Getting Started?

[Trixer]

Hey Guys!

So myself, and a few friends (about 4-5 of us total) are debating on taking up a war game. At first we were staring head long at the various games workshop games, all of us having a bit of experience in but nothing to hard core.

Then I found this website, and am really liking the idea of this game. The thought of cards over dice is appealing sense I am a card gamer as well.

Now, what I am really wondering now is how do I go about getting started in this game? Obviously the rulebook is a great place to start. As far as forces go should we all stick to one of the boxed forces? Also, each person will need a fate deck too right?

Am I missing the getting started guides? Perhaps someone could point me in the direction of them, if there are some.

What kind of paints do you guys recommend using?

Anyway, I have tons more questions but we will start with those, though any info that could be given to a new player would be awesome as well!

Thanks

[Ciaran]

Okay, so first off....

GREAT game! This is hands down one of the best out there, if not the best (to myself anyway).

A starter box plus one or two models apiece will be a GREAT start and will probably keep you busy for a while. The rulebook, absolutely! A Fate Deck or two per person (different colors though) would be a good idea. I would also suggest colored counters. Fantasy Flight Games makes some serviceable ones in multiple colors. I use red for soulstones and to track my numbers as well as blue to track my opponents on a chart to simplify that process and to avoid arguments.

Resources: You didn't mention this, I'm going to share it anyway. http://tabletopgeeks.com/malifaux-downloads/ has a TON of useful stuff for this game. Print it all out.

Paints... Well, this is complicated. Games Workshop is pretty standard. People also say good things about both Reaper Master Class and Vallejo Colors. I've heard that Vallejo Colors' metallics are to be avoided. Depending on your style you might not need any metal colors at all.

This forum will be one of your best long term resources!

Happy gaming!

Edited April 22, 2010 by Ciaran
For clarity!

[Cryptkicker]

I'd recommend starting with one of the starter sets. They essentially let you go right out of the box with a balanced, similar-flavor force. Once you have a handle on the game, you can branch out, maybe run a second crew or start hiring mercenaries.

As far as using the same guys, as far as I know, as long as you yourself aren't running two of the same-named unique characters on your crew, you can fight against your "evil twin."

Each player will need their own fate deck, though you can use regular playing cards... the rules explain which suit represents each Malifaux suit.

For paints, I'd recommend using acryllics. Avoid enamel stuf like Testors. Acryllics are smoother and blend better. Reaper and Citadel (Games Workshop) both have huge lines at relatively the same price.

[AntiZombie]

Well first thing to do is find your local Henchman if there is one in your area (Henchmen are wyrd volunteers who do demos organize events ect). They can help you through the rules, building forces and painting ect.

This is a great wargame to get into since it requires very little investment comparativly. I personaly play way too many ( among them the titans of warhammer and warmachine) and this is a great cheap and quick skirmish system that i highly recomend.

the box sets are good to start with, the only ones i would stay away from are the Ramos set and the McMourning set since they do not play well right out of the box. also of course rule books. You dont NEED a fate deck but they are centainly handy, there is a conversion table in the rulebook so you can use a regular deck of cards.

As far as what to stick with, i would just stay within faction, play what you think is cool, there are good strategy threads in the wyrd matters section.

as far as paints go i use a combination of Valejo game color and Citadel paints. there are alot of good learn to paint threads on the forums too.

good luck and welcome to Malifaux

[mriverakc]

Trixer, This is a great game it is a break from the norm of dice. It is skirmished base with a lot of variety. The models are great and the community is growing. Join in grab a game like AnitZombie mention and you will have a lot of fun.

[prescott]

Whether a game is "good" is obviously subjective, but some things which many players seem to like:

- Low model count- you can have a good game with 3-5 models per player.

- Low entry cost- boxed sets MSRP $27-$37, most contain 20-25 soulstones worth of figures, about 5 models.

- Complex enough to be interesting without being too complicated to play.

