Visquaz

Agreeing with the others here.

You really want the summoning factory to start in turn 1.

My favorite openings are Toolkit+Metal gamin

then you walk up the toolkit where you want it, magnetism with the Gamin (remember to drop a scheme marker first if you have power ritual).

then Magnetism with Ramos to kill it.

1 scrap and 2 free pushes is pretty good deal for 3ss

or simply Toolkit+Joss for 2 scrap.

So I would recommend (somewhat in order of importance):

Ramos box

Spiders (you can always magnetize to be able to build a swarm, but it is pretty sub-par nowadays)

Toolkit (if you can get it)

Metal Gamins

Soulstone Miner

Mech Rider

Johan

Other nice utility models like:

Performer

Silent One

Acolyte

Lazarus

Agreed, Sybarite

The thing with Mech Riders is that it also drops of scheme runners as it goes (usually in the form of Gamins or spiders).

This can make it very easy to not only take but actually hold Break Through and Plant Evidence for example.

Together with a SSMiner you give the enemy a lot of difficult choices to deal with

Thanks for your help, I am going to add the Avatar and a LSPA or two. As for the Spiders, the Box Set comes with 2 steampunk arachnid swarms (which is six, correct?)

Yes the box comes with 2 sets of spiders (6 individual), and the avatar comes with one set.

But I would actually suggest skipping the Ramos box.

You could instead buy the avatar (with 3 spiders), a separate Ramos (alternate if you prefer it) and one pack of small spiders and you are good.

(as long as you magnetize the small spiders so that they can be both separate and a swarm, then 6 small spiders are very much enough). The Steamborg is cool but not that good imo.

2 LSPA are a must with the avatar (since you can summon them)

I also suggest at least 1 Warden (guild) if you plan to play aRamos a lot since it can also be summoned and is a great objective grabber.

So, there seems to be nothing stopping us from playing 5 or 6 player Puppet Wars, except for the lack of pre-made boards. (and yes, it would probably take a while)

Has anyone tried PW with 5 or 6 players?

Does it work?

Does it get too crowded?

Do you have any suggested maps?

Does it take forever?

If noone has tried it, then please let this disolve into a discussion about the questions above

It is really fun though, and a lot easier to just pick up and play than Malifaux, lots faster (on 2 player) and you can play 4 which opens up for a lot more social gaming.

Also you don't have to lug terrain around which makes it easy to bring to friends.

The humor is great and girls seems to like it, which is of course a plus.

When learning the rules of PW it helps to be a miniature gamer but it seems like board gamers get it relly easy as well.

It takes quite a quite when playing 4 player though.

Next experment will be introducing it to friends who aren't miniature gamers or hard-core board gamers.

I understand how the cost can be a bit prohibitive, but I managed to pick it up when my LGS had a 30% sale so it wasn't that much more than a normal board game.

I recommend it.

Everything isn't doubled, but yes, there are 12 models that are repeated in the boosters (so 36 unique models, and then 12 more for a total of 48 if you buy one of everything)

It feels a bit cheap but I think it works quite well, especially if you are the only one in your group who owns it so that you draft every time. Then there are options for several players to use those models.

Some of the duplicates feel suboptimal though, 2 December Acolytes, really?

While some, like the Bayou Gremlin who really needs bro's to shine, aren't duplicated.

Wouldn't that situation be just like when the Trapper shoots at Ramos? Discussed here:

http://wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=23738

1) 0 Henchman cache (this brings her on par ss cost wise with 8 ss 5 cache henchmen).

..snip..

1) Use Soulstone fixes one of the biggest complaints with Nekima: Fragility (I don't think it will OP her in other lists as she will compete fiercely for Soulstones with other masters as I still wouldn't take her in a Lilith list because of this).

Am I missing something here? How would Use Soulstone help if she can't have any soulstones?

Isn't the Henchman cache both how many stones they can have, and how many stones "extra" they get when leading a crew?

I threw this together of left-over Skaven bits, I feel that an Arcane Effigy definitely needs a big Tome.

