THE TIN MAN

Was there a heart all along?

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
Get out of your comfort zone.

A peek into the

cosplay scene.

16

Vol.

CONTENTS
C

WYRD
CHRONICLES

igate!
v
a
on
t
lick

16

FOREWORD............................................................................... 1
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.........................................................2

:
Note

age
ny p
on a return
k
c
i
Cl
to
x!
ber
num his inde
t
to

Rathnard gives love advice - also malifaux -..........................5

MALIFAUX BRAIN TEASERS...................................................... 10
The tin man............................................................................11
The Bone Stag Cometh.........................................................20
All Work, Cosplay................................................................ 22
A Dragon and a Vase............................................................28
Hazardous Material............................................................35
Peaceful Malifaux................................................................38
Death of Metal.....................................................................46

content guide

stories

terrain

game sessions

Credits

mechanics

fun & tactics

painting

battle-reports

Creative Director

Graphic Artist

Contributing Authors

Nathan Caroland

Jorge Gomez
Alex Cairns

Adrian Scott
Graeme Stevenson
Mason Crawford
Noxweiler Berf
Liam Tennant
Joseph Girard
Michael Kelmelis
Denis Graziano

Layout
Jorge Gomez

Illustrations

Editor

Hardy Fowler
Jorge Gomez

Aaron Darland

gallery

FOREWORD
You know, every time I sit down to write one of
these, all the words go completely out of my head,
or worse, it sounds like bragging and tooting our
horn which honestly, just isn't me. Don't get me
wrong, I love our product and what we've done, and
I want everyone to enjoy it, I just don't want to come
off as that pompous ass who never shuts up.

Through the Breach, that's another one I'm very

excited about. Our first Penny Dreadful is just now
released and from the reviews we're getting, it
seems we've set the right tone with it. Very much
looking forward to future Penny Dreadfuls that we've
got in the works as well as the next book for the RPG
- Into the Steam. Just about have that one wrapped
up with a print date not too far in the future.

Bah - to hell with it. Buy Wyrd, we're wonderful and

you know it.

And other stuff. What other stuff you ask? Well, you
can ask, but then I'd have to say 'SOON' and that'll
just irritate you to all sorts, so we'll hold off on that
one a bit.

There, I tooted that horn. I don't feel too terrible

about it. I might even sleep tonight. Sweet...

Seriously. SOONTM

In the meantime, things are moving along at what

either seems a breakneck pace, or a slow turtles
meander, depending on the day, the moment, or the
project. I'm sure when its all said and done I'll be
begging for more time on some things and cursing
the time it takes on others. That said, we seem to be
ahead of the 'game' right now and I've informed the
office to pray to whomever they have to and perform
whatever voodoo rights needed for it to stay that
way. The place smell of patchouli and goats. Don't
ask. I don't. I think its probably better that way.

Back to the grind stone. Till next time!

Nathan Caroland

Editors Note: Thats more than Ive gotten him to say

in about a month, so Im worried some screw may
have come loose

Malifaux, LOTS of goodies coming. I swear. The

sculpting has been going full blown and our production
schedule is looking very healthy this year. Naturally I
just knocked on wood (my desk, its dented to hell
and back), but seriously, things are looking up and
I'm very excited to see some of these sculpts come
to plastic. Brewmaster looks damn cool... wait, did I
just... yeah, I did. He is, very cool.

:: S T E A
LT
n!
ca

::

yo
u

H!

Find m
e if

Community stuff, well that's a biggie this year. We

have been wanting to do more, quite a bit more, to
grow the game and the community in general and
we've got lots of things in the planning. Updating
our website (just got the web store done if you
haven't seen that!), painting contests, writing
contests, design contests, video content and even
some podcasting. Yup, podcasting. Well, it's more
... storytelling, reading... but it's damn cool, and
it's coming.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Hi Wyrdos! Now that its 2015, we thought wed debut a new section of Chronicles. Weve seen your comments
on social media related to many of the entries, and now were looking to put some of your comments right in the
magazine itself. Feel free to send any comments you may have about this months Chronicles or Wyrd in general
to aaron@wyrd-games.net, and it may be chosen to be included in the next release of Chronicles. As always,
thank you for reading.

CHRONICLES
Deception Article, December 2014
Sir,
Parts of the Deception article in the last Chronicles were excellent. The bits that I dont like (and unfortunately
Ive heard it all before from a good friend of mine whom I disagree with) are giving your opponent advice to try
to make them do what you want and providing only the information they ask for, and nothing else.
My problem with the first is that it sounds so genuine, it sounds so much like they are actually trying to help,
so when it turns out it was a ploy I feel betrayed. I assume that my friends (and whether I know you yet or not,
were friends by default because we love Malifaux!) dont lie to me, so please dont do that.
The second is just as annoying. There is a ton of information to know in this game, and sure not telling all
of this stuff marks the difference between skilled and super skilled, but I dont want someone to win
because they didnt know Montresor had Terrifying, or that my Metal Gamin has Hard to Kill, I want to win
because I played a better game. If someone does this to me consistently, I stop playing them. Someone asks
me how many wounds that Metal Gamin has left, I tell them 2, with Hard to Kill and Armor +2, and I appreciate
when they do the same.
Actually, the same thing with Triggers. Im on 18 with an execute trigger. If I want more information, Ill ask,
but if you just say 18 and I pass on cheating and you say oh yeah, Im executing, were going to have words!
And this isnt a case of regular/tournament play, again -- Im with the competitive all the time crowd. I just
think there are some lines that arent meant to be crossed, if you want to be invited back to the club again. :)
Respectfully,
rythos42

Sir,
I have always found discussions on proper competitive behavior to be rather interesting; especially in
wargaming communities. Both here and in Warhammer forums you see people talking about how misleading
opponents through [useless] truths is an awful behavior. Yet if you look to other professional games (live
sports, League of Legends, and even Diplomacy) you will find active deception of this sort occurring all the
time (especially in Diplomacy...).
Once a player stops considering themselves to be a hobbyist and starts considering themselves to be a
professional there is a shift in how much good information they will give to an opponent (less) and how much
guiding information they will give (more).
In a way Malifaux is actually a lot like Poker since it involves a hand of playing cards. You can attempt to
count cards by keeping track of your opponents discard to figure out the likelihood they will pop out
something problematic, and you can also bluff them about the contents of your own hand (and in fact there
is at least one master, Lynch, who is explicitly built to pull such a deception). As others have said, once you
hit the competitive scene you cant expect your opponent to hold your hand for you. Often matches between
professionals arent about how much better one is compared to the other, but about who makes the most
important mistakes. Forgetting potential triggers is one such mistake.
I get wanting to have a friendly game, and thats what you should aim for when in a friendly environment.
But once you hit a tournament you should only expect sportsmanship, which is not the same as friendly.
Sportsmanship is more about respecting your opponent and less about making sure they are fully informed.
In the same vein I find WAAC (win at all costs) to be an odd insult. It reminds me of the insult tryhard from
League of Legends. If youre aiming to win a game, wont you try your hardest and use any legal tool you
have access to to win at all costs?
Respectfully,
Jason Zeeblee Leonard

COMMUNITY
Sir,
Im writing in as there seems to be a plague of hobby related pledges appearing across the Internet in what has
been come to known as ToMB. This ToMB, or Tale of Malifaux Bloggers as it is known by our Blog Scientists,
sees people committing to starting a new Malifaux crew and painting set amounts each month. A second
symptom also appears in the form of writing about said progress for all to see.
Update - Further information seems to have determined that this in fact is not a disease but simply a
worldwide online community project. More information has been posted on the Wyrd Forums for anyone who
would like to join and/or follow these phenomena.
P.S. Are you troubled by lack of hobby related noises? Do you experience feelings of dread on the bus or
train? Have you or any of your family ever listened to the radio or a podcast?
If the answer is yes, then dont wait another minute. Pick up you Internet connected device and download the
professionals: SMP Radio! Our courteous and efficient hosts are on call... some hours of the day to serve
all your hobby podcast need. Were ready to be listened by you: SMPRadio.podbean.com
Respectfully,
Ben Sime, SMP

COMPANY
Sir,
I want to start by saying that the overwhelming majority of your business practices are attractive to consumers;
price points of merchandise, LGS support, Open Beta(s), tournament support.
The list is long. This style of approach certainly has a direct influence in where I, and other gamers Ive
spoken with, spend our discretionary funds. This is especially true when you compare Wyrds approach to
certain other companys approaches in the same (niche) market.
This said, in the five years I have purchased your products and played your games, there is one weakness
that continues to bother me and I cant figure out why it continues: your product release schedule. In
particular the manner the consumers are made aware of what is coming out and when.
Now, I am not speaking of specific incidents that may have occurred over the years, especially when dealing
with the transition from metals to plastic models. Nor do I speak of products developed outside the normal
month-to-month business model that Wyrd follows (Black Friday sales, GenCon advances, Kickstarters). I
am specifically speaking of instances is the past when we were given releases three to four months in
advance, only to then run past the time with some items never released or the schedule to exhaust and have
no sign of future releases.
I am not asking for a ten or twelve month lead time (as nice as it would be!), I am not asking for a release
schedule to be absolute and error free. But it would nice to have a consistently updating schedule to
reference. In todays age of communication allowing a significant portion of Wyrds release schedule to come
from secondhand online retailers is not how I prefer to learn of coming products.
Wyrds owners and employees have consistently showing a willingness to connect directly with the consumer,
another feather in the companys cap. Why cant the company offer us a consistently updating release
schedule of their upcoming products?
Respectfully,
Ian Drool_bucket Nelson

Rathnard gives
love
advice
- also malifaux Adrian Scott
case they tend to work better when supported by
the other elements of your crew. If theyre able to
benefit from the others strengths two models can
indeed be stronger than the sum of their parts.

WARNING: The contents of this article are intended

to be humorous. The opinions presented within are
of the author himself (and are not even really his
opinions), and in no way represent the views of Wyrd
Games or any other associated entities or staff. Have
a sense of humor.

Some model synergies are quite clear and usually

involve taking models within the same theme or who
have the same keywords in their characteristics or
abilities, like Rasputina using Ice Mirror to cast
spells through crew members with Frozen Heart.
Others can be less direct but still easy to spot.
Models that synergise with Burning (Sonnia) or
Poison (McMourning) are good examples.

Youre in for a treat dear readers. For today yours truly,

Malifaux gamer and self-proclaimed love expert, is
about to present you with a double-feature article. In
the spirit of Valentines Day, I will not only avail you
of tactics for that most romantic of concepts, model
synergy, but I will also dispense wisdom on love and
relationships. So hold onto your seats, and prepare
to have your collective minds blown

There are also tricks like using an Oiran (whose

Appealing Aura grants +1 Wp) with Pandora (who
uses Wp for her resist duels).

Synergise with your Partner!

Then there are the really subtle synergies that dont

use common keywords or stats. Movement effects
that position models to do what they do best (like
use a Flurry action) are a good example, as is
stacking discard effects to empty your opponents
hand. For instance, the Jakob Lynch-associated Mr
Tannen synergises very well in a Misaki crew since
his ability to force discards with Cooler makes it
much easier for Misaki herself to kill models with
her Assassinate trigger.

Probably the most important key to a successful

relationship is that aspects of you and your partner
complement each other. Everybody has their flaws
of course, but if their respective strengths can help
counteract those flaws, then youll find that the
individuals in such a relationship are better people
when theyre together, rather than apart.
And in the same sense this concept can be applied
to Malifaux by ensuring you build a crew with models
that synergise well together. Just about every model
in the game is individually useful, however in every

The potential number of synergies between models

in Malifaux probably numbers in the hundreds of

thousands, if not millions. So it therefore pays to
take a close look at what the models in your crew
can do, and what models you could add to improve
that, especially if theyre out of theme models or
even out of faction Mercenaries.

More than two?

My next bit of relationship advice is that while two
people can have a wonderful, fulfilling relationship
its always better with three. If two people partnered
together are more than the sum of their parts,
adding a third person has an exponential effect on
that equation. In fact, the more people you involve
in your relationship, the better it gets. In that way
everyone is able to help and support each other,
forming a very strong bond that will last decades to
come as you all walk, hand in hand in hand in hand,
down the morally ambiguous path of life

Avoid dependence.
While two people in a relationship should be better
than the sum of their parts, one must be cautious
about one partner emotionally smothering the
other. People need to have their own space, their
own lives and most importantly, not rely on the other
just to feel good about themselves.

