A beginner goes to Malifaux: Seamus vs Rasputina

[Sign Ahead]

Tonight, a new Redchapel Gang took to the streets of Malifaux, where they squared off against the Cult of December in a 35ss scrap.

On one side (Hip, hip. Hooray!) we had:

Seamus

A Copycat Killer

the lovely Sybelle

3 Rotten Belles

2 Crooked Men

1 Convict Gunslinger

And on the other (Boo! Hiss!) side we had:

Rasputina

A Wendigo

3 Ice Gamins

1 Ice Golem

1 Silent One

1 December Cultist

Because both crews were relatively new to Malifaux (Seamus had just arrived and Rasputina had only played a single game), we eschewed strategies and schemes and declared a free-for-all. "Let's beat each other up and see what happens!" we said. And then the game, as they say, was afoot.

Our devilishly handsome hero started the encounter with a simple plan: advance in a loose group with enough space between minions to protect against Rasputina's pulse and blast attacks. Focus on one foe at a time. Pull it from the group and beat it into a crimson stain on the white, white snow.

But Rasputina's band was well prepared for Seamus' shennanigans, and with careful activation she was able to hold off the worst of his enticements and terrors. She was careful to root her models at the end of each activation (to keep them from being pushed), freeze the hearts of her living minions (to protect them from terror), and devour corpse counters as soon as they appeared (before Seamus could put them to better use). With the help of the Ice Mirror talent (and the undead's generally poor defense) she cast her spells from relative safety, well away from the melee. She slowed models who had yet to activate, and locked up models in melee with well-timed defensive triggers that froze them in place and ended their activations.

Shell-shocked, slowed and lightly frozen (thanks to an ill-considered melee attack on an Ice Gamin), Seamus saw his crew dropping one by one. By the end of turn three, he had lost two Belles and a Crooked Man, without inflicting a single casualty on his opponent.

So he formulated a new plan. He called his minions back from their far-flung positions and formed them into a tight brick, right out in the open. Now, although they were no longer protected from the Cult's shooting and fierce blast attacks, they were close enough to Seamus that he could draw a card every time one died. And if one of Rasputina's cold-hearted crew wanted to gobble up the corpse counter, he would have come out in the open to get it. They were still taking damage, but their natural resilience was enough to slow the bleeding

Then the Redchapel Gang sprang a trap. The lovely (and thoroughly tempting) Sybelle moved to the front of the pack and waited for an attack. Such a delectable morsel was too much for Rasputina to resist. The Cult's minions threw everything they had at the grand olde madame, but she stood her ground and shrieked her defiance. In the end, Rasputina delivered the killing blow herself...and stepped into range of the Convict Gunslinger.

Pistols blazed and the smell of cordite filled the air. When the smoke cleared, Rasputina was mortally wounded, and her crew was in shambles. The scrap continued for a few more turns, but while the cultists’ crew shrank, Seamus’ crew grew larger. Surrounded by the undead, and with one of their number paralyzed in a surprise cave-in, the cultists fled into the night.

[Drake]

Nice battle report, well written. Would be good to read a bit more about individual conflicts within the battle but hey that's just my preference. Overall definitely a good report, and well played game by the sounds of it.

[Sign Ahead]

Thanks, Drake!

I'm not sure I can piece together the individual conflicts in the order that they happened. I'm a new player and there were too many things competing for my attention. But I think I can sort them out by theme. Just for the sake of learning, here they are. Next time I’ll try to work them into my narrative.

Belles vs the Icy Constructs

For the first few turns, I didn't know what to do with Rasputina's Ice Golem and Ice Gamins. My opponent marched them up the table and turned them into statues. Then Rasputina and the Silent One sat back behind an un-lureable wall of constructs and used Ice Mirror to snipe at my minions. By the end of turn two one Belle was dead and two more minions were seriously injured. I may have put one point of damage on a Gamin, but I can’t remember.

I tried to break up the wall by activating all of my Belles at once and luring luring a Gamin into combat before it could turn itself into a statue. But my opponent deftly cheated his way out of danger and the Gamin stopped well short of melee range. I shrieked at it with Sybelle, but she couldn’t finish it off.

