25ss tournament report with Molly

[Sholto]

This was a 25ss fixed list tournament, and that gal Molly insisted that I bring her along:

Game 1

Beyond The Veil: A Personal Experience of Undeath

(Being an occasional diary and journal of Molly Squidpiddge, deceased)

It was on a breezy November evening, as the freshening wind blew the last of the ash leaves from the branches, that the rival news team made themselves known.

I was in the ruins of the Old Slums, behind the crumbling brickwork of Morrison’s Letterwriting Services on Caseapple Street, on the advices of an aged purveyor of second hand cheeses, who claimed with a preacher’s certainty that the informant would be in this place, at this time. The hour and location being known, I had sent Lucy, a Crooligan of my acquaintance who clung to her filthy teddy bear as closely as she clung to my skirts, to gather up some of Seamus’ more imposing but alas still decomposing Belles: members of the press are not guaranteed safe passage in these difficult times, and less so when they are also Undead, a situation I have grown accustomed to if not entirely comfortable with. Lucy had returned not only with two Belles, Astrid and Gertrude, but it transpired Sybelle herself had answered my call, and brung along a luckless duck by the name of Heady, who had til recently been one of Colette’s showgirls. Ponto, faithful as ever, completed the ensemble.

The informant would have had grounds to tremble had he seen my entourage, but what he would have made of the Ortegas remains a question I will have to ask him at another time. Quite what interest Perdita and her brothers had in the informant escapes me still, as we were not afforded an opportunity for dialogue, but it was clear that I was risking losing this important story to the Ortega ingénue. Resolving that Perdita’s ambitions to snatch this story from me must be put to bed, I realised that no message was quite so clear as a bloody nose.

I was up against Alan “The Perforator” in Game 1, which was 25ss Shared Slaughter. Alan had:

· Perdita

· Santiago

· Francisco

· Nino

· Latigo Pistolero

· Watcher

Worth pointing out that Alan’s crew won best painted at the tournament!

My crew, which was fixed for the tournament, was:

· Molly (5ss cache)

· Necrotic Machine (Ponto)

· Sybelle

· Two Rotten Belles (Astrid & Gertrude)

· Dead Doxy (Heady LaMarr)

· Crooligan (Lucy)

I dropped the Rogue Necromancy for this tournament, having used it to decent effect in my first ever Molly game vs Jakob. Given the Strategies in this tournament, I was worried it would end up dead in the first game (and thereby lose me the first game), and an obvious Kill Protégé target for every opponent to boot. In addition, it offers me nothing for Deliver a Message, although it would give me options for Contain Power. In the end, I went with utility models, numbers and flexibility.

I flipped for my Schemes and got Bodyguard and Frame for Murder (Sybelle). Alan chose Bodyguard and Kill Protégé on Sybelle.

My plan for this game was fairly simple. Lure something valuable in and kill it to get a lead in Slaughter, and then just try and hold onto that lead. The Crooligan would keep me safe from Nino.

The plan went well to begin with, and I Lured Santiago in. Before he could activate (and deliver a Bulletstorm) Ponto hopped over and killed him outright with The Philosophy of Uncertainty, cheating and stoning the Cast to make it irresistible. Perdita focused her efforts on trying to get rid of the Crooligan, who was heading for Nino, but I managed to win initiative each Turn and keep her Mist up. Perdita then turned her attention to Heady (the Dead Doxy) and killed her, but she stayed alive with Final Encore.

The game went four Turns, and at the end I had killed Santiago and although I had lost Ponto, it had not been killed or sacrificed by the enemy. I got 2 VP for the Strategy and 2 VP for my Schemes. Alan got 0VP for the Strategy and 2VP for his Schemes.

Result: Win for Molly.

After seeing what happened to Santiago, Alan tried not to get too close, although he could not outrange Lure. Had the game gone on, I am fairly sure I could have Lured in Francisco for a Sybelle/ Molly drubbing, although I would certainly have lost the Crooligan (Alan realised he could use Spellbreaker to get rid of The Mist, and did so on Turn 4). Once the Crooligan was gone, Nino would have come into play and my models would have started dying. The Crooligan more than earned its place in my crew with this one performance.

I did one fun move with the Dead Doxy, where she walked 8” (thanks to Molly’s aura) and then tried to cast Inviting Approach on Francisco. The point was to get Seduction off for free, but Inviting Approach failed. The Dead Doxy then moved right back to where it had started from (as she was still within 4” of Molly). A neat little trick I will try again, as Seduction is one of the best debuff spells in the game.

However, my first game was plagued by having to hold onto key cards that key spells depend on. This seems to be an ongoing problem with Molly – she is so card dependant that if you get a useful card the temptation is to hold onto it come what may. I ended up not drawing any cards for Turn 3 (keeping my whole hand), when the highest card I had was a nine!

Game 2

Unfortunately, all the gunfire, mysterious mists and uncertain philosophies had caused my informant to turn tail and run, as Perdita and her brothers were now doing. The only person who knew where he would be now, as I was unlikely to find my recycled cheese merchant at such short notice, would be Dr Douglas McMourning.

