Soul Puppet Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 This is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while. Originally I wanted to start a Blog but I know that I can’t commit the time at the moment, so for now I’ve contented myself by posting this on the forum. Ever since I took up Malifaux around 3 years ago, I have been in love with this game! I love the mechanics, the interactions, the highs and lows, even the Black Joker! No other game has ever made me think so much and my favorite moments of my gaming life have all come ‘in play’ when Malifaux is on the table. Back when I started, I was a member of Y Dreigiau Dywyll (The Dark Dragons), a group of about half a dozen players at my local club that used to play each other regularly (mostly Warhammer) and had been going to tournaments semi regularly for a few years with mixed success. One of my club mates had started playing this new game called Malifaux (1st Edition) and was trying to get us all interested. Initially, I wasn’t that bothered (being something of a diehard GW fanboy at the time) but once I saw the figure of Kirai I soon changed my mind. I picked up the Kirai box and a few extra models and started playing. The learning curve was very steep and I confess that I struggled a lot early on. My friends suggested that I pick an easier Master to learn the game with but I’ve always been an aesthetic player at heart (I still remember the looks people gave me when I turned up to a Warhammer tournament with 3 blocks of Saurus Warriors in 6th Ed when they were rubbish!). However, I realized that I just wasn’t getting things with Kirai so I looked around for another crew that I liked the look of… enter stage right: Colette and the Showgirls! Again, I found myself struggling initially and my friends again suggested an easier crew (“try Guild as they’re pretty straightforward” seemed to be the phrase used most often) but I was determined not to give in again and stuck it out despite numerous losses early on. Once it clicked though, I found a lot of satisfaction in playing a complex crew and my win/loss record started to change. Eventually, I felt ready to attend a Malifaux tournament and four of us went to Cut & Thrust in Bristol (sadly no longer with us) in March 2012 where I ended up walking away with 1st place! That year I managed to get to 3 other Malifaux tournaments and amazingly just managed to qualify for the UK Masters reaching 16th place in the UK Rankings. By some extreme luck I went on to win the 2012/13 title at a marathon 7 game weekend in January 2013. Since then, the number of players at my local club has dwindled to just two of us on a regular basis (we are hopeful that it will pick up some more soon). Never the less, I am fortunate that the other player is Luke Cocksedge, a very good player and regularly in the top 5 of the UK Rankings. So I don’t mind playing him every week, as I know it’ll be a good game against tough opposition. We both went to the UK Masters again this year and Luke was one of the top 4 ceded players going in. It was a different format to last time but it was also the 1st Masters of M2E and will be unique historically, as only Wave 1 models were available for use. I got knocked out at the Quarter Final stage after drawing with the then UK number 1 (Joel Henry) and losing out by a single point on count back to the previous days pool scores. Joel did tell me afterwards that our game had been the toughest he’d ever played (taking over from the game he played against Luke in the previous year’s Masters) so that was some consolation. Luke made it to the Semi-Finals but lost to the eventual winner (Craig Johnson). He then played Joel in the 3rd place play off and had a draw, which he then lost also on count back. Anyway, all of this meandering preamble leads me to the point of this post. I’ve seen a few blogs/posts by (and about) some of the top ranked players in the UK and their thoughts on various aspects of the game. Despite my achievements, I’m not really sure I can offer this kind of advice, largely because I feel the game (and games in general) are something that people approach as an individual. Even the much lamented ‘cut & paste’ internet lists that people complain about still require ability to wield despite the advantages they might bring. So therefore, I decided to approach this in a different way. I’ve looked at the list of attendees for the two UK Masters that I have participated in and thought about all (not just at the Masters) of my games against those that I have played. I’m somewhat fortunate in that there are not a huge number of games to remember, so I have compiled my results against each of them to help with the frames of reference. I am then giving a few of my thoughts on each of them and what I find them like to play against. First of all, a caveat that the content of this poet is all my opinion and other people are fully entitled to disagree with anything/everything I say. I won’t take it personally and I hope no one is offended by what I’m offering up here. A brief appraisal of what I think has made me ‘successful’ at this game, cue sepia tone flashback… Growing up I really liked Chess. My grandfather taught me to play when I was four and I turned into a reasonably good player… except that I hit a wall where I couldn’t see enough moves ahead to become a great player. Partly I think I got bored because in Chess there are only 6 different pieces and they each have a very limited scope of moves that they can take. I discovered Warhammer when I was 11, waaaay back at the end of 1st edition in 1983 and apart from the vastly more appealing visual aesthetic of the game, I also discovered that it held the tactical variety that I found lacking in Chess. That’s not to say that Warhammer players are in any way better than Chess players (in fact I hold serious Chess players in much higher regard as a rule), I just found that I preferred it as a pastime. Anyway, fast forward to Malifaux… (change to colour) and I’ve already mentioned some of the things that I love about the game. The sheer scope and variety of models available, how they interact with both each other and the Strategies and Schemes, is fascinating and I delight in finding ways to make things work. I have found that my strengths lie in: My adaptability. I am pretty good at finding ways to complete my objectives when my initial pre-game plans have failed. My assessment of threat. Recognising what in my opponent’s crew is most likely to cause me problems and working to neutralise or eliminate it at the appropriate time. My ‘poker face’. I rarely give away what I’m thinking, which often makes it harder for my opponent to read the game. Thinking moves ahead. This is where playing Chess came in handy, as I can often see what I need to do and when and then give myself several options to achieve it. So, whilst I’m at it, here are what I think are my main weaknesses also: Time. Without doubt, this has been the number one cause of my losses at tournaments. Many games I play do not reach turn 5 and, if they had, I feel in many cases the outcome would have been different. So far I can’t say that it’s been deliberate ‘slow play’ on the part of either myself or my opponent, just that I find tournament time limits restrictive and my thought processes are not conducive to playing the full 5 turns in a tournament, NB this makes certain Schemes in M2E (e.g. Bodyguard) much less likely for me to take. It’s not something that can really be tackled though, I just have to try and get my slow brain working faster! Forgetfulness. Malifaux is a complex game and I sometimes forget things in the heat of the moment that make the difference between winning and losing. This might be an ability on a model, the need to take a particular action or simply forgetting that the TO has stated something about the game that I’ve then forgotten at the crucial moment. Again, not much I can do except try and train my brain to work better! So, the bit you really want to read, the other Masters attendees and my results and thoughts on playing each of them (I’ve done these alphabetically by first name, so don’t read anything else into it! ): Aidan Kirk W0 D0 L1 I’ve only played against Aidan once, a 1st Ed tournament game at Deliverance 2 in Cardiff 2012, which Aidan went on to win. He was using Levi with Jack Daw and I was using Colette. It was tough game and I remember it most for a Black Joker flip when Colette tried to cast ‘Disappearing Act’ on Jack Daw. Given that it’s only one game and I haven’t actually seen him play in any others, my assessment is limited but I will say that Aidan is a very capable player and knows his stuff. If I could make one criticism, it would be that I think he sometimes takes risks at times that I would have been less inclined to do. The example here would be him leaving Jack Daw in a position for Colette to attack him in our game. That said, it all worked out swimmingly for him in the end, so what do I know!? Ant Hoult W2 D0 L0 Ant is a lovely bloke (lots of people seem to think he’s miserable though!). He generally has a clinical mind when it comes to games of Malifaux and rarely makes mistakes. This makes him a very difficult opponent and it’s no surprise to see him continually do well at tournaments. The first time I played him was at the Masters in 2013, when he was using Rasputina and I was using Colette. Even though I had a massive advantage in that game, he still ran me close to a draw and it was only a last second move by Colette (when I realized that I could deny him 2VPs that looked certain) that won me the game. In terms of players that I wouldn’t like to face on Table 1, last game in a tournament, Ant would be in my top 3. Craig Johnson W2 D0 L0 Craig is the current UK Master. We have played twice, first in the Masters Final 2013 when he was using Marcus with Von Schill and I was using Colette. I won that game because Craig slipped up at a crucial moment and I was able to capitalise on the mistake. It was still very close though and I only won by a single VP. The other game was in the first round of this year’s Masters when Craig was using Jakob Lynch (as Ten Thunders) and I was using Ramos. Craig