Insane_Prophet

Your boyfriend probably overworks you with all of his miniatures. I'm sure he appreciates it though.

I'd imagine that a reassessment of certain models in Malifaux is fairly inevitable. Frankly, the game has changed a lot since Book 1 and no amount of internal or external playtesting can match the years of play the game has had since then. I can't see things ever being perfect, or everyone being happy, but I think Storm of Shadows (and Twisting Fates) have found a nice benchmark that it would make sense to compare other models to. (Personally, I'd be disappointed by anything less)

You need to win the duel (i.e "hit) with Unerring Accuracy to get the +3 bonus. Hence "*After* this model hits". You're right in that it's not hugely useful, but it does have its place. A raw +3 would be insane though (think of it as reducing enemy defences by 3 and you'll see what I mean!).

I believe the answer is yes, although obviously I can't give you anything official.

For me the core models to have in the case to go along with the Doctor would be: McMourning McMourning's Avatar Zombie Chihuahua Von Schill (Never a bad bet, if a little predictable!) 4 Canine Remains At least 1 Rotten Belle 3 Night Terrors (Probably the best Resser models for grabbing objectives) For summoning: 1-2 Flesh Constructs Rogue Necromancy I won't necessarily use that many dogs, or the Avatar in every game, but I definitely want the option. The summons are the for obvious reasons. Models I then use as the situation depends to support Doug would be: Crooked Men Drowned Bete Noir (works well with Canine Remains and Drowned) Convict Gunslinger Additional Canine Remains or another Rotten Belle Perhaps more telling is what I don't like: Sebastian is ok, but I don't find he does quite enough point for point (his Cb is just a little too low for me), unless I bring a huge amount of dogs, which I wouldn't consider very competitive. Guild Autopsies are...well, I think they're terrible, so I don't use them. Punk Zombies are ok, but they're fairly one dimensional and work better when summoned, so I tend to go for something else. As other people have mentioned, McMourning pretty much does his own thing and doesn't really rely on his Crew. The advantage of this is that you can select other models based on their innate strengths and select them as appropriate for the game ahead.

Generally speaking, I wouldn't start with Punk Zombies. They're not particularly fast and tend to be vulnerable to being killed or avoided in the early game. I think you get better value out of taking cheaper minions with a more direct application. Punk Zombies are *wonderful* summons for a single Corpse Counter, since you can drop them right into the fray and not have to worry about their early game issues. I'd always include a Belle in my Nicodem lists. She provides options for board control, since she can Lure troublesome enemy models, but in a pinch you can also use her to Nicodem or some other model moving. I like dogs for their numbers (i.e, you can have quite few) and speed, though I wouldn't go too heavy on them. They combine nicely with Bete, since your opponent has to wary of (or, indeed, may forget) that killing a Canine Remains might drop Bete right on one of their key models. I think Crooked Men are much better than most people think, especially with Nicodem, since combined with Bolster Undead almost any Crow in your hand can threaten a paralyse. Personally I'd always take the Grave Spirit over a Vulture - it's cheap, Armour 2 is wonderful and Nicodem can actually take advantage of it.

Collodi tends to move in waves if the Collodi player wants to keep using Puppet Show. As Guy in Suit says, McMourning should easily be able to chop up Marionettes, so if you wait for the right moment you should be able to pounce while they're out of position. If your have Von Schill (and he's never a bad choice!) you can cause all kinds of problems with Magnetic Pulse and Last Rites. Focus on chipping away Collodi's dolls and he becomes pretty weak.

It doesn't bother me much one way or the other, but as more general point I'd say that the weaker the master in question is considered, the less the loss should sting, since it's harder to argue that you lost for any reason other than ability of your opponent. In many ways I think it's really a question of attitude. Some peoples' responses to a lose seem to hinge on the fact that they believe, by default, they should win and if they didn't, there must have been a degree of bad luck or unfair balance. This is compounded when you face a Master, or a Crew, that you feel you can't respond against, since it feels like your opponent is controlling the game - the most obvious of these being the aforementioned Masters. The less options a player feels they have in response to you, the more frustrating the game seems to be.

