Thursday, February 12, 2015

Templecon 2015 Gaining Grounds Writeup

First Game.

Lady Justice -- 5 Pool
 +Badge of Office [2]
 +Last Stand [1]

Death Marshal [6]
Francisco Ortega [8]
 +Hermanos de Armas [1]
 +Wade In [1]
Guild Hound [3]
Guild Hound [3]
Guild Pathfinder [6]
Guild Austringer [6]
The Judge [9]
 +Plant Evidence [1]
 +Unrelenting Leader [2]

Standard Deployment, Extraction, Breakthrough, Assassinate

Vs

Von Schill
Librarian
2x Convict Gunslinger
 - Oathkeeper
Lazarus
Strongarm Suit

LITS, Breakthrough

Played my only solid game of the tournament this round.  Other schemes were not good, and with enough effort Assassinate on VS is doable.  I couldn't get at his Librarian so VS ate 3 charges from LJ and 2 from Frank before going down.

He didn't realize VS should have jetpacked out of there after I threw my entire crew at him, basically revealing my Assassinate.

9-7 win, getting my 3 from both strats and 3 from the strat.  I pulled 1 of his 4 LITS markers off the center with a DM double walk - Austringer deliver orders tag-team on the last turn.

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Dr. Douglas McMourning -- 5 Pool
 +Evidence Tampering [2]
 +On the Clock [1]
 +Plastic Surgery [1]

Brutal Effigy [4]
Francisco Ortega [8]
 +Hermanos de Armas [1]
 +Wade In [1]
Nurse [5]
Sidir Alchibal [9]
 +Promises [1]
The Judge [9]
 +Unrelenting Leader [2]
Witchling Stalker [5]

Corner deployment, Reckoning, LITS, Frame for Murder (Effigy)

vs.

Perdita
Enslaved Neph
Pale Rider
- LLC
Francisco
- Wade In, LLC?
Papa Loco
Pistolero

Bodyguard (Pale Rider), something else

Jonah is an excellent and tough player.  He took a clever crew, I'm now just realizing that the Pistolero may have been added as a decoy Frame for Murder and to finish off any FFM targets I may have chosen to deny me VPs.  With Bodyguard in the pool and a LLC on the Pale Rider I knew he was the bodyguard, but I couldn't get at him.

In the end I got Papa Loco'd, terrain was setup in such a way he would have hard cover against any shooting from me and I wouldn't have the same.  With that in mind I had to bumrush him with my deathball, and Papa Loco is the anti-deathball.  He moved into my lines after I had activated my entire deathball, and I knew that was game over.  Tabled on Turn 3.  10-1 loss.

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Lady Justice -- 7 Pool
 +Badge of Office [2]
 +Last Stand [1]

Brutal Effigy [4]
Francisco Ortega [8]
 +Hermanos de Armas [1]
 +Wade In [1]
Guild Austringer [6]
Hunter [7]
Guild Hound [3]
Guild Hound [3]
The Judge [9]
 +Unrelenting Leader [2]

Standard Deployment, Headhunter, Breakthrough, Distract

vs.

McM
Seb
Chihuahua
Nino
Francisco
Lone Marshal
Watcher

Breakthrough, something else

Game got off to a good start with a focused shot from the Austringer pipping a very well hidden Nino for 4.  Nino was dead on top of 2 with another Austringer shot.  This meant I was OK to do Headhunter, since the deny of Interacts is SO powerful.   A counter-deployed Lone Marshal eradicated my Guild Hounds which I fully expected.  He left Frank exposed and I was in position to charge LJ into him, sacrificing the Judge to tie up McM.  I lost initiative to his 8? with a 3 and a reflip with a stone's 6, and Frank was able to get Finesse up.

I figured D5 vs MI 7 is still a winnable fight for LJ even on neg flips and charged anyway.  I flipped OK on the first AP and he had a high card to make me miss.  Stoning for a positive, he cheated the RJ and I did as well.  I got 4 through, he stoned 3 away.  I missed on the third attack, and I knew Frank would survive.  Gotta kill him with shooting.   He's too good in melee.

I fully intended on using Frank to grab clone-Frank's head, pulling Judge out of melee with McM and popping a shot at Seb, but now that clone-Frank is alive I decided he too should charge.

2 misses later, 1 more huge mistake made.  Judge takes McM to the face and is down to his HtK.  He runs the Chihuahua in range of LJ, Frank, and the Effigy and moves Seb into place for the easiest 6 damage you'll ever do. That is basically game as I lose Justice to Frank after losing init again.

10-1 loss.

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Sonnia -- 6 Pool
 +Cherufe's Imprint [1]
 +Reincarnation [1]

Guild Austringer [6]
Guild Pathfinder [6]
Hunter [7]
Samael Hopkins [9]
 +Witch Hunt [2]
Witchling Handler [8]
 +Disrupt Magic [2]
Witchling Stalker [5]

Flank Deployment, Reconnoiter, Breakthrough, Vendetta from Austringer to an Illuminated.  Should have chosen a Beckoner!!!

vs.
Lynch
Huggy
2x Beckoner
3x Illuminated

Unrevealed Take Prisoner, something else.

Very discouraged after playing 2 bad games in a row, I faced off against Lynch.  Never played against him.

Deployed my Pathfinder in a corner, who faces off against a Beckoner+Illuminated combo.  Beckoner walks, lures Illuminated, who double walks towards the Pathfinder meant he's basically in combat T1.  A focused shot misses, and his fate is sealed (I think).  Austringer nabs me a point for Vendetta.

I'm just now realizing that Final Debt requires the target to have Brilliance, and none of the models I lost to it (Sam, Hunter, Austringer) had Brilliance.  Oh well!

The Sonnia Stalker Factory gets moving as Sam lights the second Beckoner on fire and takes a shot.  End of turn the Beckoner dies and I get a stalker in base with an Illumninated.  His third Illuminated engages Sonnia.  I made a huge mistake as I moved up my firing line onto the Recon line which means I get zilch for the strategy basically all game.

Regardless, I'm winning the war of attrition and figure I can clean up a couple of Illuminated with Sonnia, Sam, the Handler, Hunter, and a couple of Stalkers.  Somehow I don't and only get 2 Stalkers through on turn 5 to drop a couple of schemes for Breakthrough.

Illuminated is just tying up my Pathfinder, and killing the traps I'm summoning in.  I realize this on T3 and note he must have Take Prisoner.  I have activation control and am able to save a high card on T5 to prevent his Take Prisoner.

A series of bad plays sees me losing 7-3.  By game end I have 2x as many models as him and I still only get 1 point for Recon.



Just a discouraging tournament of mistake after mistake.  I finish 17th out of 20th going 1-3-0.

I still have an aversion to playing Perdita - I think it is because I've been on the other side of the board and it isn't great fun to take your models off the table.  Need to get some games in with her and realize in a tournament setting playing powerful, reliable models is what you do.

In good news I'm finally getting the hang of McM, and I look forward to not playing with Francisco or the Judge for awhile.  I took Unrelenting Leader every game and never used it once, so that will go back on the pile.  I was thrilled with it after I used to to great effect with Frank, but I'm too focused on setting up the combo and don't do anything with the Judge.  He's still a good combat model, he has a defacto 3/5/6 Mi 6 sword, and his gun is OK.

Really, I just need to think more tactically, focus on VPs and prevent my opponent from scoring.  Realize that I need more shooting, and if I need to have the Judge be dedicated to killing a Watcher who is going to do Breakthrough, that is 100% OK.

I want to play more Malifaux.

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