Unboxing Puppet Wars

So earlier this week I received my copy of Puppet Wars and seeing it develop I was super keen to see the final product

The main game and Multiplayer expansion plus booster packs. Unfortunately the packages was a little bit of a let down for me as the main game box is made of the same weight card as the Malifaux crew boxes so not super heavy weight, it means something better is going to be needed for long term transport (not an issue for me as I was looking at picking up a KR case just for puppet wars). The other slight disappointment is the lack of a photo of the contents on the back or something to that effect, just a list plus the puppet artwork, looks good but not overly 'boardgamey'.

Contents of box

Effect tokens, once again I would have liked these to have been a little heavier in weight and or doublesided, nice but I am going to make my own here as well or make these a bit more durable.

The gameboard, puppet decks and tokens.
Cant fault any of these. the board is quite small but then again the puppets are too, the hexes are a 30mm inscribed hex so your 30mm Malifaux bases will juuuust fit on the board otherwise use the lovely little 20mm bases that 'clip' inside the rolled edge of the 30mm RS bases of most Malifaux models.

Puppet Decks are what i know and love; plastic card decks with great artwork.
Tokens are plain but durable plastic and represent workbenches and impassable objects in game, they could look prettier but it would have cost a lot more and they serve their purpose well.

 Stat cards are great, good size (larger than the deck), clear layout and good artwork +++

On the reverse side of a puppets stat card is their 'upgrade' side where you can instead of bringing a puppet into play upgrade an existing puppet with different abilities.

The box minus decks, cards etc has a nice foam insert but not much use if you intend to paint your puppets but if not its perfectly suitable.
But theres 2 puppet wars temporary tattoos!

Puppets!Puppets!Puppets!
There are loads of these little guys and most are one piece with the odd one being multiple pieces but still easy to assemble mostly without glue. This is where I see the game as a miniature based boardgame and not just a boardgame, if the puppets were plastic like the old space crusade/heroquest games with each suit type puppet in a different colour and just clip off a sprue I could see a greater appeal to pure boardgamers. It hasnt put me off but you will need to prep the puppets like any metal model before painting etc.

There are two books, the rulebook and pattern book. Both look great and are very clear, a big + from me.

Sample spread from rulebook

The Pattern Book has quick start rules adding in more complex rules as you go. It also conatins alternate win conditions and play styles such as 'Tag youre IT!" and king of the hill type scenarios too.

In addition the Pattern Book has a heap of different maps for different qty of players, you arent limited to just these maps and can make your own as well. puppet-wars.com also has a make your own map section where you can design your won map and save it too so replayablity and customisation will be great

Overall Puppet Wars leaves a pretty good impression and I know I will get a lot out of the purchase, yes some things could have been better done in packaging but thats about it. Its a good initial release and there will be more puppets on the way I'm sure of it.

Stay tuned for a Player review soon ...

Puppet Puppets Puppets!

Just a quick post saying I have now got my copy of Puppet Wars along with all the minion boosters and multiplayer expansion. Will be putting up a review and unboxing soon, just couldnt contain my excitement :)

In other news The end of a very hectic tournamnet season has come so now I get to concentrate on a summer campaign  to start in a few weeks and start planning for events next year, going for a few larger high quality events and things are already in the works for that.

Skulls: Malifaux Results & Neverborn Changes

Well another successful tournament run over the weekend, pity only 6 players but it was fun none the less and it certainly changed the focus and feel of the day a little (a lot more casual but still playing hard). Unfortunately I forgot to pack my camera so no photos but hers the results:

1. Dreamer
2. Lilith
3. Seamus
4. Zoraida
5. Kirai
6. Kirai

And just today Wyrd have announced some changes to both the Alps and Nekima

Alp Changes
Add the Insignificant characteristic to them.

Exhaustion: Enemy non-Nightmare models suffer 1 Wd when performing a Walk or Strike Action within 1" of one or more Alps.

Feed on Dreams: Enemy models receiving Slow while within 3" of one or more Alps suffer 1 Wd, even if they are already Slow.

Never Wake Up: If a model is killed by Feed on Dreams within 3" of one or more Alps, the Alp closest to the killed model summons one Alp.

Smother: Enemy non-Nightmare models activating within 3" of one or more Alps must perform a
Wp->12 Duel that receives for each Alp after the first within 3". If the model loses the Duel it receives Slow.

Nekima Change
Nephilim Heart: Pulse 6. Select Wp, Ca, Df, or Cb. All friendly Terror Tots and Young Nephilim receive +Mask to the selected statistic.

Both of these changes are a step in the right direction and they in no way punish Neverborn players with taking these models, what they do however is limit abuse by some players by spamming models that they do not actually have to do anything to get a result from and for Nekima it futureproofs her ability and means future Nephilim that are released are not having to have their abilities and costs balanced on the chance that they will be included with Nekima.

