Bad Things Happen in Malifaux

[Zerous]

So, after doing a quick search to make sure there wasn't a recent Malifaux topic (there wasn't) I've decided to make one, due boredom and due to the fact I need some discussion about it before I lose my mind due to the below.

Sadly due to some terrible scheduling, I won't be able to make it to my local game shop's miniature's night for a month or two in order to actually play :smallfrown: But that won't stop me from building my armies in the meantime! ...Sort of. I'm afraid of ruining them if I paint them, so all of them are just...well, miniatures glued onto their bases. Blasphemous, I know.

So who else here plays? And what armies do you have/use?

[Zerous]

Noffin'? Bah. Shameful, but I will also be shameful with a self-bump and a list of my own armies.

The Guild

C. Hoffman, because I love machines, love some of his ability names, and get a sick kick out of fielding him with his crippled brother, Ryle.

The Arcanists

Kaeris, none of the other Arcanists really do it for me, except this feisty little pyromancer. Plus she can use Gunsmiths, one of my favorite units, to her hearts content.

The Ressurectionists

Dr. Douglas McMourning, full name for my favorite master. Strong, fast and a threat even without help from his other units because he can rip pieces from his enemies to create his own help.

Seamus the Mad Hatter, I really only got his box set for the Rotten Belles (for use with McMourning) and because it was on sale at the local shop at the time. I dunno if I'll ever use Jack the Ripoff, but there's always a chance for Brawls...

Molly Squidpiddge, I love Molly girl, I really do, but she just doesn't have enough good units for me to run her as a master. Maybe when Gencon rolls around and the new book is revealed she'll get plenty of horrible Horrors to play with...

The Neverborn

Zoraida the Hag, I have her and her Avatar, though I've never run her, for much the same reason I've never run Hamelin; people just don't seem to like going up against them. I can't imagine why :smallamused:

Collodi the Puppeteer, my first and still most loved master, he just gets more and more love from me as the Effigies are released. I've only used him once and that game was a resounding success, but I think I'll wait for the Widow Weaver's release before using him again.

The Outcasts

Som'er Teeth Jones, I have his model and his Avatar, but no units for him. I just like the way he looks, and his abilities. I may one day build his army but right now I'm in a financially unstable situation :smallfrown:

The Viktorias, which I will admit I got them so I could use their insanely violent and violently insane avatar form, the gorgeously named Avatar of Slaughter. Not bad in their own right, plus they give me an excuse to field an army of nothing but unique mercenaries (such as Jack Daw, Von Schill, Taelor and eventually Lazarus).

Hamelin the Plagued, who I have a full and complete army for, but will never use because he tends to get a lot of hate from the other players :smallfrown: It doesn't help that one of my best friends uses Ophelia almost exclusively :smallamused:

Von Schill, whose box set I got but I haven't even touched it yet. No idea why.

[CN the Logos]

I love me some Malifaux, and try to encourage people to play it where/whenever possible. It really is an excellent game. Also, for those GW fanboys annoyed by the latest price increases who are reading this in secret, hoping they won't be found and burned for HERESY: did you know that I've spent about the same amount of money on 40k and Malifaux? Except I've got one not-quite-finished 40k army and several (exact number depending on how you divide them, but I've probably got enough models for three or four people to field a decent force at the same time) tournament worthy Malifaux crews?

I'm not a great painter myself, but I've gone from awful to merely not good in the last year with practice. In the meantime, if you fear ruining your little metal dudes, keep a bottle of Simple Green on hand and use it on anything you botch beyond all recall. The stuff works wonders. Or at least blackwash your models; anything but bright bare metal is a start.

As for who I play, it's a combination of Neverborn and Outcasts here. I own every Neverborn master except Pandora (who I loathe with a passion, both her fluff and crunch), both the Viktorias and Von Schill, and I've received both Ophelia's crew and an already painted Ortega boxset from my girlfriend, though I haven't played those last two yet.

I'm sort of wondering who you play that hates Zoraida that badly. Hamelin is one of the most powerful Masters in the game and is widely considered to be unfun to play against, even with another very competitive Master,* to the point where he's actually being looked at by Wyrd and will likely receive errata soonish. But Zoraida's just good. She has her strengths; she's nigh-impossible to kill, can move 20" in a round if need be, and Obey can be really distressing when combined with her Voodoo Doll, but nothing she does actually breaks the game.

Also, if you haven't already, put Von Schill on a base and use him as your Henchman for everyone. He flies around the table kicking ass like the steampunk lovechild of Iron Man and Revolver Ocelot, and is good enough at it that he's earned memetic badass status on the Wyrd forums. I use him pretty often with Lillith myself and have found he's a better use of 10SS than the Mature Nephil for everything but raw damage in melee.



*Ophelia, while generally good, is a bad leader to play if you can only have one crew precisely because gremlins lose to anything that requires them to win a Willpower duel or suffer and Bully renders the entire crew useless. The result is some terrible matchups against Masters that are already very good. If all you've got is gremlins against Hamelin or Chompy, you might as well just conceed. :smallyuk:

[Mx.Silver]

Malifaux is one of those games I want to like a lot more than I actually do. The rules seem decent enough (assuming one can actually get hold of all of them) even if the faction balance and number of hard counter lists leave a little to be desired. The main thing holding me back from it (aside from not having the finances to start a second game I'd need to collect two factions from) is the fluff. Not so much the setting, which is interesting in a weird west kind of way, but the fact that so much of it is focussed on the poorly written meta-plot about the adventures of some of the Masters against an ever-growing number of elder evil things which, seems to be taking up more of the focus with every passing book.



