Haunter

Think I better bone up on my lore. I know nothing about Earthside. Any good resources online anyone can recommend for a crash course on Earthside?

Congratulations to all, especially Bogo for winning the round especially on your first time out! I'm already excited to see what everyone comes up with for the next round.

Thanks for the clarification (disappointing, but kind of what I figured) and the excellent trick.... (cue evil cackling) and saving me some modelling grief... (pinning him seems obvious as soon as you said it, but it hadn't previously occurred to me!)

This is my first Iron Quill, and I must say I really had fun writing, and I appreciate seeing constructive thoughtful feedback to some of the stories. That to me is the sign of a healthy writing community here. Kudos to all the writers. I am already looking forward to seeing what comes of the next round!

I felt a bit lost throughout, though I liked the concept overall. I read it start to finish 4 times in a row, and each time added some little piece to my picture. Subtle genius or a bit too obscure, but I'm not too sure which just yet. Regardless, I liked that it made me read hard and think.

Hey all, I'm assembling Willy for my next painting binge, and I wanted to get some clarification on his abilities. Sorry, at work so no card handy for the correct words. His ability to turn friendly scheme markers into mines says that if a model ends a walk within X" (3?) it goes boom. Is it limited to a single scheme marker, or can I cook off multiple scheme markers in response to a single walk action? I'm envisioning a perfect world scenario where I've got 3 or 4 markers within range and can hammer some poor yutz for 6 or 8 damage. Taking aside the low odds that I could A) cram 4 markers in juuuust the right spots or that my opponent would voluntarily walk there, is that possible given how the ability works? While I've got you, does anyone have an anecdotal experience using or facing Willy in a Colette crew? He seems fun on paper, but my theoryfaux is weak and I'm not sure if I'm overestimating his potential coolness.

You read it correctly. She was disappointed that she'd lost the concentration battle. The line was meant to convey that the magical duel was what really counted and that the poker game was sort of irrelevant. I hoped that following up 'he'd won again' with her collecting the pot would make the dual nature of the games clear. The ambiguity was intentional, though if it breaks immersion it may not be working quite as intended. There was another bit later on where she looked triumphant even though she'd lost a the hand that was intended to serve a similar purpose. I really appreciate the feedback. My writing chops are pretty rusty, and this sort of commentary helps sharpen them up again.

Hmm. Good point. I was going for enigmatic, but upon reflection I can certainly see how it sort of misses the intimidation factor. Must ponder. Thank you for the feedback! This is the first short story I've written in a loooong time. I found pacing the action and fitting in all the desired detail really challenging.

I really like the serial idea - it was fun to see the next chapter. Coming from past writing experiences of 100 page-long serials of online RPG fic, I'm a fan! I'm torn on the last line. On one hand, I like it a lot just in and of itself. An epilogue in a short story is kind of cool. On the other hand, I was looking forward to a future installment to find out more about her. Is that last line just a teaser? Will we find out what happened to Don't-call-me-Samantha between now and ending up at the bottom of a lake? I also liked that you added another interesting character who seems worth caring about. It would have been easy to focus exclusively on Flynn and a cast of background extras, but Bel really comes to life. Well done!

My post is up: High Stakes at the Bonsai Garden. 1747 Words Ingredients used: all What a pleasure to have a reason to focus on writing something! Thanks Edonil for organizing this.

