Malifaux boardgames?

[L3gion]

Hi.

Long-time reader, first-time writer, soon-to-be player (got myself a Tara box, some undead guys to go with it, and a 2-player starter set which I successfully used to recruit some friends. By the way, just have to mention how much I love Tara's lore and attitude - "I don't owe the world nothin', and the world owes nothing to me. Sooner or later, all will be Void, and I'm already dead, so... zero sh#ts given". Also, Obliteration the Procrastyrantor is a nice break from other Tyrants, most of which are combinations of megalomaniac and asshole.)

I'm a boardgamer, first and foremost, - never had interest in miniature games or tabletop RPGs; but I've fallen in love with the Malifaux lore and could not resist. With that said... Am I the only one who would love to see some Malifaux-related boardgames? Games Workshop uses their boardgames quite successfully to sell people on Warhammer and get them some miniatures; I believe Wyrd can do no worse. There are a lot of people who don't want to get into miniatures gaming, but love themselves some good boardgames, and Malifaux-related ones can get them interested in the setting and the game. Also, just like GW, it would be a good way to get Malifaux players some cool stuff: miniatures, Fate Decks, pieces of terrain maybe... Even if models were less detailed or came pre-assembled (gasp!), it would still be cool, I think.

Some ideas:

- some type of small-scale brawlers with Malifaux models (Puppet Wars, but with models useful in the full game and, you know, not discontinued; Gorechosen; The Dragon & Flagon);

- a dungeon crawler of some kind (DnD Adventure games come to mind, with their component interchangeability, tiles that can be useful outside the boardgame, and a boatload of minis; an absolute dream would be something akin to the old-school Warhammer Quest or Shadows of Brimstone, with their near infinite replayability and expandability. Being able to use the models from the boardgame in Malifaux and models from Malifaux as heroes/enemies... dreams, oh, dreams. And, once again, tiles for Through the Breach);

- some other combat-related game (Space Hulk, Betrayal at Calth, Gangs of Gommorragh... If GW can do it, so can Wyrd).

These can be used as a way to distribute miniatures and, possibly, Fate Decks; alternative scuplts of existing models can lure in existing players. Basically, "here's a cool boardgame to go with your models!" / "so there's this miniatures game where you can use the guys from your boardgame!"

Some non-miniature ideas:

- card games set in the world of Malifaux that capture the general feel of the game and setting (Dark Gothic - a deckbuilder based on the A Touch of Evil board game; Warhammer Quest: the Adventure Card Game, which is limited due to being discontinued, but is an absolute blast; Space Hulk: Death Angel);

- more traditional card games which may or may not use (or be, in addition to being the game's components) Fate Decks (as modifiers, for example, akin to tokens in Arkham Horror: LCG). I personally would be interested in a real-life implementation of a game that Taelor played with that mystical lady in a cave in the 3rd book: two Fate Decks, if sufficiently good-looking, are an attraction in and of themselves (let's be honest - a majority of Malifaux players probably own more decks than they use, just cause), and some cool-looking "bones" could be used to spice up the terrain (a graveyard of ancient giants sounds cool to me). With a light ruleset, I can absolutely see myself playing it after boardgame evenings or after a few matches of Malifaux - just throwing cards for 20 minutes, relaxing the brain and having some quick fun before packing up and going home.

 

So... yeah. Anyone else thinks Malifaux board- and/or cardgames could be cool?

[Kimberly]

 

I mean, this is a thing, and people are wanted to playtest it! Bayou Bash Playtest

[L3gion]

Kimberly, thank you - completely missed it somehow. Unfortunately, I don't think I would be able to playtest it, since I live in a God-forgotten city in a God-forgotten country of Ukraine=/

Awesome news, anyway! Still, there is a huge potential for more.

[Ludvig]

12 hours ago, L3gion said:

Kimberly, thank you - completely missed it somehow. Unfortunately, I don't think I would be able to playtest it, since I live in a God-forgotten city in a God-forgotten country of Ukraine=/

Awesome news, anyway! Still, there is a huge potential for more.

