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Thinking of Starting


Jimbo

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Hai there,

My name is James and i recently got introduced to the world of Malifaux and i gotta say, it looks pretty good. A few of my friends had started playing so i decided i may as well jump on the band wagon and gets myself an 'army' (is this the right term?).

Ive played wargames for about 10 years so wen it came to picking what faction to play i applied my usual trick of 'What do i like the look of the most'. And well Outcasts came up trumps and particularily the Viktorias starter box.

Basically i was wondering if anyone could help fill in some blanks for me.

Firstly, What am i letting myself in for. Do outcasts have a specific play style? or do they excell at anything in particular?

Second, my experience of 'mercenaries' is that they tag onto armies but in some cases are a stand alone force? Is this the case in Malifaux.

Also, is the Viktoria a sound choice? To be really honest i dont care if they arent the strongest 'team' but i like all the models in the box waaaay more than any of the other forces.

And lastly, I suppose the most important question (and maybe stupidest), do you all enjoy outcasts? This one for me means alot, is it a fun army to play or is it one of those people only use to win games. I mean after all i need to enjoy playing with what i use win or loose (that rhymed.....win).

Any and all help is greatly appreciated and if ive posted this in the wrong section i apologise for wasted your time :D

J

xx

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Hey James, and welcome to Wyrd! :D

The outcasts are indeed a separate faction, just like the other four. (Some outcasts with the mercenary trait can be hired as mercs for use in other factions, but can still be used in an outcast crew.)

As for playstyle, outcasts are a mixed bag... some (like Taelor, Misaki, Vic Twins, Bishop, etc...) are very melee intensive, while others (like Hans or the convict gunslinger) are happier fighting at range. the Gremlins, of course, have their own completely unique playstyle, often causing more damage to themselves then the enemy. (They are FUN to play, though!)

Yes, the Vic Twins are a great choice. They hit hard in melee, and you can mix and match the various outcast minions for some really specialized crews. And no, the Vic Twins are not an "uber-crew"... how good they are depend on how well they are used.

To answer your last question, there are lots of people who love playing a Vic Twins crew, so the outcasts are definitely fun to play.

Hope this helps!

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Hiya James,

To answer your questions:

1) Outcasts there are several different playstyles depending on you master choice.

For the Viktorias you are looking that they are a brutal Melee army out of the box, but you aren't going to have a whole lot of range right away.

For Som'er its a fun army but it will definitely be chaotic as you will be essentially using him a gremlin making machine with pigs running amuck across the board.

For Leveticus he's going to the be the one with the biggest learning curve because he breaks quite a few rules, (least of which is the card drawing, both good and bad) but he's severely limited in his army composition, however he doesn't have a box set out yet.

2) In Malifaux not all mercenaries are outcasts, Mercenary is a trait that some models have, however some don't (gremlins for example) Outcasts are first and foremost a stand alone force that some of them happen to be able to be added to other armies.

3) Viktoria will give you a few nifty abilities and are a very decent force, you might want to change a little bit of the composition to give you some range(witch Johann for a convict gunslinger).

4) In my Opinion they are a fun army and while they aren't an instant win army by any means, they are no slouch either. The biggest aspect to Malifaux to think about is that there are strategies and schemes to consider for winning and losing. so depending on the strategy, killing off your opponent might not actually win you the game.

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Welcome to Wyrd, and as a primarily Outcast player myself (Leve for the win!) let me tell you that Outcast crews are NOT bastard step children like mercenary armies are in some game systems (not all, but some).

Outcasts right now have a few seperate options.

Leveticus is the outcast that can hire any undead, construct, or soulless model from any faction without paying increased cost. He is a master necromancer and his specialty is deck cycling, direct damage, and actually killing himself off and getting brought back to play. Additionally, he is NOT to be underestimated in melee combat, or he'll one shot your ass quicker than your head can spin. :D I have only played four games with him so far, and his death toll with the pimp hand of necrotic justice is a sabretooth, Lady J, and an Ice golem.

Coolest things about leve ? direct damage, and uber aggressive spell slinging style. If you like in your face, reckless, but tricky casters, this guy is for you. Also, he can hire a LOT of different models from all the other factions, which is pretty cool, and gives him a huge minion pool, that with future releases, is only likely to get bigger and cooler. He's hard to pick up (so people say, i clicked with him immediately), but so much fun.

