Let's crack on...
Disclaimer: I may not remember the specifics of the match so apologies to all, especially to my opponent Liam (@MunkeyKungFu) if I mess up some of the details!
Don't Bring A Knife To A Cog Fight - 30SS
Crews:
Lady Justice (Inspiring Swordplay) Ramos (Field Generator, Electric Summoning plus - some upgrades I can't remember now...)
The Judge Howard Langston
3 x Death Marshals Brass Arachnid
Scales Of Justice Steam Arachnid Swarm
Total = 31 Total = 29
Cache = 2 Cache = 4
Ok, I only noticed that due to the poor printing job on the stat cards (thanks, work printer!) I misread Judge as 8 cost instead of the 9 he actually is, so I was over by 1... I'll console myself with the fact that Lady J's upgrade wasn't used once so I guess that works out..?
We decided that, as it was my first game and the first game for Liam with the 2nd Edition rules, we wouldn't use strategies and schemes and just go for a straight scrap. The two photos below are mid-game but they should give you an idea to how the board we used looked;
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| Liam's side of the table, taken on my terrible phone. The printed stat cards and rules added that ghetto feel to play. |
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| My side of the table, taken on Liam's decent phone. I don't always wear a tie to a game, just on special occasions... |
I deployed my crew in a group at the bottleneck created by the the trees in front of the shack. The plan was to keep everyone fairly close to be able to hammer his crew with melee one after another, with the Death Marshals firing if things looked desperate and I could risk shooting into combat. As you can probably see, I used the starter crew plus the Scales, i.e, every Guild model I actually own at the moment, so there wasn't much tactics in crew choice! I also had to rely on a standard deck as I don't have an actual Fate deck yet, but this didn't really affect proceedings one jot (due to a cheat sheet suit conversion chart hastily scribbled earlier that day!
Liam's crew was deployed fairly close together behind the middle fence on his side, with Howard stood between the two fences, ready to tear things up. I noticed that I was fielding 6 models to his 4, but he had Howard the Duck ready to go and also those upgrades on Ramos (I wish I could remember them...) could be a concern... His crew was also beautifully painted and I felt a little sheepish and my models, shamelessly basecoat-out but he was a gent about things. I must get them finished with painting!
Splashing In Puddles
The game itself lasted either 3 or 4 turns (and they say you never forget your first time... pschhh!) so instead I will chat about some of the highlights and lowlights of the game in rough order that they happened.
- As my crew cautiously moved forwards, Death Marshals going ahead and hugging the cover, Howard gained a handy Reactivate from (1) Stoke, courtesy of the Brass Arachnid. The SoJ cast (1) Tip The Scales on the Death Marshal by the shack, conferring a positive flip on his next Duel this turn. The Judge also cast (1) Bound By Law on Howard, damaging him for two and Arresting him. However, Reactivate, combined with Howard's Nimble ability, meant that he quickly moved into combat with the Death Marshal that had wandered up a bit too close. The positive flip did little to help and Death Marshall was outright killed in a single attack! First blood - Liam. The downside was that Howard was suddenly all alone with the rest of my crew hovering nearby...
- Next turn, we flipped for initiative, which Liam desperately wanted in order to prevent Howard receiving a bit of a kicking from the remaining Guild. After losing, and spending two Soulstones on reflips and still losing, I activated Lady J and charged her into combat with Howard, passing the Terrifying test. This was my first look into how much of a monster LJ is in melee. This was helped by the seeming proliferation of Rams that seemed to pop up when flipping Duels. On more than one occasion throughout the game, I was hitting an extra 2 damage thanks to Critical Strike triggers. With my two attacks on the charge, I took down Howard. You can see in the pic below the pile of scrap that used to be him.
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| I later saw that LJ's Final Repose ability means that enemies she kills don't drop Counters; terrible news for a Ramos... |
- Bad news kept coming for Liam; the Arachnid Swarm have lost their ability from 1.5 to split into 3 smaller units. His flips were not going in his favour and I was having some good luck with my deck. Lady J charged and took out the Arachnid Swarm in relatively short order, and before long Lady J was in contact with Ramos in a master-on-master showdown... However, Ramos' Tome ability Repulsion was working well for him and knocked Lady J out of melee range after her first strike, meaning I couldn't follow up with a second strike (using her first AP to move into charge distance). He summoned an Electric Creation as the rest of my crew moved closer.
- Electric Creation's Shocking Touch helped to chip away at the Judge and Lady Justice (my two crew members in melee), along with Ramos, who luckily wasn't managing to get the Severe damage with his Clockwork Fist. I flipped the Red Joker for a Duel flip against Ramos, which forced Liam to cheat in his Red Joker to draw the duel. However, before long, Lady justice showed why she was regarded as such a beatstick and with only the Brass Arachnid on the table, Liam conceded and we shook hands on the game. The result was Howard, Ramos and the Arachnid Swarm having large LJ-shaped holes tore through them whilst nobody seemed to mind the headless Death Marshal left propped up by the shack.
"Lady Justice sheathed her greatsword, feeling the slickness of blood and oil as it slipped home. The air was pungent with iron, and around her the crackle of electricity from once-whole machinery buzzed like crickets.
"A success, I would say." The Judge spoke from behind her shoulder, his voice muffled by the bandanna. "The Arcanist is dead. Only one Death Marshal lost in the process. His body is being sanctified as we speak."
"And my Scales?" asked Lady Justice. The following pause was heavy, and lingered in the sticky air.
"...He's fine."
The Judge's tone was clipped and short, and she heard him turn and stomp away. She allowed herself a small smile. All was well.
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Ramos could see little from his hidden vantage point, but could see the Guild were leaving. The field test was an undeniable success. Not only had one of the accursed Marshals met his long-overdue end, but his machine worked. Even blinded, he was sure that the Guild wench would be able to tell the difference between regular flesh and bone and mechanical synthetics, especially via that pig sticker of hers, but apparently she had been fooled. He had obviously found the correct technique. Finally.
He allowed himself a small smile. All was well."
I hope you enjoyed this report. Admittedly, it was a bit scrappy and ghetto, but then that's what makes things fun!
My hugest thanks again to Liam for being a great opponent and also to Bristol Vanguard for being awesome and having amazing tables and terrain.
Tune in for the next post for a breakdown of M2E and how I thought the match went from a noob point of view. Until next time!
-Jack
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