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.

Crackin' on with the Painting... Pt2

Painted up Sidir tonight! 

Along with pictures of the Executioners and the Brutal Effigy.

Painting Tracker:

Brutal Effigy - Done!
2 Guild Hounds - Done!
2x Hunter - Done!
2x Watchers - Done!
Scales of Justice - Done!
Latigo Pistolero - Done!
Sidir - Done!

Lawyer - No progress

Abuela - No progress
Enslaved Nephelim - No progress

"Proxy" Witchling Handler - No progress
Exorcist - No progress

Performer - Assembled and based
Zombie Chihuahua - Assembled and based

Peacekeeper - Still not gonna happen.

Also managed to get a "few" more models basecoated.

Crackin' on with the Painting... Pt1

Was a productive weekend painting.  Got a solid 5-6 hours in.

I finished, pictured:
2 Watchers
2 Hunters
2 Guild Hounds
Scales of Justice
Latigo Pistolero

Also finished but not pictured:
2 Executioners
Brutal Effigy

Keeping track from last post...

Brutal Effigy - Done!
2 Guild Hounds - Done!
2x Hunter - Done!
2x Watchers - Done!
Scales of Justice - Done!
Latigo Pistolero - Done!

Sidir - No progress
Performer - Delivered to the house today
Lawyer - No progress
Zombie Chihuahua - Delivered to the house today, since I lost my plastic one :(
"Proxy" Witchling Handler - No progress
Exorcist - No progress
Abuela - No progress
Enslaved Nephelim - No progress (added)

Peacekeeper - Not gonna happen.

8 to go!  2 weeks to paint left.

Also played two games against Ian, both losses.  Got curbstomped by the "Von Schill All-Stars" in Extraction and lost 10-4 or 5 to Dreamer in Headhunter.

I played
McM - 6 Cache
+On the Clock
+Plastic Surg
+Evidence Tampering
Seb
Executioner
Performer
Lawyer
Hunter
Brutal Effigy
Nurse

Don't think the poison build is for me.  Too fragile.  Seb is fairly slow and if he dies, it is really only McM who can deal the damage.

Templecon Preperations

I'm breaking this down into two parts.  The first, what I need to do gaming-wise to not my butt stomped at the Gaining Grounds tournament.  The second, once I have a good idea of what I'll be running I'll need to paint it up.

Gaming
My first task is to learn how to use Perdita.  I started my Malifaux journey with Sonnia, and picked up the Latigo Posse box mostly for Frank.  Having a ranged killy master already I wanted to branch out into other playstyles before I learned how to play another master of the same type.  So I ventured down the LadyJ path, and then into McMourning.

Having played Sonnia she's more than just a straight damage dealer.  I find her strength to be in placing Witchlings where the opponent doesn't want them.  I'm trying to come at her from more of a control/support master side now that I'm not just trying to cast Flameburst 15 times a game.  She is my go-to Recon master.

I found that Sonnia has plenty of damage output, but I think Perdita can do the targeted model removal even better.  I also like her Neverborn matchup as I think there are going to be a lot of Dreamers running around.

My core crew will be something like:
Guild Crew - 50 - Scrap

Perdita Ortega -- 7 Pool
 +Aura Ancestral [1]
 +Trick Shooting [2]

Enslaved Nephilim [3]
Abuela Ortega [7] / Papa Loco?
Francisco Ortega [8]
 +Wade In [1]
Nino Ortega [7]
Santiago Ortega [7]

Plus another 10-12 stones of models depending on schemes.

I'd also like to get some more McMourning games in.  I've been playing the Guild Henchman list with him which looks like

Dr. Douglas McMourning -- 7 Pool
 +On the Clock [1]
 +Plant Evidence [1]
 +Plastic Surgery [1]

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

I want to explore some of his poison based shenanigans.

Dr. Douglas McMourning -- 7 Pool
 +On the Clock [1]
 +Plant Evidence [1]
 +Plastic Surgery [1]

Zombie Chihuahua [2]
Guild Lawyer [6]
Performer [6]
Sebastian [7]
 +Unknowable Pain [1]
The Judge [9]

Plus another 16 stones of models.

Knowing me I'll probably abandon the Perdita plan altogether and play exclusively McMourning, but it is a start.

I'd like to go into Templecon with at least 2 masters solid.  Right now I feel good about McM and probably LadyJ.  Probably need another Sonnia game to get comfortable with her again.  I'd like to try her with Papa Loco, as that + on Damage flips is crazy.

