Tale of Malifaux Bloggers - Month 2

I've made my purchases for month 2, which I have had Angelica for a while, but the Silent Ones were picked up at the start of the month. The balance sheet currently looks like this:

Month 2: £15.81

Angelica £6.38

Silent Ones £10.20

so slightly overspent, but will take that out of next months, so will have £14.33 next month.

To start off Month 2 I had a game against Stephen.
Strategy: Interference
Schemes: Convict Labour, Search the Ruins, Hunting Party, Exhaust their Forces and Frame for Murder.
Board: Flank Deployment.

I decided to use Colette, partly due to the fact I had just finished painting her, and also because I left all but her and Rasputina's cards at Martins...

I took:
Colette, Lady's Secret, Nothing up My Sleeve and Shell Game. +4SS
Cassandra, Smoke and Mirrors, and Recharge Soulstone (forgetting as Ressers there would be less living models dying).
Angelica, Imbued Energies (was planning to take Frame for Murder, with this upgrade, but in the end decided against it).
Performer
Mannequin
2 Corphyee
Mechanical Dove.

Stephen took:
Molly, Take Back the Night, Forgotten Life, +4SS
Sybelle
Sebastian, Those are Not Ours
Mortimer
2 Rotten Belles.

We realised after the game that this was only 41SS....

Deployment, i flipped highest, and happy with my side of the board i chose the left corner to deploy in, going for two main groups, the Coryphee and Cassandra and then everything else.

Stephen had Mortimer out on one flank and then the rest fairly close together on the other.

Turn 1 was fairly uneventful due to the distance that we were apart, however one highlight was the summoned (reactivating) Punk Zombie, that appeared before Angelica, using Slice and Dice on her and her using Get off the Stage, to send him into base contact with the Scheme Marker that Mortimer had dropped about 20" away!

This was my hand I drew for turn 2...after stoning....

Turn 2 was a bit of carnage, with Molly summoning Punk Zombies next to Angelica, Cassandra and a Performer, there were a lot of damage being thrown about from Slice and Dice this coupled with Black Blood from a Rotten Belle? (due to the proximity of Molly with Forgotten Life) this meant everything was taking a lot of damage, the Performer died, giving Reactivate to Angelica, unfortunately I had hoped to pass it to Cassandra but she was an inch to far away. Angelica ended up on 1 wound, and Cassandra at this point had 2 left. The flank was looking dicey, and in the end I had to use Colette's Disappearing Act on Cassandra to get her out of harms way. 

On the other flank Mortimer was bumped off with combined attacks from the Corphyee, who were later prompted to Dance Together to form the Duet. I had hoped  to kill off one of the two Punk Zombies they were engaged with but due to Hard to Wound and Hard to Kill, they were both still standing. I was being out activated due to summoning, although this was somewhat lessened with the plethora of models with Companion or Accomplice in Stephen's crew.

If last hand was bad, this hand was worse! I kept the Black Joker, so this is what i drew, I ended up stoning for a single slightly higher card, (i think about a 10)!

If turn 2 was brutal, turn 3 didn't give much respite. Angelica died, which thankfully allowed me to draw 4 cards, giving me a slightly better hand, due to Imbued Protection.

The Corphyee duet managed to kill both Punk Zombies, which at this point were on 1 wound each I think. 

I managed to make a mistake with Colette, using Disappearing Act on her to move her into contact with a Scheme Marker near the centre of the board, then dropped one to replace the one that was discarded, this was ideal for Search the Ruins, however I then moved her away, leaving her with no option for Now You See Me this proved to be almost fatal as she was reduced to a single wound with no options to reduce the damage, other than stones, which I was having to use on Cassandra for damage prevention. This isn't something I have had problems in the past, often being very cautious with her, so it came as a bit of a shock. I had thought about stoning for the mask for the Encore trigger to keep the Scheme Marker, but had felt the Artificial Soulstone would be better utilised for defensive triggers....the irony! 

Stephen summoned in a Necrotic Machine next to Colette and Cassandra, trying a last gasp assassination attempt on both through Black Blood and its attacks, thankfully I was able to kill it and survive on 1 wound with each.

