iamfanboy

That's a good idea! Do they stack easily? I might have to point my friend in that direction and check for them at a local store. I was thinking I'd have to magnetize LCB's waist and store him in two halves if I wanted him on my trays. Fortunately that isn't the case, he's juuust barely short enough to fit, but it is a worry. You can break them down somewhat just because of the innumerable parts which often make up a Malifaux mini.

Okay, so right now I have on my table Sammy & Merris LaCroix (commissions) and Sue, that's 23ss. My store has 3 Oiran and Lelu & Lilitu coming in for me, though I'll only paint Lelu & Lilitu. That's 37ss so far. Lastly, my Gremlin friend is going to hand me Gluttony as well, that's 45. Oh, who am I kidding. I'm probably going to be painting the Oiran as well. But that isn't a guarantee, I do have 11 Cygnar Trenchers to get off my table - not BAD models, just not Malifaux level - and I may hold the Oiran back as a reward for painting the WM stuff. I... don't have much problem getting stuff painted.

Since miniature height is not a game-balancing thing in this game, internal magnets aren't necessary; I just bought a 3mx25mm magnet tape strip from a store and glued pieces directly to the bottom. Of all my miniatures. As far as a storage solution... I actually had to make my own, with 1x2 risers glued to the cookie sheets and magnets placed on top of said risers so they would cling to each other. These are my D&D miniatures (and tell me if the picture doesn't work): It's like... my quantity of minis was overwhelming my storage space and I wanted a way to organize, store, and easily transport them. That's a stack of 9 trays, and it's perfectly stable. I'm not sure what I'd use for risers in a small scale project, I actually cut up four or five 1x2 boards to make me about 40 trays like these. It was worth the time spent IMHO, but at a smaller scale... Anything about 2.5-3" tall and at least 1"x2" surface area would work.

So every Sunday after 2 PM to about 6 PM, I'm available for demos and other stuff at my friendly local gamestore, Epic World & Games: 530 Egan St, Copperopolis, CA 95228 While my collection isn't enormous, I do have a lot of enthusiasm and I want to show the game store owner that Malifaux is a viable game to start having at his store.

One thing I've been pondering, now that there is another decent Showgirl beater and we don't have to reach out of theme, are Oiran. No Witnesses (can't declare Attacks against models with the Showgirl keyword!) combined with her frankly insane Cg range and cheap (for the potential effect) price can be devastating. I can't wait to get Carlos so I can try with a pair of Oiran as guided missiles to cripple offensively oriented lists on the crucial turns. But maybe that's just because I want the kunoichi; however, I want a ton of minis so I can't really say that much about it. 5 Colette DuBois w/ Arcane Reservoir, Cabaret Choreography, Nothing Up My Sleeve 9 Carlos Vasquez w/ Stunt Double 10 Cassandra w/ Smoke & Mirrors, Recharge Soulstone 6 Oiran 6 Oiran 7 Coryphee 7 Coryphee Replace the Coryphee with a Performer and two Mannequins in an interact-heavy list instead, with Practiced Production on Carlos - or drop one Mannequin to bring Colette's reserve to 7 and really fish for high Tomes turn 1-2. That's why Arcane Reservoir and Nothing Up My Sleeve are both there as well. It's not as though it's a one-trick list either (Colette? One trick? Hah!) the Oiran have Lure to give to Cassandra (who can stone for the Crow and at Ca8 isn't an easy resist). I think two Oiran are necessary because they're high-priority targets and you really want to lock your opponent out. Dammit. Now I REALLY want Carlos. *whinewhine* when is he released??

Performers also make good mercenaries apparently, though I'm not sure who needs them - Guild McMourning? Lure and Poison is right up his alley of needs. Brewmaster could be fun. What do Outcasts have with a lure effect? For my Widow Weaver HH list I used one, but that's more a function of my limited model supply than anything else - no Beckoner. You might save one of them to be painted up in more of a 'mercenary' scheme.

So last Tuesday, I went on a binge painting spree and did almost all of the Ironsides Troubleshooters crew box in one four hour spree - this post has all of my M&SU in it, but the only thing I did that day was Ironsides, Mouse, and the Oxfordians. I didn't get the Captain done until yesterday, however, and he's still not sealed (damn rainy weather!) I decided on a 'safety orange' color for the Ironsides crew to contrast with the blue magic of the Oxfordians; it makes me sad that I didn't think of it for the Union Miners and they may get a strip and repaint at some point to bring them in line with that. Ironsides came out okay, if not spectacularly; I still need to work on my african-american skintones. Her blue eyes do show up and make a nice triangle with her pants, though. I put her on a bit of debris to make her stand out some more. Dapper. As. Fuck. I tend to do 'magical' weapons with a blue ink over silver, which I figured was perfect for the Relic Hammer. The yellow also helps him tie in with Colette's crew, because he has nothing in common with the M&SU minis aside from the base. Now for what I really can't stop feeling good about when I look at these: The Oxfordians! All three, with O'Flamefist in the center. He's my least favorite of the three, and I had to stretch out his cape so it looked more in line with his compatriots. McFloatsen here is middle of the road - I took an upper angle picture to get the 'glow' coming out of his cape properly imaged, but I wish I could afford an LED lighting affair to put in the bottom there. The OSL in his hands was fun to do; trying to figure out where the light would hit if it were perfectly centered in his hands was a challenge. Firebender Francine was my favorite - you'll note that I delineated how far the 'glow' extends by the light on the base, which is why the far leg isn't lit up. The cape, however, is fluttering so I figured that it would have some glow to make it look like it was being moved away by the force of the fire. So I finally sprung for a Foldio2 portable studio and it has made taking pictures.... just... so much easier. Like, 500% easier. I'll be posting pics of my Neverborn and better shots of my Colette crew soon - if only to establish how bad they are so I can strip and repaint them later as part of the Painter's Challenge.

