#ToMB Part 1
Hello folks it's me Conrad...
Wait no it isn't.
It's me Ben (@psientologist) with the first official #ToMB blog here on Malibros.
Well, unless you count month 0.
Oh ok, this is already a trainwreck...
Hello!
The way I thought I would structure this first part of my ToMB adventure was to start by where my money has gone, but the main part will be to break down what my purchases mean to me in both gaming and painting.
I'll also finish up with any other plans I may have.
You could almost think of this blog as a highly in depth (got to make sure not to big this up too much) product review.
I haven't got a game in yet, so look forward to updates throughout the month, where I will inevitably lose a lot
Dollar Dollar Bill Y'all
In month 1 we get a nice shiny "$60" to spend, as you may or may not know, mine was spent as the following:
Claw and Fang - $50
Total Spent - $50
Money remaining - $10
Pretty simple. The Marcus box is huge, $50 is one of the more expensive sets, but as we'll see, totally worth it.
$10 could get me another miniature, but I will leave that to go into the next month and add it to the $25 to give me some more freedom.
What I will also say, is what this means in "real life".
The dollar system all the #ToMB participants are using is to allow everyone to be on the same page.
However, in we think about the original Tale of Four Gamers articles, they went to store openings, sales, one time Paul Sawyer even used some money to buy a Bacon Sarnie.
Right now $60 is roughly £36.00 (according to xe.com £36.1062)
So for "IRL" let's rephrase that to:
Claw and Fang from Element Games - £28.89
Total Spent- £28.89
Money remaining - £7.11
"Why do it like this, won't the savings you get from Element just keep adding up?" I hear you say.
Well other voice in my head, you are right.
However let's consider 2 things.
First, all that money saved by the end of this will prove that it's easily manageable to build up a competitive crew in Malifaux even cheaper!
Secondly, all that money saved will cover the things we haven't included you may not have. The Rules manual, glue, modelling bits, even postage if you want to get right into it.
Essentially, I think this not only lets #ToMB make a point, but it underlines it and then goes through it with a nice fluorescent pink highlighter.
Break it down
So let's get stuck in, what does the Marcus box contain, what does it mean?
Marcus
Gaming
Marcus is the beastmaster, the leader of the box set and as is typical with any crew it is the model which is most complicated and has the most different ways of being looked at and used.
First impressions, stat wise he is solid but nothing to get too excited about, Df5 isn't too hard to crack, Wp6 is maybe a little better but also nothing to write home about.
He isn't initially quick, though Cg8 is fairly impressive.
12 Wounds is on the higher end, but with that lower defense he'll need them.
Unlike my other regularly used Arcanist masters, he doesn't come with Armour, this means he needs some sort of other protection and he does in the form of a Df Trigger "Defend Me", it uses Tomes which I know is a bit of a bugger as they may need to go elsewhere but basically I can shove Beasts in the way.
What is extra impressive about this? Doesn't say friendly, it does smartly say that the person making the attack can't become the new target, but if Marcus get's in the mosh pit, he could be getting the enemy to hit each other.
This trigger is nice, but I can't see it being too relied on. Maybe my first games will prove me wrong?
The rest of the front of his card is all good.
First of all is "Call of the Wild", for those that don't realise it, when I say Marcus is the beastmaster he literally is the BEAST(characteristic)master, meaning I can hire BEASTs from any faction and not just Arcanists.
The future of this #ToMB will be made very interesting because of this.
The other 2 things are "Unimpeded" and "Accomplice", the first of these means he ignores the penalties that slow him down in severe terrain, making that Wk5 he has a little more impressive.
The latter allows me to chain activate another model within 6" after he has just gone.
This is always good anyway, being able to have more control over activations is very important in Malifaux.
When only using this box I will get out activated by a fair few other starting crews due to model count, this gives me a tool to fight back some what. Really though it's more about what crazy things he can do using it with things on the back of his card.
He has a Shillelagh which for those who don't know or haven't skipped to any pictures yet, is a big gnarly Irish walking stick.
Game wise it's far from impressive for a master, 2/2/4 isn't too exciting, I like his weak damage isn't only 0 or 1 but that's about it. Ml6 is fairly high and Rg2 is average.