realized quite early on that he was going to struggle and I knew I had a distinct advantage. I got greedy though and very nearly threw away this game, firstly due to activating the wrong model and then due to my forgetfulness at the end of the last turn. Craig was graceful enough to allow me to complete what I should have been doing and again I won by a single VP. Craig is an exceptional player and he reads the game better than anyone else I know. He is obviously not unbeatable though and his main weakness in the games against me was dealing with the unexpected. For example, in our first game I managed to get Cassandra into his Deployment Zone in Turn 1. Craig is a naturally cautious player by nature and this move flustered him as he hadn’t seen it before and didn’t know what to make of it. I believe it gave me a psychological advantage early on that threw him off his game. He’ll probably disagree with me though! Dave Brown W4 D0 L1 Dave is an out and out Guild player and good but I don’t think great at the game (sorry Dave). Perhaps this is partly because he is a great bloke and works tirelessly as a Henchman for the Mailfaux community. So maybe he’s so used to demo’ing games that when playing in tournaments, he gives far too much away in what he’s thinking and especially in what kind of a control hand he has. This can make him somewhat predictable and the only game I have lost to him was at the Scythe & Teacup in Liverpool (November 2012) when he took Lady J and I had Rasputina. I got carried away with killing things and Dave was getting very upset about the speed that his models were being removed from the table, so neither of us realized that he was actually winning the game until we called time and added up the VPs! Dave Powell W1 D0 L0 Dave is a nice bloke, although somewhat loud (hence his epithet of ‘Shouty Dave’). He is another player that I would say is good but not great. I don’t really think the tournament thing is his scene but he is an excellent modeller and painter and has won ‘Best Painted’ for his efforts, which are well deserved. Dave has a tendency to do odd things in a game, which make no sense and are also not offering any threat. I think he’s really just in it for the cinematic experience, which is fine. He does sometimes come up with moments of genius but whether by chance or design, I’m not quite clear! Dom Westerland W2 D1 L0 Dom is one of my ‘Local’ Henchmen and the closest based to where I live. This is still a 45 minute drive away though, so we haven’t played that often. It may just be my skewed perception but I think Dom doesn’t really like playing against me. He is an out and out Gremlin player and thinks nothing of killing his own models to get at the opponent’s. I really like him and think he is a better player than people give him credit for. He knows his own crews inside out and is pretty good at knowing everyone else’s too, this means you shouldn’t underestimate him. I think his weakness is that he lacks subtlety and this means he can be quite cavalier in his approach, which can make him easy to counter but also that he can’t always see when you are setting up a subtle move of your own, as it’s not what a Gremlin would do! James Doxey W1 D0 L1 I know James was tearing up the UK tournament scene following the release of M2E and for a while he was ‘the’ player to beat. I’ve faced him twice but both games were in 1st Ed, once at the Scythe & Teacup in Liverpool (November 2012) when we had a Colette Vs Colette game on Dave Brown’s ‘Dungeon’ board. James effectively won on turn 2 when the Initiative flip went his way and he activated his Coryphée Duet to attack my Coryphée Duet and then proceeded to get a Red Joker on the damage flip. Our other game was the Semi-Final of the Masters in 2013 when he took Zoraida with Collodi and I had Colette. This time, I caught James off guard with a couple of sneaky moves that I don’t think he was expecting. He fought his way back but by the end he didn’t have the numbers left to pull off the win. James is a very knowledgeable player and hard to beat. Weakness wise, I would say is similar to Craig in dealing with the unexpected… that and drinking far too much tea! Jimmy Balderstone W0 D1 L1 Ah Jimmy, it’s often joked that he only does so well because he organises his own local tournaments and then participates in them so he can win. Truthfully though, he is no slouch, as my record against him clearly shows. We first played at the Scythe & Teacup in Liverpool (November 2012) (no, I can’t explain why so many of my first games against these players were at that particular tournament!). Jimmy was using Misaki and I had Colette. I nearly got caught out by ‘Diving Charge’ but managed to dismantle his backfield and we ended up with a draw. The second game was against Tara in the second game of this year’s Masters, I was using Marcus. Jimmy used the very nasty Killjoy trick to kill Marcus relatively early on but I managed to pull it back to a 10-9 loss. My forgetfulness played a part in this too as the point I dropped was for Distract and I had the opportunity to get this point