Take back the night (and the day)

So, Perdita has rebuffed Lucius's advances, rejected his dinner invitations and left the flowers to wilt outside the ranch. What is a Neverborn silver fox in a mask to do but cast his net a bit further.... So, Sonnia, Lady J and Doug McMourning (Lucius likes to dabble) have been persuaded to join the Governor's Secretary for a jaunt into the romantic, candle-lit depths of the sewers. Even Master Queeg has been persuaded to take a look about, but I always had my suspicions about him.
The Guild range is nearly complete now; I need Hoffman's crew box, the Governor's Proxy (although due to the big man's tragic demise is it relevant??), the Lone Marshall and the Pale Rider to complete the faction as it stands. Oh, and Greed but I think she will have to wait a wee while yet.
I've got a lot of painting done, my Ironman Warden is the only model not to fit colour scheme-wise, and I've been modelling McMourning's crew and Ryle to be Batman characters: McMourning is Joker, Sebastian is Penguin, a Nurse is Harley, Ryle is Bane, and my cloaked Warden is Batman. I've attached photos of my painted stuff:

I'm very pleased with the Peacekeeper. He's Leadbelcher, washed with Nuln Oil then Agrax Earthshade, then with a layer of Spiritstone Red which gave a really nice finish. Someone on Facebook identified that the flamethrower is the physical embodiment of the 'scheme marker removal' 0 action. I like this, it amuses me :)

This was Stewbert's idea, and I decided to run with it, despite my usual reluctance to do this sort of thing and the fact that it doesn't fit my colour scheme.

I wasn't painting him in a black butler's coat, rather I wanted him to fit in as one of the legal team rather than a manservant. really like him but rather fiddly to pick out the details in places.

Distressingly I should've held onto him and done him in green like the Riddler to fit in with my Batman villain crew.... Damn hindsight! Great model to paint.

The Guild crutch. So much better than the boxed set model, with a sword rather than a meat cleaver. I love the pose and his stern face. Reminds me of many a Spaghetti-western character.

Red-headed step-child, Sonnia's 'favourite' nephew, and an integral part of the flame-wall crew!

No matter how I looked at her I couldn't sex her up, unless I filed away her shirt and random piece of dead animal... So I just painted her up, gave her a big hat and got the metal and glass mixed up on the lantern...

So, I thought she had a full corset and only panties, so painted her that way. She actually has trousers and a bandage-bra. I did remove the random boob-plate as it looked awful, so she looks squeezed into her corset. Learnt that you really need to dry fit this model as I glued the hair in before the scabbard and thus had to greenstuff a strap onto it. Sad times. Not my favourite model now!
I've played a few games with the new toys. Sonnia got battered (literally) by Ironsides but beat down McCabe, turning his horse, Luna and Sidir into Stalkers in the process. LJ pulled off the mother of all comebacks to score a 6-6 draw against BJ's Ressers: http://wrongsideoftrack.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/interfering-with-laddy-j-go-with-lj-and.html
Onto more painting ahead of tomorrow's game against Ben and his Gremlins (he sold his entire Arcanist collection to fund uni) so I hope to have more pictures soon. Until next time, be safe, because bad things......

