naiatoc

I know this is a long shot, but is there anyone playing Malifaux in China? Specifically central China, Xi'an or Chengdu? I want to get back into gaming. It's been a couple of years.

Cool write up. Your writing style cracks me up! You make it sound horrifying and sexy all at the same time! That really sucks, not being able to cheat fate screws you over, but look at the silver lining. Those low cards where out of your deck. You couldn't cheat, but you probably flipped better than him throughout the game. That's something anyway.

Great summary. I really enjoyed reading it. A few things caught my eye: I feel your pain! A double plus on the damage and you got the black joker! I thought only DracoMax had that kind of bad luck! You sacrificed a dude for the success of the mission. That's the way to play this game. My version 2 cards say it is only a 1 Interact action (even for the shared Destroy the Evidence) however, the Neutral cannot be destroyed until all of the markers on your opponents side of the table are destroyed. Has that changed? Are the cards I downloaded out of date? (I haven't played in a while, so maybe they are.)

2 more Seishin (you can have 5 and I recommend doing so) a Shikome or 2 (great to summon, you might even start with one after the errata) 2 or 4 Night Terrors (fast objective grabbers) Hanged can be ok, but this stuff is higher priority. You also might want to break out of your Rezzer only mindset. I think an Insidious Madness can be awesome and I've heard nothing but good things about Jack Daw (although honestly I haven't played him yet...)

That's funny, because I refuse to play anything over 35ss!!!.... well ok not really. I play at all levels. But I do believe smaller games tend to be better. Yeah and isn't that awesome!? I don't really like playing one gluttonous, hedonistic crew vs another. I much prefer not having everything I want. That's when players have hard decisions to make. That's when you have difficult choices between what's really important and what you only THINK you need. I challenge you to play a 20ss game. See how how good you do without using all the stuff you think you can't live without. To me that's part of the fun. That's why I play Malifaux over 40k.

I think it would be really cool to play on a table like that. I've been toying around with different ideas for indoor or urban tables. Overall the design you've got is good. In fact I like it quite a bit. The only problem is the left side (the side closest to the sketchbook rings). It looks very cut off. There's only one way in from one players side. Effectively it cuts the board down making it smaller. I can't imagine anyone (except a Kirai player like me!!!) finding it useful. As for static game boards. I think they're a silly idea. Look at what you've got. Clearing and rock walls. You don't need to build a single table with this configuration built in... Just build those wall sections just as you would for any other terrain board. You can make a single, flat, gray table for any urban or indoor encounter you want. That way they can be rearranged each wall section and put it in any configuration. If you build the table as is, then it is stuck in that one configuration. There is nothing special about that layout you've got that justifies making it a static board. In other words, you don't have trenches or something like that. So you don't need to make it a single board. Everything I just said about static boards applies to modular boards as well. You don't have to keep making 1'x1' squares, just make the terrain and put it out there.

I thought the same thing when I started with Kirai. In theory it is amazing. And I can say, after more than a dozen games with her I have never used it. Yes the Lost Love can give spirit, but it takes an 11 or higher of one specific suit. That's only 4 cards in the deck that can do it. Whenever I've had the card in hand Lost Love hasn't been in range to cast the spell. One time I had the opportunity, I had the necessary card in hand on turn one, but opted out, instead preparing to launch a Shikome alpha strike.

Yes. This is exactly how you should do it, now that the Prey rules changed. I use to swear up and down never... I mean NEVER start with a Shikome. It's so much better to summon them where and when you need them. But that was before the errata... now I think taking 1 to start is the way to go. It's the best way to get their Prey bonus, which is really sweet. The other way, of course, is to spend the AP to declare a new Prey. But this is an (all) action. I don't like doing this. It's better to just start with a Shikome in play.

I think he knows the Porter can't give Armor 2... What he's asking is the Porter better as a totem than the Grave Spirit. Is it better to have the movement from the Porter, or the Armor from the Grave Spirit? At least that's the impression I got from reading his post.