And just like morally ambiguous life, Malifaux is

the same. A two-model synergy is nice, but if you
can incorporate additional models that add to the
synergies (and assuming they arent relying on a
keystone model, as per above), then the crew as a
whole will benefit.

When one is dependent on the other it becomes

a massive drain on the relationship one person
ends up feeling like theyre carrying the emotional
baggage for both of them. Even worse however is
co-dependence, where both partners are relying on
the other for their own well-being. This stuff can be
toxic and such relationships rarely last.

For instance, Marcus loves him a Canine Remains.

This isnt just because Marcus has a great array
of tricks for supporting Beasts, but because the
Canine is both expendable enough to use as a
target for Marcuss Defend Me! trigger and is able
to turn other models (friendly or enemy) into Beasts.

Once again, the same applies to model synergies in

Malifaux. When selecting models that synergise well
together, you need to be careful about taking a model
whose only role is to synergise with another model.
Doing so creates a weak point, or a keystone
model in your crew. If your opponent removes the
keystone, the rest lose their purpose in the game
and struggle to have an effect on the match.

But the Canine Remains is also quite partial to

Poison. It can apply poison himself with an Infect
trigger and Charge poisoned models with a (1) action
thanks to Scent of Death. This makes the Canine
great for pairing up with the Shikome another
Beast (great for Marcus!) who likes that the Canine
Remains has both Infect and Scent of Death. This

Fortunately there are now very few models in

Malifaux who are reliant on a keystone model to
be effective. Specific synergies exist (such as the
Mannequin with Showgirls) but even without their
keystone models they are usually still able to do
something. That said, it pays to have a plan B for
any model you take with a specific synergy in
mind. For instance if you take a Performer
and Mannequin outside of a Showgirls
crew, make sure you have a plan to
make that Mannequin useful should
the Performer bite the dust.

trio of Beasts are therefore able to synergise very

well together, and continue to function well even if
one of them is killed or preoccupied elsewhere.

So when it comes to building synergies into your

crew, moderation is essential. All these combos
and synergies can be great, but theyre only worth
utilising if they help you achieve your objectives in
the game, and at reasonable cost in soulstones. In
other words, its all about focused efficiency over
blind extravagance. Instead of going overboard filling
your crew with models that synergise well together,
make sure youre only taking what will actually help
you score (or deny) victory points!

Getting Carried Away

Its difficult to describe what itd be like to be in
mutual love with 4 other people. People caught up
in such relationships can easily get swept up in the
moment, forgetting about life outside the group and
losing track of real world commitments. Afternoon
dates can progress into the evening, which then
go all night, through to the morning and before you
realise it, you come out for breakfast and realise
that 3 weeks have passed. Things tend to get
a little crazy. Its therefore essential to not lose
yourself to the group, realise that you have real
life commitments in the outside world and if at all
possible, keep on top of those commitments. Love
and romance is great and all, but its hard buying
anniversary presents for your many lovers if youve
been fired from your job.

Being a Loner
As it turns out, such fulfilling multi-partner
relationships can only last so long. The reason for
this escapes even me. But for some reason my
many wives eventually take issue with the living
arrangement (especially once they find out about
each other). The name calling starts and sooner or
later, I end up looking like the bad guy. Its just one
of the mysteries of love I guess.
Still, theres something to be said for a lonely life
of loveless independence. Youre reliant on nobody
and youre free to do what you need to do at your
own pace. And sometimes, you just need to be a
lone wolf, confident in your own abilities and without
the baggage from having so many partners.

and just like in real life, it can be very easy to get

so caught up in Malifaux, maximising the synergies
between your models. So much so that you risk losing
sight of whether such combos will help you achieve
your objectives, or even whether theyre necessary.
Sure, it might be great to use Fransiscos El Mayor,
an Oirans Appealing and Sonnias Confiscated
Lore to boost her Wp to 12 when facing Pandora.
But do you really need a combo that costs 14SS
worth of models just to keep Sonnia safe from Wpbased attacks? Or would Sonnias existing anti-Ca
upgrades and abilities be sufficient to keep Pandora
at bay?

As great as model synergies can be in Malifaux,

there is something to be said for including elements
in your crew who can go it alone. Like the Lucius/
Guardsman Ball O Death, its important to remember
that the game isnt played on a 12 square board.
The core of your crew cant be everywhere at once
and with a significant portion of strategies and
schemes requiring you to extend your reach over
the entire 3 square board, its important to accept
that at least some of your crew is going to be out of
synergy range. This is where the Lone Wolves
come in. Models that you dont expect to synergise
with your crew and will instead fulfil their assigned
task with minimal help from anyone else.

The same often applies to the Guild Factions

Guardsmen, especially in a Lucius crew. Between
Captain Dashel, the Guard Sergeant, Lawyer, Guild
Guard, Lucius and even the Pistolero De Latigo,
there exist a huge array of buffing Auras and Obeystyle effects to improve the abilities of your crew.
But all those synergies can chew up most of your
crew allowance and while it might give you a supersynergistic Ball O Death, it leaves little space for
models that might need to work some distance from
that Ball to both achieve your objectives and deny
those of your opponents.

Breakthrough is the classic example of a scheme

that necessitates this kind of model, since most of
the time youll be using one or two faster elements
(like Silurids, Crooligans or Watchers) to peel off
from the rest of your crew and place those scheme
markers as needed. These models are usually

quite capable of doing the job on their own and at

most, all they need is a crew that can draw your
opponents attention away from them. So rather
than think about what model synergies might help
them out, its usually best just to leave them be and
concentrate on how the rest of your crew will work.

a keystone model within the team, where they lose

their ability to do their job should one of them die. A
pair of Guild Hounds are the classic example, since
Pack Mentality will make them Insignificant if one
is killed.

Now to be fair, the roles that these singular Lone

Wolves take on can also be completed by small,
synergistic teams of models. The Viktorias
are a great example of this, with both Viktoria of
Ashes and Viktoria of Blood (and sometimes a
totem or Vanessa) working extremely well together,
but almost always independently of the rest of
their crew. Other examples might be pairing a two
Guild Guard together (for their Patrol ability), or a
Canine Remains with a Moleman (the former places
Scheme Markers, the latter moves up to them with
Tunneling). In this way youre building synergy into
the models you take, just not necessarily with the
rest of the crew. Such pairs can be a double-edged
sword they potentially offer some redundancy (the
opponent has two models to deal with) and if they
help you achieve your objectives then thats great.
But if youre not careful you run the risk of creating

Epilogue
So thats it for another month. Once again I have
availed you with my thoughts on Malifaux, and
even incorporated some invaluable information on
relationships. For now however, I must leave you to
the rest of your internet browsing for the evening.
So I leave you with this one final piece of wisdom:
Taking love advice from strangers on the internet
can be hazardous to your health.
Until next time,

Adrian

TOURNAMENT
Hosted at the NOVA Open in 2015 www.novaopen.com
will be the first annual National Malifaux Championship!

Anyone is welcome to participate, however

some players will be invited and receive a
free entry. Players who do well in other large
Malifaux events throughout the year will be
eligible to win a spot in the Championship,
and the winner will get an exclusive feature
in the Wyrd Chronicles, fun prizes, and
bragging rights for the rest of the year!
Grab your Crew, 2015 is the year to show
that you can rule the blood-soaked streets
of Malifaux!
Register today!

novaopenstore.com/novacart

MALIFAUX

BRAIN TEASERS
Moxypoo
Youve had a lot of fun this game killing your
opponents models, but now its the last turn, and
you suddenly realize youre losing 6VP to 0VP. All
hope is not lost! You still have some assets.
1 Soulstone remains in your cache and you have the
Red Joker and 13 Masks in your hand. Unfortunately,
you only have Jack Daw with the Slow Condition left
to activate before the end of the game. He has the
Guillotine Injustice, Firing Squad Injustice, Drowning
Injustice and Twist and Turn upgrades.

You revealed the Line in the Sand and Outflank

schemes, but you havent scored any points for the
Reckoning strategy. Assume that you win all duels,
but do not flip the correct suit for any trigger you may
want. See the image below for the board setup.
How do you win the game?

Difficulty: 3

Wounds indicated are number remaining.

4"

JACK DAW

10

3"

DROWNED

13

MONTRESOR

1"

ICE GOLEM

3"

The tin man

Graeme Stevenson
Ada Macquina had always loved to work with her
hands. Even as a child she had appreciated the
feel of things: the texture of wood, the heft of
steel, the sheen of brass. Adas father had been a
watch maker, and there was nowhere she had felt
more at home than in his workshop, submerged
in the scent of light oil and brass polish, listening
to the ticks of a thousand time pieces and the
comfortable silence of her father, hunched over a
square of velvet cloth with tweezers in one hand
and an eyepiece in the other.

Ada lingered at the workshop even after her father

had retired, reluctant to leave the comfort of those
memories behind. Her brother found her work to do,
but it was rarely more than winding the standing
clocks and greeting the customers as they came
through the door. She was as skilled as he, but
would never be his equal in the eyes of society.
And so she left Macquina Watchmakers, Est. 1812,
and struck out to find her own path. There were
precious few jobs for a woman anywhere that did
not involve either a broom or wash basin, and in
her quest to find something worthy of her skills she
travelled all the way to Malifaux. She had heard
that skill was prized above gender there, and where
many a curious technical wonder was to be found.

The precision-made instrument was something to

be appreciated. Ada found endless fascination in
the microcosm of clockworks found in even the
most commonplace of watches, in the perfect union
of two cogs, neither of which measured more than
a few tenths of an inch apiece, yet critical to the
regulation of a mechanism that could count time
and do it with such precision that, properly wound,
the owner would not lose so much as a second in
the course of an entire year.

Before very long, she had come to the austere

Bartholomew & Dain Technical Plant Corporation,
who provided a number of quite exemplary
machines for tasks such as metalwork, logging
and the ever-expanding railroad. Her background in
watch making quickly button-holed her as an ideal
technician for one of the smallest and yet most
complex machines that the company manufactured
and maintained: the Bartholomew & Dain Sheet
Metal Poly-Function Contrivance.

She had secretly carried a hope that she would one

day inherit her fathers industry and considered
herself a most diligent student, but her elder
brother proved to be the more respectable choice
in a world that was still years from recognizing a
womans right to vote.

This fully self-operating and self-locomotive device

was capable of bending, curling, decambering,

11

perforating, rolling and stamping sheet steel for

the manufacture of boilers and piston housings,
cabinets, and a hundred other uses. The power unit
was the only component that was not manufactured
by Bartholomew & Dain (and thus the only
component she was not certified to repair) and
there were persistent rumors that C. Hoffman was
sub-contracted to produce them. They supposedly
contained Soulstones, curious manifestations that
she had never encountered before, but possessed
of a very great and dynamic current that provided
animation to a whole raft of innovations produced
by the Corporation.

mechanical figure carrying sheets of metal that

were wrangled into complex shapes with a multitude
of arms, but to Ada it was a marvel.
The autonomy of it was a ceaseless delight to her.
Although mute, the Poly-Function could respond to
voice commands and was capable of carrying out
complicated instructions. It also had a template
function, where it would replicate any given shape.
This proved to be a very popular option, where
Bartholomew & Dain would commission a metal
worker to manufacture a single item, and the PolyFunction would then churn out hundreds or thousands
of replicas, each an exact match to the original.

Ada quickly became a dab hand with the intricacies

of the Poly-Function device or tin basher as it
was known within the engineer pool, and was soon
promoted to roving technician, tasked with the
maintenance and servicing of each of the nine tin
bashers that operated within the Malifaux city limit,
in accordance with the lifetime service guarantee of
the reputable Bartholomew & Dain.

Unquestionably, her favorite tin basher to work on

was Barney, the property of Mitchie Steelworks, deep
in the heart of the industrial zone. They manufacture
steam pistons and other essential components that
kept the railroads on the move. Working in direct
competition with the Steamfitters Union meant that
the small company had to fight hard to scrape out
a small niche in the market, and so they ran Barney
twenty-four hours a day.

Ada enjoyed her work, travelling the city and making

regular check-ups on her lads as she liked to call
them. Being complex machines and still relatively
untried technology, they were prone to mis-calibration
and minor faults, and for the first few months of
her new job Ada was kept busy, travelling almost
constantly from one factory to the next.