It also has a trigger, this also needs a Tome, we can see a pattern emerging right?
Well if Marcus damages the target it becomes a BEAST.
Shenanigans are coming.
Next are his Attack Actions (which by the way, is all he has on his base card, no Tactical ones), is "Alpha".
At this point, I will direct you to @iamsssk's blog if you want some in depth thoughts into Alpha, but here I'll give you my initial ones.
Alpha is powerful. It's a (2) action and that always raises alarm bells, its a spell at Ca7 which you need to get an extra 8 with a mask to get it off, that is a fair few hoops to jump through.
The pay off, the target BEAST (so we can see his stick coming into play there to use this offensively) activates immediately after Marcus and it does not count as their activation, also as an extra, it says that Marcus controls the model, so yeah, you can "super obey" essentially.
The hoops are worth jumping through, I can see my Marcus games involving me using soul stones for the extra card filtering and suits a decent amount.
It does mean Marcus almost exchanges his activation for a Beast activation instead, let's say half, as he does still have another 1AP and 0 he can do in his turn, but the amount of choice this gives is almost endless.
Make a combat beast do the dirty work, use it to throw something into the area it needs to be in quicker, get lucky and do it to an opponent. Well that's just crazy good.
The last couple of bits on his base card are a (0) which allows him to make beasts glass cannons, giving them positive flips on attack and damage, but double negative on defense.
I can see this being used when I've successfully Alpha'd a combat monster a fair amount.
The other spell (they're all bloody spells with this guy) targets an enemy and basically says "yeah I'm a bit useless", they can't charge and the best bit is, if in combat they can only walk, "Prey" is what it says they become and it is quite apt.
Upgrades are very interesting.
These are something I will go into when I play games, but I would like to cover 2 here very quickly.
Those are his "Limited" upgrades "The god's domain" and "The Trail of the gods".
Both cost a single soulstone, both are good and both give him a similar yet very different ability.
Each are something he does at the beginning of his activation, it gets him an ability until his next activation or more if he discards, you guessed it, Tomes. That's the similarity.
The difference is, well first of all Domain gives him Regeneration +1, regeneration is a nice defensive thing but is no good if you are going to get killed in a turn, still, it let's him survive a lot longer on the edge of combat.
The regen is a sidenote here, each Domain and Trail give him animal forms as such, Domain gives him Eagle, Fox and Serpent (cool eh?), which translates as better at hitting fools, better at taking hits from fools and charges cost 1 respectively. Domain seems like he wants to "tank" or even become simply a combat guy...
Or does it?
Trail makes him a bear, hare or tiger (that last bit doesn't rhyme!) which gives him essentially 4/4/6, nice, Wk8, cool and/or an extra AP for Melee, jazz club.
But wait, this seems like he becomes more of a combat guy too, what?
Well the differences are interesting, Trail means his damage is more consistent, though on Domain he is more likely to hit. Maybe with Trail he is meant to simply meant to "merc suckas" hitting lower defense guys with minimum 4.
Hare is my favourite without even playing as a Wk8 Unimpeded Marcus is so damn quick, this means he can do stuff with scheme markers or get into Alpha range very easily.
Trail and Domain are Limited, so can't be combined, so no 1.5 "Beagles" unfortunately, also Trail has Bear but no Owl, I think the design team made an oversight with this.
Painting
I am actually unsure if I want to do anything bar paint Marcus traditionally, off the box.
As you can see, he is fairly logical to build, two legs, two sides to his coat that wrap around him.
His torso and connecting arms along with a cool horned skull on his front and an impressive amount of hair on his head (no diss to the bald people out there).
The only strange bit, is in the top left there, that's just a bit more hair to, I guess, give his hair a more dynamic look.
So far he is built:
The quick of you will realise, he isn't on a base.
Well I'll get to that towards the end.
I will probably get a little bit of liquid greenstuff out for him, but he doesn't suffer from being too gappy.
Also, gotta double check for mold lines before priming.
