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Unboxing Malifaux - 'Brutal Emissary


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On 02/08/2016 at 7:10 AM, Bengt said:

It's pretty realistic that his sword is bent, there is a reason real life swords doesn't look like that. :P 

It's easily rectified though I know of several people considering replacing the sword altogether.

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The biggest issue with the guy in the cage is that he actually presses several parts of his body directly against the bars (his rear, left leg, and most problematically, face) and its tight to a point where it doesn't fit together all that great.  The left hand reaching out of the cage is actually fantastic and aligns with the cage itself super well to where when you add the top later it fits right in with the prisoner.  The right hand tucked in is ridiculous, as its pressed against the bars, the body, and rests on a gap between 2 bars that lines up later.  It should be the easier hand of the two, but its such a tight fit its just a nightmare.

My sword was bent, not as much as that picture, but it straightened out with just a little bending back.  The actual issue is the the sprue is wrapped in a plastic bag.  The bend is essentially just the curvature of the bag from the side rail of the sprue up to the bulky high point of the sword.

Still, sweet, sweet model I'm really excited to get on the table.  Hilariously huge too.  Like a heavy Warjack doesn't quite reach his shoulders.

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I'm still really intimidated by that model and its almost entirely due to the cage. I was brainstorming ways to reduce the difficulty, like painting the prisoner as a ghost and going less detailed with drybrushing and washes, but I'm still not sure about it. It looks fantastic, just...intimidating because I feel like I won't be skilled enough to avoid wrecking an expensive model.

The shop I usually order from has a few Guild avatars left, and I have to admit I'm thinking about just picking up the metal Sonnia avatar.

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The cage is the only thing worth being intimidated by, but its worth noting that if push comes to shove, the prisoner is entirely optional.  They are completely separate pieces.  The prisoner just is molded to fit against the bars, no part of either is part of the other.

Painting wise, there's definitely a way to paint inside prior to assembly.  I'll see if I can get a picture later.  Basically though its just the top ring of cage plus the left arm as one piece and the bottom 2 rings plus the rest of the prisoner.  That should let you get to all the important bits and still put the two halves together cleanly.

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Thanks for the clarifications, especially regarding the prisoner being separate. I completely misinterpreted the assembly notes there. :( On the bright side, the prisoner being optional makes me feel way more confident, as I'd be happy to leave the cage empty.

I'd be interested to see the picture when you get a chance.

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Over half a day later...

image_zps13ydcxeu.jpeg

image_zpsf36aq5mk.jpeg

One thing that makes it a little easier is that there's pegs for things.  The prisoner has slots on the bottom of his feet that fit into holds in the base of the cage.  Then what you really want to check for and dry fit are these small extensions on each tier of the bars that go together in a specific way.  This will eventually ensure the top of the cage is on in such a way that it faces forward when connected to the emissary itself.

The arm I have on the top bars there actually completely clips onto the outside of the cage, but you'll want to make sure you get it in the right spot.  I glued together the bottom half, then did the top, dry fitted the two halves together, then added the arm to the correct spot.

Hope that helps!

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9 minutes ago, yipiyip said:

Mine is still in the mail. I honestly just want it to paint to 110% of my ability, and set it on my desk :P but I suppose I'll field it sometimes, too. I still don't know why so many say this model looks bad, I really like it.

Why wouldn't you want to field it? The rules are great and plastics survive a lot of table time compared to metals.

Most of the flak it took was for the sword and the whole deal of not actually being the avatars from what I've understood. 

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Mostly I wouldn't field it because it'll look so good at my desk! Lol I was just kidding, though I did buy it for it's looks more than stats.

Also, I hear people talking a lot about liking the other big'uns sculpts, but people tend to mention the Brutal off-handedly, commenting on its state as the ugliest Emissary. I know a lot of people hate on the sword, but in all honesty it's not much worse than say, Lilith's sword. As for realism, it's bounds more realistic than hers or many others.

I actually find my least favorite to be Shadow, which is most people's favorite. I just don't get the flak, I guess.

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General guild antipathy or the fact that the cloak isn't made up of individual scales perhaps. People seem to prefer models without huge surfaces.

I agree on the point that guild isn't really lacking dark-cloaked dudes with hats even if the model looks nice in many ways. ;) 

The only models I've painted for the last four years were Malifaux Guild, it gets repetitive. I've painted like three neverborn sets lately and they all allow me to try something really different, even within some subthemes like swampfiend there is a lot more variety than when painting all the guild marshals for instance.