At the end of the game it was a victory to me 6-3 (3 for Search the Ruins, and 3 from Hunting Party). Stephen scored 1 from Interference and 2 from Convict Labour, his other scheme was Search the Ruins.

I was surprised to win, I ended the game in a bit of an all or nothing fashion, as time was against us, I knew it would be the last turn. I had 4 wounds on the table at the end of the game, with a single stone, the next turn would not have gone well....

A few points to consider:
1. Stephen had 9ss less than me, although we only realised this later.
2. Black Blood is only 1" range, not the 3" he was playing it as, I'm not sure how much of an effect this had, but it took at least 3-4 wounds from Cassandra.
3. Write battle reports sooner, I couldn't remember a lot whilst i was typing the post. I think i need to make notes, or write that evening.
4. Painted crews look awesome on a painted board. I will try to endeavour to only use painted models.
5. The crew wasn't the best choice for the scheme pool, if I had taken my cards I would have gone for a different option.

On the friday I got another game in, this time against Martin (McCabe) and I used Kaeris. I snuck a 8-6 victory, despite being behind until the last turn. I didn't take many photos, but here are a few of my newly painted Kaeris crew, which I'm really happy with.

       

Tale of Malifaux Bloggers - Month 1 (End)

So we're just into the start of Month 2, and with it come a few new purchases, and hopefully will be followed with a few more games.
I've managed to paint the Month 1 purchases, which was slightly past the deadline, but due to college hand-ins was a necessity.
I'm relatively happy with how the crew turned out, although I may need to revisit Colette and a Performer to pick out their eyes if possible. The only model that it is unpainted is Miss Step, but she didn't turn up until last week, so it will take a bit longer.

So to the pics:

The finished crew.

Colette

Cassandra

Performer 1

Performer 2

Mannequin 1

Mannequin 2

Corphyee Duet

Corphyee Duet (Dance Together)

Mechanical Doves

Overall I'm happy with how they look, I'm looking forward to seeing them on the battlefield. They have had plenty of outings so far, with mixed success. 

I used them in all of the games at our first tournament, in Game 1 I played Kit (Hamelin) which was a closely fought draw, 5-5. I faced Hamelin and Ashes & Dust for the first time which seemed to be a bit of a nuisance, we both got suckered into killing the frame for murder targets, Angelica and Nix, killing them off quickly for maximum VP's. The game feel pretty evenly matched, it would have been a good one to fight further to see how it would end, but due to time it finished in turn 3.

Game 2 was against Michael (Lilith), which I lost. I had rather foolishly taken Covert Breakthrough as a scheme, which I should have thought about, as being a tournament with timed rounds it was going to be tight to get the models into the opposing deployment zone. I only managed 1 VP from this scheme, causing the loss. I felt with another turn I may have snuck it, but alas. The one cool moment was Colette using Now You See Me, on an enemy scheme marker jumping out of range of a charging Lilith, then using Disappearing Act on herself to jump into a Mechanical Dove which had flown into their deployment zone, moving over 20" in total her turn.

I had a bye in round 3 so had to wait it out, which allowed me to do a spot of photography and watch the other games. Whilst pondering my choice of crew. I had used the same models for the first two games, and although I was tempted to switch it up and take another master against Martin, the likes of Kaeris or Ironsides, (still haven't tried Marcus) I decided to keep going with Colette.

Game 4 was a really closely fought game, and my chance to avoid the wooden spoon, I was playing Martin, and it was looking good for me throughout the game, I was ahead on VP's, Models and it seemed that fate was on my side as i had some great hands, and had done a good job in neutralising Martins Crew (Lucius). I score maximum points early on for Public Demonstration, was scoring a lot for Stake a Claim, and maxed out for Catch and Release. Things were looking rosey until the Doppleganger mimicked the Corphyee Duet's attack and then flipped Red Joker on them for damage killing them off on the final turn, forcing me into using Colette to hold one of the claim markers and moving her away from the last performer and scoring him maximum points for Take Prisoner, losing me the game by 1 VP, rooting me to the bottom of the leaderboard, winning Martin the tournament...grumble!

Its been a good month of gaming, and hopefully with more to follow. The Archaists have been great fun to play with so far, and I have perhaps been bitten by their bug, pledging my services to the M&SU by purchasing Ironsides, Kaeris and Rasputina, along with trading for Marcus, and picking up the Cult of December range to go with the Ice Witch herself.

