BROKEN

CREATURES

Barbaros and Bishops daring escape from The Pits!

Manipulating Fate
And a sneak peek at whats to come...

12

Vol.

CONTENTS
WYRD
CHRONICLES

12

FOREWORD............................................................................... 1
Manipulating Fate..................................................................2
Broken Creatures.................................................................7
Professor Pontificates...................................................... 18
Dipping your toe into the (sewer) water...........................23
The Madness at Stranglehold Scenario...............................32
WICKED DOLLS........................................................................33
Its all in the Reflexes...................................................... 41
The Gallery..........................................................................50

content guide

stories

terrain

Credits

painting

mechanics

fun & tactics

battle-reports

gallery

Creative Director

Contributing Authors

Illustrations

Nathan Caroland

Justin Gibbs
Michael Kelmelis
Mack Martin
Ananda McGee
Mark Rodgers
Adrian Scott
Andrew Weakland

Aleksandar Aleksandrov
Hardy Fowler
Christophe Madura

Layout and Editing

David Hanold and
Jorge Gomez

Graphic Artist
Jorge Gomez

Special Thanks
WAMP

FOREWORD
Nathan Caroland

You wouldnt believe the month weve had!

Meet our Imp ... we caught him gnawing on the
books in the warehouse and doing other tawdry and
lewd unmentionables to the plastics. After leading
the warehouse workers on a merry chase filled with
screams, curses and outright rudeness, we finally
cornered him. Were not sure the office bathrooms
will ever be the same.
Weve taken to calling him Waldo, and while he
seems rather out of sorts, he has responded to the
name so well take that as a sign of progress.
Waldo, say hello to the readers out there.

... well, ahem, yes, so, there you go - Waldo.

Manipulating Fate
Michael Kelmelis
the beginning of every turn. Since Malifaux
relies on several aspects of a fate card at
once - the value, the suit, and the range
(Weak / Moderate / Severe) - every draw
of a Control Hand will be different.
When you add to that the situation in
the game at the time, determining a
hard-and-fast set of rules for what
to do with your Control Hand is
nearly impossible. But there
are some guidelines that can
help point a player in the right
direction for how to get the
most out of their Control Hand.

Michael is a regular writer on the Guessing

Zero gaming website at guessingzero.com,
and is a co-host of the podcast
Gaming Done Right on the Guessing
Zero Network.
Malifaux is a unique game in the
market.
There are dozens of
areas where Malifaux separates
itself from the pack, but none
is more obvious than the Fate
Deck. Rather than using dice
for conflict resolution, Malifaux
relies on a deck of cards. To
add a wrinkle to that picture,
each player also receives a
Control Hand every turn with
which to push fate in the direction he
or she wants. It is not an unlimited
resource, and it will not always have
exactly what a player needs at a given
time, but managing the Control Hand is
one of the most important parts of the
game for a player. Games can be won and
lost on management of the Control Hand.

What is in Your Control Hand

At the beginning of every turn,
a player draws six cards into
their hand to be the Control
Hand for the turn. This hand
will be a mix of cards from
1 to 13, with any of the four suits
attached, and possibly the Jokers. These
cards will often dictate how the turn will go,
serving as a preview of what might be ahead. A
weak Control Hand (a hand with low numbers and
useless suits) will mean that a player will likely not
have the ability to influence which crucial flips will
go their way, and will be completely at the mercy of
the fate deck. A strong Control Hand (a hand with

The Control Hand

At its simplest, the Control Hand is a
hand of six cards that is replenished at

higher numbers and useful suits) will mean that a

player will likely be able to pinpoint the actions in a
turn that will succeed, and drive the game towards
their desired outcome. Strong Control Hands give
more freedom to be aggressive, while weak Control
Hands suggest casual play.

The Low Cards

Your low cards are

easy to dismiss as
trash, but they do have value in your tactics. There
are a number of abilities that require discarding
cards to fully utilize, and obviously these are the
cards to choose for those tasks. If your opponent
has abilities that force discards from your hand,
these are the ones that will fill that role. Keep
an eye on your opponents abilities. If Misaki has
Decapitate across the board from you, your low
cards become a nice shield against that ability.

When looking over the cards in a Control Hand,

there are generally two things to look for. First,
look over the values of the cards to determine the
relative strength of the cards. Corresponding to
the Weak / Moderate / Severe values, the cards
can be divided into low, medium, and high value
cards. Each of these sets of cards has different
uses during the turn. The second thing to look over
is the suits. If your crew requires specific suits to
function, you want to find out if you have those suits
at your disposal.

The High Cards

A 2 3 4 5

Low cards have another role as well. If you manage

to hold them through the end of the turn, they make
a nice way to help thin your deck. Any card you
discard when drawing a hand will not be seen again
that turn. So discarding low cards when drawing a
hand means that your deck will be a little bit leaner,
and the chances of seeing a good card will increase
ever so slightly.

11 12 13

It is easier to determine a
role for high cards. They
are the money-makers of the turn. They are the
cards that should net you success against all odds,
or should net you full damage against models that
need some dying. They can do just about anything
for you. In fact, the only real disadvantage to this
set of cards is that there never seem to be enough
of them. As such it is very important to take the
time to plan out where they will be used. When
you find out how many high cards you have in your
hand, take a look over the board and the situations
in which you find your models starting the turn. Are
there models who are positioned to kill key opposing
models. Are there models who will net you victory
points if you can just be sure to keep them alive?
Not every action of every model will be crucial
every turn. Find the most important ones and
earmark the high cards for those actions to ensure
they succeed.

The Middle Cards

6 7 8 9 10

Winning the Control

Hand battle rests
solely with the middle cards. They are not as strong
as high cards, but they are the most important cards
in the Control Hand to use well, and are also among
the hardest cards to figure out how to use.
The middle cards are not good enough to contend
with high cards, but there are more of them in
the deck so you are likely to have more of them
in your Control Hand. There are times during the
turn where you are not taking an action that is vital
to your success, but if it works, it will put you in a
better position. These are the best times to cheat
with your middle cards. It forces your opponent
into a situation with two outcomes, neither of which
is good. If they cheat with a higher card to stop
your action from succeeding, they are weakening
their Control Hand which makes it easier for you
to achieve your more important goals later in the
turn. If they opt not to cheat to stop you, youve
set yourself in a better position through success
of the action.

High cards have the added value in that they can

be used in place of middle or low cards. Cards can
always play down into a lower bracket, but cannot
play up.

Use the middle cards to attack your opponents

hand. If your models stats are slightly better than
your opponents, then your opponent will have to play
slightly better cards to beat yours. Take advantage
of that fact. Force your opponent to bleed their
hand. Once it is empty, those remaining middle
cards of yours turn into gold, as they can assure
success in duels if your opponent flips poorly.

Soulstones
After drawing a Control Hand, every player can spend
a Soulstone in order to draw two additional cards
before having to discard down to the maximum
hand size. This is the most direct way a player can
influence their Control Hand.
Just before a major turn, one where you expect
the game will be largely decided; a player should
always try to spend a Soulstone to improve their
Control Hand if they have more Soulstones than
their opponent and will not be burning their last one.
Getting a card advantage over the opponent is a
great way to help bend the odds of a turn in your
favor. Trading some of those low cards for medium
or high cards helps open more options for your turn,
while also keeping those low cards out of circulation
for that turn.

Good players know the value of the high cards in

their Control Hand. Great players see where low
cards are not completely useless. The players who
recognize how best to use the middle cards are
those who stand a cut above the rest.

The Suits
The values of the cards are not the
only thing with which a player should
be concerned. Not every crew will
worry about suits the same amount.
Ramos, with his summoning, wants to
have high t in his players hand. Lilith,
on the other hand, has less need for
particular suits in her hand.

Choosing What to Discard

When getting ready to draw a new hand, its important
to remember that whatever you discard from your
Control Hand before drawing your new hand will not
be cycled back into your Fate Deck that turn. As I said
before, discarding low cards during the Draw Phase
means that your deck is less likely to throw out low
cards in the turn. Taking that a step further, that
means if you can at all avoid discarding low cards
during the turn, you should do so, in order to ensure
those low cards are not in your deck the next turn.

If a players crew needs suits to function,

that player should make sure to keep
the suits they need in check. A middle
card of the right suit may suddenly be
treated as a high card because it can
be used to ensure a desired outcome,
like the casting of a specific spell, or
achieving a particular Trigger.

The flip side to choosing what to discard is choosing

what to keep. High cards should always be kept. Low
cards should always be discarded. Its the middle
cards where the question comes in, and often that
comes to the taste of the player. If you have particular
suits you need for your crew to work, it might be worth
holding on to a 9 or 10 of the right suit.

How to Improve Your Fate

Knowing when to use the cards in your Control
Hand is only part of the puzzle. Knowing how to
manipulate that Control Hand to get better cards
helps to complete the picture. Some crews will
have an easier time manipulating the Control Hand.
Jakob Lynch for example, is designed around doing
exactly that. But there are two techniques that
every crew can utilize.

Generally though, it is only worth holding on to

high cards. There are only 13 of 54 cards in the
deck that are high cards (including the Red Joker).
You want to be able to increase your chances of
drawing more of them into your hand, and you want
to minimize the chances that lower cards will be
flipped in duels. Even if you draw a hand and end up
with no high cards, at the very least you know that

As such, it is certainly worth holding on to the Black

Joker to keep track of it right up until a crucial turn
is about to take place. Those should be easily
recognized - a large group of models is about to
engage, or several critical spells need to be cast.
On that turn, discard the Black Joker to free up
your Control Hand to draw the extra card you might
need for your plans, and rest comfortably knowing
the Black Joker is not in circulation for your most
important turn.

your deck has a higher percentage of high cards left

in it, which means you are more likely to flip a high
card in duels after that. Small comfort, but at least
it is something.

The Jokers
It is worth separating out the Jokers from the rest
of the discussion on Control Hands because without
a doubt, they are the aspects of the Control Hand
that get the most questions. What do you do with
the Jokers? Do you hold the Black Joker when
discarding your hand? Do you hold the Red Joker
for a perfect flip? The answer to these questions
is a difficult one to pin down. Ask a dozen Malifaux
players and youll come back with a dozen distinct
answers. There are a couple main thoughts.

The Red Joker

The Red Joker is a bit of
the opposite to the Black
Joker. The idea behind the
Black Joker is to limit the
number of times it comes
up in a game. The idea
behind the Red Joker is
to maximize its impact.

The Black Joker

With regards to the Black
Joker, it is, without a doubt,
one of the biggest detriments
to a perfectly-crafted plan. If
a player does not know where
the Black Joker is (such as in
their hand or in their discard
pile), any plan for a model
can come crashing down
in an instant. With that in
mind, is it worth holding on
to the Black Joker when it
comes into your hand?
That depends.

The Red Joker is strongest when it comes out during

a flip from the deck. When that happens, your
opponent cannot cheat, even if cheating would get
them to win the flip, or even push the difference to
a - damage flip. Cheating the Red Joker into a duel
will not get this benefit. So it is more valuable to
keep the Red Joker in the deck.
To that end, when the Red Joker comes into your
hand, it is best to find the optimal time that turn
to play the Joker, and then be sure to play it during
the turn. Getting the perfect advantage out of a
Red Joker is difficult to do - one can spend multiple
games without the stars aligning for them with the
Red Joker wasting away in hand. Better to find
a good use for the Red Joker, take the duel or
deal the damage, and then get the card back into
circulation for the following turns.

The problem with holding on to the Black Joker is

that it limits your Control Hand by one card making
it that much harder to draw a good hand. This can
be mitigated somewhat by using Soulstones to
draw cards, but that simply moves your limiting of
one resource (your Control Hand) to another (your
Soulstones).

Both of these suggestions with the Jokers, of course,

are to be taken with a grain of salt. There are plenty
of other Malifaux veterans who may disagree with
the strategies outlined above, but with experience,
they have proven to be some of the better strategies
I have been able to find.

The key to knowing what to do with the Black Joker,

comes from the fact that it does not need to be in
your hand in order for you to know where it is. It can
be in the discard pile as well, and will not impact the
game for the turn it sits there.

and consider the low, medium and high cards, and

how they might be used. It will take some time
early on, as you start to train your mind to think
this way, but after a few games, it should start to
come as second nature. As with any skill, practice
leads to perfection.

Bringing it All Together

Malifaux is a complex game, as any player can
attest to. The rules have an elegant and deceptive
simplicity to them that allows for dozens of strategies
and mindsets to come together for a win. It would
be impossible to find a player who is an expert
in every aspect that Malifaux requires. The best
players know their strengths and their limitations
and constantly try to improve their craft.

But also recognize that being good at Malifaux is as

much of an art as it is a science. Not everything in
this article may work for you. Try it out, and if it goes
against your playstyle, and your style works, then go
with your method. The ideas presented here are
just that: ideas. They are not rules, and they are not
laws. They are guidelines to help point down a path
that will end in you becoming a better player.

This article touches on a small part of Malifauxs

complex machine. The Control Hand, how to use
it and how to improve it, is only one fraction of the
game, but mastering each piece helps bring a
player closer to victory.

So take what you learn here. Recognize the types

of cards in your Control Hand. Learn how each can
influence your turn for the better. Understand how
to manipulate and craft the Control Hand you want.
But above all, enjoy your games.

