Rank the Emissary renders

[Math Mathonwy]

Monday previews have now featured all the Emissaries. Rank them - which one did you like the most, which one the least. Try to leave faction bias away if you can (though often people like the faction they like the most aesthetically - nothing wrong with that, but just try to rank them in the order of true preference). Also, try not take into account things like expected difficulty in building and such.

My ranking would be as follows:

1. Mysterious - a bit plain but otherwise very nice. The super-cartoony look of the flowers is a bit of a bummer but the changelings look amazing
2. Lucky - the rider and the hog are awesome, the carrot gremlin could be better and the wheel itself, though nice, seems a bit implausible in how the driver balances on top
3. Shadow - a very competitive eastern dragon design but the shoulder is a shame
4. Carrion - the wings and the head are great, the robes are a real letdown
5. Arcane - very difficult to decide between this and Brutal. Not fond of the scythes
6. Brutal - the sword and the boots and the head beneath the skull dropped this one here
7. Hodgepodge - not the worst from a technical point of view but I don't understand the concept nor do I think it fits

So there is it. What's you ranking?

[Absolution Black]

Brutal Emissary - Ok, its Guild but I do like the overall look of the model..

Lucky Emissary - the whole concept seemed insane and thankfully the mini seems to recreate this.

Shadow Emissary - Dragon.  Nuff said.

Hodgepodge Emissary - I like the mini, even if the donkey has piles. 

Mysterious Emissary - A lot going on and looks good, but something doesn't click..

Carrion Emissary - Like the feathers etc, but the robe just doesn't look right for a resser!

Arcane Emissary - Just no.

 

 

 

[yool1981]

1. Hodgepodge Emissary - It embodies the Outcast so well and the render is very nice

2. Lucky Emissary - Same remark as the above one

3. Brutal Emissary - Same remark as the above one, although the sword is a bit disappointing

4. Carrion Emissary - Nice sculpt but the robe seems out of place

5. Mysterious Emissary - Nice sculpt but the interest of the mini resides in the baby changelings, not so much the main character. Not in theme with everything in the faction

6. Shadow Emissary - Nice sculpt but this emissary is so cliché that it's not as innovative as the rest

7. Arcane Emissary - Nice sculpt but not in theme with everything in the faction

[RarerMonsters]

The Emissaries are a boring concept in general (genericness in a game that sells itself on character)

1. Lucky Emissary: An extremely cool concept that tells a story and would have worked as an actual model with story and character.

2. Mysterious Emissary: Malifaux itself with hints of deception, represents the faction well and would have been a great as an actual model addition themed to Lilith

3. Hodgepodge Emissary: As above, but not quite as interesting.

4-6. Carrion Brutal Arcane: So generic, no real explanation to them, just "hey, here's this faction's aesthetic, huh?" Some character or uniqueness would have helped them, but as is they feel like exactly what they are, things that exist for no reason than "because the game needed these models"

7. Shadow Emissary: Here's a dragon. Just a dragon. It's a decent dragon I guess.

[RaguRagla]

1) Shadow Emissary: Instant-Favourite for various reasons. I really dislike the Dawn Serpent model but a nice proxy is on the horizon :). Reminds me a lot of the Mortal Kombat logo, might even inspire me to do a themed crew. I can see problems with it's 'moustache'.

2) Mysterious Emissary: Love the overall concept. The lower part looks awesome and I for one really dig the plants. Would love to see this as a larger model though. I imagine assembly will be a nightmare.

3 & 4) Keeper of Secrets and Lord of Change! Both are decent but the bird seems fresher.

5) Brutal Emissary. I kinda like it but compared to the other 4, it seems a bit unspectacular. I guess the guy in the cage might be annoying when it comes to building and painting but could easily be replaced with something nice to give it a unique look. The sword looks like it has not yen been finished though.

6 & 7). Well, I really like both the models for Hodgepodge and Lucky but they seem unimpressive for Emissary models. Hodgepodge looks like he belongs in a Family crew, maybe Jack Daw. I think it will look too cartoonish in other Outcast crews. Lucky is funny, nothing too impressive though. I'd get one if I'd play Gremlins, just to add another eye-catcher.

 

[Trample]

1) Mysterious - not so much the emissary himself, but love the base

2) Arcane - followed the artwork pretty well 

3) Lucky - awesome rolling ball of death 

4) Shadow - very nice

5) Hodgepodge - really only because it's a donkey 

6) Carrion - I thought this would be my favorite when I first saw the artwork but don't really like the beak

7) Brutal - it isn't bad, but I don't really like the sword or the buckle shoes. Nobody is menacing in buckle shoes 

 

Overall they're great. I think maybe the only one I would shy away from buying is brutal. 

[Munindk]

1. Hodgepodge - I think its a bit odd as an emissary, but it oozes character and has so many great detail. I think I spotted some squashed roses somewhere.

