LeperColony

I thought Guild and Two Courts were getting their big release from the starter set that's supposed to come out.

Most games that started out as skirmish scale eventually expanded into army sized. Warmahordes and Age of Sigmar being two notable examples. Largely this is because miniature companies need to keep selling you stuff to stay in business. Malifaux side-stepped this dynamic by putting the growth pressure not on game scale, but collection scaling. You "need" to buy more not to play larger games, but to ensure you have the right crew you need to face a given opponent or optimally pursue the chosen schemes and strategies. This is a model closer to a CCG or collectible miniature game. Having a larger collection is a comparative advantage. Amusingly, improving balance (which M3E seems to have done) exacerbates the pressure to buy more models because there's no longer a narrow range of objectively superior choices against all (or most) comers. Now, it is perfectly possible to play Malifaux with just a single master and even just a single crew build for that master. But when I am talking about the game to prospective players and I'm fielding the cost question, I'm up front about the fact that Malifaux isn't the same as a game like Blood Bowl, where maybe all you'll really get is your own team. I think even most casual Malifaux players include a few masters in their roster, or at least a good range of options for 1-2 masters. One of the consequences of Malifaux's crew selection system is that it significantly increases the value of experience. Knowing what all your models do is non-trivial, but knowing what all your opponent's models have is a real dividing line between serious and more casual players. Malifaux has a rock-paper-scissors element to it (though not quite that deterministic), and understanding these dynamics across the entire model range is a considerable undertaking. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. Experience should improve your chances at victory. But it can make crew selection more daunting for new players, and it probably makes list building a more significant element in victory than is generally appreciated. I know when it comes to competitive 40k, which is a scene I am familiar with from friends but not personally a part of, there is a strong sense that the game can be over "before it's begun" due to list dynamics. Malifaux is not that extreme, but the fact that lists are not set before hand means that the experienced/knowledgeable player may be able to build in an advantage every game, whereas if you had to bring a "take all comers" list, that factor would be diminished.

Okay, I see those now, but that's ridiculous. Conceptually it's not even a bad idea. Just make the slashes long enough to clearly cross both border lines and it would become much clearer.

Yeah, I mean it's not a trial for the ages or anything. Just something I find annoying that seems unnecessary. Also, a lot of the events I run are demos for new players. Not just Malifaux, but also Through the Breach. The indicators just make things easier. I have a player in my current group who is new to Malifaux who almost bought a TOS deck thinking they were all equivalent in functionality (because honestly, why wouldn't they be) and if I hadn't been in the store I wouldn't have been able to explain the difference.

All The Other Side decks lack them, despite the fact that their box says they can be used for Malifaux. Yes, I know you "can" use them for Malifaux, but then again, you could even just use a normal deck of playing cards. Also, while I don't own the Classic Fate Deck so I can't be sure they don't have them, I can't see any indication that they do. I actually own more fate decks than I really need (M1E decks, M2E starter sets, the retro deck, the bad ink decks, etc), it just annoys me because it seems like such a simple thing to make sure is included in the design.

Title pretty much says it all. Why make fate decks without the weak/moderate/severe indicators? I know you can just memorize the range, and I know not all their games need it (like The Other Side), but really if you're designing a fate deck it should really include W/M/S indicators. Wyrd, going forward, please make sure all your deck designs have some way of displaying this information.

The player base is very small, there are some balance issues, and Wyrd is too busy with M3E to really do much with TOS. Those factors combine to inhibit the game at the moment.

We have two events this week at Lost Planet Games in Torrance. Tuesday, 6:30 pm Saturday, 1 pm Anyone of any experience level is welcome! If you're an old pro, come by and play. If you're just through the breach, we can teach the game and provide all materials. Hope to see you there!

The SD scene is a bit anemic currently. There are a few players, but nobody organizing from what I can tell.

I haven't had a chance to play a lot of M3E yet, so I wouldn't say I'm struggling. Haven't lost on Colette thus far, though my opponents are also learning their crews so I don't put too much stock in these results. It's more that I'm just going to have to play more to see if a forward focused strategy is viable. I suspect even if it is workable, sometimes I'm just going to get completely flattened.

I've never seen the Wyrdscapes as meant to be a terrain solution in the same way as the Terra Clicks or Plasticraft were. To me, they're more about enhancing the battlefield with a Malifaux specific aesthetic. Towards that end, I'd actually rather have seen stranger/more unusual buildings. A ruined house is honestly pretty generic, you can get the same thing from other places cheaper.

Sounds like we have pretty different play styles. Which is probably an indication I'm doing things wrong...

I find that I activate her early in early turns, and later in mid/late turns. If my opponent doesn't have the ability to ignore resist triggers, I often fling her as far forward as I can as fast as I can to absorb attention.

Does anyone use False Reality much? I haven't used it yet. For one thing, I rarely have a ton of Distract on my enemies. And for another, it seems to pale in comparison to Presto-Chango. If I can't reliably get a or I don't want to burn a stone, I've always done something else (move or interact mostly, assist once) rather than activate it. Removing Prompt really changed how she plays in a fundamental way, which I'm not saying is necessarily a bad thing. But I feel like False Reality is a drag on the rest of her kit. If it gave Distract, then you did the move effect, it would obviously be a lot better but it would also mesh well with the rest of her crew and I don't think it would have been OP.

In my opinion both markers would count for Search the Ruins.

I don't think this has been a priority for a while. Maybe they didn't sell very well? I know I haven't seen any in person yet, and despite intending to buy them, I haven't.

Butterfly Jump as a whole seems like a poorly balanced upgrade.

Nice table! When they built that water wheel in the desert, what were they planning on doing with it...

Which keywords have you found to be the most abusive? I'm guessing they'd be based around control and/or resource manipulation as opposed to beaters or shooters?

It says the "Active player...chooses one of their models..." Does "their" refer to ownership or control?

Parking the Sow next to the Pigapult just to pump out ammo sounds like a lot of stones invested. Is it worth it?

We're going to be holding an M3E demo and casual play day on Saturday, July 20th at Lost Planet Games in Torrance. Our start time is 1 pm. Anyone of any experience level is welcome! If you're an old pro, come by and play. If you're just through the breach, we can teach the game and provide all materials. Hope to see you there! If you're not available but you're interested generally in Los Angeles area Malifaux and The Other Side, consider joining the Los Angeles Malifaux Players Facebook page!

What about the Pigapult? Does that have a place in Ulix lists?

Samurai honestly seem almost too good to be minions, just because of how Upgrades work now.

Despite being a long time gamer, I'm only a mediocre hobbyist. The whole building and painting aspect has always been something I just have to get done, rather than something to enjoy. But now I have an idea, so I'd appreciate any advice. I'm interested in starting Ulix, but I want to replace his totem Penelope with a spider a la Charlotte's Web. The idea is to find a spider miniature, put it on some kind of scenery. Those I can accomplish easily enough I think. The question is how to model her webbing to spell out a message like "Some Pig!" like from the books. Any suggestions on materials and/or techniques would be great!