Then you've got Viktoria. With her, you're essentially getting two masters for the price of one, and a minion pool of any outcast model (which if you check them out, there are some nasty models in that minion pool - hans and gunslinger for shooting fun, Misaki, taelor, and johan for good beatin', and killjoy for owning people with a fat, naked assed undead goliath with a meat cleaver. There's also alyce too, though she gets pricey for non scavengers (worth it though if you need shooting). Not to mention the superb Student of Conflict totem and the very cool ronin.

Viktoria is really awesome because you get one master that is downright uber in melee, and another that is a balanced mix of range and melee. Viktoria can re-spawn herself when she's died by sac'ing soulstones and a ronin with a spell of hers. It's tough to cast, but even having that option is really good. Either of her incarnations are superb melee beatdown.

Then there's S'omer Jones. Don't let gremlins fool you - they are a nasty (and hilarious) force to contend with. Super card draw, huge damage, tons of stampeding pigs colliding with your stuff - all part of gremlins. I'll let someone else talk them up because i'm not really a gremlin outcast expert, but i can tell you this - they can be downright deceptively stupid good. :)

Lastly - i play a little bit of everything, but i'm an outcast through and through. Leveticus is what got me into the game, as clockwork necromancy with undead and constructs was just too awesome to ignore. Besides - he's got a unibrow. A glorious one at that. ;) There is no better gloating rights than pimp-slapping an opponent for 12 damage with Leveticus and telling your buddy "Your master just got solitaired by an old dude with a unibrow." :D

I like playing outcasts overall because it lets me collect a wide range of models, and play a variety of playstyles, which is the main draw - and i get to use all these great outcasts at their base cost, not the inflated other faction cost.

Welcome to Outcasts. :) We have cookies. Soul cookies! :)

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Cheers for the run downs guys thats given me alot to think about. I decided to buy the Viktoria starter and i really like the look of gremlins too. Are gremlins there own army or can u use viktoria with gremlins?

I know i probably really need to buy the rulebook but its a bit steep (just come out of college n need a job SAD FACE)

Thanks again, im liking the sound of the game.

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Cheers for the run downs guys thats given me alot to think about. I decided to buy the Viktoria starter and i really like the look of gremlins too. Are gremlins there own army or can u use viktoria with gremlins?

I know i probably really need to buy the rulebook but its a bit steep (just come out of college n need a job SAD FACE)

Thanks again, im liking the sound of the game.

Yes and no. :)

There are two game sizes - scraps and brawls. Scraps are 1 master games, brawls are 2 master games. Viktoria can only hire models with the "mercenary" trait in scraps - and none of the gremlins are mercenaries. So you'd need to play a two master game before opening up your minion pool to gremlins, which i don't recommend just starting out.

You can take Viktoria at brawls, but your soulstone reserve is reduced by 5 (i.e. - if you're playing a 50 SS game with 2 masters, and you take vicky, you've actually only got 45 to work with - the reason is that with vicky in a brawl, you've really got 3 masters).

If possible, see if a friend or two can go halves or thirds on the book - its REALLY useful, and a pretty nice game book all told between fluff and art. :)

Edited by Haight
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OK . I too am leaning toward S'omer Jones.

So question, after a starter/faction box, how many models can you add in a typical game? What models make sense to add with S'omer Jones?

thanks

well, Jones has an exceptionally limited cache of models to begin with.. so I would just say take your pick of those, find out what gels with your playstyle, and go to town!

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Typically, I think most people pick up the Som'er Teeth Box + Hog Whisperer blister + 3x Piglet blister. Most starter games are around the 25SS mark, so with those two additional blister you can swap Bayou Gremlins in and out to squeeze more or less Piglets and the Hog Whisperer in.

The Hog Whisperer is pretty useful to get into any Teeth crew to be honest; as he can buff the War Pig (which you should always take) and he has the "Survival of the Fittest" ability, like Teeth does. This means that if you keep the Whisperer close, you collect more control cards as they die. ;)

The only other option available for Teeth at the moment is the Giant Mosquito, but that model isn't available yet.

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I do have a giant boar from Reaper I could proxy to try two I suppose.

It comes down to these guys or the Chimera crew or the Hag's puppets.

Anyone give me a heads up on what might be coming for those two groups (like the giant mosquito mentioned here )?

any opinions on the best all-around group of these three ?

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Well the Hag and Som'ar go well together, well more to the point the Hag can take gremlins. I personally like the Hag a lot, she can pick any 4 wp or less troop and take them with her crew, that can be Papa Loco, the Nurses, and any of the gremlin stuff. One of the combos I would love to try out sometime is a Nurse and Papa Loco. The idea would be to shoot PL up with drugs then Obey him in to do his thing.

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