Noob Viks players first game afterthoughts

[keldor81]

Today I got in my very first game of Malifaux against another first timer. Me and a buddy of mine decided to take a short break from Warmachine and give Malifaux a whirl. I picked up the Viktoria's crew and players handbook(with fluff) about two months ago and its taken me this long to get ready for play. I wanted to paint up my crew and build a house to get some terrain on the field of battle to do things right. I also picked up the Convict Gunslinger but wanted to use the starting crew before I changed up to see how they played. The worst part about the long wait to start is the models are so cool looking that I also bought the Perdita crew in the mean time. My girlfriend got me the Lady J and Dreamer boxset but hid them as Xmas presents which is probably for the best. I feel kinda guilty getting all of this before my first game but friend is no better getting 5 crews to start. I digress...We went with a 30 stone game. My buddy chose to play

Lilith

Primordial Magic

Hooded Rider

Mature Nephilim

Terror Tots x2

Desperate Merc

I used

Viktoria's

Johan

Taelor

Bishop

We had a shared strategy of planting evidence. I chose one scheme(Thwart) and took 2 extra stones. He choose to kill Bishop and take back Malifaux for the Neverborn. After this it was game on!

I pretty much felt things out trying to remember the rules I crammed into my head over the last week. My buddy picked up the mini rulebook and has been living in the forums since we agreed to give Malifaux a go. I trusted him to explain the tidbits that I overlooked.

The first turn pretty much had us moving into place. Near the end of my turn I slung the Viks way into his side of the field in front of the Mature Nep and Lilith.I soon would learn that Lilith was a pretty good melee combatant.

Turn two I learned the differences between Malifaux and Warmachine the hard way! I lost the initiative and one of my Viks too Lilith and the Mature Neps combined turn. On my activation I seen a charge on Lilith and took it with my Sword Viki. This was it! My first taste of offense with a charged paired attack. I flipped a 9/5 and my opponent flipped a 11. I cheated with a 12 and was itching to soul stone. I wanted to really lay it on thick! So I got my first stoned attack flip(im a Warmachine player so I love to boost!) and I get a BLACK JOKER! My buddy stones as well and gets a RED JOKER!!! Just like that my head of steam was deflated.

Turn three I lost the initiative again and my second Vik and tried to keep my head in the game. Ive played Warmachine for the last year and it really is hard to grasp that the game isnt over if you lose your Master. Going after schemes seems to be a bigger focus and trying to remember all the options I have is going to take some time. By about this time my friend was walking his tots and horseman around the table and taking terrain. I was tied up with his Master and Mature Nep.

Turn four was just a bloody standoff between Bishop/Taelor and Lilith/ M Nep. These four just traded blows and it was Taelor that bit it. It was around this time I think I finally was getting how the game worked and conceded to a uphill battle. We tried to fit this game in on our lunch break at work and it was running a bit longer than we hoped.

We ran into a couple of issues but all in all I thought the game was pretty great! Shooting into melee and the Viks Spirit move where at the top of the list. I was having trouble with all of my flips. The system was so different compared to anything that I have played before that I couldnt gauge when to do what. I think its just gonna take me a few games to get the hang of when to hold my good cards, anticipate my flips, and not burn my stones so fast. I was really taking my low flips to heart for no reason. I love rolling dice but this felt much different. I dont know what to make of it yet but I think I really liked what I seen so far. Anyways any helpful tips and comments are very welcome. Thanks for your time!

[BlueStar86]

Hmmm..... You didn't swing again with the sword!Vik? The Viks have melee expert, meaning they can charge, attack as a part of it, then swing again. Just because you missed one attack doesn't mean it's over, the Viks are awesome at melee. Taelor also has Melee expert.

Personally, I don't like Bishop, he has a lot of fancy moves, but more often than not the best solution is to hit your enemy really, really, REALLY hard. I think Taelor may have been a waste in that fight, she's okay for some movement shenanigans, but mostly for killing constructs. What you probably needed was some ranged combatants, Von Schill, Hans, or a Convict Gunslinger.

[keldor81]

I did swing again and even used my Whirlwind attack but didnt do enough to get a kill. I had some low flips!

