Playing the Faux - Introduction to the game

Welcome to a new segment of the Hideout, Playing the Faux, dedicated to the joys of Malifaux. While this section will never be as prevelant as the Warmachine ones, it will still see some regular use over the next month at least.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have decided to play in the Malifaux one day event at NiCon this year. This decision has shown up two glaringly obvious problems: I have no idea how to play the game and my crew isn't painted. The paint problem has been rectified, as shown in my last post, however, I still need some game time. Luckily for me, the local Henchman (Malifauxs version of a Pressganger) lives around the corner from me and is helping me with that problem.
 Yesterday saw me around at Peters, playing my first full game of Malifaux (I had a Crew box intro game about 6 months ago), complete with schemes and strategies. Peter also had the great idea of playing the same crew as me, so I got to see what my guys did from both sides of the table. This was an excellent idea and really helped me get a handle on the myriad of abilities and interactions available to my dudes.

Mr Graves, just as beat sticky as he looks. And Mr Tannen - super annoying.

The game itself is a lot of fun. The Strategies and Schemes ensure no two games are ever the same, while also adding a cinematic quality to your games. The option to either keep your scheme hidden, to make it easier to complete or reveal it to your opponent before you start to make it more difficult, but worth more VPs, adds yet another layer and denying your opponents schemes can play a big part in winning.
    The card drawing mechanic is truely different and will take some getting used to. It gives some true randomness to the winds of fate, although it will still occasionally throw up what would be commonly refered to as "dice spikes". At one point yesterday, I had a double negative flip for damage (flip 3 cards, choose the lowest) and managed to flip three 13s in a row to smash my target into the dirt at a crucial time.
  The crews lend themselves to building combos, an aspect of Warmachine and X-wing I have always enjoyed and playing a named master/caster/lock with thier own, unique set of rules is always going to be better than having an army led by "generic space marine captain". In yesterdays game, my crew was very much all the dudes I could fit into 50SS, but I think I will probably drop one of the Illuminated to make room for a few choice upgrades. The ability to bring back my Hungering Darkness is sure to be a game changer at some point.

Till next time....

From the Workbench

So I haven't been overly productive paintwise in the last month or two. The horrorshow that was the Auckland Open really sapped my Warmachine drive for a week or two. I may end up blogging about my time at the event, but suffice to say, it was miserable at my end. Anyhoo, onto painted toys.

First up, finished in time for the Ides of March event:

Seraph/Neraph kit.

Incubii

All I got done before the Auckland Open was a unit of Blighted Ogrun Warspears

And I also finished off my Dire Troll Bomber, which had sat around half finished for some time.

For a chance of pace, i've decided to play some Malifaux at Nicon in a couple of weeks, of course this required me to finally paint my crew.

Jacob Lynch and the Hungering Darkness

Beckoners

Illuminated

Mr Graves and Mr Tannen

Until next time, get off my lawn....

Legion of the Noob - Ides of March part 3

(**Going to change up the reports and only cover the highlights/general thoughts on each game. Things have been getting really long and rambly**)

Game 5: Peter Hunter - Gaspy2

Having played Peters Gaspy list a couple of weeks before in the Dojo and been smashed, I decided to try something different and dropped Absolonia instead of Lylyth. Unfortunately, the result was much the same. Although I managed to shoot Gaspy in the face with a Ravagore on turn two, he failed to do the decent and just thing and burn to death, although he did stay on fire all game. While I managed to kill a bunch of banes, my Ravagore missed a final boosted shot at Gaspy. His feat wiped out all my beasts and by the time Peter had won on control points, Absolonia was the only model I had left on the table.

Game 6: Tony Vodonovich - Lylyth2

I dropped Absolonia again as I feel she has good game in the Legion mirror (Saeryn not withstanding). She generally out threats other Legion casters and her beasts tend to hit harder on the turn that matters.
We traded Deathstalker shots early on and he got to feat first, which killed the Scythean and the Seraph and set the Carnivean and Ravagore on fire. On Absolonias feat turn, she proc'd Conferred Rage by killing Zuriel and damaged the Angel. Although the Shredder and Naga left the Angel on one box, the Carnivean did what the Carnivean does and bit Lylyths head off.

Game 7: David Cameron - Doomshaper1

Dropped Absolonia again as I knew there was no way I was going to shoot Trolls off the table. I tried to assasinate Doomy, despite his feat being up. The Carnivean failed to kill Mulg, while the Naga and Seraph cleared a landing space for the Scythean, who ended up falling an inch short of Doomshaper.
That was pretty much all she wrote at that point. David ended up winning on CPs, but not before I managed to Blightbomb Mulg to death, which amused me greatly.
It wasn't until the day after that I realised that I had forgotten to Slipstream the Scythean. DOH!