I've used them all once (apart from Marcus) with mixed results, Kaeris had a great game against Lucius (Martin), Ironsides had a less than stellar showing against Von Schill (Sean) and to start June off with a bang, Rasputina gave Lynch a beating (Stewart).  

Hoping to get started on painting of Month 2's purchases soon (Angelica and Silent Ones), with hopefully some pics to follow.

Tale of Malifaux Bloggers - Month 1 (continued)

Taken a wee while to get round to posting this battle report, but as we are due to play again today, it makes sense to upload this first.
So on Friday Martin and I continued our vendetta with another game with our blog crews Colette vs Lucius.
This time we flipped interference for the strategy (using the new gaining grounds schemes and strategies), with a scheme pool of convict labour, exhaust their forces, public demonstration, Neutralise the Leader and A Quick Murder (I think).

I decided I wanted to try out the Ice Dancer, no model out yet, so was using a Beckoner as a stand in. I had decided this before the schemes and strategy had been flipped, which isn't the best practice to be honest.
The crew was:

Colette, A Lady's Secret, Shell Game, nothing up the sleeve.
Cassandra, smoke and mirrors, recharge soulstone
2 Coryphee.
1 Performer.
1 Mannequin.
Ice Dancer.
2 Mechanical Doves.
Cache of 5.
I took Convict Labour and Exhaust their Forces.

Martin had:
Lucius
Dashel
Dr. Grimwell
2 Orderlies
1 Lawyer
2 Guild Guard
1 Guild Rifleman
Martin took Exhaust their Forces and Public Demonstration.

Unfortunately i don't have any pictures, and my memory of the game is a bit hazy, so i will highlight the key points or interesting moments from my point of view instead of a blow by blow account.

The Guild Rifleman got the game off to a flyer for Martin, (with the aid of a nearby Dashel) by dropping one of the Corphyee down to 1 wound with some brutal shooting. This completely changed my plans, as I had hoped to try to keep them apart for most of the game this time, and then Dance Together on turn 3 or 4 to get the extra activation and hopefully tip the battle in my favour, whilst allowing me more activation control in the early turns. Instead I had to prompt the other Corphyee into contact and Dance Together. This however did allow me (with a rather aggressive place in base contact for the duet) to charge the Guild Rifleman and take her out in a hit.
To further this aggression I used Disappearing Act on Cassandra to send her up the table and allow her the range to charge Dashel, unfortunately I still find him quite difficult to kill, so it resulted in a slight overextension with Cassandra, although I was banking on her Swirl of Motion (which failed to do damage so didn't work) and Stage Presence to allow repositioning at the end of the turn.
This set the tone for the game I felt, as this early melee, denied me the numbers on that side of the board to push for the Interference Points, and I'm not convinced I scored any from the Strategy in the whole game.
However it was denying the strategy that had us scratching our head a bit, as to prevent Martin for scoring 2 quarters I flew a Mechanical Dove into engagement with Dr Grimwell, the Dove has no Melee attack, however Grimwell engages it, so they both count as engaged (by my reading of the engagement rules) which prevents him from counting for his table quarter. He wasn't very happy with this, but we couldn't find anything to the contrary (if there is, please let me know in the comments below!).
The Ice Dancer performed well, she ended up as a scheme runner for the majority of the game, which with her walk of 6 wasn't the trickiest roles for her. I would like to use her again, so I have now sculpted fur throws onto both the Beckoners so I can use them as Proxies until the Ice Dancers are released. I didn't manage to cast her Work the Crowd which I was expecting to use a lot, and one of the reasons for bringing her, but the only time I tried I didn't hit the mask, plus she ended up close to Colette for most of the game, so her (0) was being used to interact instead.
Speaking of Colette, much to my delight, and Martin's frustration, she managed to kill Dr Grimwell with her (0) Sabre Trick being within 4" of him and then hitting the Next Target trigger to go again!

