MrDeathTrout

I already posted this in a different thread, but I want everything on one place. So... I wasn't able to find an Avatar of Dread on-line anywhere so I started making this for a friend. But then someone clued me into a FLGS that had one (thanks again if you are watching). So he got his Avatar of Dread and I get to keep this one. Two happy gamers. This is my progress so far.

Yes, they look like a pair of domed metal sieves.

I've decided to start posting pics of my minis. Its not that I'm a great painter, but I'm hoping it will inspire me to paint better. Once I'm done with a model if look at it and don't want to post any pics then I'd better keep working. Since I've started posting Pics I've got a few questions about how I paint, so I'm adding some instructions to some of the pics. Since this is the first post in this thread I'm also adding some general tips I can refer back to from some other photos instead of posting the same instructions for X over and over. This page is a work in progress. If I get more questions I'll probably collect more and more techniques on this post to keep them more or less centralized. First up the guild hounds. Can anyone guess the theme? Someone asked me how these where painted so here are my best guesses. I'm not sure I will get all of the colors 100% correct, its been a while since I painted these guys. The Pale Dog (four feet on the ground) was base coated with Vallejo Game Color Bone White (BW) and washed several times with GW Agrax Earthshade (AE). The wash was thinned with water and applied several times in very thin coats. A little bit of GW Nuln Oil (NO) was added for some of the darker recesses where there were creases (like around the eyes). After washing I highlighted back up with BW and BW mixed with a little bit of white. The White Dog (leaping over a bush) used the same process as the Pale Dog, just sub in Vallejo Game Color Wolf Gray for the base coat and GW Nuln Oil for the washes. The Red Dog, sorry, but none of the colors I have match the base coat here. My best guess is mixed a custom color starting with a light to medium brown and mixing in a bit of orange. A dull rather than bright orange would be best, but I don't remember for sure. Then I washed with - you guessed it - GW Agrax Earthshade (AE) and highlighted up the base coat again. Do do some final highlights I'm guessing I would have mixed in some of the original light brown or some Vallejo Game Color Bone White (BW) into the original orange mix. The "white" parts (the muzzle is visible here, but the belly and insides of the legs are also "white") use the same colors and technique as the Pale Dog. The Black Dog uses the same base, wash highlight as the pale dog buy with Vallejo Game Color Heavy Charcoal as the base and GW Nuln Oil (NO) as the wash. The Red parts used the same colors and techniques as the Red Dog. I'm pretty sure I used more or less layers of wash to give it a more brown than red look.The Brown bits see Brown Bits in General Tips Below. The Silver bits see Silver in General Tips Below. The Leather bits see Brown Bits in General Tips Below. I'm pretty sure the base coat here was Vallejo Model Color English Uniform. Mounting these guys to the base was a challenge. They have such small contact points and super thin legs I was very concerned with how to attach them to the base that would be both sturdy and look good. The black dog was also just super glued, because he was first and was kind of the catalyst that made me reconsider how to attach the rest. The pale dog with all four feet on the ground was just super glued since four points of contact should be good. The white jumping dog is pinned to the "shrub" he's jumping over. The base of the shrub (made from several roots glued together) goes through a hole drilled into the base. The red dog is on small foot. The cobble stones on my bases are sculpted from putty, so I cut out the stone the dogs leg is on and replaced it with a piece of plasticard carved to match the stones on the base. Then the dogs foot was glued to the plastic stone using plastic glue which makes a much stronger bond than super glue. The Theme (I don't think anyone has even hazarded a guess at this point) is the four dogs of the apocalypse. The colors vary depending on your source, but the colors of the horses ridden by the four horsemen are red, black, pale and white. General Tips Back and Forth - I'll often say I painted that color using base coat A, wash B and highlight C, then highlight D, etc... While that is generally true it is often a bit more complicated. Highlighting may come out a bit brighter than I wanted to I give it another thin layer of wash, then the ears are too dark so I highlight them again, then... The point is I do follow the general steps of base, wash, highlight back up but often I will repete a lot of the steps over again on a much smaller scale over and over going back and forth until I get the effect I'm looking for. Washes - I use a lot of washes when I paint. Washes give a color depth removing the flat look of a pure color. I apply them in VERY thin coats, often deluded with water at a 1:1 ratio, and I make sure there are no pools. When I wash a model it is usually 4-6 coats of same very thin wash applied several times. I'll usually go back and paint in some wash where I want it the darkest. For these follow-up targeted washes I'll sometimes add in a bit if a darker wash as well. If you are applying a lot of thin layers of wash make sure they fully dry between layers and once you get up to 4-5 layers makes sure the wash has time to dry thoroughly before doing more layers. Once layers of wash start to build up you can easily wipe off the whole "stack" with your brush leaving a perfectly clean stripe. Sometimes I'll give it coat of sealant and let dry over night before continuing. My default color for a wash is GW Agrax Earthshade. Its a medium/dark brown that gives a "realistic" look to most colors when applies sparingly. If I'm not going for a super clean look I'll probably use Agrax for the wash. If I want it a bit darker I'll mix in a bit of GW Nuln Oil. I use almost exlusivly GW washes. For the easy of use and effect I've never found any brand that matches up to GW. If anyone can point to other good washes I'd love to hear about them. Targeted washes, when I use this term I mean just putting the wash where I want it, like painting a bit of wash just in a seam line between a pair of lips, to darken that line. Like all my washes these are very thin and will probably take several coats. I never do a targeted wash anywhere that hasn't already been washed with the same wash or a very similar wash. If you don't aready have this foundation you'll get a line at the edge of where the wash stops. By a very similar wash I mean the same colors in a different ratio or maybe a little bit of a new color added in, usually GW Nuln Oil to darken the wash since I'm usually putting this in area I want darker. Metalics in General - When I apply metallic paints I drybrush them on keeping my brush strokes in the same direction as mush as possible. I've found this gives a more natural metallic look. I have a hypothesis as to why; most metallic model paint is ground aluminium in a medium with pigment to give it color (none for bright silver, yellowish for gold, red-brown for copper, etc.). If you put this paint on wet like you would any other paint or if your brush strokes go in all different directions the aluminum particles are in a jumble. If you "drybrush" it on with brush strokes in the same direction the particles lie flat and are aligned giving you a nicer looking metallic. I also often use Air brush paints for matallics since the particles are finer they give a smoother less sparkly look. I also do not use an airbrush to apply metallics, they always look sparkly to me. I don't know if this is my lack of skill, the jumbled particles I talk about above or both. Dull Coat gives a nice matte finish, which I like, but it dulls down the shine on the metallics. So after the final Dull Coating I do one final highlight get the shine back. Silver - I do most silver about the same. Base coat with Vallejo Game Color Heavy Charcoal then cover with Vallejo Model Color Gunmetal Gray (GG). I highlight with Vallejo Model Air Gun (Gun) and then with Vallejo Model Air Aluminum (Aluminum). Then I wash with GW Agrax Earthshade (AE) and GW Nuln Oil (NO). If I want a dirtier look I use more AE in the ratio, for a darker look I use more layers of wash. Then I'll highlight with Gun and very sparingly with Aluminum, just a few bright spots and edges; too much and the effect is lost. See Metalics In General above as well. Brown Bits - For leather or brown cloth I start with a medium to light brown like Vallejo Model Color English Uniform or Vallejo Game Color Heavy Brown and wash it repeatedly with GW Agrax Earthshade (AE) with a bit of GW Nuln Oil (NO) mixed in. This is a lot of very thin washes, done over period of days. I just keep going untill I have the tone I want. When you are putting on this may layers you need to let the dry well or pretty soon they start dissolving again ant id make a huge mess (see washes in the General Tips Below). Sometimes I'll clear coat them and let them sit over night before continuing the wash process. Some times I'll do a little bit of highlighting with the base color and some edge highlighting with an even lighter brown. I find this technique gives a lot of depth to the brown and you can base coat several areas with the same brown and by varying the number and AE to NO ratio on different parts of the model end up with different colors of brown. Toothy Maw - I paint most of open mouths full of teeth about the same. Base coat with a dark reddish brown like Vallejo Panzer Aces Shadow Flesh or Vallejo Game Color Terracotta and give it a wash with GW Agrax Earthshade (AE). Then a heavy highlight with the base color and then some light highlights with a "pure" red. Next I start on the teeth I'base coat them with dull yellow-tan like Vallejo Model Color Yellow Ochre (YO), then cover 80% of the YO with an ivory like Vallejo Game Color Bonewhite (Bw), leaving the base of the teeth yellowish fading into the Bw. I might use a little pure white on the tips of the teeth. I'll usually do a very light targeted wash at the base of the teeth with AE with a little GW Nuln Oil (NO) mixed in to give a nice sharp division between the teeth and the gums. Priming - Heated primer works great. I heat up some water to near boiling in a bowl, I shake up my primer and put it in the bowl and let it sit for about 5 minutes before using it. The primer comes out of the can like its propelled by a jet engine, even when you are down to the dregs it still comes out easy. The primer seems better mixed, gives a more even coat and of a better consistency then when I don't heat it up. Clear Coating - There isn't much to say about clear coating other than I like Testors Dull Coat, and I will often coat a model several times during the painting process. I'll get to point I like and I'll seal it to protect what I've already done. I'll usually dull coat after I've done a lot of thin layers of wash or after I've done some airbrushing and I'm going to start doing some brush work, since both of these apply thin layers of paint that are easier to rub off with a brush than a typical brushed on layer of paint.

