Hullo all
So like many of you, I got sucked into Malifaux because of the amazing figs. But I wanted to get a feel for the game first, so I just bought the (new) rules. My friend and I then set up a game. In order to not make our heads explode, we tried just a master vs. master. faceoff. The masters we chose were Perdita and Pandora.
Granted this is probably not the best way to learn the game (if anyone has a definitive 'for your first game use the figs' I would LOVE to hear it) but we wanted to get some of the concepts under our belts. The actual system of flipping was relatively smooth (flip, choose to replace, choose to add) but what we found happened was the following:
Perdtia: I'm in range I'll do a Peacekeeper Strike
Pandora: "Expose your fears" ability
Perdtia: Ha! I'm immune to WP duels
Pandora: "The Box opens" ability
Perdtia: Crap! Ok, *Willpower duel ensues*, Pandora wins
Pandora: And because I won, I'll now push myself out of 4" back.
Perdtia: Now out of range, walks forward, does a peacekeeper strike...
Ok, now I've little doubt we were doing things wrong, as well, I have little doubt that Perdita had other actions she could have done (though at first glance I couldn't see any) What really concerned both of us was this:
It seemed that the game tended to grind to a halt and become a "I want to do X, but first we have to resolve Y and (sometimes) Z, before I can attempt to do X" By that time, we found the momentum, (ie. oh boy, oh boy, I can't wait to do THIS action) was largely gone.
I as thought 'gee if it's like this with just one fig' I think my head would explode with five or six figs.'
As well, calculating damage seemed a bit tedious, but I'm used to games where defense/armour is just a static number and not really that gets "played". I would hope that calculating damage would get smoother over more plays.
I'm interested in anyone's comments regarding this issue Is it just a new player issue? Is it something that really only came about because of the fluke of choosing Perdita and Pandora in a master vs master duel? Is this just how the game works? (ie. can't do X before doing Y and Z) I'm also really interested in knowing when people demo this game to new players, what gangs they use, as it might be a better way to learn the game.
Thanks for any advice that can be given.