Mason

I really want to see Yan Lo go all Big Trouble in Little China when he manifests. For Lynch, I hope he merges with the Hungering Darkness and just becomes a font of Brilliance, contaminating everything around him in a wide aura.

McMourning is also Guild. Great write up, though.

Thanks for the suggestion. How big is the base on that guy? 25mm, I assume?

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

I've been searching for a good model to use as a proxy for Fuhatsu until the model comes out, but I haven't been able to find anything very fitting. Does anyone have any good suggestions?

We'll be holding a Malifaux Demo / Game Day on October 5th, from 1 pm to 6 pm. Come down and play a demo game, either with the models we're providing or with a crew of your own, or just get a few games in against other Malifaux players! Place: Universal Bits and Games, 3920 S. Western Ave Suite #2, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57105. (The store is in the back of the building, with an external entrance) Store Phone: (605) 271-7660 Time: 1 pm - 6 pm, Saturday, October 5th.

Welcome to Malifaux! Zoraida likes to sit back and control the battle from afar, so you'll probably have better luck with her if you try to keep her out of any battles that spring up, but still close enough to use her Obey ability. Summoning a Voodoo doll to mess with important enemy models is both fun and effective. As for her crew, her box comes with Silurids, which are fast and agile objective grabbers, and Bad Juju, who is a pretty solid melee model that can - with the Eternal Fiend upgrade - keep coming back to life after your opponent kills him. Note that because we just started Second Edition, Zoraida's starter will probably come with First Edition stat cards still, so you'll want to pick up the core rulebook if you want the Second Edition rules for the models (and/or a Neverborn Arsenal Box, which has the very pretty updated stat cards for the ENTIRE Neverbon faction). As far as a good starting place for Zoraida's crew? With her Silurids and Bad Juju, she starts with a solid Swampfiend theme, so I would probably recommend a pack of Waldgeists. They're tough and hard to kill, which compliments the fast but somewhat fragile Silurids, and they're Swampfiends, so they work well with Bad Juju as well. I would also pick up a Voodoo Doll, which is Zoraida's totem. She can summon one into battle, so you don't have to start with it in your list, but it's a very good support piece for her. There are plenty of other Neverborn models that would help take Zoraida's crew in different directions, but I think that a box of Waldgeist and a Voodoo Doll would be a good, solid starting point. Mature Nephilim are good models, though, so if you think they're awesome, then I say go for it!

One thing that's probably worth noting is that Hamelin used to - and probably still will - require a couple packs of Malifaux Rats to get the most out him, so his crew will be a bit more expensive than the ten thunders masters. If that's not a concern, then just go with whatever crew you like the style and fluff of the most. You can always learn to play a master through practice, and having a crew that you look forward to painting and fielding is a huge part of the game, in my opinion. Were there any Ten Thunders crews in particular that you were interested in? There's quite a difference between, say, Jakob Lynch's crew and Misaki's crew. If you give us a bit more information, we can probably give you a rough idea of how the crew tends to play, to see if it sounds like something you'd be interested in.