By Crooligan post I arranged to meet him at a different location in the ruined Old City, where tall poplars and beech grew wild among the cobbles. However, knowing how prone to silliness, japes and outright tomfoolery Dr McMourning was, I knew that I had to impress upon him first the gravity of my situation. If I could explain to him how important it was I meet with my informant, there was every chance the good Doctor would give true information. Otherwise, were he to speak before I, I was confident he would impart to me – in perfect Greek or maybe Latin, for he is an awful show-off – grandstanding gibberish, blatant balderdash or complete codswallop, before disappearing into the night in a way that I believe he thinks mysterious but on account of his poor eyesight does not realise that everyone can see him quite clearly, tiptoeing from shadow to shadow as if invisible. I choose not to remark on this in his presence, as it amuses me so.

I was up against Mark, who was playing:

· McMourning

· Mortimer

· Flesh Construct

· 2 Necropunks

· 1 Dog

· 1 Zombie Chihuahua

The Strategy was Shared Deliver a Message.

I randomly flipped and got Assassinate and Army of The Dead for my Schemes. Yup, not great Schemes for Molly. Not impossible, though.

Mark declared one Scheme (cannot remember what it was, but he did not get it) and left another undeclared.

Funnily enough, Mark and I had been chatting before the round 2 draw, and had revealed our plans for achieving Deliver a Message, so we each knew what the other intended on doing! My aim was to Imbue Vigor on Sybelle, fling her forward, then Call Belle on a Rotten Belle to Deliver the Message. I could drop an unactivated Belle anywhere within 21”, which is not too bad. Not a great plan, and needs some high Masks to work, but it was all I could think of

Mark’s plan was called Necropunks, and it involved Necropunks. Damned Necropunks!

I decided to play defensively (which was a mistake) and to take out the first Necropunk with Lures followed up by blows to the head. I killed the first one, but McMourning’s crew was quick and the first Flesh Construct was in about my crew on Turn 2. I should have remembered its rule that makes it go for the nearest enemy model – and then deployed the Crooligan to draw it away.

I threw the Dead Doxy forward, hoping it would die and I could switch it with an unactivated Belle or even Sybelle, who might then have a chance of Delivering the Message. It sort of worked, but then I Lured McMourning too far forward(!) and that put him in range of my main crew ‘blob’ for some Scalpel Slinging. He promptly did that and ended up within 2” of Molly, and then delivered the message.

I then completely ignored TO Barry’s message that this was the Last Turn, and instead of delivering the message to McMourning I tried to kill him instead! Not that it would have made much difference. It was not even close, and Molly had a Necropunk within 2” of her as well as another Flesh Construct bearing down! A deserved win for Mark.

The game ended on Turn 4 with McMourning having 5VP (4VP from the Strategy and 1VP from an undeclared Hold Out), while I had 0VP, having failed to get any Strats or Schemes.

However, for the second game running, my Crooligan had survived! That must mean something, right?

Result: Win for McMourning.

I knew afterwards that I should have been bolder. I should also have been smarter, and tried to draw the Flesh Constructs away. Immune to Influence on the Flesh Constructs was a real pain, however, and meant that none of Molly’s spells and hardly any of the Belles’ spells could affect them. Without that debuffing magic, the resilience of Molly’s crew is not so impressive, and their damage output drops to pitiful. Lots to think about going into Game 3.

Game 3

Dr McMourning had surprised me. Not in the content of his message which was, as expected, quite useless (unless I had a pressing need to bake soda scones and required his grandmother’s recipe to that end), but in the manner of its delivery. Ever the polymath, Dr McMourning had chosen to communicate in as esoteric and outlandish a style as he could conceive, although I think not even he had realised just how long it would take to spell out ingredients and cooking times in semaphore. His flags were very colourful, however.

No matter. I had failed, and now had to deal with the consequences of that failure. I hope I do not flatter myself to think that no matter how experienced a reporter might be, he or she could not have anticipated the unusual twist the night’s events were about to take. McMourning’s message to me had been witnessed by that anguished soul Kirai Ankoku. Due to an extraordinary co-incidence, the semaphore code for “Rub with butter and preheat oven to 200 degrees” spells out an outrageous and, I believe, physically impossible insult in the language of the Three Kingdoms. At least, I hope it is physically impossible, although I am gratified by the fact that no matter how depraved one might be, should one wish to make the attempt one is unlikely to also find an aunt and a squirrel equally as depraved, although the morality of the also-necessary cabbage is a moot point.

Be that as it may, the ever-tragic Kirai was now determined to regain her honour and smite me with all the power of her spiritual host. Never let it be said that there is a challenge to which I, Molly Squidpiddge, reporter from beyond the veil, will not rise. In short – I, too, have a posse. Battle was joined.

This game was Shared Contain Power.

I was playing Pete in this game, who had:

· Kirai

· 3 Seishin

· Lost Love

· 2 Onryo

· Datsue Ba

I flipped my Schemes and got Hold Out and Kill Protege on Datsue Ba. Pete took Breakthrough and something else (I forget).