Also, for those GW fanboys annoyed by the latest price increases who are reading this in secret, hoping they won't be found and burned for HERESY: did you know that I've spent about the same amount of money on 40k and Malifaux? Except I've got one not-quite-finished 40k army and several (exact number depending on how you divide them, but I've probably got enough models for three or four people to field a decent force at the same time) tournament worthy Malifaux crews?

Not that surprising considering Malifaux is a warband/skirmish scale conflict game. Even ignoring GW's pricing policy it would still be more expensive just due to model count.

[Zerous]

I really don't mind the fluff that much. I will admit, though, that the first two books were... Shall we say, rather poor. The third, Twisting Fates, is at least better written. Molly's side story and the story from Teddy's POV are my favorite parts. And if you're tired of the elder things trying to awaken themselves, just know that three of them already have and seem pretty easy to put down, but Leviticus is shaping up to be even worse than them. Unless the Four Horseman of Malifaux are working with one of said elder things.

And while I'd like to use Von Schill with everyone, almost every crew I own already has a Special Forces unit in them :smalltongue: I could probably run him with Hoffman or the Ressurectionists, depending on the schemes... And speaking of Special Forces, what's your opinion on using the Carrion Effigy with Seamus? If I read its spell correctly (the one that strips away immunities), it'd mean the Effigy would help with making Seamus more terrifying...

As for the Ophelia player, I went and got him McTavish as a present so he'd at least have something to use against Hamelin if he went up against him again. But he's, thankfully, going to expand into other masters. The other guys I play against mainly use Pandora, Nicodem and one rare couple that plays now and then who use Lady Justice and Colette. The Pandora player in particular doesn't care for Zoraida because she can actually take Pandy on in a straight-up fight :smalltongue:

[Lost Demiurge]

Oh, hey! Been playing Malifaux for about a year, and it's been one hell of a trip... Looking forward to Gencon and the new wave of releases myself. The local scene's been a little dead lately, so I'm hoping this revitalizes it.

As to individual masters... Well, I've got a ton of'em.

Guild
-One of my favorite factions, due to their utility and focus on anti-faction units.

C. Hoffman: Good lord he's strong! Mainly due to some rock-solid minions. Problem is that they're all so costly, and once you start losing them things go downhill fast. Still fun to play, and useful against folks you wouldn't normally think he'd be a good match against.

Lady Justice: Picked up the nightmare box last Gencon. Good LORD she's a beatstick! The Death Marshalls are great ranged support, too.

Lucius: One of the three masters I started with. So many tactical options! Pity that his minions are a little weak... There's ways around it, but I'm really hoping the new book brings him back as a legitimate Master choice.

Perdita Ortega: Well, I've got her for completeness' sake, but I only bring her out when I'm up against tough masters or exceptional players. She's DEVASTATING, but right on the verge of unfair, I feel... Though individual ortegas from her box are GREAT mixes with other crews.

Sonnia Crid: Just got her! Always admired the fact that she was a good generalist, and the witchlings are amazingly good melee whompers. Add in the fact that Sammael's a great sniper, and I'm wondering why I steered clear of her before.

Arcanists
I don't like two of their main masters, but the other three are brilliant! They tend to be the most focused, however... It's hard to splash in general arcanist minions without diluting them.

Ramos. Ramos is the man. Good defense, decent blasting, and some great minion construction. True, he's got his drawbacks, but most of them are covered by the next master choice...

Kaeris! She is a flying ball of burning pain to my foes, and her fire gamin are good disposable troops! She synergizes well with Ramos, and when I run'em, stuff DIES.

Collette: My wife's second box. She never finished painting'em, and is fine with me finishing the job. I'll get to them eventually, I've seen her played and I like her style!

Resurrectionists
Probably my favorite faction. Surprisingly defensive, and able to recover from beatings. Mainly to balance out the fact that they're guaranteed to come back over and over again...

Kirai: The wife's first box, which I have stolen since she departed from the game. Never played her, still painting her minions. But she's got great attack and mobility powers, and her spirits can play merry hob with the right objectives...

Mcmourning: Oh my god. Once I figured out how to use him, I realized that he could turn pretty much any model in the game into cutlets. Anything within 6 inches of him when he goes, ANYTHING, can be killed. And while his reanimation is limited, Flesh Constructs are awesome tanks and a great way to demoralize your foes.

Molly: She's kind of like a more-balanced Pandora, oddly enough. Needs more minions before she's a viable master choice, but she works as a very good girl friday to any of the ressers. Well, except maybe Kirai. Emo-girl's not FUN enough for our Molly! :)

Nicodem: My man! Nicodem is the BOSS of reanimation, and is surprisingly good at locking down foes. Rock solid defense, too, once you get the zombie train going. He may be slow, but unless you can shut off his flow of corpse tokens, he will bury you...

Seamus: Didn't use to like him. Then I made a discovery... Barring EXTREME bad luck or reckless play, Seamus DOES NOT DIE. The dude can survive damn near anything, so long as things are dying around him! Now if only I liked the Belles a bit better...

