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On Black Friday, I bought a few 1E starters and the 1.5 rulebook, expanding my Malifaux "collection" to the following:

Nightmare!
- The Dreamer
- Lord Chompy Bits
- Teddy
- 3 Daydreams

Legion of Sorrows
- Pandora
- Candy
- Baby Kade
- 3 Sorrows

Witch Hunters
- Sonnia Criid
- Samael Hopkins
- 3 Witchling Stalkers

Body Thieves
- McMouring
- Sebastien
- Flesh Construct
- 2 Nurses

I'm hoping that these starters will make for an interesting and "fair" mix of stuff to play with for me and a friend. I'm looking to build up over the winter holidays, and we will be playing under 1.5 rules to start.

What do you all think? Which 2 crews will be the best to work on learning the basic game mechanics?

Are the crews more-or-less "balanced" as-is? Or are there going to be curbstomps that we need to watch for?

Sonnia's magical artillery will probably be pretty unpleasant against the Dreamer or the Sorrows, since both rely on incorporeal to survive... other than that, IDK, most options seem okay.

McMourning really needs some Canine Remains, and Nurses were fairly poor in the previous edition.

Also, did you mean to get the previous edition rules?

Yeah not really sure why you'd want to start with the 1.5 rules as most people will be playing 2.0, and it seems harder to learn something then unlearn it when 2.0 is not much more expensive.

Yes, I intended to get the 1.5 rules, as I wasn't quite sure where we would go with the game.

The 1.5 rules were 50% off $7.50 for a sale price of $3.75. I think the 2E rulebook was quite a bit more expensive than that.

Interesting method of starting the game, at least. Makes it super cheap.

Just remember that 1.5 wasn't particularly well balanced. 2E is much better in that regard.

Yup, budget was a key consideration.

Balance isn't a huge issue, as we won't be playing competitively. Just something different to spice things up.

Looks like we'll proceed forward and see how it goes. If we like it, at least all of the 1E models will carry forward.

The 2e rules are more than that but are still relatively inexpensive.

if you get the small rulebook its quite cheap and a much better starting point than 1.5 imo

That's a good point. Iirc the mini 2E rule book is about the same price as the 1.5 books on sale. However that would also require a couple of arsenal decks which would bring the price up a bit.

To get the 2E cards, I would have had to buy at least 3 Arsenal decks: Neverborn (Dreamer & Pandora), Guild (Sonnia) and Ressurectionists (McMourning). That would have been $24 or so, on top of the $15 mini rulebook, same $40 as the full M2E rulebook, and over 10x what I paid for the 1.5 rulebook.

As it is, for <$4, I have rules that go with the models and cards included with those models.

Also, I'm old, so mini rulebooks are hard on my eyes.

Which is decent, so long as you only really want to play with a small group of friends, as most other people have moved on to 2.0 and so spending money on only minis and rules will mean spending more later on new rules.

Per my original post, no, I'm not particularly concerned about playing with people outside my playgroup at this time.

The way I see it, I'm way ahead on buying the 1E rules compared to people who paid MSRP for 1E *and* 1.5E before buying 2E. Heck, I think I paid less for the models than they paid for rules, and my LCB is a Nightmare Edition.

If it gets more people in to the game, even in an older edition, then I don't see the problem.

Hopefully yourself and your friend have a blast. I personally enjoy Malifaux quite a bit more than I had ever expected to (it was my other half's choice to buy in to it, because she liked the aesthetics, heh).

Thanks, I'm very hopeful that we'll enjoy Malifaux.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
To get the 2E cards, I would have had to buy at least 3 Arsenal decks: Neverborn (Dreamer & Pandora), Guild (Sonnia) and Ressurectionists (McMourning). That would have been $24 or so, on top of the $15 mini rulebook, same $40 as the full M2E rulebook, and over 10x what I paid for the 1.5 rulebook.

As it is, for <$4, I have rules that go with the models and cards included with those models.

Also, I'm old, so mini rulebooks are hard on my eyes.

Can't you download the cards, sans graphics, from Wyrd or elsewhere? Then you'd just need to print them out. Or did Wyrd take them down once the Arsenal decks start coming out?

Valete,

JohnS

Not that I know of. The only cards they had available for a while to download were the wave 2 cards, though they were subject to change due to the ongoing beta, and removed once wave 2 was released at gencon.

Yep, the downloadable cards were only available before they went to print.

ahhh... cheers for the clarification.

valete,

JohnS

Played 1.0 and 1.5. Although I'm mainly an Arcanist player, I have played against all these crews.

For a first game you are probably best off with Sonnia Criid and McMourning. Pandora is a mid to advanced level crew that takes finesse to pull off right and you'll need to know the game mechanics to pull that off to her advantage. The Dreamer takes some finesse as well, not as much as Pandora, but it's easier to play a first game without worrying about the burying/unburying mechanics. At least you have Daydreams for the Dreamer: they are pretty important. My friend did not and it made playing that crew harder. Of course, you can take Teddy in a Dreamer crew which is another nasty close combat figure to unbury in someone's face.

