Bigkid

One thing that a S'omer crew tends to attract more than other crews is a massive amount of 'theoryfaux'. There are a lot of potentially powerful tricks you can perform but the lack of soulstones and control hand, plus the cards needed to perform them means you very rarely get to actually pull them off in the manner you would like. The thing I've found with Gremlin crews is that the very limited crew choice (compared with other factions/mercenaries etc.) means that you tend to choose the same sort of stuff game in game out. This means that you get to know your crew very well and recognise the interactions between them. This is a very powerful thing in Malifaux and this is the S'omer players greatest strength. Besides, even when you lose with Gremlins the shear carnage and chaos you'll have created during the game is reward enough!

Whatever that dog ate, I don't want any.

Loving the comic book style of painting and it's the first time I've seen the coloured bases used as actual bases (I used mine as corpse/scrap counters) and I wasn't sure they'd look good but it suits the theme perfectly. Top stuff!

NO!!!!! Close the box!!!!! Close it!!!!!

Yeah sorry, I meant 'manifest' as intended... It seems clear that they were meant to meet manifest requirements as the game went on but this really isn't the case in most instances. Almost all uses of Avatars I have seen (a lot more than it seems from my posts...) are the result of crew purchases to facilitate manifests (again buying minions to kill off) and casting spells/performing actions that have no bearing on the game (the Seamus example is used regardless of whether the player intends to lure opponents etc.). Think we can agree that things need to change for Avatars. It's a shame they didn't quite work first time.

Don't forget Bishop... The theme I'm getting from almost everyone is that Avatars don't work as intended in their current form. It seems most players who do use them tend to use 'tricks' to manifest them. Be it paying for a Desperate Merc just to kill off or casting spells that achieve absolutley nothing in the game (Seamus' casting The Face Of Death whilst miles from the opposition...). This seems a real shame to me. For a game that is based on 'Fluff' more than any other I can think of to miss the target with such a major game mechanic is tragic. If Avatars were just intended as nice models to paint it wouldn't bother me as much but surely that wasn't/isn't the case. There was a whole book based on them! I hope, as do most other players, that Wyrd has look at them in the near(ish) future and makes them as big a part of the game as they deserve. Or let us pay SS to purchase manifest requirements... (joke!)

If ever a model should have paired claws...

All (mostly...:1_Happy_Puppet1:) good points. But I have to stress that the intention of my original post was to help make Avatars more attractive to players. The brutal, honest truth is that Avatars with their current manifest requirements do not get used in my group (and, it sounds, by a lot of other groups). The reason for the lack of use that I've heard is not a power balance issue but simply a SS to time on the board (other than Perditas' Avatar but that seems a personal issue for me...).

I will start painting again! Nowhere near the amount posted above but one a month would be good...

Is it really that empowering though? At cost of starting the encounter with 6SS less minions than your opponent you get to choose to manifest in turn 2 at the cost of 2AP. The original point was meant to encourage the use of Avatars. The main problem voiced in my group is that the manifest steps are often difficult/situational to achieve so players are reluctant to spend 2SS on something they may never use (or may not manifest until turn 5..). Also there are some Avatars that never see the light of day due to one or both of their manifest requirements being extremely difficult to achieve or so out of game style they are never triggered (Perdita...) this leaves players reluctant to pay out for something that nearly always appears too late in the game. Knowing your opponent has spent 6SS on his/her Avatar manifest steps gives you the knowledge that they will manifest turn2/3 so they have time to prepare. Besides, could always put the cost of manifest steps up to 3SS each...

Been skimming through the other (newest) Avatar thread and I thought I'd share a thought that occured to me a while back. Would the ability to purchase 1 or 2 'Requirements' when choosing your crew make them more viable/fun to use? I'm thinking along the lines of you pay the usual 2SS for the Avatar then you can choose to pay an additional 2SS to start with one requirement already fulfilled or 4SS for both. The manifest clock would still be valid therefore no Avatars could start the game, with turn 2 being the earliest they could manifest. It would certainly increase interest in Avatars in my group.