Here's my first try at Iron Quill. Word count: 1747. Ingredients used: All. Comments & critique welcome. High Stakes at the Bonsai Garden Callie looked down at her hand, trying to keep her face impassive. Three hours in, and four players out. The pressure was on and the stakes were high. Higher than anyone knew. A pair of Aces wasn’t going to do the trick. It had to come down to this, didn’t it? A proper duel, winner take… I don’t even know what. She leveled a cool gaze at Wire-framed Glasses, sitting across the table. He raised his eyebrows with studied nonchalance. Inscrutable bastard. She swallowed her frown long before it reached her lips. “Well?” Grey eyes glinted with amusement behind those little round lenses. Callie shifted in her seat a little, plumping her cleavage just enough to distract most eyes. She subtly ran her thumb over the Three of Tomes, channeling a tiny wisp of energy and turning it into an Ace. Three of a kind was a safer bet. “I’ll call.” The required coins clinked on the table. Wire-framed Glasses smirked and met her eyes boldly. He spread his hand – a pair of fives. Callie squinted at the cards and at him in spite of herself. Nothing. Just that same damned image again. A candle burning with a blue flame. Who the hell are you? Callie laid out her three of a kind and thought hard about a chorus line of burlesque dancers. She met his gaze with all the brazen confidence she could muster. Unbidden, a memory came to mind instead. New Orleans. Mother calls me from in from the yard. I am nine years old and wearing a yellow sun dress. Wire-framed Glasses smiled. She frowned. He’d won again. She collected her coins and stacked them neatly in front of her. She’d come to Malifaux four months ago. They say that crossing the Breach can change a person, and she knew it to be true. She’d been an accomplished card shark before, but since she crossed over she was reading a lot more than just tells. She looked at the other players who still sat around the table, all watching the game intently even after bowing out of it. Iron Hand, the foundry worker who hated the cold of his mechanical arm. Top Knot, who loved his baby girl even though she’d been born with no eyes. Grizzly Beard, the filthy-nailed Gremlin hunter and improbable poet. Eye Twitch, who’d killed his first wife in a rage and still blamed her for making him do it. She read each of them like so many books as the hands played out, but not Wire-framed Glasses. He stymied her at every turn, and yet she knew he was reading her. She wished it was just coincidence that sat them both down at this table in this bar on this night. It seemed unlikely. The Bonsai Garden was a very out of the way place way down in the Little Kingdom. She had only even learned of it by chance. It was a shameless little hole where upstanding folk could come and get a taste of the exotic orient. The two tittering ladies at the bar were dressed like geisha but acted like the whores they were. Sake and noodles were about the only things on the menu because they were the only things outsiders knew about food from the Three Kingdoms. Focus, you silly bint. She turned her attention back to the game. It was her deal. She shuffled the well-worn deck and dealt with automatic efficiency. She watched her opponent take up his cards. He had small hands and greying hair cropped close to his head. His clothes were bland and nondescript. She couldn’t place a foreign accent of any kind, which meant he’d probably been an American before crossing over. He’d come to the game with a modest buy-in, nothing high rolling. The man was maddeningly unremarkable. Callie picked up her cards. Ugh, utter dross. Not even her new tricks could save a hand that bad. She folded, drawing some murmurs from the little knot of bystanders. Grizzly Beard and Top Knot had a side bet going on who was going to take the pot. The big lug nudged his companion with a hairy elbow. Wire-framed Glasses flashed a look of mild disappointment and put down his cards as well. His deal. A better hand this time and Callie allowed herself a little confidence. She bet modestly, still trying to keep the game going. Wire-framed Glasses raised without blinking. Callie chewed her lip and weighed her options. “I’ll call.” Wire-framed Glasses laid out a lone pair of tens. Candle with a blue flame. Again. She wanted to shout at the obtuse little man, but that would break the unspoken silence of the real game. Callie gritted her teeth, emptied her mind and revealed a straight. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing, you little troll. You get nothing. She shuffled and dealt. The cards were getting tingly to the touch now. It was like they were picking up the magic themselves. She swore she saw a tiny wisp of blue arc between the cards and his hand when he picked them up. This time Wire-framed Glasses folded, denying her three thirteens their moment of triumph. She cursed inwardly. No hand, no read. No read, no hope of figuring out who this man was or what he wanted from her. He took the next hand with a flush of Rams. He’s sitting at a desk with a ledger and a scale. Bookkeeper maybe? A miner walks in and dumps a glowing chunk of soulstone on the desk. Even in a memory he can feel its power. Where’s your blue candle now, you prig? Callie couldn’t hide a little victorious smile. She caught Top Knot’s puzzled expression. She centered herself and focused on the duel at hand. The deck was warm to the touch now. She saw wisps of blue energy clinging around the cards like a hazy afterglow. Apparently none of the onlookers saw them, but she was sure if she could then so could he. It took more and more discipline to keep her mind blank when she laid down her cards. There was a faint sheen of perspiration on her upper lip, and she didn’t think it was due to the warmth of the close little bar room. When he laid down four of a kind with the black joker, Callie felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. It wasn’t that there was no read. It was more like staring into the Abyss. Hungry black nothingness. Another hand – two pair against his three of a kind. Paris. I’m twenty-one. Jean-Louis squires me around the city in his private carriage so I let him in my dress. Guess I’m a real woman now. Oh god, of all the bloody things to think about. Damnation! A smile ghosted across Wire-framed Glasses’ face. A few more onlookers were paying attention now. The tittering geishas and the one-eyed bartender had stopped pretending not to notice the hottest game in the house. The original players seemed enraptured, watching each hand as if they had a stake in it. Callie found herself wondering if there were other powers at play in the cards here. Wire-framed Glasses laid down a surprise full house, crushing her triples. He’s in a lecture hall with a hundred other men all listening to a tall fellow with a mechanical hand at the lectern. Unabashed admiration. He looks at the man like he’s the mouthpiece of God. Callie looked at their respective piles of coin. They both knew the money was just window dressing, the real game unseen by the curious crowd. Her stack has dwindled in the last hour. More importantly, her concentration is starting to waver. He dealt her a full house, thirteens over nines. Callie held her impassive poker face steady. It was time to make an exit one way or the other. “I’m all in.” she said, pushing all her remaining coin into the middle. Wire-framed Glasses didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll call.” Coins crossed the table. He arched his eyebrows quizzically. Callie smugly laid out her hand and sat back. Wire-framed Glasses calmly laid down a royal flush capped with the red joker. The rush of magic washed over her with almost palpable force and pushed a gasp past her lips. The train’s just about to the Breach. My heart’s in my throat. I said I’d never look back, but I’m thinking that jumping off a moving train seems eminently sensible as we hurtle towards a hole in reality. We enter the Breach. I hear screaming in the next car, or maybe it’s outside the train. I can’t tell. I close my eyes and cover my ears. I can’t bear to look out the window. I’m so scared I wet myself. I cower and weep until the man in the next seat puts a hand on my shoulder and tells me it’s over. I made it. I made it to Malifaux. Wire-framed Glasses adjusted his spectacles and cleared his throat a little. Callie abruptly snapped out of her reverie. He looked a little rattled himself, but not half as much as she. He seemed almost reluctant to take his winnings, to allow the game to end. “Well,” she said in her breeziest southern drawl, “Looks like I’ve gone and lost my stake.” Still flustered, she lurched to her feet rather less gracefully than she’d intended. She took in the motley crew of men seated around the table, “Gentlemen, I thank you for a fine evening’s entertainment. It’s past time for me to retire, I’m afraid.” She extricated herself from the table and collected her skirts about her, “I thank y’all again. Good night.” Callie hustled out the door and waved to a distant rickshaw boy. “Miss Doucette,” Wire-framed Glasses was right behind her, close enough to grab her though he made no move, “Miss Doucette, a moment, please.” Callie waved again to the rickshaw boy who looked at her, looked past her, then retreated into the fog. Callie felt suddenly cold. She glanced out the corner of her eye in the direction the rickshaw boy had looked. A bearded man in a wide brimmed hat leaned against the wall, smoking a cigarillo. His hand rested casually on an ornate custom pistol. Shit. “Miss Doucette,” Wire-framed Glasses said again, “There is someone who would very much like to make your acquaintance. If you’d be so kind as to come with us…”

