#MFXTOP Voting September

Time to make your choice.

This is a page of all the finals entries with the names of the entrant in one place.

Please have a good look over them all and then click the link to the poll at the bottom.

You don't have to have entered or do anything special to vote, just click that link, you get one vote, so use it wisely!

So in alphabetical order (by twitter handle):

@cdhay

_________

@Elessarion30

_________

@floso1985

_________

@Joel__Henry

_________

@LemonConstruct

_________

@oathius

_________

@Proximocoal

_________

@rhill134

_________

@Therril_83

_________

CLICK HERE TO PLACE YOUR VOTE!

#MFXTOP September Weeks 4 & 5

RUN.

Like the amazing Conrad EJ Gonsalves who just recently made took part in the Shine walk for cancer.
Good on you @nepalese_ninja!
The painters have gotten to the end of this months marathon.

Weeks 4-5 Entries

We all know I like a video game lookalikes,

@Therril_83 has made a return with this PacMan like Hungering Darkness.

@floso1985 decided to paint a McCabe

loving the (actually) Glowing saber and sweet scratch built wall.

Last but not least is Neverborn player @rhill134, aiming to do Nekima,

 he decided to enter a kind of mini version in the form of the Cherub.

May Feng

It may be over half a year away but if you're interested please go read about the next event I will be running and sign up here.

Also if you want to visit the south a little earlier get signed up for Isle of Faux 2!

Now Quick

Go head over to the next post and choose this month's winner.

October's theme will be announced on Friday.

-Ben (@psientologist)

Orange is the new Blue

Thunders

Well the blog has been a little slow as of late and I apologise, I do have some plans in the work, some articles to tie up and some new things to write but for now, yes that's right, another Mei Feng article.

For a long while I stated that Mei Feng was only really good as Arcanists.

Why is that?

Go Blue Team

Constructs

First and foremost Arcanists have a lot of constructs and Mei Feng's most important ability on her card is Railwalker which needs them.

Where Mei can hire four foundry models regardless of faction, Arcanists open up a few options that the Ten Thunders simply don't have.

• All the gamin: these guys are useful in different ways, where the Metal might be the main stay an Ice or Fire flavour can also be handy.
• Mechanical Rider: This is simply one of the strongest units in the entire game, can summon the previous entries and is fast. Speed is important and I will further explain with...
• Howard Langston: Moving 15 inches in a turn means that Mei Feng's "train track" has a great end destination, allowing for craziness like turn 1 charges or simply changing the side of the table she is on during a game. Big H is also one of the best single killers in the game and his steam isn't half bad too.
• Arcane Effigy: Yes there is shadow, but for 4ss we get some condition removal. Nice.
• Soulstone Miners: Great in so many strategies and a great "Train Station" placement as it were.
• Joss: Kind of specific but this tough git is great against certain match ups and can hold some interesting upgrades.

There are many more but I am sure that the list demonstrates my point.

Cheap Minions

Now be aware that this was an opinion pre-Crossroads.

At the time Ten Thunders had... Low River Monks at 4ss or less. Well the Emberling too.

Arcanists have 3 flavours of Gamin, Arachnids, Molemen and probably something else I have forgotten.

It was more. Activation control can be important and I like having a fair amount on the board for a few strategies.

Upgrades

Arcane Reservoir, enough said...

Alright, also I feel that Mei doesn't lose much from book 1 thunders and gains fast over positive flips (I tend to believe is better) along side Imbued Protection which is a personal favourite of mine. Leap Aside!

So what does Crossroads add?

Well crossroads has changed my opinion on a lot of these things, I'm not saying that I have taken a complete 180 but I think there are a good few things the book offers to make Mei in Orange a lot more appealing.

Constructs

Crossroads has added two constructs for Ten Thunders and honestly, that is enough of a big deal.

Komainu are a nice alternative way of attacking for 5ss than a Rail Worker, their ability to attack WP is great and the fact they are also Hard to Kill, Armour +1 and 6 wounds means they are arguably as tough.

Komainu are a little fast than Rail Workers which can make a big difference and the (0) place they have can also cause some tricky things to help in certain schemes or simply get Mei into place a little better.

Along with the Arcane we also got the Shadow Effigy, another 4ss Metal Gamin like model with a handy ability, not always as useful as condition removal and more resource taxing but extra scheme markers never go a miss.

Cheap Minions

Tengu at 4 is nice, not quite the toughest bit of speed but good none the less.

As mentioned previously we've also got the Shadow Effigy and at 5ss we have Komainu and the fantastic Ten Thunder Brothers.

Along Komainu this leads me to mention an addition model:

Toshiro

If you have listened to Malifools recently I described him as a mini Nicodem.

Summoning is always powerful, using that extra scrap the Emberling can make or from your fallen Rail Workers, adding Komainu to the board is great and that is not all he does.

The Warfan action to make minions Fast is powerful, using this on a Worker with the Lethal Lunacy trigger for the 4" push means that the slow Rail Worker can go 16" in a single turn, faster than both Howard and Mech Rider.

