Math Mathonwy

Kang is a simple man. To him, every tool is a shovel. A sledge hammer is a Whomping Shovel because it's a tool that you whomp with. The shovel is actually the "wrong" weapon, since, to Kang, a shovel is a Shovelling Shovel. He is somewhat jealous of Lone Swordsman's Slicing Shovel, though. Strange but true!

He had a "pre-release" in Gencon so the box is ready. There was a lot of stuff at Gencon and the fall is taken by Wyrd releasing them. The exact order is a mystery but likely December or January at the latest. That said, I do agree with ZFiend. Malifaux works best if you have a bit of a choice in what you take (since you build your crew after you hear the objectives and your opponent's faction) so having two starters is IMO the best way to start. Any of the available Guild Starters would complement the Lucius box well. If you go for Neverborn style, then it's a bit trickier to say which one would work the best with Lucius. Maybe Zoraida?

I would ask around your gaming group - someone is likely to have something suitable for a replacement arm. Another option is to ask your local Henchman if you have one - he is likely an experienced modeler and might be able to salvage the arm after all. Or you could do a small nub on the shoulder and make him one-armed. There's plenty of one-armed wuxia warriors, after all. Finally, it's a bit of a cold comfort, but you are somewhat unlikely to often use three Torakage in a game once you have a bigger collection of minis. Two is actually plenty. But of course this won't help you if you are just beginning.

In 35SS I would take two Henchmen. Francisco and Ryle, for example. Or Ryle in the lead with Sidir as the second-in-command. Or Judge and Francisco. Guild have excellent Henchmen and are, all in all, very good in small games since they have lots of models that don't need synergy bonuses but rather work extremely well on their own.

I think that the new Witchling Stalkers are plenty awesome looking and they are single piece. But that is of course an extreme - no one is clamoring for just single-piece models. But the bottom line is that you can make excellent minis that are easy to put together. Heck, what Wyrd said about switching manufacturing companies and the piece layout of Miss Ery contradicts your notion quite clearly.

Gracie, btw, was a joy to put together. Everything fit perfectly, there were pegs that go into holes and only one seam and that wasn't too bad.

Ah, I read you completely wrong. True that (and pretty funny, too)!

How is it damaged? If it is just the weapon, maybe you could swap in something different? Ask around in your gaming group - someone is very likely to have a spare weapon that would work. A spear or a polearm of some sort is easy to build if it comes to that.

I think that your quotes reinforce the original interpretation. Emphasis mine. So the important part is the flip and you flip multiple cards. For the duel you have to choose one that remains but you did flip all the cards you flipped. As for it being overpowered, it really, really isn't. Compared to the true powerhouse Effigies such as Brutal or Arcane or Shadow, this is peanuts. It would make it usable because otherwise it's "heal one damage for every four duels you perform" which is really lackluster.

McM isn't undead and Plastic Surgery specified "other models".

Oh aye, I worded it badly. I didn't believe that you never get damaged - mea culpa! Healing is great in mitigating the damage that your dudes suffer from Dumb Luck. Rami, Rafael, and Francois all love to be healed every once in a while. And even Thinking Lucks tend to pile up, so Ophelia and a shooty Somer can partake in the love as well.

I still don't understand why "if kills, summon" happens after removing the killed model (at least if going by book and FAQ text). I think that an easy case would be made for them to be simultaneous (and thus the acting player could decide the order). The fact that there is an absence of text that is in other summons doesn't prove it one way or another IMHO. But I guess I'll just play that way as people seem to have a strong consensus (even if I don't understand what it is based on).