If you want to hone your skill in working with Control

Hands, make sure you read this article carefully, and
then make sure you take the lessons into your game
with you. Recognize when each would become
useful. When you draw a hand, stop for a moment

Broken Creatures
Mack Martin
She woke as she did most mornings, in tears. Her
hands would shake as she clutched the glass bottle
of Bromo-Seltzer as she took a slow sip. Then she
would look at her fingers for a while, studying the
map of cuts from when she struck the mirror. With
a deep breath she would stand, and take the long
walk from her bed to the vanity on the other side of
the room.

The Pits went up in flames heard plenty of tall tales.

Some say it was the gladiator called Bishop that
stoked the fires, and some say it was the beast
Barbaros. But few know of Ms. Wyatt, and none
suspect her role in the nights affair.

Once there she brushed the few tufts of hair that

defiantly burst from her ruined scalp. This was
always the hardest part, she missed her curling
blonde waves. She remembered how she used to
primp for summer dances back in Kansas. She
donned her wig, a dark brown construction of horse
hair and canvas. It looked passable in just the
right light. Then came the eye patch. She had been
offered a glass eye, but the rounded black leather of
the patch helped to hide where the Black Blood had
bubbled her flesh to the bone.

Imogene worked the bone-saw with all her strength

as Coulder bit down hard on the hilt of his whip. He
screamed as best as he could with his mouth full,
as she moved the saw through his bone, and then
into the meat on the other side. Thank you maam,
he sputtered in his delirium before passing out.
She shook his stump by the tourniquet until he
awoke. Iron. She nodded to the small brazier of
red coals that provided both light and heat. His
eyes widened and he began to shake his head in
a pleading motion. Iron, now. She repeated more
firmly. He took the cool end of the long stick, lifting
the branding iron unsteadily. She snatched it from his
hands and, without warning, applied it to his stump.
He screamed and lost consciousness once again.

She took deep breaths and choked down her sobs.

The woman in the mirror wasnt a disfigured mockery
of beauty any longer; she was just another damaged
woman. She methodically powdered her cheeks and
forehead, careful not to waste any of her dwindling
supply. The world could stomach to see her now.

She peeled the iron away from his flesh and scrapped
the burnt meat off on the bedpost. She nodded at
her patient and placed two pills and a glass of water
on the small table by the bed. Hed need it if he ever
woke up.

Her name was Imogene Wyatt, and this is the story

of how she learned to love herself again, through
the eyes of a monster. Anyone in Malifaux the night

Delicate hands as always. She recognized the

voice of Wallus, one of the Ringsides bookies and if
truth be told, jailers. She wasnt quite sure if he was
being sarcastic or not. He was a good odds-man,
able to size up a potential fighter like others could
value a dog or horse. He was grossly overweight
even at his near seven feet of height, and he was
often covered in a thin sheen of sweat from the
exertion of walking up and down the stairs and
stuffy hallways of the Ringsides catacombs.

his leg off, he gushed enough. If he is breathing in

the morning, then maybe he will pull through.
Speaking of, thats the job. Boss wants you to
clip its wings, you think you can do that? He cant
put it fighting in the pits if it can fly up and attack
the audience.
I I dont think I can do that. Imogene fought
back the wave of utter terror. It was bad enough that
one of those things was in a cell beneath her, but
going near it was more than she could handle. What
if its blood got on her, could things be even worse?
There had to be an excuse the Boss would accept,
some reason to not go near the thing.

He gave a grin that, had he possessed all of his

visible teeth, might be considered debonair. That
settled it for Imogene, he was being sincere,
flirtatious even. In her past life a man like this would
never have dared speak to her, but now, he would
shun her if he knew the truth. She hated him for
being both above and beneath her, a combination of
scorn for the lower class, and hatred for her betters.
What else do those hands do expertly? He gave
her a wink and leaned against the doorway, filling it
with an outstretched leg and his arm.

When the trappers had brought it in last year, it had

apparently looked like a child. She was still working
in the morgue back then, but according to the jailers
it had grown quite a bit and all at once. Tell the
boss that it will just grow new wings. Like when it
grew last time.

She wiped the blood off of her saw with an old

gray rag. Is there something you need Wallus?
She never engaged, she never returned his
advances that would be improper, and she knew
that Wallus was not the sort of man she wanted
to give any opportunity.

Oh, he thought of that. Wallus slid a silvery blade

from a sheath at his hip. It had strange runes carved
into the metal, and a small soulstone glimmered
in the hilt. He thinks this will cut him good. They
took it off an Ortega a couple of nights ago. Wasnt
cheap neither.

Boss has a job for you down in the cells. His

flirtation vanished in those words. Despite his
lascivious manner, or perhaps because of it, he
liked sending Imogene down there, where she
would be away from the bulk of the Pits staff. She
didnt mind, however. She opened the clasp on
her doctors bag and put her tools away. It wasnt
a proper doctors bag, she had fashioned it from
tacks and faded yellow carpet, but it held the few
medical instruments she had scrounged without too
much fuss.

Imogene took the blade by the handle and turned

it over. It wasnt as sharp as she would like, but
it would certainly cut flesh. She didnt know much
about magic, other than what she had seen in the
morgue during her time before her stint in Smedleys.
She couldnt think of a good reason not to try the
blade. Ill need a butchers apron, waders, and
some of those long thick leather gloves the bayou
men wear. Before I go into the room the beast had
better be tied and gagged. There is nobody to cut on
me if he decides to treat me like Coulder.

You think Coulder will wake up? Wallus moved into

the room to inspect the man from the other side of
the bed.

It. Not he, It. Wallus corrected her. Try not to think
of it like it is as a man. Reserve that for me. He
leaned into the hall, put two fingers in his mouth,
and gave a loud sharp whistle. He shouted down to
someone, Have it shackled to the floor, and get me
some bayou gear!

It wouldnt be proper... She stopped herself and

gave it real consideration. That creature nearly took

He waved his hand to Imogene, and she followed

him, blade in one hand and bag in the other. The
catacombs were a maze of rooms that had been
sealed off from the sewer and re-purposed by the
owner of Ringside. While the damp hallways mostly
served as support tunnels for the gladiatorial
games upstairs, the two of them headed into the
darker recesses, which had a darker function. Along
the way they were joined by four other men, one
of whom carried the heavy leather protective gear
usually used by the men who headed into the bayou.
A few sets of stairs and several winding halls later,
the group stood outside a cell door, its iron bar door
secured by a thick chain and lock.

Her fear was battered away by an ocean of hate

and rage. All that was taken from her, the version of
herself that even now would be all the more glorious.
She had grown up doted upon. McMourning would
have made her a modern Helena. This thing took
that from her. It dragged her into the depths with
it. It cast her down into this pit. Now she could do
little more than ensure that it would never soar. She
could only take this small revenge.
She turned the blade over in her hand looking at
how the runes glowed a deep red as it cut into the
muscles in the creatures back. She wouldnt take
the wings, she would leave them as a crippled
reminder for the creature, if it could remember at
all. The knife dug deep, splatters of blood sizzled
on her waders.

Imogene slipped into the leathers, breathing slowly

to calm her nerves. As she did, two of the men
reached into the cell with long poled man catchers,
securing the spiked neck braces to the creature
inside. She watched as they forced something to
the ground, and then Wallus opened the door as
little as he could and while still squeezing his belly
into the room. They passed the chains into him, and
she could hear him securing the beast to the iron
loops on the floor with ropey rattling sound.

The creatures screams were odd she could have

sworn they were her own.

Thank you Mr. Wallus. She tried to maintain her

composure as best as possible. Fighting hard not to
turn and run down the hall.

Bishop took a long look at Coulders new leg. The

two had fought in the ring before, but Coulder had
been absent, now Bishop new why. The Ringsides
boss had secured the Terror Tot, and put it through
its paces. Bishop was supposed to fight it next, when
Coulder lost the leg. After that he hadnt seen either
of them for months. Now Coulder took a defense
stance before him, a contraption of clockwork and
iron strapped to his right knee.

The cell was dark. Two hooded lanterns swayed a

bit, providing a dull yellow and erratically moving
light. She summoned all her strength and went to
work. She knelt next to it, and looked it in the eyes.
It was defiant, but it was just like the one that took
her beauty. It had the same gray-blue skin, the same
horns and hooves. It was naked and chained to the
cold stone floor, but it was no less the monster
that made her.

FIIIIIIGGGGHHHHHHTTT! The announcer bellowed

into his bright yellow megaphone as he waved
it across the crowd. The pits were sunk a good
twenty feet into the ground, and each was at least
thirty feet across. The throng of people above
pressed towards the railing, screaming for blood
and waving their yellow or blue betting stubs.
Bishop began to circle left, watching Coulders leg
for signs of weakness.

Wallus came out of the room slapping his hands

together and the other men removed their weapons
from the cell. All yours.

Coulder followed suit, lifting his leg up with each

step. Just as Bishop thought, the leg worked fine for
moving forwards and likely for turning, but side steps
were beyond its clockwork articulation. If Bishop
came at him from the side, perhaps he would have
an opening.

The Boss needs to know when he can fight again.

Wallus chewed on a strip of gator jerky as he spoke,
a bottle of faintly green ale with the label peeled
away in his offhand. He was still dressed in his
ringside armor, a brushed steel breastplate and
armored sleeve.

Realizing his error in following Bishops lead,

Coulder sprang into action. He placed his new foot
on the wall behind him. With the tell-tale pneumatic
hiss his entire body launched forward like an arrow,
hurtling into Bishop, and the two of them smashed
to the ground.

To early to say. Imogenes voice was soft, so that

it didnt affect her hands. Bishop was clamped into
one of the inspection chairs, thick chains holding
his throat, legs, and left arm to the table. His right
arm, while free, was nearly useless. Waggle your
fingers. Bishop opened and closed his fist with a
grimace. It looks like his hand will be fine, it is likely
a clean break. Hell need a splint and a few months
to heal. Even then, his arm will be weak. If you want
him prime, youre going to lose at least half a year.

Bishop planted his feet and rolled them both, landing

on top of Coulder in a straddle. Their eyes locked for
a heartbeat. Bishop hefted his chain-wrapped fist
into the air and brought it down with a wet crack on
the center of Coulders face. A fountain of red blood
stained the dirt floor of the pit.

The Boss aint gonna like that answer. Wallus

spoke without swallowing, spraying the floor with
bits of jerky.

Coulder planted his own foot onto the floor and

activated the pneumatic again, rocketing his leg up,
using his hip as a pendulum anchor. The armor knee
stuck Bishop in the back and flung him forward.
Bishop hit the dirt a few feet away but managed to
roll his feet.
The pneumatic was heavy, and it slowed Coulders
ability to stand. As he brought himself to his feet
Bishop darted to the left and rushed in. Coulder
kicked like a mule, but Bishop blocked it with his
right arm. There was a snap as Bishops bones gave
way, but it was too little, too late. The chains around
Bishops left hand had unspooled and wrapped
around Coulders neck. Bishop planted a foot on
Coulders chest and fell backwards, bulling the
mans throat forward with a crack.
With his forearm twisted back towards his elbow
Bishop stood slowly to the thunder of the crowd
above. The ring-guards rushed forward with their
man catchers and forced him back to his knees.
A rain of the worthless yellow betting stubs floated
down into the pit.

10

He doesnt pay me for lies, Wallus. Maybe get one

of those healers out of the Kingdoms. I hear the
monks can tend to anything. Imogene gave Bishop
a cold look, her eyes locking his. This will hurt. Im
going to straighten the bone on the count of three.
One two. Bishop grunted as she pulled the arm
straight on the early count. It was the first time a
patient hadnt screamed. She then began splinting
his arm between two old and knotted boards.

Imogene sat quietly for a few minutes and looked

at the chains on the beasts door. She liked it
down in the catacombs despite the proximity to the
creature. There was a sense of purpose, the dim
light hid her scars, and the cool air felt pleasant.
She thought about a lot of things while sitting there.
She thought about the beast in the cell just a few
long steps away. How shed hurt him, and how he
deserved it. She thought about how Wallus was
more manageable after shed done that. After he
had seen what she would do.

Boss says he can heal in the cells. You can check

on him there. Wallus tossed a small ring of keys
into Imogenes dull yellow carpet bag. Dont give
him too many pain killers. We gonna need him
angry as a gator in a mine. Wallus snapped his
fingers with enough force to make the fat on his arm
waggle. The guards came in response to the noise
and took Bishop away in chains and man catchers.

Wallus had seen the monster she was, without

having seen her ruined flesh. She thought about
that for a long time too. How shed lost a piece
of herself. She was startled then, when the guard
came with three stacked trays of food.
For her, there was a hunk of hardened cheese, some
soft bread, and a small cup of beans on a plate. To
the side was a rapidly cooling cup of tea, a glass of
water, and several slices of apple. The last were a
rare delicacy in Malifaux, especially considering how
free of decay they were.

Imogene packed her bag and followed the men. They

walked the narrow corridors into the catacombs. As
they passed one of the recuperation rooms, Imogene
directed two of the men to bring a mattress, Good
rest will get him on his feet faster. She told Wallus
when he gave a disproving look.

Below that tray, was another one stocked a bit

barer. It contained a small pile of bacon, some
of yesterdays bread, and another bowl of beans.
This one was wider, and the entire affair lacked any
utensils. The dishes were thin clay, hard to hurt
someone with. She suspected that his was for
when Bishop woke up. Her suspicions were proven
correct when the guard shone a light into the cell,
and once seeing Bishop still chained up; he went in
and placed the food just within reach.

