Flashpoint Finchley 56 - March 2001
We meet as usual in The Elephant Inn but found that we had some competition for our usual room. As our rivals were a Tai Kwon Do club, we thought better of challenging them and so set up in the Buffalo room - the meeting room of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffalos. This has lots of character and would be perfect for a INWO event as it is full of masonic artifacts. This worked out well and some even preferred the better light.
There were sixteen of us and we played our most standard format - double elimination in 4-player games. There were four tables and each round lasted until one game was left - they then got 10 minutes to finish. And there was no funny stuff - no playtest or RetroFist cards.
The company included the usual mix of novice and veteran, young and old, male and female, yin and yang. Soundtrack music played as background. My collection of such continues to grow and I recently added Get Carter (goodbye Eric!) and Once Upon a Time in China (thanks to Ryan).
FACTION
PLAYER ADFHJLM DECK NAME
Andrew Davidson A.FH... Tickertape
Andy Holt .....L. J'accuse
Anil Das-Gupta ...H.L. Rollin'
Arthur Howlin .D.H... Idle Bastards
Beth Mullis ...H...
Callum Finlayson A......
Colin Burton ....J.. Monkey Magic
Daniel VandenBurg .D....M Golden Gunman Deluxe
Dave Martin A.F.... Cop This
Felicity Challis .D..... It's a Dragon
Jonathan Challis A..H...
Michael Rogers .DF.... The Usual Suspects
Nithyan Thiruudaian ..F....
Ryan Keane .DF....
Steve Bailey .DF.J.. Baboomaholic
Yuit Sum Vong ...H... Harmony
The Lotus seems to have fallen from favour while the Hand continue to make a strong showing and the Dragons have made a Golden Comeback.
The results were:
Round 1
Anil Das Gupta beat Daniel, Dave, Felicity
Andy Holt beat Arthur, Beth, Steve Bailey
Michael Rogers beat Colin, Ryan, Yuit
Nithyan Thiruudaian beat Andrew, Callum, Jonathan (time out)
Round 2
Jonathan Challis beat Anil, Beth, Colin
Michael Rogers beat Andrew, Arthur, Dave
Yuit Sum Vong beat Andy, Callum, Daniel
Ryan Keane beat Felicity, Steve Bailey, Nithyan (time out)
Consolations
Andrew Davidson beat Daniel, Dave, Beth
Callum Finlayson beat Felicity, Michael, Steve Bailey
Semi-Finals
Yuit Sum Vong beat Nithyan, Andy
Ryan Keane beat Anil, Jonathan (time out)
The final game was now between double-winner Michael and semi-final winners Yuit and Ryan. Amusingly this repeated their first round game in which all three players had sat in exactly the same seats. The only difference was that Colin was now out. Michael had won the first time - could he do it again?
Yuit's deck was Hand + Chi while Michael and Ryan were both playing Architect + Dragon. Auctions were quite a feature of this game and the Golden Gunman went through many incarnations. I recorded the details as they happened and here they are. Yuit went first.
BLOW BY BLOW
Y1: plays FSS
M1: plays FSS + DNA Mage
R1: plays FSS + Hacker
Y2: plays FSS
M2: -
R2: plays FSS
Y3: plays Shaolin Sanctuary
M3: plays Secret HQ
R3: -
Y4: plays Yellow Senshi Chamber (YSC)
M4: plays Hacker + Dirk Wisely's Gambit
Ryan intercepts with his Hacker
Yuit helps with YSC
Michael Imprisons Ryan's Hacker.
