A blue moon sees Malifaux action

There was a blue moon last night and it can only be fate that I had the even rarer offer of a Malifaux game. Malifaux does not seem to have caught on in my gaming circles. It’s a game with a lot of character but it does not seem to be able to stand toe to toe with the big hitters like Warmahordes and 40K.
Anyway, I took the chance to put out Jakob against Lilith at 40SS. The Lillith crew looked a bit thin but she was stacked with upgrades. Teddy and Baby Kade were also going to be troublesome. We fumbled around a bit with setup but eventually ended up with The Reckoning for strategy and both chose Assassination and Cursed Object for Schemes.

Note the rather nice Guildball pitch!

We set up facing off across the board with most of the dangerous models centre and my left. The first turn was spent closing but Mr Graves did take a bit of a hit from Liliths’s Cherub that pushed him back and slowed my advance down.

The Hungering Darkness looked dangerous in his central position and I had Jakob and a Beckoner in good positions for control. Unfortunately Lilith’s crew were also in a good place and my opponent took a risk using an ability to make HG activate last then pulling it into attack range. Teddy and Kade synergied very well to take HD down (but only just!) and this was a bad start for me, but very well played.

Malifaux being no Warmahordes meant I was not out the game yet. I turned my attention to getting Brilliance on the Neverborn models and using the Illuminated to put some hurt on. I was able take out Teddy in this way, but for future reference we left Brillance on him for more than one turn which was incorrect. There were a couple of bizarre incidents with Jokers that threw the game in different directions, most notably when Jakob shot Lilith and pulled a Red Joker on the damage flip to take her down. This put me right back in contention.

By this stage it was getting late and the game needed to wrap up. Careless record keeping meant we lost track of casaulties and it was hard to work out who had won the Reckoning although we were tied on Assassinate. I suspect Lilith was slightly ahead but it was only a casual game so not of great importance.
I have to say I really enjoyed this game. There were some great combos from Lilith’s crew and although I missed some of mine they were there had I been better prepared. It was a close game with some comedy moments and good models, fluff and scenery. Poor old Malifaux, it’s a damn fine game that deserves more attention. If only there was the time.

Malifaux – Jakob vs. Seamus – The rematch!

A very good game of Malifaux this evening. I went for Prisoner (Seamus) and Framed for Murder (Depleted) as my schemes. The strategy was Turf War so my game plan was simple : rush the middle of the table, get the Depleted killed and try and tie up Seamus with my big guys.
The game started off fine, if a little cagey. I walked everyone toward the centre and watched as Seamus snuck down a flank. My opponent starting dropping markers and a look down the board’s diagonal suggested he was playing Line in the Sand. After a couple of turns Huggy was battling with a Flesh Construct and this, I feel, was the pivotal point of the game. I made two key errors here : Firstly I forget Huggy’s upgrade which would have given him an extra attack ; secondly I allowed my hand to empty which gave the Flesh Construct Reactivation. The Fleshy dude duly pummelled Huggy and this put Jakob in trouble. The one saving grace was that Seamus made his move toward the centre and I was able to use a Beckoner to drag him into Mr Grave’s charge range.
When turn 5 came around Jakob and Mr Graves took Seamus prisoner, the Flesh Construct had murdered the Depleted and I had totted up a few VPs in the Turf War. Although Jakob’s crew was severely beaten I thought my 6VPs might be enough to put me in with a chance. As it turned out Seamus bagged 6 as well : A draw!
I enjoyed the game although the few weeks since my last were enough for me to forget most of the rules! A big thanks to Kev for his patience guiding me through (again! ) and providing the rather nice scenery .

Beckoner and two Depleted sorted

Over the last few days I’ve finished up the Beckoner and the first Depleted. I also managed to paint a second Depleted. This model is actually a nice sculpt although the tentacles are a bit crazy. It took no time at all which is great news.
Next up is Mr Tannen and a second Beckoner. That will leave a final Illuminated and Depleted model to finish but I think I may leave those for another day as I will have a 50 soul stones crew done.

Jacob, Beckoner and Depleted

Jacob is pretty much done in this shot. I went for a purple smoke effect with his skeleton butler. The cards were a bit of a challenge and in the end I used a very fine pen to mark them rather than a brush.
The Beckoner is a lovely sculpt – one of the best in this crew I feel. She didn’t take long and is nearly done in the shot below.
The Depleted is a fine attempt at sculpting a broken old woman. I like the concept but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Nonetheless I think it is the pick of the three Depleted sculpts so will make it into the crew. She still has a fair amount of work to be done but is getting there.
The crew is taking shape now and I’m pretty happy with the result. The plastic sculpts are interesting to paint. The quality is variable on each model and between models but overall I think it’s very respectable.

And more on Jacob and co.

I finished the second Illuminated this evening and Huggy is as good as he is going to get. I also made some good progress on Mr Graves. I’m loving this model more and more.

More Progress on Jabob’s crew

Another game of Malifaux lined up for the weekend so I’ve been chipping away at my Jacob crew. Huggy is proving to be a real problem. The sculpt is lacking in detail but at the same time is not flat. It truly is a bizarre model and a painters nightmare. I’ve tried all sorts to get him to look right and I’m still not 100% happy with the result. In the end I airbrushed him developing highlighted regions and then went back and added more contrast with a brush.
I’ve also made reasonable progress on a second illuminated and Mr Graves. Mr Graves is a fantastic model. The sculptor has really captured the gangster hard-man vibe. I ‘m looking forward to finishing him up.

