tmod

Sweet!

Yeah, I saw it after I posted... A little embarrassed...

With my GenCon order placed I'm thinking of a crew to fit the Seamus miss alternate. I have some options for Copycat killer (metal, regular, EBO Jack), but I'd like a more elegant and sinister mini matching the master. With alt. Sybelle, Doxies and Belles the rest seems to fit reasonably well, but a cool copycat killer proxy has been eluding me so far. What are you guys thinking of using?

Wasn't one of the Evil Baby Orphanage models a legal proxy for Copycat killer? They do pop up sometimes, and was not part of a crew obviously... Edit: yeah, Jack the Ripper is a legal proxy for Copycat Killer...

If you do split up I'd be interested in the 2006 models, as well the Tanuki, Bayou Gator and possibly the Draugr...

Nope, Kin was the very first release for gremlins in M2e. First book was Kin, Som'er and Brewmaster, with Kin as the launch release. Som'er was late fall (I remember because I got my flgs to special order it; took another three-four months, and cost me about £60. Will NEVER place an order there again...). Brewmaster was supposed to be released during the winter, but due to some error in the kit it got delayed several times, until it became an in-joke that there was no Brewmaster, he was just a legend. Mah Tucket, as well as Wong and Ulix where second book, but cannot remember their release order... Zoraida was also in the first book, but counted as Neverborn for the purpose of each faction starting out with theee masters...

Fair point in the sarcasm... 😉 Wyrd has apologised for not having the new stuff available at GenCon in a thread called taking the good with the bad or something similar. To me you sound increasingly like you're peddling a conspiracy theory about Wyrd trying to screw us all over, evidence and logic be damned. That said I'm not trying to silence anyone: everyone screws up from time to time, and calling them out allows Wyrd to improve. Case in point, I've criticised Wyrd's decision to change the design of their 30mm bases. I think the new ones look crap, and though I get that a deeper dish will allow Wyrd to sell more base inserts, they are different enough to be starkly noticeable next to the old style. This screws over those of us who own a lot of Wyrd minis, and I don't think that is OK. They also doesn't really work with magnets for storage/transportation. When I brought this to Wyrd's attention they basically said "tough luck" and proposed a potential work-around (good customer service imho), but I'm not convinced. Unfortunately for me, it seems like I'm the only customer having issue with this, so I understand if Wyrd will keep the new style... But at least I tried. This is an example of me not liking the dish, telling them I didn't, and basically be left with "well, everyone else seems to like it". Finally I'm eagerly awaiting what answers you get from the lgs and Alliance. If nothing else it will be interesting to see how they respond. Without being too conspiratorial, remember that IF they have screwed up they have all incentives to lie about it as long as they believe they can get away with it...

Sarcasm not called for, methinks... Wyrd tend to be pretty good at actually answer questions and worries. During GenCon, which is the most important event in their calendar year, we should expect them to be occupied elsewhere. The answers to your questions are in the forum should want to look for them. Also noteworthy that you don't offer any other commentary, apart from the sarcasm...