Ryan plays Final Brawl
R4: plays $10,000 Man who takes Shaolin Sanctuary
Y5: plays White Senshi Chamber (WSC)
plays Righteous Protector
M5: plays DNA Mage in col 1
R5: plays FSS #3 behind Shaolin Sanctuary
$10,000 Man attacks YSC
YSC redirects 1 to Ryan's FSS #1 = Mobius Garden
Y6: plays Shield of Pure Soul
plays Golden Candle Society (GCS) in col 2
GCS + Righteous Protector attack Shaolin Sanctuary = 4 damage
M6: plays Ting Ting who attacks YSC
YSC redirects 1 to Michaels' 2nd col FSS = City Park
YSC is seized, Yuit uses the Shield
R6: plays Golden Gunman using Smiling Heaven Lake (col 2, row 2)
$10,000 Man attacks City Park = 6 damage
Golden Gunman attacks City Park
Michael uses YSC to smoke Shaolin Sanctuary
Ryan burns City Park for victory
Michael replaces it with another City Park behind YSC
Y7: plays Fong Sai Yuk who attacks Ryan's Smiling Heaven Lake
there is some politicking but Yuit persists and burns it for
victory
M7: plays Golden Gunman and bids 1 to win the auction
Ting Ting attacks Mobius Garden
$10,000 Man intercepts
Michael uses YSC to send 1 to Yuit's GCS which dies
Ryan uses Turtle Beach to suck up all the damage from Ting Ting
Golden Gunman gets cold feet and doesn't attack
R7: $10,000 Man attacks Yuit's WSC
uses Satellite intelligence to swap with a FSS
Michael sends Golden Gunman to assist the attack
It's an Inner Sanctum which is burnt for power
Yuit uses the Shield
Michael "feels safe"
Y8: plays Iron Monkey who attacks Ryan's Mobius Garden adding 5 damage
and stealing 2 power
Fong Sai Yuk follows up and, after some thought, burning it for
victory (2nd BFV)
M8: Has a problem as there no front row FSS - Ryan has no sites and
Yuit's only FSS is behind the WSC.
Michael currently has 4 sites (FSS?, Secret HQ, YSC & City Park)
Golden Gunman attacks WSC and seizes it - Yuit uses the Shield
Ting Ting heals the damage she took from the $10,000 Man
R8: drawing no power, discards 2 cards
plays FSS for 1 power
plays Redeemed Gunman and DNA Mage
$10,000 Man and Redeemed Gunman attack Michael's FSS
it's a Nine Dragon Temple which is burnt for power
Y9: plays Violet Med on Michael (-2 because of errata)
plays FSS #2 in col 1
Iron Monkey attacks YSC
Michael has 8 power so plays Nerve Gas which Yuit cancels with
Confucian Stability
Michael drops Neutron Bomb
Yuit plays Wind for 1 to get back Confucian Stability
Yuit plays Shaolin Sanctuary (which appears to be illegal but
no-one noticed)
M9: plays FSS (col 1, row 2)
plays Plasma Trooper and Friends in col 2
they attack Yuit's FSS
the Trooper gets a Godhammer which Yuit cancels with Confucian
Stability
Yuit's City Square takes 4
plays The Prof
R9: has 6 power
plays Golden Comeback on Golden Gunman
plays CHAR who attacks Yuit's City Square and siezes it
Yuit uses the Shield
Golden Gunman attacks YSC
The Prof unturns the Plasma Trooper who intercepts
Ryan plays Fighting Spirit for Golden Comeback and Final Brawl
Final Brawl - YSC sends 1 damage to Golden Gunman
Plasma Trooper dies
Yuit's Fox Pass is used to take the three damage
Y10: Violet Meditation on Michael for 3
Righteous Protector
M10: plays FSS (in col 3 row 2)
his only character is The Prof who sits tight
R10: 2 power
CHAR attacks Fox Pass and is Imprisoned by Michael
Golden Gunman attacks Fox Pass - Yuit and Michael confer
The Prof intercepts
YSC sends 1 damage to Ryan's FSS (1,1)
Yuit's Righteous Protector takes the other 2 damage
The Prof does 1 damage to the Golden Gunman who now has 2
fighting
Y11: generates 2 power giving her 3
plays The Fox Outfoxed on Michael's Secret HQ
M11: generates 5 power giving him 8 - Yuit gains 2 power from the
Secret HQ
plays Abominable Lab in col 4 - complains that he has no
characters
R11: generates 2 giving him 4 power
Golden Gunman heals
plays CHAR again who attacks Fox Pass
Fox Pass diverts him to Shaolin Sanctuary which is seized
Y12: generates 1 giving her 4
Michael plays Nerve Gas on Righteous Protector which Yuit
cancles with Confucian Stability
M12: generates 6 power giving him 11 (Yuit gains 2)
plays Golden Gunman and bids 1
Yuit bids 5 which Michael overbids with 6 - all his power
Golden Gunman attacks Fox Pass
Ryan redirects with City Sqauare to Shaolin Sanctuary
YSC redirects 1 to Righteous Protector
The Prof unturns Golden Gunman who attacks Fox Pass again
Fox Pass is burnt for power and Yuit uses the Shield
R12: CHAR attacks White Senshi Chamber and is Imprisoned by Michael
again
Y13: Yuit has no sites and discards several cards
plays a FSS for 1 power
plays Sun Chen who attacks YSC and seizes it
M13: generates 5 for 8 (Yuit gains 2)
Yuit plays Wind for 3 - Michael cancels with Ring of Gates
reveals FSS in (2,2) is City Square and bids 2 - Ryan's is smoked
Golden Gunman attacks Puzzle Garden (Ryan's?)
