Wyrd Chronicles Volume 5

Contents
Puppet Wars:
Unstitched!
Malifaux Campaign
Designers Diary
Painting Tutorial
Strategy Tips
Web Comic
Gaining Grounds
Showdown
April 2013
Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC
Contents
Volume 5
Contributors
Editors:
Writers:
Justin Gibbs
Mark Rodgers
Adrian Scott
Graeme Stevenson
Dan Weber
Bill Anderson
Justin Gibbs
David Hanold
Layout:
David Hanold
Graphic Design:
Contributing Artists:
Redd Cohen
Melvin de Voor
Stephane Enjoralas
Hardy Fowler
Christophe Madaru
Pablo Quiligotti
Web Comic:
Paul Villar
Out to Play
A Note from the editor
Welcome to the fifth installment of the Wyrd Chronicles!
There are only a couple of months until GenCon 2013. We are busy here at Wyrd working diligently on products
that I cant wait to be shared with the Wyrd community. However, we still have Chronicles due out prior to GenCon
2013, so we will have to wait until then for more details and highlights.
Justin has privileged me with the task to edit and layout this volume of the Wyrd Chronicles. I wanted to spice up
the look first and foremost, and I couldnt have done it without the help of our in-house graphic artist, Redd Cohen.
Together we hope this new look is easier and more thrilling to read.
As a fan of living campaigns, I was honored to edit and layout Justins Malifaux campaign rules. With these rules the
player will acquire Guild scrip to shape a crews fate with the purchase of upgrades. Fate unfortunately cannot be
controlled so easily and members of a crew could find themselves permanently lost to the abyss, while others may
walk away from a duel with but a mere flesh wound. Now you will be able to create a living story with your friends
in which the events of one battle carry on to the next. You can find the rules for running a living Malifaux campaign
in the final section of this volume.
Other exciting news is the new release of Puppet Wars Unstitched! Justin provided an article in which he explains
the design process we went through to make Puppet Wars Unstitched. I had my share of work cut out for me on this
project and I am excited to see it in the final stage. This was the first major project I had the opportunity to work
with Justin on and I learned a lot through his lessons during the design process.
I had fun working with fans and co-workers on this volume of Wyrd Chronicles! Be sure to check out all contributions.
We have another gripping story to start you off with by Mr. Stevenson. Dan Webber takes us through the creation
of three gremlins. The Professor lectures us on controlling the Fate Deck. Makos step by step painting guide brings
Misaki to life. Dont miss the web comic featuring everyones favorite little runts, the Gremlins! Also included is an
article on the brand new tournament format changes by Bill Anderson.
In closing, I am very thrilled to be apart of our announcement for our new Showdown card battles system. What is
Showdown? Well I will allow Justin to answer that in his article at the end of this months Chronicles. In a later issue
I will provide a detailed look on the design process for Showdown. Til then..
- David Hanold
Ball
The Assassins
By: Graeme Stevenson
He placed a single candle in the center of the table.

The weak flame was enough to outline the faces
huddled around it and little else, but this suited
his purpose. Besides, most underhand things were
better done in the dark.
Bolivia was complimented by the candle light. Burke

knew her as a plain and androgynous woman with
overly large hands and feet, but in this darkness only
her eyes and lips were visible and Burkes imagination
fed on the chocolate tones in her voice.
I hope you know what youre doing, said a nervous voice.
The others waited in the dark: Kudryashov cracking his

knuckles in the growing silence, Alvarez with eyes so
deeply sunken in his skull that they were undetectable
at midday, let alone by candle light, and Dougherty who,
other than the glint of a watch chain across his expansive
breeches, was but a mere silhouette.
Burke recognized the speakers profile as readily as his

high, nasal voice. Fisser was a creature of arithmetic and
calculus. Pale-skinned and bird-boned, all the juices of
life and humor and humanity had been sucked out of
him at an early age. He was a despicable individual in
most respects, but his formidable intellect and devotion
had proved him a valuable asset in Burkes rise to power.
He doesnt have to, replied the woman directly across
from him. Thats my job.
Burke had not been comfortable with Doughertys

inclusion in their little group. He felt that lean and
hungry should be reflected in appearance as well as
demeanor. He found Doughertys girth and ruddy
complexion distasteful; there was a man too comfortable
in his surroundings, a man too long at the trough. A
compromise had been reached, however the bloated
hog had the connections and influence they needed
and, as it turned out, was far from sated with his current
slice of Lifes pie.
Hes definitely going to be there? Kudryashov asked.
Definitely, Dougherty said. I heard it from Lady
Tannery only the other day. He returned the invitation
with a case of Spanish wine.
Pompous ass, Burke said. Well, let him swagger. By
this time tomorrow, hell be worm food.
Bolivia tapped her fingernails on the table. At my hand,
naturally, she said.
Kudryashov chuckled. You think so? The bonus is mine.
Burke had hired three assassins and had promised
the first to kill their mark a healthy scrip bonus. He
cared little for which of them actually drove the knife
home, only about what came after. Alvarez had cost
substantially more than the others combined, and as
of yet, the man was still to say a word. He turned his
attention towards Dougherty.
Everything is in place? he asked the aristocrat.

It has all been arranged, Minister, grinned Dougherty.
The Minister was aware that their little gathering would

not go unnoticed for long. The only purpose of the
Burke laid a hand on the fleshy mans shoulder and meeting was to confirm their quarry would be attending
squeezed. Youre quite sure? A power vacuum so Lady Tannerys ball, which had been done. The longer
high in the Guild wont stay open for long. He has no this drew out, the likelier their discovery was.
shortage of competitors and I wouldnt want the wrong
man stepping into his shoes.
We proceed with the plan, then, he said. Enough for
tonight - he has spies everywhere and it would not do
Doughertys grin remained fixed, but the mirth lines well for us to be seen together. He lifted the candle and
around his eyes faded. My people have been briefed, shielded it with a hand. Sleep well, if you can. Tomorrow
Mr. Burke. When the time comes, they know who to we change the future of Malifaux forever.
stand behind.
He looked at the ring of shadowed faces. Tomorrow, we
Theyd better, Burke warned, squeezing harder. Theres kill Lucius.
a lot more than money riding on this.
Ive fulfilled my side of the bargain, Dougherty shot
back, his false smile finally sloughing off. I believe you
have still to do yours.
When the carriage rolled up and the door opened, it was

like the parting of the Red Sea.
The Minister ground his teeth at the arrogance of the

man, but held his peace.
The confusion of silk gowns, waistcoats, top hats,
parasols and walking sticks opened like the flesh of an
Dougherty worked a thin flask from his coat pocket and oyster to receive the pearl, conversation faded, and all
unscrewed the top. A whiff of expensive brandy caught in eyes wheeled to the lacquered oak door and the figure
Burkes nose. Hes smarter than you may think, sir. One emerging from within.
doesnt hold such a position without certain qualities. He
waved a hand, citing examples. Cunning. Ruthlessness. The Governor Generals Secretary stepped down onto
the cobbles. He set the tip of his cane at his feet and
Arrogance, Burke continued. Distain. Greed.
surveyed the murmuring scrum of societys finest.
His immaculate gold steel mask moved impassively to
Touch. Dougherty raised his flask in salute and tipped take in the throng and, although the eyes within were
it to his lips. His jowls quivered when he swallowed.
invisible, every man and woman felt its gaze when it
fell upon them.
Hell die, said Bolivia, touching the hand Burke had
clamped around Doughertys shoulder. Your money There was an intangible sense of power about him, a
was well spent, Minister.
subtle nimbus that was somehow more than the sum of
parts that all men of influence possessed more than
That remains to be seen, chirped Fisser. He will be well- attire or demeanor or reputation. Standing there quite
protected. He always travels with an elite contingent.
casually on the cobbles, he exuded absolute confidence
and authority. To the suddenly cowed onlookers, he was
The woman giggled and continued to squeeze Burkes the closest thing to a physical manifestation of the Guild
hand. No man is a match for my womanly wiles.
they would ever see.
Burke relaxed his grip on the fat man, but only a little. And he was completely alone.
He didnt trust the aristocrat any further than he could
throw him.
From his position near the back of the throng,
Minister Burke was suddenly suspicious. Lucius
To success, toasted Dougherty, apparently ignorant of never went anywhere alone. Being the right hand
Burkes palpable loathing.
of the Governor General had made Lucius a much
disliked fellow within rival factions and his public place. The Guild would be a very different animal once
appearances were always carefully orchestrated he wore the gold mask of office.
security ballets. Why should tonight be different?
As he watched, people were beginning to follow in
Lucius tapped his cane and stepped up onto the sidewalk. Luciuss wake, drifting through the open doors and into
He was immediately engulfed by a wave of sycophantic Tannery Hall. Having recently returned from the Orient,
well-wishers who crushed and shoved one another to Lord and Lady Tannery had clearly been influenced by the
bask in his attention, although the man himself never culture of the Three Kingdoms as colored paper lanterns
seemed crowded or inconvenienced in any way. He slid festooned the ironwork outside the hall. A many-legged
through his fawning admirers like a shark through an dragon rushed through the crowd, undulating like a
ocean of cloth, bestowing a nod here, the touch of a centipede while its trap-jaw mouth snapped impotently
glove there.
at the guests. Music was already playing from within the
hall; an exotic clash of cymbals and the hum of some
Burke allowed himself to be elbowed aside, letting the unknown stringed instrument.
Governors Secretary pass him and enter the hall to meet
the evenings host, Lady Charlique Tannery.
He moved along with the current and soon passed
through the huge knotwood doorway and into the
The society ball had been the obvious choice for entrance hall, where petite women in pink and gold
Luciuss assassination a swirling mass of loud drunken cheongsams were handing out equally petite ornate
socialites where physical proximity was impossible to glass receptacles. Burke took one and sniffed rice
avoid. His unfortunate demise would finally open the wine. Normally, nothing so blas would be found within
door to Burkes ascension and perhaps even bring the a hundred yards of Tannery Hall, but the guests on the
governorship itself within his grasp. The Guild was whole seemed quite tickled by this taste of the East.
uniquely placed to dominate all of Malifaux, but it
would take a strong man to do it, not this laced and The crowd moved on, past the famous Midsummer
perfumed fop.
Staircase a gigantic marble construction that formed
a double-helix between the first and second stories of
He disliked relying on the bloated Doughertys Tannery Hall. Lady Tannerys architect had arranged
machinations to secure his promotion but had found for the stairs to glow like polished brass all through
that in his years under the Secretarys yoke, there were the summer evenings while the burnished sun shone
certain qualities he lacked that were proving more and through specially-designed elliptical windows. It
more essential in his rise to power. He had political was rumored that Lord Tannery had arranged the
acumen, intelligence and boundless ambition, but the condemnation and demolition of several brick slums
areas where he felt himself lacking were in the spongier, that were contributing inconvenient shadows to his
more indulgent qualities that corpulent men such as wifes society evenings.
Dougherty positively reveled in.
And then they reached the ballroom itself. It stood three
Burke was a grim and purposeful man by nature, and stories high with a balcony around the circumference of
found he had little tolerance for frivolity and merry- the second floor and a handful of more secluded viewing
making. Unfortunately, the further he rose within the galleries on the third. The walls were decorated with
Guild, the more his peers seemed motivated by exactly silk murals of crimson, peach and gold thread. A single
this sort of base decadence. He needed Dougherty and titanic chandelier hung from the ceiling, perhaps forty
his fellow hogs; he needed their shoulders to stand feet tall and comprised of infinite facets of crystal glass.
on if he were ever to climb high enough to assume A winch and cable system was cunningly hidden that
Luciuss position.
allowed the monstrous thing to be lowered and each of
its hundred and fifty candles to be lit individually.
And stand on them he would. Whats more, when he had
the Governor Generals ear, he would have Dougherty At the far end of the ballroom stood a wall of tables
and his pigs rounded up and slaughtered. He had his drowned in white linen, punch bowls, goblets, wine
own pack of hungry young wolves ready to take their and spirit decanters, heaped fruit, roasted fish and fowl,
cream pastries and a hundred other confections and

sweet-meats that comprised the sole diet of Malifauxs
highest echelon of society.
The alien, yet compelling music was drifting down
from the second floor balcony, where a cluster of small
Eastern musicians worked their craft in deft oblivion.
Bolivia had chosen her mark early.

He was likely a minor noble, or the son of some
industrialist or other - round-shouldered and paunchy
and full of free wine. He was already unsteady on his feet
and had spilled punch down the front of his starched
shirt and cummerbund. He would do nicely.
It only took seconds for Burkes eye to locate the

Governors Secretary. As expected, he was standing a
short way into the ballroom with Lady Tannerys gloved
hand resting like a white bird on his forearm. These were
the times when Burke could appreciate the benefits of
the Secretarys gold mask.
She spent twenty minutes or so drifting past his eyeline until she could see his head turning to follow her
with each pass. All it took after that was a smile and a
momentary touch of fingertips reaching for the punch
ladle and he was blustering and bowing, a rogue lick
of hair hanging between his eyes. She took his elbow
and gently steered him away from the banquet table and
More than a representation of the uniformity of towards the center of the ballroom she wanted him
the Guild, more than presenting an expressionless dizzy and pliable, but much drunker and he wouldnt be
and implacable face to the world in general, it was able to dance at all.
impossible to tell quite what Lucius was discussing with
Lady Tannery out-with earshot. No facial expression, After a grinding eternity of alcohol breath and loud but
no moving lips: Lucius could deliver a platitude or empty conversation, the musicians struck up a waltz
a motion to war with the same inscrutability to the and she all but threw him onto the floor ahead of her,
casual observer. Burke guessed there had been nothing smiling all the while and exclaiming to her surprised
more than empty compliments thus far by the way she beau that shed love to dance.
laughed and flicked her silk fan at him, as was expected
when greeting the host of such a lavish event.
He adapted quickly, gladly pressing a hand to the back
of her waist and then they were off into the building
But there were many powerful figures of industry and whirlpool of fellow dancers. As she had hoped, his
commerce here this evening and he was quite certain the balance and coordination were poor and she was the
Secretarys mask would soon be hiding conversations of sole focus of his attention rather than the couples around
a different sort.
them, so they bumped and stumbled and excused their
way around the floor.
Talk, Lucius, he thought. Spin your webs, while you can.
Whatever poisoned seeds you plant tonight will die with By their third revolution, she had found Lucius. He
you.
was dancing with a portly coiffure-haired matron in a
crimson gown that probably cost more than Bolivias fee
Lady Tannery had planned her event well. At the end for this job.
of the first hour as the brass clock struck eight chimes,
the Three Kingdoms musicians were replaced by more She had to admit that the Governors Secretary was
western counterparts and the crowd immediately began skilled. He floated around the hall with his red lady in
to liven up. Exotic was all very well, but there was no tow as though there was no one else in the room and by
substitute for traditional ballroom dancing.
his partners glowing expression Bolivia suspected that
was just how the matron was feeling, too.
Almost immediately, the more inebriated and liberated
couples began to dance and the infection quickly spread. In contrast, her partner stepped on her toes. Again.
This was what Burke had been waiting for.
It seemed almost a shame to kill the man, she mused
as they drew ever closer. Lucius may have been
proclaimed a fop and a dandy by her superior, but
she could not envision Burke in a similar setting
she suspected the man had never danced a step in his in black wool coats were waiting in the shadows and
life. Instead, he would retire to a smoky games room each gripped her with a ham-sized fist.
somewhere in the bowels of the house to sink into
leather upholstery and snort brandy with the moguls. The servant door slammed shut as quickly as it had
opened and the last things Bolivia saw before the darkness
They were close now, only one couple behind. Bolivia enveloped her were the pitiless eyes of her captors.
eased the fingers of her right hand loose and used her
thumb to twist the silver ring around her index finger.
Its delicate rosebud relief extended a half-inch needle
not much thicker than a human hair and glistening
with a green sap. A single jab with this the slightest Up on the third floor gallery, Kudryashov watched
scratch and Lucius would be dead in minutes.
Bolivia and her partner swerve out of the flow of
dancers and vanish. He waited, expecting them to reThe wound would be undetectable, the poison appear with much laughter at this latest slip from her
metabolized within the hour. And no one would drunken companion.
put together the momentary dance floor collision
of the drunken noble and his plain partner with the The seconds stretched to minutes and she did not
Secretarys collapse a few seconds later.
return. Something had gone wrong, although he
couldnt quite figure out what. Had she changed her
They swept around the floor. Lucius and his crimson mind? Panicked at the last instant? Burke would have
lady reached the corner of the hall and slowed to turn. her head on a spike if she had run out on him.
This was Bolivias chance as her quarry began to
swing left to re-join the whirl of dancers, she pushed Bolivia hadnt seemed the flighty kind, but in a plot
her right hand wide, intending to swat the Secretarys where the stakes were this high one could be forgiven
linen glove in passing and deliver her deadly payload. for getting cold feet. Assassinating the Governor
Generals Secretary was not a task for the faint of heart.
And right at that moment, she felt her drunken
partners fist close over hers, crushing her fingers and So it was particularly fortunate that Kudryashov
thumb together. She opened her mouth in surprise enjoyed his work.
and pain but she had already registered the needles
sting into the ball of her thumb.
He preferred knives and knew half a hundred ways to
kill a man with a single stab, but Burke had wanted
She stared up at him in astonishment even as he it done softly-softly. A metaphorical dagger in the
tightened his grip around her waist and spun her away back allowed a smoother passage to promotion than
from the throng of dancers. He still wore that slightly a literal one.
drunken expression, but his eyes were suddenly sharp
and focused. It hit her that her dance partner was Still, there was more than one way to skin a cat.
stone cold sober.
He had affected a fairly convincing limp ever since
A terrible coldness was spreading down her right arm Minister Burke had commissioned him and had
and the world began to tilt away from her. She had been using a cane to get around the city. Kudryashov
killed with this poison many times, but had never knew that Lucius would have eyes on him as soon as
experienced its effects for herself until now. It was his name appeared on the guest list so hed taken the
stealing the heat from her body, and her head felt like precaution of keeping sharp stones in his right boot.
it about to float free of her shoulders.
It helped with the wincing and hobbling, and made
sure he was putting a genuine amount of weight on
Her dance partner used his arm around her waist his walking stick - the Secretarys security men were
to lift her bodily and, with a strength that belied his no fools.
paunchy frame, carried her through a narrow servant
door into a dark corridor. Two bulky, slab-faced men
The walking stick looked innocent enough, but hed had