I totally agree. She's not nearly as flexible as the other masters. She is fantastic at assassinating a key model (especially with Yu/Wandering River support), or killing a bunch of small stuff, but there are lots of models good at killing things. She doesn't bring much else to the table. She was my first master, I still play her once in a while for funsies, but for the most part I play McCabe, Lynch, and Shenlong who are a bit more flexible.

I can see that. Condition removal and healing would be a great use for him as well, in certain crews.

Really? I have never taken any other upgrade on Yu when not with Shenlong. Pushing and Fast-ing a killy model is SO good. I do admit without other movement tricks he can't move the round he does that, but giving being able to give fast and 10" of push to Misaki, Huggy or Izamu is great. I'm curious how you use him outside a Shenlong list and with what upgrades?

I figured it out. Its because as the pool gets bigger the number of possible successful combination goes up slower than the total possible failure combinations. I counted up all the possible failures and successes using a small scale test. Imagine a sack containing 1 black marble and 3 white marbles. If you draw out two marbles at random your chance of pulling the black marble is 3 in 6 (50%). 3 success combinations: (b+w1, b+w2, b+w3) 3 fail combinations: (w1+w2, w1+w3, w2+w3). Imagine the same sack with 2 black marbles and 6 white marbles (same ratio). Doing the same test your chances of pulling a black marble drops to 13 in 28 (46.4%). 13 Success combinations: b1+b2, b1+w1, b1+w2, b1+w3, b1+w4, b1+w5, b1+w6, b2+w1, b2+w2, b2+w3, b2+w4, b2+w5, b2+w6 15 Fail combinations: w1+w2, w1+w3, w1+w4, w1+w5, w1+w6, w2+w3, w2+w4, w2+w5, w2+w6, w3+w4, w3+w5, w3+w6, w4+w5, w4+w6, w5+w6 The reason the odds change is because you are pulling multiples marbles. If you were only pulling 1 marble your chances would the same for both pools 1 in 4 (25%) and 2 in 8 (25%).

Thanks. I'll look into that. I want to better understand why the numbers change when the distribution (ratio of success cards to fail cards) is still the same.

