admiralvorkraft

This was a ton of fun, thank you for running it and I'm looking forward to the next one!

I'd be up for doing some of the grunt work to make this transition happen, but I'm pretty new to the game and would need to be a small cog in a well designed machine...
 

It would be great if someone from Wyrd wanted to chime in, it might help if this were an official-unofficial resource the way that PullMyFinger has been.

I build around a core because I'm bad at list building and I like knowing that at least something I take is going to work. Other people build whole new lists for every game.

To answer your general question, it depends. In a Scheme heavy pool (breakthrough, plant evidence, plant explosives, etc.) or a strategy like reconnoiter then I usually find that one beat stick is plenty. In a reckoning list the current Meta seems to like a tiny, elite force made up of nothing but tough beaters - which is why my league replaces ALitS with Make Them Suffer on reckoning, but that's another story altogether.

EDIT: To clarify, in reckoning you can effectively deny your opponents VP for the strategy simply by not taking enough units for them to viably kill two a turn.

The nursery rhyme serves as a really lovely framing device and the whole thing is short and sweet and very Malifaux. I like it a lot.

Obligatory caveat; there are no take all comers lists in Malifaux, though I (and many others) have had success building a core crew with a couple swing models based on the available strategy and schemes.

I would second MYYRA on your need for mobility, and the Blessed, Acolytes and Wendigo are all phenomenal models in their own right. The Wendigo particularly opens up a lot of nasty options for you. 

Something I've struggled with in my own writing is a tendency to dither. I try to stick to dialogue and description to set tone, I took issue with this passage because it's giving us subtext. We've got two guys drinking sake and talking in very muted language and that's great, tone set. Now the subtext is your opportunity to make that muteness deafening. If these guys know that they're about to die then their restraint becomes noble, painful. That "probably" gives the reader an out, cuts the tension.

Or at least that's my take.

As for other things you might want to clear up... We get that they're trying not to be melancholy just from the dialogue, maybe include it once outside of dialogue but other than that? Trust yourself and trust your readers, we'll get it.

You also hit us with a barrage of simile towards the end, with the dragon. Try playing with metaphor, "it was a taxidermists nightmare." rather than just being like a taxidermists nightmare. I find that metaphor scans better when you're comparing things, and metaphors work better when you're giving surprising contrasts, for instance your beautiful simile in the next paragraph, "spitting rotten slime like a soldier spitting on the side of the road." But again that's a matter of preference.

I love the twist this takes at the end, and giving character and nobility to the little nameless guys propping up Fuhatsu is a great call. My one real critique is that there are a few places that feel overwritten, "expected that they would probably die..." for instance might be stronger if you didn't say "probably." There are a few other examples, but since that's a stylistic thing I won't harp on about it - unless of course you want me to.

So glad you liked it! As soon as I saw the Gentleman Caller element I new I had to try some weird perversion of The Glass Menagerie. I was worried that it wouldn't work at all, but I had tons of fun writing it anyway...

Sorry, rambling.

Welcome to Malifaux.

I'm also a new player, and as far as I can tell the way that balance works in this game is that EVERYTHING is powerful. Lynch is one of my favorite masters because of his insane hand control tricks, when you've got his activation order down you can basically play every other turn without aces in your deck, he can deal out massive amounts of damage and you can mostly hit at will because you have an incredibly strong hand. Run with Mr. Tannen and you've got a bubble where all of your masks (most of your trigger cards) all get plus 2, throw in a Beckoner or two and you can pull his crew apart piecemeal.

I've gotten tabled the first time that I've come up against basically any powerful combination. The second time I've done rather better, and the third time it's a competitive game. All I can tell you is, don't give into despair, play conservatively if you don't know what you're up against, carry out your schemes, learn from your mistakes.

When you pull of the great plays and last second come-backs it is a really incredible experience. I love this game immensely, but it is not forgiving to people (like me) who are inclined to be doomsayers.

