1

Contents
P.30 - Professor Pontificates
P.35 - Modular Structures
Credits
P.02 - In with the new
P.03 - Unleashed Power
P.06 - Genie in the Bottle P.45 - Makos Rubbish
P.54 - The Gallery
Creative Director
Justin Gibbs
Layout and Editor
David Hanold
Graphic Artist
Redd Cohen
Contributing Writers
Josh Christensen
Justin Gibbs
David Hanold
David Herbert
Matthew Ritter
Mark Rogers
Adrian Scott
Graeme Stevenson
Contributing Artists
Alex Alexandrove
Matthew Bradbury
Hardy Fowler
Christophe Madaru
Pablo Quiligotti
Melvin de Voor
P.18 - Words by Moonlight
P.25 - Showdown: Malifaux
P.27 - Showdown Tactics
By David Hanold
A look at whats to come
In with the New
Welcome Back!
It has been an exciting new year so far for the Wyrd community. And it has only just begun. A new website is up
for one thing and it has a place to upload your own gallery of art and painted miniatures, a place to link directly
to your blogs and even a chat. I am in the chat quite frequently so feel free to drop on in.
More exciting news, plastics crews for most of the Wave 1 crews are out, with gremlins and a few others due for a
release that is just around the corner! Best yet, Wave 2 fles are also available to download here.
In this volume of the Wyrd Chronicles we begin with a short story about Sonnias battle with Rasputina and
Cherufe by Graeme Stevenson. Ripped straight from Justins Drawing Dead blog we delve into the process
that went into the redesigning of the Avatars for Malifaux 2nd Edition. Justin also drops information on the
Showdown design process and makes an exciting announcement for the system.
Letters from the Breach have arrived, but is there more to them than what appears on paper?
Adrian returns to provide an in-depth look at forced movement efects and how to get the most use out of them
against your opponent. Josh Christensen breaks down the Jack of Diamonds Deck for Showdown: Icons. Mark
Rogers explains, in detail, how he imitates artifcial lighting and shadows using his Seamus. David Herbert shows
of his process for building even more modular terrain pieces, this time it is buildings with walls, windows and
doors.

As always, if you would like to see one of your pieces in the Wyrd Chronicles you can email me at david.hanold@
wyrd-games.net.

As a reminder you can always click on the page number to bring you back to the table of contents. From the
Contents page you can click on the articles name to bring you to the article.
Enjoy!
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3
By Justin Gibbs
Designing the Avatar Mechanics
Unleashed Power
Originally posted on Justin Drawing Dead here.
Today I wanted to talk a bit about the design of the
Avatar manifest mechanic. Tis was a particularly
difcult mechanic to design, largely because of design
decisions from 1.5 which we needed to keep in the
game. Essentially, Avatars needed to pop into play, but
balancing this in the current edition was very difcult.
Here is part of a post I made in the closed beta when we
were designing the manifest mechanic:
Sometimes, when designing a game, it helps to look
at the design process as a game. Here are the rules for
avatar design:
1) Every Master needs an avatar
2) Manifesting rules need to be in the core book out in
August
3) Masters need to turn into their avatar during the
game
4) Avatars need to be purchased at the start of the game
with soulstones
5) Avatars cant screw up the game (obvious, but its one
of the rules, listing them helps)
Here is my current issue:
Avatars are supposed to be big, fashy models. Additionally,
by their very defnition, bringing them into play removes
your most powerful model (the master). And, on top of all
of this, they only are in play for a very limited number of
turns. To make up for all of these drawbacks, they need to
have an infated signifcance on the game.
Unfortunately, this generally puts avatars into two camps:
useless because they simply couldnt achieve enough
considering their limited time on the board and removal
of the master, or totally game warping. Te line where
they can be balanced is incredibly thin, and although Im
sure we can hit it with a handful, Im not convinced its
possible for every master in the game. In other words,
rules 3 and 5 (above) arent playing well together.
Tat post was the basic core from which we started the
manifest design. Te issue was that Avatars, by their very
nature, were an all or nothing mechanic. Meaning, they
either failed horribly or dominated the game. An all or
nothing mechanic can be balanced in the sense that it
succeeds as ofen as it fails, but it frequently leaves players
with a bad taste in their mouths. Close games are generally
more fun, and a mechanic that will either sink or swim is
just generally less fun.
4
Following those principles, we came up with the current
design (rulebook pg. 56-57). Basically, Avatars are
upgrades. When you purchase the Avatar upgrade, you
select a manifest card (there are fve to choose from).
Te manifest card tells you under what conditions
you manifest your Avatar. If you meet your manifest
requirements, fip the Avatar upgrade over and you get
access to some new abilities.
Tis new system fxed the issues which we previously had
with Avatars. Te manifest mechanic was linked to the
upgrade system, so we had an easy way of introducing
it into the game. Because the Avatar was an upgrade,
the master immediately got something for purchasing
it, which makes the mechanic a lot less all or nothing.
In this way, the Avatar adds something to the crew even
if it never manifests. Also, since the Avatar upgrade
simply fipped over and added a few new abilities, the
master was no longer removed from the table when
the avatar came in. In other words, manifesting only
added to what was there, it didnt take anything away.
Tis made it much more reasonable to balance.
Designing balanced models is very important, but its
impossible to do if the core isnt there. Creating an
environment where you can tweak models without
sending their power levels soaring into the atmosphere
or scuttling them completely is key. And sometimes
even if things are balanced, they still arent fun.
Mechanics which cause a major swing in the game can
be very problematic, and removing them here was the
right move.
Aaron Darland did a lot of work on the individual
designs, and I hope he can give you more insight on
them at some point.
6
By Graeme Stevenson
Winter had come to Malifaux.
Heavy cowls of white draped every roofop that still resisted
the weight of snow; each night echoed with the mufed
crash of another ruined home, and each mornings pale
sun revealed more splintered black holes that dotted every
street like teeth wrenched from a jaw.
Te air was sharper than a blade and sliced into every
pound of exposed fesh, severing all sensation from ears,
noses, fngers, and toes. Tose lucky few that had no need
to leave their hearths watched the less fortunate struggling
through thigh-deep drifs from behind a scum of ice almost
as thick as the glass panes themselves.
Te cold was a palpable thing: it sank long numbing
fngers deep into the roots of the city, questing through
brick, wood, and earth to grasp the living and squeeze
the warmth from them. No one and nothing seemed
safe. Beggars in gutters, horses in stables, beer in barrels
all were found frozen solid.
Coal and frewood were quickly becoming scarce and those
too slow or poor to get their share were turning to desperate
measures; furniture, carts, and sheds were smashed and
burned nightly, books vanished from shelves and libraries,
all in the efort to live one more night.
Snow fell day and night; it piled in great sloping drifs
against outhouses and buildings and turned to a
freezing brown sludge that lay in a knee-deep slick on
every street and thoroughfare.
Each morning hopeful eyes cast skyward, but each
morning the same oppressive grey blanket hung over
the city, so low that the uppermost spires and towers
seemed to vanish into cotton wool. Te city had been
smothered under this frozen blanket for three weeks
and there was no end in sight.
Malifaux Station had fared better than most. Te
constant trample of rushing passengers, porters,
baggage-handlers, and others had kept most of the
main causeways relatively clear. Te blazing hearth fres
and braziers around the station interior stood testament
to it being one of the few places that had yet to feel the
pinch of the citys fuel crisis.
Barton Bragg looked outwardly calm as he made his
way out onto the platform. Te plump woman herding
a half-dozen squealing children past him would never
have guessed he was in fear for his life, nor did the bent-
backed old porter following her with a massive trunk in
his arms suspect that he had not slept in three nights for
fear of capture and interrogation.
As was ofen the way with underhand things, Bartons
anxiety had grown inexorably as the days between him
and escape had ticked away, and now that he had reached
the fnal moments before he was beyond the clutches of
Genie in the Bottle
Sonnias inner struggle with Power
7
the Guild, the fear in him was building to a crescendo. He
would have been soaking with sweat if not for the biting
chill that was bleeding through his woolen suit.
He shifed his satchel from one shoulder to the other and
checked again that the distant white mushroom cloud
of steam had not stopped. Te train was still inbound
and in a few minutes he would be aboard and free.
Crunching through the snow that was dappled with
crushed stone for traction, he moved with as much
nonchalance as he could muster further along the
platform, intending to lose himself among the stacked
crates and boxes that would be loaded onto the trains
cargo carriages. He had a ticket for the 2nd class
passenger area, but felt it would be better to board the
train in secret and take his appointed seat once they were
well underway. It would not do to be so easily located
were interested eyes to review the passenger manifest.
Te satchel was heavy and he shifed it constantly. He had
wrapped each of the plates individually in cheesecloth
to mufe any clinking, but gold was weighty no matter
what you wrapped it in and the leather strap cut cruelly
into the meat of his shoulder.
He had never seen plates quite like them before. Each of
them was rectangular, perhaps fve inches by three and
about half an inch thick, blank on one side and engraved
on the other. He was no expert, but he knew they were
very old. Te carvings were mostly inscrutable, but to
look at them for too long made his head ache and he
preferred to turn them face-down so his fngers could
slide over the smooth metal backs. Tere were seven of
them in his satchel, each one unique, and each worth a
kings ransom Earthside.
Tey were his. Not stolen but earned fair payment for
dark work.
Barton Bragg had never liked working for the Guild
and had been only too happy to help out the pale
woman. He had never liked Malifaux and frequently
cursed the day he had boarded that train, but like so
many others, he had been seduced by the prospect of
a New Frontier, a new land rich with opportunity, and
the Guild had been only too happy to pay his way.
Te reality of Malifaux had turned out to be quite
diferent and Barton had become one of many slaving
to repay their Guild debt in a subterranean brick maze.
His quick mind and quick smile had saved him and afer
a time he had progressed to an ofce with a window and
a little money, but he had never been happy. Te Guilds
leash around his neck had never stopped chafng.
When the pale woman fnally found him, he might have
done what she asked for the promise of freedom alone, but
when he felt that frst gold plate in his hands he was lost.
Te way he viewed it, the information would have leaked
out in any event, the how and when were mere details.
Why shouldnt he make a little proft for himself at the
same time? He owed the Guild nothing it had leeched
back his debt a dozen times over already and, like all
vampires, would never stop until there was nothing of
him lef to leech.
Te train approached, its engines rhythmic chufng
growing steadily louder. He could feel the weight of
it now; the wooden platform throbbed underfoot.
A dozen broad-shouldered laborers appeared from
a shed behind the platform, tugging on woolen mitts
as they reluctantly lef their coal brazier behind. He
fell in behind them and followed their grumbling and
hawking until he was almost at the end of the platform.
Te station veranda was long gone now and above him
hung a grey and pregnant sky more snow was on the
way and most likely within the hour.
His anxiety was momentarily forgotten when the
locomotive fnally appeared through the swirling ground
fog a long torpedo of black iron that seemed to glower
at him as it approached. He had seen the train before a
handful of times, but that had been years ago.
Hundreds of trips through the Breach had twisted the
locomotive until it resembled something more alive
than not. Te boilers had grown enormously bloated
and seemed almost to bulge visibly, and scalding hot
steam now blasted from a bifurcated mound like a
great snorting metal bull. Even the steel skin of the
8
locomotive was diferent, greasy and warped like an
expanse of wet leather.
As the fanged maw of the locomotives cattle grid
rumbled past, Barton was enveloped in a billowing
cloud of steam. It stank of blood and hot metal, but
conversely was the warmest he had been in days. As the
steam cloud tore apart on the sharp winds that followed,
he caught a glimpse of movement in the cab.
Te Driver.
Exposed to the same destructive, warping energies as
his engine, the Driver was a subject of great controversy
in Malifaux. No one dared approach the engine now, for
fear of seeing what had become of him. It was enough
for the regulatory board to know that the train still ran;
they fed it water and coal and kept well clear of the
shadows behind the engine cowling and the thing that
moved and chittered there.
Barton had the uncomfortable sensation of being
watched as the train lumbered past, but what he actually
saw was less than a silhouette, only a suggestion of chitin
and hair glistening red in the light from the boiler fre,
and then the engine was past and the carriages began to
rattle and clunk into the station.
He waited while the passengers began to bustle out,
their trunks and crates being unloaded by the pufng
laborers, and then the new travelers began to emerge
from the comparative warmth of the station interior and
hurry aboard. Tere was no sign of any Guild ofcials
anywhere on the platform and the train was flling up
fast, but Barton waited on.
He had one last job before he lef Malifaux forever.
Te pale woman appeared at his elbow; he felt the air
sharpen yet further with her arrival and a tiny spray of frost
crawled across the metal wheels of the nearest carriage.
I wasnt sure you were going to come, he said, his breath
sending out little locomotive clouds of his own.
Te woman said nothing, but when she smiled up at
him there was no threat in her eyes. He was struck again
by the color of her skin pure white, like porcelain. It
made her eyes very blue and her lips very red.
I have what you asked for, he continued. It took some
getting, but the source is reliable.
Good, she said. Her accent was thick and very foreign,
and her voice was much too deep for such a slight frame.
Even with the fur hat atop her head, she wasnt much
taller than his shoulder. And I have what you asked for.
Barton had almost gotten used to the fact that the pale
womans breath didnt steam like everyone elses. He had
no doubt that if he touched her cheek, the cold would
burn his fngers.
Shall we trade, then? he asked hesitantly. Teir
previous negotiations had been painless things, but
he was suddenly struck with a doubt that, here at the
eleventh hour, she would betray him.
She smiled again; if possible, her teeth were even whiter
than her skin.
You have always proven trustworthy before, she said,
holding out two gold plates in a fur mitten. I have no
reason to doubt you now.
He took the heavy plates and slipped them into his coat
pocket before the freezing metal could blister his skin.
