Boomstick

Coming soon to a June near you: the Vicks and Vanessa, Von Schill and his Luggage, Taelor, two Ronin and finishing up Sue!

Together, they won't feel so...Outcast.

And, finally getting a breather from work to post, here is what ended up coming out of my May.

2 Wardens (12ss), Miss Alt Guild Sergent (6ss), Trapper (6ss), Doppleganger (7ss), Sonia Avatar as the Brutal Emissary (10ss), and two Changelings converted from the creepy children and carnivorous flowers from the Mysterious Emissary (8ss) fro a total of 49ss.

For June, actually going to do some Outcasts, now that I've escaped from Lucius' commanding presence.

Side point, I'm really interested in thoughts on the Brutal Emissary here. I was trying to make Sonia herself look like the blue/white center of a flame, but I'm worried she looks too icy and I'm not sure how to fix that. Any constructive help would be appreciated.

3 minutes ago, WWHSD said:

I'm having trouble making them all fit without having their legs overlapping which doesn't seem like it will be possible with the legs glued to a washer.

That would indeed be a tough spacial equation to solve. What I did on mine is take a hand drill/pin vice to the spiders' bellies and glue in a 1/8" magnet, then pick where I wanted it on the base in relation to the others, having already put cork down a rocks. Hand dril intonthe cork, shove more magnets down the hole with some glue (making sure the right polarity is facing upwards to attract the spiders) and wait for it to dry.

Can be intimidating to start for sure, but breaking it down a piece at a time helps.

Also, magnets. They're just fun.

I concur with @Gnomezilla, 9 is the most individual spiders I've had out with Ramos, though I don't play him over-often. I've summoned two swarms in the same game before, but the second was after the first one had died/been sacrificed, so i only needed the one model.

One thing that helped me in magnetizing mine was to add cork to the bases as rocky ground. Gives more dimention to have the spiders on different levels, and more surface area to glue since you can stap their feet into the cork (even if you're not magnetizing).

What are you having trouble with on the magnets?

Update: I added and/or potentially changed a few models on my list this month. Specifically, more things I can take with Lucius for a tournament later this month. So, a WIP of my Wardens with my Guild Seargent, Brutal Effigy, Doppleganger, and two converted Changelings from the Mysterious Emissary. Also may get to the Sonia Avatar as the Brutal Emissary, but not suuuuuuper likely.

5 minutes ago, Sir Andersen said:

Definitely see myself stealing this guy to use with Lucius

Tried this last week in a beta test game. Worked wonderfully, especially with a mounted guard to bring the Beast along on a charge.

Even with as much as I'm thrilled to finally be using my converted Bran Redmaw as the beast, I cannot wait to paint up both halves of the man. These look great!

I feel like I should make popcorn as this conversation goes on. Please continue!

@Fictor is right, I will disagree with them, because one of the best things about Malifaux is that there's very little in terms of 'right' and 'wrong' ways to play the game. I probably wouldn't bring Raspy in a scheme-heavy pool, but that doesn't mean someone else hasn't figured out a new and fun way to do so.

@retnab, as far as post-errata Colette, she's more fun to play and play against than old Colette. The reason: she has more things on her card than Prompt, and more reason to use them. I find myself leaning further and further away from a single big beater with her (not that I was bringing Howard often anyway) and more towards a few medium hitters and some schemers. Dec. Acolytes, Union Miners (fantastic for All Together Now, and always one with Carlos), Carlos and/or Cassandra. Coryphee if I really need mobility and pain-bringing ability.

Welcome, new Mali-faces!

6 hours ago, Sybarite said:

Did anybody try McTavish with Colette? Seems like they would like each other. Great prompt target, and she can feed the gator with markers.

I've done it once or twice. It works about like you'd expect. My only issue is that unlike Joss or Carlos, McTavish provides no M&SU or Showgirl synergy for the rest of the crew. And personally, I like him with a few Swampfiends for his own boosts.

I will admit, the few times I took him I didn't focus on feeding him markers. There were a few incidental snacks, but nothing to make it silly.

First of May, first of May, outdoor...painting...starts today. Well, not really, as it's been an on-and-off downpour for the last few days and doesn't look like much is changing soon. Luckily, painting (and gluing) can just as easily take place indoors!

For May I'll be whipping up a few mercenaries. Namely: Sue, a librarian, a trapper, and two Ronin (guess I better decide which two), along with my Easter self-present, the Nightmare Coryphee. Total comes to 47 soulstones.

