So a post that I've been planning for a
while has massively overrun the Wyrd Forum's post limit, and I'd like
to get it out in a readable format. I suppose I'm a blogger now.
Today I'd like to talk about the new
unified art scheme for Malifaux 2E. I've heard a lot from people who
hugely dislike the new art or completely love it, and while I've had
my misgivings about the art as a whole I've come to really appreciate
the quality of the models stemming from it. However, seeing models
coming off the factory line and realising that the Wave 2 release
date is grinding ever closer has given me a sense of urgency in that
I think that some Master models have issues that are worth
talking about.
Masters, ultimately, are meant to be
authoritative. I don't think that any Master is described in the
fluff as weak, and in terms of game power and influence every Master
is very significant. Nobody plays Teddy, Kade and Sorrows; they play
a Pandora crew. Not only this, but Masters are the ones who drive
the fluff; again, nobody knows the details of Kade's ongoing struggle
to cuddle his wandering teddy bear.
 |
| (Although I'd still love a Kade short story.) |
Masters define the city and story of
Malifaux, the feel of our Malifaux Crews and the game itself as
opposed to many other wargames. I'd argue that it follows that a new
player should be able to look at the board and see the most
confident, authoritative model on each side as that Crew's Master.
Along with this, a new player should be able to glean something about
the Master's personality from the model alone. Ultimately, each
Master is a model we're going to see on the board a lot, especially
if someone only owns one Master or wants to master (I am so sorry)
their particular Crew. Such a model really deserves a lot of work,
attention and ultimately scrutiny.
Finally, a little bit on my background.
I'm just out of a Masters degree in Forensic Psychology and really
should be typing out job applications instead of this. My
end-of-year project was to do with the rapid and sometimes
unconscious judgements that we make when seeing a new person. I also
tend to live in areas where not much Malifaux is played, so am very
concerned about making the game accessible and attractive for new
players. This is probably where my obsession over first impressions
of new Masters by new players comes from. Finally, I also do martial arts, mostly Kendo; this makes me painfully aware of and quite critical of things like sword positioning. In this post, I've tried my best to cover only the most glaring things, things that I'm very confident that any person will pick up on. When you look at another person, you gain some immediate understanding of how it must feel to be in their position, and I believe that this is important when considering miniatures. We're talking basic body mechanics, not esoteric nitpicking over technique.
With all this in mind, there are three characters in particular that I'd like to bring to your attention.
The first is Lilith. Original Lilith
was kind of dressed as a dominatrix and liked her underwear on
display, but she's still not someone I'd mess with. Look at Lilith's
feet; they are firmly planted about shoulder-width apart, knees
slightly bent. While her massive, brutal cleaver of a sword isn't in
use, she's clearly alert and ready. Her sensual and vain nature is
expressed subtly yet clearly by that left hand playing with her long
hair. Lilith is this great mix of authority, sensuality and
reined-in brutality.
I've heard someone describe the old Sonnia sculpt as similar to their experience as an Army commander; just taking a moment at the back, while other people are doing the shooting, having a smoke in a moment of calm. Lilith kind of gives me this vibe too, and it's a look I personally really like in a Master.
New Lilith doesn't have that authority.
Look at her walk; she's got the sensuality there, but try standing
like she does. It's pretty clear what would happen if she got pushed
from the side. Lilith's unstable. She's playing with her sword like
she's in some kind of fashion shoot, and the sword just doesn't look
heavy; you can't balance like that with a huge metal object in your
arms, so it ends up looking like plastic. Could new Lilith
outmaneuver Nekima politically while beating down enemies on the
battlefield? Is that the sense you immediately get from her?
Second model is Misaki. The original
was a mercenary martial-arts Minion from the far East, and she does look
the part. She's up on high ground with feet firmly planted, weapon
behind her but ready, shouting with a warding hand out front.
Typical martial arts goodstuff. If you ran at this Misaki, she'd
spear you at range or beat you down with fists and the advantage of
high ground.
