Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Basically I've been interested in Malifaux for a while but only recently have I properly considered it with the awesome new plastic crews being released. I have a few nooby questions that I just thought id ask in one place:

What would I need to start? I assume the rulebook, a crew and a fate deck.

Is it hard to pick up/learn? I know Warmahordes which I'm just starting has a very steep learning curve, is Malifaux the same? Does the card system take a lot of getting used to?

Are there any models/crews I should avoid as a new player? I'm probably going to get the Dreamer box when it comes out as my first crew, and expand from there on Neverborn, is there anything I should avoid?

Is all the fluff in the 2e Rulebook, or will I need the older books as well to get the whole fluff? I do love universes where they move the timeline forward but it does make it a pita if you join late...

That's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there's more...any help would be appreciated. Malifaux is such an intriguing game with its completely different mechanics to other games and it's awesome Victorian gothic lovecraft horror cowboy theme...I don't know if I'll be able to resist it for long.

The only other issue now would be finding local players...my area is awful for gaming.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Got another one; on the crew creator on the Malifaux site, I can't find how I add Lord Chompy Bits to the crew... Is he like automatically added with the Dreamer?

To start you really need the rules (unless you can borrow them) and a crew. I also recomend a fate deck but don't "need" one.

I did not find it hard to learn. I look at it a lot like say chess. Easy to learn, hard to master. There is certainly a lot to remember as far as what each model can do, so remembering everything is tricky but the basic mechanics are very easy.

Models/Crews to avoid really depends on you as a player and money. If you are looking to save money I would avoid masters like Dreamer who frequently use summoning, so will require spending more money to make full use of (also his starter box is points light (chompy is free, daydreams are cheap) Lots of ressers also fall in to this category.

For fluff not all of it is in the 2E books, so you would need to look at old books, and wyrd chronicles (free online magazine) for the fluff.

as for Chompy, he cannot be purchased, he comes into play through dreamer changing into him during the game.

Thanks so are there any crew boxes you think would be especially suited for a beginner?

Fluff wise, is there like a decent overview in the 2E books? Or would I be missing a lot of it?

And okay that makes sense. Was looking for him for ages haha. Reminds me of Kromac from Hordes. Is it like the Dreamer is powerful magically but weak, and Chompy is good in melee and more survivable?

For Crews I always recommend going with what you like, For neverborn, Lynch is one of the cheaper boxes as far as getting to 50 SS.

There is a decent bit of fluff in the 2E rulebook, so I would start there and add on as you see fit. The Wyrd Chronicles are free downloads from Wyrd's site so you can look into those for free.

Dreamer if fairly surviviable, (he takes half an damage from most things and can shift hits off onto other nightmares.) but individually is not very killy, he mostly summons things or buffs other units in games I have seen him. Chompy is less survivable (in as much as he "dies easier") but is killier. That said when he "dies" he just turns back into the dreamer, and can come out again later. So in a way he is added durability for the dreamer.

So everything's fairly balanced? There's many many crews I wouldn't mind starting out with... As usual I'm going to be here ages trying to pick -.-

I might pick up the rulebook after Christmas then, and a crew if I've picked one

Ah okay, so Chompy is functionally invincible, as long as Dreamer is still alive? Which keeps Dreamer alive longer... He actually sounds rather hard to kill for a sleepwalking child...

Yeah, at 50 points most things are fairly balanced, so it comes down to theme and playstyle.

Chompy is functionally invincible, but can only come out given particular circumstances. Dreamer himself is actually the spirit (astral projection etc) of a sleeping child. So he is not actually there at all. He is just in his dreams (which happen to take place in malifaux).

Okay. Well, I like Dreamer, Zoraida, Lucius, Leviticus, Rasputina, Manfred, Ramos... I think overall I like most of the Neverborn models. Does each faction have a play style?

I love Dreamers story, that he thinks he's just dreaming but doesn't realise he's actually having an effect in Malifaux. It's awesome, creepy, and just cool.

Each faction has a general playstyle, but masters vary quite a bit.

Guild are fairly straight forward damage dealing
Neverborn tend to be fast, and melee centric with lots of tricks.
Arcanists and Outcasts tend to be very different from master to master
etc.

Yeah Neverborn I think are most interesting... Although with all the dual faction stuff I don't imagine I'll stick with one for long!

Yeah, the dual faction thing, and some masters getting to grab stuff from other factions, is like some sort of magical drug for players with faction ADD, myself included.

Yeah that sounds like me... It's dangerous haha. Can dual faction masters use any models from each faction or are they limited?

Breng77 wrote:
Each faction has a general playstyle, but masters vary quite a bit.

Guild are fairly straight forward damage dealing
Neverborn tend to be fast, and melee centric with lots of tricks.
Arcanists and Outcasts tend to be very different from master to master
etc.