You will most likely print all the components yourself and playter it with people younormally play boardgames with so living in a remote place shouldn't be a big hindrance.

I hope Wyrd continues down the boardgame path, it's a great way to expand.

[spect_spidey]

3 hours ago, Ludvig said:

You will most likely print all the components yourself and playter it with people younormally play boardgames with so living in a remote place shouldn't be a big hindrance.

I hope Wyrd continues down the boardgame path, it's a great way to expand.

They are a small company. I don't want them to overextend themselves. Each new product they release that is not related to Malifaux means less resources put towards Malifaux. I just hope they don't expend all this effort branching out to the detriment of Malifaux and Through the Breach. The Other Side already has me worried that they plan to go the large scale route and that is not something I have interest in. I have already been there and done that with Warhammer 40K. I am done with large scale. I like skirmish. However if there was a way to incorporate Other Side models into Malifaux by giving them a card for each game, then I might buy some Other Side items. Otherwise I will not even consider the game.

[-Loki-]

2 hours ago, spect_spidey said:

The Other Side already has me worried that they plan to go the large scale route and that is not something I have interest in. I have already been there and done that with Warhammer 40K. I am done with large scale. I like skirmish. However if there was a way to incorporate Other Side models into Malifaux by giving them a card for each game, then I might buy some Other Side items. Otherwise I will not even consider the game.

There's little to fear about Malifaux going to army scale. That's why they made a whole separate game. If you're not interested, well, that's why it's a separate game. The intention with a new game is to attract a new audience, not cannibalize the current audience. The common background of Malifaux will draw in people who want to play it for that reason, but it's aimed at an entirely different audience than Malifaux.

About resources, they've been talking about TOS for 2 years now since they first teased it, and during that time they have developed the rules, done the art, done the unit renders, and I'm assuming experimented with casting in the new material, playtested the system extensively and also written and edited the rulebook and unit cards. Some of this, like the unit renders, was finished before the kickstarter even launched.

In that time in Malifaux, they've released two books, with a third on the way. They've made a campaign system, released the Crossroads Seven, Emissarys and a new master per faction, as well as about 15 new units per faction along with things like the story encounter boxes, caught up on all of their backlog of models being updated into HIPS, released a slew of alternate miniatures between Nightmare crews, Miss models and alternates available in multiple ways and ramped up errata. Edit - oh and have run two global campaigns, one of which let the community shape three new characters.

I don't think their support of Malifaux is hurting because they're giving The Other Side a try. A few projects might have been sidelined (they said as much during the kickstarter when they put every unit into production rather than getting them unlocked) but Malifaux is definitely getting a lot of support.

[Ludvig]

I would assume boardganes take a lot less development than full scale miniature games and that they would assign another team to it. Not sure how these things work but companies more or less need to grow and I think the GW boardgame apinoffa did great. Might also bring new players into the fold which is good.

[spect_spidey]

I just don't want games like The Other Side becoming their flagship game and reducing Malifaux. It is easy to continue support for Malifaux now because Other Side is not out. Should it release to larger sales figures, it could cause Malifaux resources to shrink. Companies want to sell more models and larger scale games require a consumer purchasing more minis than a skirmish game. That could shift the company's target audience to those who spend more at one time.

[Ludvig]

ToS is going to be competing qith the giants in a much more direct manner. The small model count of malifaux also leta them charge more for each model so I'm not sure ToS will sideline it.

[spect_spidey]

I hope not. I prefer spending my hobby dollars in a way that lets me play more than one faction. Larger scale games are cost prohibitive to that.

[Pyrflamme]

Another possibility is that The Other Side becomes enough of a cash flow that they're able to hire additional people and devote those people to The Other Side development.

[Lucidicide]

Malifaux is perfectly safe. We love that flipping game, and we have no intention of letting it fall by the wayside.

[Dogmantra]

16 minutes ago, Aaron said:

that flipping game,

*finger guns*