Learning to Play: Hashmal vs. Wren

[Hashmal]

I never did find that duck.
~Hashmal to Emperor Fabulous, the next morning.

This isn't right, Elza thought, not for the first time that day. Six hours after they’d crawled out of Zoraida’s shoebox, the puppets were still getting used to their surroundings.

Well, their legs. See, when you’re just a shard of the consciousness of a fully-realized person, place, plant, or thing, it’s a hard lot to go from what passes for legs and appendages to stumps – especially when the stumps are made out of cork. Have you ever replaced your legs with cork? Balancing is not easy and you look at ants in an entirely new way.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. Elza had never been one to enjoy the company of others. Beauty of being a Ronin was you only had to put up with people insofar as they paid you to. In her re-learning to walk and repeatedly stabbing curious insect life, Elza had attracted the attention of a couple of other puppets. Yeah, they ambled about aimlessly, but they didn’t speak. The irony tickled the back of her head – here they were, a lovely Rotten Belle and her Punk Zombie guardian, not even aware enough to realize they’re not actually dead! The things you do out of habit… She’d also attracted the attention of a cute Razorspine Rattler, who would just not leave her alone. It had an insufferable love for hugs. Shame that its hugs were so pointy. Like hugging a jellyfish swallowing a sword set. She’d already named him Bobby.

All this delightful musing and cork-delayed balancing was interrupted at the sound of an unceremonious thwoop. A foot back from Elza lay a puppet with tousled brown yarn for hair, face down on the floor. Elza looked up. Nothing. Where had this new one come from? The small figure crawled up from the floor and dusted its face off. Her face. She removed a small wire frame which covered two brown button eyes, looking to clean glasses that weren’t there. Puzzled, the small puppet put the “glasses” back on, then turned to face Elza.

“Hi!” she said, waving.

“…Hi…” replied Elza. The little puppet said nothing, just beamed up at Elza, smiling, a twinkle of innocent delight flashing off her button eyes. “Who are you? Candy?!”

“Candy? Love some! I’m Wren! Pleased ta meetcha.” Wren rose up to Elza’s height and extended a stuffing-filled hand. Wait. Rose? Elza looked down. Wren had no legs beneath her tattered black dress, no feet on the floor. She just hovered at eye level, beaming at Elza with a small hand outstretched.

Well, that’s got to be easier, Elza thought with more than a little jealousy as she took Wren’s hand in a half-hearted shake. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

“My friend and I thought this looked like the coolest game, so we came to play.” Wren did a loop-de-loop in mid-air and giggled. “This place is NEAT!”

“Coolest? Game?” Elza responded, no idea what made the game so cold, or what game this little thing was even talking about.

“Yeah!” Wren said. “I picked you guys because I thought you were super neat! Also, I like her dress.” Wren pointed to the Rotten Belle, who dribbled stuffing and stared vacantly at the small puppet.

Wait. Back up. Friend? Elza had heard the whispers around campfires a long way from Malifaux city; heard the stories from the beer-soaked taverns her human part frequented looking for work. This little girl was the right size. Hard to discern age, what with her being stuffed and all, but she had a youthful energy and a bright, shining gaze. She could know him. The little boy. The thing that made even grown men cry and refuse to sleep at night.

The Dreamer.

“Wren,” Elza began, “who’s your friend?”

“Oh, he’ll be along any minute. He liked those over there.” She pointed and Elza saw a small group of puppets, the same number as her group minus Wren, focused around the Judge who was busy wrestling a Silurid intent on licking his face.

“Your friend,” Elza continued, “does he have… a friend? Like a big friend? One only he can see?” She swallowed, which is pretty impressive considering her mouth was nothing but cotton.

“Like the Dreamer? Nah, I wish! He’s not out yet. I totally would have played with him.”

Elza whooshed a sigh of relief. Not the Dreamer. Wait. Not out yet? She liked it better when the Rotten Belle was the only one making noise.

