Ciaran

One of them decides he's going to play Ophelia because they're like Mexican Bandito Goblins! Awesome!

The other one decides he really likes Hamelin.

What, precisely, would you tell the Ophelia player at that point?

I'd say that he really needs to be careful picking schemes, to play for victory points, not to kill his opponent, and that he'll have to get really good at the resource management aspect of the game. I'd also let him know that he's going to get swarmed hardcore, and to use terrain really wisely.

I'd then suggest they expand their gaming circle for Malifaux so neither of them gets too frustrated.

It seems like you're just angry, and really don't enjoy your experiences with this game. I really hope you're able to find a way to share the joy that so many others have found in something as innocuous as a game that uses little pewter people. If not, I might start questioning why you keep proverbially running your head into the wall.

osoi, if I remember correctly Jack Daw was hanging on the tree when the first breach was opened, and no one in Malifaux (except perhaps Mama Z??) knows how long he's been there...

Did anyone here play Gorka? Great little game and had one rather special scenario, Da Chase. Essentially it was a standard scenario, except that, to represent the fact that you were racing along the highway, the terrain moved with you.

Borzag

That's what I was going to suggest. You have some awesome ideas following this. My suggestion would be to add in buildings that affect the events on the train. Examples might be a water tower from where a model can jump onto the train, or one could get off the train safely. Maybe a bridge that all models that are on top of the train have to duck for, and again, others can get onto it. Perhaps there's a junction switch that if hit will send the train down the left path instead of the right.

Train related buildings are absolutely fascinating, and would make for some awesome terrain, whether the terrain is "moving" or not...

An Update on Portable Warfare's Blu Foam: This is through the distributor my LGS uses. The proprietor doesn't like the way the Blu foam is glued to the pluck foam right now. He's looking for an alternate adhesive, one that gives him the properties he's looking for. He might well be out of production for another month or two. This will definitely affect peoples' decisions!

Ratty: I find the rolling the noob in carpet isn't as effective as using some space blankets.... Just a thought.

I find that Brawls work REALLY well on the 4x4. I would suggest making the tables that size and marking them off for Scraps.

People have different preferences on this; it's just my observation.

nerdelemental, wow, thank you. I DID get the intended meaning then! I thought that taken as a whole there was no way anyone could read into it the way it's been described. Fantastic work on it. I've never seen the main characters to be victims, at worst they're people that we see going through a rough spot that changes them.

Somebody asked about the painting "Venus" and whether or not it's considered 18+. Yes, it is, to some people. Michaelangelo's David is as well, by some people. Considering art is about evoking internal images, emotions, and having a conversation with your audience regarding the subject, pieces should always emphasis different things to illicit the response.

Ciaran: Ramos? Non-white? I'm not seeing it on the model, nor have I read anything where he has to deal with the ramifications of racism. Did you mean Marcus, who has rejected society and become a sort of noble savage?

Ramos is a Spanish name. Outside a strip of the southwest and select other cities you rarely, if ever hear it.

I also haven't read much of most of the abused female characters dealing those ramifications. Is this a double standard we're setting?

And they're doing it entirely with women. Just like how Frank Miller shows that people can be strong even if they started off low on society's totem pole through writing about his favorite subject.

Leveticus is ancient, as is Zoraida, neither allow it to be an excuse. (ageism)

Hoffman was ravaged by a disease when he was young (polio??), yet is able to make it in Malifaux. (handicapped abuse)

Bishop and the Convict Gunslinger (among others) both come from forced labor, and are arguably doing what they do best. (slave labor)

Ramos is a non-white in one of the most racist periods of world history. (racism)

Hamelin is a homeless beggar-thug. (poverty)

Bad Juju pissed off a very powerful wizard a long, long time ago. Now he's a slave to someone else's will. (cursed labor!)

Seamus is criminally insane, and victimizes others rather than take his electro shock therapy. I made that last half up. (mental health issues)

Children of Malifaux are abused, used as totems, as are the Stolen. (child abuse of all sorts)

The sad, horrible fact is that in conflicts around the world women and children are hurt disproportionately higher than any other group. In this case we get to see them fighting back. To say that a game for grown ups should be an agent of social change is to expect it to work well outside of its reasonable parameters.

I'm not trying to combative, tone is so difficult online without strange emotes. I'm enjoying the tenor of this discussion over the past hour or two. I like that it's been more civil and far less heated.

Bad Juju is voodoo swamp thing, the Silurid are the Wyrd twist on lizardmen (catfish men for the win!)

Absolution: My Silurid make Cthulu idols... I need to finish sculpting one, and paint the other...

Malifaux was never described as being a part of "our real" history. It's like our history, just... different. Wyrded out I guess you might say.

AND... This idea of women being demeaned by being victims or sex workers throws me. Are these people not deserving of the same basic respect as any other human being? Addressing social issues is NOT the same as condoning them, If anything it seems as though they're saying that someone can come from "less than desirable" backgrounds and still be strong.

JP, I sit corrected on her not running a bit of a cathouse on the side. It seems like it's far less institutionalized than it might be, I think the subtlety makes for a nice layer.

Since this discussion started I've been watching a lot of the women I go to school with. In my art classes (particularly printmaking with the acids and the inks) we KNOW we'll destroy our clothing. Most of the women still choose to wear what they would describe as cute (fashionable I guess) clothes that show off the fact that they are women. They're proud of it (at all ages, as they should be) and flaunt those differences to some degree. I find that most women that have not been abused or have other experiences that cause them to feel shame are like that. They're okay with being different, and prefer to not wear men's clothes very often.

