New Player's 25 SS Lady Justice Crew

[Brettqpublic]

Me, along with several friends at my FLGS in East Lansing, Michigan have started playing Malifaux. Being a fan of Daredevil comics since I was a kid I was hooked on Lady J as soon as I saw her starter.

I played my first game on Friday and had a total blast. By far the most fun I've had playing minis in a long time. I'm hooked and want to run with the Guild.

We're going to be staying at the 25 SS level for a while as we get familiar with the rules. As such, I'd appreciate any thoughts on the list below since I'd like to run it for several games until I get comfortable with the rules.

Lady J

The Judge

Guardian

Austringer

Death Marshal

+2 SS

I also have two additional Death Marshals, a 2nd Austringer, Scales of Justice and Lucius. I'd be willing to pick up anything else to help make this a well rounded starter force.

Thanks for reading!

Brett

[Fetid Strumpet]

Might want to eventually get a peacekeeper as well. I can't speak for how good it is but a friend of mine from the summer loved running it in his crew.

[Vinncent]

I suggest to invest in some shooting guys for example Ryle, Hans, Nino Francisco and Santiago Ortega. And if you wan to play with Lucius Guild Guards will be fine; and if you use Lucius like a Master for totem i prefer Drill Sergeant.

So the truth is, what figures you choose depends on the strategy that you want to play.

This page might be usefull for you:

http://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/Guild

[Jonas Albrecht]

You've got yourself covered melee-wise between J and the Guardian (always a great pick for Justice), I'd say swap out Judge for Santiago Ortega.

[Calmdown]

Get rid of the Death Marshal and pay 1ss for a second Austringer. Austringers give so very, very many lists issues. Can't beat em for 5 points. I'd also very much echo what Jonas said and recommend swapping out Judge for Santiago. Santiago is just plain mean, and easily the best 7-point guild minion.

Alternatively, drop both Judge and Guardian for a Peacekeeper and an Austringer. As a general rule, always try to overload your opponent on specific threats because it makes each one individually harder to deal with, so Peacekeeper+LadyJ is good, for much the same reason double Austringer is more than two times as good as a single Austringer.

Finally, imo Witchlings are much, much better 4pt model than Death Marshals. They both have the same weakness (Wk4), but Witchlings just have much more threat potential (and are better at melee and hence getting up there with LadyJ than Marshals are).

[Brettqpublic]

Cool. Thanks for all of the replies. Just out of curiosity why Santiago over Nino? They both seem very capable of rapid fire killing at range and they're both 7 points.

Thanks again,

Brett

[Jonas Albrecht]

Cool. Thanks for all of the replies. Just out of curiosity why Santiago over Nino? They both seem very capable of rapid fire killing at range and they're both 7 points.

Thanks again,

Brett

He's got the speed later in the game to help with objectives, makes a great interference runner, and smells like roses.

[Calmdown]

Cool. Thanks for all of the replies. Just out of curiosity why Santiago over Nino? They both seem very capable of rapid fire killing at range and they're both 7 points.

Thanks again,

Brett

Malifaux is a close-range game, and it's also a brutal game. Nino excels at shooting, but as you play more you'll realise that shooting can only get you so far Santiago is tough where Nino is not, and his ability to get an extra movement action is pure gold.

In addition, its easy to think that Nino is the better shooter, but it's not technically true. Paired is one of the best abilities in the game, and Santiago has it. It makes hitting more likely, hitting *harder* more likely, and also makes you more likely to hit your triggers. Critical strike is awesome on Santiago, always triggering for +1 Dg and often triggering for +2 thanks to paired. This makes Santiago's damage line often a monster 4/5/7, and he can Rapid Fire. Nino's Headshot is mediocre and situational in comparison. They both have Trigger Happy, but Santiago is more likely to hit it.

So yeah. Nino is good. Santiago is better.

[Brettqpublic]

Awesome, thanks for the insight guys. If you don't mind I have one more question. If I swap The Judge out for Santiago would it be better to go with two Death Marshals, 2 Austringers, or 1 of each.

I can see why the Austringer is widely considered such a good model but I'm a tad worried about them having a lack of targets between Santiago shooting the place up and Lady J and the Guardian getting stuck in melee. I figure the DM is at least OK in melee.

Thanks again,

Brett

[Calmdown]

Awesome, thanks for the insight guys. If you don't mind I have one more question. If I swap The Judge out for Santiago would it be better to go with two Death Marshals, 2 Austringers, or 1 of each.

I can see why the Austringer is widely considered such a good model but I'm a tad worried about them having a lack of targets between Santiago shooting the place up and Lady J and the Guardian getting stuck in melee. I figure the DM is at least OK in melee.

There's not much answering that question really; sometimes it'll happen, sometimes it wont, it depends on the game and all of the variables that that brings. But in general, it isn't hard to find one target within 18" of both of them. And remember, in Malifaux, you dont always need to be combative; if it has nothing to shoot, it can be walking to an objective to do something, positioning to capture a table quarter, or somesuch. Slowly, admittedly, but Guild arent that fast as a rule

[Jonas Albrecht]

I can see why the Austringer is widely considered such a good model but I'm a tad worried about them having a lack of targets between Santiago shooting the place up and Lady J and the Guardian getting stuck in melee. I figure the DM is at least OK in melee.

Thanks again,

Brett

That just means 2 AP to go turn off some dynamite or capture treasure.

[Brettqpublic]

Thanks for all of the help Jonas and Calmdown. You guys rock!

I hear you on scenarios. I've only played one game and it was a shared capture the center scenario but looking through the book I see a lot of opportunities for models to do more than just attack which is a huge part of the reason I became interested in this game.

I need to pick up Santiago sometime this week and I think I'll be good to go. I am kind of sad I'm only using 1 model from my starter but I'm sure The Judge and maybe the Death Marshals will find their ways into other lists.

Best,

Brett

[Brettqpublic]

Hola, I just wanted to update this thread to say thanks to Jonas for pointing us in the direction of The Guardian.

I got my second game of Malifaux and my first with The Guardian in last night against another new player who was fielding Marcus. Our game quickly devolved into a rumble and The Guardian's defenses transformed Lady J into a nigh invulnerable blender of death and destruction.

I think I tabled him on turn 4. It was a thing of beauty.