The fingernails... are the perfect touch. Which way are you taking Lucius, Guild or Neverborn? What other models do you have on the table?

One thing that bothers me in these pictures, and that I'm pretty sure you fixed at some point (because of the Mechanical Rider) is the lack of basing. Basing a mini grounds it in reality, and can tie disparately painted armies together. The paintjobs are lovely, and the conversion work reminds me fondly of my own GW days, but in looking at them it feels like something's missing... Where did you get the mini for that Taelor/Johanna conversion, btw? I'm loving it!

I already have the two player starter and am perfectly willing to run through it with people - I don't really regard it as a "two player starter" as much as a "Demo kit with bonuses for Neverborn/Guild players" and I'll actually recommend against him getting it unless he wants his own to teach prospective new players. Thanks for the link, nikodemus! I'll also link him to that as well.

Regardless of how quickly my Henchman application goes through (or gets rejected), I'm the only one who can hench at my local store, and the owner asked me for advice about what to buy. Gotta strike while the iron is hot. So far, he's has been lucky despite being mostly a game store - most of the games he's bought have sold well, with very few 'dead ones' cluttering up his space. He's willing to dip his toe into Malifaux, and I want to recommend a reasonable starting point to purchase. I'm going with the following criteria: 1) Pitching around $300 (for him) at first 2) Easy to put together for people relatively new to model kits (and considering the high skill level required of Malifaux, i do anticipate this to be a stickler) 3) Representative of the Malifaux range; one of the things I'm using as a sell point is the variety of minis available. "You don't like the ninja goblins? Or the winged evolving demons? Well, what about these hardbitten Guild guardsmen just trying to survive all the horrors around them and protect people as best they can?" 4) Fairly straightforward crews for people new to Malifaux and wargaming in general. 5) Few to no Gremlins. I love them but the models are way too skill-intensive for my fumblefingered friends. Retail prices are a little under twice of what a store pays, so I'm basing my suggestions on that. RULEBOOKS: Malifaux 2e, Shifting Loyalties, 2 Mini Rulebooks, 6 decks Crossroads looks more update than new rules, so I was going to recommend he skip that; 2e has some story stuff but does have all the rules; the mini rulebooks are solid (the only thing that might stop me is saying, "They're also available for free online!); and the decks are necessary. GUILD: Lady Justice Guild's Judgment, Sonnia Torch & the Blade, Brutal Effigy LJ and Sonnia seem the simplest to build, though Hoffman doesn't look too far behind and blends well with the Ramos box. Effigy seems simple and does good things on the tabletop. ARCANISTS: Ramos M&SU, Mei Feng Rail Crew I'd suggest Troubleshooters, but I already own it and it's part of my demo kit; I'd rather go a step beyond what he has. Tooth & Claw is also a possibility, because there are beasts in the other boxes... RESURRECTIONISTS: Seamus Shadows of Redchapel, McMourning Body of Evidence Seamus is iconic, McMourning has the ever-helpful Nurses. NEVERBORN: Lilith Mother of Monsters, Lynch Dark Debts Lilith & Lynch are both relatively uncomplicated (from a casual glance) and look very good. Heck, I may be buying Lilith from him myself. OUTCASTS: Von Schill Hired Guns, Tara Herald of Obliteration, Johann The Viks just look... hard... to put together. Tara is kind of a freebie, I know someone who already wants to buy it, and Johann - I may suggest he buy several, as he's so useful of a model. TEN THUNDERS: Misaki The Thunder, Shen Long Temple of the Dawn While a couple of pieces look somewhat hard in both of those kits, they're very iconic and different looking from the other factions. GREMLINS (maybe): So'mer Bayou Boss, Ulix Hog Wild So'mer is as hard as any other Gremlin kit, but he's a solid start and I can help out; Ulix seems about the easiest to use and understand, and McTavish just looks like fun. Do these look reasonable? Any other suggestions as to kits that might be easier than the above suggestions? If he wants to go further, I'll add a unit box and a character for each faction as well.

There's a series of blog posts here which have a fairly rough cut of what to get with which master, depending on which one you like the most - he has listed as 'top tier' the easiest Masters to use per faction, with the harder ones being lower. The power curve on the masters is fairly flat, though some of them have a slightly higher learning curve than others - it's still very hard to go wrong with picking the Master you like and going from there. So, pick one!

I would say the Starter Box is MOST useful for an experienced player trying to get people into the game; that's why I call it a "Demo Box." Beginning players should pick a Crew box with a Master that appeals to them, most of which come with a Henchman for the Henchman Hardcore format, and then expand from there. The generally accepted 'best' option is to pick two different Crew boxes to start with; Ramos and Ironsides have much to offer each other in terms of models, for example. The Schemes and Stones blog has a good series describing what to buy as a start with any given Master (depending on what the player likes most), and has a self-described limit of $100. Some Masters DO have a harder learning curve than others, so advice should be sought from more experienced players if you're wondering about whether a Master is easier or harder to play - or has a higher price point requirement. For example, Kirai's box comes with a bunch of 'free' models that she summons but are only the start to her summoning ability, meaning you've got to buy more models to put on the table just to make 50 Soulstones AND models to bring into play with her summoning ability as well! That's an uncommon situation - only one or two Masters in each faction are built like that - but it is something to be aware of and as a beginner it's not easy.