Once chained into the cell, Bishop sat silently on the

mattress and squinted into the light in the hallway.
The guards had kept his chains short, and they had
bound his left wrist to his throat, leaving his right
arm free to heal. He had a few feet of movement,
enough to get a little exercise, but not enough to
move about his cell with ease.
Imogene found a small wooden stool and set it near
the cell. Im going to monitor him a while. I dont
want that arm going green on us.

The last tray didnt shock Imogene as much as she

thought it should. It was a foot, from about halfway
up the calf down to its two missing toes. The guard
took it off the tray and threw it into the creatures
cell. Imogene immediately heard it growl and noisily
feast.

Wallus nodded his approval and stared down at

her a little to long for comfort before he decided
to waddle off. He stopped a few steps away, Ill
have the kitchen bring you something when we feed
the freak. Dont get to close to his cell, he slips
his chains from time to time and Id hate if he did
anything to a lovely lady like you. He jerked his
thumb towards the cell across the hall. He grinned
now, showing his missing teeth. Thats where we
put the Nephilim. By the by. He chuckled to himself
as he left down the corridor.

The guard dismissed himself with a tip of his

wear-worn hat and a soft Maam before leaving.
Imogene was about to return to her thoughts, or
maybe the yellow-paged novella she had tucked into
her bag, when Bishop spoke.

11

Think Ill lose the arm? It wasnt what she

expected. Most men, when faced with losing a limb,
were scared, or brave. Either way they were dealing
with a dreadful possibility and that meant coping
with fear. He was simply curious, like he wanted to
place a bet, like he was sizing up the situation.

of visible wing to jiggle a bit, and he snarled. The

tendons she had severed would never heal, and his
wings were limp and useless now.
Good. Then you know that you deserved it.
Imogene was growing accustomed to being angry
when she should be afraid.

I dont know. If the green doesnt set in, youll keep

it. If it heals right, youll keep most of your strength.
It was only a little bit of a lie. Most broken bones set
in an odd way, and the muscles around them never
fully recovered. With a break that bad, hed feel it
almost every time the weather changed.

Barbaros knows. Barbaros smiles for Cutter. Cutter

rages like flowers. The sharp features of his face
twisted up in what might be considered a smile,
brandishing his yellowing teeth.
I dont know what youre babbling about. Silence
yourself. She reached into the bag and pulled out
the knife shed used to maim him. The Nephilim
showed no fear, but he did as she ordered,
withdrawing into his cell.

The light from the lanterns in the hall only illuminated

part of his cell. She could see his shadow moving
around a bit, and then he came into the bright area
to pick up his food. He had trouble dipping the bread
into the beans, but he managed. Gonna be rough
not going crazy here. Gonna need to know the day,
and the time.

I reckon he likes you. Bishop wasnt making a joke,

again he was considering the situation. You cant
reason with em, you know. The Nephilim I mean.
They dont think like we do.

Ill be checking on you regularly. He was more

resigned to his time in the pits than she expected.
He was focused on his survival, not his rage.
She knew that all too well. You seem to be very
accepting of your fate.

Hold your arm out into the light. It was clear

that she was done talking about it. Bishop did as
he was told. Youre clear for now. Ill check back
on you tomorrow.

The voice behind her was guttural, and unpracticed.

Slave dreams of sky. It made her start for the
second time in an hour. Her heart beating in her
chest so loudly that she thought she might feint.
She turned and saw it there, pressed against the
bars of its cell. Slave dreams of broken chains.

Imogene had been true to her word. Every morning

she began by checking on Bishops arm. He tried to
keep a schedule for himself, and he marked it by
her appearance. He alternated the days, exercising
for an hour one day, and three the next. He flexed
the hand of his broken arm nearly constantly, biting
through the pain when it got unbearable. Imogene
monitored his arm while aiding it with an expensive
salve over the course of the two months, after which
time it was out of the splint. He would be fighting
again soon.

It can speak? Imogene was asking more of the

universe, than of Bishop.
He answered none-the-less, They all can. They
usually just do it to spook you.
Well its working. Can he understand me? She
spoke about the beast as if he wasnt there, but her
pulse was intimately aware of its presence.

Wallus often checked on his progress for the Boss,

and Imogene spent more and more of her time down
in the catacombs. It was dangerous for her there.
Not because of Barbaros or Bishop, but because

Barbaros knows words. Barbaros knows Cutter. He

flexed the muscles in his back, causing the glimpse

12

of Wallus. The halls beneath the Ringside werent

well traveled, and the lascivious brute often took
pleasure by leering at Imogene. It was becoming
apparent that Wallus was growing bolder, despite
her display of violence against the Nephilim. He was
growing crasser in her presence, commenting often
on her appearance. Eventually threats of the Bosss
displeasure wouldnt serve to keep him at bay. In
his mind, he was entitled to her.

She took a roundabout path to the catacombs in

an effort to shake any possible pursuit; hopefully
he would give up on following her for the day.
It wasnt likely.
During her routine Imogene would often interrupt
Bishop exercising in which ever ways he could while
chained in the cell. Today, however, she caught him
speaking to Barbaros. They spoke openly through the
bars to their cell, as no guards were posted in this
tunnel. They apparently hadnt heard her approach,
so she began to walk softly. She approached a step
at a time until she could make out their words.

She did her best to ignore it as she went about her

daily rounds, avoiding him where she could, and
leaving as quickly as possible when she couldnt. She
even contemplated letting him see her without the wig,
but that was a dangerous gambit in its own right.

It was surprising to her that they talked at all, but

what they talked about was even more perplexing.
Barbaros had begun fighting in the arena again,
and Bishop was apparently training him. He was
describing the strongest fighters, not sure who
Barbaros would face next, and he was telling him
how to win. In return, Barbaros was keeping him
appraised, as best as the beast could, of the
goings on above.

Today, however, was especially troubling. When she

arrived he greeted her with a wink and a lick of his
lips. Everywhere she went, he was somewhere to
be seen. Imogene could only put off going down to
the cells for so long. She prepared herself mentally
for the worst, today could be the day. She made
sure that her bag was always within reach, and
she propped several scalpels in her book, so that
handles pointed up and were easy to reach.
Hows my favorite nimble fingered strumpet?
Wallus wrapped on the door frame with a hairy
knuckle as he entered the store room.

I hurt his left arm, as asked. The monsters voice

hadnt changed, but it has apparently developed its
vocabulary considerably in the last few months. If
you face him, he will have a weak grip on his sword
without those fingers.

Imogene filled her carpet bag with a fresh roll of

gauze and several brown cork-stoppered bottles
of liquid. What do you need Wallus? She tried to
keep her voice flat, all business.

Ill need it, my arm is still weak. Just keep hitting

them on their left, I want as many fighters favoring
that side as I can.

Wallus laughed to himself, Well where should I

start? He put his arm against the wall and leaned,
taking some of his weight off of his feet.

Youll die if you fight. Your arm isnt healed.

Imogene wasnt sure why she spoke. She didnt
know why she even cared. This was just a job. He
was just meat like her.

A pair of guards appeared at the door. Wallus, the

Boss needs to know about the new crop of dentured.
The big sweaty man kept his eyes on Imogene.

Well dont just hide Cutter. Come join us. Barbaross

invitation was coarse, but Bishop interjected before
Imogene could respond.

And I need to check on the cells. She ducked out

of the room, thankful for the escape. She walked
quickly, working hard to not break into a run. She
was acutely aware that she had shown Wallus fear.
That gave him power, and he was the type of man to
seize power.

It isnt going to get better. Ive started putting more

weight on it. The bones holding my body, and the
muscles work. Its not as strong as I like, but Ill be
able to use it.

13

No, you dont understand. Imogene didnt know

what had come over her. They are billing your return
this Saturday night. Everyone is betting on you. They
cant let you win.

Dont try to figure it out. He doesnt think like us.

He holds different grudges, Bishop warned.
Imogene stood quietly for a moment. Her breathing
ragged, as if shed been running. An excited sound
out of place with her motionless body.

Bishop didnt respond. She had come to know what

he was thinking. Barbaros came to his cell door. He
is dreaming of the sky, Cutter. The beast hadnt
spoken to her since that first night, but now its
speech had the same poetry to it.

In the laboratories and academic worlds there is a

phrase, the Eureka Moment. It is reserved for a
breakthrough, a realization that brings into perfect
clarity a complex science. It is every great minds
hope to have that moment while sitting quietly at
breakfast, or waiting for a carriage to arrive. Its
a single moment that changes everything that a
person once believed to be true.

Dont call me that! Imogene barked at him,

her fury rising.
He thinks that youre beautiful. Bishop tried to
smooth things over. Was she trapped between
friends? Had Bishop allied himself with the beast?

Imogene had her moment. It did not come slowly

over the course of months. It had built; it had broiled
in the back of her mind. It had built pressure every
morning when she wept into her mirror. She had
not grown accustomed to her scars over time but
she accepted them now in this moment. She was a
monster. She did monstrous things. She cut wings,
she severed legs, and she was filled with hate for the
torture of the Ringside. The moment came over her
like an explosion of steam, frustration, and clarity.
There was no plan, there was only purity of purpose.
She was something new now. Someone else.

He doesnt know whats under all of this. She

waved her hand in front of her wig and eye-patch.
But he does. Bishop spoke flatly. Like a man
explaining a plan of attack. He saw whats under
the skin, and I know whats under the wig. He sees
you clearly.

She would never be the beautiful blonde goddess

she was born to be. Her mothers training and
fathers doting would never create that perfect
angel. But she could still be a glorious devil.
Im going to do something. But you must promise
me one thing. Imogenes voice was flat.
What are you going to do? Bishops tone matched
her own.
Barbaros reached a hand through the bars to point
at her, his sharp black nail directed at her chest,
not her head. You are filled with hatred that is like
a rose. Beautiful anger, a sunset of rage. You know
what it is to lose something you cherished, to never
become what you should have become. You did this
to me. He waggled his wing at her. You made me
like you. I see that beauty now. You dont know it,
but you have given me a gift.

Promise me that youll kill the Boss. Promise me

youll track down every man who ever abused or took
advantage of someone innocent. Youll send them
to me here so that I can make them pay. Promise
me that... and Ill do it.
Bishop didnt take oaths lightly. I cant keep that
promise in here.

14

I know. Imogene clutched the handle of her bag

tight enough to whiten her knuckles.

The fat mans blow caught Bishops arm, but

it was protected by the wrapped chain. Wallus
kept the flurry of blows coming, forcing Bishop
to take measured steps backwards towards the
end of the hall.

You have my word.

Imogene reached into her carpet bag and took out
her keys.

Bishop let the man lead him, he knew that once his
back was to the wall he would have an advantage. He
could brace himself, and the wide slashes couldnt
over extend without hitting stone. A few steps at a
time they danced backwards.

Whats going on here? It was Wallus. She hadnt

heard him walk up behind her. She was so distracted
with her own thoughts. It was too late though, he
must have heard them talking.

Imogene leapt, clinging to Wallus like a cloak. Wallus

stumbled back a step or two, and Bishop lunged in
to take advantage of the distraction. Bishops chain
wrapped around the taller mans arms, but Wallus
had height on his side. He pulled Bishop an inch off
the ground by the chain and smashed his forehead
down on the bridge of dangling fighters nose.

Imogene turned so that she could look at him. He

carried a sharpened meat-hook in his armored hand,
a man catcher in the other, and that arrogant look
on his face.
She locked his eyes as she threw her keys into
Bishops cell. Im murdering you.

Wallus grabbed Imogene by the wrist, pulling her off

of his back. Bishop slowly shook the haze out of his
head as Wallus set the woman down on her feet in
front of him. With Bishop still dangling by the wrist,
the brute brought his hook across her mouth. She
stumbled back spinning with the force of the blow.

Wallus pushed her aside, slamming her into the

heavy oak of Barbaross door. Wallus dropped the
man catcher so that he could fumble at his belt
for the keys. Dont you dare touch them Bishop.
You unlock those chains and well feed you to
the Nephilim.

Her wig flew further, tumbling to the ground. She fell

to her hands and knees and looked up at Wallus.
Her cheek had been cut deep, opening the flesh
from the corner of her mouth up her jaw, her broken
teeth showing through the gash. She spit out a few
pearly white shards of her molar.

Bishop was faster than the fat man. By the time

Wallus had opened the cell Bishop was ready
to pounce. He slammed into the door flinging it
outward, and they both spilled into the corridor. The
two men sprawled onto the rough stone, smearing it
with blood from multiple scrapes. Despite his size,
Wallus was impressively fast and managed to find
his feet at the same time as Bishop.

Wallus gave her a stern look, shaking his head at

what hed just discovered, Ill finish uglying up that
mouth to match your face when Im done with him.
Bishop kicked, but it made contact with Walluss
upper thigh and did little to injure him. The bigger
man slammed Bishop into the wall several times,
but the chain was wrapped tight. Wallus finally
settled for a quick end to the fight. He spun Bishop
around in the grapple and leaned himself against
the wall, giving Bishop no perch to struggle from.
Then he forced Bishop to his knees, and then down
to lay flat on his stomach. Wallus put his foot on
Bishops back and used his weight to hold the
weakened gladiator down.

