iamfanboy

First off, I want to say that I'm not all-knowing and I'm writing this to help out some friends who are having a bit of trouble with the difference between Malifaux and other wargames. If you want to offer some insight, I'd be glad to read it!

Second, I know that @Rathnard put an article similar to this in Wyrd #8, but it was... well... it's obsolete now, and I'm not here to heckle another man's writing, particularly when it served as a foundation for my own work. I just felt as though a more organized method of evaluating a model would help players understand what category it fits into and when to use them.

Anyway, off to the body of this thing!

THE SEVEN ROLES OF MALIFAUX MODELS AND HOW TO USE THEM

Games of Malifaux are won or lost on ignorance. Period. Luck can be a factor, as can skill, but when you see lopsided games that came down to 10-0 it was because one player possessed knowledge, and the other did not - and often, the difference between a 9-7 score can be attributed to an unfortunate moment of "WHAT?!"

Not knowing your opponent's models is understandable; there are nearly 300 models in the game, each one with unique niches and twists. But not knowing your OWN models - what they are capable of, what strategies and schemes that they can achieve for you - is asking for defeat. Some people pick up the knowledge in a try-and-die way, others fanatically study podcasts and wikis and battle reports, but neither are necessary if one actually looks at a card and evaluates it logically to see which of six roles a model fits into.

And I'm here to teach you how to do just that. Not only will it help you understand your own models, but using this method will let you quickly assess your opponent's models and note what roles they're likely to do... which will give you more knowledge of how the game will proceed.

Five of the roles will be superficially familiar to any MMORPG player - with twists just for Malifaux - but one is unique to the game. Those roles are Beater (Removes models from the table to win), Tank (Endures damage to win), Buffer (Modifies statistics, enemy or ally, to win), Controller (Causes extra movement to win), Summoner (Creates new bodies and more Action Points to win), Schemer (Generates extra Interacts to win), and Fodder (Outweighs activation order to win).

Many Malifaux models fit into several of these roles; for example, Colette can do almost all of them. She can attack four times in a round at a high Ml and decent damage track; is nearly impossible to kill if she's laid Scheme Markers properly and the opponent lacks an ability to bypass triggers; redistributes her own AP and generates Soulstones/Cards; moves friendly models around; summons Peons; and can benefit from her own aura as well as various triggers to generate additional Interacts and Scheme Markers. She's better at some of them than others, (only rarely will she take swings on models herself), but she CAN do them. Conversely, Sonnia Criid is ONLY a Ranged Beater - while she can absolutely delete enemy models, particularly grouped up ones, Sonnia struggles to do anything else aside from some highly circumstantial options on her upgrades.

Each role is suited for different categories of Victory Points (Schemes and Strats), which I'll briefly touch on before going into the nitty-gritty of how to evaluate a model. They are Placing, Removing, Interacting, and Mixed.

Placing VPs are earned by having models in specific locations - center of the board, edge of a table, quarter zone control, and so on. Beaters, Tanks, Controllers, and Summoners are all good for Placing VPs. Beaters remove scoring enemy models, Tanks stand their ground, Controllers move enemy and friendly models, and Summoners just  outplace their opponent - and Fodder, summoned or not, can be important for simply outnumbering the enemy. Turf War and Take Prisoner are examples.

Removing VPs are all about taking models off the table (permanently!) to win - the only twist is whether it's you that wants to remove the model, or your opponent. It's both sides of the same coin. Beaters and Tanks are REQUIRED for this one, all models but Schemers have a role to play in these VPs. Frame For Murder and  are examples.

Interacting VPs are earned by that unlisted action, Interact. Schemers and Summoners are the go-to models for Interacting, but Controllers can move models to more easily use Interacts, and Significant Fodder can simply bury the opponent in cheap AP to win.

Mixed VPs require two different categories above, and are more common in the Gaining Grounds documents. Headhunter, for example, requires Beaters to kill, but also likes Schemers to Interact with the dropped heads. Undercover Entourage is both Placement and Removing (or the lack thereof).

When you flip over the game's Scheme and Strat mix, mentally divvy them into the above categories and see if there is any overlap that might make your selection of models easier - if you have Reckoning, Make Them Suffer, and Assassinate in the pool, it's easy to see how you can earn multiple VPs from well-chosen Beaters. Reconnoiter and Outflank, Line in the Sand and Squatter's Rights... all similar VP conditions that certain models could easily dominate.

Now that we've loosely defined which VPs go with which model roles, let's explain how to DEFINE a model's role. While this is meant as a guideline and there exist exceptions to each role, the vast majority of Malifaux models are covered herein.

BEATER

Beaters are raw damage dealers. and as such are generally necessary in almost any build - yes, VPs may depend on scoring Interactions and placing, but removing enemy models can deny opponent VPs, which is just as important as scoring them yourself. Defining a Beater is usually as simple as running the raw numbers. Do they:

1) Have at least one attacking stat at 6+ which they can use often?