For those who don't and a lot of you will read this and think "who doesn't?", trust me, a lot of people don't, some people don't even know why, you should always check and clean mold lines because. well, they look bad, to elaborate, thin lines on the miniature will show, even with paint on top and actually even more when you apply anything like a wash or even a simple drybrush.
Mold lines make miniatures look more like miniatures, less realistic, definitely not organic and that is not good.
Myranda
Gaming
Myranda is one of the few parts of this box which I have had experience with, see the Malibros episode "Meowlifaux" for a bit on that.
She is the henchman and is 8stones.
So what do we get?
Stat wise she is fan-bloody-tastic, 7/6/7/6/7 is very nice to see, I mean wounds isn't too high but at Df7 she is hard to hit and basic Wk6 is not easy to catch.
I'll note here, that this entire set has the BEAST characteristic.
Her abilities, well she also has accomplice, so more activation shenanigans as well as "Wicked" which lets her hurt people with disengaging strikes.
The interesting part is "Huntress" where she gives other friendly beasts within 3" positive defense flips.
So having her around with anything else in the crew is pretty handy.
The back, she does 2/3/5 with Poison +1 not crazy-strong but decent, especially at Ml6.
She like Marcus can also support, either healing Beasts or letting them take a 1AP Ml action, like a baby alpha almost.
Her big ability though, is "Shapechange" a (0) which allows her to sacrifice and summon a (arcanist non-master, non-henchman) beast.
This means she can become almost anything you can hire as a (0) action, it means she can upgrade to a bigger beast, she can do this when she is on her last legs and she can also do this after using her 2AP (though remember the fresh model is slow).
The utility this brings is insane, without this ability I think she is solid, maybe a stone too expensive, with it though, she is crazy-good, I can see myself taking her a lot even when the Marcus themed collection is bigger.
Painting
Well anyone who has listened to @malifools episode 77 will know where I'm going with this:
This is Rainbow Mika, she's from the Street Fighter Alpha games and many of the other sequels and tie-ins.
First thing I noticed with Myranda's sculpt was she has a mask, to me that means Luchador.
Here is her sprue, the middle bit is a rock, luckily, it can be ignored.
Otherwise, 2 legs, torso, 2 arms and head plus a little knife to hide on her back. Simple pieces for a dynamic model.
Apologies for the awful photo. Her main gaps are nears the arms, but these aren't very big and will be no problem to cover.
We can see her and R.Mika even share a hairstyle, so I will painting her to that pallette.
Now note, I won't be converting her.
I really like the idea of some video game tie-ins with my Marcus crew, but the more "subtle" the better.
Remember, in the future, Myranda may want to chill out with Ramos, Ironsides or even my favourite Mei Feng.
If she does look like say Princess Peach, which could be cool, it would look awful amongst "stock" Mei.
Hopefully this works out.
Jackalope
Gaming
The Jackalope is Marcus totem, he's a nice cheap 2 stones and is a strange piece (pieces when gaming Mike, I'm sorry, models when painting though ok, please don't hurt me) which I guess is fitting for a bunny with antlers.
Stat wise, the high ones are Df6 and Cg7, so not easy to hit and a decent yet not incredible charge.
The low ones, Wp4 is meh, Wd2 is obviously fairly bad and Ht1 means he can get devoured.
The thing with the Jackalope is it seems he is meant to die, a lot.
First of all I'll get out the way he is an Insignificant, Peon, meaning he is no objective grabbing, scheme throwing machine.
The other bit on the front though is "Multiply" like bunnies, there is loads of him.
If there's not a Jackalope on the table and then a friendly beast dies he get's summoned.
Basically he keeps coming back for more.
Before I move to the back, also note Marcus had "defend me", well this cheap little guy can take a huge hit and save Marcus' life if he sticks around him.
Anyway, the back, it's short as you'd expect at 2 stones, he has "Horns" (are antlers simply horns? I guess) which are a crappy Ml4 1/1/2, the best bit, if he charges they are essentially 2/2/4 which is actually pretty reasonable at his cost, especially as...
He has "Leap"! For those unfamiliar with Leap, it's a (0) which allows him to hop his Cg (so 7") meaning he has a 15" threat range (leap, charge, melee range) which is actually good.