He understood that the plates were currency of some
sort, but from which ancient civilization he couldnt
guess. Te markings were alien, but the glint of gold was
familiar enough.
Te pale woman watched him expectantly.
She does have one vulnerability, he said. Te Mask.
Te pale woman waited.
It came from the Witch Hunter armory, he elaborated.
She needs it to stay in control.
In control of what? Te pale womans questions were
always to the point.
I dont know, Barton admitted. Te pale womans
brows drew together at this, but he continued. Tere is
something inside her; some kind of energy or presence.
Very powerful and very hostile. Te Mask is what keeps
it trapped, like the cork of a bottle.
Te pale woman considered this, chewing her cherry-
red lip. And when I pop it? she asked.
9
Barton shrugged. Either she will lose control or shell
be fghting so hard to retain it she wont see you coming.
He did not know Sonnia Criid and felt no loyalty
towards her. It was no concern of his if she lived or died.
Te only things he cared about now were weighing
down his suit pockets and satchel.
You are sure of this? the pale woman asked.
As sure as I was about everything else I told you.
She nodded they both knew his intelligence had been
sound.
Tere was a moment when the pale woman seemed
to forget he was there; standing motionless while the
freezing mists curled around her ankles, her ice blue eyes
dulled by whatever inner distance she was gazing across.
When the piercing warble of the station masters whistle
fnally brought her back to the present, she seemed to
have returned with some new knowledge or realization.
He had the unpleasant notion that she had been
speaking to someone or something else while they both
stood there.
I will miss you, Barton Bragg, she said, her heavy accent
fattening and distorting the words. You have been very
useful to my cause.
Te locomotive engine belched a huge cloud of steam
and began a low shunting as the boiler pressure
increased. Te train was going to move out imminently
and there wasnt even a snif of Guild anywhere on
the half-deserted platform. His heart soared when he
realized that he was nearly free.
Well, next time youre Earthside, the bourbons on me,
he said magnanimously as he stepped up onto the cargo
door of the carriage.
Te pale woman pulled a face. Vodka, she said.
Its a date, he said, waving as the carriage shuddered
and the entire train began to slowly inch backwards out
of the station.
Te pale woman watched him with a sad smile. She
raised a furry mitt as the train continued to back up and
then she and the laborer shack and the receding station
building were lost in a sudden furry of snow.
Barton hurried inside to fnd a warm seat, absurdly
touched by the pale womans sorrowful expression as he
lef her behind. She had been a sweet little thing and he
was saddened to think he wouldnt see her again. Well,
who knew what was around the corner he had his life
and his freedom and a wealthy future ahead of him.
Tings were defnitely looking up.
10
Rasputina watched the train as it slowly pufed and
blustered its way out of the station in reverse, feeling
unhappy and eager in equal measure.
Te information about Sonnia Criids Mask rang true;
the thing at the heart of her stirred and told her that it was
so, that Criid now played host to one of their number,
but it was not a welcome house guest. December tasted
outrage and hatred on the winds blowing from the
Guild and Rasputina knew that Criid would be weak.
Tere would perhaps never be a better time to strike.
And yet she was sad. She had liked Barton; he had
been so agreeable, and so cheap. She had other agents
within the Guild who demanded ten times what he had
accepted, but that was not the issue. She did not feel
she had used him, it had been an equitable relationship
for them both; it was only now that their business was
concluded that she was forced to tie up loose ends.
A silent, blue-skinned fgure draped in furs stepped
from around a stack of forgotten crates, stopping a
respectful arms length away.
Bury his gold with him, she said, her eyes following the
train and the motionless fgures crouched on its roof,
watching for her signal. He earned it.
Te Silent One bowed and turned to vault onto the train
roof. Rasputina watched the shapes turn as one and
stalk along the roof towards the cargo carriages until
they and the train were swallowed by the strengthening
snow storm.
Sonnias version of events was that she had drunk a little
too much whiskey and kicked a few guys around who
most likely deserved it anyway.
Samaels version was a little more detailed and featured
him dragging the screaming Criid of nine cowering
miners fve of them beaten senseless and throwing
her into a snowbank before the shimmering nimbus that
was scorching her duster burst into fully fedged fame.
In truth he didnt think she could even drink through
that Mask, but with a lot of perseverance she had been
able to fick her head back and throw most of the
contents of a shot glass through the narrow mouth
slit and down her neck. It was a pretty odd sight and,
unfortunately for the miners at the bar, one of them had
mentioned as much. Tat was when it hit the fan.
She had surfaced from the melting snow in a cloud
of steam with her fsts raised and for a second Samael
thought he was going to have to defend himself, but
then she dropped on her butt. She had laughed then,
but there was no mirth in it.
Eventually, he had hauled her to her feet and helped
her back to her bunk at the Guild House, but he spent
a sleepless night staring at his ceiling. Te Mask was
supposed to keep Cherufe in check, but he wasnt
convinced. Hed never seen Criid drink so much in his
life before shed gone through two bottles in the twenty
minutes it had taken her to start a fght and her behavior
was growing steadily more unstable.
She had always been volatile; it was in her nature.
Before, it had given her an edge of unpredictability and
genius that had seen them both through half a hundred
narrow scrapes. Now, she was a liability. Her control
was crumbling and Samael could almost smell the fuse
burning. It pained him to admit it, but in this struggle
for supremacy between the woman and the Tyrant...
Cherufe was winning.
Criid was withdrawn when they met the following
morning. Her eyes were swallowed by the shadows
of the Mask and her head hung as though the weight
of it was too much for her. He noticed her knuckles
were skinned and bruised as she buckled the heavy
runesword across her back.
Whats on the cards for today, boss? he asked, hoping
he sounded more upbeat than he felt.
Teres a report of Silent Ones congregating near the
Quarantine Zone. Sounds like a ritual gathering. Well
take a look, see if theres any truth to it. Her voice was fat.
Sure.
Criid didnt move for a moment, her tousled hair hiding
the side of the Mask nearest him. Her hands worked
needlessly at the buckles of her scabbard.
Last night- she started awkwardly.
11
-was nothing, Samael said immediately. A scufe.
He remembered one miner sobbing an apology on his
knees just before a livid Criid smashed a table over his
head, but he kept his face neutral. Tose guys deserved
everything they got.
Probably right, Criid said, but her voice held no
conviction. Te Mask turned his way, but the expression
was unreadable. Anyway, Im glad you stepped in when
you did.
Sure, he said. You betcha.
Te snow was still falling as they crossed Curmudgeon
Square; even through two layers of wool and a thick
leather poncho, Samael could still feel the cold air
circling him like an animal, looking for a way in. Criid
was silent other than the white breath hufng from her
Mask and they made good time until they got away
from the busy Guild area.
Out of the main streets, the depth of the snow
increased rapidly and they were soon shoving their way
through knee- then thigh- then hip-deep snow as they
approached the Quarantine Zone to the south.
Finally, they stopped at a T-junction where the inhabited
buildings had petered out to a slouched, snow-covered
ruin of masonry that might once have been a school.
Criid took a minute to look around. Samael knew she
was re-tuning her senses, tweaking whatever internal
antennae she used to hunt down the Arcanist scum,
snifng for traces of their sorcery in the ether.
Boss, he said eventually.
She never turned, but something in her stance told him
she was listening.
Boss, about theabout that thing inside you, he said.
Te Tyrant, she said. Cherufe.
Can you feel it?
Criid pushed deeper into a drif of snow, brushing away
the white powder to touch the broken stone behind.
Sometimes I feel it in my head, she said quietly. Scratching
on the inside of my skull. Hunting for a way out.
But the Mask keeps it bound, right? Samael was eager
to introduce the metal talisman and source of their hope.
It never sleeps, Criid said, as though she hadnt heard
him. Te nights are the worst. It speaks to me, taunts me.
Samael began to understand. Te whiskey helps you sleep?
It used to. Not so much, now.
But youre okay, right?
Criid turned to look at him and the Mask eyes looked
hollow. Sure, she said. She sounded dreadfully tired.
He thought the conversation was over and followed
her through a brick maze as they ventured further into
the Quarantine Zone. She surprised him some minutes
later by speaking again.

Tey dont trust me now, she said. You know that, right?
Samael knew what she was talking about had seen the
looks and experienced the awkward silence from other
Guild members. Despite Sonnias seniority and her
reputation in Malifaux, it was becoming increasingly
clear that she was viewed as tainted or damaged. A few
of the junior ofcers had even displayed open contempt.
He stamped it out whenever he could, but he knew that
it was still happening and growing more frequent.
I know it, he said. And you know what? I dont give a damn.
Criid laughed and for once it sounded genuine. Well,
thats good to know.
Samael expressed his opinion of Guild bureaucracy by
spitting into the snow. I put my life in your hands every
day and you aint dropped it yet.
He was about to elaborate on exactly where the Governor
Generals personal staf could stuf their opinions when
the snowdrif he had spat into exploded in a blue-white
crackle of energy. Criid was thrown across the alley and
Samael was half-blinded and driven to his knees by the
ferocious hail of stinging ice.
As he shook the snow from his face and hair, he saw the pale
form of a Silent One race down the alley, long legs pumping
through the snow, her fur cape fying out behind her.
Arcanists! he spat.
Criid was up an instant later and haring afer their
quarry, her long coat and hair streaming. A freball
snapped through the air, but the Silent One had already
taken a sharp lef turn out of sight the ice-blued alley
momentarily fashed orange as the freball detonated
against the far wall.
Samael ripped his Collier from its holster and gave chase,
but his eyes were on the crooked roofops overhead. Silent
Ones didnt have a habit of hiding in snow piles and he had
an uncomfortable feeling she had been waiting for them.
He skidded around the corner, following the churned-
up snow trail as Criid blew apart a rickety shack door
and ducked through the building in an efort to cut
of the feeing Arcanist. Samael was right on her heels,
shouldering through smoking timbers and a murky
hovel half-flled with iron pots and clay bowls.
He burst into another bright morning alley to see Criids
coat tails vanish around a bend ffy yards ahead.
Boss! he hollered, smelling a ruse. Boss! Wait up!
Samael was quick on his feet certainly quicker than
Criid on any other day but the dense alleys were flled
with snow and he stumbled as much as he ran. Also,
something seemed to be lending speed to the Witch
Hunter as she bounded through the thigh-deep snow.
She was pulling away from him.
Tis was wrong; he felt it in his guts. Te old Criid would
never have fallen for an ambush shed have used Witchling
Stalkers and smoked the Arcanists out; cornered and
eradicated them like rats. But now she was racing headlong
afer a lone Silent One, launching freballs and baying like
a hound. Running blindly into whatever snare they had
dreamed up for her. He had to catch her frst.
Boss! he roared, rounding another corner and seeing
her away up ahead, legs pumping, smoke and fames
billowing from her raised hands.
Boss! Its a trap! Its-
A furry, snow-covered arm as thick as a tree limb swept
out of a side alley and crunched into his head. Samael
performed a graceless somersault and came down in a
heap, stunned.
Sonnia couldnt remember the last time she had felt so
angry. Te burning sensation of that ice blast against her
throat and chest felt like an insult, heaped upon the injury
already dealt by her distrustful peers. She had taken this
damned thing and bottled it up had used her own body
as a prison to save their sorry skins from the Tyrant and
still they looked at her like she was the villain.
Te Silent One had bolted like a rabbit, but she wouldnt
escape. Criid would hunt her to the ends of the earth if
necessary, and when she caught her, shed burn the fesh
of her frozen bones.
12
13
Te mounds of snow were lessening, but Criid didnt
care. It only meant she could run faster and catch that
insolent Arcanist all the sooner.
Te goading voice in her head egged her on; told her to
ignore the crushed snow underfoot, the fact that it was
fattened by many layers of footprints was irrelevant;
run, chase, catch, kill! Ignore the alley mouths, the
ambush points, the kill zones none of that mattered.
Only catching her impudent prey mattered, making it
sufer, making it squirm and squeal.
She ran on.
Samaels shouting behind her cut of abruptly, but she
ignored it. Her Arcanist prey would not escape.
Shapes were moving around her, cold blue-white fgures
coming out of shadows and from doorways and around
corners, but Criid ignored them the fying heels before
her were all that mattered now, the feeing prey.
Run! Chase! Catch! Kill!
Te thing inside her exalted at the approaching triumph.
She ran harder.
Samael squinted up at the huge shaggy shape, feeling
hot blood drooling over his lips and chin.
Te Wendigo had a bestial, almost simian face, but
something very much like a grin split open its mouth
and thick bone-crushing teeth glinted. Seven feet tall
and muscled like an ape, the Totem seemed all the larger
with its thick insulating layer of hair.
A lesser man might have quailed at the sight; might
have lain insensible from the blow to his head; might
have lost his drawn pistol as he crashed down in a heap.
Samael Hopkins was not a lesser man.
He shot the Wendigo through the ankle, taking grim
satisfaction from the loud KRACK when bone smashed
and the creature toppled forwards to its knees, wide-
eyed shock replacing its confdent leer.
Tose blood-shot eyes widened further when Samaels
gun muzzle thunked into its open mouth and the back
of its skull evaporated in a discharge that rolled the
length of the alley and sifed snow from laden roofs.
Samael lurched to his feet and swiped at his face with a
sleeve. Blood was speckled across the snow in a rude fan
where the Wendigo had collapsed more a cranberry-
smeared fur coat now than an animal.
Criid was gone. Only the evidence of her bull-like
charge was still visible in the snow. Hed never catch her
now with such deep drifs. His eyes ficked back and
forward across the alley and then he had a thought.
With a grunt, he hauled himself up on the nearest roof.
Rasputina sensed the approaching Tyrant before she
saw it, or rather the presence inside her did. December
twisted with anticipation and apprehension as the angry
entity thundered towards them, spurring on its Guild
vessel like a jockey whipping a thoroughbred.