Main thing I've always found when running Brewie and wanting to do well: take Fingers in a schemey pool, Whiskey in a more smashy pool, and give Drinking 'Problem' to whichever one you take to push one or two key models towards Brewie.

Don't take both of them. Too many stones for too few models.

Don't try to Drinking Contest too many things. I've had good success locking down one or two key and/or scary models, beyond that, things get dicey.

 Final product! (Well, a few details can always be cleaned up, but I'd already put the paint away before heading to work)

Lucius (15ss), The Scribe (2ss), Dashel (9ss), Lawyers x2 (12ss), Guild Guard x2 (8ss), Earl Burns (3ss), and the Malifaux Child as Edward from Cowboy Bebop (2ss) for a grand total of 51ss for this month. 

 Aye Capn'. We've seen yer shadow puppets. Bunny's comin' along nice-like. EARL! WE DO NOT USE WRENCHES ON CHILDREN! Ipkis & Moriarty, Avocados at Law. Lucius is taking a page from Ra's al Ghul's wardrobe, with boots from some upstart company named Converse. So many options with his model I had trouble deciding what to do.

Next month: dipping my toe into my Outcast backlog. For now, rewarding this month's work with painting Leman Russ.

WIP for the month. The Malifaux Child is done but not on the tray, Earl just needs his eyes touched up, Dashel and the guards are done but for accessories, and I'm working on Lucius & lawyers now. Bases will get some bushes...to try and hide the blood, y'see...

Don't listen to the nay-sayers too much, Brewie works fine. Just have to navigate his 'shine-cart around a few neon-lit potholes.

1) His Drinking Contest is less a trap and more a...targeted use ability that most people think is meant to lock-down entire crews. Pick a beater or other central piece (at most two models) of the opposing crew and get them in, lock them down. Brewie spends the rest of the game swilling others at range, occasionally putting 1 AP towards punching the beater for more poison and a swill. If not, Yin can do it to keep them at  flips.

2) Crew selection is especially key for him. Personally, I have yet to take both Fingers and ol' Whiskey in the same list and do well (which I think is part of the Internet Wisdom that he's bad, everybody commits too hard to the Tri Chi theme). If the scheme pool is especially scheme-y I bring Fingers, knowing he'll get me 6 points more often than not, and deny a few more. If it's more kill-y I bring Whiskey, though he needs a surprising amount of finesse to use well. Take Drinking 'Problem' on whichever one you take, since neither of them have a (0), that (0) is some movement that help's get your target in Brewie's realm of influence, pre-poisoned and maybe with some damage on them (I find this especially helps Whiskey stay alive longer, sending the threats elsewhere after he hits them a time or two, then he hunts smaller fishes).

3) Also, crew selection is especially key for him. If you're taking him in Ten Thunders, don't feel you need to spend the 2ss tax for Running Tab to bring his Tri Chi buddies. yes you'll miss Wesley, but not toooo much. An enemy target being on  flips for everything makes even decent minions hit pretty well, and Thunders have some great minions. Thunder Bros, a few Archers (near either Sensei Yu or Brewie with Blot the Sky), the Dawn Serpent, take your pick. He makes Fermented Monks shine with minimal effort (even more so with Yu around to use his One for the Road (0) on them as well). If you want to bring Wesley and some other Gremlin Brew Crew staples, bring a Terracotta Warrior not only to switch out Running Tab, but to protect Wesley with Form of the Other. I haven't tried Yasunori with Brewie yet, but honestly I don't think the crew needs him. I'd rather spend stones on Yin, Yu, or the Thunder Emissary (I don't rate Brewie's conflux, but there's plenty of other upgrades he works well with. I like Equality, personally) or a few more solid activations (Performers are also great if you do want to kill the things Brewie's locking down) than a big beater who can already slice most models to ribbons and doesn't need them to be swilled.

A general list, since that seems to be the thing to do:

Pure Thunder
Brewie (6ss cache)
-Misdirection (2ss)
-Binge (1ss)
Sensei Yu (9ss)
-Wandering Style (2ss)
Yin (8ss)
-Smoke Grenades (1ss)
Samurai (8ss)
-Favor of Not Killing Himself (0ss)
Fermented River Monk (5ss)
Thunder Bro (5ss)

This leaves you with 9ss to play with. Maybe swap out the Samurai for a Lone Swordsman, but I like being able to "obey" the Samurai by hitting him with Binge.

