Review of (renders of) Gencon releases

[Math Mathonwy]

I've done this review thing quite a bit and wanted to do it now again. I'm also interested in what other people think. Don't feel pressured to review all the releases - just the ones you wish to voice an opinion on

My scale ranges from :-fate to :+fate .

So yeah, here goes. Just the new stuff that we hadn't seen before.

Hamelin box:

Obedient Wretch looks amazing. Nix looks good. Rats look splendid. The Stolen - I think I liked the metal ones more but these aren't bad. A bit awkward poses and sort of look like they were aiming for photorealistic in a weird way. But then Hamelin himself - urgh! This is the sort of extreme I'm not really liking. His pose is silly and that thing is - gaah! And how will it all fit on a 30mm base? Luckily it looks like the thing is separate so maybe you can leave it off. Hamelin really drags this box down in my eyes, but it's otherwise good, so

Coryphee:

Well, they are like the metals but with the smaller detailing that plastic allows. The metals were really nice so these are as well.

:+fate

Lucky Effigy:

It's funny and not bad-looking. Rather expensive as are all Effigies.

Shadow Effigy:

Not a fan of the gigantic weird bottle in the back. Otherwise very nice.

Ulix box:

I thought that Penelope was a schnauzer! A bit of a let-down, really. Also Ulix isn't all that super - rather plain for a Master but he isn't bad. The Wild Boars OTOH are amazing! It's a shame that taking three seems like a really bad idea. And Old Major! Holy crap! That is one big and scary pig. All in all a really lovely box.

:+fate

Mah box

We were previewed some of the contents but the Bayou Bushwhackers look absolutely amazing. This box is a complete bullseye. Utterly amazing and might be the best thing Wyrd has ever produced. Every one of the models is just crazy awesome. I love them to bits! The only shame is that taking all on the field at the same time is a very bad idea due to their mechanics.

:+fate

Shenlong box

Peasants are about what I expected and I like Sensei Yu. Shenlong OTOH is a complete snooze fest. The High River Monks are trying to be all dynamic and such but fail in my eyes. The one with the pole arm is nice enough but the other two are blah.

[Math Mathonwy]

Too many emoticons so had to divide the post into two.

Abuela

Looks great! Really pricey, though.

Brutal Effigy

Might be the best of the Effigies. Very, very nice. I only wonder how that coffin is going to look in the flesh - it looks a bit thinner in the art and that might've been a good idea. But that is minor.

:+fate

Carrion Effigy

A nice Effigy. The metal one is amazing but I'm not sure whether this is worse. Very, very nice.

:+fate

Gaki

Holy crap! These are absolutely marvelous. Super creepy and look so good. Seriously crazy good stuff!

:+fate

Arcane Effigy

A lot better than the metal one. Really nice.

:+fate

Mysterious Effigy

I like this one as well. All the Effigies are pretty damn fine. A huge difference to the original metal one, though it was really cool design as well.

:+fate

Iggy

A bit like the Coryphee, really similar to the metal version. But I must say that here I like the metal one better. Plastic one is thinner and frailer. Still, not bad.

Hodgepodge Effigy

A competent Effigy. Not my favourite of the bunch - heck, one of my least favourites, actually, but still not bad. Really wish these had been a boxed set release as collecting all the Effigies is going to be seriously expensive (more expensive than the Nightmare Dark Carnival, really, if you consider the cost per mini, which is kinda crazy as Effigies are small as well).

So yeah, that's it. An amazing set, really.

The ones we had seen before had quite a lot of really lousy ones (Austringers :-fate, Guilty :-fate, and Crossroads Seven :-fate ) so it's very nice to see the good stuff. Wyrd still has it!

[CritterKiller32]

Overall I like the newly revealed sculpts, but I have some gripes:

 

Shenlong Core Crew:      Was looking forward to this release, as I use him in games quite a bit and would like to upgrade my proxies, but I had an immediate negative reaction to seeing the sculpts. Peasant with the enormous head looks ridiculous. 2nd Peasant looks good. If the renders are in scale to each other Sensei Yu looks very small and ShenLong very large. Overall plain and just don't have the Malifaux vibe for me.

