Malifaux, the game.

[Fixxer]

Coming up on my first year in on this game and I have to say its been a blast. I started with the Neverborn faction because I am always attracted to playing bad guys for some reason and really liked the different characters of the faction from the onset. My first master to be completed was Dreamer. A summoning powerhouse and according to the internet, at the time, one of the better masters in the tournament/competitive play. Although fragile he offers a lot of in game flexibility with summoning being his main focus as a master, its just imperative that you keep him safe and away from hard hitting enemies. The tricky thing about Dreamer is that he can turn into Lord Chompy Bits (LCB)  in game and his mechanic for doing so is an interesting challenge to play around. LCB is a melee powerhouse that can be brought in 6" from Dreamer when he reaches Waking +4.  Dreamer then buries, or removes himself from play and danger, while LCB is on the board killing things with melee attacks. With a new Wave 5 upgrade, he will be able to chain activate LCB for a plethora of attacks with no break in between. Pretty tough to pull this off, but can be a game winning move when its executed properly. I play him most, more than half the time I play Malifaux, I'd say and I'm not even close to being bored with him. 

I also have Lilith, Zoraida, and I just got Titania for my NB. As I play more and learn the different schemes and strategies I am starting to realize the importance of picking the correct master from the faction given the different mix of objectives that could come up. When learning the game initially, I think its important to stick with one master at first and expand within the faction after realizing the different strengths and weaknesses of each master VS Scheme pools. Dreamer is better at interference or guard the stash while Lilith would prove better in a head hunter or collect the bounty game. Zoraida or Titania for Informant. With 4 schemes randomly generated (1 scheme is an Always scheme) this could mean I might change masters out based on the combination of these options. Maybe Lilith would be better in Informant because "eliminate the LD" or "a quick murder" is in the pool.

This aspect of the game, the list building after the schemes and strategies are produced, is one of the more compelling parts of the game. The decision making before the game even starts can make or break your performance on the table. This design for game set up alleviates the "net listing" that generally occurs in tabletop games. Yes there are better models than other in any situation, but being clever and finding uses for models or even BLUFFING with a certain model makes the game interesting and dynamic outside of stat lines, probabilities, and power creep that will generally occur in any game this vast. You play the other player in Malifaux more than the design team for whatever faction or model you are facing. Meaning that good models need to be used properly to gain full advantage, A great model/crew can be squandered by poor play.  I love it.

We have GG2018 being open play tested by the community and it looks to be a nice change up to the scheme pool and strategies which I think will keep the game fresh for me. GG2017 had its issues and favored certain types of masters in the game, discouraged smaller, elite crews, and had 2 suited schemes, meaning you saw them more often than all the others. Just the fact that new scheme pools are released every year is awesome for Malifaux. 

 I am going to start focusing more on playing Gremlins for 2018. I almost have 3 masters and crews fully painted at this point and would really just need to commit my mind to their play style. Looking at Ulix, Zipp, and Mah Tucket. Of course, Zoraida can be played as a Gremlin as well. With wave 5 upgrades for all masters, Mah Tucket seems like she is playable again and I assume I'll use her quite a bit. Zipps new upgrade made him play similarly to Leviticus with bury/unbury mechanics. And, of course, Ulix, my favorite gremlin has some sweet pig synergy that I cant get enough of. 

So yeah, Ranting out on almost a year in... Hope to see more people show interest in the coming months Id be happy to help in any way I can to get more folks playing. A lot of competition in the skirmish game market though...

Rant out!!! 

 

[VonVilkee]

Love it so well said. Really glad I had the opportunity to play you early on. Keep up the fight I've fallen in with some Canadians so I've been playing more and more. 

[Fixxer]

Me too man! Was such a solid game. I learned a ton in that tournament. Getting smashed every game... LOL.

Now, I might actually stand a chance against you. :) 

Hopefully we will cross paths again soon for a rematch. 

 

[VonVilkee]

42 minutes ago, Fixxer said:

 

Hopefully we will cross paths again soon for a rematch. 

 

Agreed

[dkieft]

Ugh! Get a room! (and play a game in it)

[VonVilkee]

2 hours ago, dkieft said:

Ugh! Get a room! (and play a game in it)

Only if you "officiate"

[Fixxer]

Oh, I’m sorry Derk... we could play some Malifaux too. Perhaps this way you won’t forget about your miners all game! Lol

I would like to play your Gremlins sometime though. 

