Turn Sequence Turn Sequence The Game Turn begins by flipping for Initiative. Starting with the player that flipped the highest card, players take turns activating a single model. After all of the players have activated one model, the winner of the initiative flip activates his second model. This process is repeated until all of the players have activated all of their models. Once the last model ends its activation, that Game Turn is over.
Some models have the
Companion rule. If two models with the companion rule are within 6" when either model activates, both models may activate simultaneously. The model initially activated completes its activation first, followed by its companion. As you can imagine this is a very powerful rule that can allow 2 or more models to group up on an opponent before that opponent gets an opportunity to react.
Action Points (AP): All models in the game have at least 2 general action points and 1 (0) action point. A model does not have to use any or all of it's
AP, but once a model ends it's activation it usually does not reactivate that turn. Any unspent
AP are lost.
More Action Stuff: This is in addition to other action points that model has to spend. Alternatively, a model can perform a single (all) action during its activation. A model that performs an (all) action cannot perform any other actions that activation, including (0) actions.
There are rules that can add or subtract action points. A model with the
(+1) Fast ability has an additional action point to use during its activation. On the other hand, a model with
(-1) Slow ability has one less action point to spend. Both Fast and Slow can be innate abilities of a model, or they can be conferred upon a model by a spell, trigger, or another model's ability. A model that receives a
Paralyzed effect from a spell, ability, or trigger, has 0 action points to spend during its next activation.
In addition, there are action related abilities tied to specific types of actions. For example,
(+1) Casting Expert gives a model 1 additional action point per activation that can be spent only on a spell.
(+1) Instinctual lets a model perform two different 0 actions during its activation.
If you take another look at Ramos'
Stat Card (spoilered below) you can see the action point cost for each of his spells and abilities. Also note that Ramos has
(+1) Casting Expert.
Game Setup: A game begins with with each player choosing a faction, but not a Master nor Crew composition.
Board and Terrain: Games are typically played on a 3' x 3' board. The general type of terrain used is determined by flipping a card and referring to the Encounter Location Chart. The location (e.g. ruins, industrial zone, bayou, mountains, etc.) provides players with the suggested type of terrain for the Encounter. It also directs you to another chart to determine special rules for the Encounter. These special rules can be things that affect the entire board, like howling winds, or they can be special terrain features that provide bonuses or penalties to models near or in them.
After the terrain is set up, deployment zones are determined by flipping a card and referring to the Deployment Chart.
Encounters: To determine victory conditions, one player flips a card and refers to the Encounter Chart. This will determine whether the Encounter involves either Individual Strategies or a Shared Strategy. If the result is Individual Strategies, each player flips on a chart to determine his his crew's individual victory conditions. There are 13 different Individual Strategies that include things like claiming an objective, escorting a supply wagon across the board, ending the game with models in your opponent's deployment zone, etc. At the end of the game a player scores either 4, 2, or 0
VP depending upon how completely that player achieved his objective. The 13 Shared Strategies are identical to Individual Strategies, except that rather than each player having his own victory condition, both players have the same shared victory condition.
Wyrd also provides a number of Story Encounters. These are special, holiday themed scenarios (usually Halloween) that are released each year on the Wyrd website.
Hiring Crews: After the terrain has been set up, deployment zone type is determined, and each player ascertains his Crew's strategy, players THEN select Masters and build their Crews. This order of set-up and army creation is very different than most table top wargames.
Schemes: Next, each player may select up to 2 Schemes. Like Strategies, Schemes are objectives that can earn a player additional
VP. Schemes include objectives like assassinating an opponent's Master, selecting a model from your own Crew that must be killed by an opponent's Master, keeping enemy models out of your deployment zone, etc. Generally, each Scheme that a player announces to his opponent is worth 2
VP. If a Scheme is kept secret it is worth only 1
VP. There are 11 General Schemes, 10 Faction Specific Schemes, and one Master Specific Scheme for each Master in the game (20 total).
Choosing Deployment Zones: Finally, each player flips a card. The player that flips the highest card nominates a player, who then chooses a deployment area. This player then deploys his Crew within this area. The other player deploys his Crew in the remaining deployment area.
Game Length: At the end of Turn 6, a card is flipped and if it is a 10 or higher, the game continues for another turn. This process is repeated at the end of each extra turn, but the target number increases by one each time.