I was behind for most of the game on VP as Martin had scored early with Public Demonstration (I had wanted to try it, but misread the Coryphee card and thought they were Enforcers (only the duet are), so didn't think I had 3 minions).
Thankfully I managed to line up Convict Labour to pull ahead on the last turn (although I got confused with Line in the Sand, so hadn't declared it the previous turn, but Martin graciously let me score for the two turns). It ended a close fought win 6-4.

Hopefully will get some pictures from the game today, but here is one of the Ice Dancer proxies, plus a sewer base I made from greenstuff. Thinking I may go for the sewer bases after all, inspired by the Colette story in Rising Powers.

The monthly purchases will have to change slightly due to the inclusion of the Ice Dancers, so I will have a ponder, I still want the Arcane Effigy for it's condition removal, and the Silent Ones...

In other news I decided to sell on the Neverborn, so have picked up Ironsides to start my larger Arcanist collection. Not sure how much of her crew will fit into Colette's, but the Captain can find a way into most Arcanist crews, and the Oxfordian Mages would synergise quite well with a Dove sacrificing itself for +Ca. 
I also swapped my Ortegas for Martin's Marcus crew, which was a bit painful losing Santana, Miss Terious and the alt Francisco, but he'll get more use out of them than I will, plus I fancy trying out some of the beasts.

Tale of Malifaux Bloggers: Month 1 (continued)

So after the draw on Thursday, Martin and I set up a rematch for this afternoon. 50ss, Lucius vs Colette. He went for the same crew and upgrades, I opted for a few changes.

This time I had:

Colette (5 cache) Shell Game, Practiced Production and Nothing Up My Sleeve.
Cassandra, Smoke & Mirrors and Recharge Soulstone.
2 Performers.
2 Mannequins.
2 Corphyee.
1 Mechanical Dove.

We played Extraction (fighting over the Informant Miss Anne Thrope, again....)
Scheme Pool: Convict Labour, Covert Breakthrough, Frame for Murder, Hunting Party, and Show of Force.

This time I was very slow out of the blocks in terms of VP, at one point being about 6-0 down. The game was a blood bath, with Martin killing all bar Colette and a Performer, whilst I in turn left him with just the Peacekeeper left (which I still don't really have an answer for, the armour and high wounds are a big stumbling block).

The game ended with a 8-7 loss, I scored once through Extraction, and full VP's for both my schemes (Covert Breakthrough and Convict Labour). I came close to a draw but the Coryphee Duet were killed by the Peacekeeper with a Red Joker for attack cheat, and an Ignoring Armour trigger, killing them off.

This time I tried to learn from a few of the mistakes of the last game, the upgrades were tweaked, I got a lot out of Practiced Production, using it as a safety net to have a Scheme Marker close by for Now You See Me DF trigger.
I also tried to use the Performers Siren's Call to pull out targets for the rest of the force to pick off. It worked pretty well with Dashel, but as he killed one of the Performers, and I had to send the other up the field with Disappearing Act to try and score with Covert Breakthrough.

However I still made a few mistakes, managing with one misplaced walk action with Colette to stick a spanner in the works, and limit her effectiveness for the rest of the game. With the likes of Disappearing Act having a large range, but requiring line of sight, her utility is huge but still has its limit. Hopefully if I can iron daft mistakes like this one out, maybe I can even win a game!

As a slight aside, Martin and I started our day by visiting the ABZ store that opened today, going halvers we picked up the Two Player Starter Box. He had dibs on the Guild models, which look awesome, so I got the Neverborn.
The models are awesome, lovely sculpts (even the Scion of Black Blood, which from the pictures I had seen, wasn't my favourite. Holding the model it is really nice, although still a bit 2d. I feel hopefully with the Secret Weapon Sewer Bases we used, it will look like he is part of a Sacrificial Ritual taking part in the sewer itself). Building them was really straight forward, with the pieces being very self explanatory.
I'm not sure what I will do with them, they are Mercs so I can include them in any game. However I am currently bidding on some metal Neverborn that I could use, and I also have Zoraida waiting to be painted too.
Unfortunately I haven't time to start painting them, so no pictures, and sprayed black there wasn't much to photograph.

Tale of Malifaux Bloggers - Month 1

Now that I have my models I suppose I'm into month 1.
The Colette Crew turned up, and I managed without any issues to build the crew, and I found them a joy to build to be honest. They were quite challenging in a good way, requiring a bit of work for mould lines, and some trimming of very fine pieces to fit (looking at you, individual Mannequin blades...), but after a few hours I had the whole crew finished without any problems.