Outcasts
I invested heavily in the merc faction, and I'm glad I did. It's rare that I put together a crew anymore that doesn't have 1-2 mercs in it. Even if it's only Von Schill, or a convict gunslinger, a splash of the yellow side can make all the difference...

Leviticus: Complicated as hell, but after seeing him in play, the rogue necromancer's got a style I can't deny. Now that his avatar's finally out, I look forward to trying a four-horseman build.

Ophelia: My first starter box! I love her to death, but there's foes the gremlins just can't handle. Though I still break her out some days, she's more for fun than serious biz.

Viktorias: Never quite got the hang of them, though they're fun to try sometimes. They're a bit fragile, really.

Von Schill: Awwww yeah! He is simply FUN to play. Yes, the Freikorps are currently limited. It doesn't matter! Putting them down on the table, and using actual tactics with their assault makes me smile. They don't always do well, but by god they give their opponent a fight!

Neverborn
Yeesh. I want to like them, but they've got some of the most unbalanced stuff in the game. Well, at least Wyrd's working to rebalance them, but it seems to be an unending struggle...

The Dreamer: Yeah, I rail against unbalanced, but here I am playing one of the roughest of them. Still, the recent changes make him a little more palatable. And the avatar looks as nifty as I'd hoped it was!

Lilith: Going to pick her up one of these days! A good mix of abilities, deadly up close, and terrain advantage makes for a powerful combination. The whole blood token/gargoyles of doom combo is pretty hard to beat for the average army, too.

[Zerous]

I agree with a lotta your points, but I'm not too fond of the Guild or the Arcanists, for some reason :smallconfused: The other guys get such cool stuff! I'm mainly a Resser and Outcast person myself, as most of my masters come from them. The Viks are rather fragile, but that's why you take a bunch of Ronins with you, too! It does kind of put a damper on my "field a bunch of uniques" strategy, but the Ronins are very worth it.

So moving away from the subject of masters for the moment, how about some favorite minions?

Rafkin, the Gunsmiths, Stitched-Together and all of the Effigies (especially Hodgepodge)... Bishop is also fun. I think I like him a lot because he's a little
...
...
... Trigger happy :smallamused:

Jack Daw looks fun on paper, but I've never used him out of fear (fear of giving my opponent free VP)... Bête Noire and Killjoy in particular are fun to run with McMourning. I've never run them at the same time, but... Can Killjoy's "sacrificed" ability also bring in the lovely Ms. Noir?

EDIT: I'm also eagerly awaiting the release of Widow Weaver and Lazarus.

[CN the Logos]

Ugh, was working on a response to this thread for twenty minutes, then the computer randomly decided to close the tab. No idea why. Let's see if I can do this again.


Malifaux is one of those games I want to like a lot more than I actually do. The rules seem decent enough (assuming one can actually get hold of all of them) even if the faction balance and number of hard counter lists leave a little to be desired. The main thing holding me back from it (aside from not having the finances to start a second game I'd need to collect two factions from) is the fluff. Not so much the setting, which is interesting in a weird west kind of way, but the fact that so much of it is focussed on the poorly written meta-plot about the adventures of some of the Masters against an ever-growing number of elder evil things which, seems to be taking up more of the focus with every passing book.

Interfaction balance is not nearly as big a problem as a few people on the Wyrd forum make it out to be. I won't try to tell you the game is perfectly balanced (and if you ever find a game that is, please tell me. I'd like to play it even if I do have to go to the lost city of El Dorado to find a store that sells it), but for the most part any Master can at least compete against any other provided they're played well and have proper support. There are a few at the top and bottom of the power curve, but even there the difference isn't totally insurmountable. To give people reading this an actual idea of what the game's balance is like, one of the most vocal complainers about balance (a major tournament player who frequents the official forum) picked up the Master he'd long considered (and still does consider) the second or third worst Master in the game to challenge himself. The difference? He placed third in some regional tournament that he'd placed first in the year before. That's the difference between the top and bottom of Malifaux's power curve, barring a few incredibly awful matchups.

Not sure what you mean by "hard-counter" lists, unless you mean something like what I mentioned with Gremlins vs. Hamelin. But that's why you don't use Gremlins if your opponent announces Outcasts, unless you know they don't have/aren't running Hamelin. And considering that it only costs roughly $75 to $125 to put together a tournament-ready crew (less if you're building a new crew in a faction you've already got and can share models that you already own), it's not that expensive to cover your weaknesses. But if you can only afford one crew, there are masters better suited to a wide variety of strategy/scheme combinations. I'd be happy to give advice/recommendations to anyone looking to start up.

As for the fluff... Yeah, the Tyrant plotline is pretty stupid. Tolerable in the first book when it was just one of them and I didn't think it was going to dominate the metaplot. But I like the characters, there's something compelling to me about Lilith, Zoraida, Leveticus et al., even if the actual events they find themselves involved in read like one of Lovecraft's bad first drafts. And the setting itself is also interesting. Then again, I have never played miniatures games for the storyline. My two major questions with any game like this are "does it have cool models?" and "is it fun to play?" and with Malifaux I can answer yes to both.


Not that surprising considering Malifaux is a warband/skirmish scale conflict game. Even ignoring GW's pricing policy it would still be more expensive just due to model count.

