Malifaux, pro's and con's.

[Ace of Apes]

2. low investment cost

That's definitely true, but I think it's important to note that Malifaux requires a lot of terrain to be enjoyable and balanced; more than your LGS might be able to provide during peak hours.

So unless the entire group is content with labeled cardboard cutouts, this might drive the initial cost up a bit.

Still a cheap game when all's said and done, just maybe not as cheap as one might initially think.

[Magno]

That's definitely true, but I think it's important to note that Malifaux requires a lot of terrain to be enjoyable and balanced; more than your LGS might be able to provide during peak hours.

So unless the entire group is content with labeled cardboard cutouts, this might drive the initial cost up a bit.

Well, like I said, I play Infinity so the amount of terrain for this game feels barren. And terrain isn't too hard to make for a rock or forrest table and you only need enough for a 3x3. Plus, WorldWorks is coming out with terrain sets for $50 that we all saw at GenCon. Very cool stuff.

[hippieshopper]

Here's my take on it as a week old newbie.

PROS:

I. Low cost: I am a student...this is a great game for penny pinchers like me. You can spend less than 100$ and be set for a long time.

II. Easily built models: Yeah, I could just make all the models fit together with some glue and paint them up and they'll be pretty (I used cold weld stuff instead though). Everything fits together nicely, and those 30mm bases are cheap!

III. Card System: Maybe this one is just me but with D&D and AO, I have HORRIBLE luck with dice. Statistically with dice, you can get low roll after low roll and it never ends. With Malifaux, you know your bad luck is at least limited in cards. Also you can just use a normal set of cards and it carries over to this game.

IV. Characters(Fluff): The characters and masters sick out amongst each other and there are probably limitless combinations to what you can do. While some of those drawings are kinda creepy, it does add a unique element to this game.

V. Thuh Scenarios: With a few flips of your cards you can have a unique battlefield and objective that will be different from every other game you'll play.

VI. Scale: This game seems to have a lot of room for both small scale and large scale. You can play a small game with as little as 5 characters and each one can have a huge impact on the players strategy.

VII. Units: There are SO many! You can have a few big brick ****houses or a horde of zombies and play how you like. Even the little guy can be the difference between victory and defeat.

CONS:

I. More, more, more!: It seems just as I grasp the rules, they come out with another book, another model, another set of things I can't do. I've thought hard and pre-planned many strategies only to be told right as I start them that I cannot do that. This is frustrating.

II. The Book: The rule book is not laid out very well. The glossary sucks and there's no index. Also it seems like someone just shotgunned the rules throughout, the layout is just...bad.

III. Rock Paper-What?: Now this is me just being nitpicky. But I love Nico, a lot, and so with that I mention Lady Justice. I like the idea that every master can beat anyone they like through tactics, and of course, through their victory points(which is another pro) but it seems like some masters are the perfect counter to others. I don't like the fact that my only chance of victory is by dirty tactics.

IV. More than 2v2: I know I am new to this but it seems that it is very difficult to organize a three or four person match.

Overall, I like this game. I have instantly connected with my 'faction' and I find myself quite loyal to them and I just started this a week ago with only a few games under my belt. I am definitely recommending this to others.

Resurrectionists for life! =P

Edited August 15, 2010 by hippieshopper
Bolded that stuff!

[Poko]

Pro:

SCENARIOS! Seriously, the extensive scenario list makes the game shine, and its fairly unique in wargaming.

Models-nice sculpts, easy to put together for the most part, dead easy to paint due to extensive texturing of each piece, and still quite affordable.

Cards are certainly unique enough and the cheating can limit the randomness to a degree (if you drew a horrible hand it won't help much, but all highs and all lows are rare so you usually get balanced mix) and the suits/triggers play is also very rewarding

Activation system, better than classic igo-ugo.

Con:

The interactions between rules and/or timing can be very confusing at times.

Combo-driven, which some like, I'm not fond of that, but it seems every fantasy game these days uses similiar mechanics in this regard.