Her Silent One bait sprinted across the courtyard; sixty
feet below Rasputinas perch, bare feet throwing up little
pufs of snow. A streak of fre followed her and then the
blue alley mouth bloomed like an orange fower as Criid
raced into view.
Te Arcanist had picked her spot carefully. Standing
toe-to-toe would have handed the advantage to Criid;
she had nothing to match the Witch Hunters bullets
and blades. Instead, she had set Silent Ones at compass
points around the courtyard of the old steam works and
she herself stood on the 2nd foor where the southern
wall of the building had collapsed into a snow-covered
rubble slope, giving her all the space she needed to fex
her magical muscles.
She had clear line of sight down into the kill zone, and
Criid was running straight for it.
Not wasting a second, Rasputina crouched and threw
forward her fsts, feeling the power of December
streaming from her and whipping the cold air into a
blustering gale. As the temperature dropped sharply
in the gathering cyclone, glistening shards of razor ice
formed, flling the storm front with lethal hail.
14
Some preternatural refex warned Criid and she twisted
like a cat; an orange whirlpool of fame ignited around
her outstretched palm and the howling gale blasted into
her hasty shield, driving the Witch Hunter back ten
yards on one knee and leaving a deep smoking trench
in the snow.
Rasputina pushed harder and the roaring cone of ice and
cold intensifed, turning blizzard white and engulfng
Criid. She could see the other womans duster snapping
like a fag in high wind the ice shards slashed and
scored it in a dozen places, shredding both sleeves and
rattling against her steel mask.
Despite the surprise attack, Criid proved her immense
capability by regaining her feet and taking two steps
forward into the ice maelstrom, both palms raised
against the winter tempest. Her fame shield was growing
and brightening, forming a swirling hemisphere that
fashed and spat at the ice shards.
Rasputina could feel the power in her opponent like a
surging wave; it both exhilarated and terrifed her. She
had suspected the Witch Hunters power would have
magnifed under Cherufes infuence, but just how much
had been an unknown quantity until now.
She wasnt worried, though she had planned for this.
Her Silent Ones were ready and as one they moved
forward. Magical energy crackled and Criid vanished
for a second time as streaking white ice slashed out
from every corner of the courtyard. Air currents spun
violently while the Witch Hunter was blasted from all
directions by pillars of cold and a massive cloud of
boiling steam belched into the air from her wavering
heat shield.
Rasputina could no longer see anything in the howling
tempest other than fashing sleet and ice and the
shimmering distortion of Criids defenses. Jagged ice
formations began to form around the nucleus of the
battle, twisted nightmarish spires that melted and
re-froze a hundred times as pulses of fame and ice
shuddered back and forward.
Te center of the courtyard was hissing like a living thing
when the gunshots began. Rasputina finched, until she
realized it was cobbles in the courtyard exploding from
titanic temperature-induced stress. Pieces of stone, some
glistening with frost and others smoking like sulfur,
ricocheted around the enclosure.
Rasputina was straining they were all straining with
the sustained efort. Te whole courtyard was now an
icebox growing long ice fangs under the screaming
arctic winds; white frost spider-webbed the brickwork
behind her and the iron railings on the northern side
of the yard squealed as they deformed and snapped, but
Criid still resisted.
Te Arcanist could hear her teeth squeaking in her
gritted jaw as she poured everything she had down into
the courtyard. A section of wall cracked as the spreading
frost spears broke through the ancient mortar; the
north-west corner of the courtyard began to collapse
and then stopped dead in mid-air when it grew an inch-
thick coating of glacial ice, but Criid still resisted.
December had whispered a warning, had shivered at
the prospect of facing Cherufes rage wielded through
such a potent Guild weapon, but Rasputina had one
card lef to play.
Glinting crystalline fgures burst from the frozen-over
snowbanks around the circumference of the courtyard,
racing on short legs and leaping into the rippling blasts
of ice that were focused on the staggering Witch Hunter.
Te Gamins were blasted straight into Criid crashing
through her weakening heat shield and sinking sharp
ice talons into her thighs, shoulders, arms, stomach.
And Mask.
Rasputina had known from the outset that the only way
to win was to separate Criid from her Mask everything
else was just window dressing. When the Witch Hunter
was weak and distracted enough, all that was needed
was one sharp claw to uncork the genie.
And then a heavy mud and snow covered boot slammed
into the small of her back and kicked her clear over the
side of the building. She was too astonished and winded
to manage so much as a scream.
15
Samael watched the slender Arcanist tumble head over
heels with blue eyes the size of hen eggs. She crunched
into the snow drif that was now a frozen ice chute
and rolling to a sprawled stop some sixty feet below,
motionless, boneless and quite possibly dead.
Te Silent Ones staggered as the spell broke and their
blasting ice columns were cut of as abruptly as closing
a faucet.
Samael saw Criid at the heart of the former maelstrom,
half-engulfed a gang of twisted little Ice Gamins. She
was ripped and bloody, her Mask had been frosted
over and her clothing was brittle with ice, but she was
unbowed as she clubbed the snarling clawing things
with her fst and pistol butt.
Samael stepped to the edge of the steam factorys upper
story, preparing to leap down and wade in when one of
the vicious Gamins slashed at Criids neck. She twisted
away, but the glinting talons bit into her jawline and
pulled. He saw, as if in slow motion, the Mask being
wrenched upwards and then spinning free like a coin
fipped from a giant thumb.
It skidded away across the ice and snow and for just an
instant Criids naked and familiar face stared up at him
in almost comical surprise. And then her eyes turned
black as volcanic glass.
Te courtyard vanished in a freball so bright Samael
couldnt even shut it out by clapping his arms over his
face. Impossibly high pitched shrieking flled his ears,
but he couldnt tell whether it came from the atomized
Gamins or the steam that blasted from every crevice
and crack in the shattered courtyard.
Tere was a fgure moving at the heart of the
confagration but it didnt look even remotely human.
Silent Ones were scattering from the blast and the shape
turned to follow. White fame washed across them and
they instantly turned to ash, leaving a glowing slag of
molten stone behind where the bricks and cobbles
dissolved.
Samael could feel the heat belching from the shape at a
distance of a hundred feet; his clothing started to smoke
as the air turned to unbreathable soup. Te building
under him lurched and he realized with horror that
the courtyard and buildings around it were sofening.
Tey were beginning to melt under this brilliant assault,
sagging like tafy as the center stones of the courtyard
sank into the ground, looking like the glowing mouth
of a volcano.
In seconds the entire courtyard would be a pool of
spitting lava and he would be a cinder unless he fgured
out a way to shut down Cherufe.
Te Mask had skidded to the very edge of the courtyard
and lay half-buried under the last of the melting snow.
It was his only chance.
He vaulted from the slowly drooping buildings upper
foor, free-fell thirty feet and hit the sloping ramp of
broken rubble, now devoid of snow. Water rushed down
the slope and came in rivers from the alley mouths as
tons of snow melted in seconds and huge geysers of
steam blasted into the air when these tributaries hit the
expanding lava pool.
Samael rolled through the steam blasts, the fesh of
his face and hands scalded, and ran for the edge of
the courtyard. Te wall of heat chased him, setting
the trailing edge of his poncho afame, but he reached
the Mask and snatched it up. Incredibly, the metal was
still cold and felt abnormally light in his hands, almost
insubstantial.
Te shape in the freball swung to face him and opened
dozens of limbs as if inviting an embrace; through the
shimmering heat distortion, it looked like a burning
forest.
Samael swallowed at the prospect of Cherufes faming
embrace, but Criid was in there too and she needed his
help.
You aint never dropped it yet, boss! he shrieked and
ran at the burning apparition.
Sonnia was in agony.
Cherufe had surged out of her like a geyser of black tar;
engulfed her in its stinking embrace; swallowed her
whole. It was like being submerged in an oil sea every
kick to reach the surface was a monstrous efort and yet
she only sank deeper.
Te Tyrant was using her; she could feel its evil will
siphoning her power, pointing her like a weapon as
impossible heat and energy boiled out of her.
She fought, but its power was absolute; she could easily
defeat a thunderstorm with her fsts.
And it was free. Tere was nothing that could stop this
avalanche of hatred. Nothing to
Something smashed against her face.
Te howling freball vanished; snufed in an instant and
she hit hard stone, her back of her skull striking the
ground and making her jaw rattle.
When the impact subsided, she realized that the
sufocating oil sea was gone Cherufe was gone.
A heavy insistent pressure was bearing down on her
head, pushing something cold and unyielding against
her face.
Boss? said an awfully familiar voice. Boss? You right
again?
She swallowed and took a breath. Te foul reek of
burning stone and hair that flled her lungs didnt really
qualify as air but it was still the sweetest thing she had
ever tasted.
Boss, said the voice again, sounding tight with pain.
You gotta give me a sign here.
Samael? she croaked. Her voice sounded terrible.
Youre not gonna freak out on me if I lif of, are you?
he asked. Only, Im kinda on fre here and it hurts like
a witchs kiss.
She cracked open an eye.
Samael was sitting on her chest, his face lobster-red. He
was holding her Mask down with both hands and his
poncho was on fre.
Get of me! she snapped, shoving him away. He
immediately set to hopping around, yelping as he
dragged of his burning robe and throwing it to the
ground to stamp on it.
Sonnia coughed bronchially and rolled over, using her
palms and knees to get at least part of the way upright.
Te stones under her were hot to the touch and as she
opened the other eye she saw she was crouched at the
edge of a smoking pit almost a hundred feet across. Te
cobblestones had been blasted black as far as she could
see and the center of the pit was giving of orange light
and immense heat in equal measure.
Samael fnished kicking his smoking poncho around
and ofered her a hand.
Feel better? he asked as he hauled her up.
Compared to what? she retorted.
As they surveyed the damage, Sonnia became aware
of a dark shadow deep within her, swirling ceaselessly
like a wild beast. So, Cherufe wasnt gone afer all, but at
least he was back in his cage.
Rasputina? she asked.
No sign, said Samael. Shes a slippery one, though. I
doubt weve seen the last of her.
Tats what worries me. Im a damned fool.
Dont talk that way, boss. We all make mistakes.
Rookies make mistakes, she snapped. I should have
seen that ambush a mile of.
Well, maybe you had other things on your mind,
Samael ofered.
In my mind, you mean.
Either way, youre not at your best.
Tat much is certain. Sonnia looked at her charred,
scalded companion. You saved me.
16
17
Sure did, Samael grinned. Figure you just have to buy
me a drink, now.
She chuckled, but inside she was cold with the realization
that Cherufe had very nearly escaped. His forceful will
had been a factor in her headlong rush, but he couldnt
take all the credit. She had let her rage get the better of
her and that was a mistake that she could only aford to
make once.
Samael must have sensed her mood. He nudged her gently.
Hey, boss, it aint all bad, he said, wrestling to keep his
face straight. I like what youve done with your hair.
She reached up with soot-blackened hands and
felt twisted, ratty spirals and smoking ends.
Funny man, huh? You want a drink, or a punch in the
gut?
Samael shrugged, grinning. Ones much like the
other in this town.
Sonnias laughter echoed over the fre-blackened
roofops as they headed for home.
18
By Matthew Ritter
Dear Gerard,
Nightmares. Nightmares of fre and light. It is strange that when I sleep, I can always tell when the dream will turn twisted in upon
itself. Te dreams I have in which I can see the sun, in which everything is bright, as if I was back home, those are the ones that always
end with true distaste.
Home. I have been here in this new world, this black city of Malifaux, long enough that I could call it home. Sometimes, I fnd myself
thinking of the place I sleep, work, live, that Archibald roosts, as my home. I always squash these thoughts. Tey are horrible moments.
Tis place is not home, not for any human that has ever been born. To feel comfortable here is to invite a death so foul...
Te city is so strange in that way, because it is at once familiar and yet so very wrong. It is easy to forget, people, buildings, like a
normal city. Ten you see it, something that makes it impossible to think you are anything but Malside. Te way something is carved
into the stone in that arcane language, knowing that we are not the frst to live in this city. Not even the second... Perhaps not even the
third.
Its the colors though, the light, of this place. At night things seem real, but during the day, it is as if a fog drifs over everything. Colors
are muted, hazy. Dream like? Maybe as I hunt through the swamps under the moon, this is the dream, and when I sleep, that is the
world as it is...
Tough I know you fnd my philosophical naval gazing tiresome, I do apologize. Te downfall of my classical education is wasted here.
I truck through swamps afer criminals, I send letters. Archibald is more important here than I.
Some of those I work with are distasteful. Lucius Mattheson, the secretary to the Governor General, in particular sets me on edge. He is
slight, built like a wisp of grass that has grown sickly and died. Yet he moves, not like a larger man, but like a bird. A raptor. A predator.
His gaze is the perfect concentration of a bird of prey swooping in for the kill. Yet, despite these eyes, he talks too much. Te mouth of a
politician, the eyes of a killer. I will not say he is not efective at his duties though. Not like Captain Dashel, but I shall not go into details
here, I have wasted enough ink. Perhaps next time.
Tis letter is not meant simply to be complaints and philosophy, my friend. I am curious if you know anything of some of the ways one
hides a message inside another message? I am no cryptographer, but I have always found the practices interesting. Especially nice in
case two people wish to communicate without being overseen.
Just for fun, I have done such a silly thing here with this message. Perhaps I used moonlight ink, or a simple shifing cypher. Maybe a
ficker of magic borrowed from a witch hunter? Whatever I did, Im sure you are clever enough to fnd it. If youre having trouble, look
to the moon for help.
I need a distraction from my nightmares and my growing sense of unease. I do not like this place, I like this city less every day, and
every time I go into the Bayou I feel as if I will sink into the swamp and never be seen again. So, indulge me this hobby.
