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So we play casual games where people are really just chilling after work so we just want to get on with the game.....

None of us bother with chnaging the crews we turn up with - often because that is most of the models a given player has for a faction and/or they don't like proxing. Those that do either have a big collection or proxy also don't like to use that adavantage....

Are we really missing out on much if we all do it (or rather don't do it) ?

Yes.

I think there are definitely strong generalist masters and there's an argument for making a generalist list with 10-15SS of leeway to react to scenarios, but there are also some masters who are particularly strong or weak objectives.

You can play it without flexibility, but you're really losing a ton of the experience if you don't build any of your crew after learning objectives.

There's plenty of people who don't, and as long as the group of figs you have is on the versatile end you'll be fine. A Lilith nephilim list will do just about anything well, for example, as will a Von Schill friekorps. Meanwhile, I'd never take Nicodem in reckoning as he gives up too much VP, or Wong in a spread out game.

If you and your group are enjoying playing that way, more power to you. Especially for newer players, or people who just don't want to invest a lot into the game, this makes all the sense in the world.

Like spiralingcadaver said though, there is soooo much depth in tailoring your crew to the strat & schemes. This factor was a big one for me when I got into Malifaux, so I'm obviously a big fan of it, but this is really what lends the game so much replay value. Even if all I own is Yan Lo plus a few models, and all my friend owns is Sonnia plus a few models, every game can be different by switching just a few things in and out.

It is always hard with some players having limited collections. As a player with more models has an advantage.



That said the issue is that without tailoring to strategies/schemes is that you may end up with lopsided games.

One thing you could try is to decide on strats/ schemes ahead of time so people can come with lists built and just get playing.

Otherwise I often have various lists built to suit the different strategies and swap them in and out as it saves time.

I would recommend building to the strats and schemes as it will allow players to identify weaknesses in their collection and address them.

Thanks - some very good points here and I with discuss further with our group.

Breng77 wrote:

One thing you could try is to decide on strats/ schemes ahead of time so people can come with lists built and just get playing.

This is what we do in our group and it works really well.

Breng77 wrote:

One thing you could try is to decide on strats/ schemes ahead of time so people can come with lists built and just get playing.

This is my standard when running an event.

Shows how much I read the set up...

We pick crews, then use the app to do the rando deployment and schemes/strats we can pick from. Had no idea you build after knowing.

Yup it is

Pick faction
Then flip for strats/schemes
Then Pick Crews

To be fair, that's very different to how other mainstream games work. At most, you're told scenarios ahead of time and are allowed to build lists around them in tournaments, but you don't know your opponents faction first.

So it's not uncommon for people to not know about that, or ignore it in the sake of simplicity. My brother and I ignore it too, mostly to reduce the amount of models to transport. We'll come up with a 50ss list, bring it to where we're playing, then play whatever scenarios we get.

I'd say that you can get just about the complete experience by having a model pool of 1.5-2.5x the game size (which is what I bring when I'm out to game, since I'm generally playing given 2 masters at any time), again, even taking a core 1/2-3/4 of your force as basically set, but completely ignoring list tailoring really is limiting.

 spiralingcadaver wrote:
I'd say that you can get just about the complete experience by having a model pool of 1.5-2.5x the game size (which is what I bring when I'm out to game, since I'm generally playing given 2 masters at any time), again, even taking a core 1/2-3/4 of your force as basically set, but completely ignoring list tailoring really is limiting.

To expand here, it is not only limiting to your own likelihood of winning, I feel like not tailoring at all is limiting to your enjoyment. It would limit my enjoyment, anyway. The game is quite well balanced and intricately designed. To really unlock a lot of what I feel is fun about Malifaux, it's best to take advantage of the potential for mind games and bluffs that changing up a few models per game allows you to do.

 -Loki- wrote:
To be fair, that's very different to how other mainstream games work. At most, you're told scenarios ahead of time and are allowed to build lists around them in tournaments, but you don't know your opponents faction first.

