Von Schill faces Mei Feng

Malifaux has not been the great draw to me recently that it once was.  I’m not going to go into why – we actually talk a little about that on our upcoming episode of the Gamers Lounge – but suffice it to say that as absent as I’ve been in my blogging, I’ve been equally absent in playing Malifaux.

Yesterday, though, I was able to get a game in against a local player, Hugh, and his Archanists.  I have decided to play Outcasts for Bill’s Winter Achievement League.

We lined up for a 25 soulstone game.  I pulled out Von Schill, and he pulled up Mei Feng.

Outcasts (Mike)

Crew: Von Schill, Librarian, Trapper, Specialist, Friekorpsman x2, 3 stones

Strategy: Treasure Hunt

Schemes: Breakthrough, Stake a Claim

Archanists (Hugh)

Crew: Mei Fang, Arcane Effigy, Rail Golem, Large Steampunk, Gunsmith

Strategy: Turf War

Schemes: Sabotage, Hold Out

I didn’t realize until just now that Hugh’s list included two different special forces, but that’s okay.  It was just a fun, relaxed game.

I put my Stake a Claim on a piece of terrain in his deployment zone so I could try to grab both of those with one model.  Given that I’d also need to outnumber him on that side of the board AND get my Treasure Marker back to my side of the board, I had my work cut out for me.

I deployed my crew roughly in the center of my line, with one Friekorpsman across from the Stake a Claim objective on the right side of the board.  He deployed his entire crew next to that objective save for the Gunsmith who was deployed on the far left flank.  I put my Trapper on the left flank behind a building, counting on From the Shadows to keep him from being targeted by the Gunsmith until I was ready.

TURN ONE: VON SCHILL INITIATIVE

I started by moving my crew up the field.  There was a rock outcropping a few inches away from the Treasure, so my Friekorpsman, Librarian and Von Schill hid there.  I did get a shot off from Von Schill on the Large SPA, but missed due to cover.  His crew moved out as well with the Arcane Effigy giving Mei Feng another cast for the following turn, and the Rail Golem grabbing a few burning tokens.  My Trapper passed to stay in the Shadows.

TURN TWO: VON SCHILL INITIATIVE

I figured my best target was the Large SPA, so my Friekorpsman focused a shot there, dropping some wounds on him.  Mei Feng jumped out, Rail Walker-ing past the Rail Golem and Large SPA and then moved in on the Specialist, dropping him by 4 wounds.  Von Schill killed off the Large SPA and moved to get the Specialist in range of his 6” Slow to Die bubble.  The Rail Golem moved up to get in range of fighting next turn.  My Librarian healed my Specialist a couple times, and the Specialist ended up moving in between the Rail Golem and Von Schill.  He was stuck in melee and I didn’t see him really offering much support anymore.  The Gunsmith moved towards the fight and the Trapper moved out and took a shot on him, but only did one wound.

TURN THREE: MEI FENG INITIATIVE

The Rail Golem moved in and killed off the Specialist, dealing a few wounds to Mei Feng and to himself.  My Friekorpsman lined a focused shot on Mei Feng and pulled the trigger, hitting after we both cheated.  I dropped the Red Joker and flipped another severe, and he prevented.  At this point, Mei Feng had 3 wounds and 2 stones remaining.  Mei Feng launched herself into Von Schill and did a couple wounds to him, then jumped into my Friekorpsman and Librarian, but didn’t do much there.  Von Schill lined a shot on the Gunsmith but when the smoke cleared, the Gunsmith still had one wound remaining.  He shot at Von Schill, knocking the old man to 3 wounds left, then got killed off by the Trapper.  The Librarian healed the Friekorpsman back up to full.

TURN FOUR: MEI FENG INITIATIVE

Mei Feng started off by going through the Friekorpsman, knocking him down a few wounds, then bounced into Von Schill.  She hit him a couple more times with me using two stones to Slow to Die / Heal and keep Von Schill around.  My Trapper started pinging the Rail Golem while my Librarian tried to heal up Von Schill, but didn’t do much good there.  The Rail Golem (slow from Burning) moved in and tried to Red Line, but failed the cast.  My second Friekorpsman booked it for his deployment zone while the Arcane Effigy moved on the Sabotage point.  We both had one soulstone at this point and Von Schill and Mei Feng were engaged.

TURN FIVE: MEI FENG INITIATIVE (USED A STONE)

Mei Feng attacked Von Schill, killing him.  Rather than healing, I used Slow to Die to have Von Schill attack back.  My soulstone pushed the total high enough that I got a straight flip, and I cheated a severe to kill off Mei Feng too.  At that point, my Librarian blasted the Rail Golem twice, ignoring his armor, dropping him to one wound remaining.  The Rail Golem tried to Red Line but failed again, and charged the Librarian but ended up just out of range.  The Trapper shot him and finished him off, then booked it for his deployment zone.  One of my Friekorpsman took the Breakthrough and Stake a Claim marker while the other one moved up and grabbed the Treasure.  The Arcane Effigy grabbed the Sabotage.

TURN SIX: VON SCHILL INITIATIVE

I kept everyone where they were save for the Treasure Friekorpsman and Librarian.  They booked it to my deployment zone but didn’t quite make it.

FINAL SCORE:

Von Schill: 6 (2 Treasure Hunt, 2 Breakthrough, 2 Stake a Claim)

Mei Feng: 2 (0 Turf War, 2 Sabotage, 0 Hold Out)