Soul Puppet's first M2E Tournament report

[Soul Puppet]

So, the dust has now settled on A Fistful O’ Fate (or Joelfaux or that other name that requires Parental Permission to view and thus won’t be mentioned here!)

First thing’s first… the obligatory excuses for all the bad things that happened (not least, my performance):

This was my first M2E Tournament. :slap:

I only have one regular opponent in my local club, so don’t get much practice against different crews. :-!

I’ve only played around 20 games or so of M2E. :-\

Neverborn are broken. *wink*

Ressers are broken. *evil*

Right, I think that about covers it but I reserve the right to add further excuses should the need arise. :Hiding_Puppet:

So, a 45SS, Fixed Faction, 3 game tournament. I went with Arcanists…

GAME 1

Game 1 was Squatter’s Rights Vs Graham Bursnell (Neverborn)

Graham took Jakob Lynch (Rising Sun and Woke Up With a Hand upgrades), Hungering Darkness, 2 Beckoners, 2 Illuminated and 2 Terror Tots.

I had Rasputina (December’s Pawn, Armour of December and Child of December upgrades), Ice Golem with Imbued Energies, December Acolyte, 2 Ice Gamin, 2 Molemen and the Wendigo.

From the Schemes available, it turned out that we both went for the same ones, which were:

Make Them Suffer

Frame For Murder (I chose the Ice Golem, Graham chose one of the Terror Tots)

No Schemes were announced.

I have played most of my M2E games against Jakob and have learnt to fear the Woke up with a Hand upgrade. That said, I felt I had enough experience to deal with it on this occasion.

The table was set up to look a little like a train station, complete with trains on the tracks, blocking a large part of the centre of the board. Initially, I felt this gave me an advantage, because any models on Graham’s side that stuck their heads out to turn on the markers, would be seen by Rasputina directly or through one of her mirrors. However, I also know that any of my models exposed to Jakob would likely be having a bad day. This resulted in both of us being quite cagey in the first turn and very slow playing the second. On my right flank, the Golem, Wendigo and Acolyte faced off against a Beckoner, Terror Tot and Illuminated. Everything else was on my right flank, facing off against everything else of Graham’s.

Graham scored his Frame For Murder early doors when the Acolyte shot the Terror Tot. Graham started picking on my Molemen and one of the Gamin, which were moving up to try and flip the Squatter markers. I also wasted the Wendigo, trying to get the jump on a Beckoner. In Turn 2, Graham turned over 2 markers. The Ice Golem discarded it’s Imbued Energies and went stomping over to one of the Illuminated to try and kill him, then repossess the marker he had flipped. Right at the end of the turn Rasputina killed Huggy with December’s Curse and the splash damage killed the second Tot. This made Jakob come out from hiding and immediately the game was in the balance. Turn 3 Initiative went my way and I figured now was the time to go all out. Rasputina focused everything on taking out Jakob and burnt through a lot of stones but just managed to kill him with her last action. After this, most significantly my Molemen managed to switch on some markers. The game was now firmly in my control (or so I thought) but sadly, we ran out of time before I could capitalise on my advantage. The game ended at the end of turn 3 and Graham had won 3-2 on VPs (2 for Frame For Murder and 1 for Squatter’s Rights, against 1 for Make Them Suffer and 1 for Squatter’s Rights). Graham was a gent and a very capable player. He went on to finish in Third place overall and I feel it was well deserved.

GAME 2

So, on to game 2, which was Turf War and I was up against Scott Porter and his Resurrectionists.

Scott had Tara (Knowledge of Eternity, Dead of Winter and Obliteration Symbiote upgrades), 2 Flesh Constructs, 2 Belles, a Death Marshall, a Grave Spirit and Johan (Decaying Aura(?) upgrade)

I took exactly the same crew that I had in the first game.

From the schemes available, Scott chose Protect Territory and Entourage (Tara), both announced. I chose Breakthrough and Murder Protégé (Johan) also both Announced.

The table had a lot of broken terrain, including a number of height 3 stone pillars near the centre, where the Turf marker was somewhat exposed. There were a few hills, woods and buildings on the outer edges but for the most part these were away from where the action was going to take place.

