Some of you may know that once again, my itchy gamer finger has been playing up, and as ever I seem to have run out of ointment.
This time, my attention has turned towards Malifaux by Wyrd Games. I've been drawn to this game for some time now, but because it uses a very different mechanic, namely cards instead of dice, I've always kept a distance. There are a few people in the area that play the game already, but due to circumstance I haven't really had a chance to see how it plays.
For my part, I have been drawn to the Arcanists, or more specifically, to Colette du Bois' crew of Showgirls.
For Malifaux I wanted a crew with a good strong backstory, and the trouble is that they all do, but the Showgirls particularly drew me as more than many others, they naturally rub shoulders with the other factions on a regular basis. It seems however, that I have not only picked a crew requiring more synergy than most, I have also picked one that hasn't yet, and in all likelihood won't have its 2nd edition beta rules for some time.
As such, I have also picked up the Ortegas box.
This crew, I understand, is more forgiving for the beginner and so I am hoping that I can get the basic rules down using this crew and then I shall move on to Colette.
I've been helped so far by a few different resources, as well as Mark Green who goes by the twitter name of @Aeth_1904.
The main resource is the Malifaux site itself. As well as pages for each Faction and crew, it also has a PDF of the current 1.5 version of the rules, a crew creator which is fully adjustable with all options available to each faction.
So a little introduction to the background for those that do not know. The world of Malifaux is linked to our own by a dimensional gate known as the Breach which was opened by a collection of magic users on our side. On the other side was found an abandoned town, also called Malifaux, and a very specific resource called Soulstones. These Soulstones can be used to power spells amongst other things, but diminish in power with use. The main method of recharging them is with the death of a living being in proximity to the diminished Soulstones. As such, the town of Malifaux has been populated by groups of humans all intent upon seeking their fortune. Of those, there are several factions: The Guild who retain some semblance of order, though mainly for their own ends. The Arcanists that area collection of independent wizards and black market smugglers of all things magical, the Resurrectionists who are practitioners of Necromancy. The Ten Thunders, the newest faction who have spent years increasing their influence by infiltrating the other factions, the Outcasts, the disinherited populace that have no home within the other factions. This one more than most are crewed by human and none human members. Finally, The Neverborn, as far as is known are the native inhabitants of Malifaux. The presence of the humans is not a welcome addition to their world and they seek to eradicate this new intruders, something which they may well have done at least once in the past.
For my part, I have been drawn to the Arcanists, or more specifically, to Colette du Bois' crew of Showgirls.
Now, before you judge, I would point out that in Hordes I play Trollbloods and in both Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 I play Chaos. Neither are particularly feminine, even the female Trollbloods. As such I go for models that look nice and I can feel a resonance with their background. I shall let you dwell on the thought of resonating with a showgirl.
For Malifaux I wanted a crew with a good strong backstory, and the trouble is that they all do, but the Showgirls particularly drew me as more than many others, they naturally rub shoulders with the other factions on a regular basis. It seems however, that I have not only picked a crew requiring more synergy than most, I have also picked one that hasn't yet, and in all likelihood won't have its 2nd edition beta rules for some time.
As such, I have also picked up the Ortegas box.
This crew, I understand, is more forgiving for the beginner and so I am hoping that I can get the basic rules down using this crew and then I shall move on to Colette.
I've been helped so far by a few different resources, as well as Mark Green who goes by the twitter name of @Aeth_1904.
The main resource is the Malifaux site itself. As well as pages for each Faction and crew, it also has a PDF of the current 1.5 version of the rules, a crew creator which is fully adjustable with all options available to each faction.
In addition there is a downloads page that has rules updates, wallpapers and fiction that is all free to download.
The Wyrd Forums appear to have a good group of helpful gamers as well as a reasonably active company presence. As said earlier, Wyrd are currently working on a second edition of the game and one of the most surprising things I have found is that they are running an open public beta. This is a completely alien concept to me and just goes to show that Wyrd are open to genuine feedback.
External to the main site, and independent of Wyrd, the most useful source I have found is Pullmyfinger which is the Wiki site dedicated to Malifaux. So far it seems very detailed and very extensive and has proved invaluable.
I've also been watching as many battle reports as I can find on YouTube as well as watching episodes of Joeyfaux.
Finally, I have been listening to the Malifools podcast. Episode 33, which can be streamed from the website, contains a beginners guide, so be sure to listen to that one.
Obviously I am still new to the system, but if anyone would like any further info, or can provide me with information please do so. I would be particularly interested in any good Malifaux blogs or 'how to' or introduction videos.
For now however, I'm off to find Deadwood on DVD cheap.
Nice one Mark, your comment was correct and that was the reason why it wasn't updating.
ReplyDeleteYour almost as bad as me at trying out new gaming systems, at least you actually get games played which is a lot more than Ive done this year..