Goblins v Faeries (Tabletop Simulator)

This report is of the third game of Paul v Paolo on Tabletop Simulator. Last time around, the goblins struggled to make much of a mark against the faeries, with Ribald and the Goblin Airship having trouble targeting anything. This time, the goblins are tooled up with anti/faery tech and are out for revenge!

Goblins

Doug the Flatulent

The Mortician

Shabaroon

Firespitter

Grub

Dim and Dimmer

Faeries (Rogues)

The Fencer

Silvertongue

Belladonna

Muridae

Teetoe

Fraya

Turn 1

The goblins surge forward, forgetting temporarily about the moonstones all around them. Shabaroon casts Goblin Mischief and distributes energy to Firespitter, Doug and the Mortician, whilst taking a catastrophe for himself. Shabaroon’s luck is matched by that of Dim and Dimmer, who starts the game with a catastrophe, bashing himself over the head as he lumbers forward.

 

                        The two troupes close in on one another.

The faeries press forward too, rushing to take possession of the moonstone in the centre of the board. They take care, though, to harvest the 3 moonstones close to their deployment area. Teetoe spends a full 6 energy harvesting hers.

Doug is the last to activate, galloping towards the centre of the board. Fencer steps out of the range of his lance, so Doug goes instead for Slivertongue. Doug can’t believe his luck when he gets 3 thrusts; neither can Slivertongue, when his high guard reduces the damage to just 1.

                    Silvertongue shows his mettle

Turn 2 (this is where it ALL happens)

Now it’s Fencer’s turn to do the chasing. After first Enfeebling Doug, she does 5 damage to him as he retreats. With Doug out of range, she uses her last energy to attack Grub and deal 2 damage.

Shabaroon uses Transcombubulate on Doug to heal all wounds and place him right in the middle of the action. “He’s still enfeebled by Fencer,” I ask. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

“He can still do what I want him to do,” Paolo replies. What could that be?

Grub then follows up with a bug spray combo, dealing two wounds to Fencer. He’s clearly afraid to take her on in combat but those two wounds will prove critical.

Silvertongue responds by persuading Dim and Dimmer to attack Shabaroon, causing a handy couple of wounds. But that does little to hinder the goblin offensive. Dim and Dimmer, coming to his senses, gets a tonne of energy on activation and lumbers towards Silvertongue and would have killed hum outright, but for Silvertongue’s signature move, Promises and Threats, which reduces the damage by 3 and in return gives Dim and Dimmer a further 3 energy, which he uses to chase down Belladonna and Fraya.

Don’t mess with Belladonna! She uses Drops of Nightshade on Dim and Dimmer twice (thanks to a false cause of bluff), so he heads off now to attack Doug. Somehow, the goblin knight survives, with no damage caused to either side.

The Firespitter leaps (as much as Firespitters may) to action and roasts Fraya, making full uses of the extra energy given to him by Shabaroon. Fraya’s moonstone tumbles to the ground, not far from Belladonna.

Overcome with a lust for revenge for his fallen comrade, Muridae forgets that he is a thief with a moonstone and moves in to attack a still-enfeebled Doug. He deals 2 wounds to the goblin knight.

In the final activation of the turn, Doug makes it count. He farts twice, damaging Fencer, Silvertongue and Muridae on the faery side and himself, Dim and Dimmer and Grub on the goblins’. Already wounded, it’s too much for Fencer. Everyone else ends the turn feeling severely nauseated.

So, that was what Paulo had in mind for Doug! How could I have missed it???!

 

                   The post-foul-gases landscape

At the end of turn 2, Faeries are two models down, but leading by 2 moonstones (held by Muridae and a completely out of the action Teetoe) to zero. Thanks largely to their own antics, three goblins are badly wounded, so overall things are pretty even. It was there that we decided to take a break and spend a week planning our next moves.

Turn 3

Things start off badly for the faeries as the Goblins win the roll-off and draw a 2 for Dim and Dimmer, giving him plenty of energy with which to bash Silvertongue. The faery has been reading up on his fencing, however, and deftly brushes away the giant’s blows.

Next up, Belladonna plays faery tricks and swaps places with Muridae, moving the gnome and his moonstone out of reach and conveniently placing herself and her Drops of nightshade right next to Dim and Dimmer. Another unsuccessful call of bluff leaves Dim and Dimmer with two attacks against Doug. For the second time in the game, the goblin survives the onslaught unscathed. Unbelievable!

Frustrated by all the failed attempts at killing things, Shabaroon steps in to show how it’s done. Goblin luck finally puts an end to Silvertongue.

At this point, three models to none down, the non-traditional faery player announces that he’s adopting the traditional faery tactic of running for it. Muridae picks up Fraya’s dropped moonstone and sneaks off and Teetoe turns tail.  Meanwhile, Grub harvests the goblins’ first moonstone and the Mortician heals Dim and Dimmer.

At the end of turn 3, things are looking bleak for the goblins.  Even though they’ve twice the models, they are 3 moonstones to one down and the goblins are so injured that it’s going to be a real challenge to find the energy to harvest next turn. (Harvest the very moonstones they - ahem - ran straight past in turn one in their desperation to take out the faeries).

 

The scene at the end of turn 3. The goblins have some serious harvesting to do and not much energy with which to do it!

Turn 4

Goblins win the roll-off but their luck doesn’t last long. Dim and Dimmer draws a catastrophe and then fails to kill Belladonna with his only energy.

Belladonna retaliates with Drops of nightshade and again (for the third turn this game!!) Dim and Dimmer fails to land a blow on Doug. Six attacks, zero damage. Clearly those two are best pals!

            A mind-controlled Dim and Dimmer fails once again to land a blow on Doug the Flatulent

Shabaroon is once again up to his old tricks. Fresh from his defeat of Slivertongue, and clearly aiming to be ‘Goblin of the Match’, he distributes enough energy to put the game within the goblins’ grasp. The Mortician picks up a moonstone and Grub too, and suddenly we’re 3 moonstones each. Teetoe, who’s been out of the action all game, now decides it’s time to get involved, but she’s too far away to make any impact.

Belladonna realises that the only chance the faeries have to win in sudden death is by taking out Grub, so she uses her reaction steps to get away from Firespitter and move her closer to Grub.

This proves to be the faeries’ crucial mistake.

Instead of firing, the Firespitter gives energy to Doug, who, now freed up from his engagement with Belladonna, chases after Muridae. The poor (!) gnome thought he had sneaked away to safety, but he wasn’t reckoning on Doug’s lance. Three rising attacks from Doug against a sweeping cut, and Muridae falls, scattering his two moonstones around him.

 

The two remaining faeries flee, with just one paltry moonstone to fight over. The five goblins and one giant, with three moonstones between them. Doug stands victorious over another two.

Good game, good game!