So 3-4 for the weekend, but I felt that I had put myself in a position to win the four games I lost and came away feeling quite good about where I was at with Legion.

I did decide to make a couple of changes to the lists for the Auckland open, mainly in the hope of shoreing up my Cryx drop, as I don't feel like Lylyth2 is there yet, although I know she could be. We will see how things go.

Legion of the Noob: Ides of March part 2

Game 3: Dave Dawn - Xerxis2.
Game 3 saw me sit down across the table from the most evilest of Daves. Dave was running Xerxis in his Rhino shaped wheelchair, along with a Archidon, Molik and a bunch of assorted Cyclops. I drppped Absolonia again.

Dave went first, cast Mobility and ran everything foward. In return I moved up aggressively and the Seraph on the left of the table dismounted Tyrant Radeem.
 Daves second turn saw my Shredder and Naga die to Molik Khan before he sprinted back. Radeem moved ran behind my lines hoping to tempt Abby away from her beast brick. The Shaman and something else (I can't read my own writing) shot down both my Deathstalkers. All the Cyclops bricked up around Molik. The large clump of Cyclops was all the invitation I needed to do what Abby does best. She pooped her feat, flew over to Radeem and punched his face in to trigger Conferred Rage before teleporting back into range of her beasts. What followed was an epic savaging that netted me both Raiders, the Savage, the Shaman and Molik Khan. I also managed to get a couple of shots in on Xerxis with the Scythean, which he transferred to the Archidon.
 Not having many options left, Dave saw an opportunity for the assassination. Xerxis feated, then used his Rhino to pitch the Scythean out of the way. He then charged Absolonia with the Archidon and my bottom clenched just a little although I was sitting on 3 transfers. After the dust had cleared, Abby was on around half health and the Seraph was dead to transfers. Absolonia retaliated by killing the Archidon. The Scythean stood up and walked into Xerxis to try and tie him down and the Ravagore did its best to finish him off, but fell just short.
 Xerxis went into survival mode (aka run away mode), using a rideby attack to pitch the Ravagore away and kill the Scythean before backing off as far as possible. This time, I was able to force the Ravagore to shake the knockdown. Absolonia killed some paingivers to trigger Conferred Rage and cast Psycho-surgery before the charging Ravagore finally managed to finish the job.

Game 4: Dave Wilson - Morvahna2.
So, I sit down at the table and hand Dave my lists. He then tells me he has no idea what either of my casters do. So, like a complete asshole, I drop eLylyth. I went first and we both moved foward at speed. Notably, an order of activation mistake prevented Morvahna from getting close enough to the wall to be in cover, leaving her in the open and in range with only two transfers.
I popped Lylyths feat on the top of two. The Naga and the first of the Ravagores managed to strip both her transfers and leave her on four boxes. Sweet I thought, this is in the bag. Second Ravagore aims and misses with his first shot. No problem, still have one more. Nope. Second shot misses as well. Bugger. This is not good. And I didn't even light her on fire.
 Dave then set about punishing me for my failure. The Warpwolf killed Zuriel and the Naga. The Skinwalkers killed the Blightblades tying them down while the two unengaged ones tried to kill Lylyth but failed. Morvahna moved behind the wall after her massive scare the turn before. Needing to strip three transfers and hope Morvahna burnt to death, Lylyth managed to strip one transfer with her bow, but despite thier best efforts the Ravagores could not get the hits required and a Warpwolf ate Lylyth in the following turn.

So the end of day one and I was 2-2, which was honestly better than I expected at the start of the day. I went home to sleep and dream dreams of a 4-3 or better finish.

Legion of the Noob: Ides of March - Part 1

So. Ides of March. Premier tournament on the Auckland calender. A collision of the best Warmachine players in the country. And I decide, 10 weeks out, to play a brand new faction. Ace. Nothing like making things hard for myself.  Not only did I need to learn a new Faction, I needed to learn how Fury works and all the nuances that go with it. And I needed to paint 2 lists from scratch. So how did it go? Read on, gentle viewer and revel in the horror.

Game 1: Greg Fitchew - Bradigus

New Zealand is a special snowflake of a meta, as shown by the fact there were only 2 Bradigus players at a 50 man event. Murphys Law dictates I draw one of them in the first round. The mission was Close Quarters and I chose to drop Absolonia2.

