Misery Loves Company #3

In folklore, a Poltergeist is a supernatural being, a kind of ghost that makes strange noises and causes various things around the household to move. Wyrd sometimes uses such stories when they come up with creatures for their game.

Poltergeist's large base (50 mm) and big size may be misleading. He's not a melee monster. As Pandora's totem, he has the function of a facilitator. He has a melee attach with a 1/1/5 damage spread but once he hits, the target receives the Slow condition. It can also move around the board quickly with a Wk of 6 and Incorporeal. It also means that he's not that easy to take down (despite only 5 Wd). He also regenerates 1 Wd each turn. Still ,once he's seriously hit by a Ca action, he can go down easily.

 His main function is to help with Pandora's Wp-based attacks as all models within 2' suffer a negative flip to Wp duels. He can also place 30mm markers that enforce a 15Wp duel to all within 3'. Those that fail them receive a Slow condition. Good positioning is essential with this totem. If he manages to get near the models targeted by Pandora, they're going to have a really hard time.

As far as painting is concerned, I used teh same color scheme that I chose for the sorrows. I liked the effect I got there and thought that since Poltergeist belongs to the same crew, he can get a similar look. Working on the miniature was fun, but it was also more time-consuming as he's a big one!

Misery Loves Company #2

Baby Kade is certainly not what he might seem to be at first glance. Many fall victin to his innocent appearance, only to learn that he's a mean, Manipulative (11) woe. He's small (Ht 1) with a decent Wk of 5 and very decent Cg of 8. His Carving Knife has a low damage profile (1/2/4) but the triggers are what makes it really dangerous. With a Crow, the attack deals +2 damage and Slows the target. Other than that, he gets +2 to damage if the target is engaged with at least one another friendly model. At this point the damage spread changes into a whooping 5/6/8. 

Kade can also Lure an opponent to move its Wk in his direction. It's a (1) action that has an impressive Rg of 18. Another of his tricks (a 2 action) allows him to push into base contact with a friendly Teddy within 15' and then push the Teddy up to 6' in any direction. Kade can also take an upgrade which allows him to add a suit of a card that he discards to all his flips until the end of turn.
He really shines in offense but despite his high Df of 7, he has only 6 Wd, which is his greatest weakness.

Painting him was a bit of a challenge due to his diminutive size. I wanted his skin to have a sickly pale shade so that it would work well with his hollow eyes and dark circles around them.
I used a Wyrd Orphanage base insert and painted the carpet using purple - a color that immediately brings Neverborn to mind. Kade is so small that he takes up only about 1/4 of the surface. Good thing Wyrd added a small Teddy to him. And yes, the toy is nailed to the floor...

Can these eyes lie?

Misery Loves Company #1

I've recently started working on Pandora's crew and since I currently have more free time due to longer than usual Christmas break, I plan to use it well and paint the whole crew before the year is over. So, let's start this entry with a proper song to play in the background.

I've been looking forward to painting Sorrows since I saw the artwork. They're a big improvement compared to old metal sculpts as they have more dynamic poses. Also, they now have a slightly humanoid look (at least in the upper half of their bodies) that goes really well with the ghostly lower half. Painting them was a very nice experience though the green part was a little time consuming. I needed to apply numerous layers of bright green mixed with white to make the highlights visible to a degree I found satisfying. 

These minions are quite cheat. At 5ss they offer interesting options but since they have a very strong synergy with Pandora, they are best used with that particular master. Their Wk of 3 seems like nothing but they have means of moving around much faster. They can become a really painful nuisance when models within 6' fail a Wp duel as it's then forced to lose 1 Wd. However, they are quite fragile with only 4 Wd. They're Incorporeal, which slightly increases their survivability, but they definitely require careful handling if they're to be used effectively.

Black Blood Shaman

This one is a very peculiar miniature. When I started painting it I didn't really know what to begin with. It's got plenty of details but various humanoid and bird-like shapes incorporated into the model make it a challenging mini to work with. I roughly followed the original color scheme but made it much darker to adapt it into my typical painting style.