2. Brutal - the sword is a bit meh but easily fixed (so it doesnt detract too much), the cage is very characterfull. Love the skull.

3. Carrion – I’m not sure about the teeth on the beak, they looked better in the artwork. It’s a big crow!

4. Mysterious – it fits in well with the Swamp fiend theme of the faction, not so much with the nightmare and woe themes. Its a clear reference to the little shop of horrors, which I like. No mask though.

5. Lucky – its a bit silly, even for gremlins and the emissary himself doesnt look that angry, which he should according to the fluff. The pig is there, but where’s the moonshine?

6. Shadow – one of the best eastern dragons I’ve see, so thumps up for the craftsmanship, but I dont like eastern dragons. No weird flower/flame/thing.

7. Arcane – I dont like the bull look, for me it doesnt tie into the rest of the faction. Where’s the book?

I like when there are either clear ties to the faction logo or the logo is incorporated into the model. The Carrion and Brutal emissaries do this best.

[Bengt]

1. Carrion. Fits well with faction and effigy and I think the model is good looking in general.

2. Mysterious. A tree doesn't fit everyone but it's close enough. Love the creepy fairies.

3. Shadow. Ok looking model but doesn't really fit with anyone but Sh'long.

4. Brutal. Fits very well with one subfaction, the sword is really bad though....

...

7. Hodgepodge. Just awful cartoony shit that doesn't even begin to fit in the faction.

7. Lucky. More cartoony shit, but I guess it at least fits with the faction. Would score a little higher if there was a better explanation than magic for the rider staying up. E.g. if it had balloons, they wouldn't have to realisticly large, just some cartoon balloons; "a wizard did it" is just lazy.

7. Arcane. A f-ing cow has nothing to do with arcanists. It feels like someone had drawn them a robot cow on spec and they shoehorned it in as the Arcane Emissary because they didn't have any proper use for it.

[Nexus]

1. Shadow.  I'm a sucker for well done Dragons without a lot of extra decoration.  It's easily one of the best looking asian Dragon minis on the market.

2. Carrion Emissary.  Fits the look of Ressers perfectly. 

3. Mysterious.  I like the venus Flytraps, and Groot looks well done.  Super Waldgeist?

4.  Arcane.  I think the scythes look silly, but otherwise I like it.

5. Brutal.  It looks Brutal.  Mission Accomplished.  The skull hat looks funny, I liked it better when I thought that was it's head.

6.  Hodgpodge.  I don't like the concept and I don't think it fits, but like others have said, it oozes personality.

7.  Lucky.   Oh hey, it's the Lucky Effigy.  On a wheel.  Boring.  Really boring.   It looks like the one Effigy that didn't actually achieve Emissary status.

[LunarSol]

I really like all of them, but if I have to create a pecking order, I need some criteria.  The models themselves are all great, but they represent more than that.  When I want an emissary, I want a few things.  So I'm judging them on:
- How well do they represent their faction?
- How well do they seem to fit with the different masters within the faction?
- How well do they represent the manifestation of power that avatars used to fill?
So, with that in mind, I'll rate them thusly.... for now...

1. Lucky - Incredible representation of the faction.  It's silly, its cruel, its impossible, its random, its tiny creatures warring with forces mostly interested in killing them.  It's incredibly detailed and looks to have a great presence.  My one gripe is that its playing to a specific audience member instead of a crowd (it would help if the bait was looking someplace else, even at the pig) creating a model that kind of lacks punch in 3D.  That said, its stellar.

2. Brutal - When it comes to envisioning these models on the table and what they represent, there's nothing as exciting to me as this guy.  Just a giant specter of oppressive justice, almost Pyramid Head esque in a way.  Sword is a little bland, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.  I don't want something ornate at all; crude is a lot better; the question is if the plainness is a problem when shrunk down to table size.

3. Carrion - He and Brutal are pretty neck and neck for me.  Fantastic crowman model.  He could maybe use a roll through GW to scavenge for a few skullls, but he's definitely what I want the Emissaries to be.

4. Shadow - Liu Kang wins: Fatality.  Great dragon, but not particularly unique.  I wish the tail was a little tighter coiled but its just a great dragon.  Only slips down the list because its "just" a great dragon.

5. Arcane - He doesn't make a lick of sense. He wants to be a machine that hasn't forgotten Marcus entirely but he kind of does neither.  The blades are really random and awkward.  Doesn't represent the faction particularly well at all.  The one thing I like about him though is that he feels like a manifestation of power, which the next couple lack to a degree.

6. Hodgepodge - I like the model, I like the model's rules and how they translate to the model.  I like the details.  I like him.  I just don't care for how he fits in with the rest of the faction, particularly as an Emissary.

7. Mysterious - Look, the base on that guy is incredible, but most of the model just doesn't do it for me.  If it was something more "creepy mother" or more spidery I think it would be a lot more compelling, but right now, the disconnect between the bland tree monster and the jaw dropping base just doesn't do it for me.

