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Just to start off, I like the amount of detail that is in the new releases. Not that the older metal models lacked in detail. However, I do have a few problems.

1. As "spidelly" as the metal was at times, it seems that plastics just gave them the ability to be more so. It only took me pulling a guild rifleman out of the foam and the rifle snagged and broke off.

2. You cannot purchase single models. Did wyrd change and not release separate models that are included in starter boxes? You use to be ble to. Sonia box came with witching stalkers, that you could also purchase in a blister.


What are your thoughts?

there are mixed feeling on the plastic minis in my area.

some have said they were great others said they lack detail and are kind of bland.

martin74 wrote:Just to start off, I like the amount of detail that is in the new releases. Not that the older metal models lacked in detail. However, I do have a few problems.

1. As "spidelly" as the metal was at times, it seems that plastics just gave them the ability to be more so. It only took me pulling a guild rifleman out of the foam and the rifle snagged and broke off.

2. You cannot purchase single models. Did wyrd change and not release separate models that are included in starter boxes? You use to be ble to. Sonia box came with witching stalkers, that you could also purchase in a blister.


What are your thoughts?

1) The plastic is the high impact polystyrene that is very similar to legos and GW plastics (thus the similar feel and color to GW figs), they are spindly in some cases, my Beckoners are holding on by very small feet, but the wonders of the plastics (and this is for plastic models in general) is that they can be glued back together, but I do feel ya on the the "thinness" of the models (though some of them are basically the same thickness as other Malifaux models.

2) You can still buy blisters of the models in the starter boxes, but it's been in my experience that the generic minions in the metal starters are held in their own blisters as a pack of 2 or 3 (looking at Dearth Marshals, Witchling Stalkers, and Stitched Together (as a few examples). Wyrd did say that they were going to stop production of the blisters of the unique models in the Starter sets. this boils down to 2 things a) No more of the Alt sculpts of the masters from books 1 and 2 (shame cause I like Alt McMourning more than reg), and b) if you want a new master from Book 4, you must buy the starter box (though it does come with that Master's specific totem though). Point b is getting some flak (not a whole lot mind you) because you can't get your hands on the minions in the box separately, though you rarely need them outside of that master's crew anyways (since they're not dual faction), and you can't just buy the master, but *shrugs* It's not like they're giving us useless stuff in the box and expecting us to pay out the butt for a single model.

Piston Honda wrote:there are mixed feeling on the plastic minis in my area.

some have said they were great others said they lack detail and are kind of bland.

Ain't that always the case I'm personally a big fan of the new plastics, with the exception of Hungering Darkness, who has a fething gap down his entire body, but they're good models. Though I've yet to hear the lack of details argument... oh well.

Izamu is a great model, even though he is larger the details are quite nice. The only flat areas are the fabrics, which makes sense and will allow for great freehand.

The plastic used by Malifaux is closer to styrene than what GW uses and that helps keep thin, long bits like arrows intact. I've had an arrow break while trying to put the Ten Thunders Archers together but it glued together and had a strong bond much quicker than I've seen with a GW model.

The only problem I see is that without instructions, some models can be very difficult to construct properly. The above mentioned Archers gave me fits when I tried to get the heads assembled correctly. The bits were fiddly and (at least for me) not intuitive.

Other than that, I absolutely love these models. I wish they'd start producing resculpts of existing models so I could expand my factions.

I just finished assembling Guild Riflemen (I just found them very nice models) and I love the liberties they took with the flow of fabrics. Those are going to be nice to paint.

I'm sold.

I'm a big fan of Wyrd's plastics. They are a bit fiddly, but they go together well once you figure out where the pieces attach.

And the detail is top notch.

The prices, on the other hand... They aren't a dealbreaker, but they certainly have a chilling effect on "sure, why not?" impulse purchases for me. I suppose it depends on how much you love each sculpt in a box, but I find that I usually only really want 50% of the models in any given Malifaux set.

Really?

If I compare with GW plastics, I generally want 100% of the box of Malifaux on it's own merit, rather than just to put that unit on the table.

By the by, I just noticed that Burn In Designs' wild west buildings fit better with the scale of Malifaux than Infinity and GW. Small difference, but the higher bases really helps.

My only problem with them is that some of the models are very hard to build due to some of the contact points being incredibly small. The guild riflemen were much better than the 10 thunders archers, though. Thank god.

Anyone build to oiran? How are they?

No on the Oirian. Have not built and most likely won't. The riflemen were a pain to figue out one model. Two went together well and the third one took some time to,figure out. Build Sidir from the McCabe box, he was easy and a great looking model.

The detail is great, but, the long rifles are easy to,break if you are noT careful.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
Really?

If I compare with GW plastics, I generally want 100% of the box of Malifaux on it's own merit, rather than just to put that unit on the table.

