First Thoughts: Malifaux 3rd Ed Open Beta

Straight and simple, I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, they still have good gameplay and many of the units abilities have been better adjusted to be both more effective and tactical. On the other hand, I have issues with a number of characters and the lack of options.

I'm not going to go into too much detail (because it's Beta and can still change), but here are a few of my grievances:

-  Nightmare Box Sets:

So yeah, no surprises here. At the moment there are no substitute cards for these box sets, but as was feared, the Lucus McCabe set is now a split set as there are no options (or upgrades) for Mounted Guard units. As such, these guys are now just displays for me and will probably only get used for playing 2nd edition

- Lack of Upgrades:

I noticed while some Masters did have upgrades (mostly in line with there abilities), a bunch of them did not. This means it's hard to test out different playstyles when they have such a limited option to them. I just hope that they do bring out lots more upgrades down the road, not just for Masters but also for Henchmen too.

- Missing Humor and References:

So one of the great things with Malifaux 2nd Edition was its humorous references and ability names. There seems to be a real lack of that in this and somehow that bugs me really bad. Call it a nitpick, but to me it was one of those key things that made the game fun.

- Keywords, Themes and Gaming:

And finally, we get to one I have real mixed feelings on. On one hand I love themed armies and story driven fun, but on the other hand I feel that these changes really limit how mix and match your crew could be and what styles you can play as. Oh sure, you can still do it at a slightly higher Soul Stone cost, but the changes in each characters rules means that it feels you are forced into these themed mechanics just to have some average competitiveness.

Like I said, this is still Beta and things might be altered before 3rd Edition goes live, but as such my cautious feeling to it feels justified as there are certainly issues I have with it and feel now I need to just stick to Gremlins and give up the other factions just so I can have at least one usable faction. I'll do a proper review once it is out and I'll make my final decision on my continuation of Malifaux then (though now I know what all those forum posters felt when they went from 1st Ed to 2nd Ed).

2019 - Not the best start

So yeah, the last few months really have been a total bust. It seems the heat has really taken off in the last few weeks, which hasn't helped my main problem, my health.

It's no surprise by now that my mental health has been an ever lasting problem for me and the holiday period has been a real struggle. I had so much planned and very little has come from it. Hell, there was so much I wanted to write about, but the reasons for not are the same as why I try to keep from most media now, you can't have constructive criticism without being labeled as being from one extreme side or the other. This whole 'you're with us or against us' attitude is toxic and as that one gag sadly stated, common sense is a super power. When you have such a negative and fearful view of the world, people like that keep you isolated from seeing the good that's in it.

I'd go on, but I really want to focus away from that and start getting back on track. The Wildstar post and Animated Reflections will still be a bit behind, so instead I want to start with what I have been keeping some positive focus on: Miniatures.

I'll talk about Malifaux and the Gloomspite Gitz in upcoming posts, but one I am looking forward to is a game called Moonstone. Another skirmish miniature game, this one is a fantasy game with a focus on gathering and holding the Moonstones need to win the game and who's miniatures really remind me of classic fantasy creature art (though those Goblins really remind me of the ones from Jim Henson's Labrinth movie).

I like the factions of both the Gnomes and Faeries and will look at possibly getting some in the future to paint up. I suggest checking them out and see if your interested in the game or the miniatures.


I know this wasn't much of an update, but I'm trying to slowly get back into this and so things might not be at the best.

Late....always late

So yeah, there will be more delays once more, mostly due to my mental health, which has taken another beating these last few weeks. I once again apologise and will try to do my best to get something out before the end of the year.

Wildstar ended and my thoughts soon

So yesterday Wildstar ended and after much thought, I plan to write up something about my thoughts and experiences with the game.

This may take some time, but look out for it soon.

Projects Update - November 2018

And so the great heatwave has begun here in Queensland and thank goodness I invested in a small room air-con as it helps reduce that sickening feeling, though sadly my eyes have been stinging for a week now due to this weather.

Anyway, the Squig Hoppers are now complete:

I am not too happy with the Squigs with stripes as they just don't look right. No doubt I'll go back in the future and either fix the stripes or just erase them and do spots instead. Will update further when I have more to show on the other projects, though at least some progress has been made (probably due to the insomnia brought on with my recent medication change).

......oh yes, this also appeared recently:

Judging by the image of the Bad Moon and the various pointed mushrooms, it is safe to say that the Moonclan Grots will get the next update. This is both good and bad in my opinion. Bad in that I really don't have the kind of money to invest in a full Moonclan army, but good as we may get some new models or rules and I am really hoping that they will give an updated list for Skirmish with more Moonclan options so I have more to have fun games with.

Well see what this will hold in the future.

Projects Update - October 2018

Oh boy, where do I begin?

So yeah, my mental health has put everything on hold and I'm only now trying to get things back on track. Both the ship project and all Malifaux will be on hold for a bit longer, with my first tasks being to finish the 5 Squighoppers and 1 Ogor Maneater. I will hold off on the other 2 Maneaters as the one I do have (the Pirate Captain) will act as an Ogor champion for my Moonclan Skirmish group (as Glibbins' personal bodyguard). I'm giving myself the time limit till November 5 as that is the same week as when Supanova is on and I'll most likely go to it and I need to get prepared for that.

Also, another addition to Glibbins' skirmish crew seems to be a future release, a Shadespire warband called Mollog's Mob:

I love the look of this crew, but while I don't play Shadespire (yet), I can throw in Mollog himself in the skirmish group and count him as a Fellwater Troggoth, just replacing Terrible Stench with Shroom Spores. Certainly would be very thematic for Glibbins to have such a Troggoth in his crew. Might add moss to him too to keep up with the overgrowth theme on Glibbins.

I will continue working on the Malifaux bases, but unfortunately work on the Ulix Nightmare Crew has slowed to nothing due to limited materials and the green stuff not working the way I had hoped for. If I can get those pieces working for the conversion (and more modelling putty) then I'll will attempt to try again to work on them.

Beyond that I can only hope. I have a lot to deal with at the moment and so committing to this will push me hard, so I can only pray I don't go so hard that I stop all together.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Wildstar is Ending

This is both sad, but not unforeseen. Most MMORPG's rarely survive these days and even a game like Wildstar was eventually doomed to fall. That said, I still loved this game.

I do hope this isn't the end of the Wildstar brand as the franchise has so much it can offer, both in gaming and in other media. Regardless, I'll probably do a few more short articles on this leading up to the end, but most of all I'll need to jump on to record gameplay footage of my housing as at some point I will incorporate the characters (mostly Finian and Xzarbon) into my own universe (obviously with some name and physical changes in order to avoid some copyright issues).

I hope to more in the future with talking about Wildstar.