Ashes and Dust Complete!

Here's my latest work that I completed last night. The famed Ashes and Dust for Malifaux's Outcasts. I've still yet to complete the Dust Storm and Ashen Core that he summons on death, but they shouldn't be too much of an issue, especially as I airbrushed the Dust Storm while painting the main dude.

He was perplexing for me to plan, as it's an unconventional paint job to imitate a tornado. I also had a tough time with his gauntlets. I thought it would be an easy part as I'm very used to doing armor plates, but I didn't factor in the irregular shape. I also didn't realize that the skulls and his head may get lost in the swirl of similar colors.

I initially planned on doing source lighting coming from within the swirl, but I decided not to take that route as I was happy with its current look.

I need to figure out a way to make the bases look a bit better, as it seems pretty lackluster. It's mostly from me being lazy, as I don't like taking time out to make my bases look elaborate even though I could.

I think next I'll work on my Necropunk, I'm trying to get my current iteration of my Leveticus list fully painted before the tournament at the end of the month.

In the game this guy is a monster. His main draw is as a flexible scheme runner. He gains an additional AP to do what he wants and can use the Scramble upgrade to make him go places fast. He has an ability to push 10" toward a scrap marker, which usually crop up easily enough, as a (0) ability, making him even more mobile. Without any help he can drop two Scheme Markers down a turn. He's super expensive at 13ss, not to mention a 2ss upgrade, but well worth it.

He's no slouch in Melee either with a 7 stat, with a trigger to summon Abominations when lucky. He has a pulse that's ok, but not something you want to rely on. He'll be sticking to the board edges as he has an ability that summons the Ashen Core and Dust Storm when he dies, if they're close to each other they can make another Ashes and Dust. This gives some activation control as well as additional AP for scheme running, but mostly for flexibility as you can always just make the Dust Storm go after some far away models - like ones scoring for Leave Your Mark - or act as a desperate Waif Anchor.

He's really good for a lot of schemes in GG 2016. I've successfully used him for Leave Your Mark and Covert Breakthrough simultaneously in a single game. Routinely placing 2 scheme markers while advancing 6" and daring models to chase him is amazing. He's no slouch in combat so a good portion of the opponent's forces are needed to stifle him. If you save high cards for disengaging or just get rid of the model you're in the clear, as he has a minimum 3 damage anyway. With Leve I'll shoot into combat with no fear, as I'll just choose the trigger that lets him take a Melee attack if I randomize onto Ashes, both attacks from Leve and Ashes feature 7s to hit.

Coupling Ashes and Dust with the cheap Necropunk is an amazing combo. Usually when placed relatively close together the Necropunk gets ignored. If Ashes gets tied up the Necropunk can do his thing, if the Necropunk gets targeted he usually weathers the storm well enough with Hard to Wound and Hard to Kill, as well as a last minute heal if necessary, and Ashes can counter attack. Those two models together make a ton of scheme markers wherever you need them.

Let me know what you think!