Reputable Newsman ā Worker (hard decision as Iād have liked to keep some D&D insurance but it was either this, Free Speech or Garrison so my decision was made for me)
Free Speech
Manufactured Truth
Flagstone Garrison
WORKERS
Porkhand Magistrate
Jail
Building Inspector
Reputable Newsman
Traffic Director
Manufactured Truth
Free Speech
Flagstone Garrison
Overeager Cadet
Overeager Cadet
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Tech II Peace - ($3)
Hound kills Scav, takes 1, you gain 1g
Quince kills Jav, takes 1, you draw
Manufactured Truth, Mirror into Hound - ($2)
Aven and pseudo Hound break Tech II, your base to 18
Free Speech - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 1, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L1 Sirius Quince 1/2
Spectral Hound 3/2
Spectral Aven 2/2 [Flying]
Mirror Illusion 0/1
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Peace)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 3
Deck: 1
Disc: 6
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
Tech break when he doesnāt have enough attack to break mine, donāt mind if I do! Though that MT play does leave me low on hand and vulnerable to counter attack/card destruction. If he has a hoodie he will probably kill the mirror, chop Aven and midband Garth for the Quince kill.
I have the dilemma of whether to make a second mirror to patrol with, or cast Free Speech. Probably Free Speech protects me best. Regardless, Iāll have to be really careful about patroling correctly next turn as I doubt Iāll manage two tech breaks in a row Vs Frozen.
Pestering Haunt
Deteriorate
Crypt Crawler
Sacrifice the Weak
Graveyard (techn)
Events of Turn:
Upkeep:
Get Gold (8+1float)
Tech 2 cards (except turn 1)
All Teched Cards
Cursed Ghoul, Soul Stone
Sickness, Gorgon
Crypt Crawler, Dark Pact
Main:
Midband Garth, kill Quince, Garth takes 1 and moves to level 6 (6)
Crypt Crawler, targets aven with a net and kills it (3)
Graveyard (1)
Worker (0)
Workers
Pestering Haunt, Jandra, The Negator, Summon Skeletons, Poisonblade Rogue
Patrol as below
Discard 2 rs Draw 4
Board Info:
Buildings:
Base HP: 18
Tech1 HP: 5
Tech2 HP: 5 DISEASE
In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Skeleton (1/1a anti-air)
Elite:
Scavenger: Crypt Crawler (3/3)
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Garth (2/2 lvl 6)
Skeletal Archery
Graveyard (3hp)
Economy Info:
Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 5
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 9
End of Turn Hand
Thieving Imp
Gorgon
Cursed Ghoul
Sacrifice the Weak
End of Turn Discard
My Thoughts
Turning into a fun one Donāt think Iāll have a problem burning down Peace, going to use maxband garth next turn to bring in Cursed Crow. Soul Stone will make it a Garrison breaking machine, and Graveyard should keep my Crypt Crawler at hand for Aven. Almost patrolled Skele in back and CC in front but forgot about Musketeer bringing the hasty 1 now. Less upside with this patrol but no downside, should be good, like my chances
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Bigby - ($6)
Lawful Search, draw a card, look at your hand - ($5)
Hound kills skele, takes 1
Garrison - ($2)
Midband Bigby - ($0)
Float ($0)
Stash 1, Discard 1, reshuffle, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: L3 Bigby Hayes 2/4A [Stash]
Elite:
Scavenger: Mirror Illusion 0/1
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Spectral Hound 3/1
Flagstone Garrison -/4
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Peace)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 8
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
After playing Bigby and Lawful Search, its clear I canāt get a good run at Garrison draws (and maybe I should have thought about that last turn) He will almost certainly be playing for D&D as a win condition and so my most important play is to get Free Speech delivered next turn.
I think his ideal turn would be something like: Worker (1g), Orpal+1 (4g), Sickness on Bigby+another (6g), Crawler kills Bigby (takes 2, Opral midbands), Garth kills -1ed Oni (takes 1, Orpal maxbands), maxband Garth summoning cursed ghoul, popping an Illusion and -1ing/popping up to two more units. Then he still has gold to summon a hoodie or summon a Skele and cast Deteriorate. If necessary he can also sac the crawler saving it for later in Graveyard and/or sac the skele to draw a card.
I think all of this tells me that (a) Thereās no point playing Musketeer as he will 100% die to Orpal (b) I need midband or even maxband Bigby to make killing him more of a commitment (c) I might want to get Oni into play
Options are:
Worker + Maxband Bigby (gives me 2/3A after -1/-1 rune so he will die to Garth+Crawler but Garth needs to maxband first or he dies
Worker + Midband Bigby + Oni (gives me a 1/3A + 1/2 or 2/2 if elite after -1/-1 rune) Bigby dies but Oni probably survives here if I kill the Skele. If he tries to leave both I can always trade Oni in before summoning Quince but Iāll not really be able to get my engine going due to gold limitations
Garrison + Oni (gives me a 1/2A + 1/2 or 2/2 if elite and engine started), both heroes die so he gets 4g more for free.
