Five Factions, Five Demo Crews

[El Indio]

A few months ago, I got it into my head to do a project to better the local gaming community: fully painted, beginner-level demo crews, one for each faction. The plan is to offer up a selection of different armies for new players to choose from. They can pick whichever one strikes their visual fancy, and get an immediate attachment to them, which makes the demo process a little more forgiving.

I procrastinated mightily, but eventually I dragged myself to the painting table and got to work with a new regimen. After around two weeks of work, I've completed the first crew: Lilith's Brood.

We'll start with Lilith. After my so-so work on the Showgirls, I decided to try a different method for Lilith's skin, copied from Privateer's Circle Orboros books. I think it worked out pretty well. I took a lot of time on the red hair, too, using a tutorial from an old No Quarter magazine; it turned out much better than earlier attempts on the Showgirls (poor Showgirls. I kind of want to buy another starter of them and go for a re-do). I made her look more human than the others, as if she had mated with some demon, rather than being one herself. The kiddies get the ginger hair from her side of the family.

The Tots. The bases are from Dragon Forge's Lost Empires line. I wanted to make it look like the ruins of some old Nephilim temple, with the ruins reactivated for some sinister ritual. I went with green to offset the red hair; the stone itself tends to the warm side, as a counterpoint to the cool skin tones.

The Big Goat himself. Both hooves are pinned to the base. This is one model that I would like to see Wyrd resculpt, a la the Flesh Constructs. That face is fugly, and his pose reminds me of a kid making a heroic reach for the cookie jar. Oh, well. He's huge and imposing from a distance, which will attract the new players.

A pair of Youngs, in case evolution is in order. Yeah, the coy one is a little out of focus. I might take another shot later. I was going for yellow eyes with black slits, but I don't think they came out much differently than regular eyes. At least they're not a disaster.

Finally, a group shot:

Up next: SEAMUS!

[Requirement]

Looking good. I really like the red hair.

[Math Mathonwy]

Look great! The colours work really well together. I especially love the Young Nephilim. One thing you might consider still doing would be to make Lilith's sword more awesome since it's sort of a center piece for the whole force.

But yeah, those are going to certainly draw attention to the game - good job!

[durek]

Nice start, looking forward to the rest.

[TeeCee]

Very good idea, for enticing for new player demos. Will you tell us what other crews your planing on?

[El Indio]

Look great! The colours work really well together. I especially love the Young Nephilim. One thing you might consider still doing would be to make Lilith's sword more awesome since it's sort of a center piece for the whole force.

Thanks for the advice; I've already sealed the model, so I'm not sure if I'll touch it up any further. The sword is painted with a unique Vallejo gunmetal blue, and it does shine a bit more when the light hits it:

Very good idea, for enticing for new player demos. Will you tell us what other crews your planing on?

Sure! I'm going with five starter crews, with the exception of Rasputina, whose crew breaks the 20-SS limit I've set for these demos (I don't want to have to supplement all of these crews with extra models to hit 25)

Resurrectionists: Seamus (almost done)

Guild: Lady Justice (assembled; next on the docket)

Arcanists: Rasputina (swapping out Ice Golem for either a Silent One or Blessed of December, if it comes out on time)

Outcasts: there aren't any perfect options here, but I think I'll go with the Ophelia box. I think the gremlin models are a real highlight for the range, and Ophelia is way easier than Som'er for new players to learn (and a cheaper to buy for me ). I also wanted a dedicated shooting crew in the mix, and the LaCroix models have that in spades. I don't necessarily like the five unique models with five different stat lines for new players to memorize, but the LaCroix box isn't so terrible in that department. I'm a little more concerned that the LaCroix box also slightly breaks the SS limit, but I think the gremlins are fragile enough that it might balance out in the end.

