Hamelin and the Year of the Rat - January part 1

So here marks the start of my long-time project; to build and create my own themed Hamelin crew based on the Nightmare box released at Gen Con 2017

I have always liked Hamelin (the Pied Piper) and the story surrounding it, possibly because we performed it as a school play one year (sadly I was not the Pied Piper) and while Malifaux's version doesn't overtly play into this theme, Wyrd Miniatures did release a model that suited my vision of Hamelin perfectly - the Vintage/Avatar Hamelin.


After acquiring this model via some hard-won guilders, the Gen Con box was announced and my fate sealed; the Hamelin crew I'd long thought about would be created!

I'm not looking to make a competitive crew (I have my Ten Thunders to play competitively) so this crew will be a labour of love (and dark imagination!). I will be adding 'Lost' models to it, representing the lost children (Lost is a keyword characteristic in Malifaux that allows Hamelin to hire them in-game) as well as a few dogs that Hamelin's henchman Nix can hire.

I purchased the Nightmare box, the Brotherhood of the Rat, and Princess the Rat King to give myself the following model count to build, base, and paint:
  • Hamelin 
  • Schrodinger's Cat (Nix)
  • Stolen x 3 
  • Dutiful Son (Obedient Wretch)
  • Rat Kings x 3
  • Rat Catchers x 2
  • Rats and Cats x 12 (6 of each)
Then I have these models kicking round because I have been gaming way too long:
  • Candy
  • Baby Kade
  • Crooligans x 2
That's alot of models!! 

Basing Style

One of the reasons I wanted to do this crew is because I am not very good at basing miniatures. I find I try my hardest to paint a miniature well ( the results can vary!) but after that I'm done and I want to move onto the next model. Having dedicated bases will make me work to keep the crew consistent and improve my basing technique.

I have decided that my crew will be split into two. One group will be 'above ground' on cobblestone bsses. Malifaux is a steampunk setting so this style fits nicely, plus I have 10 cobblestone bases floating around so they can be put to good use finally. The above ground group consists of all the characters who are not the wretched, unloved toys of the Piper. They will be the named characters in the crew I'm building. Currently I have on Cobblestones:
  • Hamelin himself
  • Candy (the petulant youth version from 1.5e)
  • Baby Kade
  • The Midnight Stalker
  • Schrodinger's Cat - although this might get a special base
Here are two of the models on the cobblestones


The remainder of the crew are from the Quarantine zone, the dark, inhospitable place where life is cheap and everything rots. I wanted to represent this by making sewer, landfill style bases full of grime and decay. Given the model list above I'd need a lot of them! 22 30mm bases in fact, you can see them below.



Good progress so far. I'm also in the Malifaux Monthly painting group as an extra motivator to get this crew done - currently I'm committed to getting the Midnight Stalker and Candy done in January. Between the forum and updating progress here I'm hopeful I'll be able to stay on track (and provide a progress report/achievement record for myself) 

See you in part 2!




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