All in all, while I find some things irritating, the game is certainly the best fantasy skirmish I've played in ages.

[Wodschow]

II. The Book: The rule book is not laid out very well. The glossary sucks and there's no index. Also it seems like someone just shotgunned the rules throughout, the layout is just...bad.

---

IV. More than 2v2: I know I am new to this but it seems that it is very difficult to organize a three or four person match.

Ah yes.. I agree on the Book.. I wish they had a rules section and a fluff section, was also very annoyed at it at first, but have learned my way around the book by now, so didn't think about it when I wrote my thoughts.

On the other hand I've also heard a few people praise the set-up of the book.. So I guess it's a tough one.. Hmm..

As for the 3+ players I actually find that most of the core rules seems to be designed with several players in mind. There's suprisingly little trouble for having multiple players, probably due to a mix between the single-model activation order and 'all models are targetable - allies included' mentality of the game.

You have to decide a few things on the set-up and initiative (order of which the players activate models), but then you're pretty much set..

The only other game that I'm very familiar with is 40k and multiple players just do not work here.. Close-combat suddenly gets exponentially dangerous the more players you add.

[Chucklemonkey]

On the other hand I've also heard a few people praise the set-up of the book.. So I guess it's a tough one.. Hmm..

I would pretty much fall into this camp. I don't have the patience to sit and read a rulebook cover to cover - the Warmachine book for example - and generally, although I like to ensure I play nicely themed forces, I am not a fluff nut. As a result I really liked the sectional book as it served my short attention span well!

A properly functional index would have made all the difference though.

[nilus]

Yeah as far as book layout goes. Some people love the Fluff mixed in with the rules, others would prefer them separate. I'm mixed on it.

As far as Multiplayer goes. Since its a individual model activation system and close combat does not involve any sort of simulations attacking(like 40K). The rules generally work well for Multiplayers.

The only things that need be altered are the setup rules and some of the Strategies and Schemes. Like most Miniature games though the focus is 1 on 1 for the most part. I would love to see a Wyrd web article about playing Multiplayer games with maybe some special strategies and schemes specific to them.

[Magno]

Here's my take on it as a week old newbie.

III. Rock Paper-What?: Now this is me just being nitpicky. But I love Nico, a lot, and so with that I mention Lady Justice. I like the idea that every master can beat anyone they like through tactics, and of course, through their victory points(which is another pro) but it seems like some masters are the perfect counter to others. I don't like the fact that my only chance of victory is by dirty tactics.

lady Justice is superb against all Res masters save for maybe MccMourning, because he is the only one that doesn't really rely on corpse counters and his crews don't force a lot of WP duels.

Blind Justice from Lady Justice cuddles Kirai and Seamus (also Colette) crews when angling with WP checks.

Her crews' abilities to prevent corpse counters cuddles Nicodem and Seamus.

So yeah, that's one of my biggest reservations of the game in tournament formats. Some crews are in a serious uphill battle vs certain crews and made even worse with some of the scenarios.

Now this same issue can be entertainingly exploited for story based or campaign formats.

[Poko]

Magno, while some crews have bad matchups, you build crews AFTER flipping for scenarios, so it mitgates the issue to a degree. You won't take Rasputina if you have token to catch after all.

[Magno]

Magno, while some crews have bad matchups, you build crews AFTER flipping for scenarios, so it mitgates the issue to a degree. You won't take Rasputina if you have token to catch after all.

Well, that must be a new thing, because in tournies you can't redesign your crews and for most pick-up games and leagues your crew is already built by the time you find out scenarios, etc..

Now schemes can help mitigate poor match-ups, I don't think anyone here will argue that this game is satisfyingly balanced. If you're ok with that, then the game itself is rockin'.

[nilus]

Magno, while some crews have bad matchups, you build crews AFTER flipping for scenarios, so it mitgates the issue to a degree. You won't take Rasputina if you have token to catch after all.

