Into the dojo : Part two - Redchapel vs Dishonorable

[Regelridderen]

Still trying to figure out how to use Lucius2, I sent him out to trap the mad haberdasher of Redchapel, but Seamus was dead set on not coming along. Read on to see how it went.

The game was :

Turf War - Flank Deployment

Vendetta, Hidden Martyrs, Detonate Charges, Catch and Release, Death Beds.

Terrain Choosing side was important, as two corner objectives were hidden in dense forests, meaning whoever got in there would have two spend a couple of turns there, meanwhile little severe water holes meant you couldn’t just rush in a straight line. The other half of the board was heavy on blocking terrain, so perfect for Dishonorable and Seamus alike. This was going to be a dirty back alley brawl.

Lucius, Dishonorable + Scribe

Alan Reid - Boring Conversation, Diversion and Nefarious Pact, everything else is just gravy.

Investigators x2 - Stand back… and Remove Evidence for card draw and mobility, while being cheap min(3) beaters.

False Witness w. Ancient Pact - Primarily for False Claim synergy with Investigators, but are deceptively dangerous.

Guild Lawyer w. Ancient Pact - the plan was to obey the investigators with adversary for to ensure no undead was left alive.

A Cyclops - an unusual choice, but dumping ice pillars to pulse out Staggered seemed like a power combo.

Schemes - Hidden Martyrs (False Witness + Lawyer), Detonate Charges

Seamus w. The Whisper + The Copycat Killer

Madame Sybelle - Seamus’s beautiful matron seems like such a force multiplier in her current edition.

Bete Noir - I honestly didn’t think much of this one, but the model was too good looking to pass down.

Mourners w. Grave Spirit’s Touch x2 - an unpopular choice, but half the reason for fielding Redchapel was that I just painted these up. Yet stripping Reckless and pulsing out Focus seemed like a reasonable purpose. And Range8 attacks vs negative Wp had a nice ring to it.

Rotten Belle x2 I was on the fence about these order doxies, ultimately it came down to the two extra stones.

Schemes - Vendetta (Mourner vs. Cyclops), Catch and Release (the other Mourner).

-

The Game

Round One terrain caused issues on unpacking both sides, but as usual the False Witness / Investigators caused the Elites to run up the board at an incredible pace. Realising the threat of the cyclops, Seamus tried to blast it’s head off, but the Old Ways proved too much even for a .50. The cyclops in turn managed to throw an ice pillar to block the path of the Redchapel crew. So in blind fear Madame Sybelle charged the hulking brute, but to no avail and she received a few slaps in return from Lucius. Bete Noir and Alan Reid secured a corner objective each.

Round Two things got dirty as a Mourner moved into position to deny Lucius his ruthlessness. He in turn jumped to engage and stagger the copycat, a mourner and the two Belle’s then proceded to rip a Belle in half. Seeing that Sybelle was engaged by two investigators and a cyclops a mourner blasted the brains of one of the investigators. Seamus jumped in the fray and killed off the petulent Cyclops (forgetting all about Vendetta). While Lucius suddenly realised the danger in being on negative Wp flips against a Belle, three strikes, a stone and 4 health later, he regretted not just beating on Sybelle. Bete grumbled, while securing the objective yet again, but then noticed how a False Witness had moved dangerously close the dead cyclops corpse, and she then teleported to kill the witness. Realising the investigator was out on the deep end, the scribe called him to the center objective, but Sybelle followed, but got killed in return, when Alan Reid had another question for her last health point - causing the undead to lose their strat marker.

So after a messy round. Lucius scored a point of strategy, while the undead scored a point for catch and release. 1 - 1

Round Three Seamus decided to assassinate Alan Reid, warned by the Whisper about a Black Joker on damage, but with a little sheananigans, he managed to blow Alan’s head off. Realising the dangers of Seamus, Lucius jumped back to stagger him, and ignoring Seamus’ “Hello love…” he order the investigator to engage, yet the only death was from the investigator, as he got backstabbed by a Mourner. A guild lawyer obeyed the mourner to hurt Seamus, but even though he failed, he had the mourner dump an important scheme marker. While Bete and a Belle secured a strat marker each.

So Lucius managed to score Detonate Charges, While Seamus scored his first strat point. 2 - 2

Round Four Seamus opened the round by blowing Lucius’s head off. A Mourner moved in position and killed The Scribe and Bete turned up from a pool of blood and ripped the heart out of the Guild Lawyer.

It was bloody… and none of the Neverborn were left for round five, giving Seamus free reign. Seamus managed another two strat points and of course the last point for Catch and Release. Final Score 5 - 2

-

Wow! Those Mourners were golden, and once I realised that Bete doesn’t need to buried to pop out of a corpse marker, I understood the point of her (although I think she cheated and forgot that the False Witness had gotten Shielded +2). Scarlet Temptation is really key to making the crew work, while the pushes, pounce and Hello Love… is something to be aware of. I really like the Redchapel Crew. I wasn’t particularly impressed with Belles, but then again a single Belle did hit Lucius for 3x 3 Ht in one activation, althoughanother time I’ll probably test put Doxis instead.

On the other side, the Lucius crew does struggle. Great card draw and Intimidating Authority wasn’t enough, you really need to take care, you don’t overextend - especially vs. a crew that can punish you like Seamus’s Redchapel. Being based on out of turn activations didn‘t work well either. The cyclops did show potential, but maybe Investigators are in fact more of a gimmick. Of course it didn’t help taking those Terrifying checks on negatives. Hopefully it just needs more exercise.

-

What do you think? And what crews would you like to see in the dojo : Marshalls, Family, M&SU, Performers, Machina, Ancestor/Retainer, Redchapel, Forgotten, Nightmare, Woe, Elite/Mimic, Last Blossom, Wastrel and/or Crossroads 7?