Weekly Waffle #393 – The Falconer Who Sees Too Much
6th September 2025
I’ve been continuing my Guild Ball odyssey for this week’s weekly waffle. Although in terms of the colour palette things have changed a little this week. Gone is the turquoise and in is more a linen buff colour. I’m not sure why things have changed. Or what I really mean by that is I’m not sure why the art work I have been using as a guide changed things up for Minerva.
I did think about going with turquoise, because I like it and I feel I have a good grasp on painting it. At least in this instance. But in the end I decided to go with the art work. One reason being it keeps things aligned with the standard colours. The second being it’s continuing to stretch my painting skills.
Mixing things up a little and not getting to bogged down painting the same thing. Although some of the others colours have stayed the same. The same leather effect and the same red accents. Which I do think work nicely with the paler palette. And try saying that ten times quickly.
I’ve still got some of the same clean up mistakes I was talking about last week. That isn’t because I haven’t been practicing what I was preaching. More to do with the fact that I cleaned and primed all of these as a batch when I got them. So the mistakes I made then are now filtering through. So hopefully you will notice an improvement on the next project. Or the next 3D printed project.
And I do have a couple lined up for the not too distant future. Some more Guild Ball, because I’m really enjoying these guys and some more Puppets War. Although the Puppets War is on something of a fluid time scale. But I’m inspired to try something a little different for the next Guild Ball team which has me enthusiastic to get started.
But enough of all of that what do you think of Minerva in all her glory.
You can see more Guild Ball miniatures at my gallery here
Let’s talk about Minerva. No, not the war goddess. Nor the Hogwarts professor either. We’re talking about the cold eyed tactician of the pitch. The sharpest mind in the Falconers. The one person in Guild Ball who can look a charging Butcher dead in the eye and not blink. Because she’s already predicted his fourth activation, the bounce angle on the ball, and how to punish him for the arrogance of breathing in her line of sight.
Minerva isn’t here for glory. She’s here to watch. To plan. And, when the moment is right, to strike with surgical cruelty. She’s the eye in the sky given human form, and trust me. When Minerva looks at you, you’ll wish she didn’t.
While the rest of the Falconers revel in motion and mayhem, Minerva plays a different game. She’s the still point around which the chaos spins. Think of her less like a player and more like an air traffic controller with feathers, ensuring every kill shot lands and every mistake gets punished. She’s not flashy. She’s inevitable.
What sets Minerva apart, beyond the silent menace and the encyclopaedic understanding of trajectory, is her almost preternatural synergy with the raptors. These aren’t pets. They’re not companions. They’re extensions of her will. To play Minerva well is to orchestrate a death ballet, where even your opponent’s good decisions only delay the disaster coming for them.
It’s not magic. It’s clarity. She sees it all before it happens.
Let’s talk mechanics for a Moment, because this is where Minerva stops being “just clever” and becomes horrifying.
Her Harrier markers are the soul of the Falconers’ play style. Drop them near a target and it’s like painting a bullseye in glowing neon. Any Falconer attack on a Harrier-marked model gets boosted, which means your opponent has two choices: get out of the danger zone now, or get shredded like meat under talons.
It’s area control with a vengeance. You’re not just encouraging enemies to reposition, you’re forcing them. Minerva warps the pitch around her, turning safe zones into kill boxes and scrums into bird feeders. The best part? She rarely needs to get her own hands dirty. That’s what the raptors, and Ikaros, bless his suicidal optimism, are for.
Her Legendary Play, Eyes Closed, is pure Minerva. Simple. Chilling. Effective. She closes her eyes, centre’s herself, and suddenly all her allies gain True Sight. Stealth is cancelled. Tricks are undone. Fog? Mist? Obfuscation? All rendered moot by one calm breath and a battlefield wide power move that says, “I see you. And now so does everyone else.”
It’s not flashy. It’s not dramatic. It’s final.
She doesn’t need to scream to be terrifying. She just needs to know, and she always does.
Minerva’s lore is rich. She’s not a leader in the shouting, chest-beating sense. She’s a matriarch, respected, feared, never questioned. The Falconers don’t just follow her orders. They survive because of them. Even Devana, wild, brutal Devana, respects the hawk-eyed analyst at the heart of the team.
And Ikaros? He’s the stray she took in. Not out of sentimentality, but out of strategy. She saw a spark in him, a potential tool. But over time, well, maybe the stone mask cracked just a little. Maybe she feels something for the lad. Not motherly affection, mind. More like a scientist watching an unstable element finally bond. Or a falconer watching a wild bird almost learn to land.
Here’s the truth though. If you’re the kind of player who loves a brawl, Minerva isn’t going to light your world on fire. She doesn’t care about your scrum. She’s not built to tank hits or trade damage.
But if you love control, love dictating tempo, love watching an opponent flail helplessly in a trap they never saw being set, Minerva is your goddess.
Position her right, and she dictates the pitch. Misplace her? You might as well play with a paperweight. She’s not forgiving. She’s not exciting. She’s right. And if you’re wrong, she will punish you for it.
Only play her if you’re ready to think. Playing Minerva well isn’t about big moments. It’s about inevitability. Pressure. The slow tightening of the noose until your opponent finally realises there’s nowhere left to run.
She doesn’t just see the play. She is the play.
So, if you want feathers, fury, and 4D chess, all in one brooding silhouette, then yes. Bring Minerva. Just don’t expect her to celebrate your win.
She saw it coming, after all.
And speaking of seeing things coming there won’t be a weekly waffle for the next two weeks. I’m on holiday and whilst we don’t have anything booked yet we are planning on just disappearing somewhere. A last minute getaway, even if it’s only for a couple of days. So I’m not going to pressure myself to have content pre produced and scheduled I’ll just take a break and come back ready and eager to continue. I do have things lined up.
So until the 27th I hope all your hobby plans turn out fantastic and that you all keep safe. Whatever you have planned.