Not practical advice, but maybe it'll help.

Secret ingredients; The Gentleman Caller, Crag, and (in a very meta sense) The Past Reborn

It's a bit abrupt, but such is life. Comments, critiques, etc. are welcome.

The Oasis of Tin

“And he’s a proper gentleman?” My mother called from the couch where she lay, a soft cloth covering her eyes, “Because I won’t accept anything less for our Laura.”

“He’s a steamfitter mother, he’s as much of a gentleman as I am.” I kept myself busy at the mechanical hearth, my brass fingers clicked loudly against pots and pans. I enjoyed the work, the succulent sweet smoke was a welcome relief from the smells of the factory and there were no firing pistons hungry for careless limbs. I reached into the hearth to baste the stuffed duck and flames licked up around the brandy glaze. If I were on my own… but a cook’s salary would never support the three of us in Malifaux City.

“Does he make decent money at the least?” My mother asked with the dramatic sigh of a plantation owner’s daughter.

“He’s a pay grade above me already,” I said, shifting the bread to a higher rack in the hearth, to let the crust form, “and he’ll be in line for the next foreman position to open up, or the one after that at least.”

“Well I suppose so long as he has prospects…” She flung out one pale fingered hand, “Laura, darling, would you be a dear and bring Mommy a cider?”

Laura looked up, she was brushing imagined dust from the collection of tin animals that was her pride and joy, her pinched face was framed in dark curls and her eyes were empty. She brought back the animals after her long walks through the city, and she never paid for them - or if she did she didn’t get the money from me. They formed a little oasis on our coffee table.

“Right away.” She said.

“No,” Mother contradicted herself, “Let Tom bring it for me, you might spill on your dress and we can’t have that. Your caller may be along any moment.”

I had already pulled the ceramic jug from the icebox and poured a few fingers of cider into one of the delicate crystal glasses my father had left us with, and that my mother was too proud to sell. I crossed half our tiny apartment in the twenty four steps it took to reach my mother’s day couch. She took the glass from me and held it to her nose, making a disapproving sound in the back of her throat.

“It’s alright Laura.” Mother said, “Your gentleman is rich, we’ll be drinking fine cider again before the year is out, no more of this vinegar for us!”

I bit my lip.

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The knock on the door came as I was whisking together an Italian meringue that I planned to chill in the icebox and serve with molasses caramels for dessert. “Can one of you two get that?” I asked, though even as the words escaped my lips I knew the question was a rhetorical

one. “Come in.” I called with my next breath.

Alexi stepped inside with all the grace that a man with one good leg could muster. He was tall and striking, though not what anyone would call handsome, with a much singed beard and wild green eyes.

As soon as he was through the door my mother went into hosting mode.

The transformation has always astounded me, the vapid child wandering from bed to couch and calling, aching for cider vanished in an instant and in her place was a hostess of the first degree. A bounce appeared in her step and she wore a broad smile showing off teeth to match her pearl necklace and her hands become alive, independent characters in the three person drama of her welcome. I could see at once that Alexi was taken in by her grace and charm and my heart skipped a beat.

I spread quite the table for him; trays of roasted meats and fresh bread, five sauces to delight all parts of the palate, an interplay of textures and styles that the Governor General himself would enjoy. Mother made sure to sit next to Alexi and kept up a steady stream of chatter so that he could enjoy looking across at Laura, and feel like he was getting to know her, even though she never opened her mouth.

Laura was, for her part, beautiful. Mother had taught her to be that and nothing else, and the effort showed. Her gown was lovely, a stark white that seemed to glow against the gray of our apartment and her face was a relaxed smile that betrayed none of the insecurities that woke her up in the middle of the night, nor the fantasies that more and more stole her from my life.

By dessert I could tell my friend was nearly smitten, overcome by the food and maybe hallucinating from the closeness and heat of the small room. Mother called for a bottle of port and I poured two fingers worth of the sticky wine for her and Alexi, I kept none for myself and splashed a bit in Laura’s glass.

