fauxreigner

There seems to be a perception among tournament players that The Guild is currently the weakest faction in the game, and struggles to muster crews capable of facing off against the competitive builds of other factions. The UK Malifaux Rankings offers some data to back this up, showing that Guild are the lowest in terms of average tournament points per player. Its hard to tell whether this is particular to the UK meta, because not enough data has been collated in other countries (USA tracking system has just gone live), but anecdotal evidence suggests Guild tournament performance is often underwhelming. I can think of two possible explanations for the current perception of Guild being weak: Explanation 1: The simplest explanation is that Guild are actually the weakest faction under the current ruleset. This could be due to a combination of overcosting, underwhelming rules, lack of viable options, whatever. If this explanation were true Guild would come out worst, even given an even distribution of player skill among factions. You could then imagine a positive feedback loop, in which the top players move away from Guild to remain in contention at tournaments, making Guild results decline even further. Explanation 2: An alternative explanation is that Guild can be played just as competitively as any other faction, but they offer a play experience that tends not to appeal to the top players. If this explanation were true, The Guild would achieve average results given an even distribution of player skill among factions, but under-perform in reality because the top-tier players prefer other factions. It may be that our blunt-object damage-dealing masters of Wave 1 (while quite powerful) did not appeal to top players as much as subtler control masters or tool-box summoners of other factions? Maybe its both? Or neither? Or some other factor I overlooked? Whatever your thoughts, I'd like to hear them.

Do you think a "rat-pack" rule would work as a solution? Once one rat activates, all rats on the table available to activate must do so as chain activations, ignoring the usual restriction of 2. Would this hamstring Hamelin too much? Or is it a viable alternative to the unhirable solution thats been proposed?

Perdita for power, but Mcmourning got my vote for combination of competitive and fun. I generally enjoy my losses with Mcmourning more than my wins with Perdita.

Not sure what will come in the box, but I'll place money that her henchman of choice is Francisco .

Thanks for these lists, very cool. With the models I have available, I could play @Myyrä's Perdita list as is. Are you able to provide some advice on exactly how you play the papa+marshal combo, as I don't have much experience with it? Are you leaving papa in the box as long as possible, and hiding the marshal, to get as many damage flips for Perdita as possible? Or are you actively seeking targets to spring papa on? I could also play @4thstringer's Dougie list but without the emissary, which I don't have a model for. However, I find that Doug and the chihuahua can usually spread enough poison for Sebastian's aura to become a real problem in the clumping strategies. I could sub in the pale rider, who I love for leave your mark, and can be kept alive to protect against quick murder. Do you think the 4 traps are better than a pathfinder and 1 trap? I really like the pathfinder in guard the stash, as he can hide behind a marker and summon, help score the strat, and occasionally poke his head out to take shots.

Next Monday will be the culmination of the June league I am participating in. Scheme pool has already been published so plenty of time to think about lists: Deployment: Corner (10) Strategy: Guard the Stash (9) Schemes: (12, 3) Leave Your Mark () Exhaust Their Forces () A Quick Murder (12) Neutralize The Leader (3) Convict Labor (Always)

I would totally dance for models if I didn't know that the video would be found and used against me by my students . I have procured my Dufresne the cheatin' way, with cold hard cash. Hopefully Nathan will open up the offer to the first comer willing to Shuffle their Truffle online for our entertainment.

Well said. More diversity in playstyle and theme means more people get what they want. Especially with recent threads like "is Guild meta stagnating?", we obviously needed something to shake up the faction. Thematically I'm very happy with Nellie. The Guild certainly strikes me as one of those governing bodies that manipulates the media and revises history to make themselves the great Liberators and Protectors. Making that explicit through a playable character is fantastic.

Yeah... I haven't run the math, but I assume that an Austringer (Sh 7) shooting at a model on will find themselves on a straight damage flip most of the time, even without cheating. Then they can reliably put out 3 damage with each shot, which is rather nice. Still not convinced that it makes Diestro worthwhile at 3ss. Its an awkward upgrade that would be a steal at 2ss (In Perdita crew at least) but feels like a stretch at 3.

I doubt she has a close combat action given she has no charge. Maybe some kind of Ca action that prevents certain types of action being taken, akin the Nurse's pseudo-paralyze triggers? I hope she has some kind of card-draw mechanic - it will make her defensive ability much more powerful, and she'd be even more unique among the Guild masters who struggle to cycle cards.