She was - I didn't think that it would affect her Pounce ability (as it triggers when a model comes to within 1"), but now that you mention it, it actually might since her Ml range becomes 0". I'll tell him you said "hi" if I manage to kill his Misaki

Thank you! Coming from you that means a lot! Oh aye, in this first game I freely talked with my opponent about what I thought he should do and what to take into account in the decision making. Often my original suggestion wasn't actually the best move but through the conversation we figured out a better move. My opponent is really super good in Eden (a different skirmish game) so he isn't a newbie to the hobby and has great insight so I feel that I learned really a lot, too. It was a very enjoyable exercise! But my next league game will actually be against ZFiend. He's most likely the most experienced Fauxer we have and I would rank him in the top two skill-wise (and no, I'm not the other one in there), so no kid gloves there But yeah, it will be interesting to see how it goes when I face my next newbie. I have the advantage that my ambitions for the league reside in the painting part more than in the gaming part this time around, so I don't as feel much pressure to win games. Oh aye, it definitely changes things. The small model pools limit real customization against a specific enemy but there is certainly a very different dynamic to the crew building this way. Schemes and Strategy are more difficult to customize for and will certainly buff some very versatile crews while making problems for others. But since us experienced guys have between half a dozen and a dozen Masters each and model collections to match, we really needed some way to rein in the advantage. The limited pools make for an even playing field, though it certainly does make it possible to try and get more armour bypassing stuff against Mei Feng and such things. So yeah, it's a less-than-ideal situation but most likely better than following the normal rules (which I most certainly prefer under normal circumstances). Most definitely. When I got it in my starting hand, I knew that I could trap Lilith. Having her off my back on the second turn really saved me - the Frame for Murder actually meant that killing McM might not've been in my opponent's best interests since Sebastian's direct killing power is severely limited, but he could've killed my support. Especially with the movement tricks he could've even gone after the Lawyer.

Well, if you never take damage, I don't think that you will need healing. Nor any advice, really, since not taking any appreciable damage usually means that you are winning.

But look at the Somer box unboxing:http://gmortschaotica.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/unboxing-malifaux-somer-teeth-joness.html The new and old Bayou Gremlins are of comparable heights. The new ones are maybe a tiny bit taller. The old kin were of similar height to the old Bayou Gremlins. But the new kin are gigantic compared to the old kin which leads me to think that the new kin are much bigger than the new Bayou Gremlins. Which isn't a good thing since they are still all Ht1. And it's aesthetically super weird as well. And all of this is aside from those two Young LaCroix giant mutants that are obviously just a horrible mistake. I really, really wish that Wyrd would address this somehow. Even if it was just to say "Sorry guys, we really messed up but fixing it would be too expensive so this is what you will have to live with. We will strive to do better in the future and Brewie's box will be properly scaled."

Oh aye, disengaging strikes could have ruined it - good point. Very interesting. We've been really struggling with strict time limits for Malifaux here and it is very interesting to read about different experiences. Well, you did at least beat him with his own faction so probably gave him good fodder for thought on how to better utilize his models

I just began playing Guild McM in a slow grow league and posted some of my thoughts here: http://wyrd-games.net/community/topic/103373-the-amazing-adventures-of-slow-growing-guild-mcmourning-in-helsinki/ I sorta think the same but that three damage from activating with the Poison condition near Sebastian is just pretty damn huge. Without upgrades Sebastian is quite affordable, sorta durable and can be devastating in finishing off McMourning's poisoned victims. Heck, his own melee damage is quite obscene if you factor in the three extra damage from Poison.