My first association with the word "shaman" is colors. That's why I felt the use of brighter shades was justified. Also, it provided an element of contrast with his sickly pale skin. The skull base from Micro Art Studio completed my vision nicely.

 In game it's more of a supportive minion than one that would affect the game directly. He's definitely not helpless in melee as his Ritual Knife can inflict some damage along with a Blood Curse, which causes the target to lose 1 Wd at the end of every turn. Still, he should function much better kept slightly in the back and making sure the Tots are within 14' of him. If they kill an enemy, they can grow into a Young Nephilim.

Tuco(s)

Tuco is an interesting character. He once was a proud member of the Ortega family. During one of the many skirmishes he was captured by Neverborn. He withstood their imprisonment and tortures for a long time but in the end he was broken. As his mind got twisted, his body began to change and he grew a pair of horns. Still, even now he looks human enough to be taken for one as he continues his revenge on those who gave up on him long ago.
Tuco brings to the table a possibility to inflict damage using Sh actions, something that is rare among Neverborn. . However, he can be used form uch more than just that.

At first glance Tuco is just a solid sniper. He can be deployed From the Shadows, which more than makes up for his unimpressive Wk5 and Cg5. His shotgun doesn't have a great range (10') and the damage spread isn't that good too. Yet he can be pretty useful as he can pull off blast damage on moderate and severe. If push comes to shove, he can also deal some damage in melee with his Inhuman Claws.

His usefulness extends beyond these two obvious aspects of his character. He can use a 0 action to push any opponent 4' in any direction and follow that with a shot from shotgun which can slow a target down. His human appearance means that he is Disguised and as such, he can't be charged.

I really like the original metal miniature but since I don't own one (the one in the picture was painted for a friend), I built mine using bits from TTB male set. I only added two horns from some old chaos WH bits. I chose a face that I thought would be capable of producing Deranged laughter (as you can see in the pic below). I also used colors that would make him look more like a human and less like a Neverborn.

Witchling Handler

It's one of those minis I didn't buy when metal models were still widely available. Since she can be very useful for Sonnia's crew and I like my proxies to have some resemblance to the original model, I decided to create one using bits from TTB female set. I only added a blade from old plastic WH Chaos Warriors set as the katanas from TTB set didn't look much like greatswords. I also added a pistol.

I painted her using colors that would resemble those from WH's original artwork. I don't really have sculpting skills so I didn't even bother trying to create a pilot's cap for her. The base is made of resin and it's from Micro Art Studio (yes, I do like this company's products).

In game she can make Witchling Stalkers much more effective. First of all, if they activate withing 4' of her, they get a free +1wk and +2cg, which significantly increases their mobility. Her Runesword has decent damage profile, rg 2' and gives her a chance to turn an enemy into a Witchling Stalker. She also has two 0 actions. One allows her to push a friendly minion with 12' up to 4' towards another friendly model within LoS. The other has nice synergy with Sonnia as it causes (needs 6 of any suit, which isn't hard to pull off) attacks of friendly models within 4' to apply burning +1 to targets within 10'.

Seamus time!

Seamus has been one of my favorite models ever since I learnt about Malifaux. In fact I almost picked up his original box but in the end chose Lady J. The miniature is really great, it has everything - arrogant pose, fantastic details, and a face with a nasty grin. I like this one so much more than the plastic version. 

Seamus seems one of the easier masters to start the game with as his mechanics are centered on summoning Rotten Belles, jumping around the board and firing a deadly shot from his Flintlock gun every turn. He can use it only once per turn but the damage spread is really impressive (4/6/8).

The avatar version is also one of my favorite models from the range. The first association when you look at it is Mr Hyde and it's a good one. I'm not the author of conversion on this one but I think that the 40K Ork extras go really well with the character of Steampunk pimp. And besides, it's Malifaux so anything goes! 

The Copycat Killer was also a lot of fun to work with. He's basically a smaller version of Seamus and  his ranged attack is pretty impressive too. Damage 4/5/7, rg 8 + the action can be taken twice per turn. He can also move all over the board easily as long as his master remains in play.

I'm going to focus on Neverborn now - I still have Tuco and Black Blood Shaman along with Pandora's crew that need to be assembled and painted.