2) Deal at least 6 damage total minimum in one activation, including Poison, Burning, free and normal Actions like Flurry and Sidearm, or Triggers?

3) Ignore any Tank abilities such as Armor, Hard to Wound, or Triggers?

If at least two of the above apply, the model is a Beater. Like most wargames, Beaters fall into Ranged and Melee categories, but unlike most wargames they also may target different defensive stats, which gives a further level of definition. The reason for #3 is that some models with those may not deal a great deal of damage overall, but when an opponent has a hefty Tank on the field they are invaluable for removing said Tank. A lot of models, especially Masters, qualify for the Beater category, and in a pinch can do just that - but the difference between a Master that could deal damage or one which is dedicated to dealing damage is usually obvious and defined by how many other roles they fit into.

My personal notation for these tends to go "Sonnia Criid Beater Ranged Wp" but you may prefer something different.

TANK

While nothing in Malifaux is invincible, Tanks are defined as models that require a great deal of AP to remove. This requires real calculus - is removing said Tank necessary for your VPs, or can you ignore it? Tanks rely on more than just raw Df/Wp and Wd to survive; the other abilities on the front and back of their cards are just as important if not more so. When evaluating a model to see if it's a Tank, look at the following:

1) Does it have at least one Defensive stat at 6+ and more than 8 Wounds?

2) Does it have reliable defensive Triggers with the necessary Suit built into one stat?

3) Can it force passive duels just to target it, such as Horror or Manipulative?

4) Does it have any kind of reliable self-healing, either through a Tactical Action or Regeneration? Suited Triggers on attacks shouldn't be counted unless the Suit is built in.

5) Does it have damage reduction, through Abilities like Armor and Hard to Kill, or Actions like Bat Eyelashes or Southern Charm? Count each one seperately.

Usually, if at least three of those apply, then it's a tank - and the more that apply, the better. Exceptions can be made for exceptionally strong stats and/or upgrades; as mentioned, Colette is ridiculously hard to kill if she's been dropping Scheme Markers, and Pandora with The Box Opens is almost not worth targeting with anything less than an El Mayor'ed Perdita.

BUFFER

I place Buffers and Debuffers in the same category, because they do essentially the same thing: Modify printed or unprinted statistics - amount of AP, cards flipped and in hand, or Soulstones in Cache - to help you score VPs. If it helps you to divide them into two separate categories, then do so, but sometimes in Malifaux an Ability or Action (such as Zoraida's Obey) is both a buff and debuff. Defining a Buffer is tricky but possible. Can it:

1) Redistribute its own AP to other models?

2) Generate or restrict certain Actions?

3) Modify printed Statistics, either through Abilities or Actions?

4) Modify number of cards flipped?

5) Add or remove Suits on duels?

6) Modify unprinted statistics - AP generated (lowering or raising), Soulstones in cache, or cards in hand?

7) Change the number of Wounds dealt?

8) Change the order of activation?

9) Restore lost Wounds to any injured model, not just itself?

10) Remove Conditions?

Any of these means it buffs, but only models with at least two or three could be called Buffers. Oftentimes they're the linchpin of a list, the combo piece that other models rely upon - and since few of them are Tanks, it means that special care should be taken in identifying and removing Buffer models. The last two numbers, #9 and #10, are especially important, as healing models are rare in Malifaux.

CONTROLLER

Superficially, Controllers are similar to Buffers, but with a major difference - whereas the Buffer focuses on the numbers OFF the table (stats and cards), Controllers focus on what's ON the table and where it is. There definitely is overlap between the two; Zoraida's Obey can be used as a buff (to create extra attacks) or as control (to move models around the table via their own Walk actions). However, the number of models with Control abilities outstrips the number of models with Buff abilities and do something else entirely, so it's helpful to have them in their own category.

Defining Controllers seems simple, but has a few twists. Does the model:

1) Redistribute its own AP?

2) Generate any inches of movement for friendlies?

3) Generate any Terrain?

4) Remove models from the table via Burying?

5) Generate extra movement for enemies?

While any model with these abilities count as Controllers, and the more the better, it's only the last point, #5, which defines the strongest Controllers - moving your own models is great, but moving enemy models is fantastic.

SUMMONER

Summoners create extra bodies and more AP, simple as that. The advantage of Summoners is that they trade one of their AP for multiple AP over the course of the game - if the Dreamer summons a Lilitu that has three total AP and then takes two AP to kill, then the Dreamer player is up a total of (3+2-1) 4 AP. That is incredibly important, and good players behind a Summoner can control the entire course of a game.

However, while there are a lot of models which can summon, they are not equally distributed, and many of them are bound by tight restrictions that make them nearly useless. Sonnia Criid's Reincarnation Upgrade is hardly worth planning a game around, whereas Nicodem's entire game is about placing models.

