Nova Open

Just a great photo from the Open. Figured I'd post it up on my blog.

The Awesome people do Hulk Hogan poses

Once more I wanted to give props to Bill for running everything. Looking forward to what ever he has planned next.

NOVA Open Notes

Im back unscathed by the "Hurricane" I heard it may have only been a tropical storm, but anyway you cut it, on Saturday it was raining a lot... and sideways. This past weekend was the Nova Open and Bill from Dead Tau did an amazing job of keeping the whole thing running smoothly. I played near a dozen games so Im just gonna hit some highlights from the weekend.

30 Stone Gaining Ground Tournament
I did ok in this event. I started with a loss which is always hard to come back from. I lost to Tim, one of the local Huzzah guys, who played a great game with his Lilith Crew (Game highlight was when McMourning's Chihuahua killed Lillith with a Red Joker Dissection). Rounds 2&3 I faced Guild, and Brought Kirai. She was a mean bitch and took both Lady J and Hoffman to school. I won those games with out breaking a sweat 8-2. That catapulted me back into the runnings and I got to face WyrdZee the developer himself for 3rd place. Through some craziness we could have ended up playing for pretty much anywhere from 4th-2nd. But in all likelyhood the winner of our game would be 3rd. And damn did we bring it. We fought through a game where at the end the only survivor was an ice gamin who was standing on near the Claim Jump, giving him a 6-4 win. Very close game, and I nearly pulled it out. That loss saw me plummet from my spot in the top 5 all the way down to 10th.

Mike from White Rabbit won the whole thing and claimed my awesomely painted Von Schill crew. Which I picked up off him since he already had it and I kind of really wanted it.




I ended up heading home after Dinner and didn't play any more games. Saturday I got there bright and early and due to a conversation I had with Mike on our Drive in I bought myslef a Collodi Box Set to go with my Levi Crew. I was planning to grab the Vicks to go with the Schill crew, and wanted some more Outcast options.

No less then 10 minutes later I went down to the Floor to see what was going on for Malifaux. Bill announced the Achievment winner from the day before. I had taken top in faction for the Resserectionits and won... a Collodi Box set! no joke. I laughed it off a bit, but was annoyed with myself for impatience. I ended up trading the box set to Tim who bought me a Vicki box set as trade. Worked well for me.

I played 3 games with my Vicks and Schill, but didn't win any. I had a tremendously close game vs Mike's Dreamer where Chompy and Both Vicks died turn 2. I lost that one 6-4, had Von Schill made his terrifying check vs Chompy bits, I may have been able to pull out a win. Alas he did not, and then we had a very odd game from there. It was a good time though.

I also got in a rematch with Zee. I took Seamus with the Avatar attached vs Sonia Criid. I was able to get a small touch of revenge as Seamus and the Dead Rider pounded his crew into a fine pulp giving me a 7-2 win.

After near a dozen games, a long walk in the pouring rain, and the threat of a hurricane looming over us all day, Mike and I decided to call it a night and headed home. Nova Open was a complete blast though. Im looking forward to some games with my Outcast stuff. Some Levi and Collodi and a few Vicki games should be fun.

Avatars Abound!

I played 2 games last night. First game Saw Avatar Seamus vs Avatar Zorida. Second was Avatar Kirai vs Avatar Criid. Whats that you say? Battle Report? well if you insist.

GAME 1
Zorida Avatar of Fate

Lists
Zorida, Avatar, Nekima, Lilitu, 3 Tots, 2 Desperate Mercs
Seamus, Avatar, Dead Rider, Crooked Man, 2 Belles, 2 Necro Punks

My first game was against Chris Ward playing what he saw as a very versatile grow list with Zorida. I do not like the grow list personally, I find it too slow. Turn one he made a few mistakes and it cost him a lot of temp. He moved Nekima away from his tots and lost out on some blood. He forgot to have Zorida cast Hex on Lilitu and remove her take damage for not having a bro around. Zorida spent her first turn making a Wicked Doll. I had My crew move up to try and counter his Line in the sand markers. I also sent a Necro Punk to go try and deliver Zorida a message. Turns 1 and 2 saw pretty much no action. He did manage to grow a Mature Nephlim on turn 2.

I killed off a tot and turned him into a Belle. Chris lured that belle into his lines but failed to kill it. Trading a few lures I was able to weaken the Lilitu down a bit and leave her in charge range of the Dead Rider who ran in and took her out. I lost a Necro Punk in a chump battle to a Terror Tot. His Wicked Dolls then lined up against my Crooked man and last Necro Punk. Things didn't go great for me there as Wicked Dolls are nasty in pairs.

