the puppet-ghost war

Got together last week for a little Malifaux, specifically to try out the Neverborn. I'd only every played Guild before, so I studied up on the forums on how things are different. Also made some notes on the synergies between the different figs. Malifaux really lives and breathes on its combos, and apparently much more for Collodi than Justice. 

My esteemed opponent was playing Kirai. Love that model (and the Onryo as well, though they didn't show up that day.) (Both sculpted by James Van Schaik, who is easily one of my favorite sculptors working in the industry.) I only had a little experience fighting the Resurrectionists, and hadn't fought Kirai at all. That combined with my inexperience worth my own figs was a bit of an impediment, but by a couple turns in, everything was flowing smoothly. A special shout-out to my opponent, Mr. Conte. We have a pretty friendly playgroup, and he is no exception. He helped me with the rules I was missing, and graciously answered my repeated questions, like "why should I be afraid of that figs of yours there?" and "why does that sound bad?"

And because we're masochists like that, we also played one of the Halloween scenarios, specifically "The Carver Strikes at Midnight." Which was... brutal. First turn, I was up more than halfway across the board. Collodi + puppets = fast like a freak. Already searching for clues about the Carver, and all but completing my 'Reclaim Malifaux' scheme. The Carver was out by the second or third turn, and lived up to his name. After realizing how scary the Shikome was, I made quick work of it by gambling with the Stitched Togethers. (Stitcheds Together? That name is awkward.)

But oh. The comedy. So it turns out that Collodi's puppet army is great at dishing out lots of little attacks. Rather than one big strike, he drives them forward, and it's all snip snip snip and stab stab stab.  But it turns out Kirai is good at healing her ghosts, and bringing them back, and it quickly turned into a quagmire where I could mess up his figs, but never enough to clear a space for me to rush the big boss. And he could whittle at the puppets, but they kept on coming.

We decided to call it after four turns. Points were close, but I think he would have taken the trophy in the end. (He's a really good player, and Malifaux is his #1 game.) MVP has to go to my Stitched Together. I love those little guys. And they are mean.

Looking forward to a rematch soon. With pictures, too.