The most important factor is whether the Summoner can generate Significant models. Summoning such models can make many Schemes and several Strats almost trivial to achieve if used well. However, even Insignificant summons can weight a game's activation order in a short time, and help other models achieve the VP condition.

Almost all the worthwhile Summoners are Masters, but there exist exceptions - the Mechanical Rider is probably one of the best models in the game partly because of its ability to generate Significant models.

SCHEMER

Schemers are unique to Malifaux as a wargame. While any Significant model can spend their precious AP to Interact, Schemers are defined as models which can generate extra AP that allows it to use Interacts and still perform other Actions - moving, attacking, and so on. When evaluating a model to see if it's a good Schemer, check for the following:

1) Can it move at least 4" and still have two AP to Interact, or 7" and still have one AP?

2) Can it generate Scheme Markers through any Triggers, Abilities, or Actions?

3) Can it move or remove Scheme Markers?

#1 is important because that's the distance between two Scheme Markers, meaning it can lay out most of an entire Scheme's needed output in one turn. #3 is important is because removing an opponent's Scheme Markers prevents them from scoring, which is just as good as scoring themselves - and often, models which remove Scheme Markers do so in exchange for benefits, such as the Guild's Executioner.

Taking a Schemer is not always necessary, even if there is a solid Interact Scheme in the pool; Controllers and Buffers can turn any model into a highly effective Schemer, and Summoners can place Significant models right where they need to be in order to Interact. In fact, not choosing one can be a solid misdirection about which Schemes you've selected. On the other hand, it's hard to argue with a Silurid's or Necropunk's ability to catapult itself across the board and do its job.

FODDER

Fodder models are, in essence, disposable. Fodder is vital for activation control; if you have 10 models and your opponent has 7, that lets you stack 3 models in a row after theirs. Fodder also usually have few options and are obvious in what they're doing, meaning that little information is revealed if you activate Fodder early in the turn, compared to models with lots of options that you may wish to hold back and respond to the opponent's moves. When checking the card for its Fodder potential, look at:

1) Is it 4 Soulstones or under?

2) Is it Significant?

3) Can it be Summoned?

4) When it is removed from the table, does it have any special effects?

If the answer to ANY of these is 'yes', then it's Fodder - but the more yeses, the better the model is. Most of the time, Fodder dies quickly, but if activated quickly it can still do its job - especially if that job is dropping a Scheme Marker or two. Sometimes, fodder even WANTS to die, and can thus serve as further activation control: Your opponent has to target this 2ss model before it Bacon Bombs all over his face, or your opponent doesn't want to target the Performer because Colette just finished activating and is within 2".

IN CONCLUSION

There's a long standing Sun Tzu quote about knowing yourself and your enemy and how it influences victory. I won't repeat it; if you've read it you'll skim over it and if you haven't go look it up yourself. Besides, this entire post is a paean to that quote!

Using this method is very, very simple; most experienced players have arrived at a method much like this one for judging models. This is just an explanation of the process and how to do it yourself in a highly organized fashion.

I hope that reading this helps you play the game. Malifaux is a game with outstanding rules and wonderful models; but it is also crowded with highly complicated models and difficult to understand interactions. Simplifying each down to a broad category has helped me as a player, and I would like it to do the same for you.

So, I hate taking pictures and seeing flaws in them that are frankly invisible at a normal level. Case in point, Lust. Another commission - a friend asked me to paint her like Lindsey Stirling and I decided to go "Extreme Ginger" - and make a real effort at it.

There's a weird brown mark on the right of her face, and SOMEHOW there's a green smear on the violin's side. Thankfully this is still not sealed and I can go back and fix it, but still... A year ago I would have shrugged and said, "Good enough," because if I don't let go I get upset, but it's a pay job. I need to figure out something to take an underlit picture of the face because man, I put a lot of work into it and she's just shadowed. Maybe I should move one of the light strips from the top to the bottom instead... hmm...

Also, got the Silent One done... mostly... What I thought was her nose must be a bit more of the mask extending upward and I need to fix that.

Also extreme ginger because I had the color mixed up and said, "What the heck."

Lastly, the Oiran I'm putting on a stage with my other Showgirls - the claw fist Oiran I don't much care for, and the naginata Oiran looks way too aggressive, but fangirl here looks like she'd be a perfect stage show.

Her name is Korein (Colleen), a half-blood orphan from the streets of Nagasaki, and she parlayed her striking copper hair, natural grace, and charm to rise up in the Ten Thunders and become one of their Oiran capable of passing for a non-oriental. Yes, I made a TTB character based solely off this mini, though I did cheat in the Ten Thunders Station because, well, I had to.

I really should not find it adorable that you signed that base after painting it, but I do.

