40ss event BR (Neverborn)

[Mastershake]

So I've been continuing my venture into Malifaux. Added a second master since my first attendance at a tournament and some models for variety. Also got the entire affair painted for their big day out. The event had 12 players, so it was going to be a 3 rounder with the deciders being W/L/D, Differentials, total points. I'm kind of at the point right now where I have a good feel for what my crew can do, but I'm often sketchy on what other models, particularly ones I haven't seen before, are capable of.

Round 1: Supply Wagon vs. Guild

This round I went with Pandora. Perdita could be a problem for her, but seems at least manageable. Other than Perdita though, the crew seems to handle Guild easily enough. The crew was:

Pandora (5ss)

Primordial Magic

Nekima

Black Blood Shaman

Lilitu

Lilitu

Desperate Mercenary

Terror Tot

he ends up breaking out:

Sonnia Criid

Executioner

Witchling Stalker

Witchling Stalker

Watcher

Ryle

Nino

Convict Gunslinger

Maybe something else, not 100% sure. For the Schemes I go with Hold Out and Assassinate. He's also got Hold Out with another scheme that escapes me right now. All of the schemes are revealed.

Turn One:

We both cycle through some activations. I have Nekima murder the Desperate Merc giving the shaman and blood and corpse counter while cutting to generate another one and giving the mask to CA. The shaman gives a Lilitu fast using Nekima's counter, then Injects Blood on Nekima twice to heal and cycle the corpse into a blood counter with bloody mess. His models are mostly just getting into position. A watcher strays a bit too far forward and have Pandora double Wk, then use Pacify on the walker, a Witchling and the Convict Gunslinger to nestle up with a small forest in the middle of the table giving her aura the maximum coverage, she also tries a spell, but fails to cast and I didn't care enough to cheat. Sonnia throws up a Flame Wall, to try and block LoS to key models. The non-fast Lilitu summons a Lelu, Wks and checks Rg for a lure, but is just out on Ryle. The Fast Lilitu Wks forward and finds a stray Witchling to start luring, He gets lured the full distance to Lilitu taking damage the whole way in and she drops him in melee. I forgot those little things explode, but in practice it didn't matter. The pulse hits the Shaman, both Lilitu and a Lelu. Next the Lelu activates, regenerates the two damage and heals one Lelu, then at the start closing phase the two Lelus heal the rest of the damage.

Turn Two:

He gets initiative and tries to get Ryle to light up Pandora, but can't get past the Wp duels. I activate pandora and after doing a few Pacifies (because why not) I end up getting off project emotions with Mental Anguish triggers on Nino, Ryle, the Executioner and a Witchling mostly due to being clumped up. A huge chunk of his crew is now stuck Rallying, so Sonnia goes up and tries to block some LoS with Flame Wall while trying to attack Pandora, but losing WP duels because I soulstoned into 30+. While his crew rallies the Lilitu's lure the convict gunslinger to his doom, and go for the watcher, but it flips high for WP and resists.

Turn Three:

I get initiative and try to Project Emotions on Sonnia, but he's drops 3 or 4 cards to shut the spells down, Pandora still gets off some pacify action on the rest of the crew putting a building between her and Nino and Ryle. Ryle is stuck Rallying this turn and can't do anything useful. Nekima does Nephilim Heart to Ca then double walks to grab some cover. Nino has to move to get a shot on Nekima, but flips a Black Joker for the irresistable check to do In My Sights. He, does get 2 damage on her though and forces me to discard with a Headshot. The Executioner also charges Nekima, but she flips a Red Joker for the Df flip and dodges. A witchling also tries to get to Nekima, but falls just short. The Bond activation of Lilitu's and Lelu kills the Stalker off and Lures Ryle to his death while getting Lelu into melee with Sonnia, but he can't make contact.

Turn Four:

I get Initiative and use it to have Nekima kill the Executioner using throw aside to keep the Executioner from attacking with Slow to Die. Sonnia activates and does something, but I can't recall what. Pandora tries to pacify, but fails and ends up stuck staring at a wall, so with nothing but a Watcher to target, she does project emotions for pity and Dementia leaving the Watcher with a wound left and needing Wp13s at a negative twist to do anything. nino goes and puts some damage on Nekima bringing her down to 4 wounds. The Shaman has a few blood counters just lying around thanks to models getting Lured into Blood Sense, so he makes a Lilitu Fast again. The Lilitu's and Lelu activate and Lelu beats on the the Sonnia finally killing her, The Lilitu's both Wk to within 2" of Nekima and start Luring Nino, but he's got some decent Wp and Stubborn, so he only takes a few wounds. The Watcher activates and promptly fails his Wp 13 check losing his last wound. At this point my supply cart is in the middle and his is right next to it in Lelu's melee range.