Monks of High River:     I think these guys look pretty cool and over the top. I'll be skipping the crew box and picking these up seperately.

Lone Swordsman:  Legs and neck look out of proportion, but I like this guy and will be grabbing him at the con.

Gaki:       Now these guys look badass. I might stab myself a few times putting them together, but they will look awesome completed.

Hamelin Crew (minus Hamelin):     Stolen and Nix look nice and creepy, and Wretch looks excellent, even if it has the closed eye face that I don't care for.

Hamelin:  Blob aside, the sculpt doesn't look master-worthy, let alone Tyrant worthy. Plain and a goofy grin on his face.

Abuela:    Excited to paint this one up. Lots of detail and a unique model.

Iggy, Coryphee:     Meh. I already have the metal models and don't have an interest in more with near identical poses.

Crossroads 7:  Pride, Envy, and Gluttony are my favorites as they stand out and really catch your eye. Greed and Lust are super bland. Nearly identical closed-eye faces and generic cute girl looks. Sloth looks good but looks very small. Wrath, ehh. I actually like the Sorrows behind him, but the main sculpt and pose don't do anything for me.

[-Loki-]

I... I like Hamelin. I'd leave the blob off, but I like the model.

[sinistercats]

It's become a trend of great boxes and Meh Masters. What gives?

These new ones just doen't seem as "centerpiece" as the metals used to be. But then some of the renders are amazing!

[Lokius]

I like them all.  Different and sure it could be awkward for some painting up the 'blob' attached to Hamelin in a way that works but those that do will really make him pop.

 

Shen Long doesn't seem like he will stand out as much as you might want until you realise there is plenty of room for some boss oriental style dragon tattoos on him to make him every inch the centre piece of the list.  Stand him in front of a shrine or 'Mon' gate and really make him stand out. 

 

Love the Crossroads 7, like all of them.  This moves up from a 'might be nice to have' to a 'I want this just so I can paint all the models.'

 

Coryphee (and Colette's box) holy damn these are awesome, makes me want to collect Arcanists sooner rather than later (had them pegged as the second faction I was going to work on... now I am not so sure). 

 

I love the little details on the new plastics (like the wrinkles in Lust's shirt) that if you take the time to paint them properly can really make the mini pop.  What I do feel about the new plastics that might put some off is that they are complex high detail models that really want to be painted at a high level to get the 'pop' the promise of the renders deserve.  

 

Really love the direction the M2E plastics have taken.  Thank you Wyrd.  Now if I could just see the renders for Witchling Handler and maybe Angelica it would make knowing what direction I want to go next much easier!

[scarlett fever]

Being a Thunders player who plays mostly Shenlong I was fairly invested in his crew and the Lone Swordsman. The renders of both look slightly odd proportionally and I'm a little worried breakdancing monk could end up being another 8'3" monster. However sometimes the plastics are better in 3 dimensions than their render suggests, so I reserve final judgement. But we're rating renders so , glad Shenlong lost his hand blobs in the final render though. Not a big fan of extra blobs.

 

Really like Hamlins box and I quite like understated Masters. Rat king is the king. The blob is wrong on so many levels though :+fate

Abula is just awesome, so are the Gaki, fantastic models, :+fate both

 

Mah and Wong boxes are also awesome, so much character, love Mancha Roja and the Lightning Bugs, :+fate

At first I wasn't sold on the Crossroads Seven (concept wise) but I've come around, who doesn't want play against other people with a rock band? Plus I have converted Fuhatsu as Bootsy Collins and my Graves has a slayer t-shirt, so yeah, may not like all the sculpts as much individually but together   

Agree on Lust and Greed looking generic and cloned though, even have the same shoes.

 

Sometimes I don't why I play Thunders when the grass looks so green on every other side.

[Bengt]

I already ragged on some stuff in the GenCon thread but here are some additional thoughts.

