Valtyr

Just to note that this only works if you are already in combat at the start of Misaki's activation. You could not, let's say, call a Cg with Misaki, use her Melee Expert to activate "You're Mine" and then gain the benefit of "You're Mine" for her Cg Strike. You would have to go: Cg - "You're Mine" + Melee Expert - General AP. - Valtyr

I was playing a game today against a Lady Justice crew with my Relic Hunters and McCabe was lucky enough to inflict 'Slow' on Lady J. I was under the impression that 'Slow' deducted a general AP from a model, meaning that she could not Cg that turn. As far as I was aware this was, by the letter of the rules, correct. An observer to our game made the argument that Lady J could forgo her (0) Action in order to permit her the 2 AP she needed to Cg a model as that was, in his mind, 'losing' an AP. My argument was that a (0) Action is not a General Action - it is a 'free' action that you can use on the relevant, specified Action and, as such, cannot be substituted to allow a model under the influence of 'Slow' to Cg. I have already asked our resident Henchman and he agrees with me, I was merely curious as to what the greater Malifaux masses made of this situation? Thoughts and opinions are welcomed! - Valtyr

As the title suggests I am looking for some help and advice on painting the rather lovely base inserts sold from Wyrd. I love the way they look, but I have never painted cobbles or pavement before and unfortunately my Google-fu is lacking a little and I cannot come up with a nice tutorial to follow. I am looking for a more 'realistic' finish as opposed to the bright, cartoonish style demonstrated on Wyrd's website, as my models have a darker, grittier appearance to them. Anyone able to lend a budding painter a hand? Thanks! - Valtyr

Best Yan Lo crew I've seen. Inspirational work! - Valtyr

Hi all, With the advent of a new job as well as other life commitments, I have found that my time to model, paint and play games has diminished significantly. Reluctant as I was to give up on wargaming and turn to other pursuits, I instead decided to move away from the 'army' scale games such as 40K and Warmachine and embrace the smaller, 'skirmish' style represented best by this interesting little game called Malifaux . My FLGS has quite a strong contingent of Malifaux players and, until very recently, I never really saw the appeal - I was a bit too stuck in the Games Workshop mindset to consider alternative systems and models. However, after playing a few introductory games I was completely addicted. The game was fast and accessible with interesting mechanics and a progressive story that I have had immense fun catching up on. The fact that the models are also very cool didn't hurt either! And so we come to the reason for this blog - to document my painting and gaming progress in the world of Malifaux. After reading 'Storm of Shadows', the fourth book in the Malifaux series, I have settled on two crews (for now), both ranges are in the new plastic medium: Lucas McCabe's Relic Hunters, and the Ten Thunders led by Misaki. I much, much prefer working with plastic than with metal and, as a lot of the 1st generation Malifaux models are starting to look a little...dated, I opted to go for the newer, shinier stuff instead. That and the backstories to both of these Masters are downright awesome! Here's a quick shot of both of my new purchases: I'll put up some progress shots once I have cracked open the boxes and started putting them together. Thanks for reading! - Valtyr

I would really appreciate a step-by-step on how you painted Shang. I'm finding that particular model a little intimidating as I have never painted fire before and, well, it is entirely composed of fire! Yours looks really nice, so any hints or tips you can offer would be much appreciated! - Valtyr

Hi all, I was playing a game yesterday using my Relic Hunters for the first time, and I was unsure as to whether I was using McCabe correctly. I had shot at a Witchling Handler who was surrounded by Witchlings. I managed to get a 'Severe' off on the Handler which, according to the card, is a 2 Dmg Blast + Paralyse. My question is, as the Handler was very close to the Witchlings when I placed the marker, would the Witchlings also suffer Paralyse, or would they only suffer the 'Moderate' of 2 Dmg + Slow? I think that I am still stuck in the vein of 40K where I assume everyone under the initial blast template takes the same severity, and it is only if the blast 'flips' that the damage decreases. I think that this is quite possibly incorrect. Thanks in advance! - Valtyr

