Storm of Shadows

I finally got the latest Malifaux book (along with some other goodies - see the pic below).

My Malifaux painting backlog has officially been increased at least twofold

There are some minis that I'm really looking forward to paint (Alps, Watcher, Lucious, Witchling Stalkers,  Hamelin!). If only I had more time for painting...
I had a quick look through Storm of Shadows and here are some of my thoughts:
- It's definitely thinner than the other books and there is much less fluff in it. Each character is introduced and put in context the way it worked in the previous books but the story part is shorter. Can't say anything about the content and overall quality of the story at this point but I'll get to it.
- The artwork is superb and seeing the well known pics of the Illuminated, Jakob Lynch, Misaki, etc. in better quality and in larger size made me really appreciate the skill of the artist/artists who created those.
- There are some models that are a must for me and I can't wait until they're released. I'm particularly looking forward to Sidir Alchibal. First of all, he looks great, kind of Captain Nemo. I'm a bit concerned by the static pose but he has enough character to work even if he looks a bit too static. He seems to be a very ve5rsatile minion too. Good at ranged combat, even better at closer distance and able to handle himself in melee. He also has a nice defensive trigger and can buff friendly models to some degree. And last but definitely not least, he's Always There. Guild Pathfinder is another minion that I'll be happy to include in my Guild force. The Freikops trapper has caused trouble in the few games I played agains Outcasts so it would be nice to be able to do pretty much the same from my end. I also like the look of Guild Riflemen and their potential to cause trouble seems pretty high too. I also feel bad about not buying the Depleted during Gencon. They're quite mobile and I can easily see them working well with Jakob and HD. Guess I'll have to wait a bit more as they aren't going to be released this year...