Procrastinations & Resolutions

Posted: March 17, 2014 in Painting, Resolutions
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I started the year with the intention of doing something more than just collecting (read buying) new shiny models. I already have a buttload (metric tonne) of toy soldiers and not enough time to paint them all. Enter my New Year’s Resolution.

I aimed to paint 1 point a day for the entire year. This does not mean paint an arm on a 5 point model but just be able to sit back on December 31st and count up 365 points of models painted in a year. As i mainly play skirmish games this gives both a challenge since games are low points cost meaning lots of models but also a potential to reach out and grab other skirmish games to play, collect and paint. Enter Bushido #itsathing.

It started reasonably well and by January 5th I had finished a 5 SS Malifaux model, my female Drowned. Solustones, SS, are there way of points costing models. Bushido uses Rice Bowls. Secrets of the Third Reich uses RP but this is not a skirmish game so a 6RP unit may consist of 10 troops, 3 large monsters or a steampunk tank robot – I know, cool! right?

Then the procrastination hit, buying more new models and not painting those I had. Time was piling up and my points total for the year was not matching it. Time for some severe motivation.

With Paddyfaux looming up and extra raffle tickets on offer for painted crews I decided to up my game. Deciding on Neverborn to compliment my #ToMB project I knew I had to get a lot of models completed to give me a depth to my crew pool. So let’s take a look:

  • Drowned – 5SS
  • Lilith – 10SS
  • Barbaros – 10SS
  • 3 Terror Tots – 12SS
  • 2 Young Nephilim – 12SS
  • Mature Nephilim – 11SS
  • 3 Silurids – 21SS
  • 2 Waldgeists – 12SS
  • Lucius – 10SS
  • Austringer – 6SS
  • Black Blood Shaman – 7SS

This gives me a total of 116 points of models painted this year. It is now 17th March (Happy St patrick’s Day!) which makes 76 days so it looks like I have recovered from my February slump. Just a little motivation really does help.

With the new Malifaux Vassal league starting soon and with 10 Thunders as my chosen faction it looks like I have more motivation to paint up my 10 Thunder models to get practice games in.

Bob

 

Tournament Preparation

Posted: March 13, 2014 in Gaming
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With this weekend seeing the inaugural Paddyfaux (St Patrick’s Day weekend in Ireland) I want to talk about crew selection and what goes in to help with the strategies and schemes on offer.

The Paddyfaux rulespack sets out the strategies we will be playing over the 5 rounds and also a list of schemes available for those rounds. 3 games on Saturday at 40SS, 2 on Sunday at 50SS means we can be assured of very different games and experiences.

There is no paint requirement for this tournament although fully painted crews will grant extra raffle tickets for prizes. I have decided to combine this tournament with my #ToMB log and try and get as many models painted in the timeframe.

I opted then for Neverborn as a faction choice for the tournament. Each faction has 7 masters available to it but I will be sticking with just 2. Lilith as part of my #ToMB and Lucius. There are a large range of models that can and do work well with Lilith, from her Terror Tots for objective running to Waldgeists to cut down LOS to Nephilim for beating on models. She is purely in-faction in her selection.

Lucius on the otherhand is the Governor’s Secretary. A high ranking member of the Guild but as it turns out is secretly a Neverborn Master. He allows access to MIMIC and GUARDSMAN models through an upgrade he can purchase. This means Lucius can bring in some much needed firepower to the Neverborn – Guards, Riflemen and Austringers are all available to him.

So this gives me 2 distinctly different builds – Lilith with her fast hard-hitting but fragile crew and Lucius with his buffs to minions and ability to order people around and take out of sequence actions. Whether or not this is a good idea will remain to be seen. Results will be posted after the weekend.

Bob

aaannnddd @Guildball unlocks another Stretch Goal!!!!

Posted: March 13, 2014 in Gaming, Tale of Malifaux Bloggers
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Current funds: £70,249

Looks like Mist has been unlocked for funders to choose after the Kickstarter closes. Let’s see what’s next. £10k and 9 days to go. I think we can do it!

Bob

  • Mist

Life through a Lens – Part 2

Posted: March 13, 2014 in Hobby
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My lenses arrived yesterday and even with questionable translations instructions on the packet I was able to get it attached.

Basically it boils down to:

  1. Take sticky wrapper off metallic ring and stick to phone
  2. Attach lens of choice

I think IKEA could do with these concise instructions. My only issue was that the metallic ring covers the flash on the phone. That was when I realised why they supplied different backing rings, including one with a slice cut out to accommodate the flash on an iPhone. These guys think of everything!

Anyway, the results. Given that I am under pressure to get a lot of models finished for this weekend I took a quick shot of a WIP Governor’s Proxy/Scribe for Malifaux.