Thwoop. Out of midair, a small puppet landed across the room. This one looked like a tiny lion in a purple toga. Or a dress. Hard to tell at this distance. He raised himself up, grinned with a row of needled teeth, then pointed at Wren.

“Oh, it’s SO on,” she yelled at him in response.

“What’s ‘on’?” Elza asked. Her legs felt weird.

“We’re on!” Wren said. “He thinks he’s so much better at this game than me, but we’re going to show him.”

“We’re not showing him…” Elza was about to finish with “anything,” but her sentence was interrupted as she whirled around to face the lion and his group of puppets, already forming a line. Behind her, Elza could feel the Zombie and the Belle standing close. The Rattler was cuddled around Wren.

“Oh yes. We are,” Wren said. “See, you’re my puppets now. You’re going to shut that grinning lion up for me. You’re going to tear apart his toys.” Her brown buttons slitted tight, her face sporting a maniacal grin.

This isn’t right. Elza thought, drawing her sword as Wren’s unspoken impulse pushed her forward. Could be worse, though.

At least she’d get to stab something.

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Greetings!

So, after my last Battle Report, Wren decided she wanted to jump in and play. After the numerous rules gaffes and the incredibly long time it took Emperor Fabulous and myself to learn the game, we both agreed that the best course of action would be to play the intro games out of the Pattern Book. This was an excellent test run for the tutorials Wyrd provides in their main game, as Wren had never played any sort of miniature game before, and only sported some board game experience.

I’ll spoil the ending on that one: kudos, Wyrd. She picked the game up lightning fast and developed her own playstyle and strategy over the course of the four introductory fights. The tutorials are highly effective and I recommend them before jumping into Puppet Wars.

What follows are four short(er) battle reports about how Wren and I learned to play Puppet Wars over two nights.

Game 1: The Basics

Hashmal’s Toybox
Puppets: Silurid, Convict Gunslinger, Death Marshal, Judge

Wren’s Toybox
Puppets: Punk Zombie, Ronin, Rotten Belle, Razorspine Rattler

Strategy

Still at the basic level, here. Since this was the first tutorial game, we didn’t care about suits in animation costs, so our forces synergized just fine, with a few pieces at low numbers and a few at higher numbers. However, this game size is very vulnerable to player running afoul of a spate of drawing 3s on Animation after playing cards from their hand earlier in the Turn. Teaches resource management that way, albeit in a kind of boring fashion when neither player can animate. General strategy on both sides: use our pre-selected puppets to beat face.

Gameplay

No blow-by-blow here, as Game 1 is a very facile system and is pretty hard to write up into an engaging tit for tat. We threw our puppets at each other like monkeys throw… bananas. Yeah, let’s go with that.

Ignoring Actions and Abilities kept this a simple game. Wren spread her forces out, which allowed me to single them down with my high Cb puppets. I ended up winning as I started up on piece trading, which Wren couldn’t really recover from in this format.

Lessons Learned

My forces have great Cb, balanced out by Wren’s higher number of Stitches. Wren learned a bit about positioning and not charging puppets in piecemeal. Overall, we got a great feel for the principal components of the game. Wren learned a little bit about Dodging – she builds on this foundation later. I learned very little and was worried my experience would be a factor in turning her off to the game in the following rounds.

Boy, was I wrong.

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”MEANIE!” Wren shouted as she waved her hands, stitching her puppets back together while floating above the floor, recently battlefield. Elza groaned as soon as her head was reattached. Across the floor, the lion grinned, flexing his four arms in victory.

“What the hell was that?!” Elza shouted at Wren. “You take control of us and just launch us forward? We got demolished! That HURT!”

“He cheated!” Wren replied. “Cheater cheater cheater!” She stuck out a small, pink cotton tongue in the lion’s direction. “Don’t worry, though. I’m not done yet. This time’ll be better.”

“Oh no. I’m out. No more, kid.” Elza turned to leave, took a step, and lost a leg. She fell face-down into a small patch of dust. Wren floated above her, menacing eyes boring into the back of Elza’s head.