The two squared off at each other. Wallus wore his

armor on his right arm, protecting him from Bishops
more powerful left. In his right hand, Bishop twirled
the end of his chains, making a soft whipping sound.
Wallus gripped the sharpened meat hook tight, like
a tiny scythe, and clucked his tongue.
You still lame, an you knows it. Wallus came in
low with the hook, looking to force Bishop back.

15

Is there a plan now? Barbaros wasnt really asking,

he was reveling in the kill as he strapped the armor
to his own arm.

Boss aint gonna be happy that I cut your throat.

Is he? Wallus flipped the hook around in his free
hand so that he could kneel down and slice Bishops
throat in one easy motion.

Imogene spoke flatly. Kill the Boss. They all need

to know that Im in charge now. Imogene reached
into her bag and began wrapping gauze around her
cheek. She turned to Bishop, Then youll be free
to keep your promise.

With the sound of tearing meat and a gurgle of blood

Barbaros tore out the fat mans throat. Wallus turned
as the blood ran down his chest. Imogene stood a
few paces down the hall in front of the Nephilims
open cell, keys still in the door. She locked eyes with
him again, the loose flesh on her cheek quivering
as she spoke just loud enough for him to hear, I
thought I was clear. Im murdering you.

Barbaros began to idly gnaw on the dead fat mans

leg. Bishop picked up the hand scythe and wiped
Imogenes blood off of on to Walluss shirt. You
have my word.

Wallus clutched his throat, forcing the blood to seep

through his fingers. He dropped his weapon and then
fell to his knees. His lips were still sputtering, his
lungs filling with blood, as Barbaros began stripping
him of his armor. Bishop untangled the chain and
stood, catching his breath.

16

Professor
Pontificates
Love for the underloved - a Look at Wave 2
Adrian Scott
when I discussed the merits of Mercenaries back in
Wyrd Chronicles 9. For this article though, I thought
Id go through the Malifaux Wave 2 releases and
pull out a few models that I feel might be getting
overlooked. Some of these models dont seem to
be considered outside a specific Master or Crew
build, others are outshone by other options, and a
few might just be thought of as plain bad. In any
case, these are all models whom I feel deserve
a little more attention. So grab a drink, pull up a
seat and prepare to be amazed (or possibly just mildly
amused) as I go through my picks for Malifaux Wave 2!

From the array of models released as part of

Malifaux Wave 2, there have emerged plenty who
have received a lot of attention when it comes
to discussing combos, crew builds or really just
who players think are the best. Models like the
Mechanical Rider, Lazarus, and the Widow Weaver,
for instance, have all emerged as really solid choices
and theres certainly been a good deal of discussion
on their merits.
But what about those models few people are
talking about? There are plenty that players seem
to overlook, either because theyre generally viewed
as poor, or because they dont fit the theme for their
own crews. Ive even touched on the latter previously,

18

the Night Terror is to use them to simply hold up

my opponents Crew. By getting into engagement
range, a Night Terror can prevent a model from
charging, shooting or using (1) Interact Actions to
place or remove a Scheme Marker. The Night Terrors
own actions and abilities help a lot with this for
instance Night Falls and the Blind Trigger from
Clawed Wings both help disrupt models who use
Ca and Sh Actions, respectively. As above, any Night
Terror will inevitably die when attacked, so such an
approach is only going to slow your opponent down.
But if you can hold up a higher value model for one
or two critical turns, thats often all you need to get
the edge in Victory Points.

Pistolero De Latigo (Guild)

The Pistolero is an easy model to forget about. For
a Perdita player they are acknowledged as a solid
inclusion for most crew builds, but any other Crew
will normally pass them over on the assumption
that they work mainly with other Family models.
However this is no longer the case. As it turns out,
the Pistolero has become an excellent second line/
support model who will happily work well in almost
any Guild Crew.
The Pistoleros key ability is arguably Look Out!,
granting a + to defense flips to nearby friendly models,
so long as the Pistolero itself hasnt activated. This
can add some great protection to a group of your
models, acting like a free Defensive Stance and
reducing the pressure on your own hand when it
comes to winning duels against enemy attacks.
This card efficiency continues in the Pistoleros
own activation, with Ruthless to ignore Wp duels
(such as Terrifying) and Press the Advantage to
give a + to Attack Actions against activated enemy
models. Overall, this makes the Pistolero a great
low cost minion, who can help keep your Crew alive
without relying on your own control hand for winning
Defense duels.

Performer (Arcanists)
The Performer may not have much in the way of
damage output, but that doesnt stop her being the
kind of Minion who, to put it simply, wins games. For
one, she has her own version of Lure in the form of
Siren Call. The ability to move friendly and enemy

Night Terror (Resurrectionists)

Ive found that some of the least regarded models
in Malifaux tend to be those with Insignificant
and limited killing power. After all, with so many
Strategies and Schemes requiring either Interact
Actions or killing, what good is a model that can do
neither? The Night Terror is one of those models
with this dubious distinction, but I think its also an
excellent example of how such a model can prove to
be invaluable in games.
The Night Terrors combination of Incorporeal and
Hard to Kill gives it some impressive resilience for
a 3SS model. Sure, almost any model could kill it,
but it will usually require at least three hits a huge
waste of AP for a mere 3SS model. Combined with
its mobility and the fact that its still a Minion, the
Night Terror becomes a very cost-efficient model
for objectives that only require model positioning,
like Reconnoiter, Outflank or Take Prisoner. Another
favorite tactic of mine with expendable models like

19

Iggys flashiest trick is arguably Throw a Fit, which

gives -2 Wp to nearby enemy models who havent
activated. In a Faction full of Wp-based attacks like
the Neverborn, this can be a very powerful effect.
However unless youre catching several unactivated
enemy models in the Aura, it really needs to be
used in conjunction with the Depression Upgrade
and at least one other Woe. That way you can cast
Melancholy on the target models to force them to
activate last.

models around is incredibly strong, so much so

that I devoted an entire article to it back in Wyrd
Chronicles 10. Siren Call is no exception to this, and
its made even better thanks to a variety of Triggers
that let her attack, Paralyze or resolve all of its
Poison condition against an enemy model.
In addition, the performer has some excellent
Scheme Marker-related tricks in Dont Mind Me,
which lets her Interact while engaged, and the
deceptively strong Seduction Action. This action
allows her to remove Scheme Markers (friendly or
enemy) and force a TN 13 Wp duel on nearby models
or gain the Seduced condition for a - for Df and Wp
duels. The Seduced condition can be great if you
target a Scheme Marker near a cluster of models.
However using Seduction to easily remove enemy
Scheme Markers from range is potentially gamewinning. Those Scheme Markers inevitably equate
to VPs for your opponent. So while the Performer
might not have the hitting power of other models,
she can directly influence the VP totals for you and
your opponent in a way that few other models can.

The above is mostly going to be useful in a Pandora

Crew, but what of the other Masters? Well I think
the key here lies with Iggys other (0) Action Incite.
As you well know, winning or losing Initiative on an
important turn can sometimes mean the difference
between a win or a loss. Its a big part of why people
take models with abilities like Ill Omens (eg. the

Oh, and did I mention shes a Mercenary? So it

isnt just the Arcanists who get to benefit from her
shenanigans!

Iggy (Neverborn)
I must admit, its taken me a while to warm up to
Iggy. As the third Ht 1 Woe for Pandoras Crew of
children, he initially seems to get the short end
of the stick. His Burning attacks dont offer any
synergy with Pandora (not even a Wp duel!) and at a
cost of 5SS its directly competing with the Sorrow
a model that synergizes so well with Pandora that
its hard to imagine a Crew without at least two.
Fortunately, Iggy offers much more than he seems
to at first glance, not just for Pandora, but for any
Neverborn Crew.
To start with, Iggys Ignition is one of the few
damaging ranged attacks available to the Neverborn.
Also between Df 6, Bullet Proof and some potential
Burning from his Smoldering Heart Trigger, Iggy is
not often an enticing target for your opponent. This
in particular helps him get good use out of Martyr
to absorb wounds to protect other more fragile
Woes (Sorrows in particular, but also Pandora!). But

20

Trigger. His Reposition Trigger (for which he has the

required M built in) lets him push 3 every time he
hits with the rifle for some added mobility, however
you can also use this for hit and run tactics with the
Trapper. Just walk around a corner, take a shot and
then push back to safety with the Reposition Trigger.

Doppleganger), to ensure they can win that Initiative

on the critical turn. Well, it turns out Incite can do
the same, but much more effectively! Incite grants
the Mood Swing condition, which states: When this
models controller has the opportunity to Activate
a model, the opponent (ie. you!) can choose for
this model to Activate instead if it is available to
Activate. The trick here is to use Incite on a lowvalue enemy model that has already activated.
Then once the next turn rolls around you can force
your opponent to activate that model first! So as
long as you can cast Incite on something low value
the previous turn, whether you win or lose Initiative
becomes irrelevant. After all, your opponent will never
have the chance to activate their key model before
you activate yours! Naturally this gets even nastier
with Candy (who can Paralyze them with Sweets) or
Pandora (with yet more chances to Incite models).
However like the Doppleganger, it should still be more
than effective in any other Neverborn Crew!

All in all, this makes the Freikorps Trapper a solid

and evasive sniper for its very reasonable 6 SS
cost. However if that wasnt enough, the Trapper is
also quite good at placing Scheme Markers. From
the Shadows will put him where you need those
Scheme Markers, and his Reposition trigger pushes
him just far enough to be able to place a second
Marker more than 4 from the first. Even Retreat
to Cover can help the Trapper get into position (or
at least out of engagement) for another Marker,
and works well as a counter to your opponent using
Distract or Cursed Object on him. Just use his
(0) Retreat to Cover Action to push out of
engagement, then a (1) or (2) Interact (for Cursed
Object or Distract, respectively) to remove the
condition from your Trapper.

One final note as of the most recent (and

unfinished) Beta for the Avatar rules, Sonnia Criids
Avatar of Conflagration gave her the ability to hire
Iggy out of Faction. Theres no guarantee this rule
will remain once the rules have been finalized but
if it does, it should go without saying that Iggy will
become a fantastic choice for a Sonnia Crew!

Stuffed Piglet (Gremlins)

For a Faction like the Gremlins, theres never a
shortage of cheap models to throw into your Crew.
With cost effective models like the Bayou Gremlin
always being such a solid option, the 2-4SS models
in a Gremlin crew really need to have a worthwhile
purpose to compete for those slots. One of those
models that Ive not seen a lot of talk about is the

Freikorps Trapper (Outcasts)

People just love Hans, and I certainly cant blame
them. Hes often a first choice when it comes to
players wanting a sniper in their Crew and he
certainly lives up to their expectations. But what
about that other Mercenary sniper model the
Friekorps Trapper? Hes cheaper, but less damaging
and certainly less flashy, but theres more to him
than just shooting things from a very long way away,
which makes him a fairly flexible choice and a viable
alternative to Hans.
To start with, the Trapper has the typical Freikorps
resilience. Armor +1 and the Freikorps Suit allow
him to take a few hits, and the Retreat to Cover
Action lets him get out of engagement (which as
a (0) Action, wont slow down his shooting either).
The combination of From the Shadows and his
long ranged Clockwork Rifle ensures he can start
picking off the targets he wants to from Turn 1, with
a potential boost in damage from the Critical Strike

21

Gremlin version of an anti-personnel mine the

Stuffed Piglet. At first glance its purpose in life seems
to be as Bacon Load ammunition for the Pigapult.
But surely theres more to it than just that, right?

Shadow Effigy (Ten Thunders)

The Ten Thunders are generally not a Faction known
for their ability to plant Scheme Markers everywhere
Finish the Job just isnt found in the Faction
and there are very few models with the ability to
consistently place more than one Scheme Marker
in a turn. The exception to this is the Ten Thunders
very own puppet the Shadow Effigy.

First of all, lets deal with what might be seen as the

Stuffed Piglets biggest weakness the fact that its
a Peon. The Peon characteristic is often seen as a
disadvantage, but thats not necessarily the case.
Peons can still can prevent your opponent from
achieving some of the model positioning Schemes Outflank, Protect Territory and Take Prisoner, simply
by being in the wrong place at the end of the game.
Perhaps more importantly, as Peons, your opponent
cant (1) Interact with a Stuffed Piglet to achieve
Cursed Object or Distract, giving you a very cheap
counter to those Schemes if needed.

The Shadow Effigys greatest asset is arguably its

(1) Action spell Remember the Mission. This
basically grants a condition that lets the target
minion place a Scheme Marker at the end of its
activation. The cost is high (requiring a 10 of any
suit to cast), but the potential behind it is huge.
With it you can effectively turn any of your minions
into marker-placing Schemers (to use a term
I referenced back in Chronicles 8). However with
no need to spend any AP of their own, it doesnt
stop the minion doing whatever theyre best at. You
could also use Remember the Mission to place
two Scheme Markers on the same spot (the first
with an Interact great for Line in the Sand!), and
for Schemes like Plant Explosives and Spring the
Trap, where it can otherwise be very tricky to place
multiple Scheme Markers near enemy models.