- Card mechanic- not unique to Malifaux, but I think the implemetation is good. Adds a resouce management and a statistical calculation element which is engaging rather than tedious (see previous point).

It takes two decks to play; I find not having to look up the suit equivalents to be well worth the $14.50 for two Wyrd decks, and the art is pretty good.

The rulebook is more than a "nice to have", as there are no quickstart rules in the starter boxes. The rulebook has had some ammendments, as is common for games getting started. You are highly encouraged to also refer to the following:

FAQ & Errata:

http://www.wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10264

Extra Bonus Errata:

http://www.wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10309

For me, learning from someone else is far easier than trying to learn by reading the rules. AntiZombie's suggestion to find a henchman is good (if there is one in your area).

There's also an opponent finder thread elsewhere on the forum:

http://www.wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6986&page=last

And there's a demo video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=malifaux+demo&aq=0

AntiZombie is also right about some boxed sets being more playable than others. There are plenty of reflections on this also elsewhere on the boards, but my personal picks for "best to start out with" are Cult of December, Redchappel Gang, and Death Marshals.

Choice of paint is like choice of any other artistic medium: what people like for themselves varies widely. The best way to find what you like is to try different things and see what you prefer.

A large majority of wargaming minis are painted with acrylic paint, which is easy to work with.

There are some product lines which have been developed with metal and plastic miniatures specifically in mind (Reaper Master Series, Reaper Pro, Vallejo Game Color, Vallejo Model Color, and Citadel are some popular examples) but they are by no means the only alternatives. Some hobbyists like art or craft acrylics (which tend to be more economical).

[Justin]

Lots of great advice in this thread.

Only thing I'm going to add, when I started painting, I used all citadel paints. So, I own a ton of them. But recently I've been trying the reaper paints and I love them. I would switch to them, but my collection of citadel is large enough that I may as well stick with it. If I had it to do over again, I would buy reaper paints.

Reaper paints come in packs of three with your shade, base coat, and highlight. This is very convenient. Also, the shape of the bottle lends itself to blending and mixing new colors. Mixing citadel paints is a pain. Additionally, most of the reaper paints just go on smoother. The only down side to reaper over citadel is that reaper rubs off of the model very easily, where citadel stays more or less through anything (ok, not so much on metal models, but still infinitely better than reaper). However, with a simple gloss coat and then matte finish you can totally eliminate this one issue.

This is, of course, my opinion. There are people who will swear by every brand of paint.

[macgowan]

The big question in paint is do you want a dropper bottle (better for mixing & thinning out) or a paint pot (used straight outta the container)?

Here's what I'm familiar with:

DROPPER BOTTLES:

Reaper Master Series (I think it's called) has been discussed by Lalochezia. More natural, subdued colors, GREAT variety in shades of flesh tone (like 12), love their metallics.

Vallejo Model Color is similar to Reaper, with a huge palette. Haven't used them myself.

Vallejo Game Color is matched shade for shade with Citadel (Games Workshop) paints. I have the whole run of these, have used them for 6-7 years, and they haven't dried out (another advantage of dropper bottles). If you go with a different line, I have two recommendations you should pick up from this brand. Glaze Medium lets you turn any paint into a glaze/ink for quick shading and great blending. I've gone through more bottles of this (3) than anything else. Also pick up Smoky Ink, which is a great oily, dirty brown color and is awesome for making things look gritty and dirty.

PAINT POTS

P3 Paints (Privateer) have the best pigmentation I've found and are the most chip-resistant. A nice mix of bright and subdued colors, they also have several colors with a shade/base/highlight palette. Their paint is notoriously think, and you'll want to water it down a tad (if it was in dropper bottles, I would throw out everything else I own). Id applies smoothly and covers black primer in less coats than anything I've tried. Their Armor Wash is the best black ink I've ever used. Their metallics are VERy fine grain, and separate easily. You'll need to add an agitator (small screw, piece of metal tab that goes in the base slot, etc) and you need to shake the hell out of these.

