One step closer ... MERCs

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MERCS – I finished up the sefadu Megacon the other day. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. The tribal markings on the helms were tricky but I think keeping a simple pattern makes them less busy. To do the yellow I thinned out some Tau Sept Ochre and lightly outlined the pattern. Once I was happy with that I added a second coat of the Ochre to thicken the lines. I then went in with a bright yellow and added some hightlights to make them pop a bit more.

I added some tall grass stalks to the bases. I think it feels close to the photos I've seen of Africa or at least is a good facsimile. As with all my models I added some felt to the base to help keep them from tipping over on an uneven surface and sealed them with a matte clear coat.

Next up is the USCR on crystal clear Ice Bases. Eventually I'd like to own all the Megacons. MERCS probably won't ever be my main game but the small model count and fast paced game length makes for a great once in a while game. I find it really enjoyable to paint a single six man squad. It's not enough to get burnt out on, but just enough to tie together with a single paint scheme.

If you'd like to learn more about MERCS the quickstart rules are online here.

Jungle Fever (A MERCS Three-Way)

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MERCS - After my regular Malifaux Demo night, a few of the guys stuck around to play some MERCS. Since I already had a swamp board set up we decided to play a three-way game in the swamps.

Prior to the game starting we set-up some ground rules so the game didn't devolve into shooting from your deployment zone.

• No shooting from your deployment zone turn one

• Plants are infinitely high tubes originating from the base

• Set-up is as close to an equilateral triangle as possible

• Last man standing wins

I chose to play my KemVar, leaving the sniper on the bench. My opponents played Keizai Waza and sefadu. For the deployment I set-up two groups of two MERCS and the Heavy holding my deployment zone, in what I thought was the perfect spot to cover the board. (having forgotten the ground rules we set-up during deployment, it wasn't as sweet as I thought).

he game played hard and fast with the Waza player spreading out over the board, and sefadu coming at both opponents with a two pronged attack. I was able to neutralize the Waza sniper with my demo. Once my Heavy was set and overwatching things got interesting. I unloaded with him and killed (2) sefadu, (1) Waza and my assassin because of his sweet position. This also triggered two overwatches from the sefadu and Waza players which finished off the carnage my Heavy started.

The sefadu Demo took out my Leader and Monkey Wrench with several salvos of Fire grenades. After another crazy Overwatch trigger fest the sefadu player was eliminated and I just had my Heavy and Demo left. The cagey Waza player creeped up taking advantage of the tree cover (which I forgot blocked LOS completely) and was able to pick me off for the win.

The more I play this game the more I love it. I can't really see it as a competitive game, but as something to play just to relax and have fun it's really worth the low cost of entry. We were discussing this after the game and realized that for the amount that I paid (several price increases ago, remember when Rhinos were less than $30) for the transports in my Space Marine company, you can have all the factions, battlefoam bag, terrain mats, GF9 Tokens and rule book for this game. Think about that for a minute. 

 

On the Painting Table ... Sefadu

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MERCS – Having found a great deal on the Sefadu starter box, I've added another faction to my MERCS collection. Sefadu are the African faction that specialize in diamonds and have ties to the CCC. I haven't got them on the table yet but from the cards and what I've seen online they specialize in moving fast and getting into melee combat. 

After washing the parts I cleaned the mold lines and flash. I was a little disappointed to find that my set had some flaws in the sculpts. This was noticeable on the loin cloths for two of the models. It was easy enough to scrape off the "fuzzy metal" and smooth out the cloth. Assembly wasn't to difficult although the heads have a fairly small attachment point so getting them to stay in position was a little tricky. (I'm not sure if my trick of holding the model close to a 100 watt light bulb actually does anything, but it seems to help when I have issues with glue setting ... or at least my brain tells me it does).

I used my rock bases to mount the models to. I'm finding this design works for lots of different terrain depending on how you paint it. (the clear version is awesome for ice bases, email me for more info). I did need to put a few extra notches to accommodate the sculpts. 

I decided to follow the basic "official" color scheme rather that go with my gut and paint them like the MAXX, as I have several "purple" armies I didn't want to add another. I painted the cloth of their shorts with a Khaki color from the GW foundation range, their new color range doesn't match up exactly so I'm glad I have several pots of this lying around. Next I went in and painted the armour plates with a crimson color. I'm not sure exactly if their skin is meant to be showing or if they are wearing a body-stocking, so I went with painting them in a dark flesh tone. The remainder of the models were painted a dark grey with some metallic highlights.

At this point the base colors are done. A few quick washes will add enough shading to have them ready for the tabletop. Since I'm not in a rush to play MERCS at the moment I'll take the time to go in a detail these minis out to completion. This will include adding the yellow "tribal" markings to each model in a bright yellow color.