This is a sequel to the Cleansing Downpour Challenge that I had last year. To be brief, I took the team that was pictured on the CD card and went through all the villains and all the environments (though not all combinations thereof) with that team in the computer program.
Matthew Gray has updated his handy difficulty chart and prominent at the top (meaning most difficult) are the Dark Watch heroes. Since I now have access to three of them, I asked myself why not make a team with those guys? Well, why not indeed? So I will. Here are the nuts and bolts:
DW Expatriette and DW Nightmist are scored at +36 each, with DW Fixer at +32. The 3-person team scores out at a hefty +148.
With some opponents I have decided to add Dark Visionary to the team. Not strictly thematic I know, but my game and my rules. DV scores out at -31, and that team is overall +41.
I refuse to play against Spite. Personal preference, sorry.
This is the schedule of opponents, subject to change without notice:
Matchup #1 - Advanced Ambuscade (-99) at Rook City (+66). +115 overall.
Matchup #2 - Advanced Gloomweaver (-86) at Atlantis (+50). +112 overall.
Matchup #3 - The Ennead (-81) at Tomb of Anubis (+4). +71 overall.
Matchup #4 - Baron Blade (-72) at Wagner Mars Base (-14). +62 overall.
Matchup #5 - Miss Information (-55) at Megalopolis (-10). +83 overall.
Matchup #6 - Mad Bomber Blade (-50) at Silver Gulch (-8). +90 overall.
Matchup #7 - Apostate (-49) at Realm of Discord (-17). +82 overall.
Matchup #8 - Akash’Bhuta (-43) at Insula Primalis (+4). +109 overall.
Matchup #9 - Grand Warlord Voss (-23) at Final Wasteland (-58). +67 overall.
Matchup #10 - Plague Rat (-14) at Pike Industrial (0). +134 overall.
Matchup #11 - Omnitron (-10) at Silver Gulch (-8). +130 overall.
Matchup #12 - Citizen Dawn (-1) at Insula Primalis (+4). +151 overall.
Matchup #13 - Skinwalker Gloomweaver (+3) at Realm of Discord (-17). +134 overall.
These are the ones with Dark Visionary:
Matchup #14 - Matriarch (+40) at Megalopolis (-10). +71 overall.
Matchup #15 - Cosmic Omnitron (+57) at Wagner Mars Base (-14). +84 overall.
Matchup #16 - The Chairman (+67) at Pike Industrial (0). +108 overall.
Anyway, the first run against Ambuscade at Rook City took me four tries. I've never done well against Frenchy, especially on advanced; too many tricks up his sleeve prevent me from doing what I want. That and Rook City foiled me the first three times, but on the fourth I finally got him. Fixer kept moving weapons and styles in and out (because he usually blew them up immediately), while Expat kept a steady stream of damage going with her shotgun, which she got early. Nightmist used her necklace to keep her head above water. Two Sonic Mines slowed me down and Ambuscade's Explosive Launcher threatened to take us all out. Not quite, though, as Expatriette got in two shotgun blasts and an RPG launch for the win. Whew! Forgive me, but that wore me out.
Fun fact – while its destruction is resolving, the Sonic Mine still counts as a target. You can have Nightmist redirect its damage into itself and keep it from harming anyone.
I did slightly better against Gloomweaver; this one only took three tries. I put Nightmist in her Mist Form for the first 8 or so turns while Fixer and Expat nibbled down the board and Gloomy. Finally I turned her back to solid form to do her thing. It was just enough, just in time.
Matchup #3 vs. the Ennead at the Tomb of Anubis couldn't have gone better if I had scripted it myself. I got all the cards I needed in the order I wanted them. Nuit was not part of the enemy team. I got some rewards from the environment early so Fixer didn't have to blow up everyone's stuff unless I wanted to. Expatriette got her shotgun and plenty of ammo. Nightmist went into mist form, then got her deck control cards and other goodies. And Anubis didn't show his ugly face once - most unusual for games played here. The heroes were barely scratched and are ready for their next challenge on Mars.
We had to go to Mars to find out next opponent - Baron Blade. This one was mostly under control, despite the low HP totals of our heroes. I let those turrets stay up a little too long. Everyone played their parts, none too much more than the other. Equality, can't ask for more than that.
Next we face everyone's favorite villain - Miss Information!
This time it was Miss Information in Megalopolis. The first try was not successful. Nightmist was targeted with much of the damage and almost all her cards wanted to deal her more damage. So I couldn't do much with her and the other two got whittled down.
But the heroes got their revenge the second time around. The misty one got a better draw and contributed more. And Expatriette started off with her shotgun - always a good sign. It was her Unload that was the killing shot. I hated to have to do it; good help is so hard to find.
Next we find that the wild west is a really dangerous place.
The next featured event was Mad Bomber Blade back in time in Silver Gulch, 1883. The first try was a mess. I got him flipped (which I don't always do), but slowly MBB - with help from the Hayes boys - whittled them all down to nothing. The less said about that, the better.
Speaking of better, the second time around was the charm. Nightmast was in mist form for a few turns, and I got to use Fixer's Grease Gun twice. Expatriette survived with 1 HP for three turns, being saved by sheer luck once and the Grease Gun once. She had the kill shot, with her fire-enhanced Tactical Shotgun. Baron Blade is no longer a menace - until Part III of the trilogy.
We move away from the past and go to a land that's not supposed to exist to fight something that isn't supposed to exist.