Well, yes. But still, it's a fun game, it's cheap, and it needs more players. :smallbiggrin:


And while I'd like to use Von Schill with everyone, almost every crew I own already has a Special Forces unit in them :smalltongue: I could probably run him with Hoffman or the Ressurectionists, depending on the schemes... And speaking of Special Forces, what's your opinion on using the Carrion Effigy with Seamus? If I read its spell correctly (the one that strips away immunities), it'd mean the Effigy would help with making Seamus more terrifying...

I haven't looked at the Carrion Effigy yet, but the problem with Terrifying isn't Immune to Influence, it's that it only affects living models and stripping immunities doesn't help that. Shamus's Avatar form gets around that by giving him Anathema, though, if you can get him out reasonably quickly.

As for Von Schill, he really is excellent with everyone. Collodi is super-awesome if you build a crew around him, but at a practical minimum of 17SS (Collodi + four Marionettes) to use him as a Henchman, he really does require that the entire crew be built around him. Whereas Von Schill goes well anywhere, no other models required, for 10SS (9SS for the Viktorias).


As for the Ophelia player, I went and got him McTavish as a present so he'd at least have something to use against Hamelin if he went up against him again. But he's, thankfully, going to expand into other masters. The other guys I play against mainly use Pandora, Nicodem and one rare couple that plays now and then who use Lady Justice and Colette. The Pandora player in particular doesn't care for Zoraida because she can actually take Pandy on in a straight-up fight :smalltongue:

...Occasionally having his Master take damage and not being able to use all of your models to push across half the board must have been horribly traumatic for him. My condolences to him. :smallamused:


Oh, hey! Been playing Malifaux for about a year, and it's been one hell of a trip... Looking forward to Gencon and the new wave of releases myself. The local scene's been a little dead lately, so I'm hoping this revitalizes it.

As to individual masters... Well, I've got a ton of'em.

Guild
-One of my favorite factions, due to their utility and focus on anti-faction units.

[...]

Lucius: One of the three masters I started with. So many tactical options! Pity that his minions are a little weak... There's ways around it, but I'm really hoping the new book brings him back as a legitimate Master choice.

Well, he's a Henchman, so he's meant to be more niche in his role compared to the full Masters. That said (and I've never played with/against him, so I can't give details), I've heard he combos well with Lady J. Something about being able to slingshot her a fair distance to get her into melee faster, where she wants to be. You'd have to look it up on the Wyrd forums or maybe the wiki for actual details, since I don't know enough about Guild to say.


Perdita Ortega: Well, I've got her for completeness' sake, but I only bring her out when I'm up against tough masters or exceptional players. She's DEVASTATING, but right on the verge of unfair, I feel... Though individual ortegas from her box are GREAT mixes with other crews.

I don't think she's unfair at all. Hard to take down with that high defense, and her ranged attacks are truly brutal, but if you're playing with the recommended amount of cover, the other player should have a few places to hide. She also has a low SS cache. I certainly wouldn't say she's underpowered, mind, I just think she's a cool Master who gets a lot of flak she doesn't deserve.


Sonnia Crid: Just got her! Always admired the fact that she was a good generalist, and the witchlings are amazingly good melee whompers. Add in the fact that Sammael's a great sniper, and I'm wondering why I steered clear of her before.

No commentary on her crunch, but I love the whole "Rule 63 pre-armor Darth Vader" thing she's got going on.


Viktorias: Never quite got the hang of them, though they're fun to try sometimes. They're a bit fragile, really.

Von Schill: Awwww yeah! He is simply FUN to play. Yes, the Freikorps are currently limited. It doesn't matter! Putting them down on the table, and using actual tactics with their assault makes me smile. They don't always do well, but by god they give their opponent a fight!

The Viks are awesome, but I won't dispute the fragile thing. However, they do combo very, very well with Von Schill, who flies around tanking like a boss and completing objectives while the Viks use their vorpal swords to murder anything that needs murdering. For added hillarity, keep one Vik in the back, close to the Freekorps Librarian, and have the Librarian use her healing power to give up to three healing flips to both Viktorias every turn. Use the ability of one Vik to switch places with the other to attack with both while still keeping one of the two close to the Librarian.


Neverborn
Yeesh. I want to like them, but they've got some of the most unbalanced stuff in the game. Well, at least Wyrd's working to rebalance them, but it seems to be an unending struggle...

I really do think the Neverborn get a bad rap here. Lillith and Zoraida are strong but balanced masters who are fun to play and don't generally result in a negative play experience for your opponent. Yes, the Twins and the Stitched Together are some of the best models in the game for their points cost, but it's really just a couple of masters that seriously annoy people, like...


The Dreamer: Yeah, I rail against unbalanced, but here I am playing one of the roughest of them. Still, the recent changes make him a little more palatable. And the avatar looks as nifty as I'd hoped it was!

...Yeah. That kid.

Note: Playing the Dreamer, even post nerf, means you voluntarily revoke your right to complain about game balance in Malifaux ever again. Ever. EVER. I have the Dreamer and I still say this. The recent errata does make him much more fair than he was, to the point where he can now be beaten by most other Masters, but he's still one of the strongest Masters in the game in terms of number of strategies he's good at, minion selection, matchups (...he has maybe one bad one, and it isn't that bad), etc...


Lilith: Going to pick her up one of these days! A good mix of abilities, deadly up close, and terrain advantage makes for a powerful combination. The whole blood token/gargoyles of doom combo is pretty hard to beat for the average army, too.

