iamfanboy

But her job is giving Minions and Showgirls the ability to Interact as a (0). And spreading her AP around to other models with bonus movement on top. And being nearly impossible to kill short of "ignores triggers". I'm not sure any Arcanist Master plays as well into an Interact-heavy pool as Colette. Hell, I'm not sure ANY Master plays as well into an Interact-heavy pool as Colette. If it involves Scheme Markers, she does it, while making the rest of her team even more killy in the bargain. ESPECIALLY in GG17, with things like Dig Their Graves and Mark For Death requiring Interacts before the killing starts, she's clutch in a lot of situations. If you think she needs to Prompt a single model three times in order to use her, then you never knew how to use her in the first place.

For the most part, I use Ceramcoat. Yes, those big $1 bottles that you can buy at any craft store. You can thin them down, mix them, play with them, and they're cheap enough that you can experiment with them. However, for metallics I earnestly recommend buying the expensive stuff: GW, I've heard good things about PP's paint line, Vallejo. I've yet to find a decent metallic in a craft store aisle.

Hey, I only paint to tabletop standards and I can't stand mold lines either - though I personally tend to clean and fill before basecoating, that gives me time to look over a model and decide how I want it painted. Sometimes a while can pass between assembly and painting, ya know?

One clips as much of the sprue out of the way as possible before beginning assembly, and once the assembled piece is big enough to interfere one removes it from the sprue and continue adding to the piece. I haven't noticed any kind of serious mold lines on Malifaux minis - they tend to be faint and easily cleaned up once you get the miniature together. It's a very nice hard plastic. The only time I've had to clean a mold line before assembly is when it crossed a contact point on a Sorrow and a Daydream - and even then, the slight bump would have only created a fill hole easily made up for by some greenstuff. I mean... half an hour for Guild Austringers? That's a pretty solid record. Okay, more like 35-40 minutes, it was one episode of Re:Creators and half an episode of Danmachi Oratoria, but the bastards are notorious and my method meant that the hard parts (the raptors' feet) simply slotted on one at a time and didn't get lost. It helps that a friend got me a hobby hot knife, it's wonderful for those small bits because they tend to cling to the knife instead of flying across the room like the back half of Sammy's voodoo doll head, but even without that it still works. Maybe I should take a picture of these Taxidermists to show what I mean. The vital components are: Tweezers GEL Superglue or model liquid cement clippers sharp knife (X-acto's are recommended, but I like breakaway boxcutter blades because the blades invariably dull, even X-acto's) The directions. Because they don't package them with the minis.

Yes, Malifaux are some of the hardest models you will ever find to put together. I think it's a balance because they're some of the most beautiful minis I've painted in the last 25 years. The good comes with the bad. One thing I do: PUT THEM TOGETHER ON THE SPRUE. Never, EVER cut off every piece and THEN try to assemble; instead, cut off the ONE piece that you're going to glue and glue it to a matching bit while that's still on the sprue. I mean, that's a given from old model building days, but GW people will often come into it with the habit of cutting everything off and then putting things together that way. Keeping the model on the sprue for as long as possible gives you a solid foundation to hold onto as you manipulate the pieces. I swear, the nightmare of Abuela Ortega would not have been nearly as hard if the guy hadn't clipped everything off first, and I put together the Austringers (bad offenders in everyone's opinion) in half an hour without any true difficulty. It's just... be methodical. As far as paints go... the most important thing is a primer base coat. GW paints are fine, I have plenty of them from years back and I love the old, OLD hexagonal bottles and still use them for various colors - it shows my age when I can hold up a paint pot and say, "I bought this in 1999, didn't I?"

@Viruk, loved how you picked out the rivets - I dismissed it as too much hard work on my Cygnar stuff until I got around to the character jacks, and it makes a huge difference. @athelu, really great OSL on Pere Ravage.

I was mostly cracking wise - it certainly moved the Arcane Effigy up on my priority list to buy when I get around to Sandeep.

*Neverborn player looks up from painting the Dreamer* I'm sorry, you were gloating about something special? Because it doesn't look that special to me... Oh, Teddy, you're so much fun to summon with Mr. Tannen's "help"...

