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ooze Duz Gosford: The Bland Leading The Blind


oozeboss

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Greetings and salutations.

This is the night before my first ever Malifaux tournament, and I thought I'd initiate a bit of a rolling commentary, most probably in order that others can learn from my inevitable mistakes.

The tournament is to be held in the NSW town of Gosford, and my chauffer (and Malifaux mentor), Tiny, is due to pick me up at (allegedly) 7:00am tomorrow for the 94.6km (or 1hr 31min, according to Whereis) drive north from "The Shire" (the most southerly aspect of the Sydney suburban sprawl) to the Central Coast manifestation of cosmopolitan downtown Malifaux.

Details of the tournament can be found at http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=104453

but essentially it's a 4 round escalation, with 3 scraps + 1 brawl. Sadly, the visionary responsible for the wholeshebang won't be present due to other pressing issues (and our thoughts go out to him at this time), but as Colette would say,

"Ewwww, there's a ladder in my gussett!"

... erm, sorry ...

that should read, "The show must go on!".

After initially labelling myself on these pages as "Zoraida's Sugar Daddy", I am finally going to indulge in some sustained Hag Lurrrve. The only figures that I know will play a part in all 4 games are The Hag, the Doll, and my personal fave, Doppla (xoxox) (sorry, that's kinda wyrd, huh?).

Having played the grand total of two games of Malifaux to this point (both being quite substantial smashings - with me being the smashee rather than the smasher), I am not exactly holding my breath about my chances, except that I should be 300% more experienced a Malifool by this time tomorrow night than I am right now.

(Which probably only means that I'll have less excuses after that.)

I have a wyld & eclectic mix of superbly undercoated minis in my knapsack (and their being in their lingerie, painting wise, is precisely why I'll be taking no happy snappies to accompany this fable), some of which - I'm thinking Jack Daw, Bad Juju & Killjoy especially - are there primarily to fool any prospective opponent into thinking me a potential tiger

(instead of the tabby cat that I really am).

For the 40ss finale, I'm thinking my crew will be:

Zoraida

(Voodoo Doll ... pretty obviously)

Doppleganger

Convict 'slinger

Hans

Rami LaCroix

Hooded Rider

(& isn't that just one impressive hunk of pewter!!!!!)

4 Malifaux Raptors

(obviously using ring-ins)

The Grand Master Plan is to combine sheer unadulterated speed with a heavy fire base, but the reality will probably be that I am Victory Points Inna Bun for anybody with even the slightest bit of intelligence &/or experience. Or miniatures.

The knowledge of that doesn't diminish in the slightest my rapidly growing sense of excitement at the prospect of my impending Day of the Learning Curve, and on this note (a C flat), I shall sign off here until after the event.

(Now where did I leave my pocket Rathnard ....... ?)

:masks:masks:masks:masks:masks :hoodedrider:zoraida:hoodedrider :masks:masks:masks:masks:masks

:marshmell:marshmell:marshmell:marshmell:marshmell

Edited by oozeboss
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The colour, italic type and all that might look fancy and such, but it's a pain to read... Just saying..

Anyway can't go much into detail with the strategy.. But you seem to have made a 50ss list for a 40ss tournament. Even if you subtract all the out of faction costs it'd still be 43ss.. :S

So yea.. Probably cut down on the raptors, I don't see their usefulness for 3ss a piece, what was your plans with them?

Edit: I just realized you only bring one Master which is why you made a 50ss list.. I certainly would advice against this as a second Master is almost always better than 10ss.. Imho..

I think both Pandora and Lilith would add a whole lot more than the Raptors. Even if fielded on their own.

What models do you have available by the way?

Edited by Wodschow
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The colour, italic type and all that might look fancy and such, but it's a pain to read... Just saying..

Yeah, I stopped reading it a couple sentences in and then came down here to the replies to see if there was anything interesting being said.

I forget who it is that always writes in pink but I basically never make it all the way through his posts either.

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Edited for accessibility.

(Appropriate joke not inserted.)