Lilith was my first Master and I still have a soft spot in my heart for her. Truth be told, I consider her and Zoraida to be how Neverborn should actually play, and Pandora and the Dreamer are the abberations that give the Neverborn as a whole their "ZOMG overpowerd!!!1!" reputation.

Some advice though: the growth list is a very specific build which requires a few models that don't see much use outside of it. It does win games, but I'd be sure that's what you want to play before spending the money on a Lillith starter plus Nekima, a Black Blood Shaman, another pack of Terror Tots, two packs of Young Nephilim, and another Mature Nephil. Lilith herself is very versatile though, she can work well with pretty much any Neverborn you want to use with her, although I always include at least one or two nephilim to take advantage of Brood Mother.

[Zerous]

If I recall correctly, the point where he started hating Zoraida is when she used Pandy's "The Box Opens" against her, allowing Z to Obey a Teddy into charging and turning Pandy into a fine paste. (a black joker on Pandy's WP duel sealed the deal)

The Box Opens is fun for Zoraida, even when it's not on her side. :smallamused:

And I only use Collodi as a master, so 'building a crew' around him is a moot point. :smalltongue:

Also, for the Lucius strategy, he has a spell (Reinforcements) that lets him take any unit in his deployment zone and pop it to any point near him. He also has a variety of other interesting abilities like Hidden Sniper (which shoots people by using the LoS from other units), Advanced Planning (it gives him one soulstone if he used a stone to reflip his Strategy)... Plus he's maddeningly hard to kill, not only having a variety of defensive abilities*, but also being a unit with Slow to Die that can use soulstones.

I like him, but I'm waiting for Gencon and new unit releases before I actually invest in him...

Also, I've never once touched the Dreamer :smallbiggrin:

*EDIT: A laundry list of defensive abilities, upon review of his stat block in the book. Yeesh. He also has an Obey-esque spell that only affects friendly Guardsmen/Elite Division units along with Casting Expert for extra shenanigans.

[MissCassius]

Hello! I was actually referred to this post by my boyfriend, CN, an early poster in this thread. CN was the one who suggested I get into Malifaux. I took Rasputina as my first master, and have stayed rather loyal to her since. I use the avatar for close combat, Snow Storm for speed, and Silent Ones to Ice Mirror the spit out of rival models. I'm having Kaeris painted by a local shop buddy. I hope she and her buddies will combo well with Raspy. Furthermore, I have Colette and crew still in the boxes and bags. I hear she eats soul stones like a beast, though.

I *had* Seamus and gang, never used and only primed, but sold him for chump change at the local shop so I could draft. We got the set free around the holidays, so I didn't worry about it too much, nor was I too attached to Seamus or his concept.

I guess I'm an Arcanist player, really. The reason most of the stuff is NIB or similar is because I won't paint them and I ask CN to do it. Problem is, CN is in the process of painting his own models, from Puppet Wars to Ophelia, from Necrons in 40k to Super Dungeon models. Plus, I can't seem to come up with a good color scheme for Colette et.al. In the boxes they shall stay, I'm afraid.

I hope to play again soon. Raspy does well and was a good choice for a starter model, imo.

[Zerous]

Yes, Colette eats soulstones like a beast, but she can also make soulstones like a beast, too. She has five abilities that let her create soulstones... Artificial Soulstone being the main one; the first soulstone she burns in a turn doesn't count. Then she has Discharge Soulstone, which costs a stone to use, but if the spell kills the intended target, you gain a stone. Last she has Magician's Duel, another spell that nets you a stone if it kills the target. Sleight of Hand is a spell trigger that nets her yet another stone if it kicks off correctly.

So yes, she has a myriad of ways to keep up her 'stone factory, and her totems (the Mechanical Doves) can be sacrificed in place of a soulstone. She's really a great master and has access to one of my favorite units: The Corpyhee Duet.

That said, I'd never use her, because someone else at the shop already does and I don't like the chance of a mirror match :smalltongue:

Kaeris and Rasputina... Fire and Ice... I'd love to see that.

[CN the Logos]

If I recall correctly, the point where he started hating Zoraida is when she used Pandy's "The Box Opens" against her, allowing Z to Obey a Teddy into charging and turning Pandy into a fine paste. (a black joker on Pandy's WP duel sealed the deal)

The Box Opens is fun for Zoraida, even when it's not on her side. :smallamused:

Heh. That's pretty great, actually.


And I only use Collodi as a master, so 'building a crew' around him is a moot point. :smalltongue:

Haven't finished my Collodi boxset yet, but I'm planning to run him with Zoraida and Killjoy, using his ability to go anywhere to get exactly where my opponent would least like to see Killjoy, have Zoraida create a Wicked Doll, then have it teleport to Collodi, walk forward and sarcrifice itself to summon Killjoy. Combine with Zoraida's Obey spell for extra attacks from Killjoy if possible (it might actually be worth starting with one Wicked Doll in play just so that Zoraida can summon a Voodoo Doll and start Obeying Killjoy by the second turn).


Also, for the Lucius strategy, he has a spell (Reinforcements) that lets him take any unit in his deployment zone and pop it to any point near him. He also has a variety of other interesting abilities like Hidden Sniper (which shoots people by using the LoS from other units), Advanced Planning (it gives him one soulstone if he used a stone to reflip his Strategy)... Plus he's maddeningly hard to kill, not only having a variety of defensive abilities*, but also being a unit with Slow to Die that can use soulstones.

