[Malifaux] Rasputina, Nicodem, McMourning, Viktorias and more..., For the Victorian TGN Battle Challenge participants... Options

[morsla]

This is a combined diary for any Victorians taking part in the third TGN Battle Challenge.

How the Challenge is Structured

A Battle Challenge typically takes place over the course of three Calendar months; this time round it will run February through April 2010. Kickoff day will be Monday March 1st 2010. This will hopefully give us all enough time to get our hands on a Rulebook and some figures without it eating too much into our time for Phase 1.

Each month is a Phase of the Battle Challenge. In that Phase you will be encouraged (but don't despair if you fall behind) to complete a certain amount of Hobby Activity during that time.

Phase 1 - March 1st to March 28th 2010

During the Kickoff Phase you will be challenged to build and paint a 20 Soulstone Crew from your chosen faction and play at least a single game. This will be the 'break-in' time for all of us to post questions in the Rules section, and propose armylists and ideas to the more experienced players in each of our individual Blogs. An In-Game photo with your painted faction models and a brief (or vast, if you prefer!) Battle Report is also encouraged to be posted in the Battle Reports section from each of us. To keep things simple do not use the Special Terrain and Evets rules for this first match, just a Strategy and up to 2 Schemes. Feel free to go over and above however if you're up for it!

Goals:

• Paint a 20 Soulstone Crew from your chosen Faction and post a group shot of it in your Blog.
• Play at least one 20 Soulstone game using Strategies and up to 2 Schemes and post a Battle Report with at least 1 photo in-game.
• Ask as many questions as you want in the Malifaux Rules section to get yourself comfortable with the system.

Phase 2 - March 29th to April 25th 2010

This is the main phase in Battle Challenge, and will be where you start to get comfortable with your faction and start to experiment with different Characters, Minions and even Masters. We will also encourage you to try out the Special Terrain and Events rules during this Phase of the challenge as it adds a lot to the game! At the end of this Phase you should be able to play a 30 Soulstone Game with your painted Crew. As an added challenge you will be challenged to create a single piece of 'Special Terrain' from one of the zones in Malifaux. This challenge is totally optional, but will add a theme to your scenery collection and earn you massive kudos with your peers.

Goals:

• Paint additional models to create a 30 Soulstone Crew from your chosen Faction and post a group shot of it in your Blog.
• Play at least one 30 Soulstone game using the full rules for Strategies, Schemes, Special terrain and Events and post a Battle Report with at least 1 photo in-game.
• Build a cool piece of scenery to represent one of the 'Special Terrain' features that pop up in the strange dimension of Malifaux!

Phase 3 - April 26th to May 30th 2010

This is the Honeymoon phase of the Challenge. We should all at this point have played at least two games and be comfortable enough in the rules for Malifaux that we're all bickering about Crew selection and the benefits of X character over Y. During this Phase you will be challenged to paint up enough models to play a 40 Soulstone Game (the maximum size for Brawls with a single Master). You will also be challenged to play at least one game with a Master that was not the one you painted initially for your 20 Soulstone Crew in order to try out different tactics within your faction. Finally, the optional challenge for this Phase will be to recruit and paint at least one Outcast (read; Mercenary) to play with your Faction in this 40 Soulstone game. Outcasts can be played as a faction on their own but they really spice up armies by giving you options you might not have in the main list!

Goals:

• Paint additional models to create a 40 Soulstone Crew from your chosen Faction and post a group shot of it in your Blog.
• Paint at least one new Master from your Faction to try out the different play styles available and use them in a game.
• Play at least one 40 Soulstone game using the full rules for Strategies, Schemes, Special terrain and Events and post a Battle Report with at least 1 photo in-game.
• Paint an Outcast to add to your Crew and post a photo of it on your Blog.

So far, I think the Victorian crew includes:

Me: Rasputina (Arcanists) and Nicodem (Resurrectionists)
Diesel: McMourning (Resurrectionists) and Lady Justice or Sonia Criid (Guild)
Fizgig: Viktorias (Outcasts) and Zoraida (Neverborn)
Melnibonėan: Ramos (Arcanists)

If you're another local taking part in the challenge, cross-post your diary updates here. We can also try to arrange some games once everyone has a few painted figures...

[morsla]

My plan is to build two crews, so that I can run demo games and get some friends playing the game. More opponents are always good, right? I'll probably stick to my first crew for battle reports.

Crew #1: Rasputina (Arcanists)

Rasputina is very different from anything I've painted so far, and (apparently) quite different to anything I've played in the past. I've picked her for my primary crew, as I'd like to try painting some ice and snow. I'll be starting off with the starter box, and adding models from there: at the moment, I'm definitely interested in a Sabretooth Cerberus (to paint up as a three-headed snow leopard...) and an Essence of Power. Later on I'll be adding Hoarcats, because who doesn't like swarms of kittens that can eat people whole?