it made by a master craftsman in Germany years ago.
A twist of the sticks head opened an aperture in the
base and cocked the weapon. The stud trigger under
the handle sparked an internal magnesium strip and a
black powder charge, firing a two-inch steel dart at high
velocity. There were no flights on this dart; instead the
barrel had been carefully rifled to maintain accuracy. The
projectile would punch deep into the targets body and be
all but undetectable from the surface save a tiny hole in
his clothing and perhaps a spot of blood.
At long last, sometime after the chiming of nine bells,

Lucius bowed low to his hundredth partner and left the
floor to considerable applause. He made his way to the far
side of the ballroom where he struck up a conversation
with Lord Tannery and a vast Prussian whose handlebar
moustache looked to be carved from wood.
Kudryashov had found that shooting into dark cloth

worked best, where holes and minute stains were easily
overlooked. Hed had considerable success with his dartcane, although he found it less satisfying to use than a
knife. With the money he was being paid for this job, he
felt he could cope with the disappointment.
He made a show of reaching down to rub his good leg,

which was only a half-ruse. Standing mostly on his left
leg for so long had caused the muscles to start cramping
up. While he reached low, he picked up his cane and
rested it on the carved oak balcony.
A steel dart in the right spot could be lethal, but taking

the shot from sixty feet up meant hed have to go for the
torso and a reduced likelihood of a kill shot. For this
reason, he had carefully coated his dart with the same
nasty toxin Bolivia had used on her needle ring.
It was a clean shot, far from the mayhem of the dance

floor and well lit by the giant chandelier. Kudryashov
suspected he could wait the entire evening and never get
a better opportunity.
There was a burst of laughter from below and he used

the sound to mask the click-snap of the firing mechanism
being loaded with a quick twist. Still rubbing at his thigh
with one hand, he swung the cane out in a distracted
manner, placing a finger on the firing stud and sighting
down its length.
The waltz was continuing unabated. Kudryashov decided Strangely, Luciuss expressionless gold mask was upturned.
to wait. A stationary target would be easier to hit than a The Secretary appeared to be looking straight at him.
spinning one and Lucius would be doing a lot of gladhanding as the evening wore on.
Kudryashov sensed movement at his ear and turned
sharply. The little balding waiter had returned, splayed
He re-settled his weight, feeling the stones in his boot fingers holding up his tray of glasses, more than half of
prickling his tender sole. It would be a relief to walk which had now been drained. The Russian hadnt heard
normally again after tonight.
him approach.
A short balding servant swept past carrying a silver tray More champagne, sir? the waiter enquired.
cluttered with champagne flutes. He stopped the little
man and took one, downing the sweet fizzy liquid in a He was about to refuse when something cold and razor
single gulp. The alcohol would soften the pain in his foot. sharp slid between his ribs. He twitched in shock and his
dart-cane fired with a hollow pop. The dart thudded into
Besides, why not enjoy a few of the free luxuries?
the wall thirty feet above Luciuss head.
The dancing continued with slow waltz after polka after
foxtrot. A few couples drifted up to the gallery, leaning
over the rail to watch the guests below or to find a
quiet corner for a whispered conversation. Kudryashov
ignored them. At this height, the report from his dartcane would be no more intrusive than the irregular
popping of champagne corks.
10
There was almost no pain, but Kudryashovs legs turned

to rubber instantly. A surprised and slightly envious
part of his brain realized what had happened even as
the waiter adopted an expression of fake concern. The
blade had already vanished.
A long knife must have been used, between the ribs and
behind the upper left arm but still getting around the
shoulder blade and directly into the heart. Kudryashov
was bleeding out inside, the chambers of his heart people as a rule, but even he could see the merit in
punctured. It wouldnt be obvious, of course the strike having social skills when loyalty and favor were such
had been snake-quick and the blood would pool mostly powerful tools at these giddy heights.
on the inside.
After a while, though, the endless posturing and
Only a master assassin could have accomplished such a anecdotes began to bore him. He reasoned that
wound while balancing a tray of drinks in his free hand. Kudryashov had been given ample time to take his shot.
He was tired of waiting.
Just a dizzy spell, sir, the little man was saying as he
pulled the sagging Russian back a few steps and dropped He moved himself to a quieter corner of the ballroom,
him into a chair. Youd best sit there for a moment until away from the knots of laughter and jubilation and
you get your bearings.
the rustling vortex of the dance floor. There were any
number of silk cushioned seats along the tapestry
Kudryashov looked blearily up at the little man. wall and he slumped into one, feigning a mixture of
Strangely, he felt no rage or fear only a rather sheepish drunkenness and fatigue.
feeling about the sudden turn of events. Hed fancied
himself a gifted killer but, as his pulse faltered and his With a familiar sense of dislocation, he slid out of his body.
eyes lost focus, he looked into the face of the genuine
article and knew hed lost to a better man.
The ballroom looked much the same, although the colors
and sounds were noticeably more anemic, like a faded
The little waiter gave him a smile, a faint nod that was water-color portrait. He looked back at his corporeal
perhaps a professional courtesy, and walked away.
self, still slumped and comatose in the chair. He looked
asleep, which was more or less the truth.
Bleached and slightly fuzzy figures stood around him,
making sounds like whale song. The dance floor was
Ten bells had struck and still the Russian had not taken a kaleidoscope of pastels and twisting limbs more
his shot, although Alvarez could not understand why. like a swirling cloud of colored gas than a collection of
He had followed the Governor Generals Secretary for individuals. He drifted past them, invisible, intangible.
hours now and had not seen any cause for concern. If
there were personal guards here, they were all waiting Lucius was much where he had last seen him,
outside with the carriage.
sandwiched between two young blonde women, each
vying to thrust more pale cleavage into the Secretarys
Lucius had moved from one small cluster of aristocrats view than the other. An older gentleman in a European
to the next and submerged himself in whatever military uniform stood with them, his alcohol-purpled
conversation was being fielded at the time. This had been face split in a wide grin at something the Secretary had
going on since he left the dance floor and Alvarez would just said. A ribald jest, perhaps whatever it was, the
have put money on him having spoken to everyone of
two girls hid their giggles behind lace fans and batted
influence by now. But no; there was always another their eyelids frantically.
arch-Duke, another Countess, another company
director, another council member. They seemed to be Alvarez drifted closer, floating through the old war horse
coming out of the woodwork.
and tasted rich fortified wine and port. The old boy must
have been doing a power of drinking for his incorporeal
At first it had disturbed him to see how many strands form to pick that up.
there were to the Secretarys social web and how
warmly he was greeted by them. He had seen Burke He was mere feet from Lucius now, close enough to see
around the peripheral of the floor a number of times the powder on his wig and the embroidered lace trim of
and the bitter-looking man was ever standing alone, or his spotless gloves. He reached out a pale, translucent
leaning close and conspiring with a worried-looking hand towards the Secretarys chest.
Guild official or fellow Minister. Alvarez disliked
11
This was his talent this was why he could demand

three times the coin Burke had paid his compatriots.
The others were skilled and stealthy, yes, but he
was completely undetectable. He would reach into
Luciuss chest and squeeze his heart, killing the man
stone dead right here in front of a hundred witnesses
and not one of them would have the slightest idea
what had really happened.
through his white shirt and the jacket he had bought

in London. He opened his mouth to shriek, but all that
came from him was a miles-distant keening, like wind
knifing through a derelict house
The ballroom swirled and blackened, and then there
was nothing.
His fingers were inches from the embroidered purple

silk of Luciuss coat when the hairs on the back of his
neck prickled. He was being watched.
The Ministers teeth were grinding themselves into
stubs. His head was giddy from the wine he had been
An absurd thought, but he could feel someones gaze on supping to wet his parched throat, and his stomach
him as surely as a man feels the heat of the sun against squirmed anxiously like an imprisoned animal. It was
his skin. There was a woman standing a dozen paces all going wrong.
away, staring at him. Staring right at him.
He had seen Bolivia vanish into a side room and had
He had seen her a dozen times over the course of the concluded that her nerve had failed her. She had always
evening, nibbling at sweet meats, conversing with guests. been too boastful for his taste, compensating for some
Her only distinction was the way her copper-colored inner doubt, and now he saw her true mettle. He
hair had been scraped back from her temples and scalp hadnt been concerned about the money hed paid her,
into a huge cone, making her skull appear all the more reasoning that there would be plenty of time to get it
stark and bulbous. Not a complimentary look, he felt, back when he was Secretary.
and worsened by her deep eye sockets.
By ten bells, he was no longer feeling so confident.
Now that he thought about it, she had lingered in Luciuss Kudryashov had not fired and he had eventually been
vicinity for the latter half of the evening never close driven to find Fisser and sent him up to the balcony
enough to be included in his conversations, but never floor to hunt for the absent Russian. The clerk had soon
very far away either.
returned, looking positively stricken, and Burke had
begun to understand.
And she could see him she could see his incorporeal
form floating a hands breadth from the Secretary.
While the ballrooms huge brass timepiece ticked out
each minute that Alvarez sat inert and Lucius persisted
She smiled at him, flashing small and uneven gray in not dying, his suspicion congealed into certainty.
teeth. He saw her lips moving and although there was They had been foiled.
no sound, he could make out the words easily enough.
Naughty, naughty.
He did not understand quite how, but the Secretary
had out-maneuvered him. His three assassins were
He watched with sudden alarm as her sunken eyes slid either dead or incapacitated and Lucius had the nerve
to her right, back to where his body was slouched against to continue the evenings activities as though nothing
the tapestry wall. There was a slight, balding waiter had happened.
standing at his bodys shoulder, a tray of drinks balanced
flawlessly in one hand and an expectant look on his face. But that was just it, he thought bitterly. Nothing
had happened.
The pale-skulled woman nodded once.
Humiliated and boiling with rage, Burke stood alone
Alvarez was already moving, but not fast enough. near the Midsummer Staircase while servants slid to
Something gleamed in the little mans hand he saw and fro, bringing heavy overcoats and furs to guard the
rather than felt his body twitch and then blood swelled homeward bound against the evenings chill.
12
Fisser appeared, already clad in coat and hat. He night before. The Secretary had smelled it on his breath.
paused at Burkes elbow, a damned expression on his
narrow face.
He felt overpowering hatred for the man bubbling up
his throat. I hadnt noticed, he said.
I he stammered.
No matter, dismissed Lucius. It has been quite an
evening. Most enthusiastic dancing, certainly I had a
Go home, Fisser, was all Burke had the will to say.
near miss myself at one point.
The frail clerk snapped his mouth shut and walked out Burke swallowed involuntarily.
to the street with all the enthusiasm of a man on his way
to the gallows.
Still, the Secretary continued, bound to happen when one
is in sole attendance. My entourage was most upset when
Burke lifted his wine glass and gulped the contents they heard of my intention to spend the evening without
angrily. Hed had several glasses too many already, but them. They were quite convinced that some villain would
at this late stage it appeared his getting drunk was of no take a pot-shot at me. An absurd notion, of course.
consequence whatsoever. His plan was over. Someone
had sold him out, and he had a good idea who.
Burkes heart was stuttering. Oh. Absurd, he managed.
Tomorrow, he would have Dougherty dragged to Guild
headquarters by his thumbs. Hed have the truth from
him, one slice at a time if necessary. That bucket of lard
was the only one who
Just so. Lucius watched him inscrutably for a moment

before continuing. However, I must say that liberation
agrees with me. I feel revitalized on a spiritual level, one
might say and my heart beats all the stronger for it.
Lucius was walking towards him. The Secretary had Burke didnt utter a word. He knows, was all his panicking
emerged from the ballroom and was clicking across the brain could manage.
marble expanse of the hallway, his blank golden mask
showing neither welcome nor warning.
A servant settled a thick cape around the Secretarys
shoulders and handed him his cane.
Burke stiffened his shoulders, trying to blink the alcohol
fog from his eyes.
Well, a good evening to you, Minister. Im sure that we
shall talk again very soon. The mask tipped in farewell
Good evening, Minister, Lucius said as he drew up. A and Lucius turned on his heel, striding out through the
successful evening, wouldnt you say?
entrance hall where the tiny women in cheongsams were
bowing to all the departing guests.
Like everything else about the Governors Secretary, his
voice was cultured and luxuriant. The shadows behind Burke knew that he would not survive the night if he
the mask were too deep to see any glint of life it was allowed Lucius to leave. The Secretary had known his
like conversing with a mannequin.
plan and had set his own people in motion it was the
only explanation for how he could have countered Burkes
Secretary, Burke said by way of sullen reply. His words assassins so effectively. Nothing would happen while he
sounded a touch slurred. Am I really that drunk?
stood here in plain view of the dwindling socialites, but by
morning he would be just another pale corpse face-down
The mask angled just faintly to the side and Burke heard in the mud. If he was lucky.
a slow inhalation. The 59, Lucius said. An excellent
vintage. I approve.
Lucius had to die, and he had to die right now.
Burke was lost for a moment, and then it dawned on
him. The wine that was churning his stomach and
poaching his brain it was the Spanish vintage Lucius
had sent to Lady Tannery, the one he had snorted at the
13
Lurching into action, Burke snatched up a silver knife