I decided that there was no way I was going to kill any Master with this crew, let alone kill Kirai with Molly. I would have to get rid of all her Seishin first and her Lost Love. So, I decided to keep Molly alive and go for my Schemes. I would Lure Datsue Ba in and kill her, and then hold mid-field and, should any Spirits get past me, Lure them back again to get Hold Out. If I could do that, victory was assured.

My crew raced up to midfield, Luring Datsue Ba on the way. Turn 2 started with Datsue Ba almost in melee, and I won initiative. I was concerned that Kirai would swap Datsue Ba out of there, so I companioned Sybelle and two Belles and killed off Datsue Ba.

Kirai summoned a Shikome, and for some reason it choose the Crooligan as its target. Not sure why; little bit of overkill there! The Shikome got into melee with the Crooligan, and the two Onryo piled in from the right flank. Heady (Dead Doxy) went to meet them and hold them in melee. Molly debuffed the Shikome. It got a full set of attacks in against the Crooligan, but the Crooligan was on Df7 and the Shikome was on a double neg for each attack! Then Ponto ran up, sacrificed herself and the Shikome was dead. I started Luring the Lost Love away from Kirai.

Kirai jumped into the centre of the table, very near Molly, and summoned an Ikiryo right next to her. Sybelle charged the Ikiryo and a Belle slapped the Lost Love around a bit, while the Crooligan charged an Onryo. Another Belle Lured the last Seishin away from Kirai and killed it. The Crooligan died, and last Turn was called.

Molly was very close to Kirai, and I was left with just her activation before the game ended. It was then I realised that I needed a Wp duel to target Kirai, that I had lots of SS and Kirai had none, and that I had lots of Crows in my hand to get Molly’s Wp trigger off. The trigger does 2Wd to the target every time Molly wins a Wp duel! So I targeted Kirai with Molly’s damage spell, doing 2Wd off the Trigger each time plus damage from the spell. Kirai died and came back thanks to the Lost Love. She was on one Wd left and I only had a (0) Action left. I tried to steal one of Kirai’s spells, which meant I had to target her first She took 2Wd and died for the last time.

Turns out Molly is very good at killing Kirai!

I had 4Vp from the Strategy, as my Leader had killed the opposing Leader. I also had 4VP for my Schemes. Pete got 0VP for his Schemes and Strat.

Result: Win for Molly

I felt a bit bad pressing the attack right at the end, as it was clear I had already won the game, but with a chance to kill off Kirai I could not let it go. Turns out those extra VP pushed me from not placing to placing 2^nd overall

This was a very good game for Molly. I managed to take up a good position on the table, isolate the enemy models, debuff them and kill them one by one, and when I was presented with the opportunity to make a run at Kirai, Molly’s crew had the tools for the job.

I nearly over-reached, though. At one point Kirai was down to one Seishin and the Lost Love had been Lured far away from her. I buffed Sybelle’s Wk and had a card in hand for Call Belle, and was considering racing Sybelle forward and dropping a Rotten Belle on Kirai from about 20” away. I am glad I didn’t do it. It would have split my forces, and there is no way a Belle could have hurt Kirai in any significant way. I think I am started to realise the limits of this crew, as well as their strengths.

Also, I realised that as good as Seduction is, Molly’s own debuffing spell is equally as nasty in its own way. I cannot see any reason to spend the cards so that Molly can borrow and cast Seduction, which I had been planning at one point.

This was another great Malifaux tournament, and I enjoyed it a lot. It was our local henchman Barry’s first tournament, and it went very well, with the rounds running on time and everything going very smoothly. I struggled for time, but mainly as I am still learning this crew, but now I have three more games with them I think my play speed will improve.

The tournament was won by Dave Hamilton, with three straight wins with his Nicodem crew. I came second and Mark Bonatti came third with McMourning. Yes, that means a Resser 1-2-3 at the tournament Who needs Yan Lo?

[bobzilla]

Damn Ressers

[Joel]

that was a great read! Thanks for putting in the effort to write up the report, and congratulations on taking 2nd with Molly

[Grenoir]

Great report with the fiction plus action! Can you alter the thread title to add "November"? Add a few photos of your crew (if none from the games) and it'd be a strong contender to the battle report competion.

Thanks for posting!

[Paddywhack]

Very nice report especially since its Molly! One question though, you say that Kirai summoned a Shikome and it chose a target? I beleive there was either an updated card or in the FAQ that the summoned Shikome no longer gets to pick a target for free. Not that it mattered - it actually may have helped you as it meant the Shikome was going afer the Crooligan instead of Molly or a better target. Thanks for the write up!

Nice to see Nicodem take 1st too :Combat_Puppet:

[FearLord]

However, for the second game running, my Crooligan had survived! That must mean something, right?

Nobody cares enough to kill Crooligan's? ;-)

Also - when will Wyrd step up, and do want everybody wants and cuddle Ressers? THEY IZ ZEE BROKEN! ;-)

[Sholto]

Great report with the fiction plus action! Can you alter the thread title to add "November"? Add a few photos of your crew (if none from the games) and it'd be a strong contender to the battle report competion.

Thanks for posting!

You're welcome! I won't be entering any competitions, as I do some work for Wyrd so it is probably not a good idea, but thanks anyway Edited November 28, 2012 by Sholto