[BlueStar86]

Ah, fair enough.

Just getting this out of the way (it was your first game after all): You can trigger Whirlwind off of a Whirlwind attack. I've started a whirlwind and not stopped until everything in the area was mush, even then I could have kept going if there had been another target, it was like the song "You spin me round" was playing and Viktoria was taking it as order.

That said: I was once introducing a player to the game and I couldn't succeed on anything, at all, I killed precisely one model the entire game, and that was Pere Ravage, in melee, so it was actually a very bad thing. The very next game I played with the guy, fate decided that I would be invincible, which lead to the aforementioned whirlwinds.

[micahwc]

Lilith's defense and greater number of wounds makes it prudent to hit her with both Vics at once. Or, use a Vic and a hard melee minion such as taelor. This is even more important if Lilith is hanging out with a mature nephilim.

[BlueStar86]

Lilith's defense and greater number of wounds makes it prudent to hit her with both Vics at once. Or, use a Vic and a hard melee minion such as taelor. This is even more important if Lilith is hanging out with a mature nephilim.

She only has 10 wounds, meaning if you use one of them to cast fury it only takes two attacks, three if you pull a black joker, connecting to kill her, your damage flips won't even matter.

[micahwc]

She only has 10 wounds, meaning if you use one of them to cast fury it only takes two attacks, three if you pull a black joker, connecting to kill her, your damage flips won't even matter.

With defense 8, an autotrigger which will lower your combat by 2 on your first miss, and 4 more soul stones in the cache (damage prevention flips and soul stoning a defense of 8)

Plus a positive twist on damage do to her great sword and a comparable damage line. Lilith can kill a vic in 2 hits just as a Vic could kill her. This is why I think it is a good match between them.

[rancor709]

Glad you seemed to enjoy the game it took me about 4 games to get the duels down after that the game really get good.

[Serigala]

Get you head around using the Viks in unison. Ideally companion them (if within 6"), Gun Vik engages the target (walk not charge), strikes with Melee Expert, then calls in the sword Vik with Sisters in Spirit. The Sword Vik then has 3 (paired) strikes, each of which can trigger Whirlwind.

Check out the pull my finger wiki for more advice on running all your crews.

[Adran]

Get you head around using the Viks in unison. Ideally companion them (if within 6"), Gun Vik engages the target (walk not charge), strikes with Melee Expert, then calls in the sword Vik with Sisters in Spirit. The Sword Vik then has 3 (paired) strikes, each of which can trigger Whirlwind.

Check out the pull my finger wiki for more advice on running all your crews.

Although most of the time I'd rather cast Sisters in Battle with the Gun Vik rather use than Sisters in Spirit, then charge in Swords Vik. 3 attacks at 5/6/8 is generally better than 4 attacks at 3/4/6

[Pox]

Although most of the time I'd rather cast Sisters in Battle with the Gun Vik rather use than Sisters in Spirit, then charge in Swords Vik. 3 attacks at 5/6/8 is generally better than 4 attacks at 3/4/6

THIS.

just because you have movement shenanigans doesn't mean you have to use them to be effective. If sword vic is nearby (thus you companioned them like you wanted to.) then ideally she is also in charge range/movement range and with a minimum damage of 5 not many things can take that much punishment.

IF you do fail to kill the intended target sure you have to weather the storm of return attacks (potentially, depending if they have activated, initiative etc.) but burn stones, live and repeat this time with 5 attacks! the Vics are assassins pure and simple and it is Sisters in Battle that makes them so nasty - with most minions having less then 10 wounds (and most masters come to think of it.) all you need are those 2 hits.

Lilith is a good master and can just as easily nom the vics up given an oppertunity thus why she is a good match up against them.

[keldor81]

Wow thanks for all of your advice guys! It was my first game so I only stuck with a couple of the powers for my characters. Remembering all of the rules was challenge enough. Lol. I didnt even use any spells because I was afraid they were all gonna fail for some reason. Anyway I cant wait to give that sisters in battle a go next time I play. Thanks alot and anyone that wants to chime in is ok by me.