+1 from me Wyrd

Dead Mans Head Results & Photos

On the 28th of August I ran my first Malifaux tournament and in my opinion it was a great success. 20 people vied for the top spot and the prize of the Nightmare Dead Justice box set.

In the end it really did come down to the last round and the result between the top 2 tables. Here are the results (the numbers are TP/Diff/VP):

1. Mike 12/18/28 Outcasts- The Viktorias
2. Chris 9/12/24 Guild - Sonnia Criid
3. Stu 9/11/23 Neverborn - Pandora
4. Georg 9/7/20 Arcanists - Ramos
5. Olly 7/6/20 Neverborn - The Dreamer
6. Luke 7/5/13 Neverborn - Pandora
7. Adrian 7/4/18 Arcanists - Marcus
8. Zen 7/2/14 Resurrectionists - Mc Mourning
9. Nic B 7/-2/14 Guild - Lucius
10. Nic C 6/9/22 Arcanists - Colette
11. Dave 6/5/19 Resurrectionists - Kirai
12. Gary 6/0/13 Arcanists - Rasputina
13. Ash 4/-6/12 Resurrectionists - Kirai
14. Simmo 4/-6/10 Outcasts - Hamelin the Plagued
15. Liam 4/-12/7 Guild - Hoffman
16. Jason 3/-3/14 Resurrectionists - Mc Mourning
17. Nathan 3/-6/12 Arcanists - Rasputina
18. Joel 3/-12/12 Guild - Hoffman
19. Kurgan 3/-14/8 Outcasts - S'omer Teeth
20. Rory 0/-18/2 Neverborn - Lilith

So thanks for everyone who made the effort to having a great day of play. Now heres a couple of photos.

Next up from me soon is some of the entries from the painting contest I just ran plus getting a bit of a review of Twisting Fates, the latest Malifaux book from Wyrd which I have already finished reading cover to cover and I must say is quite a hefty tome (and well worth the purchase if only for the reading)

No I'm not Dead (or Undead for that matter)

Just a quick update from me at this stage, I have been playing a few games, a mix of demoes and helping guys get some practice with their crews for the tournament I am running in now only 10 days time. Been travelling all over the place in the good name of Malifaux which has been quite fun.

Dead Mans Head (the tournament) is shaping up really well with 16-17 players all signed up so far, which I have to say I am extremely happy with, if I can get it to 20 I will consider that a monumental effort ... just need to deliver the goods :D

After that there is pretty well going to be a one month break before the next tournament I am running which is going to have a couple of special little twists which should be fun to see how they go. At the end of October there will be yet another, this time at what is shaping up to be West Autralia's wargaming con ... Feat of Arms.

Just doing last details and then you will see a burst of info from me, including a review of Twisting Fates, unboxing of Avatar Seamus and the Nightmare Dead Justice box.

Wyrd at Gencon! plus how the Avatar mechanic works.

Unfortunately I'm not there (being on the other side of the world makes it difficult) but Wyrd are. There have been a slew of excellent releases so far (even if on Thursday the volume of traffic pretty well crashed the store and forums) and when the dust settles a little I will some more info up about how things like Avatars work ... actually I might do that now.

Avatars are chosen at the begining of a game during the hiring a crew process, they cost 2ss even if you dont use them. Each master has an Avatar.

Masters 'manifest' into their Avatar forms once they have performed specific tasks unique to each Avatar

for example Seamus has two requirements:
Successfully cast Face of Death twice in two seperate turns
Perform the SLit Jugular trigger on someone he charges as a consequence of his No Escape ability.

Often there is one harder requirement and one easier. There is then also a Manifestation countdown clock

As you can see depending on how many requirements you have met and when during the game determines when you can manifest and how many actions it costs you.

So there you have it, Avatars in a nutshell. I will have heaps more coming soon as I wait of rmy Gencon order to arrive in the mail (some Dead Justice boxes, Twisting Fates plus Seamus: Avatar of Dread).

Updates all over the Place!

Well since Thursday I have still been giving Malifaux some attention I have just started to wind it back a little for a couple of weeks prior to my big tournament at the end of the month (well hoping for a good turnout, it is looking promising so far a month out still a lot more work for me to do yet though).

Speaking of the tournament, I have third prize all ready to go and painted him up on the weekend. I have to say I am happy with ho he has turned out. I give you Marcus!

I have to say that I really enjoyed painting Marcus and trying out a limited palette and source lighting was good fun.

Friday saw the conclusion of an escalation league I have been running and my thanks go out to all the guys that participated; Chris, Nathan, Ash, Nic, Jason and Georg. I will be running more leagues/campaigns soon.

I also finished assembly of my Leve crew, which I am looking forward to as well

Only 2 days until Gencon and then things will go nuts!