Unboxing Malifaux - Ironsides 'Troubleshooters' Starter Box

Sometimes the best way to deal with a problem is to punch it in the face...repeatedly...

IRONSIDES

The daughter of escaped slaves, Toni Ironsides has risen far from her origins. After the Guild's execution of her mother, Toni saw the organization clearly for the first time. The Guild's decision to uphold the horrific local laws of its member countries in the name of stability led to her commitment to the Guild's destruction. For a time, Toni turned to underground fighting as a way to vent her anger. Eventually, she became part of Earthside resistance groups, which drew the attention of Viktor Ramos and resulted in her recruitment into the Arcanists. Because of Toni's love of learning, she found herself drawn to the company of the Oxfordian Mages on her arrival Breachside.

In Malifaux, Ironsides has two distinct roles for the Movement. She is a leader in the M&SU, acting as an enforcer on behalf of the Union as Ramos directs. When the Union is threatened, it is Ironsides who stirs the blood of the common man, calling them together against their enemies. The second purpose comes from her relationship with the Mages. As Ramos saw that partnership grow, he began to use Ironsides as a way to keep the Arcanists in check. When a Steamfitter goes rogue, Ironsides and the Mages track them down to eliminate them. She is not above deception, sometimes using Guild resources in clever traps to accomplish her task and harm her foes simultaneously.

For Toni, both tasks are acceptable. While Viktor Ramos is the Voice of the Arcanists, Toni Ironsides is its Fist. So long as the Guild is brought down, she will do whatever is necessary. What Ramos builds afterward matters little to her.

The 'Troubleshooters' box contains enough parts for six miniatures...namely Ironsides, her Totem Mouse (4SS), The Captain (10SS) and three Oxfordian Mages (6SS each). It also contains stat cards for each one and nine upgrade cards, three are 'O' cost ones that can only be given to Oxfordian Mages, four of which are for Ironsides and two that are for either Ironsides or a Henchman.

This makes the Soulsstone value of the box...

Ironsides (0), Mouse (4), The Captain (10), Oxfordian Mages (6, 6, 6) Total (32) or (34) with a maximum Soulstone cache and (40) with maximum 'out of the box' upgrades.

Sprues
The box has one main sprue in it as well as the aforementioned cards...

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.

Ironsides

The Sprue

Assembled

There's a few 'straps' that protrude from her arm areas that you'll want to be careful with but other than that the model is issue free.

Mouse

The Sprue

Assembled

Another fairly simple to assemble model. The only minor issue is that the position of the rope wasn't immediately apparent because the render on the box doesn't show it particularly clearly. I'm sure once we have instructions this problem will disappear...until then you can use my own pictures as a reference...presuming that I got it right that is, lol.

The Captain

The Sprue

Assembled

As with any model that has parts that represent material the joins should be carefully checked for a good fit before assembly and trimmed or tidied up accordingly. You'll notice on the pictures below that there's a slight gap on the one side of the model but this wasn't there when I initially dry-fitted the model. I can only presume then that it moved when I was assembling the rest of the model and I didn't notice rather than this being a fundamental issue with the model itself.

Oxfordian Mages

Sprues

Oxfordian Mages - Assembled

Oxfordian Mage 1 - Assembled

A few minor points with this one. The arms can be difficult to get into position if you put them on the model last thing but this is inconvenient rather than a model hurling moment...I would however dry-fit the parts first before assembly so you can decide on the best order of assembly for yourselves. The rear halves of the cloak may need a little trimming to get a close-fit as mine had a bit of a gap which I'll fill with liquid green stuff or equivalent before undercoating. There's often very minor differences in model parts due to the moulding process so yours may be just fine...

Oxfordian Mage 2 - Assembled

This particular mage comes with a separate piece of magical fire. In order to show you the full model I haven't attached it in the first set of pictures but there's a second set with it on the base. Other than having a separate face and a few small accessories on the belt this model should hold no problems for even a moderately experienced modeller. Just assemble each sub-section individually and dry-fit as you go...no problem...

Oxfordian Mage 3 - Assembled

Other than the small belt accessories that all the mages have this one has no issues of note.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.