Super New Player wanting some advice on my next purchases

[Sion_Barzhad]

Hi All,

 

How is everyone today? I come to you asking some advice as to what I should purchase next. Just a little background, I tend to purchase alot of things but never get around to doing things with them but I have finally kicked my ass into gear and will actually be starting a painting log with a goal to finish a model or 2 a week at minimum. I own a Pandora box + teddy and am currently waiting on my 2 player starter set. I also picked up Johan and the Malifaux child as I hear they are pretty handy in alot of lists.

I have currently only played 1 game of Malifaux so far but intend on changing it.

 

 

Here's the thing, the other day I stumbled on a store which still had a Vik's box which in Australia has not been in stock for many many months so I snapped it up for the sake of having it and now I am here.

 

I had always planned on doing Guild or Arcanists or even Neverborn but after buying the Viks I looked into the Outcasts and I think I have found my first faction with the possibility of crossing into others.

 

I just have a few questions as per below.

 

 

 

1. I have the Hired swords box + Johan and a Malifaux child, what else should I pick up to help round out my list building? I used pull my finger and Vanessa seems to fit alright but I am unsure

 

2. I want to pick up a 2nd master box so I will have some variety with outcasts but I am unsure of what will combine well with what is in the Hired swords? I want to stick to plastics so my choices are pretty much Von Schill, Tara, Levy - I am kind of weary of Levy as his mechanics seem pretty crazy for a new player.

 

3. I want to stick to plastics so I won't be getting very many if any metal models as I don't want to have to purchase the arsenal cards for no reason.

 

 

 

 

If you have made it this far thank you for reading.

[Freman]

Vanessa, Hannah and Lazarus all work well with the Viktorias, and Hannah and Lazarus also work well with Von Schill which would make him a natural choice to purchase.

[KrazyIvan]

Outcasts have very few 'meh' models in my opinion. Desperate Mercenaries and Von Schill himself (opinions vary on that) are the only ones that come to my mind.

While Von Schill is sometimes considered a sub-par Master, the Hired Guns box provides you with lots a good models for Outcasts no matter who you use. The crew is also relatively straightforward to play so you should be able to pick and play with it quite easily. If you want to build out from there Vanessa is decent ranged support and healing for Viks. For the Hired Guns box Hannah, a Strongarm, and Lazarus are all good choices.

Outcasts do have some tricky Masters - Tara, Jack Daw, and Hamelin come to mind - but I don't really think Levi is one of them. His resurrection mechanics require some planning, but otherwise he is simple to use. He's mostly a point and shoot master who can be counted on to kill at least one model per turn. The rest of his themed crew are solid models. The only problem I see is your desire to stick with plastics. Ashes & Dust is a melee beast, a fantastic scheme runner, and it resurrects itself...it's also not available in plastic just yet. If you get him you aslo bring Guild and Arcanist constructs into the game since all non-Gremlin constructs can be hired by Levi with the right upgrade (all undead as well with another upgrade, should Resser stuff interest you).

Finally combining Rusty Alyce, a Freikorps Librarian, a Ronin, and Johan/Johana in Henchmen Hardcore creates a beast of a list that has defense tricks, condition removal, healing, and all models get a Flurry-type attack. You're just two crew boxes away from being able to build it in plastic...

[Kirby]

Von Schill is a very solid master and one that compliments the Viktorias very well both in supplementary crew and his playstyle in the game.  Where the Viks are explosive blenders of death, Von Schill plays more towards the attrition game.  This makes him a very solid take against Ressers and Guild where the Viks may find themselves either outnumbered from summons or outgunned at range.  He doesn't have too many tricks up his sleeve, so that tends welcome new players to the game (as the controller or the opponent) and it also means that you aren't relying on a particular trick or waiting for your opponent to make a mistake.  He's not very flashy, but he gets the job done.

 

Speaking of the Viks, I nearly always take a Freikorps Trapper and a Freikorps Librarian with my Viktoria crews - both of which are in Von Schill's crew box.  Other takes that work well have been mentioned - Hannah, Lazarus, and to a degree Vanessa.