Ravenborne gave an excellent summary. He mentioned the really useful abilities she has: Swirl Spirits, In the Spirit World, Evolve Spirit, and Summon Ikyrio. Then maybe Absorb Spirit, but to be honest, I use this seldom. My tactic is always wait as long as possible to activate Kirai. The first turn or 2 she is last. Later on I might have to activate her to pull her out of harms way, or for some Swirl Spirit tricks or something, but basically, unless there is a damn good reason to, I activate her near the end of the turn. This doesn't actually have to be last, literally. When I say 'last' I mean after all my opponents models have activated. My reasoning behind this is 2-fold. First capitalizes on her passive-aggressive play style. I can sit back in my deployment zone nice and safe, then cast In the Spirit World and move up the board, and summon a Shikome (or Swirl Spirits a Shikome into place). With the Shikome's nimble walk and fly I can basically hit any piece on the table. If I win Initiative the following turn, all the better. I can activate the Shikome first and make another round of attacks. What makes this trick even sweeter is that in most games I have activation control. I have more guys than he does. So when I activate Kirai, I can summon something and immediately activate it because my opponent doesn't have any models left to activate. This is what I mean when I said 'passive-aggressive play style'. The second reason I wait until the end is that I like to use Swirl Spirits to move my guys into a sweet position for next turn. If all my opponents guys are where they are going to be for top of the next turn, then I get the last word. I get to put stuff in a good place for me.

I was in the same boat your in now. I played the Victorias with limited success.... So I moved on to Kirai and I never looked back.... she has great movement tricks, she's durable, and she's got some pretty sweet summoning. All in all I've had a ton of fun playing her.

When I started playing Malifaux my first crew was the Victoria's. I got the Von Shill box set to expand that crew. Turns out I liked Von Shill more than the Victoria's! I still don't have many games under my belt with him, but I have a couple of thoughts. First, I'm unimpressed with the Student of Conflict. If memory serves, the action to give another model Fast is a (2) action. That means that he will fall behind. Von Shill can blast ahead with his Nimble. The rest of the crew will advance with him leaving the Student behind. The only way I can see it working is if you stay in your deployment zone with at least 1 of your Trappers. Then the Student can give fast to one of your snipers (which is pretty bad ass, I must admit). But it means you cannot deploy them too far from your Deployment Zone. Second, I count 38ss worth of models. What point value are you playing at? If 40ss, then you have a pool of 6ss. (2 from points not spent, 4 from his Henchman value) That's awesome! If you are playing a 35ss game (using his Henchman value for extra guys) then you only have 1ss. Which is way too few.... His Slow to Die action allows him to take a single (1) Action before dying. A master can make a healing flip as a (1) action by spending one soul stone. Essentially this means that he can't die while you have soul stones. When he takes the damage that would kill him he is reduced to zero. You get a slow to die action, so you can spend a soul stone to make a healing flip. Whatever amount you heal is how many wounds he will have when the action ends. So... more soulstones keeps him un-killable longer! Hope this helps. There are just my 2 thoughts from reading over your list.

To he honest I never noticed he was left handed (although I haven't painted mine yet). I too thought the model looked a little strange, but I never could figure out what he was doing. He's standing on one foot kind of jumping back. Who shoots a gun like that! My plan was to build a little section of wooden fence in front of him and have that foot on the horizontal cross beam.

With Kirai it's almost a sin not to take Bodyguard. Lost Love makes her nearly impossible to kill so that's almost a given. For my second I go with either: 1. Steal Relic. I like this for the same reasons mentioned above. It is something I do, not something my opponent does. With cheap, fast (sometimes flying!) spirits this is an easy one. I've landed Night Terrors on top of buildings too many times to count! 2. Hold Out. I like this much more than Breakthrough. I find I am a defensive player by nature so trying to rush into his deployment zone is usually more difficult than holding up in my own. Honestly, this is probably better than Breakthrough for most Resurrectionist masters. 3. Grudge. With Kirai this is useful because her spirits have plenty of melee attacks. That's how I'm killing people anyway. And I choose this over Kill Protegee because it gives me more relevant options. I don't have to choose the most expensive guy for example.... Yes technically my opponent could just kill their own guy to deny me the points, but so far that's never happened to me. I choose a guy they really need. Usually my opponent tries to keep their guy alive instead of denying me the VP. (Also, with my gaming group killing your own guy to deny VP would be seen as a little tacky. Better to loose with dignity...)

What!? They are good for more than taking an objective... a plus flip on damage... They are decent in melee, especially for only costing 5ss.

Perfect...all of those are just perfect, but.... No way! Cheung Pak-Chi should be Misaki. Her English name is Cecilia Cheung. Gotta be her. I've only ever seen her in cheesy Chinese Kun-Fu films. She hasn't yet broken out of Hong Kong and made an international name for herself, but it should be her.

The 'kill your own Desperate Merc for a Seishin and Gaki' trick can be useful. In fact, against people who aren't expecting it, it can be a devastating trick. However, at a tournament you will probably face opponents that know how to deal with it. They won't be surprised... or overwhelmed. They've seen it before. At my local game store I would be very hesitant to use it. Those first turns, while I'm screwing around in my deployment zone killing my own guys to generate more, my opponent is maneuvering into an advantageous position. Now the big thing that caught my eye from your post, is that you use Von Shill in a Kirai list. I find that very out of the ordinary. You really peaked my curiosity. Basically I love Kirai, and I love Von Shill.... together that's just cool. Is there any good synergy they have together? Or is it just both are bad-ass... so together they are twice as bad-ass?