I like him, but I'm waiting for Gencon and new unit releases before I actually invest in him...

Also, I've never once touched the Dreamer :smallbiggrin:

*EDIT: A laundry list of defensive abilities, upon review of his stat block in the book. Yeesh. He also has an Obey-esque spell that only affects friendly Guardsmen/Elite Division units along with Casting Expert for extra shenanigans.

Yeah, the vibe I got from looking at his stats in the book is that he isn't supposed to be used alone; he's meant to buff someone else and be very annoying while he does it. Hence while he's a Henchman despite being higher ranking in the Guild than all their Masters. He's supposed to combo with them, but it was easier for them to make him a Henchman rules-wise than to create a rule in his statblock saying that he can hire all the Guild Masters as Henchmen and pay a certain amount for each of them.


Problem is, CN is in the process of painting his own models, from Puppet Wars to Ophelia, from Necrons in 40k to Super Dungeon models.

Don't forget my Khador stuff for Warmachine. :smalltongue:

[Zerous]

Great. Too bad it wasn't me using her :P (I lend my models to other players when they want to try something different) I haven't done anything near as amazing, except for maybe gathering up enough parts in one activation to summon a Flesh Construct with McMourning.

I can't remember how I did it... :smallconfused: I know it involved the Chihuahua. Love that dog :smallbiggrin:

Which reminds me. The Chihuahua is hilarious when used against the Avatar of Decay.

[Zerous]

UPDATE!

The Wyrd store has just updated with Widow Weaver, Simulacrum-29 (Avatar McMourning), Lenny and Slate Ridge Mauler, among other things I don't care about.

Dammit, now I have to wait until this week's paycheck to actually get anything though...

[Lost Demiurge]

Good minions? Yeah, I've found a few!

Been playing resurrectionists for the last few months, mainly Nicodem and Mcmourning, with a few dips into Seamus. So most of my experience is from there.

Necropunks - These are by far and away my favorite pieces of cannonfodder. They're like little ATV's, tooling all over the landscape, climbing over stuff like it wasn't there, and occasionally LEAPing far into enemy turf. I love these little guys! And at 3 points a pop, 2-3 of them usually find their way into my starting army build. And they're Slow-to-die... For great fun, get one deep into an enemy cluster, wait for them to kill it, then use the slow-to-die to summon Killjoy. Bonus points if you can also drop Bete Noir from that, too. Bete and Killjoy are an expensive combo, but oh-so-worthwhile when that little punk explodes on your opponent's turn... Oh, and hard-to-kill is a great counter to heavy hitters. Let them soak up shots from the big guys, waste their actions to kill 3 points worth of throwaway goons.

Punk Zombies - When something absolutely HAS to die, the punks are my go-to. Twin katanas at CB7 (9 if Nicodem's buffing) mean crap WILL get hit, and often well-enough for a straight-up flip. Defenses are good too, with hard to wound and slow to die. No matter what happens, as long as you can get them next to a bad guy they'll do SOMETHING before they go down.

Flesh Constructs - 7 points is a bit much... So don't buy them at the start. Summon them in! At 5 body parts or 2 corpse counters, they're a bargain. They're big and tanky, and can take a lot of hits. They're just damaging enough to make them hard to ignore, and that trick that lets them take an attack or move at the end phase is icing on the cake.

Bete Noir - Oh black betty. SO good at killing things. SO good at paralyzing things! SO hard to kill for good. The trick with her is knowing when to drop her, and when to keep her in hand. So long as she's in hand, you can use her to deter your opponent in interesting ways.

Killjoy - Yes, he hits hard. Yes, black blood can nibble at the bad guys. Yes, he's a freaking pile of meat. But don't ever think that he's invulnerable. If your foe focuses on him with the right heavy hitters, he's likely to drop, and drop hard. But even if they drop him, there's a side benefit... Y'see, Killjoy drops three corpse counters. :D

Rafkin - Rafkin's good for buffing and minion repair, and surprising people with the occasional vial of poison. Unfortunately, his melee is a bit lacking, and his defenses aren't so great. He's good against guild or other human-heavy factions, but I've found him to be more of a situational guy.

Mortimer - Oh, this humble gravedigger is the perfect Igor for Nicodem. AND a good source of early body parts for Mcmourning! Once you get past his most basic and useful spell, though, the depths will surprise you. He's middling tough as a tank, has a blast attack that can be useful now and then, and hits just hard enough that your foe probably shouldn't ignore him. True, he's not the best tool for every situation, but glory be if I haven't used him to do some amazing stuff when I least expected it.

The Dead Rider - Hey, do you know what you get when you use him to attack your own Mcmourning and drag him 8 or so inches closer to the enemy before the doctor activates? You get an effective 14 inches of scalpel-slingin' threat range! Goodbye enemy master! Hello pile of grade-a meat. Not to mention the Dead Rider's regeneration, health adjusting spell, and good attack strength make for a nasty unit on its own. Dead Rider's expensive, but worth every point.