It needs a mask of 5 or better, which I can if the situation is needed it will be worth cheating.
Being insignificant does mean he can't leap and place markers, but at such a cheap cost, this is understandable.
Painting
The obvious choice here would be Pikachu, but that isn't happening.
I'll be honest, I haven't given the painting of the Jackalope much thought, not that I don't love the model.
Super easy to build, 2 sides, slap the face on, done.
Possibly unnecessary as he is so small but that seems to be the nature of the plastics right now.
Look at him, look at his face, no the Jackalope, not the dead dude.
Cojo
Gaming
The big old Gorilla is something I have the least knowledge of coming into this.
I've never played with or against him.
So he's 8 stones and an Enforcer, his stats are fairly mediocre with Df and Wp5 nothing to shout home about at his cost, he stat wise is slow with Wk4 Cg6 and only 8Wd I am looking for a lot of good and/or interesting stuff on his card.
He's Hard to Kill as a start, which makes up for the low Df and Wd a little, Unimpeded seems right for a gorilla and helps the Wk4 a bit. His unique bit is "Loping Charge" which says he can use a (2) melee action instead of 2 (1)s if he charges, we better look at the back.
So far, not worth it.
His combat attacks are a (1) which does 2/3/6 at Ml5 which is solid, not amazing but has a built in trigger to push the enemy 4" in any direction if he damages them.
This adds a bit of control and can set things up for getting other models in range or just keeping them away from doing strategies and schemes.
His other combat attack is the (2) we've been anticipating, it does 3/5/7 which is a lot better especially at Ml7 which essentially means it probably is more reliable than hitting twice (situational I know) and also gets better with it's 2 triggers.
A Ram gives you a positive damage flip. I've said this before on podcasts, twitter and the like, if you have a positive damage flip, you are so much more likely to be able to cheat fate, when that means you can do 7 damage, that is impressive.
The other trigger "Pound Chest and Howl" uses a Tome (we won't have many lying about) to push the enemy 6" and then push into contact with them.
This looks like a tricky and possibly awkward way for Cojo to get about a bit quicker. I'll be honest, due to needing the Tome, I can't see myself planning for this too often.
Both Melee attacks have a 3" reach, which does mean, once again that Cojo is about board control.
Cojo has two Tactical Actions.
Both are (0)s so he must choose to:
"Mark Territory" or use "Rude Sign Language", the first lets him discard all scheme markers within 3 and gain Defensive +1 for each that he does.
This reveals what he may be about, if you can get into position for even one, you've made the opponent waste an AP (probably) and is making Cojo possibly tough.
The issue I can see is, with only 1 scheme marker, is that he will still only be Df5 with a positive flip which is good but with his lack of wounds and the fact he'll probably be close to the enemy a dangerous thing to pull.
Getting 3 is the dream I guess, Df5 but with all the cards means you are likely to hit 17-18, problem is, your opponent can steal cheat against you with a higher stat, but this will eat cards.
The latter ability insults everyone (enemies within 3") and this means they push away 4" from him.
Cojo can clear hot spots with this, I can see it being useful, it's just a shame he can't do it to friendly models.
Overall, I'm not too impressed at 8 stones, he's simply too slow and HtK is not enough resilience for my liking. Time will tell.
Painting
Cojo could only be one character really in my head, no not King Kong but maybe a relation.
Now I'm possibly going to model that quiff, I am definitely though, giving Cojo a red tie!
As you can see, a model designed for someone with sausage fingers like me, and went together like a dream
Tempting to reposition his arm for a barrel and one may make at least an appearance on his base.
This guy has only some hairline gaps bar his head which is a tiny bit bigger but easily fixable before priming.
The spikes aren't very DK but I'm leaving them, he'll lose that metal chain ring for a tie, he'll get a nice brown coat but otherwise, he will look like Donkey Kong but in the world of Malifaux.
Sabertooth Cerberus
Gaming
Meow! I've already transformed Myranda into one of these and they are no pushovers!
9 stones sees this Enforcer being the most expensive piece in the box, so we are looking for a lot.
