Picking Sides...

[theWestWinds]

As is always the case with a new tabletop game you are getting interested in, you see a ton of sweet looking models, and have no idea how they play...

I come from a Warmachine background, and in WM, you have some armies that are more range oriented, some that are more melee oriented. You get armies that are more straightforward, and some that rely more on tricks. You get armies that are fast and deadly, and armies that are slow but sturdy.

I love all these models, but can anyone give me a rundown on the basic play-style of each crew? Possibly of each box-set? So I can buy an army based not ENTIRELY on how cool they look.

It is most appreciated.

[dgraz]

Noob PRIMER: Fiction and Fluff background

Noob PRIMER: Basics of the CARD mechanic

Noob PRIMER: Faction overview

Noob PRIMER: Malifaux for the Warmachine gamer!

Noob PRIMER: Combat example walkthrough

Noob PRIMER: Magic and spell casting duels

[theWestWinds]

That was a pretty good overview... Thanks! If anyone else has any thought on their crew or faction, by all means, spit it out!

[Chucklemonkey]

All depends what you like really. I tend to find myself drawn to Resurrectionists and Neverborn but even within the factions the specific masters have a fairly unique style.

The primer's are very useful, and if you read through the book i'm sure you will find the crew for you.

What army did you play in Warmachine, what type of playstyle would you envisage being drawn to? If you have an idea then i'm sure people would be able to point you properly in the right direction.

Edited April 10, 2010 by Chucklemonkey

[Pipeline]

I always pick the stuff I want to paint.

[Lordfishbane]

I always pick the stuff I want to paint.

Ditto, if your not a painter then play style will make your choice- hand to hand, ranged, spells etc. Although some factions have strong hands in each. Still may be a hard choice.

[Rathnard]

Because I feel like it, here's a quick rundown of each faction/crew as I see them;

GUILD: Tends to favour shooting and negating your opponents benefits/buffs. Each Master specialises in fighting a certain faction, although it doesn't mean the suck at fighting anything else. They're also relatively easy to learn how to use.

Lady Justice: Anti-Resurrectionist, the close combat specialist.

Perdita: Anti-Neverborn, the shooting specialist. Considered one of the easist Masters to use well.

Sonnia Crid: Anti-Arcanist, tends to be a "jack of all trades", with abilities in close combat, ranged magic and even some summoning.

RESURRECTIONISTS: The Necromancers - tend to favour summoning and buffing their own units. For the most part they're slow but very resiliant.

McMourning, aka Dr Frankenstein: The close combat summoner. Some would argue that he's a better summoner that Nicodem - he won't raise hordes of models but he'll piece together a flesh construct very quickly. As aluded, he's also pretty capable of killing things up close.

Nicodem: The stereotypical necromancer. Can raise hordes of undead easily and has some ranged offensive spells. Very reliant on his minions to stay alive - you won't see this guy running around on his own.

Seamus: The nut with a gun. Hard to kill, barely capable of summoning, very tame in close combat but downright terrifying at range. His usual approach is to lure enemy models out of cover with his belles, and then blow them away with his (big) pistol. He's also got some great buffs for terrifying, so he's better at making things run away than most other masters.

ARCANISTS: Tend to be fragile spell casters with some fearsome magical output.

Rasputina: The ice mage. Slow, but is very good at providing cover in the form of ice pillars and killing things with ice magic. Her usual minions tend to be very resiliant and allow her cast spells through the minions, which keeps her pretty safe (think arc nodes in warmachine).

Marcus: The Beast Master. Not alot of direct damage spells, but makes up for it by buffing the beasts he usually runs with, which are mostly fast and hard-hitting. He's by far the most capable Arcanist Master in combat, and his crew strategy tends to revolve around coordinating a single strike with most of your crew. He's one of the harder masters to use well.

Ramos: The Summoner. He has some direct damage abilities but for the most part he specialises in creating mechanical spiders that can then run up and kill/detonate vs. enemy models. Armour makes him and his spiders relatively resiliant, and while the spiders can traverse most terrain, their raw movement speed tends to be average.

NEVERBORN: All about speed, hard-to-hit models and deception. All three masters play very differently.

Lilith: A straight-up beater. She runs up to the enemy under cover of a summonable forest (much like Rasputina's ice pillars), and then pile-drives an enormous sword into their faces. Her usual minions are all very fast and designed purely for combat, although they can also 'grow' into bigger minions as you kill opposing models. She's an easy Master to figure out.

Pandora: VERY unique in her playstyle. Everything she does revolves around the willpower (Wp) stat. Basically, she's a hit-and-run caster that gradually drains away models wounds through Wp duels until they run away or die. Enemy models need to pass a Wp duel to target her, which can make her very difficult to kill. Her crew supports this Wp=damage/protection approach and in the right circumstances with the right crew, Pandora can move vast distances and deal obsene amounts of damage in a single turn. One big negative is that certain crews/abilities (eg. Perdita) that can neutralise her Wp abilities will give her a very tough time. A hard master to use right, but once you figure her out she's one of the strongest in the game.

Zoraida: A sort of support master. She's very fast and difficult to hunt down, but by herself she's not going to do alot. What she can do is support her minions in their own damage-dealing capabilities as well as mess with your opponents deck and hand. Her usual minions tend to be ambushers, either with a very long charge range (silurid) or the ability to appear anywhere it wants (Bad Juju). That said, she's got no obvious synergy with either so she's free to pick whatever other minions she wants.

OUTCASTS: Not really defined by anything aside from the fact that they don't fit into the other factions, and their ability (usually) to make use of most suits in the deck. Each Master pretty much has their own way of playing.

The Viktorias: The Mercenary master, is actually two Masters in one. They can deal out alot of damage up close, but individually they're somewhat brittle. Aside from the Viks/Ronin, there's not alot of synergy between the models in her crew, but they're all quite capable of doing their own thing. On the negative, the Viks minions are quite expensive so you won't have a large crew.

So'mer Teeth Jones: The horde Master. Think goblins crossed with hillbillies, with plenty of pigs, and you have So'mers crew. They're potentially very destructive, doing alot of damage to both themselves and they're opponents. As a result everything is cheap and easy to kill, although this does give them some issues when facing certain crews that have hard to hit models (Pandora, Lilith, Perdita etc). As such they're not an easy crew to use.

Levictus: A caster that summons minions, buffs minions, does obscene damage at range and up close, and kills himself every turn to do it. Seriously, many of Levi's abilities deal damage to himself, and when he dies he's summoned back at the end of the turn so long as his "life insurance" (summonable minions called hollow waifs) is still alive. His choice of minions is huge, since he can pick almost any undead or construct from any faction. This is a very complicated master to use and NOT recommended for beginners. You should really only try him once you fully understand the rules and feel like a challenge.

Edited May 13, 2010 by Rathnard