Halflingspy

That's exactly my point - there was no coming together, but yet everyone still came together into the same place, realizing there were bigger things that needed killing. You had many factions in the same place, and things were mixed together, temporary alliances, and then seperation. The Neverborn used Viktoria, while the Guild was sticking its nose into trying to deal with this anomaly in the landscape. Ramos was aiding the Guild while working to purge the Grave Spirit again. I am confident that Wyrd can manage the accumulating storyline effectively, and hope that some inter-faction play does happen. There seems to be a blending of Lady J/Hoffman/Ramos, or at least an ambiguous movement to a sort of mutual understanding, even as Sonnia has been eaten by a Tyrant and Rasputina has effectively separated herself from the other arcanists to deal with her own issues.

I really enjoyed the book 3 fluff, and how it really fleshed out a multitude of situations. For ones not already mentioned... -The great Arcanist caper made me grin like an idiot after getting over the fact that there wasn't any main characters really in it (besides Lucius). English Ivan is hilarious. -The Misaki fight with Kaeris was really interesting, and feel like its hinting at new plot hooks for the next story arc. I can't wait to see where that goes. -I want more Von Schill story! -The teddy story was really, really well written, and creepy as hell... but, it isn't what I want, personally. As mentioned by someone else here, we already have a lot of 'grim and dark and dark and grim' games out there... I would love a game world that keeps the plot dire in many ways, but also allows for there to be moments where 'hey, things really aren't that bad all the time'. Its why I like Colette so much. -The Neverborn fluff this time around I found really engaging. Finding out Zoraida was a human convert from the first breach was awesome and totally fits, and Pandora's trippy dream experience with Nytmare had me fully engrossed. I also liked the fact that Pandora seems to now be showing that there is dissension in the ranks even in the Neverborn faction. Which brings me to stuff already mentioned... I don't think we have to worry about all the different factions coming together and singing around a campfire to banish the big bad evils... but I do expect a lot of cross-faction interplay. Book one, for example, had four factions coming together to banish both December and the Grave Spirit, but how it came about was very piecemeal - none working together, so to speak, but simply dealing with their issues through the struggle. There is going to be some obvious team ups despite the announced factions, but there are just some people that aren't going to play nice - the governor general and Lucius, for example, are going to cause a Guild rift of who is on whose side. Rasputina is obviously divided from Ramos' machinations, and while Marcus plays nice, he is very much his own character, and seems to be gearing up for his own plot. The Outcasts don't bear much mention, as they are obviously split apart, while the Neverborn show issues, with The Dreamer being his own force, and Pandora's madness and anger distracting from Zoraida and Lilith's hopes. Oddly (to me), the resurectionists seem the most united in some ways, with Kirai (who was absent in this book) still somewhat distant due to her different sort of magic. I love the interplay between factions, and that it isn't static or all encompassing. Keeping that going will keep me engaged with the fluff and the game for a long time. -About Sonnia, I really do have no idea how they are going to get themselves out of that one. She is one of my favorite characters to play as, and now the fluff and her decisions justify that for me... but I don't know how she's going to live. Not only is she the big bad, she WANTS to sacrifice herself to keep Cherufe away. Not to mention that I fully expect the awakened Witch Stalker to become a model in a future book and be hunting for revenge on top of it... I can't wait to see how it plays out.

I picked up Colette first for exactly this reason - Loved Eldar fluff and playstyle, but the idea of collecting up to 3000 points was out of my price range. Colette was my entry point to this awesome game! Her mixture of tricks and movement is a lot of fun.

As someone who wants to expand into other Arcanist Masters (Colette was my first), how do you deal with Ramos and Rasputina's underlying issues? Both Masters seem to have the same issue of low defense and movement. Rasputina I can understand more, thanks to her ice-mirror tricks and her new book 2 models that give her side some mobility. Also, her ability to deal damage with essence of power seems rather impressive. How about Ramos? I haven't quite 'gotten' him yet. I agree with most people by saying that Marcus hasn't quite been figured out yet as a whole besides the Team Marcus group here on the forums - my poor friend got him first as her first miniature-game crew ever, and so her learning curve is dramatic. While I do see (I think?) potential and fun tricks, is it still enough to measure up to say the sheer melee force of a Lady J guild crew or Pandora mind screw?

On the topic of Avatars, I just got my book 3 stuff and watched a game between AMarcus and ADreamer while I did rulings (trying to eventually be a henchmen, gotta know my stuff). It was interesting, the 2ss need to 'evolve' is very balancing, and the manifestation requirements add to it as well. There are some Masters that definitely have an easier time getting to Avatar state, and then there are some Masters that, when you change at the right time, its going to be revolutionary. Seamus, for one, I see as being entirely a pain in the rear and my worst nightmare. If he's in Melee and then he changes, I know I'll have my guys running for the hills, at least one, every time. Its insane at how high he can get his terrifying. Take the Dreamer and Marcus though - both of their Avatar states I've heard described as... interesting. Sidegrades, not all out 'i just got really really dangerous'. Turn 4 in the game, The Dreamer got his avatar out, used it to drop a hanging tree next to the tiger, get an insanely high terrifying, and used the Lord Chompy Onslaughtish-trigger to get Marcus and the Snake in combat. It was used well at that moment. Meanwhile, Marcus just missed getting the requirements to evolve before getting eaten. From what I know, the Avatars look really really nifty, but, they are untested so far for the most part. I want to see more of them in combat, and as I got ASonnia, her growth really is curious because she loses what I'm used to (flame blast madness!) and instead gets other kinds of bizarre pain output (melee attack, burning tokens everywhere!). I'm sure that, in a month or two, we'll start seeing some pretty in depth analysis of the avatars as a whole on the forums here. I definitely do have to say though, I'm excited at the new nuance in the game.