Scott started off by giving Tara Reactivate and burying a Belle, before running down one side of the board. The Flesh Constructs and Grave Spirit all stuck together and advanced towards the centre. Johan followed Tara and the opposite flank was held by the second Belle and the Death Marshall.

I sent most of my forces up the middle, with the Molemen and Acolyte facing off against the Belle and Death Marshall. At the end of the first turn Scott had the buried Belle back on the table and right next to my Deployment Zone, where she spent the rest of the game Luring my models away from the centre. My Acolyte snuck forwards to place a Scheme Marker (otherwise known as a Jump Point for the Molemen) and he took a few wounds in return from the Death Marshal’s Peacebringer. Rasputina blasted the group containing the Flesh Constructs and the Grave Spirit and did quite a bit of damage but they were unperturbed.

I went all out in Turn 2 and spent a load of stones so that Rasputina could kill Tara. There then ensured a general melee in the centre, with each of us trying to remove the other’s models out of the Turf War scoring zone. My Acolyte shot the Death Marshall for a few wounds and also made him Slow before running off to hide behind a building. The Death Marshall Pine boxed the Belle in order to release her closer to the centre in the next turn. My Molemen went crazy and spent the rest of the game dropping scheme markers all over Scott’s half of the table, to ensure my Breakthrough. Towards the end of the turn, I was getting the upper hand in the middle, so Scott was forced to move Johan towards the centre to ensure he got a Turf War VP that turn and the Belle in my half of the table, lured one of my Gamin out of the scoring zone so that I didn’t get the point.

In turn 3, I reduced Johan to his Hard to Kill before he ran off to partially hide behind a pillar. My Ice Golem discarded his Imbued Energies to get fast, with the idea that he could finish off the Belle that he was in combat with and then move twice and still hit Johan 9to get Murder Protégé and remove him from the Turf War scoring zone. Unfortunately he missed the Belle and worse, ended up having to use 3 of his attacks to kill her, which left me unable to get to Johan this turn. The other Belle dropped a scheme marker, so Scott now had enough to get his Protect Territory. I threw everything I had left at trying to remove this Belle but was only able to reduce her to 1 wound before time was called and the game ended at the end of Turn 3.

Scott won 5-4 on VPs (3 for Protect Territory and 2 for Turf War, against 3 for Breakthrough and 1 for Turf War).

GAME 3

So, 2 losses and I found myself on the bottom tables for the final game. This was Stake a Claim and I was up against Andy Winton with Neverborn.

Andy took Jakob Lynch (Rising Sun and Woke Up With a Hand upgrades), Hungering Darkness, Barbaros, 1 Beckoner, 2 Illuminated and 2 Terror Tots.

Deciding that I didn’t really have anything to play for in the tournament, I went with a Master that I have only used twice previously… Marcus.

I took Feral Instincts, The Hunger Cry and The Trail of the Gods upgrades on Marcus, then I had Myranda with the Pack Leader upgrade, a Sabretooth Cerberus, a Razorspine Rattler, a Silurid and 2 Molemen.

From the schemes available, Andy chose Protect Territory (announced) and Frame For Murder (Huggy). I chose Distract and Plant Explosives (unannounced).

The table was set up using the very nice Sarissa Oriental buildings and walls, with the odd hill and other feature.

I started off with the Silurid Leaping and then moving to place a Jump Point for the Molemen Scheme Marker. However, I had badly misjudged this move (mental note: remember you can pre measure everything in M2E!) and only one of the Molemen was able to reach. This also left the Silurid badly exposed and by the time Jakob went at the end of the turn, my fishy friend had been lured nicely into range for Jakob to finish him off. The rest of my crew split, with Marcus, the Rattler and a Moleman heading left to deal with an encroaching Tot, Barbaros and Huggy. Marcus made the most of his upgrades to put some wounds on Barbaros (who was happily burning soulstones to minimize the damage). The other Moleman tunnelled forwards and was supported by Myranda and the Cerberus.