Nellie!! (maybe)

I really like her thematically. Still making my mind up on the front-card rules. The defensive cheat ability struck me as amazing at first, but when you consider how intensive it would be on your hand to use frequently, it balances out. Sure, you can drop low cards, but guild crews typically have other models that want to discard a low for some action or other. So its probably something to use in the case of Red Jokers or high severes, rather than all the time. Kind of like a built-in Badge of Office. On the other hand, it might be enough just having it on the card to discourage opponents focusing attacks on her, a la Colette. But if they do focus on her, I think think Revisionist History is not enough to save her with 11 wounds and no other defensive abilities (of course upgrades may change this). The more I read it, the more I feel like Run From the Truth is the star ability on the card. Being able to shut down the second attack from a charge by avoiding the first, or making one of your own models push out of combat or into combat with another model after they fail an attack - these are very nice options. Of course, it all hinges on her building up enough Evidence, by being in the thick of things where interacts are occurring, which brings us back to the question of whether her defenses are sufficient for that role. Overall, she seems like a master you reach for when the scheme pool is marker and interact heavy, but she will need some tasty actions/upgrades to inch out McMourning from that role. Can't wait to see the back of her card, and how she synergizes with the rest of crew. I think we got one of the more unique and interesting additions from the new batch.

Yeah... not a fan of the dynamic one. He looks like he needs to be leaning against something, and from the render it looked like it would be possible to model him withe back foot resting up against a lamp post. But that doesn't look to be possible based on how the cloak is sculpted.

Totally doable - will see what the lads and I can put together this weekend. This could be a slippery slope tho, I feel like the forum is about to get inundated with Truffle Shuffles and slime scenes.

Done! I will need to spend a couple of months acquiring the necessary physique for the Shuffle (which will probably require >$100 investment) and then the video will be forthcoming .

This is very exciting - I'm very much looking forward to our big reveal on Monday. I think its fair to assume this will quite a different style of master for the Guild, and help diversify the play experience for our faction.

Ah yes, now her position matches the amount of play I see her get. Serves me right for piping up too soon.

Thanks for your reply Nathan. I certainly appreciate your confirmation that there will be future runs of the limited models, as I know lots of people who would love to pick them up. For me personally, it is worth it to try and obtain the model sooner rather than later, so I can use it in various events and get lots of play out of it before I'm inevitably tempted to switch to a different faction . I've been searching hard for this model for a few months now, and putting that search to a prompt end is worth the higher price.

I am desperate to get my hands on a new-on-sprue Dr. Dufresne (with card), as McMourning is my one true love in the Malifaux world. I know this is a very rare and sought-after model, which is why I am willing to offer $100 (USD) to convince someone to part with theirs. Please contact me if that is sufficiently tempting!

Interesting that Perdita is one of our faction's most played masters, but also least loved (although maybe sample size is too small to say anything). Personally I found her a fun and powerful master to learn with, but not interesting enough to inspire much devotion. Is that the general consensus?

It has been faq'd that final repose (thinks that's the name) doesn't apply to head markers, so Lady j and the judge are just fine in headhunter. I think those were fun lists: I like the idea if using traps to fulfill search the ruins, without having to place scoring models in the center during interference! I'm just sad that they can't drop a marker turn 1, because that would be an excellent use for an austringer on turn 1 when they often find themselves without much else to do.

I just love this guy. This is exactly what the outcasts were missing - a real bandit train robber with rules based around thieving. Perfect. And well played with the name. Well played indeed.

It's McMourning for me. I love that he is a hybrid between combat and control master. Played Guild-side, he has the durability to stand in the middle of the fray, while buffing his crew, handing out interact actions, and getting markers dropped. I've not seen a scheme pool to date where I wasn't able to build a McMourning crew capable of competing.

Definitely a leader to match the reporter theme. Maybe the Editor? I really look forward to seeing the mechanics. Certainly don't expect it to be another damage dealer so presumably a support or manipulation master. I like the idea of shutting down enemies actions by catching them on camera, after all in the storyline many of the other factions/masters do not openly oppose the guild, but subvert it while remaining hidden in plain sight.

Neither the handler nor the sergeant are natural fits in a Perdita crew. A handler would find a better fit in a Sonnia crew with a few stalkers and a focus on handing out burning. As for the sergeant...don't know. Maybe useful in guardsmen-heavy crew which could be run with a few different masters, although not very competitively (for a beginner at least). I'm sure others who have used those models more will have better advice than me. After all...my current favorite master is the only one you said you don't like in the faction .