Guild Ball: Engineers starter box

Guild Ball was the other darling of Adepticon this year. I’ve been hearing good things about the game from Fools Daily, the booth was always packed, and the models looked interesting. They were running a con bundle special, so I went in. I selected Engineers, mostly due to looks.

Engineeer Ball
Engineeer Ball

It all starts with the ball. It’s really just a token in the game – most of the time it’s ignored on the board. Still, one comes in the box, so I figured it ought to at least match.

Ballista
Ballista

Ballista is the Season One captain for Engineers. Guild Ball is a small model count game with a lot of individualization to each model, but they’re still wearing uniforms. So I was picking out a scheme for the entire team. I decided to treat the gears on his apron more like embossed detailing that separate pieces. I like the deep, almost rust red as the primary color, with white as a contrast, and gold and silver as accents. It’s almost like a Techmarine, which fits I suppose.

Salvo
Salvo

Salvo starts showing dynamic poses, with an aggressive leap to the side. You can see the same uniform, although with different bits of flair.

Velocity
Velocity

Velocity rounds out the Engineers starter box. She’s an example of the other look for Engineers – wooden mech. Guild Ball models are mostly metal, and Velocity’s pose puts her somewhat off-balance.

I’m excited to get to play more games, although I don’t know how I’ll find the time.

Malifaux: Scion of the Void


I needed a filler for my Wyrd Gencon order to push me over the $100 bonus model level. Why not give one more option for my growing Tara crew?

Scion of the Void
Scion of the Void

I don’t quite know what’s going on with those tiny fairy wings, other than giving the model a somewhat distinctive silhouette. Unlike the Nothing Beast, the extra arms on the Scion of the Void are a little hard to see.

I haven’t had a chance to play with this model yet, but maybe it will fill the mid point gap I noticed in my last Tara game.

Malifaux: Malifaux Child

I almost always use Totems, but Karina is meh, especially without the models to be able to using the summoning upgrade. I scored a translucent Malifaux Child in a promo, but I’m not a big fan of the translucent models unless I want to do something with the effect. I traded with a friend for the regular gray plastic version and set to work.

Malifaux Child
Malifaux Child

I’ll give Wyrd credit, the design on the rolled up sleeves hides the seam pretty well. The model is otherwise a bit unexciting, and the three contact points (butt and each foot) makes positioning it on a not-completely-flat base a bit interesting.

I’ve played a game with the Child chasing Tara. I was somewhat underwhelmed, but it didn’t help that I had forgotten about the healing ability. Needing a 7 of Rams is tricky though, especially without any built in way to generate the Ram.

Malifaux: Desolation Engine and Abominations

I managed not to notice Bigger Better Games, a local shop, until more than a year after they opened. When I finally did stop in, it seemed that their Malifaux hadn’t been moving too quickly, so it was being offered at 40% off. I couldn’t resist, and picked up some beasties to play with my small Tara crew. Then the boxes sat in the queue for half a year before I got around to them.

Desolation Engine
Desolation Engine

The Desolation Engine ended up with some nasty seams running down the center of the arms, but I was mostly able to clean them up. I’m pretty pleased with the flesh tones (achieved with an offwhite base and SW Sepia wash), and especially the sores around the implants.

Since killing the Desolation Engine causes Abominations to pop out, I had to get them too. This violated one of my guiding principals to Malifaux purchasing: don’t buy minions outside of crew boxes. But it seemed like if I ever wanted to go with Leveticus I might want more than the four Aboms anyway, due to all the summoning that can happen. So I took the plunge. They each have their own character, which is a lot of fun. I kept similar colors with the Desolation Engine, and greens to coordinate with the void creatures in the Tara crew.

In one of the few games that I’ve played with the Desolation Engine, I was able to surprise my opponent by charging my own damaged Engine, killing it to summon two Abominations, other opposite sides of a table quarter line, giving me points for both in Recon. Score one for attacking your own guys.

Now I’ve got a bunch of big Outcast hitters (Desolation Engine, plus Killjoy, Bishop, Aionus, and the Nothing Beast), I’m feeling a real lack of mid-point models.