Devon_v

For me, there's something missing. The golem is very static, and not in a powerful, menacing way. Rasputina herself is just as hard to make out as in the artwork. Maybe seeing it in person is better, but while it does appear that she is in the fetal position, it still looks like her knees aren't far enough out front. It seems like they're overlapping her torso. Other than the obvious line below, it still looks like she's just covering her breasts. Still tempted to build a custom for her. Just not feeling any of the arcanist avatar sculpts really. New!Raspy and her cannibalistic tendencies demand a more menacing expression of inner self.

'Tina was my first, too. Oddly enough it was the Steamborg who made me choose Arcanists, but Rasputina's magic nuke fun could not be resisted. I still pick her over Colette when the strategy doesn't call for being able to cross the table in under five turns.

If they had, someone would have to explain how Myranda gained the ability to turn into a man and his gator.

If I had to convert one, I'd take this body: http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/female%20werewolf/sku-down/02863 cut the head off, and get this mini: http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/Reven%20female/sku-down/14195#detail/14195_mg cut the head off, put in on the first, and greenstuff the mane. That's the closest to the illustration that I can find.

Worth noting that the Convict Gunslinger's card was updated to v2, and the range is still 12" on that trigger.

Delivery confirmation from the USPS is just not great in general. They would rather than you just used e-mail and UPS/FedEx and let them shut the whole thing down, honestly. Generally USPS numbers update exactly once: When the package is outside your door. At that point, you don't need the update.

#8311 shipped at 4:27 EDT, UPS says I'll have it in two days. (Virginia) Sadly one day too late to show it off at the not-so-LGS. Edit: Oh, content: Two of each pack of bases, the book, both Austringers, Alt 'Dita, J, and 'Tina.

My 8311 hasn't shipped, and it contains no Nightmares, only the book, alt masters, and a pair of Austringers. It could be that including non-Gencon stuff knocks you out of the express lane as they have to go and get it. They probably have cases of the Gencon stuff sitting next to the packing stations.

In my research I've discovered that the Japanese like fetishes. Or perhaps I should say are more willing to be open about them. Unless it's a Japanese cultural taboo. They seem to have a lot of fun with western stuff. Criid I think is a great model and character. She looks very professional and capable. I especially like her pose and the fact that's she's smoking, it creates a sense of ease and confidence on the battlefield. That's the same thing I like about the new Perdita. Her lazy grip on her pistols as she sets off the explosives is a confidant, even cocky stance. She's also way more cowboy. Just give me a woman who looks like she belongs on the battlefield.

Interesting. I ordered at 6am EDT, so they were processing nearly 100 orders an hour.

I prefer imperfect characters. Someone who becomes a hero through struggles, perhaps even against their wishes, is more interesting to me than a storybook hero who just steps on to the scene and starts kicking ass. Whether this is due to 25 years of playing jRPGs, I don't know. As for type, I prefer variety. Macho and stacked are alright in moderation, but if 50%+ of the line is like that, it gets monotonous. Not that I feel that way about Wyrd, as their line is incredibly varied due to the sheer number of robot/cyborg/monster/ghost/zombie/demon/pirate* models, but yes, it really shows in the male/female paired models. * If you type the words ghost, zombie, and demon in that order, you are required to add "pirate".

As a member of that market, I don't feel I am being appropriately catered to.

I'm 8311, and I haven't shipped either. I wouldn't imagine they are working over the weekend having just gotten back from Gencon. The next batch will probably be Monday.

How is it being shipped to you? USPS doesn't usually do tracking numbers for instance.

Actually, I'd love to paint a crippled woman. Malifaux already presents several men who are crippled or using prosthesis to varying degrees (consider the Steamborg!), yet the women all seem to be intact. I find it odd that the Convict Gunslinger is covered in scars, and Miss Demeanor has none at all. The male desperate merc is missing an eye, the female is wearing makeup. I end up modding females in most games I play to rough them up a bit and make it look like they've actually been fighting the same wars along side their battered male counterparts. Or I end up modding a female or two into all male units. Maybe that's just me though, I don't like "ideal beauty" at all, and implants and heavy makeup are a huge turn off. I'd rather see a "real woman", whatever shape and size she may be. Because she's got better things to do than fight a legal battle with Skarre. As for robots Soundwave, if you're going to go there, then you have to explain female transformers. Why do Arcee and Elita-One have breasts anyway?

Infinity also has a simple system and good models. It may not appeal to all however as it is not a character-driven game. The fluff is all written from the perspective of historians and news anchors and political activists giving their insights and opinions of their own nations and their allies and enemies. It's also the anti-40K, in that in the bright and shiny near-future, there is no large scale war. Countries, companies, and outcasts simply feel the need to slap one another around with small, elite strike forces now and then. Even the invading Combined Army of the Evolved Intelligence, which frankly should strike in greater numbers, chooses not to. This may however be due to a desire not to provoke a unification of the human factions at this time. As for Wyrd's packaging, any oddities are usually the result of one or more box sets. If you can use three of something, and they come in packs of two, there's usually one in someone's box set, and it's probably a third sculpt. The female Guild Guard for example is currently only available in a box set, and she goes along with the two other sculpts in the blister.