[Zerous]

I've never used Punk Zombies and Mortimer... But I can attest to the rest of them. Killjoy is almost invulnerable, especially if you use the mentioned Necropunks to use his Eat Your Fill action when no enemy is around :smallbiggrin:

I've also heard Dead Rider's drag along is useful for Leviticus, who has a movement spell that damages him anyway. Why take a wound to move 3, when you could take 3 wounds to move 10? I have Dead Rider on order, so I'll be using that combo for McM as well :smallamused:

[Lost Demiurge]

Hello! I was actually referred to this post by my boyfriend, CN, an early poster in this thread. CN was the one who suggested I get into Malifaux. I took Rasputina as my first master, and have stayed rather loyal to her since. I use the avatar for close combat, Snow Storm for speed, and Silent Ones to Ice Mirror the spit out of rival models. I'm having Kaeris painted by a local shop buddy. I hope she and her buddies will combo well with Raspy. Furthermore, I have Colette and crew still in the boxes and bags. I hear she eats soul stones like a beast, though.

I *had* Seamus and gang, never used and only primed, but sold him for chump change at the local shop so I could draft. We got the set free around the holidays, so I didn't worry about it too much, nor was I too attached to Seamus or his concept.

I guess I'm an Arcanist player, really. The reason most of the stuff is NIB or similar is because I won't paint them and I ask CN to do it. Problem is, CN is in the process of painting his own models, from Puppet Wars to Ophelia, from Necrons in 40k to Super Dungeon models. Plus, I can't seem to come up with a good color scheme for Colette et.al. In the boxes they shall stay, I'm afraid.

I hope to play again soon. Raspy does well and was a good choice for a starter model, imo.

Oh lord, I hate going up against Raspy. She's a great master! Very tough, so long as you use the minions she gets good synergy with. Snow Storm and at least one Silent one are a must, with a few melee types put in there for things she can't shoot so easily.

Kaeris has beautiful synergy with her! The fire n' ice combo works well, and I can tell you a good trick that's hurt me before when I played against it.

Put up walls of fire with Kaeris, then use Snow Storm's "Everybody within 18 inches go THAT way" trick to scoot bad guys into them. Foom, sizzle!

[Zerous]

Hah! You know, I always did think making stationary terrain pieces was a little... Situational. Good to know there's people out there who've found a way to cause even more pain with them.

Had my first game for a while yesterday :smallbiggrin: And in that game, I can actually confirm Zombie Chihuahua makes quick work of Nicodem's army of the dead... Until his avatar comes out. :smallmad: Stupid Mark of Decay.

At least McMourning was able to chew through his shield of zombies and gain parts in exchange. Without an escort, Nicodem couldn't run fast enough to escape my flesh construct's ceaseless advance :smallbiggrin: No Bodyguard for YOU.

[CN the Logos]

Oh lord, I hate going up against Raspy. She's a great master! Very tough, so long as you use the minions she gets good synergy with. Snow Storm and at least one Silent one are a must, with a few melee types put in there for things she can't shoot so easily.

I enjoy going up against Rasputina myself... Which is fortunate since we started playing with Rasputina for her and Lilith for me. That's an interesting matchup; Rasputina's main weakness that she goes down like a cheap zombie hooker if anything remotely melee-oriented reaches melee range with her; while Lilith is truly excellent in melee, but neither she nor most of her crew have anything resembling a ranged attack (though Transposition can be fun). So Lilith and friends are trying to advance through cover/Illusionary Forests, while Rasputina is trying to force them to expose themselves in any way so that she can dump a swimming pool full of liquid nitrogen on their heads.

In the interest of full disclosure to any newbs who may be reading this, Rasputina really does need a few extra models beyond the boxset before the fight becomes even for her. The Gamins and Golem can be great as extra bodies/Ice Mirrors/tarpits to keep better enemy models in place while Raspy rains Cocytus on her foes, but they don't offer Lilith much more than a speedbump on her way to put that greatsword somewhere Rasputina finds very uncomfortable.


Hah! You know, I always did think making stationary terrain pieces was a little... Situational. Good to know there's people out there who've found a way to cause even more pain with them.

There's also the old standby of putting up Ice Pillars, then having Snow Storm walk through them to give Rasputina line of sight to the model beyond them while she stays safely hidden. Due to the -3 Ca from Ice Mirror, this tactic is much less effective against enemy Masters, but it can be used to great effect against anything that doesn't have Use Soulstone. Or knock enemy models into terrain and Freeze Over the piece they end up touching, rendering them immobile for a turn. Hilarious if they were hoping to interact with an objective, reach close combat, or do anything other than make ranged attacks or cast spells at whatever's left in their range and line of sight.

[Zerous]

Hm... Is there a better way to play Rafkin with McMourning? Or should I just stick with Sebastian? As of late I've been using Rafkin to gather parts, then build a horde of mindless zombies... Then chihuahua and McMourning swoop into the swarm and start gathering parts all over again before they can rip Rafkin apart.

[Zerous]

Well guys, I'm taking the plunge.

I'm buying into both Leviticus and Som'er Teeth Jones. ...Little by little, of course, until I get everything straightened out.

What I got for Levi so far:
Hooded Rider
Most tiny Resser minions (Canine Remains and Necropunks)

...Thassit. I'm GOING to get the other three Riders, a packet of Waifs, a Desolation Engine, Ashes and Dust, and Levi's avatar.

What I have for Som'er:
Warpig
Som'er and Avatar

...Yup. I have a lot of work to do. Not gonna be going Ophelia, though.

[Castaras]

Quite a few people play Malifaux at my gaming club. I had quite a bit of fun doing a demo game of it (had some ice lady with some ice elementals, won against a burny person and strippers. Can't remember names, sorry. :smalltongue:), and was considering buying it. Got into Dystopian Wars instead.

