Clandestine Affairs

 So this week our Tale of Many Bloggers has taken off in style. There's 14 of us now, with crews ranging from the Ortegas to Tara and everything in between. All factions bar Gremlins are being represented and nearly everyone has got their first month's stuff sorted.
I am chuffed to say I'm ahead of the curve for once! As the last post showed, I've bought and painted my crew and I've started painting them.... by which I mean Lucius is underway (see the pictures below) and the female Guard and Dashel (not Da'shel like some French pornstar/ned child!) have the base layer on their skin done.

So, that is Lucius so far, and the spare bases for my next set of models that need them (Guild Rifles most likely). I've used GW paints, started with Screamer Pink for the coat and cloak, Druuchi Nightshade wash, then for the coat I mixed Screamer with Evil Sun Scarlet, mixing in more and more each coat, with a final highlight of pure Scarlet. The cloak was done in a similar manner but with less Scarlet, and it's final highlight was with Pink Horror instead. The mask is Leadbelcher with a Biel Tan wash, Auric Gold, then Necron Compound, and the scarf and cuffs are Fenrisian Grey, Russ Grey, then White Scar. I have been somewhat handicapped by awful lighting, so I admit that this is not my best work so far, and I can only apologise for the dreadful photography!

 I played my first game with the crew yesterday. It was a 50 SS game, with the strategy being Extraction. Scheme Pool was Convict Labour, Leave Your Mark, Set-up, Neutralise the Leader and Exhaust their Forces. Playing against Colette (my brother's force for the Tale of Many Bloggers http://thesoulstoneminer.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/tale-of-malifaux-bloggers-month-1.html) I went for Lucius with Legalese, Secret Objectives, Secret Assets, The Scribe, Captain Dashel with Expert Sleuth, Peacekeeper, 2 Lawyers, 2 Guild Guards. I chose Set-up on Cassandra and Convict Labour.

 I must admit that I did not have much fun! Colette's crew is so difficult to keep a track of, and as I can't charge the Corphyee I struggled to do damage. I over-spread my forces and thus my auras and Lucius's abilities were frequently out of range. The Guild guard did nothing, being unable to hit due to low stats and negative flips, and only the Peacekeeper had much chance it appeared of hurting anything. Dashel is deceptively strong but I struggled to really do much and Ben blew up all my scheme markers, and only due to Legalese did I manage to to get Convict Labour achieved. Ben won't make that mistake again! The real issue though was that I did not know exactly what things did so I forgot about key abilities such as Lucius counting as friendly for auras/pulses, Lawyers casting Impassioned Defence or Dashel pushing thanks to Expert Sleuth. We have a rematch tomorrow, which I am hoping will go better. Once I buy Guild Rifles the Guards will likely be dropped due to their lack of any real role in the crew.

Preparing for duty

My bases were ready for collection today from my local gaming club (cheers Kit and Judy!) so i was able to start building the crew this afternoon. I must take a moment to plug Secret Weapon bases (http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com) as they are awesome-£5 for ten resin lipped 30mm bases (all different) and £2.50 for a 50mm base, and the detail on them is really good. All 10 of the 30mm ones are different, and there are 4 different 50mm bases to choose from. There is also a good range of 40mm ones to choose from, and I hope to showcase them soon.
 So, building the crew. I started with the 2 Guild Guards as I knew how to make them. Things of note: the male guard doesn't stand quite flat on his base, and the female's jacket doesn't go together particularly well, and needs filling with a small amount of green stuff at the back.
 Dashel's gun doesn't sit particularly well on his thigh but it's not noticeable with some trimming.
The Lawyers go together like a dream, I had no issues with them at all, likewise the Scribe, although you have to be careful when you glue the right arm in as it sags easily and will make the plate with the mannequin head on it tip to one side.
 Lucius himself is a bit trickier. His feet glue into his legs with the join being the knees. As a result there is the risk that if you do as I did and try and glue him straight to the base then he will tip back and become difficult to fix. Be careful with sculpted bases as you may end up with his cane randomly floating over a puddle or sewer like mine! Also make sure that you tip his head to the correct angle so that it joins the rest of his wig that is sculpted onto his back/jacket. I need to fill a tiny gap where his back and front join at the right shoulder, but that will be an easy fix.
 Then there's the Peacekeeper... Individual fingers, hands that dangle off the base, a flamethrower that kept jumping off (and doesn't exist in-game)... took bloody ages to build. However it looks awesome, so no complaints now that it's finished.
Overall I am very pleased with the crew and I am really looking forward to painting them in the near future, so until next time...

