I need some help

[BaronVonAHott]

Hey everybody! Extremely new player here. I've been considering Malifaux for a long time, and finally made the plunge when a good friend of mine said that he'd play with me. So far, I really like the system on paper. The problem is, our group hasn't been the most helpful. They kind of just beat the hell out of me and don't tell me what I should do different or even help me decide what models to add insisting that I'll "learn from losing", but I just get annihilated and I'm not sure what I should be learning. Would anyone here mind taking the time to tell me what I should be doing with the models I have and maybe what I should add? It would be much appreciated! These are the models I have so far:

Lady J's box

Perdita's box

Death Marshall Recruiters

Brutal Effigy

Brutal Emminsary

[Antipodean]

Malifaux can be tough to start out as the core rules are deceptively simple, but the unit/upgrade rules on the cards are where the real power lies. Something you don't learn until you get hammered by them.

I started with Lady J and lost way more than I won for the most part of a year. She tends to only do one thing which makes her easy to counter by people who know you may be using her. Her two new upgrades in Broken Promises are very handy for her though. I always take Brutal Effigy with her - healing and card draw for damage and kills respectively combines well with what she does - stab and kill people. Watch out for armour and hard to kill - these really slow her down. She is best at carving up enemy minions with her minimum 4 damage to help you start to outnumber the enemy mid to late game. Don't be afraid to lose her late game unless eliminate the leadership is in the mix.

It's hard to give more specific advice without knowing what enemies you face and what missions are on the table. What factions are you usually up against and are you using GG 2017 or the core rulebook schemes/strats?

[Ludvig]

Hey and welcome! Sounds like some pretty mean friends to be honest, the learning from losing involves discussing the came and giving tips in my vocabulary.

 

Are you playing the schemes from the book or gaining grounds 2016? A lot of what you need to do depends heavily on the schemes and strat of course but there are some general pointers like which schemes are more doable and such.

 

Generally for your masters buffing them with Francisco will make them survive better and they are both great at killing so bringing him is good. The effigy is also neat because of it's condition and because it's a fairly survivable 4ss model that can do schemes decently. That should allow you to play your master(s) pretty aggressively. On the whole I can imagine that they have activations left after you've done all your stuff because you only seem to own expensive models. That is a big drawback in this game, in the gaining grounds -17 especially.

For more models I think some cheap ones like field reporters or guild hounds would get you furthest, you are pretty well covered for hard hitting expensive ones.

For learning tactics you need to stick to a similar crew until you learn the ins and outs of your models. It will also help if your opponents play the same masters with you because knowing about the enemy crew is also important for playing well. Pick one of your masters and try to use a lot of the same models between games. 

How are you loosing? Getting everything killed or just not getting enough scheme points yourself?

Edit: Just FYI I lost maybe the 15 or so first games I played and my opponents were really helpful to me and explaining their tricks. There is just a lot to take in even for an experienced mini gamer.

[Gnomezilla]

I never learned the threat range of my opponent’s crew just from getting thumped—figured out what would hurt me and how much and what resist, but not from how far away. I had to put proxy bases on a board and play solo a few times, measuring everything from both sides of the board and playing both sides at once. Funny, though, I only learned I wasn’t seeing range when we tried a close deployment format (when you start only 12” apart, many models can be in position to attack on turn one) and I suddenly sucked so much less. Maybe ask for some close deployment games and find out if that changes your game.

[BaronVonAHott]

Thanks for the responses guys! I appreciate it! I've been facing almost exclusively Neverborn and Resurrectionists. We've been playing missions out of the main rulebook. I have all of the upgrade cards. All of my games have been with Lady J because I think she's cool, but I really need to try out Perdita. I do okay in the killy missions, but the only game I've won is when I took 2 death Marshals, a Recruiter, and Lady J's coffin and just buried everything scary and then killed them while they were buried lol my biggest problems are I just really have a problem grasping "scheme running", but maybe based on what you guys were saying, I need some different models to help with that. Also, deployment. Is it better to keep everything close together in a ball of death? Or to spread out and cover more of the board?

[Ludvig]

Deployment depends a lot on which area attacks your opponent has and what the strategy is. I usually play pretty close together with my crew but some strategies and schemes really need you to spread out.

