Unboxing Malifaux - Jack Daw's 'Guilty as Charged' Starter Box

Every-one's guilty of something...

JACK DAW

No one forgets their first sight of the Hanging Tree. Everyone who crosses through the Breach can see it, where hanged men drift in the wind right in view from the train station. At the top of the Tree, beyond the reach of any man, hung Jack Daw. There are many legends of this mysterious corpse, which had been present since the reopening of the Breach.

The only thing certain is that Jack was not present in Malifaux during humanity's first time in the city. At first the legends merely dealt with his origins, wondering minds looking to explain the oddity. Since the incident at Kythera, however, the legends have taken a much darker turn.

One night, Jack went missing from his tree. This immediately prompted rumors and stories that filled every bar in the city. It didn't take long for the worry of the adults to infect the children, creating a haunting rhyme that became extremely popular for a time. It was around this time that the first stories from the Wastelands came back. Jack had been seen outside the city. At first the stories were of a simple specter, hanging on the edge of battlefields and watching. The stories quickly turned to talking about Jack leading a swarm of the dead, tearing apart towns in terrible fury.

Whatever drives Jack Daw to his rages, he takes them out on everyone nearby. He seems drawn to acts of betrayal, present at nearly every mutiny or insurrection of recent months. Towns have disappeared overnight, leaving behind only blood on the ground and burned buildings.

The 'Guilty as Charged' box contains enough parts for six miniatures...namely Jack Daw, his Totem Lady Ligeia (4SS), Montresor (9SS) and three Guilty (5SS each). It also contains stat cards for each one and eight upgrade cards six of which are for Jack Daw (three are '0' cost ones), one for Montresor and one that's for any model with the 'Tormented' type.

This makes the Soulsstone value of the box...

Jack Daw (0), Lady Ligeia (4), Montresor (9), The Guilty (5, 5, 5) Total (28) or (33) with a maximum Soulstone cache and (40) with maximum 'out of the box' upgrades.

Sprues

The box has one sprue in it as well as the aforementioned cards. Here's pictures of both sides of them...

Stat Cards

Wyrd Games didn't like my publishing pictures of both sides of the stat cards so you'll have to make do with this...

Lets have a look at each of these models in turn. Should there be any assembly issues with any of the models then they will be listed in the appropriate section and you can view larger versions of the smaller pictures or instruction pictures by clicking on them.

Instructions

Some General Notes on Assembly

Many of these models contain quite small parts so depending on how dexterous you are you might consider getting yourself some tweezers. Dry-fitting is also always a good idea in case a part needs a tiny bit of extra filing or filling as some of the fits are quite tight. Where the parts on the sprue are quite thin (chains, weapon shafts, cables and the like) then it might be better to remove parts with a sharp scalpel rather than cutters.

All these models are based on cobblestone style bases created using this tutorial here.

Jack Daw

The Sprue

Assembled

I'm sure there are many ways to assemble this model but I put the back piece on before adding the rope as otherwise it gets in the way and I'd also recommend putting the right arm before attaching the rope as it's a bit close otherwise. The left arm can however be attached afterwards if you wish as it's clear of the rope. The head went on last. The rope isn't as thin as some examples that come with Wyrd Games models but I'd still be careful with it, The rope lines up at two points on the neck of the model which then completes the appearance of a noose.

Comparison

Here's a comparison picture between the new plastic and original metal version.

Lady Ligeia

The Sprue

Assembled

The arms are thin but not frustratingly so and the rest of the model consists of large, easy to handle pieces so should cause no issues.

Montresor

The Sprue

Assembled

It's three pieces...if this is a problem to assemble then you may have picked the wrong hobby...

The Guilty

The Sprues

The Guilty 1 - Assembled

The body goes together simply enough and everything lined up with the appropriate points on the chair so as long as you follow the instructions you'll be fine. Then there's the 'electricity'...

The main piece locates simply enough in a location point in the rear of the chair but the two pieces that attach to it connect to fairly small flat points so will need to be carefully held in place while the glue sets. There are also three tiny pieces of which one slots into a gap on the head and the two others slot into the eyes. These are very tiny indeed so you may need tweezers and if you happen to drop one...well...have fun with that, lol. I'm also not entirely convinced that I got the eye ones in the correct places though I doubt it matters much...

The Guilty 2 - Assembled

The trolley section is fairly easy to put together though the bits with the wheels on are thin so be careful when assembling and removing them from the sprue. Also as you need to hold both levels and the sides together than there's great potential for one of those much loved 'glue your fingers to the model' moments and please ensure that the 'cushion' pieces in between are on as there's no way you'll get then in there when the base is assembled. The straps are actually remarkably well aligned with the attachment points on the trolley and needed no adjustments to make fit but I'd put the models arms on first as one goes under the straps and the other is holding a piece of it.

The Guilty 3 - Assembled

Each body part aligns with a specific point on the cross and there are straps pieces on the limbs which align with ones on the cross so getting everything in the correct place is simple enough. The head on a spike will need to be put on first though as the body piece goes over the top.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.