 

Fire Gamin: Not completely new but we got a higher resolution render. I think the fire on their heads is too large and hair like, it's going to be hard to paint a good looking fire effect. In the art their faces look alien and disturbing, but the renders look more goofy. They're still ok though.

 

Lamps: If I was doing a city board I'd want lots of street lamps of the same design. While I would never even consider putting large stuff like this on bases I'd imagine people that do would want the same lamp design to tie the crew together. So I don't see the target for this product.

 

Hamelin: I think the rats, OW, and stolen are quite nice. The blob is horrible, it would be so funny if the model tips over if you centre Hamelin on the base and put the blob like it is in the render. Not sure what I really think of Hamelin himself, I'll want some more angle shots.

 

Coryphee: Nice. I would have liked a larger box with four sculpts that had a Duet that were clearly dancing around each other. As there are only two sculpts anyway I'll probably use magnets.

 

Effigies: Most are pretty nice. Arcane and Mysterious are my favourites. Arcane, Carrion and Mysterious get extra points for including the faction symbols. Hodgepodge is generic and boring, though I'm not very found of the metal design either. Shadow is a mess, I mean it's sort of a ninja, but then it has lots of crap tacked on, including clunky wooden sandals, real stealthy boy.

 

Ulix: Everything but Ulix looks like shit in the renders. The animal anatomy looks off.

 

Wong: The bugs look good if you dump the magic effects. Manja is too static. I really think Wong could have used a resculpt to get him in line with the current Gremlin aesthetic.

 

Seven: Could have been worse, but the only one I really like the looks of is Envy.

 

Abuela: It's kind of funny that the thing on the back looks like a wood gas generator like they had on cars during WWII gasoline rationing. The rest is too cartoony for me.

 

Gaki: Amazing.

 

Lone Swordsman: Looks kind of off. Dunno why, he doesn't seem to have any obvious crimes against anatomy.

[zFiend]

I pretty much agree with you Math on many occasions on that list.

 

My absolute favourites are Mah Tucket box, that box is golden, simple and pure, not a single model I dislike, but quite the contrary. All are absolutely amazing.

 

Brutal Effigy is freaking great! As is the Arcane, though I'm a bit afraid of the Arcane render with that tiny left hand holding the book in the air.. 

 

Gakis were amazing! Truly amazing. I liked the Coryphees a lot too. Dark Carnevale is beautiful. 

[SpectreEliteGaming]

That Hamelin looks like Wyrd wanted to do something extreme. I'm all about the extreme. I look at that and I say "conversion potential!"

Tim Burton fans are gonna love my Hamelin.

[Kapten Vendetta]

Tim Burton fans are gonna love my Hamelin.

 

Ooh no, he's gonna' put Santa in there!

[Dirial]

I have this problem with those spectacular light effects: They look good in art. Sadly, I'm a shit painter and I couldn't make them look somehow transparent or nebulous for the life of me. Same problem with Lynch's skeleton. If it was transparent, I might like it, but if I painted it, it'd always look like a bright statute standing beside him.

[zFiend]

The Hamelin one looks super silly to me. Lynch's skeleton was quite okay and nice but that insidious madness floating from Hamelin's stick.. Well..

[SpectreEliteGaming]

The Hamelin one looks super silly to me. Lynch's skeleton was quite okay and nice but that insidious madness floating from Hamelin's stick.. Well..

Think outside the box a little.

Took me about 10 seconds to think up a wicked conversion.

[zFiend]

Think outside the box a little.

Took me about 10 seconds to think up a wicked conversion.

Does it involve dongs?

[SpectreEliteGaming]

Does it involve dongs?

Not specificaly but I'm sure I could integrate a couple into that heap somewhere.

I am moving in a direction to make any master model I have to be converted and show-y in some way - mostly to counter the tendency towards boring master renders in M2E plastics, but also mostly because why wouldn't you? Its yo mastah! Do it some justice!

One of the problems with Malifaux, imo, is that, unlike pretty much any wargame I can think of, your master doesn't really stand out. Whenever someone comes by and says "oh cool, what game is this?" I always have to point out who my master is and I would like it to be more obvious. When I point out my master I want to say "this bad mofo right here" and have them say "oh, of course."