The Dreamer can only benefit from one Lucid Condition each activation (because it doesn't stack), but yes, if you summoned another Daydream after using the Lucid condition it could sacrifice itself to give Lucid again to the Dreamer afterwards for his next activation. At least, I THINK I'm understanding your question clearly.

Okay, so. I don't think I'll be doing anything more this month - so a fair whack of models will be sitting unpainted until we move, or at least find a place and get done putting stuff in storage. It's POSSIBLE that tonight or Thursday will have enough downtime for me to do Von Schill and a few other pieces, but for right now I'm calling it done until further notice. However, that still means I've finished Freikorpsman x2 (10), Specialist (8), Librarian (7), Trapper (6), Oiran (5), Lust (8), Latigo Pistoleros x3 (15), Silent One (6), Slop Haulers x2 (10), Gluttony (8), Waldgeist (6), Stitched Together x3 (18), Primordial Magic (2), for a total of 109 Soulstones. Anyway, here's the finished models - the previous pictures had them unbased, and I NEVER feel that a model is done until it's had its base done. The customer insisted that the bases use little bits of geode to denote soulstones - only problem is that they're slightly water soluble, which I didn't notice until after the glue had set. He doesn't mind, is what he said - and I can't exactly prerinse the pieces because they're so small! I angled Lust up to get better lighting on her face, and for some reason the light glinted off her eyeshadow instead, looking like a dot of white on her eyelid. Overall, I don't hate it, but I do think she's hardly the sexiest model that Malifaux has. In lieu of buying expensive swamp grass from the one source I could find, a train terrain maker in Germany, I grabbed yellow paint bristles and used them. It worked here well enough, but not so much... ....here, where the static water convected UP the bristles in a massive clump. Also had to replace one of the bucket strands with a piece of wire, and just realized that I forgot to paint it white. Ugh. Always something. Ah! Primordial Magic! I did an OSL on the base! Got to take a new picture of that... *sigh*

The main problem with Marcus is that he's his own mini-faction, really. Beasts have a deep pool, but a lot of the best ones aren't necessarily Arcanist - and you'll be buying across faction for things like Silurids, Waldgeists, Canine Remains, Dawn Serpent... He's good, but doesn't have a lot of overlap with the rest of the Arcanist models you have. I'd recommend Colette - not just for HER, mind you, but Performers are great Minions for luring and scheming, and Cassandra is IMHO one of the best Arcanist Henchmen - much better than Sandeep's. Alternately, you could reach deeper into models that will help your other two Masters rather than pick up a third, this will help you competitively a lot more than another Master - the two you have cover the primary schemes and strats, really. Silent Ones (so many heals), The Valedictorian (for Sandeep), Wind Gamin (best gamin), Snowstorm, Mechanical Rider (good gods, her teamed up with Sandeep would get RIDICULOUS numbers of Gamin), Angelica, Blessed of December, Ice Dancers... the list goes on. Or really, stops there aside from Metal Gamin.

Both boxes together are probably the classic Neverborn pairing - like I said, Terror Tots are good Scheme Runners, about third best in our faction, which only makes them twice as good as what Guild and Outcasts get. A Nephilim Grow list (that would require young/matures, as well as Nekima and Shaman) is actually weak and gimmicky. Teddy's a good beater whose only weakness is his Df. Doppelchan is high up there for must-have Neverborn models. She lets you cheat a card into Initiative - important for those 'must move first' turns - can steal enemy attacks, and can do good work Scheming too. Lelu and Lilitu as a pair do many good things, and Lilitu by herself is a solid controller. Primordial Magic is the totem that Pandora wants, and can do good things with Lilith too - but a lot of people don't like how it looks, and you don't HAVE to run a totem model. Other than that, you're free to get what you want - Madnesses are better scheme runners for Pandora because of the Wp effects, Widow Weaver does more Wp tricks and makes Teddy faster, Waldgeists are rare tanky models for NB that do good things with Lilith, Illuminated are tanky beaters that many players have learned to respect. Stitched Together are okay for Pandora, but I wouldn't call them a must buy unless you're planning to get the Dreamer any time soon; Nekima's a great beatstick but you've already got one in Teddy if you don't like the giant succubus model; Angel Eyes finds her way into a lot of my lists but the Starter Box is expensive and really only suitable for giving demos; Mr. Graves does good things, but mostly as a bodyguard for the frailer NB Masters; Mysterious Emissary is a big nasty model that is designed to mesh with any Master, but requires Changelings for its summon and is more a controller than a killer.

