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Hi all,

With the advent of a new job as well as other life commitments, I have found that my time to model, paint and play games has diminished significantly. Reluctant as I was to give up on wargaming and turn to other pursuits, I instead decided to move away from the 'army' scale games such as 40K and Warmachine and embrace the smaller, 'skirmish' style represented best by an interesting little game called Malifaux.

My FLGS has quite a strong contingent of Malifaux players and, until very recently, I never really saw the appeal - I was a bit too stuck in the Games Workshop mindset to consider alternative systems and models. However, after playing a few introductory games I was completely addicted. The game was fast and accessible with interesting mechanics and a progressive story that I have had immense fun catching up on. The fact that the models are also very cool didn't hurt either!

And so we come to the reason for this blog - to document my painting and gaming progress in the world of Malifaux. After reading 'Storm of Shadows', the fourth book in the Malifaux series, I have settled on two crews (for now), both ranges are in the new plastic medium: Lucas McCabe's Relic Hunters, and the Ten Thunders led by Misaki. I much, much prefer working with plastic than with metal and, as a lot of the 1st generation Malifaux models are starting to look a little...dated, I opted to go for the newer, shinier stuff instead. That and the backstories to both of these Masters are downright awesome!

Anyway, here's a shot of my newest purchase, the Ten Thunders are not in stock at my FLGS so I will have to wait until Tuesday to drop more of my hard-earned on those awesome ninjas from the Three Kingdoms.



I'll put up some progress shots once I have cracked open the boxes and started putting them together.

Thanks for reading!

- Valtyr

Malifaux has some great looking minis. I'll definitely be back to see how this lot look with some paint on them.

So the boxes have been cracked open and the first pieces clipped from the sprue and glued together. Here's a shot of my workstation so far:



The larger group on the left is the Relic Hunters box, whereas the mostly disassembled models on the right are the Guild Rifleman. After giving both boxes a good look over, I opted to partially rather than fully assemble the models so as to reduce the number of hard-to-reach areas and ensure that every model is 100% complete. Thankfully, the Relic Hunters are posed in such a way that they can be (mostly) fully assembled without limiting access too much. The Rifleman, however, needed lots of bits left off to make painting that much easier.

A word on the quality of the sculpts themselves: I found them to be very pleasant to work with; the pieces are nicely detailed and fairly easy to put together. The way the models are sculpted does not allow for much, if any, opportunity for conversion but when the original sculpts are as good as they are, you would need a very good reason indeed to chop them up. The lack of instructions can be daunting, especially for inexperienced modellers, and I would very much hope that Wyrd rectify this for future releases. Thankfully, every model is quite distinct and, using the back of the box for reference, building them wasn't that much of a headache.

Here are a few close-up shots of the Relic Hunters. Particularly obstructive pieces (like McCabe's whip) I have pinned so that I can attach it easier later once its painted. The mounted McCabe has been pinned together too so that he can be completely removed from his horse when painting starts.

Enjoy!











Next is to get the initial stage of the bases done and undercoat!

Thank for reading!

- Valtyr

Looking forward to seeing paint these up, they look like very nice models.

I look forward to seeing how these guys come together (I considered getting them myself to get into Malifaux).

So some new toys arrived today:



I thought I'd take a pic of the sprues before I assembled them, just so you can all get an idea of how the models are arranged on a sprue. Here's the Ten Thunders sprue:

Front



Back



And the Archers:

Front



Back



There is certainly not a bit of wasted space on either sprue: Wyrd have made a considerable effort to ensure that not a bit of sprue is extraneous or goes spare. This is both admirable and a little overwhelming at the same time; as there is no easy way to distinguish between the models unless you really take the time to examine the sprie carefully.

Wyrd have also taken an interesting direction with their kits: rather than include instructions in the box, each model is labelled (A, B, C etc.) and all the parts that correspond to that model are given a number (A1, A2, A3 etc.) This means that, rather unlike 40K where you glue ALL the legs down first and then glue ALL the bodies onto the legs, with Malifaux it is far easier if you clip out, de-flash and construct a single model at a time. Just something that was interesting to note.

A word on detail: these models are just as full of detail, character and individuality as the Relic Hunters. The Torakage all look amazing and both Misaki and Ototo have such a sense of movement and power, it makes them a real pleasure to look at. The Archers are all individually posed too, meaning that your crew will look anything but identical on the table. Converting these models would, again, take someone far braver than myself to attempt, but when they look this good out of the box I honestly do not know why anyone would want to.

Anyway, I'll crack on with building these models and I'll post up any progress I make!

Thanks for reading!