So, the game has come and gone, and through a few reasonably astute moves on my part, and a couple of critical errors on my opponents, I romped and stomped my way to an 8-4 victory. I ended up taking Breakthrough (declared) and Murder Protege (declared). My crew was (to the best of memory): Colette -Seize the Day (very worthwhile for 1SS) -Shell Game (I was underwhelmed with the prompt surge) Cassie -Smoke & Mirrors (which I totally forgot about all game) Joss Miss Step Blessed of December December Acolyte vs. Seamus (Haberdasher, Sininster Rep, Corpse Bloat) Sybelle (Bleeder Lash, Decaying Aura) Copy Cat Killer Belle Belle Belle Dead Doxie Bete Noire (Unnerving Aura) ... plus a couple more summoned Belles. His fatal error was over-committing to a long feint - he walked a Doxie down the empty flank to fake ALITS or Breakthrough. I countered with Cassie. He sent Seamus and CCK to kill her... and got bogged down for a completely unexpected 3 turns trying to finish her off. Cassie tanked like a boss (and Fate must have found the match up amusing because he missed with 2 Seamus handcannon shots while Cassie top decked just about every high card I could wish for). Honorable mention to the December Acolyte who also exceeded his life expectancy by a turn. Just long enough for me to get the hammer blow of Miss Step, Joss, Blessed and Colette into my opponent's line. I was really pleased with each model I took. They each did something important and meaningful. There were no loser models I wished I hadn't taken, even though Cassie and the Acolyte didn't get to do a lot of their offensive tricks. This was my first time running... um... almost all of these models, so it was a good field test.