I play Misaki, Lynch and McCabe. The only master he's an auto include for me is Misaki. Having two models stalked and a fast pushed Misaki it TOO good. I did try him with Lynch for the first time last week and having a beckoner Lure Yu then pushing 4" is very nice. I've just started with Shenlong and played about 4 games with him. I've always take Yu with him, but if you are playing them both as support its almost too much support. But from reading the forums I really haven't figured out how to use Shenlong very well yet.

Interesting. Could you go through the math on one of these examples? I'd don't understand why the probability changes. Thanks

Wyrd has decided to support their community with the henchman program and prize kits. I'm sure the free models, guilders, alt stat cards were not cheap. I'm sure it is a lot of time and effort to design and administer the henchman/prize kit program. I'm sure they did not go to all the effort to alienate anyone. I'm disappointed all this effort on their part has lead to so much negativity. I'm sure it is every disheartening to those that put so much effort into the program. To all those who put effort into this program I want you to know I appreciate it. Thank you.

Since you cannot buy the Avatar of Dread anymore I've started working on my own using a Mature Nephilim as the base.

According to Wyrd's website there are 2 henchmen in the state of WA, not everyone is lucky enough to have one nearby. Even once you're past that stage when someone asks me what they need go get started if I can say "a fate deck and a boxed set, about $50-60 for both." That is an easy decision for anyone who is genuinely interested. If I then say "There are these three other books (soon to be four) with all the stats. Without them you can't see what a model can do before you buy it. They cost about $120 (I'm guessing about $160 soon)." That is a bit off putting. I've had more than one demo go well and die at this point. Wyrd, don't get me wrong. I've very happy with what you've done so far, making the rules manual free is great. You've lowered the barrier to entry a great deal. I'm pushing for the barrier as low as possible. I makes good business sense to me, but I you guys are the experts not me. Thanks for putting out such a good product. Malifaux is head and shoulders above any other mini game IMHO.

I don't think this crowd is going to make Wyrd much money either way. They are not going to but a model because that is the only way to get the stat card. PoD cards are available, my group could by one book and we all photocopy the stats we need. etc. If you really don't want to buy the models there are plenty of ways around that. This paragraph is based heavily on assumptions. Where Wyrd makes their money from Malifaux is from selling models. Selling rules is nice, but I'd guess it is a very small percentage of the profits. By my best estimate I've spent about $1600 on Malifaux, $145 of that was on books. I've started a Malifaux group at my FLGS and have 6 new players (as in never played Malifaux before I introduced them to the game). I don't know how much they have spent on Malifaux. When I was looking for a game to play I watched YouTube videos and read the rules for Malifaux (free download at the time), Warmachine/Hordes (don't remember where I got a hold of these) and Infinity (free download). If I had not been able to download the rules for Malifaux and read them I might have went with one of the other games. If I never bought a rule book (assuming everything I needed was a free PDF) I think this would still be a win for Wyrd. My thought is lower the barrier to entry as much a possible, to get that first boxed set in their hands. I don't like the idea of going to a codex format. Leave all the books exactly like they are, just add a free PDF download with the stats for models. One PDF per faction would be best IMHO. Make is easy for me to see what Ten Thunder Brothers do so I can see I want models.