from the table at his back and rushed through the
entrance hall. He could see Lucius just entering the street,
illuminated by the paper lanterns hanging from Tannery
Halls iron railings. The curb and a waiting carriage lay a The women hurried past, giving the supposed
dozen strides ahead, with the driver standing attentively vagrant a wide berth.
at its open door.
Lucius nodded to the waiting carriage driver and
It had to be now.
stepped up into the vehicle. The driver closed the
door and climbed up onto the bench and was joined
Accelerating to a shambolic run, Burke charged through a moment later by Bowler Hat, sans coat.
the knotwood doorway, knocking a tiny Oriental woman
to her knees, shoving past a burly man in a bowler hat The carriage jolted forward with a crack of the reins,
with a coat over his arm, and out to the slab sidewalk.
leaving Tannery Hall and its unfortunate vagrant behind.
Part of him screamed at this rash madness, but a larger
pragmatic part of him understood that the pieces were
still in place if Lucius died now, he could still maneuver
himself into the void. And once he donned that gold Lucius sat in comfortable silence for some minutes
mask, all manner of sins could be washed beyond recall. while the carriage rattled and rocked its way through
the dark Malifaux streets. He seemed quite oblivious
He raced forward, raising the silver knife to bury it to the wheezing at his side.
in the Secretarys back. Despite the rapid clatter of his
shoes on the slabs, Lucius had not even deigned to turn Eventually, he turned to acknowledge the other passenger.
around. A final arrogance that suited Burke just fine.
A most enjoyable evening, he said.
He registered a momentary flash from a rooftop across
the street and he was immediately struck in the chest Dougherty nodded, although he looked preoccupied
by an invisible hammer. He flew backwards as though and abnormally ruddy-faced, which in his case
kicked by a horse and crashed into the iron railings. The meant puce.
stolen knife whickered through the air and vanished
somewhere in the dark.
I am glad that I was able to provide some small
service, he said. His voice was devoid of its previous
booming confidence.
Indeed. Your forecast of Minister Burkes plan
Up among the slates and crooked chimneys, the sniper proved to be quite accurate.
lowered his rifle and began unscrewing its sound suppressor.
The bloated man looked suitably gratified, but this
expression soon collapsed into a grimace as though
something pained him greatly.
As Burkes corpse slid into a pile at the foot of the Are you well, Mr. Dougherty?
railings, the burly man in the bowler hat threw his coat
over the body, masking the Ministers contorted face It is nothing, Secretary, the aristocrat admonished.
and bloody shirt.
Merely some digestive trouble.
A cluster of giggling ladies spilled from the hall just as the I am relieved.
man dug a hand into his pocket and scattered a few coins
on the slab at the corpses feet.
This seemed to be the end of the conversation, but after
several clearings of his throat and swabbing his wet brow
Poor bugger, he grunted to the passing ladies as he with a kerchief, Dougherty soldiered on breathlessly.
touched the brim of his hat. Probably sleeps out in I wonder, Secretary, if this might be a good time
all weathers. Get yourself a tot of rum on me, mate. to broach the subject of the conclusion to our
14
arrangement, he began. With Minister Burkes always wins, Mr. Dougherty.

assassination attempt safely averted, I thought that
we might now be free to discussany residual helped wheezed the aristocrat, his face a tumult of
obligations of our agreement.
alarm and confusion. One fat finger was trying to worm
between the folds of his chins and his starched collar.
Ah yes, Lucius said, the mask turning to regard the
fat man impassively. The reward for your treachery. Helped yourself, you mean. You played one side
against the other for personal gain, Mr. Dougherty.
Dougherty attempted a laugh, but it turned into a Minister Burke died trying to remove me from office
syrupy cough and his entire bulk shivered with evident because he felt he was the worthier man. However
pain. Strongly phrased, Secretary, but Im sure youll misguided that judgment might have been, his intent
agree that I was acting in your best interests.
was to better the Guild and by proxy all of Malifaux.
Oh, I doubt that very much. Lucius was twirling the
head of his cane with long nimble fingers. I suspect
your concern has yet to venture beyond the generous
bounds of your own body. If they had, you may have
better understood the qualities that I deem most
important in a business associate.
It looked like Dougherty was trying to swallow a

baseball. His face had gone from puce to violet.
And you? Lucius leaned back in his seat and tapped

the roof of the carriage with his cane. The vehicle
immediately slowed and stopped. You squandered a
principled mans life and had the temerity to ask me
The heavy aristocrats breathing had become for a reward.
noticeably more labored, though it was unclear
whether through anxiety or increasing infirmity.
The aristocrat was shivering with pain now, his shirt
soaking through with sweat.
I cannot abide treachery, Lucius was saying. It
plays its part, of course, but I have never found That afternoon when you came to my office to betray
the flavor palatable. That is why Mr. Fisser is still a your fellow conspirators, Lucius said as the carriage
clerk of the Guild despite his rather poor choice in door opened and Bowler Hat appeared. Do you recall
leadership. He remained loyal to his superior in the the Napoleonic brandy in the crystal decanter that
face of certain defeat and has undoubtedly set his was offered after our discussion, that you imbibed so
shoulders against whatever retribution he expects greedily and even, I venture, went so far as to fill your
to be delivered on the morrow. Such a man may yet hip flask with when my back was turned?
prove useful, because I know he has dependability.
Doughertys widening eyes were testament that he
Dougherty was either having trouble absorbing this, did indeed remember, even as Bowler Hat took hold
or was asphyxiating. In either case, he had at least of his arm.
become quiet.
The poison is quite slow acting, but very thorough,
Even Minister Burke was loyal to his cause, Lucius Lucius explained. I killed you two days ago, the
said, though it was to his ultimate ruin. There would moment you betrayed your friends. I believe that is all
have been a place in the Guild for his concision and the reward you deserve.
drive, had he not acted so rashly. He did not meet the
end I would have wished for him.
Eyes still goggling, the choking Dougherty was dragged
out into the dark.
HeHe tried to have you killed, gurgled Dougherty.
He displayed courage and ambition, Lucius retorted.
He gambled everything, and only lacked the clarity to
see that he had bet against the House. The gold mask
watched Doughertys trembling face. And the House
15
The carriage rumbled and clattered along the darkened

street, while watchful shadows kept pace on the
rooftops above.
Inside, Lucius settled further into the soft leather, readjusting the lay of his cape across his shoulders and
resting his cane across his knees.
After a moment, he began to hum a waltz.
16
Needle and Thread
By: Justin Gibbs
Designing Puppet Wars Unstitched

As you probably know, Unstitched is a relaunch
of the game Puppet Wars which initially debuted
at Gen Con 2011. Since then, Puppet Wars has
come a very long way and it has now matured into
Unstitched. To tell the story of how Unstitched
came to be, I have to start with the design of the
original Puppet Wars.
Right around the time that the Rising Powers
playtest was wrapping up, I got an email from Eric
about a new idea he had for a game called Puppet
Wars. Basically, artist Melvin De Voor had come
up with some cute voodoo puppet art for some of
the Malifaux characters, and Wyrd was going to be
sculpting them into models. Eric thought it would
be fun to pump out a quick, beer and pretzels game
in time for Gen Con 2010. Myself, Eric, and a
few of the other Rising Powers playtesters started
bouncing some ideas around in that initial email
chain. We knew the game would use miniatures, we
knew it would be played on a board, and we wanted
it to be light and fun. But, other than that, the
concept wasnt entirely fleshed out. In those first
few weeks Puppet Wars got completely rewritten
almost every other day as we experimented with
different designs. It even spent some time as a
chess variant.
We realized pretty quickly that we wouldnt have
anything for Gen Con 2010, but that was fine; it
gave us plenty of time to develop the game. We
spent that year coming up with different iterations,
trying them out, and then scrapping them or
refining. One of the most difficult challenges
that we ran into was in list selection. We wanted
to allow players to build their own puppet army
and discover different combinations of puppets,
but we felt that giving puppets a point value and
allowing players to purchase them made it feel far
too close to a wargame. To solve this, we developed
the animation requirement. In Puppet Wars,
when you use a puppet, you need to play a card
with a value equal to or higher than the puppets
animation requirement; the better the puppet, the
higher the animation requirement. This system

allowed us to just set a number of puppets each
player could bring while still remaining balanced,
because if a player picked all of the best puppets,
he or she would quickly run out of cards to animate
them. The animation card system was a powerful
design tool with a lot of potential, and we were
very excited about it.
This was a good skeleton, but we still werent there
yet. We still had to figure out how to properly use
this awesome tool that we had created. Initially
(and as late as the early days of the beta test) we had
players forming an animation stack. Basically,
players would draw five cards and place them in a
stack. Each turn, each player would reveal one card
from the stack and that was their animation card.
This method did lead to some interesting long
term planning, but it also created a large amount
of analysis paralysis. Basically, players spent half
the game arranging cards into piles and, as it turns
out, this isnt very fun. So, we kept our new tool,
but put it to better use. We got rid of the animation
stack and just allowed players to use the top card of
their deck to animate a puppet. Overnight, Puppet
Wars started feeling like the quick, streamlined
little game that it should be.
Another unique mechanic which we came up with
for Puppet Wars was upgrades. Basically, every
stat card was double sided and, when a puppet was
torn apart (killed), the upgrade side represented a
piece of the puppet which other models could pick
up and use. This was another fantastic design tool
which allowed us to build all sorts of fun combos
into the game. It also greatly increased replay value
as players tried out different upgrades on different
puppets. But it was another tool which we needed
to figure out how to use properly.
Erics initial idea for upgrades was to allow
puppets to immediately attach the upgrade of an
enemy puppet after tearing it apart. I fought very
hard against this idea. I argued that allowing the
17
enemy puppet to immediately attach the upgrade

would take away the fun list building aspect of
upgrades. Sure, you could include all of these cool
upgrades which combo well with your puppets, but
it wouldnt work if your opponent could just snatch
them up. Also, I argued that it would make having a
puppet with an awesome upgrade a negative, which
was counter-intuitive. Ultimately, we decided to
only allow puppets to attach upgrades if they could
make it to specific spaces on the board.
The initial Puppet Wars was a neat little game. It
never exploded in popularity, but the people who
played it tended to really like it. However, there
were a few issues. The game contained all metal
pieces, and metal is expensive, driving the base
game up to $90. Also, the packaging was rather
poor. The box was flimsy and there was very little
information about the game on it. Once people
opened the $90 mystery box, they tended to like
the game, but this was a hard sell.
On top of all of this, there was another game
which Puppet Wars just couldnt compete with.
It had a similar theme and mechanics and most
of our target audience tended to choose it over
Puppet Wars. That game was called Malifaux. In
the process of designing Puppet Wars, we had
given many of the models as many abilities as their
Malifaux counterparts! Our quick, simple beer
and pretzels board game had become a full force
miniatures game which took over an hour to play.
It was a good game, but with the amount of time it
took, many people simply preferred Malifaux.
The components also got a redesign. The markers

are all plastic and are now hexagonal with imprinted
symbols on them, big enough to balance a model
on. And the board is 18 x 18 with new, full color
art.
Unstitched
When we were told that Puppet Wars would be
re-released in plastic, we knew it was the perfect
opportunity to fix these issues. Because the puppets
would be in plastic, we were able to drop the price
point to $75 and include 44 high quality miniatures
in the core box. Additionally, we changed the
packaging. The box is now 18.5 X 9.5 and is
sturdy enough to hold all of the components long
after you have purchased the game.
18
With all of this new stuff, we had ample opportunity

to fix some of the issues with the game itself and
apply some game design lessons which we had
learned in the past year.
One of the hardest lessons I learned was this: it is
easier to design a complex game than it is to design a
simple one. This may seem odd, but it is absolutely
true. Lets assume Im designing a puppet which I
want to be fast, good in combat, but weak against
Lady Justice. This is very easy to accomplish for
a designer in a more complex game; all I have to
do is give the puppet one rule which makes it fast,
another which makes it hard hitting, and another
which specifically states it has a disadvantage
against Lady Justice. It is much more difficult to
design a puppet in such a way that it is intrinsically
weak against Lady Justice without specifically
stating so. This is to game design what show, dont
tell is to writing, and it can be a hard lesson to
learn.
The final lesson I learned was this: the players

are playing the game, not you. The initial Puppet
Wars had a number of rules which prevented
certain types of play because we were afraid of
what would happen if we gave the player too much
control. Afraid mobile puppets will be dominant?
Make the blocking rule which hampers everyones
movement. Afraid that allowing enemy puppets to
attach upgrades will hamper list building? Dont let
them try to attach upgrades after tearing apart a
puppet. A designer definitely needs to anticipate
how models will be used and try to balance them
accordingly, but he or she should not try to force
players to play the game a certain way. At the
end of the day, it turns out Eric was right about
upgrades; players loved tearing apart a puppet and
wearing its stuffing. Balancing this was easily done
by requiring a test to attach the enemy upgrade
while allowing puppets to attach friendly upgrades
more easily.
We hit our tough spots with the original Puppet

When we started in on Unstitched design, we had Wars, but it was ultimately all worth it once we
to fix this problem. To do so, we revised the abilities had Unstitched in our hands. The game is now the
and actions on the puppets. Initially, when we quick, fun, streamlined little board game that we
designed a puppet, we thought of how we wanted it always imagined it would be.
to be used and spelled it all out on the card. With
Unstitched, we thought of how we wanted a puppet
to be used, and gave it one or two abilities which
just pointed the player in that direction. This both
simplified the puppets and allowed the players to
define how they would be used, rather than the
designers.
The next design lesson I learned was this: design your
rules to be intuitive, dont expect peoples intuition to
bend to your design. With the initial Puppet Wars,
we had players using the top card of their deck as
their animation card, with the opportunity to cheat
a new card from their hand. Whenever I taught the
game to new players, they always wanted to draw
the top card and then play an animation card from
their hand. After explaining how the rules were
supposed to work over and over, I finally decided
to try out changing the rules to reflect how people
wanted to play them. The result was much cleaner
game play, and Im happy we went this route.
19
Designing Gracie Wong and Bert

With last months release of Bert Jebsen; and the
impending release of his loyal sow, Gracie, and slightly
insane partner, Wong, it seemed like a good time to
talk about a unique and entertaining aspect of model
design: the homage.
Homages in Miniature Gaming