In terms of playstyle, I would say there is practically as much variation between masters in a faction as there is between factions. The biggest differences between factions is really more in their themes and aesthetics.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 ImAGeek wrote:
Yeah that sounds like me... It's dangerous haha. Can dual faction masters use any models from each faction or are they limited?

For the most part you are limited to models from the faction you declare, though all the dual faction masters have abilities or upgrades that allow them to hire thematic models reguardless of faction. For example, Lucius can hire Mimics as guild or guardsmen as neverborn, and Mei Feng can always hire Foundry models be they Arcanist or 10 Thunder models.

Ah okay so like at the start you'd say 'I'm playing Lucius as Neverborn' and when you build your list you can pick only Neverborn models, and guardsmen?

Sorry for all the questions. They're probably all really obvious.

Yep, that's how it works, since you pick faction before you pick master.

I seeee. Makes sense really. And they get different rules/upgrades depending on the faction too?

Yep- you only get access to your faction-specific ones, which are mostly just the generic ones, but there are some exceptions.

For instance, McMourning mostly has dual-faction upgrades, but one that's only guild and one that's only resser; transfusion (an upgrade he often takes) is a generic resser one; and his henchman's upgrade is only resser.

Breng77 wrote:
Guild are fairly straight forward damage dealing
Neverborn tend to be fast, and melee centric with lots of tricks.
Arcanists and Outcasts tend to be very different from master to master
etc.

Even Neverborn don't have to be more melee centric than normal. If you're running Pandora, you're going to be doing things like controlling opponents activations and doing indirect damage through WP duels. If you're running Dreamer, he's going to spend his time casting spells to buff friendly models, damage opponents or summon, and what he summons will determine how you play that round. Lucius can bring pretty decent ranged firepower even as a Neverborn master. Though if you go with Lilith and her brood, yeah, you're going to be up in peoples faces. But there's still a lot of variation in Neverborn outside of being heavy melee, each master plays differently.

That is correct but never born in general lacks models that do damage at range, there are some, but fewer than some other factions (like guild for example). Every faction has a little of everything, but some trend toward certain things.

It's less that if you play guild or neverborn, it will have x play style, and more that that faction has more options for that style.

Yes, but lack of ranged direct damage doesn't equate to being melee-centric as a faction. There's caster masters, summoning masters, and non-masters that do their job without getting into melee. just like any other faction, it depends entirely on the master you choose and what you choose to go along with it.

True, but that is true for all factions, in general many neverborn models (at least their damage dealers) are melee centered. I'm not saying that is the only thing you can do with them, just part of what the faction is good at. They don't have to be anything, but they can be, just like summoning is more of a resser thing than any other faction (almost all masters can do some summoning in that faction). You can summon in every other faction and do so very well, but are more limited in your options if that is what you want to do.

I definitely think Neverborn is the faction I'll go with. I really like some Arcanist stuff, but only really the Cult of December schtik and the beast side. Not too keen on the Ressurectionists, Guild are okay but pretty normal, I like the Friekorps models but you can use them in other factions anyway, and I like some Gremlins stuff but I could use the, with Zoraida anyway. And Ten Thunders are okay but again there's loads of Dual Faction with them so I can always dabble in them that way... So now I just need to pick a crew.

I love the Dreamer, his whole story is just so cool. I like Zoraidas crew, Jakobs crew, Pandoras crew is quite cool, Lucius is cool, the only I don't really like is Lilith because I don't like the Nephilim that much.

Just remember, models in crews cross over pretty well to other masters.

For example, you might not be keen on the Nephilim, but Barbaros synergises really well with Pandora because of his Challenge ability. Being able to run into the middle of the table and bellow that, forcing everyone to either attack him or pass a WP test, triggering the various damage abilities her crew can hand out that are based on WP duels, is really handy.

Terror Tots are Nephilim, but are considered worthy of any Neverborn collection because their Sprint ability lets them cover ground really fast (20" in a turn), making them great, super cheap scheme runners.

Terror tots are especially good with Jacob lynch, using sprint to fish for aces, and later cheating the ace of masks for an always on sprint

Yeah i just don't really like the models in the Lilith box. Except for Lilith.

If I was to get the Dreamer box (that's still the one I think I like best) what would be good to expand from there? You said models in different crews cross over, would it be worth getting 2 crew boxes and combining them?

Mr Tannen and basically anything classed as a Nightmare is a good start, because he can summon them and his abilities work with them. Teddy, Lelu, Lilutu (these two are Nephilim as well as Nightmare (and Woe, for some reason) and are fantastic when summoned together, but I'd wait for the plastics), Widow Weaver, Stitched Together, Insidous Madness.

Oh that's cool, I really like Teddy, Widow Weaver and Stitched Togethers