I like the idea of using 50mm bases as blast markers and spell templates (Icy Pillars, etc). I'll make a few templates to represent each of the spells and effects that the crew can generate.

I was a geologist in a former life (i.e undergrad uni), and have a box of crystals somewhere around the place - mostly from fieldwork in Broken Hill. If I can find them, they should be handy for detailing the Arcanist bases.

Crew #2: Nicodem (Resurrectionists)

I bought some Wyrd miniatures at GenCon in 2007, and have been using them as Unhallowed Metropolis PCs. They finally got some paint on them last week... hopefully some of them will be useful for my Resurrectionist crew, though I'll need to get some stat cards for them.

These guys will take a back seat while I get started on the Arcanists, as I think they might need a lot more models (all sorts of summonable undead) to play the game - not to mention the fact that I only have a card for one figure so far (Sebastian). When I get back to them, I'll be adding some Necropunks and Rotting Belles next.

Here are some pictures of the models on my shelf at the moment: I'll get stuck into some new ones when the Battle Challenge officially gets started...

Nicodemus (formerly used as an UnMet Aristicrat). No vulture, but he's used to staying well back and killing things from range... so the new choice of weaponry seemed appropriate.


Grave Spirit totem (an old Rackham familiar)


Mercenary (formerly an UnMet Undertaker - professional zombie hunter, inspired by this illustration). Made from a Dark Age Toxic Mistress, a Wyrd rifle, and a Rotting Belle's parasol.


Mortimer. No conversions, but I tried a few new techniques to paint him - knitted texture on the jumper, and blood splatter on the shovel.


Sebastian. Again, no conversions - My first attempt at blood splatter though, done by flicking ink/paint from an old brush. Bonesaws seem like messy weapons.


And the whole happy family in a group shot:

[morsla]

I picked up a Raputina starter box from Battle Bunker yesterday, so now I have some figures with stat cards The store has a dozen 6x4 gaming tables and lots of terrain (made by Viv) and runs a regular "skirmish sunday" event, so it's likely to be my main venue for Malifaux games over the next few months.

The cards are nicely designed, but I'm not sure how I'll end up using them: damage is tracked on the outside, but you still need to refer to the inside for the full version of each ability. Laminating them might be an option, or I could use something else (glass beads?) to track damage on each model. I really like the way that each sculpt gets its own stat card with a photo of the model: much like Alkemy, it makes it very easy to keep track of which figure belongs to a given card.

I've also started flicking through the rulebook, trying to work out what my lists might end up like. I'd really like to find a use for the models I've already painted, so that has helped to make a few decisions for me: things like Vultures seem like a good option for Nicodem(us), but I'd like to fit the Grave Spirit into the lists.

I'll use the following tags for figures:

Planned: normal font
Purchased: italics
Painted: strikeout

Resurrectionist Crew

Month 1

• Nicodem
• Mortimer: 7
• Rotting Belle: 4
• Necropunk: 3
• Necropunk: 3
• Grave Spirit: 1
• Additions: 1 blister of Punk Zombies, and 1 blister of Mindless Zombies

Total: 20SS, with a cache of 5SS.

Month 2

As above, plus:

• Sebastian: 6
• Canine Remains: 2
• Necropunk: 3
• Additions: 1 extra Canine Remains

Total: 30SS, with a 4SS cache.

Month 3

As above, plus:

• Hans, Mercenary Sniper: 9
• Canine Remains: 2
• Additions: 1 extra Canine Remains

Total: 40SS, with a 3SS cache

Arcanist Crew

Month 1

• Rasputina
• Ice Golem: 9
• Ice Gamin: 4
• Ice Gamin: 4
• Essence of Power: 2

Total: 20SS, with a 5SS cache

Month 2

As above, adding:

• Sabretooth Cerberus: 8

Total: 30SS, with a 7SS cache

Month 3

As above, plus:

• Ronin: 6
• Ronin: 6

Total: 40SS, with a 5SS cache.

Could I leave the second Ronin out of the list (saving 6 SS), and then get Rasputina to summon it at a cost of 5SS using Always for Hire? Or is there a limit to how many unspent Soulstones you can have?

I'll start painting Rasputina and co next week, once my Iron Painter entry is out of the way.

[Melnibonėan]

I'd like to join in on this.

I already have two crews up and painted - Red Chappel Gang and Liliths Crew (both boxes plus some extras for each). However, I also have the Viktorias and Ramos boxed sets to get started on and since I can't see Ramos on you list of starters I'll go with them.

So, where do I go from here?