I started with McMourning & Co and did them all on Secret Weapon sewer bases, which are lovely and easy. I also did custom scheme markers for his crew - barrels pouring lurid green poison into the sewer. I suspect I'll keep the sewer bases for all my non-spirit Rezzers. It will fit less well for Nico than I'd like, but should serve adequately for Seamus & friends. My Arcanists are all over the place - showgirls on stage, beasts on rocks/earth/grass, Frozen Hearts on snow/rocks. It all breaks down horribly... I think there's such diversity within factions that tightly themed and consistent bases are a sort of hopeless cause.

I'll throw my hat in the ring and see if I can come up with anything worthy of posting.

I've used these: http://www.tinyworlds.co.uk/30mm-round-lipped-wooden-plank-resin-bases Very pleased with them. A quick scrub, some primer and ready to go. I lack the time (and skill!) to make my own so these were just right for me. Also, if you buy 5 packs of bases they throw in a 6th for free! Oh, and Sybarite, that crew is a thing of beauty. Simply stunning!

This is great! I've only just recently stumbled across this. All very good, interesting stories. I love the concept of Iron Quill, and I'm hoping to get in on the next round. Well done, all of you writers. I really enjoyed the reads.

I ran a crew not too dissimilar to this. If memory serves it was Doug (moonlighting), Rafkin, Sebastian (those are not ours), Zombie Chihuahua, and the rest filled out with dogs and a couple of autopsies. Summoned a Rogue necro on turn 2 that proceeded to eat face. Summoned a Flesh construct and 3-4 new dogs over the course of it. It was fun and reasonably effective. I think I won or drew against Mei Feng in Turf War. Given that most of the crew were 4SS weenies, It was surprising how effective it was. Dog piling works if you can pull it off. The sheer volume of poison being flung around via infect triggers and everything else gets wicked, especially if you can keep Sebastian and Rafkin alive. One of the problems I encountered was that so many models made for crummy LoS for Sebastian's nasty auras. I had to park him on higher ground to see everyone who needed to be inducted. The hardest part mentally was watching your models get removed in handfuls. So... many... corpse markers. Fortunately every corpse marker turned into something useful in short order! Resser Recycling Program FTW.

Bah, a pox on you Rythos! POOOOX! ...I'm kinda rooting for him too, but I can't just roll over without a fight.

