Here it is folks, a bumper issue of TRTLGT 22! With the Duke's Gaming Store Championship coming at the end of this week I am pumped to try my team out at it's first competition! A 10-person event, 3 rounds, Champion status to be won.
There has been one change to the team, and he is only a ringer for now until my actual sub rears they're ugly head. Dormammu is dropped, Ghost Rider saddles up for a tour with the baddies.
Green Goblin, Lizard, Venom, Kingpin, Kraven, Mysterio, Ghost Rider, Doc Ock, Toad, and Black Cat are the line up this week.
Tactics Cards: Advanced R&D, One-Two Punch, Fearful Symmetry, Well-Laid Plans, Brace For Impact, Med Pack, The Grand Illusion, Sinister Traps, Highway to Hell, Monkey Brain is Lizard Home.
Crisis Cards: Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators! (14), Research Station Attacked! (16), Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan (17) / S.W.O.R.D. Establishes Base on Moon (14), Mayor Fisk Vows to Find Missing Witnesses (16), Mutant Madman Turns City Centre into Lethal Amusement Park (18).
Lets see what this week has to offer and good luck to everyone competing in the tourney!
Game 13 - 24th March 2022
VS - Dan (Midnight Sons)
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan (17) / Mutant Madman Turns City Centre into Lethal Amusement Park (18)
Blade, Moon Knight, Black Cat, Dr Strange, Wong
Green Goblin, Kingpin, Mysterio, Doc Ock, Black Cat
As always, it's a pleasure to play against Dan and honestly this is our 2nd game this week! I haven't included the first game in the blog though for two reasons; 1 it was his first real game with a tournament ready list so didn't really count as a game, 2 it was at the beginning of the week and I've forgotten the ins and outs of the game for the post! This game though, I was prepared!
By now, people who read the blog can guess my set up, this time however was a little different. With there being 9 (NINE!) objectives on the field I changed it up a little and went for the Criminal Syndicate affiliation. It's really interesting as I play a very similar list currently and as both faction leaders (Foes and Crims) see regular play at the same time all I have to do is declare who's the leader, this time Fisk took charge.
The game went well enough, although I had my concerns about Strange. I haven't played against him much and I was nervous about what he could do (mystic attacks scare me...). I played Goblin, Mysterio and Fisk in the centre, Cat left flank, Ock right flank. Standard. Objectives were secured very quickly by the team, key points being that they were taken on the opponents home advantage, effectively stopping Dan from scoring early on. As expected, Black Cat and Goblin took a hammering from every night-haunting loony but the turn 1 job was done. I'd even left my home objectives unclaimed in my haste to get to Dan's.
Strange turned out to be a decent character, the synergy with Wong being key to Dan's game. Once my Black Cat (there were two on the field) knocked the stuffing out of the old monk then I really took the wind out of the Sorcerer Supreme's sails.
Turn 2 and 3 were relatively uneventful as the Crims swam around the board taking objectives and scoring points. Come turn 3 I had every scorable objective under my control and took the game.
Dan's game is improving every time we play and it is a genuine pleasure to see. His painted minis are so good (if only he'd finish them!) and he is a great opponent. Looking forward to our next clash, hopefully at the tournament on Saturday!
Final Score 16-4 to Criminal Syndicate. Turn 3
Game 14 - 26th March 2022
Store Championship Round 1
VS - Dan (Midnight Sons)
Struggle for the Cube Continues (17) / Mayor Fisk Vows to Find Missing Witnesses (16)
- Blade, Iron Fist, Doctor Voodoo, Wong, Black Cat
- Green Goblin, Kingpin, Mysterio, Doc Ock, Black Cat
OK, this must be a fix. Not only is Dan my first opponent but we are taking pretty much the exact same list as 2 days ago. Well, if it ain't broke...!
7 Tokens on the field and Witnesses is Fisk's baby so Crims it will be! Again, Turn 1 had a strong centre with Goblin, Fisk, and Mysterio running forwards yelling and screaming to hide Black Cat and Ock long enough for them to take objectives. Crim affiliation kicked off and I snuck the witnesses away from the "goodies" (each Crim counting as 2 for contesting while the character is healthy).
Voodoo got some serious hits in, really hurting Black Cat and Mysterio but the damage was already done. By Turn 2 I had control of all the objectives, Blade was dazed, opponent's Black Cat dazed, Wong dazed, Goblin had 2 fragments, Ock with 1, Cat with 1, and Fisk with 1. I've got the power! The witnesses were pleading for their lives, everything was coming up Fisk.
Turn 3 was just a matter of surviving and rolling with the Midnight punches. Goblin K/O'd Blade and buggered off (as is his want), Ock stood his ground with the witness and fended off Voodoo, Black Cat K/O'd Wong, and Iron Fist smashed the living snot out of Mysterio!
Great way to start off the tournament, I had a lot of fun and Goblin rolling 10 damage on Blade to slay the day-walker was just a real treat (sorry again Dan).
Final Score 16-6 to Criminal Syndicate. Turn 3
Game 15 - 26th March 2022
Store Championship Round 2
VS - Huw (Brotherhood of Mutants)
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (17) / Mutant Madman Turns City Centre into Lethal Amusement Park (18)
- Magneto, Juggernaut, Hulk
- Green Goblin, Kingpin, Mysterio, Doc Ock, Black Cat
Another rematch for the ages! Huw's slobber knocker of a team but this time with more experience... Jeeeeez. Huw was in a real bind when creating his team for this game as he knew I was going to go wide. Watching him decide to go Tall or Wide was hard, he was so torn! Choosing to go for fun (tall) and smash some stuff, I smiled and chose Spider-Foes. I don't need to out number him when he's only got 3 characters, right? Right?!
