Wyrd Chronicles - Ezine - Issue 06

Contents
Malifaux 2nd Edition!
Painting Puppets
Short Story
Henchmen Advice
Strategy Tips
Web Comic
June 2013
MicAal Flynn (order #9846080) 5
Contents
Volume 6
Editor:
Contributors Writers:
David Hanold Justin Gibbs
Mark Rodgers
Layout: Adrian Scott
David Hanold Graeme Stevenson
Octavious Villar
Graphic Design:
Redd Cohen Contributing Artists:
Melvin de Voor
Web Comic: Stephane Enjoralas
Paul Villar Hardy Fowler
Christophe Madaru
Pablo Quiligotti
MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

1 Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC
5
Caffeine for Blood By: Justin Gibbs
Welcome to the sixth installment of the Wyrd Chronicles!
I was going to use this space to talk about all of the amazing content we have for you this month (and we
do, this months painting article is the best one I have ever read). But, I think we need to face the truth
here: you probably dont really care about this issue of the chronicles. Youre probably here to see if theres
anything interesting about Malifaux Second Edition (and there is).
At the time of this being written, it is Thursday May 30th at about 12:30pm and I havent slept in over
twenty-four hours. Mack and I pulled an all-nighter trying to get everything ready for the big release
tomorrow, and I am incredibly excited to see how all of you react to it. I think youll like it.
This forward was the last thing I had to do before I could get some rest, and Ive been wracking my brain
trying to come up with what to say here, so I finally settled on the truth. Im exhausted. Im done staring at
computer screens. Im pretty sure Ive had way too much caffeine. And I think it was all worth it.
The game you guys will get to start playing tomorrow will be amazing, and I am intensely proud to have
been a part of the process which created it. I am so incredibly lucky to have been able to work with the
other amazing designers here at Wyrd. The playtesters have been fantastic, despite all of the cruel and
unusual tests we have a habit of putting them through.
I know many of you are apprehensive about the new edition; and thats good. Thats because you love the
game as much as I do. But I just want to say, before you come to any conclusions, get the game on the table
a few times. We cant just pick out single rules and discuss them in a vacuum; they need to be played on
the table. And, once they are, I think youll love them.
Alright, time to sleep.
-Justin Gibbs

5
Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC
Formaldehyde Nights By: Graeme Stevenson
It really was fascinating stuff. jack-knifed, slumping back down to earth with all
the grace of a hundred and forty pounds of meat .
McMourning wound up the contraption like a toddler
awaiting another Jack-In-The-Box explosion. The heavy thud invoked another of the doctors fond
It didnt look like much to the casual observer: a memories, this time of hooking little Waldo Tucket
compact wooden box that was somewhere between out of the creek and bludgeoning him with a club.
a bird house and a faceless carriage clock. The
brass winding handle on the back was the only real Of course, it had started as a serious scientific
indicator that it was neither. exercise. An electrical discharge into the correct
nerve cluster was the ideal tool to map the motor
It made a sound rather like grinding coffee as the functions of the human brain. Having a detailed
handle revolved. When he had wound it enough, blueprint of these pathways would give the good
McMourning placed it back on the bench and lifted Doctor license to reach a new plateau of reanimation
the trailing rubber tube that spooled from the boxs to fine-tune his creations with grace and poise and
base like the tail of a wooden mouse. The far end perhaps one day to reach a level of skill so profound
of the wire ended in a small copper loop and it was that it would rival genuine life.
on this innocuous shape that the coroners attention
was now fixed. At least, that was until he inadvertently touched
two needles at the same time and the corpse farted
There was a corpse lying on the slab. This assumption loudly before executing a passable Louisiana two-
was an easy one to reach, not only through the step. McMourning was lost.
pallor of said unfortunate, but also the fact that
the top of his skull sat upturned to one side like a He spent the next hour moving a peanut around
grisly bowl and his naked brain lay revealed for all the corpses face using only twitching muscles while
to see. McMourning had inserted a handful of long giggling hysterically. When the peanut shot up a
glinting needles deep into the wrinkled gray organ. nostril after a violent lip curl, he managed to re-
arrange the needles so that the corpse could play
He touched the copper circle to the end of the The Purple Hills of Guilderland on three fingers
nearest needle. There was a crackle and the Guild and one heel.
coroners spiky hair became perhaps a fraction yet
more erratic. As impressive a feat as this was, the This was followed by a medley of The Barmaids
box held further marvels. Apple-Catchers, Blow that Bugle, Captain Dear
and Cant You Tell Im Smiling? The first pale
The corpses left eyelid and upper left lip began to fingers of dawn were touching the frosted mortuary
flutter rapidly. McMourning giggled at the faint window by the time McMourning had successfully
smacking of cold flesh, and momentarily reminisced maneuvered the corpse into unwrapping a cigarillo,
on the halcyon days of his childhood when he and placing it in the Doctors mouth and lighting it with
little Waldo Tucket would hook fish out of the creek a struck match.
and bludgeon them with a club.
It was the most fun hed had in ages. If only hed had
He touched another needle. The corpses right calf one as a child.
muscle and boot began to jitter, thumping and
drumming against the slab. The next needle made Sebastian finally ruined the moment, as he often
the fingers of the corpses left hand tick, tapping nails did, by coming in and standing morosely nearby.
against the marble. The next caused the muscles at There was a forlorn quality about his faithful
the base of the spine to convulse and the entire body morgue assistant that drained the sense of fun out

5
of any occasion. It was like being charged with an What, these?? McMourning looked down at the
ill puppy, albeit a sociopathic three-hundred pound jumble of body parts, astonished that anyone could
puppy devoid of any sense of pain or morality. care. Dogsbodies and work-dodgers? Well, its not
like they were doing anything worthwhile, is it?
Well? McMourning snapped irritably.
Sebastian waited.
Sebastian waited.
Fine, the doctor sighed, clearly put out. I should
One might think you never wanted me to get any have known to expect apoplexy from an organization
enjoyment out of life, Sebastian. All work and no that bemoans the appropriation of a few surplus
play makes Jack a dull boy, you know. mouth-breathers. Who is it one of the staffing
clerks? A departmental supervisor, perhaps?
Sebastian waited.
Sebastian waited.
McMourning sighed. Guild business is it? Well, I
suppose its overdue. One cant expect much time McMourning groaned. Its not a Guild Captain, is
for intellectual pursuits when theres menial labor to it?
be done. Heaven forbid I should take an hour or two
out of my endless day carving up the idiotic denizens Sebastian waited.
of this city who havent sense of self-preservation
enough not to step out in front of a speeding carriage The coroner groaned again. It is, isnt it? Its a
or eat a six-week old lamb chop to try and aspire bloody Guild Captain. I might have known. He
towards something actually worthwhile. began picking up errant body parts and stuffing
them into a bag. Youd think hed have something
Sebastian waited. better to do with his day than chase up this sort
of thing. What will we have next? The Governors
I mean, the coroner continued, by rights I shouldnt Secretary looking for a missing pencil?
even be here. My contractual obligation to the city
ends at six pm sharp and it must be after ten oclock After shoving a few more limbs into the bag,
at the very least. How they think they can get me to McMourning realized it was going to take a bit more
work at this late hour is beyond me. effort to disguise his extra-curricular activities. He
dropped the bag and instead hauled a tarpaulin over
He folded his arms petulantly and at roughly the the whole pile; bodies, slab, contraption and all.
same time he noticed daylight streaming through
the mortuary window. He promptly unfolded them Thatll do, he mused. At least until I can get a
again. Oh I say, is it morning already? moments peace to get rid of the bits.
Sebastian waited. Sebastian waited.
The time is irrelevant, anyway, McMourning Well, dont just stand there gawping, McMourning
scoffed. I am merely a humble employee. What barked. Bring him in!
could I have done to warrant their concern?
Sebastian left.
He leaned against the dissection slab, behind
which was piled half a dozen semi-dismembered And not by the scruff of the neck like last time, the
guardsmen. doctor shouted after the huge shape as it moved
through the ante-room to the hallway beyond.
Sebastian waited. A little decorum, if you please. I am, after all, a
professional.

5
He smoothed down his hair, which proved to be a And most astonishing, all of them assigned to guard
futile gesture, and waited standing slightly self- the morgue level. Queer, eh?
consciously beside the irregular tarpaulin-covered
hump. Ill say, McMourning said, noticing that dead
fingers were poking out under the tarpaulin edge.
A short, stout fellow wearing a guardsman outfit
with Captains pips and cap strode briskly into the Yes, quite the mystery, Captain Feckler said.
mortuary, trailed by the despondent Sebastian.
Quite, the doctor agreed. Have youany leads?
Dr. McMourning! the Captain gushed, snatching
the coroners hand and shaking it vigorously before Well, this is the cunning bit, the Captain said,
realizing the doctors gloves were smeared with gore absent-mindedly stroking his moustache and
and brain matter. His small eyes darted this way and getting bits of brain in it. Im mobilizing an entire
that for something to wipe his wet palm on before detachment of guardsmen. Were going to search the
discreetly tucking it behind his back and twitching building from top to toe. Leave no stone unturned,
his neat moustache. as it were. If theres so much as a shred of evidence,
my men will find it.
And you are..? the doctor enquired, folding his
long rubberized fingers against his apron. Oh, I dont doubt it, nodded McMourning, using a
toe to gently push the fingers back out of sight. And
Guild Captain Reginald Feckler, 18th Quadrant, when does this sleuthing start?
said the Captain, looking around at his mortuary
surroundings and taking in the steel gurneys with First thing tomorrow morning, the Captain said.
their toe-tagged passengers, the wall of formaldehyde
jars and tubing, glinting steel tools, and untidy piles I see.
of death certificates and related mortuary academia.
Dreadful business, eh? Which reminds me dont suppose youve seen
anything unusual in the last few days?
McMourning was quite put out. I beg your pardon?
Unusual? McMourning cocked an eyebrow.
Eh? Feckler looked startled. Oh, heavens no not
you. Sterling work youre doing here for the Guild. I Funny noises, strange folk hanging around, that
mean the disappearances. sort of thing, the Captain elaborated. Thought you
might have noticed something out of the ordinary,
McMourning spread his narrow frame slightly to seeing as the chaps all went missing in your neck of
block the irregular mound behind him. the woods.
Disappearances? he enquired innocently. Afraid not, the doctor apologized. Nothing to

report, here. In fact, you might say its been quiet as
You mean you havent heard? Good lord, doctor, the grave.
dont they ever let you out of here? Feckler
exclaimed. Its all over the building. Six men! Six, The Captain guffawed, blowing a spot of brain from
mind you. Vanished. his moustache onto McMournings apron. Oh yes,
very good.
Oh, really? McMourning attempted to feign
surprise. The doctor flashed him a huge wolfish smile.
Although I confess that being so isolated down
Without a trace, the Captain continued. Six men here, my manners can get a little stiff.
in three nights. Astonishing, really. All of them on
guard duty. All of them vanishing while on patrol.

5
Captain Feckler slapped his thigh. I say, Dr. Sebastian looked at him.
McMourning, youre quite the card.
McMourning threw a long comradely arm around
Well, I have a captive audience on which to sharpen the silent assistants shoulder and leaned close.
my wit, the doctor said. And I always knock em dead.
Ive had an idea, he said. Heres what were going
The Captain roared with laughter this time. Excellent to do
fellow! he spouted. Well, must be off, and all that.
Two hundred men wont organize themselves.
Yes, well good luck with that.

It was fully dark before McMourning was willing
As soon as the Guild Captain had left, McMourning to risk it, and even then he thought their odds were
ripped off the tarpaulin and looked down at the fifty-fifty at best.
mountain of dead flesh with concern.
He was hovering in the doorway that led out to the
Theres no way we can smuggle that lot out with mortuary courtyard, clad in a huge overcoat and
the hornets nest being stirred up by that buffoon wide-brimmed hat. He wasnt entirely sure why he
Feckler, he said. was wearing such a clandestine outfit but it had
seemed to suit the flavor of their desperate endeavor.
Sebastian stood at his shoulder, his soft and slightly
uneven eyes on the mound of dead men. A few minutes ago a squad of guardsmen had been
lashed across the courtyard by the tongue of their
Jump in any time, McMourning snapped barking Sergeant, but now it looked all clear.
sarcastically as the silence grew. No really Im all
ears for any cunning plan you might wish to share McMourning reached back over his shoulder and
thatd get us out of this mess. made a beckoning gesture. On cue, six guardsmen
moved out of the darkness, tramping noisily and
Sebastian looked at him. in perfect albeit rather stiff synchronization. They
stopped just outside the door, swaying slightly.
Of course, I hold you responsible, the doctor
continued. You should have considered all Sebastian emerged behind them, still in his stained
eventualities of your actions, Sebastian. You will lab coat, his attention fixed on something held in
recall, Im sure, that the exact words I used were his huge hands.
Im bored bring me something to play with. I
never said anything about guardsmen. It was a dark and cloudy night, which had been a
godsend as far as McMourning was concerned the
Sebastian looked at him. less light, the better. He had done what he could, but
it had been a rush job to get six bodies reassembled
Oh no you dont, McMourning warned him. Those and reanimated in ten hours. Everyone had two
big puppy-dog eyes dont hold any currency with arms and two legs, although he wouldnt have put
me these days. You cant wriggle your way out of any money on the fact that they all had their own
this one. arms and legs.
Sebastian looked at him. The uniforms were in poor condition, too. Hed
cleaned them up and sewn them back together, but
Finally, the doctor sighed and grinned ruefully. You was under no illusion that theyd withstand anything
sly dog. You always know how to twist your Uncle more than a half-hearted inspection.
McMourning round your little finger. Very well, you
are forgiven.

