Yan Lo (Month 0)

     Welcome to Flipping Jokers, my name is Karl, (also known as Kross1 on the forums), and I have a problem. I have an over-abundance of Masters that I own (most of them painted) that I have virtually no play experience with.  Brief back story....I started back in 1.5 looking to get reacquainted with the hobby after a 13 yr. hiatus. My kids are old enough to game now, and I thought to myself it would be nice to have a hobby again, maybe one of them would like it too. I started with the Kaeris box set and an extra blister of fire gamin, and was soon having my ass handed back to me on a weekly basis. I actually started winning towards the end there with Marcus as the man holding Kaeris' bag.

      It was during this period I quit smoking. You see, I have one of those addictive personalities. If it feels good, I want it more, and it seemed that Malifaux scratched that certain kind of itch for me (my wife calls it something else, but that's another story). I wanted to win and that meant I needed more models. I also knew I couldn't justify big expenditures on models (one of the things that drew me to this game in the first place). What was I to do? That's when it hit me, "What if I quit smoking, and then use the money I save on the cigarettes I don't smoke? Brilliant!!  That's when it happened, Kaeris turned into Marcus which turned to Zoraida, who needs a voodoo doll. Ooh ooh, Killjoy, and Bishop, and.....you get the picture. I just switched addictions. From smoking to Malifaux, oh the shame! Well no more I tell you, I mean it, I am putting my foot down.

      Which leads us to Yan Lo. You see, after the beta came and went I firmly remained an Arcanist, but in my heart of hearts I knew it. In that fateful Gencon order, I finally pulled the trigger.... I ordered the Red Chapel Gang. Behold! A filthy Resser is born! I already had 4 night terrors, 2 shikome, 3 canine remains, and I had bought the Molly box to get the rogue necromancy (I was probably in their necromantic grips as it was). So I was browsing one of our local stores after a tournament one fine evening, and Seamus' hat was still on fire from a crushing defeat at hands of one Mz. Cridd, and I came upon the Yan Lo box set or, truth be told, Chiaki.

      Chiaki in all her condition removing, incorporeal loveliness. Look, is that Yin!? Yes, please!! Well, Toshiro & Izamu looked so lonely sitting on shelf all by themselves. They shall come too. So after playing Molly and Seamus pretty consistently since the M2e drop, it was time to set them down for a bit and ToMBs was a good excuse to try someone else. Initially I was thinking McMourning (who I don't own), though Tara looks like a good time. I told you I had problem. I will learn to play with a Master I already own. I swear, really I do. So enter Yan Lo!

All prices based on Warstore and a base $60.00. 

• Yan Lo box set $28.00
• Toshiro $9.00
• Yin $9.00

Grand total $48.00

       Izamu is $13.00, but that would have put me $ 1 over. So that will leave me with $12.00 which I will put in the kitty and ponder what to get next. My head tells me to go with rotten belles and punk zombies (which I already have), but my greedy heart wants that metal Kirai set with Datsu-Ba, yeah, you know the one......

2015 ToMB - Month Zero - Som'er

Hello All, and welcome to another attempt to build some accountability into my Malifaux gaming/hobby. 

Following a mad-dash painting push leading up to GenCon 2014, I returned home with a suitcase full of Malifaux shinies and absolutely no desire to pick up a brush. Now it's five months later, I've got the hobby itch again, and what better incentive is there to get models completed than public accountability? To help keep this ball rolling, a fellow Houston player has offered to join in on the ToMB shenanigans.

Sometime last Summer, I decided to become our Meta's token Gremlin player. I love the fluff, the humor that exudes from the sculpts, and the chaotic mechanics of their playstyle. Naturally, the Wyrd booth was my first stop at GenCon and I promptly bought at least one, if not two, of everything green. Coming from Neverborn and specifically Dreamer and Collodi, I decided to crack open The Kin box, Burt, and Gracie for a heavy-hitting change of pace. I've got somewhere around 20-25 games in with Ophelia and friends and now it's time for a change of pace. I'm looking at you Som'er...

Using thewarstore.com for pricing reference (prices in US$), my first month's purchases are:

• The Bayou Boss $35.99
• Slop Haulers $12.99

Total $48.98

Remaining Balance $11.02

The first round of purchasing was a bit discouraging. The budget wasn't quite large enough for extra bayou gremlins, and I couldn't justify buying Burt into the pool just to spend the cash. As it goes, I'm going to bank the balance to give me some more flexibility next month.

All done, my first month's model pool is:

• Som'er
• (2) Skeeters
• Lenny
• (4) Bayou Gremlins
• (2) Slop Haulers

With such a small pool for a summoning master, I figure now is the time to push the summoning/sacrifice/boom combo. My hope is that with fewer models, it will be easier to learn the sequencing and various bubbles I need to maintain between Som'er, Lenny, and the skeeters.  

For the first month, we'll be playing 35SS games. Here's my preliminary list:

• Som'er (Family Tree, Cache of 7)
• (2) Skeeters
• Lenny (Show Off)
• (2) Bayou Gremlins

Obviously strats and schemes will shape the gameplay, but for the first 2 or 3 turns I don't see more than two BG's surviving from turn to turn. Between the skeeters and Lenny, the non-slow gremlins will either be dumb-lucking or yelling 'ya'll watch this' to pick off models or mitigate the opponent scoring from killing models. Som'er will be summoning early game, then join the shoot-ey fun for later turns or aid in scheme running if needed. In the early game, slop haulers will dish out the healing and then transition to splash damage and defense lowering hijinks for turn 4 and 5. 

We'll see how it pans out. 

For the hobbying side of the fun here's where I stand halfway into February:

• Som'er (Assembled, Primed)
• (2) Skeeters (Assembled, Primed)
• Lenny (Painted, Basing Incomplete)
• (2) Bayou Gremlins (Painted, Basing Incomplete)
• (2) Bayou Gremlins (Partially Painted)
• (1) Slop Hauler (Painted, Basing Incomplete)
• (1) Slop Hauler (Partially Painted)

For the sake of getting the ball rolling, progress photos will be following soon along with a proper banner and profile info.

In the meantime, it's time to get back to the painting table. 

-mike-

(MONSTERNOGGIN on the forums)