Citadel (Games Workshop) See Vallejo Game Color, only with pots that tend to dry out and no Smoky Ink. The exceptions are their Washes and Foundation paints, which are much higher quality. Devlan Mud can be slapped onto almost any figure for a brown shading, used out of the pot b/c it's pretty watery. I haven't used their Foundation line, but I hear it has thickness and coverage of P3 paints and is especially great for red and yellow.

Decide whether you want the convenience of paint pots or the flexibility and longevity of dropper bottles. Then buy some Smoky Ink, Glaze Medium, and Armor Wash and have fun!

[Major_Gilbear]

Decide whether you want the convenience of paint pots or the flexibility and longevity of dropper bottles. Then buy some Smoky Ink, Glaze Medium, and Armor Wash and have fun!

Actually, you can get empty paint dropper bottles from the same manufacturers that supply their paints in them.

So I bought the empty dropper bottles from Vallejo, and put the P3 paint in them. Best of both worlds! :rockon:

I've also posted a whole raft of suggestions in a similar thread here, so I'll just refer you to that (as it is a lot to post again!)

[Iron Man]

paint wise i use a whole host of different things, but a set of citadel foundation paints, and a copy of how do paint citadel miniatures, should start you off very nicely. I prefer vallejo dropper bottles to be used off a pallete, as macgowan says they dont dry up like paints in a pot, and they do mix a lot easier for shading, meaning you dont need to buy shades, just mix them.

rules wise, get the book, and then read it cover to cover, get all your mates to do the same, and then decide on what crews you want. There is just the right amount of you to have 1 player for every faction. get a fate deck each and away you go.

choosing a starting crew is a personal choice. i wouldnt say any are good or bad because every crew has a learning curve. just read up on the crews you like first and see if they have a playstyle you would enjoy.

[Trixer]

Hey guys!

Wow, tons of good information here! Though advice to Wyrd in general, is to go ahead and get some more articles out here, so that people coming into the game can feel like they can get the "gist" of things before they invest their money. (Battle reports are awesome way to get people familiar with the rules, and game play with out giving away what your trying to sell...\

OK, so soul stones are like "points" in other games, and you use them to build you group.

Starter Crew, Soul Deck (or cards), Rulebook and paints.. are really whats needed..

Lots of good info on paints guys, I have used the GW paints very often, and will most likely be looking at the reaper paints or the Vellejo paints. I dont like pot paints, I would rather dropper them. I like the aspect of reaper paints and being able to get my base, shade, and highlight all in one kit, cause frankly I suck at mixing paints.

Really for the most part I suck at painting, however I am looking to improve! I really wish the models for this game were of a bigger scale but ohhh well!

I have not even pitched the game to my friends yet, but I think they will be down with it. All of us are feeling the crunch of warhammer 40k as we start to think about what its gonna cost us all to get started.

So what I am wondering is as far as game play goes.. I like the aspect of simple play, but I am wondering if the game its self is watered down? IE, I mean does it play like mageknight or heroclix, but you just get to paint your own minis, or is it as intense as all the modifiers you can find in games like WH or WH40k....

We are looking for a fine balance between the two if you guys know what I mean?

[Trash]

Just my .02 in the matter, but I have often told people that Malifaux plays like a mix between Magic, Blood Bowl, Warmachine, Horrorclix, and Deadlands all rolled up in a ball.

[dahli.llama]

I haven't actually played a game of Malifaux yet, but just from reading the rules and some battle reports, there definitely is a bit of strategy to the game. It may not be at the level of Warhammer 40k simply because there isn't as much on the table to think about, but it's definitely more than the Clix games.

I do play 40k, and if you've never played a wargame before, then this would be the perfect place to start. Warhammer and the likes have a huge initial investment that is a bit daunting. This game can be played easily with just the $30 boxed sets. So even if you decide that it's not for you, it's not like you're out a ton if you give it up.

Also, I don't know if it has been mentioned, but you can use a standard Poker deck in place of the Fate decks. That can save you a little bit.

