Omenbringer

Really hope that when ever the next edition is released the Elevation rules are seriously addressed, they are a mess!

I usually hire 2 Piglets and then have Lenny summon the rest, especially if I have the Pigapult in play. A good Pig Ladder will need at least two piglets, more than that can be done however you need to really think about your activations to keep them controlled. A Hog Whisperer can make it work better as well. This set up (Hog Whisperer and 2 Piglets) is what I generally use as my flank runner and harasser while the Summon Factory spools up. Activation advantage is a huge part of the Gremlin faction, particularly if not going the super elite route. I tend to utilize out activation and "Punches in Bunches" more than many of the other regular Gremlin posters. Wild Boars with Ulix is really starting to grow on me. If deployed well they can really apply pressure early.

Well if you are up for a visit to Cleveland, we have a store with one of the bests selections of Malifaux I have seen anywhere in the country. Near the entire product line including a large selection of older stuff if your prefer the metal sculpts. Though you could also make a shorter trip over to Columbus and visit the Guard Tower. They have a good selection and a Malifaux community as well.

Let me start with compliments on the paint jobs, these are wonderfully done. A few tips for that; first move in closer to the model. A tightly framed composition will give the camera's light sensor a better opportunity to guess the right exposure. Second, see if you can work the cameras "Aperture" setting. Manipulating this will do two positive things for you. The best is that it will increase the "depth of field" for the final composition (more in focus from front to back, you can notice this in the profile pic of Shen Long and the third Monk of High River), the other benefit is that it will reduce the amount of light entering the camera. This will allow the colors to better saturate. Lastly, if your camera allows it you can try "Exposure Compensation" to fine tune the final composition. This can usually be done in third or half step values. From the "blooming" that is occurring I am also wondering if you are using a Light Filter of some sort. To much direct light can cause de-saturation of colors, particularly when the contrast is high (i.e. extremely dark colors next to extremely light colors). You could definitely try a black background for these, though you might then observe de-saturation of the lighter colors. I might suggest a "neutral grey" instead, this should give your cameras light sensor the best opportunity to capture the dark reds and the light skin tones. The only other minor critic I would offer is in regards to Sensei Yu's tattoo. While I compliment you on the work, it does look wonderful, I might recommend applying a very thin (nearly translucent) flesh colored wash (talking about using an actual flesh paint and not an ink or shade) over it to dull it a bit. There have been a number of really good tutorials on how to do this but I found this one from GCT Studios that is worth a look (definitely a more advanced technique but you don't have to go the whole method to get great results). Hopefully some of that helps. Again great job on the models.

That is worded a bit odd but let me see if I can clear it up a bit. The first third would be tall usually solid structures. Think Ht 3+, Blocking, Hard Cover, some times also Impassable, Climbable, Enclosed, and/ or Vantage Point. Key feature is the complete blocking of LOS. The second third would be medium size, more open structures. Think Ht 1-2, Soft Cover, Dense, sometimes also Severe Terrain. Depending on what you are modeling it could be Hard Cover instead of Soft (Stone ruins as opposed to vegetation). Key Feature would be Cover but this terrain doesn't completely block LOS or necessarily inhibit movement. The last third would be terrain which has very little height and is very open. Think no height, no cover, Severe terrain, possibly also Hazardous Terrain. The Key feature here is the Severe terrain feature, this terrain is only intended to slow or restrict movement. So in short it should be 1/3 providing no LOS, 1/3 Protective terrain that allows LOS, and 1/3 movement inhibiting terrain. You can overlap these in larger peices. Back to the original post you could represent these by: 1/3 of the terrain as rocky "Who Doo's" and hills (Ht 3+, Blocking, Impassable or Climbable and Vantage Point). 1/3 as stone ruins, small boulders, cactus groves (Pegasus Hobbies makes some really nice sets though can be a pain to glue), a copse of cotton wood trees, or wagons (Ht 1-2 (possibly taller for the trees), Soft or Hard Cover, possibly also Severe). 1/3 as rivers, ponds, Quick Sand or perhaps a rocky "scree field" these would be (Ht 0, Severe Terrain).

Well Som'er and the Brew Master enter the city for a game of Bullet against VonSchill. And many Gremlin's are described as being in close proximity to Humans, Sparks being a notable recent example. The Into The Bayou book even mentions one Gremlin Family which routinely works, trades, and lives in close proximity with Humans. I would assume that Gremlin's in Malifaux City are treated as second class citizens and utilized for domestic, dirty, or dangerous work. In regards to the 2 Script Bounty hindering a Gremlin Fated traveling abroad, I would say it depends on the local feelings of the community. In the communities of Northern Aggression, Gremlin's are probably much less of a nuisance than in communities closer to the Bayou.

Historically speaking Wyrd has done a very poor job of meeting even their minimum terrain recommendations at GenCon. The tables are often very sparse, though this years were a huge improvement over past GenCon Tournaments (still have a long way to go though). I agree though that these boards generally provide the standard that others build to. That is unfortunate because, as you point out, terrain density and composition play a huge role in model balance. I really wish the books actually showed laid out tables so players had a good expectation. This is one reason I posted the tables I used for my last tournament (though admittedly those were primarily 50% coverage).

