Incoming 10T Noob!

[Armond]

Good evening all. New to the Malifaux scene but not warts ing. Figured I would give this a worthy chance, so I invested in handful of models:

Misaki Starter

Yamaziko

Ten Thunders Archers

Katanaka Snipers

Dawn Serpent

Ama No Zako

I figure this gave me enough to experiment and in essence plenty to work on. Been reading the forums a bit and am looking at maybe this to play with as a base list to build on:

Ten Thunders Crew - 50 - Scrap

Misaki -- 7 Pool

• Shang [3]
• Katanaka Sniper [7]
• Thunder Archer [7]
• Torakage [6]
• Torakage [6]
• Yamaziko [7]

Thoughts on just a base of models to build lists around? A foundation perhaps; one I can just say this is always in and I have X points to plug a model or two to season based on mission as needed?

[D-solad0r]

Incoming not 10T noob XD (But not pro)

 

If you are new in malifaux I think you have a good pool. Enjoy thats miniatures.

I was a year using only Misaki Crew box and Yamaziko with decent results.

 

10T was a problem, his better miniatures are in crew boxes. You going to want McCabe (For McCabe and Sidir), Yan Lo (For Chiaki), Mei Feng (For Kang and Rail Workers) and Jacob (For Iluminated).

Then you are going to have 5 crew incompleted. Prove master and going completing thats crew you prefer (In my case, Misaki and McCabe).

 

A good pool for Misaki can be:
The Thunder

Yamaziko

Katanaka Sniper

Ten Thunders Archer

Oiran

Fuhatsu

Maybe Izamu

 

A good pool for McCabe:

Relic Hunters

Captain Dashel (Bound by Law)

Guild Riflemen

Guild Hounds

Guild Austringuer

Dawn Serpent

Toshiro

[MasterDisaster]

Having a skeleton crew to work from isn't the best way forward unless you have some serious summoning at your disposal. 10T do not. You should always tailor your entire crew towards schemes and strategy. If you're set on using a base crew for everything I wouldn't discount Ototo over Yamaziko who's pretty meh in my opinion. Go with 

 

Misaki + Upgrades suiting objectives

Shang

2x Torakage 

 

The Torakage are fairly tough, hit fairly hard and make for pretty good scheme runners. Shang brings utility that is always useful and Misaki is killy and mobile as hell. Everything else should be tailored to suit the objectives at hand. 

[King Of Speling]

Best thing to work on with Misaki is her upgrades. Rather than run a list with a 7 soulstone cache I always prefer to get her tooled for the job. Worried about being charged first, take disguise. Need to drag an opponent out, go far stalking bisento. Need something dead in an activation, take recalled training (almost compulsory on Misaki).

 

I like a samurai as a good all round model. If you are ok with proxies then 10T brothers and tengu are worth a look also. Kamaitachi is also a good alterrnative to Shang, certaily if Misaki uses her recalled training ...

 

It's a pretty straight forward crew to learn with, so just get a few games down and see what works for you and then decide where your weaknesses lie.

[Armond]

Thanks all, I kinda figured Malifaux was more of an on the fly list game! I just like the idea of having those handful of models that are pretty much always worth their weight in soulstones. I need to read up about upgrades and the soulstones caches.

[Adran]

You've got a decent selection. A good way to learn what models are good at, and what models are bad at, is to try them at everything. (also can make learning the game easier). Pick a figure and use as many of them as you can. So try a list with all 3 archers in a couple of different games, and you should get a good idea of what you can do with Archers, what you can't do, and about how many you probably want to have in a crew.

 

Personally I find very few masters have a "Base" of models that they take every game. Other people will disagree, and bring a core of 20-25 ss worth with that master regardless of what they are actually trying to do. We are both right. You'll have to try and find which camp you sit in, and the only real way to do that is play. You might well find that you always take a core of models and you can get them to do exactly what you want.

[Armond]

Well good thing my stuff came in yesterday! Once I get the hobby gear out, putting these together should be quick and I can at least throw down a few games to see how I feel! The is for all the awesome opinions/advice. I was just thinking about locked in crew lists to run a small tourney once the game gains some traction out here!

[Armond]

Played my first game today and some beginner impressions.

1. The game is fun!

2. Ototo wreaks havoc when he reaches melee range, dead Kaeris

3. Misaka can be pretty nasty too, used her to push Kaeris into LOS of Ototo for murder fun

4. I hate burning...

5. Oiran is a nice piece to have with crows in hand, used one several times in one game to pull minions away from scheme markers and VP locales

6. There are a lot of little rules to try to remember.

7. Did I say I love Ototo?

8. I need another beatstick available when I make army choices.

9. I was lost with Shang, he did little...

[Dirial]

Glad you had fun. The rest will come with practice.