[valhallan42nd]

1. Carrion. It looks amazing, and I have a Resser Bias.
2. Shadow
3. Mysterious
4. Lucky
5. Arcane
6. Brutal (Anti-guild Bias)
7. Hodgepodge

[Myyrä]

Mysterious Emissary, because the Emissary itself is cool, changelings are cool, and I enjoy cartoonish plants.

Brutal Emissary finishes second, because it's lacking comical plants and cool Changelings. The mini itself seems pretty orgasmic.

Shadow Emissary, because dragon.

Carrion Emissary seems like the mini will be very nice, but I'm not thrilled with the theme.

Hodgepodge Emissary, cool mini, but I'm not a big fan of the theme.

Lucky Emissary would have finished higher if it weren't for those nonsensical ropes that seem to just prevent the contraption from moving more than a few feet.

Arcane Emissay, the spikes are too long.

[solkan]

I keep thinking of the Emissaries as caricatures of the factions, like the effigies are, except larger.  That seems to be a bit risky for that sort of thing...

Not ranking them:

- Mysterious turned out way better than I was expecting from the concept art.

- Brutal:  Due to existing biases, I want to figure out a gun to use in place of the sword, and I need to figure out a hat for this model.

- Shadow:  What's the Latin saying for "Don't argue about dragons?" 

- I look at the Carrion Emissary and think "The Effigy finished its internship, graduated, and just got the position.  That's why the robes are still in good shape."

- Hodgepodge:  How on Malifaux do you do a caricature of the Outcasts as a faction? 

- Lucky:  I'm not allowed to buy this model until I paint my Whiskey Golem. 

- Arcane:  I my first thought was "I have two or three spare 1990's GW Realm of Chaos era Keepers of Secrets models that I got cheap that I haven't assembled yet.  I wonder how much greenstuff I'd need for that conversion..."

 

[Nexus]

15 minutes ago, solkan said:

- Brutal:  Due to existing biases, I want to figure out a gun to use in place of the sword, and I need to figure out a hat for this model.

 

He's already wearing a hat.  If you look at the 3D render from the "back", you can see the guy's head under his skull hat.  
He's not even wearing it as a mask, he literally just has it sitting on top of his head, lol.

I guess you could put a hat on top of his hat...   O.o

[solkan]

16 minutes ago, Nexus said:

He's already wearing a hat.  If you look at the 3D render from the "back", you can see the guy's head under his skull hat.  
He's not even wearing it as a mask, he literally just has it sitting on top of his head, lol.

I guess you could put a hat on top of his hat...   O.o

Flaming skulls don't stop people wearing hats, no reason a ram skull should. 

[Bengt]

If that ram's skull is a hat, it's the worst hat ever. He would have to peek through nose hole to see anything!

[Nexus]

7 hours ago, Bengt said:

If that ram's skull is a hat, it's the worst hat ever. He would have to peek through nose hole to see anything!

That's literally what he's doing, lol.

You can see his jawline and nose outline on the two middle images, in the bandages below the skull (he's basically a mummy). So yeah, he has to look out the nose hole, lol.
http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54fe412ce4b0c449f7369857/t/56cb378ef85082a807bfcd84/1456158612169/?format=1500w

[Myyrä]

9 hours ago, Bengt said:

If that ram's skull is a hat, it's the worst hat ever. He would have to peek through nose hole to see anything!

You are asuming he has eyes in the first place.

[Tawg]

1 hour ago, Nexus said:

That's literally what he's doing, lol.

HOld the HORSES!

So I thought it had no head, and the skull was the head, but looking back over it...

Looking form the back shows me nothing, to prove it's a head.  At least how I see it.  But I was looking, and I noticed that in the middle one, where the face is pointing left, what I thought was simply a bandaged neck?  It actually looks to have a bit more definition to it, and rather much looks like a chin.  And then I realized that it's probably actually a humanoid head, but.. the whole wearing a skull thing, and blocking his sight doesn't matter.  The head is completely covered in bandages!

Which really ties it in with Lady J, and her whole blind justice shtick.  Or in general the whole Guild's blind obedience idea, because as far as I know, they are the most militarized of the factions, and try to impose the most forceful of leadership.  Granted persons like McMourning break that mold, but whatever.

[Munindk]

Here's a low quality zoom on the neck, I can make out a bandaged chin, mouth and nose. I'm firmly in the "Skull hat" camp though using the skull itself as the head and adding Death Marshal type flames to it (and possibly a hat) could look cool.

[Bengt]

5 hours ago, Myyrä said:

You are asuming he has eyes in the first place.

Yes, I prefer to think of him as trying to see through the little hole in the skull and being all confused on the battlefield because he can't tell what is going on.

[LunarSol]

Really, the more little details I've noticed on him, the more I get that Pyramid Head vibe from him.