“You’re done when I say you’re done,” Wren said. She waved her arms and Elza rolled over as her leg reattached itself with a satisfying plonk. With another wave, Elza was again standing, facing the lion’s rebuilt forces. The Judge drew a long, slender pin and pointed it straight at Elza’s head. She thought she could feel him smile behind that tattered rag on his face.

“Besides, don’t you want to see what happens next?” Wren asked, wiggling her padded hands.

Elza’s legs twitched and jittered. Deep in the pit of her stuffing-filled stomach, she felt as if a hundred fireflies were released at once, all glowing and bouncing around. She felt light. She felt quick. She felt good.

“All right, kid,” Elza said, picking her sword back up from where the Judge had disarmed her (literally), “let’s see what you’ve got.”

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Game 2: Actions and Abilities

Hashmal’s Toybox
Puppets: Silurid, Convict Gunslinger, Death Marshal, Judge

Wren’s Toybox
Puppets: Punk Zombie, Ronin, Rotten Belle, Razorspine Rattler

Strategy

I wasn’t feeling amazing after my last victory. Wren was worried that she wasn’t going to be able to beat me, and I frankly shared that fear. Fortunately, this game allowed us to use our puppets’ special abilities and actions. While the object of the game was still KILL EVERYTHING RAAAAAWR, our methods for delivering puppet-induced carnage had expanded. I reassured her that these increased options were what the game was truly about.

My strategy was pretty simple: in the first game, I’d quickly realized my puppets had decent Cb scores, but fewer Stitches than hers. With the ability to now use attacks at Rg 2, I was determined to keep my Gunslinger and my Marshal together, to focus down annoying things as they popped forward. The Judge’s Pins and Needles ability, too, was obscenely powerful and, I thought, would go a long way to evening the Stitch disparity.

Wren had a plan, too. I didn’t realize what it was immediately, since it relied entirely on her Control Hand.

Note: Wyrd made one oversight in the Tutorial games. The ability to place an Animation Card into your hand is never discussed nor broached. As this is a powerful and important part of the game, Wren and I both agreed to use this rule from here on out.

Gameplay

I begin the game with an opening salvo from my Convict Gunslinger into the Rotten Belle. Wren denies the Rip with a Crow card. Hm. That was annoying. She moves the Rotten Belle forward, freeing up space, and takes a swing at the Gunslinger. Miss. I animate the Death Marshal, move back, and again unload on the Rotten Belle. She doesn’t Dodge. One Rip is dealt, which she again ignores with a Crow. HM. The Ronin animates, moves through the clearing opened by the Rotten Belle. I get a good Animation Card and go for the Judge.

Unfortunately for Wren, I have a great hand for Pins and Needles.

I move forward and blast the Ronin with two attacks. Wren can’t Dodge high enough for either and the Ronin is Torn Apart. Though she’s initially irritated, I casually point out the Razorspine Rattler’s Tazer ability.

The Judge never moved again.

She animated the Punk Zombie next and sought out my Silurid, who I never did animate owing to two bad cards. I’d blown everything I had, so I watched as the Zombie hit once, then re-Animated (one Rip!) and splattered the little guy everywhere.

Next turn rolls around. Wren picks up an entirely new hand. As the round begins, she initially animates the Rattler and Paralyzes the Judge (perfect flip on the Action. Ugh). I animate my Death Marshal and decide to wail on the Punk Zombie. She begins what will prove to be an annoying chain of amazing Dodge cards. For the remainder of the game, Wren’s turns look like this: Animate Rattler, Paralyze Judge. At some point animate Punk Zombie/Rotten Belle. Hold Animation Cards two or three Rounds. Repeat.

Through this simple strategy, she amasses a frankly obscene hand which she uses entirely for Dodging or defense in general. Every time I attack the Punk Zombie, a high card or an Ace flies. The Aces, in particular, take me out of the game. Every time I cause a Rip on her Belle, she just shoots off a Crow and it’s like nothing happened. There was a Red Joker in there somewhere, too.