“Tom,” she said, extending the O sound and shifting pitch half way through, “I can barely wet my lips with this, you must give me more.”

I smiled thinly and poured her a finger’s worth. She was too young to remember how father got when he was in his cups, but I remembered it clearly, and until my right hand was replaced I had two crooked fingers to help jog my memory. As a consequence I kept away from liquor as much as possible, and did my best to keep Laura sober as well.

“Good, good!” Mother crowed, “Pour yourself some as well, don’t you want to have some fun?”

“Of course.” I said and gave myself a token splash.

“Tom is the most serious man at the factory, I’m always glad when he ends up on my team.” Alexi said, “You can’t tell when some people will come in hungover, but not Tom, he’s always been solid.”

I hid my embarrassment behind my glass.

“You’ll keep him in mind then, won’t you?” Mother said, “When you make foreman, I mean.”

“Yes, well, that is if I make foreman.” Alexi said.

“Oh, but Tom is sure you’ll be next in line when a post opens up.” Mother said.

“I’m going to have a smoke.” I said, loudly enough to cut off the conversation before it had time to get going, “Alexi, would you care to join me?” I offered him one of the cigarettes I’d rolled that afternoon, just so I’d have an excuse to duck away.

“Of course.” He said, there was a question in his eyes.

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“What’s wrong?” Alexi asked, out on the fire escape.

“What do you want?” I asked, “Out of life, I mean.”

“I don’t know,” he said, “family, free time, piles of wealth, a few kids maybe?”

“Laura doesn’t know how to read.” I said.

“What?”

“Mother wouldn’t let me teach her, she said that the books here were all unfit for a ‘lady.’ She’s brought my sister up with insane notions about her place, and what the world owes her. So now Laura floats rather than walks, and while I love my sister I don’t think she can make you or anyone else happy. Least of all herself.” I took a long drag on my cigarette.

“I’m confused, I thought you brought me here to meet her, she’s as beautiful as you said she was…”

“She is, and terribly sweet, the most harmless, innocent creature the world has ever seen but I only brought you here so that maybe I could escape.” I turned to him, “It’s your choice, but I’m warning you that the second you settle with her I’m gone.”

After a long while we went back inside.

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“I’m afraid I have to be going.” Alexi said, grabbing his coat from the rack by the door.

“Of course, it was lovely to meet you.” Mother all but draped herself over his shoulders, “When will you be back?”

“I’m not sure…” He said.

“He means that he won’t be.” Laura’s voice sounded far away, “Tom told him something, didn’t you?”

I could feel something crawling up my back and when I tried to speak no words came out, so I just shook my head. Laura’s eyes flashed with lightning, there was a skittering all around and I could see tiny tin shadows moving by the floor molding. Mother didn’t see anything, just stood stunned.

“Which means I can’t let you go.” Laura said, “You’re my gentleman caller, you’re the one who will save us all.” Alexi turned to fumble with the door but a wave of tiny tin figures swarmed up, covering the wood.

I didn’t stay to watch. I was out the window and down the fire escape before the screaming started - apparently my sister wasn't so helpless as I'd thought - and after that I never stopped running. I would have, I wanted to. But any time I found myself settling into some new city I saw her, in a flash of lightning, or a bit of twisted tin. That night I stood on a crag, some precipice, and since then I’ve been falling like some dead leaf.

Sign me up!

Thanks Nathan! I'm definitely not complaining about you guys filling orders, I'm just wanting to throw more money your way.

School starts on Monday; which means new challenges, new knowledge, and fresh young faces to introduce to the sucker-punch of Malifaux.

I'm not a hard core gamer, but I am involved with the campus gaming group and I'm hoping to drum up interest in the game. I've read some guidelines for running info sessions and the like but I wonder if anyone else has had success doing this sort of thing.