[Astrella]

I (used) to play Malifaux; I haven't gone to my gaming club in almost a year now, so I have no idea if they still play it. I have the Kirai, Sonnia and Lilith boxes, I should really finish painting them sometime; especially the Kirai one because I like the models so much...

At least I got an Onryo done:
http://i.imgur.com/wjXCj.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mGqqS.jpg

Oh, that reminds me, does anyone know if there's a Vassal module for Malifaux?

[MissCassius]

Quite a few people play Malifaux at my gaming club. I had quite a bit of fun doing a demo game of it (had some ice lady with some ice elementals, won against a burny person and strippers. Can't remember names, sorry. :smalltongue:), and was considering buying it. Got into Dystopian Wars instead.

That would be Rasputina, my master in the game. She can be brutal if you know what you're doing.

[Zerous]

I wouldn't be surprised if there were still a few people who played it, Astrella. New models are released (almost) every month, and with MORE model announcements on the way for Gencon...

And I have no idea what Vassal is. :smallfrown:

[Mx.Silver]

And I have no idea what Vassal is. :smallfrown:

I'm guessing she's referring to this (http://www.vassalengine.org/).

[dsmiles]

So much to paint, so little time. I can't get enough of Malifaux. (My wallet can, but I can't.) I have all the Guild masters; Marcus, Ramos, and Kaeris; Molly and Kirai; Pandora, Zoraida, Dreamer and Collodi; the Viks, VonSchill, and Hamelin.

VASSAL is an online gaming table with modules for WarmaHordes, DnD, and others. The Malifaux module has been under construction for-friggin-EVAR.

[Zerous]

...Won't lie, I'd play it. The Vassal version I mean.

Also, I've been running some games against myself to pass the time. I've never managed to beat me ONCE :smallfrown:

McMourning and Killjoy are BFFs.

[dsmiles]

...Won't lie, I'd play it. The Vassal version I mean.I haven't tried the VASSAL module, yet. How is it?

[Astrella]

I haven't tried the VASSAL module, yet. How is it?

Is there a playable one already? I did some googling around and didn't really find anything.

Also, a rather amusing thread: Malifaux Doodles (http://www.wyrd-games.net/showthread.php?20531-MaliDoodles).

[dsmiles]

Is there a playable one already? I did some googling around and didn't really find anything.
Last I knew, there wasn't one yet. It was under construction, and slowly dying.

[Zerous]

Loved the Malidoodles. 'Don't hassle the Hoffman' and steak-Killjoy killed me.

Speaking of killing, though, played another match against myself today using my incomplete Kaeris crew vs Seamus and his partner, Jack Daw.

Burning counters plus Accelerant (plus using Overheat to suicide-bomb Fire Gamins) proved to be the downfall of the king of the hanged. It was fun.

Seamus is still nigh-impossible to kill, though :smallamused:

[dsmiles]

So...Book 4, eh?

Thoughts?

[Astrella]

Looking forward to what the Ten Thunders are going to be like at the very least.

[dsmiles]

Looking forward to what the Ten Thunders are going to be like at the very least.

I'm hoping for a Misaki upgrade (to henchwoman), myself. I want to see what this new faction is all about, too. (As if I didn't have enough Malifaux minis already. :smallsigh:)

[Lost Demiurge]

So...Book 4, eh?

Thoughts?

Thoughts for Storm of Shadows? (The next book)

DAMN, that art looks good!

More serious thoughts... Wow. Okay, I knew from Book 3's fiction that they were going to develop Misaki and the Ten Thunders brothers. I wasn't expecting an entire release wave worth!

From what the art and rumors, we can infer that the asian faction (The Ten Thunders Brothers) are either going to be their own faction with sub-groups that can work with existing factions, or going to be sub-groups for the existing factions that might interact with each other in nifty ways.

Mandarin Gremlin looks boss! Been wanting another option for gremlins besides Som'er teeth for a while now. Hopefully he's good at what he does.

Skeleton tomb guard raising old guy is a shoe-in for the resurrectionists. Dunno his deal, could be anything.

The folks with tools next to the burning golem thing are probably arcanists.

It's the folks in regular clothes that I just don't know. Guild types, maybe? Hm. And not everyone in the art looks asian. So maybe the ten thunders aren't going to be ALL of the release. Which is interesting...

If that's the case, this is gonna be a huge book, and there are a lot of models ahead...

I see much damage to my wallet. MUCH damage. ::Sighs:: Ah well, I needed to paint more anyway...

[dsmiles]

It's the folks in regular clothes that I just don't know. Guild types, maybe? Hm. And not everyone in the art looks asian. So maybe the ten thunders aren't going to be ALL of the release. Which is interesting...From what I've been seeing and reading, the new faction seems to be more "Gangs of Malifaux" than "Ten Thunders Crime Syndicate."

But, yeah, all the artwork is looking fantastic so far.

[Lost Demiurge]

From what I've been seeing and reading, the new faction seems to be more "Gangs of Malifaux" than "Ten Thunders Crime Syndicate."

But, yeah, all the artwork is looking fantastic so far.

Hm! The more I think about that approach, the more I like it!

So a "Gangs" faction... Yeah, that adds in a lot more expansion potential than just limiting it to Ten Thunders stuff. And also lets them fulfill the promise that the next book would massively expand special forces!

I can't wait until Gencon! This has me very interested to see what all they're adding into the mix...