This is great as Thunders now have access to that "fast constuct" outside of the Rail Golem and on 5ss models you do not care if they get killed as much as you would with Langston or the Rider.

Also, the buffs are great, Implacable Assault inside Damiyo range means those workers should hopefully hit and be able to cheat their 5 damage in. Lovely.

Oh and he isn't half bad in a fight himself.

Upgrades

On Wings of Wind, the upgrade I've been looking for.

It finally gives Mei Feng a (0) action, something she doesn't have so in an odd sense an extra AP.

Tempest Heart the (0) action is also great for the rail crew which outside of Mei Feng tends to be slow as sin.

Her being able to give Kang a cheeky push early or later a Rail Worker to get that charge is very helpful indeed.

Having a (0) also gives newcomer Sensei Yu something to copy and another push, this chap can make the rail crew get off their asses and into position while still using his Wk7 to worry about himself.

The other part On Wings of Wind also has benefit with Mei, pushing 3" means she can get out of melee range of things and stay within her kick, forcing her out of any issues at the end of turn her Jackhammer kick may have caused her.

This along side the obvious adding to movement, getting into the right table quarter across a line for a scheme etc. makes it, in my mind, well worth the 2 soulstone cost.

Orange vs Blue

Well I definitely have not defected from Arcanists but the Crossroads release has surely given a new life to Mei Feng for me and even more of a gateway personally to get my huge 10T collection painted.

I hope you enjoyed this and I hope it makes a nice accompaniment to Malifools episode 94.

Thanks for reading.

Good Night!

-Ben (@psientologist)

#MFXTOP September Weeks 1, 2 & 3

Go Go Go.

Bit of a slower month which is ironic considering the theme, but do not worry people are still entering and it's looking great.

Weeks 1-3 Entries

As always it's @Elessarion30

Eless came third last month, can she beat her personal best?

@Joel__Henry decided to paint a Dawn Serpent

after some discussions on @Malifools, I want to steal this basing.

My good friend @Oathius has been a hobby machine recently,

one of his best pieces is the lumbering (that's a wood joke) Whiskey Golem.

 Also painting up the GenCon Nightmare model is @Proximocoal,

surely the Golem stumbles about and doesn't run right?

 Wk6, well what about the riders?

@cdhay decided he'd enter one of the pale variety, with Malifools pink.

Last but not least, creeping out of your Nightmares,

it's @Lemonconstruct, I mean Chris' Coppelius...

September's Curse

OK the tournament is over, but please check out the blog I wrote about the event and if you are sad to have missed out then don't worry as I'm proud to announce here...

MAY FENG

The next event from myself and Aaron will be the day before my Birthday next year named after my favourite master in Malifaux.

We intend to do everything we did right with September's Curse and level it up.

Yes it is over half a year a way but please, make a note in your diaries and check the thread once it is up on the Wyrd boards.

Still Running

Don't worry if you haven't entered, there is still 2 weeks left as September turned out to be a "5 week month" for #MFXTOP
Let's see some more riders, let's see other Whiskey Golems, let's just see more!

-Ben (@psientologist)

September's Curse

The Event which was actually in August

As many of you already know myself and Aaron ran a tournament down here on the south coast of England a couple of weekends back, I was very happy by the end of the event with how it had all gone.

This will be a short, mainly photo filled blog as a run down of the event, either memories for some or hopefully a poke to those who couldn't make it to get their butts down here for our next event (yes, there will be more).

The final count was 22 players, playing 4 games of Malifaux to determine our September's Curse champion.

It wouldn't just be the winner they were all playing for to decide.

Here is a nice pile of prizes.

Everyone who entered got themselves a "SC'14" counter.

We had spot prizes throughout the day including day-glow Pandora and the new TTB deck.

Best in race would get some sexy certificates

and thanks to our sponsors there would also be vouchers,

some as spot prizes and others for the winners.

Thanks to Austin Capewell for designing these, they came out fantastically

September's Curse Spoon, it had to be done and whomever came last would take it home.

Best Team Medals were something a little different we tried out.

In the end people would register teams of three and the best average VP differential

of a team would take home the shiny medals.

Tankard and some local limited edition beer.

Best Sports and spot prizes.

Thanks to Mike Asquith for getting these sorted, they went down a treat.

And here are all the prizes on the day.

A very nice haul indeed.

Most players were randomly paired up, but September's Curse

did allow for grudges.

The only grudge, put on table 1 was Ben Crowe

 getting his Canterfaux rematch against Jan Proudley.

Ben against Jan round 1 saw Dreamer summon a Teddy early

thanks to an assist from Mr Tannen.

Also in the first round, on table 2 (with some of my terrain which needs fixing)

Luke Cocksedge came up against Panzer Harris.

Tables 5 and 6 in the first round.

Look at Mike's concentration.

Mike and Austin, two of my favourite people on the Malifaux scene

(and in the world).

Round 1 had a couple of the Tractor Massive; Lee and Spooner

get comfortable together on tables 7 and 8,

they were against Liz Larsen and Matt Clarke respectively.