My understanding is that pretty much nobody does injection moulding HIPS in the West at all. In fact, GW has caught some criticism because some people consider it extravagant and driving up costs excessively. GW invested into going all plastic during a period when they enjoyed a virtual monopoly in a booming market (largely due to the LotR hype), and when prices of metals had skyrocketed. If the hobby was going to keep growing indefinitely and with no competition it made sense to make that kind of investment. The Tamiya kit is a pretty big kit, and if the leaked prices from GW is any sort of indication it should cost several tens of thousands of dollars to make the steel molds. That is, just the operating costs of manufacturing moulds for one kit. The router that carves the mould from steel blocks has some pretty steep up front costs as well. Then you'd need injection machines to fill the mould, and they don't come cheap either. There is a reason the kits are expensive, and Tamiya kits are produced in Asia. You'd need to sell a substantial amount just to break even at those costs, and if you double or triple the cost I'm pretty sure the market for those kits would drop to next to nothing... That's entirely fair, kinda hard to keep track of what's been posted over the last several months if you don't follow the forum. Just another note, your local wouldn't and shouldn't get any note from Wyrd; they don't order anything from Wyrd. They buy from a distributor who buys things from Wyrd. Wyrd still may not have been good enough with info to the distributors, but given the information we've been getting on the forum another explanation seems at least as likely: the distributors have large portfolios with many different products from different companies. They just handles orders and buy stuff to sell to stores, so they're not directly involved with the communities in the stores. Hence they struggle to stay on top with all information from all companies, and it's cheaper for them to just say "we've got no info" then try to explain that they've screwed up an order to a store. Nevermind that if they screw up enough they might loose the trust of their customers, the stores, who might seek out other options. Because they have no contact with the consumers themselves, it's much easier for them to not give a damn about any given delivery, as long as the stores don't think it's their fault. And since the stores and consumers generally have very little contact with the companies producing the stuff they have very little opportunity to check the distributors' stories. Hence the risks associated with lying are ery much bigger than the risks that comes with telling the truth whenever they screw up (and we make mistakes sometimes, stores, consumers, distributors and Wyrd)...