The Starter Set may as well be called "The Demo Set" because each part of it is carefully formulated to introduce players to Malifaux mechanics. Yes, all the models are Mercenaries so can TECHNICALLY be used with any Faction choice after you buy it, but they're frankly of dubious usefulness as mercs - it's more useful to people giving demos than anyone else. Though Angel Eyes is in almost all of my Neverborn Crews. Just so good at sniping!

There are five scenarios, each one adding on new rules - #1 has just two models in melee for the core mechanic of card number + skill number = result, #2 has two models on each side to introduce movement and charging actions, #3 has Henchmen to introduce Triggers, (0) AP Actions and bonus AP, #4 adds Enforcers with pushes, Conditions, and situational skills, and #5 has full Soulstone use and Upgrades.

Each model is also designed carefully to make sure that new players don't get overloaded. The Minions have no Triggers at all and only two Actions apiece, only one of the Henchmen has (0) Action and the other has the bonus AP from Nimble, and while the Enforcers have a typically Malifaux number of Triggers, they're also introduced last.

The scenarios seem to be designed for people who've NEVER played a wargame before, however. For experienced wargamers, I tend to skip over scenario #1 and go straight to #2, then have #3 with Soulstones (because Henchmen don't feel like Henchmen without that), and then do #5 to introduce the concept of Victory Points and Enforcers. You can generally wrap all that up in an hour.

So, constructive criticism. I did nod several times while reading it - for example, I certainly never saw the connection between the Samurai and fishing for Aces, and it certainly helps fuel Lynch's end-turn bomb.

I do like how you ran through most of the models. While I certainly do share your view on Beckoners versus Lilitu/Performers (I made the conscious choice to buy the twins over Beckoners for that very same reason, and already had Performers), I think where you're underselling them is that their ranged attack doesn't have a gun icon (meaning it can be fired into enemies already engaged with your Illuminated and Huggy, giving them Brilliance before the beaters go to town!) and in some Scheme Pools A Pleasant Distraction would be endlessly frustrating to an opponent, particularly if you've got Depleted acting as a tarpit to block easy access to your Beckoner. Mr. Tannen does seem like he does more work supporting other Masters than Lynch, despite the thematic tie-in, and has a sharply limited Scheme pool usefulness.

There were several problems with it as an article, though.

First off, you're incorrect about Depleted. Under The Influence gives the Brilliance Characteristic, meaning they're free to push towards anyone with Brilliance.

Second, you were... cutesy, nonsensically so in some cases. Example sentence: " He’s Incorporeal and fast with a solid attack (weaboos beware) and an excellent Obey action." Why toss in a random and unimportant reference to Japanime fanboys in the middle of that sentence? There are two halves to good writing: Knowing how to write, and knowing how NOT to write. That's why editors are important, but a man can be his own editor if he's careful - just read over something that you've written and ask, "Is this necessary? How few words do I need to make my point?"

Lastly - and I'm REALLY trying to say this nicely - the pullmyfinger wiki overall has a much more easily read and comprehensive look at Lynch. You have many good observations to make, many of them about Lynch as Ten Thunders that would no doubt be welcomed on there - the Samurai's ability to fish for Aces, along with the 10T Bro's natural synergy with Lynch's Ace-recycling, are easily the best arguments I've seen for running him in 10T, yet aren't even mentioned on Lynch's page!

But as a separate article? I think your work is worse than the wiki's.

That sounds harsh, I know, but when writing you've got to consider the body of literature that already exists. I literally tore apart a floppy disk of my stories when I heard about the Dresden Files because of how similar it was to his, and I refused to read the novels until last year - while I can see where I would have been different, it wouldn't have been ENOUGH different to feel like anything other than a Dresden Files clone, even though I'd written them long before I'd heard of Dresden.

On 4/7/2017 at 2:17 AM, Trixter said:

I was faced with a serious issue. I'll need to deal with experienced Guild player (Sonnia/Perdita/Lady J) in typical GG matchup. I expect enough LOS blocking and different cover terrain. But really worry about durability which isn't strong side of Colette crew. I'm ready to loose one / two models per turn. But I still don't realize how to score 10 VP before 4th turn end (after which I assume I'll have no models to score).

If we only talk about scheme pool (without strategy) - which two is the best for Colette under Guild's pressure? What models you'll suggest and with which roles?

Considering that there's a whole big thread in the Guild section partly about how Frame For Murder is basically free VPs for their opponent? I'd start there. Colette also avoids the pitfall of being super killy so she's unlikely to give away the full VP amount on it.

Inspection would force them to make some hard choices about hunting down models and splitting their crew - and Guild may not have the mobility to move for both corners and maintain a presence in the center.

Dig Their Graves would also be surprisingly hard, I'd think, since they'd have to carefully plot where to drop the Scheme Markers in order to kill your guys whereas you can spray them across the table for free and spend your AP killing.

Set Up would be good for much the same reason.

And of course, there's always Claim Jump. Always.

