TableTopical

I started with Tara, so I 100% support learning to play with what you like to look at! As another note, I've been away a while, but I'm planning on getting back to writing more articles and updating the file more. If I haven't already responded to your post from above, fear not! I will do so when I am not writing from a tiny phone screen.

Thanks for all of the feedback. I haven't played Parker before, so I figured I might be off base with him from just reading his card and the tactics I've been able to find =P. I've updated the table based on your feedback, let me know what you think! Great tips! I guess it also helps that since you have so many duplicate models on the field, you get to know their rules pretty quick. Their's less of that "I'll activate this guy... let me look at his card for 45 seconds to remember what my options are"

Hey all, thanks for your feedback! I actually debated something like this, and ended up going the easy route of lumping them all together as the generic "Casting damage". Based on your feedback, and others below, I'll update the file! I haven't played against/with him before (since he was so maligned before his buff). What do you think his top 3 should be? If I remember correctly, I was sort of stretching to find 3 things he focuses on when I was going through all of the masters. It was just her use of scrap markers for Railwalking, but I'm going to replace it with Force Multiplier as Bengt recommended below. I think the Railwalking is realistically covered by Mobility anyway. Resource manipulation is definitely a filler. I was trying to figure out the best way to get all of the different resource interactions into the sheet, but it ended up as a pretty bloated category. Any recommendations for how to improve it are appreciated! :). I've also gone through an updated the sheet based on your suggestions. Do we think there should be a "Flexible" category to cover masters like Kaeris? Thanks for the feedback. I've updated Perdita, let me know what you think of the new ratings! Thanks! I've updated Shenlong, so let me know what you think!

I'm writing a series of articles on picking your first master, and in my most recent one I put together a Spreadsheet that rates each master on which areas they focus on. The idea is to have a "quick reference" guide to the playstyles of each master as a first step in the Master choosing process. Since I don't have experience with all of the masters, I would appreciate any feedback on the ratings I gave . My article explaining the categories can be found at http://tabletopical.com/picking-first-malifaux-master-part-2/, and the spreadsheet can be found on Google Docs here. Let me know what you think! Ken

Ahh, I remember this article from back in the day. Good call! I gave the article it's own paragraph at the end for extra reading on the topic! Any good tips for saving time in your Hamelin play? The whole rat engine really takes up alot of time! Also, I played a game with Jack Daw the other day, and I agree with your point about there being a lot of thinking involved. I feel like I spent more time staring at his and his crew's cards than actually playing the game! I think that I'll like the puzzle of him though, so I'm excited. I agree that the Vics are a great way to start and learn the game! I personally don't like that playstyle too much, but I totally see the appeal of just deleting something off the table at a moments notice :). Thanks for the compliments on the articles as well, I'm really trying to figure out the best way I can share what I know, and help people getting into the game! In other news, I wrote a new article in my "Picking your First Malifaux Master" series here. I created a Spreadsheet that shows what each of the masters focuses on, so I'm hoping it will be a good resource for newer players! I do want it to be community driven though, so let me know if you disagree with any of the ratings for your favorite masters!

Inspired by your comment, I wrote up a blog post this morning with my thoughts on how to pick your first malifaux master. As nerds we're pretty smart, and doing a "one size fits all" master recommendation for everyone seems to be a disservice for getting people the master that they'll truly enjoy. http://tabletopical.com/picking-first-malifaux-master/

As much as I love the fluff and model for Levi, I think I'll be waiting a bit before starting him up. I'm resisting the urge to branch out into other factions as much as possible until I get and play everything in outcasts. I know Levi would be a slippery slope for me lol. I have his cards though, so maybe I'll look them over and see if I get inspired ? Nothing ever really jumped out to me in ressers. I do like the look of Reva though... I've played enough miniatures games to realize that I need to pick factions/miniatures that I like the theme of, as well as the mechanics. Whenever I just get what people recommend, I play a few games, and then get bored. Playing the less beginner friendly masters also gives me a puzzle to solve, which I enjoy more than winning. You will all be happy to know that I had a very good holiday in the minis department, so I will in fact be starting Jack Daw! I also got a bunch of other Outcasts models, so I'm thinking about testing them out and writing up some in depth stuff on them!

You are all the devil. Seriously though, I'm going to wait until after the holidays to decide whats next for me to write as far as masters go. I'm expecting to get a box or two of Malifaux stuff, so those will probably be my next articles :). In other news, I've conscripted a few local gentlemen to guest post as well, so everyone can look forward to more than just my boring crew box reviews!

I've definitely noticed the various opportunities across the factions to get you bought into other factions.. as a Tara player, I now own ressers for summoning with Karina. As a Misaki player, I now have 10T models... The first hit in a faction is always free I guess...

I reallllyyy like Teddy. So what you're telling me is that I can buy Dreamer, get Teddy, and then still defend it to my wife as "No I'm not starting a new faction, this can all be used together!" ? I need to buy Levi...

i was being tempter by Dreamer, so its probably for the best that I bumped him down the list.

I've now moved Jack up on my Amazon wish list.. Look what the two of you have done...

I wish I was even close to that with my painting! You guys are like the little devil on my shoulder whispering 'Buy more models!'. Now that you mention it, I've liked jack's aesthetic since i started playing back in 1e... Maybe I'll do Jack's crew box review next and get nice an comfortable with the cards to see if I would like him..

I'm glad you guys are reading through these enough to actually catch these mistakes! I can totally feel your pain with Voracious Rats! I'm particularly bad at anything that requires me to remember things outside of my activation (I think I'll steer clear of becoming a pro Jack Daw Player with all of those auras in his crew...)

By popular demand, I've done a review of the Brotherhood of the Rat models. I may have went a bit overboard in the descriptions, but this is what happens when I don't have a master to write about!