Greg went first and walked everything foward, making 2 pods, consisting  of Standing Stones, Sentry Stone, 3 lights and a heavy.

 I had 12% of a plan, which mainly involved using my smaller models to deny him the ability to slide into my heavies. To this end I ran everything foward, forming a foward line with my 2 Deathstalkers, Shredder, Naga and a Tenacitied Seraph running a block while my Ravagore, Scythean and Carnivean formed up begind the wall along with Abby and the support.

Gregs second turn saw him move up cautiously again, with his Watchers doing thier +4 armour shenanagins. They also managed to shoot the Naga to death with some help from the Mannikins. Mannikins also managed to spray one Deathstalker to death and left the second on 1 box. Bradigus put Flesh of Clay on himself and also cast Mystic Wards, leaving himself with zero transfers, believing himself safe behind his wall of Wolds.

 Two nicely clumped groups of models and the chance to get the alpha was too good an opportunity to pass up. Absonloia went first, popped her Feat and charged a Mannikin to proc Conferred Rage. Unfortunately, I charged the wrong Mannikin and found myself trapped within range of Mystic Wards and unable to Teleport back to safety. Uh-oh. The Scythean flew into the middle of the pod on my right and proceeded to kill 2 Watchers, a couple of Mannikins and put damage on a heavy. The Carnivean finished off a third Watcher, but couldn't quite get reach range on one of the Shifting Stones. One the other side, the Ravagore and Seraph killed two Watchers and a Shifting Stone. This cleared a charge lane to Bradigus that a Rabid, Feated, Conferred Raged Shredder took full advantage of. Coming from waaaay downtown, the Shredder tore into Bradigus leaving him on one box. Bugger.

Gregs third and final turn went much as expected. His remaining Watchers Pushed my heavies around to build Synergy, before the Woldwarden teleported into Absolonia and punched her to death.

So a loss first up, but a close game. My 12% of a plan did what I hoped and stopped the early slide into my heavies, allowing me to get the alpha. Getting trapped by Mystic Wards really cost me but I feel I would have been ok if I could have broken the second set of stones and neutered his ability to teleport the Woldwarden. Or if I could have rolled the boosted 10 to kill Bradigus with the Shredder, that would have helped too.

Game 2: Paul Monk - Farrow

Round 2 was Recon and I drew Wooden Spoon hopeful, Paul Monk. Paul was single listing a Carver list like the true hard man he is and I decided to drop Absolonia again.

I won first turn and ran everything foward as fast as possible, only slowing to fuel the Forsaken with 4 fury. Abby put Fortify on the Carnivean and Spiny Growth on both the Carnivean and the Scythean. The Succubus also put Spiny Growth on the Ravagore. 

 In return, a wave of bacon surged foward towards me as fact as thier stubby pig legs would carry them.

Turn 2 saw the Ravagore move foward and set 4 of the brigands in the center on fire, while the Seraph and Naga killed 3 more. The Deathstalkers killed 3 Slaughterhousers on the right flank and the Forsaken moved towards the Slaughterhousers on the left. 

 Pauls Brigands shot at the Shredder on the hill but they all missed. The Gun Boar shot missed the Naga, Carver shot it with both barrels and did decent damage, before smashing it with a Warhog.

Turn 3 saw Absolonia pop her feat, charge a Brigand to proc Conferred Rage and destroy the objective before teleporting back behind the beasts. The Deathstalkers both survived free strikes from the Slaughterhousers they were engaged with, in order to back up and shoot dead two more each. The Ravagore charged Brine, also getting Rorsch into melee, then proceeded to miss both initial attacks (needing 5s). He still managed to kill Brine but left Rorsch untouched.

 The Forsaken walked into the middle of the Slaughterhousers on the left and triggered a Blight Bomb, killing 3 Slaughterhousers, knocking down 2 more but failing to scratch Carver. The Scythean flew into position to engage both Warhogs and Carver. Some less than stellar dice saw the Scythean only kill one Warhog, damage the second and force a transfer from Carver to the Gunboar. The charging Rabid, Feated, Conferred Raged Shredder finished off the Gunboar (seriously, Abbys Shredders are just stupidly good), the Seraph finished off the damaged Warhog, before the Carnivean flew over and bit Carvers head off.

Having finished my game fairly early, I wandered off to grab lunch from the sausage sizzle and cake stall that had been set up for a different event being held at the same time....

Legion of the Noob, part 6: Battlecry

A couple of weeks ago, I ran the 1 day Warmachine event at Battlecry. As usual, a great bunch of guys showed up and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately, we ended up with uneven numbers, so I ended up ghosting in the bye slot, to both ensure people got the 4 games they paid for and to give myself some extra practice.

