GMorts Chaotica: Unboxing Malifaux - Nellie's 'The Pen is Mightier' Starter Box

"Of course it's true..."

NELLIE COCHRANE

Nellie Cochrane is the editor in chief of the Malifaux Tattler. She originally owned and operated a small paper in Ridley, but after exposing massive Union corruption, she was offered a position in Malifaux in charge of the city’s finest (and only legal) paper, with the implicit understanding that she would not be exposing any massive Guild corruption any time soon.

Many people in Malifaux see the Guild as corrupt, vicious, and brutal. Nellie is none of these things. She is a genuine person with a quick tongue. She understands that words have power: the power to compel, the power to mystify, and the power to change the course of history itself. Her pen is her weapon, and with it she battles the lies and reveals the truth of the city, not through viciousness or violence, but through argument and alliteration.

Nellie relentlessly seeks out new stories, exposing corruption and vice wherever she finds them… except within the Guild. This censorship might rankle her journalistic ethics, but she’s convinced herself it’s a small price to pay for the ability to reach such a large readership. The perks of having reporters, fancy cameras, and an office with her name on it doesn’t hurt, either.

The 'The Pen is Mightier' box contains enough parts for six miniatures...namely Nellie, her Totem The Printing Press (3SS), Phiona Gage (8SS) and three Field Reporters (4SS each). It also contains stat cards for each one and six upgrade cards four of which are for Nellie, one for Phiona Gage and one that's for any model with the Journalist type.

This makes the Soulsstone value of the box...

Nellie (0), Phiona Gage (8), Field Reporters (4, 4, 4), Printing Press (3) Total (23) or (26) with a maximum Soulstone cache and (31) with maximum 'out of the box' upgrades.

Sprues

The box has one main sprue set in it divided into for sub-assemblies as well as the aforementioned cards. Here's pictures of both sides of it...

Stat and Upgrade 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.

Nellie Cochrane

The Sprue

Assembled

The bag strap fits into a groove on the chest and the bag section aligns with opposite strap which is part of models rear. The camera strap runs down a similar groove across the stomach area and has a slight curve at the top to align with the strap as part of the body...this was a bit fiddly...I added the parts that attached to the model first and then completed the sub-assemblies with them in place though you could assemble the bag and camera as completed sub-assemblies first and then attach them if you wish. The bottom 'page' coming out of the bag aligns with a raised piece on the middle pair of pages. Take care with her left arm as well...that feather is not sturdy...

Phiona Gage

The Sprue

Assembled

The belt strap fits between the leg and the body once the leg is attached and as only one side of the attachment piece has detail you should be able to align it fairly easily. The 'scythe' is in two halves which need to be aligned with each other as well as requiring alignment of the arms with the body...dry-fitting first is strongly recommended as the point where the left arm attaches to the body can easily slip out of place. Assemble the two head halves before attaching to the body as the attachment point is created where the two pieces meet and it's tricky to place otherwise.

The Printing Press

The Sprue

Assembled

Editors Note - One of the legs on mine was incomplete (one of the front ones is missing the tip) but I wanted to get the article done so I've assembled it as is. This is a known fault (apparently a faulty batch slipped through) so if you have the same problem then like me you'll need to order a replacement part via Wyrd's website...HERE is the page you need. Just click under the 'Damaged/Mismatched products' section where it says 'Fill Out Form'.

Assemble the top and bottom pieces of press body and make sure the top piece is attached before you put the sides on as it has indentations in it's own sides that attach to them. The rest of the upper part is fairly simple...then we move onto the legs...

Most of the legs are in two halves though the alignment indentations on each are different so you shouldn't get them mixed up. The main piece which attaches to the bottom already has two legs attached so you can use these to align the second of the extended front legs (the 'tips' are slightly more detailed) and the second of the rear legs (the more upright angled one). Then it's just a matter of attaching the four remaining assembled legs in the gaps...these are seemingly identical and fitted into the gaps just fine. The legs are thin and become more delicate at certain joints so try to avoid putting any pressure on them as you attach them...I broke one...well...two actually...fortunately where I broke and re-glued them is underneath the body so shouldn't be immediately obvious. Each of the legs is also tipped with a tiny and delicate spike.

Field Reporters

Field Reporters - Sprue

Field Reporter 1

This one has a two part camera, one piece aligns with fingers on right hand (the fingers are part of the camera) so correct alignment is important.

Field Reporter 2

The bag strap and pen are both thin so need care when handling. The space that the hat slots into is created by the joining of the head and hair so make sure these are aligned properly as it's possible to put the hair piece in upside-down.