But then, I don't need to ask, anyway... - I'll just convert! So, whatever, its cool.

[Pyrflamme]

As far as my personal opinion goes, I'm digging on Shenlong. He has a very classic ascetic martial arts master look to him. In this case, I think simplicity is for the best.

[trikk]

So I focused on all the negative reviews and except the bigger-than-usual-head Peasant all the models look wicked. Some just need a good painter to make them more stand out- Hamelin and Shenlong.

 

They resemble the art quite well - The Hamelin is also a good idea for a transparent box I believe. If the blob was transparent it would look pretty cool. And if you don`t like it you can not glue it/cut it off. Doesn`t require insane modeling skills

[SpectreEliteGaming]

Well yeah, cepts spending time tattooing the Shenlong model would be better spent tattooing a better model....

Shenlong's crew easily takes the cake (from either tara or certainly mei feng) as being the most boring crew in the game...

... and yet still some how better than Jack Daw's box.

And now I'm sad.

[Jewomie]

have to disagree... I think Shenlong might just be one of my favorites in m2e. the whole box is just brimming with potential. sure, some orange and skin toned paint and most folks would be done... but give that set to someone like Mako and that becomes something insanely cool really easily. His crew is a canvas, and that really gets my blood pumping. I can not wait to paint them.

 

That being said, I have noticed that more often than not, I have to point out who the master is in games. I tend to demo with McCabe since he starts out on a horse so it's really obvious, or even drop to just henchman and use Yamazako and Ototo because they are on 40s so the new players can easily identify them. (but this is all off topic I suppose)

[Palooka]

Going against the grain here. I like the Hamelin model. The blob is a bit odd but it reminds me of Akira so I'm okay with it. I for one welcome our new Ratty master.

[Ratty]

There is no "new Ratty master"... I am my own master.

[dgraz]

Well yeah, cepts spending time tattooing the Shenlong model would be better spent tattooing a better model....

 

Like who? Yu and Shen are perfect for it.....there aren't many other models that are topless.

 

have to disagree... I think Shenlong might just be one of my favorites in m2e. the whole box is just brimming with potential. sure, some orange and skin toned paint and most folks would be done... but give that set to someone like Mako and that becomes something insanely cool really easily. His crew is a canvas, and that really gets my blood pumping. I can not wait to paint them.

 

I'm with this ^. I love doing freehand and can't wait to do these guys. 

 

Honestly, it's relative to what kind of painter you are. If you aren't very adventuress or don't have the skills then the model may seem boring. But if you're a Mr Psychopants and like self-inflicted pain then these models will seem pretty exciting.

 

And that's okay. I appreciate different types of models...some have lots of detail and will take beginner techniques very well, some seem to beg for more advanced techniques and there's everything in-between. 

[cursingbulldog]

For the effigies I personally prefer the metal models to the new renders. While the new models might have more interesting poses they don't have near as much character nor give off any sort of puppet/construct feel the metals do.

[SpectreEliteGaming]

Jeremy - Once again, though. All that effort of full body tattoos would look even more incredible on a model that is actually good. Shenlong requires the extra effort just to make par.

dgraz - Anyone really. Maybe not full body but you got more than enough muscular bare arms to exploit. Or even faces!

The models that immediately come to mind are like Avatar Seamus (awwwww yeaaaa), executioners!, steamborg, wastrels, and... why...metal Johan...

A boring model requiring you to freehand just to make it not boring is pretty lame. Besides - 10T has more than enough fancy shmancy clothing to freehand as much cherry blossom trees and kanji characters, and other stereotypical designs as you desire. >8)

Besides, dgraz - you should be painting more beautiful furry creatures for me to look at! Your Cojo inspired me to stroke by stroke the fur on that Johan's cape... (and my teddy... and soon to be flying monkeys). <3

-----

I always have to point my master out - the reaction is usually "really? that guy and not the big giant scary cyborg with spider legs?" It shouldn't be like that. Makes extensive conversion almost neccesary just to stand out.