Sorry for long post, but thought I'd answer all (or at least most) claims in one post rather than many.. What botched rollout? My local games store have a turnaround time of about three months for Wyrd, and even I got the Yuoko box come early July. I just ordered it off a regular UK game store on the day of release. As have been stated multiple times, Wyrd didn't cock up, some distributors did (in a major way!), and most did to some extent (by underestimating demand and preordering too few units). Alliance lying about this to make Wyrd seem bad was a real douchebag move, and if possible they should've been boycotted. Unfortunately that's not feasible due to the way the distribution chain works... Yes you do. Have you heard about contrast paints? Released in June, and GW HUGELY underestimated the demand. Some 18ml pots have been listed on eBay for $100... And GW is in a totally different situation; they control all aspects of the chain themselves, except production of paints and some tools... They have their own distribution chain literally everywhere, and can thus easily shift product between stores and markets. Yet you could try to get hold of a jar of black or white contrast paint during July in most parts of the world... Also, GW solves a lot of their distribution issues by having literally almost everything be in limited supply, so when it's out it's out. A lot of their products are ONLY available online or in certain stores (generally GW branded stores), sometimes only as an in-store order format. Wyrd is NOT operating like that, and I for one am very grateful... On the contrary. The announcement last year that M3e was coming was a bit sub par due to being rushed due to a leak, but the release itself has been pretty impressive. Most of the world seemed to get it's stuff on the date of release, which is no small feat. Some distributors screwed up, and demand was much better than anyone suspected (several month's worth sold in a week), but that doesn't detract from the release itself. I do have a hunch that the announcement last year of M3e have caused sales of M2e to drop artificially, hence part of the reason for the underestimated demand (and that's on Wyrd, not distributors), but given the news had been leaked I don't know how Wyrd should've handled it better... And Wyrd have seemed very concerned with setting the record straight, to the point people have accused Nathan Caroland of outright lies when his version of events have contradicted Alliance's. They've manufactured plastic in China since M1e, and the July shipment (and some restock unless I'm mistaken) was one the first shipment that has ever been locked up in customs. They have been upfront with this, and when it's a first in so many years I kinda wondered how they could've foreseen this. Distributors are literally the ones ordering product from Wyrd, so if they refuse to order (enough) product they can literally dictate how much get through to the lgs and the customer. That's just how the system works (or how it doesn't work!). The July releases have been delayed in customs, so no, that's not on the distributors. Haven't heard anyone claiming it is either, though... Compare the flavour all you like; I do all the time. Wyrd's superior game design and miniature sculpts are what caused me to leave GW behind after twenty years (on a tangent I'd grant that some of GWs newer plastic are amazing, but too many are technically brilliant and low on detail and with poor aesthetic. I love how they make large and complicated models seem to float because a little piece seemingly randomly touching the ground. That's neat and impressive, but not necessarily the same as a realistic, detailed or nice looking miniature.). But you're not comparing the flavour here. You are criticising RC Cola for having a smaller store presence, and lower marketing budget. That's not a fair comparison anymore... It's not plausible they held back for GenCon, as they have stated that some of the stuff on sale at GenCon will not be delivered until after the new shipments are in. It might be possible some stuff is available at GenCon that is not in your store, but then it's probably not unavailable due to lack of product, but generally available stuff that your store or distributor dropped the ball on. Note that there ARE some product available at GenCon/webshop that are not available to stores for quite some time. That's pre-release of stuff that's not scheduled to be released until later, and that's normal. This stuff will ho back to being unavailable even from Wyrd until general release later in the fall/winter. I'll also address the notion that Wyrd should've order product way in excess of expected demand to ensure enough was available. Ever heard of Ninja Division/Soda Pop Miniatures? Apparently, what got them in their current shitty situation was that they overestimated the demand for Ninja All Stars, and have struggled to pay for storing excess inventory ever since. When their leading game designer got a heart attack (I think), they got themselves in a quagmire they couldn't get out of, with money budgeted for manufacturing being spent on warehousing until they where practically bankrupt. Of course, they did a lot of damage to their brand by not being up front about their problems (many would say they where outright lying), but overestimating demand have almost destroyed what was a very solid company with a popular product coming of a very successful kickstarter. If you get a bad dish at a restaurant you should be vocal about it. If you get a Wyrd model whith broken bits you should let them know. There have been cock ups in the past, and generally Wyrd have been pretty good at rectifying them. However, this is more akin to a restaurant being out of fish because the local fisheries have gone on a strike. Or that they are out of Pineapple because the supplier's warehouse burned down. Put the blame where it's supposed to be... Unless something have changed these last few years GW do indeed have their own distribution network in the US. Doesn't mean they can't or won't sell through other companies if available though. It wouldn't be a few dollars, but quite a lot of dollars. Almost no one makes injection moulded HIPS plastic in the US. That's why almost everyone manufactures their stuff in China. FFG makes their stuff in China, Reaper makes their plastic in China, and pretty much all board game plastic components are made in China. The start up costs are immense, and it's completely unrealistic for a company of Wyrd's size to get involved in that industry. As far as I know, GW is the only major manufacturer of miniatures that makes HIPS miniatures in Europe/US, and they transitioned from metal to all plastic over a 25-30 year period with continual investments. In the last few years Wyrd have returned to making some select models in resin/metal. Those can be made locally (and probably are), and are more cost effective for small projects with shorter turnaround times. You may be willing to pay the extra price (even if significantly higher than a few dollars. Or would you though? Pay up, say, $150 for a crew box? Just because it was manufactured in the US? Effectively and 200% tax? I don't have any real numbers, so I don't know exactly how much, but I got the impression most people think Wyrd's excellent plastic crack is expensive enough as it is...), but are you sure everyone would? Europe is a pretty significant market for Wyrd (well, at least UK), and how much extra do you think UK wargamers would pay for knowing that the minis they bought had created one or two extra jobs in the US? Also, I was pretty sure the embargo was an attempt to pressure China to adopt American intellectual property laws and import more soy beans, not to stimulate US companies to start inefficient and unprofitable manufacturing in the US. I could go further on this, as a Political Economist by educating I have a few thoughts on the issue, but I don't think it's a healthy topic to delve deeper into on a war game forum. PM me if you want my thoughts... There. That was pretty long, and I hope I didn't come off as hostile. I do sympathise, really I do, but it does get tiresome to have the same accusations repeated ad nauseum when they miss the point: Wyrd have screwed up a lot of times over the past decade, but this was not one of them. This was them being screwed by their distributors and government agencies (who where probably just doing their job). Shit happens sometimes, and sometimes there is little to be done. I'm sure we'd all be worse off if Wyrd dropped everything to try to fix an unfixable issue instead of focusing on the one, big bread-winning event of the Wyrd year, GenCon. If they don't do well on GenCon, they loose a significant part of their annual revenue, and that means less money for product development, manufacturing, customer support, etc, during the rest of the year...