Our local Helsinki Malifaux group is having a slow grow league and I hope to use this thread to record my musings and some battle reports. I hope to do a proper battle report with pics and all some time in the nearish future but for now the reports will be short and sweet. The idea of the league was that the veteran would take Masters that are slightly lower on the power curve while the newbies can take whatever they fancy. So, counting myself among the veterans, Guild McMourning seemed to fit the bill nicely. I think that the Guild version of McMourning is a lot weaker than his Resser incarnation. He loses his real poison weaponry (gimps Sebastian as well), his summoning(!), and access to Rotten Belles and gains access to the fantastic Guild Henchmen, Witchling Stalkers, and Austringers. That isn’t to say that he is useless as a Guild, just that I think that the Resser version is a lot more powerful. Since his Resser starter set makes for a lousy Guild starter set, I was allowed to add a Guild Lawyer to my hiring pool due to giving up the Flesh Construct and the Canine Remains. This meant that my only real damage dealer was McMourning himself with Sebastian providing improved Poison damage. First game was just Starter against Starter at 35SS, for the second we can add a box but it will still be 35SS, for the third another box and the game is upped to 40SS, and so on. There’s also Achievements to be had and a painting prize to be won. For the first game a veteran was paired with a newbie and no league points were awarded. The idea was that the veteran could share his thoughts on the game freely and guide the newbie a bit in preparation for the challenges to come. So, I faced Lilith. Our actual first game we called on turn three due to time constraints and scheduled a rematch now that my opponent had a better idea of his own crew as well as mine. So the following is the account of the second game, which I consider the “proper” league game. So yeah, Lilith’s starter box. Reconnoiter with ALITS, Breakthrough, Protect Territory, Frame for Murder, and Outflank in the pool. My list was: McMourning w On the Clock, Evidence Tampering, Badge of Office Sebastian w Lead-lined Coat 2 x Nurse Guild Lawyer Zombie Chihuahua And I was up against: Lilith w Living Blade, Beckon Malifaux, and Wicked Mistress Barbaros w Gladiatus and Grow 3 x Terror Tot Cherub I chose Frame for Murder on Purple-haired Nurse and announced Protect Territory, he chose Frame for Murder on Barbaros and announced Breakthrough. The game began with me advancing with the Lawyer, Sebastian, and the Chihuahua, while a Tot sprinted forward aggressively. Lilith jumped to the Tot, grew some woods and lured the Purple-haired Nurse into the woods giving out Slow and 2 wounds in the process. The other Nurse moved into position to give some meds to the Lilith next turn. McMourning ran 15 inches and threw his scalpel at Barbaros who flipped a 13 of Masks for defense and slapped the doctor weirdly from 5” away. The initiative flip on the second turn was critical but I won it. The other Nurse paralyzed Lilith with a 13 of Crows (not even a Red Joker would’ve saved her) and proceeded to paralyze the Terror Tot next to her as well. Horrified by the power of the Nurses, Barbaros charged the Purple-haired Nurse and killed her with a Red Joker growing a Tot in the process and throwing out a challenge. The Lawyer noticed this and accused Barbaros of murder netting me 3 VP. McMourning had to attack Barbaros due to the challenge so laid into him with four attacks but failed (luckily) to kill the brute. The newly grown Young Nephilim smashed McMourning into a nearby wall eliciting a pounce from Lilith but the durable doctor survived through judicious use of Soul Stones. The Chihuahua came to poison the Young and Cherub shot it dead with one severe arrow. Lawyer went his own way while Sebastian sauntered over to triple the poison damage on Barbaros and the Young. My opponent scored for Reconnoiter with his faraway Tot. Next turn I again drew the 13 of Crows but my opponent flipped the Red Joker on initiative (I flipped a 12 of Crows). Lilith moved her forest to shield Barbaros and the Young from Sebastian’s evil influence, lured the other Nurse to a double pounce from Lilith and the Tot but failed to kill the Nurse. I stupidly pushed away with Nurse’s trigger so Lilith repeated the lure and pounce routine but through phenomenal luck Nurse survived those and also Lilith’s last swing. She naturally told Lilith to take her meds (something relaxing for those anger issues) and paralyzed her with the 13 of Crows again. McMourning tried to kill Barbaros but failed leaving him at two wounds with two poison. Barbaros and the Young returned the favour hitting McMourning and throwing him for Lilith but the doctor endured. Sebastian moved to hit the Young and spell his doom due to poison. The Tot next to Lilith skewered the other Nurse and grew into a Young while Lawyer dropped scheme markers in the other part of the battlefield and the faraway Tot kept Reconnoitering. Barbaros and the doomed Young died to Poison. Fourth turn McMourning ran as far away from the still paralyred Lilith as he could throwing a scalpel at the faraway Tot doing moderate damage and poison dooming the little one. Cherub shot at McMourning pushing him back towards Lilith and away from LOS of the Tot. Tot ran next to McMourning to die and spill Black Blood. Young made Breakthrough and Lawyer made Protect Territory. Sebastian also moved to Protect Territory. I scored for Reconnoiter. Fifth turn Lilith won initiative and lured McMourning in. She hit him twice but Badge of Office kept him alive and a cheated Red Joker made her miss her final strike. McMourning decided to show who is the true melee Master and launched into a flurry of three blows against Lilith, hitting with all and killing her. Young made Breakthrough and Sebastian and Lawyer protected territory while Cherub failed to hit Sebastian. I scored for Reconnoiter and the game ended 8-5 in my favour. A very tight game and had I not paralyzed Lilith twice during the game I’m pretty sure I would’ve lost. I was really lucky to fail to kill Barbaros with McMourning - it could have really easily been a draw. Lilith’s movement trick arsenal is downright insane. Tots on their own aren’t very good at anything besides running but once they turn into Youngs they get scary. McMourning I used as a simple melee beatstick and tank and he performed that nicely. His actual damage wasn’t all that really until the last turn killing Lilith kinda vindicated him but his durability was certainly amazing. Sebastian with Lead-lined coat was very durable but kinda slow and doesn’t do much besides Induction+Catalyst. Which is phenomenal of course but I think that once I get more minis to use I’ll drop the Coat. On the first, aborted game, I used Sebastian to shield my crew from Cherub’s missiles (which are utterly insane, btw!) so I can see a use against shooty crews, for sure. Nurses are, of course, absolutely fantastic. Crazy good. Not very durable but OTOH you can survive even Lilith’s full attention if you’re lucky. Lawyer did VPs out in his own corner and Chihuahua I positioned badly. One cool thing about the crew is that is very heterogenous when it comes to suit needs. Once I get some “proper” Guild models I have a clear need for Crows, Masks and Rams and some use for Tomes as well. This is so much better than, e.g., Lilith’s all Masks all the time style. Next I’ll be adding Francisco, I think. In theory he should help with McMourning’s lackluster defensive stats but in practice it might be difficult to keep up with the good doctor’s rather frantic pace. That aside Francisco is a nice damage dealer and therefore definitely something that my crew needs. Witchling Stalkers are in line after.