We played a game over vassal a few days ago. This is a narrative breakdown of the battle, and pretty accurate as to how things went. It was a lot of fun! Deployment: Corners Strategy: Reckoning Available Schemes: Line in the Sand, Assassinate, Make Them Suffer, Murder Protege, Protect Territory. Viktoria of Ashes (Cache: 4) - Howling Wolf Tattoo - 1 - Synchronized Slaying - 2 Viktoria of Blood - 0 Hans - 8 Student of Conflict - 4 Ronin - 6 Ronin - 6 Ronin - 6 Convict Gunslinger - 7 Convict Gunslinger - 7 Schemes: Murder Protege (Judge), Make Them Suffer Lady Justice (Cache: 5) Scales of Justice - 3 Judge - 9 - Vengeance Bullet - 1 Lone Marshal - 8 - Plant Evidence - 1 Executioner - 9 Death Marshal - 6 Death Marshal - 6 Death Marshal - 6 Schemes: Assassinate (Viktoria of Ashes), Make them Suffer The ronin carefully touched her face and scowled as she saw the smears of green face paint that came off on her fingers. "This is a stupid job." At her side, a second ronin, this one wrapped from head to toe in dirty linen bandages, shrugged her shoulders. "You didn't have to take it," she pointed out, not for the first time that night. "Yeah, really," agreed the third ronin, little more than a voice from beneath the white sheet that had been tossed over her body. Crude eye-holes had been cut in its surface to let her see, and another pair had been cut in the sides to allow her twin pigtails to poke out. "It's getting a bit old." The green-faced ronin sighed and rolled her eyes. "I didn't say it wouldn't be easy, just that it was stupid." The three women fell silent as a man in a fur coat approached them, a heavy sniper rifle slung over his back. Bits of fur had been glued to his face in places, and someone had drawn wolf-like whiskers on his face with a grease pen. Two rough-looking men followed behind him, their expressions showing amusement at the disguises being worn by the rest of the crew. "Hey," ghost ronin said, a tone of annoyance in her voice. "Where are your disguises?" The two convict gunslingers looked at each other, and the taller of the two hooked a thumb back over his shoulder. "Lost them in the river," he lied, and poorly at that. "The Vikis said to just stay out of sight and make spooky sounds." The green-faced woman scrunched up her face and glanced over at the two distant mercenary sisters. "What? How is that fair?" The two men shrugged, but were cut off as one of the Viktorias signaled them over. "Alright," she began, her tone crisp and business-like. "This should be an easy one. Just spread out, and when the Guild guards show up, wave your arms around and act like monsters. Remember, we only get paid if the Guild thinks that this bridge is haunted." The other Viktoria motioned to the green-faced ronin and tapped her face. "And fix your make-up. You don't look anything like a zombie prostitute." The green-faced ronin narrowed her eyes, never breaking eye contact with the Viktoria as she snapped open her compact and wished the mercenary leader dead. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "I'm counting nine of them," the death marshal said as he lowered his spyglass and glanced back over his shoulder. "Some of them look pretty fresh, but it looks like the tip was accurate." Lady Justice held her hands crossed over the pommel of her sword, her expression serene. "It's not quite the zombie horde they had claimed." The Judge sipped at his coffee from behind his mask. "Do you think it's a trap? They could have more hidden in the river." "Drowned?" A second Death Marshal sighed as he loaded his pistol. "Hate those things. Freakin' ghosts." "Yeah, well..." The Judge shrugged, as if to say 'what are you going to do about it?' A set of heavy footsteps drew the attention of everyone but Lady Justice, and the death marshals took a step away from the large, shirtless man that joined them. "Oooooh yeah!" the large growled, his lips pulled back in a maniacal grin. "We're in the danger zone now! These undead are going NO-WHERE!" There was a long, awkward silence as the rest of the Guild forces just stared at the executioner in silence. "Right," Lady Justice finally said, breaking the silence. "Let's get down there, clear these undead out, and then get some bagels. Nothing fancy, just by the book." The Judge took one last sip of his coffe, then tossed the cup over his shoulder, took up his sword, and advanced toward the distant bridge with the rest of the Guild strike force. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ T1: The executioner stomped forward onto the bridge, his claws raised up to challenge the undead creatures milling about to the south. "The power of undeath is like a single grain of sand in the Sahara desert that is the EXECUTIONER! Best there is, past, present, and future! Ooooh yeah!" Far to the south, Hans lowered his sniper rifle and just stared at the clawed madman in confusion. "What in the...?" Sighing, he shook his head, mumbled something about madmen, and lifted his rifle back up to his shoulder. The bullet struck the executioner in the head, tearing a deep groove along the man's skull and forcing him to stagger back against the railing of the bridge. The ronin dressed as a ghost ran up along the eastern bank of the river, half-stumbling as she hurried towards the bridge, allowing the woman wrapped up like a mummy to outpace her slightly. "Hurry up!" she called back, her bandages flapping in the moonlight. "Remember to make spooky sounds!" "I got that covered," the taller convict called out, his guns already drawn as he hurried after them. "Less talkin', more runnin'!" Behind them, the rest of the mercenaries hurried across a shallow part of the river, the two Viktorias leading the way as their pint-sized apprentice followed in their wake. The shorter gunslinger was right behind them, and he glanced to the side as the ronin dressed as a belle let out a shriek and plunged head-first into the river. "Careful, love!" he called out to her, grinning as she surfaced amidst a flurry of coughing and flailing limbs. "Ain't no bridge there." The woman shot him a death glare, her makeup already running down her face in a ruined mess. "Shut. Up." The convict opened his mouth to mock her weak retort, but was cut short by the sound of hooves racing closer. He turned his head just in time to see a mounted marshal burst forth from the small valley to the west of the bridge, the silver badge on his chest gleaming brightly in the moonlight. Two large men were following after him, each lugging a heavy coffin across their shoulders, and behind them... The convict swore harshly, the water-logged ronin