084 - The MaliBlog List

As the first step in re-vitalising things around here (which might even culminate in a complete theme re-build if I get the time) I've gone through my Blogroll and deleted a few links to blogs that were no longer relevant. Quite a few of the places I was linking had moved on from Malifaux long ago, and were either not posting at all, or posting stuff that was nothing to do with Malifaux. Some of them had even inexplicably started blogging about 40k! They've all gone.

In their place, I've scoured the internet for some of the new blogs on the scene. It certainly seems that Malifaux blogs are now "in", and all of a sudden everyone is getting involved, which can only be a good thing!

Here's a small selection of the newly added:

Justin Drawing Dead - Justin Gibbs

Not only does Justin offer obligatory reading in the form of regular glimpses behind the curtain of the M2E design process, his "off-topic" posts also make for interesting reading; his recent Hunger Games posts being good examples.

The Philosophy of Uncertainty - Joel Henry

Joel offers up a mix of deep insight on Malifaux and general gaming strategy (and being among the top competitive players, he knows his stuff), and creative hobby projects. His Goldilocks themed Lilith crew is just right, and has to be seen to be appreciated.

Black Swamp Bayou - rgarbonzo

A new blog celebrating the new faction on the block, the Black Swamp blog started off recently with a post asking the question on everyone's lips - "What *is* a Gremlin anyway?". Recent posts have focused on getting the most out of some of the new Gremlin masters.

Workbench Warriors - Richardb

In his brand spanking new blog, Richard is going to be charting his hobby progress as he gets started in Malifaux. His first post showing his step by step Bayou bases is nice inspiration for anyone looking to move away from resin bases and inserts.

Carrion & Hodgepodge - Ana Polanscak

Not generally a very wordy blog, but contains plenty of picture gallery posts showcasing some of the new Malifaux plastic range painted to an incredibly high standard. Something for us all to aspire to!

With such a healthy blog scene at the moment, I'll be keeping an eye on all the above blogs, along with the multitude of others in the list you can see on the right, and I'll be highlighting some of my other favourites in future posts.

083 - Year of the Rainbow

Wow- my last post was July? Really? And only 9 so far this year? That’s unbelievably shameful.

I’ve just returned from a nice holiday feeling plenty refreshed and excited to get back to playing this lovely game of ours. Hopefully if I get writing now I can get some blog-mentum going through into the start of 2014.

First let me preface this post by giving due credit to everyone’s favourite penguin-onesie wearer Mr Craig Johnson who came up with an idea on Twitter a couple of weeks ago:

Simple and elegant – six words that encompass an entire year of buying, modelling, painting and gaming. I love this idea, so I’m mercilessly stealing it and dubbing it Year of the Rainbow.

Richard of York gave battle in vain.

Guild 10T Outcasts Resurrectionists Arcanists Gremlins Neverborn.

(Yes I know there’s no Brown/Gremlins in a rainbow, but since all the others work, and Gremlins are only pretending to be a faction anyway, we’ll all agree to let that slide…)

Taking seven factions to seven events is going to be a bit of a stretch in terms of hobby time. In theory I'm already over half way there. Model-wise I can currently field reasonably flexible crews for Guild, Resurrectionists and Neverborn, I could let Lynch represent Ten Thunders for once, and I have an Ophelia boxed crew that I could use at a punch for Gremlins. No Outcasts or Arcanists though, painted or otherwise.

In practise though, I don't want to just stick with the same metal crews I've been taking to tournaments for the last couple of years - so I'm going to want to buy new stuff, and with me being on a plastic only diet from now on, my options (at least towards the start of 2014) will be more limited.

Also worth noting that getting to seven events over the course of the year is around double what I achieved in 2013, so hopefully I'll find myself with a few more free weekends. Looks like the first event of the year will be Vapnartak in early February, which gives me two months to settle on a crew and paint it if necessary. If I'm strict with myself and stick with the order of the rainbow colours, I'll be needing a Guild crew.

Anyway, now that I have an excuse to buy new toys, it’s time to start planning which Master(s) I want to use to represent each faction…