Monday, December 13, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Taking Him For a Spin
Last night I ended up getting a game in with John with a few of my new models - I wanted to try them out and see what havoc they could spread. John hit the table with McMourning, the Resser I tend to have the most trouble with.
Dreamer, 2x Daydream, 3x Alp, Coppelius, Stitched Together, 8 stones
McMourning, Chihuahua, 4x Canine Remains, 2x Necropunk, Belle, Crooked Man, Nurse, 8 stones
We got corners deployment, and Shared Deliver the Message. For Schemes, I took Bodyguard and Kidnap on three of his Remains. He took McMourning's specific one (where he had to get five body parts off the opposing Master) and Kill Protege (on Coppelius).
I'll just hit the highlights here - the game ended in a 5-5 draw as he was able to get his message to me first with a drugged up Necropunk that hopped over the wall and got to the Dreamer before I could really do anything to stop him. He lost the Punk after that, but netted 3 VPs by being the first to get the message out. I was able to get the message to him with Coppelius later in the game, and managed to kill/allow to be sacrificed the three dogs I picked and kept Lord Chompy Bits alive. He was able to kill Coppelius, but wasn't able to get the Body Parts, so we tied.
Some of the fun parts (from my perspective - he'd have an entirely different view, I'm sure), were when he Lured a Daydream into melee with some of his guys, then killed it. It popped up Lord Chompy Bits (burying the Dreamer on the other side of the table). LCB swatted down one of the Necropunks, then shifted back into the Dreamer who flew back onto the other side of the board and dropped a trio of Alps on his Crooked Man, and put Coppelius in melee with it. The poor Crooked Man activated, got slowed, but threw out a Shafted marker. Coppelius finished off the Crooked Man and moved away from the Shafted counter. The Alps retreated and the whole group of them were promptly buried again by my Daydream, leaving only the Dreamer and Stitched Together (and the Daydream) on the table.
Later, I was able to rush near his deployment area (the entire battle was fought on his side of the board) and drop my Alps out amidst his dogs. He had to be really careful with who to activate because with so many Alps sitting around, he could easily start losing guys. While I did not do much damage to him as a result of his planning, I did manage to force him to make tough choices and give me the momentum in activating whoever I wanted.
Coppelius was able to steal an eye from a summoned Frankenstein model which freaked out the Nurse so much she turned to run. With one life left, Coppelius ate the eye, gaining back 3 life. He was again knocked down to one, but the Dreamer buried him before he could be killed that time.
Meanwhile, McMourning went out after the Dreamer, but was in melee range of the Stitched Together too. He had to attack the Stitched, and managed to kill him, but the Stitched wouldn't leave until the end of the turn. The Stitched successfully gambled, costing him one card and gaining me one card, and then used Gamble Your Life twice on McMounring, costing him three soulstones in twisting fate and reducing damage, and dealing 6 net damage to him. Lord Chompy Bits and the Daydream finished off McMourning.
Eventually the Dreamer was killed by a Frankenstein monster (he summoned two over the course of the game), but that just brought Lord Chompy Bits to bear. While Coppelius did end up dying, Lord Chompy Bits took down both Frankenstein monsters.
I was trying to think of my all stars for the game last night. Tough call. The Stitched Together had the best single turn for a model, I think, stealing a card, getting me a card, costing John 3 stones and 6 life, as well as preventing any damage from hitting the Dreamer. The Alps caused him to have to change his gameplay the most and forced him to deal with everything. And Coppelius successfully held down 3 or 4 models for a turn and a half as they tried to kill him and he terrified/paralyzed a bunch of other folks. Of course, then there's Lord Chompy Bits who killed two dogs, McMourning (and his totem), a Necropunk, and two Frankenstein Monsters over the course of the game. Really tough call.
Dreamer, 2x Daydream, 3x Alp, Coppelius, Stitched Together, 8 stones
McMourning, Chihuahua, 4x Canine Remains, 2x Necropunk, Belle, Crooked Man, Nurse, 8 stones
We got corners deployment, and Shared Deliver the Message. For Schemes, I took Bodyguard and Kidnap on three of his Remains. He took McMourning's specific one (where he had to get five body parts off the opposing Master) and Kill Protege (on Coppelius).
I'll just hit the highlights here - the game ended in a 5-5 draw as he was able to get his message to me first with a drugged up Necropunk that hopped over the wall and got to the Dreamer before I could really do anything to stop him. He lost the Punk after that, but netted 3 VPs by being the first to get the message out. I was able to get the message to him with Coppelius later in the game, and managed to kill/allow to be sacrificed the three dogs I picked and kept Lord Chompy Bits alive. He was able to kill Coppelius, but wasn't able to get the Body Parts, so we tied.