completely forgotten. "Viki! That's Lady Justice!" He jabbed one of his guns in the blind woman's direction. "What have you gotten us into? I ain't goin' back to no prison!" Both Viktorias glanced back at him at the same moment. "Shut up," they ordered, no trace of fear in their voices as they spoke in perfect synchronization. "Yeah!" their young apprentice chimed in, nearly stumbling over her sword as she glanced back at him. "Shut up and fight!" Further to the north, on the opposite side of the bridge, the Judge paused as he looked down at the river. "That's going to be cold as hell," he mumbled, more to himself than to the death marshal at his side. "I don't think that hell is very cold," the death marshal pointed out, his tone completely serious. "In fact, it's most often depicted as being quite warm, though Dante interpreted the innermost circle of hell to be frozen solid in his Inferno, so if you look at it that way..." Any hesitation the Judge might have felt vanished instantly, and he raised his arms as he leapt into the river, holding his gun up high so as to keep it dry. The water was just as cold as he had imagined - colder, really - but at least the chattering of his teeth helped to drown out the death marshal's inane ramblings. T2: The mounted marshal pulled at the reins of his horse, causing it to rear up with a whinny of protest. As it did, he swung a long carbine from his shoulder, took aim, and fired a shot at the approaching mercenaries. The motion was so smooth, so well-practiced, that Viktoria could scarcely believe it could have been possible until the bullet had punched through her stomach like the kick of a mule. Her sister grabbed her arm and yanked her behind a rock as a second bullet ricocheted off the ground where she had been standing a moment before. Viktoria winced as her sister held a soulstone to the wound, its warm light draining away as the nearly fatal wound pulled itself shut. "These aren't normal guild guards. Did we get set up?" "Must have been," Viktoria agreed, the depleted soulstone disappearing into her pocket as she drew her pistol. "If that's actually Justice out there..." "...then we'd best finish this quickly," her sister finished, the meaning of her words crystal clear to both of them. The death marshal that had been keeping pace with the Lone Marshal whistled in appreciation and glanced up at the mounted man with admiration in his milky-white eyes. "Damned fine shot. You think you got her?" To his side, a more shapely death marshal advanced carefully on the rock, her pistol drawn as she slowly inched to the side. His question was answered with a shout from behind the rock as one of the women darted out, her body twisting as she flung her twin forward by her arm. The airborne woman drew a pair of swords as she tumbled through the air, landing near the female death marshal in a cyclone of dismemberment. The twin rolled to her feet, and what was left of the death marshal fell to pieces behind her. The death marshal that had asked the question could only stare with wide eyes, utterly shocked that such a feat could have been possible. "Nope," the Lone Marshal replied, his tone flat as he answered the hanging question. "Don't reckon I did." With a curse, the death marshal raised his pistol, but the sword-wielding psychopath was already ducking behind cover, so he twisted and fired off a shot at the other twin, missing her but catching a nearby young girl in the shoulder. "****, son," the Lone Marshal mumbled, with a glance down at the panicked death marshal. "Don't be shootin' no little girls." The death marshal snapped his head back up to the mounted man, his milky-white eyes still wide with shock. "She...she had a sword! And a gun!" The Lone Marshal was silent for a moment, then nodded in approval. "Well, that changes things a bit, doesn't it now?" The girl, meanwhile, was clutching at her shoulder, her back pressed against a rock as she fumbled with her sword. She looked up as someone approached her, and put on a brave face as a ronin in a soaked ball gown hurried up to her, green makeup running down her face and neck to stain the top of the fancy dress. "You okay, kid?" the ronin woman asked, looking down at her in concern. The student of conflict bit her lip and nodded in a tough manner, just in case one of the Viktorias was watching. "I'm...fine," she hissed through teeth clenched in pain. "Just a...scratch." Back across the river, the two ronin women had claimed the hill on one side of the bridge, and both were darting left and right with guns drawn. "My costume got turned around!" the now-blind ghost ronin cried out. "What's going on?!" "There's a..." She caught sight of a soaking wet man pulling himself out of the river to the north of them, and fired off a quick shot at him. The shot went wide, however, and he ducked low as he hurried towards them, his own gun drawn and at his side. "A what?!" The ghost ronin turned this way and that, trying to see what her companion was shooting at, but the sheet over her head was completely blocking her sight. "What is it? Where?!" She released a cry of frustration and began firing randomly into the night, forcing the bandage-wrapped ronin to crouch down, arms over her head, to avoid being shot. A deep laugh came from the bridge to their left, and the sheet-covered ronin swung her gun towards it, the hammer of her pistol clicking impotently against empty chamber after empty chamber as she continued firing wildly. "You think bullets can stop the PAIN?!" Moonlight glinted off the oversized claws of the executioner as he stomped towards them, his eyes wide like a crazed animal. "You're goin' NOWHERE! The executioner is here, and he's gonna take it to the lim..." The man's voice became a howl of pain as his kneecap exploded in a cloud of blood and bone shards, and far to the south, Hans snapped open the barrel of his sniper rifle and shoved another bullet in the chamber. "Just shut up and die already," he murmured, his eyes never leaving the giant psychopath. "HYAA!" A sharp cry to the west drew his attention, and he turned his rifle in that direction, focusing the sight to bring the source of the shout into focus. Two women - a blind woman with a massive sword that he instantly recognized as Lady Justice and one of the Viktorias - were engaged in an epic swordfight. The Viktoria had two swords to Justice's one, but Lady Justice had the offensive, and already the Viktoria was wounded and straining to keep the blind woman at bay. With a grim expression, Hans lowered his rifle and double-checked his evacuation route to make sure it was