Bob

  • Before adding a macro lens

  • Adding a macro lens

New Artwork for #Malifaux #Throughthebreach

Posted: March 12, 2014 in Gaming
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Some new artwork for Through The Breach, the RPG from Wyrd in the Malifaux universe. Cuchillo Ortega, enjoy!

  • Cuchillo Ortega

@guildball hit another stretch goal

Posted: March 11, 2014 in Gaming, Kickstarter
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Great work by the guys at @Guildball unlocking another of their Free Agent “Union Members” team. Fangtooth is now a free add-on to be selected during the post-kickstarter survey.

They have also provided a detailed artwork of the next stretch goal, Mist, who will be unlocked at £70,000. Let’s hope we can go the whole way to £80,000 and unlock all the members of the Union team.

I’m keeping an eye out! Current total is £65,537

Bob

  • Fangtooth

  • Mist the assassin

Life through a lens – Part 1

Posted: March 10, 2014 in Hobby
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At the weekend I was introduced to a lovely gadget that will be of great benefit to me when it comes to miniature photography – iPhone camera lenses (other devices are available). The package comes with 3 lenses (Macro, Wide Angle and Fish Eye) but it is the Macro that really interests me.

As I have my phone on me at all times and I take an extensive amount of pictures with it when gaming and even when painting I think it will of great benefit. The camera is pretty good quality (for a phone, it’s a phone first and foremost) but zooming in has always been an issue.

Combining this little gadget with the Foldio Kickstarter I backed recently gives me a nice portable studio. An extra piece to the set would be a phone-specific tripod to mount it on for great pictures. And lo and behold a quick ebay search reveals 1 of these too!

I have ordered the lenses and will hopefully trial out this weekend coming at the next tournament – Paddyfaux. Come back and read the review!

@Guildball Another Stretch Goal Unlocked!

Posted: March 7, 2014 in Kickstarter
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Guildball is ramping up their add-ons and in doing so has unlocked another stretch goal. Another Union Member, Decimate, has been unlocked for pledgers to decide on at the end of the Kickstarter. Let’s bring on the £65K stretch goal. We all want the big guy!

More options are also available, the KR Multicase and patch are available to keep your models safe and show your allegiances. Also probably a required add-on will be the templates for scattering and measuring ranges for players.

Let’s ramp this up to 11!

Bob.

  • Decimate – Union Member

  • Guildball Templates

  • KR Multicase – Protecting your minis

#ToMB WIP update for Lilith

Posted: March 7, 2014 in Hobby, Tale of Malifaux Bloggers
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Some more progress on my ‘Mother of Monsters’ crew. Lilith has received some highlights to her skin, layering from Bestial Brown up through to Vomit Brown. The next stages will be Elf Flesh mixed with vomit brown and then lastly Elf Flesh with possibly some white mixed in for a final edge highlight. I have also used some Jade Green to tie in with the rest of the models in the crew. I think Purples and Jade Green will be a feature in my Neverborn.

The tots, the babies of the bunch, started with Genestealer Purple followed by a wash of Army Painter Purple tone to provide a darker tone. Highlighting with watered down Genestealer Purple and then again with a mix of purple and white produced a stark contrast. A final diluted wash of Purple Tone helped blend the stark highlights with the base colour. Green was used on their cloth and they will have grey horns and hooves and some metallic weapons.

 

  • Lilith – Mother of Monsters

  • Terror Tots – almost done

#Malifaux Lower Point Levels with Henchmen

Posted: March 6, 2014 in Gaming
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In the last 24 hours I have put some serious thoughts into running Henchmen as leaders in smaller point games. Typical games in Malifaux tend to be either 40 or 50 soulstones with your leader being free. This leaves the entire amount of points available to spend on models to tie in with the Henchman and that can grab you scenario points.

Downsides?

With a henchman you have access to a less powerful model than a master naturally. You also give up a valuable AP as only Masters have 3AP generally. Masters will generally also have more synergy with more models than a henchman.

So what’s the upsides?

Well as most people generally take a Master you can have a surprise advantage of only throwing down a henchman. This could lead your opponent off his game from what he was expecting to face. As all models are simply pawns in your grand scheme (or they should be) you should be able to adapt your overall plan to cope with the loss. The upside can also be for introductory games and playing against opponents of different levels to you. Purposefully handicapping yourself can provide a quick way to level the playing field. And if you can pull out a victory with a Henchman led crew against an opponent running a Master, well then victory tastes that much sweeter.

Conclusion

I think there could be times when it is fun to run a henchman-led crew. It could be for a story encounter or in conjunction with a campaign. Regardless the open playstyle and crew composition of Malifaux 2.0 allows many different combinations to be tried, tested and enjoyed.

Bob.

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