Turn Five:

I get Initiative and do a Bond activation with the Lelu and Lilitu's. Lelu goes first and takes 3 swings on the supply cart destroying it. Both Lilitu's charge Nino then try Lures just for amusement, but one of them is in base contact and with a 4" melee range and Nino only have a 4" Wk he can't shoot this turn. Nino casts Where'd He Go and double walks back to his DZ. The Shaman uses Blood Magic and his pile of Counters to give Nekima charges for 1 AP, then she cahrges a Lilitu (I cheat Nekima's attack down) and with her last general AP charges into my opponent's DZ at Nino dropping him. At this point, I've got all of the Strategy Points and all of my Schemes and nothing will change, so the game ends.

Final Tally: Win with an +8 Differential and 8 VPs. A good start.

It was a good game, but it never really felt like the outcome was in doubt. Even with Counter Magic, Criid didn't have the cards to stop all the spells and losing those cards meant an inability to cheat resist duels to Lure and Irresistable checks. It was nice to get Assassinate out of the way since some masters can be a bit rough for that Scheme. That poor Watcher had his little robot head explode.

Round 2: Turf War vs. Resurrectionists

I want to use Lilith and my gut says Lilith, but experience also says Jack Daw. Ressers always take him against Neverborn, at least from what I've seen and while Lilith just generally tries to avoid him, Pandora can do Project Emotions with Mental Anguish to keep him from participating in the game. Despite a great desire to use Lilith I go with Pandora, same list as last time. Opponent has:

Seamus

Sybelle

Rotten Belle

Rotten Belle

Rotten Belle

Killjoy

Jack Daw

I end up taking Kidnap for the three Belles and Stake Claim on a piec of terrain centrally located in his DZ. He takes grudge on the Shaman (unrevealed) and Army of the dead.

Turn One:

Nothing really eventful happnes until the last few activations. A fast Lilitu lures a Belle across the field and she ultimately dies in melee of the Lilitu with the Lilitu still having an AP left. At this point the Belle uses her Slow to Die to summon Killjoy. I had actually forgotten he could be summoned as a Slow to Die, but the Lilitu still has an AP left. I would desperately like to paralyze Killjoy and he's within rng for it, but I don't have a high card to cheat for Impure thoughts and with Killjoy in Nekima's aura and Lilitu getting a buff to her Ca for Lure it seems like the right choice. She gets off one or two then he flips high and breaks the chain. Looking back I'm not sure if I did a bond activation with the recently summoned Lelu. Killjoy was down to only a handful of wounds and a pair of claw strikes could've easily put him down, but even if I did I forgot about it at the time, so whatever. Killjoy goes crazy and even though I have a high card to cheat for her Df flip combined with her decent Df stat Killjoy still one-shots a Lilitu, he then Kills Lelu with an onslaught chain and misses the last Lilitu.

Turn Two:

He wins initiative and Killjoy goes after his grudge target of the the shaman, then follows up with a swing on Nekima for some damage. Nekima then activates and turns him to paste using Throw Aside to keep him from taking swings with Slow to Die and giving the mask to Ca stats. Jack Daw kills Nekima. The last Lilitu Lures a Belle to death. Pandora tries to Pacify, but fails, so she throws Project emotions at Seamus a few times and he fails, then does a Self Loathing for some more damage. The last Belle and Sybelle start double Wking towards my DZ. At start Closing phase the Lilitu takes 3 dmg and heals 2.

Turn Three:

I get initiative and Pandora goes first, failing her Pacify attempt again and having to burn all three spells to get Seamus and Jack Daw with Project emotions. Jack Daw throws up his aura of no cheating and attakcs Lilitu for a few points through the negative Wp twist. Lilitu then uses he three AP to Lure in Seamus getting him into Jack Daws aura and BTB with her. Seamus really doesn't do anything since he's stuck in melee and at a negative twist to Wp duels against two models that need Wp duels to target. The Primordial Magic hits Seamus with a Self Loathing for the kill.

Turn Four:

I get initiative and Pandora actually gets off some pacify action getting some real movement then double walks towards the terrain piece in the enemy DZ. The Primordial magic dies to JD, Lilitu dies to Sybelle.

Turn Five:

At this point, I'm just trying to cross the field. I get one extra point if I kill the last Belle, but four points if I can get completely in his DZ and touching the terrain. He's pretty much got four points for the Strategy, I have no way to stop him from getting one for Army of the Dead and Grudge since he didn't reveal them and JD killed a model, so he's getting on there. Best bet is to go for the 5-7 loss with the -2 differential. Pandora does another Pacify and double move and gets mightily close to the DZ. His remaining models just mill about in my DZ. At this point there's a scenario model that hasn't been doing anything. He falls under the control of whoever lost initiative and goes in the start closing phase. The thing is within walking distance of Pandora, but I've got a few decent cards to cheat. We go into an Wp duel to target Pandora and she flips and 10, the scenario models flips and 7. What is this thing's Wp? 10, your kidding this thing is a 10? The highest card I've got to cheat is a 10 and Pandora's out of Soulstones, so I guess she's getting attacked. He's only CA 5 though and the Resist for his spell is Wp. So he fliped a Red Joker you say...well I didn't flip a 13, so I guess Pandora is slow.