In turn 2, a Moleman moved near to Marcus and placed a scheme marker. Huggy moved up to hit the Moleman but didn’t kill him, so Barbaros moved up a bit to finish him off. Marcus put some more wounds on Barbaros. The Rattler tried to slither in and finish him off but missed. The Moleman near Myranda Distracted an Illuminated but was then killed by Jakob. The Cerberus then Distracted the second Illuminated. At the end of this turn, I discarded my Scheme Marker to get 2 VP for Plant Explosives and removed the distracted condition from one of the Illuminated for another.

In turn 3, Marcus killed Huggy, netting Andy 3 VP from Frame For Murder. The Rattler placed a Claim Marker. The Cerberus leapt out of combat with the Illuminated and placed another Claim Marker. The positioning of Andy’s forces at this point meant that I would definitely get the point for the strategy this turn. He still moved Jakob up and placed a claim marker in my half of the table. Andy’s Tot sprinted into my deployment zone, ready to place a claim or scheme marker next turn but Myranda saw the danger and moved to engage him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t then capitalise by getting another distract off but I was still winning 4Vp to 3VP at the end of this turn.

Amazingly(!) this game didn’t end on turn 3, so onto turn 4… Andy placed a scheme parker with one of his Illuminated. The Rattler moved into Andy’s deployment zone ready to place another claim marker in the last turn and the Cerberus leapt again but I hadn’t thought through the placement of his previous claim marker so if he placed another claim marker he would remove his first one! The Tot escaped from Myranda and sprinted away again, Myranda chased after him but the second Illuminated moved to block her. The Beckoner couldn’t place a claim marker without removing the one Jakob had placed, so she moved and then placed a Scheme marker instead. I had a difficult decision to make now, because the claim marker placed by the Rattler, meant that Marcus could only place one by exposing himself to an attack by Jakob. I reasoned that, at this point, I had to maximise my chances of victory, so I moved and then placed the marker. Jakob duly killed Marcus but I got another point for the strategy and was winning 5 – 3.

Even more amazingly, we got to play our turn 5 as well, starting it just over 2 minutes before “Final Turn” was called. Jakob moved once and place a claim marker, removing both the one placed by Marcus and the one place by the Rattler at the same time. The Tot placed a scheme marker and the Rattler placed another claim marker but again, I was now in a difficult position. Andy was on course to get 3 VP from Protect Territory and still had enough activations to get another claim marker down.

In the end, I realised I had to try and stop the Protect Territory to have a chance at victory. I tried my best and started with the Cerberus leaping and then charging the Illuminated by the scheme marker. I ended up killing him in the first attack with a Red Joker damage flip, so far so good. I can’t quite remember what happened with the rest of the turn, except for Myranda shapeshifting into another Cerberus, so it could leap and kill the Tot.

The game ended as a 5 all draw. (Andy had 3 for Frame For Murder, 1 for Protect Territory and 1 for Stake a Claim, against 2 for Plant Explosives, 1 for Distract and 2 for Stake a Claim).

I enjoyed all my games despite the result. I think I finished somewhere near the bottom but I did learn some important things. Sadly, the most telling issue is that my biggest tournament weakness from Malifaux 1.5 is still plaguing me in M2E, that of time limitation. I just seem to get into a position where I have the upper hand and then the game ends.

Not to worry, I believe that I am still in the top 16 for the Masters in January, although I understand that, as reigning champion, I would still get an invite if I don’t make the top 16 anyway but it would still be nice to qualify on merit.

Now all I need to do is to come up with a cunning plan…. :facepalm:

[Mxbedlam]

Time Management is something that plagues all games. When I was playing Warmachine a lot last year, it was the biggest downside outside of placement that kept me from winning tournaments. Malifaux it seems even more of an issue because of the reactive way that you have to play each turn. I think the idea might be to go in with a solid plan, but be very flexible based on what your opponent does. Anticipating the schemes they take seems to be big too. If Frame For Murder is an option and they haven't revealed and aren't dropping scheme markers, might be better to tie up their obvious threat rather than kill him. When that guy is Joss or Killjoy or any other scary model....sometimes you just have to bite the 3 points though.