[Boshea]

Jealous of that skin tone on Lilith

We'll start with Lilith. After my so-so work on the Showgirls, I decided to try a different method for Lilith's skin, copied from Privateer's Circle Orboros books. I think it worked out pretty well. I took a lot of time on the red hair, too, using a tutorial from an old No Quarter magazine; it turned out much better than earlier attempts on the Showgirls (poor Showgirls. I kind of want to buy another starter of them and go for a re-do). I made her look more human than the others, as if she had mated with some demon, rather than being one herself. The kiddies get the ginger hair from her side of the family.

Considering I just finished stripping the paint off all my models, I'd recommend doing that over rebuying the Showgirls. As long as they haven't been sealed metal models strip really easily.

[El Indio]

Just finished: The Redchappel Gang! Started last weekend, finished this weekend! The St. Paddy's Day irony is not lost on me.

Seamus was one of the most entertaining models I've worked on in a long time. Just a lot of fun to come up with a color scheme, picking out details, playing with that sinister face. Someone on this board (I don't remember who) posted a shot of their Seamus with a lamp post base, so I decided to shamelessly copy it. I love how the slight tilt of the model's sculpt is offset by lamp post's line.

Sybelle. Disgusting model, but easy to paint; I've done so much black lately that I'm getting necessarily getting better at highlighting it.

Goils, goils, goils! They came out a little fishy-looking, but that's okay. They're Rotten Belles, not Pretty Belles. I always have a devil of a time picking out color combinations for these elaborately-dressed female models, and I'm not necessarily looking forward to painting up a second batch for possible summoning.

Finally, a group shot:

Bases by the excellent Warcast Studios. I just wish they had 50mm versions out so that I could do Avatar Seamus.

Up next, the Death Marshals!

---------- Post added at 10:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 PM ----------

Jealous of that skin tone on Lilith.

The method is surprisingly simple:

1) Basecoat with a 50/50 mix of P3 Midlund Flesh and Ryn Flesh.

2) Shade with a mix of Midlund Flesh, Battledress Green, and Mixing Medium.

3) Final shading with Midlund, Skorne Red, and Mixing Medium.

4) Highlight with a bland of Run Flesh and Mixing Medium.

Considering I just finished stripping the paint off all my models, I'd recommend doing that over rebuying the Showgirls. As long as they haven't been sealed metal models strip really easily.

Sadly, the Showgirls are already sealed. They really don't look bad from a distance, but I love stage magicians, and the perfectionist in me would like them to be perfect.

[TeeCee]

Wow! i love what u did with Sybelle! she looks awesome! i also really like the colours u chose for the belles; great dresses. i will say... no offense... but seamus isn't working for me. i dunno what it is... it's not bad at all, but imho not as good as the rest.

[El Indio]

Wow! i love what u did with Sybelle! she looks awesome! i also really like the colours u chose for the belles; great dresses. i will say... no offense... but seamus isn't working for me. i dunno what it is... it's not bad at all, but imho not as good as the rest.

Thanks! The hard part will be finding interesting color schemes for three more Belles. Sorry to hear that something seems off about Seamus. Perhaps I should have used more colors with his outfit?

[Doppelbock]

Maybe too much green on Seamus, he's kind of monotone and that might not be a favorite for everyone.

[RotatingPanda]

The Lilith is amazing. Particular elements I like are the makeup and eyes, her left hand and the whole color scheme (gold, purple, blue). The base just brings it all together. Honestly, I'm not crazy about her her hair, but I've always preferred my redheads to be "redder" for lack of a better term. That's just personal preference though.

The Mature Neph is also fantastic, especially the skin and eyes. Very engaging and bright piece, sure to catch the eye of passers by. Same with the Young Neph. All in all, the set stands out very nicely and would/will look great on a table top.

Your Seamus is very well done but I think different colored pants would have contrasted a little better. As it stands, that's a whole lot of green. Still, excellent piece and better than I'll ever do

Your Madame Sybelle is just awesome. Just pure awesome. I love, love, love what you did with her eyes and will likely shamelessly (seamussly?) rip it off for my own.

