Malifaux resculpts for 2.0...design philosophy?

[Green_Lumux]

I love the concept art I've seen. The Ten Thunders plastics were ace - very dynamic and highly detailed. We've certainly come a long way since the likes of the Flesh Construct. Even the better metal sculpts like Colette's crew have been blown out of the water.

I could see myself buying plastic starters for all the base gangs(minus Nicodemus and Lilith).

I'm in the same boat.. I have none about Malifaux for many years, Like many of the models, but I never had the drive or like enough of them to plunge in and get into the game.

After seeing the plastics, I've fallen in love with the newer models. It's a much improved aesthetic, and has really caught my attention. Combined with an ever increasing community in my local area, I'm definitely planning on getting involved when the new rules are out... all these previews have blown me away, and I honestly feel like i'm going from being a fence sitter to picking up everything :S

[Carasz]

Not only are the new plastics of good quality, the increase from the Book 1 pewter models is huge. The quality of the old models vary greatly, some are great sculpts and some seem to be made by amateurs (I'm looking at you, rectangular fingers of Vik's avatar). Rerelease in plastic with new sculpt will even out the whole line to the standard of at least the current 10T.

While they still can't compete with Games Workshop for pure detail quality (GW's just got the cash for the best equipment) the overall feeling of Malifaux models might just steer some customers their way. And the fact that they actually can make female sculpts that don't look like ****.

[i_was_like_you]

That's the official stance, sure. And maybe that means we can expect individual boxes of those models eventually. But currently we have no way to buy the non-uniques from any of the plastic box sets released so far. So I wouldn't expect to see anything released in a box set available outside of the box on release.

I would love to be wrong, but that's where the evidence points so far.

Exactly! I got lucky when getting a Hoffman crew on the trading forum that he was also including two Clockwork Traps. I had a trading post up for awhile asking for Traps to no avail. Still can't get any extra Ashigaru without resorting to buying a second Yan Lo crew.

Without separate releases for mechanical spiders, witchling stalkers, mannequins, etc., we'll still have to resort to getting the older models to make do. New models with similar functions are either going to require separate packs, or have hamfisted rare values, which is far from a good approach to the problem.

[HalcyonSeraph]

If I remember correctly, unique models that appear in starters were going to be phased out, not non-uniques, so Stalkers, Guards, Gremlins, Tots, etc. seem, until we hear something different from Wyrd, rather safe.

That was the case with metals, yes. But since the plastics were a success in the book 4 experiment and now they're resculpting old masters in plastic, it is safe to assume their end goal is to get out of metals altogether. And yes, there's plenty out there now, but you need to think about one, two, three years from now, when the metals are completely phased out and everything is in plastic.

Think about book 4 minions. You can't just go buy wastrels, or rail workers, or ashigaru, or illuminated. They're on a mixed sprue with their box companions. If you want a 4th torakage you have to buy a 2nd Misaki box set. That is an issue for summonable minions.

[thebarbalag]

That was the case with metals, yes. But since the plastics were a success in the book 4 experiment and now they're resculpting old masters in plastic, it is safe to assume their end goal is to get out of metals altogether. And yes, there's plenty out there now, but you need to think about one, two, three years from now, when the metals are completely phased out and everything is in plastic.

Think about book 4 minions. You can't just go buy wastrels, or rail workers, or ashigaru, or illuminated. They're on a mixed sprue with their box companions. If you want a 4th torakage you have to buy a 2nd Misaki box set. That is an issue for summonable minions.

You can't buy those things yet. You may never be able to, but I'd be a little surprised (and honestly, unconcerned for the most part) if that was the case. There are a few reasons not to, limiting the number of items on the shelf, for one (if you've ever worked in a game store, you get this - shelf space is a premium), and there isn't a huge reason to have them, why do you need a 4th Torakage? (Not saying it's unreasonable to want one, but this is a small model-count game with lots of options. I rarely use more than one Illuminated. Shrug. Your mileage may vary.)

[Dracomax]

3 examples of models from book 1 that will probably need to be available for purchase independently, or have large 4+ numbers of in box:

Witchling Stalkers

Steampunk Arachnids

Mindless Zombies

[HalcyonSeraph]

Especially the arachnids, yeah. Steampunk abominations are another big one.

[i_was_like_you]

If you want a 4th torakage you have to buy a 2nd Misaki box set. That is an issue for summonable minions.

If you want a 4th copy of a rare 3 model, by all means, get one through sale or trade. What the concern was for are models that lack rare restrictions and that can be summoned onto the battlefield after the game is well under way. We were told that Unique models that came with the plastic crew boxes would not be sold separately, but there still aren't any extra packs of just minions.

We'll see what happens when the new plastics come out, as well as the final results of the 2nd edition makeover, as maybe we'll receive alternate sculpts of those models, even book 4 Ashigaru, or, alternately, there will be no reason to have them due to the rules changes.