- Valtyr

Apologies for the slow updates so far, life has started to get back to normal after an (all-to short) holiday from work. That coupled with potentially buying a house very soon and time to work on the models has been limited. However, I have ordered this from a well-known website:



This will be my first foray into using cork as a basing material, although I have a number of friends that have tried it and produced some very decent results. I am optimistic that my attempts will yield the same! The cork is scheduled to arrive on Monday, so there are exciting times ahead!

- Valtyr

Where did you buy the cork from? linky linky

I'm wanting to start using it too but a quick ebay/amazon search brings up rolls of self adhesive cork and the like... which I am sure is the wrong kind of stuff.

As requested, a link for the cork sheet:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0027J9OGI/ref=pe_217191_31005151_3p_dp_1

It's inexpensive enough to consider purchasing again if I run out - Wickes wanted to charge me £9 for what was, granted, a lot of cork, but tacked on such an absurd delivery charge that I had to widen my search.

I'll drop an update when it arrives and let you all know how I find working with the new material.

Thanks,

- Valtyr

BATTLE REPORT

Lucas McCabe squinted against the blinding desert sun in a vain attempt to block out the searing light. Shielding his eyes from the glare, he could just make out a cluster of humanoid objects, blurry against the sandy horizon. Impeded as his view was, the hunched, shambling gait of the majority of their number were easily identifiable from his previous dealings with Lucius - his upper lip twitched as he exhaled sharply. Witch Hunters. Guild.

Pulling sharply on the reins of his mount, Lucas began the gentle trot back to his own crew. He had led them through this accursed desert for weeks now, searching for the elusive artefacts and hidden relics from which they drew their namesake; surviving on meagre water rations and whatever morsels of food the acrid landscape chose to reveal to them. They were exhausted, half-starved and on the verge of dehydration. McCabe allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his face - this should be easy...

Lucas McCabe vs Sonnia Criid
35SS Scrap

Crews

Lucas McCabe (Strangemetal Shirt, Hunter's Cloak, Invigorating Bridle)
Luna
Sidir Alchibal
Wastrel x 3
Guild Rifleman x 3

Sonnia Criid
Samael Hopkins
Witchling Handler
Witchling Stalker x 3
Guild Rifleman x 2

Strategy

McCabe - Destroy the Evidence
Criid - Slaughter

Schemes

McCabe - Bring 'Em Back Alive
Criid - Kill Protegé (Sidir), Grudge (Luna)

TURN ONE

Criid grabbed priority for this turn and the Witch Hunters began their advance on the enemy in front of them. Hopkins infused his Colt .45 with Flaming Bullets before cautiously advancing down the left flank. Criid moved into a more advantageous spot before summoning up the power of the arcane and wreathing herself in a devestating Inferno. The Witchling Handler, always near her charges, ordered them to close the gap with the enemy crew before following suit - she passed a wary eye over her Stalkers lest any of them begin to show shines of returning to their previous, deviant ways. The Rifleman, separate from the rest of the crew, aligned the sights of their heavy-duty firearms before carefully beginning to pick their way over the dusty, treacherous ruins in front of them.

McCabe watched the advance of the Witch Hunters before him and began barking orders to his crew. His Wastrels nodded in agreement and, smirking, descended into the Hidden Passage that latticed around the dig site like the tunnels of an anthill, only to re-appear amongst the detritus of a long-forgotten temple mere moments later. The immovable, silent form of Sidir Alchibal stood at McCabe's side and, with a nod, began to advance towards the foe. Using his knowledge of the desert plains to his advantage, he threw up an extremely effective Camouflage to keep the Witch Hunters guessing as to their actual location. Digging his spurs into the flank of his steed, McCabe cantered forward, bellowing at his fellow crew to Keep Up. Sighting down the crosshair of his net-gun, he loosed a shot at the closely bunched Stalkers and Handler, but fought back a curse as the projectile buried itself scant feet from its mark. Luna let out a deep, sharp bark as she loped around the huge central ruin, picking up the scent of Hopkins and eager to intercept him. Finally, the Rifleman shouldered their weapons as one, and followed the dust-trails left by McCabe's mount - leading towards fresh targets.

TURN TWO COMING SOON

So after a quiet week or so waiting for the cork sheet to arrive it finally has done! I didn't waste much time tearing into it and I have to say that, as a material, it is very easy to use and can create some very effective and natural-looking rock formations. Anyway, without further ado here are some pics:

Relic Hunters











I decided to assemble the Rifleman as, were I to paint them first and assemble them later, I would end up with different shades on the cloth due to incorrect paint mixtures. Also, having to assemble them at a later date would mean I had to remove more mold lines as well as run the risk of glue fouling up whatever painting I had managed to accomplish.

Also on the table I now have a (mostly) assembled Ten Thunders crew:











The only model missing is Ototo who will *have* to be painted prior to assembly. The way the miniature is sculpted means a lot of his detail will be missed if he is fully constructed before painting begins.

Thanks for reading!

- Valtyr