Can I call a Lady Desperate?

So I have finished the desperate mercenary, the next model in the Outcast Wave 1.  A simple colour scheme, and very clearly the original metal sculpt rather than the new Iconic one off the front of the Main Rulebook.

It has also been the start of Malifaux Month at LVL Up, my FLGS.  So far, we have had a number of demo's for new players, along with a 6 man enforcer brawl.  Which I apparently did quite well in, despite leaving after the first turn to give a demo to two new players.
We also have our Henchman hardcore tournament coming up on Monday, and then a full on Gaining Grounds tournament on the 22nd.
We also have a colouring competition to go along with Wyrd's, an achievement league, and a number of other silly events planned.  Should be fun.

Welcome to the Korps

So, moving through the Outcast models at some pace, I have come to the Freikorps.  Only some of the Hired Guns box is actually Wave 1, and so I have Von Schill, 2 Korpsmann, a specialist and the steam trunk to paint.

The specialist.  A model that I don't know I have ever seen on the table and a really nice idea.  It is basically a real disaster to put together.  The tanks sit badly on his back, and the cabling is difficult to get to fit.  In general, I disliked building this model.  Despite that, the finished piece is not too bad.

And the Freikorpsman.  2 sculpts, and much easier to put together than the specialist.  Painted in the same scheme, these may get a little more table time with my Outcasts, at least until I get better options from the Wave 2 models.

It's also coming up to Malifaux Month for the store where I am Henchman, and I want to share with you just some of the things we have planned.

We have tournaments. Malifriend or Malifaux on the 22nd and a henchman hardcore event on the 3rd.
We have demos, with a custom built demo table in the works to show off the starter, and plenty of people to show you how it all works.
We have scenarios for people to try, everything from special Halloween-themed events through hunting trips and story encounters, including solitaire setups.
We have the divergent paths global event running in store.
We may have painting demos, with Joel Duoplys-Duguid having provisionally agreed to come and try his hand at some malifaux models.
We have a painting competition running throughout the month.
And we will have malifaux bingo, for those who want to see how good they really are.

All of this means that there is a need for a short break from the current project.  I have to get AT LEAST the starter box models painted, and the aim is to get all of the story encounters painted up as well, plus the carver.  That's a metric tonne of work, and so I may try to beg borrow or steal some of the models for the store.  I'm also looking at getting an asylum display/demo board made for the store for the starter box, and there is a chance that may be laser cut.  So all told a busy week or so ahead.

Swamped with Painting

So, I have been working on the pile of models that I built during a spell when I decided that building loads of Malifaux models badly was a good idea.  I've learned my lesson on that one, and now build the models with (a little) more care.  I started with some Silurids.  They were put together really badly.  In reverse order, I have painted Bad Juju as the second of the projects this post.

  This was a quick and easy paint job, a simple Base/Drybrush/Wash with some details then added in, on one of my standard Swamp bases.  I don't think that it is going to see a lot of table time, but as a completist, I wanted to get it done.

    Before I started on Bad Juju, I painted the Silurids.  These were also shockingly badly assembled and took a bit of clean up to get them even to this point.  That said, they look reasonably good at a tabletop distance.  The only real point of note in their paint job is that the eyes were done with the new Spiritstone Red over silver.  I like the effect.

    Next, I shall work on Zoraida and the Voodoo Doll.  Unfortunately, in assembling Zoraida, I have mislaid the Voodoo Dolls that are supposed to be part of the model.  I am sure that they will turn up, but until then, I shall paint her without.

    In other news, I have the first Malifaux tournament I am running as a Henchman on Saturday.  We have filled 16 places with people who have said they are coming, and I am hoping it will be a good day, although I suspect I will learn a number of lessons.

    Oh, and Cat.  Or rather, Kitten.  I have one, with all of the fear that this brings regarding the safety of my models going forward!

Drowning.....and a Brawl

Tonight we ran the first Enforcer Brawl at the FLGS.  6 people playing, running a variety of models, including Raphael, Burt Jebsen, Howard Langstrom, an Ice Golem, Yin The Pennangalan and Bishop.  After a little bit of confusion about the scoring (and the last time I try to use google sheets and a touchscreen with a spreadsheet I knocked up that afternoon to score), it seemed like a good time was had.  We allowed people to appear on any edge they wanted rather than picking randomly, and after Raphael finished off both Howard and the Ice Golem turn 1, he had a target painted on his head for the rest of the game.  Ultimately, Yin won, with Howard pulling off an excellent final turn to take second.