One thought is that the club has a budget for new games and I may be able to appropriate some of it for a couple of starter boxes, so if anyone has recommendations for solid crew boxes that won't totally overwhelm new players I'm all ears - for the record I'm thinking Perdita, Lillith, maybe Sonnia, lists that most people with a mini's gaming background will be able to look at and comprehend. I'm not planning on trying to get people started playing the Brewmaster or Colette.

Any input is much appreciated!

Relevant because it just happened to me; push Ironsides out of combat with the entire crew so that she can be murdered at your leisure rather than trying to put meaningful damage on her in close combat. The same theory works for any CC monster, that gremlin lure is a thing of beauty.

Is there a timeline for the webstore to re-open? I'm having trouble lusting after new minis without it (my LGS doesn't carry Malifaux).

I'm new to the game, but I've done copy editing and formatting for everything from fiction to submissions to scientific journals. My passion is for writing but my rates for editing are competitive. I've also done work for construction companies justifying records across multiple spreadsheets, so making sure the numbers all match has become something of a forte of mine.

I'm sure Wyrd isn't taking to their forums to look for workers, but as a freelance writer I'm obligated to throw my hat in the ring.

Only if by Oxford you mean Oxford, Iowa...

I don't have enough players in my area to even think about playing competitively. I'm trying to recruit more players but right now there's three of us and we're all brand new, so...

Thanks for then input everybody! I'll let you know how it goes when I get a game in.

I'm a writer, actor and avid gamer currently finishing (at long, long last) my BA at Cornell College in beautiful Mount Vernon Iowa. I'm a part of the campus gaming club and a recent convert to Malifaux. Right now I'm getting as much gaming in as I can before the school year starts, so if anyone plays in the area I would love to hear from you.

I think I'll leave it at that, brevity being the soul of wit and all.

That does sound like fun. I'll run the list with a few variations and see what happens. The players in my area have as little experience as I do so I probably won't get the healthy clubbing I really need.

I very much appreciate everyone who says this is a fool's errand. I'm sure that you're right, I just can only buy-assemble-paint so many models and I'd like to get some mileage out of the ones I decide to buy.

It's a mercenary, but the Friekorps Trapper might be my favorite ranged unit in the game. I've not played a ton, but the three inch push you get on every successful hit is killer.

He's different. I'm bad at coming up with names and Hans is suitably generic central European... I should have probably changed it.

I'm glad you liked it though!

Alright, so it sounds like I've got a decent  base to build from. Now to get more games under my belt, and then all the money in the world to buy models with (broke college student checking in).

Alright, so can you tell me how you go about getting better at the game? Do you just play as many leaders as possible and find the one that you like the best for each strategy? To you try and work on a specific faction so that you have the most possible options after you've declared? Right now I'm playing paper-faux, just getting the feel for the game and waiting for the leaders that I'm interested in to come out in plastic...

I'm brand new to Malifaux so I don't know to what degree this even applies, but generally in other mini's games I've played I have preferred to field a general take all comers list rather than tailoring my builds for a specific opponent or scenario. I've toyed with a few different leaders and come up with what I think are decent generalists lists.

Now Ironsides seems like a leader that can do well with most strategies and schemes so I've knocked together a few lists and I'd like some input.

Here's the general idea;

The Picket Line - 50 SS

Ironsides - Arcane Reservoir, Challenge the Crowds, Message from the Union

Mouse

Mechanical Rider

Soulstone Miner

Gunsmith

Willie

Union Miner x2

The idea being Ironsides and Mouse can hold down most areas, backed up by the Union Miners if I don't need them as schemers, the Soulstone Miner and Mechanical Rider provide mobility, Willie is wildcard area control and the Gunsmith is there for the things that need to die.

I've toyed with dropping Willie for a third Union Miner (False Claim is great and multiple Miners together can put out a surprising amount of damage up close). I could trade Willie and the Gunsmith for two Oxfordian Mages (throwing Warding Runes on Ironsides of course) OR I could trade Willie for another Gunsmith.

Thoughts?