[tenabrae]

I picked up a Raputina starter box from Battle Bunker yesterday, so now I have some figures with stat cards The store has a dozen 6x4 gaming tables and lots of terrain (made by Viv) and runs a regular "skirmish sunday" event, so it's likely to be my main venue for Malifaux games over the next few months.

Viv's also just ordered in the entire Malifaux range and should have em in-store next week.

[Zippy Wonderdog]

With the blood splatter on the circler saw it needs to look as if its going all the way around the blade.
I am quite taken with the female merc, the parasol is a quirky touch though her gun seems too big for the figure I think.

[morsla]

@Melnibonėan - Not a problem. The challenge itself is hosted on TGN Talk (linked in my first post), so you'll need to start a thread over there. The month-by-month outlines are guidelines, mostly - the main aim is to get people painting and playing some games while they explore a new games system.

As there's not a huge TGN/WAU overlap, some of us have decided to cross-post the diary updates over here. They're collated into a few region-based threads like this one, partly to avoid flooding the forum with a whole lot of re-posted material, but also so that people in a given region can use the thread for more incentive in finishing off their own crew.

When you have a painting or modelling update for the TGN diary, post it in this thread as well - that way we can keep track of what everyone is up to. We can also organise some games later on... somewhere like Battle Bunker could be a good venue, as they have lots of terrain and tables and are more-or-less central (we have people scattered around from distant west to far east...).

Zippy - yeah, I noticed the problem with the circular saw blade as well. I'll add some more blood to it when I'm painting up the necropunks, as I'm sure to have lots of red ink mixed up...

[fizgig]

My Diary so far....

Have a Viktorias starter + Hans the sniper. I've used the Wryd Victorian base inserts to base them and so far have just primed them and started on the skin. My first goal will be to finish the crew, perhaps adding a few Ronin to take advantage of Viktoria's special rule with them. This should easily get me to 40 SS

For a second Master, things might be a bit trickier as I am with the Outcasts. I do have a Old Hag (Neverborn) starter that I'm also keen to paint up also . The Hag could hire some Mercs, so there will be some overlap. With the Hag starter I will be attempting swamp bases, which I've never done before, but look totally awesome in my head.

update:
Have started getting some paint down on the Viktorias. Pics will be imminent.

[chunky04]

Looks the goods morsla, man I think I'm going to have trouble not buying that new Peacekeeper mini for my Guid - that thing looks amazing!

[Diesel]

I picked up the McMourning Starter a while back, but have just recently started painting them. The Starter is approximately 25 Soulstones (points), so I'll probably end up buying few extras to make the 20 SS list that is little more efficient.

My Initital starting Warband will be:

McMourning
Sebastian (6 SS)
Nurse (5 SS)
Necropunk x3 (9 SS)

adding 1 x Flesh Construct and 2 x Canine Remains (which can be summoned/created during a game)

= 20 SS


Building this to 30SS adn 40SS, will really wait until I play a few games and get more of a feel for McMourning.


Here are some WIP pics, not really clear, but pics none the less of the models I had painted last week.

McMourning.



Sebastian.



I'm working on a Nurse and the Flesh Construct atm...

Still working out what sort of bases to build for them....I am thinking sewer with appropriate gore, blood or a hospital tiles floor.

Cheers

Deez

This post has been edited by Diesel: Feb 26 2010, 02:05 PM

[fizgig]

Some WIP. Nothing finished yet but making some progress....

The Viktorias starter box + Hans. Primed and based with the flesh started.

Viktoria 1. Flesh done with basecoats for the rest.

Viktoria 2. Fleah done with basecoats for the rest.



Zoraida the Hag (Neverborn) starter + voodoo doll. Based with the beginnings of a swamp base, primed.

Zoraida + Voodoo Doll: (Zoraida is based similar to the Wyrd painted figure):

Silurid:

Bad Juju:

[morsla]

I've now assembled the figures from Rasputina's starter box, and started painting them. Only a little bit of progress so far (about half an hour's painting time, all up). I've borrow Larkin Vain's idea of starting the ice creatures with a turquoise base, which I shaded with a few washes of blue (P3 Cygnar Blue Base) and black paint, mixed with glaze medium.

That took most of the greenish hue out of the turquoise, leaving hints of it in the recesses. I've quickly added some blue (P3 Cygnar Blue Highlight) and blue-white (P3 Frostbite) to brighten it up a bit, though the golem really needs another sharp highlight to bring out the ice facets.



The Ice Gamin have a base colour and some shading on them. I was going to mix some fleshtones into the highlights, but have decided to keep them cold and unnatural looking... when I add snow to the bases using some Jo Sonja's texture paste, I'll also put a thin layer onto their skin to make them look freezing cold.