Colette is surprisingly hard to kill, and so is Cassandra provided you always have Southern Charm up. One horrible thing I did to a beginning Perdita player was charge an Oiran into her and nail her with the No Witnesses trigger so she couldn't attack any Showgirls.

@Franchute, the vibrant yellow and blue contrasts perfectly with the rusty augmentations. That Joss really is awesome.

Now, for my, ah... much less spectacular works. It's strange, I wish I could say that I was envious and really WANTED to emulate you, but truth is I can and I just can't bring myself to do it. I'm lazy, I want to play with fully painted forces instead of just wishing they were done, and I've had my heart broken in the past on spectacular paintjobs which were ruined by accidents. Oh, my poor Belldandy garage kit... 

But onto what I've finished since Wednesday.

Stitched Together are just so... characterful, and part of the Essential Dreamer Kit. The gloss isn't really showing up well on their gory bits, though. *sigh*

I'll admit, I LIKE this miniature. It reminds me of Final Fantasy 4's Sylph Cave, and while I can see why people call it the pukeworm, I always considered that to be because of an... unfortunate... color choice by the original artist. I went with blue because blue is the color of magic in my palette.

Who am Groot? This guy Groot! For some reason, he's not photographing well at all; I swear to Ghost that he's highlighted well and looks like an old tree, not a brown mass. His base is a mix of the two different Neverborn themes I have (silvery gravel and black gravel) along with grass to represent his forest spirit.

The most fun part of Gluttony was the python - yellow ochre details on its scales were fun to do. I realize now I forgot to paint the detail on his gremlin hand necklace. Ugh, tomorrow's job. He's not done because I have yet to fill in water on his base and figure out a method of flocking him. It's hard because I need to match basing done by someone else entirely - the customer bought a prepainted Ophelia crew and I don't have the same flock. Plus the painter used some fancy-ass long swamp grass that I can't find except from a German manufacturer selling it for a lot more than I want to pay and in far larger lots than I'll EVER use. Might have to steal a clump from one of the other minis he already owns.

Same deal with the slop haulers here - I have to fill in their swamp water bases and couldn't do that until after sealing them. But I had my camera out and they were done otherwise, so.... The red, gory contents are nasty and interesting at the same time. Wasn't sure if it would work, but it does.

So that was 16 models this week. Next week I have a lot fewer, but a lot more care to put into them. I'm looking forward to the Lindsey Stirling-based Lust. Figured out a good way to do coppery ginger hair.

12 minutes ago, trikk said:

That actually requires storing a ton of data. Selected masters, selected schemes etc.

A fair point, but maybe logfaux tracks too much data if that's the case - do we want to know - "Okay this master loses if FFM and Spring the Trap are on the table" - or do we just want more general data - "Guild McMourning is up, Guild Sonnia is down"?

The idea of weaker/stronger players messing up the data, though, is harder. I know X-wing list juggler solves it by having two data entry points - between the 'entry' lists and the lists that actually make a cut in tournaments, Top 4/8/16 - so you can easily see what's rising to the top among a field of potential casuals. For example, the only T65 X-Wing that matters for top cuts is Biggs but lots of noobs bring Wedge, Luke, and other EU characters to the table.

But I think that it's just the noise that we'd have to accept if we want any data at all on what masters are being used successfully or not.

Or we could just, ya know, play whatever. I think defining what's good/bad is nearly impossible for a game like Malifaux because it's so situational and each player can choose NOT to bring a certain Master into a bad scheme/strat set. Compared to WM/H, where it's basically one game - "Capture the Flag and/or Kill the Enemy Boss" - Malifaux's games are all over the place and frankly, I think that data would be almost uselessly noisy in the general game. It's nearly unsolvable even if there were only 20 different models in the game TOTAL, let alone in the 200-300 range!

Henchman Hardcore would be different, because the number of optimal solutions is smaller, but even GG17 doesn't look easy to solve, and filtering the data would be just... useless IMHO.

EDIT: Example, there is GOOD, and there is BETTER, in a game like Malifaux (Gupps are best Scheme Runners in Neverborn, but Silurids/Terror Tots/Insidious Madnesses are also valid choices in certain pools). Sonnia might be bad AT certain Schemes, but that does not make her a BAD Master - and data which showed her down in successful usage would be noisy because of how variable the game itself is.

Maybe we should try to make Logfaux a more Henchman motivated thing? Most Malifaux communities have one embedded, having good data to recommend Masters to people would be appreciated, and - okay, it would be more extra work on top of all the other stuff a Henchman is doing to get soulstones, but overall might be seen as worth it? Just taking notes at events a Henchman runs (Guild McMourning 2/1/1) and entering them later wouldn't be too hard.

I think.