Unfortunately due to my decision to sculpt the bases in the end, I don't have any models glued to them to show off.
The bases were going to be cobblestone, made with greenstuff to reduce the issue I found with my Gremlins (overtime I wish to buy a box set, I then have to order new bases to go with them too), instead I would try my hand at sculpting, and with a low cost (just the greenstuff, which I managed to get 36" for £8 off eBay) I would be able to afford extra models.

These were the first cobblestones:

They turned out ok, although I felt that I would prefer round cobblestones, and the one I attempted didn't look very good, so back to the drawing board (or hobby station).

The second option was using balsa wood to create a wooden plank base:

This look ok too, but the process was really time consuming, and a bit soul destroying. Plus I felt that the look was a bit too rough for a theatre floor for the showgirls, and maybe better for Gremlins.

The third option was for larger flagstones:

The initial ones I made I was happy with, so have made the full crew worth now. I will still add another layer to the 50mm base once it dries, I think. Then I will look for something to embellish some of the character bases with, maybe some cards on the floor for Colette. 

Martin and I also managed our first game, which we decided to use the majority of our first month models and play 50ss. 

I chose: Colette (cache 4) Nothing Up Her Sleeve, Shell Game, Cabaret Choreography. Cassandra with Recharge Soulstone and Smoke and Mirrors. 2 Performers, 2 Mannequins, 2 Coryphee and 1 Mechanical Dove.

We played Extraction, from Gaining Grounds 2016, with a Scheme pool of: Convict Labour, Exhaust their Forces, Leave your Mark, Neutralise the Leader and Set Up.

I had chosen Exhaust Their Forces and Leave Your Mark, which due to Colette's ability to make (1) Interacts, a (0) action instead, were very achievable, with me Exhausting 3 models at one point to secure the 3/3 VP, I managed 3/3 for Leave Your Mark, unfortunately I hadn't been able to score a single VP for Extraction due to having quite a few Peons in the list and combining the Coryphee into a Duet early, reduced my numbers within the centre of the table. 

The game ended on turn 5, 6-6 on VP, with Lucius sneaking Convict Labour by stealing 3 of my Scheme Markers, which if I had remembered I could have attempted a Siren Call from my surviving Performer to move him out of range of all of them, but to be fair I though he had unveiled both Schemes by that point and had also forgot about the ability. 

There were quite a few learning points to consider: 

1. Although Prompt is awesome, there are other things Colette can do!
2. Shell Game paid for itself many times over with Surge trigger for Prompt, coupled with Nothing Up My Sleeve.
3. For 2ss, Cabaret Choreography is not worth it if you don't use it once in the game...
4. Condition Removal is key for facing Lawyers, with this in mind I may bring forward the purchase of the Arcane Effigy.
5. Always in Motion and Silk and Steel seem really good on the Coryphee.
6. Something heavier hitting is required as the Coryphee aren't the most dangerous on the attack, Miss Step will hopefully fill this void. 
7. Bluetacking unpainted models to blank bases does not look cool on the table regardless of how nice the sculpts are!

It was a tough game, but one I enjoyed, I think I had most of the luck, with great hands drawn consistently, and some mean defensive triggers that really negated a lot of Martin's abilities. I think he was getting quite frustrated by the shenanigans I was wheeling out (queue point 8, Seduction ruins Lucius' day!).


I will try to get a game in tomorrow too, unfortunately I won't have much more done, as I need to spray the crew first. Hopefully will have another update soon with some painting, and I will ponder the purchase for next month, this looks likely so far:

Month 2 (£15.81)
Angelica £6.38 (whom I already have picked up to bring it above the cost for Miss Step).
Arcane Effigy £6.38
Leaving £3.05 for the following month.