Whats an homage? I can hear some of you asking
your monitors. Well, for the sake of this article were
defining homage as a public show of respect or honor
towards someone or something (especially in the
phrases pay or do homage to).
Its essentially a public nod to something we respect,
appreciate, or feel is noteworthy of some sort of praise.
You find it all the time in gaming, a models name or
combination of abilities even its art or sculpt often
times reminds you of a specific character in literature
or on film. Case in point, a popular homage these days
is to generate a crew of characters who bear more
than a passing resemblance to a particular group of
star-wandering freight haulers of questionable repute,
whose show was cancelled well before its time to shine
(or shiny?).
By: Dan Weber
endure. Then theres the oft-mentioned connection

between Coppelius and the author Hoffmann, and
Nathaniels pretty eyes. Some models have been heavily
influenced from ancient myths as well. Both the Lelu
and Lilitu are mythological demons. The pantheon of
Asian-themed nightmares and ghosts weve dredged
from Kirais dark subconscious, dominated much of
Rising Powers Resurrectionists entries. We wanted to
bring these myths to life for the readers. Where on our
Earth magic has waned to a point where such beings
could not manifest comfortably,well outside the
Three Kingdoms anyway, but thats another story...on
the other side of the Breach these creatures not only
manifest, but live dark and comfortable existences,
raising the question: what came first, Earths legends, or
the beings in Malifaux? Well talk about that in a future
article.
Back to our homages. Sometimes they are subtle,

like the frequent nods in the Gremlins toward a film
starring Lara Crofts father and a river rafting trip he
would never forget. Other times they are plain to the
reader who or what the homage is to, such as in Sues
case. In either situation, theyre there because we have
found an opportunity to work in a tip o the hat to
our favorite influences. Heck, if you look inside the
Over the past four books Malifaux has given a nod to Warpigs metal body youll see the words Porkchop
more than one personality. Anyone who has read Sues Express etched into the side. This, of course, brings us
rules cant help but think of a particular musician for to this months models: Bert, Gracie, and Wong*.
whom Nathans respect is boundless. Similarities to a
You were not put on this Earth to get it!
red and gold armored playboy are hopefully not lost
on folks when they read the Strongarms
Not long after Twisting Fates was released
entry in Storm of Shadows, and the look of
there was talk around the virtual water cooler
the Stitched Together from Rising Powers
about how much the quirky sensibilities of
should evoke a mental picture of a corpulent
Malifaux and a movie from the 1980s (a
bogeyman who likes to play with dice.
time period many of our fans were
not in existence for) involving a
These homages are different than
scoundrel of a truck driver,
the creatures we have drawn
ancient Chinese mysticism,
from Earths legends, lore,
and James Hong
and history. For instance, the
had in common.
author Carlo Collodi, wrote a
Initially, there was
tale of an enchanted puppet
talk of creating a
in 1880. Weve twisted
Story
Encounter
Collodis story and history a
involving some of
bit, but his animated puppets
20
these characters. That fell by the wayside, but started

the thinking of how these characters may appear in the
Malifaux setting.
A few brainstorming sessions later, early stats for
Burt Jackson and Wong surfaced, along with the first
drafts of the Ten Thunders Gang Members and
three characters loosely based on other personalities
from the movie: Ahngii-Shiji (Lightning), SuwaShiji (Thunder), and Riyun-Shiji (Rain) as their main
story-driven adversaries. A Yan Lo design had not
surfaced, although there was discussion about James
Hongs character and how he would fit into the setting
at the time. It would take two books for it to happen,
but when Yan Lo made his appearance Mr. Hongs nod
was complete.
Neither Burts nor Wongs characters were Gremlins
at that time, but intended to be tried and true heroes
trying to thwart the Ten Thunders power grab in
Malifaux. However, when we hit Rising Powers model
design directions shifted away from spotlighting the
Ten Thunders and the model concepts were shelved.
Shelved, but not forgotten.
Gremlin-Size Me
While working on Storm of Shadows there was
discussion about how best to approach the Gremlin
question. How would the Gremlins work into the
overarching Ten Thunders narrative? At first there
was consideration the Gremlins would also have
an operative within their ranks, but that idea was
discarded. A Gremlin spy for the Ten Thunders simply
did not make sense and although there was an early
attempt to squeeze a rationale in, the Gremlins rejected
it and pelted us with swamp mud and empty
21
moonshine jugs, so we moved past the idea. Instead,

since everyone else used the Gremlins as scapegoats
and all around punching bags, the thought was that the
Ten Thunders were also doing their best to eradicate
the green folk by swooping into the Bayou and
kidnapping them. The Thunders intentions were what
amounted to a slave labor force nobody would miss,
working their secret drug laboratories and mining sites
until the green wretches dropped dead in their chains.
A pleasant bunch, right?
Enter Bert and Wong.
Story-wise, the idea of a heroic Gremlin on a path of
bloody revenge sells itself. It helped tie the Gremlins
to humans in a manner less threatening than previous
stories involving the Bayou dwellers. Something I had
hoped to do for a while now, implying theres more
interaction between the groups than the lore to date
had indicated. The willingness to work with nonGremlins in a manner that befit someone on a path
of vengeance kept Bert and Wong accessible by more
than just Gremlin players anyone could be counted
as an ally against the Ten Thunders as far as the pair
were concerned.
Converting the human mercenary, Burt Jackson, to
the Gremlin, Bert Jebsen, was surprisingly smooth.
The truck driving character Burt/Bert was originally
modeled after was a bit of a loudmouth and screwup who got through most of the film on a mixture
of bravado and luck. That pretty much sounds like a
Gremlin to begin with, so with a few tweaks and stat
revisions Bert the Gremlin was born!

Wong was a little more of a mystery. His original concept
was very much in line with the films protagonist mystic.
Converting him over to a Gremlin-styled sorcerer took
some doing, but analyzing what Wong was originally
capable of doing and then tipping each of those things
into Gremlinized territory eventually brought a
vision to the Gremlin character. Of course for the story
to work, Wong being a Bayou native, would make his
Asian mystic talents hard to explain. Fortunately he
had this baga with demons in itI thought, What
could be more Gremlin than for the bag to reach out
and speak with whomever possessed it?
The beauty of it being a Gremlin, is their simplemindedness ensures that a bit of Gremlin remains,
riding under the radar as it were while the demons
direct his actions.
So, with a revenge-minded, accident-prone, wandering
salesman and semi-possessed Gremlin sorcerer
completed and ready to face the Ten Thunders,
everything was as it should be. What could be missing?
Well, you can never have too much bacon, right?
Porcine Love
Adding at least one Pig model for the Gremlins in Storm
of Shadows was something I also wanted to ensure
occurred. The eerily deep some say unhealthily so
symbiotic relationship between Gremlins and Pigs
is further examined in Berts relationship with his pet/
companion/pack sow, Gracie. Yes, I realize that for
some readers naming a massive elderly sow after the
female lead in the film we are paying homage to, may
be in poor taste, but it in no way was intended
to be anything but flattering.
Her statistics lent to Gracie being included in Crews

that included Bert, but even without her longtime
companion by her side, Gracies a force to be reckoned
with. She gives Gremlin players who want to play
Pig Crews a little more control and focus for their
Pigcharges. Include her with Bert, or make it a triplethreat with Wong and the three revenge-seekers can
make short work of most opponents.
These characters dont stop writing their own tales
once the books are published. For instance, I often
wonder who will make the ultimate sacrifice for whom
down the road: Gracie for Bert or vice versahave you
found out in your games yet? Whose love is stronger?
Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?
In conclusion this month, I hope you enjoyed this bit
of insight into where the Gremlin models in Storm of
Shadows originated from and how they fit into the larger
Malifaux storyline. Each of the models traveled its own
road from their original incarnations to the printed
versions in the book, sometimes taking years to make
their appearances. It has been a delight to be able to
give a few nods to favorite movies, quotes, and personas
while working on Malifaux, hopefully readers out there
enjoy them as well.
(*Bonus points to whoever can tell me where the name
Wong came from)
Gracies artwork captures her personality

perfectly. The tired and angry eyes
evoke a worldly awareness that should
be beyond a simple pig. Bert has lovingly
covered his best gal in makeshift armor to
protect her from harm while they fight the
good fight against the Ten Thunders,
and to help her with her sagging belly
hes fashioned a rolling platform where
she can rest her mid drift.
22
Professor Pink Pontificates
By: Adrian Scott
Card Tricks
Well here we are for another episode of me attempting
to provide advice on all aspects of playing Malifaux!
While last issues article was quite broad, I thought Id
use this article to start addressing more specific aspects
of the game of Malifaux. In this case, Ive decided to
discuss one of the major things every player must deal
with - your control hand.
that models activation. This isnt always necessary - if

the model in question cannot draw a bead on anything
important in your crew, then you should be much less
concerned about them pulling off such an attack.
When it comes to cheating, its also worth mentioning

Hamelin the Plagued. Hamelins rules allow him to draw
the top card of his fate deck or discard pile whenever you
cheat a card. Ive therefore found it best to only cheat on
Your Control Hand and Cheating
actions that are geniunely important to your objectives,
When I draw my hand for the turn, the first thing I do is especially if hes got a high card on top of his discard pile.
mentally prioritize some of my cards according to what I In fact, against Hamelin, Ive found that it helps alot to
most want to use them for that turn. Cheating away your simply play most of the turn as if you have a hand full of
cards to stop whatever attacks come your way is going to bad cards (see Drawing a Bad Hand, below).
run you out of good cards very quickly. Chances are that
your opponents will take advantage of that by saving the Cheating against Damaging Attacks
more dangerous attacks (such as throwing Lady Justice
into your Master) for when your hand is empty.
I have a rule when it comes to cheating against attacks
that will cause a damage flip; if you cant or arent
Instead, at the beginning of a turn you should have a willing to beat your opponents attack duel, cheat
good idea of what major interactions are going to occur high enough to ensure theyre damaging on a negative
between your models and your opponents models. You flip. The idea behind this is with a single negative to
should therefore be able to figure out which of those the damage flip your opponent cant cheat, and their
interactions will be most important to your plans and chances of dealing weak or no damage goes from 39%
prioritize your cards accordingly. Typically this means (for a straight flip) to 62%, or 75% if a double-negative
youll want to save certain cards for a combat you is applied to the damage flip. A lot of models will only
absolutely must win or a spell you need to cast, but it deal 1-2 damage on weak and they normally wont be
could even be for more mundane eventualities. For able to place blasts either, so its usually well worth the
instance most Resurrectionist players might want to cost of a moderate or low value card from your hand.
keep a high Crow handy for summoning new models,
or Silurid players may save a few 7+ cards to cast Leap, I also find that most of the time, its not worth cheating
and a Jakob Lynch player might mentally set aside a pair a good card from your hand to prevent an attack
of same-value cards to re-summon the Hungry Hippo that will only deal 1-2 wounds to your model. This
(Wyrd maintains that its actually called the Hungering is especially true when it comes to models who can
Darkness, but I know better...).
mitigate the damage dealt to them, such as through
Armor, Hard to Wound, or the Spirit characteristic.
Regardless of what kind of cards are in your hand, there In such cases, unless your opponent has a way of
are times when you should avoid cheating most or all of ignoring the damage mitigation or theyre able to
your cards away. This is mostly due to discard or die deal severe damage, your opponent is going to have
effects, where a certain trigger or attack requires a player trouble dealing more than 1-2 damage against such
to discard two cards or a targeted model is killed. Key a model anyway. So, unless that 1-2 damage is going
examples here are Ninos Headshot trigger and the king to cause you problems (such as when your model has
of discard effects - Jack Daw himself. When such effects 1-2 wounds left!), youre probably best off letting the
are on the table, it pays to be more conservative with attack go and saving your cards for more important
your hand and ensure you have enough cards to survive duels later on.
23
The Jokers
Almost any Malifaux player will have a story about
the Black and Red Jokers, and they can often end
in either a crushing defeat or victory as a result of
a flipped or cheated joker. There is no other factor
in the game that can swing the result of the game so
wildly. It therefore goes without saying that having
one or both of the Jokers in your hand is a great
advantage, but for different reasons.
The Black Joker is the card nobody wants to flip (well,
except perhaps Rasputina). It almost always results in
a failed action and if it comes up at the wrong time,
can rapidly shorten the life-span of the model you
flipped it for. Having the Black Joker
in your hand therefore means youll be
confident knowing that youll never flip
that card at an inconvenient moment.
So if you do happen to draw it into
your hand, you should ABSOLUTELY
hold onto it for most of the game. I
say most of the game, because there
will occasionally be a turn in which
you know victory or defeat will be
determined, usually due to whether
a certain duel or set of duels will
go your way. In such instances, Id
recommend actually discarding the
Black Joker from your hand before
drawing a fresh set of cards in the
draw phase. The Black Joker itself
will be safe in the discard pile (at
least until you have to reshuffle),
and the extra card you gain from
not keeping the Black Joker in your
hand could be enough to give you the edge that turn.
Having a Red Joker in your hand can be a doubleedged sword. Being able to put that card down to
deal massive damage to a single target or almost
guaranteeing the successful casting of a powerful
spell, but you need to avoid keeping the Red Joker
in your hand for multiple turns as you wait for that
perfect moment to use it. Even if you do find that
moment, the turns spent without the Red Joker in
your Fate deck may not make the payoff worth while.
Red Jokers are most effectively used to cheat damage
flips, and unless you have a game-winning spell or action
24
that you need to get off, thats exactly what you should be
aiming to do. Being able to use your Red Joker in such a
way means beating your opponents dual total by enough
to actually cheat the damage flip. Charges and Focused or
Channeled attacks all help, thanks to the positive twist to
the damage flip they grant, as do models with a natural
positive twists to damage on their weapons like Lady
Justice and Lilith. The one exception to this is when youre
facing crews filled with Hard to Wound models, against
whom its much more difficult to cheat the damage flip
(Seamus being the classic example). In such cases, youre
normally better off using the Red Joker on the turn you
draw it, to ensure that it will be in your fate deck next
turn. With luck, youll wind up flipping it for a damage
flip later on.
Counting Cards
This is a topic that
comes up on the forums
every now and then and
peoples opinions on it
can vary quite a bit. Card
counting is basically when
a player keeps mental
track of what cards have or
havent been flipped during
the turn. In theory, this
allows them to work out the
odds of flipping the right
card to cast a certain spell or
get a certain trigger. There is
plenty of literature available
to learn how to card count,
and Im sure some players are
even capable of calculating the
odds of flipping certain cards
on the fly.
In theory, this should give card counters an advantage,
but I feel that its generally not worth the effort to
learn such a skill. In fact, I imagine all that effort spent
memorizing cards would compromise your focus on
actually playing the game! As I hope youre aware of
by now, Malifaux is already very deep strategic game.
So it would be all too easy to make mistakes if youre
also trying to count cards and calculate the odds of
winning/losing certain duels!
Having said that, I do think its worth making a mental

note of whether you and your opponent has flipped
the Black and Red Jokers that turn. As above, these
can have a significant effect on the game, so knowing
that the Black Joker is still in your rapidly diminishing
deck might encourage you to play more cautiously. For
instance, you might use one of your more expendable
models to flurry against another model with hard to
wound. Youre unlikely to deal much damage, but all
those cards youd flip would improve your chances
of flushing out the Black Joker before you move on to
more important activations. Given how strong they tend
to be when flipped, you also could try and make note
of whether many of the high (11-13) cards have been
flipped but honestly - Ive rarely found that to give me
much of an advantage in-game.
Drawing a Bad Hand

Yes, it happens to everyone at some point - that critical
turn rolls around and you draw your control hand...
only to discover that the highest card you have is a 5 or
6! Now if Perdita or Jacob Lynch are in your crew then
it isnt so bad - both Masters have ways to discard and
replace particularly awful hands. For every other
crew however, youre stuck with your
crappy cards until the
next turn rolls
around. Drawing
a hand full of low
cards neednt be a
disaster. Personally,
I like to take a more
optimistic approach
it. After all, if theyre
sitting in my hand then
those low cards arent
in my deck, giving me
a slightly better chance
of flipping a high card
when I need it. Its not a
major advantage, but it
at least keeps me positive
and the moment you take
a defeatist attitude in
this or any game, is the
moment you guarantee
that youll lose.
25
Taking a more practical approach to dealing with

a low-value hand, the best advice I can give is to
play more defensively that turn. Avoid putting
your models in vulnerable positions and hold off
on making key assaults if you can afford it. You
could also throw the more expendable minions at
your opponents key models to prevent them from
hammering on the important parts of your crew.
This is actually part the reason I love taking the very
cheap and very fast Malifaux Raptors in my Marcus
crew. Throw one or two in your opponents way, and
theyre wasting AP on killing my birds rather than
taking out Marcus.
It also pays to do everything in your power to take
advantage of positive (for you) and negative (for
your opponent) flips to duels. Negative card flips
for your opponent prevents them from cheating and
makes it much harder for them to connect with their
attacks. By contrast positive flips improve your own
chance of getting a high starting total, which both
reduces the need to cheat a card from your own
hand, and may force your opponent to cheat one
of their good cards to connect. Good examples of
this would be to keep your models in cover
against shooting attacks, using Defensive
Stance, Channeling or Focusing your attacks
and taking advantage of any specific talents
of spells that might grant positive (eg. the
Gunsmith) or negative flips (eg. Zoraidas
Proper Manners).
Bluffing
Much like poker, or any other cardrelated game for that matter, bluffing
can play a large role in your games of
Malifaux. Now to be honest the art of
bluffing - of reading peoples facial
expressions and hiding your own
in order to read minds and deceive
others - is something Im no good
at. Fortunately, there are twice as
many books on bluffing than there
are on card counting (at least according
to my internet search engine) so if you are really
interested in learning how to fool your opponent,
there is more than enough literature out there to study!
One thing I will say is that Ive always believed that

actions speak louder than words. So if you want
to know what kind of hand your opponent has,
pay attention to what they cheat or discard. For
instance, if your opponent uses the Surge trigger to
discard a card, that card will almost definitely have
been the lowest one in his hand (ie. start worrying
if it was a 9!). In a similar sense, if hes cheating
moderate cards on what you feel should have been
an important duel for him/her, theres a good chance
they have few or no high cards left in their hand.
Of course you could also turn this on its head - it
might pay to discard a decent card on your Surge
trigger to throw your opponent off and make them
think that your hand is alot better than it actually is!
The Final Word