Guild have it harder than others to run certain schemes but scheme runners are usually any model at 3-4 ss that can move at least 5 but preferably 7+ inches and also place a marker. Being able to place two markers in one activation is also great. Ressers have necropunks that leap. Neverborn have gupps, silurids, terror tots, insidious madnesses etc. Guild have reporters who walk 5" unimpeded by terrain, hounds who walk 6" but need to stick together and watchers who move 6" with flight but are only available if you buy Hoffman or find old metals. You already have the effigy which is also about as good as our scheme runners get. Using a model that cost 7+ soulstones to place markers is inefficient, you sometimes need to do it but it shouldn't be your game plan from the start.

In the original book schemes there are some that are just a lot easier than others, the ones on suits are generally very doable if I recall correctly.

Breakthrough is tough for us but Distract is usually very easy points. Assassinate should be doable depending on opponent but is also a huge risk for Lady J, recruiters and Francisco help with that. Protect territory is almost an auto take if it shows up, kill opponent and use cheap models to drop markers around one of your sturdier models near the end of the game, you can have two or three markers near the same model to score full. Bodyguard is ok if you don't play timed games. Francisco is bad for it because he is usually a priority target but if you put it on Santiago or the Judge it should be doable.

[4thstringer]

Does your group tend to preselect schemes and strat?  Because we can help with list builds.  Heck, I think we could do a little better, giving you goals to work on each game to develop certain skills.

[skoatz]

I think 4thstringer has a great idea there.  Even if your group doesn't normally pre-generate strats/schemes, maybe you could setup a game ahead of time and ask to pre-generate the encounter?  You could even ask for them to declare their faction so you know the strats/schemes and faction you're going up against before the game.  Then, like 4thstringer suggested, we can recommend a list with some things to practice.

[Gnomezilla]

Speaking of timed games, when do you use AP for scoring? Do you plan to kill first and score later? Because even in the rule book schemes, that generally puts you behind on points. You’ve got to have a plan in mind about turn two scoring, either to make sure you get the strategy (and once-per-turn scheme) point, or to make sure your opponent won’t. Or pick two all-at-once schemes, and then try the scorched earth approach. Or do what I did as a newbie, pick the all-at-once scheme and spend all my AP scoring it, my models dying but putting me ahead on points before they left play. This last idea night not work if they have a lot more models, and so a lot more AP, than you, as they can spend AP picking up your scheme markers. (A Perdita crew with Nino would be able to stop them picking up your markers even when you are out of activations for the turn.)

[BaronVonAHott]

Usually we generate the schemes and stuff right before the game, but  I do have a game set up this weekend, and I know that he only plays Neverborn. He owns Lilith and Pandora, but almost always runs Lilith with a couple big cyclops , Barbaros and some Nephilim that evolve into bigger ones. Does that help with advice? Thanks again guys!

[Antipodean]

Always take Scales of Justice against Neverborn - the +1 WP bubble is super handy.

[4thstringer]

On 11/22/2017 at 4:38 PM, BaronVonAHott said:

Usually we generate the schemes and stuff right before the game, but  I do have a game set up this weekend, and I know that he only plays Neverborn. He owns Lilith and Pandora, but almost always runs Lilith with a couple big cyclops , Barbaros and some Nephilim that evolve into bigger ones. Does that help with advice? Thanks again guys!

Any updates? Has the streak been broken?

[Vorschlag]

General advice for newer players:

You have four assets in Malifaux, your fate hand, your soul stones, your acivation points and your activations themselves.

When using one or more of these assets ensure you are using them to either score vp, deny vp, reduce your opponents activations or mislead your opponent.

For turn 1 unless you are trying to alpha strike you will spend most your ap setting up for turn 2.

Combat is not important unless it does one of the above four, try to avoid targeting models that have already activated until near the end of turn you gain less advantage.

Do not commit assets to combat actions which do not benefit you (shooting into cover without focusing etc) commit models to combat if you are attempting to reduce your opponents  activation, tie their models up so they can't interact or shoot or if you are attempting to get your opponents focus away from what you intend to do for vp.

Always ask about resist stats and cards in hand before opposed duels, this gives you a better chance of targeting the right models with the right ap.

When you know your crew well enough move to asking these questions before choosing what to activate so you can make better decisions.

Ask about threat ranges before committing to movement, ml range + charge etc or sh/ca.

Know what your getting yourself into before dropping a model into a killing zone, also you can ask for your opponents ml/sh/ca and compare it to your resist stat for peace of mind.

Never undervalue cover and terrain that blocks line of sight.

Remember 2/3 - 3/4 of the board should be covered in terrain and 1/2 of that should be blocking.

Use cover effectively and don't waste ap firing into cover unless you focus, if you have cards to waste defensive stance in cover can be game changing.

Any further advice would require more information on your table/terrain and the strategies and schemes.