:ahhhhh:

And as for content of list:

* Don't have Pandora;

* Lilith is still lying nude in her box, and the playing of undercoated minis alone is an affront to my sensitivities, so bare metal is totally no-go;

* The Dreamer is flying towards my place as we squeak (and I know he wasn't suggested, but when he arrives he'll become my main focus for a while);

* The Raptors are there for sheer speed (8" 'Walk') & surprise factor, in that they start apart & they're Insignificant, but flock up & they're suddenly Significant. Even with the additional soulstone cost for being from another faction, they are still cheaper than anything wholly Neverborn, so they allow me to build up a decent body count as well. And lastly, the moment my opponent flips some low cards (esp the Black Joker), the birds are in for the kill looking to return that card back to the top of their pack. But their main function will be to use their sheer speed to clean up my schemes.

There's a heck of a lot to like about the chooks (imnsho).

I'd also like to say that I really enjoy Rathnard's vivid pink script, and enjoy the humour and artistic panache he encompasses to pass on some quite inspiring pieces of wisdom. I have no issues at all with accessibility to his stuff, and would encourage others to adopt similar, more entertaining elements of presentation.

A long long time ago I used to post on The UnderEmpire in Warpstone green (as Xh!n Tarat - Ratty will understand), so the artistic side - or maybe just me being a lair - is part of the deal.

Sorry if that offends.

Edited by oozeboss
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OK - tournament's done, and (for a change) I'll keep this presentation in bland mode (at least, aesthetically).

It was a highly enjoyable day, although it did not run to script. The tournament scorekeeping appears to have spent far too long in The Breach as our club's touring party has already worked out a plethora of wrong placings in a tournament which was supposedly applying KISS principles (wins/ draws/ losses only - not vp's). Not least of which was me: 1 win, 2 losses & a bye should not equate to 4th/ 12 by any stretch of the imagination. But that's bye the bye.

I won't bother too much with describing scenery for each round as it was extremely bland & perfectly balanced. There was always three features (usually houses, an occasional forest - balanced by one on the other side, of course) perfectly spaced in front of each deployment zone, plus something big in the middle of the field. It was balanced, fair, and boring.

Since we're discussing this in terms of the Neverborn, I propose to merely focus on the performance of Zoraida & lessons learnt, so that others can avoid my mistakes (or emulate my occasional triumph).

Round 1 was a 5ss scrap (yes, 5ss - no typo), with a limited range of possible strategies & no schemes. I drew a delightful McMourning player named Geoff, who opted to run 2 dead doggies & a stuffed chihuaha (is there any better state for the loathsome latter?). I ran Zoraida with one Malifaux Raptor (as they were the only things I had under 5 points) & pocketed the extra 2ss.

The game was won when we flipped for Strategies. Geoff drew Distract, so he basically had to keep Zoraida out of his half of the board. I drew Escape & Survive, so I basically had to have Zoraida 8"+ away from my deployment zone.

Geoff spent an inordinate amount of time & effort using McM & his puppies to search for corpses, and succeeded in raising 3 Flesh Constructs. Eventually the whole lot lumbered forward after The Hag.

I kept Zoraida pretty much in my half of the table for the first three turns in order to encourage Geoff forward (saccing teh Raptor to deny Geoff a body), and only used Walk to move tentatively forward. Then 3 quick bursts of Raven were all that I needed to literally fly straight past him - all the way to his deserted baseline. 4 - 0 win, but hardly a performance of guile & genius as much as perfect luck with the strategies. Geoff made one mistake in roaring forward as he did, but I doubt that he really had too much hope in that scenario.

Round 2 was a 20ss scrap with random strategy + 1 scheme, and I was faced up against another nice bloke called Drew, who was running Colette. He had 2 Performer/ Mannequin duos, the Gunsmith, and (eventually) all three Mechanical Doves in what was the nicest looking army I faced all day.