Though I was initially up a piece, she keeps my heavy hitter locked down the entire game. Her Punk Zombie starts cleaving through my pieces, first upending the Gunslinger while the Belle scores a successful Rip on the Death Marshal, Confusing him before he animates that turn. The Punk Zombie then turns and flips my Death Marshal. Both plod across the board to the Judge, who can only sit and watch as these two defensive juggernauts tear him limb from limb.

Wren wins the game with staggeringly excellent defensive play.

Lessons Learned

I blew everything early on offense that didn’t matter, then Wren turned around, drew the good cards she needed, and dismantled me. It sounds like I’m blaming ish cards on my part and good ones on hers, but it was far more than that: I animated whenever I could, where Wren was perfectly content to sacrifice even an entire turn to just keep placing Dodge cards in her hand. With no other victory condition present besides KILL EVERYTHING RAAAWR, this turtling strategy was extremely effective. She built up a wall of cards and I obligingly ran head-first into it.

We both realized how amazing Aces are for Dodging, a strategy she continues to employ against me.

This game took longer than I let on – my offense just never amounted to much with the Judge locked down and me deciding that attacking while holding 10s and 11s was sufficient (it wasn’t). I played bloodthirsty, she played patient, and I got spanked as a result.

Things were a bit different the next game, though.

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“Was it really necessary to run me in like that?” Elza asked, screwing her head back into position.

“Nah, but it was fun!” Wren replied, still riding high on her dominant victory over the lion’s puppets.

Elza didn’t much like being dismantled as readily as she had been, but she took a particularly sadistic delight in watching the Judge stand there as Lonely Eyes the Rotten Belle and AAAAA the Punk Zombie took their time, slicing him apart piece by piece.

Head securely in place, she sighed. “Well, kid,” she said, “maybe I underestimated you.”

“It’s okay,” said Wren, “you’re still my favorite. Just don’t tell the others! Oh! Who’s the red-haired one?”

Elza peered across the tattered floor, littered with bits of stuffing and spare thread. A new puppet had joined the lion’s forces and was helping him piece the Judge back together, no simple process. The red-haired one turned to Wren. Even with the puppet’s eyes covered by a dirty cloth, Elza could feel the hostility projected right at Wren. This puppet was angry.

“THAT,” a suave, nonchalant voice pipped up behind Elza and Wren, “is a most ornery individual. Goes by the name Lady Justice. I prefer Lady J, or once I’m done with her, Dog Meat.”

Wren spun around and clapped with glee. Behind them stood a tall (for a puppet) figure, dressed in a patchwork suit, coiffed with a tall top hat.

“Seamus,” Elza said, her voice falling flat.

He swept the hat off his head in a mocking bow. “At your service!” Lonely Eyes and AAAAA stumbled forward, drawn by the sound of the mini-Resurrectionist’s voice. Elza turned to Wren.

“Don’t trust this one,” she said. “He’s trouble. There isn’t a good bone in his body.”

Wren didn’t even consider what Elza said. “I hope not,” she replied, snatching Seamus’ hat out of his hand and putting it on her head. “I don’t want him to be good. I want him to win.” Seamus turned to Wren, each of them smiling wickedly at the other before facing back to the opposite side of the room, each returning Lady J’s sightless stare and the lion’s twisted smile.

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Game 3: Masters

Hashmal’s Toybox
Master: Lady Justice
Puppets: Silurid, Convict Gunslinger, Death Marshal, Judge

Wren’s Toybox
Master: Seamus
Puppets: Punk Zombie, Ronin, Rotten Belle, Razorspine Rattler

Strategy

Though given the option to switch, Wren elected to stick with the puppets she’d been controlling to this point. We were both ignoring Master rules (Lady J’s A Really Sharp Sword and Seamus’ Lovely Belles), which kind of left me at a bit of a disadvantage as one of Lady J’ Actions required the use of A Really Sharp Sword. However, the positioning of the puppets left Seamus at greater risk of early damage. It worked itself out.