Turn 1, ouch.
Juggernaut has a great memory from our last encounter, hunting down and dazing Black Cat immediately. Felicia had just interrogated a potential Skrull agent and failed, only to be smashed by the unstoppable Marko! Poor Cat, never saw it coming. Magneto teleported directly next to his favourite beat-stick and tried to lay the smack-down on Goblin (without much effect thankfully). Hulk had a great turn on the flank too, jumping down onto some Sinister Traps and taking 2 damage (only 18 more to go...gasp). He had some fun with Mysterio, seeing him as the next biggest threat. The plucky illusionist was doing well until a Size 4 Building was dropped on his head. 1 Physical defence on a dodge is NOT FUN. I took the daze and built him up with a nice bit of power. Huw took the lead into Turn 2.
Things were gearing up and one thing I was not up for was a fist fight with these guys. I knew Huw would be out for blood, I just needed to limit the damage and score the points. That changed slightly when Magneto grabbed the Skrull right off the bat. Now I had to deal with that situation too, but that's why I have Black Cat! With 7 power, she was ripe to strip that Skrull right from under the Master of Magnetism. Huw was obviously not going to let Black Cat do it to him a second time so Magneto K/O'd her with EVERY DICE on the table... Meanwhile, Mysterio, Hulk, and Doc Ock were having a jolly time of it as they laid into each other. Mysterio would mystify the hulking giant and walk him away, only for him to jump back into the fray and smash both Ock and Mysterio! The fact they both survived is just incredible.
Turn 2 was dying (as were my team...) and as Fisk bravely stood up to Marko in a battle of the bulk, Goblin and Ock gave each other a cheeky wink. I played Well Laid Plans on my last activation, rolling one crit on Magneto. With a bang he dropped the Skrull next to a Madman Bomb, Goblin did a classic Hit and Run action to bomb Juggers and leave an incinerate marker on him before tagging the bomb and grabbing the Skrull. Flying off into the centre of the board, Osborne was making a run for it! Spider-Foes now controlled ALL scoring objectives. What a reversal!
All I needed to do was keep away from everyone. EVERYONE. Mysterio was able to keep Hulk away by Hypnosis Gassing him, Fisk kept Juggers tied up long enough to reduce the movement of him so Marko couldn't get to Goblin, Goblin flew further into the end zone so Magneto couldn't get him, and with all that Spider-Foes stole the win in Turn 3!
This was by far the most exciting game I've played for a long time. Being able to survive Turn 1 was key for me, and making sure Goblin and Ock survived long enough to steal that cheeky Skrull in Turn 2 was perfect. Watching Huw's glee in Turn 1 turn to distress in Turn 2 was almost as fun as watching him decide to go Tall or Wide! Another great game though, really enjoying the tactical flexibility this team has and to be able to fend off Tall opponents is fun. I'm curious to see how things go about a wider opponent though.
Final Score 16-8 to Spider-Foes. Turn 3
Game 16 - 26th March 2022
VS - Matt (Defenders)
Store Championship Round 3
Riots Spark Over Extremis Consoles (17) / Research Station Attacked (16)
- Dr Strange, Wong, Luke Cage, Black Cat, Wolverine
- Green Goblin, Kingpin, Mysterio, Doc Ock, Black Cat
The Road to London GT has been long but Matt has yet to be a part of the journey, I am happy to say that the time has come for him to join the blog! Even better is the fact I'm playing against Defenders for the first time too. I'm experienced enough against the likes of Wong and Black Cat, but never had a go at the affiliation!
This mission was all about taking and holding, plus a little bit of Tug-o-War with the researcher. I'd made an error in including Black Cat in this one as her specific set of skills were of no real use. There was nothing to steal and she didn't have the best defence against the physicality of the Defenders team. Mix that up with the fact I threw her headlong into Wolverine meant that by Turn 2 she was K/O'd and sipping OJ on the bench having made zero impact on the game... Looking back Lizard would have been a MUCH better choice for this mission with his better defence and regen, but you live and learn.
The game itself was good, other than my dice decided they'd had enough of successful rolls and decided to give me amazing shields and blanks in attack, and wonderful hits and skulls in defence... I was lucky as Matt's strategy revolved around giving me bruises and Hex tokens which allowed me to zip around scoring and muscling the researcher up to my evac point. It was only once we'd gotten to the end of Turn 3 Matt started to go for scoring and focused on pushing and shoving my team away. I was only 2 points away from winning though, and (in a Thanos voice) winning was inevitable.
Final Score 16-9 to Criminal Syndicate. Turn 4
And the winner is...
I am genuinely so amazed I won the day, over the moon that the past 8 weeks have culminated in winning the Store Championship at Duke's Gaming! Genuine heart felt thanks to every one who has been helping me and I am very conscious the road doesn't end here. With 6 months left until the GT, I've got plenty more games to put in, affiliations to experience, and 2 more Store Championships to play in...
Massive shout out to my opponents Dan, Huw and Matt, as well as the rest of the competitors on the day. I love this game so much and with new additions to the Criminal Syndicate due soon (that's Hand-y) I'm looking forward to evolving the team further.
Until next time true believers!
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