Turn 3 He moved the Mature up towards my Line and Nekima killed off the summoned Belle. I lined up my shots on both. THe Dead rider flurried Nekima killing her, and I used No Escape on the Mature with Seamus. I lured the Mature again, charging in with Seamus and killing it with Slit Juggular. Seamus was now ready to manifest.

Turn 4 was pretty much the End. Seamus and Zorida both manifested, but Zorida had no more crew to help back her up. Seamus then Went all sickhouse psycho on Zorida and her crew turning them into a fine pulpy paste. I was able to deliver the message on turn 4 or 5. either way it was too late for full points so I ended up winning 6-0.

Seamus Avatar of Dread

So this game I remembered to keep Seamus in little guy form long enough to deal with the Heavy Hitter. Had Nekima still been around I would not have been afraid to manifest. It was the combo of both her and the Mature that kept me in check. Being able to take them both out in 1 go was just a nice bonus. Only down side here was that Manifesting was piling on an already one sided game. I mentioned to Chris that I think the game could have been a lot different had he gotten his activation order down for turn 1 and been able to grow his tots faster. Also Zorida did nothing but summon wicked dolls for the first 3 turns. made it hard to deliver her a message, but also meant she was pretty well out of the early part of the game. MVP was easily the Dead Rider. He was a wrecking machine took down a Tot, Lilitu, and Nekima.

Game MVP


GAME 2

Sonnia Avatar of lighting crap on fire

Lists
Sonnia, Avatar, Executioner, Guardian, 2 Guild Hounds, Witchling Stalker, Desperate Merc
Kirai, Avatar, 5 Seishin, Lost Love, Datsue-Ba, 2 Gaki, Insideous Madness

So Bill also had a grow list of sorts (still not a fan) He took the Desperate Merc in order to turn into a cheaper witchling stalker. Problem is Criid needs a (0) action to get a free book to cast that spell, but her (0) action is also needed for a manifest requirement. It set his burninating back a bit. Turn 1 Kirai summons her self down to 1 wound. Then Datsue-Ba wacks her, turning her into a spirit off the lost love. (i need to be a spirit for 2 turns to manifest) We engaged a 2 Dogs with a Summoned Gaki and Ikiryo. Ikiryo needs to kill 2 models as my other manifest requirment so I try to kill some dogs. little bastards are tougher then I thought, plus I black Joker a damage flip and they live. I win init turn 2, and Ikiryo pops a dog, then I go for the second, do 3 damage, and then black joker AGAIN... jerk ass joker!

The Exectioner and Guardian pop into the fray and Ikiryo dies. I summon a new ikiryo, place him, Datsue-ba, and the Insideous near the executioner and whoop him up... Then he attacks back with Slow to Die and triggers Decapitate on Datsue-Ba, and I only have 1 card in hand. So instead of killing his 7point model, I lose mine, big time turn around.

Ikiryo then kills off the Guardian, completing my manifest requirements. we trade a few more blows, and by this point there are a ton of corpse counters on the board. Criid blasts into the melee, but only hits my dudes. She then turns the insideous into a Witchling.

Kirai goes, pops into the combat and manifests. She then kills the Executioner and shrugs off his std attack. I realise at this point that I am going to regret avatar Kirai. I have her, 2 Gaki and some Seishin. Not as many models as I would like to have. Criid Manifests, and kills 1 Gaki (I let it die to get another Seishin) She also Drops a Flame Pyre on Kirai and kills 2 more Seishin. I run a Gaki into his Witchling Stalker who propmtly kills it off. This triggers Kirai's Mark of Vengeance and she busts out of the Pyre and wacks the Stalker, the stalker then flees from her Terrifying, into the Prye, and dies (im in good shape I think at this point.)

A Seishin gives Kirai +2CB and she attacks Criid. I hit 3/4 attacks, and on the last 1 I flip a double Severe Damage on a negative flip to kill her. We called it there, but in hind sight It was a really close game and he still had a shot since I hadn't touched his supply Wagon yet. I think the game would have ended 8-4, but who knows.

Kirai Avatar of Vengeance / Game MVP


It was a pretty wild game with a lot of back and forth. I think Manifesting was a big mistake for Kirai here. Her normal ability to sit back, summon, heal, and swap spirits around likely would have done me more good. Either way the Lovely lady gets MVP, since once I manifested she had to do all the heavy lifting (killed Executioner, Witchling, Criid, and made 2 witchlings flee from combat.) A-Criid is a MONSTER, holy cow, She barely got to do anything and I though I had no chance against her. 3 auto damage from a Pyre moving on to you, then another 3 when you start your turn. Plus her 8' pulse that does 2 more damge, means she can really throw out some hateful damage. Plus what ever the hell else she does. She does scare me quiet a bit.