YSC send 1 damage to Golden Gunman, Puzzle Garden takes 2
plays Vivisector
R13: Pocket Demon on Michael for 6
Golden Comeback Golden Gunman
Michael vivisects his GG in response to prevent an auction
Golden Gunman attacks City Park behind The Prof/Vivisector
Michael redirects with City Square to Secret HQ
Ryan tries to Back for Seconds the Gunman - oops - can't do that
Plays a DNA Mage instead
(it's now 8 pm - tournament play started at 1 pm)
Y14: Generates 2 for 3
plays FSS at (2,1)
Sun Chen attacks City Park
Michael plays Cellular Reinvigoration which Yuit cancels with
Confucian Stability
Ryan drops a Neutron Bomb
M14: plays 2 Hackers
they attack Yuit's FSS (1,1) which is Temple of Angry Spirits -
the Hackers die
Scrappy Kid attacks Yuit's FSS (2,1)
Yuit uses YSC to redirect 1 to The Prof who hops into a MegaTank
R14: Golden Comeback Golden Gunman again
Golden Gunman attacks Yuit's FSS (2,1)
it's Petroglyphs and is Burnt for Power
Yuit uses the Shield (Shaolin Surprise for sure)
Y15: generates 2 for 6
plays Shan Tsu who takes MegaTank from The Prof with Shaolin
Surprise then attacks her to kill her and keep it
M15: generates 6 for 7 (Yuit gains 2)
plays 2nd Scrappy Kid, Test Subjects and Chinese Doctor
R15: generates 1 for 6
plays CHAR who uses Flying Kick to attack Temple of Angry Spirits
and burn it for Power
Yuit uses the Shield
Y16: plays FSS (1,2)
Shan Tsu attacks City Park
Michael uses City Square to redirect damage to Secret HQ which
smokes
plays Iron Monkeyv
Michael drops Neutron Bomb - Shan Tsu survives
M16: plays CHAR - declines to attack
R16: generates 1 for 6
plays Drug Lab
Y17: generates 2 for 5
plays Invincible Chi on sites
Shan Tsu attacks City Park to win
(Ryan just had a Pulse - no good because of the Tank, while
Michael was out of stoppers)
Time now 8:30 pm
and so the final result was that
Yuit Sum Vong beat Michael, Ryan
This was quite tense for a 3-player game. Michael looked very strong for a while with a large site structure but all players were very alert to the balance of power and the cards didn't run his way at the end. The Shield of Pure Soul was a great card for Yuit as she used it again and again. Fox Outfoxed then gave her a lot of juice in the final stages, Shaolin Surprise set up the win and then Invincible Chi knocked it home.
Yuit hasn't picked out a prize yet - there's no pressure as she lives with the bag full of prizes. But she did get a fine feast of barbequed lamb at a local Turkish restaurant and having some good bones to gnaw is always a treat. Well done.
Andrew
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Last modified: August 8, 2004.
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