defensive positions. Raspy puts some damage back on the Lazarus (via the Gamin before it died) and the Wendigo and Ice Golem make a beeline for Von Schill et. al. - No Victory Points Earned. Turn 3: With the remaining Acolyte out of hiding, Lazarus lumbers his way over, but fails to do any damage. However, the Acolyte gets some good shots with his Harpoon, doing enough severe damage to take it out. The Steam Trunk had made its way to the other side of the board, leaving this side of the board free for me to roam and drop scheme markers. The remaining Gamin moves back toward the centerline where it meets the edge to secure the Outflanking VPs later. Once there, he assumes a defensive stance for the rest of the game. The Ice Golem throws the Wendigo toward Von Schill and the Librarian, remaining within 6" of the Golem, but also within charge range. I use the Chain Activation to charge, positioning so I can lock the two of them up. I take a few swings at the Librarian, but don't do much damage. Later, Raspy would bolster the Wendigo (casting through the Golem) to grant the Wendigo +2 armor. I also tried to Curse the Wendigo, hoping it'd land on either the Librarian or Von Schill, but it landed square on the Wendigo. I couldn't even hope for blasts, as their armor negated it. I cheated the duel to be a failure to avoid taking damage. To make matters worse, both the Librarian and Von Schill made short work of the Wendigo. Undefended and partially out in the open, his Trappers and Hans focus on Rasputina (we forgot about Hans' ability), reducing her health to about half. My opponent reveals his Breakthrough scheme. - No Victory Points Earned. Turn 4: Things are looking grim for me. I more securely hide Raspy behind the outcropping to avoid more sniper fire, and fire a couple of December's curses at the Librarian and Von Schill (via the Golem). I screwed up a bit here - After doing damage on the Librarian, my opponent revealed her Counterspell ability, which I assumed was just like Raspys. After looking at the cards drawn, I saw that I didn't have the suits and the attack failed. I then redirected by second attack at Von Schill, doing a decent amount of damage (which he undid with "The Shirt Comes Off"). A bit later, we saw that the Librarian's ability only works within 4-pulse, which Raspy was clearly out of. We put the damage back on, but had we realized it sooner, I would have concentrated all the fire on the Librarian, possibly taking it out. As a result, my opponent focused on the Golem, whittling it down and taking it out. I was hestitating moving the Golem, hoping the Librarian or Schill would move closer so I could double walk and swing with my free ML action. Too late I realized I could have discarded "Imbued Energies" to gain Fast and triple walk. As it is, I still got to draw 4 cards (though they weren't very good). I reveal my Breakthrough scheme. - No Victory Points Earned. Turn 5: My opponent starts cleaning up. The Librarian continues to litter my deployment zone with scheme markers, Schill, and the Trappers move toward the center. My Acolyte deep in his territory sneaks around and takes out the Freikorpsmann with a bout of severe damage. Alone and vulnerable, Raspy walks behind the building in our deployment zone. I consider what to do. I believe that my opponent had outflank as I do, and I secretly cheer as he has no people in position to earn VPs from it. I assume he has max VPs from Breakthrough, as do I. I know he will get a VP from Turf War, and I'll get a VP from Outflank. I hope for the game to end on a draw. I flip a 12. The game goes on. He reveals "A Line in the Sand"; I reveal "Outflank" - Opponent earns 1 VP for Turf war. Turn 6: The Librarian continues to drop more scheme markers, this time on the centerline. As does Von Schill. My Acolyte tries to drag some people away from the center, but fails, and ultimately dies to focused fire. In a bold move, I move Rasputina out in the open, toward Von Schill. I'm not sure what I'm hoping to accomplish. I have poor cards, an low on soul stones (many used to keep Raspy alive with Defensive boots and Damage Prevention). I hope maybe to Paralyze Von Schill. In the end I just made my opponent a bit wary. My oponent flips a 6. The game ends. - Opponent earns 1 VP for Turf war. Final Score: Me: 3 points (Breakthrough, 2 scheme markers + revealed); 2 Points (Outflank, 1 model within 3" of centerline at table edge + revealed) = 5 points total Him: 3 points (Breakthrough, 2+ scheme markers + revealed); 1 Point (A Line in the Sand, 2 markers + revealed), 2 Points (Turf War) = 6 points total Result: Opponent Wins Lessons Learned: I need to wrap my head around the idea that I don't need to kill my opponent. I did better with that this time than previously, but I think I'm being far to bold and aggressive, especially on a set-up like this, with a large open center area that was basically a kill-zone for his snipers. In several instances I made sub-par choices. Several times I opted to use "Pull and Drag" with my Acolyte instead of "Maim" only to end up killing the model, thus benefiting from neither. The mix-up with the Librarian's ability was major, as the loss of that model could have had a significant domino effect, especially if I had took the opportunity to make my Golem fast. I definitely tried to secure the center too soon. In retrospect I would have split up my army, putting both Acolytes and a Gamin on one side, and the rest on the other. It was to his advantage to just sit and wait until I tried to take the center, any attempt by him to try and secure it would have wasted valuable shooting actions. As it is, he just waited until most of my crew was dead and waltzed up uncontested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebarbalag Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Just out of curiosity, why were players revealing Breakthrough or Outflank before the end of the game? Those are schemes that don't score until end of game. Plant Explosives, Spring the Trap, Vendetta, Make Them Suffer, Cursed Object, Assassinate, and Bodyguard, I think are all of the mid-game reveal schemes. Everything what is beginning or end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drafterman Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Just out of curiosity, why were players revealing Breakthrough or Outflank before the end of the game? Those are schemes that don't score until end of game. Plant Explosives, Spring the Trap, Vendetta, Make Them Suffer, Cursed Object, Assassinate, and Bodyguard, I think are all of the mid-game reveal schemes. Everything what is beginning or end. Yes. I was under the impression you could reveal a scheme at the end of any turn (or when you select them pregame). You get bonus points if you do so (and other conditions are met). IIRC, you don't get those bonus points if they aren't revealed before the game ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowfane Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Sadly, the bonus points for revealing schemes (Breakthrough, Outflank, LITS, etc) only get you those bonus points if you reveal at the start of the game - it's a make the decision right there thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drafterman Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Yes. I was under the impression you could reveal a scheme at the end of any turn (or when you select them pregame). You get bonus points if you do so (and other conditions are met). IIRC, you don't get those bonus points if they aren't revealed before the game ends. Oh wow. That's good to know. Don't think that affected the outcome here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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