clear. The Viktorias paid good money, but they didn't pay him enough to risk his life by taking a shot at Lady Justice. The woman was probably immune to bullets, anyways. T3: "Surrender now!" Lady Justice didn't wait for a response, instead swinging her sword laterally in a wide arc. Viktora saw it coming and dropped to the ground, sacrificing her footing to keep her head attached to her shoulders. "Don't think so!" she called back, rolling to the side and kicking up to her feet, one sword raised to catch Justice off-guard as she turned toward her. To her surprise, however, Justice dropped to one knee, brought the pommel of her weapon in close to her generous chest, and stabbed forward with the tip like a spear. Viktoria's eyes went wide as the weapon punched through her chest and into the tree behind her, splintering it in half along with a half dozen of her ribs and more than a few vital organs. "You're under arrest," Justice stated, matter-of-factually. Her only reply was a groan from the pinned Viktoria, and Justice yanked her sword free, letting the dying woman fall to the ground in an unmoving heap. Her head turned towards the other twin, but rather than charging forward she fell back, a frown on her lips. She had expected some form of dark magic or undead reinforcements, but the women and her crew had seemed...well, human. Something strange was going on here, and Justice was starting to suspect that her "anonymous tip" hadn't been quite as legitimate as she had first thought. As she retreated, the mounted marshal let out a "Hyaa!" and spurred his horse forward, riding hard with his carbine held tightly in one hand. Rather than charging onward, however, he yanked the reins hard to one side, spinning the horse back around in a tight U-turn as he raised his carbine and fired a shot off at a nearby rock. The bullet struck the rock and ricocheted off of it and into the rock a half-inch from the remaining Viktoria's head. Her eyes snapped wide open in surprise as she risked a glance around the edge of the rock at the retreating horse. "Who is that guy?!" The death marshal had been just as impressed with the trick shot, to the point where he noticed the motion to his side a second too late. Milky white eyes turned toward it to find a short, rough-looking man pointing a gun right at his face. "I ain't goin' back to no prison," the man stated, his hand suddenly lowering as he fired a shot right into the death marshal's groin. As the death marshal doubled over, the convict fired a second shot into his chest, dropping the marshal to his knees with a groan of agony. He looked up, his hand struggling to raise his gun to defend himself, but he found his gaze distracted by a dark spot against the moon. It was growing larger, and in his final moment of life, he realized that it was one of the two twins, leaping down from the sky with her sword raised high above her head. Across the river, the Judge fired a quick snap shot at the wildly-firing ghost, and was surprised when the glancing blow drew a yelp of pain and a quickly spreading circle of crimson from the wound. "You're...not a ghost." "Nope," came a man's reply, and he looked up to see a tall man pointing two pistols at him. "But you are." The man unloaded with both barrels, and bullet after bullet punched into the Judge's chest and out the back, making his body jerk like a spasming marionette. There was a loud shout from behind the Judge as the death marshal came into view, his pistol raised as he glared death at the convict. "Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of always!" he quoted, before snapping off an expertly aimed shot at the convict's head. Unfortunately, it was just at that time that the sheet-covered ronin stumbled into the line of fire, and the shot struck her in the arm, drawing another cry of surprise from her. Dropping her gun, she stumbled forward and somehow managed to get her katana free, which she promptly began swinging around her wildly. Her momentum carried her into the Judge, and she bumped into him and began tumbling down the hill towards the death marshal, her sword accidentally slashing the bullet-riddled Judge as she rolled away, coming to rest right at the death marshal's feet. The mummy-wrapped ronin watched all of this with the wonder of a woman watching some sort of comedy farce unfolding right before her eyes. As the Judge struggled to climb to his feet, however, she drew her sword, hopped forward, and stabbed it neatly into his chest. He groaned and pushed away from her, falling backwards off the hill and rolling down it and into the icy river below. Her victory was short-lived, however, as the towering executioner was once again stumbling forward, still grinning despite his shattered knee and a river of blood that was streaming down the side of his face from a profusely bleeding head wound. T4: Viktoria flicked the death marshal's blood from her sword and ran past him, slowing her pace as she caught sight of her apprentice running towards her. "Dragon's bite!" she called out, grabbing the girl's arm in her hand. "We need to take out that mounted marshal. Are you ready?" The girl winced in pain, and Viktoria saw her eyes mist up with tears, but she nodded her head and Viktoria swung her around, launching the young girl into the air and then leaping after her. The Lone Marshal was just turning his horse around for another pass when a young, screaming girl flew right past him, all swords and panic and screaming. He blinked in surprise and yanked on the reins of his horse, causing it to shuffle backwards a handful of steps. Those steps saved his life, as a moment later a full-grown women flew past him, the tip of her sword severing the front brim of his hat in a flash of steel and moonlight. "What in the seven he....!" His words were cut abruptly short as he tensed up, then slowly listed to one side and fell from his horse, revealing a panting women in a soaked formal dress and running make up standing to the side of his horse. She flicked the blood from her sword, stood up straight, and pushed a large clump of wet hair back with one gloved hand as she tried to reclaim some semblance of dignity from the night. The Lone Marshal's horse reared up in a panick and bolted, dragging the unconscious marshal behind it, one of his boots still firmly stuck in his saddle's stirrup. Viktoria cast a quick smile at the ronin, grateful for the assistance, but then there was a flash of red hair and Lady Justice was among them, her sword swinging this way and that as some sort of crucified man stood behind and leered at the fighting women. The