Malifaux 2.0 – Jacob vs. Seamus

Had a first and much anticipated game of M2.0 this evening. It was a good game and has left me keen to play more.
The game was 35 Soul Stones and a standard encounter on my newly created Wild West board. We drew standard deployment and various schemes of which I chose Assassination. This was purely to keep my objective as simple as possible while I got my head around the Jacob crew. I also rejected any upgrades and went for Jacob + Huggy, 2 x Illuminiated, 2 x Depleted, 1 Beckoner and Mr Tanen. Across the board was Seamus with his crew of undead and the Copycat Killer.

Not really knowing what to expect I went for a symmetrical deployment. Jacob was placed near cover as I planned to use him defensively while Huggy was central and I planned to just run him straight into the action. Seamus set up in the middle and came forward very aggressively in turn 1 to occupy a central position. I moved all of my models forward but left Jacob behind his crates observing the action from a safe distance.

Looking at the board at the start of turn 2 I was surprised to note several options for getting stuck into Seamus. An Illuminated had a pop and then took heavy damage back but then it was Huggies go. Using Incorporeal he charged through the gallows and a couple of models to Seamus. A couple of jammy draws saw him trigger Envelope on Seamus and I thought this might be curtains. However Seamus just managed to hang in there. As the turn continued it became apparent that I should be activating Jacob and Mr Tanen early to get the most from the buffs and debuffs they offer. Must remember this in future! Turn 2 closed out with a dangerous looking mosh pit in the centre of the board.

Turn 3 was going to be the crunch. Jacob got the initiative flip and I had a dilemma : activate Jacob and/or Mr Tannen to get the buffs/debuffs off but risk Seamus escaping or taking down Huggy OR get Huggy’s retaliation in first and hope he could do it. I went for the latter and watched Huggy fluff his attacks and then go down to Seamus. This was not so good! At this point I was getting worried but Seamus only had a few wounds left. I decided to chip away at him with my remaining models. The Beckoner did a bit of damage and put Brilliance on Seamus. However, the killing blow came from an expected quarter. A Depleted was drawn to the Brilliance imparted on Seamus by the Beckoner. It crawled over the gallows, dropped down the other side and sacrificed itself. The resulting splurge of Brilliance was enough to take Seamus down.

At his point we called it a night and a 3 – 0 win to Jacob. The game was fun, had the right level of complexity and plenty of dark humour. Good stuff! The Jacob crew is fun. I like Huggy and although powerful he is clearly not invincible. The Brilliance mechanic is interesting and there are lots on interesting combos to explore between the models in the crew. Overall it’s a big thumbs up for M2.0 and Jacob from me.

Jacob Lynch crew – part 3

More work on Mr Lynch and his crew today. Having reviewed the first Illuminated I decided to put more contrast into the blending. I also decided to pop his head off and make a more dynamic pose. While I was at it it made sense to add some gribbly tentacles to his mouth too.
I also had a go at another Illuminated. This guy was stood on tip toes and I just don’t see how this is practical for a gaming piece. I snipped off his feet and pinned him to a base. More tentacles should give a firmer connection with the base and add to the feeling this chap is being overwhelmed by ‘brilliance’.

Jacob Lynch crew – part 2

Feeling quite inspired about Jacob and his buddies so I cracked on with the models this evening.
I’ve looked around the net and the general consensus seems to be that ‘brilliance’ is best portrayed as a blue glowy effect. I’m happy to go with that. I also wanted a set of bases that suggests a nightmarish theme or the floor of a casino. I’ve seen a chequered effect used to great effect in the past so decided to go with this. I’ve also green stuffed a few writhing tentacles to represent ‘brilliance’ spilling out.
The first model is an Illuminated. Not a bad model. It’s a shame he is crouched over as it obscures some nice detail on his face and shirt. I’m pretty pleased with the way he has turned out although I want to have a good look at him in sunlight with fresh eyes. I’ve splattered a little blood on his base and weapon which is always a risk but I think it contrasts well with the blues of the ‘brilliance’.
I’ve also started on ‘Huggy’. Just a base of Mordian blue and his teeth done so far. It’s a crazy model – I can’t decide if I love it or hate it!
As for the plastic sculpts there are some exquisitely crafted details and the sculpts are very characterful. No 32mm Warmahordes or GW here – these look and feel like lean 28mm miniatures. I think they are nice but there are some areas that feel a little underdone. Overall I think they have a different feel to the rest of the stuff commonly seen on the market at the moment.

Wild West settlement in an evening

Here are some pics of the buildings for my Malifaux Wild West style settlement. The resin hotel was picked up an age ago from eBay and will be Jacob’s lair. The mdf buildings came from the Trolltrader and cost about £30 all in. Dead easy to make – the whole lot took about 3 hours to get together. The laser burnt wood looks pretty good as it is. I may beautify them more in the future but for now they look good enough. Oh, they em even have interiors which is a nice touch 🙂