I again banked on my previous wargaming experience, especially as I was well-versed in kill-the-Master style games from playing Warmachine. I also banked on the introduction of Blocking to save Lady J from damage.

Gameplay

Wren animated first, bringing her Rotten Belle down to take a swing on my Death Marshal. That pesky Cb 1 played against her, though, and she missed. Over the course of the first turn, I moved everyone I could over to the Judge’s side of the board. I was orchestrating a flank crash. Wren, who was still figuring out the importance of having a Master, didn’t catch it quick enough. She did move Seamus back and the Rattler forward, angling to Paralyze the Judge next turn. On my last Animation Round, I took advantage of the exposed Rattler, moved the Judge to block a passageway, and used Pins and Needles on him, dealing two quick Rips while Wren was still building her defensive hand (her initial draws hadn’t been amazing). This also ensured she couldn’t double-Animate him and lock down two of my pieces for a turn.

The wheels fell off her bus the next turn. We tied on the animation total, I won the high card flip, and animated my Death Marshal, who shot the Rattler. She Dodged high, but lacking an Ace I was able to play from my hand to beat her card, killing the Rattler. My Judge was now free and I began amassing Rams and Masks to continue my Pins and Needles barrages.

Her Punk Zombie again splattered my Silurid everywhere, but with him off-suit for Animation Requirements (which now mattered!), I didn’t care that he died. It hung up her heaviest hitter. The Ronin swung at the Judge and did a Rip, but was otherwise out of the fight since I was blocking a passageway between two Impassable Terrain markers.

What she wasn’t doing was moving Seamus. I built my hand carefully.

Next turn rolls around, I again build my hand carefully until the middle of the turn, when I Animate Lady J and juice up the Judge (Elite Combat Training). Not really recognizing what Powerful +1 means, she didn’t respond. I then Animated the Judge and advanced within Pins & Needles range. I flip a Mask on the Action, play a Ram, and we’re off to the races. Anticipating her Dodge cards, which weren’t as stellar as last time given she hadn’t drawn as many cards, I had a rough offensive hand that consisted of pretty much nothing but Rams and a Mask, with an Ace or two thrown in there.

One attack is successfully Dodged, but one isn’t. Seamus eats two Rips.

Last animation round rolls around, I re-Animate the Judge and do Pins & Needles AGAIN. My onslaught of cards is just too much for her – I’m flipping 6 for an attack. I nail Seamus with the first one and put the game to bed.

Lessons Learned

Even lacking two of her primary abilities, Lady J’s Elite Combat Training is an incredibly powerful ability, although expensive. What’s worse, it’s a Free Action, so in later games you can discard your Animation Card in order to perform it. Yikes.

This was a learning game largely for Wren. She still wasn’t used to playing with a Master and, having had no experience with this game format prior to these rounds, did not do the necessary things to protect him. What isn’t mentioned is that this was actually the second Masters game we played – the first one ended almost immediately when I drew an amazing hand, her a terrible hand, and in two rounds I killed Seamus because she moved him forward. One round for Lady J to ‘roid up the Judge, and one round for the Judge to annihilate Seamus with Pins & Needles. Her best card to dodge with was a 5 of Masks – it was that bad a hand.

This format can be challenging. With all the puppets starting out of the Toy Box, it’s pretty easy to crash one side of the board and flood your opponent, particularly if they’re not trying to do the same thing. This changed the next game.

After the game, she and I discussed protecting the Master and how important it is to not just throw them in there willy-nilly. We also talked about Scary Face, an ability she didn’t use this game, and her Pop-Gun Action.

The strategy talks helped. The following (and final) game in this series was a much different story.

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“Little miss,” Seamus said, coolly adjusting his top hat on his freshly stitched head, “would you mind terribly explaining what just happened there?”

“I…” Wren looked sideways, wringing her hands behind her back.