Tri Chi Thunder
Brewie
-Running Tab
-Binge
Wesley (3ss)
Fingers/Whiskey Golem (10ss)
-Drinking 'Problem' (2ss)
Yin (8ss)
-Smoke Grenades (1ss)
Terracotta (5ss)
Moon Shinobi (6ss)
Fermented Monk (5ss)
Thunder Bro (5ss)

And that would leave you with a full cache. Depending on opposing faction/scheme pool, may swap out something for a Wandering Monk, probably the Thunder Bro or the Shinobi.

So, what's in this swill? Mostly the blood of your enemies.
Cheers! *glass clink*

Thank you and fare well in your future adventures, Lindsey! May you travel in style, upon a hoversled drawn by a team of corgis with Cinnamon in the lead, lighting the way! All but the coolest/most warped people will tremble as you pass them by.

1 hour ago, bertmac said:

Would love to see a suggestion for each master before this ends!

Couldn't agree more, so here's another from me.

While I don't generally see Colette's lists have a ton of staying power for point holding, this is what I would try in this case, as there are enough schemey schemes to make me tempted anyway.

50 SS Arcanists Crew
Colette Du Bois + 4 Pool
 - Arcane Reservoir (2)
 - Cabaret Choreography (2)
 - A Lady's Secret (2)
Cassandra (8)
 - Recharge Soulstone (1)
 - Practiced Production (1)
Coryphee (7)
Coryphee (7)
December Acolyte (7)
Silent One (6)
Union Miner (5)

 With as much as I want to put Carlos in here, with Guild I'd worry about Sonnia, and with his auto-burning every turn, he's a liability.

So, we have Cassandra with a Silent One to focus on on Stash, aiming for the Cropyphee to duet with Promt shenanihans pretty quick for those (0) heals to keep them alive and annoying. Colette summons doves for a Practiced Production of Leave Your Mark (or the bluff thereof), Union Miner makes Setup/Claim Jump a breeze, and Cassandra going early/backed up by a Silent One would make Accusation and Marked for Death pretty simple.

Meanwhile, Colette does what she does and makes sure the rest of the show goes off without a hitch. Lady's Secret will allow her to bop in to finish off something marked, or hold a marker should it suddenly be unattended.

I dig all the lists so far and this idea in general. Lots of variation for the same objectives, which is why I love this game!

Here's my take on it:

50 SS Arcanists Crew
Mei Feng + 3 Pool
 - Seismic Claws
 - Arcane Reservoir 
 - Vapormancy 
Emberling 
Cassandra 
 - Practiced Production 
 - Recharge Soulstone 
Freikorps Librarian 
Mechanized Porkchop 
Silent One 
Union Miner 
Arcane Effigy 
Malifaux Raptor 

Depending what I see across the table and terrain, Mei can either jam up the opposing crew while her guys move up and entrench around the Stash markers or hang bavk and give them some Vent Steam cover while the MechChop/Effigy prepares the road for her to Railwalk when most effective. Librarian and Silent one move to hold the Stashes/be in healing/Ca position, Silent One especially supporting Cassandra. Union Minor can hand out burning at range to give Mei more punch (along with the Effigy buff) while making Claim Jump orSet Up pretty easy if there's a good target on the latter (while using the threat of Practiced Production to bluff Leave Your Mark, or just doing it if their list is going to be in my face). Cassie wants to go first anyway, so she won't often be Accused, and can Accuse before others acctivate.

Raptor is mostly there as activation control and another avenue to lock down gunline pieces or things I want to slow down while threatening Leave.

Probably wouldn't worry about Mark for Death, but could be done if needed.

All in all, a fun list, methinks.

I think once people get a bit of time to work on her we'll be seeing more Sue being merc'd in for his corpse removal, maybe some Thunderous Smash getting taken more on Mei (though Vent Steam will help as well). Remove Reva's forward corpses and she's at least slowed down on the ranged murderousness, maybe to the point of having to move up to where she can be counter charged. That's my read from a few games so far. She's definiyely tough, but play to your schemes, wait for the right moment, and she can be dealt with.

I'm clearly biased, but excellent choice!