student of conflict let out a surprised shriek and rolled away from the crazy blind woman with the giant sword, coming to her feet a short distance from the weirdly crucified man. She glanced back at Viktoria, who was swiftly losing ground against Lady Justice, and then turned to face the crucified man, who seemed unarmed and relatively helpless. "Die!" she cried out, charging forward with her sword raised above her small head. The Scales of Justice watched her coming, then took a single step to the side, allowing the girl to stumble past him awkwardly. His attention turned away from the pathetic girl and back to the duel between the two women, just in time to see his mistress cut the blonde woman deeply across the chest. The blonde fell to the ground, panting heavily as she tried to regain her footing, but his mistress raised her blade and plunged it into the mercenary's chest, ending her pathetic attempts to resist the judgement of the Guild. "Well done, my lady!" he called out, his rarely-used voice raspy and sounding more like an undead creature than anything the strike force had fought thus far that night. On reflex, Lady Justice leapt to one side, pulled out a pistol, and began firing it wildly in every direction, causing everyone nearby to leap to cover. The wild firing drew a glance from Hans, who looked up from his sniper rifle, looked back towards the executioner, and then quietly began packing up his extra ammunition to make a quiet retreat back towards town. His employers were dead or severely wounded, things were starting to wrap up, and he wanted to get rid of the bits of fur the one Viktoria had insisted he glue onto his face. Looking back, he realized that such a request should probably have been a bit of a red flag. Standing up, Hans carefully made his retreat, not bothering to look back as he slunk away from the bridge and all the madness of the night. Back on the hill beside the bridge, the executioner walked up to the bandage-wrapped ronin, his shadow blocking out the feeble light of the moon overhead. He raised a clawed hand and swiped at her, only barely catching her with the tips of the claws as she stumbled backwards awkwardly. Even that, though, was nearly enough to eviscerate her, and he grinned in savage pleasure as blood sprayed out from the deep cuts in her chest. As the bandage-wrapped ronin struggled to keep her insides from spilling out from the wounds in her chest, her ghost-clad companion was rolling about on the ground in front of the death marshal, a whirlwind of white sheet, pigtails, and wildly slashing sword. One of her wild slashes nicked his arm, and he took a step back and watched her for a moment. He raised his gun, fired a single shot down into the flailing girl to put her out of her misery, and then turned and charged up the hill at the mummy. Or at least, the girl that was dressed as a mummy. The indecision cost him, and he slowed as he approached her, not entirely sure just what was going on with these strange undead things. The mummified ronin, not quite so concerned with such philosophical ponders, simply turned and slashed out with her katana, decapitating the death marshal in a single stroke. "Hun," came the calm voice of the convict behind her, "this is the part where you duck." The ronin's eyes went wide as she threw herself to the ground, just as a barrage of bullets tore through the executioner, forcing him back, step by step with each bullet, until he pressed up against the bridge's railing. It groaned against his weight, then snapped loudly, sending the executioner tumbling into the river below with a howl of indignant rage. T5: The scales of justice slowly struggled to its feet once the wildly shooting had stopped, looking around fearfully in case Lady Justice had remembered to bring a second clip with her. He caught sight of her putting her pistol away, sighed in relief, and turned away from her... ...only to have a sword plunged into his chest. "That's for Viktoria," the small girl huffed, ripping the sword free and causing the crucified man to stumble backwards and collapse, one of his metal scales falling free in a clatter of metal. Lady Justice didn't so much as glance toward the scales as she charged forward, slashing at the convict that was standing over body of one of her fallen death marshals. Her sword cut deep into him, but surprisingly he fought back the pain and remained standing. "I said," he grimaced, pulling himself up her blade as she struggled to pull it free. "I...ain't...goin'...back!" Justice felt something press against her stomach, and then the Gunslinger pulled the trigger, blowing a hole in redhead's chest...and then again. And again. Trailing blood behind her, Justice managed to shake the convict off of her sword, earning a groan as he fell to the ground. She pressed a hand to her ruined stomach and raised her head, listening carefully. She could make out unfamiliar voices converging on her position, but no more gunfire...which meant that the battle had turned against her. Quietly hoping that her Judge had survived, she fought back the pain and hurried away from the carnage, leaving the mercenaries to their cursed bridge. "Viktoria!" The student of conflict dropped her weapon and hurried to Viktoria's side, her small hands fumbling with the older woman's satchel in a desperate search for an unused soulstone. "Come on, come one..." She could vaguely make out the voice of another ronin shouting that she had found the other Viktoria, but the student knew that if there were any extra soulstones, this Viktoria would have them. Her heart leapt with joy as her hand closed around a warm stone, and she allowed a faint smile to rise to her lips as she pulled the soulstone out. Everything was going to be alright. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Somewhere in the Bayou... Zoraida waved a hand over her cauldron, allowing the image to dissipate back into murky water. Turning her back to it, she hobbled across the hut, absently rubbing at her newly regrown arm as a small horde of puppets followed in her wake, like baby ducks following their mother. Humming softly to herself, the swamp witch reached up and snatched a red-headed, busty puppet from a shelf. "You thought you were so smart, didn't you?" Her lips pulled back in a victorious grin as she shook the small puppet, which raised its arms and flailed in a futile attempt to get free. Cackling in amusement, Zoraida opened the window and hurled the small red-headed doll out into the muck of the swamp. "Try to find your precious bagels now! Twahahaha!" Game ends 5-3 in the Vikis' favor.