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39 minutes ago, yipiyip said:

Also, I hear people talking a lot about liking the other big'uns sculpts, but people tend to mention the Brutal off-handedly, commenting on its state as the ugliest Emissary. I know a lot of people hate on the sword, but in all honesty it's not much worse than say, Lilith's sword. As for realism, it's bounds more realistic than hers or many others.

Lilith sword is also silly, but at least it looks designed, i.e. someone has put some effort into making a fancy heroic fantasy style blade. The Brutal Emissary has a basic geometric shape without any kind of effort put into it, which is sad as a basic sword shape wouldn't have taken all that long to make either (say 1 minute instead of 10 seconds).

I think the Brutal model turned out ok (apart from the sword), but the initial art had his pose look really really bad, which perhaps accounts for some lingering derision. I also think that Hodgepodge and Lucky are terrible and much worse than Brutal. :) 

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Its brutal, unadorned, and will kill you all the same. I'm okay with the sword being plain. I actually think the Brutal Emissary is one of my favorite looking Emissaries, but then again I'm a fan of the general Death marshal look and the skull head. It reminds me of the Shadows of Brimstone Harbinger demon that I also enjoyed painting. 

The guild does tend towards uniformity, but I quite like that because its easier to mix and match and keep the same sort of visual/thematic unity in a way that feels harder with others. 

As far as the other Emissaries, I really like the Carrion Emissary, but I'm pretty lukewarm on most of the others. I dislike the Arcanist one (but I dislike most Arcanist things), think the Outcast one is too ridiculous, Neverborn one looks good but only really has visual ties to a limited number of the masters which can make it feel out of place. Ten Thunders is kind of boring visually. Yep, its a Dragon. The Gremlin one I have no opinion on as I've never really taken a close look at most Gremlin stuff.

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Brutal Emissary is symbolic of every one of us in at least one of its ornaments, and we definitely got the best of the seven by that measure; Lucky is maybe our equal in summing up the faction in a single model.  Its symbolism is broad enough that I almost feel bad about choosing the overspecialized avatar proxy instead, but I REALLY LIKE giant stompybots (even ones that inspire me to write & delete four apologia about how it gives me the creeps).

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10 hours ago, Bengt said:

Lilith sword is also silly, but at least it looks designed, i.e. someone has put some effort into making a fancy heroic fantasy style blade. The Brutal Emissary has a basic geometric shape without any kind of effort put into it, which is sad as a basic sword shape wouldn't have taken all that long to make either (say 1 minute instead of 10 seconds).

I think the Brutal model turned out ok (apart from the sword), but the initial art had his pose look really really bad, which perhaps accounts for some lingering derision. I also think that Hodgepodge and Lucky are terrible and much worse than Brutal. :) 

Hm, I'll have to agree on both parts. You summed that up quite nicely.

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Brutal really works great as a faction symbol.  Probably the biggest drawback is he's probably a little too human for his size.  The coffin, cage, chains and ram skull all do a great job looking like the Guild as a faction outside of probably Hoffman.  Most of them are quite good though, which is why Brutal loses ground when people talk "best".  

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Thanks for such a detailed,objective review...a great help...as a total newcomer still painting up the starter set I will keep the self control button on max for now until I understand how this model "works"....but in the long run buy it I will as it looks to be a really fun challenge to build and paint as do all the others I have to say...hard to pick a favorite but this model,carrion and mysterious would have made it to my paint table as models alone even if I wasn't interested in the game itself....marvellous stuff indeed

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  • 1 month later...

This model sold me over to the game, hence the avatar and I am planning to get it as my next purchase. Many of it's rules seem great. I understand some of the complaints for the sword somewhat. I personally don't mind it but do wish he had a huge Peacebringer instead of the sword. That way it would really fit in with all masters in my mind. However this obviously is something that could also be converted...

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Fantastic self promotion, I cannot get enough of the model as it embodies the Guild very greatly in my opinion. I still have to get the model myself but what I love about it is how well it synergizes with the Guild and in general can do an allround great job. It might not be directly the best Emissary out there but I just love the menacing look and the fact that it's just 10 to field. 

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  • 11 months later...

I like this Model. Have painted the guy in the cage before assambling him into the Cage. The Same way i did the Cage pieces. I'm Not a perfect painted, but i'm  proud of the outcome. 

I have painting the first  time  without washes. Only with  selfmade glaces 

. I Hope you enjoy the pics 

 

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