Barney needed maintenance twice as often as any

of the other tin bashers calibration was a constant
worry when high-pressure containers were being
built and Mitchie Steelworks could not afford a
reputation-damaging explosion when they undercut
the Steamfitters prices at such a narrow margin.

As weaknesses were identified and eliminated,

and the design of the machines improved, failings
became less common and Ada began to spend more
time back at corporate headquarters, where daily
inspections became weekly, and weekly services
became monthly.

Ada visited Barney on Mondays and Thursdays,

when the workshop manager allowed an hour or so
for his major joints to be cleaned and oiled and for
the resetting of anything that may have started to
work itself loose.

There was still work to be done, but Ada found the

spaces between jobs increasingly unbearable. She
liked nothing more than to work on a mechanism; to
dismantle and degrease, to tighten bolts and test
levers and measure clearances, to silence squeaks
and re-balance rods, to return every joint and lever
to humming flawless perfection.

The constant toil took its toll on the machine, and

Barney was more dented and oil-smeared than all
the other tin bashers put together. Ada could almost
sense the palpable relief in the machine when she
arrived with her toolbox and oil can. It would regard
her with those soft-glowing orange lenses it used
for measuring the steel, mildly lifting an appendage
or rotating its thorax joint as instructed while she
checked for stress fractures and hydraulic leaks.
She often found herself talking to Barney, chattering
about everything and nothing, as much for her own
amusement as the machines peace of mind.

She loved the precision and the economy of the PolyFunctions design, the understanding of mechanical
fundaments evident in its shape. To the uneducated
it probably didnt look much more than a clanking

12

And then one of the Mitchie workshop boys appeared

breathless at Bartholomew & Dain headquarters,
panting that Barney was making the most awful
grinding noise and that shed better come quick.

She did a quick once-over, but everything else

seemed in perfect working order, so she reported
the fault repaired to the workshop manager and
headed back to headquarters, wondering whether
she should report the sabotage to her own boss. In
the end, she decided against it customer staffing
disputes were not a matter that Bartholomew &
Dain could be expected to resolve. So long as she
kept the tin bashers working, the rest was someone
elses responsibility.

When Ada got to the workshop, Barney was standing

with a half-finished steel piston held in two of his
rolling limbs, but the lifting arm on his left hand
side was hanging crooked and was making a loud
scraping sound. She immediately feared the worst
that a bolt had sheared, or there was a fracture in
the chassis.
When she got close enough for a good look, to
her surprise she found that someone had
removed the main load-bearing screw in
his left shoulder to loosen the socket joint.
The screw itself was sitting on the counter a
short distance away, as though placed there
carefully not to lose it.
Can you fix it? asked the workshop
manager anxiously. Although there were
many other steel workers employed by
Mitchie Steelworks, Barneys ferocious
production speed was key to keeping the
company afloat.
I should think so, Ada said, debating
on whether or not to tell the manager
about this petty sabotage. She had
encountered less sophisticated
incarnations of the same at some
of the other factories that had
purchased
Poly-Functions.
The
tradesmen obviously viewed this
incumbent technology as a threat to
their job security, and sometimes took
it into their own hands to secure their future.
Just an alignment problem. Nothing serious.
The workshop manager looked greatly relieved and
bustled off, leaving her to surreptitiously replace
the screw and make a show of checking the arms
rotational axes. Barney complied docilely, rotating the
repaired arm and watching her with his amber eyes.
There you go, Barney, she said. Good as new.

13

Early February rolled on. There was no more snow, but

the wind was still biting cold and Ada longed for the
warm summer months when she could work without
needing to blow on her hands every few minutes.

Ada wondered if any of the men here had sufficient

knowledge of Barneys architecture to know how to
do that.
And why such gentle sabotage? Why not slice
through the hydraulic cables, or bend a piston?
There were fifteen-ton locomotive boilers suspended
overhead on cranes why not drop one of them on
the machine and crush it flat? Six months ago, a
machinist in Grant & Spey Industries had taken a
9lb sledgehammer and stove in the head of Archie,
their Poly-Function, when the machinist was told he
was being laid off at the end of the month.

Another Mitchie boy arrived at Bartholomew & Dain

a few days later, saying that the workshop manager
had asked for her personally. Barney had broken
down again.
This time, she found Barney slumped over with all
six arms hanging limp while his head rotated back
and forward, measuring and re-measuring the length
of steel on the bench in front of him. While the
manager floated around her nervously, she opened
his abdominal hatch and squirmed underneath to
check the damage.

Whoever was doing this knew that Barney was

necessary for the survival of the company and
obviously wasnt prepared to seriously damage him.
Instead, they were doing just enough to put him
out of commission for a while, enough to have a
technician called out. Or more specifically, have her
called out.

His main drive belt had been uncoupled. Not

snapped or cut through, just unscrewed and pulled
off the drive wheel. There was no damage of any
sort, merely a partial dismantling.

She took another look around the workshop there

were a few nods of recognition, but nothing more.

Is it bad? asked the manager. How much is this

going to cost? I have three hundred casings that
need to be shipped by 9am tomorrow.

Ada would not have called herself beautiful, but

she was conscious that she possessed a modest
handsome quality. Perhaps her ears were more
prominent than shed have liked, and sometimes
she looked down at her large, long-fingered hands
with oil under her fingernails and wondered what
being petite would feel like, but her skin was smooth
and sprinkled with freckles and shed been told
more than once that she had a pretty smile.

Its fine, Ada replied from within the torso. Ten

minutes and hell be up and running again.
The manager groaned with relief, wiping his fleshy
brow with a kerchief. That machine is going to give
me a heart attack

Was it possible that someone in the workshop had

taken rather a shine to her? Perhaps sabotaging
Barney was just an excuse to keep her coming
back here.

Ada waited until he had gone, then hooked the

drive belt back into place. It ratcheted briefly until
the cog teeth bit and then hummed up to speed.
Immediately, Barney righted himself and rotated all
six arms into their reset positions, and his head
rotated around to regard her.

She snorted, dismissing the idea. If that was the

case, theyd had ample time to speak to her and she
was already contracted to come twice a week.

Ada took a look around the workshop. There were at

least a dozen other men working in this room alone,
and none of them showed any particular interest
in what she was doing. Removing the screw was a
fairly obvious way to dislocate the shoulder joint,
but opening the casing and removing the drive belt?

This thought didnt occur to her again until the Friday

of that week, when she was called back once again
to Mitchie Steelworks to find that one of Barneys
manipulator claws had fallen off.

14

She checked the wrist attachment and found no

shearing or buckling, the four fixing bolts were simply
missing. As it turned out, they were neatly stacked
on the bench beside the machine. Trying not to
smile, Ada began to root around under the bench.
There were a lot of off-cuts and other industrial
detritus down there, but eventually she found the
claw mostly buried in shrapnel, right in the corner
where it had fallen.

You are working him twenty-four hours a day, sir,

she responded. And none of these faults have
been serious.
Not for Bartholomew & Dain, certainly, said the
workshop manager, somewhat airily, and stalked off.
It was Monday morning, first thing, when two workshop
urchins appeared at headquarters again, their faces
as red as cherries. They had clearly run the whole
way under impetus of the workshop manager.

When she pulled it out, the claw was gripping

something. A flower.

That infernal machine of yours is broken again!

he ranted as soon as Ada arrived a half-hour later.
And look at the time! Im fifty cases short and the
delivery is already an hour overdue! The reputation
of Mitchie Steelworks is on the brink of destruction!

A delicate steel flower that had been cut out of

1/10th inch tin, complete with a twisted stem and
five tiny spot-welded petals, each the size of her
pinkie fingernail. It was the sort of thing that a
craftsman might fashion in his lunch break to take
home to his beloved wife or daughter.

Ada felt this was rather melodramatic, but she

presented an appearance of outward concern while
inside her heart was bumping. Had her mysterious
admirer performed another secret sabotage on
Barney to have her back again so soon? Was he
watching her right now?

Ada realized that she was blushing. She had to

be the recipient. The person that was sabotaging
Barney was the same person that intended her to
have this gift. She stole another glance around but
no one was looking her way. Whoever had done this
was keeping quiet about it.

Trying to look calm and collected, she went to

inspect the Poly-Function. Barney was partially
frozen, evidently in the act of shaping one of the
desperately-needed cases that were now needed to
fulfil the order. Every few seconds he would rotate
away from his work bench to deposit the case,
pause halfway with an odd, strained whirring sound,
then turn back to try again.

Looks like Ive got a secret admirer, Barney, she

whispered to him as she re-attached the manipulator
claw. Boy, I wish you could talk, so you could tell
me which one of these jokers is pulling my leg.
Barney just watched her with his orange eyes and,
when his claw was securely in place, he went back
to work.

As far as she could tell, hed been doing that

all weekend.

If Ada hadnt mentioned the curious nature of

Barneys developing faults, she certainly wasnt going
to say anything about the flower. She just reported a
loose coupling to the worried-looking man.

Pack these up! Pack these all up! the workshop

manager was shouting. Well take across everything
we have and the rest will just have to be delivered
when theyre ready. At this he turned savagely on
Ada. Fix this thing! And if we receive a late delivery
penalty on this contract, Ill be expecting your
company to pay for it.

This machine of yours seems to be breaking

down a lot, he complained. I am of course
grateful for the companys diligent attention, but
surely it isnt normal to have so many faults in the
space of a week.

He rushed away, still shouting orders.

15

seduction (she thought) but making no effort to

contact her when she was actually there. Perhaps
he was painfully shy, and couldnt work up the
courage to speak to her.

Ada watched him go with a shake of her head.

Foolish man.
Well, lets have a look at you, Barney, she said,
gently taking the half-formed case from his arms
and setting it down. He stopped trying to rotate
his abdomen and waited with an almost expectant
air as she began to open his chest plate. You got
something in there jamming your gears, I think.

She watched the brawny, oily men shouting and

laughing. None of them looked particularly shy to
her. Nor did any of them look the type to make a
metal flower.

She swung the hatch door opened and immediately

saw the problem. A wad of oily cloth had been
shoved into a cavity in the upper right-hand side of
Barneys chest, and a corner of the cloth had become
snagged in Barneys central axis cog, which allowed
him to rotate his upper body free of the lower.

There were other areas within the factory, she knew,

although this was the only workshop she attended
because this was where Barney was located.
Perhaps there was a steel worker in another area
that watched her come and go from afar.

What is this? she wondered aloud. The wad of

cloth turned out to be wrapping something heavy, but
it took several hard yanks to rip it free because it had
become tightly snared in Barneys inner workings.

She thought for a moment, hefting the steel heart.

It was beautifully constructed exactly symmetrical
and totally smooth to the touch. She could see
hundreds of tiny striations in the metal where it had
been milled over and over to perfect the shape. It
must have taken hours to make.

She unwrapped the cloth and found a chunk of steel

about the size of a baseball that had been milled
into the shape of a love heart. The steel had been
polished with wire wool until it shone brilliantly, and
in a scrolling precise script had been engraved with:

She wrapped the heart again in the oily cloth to protect

it and put it in her tool bag, then removed a scrap of
grease paper and scribbled on it with a pencil:

Who are you?

Youve stolen my heart

Before she could think it through, she shoved the

scrap inside Barneys casing where shed found
the heart and closed the hatch, her face pink with
exhilaration.

Ada almost laughed, and looked around at the

workers nearby with an expectant grin. Someone
had to be winding her up with this. It was corny, but
also kind of cute. She hoped the guy that was doing
it wasnt married.

Okay, Barney, she whispered as she collected her

things. Maybe between us well figure out whos
doing this.

There were about a dozen steel workers in the

workshop, all clattering and banging various pieces
of metal and shouting ribald jokes at one another,
but not one of them betrayed the barely-contained
sense of expectation she had hoped to see. None
were even looking in her direction.

She patted the machines flank and headed off to

find the workshop manager, surreptitiously checking
out all the steel workers as she went, wondering if
they were the one.

This was such an odd situation. Someone was

deliberately doing this, sabotaging Barney again and
again to the increasing distraction of the workshop
manager, attempting a curious form of absent

All that evening she twisted and turned the situation

in her mind. It had to be one of the steelworkers
none of the administrative staff had the skill

16

to make the objects shed found, and it certainly

wasnt the workshop manager (thankfully) or any
of the workshop boys that swept the place up and
delivered messages.

to open the body cavity. What if there had been no

reply to her message, or worse, the message was
still in there, unread?
Finally, she told herself she was being stupid and
popped open the hatch.