I also love your Belles, especially the skin tone!

I almost with I didn't play and happened by your local store just so I could see your demo crews

[El Indio]

Thanks for the high praise on Lilith, the Nephilim, and Sybelle! For the record, the technique I used on Sybelle's eyes (and those of all the Belles, for that matter) was a scheme I originally picked up working on a now-sold Vampire Counts army a few years ago. A basecoat of P3 Underbelly Blue, followed up with a dot of P3 Frostbite. Very simple. The skin tones were P3 Thrall Flesh, a wash of GW Thrakka Green, and a highlight of Thrall Flesh and, IIRC, Menoth White Highlight/Base, I can't remember which.

It seems as if poor Seamus isn't too popular around here. I thought the orange and gold would create contrast and break him up, but I may have been mistaken. That said, I wanted his suit to look like a suit, that is to say the same color for jacket and trousers. I went with the description given in the most recent book, of a green tweed.

BTW, the Seamus crew won 2nd place in a local painting competition, and apparently attracted a lot of attention while they were on display; people were asking about Malifaux. The FLGS owner says he's pretty confident that folks will show up for demos. I hope to make that happen by the end of next month.

---------- Post added at 10:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 PM ----------

It's been almost a month, but I haven't been idle. The third demo crew is done! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...The Death Marshals!

I wanted to go with a subdued scheme that still had a hint of warm tones and the Wild West. Dark, warm grays and deep-register browns make up most of the Marshals, along with a few hints of gold to pop. They have I enjoyed working on the coffins, actually.

I went with a brunette Lady Justice, because my Lilith was already a redhead, and I didn't want twin katana-wielding gingers facing off on the tabletop. I added a subdued red to the mix, as well as some stark ivories; I decided to give her yin-yang pistols, for funsies. Sadly, her skin tone didn't turn out quite as well as Lilith's did, despite using the same technique. That said, it doesn't look awful from a distance.

I almost went the full Trigun and gave Judge a red coat and all, but I didn't want him to stand out too much from the pack. As is, I think his blond hair and crimson bandana make him unique enough. The gloss on his wrist is from the superglue; it will dim down when I seal the models.

A group shot next; bases are from Dragon Forge, BTW:

Finally, a preview of the next demo crew. Everyone ready for my first foray into water effects?

[Requirement]

I love your Judge. (I hate the hand in general... keeps snapping off for me.) And the Death Marshalls are quite good.

[El Indio]

Thank you! I pinned Judge's hand to his wrist, so hopefully it will stay put, unlike some others (Lilith's sword hand snapped off once, already; fortunately, it was a clean break, and required no touch-up work).

One of my few sore spots with Wyrd is their tendency to put flat joins at absolutely the worst places. These three demo crews have required more pinning work than my entire Warmachine mercenary army, the contact points are so hit-and-miss. My friend who picked up the Molly starter had similar complaints about his Rogue Necromancy: great-looking model, unnecessarily fiddly assembly.

[RotatingPanda]

I love the brass effect on their guns and shin plates and the handle on J's sword is fantastic. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's all good but those are the things that really popped out for me.

My Rogue Necromancy was a nightmare. None of its legs matched up and all had to be carefully bent into better positions and I had to use a dremel to fix the connecting points on 2 of 3 heads. I love Wyrd, love them to bits, but some of their models are a bit aggravating.

[RotatingPanda]

Also, because you mentioned the Trigun thing, I wanted to share my Death Marshal crew with you :1_Happy_Puppet1:

http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy313/oriann/Models/TheDeathMarshals.jpg

Now, it's nowhere near as good as yours but I couldn't not post it after you mentioned red coats.

[Requirement]

Thank you! I pinned Judge's hand to his wrist, so hopefully it will stay put, unlike some others (Lilith's sword hand snapped off once, already; fortunately, it was a clean break, and required no touch-up work).