I ran this the other day:

Collodi (2ss)

Arcane Effigy

Marionettes x4

Stitched Togethers x2

Wicked Dolls x6

Worked like a charm, but it was my first time using Collodi as leader (2nd time using Collodi ever) and 3rd time my opponent used Sonia at all so that might not say much.

The Arcane Effigy seems like an incredible choice for 4ss, just the extra card is awesome and helps you every turn. The extra casting AP helps with Breathe life and Filled with stones obviously (I never seem to cast anything else).

I never got to use the spells and shooting though, short range and low Wk means it will be hanging back behind the Stitched (and if you want the extra casting AP then the Effigy won't be Fast).

Nice model, very Lazarus-y (!?)

Is that a 40k gatling?

As for it being legal, it says on Von Schill's entry in Rising Powers:

"A crew led by this model may only hire Freikorps models and Mercenary models. A crew containing this model may ignore the two Mercenary model limit."

Lazarus is a Mercenary.

Crew creators are not rules.

...that the Desolation Engine looks very very similar to the Warhammer Fantasy Gorger?

Do you have any other "did you ever notice.." moments to share?

Allright, so... haven't done a lot of painting lately, but finally finished one.

Mobile Toolkit!

I'm on a horse.

+1

Made me laugh

Wicked dolls are constructs so he can hire them (and they have no other restrictions other than being special forces)

But you are probably right in that Alyce is such a general benefit so it makes sense to skip a few dolls to hire her as well.

eyeing that Collodi box set... Now I want to try this

How about adding Collodi?

No real synergies, but seems like a fun matchup.

Levi to output massive damage against singe hard targets, and Collodi with his dolls to zip all over the board cutting everything else and handling objectives.

You don't get any Stiched obviously, but still...

Anyone tried it?

I think I'll try something like this at 35ss.

Leveticus -- 2 Cache

Collodi

Marionette

Marionette

Marionette

Marionette

Wicked Doll

Wicked Doll

Wicked Doll

Wicked Doll

Wicked Doll

Canine Remains

Wow!

I'm not usually a fan of the story-style battle reports, but you sir are a good story teller.

Really enjoyed it, thanks for sharing!

oh and it should probably be Niño instead of Ninõ, just sayin'.

Cheers!

So, after a bit of vacation in the Swedish archipelago I got home and finished painting Johan (which is incidentally also the name of my brother, whom I didn't paint).

Not perfect by any stretch, but it will do for now.

Well, then great job all of you!

And damn you, now you made me want to make a really elaborate display base for my crew as well

Now this is my absolute first attempt of OSL. It didn't turn out completely like I wanted but hey, I guess it's alright for a first try.

Any obvious things I need to improve (except the forehead which turned out a bit too green)?

(oh, and don't ask why his electrical fire is green. It just is, ok)

And here is Joss. I basically went with the color theme from the stat card, not really exciting but I think it turned out alright. The hair and axe-heads could do with some improvement, but hey, it's tabletop standard.

...and yes I have now actually started on Ramos himself

Well, it's been a while since I liked painting this much but the Malifaux minis themselves and the fact that there aren't 200 of them in a crew is really good for my motivation.

So, here is the 3rd swarm painted and ready.

Didn't get the pictures as good as I wanted. I should probably buy a real camera some day...

Oh, and I should probably have done something with the cracks in the pipes before painting...ah well.

Arachnid 7:

Arachnid 8:

Arachnid 9:

Swarm 3:

And I will probably be posting pictures of a painted Joss tomorrow.

Thanks again guys!

Here is the almost finished Brass Arachnid, and I'm currently painting the 3rd swarm.

Yes, I know I should be painting Ramos himself but I haven't decided on a color scheme yet, and he will be my first attempt of OSL so I'm a bit uncertain...and postponing it

anyway, Brass Arachnid (perhaps not the most beautiful color theme, but I want it to fit in with the rest of the crew):

And here are some pics of the 3rd swarm (yes, I finally got my Chemical Plant Construction Set from Pegasus)

As another small update I thought I'd share one of the custom stat cards I made for my Arachnids.

I know I could edit the picture a bit to make it even better, but my knowledge of Photoshop is severly limited beyond "select magic wand" - "select background" - "reverse selection" - "copy-past into Ratty's excellent stat card template".

Anyway, here it is.