-Sincerely
Your truest of friends. Lasker Wilhelm
P.S. I hope Archibald has brought you this letter with due speed and diligence. Reward him, if you would,
with a live mouse. I know you fnd it distasteful, but he pouts so when you feed him cooked meat or jerky.
Processed 1902-5-23 Sorting House 36, Latigo
Words by Moonlight
Letters from the Breach
19
Dear Gerard,
Archibald pouted for almost a full day afer returning from you. What did I say about giving him a live treat? He is
quite sensitive. Sometimes I feel he is more owl then hawk, wise, but moody.
I hope you were able to start our game. Do not worry if you did not, it isnt that important. Just something to help
me pass the time. I will be doing it again in this note, and future notes. It takes time and efort, but it helps fll my
sleepless nights.
I told you of the nightmares. I have too many of them. Tough, I hardly feel I am alone. Sometimes I fear my
nightmares are some sort of shared delusion of all of us here in this black city. Have I ever told you of my theories? Of
the Breach? Tey are crazy, and only seem as if they might be true to me under the moons light.
Crazy thoughts, like what if while we are coming to this world, there are some of the Neverborn going into ours?
What if that is why all of these strange, rogue breaches we hear rumors of are? Why, you might ask, would anything
from this world want to come into our world? What if they too harness the powers of the soulstones?
What if they cull us, what if afer the last time the Breach closed, they realized we were useful, a steady stream of
souls to help fll their dark magic? Perhaps we are a herd, drawn into this world on purpose now, drawn to be used as
sheep: bred and sheared.
I will strive to be less morose in future letters. I do not wish to weigh upon you so. Tell me, how are the children?
Is Martha well? I have not seen her in so long. It must be hard to get word to and from them. If you have heard
anything, do let me know, Im sure it will lif my spirits.
Was I about to complain last time about Captain Dashel? Perhaps. I was in a dark mood though, and I am ofen
unfair to those around me when I am. I take it back, he is good at getting those guild recruits in line. Better than I
would be, at least.
Expect another letter within a week, even if you do not answer. I have little else to do when I am not on the hunt, and
when Archibald is out delivering messages; I have only my own mind to accompany me. As always, look to the moon
for comfort as I do.
-Sincerely
Your truest of friends. Lasker Wilhelm
Truest Lasker,
I have recently got word from my family from beyond the Breach. They are well. They wish you well. My wife writes wonderfully
long letters, many words. Her handwriting is impeccable. I do not take from her stock.
I miss you. You do know that you spoil Archibald, yes? He grows fat. If he pouts, it is because I was not there to see to him
personally. I am away often, it seems whenever a deep Bayou hunt is attempted, they call on me. Richkter is the sharpest hawk we
have, and he is mine.
Know that you are in my thoughts, if I cannot match you letter for letter, it is because I am hunting vermin deep in the swamps.
My greatest love and friendship,
Gerard Depridieu
Processed 1902-6-1 Sorting House 36, Latigo
Processed 1902-6-4 Sorting House 01, Malifaux
20
Dear Gerard,
My dreams have been better this last week. We all have dark times that seem to settle in and fll us with despair. Im glad that lately Ive
actually been able to dream. My insomnia of weeks past has, well, past.
Archibald is well, but he pouted again afer returning from you. Is it so hard to simply give him a live mouse or two for his trouble? If you
are not there, could you not instruct the ones at the message center to do this in your absence? He fies very far, and he has never lost a
single message. Just because your bird prefers its meat unnaturally tainted does not mean some of us do not have hawks that are still closer
to their wild mindsets.
I do not spoil Archibald. I treat him with the dignity he deserves. Growing up, falconry was one of the few passions I found that could
touch me. To watch the bird fy, oh, sometimes you feel like you yourself are unbound. It was freeing. Afer realizing that as the third son
there was not much lef for me back home, and deciding to come through the Breach, I signed up for the Austringer program out of a sort
of lethargy. It sounded familiar.
But when I saw Archibald for the frst time. Bits of shell still around him. I know, they say a newborn hawk has none of the dignity it will
grow into. Tey are wrong. I saw greatness there. A fearless greatness that I knew I would spend the rest of my life attempting to live up to.
Tere are days I am not sorry I came to this dark city, for I would never have met that Bayou Raptor had I stayed.
Perhaps, I do spoil him. But only as much as he deserves.
It pleased me to get your message that your family is well. I will try and send a small amount of money with my next message, please use
it to purchase a gif for Reginald, he is the only one of your children I could ever stand. Tough, I miss them all, there are so few children in
this black city.
It is strange, I never liked children, I have never thought about having them, and here, tonight, realizing it has been over a year since
I have heard one laugh, or felt my anger rise as one shows blatant disregard for the rules of grownups. I miss children. Without them
around it almost feels like there is no future.
Perhaps as we tame this twisted land their laughter and mischief will come to this horrid place, and then it will seem less horrid.
I had quite a scare while out on a hunt in the Bayou yesterday. Remind me to give you the details of it when I am less shaken, it nearly
took my life, but I am lucky enough to have escaped with just a scar. Tanks to Archibald. Which reminds me, do not forget, a LIVE
mouse for Archibald. His pouting is more than I can bear, and I overfeed him when he returns if he does it.
May this letter fnd you well. May you always come back safe.
-Sincerely
Your truest of friends. Lasker Wilhelm
Dear Gerard,
Archibald did not pout afer returning from his last visit to you. Either youve fnally relented and given him a proper treat, or he
has given up on you and refuses to have his feelings hurt by your pettiness.
I do not think I mentioned in my last letter, but I received a neck wound during one of our hunts. It has festered some, and lef
me bed ridden for a few days before the fever broke. It is on the mend now, and I am up and about as chipper as I have ever been.
I know there are some that feel hawks are far too much the predator to ever truly care for those that own them, but Archibald
watched over me. I do not know if he would have been willing to fy a message with me in that state.
I believe the wound I received may have been deserved. I feel I can tell you this, but I am not truly the brave sort. I am not like
Archibald, I cannot stare death and danger in the eye and charge headlong. While the hunt was on, I was not looking for the
quarry, not truly, for fear I might fnd him. I had hidden myself. In what could be viewed as irony, depending on your strict or
loose defnitions, in my attempts to avoid him, he found me.
Tanks to Archibalds help, I bested him, but it still shames me. I could have died alone in that swamp a coward. Perhaps should
have. I look at my life and I wonder if there is anything I have done that matters beyond myself. Te closest thing I have to a family
is you and yours. My thoughts turn dark at this moment, but I will dwell no further.
As I promised with my last letter, fnd some money enclosed to purchase Reginald something. Perhaps a wooden sword? A nice
painted one. Every boy should have a sword to play with. Do not buy him one of those ugly carved birds, they are supposed to be
hawks, but they are hideous. If he is to learn to love them like we do, he should do so with a real one, or at least a carved one that
does not look like a numb fngered imbecile made it.
I am still weak, and will be turning in for the night. May this letter fnd you well, and as always look to the moon for guidance.
Sincerely,
Your truest friend. Lasker Wilhelm
Processed 1902-6-6 Sorting House 36, Latigo
Processed 1902-6-10 Sorting House 36, Latigo
21
Dear Gerard,
Tis letter shall not be a long one. I got out the ink, and the paper, and felt as if I should write, and now that I have sat down to
do it, I do not know what words to put down.
Some days I feel like the snail, fascinated by its own shell. Noticing how the spiral seems to go on forever. Do you know this story?
Te snail becomes so fascinated by the design on its shell, and trying to fnd the secrets held within that he loses himself. He stares
and he stares, and he forgets to search for plants to devour, and he becomes thin, and weak, and he dies.
Afer he wastes away, his shell remains.
I know you do not normally like such stories, but I thought you might enjoy that one. I had a teacher who liked to begin his
classes every year with it. He would never tell his students why, but he said it was perhaps the most important story hed ever tell
them.
Very telling of myself, is it not? I say that I have little to write, and so I write about snails and stories and times past, sitting and
studying. A boy who could not see what future was coming.
Tough, if Malifaux was a shell, and we are the snail...
Perhaps the best illustration of this would be Dr. McMourning, the man seems taken with everything that is not life, obsessed.
I do not know if you have ever met him, he runs the Morgue in town, and has the unfortunate habit of laughing at almost
everything. It seems a nervous tick, but it does not endear him to others he meets. He seems so focused on death, I do not know if
he has ever truly lived.
I should have said this right away, but, I am quite well, the wound has healed quite well, and may not even leave a scar. Ill be
back on my normal duties in the marrow. So, if you worried for me, you can stop. You always were a worrier. Its why you went
bald, I am sure of it.
As always, my next letter will come when it comes. Probably soon. Remember to look to the moon for guidance.
My best wishes,
Your truest friend. Lasker Wilhelm
Dear Lasker,
I have never had the perchance for letter writing that you have. It takes me several attempts, and what I write is always short, dull, and
to the point.
I received the money, and will purchase my son a wooden sword.
I know that sometimes it can feel like there is no hope. That courage is an illusion, and there are only those that are afraid, and those
that are terrified.
My father told me, that courage is not the absence of fear, but the challenge of it.
May these words help you if you ever need them.
My love,
Gerard Depridieu
Processed 1902-6-14 Sorting House 36, Latigo
Processed 1902-6-15 Sorting House 01, Malifaux
Dear Gerard,
I had quite an event today! You will not believe this, or perhaps you will. But I was approached by Captain Dashel. He said that people
had been talking about me. Of course, at frst I was worried, what with the bed rest and the reprieve from work I had been forced to take,
but it was much the opposite.
Lad, they say you can handle yourself. Teres talk of promotion. Perhaps even having you as one of the lessons, spending half your time
here, and half back home. Sounds like you impressed someone in a way I wish I had.
Were his words. A wink, a pat on the shoulder. I had been too sleep deprived at the time, but apparently the scoundrel that nearly slit me
ear to ear had been quite high on the list of those wanted by the Guild. Who would have thought falling asleep on the job could end up
being so very lucky?
I will keep you updated, and if I were to get such a position, I would see about getting you one as well. I could not guarantee such a thing,
but to be able to see your family on a more constant basis? Is there anything closer to heaven? To see the sun, the real sun, not this muggy
ball of lies we have Malside... or to see the moon, the real moon. Ah, how I miss it.
Tough, I should not get my hopes up. Talk of promotion is ofen used in lieu of actual promotion. You know how it can go.
My best wishes.
-Your truest friend. Lasker Wilhelm
Dear Gerard,
I hope you are well! Te talk of promotion seems to be more than just talk. I spoke with Lucius himself today. It was in the courtyard,
where I was going through some basic training with Archibald, throwing and catching, and bringing back chunks of meat, without eating
them. You know the drill I am sure.
Lucius came up to me, without his entourage. Tey were still around, but they waited at the edge of the court. It was an informal meeting,
but you can tell when an informal meeting is very formal, and this was one of those moments.
It went well, and I was called to meet him in his ofce later. He has a bit of a reputation for being an odd standofsh fellow, but I found
him quite charming. Free with the drinks, though he didnt have any himself, and he seemed to take quite a liking to me.
By the time we were done? I had been promised a liaison position. I would help coordinate the Austringers branch of the guild, through
him and home. I will be going home. Te way it sounds, I will be spending almost all my time at home, and hardly be coming to Malifaux
at all.
Wonderful news yes? I will push for you to join me, once I know for sure this is concrete. You know how these things can just fall through
the cracks!
Archibald pouted again, afer returning from dropping of your letter. Did you remember that he only likes his meals live? He is but a large
feathered baby when he doesnt get his way, so please, next time, remember.
I will keep you abreast of my new meteoric rise. Good things are happening!
-Forever
Your truest friend. Lasker Wilhelm
Gerard!
Te promotion is defnite! Can you believe it? I am so excited! I will push for you to get much the same.
Dont forget to look to the moon!
Lasker Wilhelm
22
Processed 1902-6-27 Sorting House 36, Latigo
Held scrawled in handwriting Released 1902-7-9
Processed 1902-6-20 Sorting House 36, Latigo
Processed 1902-6-25 Sorting House 36, Latigo
Dear Gerard Depridieu,
This message comes to you on a spare hawk rather than my trusted one. You see mine went mysteriously missing. Though I miss him every day. Normally
a clerical position is all I could look forward to in this event, but of course, I am far luckier!
The promotion is going through, as I told you. Im going home! Ill be back of course, but only one month out of the year. Out of this dark place. How
wonderful, yes?
I am busier than ever these days, so this letter must stay short.
Sincerely,
Lasker Wilhelm
Greetings Lucius Mattheson,
I am sending you an inquest about my fellow Austringer Lasker Wilhelm. He had told me about a promotion he had received in which he
would be heading home through the Breach. I was most overjoyed for him. Now, I assumed his silence had meant he had returned, but I got
one of my few and precious letters from my family.
He would never have returned home and not gone to visit them. He is near enough to family to me, and them, you see. An uncle to my
children, a brother to my wife.
So, I am worried, as the promotion as far as I know came from you personally, perhaps you have some word? Do write back as soon as
you can.
All the best,
Gerard Depridieu
From the desk of the Governors Secretary
To whom it may concern,
We regret to inform you that there was a Neverborn attack on the same day that Lasker Wilhelm-Scler was to return
back through the Breach. He valiantly faced the horrors that assaulted us, and saved many lives that day. He himself
was quite badly wounded.
We had hoped he would recover, but he succumbed to his wounds later that evening. How you and the other
Austringers had not been updated immediately upon the event is a travesty that I hope this letter will fix.
As the closest he has to a next of kin within Malifaux, his remains can be collected by you at the morgue run by Dr.
Douglas McMourning. He performed an autopsy on his body, as is standard for any slain by the Neverborn.