5
Such slap-dash and hurried reanimation normally guardsmen standing casually around a sentry box
only produced the lowest form of sentience; barely on the left hand side, smoking and chatting in the
mobile zombies did not make good guardsmen, cold evening air.
no matter what the Steamfitters Union said. Hed
solved that problem too, in a manner of speaking. The doctor sidled up to his morgue assistant as the
zombies marched up and stopped a short distance
A cluster of copper wires snaked from under the from the archway.
cap of each dead guardsman, twining together into
a leash that fed up to the wooden box in Sebastians Right, here we go, he muttered. Just keep them
grasp. The contraptions electrical current had moving, Sebastian. Ill do the talking.
proven strong enough to override the zombies
inherent and rather sloppy motor control, but as with Obediently, his orderly bent his head to the
the uniforms, the doctor would prefer not to have to contraption and its cluster of shiny screw heads.
put that to the test. At least this way he could be sure
they wouldnt attack the first living guardsman they McMourning hurried out in front of the dead
saw. Not that McMourning generally considered guardsman and through the gate.
this a problem, but it would make the current task
more difficult. Good evening, gentlemen, he cried loudly, hoping
to draw their attention away from the rather
Hed only had time to place needles in a few brain shambolic squad marching up from the rear.
areas, but with luck that would be all they needed.
The guardsmen jumped as if shot and threw down
Right, its clear, he whispered. Lets go. their cigarette butts, scrambling for their weapons
and trying to achieve some semblance of being
He went down the stairs and started across the attentive sentries.
courtyard. Sebastian looked down again at the
contraption, into which a number of carpentry nails Fear not, the doctor said. Its only me.
had been driven, each with copper wires wound
around its base. He began touching the copper loop When they saw it wasnt a superior officer, the
to alternate nail heads that had March Left and guardsmen relaxed.
March Right scrawled beside them in the doctors
spidery script. Dr. McMourning? one of them asked, trying to
peer under the wide-brimmed hat. What are you
Immediately, the slouching zombies stiffened doing out here, sir?
and began to jerk forward like puppets, alternate
arms and legs pumping in rigid concert while the Im just borrowing a few of yourahassociates,
contraption buzzed. They tramped across the dark the doctor fumbled. Toto help me with some
courtyard in a fair approximation of living men. erwith some heavy.er.lab equipment.
McMourning hadnt had sufficient time to reattach Well, we can help, sir, the guardsman said, resting
all the wrist tendons and muscles, so each zombie his rifle against the sentry box.
guardsman had his rifle lashed to his hands with
string and the weapons swung loosely back and No! McMourning snapped rather more urgently
forth as they marched, looking more like majorettes than he intended. No, you need to stay here. To
than soldiers. to keep the gate guarded. No, it is all under control.
You boys just stay where you are.
At the far end of the courtyard, McMourning
slowed. The stone walls yielded into a huge archway Well, if youre sure, sir.
that led out onto the street beyond. The archways
wrought iron gates were open, but there were four

5
Oh yes, the coroner nodded emphatically. Oh yes. McMourning raised a finger. I can explain
Quite sure.
Initiative, thats what, the Captain interrupted.
He could hear the tramping zombies behind him Initiative!
they had reached the archway and none of the
sentries had given them more than passing glance. Well, precisely, finished McMourning, confused.
McMourning felt a triumphant grin approaching.
They were going to get away with it. Want to muck in and help find the culprit, eh,
McMourning? Feckler chuckled, rocking back on
Whats going on here? a brisk voice asked. his heels. I like the cut of your jib, sir.
The sentries immediately snapped to attention, The diminutive Captain waved his swagger stick
rifles at their shoulders, eyes staring straight ahead. at the sentries, dismissing them back to their post,
then stepped up alongside the coroner.
McMourning wheeled around to find the black
beady eyes and shivering moustache of Captain I was just on my way home, but now that I see your
Feckler at his shoulder. plan, Im rather inclined to come along, he said. Be
good sport to see if we can turn up that villain, eh?
Fortunately, Sebastian had already seen him emerge Get in ahead of the pack, as it were.
from the far side of the archway and had found
the nail head marked Attention. The zombie Oh, McMourning said, feeling his heart sink. Yes.
guardsmen went straight as pokers, humming like Fine sport.
taut cables as the electrical current shot through
them. Jolly good. The Captain glanced around. So, what
was the plan? A patrol around the perimeter?
Good evening, Captain, McMourning said,
touching the brim of his floppy hat. Something like that.
McMourning? That you under there? What the Right then, lets be at it! The Captain strode off
Devil are you doing out here at this hour? along the outer wall of the mortuary, barking after
him Come on, you men!
Well, the doctor started. I
McMourning watched helplessly as Sebastian
The short Guild Captain noticed the six motionless steered the half-dozen marching zombies through
shapes standing like iron poles under the shadow of the archway and after the Guild Captain.
the archway.
It was going to be a long night.
I say, he said. Fine body of men you have there,
McMourning. Are those my boys?
In a manner of speaking, the doctor said. By some

stroke of a sympathetic fate, the zombie guardsmen The doctors hope that the Captain would get bored
had stopped directly under the archway and the after a few circuits of the mortuary was soon crushed
street gas-lights left them as black outlines against when the other man proposed they investigate the
the courtyard stones. buildings sub-basement and do a thorough job of
it. He seemed convinced that he was going to find
Six armed men and one doctor in a trench-coat something, and was clearly excited about the idea of
sneaking around the mortuary courtyard in the usurping his commanders larger investigation the
dead of night, said Feckler, stroking his moustache. next morning.
What to make of that, eh?

5
Cant wait to see old Montys face when I turn up They continued their patrol through the bowels of
with the villain by the collar, he kept chuckling to the mortuary, passing rooms stacked with rusting
himself as they moved down yet another junk-filled gurneys and steel cabinets, and cupboards filled
utility corridor. Every so often, the Captain would with stained linen and canvas. Everything down here
poke at something with his swagger stick then move smelled faintly of death and mold McMourning
on, satisfied that there were no lurking murderers might have rather liked the place were he not in
concealed beneath it. such a fix at the time.
I say, he said after perhaps thirty minutes. Damn After a while, they arrived at an intersection and the
fine discipline in your men, McMourning. Marched Captain paused to take stock. The zombies tramped
all the way down here without a single mis-step. to a halt and Sebastian used the lull to wind up a
And not a word said between them. fresh charge for the contraption.
Oh yes, the doctor said. Theyre verywell What do you think, Captain? McMourning asked,
controlled. hoping the little man would finally admit defeat and
call it a night.
The Captain stopped to admire the rigid zombies,
their caps yanked down hard to keep their slack gray Well, this way here looks gloomier, Feckler said,
faces in shadow. He slapped the nearest one across indicating one corridor. Were I a fiendish murderer
the midriff with his swagger stick the zombie and assassin, I imagine thats the way Id have gone.
never reacted.
He removed his cap and rubbed at his bald pate
Whats your name, soldier? while he deliberated.
The zombies jaw dropped open. Huuurrrrrrrrrrr.. Sebastian cranked the device too quickly and the
it wheezed. zombies jolted.
Hurr, interjected McMourning quickly. Its Brrrrrnnnn. one of them moaned as they lurched
Scandinavian, I think. for the Captains head.
Scandinavian, eh? The Captain eyed the rigid Whats that? The Captain swung around.
figure, nodding in approval. Any more at home like
you, soldier? Panicking, Sebastian fumbled with the half-charged
contraption and the zombies all snapped into a rigid
Nuuuuuhhhhh.. the zombie said. salute. The sixth zombies hand tore off at the wrist
and slapped Sebastian on the side of the head before
Pity, Captain Feckler sniffed. A couple more men dropping to the floor.
like you and wed have those dirty Resurrectionists
licked in no time. Brains! McMourning shouted, trying to think fast.
Yes good work, men!
Lets press on , shall we, Captain? McMourning
said. Im as eager as you are to see Commander The little officer frowned, looking up at the coroner.
Montgomerys face when you capture the assassin.
What on earth are you talking about, doctor?
Fecklers eyes glinted and he set off at once.
The men, McMourning babbled, are suggesting
As soon as his back was turned, McMourning hissed thatthat no villainous assassin, no matter their
in Sebastians ear. Keep them out of the gas light or cunning, could out-fox the brains of an educated
well all be for the long drop in the morning I need man. A man such as yourself, Captain.
to figure out a way to get rid of this idiot.

5
Oh really? The little man beamed. Now, now, boys. another way?
Put those hands down. No need to salute every time
I address you. Hmm. The Guard Captain twitched his moustache.
It is rather dark. Ill leave a note for Monty to send
Sebastian released the copper loop and the trembling men down here with lanterns in the morning.
zombies slumped with audible exhalations. When
no one was looking, he kicked the severed hand An excellent suggestion, Captain.
away into the darkness behind them. McMourning
had to wait until the Captain had turned back to his As the little man marched the other way,
deliberations before mopping at his brow nervously. McMourning leaned into Sebastians ear again.
This isnt working, he hissed to his assistant. Were Make sure youve cleared up down there by
going to have to try something else. This old fool morning, he said, following the order with a slap
will have us marching around these tunnels all across the back of his assistants head. And thats for
night. very nearly getting us into worse trouble. Keep your
hands to yourself, understand?
This way, I think, Feckler said, replacing his cap
and waving his swagger stick towards a black brick Sebastian nodded sheepishly.
tunnel.
Honestly, the doctor muttered as he set off after
McMourning had been hoping to avoid this area. Captain Feckler. As if I dont have enough problems
Down that tunnel was an iron trap-door that led already
directly to the sewer system. Any detective worth
his salt wouldnt be long in linking the large
Sebastian-sized footprints around the trap-door
mouth with the wheelbarrows, severed limbs and
bottles of necrotic fluid below. It was a long way McMourning was beginning to think there was
to the Quarantine Zone from here and these days no escape. It had been over an hour since he had
McMournings patience was limited. He found it prevented the Captain from finding their secret
easier to keep some fluid nearby for off-the-cuff sewer entrance and the zombie scrum had tried
experimentation. twice more to crack open the guildsmans head like a
boiled egg. Only frantic winding on Sebastians part
Even Feckler couldnt be so dense as to miss the had sent enough current into the hungry zombies to
connection. stiffen their limbs into immobility.
Oh, I dont know if thats such a good idea, Captain, Wear and tear was beginning to take its toll. Their
McMourning said. With no gas lanterns, a man movements were more erratic now even under
could easily trip. Id hate for anyone to fall and break direct control. McMourning knew their synapses
their neck. were starting to burn out and fairly soon they would
start breaking down completely.
Unbidden, Sebastian moved up behind the short
Captain and reached out with one giant paw. There was a trail of fingers, ears and other non-
essential protuberances littering the tunnels behind
NO! shrieked the doctor. Sebastian froze and them and the string securing their weapons was
Feckler looked bemused, oblivious to the squat coming loose. The one-handed zombie at the back
assistant behind him. was dragging his rifle after him like a cavemans club
and something strange had happened to his neck.
Nono amount of consolation would assuage He marched forward as before, but with his head
my guilt if you were to come to harm, Captain, back and eyes staring up at the roof, jaw hanging
he continued awkwardly. Perhaps we should try open in apparent amazement at something unseen.