When Understudy comes from the trigger it's free. There's a bit in the rulebook about actions causing actions that covers it(don't have it on me or I'd cite the page). Clasically, Cassandra will saber, trigger understudy to take a silent one's freeze attack, trigger to freeze again, then her second saber with the built in trigger to dance away. It can be intensive if you don't have the right suites in hand, but worth it if you're in need of a big turn either on a single big target or a few with a few wounds hanging on.

If memory serves, @spooky_squirrel has some solid Colette suggestions in the sticky as well.

I generally agree with Blackraw & 7thSquirrel on wanting to know more about your aims with the faction, but I find it very hard to argue with grabbing the Ramos box in the near future. He's a solid master, and even if he's not your favorite, the rest of the box is quite useful, doubly so if you at all want to get any other MS&U masters.

Howard is the only arcanist model that i dislike.

As far as asthetics, have you seen Miss Step, his Miss model?

I wouldn't worry about him too much in any case. While Hank is great for damage and (honestly moreso) board control through the threat of said damage, he's very expensive for what you get out of him. I love him in a Mei crew, with Ramos, and occaaaaasionally Kaeris, but otherwise I haven't found myself hiring him much.

Tried the old (no longer legal, post errata) multi-prompt Hank in a Colette crew, and while it's certainly effective at clearing the table of opposing models, it's the opposite of fun. Either he cleared the table and yoir opponent was sad, or they took him out and Colette was out her main Prompt target.

Much more fun for all to bring a few good targets (Cassandra, Acolyte, Silent One, Ice Dancer, Union Miner (All Together Now? Yes please!), Willie/Miss Fire, Coryphee, and now Carlos are all great choices) and really make the crew feel like a well-oiled stage troope rather than Colette having to repeatedly give Hank his lines and prod him into his part (He's such a prima donna, I swear. Bloody diva).

As far as further beating/staying power, Carlos is both of those things for the Showgirls, and Coryphee are very killy and surprisingly survivable as long as they stay away from anything that denies armor. For sticking to Raspy friendly models, Acolytes are amazing for their cost both in damage and staying power, and if you want to make Cassandra hit harder, put a Silent One within 8" and watch her make a snow-cone out of her target with Understudy and Freeze.

20 minutes ago, Klat said:

I know that Ramos is the best way to start Arcanist, but even if i don't dislike any of the arcanist masters, just those 2 are the ones that i like the least xD.

I felt the same about Ramos. He's grown on me, but while he's solid I just don't see him and his crew as super interesting. But his box is soooo solid.

20 minutes ago, Klat said:

In my group i have certain reputation in games of being a coward hard to kill while concentrating in victory conditions instead of attacking my enemy. When i saw "Now you se me..." i thought: if i play this they are going to hate me.

As one who is also known for being "schemey" over "killy", I know this feeling, and they will. But they'll learn the tricks to deal with Colette being slippery, and it'll get you all to up your game. As my girlfriend says "To hear you tell it, everything in Malifaux is super good or broken. So does it really matter?" And she's right. Everything is good at its own niche, so they'll jokingly hate you, but you'll hate whoever's playing Perdita, or Pandora, or any number of others until you get your heard wrapped around them a bit as well.

The main thing Colette's box can feel like it's missing is staying power. I've had plenty of games where I've run mostly Showgirls and feel like I'm dropping models right and left compared to.my opponent, and will end the game with only Colette and maybe Cassandra and a dove. But, I will say it helped me focus on getting points over worryong how many models I have left. Now I have a reputation for coming from behind with a 4-5 point turn and winning with almost nothing on the table, to the point my more regular opponents are sweating more if I'm in that position than if I still have plenty of models on the board.

So, yes, @Klat, Colette is quite rewarding when she clicks for you.

I don't yet own Raspy, so I can't speak from experience here, but from what i hear, her box definitely feels it needs something else added to run smooth. Snowstorm or Angelica for some movement tricks, and some December Acolytes for forward ice mirrors and general annoyance.

Personally, I'd suggest Colette's box unless you have a singular love of beating face. A few 35ss is perfect to get her tricks down (check out her stickied thread for some fun things to do), so that when you can add more you'll have a solid core. She also can run with a wider variety of Arcanist models, is my understanding. Raspy apparently REALLY likes her Frozen Heart guys, but Colette can use them as well (Acolytes and Silent Ones especially), so grabbing them, then Raspy as a second or third master down the line would leave you well set up for an incredibly wide variety of strats, scheme pools, and platstyles.