That looks very awesome.

That is how I am reading it as well.

I didn't think they were too bad...but I assembled them one at a time, so that probably helped. I didn't put an arrow on the one drawing from his back because I couldn't figure out how to add that part, and one of the fiddly drawn arrows snapped and had to be fixed, but they weren't as bad as I was expecting. That being said, they're probably still the hardest plastic kit I've had to put together.

I had that in there at first, but it just broke up the flow of the story too much, so I dropped it. If Zoraida shows up again, it'll definitely get a mention.

Expunge doesn't deal poison damage, it just deals damage equal to the model's poison counters, so it can be reduced with armor normally. Flesh constructs heal poison damage instead of being damaged.

I've found that Lynch's Play for Blood is more reliable than coated bullet for tagging models with Brilliance. He's much less reliant upon Brilliance this time around, which is pretty nice. It gives him a chance to run around with non-Darkened models without making it a suicidal choice.

Open Spoiler I had assumed that Shez'uul was trapped in the Masamune, given how the sword changes when they assume Avatar form.

So you just flip a card to see if it's a ram, basically?

Madman With a Gattling Gun reads: (1) Madman With a Gattling Gun (Ml 6 / Rg: :pulse3): All enemy models in range must make a TN 17 Wp duel or be pushed 3" from this model. :rams Fools!: After succeeding, if this model is not engaged, immediately take a Steam Gattling Burst Attack Action against a model which was pushed by this Action during this Activation. My question is...how do you declare a trigger when using this action? There's no flip involved on Fuhatsu's part. Should there be a TN on this?

Thanks for all the support, I'm glad that people enjoyed the report. Sure.

I just use magnetic tape; it's cheap and you can cut it into thin strips that fit into the bases rather well. Greenstuff + superglue has worked great for me.

Well, there's no reason you can't play brawls with friends still.