5
It wouldnt be long now before Feckler took stock of Like an insane cabaret act, the undead soldiers
his men and realized something was amiss. barreled into the Chemical Room with limbs flailing
and swinging. The noise was terrific, between the
The doctor had started to reconsider getting smashing of breaking glass and hollow clamor of
Sebastian to snap the Guild Captains neck after all. nerveless limbs slamming into metal shelves.
It would probably cause infinitely more problems in
the long run, but at least it would get him out of his McMourning intercepted the running Guild
current predicament. Captain, pinning him against the wall and putting
on his best earnest face. No sir! Its too dangerous!
He was about to give the word to his assistant when
they passed a heavy steel door bearing the plaque The crashing and smashing continued as the frantic
Chemical Room. McMourning stared at it for a zombies ricocheted around inside the Chemical
moment and then a mischievous grin crawled across Room.
his face. He had another idea
Fight, men! cried McMourning, waving a frantic
Get ready, he whispered to Sebastian. When I give signal at Sebastian. Fight the intruder!
the word, I want you to wind that contraption for all
youre worth. Sebastian looked nonplussed, stabbing at random
nail heads while the contraption buzzed and sparked.
When the Guild Captain was a dozen paces ahead,
the coroner drew back the rusty bolt and kicked the Let me in there! protested the Captain, struggling
door open with all his strength. The boom of the manfully to escape the coroners grip. I must help
storage rooms door slamming against the inner wall my men!
filled the tunnel with a rumble like thunder.
The stench of formaldehyde was growing stronger
A cloud of formaldehyde fumes billowed out and as the whirling, jittering zombies smashed dozens,
he saw hundreds of glass jars on shelves stretching then hundreds of jars with their spasmodic dance
back into the darkness. It could work, he thought, macabre.
but timing was everything.
McMourning signaled again, but still Sebastian
Captain! Sebastian! he howled at the top of this voice didnt get it.
as Feckler spun around in surprise. In here! Hes in
here! The doctor rolled his eyes in exasperation,
questioning his wisdom in keeping such an addled
The Captain waved his swagger stick overhead and specimen for an assistant.
began charging back down the tunnel. Have at him,
men! he roared. Dont let the villain escape! Fight like the wind! he shouted, making a frantic
winding gesture.
Get in there! McMourning shouted, pointing at the
entrance to the Chemical Room with as much dramatic Sebastians expression cleared when the message
flair as he could summon. Double-time it, men! finally sank home and he began twirling the
contraptions lever for all he was worth. His remaining
Sebastian began stabbing frantically at the hairs immediately went up like waving snakes with
contraption, tongue protruding with effort. the building static electricity. The sounds of carnage
The zombies lurched into action, performing a in the Chemical Room re-doubled as the zombies
staggering run as they advanced on their elusive went into fresh paroxysms from the increasing
quarrys hiding place. In his haste, Sebastian hit current, leaping and kicking in mindless abandon.
several incorrect nail heads and the zombie soldiers
began saluting and high-kicking as they rushed at Thats it, men! screeched the struggling Captain.
the doorway. Youve got him on the ropes!

5
The mechanism started to buzz ominously and still Those brave lads, Feckler said, sniffing loudly. Got
Sebastian wound faster and faster, ignoring the the blasted villain even if it meant their own lives.
smoke that was billowing from between its wooden Thats true soldiering, McMourning.
seams.
It is indeed, sir, the coroner nodded solemnly.
With a violent bang, the winding handle sheared off
in Sebastians hand and a fat blue spark shot down The Captain drew himself to his full height and
the copper leash toward the Chemical Room. puffed out his chest. Theyll be remembered. Ill
see to that. Theyll have a memorial. Ill have them
The formaldehyde-saturated air ignited instantly build it right in the mortuary courtyard.
and there was a titanic boom as the room exploded.
Sebastian was engulfed in a blue-green fireball and Im sure they would have liked that, sir.
both McMourning and Feckler were swatted off
their feet, skidding twenty yards back along the Give me their names, McMourning, Feckler said.
tunnel. Ill remember them until my dying day.
It took a minute or so for the ringing in the doctors McMourning froze in the act of opening his mouth.
head to subside enough for him to consider getting Uh
to his feet. When he finally did, he found Captain
Feckler on his knees, coughing lustily through a Well, out with it, man, the Captain snapped.
singed moustache.
The doctors mind had blanked. In desperation, he
Sebastian was still standing where the fireball looked at his assistant.
had found him, apparently unharmed other than
thick black panda rings of soot on his face and a Sebastian? he asked.
smoldering lab coat. He blinked slowly.
The mortuary assistant frowned in thought.
Good grief, the Captain spluttered when he finally
got his breath back. The men!
They staggered to the doorway of the Chemical

Room, where the bricks were scorched black and By dawn, Feckler was already petitioning noisily to
inky smoke was billowing from within. The Captain have a statue erected in the center of the courtyard
made to step forward, but McMourning held his and it wasnt long before the local media caught a
arm. whiff.
Dont, sir, he said with an award-worthy The midday edition of the Malifaux Tattler wrote
performance of regret. Theythey couldnt have magnanimously about the worthy sacrifice of The
survived. Selfless Six. This was followed by a less flattering
article published in the revolutionist circular, Voice
The Captain stared into the churning blackness, his from the Breach, which rather insensitively referred
eyes brimming. to them as The Bakers Half-Dozen.
Stout fellows, he burbled. Theythey charged in But whatever ones political views, as the story
like true guildsmen. permeated through the city it was generally agreed
that the men were heroes and had made the ultimate
We should remember them with pride, sir, sacrifice to safeguard the people of Malifaux.
McMourning said, struggling to keep relief from Guardsmen on patrol duty stopped dodging spittle
spilling out all over his face. They accomplished and rotten fruit and began receiving congratulations
their mission. and hearty hand-shakes for a job well done.

5
One small detail in this otherwise marvelous boost explosion. There was a trail of body parts littering
for public relations and one that would take much the areas you patrolled with Captain Feckler last
longer to be fully realized was that none of the night body parts marked with advanced decay.
guardsman or officers at the mortuary, or indeed Not the sort of detritus one expects to be left behind
anywhere else in Malifaux, could remember ever by the robust Guild heroes described here in this
having met Privates Odd, Bodd, Lumpy, Bumpy, fine periodical. Lucius flipped another page.
Dancer and Parts before their untimely deaths.
Oh, perfectly reasonable explanation there,
But it was a small point and life in Malifaux was full McMourning said, slowly reaching for a scalpel on
of mysteries, like why the Guild coroner was in such the dissection table at his elbow. Without turning,
a bad mood and where his assistants black eye had Lucius drew his sword-cane with a flash too quick
come from. for the eye to follow and pinned the doctors hand
to the table. McMourning was so astonished that he
forgot to scream.
The Secretary carefully folded the Tattler with his

It was well into the afternoon before McMourning free hand, set it down and then turned to regard the
stumbled back to the morgue, weary and foul- coroner, expressionless and unhurried.
tempered. He had been forced to hold a poisonous
grimace alongside the grinning buffoon Feckler for Stranger still, he said in the same conversational
most of the day while a shouting rabble of reporters tone, was what my men found this morning
popped trays of flash powder and took endless beneath a trap door leading into the sewers. Quite
photographic slides. It was a relief to finally return the treasure trove - wheelbarrows, body parts, jars
to isolation. of fluidand the most unique footprints.
Except he wasnt alone. McMourning cursed Sebastian under his breath

and in response Lucius twisted his cane, turning
The Governors Secretary stood in the center of the the glittering blade between the doctors knuckles.
room with his back to McMourning, browsing a McMourning gritted his teeth against the fiery pain,
copy of the Malifaux Tattler. hisses and giggles escaping him.
Quite an adventure last night, he said without Ooh yes, he winced. Pressure on the first and second
turning around. metacarpal bonesnot enough toaaaahhto tear
the interossei muscles, butvery painful. Exquisite,
McMourning swallowed. Yes, yes it was. All part of Secretaryaaahhquite exquisite.
the job though. He stopped and tried to remember
how Feckler had described it. Initiative, and all Im glad you approve, the Secretary said. I trust
that. you will behave yourself ?
Indeed. Lucius idly flipped the page of the paper, McMourning nodded and the sword-cane vanished
his back still turned. Quite odd that none of the back into its scabbard as quickly as it had appeared.
senior Guild officers recognized any of the men that The coroner examined his narrow wound, noting
died, though. And those names they have a certain the clean edges. That blade must have been as sharp
desperate quality about them, dont you think? as his scalpel.
McMourning stumbled. WellIer I have one thing in common with Feckler, Lucius
was saying. I appreciate yourinitiative. And I
I have a suspicion that the Selfless Six, continued think the Guild could use your talents in another
Lucius, ensuring that the Tattlers adopted moniker area.
was wet with sarcasm, were dead long before that

5
Erwhat? McMourning blinked.
A man of your specific talents is wasted here, doctor.

Surely, you see that. Imagine if you had the time and
the manpower to implement your skills beyond the
scrutiny and judgment of small minds, and with the
full support of the Guild. Imagine what you could
achieve with an unlimited budget and all the test
subjects you desired.
A tempting idea, Secretary, but I doubt my

proclivities would be received as warmly as you
profess.
You would be surprised, Lucius said. I employ

a number of like-minded men and they are well
paid for their discretion. And for those without it,
well, I am always deeply saddened when someone
in my employ fails to turn in a report because of
extenuating circumstances.
Ah! McMourning lighted up. Like having their

lips sewn shut!
Lucius faced him silently, the golden mask revealing

neither amusement nor revulsion. Im glad we
understand each other, doctor.
But what do you get out of all of this? McMourning

asked, massaging his skewered hand.
A favor. A favor only a man of your specific talents

and discretion could accomplish.
Oh? McMourning raised his eyebrows.
Lucius patiently watched him for a long moment,

then reached up and removed his mask with care.
McMournings eyes widened, and then a grin broke

out across his face. I can work with this

5
Professor Pontificates By: Adrian Scott
Selling Your Soul

As you all know by now, Malifaux 2nd Edition (M2E) of your soulstones (unless you were playing Colette,
is imminent! With the release at Gencon in August dirty cheater that she is!). But in M2E there is no
and a public playtest underway (or at least about to longer any limit to the number of henchmen you can
start), its an exciting time to be playing Malifaux. take. Heck, you could even have a crew with nothing
Of course all this also means that writing a strategy but soulstone-burning henchmen on your side. The
article for this issue has become a bit trickier. My general high cost of henchmen will probably make
original plan and write something about Malifaux that a rarity, but in any case, most crews will have
1.5. But then again, why do that when I instead have at least two soulstone users to compete for your
an opportunity to draw back the curtains on one of cache. Considering the concurrent drop in your
the most exciting aspects of M2E? Im sure you can maximum soulstone cache to seven, it will be even
guess which option won out! more important to prioritize your soulstones for
things that really matter. For instance, do you burn
When M2E is released, I suspect the community your last soulstones to save the henchman or master
will talk most about the new model rules and how whos about to die, or should you keep them for
the encounter system now works. They are, after all, some other use that may help earn you those victory
the shiniest and most interesting parts of the new points later on?
game! But in all honesty, I think the largest, most
fundamental change to the game is to how soulstones 3. A model can spend one soulstone during a duel
now work. So for this issue I thought Id take a bit of (simple or opposed), before cards are flipped, to
a detour from my usual tactics ramblings and talk add a positive twist to its flip.
about the future of soulstones, how they now work,
and how this will affect the game as a whole. 4. In addition, if the model defending in a duel uses
a soulstone to add a positive to its flip (as above),
Fortunately being on the early playtest has its perks. it also adds a negative twist to the opposing models
Not only do I have a copy of the soulstone rules as damage flip should that attack connect.
theyll likely be come August (listed below), but I
can also speak with some in-game experience on This is arguably the biggest change to how
the matter! As tends to happen in playtesting, rules soulstones work, possibly even the biggest change in
can change and combos can sometimes be missed, the game. In Malifaux 1.5, a model with the master
so I hope youll forgive me if I get anything wrong or henchman characteristic can usually burn a
when M2E is finally released! soulstone to add another card to their dual total and
raise it well above what any opposing minion could
Rules for using Soulstones in Malifaux 2nd achieve. This meant they were almost untouchable
Edition by minion models until they had exhausted their
supply of soulstones. However in M2E, the gap
1. The maximum for a crews Soulstone pool is 7. between those models with soulstones, and those
without, has narrowed considerably. Not only do
2. Models that have the master or henchman you now commit to burning a soulstone before you
characteristic can use soulstones to bolster their flip for that initial duel, but the effect (a positive
duels. flip) is much less powerful. Instead of generating
obscene totals for your duels, burning a soulstone
Aside from a slightly smaller soulstone cache, will now give you a better chance of flipping a high
nothing much has changed here, right? Well not card for your initial dual.
entirely. In Malifaux 1.5, you normally had just one,
maybe two models in your crew who could make use

