Nathan Sells

The large flying Nephilim seem to match the art for the Cavern Nephilim in From Nightmares. The Through the Breach rules are never one to one, but if they're all indication we can expect the Cavern Nephilim to be another Size 2 Nepilim with Blindfighter or something similar and a nasty bite.

The Image was used in the Through the Breach Adventure "A Stitch in Time" as someone who'd been possessed by the Tyrant the Gorgon in the time of the First Breach. As such I'm not sure she's destined for Malifaux anytime soon.

While speculating, we should probably keep in mind that some of these models will come in Title boxes. So even having one model's art imply dual faction doesn't mean much.

Wyrd has a deal with custom meeple to make markers. So if you want something official those are your best bet. And given that deal, I doubt Wyrd will be producing any directly in the near future.

Sonnia unmasked would be my recommendation, if you're playing fully in keyword, she has stronger synergies with her crew and I at least find her more fun to play. If you only have those two boxes, I'd start with hiring Sammael, the two Thralls, and one or two handlers. Fill out your remaining slots with Stalkers and go to town. Sonnia's totem is significant and can score a shocking number of schemes on his own, and Sammael and the Stalkers can flex to cover the rest whole the Thralls beat face.

I've tried using the Handler/Stalkers method. It has some benefits but you're spending a lot of stones to scheme there. You're also liable to have the Stalkers outpace the Handler. The other issue is that the stalkers are very fragile and your opponent can easily stop you by killing them. You can do similar scheming by taking sanctioned spellcasters and positioning them near soulstone users to gain fast. They're a little more resilient despite being cheaper and a little more flexible because you just need them near a friendly soulstone user, which Sonnia has many of. You can also bring Sammael who's quite resilient and mobile without needing much support. Or you can grab some Orderlies who are faster versatiles with a bit of healing at the same price. Your mileage may very, but the Stalkers really do struggle to fill their niche except as summons and you're liable to throw good money after bad trying to make them work.

Sonnia's aura is only 3" and is really just there to discourage enemy models from coming in and locking her in melee. I generally focus on keeping my other models out of it. The Witchling exemption means you can park a Thrall next to Sonnia and keep her safe, if you need to. Stoke the Flames lets you funnel healing and focus into a Thrall which is great. Realistically Sonnia's bonus actions won't be affecting your Witchlings past turn one, Sonnia has a 4" move and wants to be at the back blasting things, the Witchlings are all melee models who want to be in the thick of it. They're rarely in the same part of the board, in my experience. And, sadly, the Witchling Stalkers are somewhat slow, somewhat fragile models that want to be in melee, which isn't a great combo unless you manage to summon them. They're great models, but they tend to die before they can get much done. You're also probably ok to drop down to one Handler, they're good models but as Witclhing support pieces you're better off taking two Thralls with one Handler to support them. A second only adds so much without the Thrall to buff.

I'm not sure I'd ever hire Witchling stalker's in Sonnia one (probably not in either, honestly). Sonnia Unmasked has much better strategies with the Witchling half of her keyword. With OG Sonnia I prefer focusing on the witch hunter models. Using Sanctioned Spellcasters, Spelleaters, and Handlers to get out burning and using Sammael to add some more mobile fire. I'd keep one or two Thralls because they're always great but otherwise summoning, if you can get it off, is your friend. Drawn to pain is a pretty mediocre ability in Sonnia 1 though it does allow the Witchling Thralls to close distance faster, it synergizes really nicely with Enraged by the Mage in Sonnia Unmasked. Strategy wise, I'd use Sonnia and her ranged friends as a bit of a gun line, keep lead lined coat on Sonnia so she doesn't die, and think about bringing the Pale Rider to move her up the board and put out yet more Burning. In keyword the Purifying Flame is your scheming MVP, but Sammael also brings a lot of mobility and the sanctioned spellcasters provide shockingly good low cost schemers. In a pinch a witchling supported by a handler can clear a lot of the board to score some last points.

