SpectreEliteGaming

The Chronicles are great and the new format is exceptional. The fact that its free is beyond what other companies usually are willing to do - its like proof that you guys really care about the hobby and the community. All I would ask for would be more painting submission galleries, otherwise its far more than I expect...for... well, free. Love the Chronicles

Indeed... pick up Ashes and Lazarus and you have one of the most capable "starters" in the game - and still in faction. "Building" on Levy would be optimizing his trees. This starter box is completely unplayable in the way you describe. I am extremely happy that I will have 8 unique 100% wyrd abom models though

The biggest problem I see here is that your "core crew" is not core at all... there's a lot going on and you seem to have no focus. Also, you're trying to be too specific... build a core of 1/3-1/2 of total soul stones - the rest of stones are undetermined until you see strategy/scheme composition. My Jack Daw core crew: Jack Daw Lady Guilty x2 Nurse (1-2) (... and since its outcasts, I have to mention the obligatory Trapper x2 package right? ) ... the rest is determined by matchup and scenario conditions. Some masters (like Levy) can build an entire crew as a "core" then just swap 1-2 models here and there. Jack Daw is the opposite... you really have to build him for the specific situation. He is one of the best examples of a finesse master in this game and sometimes you have to bring very particular models (Sue, Johan) for proper support.

Bengt - what's important is that you CAN use any effigy you want... the actuality of which effigies you do/do not use is irrelevant! All those little guys sitting next to each other would look great! haha In actuality - I use Brutal and Hodgepodge for Levy and errrr Brutal and Hodgepodge for Collodi... ... so I need those two... Arcane has uses and Lucky is neat but really there are better options for both slots usually. BUT, I still want them all anyway! Maybe I'm just thinking boxset because of the art at the end of the Zoraida story in the last Chronicles but the boxes like Governor's Proxy or Electric Creation feel very underwhelming :/ Honestly though... I actually only use Hodgepodge for Levy because he's already capable of excellent card draw schenanigans already. Moreover, I almost never take an Effigy at all. Now that I think of it, I barely play Collodi so I probably don't need any effigies... now I'm sad. Can we just have Coryphees instead? >8)

Paint on primer is hard to find, honestly. GeeDubs is crap (okay on plastic but not on anything else, on metal is a wasted effort). Vallejo brush on is good - I use that mostly - comes in a huge bottle or a little one. I'm too scared to try paint products that aren't miniature specific I brush on primer and brush on varnish - gloss for pretty shinies or goopy wet stuff, satin for metals and matte for everything else... give that a try too while you're at it. I only get like 3 days a year to spray primer and those days are reserved for gameboards and scenery. If you are going to paint them I'd suggest brush on primer - painting straight onto plastic sucks - on the other hand metallic paints are tough and stick well though.

Lots of good posts got me thinking. Well done to Smokey Joe - paying tribute to Arnie for that movie though? That's certainly in bad taste Howard kinda sorta looks like him too. I like the Ryle reference - the Hoffman/Ryle relationship made me think of that one downloadable pack for Mass Effect 2... you know the one I'm thinking of But more badass in this game, I guess.

Yeeeaaay - my two favorite masters and boy do they compliment each other well

You mean to tell me that there are people who play this game that don't play either Collodi or Levy (or both?!) What gives guys? But seriously - that would be a killer boxset and putting them out individually almost seems like a waste... Package effigies with a special edition gender alternative version of a select master from a faction please!

Ligeia is a great distraction and opponents put way to much effort into going after her.... the Montresor/Ligeia package plays a lot like a anchor/waif package with Levy cept Monty is a big ugly violent doxy instead. I don't like Monty, honestly. Jaakuna is cheaper or build yourself up with nurse and the hanged. Daw is one of those masters a lot of people haven't figured out (or maybe just haven't played much) but if you play him right he can deliver a Levy amount of shock and surprise from your opponent but through evasion and disruption... not "tanky." Daw, much like Tara, can really benefit from a "ragtag elite" crew (but more complimentary to your base crew of tormented) and you should have the entire lineup of "typical" special choices to choose from. Start peeking into your opponents bag more Have Taelor, Johan, Ama, trapper(s), Bishop, Sue, Hans, Killjoy, etc, etc. on hand for those special cases and you don't always have to tag one of your own mercs with tormented unless its really advantageous (Ama). Like Von Schill, you can have a little bubble group with Daw and leftovers or another group doing something else... you don't have to just keep everything all together or in theme. Monty needs too much support for what he is... some choices are "damn rights I want that in every crew!" and some are "well... maybe I can make it work" and those second choices are always suboptimal - too much catering. You put Ligeia, Monty, a hanged and a nurse in center field and its pretty impressive though, I guess. More Ama and Sue. Daw is pure disruption and more like an empty threat of terrible things rather than the terrible things themselves (Levy).