Aside from that, a Stuffed Piglet can fulfill much the

same function as the Night Terror engaging enemy
models to prevent charges, shooting or interacts.
Its much easier to kill than a Night Terror, but this is
balanced out by the awesome Bacon Bomb Action
to deal (depending on the card flip) 1-4 damage in
a 1-4 p when its killed or sacrificed! No resist
flip is allowed against the damage either, so its a
very effective way of getting around just about any
defense an enemy model has aside from Armor. So
while your opponent will have an easy time killing the
Piglet, (probably requiring 2AP for most models), the
damage potential is enough to make your opponent
think twice about dealing that final blow. Of course
the Stuffed Piglet also makes a wonderful deterrent
to your opponent bunching up their models. If you
can get one within 1-2 of multiple models for a
Bacon Bomb Action, the potential damage is well
worth killing the Stuffed Piglet yourself!

Like all effigies, the Shadow Effigy has some great

resilience for its cost in the form of Hard to Kill,
Armor +1 and Df 6. But also like most Effigies, its
killing power is not great. However its very high Ml 7
on Precision Blade makes the 1 damage it deals a
pretty sure thing, plus it actually makes the Shadow
Effigy very good at holding models in melee. And
finally, lets not forget its (0) Blend into Shadow
Action, which gives some nice protection against a
single attack targeting your Leader .

Its worth noting that the Gremlin Taxidermist has

a lot to add to a crew that includes Stuffed Piglets.
Theres the obvious (and easy!) Stuffed Piglet
summoning with Taxidermin, and Purdy Fireworks
can give a Stuffed Piglet a great boost in mobility
(remember the (1) Action could be a Walk, allowing
for a total of 8 in movement). However if youre
strapped for Soulstones, I wouldnt assume the
Taxidermist as an automatic inclusion. After all, the
Stuffed Piglets are already incredibly cheap. So a
handful of them should do just fine even without a
Taxidermist to help them along!

Until next time,

Adrian

22

Dipping your toe into the (sewer) water

Battle Report Guild v. Gremlins @ 25 Soulstones

Andrew Weakland
coat was crazy smooth and really had the look of
dusty leather. And the EYES not only were they
perfectly picked out from the face, but you could
see the menace in them as our favorite Latigo hero
swept his Peacebringers at his foes!

Authors Note: This Battle Report is of a demonstration

game, wherein I, in my capacity as a Wyrd Henchman,
show a new recruit how the game is played. Although
this report may not have stunning tactical moves of
interest to the most experienced players, I hope that
it will be informative to newer players, as well as give
a few tips to the Malifaux veterans who are beginning
to run demos of their own to grow our favorite hobby.
I had a great time running this game, and I hope you
enjoy the read!

I was clicking through to the comments so I

could shower the artist with an overabundance of
adoration, when I noticed the painters name. Joey
Guzman? I know a guy named Joey Guzman. Wait
a sec were Facebook friends! This Joey is THAT
Joey! My surprise was due to the fact that I bump
into Joey at the game store where I am a Wyrd
Henchman and never even knew he had an interest
in playing Malifaux. Turns out he was recently bitten
by the new-mini bug and had picked up the recently
released M2E Ortegas to paint. After outing him
as a Malifaux owner I easily convinced him to meet
me for a full-fledged demo game. As an ardent
Henchman, I wouldnt take no for an answer.

Im a slow painter. I wish I was faster, but as Ive

discovered more of the truly breathtaking pieces
that are out there, I decided to step up my game.
Advanced techniques and greater attention to detail
simply take more time. So the key for me to get
things done in a timely manner (and get my Misaki
crew done in time for an event in June) is to stay
motivated and nothing keeps me motivated more
than seeing the awesome work my fellow gamers
post online!

We met up on our usual night at The Compleat

Strategist in Midtown Manhattan. I arrived a few
minutes early to set up terrain and maximize our
playing time. I always try my best to really show
the uniqueness of Malifaux in demo games, and
terrain is a big part of that. I opted to build a board
using sewer-themed terrain with the addition of a
few Victorian-style houses. Not only was it one of
our better looking terrain sets, but it also featured
at least one piece of each terrain type, giving me

I was idly scrolling through a few of my regular

miniature hunts looking for inspiring paint jobs
on my lunch break about a month ago (Who are
we kidding I was probably sneaking a glimpse
while I should have been working!), when I noticed
an awesome rendition of Santiago Ortega. I had
been surfing through the posts in A Wyrd Place
a Malifaux-centric Facebook group curated by the
gracious Crissy DuBois. The blending on the minis

23

is both fairly simple, so as not to bog them down

with intricate model interactions, but also dynamic
enough that it interests them to continue to explore
their options. I was lucky that the four miniatures
Joey had completed painting by the date of our
demo fit this description to a tee.

an opportunity to explain each rule. I also liked the

angular nature of the terrain used, as it provided
crystal-clear examples of Malifauxs nuanced line of
sight system, not to mention it wouldnt burden what
I expected would be a ranged-focused Guild crew.
Now at this point, I had to make a gut decision. A
demo should showcase the game, revealing enough
to interest but not overwhelm. For a players first
game, I will often pre-determine the Deployment
Type, Strategy, and Scheme Pool, sometimes even
pre-selecting Schemes or forgoing them altogether.
The biggest factor in this decision is player
experience. I was a little concerned with turning
off a hobby first-type player with the full monty of
Malifaux. However, I knew Joey had played plenty
of other miniature games over the years, and he
seemed eager to get in the thick of it, so we went
full bore and flipped for both Deployment Type and
the Strategy and Schemes. What comes up for
deployment, but a 13 -- the delightfully funky Flank
deployment! The objectives flipped were:

The Guild
Perdita Ortega
- Tormenta de plomo
Santiago Ortega
Nino Ortega
Papa loco
All the models selected had a good chunk of their
effectiveness present in their statistics, so a novice
player could get a solid performance out of General
Actions and Attack Actions. This is preferable for a
demo, as the player doesnt need to be constantly
vigilant about the models available Talents and
Tactical Actions. These tend to affect the game less
tangibly than Attacks. I should note though, that this

Strategy
Reconnoiter

Schemes
Line in the Sand
Distract
Murder Protg
Spring the Trap
Protect Territory
Randomization worked out quite well. I was happy to
see at least one objective relying on what any miniwargamer will understand killing models! as well
as a few of the more nuanced objectives involving
non-kill interactions with the enemy. I truly had the
perfect opportunity to show off the diverse nature of
objective-based play in Malifaux.
Crew selection is also a key part of running a
successful demonstration. You want to ensure
that the Crew a player uses during their first game

24

leave my opponent to grasp that he should do the

same. This would also be true if he was running a
support-style Crew, such as a summoning Master I
would opt to try to do the same. It wouldnt have
helped Joey learn his Crew if I had chosen a Somer
list and displayed the finer points of Get Yer Bro.
(Other than of course to provide him with myriad
targets to fire at!)

is the opposite of what I typically believe makes a

mini easy to play effectively for an experienced
player. As Ive mentioned elsewhere, I am biased
towards what I call Front of the Card miniatures
models who have strong statistics and abilities
versus Back of the Card models, whose power
falls more heavily in their available actions. This
is simply because a models defensive stats and
abilities are always on able to impact the game
during your opponents activation, and therefore
not dependent on you to activate the model to get
the benefits. In my opinion this sort of thinking,
while easier for an experienced player, is counterintuitive to demonstrating the game. It requires
the player to constantly review the cards for all of
their models a burdensome task when you are not
yet familiar with them - as compared to focusing on
the single model who is activating. As youll see,
the Latigo Posse allows for immediate gratification
when they spend their AP. They also have some
interesting abilities, such as the often associated
Companion, which could add a little extra flavor
to the Crew, but wouldnt be required for them to
accomplish objectives.

As with anything though, moderation is key. Rather

than mimic his list exactly, I opted to bring a few
of the cheaper models from the Gremlin Faction to
provide an opportunity to show the advantages of
activation control. Of course, its usually not that
much of a concern to be too similar to your opponent
in a demo, but a LaCroix vs. Ortega match presents
a special case!
The final step, before rubber hit the road, was
the selection and announcement of Schemes. I
deviated from typical game protocol here and
announced both of my Schemes before Joey
selected his. This allowed me to explain why I chose
these two Schemes and how they aligned with my
Crew selection. My selection of Line in the Sand and
Distract would both play off of my superior model
count. Line in the Sand would dovetail with the
Strategys requirement to spread out, and Distract
would work nicely against an enemy Crew that
preferred to stay out of melee, as engaging them
to Interact would have the added benefit of keeping
them from shooting me!

Gremlins
Ophelia lacroix
-Jug rocket
Young lacroix
Francois lacroix
Raphael lacroix
Bayou gremlin
Bayou gremlin
When selecting the opponents for Joeys first match,
I made sure to choose a Crew that mirrored his in
its playstyle. Luckily the story of Malifaux made this
easy, with the advent of the LaCroix Kin! Crews with
similar styles can be incredibly instructive in a demo
game, as it allows you to show your opponent how
to use their Crew, rather than tell them. Instead
of boring my pupil with a lecture on how to position
his Crew to hug cover while setting up firing lanes, I
would be able to just do so with my own models and

25

Turn 1

Although I risked overloading Joey with information

in this detailed breakdown of my Scheme selection,
I could tell that it set his cogs in motion. He
retaliated with Murder Protg a great choice for
a Crew that excels at killing models from far away
along with Protect Territory. I will need to advance
a little bit to get in range, but dont want to have to
go farther to score, he said, an astute observation
for a beginner! It was great to see that he hadnt yet
activated a model, but already had a basic grasp of
the fundamentals.

Joey won the flip for initiative and opted to let me

go first. I seized the opportunity and immediately
ran a gremlin around the right side of a large house
near the center. This was ostensibly for setting up
a field of fire towards the enemy and to be prepared
to Interact for Line in the Sand on the following turn,
but I also had placed him so as to demonstrate a
nuance in the top-down line of sight rules when
Nino activated.
Joey unknowingly obliged to my Scheme and opted
to activate Nino first. So I guess I move up?
he asked. We reviewed the Wk stat and Walk
Action, and I took advantage of his indecisiveness
to discuss planning the activation and the benefits
of per-measuring. Realizing he could determine the

Joey won the flip for deployment and opted to let

me deploy first. I selected the corner bisected by
elevated terrain simply so Joey wouldnt have to
deal with the nuance of it during his own deployment
and spread my gremlins out rather haphazardly. My
general plan in a demo is to run my own Crew on
autopilot. The Gremlins would fan out haphazardly
towards their objectives unconcerned about the
enemy Crew and their own safety. (And really, is there
a more appropriate way to
play Gremlins anyway?!?)
Joey set up his Crew more
centrally, not wanting to
spread his forces too thin
and knowing he did not
have to advance too far to
earn VPs. And with that,
the game was joined!

26

react, Perdita used Companion with her brother and

leapt into action. Her first shots of the game turned
over the Red Joker on damage! Perdita followed up
relentlessly and Francois hastily Burned Soulstones
to cling to life on a single wound.

result of his action before declaring it, he opened his

tape measure and sized up Ninos side of the table.
This showed him right away that the 18 range of
Ninos Custom Repeater was indeed quite far in a
Malifaux-scale game, and already could reach my
nearest Bayou Gremlin. But I cant see him, he
muttered, even instinctively crouching down to peer
from Ninos perspective! Chuffed that my set-up did
its job, I walked him through terrain height. Explaining
how even though all direct lines between the models
were blocked by terrain, the stair blocking some of
the sight lines was only Height 1, so Nino could
disregard it. Cover, Triggers, and offsetting positive
and negative twists were also shown during the
action, as Ninos two shots quickly dispatched the
lowly Gremlin. First Blood to the Guild!
The loss of one of their own proves no deterrent
to the bumbling Gremlins, and they continue to
advance up-field. With no other targets yet in range,
the Family also moves up, albeit more cautiously.
Papa Loco was less restrained (figuratively speaking)
and moved full speed towards the flank, contested
as it was by a lonely Bayou Gremlin, while the
LaCroix clustered in cover near the center. Santiago
was able to get a pot-shot off at Francois, but was
thwarted by cover and the harsh reality that one
cannot cheat negative flips!

Rather disappointed in the cover provided by the

flimsy boxes he cowered behind, Francois glanced
at his sister and gave her a nod as he wasnt done
for yet. Ophelia sprinted towards Papa Loco, and
used her Thinkin Luck to bring him near death.
She finished up with a toss of her hair and wag
of her hips, enticing Francois to push into base
contact. Francois then completed the Gremlins own
Companion activation to grant the deranged fathers
tormented mind the solace of death.

Turn 2
As can often happen on the second turn, initiative
was key, and Joey edged me out 11 to 10.

Nino was outraged by Locos ignoble

demise, and moved to gain a bead on
the squirrelly Gremlin Henchman. A
quick burst of his weapon was the death
knell for the little pest, and the Latigo
Posse had quickly earned 3 VPs.
Away from the action, the other Gremlins
scurried about, heading for the board
corners and dropping Scheme Markers.
What could they be up to?
Without hesitation Santiago leveled his guns,
and after focusing to find his target amongst the
obstructions, landed a solid hit on the vulnerable
Protg of Francois. Before the Gremlins could

The Guild was too clustered near the

center to score Reconnoiter, so at the
end of turn two, the score stood at 3-1.

27

Turn 3

Turn 4

After seeing that the power of chain activations

cut both ways, Joey grimaced as he realized he
was unable to best my 6 for the initiative flip,
despite spending a Soulstone. However, Ophelia
unexpectedly hesitated to lay down a barrage of
hot lead. Instead she dropped a Scheme Marker at
her feet, took a Defensive Stance and backed away
from the fray.