The Factions Guild The people want us here; they're just afraid to say out loud that they're scared and need our protection. -Abner Mathiesen, Prefect Monarch of the Guild
The Guild exists for one reason and one reason only. There is talk of justice and peace, but these are the Guild's secondary interests. The Guild exists to maintain the production and control the supply of Malifaux Soulstones. Everything else comes second.
The Guild can be best described as the Old West Marshals of Malifaux. With a strong backbone of Guild Guardsmen keeping peace supplemented by specialist teams that target a particular peril facing Malifaux.
The Guild gives players a choice of strong masters, thanks to the diverse range of supporting models a player can adapt their crew to their immediate needs.
Lady Justice - LJ is a melee master, and her box tends to be the "anti-Ressers". Her and the Death Marshals tend to have abilities that disrupt Resurrectionists. Their abilities don't create corpse counters, and when they die, they don't drop corpse counters either. This prevents many of the summoning abilities of the Resurrectionists, at least those that require corpse counters.
Perdita Ortega - Perdita and her family are the "anti-neverborn" faction. They tend to be ranged combatants, and Perdita herself has some abilities that allow her to see through cloud effects, ignore forms of cover. Her crew can all activate together based on the Companion rule, though not all of them are ranged masters like Perdita.
Sonnia Criid - The Pyrokinetic Witch Hunter . The Anti-Arcanist, capable of fighting in Melee and at Range, but specializes in Magic (both casting and countering it). Her powerful 'pyrokinetic abilities' punishes all she faces with ash and immolation. Her crew also has ways of disrupting magic.
C. Hoffman - The Deus ex Constructica. A Construct Synergist. Rather than summoning new minions (like Ramos and Leveticus), he instead specializes in maintenance - buffing his mechanized army and removing their weaknesses.
Lucas McCabe - The Treasure Hunter. Dual Faction Ten Thunders. A fast-moving mounted master with variable equipment. Lucas McCabe has several effects that Slow or Paralyze opponents, and gets tougher when surrounded.
Resurrectionists People say I hate the living; it's not true. I just happen to see the potential inside all people, those great things anyone can do if they arent trapped in their own consciousness and morals. And when I unlock that potential, death is a side-effect, I cant help that. -Doctor Douglas McMourning
Resurrectionists offer a solid and fun crew to play. The ability to raise models from the corpses of others coupled with a strong resistance to damage, the Resurrectionists provide a solid challenge to any opponent. Resurrectionists offer a great range of masters from the Pimp Seamus and his undead hookers, to the mad doctor McMourning and his flesh constructs.
Dr McMourning - (aka Doc Frankenstein) The Close-Combat Surgeon Summoner. Fast and hard to kill, this Master dissects his opponents before stitching the stolen body parts together to produce Frankenstein-style monsters that do horrible things to opponents in melee.
Nicodem - The Zombie Horde Lord. Somewhat fragile without a bodyguard of undead, but can raise and buff his hordes of undead easily and has some nice ranged offensive spells.
Seamus - (aka Jack the Ripper) The Mad Hatter with a Hand Cannon. Not a great summoner, but he and his crew of dead prostitutes lure enemy models in before either blowing them away with his hand cannon or making them run with his excellent terrifying abilities.
Kirai Ankoku - The Spirit Master. Uses her own wounds rather than corpses to summon her very resiliant spirits, and supports them by providing excellent mobility and healing the wounded ones.
Yan Lo - The Enlightened Necromancer. Dual Faction Resurrectionist/Ten Thunders. Yan Lo grows in personal power as models die around him. He can store friendly dead Ancestors and rebuild them with Corpse Counters, and gains new abilities from one of three paths when non-Ancestors are killed near him.
Arcanists There is nothing here but smoke and mirrors. -Colette Du Bois
The Arcanists share an affinity for manipulating the energy of Malifaux into almost magical effects, whether this be breathing life into machinery, commanding fierce beasts or even nature itself. However, its not all about magic for the Arcanists, they all strive to meet their goals via vast underground networks operating under the very nose of the Governor. Whether it be profit or knowledge the Arcanists rarely fail to achieve their goals. The Arcanists offer a unique range of Masters from Summoners, to Controllers, to true Magicians, they have it all.
Marcus - The Beast Master. Not a lot of direct damage spells. With his crew of beasts he plays an aggressive hit-and-run game
Ramos - The Cyber-Spider Summoner. He has some direct damage electrical spells, but for the most part he specializes in creating mechanical spiders that move up and kill/detonate vs. enemy models.
