Saturday, August 22, 2015

4-Player Story Encounter markers

There are story Encounters that use the four suits in their set-up and the players Scenario.
Below is an image of such a game's set-up where we had to deploy four 30mm markers representing the four suits onto the table  and the players later pulled aces or jokers to see which one of the markers was their target.  If you pulled an ace, your goal was to Interact with that particular marker and then hold onto it for the rest of the game for 3 VP.  You could get another VP for grabbing one of the other Markers.  Joker meant you could grab any marker, but each one was only worth 2 VP.   Max for Scenario was 4 VP, so Schemes were still important and even more important for the player with the Joker.


Table


Deployment from Bird's-eye view.

 
 

The silver rounds on top of the 30 mm markers have 1 of the 4 suits written on them.
 Each marker was placed on the table by a player prior to drawing their Scenario win-condition.  Most placed the Markers mid-table.  The silver rounds are Fantasy Flight plastic tokens I bought on sale and they are pretty great for writing on with a dry-erase marker, but they do stand out and I am always looking to replace them with more thematic tokens when I can.

I found some cake toppers that I am in the process of staining and dinging-up to replace a the silver tokens for these Scenarios.

I am liking how they are turning out thus far:




FYI

It has been so long since the game, I do not have a Battle report, but here are the participants seen in the set-up.

Top Left:  Ten Thunders' Kang and 3 Rail Workers
Top Right:  Arcanists' Snowstorm, 2 Ice Gamin, and December Acolyte
Bottom Left:  Guild's Sadhir and 3 Westrels
Bottom Right:  Resser Valedictorian, 2 Rotten Belles, and Effigy

Guild left the game on the 3rd turn and the game ended with Arcanists and Ressers tied.
Ten Thunders could have actually won the game, but the player dedicated the crew to attacking other than following their Schemes and Scenario (I believe they pulled the Joker which meant they could get 2 VP for grabbing any of the markers).  Combat is a means to an end in this game rather than the sole purpose of the crew which I love about Malifaux.  
 


Resser Proxies

The Resurrectionist faction lacks powerful range attacks, most of their models are easy to hit, and they are slow - so why play this faction?   Where Ressers really shine is attrition: keeping bodies on the table that can keep hitting and making those all-important Interacts.  One way they do this is by replenishing their numbers with summoning.  Without upgrades, Seamus and McMourning really suffer in this area and when Poison or Terrifying are countered, they are even more at a disadvantage.  Two Upgrades available to Ressers can lessen this disadvantage: Maniacal Laugh and Spare Parts. The top of my list of Upgrades for Seamus is Spare Parts;  I have the original sculpt of the Rogue Necromancy but it was to pricey to spend 2 SS for one situational summon a game, if I was lucky.  Not sure if I will ever take Maniacal Laugh, but I thought I might as well have it available if I wanted to try out my Corpse Bloat/Maniacal Laugh combo sometime.

Due to the lack of Guild Autopsies from Wyrd and my delay in purchasing Mindless Zombies (because their box costs almost as much as a Master Crew box), I have not been able to get the full potential out of Seamus who is being pummeled by an endless supply of opponents immune to Horror duels.  I take the Effigy, but 4 SS is an expensive Arcanist tax and the model is usually the first to die so I only get minimal return on my investment.  Summoning will give Seamus the needed bodies to keep the enemy at a distance so that he can fire is gun and jump around around the board completing Schemes and Scenarios.


I raided my box of zombies that came with Season 1 of Zombicide and used some tacky to temporarily adhere them to some 30 mm bases.  From there, I wanted to paint the horde that would become Mindless Zombies while adding a gun and sword to the zombies that would become Guild Autopsies before painting them, too.  Here is my progress so far.






 Guild Autopsies:  I know the original sculpts from Wyrd were emaciated, deteriorating, and shambling, but I went with a more well-fed zombie.  I am thinking these particular guards died from an unhealthy mix of sitting at a desk and eating lots of fried foods.  The Tweedle Twins never passed their physical, but their dad was a high-ranking official so they both got cushy clerical jobs. 


Base painting for two models.
Next step is to add gun and sword..
Left Side:  Sword in scabbard turned
out OK,  Gun looks a little better
from this angle.
Right Side: Sword and gun added.
Barrel bend is more obvious
from this angle, but the look of
the grip seems decent. 
 













Mindless Zombies:  Dipping into my Zombicide Season 1 box again, I pulled some smaller models to be this horde of meat shields.  I don't see using more than 3-4 at a time, but I painted an extra just-in-case








Tacky used to stick models to 30 mm bases and then added a base coat.



     Added a wash.  Will probably add another wash.