hippieshopper

You have a lot of good points and being new to Malifaux is one thing, but you have a lot of other experience and that's what matters. The good models to use for demos are precisely what you mentioned. They require little or no finesse right out of the gate and usually that boils down to a good, old fashioned slugfest. For this I would suggest pairing up any of those you've listed... Masters such as Lady J, Perdita, Rasputina, Seamus, Lilith, Viktorias, Ophelia (as a Henchman) While Som'er is fun, he does require some knowledge of battlefield control because whichever list you run, his own dudes can get pegged or trampled. The reason I leave out most of the Ressers and Neverborn is because most of them require knowledge of specific rules. Summoning is the primary one for the Resurrectionists, the Neverborn go crazy with model use, willpower duels, and burying. I apologize if I am speaking Greek to you. I've seen Lilith vs. Perdita as one of the better matchups, as to pitch it...I am no good at that.

The Steamborg is very nasty though It has great Combat, damage, and flurry...the problem with both is that they paint a pretty big target on either one.

Yeah, I agree with Sandy... Against say....gremlins, it doesn't matter if you don't have a hand because they will be burning some sweet cards to get away from you. Meanwhile they are completely shafted because they rely on ranged attacks.

The local yokels are very helpful around here too, so if you have any questions at all, they're usually pretty happy to help. You will also find tacticas littered around the site which are a simple "how-to" guide to how that master works and plays. Welcome to Malifaux!

Just be careful summoning frankies around C. Hoffman because he can Machine Puppet them That happened to me, he whacked McM with my own dude and got a Red Joker-Severe and I mitigated with the Black Joker. McM croaked. Sebs saved the day and used bloody harvest to take him out. The rule most people learn about Sebastian....don't let him hit you! =P

Necropunks aren't insignificant. The only problem I see is getting leap off frequently.

I like them, I mostly use them as a Killjoy delivery system. Using them effeciently relies on some decent masks though, but most of the time I don't rely on my hand. I love using them against a range-y based crew if the strategy is something like destroy or plant evidence because I can run them right to it and when they shoot them to kill them, they can slow to die and nab the objective.

I usually have a lot of doggies. With Sebs, McM, and maybe a starting Frankie... the rest is mostly made up of dogs. Sometimes I will run with a Belle or two just for setting things up as MadArcanist said. Combined with a Punk Zombie, it's a great idea to pull a model into a grouping of a Belle and PZ and have the PZ flurry them.

So you can be Fast for a few turns, maybe if you want to run up a few inches if you want to drop it in the middle. I said it wasn't perfect and that there are other ways to do it. My point wasn't to try and make a sparkling perfect example of what to do but to point out a general outline people could follow. McM is wonderful with that huge SS cache...why not use what he already has? I have been playing McMourning for 7 months now and I have never needed anymore than his 6 soulstones.

It is a very intriguing storyline, I admit. It is also a very nice game. It is quite balanced too, which the more I read of other games...the more prominent Malifaux becomes. I'm still planning some kind of crazy roadtrip to see how other Malifaux players play this game. But that's in it's developmental stage at this point in time...probably after Gencon, so I can see what shiny new toy us Malifaux players get.

I've got a recipe for a Rogue Necromancy on turn one if you are really intent on having that. You do need to rely on some low cards and a few masks. 1. Start with 2 Soulstones less than your game number (33 instead of 35, 28 instead of 30, etc) Use these as extra Body Parts. [2] 2. Take at least 2 Canine Remains 3. Have McM cast Wracked with Pain on a Canine Remains within his melee range. Cheat it down if necessary. Cheat with a Mask and trigger Scalpel Magic. [3] 4. Use the melee strike and kill it. [4] 5. Pick the Corpse Counter up. [6] 6. Repeat steps 3-5 on another Canine Remains within melee range. [10] 7. Cast Monsterous Creation. [2] It is a little silly in my opinion and there is more than one way to do it but it is kinda funny to pop it out on turn one to see the look one someone's face. As for the OP topic... I usually use 4, so I could use them as BPC or to nab stuff with Sebs. There is never an McM list I have without Sebastian...some people say he's not that great, but I have no idea what their talking about. In a 35ss list, I usually have... My core models: McM Sebs 2-4 K9 remains Optionals (depending on Strategies) 1-3 Punk Zombies 1-2 Rotten Belles Flesh Construct Grave Spirit More K9s Killjoy

Well it's kinda difficult for me then, Malifaux is dying at our LGS. We have people buying Malifaux stuff but they can never play very often, we get people from several miles away getting this stuff. I know the few players we have are willing to move our "Malifaux" day around if it means more people but it never really helps.

I am looking to assume the role of Henchman at our local game store. Before I fill out the application I wanted to get an understanding of what they are specifically responsible for doing. The one aspect I am pretty sure of, out of all of them, is demoing Malifaux. I've seen those two demo videos on the forum...but I wanted to get some other ideas on how to go about it. More resources and whatnot...things of that nature. I know as far as the material requirements for the game, I have all of that, but I just wanted to get an idea of what they do before I step up and assume that role.

Chompy is very very good at alpha striking, in fact that is what 90% of people do with him. You have to know the rules on burying models in Malifaux before he becomes easy to play with. Also, his box is missing his totems, which is extremely useful for most of his tactics. Well I was unaware of where you folks were but you might also want to try Home Depot or something which may have materials to do it yourself. It's not as good as the pros, who have the machines for it, but it's still good.