But why wouldnt he talk to her? It was charming

and sweet, but it was dangerous, too. If Barney
kept developing faults, no matter how insignificant,
that blustering manager was going to get her into
hot water with her own boss for not doing her job
properly. None of the other Poly-Functions had
required half as many call-outs as Barney, and only
she knew they were deliberate sabotages and not
machine faults.

There was a small wad of cloth tucked in the corner,

but carefully folded this time so no loose edges
would snag Barneys gears.
Ada swallowed, heart fluttering. She looked about
guiltily, but as with every other day, no one was
giving the technician a second glance.

She wondered if shed have to come clean and tell

the workshop manager what was really going on.
And then her secret admirer would be dragged into
the light of day and probably fired.

She lifted out the package and unfolded it with

trembling hands.
It was another heart, but this time made of a flat steel
panel with scalloped edging. On it was engraved:

She sighed miserably. There had to be another

solution, if only she could find it.

Be my Valentine

Tuesday was Barneys scheduled maintenance day

and Ada made sure she was there for the steelworks
opening she wanted to get to Barney before anyone
could see if hed developed another fault.

Ada realized with a start that it was February 11th

Valentines Day was in three days.
Oh, Barney, she whispered, holding the heart and
staring down at it. What should I do? I dont even
know whos leaving these things.

However, she found him working away, rolling steel

into pipes and stacking them in a rusty metal crate,
evidently in perfect working order. She immediately
felt both relieved that the workshop manager had
nothing fresh to accuse her of, and crestfallen that
her secret admirer had not responded to her note.
Or had he?

Barney said nothing but his orange eyes seemed

to be saying what she was thinking. What have you
got to lose?
With her pulse roaring in her ears, Ada took another
scrap of paper, hovered indecisively over it for an
eternity, then scrawled:

Morning, Barney, she said, acting for all the world

like it was a normal day while she scanned the work
benches nearby for signs of her admirers handiwork.
Barney submitted for his service and inspection as
he always did, obligingly rotating his joints this way
and that and leaning accommodatingly so that Ada
could reach those awkward spots with her oil can,
and always with that same placid air of benevolence,
his warm eyes on her as she worked.

Okay
She stuffed the paper into Barneys chest cavity and
slammed it shut with rather more force than shed
intended, then rattled about with artificial industry,
stuffing away her tools while she wondered what
shed gotten herself into.

She always checked the tension on the drive chains

and oiled them too, but this morning she was reticent

17

message carrier had something new for her. Youve

had a quiet couple of days. I expect youre pleased
that our mutual friend has stopped unscrewing bits
of you to get my attention.

The rest of Tuesday slowed to an agonizing crawl,

and Wednesday simply refused to budge at all.
Thursday, Barneys next scheduled visit, seemed a
thousand years away and Ada wondered if it would
ever arrive. She would even have accepted Barney
developing another fault and the wrath of the
workshop manager if it meant she could check for
another message from her secret admirer.

Barney watched her with his orange eyes,

betraying nothing.
Fine, she giggled. Keep your secrets. If you
dont want to tell me who it is, Ill just have to find
out for myself.

Her head was full of nonsense about who it might

be, what he might look like, and what he might say
when they finally met. She wondered if she would
recognize him immediately, or if it would be someone
who had admired her from the shadows.

She had waited an impossibly long two days to get

a reply, and made no pretense of going through her
normal servicing ritual. She couldnt have waited
another second if her life depended on it. Barney
seemed to sense her urgency and stood quietly,
arms at his side, while she opened the chest hatch,
chewing her lip.

It was all so romantic and strange. Things like this

didnt happen to girls like her.
And finally, eventually, Thursday morning arrived and
Ada fought with all her strength to resist showing
up at the steelworks at dawn. She forced herself to
stroll in at ten oclock as though it was just any other
day and her hopes werent hanging by a thread.

And there it was. A little wad of oily cloth stuffed

right at the back of the casing. She drew it out
reverentially, surprised at how important this had
become to her.

The workshop manager was once again in an uproar,

but for once Barney had nothing to do with it.

When she opened it, she found another flat heart

shape cut out of steel and on it was engraved:

Well, how should I know where its gone? he

was howling, his fat face puce. If you sign for
sixty sheets of 1/8th steel, then Id expect you
to have sixty sheets of 1/8th steel! Why are you
asking me why you are now ten sheets short? Eh?
Is that my problem?

Tomorrow night at 8 oclock, by

the loading gate.

Ada tip-toed past the ranting manager and the palefaced foreman, wincing at the managers accusation
that the loss would be coming out of the foremans
pay packet unless he could find the sheets that he
has misplaced, or perhaps he was just incapable
of counting past fifty, and on to the warehouse.

Please be there.
Adas pulse was rushing in her ears, turning the
harsh clatter of the workshop to an absent rumble.

Barney was there, working away as usual, shaping

and cutting panels and stacking the metal templates
in a corner. As soon as he noticed Ada, he stopped
what he was doing and walked over to his work
bench, very much in the manner that a dog hovers by
the front door when it sees its master approaching
with the leash.

He wanted to meet. Tomorrow night Valentines night.

The rest of the day vanished in a cloud. She couldnt
remember anything else she did she wasnt even
certain that she had attended to Barneys maintenance
and not simply wandered out the workshop door with
a stupid dreamy smile on her face.

Morning, Barney, Ada said, hoping her faithful

18

She was going to meet him. Finally, she was going

to be face to face with her secret admirer, who had
approached her in such a subtle and thoughtful
way. She didnt really care if he turned out to be
handsome or not (although of course, if he was good
looking, that could only be considered a bonus), but
felt certain that he was a good man.

It was surprisingly heavy and it took Ada a moment

in the poor light to realize that the roses were metal.
Each one painstakingly crafted by hand to make a
bouquet of twelve perfect flowers.
Theyre so beautiful, she said. You have such skill.
Ive always admired the ability to make something
from nothing. My father was a watch-maker, you see,
so I suppose its in my blood.

She pondered all of Friday on what she was going to

wear, agonizing over two different dresses (of which
she did not own many). She scrubbed and scrubbed
and scrubbed at her nails but the oil marks were
too deeply ingrained and so she eventually resolved
to wear a pair of soft moleskin gloves she had
purchased in the autumn for winter social events
(and had yet to wear). Her brown hair was often
rebellious and that day was no exception but she
managed to fight it to a draw whereupon it relented
into being windswept and interesting, as opposed
to recently survived an explosion.

She realized she was gabbling, but it was partly

nervousness and partly to fill the silence. Her
Valentine was awfully quiet.
May I know your name? she asked, hoping to coax
a few words from her bashful admirer.
Instead, her Valentine removed his top hat with a
flourish, letting the illumination from overhead flood
his face.

At length, she was ready, and hurried through the

dark and frosty streets of Malifauxs industrial sector,
almost completely deserted now that the furnaces
were cooling and the workmen had all gone home.

He was handsome, she registered immediately, with a

strong straight nose and well-shaped cheekbones and
jaw. His lips were raised with the hint of a smile and
there was a thick crop of wavy hair covering his head.

The gas-lit shape of Mitchie Steelworks hove into

view and, as Ada approached, her eyes scanned
eagerly for sign of a presence standing by the
loading gate. And sure enough, a man was standing
by the door in a long coat and top hat, holding what
might have been a bunch of silver flowers.

And it was steel. It was all steel. His face, his hair
- everything. Her Valentine was made out of metal.
Two soft amber eyes
watched her from behind
the mask.

Adas breathing quickened, as did her pace. At the

sound of her feet, the man turned and straightened
when he saw her. Goodness, she thought excitedly,
hes tall.
She stopped a short distance away, a huge nervous
grin on her face.
Good evening, she said, trying to take everything
in at once. The man was tall, and broad at the
shoulders, although the brim of his top hat threw
his face into shadow from the gas light overhead.
She did not recognize him. Are you my Valentine?
The man reached up with a gloved hand and touched
his hat in response, and handed Ada the bouquet.

19

SCENARIO

The Bone Stag ComeTh

By Mason Crawford

Red Joker:

The Bone Stag is a creature of myth and legend. A skeletal

creature, its antlers can kill with a single touch. It is said
to constantly whisper secrets about the past and future,
however, and it is these secrets that have drawn you to its
frightful presence.

C:

The Bone Stag can smell the fear coming off you. Push
the Bone Stag marker 3 towards this model.

SeTup

R:

You convince the Bone Stag that more victims lie

ahead. Push the Bone Stag marker 4 away from this
model.

T:

You listen to the whispers of the Bone Stag. Draw a

card.

M:

The Bone Stag locks gazes with its victim. Choose a

model within 10 and LoS of the Bone Stag marker
and push it 5 towards the Bone Stag marker.

At the start of the game, place a 50mm Bone Stag

marker in the center of the board. This marker is Ht 3 and
impassable.

Deployment
This Scenario uses Corner Deployment.

Special
Any time a model comes into base contact with the Bone
Stag, that model suffers a 3/5/9 damage flip which may
not be cheated. The models controllers opponent flips
this damage.
Any non-peon model within 3 of the Bone Stag may make
a (1) Interact Action with it to flip a card and consult the
table below:

The Bone Stag leaps high into the sky! Place the Bone
Stag marker into base contact with any model in LoS.

Black Joker:
The Bone Stag claims its due! Sacrifice this model.

ViCtory
At the end of each Turn after the first, any player with at
least two non-Peon models within 3 of the Bone Stag
gains 1 VP.

All Work, Cosplay

Noxweiler Berf
Cosplay. If youve been attending conventions within
the last ten years, youve likely noticed that more
than a few of the attendees are dressed up as
characters from their favorite comic books, films
and gaming products. Youve probably seen a father
of four wearing battle armor, a fangirl adorned in a
homemade Kauai anime dress and at least two or
three hundred people dressed up as Deadpool and
Harley Quinn.
Since the early nineties this cultural trend has grown
into a large, thriving community of fans and artists
who strive to bring to life the characters that they
love in an interactive, social setting. Its a varied
craft andat its most basic levelonly requires
patience and a few basic skills to create a costume
that you can be proud of.
Maybe youve considered putting together a scratch
built cosplay yourself. Maybe you dont know where
to start. Maybe youre nervous about walking around
in public on a day that isnt October 31st dressed in
an outfit that some might considerbizarre.
Forget all of the maybes, lets cosplay.

22

Salutations, Wrydos.

Ive also seen a rising tide of amazing and talented

fans stepping up and constructing some very
impressive Malifaux based costumes. You may
be one of those fans. Regardless, if youre new to
cosplay or if youre looking to up your game as a
fabricator, Im writing this article to give you some
tips and techniques that can give you the costuming
experience and confidence necessary to make a
bigor biggershowing at your next convention.

Some of you may know me as Noxweiler Berf, the

maniac behind the massive army of individualized
Through the Breach Voodoo Dolls. You may have
seen me creeping around the Wyrd booth at GenCon
dressed as Collodi, Seamus ormost recently
Lucius. You likely havent seen my face but you may
have a photo of us together on your Facebook wall
Behind the masks, I am an artist, designer and
fabricator that lives and works in the City of
Angels, Los Angeles. Over the past few years, Ive
constructed some elaborate cosplay costumes
for GenCon, SDCC, WonderCON and more. I have
designed and constructed cosplay for other
performers as well. Rasputina, Lady Justice, Molly
and, my personal favorite.Teddy. Each costume
had unique challenges in constructing them and
each demanded different technics to complete.

Mackenzie Sprader

Molly McIsaac

Christopher Wylie

23

Ultimately, the more reference that you have, the

easier it is going to be to replicate the costume
accurately. And when it comes to cosplay, accuracy
is one of the most important elements. Always strive
to be as precise as possible, its what separates fun
cosplay from professional cosplay.

Lets start at the beginning and then Ill explain how

I made the Spade knee caps and belt buckle for the
Lady Justice cosplay.

The Basics.
Design. Start from the original character art.

Once youve gathered all of your references,

breakdown the individual costume elements and
body placement. Belts, boots, bandanas, gloves and
weaponry are all considerations.