He died a hero, and will not soon be forgotten.
All of us here at the governors office feel the sorrow at losing such a diligent and brave soul.
He was a rare man, even for these times, who we could not afford to lose.
There are not enough condolences in the world.
-Sincerely,
Lucius Mattheson
Processed 1902-7-16 Sorting House 36, Latigo
Processed 1902-8-14 Sorting House 01 Malifaux
To Be Delivered By Hand to Austringer Friend Person
Processed 1902-8-17 Governors Generals Mansion Sorting House
23
24
By Justin Gibbs
The Masters Enter the Arena
Showdown: Malifaux
Showdown is a fast-paced, blufng card game. To fnd out
more about it, watch the Tom Vasel review here. At the
moment the Showdown game is set in a dark, futuristic
world featuring the Icons. Tis was not always the
plan. Showdown was actually originally designed to be
a Malifaux product. However, at that time our Malifaux
artists were busy getting art ready for M2E so Showdown
needed a new theme. I am very happy with the dark and
gritty sci-f theme that we ended up with. Its a fun twist
and something a bit diferent for Wyrd. But Malifaux
is something Im passionate about, so today I proudly
announce that fve new Malifaux themed Showdown
decks are in the works! To celebrate this, I wanted to
talk a bit about the Showdown design process.
I was originally inspired to pitch Showdown to Wyrd afer
playing Yomi http://www.sirlingames.com/collections/
yomi. Yomi is another fast-paced card game focusing on
blufng. Each player has a deck of cards (which doubles
as a regular poker deck) that represents a character in a
martial arts battle. As soon as I saw the concept, I was
intrigued, because I saw the potential for Malifaux. If I
could design a game that would ft onto a regular deck
of cards (aside from the traditional games like Hearts,
etc), then we could produce Malifaux fate decks which
players could use during a game of Malifaux as their fate
deck and double as a totally separate game. It would give
Malifaux players something to do in between rounds
at a tournament while they were waiting for a pick-up
game, etc. Additionally, if it was simple enough, it could
help introduce more people into the Malifaux universe.
Afer playing and getting to know Yomi, I got some
ideas for where I wanted to take the design as well. In
Yomi, each player plays a single card face down and then
fips them up simultaneously. A rock, paper, scissors
system is then used to resolve combat: attack cards beat
throws, throws beat blocks and dodges, and blocks and
dodges beat attacks. Te winner assigns damage and
play continues until somebody is knocked out. Based on
that brief description play may seem random, but there
is a lot of depth in reading your opponent, knowing
each characters deck mechanics, and trying to perform
thier combos. If you havent played it, I highly suggest
checking it out. However, there were two things about
Yomi I felt that I would personally like to see changed,
so I set out to design a system that was inspired by Yomi,
but created its own unique system.
My frst issue with Yomi was that it involved a bit of
tracking. Characters generally have between 80 and
100 health, and players need to keep track of where it
is. Tis means that the game requires a pen and paper
(or one of the slick Yomi play mats and a counter) to
keep track of health. For Showdown, I wanted players to
need absolutely nothing other than two decks of cards;
this would make the game much more accessible afer a
game of Malifaux. So I came up with the system of using
the Aces in the deck for health. Basically, each player
removes the four aces from their deck at the start of the
25
game. Every time a player loses a battle, they fip one
of their aces face up. When they have no more aces to
fip, they lose. Tis solved my tracking issue in a neat
little package, and allowed players to need nothing
other than the cards. It also opened up some fun design
space. As aces are fipped face up, they grant the player
some special abilities, which created a fun catch up
mechanic for a player who was getting steam rolled.
It also created some nice variety in play, as the order
in which your aces get fipped up will change up the
gameplay. Finally, having such little health created a
fast (15-20 minute), intense experience that was very
enjoyable during testing and perfect for the in between
space a game of Showdown was designed to fll.
Te next place that I wanted Showdown to be
diferentiated from Yomi a bit was in the blufng.
Because Yomi only uses a single card during combat,
knowing your opponents deck is critical. For example,
if you know your opponent has a deck with a lot of
throws in it, you will be more likely to play an attack.
Tis is great, but for Showdown I wanted to emphasize
knowing the player more than knowing the deck. To
do this, I used a two card system. In Showdown, players
each play one card face up, and then one card face
down. Tis means that when you play your face down
card, you will have some limited knowledge about what
your opponent is trying to do, as you will be able to see
their face up card. Te two card system gave players just
enough information about their opponents plan to make
blufng interesting without making it predictable. Tere
is, of course, a bit more to it than that, and if youre
interested I would highly suggest watching the
Tom Vasel video I linked above or checking
out the free online rules at the following
url http://wyrd-games.net/community/
fles/download/15-showdown-rules/.
I think its interesting that I was able to
create an entirely unique experience by
tweaking two of the dynamics in Yomi.
Tis is a fun way to look at game design in
general, and I think it shows the fexibility in
the model of game which Yomi pioneered: a
single deck and asymmetric blufng game.
Personally, I would love to see this catch
on and become its own genre, much like the deck
building games. But, even if it doesnt, Im proud to
have helped add to this space.
With many of my decisions hinging on selling this as a
Malifaux product (the fast play, the lack of any resources
other than the deck itself, etc), I was a little hesitant to
retheme the game. But once I saw the amazing sci-f art
that was going on the game, I was all the more excited
for it. Even so, I cant wait for the next fve Malifaux
decks we have in store for you.
I also want to note that I wrote this article from my
perspective: David Hanold and Redd Cohen were
instrumental in designing this game, and I dont want
to leave them out here. In fact, they designed the fve
Malifaux decks which are coming your way with only
playtesting input from me, and they did an amazing job.
For now I only want to spoil who two of those fve decks
will be: Brewmaster and Molly!
By Josh Christensen
Jack of Diamonds
Showdown Tactics
Deck Breakdown
Every characters deck in Showdown is made up of a
standard deck of playing cards, including the red and
black jokers. Each deck is composed of forty-eight
cards which are used for combat. Four cards (the Aces)
are used to track health. Te remaining two cards (the
Jokers), are used to determine what the characters
Triggers do in the Red Jokers case, or acts as a combat
card that is always available to the character in the Black
Jokers case.
Te game uses three Disciplines which act similar to suits.
Tese disciplines are Cunning, Intellect, and Physical.
Each deck splits the three disciplines evenly between
twelve cards (the 2-13). Te remaining twelve cards
provide a pre-built deck that separates it from the other
character decks. For this article I will breakdown the
Jack of Diamonds and the special ability cards found in
his deck.
Special Card Effects
(2) Illusionary Clones - Play afer all Feint cards, but
before any Strike cards. Switch your Feint with your
opponents Feint card. For the Black Joker, the edge
selected by the original player must be used.
(3 - 5) Smoke Wall - Play when you are the Attacker. Your
opponent plays the frst Feint this turn.
(6 - 9) Explosive Field - When played as a Feint of Strike,
and you win Combat with a Trigger, choose either your
winning Disciplines normal Trigger or any of your
opponents Triggers.
(10 - 12) Sleight of Hand - You may immediately play an
addition Feint afer playing this card as a Feint. Return
one of your Feint cards to its owners hand before Strike
cards are revealed.
(13) Grand Finale - Play immediately before Strike cards
are revealed. Discard your current Feint and replace it
with this card.
12 Intellect 6 Intellect
13 Cunning 7 Cunning
11 Physical 5 Physical
10 Cunning 4 Physical
9 Cunning 3 Physical
8 Intellect 2 Intellect
26
27
What Does it all Mean?
With these fve special
ability cards and Jacks
Black Joker (7 Cunning
on one edge, 7 Intellect
on the other), it leads to a
character that is very strong
with Cunning and Intellect
mechanics, but is also weak
on the Physical front (more
on this later). Jacks deck has
many high valued Cunning
and Intellect combat cards
and he will focus on these disciplines more ofen than
his opponent will.
Curtain Rises
If you win combat with two cards that share the same
discipline you may then activate a Trigger found of the
Red Joker. Jacks Cunning trigger is quite good and one
I would like to focus on, because it makes the opponent
discard two random cards.
Te Cunning triggers among
the cast in Showdown: Icons
usually resolve with the opponent
having to discard cards, but Jacks
is among the best, because it
discards random cards. Most of
the Cunning triggers on the other
characters give the opponent the
choice of what cards to discard.
Forcing the opponent to discard
random cards means there is a
chance that they may discard
powerful options from their hand.
Activating Jacks Cunning trigger on the frst turn is
extremely benefcial. During the early game I try perform
Cunning triggers as ofen as I think I can get away with
them. Players havent had as much time to build up a hand
during the early game so they might not have the cards
to counter a heavy Cunning game. Players only start the
game with fve cards, and use one to two cards from their
hand each turn. Terefore, if you can keep robbing your
opponent of two random cards per turn you can really
keep their options down and make your Feint trickery even
more powerful.
Master of Illusions
Jack is all about powerful Feints, the frst card played
by each player on their turn. He has many abilities that
mess with both his and his opponents Feint portion
of combat. Smoke Wall is one such ability. Te Feint
card can give you many clues about what the opponent
might play as a Strike, the second card played by each
player. If they play a high value card as their Feint, are
they trying to activate a trigger or are they just going
to play high valued cards of diferent disciplines? If
they play a Physical card are they going to go for the
commonly brutal Physical trigger that deals some
form of additional damage? If they go low value are
they just trying to beat out the option they think will
be your Strike? Depending on the game state, and the
tendencies of your opponent, these are the kinds of clues
you can expect to gather from playing Smoke Wall. Not
only is Smoke Wall good for deducing your opponents
intentions, it is equally good at denying information
about your intentions to your opponent. Smoke Wall is
even better when the player has multiple copies of them
in their hand. Forcing your opponent play their Feint
frst for fve rounds in a row can be devastating for them
and allow Jack to build up some serious momentum.
Sleight of Hand is a very fun card to use and it can mess
with your opponents head, while also denying them
information about what you want to play as your Strike.
Tere is one trap to avoid though. Sleight of Hand can be
very tempting to take back turn afer turn, but in doing
this, your opponent will never respect your Sleight of
Hand play and will just play as if it wasnt used. Tis
card is more frustrating for your opponent when it is not
chosen as the card to be returned to the players hand.
Knowing when to use it and when to take it back is all
part of Jacks manipulative strategy, and hopefully your
opponent will be caught of guard when it is eventually
your chosen as the card to remain in play.
Although Illusionary Clones is quite powerful, you should
only use it in low risk situations. Careful planning should
go into the choice of which card to steal afer it is played. I
like to save it for my opponents ability cards that only work
when they are played as a Feint. Tese cards include Te
Queen of Hearts Reaping Disarm and Stocked and Loaded,
Te King of Clubs Raging Barrage or Te Jokers Crippling
Venom. I usually only play this card when I am playing
the second Feint card for the turn. Most of the time you
should try to exchange the stolen card with a card from
28
another discipline. Tis card also has the potential to scare
opponents from playing special ability Feint cards and, if
this is the case, Illusionary Clones is still doing its job. Once
it is used your opponent doesnt have to fear it anymore,
so hang on to it for that perfect steal. Tere are still times
when I would steal a non-ability combat card. One of
these times is when my opponent plays a really high value
Physical card. I would be very tempted to take that from
them in order to stop them from activating their Physical
trigger, and providing me the possibility of activating mine
own Physical trigger.
Te Grand Finale cards name says it all. My favorite time
to use this card is when the game is nearing the closing
turns and I have a good chance of winning the game.
Being able to switch out your Feint card for a 13 Cunning
card afer Strike cards have been played is quite powerful
and has the potential to completely catch the opponent of
guard yet again. I tend to play a Physical card as my Feint
and then play one of the Cunning versions of Explosive
Field as my Strike. Most of the time my opponent will
think that I am just going for a Physical trigger, so I
punish them by discarding my Feint and hit them with
Grand Finale instead. If this combo wins, it will allow
me to either activate my Cunning trigger or any of my
opponents triggers. Ill usually just go for my opponents
Physical trigger and hit for big damage, hopefully closing
out the game.
Not So Rough
Jack has great Cunning and Intellect options, but his
weakness lies in his Physical discipline. He only has one
combat ability with the Physical discipline. Ive found that
when playing against Te Queen of Hearts and the King
of Spades you really want to hang on to your Physical
cards. Te King and Queen both love to activate their
Physical triggers and Jack can sometimes fnds himself
unable to battle two high valued Physical cards, allowing
the opponent to activate powerful triggers. Tis is one
reason I fnd it is useful to hang onto Physical cards.
When playing against the King or Queen I will never
discard 2, 3, 4, or 5 value Physical cards. I keep the low
values for when I think my opponent is going for a high
value Physical Strike. I want to be able to play a low value
Physical Strike and win with the lower combined value. I
dont ofen try and go for Jacks Physical trigger, because
I am usually low on Physical cards. Te only time that I
tend to go for a Physical trigger is when I happen to fnd
myself with a lot of Physical cards in my hand.
One thing of note here is that the Smoke Wall ability is
on Physical cards, and while I really like this ability, there
are times when I have used it in combat as my Strike.
Tese times were when I suspected my opponent to be
going for their Physical trigger, and the only Physical
card I had in hand was Smoke Wall. I had no really high
value cards of other disciplines to try and beat out their
high value cards. It was sad to see Smoke Wall go, but it
was well worth winning the combat and avoiding my
opponents Physical trigger.
But the Opponent Knows This
Showdown mainly focuses on reading your opponent.
You should get into their head and anticipate their moves,
but there is more to it than just reading the opponent.
Every win will result in a diferent outcome, so there is a
lot of weighing out the pros with the cons for any given
decision. All while trying to fgure out your chances of
success with a given action. Paying attention to your
opponents discarded cards is pretty crucial.