[Iron Man]

if i was to really try and define malifaux by comparison, necromunda mixed with magic the gathering mixed with advanced hero quest might do it, but still not quite right.

rules wise it has all the basics of most single model based wargames, i.e. movement, combat, casting, morale, but none of the squad based stuff you would find in 40k like coherency. it doesnt go into as much detail on things such as cover or LOS, i think malifaux expects a bit of common sense out of its gamers.

the complexity comes from every models individual abilities. even the smallest weakest model has 2 or 3 different things it can do other than the basic moving and attacking.

the rules are written so that they flow. the basics are simple but really getting to know how your crew works takes time and brain power, much in the same way as constructing a winning magic deck.

[Trixer]

Outstanding!

So as far as resource management, I would assume this your hand of cards that you use to "cheat fate" or is there something I am missing?

The game seems really fun I think it will be ideal for my playgroup!

So whats the standard gaming board size that is reccomended to be used? For instance WH is generally 6x4, I would assume sense there are less models it might be smaller?

Thanks again everyone for your awesome insight!

[Major_Gilbear]

Malifaux is rather more complex than 40k I'd say, and the language used in the rules in both important and keyworded. With few models on the table, you won't be able to pull off tactics like refused flank manoeuvres or whatnot, but you will get far more sneaky tricks and shenanigans than 40k. To me, it is like a proper skirmish version of Warmachine, crossed with a poker game.

LOS and other issues are abstracted so that you can carry out conversions and not worry about 'true' LOS issues. There is a reasonable amount of help regarding terrain interaction, and you have rather a lot of freedom to do most things with your crew if you want. Just agree any niggles with your opponent first.

To build your crew, you choose a Master (who's free) and then add minions up to the agreed Soulstone value. Unspent Soulstones are added to the Master's Cache. The unused Soulstones plus those from the Cache can be used in game for a variety of different things, but are usually spent to add extra cards to those in play to boost your total score, or for healing damage. It is useful to have a handful of beads or tokens for each player to represent the Soulstones a Master has available in a game.

Each player has a hand of six cards - usually refreshed each turn - which can be used to change either the score flipped and/or the suits showing. Changing the cards like this is called "Cheating Fate", and there are also 'modifiers' in the game too; these allow you to flip more than one card and force you to either take the lowest or choose a card from the those drawn (depending on the modifier). This is called "Twisting Fate". Some abilities that models have are triggered off certain suits that flipped cards belong to, and the difference in scores between your active model and the opponent's defending model affects how much damage you do or success you have.

The game is played on a 3'x3' board (or 4'x4' if you play double Masters or have more than two players), and benefits from having lots of terrain. And I mean lots - at least two pieces per square foot.

I would suggest as others have that you begin by getting the rule book (and that your friends do too) and reading it. It has a cool series of linked stories running through it that introduce a number of key characters in the game, and also a full list of every model and its rules, as well as the core rules.

Then each of you will need a starter box and a Fate deck, an assortment of coloured beads/tokens and a tape measure.

Most of the starter boxes build to about 25 Soulstones, but a few may need an additional blister of models to bring them up to a playable crew. The crews are reasonably balanced, and the factions certainly are. Some Masters are trickier to learn than others (like Marcus and Somer Teeth), but the important thing is to pick what you each like; you can always ask here for help if you're struggling and need some playing tips!

Finally, not to swamp you, but there has been an Errata document and an FAQ released which you should all print out and keep handy. It clarifies or re-writes some of the rules and abilities, and is worth reading and learning too.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Major_Gilbear
Edited to add more info!

[dahli.llama]

Outstanding!

So as far as resource management, I would assume this your hand of cards that you use to "cheat fate" or is there something I am missing?

There's 3 different resources that you need to manage throughout the game.

The first is most obviously the cards you hold in your hand that allow you to cheat fate. These do get replenished each turn, and there are ways to draw more cards during your turn.