To start off, I should say that I hate being a complainer, and if it comes clear that I'm somehow just mucking this up, then shame on me. I went to my LGS last night to see they had Terraclips in, which, in a moment of spontaneous glee, got the Sewers and a connector set. I hadn't realized I needed the connector set immediately, so, while shelling out more than I meant to, I got it and my friends promptly got me to open and try putting it together. I was first a little frustrated that it wasn't a full 3x3 board - i had been mis-informed that one board would be enough. *In a realization while writing this, I know that a lot of my current-pulling-out-my-hair is due to accidental peer pressure. I'm certainly not trying to put all the blame on companies making this. In any event, I had store credit, and so went about getting Streets of Malifaux and another box of connectors, my long-desired full game board suddenly seeming like a possible reality. I went home, popped out the pieces, and headed to bed. Now, I've spent somewhere around 2 hours putting the board together, and I'm cursing the fact that I got all this without doing more intel first. I can't seem to make a board correctly, and I never seem to have enough pieces to do what I want to do with the board. In addition, I finally started working on the second level 'main square' with the streets of Malifaux, and discovered that my death marshall (the one that is jumping off its coffin) doesn't fit under it, on the first floor. Am I just going about this the wrong way?

Awesome news, but I'm 8887 and I'm still at 'processed', which suddenly has me a little anxious. I feel terrible being this impatient, when the wyrd folks are probably slaving away to still a few thousand or two orders...

Thanks Iamwyrd - I have been procrastinating a bit too much because of those straps, but finally moving forward again. Here's Sonnia in two different views - my first attempt at converting, or at least, adding to a model besides just a base. Took the sword off her back, molded a book out of green stuff, which is a pain in the butt (at least for a newbie) and stuck it in. I was thinking about adding the green-stuff green flames that I am adding to the Witchling Model bases and swords, but didn't want to wait any longer to varnish the model.

I haven't played my Colette crew in two months thanks to a magnet-and-coryphee-duet-fiasco, but I haven't had the most luck with using the performers, to be honest. For once, a lot of what I was playing was my first opponent... Pandora. Willpower duels were a horrible idea as I soon learned. However, they weren't been entirely useless, with the poison 2 and clockwork derringer giving me at least a little ranged (can't wait for gunsmiths!!!). I will say that expensive gift is hilarious to use. There's been times where just seeing the look on my friend's face as they burn soul-stones not to lose soul-stones makes me very very happy indeed. I definitely haven't mastered the performers, but they do have some nifty utility - having them sort of circle the main battlefield or an objective seems to be a good way to get their spells to bear on a poor soul.

I've been watching this thread for the last few hours, and I probably shouldn't be, as its going to give me a nervous twitch. I've got a long car ride on Sunday, and I would love to have book 3 to melt into and devour. Nomnomnomnom fluff! Order 8887. Hoping... Hoping...

Hi all - here to hopefully join in - I haven't yet painted, but I just started the spray paints, and still want in. I think that's okay, so here it is... Korpsmen: x2 Freikorpsmen Von Schill Specialist Librarian Trapper Female Convict Gunslinger ...That's what I have so far. I really like the outlaws, and I'm hoping to add the Viktorias, Misaki, Ronin... but as for right now, money's tight, and we'll see where it goes. Can I do two seperate crews? Also, am I supposed to post a picture of them before being painted? Thanks for organizing this - its a good little initiative

My next four models, which are works in progress: and Back: Sonnia: She's one of my first conversion 'hopes', where I've been working on my sword to make the model more dynamic in a way. Hopefully in the next post it will be viewable and on the base. Samael: No idea how to do his hair. Driving me crazy. Also, all the leather straps I don't know if just to ignore or just work on each. One. Individually. Argh! Austringer: Happy with the falcon's color (not shown), but I mixed to get that color, and trying to figure out how to get it just right before attaching. Also, I have Elf flesh instead of dwarf flesh now, so the skin tone will be gone back over to be less abrasive. Second Marshal: Lots of touching up, and the hat and other arm and skin need washing to blend better.