in turn 2 but was too busy thinking about poor Marcus. Jimmy has an easy going style that can sucker you into a false sense of security if you’re not careful. His weakness is that he loves setting up his tricks and combo’s which can take his attention away from what he should be doing. Joel Henry W0 D1 L2 Joel was the first player in the UK to get 300 Ranking points and is consistently at or near the very top of the UK Rankings, rightfully so. Our first encounter was in game 1 of the Masters 2013 when he was using Jakob Lynch with Collodi and I was using Colette. It was the only game that I lost at the Masters and although I feel I made some silly errors that I might have gotten away with against other players, Joel is the kind of player that knows when to capitalise on mistakes and duly did so to devastating effect. Our second meeting was at the GT in 2013 and was a rematch of sorts, since we were both using the same crews. It was closer but a crucial Black Joker damage flip meant that I had to waste an extra AP in turn 2 and again, Joel was able to capitalise. Our last meeting was the Quarter Final of this year’s Masters. Joel was using Lilith and I was using Ramos. This was one of the most thoughtful games of Malifaux that I have ever played and it was very close. It ended in a draw and, as I’ve already mentioned, Joel went through on count back. My old twin nemeses of Time and Forgetfulness played a part here, as we only made it to turn 4 and the organiser had stated at the beginning that, if it was a draw, we should play another 15 minute turn. I think if we had remembered and played another turn, I had the upper hand at that point. I like playing against Joel, he is like Craig in that he reads the game very well, so it is difficult to catch him out with things. I think doing something unexpected is your best chance to win against him. Luke Cocksedge I haven’t put my record against Luke up, as I’ve already mentioned that he is my regular opponent and we tend to play against each other almost every week, so the numbers would be very large. As a rule, we tend to be very even, although since the Masters this year he has won far more of our games than I have. Luke is a really nice guy (cheque is in the post I hope?) and a very, very good Malifaux player. We do tend to know each other’s play style very well, as you’d expect and in 2 of our 3 meetings at tournaments, Luke has managed to take advantage of this and catch me out to take the win. In the third (Deliverance 2013) we had a draw on Table 1 in the last game, which cost us both in the results. Luke and I both revel in the complex interactions of Malifaux games and trying to work out moves ahead that our opponent either can’t see coming or is powerless to do anything about. He is tough opposition and even though we play regularly, I still enjoy our games more than any other. I can’t really say he has any stand out weakness but if you think far enough ahead when trying to read his game it does give you an advantage. Matt Ledgewood W1 D0 L0 I have only played Matt once (at the GT 2013) when he was using McMourning and I was using Rasputina. This game completely came down to whoever won the Initiative flip for turn 2, if Matt won, Rasputina would have been chopped into bloody chunks, and if I won McMourning would be turned into an icicle. The flip went my way and the rest of the game was mopping up. Matt is a methodical player (similar to Joel in many ways) but he is also a risk taker and that either pays off big time or costs him big time. As with every other Masters player I’ve been up against though, he’s a nice bloke. Paul Hansell W1 D0 L0 Paul is another player I’ve only come up against once. It was at the Masters 2013 when he was using the Dreamer and I was using Colette. I feared 1st Ed Dreamer more than any other master, so I was on the back foot in this game from the start. It wasn’t until Paul made a crucial mistake in his positioning of the Dreamer that I was able to take advantage and win the game. I’ve not seen him on the tournament circuit since, so I hope it wasn’t our game that put him off! Tim Brown W2 D1 L0 Tim is Dave Brown’s son and is a better player than his dad (sorry Dave! ) he seems to exclusively play Neverborn when I’ve seen him at tournaments and knows his crews very well. Although he is a good player, he does have one huge weakness: when things aren’t going his way, he gets agitated and makes more mistakes to compound the issue. I also think he has another slight weakness, which is a predilection to give players higher than him in the Rankings, too much respect at times, almost as if he goes into the game expecting to lose. Even so, he’s fully capable of playing with the best and in our last meeting, at this year’s Masters, his Lilith Crew had the upper hand against my Marcus crew right up until the last turn when I managed to squeeze a draw. So there you go, hopefully I’ve given you some insight into my thoughts (and they are only mine) but not too much so that I now get soundly thrashed at every future tournament (please don’t deliberately slow play, it’s