Noob needs help with next purchase.

[thebigdog]

Hi guys, I'm a total newbie to Malifaux but I'm definately hooked already.

 

I've picked up the 2nd edition core rulebook, the Pandora plastic crew box, a teddy (just couldn't help myself ) and a box of beckoners.

 

The question is, what do I buy myself next? Are there any other good minis which will synergise well with Pandora and her crew? Alternatively is there anything that I have which would work with another master, thereby justifying an additional starter crew box?

 

 

I saw Gmorts unboxing of the dreamer box set, does this have a release date yet?

 

like I said I'm a total newbir, but its not a hobby its an addiction!

[Betterthenlife]

In my experience Teddy and a couple of Insidious Madnesses are great buys with Pandora. Teddy gives you a hard df hitter in a wp focused crew who synergises very well with Baby Kade and the wp duels with the No Shelter Here crew throws around. The Madnesses are just good all round but even better with Pandora, the can give minuses to enemy wp (duel total not flips) and force the enemy to ditch a card whenever they cheat a wp duel within 4 not to mention being much, much faster then Sorrows. 

 

After picking them up you'll have a decent foundation to start a Dreamer crew as well (which is good considering your interest ). There's currently no street date for the Dreamer but the general consensus is some time this year.

 

Hope this helps and welcome to Malifaux  

[thebigdog]

Thanks Betterthenlife. I'll have a look at the insidious madnesses next. I haven't even played my first game yet as I won't put unpainted minis on the table although I have a friend who's just as keen to play.

 

looks like my main opponent will be playing using Nicodem and Yan Lo as his main crews. Is there anything specific which will work well against them?

[asrian]

First off: Welcome to Malifaux!

The Dreamer box set doesn't have a release schedule yet for general purchase, but should be available in the next few months (Most likely before Christmas, but that's a guess at best).

Pandora was my first crew (and still one of my favorite Masters). I will say that the main things I added to the crew were two Insidious Madnesses (replacing my Sorrows) and a Primordial Magic (replacing my Poltergeist). While the Sorrows and Poltergeist are both very good, the Insidious are just more durable to me, faster scheme runners, and more solid, all around support. They are currently only in pewter so you'll need to check your local store, online stores, or Ebay to find them. The Primordial Magic is just a damn good generic totem that any master can use and wonderful addition. Crews like the Dreamer or Collodi will get less use out of it however as they get more power/protection from their native Totems.

Another all around good purchase (my first addition aside from Teddy) is a Doppelganger. Again, this is a solid model, limited to one only, that I find very powerful for any crew. It gives you the ability to cheat the initiative flip, it can place scheme markers even if engaged in combat, and can copy enemy or friendly, non-leader, model abilities making it highly versatile.

As for other crews that run well with Pandora's crew or one's that Pandora's crew run well with, pick one at random and you're pretty much guaranteed some synergy. Baby Kade (beater) and Candy (beater, control, heals) can work in any crew for their own abilities. Terror Tots and Barbaros from Lilith's box, Illuminated from Jakob Lynch's box, Silurids and Bad Juju from Zoraida's box (Just listing main plastic sets that are out). I've used all of them with Pandora, and used Kade and/or Candy in said crews. 

Of all the Neverborn Masters, however, I personally feel Lilith is the most versatile of any of them. She is a guerrilla style fighter with many movement tricks and the ability to create terrain to block LoS (which can be used both offensively and defensively). I could have any scheme/strat pool versus any opponent and feel confident at doing well with her as my Master where as I might feel other Neverborn Masters aren't as strong with said schemes/strats and opponents.

Above anything else though I would suggest you play five to ten games with Pandora and get a feel for the rules, and her crew before swapping to another Master (I had that problem at first...damn you Shiny objects!). Play her both with Box Opens and Voices Limited abilities to try them out (Both are Limited upgrades, meaning you can only have one or the other on her, not both at the same time).

Don't be afraid to get aggressive with her, and don't get discouraged if you lose at first. Just take wins and losses in stride and learn the game. As you play more you'll start to see where your weaknesses are, both in crew selection and as a player. Also, talk to your opponents post-game. Ask them for any suggestions as to where they felt you were weakest, or where they felt most threatened. Get an idea of what she does and how you can capitalize on it.

If you haven't yet, also check out the Vassal thread. It's a program to play Malifaux online (Still doesn't beat the actual figures and playing at a club/house with an in-person opponent, however). It can give you the chance to play more, as well as play new opponents and crews you might not see locally. I tend to play Vassal games to try things out as well (models I don't yet own) and to just learn more.

Lastly, and most importantly, have fun. This really is a damn good game. I've had more fun playing this than I can ever recall playing any other table top game.

[MasterDisaster]

I'd SERIOUSLY consider trying to get a Widow Weaver, she is utterly brutal with Pandora. Her Web Markers cannot be removed until the Weaver is dead and each of them puts enemy models at a -1 Wp so long as they are within 3" of it, this can give you potentially 5 markers for free as it is a (0) and requires no cards to use. Additionally 2/3 of her attacks focus on Wp and one even forces a Horror Duel which is always great. Given Pandora's heavy interactions with Wp she is an incredible pick for Pandora. 