5
A significant side effect of this is that now masters not generally be worth the effort, but other triggers
and henchmen are as vulnerable to models with high definitely will be. In fact the mere ability to burn
starting stats for their attacks as every other model. a soulstone for a suit in duels will make certain
So for instance, lets say your Defense 5 master was defensive triggers even more of a deterrent to your
attacked by a Combat 6 minion, and they flip a 13 opponents. For instance Lady Justices defensive
for the duel. In such a case there is no longer any trigger (Riposte) is much scarier when you know
way to avoid getting hit by that attack. Fortunately, your opponent can burn a soulstone to get the
this disadvantage is reduced somewhat by another required suit and punish a model who misses her
feature of burning soulstones on the defense - the in melee.
negative twist to the opponents damage flip. Ive
always figured that if youre going to get hit by And before you freak out - yes, the make another
your opponents attack, you might as well try your attack triggers have generally been changed to
best to make them hit on a negative to damage. prevent triggering yet more attacks off the first
A negative flip prevents them from cheating and trigger. So you can sleep well knowing that Lady
improves the chances of only sustaining weak Justice isnt going to just be able to burn a few
damage. This approach still applies in M2E. So in soulstones to annihilate scores of models each turn
the right circumstances it will still be worth burning with half a dozen onslaught triggers!
a soulstone when defending against an attack, even
when your opponent is all but guaranteed to hit. 6. A model can spend a soulstone to make a damage
prevention flip.
What is also worth noting is that effects that gave
a negative twist for certain duels (such as Zoraidas Yes, you can still use a soulstone to prevent damage.
Proper Manners, Pandoras Project Emotions spell This remains a useful as it is in Malifaux 1.5.
or even just sitting in soft cover) are no longer as However I suspect it will see more action in M2E
effective against masters and henchmen as they since as above, you wont always be able to prevent
once were. This is because such a model can just your soulstone users from getting hit by your
burn a soulstone to give them a positive twist on the opponent like you can in Malifaux 1.5. Mitigating
attack (or defense), neutralizing the negative twist the inevitable damage is thus much more useful
from such effects and most importantly, enabling than it has been in before.
you to cheat your initial flip as needed. So what this
means is that models that relied (and still rely) on 7. Players can spend a soulstone to reflip their card
this as a way to avoid attacks must now be far more during the initiative step.
careful around soulstone users!
While winning Initiative is still very useful in M2E,
5. A model can spend one soulstone before a duel to it will perhaps be a little less essential due to the fact
add a suit of their choice to their final dual total. that players can now no longer activate more than
two models at a time with effects like Companion.
Those triggers and suit-dependent spells are So alpha-strikes arising from from Collodi-style,
looking much nicer now, arent they? This, more mass model activations will become a thing of
than anything else, will help reduce the reliance on the past. That said, I dont imagine people will be
getting certain cards in your hand to cast a given burning soulstones to reflip their initiative any less
spell or trigger. Summoning masters in particular frequently. As I said, winning initiative is still pretty
are going to love this - I know many Resurrectionist darn useful on those critical turns!
players who have agonized over not having a high
enough card of the right suit with which to summon 8. Players can spend a soulstone to draw and
their horde of nasty gribblies. discard two extra cards at the start of the turn.
Activating triggers will also be much easier and by This is an option I really like and I suspect most
extension, much more useful. Burning a soulstone players will use this a lot in M2E. With soulstones
to trigger +1 damage from Critical Strike might the way they are now, the only way to guarantee that

5
your final duel total will be as high as possible is to Burning a soulstone to draw extra cards allows you
ensure you have a high enough card in your hand. to improve the hand you start with. And if that
So during those critical turns in which victory may doesnt help, the ability to add positive flips or suits
hang in the balance, spending a single soulstone to to your starting duels can help get around having a
cycle an extra two cards should prove to be very hand full of bad cards.
worth while.
Overall then, Im very happy with how soulstones
9. Drain Souls and the Heal actions are gone. are turning out for M2E and I think the changes will
be excellent for the health of the game. So as you get
I suspect everyone will be happy to see Drain Souls a chance to playtest the new game, I certainly hope
disappear. As flavorful as it might be (especially for youll appreciate the changes that have been made!
-Adrian
the less scrupulous Masters out there), in practice it
tended to become more of a way to abuse the game
rules and either easily achieve certain schemes (such
as Eye for an Eye) or deny your opponent their own
schemes (Grudge being the most common one).
The worst abuse of it was probably the Hamelin
list, where the player could sacrifice his own crew
of cheap stolen and rats to give Hamelin dozens of
soulstones and make him all but unkillable. Perhaps,
some time in the future, a less abusive version of
Drain Souls will one day make a return as part of a
new masters abilities. But for now, I doubt anyone
will mourn its loss.
In all my years of playing Malifaux, the (1) Heal

action to burn a soulstone and heal 1-3 wounds was
the one use of soulstones that I never, ever used.
Compared to making a damage prevention flip or
increasing your duel total, it never seemed worth
the action. So for better or worse its gone and to be
honest, I dont think Ill miss it.
The Last Word
In Malifaux 1.5, soulstones are mostly a way to

overpower your attack or defense flips, usually
bringing the totals to such dizzying heights as
to make it impossible to resist. This means that
soulstones become a kind of ablative armor for
masters and henchmen. Non-soulstone users had
little chance of taking down a soulstone user (or
resisting their attacks, for that matter), until you
had stripped your opponent of their cache.
In M2E, the role of Soulstones has changed

dramatically. Soulstones have now shifted toward
becoming a way to improve the reliability of your
models, mostly by reducing your reliance on having
a good hand with which to cheat the cards you need.

5
Painting Puppets By: Name
By: Mark Rodgers
Introduction
When I first started painting, I wasnt magically able to

do complicated techniques and detailing. It took me a
lot of practice and I made a lot of mistakes (I still do,
in fact). I started out with simple paintjobs and built
my way up to the trickier stuff. With the rerelease of
Puppet Wars, Ive been given the chance to put together
something that covers the vague stages my painting
went through as I practiced more and more, and
hopefully show how little steps can dramatically change
your painting. There is, of course, nothing wrong with
painting more simply; the golden rule is that whatever
stage youre at, if youre happy with your paintjob then
its perfectly good! But if youre not, then read on Ive
tried to put a bunch of little useful tips and tricks in, as
well as a good helping of example pictures and painted
puppets.
As always, Ill be mostly using Vallejo Game Color, and

when I use a different make of paint Ill mention it. They
are my usual choice, but I suggest trying out different
makes and seeing which ones work best for you. Paint
type, just like brush type, color scheme and model
choice is a personal thing.
Cleanup
Obviously, the first thing to do is to get the puppets off

the sprue and cleaned up ready for painting. This is my
least favorite bit, but its important to do it properly and
not skip right to painting. Seams and mold lines can
ruin any paint job, so its worth taking a little time to
do this bit. Rusty Alyce has three pieces, two of which
are quite small. Cleaning the mold lines off small pieces
is much easier while theyre attached to the sprue, so
thats the first thing I did. Using an old knife blade
(brand new ones dont work as well, theyre too sharp), I cut off the little sprue remains using the knife and
I gently scraped at a 45 angle over the mold line until then cleaned up all the larger parts the same way as
it was smoothed out. I then used clippers (although I did the smaller ones, scraping the mold lines away.
you can use a knife just as well) to remove the parts Be careful that you dont scrape away any details that
from the sprue, leaving a few millimeters of the sprue are supposed to be there though! I typically finish
on the model (if you cut too close to the model part, cleaning parts by giving them a quick scrub with an
you can end up damaging it). Next I removed all the old toothbrush to get rid of any plastic flakes that
larger pieces, again leaving a little bit of the sprue on are caught on the model.
the model.

5
The next step is to assemble the model, which it matches up with the model and blends in nicely.
always begins with a test fit of each part. As you can The two tools shown are my favorites, and the ones
see in the picture, Rusty Alyces hair doesnt quite sit I use for almost everything. I do have a fair number
in place, so I scraped away a little bit of the back of of others, but these are the two I really couldnt do
the hair piece where it meets the main body, testing without and would recommend.
the fit and scraping again until I was happy with it.
A small dab of plastic glue is plenty; Im trying to
avoid it squeezing out of the seam between the parts,
as it clogs up the details if it gets on the surface. I
typically wait half a minute to let the glue start to
soften the plastic, then press the piece into position
carefully and leave it to set for five or ten minutes.
Once the glue has set fully, its time to sort out the
seams, which means messing with green stuff.
Green Stuff
The first thing to do when seam filling is to mix

up the putty. This sounds obvious, but there are a
couple of things worth mentioning. Dont mix up a
lot, it gets difficult to work with after about thirty
minutes so only mix what you need and can use in
that time. Cut off a strip from the ribbon, making
sure you have roughly equal amounts of yellow and
blue. Make sure you cut away the middle section (if
you have the type that comes in separate tubes you
can skip that bit), as the two colors will have started
to cure where they touch. Mix it thoroughly between
your fingers; if you find any lumps then pull them And now, a quick note on lubricating your tools.
out and get rid of them, you need a smooth, single Green stuff is quite sticky, especially when you first
colored green blob. mix it. You can use water (or saliva, but licking
green stuff isnt recommended really) to stop your
tools from sticking to the green stuff, but it tends
to go away quite quickly. That can be useful, but I
personally prefer baby oil as it works even better
and stays as a very thin film on the surface (it also
smells nice). The only downside is that you really
need to wash your models gently in soapy water
after you finish preparing them, although that is a
The usual way I fill seams is to start by rolling a thin good habit to get into anyway, as it cleans off any
line of putty and laying it along the seam. I then use dust and manufacturing residues on the surface.
my favorite sculpting tool to press the putty into the Once the putty is cured and the washing done and
gap and start to push the excess away to the sides. dried, its finally time to start priming!
Slowly I remove more and more putty, using the back
of the tool (shown in the picture) to gently scrape Priming
away the extra putty leaving only the bits filling
the seam behind. Once Ive got this down to the I typically spray models black, as I prefer that to
shape of the model, I then use a color shaper (also white. White undercoat is very useful when the
shown, white tips are very soft, black are stiffer and whole model will be in pale, bright colors, while
known as clay shapers) to smooth the putty so that black is good for a darker, richer feel. Grey is a good

5
compromise, but the choice of undercoat really but they often wont do much to help beginners, so
comes down to personal preference. Black is more unless youve reached a plateau in your painting, my
forgiving in many ways, as any bits you cant reach advice is dont bother with them (as proof of that, I
with the brush are already shaded for you. painted some of the gallery models with additives,
and some with just water. And the blending diagram
was done just using water, nothing fancy). Painting
isnt a matter of having a lot of stuff; its about
knowing exactly how what you have will behave,
and what you can make it do.
Basic Painting
Thinning Paint
This can easily be overlooked, but using paint straight

from the pot is usually a bad plan. Generally, I thin
paint to the consistency of skimmed milk before I
Dont be tempted to keep spraying until the whole use it, which might seem like Im making a lot more
model is fully covered with the undercoat, as thats work for myself. I kind of am, but its important to
a really good way to clog up details. The spray is use multiple thin coats rather than one thick one if
just there to provide a key for other paint to stick you want to keep the details on a model crisp, and
to. I personally spray models both horizontally and have a smooth surface to do things like blending
then angled from above, but only until almost all and freehand on. On the left of the picture you can
the plastic (or metal, resin, whatever the model is see some Vallejo game color Hexed Lichen that has
made of ) has been touched by spray. I can usually been used straight from the pot. You can paint like
just see the color of the model material through the this, but on smaller areas it isnt going to be easy to
spray coat when Im done. Once its sprayed, I let get a smooth layer. Generally, I aim for somewhere
it dry fully before brushing on a thinned coat of in the middle of this scale when Im painting, unless
Black which provides a proper undercoat without I want the paint to behave differently. The second to
covering up details. This has the added advantage last purple square is about the same consistency as
that the black is actual black, while spray blacks are a wash, and the final one is in fact about right for
often a little chalky or grey. a glaze, for something like object sourced lighting
(OSL). It barely colors the white, and on other colors
Painting Kits it would be near invisible, but thats the ideal if
you painted and blended everything with your paint
You can use a lot of different bits of kit and additives that thin, it would be super smooth (and take ages,
for your paint to help you, but at its core painting so there is a little bit of compromise here!).
needs five things; paint, a brush, a model, water, and
patience. The only important thing I would suggest
is getting good quality brushes with nice sharp tips,
something like Kolinsky sable brush if you can afford
them (I usually use sizes 2, 1 and 0 Ill use the
largest brush I can for a task since it means less going
back to the palette, and having broader smoother
strokes). With decent brushes you can paint to a
very high standard without needing any extra kit,
but dont worry about buying top end brushes until
youve reached the limit of what you can do with
the ones you have. Paint additives and wet palettes
are good options for more experienced painters,

5
Its also worth noting that if you put a blob on a for the button, and Khaki for the stitching, finished up
surface like I have underneath, it dries unevenly with the base layers.
tide marks and splotches. Usually you get this effect
by having too much paint on your brush, which does The highlights on the body and wings were done
two things. Firstly, it makes it very hard to control using a mix of the original color and White in
the paint as it touches the model. And secondly, it a 3:1 ratio. The highlights for the wooden arms
ruins your brushes. When you load your brush, the were a 2:1 mix of Leather Brown and Bonewhite.
bottom quarter to a third of the bristles should look The stitches were done using pure Bonewhite. The
like they are colored, rather than covered in paint. needle was highlighted with pure Chainmail Silver.
Of course, too little paint just means it will dry in The highlights were painted a little bit away from
the bristles and give you problems getting it onto the edges on any area that pointed upward. This
the model, so theres a happy middle ground to find. gave a more rounded look to the panels, and a subtle
In the picture, Ive started with a clean brush, added sense of light from above. I kept the highlights fairly
too little paint, then roughly the right amount, then subtle as the depth would be added by the shading,
massively overloaded it. If your brush looks like the and very obvious highlights can be distracting.
one on the right, its not going to end well
The shading on the body and arms was done by using
The Cherub a very diluted 1:1:1 mix of Black, Dark Fleshtone
and Gory Red. A little bit of washing up liquid can
help it behave as a wash, but only a tiny amount.
The way I tell if I have a good wash is to paint a
line across one of my fingerprints. If it barely colors
the surface, but fills the grooves in my skin, then
its pretty much spot on. A very dilute 1:1 mix of
Black and Night Blue was then used as a wash on the
stuffing, wings and metals.
I began with simply painting up the cherub. The

first step was to get a good base color down, and as
I wouldnt be doing anything too complex with the The Convict Gunslinger
colors, it was better to lay all the colors down at once.
That way, there was no danger of me messing up a
finished area while painting a different one. Painting
each area separately is generally only necessary when
youre doing something that is likely to be messy and
get onto other areas. The body panels were painted
with several layers of either Squid Pink or Pale Flesh
to make sure I had smooth coverage. Being neat here I began the convict gunslinger by painting Charred
saves time later, but the edges would get neatened up Brown onto the stripes around his bottom section,
when I did the shading, so it wasnt absolutely vital. I and then used Khaki for the raised stripes and half of
painted the wings and tuft of stuffing in Vallejo Model his face. The other half was painted with Bonewhite,
Color Deck Tan, again in as many layers as it took to and the picture shows how rough the coverage
get smooth coverage. The arms were painted in Leather looked after one coat. Thats how thin paint should
Brown. A 1:1 mix of VMC Black and Chainmail Silver be to get smooth coverage, but it will take a good
was painted onto the needle. A quick bit of Jade Green few coats to get a solid color. After getting the face

