What would you want to see in a Malifaux 2E Starter Set?

[paradoxstorm]

Looking over the thread I see two somewhat distinct classes of beginners being discussed: 

 

• In one group you have those familiar enough with games, especially tabletop games, that they are going to be able to ask a few questions and select a faction/crew to begin with.
• In the other group you have folks who are going to be more spontaneous in their decision to play Malifaux--they are going to pick up a couple of crews and give it a go.  They have a pal or family member who is willing to give it a go as well, but  these folks are not going to do a lot of initial research to select crews.  They are going to buy a couple and see if they like the game well enough to spend time learning the rest. 

The first group has no need for a bundled set.  For them the FLGS is better off offering a small (5%-10%) discount if they purchase, for example, a crew, rule book, and arsenal deck as a "starter pack."  Many (most?) on this forum would fall into this group.

 

The second group is the one being targeted with a starter bundle.  The challenge for Wyrd, and others who love Malifaux, is that the low cost of entry results in a low cost of walking away.  Folks of the second type are a "flight risk" because of this.  

 

For the second group the problem with 39 masters is that there are THIRTY NINE of them.   Too much choice!!  The second type of person, if faced with the choice of 39 masters, is highly likely to get overwhelmed and simply walk away.  

 

I will modify my earlier comment of no more than two bundles, Hateful Darkblack suggests pairings of Guild crew vs natural opponent.  For the second group newb this approach makes sense to me and adds choices about which non-guild faction the new player starts with without being overwhelming.  

 

John Grammaticus makes a good point about the second group getting fate decks.  While you do not strictly need a fate deck, the second type of player is unlikely to deal well with the frustration of suit conversions and is highly likely to walk away from the game--the downside for Wyrd to the low cost of entry is that it is easy to walk away once frustrated if you have little invested. 

 

It is also possible that two player bundles could be sold outside of normal game stores--if that happens it exposes a lot of new people to Malifaux.  If any of them like the game well enough to search the internet for sites like this....

[rancor709]

Okay let's get into a bit of a history lesson as I know a lot of us having been miniature wargaming a long time and some malifaux is your first stop on a wonderful hobby. Let's talk about the good and the bad of a boxed starter.

 

For us old folks let's think back to the first moment We saw a wargame and went what is that I want to play. What were t he 3 questions that popped into your head right after? For me it was will my brother play? How do I get started and what is the cost to continue? The two player starter answered all those questions for me because it came with a force for your opponent, it came with dice and it came with a game catalog and it came with a walk away price. If we found we didnt like the game we had not invested much at that point. If we did like the game we had a great starting point.

 

Okay so why do I think a starter box would work for malifaux. I'm again coming at this from a long time wargamer and long time henchman perspective. The two biggest questions after a demo are one is there a starter set and 2 what do I need to get started? The starter answers that in a compact singular item purchase. ADDITIONALLY there is an impulse market wyrd is leaving behind because there is no 2 player game in a box starter. Allow me to explain 2 starter boxes are a 2 for player grab when getting into a game it's always about who plays it. The starter means you and a friend can both go in on one. It also means for henchman or those who wish 2 become them there is a demo in a box ready for them 2 pIck and get to it.  From a store perspective it also a lot more cost-effective to demo out a 2 player box for store use then 2 boxes 2 cards and a rule book.

 

What should be in the box

1 a5 rulebook

2 paper fate decks (the old school types)

Contents of Guilds Justice

And contents of Memories of red chapel

Make price point 100. Even if you can't make that pencil I'd change up the sprue mix till you have 2 that make adding the rule book and 2 cheaper 2 produce fate decks and maintain your margins.

[Far_Traveler]

I've been away from a reliable wi-fi while on vacation. I never thought that this thread would generate the response that it did. Many detailed and well thought out replies that generated more detailed and well thought out replies. Overall its apparent that people want a starter set of some sort.

 

For all, a small rule book and 2 fate decks is desired. From there most would want tokens. About half would want a "perfect pairing" of two starters. Many mentioned a fluff booklet and a scenario booklet.

 

One of the interesting things bandied about was a starter like University of Transmortis. I have this product and I consider it a must for Ressurectionists due to the models having anti-faction abilities. Eventually i'll be working on my McMourning crew to try this out. Unless a new starter has an Outcast mercenary group,that also has anti-faction abilities, it will have limited use for existing players unless its of a faction they already need.

 

How does this sound? Starter set with a small rulebook, 2 fate decks (paper), fluff booklet, and tokens for ~$25 to ~$30. On the back of the box it mentions crews that work well against one another for beginners and what kind of crew they are (melee, ranged, spells, minion creator...etc), as this would guide existing wargamers to crews with their style. Also at the back of the box is the location to download crew combination escalating scenarios (one download for each combination) to introduce the crews and teach the game in about 4-6 scenarios, including schemes and strategies at the latter ones. Also there should be down-loadable cheat sheets, like i've made here and posted in this forum thread here, to reduce looking up rules until more complicated concepts are introduced. At the end of the scenarios could be recommended models to synergize with the crews they've just played.

 

This way it only takes up a little space in the store shelf, keeps the existing crew boxes on the shelves without taking them and putting them in a starter box, provides a easily down-loadable way for people with existing crews to teach them to newbies without getting the starter, and is low cost for Wyrd to create.

 

Thoughts? Could we, as Malifaux players, come up with basic scenarios for the first few and some specialized scenarios for the crew combinations listed in this thread, to help teach other players and expand the player base?

[decker_cky]

I don't think a starter without models does the job.

 

I like some of the simpler starters here, but I'd add one thing - recent Wyrd models have had a real barrier for new players in their difficult construction. I think the starter should have simpler plastics, and not necessarily follow the starter sets. I think the models should be designed for easy assembly - as much as possible being 1-2 parts (see witchling stalkers). You could have lady justice, 3 guild guard and a sergeant or something in one crew, against a similar resser crew. It keeps the crews slightly simpler in terms of abilities (masters will still be complex), it keeps a reason to pick up the main box set later, it adds models that could stand to have alt sculpts to the wyrd range, and it gets the player started easier.

 

Some posts talk about showing off all the mechanics....this isn't really needed. What the starter needs to do is show the flow of the gameplay, then next it needs to show the interesting scheme mechanics. If you try to teach everything, you'll just confuse players who may have to teach themselves to play.

 

edit: I also think that Marcus and 3 slate ridge maulers against justice, a sergeant and 3 guild guard would be ridiculously fun.