I'm going from the original list posted up. It's the one that I use almost exclusively in 35SS Scraps and the one I am most experienced with. I find that Misaki and the Torakage are the most manouverable models in the crew, and using Mistaken Identity with Ototo is key to getting him in a prime place to deal huge damage. Misaki has the potential to move 25" in one turn (3 x Walk + 2 x Shadow) and with her Diving Attack can reach any model on the board provided they are within her (formidable) 10" combat range. Yamaziko and Shang both complement Misaki very well. Yamaziko provides much more utility to the entire crew with Invigorate, as well as her other Pulse and Area spells that deny Terrify and up WP. She's also a potent model in her own right. Brace is almost as good as Defensive Stance and Spirit of Youth gives her amazing offensive potential too. Shang really comes into his own before Misaki can use her 'You're Mine' ability. The ability to re-flip the initial card in a duel is huge - I have often flipped a low card initially only to flip a 10 or higher using Lucky Charm. He's worth his 3SS cost if just for the added lethality he provides Misaki on her important charge turn. He's got a mediocre melee and ranged attack, although I tend to use his AP to fly around the board and keep close to Misaki. Ototo is a bit of red herring. His damage output is so great that (provided the cards are right) I have wiped out 3-4 models in one of his activations; especially if he has Enrage'd beforehand. Most of the time players target him almost exclusively and he dies without landing a blow. I'm not sure whether I am happy with this re-direction of firepower away from Misaki, but with Misaki's naturally high Df and Bulletproof 2 I suppose I can't blame them. My games with Ototo usually go one of two ways; either he gets set loose and does an absolute tonne of damage, or he gets shut down very early which *usually* gives Misaki the freedom to pick the fight she wants. As I tend towards themed crews rather than optimised I'm keeping him in just for that reason if no other. All in all I find that this crew composition provides an immense amount of killing power, but at the expense of (some) manoeuvrability. The Torakage and Misaki notwithstanding, the crew is rather slow, and *can* struggle to complete Strategies such as Line in the Sand, and others that rely upon a lot of movement tricks to complete. If you do come across a movement-heavy Strategy, I would heartily recommend swapping an Archer for another Torakage to provide you with the additional movement tricks you need to win those games. Hope this helps! - Valtyr

So I've been playing Malifaux for a month or so now and my Misaki crew is nearing completion, but I am at a complete loss on how to base the crew. I have stuck with the original yellow and black palette as I think it looks amazing, but am really struggling to come up with a complementary scheme for the bases. Originally I thought of purchasing these: http://wyrd-games.net/shop/30mm-Asian-Zen-Bases.html ...but there's something about them that just doesn't appeal to me. Does anyone have any ideas? - Valtyr

Just a quick question: does the Torakage's Mistaken Identity spell require LOS to use? It's not technically a shooting attack so I don't believe that it does, but I can't find anything definitive. Thanks! - Valtyr

Well, I'm incredibly pleased! I took all your advice and played a game today against my friend - was able to claim a draw with the only model left being one Ronin on one wound! It was pretty brutal, and I would have won it if the Black Joker hadn't reared its ugly head in three consecutive turns! I was able to reduce his SS count very early when a decent blast arrow from an Archer forced him to take two Dmg Reduction flips, and from there I was able to assault with Misaki and just wreak havoc. Misaki was an absolute demon. She accounted for both Viktorias, Taelor, Lazarus and a Ronin before she got killed in the last activation of the last turn (boo!). Definitely a solid learning experience, and I fully realise now how fragile the Viktorias are when they get through their SS cache. Thank you for everyone's help! Next time I'll try and convert it into a win! - Valtyr

Thanks for all your advice, it is much appreciated! The general playstyle my friend uses with his Viktorias goes something like this: 1) Activate (Gun) Viktoria 2) Companion (Sword) Viktoria 3) Walk (Gun) Viktoria 4) Use (1) Sisters in Spirit to Push (Sword) Viktoria 3" in front of (Gun) Viktoria. 5) Use (Sword) Viktoria to Charge/Walk into Combat and, to put the icing on the cake, cast (1) Sisters in Battle if he has an AP to spare. This essentially gives the (Sword) Viktoria an 8" re-deploy before she even activates, which usually places her close enough to do some damage. I will add that this doesn't usually happen until Turn 2 though, so I really need to learn the damage ranges and deploy/move accordingly around them (as Adran stated). I've also realised that a lot of Misaki's potential comes from her ability to cancel out any -ve modifiers on the Dmg flip (Charging, You're Mine, Ten Thunders Strike), thus allowing me to Cheat Fate and (ideally) drop a Severe from my Control Hand every chance I get. - Valtyr