Woo, my first picture thread! I'm hoping that, by putting these up, it will give me the oomph I need to finish the ones I'm trying to finish! Painting has always been a weak suit for me, between underdeveloped skills and ADD. I'm actually happy with how a few of my projects are starting to turn out, and I'm forcing myself to actually finish painting a crew in its entirety before I move on to painting Von Schill for that nifty new painting pledge thing happening at the start of august. I would love criticism and helpful advice, but I'm definitely not a pro, to say the least. My one finished model is the Death Marshall below, where washing skills finally seem to be working out for me. Back:

Really great Seamus, I'm incredibly jealous of the shading effect on his hat

Thank you all for your responses! It seems like what got me was lack of terrain - we only had about 8 on the table, and only 4 were blocking walls. I need to invest in more for my own house, the LGS I go to has a better selection to be sure, we don't seem to use enough blocking and obscuring terrain. I totally understand the getting into melee, it was just absolutely brutal and disheartening to be annihilated on the second turn like that so completely. I do grant that there was a lot of good luck for Ortegas/bad luck for me that kicked in, but still. I had exactly zero chances to engage before the papa loco/obey train decided to wreck me in horrible fashion. I had an austringer on my own and was looking forward to using it (my one hit in the game, a weak on papa in the first round), but the 6 inch blast is simply obscene! About hitting her indirectly, I like that plan too, maybe Sonnia would be a better choice against her, it just seems terrain really matters that much against her. I play guild myself, but I cringe at getting Perdita myself because I just simply know how violently powerful she can be.

Fantastic. Love Von Schill!

Dear ANYONE, I love Malifaux. Coming from a previous wargame and other tabletop systems, it feels like a more balanced, nuanced game, where even some of the most 'weak' masters have a good trick or two up their sleeve (Marcus), and the tough ones have weak spots that can be exploited (Pandora). I've been playing for only 2-3 months, and have played against 5-6 different people and quite a few armies. I know that isn't a whole lot, so please, as a caveat, if I'm talking out of my rear or getting this horribly wrong, I apologize. But how do you deal with Perdita? Just, how? I play Lady J and Sonnia, and I feel like on stats alone she puts anything I have to shame. Add in Immune to Influence and See the Unseen for free, as well as an insane amount of useful triggers and fast (and 6 movement?!), and I just have no idea what to do with her. The fact that she can companion with anything and everything infuriates me. I have played two games against her now with two different armies against two different players. By the end of the second turn, I have no figures left on the board (25 points for one game, 30 for the other). I've been spending several hours trying to figure out how to have done better this second game that I played this evening, but I can't come up with anything besides simply having everyone more than six inches apart to avoid papa loco's insane blast radius+Obey pushes and explodes. I didn't have line of sight set up with my crew (Lady J) because of cover until the second turn start, where my opponent won initiative and just simply floored me with Perdita/totem/Papa companion trick. Granted, he had really good luck, but it was soul crushing to watch my army crumble with 'Take ya with me' when all I had gotten was a slow to die off with a Death Marshall the round before after being obeyed into enemy lines. Any feedback would be great, because this family of gunslingers has been making me tear my hair out over and over again!

Great definition on the models, I'm impressed with Ryle and the guild austringer, as that's what I'm working on myself.

Have nothing to compare it to for a Kaeris model, but its a great self-make model! I would try to empathize the metal wings a bit more though by making the clothes a different color.

Zoriada is a weird, weird Master, and no one at my LGS plays her yet. One of my favorite pasttimes in gaming is messing with people's heads (Dnd DM and such), and so, I must have such an odd leader. The problem I am running into is, what minions do I take? I like how she can take many different minions, but the ones from cross faction still suffer from the +1 point cost? If so, that's very limiting to my original 'the birds' idea of just millions of them (which I think is hilarious). What I do have for ideas for minions to start collecting... -Bad Juju is just an amazing model and I love his fluff. I love how he bruises things... but I just realized in reading today that you can't OBEY him, which is frustrating. I see a few lists where people don't take him. Is he simply not viable with Zoriada? -The Doppelganger looks like a nifty trick or two can be done, but she looks fragile too. Any good ideas or ways on how to use her, or does she just fall over too quickly in combat? -The Collodi box looks to be really interesting, but the wicked dolls are pretty fragile. Has anyone had luck with these yet? -Convict Gunslinger looks like a great choice to use OBEY with. I was thinking a possible mix of a Gunslinger and another Merc like Taelor would be really really great for knocking the stuffing out of people. Would I be right in that? Thanks so much for the help!

I absolutely understand where you are coming from, but this is hilarious put back to back! Follow-up question - if I enter with my somewhat painted crew, and then paint ANOTHER crew up to 55 points, then I can get paintlord and the other titles? ...If you haven't been able to tell, I am way too much a fan of unlocking achievements on my Xbox. :puppy:

I'm noticing not a lot of use of Bad Juju here... is he generally not considered a good option with Zoriada? I'm planning to get her soon, and I'm curious on this point.

This is a really really cool idea Rathnard - and I would love to be a part of it. Unfortunately, the painting part frustrates me, as a 55 point crew is a bit out of price range for me, and the group that I am loving - Sonnia - is in the process of being painted already. I've only finished a death marshall, but since they have been primed and worked on, They would not count towards my hopeful acceptance into this really cool idea? A second question is I do have Von Schill and want to improve that, possibly into 55 points. Would he count as my master for that army, or the Viktorias that I plan on getting would be the ones I count instead?

that's a great conversion, very seamless - I like Rasputina, but I'm not a fan of the hat... this is a great alternative!

These are great! Keep it up!