New Misaki is bending over, probably
kicking someone behind her. She may be about to do some sort of
forward roll or somersault, but in this snapshot we have of her she
is hideously unstable with a weapon that isn't going to do anything
soon. From a combat point of view, she's asking for a swift kick to
the face or cut to the back of the head. From an authority point of
view, she doesn't look like the kind of person who could wrest
control of a huge organisation in Malifaux from their powerful
Eastern sponsors and progenitors. A new player can't even see her
face. Instead of gaining authority in her rise to Masterhood, Misaki
has sadly lost it.
Finally, Lady Justice. Original
Justice is big and intimidating, with a lion's mane of hair and what
I've heard described as "extremely aggressive breasts".
While her sword isn't out yet, her sensible stance and that slight
tilt of the head indicate that she is *just waiting* for you to get
within her reach. Which is massive. She looks stoic, immovable and
relentless, and the fact that she is blindfolded and on a battlefield
with sword sheathed merely suggests that she knows something that you
don't. This model matches both personality and rules (she has the 13 of Masks, and she is waiting for Riposte to go off.)
As for New Justice, I invite everyone
to take hold of a broom handle and take the pose that she is in. Now
imagine that the broom handle is made of heavy metal and you need to
be swinging it at a screaming eight-foot high six-foot across Teddy, who is running at you. Do you feel a)
stoic, b) immovable or c) relentless? Remember, in the fluff Lady
Justice is supposed to survive a building fall on her. The building
was full of armed zombies and plagued death. This slim ninja lady wouldn't live.
Please note that I am not making
blanket complaints about the models. All of the above models are
really, really cool, and I'd probably buy non-Masters in those poses.
My issue is that new and prospective players won't immediately see
these models as strong leaders, and that models which will see a huge
amount of play (as Masters do) really need to make intuitive sense.
Looking at new Justice, you know instinctively that she is doing a
silly thing. For alt art, that's great; Ninja Justice can proudly
oppose Evil Dead Seamus. But what a new boxed set player needs is a
model that reflects the personality of their Crew's leader, and the
new models don't necessarily reflect that.
Note also that these aren't just any
old Masters (if there is such a thing). All three are essentially the political leaders of
their respective Factions, and two out of three gained this position
through treachery and a degree of violence. All three are now
showing their abilities through exaggerated posing and showy tricks.
I would invite you to imagine, say, Viktor Ramos or Nicodem in the
same position. I'd probably consider both as their Faction leaders in
a political sense, but I'm almost certain that we wouldn't accept
them standing on tiptoes or one leg. We won't see Nicodem bending
over backwards slightly to summon a zombie or Ramos kneeling to
tinker with machinery on the ground. Some people may have caught on that all three of the models I've criticised are female; actually, I believe that it's a symptom of how the current artist portrays "close-combat" Masters. The only reasons I'm not picking on Lucas McCabe as well is that I don't have a previous version to compare him to.
So what would I like to see done?
Ultimately, the three models above are now the boxed set Masters.
New players will be buying and using these models. What are not
released yet are the models or the art for Wave 2, and I'd really
appreciate Wyrd taking some careful thought about what art pieces
they use for boxed set models. I for one was really glad to see the
original M2E Gun-Fellatio Perdita get replaced as well as the first
version of Sword Vik, and this indicates to me that Wyrd have a range
of pieces of art to choose from when designing a Master's physical
model. Malifaux needs more standard Master models in strong stable
poses that match their personalities, not just generic "action
poses"; there is so much space for that in terms of Minions,
Enforcers and Henchmen. People should look at a Master and
immediately recognise a leader, not just someone with crazy jumping
skills. All of the models above would be fine as alternate art
poses, and that's where I think they ideally belong.
Finally, thank you for reading to the end; this is my first (potentially last) blog post, so I'd be very grateful for any criticism or advice.