I ran the Doppla, Convict Gunslinger & 2 Malifaux Raptors, which I ended up using completely illegally. Drew scored Plant Evidence as his Strategy, while I flipped that most unNeverborn of strategies: Supply Wagon. Drew chose & announced Bodyguard as his Scheme (which I then promptly forgot), while I went with Reclaim Malifaux. Essentially we did stuff all to inhibit each other attaining every objective. Drew shot the two birds & I took out one of his Performer/ Mannequin pairs with the 'slinger, before he was taken apart by exploding mechanical doves. Zoraida Ravened the majority of my Scheme requirements so we settled for a 6 - 6 tie.

This round ran well past my lunchtime, and being a diabetic, I was off with the fairies by the end of it & my cognitive functioning was basically shot. I stumbled out in to the deserted streets of Sunday arvo Gosford desperately searching for carbs (before I fainted - my knees were literally on the verge of going on me), & despite eventually devouring the worst Maccas meal I have ever tasted, I never really recovered from that episode all day.

It was during my set up for Round 3 that I had pointed out to me that the Raptors couldn't claim items in my scheme. So I went to the tournament scribe immediately & had the result amended to a Win for Drew.

I can't remember what the name of my opponent was in Round 3, but he'd made an immediate impact the minute we'd all walked in to the shop by opening a huge carry case of entirely black undercoated minis & loudly announcing that he'd now played close on 60 games of Malifaux. "Mate", I'd replied at the time, "that's more than all of us combined".

That up front bravado had really put me off - I stopped playing Warhammer tournaments when that type became predominant, but in the end he was quite lovely to play. I was still recovering from the hypo so was nowhere near my most mentally adept. But he was a better player than me anyway.

The game was a 30ss scrap, with again one scheme. His Strategy was Deliver A Message, and I can't remember his scheme (although he did achieve it). My Strategy was Claim Jump, and I again chose Reclaim Malifaux as my scheme.

My opponent was running Pandora, with a very predictable line up of Kade, Candy, Teddy & some Sorrows. I opted to road test the Hooded Rider, and also ran the 'slinger, Doppla & a couple of Raptors. It was my opponent who pointed out that the Raptors couldn't fulfill my scheme, so we were momentarily delayed while I toddled off & retrospectively conceded my Round 2 game.

My opponent had played both of his previous games on our table, and started with his troops in one solid mass advancing on his left flank. With the Raptors now all but useless, I focused on playing out an heroic loss by sending the Dark Rider to grab as many terrain items as possible while everything else scampered to the Claim and attempted to hold on.

Zoraida's second activation basically cost me the game. I had created a Voodoo Doll, and sighted in on Teddy in Turn 1, planning to sic Teddy on to Pandy and give her a real boxing lesson. My opponent wouldn't let me, citing Immune To Influence, but conveniently ignoring the adjacent Pandora's nuking of that capability. In the end Pandy & crew lumbered over & achieved everything except their Strategy (nothing catches Zoraida) (unless she allows it).

The high point for me was the performance of the Hooded Rider. Charged by Teddy, he basically stood & duked it out (I sacrificed common sense for the sake of an experiment), then being helped by the Doppla's domination of the Initiative flip to finally stick it to the great stuffed beastie when all was on the line. Pandy ended up killing him, as she did almost all of my crew.

My opponent was really good at correcting my errors, and I think I now have a far better knowledge & feel for Zoraida as a result of playing him. I didn't learn about his Teddy boo-boo till it was pointed out to me as I was being driven home, and for somebody who knew every nuance of my army to have not known that of his own (and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here) was extremely disappointing.

I did have problems actually seeing his army. Candy in black undercoat on a black sewer base looks remarkably like Kade in black undercoat on a black sewer base, and his owning almost every possible crew but with none painted beyond generic black is also evidence of the direction of his focus. I think that it should be a requirement of all tournaments for fully painted armies, as I really had basic visual issues with his crew.

In the end, this bloke won the tournament, despite being comprehensively smashed (using Pandora again) in Round 4 - on the same table - by a Seamus crew, the player of which ended up with the best record for the day (3 wins/ 1 draw), but second prize.

