Advice for demo games

[chrisb]

Ok so I started playing malifaux with my wife about a year or so ago as an alternate to 40k as the rules where just becoming too complicated and  unballanced to keep up with and keep fun.We have been slowly indoctrinating friends into the  wyrd way and have gotten a gaming group together of about 6 of us who all play regularly. We have now been invited to set up a demo game at our local 40k tournament (about 20 players) to show off the game to players on a by, and at lunch break ect and I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to what crews to take and what kind of games to play. 

I want to show malifaux  as more than just a slaughter fest but dont want it to come accross as too complicated cos it isnt. Any tips would be great.

The crews I have to choose from are

Torch and blade

Guilds judgement

Relic hunters

Hired swords

Heralds of obliteration

Salvage and logistics

Shadows of redchapple

Hide and seek 

Children of december

And alot of the single minis all very well painted

what do you guys recon?

 

Edited November 30, 2015 by chrisb

[Clousseau]

Depends a bit on the circumstances, but recently I've found the starter set to be excellent. I've been using the third scenario, which is basically Assassinate and uses Henchman + 2 5SS Minions. So using equivalent set ups would work well e.g. Sybelle + 2 Belles, Samuel + 2 Witchlings, etc. This will give players the basics and you can then move up to a full size game at 35-40SS. I'd stick to Sonnia, Seamus, Rasputina, Lady J and the Viks from which sets you have.

Some simple cheat sheets or cards are recommended (again there are some in the starter set), and use easy to read fate decks.

Good luck.

[Omenbringer]

I agree with Clousseau. Keep the demo games small. I generally perfer Master and minion but Henchman and 2 minions is also good. Board should be no larger than perhaps 18" x 18" so you can get to the action quickly. Make sure you have a fair amount of diverse terrain on the table. Strategies should be simple as well, you might even consider omitting Schemes until after the initial demo game. Dont worry about Upgrades at this point, they will either slow down the things you want to showcase or be forgotten about anyway. Definitely second the recommendation for player Cheat Sheets, download the ones on the sight and be sure they are of a readable size, blow them up if need be. Also agree that you should utilize the simple suit fate decks instead of the decorative ones, I also prefer the paper ones to the plastic ones, unless they are very well worn and have graduated from the constant slip stage.

For the actual demo you want to be able to showcase a few things; simple duels (Terrifying is good for this), opposed duels (any combat will showcase this), Duel modifiers (particularly emphasizing the margin of success influencing the potential for damage), Cheating, Soul Stoning, and finally the two Jokers (dont be afraid to stack the deck to insure they pop out). Good crews for demoing are the simple ones that can do these things for you, my typical go to's are Lady Justice and a Death Marshal facing Seamus and a Rotten Belle. After the quick mechanics demo (shouldn't take more than 30 minutes start to finish, initial contact and world introduction, about 5 minutes, demo game showing the above mechanics, about 15-20 minutes, brief discussion of omitted options, Schemes, crew builds, typical tactics, etc, no more than 5 minutes) be sure to thank them for their time and offer a longer demo at another time.

Biggest word of caution I would give is to avoid the urge to deep dive into crew tactics, builds, upgrades, or deeper strategies/ tactics. These have a tendency to scare people off more than draw them into the game. Keep the game light and simple, once they are interested and have bought in they can learn all the nuances of the game in a longer demo or actual game.