Tale of Malifaux Bloggers - Month 0, Continued

So after much deliberation, I have finally settled upon my crew, deciding upon Colette. This was for a few reasons, touched upon in the earlier post.
I wanted to push myself, I'm currently using Ophelia as my main Gremlins master, with a shooting crew, I felt that the crew I had planned for Von Schill had quite a few similarities to this, and maybe more of the same. Not to say thats bad, as I'm very fond of them, but as a challenge, this wasn't exactly pushing myself!
Secondly I felt I would rather paint the showgirls with the elaborate dresses and hopefully some detail to the faces, which was absent with the masked Freikorp.

So with this in mind I have ordered Month 1's models, Colette's Smoke & Mirrors boxed set, and the Coryphee Duet (I also ordered Angelica to bring above the $60 for Wyrd's Incentive scheme, to hopefully get Miss Step).

With any luck I should have the crew for next week, as with a rather large model count (11 in total: Colette, Cassandra, 3 Mechanical Doves, 2 Performers, 2 Mannequins and 2 Coryphee), I may be hard pressed to paint them by the end of the month!

So with the order in, I can turn my attention to the next decision, which bases to go for?

Here are a few potentials:

Option 1: Micro Art Studios Old Factory

These look really cool, and I feel would work well in a larger Arcanist force, particularly with Ironsides or Ramos.

Option 2: Micro Art Studios Pipework

Another set that would work well as a generic set for Arcanists, although the space for models may not be ideal.

Option 3: Micro Art Studios Cobblestones

These look cool, I think Martin was thinking of using these or the Secret Weapon ones, so it may tie in, and we could then look at a cobblestone board at some point.

Option 4: Micro Art Studios Mosaic

Probably the easiest so far in terms of fitting models on, they look really cool painted like this, but may look unusual without the weathering. I think I would need to paint these separately, then add the models to them.

Option 5: Fenris Games Nags Tavern

Quite a generic look, and one that I've seen done a lot with Colette, fits with her theme, although these don't look too difficult to make myself, in fact I found a good Dr Faust's Painting Clinic video with a guide to it. I could then add some decoration that would fit with a theatre to jazz them up a bit.

So thats the options I've been looking at, there are some Secret Weapon bases too, their Asian Garden bases would fit in with our board somewhat, but I haven't seen them painted, so I'm not sure about them.
The idea of doing a cobblestone crew and then getting a mat or cobblestone set to make a board out of is tempting. Fenris Games do the Innsmouth streets which you can get in resin, 2 sets would be enough for a 3' board...

Tale of Malifaux Bloggers - Month 0

After finishing the painting of my entire Gremlin collection (may sneak some pics on soon in an other post), there was a noticeable gap on the painting stand. With playing Malifaux exclusively I wasn't looking to branch out to a new game, so I had a few options, pick up the remaining models I don't currently own, (being Ulix's Hog Wild, the Bayou Gators and Gracie, which may not take me that long to build and paint, and thus be a short stay of execution) or look at a new crew and faction.

Always being a sucker for something new, I veered towards the latter. after looking for some inspiration on the Wyrd forums, I found some links to previous Tale of Malifaux Bloggers (or ToMB), a quick discussion with Martin (my brother and regular opponent) and we decided to take on the challenge.

After some discussion with members of the gaming club and some friends, we currently have 12 interested parties.
The guidelines we are using for our tale are as follows:

1. The tale will be set over 5 months, with an budget of £40 for month 1, and £15 for each subsequent months. This budget will be shop price not rrp, as we will be aiming to get most of our stuff through our local store ABZgames (http://abzgames.co.uk), they offer great service, with a nice discount and hopefully in turn we could help them out with our custom. As a slight side note, (being a sucker for sculpted bases) we decided hobby materials including bases would not be factored into the budget, and any Wyrd offers (free Miss Step on purchases over $60, or free bonus models included stickers etc) would be useable. 
2. Money not spent in a month can be carried over to the next month to allow for larger purchases.
3. Although Martin and I will be buying all new stuff, as some of the participants have Malifaux models that they haven't built or painted or played with, there is the option of substituting unused previous purchases in for the appropriate cost instead. 
4. We will aim to add at least one purchase per month, build and paint them within the month, and hopefully get in as many games as possible. 
5. We will aim to create blogs with our progress (hence this one), with also a Facebook page to keep motivated.
6. We will run an event at the end of the challenge, hopefully with prizes and the like.

With this in mind I now have to decide on a Master (and Faction)....