Garrison + Midband Bigby (gives me a 1/3A after -1/-1 rune, almost certainly dies but will protect my tech buildings and Garrison, probably
Arrest skele, trade Hound into Crawler, then Garrison or Midband Bigby + Worker, I donāt like him getting a gold and keeping Crawler in graveyard. Probably not a great line either way.
On balance I hate the worker skip but I think 4 gives me the best bet to rush another Free Speech on and build a board. I need to decide where I patrol the mirror, it might be best in Scavenger as Iāll have card draw active but no guarantees of enough gold to cycle well. Final question is do I stash the Musketeer for next turn, perhaps with the mirror in scavenger thatāll be ok to try.
Edit 1: Screwed up my tech choice. Now redone and redrawn
Edit 2: Forgot to have hound kill Skele as per first version. Now fixed
@thehug0naut apologies, I had in my ānext handā a stale hand from before I had changed my tech choices. This is my actual ānext handā (I will edit in as well):
Thieving Imp
Gorgon
Cursed Ghoul
Sacrifice the Weak
How would you like to change your post LS choices or patrols?
Spectral Hound (cheap big body for draws)
Free Speech (If not win condition then stay-in-the-game-condition)
STARTING HAND
Lawful Search
Flagstone Garrison
Bluecoat Musketeer ā Stash
LS Draw ā Arrest ā Worker (A painful loss vs Gorgon but I need as many non-illusion units as possible now)
WORKERS
Porkhand Magistrate
Jail
Building Inspector
Reputable Newsman
Arrest
NextHand
Bluecoat Musketeer
Overeager Cadet
Spectral Hound
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Bigby - ($6)
Lawful Search, draw a card, look at your hand - ($5)
Hound kills skele, takes 1
Garrison - ($2)
Worker - ($1)
Float ($1)
Stash 1, Discard 0, reshuffle, draw 2
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: L1 Bigby Hayes 2/3A [Stash]
Elite:
Scavenger: Mirror Illusion 0/1
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Spectral Hound 3/1
Flagstone Garrison -/4
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Peace)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 3
Deck: 8
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 9
Thoughts
After playing Bigby and Lawful Search, its clear I canāt get a good run at Garrison draws (and maybe I should have thought about that last turn) He will almost certainly be playing for D&D as a win condition and so my most important play is to get Free Speech delivered next turn to stop that and protect my units as much as possible from death by -1/-1 runes. That costs 4g next turn and then I have to hope I can patrol well enough to keep Quince alive for the next turn. Definitely feels bad that I canāt tech both Free Speeches and then let Bigby also cast it with Jurisdiction.
Potential Options:
Hound kills Skele+Garrison+Worker+Float 1g. Maximum economy.
Hound kills Skele+Garrison+Musketeer+draw. Strong payoff if I hit a cadet but only 20% chance of hitting and then behind on gold and cards. Slight bonus in that I get to Stash a card so I could ensure Free Speech or a non-zero cost unit stays in hand if I draw it. Donāt really rate Musketeer for patrolling this turn though.
Hound kills Skele+Garrison+Oni. Patrol Bigby in SQL, Oni in Scav. Gives me Oni next turn for extra aggro but still down a worker.
I think I want option 1. Leans more into my Garrison engine and maximises my economy. Hopefully it pays off. Patrol Bigby in SQL. Mirror in Scav as I think everything I want to do will be gold limited now.
Pestering Haunt, Jandra, The Negator, Summon Skeletons, Poisonblade Rogue
Patrol as below
Discard 3 Draw 4 rs Draw 1
Board Info:
Buildings:
Base HP: 18
Tech1 HP: 5
Tech2 HP: 5 DISEASE
In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Orpal (1/3a)
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Garth (3/4 lvl 7)
Cursed Crow (3/3)
Cursed Ghoul (4/5)
Crypt Crawler (3/2)
Skeletal Archery
Graveyard (3hp)
Economy Info:
Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 5
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 9
End of Turn Hand
Soul Stone
Skeleton Javelineer
Deteriorate
Dark Pact
Sacrifice the Weak
End of Turn Discard
My Thoughts
Idk this might be close actually, if I get hit by Free Speech or stuck on my current hero lineup I donāt want to be unable to kill the garrison. Guess Iāll have Garth butter it up and if the block does, come, tech 3 time.
Spectral Hound
Spectral Flagbearer
Spectral Flagbearer
Free Speech
Lawful Search
Traffic Director
Manufactured Truth
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float + Scavenger - ($11)
Cadet, draw
Spectral Hound, draw - ($10)
Lawful Search, draw a card and look at your hand - ($9)
Bluecoat Musketeer, draw - ($7)
Quince+Midband - ($3)
Free Speech - ($1)
Float ($1)
Discard 2, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Spectral Hound 3/3A
Elite: Overeager Cadet 3/2
Scavenger: Bluecoat Musketeer 1/2
Technician:
Lookout: Mirror Illusion 0/1
In Play:
L3 Sirius Quince 1/4
Flagstone Garrison -/1
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Peace)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 0
Disc: 7
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 9
Thoughts
So Iāve teched in more cheap illusions units in the hope that I can draw my second Garrison and start looping properly. Its not really a win condition but I donāt think I have enough gold to really do anything else right now. Sergeants or Judgement Day seem like plausible next plays if I can stabilise.