So here endeth this Chronicles lesson! Once again,
this article wound up focusing on much less than
what I initially hoped to cover. I have plenty of
other topics I could delve into but if you have a
suggestion, by all means let me know! The easiest
way to contact me is probably via private message
on the Wyrd forums using my username - Rathnard.
Until next time,
-Adrian
26
Painting Misaki
This time, Im going to be painting the mistress of the
ten thunders herself. Misakis model is very dynamic
and pretty, which makes her ideal for a more interesting
base and a bright clean color scheme, quite different to
Yan Lo. I am however going to paint a dragon onto
her somewhere, since all my ten thunders masters will
have one. Once again, Im mostly using Vallejo Game
Color paints, but a few others are noted in here too.
By: Mark Rodgers
Step 1: Skin
Since not much of Misakis skin is showing, it makes
the small area around her eyes even more important. Its
worth taking extra time over this, as it serves as a focal
point for the model.
I started with a 3:2:1:1:1 mix of bronzed fleshtone:
Color Scheme
The colors I picked for my Katanaka clan were yellow
and purple (which if Im honest, is a color scheme
I picked up from an episode of Scooby Doo). All the
Katanaka minions will have them in places, and the
named Katanaka leaders will have them as more
dominant colors.
With purple and yellow as my major colors, I needed
to choose my contrast carefully. Yellow and purple
are direct opposites on the color wheel so there is no
obvious complement to use in a three point (triad)
color scheme. This meant using other colors carefully
and sparingly, and making sure I picked the right
shade of yellow and purple to avoid a clash. I decided
to move the yellow a little towards brown/orange,
making green a good choice for shading the armor.
Step by Step
As usual, the first thing to do is thoroughly clean up
each piece. With the more fragile pieces like her hair,
it can help to clean off the mold lines before removing
them from the sprue, that way you have less to do when
theyre loose and easier to break. Test fit everything
before gluing it together, and fill any gaps before you
start painting. Having chosen to paint Misaki partly
yellow, priming black might seem an odd choice, but
the majority of the model will be better served by
black primer. I only use white when the whole model
used pale colors. Prior to painting anything, I drilled
a hole through the underside of Misakis foot and
halfway up her shin. A pin would later run up the hole
to prevent her ankle from snapping and also allow her
face covering to be angled vertically.
khaki: bonewhite: leather brown: camouflage green.

The khaki, leather brown and camouflage green are
used to darken the skin and give it a more olive cast.
Shading was done in two stages, first using a 4:2:1
midtone: dark fleshtone: night blue mixture, and then
using a 3:2:1 mix of the first shade: dark fleshtone:
night blue. This last shade was applied sparingly in
the deepest shadows. Too much blue makes the skin
look sickly and bruised, so its important to only use
enough to counter the orange in the flesh colors. As
usual, after shading I repainted the midtone color back
in, thinned so it doesnt totally cover the shadows. I
highlighted the skin using a 2:1 mix of midtone and
bonewhite, and then brought it up further using
2:1 first highlight: bonewhite. A final touch of pure
bonewhite on the brow ridges and knuckles finished
the flesh tones off.
27
The eyes were started with a careful stripe of

charred brown at the bottom of the eye, and black
at the top. The eyelashes are typically thinner and
lighter at the bottom so brown works better there,
although if there isnt space to do both then a single
stripe of black works fine. The whites of the eyes
were painted in VMC deck tan, which gives a more
natural look than pure white. I then dotted some
jade green into the center of the eyes, and followed
that with thinned black for the pupils and eyebrows.
Her fingernails were painted on last, using the
first shade color for the main nail area followed by
bonewhite for the tips.
colors have much better pigment density, so the

ratios are skewed very heavily towards yellow to
keep them subtler. The midtone repaint is very
important here, as the yellow can easily become
hidden under the shades and highlights if youre
not careful. Again, the highlight mixes were very
heavily skewed towards yellow, the first being 5:1
sun yellow: dead white, and the second 4:1 first
highlight: dead white.
Step 2: Clothing
The purple was easier in terms of laying down

the basecoat, which was simply hexed lichen. I
painted the diagonal that I wanted at this stage,
but as a sharp line. The shading was done using
3:1:1 hexed lichen: black: charred brown (brown is
close to being a dark yellow), followed by further
shading with 2:1:1 shade: black: charred brown.
The shades were layered and feathered onto the
yellow where the two areas met to begin creating
the fade I wanted. When I repainted the midtone, I
made sure I did the same at the boundary of purple
and yellow, bringing the fade across the midtone
as well as the shade. The highlights were a 3:1 mix
of hexed lichen: dead white followed by a second
highlight of the previous color with a little extra
white added in. Again, the blends over the yellow
Misakis clothing began with a lot of coats of sun had to be carefully layered on to keep the color
yellow. To speed the process up when going from fade consistent without losing the shaded folds in
a black undercoat, you can add in some white to the cloth.
your yellow (the pigment density of white paint
is better and so you get faster coverage) but even Step 3: Freehand
doing that, this section began with three coats of
white-yellow mix and over a dozen coats of yellow. The dragon on Misaki was going on her leg and
The first shade was an 8:2:1 mix sun yellow: earth: would be made of flowers, so the initial roughed
hexed lichen. The addition of hexed lichen (a dark out skeleton was a branch, painted in earth. A thin
purple) makes the shading more interesting. The highlight of camouflage green was then added
second, very minimal shade was a 4:1:1 mixture along the upper edges of the branches, and used
of the first shade: earth: hexed lichen. The shade to form leaves on the dragons head. A very small
28
amount of charred brown was used to shade under in thinned leather brown, before adding a very dilute
the branches and form the head details a little wash made of charred brown with a touch of black, sun
further, before the flowers were painted on.
yellow and GW scab red. The wash at the end is very
faint, but ties the grain pattern to the wood a bit more.
The pink flowers began as circles of GW tentacle

pink with a little hexed lichen mixed in. While the
white flowers were circles of VMC deck tan with a
tiny dab of night blue; just enough to lend it a faint
blue hue. The petals, in pure GW tentacle pink or
white, were done by simply painting four or five
small blobs around the edge of the darker circle. As
a final touch, tiny dots of either GW warlock purple
or sun yellow were put in the center of each flower.
This leaves the original circle showing between the
petals as a shading line. The final step, as always,
was to shade the freehand carefully to match the
clothing. This meant glazing a very dilute purple,
black and charred brown mixture on it in the folds.
At this point I have to admit something in total,
from starting the yellow basecoat on her clothing
to finishing the shading of the freehand, I spent
a total of twenty one hours on these two stages.
Eighteen of them were on the clothing and only
three on the freehand. These kinds of things
(especially yellows) dont happen quickly!
Step 4: Bisento
After thinking back to some of the book 3 art, I painted

the bisento and Misakis necklace as jade, increasing the
green contrast on her. This was started with a 4:1 mix of
dark green and jade green, and then shaded by adding
a 1:1 mix of black and hexed lichen gradually, with a
final shade of pure black in the deepest shadows. After
repainting the midtone, I highlighted using increasing
amounts of dead white, until I reached a 1:1 ratio of
green to white. The last step was to put a few small
points of white onto the jade to make it look glossier.
Because of the details on the sculpt, picking the next

part to paint was difficult. I decided to start with the
bisento haft, painting it Khaki and highlighting the top
side with a glaze of bonewhite. The grain was painted
29
Step 5: Metals
hexed lichen. Further shading was done using pure

deck tan with a little black and hexed lichen mixed
in. The bonewhite was repainted, then mixed 1:1 with
dead white for the first highlight. The final highlight
on the cloth was dead white, after which I went back
and neatened the trouser bottoms, blending them to
black around the ankles. With Misaki finished it was
now time to work on her base.
I started the metals with a basecoat of 5:1 VMC deck

tan and black, to give me a slightly warm grey. This was Step 8: Base
shaded using a 6:2:1 mix of the base color, black and
dark green. The second shade was a 2:1 mix of dark
green and black. The midtone had a little chainmail
silver added before it was repainted, and since the
metallic areas were so small, I then went straight to
thinned chainmail silver for a final highlight.
The arc from Misakis foot gave me the idea to have

her perched on a lily pad Crouching Tiger style.
I decided to sculpt the water myself, so to get a
snapshot of her as she kicks out, flinging water and
a rather surprised carp into the air. The first step in
this process was to build a recessed base by cutting
the center out of a standard base, putting a plasticard
disk in the bottom, and applying green stuff to the
sides to seal it. A short section of plastic rod was cut,
a lily pad sculpted, and both had a hole drilled in
them. When I started Misaki I drilled a hole through
her foot for a pin to fit in. The lily pad and rod were
Misakis hair began with a 1:1 mix of black and dark slid onto the pin and I drilled a hole into the base
fleshtone. This was shaded with black, and then repainted before gluing the rod, lily and base together.
as neater strands. Bonewhite was added progressively to
create the highlights, until pure bonewhite was used. I
then used the basecoat diluted, to make a wash, to blend
the colors together. The final step was to add fairly sharp
highlights to the hair, on the sides of the braid and in a
halo around the head. Clean hair is quite glossy, which
causes the halo effect.
Step 6: Hair
Step 7: Cloth Straps

After undercoating black to hide the rod, I painted
stones onto the base using earth, dark fleshtone and
VMC mahogany brown. Some were then highlighted
with khaki, others with VMC deck tan, and the rest
with bonewhite. This meant there was now six different
colored stones, some of which I highlighted a little
more using dead white, and some glazed with black
The cloth was basecoated with several layers of (shown together in the picture). The pad was painted
bonewhite. This was shaded using a 1:1 mix of with camouflage green, and shaded by adding charred
bonewhite and VMC deck tan, containing a hint of brown and then black to the mix. After repainting the
30
green, I added VMC deck tan to highlight with. With

the bases look done, I attached Misaki to the base and
glazed some black under her foot.
The carp was painted in a 1:1 mix of VMC deck tan

and dead white, then shaded with deck tan containing
a little hexed lichen and black. I added a little more
black and hexed lichen for the second shade layer.
The midtone was neatened up, keeping some areas of
the fish darker as they would be facing away from the
light source above. I then highlighted using a 2:1 mix
of dead white and metallic medium, to give the scales
a little bit of shine. The orange began as an 8:2:1 mix
of blazing orange: khaki: GW scab red, painted in a
common koi pattern known as, kohaku. I shaded
the orange by adding more scab red and some black,
then I repainted the midtone without a second shade.
The highlight consisted of 1:2:1 midtone, bonewhite
and metallic medium to pick out the scales more. I
also painted the eyes black at this point, with a dot
of white on the upper side as a reflection, and added
some faint black stripes to the tail. The wire was used
as a sculpting support, but during painting I pulled it
out until it was just in the mouth to act as a support
that could be easily removed later.
To start the arc of water, I needed a strip of baking

paper and my trusty yellow tube of UHU all purpose
glue. I ran a line of the colorless glue along the paper
strip and attached it to Misakis foot and the base, to
form the initial support for the later stages. To keep it
curved nicely as it cured overnight, I used a support
wire (from a pack of cookies). The koi was also put
into rough place, still on the wire. Once the glue
cured, I carefully peeled away the paper and eased
the koi into place against the curved band of glue. I
then added a layer of Liquitex Gloss Super Heavy Gel
over the glue using a blunt bladed sculpting tool, and
shaped it with an old damp brush. Its important not
to add too much at once, or it doesnt cure properly.
Each time I added a little more to the main water arc
and sculpted the splashes coming off it. I made sure
the edges of the splash were up as high as the top edge
of the base, as the last step was to carefully pour clear
resin into the base around the splash effect, making
sure it reached the lily pad but didnt overflow into
the sculpted splash. After the resin cured, I painted
matte varnish on all of Misaki except the metals, jade
and fish, where I used gloss varnish.
31
Step 9: Finished
So heres the Mistress of the Ten Thunders, in all her glory. As always, if anyone wants to talk paint with me,
Im on the forums as Mako so feel free!
Click here to see these images at their original size.
32
Wyrd Organized Play 2013
By: Bill Anderson
The end of February saw the release of the new

Gaining Ground 2013 organized play format from
Wyrd. This release updated the older Gaining
Grounds document along with introducing a
number of changes to organized play overall. Players
worldwide will be experiencing these changes
moving forward, and this is a great opportunity to
gain some insight into the new format and to take a
close look at the updated recommended strategies.
for Official competitive tournaments. Governors

Decree also specifies three encounter formats, two
hiring formats, and a single scoring method.
Two documents, why?
Organized Play 2013 introduces a number of small

changes from the older Gaining Grounds documents
beyond the split between official and unofficial
tournament frameworks.
Originally, the Gaining Grounds document

provided a framework for all organized play - both
Official Wyrd events and community-organized
events. The new documents provide the Gaining
Grounds for unofficial organized play and the
Governors decree for Official Wyrd events, such
as the Gencon competitive tournaments. This
was done to maintain the current options that
Henchmen have grown accustomed to and to also
provide a more constrained competitive framework
for Official Wyrd tournaments.
Changes to the Organized Play

format
General Changes
Proxy Rules and Pre-Release models

Gaining Grounds 2013 maintains the Tournament
Organizers (TO) discretion on the use of proxy models.
Governors Decree removes this allowance, forbidding
proxy models for official Wyrd-sponsored tournaments.
Pre-Release models are now defined and specifically

identified in both documents. This addresses one of the
Gaining Grounds 2013
concerns that many Henchmen and TOs have expressed
regarding models released at large conventions or other
Gaining Grounds 2013 is intended for tournaments events. Pre-Release models are allowed based on TO
organized by Malifaux Henchmen and the approval for Gaining Grounds, and expressly allowed
community. This document updates the strategies under Governors Decree if they were released at the
and general rules to be synchronized with the event or previously announced as permitted. These
Governors Decree document, but continues to models are defined as models not yet available as a
provide a wider range of options for tournaments. general release, including models sold during GenCon
Gaining Grounds 2013 provides guidelines for four and other events.
different encounter formats, five different hiring
formats, and three different scoring methods to Round Times
determine a winner. Many of these formats and
methods will be familiar to existing Henchmen The timing of rounds in competitive tournaments has
from the older Gaining Grounds document.
been a topic of discussion among players and TOs
for a while. There were many concerns raised during
the competitive events at GenCon 2012, and the new
formats address these concerns. Rounds now begin
Governors Decree 2013 is intended for use in when players are assigned their tables, beginning with
Official Wyrd-sponsored tournaments such as a 10-minute period for encounter setup. This is the
GenCon competitive tournaments. It institutes a time when players can hire their crews, select schemes,
number of limits from the Gaining Grounds 2013 and prepare for the game. Play is allowed to commence
document to provide a recommended framework during this period should both players be prepared.
Governors Decree 2013
33
Models that do not cost Soulstones (i.e. 0 cost

models) do not need to be listed.
Following the encounter setup period the rounds have
all been lengthened with the goal of allowing players
to complete a full 6-round game of Malfaux. The Summonable models do not need to be listed unless
the crew will also hire them.
breakdown for the new timing is as follows:
Scraps
New Strategies
20 29 Soulstones: 80 minute Rounds