I dont know if I would consider your list as a traditional Som'er list, it is really more like a hybrid of the summon factory and an Elite Som'er build (favoring the latter). One of the biggest things you are missing out on is the potential movement Pig Ladders provide via the Truffle Shuffle.

Take a look over at GameMatz for an inexpensive mat.

Painting pigs really isn't that difficult and they can be fun to model since you generally want to spice up their bases to distinguish them from one another.

I agree with your critic of Zipp's limited upgrades, they really don't offer that much in terms of differing play styles. Primarily you are just chosing whether you want to use Soul Stones or Control Cards to remove Conditions. I also agree with your assessment of the Iron Skeeters, they do so much both in and out of Zipp's crew. Som'er's Encouragement is Gremlin only.

Aside from the suggestions of mesas (I have some photos of the board I built with these) and Who Doos (the pieces that Snitchy shows above) you could also build copses of Cotton Wood trees around a pond or stream. Another option is to build several larger pieces to give the board more elevation so you can include wadis (dry stream beds that usually have steep sides). I have an example of a wadi board I built as well if you are interested.

Just to add to Nathan's post, it was also common for horses ridden by women to be selected from smaller breeds. A small women astride (or more correctly side saddle) a small horse wouldn't be that much taller than a tall man (say 6') standing next to her. Just to put the numbers out there a 14 hand Quarter Horse or American Paint is 4' 8" at the shoulders (about the same level as the rider would be in a saddle), the average height of a seated women (seated erect) is about 2' 9" tall, adding the two together would only place the top of the woman's head at 7' 5" above the ground. Also worth considering that the average height of people during the Victorian age was significantly shorter than it is today so you could probably subtract an inch or two from that guess. If she was astride a shorter breed (somewhat likely for a women from means) then again you could subtract 4 to 8 inches (1-2 hands) from the estimate. This would put her right about even with a tall man standing next to her and the horse. Now if she was astride a Clydesdale then yes she would be much taller than most everything around her (6 more hands equals about 24 inches), however those were primarily draft animals (even today) and not generally used for riding (they are uncomfortable to say the least).

I would add to Math's argument that a lot of these walls should not also be Impassable.

Personally I think the Shieldbearers are absolutely amazing for their faction, with Reva really amping them up. As for most potent Masters? Well for me that is a toss up between Reva, Sandeep, and Nelie. Each of those has an amazing set of competitive tools.

I think you will enjoy the Arcanist section once you have it in hand. I tend to agree with a lot of what you have posted, particularly your 2nd point.

You don't have the book?

As a long time Gremlin player I can say without exaggeration that Gremlin's do not suffer against Armor, Incorporeal, or Hard to Wound. Between Dumb Luck and "Punches in Bunches" Gremlin's have a lot of tools to deal with those things. The Swine-cursed are just another tool in that arsenal, but again losing Magical does not neuter them significantly. They can still do what you want them to perfectly fine. Reva doesn't suffer from the lack of substantial summoning (Corpse Candles not withstanding). She can access the Maniacal Laugh upgrade (honestly this one seems tailored to her) which allows her to summon Mindless Zombies for Attrition/ out activation and better positioning of those Corpse Counter node attacks. She has an awful lot of board presence given that each corpse counter is nearly a 7" circle of influence. Having run through the book a few times I would agree there isn't much in it that isn't gold. Truthfully though I am more than a bit concerned about a few of them.

For demos it is best to just focus on the core mechanics. I generally forgo Strategies and Schemes, I also usually limit the game to an 18" x 18" tile to make sure the action is quick and heated. The demo crews are good in that they are really straight forward. The big things you really want to cover are cheating, the jokers, soul stones, and last would be the margin of success influencing the damage flips. I spend the most time emphasizing this part as it is the most difficult to grasp. Talking thru each duel helps a lot. Dont be afraid to either stack the deck or "deck dive" to pull the jokers during a duel (I like to have a player pull the Red Joker on an attack and then follow it up with the Black Joker).

Another thing worth mentioning if you have a college near by is to try and pull in some of the college kids.

In regards to Ulix you will want a War Pig since he can summon them, same with Piglets. I like the Sow over Gracie but each has a place. Slop Hauler is ubiquitous for the faction but I would also strongly recommend a look at the hog Whisperer. Reactivate is a really nice thing to be able to throw around.

I would hardly call them lackluster. They have good defensive stats (Df and Wp), good Ml AV, Reckless, a good Push mechanic, and can self heal. Magical is really icing on the cake. In regards to Reva the Shieldbearers are a big part of her effectiveness. Our Reva player said he "felt dirty" playing her. His opponent agreed.

Having to sac two models would be a huge cost, the summons would probably have to be automatic to warrant that cost.

I would argue that the Swine-cursed are awesome in any of the Gremlin crews except perhaps the Brew Master. In regards to Reva, well she is doesn't have any issues getting corpse nodes in position for her attacks. Really wish there were more models that could get rid of Corpse Counters (still dont know why the Pigs lost their ability in that regard). The Freikorps Specialist is going to be very popular against her

Here are some of mine (apologize for the ones that are a bit blurry they were taken to emphasize a technique and not showcase the entire model). I can post a few others once I locate where I put them (to bad the old galleries couldn't be migrated really wish I had the ones of the Pigapult, Som'er on his porch, and the rest of my boys, so many of them). I can also provide the paint recipe for these if you want them.