5
sorted, I used Blazing Orange for a prison jumpsuit
look, and VMC Deck Tan for the hair and stuffing.
Just like the cherub, the metals were painted in a
mix of Black and Chainmail Silver. The stitches and
button were then painted in Gory Red.
The highlights on the Bonewhite and Blazing

Orange sections were again 3:1 mixes of base color
and White. For the Charred Brown, I used a 3:1 mix
of the Brown and Bonewhite to keep it a warmer
brown, while the Khaki was highlighted in pure
Bonewhite. Again, like the cherub, the stuffing was
Controlled Shading
highlighted using pure White.
Washes provide quick and easy shading, but theres
very little control in them. To get a neater result,
The shading was very similar to the cherub, with a
its better to paint the shading in. The easiest way
1:1 mix of Black and Night Blue used as a wash on
to do this is to start your painting with the shade
the stuffing and metals. The rest of the gunslinger
color, and build up over it with your midtone and
was washed with a very soft wash of Charred Brown.
highlight.
Using different washes on different areas is better
than just painting one wash over every color, as it
gives you much more control over the way things The Silurid
look. This doesnt take too much effort as it often
means using two or three washes rather than one,
since some areas will want the same type of wash.
In this case, the clothing and face get warm brown
shading that matches the orange and cream look,
while the metals get a cold dark blue shade to
contrast with the warm body.
The silurid was done using this method, starting
with a basecoat of Charred Brown on the body. The
arms were painted in alternating stripes of Dark
Green and Jade Green, and the stitching and dorsal
fin were done in Khaki. The metalwork was painted
in a 2:2:1 mix of Black: Night Blue: Chainmail
Silver, before the tongue was painted Hexed Lichen
The bases were painted initially with a layer of 2:1 and a bit of Dark Green was used for the leak in the
Earth: Dark Fleshtone, then grain was painted on cauldron.
in a 1:1 mix of Charred Brown and Dark Fleshtone.
Because of the smaller size of the puppets, the grain The midtone painting was then done carefully,
should be larger than it would be for a Malifaux ensuring it only touched the sections I wanted to be
model. The final stage was a heavy wash of mixed lit. The body was painted with a 3:1 mix of Charred
Black and Gory Red, as shown in the picture, to Brown and Camouflage Green, and the dark bands on
darken the groove between planks and tie the grain the arms painted with a similar mix of Dark Green and
to the main color more. The trick here is to use a Camouflage Green. The brighter bands were painted
wet finger to wipe away a lot of the wash before it using a 3:1 mix of Jade Green and White. I added a
dries, giving the wood a slightly uneven coating. I little Squid Pink to Hexed Lichen for the tongue, then
also always paint the sides of my bases black when painted the stitching and fin with Bonewhite. The
Ive finished them, to neaten the edges and make metals were painted in a 1:1 mix of the previous metal
them less obvious. shade and Chainmail Silver. A touch of GW Scorpion
Green made the leak stand out more.

5
The highlight layer began with the body, using a 2:1 and GW Blood Red on the hair, and a 1:1 mix of
mix of the midtone color and Camouflage Green. Dark Fleshtone and Leather Brown on the clothing
Again, the same mix using Dark Green instead of and strap. A 2:1 mix of Night Blue and Bonewhite
Charred Brown was used on the darker stripes, went onto the shorts as a highlight, after which I
while a 2:1 mix of the Jade Green midtone and White used a 1:1 mix of Charred Brown and Leather Brown
was used to highlight the other stripes. Pure White on the legs. I made sure to leave the grain pattern
was used on the stitching and fin, pure Chainmail unpainted at this point to make it stand out nicely.
Silver on the metals, and pure Squid Pink on the The coat got a layer of pure Hexed Lichen, and then
tongue. A little dot of white on the leak was added I moved on to the metals. I mixed the original shade
as a finishing touch. tones with an equal amount of the metal (so Bright
Bronze into the goggle shade, and Chainmail Silver
in the knife and needle shade) and painted them
onto the upper surfaces of the metals, as if they
were catching the light. The stitching got the usual
layer of Bonewhite, as did the hair ties. I used GW
Blood Red on the top surfaces of the gun, and a bit
of Khaki on the cork.
The final stages of the ronin were quite quick. The

skin and wood were both finished with Khaki, while
the hair got a final layer of pure Blood Red. Both
The Ronin metals were highlighted with small areas of pure
Chainmail Silver even brass often has such bright
whitish highlights, so its often best to have very
small silver highlights at the highest points. I added
more Bonewhite to the shorts color as a highlight,
and also used a little Bonewhite in Hexed Lichen as
a final highlight for the coat. The gun was finished
with Blazing Orange on the top area, and the
stitching had small areas of White painted onto it.
The ronins skin was painted in Leather Brown
to make her look different, while her shorts and
top were painted Night Blue and Dark Fleshtone
respectively. The goggle strap and her hair were
both also painted with Dark Fleshtone, the coat
in a 1:1 mix of Black and Hexed Lichen, and
once again the stitching (and hair ties) was done
in Khaki. Her legs and the knife handle were
basecoated Charred Brown, while a 1:1 mix of
Charred Brown and Bright Bronze were used on
the coat buckles and goggles. The rest of the metals
were painted in a 1:1 mix of Black and Chainmail
Silver. As a final touch, the gun was painted with
Gory Red, and the cork and string in Leather
Brown and Khaki respectively.
The midtone for the skin was a 2:1 mix of Leather The wood on the bases was painted the same as
Brown and Khaki, painted in the center of the panels. before, since as a flat surface, it didnt need any real
The hair was differentiated from the goggle strap shading and the grain could only be painted at the
and her top by using a 1:1 mix of Dark Fleshtone end. The cloth got a first layer of 2:1 Gory Red and

5
Black at the same time as the wood basecoat went skin was a 2:1 mix of Khaki and Bonewhite. I added
down. The grain was painted at the same time as a little Bonewhite to the facemask too, not using
a layer of Gory Red on the fabric for the midtone. much as the large difference in brightness made any
When I did the wash, I also painted the highlight addition of Bonewhite much more obvious. I added
on the fabric, using a 1:1 mix of GW Blood Red and some Deck Tan to the color used on the fur, as using
Gory Red. pure Deck Tan at this stage would have been quite
stark. A little Leather Brown was added to Dark
Layering Fleshtone to paint the stitches and belt, again using
smaller contrasts than in the previous models. The
The three layered approach looks good on smaller metal layer was mixed to make a 1:1 ratio of Charred
areas, but because of the size of the area and abrupt Brown to Glorious Gold and painted on the upper
color changes on larger parts like the silurids surfaces and edges of the knives, and in the center of
cauldron, it looks a little rough. The next step that the bell. As a final touch in this layer, the eyes were
I took to improve my painting was to use slightly highlighted in a mix of Gory Red and Blood Red,
thinner layers, but add in an extra one. This brings and an equal mix of Khaki and Earth was painted
each layer closer to the one before in color, so they onto the tag.
become harder to tell apart and give a smoother
look. The first real highlight layer was again the previous
layer with a small amount of extra Bonewhite added,
The December Acolyte in the case of the skin, clothing and facemask. The
eyes got a touch of pure Blood Red, while the fur
was highlighted with pure Deck Tan. The metalwork
was highlighted in Glorious Gold, with only a little
bit applied to the legs as they would be in shade.
Generally, the model should get brighter as you go
upwards, to provide a greater sense of height when
you look at it (especially when its on the tabletop).
The second (and final) highlight was just like the

others for the clothing and facemask, using the
previous layer with more Bonewhite in it. The face
was pure Bonewhite this time, as was the last bit
of the tag. The fur got a final highlight with a 1:1
mix of Deck Tan and Bonewhite on the tips and top
sides of the areas (the underneath of the bottom
The December Acolyte got this treatment, starting trim section didnt get anything this time round).
by painting his face in Khaki and the facemask The legs got no highlight this time either, while the
in a 3:1 mix of Black and White. One half of his rest of the metals were finished up with a 1:1 mix of
coat was painted in a 3:1 mix of Night Blue and Chainmail Silver and Glorious Gold. Pure Leather
Bonewhite, while the other was done in 3:1 GW Brown completed the stitching and strap, and a mix
Ice Blue and Black. The fur trim was basecoated in of Blazing Orange and Blood Red was used on the
VMC Deck Tan with a tiny amount of Black and button tops to complete the December Acolyte.
Night Blue in it, before the strap and stitching were
painted with Dark Fleshtone. A 3:1 mix of Charred
Brown and Glorious Gold was used on the metal
areas, and then the buttons were painted in Gory
Red and the tag in Earth.
The next layer on both parts of the clothing was a

4:1 mix of the basecoat and Bonewhite, while the

5
to the rest of the model. I used the same colors for
The Executioner the third layer as I did for the second, painting it
onto a slightly smaller area than the previous one to
thicken the color on the main area while leaving the
edges only one layer thick.
The fourth and fifth layers were done the same way,
using a mix of Bonewhite with a little Khaki in it
for the skin and a 1:1 mix of Deck Tan and White
for the clothing. More Bonewhite was added to the
hood and boot mixture to give a slightly paler grey,
and more Chainmail to the metals. Pure Blood Red
was used for the stitching and cables to brighten
them up more.
Layers six and seven were the last ones, which I

started by painting Bonewhite onto the skin in a thin
layer, then White with a little Deck Tan in it for the
The executioner has large panels of flesh and cloth clothing. The stitches and pipes were highlighted
all over his model, which can make a paintjob look in a Blazing Orange/Blood Red mixture before I
rougher just because of the size of the areas. In used pure Chainmail Silver on the metals. The hood
order to avoid this, I decided to add more layers of and boots got a final highlight mix with some more
thinner paint. The overall number of colored layers Bonewhite in it to finish them off.
was the same as for the December Acolyte, but this
time the thinner paint meant I needed two coats to
get the same level of highlight. This may seem like
a waste of time initially, but the two coats are not
identical. Each coat will be slightly smaller than the
last, effectively making them all their own layer. So
rather than four layers, it will be seven half-layers, The bases this time were a little more advanced,
each of which allows some of the color underneath although the initial step was still the same basecoat
through. of 2:1 Earth and Dark Fleshtone. The thread was
basecoated in 2:1 Khaki: Charred Brown, and then
The skin, once again, began as a layer of Khaki. The painted with a 1:1 mix of Bonewhite and Khaki. The
clothing was Deck Tan with a little Hexed Lichen grain began this time as a layer of Dark Fleshtone,
added in for shading, while the boots and hood with the next layer being Charred Brown to give the
were painted Black. A mix of Black and Night Blue grain a bit more detail and depth. The darker line
containing a little bit of Chainmail Silver was used to should sit to one side of each of the paler grain lines,
basecoat the metals, and then Gory Red was painted as this looks more natural. I also painted the thread
onto the stitching. The model is fairly simple, so I with Bonewhite at this point. The final stage was
could then move on to the next layer. I added a little again to wash the wood with a red/black mix, and to
Bonewhite to the Khaki, thinned it and painted use a thin layer of Dead White on the thread.
it onto the skin, then used thinned Deck Tan on
the clothing. The hood and boots were painted in
Black with a little Bonewhite added. I added a little
Chainmail Silver to the metal mixture and painted it
onto the claws and backpack, focusing on the upper
areas a little. At this point I also decided to swap the
piping from black to red, so used Gory Red followed
by a mix of Gory Red and Blood Red to catch it up