The Dark Watch team wandered about the land in whatever vehicle their team should wander around in (probably dark) when the call came into them about trouble in the Realm of Discord. Apostate was causing trouble there. They slowly but steadily worked Apostate and his relics down, thanks to Fixer's Dual Crowbars and various weapons of Expatriette. Nightmist seemed to know what was coming and kept the team a step ahead. On the final environment turn, there was a Portal Fiend lurking, waiting to seriously maim the person or thing that dared to be 2nd highest in HP. That person, thanks to some great manipulation on the team's part, was Apostate at 7. The Fiend struck for 6. Then Ghostly Images came out. Fixer was popped for damage, but Expat got out her unload. Tactical Shotgun to the chest, no relics left in play, and the Dark Watch team was victorious again.
Tune in soon to see them take on Akash'Bhuta at Insula Primalis.
Thank you. I'm glad you approve. And thank you, MigrantP, for the comment about their vehicle of choice.
And now back to the adventures at hand. After failing three times against Akash'Bhuta at Insula Primalis - and not coming close - they decided they needed help. And help showed up at their door in the form of a darkly-dressed lady with mental abilities obviously unknown to mere mortals. The Dark Watch invited her to their team and she accepted, having nothing better to do that day. And it was just in time as Akash was rampaging again on IP. Dark Viz handled the deck manipulation duties expertly, leaving Nightmist to do other things. Fixer did his usual thing by hitting hard and breaking other people's stuff. And Expatriette used lots of guns. The last card was unload, but it wasn't the shotgun that did the trick, it was Pride. So it's true that Pride goes before the fall. Yes folks, I'm here all week. BTW, this adventure scores out at +2.
Next is a classic enemy in a new (to us) environment.
Today's episode was Grand Warlord Voss at the Final Wasteland. The first try ended in defeat, but the second one actually worked. Slowly but surely the team and the environment worked Voss down. Nightmist was in her mist form most of the last half of the game waiting for the environment to kill everyone off. They couldn't quite do it, so she had to call on a couple of Oblivions to do the job.
Next time the difficulty REALLY ramps up. Don't be surprised if they call on a little help.
The Dark Watch team got a call close to home. It seems that Pike Industrial has a bigger problem with rats than usual. Or, perhaps, just a bigger rat. And so it went as the team faced Plague Rat. The Rat, the heroes, and the environment traded blows. Nightmist played her Mist Form just in time - she was down to 1 HP. Soon enough Expatriette and Fixer went down, which was actually good for them, since they could now destroy ongoing and environment cards that they could not do while they were alive. They used it to get rid of the enviro cards they didn't like and keep out the ones they did. Eventually the environment won the day and the Rat was flushed down the sewer (again) with the rest of the garbage. BTW, at a rated difficulty of +134, this is the most difficult challenge I've ever defeated. It didn't feel that way.
Coming up next, the Dark Watch team takes themselves to the volatile Silver Gulch to face the always volatile Omnitron.
The dispatch came in from Silver Gulch that there was a huge mechanical beast from the future hovering around and wreaking havoc. The Dark Watch team was on the case early, but after three tries of getting smacked around by Omnitron, they knew they needed help. So they searched for and eventually found Dark Visionary. And things were completely different, again. The Viz almost single-handedly kept Omnitron under control while everyone else dealt the damage. Nightmight got the kill shot from Scouring MIsts, a card I almost never play. But I needed to hit one of Omni's silly little devices for one, and that was the tool that was available to me. Anyway, Dark Viz grumbled about working with a bunch of amateurs that couldn't do anything without her help. The others tried to inform her about their adventure with Plague Rat, but she was unimpressed. We'll see if they all work together ever again.
Next time Expatriette goes home to meet family. It's not a happy reunion.
Thank you very much. Everyone's kind words and comments mean a lot to me, even if I don't always say so.
The Dark Watch team found trouble on Insula Primalis, headquarters of Citizen Dawn and her Citizens of the Sun. Expatriette's feelings were mixed about heading back there to confront Mommy Dearest. This was not a social call. Initially they were not successful, though an untimely Devastating Aurora saved CD's bacon the last time. Back to HQ they went to brief Dark Visionary. She continued to be impressive in performance and unimpressed by the rest of the team.
With the Viz on the team, those Devastating Auroras came out in the first two turns - one by luck, one by superior psychic ability. From there on it was a matter of swatting down the citizens and ongoings they didn't like and keeping around the ones they could tolerate. It was close, but they were able to put Dawn in her place. This challenge graded out at +44, in case you were wondering. Dark Visionary got a contract to join the team permanently, which she was happy about. Everyone else would just have to make room for her in the Minivan of Darkness.
That big robot thingy that disrupted the lives of Silver Gulch was back - bigger, badder, and meaner than ever. This was Cosmic Omnitron and the new, improved Dark Watch team happened to be in the neighborhood on Wagner Mars Base. Thanks to Dark Visionary and some luck, Omnitron didn't do anything too damaging to us. Nightmist didn't even have to hide in her Mist Form bubble this time. All in all, it's just another fantastic win that they'll talk about on Mars forever. But for the Goth Gals and Fixer, it was just another day at the office.
After a few weeks of peace around the world, the gang got a call from a place close to home - Megalopolis. The girl with the thrift store mask and unhealthy love for birds was terrorizing the population there. The Dark Watch Team restored order on their first try. Careful managment of the birds (including the supersized Huginn & Muninn) and some early Darken the Skies that didn't do anything helped seal the victory.
P.S. I haven't decided whether to extend this challenge to the newly released Mini Pack 2 and Shattered Timelines.
- Miss Information!
Yes folks, I'm here all week. BTW, this adventure scores out at +2.