Earlier in this article I mentioned playing a heavy
Cunning game early on and to only do this if you think
your opponent will let you get away with it. If you play
this way, and your opponent catches on, maybe you
can set up to punish them. For example, you could play
a Cunning Feint, but then play a high value Intellect
Strike. If your opponent expects you to go for a Cunning
trigger he has a good chance at getting caught. Mind
games play an important role in Showdown and Jack
excels at mind games. If your opponent doesnt think
that reading you is important so they play randomly,
just play strong options. You will most likely win and
show them that reading the opponent and making
meaningful choices is a big part to this game.
Curtain Lowers
I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on this fun and
exciting character for Showdown: Icons. My hope is that
this article provided you with the insight to some of the
cooler abilities that one of the characters can do in this
game, and hopefully, as more articles follow, I can show
you just how diferent the styles of the characters in this
game are. Tank you for reading and enjoy the games!
29
Lost by a Lure Movement Effects in Malifaux
Professor Pontificates
By Adrian Scott
Not too long ago on a local forum, someone asked what
the best spell or Ability in Malifaux was. For me there
was only one answer, and that answer was Lure. As a
long ranged spell that moves a model its Wk toward the
caster, I feel its easily one of the strongest spells in the
game. Ive made no secret of my love for these sorts of
movement efects. In a game like Malifaux, the ability
to move other models around, whether yours or your
opponents, opens up a huge array of tactical options. So
for this volumes article I thought Id discuss these sorts
of movement efects, specifcally why and how they can
be so powerful in-game!
Te sort of Actions Im talking about here are those
that can push, move, or otherwise relocate another
model, be it friendly or enemy. Te Lure spell is a
classic example, but it could also include things like
the Knockback Trigger on Johans and Taelors Relic
Hammers, Liliths Tangle Shadows spell, or Zoraidas
and Perditas Obey spell.
What I wont discuss are those Actions and Abilities
that move the model thats currently activated or is
used as a defensive Trigger, like Quick Retreat on the
Guild Austringer or Squeel! on many of the Gremlins.
While these are undoubtedly great Abilities, Im
more interested in discussing Actions that allow you
to purposefully move other models outside of their
own activation, which I feel is one of the aspects of
movement efects that make them so useful.
So what are movement efects good for? Well for me it
boils down into three overall uses:
1. Hurting enemy models
2. Helping friendly models
3. Achieving objectives
1. Hurting enemy models
Te most obvious use for movement efects tends to be
for putting your opponents models into danger. Pushing
a model of a building or into hazardous terrain is
always handy with an immediate and occasionally fatal
efect on the targeted model. Te next most obvious
use of movement efects is for getting your opponents
models out of safety and into range of your own crews
attacks. Te classic example of this is using a Rotten
Belle to Lure a model across the board, and then fnish it
of with either some shooting from Seamus or a charge
from Sybelle.
Movement efects also have very clear synergy with
the Pounce Ability, which allows a free attack on any
model that fnishes a move in their engagement range
without using a Walk or Charge Action. Rotten Belles
and Terror Tots are two models with Pounce, and so are
able to grant you some nice free strikes on any models
that you happen to push their way.
30
I fnd that many crews make use of efects to mutually
support their models. Te most common example
would be using Companion or Accomplice to activate
two models at a time. But other, potentially more
powerful, efects would be Marcuss Defend Me Trigger
to ofoad enemy attacks onto other beasts, Franciscos
El Mayor to boost the Wp and Df of a nearby model,
or Nicodems Corpse Conductor to boost the capabilities
of all nearby undead. Moving your opponents models
out of range of those sorts of Abilities will break that
synergy, which in turn can make them much easier to
deal with.
2. Helping Friendly models
One of the model types that really beneft from
movement efects are those with Flurry or Rapid Fire,
as (2) AP Actions tend to require a models entire
activation. Terefore, moving a model like the Convict
Gunslinger to ensure hes in range of his target leaves
him free to use Rapid Fire and get maximum use out
of his fearsome Collier Pistol attack. Te same would
go for pushing your own models to get into range and
line of sight of a potential charge target. Taelor is a good
example of this. With such an amazing damage output
in melee, the last thing you want to do is spend her
precious AP making Walk Actions to get into grips with
the enemy. Using a movement efect to get her up the
board and into charge range of a target helps you get
maximum use out of her rather tasty Relic Hammer.
In a similar sense, movement efects can be great for
getting your own models out of trouble. Generally you
might do this to prevent a potential charge or ranged
attack against your crew, or to simply get someone out
of another models melee range. Te latter is particularly
useful when that model is facing a beatstick like Lady
Justice, or it simply has more important things to do
than stay in combat. Naturally, spells that allow a Walk
Action, like Obey, are less useful for this since that
Walk Action would trigger a disengaging strike.
3. Achieving Objectives
Malifaux is a game that favors achieving your Strategies
and Schemes over simply slaughtering your opponents
models, so its no surprise that the best use for a
movement efect is to help you achieve or deny those
objectives. Tis alone is why I value movement efects
so highly and in fact the odd, well timed movement
efect to deny or achieve a certain Strategy or Scheme
has won me more than a few games.
For objectives that require you to Interact with certain
parts of the board like Line in the Sand, a frst turn push
can give one of your own models enough additional
movement to put a scheme marker on the centerline.
Tis gives you the breathing space in later turns when
youre trying to get all four of those markers on the
centerline to achieve the Scheme. Tis also holds true
for Squatters Rights and any schemes that require
you to Interact with far-fung parts of the board, like
Breakthrough or Power Ritual. However its especially
important for Stake a Claim. Since the required Interact
is a (2) Action, pushing your models far enough to
get them over the centerline in Turn 1 can give you a
distinct advantage when it comes to scoring VPs for the
Strategy from Turn 2 onwards.
Other schemes require you to make Interact Actions or
place scheme markers near your opponents models, all
of which are made easier if you can push your models
or your opponents models into position to achieve such
Schemes. Examples of this might be Distract, Cursed
Object, and Plant Explosives, but two of the trickiest
ones are Deliver a Message and Spring the Trap. Te
former requires a (2) Interact with your opponents
Master, while the latter can be especially tricky,
requiring your opponent to be within range of multiple
Scheme Markers at the end of a turn. Tese Schemes
become far easier to achieve with the ability to move
your opponents Master or in the former case, your own
models into range of the Master.
Tus far Ive only talked about strategies and schemes
that involve making Interact Actions, but a lot of
other objectives rely on model positioning to score
VPs. Turf War and Reconnoiter both require models
to be positioned within specifc parts of the board,
as does Protect Territory, Outfank, Entourage, and
Take Prisoner. Terefore pushing your models or
your opponents models into or out of position can
very efectively achieve or deny those objectives. For
instance, in Reconnoiter, an efective tactic is to push
your opponents activated models to within 6 of the
center onto the dividing line between two quarters,
thereby preventing them from claiming any quarters
for your opponent.
Killing vs Moving
You may be thinking that many advantages of movement
efects, above, can also be achieved by spending those
same AP on simply killing the ofending models. Afer
all, your opponent cant achieve Outfank or put your
own models in danger if youve removed their crew
from the table! To an extent you might be right, but the
true value of movement efects become apparent when
you think about it in terms of AP efciency. While a
movement efect normally costs 1 AP to utilize, it will
ofen require several activations from one or more
models to kill a given model. Needless to say, achieving
or denying an objective with a well-timed movement
efect is a much more efcient use for your crews
available AP. It leaves them more able to complete
other objectives and, of course, kill other parts of your
opponents crew!
So now that Ive convinced you of the virtues of
movement efects, Im sure you want to start flling your
crew out with such models, right? With that in mind, I
thought Id go through the Factions and point out a few
examples of models with particularly useful movement
efects.
Guild
Te Guild isnt a Faction that utilizes a lot of movement-
based trickery, but even so they still have a few options
up their sleeves. McMourning and Lucius both have
Actions that allow them to move friendly models
around, ofen in association with placing Scheme
Markers. Te Ortegas have a variety of movement
efects too. Amongst other things, they have Obey on
Perdita and Abuela, and Enfrentate a Mi! on Fransisco
to simultaneously push friendly models away and place
Fransico into base contact with the target enemy model.
However one of the more fexible movement efects
comes in the form of Judges, Stand for Judgment. While
it may be a projectile attack with all the associated
limitations, it still allows Judge to push any model
in range toward him, and as a (0) Action, it doesnt
interfere with the rest of his activation.
Resurrectionists
If youre afer a model with a good movement efect in
the Resurrectionist Faction, where else would you turn
to but the Rotten Belle! As a cheap, resilient minion with
the powerful Lure spell, these models are practically
custom-built to take advantage of these sorts of efects
and most Resurrectionist Masters beneft from taking
at least one. Aside from the Belle, Resurrectionist
crews have several other excellent models with strong
movement efects. For example the Dead Doxy
ofers a more fexible (if shorter ranged) variation on
Lure, while the Drowned can push models toward
Hazardous Terrain with their projectile attack. Tis in
turn synergizes well with Jaakuna Ubumes Hazardous
Terrain Aura, not to mention that she herself also has
Lure!
Arcanists
When it comes to movement efects for the Arcanists,
Cojo is King. Both his attacks have a Trigger to push the
target around and his (0) Action, Rude Sign Language,
pushes all enemy models away within 3 without so
much as a resist fip. Te Captain is one model that may
take Cojos crown however with a ranged Airburst
attack for an easy 5 push and an irresistible Eye of the
Storm (1) Action to push enemy models away. Colettes
crew also tends to have good access to movement efects,
with Colettes Disappearing Act able to whisk models
away from (or toward) trouble, and the Performer with
her Siren Call Action to draw models toward her. Even
the traditionally static Rasputina has access to models
with great movement efects, with the Ice Golem able
to Toss Ht 1 models 10 and Snow Storm having a few
efects that can move models with Frozen Heart.
31
Neverborn
Te Neverborn tend to be a Faction that favors mobility
and trickery over direct damage, so its no surprise that
they have arguably the best and most prevalent variety
of movement efects on ofer. Almost every Neverborn
Master has some way of moving friendly or enemy
models around, but the undisputed queen of movement
efects is Lilith.
A large part of Liliths rules and Upgrades facilitate a
style of play that encourages you to move enemy models
around. She has Actions and Abilities to both move
other models around (eg. Tangle Shadows, Transfxing
Gaze) and punish those models for making that move
(Tirsty Mandrake, Wicked Vines). Liliths Nephilim
continue this theme. Barbaros is particularly good at
movement efects, and in fact almost every other model
with the Nephilim Characteristic has a way to either
move their target, or punish models that are moved
near them (eg. the Pounce Ability).
Outside of Lilith and her Nephilim, there are still quite
a few models with some kind of movement efect. Baby
Kade and Te Beckoner both have access to Lure, and
Teddy in particular is great at pushing enemy models
around with the automatically Triggered Peekaboo!
from his melee attack.
Beyond that, there are too many others to mention.
Sufce to say that regardless of what Neverborn Master
youre using, there will always be more than a few in-
theme models available with worthwhile movement
efects.
Outcasts
The Outcasts dont have many good movement
effects. Most of them require an additional suit to
activate or have some other restriction, such as
being a Projectile attack. The most useful
movement effects come from some of their
Mercenaries. Bishop, Taelor, and Johan
have Triggers on their attacks that can
push enemy models around. However,
Bishop is the standout of the three,
since he can use Adaptive to give
himself the required suit for his Knock
Around Trigger which in turn, can be used
to push models in any direction he wants
rather than just directly away. Even better, as
a Mercenary, Bishop can be taken by any Master in
the game. So theres no excuse not to have a model
with a solid movement effect in your crew!
Gremlins
The Gremlins actually have a huge variety of
movement effects that target friendly models.
The greatest concentration seems to be
with Ulix and his Pigs, in fact there
are only a few Pigs or Pig-related
models that dont have some
way of pushing another model
around. Ophelias Jug Rocket, the
Teamwork Upgrade, Lenny, and
the Pigapult are also great ways
32
to move friendly models around. But if you want
to target enemy models, your options are greatly
reduced. Mancha Roja and a few models from Mah
Tuckets crew can push enemy models around with
one of their attacks, although the former needs a (2)
Action, while the latter requires a suit for the Trigger.
The best model by far, however, is Trixibelle and her
hilarious, yet excellent, version of the Lure spell -
Gremlin Lure.
Ten Thunders
If youre afer movement efects, the best
10-Tunders Master for it is Mei Feng. Two of
her Upgrades, Tunderous Smash and Seismic Claws,
add some excellent Triggers with movement efects
to her melee attacks, while Kang himself can push
enemy models he strikes with his awesomely named
Whomping Shovel.
Beyond Mei and her crew, the standout 10-Tunders
models would be Mr. Graves, Sensei Yu, and the
Oiran, all of whom have non-damaging attacks with
a movement efect (although the Oiran does require a
suit for her Lure). Last but not least is Fuhatsu. Not only
is he immune to being moved by anything but a Walk
Action, hes also got a (1) Action to push away all enemy
models within a 3 Pulse.
Until next time,
Adrian
33
34
Part One: Making the Walls
I have established in earlier articles that I prefer for
terrain to be versatile and mobile. Tis keeps the game
dynamic and allows for customizing a table to suit
certain strategies and schemes. In this article I will be
sharing a method I used to make a set of terrain that
allows for a variety of diferent urban settings, from city
streets and towns, to a building so large it covers the
entire table.
Cost is a consideration when making scenery and this
entire project only cost me $35 for the MDF, paint,
printing and plastic windows.
Te material used to make this set was 9mm thick MDF,
because it is durable and fairly cheap. Tis entire set
was cut from a single 1600mm by 600mm sheet.