The Voodoo Doll is obvious and pretty much essential. After that Zoraida is pretty flexible in terms of what she can take, but I'd recommend: Lelu and Lilitu - The Twins are just so good for Neverborn as a whole and Zoraida is no exception. Insidious Madness - These are nice and quick, so make great objective gatherers. Although they're more Pandora's sort of minion I find their Willpower debuffs can often have a place in a Zoraida list. Collodi (Box Set, more or less) - Collodi works nicely with Zoraida in that he can match her mobility and bring a ton of little minions with him. Zoraida can summon Wicked Dolls that can then be placed near the puppet swarm. Stitched Together - These are just fantastic models for the Neverborn, even more so if you decide to pair Zoraida and Collodi up. Check out the Aethervox Podcast where Rathnard goes over how he sees Zoraida - it's pretty comprehensive and a great look at her and her minions of choice.

It's tough and I think the Dreamer's a pretty tough opponent in general, but here's some advice: I'd make sure to hold at least one high card for Lilith (12-13) to be able cheat and Soulstone her defence if necessary for when Chompy Bits comes at her. Even with Onslaught and Melee expert, if you can ensure he misses that first attack he has to come at you with Paired CB 3, against a defense of 8. That should at least keep your master standing! I find *if* (big if) you can kill the Dreamer early, that does help. Lilith really ought to able to defend herself (with her DF at least) and once Chompy can't bury himself he's in danger - he's not actually that durable. If you can use Lilith's speed to get to the Dreamer and kill him, then you should be able to control the game after that - with just LCB the Dreamer loses almost all of his mobility and tricks. How many Soulstones are you taking? I'd take as many as possible. Against the Stitched? Yeah, Stitched are real pain the neck... Look to make use of some high WP models of your own if possible. Unless your strategy requires mobility I wouldn't take the Tots - go for something more durable - Waldgeist aren't bad for this if your main concern is physical damage. I'd consider using Teddy - he's Hard to Wound 2 (so, takes time to kill) and Immune to Influence (so the Stitched aren't really a big concern any more). If you haven't done so, read up on the Dreamer at the Pull My Finger Wiki and consider giving the "Dreaming in Malifaux" Gamers Lounge Podcast episode a listen - that should give you a good idea of things from the Dreamer's perspective and help you try and work out where you want to trip him up. Depending on how tight your Terrain set up is, look at controlling places that limit where the Dreamer can place his models - if they won't fit, he can't drop them off. Hope that helps somewhat.

I use, and would recommend, the Aquilla4 with a standard Malifaux load out (i.e the core trays, F and J). The bag itself is a nice size, large enough to carry the majority of a given faction, but not so clunky as to be a hassle to carry. The pouch at the front should carry all the accessories you need. As for the foam, I wouldn't recommend going for the N trays since you won't be able to fit a fair number of standard H2 models, which will get frustrating if you find yourself needing to. I use the F trays and simply place two H1 models inside a single well (base side down against base side up) - it's snug enough they don't present a threat to each other. I've found the deep pluck foam far more useful than I thought I would. It's hard to know quite how a given model will fit until you actually have it in hand, while the majority of the models in there are on 50mm bases, I've got a fair number of 40mm bases and even some 30mm models in there (either to maximise my use of space, or because they hang of their base too much). As far as placing a model in base down or sideways, I find it really depends on the model - models with arms raised seem to fit better base down (again, trying to maximise use of space here), due to their height, whereas chunkier models seem to fit better on their sides. I hope that helps you out somewhat.

I was a little disappointed with the card tokens - I'd have liked them to have been a bit sturdier and yes, ideally double sided. It'd have been great to have more exhausted tokens, it feels like I don't have nearly enough, but those are my only real complaints. The big thing for me is that I get a great game, with great models. While the counters and tokens could have been improved, but ultimately, I'm very happy with my purchase. I do wish the Silurid was coming out of an egg like in the art though. That was *so* cute.

I haven't quite finished listening yet, but surely you can't take the Brutal Effigy with Lucius because it's Special Forces (Dolls) and Lucius himself is Special Forces Elite Division?

I wouldn't imagine it'd be very effective. Assuming you're going to be following the standard way Obey works you'd only be able use the ability once per turn, per model (although that's more or less the case already if it costs 2 AP). Moreover you'd still need a resist duel (and this would have to be a spell) and given the average Gremlin Ca I don't think you'd be getting it off much. That said, I'd be against it in terms of flavour. It steps on Zoraida's toes as the swamp witch and seems out of character with what we know of the Gremlins themselves. You can more or less create this kind of Crew anyway. Just take Zoraida and have her hire Ophelia and a Gremlin gun line. Although frankly if I were doing that I'd probably use my Obeys to get extra actions out of Ophelia.