thebarbalag

I don't know, for me the difference between old and new is more 60's Batman to Tim Burton. There's still a bit of the bizarre, and almost absurd, but still with the lovely Victorian horror/steam punk to it. My primary positive for the art is consistency. The old art was all over the place, and so were the models. There were problems both in size and style that could make a crew look horribly hodge-podge and mismatched. Now, everything seems in tune, like it came out of the same world. There are still a number of different themes, from the aforementioned Steam Punk and Victorian Horror, to the practically splatterhouse nature of Steam Abominations, to both traditional and weird Western. All in all, I'm a huge fan. Except for the Lone Marshall...horses don't run like that.

I'm definitely upping the Arcanist play with M2E. 1.5 I played mostly Ressers and Guild, but I'll be picking up Rasputina and Marcus at least when the plastics are out.

https://twitter.com/ericjgames/status/357715147252436992/photo/1

It's a pretty substantial change, but as a long time player of Malifaux, it's for the better, from my perspective. The primary goal seems to be streamlining, clarifying and balancing, and it's all going really well. As a new player, I don't know that there's a better time to be getting into Malifaux...well, other than in about a month when the book is actually available.

Well, in addition to saying something special was planned for the Arcanists, the devs also said that the Arcanists specifically wouldn't be getting another dual faction Master.

Katrina isn't dead, remember, she's a Resser, and she's nuts from being stuck in Obliteration's prison for too long, but she's not dead. Tara, on the other hand, is dead. She was shot through the chest by a Guild Rifleman after escaping from Obliteration's prison.

There will certainly be a standard edition, maybe not at Gencon, but eventually. It's dirty pool to give stats to convention exclusives that you can never get in another form. Wyrd has never done that in the past, and I really doubt they will now.

Unlikely, as the devs have said that "something special" is in store for the Arcanists final Master.

Their 1.5 rules are all in Rising Powers. Their M2E rules will first be available in the late Aug/Sept playtest, and their final rules will be available in the beginning of 2014 when M2E launches properly.

Fair enough. Still think Daw has a good shot at being a Master, and Tormented makes quite a bit of sense with his fluff as a soul driven mad by betrayal. Also agree that Burt or Wong may end up being Gremlin masters, as they're still 2 short, I think (Som'er, Ophelia, Brewmaster, Zoraida, Ulix).

I would love to see Jebsen as a Master, or even Wong, which feels more "right" to me, though Jebsen is the center of the story, he's not necessarily the most powerful...though there's little need, from my perspective, for Jebsen to also be Outcast. That would give Outcasts three dual faction Masters, more than any other Faction save 10T, and that's their whole schtick.

Possibly baseless speculation here, but there are, at my count, 6 Outcast Masters presently: Von Schill, Leveticus, Viktoria, Misaki, Tara, and Hamelin. That leaves room for one more. There is also the Tormented key word, which, as of our present knowledge of models, has no meaning. Then there's Jack Daw, one of the most interesting and flavorful models in Malifaux, with more rules on his 1.5 card than many Masters. So, my thought, could Jack Daw be the last Outcast Master, with Infiltration: Tormented? It seems to fit, fluff-wise. The event could have impacted Jack Daw, uplifted him to a Master. Am I crazy? Has this been discussed before and I just missed it? Thoughts?

Heh, yeah, the bases came out better than the models, I think.

My first model purchases/painting inspired by M2E. C&C welcome. The pic was taken with my phone, and using a comic book backing board as a "light box" so the quality of the photo isn't top notch.

All Masters will get an Avatar. This manifestation is a result either of exposure to the Event, or the lingering emanations there from, and far as we know. You don't have to be possessed by a Tyrant. Only Sonnia, Rasputina, and Hamelin are possessed by Tyrants in some fashion, as far as I remember, though Dreamer, Seamus, and Tara are impacted by them in some large way. Edit: fixed autocorrect, and Tara may actually be possessed by Obliteration. Not sure.

I doubt all the models can be judged from this one. Witchlings have always been one pieces... if this kind of thing lets Wyrd produce minion boxes instead of making stuff like Witchlings starter box only, I'm all for it.

Thought this was pretty cool. Maybe the first "modern," recreational wargame, written by H.G. Wells, loosely based on the Prussian training game Kriegspiel. Anyway, this is "Little Wars: A game for Boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty, and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games and books" http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3691/3691-h/3691-h.htm

By the time the first Story Encounters event starts, we will all have had the opportunity to purchase the new rule book, which will not be terribly dissimilar to the one we've been playing with for the last few weeks, so it won't be a big deal to play in non-competitive formats with them. As above, the competitive formats at GenCon will be 1.5.

Ugh. Having the same issue, though it's a friend's box I'm assembling and painting for her. She was most excited about the pig. So disappointing.

As a long time worker at a game store, I can confirm absolutely that a lower number for SKUs is greatly preferred, both for inventory management and shelf space. As a gamer, I think it is folly not to have boxes available for summonable minions. Characters and Totems, fine. Limit them to starter boxes. Minions that aren't Rare, or are otherwise summonable, please Wyrd, make individual boxes.

Yeah, it shuts down my unzip program, then it says it's unzipped, then there's nothing in there.

And probably mid-day West Coast time, so not for another six hours or so.

Wake up? It's only like 7pm on the West Coast... (Edit: 7pm on the 30th, of course.)

You can't buy those things yet. You may never be able to, but I'd be a little surprised (and honestly, unconcerned for the most part) if that was the case. There are a few reasons not to, limiting the number of items on the shelf, for one (if you've ever worked in a game store, you get this - shelf space is a premium), and there isn't a huge reason to have them, why do you need a 4th Torakage? (Not saying it's unreasonable to want one, but this is a small model-count game with lots of options. I rarely use more than one Illuminated. Shrug. Your mileage may vary.)

I understand the concerns. I understand how difficult it can be to keep a play group together, especially through an edition change. I watched Warmachine/Hordes seem to stumble through its open playtest, which was as terrifying as it was exciting. Players fled, fumed, and feared what was happening to their favorite game. In the end, they came back, and the game is stronger (and better) than it's ever been in my area. While I don't want to downplay concerns, I also think a virtual threat like in the OP isn't particularly productive. If you're displeased with elements of v2, you have a wonderful opportunity to say so. If what you choose to say is, "Don't do this," then you're not going to get much of a response, because this is happening. Maybe get the playtest, and start saying, "Don't do this like you're doing it, maybe try this way," or "This change seems to take something I love away from the game." Productive comments are going to make productive changes. Destructive comments are unlikely to produce any results, as I highly doubt that Wyrd (or any other company) will completely scrap a long term plan due to concerns from a players who haven't experienced what it is they're afraid of yet. Wyrd could have gone the way of other game companies, and just spring a fully birthed new edition on us, which, rather than an attempt to streamline and clarify, was a complete rehashing of the rules. I relish the opportunity to positively impact the game I love. That positive impact can come from negative comments, "I don't like this change." So long as they are productive. "...for these reasons." Rather than destructive, "...because it's stupid."