The horsemen are the three riders from the legend of Baba Yaga, so they've already added an extra. In the beta Yasunori at some points was a rider (I think), so I don't think it's unthinkable that the new faction get one. However, even though they added one extra rider there are still three without, so it wouldn't be shocking if there would be none either...

I likes this, but definitely out of sympathy, not glee. I got my Yuoko from UK, so I can say you're in for a treat when you get it...

Sometimes I buy models I don't really need just to collect and paint (I'm the only one, right?), and I recently got the Creature Caster Plague Angel for cheap. It's meant as a proxy for some Nurgle stuff for those kind of games, but when I opened the bag I discovered there is an alternate head which means it can fit the bill for a carrion emissary. The model is beautiful resin gravity cast, and is an emaciated evil angel/demon kinda figure, and with large wings, a scythe and the alternative beaked head it is close enough to the emissary that it should be obvious on the table top. I am perfectly happy with my beautiful original emissary myself, but I know that some of these centerpiece models generate strong feelings, so in case someone doesn't like it this could be an awesome alternative... This link is to a post of a guy that has painted up both versions, just so you can see what I'm talking about: https://mobile.twitter.com/julianominis/status/899407148295368704

But doesn't this mean you dislike almost literally every model in the game? In my experience, most masters have been either keyword dependent or just having a weak keyword from day one. Sure, some crews in M2e where not really dependent on just in-theme models (Neverborn all stars with a few masters spring to mind), but most seemed to depend on certain models to work at their best. As an occasional Lynch player since he was first released I've always felt he has a pretty tight theme, where you'd need to stack up on Brilliance models to get the most of him. I know several players have ignored his theme and used other models with him, but then they have ignored a big part of his card (brilliance manipulation) in favour of exclusively focusing on another (card/deck manipulation). It might be strong, but that doesn't change the fact that for example a Lynch+Huggy+All-stars list would not utilize his card to the fullest. How is not using Darkened models to spread Brilliance and thus not being able to take advantage of Lynch's brilliance tricks fundamentally different from not having summonable Darkened models and not be able to use his incidental summoning? Compare to Sonnia's summoning of stalkers in M2e. It was nice when it happened, but I've never experienced a game that was decided by whether the Sonnia player had stalkers available to summon. I have experienced games decided on whether the Sonnia player had hired stalkers to set things on fire for Sonnia and Samael. I just don't get why the summoning pidgeon holes players, whereas as the (mostly) much more important crew synergies is somehow leaving players with more choice. Maybe I'm just being dense, but I'm struggling to understand the problem...

E. T. A. Hoffmann was a Preussian author, most famous for writing the "Nutcracker and Mouse King" (which the opera is based on) and the gothic horror novel "The Sandman" (yep, the one who visits children at night). The villain on The Sandman, ie the Sandman himself, turns out to be a creepy lawyer named Coppelius. Hoffmann in Malifaux has no connection to the author (afaik) except the name, but Coppelius has been pretty true to his origins over the editions. "The Unexplained Connection" was always my favourite mechanism in M1.5 (in fact what got me into the game in the first place), and I literally cried when it got removed. It was such an elegant nod to the inspiration for the character, and a great way inspire learning of our world and love for the Malifaux as a whole... Still a little sad everytime I'm reminded it's gone, and in fact the main reason why I've never played Hoffmann (though I own everything related to him in all versions)...