When each person makes a character, they do it by flipping a short Tarot - and where the cards land also form a Destiny for the character, split up into five parts. Each time a character fulfills a part of their Destiny they get radically stronger - and by the time they've gotten, I think, 3 parts of their Destiny done they're the equivalent of 9th-level characters, real movers and shakers. The Fatemaster Guide (if I remember right) recommends having a Destiny part fulfilled for at least one character every session, or at most every other session. So spread over 5 people with 5 destinies that's 25 adventures until everyone's Destiny is fulfilled by the book, or 50 if you REALLY want to stretch it.

But here's my take on it: I've only had maybe two or three campaigns my entire life last longer than thirty sessions. TTB's system is advantageous in that it gives the GM a way to weave a coherent, long-term plot in the game mechanic itself, and a campaign that lasts 25-30 sessions but ends with the players feeling as though a REAL story has been told is way better than one that goes on for two years and only stops when the players get kinda bored and just... wander away.

Alternately, you could look at Savage Worlds. Their Deadlands setting has a lot in common with Malifaux, and it does fairly well at scaling up even at the highest levels.

On 4/1/2017 at 11:03 AM, so_diogenes said:

I painted my first ever miniature in January and I'd like to get better at it, so I'm getting as much practice in as possible. I depleted my queue quite a bit, so it looks like I'm going to have to spend more money

One thing I suggest to beginning painters is something simple:

Magic Wash.

Really, any wash will do, and some miniature companies make premade ones, but you can make it yourself. One part acrylic floor wax + 2 parts water + dark pigment = instant shading on any miniature you paint. I actually mix up 32 ounces of it at a time (without pigment, just the floor wax and water), and pour a little bit out to mix with a dark pigment when I need shading. The brand in the states is Pledge Tile & Vinyl Floor Finish.

Sue, here, was just flat colors (gray coat, silver guns/shinguards, yellow ochre guitar, blue pants) before getting a single coat of black wash:

Viola, instant shading.

I tend to use it as just basic color + wash because that's good enough for tabletop; however, if you want to look better for cameras then you can do basic color, highlight, and then wash in the shadow in which also damps down the highlight.

It really helps for bare skin, too. This isn't the BEST example, but it's what I have for sculpted abs like Kang has:

Their skin was just tan flesh with a purple wash over it (because that's how I decided Neverborn look in my color palette, purple undertones to their skin). Quick, dramatic, effective. On real bare skin you want a red/brown wash mix, with more brown on asian skintones and more red the farther west you go.

Getting the correct amount of pigment IS tricky; the wash needs to run into the cracks but not just pool on the back of the miniature. I usually keep a sucker test model nearby to trial the mixes, and have a dry brush handy to whisk away any unexpected pooling. But it's worth it to learn.

Yes, overused it's a lazy habit (that I plead guilty to!), but it also lets people get their armies painted and looking tabletop good very quickly.

1 minute ago, Tris said:

He said that Hamelin is the only model that interests him out of the current range

 

-> "...... want Hamelin but that's it out of the current range. "

 

Don`t want to confuse things here

Ah, my apologies. I missed the 'it's' there.

9 hours ago, Go Canucks Go said:

Anyone heard of any new models coming out? I have 30 Guilders burning a hole in my pocket, want Hamelin but that's it out of the current range.

Uhhh.... Hamelin's there. There are seven total models that you can scroll through with left/right arrows.

Frankly, what I would love to see in there are Avatars - even metal ones. It's the sort of thing that only fanboys would want, they could probably get a print run from Iron Wind Metals for fairly cheap, and they might even add a couple of new ones. Good spirits I'd love to lay hands on a Colette Avatar, only seen one on eBay in the past eight months or so.

So once again, I'm almost diffident about posting in here. I say, "Well, I got 46ss done yesterday, and another 24ss almost finished today!" and you look at them and say, "Well, gee, anyone could paint to THAT level of quality, it looks terrible here on my monitor four times taller than it is in real life," and I reply, "Well, yeah, anyone COULD paint like that... so why get obsessive?"

Anyway, my two customers only paid for "El Cheapo" jobs - about 1.5 hours work on the Pistoleros and 2 hours work on the Freikorps. Not that the Freikorps are done yet, we never finalized the flocking style, so we'll have to decide that when he comes up this weekend. At this point I'm getting the quick stuff out of the way so the time-consuming jobs - Silent One, Oiran, Von Schill, Student, and Lust - can be worked over at leisure.

Smoking guy in the middle is my favorite mini, though I frankly don't care much for any of the paintjobs. Once again limited by the "Raiders Fan" palette of colors, I'm glad that I could at least toss brown in there to break it up some. No facepaint on these guys, he chose not to pay for it.

Gray and brown seem very urban camo colors to have, and lend a more scifi look to these guys. Purple ribbon on the Librarian because we decided that his Vik Crew was going to have purple as a unifying theme and I wanted to tie her in a bit with them when/if I get to painting them.