I think Lelu/Lilitu rate above the Stitched Together (and I LOVE them, btw, Oogie Boogies that they are) for several reasons: Movement tricks, reasonably durable models in a faction filled with frail ones, multiple free APs in Pounces, pushes, sharing Conditions... Doppelgangers are probably the first model that EVERY Neverborn players should reach for, though. So much win in such a slinky package.

As said in the other thread, in Malifaux you don't really play a Master, you play a Faction - and it sounds like the irrational terrorist/freedom fighter monsters that are the Neverborn appeal to you more. They do complement each other decently. Pandora is all about plopping down into a zone and pinging enemies to death while controlling their actions and activation order. Lilith makes terrain, moves enemy models around, and slices them apart with her big-ass sword. I think that I'd like Titania in there as well to be a tanky, hard to remove Master (Pandy's okay at that, but not as good as Titania), but not everyone likes every model. Lili/Pandy both have a varied playstyle, and I can't think of many games that I wouldn't drop either into. And their boxes do good things together - the Terror Tots are solid scheme runners, Candy is just plain nasty at a lot of different denial schemes, Barbaros knocks things around. Teddy is... I haven't let myself use him too much, but he is a big scary model that does big scary things and matches very well with Pandora's playstyle - she causes Wp duels, he gets a free attack when a model fails a Wp duel, he causes Wp duels, she pings for damage when an enemy fails a Wp duel... His main problem is that he's tough, but not hard to hit. Concentrated attacks, especially if they have high minimum damage, will turn him to fluff. Apparently some people have great success in taking pairs of Teddies, but that's like half of a list in two models - it had BETTER be good! Do you want a list of models that you're likely to need or want? There is some overlap between them - they both like Lelu/Lilitu, the Doppelganger is great in all circumstances, and even if you don't like Titania her models do good things for both Lilith and Pandora. I pretty much covered why the Viks aren't necessarily the best option in that thread. The one downside to Pandora, I think, is that most of her box isn't that great. Her totem is terrible and her Sorrows are highly situational - they want to be really close, but are super frail and very slow. Baby Kade CAN be useful when paired with a Teddy, but he's a glass cannon made out of spun sugar - I find it hard to take him when I could take Lilitu instead.

I'm going to go against the flow here and recommend against solo playing the Viktorias as the 10s, and instead recommend you go with the rating 7-8 models you like in Neverborn. As someone else said, in Malifaux you play a faction, not a Master - with rare exceptions, most Masters are designed to be good at some things and bad at others, to encourage variety of play. Eventually, the people you play against will know what you have when you belly up to a table and always takes what hard counters you, which will lead to lopsided games that frustrate you even if you win - right now at my local there's a Tara fanboy who's going through the same thing, and Tara is more versatile as a sole Master than the Viks are. I love the Viks too. I discounted my commission rate for a friend just to get the chance to paint them. But to have a solid model pool for playing into a game you'll want them with something super durable or good at scheming, like Tara or Von Schill, with an eclectic mix of models that don't adhere to any theme: 1) Librarian 2) Freikorps Trapper 3) Johan 4) Void Wretches 5) Hans 6) Convict Gunslingers 7) Hodgepodge Effigy And Parker Burrows' box is looking pretty good too.

I like that. It opens up a lot of options and makes the generic totems even more versatile. My only real problem is that if you're hiring a Totem, the other three models had better be paragons of durability. I'm a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy, and having one of my models being a non-scorer when I only get four feels... iffy to me. On the other hand, it's solid activation control in a list that depends on Manipulative to keep your Leader safe.

