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I've liked the look of Malifaux since the first time I saw it. Only problem was that there isn't much (if any) Malifaux happening in my city and it did not look cool enough to also get a community off the ground before I could play. Interest seems to be stirring though.

I understand that Malifaux is relatively cheap to get into, which is good, because I and a post-grad (i.e. grad student).

I'm not sure what I need to play though? What restrictions are there on list building? How many points do things cost (want to be able to get to 50ss)? Which books and/or accessories are essential?

I understand I want to have variety, but I want to keep the cost down, at least initially.

Most importantly, can I put up a decent fight by piking a theme and models I like?

I like The Void (am I missing something with that tag?), so I have this in mind:

Tara box set (I read it totals 27ss)
Scion of the void
Bandidos (look cool)
Hans (seems cool)
Would that be enough and make a decent crew? Maybe these too:

Extra void wretches
Desolation engine (expensive though)

You can get the rulebook without fluff and wave 1 model stats free at drivethrurpg.com

Besides that you will need a fate deck or you could use a standard set of poker cards and the rulebook references for which suit converts to which suit. You will also probably need some 30mm and 50mm markers for some of the encounter strategies and schemes.

A normal game is played at 50SS. Though you can play at 35SS or run variations such as Enforcer Brawl and Henchman Hardcore. I believe rules for these formats are on the Wyrd website.

As for the other models you are looking to get, here is their breakdown:
Scion of the Void is 8SS Henchman.
Bandidos are 5SS each and come 3 to a box.
Hans is 8SS Enforcer.
Void Wretches also come 3 to a box and are 4SS each. But you probably won't want more than the three you get with Tara.
Desolation Engine is 13SS Enforcer.

Crews have no set limits of how many you can take except that you can only ever have one master, which is what Tara is. Some particular models may have a Rare 2 or such like the Convict Gunslingers. Tara's whole box has errata though, so you would need to get the accurate cards as a download from Wyrd or physical cards from Wargames Vault.

Tara is pretty cool. I would recommend getting either Aionus or Death Marshals to go with her rather than Bandidos and Hans. They synergize with her real well since her main abilities and theme deals with Fast/Slow Conditions and Burying models. Aionus can do things with Fast/Slow and Death Marshals can bury models.

I hope this helps.

I could also go for Archie, Bele Noire and some gaki (love the models).

The answer to "how much stuff do I need?" is obviously "All the stuff!".

In all seriousness, themed crews can work well, and Tara's does. Echoing the previous post, a death marshal is a useful addition, as is Aionus. Tara is dual faction Ressurectionist/Outcast, so to start with you should pick one faction or the other. She can hire things with the Void characteristic (everything in her box plus the scion and death marshal) regardless of which faction you choose, it's just the supporting pieces may be different.

The only purchase I would consider essential outside of models is a fate deck. You can use a standard deck of cards, but converting back and forth will probably be annoying. The rulebook is available free online, and I'm assuming you have a tape measure to hand. Some tokens are needed, 30mm markers are part of the game, but almost everything else is just for convenience so can be written on a bit of paper.

Thanks guys. That's really helpful.

Right, didn't see death marshals because I wasn't looking at guild.
I'm guessing they are around 5ss?

I want to minimise purchases at first and by the look of it a master box, an extra henchman/character model and a minion box will do?

So for an all Void start:
Tara set
Scion of the Void (yes, I insist)
Death marshal box

Should leave me close enough to even it out with upgrades?

Not sure about the stat cards? Do they become outdated so I have to buy another set?

Death Marshals are 6SS each to hire into your crew. So you should be able to use all models you mention or leave out one or two and use some upgrades. The stat cards don't become outdated unless they update the version of the game such as when they released version 2. But Tara's crew got some errata. They added the Void characteristic to them. The Nothing Beast got upgraded to a Henchman. I am not sure if there was much change to any of their abilities or attacks though. I haven't bothered to really compare the two.

Themed crews generally do well. I only play themed crews, outside of the odd model or two, and I do well enough.