Gaining Grounds 2013 and Governors Decree have

introduced five new strategies for competitive play.
These strategies are adaptations of existing strategies
that provide player familiarity and strategy updates
with an eye toward competitive balance and cumulative
victory point accrual.
Brawls

Hiring Pool
The Hiring Pool is a new hiring format that appears in
both Gaining Grounds and Governors Decree. This
deviates from the rulebook-defined hiring pool by
limiting the models that a player can hire their crew
from. This addition is intended to help provide an
alternative to the Suitcase Gamer who shows up at an
event with every model available for his or her faction.
Utilizing a hiring pool creates a subset of a faction that
the player can then hire from during the tournament.
The five new strategies are combined with an established

strategy (Contain Power) to provide a selection of
6 strategies to be used in competitive tournaments.
These strategies are intended to provide different
considerations for the tactics used in competitive play.
Previously, Movement-based tactics and speed of
play heavily influenced success in competitive games.
The new strategies incorporate additional tactics
such as Kill-based, Resilience-based, and Controlbased. Combining these new tactical considerations
with round-by-round accumulation of victory points
changes the way competitive strategies will be played
and reduces the dominance of a speed based tactic.
Hiring Pools have the player commit to a single faction

at the start of the tournament, then provide a list of
models to the TO that he or she will hire from during the
tournament. This list is equal to double the Soulstone
Size of the Encounter (i.e. 60 Soulstone Hiring Pool list
for a 30 Soulstone tournament). The creation of this list
has a number of specifics on how to calculate the costs
of models:
Leaders are not factored into the Hiring Pool
Soulstones, but should be listed.
Avatars cost a flat 2 Soulstones, which allow the use
of any Avatar that could be connected to a listed
master.If a Henchman is going to be hired with
another Master that is leader of a crew, then the
henchmans cost is included in the pool.
Out of Faction models can be listed if they could
be hired by one of the leaders listed. They cost their
basic Soulstone cost when added to the pool.
34
Contain Power
Most players will be familiar with the Contain Power Strategy. It is a typical kill strategy in which the objective
is to eliminate your opponents leader before the end of the game. The strategy provides a very straightforward
Kill-based objective in which both the individual and shared strategies earn victory points (vp) in the same way.
Players earns 2vp if their opponents leader is no longer in the game at the end of the encounter, and 4vp if their
own leader killed or sacrificed the opponents leader during the encounter.
Treasure Hunt (Gaining Grounds Variant)

Treasure Hunt has been modified to play differently for the new Gaining Grounds 2013 format. Victory points are
now cumulatively earned at the end of each turn, starting with turn 2. In addition, there is no longer a requirement
to move the Treasure back to your deployment zone. Treasure Hunt is now similar to an elaborate game of Keep
Away in Malifaux.
One of the largest changes players will notice in this variant of the strategy will be the restriction on picking up the
treasure. Models cannot pick up the treasure counter on turn 1, but now must wait until round 2. In addition to
this, a model cannot pick up the treasure while engaged. Previously, Treasure Hunt was a strategy that catered to the
fastest crews being able to move to the center of the board as quickly as possible (during turn 1) and grabbing the
treasure while there. These two changes to this variant introduce additional tactics to slower crews, allowing them
to reach the center of the table and protect the treasure during turn 1, and reducing the impact of faster crews.
The next significant change to expand upon is the removal of the deployment zone requirement. In this variant of
Treasure Hunt, a player scores victory points by holding the treasure with an unengaged model. This means the
model holding the treasure no longer needs to rush back to the crews deployment zone, but just needs to stay away
from enemy models. This introduces a Movement-based tactic and combines it with a Control-based tactic for
protecting your model holding the treasure.
Land Grab
A number of competitive players have spoken about how challenging Reconnoiter is as a strategy. This was a
strategy that previously required you to keep enough of your models alive until the end of the game to contest the
number of models your opponent had spread across the four table quarters. Land Grab updates this strategy to fit
into the new goal of cumulative victory points.
In Land Grab, a player will attempt to control table quarters on a turn-by-turn basis. Insignificant models still do
not count toward victory conditions, but the strategy has changed by removing the center table area where models
also did not count toward victory. Now players will count the number of significant models completely within a
table quarter. The player with more models in a quarter will control that quarter. This gives an edge to Resiliencebased tactics with crews that can hold the center of the table and shift to be completely within contested quarters
during the game. An additional consideration is given to Control-based tactics that can shift opponent models
out of specific board quarters to weaken an opponents quarter control.
Beat Down
At first glance it may appear that Beat Down is just a renamed version of Slaughter with the addition of cumulative
victory point scoring. This assumption would be a mistake, as Beat Down introduces a fairly drastic change in how
a Kill-based Strategy is played.
35
Slaughter had a very heavy focus on killing your opponents most expensive models in terms of their Soulstone
cost. This encouraged players to only bring expensive models that were highly resilient within the game and
focus very heavily on killing power. Additionally, the assigned Soulstone value of 10ss for Masters (12ss for Dual
Masters) created a situation where competitive players would focus on removing masters from the game to gain
advantage in the strategy. Beat Down removes the cost consideration from the equation and condenses the focus
of the strategy on the number of models killed. This new strategy also makes it more important to kill a larger
number of models per turn than your opponent. The shift from cost of model to number of models, greatly
increases the Resilience-based tactics, while maintaining the Kill-based tactics previously utilized.
Testing and early uses of this strategy in competitive tournaments are demonstrating a shift in tactics to address
the new considerations of the strategy. Players are bringing smaller elite crews with higher cost models to the
table, focusing on expensive models that can dish out damage. This reduces the potential to remove multiple
small models in a turn, swinging the victory conditions for that turn. Crews that contain a smaller number of
highly resilient models can focus on attacking and killing one or two models in a turn, gaining the victory point
by staying just 1 model killed ahead of their opponent. Beat Down seems to greatly increase the importance of
abilities such as Hard to Kill and Slow to Die, along with the importance of Poison and Burning tokens weakening
enemy models.
Line in the Sand (Gaining Grounds Variant)

Line in the Sand was updated to remove the need of an attacker and defender for the determination of handling
the dynamite markers. Many players have commented that the defenders role in the rules manual version of this
strategy is a pretty big handicap on the game. To address this concern, the interact action to disarm a dynamite
marker was reduced to 1ap.
Further changes were made to the strategy to adapt it for the cumulative victory point earning that is in line with
the overall changes. This change really pushed the strategy to require a significant Control-based tactic and less
of a Movement-based tactic. It is also one of the few variant strategies in which the scoring is different for the
individual and shared versions.
Players will find a number of ways to protect their dynamite and assure they are the ones earning points during
the game. Models must take a 1ap interact to arm the dynamite, but are not allowed to do this while engaged
with enemy models or if they are insignificant. Players can set models over the dynamite markers to protect
them, forcing their opponent to remove the model before arming the dynamite. A Player could also make use of
Movement-based tactics to move and disarm armed dynamite before the end of the turn.
Individual
On individual Line in the Sand, the player with the strategy must arm at least three dynamite markers to begin
earning points. The change to the opponent being able to disarm dynamite for a single ap makes it more important
to maintain an area of control around your armed dynamite. Each turn after the second, the player must have three
or more dynamite armed in order to earn a victory point.
Shared
In the shared version of this strategy, both players are trying to arm the dynamite. Players will need to mark off the
dynamite when they arm it for their side, with the goal of having more dynamite armed than their opponent. This
is a new change in the strategy, allowing the accumulation of victory points while only having a single dynamite
marker armed. If a player can protect the disarmed dynamite and keep their opponent from arming any, or disarm
any their opponent has armed before the end of the turn, they will earn a victory point. This has created a highly
interactive strategy in which the game can swing between opponents before settling out at the end of the turn.
36
Master of the Hill

Master of the Hill is a new strategy that adapts the standard Claim Jump strategy and incorporates board terrain
as part of scoring. The Gaining Grounds 2013 document recommends that a Hill or Ziggurat terrain feature be
set-up in the center of the board to the specifications in the document. Following these guidelines provides a fairly
large piece of terrain that not only blocks line of sight across the board, but also provides a large scoring area.
Players aim to get more models on the hill than their opponent, with any model standing alone at the top of the
hill gaining a benefit in the strategy.
One of the key aspects of this strategy is the lack of restriction on Significant or Insignificant models. All models
in a crew count toward the victory conditions in this strategy, shifting the ideas toward crew building. This aspect
combined with the victory conditions for the strategy is ideal for Resilience-based tactics.
There are community comments about the fact that a model on the top of the hill can gain line of sight nearly
anywhere on the board. This is true, but many people are missing some aspects of how the terrain can be structured.
While the hill terrain has its size specified, there is no restriction to adding additional line of sight blocking features
onto the hill terrain. The Malifaux Vassal module has this implemented nicely in the Battle of Bunker Hill board.
In the situation where players do not have a appropriately sized hill to use for this scenario, an alternate means of
scoring is provided. This alternate means is to place a 50mm marker in the center of the table. This will represent
the top of the hill while an area 8 inches surrounding the marker represents the hill. Regardless of using an actual
hill terrain or marker, players score victory points by having more models on the hill than their opponents at the
end of the turn.
Approaching this scenario with a Control-based tactic would seem to be a great way to go. Abilities such as Lure
and Bury, along with other abilities that can reposition the opponents models will appear to be very powerful in
this strategy. These types of Control-based tactics work very well for controlling the top of the hill, but start to
break down for overall scoring due to the size of the hill. It is much tougher to completely remove the opponents
models off the hill, making the use of Kill-based and Resilience-based tactics much stronger for this strategy.
37
A Gremlins Luck
38
By: Paul Villar
Ask A Gremlin
Welcome to ask a gremlin. This be the first time we done tried this. I know all
you humans has lots o questions bout gremlin life, it bein better than yours
an all. I done figured Id answer some o dem.
Q: As Hamelin was revisited because he was deemed TOO powerful, will any
masters be revisited because theyre not powerful ENOUGH? e.g. Rasputina.
Also, how do you like your bacon?
A: We done visited Rasputina once. Went and froze all the moonshine, wont
be goin round her too much. And I like my bacon how I like my hatser
next question.
Q: How-dee cousinn! Ive been a finkin. Hows comes no more of our kin puts
on dem big hats and become Bosses?
A: Shoot, you dun think big hats grows on trees? An o course you need to
take accountin o head size an all. Cant have just any gremlin runnin round
with a hat over his eyes.
Q: Are gremlin teeth supposed to be sharp when taken care of or is burt an
anomaly?
A: Well that theres a tricky one. Never seen gremlin teeth that done bin
taken care of.
Q: Dear Gremlin. Who taught you to read and answer advice columns anyway?
Skeptical in San Francisco.
A: Help! Theyve had me chained up in a hut for months forcing me to write
these stupid answers. His dictations make no sense. Send help!
Q: Long time listener, first time caller. Love the show. So, if the Big Hat were
to get another avatar, could it be something that doesnt have to ride a pig?
A: Now theres usin yur head. We dont ride no more pigs, means more
bacon. Avatar bacon!
39
Q: Who makes the best Shine?

A: Sometimes when you crack open one o them there metal spidery thing o
majigs you can drink wut comes out. Thats some pretty good shine, if I do
say so meself, but the brewmaster makes some good stuff.
Q: What kind of hat is your favorite and if you could steal any Guildies hat
which one would it be?
A: The scrawny feller has a big o metal hat for his whole body. I think I done
want that one.
Q: What is best in life?
A: To have a finger to be pulled, to see yer kin run from the hut, and to hear
the squeals of their pigs.
Q: Will we get more vermin at some point for somer? Rats and mosquitoes
are okay, but will there be anything else like for instance gremlin vandals
(kids).
A: There be plenty o vermin fer everyone. Vermin gumbo, sauted vermin,
barbecued vermin, broiled vermin, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. Deys, uh,
vermin kabobs, peppered vermin
Well, that be all o the time set aside fer today. Ill try to git more o yur
questions answered next time round. Just cause I didnt git it this time dont
mean I wont next time. Sides, this human is gittin all squirmy and the pigs
is gittin hungrywait, send help! Send help! For the love of
40
Malifaux Campaign
Malifaux Campaign
By: Justin Gibbs
Optional Rules For Running a Campaign

Cole trudged through the murky sludge, cursing silently to himself as he tried to keep his rifle above water.
If they had been able to keep the saddle bags away from the undead before they escaped he wouldnt be
wading through the bayou right now.
He could hear his fellow Friekorpsmen around him, but it was difficult to see through the thick mist that
had settled over the dreary water. Slowly, the noises around him began to change. The myriad of insects
stopped buzzing and he could tell that his crew had come to a halt. Cole readied his rifle, and waited.
One of the zombies burst from the mist, its mouth gaping with yellowing teeth. It had a savage wound in
its chest. Cole briefly wondered if he had already put a round in this thing, before leveling his rifle with its
head and pulling the trigger.
As the echoes of Coles rifle rippled across the bayou, it was followed by a chorus of groans in the distance.
The rest of the horde was coming. Good, Cole grinned, time to get those saddle bags back to town and get
paid
Running a Malifaux Campaign

The purpose of this article is to give you and your
friends all the tools you need to run a Malifaux
campaign, in which your models can gain equipment
and injuries over a series of multiple games. These
are optional rules which are strictly for fun, and
they are not tournament legal. Any number of
people may participate in the campaign, making it
a great thing to run as a league. It is recommended
that each player print out a Crew Sheet (available
here to help keep track of the changes in their Crew
over the duration of the campaign.
(Example: Jack creates a 25 Soulstone Seamus

Crew for the campaign. He spends 22 Soulstones
on models and 3 go to his Soulstone Pool. During
his first game, he uses the Soulstones in his Pool to
increase his Attack Flips, and he also summons a
Rotten Belle. During his second game, the Rotten
Belle is not added to his Crew, and he will still have
3 Soulstones in his Pool, unless a campaign effect
specifically states otherwise.)
At the start of the campaign, each person who

is participating builds a 25 Soulstone Crew (or
another amount agreed on by all players), using
the normal hiring rules. This Crew will be used for
the duration of the campaign, however it may grow
or change as you earn more Soulstones to hire
models, buy upgrades, and as models are killed
or injured. Models summoned or otherwise
created during a game do not carry over
between games. A players Soulstone Pool
is considered to be a part of the Crew, and will
remain consistent in subsequent games, even if the
Soulstones had been used during a game.
42
multiple times during the game, it only flips to see if it was