The Cerberus stats are similar to Cojo's except in 2 areas, movement where it's Wk5 Cg7 not too speedy but not sluggish, and wounds where the big cat has 10.
Unimpeded makes and appearance here but also does Terrifying, it is only against living and not the highest at 11, but Terrifying is great for when your opponent is playing of the top of their deck and also, simply may make them burn a card or 2.
The main bit the Cerberus has is "Three Headed" which it is, and what that does as with any three headed monster in Malifaux is give it positive attack and damage flips when all the heads are fine, which is in game at 5 wounds or more.
Seems solid, not the toughest, thing ever, and actually probably more glass cannon like than Cojo.
The back gives us an impressive 3/4/6 "Bite" which has the insane trigger (but you need a Tome) of "Maul" where if it didn't do enough damage the first time (note, you had to do some to get this) then you can take the attack against the same target again.
3/4/6 is an impressive spread, combined with Three Headed. My word that is scary!
Then it gets better, it has Leap as well, you'll need those masks but this gets the Cerberus that tasty 15" threat range the Jackalope has, but this big kitty has alot to do with it.
Marcus and Myranda both are going to make this thing do a lot of work.
Lastly we get "Stalk" which is another (0) so no leap for us if we do it, discard a card and the target is "Stalked" funny that, which means you get some free moves towards the target due to the target moving.
The issue is, this action gives your opponents some control where the Cerberus will go and also gives them the choice of whether or not they will even let you move as they don't have to.
Overall the Cerberus is worth the 9. However, it's definitely a glass cannon, it does not want to be hit back.
If it can Leap and Charge and Charge and Leap all over the field, then great, if it sticks around, ouch.
Also, unless staying around Myranda or out of sight, it's fairly susceptible to getting shot down.
Painting
There are many big cats in Video games, I could have literally done Big The Cat from Sonic Adventures, but, no.
Instead, with the realisation I don't want to change the model at all, I went for a colour scheme off of something else, which is not really a cat at all, but I hope you forgive me.
Final Fantasy VII is my favourite game of all time.
If I'm doing a subtle video game theme, I have to get it in somewhere.
Now it's simply the colour scheme that I think will stand out but I also will attempt to use this as an excuse to get comfortable with doing a little free hand again with the tattoos (the XIII at least).
If I do add anything, I might squeeze the hairpin (feather) somehow.
A few more parts due to a few more heads, but much like Cojo this was simple and only ended with a small hairline gap between the two main body parts.
The feet are half on the rock to start with, which is kind of a shame, but I like the rock this is standing on.
As a side, it reminded me of Nanaki howling for Seto. If you don't get that, sorry you just lost a little bit of cred with me (but I still love ya).
The middle head felt odd going in and looks a little off at some angles. However I'm overall happy with this model.
Razorspine Rattler (RSR)
Gaming
@IamSssk's favourite thing, the RSR is a 7 stone minion, so he can't take any upgrades and is on the higher end of cost.
For those stones we get a decent statline, Df6 is no joke at this cost with 9Wd, Wk5 Cg7 is standard, just nothing to start raving about.
The front of it's card though is 4 things, again Unimpeded, also Wicked like Myranda and Terrifying (Living) 11 like the Cerberus, part 4 is it's own jam, "Constriction" which give it double positive to disengaging strikes, to quote the somewhat infamous Ben Diesel "You're not moving!", and with this combined with Wicked we can see what the RSR is aiming to do.
The back gives us a Ml5 attack with 2/3/6 but also Poison +2 so that will add up.
The RSR also gets a single Tactical Action is the form of "Slither" a (2) action where you move up to 9" ignoring severe terrain and then make a melee attack.
This is further than is charges but more importantly, it isn't a charge.
You can't charge when engaged, a position (engaged that is) I guess the RSR with its Wicked and Constriction wants to be doing, but this let's you get out when you want.
I like it, a tar pit as such, a snake pit even, holding the enemy in a catch 22 situation of trying to fight you off or risking escape.
Painting
I asked on Twitter for famous video game snakes, now however much doing a comedic reference to Solid Snake would be amazing or even better making a cuboid to be "Snake" the old nokia game, I've gone with another Japanese game we all know and (should) love.