I'd love to see Wyrd make all of the stats for models available for free as well. A slimmed down version of each of the books with just the stat cards, or even better a PDF with all of the models for a faction (dual faction models would be in both PDFs) would be FANTASTIC! Make it easy for folks to see the stats for the models they are considering buying, I assume Wyrd makes most of its profit from Malifaux from models, not books. Based on my experience those people who like books and/or want to read the fluff (e.g. me) will buy the books, and those who just want to look at the stats before buying will look at a book on the shelf of the FLGS for bum off a friend instead of putting down the $40 for book they only use to check stats. If someone is interested in getting into the game and wants to know what they need to get started I tell them something like "The rulebook costs $15 (now I'll add you can get it for free) and a starter set cost $35-$45, but if you want to see the stats you have to spend $40 on this book. There are more stats in these two books at $45 each" I don't need to tell them about the three big books, but if feels dishonest not to at least tell them they are the only "official" way to see the stats on a model before they buy it. I'd much rather say "A starter set cost $35-$45 and a rule book cost $15 or you can download it. All the stats for mini's on-line. These three $40-45 books are nice and have all the fluff, but you don't need to them to play." The second has a much lower barrier to entry. And once you get the hooked... I hope this message isn't too off base for this thread, but its been on my mind for a while and this seems like a good time to bring it up. Also I'm not a business owner and I know the folks at Wyrd know a lot more about running a game company than I do, I trust you guys to make the right call for Malifaux. Thanks

Malifaux M2E at PFC Games 7528 Olympic View Dr, Edmonds, WA 98026 , (425) 670-0550 Casual Play - Bring your crew and play someone. SL Campaigns - We have a Shifting Loyalties Campaign every couple months. See below for specifics. Achievement Leagues - We have a Achievement Leagues every couple months. See below for specifics. Demo Games - I always have several crews with me for new player to try out. If you want a game or demo at another time just message me and we can do that. Tournaments - The 4th Saturday of the month our Malifaux tournament. I won't be able to run one in Aug or Dec of 2016 though. Stock - PFC caries the full Malifaux line. They typically place an order every other month and order all released models they currently don't have in stock. They will also make special orders. May 2016 Causal Play and Demos Wednesdays 5pm until whenever, depending on whats going on that night. (We usually have 4-6 players) Sundays 12pm until whenever, depending on whats going on that night. (Sundays have been hit or miss lately) Other times upon request Tournament May 28th. Hardcore Henchman format. Link here. SL Campaign starting Our SL campaign is running from 1/27 to 4/20/2016. Durration: 6x 2-week periods. Vanilla campaign. No house or optional rules.

Diabolica 2: Hardcore Henchman Tournament 12:30 Saturday, May 28 2016 PFC Games: (425) 670-0550 - 7528 Olympic View Dive Suite #106, Edmonds, WA 98026 Please Preregister with Bob (rwzimmerman@gmail.com) Proxy, Conversion, and Painting Rules • Proxy models are not allowed for generally released models. Proxies for unreleased models must be appropriate representations of the model they stand for. Wyrd models may only be used to represent what they are, unless they are converted. Please check in advance with the organizer for suitability. • Conversions are an excellent way to show off your modeling skills. If using a model that was converted with pre-made bits, only 30% of the model may be built from other game companies’ models, while the rest has to be self-sculpted or Wyrd bits. • Models must be assembled (glued) and fixed to the appropriate size base. Entry Fee : $3 entry fee (waived for PFC members). Schedule: Registration at noon. Round 1 begins at 12:30. The tournament will consist of 3-5 30 minute rounds with ~10 minutes between rounds. Crew Construction: • All crews lead be a henchman (no masters). • The Game Size 20 SS. • All crews must have exactly 4 models, no more, no less. • Upgrades follow the standard rules of Malifaux. • The crew SS pool is that of it's leader. Unspent SS are lost. • Any Action, Ability or Trigger which summons a model is considered blank (as if they were not even printed on the card). • The Same crew must be used in each round of the event. Prizes: Prizes will be awarded by lottery. Additional chances to win for: Best General, Best Sportsmanship, Best Painted Crew, Fully Painted Crew. Setup: All round will use the same set up. There will be only one scheme available each round. • Deployment: Close • Strategy: Hardcore Turf War (Turf War that can be scored on round 1) • Scheme: Assassinate

There are many places where the rules in Malifaux are loose, but this is not one of them. The core rules define a "Push", a "Movement" and a "Place" as three separate and distinct things that are all ways to move your model. Just like Df and Wp are separate and distinct things even though both are ways you defend your model from attacks.