Once Upon A Time in Malifaux, or A Dirty Rotten Cheater

The Governor has generously allowed reinforcements into the sewers recently, and so a Brutal Effigy, 2 Guild Sergeants and 2 Austringers have started a patrol beneath the city. The RSPCB have not been informed of this breach of animal rights, nor were they told that I nearly flung the Austringers across the room when trying to assemble the bloody birds!
Let me say that the Austringers look amazing. I love their poses, the coats, the lean faces with the native American feel to them. I even love the fact that one is heavier-set than the other. I do not however love attaching the leather straps onto them. Or the satchel. Or the knife that doesn't exist on the instructions. And I especially do not love attaching the legs to the birds, and then trying to pose the birds on their arms. One of mine looks like the bird is very drunk as it tumbles off his arm. Or it's about to pass out from laughing at another Hand that hasn't got a Mask in it....
The Guild Sergeants are nice too. Not as nice as the Austringers, and one does seem to be quite a bit shorter than the other, but as we know in Scotland, 'wee man' syndrome can go far (at the very least a movie alongside the acting heavyweight that is John Hannah). It however does not go as far as to get you included in this week's Wednesday night game against Molly.
This time I was prepared for the summoning malarkey that I knew BJ would be taking against me, and whilst the thought of 10+ feet of steel and harpoon launching would be fun, I had a suspicion that this time he'd be prepared (at least as prepared as Skar was, so the possibility of a Wildebeest herd). So I decided to try a different tack. So, in homage to Kristanna Loken's 'outstanding' performance in Terminator 3 (the first and last time that statement will ever be made), I donned my leather jacket, inflated my chest to DD and dusted off the Perdita crew...
We were playing Headhunter on a Standard deployment, and I'd chosen Hunting Party and Undercover Entourage on 'Dita herself. I'd taken Perdita with Aura Ancestral and Trick Shooting, Francisco with Wade In and Hermanas de Armas, the Enslaved Nephelim (I think he loves Perdita really), Santana, Papa Loco, Miss Terious (Death Marshall) and 2 Austringers. I think I cheated and miscounted, as I had 2 extra stones in the cache; I think I had forgotten to pay for Francisco's upgrades... However I had 2 stones left at the end so that's ok, right???? Plus, the Guild controls the soulstone trade, so what's a few extra stones between mates? So, with wide-brimmed hats on head and a few more crop tops than Francisco is used to seeing in the family we were ready to rumble.
Once we'd battered the chirpy Geordie twosome, the game started with an over-eager Belle making a bit of a move on Francisco and getting blown (hur hur hur) away by Perdita. Rule 101 of (undead) prostitution-the client comes to you or bad shit happens. This set the tone of the game and there were 14 (maybe more) casualties for Molly's crew. We ran out of head markers, we ran out of corpse markers, hell we eve ran out of scheme markers and that was with me generously leaving the job unfinished with Miss Terious. Francisco met his end to Black Blood after I forgot to Soulstone for damage prevention (but if I had then I'd have used one of my 'illegal' soulstones and that WOULD have been cheating) and Miss Terious got unlucky and was plugged by a Guild Autopsy who flipped a 12 and 13 on a -dmg flip, but other than that it was a great success. The Nephelim was the sneaky star of the show, dragging both Austringers out of combat after Molly had summoned the Necrotic Machine into the both, Influencing Papa Loco to lob dynamite that killed Sybelle and a Belle, and giving 'Dita a cheeky prod in the tush to put her into range to shoot Molly, giving BJ a serious scare. 'Dita did carelessly get herself slowed, which nearly lost me the game as I needed to cross the centre line to score with her (most girls prefer flowers or dinner...) but I was able to gather enough points to win 7-6 after I parked Santana and Perdita onto BJ's Cinvict Labour line for irritating VP denial. All in all, a great game and a damn good reminder that killing 14 models means sod-all in Malifaux if you don't score from both schemes.
I would really like to pick up my own Perdita model. Ben has done a fantastic job on the one I have, but I'd like to paint her myself, mainly with the jacket in red like my Lucius (and convienently like Ms Loken in T3). I'd also like to convert her to be bare (not bear) headed, maybe with the hat on her back.
Hopefully the next entry will have a finished lawyer and some pictures of the new models. I got £45 of GW vouchers from my work placement as a leaving gift, so I got a load of new paints including more black spray, so I can crack on with the painting side of things.
Until next time, remember to play to the schemes.

looks like 'Dita, right....?

A Call For Reinforcements

It's been a busy week or so for the Governor's Secretary. He's arranged his first Henchman tournament, painted another model and played some games. Oh, and there's been those nasty-real world commitments like working, eating, sleeping etc that get in the way of these more important pursuits too!
The tournament was a small-scale friendly tournament ran in conjunction with ABZ Games, with ten places available. I'd estimated that I could fill 8 places, but had high hopes that all ten could be done. Then it was revealed that there was tournaments for Age of Sigmar/40k/Warmachine down south and several of our likely participants were attending. Then I realised some of my gamers had this odd condition called 'Family' (which did not permit a chain activation, more of a Shackled effect, hur hur hur) and suddenly ten dropped to five, including my fine self. Still, five is better than four so onwards we pushed.
 I decided to get a practice game in on Wednesday against Michael and his Neverborn. He'd asked for some help as he is fairly new to the game and so Lucius (ever keen to help out a fellow Neverborn it would appear) agreed to play. I'd chosen Lucius with Secret Assets (I think) and Watch My Back, Cpt. Dashel, a Peacekeeper, a Warden, a Death Marshall, a Lawyer and 2 Hounds. I had Plant Explosives and Breakthrough, with the Strategy being Squatter's Rights. I faced Lilith with various nasty upgrades, Nekima with sharp claws, Barbaros, 2 Waldergeists, 2 Terror Tots and a Primordial Magic. Sadly it appears that a sword cane is no match for a two-handed greatsword as Lilith hacked Lucius apartafter I foolishly left a lane open to him and failed to switch him with Dashel. Dashel did beat Nekima to death with his cosh, to my delight and the Lawyer almost killed Barbaros with the weight of the law, but the game was comfortably Michael's. Nekima went through my crew like the prawn curry that I once hospitalised myself and my brother with and Lilith bled over my robots and dogs to great effect. Sadly her bleeding is of a higher caliber than that of BJ's Rotten Belle brigade and one dog literally melted whilst the Warden lost half it's wounds. I'd attempted to Pinebox the bigger (printed Height, not actual height...) sister but he red Joker'd the WP flip and chopped poor Miss Terious in half :(
 I painted up my male Guild Guard (looks like Jeff Bridges in RIPD and True Grit, so Guard Bridges it is) and started my Lawyer. I'm really pleased with them both and liking how the crew is looking with the pinky-purple/red tying them together. I'm hoping to finish the Lawyer by the end of the week (a lot of work commitments though) and onto the Scribe after him and the second Lawyer. Luckily I manicured my fingers before my photoshoot!