Advice for tools required as well as techniques for
measuring, cutting and gluing MDF can be found in
Wyrd Chronicles Volume 9, page 34 - Versatile Walls,
although I will be going through some advanced
techniques relating to cutting out doors and windows
in this article.
I made three types of sections for this project; several
smaller T and L shaped pieces and four larger L shaped
sections with a cosmetic second story facade. Te
dimensions for these were calculated to give a variety
of interesting combinations, not all of which are
symmetrical or square based.
Ten L shaped sections were constructed with each wall
being 15cm in length and 7cm in height. Because the
width of the material used was 9mm, this had to be
deducted from the length of one wall, so, when glued
together, the dimensions would not be changed. In
essence, when you glue a 15cm wall to another section
which is 9mm wide, your wall along that part would
become 15.9cm. Te other joining wall would remain
15cm. To keep things simple, I rounded of to 1cm and
made the inner wall 14cm long and kept the outer wall
at 15cm.
By David Herbert
One Terrain Set, Infinite Buildings
Modular Structures
Town Layout
35
On these plans I have included the size of the windows
and doors for display purposes. Not every L shaped
wall had windows and doors as shown.
Although I cut the doors to be 30mm wide and 50mm
high, you can adjust this to suit your own preference for
scale. Te window frames were cut 1cm up from the
base and to the dimensions required to accommodate
the windows I was making.
Four T shaped sections were made in a similar fashion
and have the same sized doors and windows. As far as
how many doors and windows you include it is really
up to you. Only half of the pieces I made had a door,
window, or a combination of both, as you do need some
walls to completely block line of sight.
Te short wall on the T sections can be attached where
ever you like. I preferred to have them balanced and
placed them centrally.
I also built four large facades to act as either features
or corners of larger buildings. Once again doors and
windows were cut to the same dimensions as the other
pieces. For the larger curved door I allowed just over
50mm in width for larger models to gain access. Te
sides were 40mm high before curving up to the peak
at 55mm.
L Plans
T Plans
L Wall
Facade
T Wall
Facade Plan
36
Cutting out doors and window frames can be quite
tricky, but if you take your time they can be done neatly
and efectively using a jig saw and a drill. First ensure
that the diameter of the drill bit is large enough for the
blade of the saw to ft through the hole created without
touching the sides. Tis is important for safety, because
if the blade is jammed into the hole when the saw is
started it may jump and cause injury.
When you drill the holes for the blade to drop through,
try to get them as far into the corner as possible without
going outside the lines. You can always remove a little
more wood with the saw, but you cannot replace material
that has been removed by a drill bit.
Doors will require a single hole drilled into one of the
upper corners, while windows will need two holes
located at opposite diagonal corners, one at the top and
one at the bottom.
When ready to begin working on the doors, the frst cut
you should perform will travel up towards the location
of the hole. Te second cut should then go across from
the hole to the far corner.
Now cut up the other side which should cause the
main block of the door to fall out. Tis will give the
blade room to move as you complete the fnal cut back
towards where the hole was drilled, clearing out the last
of the excess wood.
Once these four cuts are completed you should have a
nice clean doorway.
Te same process of cutting away from a hole and then
cutting back again is also used to make clean window
frames. From any one of the holes, cut away to an
undrilled corner before turning the saw around and
cutting back towards your starting point. Tis removes
any unwanted excess.
Door Hole
Door Cuts A
Door Cuts B
Finished Door
Window Holes
37
Tis makes the process trickier, as technically each
window requires eight cuts, two per side, to get a nice
clean fnish. It is not much of a chore though, as the
reverse cuts are only removing a small amount of
material.
Tere are two main points you really must remember
to get this working right when it comes to gluing it all
together. Firstly, be sure you know which are the inner
walls and which are the outer walls. Get this wrong and
you will end up with a wall 14cm long down one edge
and 16cm down the other. To avoid this happening
label all of your pieces accurately during the measuring
and marking stage. Te other thing to remember is to
use a set square or some other material you are sure is
set at 90 degrees to check the angle when gluing. If you
try to do this by eye, even a small variance will end in
wonky walls that will not join properly when placed on
the table together.
Because I plan to use this particular terrain set for a
variety of themes I decided that, rather than adding fxed
posters and decorations on the walls, I would magnetize
a few diferent sets so the space can be quickly changed
from a mad scientists laboratory, to a theatre or saloon.
To accomplish this, the magnets needed to be added
before painting began.
I used small 3mm magnets, although larger ones would
do well too. I carefully drilled shallow holes where
required for signs to be displayed on the facades, and
on some of the inner walls for posters and clocks to be
hung. If you drill a little too deep and the magnet is
recessed far into the MDF it will not have the strength
to hold anything. You can remedy this by packing the
hole with the sticky type of putty used to fx posters to
walls. Once the magnets are in place, fx them with a
small drop of super glue. Polarity does not matter at
this stage so it is not important which way the magnets
are orientated.
Window Cuts Set Square
Window Done
Magnets
38
Part Two: Painting the Walls
A few important points about painting when using
spray cans. One, read the directions for use and stick
to them. Allow the recommended time to dry between
coats and hold the can at the recommended distance
from the subject. Every brand is diferent and if you
want the best results take the time to read the can. Two,
this will get messy. No matter how hard you try, you
are going to spray your hand or something else you
did not intend. Or a small amount of paint will pool
and run causing it to drip. It is always a good idea
to have the relevant cleaning solvent on hand to deal
with these issues, so check on that beforehand and be
prepared. Most importantly, remember to work in a
well-ventilated area, or even better yet, outdoors if the
wind permits.
I like to have my terrain with black edging as it looks
neat and has a striking visual impact. It also makes
important features such as doors and windows stand
out. Terefore, the frst step I took in painting my urban
terrain was to give a quick coat of black to all edges and
around all features, such as doors and windows.
No need at this stage to be neat and tidy, as most of
this will get painted over as we work up the layers. Be
sure to attack each feature from every angle and tip the
pieces upside down and spray the inside edges too.
At this stage you may also notice that MDF edges are
extremely porous and tend to soak up paint. To stop
this from happening coat the edges with PVA glue. Tis
stuf washes of in water so it is OK to use your fnger.
Allow the glue to dry before painting over it.
I then used masking tape to protect the areas around
these features while I moved on to the outer coats.
To protect against overspray I had the excess tape
hanging out over the inside edges of the walls. To
cover the windows and doors I simply stuck tape over
the features, allowing a few millimeters around each
to provide a frame. Te quickest way to cut your tape
to a uniform length is to lay it out on a cutting mat or
surface and then cut several strips all at once using a
steel ruler and scalpel.
Te look I wanted to go for was a rough industrial red
brick efect. I used a bright red, a cinnamon brown,
and just a little black. If the colors do not suit your
taste then they can be easily substituted, although I
recommend sticking with three diferent colors to get
the best results.
I chose to have white mortar between my bricks, so this
was applied frst as an undercoat and allowed to dry
fully before moving on.
Te fastest way to make a brick pattern is to use a
stencil. A stencil is a thin piece of material that masks
or protects the subject in certain parts from the spray
Black Spray
Masking Tape
Cutting the Tape
39
of paint, leaving it unmarked. Rather than making my
own I bought the cheapest plastic insect mesh I could
from the local hardware and used that instead. You
will need a piece that covers even your larger walls and
probably a replacement or two, as it quickly becomes
clogged with paint and, although it can be cleaned, it is
hardly worth the efort.
To hold the mesh and subject in place while I sprayed,
I used two cheap spring clamps, similar to large pegs. I
would recommend covering the ends in a little masking
tape. As they get covered in paint, simply remove the
old tape and apply some new. Tis will minimize all
sorts of messy mistakes from happening.
Your principle color is then applied broadly over
the mesh masked subject to give the entire face a
coat of color. The other two colors are then lightly
sprayed in random sweeps to add a little more effect
before a quick touch up with the principle color. In
my samples I used bright red with quick sweeping
sprays of black and brown before using a very light
pass-over with the red again, especially in areas I had
been overly zealous with the black. The mesh is then
removed and pressed wet side down onto a piece
of scrap paper to remove some of the excess paint.
Be very careful to always have the dry side pressed
against the subject and the wet side facing outwards
as you work.
Te unfortunate part of using clamps is that it leaves two
small blank areas at the base of the wall. Tis is easily
remedied by giving the bottom part of each wall a quick
coat with one of the colors used. Tis will leave you with
a fnished product that looks something like this.
Even though some paints will appear to be dry afer a
few hours, care should be taken as they may remain sof
for a very long time. Afer putting in so much work, it
would be a shame to have a giant fnger print appear.
Te insides where sprayed with an almond colored
paint and then the entire thing was lef to dry properly
overnight. Once everything is dry, you can remove the
masking tape. At this stage you may fnd that in some
places the paint has seeped under the tape. Tis is easily
fxed with a touch up brush or even a black marker pen.
Insect Mesh
Clamps
Finished Wall Texture
Leaky Paint Streaks
40
Te fnal touch I added to these walls was window
panes to go inside the frames. A very easy way to make
windows to scale is to use plastic microscope slides.
Tese measure 76mm long and 25mm wide, so, once
cut in half, they make two parts with the dimensions
38mm by 25mm, the same as the window holes. Tese
were purchased cheaply online and I only used a very
small number of them.
Rather than cutting each hard plastic slide in half it was
easier to just scratch each slide across the middle and
then snap them along the shallow cut. Each was then
pressed into place with one or two requiring a quick rub
on a fle to remove a small amount for an easy ft.
Part Three: Furniture
Once you have made a great looking town you will
now notice a need for smaller pieces of cover for your
models to hide behind and otherwise interact with. In
this part of the article I am going to cover how to turn
your of cuts from the previous stages into good looking
and functional scenery.
To make these pieces you will need to make two blocks
of MDF, one rather thick one using three pieces of of-
cut, and another using two. Tese can be fxed together
by using PVA glue that is lightly smeared over each
surface before being pressed together.
While that is drying you can search for textures and
images on the internet matching what you would like
your buildings to be decorated with. I used Google
images and searched for book, liquor and store shelves.
Tese can then be inserted into a Word document and
set to the appropriate size. Te ones I used were all
around 50mm high and 40 mm wide, or the inverse if
they were lying down.
Use the three layered block for shelving. Rather than
measuring out every shelf I simply cut out each texture
and marked of the corners before joining them together
using a ruler.
If you place them close together, remembering to leave
room for the saws kerf, you should be able to get many
shelves out of the one block. Once again be careful to
mark and label all pieces so that they can be matched
up easily later.
Plastic Slides
Glued Block
Marking Shelves
Furniture Examples
41
Before you glue the paper textures onto the MDF you
may like to stain it up a darker color. I purchased a
tester pot of decking stain and just dipped each block
in, wiping of the excess and allowing it to thoroughly
dry. If you want a blotchy efect try using a sponge to
dab more stain on the top of the piece.
Be careful when gluing the shelf textures onto the MDF
using PVA. Smear it on very thin and ensure there are
no big white dribbly bits before trying to fx the paper in
place. If you use too much glue it is likely to make the
ink run or even blur the colors.
Now, what about that block made out of two pieces of
MDF? I used those to make tables. Considering models
never actually go under tables the thought of making a
model table with legs seemed pointless. I cut the block
into several smaller pieces and stained them using the
same pot I bought for the shelves.
Once they were dry I used a black marker to color part
of the bottom piece of MDF, leaving the corners to look
like legs.
Te fnal touch for the building set is to add some signs
and posters to go with those magnets. Using the same
process as the shelves I located a few prints I liked and
printed them of. Tese were then glued on to 2mm MDF.
To make these stick to the magnetized areas I glued a
small piece of wire to the back of each. I fnd this works
especially well, as you not only save money on magnets,
with most people using two per connection, but you
dont have to worry about mixing up the polarities. Te
wire will stick to any magnet, no matter which way it is
orientated. For the large signs on the facades I used two
magnets side by side and a longer piece of wire.
Shelf Block
Stained Block
Table
Signs and Posters
Prepping a Sign
42
Experiment with placing the walls and furniture in
diferent places, remembering that shelves do not have
to go up against walls. I hope you fnd that these simple
pieces make for many enjoyable games.
Wire Backing
Final Board Layout
Structure Layout Possibility
44
Intro
Tis time round, I thought Id get Seamus painted up. To
give him that creepy, accidental meeting in a dark alley look,
I decided to use a lamppost as the sole light source for him.
Tis would mean a slightly diferent order of painting for
some parts, and some very careful placement of shadows
and highlights. While I shaded each stage separately, the
other way to do this is to paint everything without the main
shade frst, then shade everything at the end. Tis can be
easier, but isnt as convenient for showing each stage.
I also magnetized his bag of tools, so I could put it on the
base depending on if I took that upgrade or not in a game.
One of the odd things about this paintjob was the brushes
I used. When I came to start painting, I realized my size
2 and 1 brushes were getting old and the tips werent very
sharp any more. Te best brush I had was actually a size 3,
so almost all of Seamus was painted with this fairly large
brush - a good tip is vital, and smaller brushes are not
necessarily better. Using the largest brush you can paint an
area accurately with means less going back to the palette
and fewer strokes, giving a smoother and more even color
coat. Te only other brush I used was a size 0 rigger brush,
which I painted the pinstripes with. Tis is a narrow but
long bristled brush, with bristles nearly twice as long as my
size 3 standard brush. Tis means they hold a fair amount
of paint while staying in a narrow line, perfect for painting
long narrow stripes in a single smooth stroke.
Base Build
The Redchapel Killer
Makos Rubbish
By Mark Rogers
Building Stages
45
Te frst thing to do was lay out the base and work out
where the lamp itself needed to be. Tat told me where
the sidewalk would go and how I needed to position the
highlights on Seamus. With that done, I drilled a large
hole for the post to sit in and marked out where the
parts of the base would be. Te sidewalk was done frst,
with a thick strip of green stuf as a basic shape. Te
post was poked through this strip to make sure I lef
a hole suitable for it. I carved the rough stone patterns
into the green stuf before going back over them with a
clay shaper to refne them. Once again, I checked the ft
of the post before leaving it to cure.