5
Blending
The Judge
While you can keep adding more and more layers,
making them thinner and closer in color to each
other, until you get a very smooth result, it is a lot of
work and it can be difficult to keep smooth and even.
I prefer to paint the midtone color first, and paint
the shade onto the model carefully. This means that
I have a smooth midtone already, without having to
paint one over the darker shadow, but it also gives
me a lot more control over the color and tone of
the shading. The layers at this point have become so The midtone on the Judge began as a layer of VMC
thin that it takes several to cover the previous color, Deck Tan on the coat, and panels of Leather Brown
and they lend themselves well to blending. and Khaki for the skin. Because the Judge is a more
difficult model to reach all the areas on, I decided
Blending Process to paint these first, and then paint the rest of him
afterward. Once the midtone layers were smooth,
I added a little Purple and Black to the Deck Tan,
thinned it down, and carefully glazed it into the
recesses, blending the edges as shown above. This
took several coats to get it built up enough for my
liking, and then I moved on to the face. I added
Dark Green and Black to the Leather Brown, mixed
Dark Fleshtone and Black to the Khaki, and glazed
There are numerous ways and techniques to blend in the shadows the same way I did for the cloak.
paints, and I make no claim to having the best After these bits were done, I used a thinner version
one (it works pretty well for me though). For a of the original midtone to smooth the transitions
good blend, you need a nice solid base color. No more and get the main color back over the majority
blend will look good if the base color isnt smooth of the area. I then added Bonewhite to the original
and constant. I start with a stripe of the color Im flesh colors, and White to the Deck Tan, using these
blending, where I want it to be strongest. While this new mixtures for two thin layers of highlight that
is still wet, I take a damp brush (either a different were blended into the midtone carefully, so I didnt
one, if youre into two-brush blending, or the same get them too close to the shading. More Bonewhite
one rinsed out quickly, if youre lazy like me) and was added to the flesh colors before the last two
paint a line of water up and down along the edge of highlight layers were painted on the flesh, and two
the color, overlapping the two partially, on a slight small layers of thinned White were laid onto the
angle to the original stripe. Be careful not to have cloak. While there are effectively seven layers to
too much water, remember this is a damp brush, not this, there are actually only four colors on each area.
one dipped in the pot and aimed at the model! This The paint is thin enough that each previous layer
draws the pigment from the original stripe out into shows through the current one a little, allowing the
the water, thinning it across the area. To extend the blends to look smoother.
blend (as this often has a sharp edge still) I rinse the
brush again, and do the same thing over the edge
of the first water line. I keep going like this until
the pigment edge isnt visible anymore. If it isnt as
dense a color as youd prefer, or you want to make
it longer, dont rush let it dry thoroughly before
doing another layer, or you can pull bits of the first
blend away and ruin the smooth change.

5
The second half of the judge began with a simple Rusty Alyce
Black/White mix on the sword blades, chains, and
legs, while a Gory Red and Charred Brown mix
was used to basecoat the brass areas such as the
sword hilts and goggles. The hair was painted with
P3 Rucksack Tan, and I used Hexed Lichen for
the buttons and face covering. Again, these took a
couple of coats to get smooth coverage on the model.
Everything except the hair was shaded with Black,
which was shaded with a 2:1 mix of Dark Fleshtone
and Hexed Lichen. The midtone was then painted
back in using the same colors except for the metals.
These had a little bit of either Chainmail Silver or
Glorious Gold added to the original midtone color,
which was blended onto the model like the other
layers. The brass sections were slowly worked up to
pure Glorious Gold, while the steel was brightened
up to Chainmail Silver. I added White to the Hexed Rusty Alyce was painted the same way as the Judge,
Lichen for the facemask and buttons, keeping it with two sessions of painting and seven blended
quite a subtle change as white can easily overpower layers. The under-layer of her face was basecoated
the original color if youre not careful. The hair was with Leather Brown, as were the wooden parts of
highlighted using progressively more Bonewhite, her legs, while the main face was done with Khaki.
until there was almost no Rucksack Tan in the Her jacket would be leather, so I began with Dark
mixture. Fleshtone. Her skirt was more complex because of
the pattern. I used Dark Green for the main squares,
As added extra details, I used Khaki, Bonewhite and and then painted the stripes in a mix of Dark
White to paint the stitches and White to sharply Green and Night Blue. The bits where the stripes
highlight the glass lenses of the goggles. intersected then got a coat or two of Night Blue, to
take the green out of them. Shading was done across
all the areas except the Khaki face using a 1:1 mix of
Dark Fleshtone and Black. Since that was so much
paler, I used Dark Fleshtone with a little Night Blue
added to make it less brown. When I shaded the legs,
I also added in some thin vertical lines to represent
wood grain.
I carefully repainted the original colors to neaten the

shadows and smooth the transitions, before starting
with two layers of my first highlight colors. The
jacket highlight was a 1:1 mix of Dark Fleshtone and
Leather Brown, allowing a lot of the shade to remain
to darken the jacket and make it more like treated
leather. The face had a little Bleached Bone added
to both the Leather Brown and the Khaki, as did the
legs. The green and blue parts of the skirt were 2:1
mixes of the original colors and Camouflage Green
or Ice Blue respectively, while the turquoise stripes
were done in a mix of the two highlights. After two
layers of these, I added more Bonewhite to the face
colors to finish the highlights there. The jacket color

5
was now mostly Leather Brown, with only a little laying it flat against the model, moving the brush in
Dark Fleshtone in it to avoid it becoming too bright. the direction of the strands to lay paint onto several
The skirt was finished with Camouflage Green, Ice strands of hair at once, but it is neater and more
Blue containing a tiny amount of Night Blue, and controllable to paint each one separately. After the
a 1:1 mix of the two for the stripes. I painted these two layers of these colors, I then used pure Bright
layers onto the top edges of the pattern sections, Bronze and Chainmail Silver on the metals, and
neatening their edges and making the whole skirt added more Bonewhite to the hair mix. I also mixed
look a bit tidier. more Bronze Fleshtone to the red highlight and
layered that on carefully. These two layers completed
Rusty Alyce, except for one final touch. Just like the
Judge, I used Khaki, Bonewhite and White to detail
the few stitches that are on Alyces head and chest.
The paint colors for the base this time were the
same as before, which meant an Earth/Dark
Fleshtone mix, Dark Fleshtone, and Charred Brown.
The major difference here is that each strip of the
grain was blended at one side, towards the knots if
there are any or just all on the same side if there
The second stage of Alyces paintjob began with me arent. The Charred Brown was painted onto the
basecoating her hair in Charred Brown, the brass un-blended side and blended across the fleshtone
areas in a 1:1 mix of Gory Red and Charred Brown, stripe. The button was painted with Dark Green,
and the areas that would be steel in a 1:1 mix of and then blended to Jade Green via a 1:1 mixture of
Night Blue and Black, with a little White added to the two. The wood again got a red and black wash
lighten it a touch. Her belt was painted Gory Red, that was mostly wiped away.
as were her lips. Everything was shaded using a
dilute Black, since the colors were dark and metals
especially need to be shaded to pure black to look
as effective as possible. The midtones were painted
back in carefully as usual, although the metals were
slightly adjusted. I added a little Chainmail Silver
to the steel midtone, and Bright Bronze to the brass
midtone. I didnt add much, just enough to start
introducing a faint metallic sheen to the paint.
The first highlight was again done in two layers,

with the metals having more of their respective Advanced Stuff Patterns and Tricks
metallic paints added to them (Bright Bronze for
the arm, and Chainmail Silver for the pistol, gears To finish up the step by step section, I thought Id
and belt). I added Bronze Fleshtone to the Gory add in a couple of more advanced things. These are
Red to highlight the belt, as it avoids the end result extra techniques that can really add something to
looking pink. The Charred Brown of the hair had a your painting, but they do take time and care.
little Bonewhite added, and painted in careful lines
along the hair strands. This can be done faster by
having a small amount of paint on the brush, and

5
Misaki it builds up smoothly and evenly. Once the midtone
was down and blended fully, it was time to shade.
I decided Misakis dress would look good faded from Once again, I used five different colors to ensure
green to blue, which is a bit fiddly as you have two the shading matched the midtone. On a fairly subtle
sets of color blending to deal with; one from blue to fade like this it isnt so important and you could
green, and one from shadow to highlight. The first probably use two or three, but its best to use one
step in the process is to basecoat the model with one for each midtone color you used. To keep things
of your colors. Its a quicker process if you basecoat consistent, I made a mix of Hexed Lichen and Black,
with the paler color, as youll need fewer layers as and added this to each of the midtone colors in the
you blend to the other color, but its smoother if you same proportions. This gave me five shades that
work from the darker to the paler color. It just means matched both each other, and the original colors. I
a lot more layers with each color to get a good blend used each shade on the same area the original color
and consistent color. covered; blending it at both ends to make sure the
transition between shades was smooth. If you dont
blend the points where the two shades overlap, you
can end up with a sudden stark line at the join. The
process is the same for the midtones when they get
repainted, and again for the highlights. Blend each
section on every side, then move down to the next
one. For Misaki, I added a small drop of White to
the original five colors, thinned them heavily, and
laid them onto the appropriate areas in several very
thin coats. Then I went back to the top, added a little
more White to the blue highlight mix, and did the
whole thing over again. This gave me a nice subtle
transition from blue to green, but it can be done
from any color to any other color you just need to
use more stages for bigger changes.
I started with a good solid basecoat of GW Ice Blue,

and then began to add small amounts of Jade Green
to it. Over the course of five layers, I worked my
way up to pure Jade Green, blending each layer into
the previous ones carefully. The position of each
layer is important, as you need to leave an area of
each color visible to get the fade looking consistent.
Since I was using five colors (including the two pure
ones at each end), I mentally split the model into
five sections and painted roughly to those. Each
layer goes right to the bottom of the dress, rather
than stopping where the next layer begins, so that

5
The Belle important things are planning, and slowly working
your way to the end before deciding if it has worked
or not sometimes, you cant tell how it will work
out until you finish!
Basing
Basing is something that you can go as simple or as

complicated as you like. A complex, heavily detailed
model looks nice on a fairly simple base as a rule,
and you should always try to avoid having the base
overshadow the model. But really, it all comes down
The belles parasol seemed like a good place to paint to personal preference. For the puppets, I wanted to
some lacework, which I began by undercoating the keep it fairly simple so chose to do wooden planks
parasol with a mix of VMC Deck Tan and Black. Where to represent Zoraidas shack and match the board.
the dress would show through, I mixed in a little Squid I added needles, thread, fabric pieces and buttons
Pink (Id already decided she would have a pink dress) to some of the bases for interest, but always kept it
to the grey and layered that on, while the hair area fairly simple, in keeping with the models.
had P3 Rucksack Tan added to it. This wont show up
much but it subtly helps make the lace look a bit more
see through. The first step was to choose a pattern and
rough it out on the parasol, using thinned Deck Tan
to get the rough shape sorted out. I did this section by
section, starting in the center and then moving out to
the solid panels, before finishing the edge areas. At this
point it looks very messy (not helped by the uneven
spokes of the parasol!) but its important to keep going
with stuff like this.
I started by pressing a big blob of greenstuff onto
I then went back over the pattern with Deck Tan the base, spreading it to the edges with my fingers,
more solidly, neatening and balancing it out as best then wetting it and pressing it upside down on my
I could, before going over it with a first highlight desk to smooth it. The excess putty was then cut
of Offwhite to start to detail it more. I finished the away carefully with a wet knife blade, before the gap
highlights with pure White, and assessed where between the planks was cut in using the blade side
I was up to. At this point it had some large grey of my sculpting tool. Once that cured, I added any
holes, so I decided to add in very thin lines across details I wanted to add (I sculpted them, but you can
those sections following the pattern. The end result of course use anything you have lying about). After
still looks a little scruffy, but a quick coat of Leather these cured too, I took a file and worked my way
Brown on the parasol spokes improves things a round the edge of the base, neatening and smoothing
lot. Thats why, with complex freehand, the most the edge I made when I cut away the excess.

5
Summary
So, thats a brief run through of my painting from

where I began a good number of years ago, to
where I am now. Its all little changes each time,
the key is to practice and learn from everything
you do, keep on working at it until youre pleased
with what youve done. What other people think
of your results doesnt matter, if youre happy with
them. And, as someone once said to me, wing it -try
things out, mess it up sometimes, and get advice
and inspiration from anywhere you can find it.
Especially other painters in fact, I got the recipe
for the Razorspine Rattlers copper areas from Big
Ned on the Wyrd forums recently (and its now my
new favorite copper method). As always, feel free to
catch me on the forum (Mako) and ask me things,
Drilling out the base for the models pin begins or point and laugh. Either works!
-Mark
with, unsurprisingly, test fitting the model on the
base. When you decide where you want the hole to
be, the simplest way is to put a blob of paint on the
bottom of the pin, then press it into the right place
on the base. You can then drill where the blob of
paint transferred over, knowing youre drilling in
the right place. If the hole isnt quite big enough,
you can carefully twist a round file in the hole to
widen it, testing the fit every so often until the pin
fits snugly into the hole. You can do this before you
paint anything, like I have here, or after the model
and base are painted. You can also attach the base
before painting, or after. I usually mark out the base
before if its complicated or busy, but attach the
model to it at the end. This way I can get to all parts
of the model and the base easily, and not risk getting
paint from one on the other.
Click here to see images at

their original size.