Any talk about these little guys? Judging from the art I could definently see them all coming together in one big box... and that would be great. Collodi wants more friends.

You better believe the metal zombie chiquaqua is my permanent replacement for McMourning. I like using puppets as proxies for wicked dolls but shy away from direct replacements. Puppets are definently legit proxies, though having a huge amount of puppets in a single crew, especially with similar color scheme, can lead to confusion late game or after a few games in a row.

Painted a lot but bought a lot more... especially Black Friday... I skip between figs and terrain and I put a lot of detail and time into each so it slow going but I've been very consistent... ... suffice to say I'm in the same boat as zFiend and the queue is long and distinguished...

Wowza... dunno if I'm right about this but it sounds to me like I'll be focused more on playing support masters with the new line up of strategies. Will be playtesting headhunter and stash pronto, thanks.

I really appreciate your tournament battle reports. You keep them brief but still descriptive. Hope to see more. Like Math said, killing Joss was probably a mistake especially since he was thrown at you and the compositions (for both sides) for Reckoning was a bit strange. Even so, good job - game four sounded real interesting. Empty boards like that is the reason I always have a third (shooty) option available to me (usually Schill, by default). Perdita would wreck that shit

@spiralingcadaver - I agree with most of your points - original Nekima is better I think (/shrug) and the new pigapult is nicer for sure.

Rathnard and others have given a good description of Daw. I'd just like to add that Daw is very capable regardless of the strategy and is more capable than most masters of being played in alternative fashions. You can run a fast Daw crew focused on scheme markers and disruption or you can run an elite Daw crew focused on killing and control, for example. Daw never feels gimped and to me, it seems like the more you play him the less you want to play other masters - the speed is that good and you never feel at a disadvantage so long as you hire appropriately. Daw can do most anything and doesn't need a ridiculously large hiring pool to accomplish it.

For me, most of the understanding of a crew and their dynamics comes strategically and on an academic level. Once you have a good understanding of the crew, beforehand, then you can apply that logic practically within the game. To dive into a game with a crew that you don't understand is not efficient. Practical application is about tweaking and testing - the understanding is from studying the crew beforehand. Use primers/reviews/pullmyfinger/battlereports. Trying to figure a crew out yourself takes to long - learn from the knowledge and mistakes of others and then build on it. That's the way I see it anyway - my goal is optimization so I usually see games as application and tests. If I want to have fun, we'll play house story modes or multiplayer or moooooostly hardcore >8) Also, you can always run blank base proxy games with a buddy to tweak or test if you don't have the models or just for convenience.

I got two carvers - one will be converted to a Jack Daw proxy. My ghost of Malifaux shall be a masculine ghost of Malifaux. Glad Nekima has big boobs... we need more nudey sculpts so I can start retiring metal age ones Levy boxset is amazing - those aboms are peeeeerfeeect (chainsaw arms is a bit meeeeh I guess).

Well I don't feel so bad now then, haha I didn't even see them in the line up pre-sale though, same with Rasp - so i assumed that they would have only relisted them if they had them.

Bah! I kept reloading the store from the error page like a dumb dumb and didn't try the link from the main page til like 3pm and I stayed up all night! >8( This leads me to believe I missed out on a Coryphee set, alt Rasp, annnnnd metal dreamer crew Did get Widow Weaver so there's that... annnnd everything that I actually wanted, so can't complain. Really wanted them Coryphees tho :/

Registered! >8)

Hopefully Javk Daw, Collodi, and Brewmaster are next in line for releases after this pre-release stuff gets released... even so, I don't hink it will be in time for Adepticon anyway. Something tells me I'm going to get sick of playing against people running translucent crews :/ Then again, if its only BF buyers running them it shouldn't be that bad.

Wowza this sale has all the special stuff I needed to get. Very happy... will have trouble not spending under 300$... hahaha. Question: Is this the original carver or a M2E Carver w/ stat card? Thanks. 50% off metals is sweet... if i didn't already have all the ones I want :/ Maybe I'll get some extras... I would much rather prefer having an assortment of unique plastic/metal combination rather than multiple plastic kits (ex. plastic aboms to go with the metal ones I already have kinda deal instead of two/three plastic kits). Can't wait... I'll save a lot not picking up any translucense - I'm still not on ship with that idea... at least not if I end up playing against people with nothing but translucent kits... booooooring. imo of course No Brewmaster? Nooooooooooooo...

I find I take iron in big games and iron/bone in small games. In small games I don't think it matters. As mentioned, I never don't take a Pariah. If Pariah of Bone was droped completely, I probably wouldn't miss it that much... most of the best fleshies are constructs as well.

Soooooo a bare area between the train station and the city. That's underwhelming... I'll probably just throw the big tree on a 120mm and go for a totally customizable board that is flock and sand by default, if that is the case. Oh well.