Most Malifaux boxes that I've seen tend to have three guys in three different poses, one of which is awesome, one is decent but not worth the price, and one puts me to sleep faster than NyQuil. Or they have a crew of some kind, which usually involves a few different units or types of character, 50% of which I would buy for 2/3rds of the box price, and the rest often just bug me and make me want to go online and tell someone I hate them but I can't put my finger on exactly why. For me, Malifaux and Kingdom Death both have this over-the-top aesthetic that either really works in a model or feels like nails on a chalkboard.

Also, why do so many nice Asian designs have to be so undead? Is Chris Valera the head of Wyrd's design studio?

Izamu, on the other hand, is a box set whose quality we can all agree on.

By the by, I just noticed that Burn In Designs' wild west buildings fit better with the scale of Malifaux than Infinity and GW. Small difference, but the higher bases really helps.

What do you mean about the bases? I thought Malifaux had short bases.

I think he means the buildings' bases?

Ah yes, I need to explain, I guess.

I was miffed that the bamboo bases on the Kirai models was not available as an insert, so I did my own. As a result, they stand a little higher than a GW slottabase. Not a lot, but it's just enough.

I told Burn In Designs about it, the doors look way too high, as if we are playing with figs of children.

It seems like there should be some sort of site out there selling suitable Malifaux terrain that one could print, glue onto cereal box cardboard and then clip together somehow.

Or just leave out the floors.

That would be nice

Aside from the printing, Terraclips is essentially that, though.

Check out Impudent Mortal, I think his stuff is basic, but serviceable. I'll get three of his buildings from his latest KS, I'll post pictures once they are done.

For the streets, a very simple way to do it is just to get MDF and score it with a hobby knife, blade sideways, to have square stone streets or such.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
Aside from the printing, Terraclips is essentially that, though.

Check out Impudent Mortal, I think his stuff is basic, but serviceable. I'll get three of his buildings from his latest KS, I'll post pictures once they are done.

For the streets, a very simple way to do it is just to get MDF and score it with a hobby knife, blade sideways, to have square stone streets or such.

Though to be fair, World Works Games is the company that produces Terraclips for Wyrd, and that is the gist of their business is printing maps that you can glue to things and create terrain:




That is what can be done with their terrain that isn't terraclips...

Those dark channels with orange through them make me think of the lava map icons in FF1. Good times.

That's a better visual, overall, than Terraclips. The printing was fantastic, and I loved the character of the pieces, but seeing the dark plastic clips bummed me out.

You don't notice the plastic clips after awhile... I don't think the system is a failure, but it's been the biggest bust from Wyrd on a released product.

I wish they'd release their tournament mats

I'm unfamiliar with this expression in this context. Must be the language barrier. What do you mean, their biggest bust?

I'm assuming you're not meaning 36DDD.

Biggest failure

Ive never heard of a language barrier problem from a Canadian before. I agree though, their terraclips look really cool, but then when I notice those clips.....it just kindda breaks the fantasy a bit

 KingCracker wrote:
Ive never heard of a language barrier problem from a Canadian before. I agree though, their terraclips look really cool, but then when I notice those clips.....it just kindda breaks the fantasy a bit

Our good friend Mathieu Raymond is from the great city of Montreal, which speaks French as it's public language (all public signs must be in French, and it is spoken quite frequently there, though the two people I knew from Montreal both spoke English, so... there's that)....

Being completely biased, I really like the new plastics. I have found that even some of the pieces which look really thin and brittle end up being much stronger than they appear. Yamaziko's speak is a great example, which we were able to bend nearly in half at Gencon without snapping it. Going further, her spear sprang back to regular shape until we bent it past a 45 degree bend. The few pieces that have "snapped" have all been at joins where super glue was used. This was pretty easily fixed with some plastic glue making the bond stronger. Misaki's "fire trail" from her foot is a good example of this.

As for the models sculpts in the boxes, I think the plastics are better than the metal's. I find that that the models coming in the current plastic starters tend to be ore useful than many of the generic models in the metal starters. The Torekage in the Misaki box starter might be the only ones I cannot see situations to use all 3. While I am not a fan of the Rail Workers or Illuminated, I can see other people wanting to use 2-3 of them in their crews.

Two other comments/answers to some points brought up in the earlier posts. I have assembled all 3 Oiran, and overall they are a great set. One model is a bit tricky to assemble, specifically the one holding 2 fans. You have to make sure when you assemble her that you do not miss putting the braids onto the head prior to putting the full head together. It's easy to miss and a pain if you do.

The second item was Terraclips. While locally (Northern VA) Terraclips has not been popular at all, I have spoken to the management at Wyrd. Terraclips was actually very successful, at least on the original sets. They did a couple large orders from the manufacturer and sold out of each of the original runs. I am not sure where these are being used, but I only travel to specific areas so I am sure I am missing it. I have heard there are a fair number of European players using Terraclips.