Pokemon!
Arbok here does seem a bit bright, I will probably have a much paler purple, but the main thing is that he's a cobra he has the same... flaps(?)... as the RSR and I may attempt to paint those red and yellow markings.
Here is the sprue for the RSR:
A fair few segments, but this is understandable for a coiled snake.
The tail, went together with almost no problem, there is a gap between two segments but nothing that can't be fixed.
However those "flaps"
It's a little hard to show with a still photo, but getting the bottom flap let's call it, into position awkward, required some bending and really was a pain in the arse.
Here you can see that I had to use the back of clippers to push the flaps against the spine tightly, can't use two hands as first of all, you're being stabbed and secondly you'll probably snap the spiky spines.
This needed to be done or else it wasn't flush.
The head sit on the end of the top flap, it has it's own step to sit on and fits perfect.
Also, the top flap slides on to the spine a lot easier initially.
Holy Gaps Batman! It just gets worse, gaps everywhere, pushing it right here makes it wrong there and so on and so forth. As evidence further shows
In the end I pulled it apart, it needs trimming here and there.
Maybe some proper green stuff gap filling will have to be done, but scales man, I can't sculpt!
Well, I can probably do the simple squares, but, let's just try again... oh f*%£ this!
Here is my final bit of modelling progress with the RSR:
Other thoughts going forwards
In a total change of character, I haven't thought too much about gaming, already I have 34 stones of models without upgrades, I can tell I may want Molemen or something for numbers, but really my gaming thoughts aren't here.
That'll change when I get some games in for sure, I can see myself studying all the Beasts in Malifaux at that point.
The thing I have thought about is basing.
Recently on @malifools there was the small joke of Mike forgetting to send me a package, the main thing I needed was bases. My current models are on resin bases and where as I think they look fine and I don't have anything against people using (decent) resin scenic bases you can definitely do better things yourself.
I will eventually be rebasing all my Arcanists and then Ten Thunders, this will start though, with this project as the testing platform.
I've recently bought more basing materials from Element games:
@GuildBall plug there too!
Now I'm not using all this stuff necessarily (note the background is actually white plasticard), but all these things are so cheap and the wonderful thing about a game with such a low model count is this will all go very far.
My "complex basing" plan I have is as follows:
- Cork to build up the bases, making little "islands" of various shapes and sizes depending on the miniature. It's less than £2 for some from EG
- A small layer of sand will go in the black space left on the base and cover any obvious gaps where the cork is layered and built up.
- As long as it works fine (and it should) I'll do the top flat surface of the cork with "Agrellan Earth" under £3 a pot.
- Then I will add maybe a small bit of slate.
- Next this will get drybrushed up, my classic way of doing rocky surfaces is actually a base coat of a red-brown with grey's drybrushed up over, leaving a warm undertone.
- Some "Wasteland" tufts, which are the darker ones will be added.
- Also I do want to try the poison ivy somewhere, this may go on last. Both the tufts and poison ivy are £3.39 at EG, both isn't needed and experimenting will show what looks best.
- Now the "complex" bit is, I've built one layer, painted, then added on, well after.
- Snow! I do snow in a kind of "sludge" mix with snowflock, pva and water. This give me control allows me to do it falling from where I like and possibly filling the bottom (see my Dark Eldar in a previous post to see).
Why snow? Well I like it, the Dark Eldar basing I enjoyed and I know I can work it into something much more special with this project.
Also, Rasputina is an Arcanist master I own and she really likes the cold I hear.
Anyway that mammoth blog is part 1.
I hope you enjoyed it, I can see myself going back and editing some bits as it is 3am (that's in the morning folks) and I'm finishing this outtro.
Please, as always, visit Elementgames.co.uk, grab some stuff and join in #ToMB yourself.
I really hope I can continue this and I would love to show off some painted figures by the end of this month.
Also, don't forget all those other things I constantly desperately plug on here, #MFXTOP is nearly at a close and hey go listen to @malifools I hear that Ben Sime guy was alright on there, he wasn't a total jebend.
BYEEEEEE
-Ben (@psientologist)