I dunno, It's kinda hard to get what your getting at here. If it is disqualifying for a Master to depend on one or more in-theme model to use her abilities to the fullest extent, aren't you just arguing against any kind of theme based synergy rather than summoning? I get that some masters (Kirai from M2e which couldn't legally be fielded without investing in several other boxes) may rely so heavily on theme that you feel that you don't get to buy the models you like. And the theme-based hiring in M3e have certainly amplified this to a certain extent. But by having fewer summonable options for most masters, isn't this effect lessened? So, if you use Lynch you'd want to have Illuminated (included in the box) and Depleted if you want to get the most effect out of his card. That's one additional box. Hardly deciding everything you need to buy! The rest of his card is supposed to synergize with the other Darkened models, so you'd probably want everything interacting with Brilliance. And Rasputina will want stuff that synergize with the ice stuff. And Kaeris the fire stuff. Etc, etc. I'm not trying to be obtuse, but I don't understand how an ability that might occasionally bring forth a summon is more guilty of pidgeon holing you than all the abilities on every master out there that gives synergy with other names models or subset or models...

I think it's so much down to random bad luck to name one winner in the worst of Wyrd competition. I never struggled with Yan Lo's beard, but I spent two days getting the last Ashigaru to stick together the right way. Everyone have their own personal horror story, and there is just so many traps waiting to happen with so many different models. On Yan Lo it's losing the beard to the Carpet God, on others it's a tiny contact area carrying almost too much weight, meaning that if you file a tiny bit wrong, or slightly touch a piece while the glue is drying, you're in for several hours of emergency surgery... Luckily it's all worth it in the end!! 🙂

I don't think we've gotten an official reason, but it's widely assumed to be because the excellent new Wyrdscapes base toppers works better with deeper recesses on top. Unfortunately this is of little help for us who make our own bases, and the profile was also changed (probably to avoid the base + topper combination from getting too tall) noticeably. I recently acquired a batch of coloured bases, and they were still of the old style. This got my hopes up that the old style is still in production, perhaps for some colour choices. Have anyone seen new-style coloured bases to disprove this...?

I don't know anything here obviously (only Lion and Wyrd does). But stores and suppliers screw up all the time (I used to work for a power tool store for mine years), and they hate telling their customers about it. If you customers feel that the store/distributor is not taking care of you, you'd probably go elsewhere (order online). Your store and distributor is screwed. If they convince you the manufacturer is the problem, you'd probably switch game. Wyrd is screwed, but you store and distributor still get business from you. IF they have screwed up, they do have some incentives for blaming Wyrd. (Not saying I know they have screwed up, just saying they've got incentives for not being up front if that's the case.) This forum is populated by one of Wyrd's most valuable assets, namely the hardcore fans of the game. They have stated several times directly that the flooding have had no impact on shipping of M3e. They can still lie if course, and neither of us can know either way, but they must understand they will get called out if the products doesn't arrive on time and it turns out the reason is they lied. They would loose a lot of extremely valuable goodwill, at a very decisive moment (the relaunch of their main IP). It's follows that they have strong incentives for NOT lying, especially not given this has been raised in several threads already. I'm not saying I know Wyrd is telling the Truth (TM) and Lion Rampart is Lying (TM), but from the outside it seems likely the issue is somewhere on your side of the border. (But heck, it could just be a delay due to the shipping company, that's not unheard of either.) Also I think Wyrd has quite a bit of credibility when it comes to handling delays, even though we've seen a few over the years...

Shipping from Nobleknight tends to be a nightmare, but I'll give them a try. Still leaves the fact that the profile is noticeably different. Maybe I can base some of my newer crews with the new bases and these, and reserve the old style bases for my existing crews. I have found a few lots of old style bases on eBay, so might be able to scrape by with all my 2e stuff. Also noticed that greenstuffworld seem to make nice magnet fitting bases similar in profile to the previous style Wyrd bases, so I guess I'd fall back on those otherwise. On another note I really appreciate you trying to be helpful to an annoying customer here, even if the solution might not be what I'm going for in the end! 🙂

Most likely because the supplier has screwed up (forgotten to place the order or something) and prefer to noe about it and blame Wyrd (the customers don't get to tell at the Wyrd's face, so might as well blame them). Wouldn't be the first time someone tries to pull off something like that...