Turn Six:

It's like a cruel joke, Pandora could easily get in the DZ except for being slow thanks to this stupid scenario model having some of the highest Wp in the game and flipping a Red Joker for it's casting. After she does her single Wk, she's a quarter inch shy. I try for a Pacify on the scenario model just for the hell of it, but I still haven't pulled higher than a 10 and the thing flips an 11. I guess I'm stuck with 3-7.

Final Tally: Loss with an -4 differential and 3 VP.

I really wish I could remember if I used Bond with Lelu. Barring that, what really hurt was also losing the initiative flip next turn. Killjoy getting two activations before Nekima putting him down was too much of a problem. The only reason it was still a game at that point was because Pandora is just so good. In the end Pandora was probably the better choice since I'm not sure How Lilith's crew would react to Killjoy and I know they don't respond well to Jack Daw.

Round 3: Treasure Hunt vs. Outcasts

I don't actually know enough about outcasts to know what to break out, so I'm using Lilith, she's been getting bored watching her sister have all the fun.

Lilith (6ss)

Primordial Magic

Nekima

Black Blood Shaman

Terror Tot

Terror Tot

Terror Tot

Desperate Mercenary

Convict Gunslinger

He breaks out:

Leveticus

Hollow Waif

Ryle

Dead Rider

Hooded Rider

Desolation Engine

The Treasure is in the middle of a River that goes through the table, so Lilith is the best candidate to pick it up since everyone else is going to have their spds crippled when they pick it up, but she's fast and retains Master of Malifaux. With that in mind I run Bodyguard and A Mother's Love. Worst case I'll have Lilith start murdering her own models in the last turn or two for blood, but she should be able to get from the middle into the DZ pretty fast. I'm not actually sure what schemes my opponent chose for this one.

Turn One:

The grow list kicks off with the end state being the convict gunslinger gaining Nephilim and two tots becoming Mature Nephilim. He shuffles around getting into position. putting a rider on either side with Ryle across from the Treasure and Leveticus nearby.

Turn Two:

He get initiative and moves the Dead Rider to attack Lilith. The swing misses, but he's got fast so he makes a swing on the gunslinger and does some damage. The Shaman activates and gives Nekima Fast and casts Blood Frenzy giving pretty much everyone Flurry. The Hooded Rider Moves into position. Nekima then activates, does Nephilim Heart for Cb, then charges the Hooded Rider. She drops him with her melee expert swing, then moves back with her AP from fast. Ryle starts wading into the river, but due to some fire markers from the table specific rules all the models he can draw LoS to are obscured and he misses the shot. The Convict Gunslinger activates and is in Gunfighter range of the Dead Rider. I wasn't sure if Flurry or Rapid Fire was the appropriate ability, but the Gunslinger now had both and with the mask had automatic Trigger Happy Triggers. I discarded a card and the Dead Rider went down to the Nephilim Machinegun. Lilith walks up to the treasure and picks it up as a Mature Neph beats Ryle to a pulp.

Turn Three:

I get initiative and a Mature Neph beats Leveticus to paste. From here on out it's pretty much over. Lilith walks away with the prize, the Shaman gives the other mature fast so he Wks three times to get to Leveticus' Hollow Waif and beats her down. Desolation goes down to the Gunslinger and from there the game is a formality.

Turn Four+:

There's nothing to kill Lilith or stop her from getting to the DZ and she's still got her 6ss, so Blood from the Stone gets her one blood counter away from A Mother's Love, all she has to do is kill one of my living models to get it, so my opponent concedes an 8-0.

Final Tally: Win with an +8 differential and 8 VP.

Wrap Up: 2/1/0, with a Differential of 12 and 19 VP, not a bad showing.

Thoughts on the lists: I started playing Malifaux because Nekima looked good, so I set out to build lists around her. I mean who could not love that model. The grow build with Lilith is the most fun and face beating with Matures and Nekima with Flurry and Fast is always fun. There seem to be a fair number of hard counters to it though and that's where Ladie's Night aka the Lure build came from. Things that works against one list don't neccesarily work against the other. I won't say the Lure chains don't get dumb, in fact it's not uncommon for a fast Lilitu to cycle through and entire deck, but things that work against face beating usually have trouble with it and burning cards to fight Lure means a shortage of cards to fight Irresistable. Then again sometimes you just need face beating and Lilith is still the queen of delivering messages (completed on the first turn twice now) and generally going wherever she wants. Also, it took way too many games to get the first turn sequence down for Lilith's list.

Edited July 18, 2011 by Mastershake

[Dolomyte]

In the first round you guys were somewhat off. does not sound like it would have impacted the game much, but Ryle ignores the WP duel to target pandora. just like perdita does.

[Mastershake]

In the first round you guys were somewhat off. does not sound like it would have impacted the game much, but Ryle ignores the WP duel to target pandora. just like perdita does.

My opponent asked about it and it was ruled he needed the check.

[Mekboy]

This was a great read, you described what happened pretty well. The models look awesome too.

[xGIxJOKERx]

Well done. Excellent and very detailed bat rep. I always struggle to remember one small game, to say nothing of three large ones. Do you take notes or just remember?