She’s nervous, Elza realized. She’s actually nervous of Seamus. She’s a puppet, just like us.

“Not just like you,” Wren whispered, eyes closing.

“What…?” Elza responded just as the door to the hut flew open. Against a foggy day creeping in through the opened doorway, Zoraida’s silhouette stood, her hunched form casting a long shadow over the puppets in various stages of disrepair.

“My poppins,” she said, “what ever have you been up to?” She took a step into the hut and halted, her eyes fixed upon Wren and the lion. “You’re new,” she said. “Don’t know your kind this side of the breach.” She took another step. “Maybe needs to find out just where you’re from, just what you’re doing with my poppins.” Another step.

“NO!” both Wren and the lion shouted in unison. Zoraida froze, then in one fluid motion ran backwards outside. The door slammed shut behind her.

No, wait, Elza realized. She didn’t run. She was flung.

The door shuddered as Zoraida pounded from the outside.

“POPPINS!” she roared.

“Go away!” Wren shouted back, again waving her arms in a quick motion. “We’re not done here! Come back later!”

The racket stopped. From outside, silence.

“That’s better!” Wren said, suddenly beaming again, her confidence fully restored.

“That,” Elza said, jaw slack, “was different.”

Wren whirled onto Seamus. “NOW,” she continued, “what do you think I should do?”

Face to face with Wren, her tiny puppet form exuding palpable energy, Seamus merely swallowed hard and cocked his hat.

“What we’re gonna need here, little miss,” he said, “are a few more tools o’ the trade.” Backing slowly away from Wren, he then turned and scrambled to a box full of puppets. He dove in. Seconds later, a shrill screech resounded through the hut. Seamus re-emerged holding a pigeon in his hands, still dripping stuffing from where he’d unceremoniously ripped it off of a dormant Austringer.

“Cute!” Wren exclaimed, clapping her hands. Seamus, enrapt in concentration, skittered over to a shelf and began pulling a variety of tools off. Needles, thread, small thimbles upon which to work, and patches of cloth and stuffing. Across the room, Elza spotted the Judge brandishing a pair of wings to the lion, who nodded approvingly. Behind the Judge, stuffing seeped from the desiccated form of a tiny Malifaux Cherub, who twitched in diminutive puppet pain. Her stuffing lurched. She turned back to Wren and Seamus, once again best of friends, as they sat around a thimble and plotted.

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Game 4: Upgrades and Work Benches

Hashmal’s Toybox
Master: Lady Justice
Puppets: Silurid, Convict Gunslinger, Death Marshal, Judge
Upgrades: Executioner, Malifaux Cherub

Wren’s Toybox
Master: Seamus
Puppets: Punk Zombie, Ronin, Rotten Belle, Razorspine Rattler
Upgrades: Rusty Alyce, Guild Austringer

Strategy

As they say, this is where it gets real. This is the penultimate round prior to playing a full-on game of Puppet Wars, something Wren and I did at a later date (and covered in a separate battle report).

Flooding wasn’t going to be as easy this time. We each had to animate our pieces and bring them on.

My strategy was pretty simple. Bring on the Judge ASAP and attach the Executioner’s Glowy Claws. One thing I’ve learned about buffs: always exaggerate an existing bonus. It’s better to make a good piece great 9 times out of 10 than it is to make an okay piece good.

Wren’s strategy was similar: however, she valued both upgrades, a choice that would haunt me as the game progressed. She also wasn’t looking to her combat powerhouses (necessarily).

Gameplay

Wren started off animating Seamus and moving him back. An odd choice, I thought. I brought on the Judge. The next two Animation Rounds validated her choice, though: she animated the Punk Zombie and, before moving off the Workbench, Scrounged for an upgrade. She went for Rusty Alyce’s Tattered Skirt, and a good flip on the Scrounge gave it to the Punk Zombie.

A Punk Zombie Animating on a 3+ of any suit. That ain’t good.