But is it just reminder text (like "in play" or like "towards" vs "directly towards") or is it of real significance? I swear I'm not trying to be obtuse or difficult, I just really don't understand how the timing works and don't seem to find anything official on the matter.

Well, then there's these: http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/LandIronclads/Olympians/VLI-9003.html They are 2mm scale Martian Tripods. There's some other types as well.

Thank you! Is this in the FAQ or does this follow from the rulebook text somehow? Or is this something that Justin has said on the forums?

Oh, Witchling Handler and the Guardian is a match made in heaven! She deals heavy damage but her defense is just her high stat - a perfect target for the Guardian. And on the other side, her Burn Them, Burn Them All! makes the Guardian's damage track far nicer. Heck, Shield Press does an automatic one damage + Burning on a Crow.

First of all, and most importantly, thank you again Gmort for doing these. Much, much appreciated! As for the models themselves, scale and Ht are apparently completely divorced these days A comparison to the plastic Bayou Gremlins would be very interesting, I think. Also a better, from the side pic of the Youngs would be appreciated. But I understand if you don't wish to do these.

We had a Terror Tot kill a Nurse in the vicinity of Barbaros with the Rapid Growth Upgrade. Now, do you remove the Nurse before or after summoning the Young Nephilim? This was important since you couldn't summon on top of the model. The card simply says (slightly paraphrased but left all the important words unchanged) "If a friendly Tot kills an enemy model with an Attack Action, Summon a Young Nephilim into btb with the Tot. Then, sacrifice the Tot."