 Alfndrate wrote:

 KingCracker wrote:
Ive never heard of a language barrier problem from a Canadian before. I agree though, their terraclips look really cool, but then when I notice those clips.....it just kindda breaks the fantasy a bit

Our good friend Mathieu Raymond is from the great city of Montreal, which speaks French as it's public language (all public signs must be in French, and it is spoken quite frequently there, though the two people I knew from Montreal both spoke English, so... there's that)....

You'd think with such a name that it wouldn't be such a secret. I think it was the context of your sentence that threw me off. The city itself is pretty much 50/50 English/French, but step outside the island... you'll be hard pressed to find more than a handful of native speakers.

I have a friend who has two kids, these were right up his alley, and since they were on sale during boxing day, I pass the savings onto him.

I just put two of the small Hanging Tree models together and I must say, for the first time I am mildly disappointed. There are gaps in the joins of the model that are going to require putty and a little bit of smoothing before I can base and primer. None of the other models I've assembled prior have needed this. It isn't a huge issue, just a suprising one given the exacting fit of previous models I've built.

Anyone else notice this? I mean, it's nothing compared to Hordes models I have (ZOMG Skorne have soooo many gaps). I guess I've just been spoiled with their other stuff.

Is it just me or is Wyrd missing a big opportunity with their plastic boxes? There is no background, no description of the characters or their role, performance, special rules, personality or any reason you might want to buy them besides "I love how it looks and/or wish to (and already fully understand how to) use it in the game". Just a hint of why I should want to dive right in and buy five more models in a faction could really pay off for them and wouldn't cost them anything.

For example, the Mantic boxes each have a brief background paragraph and a description of the models' purpose in the game. Most of the time, the text just rolls right off the brain without leaving a mark, but sometimes it sparks an idea or creates some interest. I know I've bought some whole factions of theirs based on fluff alone when I wasn't initially interested in the models.

Why are Wyrd's boxes so devoid of salesmanship?

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Is it just me or is Wyrd missing a big opportunity with their plastic boxes? There is no background, no description of the characters or their role, performance, special rules, personality or any reason you might want to buy them besides "I love how it looks and/or wish to (and already fully understand how to) use it in the game". Just a hint of why I should want to dive right in and buy five more models in a faction could really pay off for them and wouldn't cost them anything.

For example, the Mantic boxes each have a brief background paragraph and a description of the models' purpose in the game. Most of the time, the text just rolls right off the brain without leaving a mark, but sometimes it sparks an idea or creates some interest. I know I've bought some whole factions of theirs based on fluff alone when I wasn't initially interested in the models.

Why are Wyrd's boxes so devoid of salesmanship?

Easiest reason, they recognize they're a niche market. Most of their players tend to be pretty faithful to a faction(s), and tend to know what's coming out. Like I play Neverborn and so I was so excited when I heard about Jakob Lynch and the new Neverborn stuff from Book4, so their box doesn't need to tell me anything other than the models I get in the box and the price of the box. If you're a new player, then that's where Henchmen come in to play, most of the older boxes have descriptions, and they don't seal their books in shrink wrap, so you can look through the books before you buy to get fluff, descriptions, roles, etc.. So Henchmen come in (if they're doing their job they've posted when Malifaux is played in the store), and give a demo and answer any questions. They don't need to print things like that on the boxes when they have a volunteer army at their disposal. And while I do enjoy the descriptions on the back of the box, they don't really do much, as it's all flavor text. From my Rasputina Cult of December Box:

Cult of December Box wrote: Empowered by a spirit from Malifaux's ancient past, the elements of winter answer Rasputina's call. Snow, winds, ice, and the hunger of winter's famine fill her with a power that will shake the inhabitants of the City to their core. Fiercely independent, Rasputina lends the power of her elemental minions to the Arcanist's cause while they give her access to their black-market soulstones. Her strength is untouched, but none know where her true loyalties lay.

In Malifaux, December is the longest month.

So it's just fluff and flavor text. and doesn't give much to a person looking at the box, if they don't know anything about the game besides some of Rasputina's motives, but this isn't really a story game or RPG, this is a war game. Is the back of the box text nice? Yes it is, but I think it's far from necessary, and far from a misstep for not including it.

Well, they have to design an image to print on the packaging, anyway, and there is plenty of empty space, so I don't see why they don't. Free to print content with a non-zero chance of creating additional sales? Is that really a losing proposition?

Besides, that bit you posted about Rasputina is actually interesting. I know just enough about the setting to know Malifaux was a dead city with no bodies and a lot of weirdness going on. Now, I know her powers might tie into the mysterious backstory--I'm definitely going to look her up on the website and see if there's more. And what's that next to her bio? Pictures of models I can buy? Say, that December Acolyte looks pretty nice, and I never would have seen it if I hadn't read a blurb about Rasputina.

And now I'm back to wanting to read a book of their fluff.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Malifaux was a dead city with no bodies and a lot of weirdness going on.

Malifaux has plenty of people in it... this is how I know you don't read anything related to the game