Round 4 was to be a 40ss Brawl. One of the three Seamus players had gone off, leaving a bye for another player, & this had fallen to Tiny. I was set to play another fantastic bloke who was using Leveticus, but a combination of a pounding headache (from the hypo) & a sense that it wasn't right for Tiny to have been such a driving force behind our club going to the tournament in the first place (let alone chauffering a couple of us there) only to get to be a spectator for Round 4 was just plain wrong. So I withdrew, & watched Tiny & the Leveticus dude play out a fantastic advert for our game, culminating in The Funniest Move of the entire tournament to end it.

I'll leave it for Tiny to tell that tale.

In the end I was credited with coming 4th, which was just patently incorrect (as previously discussed).

I got a lot of Hag Lurrrrve out of my day, and despite that damned hypo in the middle, I really enjoyed myself immensely.

Lessons:

1) take a supply of sugar, & keep on top of my bloods (which is basic for diabetics, but I didn't this time);

2) read, then reread & know to the nth degree the full range of capabilities of the troops used & all Strategies & Schemes.

I learned that Zoraida is Really Fast, and should never be caught. And her casting abilities were never really used that well by me. The Doppleganger is a fantastic offsider for her - I lost 3 Initiative flips all weekend, and soulstoned a win on 2 of them - as well as being (as I've stated in another thread) elegance made pewter. And the Hooded Rider is not only a phenomenal piece of metal, but a very very very useful tool for any Neverborn crew. He's a typical Neverborn paper tiger, but the tiger part has some serious claws.

I found the Convict Gunslinger unconvincing, but I probably need to get my head around him a tad more. Rami LaCroix & Hans both stayed in my mini box all day, and may have solved some issues (especially with the Doppla & Voodoo Doll increasing their shot production). The weakness with the 'slinger may well have been my misuse of the Doppla, as having effectively two sets of 'slinger fyre per round could have been decisive.

The Malifaux Raptors were too frail, too few, and too sad for words in the context of a Zoraida crew. I can, however, see how potentially game winning they could be for Marcus (their potential to turn anything in to a beast was wasted with The Hag). They'll never return to my Neverborn crews.

I find that a full on day sometimes burns me out for a while, so that I turn away from the game in question for at least a while. It may have been the general exuberance of the players yesterday if not this amazing game itself, but I've returned home (sick as a puppy but) fired up with inspirations and ideas for my Neverborn, my terrain projects & for running Malifaux tournaments myself. And of course, Hag Lurrrve flows through my veins like swamp water (and I am the oozeboss, after all).

On that basis alone, it was a truly great day.

(Thank you for persisting this far.)

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Good writeup oozeboss, it's always nice to see how another Zoraida-player fares. :D

I'm not surprised you didn't have much success with the Raptors. They may be fast, but they don't really seem to do much else for Zoraida. Definitely not worth the 3SS each IMO.

If you're after an objective grabber, you really can't go wrong with a terror tot or two. They're not insignificant, Scout & sprint makes them very fast and if all else fails, flay lets them put out quite alot of damage for such a tiny minion.

Doppelganger or not, I've found the Convict Gunslinger to be great with Zoraida. He's got some impressive shooting, especially with trigger happy and rapid fire, and Zoraida can only enhance that with Obey and bewitch. You don't just have to make a shooting action with the obey either - I've used it to wk him into position for a rapidfire next turn, or obeyed him for his suppressive fire (an awesome spell), so he's free to rapid fire next activation as well.

The Doppelganger has a mask for it's Cb, meaning that if you mimic it the slinger pistols and trigger, she is quite capable of getting trigger happy off as well (and needing a different suit too, which means she won't be competing with the 'slinger for your :masks ).

I've never tried Hanns, but Rami has been great for me in the past. You probably didn't need both in your 40ss crew - having two snipers available is probably a bit redundant.

Edited by Rathnard
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Good writeup oozeboss, it's always nice to see how another Zoraida-player fares. :D

"No, no, no... ooz is a dreamer now, ooz is sugar daddy no more, ooz will be visited... ssssssoooooooonnnnnn...

(strange, one old G.I. Joe i have laying around just start babbling this words when i was reading this post)

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