Finished Off once, the first time it is killed or sacrificed.
Set Up
After choosing Schemes, place three 30mm Artifact
Markers on the board. Place one in the exact center
of the board, or as close as possible depending on
terrain and other Markers. Then each player places one
additional Marker anywhere on the board which is not
within 6 of a Deployment Zone or another Artifact
Marker. Determine who places first randomly. In the
case of a multiplayer game, place a number of Artifact
Markers equal to the number of players plus one, with
one Marker always going in the center.
Upgrade and Injury Cards
Some models may have Upgrade or Injury cards

associated with them. These are cards which were
acquired during previous campaign games, but now
affect the models rules or stats. Upgrade and Injury
cards will specify what they do and, for all purposes, are
treated as if they are printed on the models own card.
Because these cards are only obtained as games are
played, during the first game of the campaign, there will
not be any Upgrade or Injury cards in play. Upgrade
(Example: In a three player game, place one Artifact
and Injury cards are always applied to a specific model.
Marker in the center of the board, and then each player
If that model leaves play for any reason, its Upgrade and
places one Marker, for a total of four Markers.)
Injury cards have no more effect on the game unless
noted otherwise.
Gameplay
Campaign games are played exactly like normal games
of Malifaux with a few exceptions.
Injured
Note: There are many models in Malifaux which turn into

other models through the course of the game. If the model
was killed or sacrificed to summon other models (such
as when an Arachnid Swarm splits apart) any Upgrade
and Injury cards on the original models are discarded
(although the model will still have them in subsequent
games). If the model was Replaced or manifested an
Avatar, all Upgrade and Injury cards carry over to the
new model. Models which were replaced revert back to
their regular states in subsequent games. (For example,
a Master Manifesting an Avatar would still start the next
game as the regular Master, a Terror Tot which grows into
a Young Nephilim will still be a Terror Tot in following
games, etc.)
When a model is reduced to zero Wounds, we generally

refer to it as being killed. However, this isnt always
the case, as it may simply represent the model being
injured and taken out of action such that it can no
longer participate in the skirmish. In a normal game of
Malifaux, this doesnt really matter, but over the course
of a campaign it is important to keep track of which
models were simply injured, and which ones were
Artifact Markers
actually killed.
Artifact Markers are placed at the

start of the Encounter, as detailed
above. They follow all of the
normal rules for Markers (Rules
Manual pg. 18) and remain in play
for the duration of the game. At the
end of the game, the player with
the most non-insignificant models
within 2 of an Artifact Marker scores
that Marker. More on what this means
Note: Keep in mind; models which were summoned or is described in the Aftermath section.
otherwise generated during the game never perform this Otherwise, Artifact Markers have
no effect on the game.
flip. Also, if a model happens to be killed or sacrificed
Whenever a model without the printed Insignificant
characteristic which was hired as a part of a players
starting Crew is Killed or Sacrificed, the player who
killed or sacrificed it flips a card. This flip may be
cheated. If the flip is ten or higher, the model was
Finished Off. Models which have been Finished Off
drop no counters upon being removed from the table.
Keep track of which models have been Finished Off, as
this will have an effect during the Aftermath Step.
43
Strategic Withdraw (Run away!)
Phase 1: Determine Injuries
A campaign game is different than a regular game of

Malifaux, because a player not only has to worry about
accomplishing his or her objectives, but keeping the
Crew alive to fight another day. As such, it is sometimes
a better idea to play a little more defensively.
Players shuffle all cards into their Fate Decks. Any

model which was Finished Off must flip one card on the
following chart to determine its Injury. This Flip may not
be modified in any way. These Injuries are permanent
and affect subsequent games. You can download Injury
Cards here and print them out to help you remember
At the start of any turn, a Crew which has lost 25% or what each model has.
more of its starting models due to them being killed or
sacrificed may make a Strategic Withdraw. When a Crew If a model Flips an Injury which it currently has, discard
makes a Strategic Withdraw, the game immediately ends. the Flip with no effect; the model was lucky and is not
The Crew which made the Strategic Withdraw calculates Injured this game. If a models stat would be reduced to
VP as if the game had ended at that point normally. The zero or below by an Injury, it is reduced to one instead.
opposing Crew scores a full 8 VP and is automatically
counted as the winner. Each player scores Artifact Permanently Killed: Some Injury results state that the
Markers as normal.
model is Permanently Killed. If this happens, remove
this model from your Crew Sheet, it has been killed,
obliterated, or otherwise damaged beyond repair. It is
no longer part of the campaign. All Upgrades attached
to it are discarded.
Aftermath is a special step which is added to every
campaign game after the Determine Winner step. The
Aftermath step is used to determine what happened
to the models during the course of the game. The
Aftermath step is Broken into four phases:
Aftermath
Rams
Card
1R
2R
3R
4R
5R
6R
7R
8R
9R
10R
11R
12R
13R
Knocked Out: This model misses the next game.

Sickly: Easy to wound 1
Shaky Nerves: This model may not Charge.
Amputation: Reduce this models Wd stat by 2.
Street Fight: Your opponent temporarily controls Bishop (Malifaux 1.5 pg. 185). Each player shuffles
their deck and draws six cards; neither player has a Soulstone Pool. Bishop charges the injured model
and performs a full Activation. When it is done, the Injured model performs an Activation. Continue
until one of the models is killed. If Bishop is killed, the Injured models Crew gains 2 Guild Scrip and
makes an additional Barter Flip. If the Injured model is killed, it is Permanently Killed.
Immune to Influence: This model is immune to Wp duels when it is the defender.
44
Crows
Card
1C
2C
3C
4C
5C
6C
7C
8C
9C
10C
11C
12C
13C

If this model is a non-Unique minion, it is Permanently Killed. Otherwise, it suffers no effect.
If this model is a minion, it is Permanently Killed. Otherwise, it suffers no effect.
If this model is a minion, it is Permanently Killed. Otherwise, it suffers no effect.
If this model is not a Master, it is Permanently Killed. Otherwise, it suffers no effect.
If this model is not a Master, it is Permanently Killed. Otherwise, it suffers no effect.
This model is Permanently Killed.
This model is Permanently Killed.
Restless Spirit: Reduce this models wounds by half, rounded up. It gains the Spirit Characteristic. If
this model is already a Spirit, reflip on this chart.
Tomes
Card
1T
2T
3T
4T
5T
6T
7T
8T
9T
10T
11T
12T
13T

Hearing Voices: Reduce this models Wp by 2.
Crippling Pain: This model suffers -1 Wk and gains Shambling: This model ignores severe terrain
penalties.
penalties.
penalties.
penalties.
Missing Fingers: Reduce this models Ca by 2.
Arcane Encounter: This model must immediately make a Ca -> 12 simple duel. This duel may not be
cheated or modified. If the model passes, it gains (+1) Fast. If it fails, flip two more times on this chart,
ignoring any further flips of this result.
Replacement Parts: This model gains the Construct characteristic and Armor +1.
45
Masks
Card
1M
2M
3M
4M
5M
6M
7M
8M
9M
10M
11M
12M
13M

Blow to the Head: This model gains Slow.
Slowed Reflexes: Reduce this models Df by 2.
Cursed: This model loses all Suits printed on all Statistics.
Deal with the Devil: If this was a two player game, each player shuffles their deck and reveals the top
four cards to all players, before placing them in their hands. After that, each player draws one more
card which is not revealed. Then each player plays a single card from their hand face down on the
table. After both players have played a card, flip them face up. The player with the higher card wins if
the suits on the two cards are different. If the suits on the two cards are the same, the lower card wins.
If the opposing player wins, they gain 2 Guild Scrip and the Injured model is Permanently Killed. If
the Injured models controller wins or ties, it gains Black Blood and Flight. In the case of a multiplayer
game, the player who flipped this result chooses one opponent and follows the steps above.
Terrifying -> 11. If this model already had Terrifying, increase it by 1.
Red Joker: Avatar: The first time this model kills or sacrifices an opposing model each game, it gains: +4 Wd, +2
Ca, and receives ++ on all Duels for the rest of the game.
Black Joker: Traitor: This models Crew counts this model as Permanently Killed. The opposing Crew adds this
model and all Upgrades and Injury cards to their Crew Sheet, regardless of Faction or hiring restrictions. This
represents the model changing sides, being hexed or enchanted into obedience, or just your average slavery.
46
Phase 2: Payday
Phase 4: Requisitions
During this phase, each player gains Guild Scrip for

achieving various things. Guild Scrip will be spent to
hire new models and buy Upgrades as described during
Phase 3. Players gain Guild Scrip for the following
things:
During this phase, each player decides to save the Guild

Scrip they earned, or spend it. If a player chooses to save
their Guild Scrip, they simply note the amount they are
saving on their Crew Sheet and may spend it after a
subsequent game during the Requisitions Phase. If the
player decides to spend their Guild Scrip immediately,
they have the following options:
1 Guild Scrip for every 2 VP scored.

1 Guild Scrip if the Crews leader is on the table.
1 Guild Scrip for winning.
1 Guild Scrip for every 2 Enemy models which
had to flip on the Injury chart.
If the Enemy Crew had a greater Crew Total
(explained later) at the start of the game, gain
Guild Scrip equal to of the difference in Crew
Totals rounded up.
Increase their Soulstone Pool. Players may spend two

Guild Scrip earned during the game to increase their
Soulstone Pool by one. This may be done until the player
has no more Guild Scrip to spend, or they have reached
the maximum Soulstone Pool allowed for Scraps (8).
Hire new models. Players may hire new models for

their Crew. These models must be models which they
A player always gains a minimum of 1 Guild Scrip, even may legally be able to hire into their Crew (Rules Manual
if none of these conditions are met.
pg. 70-71). The cost to hire the model is one Guild Scrip
for every Soulstone in its hiring cost based on the Crew
Example: Jill just finished playing a campaign game hiring rules, plus one. It must be paid in full.
of Malifaux against Jack. Jill won; this nets her 1 Guild
Scrip.Her leader is still on the table, this is another Guild Example 1: Jill wants to hire a Witchling Stalker for
Scrip. At the start of the game, Jacks Crew was worth her Guild Crew. She must pay 4 Guild Scrip for the 4
31 Soulstones and Jills Crew was worth 26 Soulstones, Soulstones in the Stalkers cost plus 1, for a total of 5 Guild
meaning there was a difference of 5 Soulstones between Scrip to hire the Stalker.
their Crews. Because the Enemy Crew started with more Example 2: Jill wants to hire an Oiran for her Guild
Soulstones, Jill gains a bonus of of the difference rounded Crew. She must pay 4 Soulstones in the Oirans cost plus 1
up, so she gains a bonus of 3 Guild Scrip. Additionally, for hiring a mercenary plus 1, for a total of 6 Guild Scrip
Jill scored 5 Victory Points, so she gains 2 Guild Scrip. to hire the Oiran.
Finally, Jack had to flip for three models on the Injury
Table, resulting in 1 more Guild Scrip for Jill. Jill gains a Buy Upgrades. To buy an Upgrade, a player must
grand total of 8 Guild Scrip!
discard one Barter card equal to or greater than that
Upgrades Barter Rating, and then pay the Upgrades
Cost in Guild Scrip. The Cost must be paid in full.
Phase 3: Search the Rubble
Barter Cards do not carry over from game to game, so
During this phase, each player shuffles their Fate Deck if a player does not use them, they are lost. Barter Cards
and then flips a number of cards equal to the number may not be combined; a player may only use one Barter
of Artifact Markers they scored during the game plus Card to get one Upgrade.
one. These Flips may not be modified in any way. Keep
these cards on the table; these are your Barter cards.
They represent rare artifacts which you can trade to try
to keep the cost of what you want down, and they will
determine which Upgrades you may buy during the
next phase.
Example: Jill scored two Artifact Markers during her
game, so she flips three cards (one for each Artifact
Marker she scored plus one more).
47
Trading
Upgrades
Two players who chose the same Faction for the

campaign may trade Equipment Upgrade cards in
Upgrades represent new spells, talents, or equipment
between games. These trades may not be carried out
gained throughout the course of the campaign. They
while either player is playing a game. Guild Scrip which
are purchased during the Requisitions phase (described
the players have saved may be exchanged during the
above). Upgrades describe what they do on the card.
trade.
Once an Upgrade is purchased, it is placed on a model,
make a note of which model has which Upgrade on
your Crew Sheet. Insignificant models may not receive Faction Specific Upgrades
Upgrades, and no model may receive more than one
Upgrade of the same name. Minions may equip any Some Upgrades are listed as Faction Specific. These
number of Upgrades. Masters and Henchmen may Upgrades may only be purchased by the listed Faction.
receive a maximum of two upgrades, they already carry
enough! A player may move Equipment Upgrades from Discarding
one model to another in between games, but may not do
so during a game. Permanent Upgrades remain on the Some Upgrades will note that they need to be Dicsarded
model for which they were selected for the remainder after use. These are Upgrades which only work once and
of the campaign. If a model is Permanently Killed or then are used up. In this case, remove the Upgrade from
otherwise leaves a Crew during the Determine Injuries that Crews List, that Crew no longer has that Upgrade.
phase, its Upgrades are lost as well.
Upgrade List
Here is the list of Upgrades available for a Malifaux campaign.
Guild
Guild Attitude (Permanent BR 3 Cost 1): Note a faction on this models entry on your Crew Sheet. This
models Attack and Damage Flips receive + when attacking a model from the indicated Faction.
Keys to the Armory (Equipment BR 7 Cost 2): This model gains an additional R in all Cb duels it
makes.
Deputy Executioner (Permanent BR 11 Cost 2): List a melee weapon. This model gains the trigger
Cb (RC) Decapitate [Weapon]: When damaging defender with this weapon, kill defender unless its
Controller discards two Control Cards or Soulstones. Only models with the Use Soulstone ability may
discard Soulstones.
48
Resurrectionists
Teach them Fear (Permanent BR 7 Cost 2): Anathema: This models Terrifying Ability affects all enemy models
that do not have the Anathema Ability. This models Terrifying Ability ignores any Immunity to Morale Duels.
Spare Parts (Equipment BR 8 Cost 2): At the start of the game, place up to 2 corpse counters on this model.
Numb (Permanent BR 12 Cost 5): Slow to Die: After this model is killed, it may immediately take and resolve 1 AP
Action. This Actions results are applied before the model is removed from play. If the model is healed 1 or more
Wd while resolving the Action, it is not killed and remains in play.
Arcanists
Union Backing (Permanent BR 7 Cost 3): Increase this Crews hand size by one. There may only be one copy of
this Upgrade in a Crew.
Hydraulic Enhancements (Equipment BR 10 Cost 2): (+1) Nimble: This model receives one additional specific
AP during its Activation that can only be used for Walk Actions.
Advanced Training (Permanent BR 13 Cost 1): Advanced Counterspell: When this model or any model within
3 of it is targeted by a Spell this models controller may discard two Control Cards or one t suit Control Card to
cancel the Spell before the starting casting total is generated.
Neverborn
Lizard Skin (Permanent BR 5 Cost 1): (0) Chameleon: This model receives soft cover until it performs any Action
other than Walk or Pass.
Liliths Welcome (Permanent BR 7 Cost 2): Black Blood p1: All non-Neverborn models suffer 1 Wd when this
model Suffers Wd from a Melee Strike or Melee Spell. If this model already had Black Blood before attaching this
Upgrade, it deals 2 Wd instead.
Delight in Pain (Permanent BR 11 Cost 1): Wicked: This models Strikes against disengaging models deal damage
in addition to ending the Action.
Outcasts
Moonshine (Equipment BR 4 Cost 3): (+1) Reckless: This model may suffer one wound to receive Fast.
Negotiation (Permanent BR 12 Cost 2): This Crew gains one additional Guild Scrip during the Payday phase and
may reflip one card during the Search the Rubble phase. There may only be one copy of this Upgrade in a Crew.
49
Strongarm Suit (Equipment BR 14 Cost 5): This model gains Armor +2 along with the following:

Enhanced Armor 2: If this model suffers two or less damage before applying Armor, it suffers no

damage instead. Effects that ignore Armor also ignore Enhanced Armor.

Giant Metal Fists: This models melee strikes deal 2 additional damage.