Frustrated at being thwarted from claiming his own

turf, Santiago let loose on Ophelia. However, he was
unwounded as the Gremlins had simply given up on
damaging their foes, and his shots proved useless
against her well-defended position.

Perdita was quite concerned by this decidedly unGremlin-like behavior and Joey quickly assessed
that, although the center of the board provided the
most opportunities to shoot the enemy, it could not
score him further points.
The remaining Gremlins continued to spread
Scheme Markers apace, hugging cover to avoid any
half-hearted shots from the Guild, who instead were
focusing on spreading out after finding themselves
out of position.
Neither side scored this turn, with Ophelia preventing
Santiago from claiming his quarter and Raphael
having accidentally left himself standing on the line
between two quarters. (Just me making a mistake
and in no way intended to keep the demo game
close, honest!)

The Gremlins ignored the constant gunshots and simply

went about their business stringing a solid line of
Markers from one corner of the table to the other.
Although he had slain numerous foes, Nino was
beginning to wane in usefulness. With his paltry Wk
of 3, he was simply too slow to get up field and
stop the spread of Gremlin filth. Perdita picked up
the slack and sped off to intercept Raphael. As
the hell-bent matriarch bore down on him, Raphael
seemed yet unfazed, dropping a final Marker and
then stepping back to his half of the board to give
his side the upper hand and score Reconnoiter,
ending the turn 2-3.

28

Ophelia surveyed the Centerline and saw that there

was no preventing the Gremlin claim. Needing but
one more point, she sauntered up to the brutish
Santiago and caused him to take a pause using
more tasteful, but no less distracting gestures
than Raphael.

Turn 5
Realizing that his grip on the lead was tenuous, Joey
sought his remaining objectives. Santiago started the
turn by advancing just beyond 6 from his Deployment
Zone and placing a Marker for Protect Territory.

Joeys flip at the end of the turn came up short, and

with Line in the Sand secure, the Gremlins came out
on top 6-5.

Raphael went next, advancing directly into the fray

for the first time. However, instead of swinging
the butt of his rifle at Perditas knees, he unslung
his lone suspender, dropped trough and displayed
The Gremlin Menace in an effort to keep her
Distracted for a Victory Point.
Perdita choked down her gag reflex and wisely
decided to rely on her superior Df to disengage
Raphael and place a marker of her own for a second
potential Protect Territory. With her final action, she
cast Obey on Nino, so he was finally in range to
remove a Gremlin Marker although it appeared to
be too little, too late.

29

Post Game
I took some heat from my club mates for beating my
opponent in his very first game however that was
my intent from the beginning. The layered tactics
required to score points in Malifaux are never going
to be fully grasped by a player during their first
game, and the novice player usually wont score
a huge number of points. Therefore the standard
mantra of demos - give you opponent the feel-good
win - just feels too simplistic to me. You really have
to go out of your way to throw the game, and I just
dont think an opponent of any experience level will
appreciate that.
Although at times he was discouraged that his
efforts to kill off my models didnt translate into
VPs, Joeys frustration also revealed nuances to
the dynamics of the game that will keep him coming
back. The shoulda, woulda, coulda conversation
after our game showed that I had successfully
exposed him to more than just the basic mechanics
of the game, and I am certain the taste of the deep
tactical play of Malifaux will keep him coming back
for more! And besides, a nail-biter loss is easily
washed away by a round of shots at the bar!

vs

5 6

vp vp
30

After receiving no message or shipment from

Stranglehold in two weeks, I was dispatched
with a small platoon to investigate. Upon
entering the town we found signs of a grievous
struggle; buildings burned, animals killed
or maimed and all shipments ruined. Most
horrifically the populace had been killed to a
man. And not just killedthings were done to
them. Regardless, Stranglehold is ashes now,
likely a Neverborn attack. On a curious note,
the Magistrates holding cells were all empty.
I had heard he was prone to strict punishment,
but perhaps it was just rumor and hearsay

Scenario: The

Madness at Stranglehold

Jacky Jacky Jack Daw

Knew all my dreams and fears.
He told me what he saw in them
And drank up all my tears.

Set Up
COST

The
Guilty
Minion, Undead

TORMENTED

Df Wp WD Wk Cg Ht

FINAL, OFFICIAL

Deployment

ABILITIES
Hard to Kill: While this model has 2 or more
Wd remaining when it suffers damage, it
may not be reduced to below 1 Wd.

Before hiring Crews, randomly select one player as

the Attacker and the other as the Defender, then place
a 3 by 3 piece of dungeon terrain in the center of
the table. This terrain is blocking and impassable.
The Attacker has 10 additional Soulstones to hire
her Crew.

Df (M) Accusation: After a Tormented

model deals damage to this model, the
Tormented model suffers 1 damage.

Sympathy of the Damned: Models with the

Tormented Characteristic do not flip a card
for this model when determining a random
target while shooting into an engagement.

The Defender deploys first. The Defenders deployment

zone is the area within 6 of the dungeon terrain in
the center of the table. Then the Attacker deploys her
Crew anywhere within 6 of any board edge, this area
is considered the Attackers deployment zone.

Special

(1) Murder Weapons (Ml 5C / Rst: Df / Rg: y1): Target suffers 2/3/5 Damage.
CC Lingering Echoes: After damaging, the target must discard a card
or gain the following Condition until the end of the Turn: "Suspicious:
When this model declares a Tormented model as the target of an
Action, this model must discard a card or the Action immediately fails."

While in base contact with the dungeon terrain the

Attackers models may make a (1) Interact Action
with it to remove it. When the terrain is removed,
each Crew summons two Guilty models anywhere on
the table. The Attacker summons her models first.

(1) Share Guilt (Ca 6C / TN: 12 / Rst: Wp / Rg: 12): Target gains the Tormented
Characteristic until this model takes this Action again.
Ct Steal knowledge: After succeeding, draw a card.

Winning

The Guilty

ATTACK ACTIONS

TACTICAL ACTIONS
(0) Follow Pain (Ca 6C / TN: 13 / Rg: 12): Push this model up to 6" towards
target model with the Tormented Characteristic.

40mm

At the end of each Turn that the dungeon terrain is still

in play, the Defender earns 1 VP, up to a maximum of
4. When the dungeon terrain is removed, the Attacker
earns 5 VP minus the current Turn number (i.e. if the
terrain is removed on Turn 3, the Attacker would earn
5-3 = 2 VP).

WICKED
DOLLS
Wherein a child goes missing in the night
Ananda McGee
intensity. She felt charged with receptors that
mustve laid dormant Earthside. Her senses fed
her a discordant cacophony of information she knew
she shouldnt know. It was uncanny, unnerving,
and she was tired from the struggle to both conceal
and adapt.

Violet wouldnt have known how far away the smoke

was, Earthside. But she wasnt Earthside anymore.
Lowering the spyglass, Violet slid the cylinders that
composed its body back together. She continued
to look at the smoke on the horizon with her naked
eyes. From her vantage, she could smell the wet,
crusty clay of the outlands, freshly slick from rain.
She could also smell the sweet syrup of the cactus
flowers and spice scented scrub brushes that grew
naturally on the plain. She could feel the breeze
kicking up and moving the tumbleweed. The hair
on her forearms and the back of her neck stood
on end in response, as if reading and reporting the
direction and speed. In the distance, she could hear
a child crying in the direction of the smoke. That,
and something else. The tears, she understood.
She was on the trail after kidnappers who had
nabbed a boy. But the other sound confused her. It
sounded like the plinking, metallic melody of a windup music box. Shaking her head, Violet dismissed
both noises as her imagination and tried to
remain objective.

Dusk was falling.

Even in the creeping dim light of evening, Violet
could see perfectly the days rare precipitation had
fractured the top layer of earth. The cracked jigsaw
puzzle of the broken landscape should easily display
tracks. And it did. She could make out the clean
line of a single childs prints wandering off, alone,
into the wild.
The spoiled and beloved only son of a wealthy mine
overseer, gone missing in the night wandering off
alone? The case made no sense, even to her newly
heightened senses.
Violet sighed, slid the Guild-issued spyglass into its
sheath, and turned back toward camp to report. She
tucked the tool into the pocket of her thick woolen
overcoat and regretted again that the Guild hadnt
afforded her the time to purchase more appropriate
clothes since shed arrived from London. Even with
the rain, her heavy coat, thick riding pants, and kneehigh riding boots were sweltering. But the thought

Logically, the fire was too far for her to hear anything.
Logically.
As shed come through the Breach to Malifaux, all
of Violets senses had thrummed to life with new

33

of walking around in her crisp white blouse, gun

holsters, and badge exposed, disturbed her sense
of professionalism even out in this wilderness.
Manhunts were her expertise, Earthside. When it
came to missing children, she knew she didnt have
time to shop.

thickened further with a southern twang. Deputy

Vale, we shouldnt travel through the night out here.
Bad things happen.
Her hackles rose to the word deputy. She couldnt
help but feel it was a demotion from her Earthside
rank of inspector, but she dismissed the irritation.
If she returned the child to the mine overseer,
thereby allowing the man to concentrate on his work
again, mine productivity would resume. If mine
productivity resumed, the Guild would be happy with
her performance. Surely, she would be recognized
in whatever way Malifaux did such things.

Actually, heavy clothes or not, Violet was grateful

shed been put to work on the case fresh off the
train. Her new employers hadnt taken much time
analyzing her since they had needed her so badly. If
they had, they might have heard the fresh buzzing of
activity that was overloading her brain.
Violet knew stories of men and women burning
alight with magic as they passed through the
Breach. Nothing good ever seemed to happen to
them, even if they were on the right side of the Guild,
as she was.

The subject broached, the other two Guild guards

chimed in, interrupting her thoughts of success
and acclaim. They both added their agreement
with the first, but spoke at once so Violet couldnt
understand the specifics of what either man said.
She got the gist, but disagreed. The child was alone
and on foot. They were four armed and mounted
adults. The risks, were there any, should be theirs.
She walked over to her camp and stooped down to
roll up her bedroll.

In the few moments it took her to walk down the

butte to her camp, Violet struggled with how much
information she should share with the others. She
decided to keep what shed heard to herself, rather
than have to explain it. She decided to focus on
the tracks and smoke. These men worked for her
after all. Theyd been assigned to help her due to
her newness to the terrain, and she did not answer
to them.

We will break camp and proceed through the night.

Violet spoke as she worked. Bad things happen.
Ill take that under advisement. If we dont go to
retrieve the boy with time on our side, bad things
may very well happen to him. Im not interested in
that outcome.

As she approached, the three men in camp turned

to regard her. They were so similar; their attire of
wide-brimmed hats and long duster coats could
pass for a uniform. Violet realized shed been so
driven on the hunt that there hadnt been time for
her to learn anything about them.

The men watched her break down her camp for a

moment before they turned to do the same. They
worked to douse the fire and pack their things onto
their own steeds.

I still see the tracks. Violet announced to the

men in her clean British accent. A child alone,
approximately age eight, barefoot, travelling north.
I also detect smoke that way. Probably a campfire.
A days-distant ride. I propose we break camp and
ride through the night in an attempt to gain ground
on the boy. I estimate wed locate that fire, and
perhaps recover the child, near dawn.

As night cloaked the terrain completely, each man

swung up into his saddle, choking back fear in the
name of duty. Violet slid lightly into her own Englishstyle saddle and unpegged her reigns. She wasnt
sure how to explain that she could still see, but her
drive to regain the boy overrode caution. After a
moment of thought, she lit a lantern for the cover it
could afford her, hooked it to the end of her rifle and
swung it forward.

The three men looked to each other nervously

before the bravest of them ventured a hesitant,
respectful response. His American accent was

Without another word, without looking back, Violet

nudged her horse gently out into the night.

34

the firelight quite a way back, but shed waited for

one of them to notice. She nodded toward a scruffy,
stunted tree parallel to them on this side of the hill
and walked quietly over to tie off her horse. After
her men had followed suit, she moved close to them
and issued a plan.

They were close enough that when the wind picked

up, Violet could smell smoke from the fire. The first
time the scent carried, shed turned back in the
saddle to glance at her men to see if they could
smell it, too.

You, come with me, were going to skirt the camp

and head the boy off. She gestured to Stubble as
she whispered. You and you wait at the crest up
there and move into camp from this side when you
see us coming. It should be easy. By his footprints,
the boy looks like hes the only person there. As
Violet finished her hushed commands she felt the
hair at the back of her neck stand on end. The chill
crawled into her from her ears, where she was sure
shed just heard the ringing of a jingle bell.

They couldnt.
It was dark. Through the night theyd ridden
carefully, maintaining a good pace but taking care to
preserve their horses. She knew both the men and
the horses were tired after hours of riding on high
alert, but they were so close now she could taste
ash on the air.
Violet slowed up her mare and slid off, quietly, so
she could look at the tracks in the clay again. Shed
noticed the slight, wicked claw marks along with the
boys barefooted tread the first time shed been able
to take a closer look. Shed never heard of animal
kidnappers guiding a boy into the wilderness, but
there was a first time for everything. One thing was
certain, the clawed feet, as small as a housecats,
were doing much more than just walking. They were
circling, jumping, running, and practically dancing
around the child. It left her completely unable to
count their purpose or their number. She wasnt
sure how to package the discovery to the men
without sounding insane, so shed just kept it to
herself. She was grateful that they always stayed
mounted, rifles ready, when shed slipped off to look.
After failing to make an accurate count of cat footed
kidnappers again, Violet looked up in the dim lantern
light. She motioned the tired guardsmen down. The
smoky ash in the air told her they were too close
to proceed on horseback. The men dismounted.
They took a brief moment to wipe down their horses,
cutting the sweat off to protect from the chill of
the early morning air and then circled close to her,
awaiting instruction.

