Malifaux for beginners

[Grailkeeper]

Thi summer after I finish exams I'm thinnking of getting into another game, possibly mailfaux.

Can anyone out there give me an introduction to it? I know its played with cards but what is the game like and how long would a game last?

I'd also really appreciate an introduction to the fluff and the different factions in particular

[Aenir]

I can attempt to, but best thing to do would be to check their forums for your local Henchman (if applicable)


Well, Its a skirmish game and depending on faction, you can have anywhere from 5-6 models, upwards of 15 in a traditional (35 soulstone/point) game. Such a game usually lasts between 2-2.5 hours too.

Well, from what I understand of it (been playing about 4 months) It is an alternate type earth where people have discovered a material called soulstone, which buffs magical ability and gives a bit of other bonuses (Think Warpstone without the mutation/corruption bit) Now people are beginning to fight over it because of the power it brings and represents.

You have the Guild who are the Law, but dont really care for the people they are sworn to protect. Their Masters are Sonnia (Magic killer) Perdita (Demon hunter) Lady Justice (Undead Hunter) and soon to be Out, C. Hoffman (Robots and Constructs). Opposing them are the Neverborn (Demons), Resurrectionists (Undead), Arcanists (Magic), and Outcasts (Everybody else + Gremlins). I am a Guild player and thats why I know a bit more on them, I can give you the basic outline of the other factions, but not more than that. I am sorry that I couldnt help you more.

[Grailkeeper]

Cool, how fast paced is it? IS it fun or would you recommend warmachine/bloodbowl over it? Is the 15 model game the standard level?

[Aenir]

Its slow at first as the cards take a while to get used to. But after that it speeds up to a respectable level, and yes it IS fun! However I would also recommend Blood Bowl :) Im spoiled, I play both :)

I would however go with Malifaux, as much as it pains me, Wyrd supports it better, and I find more people play it than Blood Bowl!

[scadugenga]

You really can't go wrong with any of the three--Malifaux is fun, but I'm still very new into the game. (New baby, limits gaming time.)

Personally, I swore never to play another minis game after 40k, due to the money sink that most/all minis games are. :)

Then in '03(?) I got suckered into a demo game of warmachine @ gencon. Holy hells is it a fun game. And it only got better after Mark II came out.

Warmachine is pretty much fantasty steampunk w/a healthy dose of professional wrestling antics thrown in. (Jackbowling...'nuff said.)

Malifaux is also a magical steampunk game, but it's decidedly off-color and much darker and sinister. (Undead prostitutes...) I like the game mechanics, though they do take a bit getting used to. The sculpts are absolutely fantastic, and they also make scenic base inserts and terrain accessories too.

Perhaps best of all for Malifaux, is that it's very inexpensive to get started--even more so than warmachine.

What worked for me for Malifaux, is that it's cheap enough to get started that you can pick up two starter boxes for about $60.00. Enough to lure a friend into playing. :)

Edit: I love bloodbowl, but I generally only play the video game version http://www.bloodbowl-game.com/index.php?rub=home

They had a sale for the legendary edition of the game (all 20 teams using the latest living rulebook rules) for $9.95 for download a couple weeks back--couldn't resist. :)

[Aenir]

I go to the Fumbbl website, as I am not a particular fan of the latest LRB.

and Sca is right, its a hell of a lot of fun.

[scadugenga]

I go to the Fumbbl website, as I am not a particular fan of the latest LRB.

and Sca is right, its a hell of a lot of fun.

Problem I found with Fumbbl, is that there are a lot of asshats there. That, and I don't need to play against a live person all the time. (being able to pause for random errands, honey-do lists, etc) is also nice. And the graphics are excellent.

[Aenir]

true, but ***-hat ness hasnt been that bad for me :)

and never had a problem with stopping for errands and stuff. Gfx I cant argue, save for the fact that seeing the pixels go squish is better than the I stick my arm out and clothesline the elf type gfx..

But I digress

Back to Malifaux!

[Haggis McMutton]

Malifaux is a great game. Coming from warhammer40k it was like a breath of fresh air. Cheap to get in to,no need for a gazillion models to play a game, I personally found it much easier to learn how to play as compared to 40k, the fluff is fun, and the models are interesting and fun to paint. In my local area most of the mini gamers at least picked up one crew. It seems like most of the 40k gamers in my area switched to Malifaux either as their primary game or exclusively playing it.

2 youtube videos that I like are from this Aussie guy named 'Rubbish in Rubbish out'. Search for his malifaux videos, he has one that explains how to do an activation and another one that shows a full game. Good to see what the game is like.

[Lauby]

as far as Malifaux goes, it is a pretty great game.

just a couple of things to be aware of:

1) the mini's tend to be designed more with the aesthetic in mind than use as a gaming piece, so many of the models tend to be a little fiddly and/or fragile.
2) the learning curve can be quite steep - especially in regards to being able to process and internalize all the special rules for each model.

But once you get past that, the game is tons o' fun. The biggest draw for me is how easy it is to change up the way your faction plays with just a single mode.