Unboxing Malifaux – Ramos’s ‘The M&SU’.

by | Jan 2, 2014

The 'Union' is recruiting again...


The 'M&SU' box contains enough parts for six to ten miniatures (depending on how you configure the Steam Arachnids)...namely Ramos, his Brass Arachnid Totem (4SS), Joss (10SS),  Howard Langston (12SS) and six Steam Arachnids that can either be put on individual 30mm bases (4SS each) or three can be put on a 40mm base as a Steam Arachnid Swarm (8SS). It also contains stat cards for each one including six Steam Arachnid cards and two Steam Arachnid Swarm cards so you have enough for whichever configuration you pick for them. Also included are six upgrade cards four of which are for Ramos, one is for Joss and there's one that can be given to any M&SU model.

This makes the Soulsstone value of the box different depending on your chosen Arachnid configurations but for the sake of simplicity we'll go with what's on the outside of the box...

Ramos (0), Brass Arachnid (4), Joss (10), Howard Langston (12), Steam Arachnid Swarms (8, 8) Total (42) or (46) with a maximum Soulstone cache and (54) with maximum 'out of the box' upgrades.

The box has two sprue sets in it as well as the aforementioned cards...



Lets have a look at each of these 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 by clicking on them. Wyrd Miniatures also seem to have stopped putting instructions in things and instead give you a leaflet with a web address on it that leads to a number of links.


I've put them here so you don't need to.



I would suggest that when assembling the Brass Arachnid and/or Howard Langston that you remove from the sprue and then attach to the model one part at a time as per the diagram. 'Remove all parts and put in a pile' is not a method of assembly I'd recommend in these circumstances.

Ramos.


The Sprue

Stat Card

Upgrade Cards


Assembled
His left arm slots between his body and the cape which means you'll need to dry fit first in order to make sure that it fits together neatly. Also the spider held in his hand is quite small so expect some fun 'where the hell did I drop that' moments...
The shoulder joint and the tiny spider both require some attention as mentioned earlier.



Joss.


The Sprue

Stat Card

Upgrades
 He could also take the 'Bleeding Edge Tech' upgrade as he's M&SU so we'll leave it in this section rather than include it everywhere there's a model with the M&SU type.

Assembled
He's not that tricky to assemble until you reach Wyrd miniatures new favourite thing which appears to be tiny bits of easy to snap cabling...if you don't own any tweezers then I suggest you go invest in some. They'll come in useful on many of the new plastic kits, especially if you have fingers like mine...


Brass Arachnid.


The Sprue


Stat Card

Assembled
There are two main issues with this model. Firstly it's important to follow the instructions carefully as each of the eight legs has to be in the correct place and secondly even if you get that bit right its a bugger to fit onto the required 30mm base. As I have no intention of entering a tournament with this crew I put mine on a 40mm though I've included some pictures of it next to a 30mm so you can hopefully see the issue...it's not impossible...it is however something you need to plan for at the assembly stage as the default locations for the legs makes this difficult to achieve.




Howard Langston.


The Sprue


Stat Cards
Assembled
This model has the 'legs only fit in one place', 'fiddly bits of cable' and 'may be awkward to fit on the appropriate base' issues. Follow the advice I gave in other sections above and you'll be just fine.



Steam Arachnid and Steam Arachnid Swarms.


Sprue.


Stat Card



Assembled
The legs are fairly small but other than that these are no problem.


Old Vs. New.
For those of you interested in comparisons between old metal model sand the new plastics (I get asked this a lot for some reason) here's some pictures for scale.

Ramos...and Ramos...


Steam and Steampunk Arachnids.


Steam, Alternate and Steapunk Arachnid Swarms.



Howard Langston and Steamborg Executioner.



Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.