Perhaps the boy had wandered off with a comforting

toy, such as a jack-in-the-box? It would explain
both this ringing and the music shed caught on the
wind earlier.
Jingling of such a toy could mean the boy was
walking. They had to hurry.

It was not a jack-in-the-box.

She didnt know what it was. What they were. In
the worn down firelight, she could see them clearly,
but her acuity made the scene no less bizarre. They
looked like burlap sack dolls of particularly poor
quality, all tied together with twine and stitched from
random fabrics in a way that looked unplanned. Flop
headed, and appearing to lack any wire armatures,
Violet was surprised they were even weighted
enough to be placed seated as they were. Shed
scanned the camp for clawed animals she could
connect to the tracks, but she saw only the toys.
It looked like the boy was alone. The fire he must
have built for warmth was pitiful and almost out.
The child was sleeping fitfully on his belly, letting
out soft moans and whimpers. Violet could see
where his sleep-clothes had been nicked and torn in

Deputy Vale, I think I see firelight off over the crest

of that hill. The brave one, the one shed labeled
Stubble, broke the silence as he whispered to her.
He gestured over the rise as he did. Violet had seen

35

the back, offering up his soft flesh to be poked and

prodded. The wounds looked like the work of a long
day being pushed, pricked, and urged forward. But
she saw no aggressor. Frustrated, Violet looked the
scene over again.

Buh-bump
Violet vaulted forward herself through the whirling
claws of the other doll. She felt the air near it
moving somehow and knew where not-to-be in the
exact moment it swiped out. As it slid past her,
she heard the jingling of bells from inside it. She
sensed it turning around to face her back, readying
for another attack.

Two of the ragged cloth sacks were sitting next to

the boy. They were placed to stare at him while he
slept; their button eyes polished enough to reflect
mismatched colors in the low fire light. So were their
shiny little claws. Their wicked little claws chilled
her once she noticed them. Their reflective quality
had been cut by the dull coating of dried blood.

Buh-bump

Violet was caught, frozen in that moment, with

comprehension and disbelief.
Stubble was lying on his belly in the brush next
to her. He made a subtle move forward as his
eyes fully adjusted and he saw the boy alone.
Instinctively, Violets arm went across his chest,
holding him back. Their combined motions rustled
the brush and one of the dolls snapped its head
up to look their direction. The one that had been
facing away rolled its fluff filled head slowly around,
too, like an owl searching its prey. The first dolls
mouth seam pulled up into a loathsome rictus
grin, stitches hanging loose like the malformed
teeth of a madman. Both dolls began to click their
claws together as if clapping in anticipation. Their
movement made bells stuffed somewhere inside
them jingle. Stubble released an involuntary gasp.
In that same moment her other guards screamed
and shots fired from the far side of camp.
Violet could feel her pulse beating in her ears,
regulating the space between each movement she
made to respond to the scene.

Violet dove, belly down, to shelter the boy who was

now awake from the gunfire and screaming. His
wails blended with the shouts from the men whod
been at the other side of the camp. In the fire
flashes of their guns she could see there were more
of the little clawed cloth sacks running around. She
felt the whirling whiff of razor claws above her back
where shed been standing just the moment before.

Buh-bump
Violet scooped up the child in both arms, squatted
to her feet, grateful he was light, and took off
running. The bear hug shed applied squished his
back wounds and he cried out anew in pain, but
Violet couldnt afford to adjust. The doll whod just
stuck the landing after vaulting over her was dimly
lit, facing away. Without hesitation, she put her
riding boot to its back and stomped it down into the
clay using her momentum against it.

Buh-bump
Stubble shot again and cried out behind her. The
two men were firing and screaming in front of her.
The wicked little things didnt make any noise but
jingles, whether hurt or not, so the battle sounded
very one sided by all accounts. Violet used the split
second flashes of gunfire in the brush to heighten
her awareness of her surroundings. She knew the
tree with the horses was over the hill and to the left,
so she scanned the route for danger.

Buh-bump
Get the boy, Stubble shouted, lurching forward
and pulling two peacebringers out of hip holsters
as he got to both knees. He fired at the doll whose
twisted head was front-on-back. One of its button
eyes exploded and bits of fluff flew out. The shot
had jerked it back, but it didnt fall. Scrambling to
its feet, the thing rushed toward the man.

36

Buh-bump

Buh-Bump

Violet was standing on the downed doll thinking it

done. She hefted the boy higher onto her shoulder
and prepared to run forward again. The cloth sack
beneath her boot surprised her with a wicked slice,
striking backward and up from its face-down posture.
The angle of attack could only be performed by
something boneless and inhuman, a plaything
contorting its own wicked form. She looked down in
horror and saw the leather of her riding boot being
sliced open; felt the claws cut into her skin.

He fell. An unnerving jingle rang out from behind

her, too close, so Violet forced her feet moving
again. From the top of the hill, she could see the
tree with the horses. In the second she spared to
scan the distance for danger, she felt a rush of air
from behind and sidestepped one of the dolls as it
pounced. It missed its tackle and tumbled past her,
rolling off target all the way down the hill.

Buh-bump

Violet ran to the horses, not looking back. She

could hear jingles from the campsite getting closer.
She tossed the boy over her saddle and cut the lead
rope from the tree with her boot knife. She couldnt
risk the time to undo the knot. She heard a shot
ring out from where Stubble had been, then the click
click click of his trigger landing on empty chambers.
It was followed by the primal roar of a man who
knows hes at the end.

She jumped up and back in a panic. The slice into her

ankle seemed to have missed her crucial tendons
but it succeeded in getting her off of the doll. She
saw the alien thing wiggling and working itself out
of the clay to strike at her again. In terror, Violet
reared her good foot back and landed a champion
kick, sending it flying off into the night. At her
ankle she could feel the sticky beginnings of a boot
full of blood.

Buh-bump

Buh-bump

Buh-bump
One of the men before her fell. A final shot rang
out from his peacebringer before two of the things
descended onto his chest, slashing him open with
tiny arms to get at his insides. She moved forward
again, arms still full of the limp and sobbing boy.
She heard the man who was still standing shout
Go! as she pushed forward to the top of the hill.

Only after taking the saddle and kicking her mare

into movement did she turn the horse back to risk
a look. If there was anyone left worth rescuing, she
knew it was in her heart to try. Her horse bolted
forward to the top of the hill. She wrapped her arm
around the boy and righted him in front of her as
they moved. Locking her mouth against her own
agonized wail, Violet clenched her eyes closed and
spurred her horse into a run.

Buh-bump

There was no one left to save.

As she passed the guard, a gristly wet splatter

erupted from him and covered her and the boy in
gore. Mortified, Violet hesitated for a moment to
glance in his direction. She instantly regretted it. A
doll had crawled up his body to slice him open at the
neck and the wound was spewing jets of blood. The
man was still on his feet, clutching his throat with
both hands as if he could catch back his life.

Bad things happen. Violet replayed Stubble saying

it, over and over in her head as she rode back. In
hindsight, she was glad shed never learned his real
name. Shed never learned any of their names.
She was numb. Her ankle ached. Rocking gently
in the saddle, coated in blood, she cradled the
terrified boy. He clung to her as much as she did

37

No. He looked at her face and hesitated. I guess

not. Not really. More of an offering of unsolicited
advice. He thumbed the top sheet of paper and
flipped it up, glancing again at the page behind it.
You did good, all in all. You got the boy back. Alive,
even! The foreman is bound to show his gratitude by
increased operations at the mine, and according
to your accounting, the men who kidnapped him
are dead. Of course, Ill send condolences to our
Guildmens kin, if they have any. He paused and
looked her over silently, trying to detect sorrow or
regret on her face.

to him. She found herself holding her breath for

long paces just to cut out taste and smell from her
overactive senses.
Everything smelled like blood.
Everything tasted like blood.
She should have listened. She clutched the boys
thin frame to her chest and hoped the prize was
worth it.

Violet shifted her weight nervously from one foot to

the other in front of him, but she truly was too numb
to feel. The man nodded to himself and continued.
Deputy Vale... we know there are things out there
that are difficult to explain. Impossible, even.
This isnt London. This is Malifaux. Youll get the
difference. The Guildsman leaned back in his chair
across the desk from where she stood. He rifled
the pile of paperwork in front of him as he spoke.
She could see the top two sheets were her freshly
written account.

If this He thumbed her report again as he eyed

her. If this is your final word on the matter, youre
free to go. Get situated in your new quarters, Deputy
Vale. Get cleaned up. Get some well-deserved rest.
He stood to afford a proper dismissal before he
finished. I look forward to a bright future from you.
Welcome to Malifaux.

The Guildsman was eyeing her like she was a

wineglass that would break if he could only find the
right pitch, but Violet stood quietly and revealed
nothing. She noted that she could count the
individual hairs in his thick brows, behind his wiry
glasses. She could hear the ticking wheeze in his
breath that indicated hed recently gotten over a
cold. When his fingertips moved, she caught the
faintest whiff of the balm he used to separate
ledger pages.

Where bad things happen, Violet finished his

statement in her thoughts.
Rest, yes. Violet answered. She was alarmed at
how tired she sounded. She had been on her feet
and in action since the moment shed left the train
three days prior. Thank you, Sir. I wont disappoint.
Violet shifted her weight from one riding boot to the
other once more before nodding to the man and
turning to the door. Each time she had, the wound
to her ankle stung and the pain was helping her
stay alert.

Before hed entered the room, all she could see

were nightmare flashes. All she could hear were
the men screaming. She was relieved to find that
her senses were finally catching up to her; returning
from the horror shed recently witnessed.

Once she was out in the hall, Violet sighed and

closed her eyes for a moment. She leaned her
aching back against the wall. As soon as her eyes
closed, the slashing of tiny razor claws and fabric
swiped at her, unbidden, from her memory banks.

After a stalemate in silence, she hedged and offered

a few words.
Is that a question, sir? Violet closed her throat
against the tremble that had crept up on her voice.
She controlled each syllable with care.

Her eyes snapped open. She shuddered.

38

In defense against the visions, she forced herself

moving again. She limped. Down the hall to where
she could collect her things, ferried for her from the
train. Over to the entry desk to get directions to her
assigned place. Out into the gas-lit streets to find
her way.
Finally being able to sleep would wash away the
nightmare, she thought, trying to remain reasonable.

If she could sleep.

39

Its all inMakosthe

Reflexes
Rubbish
Mark Rodgers
wheel (from blue to orange, but all hued with green
so that it didnt become too intense of a contrast). It
was a little unusual as a gremlin color, but it worked
out nicely. I finished up the skin with some touches
of pure Bonewhite on the high points of the face to
accentuate it a little.

Since the coming months are the start of a steady

flow of Gremlins into the world, I thought Id combine
one of my favorite films of all time (Big Trouble in Little
China) with a bit of Gremlin painting. Of course, that
meant Burt Jebsen, in accurate clothing. Naturally,
I made that decision before looking up the original
outfit from the film, but in the end it turned out to not
be that difficult. This meant I had everything sorted
for a color scheme except his skin, shortcutting the
whole what shall I paint him stage quite a lot.

Skin

Skin
For the skin, the initial choice was obvious hed be
green. That would be kind of dull though, so I looked
up lizard skins and messed with the colors to give
him a more interesting skin tone. He started off as
Camouflage Green, which is a muted, vaguely yellow
tone. Shading first with 3:1 Camouflage Green and
Night Blue, and then with more Night Blue added
into that previous shade, introduced a cold, rich
color into the shadows. I then gently reworked the
Camouflage Green midtone to neaten it up, and
started highlighting. The highlight mix I used was a
2:1 mix of Bonewhite and Orange Fire, added to the
midtone in two stages to give roughly a 50:50 mix at
first, then a 75:25 mix of highlight to midtone. This
brought more warmth into the skin and meant that
the skin tone ranged across almost half of the color

41

rather than the midtone, shade, highlight method I

usually use for things. The black/purple wash mix
takes the intensity out of the red and leaves a nice
fleshy color that works well for the mouth interior.

Face Details

With the mouth done, I turned to the teeth. These

began as Bronze Fleshtone, which I highlighted with
Bonewhite. The first thing I did was wash them with
Charred Brown, to shade and fit them into the gums
better. They werent quite right for a Gremlin though,
so I glazed Sun Yellow over them a few times to give
him stained teeth. I was pretty happy with him at
this point, so I moved on to his clothes.