FANTASTIC! It never makes sense to me when miniature games charger for e-copies of their rules. Lower that barrier to entry, make it easier for folks to get into the hobby at start buying mini's. Great decision Wyrd!

May 2016 Malifaux M2E Achievement League PFC Games 7528 Olympic View Dive Suite #106, Edmonds, WA 98026 (425) 670-0550 We will have an achievement league at PFC Games running the month of May In a nut shell there will be a list of things to achieve during a game that are worth points. They vary from easy to achieve (e.g. Failing a horror duel is worth 1 point) to absurd (e.g. playing a game without cheating is worth 5 points). The league will last for 4 weeks (Wed to Tue). You may only complete achievements once per league unless the achievement states otherwise. You may only complete achievements in your FIRST three games each week. You may not collude or cooperate with your opponent achieve objectives.

Thanks. Guess I should have checked the FAQ.

Can the defender declare triggers in a disengagement strike? For example Collodi declares he is taking a walk that will leave the engagement range of an enemy. Collodi failed the duel and declares the Run Away Home trigger on his Df. And pushes 3" out of the engagement. I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, the defender can declare triggers. Since the Disengagement rules only say the attacker cannot declare triggers. But I've been wrong before, so want to check see if I was missing something.

Love it!

It seems like a lot is being read into the word "Exactly". Why Channel says "exactly 2 damage" rather than "2 damage" I do not know. My best guess is inconstant verbiage that all means the same thing, there are many examples of this in the rule books. Given that is seems like a stretch so say the word "exactly" means the effect fails if that exact amount of damage is not taken. The issue of if a model can prevent/reduce/be immune to the "cost" of an action/ability/trigger and still gain the effect has come up many times. IIRC Wyrd has not addressed any of these questions and the consensus is usually they can prevent/reduce/be immune and still gain the effect.

Fair enough, locking of that thread was warranted for reasons not related to best answer. The core issue remains. I agree with Wyrd's stance to stop posting answers in the forums when they released M2E. Best answer in any form seems like it is open up the same can of worms all over again. Settling a rule dispute I rely on (1) Rulebook, (2) FAQ, (3) what I can recall from the forums, and (4) last my best judgment. Every time I make a call I'm not 100% I research it later so next time I'm better prepared and let the involved players know if I was wrong so next time they know as well. If during a tournament I make a call and someone says "But Wyrd said X was the best answer in the forums" that puts me in a difficult situation. I know what I think the best answer is, but if I'n not 100% sure that puts a lot of doubt in my mind. Did I miss that post, or forget it? Did they misremember or misunderstand it, and are wrong? If the same situation came up and they said the FAQ says X. That can be checked easily and quickly, not so for the forums. If I make the wrong call it could cost someone a win or winning the entire tournament, I know in the grand scheme of life making the right ruling is not important, but I still take it seriously and the "best answer" mechanic makes it more difficult for me, not easier. I do love it when you guys do make rulings in the FAQ, that makes my job easier. I'd like to see more of that, though I know FAQ bloat is also a concern. To summarize, Wyrd stopped posting answers to questions in the forums for very good reasons, this seems no different to me. Any thing important enough for you to rule on belongs where it is easy to find (in the FAQ). I know you guys have a very tough job and deal will all sorts of criticism every day. So I don't post criticism of your decisions lightly, but I hope this thread is constructive and want you to know I'm very happy with Wyrd you guys do a great job. Malifaux is head and shoulders above any other table top game I've played, you respond to our concerns, and do your best to please as many people as possible. The fact that you took the time to read my concern and then responded shows why Wyrd is so great. I've worked with the public before, it is not an easy thing to do. Anyway thanks for reading my concerns, I'm sure guys will do what is you think is best for the game. I might be in the minority not liking the "best answer" mechanic. That's why I posted this so other could agree or shout me down. Thank you