[dkieft]

On 10/30/2017 at 5:23 AM, Fixxer said:

Oh, I’m sorry Derk... we could play some Malifaux too. Perhaps this way you won’t forget about your miners all game! Lol

I would like to play your Gremlins sometime though. 

Oh don't worry, in Malifaux there are a lot more things for me to forget for the whole game!

[Fixxer]

Hey Ordofanaticus, whats up? Anyone want to play some Malifaux? 

[Andrewgeddon]

Not posting to play a game (do want to play, but schedule is packed through the holidays), but just wanted to share my experience with the game:

Matt was kind enough to host a game at his place last weekend. I was running the Jack Daw starter box that I picked up, plus a few minis Matt let me borrow (Nurse, Johana, Ronin). Like a chump, I forgot my cards at home, but with some help and the Malifaux app, I was able to use that (until my phone died).

Without going too much into it... I had a blast! Game felt really close, I was ALMOST able to kill the Dreamer before he turned into Lord Chompy Bits, but Johana got poisoned / stunned before she could come in to strike with the hammer of JUSTICE. I probably should have paid more attention to the mission(s), and not having the cards made keep track of abilities a bit tough, but still had a great time, ended up with a 5/5 draw.

Immediately went out and ordered a few things to add to my collection:
-Johan and Nurse, as they seemed to work pretty well in the list.
-Jaakuna Ubume, because I've heard good things!
-Dead Outlaws, because they were 50%, and also ghost cowboys.
-Sue, because IT'S JOHNNY CASH!

Looking forward to getting some more games in!

[Fixxer]

Thanks Andrew! Totally understand about the holidays and time, not enough to go around. We'll catch up once its all passed and you have more down time. 

That game was only a draw due to a frame for murder target who was overlooked in lieu of others just like him. That's just bad luck and even if i kill that model on the last turn with anyone, you'd have gotten a point and won. Frame for murder can be a tough scheme to pick in general, gotta know that your opponent really doesnt like a certain model, then put it out there. Ive had bad luck putting FFM on something that I thought was important but my opponent ignored. Those VP are valuable and sometimes its better to pick a scheme that YOU control more.

Really enjoy the scheme pool aspect of the game, give a lot of replay ability to two players who may play each other a lot AND with the same crews. Just mix the terrain up a little and its like a new puzzle to solve. 

I think your new pickups are excellent and should fill your crew out well. Johan and nurses are proven models, no question. Jaakuna is really nice board control and a good denial model. With all the pushes jack has you can really utilize her 3" hazardous terrain bubble to weaken or finish off models. Dead outlaws have excellent scheme denial tricks and at range, pretty disgusting if the scheme pool is asking for a lot of scheme markers bring multiple dead outlaws.

As for Sue, he is Johnny Cash, absolutely!! Its cool because a lot of the design elements in Malifaux are based in Americana/World Mythology/pop culture. Its really funny to go over the models and figure out what you can find.

 For example, Burt Jebson is  a version of Jack Burton while Yan Lo represent a Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China. If you look at the models and their abilities it makes sense and is hilariously fun to play. One of my favorites is Zipp the Sky pirate being an ugly knock off of Zapp Branigan of Futurama with his green "First Mate". Zipp's rules include things like Rambling Diatribes and Incoherent Monologues... I love it. Many of the Neverborn models are monsters of African and european folklore. Heck the 10 Thunders have a Penanggalan in their faction, its disgusting!! Nellie Cochran is a journalist who spreads "propaganda and fake news" ... Misleading headlines,... revisionist history. Just absolutely clever and smart transitions from fluff to rules. The interactions in game feel like how they are described creating a very narrative game experience. So fun. 

 

Tournament Sunday at Portland Game store if people want to come check it out! I believe its full but can still stop by, say hi and see a game. 

 

 

[Andrewgeddon]

1 hour ago, Fixxer said:

 For example, Burt Jebson is  a version of Jack Burton while Yan Lo represent a Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China.

Well, now all I want to do is play Lords of Death: Street Gang - Punks from Chinatown.