Izamu double tap

Ok, so I originally set out by entering Izamu into the painting contest at Genghis to prove that I wasn't really top painter quality. I do believe I am a good painter and could be a great painter if I could just find the will to do so. I think the will is a far greater part than the skill. Skill can be learned/taught/innate/whatever, but the will to sit down with one model day after day, searching for some form of perfection, that just doesn't appeal to me as much as painting a model up nice and beating face on the table top with it. That being said, Izamu ended up winning an award. Fast forward to yesterday. I now have an award winning model in my case that I never field. Izamu moved all over during the Wave 2 Beta, and, generally, I didn't like any where he went. So, I decided to give him one last go to see if I should put him on display next to his ribbon, or leave him in case for future games. This is my story.


Round 1: If you ain't newb stomping, you ain't trying. The first game was versus Payton. He was using the Seamus box, so we set it at 30 stones. I took Tara with usual upgrades, Izamu, two Wretches, and a Necropunk. I was playing Ressers by the way. We played Reconnoiter, and I took Sand and Plant Evidence. I expected to lose Izamu fairly quickly and for Payton to be able to use his Belles to control Reconnoiter. Instead, Izamu got shot into Payton's crew and went nom nom nom. It was kind of impressive. Not at all what I expected. With Payton's crews lack of a real beater, Izamu, basically, had a field day. I was able to use Tara and the Wretches to bury, heal him, and keep him fast. I put him into two Belles and Sybelle on turn one, turn two deleting a Belle then Sybelle soon after. It left my Necropunk and Wretches mostly open to concentrate on objectives. Payton did make some mistakes, most from having cool things to do, not necessarily when he needed to do them, but because he could. Mostly it is part of learning a new crew. After he understands what he can do, he will begin to think about when to do it. I also think the range of Lure throws him off. 18" in 40K is rather pitiful, but in Malifaux, on a 36" board, that is a lot of space. If he measured before moving, I think several time he would have lured twice instead of move then lure. On turn four, he jumped Seamus through, into Tara, unaware that she can actually do alright in combat. I think he was looking for a trigger, but wasn't able to get it off. Tara turned around and buried him, and the Void Wretches pummeled him while he was buried. With just two Belles left, and him not having left a single quarter all game, I had Reconnoiter pretty well in hand. I had also dropped all over the place, giving me A Line in the Sand and Plant Evidence. A good game, but I think it was bit rough for Payton, with myself having, inadvertently, designed a fairly good counter for him.


And then more new stomping. Game two was versus Michael S(formerly Shaffer) with his brand new Jakob Lynch crew. So new, that he didn't have any models assembled yet. I ran the exact same crew as before, again as Ressers. This one was Squatter's Rights, and I took Sand and Power Ritual. OK, Izamu rocked last game, was it a fluke or could he do it again. Mike was running Lynch, Huggy, two Illuminated, a Beckoner, and a Depleted. This game was also a bit of a look what I can do, but when/why is a mystery. By late turn two or turn three, Mike had all four Aces in his hand, per Lynch's ability. Unfortunately, he had very little use for them. He sent Huggy up early in the game, and I promptly piled Izamu into him. He also Beckoned a Void Wretch who was moving up on my left. The Necropunk and Void Wretch also had moved up, looking to drop scheme markers. It should be noted, I didn't drop any markers in my own corners. Izamu's performance was less than the previous game, but not completely unimpressive. I had forgotten/not known how beastly Illuminated are in combat. They tore through my Void Wretch fairly easily. The Necropunk and other Wretch did a good job dropping markers and grabbing Rights, though the Wretch had to head back to my zone for Power Ritual. And there he should have stayed, using his actions to hurt a buried Huggy, after I finally killed him. Izamu went down fairly easily, though I was able to bury, heal, drop him once or twice, keeping him in the fight. In the end, though, he fell like I felt he should. I did manage to use the center ruin to block Tara from almost all of what Mike had to give. Without line of sight, and most of his crew on my left, while my crew had gone right, it left him fairly impotent. I did have to scream up with my Necropunk, sacrificing it to the Beckoner to hold him from getting more Sand markers. At the end of turn five I had full for Power Ritual, full for Squatter's Rights, and one for A Line in the Sand, he had three for Squatter's and nothing for Line in the Sand. Depending on what he had in the hole(I suspected Assassinate), the most he could have gotten was six to my eight, so I was good with it ending. He flipped a thirteen. Not to worry, I have Tara, reflip, gets an eleven. Damn. He has the models to get three for A Line in the Sand, plus he has three Squatter's markers, meaning he could take the win if he has anything useful for his third scheme. I will likely get full for A Line in the Sand, but it may not happen. But, it was getting late, and he decided to call it anyway. Turned out he had Assassinate and Bodyguard hidden. Not sure how that works, I am pretty sure he had Assassinate and A Line in the Sand. Either way, with Huggy buried(Bodyguard) and Tara not taking chances, he couldn't have gotten his second scheme. This meant that I was looking at a win of eight to seven at the worst. Phew. A great game, I think if he had taken a model that could have used those Aces, it could have gotten ugly. In the future, I am going to have to watch that crew, most of it hits like a ton of bricks in melee. And Depleted have a similar ability(though not as good or expensive) to Izamu to hold you in combat.

Speaking of Izamu. He can be useful, but he is a glass canon and if I don't pull him out and use him sparingly, he will go down fast and hard. Generally, that isn't my style. I like my forward beater to be all about sticking in it. I think I may pull him after all. He is good, but with options like Rogue Necromancy or Desolation Engine and Killjoy from my preferred faction, it is hard to justify him. I may have to take him as a second beater and see how that pans out.

Well, until next time...