Rasputina - The Ice Witch. Slow, but very good at dealing a lot of damage by throwing ice magic through her minions from a safe distance away (Warmachine players: think arc nodes)
Colette Du Bois - The Stage-Showgirl, Soulstone Master. Colette focuses mostly on swapping models in her crew around, making and using soulstones to power her spells, while dancing around the board to stay out of danger. A tricky master to get your head around.
Mei Feng - The Human Freight Train. Dual Faction Arcanist/Ten Thunders. Can leapfrog convoy along chains of friendly Constructs, and bounce from opponent to opponent in long chains of Strikes, Spells, and Triggers. A melee spellcaster.
Neverborn Men come to me to learn their fate. What they don't learn is that I'm the one pulling the strings. -Zoraida
The Neverborn represent all the things that go bump in the night. A horrific mixture of nightmares, monsters, and masters that play on peoples fear and emotions. The Neverborn are a strong faction with a wealth of big and nasty options available to them, alongside subtler manipulators. Once you have mastered a Neverborn crew you will be a thorn in any opponents side.
Lilith - The Vampire/ Monster Breeder; a very swift, melee-focused, infamous "cradle-snatcher". She throws her opponents into disarray by shifting models around, switching foes with her minions, and summoning earthquakes or forests to create or prevent charge lanes. Once in melee she drains the lifeless bodies of her victims of blood to feed her Nephilim and help them mature.
Pandora - The Mind Freak; uses willpower duels for protection, movement and to destroy enemy models one wound at a time.
Zoraida - The Voodoo Swamp Hag; tends to manipulate everyone around her to suit her goals, preventing her opponent from cheating down cards and forcing enemy and friendly models to attack each other
The Dreamer/Lord Chompy Bits - The Innocent Menace; the psyche of a sleeping child made manifest in Malifaux. Believing it all to be a dream, he plays with his foes without realizing these toys are real people. Flying about the board, he summons and buries his crew of "Nightmares" and when he takes his fancy, he becomes the massive and extremely lethal "Nightmare".
Jakob Lynch - The Bliss-Pushing Card Shark. Dual Faction Neverborn/Ten Thunders. Manipulates his hand and his enemy's hand in a variety of extremely potent ways, while relying on his dangerous Spirit Totem to do the heavy combat. His crew infects enemy models with Brilliance, then gain benefits from it.
Outcasts Why we eating horse again ? You know i likes the piggies better. -Gremlin
The outcasts represent the fringe elements of Malifaux, hiding from the ever watchful Guild while trying to survive and prosper. Often hiding in the Wastelands that surround the city. The Outcasts provide the widest variety of masters to play. From the wild and uncontrollable Gremlin's to Mercenary Masters available to the highest bidder. Often not the easiest crews to master, once mastered they provide a solid force capable of frustrating your opponents.
Leveticus - The Steampunk Necromancer. This creepy old man blends technology with necromancy to deliver death and turn his victims into steampunk monsters who further the assimilation. His fearsome arsenal of spells are powered by his own life force, causing him to constantly die each turn only to be brought back to life in the next, Nothing short of killing both him and his totem-like Waifs will remove him from a battlefield. He is considered one of the hardest Masters to learn.
Som'er Teeth Jones - The Hillbilly Horde Master. A crew of happy, self destructive Gremlins and Pigs with poor stats but fully capable of overwhelming other crews through sheer weight of numbers.
The Viktorias - The Twins. Two Masters in one, and poster children of Malifaux. Their crew tends to consist of some excellent specialists with minimal synergy between them. One of the easier Masters to employ but by no means the weakest.
Hamelin the Plagued - The Tyrant of Plague. Kills you with Blight Counters, hordes of rats and by making your models unable to target Hamelin or take objectives. Linked in the background to Hamelin the Piper, a seperate model who was Hamelin prior to becoming the Plague Bringer.
Ten Thunders This is a brand new faction. There is currently only 1 pure Ten Thunders Master, Misaki. The other four are dual-faction Masters, which means they can be hired as their respective faction, or Ten Thunders, which limits which models they can hire.
Misaki, Mistress of the Ten Thunders - The Assassin. A single-target specialist. Misaki gets many actions every activation, with many abilities that set her into a one-on-one fight with a single enemy. She also has potent defense, some crew support, and the ability to steal Soulstones from enemy leaders.