The tournament itself was great fun. There were five of us including me, so each game had one bye (counted as a draw and thus 1 point, 3 points for a win, 0 for a loss). I was the bye for game one, which was Extraction. Kit (Hamelin) drew 5-5 with Ben ( Colette) and Stewart (Jakob Lynch) beat Michael (Lilith). Frame For Murder was a popular choice, with Nix, Angelica and a Silurid all finding themselves 'victim' of the scheme-the evidence is overwhelming and Judge sentenced all the guilty parties to hard time. 

Game two gave Kit a bye, so Ben (Colette) played Michael (Lilith) and I (McCabe) played Stewart (Lilith). It was Interference (Corner deployment) and I realised that Luna and some hounds was likely to allow me to pull off Exhaust Their Forces and Inspection in a way that Lucius and my Guild Guard would not. I took Lucas McCabe with the Glowing Saber, Elixir of Life and the Badge of Speed, Luna, Francisco with Hermanas de Armas (and Wade In?), Sidir with Promises, a Riflewoman, a Death Marshall, and 3 Hounds. I almost lost Lucas in turn 1 when I (very very foolishly) charged Lilith thinking she was Def 5, WP 7 (that would be Nekima...). Thankfully Francisco pulled him back out with Hermanas and I was able to score repeatedly with the Hounds, one of which devoured a Silurid in the process. The Death Marshall failed to pinebox any one (as ever) but was able to lock down Lilith and her Black Blood Shaman for a turn. It finished 6-2 to me as I was able to Exhaust Lilith repeatedly and keep my Hounds alive to score me the points. Michael beat Ben.

Game three gave Ben the bye, and Stewart (Pandora) played Kit (Hamelin), whilst I (Perdita) took on Michael (Lilith). We were playing Headhunter (Corner deployment), so I felt that the Ortegas who could keep things away from their own precious heads were a good call. I chose Covert Breakthrough and Undercover Entourage (on 'Dita) and went aggressive with them. I took Perdita with Trick Shooting, Plant Evidence and Aura Ancestral, Enslaved Nephilim, Francisco with Hermanas de Armas and Wade In, Santiago with the one that gives him rapid fire (except it was a her as I've got Santana), Papa Loco, a Lawyer ('cos every Family needs their lawyer), a Death Marshall and a Latigo Pistolero. In turn one Perdita shot Lilith dead-Michael soulstoned to keep her alive on one wound. This set the tone for the rest of the game. Michael belted Santana to one wound with 2 Freikorps Trappers (proof mercs have no standards, although Nekima in a bikini could entice a lesser man I suppose....). This was his undoing as a VERY irate Santana went postal, killing Lilith and then took Nekima down to three wounds so that Francisco could kill her off. Perdita trick-shot both Waldergeists before taking out the Primordial Magic which was in his corner and camping there for the VPs. The Lawyer scooped up both sisters heads for the trophy rack. It ended 8-5 to me, and proof that doing lots of killing can mean very little as I'd got close to tabling Michael but was far behind on points. Stewart beat Kit so it came down to the last game-if I lost then Stewart would win by the differential. 

Game four gave Stewart the bye. Kit (Hamelin) played Michael (Lilith) and I (Lucius) played Ben (Colette). It was Guard the Stash, I'd taken Catch and Release, and Take Prisoner (on Colette herself as I've got fed up trying to kill her). I chose Lucius with Surprisingly Loyal and Secret Assets, Francisco with Hermanas de Armas and Wade In, a Doppelganger, Mr Tannen, 2 Wardens, and 2 Hounds. This game was one that the cards said 'yes'. In turn one I paralysed Colette and Angelica (I thought Ben was going to seriously injure me!) and killed the dove. I successfully passed all my Commanding Presence checks, beat Cassandra down before she could spring Southern Charms, and managed to copy the Corphyee's claws to Red Joker them to death with my Doppelganger. Ben did pull off Public Demonstration in turn 1 and we spent most of the game tagging each other as he got his tags off before Tannen could get Chatty up and running. It ended 9-8 to me and so the tournament was mine! Kit beat Michael (also 9-8) so Ben got the wooden spoon (a very nice one it must be said!).

It was a great tournament and we all had a great time. Next time we are hoping for an even number of gamers and a few more participants to give us more excitement and options on the table. I think I did so well because I kicked the 'only take themed stuff' mentality and started to utilise the faction more. I will post up some analysis soon but as I need to leave for work soon I'll have to call it there. Hope you all like the pictures I've attached, courtesy of Ben's photography skills.