Also, WIP/skintest of Gluttony, who I'm frankly unhappy with as of this point:

I think I'm going to mix up a bottle of African-American skintone with a base of raw umber, royal purple, and some cocao so I don't have to keep mixing it up. It always ends up way too dark in camera, even if IRL it only looks a BIT too dark and perfectly in keeping with a more African tone... however, in this case I WANTED more American, so failure. The drumhead was going to be human skin, though I think I may end up shifting it to Gremlin skin so he ties in more visually with the Gremlin crew - that, the snake, and the extra hand should be the bit of green I need to keep him looking like he belongs with the greenskins.

@Franchute, the word you're looking for is 'nipple'.

Why are Death Marshals not being used more against FFM? It seems like the best thing to do - just saying, "Okay, my 6ss model removes the thing from the table I HAVE to kill but can't because it will give you VP" seems like a very, very solid answer.

Guild has a LOT of good tools, a lot of answers - and a lot of those are on strong but cheap Minions, freeing up points for high-end models as well.

Death Marshals for Schemes like FFM or Show of Force. (Maybe I'm just mad because one kept the Captain pinned in a box for three turns of Henchman Hardcore).

Witchling Stalkers for cheap condition removal.

Executioners for brutal melee that also can meddle with enemy Scheme Markers. (Seriously, Ready for Work does so much, well, work!)

Reporters for nasty pushes and other effects.

Guardians to make already hard to kill models even tougher.

It's just that, and this is from an outsider point of view, the answers needed have shifted away from the models Guild players are used to, so rather than learn their new tools they'd prefer to jump to another faction. It's not that this is BAD, mind you, because it's good to try new things and can often make you more aware of an opponent's victory plan if you've played their side of the table. I've seen it happen a lot, and it's not as though this game requires one to buy and paint 30 models + 3 vehicles in order to try out the new faction, either!

I think that Lady J and Sonnia aren't going to go away, because they are VERY killy and with the right scheme pool and backup they will ensure victory - it's just that you can't reach for them as your ONLY masters any more.

I was NOT there at Adepticon, I need to make this clear. NOT THERE. This is just a comment on "Guild is terrible now" thing.

I really enjoyed my first game of Guild as McMourning.

I know that the general wisdom is that "McMourning is best at Ressers", but just from the outside he seems to have a lot of good stuff for Guild. He's nearly as good at melee as Lady J, can indirectly damage to avoid triggering Frame For Murder, has scheme marker manipulation in the form of Injection and an upgrade that steals their Scheme Markers (in GG17, only really useful for 3/19 Schemes, but when it triggers...) and Nurses, man, Nurses. Mask Meds makes ANY model into a Schemer. Crow Meds barely has a downside if you've got a Witchling Stalker or two. Ram Meds straight into an Executioner?

Just, like, a thought. Borrowed a friend's McMourning to try it out. It was... fun.

@klatschi, I prefer to paint to tabletop standards, so I'll be assembly-line painting them - I prefer to HAVE painted minis rather than agonize for days over how well or badly I'm painting them. (also, my friends only paid me for tabletop standard, so that's what they're getting!)

@Chou, I'm against bloodspatter IMHO. If you do it as it should be, bright and red, it looks cartoony; if you do it darker then it doesn't show as well and seems very old. Besides, right now you've got something that looks threatening, and adding spatter might well ruin that look. Might also enhance it too, but it's fine as is.

Okay, here's what I have on my paint table for April.

In case you can't see it, and pardon me if the SS cost is wrong, it's Von Schill (15), Freikorpsman x4 (2 of them are still in the box, though) (20), Specialist (8), Librarian (7), Trapper (6), Trunk (3), Student of War (4), Oiran x3 (15), Lust (8), Latigo Pistoleros x3 (15), Silent One (6), Slop Haulers x2 (10), Gluttony (8), Waldgeist (6), Stitched Together x3 (18), Primordial Magic (2). 151ss total. Some of my personal stuff MIGHT get dropped, but the Gremlin, Outcast, and Guild stuff are all commissions (and so is Lust), so that's a must-paint this month and my first priority. I may also try to convince him to drop the extra Freikorpsmen; it adds money to his bill and I'm not sure he'll ever USE four of them!

I WAS going to get started earlier today, but I assembled the slop haulers and the steam trunk (RRGH) for this shot; nothing kills my paintboner faster than having to piece together Malifaux minis. Love to paint them, hate to put 'em together.

The great thing about the variety in Malifaux, though, is that it's perfect for breaking up the monotony of assembly line painting; each batch is so different there's almost no way to get bored doing it.

Penny Dreadfuls are the oneshot adventures they've put out.

The Through the Breach RPG is interesting for multiple reasons. One, all cards are flipped from a communal deck with static target numbers for NPCs - so if someone attacks you, you flip your own defense for example. Each player also has an abbreviated 'cheat deck' of cards that they can cheat out of and draw from under certain circumstances. It's a very skill-focused game, rather than stat focused or level focused, however. I'm not sure how much I like the core version, but I'll reserve judgment to see how the 2e works - though I may try to sign up for the Stitch In Time, as I didn't know that it was still available.