Her second of those two rounds I referenced saw her bring on the Rotten Belle and do the same thing with That Darn Pigeon. Meanwhile, I’d moved Lady J off the workbench and brought on my Gunslinger. The turn ended with us bringing on a couple more pieces: she brought on the Ronin and the Rattler, while I kept one Animation Card and brought on my Death Marshal.

Next turn, battle was joined! While I thought I had a good hand, I realized I just had a need for more Rams than I could possibly carry. Seamus activates first and Scary Faces the Punk Zombie. I get the Judge rolling and attach Glowy Claws to him, though I’m forced to pay out of my hand. Judge advances. Punk Zombie goes next and is able to get into melee with the Judge. Wren attacks, I Dodge, but not high enough: the Judge suffers a Rip. Annoying!

Then, it gets bad. I move up my Gunslinger to shoot at the Zombie. However, Scary Face + Tattered Skirt = surprisingly effective defense. She Dodges with an 11 of Masks and I suddenly need a 12 Mask Crow to hit. Doesn’t happen (I’m camped on a bunch of Rams in anticipation of later turns). The Rotten Belle comes up and begins her campaign of terror. At Cb 2, she’s suddenly not bad at attacking. Further, I can’t Dodge her attacks now! My Gunslinger suffers a Rip. I move my Death Marshal up to attack the Belle and succeed, but she drops a Crow and my Rip is ignored. Frustrating! She advances the Ronin up and swings on the Death Marshal, but misses (I Dodge high). We both draw a card to round out the turn.

Next turn, she animates Seamus first and Scary Faces him. However, she leaves him within striking distance of the Judge, who’s sitting on Powerful +1. I have the hand for it, so I advance and use Pins & Needles. Succeeding, I make my two attacks. The first one gets through her high-ish Dodge, causing 2 Rips on Seamus. The second one, however, she Dodges with the an Ace of Tomes, which turns into a 12 Double Tome Crow. I had two cards in my hand at this point, neither of which were a Tome. Well then. Miss.

Then, the Punk Zombie animates. Wren reads me the rule for Powerful Rot.

Uh oh.

Punk Zombie targets the Judge, uses Powerful Rot, takes the Rip, and Tears apart the Judge. I’m now down my heaviest hitter and my free upgrade. What’s more, she then blocks the passage to Seamus with the Punk Zombie. I’d just wandered conveniently into a trap. I complimented her on a very bold play, and moved onwards. Unfortunately, not upwards. I continued to flail ineffectively at her Rotten Belle while the Ronin finished off my Gunslinger. She wasn’t drawing the cards for the Razorspine Rattler, so that much was a blessing. I managed to get my Silurid on the board, who struck out at the Punk Zombie and made him take his second Rip.

Turn passes and Seamus (once again) animates first, putting Scary Face on the Punk Zombie. Jeez. Unfortunately, the Silurid is right between the Punk Zombie and the Rotten Belle and gets eaten in the following two animations (can’t do anything about it). The Death Marshal starts messing with the Ronin, dealing a Rip. Lady J joins the fray and puts the Punk Zombie in the ground, then sets her sights on the Rattler. HOORAY! We’re both drawing and playing cards like fiends, so we burn through our decks in a hurry, reshuffling. The Rattler goes down to Lady J's combat powerhouse-ness and an errant shot from the Death Marshal, somewhere in there. I kind of lost track of him.

I never recover from losing the Judge to that trap. My Death Marshal successfully eliminates the Ronin, which forces Seamus to join the fray. In retribution, however, the Rotten Belle rips the Death Marshal apart.

For those of you keeping score at home, that’s Seamus and a Rotten Belle versus Lady J. It’s not looking good. I animate Lady J and attack the Rotten Belle, also setting up future position for Seamus. I score a Rip. Yay! Unfortunately, I can’t Dodge the Rotten Belle, who scores one back. Turn rolls around, Seamus Scary Faces up, I advance Lady J and take another swing at the Belle.

Miss. Boo.

The Belle swings back and connects. One Rip to go. Not good. We both cycle out our Turn.