Vest

Face details
The face currently was fairly lifeless and strange, so I
next worked on the details to finish it. The eyes were
painted in Charred Brown as a base shade, and the
interior of the mouth was done with Gory Red. The
eyes then got a touch of Sun Yellow as the actual
eye itself. The mouth got a first highlight of 1:1 Gory
Red and Squid Pink. At this point I finished the eyes
with a very thin vertical line of Black to give him slit
pupils, touching up the yellow where necessary to
keep them thin and sharp. The mouth got a final
highlight of pure Squid Pink, before being washed
with a mix of Black and Hexed Lichen. Because of
the difficulty of getting a brush behind the teeth, I
decided to go for the highlight then wash approach,

Vest
In the climactic scenes of the film, old Jack Burton
wears a white vest decorated with a red sun and
fat little guy on it. A nice clean white vest would
look very odd on Burt (and didnt stay clean long
in the film), so I used some warmer colors to make
it look less crisp and clean. The base color was
Vallejo Model Color Pale Blue Grey, to which I added
equal parts Charred Brown and a little bit of Black
as a shade. I didnt push the shade any further as

42

it would start to look very over-contrasted if I did.

Instead, I retouched the Pale Blue Grey midtone,
and then started highlighting by adding Offwhite to
it. After two stages of adding more Offwhite to the
Pale Blue Grey, the final highlight in the smallest
areas was pure Offwhite, thinned very heavily so
it wouldnt be too bright. The Charred Brown and
creamy Offwhite combined with the cold blue-gray
gives a nice aged and dirty look to white fabrics
as it looks like grime has built up on the cold,
clean fabric.

part of the body was painted in Vallejo Model Color

Pale Sky Blue with some White added in, and the
sun in a mix of some very old GW Blood Red paled
off with White as well. I then added more details
to the body, using the same red/pink to add in the
sleeve trim and a mix of Jade Green, Sun Yellow
and Black to paint on the dragon details and lower
half of the yin-yang symbol. I ended up mixing into
the Jade Green to get a color I liked, but could have
possibly used Camouflage Green or something
similar for simplicity.

Freehand

As a final part to the pattern, I went back round with

some Black to neaten the edges and add in details
like the sleeve lines, eye band and headdress.
The very last step was to shade the pattern so
that it matched up with the fabric and looked like
it followed the same contours, which I did using
several coats of very thin Charred Brown mixed with
a little Black. I carefully kept this to the underside of
Burts stomach, and in the major creases such as
the one across the sun. If you dont do this step the
freehand looks like it hovers over the fabric rather
than being part of it, but if you go too heavy with it
you can hide all the work it took to get the pattern
right better to go carefully and slowly build it up
until youre happy with it.

Hair

Freehand
The freehand design would have to match the
one on the original vest, which meant I had to be
accurate, but also gave me a picture to work from. I
started out by sketching out the pattern with some
dilute Black to give me a base to work over. I then
filled in the first set of colors, using a couple of thin
layers of paint and allowing it to cross over the black
a little to thin out the lines. The skin was a mix of
Bronze Fleshtone, Sun Yellow and White. The main

43

Hair

Jeans

Burts hair started off as Charred Brown, which I

shaded with a 2:1 mix of Black and Hexed Lichen.
Adding purple to the shades in brown hair works
well to give it a more natural look. Hints of magenta
do much the same for paler hair. Once Id retouched
the Charred Brown, I began highlighting with a 2:1
mix of Charred Brown and P3 Rucksack Tan. This is
one of my favorite colors for painting hair; it looks
very natural as highlights over brown or a midtone
for blonde. The second highlight was roughly a 1:2
mix of brown and Rucksack Tan, while the final layer
was pure Rucksack Tan. This last layer was kept to
fairly small areas on the tips of the hair, and on the
high points of any bulges in the longer hair, to give it
a little bit of shine.

Painting denim at this scale is more a matter of color

choice than actual fabric texture, as the weave of the
denim would be too small to really see properly. The
key points Ive found are to use a slightly washed
out blue, work up to cream rather than white, and
have less intensely colored shading. The addition
of little areas of wear and creasing also helps. I
have seen drybrushing used rather brilliantly to give
the rougher look of denim, but since Im generally
terrible at that I have to do it with color.

Jeans

Skin Part Two

Skin part two

To start with, I used Night Blue, adding White until it

was roughly the right color for Jacks jeans in the film.
The shading needed to be less saturated so I used
equal parts of the base color, VMC Pale Blue Grey
and Black, to do it. Once Id restored the midtone
using a handful of thin coats, I slowly started adding
Bonewhite to the midtone to give me my first and
second highlights. Each layer was roughly a 2:1
mix of the previous one and Bonewhite. The third
highlight was pure Bonewhite on the areas that
would be the most worn and faded, such as the
buttocks and knees, along with some of the sharper
creases. These worn areas then got some dots (or
short horizontal lines in the case of the knee) of
pure White, to look like the underlying cotton was
becoming exposed.

At this point, I had the whole upper body finished.

It didnt quite seem right though, as there was a
lot of featureless greenish skin on the shoulders
that left him looking much less interesting from
the rear. I decided to adopt a common natural skin
feature, and add speckles of brown over the green.
These were painted in several thin coats using Dark
Fleshtone to build them up without the speckles
having sharp edges. I started by building them up on
the shoulders, but this looked odd on its own so once
I was happy with the shoulders I also added small
patches of them to the forearms, ears, and sides of
the jaw. I also glazed a little Dark Fleshtone into the
ears to differentiate the insides from the rest.

44

Leathers

Metals

Metals
A lot of metalwork that I paint starts out the
same way, with a base coat made from Black and
Turquoise. This is shaded down to pure Black,
trying to get the pattern of shadows right (such
highly reflective surfaces dont behave the same
as most other materials, in many ways theyre more
like glass, crystal or ice). The different metal types
separate at this point, with slightly altered midtones
being painted back in. Silvery metals such as the
barrels had an equal amount of Vallejo Model Air
Steel mixed in to the midtone, while the brass areas
had equal parts VMA Bright Brass and Copper. To
get the same level of metallic sheen in the new
midtone, you need twice as much Brass and Copper
than you do Steel as they are less intense. The next
layer was either pure Steel, or a 1:1 mix of Bright
Brass and Copper. As a final touch, I used a small
amount of Steel on the very highest points of the
brass areas, to lift them a little more.

Leathers
My usual recipe for leather has a fair amount of
flexibility in it for adding wear, so I stuck with it here.
The base color is Dark Fleshtone, which is then
shaded with Black. Its quite useful to do the shading
then retouch the midtone in this case, as it seems
to give the leather a more natural look. The first
highlight was a mix of Dark Fleshtone and Leather
Brown. This was followed by a second highlight of
pure Leather Brown. These highlights were kept
smooth on the large flat areas, but quite sharp on
the ankle. Leather doesnt fold well until it creases,
so it tends to form sharper folds than a softer fabric,
and so has large, smooth areas and sharp creased
folds. The final touch on the leather was to scuff the
edges of the belts, the peaks of some of the bigger
folds, and the toes. This was done with an uneven
but very small highlight of Khaki wherever I felt the
leather would be cracking or worn down.

At this point I didnt like the sameness of all those

gun barrels, so I wanted to make it more interesting.
To do this, I mixed up very thin glazes of Night Blue,
Hexed Lichen, Dark Green and Charred Brown,
adding each to random barrels. Keeping the colors
consistent along the length of each barrel but
varied between barrels, helps separate them into a
collection of random tubes cobbled together, rather
than a single dull piece of metal.

45

stronger and I have it on hand for the water effects

anyway). Mix it up, then coat the wood with it using
a spatula or spare strip of wood. Smear a layer over
every surface and let it soak in, wiping away any
excess after half an hour or so. After it cures, the
wood is much stiffer and can be drilled and painted
without trouble.

With the metals finished Burt was almost ready

for his base, except for one last task I needed to
paint his claws and toes exactly the same way as I
did his teeth, only using fewer yellow glazes to make
them look slightly cleaner.

Base Build

Base Paint

Base
Burts base would be a walkway over a swamp, so
the first step was to hollow out the base. I used
clippers to tear away the majority of the inner area,
followed by neatening this with a knife and files. I
then cut a circle of plasticard and glued it into place,
sealing the edges with putty. The sloping bank of
earth was roughly shaped with putty, then two
upright poles were glued into it. I glued the crossbar
into position, checking the gap was the right width
to take three strips of wood, and waited for the putty
to cure a little. Once it was slightly stiffer, I pressed
sand into the surface of the putty (because it was
easier than letting it cure and gluing it on top). The
final build step was to rough up the ends of three
strips of balsa, glue them into place, and cut them
back to match the edge of the base.
Balsa wood isnt a great material to paint over or pin
models to because of how soft it is, but it is easy to
use for making bases. In order to stiffen it, you can
either paint it several times with watered down PVA
glue so it soaks into the wood, or use clear resin
the same way (which is my usual preference, as its

46

When painting the base, I needed to start with the

messiest and most difficult to reach part first, which
was the soil. This was painted with Charred Brown,
then drybrushed with Earth and Khaki to build up
rough highlights. The final step was to wash it with a
mix of Dark Green, Black, and a little Charred Brown
for a wet, mossy look.
The wood began as a 1:1 mix of Earth and Leather
Brown, which gives a more aged and bleached color
than pure leather brown. Onto this I painted random
patterns of long lines using diluted Dark Fleshtone
with Charred Brown mixed in, and a further set of
stripes using thinned out Khaki for highlights. These
were done with quick smooth strokes, not worrying
about the exact placement since wood grain is
uneven. The wood then got the same wash as the
soil had, which I followed with glazes of Black into

the recesses and shadows to accentuate the uneven

planking. To further weather the wood, I glazed Dark
Green in random patches over the wood surfaces.

Mud

The final stage was the grasses. To get a natural

look, its better to use a variety of different grass
types. I have several scatter grasses of different
colors plus flock, tufts and long grass strands. These
get mixed according to what I want the grass to look
like. Swampy grasses would be uneven and range in
multiple colors, so I started with tufts of spiky brown
grass around the places the wood met the soil (as
nothing would trample it there). I followed this with
a mix of grass that contains a very small amount of
burnt and dead grass colors to fade the brown of
the tufts out.
At this point I mixed the resin and added a little
Tamiya Clear Green and Tamiya Clear Smoke,
tinting the water slightly murky green/brown. You
dont need much for the cured resin to look quite
murky, but it takes a little practice to get right. This
tinted resin was poured into the hollow on the base
carefully. I used my sculpting tool to sprinkle some
green flock around the edges of the water and next to
the wooden poles to look like algae, and then poked
several tufts of long grass into the liquid resin to add
more variation in the flora before leaving it to cure.
The first layer of mud was a mix of orange and brown
weathering powders, mixed with just enough matte
varnish to make a toothpaste-like slurry. I painted
this around his ankles and on the soles of his raised
boot with an old brush, and did the same in patches
on the wood, smoothing the edges a little. For the
thicker, wetter dirt I added some gloss varnish and
black weathering powder to the slurry and dabbed
this onto the areas where the dirt would be thicker,
such as in front of the heel of the boot. The final
effect is subtle, but its better to go light on extra
effects than to overdo them.

Mud
With Burt on his base, there was one last thing to do
to tie them together add some mud and dirt. Im
of the opinion that with mud, gore and other such
things, less is more. After all, a 1 mm thick layer
of mud on Burt would be about two inches thick in
real life. Overdoing effects like that looks odd, and
covers up the actual paintwork that youve spent
time on.
I decided to only put mud on his boots and the
wooden planking, as that would be where it ended
up just by him walking in the swamps. The first step
was to varnish him properly, as if I wasnt going to
add any this means that any mistakes are easier
to clean away without damaging the paint, and
makes the effect easier to control. Burt therefore
got a layer of matte varnish, with satin varnish (1:1
gloss and matte) used for the metals, his hair and
the base edge.

47

Finished

So hopefully, Burt hasnt come out too far away from the original inspiration. As with most
things in painting, its a case of building up a series of smaller, simple things to give you the
more complicated overall look you want. Each step is nothing. But thats how it always begins.
Very small*. And as always, feel free to talk to me about painting on the forum, under the name

Mako

*you can always rely on Egg Shen for philosophical sounding bits of useless advice.

48

WYRD CONTEST

WINNERS

WAMP runs a site dedicated to showing

off beautiful works of art submitted by
painters and sculptors alike. Last month
they held a Wyrd painting contest. There
were many great entries submitted, but
in the end three came out on top. We
would like to share with you the winning
entries. A lot of work went into painting
these. To see the other entries please
click here.
We would like to thank WAMP for providing
fans of Wyrd Miniatures the opportunity
to show off their artistic passion for the
world of Malifaux. We would like to also
thank the contestants for supporting our
product line.

DEATH MARSHALS
by Virtualonmars

www.wampforum.com

McCabe
by Synthnet

SEAMUS
by Sigmus3

The Gallery

Garreth (GMort) Moreton

Martin (96p) Hakenesch

Chad Lynch

Chris (Tigerstyle) Holloway

Cirsten [whycked] Lacroix

Stuart Lacy

50

David (Clousseau) Brown

Donovan Baker

Benjamin Kelly

Guus (PraetorDragoon) Biemans

Rob (Malal) Smith

Kieran (Fatesealer) Dunleavy

Lee (leebat) Battrick

Mario (virtualonmars) Suhardi

Marko (Demonn Agram) Paunovic

51

Martin (MalifauxMartin) Jones

Victoria (Vaiuri) Hare

Wojciech Tekielski

Michael (Jonahmaul) Rees

Mick (ampersand) Green

Damian (Lord Shaper) Smith

Richard Stinson

Pete Smith

Riastrad

52

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