 

Hannah - Durable melee beatstick, can copy spells including: Librarian's casting attack and heal, Johan's condition removal, and Viktoria of Blood's Sisters in Fury (if you gave her that upgrade).  When she copies Fury, that turns Hannah's respectable 2/ 4 /6   into a terrifying 4/ 6 / 8 :blast.  She can also take the I Pay Better upgrade that allows all mercenaries within 10 to discard a card at the start of their activation to gain Focus.  Since nearly everything the Viktorias take are mercenaries (including Hannah herself), that is a free Focus wherever you need it at the cost of a card you didn't want in your hand anyway.  Envision a turn where she discards a card for focus, copies Sisters in Fury for +2 melee damage, then unleashes a focused hit and gets a severe on damage.  Initial target gets hit for 8, and you have 4" of blast diameter to give 6 damage to anything caught in it. She can also copy enemy casting actions if they are within her 8" range, meaning she can borrow some very good spells from things that got too close.

 

Lazarus - Durable ranged threat with a good damage track and strong blasts, good in melee, Armor 2 and self-healing is great.  Works even better with Vanessa around due to her Command Construct allowing him to take a (1) action of any kind outside of his activation.

 

Vanessa - The other Sister.  Not as melee-centric as the Viks, but still decent when engaged.  Nice casting attack with good blasts, even better if she's on the center line due to Ley Lines ability.  Has a good heal as well that can heal all Sisters no matter where they are on the board, but it is a (2) action to do it.  Her (0) Command Construct can command Lazarus to move into position, take an interact action, or (most often) shoot something with his grenade launcher.  I typically use her with the Malifaux Child since the Child tends to get left far behind the Viks and unable to heal them directly, but he can heal Vanessa to heal all three.

 

Other good pulls from the Outcasts for the Viktorias:

• Rusty Alyce - deadly anti-Resser gun, can help with attrition or land-grab strategies via summoning Abominations
• Void Wretches - cheap scheme runners
• Johan - You already mentioned having him, but he's so good he gets another mention.  Relic Hammer to destroy constructs (or anything else, really) and condition removal is often vital for the Viks.  A Paralyzed Viktoria is a sad Viktoria.

My preferred crew for the Viktorias tends to be something like the following:

 

Viktoria of Ashes - Sisters in Spirit, Synchronized Slaying

Viktoria of Blood - Mark of Shez'uul, Sisters in Fury

Student of Conflict

Hannah - I Pay Better

Freikorps Librarian

Freikorps Trapper

Johan

Ronin

 

Using Vanessa and Lazarus tends to change things up for me, something closer to the following:

 

Viktoria of Ashes - Sisters in Spirit, Synchronized Slaying, Sisters in Fury

Viktoria of Blood - Mark of Shez'uul, Oathkeeper or Tally Sheet

Malifaux Child

Vanessa

Lazarus

Freikorps Trapper

Ronin

Ronin

 

Those are just general crews that can do a bit of everything, but Malifaux is certainly not a static crew list kind of game.  There are all kinds of combinations that would still be very effective, but I try to steer new players into picking a solid core to build from.  Right now, I'd suggest getting the Von Schill box as your initial big purchase as it gives you access to a solid second master, some very good crew members, and the things that the Viks like also tend to work very well with Schill.

[Law Dog]

Von Schill's playstyle is very forgiving, and very straightforward but he heavily favors Freikorps members and if you are not running a lot of them you are missing out on some of his abilities. He can keep his Freikorps going as a screen while at the same time popping enemy models with his Clockwork Seeker. 

 

His box will also give you the Trapper and Librarian models, and the Freikorpsmen models look great in my opinion. They would be the only ones that are not necessarily mandatory in his list, though. 

The Steam Trunk also has some great buffs and the ability to heal models, though it's slow and can be shot to Malfeas prettttty quickly.

 

I'm hoping Freikorps gets some new models in the next book (not the one coming out soon) because he's very dependent on them and I feel he needs more variety to choose from. 

[Law Dog]

A problem you'll encounter quickly with his box is that he's slow, so getting across the board is a problem. 

Honestly, Viks + Trapper and Librarian in their lists is a great way to go. 

[Nukemouse]

Shifting Loyalties introduced only one Freikorps model i think, a Rezzer henchman who shuts down enemy movement shenanigans.

[asrian]

I'd also recommend Vanessa, Lazarus, Hannah, and Von Schills box. 

 

Also, though Von Schill is a straight forward master I have to say after playing him the past few months he is damn nice as he's enough of generalist, jack-of-all-trades, that I can feel comfortable enough to play against all factions and all schemes/strats. He has an answer for most everything, and his crew is pretty solid, just depending on what you hire and what upgrades you take.