There are some different considerations with plastic as there can be no undercuts at all, but I think it's fair to say Wyrd's plastics have improved somewhat. That also implies they were not exactly optimised from the outset...

(0) "Welcome to Malifaux!" 😛 Joke aside, you found one of the worst places to start. The Bayou Boss, along with Yan Lo's box, are notoriously hard to put together... In general, Wyrd make some of the best plastic crack out there, but the price to pay is that they seem to pay close to zero attention to how easy their stuff is to put together. This allows them to create crazy dynamic poses, but we pay for it with hours of frustration. A few survival tips for Wyrd plastic: 1. Always use the thinnest plastic cement you can get your hands on. I use Tamiya Lemonene cement, because it doesn't give me headaches, but I keep around a jar of regular Tamiya Extra Thin because the brush in that is fine and thus superior. 2. WIPE OFF THE BRUSH WHEN PAINTING ON THE CEMENT!!! You need cement on both pieces, but only a tiny amount. I also like to let the pieces dry ever so slightly. Too much cement and the tiny parts drown out. 3. Keep superglue ready as a backup. In Malifaux, bad things happen, and sometimes things will come loose. Most of the time a tiny drop of Tamiya cement will fix things, but sometimes the joint surface will become porous, and the new joint will be poor. Then a tiny drop of super glue, applied with an applicator like a toothpick, is your only solution. I use something called Super Attack, but any thin cyanoacrylate will do. Don't get the gel kind!! 4. Do as much of you sanding/scraping/filing with the pieces still on their sprues. Smaller parts are much harder to handle, but they still have mould lines... 5. Never, ever, EVER, use tweezers when putting the minis together, even though it will be tempting in order to grab a tiny moustache by a pair if tweezers rather than your sausage fingers. It seems like a great idea until you squeeze a little too hard and the moustache flies through the room and embeds itself in the wall on the other side of the room. Good luck getting it out again! 6. Similarly, do your assembly over a white box (avoid grey!!), and for all that is good in the world, NEVER ASSEMBLY WYRD MINIS OVER A CARPETED FLOOR! The Carpet God WILL claim his due... When all is said and done, you will adjust, and the payoff is well worth it. GW designs their models largely to be easy to assemble. The result is not bad (I have thousands of Citadel minis myself), but they tend to be unrealistically clumpy and with static poses (though there are notable exceptions). Wyrd minis are slender, well proportioned, realistic and with very dynamic poses, but much harder to assemble. Good luck!! 🙂

The profile is different, so will not match up anyway. I guess I could buy a 3rd party base matching the profile, cut away the slot, glue in a magnet and fill the underside with putty. Just an awful lot of work and putty in the end, just to get a close approximation of a early/mid M2E style base and a drop of super glue... Buying bases through the cheaper m2e kits are hardly feasibly on scale; still about £5 per base, maybe £4 if I get lucky. Now to get bases for the next 50 sculpts to be released... 😞

I ordered some packs of 30mm bases to replace the new style bases in some of my latest put together models. I own every single model in plastic, and I have bought hundreds of magnets fitting into the slot underneath the previous style 30mm bases, so switching to the latest style with less room underneath and different bevel I not really an option. The disaster is that when the packs arrived they were in the new style, so pretty much useless to me. Anyone know of somewhere to get old stocks of the previous style bases? Or a way to distinguish them so I know what I order? I'd like to stock up so I'm set until Wyrd release a new style of bases compatible with the previous one (not holding my breath)... No local store carries Malifaux, so that's not an option...