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Hi all,

So like the title suggests I quite fancy stepping into the twisted world of malifaux. I have been watching some vids and reading about about various factions. I have made a choice based on that 'wow I think that's cool' feeling and will be looking at focusing on outcasts and Hamelin . It was that one character that I just felt drawn to.

Thing is, I know you get lots of dirty rats running around but what is the general structure to his play style ? Literally swarm? Is he tricky? Anyone had much experience with or against him?

Also can I play this faction with just getting the main rule book or will I need any add on's?

Thanks a lot

Plampers

Hamelin does nothing for 5 turns! He spawns rats, the rats do stuff.

You take heavy hitters to kill stuff and don't play him in reckoning.

As for add-ons, he needs the wave 1 and 2 outcast decks.

FYI Hamelin's new box hits at GenCon this weekend, and then September 25th on general release (at least in the US):



While technically a story encounter (special scenario thing?), I have a feeling that the upcoming Brotherhood of the Rat may find itself into Hamelin crews as well, either counting as things or in more official form:



There's also a general upgrades deck coming out, which will have the faction upgrade cards you may or may not want - you don't need the cards, but they provide an easy reference that might help if you own the books but don't want to lug around. Probably cheaper than picking up both wave 1 and 2 Outcast arsenal decks:



- Salvage

Much like Lilith and the Nephlim box Brotherhood of the Rat looks to be the second half of Hamelin's crew. All 3 profiles present in the box are basic units for Outcasts. The only models that I know of that can't be used in any game are the TTB boxes and Carver. Brotherhood of the Rat just has additional specialized scenarios in it based on University of Transmortis.

Also I belive the Upgrade deck will be all upgrades from all 3 books that don't list a specific model and maybe the oddball ones like the Tormented stuff for Jack Daw that don't list him as a restriction.

 ChaoticMind wrote:
All 3 profiles present in the box are basic units for Outcasts. The only models that I know of that can't be used in any game are the TTB boxes and Carver.

Groovy, I thought as much, but really know nothing about the rat part of Outcasts Still a little surprised every time I hear about a Transmortis thing hitting the table, I keep thinking they're campaign-only.

- Salvage

Yep the only models with rules that have limits on what games you can use them in are Carver and the avatars. Although some avatars (looking at you Rasputina and Simulacrum 29) make great proxies

The avatars won't have limits on them either by this weekend, since they are all legal proxies for the Emissary that they share a faction with.

Carver I've heard used as a Teddy, too, although I'm not sure if that's officially sanctioned by Wyrd or not.

All of the old Avatar models are legal proxies for that Avatar's faction's Emissary (new, 10SS enforcers that get 8 different free upgrades, 1 generic and 1 for each master). They're all very good.

As for Hamelin, his plastic box and the Brotherhood of the Rat (will be out shortly after Gencon as it didn't arrive in time) are all you need to really play him. Basically, he starts with 2-3 rats and an Obedient Wretch. The Wretch uses her shooting attack (use your low crows) to hit the rats and get the trigger to summon a rat after damaging. Then when you have 4 Rats (push 3 around to burn up your opponent's activation), activate the last one to form a Rat King. Then, activate the Rat King and sacrifice him to make a Rat Catcher and another Rat. The cycle grows from there. Don't forget that you can sacrifice your Stolen for 2 Rats too.

Buying Hamelin's box and the Brotherhood set will give you Hamelin, 3 Stolen, Nix (who is very difficult to put down without a strong caster), 12 Rats, 2 Rat Kings, 2 Rat Catchers, and 1 Obedient Wretch. From there, pick up the Outcast Arsenal Boxes (or just the generic one posted above). Hamelin loves the Survivalist Upgrade and it makes him stupidly hard to kill (If an enemy attacks him, they'll have trigger Hard to Kill from Survivalist, keeping him at 1 wound, then when they attack again, Hamelin can sacrifice a nearby Stolen to heal 4 instead, starting the cycle all over again).

Be warned though. Hamelin is not a very popular master because his games take forever when you activate and move each rat. He can be incredibly boring to play and even worse to play against. I only bring him out to play when I'm not running a rat-based crew or in a tournament.

If you do want to play him though, I'd go with the suggestions above. Additionally, consider Freikorps Trappers and a Librarian (the Von Schill box is a great add-on) for ranged support and healing. Hannah is also amazing in most circumstances (You get an extra card in your hand and she can copy non-leader spells) and both tanky and brutal in melee. Ashes and Dust is expensive, but if you play him right, he will never truly die (as he keeps reforming) and Hamelin can sacrifice him to draw cards (which just gives you more activations and a fully healed Ashes and Dust at the end of the turn).

 Boss Salvage wrote:

 ChaoticMind wrote:
All 3 profiles present in the box are basic units for Outcasts. The only models that I know of that can't be used in any game are the TTB boxes and Carver.

Groovy, I thought as much, but really know nothing about the rat part of Outcasts Still a little surprised every time I hear about a Transmortis thing hitting the table, I keep thinking they're campaign-only.

- Salvage

The Brotherhood box is pretty much mandatory for Hammy.

He needs ratcatchers to summon rats, and he needs rats to do anything and everything.

For Hamelin, you'll need to dip into the Outcast toolbox a little more than most, as he's not suited to certain schemes and strats.

Have a look at a couple of other Outcast masters and decide if there is something you might like to play. If not, cast your net a little wider.

As an ex-outcast faction player (we have our own faction now, and it's real despite what others say) I would say theres some fantastic stuff there, it'll just come down to what you lijke the look of.