Puppet Wars Unstitched (the latest version) is a board game with little voodoo doll versions of various famous Malifaux personalities. Supposedly they were all made by Zoraida and they do things to each other for her amusement - which is the game itself.

As far as picking models just because of looks rather than because they're 'winners' or 'losers'... Malifaux is very friendly to this, because the power gap between various masters isn't as high as other games. Yes, my poor friend who only has the Ortegas really HATES the Henchman Hardcore format because Francisco Ortega, his only Henchman, isn't very durable; but that's one Scheme/Strat combination and there are plenty of others which would favor his band.

So I'm putting together some demo characters to run a game of TTB with to see if I like the core system. It's not bad, I do like how the players are the ones making all the flips both for and against themselves, and naturally I like the world! But some of the Pursuits, Skills, and Talents seem like must-takes and others look like traps, and while I know there was focus on some of them in 2e I'd like to know if Paired Weapons saw any love...

Because it's terrible.

At the cost of a General Talent and doubling your weapon costs (in scrip and ammo), you... get + to the Attack flips. OR, you can buy Custom Grip with a single pistol to get the same result, or get Skill Mastery (weapon) for exactly the same effect, but without a highly restrictive situation behind it. Considering that what a gunfighter probably wants is Specialized Skill leading to Critical Strike, it seems like a damfool waste of a precious Talent slot.

For purposes of this game I'm houseruling it to something else - Make 2 (1) AP attacks with identical one-handed weapons for (1) AP, but can take no other Attack actions this round of Dramatic Time and can spend no AP on actions that would involve using the hands - which opens up some interesting AP efficiency space. I'm not even sure if the restriction on "No other Attack actions" might be necessary, instead it might be "Can only be taken once per round of Dramatic Time" which allows 3 shots... which might be unduly nasty. Granting a free AP is already a strong effect, and probably too strong to be just available at Rank 1 (should be locked behind Specialized Skill, again!)

Or maybe adds a Trigger. Crows: Take this Attack action again. It cannot declare Triggers.

That is something in Malifaux that I don't see in TTB, at least in the base book: Triggers that allow another attack, but at a penalty.

Either of those sound good?

Wow, this feels like it's been a long, long month for only... 16 miniatures painted. Four of them were Warmachine, though, so they don't count.

Merris LaCroix (6), Sammy LaCroix (7), Sue (8), Lelu (7), Lilitu (7), Perdita Ortega (15), Francisco Ortega (13), Abuela Ortega (7), Nino Ortega (7), Santiago Ortega (7), Papa Loco (7), Enslaved Nephilim (3)

94ss total?

Next month looks even more busy. Silent One, Waldgeist, 3 Stitched Together, 1-3 Oiran, and Primordial Magic for me; Von Schill's Crew, Student of War, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, and 3 Pistoleros for friends. I may not actually PAINT all that, mind, but it'll be there.

One more comment: I think that any [UPG] items should be listed last That'd be a good organizational tip to help players easily find what's on a base card and what's on an upgrade card. I kind of see that you've got a set organization for grouping a given Master's Movement/Defense/Attack/Buffs together, but separating out the UPG items would let players know what's consistent across the board and what's variable much more easily.

I mean, it's GREAT. It really, honestly, 100% is, and is perfectly usable now. It just could be slightly better, at least in my opinion.

So I've updated this topic for April, and I plan to run several trial games of Through The Breach to see if I like the system well enough to run it.

Really, I've been finding that pretty much any Neverborn crew loves having a sniper that doesn't randomize on their side. Lock them down with Candy and Fears Given Form, and while she heals herself with Goody Basket Angel Eyes blasts them. Pick the Master you like, and they will bless having a great ranged model in a faction that's all about melee. Though the suggestion of Lilith IS solid; Nephilim is very thematic together and Lilith is a simple yet deep master to use who is very good about forcing an opponent to play the game on her terms, rather than being forced by the other side.

I haven't used Scion of Black Blood all that much, but he's more a force multiplier than an always take - unless you're dedicated to staying in theme, the Mercenary Johan is waaay better at condition removal.

20 hours ago, solkan said:

One thing I would add to that is little chips or something to mark activations.  In middle of the game, you're going to forget which models have activated.  

I've had pretty good success so far using the Warlord Games pin markers (used for Gates of Antares, Bolt Action, etc.) for Poison and Burning (red plastic with yellow paint for burning, green paint for poison).  They've got a dial for 1 to 20 that's reasonably visible if you dry brush the numbers.

Say, where do you get these Warlord Games spin markers? Do they sell them separately from the games themselves? Because I can't seem to locate them on the official store.

EDIT: Never mind, they're under Pin Markers, NOT Spin Markers.