Some of the fun parts (from my perspective - he'd have an entirely different view, I'm sure), were when he Lured a Daydream into melee with some of his guys, then killed it. It popped up Lord Chompy Bits (burying the Dreamer on the other side of the table). LCB swatted down one of the Necropunks, then shifted back into the Dreamer who flew back onto the other side of the board and dropped a trio of Alps on his Crooked Man, and put Coppelius in melee with it. The poor Crooked Man activated, got slowed, but threw out a Shafted marker. Coppelius finished off the Crooked Man and moved away from the Shafted counter. The Alps retreated and the whole group of them were promptly buried again by my Daydream, leaving only the Dreamer and Stitched Together (and the Daydream) on the table.
Later, I was able to rush near his deployment area (the entire battle was fought on his side of the board) and drop my Alps out amidst his dogs. He had to be really careful with who to activate because with so many Alps sitting around, he could easily start losing guys. While I did not do much damage to him as a result of his planning, I did manage to force him to make tough choices and give me the momentum in activating whoever I wanted.
Coppelius was able to steal an eye from a summoned Frankenstein model which freaked out the Nurse so much she turned to run. With one life left, Coppelius ate the eye, gaining back 3 life. He was again knocked down to one, but the Dreamer buried him before he could be killed that time.
Meanwhile, McMourning went out after the Dreamer, but was in melee range of the Stitched Together too. He had to attack the Stitched, and managed to kill him, but the Stitched wouldn't leave until the end of the turn. The Stitched successfully gambled, costing him one card and gaining me one card, and then used Gamble Your Life twice on McMounring, costing him three soulstones in twisting fate and reducing damage, and dealing 6 net damage to him. Lord Chompy Bits and the Daydream finished off McMourning.
Eventually the Dreamer was killed by a Frankenstein monster (he summoned two over the course of the game), but that just brought Lord Chompy Bits to bear. While Coppelius did end up dying, Lord Chompy Bits took down both Frankenstein monsters.
I was trying to think of my all stars for the game last night. Tough call. The Stitched Together had the best single turn for a model, I think, stealing a card, getting me a card, costing John 3 stones and 6 life, as well as preventing any damage from hitting the Dreamer. The Alps caused him to have to change his gameplay the most and forced him to deal with everything. And Coppelius successfully held down 3 or 4 models for a turn and a half as they tried to kill him and he terrified/paralyzed a bunch of other folks. Of course, then there's Lord Chompy Bits who killed two dogs, McMourning (and his totem), a Necropunk, and two Frankenstein Monsters over the course of the game. Really tough call.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Painted Nightmares
Six down, seven to go. I managed to finish three of my Alps and my three Stitched Togethers. Have to get Coppelius, three more Alps, and three Daydreams done. Plus still only halfway done with my Hooded Rider.
Spice Beer
Over the weekend, Laura and I picked up a bit of pumpkin spice - some weird spice jar that is supposed to taste like pumpkin pie or something like that. Naturally, when I saw this, I immediately wondered how I could apply it to beer. So when I got home, I coated the rim of one of my glasses with pumpkin, cinnamon and sugar, then poured a beer in it, and gave it a whirl.
Overall, it was okay. I think I would have benefited from a better beer choice. I used Freaktober (Magic Hat, I think). I have to say I wasn't too impressed with the beer itself, which may have made me unhappy with my contraption. Willing to try it again, but I'd say my first attempt wasn't so good.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Nightmare Reinforcements
Yesterday I finally got the phone call from Chris over at Huzzah Hobbies that my November Malifaux miniatures had arrived. I was working from home, and it was near lunchtime, so I hopped in my car and drove out to pick them up. Chris was pretty surprised that, not fifteen minutes after he had told me my new toys were in, I was there and picking them up. One might say I was a little excited about it.
So my Dreamer now has reinforcements. After spending a lot of time playing with only Teddy's, and then adding Lilu and Lilitu to the mix, I can finally spread my wings and try a bunch of different lists. My nightmares have expanded to include four new options: Coppelius, Alps, Stitched Togethers, and Daydreams.
Coppelius
The unique nightmare weighing in at a hefty 9 soulstones, this guy is great at control with a speciality in hurting the living. This monster skulks around Malifaux and uses his sharp claws to pick out peoples' eyes. It's horrifying enough that whenever he manages it (which he can do a couple of different ways - either by causing enough damage, or by hitting a trigger on his attacks), everyone nearby has to take Morale checks, and any who fail start taking damage too. He does not do a lot of damage, but he can cause living models to flee a number of different ways, and he can paralyze anyone he touches. Once he's collected some of those eyes, he'll be using them to either heal himself or others, or to summon more nightmares around him. All in all, a pretty solid piece, and one I'll be fielding in more than just my Dreamer armies.