Something that I do like about some of Wyrd's models is that they are not all exaggerated. Sure it makes assembly a real pain sometimes, but I really enjoy the models who have limbs and other accessories in actual proportion to their bodies. Justice and Perdita, according to art and fluff, are that big. Sonnia, Rasputina, Alyce, Kirai, Molly, and Colette don't look excessive. Pandora, Lilith, and Zoriada, being non-human, don't necessarily follow the rules. Considering that Neverborn apparently feed on blood, those breasts might be purely weapons meant for use against humans. Pandora and Lilith do have their mythological run ins with the human race, and assuming that the strong presence of myth in Malifaux indicates that they've been to Earth in the past, they may have learned a thing or two. Consider the physical differences between Lilith and her sister, Nekima, who is a towering, goat-legged, winged monster. The implication in the fluff is that Nekima evolved herself for battle, and Lilith favored manipulation. As previously mentioned, the Showgirls are a very nicely sculpted set that does a great job of evoking "feminine" without going to caricature. Even when you get down to models like Myranda and Taelor, I wonder that it's not their size, so much as what they are wearing, that catches the eye. I initially questioned their outfits, but on further reflection, I considered that these characters had stepped from Victorian Earth into a strange new world that barely has law, let alone time to enforce cultural taboos. It's also telling that religion seems to have little to no power in Malifaux, and the Guild likely prefers it that way. Free from repressive powers, women in Malifaux certainly seem to enjoy substantially more freedom and power than on Earth, and perhaps some of them choose to dress immodestly simply because they can. That said, the shadow lines definitely do not help. A lot of studio artists paint them in, perhaps because popular culture forgot what real breasts look like decades ago. I've never bothered with any special shading or highlighting on a model's breasts, and without that, they do "recede" a bit.

I've seen Seamus one shot the Judge. There's a reason you can only fire that gun once a turn. He's one of my most frustrating opponents when he sits on an objective and just focuses on preventing me from doing what I have to. If I have to kill him, I have to try, but otherwise I find going around him to be a better idea. Undead Psychosis is seriously annoying when I have Taelor ready to beat something down, only she's terrified of it. Definitely though play to your objectives, or deny your opponent. That's all that matters. Slaughter will come up, and sometimes you have to fight, but if all you have to do is stand in the middle and keep your opponent off your side of the table, then just do that. Do check out the Dead Rider and Convict Gunslinger though. That Gunslinger would probably be broken if he didn't work for everybody.

Did they remove the restriction on targeting your own master? Don't have my mini-book with me, but I'm pretty sure you are not allowed to target your own master, only other minions. Something about "You're expendable, I'm not."

Get some green stuff and put some furs on the merc. Fur is pretty easy, just a matter of repeatedly dragging a hobby knife through a blob of GS in a slightly wavy motion. Her overall lack of clothing compared to the vastly more kitted out male version bugs me anyway.

Yeah, you can reflip, but sometimes you have a nine, and your opponent has a thirteen. Reflipping is a crap shoot in that situation, and you're probably better off holding the stone for defense. Personally, I've created "no defense" situations for opponent's in Malifaux. Rasputina with the Essence of Power and Perfect Mirror throwing some high masks and soul stoning for literally unbeatable resist duels where the opponent only flips a card because the rules require it. Playing an "everything soulstones" Colette list (Cassie/Cory/Von Schill or somesuch) gives you the ability to skew any combat in your favor, potentially to the point of your opponent's cards becoming irrelevant. In any game containing chance, the more you can control that chance, the better your army. In Malifaux, you have a control hand, aided by talents and abilities. In Warmahordes, spells and feats that sharply alter or bypass the bell curve of Xd6. Powergamers are always going to find the ultimate combo. Something is the best, and practice and study will reveal it. It's probably inevitable. If you keep releasing models, it becomes exponentially harder to test every interaction. If you stop releasing models, you have to create a new game to make money. Preferably something so much better than your old game that everyone wants to play it instead.

Mk I or II? Honestly most stuff like that is very 'caster specific, and if you aren't fully aware of what Strength of Arms, Menoth's Wrath, Landslide, or Icy Gaze do, that's as much a player's own fault as not understanding what The Dreamer/LCB, Pandora/Woes, Colette/Cassie/Cory, or Perdita/Family do. I find a poor initiative flip combined with most all buffs ending with the previous turn can cost you a lot of models in a short period of time in Malifaux. Companion can be just as alpha-strikey as any feat in Warmahordes, and real gunpowder is way more effective than the substitute crap they have in Immoren. With certain strategies, loosing a couple of models can essentially be a game over for you. I've also seen a Warmachine game won by the last model standing on a player's force after he got hit by a major rush. What both games have in common is the possibility of taking a huge hit and still coming back to win, and that's a big reason why I love them both.

Something for Kaeris to play with, and something to compete with the Coryphee in a Colette list would be nice.

I figured the Nephilim were the people who didn't die when the Grave Spirit iced the Tyrants and 99% of everyone else. It could explain "Ours!". Also, the Nephilim are enemies of the Tyrants. Everything in Book I seemed to be set up by Zoriada for the purpose of exposing and assassinating December, Lilith and Pandora's "attacks" on Rasputina and Viktoria included. I'm curious to see what happens with the doppelganger. It knows things about the world, and it's explained a few things to Viktoria and Alyce already. Is it truly "innocent" now, and potentially a threat to the Nephilim, or does it remain loyal, aiding Viktoria only as long as her goals align with the Nephilim. Then again, the two of them are the Jokers, and it's Viktoria herself who is the Black. Foreshadowing of something more significant to come, or just Zoriada's opinion as the puppetmaster?

I haven't explored the Mole Men yet, but Armor +5 is a nice ability. With the Essence, you just need to beat the Mole by 1, so it's pretty trivial to get this off. Even assuming a normal Ice Mirror cast, you only need 'Tina's card to be 2 higher. If you Perfect Mirror or cast directly, you can actually get it off with an equal or lower card than the Mole flips. I've lost interest in the Ice Golem in general, as it's just a great big target for the most part, and too easily bogged down.