Find as much reference material as possible and

start breaking down the specific elements of the
costume. For Lady Justice, I had a few versions
to choose from but Iultimatelywent with the
M2E art from the main book. Additionally, Malifaux
cosplayers have an additional source of reference
in that we have access to three dimensional
models to study. We can see the exact proportions
and placement of every element by examining the
related Wyrd miniature.

What do the pants look like they are made of?

Leather? Canvas? What is each material and element
and how do they all tie together? Make a list.

Claire Max

24

Take measurements. If youor your performer

dont already have a full set of theatrical
measurements, youll want to get a fabric measuring
tape, a pencil and the sheet that Ive included here.
Shoulder length, waist, shoe size an inseam are all
part of the data that youll need to both shop and
construct your cosplay outfits.

the Lady Justice cosplay on Amazon for $30 and

then modified them. ( More on that later.) While any
of your base material can be found online, I strongly
suggest that you develop your scavenging skills.

Next youll start to source material.

Salvage and Logistics.

Somewhere near you is a thrift store and garage
sales happen all of the time. Keep a notebook or
electronic list of the elements that you are looking

With your references in place and a clear idea of

what you are searching for, I suggest that you start
with a few Internet searches. I found the boots for

25

Step One: Create a pattern out of brown paper and

cut it out. Test out the sizing and proportions.

forfor a number of projectsand keep your eyes

open. For a few dollars you can easily source the
majority of most costumes without breaking your
budget. While scavenging is essential to cost
effective and timely cosplay, sometimes, youll have
no choice but build a costume piece from scratch.
Identify anything that needs to be specifically
fabricated and start by creating a paper pattern to
test out BEFORE you begin constructing your pieces
out of anything else. I use a large roll of heavy brown
paper to build my patterns out of. You can find them
at any big box home improvement store for about
$10. Look in the paint section.

Step Two: Trace the pattern onto a sheet of craft

foam. Cut the shape out of the foam.

For our purposes here, Ive included photos of the

process that I used to build Lady Justices
Spade knee pads and belt buckle.

LADY JUSTICES SPADE KNEEPADS

Youll need:
Paper for cutting patterns.
Sharp scissors.
A sheet of craft foam. (Any color will do but
I prefer black or white.)
Two small sheets of Warlba Crafts Finest
thermal plastic.
OR White craft glue and newspaper.
A craft knife and cutting mat.
Three round headed metal thumb tacks.
Wood glue.
Super glue or epoxy.
Heat gun.

Metallic paints, black spray primer and
gloss sealant.

Step Three: Trace the pattern onto two small sheets

of Warbla plastic. Cut them both out leaving a 1/4
excess on the outskirts of the pattern.

Step Four: Sandwiching the craft foam in-between

the two pieces of Warbla, carefully heat the Warbla
up using a heat gun. (Gloves and safety gear should
always be used, and you should closely follow the
instructions and safety recommendations included
with your heat gun. A small craft heat gun can
easily be purchased at any craft store. They are
dangerous, however, and should be used carefully.)

26

Step Seven: Spray the entire kneepad with a matte

black paint.

As the Warbla heats up, mold the edges around to

the back of the Spade shape.

Step Eight: Using two or three tones of metallic

paint, dry brush the kneepads until you are satisfied
with the results. Coat the entire piece in gloss
sealant spray.
Step Nine: Using scrap Warbla create a series of
small anchors for an elastic strap or tie. Heat the
Warbla over the straps and form it tightly against the
back of the kneepad.

*If Warbla plastic is too expensive or difficult to order,

a similar effect can be achieved using white craft
glue and layers of newspaper. Be sure to only use
a common hair dryer rather than a heat gun if this
technique is used.
Step Five: Once the Warbla has cooled, coat the entire
foam with a layer of wood glue. Allow it to dry and add
another layer. Continue adding thin layers of wood glue
until you achieve the smoothness you desire.
And that completes your Spade kneepad. This
technique is the basis for many other armor building
techniques. In the future, Ill elaborate on this and
many other methods used to create high level
costume pieces that will help you to bring your
chosen cosplay to life.
In my next article, Ill tackle cosplay weaponry: both
construction and safety.
If any of you have specific questions that you want
addressed or if you need advice on a

Step Six: Using super glue or two part epoxy, place

round head metal tacks into place to form the rivets
on the kneepad.

project, dont hesitate to find me on the Wyrd forums

under the name eatenbypotchky.
Stick to the road, stay clear of moor, and beware
the moon,

NOXWEILER BERF

27

AA one-shot
Dragon
and
a
Vase
ADVENTURE FOR THROUGH THE BREACH
Liam Tennant
Summary: An eccentric Doctor named Ferman
Quelch has taken a great interest in the Three
Kingdoms after his first visit to Little Kingdom where
he became fascinated with eastern medicines. From
that point on he almost obsessed over the Three
Kingdoms and all aspects of their culture not just
their medicine he sought to acquire trinkets and
objects of as well. His minor wealth and stature
enabled him collect all manner of objects, but so far
his most prized possession is still the first artefact
of significance he obtained: a Jade Dragon.

Welcome brave souls to another new adventure in

Malifaux. This adventure will send your Fated into
new territory and have a closer look at the mysterious
Little Kingdom, perhaps even understand a little
more about the exotic east.
The adventure presented below can be a standalone
adventure for your party or tie into a larger narrative.
There will be some story points and minor plot
hooks that can be explored as complications in
future sessions and no matter what the outcome,
the Fated can attempt to be the masters of their
own destiny.

Lately instead of venturing into Little Kingdom

himself, he has in his employ an oriental man
servant Kinkuro who represents his interests in the
transactions. The latest purchase, that of a large
ornamental vase, did not go as planned and the
vase was stolen in an ambush and Kinkuro injured.

If you are not planning on running this story now

would be the time to turn around and avoid any
spoilers.

As a result of this ambush Mr Quelch has put the

call out for any groups interested in recovering
his stolen item (as the Guild has little interest in
these affairs, especially when they occur within
Little Kingdom).

The Game
Estimated time to play: 4-5 hours for 4 players.
Tarot Tie-ins: CRNC 9C for not all treasures glimmer
in the light relates to you seeking the missing
Ornamental Vase a treasure Quelch is willing to pay
handsomely for.

28

At that point, Quelch will ask if the Fated will accept the
job and when they agree he offers a round of drinks for
all and asked how he and Kinkuro can be of further
assistance for them to begin their investigation.

Prologue
The Fated have seen the reward poster that Quelch
put up in one of their usual haunts. It calls for
individuals to track down and recover an item
of personal significance to the owner. The party
responded and Kinkuro has set up a meeting
with Quelch and the Fated in a private room at the
establishment. The room has a table in centre of
it enough for 10 people to sit and have a meal the
furnishings are not opulent but are a little more
refined compared to what is in the common area.
The room is dimly lit with gas lamps.

Additional information that can be revealed at the

introductory meeting based on questions the Fated
ask Quelch and Kinkuro. Quelch is forthcoming, but
Kinkuro is not. If Kinkuro does speak, his English is
somewhat broken and awkward.
Reward is substantial (this is flexible and up
to the Fatemaster to decide depending on
experience of the party and if this is part of an
ongoing adventure as Quelch is a man of means
he may have access to other items the Fated
may be looking for. At the very least the reward
is for several Guild Scrip each

Welcome friends. I am so glad that you

responded to my request, I was beginning to
doubt that anyone would. You know the Guild isnt
interested in these types of matters; if it doesnt
concern them directly we citizens are left to fend
for ourselves.

Kinkuro has worked for Quelch for a few years

Quelch stopped venturing into Little Kindgom
himself after a bad experience in an Opium den
(he insists it was for medical research)

Oh, Im sorry, how rude of me. I am Dr Ferman

Quelch the unfortunate victim of this horrendous
crime and this is my companion Kinkuro.

Subsequently hired Kinkuro to pursue his

continued trade as Quelch wasnt sure how safe
it was for him to be alone in Little Kingdom now

The Three Kingdoms fascinate me, the way the

people approach their lives is so very different. I
think we have a lot to learn from them.

Kinkuro was initially a very enthusiastic

employee but has recently showed less drive
but still carries out his work diligently

Kinkuro stares solemnly at Quelch as he digresses

from his point. Quelch notices and shifts in his
seat.

Kinkuro is unable to give exact descriptions

of his assailants limiting it to they were all
definitely natives of the Three Kingdoms, their
faces were covered with cloth and Oni masks

I do apologise, I can get side-tracked from time

to time. Where were we? Thats right! I need a
group of individuals like yourselves to retrieve an
ornamental vase that was stolen from me or
rather it was stolen from Kinkuro in an ambush
as he was on his way back to me with the vase.
It is so very important to me, but no one could be
expected to stop an ambush of this magnitude

Kinkuro has an elaborate tattoo up the right

side of neck (symbol of clan Katanaka, though
it is unlikely the Fated will know that). To spot
this a member of the party must have Scrutiny
and Notice skills and be focussing their
attention on Kinkuro. They will see he is slightly
uncomfortable on a Scrutiny test TN 8 and if
that is successful they will be able to make out
part of the tattoo as he fidgets with his collar at
a TN of 12

The Fatemaster is to read or paraphrase the

following after setting the scene from above:

Quelch recalls the Qi & Gong as a very nice

place to stay in Little Kingdom and always has a
very diverse set of occupants

Dr Quelch will embellish the ambush to ludcrious

protportions while Kinkuro sits silently. The
Fatemaster is encouraged to just drone on and on
with details, continuing to remember new parts of
the story until one of the Fated stops him.

The Katanaka Trading House is mentioned as

another place that Quelch found fascinating and
where he has got some of his smaller Three
Kingdoms trinkets

29

 If asked about what his favourite piece in his

collection is Quelch will describe the Jade
Dragon statue and go into long detail about how
gorgeous it is (it is about 3-4 feet long)

Skills of use in these investigations will be Scrutiny,

Gambling, Intimidation, Bewitch and Carousing.

What is special about the vase or distinguishing

features: It depicts a vignette of dragon (much
like his statue) above a temple that is a the
crossroads of several rivers (It is about 2 feet
diameter and 3 feet high)

There is a mix of individuals here, but no one of

particular note. There are some off duty Guild
guard, so if the Fated get pushy theyll run into
trouble with them.

Qi and Gong

The Fated can find out from other outsiders that a

lot of trade (both legal and illicit) happens at the
Katanka Trading House. It is tightly controlled but
is really the only place they know of that deals in
anything like what the party is describing.

Once party are happy with the info received, Quelch

will organise lodgings for the night and come
morning will arrange for transport to Little Kingdom
for the party. Kinkuro will accompany them. He
has arranged for rooms at Qi and Gong while
investigation is underway to use as a hub.

This scene is best set up as an Ongoing Challenge

using TN 9 (which can fluctuate based on the
Fated) Gambling and Carousing. The Fated need
5 increments to loosen others tongues, and the
Duration is 5 minutes. If the Fated get 4 or more
failures before they succeed, the Guild guardsmen
will take too strong an interest in the party.

Scene 1 - Investigation
Upon getting settled in their rooms at the Qi & Gong
the Fated will have to decide on where to focus
their investigation. There is not a level of stress or
tension yet in the adventure and the Fated should
feel free to explore their surroundings and bounce
ideas off one another about where to start.

Markets
People here will communicate through the language
barrier, but the conversation will be broken and
confusing. Wares being sold here are of the
everyday with nothing exotic. If you try to intimidate
the stall owners they will just scare without giving
any information. The Market is essentially a dead
end, but can provide plenty of flavour of the area.

Although it isnt yet a stressful situation the Fated

should feel that there are risks involved in what they
are doing. They are in a foreign environment where
not everyone speaks a familiar language. Kinkuro
can be played as a bad translator, although party
members may pick up on it with a TN 10 Scrutiny
check if he is being too obstructive. The Fated have
already seen that he is not overly communicative
from the initial meeting, but if he is being a hindrance
to them they are likely to have to get forceful to have
him cooperate.

Gambling House
It is possible to investigate here by asking the
gamblers about trade in Little Kingdom, but Fated
will have to loosen them up a bit and have them feel
comfortable that they are not being hustled. Use the
same Ongoing Challenge as at the Qi and Gong, but
failure here is much worse. If the Fated fail, see the
Ambush sidebar.