Alps
These guys are designed to be swarmed, costing only 3 stones each. They're pretty simple to kill, and won't do a ton of melee damage themselves, but just being near them causes enemies fits. If you start near them, you have to test or become Slow, and the more that are nearer to you, the harder that test becomes. If you become Slow for any reason, each one of them will do damage to you. If you move or strike near them for any reason, they'll do damage to you. And if they manage to kill you because you became slow, a new one becomes summoned near them. A pretty nasty piece, especially with how cheap they are. Plus their attacks cause slow too. Not too shabby.
Daydreams
The Dreamer's totem hits the table. These guys can come three to a master, and it's possible to summon more of them as time goes on. Which is good because they're just great for the Dreamer. Essentially they offer a way to raise and bury Nightmares without relying on the Dreamer's activation. They can bury Lord Chompy Bits so he doesn't need to trigger it himself, and if they die, they can unbury any nightmare they want near them. If that happens to be LCB, it means Lord Chompy Bits gets to immediately activate (because of LCB's rules). Not a bad set of blokes.
Stitched Together
Okay, ignoring the fact that you can only field three, but they come two to a pack, these guys are pretty damn good. They're not fast, but the Dreamer's okay with that. They are hard to kill for their cost, and as you're killing them, you may be taking damage back. Plus, when they finally do die, they get to reactivate and can't be killed again for the rest of the turn (though they're dead at the end of that turn, so that's okay). Their damage isn't great either until you start pulling in their other tricks (a theme among nightmares, it seems). They can offer cover for my advancing army, control my opponent's hand, and have the potential to do a whole mess of damage with their Gamble Your Life ability. Has a chance of killing himself outright, but also might just as easily do 7 damage to you.
Overall, a bunch of great models for the Dreamer, nearly filling out his list of options from Book 2. Looking forward to getting them all on the table and seeing how they perform.
So my Dreamer now has reinforcements. After spending a lot of time playing with only Teddy's, and then adding Lilu and Lilitu to the mix, I can finally spread my wings and try a bunch of different lists. My nightmares have expanded to include four new options: Coppelius, Alps, Stitched Togethers, and Daydreams.
Coppelius
The unique nightmare weighing in at a hefty 9 soulstones, this guy is great at control with a speciality in hurting the living. This monster skulks around Malifaux and uses his sharp claws to pick out peoples' eyes. It's horrifying enough that whenever he manages it (which he can do a couple of different ways - either by causing enough damage, or by hitting a trigger on his attacks), everyone nearby has to take Morale checks, and any who fail start taking damage too. He does not do a lot of damage, but he can cause living models to flee a number of different ways, and he can paralyze anyone he touches. Once he's collected some of those eyes, he'll be using them to either heal himself or others, or to summon more nightmares around him. All in all, a pretty solid piece, and one I'll be fielding in more than just my Dreamer armies.
Alps
These guys are designed to be swarmed, costing only 3 stones each. They're pretty simple to kill, and won't do a ton of melee damage themselves, but just being near them causes enemies fits. If you start near them, you have to test or become Slow, and the more that are nearer to you, the harder that test becomes. If you become Slow for any reason, each one of them will do damage to you. If you move or strike near them for any reason, they'll do damage to you. And if they manage to kill you because you became slow, a new one becomes summoned near them. A pretty nasty piece, especially with how cheap they are. Plus their attacks cause slow too. Not too shabby.
Daydreams
The Dreamer's totem hits the table. These guys can come three to a master, and it's possible to summon more of them as time goes on. Which is good because they're just great for the Dreamer. Essentially they offer a way to raise and bury Nightmares without relying on the Dreamer's activation. They can bury Lord Chompy Bits so he doesn't need to trigger it himself, and if they die, they can unbury any nightmare they want near them. If that happens to be LCB, it means Lord Chompy Bits gets to immediately activate (because of LCB's rules). Not a bad set of blokes.
Stitched Together
Okay, ignoring the fact that you can only field three, but they come two to a pack, these guys are pretty damn good. They're not fast, but the Dreamer's okay with that. They are hard to kill for their cost, and as you're killing them, you may be taking damage back. Plus, when they finally do die, they get to reactivate and can't be killed again for the rest of the turn (though they're dead at the end of that turn, so that's okay). Their damage isn't great either until you start pulling in their other tricks (a theme among nightmares, it seems). They can offer cover for my advancing army, control my opponent's hand, and have the potential to do a whole mess of damage with their Gamble Your Life ability. Has a chance of killing himself outright, but also might just as easily do 7 damage to you.