I do so hate to urinate in one's cornflakes, but Totems can only be hired if there is a Master on the field. Page 54, M2e. Unless there is an errata to change that? Personally, I'm fond of Angel Eyes as the Leader with Candy as a frontwoman - Candy locks them down, Angel Eyes pegs shots off into them, and much unhappiness is had by all. I think what I'd LIKE to do is add Iggy for Incite and a Will-O-Wisp to get enemy models out of the scoring range very cheaply, because that allows for more upgrades than just Thousand Faces into Fears Given Form on Candy. Or maybe an Illuminated and a Will-O-Wisp. Brawling, no randomized shooting, and cheap enemy luring. Yeah, that has potential... Angel Eyes Candy w/ Thousand Faces Illuminated Will-O-Wisp Or Angel Eyes w/ Strange Alliances Candy w/ Best Behavior, Thousand Faces Iggy w/ Enraged Tantrum Will-o-Wisp

You basically need these three to use Raspy as a solo master - there's no settling for just two here. 1) Ice Dancers are fast moving Scheme runners that can get across the board in a matter of a turn or two, and dodge attacks very well - which covers a gaping hole in Raspy's basic crew box. 2) Snowstorm moves your own crew around faster - especially Rasputina, saving her AP for things more important than a lousy 3" Walk. You could replace this with Arcane Emissary, who never counts as being engaged for purposes of Raspy's Ice Mirror ability, but I think Snowstorm is overall better. 3) Silent Ones are famous for being the only real source of heals for Arcanists, and in Frozen Heart crews can lay out heals even while attacking thanks to a trigger on their attack. A lot of people also like Angelica and Blessed of December, and those two are also very good adds, but the three that MetaphoricDragn mentioned are the key adds for Rasputina.

Yeah, I feel that too. It's not like it'd be TOO hard to make a system for whipping up your own Henchman who eventually ascends to Master - start with a certain base for all the stats, and have each bonus (Nimble? Hard to Kill? Def6? Ml6 with +1/+1/+2 for an attack?) cost a certain amount of Soulstones, up to a maximum of 13. On second thought, it might be pretty hard.

Campaigns aren't about balanced or fair. It's about creating a story with your friends and enemies - more than just, "Remember the time I took Pandora and totally whooped your ass 10-3 because you said she was no good at Scheme Marker pools?" but, "Remember that time I threw my Oxfordian Mage with two Injuries into the Pit Fight because I didn't want to lose anyone I actually cared about and then won?" To be honest I have trouble remembering, two decades later, any specific Warhammer 40k or Battletech or VOIDS or Star Trek game. What I do remember is the first game of Mordheim I played, where my vampire whiffed every roll in the game and got rolled over by filthy witch hunters - then sold to a fighting pit, where I then proceeded to whiff every roll AGAIN except for the regeneration so I kept standing up... and standing up... and standing up... a friend bent some wires into a little set of glasses for him at next week's meeting, and vision corrected he rose to being the monster he should have been. Or the Juve in my Necromunda gang who survived a fatal wound with a head injury that gave her frenzy and made her a melee MONSTER - along with rolling bonus attack, wound, and WS for her upgrades. As a veteran wargamer, I can answer the arguments about campaign modes diluting competitive edge, or how they get unbalanced, or that it gets weird getting used to models that have new different rules with this: They remind us that it's a game, and we're playing to have fun with people we have something in common with.

In case you don't know, the buffs are as follows: Union Miners: Improvised Weapon gained +1 Range. Modified Welder increased to Burning +2. False Claim only discards a Scheme Marker if both are still in play, instead of one Marker no matter what; restriction on only being able to be used when they can Interact changed to only being able to be used when unengaged. So that means Improvised Weapons, with an M&SU model nearby, is a 2" melee that ignores Triggers and has a Critical Strike Trigger with a + to Damage flips. On a 5ss model. That's pretty good, especially on a model that you're probably taking because of its ability to spew Scheme Markers. I think I might convert one of mine into a high-kicking model that got dragged onto the stage, just like they describe in the fiction of the Star Theater. It's just too good with Colette. Ironsides with Hand-Picked Men also makes his attack hit WAAAAYYY hard as well.