Sonnia Criid is probably the least well-balanced of the starters you bought. As I've only played against her once, I can't remember exactly what additional figures she needed. I do remember her Magic ranged attack was surprisingly hard to pull off, kind of like Ramos' summoning before they gave him the Mobile Toolkit as a totem. [He needs two Tomes and only had one. The Mobile Toolkit gives him 1 Tome if it activates first. Sonnia is in the same boat, but the starter doesn't have the right totem for her.] Although with Guild you can't really go wrong with Nino Ortega whio is a sniper who can strike a target multiple times with the right combo (Ram/Mask). Guild Austringers are good as their ranged attack ignores LoS (it's a hunting hawk).

Since you are just getting started, you might want to visit the Malifaux Tactica Wiki. It covers playing with just starters and has suggestions for expansion.

Good gaming, and remember, in Malifaux, Bad Things happen.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
On Black Friday, I bought a few 1E starters and the 1.5 rulebook, expanding my Malifaux "collection" to the following:

Nightmare!
- The Dreamer
- Lord Chompy Bits
- Teddy
- 3 Daydreams

Legion of Sorrows
- Pandora
- Candy
- Baby Kade
- 3 Sorrows

Witch Hunters
- Sonnia Criid
- Samael Hopkins
- 3 Witchling Stalkers

Body Thieves
- McMouring
- Sebastien
- Flesh Construct
- 2 Nurses

I'm hoping that these starters will make for an interesting and "fair" mix of stuff to play with for me and a friend. I'm looking to build up over the winter holidays, and we will be playing under 1.5 rules to start.

What do you all think? Which 2 crews will be the best to work on learning the basic game mechanics?

Are the crews more-or-less "balanced" as-is? Or are there going to be curbstomps that we need to watch for?

Yeah, I looked around over the weekend, and the playtest materials were gone.

Thanks, tho.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Ancestral Hamster wrote:
Played 1.0 and 1.5. Although I'm mainly an Arcanist player, I have played against all these crews.

For a first game you are probably best off with Sonnia Criid and McMourning. Pandora is a mid to advanced level crew that takes finesse to pull off right and you'll need to know the game mechanics to pull that off to her advantage. The Dreamer takes some finesse as well, not as much as Pandora, but it's easier to play a first game without worrying about the burying/unburying mechanics. At least you have Daydreams for the Dreamer: they are pretty important. My friend did not and it made playing that crew harder. Of course, you can take Teddy in a Dreamer crew which is another nasty close combat figure to unbury in someone's face.

Sonnia Criid is probably the least well-balanced of the starters you bought.

Since you are just getting started, you might want to visit the Malifaux Tactica Wiki. It covers playing with just starters and has suggestions for expansion.

Good gaming, and remember, in Malifaux, Bad Things happen.

Thank you very much - your comments are much appreciated.

It looks like complexity ramps like this:
1. McMourning
2. Sonnia Criid
3. Dreamer
4. Pandora
So we'll start with the "simple" ones to get the hang of it, and move to other crews later, saving Pandora for last.

As I've been reading more, yeah, it looks like Sonnia is going to produce more RPS-type results than the others, due to her being something of an anti-magic vs Neverborn magic. Oh, well - that's what I get for buying on looks.

I found that wiki, and yeah, the content has been helpful. Thanks!

I'm hoping to be entertained, whichever way individual games turn out.

Thanks again!

After M2E was released, they took all the freebies down.

Not all of them - the wave 2 freebies were up until Crossroads released.

You're welcome.

Don't worry about buying on looks, that's exactly what I did. I though the original Rasputina sculpt was way cool (pun not intended), and I like weird clockwork contraptions so I also bought Ramos at the same time. If I was a power gamer type, I'd have bought and read the rules first and tactica, but I'd rather play with figures I like on the field as opposed to a power crew/army that I detest the sight of.

As you hope, you should still be entertained with these crews!

 JohnHwangDD wrote:

Thank you very much - your comments are much appreciated.

It looks like complexity ramps like this:
1. McMourning
2. Sonnia Criid
3. Dreamer
4. Pandora
So we'll start with the "simple" ones to get the hang of it, and move to other crews later, saving Pandora for last.

As I've been reading more, yeah, it looks like Sonnia is going to produce more RPS-type results than the others, due to her being something of an anti-magic vs Neverborn magic. Oh, well - that's what I get for buying on looks.

I found that wiki, and yeah, the content has been helpful. Thanks!

I'm hoping to be entertained, whichever way individual games turn out.

Thanks again!

My Malifaux 1.5 rulebook and Pandora starter arrived today. The rulebook is very nicely written - I like the attitude of the game. The reference section is good, though the Dreamer and LCB aren't listed, despite the inclusion of a Dreamer Encounter. The Pandora models are nice as well, and the Baby Kade will even combo with the Teddy I got for the Dreamer.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
My Malifaux 1.5 rulebook and Pandora starter arrived today. The rulebook is very nicely written - I like the attitude of the game. The reference section is good, though the Dreamer and LCB aren't listed, despite the inclusion of a Dreamer Encounter. The Pandora models are nice as well, and the Baby Kade will even combo with the Teddy I got for the Dreamer.

That's right, The Dreamer was one of the Masters introduced in the Rising Powers book. You should be able to play based on what comes in the Dreamer box though. IIRC, there are no special rules for the Dreamer in Rising Powers. (OTOH, I forgot The Dreamer was not in the original rulebook.)

The general concensus was that the dreamer was pretty broken in 1.5.

Dreamer broken? How convenient for me!

Just kidding. It'll be a while before I field him, so it probably won't be an issue.