One of my few sore spots with Wyrd is their tendency to put flat joins at absolutely the worst places. These three demo crews have required more pinning work than my entire Warmachine mercenary army, the contact points are so hit-and-miss. My friend who picked up the Molly starter had similar complaints about his Rogue Necromancy: great-looking model, unnecessarily fiddly assembly.

I bought my Judge model from a buddy and he didn't pin the hand. I am quite peeved that it keeps popping off now. (I'm about to dip him in Simple Green anyway so I'll get to pin him then.)

Having just started pinning together my C. Hoffman crew today, I feel the pain. The Peacekeeper is 12 pieces (none of them on mine fit together) I think he has 10 pins in him. That's more than you get when your arm is run over by a truck (rimshot!) And I still have at least 5 constructs left to go. I absolutely love the Malifaux models... hate pinning them all the time.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

That top young nephlim is just awesome. You really brought it to life.

[El Indio]

@RotatingPanda: Don't sell yourself short; your colors are crisp and clean, and your reds look nice and even, with nary a blotch to be seen -- very impressive, especially considering the white undercoat. I myself have had terrible luck with white primer.

@Requirement: I have heard horror stories about the Peacekeeper, which is a shame, since I kind of want to give him some bull horns and rename him "El Toro" for my Ortegas. And my current reigning Malifaux Pin Champeen is my first Large Steampunk Arachnid, which required a pin in every one of its twelve legs. Obviously, I have yet to muster the courage to tackle my second one.

And a quick question to anyone who has been looking at this thread:

The fifth Demo Crew, Rasputina's Cult of December, has yet to be ordered. Unlike the other demo crews, I cannot stick with the boxed set on this one, since that weighs in at 21 SS, which is one over the 20SS demo crew limit (yeah, I know, so do the Lacroix, but the Henchman bonus gets around that). I had hoped that the Blessed of December would be out by then, since it would offer a perfect mix of speed, heavy hitting power, and a (hopefully) dynamic "big model" to attract newbies, while dropping the crew to 20SS.

However, looking at the rumored May releases, it looks like the Blessed is not on the menu (Arcanists apparently get their Effigy and the Union Miners, instead; great news for my chosen faction in general, not so much for this project). I don't intend to wait until June or later to knock this project out, so I'd appreciate some opinions on what the composition of this Rasputina crew should be. Right now, I'm thinking:

Rasputina

Totem (Wendigo/Essence of Power)

2x Ice Gamin

Ice Golem

19SS, 5 cache

This build keeps the Ice Golem as a big bruiser, but is more complicated than the non-Lacroix crews in terms of the number of different models. It also includes an Insignificant model, which requires me to explain the difference to newbies. I know the Essence is technically better, but I am sorely tempted by that adorable little Wendigo (plus, he can EAT THE ENTIRE LACROIX DEMO CREW!! OMG! ).

The other build is something like this:

Rasputina

Ice Gamin x3

Silent One

18SS, 6 cache

This version is technically simpler (fewer models to read up on), but it lacks a high-profile model; the entire crew is pretty fragile and oblique; and I'm not sure how good the Silent One is at such a low point levels.

So, what do you think, y'all? I'm open to suggestions. I'd like to keep the crew at 5 models, just because that's the construction of all the other crews, and I don't want anyone choosing Raspy to feel outnumbered right off the bat.

[RotatingPanda]

I don't hate my models, but they're just a base coat and wash. They're simple and I was only striving for "table-top" quality so I know they're not as good as people who have actual, y'know, skill and technique and take their time. But thanks.

As a Raspy player, I would go for the second crew, with 6 cache and a silent one. If someone does demo and enjoys the game and wants to pick her, they will end up with a silent one, whereas the ice golem, while big and showy, won't make an appearance in their games nearly as often. Plus, the silent one helps show off one of Raspy's big powers.