[Math Mathonwy]

8. I need another beatstick available when I make army choices.

Both the Dawn Serpent and Ama No Zako are plenty beatsticky for sure

[Paradigm]

I started out with a similar selection of models. I found that Shang nearly never did anything useful. Now I always rather get some extra soulstones rather than hiring Shang, since spending them on damage negation is easier and more flexible to use, and about as effective as Shang's heal.

 

Two models that are amazing additions to a Misaki crew are Kang and Sensei Yu. Kang is pretty much an auto-include whenever my opponent declares Arcanists or Ressers, as he gives both immunity to terrify and positive flips to attack and damage versus undead and constructs. Paring Kang with Blot the Sky together with two Thunder Archers make for a compact and powerful firing base against most crews from those two factions. Sensei Yu is great with Misaki if you pay for his Wandering River Style upgrade. With this he can borrow Misaki's stalk, push her 10" and give her fast in a single activation, which in turn let's Misaki get up to five attacks with positive flips to attack and damage. Add Recalled Training and she'll be able to destroy just about anything.

 

Also, Katanaka Snipers are amazing, and I always hire two of them unless the board is covered in blocking terrain. They have the potential to one-shot-kill many models from 28" away, they can handle their own in melee, are fairly durable and get reactivate if Misaki dies. You should also consider Brothers as scheme runners. If you manage to get them into position for Protect Territory or similar objectives, they can spend the rest of the game in defensive stance. This makes them very difficult to remove, with Df 7 and positive flips, and their ability Protect Our Holdings stops enemies from removing any scheme markers around them. For as long as I've been using Brothers, they have been the models to win me the most victory points in the end by far.

[Dirial]

I started out with a similar selection of models. I found that Shang nearly never did anything useful. Now I always rather get some extra soulstones rather than hiring Shang, since spending them on damage negation is easier and more flexible to use, and about as effective as Shang's heal.

 

I disagree on that. I hate Shang.

[Armond]

I have plenty of models to assemble still, so I will be giving them a go once that happens. Thanks for all that insight! I look forward to the snipers and the serpent. Just need to assemble them! I also have Ama No Zaka waiting as well. I also have a box of ten brothers coming my way!

[chris_havoc]

I tend to build crews beforehand. It's a personal choice but it makes sense to have an idea of how you will play a strategy before you flip it. I also think it's a great way to learn the playstyle, tactics, and limitations of the crew you are using when you flip a strategy you aren't as comfortable on. A crew that isn't necessarily geared out for Reckoning may surprise you and so on. Once you have played a crew a few times you'll find it starting to develop with the models you do and don't include for certain strategies and schemes but I still don't think it's a bad idea to design a Turf War crew or a Reckoning crew. Bear in mind that not every model needs to be killing and that sometimes even your killier models may be better used dropping scheme markers or interacting.

For the models you have I would suggest dropping Shang. Others may like him and you should try him to decide yourself but I would rather have the extra models to play around with. Ototo is a fantastic model. He isn't as slow as you might think, he hits really hard, and can absorb fair amount of damage. Ama No Zako is also a good heavy hitter but has the issue that she is only Ml 5 but much faster. Torakage are never a bad choice. Archers are very soft but are very good at killing so they work in those instances where you need to kill. I would suggest the Blot the Sky stuff above when you see a killing strat/scheme. Snipers are great all-rounders. I love Yamaziko too. With Braced Yari she is really a no-brainer against a Close Combat crew, she's cheap for a Henchman, she is fast for a granny, and will threaten an opponent's master more than you might think with her high damage and positives. Dawn Serpent hasn't performed for me but I know he has the potential to do amazing things though he is costly.

As to what you should get depends on which other masters you are interested in as was said above. However, general 10T I would Oiran are a great choice and even beter with Hidden Agenda. Fuhatsu with Recalled Training is terrifying and a great candidate for Blot the Sky or Hidden Agenda. 10T Brothers should be bought as soon as they are released as well as Tengu.

[Armond]

Again, more great advice!

I was considering a set set of models to keep throwing in my games, mostly for familiarity, learning a set of models well is better I think regardless of opponent. Would serve me much better than trying to learn multiple models from game to game. Once I can learn a crew that works well together, the better.

[Dirial]

Again, more great advice!

I was considering a set set of models to keep throwing in my games, mostly for familiarity, learning a set of models well is better I think regardless of opponent. Would serve me much better than trying to learn multiple models from game to game. Once I can learn a crew that works well together, the better.

 

Not a bad idea. A suboptimal crew you are very familiar with will most likely fare better in most games than a fitting crew you have no idea how to play.

[Armond]

I figured it would allow me to learn the intricacies and speed up game play. I could make a "core" set of models as auto include to cover as many aspects of the game as possible. Sniper, Archer, Oiran, Brother, and maybe a Torakagi. Kind of a one of each thing. That way if I want to double up to test synergy it would be easy. It also allows me to be busy in all aspects. We will see.