This leaves my painting list:

Painting: Every Master

Brutal Effigy - Good with any Guild Master who wants to deal damage.
2 Guild Hounds - Scheme runners, I liked them in the Stake a Claim game I used them.
2x Hunter - Recon games
2x Watchers - I still haven't figured out how to do Stake a Claim with Guild.  Maybe they are the solution?
Peacekeeper? - I'm kind of missing a big, tough beater.  Executioners don't have the staying power for a Turf War.

McMourning Painting:
Sidir - Promises, baby!
Performer - "Lures" and poison shenanigans.
Lawyer - My executioners have died before doing anything in every game I've played.  Dropping a Hard to Wound on them sounds amazing.
Zombie Chihuahua - For a 2 stone model he seems to have some utility.  Might be worth a go.

Sonnia Painting
"Proxy" Witchling Handler - metal Sonnia conversion.  Conversion is done.  I think she will add a lot to my Sonnia crews and make the Witchlings even more dangerous.

LJ Painting
Scales of Justice - Never thought this model was any good, but as I've played LJ I seem to burn through my hand quite quickly.  3 Stones to draw 2 cards on his go might do the trick, and the Wp buff is nice too.
Exorcist? - Liked him in my LJ crew as more ranged support with the Marshal.

Perdita Painting
1 Latigo Pistolero - Typical minion for a Dita list.
Abuela - Shotgun looks very good.

So that's where I'm at.  I have about 3 weeks to get this all done, with 17 models to paint.  

Camera is Fixed! Guild Malifaux post

Camera has been fixed! Woohoo!

During the downtime, I have been a busy boy, though.

Francisco Ortega

Some comically bad pictures of Frank.  Camera's still toast.

Perdita, Lone Marshal, Rifleman, Frank WiP

Here's some terrible cell phone shots of what I've been painting lately.

I've also managed to finish up the buildings for Infinity!! Woohoo! (No pics yet)

July Hobby Update

Hey everyone, long time no see!

Still around, just very busy.  Just got back from a trip to Disney in Florida about a week ago.  Even got engaged to my lovely lady! What a month it has been.

Hobby-wise, I'm in full prep for CaptainCon July 25-27.  I'm playing in the ITS on Friday, the Malifaux doubles with Matt P. on Saturday, and the Malifaux Gaining Grounds on Sunday.


I've decided to play my new Corregidor Nomads at the ITS.  This means I had to finish purchasing them.  Now begins the arduous task of assembling them.  I do enjoy putting these models together, though.

I chose to do plasticard bases for them, to represent the decking of a Nomad ship.  It's .040 plasticard with lines scribed into them with the RB Productions Scrib-R (best scriber EVER!!), then riveted with the RB Productions Rivet-R (best riveter EVER!!! notice a theme here?)

After gluing the bases to the plasticard topsheet, I have to cut and sand down the sides.  Total pain.

Going along with that, I finished up the second Wildcat with combirifle.

I also received a big box of love from Shark Mounted Lasers.  I picked up a bunch of Sharkslide terrain, about 15 buildings worth.  Really easy to put together, well cut, and the terrain is awesome, and the price is right.  Want more in the future.  His train has my name on it.

I painted up the first rectangular building, and one of the bridges.  It's supposed to be adjustable, but it isn't cut with enough tolerance to slide even when unpainted.  Since I have 12, I'm going to do 6 as the short length, and 6 as the long length.  I decided to do each building's roof/the color accent pieces as a different color.  Still need some more scatter terrain, though.

Malifaux wise, I've been painting up the Lone Marshal.  Tried him out last Thursday against Matt P.'s Lucius, he sniped a couple of Guild Riflemen who were tagging along with Dashel, and took out a Guild Guard as well.  Seems to be a solid, straightforward 8 stone piece who doesn't really need any support (LONE marshal!).  

Need to get some more practice games in for the doubles, and I'm starting to get a hang of the singles format.  Only issue is still my scheme selection, mostly because I still don't know what most models are capable of.  For example, I took Assassinate against Lucius, who is a tricky bugger to kill.  I had Matt basically tabled on turn 3, and he was able to fend off a charge from Lady Justice without even blinking an eye.  Should have chosen a different scheme, but knowledge of that will come with more games.

A few Fridays ago I even found some time to work on my 1/48 Eduard Sopwith Camel.  It is modeled as Capt. Roy Brown's kite.  I've started rigging it, too.

Guild Executioner WiP

Did some more work on the Executioner.  Have to touch up a few spots still, and paint the base up.  Bought another light too, so future pictures should actually come out OK.

Finished Guild Models

Finished up Lady Justice, the Judge, and an Austringer prior to starting this blog.  Finally got around to taking some pictures.

I still need another light!  The camera is a harsh mistress... HUGE mold line on the Judge.  How did I miss that??

Also took a shot of my painted Guild to date.