Very true, but this then leads down the path of then I need to buy multiple masters and play different crews. Some people like to stick with one Master.

That being said LJ is tough on Res(especially Nicodem). But she is beatable. The trick is to try to get her crew separated and pick them off far enough away from LJ that she can't blow up the corpse counters. Then reanimate them right away as something other then a Mindless Zombie. Hiring dogs to draw models away and using your vultures to cast from anywhere on the board and grab tokens for you help a lot. It actually turns your Res vs LJ game into a much more tactical exercise.

Also never forget that the goal is to get your strategies and schemes done and not to kill the other guy. I have seen Guild players totally wipe out there opponent but get 0 VP because they didn't reach there goal(and the wiped out guy get in one case 6 VP)

[Poko]

Well, that must be a new thing, because in tournies you can't redesign your crews and for most pick-up games and leagues your crew is already built by the time you find out scenarios, etc.

We haven't had any tourney yet, but I assume normal rules from rulebook apply to tournaments as well, otherwise some factions are just boned when bad random encounter comes up or mission.

Very true, but this then leads down the path of then I need to buy multiple masters and play different crews. Some people like to stick with one Master.

Some factions can get away with that, like Guild and Ressers, some masters from other factions too (Ramos is quite verisalite), but by and large I see the game as faction-balanced, not master-balanced, so you're picking from the entire crew to have a force working well in that scenario. Like marcus and table quaters or token hunt, and Raspy with slaughter/assasinate or claim jump.

[nilus]

Well, that must be a new thing, because in tournies you can't redesign your crews

Not the ones I run . Rules as written in the main book(and clarified in book 2). You don't draft your army until after you select your strategies.

I think the official tournament rules(the ones they ran at Gencon this year) were pick your faction but draft you crew each round after finding out your strategy and what faction you were playing against.

Arguably this actually could be even worse for non-Guild Players since Guild would most likely pick LJ for Res and such but it does let Res playings going up against Guild to plan accordingly.

[ddot]

having come from a Warhammer Fantasy, 40k, and Hordesmachine background, I can say that Malifaux has some really unique features that make it so much fun. What really turned me on was the combination of cards-not-dice and the alternating activation sequence.

I love the card mechanic. It'll let you down once in a while, but if you roll dice like I do (Legendary, even in hell), dice will let you down quite a bit. The cheating and twisting fate things are beautiful touches to this. I can try to do better, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't.

The alternate activations are a beautiful thing. It really forces you to think ahead - while preparing in case an opponent does something to sabotage that plan, say killing a model that you just buffed. It's a bit more cat-and-mouse than most tabletop games, which is a good thing. As a bonus, it works really well in multiplayer games. While three-player it works well enough, I found it to be beyond awesome in four-player games. Whereas most TT games, it's the more the more confusing, Malifaux actually puls off the more the merrier.

[hippieshopper]

Well, that must be a new thing, because in tournies you can't redesign your crews and for most pick-up games and leagues your crew is already built by the time you find out scenarios, etc..

Now schemes can help mitigate poor match-ups, I don't think anyone here will argue that this game is satisfyingly balanced. If you're ok with that, then the game itself is rockin'.

Usually we ignore this where I play. We've already made up our mind on who we're playing before...everything =P

I know that's a no no by the books rules, but this is a game, and games are meant to be fun so... no harm, no foul to me.

I just have to be reserved and wait for my opponent before I pick, if it's Lady J...I usually go with MCM. Anyone else and I whip out Nico.

[DangerousBeans]

Malifaux has rocketed to my top spot for gaming, I love everything about it! The variation in the models/themes, the game mechanics (by far the best for small scale games IMO), the fluff is excellent, if a bit short.

My only problem is the relative lack of dynamicism in the models, most of them are standing about looking cool which is fine, they're still lovely sculpts (save a few which I'm really not keen on) but when compared to some ranges, such as infinity, sometimes I feel they lack that extra oomph that makes you go "wow".