A-Seamus Tactics

I know I just posted this pic, but what can I say I really like this model


Im not an expert with the big guy yet, but I played 2 games with him over the past weekend where he died pretty quick, and I learned a few things about what not to do.

Both A&R Seamus can be killed. It may sound odd, but when you look at the Seamus' they are both VERY tough, but unlike a the Neverborn masters who don't have nearly his toughness, he has no tricks to stay alive. Once an enemy starts pounding on Seamus all his nice toughness tricks fly out the window. So step 1 is protect him. When you plan to Manifest, here are your top 3 ways to keep him alive.

#1 Keep him out of melee pre manifest. Its tough since his crappy manifest requirment needs him to get into Melee.
#2 Kill your opponents top hitter. If there is a Lelu, Joss, Peacekeeper, or something similar on the board it has to die before you Pop out the big guy. those kinds of hitters will shred A-Seamus.
#3 Once manifested keep him in melee. Drop him in the Center of your opponets crew and keep him with Armor 2. Then you can start punching or Howling depending on what your facing.

Dont underestimate his Anathema ability. Requiring every model who comes at him to take a terrify check is sweet. Its probably his best defense. I would not manifest him against certain opponents, such as Pandora since his Wp drop is massive, so against foes to target WP often keep him in the Regular Form. Otherwise feel free to use Succumb to Darkness at least 1 time. Your WP will drop to 3, so NEVER USE THIS VS DREAMER! But your Anathema jumping to a solid 15 means the average model needs to burn a double digit card just to fight you. Swarm attackers such as Marionettes and Malifaux Rats are very likely to head for the hills the second they have to test vs his 15.

A nice thing about A-Seamus is he has 2 strong focus' He can either hit you with his 3' reach fists, or start a WP frenzy. Against living crews I might Bellow every turn just to make them pitch a lot of cards. And he can always fall back on the whole Punching thing if they flip really well. Im hoping I can really take advantage of his flexability in the future to have better results.

Those are the big things I have at the moment for him. I feel like if I can get a solid handle his Manifesting and when to focus on punching or bellowing I should be able to turn A-Seamus into a serious winner.

A-Seamus Complete

So I get pretty wrapped up in my painting and often forget to stop here and there and take the WIP pics. I didn't realize I had forgotten until I was getting ready to paint his base up. My bad. He took almost 3 hours. Which is far more then I usually take to paint a single mini. I think he looks pretty sweet though. Enjoy.



I have to paint a commission gig that I need to knock out next, but after that Im thinking Alt Seamus will be up, Im going to do him in a scheme to match A-Seamus.

Avatar Seamus wip

So Im really excited for Avatar Seamus. Like wasn't able to sleep till 1am yesterday becasue I got A-Seamus around 12:15 and wasn't gonna sleep till he was assembled excited.



So im gonna try and take some wip pics of him and keep this going until he is fully painted.

Gen Con

So for the first time in 4 years I will not be making the trip out to Indianapolis for Gen Con. And I gotta say its a bit depressing to me. I've gone 5 of the last 6 years. And the one time I missed it didn't really bother me that much, I guess its becasue I was less of a gamer then, or something. But last night as I went to sleep I looked at my clock and thought, if I were going to Gen Con I would be setting you for 4:30am, and be unable to sleep like at all tonight. Then I got bitter, especially seeing all my friends Facebook updates such as; "Getting Car Packed for Gen Con" etc. Anyways I think I had a point in here and lost it.

I really love Gen Con, its my favorite trip every year. This year Im getting Married and my Vacation and money are tied up in a 2 week trip to Hawaii. Now if you ask me any other day then Today and probably tomorrow which I would rather do hawaii would win no contest hands down. The problem is Hawaii is still 2 months away, and Gen Con officially starts tomorrow. Again Im pretty sure I had a point in here. Or maybe I just wanted to bitch and ramble about how it sucks for me that I'm not going to Gen Con.

Anyways, Best of Luck to all my friends who will be going. Some of them are going for the first time and it really is an Awesome experience.

Josh, Ryan, and Ryan's Roomates will all be playing in the L5R Tourney, so good luck to them, maybe Josh will finally not choke away a tourney win.

Bill and Dixon are going to be playing in the Master of Malifaux 40 stone event. I really hope of them manages a win there, but I think there were too many question marks about their lists and faction choices that could really disrupt their chances. But Best of luck you guys as well.

As for me, I am really looking forward to going again Next year, with my lovely soon-to-be Wife, Mike, and his Wife. Should be a blast.

(That Gen Con Banner was on page 3 of a google image search for Gen Con. pages 1&2 are pretty much girls in skimpy outfits... Click here