First games are planned for this Sunday! Hopefully I'll have Rasputina finished to a tabletop level by then. The store has just ordered in the full range of Malifaux figures, so I'm hoping the delivery arrives this week... if so, I'll grab the rest of the Resurrectionist figures that I need to start using Nicodem as well.

[fizgig]

Unfortunately didn't get a chance to play Malifaux on the weekend with the other guys from Melbourne as I was stuck at home defending it from some vicious storms we had. Did knock out some more painting however. Almost finished the Viktorias:







Still need to do some facial details, bases and Gold details on the swords - ie pommels and scabbard bits. I've done the other metallics as NMM but have never done gold NMM before - I'm a novie when it comes to that stuff, but it seems a good time to learn. If anyone has some recipes for a decent gold NMM please let me know!
Still, overall quite happy with the progress and hope to get a 20 SS game in soon. Thinking my crew would be the Viktorias, Hans and Taelor, giving me 4 SS for the Viktorias to play with.

This post has been edited by fizgig: Mar 10 2010, 09:25 AM

[Tu'shan]

Very nice I like that zombie hunter, the maroon looks good.
~Tu'shan

[fizgig]

Quick update.

Finished the Viktorias completely now. Went for a bluestone look for the stones of the base.




Moving on to Taelor and Hans. Hopefully getting a game or two in this weekend or next.

[morsla]

Looking good so far

I won't be at Battle Bunker this weekend, but will be there on the 28th if you want to get a few games in.

[Wombats]

That Golem looks fantastic, Morsla.

I really regret going straight blue up to white and not going the Scaly Green / Hawk Turquoise route.

Have you thought of Ice Blue as your top highlight?
I used to avoid it as the green in it contrasts horribly against real blues.
Its the perfect highlight for Hawk Turquoise, though.

[fizgig]

I'll try to make it for the 28th then. Hopefully with the full crew done.

[fizgig]

Woohoo! Hans and Taelor Finished





All ready for a 20SS rumble next weekend.

[fizgig]

Had a 20 SS game against Morsla today.
Going from memory for this report, some things may be wrong.

My crew: The Viktorias, Taelor and Hans.


The Enemy: Rasputina, Ice Golem, 2 Ice Garmins and an essence of winter (unpainted)


We setup on opposite sides of a small town. My Strategy was Assassinate, and I picked the Schemes of 'Thwart' (why not?) and 'Hold out' (another simple one)
Morsla had Reconnoiter as a strategy, and 'Sabotage' and 'Eye for an eye' as schemes.
I declared Thwart, and Morsla declared Sabotage (we then realised that tere was no good reason for this - oops)

The Setup:


Turn 1 was basically moving up, (since the board was 4' across instead of the standard 3'.) Morsla put up some ice pillars (represented by the blue tokens) to block Han's LOS to the Ice Golem. An Ice Garmin moved down the right side to sabotage the shed in the pig sty on the right.


On the second turn Viktoria moves up and smashes one of the ice pillars to give Hans a bead on the Golem.
An ice Gamin moves up and blasts Taelor for 1 damage. Hans double taps the Golem, doing a Headshot (countered by Morsla discarding 2 control cards) and then a 5 point armour piercing shot. The other victoria moves up behind the horse at the front of the wagon to shoot at Rasputina, but draws a black joker for her shot.

Rasputina blasts at Taelor and twists the damage up to ridiculous using the red joker, giving him two blast markers, the second of which was placed over the Viktoria with severe + another damage flip on both. This almost killed taelor (Hard to kill saves her) and badly wounds Viktoria (soulstone damage preventing helps). She does it again and finishes off taelor and hurts Viktoria again, then puts some ice pillars in front of her to stop retaliation.


Third turn was a worse for me..
There was a struggle for initiative which I won (after we both used soulstones). Wasn't quite sure what to do with it, so I used Hans to kill the Golem. An ice Garmin had a go at the Viktoria behind the horse and either missed or did not much (cant remember). The Viktoria then moved forward. smote one of the ice pillars and then pushed the other Viktoria up to a charging line on Rasputina.


I just needed to survive Rasputina's attack - how hard can that be? Unfortunately, even with some good control cards and a soulstone, Morsla got some good flips and managed to kill off both Viktorias with more annoying blast attacks. Doh!

This left just Hans. Thinking about the VPs, it was still possible for me to win or draw by using Hans to kill one Garmin and denying Morsla from getting his Reconnoiter strategy - thus giving me the Thwart scheme and probably also "hold out"
Unfortunately Hans was cursed by the black joker and couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.


He died shortly after. Tip - don't let Hans get engaged as he has no melee skills.

Good Game. The strategies and schemes really do make it interesting.