In the halls of the Governor's manor

 So I guess that firstly I should explain the basic premise of the Tale of Many Bloggers. There are 12 of us all collecting new crews, over the course of 5 months. Each money we have an allocated amount of money: the first month is £40, then each of the next 4 months we get £15 for a total of £100. Extra stuff like bases or basing materials don't come out of the budget as we didn't want to punish people who wanted their crew to look a bit different. The point was for people to collect a new crew, not bulk out an existing master with loads of extra models. Throughout the course of it there will be a league running, and at the end there's a small tournament to establish who is the King of the Breach. We will be playing games at our local club in Aberdeen for the league as well as against each other in the comfort of our various homes.
 So, the stage is set and all that remained was to choose a crew...
There were many options. I've always been an Arcanist player, but currently I've only got Marcus and his beasts, so most of the faction was available to me. My other faction of choice is Ten Thunders, but I have all minus Yan Lo and Jakob Lynch, so it wasn't really a choice.
 Right of the bat I wasn't too keen on Resurrectionists, but I was tempted by Kirai after seeing a particularly nice crew at the Scottish doubles tournament in March. Tara really doesn't appeal in either form, so another one down. Nor did Hamelin, so the list was gradually shrinking, albeit only slightly. Rasputina was really tempting, as was Colette, Kaeris and Ironsides. All of the Guild were appealing, as were the other Outcasts and Lilith at a pinch. So that was most of the Neverborn out too.
 I decided to listen to some Schemes and Stones podcasts to help me to decide, which narrowed things down to Rasputina, Colette, Ironsides, Hoffman, guild McMourning and Lucius. I'd played Colette (with no success) and Rasputina before, so that kind of ruled them out. Hoffman was just edging it with his constructs and unique play-style, although the idea of McMourning with the starter box stuff as Batman villains, until I played a game with Lucas McCabe and his minion swarm and that sealed it for me, I wanted a horde, with lots of cheap, effective minions whose Master would get lots out of, making them more effective and be more than the sum of their parts. Lucius it was.
 So, what to buy for this grand venture?
The Bound by Law box (£28)
Of Metal and Flesh (£28) (£56 so far)
Peacekeeper (£20) (£76 so far)
Guild Riflemen (£11) (£87 so far)

The last purchase is a bit dicey; Wardens, Guild Sergeants, Pathfinder, Hounds, and the Doppelganger are all tempting.
I know that the Peacekeeper isn't necessarily a great choice, it's an Enforcer rather than a Minion so it doesn't gain a lot of Lucius's benefits like the +flips or the ability to take extra actions, but for the sheer power of the thing, plus the fact that Lucius can teleport to it with 'That's What Lackeys Are For' for a truly horrid surprise makes it incredibly useful. Oh, and it's an awesome model to boot....
 So, I purchased Bound by Law and a Peacekeeper first (I know that is £8 out of next month's budget), and ordered the Secret Weapon Sewer bases, as I imagine Lucius leading his hand-picking group of lackeys on clandestine missions into some dark and unsavoury places. I am contemplating making a board to match their bases, or at least a more city-themed one, for my Guild-based escapades.

Through the Breach

 Good day everyone and allow me to introduced myself. I'm Martin, from the frozen wasteland that is the north-east of Scotland, more specifically Aberdeen. I am creating this blog as part of our Tale of Many Bloggers challenge that we are doing through our local club ABZ Games/The Geek Room.
  I have been playing Malifaux on and off for about 5 years, but over the last few years I've been playing it quite intensively, to the point that it is now the only competitive wargame that I play (the other being Super Dungeon Explore). Currently I play Ten Thunders and have a small amount of Arcanists, but trust me gentle reader, that could well be about to change....
 In this blog I aim to discuss my choice of crews, as well as the modelling, painting and gaming, taking you with me on my journey to Malifauxing greatness....