We played a game over vassal earlier today. The battle report is mostly accurate, but in story form, because we had some quite fun little moments as we were playing. Deployment: Standard Strategy: Reckoning Available Schemes: Line in the Sand, Breakthrough, Deliver a Message, Bodyguard, Entourage Tara (Cache: 5) - Obliteration Symbiote - 2 - Eternal Journey - 1 Nothing Beast - 10 Killjoy - 12 Bishop - 10 Convict Gunslinger - 7 Convict Gunslinger - 7 Schemes: Entourage (Tara), Bodyguard (Killjoy), both hidden. Zoraida (Cacha: 6) - Crystal Ball - 2 - Fears Given Form - 1 - Hex Bag - 1 Bad Juju - 8 - Hexed Among You - 1 - Eternal Fiend - 2 Teddy - 11 Waldgeist - 6 Waldgeist - 6 Baby Kade - 7 Terror Tot - 4 Schemes: Breakthrough, Entourage (Bad Juju) Tara paused at the edge of the abandoned town, the wind tussling her dark hair as she listened for any signs of life. "The witch is here," she said, turning to the small group of escaped convicts she had gathered up. "Split into two groups and we'll try to outflank her." Bishop nodded and motioned for one of the convicts to follow him as he circled around to the east, leaving Tara alone with the remaining convict. "Don't like the look of this," the shirtless man grumbled as he re-checked his pistols. "Four of us against a swamp witch?" Tara's lips pulled back in a wide grin as she adjusted her farmer's hat. "Don't worry about it. We won't be alone for much longer." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Zoraida flipped over the top card of the tarot deck, revealing the Judgement card. Her brow furrowed as she considered the ramifications, then turned over a second card, laying it atop the first. This card depicted a burning tower being struck by lightning, and she swore under her breath as she scooped the deck up and shoved it into her satchel. Hurrying to the window, she leaned out and shouted at the three figures waiting outside. "Kade! Stop playing with the townsfolk, we've got company!" The small child looked up from the pile of meat he had been stabbing, giving the old woman a venomous glare as she disappeared from the window. He raised his knife up to his throat and made a cutting gesture, then turned back to the towering stuffed creature that was crushing corpses into blocks. "Teddy! Play time!" The terrible creature clapped its blood-splattered claws together in joy. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ T1: Teddy's mouth stretched into something resembling a grin as he saw the woman in the leather coat rush forward, her gun raised as she looked back and forth. She looked lonely, so Teddy shuffled forward, eager for the chance to play with her. A Terror tot darted past him to one side, but he paid no attention to it. In the distance, it could see dog-like creatures made from animated vines bounding forward to play with mean-looking men armed with guns and chains. One of them lunged at the woman in the coat, causing her to stumble backwards from its sharp claws. Were they playing cops and robbers? What a fun game! Zoraida glanced down at her crystal ball, then called out for her protector. "Juju!" To the side of the building, what might have been charitably described as a large compost pile rose up to its full height, an ancient voodoo doll dangling around what served it as a neck. "Go stop that woman," Zoraida commanded, pointing at Tara. Bad Juju obeyed her command and lurched forward, leaving a trail of swamp muck in its wake. The woman in the coat noticed him and raised her hand as if to wave to him. Teddy waved back, but suddenly his sight was blocked by a massive undead creature nearly as big as he was! Teddy started to wave to its new playmate, but the creature didn't want to play; it only wanted to hurt Teddy! It charged forward, hacking into the Teddy in an onslaught of violence, until Teddy was no more. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ T2: With an inhuman roar, Bad Juju descended upon Tara in a wave of muck and claws. She did what she could to fend it off, but the monster was everywhere, battering her this way and that with claws the size of her head. Whenever she thought she was going to get away, the vines from the nearby Waldgeist wound trip her, slowing her escape and keeping her within range of the swamp beast. Eventually she scampered away to the porch of a nearby building, covered with sludge and bile and heavily wounded. "Finish her," came the disembodied voice of Zoraida, and Juju lurched forward, plunging Tara into its shadow as it reared up to end her. At the last second, however, Tara rolled away and the creature's attack slammed into the wooden porch, shattering it to splinters. Juju turned toward Tara, but she was saved from further abuse by a bloodthirsty charge from Killjoy. The undead giant slammed into Bad Juju, hacking wildly with its cleaver until as Juju desperately tried to reconstitute its mass and remain standing. With a mighty roar, Killjoy raised its cleaver high and brought it down atop Juju, cutting the swamp monster in half and ending its threat. Now splattered in swamp muck and grimy stuffing, Killjoy turned its attention toward the nearby waldgeist, its eyes glowing a deep red with the fury of its bloodlust. The waldgeist hesitated for only a moment, then turned and bounded up a nearby hill with its vine-like tail tucked beneath its legs. "Hey!" The voice of the convict gunslinger drew Tara's attention, and she saw that he was pointing at a baby some distance away, near the fluffy remains of the giant bear-thing. "It's a kid!" "A baby?" Tara pushed herself to her feet and took a few steps towards it. "It might be a survivor, we should..." A gunshot rang out, and the small child dropped to the ground, clutching at its groin. Tara's head snapped back to the convict, who held a smoking gun in his hand. "You shot a baby!" "A baby killed my father," the gunslinger explained. "Can't trust 'em." Tara just stared at him in shock. "No more shooting babies!" The convict waved his gun. "Yeah, yeah, fine." Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Bishop pointed at the second waldgeist with a chain-wrapped arm. "Take it down," he commanded, drawing a nod from the convict as he raised his guns and took aim. Before he could fire, however, the plant creature let out an inhuman cry and simply disappeared. The convict lowered his guns, his jaw dropping as he saw a vague outline of a many-tentacled beast hovering near where the waldgeist had been a moment earlier. "Uh, Bishop? Is that one of ours?" "...that damn woman," he growled. "Looks like Tara wasn't lying about her reinforcements. Come on, let's..." "Wait, look!" The convict's guns snapped back up as the vines and vegetation wove together with unnatural speed, binding together to form a menacing creature of muck and spite. "Son of a..." Bishop's voice was cut short as the tentacled nothing beast raised a lanky arm and waved it towards the resurrected Bad Juju, and a moment later it had simply ceased to exist. He braced himself in case the tentacle monster turned towards them next, but it turned away as if they were not even a concern. The convict at his side lowered his guns. "Bishop? I don't think we're getting paid enough for this job." Bishop snorted. "You and me both." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ T3: Tara watched as the baby stood up and glared at her with naked hatred in its eyes. "Okay," she admitted as she drew her sword. "That's probably not a normal baby." The convict mumbled something that might have been an 'I told you so,' but Tara was already rushing toward the child. It ducked beneath her first two strikes, but the third caught it in the chest and it fell backwards with a squeal and moved no more. "Yeah, you show him!" came the distant cheer from the convict. Tara flicked blood from her sword and glanced back to chastise the man, but he was chasing after a sprinting terror tot, so she just rolled her eyes and made a mental note to impose stricter hiring guidelines in the future. Meanwhile, the creature made of nothing floated through a wall of vegetation that had been thrown up by the fleeing waldgeist and faced off against the creature. The plant creature dropped the small voodoo doll it held in its mouth and turned to face the nothing beast, which just raised one of its many thin arms and unmade part of the waldgeist. Zoraida looked away from the crystal ball with a grimace. "Obliteration," she mumbled, taking a few small materials from her satchel and twisting them together. "This isn't the time for this." She set the small doll down on the floor and it sprung to life, its fat little body twisting as it raised its tin weapons in imitation of the hulking undead monstrosity rampaging around outside. It was mighty and invincible! And then Zoraida started stabbing pins into the small puppet, ruining its illusion of ultimate power and causing it to shake uncontrollably. Outside, in the streets, Killjoy twitched in annoyance as it felt pain course through its body, and its fat head turned this way and that, looking for the source of its annoyance. Its glowing eyes caught sight of Bishop as he sprinted past it, but a howl from the nearby hill drew its gaze away, toward the plant creature that had fled from it a few moments earlier. Undead lips pulling back into a feral grin, Killjoy turned and stomped towards the plant creature and the tentacled thing it was fighting. Nothing escaped Killjoy's hunger. T4: Bishop stormed through the front door of the building, catching a glimpse of Tara through the window as she darted around to the back door. Then he caught sight of the witch, hovering over a small doll, and his expression changed to one of righteous anger. "It's time to pay for all those you've harmed, witch!" Zoraida straightened and turned to face him, just as Tara kicked in the back door of the small house. "Hey, Zoraida!" she called, lips upturned in a grin. "I've got something for ya!" Tara made a gesture with her hand and suddenly Bad Juju was in front of her, rushing forward in a tidal wave of slime and rage. Zoraida cried out in surprise as the swamp beast struck her, and she stumbled back, snatching up the voodoo doll in her gnarled hands. Outside, Killjoy felt his legs stiffen as he turned and marched away from the annoying plant-thing. He tried to resist, but the compulsion was too strong, and he roared in rage at having been denied his kill. Someone would pay for this! "You!" Zoraida hissed as she jabbed a finger at Bishop, the other clutching tightly to the doll. "Leave this building! Now!" Bishop turned and hurried out of the building, but paused just outside the door. He shook his head, then growled in rage as he charged back into the building. "Stay out of my head, witch!" His chain-wrapped fist connected with her jaw, snapping her head back with a crack of bone. Zoraida stumbled backwards into the reeking mass of gunk that was Bad Juju, but the mire golem was already moving, its form flowing around its master as it approached Tara. Its fist came down squarely on her head, knocking the undead woman out of the doorway and back onto the rocky ground. Juju hovered in the doorway, as if to see if she was going to get up, but Tara remained as still as the grave. As Bishop prepared to finish the witch, her doll stabbed at his leg with its make-shift weapons. It was a clumsy attack, and Bishop simply raised his foot and stomped down on the puppet, shattering it into pieces of cloth and metal. At the same instant the puppet died, there was a roar of pain from behind him, and Bishop turned to see the hulking form of Killjoy crash through the front door of the house. It raised its meat cleaver high and grinned in triumph. "Found you," it rumbled ominously. Meanwhile, the gunslinger who had been accompanying Bishop had worked his way around the hill and was sneaking up on the waldgeist and the weird creature it was fighting. The plant creature noticed his approach and turned to slash at him with its tentacles, cutting him deeply, but it left the creature exposed to the nothing beast. A moment later, the waldgeist had ceased to exist, and the gunslinger looked on in awe as the nothing beast floated past him. It was headed towards the small terror tot, which was being chased by the second convict. "Come back here, demon baby!" He shot at the small nephilim as he chased it, kicking up a few rocks to the tot's side. "My father will have his revenge!" Neither terror tot nor gunslinger seemed to notice the cloud of nonexistence that was floating their way. T5: Killjoy released a roar as it charged forward, and Bishop leapt out of the way as the undead giant brought its cleaved down atop Zoraida's arm, severing it from her body. It chortled deeply as it scooped up the appendage and shoved it down its gullet, finally pleased to have found some actual meat. Zoraida clutched at her bleeding stump as she threw back her hair, causing the undead giant to stumble backwards in surprise at just how ugly the witch was. Bishop caught a glimpse of her as well, and he backed up as well...right into a wall of foul-smelling swamp muck. "Juju, finish that one," Zoraida hissed without even looking at Bishop, and the mire golem raised its fists and smashed Bishop into the wall. He felt bones snap as he struck a support beam and cracked it in half, but he was no stranger to pain and forced himself to stand up. He spit blood onto the floor and staggered towards Zoraida, intending to kill her if it was the last thing he did. The swamp-thing swung at him, and he ducked the punch, countering with a quick punch to the mass of bone fragments that served it as a face. It seemed to stagger the creature, and he took advantage of the distraction to rush towards Zoraida, his fist raised in an attempt to end her life. The witch grabbed an iron pan and swung it at him, however, forcing him to leap back and allowing her to regain her feet. Outside the house, the gunslinger facing off with the terror tot grinned as it dropped a small voodoo doll onto the ground and turned to face him. "Yeah, that's what I thought," he said, adopting a gunslinger's stance. "Let's do this, just you and me." The tot charged at him and he unloaded both guns into its body, riddling it full of holes but also splattering its burning black blood across his arms and chest. He hurried to wipe the thick substance off, then kicked the dead demon-thing in the head. "Damned babies. That one was for you, dad." The convict touched his fingers to his lips and then held them up to the sky in tribute to his fallen father. T6: Zoraida snatched up her crystal ball and clutched it to her heaving chest. "You don't know what you've done here, you fools." Bishop cracked his knuckles as he advanced on her. "I've got a damned good idea what I'm about to do." Zoraida glared at him, then muttered a word of power as her body shifted, turning her into a raven that darted out past Killjoy and into the sky overhead. The undead giant chased after it, waving his meat cleaver uselessly in the air as he disappeared from sight. Bishop turned back to face the mire golem, but it had slunk away during Zoraida's escape. "Next time," he muttered as he made his way to Tara's side and gathered her up in his arms. He wasn't sure if she was dead or not, but that hadn't stopped her from hiring him in the first place. "Another victory for the good guys," he grumbled sarcastically. (My opponent conceded at the start of Turn 6, as there was nothing he could have done to win. Tara's team won the game 4-0)

We'll be holding a Malifaux League next month, for the entire month of October. All games will be 35 soulstones (a starter box or a starter box and one model, depending on the master), and you have the entire month to play one game with everyone else in the league. At the end of the league, we'll tally up the win totals of everyone in the league and will pass out some prizes. It should be fun! We'll have some sign up sheets down at the store starting this weekend, and some rules packets with strategies and schemes printed out by the end of the month. For this League, we will be allowing proxies, so if you're still waiting for your crew to show up or get painted, you'll still be able to participate. Place: Universal Bits and Games, 3920 S. Western Ave Suite #2, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57105. (The store is in the back of the building, with an external entrance) Store Phone: (605) 271-7660 Time: All of October!

I attached both ends of the scissors to the base, and that helped quite a bit. It makes the model playable without having to avoid breathing on it.

This is also the only time that the CCK can pick up the hat.