The idea of this section is to lead the Fated into

wanting to go to the Katanaka Trading House
(although Kinkuro will not volunteer that as a place
to head).Places of note other than the Trading House
where the Fated can start investigating

Opium Dens
The opium dens have the potential for gang
interference as they are not happy about questions
being asked. If the Fateds line of questioning fails
quickly and they persist they will face the Ambush
complication in the sidebar.

Qi & Gong
Markets
Opium Dens
Gambling Houses

30

forms of goods are processed through the Trading

House from exotic spices to other materials much
more illicit.

AMBUSH!
Depending on the outcome of questioning at the
gambling houses and opium dens, a shadowy
force may reveal its hand a little earlier than
desired to stop this investigation cold. After all,
who is going to miss a few mercenaries and
outsiders in the Little Kingdom?

If Kinkuros tattoo has been identified by any of the

Fated earlier in the adventure they will notice that
all the guards have very similar tattoos as to many
of the traders.

Minor Tarot Tie In

Kinkuro will assist by directing the party to Oyama in

his stall on the 3rd floor on the South East corner by
saying that Oyama knows much of what happens in
the Trading House. There the party may try to garner
more information from him. The Fatemaster should
read aloud or paraphrase the following:

CRNC 1R but the people in the windows will

greet you with terror relates to the Fated as
outsiders in the area.
There will be Archers stalking the Fated on the
rooftops. They are natives to the area so move
nimbly, and they are armed with longbows. For
the Fated to scare them off they will need to inflict
3 points of damage on at least half of the archers
involved in the ambush. The archers are in the
equivalent of hard cover with a Df of 4 and rank
values between 5-6. They only have 6 wounds
each, and there are about 4 of them. The Archers
may fire off a shot or too, but at this point they
havent been given the order to engage.

Who are these outsiders you bring to me

Kinkuro? What do they want?
Kinkuro replies in his native tongue, as Oyama
looks increasingly angry.
They are working for that fool Quelch and think
I had something to do with you not getting that
vase to your master? I am an honourable man,
and they mere mercenaries.

If this event occurs a second time, then the

Archers will fire at the players as their orders
have changed.

Intimidating Oyama will see the party attacked,

beaten and kicked out from the Trading House. If the
Fated attempt to go down this route try and caution
them against it. There are far too many guards here
for them to win the fight.

The Katanaka Trading House

The Katanaka Trading House is not a singular building
but rather a converted town square; walkways have
been built around the entire perimeter to access
where there were once building facades. The walls
have been opened up so that instead of houses
there are row after row of small traders.

Oyama is a shrewd business dealer but also indulges

in gambling. The Fated can play to his business side
or reckless gambler to get more information from
him. Use Gambling, Appraise, or Bureaucracy to
deal with him.
Oyama has following information to reveal:

There are 3 entrances leading into the trading house,

each heavily guarded by men of House Katanaka.
They bear their clans tattoos and some are in
heavily lacquered armour. Every person entering or
exiting is checked by the guards at one of these
stations.

Kinkuro was ambushed outside of grounds of

the Trading House
He thinks Quelch is a fool and troublemaker
Various criminal gangs operate in Little Kingdom
and deal in strongarm protection rackets,
smuggling and weapons

At the centre of the square is a large open space

that houses some of the larger and more unique
items and is often used as an auction floor. All

Most of the gangs have warehouses by the docks

31

As the Fated go to leave, have the Fatemaster

paraphrase or read aloud the following:

If the Fated cant determine the warehouse by

a Notice check, questioning the stall owners
will reveal that they are wary of identifying the
warehouse. The Fated will picked up from their body
language that they are paying for protection with the
Ten Thunders in this area. Following up with a little
hard intimidation (TN 8 11) will reveal the correct
warehouse. The Fatemaster should vary the TN
required for the intimidation check within the range
given for each stall owner. Also keep in mind that a
merchant might be wrong or purposefully mislead
the players.

Oyama clears his throat as you go to leave,

inviting your attention.
You will find, Outsiders, that information and
secrets are things of value in Little Kingdom
and can have value even greater than that
which you seek. Have a care for what secrets
you may discover, for many will not part with
them as easily as I.

Scene 2 Next Steps

Scene 3 The Warehouse

After getting everything they need to know the Fated

should head back to the Qi & Gong. Here they
should ask some more questions of Kinkuro and
the political landscape of Little Kingdom.

Having identified the correct warehouse, the Fatemaster

should paraphrase or read aloud the following:

Kinkuro will have the following information to reveal,

depending on questions. He is more helpful than
before, but he is still not forthcoming:

The warehouse is 30 yards deep x 20 yards

wide. The main door faces street and is open
for anyone to see, and the building has a set
of matching doors at the rear. These massive
doors are 18 feet tall sliding doors made of
metal. It is no small feat to get them open, but
there is a normal size entrance on the front for
workers to come and go.

Kinkuro agrees Katanaka Trading House is

where he bought the Vase
He will not elaborate on how he was ambushed
based on this level of security

Around the side of the warehouse there are

only narrow gaps between this warehouse and
the next. There is barely enough room for one
person to fit through. Crammed into this tight
space is a single sliding door.

The Ten Thunders are the largest of the gangs

operating in the Little Kingdom and Malifaux
They control several parts of Little Kingdom
He has dealings with the Ten Thunders in the past
He is aware of a storage warehouse they have in
the dock area knows its general location

The street looks mostly empty of activity except for

the stall owners.

The Docks
If the Fated stake out warehouse for activity it will
be uneventful, but the Fatemaster is encouraged to
incorporate the earlier Ambush complication if the
Fated delay too long.

As the Fated make their way to the docks there

are lots of market stalls selling seafood and other
perishables. Some are dealing in larger more
permanent items. Many of the warehouses on the
waterfront are boarded up.

The side door requires a TN 9 Lockpicking duel

to open.

With a TN 10 Notice check the Fated may see

similar markings on some stalls to those they saw
at the Trading House. They can check for the same
markings on the warehouses to find the right one
(TN 12).

The rear jetty doors require a TN 12 Lockpicking

duel to open but the Fated will be exposed.

32

Inside the warehouse is a dark open space. It

is hard to see, as only a few beams of light fall
down through a few windows in the roof. There
are a few lamps glowing softly throughout the
building. Along the rear wall and one of sides is
a 4 yard deep mezzanine with 3 access ladders.

There are no windows to see inside the warehouse,

and no easy roof access. The players will need to
figure out exactly how to get inside, and preferably
to do so without the local stall owners alerting
anyone to their presence.

Near one of the lamps, you see a vase in an

open crate that seems to match the description
you have. It is not far from the main doors.
Out of the gloom steps Kinkuro, surrounded by
several armed individuals.
You do not realise what you have become
involved with. I try to push from this, but now
try again.
Ferman Quelch has no right to Dragon Vase.
Its place is with us, House Katanaka. He sees
Three Kingdoms as curiosity to be studied for
amusement. It is insult. He has item of great
importance: The Jade Dragon. It was taken and
we must return to rightful owners.
Your path goes no further. You leave now and
we are harmony. You stay, and you see the
power of Katanaka.

The Fated may choose to walk out, and if they do, the
adventure ends (except for an irate Quelch, which they
may confront or ignore). If they choose to stay, they
must fight Kinkuro and the Ten Thunders Brothers.
Kinkuro gives the Fated 2 minutes dramatic time to
decide before he makes the decision for them.
Using the Fatemasters Almanac, you can use the
following stats: Kinkuro (use the Executioner stats
on page 155, using the official errata to make his
damage 3/4/5). He will be accompanied by 3 Ten
Thunders Brothers (use the Ronin stats on page
163) and 2 Ten Thunders Archers (use the Guild
Rifleman stats on page 145, replacing the gun with
a bow).
If Kinkuro is defeated and allowed to live, he will
return another day to get what is rightfully theirs. If
he defeats the players, he will not kill them, but he
will cut them with the Katanaka mark, indicating to
all that they are disgraced and defeated.

Showdown in the Warehouse

Once inside, paraphrase or read aloud the following:

33

Hazardous Material
Joseph (Rancor709) Girard
The world of Malifaux is a chilling world where Bad
Things Happen. But far too often the tabletop is a
land devoid of anything dangerous (outside of the
models, of course). The environment, so harsh and
unforgiving, isnt represented on the gaming table
often enough especially when the fine people at
Wyrd spent time writing the hazardous terrain rules.
This article is about getting out of your comfort zone
and making the dangers of the land of Malifaux
come alive on your tabletop.

groups, and I realized that Id been avoiding them

for a long time. The conversation quickly turned to
planning how we could challenge ourselves and our
local area to use these rules more. The result is
something we call the 2015 Hazardous Challenge.
The challenges is to play all of our games in 2015
(that we set up) with at least one feature as a
hazardous terrain feature. The idea was that playing
with hazardous features would help models that
have interactions, pushes, or other rules that use
hazardous terrain that were outright ignored in
standard terrain setups. Keeping this challenge at
the front of my mind toward the end of 2014, I found
myself starting the challenge early in pickup games.
Surprisingly, I had eager volunteers. The games
showed new tactics opening up for both of us, and
we actually had to think about the world around our
miniatures beyond cover and line of sight.

I was as guilty as anyone: my table was usually

nice and orderly, well balanced with some lanes of
fire, some areas of sight denial, and some areas
that forced a lot of tough movement choices. But
I never placed a piece of terrain that my opponent
and I agreed would be hazardous. Ive neglected
hazardous terrain in tournaments as well, even
when, as the Tournament Organizer, I had the ability
to set up the terrain ahead of time and say Hey
were playing this feature today as x or y. I was
denying myself and my players a part of the game
that would allow for even deeper tactical play.

This early experience reinforced my belief that the

challenge was a great thing, not only for myself but
for others as well. I broached the subject with my
local players and they were all ready to at least give
it a try. The water of the challenge was sweet and
again, after the games where hazardous terrain was
used, we were excited for the possibilities. Everyone
felt that the addition of hazardous terrain had played
into their decision making. It was this result that led
me to my next plan: at our first tournament of the
year we would have hazardous terrain in spades.

This was something I did all throughout 2014.

In every game I played, I stubbornly ignored the
hazardous terrain rules and actively chose not
to utilize or even consider utilizing. In November
of 2014, when a friend and I were talking about
underappreciated and underused rules, the
hazardous terrain rules came up as nice compact
rules that frankly werent seeing play in either of our

35

I collaborated with Charles, our local terrain making

machine, and asked if he minded adding some
hazardous elements to his next boards. He was
ecstatic at the prospect of representing hazardous
terrain, and he eagerly went about crafting some
beautifully simple hazardous terrain themed boards.

After the tournament, I took a quick survey of my

players and all said that they liked the terrain
features and that they had factored them into their
decisions in some way, but that the terrain also
hadnt decided any outcomes all by itself. It was
exactly what I was attempting to achieve.

A lot of the hazardous features came out as very

simple terrain that was themed to the board it was
on. We had some deep water for the swamp board
represented by darker colored water cutouts that
were painted darker to show that they were deeper
(and therefore hazardous). In the cavernous mine,
we had some mineshafts that were just simple
square terrain with a bit of wood boxing in a black
area that resembled a mine shaft.

I had come a long way from the orderly, almost

surgical tables of 2014. I have started scheming,
looking for ways to make even more interesting and
diverse terrain boards featuring hazardous terrain
to challenge myself and fellow players. Beyond
that, hazardous terrain has the power to help us
tell incredible stories about our boards. A standard
forest doesnt tell a tale, but a razor thicket does.
What image will hazardous terrain put in your head?
What story will it help you tell? That is the power of
hazardous terrain.

On our regular tables, I made the rubble in the

graveyard hazardous terrain representing restless
undead trapped under it reaching to get you. And on
the desert board there was a strange broken piece
of uneven ground with a massive gear in the middle
of it. I called it lightning sand to represent strange
harmful energies the gear was giving off to the
surrounding area. All of these simple ideas added
instant character to the terrain and helped provide
more tactical options to the players.

So what are you waiting for, a formal engraved

invitation? The next time you and your opponent
are determining terrain, make a feature hazardous
terrain. Even better, name the feature! Make your
board come alive in the deep and dark world of
Malifaux. Give yourselves tough tactical decisions
by including an underutilized terrain type in your
games. I bet youll come out of it thinking more
about the board than you normally would, and you
just might get a bit more immersed in your game.