Yeah I can see all of that as well... more avatars for book 1 and 2 masters, avatars for book 4 masters, more upgrades from minion to master (or henchman), and more henchman.

I've heard a few people say they like Drowned with Kirai. Actually I've never used them. How do you use them? What do they bring to the table?

The 'kill your own Desperate Mercenary to get a Seishin and a Gaki' trick is a good one. It nets you quite a bit. Personally... I don't do. It seems a little tacky to me. There are plenty of good tricks to do with her without crossing over to cheese.... but that's just me. If my gaming group started doing cheesy things, I might cross over to the dark side too.

Make sure you Thanks D-A-C above for that clear summary of what you need. His list of what makes up her core crew is spot on. I've been playing Kirai pretty heavily for a while now. When I think about her crew I break it into 3 categories. 1. Must have- this is essential. It is her core crew. If you don't have these you aren't playing her right. And you will use these guys every game (unless you are really trying to be experimental). 2. Second tier must have- I take these guys frequently, but not always. They are standards in her crew but not the core of the core. If you get my meaning. 3. Good alternatives- these are nice models to play around with, but I don't take them very often. Must have: Her Box Set Lost Love 4x Seishin (for a total of 5) 2x Gaki 2x Shikome (summon them, don't start with them) Second Tier Must Have: Night Terrors (2 or 4 depending, they are great objective grabbers) Insidious Madness Dead Rider (this gives you a heavy hitter at the start the game) Nice Variety Options: (these I've played exactly once each) The Hanged Jakuuna Ubume Avatar Kirai My next addition to Kirai is Jack Daw. I have no idea where he will fall in my breakdown. People seem to love him, but I see him as a competitive piece, not something I will use a lot in casual games. But then again... I am more than a little excited to start using him.

To be honest, I am curious where Malifaux is heading. Is Wyrd going to put out a new book with new masters every year? I really liked book 3 with the Avatars. It allowed for a 2 year break before a wave of new masters with new crews and new play styles came out. That gave me time to 'catch up' and buy old models I had been wanting without being left in the dust by a quickly evolving environment. Wyrd is going to have to find a sweet balance between giving the die-hard player enough stuff to satiate them, while not overwhelming more casual players.

A Vampire master for Resurrectionists would rock. Give him a Vlad the Impaller medieval Europe feel. I was drawn to the faction with Kirai. And I want to see new dark magic wielding, evil bad guys. I never really got into the zombie undead from book 1, but Kirai and Yan Lo rock. So Dracula is my vote.

I think I should clarify something. Forgive me if you already know this... A masters Soulstone cache is in addition to the points you have for models. You can take 30ss worth of guys and then get 4 extra ss in her pool. So if you take 26ss worth of guys, you will have 8ss in her pool. (4ss for coming in shy on points + 4ss from her cache = an 8ss pool) So with the Executioner and the Guardian you will have a maxed out Soulstone pool. The box set plus one of those models puts you at 26ss. Her cache of 4 plus the 4 you get for coming in shy of 30 gives the you maximum pool. With 2 hounds you will come in at 25ss. Then you get 1ss back (from the Hounds special ability) So you max out your Soulstone pool and you will still come in 2ss shy. See what I mean? You still have 2ss to spend. Again, I might just be saying stuff you already know... but if not, it's the difference between 4ss!

I don't know much about what is and isn't a requirement at the 'competitive' level. I have not played in a Malifaux tournament. (yet) I play at my local game store or a friend's house in what i would call a 'semi-competitive' environment. In the games I've played, I've only used the Avatar a couple of times with mixed results. And I have found a couple of uses for it. 1. Contain Power. As it has been already said. But also similar situations. (if my opponent has Bodyguard, for example, and I need to deny them those points for a win) 2. Melee oriented master. I have some difficulty against Lady Justice and Lilith. Sometimes even the Victorias give me trouble. The reason is I lack something to take on their master. I know people say swarms of little guys. Or they say to deplete her Soulstones, then they are vulnerable. The problem is committing the resources to drain them away. Having a tough melee master of my own is one way to solve that problem. My advice: if your group has a lot of super tough melee targets that can't be successfully dealt with by a Shikome, then get the Avatar. I haven't played as much recently, and therefore have only a little experience with the Shikome errata, but I believe the Avatar is a useful tool. However, it is something you won't want to use very often.