Te cobbles were begun by pressing small blobs of putty
onto the base in a random pattern. Tese were shaped
roughly with tools and then smoothed with a wet clay
shaper to wear them down a bit. I only work on small
areas at a time with this, as the efect is much harder to
achieve once the putty starts to harden. I lef one cobble
missing where I planned to ft the magnet.
Te lamp and upper post started out as a solid lump of
cured green stuf, cut into the shape of the lamp glass
with a knife. To the top of it I glued a strip of plastic
to form the crosspiece. I then drilled into the strip and
lamp and put in a support wire for the lamp top, and
fled the top of the upright into a ball for decoration.
Plastic strips were cut that would ft in curves between
the post and the lamp, which I fled a groove into that
would ft onto the post with a round fle. Several pieces
were cut and ftted before I moved on to sculpting the
metal frame on the lamp, as well as the pyramid top
of it. Te fnal step was to sculpt on connecting points
between the supports and the post, and put a ball on top
of the lamp to neaten it up.
Te bottom of the lamp was fairly simple. Once it was
glued in place, I wrapped it in green stuf that I then
pressed the shape I wanted into. Afer getting the basic
shape, I kept refning and neatening it until I was happy,
and chamfered the top edge to match it to the post. Te
base was then lef to cure fully before I did anything
with magnets.
Upper Post Stages
46
Magnetizing
Magnetizing the base was fairly simple. Te frst step was to
drill and fle a hole in the base that would take the magnet
easily (I was using 2 mm wide, 1 mm deep neodymium
disc magnets). I pushed a blob of putty into the hole from
underneath to fx it to the base, added a bit of superglue to
the top of the blob, and pressed the magnet into position
using a metal tool. Once the magnet was solidly fxed, I
sculpted a new cobble over the top of it.
While not strictly necessary, using a second magnet rather
than just a piece of metal makes for a better hold, especially
if youre magnetizing something heavier than the bag. I
dropped the magnet into place so it attached itself the right
way up, and marked the top edge with some easily visible
paint. Te bag was fully prepared and green stufed before
I drilled a hole into it for the magnet. Te metal tool was
again used to hold the magnet, making sure I had it sitting
so the painted side wasnt against the tool.
Again, a little glue held the magnet in position before I
covered it over with a layer of green stuf. Tis gave me
two magnets hidden in the bag and cobbles that were
easily close enough to hold the bag into position.
Skin
When it comes to painting skin, I generally always begin
with the same basic 5:2:1 mix of Bronze Fleshtone,
Bonewhite and Khaki. If I want aged skin, I add a pale
grey as older skin tends to be more bleached out. Tanned,
Asian and Mediterranean skin tones get Leather Brown
and Camoufage Green added in varying ratios. Pale
Flesh can be added for a lighter, pinker skin tone, such
as for someone with red hair. Tis allows me to quickly
and easily alter how someone looks while keeping a
fairly natural color that Im familiar with. I also use
a little blue in the shadows to avoid them being very
orangey, and Bonewhite as a highlight for the warmth
(again, adding a little white to it for elderly skin).
Lower Post Stages
Lower Post Stages
Magnet Tools
47
I wanted Seamus to have slightly sallow skin, so I mixed
3 parts Pale Flesh and a trace of Leather Brown into the
midtone fesh color. To shade this I used a 3:2:1 mix
of the midtone, Dark Fleshtone and night blue. I then
shaded everywhere that wouldnt be in the lamplight
with a 2:1 mix of Black and hexed Lichen, a mix I would
use for anything that would be in shadow. I repainted
the midtone carefully over the exposed parts of the
face, and highlighted it by mixing in Bonewhite. Te
eyes were in shadow so didnt need any color, but the
bottom lip got a very thin coat of Gory Red and Squid
Pink mixed with the fesh midtone. A quick touch of
Leather Brown on the teeth fnished the face.
Pants
Te pants began as a 2:1 mix of Charred Brown and
Bonewhite. As I planned to paint freehand on them, I
started with the highlights, progressively adding more
and more Bonewhite until I was using a little more
Bonewhite than Charred Brown. I then used my rigger
brush to paint Bonewhite pinstripes on the cloth, before
shading the whole thing with the Black/Lichen mix. As
the brown was quite dark anyway, there was no need for
an extra shade layer before this. A lot of the freehand was
hidden by the shading, but for the neatest efect its better
to paint it all, not just the areas you think will show up.
Skin Stages
Trousers Stages
48
Coat and Hat
Having tried the color scheme out on puppet Seamus a
while back, I wanted to paint his hat and coat a muted
green. Te mix I used started of as an equal mix of Dark
Green and Camoufage Green, which is fairly vivid. A
1:1 mix of the midtone color and Charred Brown was
used as the frst shade, which takes some of the intensity
out of the green. Te Black/Lichen shade was then used
to mark out where the light was falling, just as it had for
the face and pants. Once again, I then neatened up the
midtone before adding Bonewhite to make a 2:1 mix
of midtone to Bonewhite, then adding more Bonewhite
in a 2:1 ratio again for a fnal highlight. Using brown
and cream takes a lot of the vibrancy out of the green,
making it a much more subtle color.
Hair
Orange hair seemed like a good ft for Seamus, which
I began with a 3:1 mix of Dark Fleshtone and Orange
Fire. Te next step was the Black/Lichen shade, focused
on the underside of the hair and around the hat brim.
As I repainted the midtone, I had to be careful to catch
the tips of the hair that would show the uneven shape
is more complex to paint than a smooth one as it catches
light very diferently. I added a bit of Orange Fire to the
midtone for the highlights, working my way up to a mix
of 2:1 Orange Fire and the midtone.
Hat Stages
Hair Stages
Swatches
49
Cravat and Hatband
When I came to do the cravat and hatband, I realized I
had a difcult choice to make. I was limited in terms of
color choice by the green clothes and orange hair, but
didnt want to just use the hair color again. I settled on a
reddish brown color that Id make from Tan and Vallejo
Model Color Mahogany Brown. Te question was, what
mix to use? I eventually made four swatches of color,
ranging from pure Mahogany Brown to pure Tan. I set
up my camera slightly unfocussed on Seamus (a lack
of focus makes the colors show more than the details),
with the swatches behind him, and took a series of
photos. Te setup was identical for each shot, but on the
image above the color of the backing seems to change
the color of the clothing. Mahogany Brown (1:0), on the
lef, is a little dark, but doesnt alter the green too much.
As the ratio changes over the next shots, frst to 1:1,
then 1:2, then to pure Tan (0:1), the green appears more
vivid and yellowy. Swatches like this can be very useful
for choosing colors, especially if the choice is difcult.
In the end I settled on a 1:2 mix, which was the most
comfortable balance between the two extremes for me.
Te midtone, then, was 2:1 Tan and VMC Mahogany
Brown. I used an intermediate shade of 2:1 Charred
Brown and midtone to defne the folds in the cloth
a bit better, and then used Black/Lichen to cover
the shadowed areas as usual. Te midtone then got
repainted in careful lines over the ridges in the fabric.
Tese ridges were highlighted by adding Bonewhite in
stages, until it was a 1:1 mix.
Leather
Te leather was tricky, as a lot of it was on the legs,
partly, but not fully, hidden from the lamplight. Tis
meant thinking carefully before placing the shadows
and highlights. I started with a midtone base of Dark
Fleshtone, that I then shaded with the Black/Lichen
mix. Retouching the midtone allowed me to tidy the
shading up and keep it of the lit areas. I followed this Cravat Stages
Leather Stages
50
with a 1:1 mix of Dark Fleshtone and Leather Brown,
which mostly went on the toes of the boots and the
very top parts of the kneepads. Te fnal layer was pure
Leather Brown, kept in small points on only the most
well lit areas.
Metals
While I would be painting both steel and brass on
Seamus, both of them were begun with a base layer of
2:1 Turquoise and Black. Tis was shaded down with
the usual Black/Lichen mix. At this point I started
painting the metals diferently. Te steel midtone was
Black/Turquoise with equal amounts of Vallejo Model
Air Steel, while the brass was a 3:3:1 mix of VMA Bright
Brass, VMA Copper, and the Black/Turquoise mix (the
Copper and Brass have less dense pigments than the
Steel, so you need more for the same efect). Te metals
were then fnished with pure VMA Steel and VMA
Bright Brass. It was at this point I also used a little Earth
for the laces on Seamus boots, and some Bonewhite for
the watch face. Tese were barely in the light so didnt
need any work beyond a careful touch of base color.
Cuffs
Te last part of Seamus to get painted was his shirt
cufs. Several coats of VMC Pale Blue Grey were used
as a midtone base, which I added a little Hexed Lichen
and Black to for a frst shade. With the shading laid out,
I used the Lichen/Black mix to block out the unlit areas
just like for the other areas. Te lit cuf was fnished by
working from VMC Pale Blue Grey up to pure White.
With Seamus fully fnished, I had a look at him from
above and below. Tis is a good way to check the
lighting position and confrm that the shadows and
highlights are well placed. From above, there shouldnt
be much indication of the shading, while from below,
there should only be traces of color around the edges of
the shadows.
Metal Stages
Cuff Stages
Dark and Light Angels
51
Tentacles
Most of the bag of tools was already painted, having
been done while I worked on Seamuss leather and
metals. Te tentacles were the only part lef, and were
painted in Gory Red initially. Te normal Black/Lichen
shade was applied, before I reapplied Gory Red. I then
decided to make them a little more like tentacles, so
the outer side of them was highlighted towards Bronze
Fleshtone, while the inner side was a mix of Gory Red
and Pale Flesh. A thin line of Gory Red was lef between
the two highlights. Tis wasnt really necessary as it was
very subtle, but I wanted to accentuate the tentacle feel
a bit more.
Cobbles
Having practiced cobbles on numerous occasions, Ive
settled into a standard method of painting them. Te
frst thing I did was basecoat the whole area with a mid-
dark grey made by mixing VMC Pale Blue, Grey, and
Black. I then painted random cobbles with the same
Black-Turquoise mix I used on the metals, and others
with VMC Mahogany Brown or Charred Brown. Te
sidewalk was kept browner than the main cobbles
to diferentiate the two. Te midtone was a random
scattering of Khaki, Earth, and Tan, not following the
pattern of the previous layer, but using Earth mostly
on the edge of the sidewalk and Khaki on the paving.
Te fnal highlight was another random scattering, this
time of VMC Deck Tan and Ofwhite. A wash made
of equal parts Charred Brown, Sun Yellow, and Black
(with plenty of fow improver) fnished the cobbles of.
Te cobble highlights were all drybrushed on, as it is
the easiest way to get the right texture. While it is ofen
considered a beginner technique, drybrushing is one of
the best ways to get certain efects such as rough cloth/
denim, stone, and can be used to great efect with metals
(I personally know a few people that have won plenty of
trophies using drybrushed metals). It isnt so much a
beginner technique, but rather one that is easy to use
for beginners. Done with care and a lot of practice,
it has its place amongst other skills such as blending,
glazing, and freehanding. Every painting technique is
perfectly acceptable at any level, its all about how well
you use it and what you use it for.
Lamppost
Te lamp itself needed a White basecoat to get the color
to settle over the Black primer. I toyed with using yellow
as the initial color, but Bonewhite gave a less heavily
colored light. I used Sun Yellow around the edges of
the glass panels, then a thinner band of Orange Fire. A
small bit of 1:1 Orange Fire and Gory Red on the top
corners fnished the efect.
Tentacle Stages
Cobble Stone Stages
52
Te metals of the post were painted the same way as the
steel on Seamus, starting with Black/Turquoise, shading
with Black/Lichen, and then working up to pure VMA
Steel. Te highlights were kept carefully focused on
areas of metal that would be exposed to the light from
the lamp, leaving the back and top of the lamp in
shadow. Tis also avoids the lamp drawing focus of
Seamus when viewed from above.
Final Lighting Touches
Once Seamus and the base were painted, I attached
him to the cobbles using the pin in his foot. Around
Seamuss feet the light would be fully blocked, so I used
more Black/Lichen mix to paint a shadow beneath him.
To complete the lighting efect, I put one very thin glaze
of Sun Yellow on the top half of Seamus, only covering
the highlights, and a single glaze of Orange Fire over the
cobbles and Seamuss legs in the same manner. Tis was
a little too subtle to photograph, but small changes like
that help to tie every part of a model together.
Te very last thing to do was to protect the model. Gloss
varnish was used to seal the cobbles and bag, as they
would be able to move against each other and so needed
the extra protection. I then made a 1:1 mix of gloss and
matte varnish (which produces a satin varnish) for the
metals and the base edge, and painted the rest of the
model and cobbles with matte varnish to kill the shine.
Finished
Lamp Stages
53
Alexandr Zabrodin
Chad Lynch Chris (Tigerstyle) Holloway Chris Parris
Aubrey Muldoon
Aurora
By The Wyrd Community
Painted Submissions from the Community
The Gallery
54
Claire Hearn
Dustin Smith Elinore Rnning Emily Parris
Jame(mythicFOX)Doxey Jamie Song Garreth Moreton
Damian (Lord Shaper) Smith Dave (Kaled) Knowles
55
Jimmie (Kintaro) Harp
Matias Frosterus
Owen (Oconlan) Conlan
Matthew McFarland Mike (taozenrat) Adams
John (Lordgimpet) Metzakis Mads O
Riastrad
Robert (THE Dwarf) McPhillips
Vlasenko Dmitry Wojtek (Viruk) Tekielski
Thank you for your
submissions.
56