Greetings Hivemind, I'm a relative newbie prepping for a game against another relative newbie this weekend. We've already drawn strats/schemes and we've got: Reckoning ALITS Breakthrough Distract Murder Protege Vendetta I'm reasonably sure my opponent will be running Seamus with CCK, Sybelle, Bete Noire and some Belles and Doxies. Limited model selection, though there's always room for surprises! I'm bringing Colette with... um... some friends? I'm struggling with just what to bring. I've got a somewhat limited pool, and some possible loaners from a friend. Conventional wisdom for Reckoning is to maximize Big Hitty Models, is it not? The front runner contenders for my crew are some combination of Cassandra, Howard, Joss, Mech Rider, Blessed of December, December Acolyte, Convict Gunslinger. Those are pretty much the 7SS+ models at my disposal. Things I'm unsure of: Model count - I can build a crew with ~4-5 models. Too few? I worry about being badly outactivated. Getting facerolled with Lure - he tends to bring 2-3 Belles because that's what he has on hand. If one of my high value models gets pounce partied, I can quickly lose a quarter of my crew! Seamus is going to shoot holes in my everything. It's that thing he does. Again, few high value targets = greater risk. Any tricks or suggestions on shutting him down? How vital is Terrifying to Howie's survival? It's only vs. Living, which... well, his crew is not. Is Mech Rider a liability given that a big part of her cool factors is borking out new constructs for the last half of the game? I don't really want to give him a bunch of easy targets. Is she worth her stones if I don't use her (0)? Decent damage, decent resilience, hilariously awful triggers, but is she worth it? I was pondering a couple Frozen Heart models to help get around Seamus and Sybelle's Terrifying. Plus, they seem reasonably hitty. Worthwhile or insufficient? I thought Joss's ability to ignore HtW on his arc axe would be nice... and if he can chokeslam, then who cares about HtW! Convict Gunslinger was a late add because I just realized I had her. Seems pretty shooty, which might be helpful. Cassandra just seems reasonably solid all around, and just seems right with Colette. Schemewise I'm torn between a couple choices. Going with the Colette special - ALITS and Breakthrough - take the fight to his doorstep ASAP, and poop some markers as I do so. Breakthrough would lend itself to Mech Rider fighting near his deployment zone because she can complete the scheme while trying to kill things for Reckoning! Alternatively, Murder Protege (probably Sybelle) and Vendetta on whatever looks most workable might make sense because Reckoning is all about killing stuff anyway. I would love any thoughts, suggestions, feedback. Thanks gang.

Oops, sorry, double-post. Mods, please remove this! Cheers, Haunter

I bought a bunch and used them to make corpse counters. One headstone on each 30mm base with just a simple dirt base and a little flare of some time (a zombie hand clawing its way up, dead grass, moss, shrub bits, etc.). I guess that doesn't help with your query about how to base them for terrain. My inclination would be to do a mix - some small pieces of scatter terrain with 1-2 headstones on each, and a couple of larger rows. Small pieces could just provide severe terrain, while the fence-like rows might provide soft cover and severe terrain. I think in practice the small ones would be less useful than the rows from a practical gaming standpoint - objects that are too small often feel to me like more of an annoyance than they're worth. The advantage of having a few small ones is that it can extend the look/feel of the graveyard over a broader areas efficiently - lay a few little bits here and there and it gives the impression of a larger graveyard.

True. The only constructs she brought were 2 fire gamin. She wasn't running a typical crew - 2 fire gamin, 2 gunsmiths, a performer, Johanna, Firestarter and Emberling. Fire Gamin + Gunsmiths were a pretty gross combo. Light it on fire, shoot it in the face. Wash, rinse, repeat. They eviscerated a number of models. Under the circumstances the Mech Rider and subsequent Gamin were far from Mei's crew, mucking about in McMourning's quarter. They ended up just defending my ALITS markers and tying up a couple of minimally relevant models. I do need to keep Magnetism in mind. My brain sort of has them in the 'cheap tank' box and I forget that they have some potentially useful offense like that. So much to learn! I appreciate the feedback and suggestions!