The other thing of note is that I have finished my Drowned.  Painted in the same style as my Crooligans, for my likely Molly crew, I debated how to give the cobbles behind them the impression of being wet.  After some thought, and lots of ideas, I went with black wash (to darken the stone) and then gloss varnish.  Its not perfect, but it seems to work.

The ghostly appearance may not totally fit the fluff, but I think that the effect is worth it.  Again, thanks to Matt (who demanded credit) for the idea with the Nihilakh Oxide for the effect.

Comments and criticism again welcome.

E5 D5 C#5 C Em D5 C#5 C Em

Or, if you rather, the opening chords for Master of Puppets by Metallica.

So, the most recent things on my painting table have been the Collodi set for the Neverborn.  Simple paint jobs, and, if I am honest, I may have rushed the last of the Marionettes since I had become bored and wanted to move onto something else.  I still think that as a group they look good together, and if nothing else, I plan on using the Wicked Dolls with the Dreamer at some point in the near future.

So, the pictures...

In gaming related news, I have spent a lot of my gaming time Demo'ing Malifaux at my FLGS.  This has been as part of the agreement that, as a Henchman for Wyrd, I will also act as one of their community leaders, and try to promote the system and the store.  To that end, we have our first Henchman Hardcore tournament on the 6th June, in the Evening, aiming to give away the prize content that came in the Henchman Intro Pack.

And finally, I have been having a repair and sort of the Malifaux collection.  Everything came out of its case, all of those annoying broken pieces have been glued, and then the whole lot was placed on a big piece of foam board while I sort out safer storage.  Which, I suppose, gives the perfect opportunity for a photo of (almost, there are some models on a different shelf I only just noticed (By some I mean all of my thematic models for Colette and Kirai plus a few extra models) all my finished Malifaux models in one place.

Next I think that, after getting the bug from an intro game, and then watching Deadpool, and Guardians of the Galaxy, I am going to paint some of my Knight models stuff.  Probably starting with the Guardians, and then moving on to my Harley crew for Batman.

A Game of Thrones

So, I played in my first A Game of Thrones Card Game Tournament in my local store a few weeks ago.  This was a game that I had exactly no experience of, having played only 4 games of it ever before.  I took the Nights Watch as my deck, and it was made up of 2 base sets worth of Nights Watch Cards, plus the first expansion, and some unaligned cards.

So, I enter the tournament, I play some games.  I don't know all the rules, my deck has never been tested, I don't have access to a full card pool so the deck is sub optimal, and I've no real idea what I am doing.  Anyone want to guess how that ended?

So, first game was against a local player, Ben Davies, who had been the person I had played 3 of my learning games against.  He brought Greyjoy/Lannister, and it was a walkover.  Essentially, I had no answers to his threats and no idea what I would do to answer them.

Game two, against Andy and his Lannister/Targaryen deck was much the same.  I got thoroughly beaten, but I did learn a fair amount of how to play.  Andy was a thoroughly nice guy, and a lot of fun to play against.

Going into lunch, I am 0-2, and so I know that I am not going to be doing much in this, but I have learned an awful lot about how the game works, what the meta is like, and the like.

Game three was against Mike, the organiser, and his Stark deck based around the Direwolves.  I won, and this may have more to do with Mike's testing a new deck than any ability on my part, but it felt like there was at least some improvement in my play, game on game.

So, my final place was 6th, and I got the alt art card for participation.  the next tournament in on the 28th February, and I am hoping that I will have had the chance to play a bit more before then.  So far, my modified decklist looks like this

Faction
1x The Night's Watch

Agenda
1x Fealty

Characters
3x Benjen Stark
3x Jon Snow
3x Maester Aemon
3x Ghost
3x Ser Waymar Royce
3x Ranging Party
3x Veteran Builder
3x Old Bear Mormont
3x Steward at the Wall
2x Yoren
2x Will
2x Samwell Tarly
2x Messenger Raven
2x Old Forest Hunter
2x Littlefinger

Locations
3x The Wall
3x The Kingsroad
3x The Roseroad
3x Castle Black

Events
2x Take the Black
2x Tears of Lys

Attachments
3x Longclaw
2x Milk of the Poppy

Plots
2x A Feast for Crows
1x Calling the Banners
1x Confiscation
1x Reinforcements
1x Supporting the Faith
1x Wildfire Assault

Any suggestions or thoughts gratefully appreciated.