The second is your Master's soulstones. These provide a second method of cheating fate by adding additional cards to a duel. Each master has a cache of them, plus any leftover stones after you build your army are added to the cache (ie. if you build an army that only uses 27ss for a 30ss game, then the extra 3 would be added to your master's cache).

The third is your individual models' action points. Each model gets 2 AP when they are activated and these are used to perform the various actions. There are ways to get additional AP for specific action and some characters can provide extra AP to other characters. So a key element of the game is activating characters is a manner so that they get the most out of their AP.

[Trixer]

Awesome, these last two posts are just what I have been looking for all along!

So, what is the "norm" SS value 25-30?

I wish I had a hobby shop in my area that sold these games, so I guess I will have to order here!

I really like the idea of 3x3 or 4x5 tables, I also like the idea of smaller "crews" vrs larger armies.

Painting large armies gets tiring to me, I like to try and lavish on detail and tech (even though I suck at it) but its really hard to think that way when you set that model down and pick up another one that looks just like it, and then there are like 25 more in que right behind that one.

Also smaller boards again means that I can put more time into my table or even have more then one table. I didnt to build static tables just because I think they look better over all...

Hmm, what it takes to become a henchman, and what the benefits are. I have a local hobby shop in mind to run events and stuff. I wonder if it would be worth the effort.. Though mini games are not really big in the area I live sadly

[Major_Gilbear]

I'd say 30-35SS is the most common/popular size, though some folks like 40SS (I assume it makes it easier to take expensive models like the Steamborg without feeling too hampered).

Battlebox games tend to be 25-30SS.

[dahli.llama]

Awesome, these last two posts are just what I have been looking for all along!

So, what is the "norm" SS value 25-30?

I wish I had a hobby shop in my area that sold these games, so I guess I will have to order here!

The norm looks to be about 30 for the scraps and then there are brawls where you can bring 2 masters at 40-75ss.

I know your pain about the hobby store. There is no store in town and I have to drive 90 miles to get to the nearest one, and even then it doesn't carry Malifaux. Luckily I do have a good group of 3 guys that I play 40k with and hopefully I can convince them to play Malifaux.

[Trixer]

Yeah I live in south alabama and in a small town at that.. there are litterally at least 12 mechanic shops around here... but not a single hobby shop...

Closest hobby shop to me is in PC, FL and its about 90 miles as well...

I wish I was rich so I could open a hobby shop and play the days away...

[Grim]

+1 to this thread!

[Trixer]

Another question guys

I am reading battle reports, and they are talking about things like strategies and schemes...

These seem like something you pick in edition to your crew, or is this basically what defines the mission objectives for you and if thats teh case are they games specific or?

Also, I am curious, if you guys would recommend that I pick up the rulebook before buying any minis, something tells me for this game, I would want to push back the urge to buy a starter box before looking at character stats, and kind of getting a feel for what would be my play style.

Edited April 23, 2010 by Trixer

[Ciaran]

Another question guys

I am reading battle reports, and they are talking about things like strategies and schemes...

These seem like something you pick in edition to your crew, or is this basically what defines the mission objectives for you and if thats teh case are they games specific or?

Also, I am curious, if you guys would recommend that I pick up the rulebook before buying any minis, something tells me for this game, I would want to push back the urge to buy a starter box before looking at character stats, and kind of getting a feel for what would be my play style.

Yes on both accounts. Let me explain!

Strategies are the overall mission objectives to be accomplished for victory points.

Schemes are "smaller scale" strategies, also for victory points.

I had the rulebook for about two weeks before I started buying crews. It gave me a chance to read through it a couple of times, get a feel for the crews and decide which ones were more "me." I REALLY suggest you do the same.

It's obviously much smaller scale than either WH game. I think it's also a LOT more intricate, and it

s worth taking your time to get into it "correctly" rather than rush in and get frustrated.

[dahli.llama]

As for getting the book before buying any minis, it can be useful, but not necessary. There's a lot of good info around the forums on each faction and the various masters.

I went ahead and picked up the two boxed sets I was most interested in along with the rulebook, since I didn't want to have to make two separate orders.