Drat, you're right Eternalvoid. I think in the moment I thought I could only Magician's Assistant for the Performer, who was too busy to throw scheme markers, but it's all friendly models within 2" isn't it? I could have hurled another 5-10 markers over the course of the game if I'd remembered that. Gamin - I defaulted to metal because they're the only ones I was familiar with... and had available. I will read up on Ice and Fire before next game though. Does anyone use Mech Rider to summon more Mannequins? They seem pretty fragile coming in at 1 wound, but they've got some utility. Oooo, smart. I didn't use Understudy at all. She pretty much spent every non-Nimble AP trying to hit things with her sword. That would have been such a good idea. I think she would have been in range of it too. I'll definitely file that trick away for future reference.

I finally got my first game in with Colette at the helm. It was 4 player scenario - Prison Riot, where the strategy involved 4 different victory conditions involving 4 prisoners who needed to be moved about or killed. Schemes were ALITS, Bodyguard, Power Ritual, Spring the Trap, and Protect Territory. I drew the Prison Riot VC that involved getting 2 of the prisoners into my deployment zone. I chose Spring the Trap and ALITS for my schemes. My crew: Colette (4 pool) -Cabaret Choreography -Arcane Resevoir Cassandra -Smoke & Mirrors Angelica -Practiced Production Mech Rider Performer Mannequin Johan I was squaring off against McMourning, Seamus, and Mei Feng. Things I learned: Holy carp, this crew is fast! Between Angelica's Give them an Encore, Colette's prompts, Cassie's Nimble, the mannequin's free follow, and the mech rider's push on her summon... I literally had more movement than I knew what to do with. Soooo, I did the natural thing to do - I overextended myself dangerously! I like Doves. I used a Mech Dove and Practiced Production to drop half of the markers for ALITS. The confusion around the table when I flew it into the back corner of someone else's zone was priceless. "Uh... what's he doing with the Dove? It's an insignificant peon with no engagement range... why is it over there?" Not sure I'd get away with it a second time, but a fun trick this time. Summoning them felt like a bit of a hardship more from a card standpoint than an AP one. I intend to try hiring them instead next time and seeing if it makes a difference. I clumped up too much (while overextending). I was all excited to use Colette's ability to give Showgirls & minions (0) interacts to drop scheme markers all over, but due to poor planning and placement I didn't get the requisite 4" away from the last ones to place the next ones as often as I had intended! Mech Rider is good. Her speed is awesome and intimidating, and stabbing people for scheme markers is good times. Not an auto-include, but I was very pleased with her. All 3 of the metal gamin I summoned were still alive at the end of the game, all having achieved virtually nothing but activation padding. Prompting feels card-intensive! I had one turn where I futilely tried to kill Mei Feng (God I hate that woman). I Dove-buffed Colette early in the turn, so was flipping 2 cards for each of her 3 prompts, followed by another card for Cassie to then hit Mei. I think Mei swallowed about a third of my deck... and I never got her below half her wounds. I got lucky with Spring the Trap. I used a Performer to lure McMourning in and paralyze him, then piled scheme markers all around him. This seems like it would be a really dicey scheme to pull off under normal circumstances. ALITS was trivial for this crew. At the end of the game I had 6 of the 8 scheme markers I'd dropped still on the center line. A I underutilized Johan. I figured between Poison and Burning, I'd have plenty of conditions to remove. Unfortunately he got 7 burning stacked on him, and when I smugly tried to drop the Ram I'd been saving to Rebel Yell himself I was reminded that he cannot target himself with an attack action. Arse. In retrospect, I wished I'd had another Performer for more Siren Call and Seduction... but maybe if Johan had gotten to do anything before he died I'd have been glad for him anyway. The crew felt fragile, but maybe that's because I ended up getting drawn into a brawl with a bunch of Punk Zombies and McMourning... and then got Mei, Firestarter, and Emberling in the bunghole. Bunched, overextended, and squeeeeeezed. A poor craftsman blames his tools, so it's tough to say how much is that the crew's fragile and how much was that I played foolishly. In the end, Colette's girls came in 2nd with 6VP while Mei stomped her way to a 7VP win. Seamus and McMourning got honors for showing up. Sorry, a bit scattered and not a proper battle report. I wanted to braindump somewhere to people who might understand what the heck I'm on about.