(0) Leap (CC: 10 M/Rst:-/Rg: C): Move this model up to its Cg. This model receives Flight during

the move. This spell cannot be cast if this model is in melee.
Ten Thunders
Infiltrate (Permanent BR 12 Cost 2): From the Shadows: This model may be deployed after all other models, in
or behind any terrain more than 12 away from the enemy, or the objective of any Strategy or Scheme. This model
may not be targeted by Charges or ranged attacks until it performs an Action other than Pass if deployed this way.
If multiple models with this ability are in play players alternate deploying them using the deployment order of
their Crews.
True Loyalty (Permanent BR 13 Cost 0): Companion (Ten Thunders)
Secret Agenda (Permanent BR 13 Cost 3): This Crew gains VP from one unannounced Scheme as if it had been
announced. Which Scheme is receiving the bonus must be written down when it is chosen. There may only be one
copy of this Upgrade in a Crew.
General
Can O Beans (Equipment BR 1 Cost 1): (1) Pull My Finger (CC: 12/Rst:-/Rg: p3): Non-Gremlins suffer Dg 2.
Discard this Upgrade after use.
Coffee (Equipment BR 2 Cost 1): You may Discard this Upgrade at the start of this models Activation. If you do,
this model gains (+1) Fast.
Whiskey (Equipment BR 2 Cost 1): Discard this Upgrade at any time during a game. This model receives + on all
duels for the remainder of the turn.
Courier (Equipment BR 3 Cost 1): In between games, you may discard this Upgrade to make one trade with a
player from a different Faction. If that player is using Resurrectionists or Neverborn, that player gains one Corpse
or Blood Counter (their choice) on their Leader at the start of their next game.
Lucky Gremlins Foot (Equipment BR 4 Cost 1): After this model flips on the Injury Chart, discard this Upgrade
to reflip the result.
Helmet (Equipment BR 4 Cost 3): Hard to Kill: While this model has 2 or more Wd remaining when it suffers Dg,
it may only be reduced to 1 Wd by a single damage source.
50
Goggles (Equipment BR 4 Cost 1): This model ignores any enemy Spell or Talent that affects LoS.
The Hags Kiss (Equipment BR 5 Cost 3): Poison 2: This models weapons gain Poison 2.
Expanded Pallet (Permanent BR 5 Cost 1): Graverobber. (1) Jerky Time!: This model discards any number of
carried Corpse Counters. Heal this model 1 Wd per Corpse Counter discarded.
Tool Kit (Equipment BR 6 Cost 1): This model may make the (1) Interact Action as a (0) Action.
Gambling Background (Permanent BR 6 Cost 2): Wp +1
Backup (Equipment BR 7 Cost 2): List a weapon on this model. The weapon gains Paired.
Melee Training (Permanent BR 7 Cost 2): (+1) Melee Expert: This model receives one additional specific AP
during its Activation that can only be used for melee Strike Actions.
Spell Training (Permanent BR 7 Cost 2): (+1) Casting Expert: This model receives one additional specific AP
during its Activation that can only be used for Cast Actions.
Field Experience (Permanent BR 7 Cost 1): This model is not affected by Slow or Paralyzed.
Ranged Training (Permanent BR 7 Cost 2): (+1) Ranged Expert: This model receives one additional specific AP
during its activation that can only be used for Ranged Strike Actions.
Steady Aim (Permanent BR 7 Cost 2): Cb(R) Critical Strike: This model inflicts +1 Dg for each R in this models
Cb duel total.
Soulstone Ale (Equipment BR 7 Cost 2): Discard this Upgrade during this models Activation. This model gains
Reactivate.
Hard Labor Background (Permanent BR 7 Cost 2): Wk +1
Berserk (Permanent BR 8 Cost 2): (2) Flurry: Discard a Control Card. This model immediately makes up to three
melee Strike Actions against a single target.
Machete (Equipment BR 8 Cost 1): This model ignores severe terrain movement penalties.
Quick Study (Permanent BR 8 Cost 2): (2) Furious Casting: Discard a Control Card. This model immediately
receives 3 AP that must immediately be used for Cast Actions.
Fan the Hammer (Permanent BR 8 Cost 2): (2) Rapid Fire: Discard a Control Card. This model immediately
makes up to three ranged Strike Actions against a single target.
Arcane Background (Permanent BR 8 Cost 2): Ca +1
Metal Plate (Equipment BR 9 Cost 3): Armor +2
51
City Experience (Permanent BR 9 Cost 1): Immune to Influence: This model is immune to Wp Duels when it is
the defender.
Dodge (Permanent BR 9 Cost 1): Evasive 2: This model gains Armor +2 against b.
Scope (Equipment BR 9 Cost 1): Hunter: This model ignores cover penalties when targeting models and increases
its LoS into and within obscuring terrain to 6.
Improved Reach (Equipment BR 9 Cost 2): List one of this models melee weapons. That weapon gains +1 Rg.
Hags Blessing (Permanent BR 10 Cost 1): List a weapon on this model. The weapon gains Magical.
Determination (Permanent BR 10 Cost 2): Hard to Wound 1: Damage Flips against this model receive one -.
Always Prepared (Permanent BR 10 Cost 1): This model may not suffer damage from Poison or Burning tokens.
Thick Hide (Permanent BR 10 Cost 2): Regeneration 1: Heal this model 1 Wd at the start of its Activation.
Hex Bag (Equipment BR 10 Cost 1): (1) Obey (CC: 14 M/ Rst: Wp/ Rg: 12) Target non-Master model immediately
performs a (1) Action or Charge controlled by this model. The Action selected may not cause the model to be
killed or sacrificed as part of the Action. Discard this Upgrade after use.
Combat Background (Permanent BR 10 Cost 2): Cb +2 to a single weapon, note it on the Crew Sheet. This
Upgrade may be attached to a model multiple times, up to a maximum of one per weapon the model has.
Dynamite (Equipment BR 10 Cost 3): BOOM!: p3 Dg 5 when this model is killed.
Experimental Jet Pack (Equipment BR 11 Cost 3): (0) Leap (CC: 10 M/Rst:-/Rg: C): Move this model up to its Cg.
This model receives Flight during the move. This spell cannot be cast if this model is in melee.
Bond (Permanent BR 11 Cost 1): Companion (Leader)
Hydraulics (Equipment BR 11 Cost 2): Cb(RM) Onslaught: After damaging defender with a melee weapon,
immediately perform a Strike with this weapon against the defender.
Improved Sights (Equipment BR 11 Cost 1): List one of this models ranged weapons. That weapon gains +2 Rg.
Tracker (Permanent BR 12 Cost 3): (0) Link: This model and target model in base contact with it are Linked.
After the model this model is Linked to completes a Walk Action or ends its Activation, push this model into base
contact with the Linked model. Link ends if the two models are not in base contact at the Start Closing Phase.
Fated (Permanent BR 12 Cost 3): Damage flips against this model may not be cheated.
Bayonet (Equipment BR 12 Cost 2): This model may make the (2) Charge Action as a (1) Action.
52
Instincts (Permanent BR 13 Cost 2): (+1) Instinctual: This model may perform two different (0) Actions during
its Activation.
Epiphany (Permanent BR 13 Cost 4): This model gains Use Soulstones.
Fully Tested Jet Pack (Equipment BR 13 Cost 1): Flight: This model may move over terrain and other models
without penalty but may not end its move on impassable terrain or other models.
Careful Study (Permanent BR 13 Cost 3): (1) Magical Extension (CC: * Rst: * Rg: *) This spell may be cast only
once per Activation. Cast one of your Leaders (1) Spells. During this casting, this model may use a Soulstone to
change its starting total.
Healing Salve (Equipment BR 13 Cost 2): In between games discard this Upgrade to discard an Injury Card from
this model.
Unshakable (Permanent BR 13 Cost 3): This model may cheat Flips with a - twist as if there was no -.
Relic Hammer (Equipment BR 14 Cost 4): Relic Hammer: Rg: 3 Cb: 7 Dg: 3/4/6 Magical. Ignores Armor.
Cb (M) Knockback [Relic Hammer]: After damaging defender with this weapon, push defender 3 directly away
from this model.
Gattling Gun (Equipment BR 14 Cost 4): Gattling Gun: Rg: 10 Cb: 5 Dg: 2/3/4 (1) Spray and Pray: Discard a
number of cards from your hand. Make a number of ranged Strikes with the Gattling Gun equal to the number of
cards discarded.
Losing a Leader
Crew Total
It is possible that the Leader originally hired into a Crew

will leave that Crew over the course of a campaign,
whether by being Permanently Killed or some other
effect. If this happens, that player selects a Unique
model in the Crew to become the new Leader. If there
are no Unique models, any model may be selected. The
new Leader gains the Use Soulstone ability and counts
as a Leader for any Strategies and Schemes.
A Crews Crew Total will change throughout the course

of a campaign. It is important to keep track of these
changes, as it may affect how much Guild Scrip a Crew
will get during the Payday phase. A Crews Crew Total is
the sum of the Soulstone cost of all models hired into that
crew, plus one for each Soulstone in the Crews Soulstone
Pool (not including the Masters original cache, if any),
plus the cost in Guild Scrip of any Upgrades carried by
the Crew. If the Crews original Leader was Permanently
Killed, subtract 10 from the Crews Crew Total. A Crews
Crew Total should be noted on the Crew Sheet.
Any Soulstones from the killed leaders cache remain in

the Crews Soulstone Pool without raising that Crews
Crew Total. Any Master-specific totems attached to that
Master are also Permanently Killed.
53
If the Crew obtained a second Master (through the

Traitor result on the Injury Chart) add 10 to its total.
Example: Jack has 25 Soulstones worth of models in his
Crew, this adds 25 to his Crew Total. He has 7 Soulstones
in his Pool, but 2 of them are from his Masters Cache, so
this adds 5 to his Crew Total. Jack only has one Upgrade,
and it is worth 1 Guild Scrip, which will add 1 more to his
Crew Total. In all, Jacks Crew Total is 31.
Running a Competitive Campaign

Some groups may wish to run a more competitive
campaign which will result in a single winner. If your
group wishes to do this, agree on an allotted time (we
suggest six weeks) and a set number of games per week
(we would suggest one, two if you have a very active
group). Each player plays the designated number of
campaign games per week. After each game, each player
denotes whether they won, tied, or lost. Players mark
this on their Crew Sheet under Campaign Points. A
win is worth 3 Campaign Points, a tie is 2, and a loss
is 1. At the end of the allotted time, the player with the
most campaign points is the winner.
In a competitive campaign, players should denote how
many VP they scored each game as well. There is a
place for this on the Crew Sheet. In the case that one or
more players are tied for Campaign Points at the end of
the allotted time, highest total VP will be used as a tie
breaker.
If you need help organizing a competitive
campaign, contact your local Henchman
at http://www.malifaux.com/Henchman.php.
Links
For your convenience, here are all of the links referenced
in this article.
Crew Sheet
Upgrade and Injury Cards
Henchmen Locator
Have fun seeking your fortune in Malifaux!
54
Now In Stores!
55
Sneak Peek
By: Justin Gibbs
An Introduction to the Showdown System

I am incredibly excited to give you all a sneak peek
at Wyrds newest game: Showdown. Showdown is
a dueling system in which two players each have
a preconstructed deck of cards representing a
character and all of the attacks that character has
at their disposal. These decks cannot be modified
(so, no spending heaps of money on a collectible
game) and they form a regular 54 card poker deck,
perfect for use in the Malifaux tabletop game.
Each deck represents one of Malifauxs iconic
characters. The first five will be: Molly, Von Schill,
Lucius, Kaeris, and Collodi. The deck is designed
to reflect that characters personality through its
playstyle; the Luciuss deck is tricky, Molly is hard
to kill,Von Schill hits hard, etc. In addition, this
gives Wyrd a great place to show off some new art
for those characters.
The game is primarily focused around bluffing
and reading your opponent. Every card in the deck
has one of three disciplines: physical, cunning,
and magic. Each turn, each player plays a card
face up. This card is referred to as the feint. Then
each player plays a card face down, this card is the
strike. After each player has played both a feint and
strike, the strikes are flipped face up. If the strikes
are from different disciplines, then the player with
the highest total (the values of their feint and strike
cards added together) is the winner. However, if the
strikes are from the same discipline, then the player
with the lowest total is the winner. Additionally,
characters have different triggers which happen
if they win and both their feint and strike are from
the same discipline.
which give you some knowledge of what is in the

opponents hand. Maybe you know your opponents
highest card is cunning, so you can adjust for
that. But, even with this knowledge, victory is not
guaranteed. The base mechanics alone are enough,
but there are a number of action cards, unique to
each characters deck, which give the player even
more fun choices.
Finally, I am very proud of the damage system.
Before the game, each player removes the aces
from their deck and places them in a row, face
down. Each ace represents a soulstone (basically
a hit point) and, when you run out of soulstones,
you are out of the game. However, as soulstones
are flipped over, they grant various abilities. This
provides some great utility in the game; it helps to
define each character, allows a catch up mechanic
so that the player who is behind still has a chance,
and it greatly increases replay value as your games
will change depending on which soulstones you see.
At this point you might be thinking that this means
every character only has four hit points. However,
many characters can burn a face up soulstone
to prevent one damage, effectively allowing us to
vary how many hit points a character has. One of
my favorite things about this method of tracking
damage is that it requires no bookkeeping; two
showdown decks are literally everything you and
an opponent need to play the game.
The game has a lot of great points. It plays quickly,

between 10 and 20 minutes, which makes it perfect
for playing between rounds in a tournament, or
using to determine who goes first in a game of
Malifaux. Also, its easy to learn, making it great
This creates a lot of fun, as each player attempts to to get in your Malifaux fix with your non-gamer
read their opponent. Maybe your friend just played friends.
a physical as his feint. Is he going to play a second
physical to try to get in an extra point of damage Im really excited to see this game released. The
because hes playing Von Schill? If so, maybe you art is going to be amazing, and we have five
should play a low physical yourself. The game is all more Malifaux decks lined up besides the ones I
about reading your opponent and out guessing him mentioned.
or her. Additionally, there are a number of cards
56
One final positive point about the rules system is

that it is universal enough to be adapted to other
genres. Who knows, we may even see a puppet or
an evil baby Showdown deck at some point. In fact,
we have already crossed genres in partnering with
Job Hunters.
Job Hunters is an amazing web series which you can
watch here. Job Hunters takes place in a dystopian
world where young people are forced to fight to
the death to get a job offer. We felt that Showdown
would be the perfect system to create a great game
out of that theme, so we will be producing five Job
Hunters Showdown decks which you can purchase
from the Job Hunters Kickstarter here. At the
moment, this is the only place to get Showdown.
And, if you do, they will be compatible with
Malifaux Showdown when it comes out.
Alright, I hope all of you are as excited as I am to
see this game come to fruition. You might be able
to track down some of the Showdown playtesters
on the Wyrd forums, and they can tell you all about
their experiences with the game. It was fun giving
you a sneak peek, I cant wait to see people playing
the game!
57
See you next time!!
58

Wyrd Chronicles Volume 5

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Contents

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

By: Graeme Stevenson

He placed a single candle in the center of the table.

Bolivia was complimented by the candle light. Burke

I hope you know what youre doing, said a nervous voice.

The others waited in the dark: Kudryashov cracking his

Burke recognized the speakers profile as readily as his

Burke had not been comfortable with Doughertys

Everything is in place? he asked the aristocrat.

It has all been arranged, Minister, grinned Dougherty.

The Minister was aware that their little gathering would

When the carriage rolled up and the door opened, it was

The Minister ground his teeth at the arrogance of the

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

cream pastries and a hundred other confections and

Bolivia had chosen her mark early.

It only took seconds for Burkes eye to locate the

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

The walking stick looked innocent enough, but hed had

At long last, sometime after the chiming of nine bells,

Kudryashov had found that shooting into dark cloth

He made a show of reaching down to rub his good leg,

A steel dart in the right spot could be lethal, but taking

It was a clean shot, far from the mayhem of the dance

There was a burst of laughter from below and he used

There was almost no pain, but Kudryashovs legs turned

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

This was his talent this was why he could demand

through his white shirt and the jacket he had bought

His fingers were inches from the embroidered purple

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

Just so. Lucius watched him inscrutably for a moment

Lurching into action, Burke snatched up a silver knife

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

arrangement, he began. With Minister Burkes always wins, Mr. Dougherty.

It looked like Dougherty was trying to swallow a

And you? Lucius leaned back in his seat and tapped

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

The carriage rumbled and clattered along the darkened

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

Needle and Thread

By: Justin Gibbs

Designing Puppet Wars Unstitched

higher the animation requirement. This system

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

enemy puppet to immediately attach the upgrade

The components also got a redesign. The markers

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

With all of this new stuff, we had ample opportunity

The final lesson I learned was this: the players

We hit our tough spots with the original Puppet

Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

Designing Gracie Wong and Bert

Homages in Miniature Gaming

By: Dan Weber

endure. Then theres the oft-mentioned connection

Back to our homages. Sometimes they are subtle,