Into the Dojo : Part 16 - Ancestors vs. Elite

[Regelridderen]

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.