So it's not uncommon for people to not know about that, or ignore it in the sake of simplicity. My brother and I ignore it too, mostly to reduce the amount of models to transport. We'll come up with a 50ss list, bring it to where we're playing, then play whatever scenarios we get.

Do you transport models in a bag? It seems to me most army cases will carry far more models than you will ever use in a single game. At which point reducing below that number of models doesn't really make transport any easier for me (i.e. having empty slots in by bag makes carrying it no easier.). If not I guess I can understand wanting just a single crew but I like having my models safe in my army case (since I also need cards, tape measure, markers, tokens, rule book etc anyway).

I understand most other games don't work this way, but as a result much are also far less balanced. Tailoring is part of the balance of the game especially when it comes to mission/scenario. I don't tailor much to specific factions as most of them only have a few general trends amongst masters and no one thing that the faction does regardless of crew.

I've got 2 bags. An Infinity bag, but it's too small for the bigger stuff like a Mature Nephilim, Chompy or a Whiskey Golem and the slots don't fit Malifaux bases, and a massive BF 1520XL which is complete overkill for a skirmish game and is full of Tyranids. I transport my stuff in a spare foam tray which I can get a couple of crews into if I tried, but would probably cause damage.

Really though we tend to still enjoy really themed stuff so we rarely go outside of the themed crews. If I run Lilith, I run Nephilim. If I run Brewmaster, I run his Tri Chi units. My brother has been playing with more Outcast stuff like Hans and Vanessa, so I might start mixing it up a bit. I've got plenty of Neverborn to mix around.

However, we still have pretty set crews. If I turn up with Lilith, 80% of the crew is decided when I bring it.

That is true for me once I pick a master. That said I usually wait to see the scheme pool to pick said master. I play arcanists and if say reconnoiter pops up I'll likely play Ramos, less so if we end up playing reckoning, then I might opt for Colette.

This answer is simple for me. My case contains all my malifaux. And the players in my local area are pretty much the same. We head down with all our stuff to play, as it's all concentrated in single cases. Therefore, we have it pretty easy. The only time we pick crews before schemes and strats is if we're demoing to really new players.

That's what I intend to eventually do. However, my main issue is finding a non pluck foam option that nicely fits Malifaux bases. The standard of 30mm rather than 25mm makes it rather awkward.

 -Loki- wrote:
That's what I intend to eventually do. However, my main issue is finding a non pluck foam option that nicely fits Malifaux bases. The standard of 30mm rather than 25mm makes it rather awkward.

I use a GW case, they fit perfectly, and for models on 40mms and 50mms, I just use two slots.

I can't recommend KR strongly enough. A standard size case with 3 18 slot foams for the 30mm models and 2 pluck foam sheets for the 40/50mm models is enough to fit an entire faction into, and I'm a big fan of KR's actual foam as well.

Not a fan of either GW or KR honestly. Unfortunately Battlefoams trays are based on 1E and 1.5E. There's a local Australian place, I might try them.

The downside to having Neverborn and Gremlins is there's some rather large, awkwardly shaped models to get into a case. It's Tyranids all over again.

If you just don't like KR, then fair enough. I will say that I have Lord Chompy Bits (which I believe is the largest plastic model they make) snuggled safely in my KR foam, though, so if the size issue is a concern, I really think they could surprise you.

I just assembled my plastic Lilitu last night though, and good lord that whip is going to get caught and tear off in the foam so quick...

That's actually why I don't like KR that much. They use soft foam designed to hug the model, which from experience with Tyranids and Vampire Counts, is not the best for fragile or pointy bits.

I prefer more rigid foam with slots that are a bit bigger than the model so they've got room to be placed in the slot and taken out without catching. Served me very well with both Tyranids and Vampire Counts.

I've found that 30mm bases fit into GW foam (the old stuff with 36 individual boxes, not the new one) if you alternate the orientation of the miniatures: ^ v ^ v ...