Thanks for the advice so far, I think I made a mistake with the Ronin as he does have a SS cache of 4 so must only be fielding 3 - I'll be sure to double check the next time I flip cards with him! I'm intending to use the models that I have for a little while before purchasing anymore, although Yamaziko is a certainty when my FLGS get her back in stock. The issue I seem to be having with the Viktorias is that I never get a good opportunity to weaken them and rarely, if ever, get the charge off on them before they dish out a world of hurt. This may be something that I'll learn naturally when it comes to model positioning and using the Torakage's Mistaken Identityability to get my heavy hitters into good spots. Ototo has proven really good for me in the games that I've played. He always demands to be dealt with or does considerable damage if ignored. His Thunderstrike ability is something I am eager to try, as being able to potentially drop a closely packed crew to 1AP seems pretty useful, and may limit the damage of the Viktorias somewhat. Shang is very deck-dependant, and I will drop him when I get Yamaziko as her utility far outshines his, and is much more reliable. So is the general consensus to force him to burn his cards/SS by Focus-ing the Archers before piling Misaki into one/both Viktorias, letting her carve them up a bit and then using a Torakage to switch her out then rinse/repeat? Thanks again all! - Valtyr

Hi all, So I was hoping to gather some assistance from you more experienced Malifaux players out there. Basically I've got a few games of Malifaux under my belt, lost a few, won a few, but the only crew I get resoundingly smashed by is my friend's Viktoria crew. We play at 35SS and his composition goes like this: Viktoria Viktoria Taelor Lazarus Ronin (x4) The crew I use is: Misaki Shang Ototo Torakage (x2) 10T Archer (x2) I have serious trouble dealing with all the elements in his crew. The Viktorias are just insane when they can use Sisters in Spirit to catapult each other across the board and nothing in my crew can stand up to their damage output. The Ronin are difficult to target before they get the charge off due to Harmless and the average Wp of all my models. Taelor I can usually deal with if I can get a good charge in with Misaki or Ototo, and Lazarus I just do not have a clue how to deal with - I usually just ignore him for the entire game and hope he doesn't do too much damage in return. Any advice guys? I would just like to add that I have an additional Archer and Torakage available to switch things up, but no other alternatives (I like to keep a strongly themed crew) so any viable strategies using the models I have would be much appreciated! Thanks, - Valtyr

Awesome! I have to say that I've found Misaki to be an absolute terror once I got over the initial difficulty curve. She managed to take down a Rail Golem in a single activation in one game, as well as two Illuminated, Mr. Grave, Mr Tanner and Lynch in a second, all each in a single activation. I'm quite fond of her really! - Valtyr

Thank you very much for your quick response and the clarification. So in order to maximise Misaki's damage output on a charge would it be legal to use the following: i) Declare (2) Diving Attack. ii) Flip Attack card and, if needed, use Shang's Lucky Charm to allow an Attack re-flip. iii) Resolve any Dmg. iv) Declare Misaki's You're Mine. v) Use Misaki's (+1) Melee Expert Action to generate an additional Strike. vi) Benefit from You're Mine. That seems to make the most sense, and allows Misaki to really dish out the hurt if I Cheat Fate properly. It also means Shang actually sees some use out of his abilities, as in my practise games he really wasn't doing too much... Thanks again! - Valtyr

Hi everyone! I'm a long-time 40K player who has recently taken the plunge into Malifaux as my FLGS has quite a strong community built around the game (including two Henchmen!). I decided upon the Ten Thunders faction and recently picked up the Misaki crew as well as a box of Archers to give some much needed range support to complement all the melee. I have a few questions regarding (0) abilities and, specifically, Misaki's 'You're Mine' ability. Am I correct in believing that as a (0) ability, Misaki can use it without subtracting from her AP pool, and that it is active throughout her entire activation (as opposed to on just the one Attack/Dmg flip)? Also, the wording of the ability confuses me slightly. It reads that Misaki can perform this action 'after this model performs a Strike Action targeting an enemy model.' Does this mean that Misaki has to make a standard Strike Action without the benefit of 'You're Mine' and gets the benefit for any subsequent attacks that activation? Apologies for coming in here and bombarding you all with questions, any clarity you can give me on this would be very much appreciated! Thanks, and hello again! - Valtyr