Seamus vs the Troublesome Ice Gamin

On its activation the Gamin charged, engaging Sybelle and another Belle. Miraculously it didn’t hurt either one.

“Aha!” I thought. “I’ll just finish this icy devil off with Seamus. Then I’ll walk a few more inches and summon a new Belle using that fresh corpse counter.” So Seamus stepped up to the Gamin, hit it with a melee attack and triggered Sub-Zero. His activation ended immediately, without defeating the Gamin or summoning a new Belle.

Then the December Cultist stepped forward and ate my beautiful corpse counter. It was a very discouraging turn.

Crooked Men vs the December Acolyte (and later vs the Wendigo)

This was an odd contest. The December Acolyte set up deep in obscuring terrain, and thanks to Hunter, she could see my models but they couldn’t really see her. She was so difficult to dislodge that I decided to ignore her and focus on the rest of the December cultists.

The Crooked Men were on their way to engage the Icy Construct wall when they saw her step from the woods and gobble up a precious corpse counter. Carnsarnit! Ain't nothin' worse than a claimjumper. They devoted the rest of the game to setting traps and protecting our valuable resources. Once the Shafted counters appeared, the December Acolyte retreated back into the woods where the Redchapel Gang could safely ignore her.

Every December Cultist on the Table vs Seamus

With Seamus frozen and out in the open, the Cult of December pressed the attack. This is where I discovered just how durable he can be with a good hand and a couple of soulstones. Before his next activation, Seamus weathered attacks from Rasputina, the Silent One and two Ice Gamins but suffered only 5 points of damage. At the end of the next turn he was fully healed and, glory of glories, he finally managed to raise a new Belle.

This is when I decided to “brick up” and try a new strategy. Instead of trying to pull the Icy Construct wall apart or edge around its flanks (more on this in a moment), I’d gather up my durable band and push through it.

Every December Cultist on the Table vs Sybelle

The Resurrectionists marched forward with Seamus and Sybelle in the lead. Instead of going after Seamus again, Rasputina targeted Sybelle, first with a Gamin, the Silent One and the Wendigo and then with Rasputina herself. Sybelle’s defense was just high enough that Rasputina abandoned her Ice Mirrors and attacked Sybelle directly. And that’s when she stepped into range of the Convict Gunslinger.

The Convict Gunslinger vs Two Action Points

For most of the game, the Convict Gunslinger tried to edge around Rasputina’s wall of Icy Constructs. Each turn he’d move once and fire once, which meant he did a little bit of damage, and never quite caught Rasputina or the Silent one as their crew moved around.

The Convict Gunslinger vs Rasputina

It wasn’t until Rasputina’s direct attack on Sybelle that the convict had a juicy target in range and two activation points to spend on Rapid Fire. Thanks to a pair of high Masks in my hand and a Red Joker damage flip, he made the most of the opportunity.

Strategies and Schemes vs the Free-for-all

After Rasputina died, the rest of her crew folded pretty quickly. We called the game after the next turn.

Although I enjoyed my introduction to Malifaux immensely, I don't think I saw it in its best light. Since we didn't have strategies and schemes to give ourselves a goal, the game stopped when one of us got discouraged. That's never a good way to end a game.

Edited June 16, 2011 by Sign Ahead

[sephiroa]

the way i see it you both played like a new player should very eager and rush forward

the december cult did something realy weird tough,, why putting up statues?? run with thos gamins, go from cover to cover. and hit those zombies, the gamins can kick some zombies in the buttocks and if they explode, well no biggie, they almost take half of the opponents crew, and rasputina should have killed seamus with 3 castings (yess its possible) with some high masks to trigger overpower.

the redchapel gang, lure has an 18" range, lure the golem or a gamin to you. right into the open, he may be hard, but when he stands alone, and seamus shoots him with his gun (and the copycat ass wel) he will go down very easy.

some things to remember

but a very nice report i love the way how you wrote it :thumb:

[Sign Ahead]

The statues surprised me too, especially after I got my first taste of Sub-Zero. If I had a bunch of armored ice gremlins that froze attackers when they were hit and exploded when they died, I'd be running up the table screaming "Hit me! C'mon, HIT ME!" But that's pretty much what I like to do in most miniature games anyway (especially if I get a chance to hit back too ). Judging by our conversation at the table, my opponent really liked denial strategies, and was happiest when his crew prevented me from using my crew's core abilities.