It was at this point that I realized I’d already lost the game, as Lady J was suffering a Rip at the end of each turn she didn’t have a puppet in play. We decided to play it out anyway, but I officially declared Wren the winner.

Seamus animates first, Scary Face. Lady J goes and Seamus is in range. It’s time.

Elite Combat Training. Success. Lady J advances. She swings at Seamus.

Wren throws a Red Joker, which she’d been holding most of the game.

I don’t draw the Red Joker. Seamus lives!

He then animates and finishes off a very dejected Lady J. Game: Wren.

Lessons Learned

Wow. What happened to me? Wren’s powerful defensive game paid off for her again, this time coupled with active use of Seamus’ Scary Face Action. I struggled to do damage to her pieces and foolishly gave her my most powerful model. True, I did some damage to Seamus, but it proved to be the only damage I could ever land. She assessed the odds correctly: with only one card going in to that last attack (played to Animate Judge, played to use Pins & Needles, played to hit on the first attack), she dodged with a card she knew would require me to have either the exact card she’d played or to use 3 cards to match her suits, which I couldn’t. Further, she dodged with a suit she deemed unlikely I’d have. She was right: I have no use for Tomes given these puppets.

Was it a risk? Yes. It was acceptable, though, and it certainly took me out.

This game taught us both the careful balance of animating Masters, relying too heavily on certain abilities (between Elite Combat Training and Pins & Needles, I’m jockeying for 4 of my 5 cards, which leaves nothing for offense or defense), and how nasty Seamus can be for a defensive-minded, patient player. All in all, it was superbly played on her part. Though I made a mistake with my Judge, it was definitely an acceptable risk, given what I knew about the board and her hand at the time. Had I succeeded, the game was mine.

Next Time
We’re 2-2 now. Whatsoever could happen next? Tune in tomorrow for another exciting report!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

”Y’know, I can’t hear you,” Wren said through a mound of stuffing. She was buried face-deep in a toy box, rooting through a variety of puppets gone by, searching through odds and ends.

“I said,” Elza replied, “what are you doing?”

Wren popped out of the toy box, batting stuffing from her yarn hair. “Seamus was right,” she said. “Those parts, that was a great idea! I was looking for more to use next time. He still hasn’t learned his lesson!” She pointed across the room at the lion, who was also rooting around in a toy box.

Elza made a face. “Bit grim, don’t you think?”

“Nonsense!” Seamus piped up, walking uncomfortably close behind Elza. “Nothing grim about the little miss doin’ what she has to! ‘swhat winning’s all about, after all.” He grinned at Elza and tossed the recently-separated head of Lady Justice in one hand. “It’s interestin’, though,” he continued, turning to Wren. She cocked an eyebrow and stared at him. “By now, doesn’t yon lion over there usually stitch this one here back up? I’ve been juggling this blasted thing for ten minutes! Not that I’d ever get sick of that,” he said, looking longingly over the face. “She’s got such… pretty… stitches.”

Wren gasped, squealed, and pointed to the lion, who’d emerged from the toy box. Seamus and Elza both looked. The lion was gesticulating wildly and chatting with the indistinct shapes he’d pulled from the box. As one, they all turned to Wren. They smiled. Rows and rows of glittering, sharp teeth, with the lion’s sharpest of all.

“Oh. My. God,” said Wren.

Oh no. thought Seamus and Elza at the exact moment Wren let out another squeal.

“TEDDIES!

[Justin]

That was fantastic! I'm glad you found the Pattern Book useful.

[Hashmal]

Super useful! The only criticism I have about it is the complete absence of placing Animation Cards in your hand, which is something I really like about this game.

Tomorrow's report should be fun. I have five furry friends that arrived in the mail last week... :D

[i_was_like_you]

I'll be tuning in, as I have those same five furry friends to exploit for my games. :D

[Hashmal]

Fortunately, I've got it already written up.

http://wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28288

I'm on a Teddy moratorium now, though...