Round 1's tables 7-12 

with the people at the bottom getting choice of 11 or 12.

James Goddard and Josh Leak would hope to not be sat here long.

During the rounds players enjoyed their sweets and I walked around,

offering people water to keep them hydrated and catching a few sites like...

Josh Fletcher's Colette doing what Colette does...

and a lot of Witchling Stalkers makes me think

this must be a game with Joe Wood and his Sonnia.

Round 2 was Turf War and saw

Ben Crowe battle Gremlins for the second time in a row

on table 4 this time against local, Richard Beams.

Round 2, much to everyone's surprise saw

Matt Spooner on table 3.

He however was met by Martin who showed him what's what.

Some in game action on table 6

Seeing Josh Leak's Seamus fighting for turf

against Liz Larsen's Viktorias.

After lunch we were on to Reconnoiter.

Here is a sight of the top tables and I didn't seem to take a picture of much else.

Sorry.

Final round, tables 3 and 4

Benjamin Crowe battles Martin Wodehouse

Luke Cocksedge faces his team mate Josh Fletcher

The last round was some good old fighting, Reckoning style.

Round 4 on Tables 5 and 6.

Richard Beams playing against Ben "Panzer" Harris

both who had been on pretty good tears that day,

and they were seated next to

the lovely Josh Leak fighting off the Daddy of Malifools.

Tables 5 and 6

Lee Battrick up against Josh Fletcher, Lee fielding one of Josh's favourites

"The 'tache" Von Schill in a very sporting and fun game

and

Luke Cocksedge against James Goddard, Luke had been super helpful

in the morning helping mark out tables and James was around with the Larsen's

representing the Solent Wargaming club and doing pretty well.

Round 4 Tables 7 and 8

Austin vs Stuart Snares (there's his arm)

and

Liz Larsen against (out of shot) Jan Proudley.

I took this photo as next to eachother were the two people 

with the dirtiest mouths I have met,  Matt Spooner and Mike Asquith.

Up against two of the sweetest blokes out there

Ole Larson and Henry Whitcher.

Also of note was the fact Matt got to play against the Wife and Husband

combination of Liz then Ole. Matt making swingers jokes obviously.

Mr Wodehouse thinks deeply about his schemes (this may've been round 3)

Each time at this stage of the round was silent, it was eery.

I loved it.

Final round, top tables.

Mark Elwood against Joe Wood, both on 3-0

Martin getting paired up against the last 3-0 player, Ben Crowe.

Still all to play for.

Who would come out on top?

While games were being played, spot prizes had been handed out during.

Stuart Snares picking up a limited edition EBO tin for being the first to lose.

Lee Battrick winning the TTB Fate deck through burning through his deck

(though Mike took it from him as he owed him and then gave it to me because... he's too nice?).

As well as multiple vouchers and beers handed out for Red and Black Jokers.

A few were left to give as well as the Certificates and trophies:

Midtable Mediocrity, was a voucher prize for coming as centre of the pack as possible.

Taking it home was Austin Capewell. Love the smile!

Glorious Death, the final spot prize went to Matt Spooner.

Matt had Kirai, without shears manage to get the super tough Joss

down to a single wound.

The issue. Joss gained reactivate and messed her up.

Spoon!

Goes to Matt Evans (one of the people you can blame for we wargaming)

Best Sports was,

The ever-so-lovely Mr BendyBoards Lee Battrick.

Initially a three way tie between himself, Mike Marshall and Ole Larsen,

Lee won by flipping a higher card than the other two.

To note though, a later recount actually saw that Lee had won Best Sports by a single vote.

Karma there.

Best Team - "Dom's Rent Boys"

Including (left to right) winner of Best Arcanist and Most Travelled Josh Fletcher.

Luke Cocksedge winner of the Outcast "Pity prize" (ironically donated by Josh)

and Martin Wodehouse who was always on the top tables.

Best Gremlin and Winner of the "Ben Halford Award of Excellence"

which was won simply on the amount of times we heard

Bayou gremlins one shotting far better things.

Richard Beams.

Panzer Harris won Best Outcast

and

James Goddard won Best Resurrectionist.

The photos were far too blurry to post, so apologies to the two of them but well done again! 

Oh also, Matt Clarke a long time gaming friend also won Best Ten Thunders,

didn't get a photo though, sneaky git.

Best Pained - Judge's Choice (Aaron as judge)

With his lovely Guild McMourning crew

Finally got a photo of him, 

sexy Mr Mike Marshall

Best Painted - Player's Choice

with his beautiful Resurrectionists. 

Josh Leak.

3rd place and Best Guild

Joe Wood

2nd Place, always the bridesmaid

"The Hardcore Legend" Benjamin Crowe.

Best Neverborn and Winner of September's Curse 2014

Mark Elwood.

End of day results for clarity.

Thanks again everyone who attended the event, with out you September's Curse could not have been a thing and absolutely everyone was super lovely.

I hope to see you soon and I already have some events planned out for 2015, September's Curse but some more a lot earlier than that.

Cheers for reading.

-Ben (@Psientologist)