It depends a little on what you're looking for Malifaux is their flagship game, has gorgeous miniatures and is a ton of fun. Its got spooky options and a few game variants for playing with more players. You might also want to look at Vagrantsong for a 2 player plus spooky board games. its an excellent recent offering. No minis to paint but a lighter game rules wise and a ton of fun.

I think that the issue with Gwyll, as is, is he would be the first model to not be hirable in his own faction without paying a tax, if the Returned Master isn't at least partially a Ressers Master. Lots of models, like the Kurgan are hirable into multiple factions because they have out of faction Keywords. But thus far all those models have a home in their own faction as a part of a Keyword or as a Versatile. If Returned is not a Ressers or Ressers/X Keyword, Gwyll would be precedent setting. If the cards change that goes out the window, but I think we have to assume the cards are pretty close to print ready or we have too many variables to play the prediction game, which I find good fun.

The issue there is it would put Nephilim in a really strange place balance wise, having 4 Masters (including titles), and Kastore would almost certainly be the stronger Master, given he'd be able to hire the Returned models as well as the Nephilim. Plus if Kastore's getting the Nephilim keyword why give Barbaros Returned?

With the change to Barbaros' Nephilim Loyalist rule and the fact that Gwyll is a Ressers model with only the Returned keyword it seems incredibly likely that Returned is Ressers/Neverborn. As others have said, if Returned isn't a Ressers keyword then Gwyll can't be hired in faction without a tax which seems bizarre. Barbaros' change implies the rules would otherwise allow him to be in a crew containing, but not lead by Nekima. That only works if the Returned Master is Neverborn, also has the Nephilim keyword, or can specifically hire Nekima, and those second two sound like a balancing nightmare. So while we can't be certain, those clues definitely point one place. (plus Neverborn and Ressers are both popular factions so it makes marketing sense)

If they really want to go all in on Witness, Untold Tales could be a Title box. Maybe Witness/Story?

I think the bear is riding behind Dreamer on a wagon

I think this is the first reveal. Given the scale, it's probably Dreamer's entry into the iconic line.

When you're reshaping the models with hot water, have you tried putting the unbent model in cold water to set the form? I haven't tried it with Wyrd's preassembled models but for other instances of bending issues I've heated the model in boiling water, overbent it a little in the desired direction then set it with ice water.

In Your Face's text specifies that it's "the highest cost non-Master model you hired this game" so it would be the original highest cost model, regardless of replacements or deaths.

If you're looking for Canadian stock I'd look at: Tista Miniatures, 401 Games and Event Horizon. They all seem to be refreshing regularly and have a decent selection. Tista even has a request form on their website. Its not exactly an answer to your question, but its worked for me.

There was some discussion of that in Another Lucius thread. Given the text reads "if the target ends its move engaged by a friendly Elite or Mimic model, the friendly model may take a action" I think its just one.

All of the Bayou Bash characters have generic creature names, so I don't think "Whiskey Gamin" tips it one way or another. I think the biggest threat to a full Jockey keyword is the teaser Angler cards. It seems unlikely Bayou would get two new keywords in one expansion.

You wouldn't rather take a new and improved Orderly? You lose unimpeded but they're four stones cheaper. Maybe I'm sleeping on Samael but he's always seemed like an expensive generalist to me.

On the topic of Sonia's lone non-minion (totems don't count). The more I look at the hexbows the harder it is for me to see bringing Samael with her. They do almost everything I want from him for two stones cheaper and then some. He was already a tough one to fit in, and it feels like all of his roles are now better performed by cheaper models.

Oh yeah, having seen their stats I wouldn't advocate for them being versatile. I'd been wondering about it from their initial GenCon tease. I'm just excited to start speculating about the Guild starter all over again.

Interesting, I figured being cross game and therefore probably pre-built the Hex Bows would be going in the Guild starter, but they're not versatile.

Do we know if the boxes slated for release in April will be available at the sale?