I tend to have a rule that if a box of minions also comes in a crew starter, I'll grab the crew starter (especially if the minions are from the same faction, like Bandidos in A Fist Full of Scrip), as it gives you another master, totem and henchman to play around with. Even if you don't intend on playing the master right away, stash them in the drawer for a rainy day, but the extra henchman is always handy.

Tara is an annoying one for beginners, she has a wonky play style that is trickier to use. My local group has plenty of Outcast and Resserectionist players and Tara is the one master who I don't regularly see. Partly it's half her theme models didn't work initially and the other half were attempts at stealth fixes before Wyrd gave up and Errata'd lots of things. Partly is that she has so many moving parts to her shenanigans by the time they work the effect is underwhelming. I won't say don't play her but be aware she'll be an uphill battle compared to the simplicity of other masters.

Another thing I haven't seen it mentioned the Desolation Engine splits into 2 Abominations on death and is costed with that in mind so you need them, either from Leviticus' crew box (the crew it "belongs" with) or the separate box.

Some theme crews do better than others. Tara fits in the "does better than others" box, largely because Wyrd has spent a lot of time fixing her lately. You'll definitely need to print up the cards out of the errata or order replacements as Tara's crew has changed pretty significantly.

Her starter + Scion is a great set. Karina is a little hard to use and wants some extra purchases to allow her to summon, so the Malifaux Child can be a solid addition to replace her. More Void Wretches is one of the few times a crew can make use of models beyond what you get in a single box, but you probably want something else to start with. Death Marshals can be okay, but you might also want to consider Aiounus, who plays into the time/bury theme well.

Thanks for helping. Will be joining the fight in Malifaux soon.

Last bit of confusion. Do i need to buy cards to have the rules for upgrades (esp.crew specific ones)? If not, where do I get them?

What are the "waves"?

 DarkBlack wrote:
Thanks for helping. Will be joining the fight in Malifaux soon.

Last bit of confusion. Do i need to buy cards to have the rules for upgrades (esp.crew specific ones)? If not, where do I get them?

What are the "waves"?

The 'waves' are each book and the model rules contained within. Rulebook is 'wave 1', Crossroads is 'wave 2', Shifting Loyalties is 'wave 3', Ripples of Fate is 'wave 4', the upcoming Broken Promises is 'wave 5'.

All cards pertinent to the included models are in the box. So if you buy a crew box, it will include all of the unit cards for all included models, plus the upgrade cards for that specific master, plus the henchman/enforcer if they have any.

What you don't get in any boxes are the 'general' upgrades for your faction. There's about 10 at this point per faction. You also don't get the 'fix' upgrades they did for some models to buff them. To get these, you'll want the generalist upgrade decks 1 and 2. Deck 1 contains the upgrade cards from all factions from books 1, 2 and 3. Deck 2 contains the upgrade cards from book 4, plus the 'fix' upgrades.

Book 5 is coming at gencon, with 2 more upgrades per existing master, so you'll want that as well. I beleive that is going to be called the 'Masters Upgrade Deck'.

One downside to packing these upgrades like this is you get all of the general upgrades for every faction, so if you are only playign one crew or faction there's a lot in there you won't need, but if you have an FLGS with any sort of Malifaux scene you should find people willing to buy the extras off you, or just keep them for if you start those factions later.

Also, there's been a bit of errata'ing. Particularly Taras crew had a lot to clean up wording and such. So you'll want to go and grab their updated cards here under 'individual cards'. Either that or you can download the updated cards for free here (bottom of the page) and print them yourself.

That makes sense now. Thanks Loki.

Will probably split the upgrade deck with a friend and give the rest to new players, to welcome them in. Our Malifaux "scene" is just starting out.

Splitting the upgrade decks is definitely the way to go if you've got a lot of new players at once. If its just you, you can order the specific cards you want from WarGameVault:

http://www.wargamevault.com/browse/pub/5162/Wyrd-Miniatures?filters=0_0_0_44301