Ooft Iāve caught him with a hand full of spells and Iāve got Free Speech in hand. Once I cast that heās got zero way to target my units. Hound in SQL seems great since it can only be solo killed by Ghoul. If I midband Quince heās protected from Crow flying over and can also only be solo killed by Ghoul. Other than Orpal who can get up to 2, heās working with the attack heās got available in play so one more body 2HP body will guarantee I either have Quince or my 1HP Garrison next turn.
I guess Musketeer is worth the risk at it lets me maintain the threat of maxband Oni for my next turn. I need some luck to win this game anyway.
Soul Stone
Skeleton Javelineer
Deteriorate
Dark Pact
Sacrifice the Weak
Events of Turn:
Upkeep:
Get Gold (9)
Tech 2 cards (except turn 1)
All Teched Cards
Plague Lord x2
Sickness, Gorgon
Cursed Ghoul, Soul Stone
Sickness, Gorgon
Crypt Crawler, Dark Pact
Main:
Skeleton Javelineer (8)
Worker (7)
Tech 3 (2)
Tech Lab Demonology (1)
Ghoul kills SQL, takes 3
Crow kills Elite
Garth kills Scav, takes 1, you get 1g
Orpal kills Lookout
Crypt Crawler breaks your garrison
Workers
Sacrifice the Weak, Pestering Haunt, Jandra, The Negator, Summon Skeletons, Poisonblade Rogue
Patrol as below
Discard 3 Draw 4 rs Draw 1
Board Info:
Buildings:
Base HP: 18
Tech1 HP: 5
Tech2 HP: 5 DISEASE
Tech3 HP: 5
In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Skeleton Javelineer (1/1a)
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Garth (3/3 lvl 7)
Cursed Crow (3/3)
Cursed Ghoul (4/2)
Crypt Crawler (3/2)
Orpal (1/3 lvl 1)
Skeletal Archery
Graveyard (3hp)
Economy Info:
Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 4
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 2
Workers: 10
End of Turn Hand
Gorgon
Sickness
Thieving Imp
Sickness
Plague Lord
End of Turn Discard
My Thoughts
Going to be some attrition here it seems, weāll see how big the engine gets restarted next turn but I like where Iām at. Debatable if I should go Zarramonde and Tech Lab, but I think Plague Lord might actually be better against Peace so weāll do that first.
Free Speech, re-Garrison and hope we draw ok. I tossed in some Tax Collectors as I think the Free Speeches will force him to store up gold, especially with his Tech III built.
Well I think that went about as well as could be expected. I considered patrolling Quince but I think I just die without Free Speech. I think Iām probably dead anyway but at least I have a chance if his heroes are inert. This way if I get lucky I might keep one of Quince or Garrison for next turn.
Nothing I can do to salvage this one, GG! Had a couple of really busy days there, hence the delay responding.
I thought my plan mostly worked ok, though my hand size hurt me again, limiting my initial Garrison turns. Free Speech was really good at keeping me alive but I couldnāt sustain it.
Musketeer change obviously made no real impact, kept hoping to be able to use him but it never seemed to work out. Honestly thatās probably a good sign for it not being super broken vs Purple.
Iām game to try another as P1 Blue if youāre up for it? Any of the other changes you think we shoud try?
For what itās worth I actually thought the threat of the hasty damage from musketeer affected my play quite a bit! You can read through my thoughts for a couple turns where I had to patrol more conservatively because of it
Iām game to play another, that felt pretty close so maybe we run out back no changes right now and reevaluate after
Thatās great if it forced some different patrolling! Psychologically it was quite nice to know I had a hasty option available even if I didnāt get the chance to use it.
I was thinking towards the end of that game that main thing I would like is to do some work on making Bigby and Law tech II slightly better so that I have more options. I donāt think Peace or Truth are well suited to play vs Black so maybe an improved Law would work. Iāll keep thinking about that and we can discuss after our next game.
Speaking of which, GLHF
P1T1
StartingHand Workers
STARTING HAND
Traffic Director
Building Inspector ā Worker (I still say this is unplayable vs Black)
Lawful Search
Bluecoat Musketeer
Arrest
WORKERS
Building Inspector
NextHand
Spectral Aven
Jail
Manufactured Truth
Reputable Newsman
Porkhand Magistrate
Discard
Bluecoat Musketeer
Arrest
Lawful Search
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($4)
Worker - ($3)
Oni - ($1)
Traffic Director - ($0)
I really like that musketeer buff of yours. Probably itās too strong against nullcraft, but this Oni start effectively neglects a proper imp start for black, which is huge. Thanks for testing these things out!
Options are to play Jail and go passive, play Aven and MT then trade Oni to kill Jandra, or delay Tech I to midband Oni and murder Jandra. Actually I donāt hate that last one. Got to watch about being low on units but Elite Training will be a real threat and I get three soldiers next turn if I max Oni. Boot Camp and Elite Training are both fine. Worst case I can Max Oni and Boot Camp a soldier of mine, or Newsman or sth.