Overall, a bunch of great models for the Dreamer, nearly filling out his list of options from Book 2. Looking forward to getting them all on the table and seeing how they perform.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Life as a Kelmelis
Over last weekend, my brother and sister-in-law took Laura, LeeAnn and me out to the Melting Pot for dinner - it was a Christmas present from last year. Every year they do something really nice for the siblings to all enjoy together. It's a lot of fun to spend a night out on the town with them. One year it was Eric and I enjoying a trip to Baltimore together. Last year, the two of them took Laura and me to sushi and a show.
So this year we arrive at the Melting Pot on the day after Thanksgiving. It's a bit crowded and they fit the five of us at a table that, frankly, is designed for four people. Plus it's right under the speakers for the music. None of us can hear each other, see each other, or pull our arms above the table to reach the fondue. So we decide we're going to ask for a new table before it gets too unbearable.
Eric heads back to the front to let them know our pain. The guy says, "Okay, I think we've got another table coming up soon." Eric looks around and spots a nice spacious round table that's clear and says, "I think we'd like that one." The guy looks at what Eric's pointing at and says, "Oh, that's an eight person table," and then shows Eric a different, much smaller one. Eric shakes his head and says, "No. I think we do want the other one instead." The guy looks at Eric a moment while Eric keeps a straight face, and then says, "Okay, we'll get you that one."
It's not the first time Eric's lived a charmed life. On the way to the Redskins game on Sunday, a car pulled up to his and said, "Do you guys need a parking pass? We have two and we only have one car." The parking pass in question? Platnium parking. Right in front of the stadium.
He's also managed to land not one but four hotel rooms at a hotel that was booked solid (or so they say) for a mistake in booking that he had made. When the man at the desk told him there was nothing he could do, Eric just said, "No, that's not going to work for me." There was a long silence, then the guy said, "Maybe I should get the manager?" and Eric agreed, "That sounds like the right thing to do here." Sure enough, the manager came out with four keys for him and his friends.
It's good to be a Kelmelis.
Lilith Cheats
Okay, so she doesn't really cheat, but she can be quite annoying. That's no big surprise, but there it is.
Dan and I got a game in last night and he wanted to see how Leviticus would stack up against his least favorite Neverborn master, so I hit the table with Lilith. We grabbed a 30 stone list, and the game got started.
Lilith, Primordial Magic, Mature Nephilim, Young Nephilim, 3x Terror Tot, 7 Stones
Strategy: Claim Jump
Schemes: Kidnap (both Steampunks and Teddy), Bodyguard
Leviticus, Rusty Alice, Teddy, Belle, 2x Steampunk Abominations, 4 Stones
Strategy: Slaughter
Schemes: Kill Protege (Mature), Frame for Murder (Leviticus)
Both Dan and I drew killer hands first go. I don't know exactly what he had, but I had a pair of 13s and a pair of 11s, as well as a 10, 9 and 8 to hold onto. Dan had his Red Joker and a couple other high cards too. Brutal for both of us.
It's been a while since I've played Lilith (my last outing with her was Warstore Weekend), and I made a very unfortunate early mistake. I moved the Mature carrying Lilith first rather than moving everyone else first and saving those two until last. Dan took advantage of my mistake and lured my Mature twice, bringing him 12" closer to his lines. I was able to use Lilith to earthquake him back 6", but it still wasn't enough. Leviticus and Rusty Alice were able to put the Mature down, bringing a new Steampunk Abomination out in its place. Terrible first turn!
On the second turn, I was able to stretch the field and came within 1/2" of charging his Waif on the turn Leviticus was dying. I didn't quite make it, and poor Lilith was stuck all the way downfield. Teddy came in to attack and hit her for three damage. Meanwhile, my Younger Nephilim and a Terror Tot killed off his Steampunks and Rusty Alice finished off my Younger and another Tot.
I ended up getting initiative on turn three and moved around to whack Leviticus, killing him before he got a chance to attack me. Teddy went but was unable to hit Lilith. I brought a Tot into melee with his Belle and Rusty, and my second Tot turned into a Younger.
On the fourth turn, Leviticus went full at Lilith, but I used all my stones and managed to survive. Lilith went and killed Teddy. I lost my Tot, but my Younger moved in its place.
Turn five saw Lilith charge and kill Rusty Alice. A few well-timed cheats kept Lilith alive with one life after Leviticus' attacks, and my Younger grew into a Mature from Lilith's blood tokens and knocked the Belle down to one life.
On the sixth turn, I won initiative and companioned my two big hitters. Lilith killed the Belle, which failed to finish off Lilith, and then trucked it 12" back to my objective. The Mature immediately flew 12" away and hugged the Claim Jump too. Leviticus limped after Lilith, but he was too far away and too slow to reach him. The game ended with me claiming a full 8 points and him claiming 4.
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