How do Alley Cats work?

[Thedeadclaw]

I got my Black Friday order (part 1/2) in the mail today, which was awesome, but was shocked that the four alley cats (count as Malifaux rats) are actually seven models a piece. How are you supposed to base them? Do multiple cats fit on one base, or are you supposed to pick which cats you like and use those? I'm unsure of how this works and don't want to mess it up!

[muraki]

From what I remember (I didn't pick them up last time), people either based cats, or split them up to 1 a base.  Really depends on how many cats you think you'll need to play with.  I don't play hamelin, but seemed a lot of people split them up cause the rat engine took a lot of models and they didn't to run out.

[Thedeadclaw]

Ok, so @anyone who plays Hamelin, how many Malifaux Rats are the top end of the engine? I bought 2 Cat Princess bundles in addition to the box so I can have 12-21 depending on how I base them, but I definitely don't want any rats so I want to be sure I base them right, lol!

[Bakuriel]

2 hours ago, Thedeadclaw said:

Ok, so @anyone who plays Hamelin, how many Malifaux Rats are the top end of the engine? I bought 2 Cat Princess bundles in addition to the box so I can have 12-21 depending on how I base them, but I definitely don't want any rats so I want to be sure I base them right, lol!

Any more than 10-ish rats and you're slowing the game down so much it's hard to play at that point. Personally that's about the most I've ever managed to get into play at once so I tend to keep about 10 on hand at all times.

[Gnomezilla]

Why not borrow solutions from the Ramos players and their arachnids? Mount each cat to a bit of base decoration, magnetize the decoration, place washers on 30mm bases (rats) and 40mm (extra kings, should you run short of princesses). There are even handy-dandy inserts from custommeeple which fit together for you, no magnets required.

My local Catelin keeps threatening to make a cat king out of several cats and a wand-like cat toy dangling above a 40mm base. It sounds cute.

[Thedeadclaw]

4 hours ago, Bakuriel said:

Any more than 10-ish rats and you're slowing the game down so much it's hard to play at that point. 

That's really good to know and I'll have to keep that in mind!!

2 hours ago, Gnomezilla said:

magnetize the decoration, place washers on 30mm bases (rats) and 40mm (extra kings, should you run short of princesses)

Goodness this sounds so awesome and also so out of my knowledge pool! How would you make sure the magnets worked? How would you magnetize it for that matter? I'm admittedly still pretty new to minis and I had no idea this was doable!

2 hours ago, Gnomezilla said:

My local Catelin keeps threatening to make a cat king out of several cats and a wand-like cat toy dangling above a 40mm base.

That's adorable tbh. The only better choice is obviously a cat condo!

[Gnomezilla]

Either you glue a piece of weak sheet magnet on whatever bit of base you glued under each cat, or you somehow drill a tiny hole into each tiny cat and stick a teeny-tiny rare earth magnet into that (I don’t know the details—asked my husband to do the magnetizing as he knows where the magnets are kept). If I had to do it again I think I would magnetize what the tiny model was standing on. My arachnids have magnets on their tummies, but that isn’t flush with their toes so the metal on their bases had to stick up in order to make contact. Flat magnet to flat washer would have been easier.

Someone already made a cat condo.  The crazy cat lady theme was expanded into Leveticus, so Ashes and Dust became Catlitter and Poo, and the Ashen Core part of the mini became a cat tower.

 

Which reminds me that I should probably arrange to buy a sprue of just alley cats.