In retrospect, I think all of my ranged models should have done more shooting. Even if each attack did only one point of damage, between Seamus, the Copycat Killer, the Convict Gunsligner, Sybelle and the two Crooked Men would have dealt 11 points of damage per turn.

If my opponent had discovered Biting Chill one turn earlier, he would have destroyed Seamus. Once he brought it to bear on Sybelle, there was nothing I could do until it was time to use Slow to Die.

[sephiroa]

The statues surprised me too, especially after I got my first taste of Sub-Zero. If I had a bunch of armored ice gremlins that froze attackers when they were hit and exploded when they died, I'd be running up the table screaming "Hit me! C'mon, HIT ME!" But that's pretty much what I like to do in most miniature games anyway (especially if I get a chance to hit back too ). Judging by our conversation at the table, my opponent really liked denial strategies, and was happiest when his crew prevented me from using my crew's core abilities.

In retrospect, I think all of my ranged models should have done more shooting. Even if each attack did only one point of damage, between Seamus, the Copycat Killer, the Convict Gunsligner, Sybelle and the two Crooked Men would have dealt 11 points of damage per turn.

If my opponent had discovered Biting Chill one turn earlier, he would have destroyed Seamus. Once he brought it to bear on Sybelle, there was nothing I could do until it was time to use Slow to Die.

biting chill can be very painfull indeed and since it is a (0) action, he can still cast 3 times

[Drake]

Thanks for the breakdown of the combats.

Yes Gamin are a nuisance. Best obvioulsy to try and kill them with shooting if possible, or try and get them with indirect attacks like Blast or pulses if you have any options to do so.

Biting Chill is a great ability and as pretty much everything in the December crew has it, your almost always going to be hit by a model benefitting with the extra damage.

Just remember they are slow moving crew so doing your tactic you used later in the game but hitting into a flank full on will break them down rapidly due to their lack of ability to react.

One final note, as it didnt seem to come up in your game..against Rasputina, never end your activation touching a piece of terrain..you will quickly find yourself stuck to it!

[sephiroa]

Thanks for the breakdown of the combats.

Yes Gamin are a nuisance. Best obvioulsy to try and kill them with shooting if possible, or try and get them with indirect attacks like Blast or pulses if you have any options to do so.

Biting Chill is a great ability and as pretty much everything in the December crew has it, your almost always going to be hit by a model benefitting with the extra damage.

Just remember they are slow moving crew so doing your tactic you used later in the game but hitting into a flank full on will break them down rapidly due to their lack of ability to react.

One final note, as it didnt seem to come up in your game..against Rasputina, never end your activation touching a piece of terrain..you will quickly find yourself stuck to it!

biting chill is the (0) spell from raspy 2dg auto overpower trigger

you my friend, are talking about bite of winter

and i never have to use the ability to freeze a terrain piece maybe because i'm not using enough terrain

[Drake]

biting chill is the (0) spell from raspy 2dg auto overpower trigger

you my friend, are talking about bite of winter

and i never have to use the ability to freeze a terrain piece maybe because i'm not using enough terrain

Ah yes, you are very correct, darn those abilities having similar names! But yes Bite of Winter is a nuisance and hard to avoid..that was the one I was referring to!

Freezing a model to a piece of terrain is very frustrating for them! However,once bitten twice shy, so once you have been caught out you are unlikely to do so again!

[sephiroa]

Ah yes, you are very correct, darn those abilities having similar names! But yes Bite of Winter is a nuisance and hard to avoid..that was the one I was referring to!

Freezing a model to a piece of terrain is very frustrating for them! However,once bitten twice shy, so once you have been caught out you are unlikely to do so again!

well, that can happen

there are a lot of things when it happens to you you think "i'm not going to let THAT one happen again"

[pixelgeek]

That was a really great writeup and an interesting format to use. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Sounds like a fun game.