 

Coppelius is also a good choice, he's pretty tough, can self heal and also has a bunch of Wp based shenanigans that work well with Pandora, he also has the benefit of offering some versatility to the crew and can summon Alps or heal your crew by Plucking People's eyes out then using the eyes to achieve the desired effect. 

[asrian]

I will second the Widow Weaver as a future purchase. She is scary for my opponents (and has resulted in quite a few swearing at me for her ). Even if you just play her defensively and all she does the entire game is stand back and spit out a web marker once per turn for the -1 WP bubble it can make entire areas that your opponents do not want to go into due to all of Pandora's WP attacks. Coupled with Doppelganger who can mimic Widow Weaver's Exhale Terror ability (Damaging + Terror test attack) and it gets down right brutal.

Widow Weaver is only in pewter atm, and also hard to find, so if you do see one, locally, or online, I'd suggest grabbing it if you can. 

[Dryzen]

How has no one mentioned Iggy yet? He is a Woe with the martyr ability, just like Pandora. He can help protect some of your other models while handing out burning like it's going out of style (potential of 6 in one activation ON A Df FLIP) as well as having another "Incite" to help manipulate the enemy even more.

All for the low, low cost of just 5ss. Oh and he is an enforcer so he can carry an upgrade.

[AverageBoss]

Welcome to Malifaux.

 

I would suggest picking up a Doppelganger. They are fantastic pieces that have alot of synergy with pretty much with any crew. They not only can copy your other models moves, but allow you to cheat a card from your hand on the initiative flip.

 

There are 7 Neverborn master altogether. Lilith, Pandora, Zoraida, Jacob Lynch (also Ten Thunders), Lucius (also Guild), The Dreamer, and Colladi. Lilith, Pandora, Zoraida, and Lynch are all available now. The Dreamer and Lucius were available early at Gencon and should be out for general release by January. This means only Colladi is truly unavailable.

 

Since you have beckoners, I would also suggest Jacob Lynch crew "Dark Debts". His entire box can be fielded as either Neverborn or Ten Thunders and the beckoners are thematically part of Jacobs group (they are the girls in the casino he runs). That "Brilliance characteristic that the beckoners hand out? Jacobs entire box messes with that characteristic. Being the owner of a casino, he messes with the cards alot, including having a built in mulligan ability on his card and an upgrade that allows his entire crew to cheat cards face down.

 

You will also want the Neverobrn arsenal decks if you do not have them already. There are great generic upgrades that all neverborn crews can benefit from in those that are not included with any other product. Additionally you will have rules cards for most Neverborn models (Jacob Lynch rules are only in his box and the Ten Thunders wave 1 deck and Lucius rules are only in his box and the Wave 2 Guild deck) so that you can test them out to see if you like them before buying the models. Also if you do not already have one (I am assuming you do) you need a fate deck.

[Jimbobovalsocks]

You've got more than enough to get going with there. Lots of good advice above from people that know much better than I but a lot of the models they've mentioned you might struggle to find as they are old metal models. I'd say the Lillith boxed set and a doppelganger will set you up well to get started. In fact, I'd say stop buying new stuff and get playing but that wasn't your question!!!!

[thebigdog]

Thanks for your input guys, that's really helpful.

 

 

Jimbobovalsocks, I hear what you're saying and I wholeheartedly agree. Lynch players seem to think brilliance is a super-addictive magic crack when in reality its wyrd's latest shiny new toys!

[Vorschlag]

My favourite additions to my Pandora crew would have be Tannen and the Widow Weaver.

 

Insidious Madness, alps and Corpelious will also help you, if you want to consider eventual expansion I wouldn't go past the dreamer box for two out of three of those models.

 

The twins are ofcourse an old favourite for many players but I've never used them so can't really comment.

Bad juju as mentioned is a great addition to Pandora but unless you want to buy the Zoraida crew you might just want to hunt down the old metal, or find someone who want silurids for Marcus.

 

 

[Gorbad]

I would probably look at the Dark Debts box set. Both because Illuminated are brilliant (pun intended) with any master so Pandora will appreciate having them around and because you have the other core models that goes with his box in Beckoners. After that, if we are talking box sets, I'd probably look at Lilith. Both to get Tots and to give you a master that does things different from Pandora and Lynch. 

 

 

As for single models, Insidious Madness, Widow Weaver, Doubleganger are all highly recommended, although the first two is ATM really difficult to get hold of I believe. Another good buy would be Waldgeists, having a tank/terrain generator can be highly valuable, and there are a couple of schemes where his 4" melee range can be very good indeed. Same goes for the female twin (Lilutu?), although I don't think her brother is as good.

 

But really, there are few bad choices. For instance if you fancied Zoraida everything in there is good. The only thing I'd say is be careful about focusing too much on Wp based effects. It's easy to do when you start with Pandora, but it's IMO a trap trying to build everything around Wp attacks and debuffs.