I managed to narrow factions down quite quickly, I don't want to use a master or faction that I have owned previously ruling out Gremlins and Guild. I didn't want to use a faction or master that my regular opponents owned, ruling out Ten Thunders and Resurrectionists. 

This left me with Neverborn, Arcanists and Outcasts...

Having spent the last week pouring over the PullmyFinger pages and listening to the Master Spotlights on Schemes and Stones I have narrowed it down to two options...

...drum roll please...

Option 1: Arcanists, Colette Du Bois

There is a lot to like about option 1, the models are fantastic, she looks to be a great challenge to built, paint and play with. The tricks she can do to get the most out of her crew seem really fun, and by the looks of it every game will be different (well other than casting Prompt a lot!).

The plan would be something like this:

Month 1 (£40, prices from ABZ)
Colette Du Bois, Smoke and Mirrors - £28.89
Coryphee £10.20
Hopefully plus Miss Step (April FLGS incentive from Wyrd if spend $60, so I'd have to buy something extra, but I need a new fate deck and could be tempted with some Gators).

Month 2 (£15.81)
Angelica £6.38
Arcane Effigy £6.38

Month 3 (£18.05)
Silent Ones £10.20

Month 4 (£22.85)

Month 5 (£37.85)

Month 4 & 5 are a bit of a tough choice, possibly the Emissary would be out, failing that I could go for the Mechanical Rider (£20.40) and something to summon, possibly another Performer & Mannequin boxed set (£13.60), leaving a few pounds spare.
Alternatively I could buy the Ramos Boxed (£28.89) set if I didn't get Miss Step, plus I would get Joss, always a good option in an Arcanist collection. This would leave £8.96, which could buy Willie (£8.50), not sure if he'd be a good addition, but can't see much else that would fit in for the cost.

There are a few other models that should come out soon that could be worth considering, the Malifaux Raptors in May, Large Arachnid in April, and Soulstone Miners (not sure when).

Option 2: Outcasts, Von Schill.

Von Schill is by my reading a more straightforward master than Colette, this has advantages and disadvantages. I would like the challenge from Colette, but my concern is that ifI find she isn't to my tastes or I can't get to grips with her, it may be a struggle of 5 months.... With this in mind a Master that is a good combat and ranged brawler may be a safer option.
The disadvantage with this is that it maybe playing it safe, the models are lovely, but may not be as big a challenge as those of the Showgirls, the rules may be the same.

However, there are some big plus points. First, and maybe the biggest of them all (Ht 3!) is Hannah, this model is my favourite from all of Malifaux, love the suit, I prefer the standard version than Through the Breach, so won't be tempted to splash the cash for that one (ahem...looking at you Santana!). I know as she is a Merc that I can take her in any crew, be she looks to be far stronger within a Friekorps led crew, (Make a New Entry).
The second is both a boon and a curse, the paint scheme. The Freikorps, have the uniform look that doesn't really exist in Malifaux (with the exception of the Guild possibly), and the suits look awesome, but it is maybe back towards the style of game miniatures that I grew tired of (Regiments of soldiers: Imperial Guard and the like).

The plan would be along these lines:

Month 1 (£40)
Von Schill, Hired Guns £28.89

Month 2 (£26.11)
Hannah £19.55

Month 3 (£21.56)
Lazarus £10.20
Freikorps Strongarm £9.34

Month 4 (£17.02)
Convict Gunslingers £9.34
Hans or Bishop? £6.38

Month 5 (£16.30)

Month 5 is a bit of mystery here, possibly Killjoy (£10.20), but I don't know how he would suit, possible some extra Freikorps (£8.50), or the Emissary? or even some Ronin (£11.89).
The other option is dropping the Hans/Bishop selection from Month 4 and adding another Crew Box, either The Viktoria's Hired Swords (£25.49), giving me access to Taelor and the Ronin (plus the Student of Conflict if I wanted an option instead of the Steam Trunk) or a second Hired Guns box to give me the Freikorps Specialist, the Freikorpsmen, the Trapper and the Librarian. All of which I could use extra, not sure how beneficial doubling some of them up would be, but I have heard the dual Trapper is a bit dirty...

These are the options at the moment, it will be one of the two, now the agonising begins!