I call it the "That'll do moment"....

Yeah, I thought of that. I should just go in and declare in a loud voice 'I play with little men and I want a picture of some scratched into my sun deprived skin!' whilst waving a print out of the little rats which will probably fly out of me hand and land on the lap of some horny goth chick... You never know mr tattoo man will probably turn round and say 'I admire your honestly geek bloke. Be gone horny goth chick, this good fellow is next and don't worry about payment I won't hear of it!'. I'm pretty sure that's what will happen. Fairly certain... Still, he did the rest of me arm to my (and Googles) design and besides, he did say he liked Bryan Adams so I guess he can keep a secret...

Evening, I've almost finishing designing the lower half of me tattoo sleeve and I've decided I want a ring of rats to go around the wrist. By far the best looking rats I've seen are the Malifaux rat miniatures but as I suck the big one at drawing I need someone to do me a favour. I'm looking to get them as a group in a row so that they can go all around the wrist with some looking upwards. Anyone able to help? I'm not looking for a masterpiece (although I wouldn't say no...) just something for the tattooist to work with. Cheers.

I'd play them as obscuring (more cowering then standing in the way). Then, when a 'miss' occurs with a negative flip generated by them in the way, remove them from play (no counter produced or effect generated).

Special releases for halloween?? I was wondering what to spend me money on this month...

Between Dishonoured and Borderlands 2 my flippin' painting table is going to be gathering dust for while.... Maybe I should just quit work??

The issue I have with the cost is that the whole point of the kickstarter sites (in my opinion) is to raise funds to start/expand a business. If this is the case then charging the retail price of equivalent models (or slightly more...) seems counterproductive. I guess you could argue that getting a tshirt/print or whatever is the incentive but I can't see it myself. I love the concept of kickstarter (I've backed 5 of the wallet sapping things already...) but I like to think that I'm getting a good deal as well as helping the poster. Having said all that I'll certainly buy a couple of his models when they become commercially available (now that it's fully backed).

My least favourite models? Got to be the Night Terrors, then those horrible Alps closely followed by the Witchling Stalkers. I won't bother starting on the Avatar range as some of those get credit for sheer comedy value... Good job the good models massively outnumber the bad...

Some nice looking figures (some not so good...) but the price seems excessive, especially for a kickstarter.

The main problem with them is their reliance on suits. You'll often be sat with none of the cards needed to get them to work. Compare this with the Belle and you get why I have hardly ever used them. And a range 6" gun with cb 4 is pretty worthless (forgive me if I've got those stats wrong as I'm at work...) when you can take a convict gunslinger for 6 (?) stones.

..... Sod it, I can't be bothered.

I forget that sarcasm fails to come across on the internet almost as much as I forget how overly emotional some people can be. I wasn't suggesting a conspiracy (hard to see how it can be taken that I was...) I was simply highlighting the fact that the Hanging Tree model was overpriced. Hey ho. Would you like a sandwich?

I didn't bother with the Hanging Tree at Gencon despite having the Nightmare Lord Chompy, Teddy and Justice boxed sets as I thought it was massively over-priced for a pretty (useless...???) tree. I've just got back from Colours were there was an unopened Hanging Tree box for £35!!! It was just sat there on a stall in full view! Looking uncomfortable and not making eye contact with anyone! A model that was $80 only a few weeks ago! And still people just picked it up, shook their head and put it back! Ah well, roll on next Gencon. Hopefully they'll be a more atractive Nightmare model people actually want to buy/use.

Try Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere' (both the TV series and the book) a great adventure even if you've never been to London! And the film 'Cabaret' is much better than you'd think (quite dark)... Also, avoid 'Dystopian Wars'. Great fluff, excellent figures but the rules are atrocious (ooh...you've rolled more 6's than me and you've won! Another game? No.)