In regards to the "flashiness", you have two things to fight that. 1) your other crews will draw people in even if Raspy doesn't and 2) ice pillars! Don't use tokens, but actually make some ice pillars to throw down on the table and I can pretty much guarantee people will notice her.

[Requirement]

2) ice pillars! Don't use tokens, but actually make some ice pillars to throw down on the table and I can pretty much guarantee people will notice her.

That is a phenomenal idea! I was going to say go for the Golem to have a huge centerpiece to draw people in but this is such an awesome unique approach. Ice pillars... get you every time.

---------- Post added at 08:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:27 AM ----------

Also, don't let the Peacekeeper scare you. For me it was a challenge. You are much better at painting than I am... so I have to assume better in general. He'll probably be more of just a "pain" to you. He is super awesome and rewarding once you get him done.

[El Indio]

Ah, yes; I was going to pick up a set of transparent resin ice pillars and severe terrain markers from this site: http://www.twilightemporium.net/online-store/

And thanks for the encouragement, but "El Toro" is a looong way off. After I complete this project, I think I will shift back to Warmachine/Hordes for a bit. I have plenty of steampunk robots to paint in that direction.

[Requirement]

Twilight Emporium makes some of the best pillars I have seen for sale. Definite buy if you aren't making them yourself.

When you do get around to El Toro I will be stoked to see it. I've already committed to following you through five crews… what's a few more models? Ha!

[El Indio]

Thanks!

I worked for around seven hours over the weekend on the Lacroix, and got to the wash stage on every model. Now it's just highlighting, basing, sealing, and then the water effects to top it off. I'd like to knock the painting on these guys out this weekend, and maybe a bit more if I can force myself to work hard.

In the meantime, here are my Ortegas. They won't be one of the demo crews (too expensive, and Nino has the potential to be rather unbalancing; at least Rami doesn't have his ridiculous Head Shot and Trigger Happy abilities), but I love them to death, and I plan to offer them as an "expansion" crew for later games. Ortegas vs. Lacroix could be very interesting, indeed!

Starting with Francisco. I love the pose on this guy. I tried to do a hispanic skin tone with the Ortegas, and I think the end results were...okayish. I kept the color palette mostly the same, but varied its placement and ratios by figure. Red and blue are the two colors that tie the whole army together, along with the tan used on the dusters. I wanted the Ortegas to feel a little more individualistic than the Death Marshals, but I didn't want to go completely nuts. In hindsight, I might have wanted to vary the scheme a bit more, to give them a real Spaghetti Western flavor, but oh, well.

Nino. I hate his model to death. Poorly defined face, goofy pose, a bear to pin to the base. Not even his picture turned out well.

Papa, by contrast, was pretty fun and goofy to work on. His sign is one of the few bits of freehand you'll ever see me do. His color scheme is based on Indio's in the church duel from For A Few Dollars More. I tried going with a red basecoat and a metallic drybrush on his gun, to make it look like it was a completely rusted-out relic. I almost wish I had painted up the dynamite to go in his mouth, but I wanted him to look like he was laughing like a madman.

I felt that Santiago really deserved a hat, as the rest of the (sane) members of the crew had theirs. So I slapped on one of the options from the Hats and Guns of Malifaux pack. I don't know how well it really sits on him, since I was too chicken to saw down his scalp, instead settling for drilling deep into the crown of the hat. He looks pretty good on the tabletop, though, since one rarely looks at him from the side.

Perdita. Dig the pose, but I hate the trampy look of her, so I plan on using...

Alt Perdita! I may be in the minority, but I really like this model. The cocky pose, the more mature outfit choice, the cigar -- it all fits for me. Mine had an awful mold line running down the left side, which gave her a nasty scar on her face, which I think just adds character. I also felt it was stupid to have a dynamite plunger without a cord (what, she was just going to stomp on it and blow herself up?), so I drilled into the resin base and ran a bit of paper clip out and around to serve.

And here's the whole gang. Again, not one of the demo crews, but posted for comparison for when the Lacroix are done.