Game 1 was against the most excellent Big Show aka Chris T. He was rocking a single Kara Sloane list with Stormwall, 2 Minutemen Thunderhead, a Defender plus some support. Despite how much I really wanted to smash the Stormwall with Abby2,  I didn't want to get shot off the table going in, so I went with Lylyth instead. I lost the roll for first turn and having learnt my lesson previously, I gave Big Show the side of the table with only a forest for cover.

Chris deployed most of his force to the left hand side of the forest, except for Thunderhead and the Defender which went right. Everything moved forward at speed. I put up Shadowpack and decided not to pop my feat this turn. The two Ravagores blasted one of the Minutemen down to 3 boxes, before one of the Deathstalkers finished it off.

Turn 2, the Stormwall rolles boxcars to gun down a Deathstalker in a trench. Thunderhead shot the Spell Martyr and the Defender gunned down a Shepherd. Before I started my turn, I considered my options, before deciding to pull the trigger and go for the assassination. The Blightblades came on and shanked the Journeyman. Lylyth moved into the open and feated. I landed a boosted Pin Cushion on Kara and put a couple of points of damage on her with Lylyths bow. The Naga put two shots into Kara (including one crit poison), before the 1st Ravagore finished her off.

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My second game was against Dan Lister. Dan had a dwarf list with an Earthbreaker and a Fiona list with Galleon,  full pirate boat Alexia and Nyss. Faced with two very shooty Colossals I once again chose Lylyth and ended up going second again. Dan chose Fiona, wanting to test the strength of her feat. To this end, he ran his entire army at me two turns in a row, jamming them down my throat before popping his feat. I should have feated bottom of one, but ended up having to counterfeat while trapped in Fionas bubble of "screw you". I managed to back the Ravagores and Naga out of the Feat and put a bunch of hurt on the Galleon and gun down some of the infantry with the Deathstalkers and Lylyth. Zuriel was trapped in combat with the Galleon and stuck in Fionas feat so couldn't manage to finish it off (left it on 8 boxes).

In return, Dan tried to kill Lylyth, running dudes into combat with her, then shooting them in the back with Galleon to try and kill her with blast damage (a viable option when your opponent is dresed in newspaper) but failed to get the dice required.One shot from a Ravagore finished the Galleon off, before a fiesty Shepherd knocked down First Mate Hawk who was engaging Zuriel. Free of Hawks attentions, Zuriel flew over the wreck of the Galleon and lopped off Fionas head.

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My final game of the day saw me across the table from Graeme and his Butcher3 list. I dropped Abby2 into this as she seems to have all the tech needed to make his life difficult. I managed to thin down his infantry during the first couple of turns, with the Deathstalkers killing most of the IFP, the Seraph gunning down Eiryss in the wood and the Ravagore and Naga managing to shoot down most of the Doomreavers.

With Fortify up and my beasts positioned in such a way to ensure Butcher couldn't get any mileage out of his drag shenanagins, I was feeling pretty safe. Until Butcher energizrd foward then charged. Luckily he could only get within reach range of the Scythean, which he mangled in short order. Butcher then popped his feat, in order to refill his focus and try to camp out the oncoming beatdown.

What follows, is known as "Living the Dream". Abby popped her feat, flew into a position between Butcher and one of his Argus'. She killed the Argus to proc conferred rage, then went to town on Butcher, using her Energy Siphon repeatedly to drain all of his focus, before teleporting away and letting the Carnivean bite off his head.

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So another three games under my belt. I'd be lying if I said I was feeling confident about either the lists themselves, or the decision to take Legion to Ides next weekend. If I had a choice, I'd probably take Cryx, but having to submit lists two weeks out from the event I don't have that luxury. So we will just have to see how things play out.

From the Workbench...

Well, another month has gone by and I decided to make life really hard for myself by trying to get 2 of my lists ready by Ides of March, which at the time of this posting, is just over a week away. So what did I get done last month and what do I have left to do?

February was actually really productive. First up we have Blightblades. Yep, thats right. Legion infantry. It does exist.

Spell Martyr and Succubus

2nd Shepherd and 2nd Deathstalker

Naga Nightlurker

and finally, Daniel-San, the Karate Kid himself: Zuriel the Awesome-sauce of Awesomeness.

So whats left to paint before Ides? I need to finish of my Seraph/Neraph kit and paint 5 Incubi. Should be do-able.  Wish me luck kids...