5
Additional Finished Puppets Gallery

5
The Cards Above By: Octavius Villar
A henchman s history and perspective on growing a Malifaux community

In the Beginning website. The strategies within the store include
keeping consistent about your hours and leaving
For me, the journey began at the back of a hobby traces of your activity when you cant be in the
shop in the warm and dusty Inland Empire. I arrived store. These can be cards, fliers, even offering to
as soon as the shop opened and greeted the owners leave painted crews on display at in the stores glass
who kindly pointed me towards the tables I could cases. Another really effective tool weve used in
use for the day. I wasted no time breaking open a store is to bring a friend, or as many as possible,
rolling file-caddy full of Terraclips, re-assembling into the store and play games. Folks in the game
the major pieces, and put down my demo crews store are typically there to play another game that
with a standing 8 x 11 sign that read Malifaux day with another group, but if they see two or more
demos here! people enjoying a game they havent tried yet, they
may want to take part. Perhaps not that day, but a
Sundays were my day to host Malifaux demos, simple were here every Wednesday night to an
and Id see progressive waves of customers coming interested onlooker with only minutes to spare, may
in, however most of the customers came to play yield a new Malifaux player with a little consistency.
collectible card games, while others came for RPGs.
There was a dedicated group of players that came In addition, sometimes we need to take a step outside
for the miniature wargames, but each of them came our local gaming store (LGS), and I mean directly
to the shop with opponents and a game already in outside our LGS. There are potential new players in
mind. It didnt help that for the most part, they the store, but over time you might find that the stores
wanted to keep to themselves. traffic has slowed to a crawl, and youve already run
demos for every person who would give you the time
Occasionally I could catch someone interested of day in the shop. Its at this point that you might
between their matches, but that normally only want to work on the into store activities, that is,
gave me fifteen minutes to try and show off some activities that help bring new people into your LGS.
of Malifauxs finer points. It went on this way for These activities can range from increasing your own
months and I spent some of that time brushing accessibility online by creating or joining meet-
up on the rules and writing up different types of ups, Facebook/Google+ groups, Youtube Channels,
events in hopes of one day having some folks to try websites, forums (dont forget to use the Wyrd
them out with. Things improved over time due to forums!), to things that can be done on the ground
some wise product placement from the supportive level such as, attending conventions, placing postings
owners. I was very lucky to catch walk-ins and on campuses, or even hosting charity events. There
pique their curiosity for Malifaux, but this was only are many different means of trying to interest other
one portion of our outreach- the in-store portion gamers towards Malifaux, and the only real limit
of our overall strategy. is your imagination and resources. For my group,
SoCal Malifaux, every activity included in this article
In-Store and Into Store Activities is something Ive tried, and while some of these
activities may not yield immediate rewards, I have
I look at getting people interested in Malifaux seen all of them at one point or another contribute
in terms of in-store and into store activities. to making Malifaux a real presence here in Southern
As I mentioned previously, the store owners I California. Just remember that any activity designed
was working with were great about helping move to draw more gamers either within or to your LGS
product to a more visible area, allowing me to place relies on your own consistency, accessibility, and
business cards and a holder in the shop, and placing your presentation skills.
fliers and posting events on their store Facebook/

5
Presenting Yourself Second, have fun running your demo! Its been my
experience that people who sign up for a demo are
Now, when you do finally have the attention of a hoping to have some fun, as well as learn about that
potential Malifaux fan, its time to run your demo! Wyrd game with the card flipping and knife-wielding
Before youve even introduced yourself to your babies, and theres no better testimonial about how
audience, be aware that they are learning about fun this game is than seeing that the volunteer that
Malifaux and you before youve even opened your might have run hundreds of demos in the past can
mouth or extended your hand. Im talking about still have a lot of fun simply showing people how
your appearance and presentation skills. There to play their favorite game. People respond to your
are some fairly standard appearance tips, such energy and your fun, and your genuine ability to
as proper hygiene, attire, and language, but dont enjoy yourself in a tutorial.
forget attitude either! There are some non-verbal
ways to demonstrate attitude. Maintaining a high Finally, this is not a test! Obviously one of the goals
level of energy and a positive attitude makes you of the demo is to educate the attendee about how
more inviting and approachable. Wyrd requires you Malifaux (or any of the other Wyrd games) is played,
to own two fully painted demo crews in order to but never let the minutia or complexity of rules
become a henchman, so take some pride in your interactions cloud your attendees ability to enjoy the
work if you are painting these crews yourself, or game. In other words, dont interrupt the flow of
make an effort to acquire some nicely painted crews the demo to lawyer a hazy rule, dispute a millimeter
if you are paying someone else to paint them. There of range, or micro-manage your attendee. These
are a number of kits to help your presentation as sorts of things can suck the joy out of discovering
well such as nice looking terrain from Terraclips, a game, or they may even disenfranchise someone
business cards, game reference sheets/cards, and from wanting to play games with you (and whatever
even things like club banners. These items let your you do, dont interrupt another person running a
audience know that you are serious about promoting demo to perform these activities!) A demo is not a
this hobby and they offer another means of making lecture, and there is no test to pass at the end. In all
yourself available for Malifaux. You are a semi- reality, the true purpose of a demo is to help your
official representative of Wyrd, so remain courteous attendee answer two questions:
at all times and dont badmouth other games or
companies. Finally, dont forget the black shirt! The Did I have fun during the demo? and Am I willing
shirt is more than just a cool little bonus for signing to try this game again?
up to be a henchman, it serves as your uniform for
promoting Wyrd and it gives you a more official It isnt necessary for an attendee to be able to play a
appearance at your events. Take care of your shirt full game of Malifaux without help from attending
and it will take care of you. your one demo, so dont pressure them to feel that
way. Sure there are certain things that the attendee
Three Keys to Demos will want to have a basic understanding of (how to
conduct a duel, for example), but again, the demo is
Here are some things I try to keep in mind at all not a test.
times when I run a demo. First, the attendees time
is the only time you need to consider. You might feel Large-scale Henching
inclined to spend two hours showing them every
little nuance of your demo when they only had thrity Even though it was less than three years ago, the days
minutes to spare, or you may be looking to power of sitting at the back of a store with a five person
them through a fifteen minute thrill ride when your Malifaux club seems like a distant memory. My role
attendee is really hoping youd move slowly and as a henchman seems so different now. For example,
explain things clearly before moving on. Try to avoid tomorrow (as of the time of this writing) I will begin
both of these situations, again, consider the demo hosting Malifaux at WonderCon 2013 in Anaheim,
time to be your attendees time constraints or desires. CA. I will be joined by four other henchmen from
my club, SoCal Maliaux. I consider each of them to

5
be not just some of the most reliable people in the One of my added roles during all of this was to
club, but all good friends. With an estimated sixty serve as one of the clubs main coordinators.
thousand people in attendance, we are expecting Communication and accessibility are just as critical
some rather full shifts at the demo tables, as well to my job, as they are for a henchman, period. I
as hosting a team tournament for International often field inquiries from store owners, convention
TableTop Day. organizers, henchmen, prospective henchmen and
volunteers. The henchmen in my group look to
After some months of scheduling, planning, support one another by promoting each others
promoting, and keeping communication lines open, events and working as a team at these conventions. It
were down to the final touches. These include is often my job to handle the front-end coordination
printing out all of the packets, packing the trunk, with the convention organizer, enlist the volunteers,
and figuring out where to place the tables that will generate the schedule, and fill gaps or address issues
attract the most attention. WonderCon is one of as necessary.
eight conventions our club is hosting games at this
year, and we are expecting to make an appearance at SoCal Malifaux
larger shows.
At the store level, its more about providing support

for a network of stores and game clubs throughout
Southern California. There is a crew gaming at the
Game Empire on Monday nights in Pasadena, and
we are being asked to do a Monday night event in
Orange County. Twice a month, on Tuesdays, we film
our live show, SoCal Malifaux Live, on Google+. On
Wednesdays I can be found at my tiny local gaming
store, Comic Quest, which I am proud to say, is on
the verge of a major expansion. Thursdays is for
Mercenary Market in Costa Mesa, Emerald Knights
in Burbank, and Pair a Dice Games in Vista. Fridays
our region enjoys JJs Game Lounge in Chatsworth,
or Friday Night Dice in North LA. Most events, such
as a tournament or a 1-Day Achievement League
for stores, are saved for Saturday, because stores
usually see an influx of new players on Saturdays. SoCal Malifaux is best regarded as a network versus
Sundays are busy at GMI Games and Collectibles in one large central body of gamers. It suits the sprawling
Riverside, or At Ease in Poway. I am happily married
urban layout of Southern California itself. We have
and gainfully employed, so I am neither expected dozens of shops and game clubs along with dozens
nor able to show up to every one of these events. of conventions and meet-ups. Indeed, as opposed to
more remote regions where they may only have one
All of the efforts above are spearheaded by some or two places to game, Southern Californias issue is
incredibly talented and woefully under-recognized almost having too many opportunities and venues
henchmen and volunteers. These generous to find gaming. So, while our group is quite large, it
people share the same goals as myself- building can be difficult to meet all of the members by just
community. The founders of my club do their best going to only a few events or by staying within your
to help identify and encourage these people, while local region.
being honest about the amount of commitment and
sacrifice required of them.

5
Conclusion
Being a henchman for me has been one of the most

rewarding endeavors Ive undertaken in my twenty-
two years of tabletop gaming. It has been one of the
toughest, thankless, expensive, and easily criticized
roles Ive ever filled. Yet, its also been one of the
things Ive loved the most about that miniature
tabletop hobby.
I had fun at your event. Im looking forward to

playing more games and attending your next event.
Ill try to get more friends to come too.
If you consider that statement to be the only profit

you need, then becoming a henchman could be a
lucrative endeavor for you. You see, the above
statement is the gold standard for being a successful
henchman. It doesnt matter if your gaming group
consists of four or four hundred members. If
someone walks up and thanks you for hosting
a fun event, youve made it! That is what being a
henchman is all about.
I believe that the goal for the henchman should

be to enhance peoples enjoyment of the game by
educating perspective players, hosting events, and
providing the outreach necessary for growing a local
community. Most of us join the henchmen program
because weve developed a deep appreciation for
Malifaux and other Wyrd Miniatures games. The
best part of the job is helping someone else take
that same journey as they come to enjoy the games
as much as we do and establishing incredible
friendships in the process.
To all my friends and anyone else who has taken

the black and honored their henchman position
with your tireless service, I salute you, and it is my
sincerest wish that your community recognizes all
the hard work you put into this. Dont forget to have
fun!
-Octavius
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/socalmalifaux/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheEbonstar
Website: http://socalmalifaux.com

5
A Gremlins Luck By: Paul Villar

5
Now In Stores!
5
Questions About Second Edition By: Justin Gibbs
By now you have seen the beta test documents, and still there, the alternating activation system, an
you may have even listened to myself and Mack emphasis on resource management and focusing
drone on for hours about second edition on various on objectives. All of the things which gave Malifaux
podcasts. Even so, there are a lot of questions its identity are still there. And when we did change
floating around, and I thought that it would be nice something major, we did our best to accomplish the
to have a comprehensive article that went over the same dynamic, only with different mechanics.
changes we made for second edition, and why we
made them. If you run into people at your local I suppose before I delve deeper into this I should
game store who are asking questions about it, I talk a bit about basic game design. A dynamic is
would suggest directing them to this article. Lets the experience a player has (For Example: resource
start with the most common question: management). A mechanic is the actual game
rule which forces the player to think about the
Why does Malifaux need a second edition? dynamic (For Example: keeping track of a control
hand). By requiring players to keep track of cards
Eventually every miniatures game will need a new in their control hand, we are adding the dynamic
edition. There is only so much design space and so of resource management to our game. However, we
much (literal) shelf space in stores. Because miniature can accomplish that same dynamic with a different
games deal in physical products, they cannot be mechanic if we wanted to (like keeping track of
easily patched like a video game. The miniatures soulstones).
themselves represent a significant investment on
the part of our customers; in part monetarily, but In many places, the mechanics changed, but the
also in time and effort spent modeling and painting, dynamic stayed the same. Asymmetric strategies are
and we need to respect that. Due to this effort, we gone from the Standard Encounters section, however
cannot simply cycle out older models and make due to the increased importance of schemes, the
them obsolete like the aging sets of a collectible card Standard Encounters still have a heavy asymmetric
game. When Magic cards cycle out, there probably dynamic.
arent any upset customers who spent hours lovingly
painting their old cards. This means that, as time All of that out of the way, now to the actual question!
goes on, miniatures games become top heavy and, Why did we change as much as we did? Why didnt we
sooner or later, a system reboot is required. just clean up 1.5 and send it out the door? Malifaux
1.5 needed a lot of work, and when you start making
Malifaux 1.5 has definitely reached this point. With changes (even the smallest tweaks) it is irresponsible
four rulebooks the game is daunting to get into for not to consider the sweeping effects those will have
new players. Years of complexity creep, errata, and on the game as a whole. Game systems are just that:
online rulings clutter many peoples understanding systems. And when you change one part of a system,
of the rules. Older models need to be brought up to you always need to start looking at the other parts.
par to compete with the more modern designs, and The majority of the changes arose from the one
a massive overhaul is necessary. change almost all players agreed needed to happen:
the standardization of language and consolidation
Ok, I get all of that. The rules all need to be in one of abilities in a more easy to reference place (For
place and they need to be cleaned up, but why did Example: ending the Attack/attack conundrum,
you change so much? the difference between dealing damage and dealing
wounds, and making abilities like Lifer easy to
I want to start off by saying that we didnt change find). The fact of the matter is that there is only so
nearly as much as many people seem to think. The much room to print abilities on a card and, while
core mechanics are still the same; cheating fate is remembering the difference between Attack and