a crap way to win a game)! I also hope none of the players I’ve mentioned take offence at my words. I did mention it for a few of them but it’s true for all of these players that they are great blokes. In fact, this is something that the Malifaux tournament scene has that stands out for me when compared against the Warhammer tournament scene, people just seem a lot nicer, even when being very competitive. I can’t think of a single game of Malifaux that I have played where I thought my opponent was being a complete d*ck! I do unfortunately have several such games of Warhammer in my memory banks! Testament then to the quality of Malifaux and its people, long may it continue. Martin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjahamster Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 great post, I'm somewhat scared you can remember games like that - my memory is terrible, I can barely remember the games from #heartfaux Hope to see you about at more tournaments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdhay Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 Wow that was one long post to read on my phone. As I am new to the scene (first tournament at heartfaux last week) and only been playing since March this is a great read. Met a few of the guys mentioned at heartfaux and was thrashed by James doxey at the hobbytime get together so was very enlightening! Thanks. Maybe some tips to store away when facing them in the future. Oh and paying the TO to draw me against someone else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumb Luck Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 You're right. I don't like playing you. Kidding. Get out of my head Martin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 Interesting . One thing though, when it comes to players like myself, James, etc. It's difficult to throw something unexpected at us as we spend time making ourselves as familiar with everything as possible to counter that weakness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oshova Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 Oh, I would whole heartedly agree with you that I go into some games expecting a draw as the best thing. I actually feel sometimes this has helped because I've been a bit more cautious, and so have own by 1 or 2 VP. But I'm definitely prone to just making stupid decisions if I feel it is going badly. On the other players, I would generally agree with you for those I have played against, or seen enough of. And I would definitely be one of the people shocked at you winning the Masters. As a pretty unseen player it was quite a surprise to me for you to beat the people that you did. Obviously you have kept the standard high since then, and shown that it wasn't just the unknown of a new player that got you wins. As you are a very well rounded player. Also, how on Earth can you remember all those games so well!? You have a freakish memory! =p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Puppet Posted May 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 Interesting . One thing though, when it comes to players like myself, James, etc. It's difficult to throw something unexpected at us as we spend time making ourselves as familiar with everything as possible to counter that weakness Absolutely, which is why you are top players! I enjoy the challenge of finding something though because "even the very wise cannot see all ends"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clousseau Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 Very interesting post. Agree with what you said about me, though I am getting better at disguising my hand, but otherwise I'm generally bound for mid table mediocrity. Certainly remember that Lady J vs Raspy game and I look forward to playing you again sometime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Puppet Posted May 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 I'm somewhat scared you can remember games like that Also, how on Earth can you remember all those games so well!? You have a freakish memory! =p I don't really know to be honest. It's not something I've really thought about, I just do. On that note Tim, I notice that I didn't mention our first game. It was at Cut & Thrust in Bristol when you took Zoraida with Collodi and I had Colette. You managed to Avatar Zoraida early and Colette was surrounded by Marionettes and Wicked Dolls. I had to work hard but managed to turn Collodi into a Mannequin which was the main reason I won the game (funnily enough I had turned your Dad's Peacekeeper into a Mannequin in turn 1 of the game before too)... no wonder people hated that trigger so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adran Posted May 21, 2014 Report Share Posted May 21, 2014 Thast a good read, cheers for that Martin. Right now my aim is to make this list of players, to see how well you remember our games (almost certainly better than I do). Its nice to see insights into how others view players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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