When I saw the terrain laid out in front of me at

the tournament I was extremely happy, and I had an
idea for improvement: terrain cards for each table.
After setting up the boards, I made up some quick
reference terrain cards using index cards. The cards
detailed how each terrain feature was to be played.
This provided a level field and ensured each table
had a hazardous terrain feature.

A note on the placement of the terrain: the

hazardous terrain we used covered areas that
would have been direct routes in standard
deployment. I left room for it to be avoided
but at the cost of extra movement to do so.
The hazardous terrain was kept away from
Strategy objectives, but again there was a
slight reward for passing through it. It should
be a real tactical choice as to how the terrain
affects you, not an oh, its right where I need
to go guess Im taking damage because my
tournament organizer is mean.

36

Peaceful Malifaux
Michael Kelmelis
Michael is a regular writer on the Guessing Zero
gaming website at guessingzero.com, and is a co-host
of the podcast Gaming Done Right on the Guessing
Zero Network.

alike face a world where necromancers cut them

down simply to raise them to serve as mindless
Guild Autopsies and horrifying Rotten Belles. Make
no mistake, life in Malifaux is filled with suffering.

Over 25 years ago, Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a poetic

book on Dharma teachings called Being Peace.
Through ancient stories, colorful parables, and
expressive poetry, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us
how to live life in the face of conflict, and how to
live without succumbing to the rigors the world
constantly puts in our path. His teachings can be
applied broadly, even in the game of Malifaux.

But as Thich Nhat Hanh says, to suffer is not

enough. There is more to Malifaux than this
constant conflict. Simple violence is rarely the
answer, and in Malifaux it is not the only path to
success. Using the words from the Zen Buddhist
monk, we will explore non-violence, the often-ignored
facet of Malifaux and learn how to achieve success
in Malifaux through peaceful methods.

Life is filled with suffering,

but it is also filled with many
wonders, such as the blue
sky, the sunshine, and the
eyes of a baby. To suffer
is not enough. We must
also be in touch with the
wonders of life. They are
within us and all around us,
everywhere, anytime.

Engage from Beginning to End

When you use peaceful tactics, it is sometimes
difficult to see immediate success. When using
the sword or the gun, you see instant gratification
by removing models from the table. That action
provides the feeling accomplishment and progress,
giving him the drive to continue the game. Peaceful
methods rely on a different path. They rely on
capitalizing on maneuverability, unorthodox tricks,
and focus on that which will win you the game in the
end: Victory Points.

Without a doubt, Malifaux portrays a life filled with

suffering. Peons and minions fight at their masters
whims, often dying for their cause. Desperate
Mercenaries struggle just to make the money they
need to survive, taking on dangerous often lethal
contracts out of necessity. Lawmen and prostitutes

38

If we turn our plan to attacking and killing the enemy,

that is what our game becomes. But we can just
as easily change the channel to a plan of alternate
means to achieving victory. Turn on the channel of
non-violence and of peace, and let that become your
game. Embrace that strategy and plan, and see the
options it opens up to you.

The game of Malifaux is an ever-shifting field. From

the time you find another with whom to play the game
to the time the last Victory Point is counted up, the
state of the game will change hundreds of times.
A player may be winning on turn four, see that lead
crumble away on turn five, and then come back to
win on an unexpected sixth turn. No matter where
you stand in the game, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches:

Do Not Let the Horse Lead You

You are not an observer,

you are a participant.

Earlier I spoke of several strategies that peaceful

tactics rely on: maneuverability, unorthodox tricks,
and a focus on Victory Points. It is important to
know from an early point how it is you intend to win
the game peacefully. This is a more difficult path
than the violent one. But you must understand your
path and embrace it wholly.

The game is not intended to be played by only one

player. No matter what the current state of the game
is, you owe it to yourself to put forth all you can to
put the game in your favor. Your opponent will get
the gratification he needs to continue by engaging
and attacking your models. You must find your
gratification and will to continue the battle, even
though it may look hopeless as you fight. Remind
yourself that the game is not won until the end, and
while your opponent may be making early gains, you
are laying the groundwork to win at the final count.

There is a Zen story about

a man riding a horse that
is galloping very quickly.
Another man, standing
alongside the road, yells at
him, Where are you going?
and the man on the horse
yells back, I dont know.
Ask the horse.

Strategy is a Television Set

There are times violence will be unavoidable. One
Strategy, Reckoning, requires killing enemy models.
Four Schemes (Assassinate, Vendetta, Make them
Suffer, and Murder Protg) require attacking and
killing enemy models. But the vast majority of
the options in the game do not specifically require
enemy models to be killed. Yes, it is often easier to
complete objectives when your enemys models are
dead, but that is not the only path.

The game between you and your opponent is the

horse, and you are the man riding it. Do not let
the game take you where you do not want to go. If
you want the game to be one of peace, lead your
models that way and the game will follow. Once
you have your plan in place, do not lose sight of it.
Understand how your models will help you achieve
your goal of a peaceful victory first by understanding
the options available to you.

A human being is like a

television set with millions
of channels. If we turn
the Buddha on, we are the
Buddha. If we turn the
sorrow on, we are sorrow.
If we turn a smile on, we
really are the smile. We
cant let just one channel
dominate us.

1. Maneuverability
Maneuverability refers to several different aspects
of the game. It deals with the actual Walk value
of your models and how fast they can go. It also
deals with any other movement tricks your model
may have, like Leap on a Silurid. Finally, it deals
with your basic understanding of how to use the
abilities your model has in conjunction with the
terrain and placement of other models on the
board successfully.

Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that people are made up of

many facets. The game of Malifaux is no different.

39

Violent models often use maneuverability to get

into position for a strong strike. When playing
peacefully, you will want to try a different path.
Instead of moving into a prime attacking stance,
move into better defensive postures. Move out of
range of charges. Take cover from gunfire. Keep
your models from being pinned down by the enemy.
Then, with your models in safe position, use your
maneuverability to grab for objectives: drop Scheme
Markers or Interact with enemy models.

Peaceful models do not focus on their attack values.

Instead, view their Tactical Actions and Abilities to
find their true strengths.

3. Focus on Victory Points

It is easy in Malifaux to get distracted by the most
attractive thing on the table. If your opponent puts
a juicy target in front of you and you know you could
kill it, it is worth taking a moment to ask yourself
why your opponent did that in the first place. Did
your opponent want you to take the time to attack?
Attacking and defeating that model may seem the
best move to make because it offers the most
immediate satisfaction, but it does not mean that it
is the best move in that case.

Without maneuverability, peaceful tactics against an

opponent bent on war will not succeed.

2. Unorthodox Tricks
When first looking over a new model, most people
will look at the Statistics, then immediately turn the
card over and look to the Attack Actions available
before moving to the Tactical Actions and Abilities.
I know when the Wave 3 Beta launched in January,
a lot of focus was given to the combat capability of
the new models. This often loses sight of some of
the most valuable possibilities with models. Almost
every model can move and attack, be it in melee or
at range. Where a models true uniqueness begins
to shine is with his Tactical Actions and Abilities.

Thich Nhat Hanh discusses these traps with

perception in his book. The reality we first perceive
is not always the actual reality.
When you look at the night
sky, you might see a very
beautiful star, and smile
at it. But a scientist may
tell you that the star is no
longer there, that it was
extinct ten million years
ago. So our perception is
not correct.

This is where the peaceful model will shine as well.

Since the peaceful model does not favor its damagedealing Attack Actions, its value comes from the
other things that set it apart. Do not ignore them.

Do not lose sight of your objective. The truth your

opponent wants you to see that killing his model
is the best move at that particular point in time is
not necessarily the reality of the game. You may
be better served letting that model live and instead
claiming your final Breakthrough Scheme Marker,
or overturning your opponents Claim Marker in
Squatters Rights instead. Do not lose your focus.
Do not allow your opponent to draw you into a
perceptual trap.

The Necropunk is a prime example of this. Sporting

an average Willpower and Defense, combined with
few wounds and a low Walk and weak attack, it
seems a subpar model. But looked at as a peaceful
model, it comes more into focus. Hard to Wound
and Hard to Kill give it more staying power to soak
up wounds, meaning its defenses are higher than
implied. Add in Reattach and now its a model
that cannot be easily killed without your opponent
spending a disproportionate amount of effort.
Reattach comes with a disadvantage that makes
the Necropunk easier to kill. This is not an issue
for the model, though, as its Tactical Action of Leap
shows its true purpose: this model is designed to
move quickly around the sides of the battle and
claim Victory Points. With Leap, it is also a model
that could move and Deliver the Message quickly,
should that scheme be available.

Pick Your Oak Trees

With the strengths of peaceful models in mind, it
is time to look at specific examples in different
factions and how they can be used to win without
attacking. As I often say, have your strategy in mind

40

limbs off mercenaries, and a basic philosophy that

anyone in the crew can fight if their back is pressed
to the wall. Finding purely peaceful models in Guild
is difficult, but finding models that can embrace this
philosophy through their unorthodox tricks is not.

before you begin selecting your crew, and then take

the models to complement it. This is of particular
importance when playing peacefully. By eliminating
violent interaction, you are eliminating one entire
vector from your toolbox. You will need to know how
to make up for that loss. The best way to do that
is to know what tasks you need done, know what
models can fulfill those tasks, and then understand
implicitly how those models can achieve those tasks.

The Guild Austringer, a favorite of many Guild

players, can lay down damage from a relatively safe
place. However, it has other more peaceful options
as well. Its Raptor attack has the Distract trigger on
it, a way to help protect your other models by forcing
your opponent to discard key cards from his Control
Hand. The Austringer also has the Deliver Orders
Tactical Action, a perfect way to push a friendly
model out of a dangerous spot, or to drop Scheme
Markers to achieve Victory Points.

Thich Nhat Hanh said, An oak tree is an oak tree.

That is all it has to do. Know what your models are
capable of, what they need to do, and how they will
accomplish that.
But Thich Nhat Hanh added, If an oak tree is less than
an oak tree, then we are all in trouble. This is absolutely
true for your strategy. If you select a Necropunk as
your chosen model to get your Breakthrough Scheme
and it fails at that task, your strategy and chances for
victory are certainly in trouble.

The Watcher is another peaceful option for the Guild

in that it is a maneuverable, cheap minion, and a
good option in the faction to be an objective runner.
Flight will help it get out of danger, flying over terrain
that other models will have to spend actions moving
around. Armor and Stubborn will help it keep alive
long enough to achieve its goals.

To combat this, build redundancy into your list. A

Necropunk could achieve Breakthrough on its own
during the course of a game, but if that Necropunk
is defeated, that closes off the entire Scheme to
you unless you have a contingency plan. A second
Necropunk, perhaps, that is tasked with the exact same
job. Then your oak tree is the pair of Necropunks,
and they must together achieve Breakthrough. One
can fail and the tree will still stand.

Resurrectionists

What are some of the potential oak trees in the

different factions? What are the models that can
fulfill the three options listed above: maneuverability,
unorthodox tricks, or focus on victory points?

The Resurrenctionists have a lot of options

available for peaceful gameplay. They have many
models capable of debuffing enemies, putting them
in positions where they cannot threaten their own
models anymore, and with their summoning options
available, they can replenish the ranks that your
violent opponent destroys.

Guild

We have already discussed the Necropunk as a

good peaceful option. The Rotten Belle, already a
staple in many Resurrectionist lists, is another good
peaceful model. With Lure it can pull enemy models
out of position, buying time for friendly models to
achieve their goals, or it can pull friendly models
where they need to be.

The Guild is a violent faction. They have guns that

blow the heads off zombies, swords that slice the

41

The Night Terror is another good peaceful model. It

has Attracted to Noise, allowing it to get up close to
ranged enemies quickly and engage them so they
cannot continue to fire. Between that and Night
Falls, it is able to protect your other models giving
them the ability to achieve their objectives. With
Incorporeal and Hard to Kill, it often take three or
four solid hits before being killed.

Neverborn

The masters of speed and unorthodox tricks,

Neverborn are (unsurprisingly) good at peaceful
combat. Like they Guild, they have a lot of attacks
on their models, but many of them can instead be
geared towards other plans.