5
attack was annoying, it saved us space. We essentially those characters is also a major driving force of the
had saved ourselves space on the cards by forcing our game. Upgrades allow a newer player to have a more
maze of terminology to take up space in our players streamlined version of the character which is easier
brains. One of the major (and almost unanimously to digest while learning the game; yet still allowing
popular) goals of second edition was to clarify that veterans to build their characters up to the level of
terminology and make it more easily accessible. But complexity they are used to.
doing so required a totally different approach to
designing stat cards, which had sweeping effects on Upgrades also allow an element of customization
the game. to the game which just didnt exist before. Mirror
matches between masters wont always look exactly
Aside from small tweaks that rippled out into major the same. Limited upgrades force hard decision
overhauls, there were also some changes which we points and allow one master to have more than one
knew would be major going in. A good example of playstyle.
this is the revision to how soulstones work which,
I have to admit, I was the major force behind. Finally, upgrades provide us with great design space
However, the soulstone system needed to be looked and an easy balancing point. As we go forward, if
at, and a second edition was pretty much our only we find that older models are lagging behind, we
opportunity to do so. But Ill get to soulstones in can release new upgrades for them. This level of
more detail in a minute. balancing would not have been possible without
errata.
Finally, the most important point: I thoroughly
believe we have a better game now. I know many Why did you change the soulstone system?
people love 1.5, and I respect that; I am one of them.
But its easy to get caught up in the intricacies and The old soulstone system was a major cause of many
foibles of the old system and hold them up as the of the games balance issues. Because only masters
pillars of Malifaux. After all, these are things we have could use soulstones, and soulstones allowed
been playing with for years, and we have enjoyed masters to generate totals which non-soulstone users
them. If most players take a step back and examine couldnt possibly beat, it ballooned the importance
the things they miss with a critical eye, it raises the of the crews master.
question: Is this thing I miss a good mechanic, or
was I just used to it? I think that once you get second Now, the crews master should be important. It
edition on the table and play it a handful of times, should be the most important model on the table.
you will see the value in it, and the necessity of it. However, when certain masters can walk into the
fray unscathed and take out minions left and right, it
Why is the upgrade system necessary? leaves the masters who dont do that at a disadvantage.
Combat masters could take full advantage of the
The upgrade system was championed by Mack importance of soulstones by increasing their totals.
Martin, and it accomplishes a number of things very However, support masters who relied on minions
well. For starters, it neatly solves our card space to do their dirty work, had no such advantage,
issue which I was just talking about. Malifaux stat because the minions they relied on were no match
cards are already packed with text, and having to for the combat masters. This lead to many of the
spell out all of those rules was going to pack them classic imbalances in Malifaux (Somer, Ramos,
tighter. Having upgrades allowed us to have space etc). Of course, nothing is absolute and there are
on the cards to write rules with the level of clarity some very good support masters (Kirai). However,
Malifaux needed. these support masters were designed after Wyrd
recognized the problem and compensated for it. The
Upgrades also add an element of optional complexity result was that support masters tended to end up
to the game. All too often new players are turned on one extreme or the other. Either they languished
off of Malifaux because of the complexity of the in closets as under-powered paper weights, or they
characters. However, the depth and richness of were over compensated and dominated the field.

5
Additionally, soulstones did two things to masters candy, models effectively were granted two attacks
that combined to create some very negative on the charge. In fact, I remember trying to design
experiences: they increased the importance of the 1.5 models which were melee oriented and, when I
master exponentially, and they made the master gave them to the testers, they were confused why we
incredibly survivable. This lead to many top tier would ever write a melee model without extra AP:
games simply becoming a slow grind by trying to get and they were right to react that way.
rid of the opponents soulstones. While this is a valid
tactic, attrition tends to be less fun than reliance on
By simply allowing Charge to grant two attacks, we
tactical positioning. In Malifaux 1.5 you could tell
took an ability which we had been previously forced
a good player by how she spent her soulstones, in to hard code into every melee oriented model, and
M2E you can tell a good player by how she positionsmade it a part of the basic action. Remember earlier
her models. when I talked about the side effects of streamlining
the cards and needing more space? This is one of
This may be one of the more difficult learning them. However, it is a very positive change. It creates
curves for people coming straight from 1.5. You a much more elegant rule which accomplishes what
need to be much more careful with your master. we had already been doing for years. Sometimes
Expect your master to be a bit more vulnerable and working with hard restrictions actually gives you
position accordingly. much better results, and this is one of them.
Why did you change Charge? It seems too powerful Also keep in mind that nothing happens in a
now. vacuum. AP generating abilities have been greatly
reduced, and Charge ranges adjusted.
Most other miniatures games separate movement,
shooting, and close combat. This means that, even Why did you change how encounters are set up? I
if you move, it will not change how many attacks miss asymmetrical strategies, its what drew me to
you get (save a special rule, such as not being able Malifaux. And whats with the Scheme Pool?
to move and shoot your mega death ray). Due to the
AP system in Malifaux, every AP you spend moving We actually do still have asymmetric strategies in
is one you do not spend attacking. the Story Encounters section, but I understand that
you are primarily concerned with the Standard
This raised a rather large problem with the old Encounters. This is one of those points I mentioned
charge. A model could charge in and get a single earlier where we accomplished the same dynamic
attack, but then the model that got charged would with a different mechanic. Although the strategies
activate and get two attacks. This gave the advantage are all shared in the Standard Encounters, schemes
to the player who just stood there, and promoted are worth more VP. This is important, because
static play. When it comes to game mechanics, as a schemes are inherently individual to a player. By
designer, you want to be pushing the players towards making schemes more important, we increase the
interaction, not making them avoid it. amount of asymmetric play.
Now, you have probably noticed by now that As to why we didnt just go with asymmetric
Malifaux 1.5 didnt actually have this problem. strategies; it was due to balance. One strategy was
Charging was perfectly advantageous and Im sure always going to be easier or harder, and balance is
you did it all the time. However, thats because we very important. The only way to insure a balanced
initially solved that problem by giving almost every experience in the encounters section is to make
model which wanted to get into combat the Melee sure that all players have equal access to the same
Expert ability (or some other way to generate Melee things. Because both players had equal access to the
specific AP). Open your book (particularly book schemes (even if they chose different ones) it was a
2 since this is where we had learned our lesson) much more balanced way to keep asymmetric play
and see how many combat models have some sort as an important aspect of the game.
of melee specific AP. By handing out extra AP like

5
We developed the Scheme Pool for two reasons. The determined, it can be repeated from game to game.
first was to force players to vary their playstyles a A 1.5 stat card may have had ten different actions on
little bit. We didnt want people to take the same it (this is just an example), but only one of them was
two schemes every single game. The most effective worth using. So, once players figured out which one,
way to make sure this happened (in casual play)was they would use it over and over again. This created
to randomize the schemes. Additionally, with the an effective barrier to entry for new players as they
increase in the schemes VP and changes we made were forced to muddle through useless actions,
to various schemes, taking unrevealed schemes which did make the game more elite. I understand
became a much more viable tactic (not on accident). some people enjoy this level of elitism, but ultimately
By limiting the potential schemes to five as opposed new players are necessary for the game.
to the full nineteen, it is possible to try to guess
which hidden scheme your opponent may have In second edition, the goal is to design a model
taken. with three or four different actions, all of which are
viable choices. This takes the skill away from the
Finally, we introduced scheme markers, which you ability to rules lawyer the best loophole, and instead
didnt ask about, but theyre a lot of fun and they places it on the ability to choose the best action for
really enhance the bluffing aspect of the game, the current circumstance (keeping in mind all three
which also helped lead to hidden schemes being or four choices are appealing). Ultimately it is much
taken more often. more interesting to agonize between three good
actions, than to weed out the single worthwhile
How do these changes work with Colette/Kirai? action from a sea of vestigial text and use it over
Colette is very dependent on soulstones and over again.
This edition is not backwards compatible. The old Many models in 1.5 had very complex stat cards that
1.5 cards will not work in second edition. We will required a specific sequence of actions to be used
be updating every models card to second edition. every activation to be successful. However, once
What has not been released in the beta already will that set of actions was figured out, it was repeated
be released in beta wave 2 starting in September or every game. In second edition, we want players to
October. When we release Colette and Kirais second make hard choices every time they activate a model.
edition cards, you will see how they fit into the new In many ways, Monopoly is a significantly more
system. I think you will like them. complex game than Go. In Monopoly, every space
on the board has different rules. There are piles of
I dont like that you took out the complexity! Why cards with text. Players need to understand the rules
did you do that? for trading, and even need to work out percentages
on occasion. With Go, every space on the board
Well, most masters can have the same number of is the same and no two stones are different (save
abilities they had before if you give them upgrades. color). Yet Go has significantly more tactical depth
Additionally, the game size has been increased to than Monopoly, and I dont think anyone would
accommodate you purchasing those upgrades so argue that point. Layers of rules and text do make
youre not losing out on models when you do. a game more difficult to understand, but they do
not necessarily add any interesting tactical decision
That said, there is significantly less text on second points.
edition stat cards than on 1.5 stat cards. However,
more text does not necessarily translate to a more If you are concerned with the reduced amount of
complex game; at least not more complex in a way text on second edition cards, try getting the models
that improves the game. Having layers of rules, on the table and see how many difficult decisions
exceptions, and loopholes does make the rules you have to make every turn. Take a step back and
more difficult to comprehend and the player who ask yourself, Has the game actually lost anything?
can best lawyer through them has the advantage. Or am I just frustrated that my old set of actions
However, once the most advantageous path has been that I used every game might not work every time?

5
Am I concerned that the game has been designed
to appeal to the lowest common denominator, or
am I concerned that being able to understand the
rules is no longer an elite club? I cant answer these
questions for you, and I dont aim to; but I think
they should be asked.
With second edition, the goal has not been to

reduce complexity, but to reduce text and confusing
interactions while increasing tactical depth.
Ok, now on to the changes to my favorite master
Nope! Sorry, this article is already long

enough, and we didnt even cover all of the
core rule changes. By now I hope that I have
emphasized how changing one thing, changes
everything. Many of the changes to the models
were necessitated by the changing mechanics.
Others helped to rebalance models or bring them
more in line with their fluff. Others were just plain
cool.
Unfortunately, I couldnt possibly go over every

change to every model, but I hope that I have
emphasized the level of thought we put into
every single change, tweak, and revision. None of
this happened at random and we had amazingly
dedicated testers bending these designs every which
way for months. So, if you see a single change you
dont like or dont agree with, try to look at how it
fits into the game as a whole. Then try it out in a
game and see if you still feel the same way. And, if
you do, log on to the beta forum and let us know
about it! Thats what the public beta is for.

5
See you next time!!
Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC


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Contents

Malifaux 2nd Edition!

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

Welcome to the sixth installment of the Wyrd Chronicles!

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

Sebastian waited. Sebastian waited.

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

Disappearances? he enquired innocently. Afraid not, the doctor apologized. Nothing to

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

Yes, well good luck with that.

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

In a manner of speaking, the doctor said. By some

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

They staggered to the doorway of the Chemical

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

The Secretary carefully folded the Tattler with his

Except he wasnt alone. McMourning cursed Sebastian under his breath

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

A man of your specific talents is wasted here, doctor.

A tempting idea, Secretary, but I doubt my

You would be surprised, Lucius said. I employ

Ah! McMourning lighted up. Like having their

Lucius faced him silently, the golden mask revealing

But what do you get out of all of this? McMourning

A favor. A favor only a man of your specific talents

Oh? McMourning raised his eyebrows.

Lucius patiently watched him for a long moment,

McMournings eyes widened, and then a grin broke

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

Selling Your Soul

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

In all my years of playing Malifaux, the (1) Heal

The Last Word

In Malifaux 1.5, soulstones are mostly a way to

In M2E, the role of Soulstones has changed

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)

When I first started painting, I wasnt magically able to

As always, Ill be mostly using Vallejo Game Color, and

Obviously, the first thing to do is to get the puppets off

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The first thing to do when seam filling is to mix

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This can easily be overlooked, but using paint straight

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I began with simply painting up the cherub. The

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The highlights on the Bonewhite and Blazing

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The final stages of the ronin were quite quick. The

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The second (and final) highlight was just like the

The next layer on both parts of the clothing was a

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Layers six and seven were the last ones, which I

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I carefully repainted the original colors to neaten the

MicAal Flynn (order #9846080)