The Viks are pretty easy to expand on, they can cherry pick from just about anything with the "Mercenary" trait. Most of the time you want to just fill in the gaps with the Ronin...very amazing models by the way... The Viktorias are sisters, and game wise they have that twin-like instinct ingrained in their mechanics. They can share positive buffs between them, companion each other, etc... The dual sword Vik hits like a truck and she can hit almost anything she wants with her very high combat stat. I would say she can easily go on par with Lilith, they both have similar, but not the same, combat styles. The cards are just cosmetic and you can just buy them to show your faction's colors...or maybe you just like the colors...it's all the same. As for card covers, what my LGS has done, we go to OfficeMax, Kinkos, or another office supply place and laminate them. That way we can use dry-erase markers to mark Wounds lost and stuff like that.

The Guild Master The blindfolded lady with a big sword and big boobies Her crew out of the box is her, some death marshals, and Judge (her bodyguard and possibly love interest)

I am inclined to agree with this, she is pretty nice to start with if you are pulled towards gremlins.

All boxes are set up for a 25 soulstone game. A lot of them leave some extra room to use the soulstones for your master. (Adding flips and mitigation) Henchmen are the step between Minion (your lackeys or goons used to grab objectives, kill, etc...) and Master (your leaders). To be quite honest, I never have used a Henchman at all and it hasn't ever phased me. I would just skip over them, if you want to add them to your crew, not as masters...then by all means, go ahead. Henchman can be lead by a respective master, like Som'er leading Ophelia, but Henchmen are supposed to be beefed up Minions and can also use soulstones, regardless of if they are leaders or not. I agree with you, just go with a normal Master's box for now.

Lady J: She is much like Lilith in that she's up in the fray chopping people to pieces. Most of her crew are very sturdy and have ways of destroying Corpse Counters, which cripple the Resurrectionist masters, mostly Nicodem. Perdita Ortega: Perdita can sit in the middle of the map and perforate anything. Most of her crew has the surname Ortega, Papa Loco too but he is a shock and awe tactic. Sonnia Criid: Sonnia Criid and her crew are also use ranged attacks, she can put up walls of flame to block off the enemy as well as blasting the crap out of the enemy if they bunch up. Nicodem, the Undertaker: He is my master of choice. The undead overlord of sorts, he summons the undead. Arguably the best summoner in the game, the undead have very little ranged attacks. He is a support caster. Seamus, the Mad Hatter: Seamus is very good at battlefield control. Not so much damage with the exception of his very large gun, which can only be used once a turn. He is a master who can easily heal himself. Rasputina: Rasputina is great at blasting people because she can "bounce" spells off of some of her minions, meaning there is very little room for the enemy to hide. She also has ways of blocking off terrain with pillars of ice. Lilith: She is quite mobile and pretty much her whole crew is centered around getting in your face and chopping you to pieces. I don't know much beyond that, but I think I hit the nail on the head. Ophelia (Henchman though...): She is the Gremlin version of Perdita. The Viktorias: More slice and dice masters, most of her crew are named models, which usually equates to them having high health and/or damage but also with very high costs. Von Schill (also a henchman): Von Schill is...like the SWAT team in the US. He is very specialized at a few things, does them exceptionally well, but beyond that...he is rather limited. He synergies very well with the rest of his crew. Most of the boxes listed there are easily playable with the box alone. Some of the others not listed require more models.

Some of the box sets are not complete...ie...you will need to buy more than just the box to start playing that master (leader guy) These are some sets that work really well straight from the box Lady J Perdita Ortega Sonnia Criid Nicodem, the Undertaker Seamus, the Mad Hatter Rasputina Lilith Ophelia (Henchman though...) The Viktorias Von Schill (also a henchman) Most people I've known like to demo Perdita vs. Lilith box for box and that works very well because they are both straightforward murder machines.

Oh sorry...that was me.

I support that idea! Malifaux Comics!

All of those things. Knowing what your crew can do is good, same with knowing their's...being able to do "Malifaux math" is pretty good too. Being able to stand up and see the whole board and where your opponent is likely to move, where he will attack. Picking the right schemes for the crew and the one you face is undoubtedly important because that's what gets you your precious VP. One of the other greater skills I have found is knowing when to play a high card. Sure you can always cheat a high card and try to get better than on damage somewhere, but do you always need to do that... Situations like that. A problem I have seen people on this forum have a lot is assuming things. When they get hot headed and their egos flare they tend to say things like "Well I will just run up and do this, this, and this to your master..." Something to that effect, they tend to say that not thinking that you will defend that advance. I guess what I mean is, don't assume that certain things are guarantee'd...Wyrd gave us the Black Joker for a reason.

Well, not all Ressers are fast, just Kirai and Seamus haha Umm, my notes... Spirits take half damage from everything but spells and magical weapons. Also when dealing with things like Critical Strike, Brutal, and your blight counters...You do the damage, cut it in half (round down, I think), then add the +1 from whatever. Also, Jack Daw cannot be harmed by anything but spells and focused strikes...if he does get hit, his controller can discard a card or a soulstone, if you don't...he dies and whoever killed him gets a VP. Spirits don't need to make Terrifying checks to the best of my knowledge and when he charged you, you don't either. It is only when you activate that you'll need to, if you are still in it's melee range. The Void...yes...the only cards that count are ones from your control hand. So holding on to them will hamper Hammy quite a bit, relying on flips on stuff, especially from Shikome and their prey. It looked like a pretty good game though! Congrats

It was hinted at that some dudes and dudettes from Book 1 may be new Henchmen in the newer releases. I'm hoping the Ressers get Sebastian in Henchman form. People think that "adult" Candy will be the new one for the Neverborn