Arcanists

The Insidious Madness is a very fast minion with a

high Defense and Incorporeal, making it a fantastic
cheap objective-runner. Its Induce Phobia ability is a
great way to drain cards from your opponents hand.
Its low TN Horror Duel means you will rarely actually
Paralyze a model using it, but your opponent will be
forced to cheat cards out of his hand to keep his
models safe.

The Arcanists are masters of elements and of

magic, and of machinery and mechanical devices.
They have a significant amount of damage they can
produce from masters like Kaeris and Rasputina,
but they also have unorthodox masters like Colette
and maneuverable ones like Marcus. They also
have a number of peaceful lesser models.

The Doppelganger is another perfect peaceful

model. Its flexibility is nearly unparalleled. Like the
Performer, it has Dont Mind Me, giving it the option
to Interact even while Engaged. With Manipulative
14, Which One is Real?! and Blend In, it can be kept
relatively safe. Mimic is a great option for letting
the Doppelganger fill in with whatever actions are
needed. Without a doubt, this is one of the best
peaceful models in Malifaux.

The Metal Gamin is a great peaceful option for

the Arcanists. Peaceful models find themselves
under fire quite often and might ask for a little more
protection. It is hard to find a more cost-effective
protector than the Metal Gamin. With Armor +2, Hard
to Kill and Stand Ground, this model is incredibly
survivable for its 4 cost. Protection of Metal lets it
keep an ally nearby safe, and Magnetism allows it to
serve as an objective-runner in a pinch.

Outcasts

If its objective-running you are looking for, however,

the Performer is quite attractive. Manipulative
keeps it alive, while Dont Mind Me allows it to
interact and drop Scheme Markers in otherwise
dangerous places. And if need be, like the Rotten
Belle, it can use Siren Call to move models around
the battlefield.

The Outcasts are a mixed bag, not really owning

a particular theme. They are very few dedicated
peaceful models at their disposal, but the Freikorps
Librarian is a good option. Its primary value in this
case is in keeping other models in your crew alive
through its Healing Energy.

42

Beyond that, Outcasts have a number of cheap

models that could serve as defensive objectiverunners. Few in the Outcast line are better than the
Freikorpsman. With Armor +1 and the Freikorps Suit,
it has a lot of protection, and at its cheap cost, it will
not be missed from the main engagements much.

The faction of defensive models, it is no surprise

there are a lot of options to play a peaceful game
with Ten Thunders.
Perhaps the most controversial peaceful model is
the Monk of Low River. Pages have been written on
how to get the best use of this model, but there is
no doubting it is a peaceful model. With no way to
deal damage in itself, it serves as a cheap defensive
model. Stand Ground, Call Unto the Chi and Brutal
Sensei help it to survive longer, but its true value
is in its Over The Pebbles attack. This deals no
damage, but removes a Condition from the target
model. This does not specify whether it must be an
enemy or friendly model, so it can remove Paralyze
from a friendly model as easily as remove Poison
from a Flesh Construct to disrupt its synergy.

Gremlins

The most unpredictable faction in Malifaux has

arguably the best peaceful model in the game with
Fingers. With high wounds, high defense, Loudest
Squeel and Take a Swing it is an incredibly difficult
model to defeat. With Chatty and Dont Mind Me, it
thrives in the midst of your opponents crew, mucking
with their battle plans, preventing them from taking
Interact Actions while taking them himself.

The Ten Thunders Brothers fill the defensive-minded

objective-runner for the crew. While more expensive
than the Tengu, it is far more difficult to kill, and
with Dance of the Heavens, any Mask gives the Ten
Thunders Brother movement as a (0) Action.

Preventing War
They also have one of the best cheap objectiverunners in their base model, the Bayou Gremlin.
At only three points, this Minion can be taken in
droves to the point where if one dies, it is not a
great impact to the rest of the crew. High Pitched
Squeel will help keep it safe should an enemy reach
it, and Drunk & Reckless will let it take three actions
on the turn it most needs it to get Victory Points.
When making plans to use these models, they can
be purchased as point-and-shoot models, firing off
to get a Victory Point or two and then immediately
die as your opponent is forced to take an AP to
shoot at them.

Thich Nhat Hanh has a lot to say about the world

around him, and how he suggests interacting with it
to achieve and maintain peace. I encourage you all
to read Being Peace with a particular eye towards
applying his lessons to the game of Malifaux.
Preventing war is much
better than protesting
against the war. Protesting
the war is too late.
Find a path and strategy from the onset of the game
to win the game while preventing violent conflict in
order to play the peaceful warrior. It is a challenge
far more difficult for players to achieve than taking
the easier violent path.

Ten Thunders

Malifaux is a world flush with conflict and strife.

Actually staying peaceful with every model is a nighimpossibility in Malifaux, of course, but learning and
practicing with an eye towards peaceful tactics will
only improve your overall game. Recognizing that

43

not all encounters require the brute force approach,

that sometimes retreating or acting peacefully
actually improves your odds of winning, is one
difference between a good player and one who is on
the road to greatness.

to properly apply force. Next issue, we will explore

the other side of Malifaux with Sun Tzus Art of War.
With an understanding of the teachings of both
Thich Nhat Hanh and Sun Tzu, you will become a
truly fearsome opponent.

That said, there are times when the violent

approach is required. It is important to know how

References from: Hanh, Thich Nhat.Being Peace.

Parallax Press, 2005.

44

- FEBRUARY RELEASE! -

Death of Metal
Denis Graziano
Hello everyone. Art can be messy. We make
mistakes, we change our minds mid-project, we
repurpose materials; there are all kinds of reasons
why art can be messy. This project starts out very
much that way.
Ill freely admit that I love plastic. Ill work with
metal if I have to, and I certainly love some of the
older metal models but I really love plastic. So even
though I already had a nicely painted Sabertooth
Cerberus, I couldnt wait to paint the new plastic
one. So I assembled it, based it, and primed it (I
normally dont base if I think I cant reach everything,
but I thought there was enough space under this guy
that it wouldnt be a problem). Thats where I ran
into my first challenge; what I though would be an
unnoticeable join popped right out when I primed it.

46

Thats going to need some green stuff. However,

I figured since I was breaking it out anyway this
might be an opportunity to try something else and
make a statement about how happy I am to switch to
plastic. I had my old metal Jackalope already painted,
but I decided I could repurpose him. In most cases, I
would strip him first, but I would only be damaging a
small part which I could easily touch up.

I cut the Jackalopes neck which left a flat spot so

I added a little green stuff just to break it up. Im
not the greatest sculptor, but my brushwork should
make the hair work.

Art is messy right? Dry brushing the base totally

destroyed the paint job on the Jackalope. I guess Ill
have to re-paint him anyway. Its a good thing I use
very thin paint so I can simply paint over him and
we hopefully wont see that he was painted once
already. On the bright side, Ill be able to alter his
coloring to make sure he doesnt take too much
attention away from the Cerberus. I dont want him
to be too dark so I started with a base coat of VMC
Neutral Grey which is unsurprisingly pretty neutral,
being neither warm (having tints of warm colors like
red, orange, or yellow) nor cool (having tints of cool
colors like blue, green, or purple). Well get into why
thats important a little later.

When Im working on a model attached to the base,

I usually do the base first as this is the only place
where I will use a dry-brush technique and I dont
want to mess up my later blending. For dirt I use
a painters aggregate (its what they use when they
want textured paint), I find the size to be perfect for
this. I laid down a thick coat (to get into all the little
holes and to further seal the dirt in place) of a
75%/25% mix of VMC Burnt Umber / VMC German
Camo Black Brown. I lightened that mix a little with
VMC Buff and did a heavy dry brush. I continued
to add a little Buff for further passes and I used a
softer and softer touch with each successive layer.
Until I finally do a very soft and sparse layer with
straight Buff. Counting the initial base coat I did a
total of six layers.

I highlighted the Jackalope with the Neutral Grey

lightened with VMC Deck Tan using more and more
Deck Tan until a final highlight of straight Deck Tan.
Inside his ear is VMC Medium Fleshtone, mixed with
the Neutral Grey toward the outside edges.
For his horns and teeth I used VMC Saddle Brown.
On the shadow I mixed in a little German Camo
Black Brown (I also put a layer of that down in the
throat tear for later as it would be a more natural
base color for blood). When highlighting I used Buff
mixed into the Saddle Brown until a final touch of
straight Buff. I went a further step of adding a spot
of VMC White for the teeth.
I used a mix of VMC Red and VMC Pink in his throat
and highlighted up to straight Pink. Later, this will
get some blood. I put a little sliver of Black for his
eye and a little Black on his nose. Thats it for the
Jackalope for now; on to the Cerberus.

47

Im using a streak technique. Which is basically a

lot of little lines all going in the same direction. It
works very well on organic models, for hair, or shell,
etc. It requires a good brush that comes to a fine
tip and thinned paints. Try to make sure all of the
lines are going in the same direction, especially
when highlighting over it. Its okay if the lines
arent all exact in length or in spacing, in fact its
recommended to leave some gaps to let the undercolor show through. Nothing in nature is too perfect
and those little imperfections are what make it work.
When you start, cover most of the area but as you
highlight make the lines shorter and shorter until its
little more than a line of dots at the end.

I definitely want to do some type of pattern on the

Cerberus but first I need to get the base color down.
This model will be going into my Marcus crew which
uses blues, grays, and a little Orange as an overall
color scheme.
I dont think I want to try to put orange in this model,
but I can certainly do blues and grays. For my base
coat I did about ten drops of the Neutral Grey and
one drop of VMC Intense Blue. I covered the entire
body but not the heads.I plan to switch to a more
warm tawny/grey color there which Im hoping will
stand out against the cool body to make the heads
the focal point of the model. Ill be highlighting using
more and more Deck Tan as I go.

48

I always work from the inside out as its easier to

touchup than trying to go back in between something
like teeth. So I did the inside of his mouth first,
which was VMC Violet; then mixed with VMC Pink
for highlighting. For his teeth and claws I used VMC
Flat Brown; mixed with Burnt Umber for shadow and
VMC Pale Sand for highlighting followed by a final
hit of White. His eyes were Intense Blue mixed with
Deck Tan with Black pupils and White at the corners.

You can see the difference in color between the

heads and the body. Im gambling that the pattern
will knock the blue-grey back some more, but at
about three feet (normal gaming distance) the
difference is negligible.

The noses were done with Black first. I used Pink

with a very slight amount of Black mixed in to dull
the brightness. After that, I added White in stages to
highlight them. I used the same pink color to do the
pad on the underside of the one raised foot.

I did the base color for the heads, which I used

to define the shape of the eyes. I again took my
Neutral Grey, but this time I mixed it with Saddle
Brown which is a warm brown. I highlighted it the
same way I did the rest of the hair except I used
Pale Sand to lighten it as I went.

49

pattern I had already done on the base coat. When

the stripes started to lose cohesion with the base
coat I did one more highlight, which was Neutral Grey
with a small amount of Deck Tan, then stopped.

I decided to go with tiger stripes. Its fairly common,

but I like tigers. I did some research before I started
and found some pictures to duplicate. I was very
careful to make the striping as realistic as possible.
Also, no tigers stripes are the same so I made sure
that each head was a little different. I started the
pattern with straight Black.

For basing I added some static grass. I used mostly

brown for my winter theme, and a small patch of
green that my Jackalope was searching for. I added
some birch tree seeds for some fallen leaves. The
snow is a mix of white glue, a small amount of white
paint, and some baking soda. I mixed that into a
paste and spread it on the base; easing some of
it up under the Jackalopes head. I let that dry for
about forty minutes then made some depressions
using a trimmed popsicle stick to create footprints
in the snow.
I used a mix of Black, Purple, and Red paint for some
blood around the Sabers teeth, the Jackalopes
wound, and some in the snow pooling under the
Jackalope. Finally, I watered that mix down further,
loaded up my brush with it and gave one careful
flick to create a splatter across the snow. I then
put a little gloss coat over the blood.

I added a very small amount of Neutral Grey to the

Black (you can hardly even notice the difference)
and went back in very carefully to break up the
edges of the stripes. I added more Neutral Grey in
stages to highlight the stripes. The first few steps I
wasnt too careful other than to place the highlights
following where the base coat highlights were, but
some places were dots, some little lines, and some
were basically splotches for lack of a better term.
This chaotic approach helps it to look natural later.
Towards the end of highlighting the stripes I started
to be more careful to make sure I followed the hair

50

51

SOON[no, really]
TM

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

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