It seems like what's really bothering is the social stigma around the game and setting as a whole. I work in a comic and game shop on the weekends. Whenever this comes up (and we're not an 18+ shop either) I explain that it's a steampunk-horror game with fairly adult themes. Some people will get bent out of shape and defensive about it no matter what. That's their issue, not mine, or ours. We have some "kids" getting into that are in their late teens. They're coming over GW products for the most part, and love the elegance of the system, the compelling richness of the background and the fact that they consider it to actually have some positive role models. A friend (who is a father) of Hispanic descent LOVES the Ortegas for that reason (apparently his girlfriend does too). I can see how people would get offended, I'm not very sympathetic to the call that it's demeaning when so many women (that I know and trust) have told me they like it because of the portrayals.

To the Original Poster Bartalli: Sorry your girlfriend doesn't like it, different tastes I guess

JPRoth, I disagree.

In art showing a realistic image is far less important than evoking a certain emotion or series of emotions as a part of a conversation. They're showing characters that are very strong people, that are still able to be different sorts of feminine. Why should a company be expected to crank out a bunch of androgynous models when it's those differences, including physical, between people that make us all so precious?

1. I don't recall Collette and the Showgirls of her theater being referred to as prostitutes. I might have missed that, would you please point me to the passage so that I might be corrected? I DO recall the first timers at their show being pretty fired up, that just seems fairly realistic to me.

2. I've never seen a table top wargame with as many strong female characters that, as has been pointed, make their own way in the world, in their own ways.

3. There have been some popular culture additions in the last fifteen years that have included incredibly strong, empowering, female role models that have been just as... evocative in dress. They're perhaps even more degrading in your eyes as they feature real women dressed that way, yet many groups (including my LGSB friends) hold them up to be what women CAN become, if they work at it. That's right Lucy Lawless, I'm talking about you, Xena has not been forgotten!

The cool thing about a set up like that is you can still fill it with more terrain. That's just the big stuff, add in carts, cars, apple vendors, etc... and you're in for a great time.

The river is especially well done!

This really is a great inspiration piece.

But he is also sold out of all of the trays and the empty bag is pretty useless.

This is quite true. I need more foam for my new bag :/

Sturm, any way you could prod him into getting more foam? My LGS needs some, as do I...

I'm really looking forward to seeing this in person.

It does change his look a lot.

The wood grain to show the construct's origin is incredible. That's just a sweet little detail that makes it really pop.

I use two of these:

http://www.portablewarfare.com/

They make their own foam, which can be bought separately as well. It's absolutely the best quality foam I've found yet.

A friend has the Malifaux bag, he has few complaints about it. I really don't think you could go wrong either way.

TONS of potential here! I like where you're going with it.

I use a portable warfare bag. I absolutely love it, although I've outgrown it. It's stackable, you can buckle additional bags together on top of one another. I'll be doing this over the next couple of weeks.

http://www.portablewarfare.com/

That looks really nice, good job. Some thoughts:

I have an aversion to paper terrain, I haven't been able to get over it, personal problem. You say it is sturdy but wouldn't stand up to being sat on. How about stuck in a rubbermaid and driven around for a couple of hours regularly?

Also, these buildings aren't modular correct? Meaning you can't go inside of them? What is the point of having three story buildings if you can't get up in them? A five inch (sorry 12cm) tall building would be sufficient to block any and all line of sight. That said it does look nice. Keep up the good work.

I have paper terrain in the back of my truck (in the camper shell) in a cardboard box. It's done pretty well. I printed mine on 110 weight cardstock. On some blogs that I've read people have used everything from foam core (which is pretty thick) to artist's mounting board (check out Vampifan's blog, he details it really well).

World Works Games stuff is modular. Most of what they sell can be played both inside and outside of quite easily. They were a great choice for doing the upcoming tangible goods for Malifaux ( TerraClips, which is really just a logical progression of their TerrainLinx line, although they were conceived in reverse order). The .pdf's they design really are pretty awesome, and the modularity of their lines makes the work pretty well worth it.

Dave Graffam's work isn't modular, it's designed to be played around and on top of. He does beautiful work, for purpose built facades.

The Voodoo Doll is a must for most of us. I would also look at a Doppleganger and a blister of Waldgeist.

As a standard part of my game I now hand my deck to my opponent and ask him to check it. Typically they have counted the cards while flipping through it. I would suggest doing it before every game, and that's what we're starting here amongst our group. We don't do it because we don't trust each other, we do it in the sense of full disclosure. It adds MAYBE a minute to each game. I'm not sure how many rounds of this tournament you're planning, I just can't imagine that it would slow things down in a way that's unacceptable.

Most of use the Puppet Deck. We got used to them pretty quickly, especially with the faction associations. I added a red dot to the inside upper right hand corner of each of my cards, just in case.

One of my regular opponents just suggested having your opponent cut the deck before initiative flips.

Just throwing some ideas out for you.

I got a performer from a friend that needed another mannequin. I'm pretty excited about learning some new styles and getting them done up.

Thank you! I should have asked a few more questions. If you don't mind:

Do you use extenders?

What sorts of brushes do you prefer?

Do you use magnifying glasses?

I ask a ton of questions, it's my researcher mentality.