Did something go wrong?

[Mirarii]

So I finally got a chance to play my first game of Malifaux. I played with my Colette box and Coryphee Duet and subbed some Dark Eldar in for the Ortega family and Judge for my brother to use.

Right from the start something felt quite off. We ended up calling it after about three and a half turns because it didn't seem like anything was working. It felt very, very slow. Combat ended up being a lot more confusing than it looks on paper too.

Overall the whole thing sorta felt slow and clunky, and I know there is some confusion being a different set of rules, but it still felt like nothing aside from movement was happening. Especially the first turn, everyone basically just moved to the center, and that itself seemed to take quite a while.

Is Malifaux normally played at a slow pace? Was something wrong happening? Activation normally goes, player a model, player b model, and repeat until all models have been activated right? Any suggestions that might make another game go a bit smoother?

Note: No FLGS that does miniatures nearby, not even any Warhammer players around this area. Kind of a struggle to start up these things, but 40k was pretty easy to start with and fun right from the start, Hordes was even easier. Malifaux seems so awesome, and I love the models, I really wanna figure out whats going wrong.

[Vin]

I think that may be learning curve. So many of the figures have tons of rules.

My first few games dragged something fierce. To tone it down, we actually tried Lady J vs Ortegas with only 1 special rule per figure for a game. It really helped us get the basic rules down better.

Malifaux is a deep game and not as easy to start up, at least in my opinion. Once you get the basics down though, and understand your crew, it speeds up considerably.

Hang in there, well worth the slow start.

[Kadeton]

How big a table were you playing on? My friend and I made the mistake of playing on a 4x4 table when we started, and it felt very boring as you described. Switching to a 3x3 got things moving a lot faster.

The combat mechanics take some getting used to, but once you've got it down, it's a breeze. Having someone who knows the rules run you through it a few times would obviously be easier, but we picked it up on our own pretty quickly - just with a lot of misunderstandings at first.

[Buhallin]

The number of special abilities can certainly slow down a game while you're learning, but the core combat should go relatively quickly.

I'd second Kadeton's question about the table size - especially with the Ortegas and Colette/Coryphee involved, if models weren't getting shot in the face or having their guts ripped out by Turn 2 (or potentially earlier) something was very wrong.

But to answer your core question - I've never found combat in Malifaux to be boring. Quite the opposite, honestly - if anything, the large number of abilities can make it feel overwhelming. Combine it with the cheating mechanic which means you're having to make resource management decisions pretty much every time you flip a card, and 'boring' is the last word I'd come up with.

[Spiku]

Imagine if you had never played warhammer, and had picked up a prebuilt army, and every time you had to do anything or read things like "Heavy 1" or "And they shall know no fear", you had to look it up in the rules to see what it is.

I find turns go quite quickly; once you know all the triggers/abilities of your units it is just a case of:

You flip your cards, they flip their cards (same as rolling a dice); loser cheats their cards, you cheat your cards (same as if you rolled a re-roll, or perhaps got an armour save); then flip damage cards.

There is no more delay in working out how many cards are flipped than there is in working out if your weapon skill has hit their weapon skill

It really is a case of familiarity to an entirely new mechanic; but Malifaux games I play go faster than warhammer/warhammer 40k games I play

[Cunning]

Most games not a lot happens in turn 1. But then all hell breaks loose in turn 2. Especially with the crews you were using. Perdita and the Duet especially are v fast and should be halfway accross the table by the start or turn 2 usually.

[Mike3838]

Where abouts do you live? If you're lucky there might be a local-ish player or henchman who could give a bit of guidance.

Mike

[Inquisitor Wall]

Were you using strategies? With out them I could certainly see the game turning into one big pile in the middle, as that is what always happens when I show 40K players the game. Malifaux is not just about beating up your opponents, but trying to accomplish your goals.

Also it can be surprising how long the game can take vs. the number of models on the table, especially if you have to keep looking things up. I would follow the suggestions that have been given to simplify things at first, and probably only use 3-4 models per player rather than full crews with extras.

[nilus]

Sounds like its just a matter of learning curve. The game takes a bit of time to really start clicking with people so the first games are generally slower.

As far as nothing happening on the first turn. Back during the playtest for book 1 my group use to joke about the Turn 3 slaughter. Pre-book2 there were very few models that could get in place and really start causing havok until turn 3.

Now with Book 2(and 3) and a lot of the developed Malifauxbation strategies more stuff happens in the first two turns. But it still general not uncommon for just movement to happen in turn 1. Its like the opening moves of chess. Its more about maneuvers and setting up later combos then going for the jugular.

My suggestion is to keep it simple for the next few games. Go low Stone games and take simple models. Once you get comfortable with the basics(and can figure out fate flip modifiers in your head quickly) move on to the bigger and more complicated models.

[Justin]

Were you playing on a standard 3x3 table for Malifaux or did you use a 4x4 like in 40k?

[Mirarii]

Wow, ton of responses, with a community this dedicated it has to be a fun game.

The table was about 3x4 but we put things in each corner so that we played in a 3x3 area, I think part of the problem was the "volcano"(dog food bowl) in the middle. Both of our crews split around it and there was never any LoS. Malifaux's rules were a LOT easier to learn that Warhammer, and even Hordes for me, the thing that got me were the things without description on cards like evasive and bulletproof for example.

Definitely going to see if my brother is up to try again maybe with a re-done table top.

Where abouts do you live? If you're lucky there might be a local-ish player or henchman who could give a bit of guidance.

About 5 minutes away from Hillsdale, Michigan. Nearest "large" city would be Jackson that's about 30-40 minutes away.

[Tarragon]

the thing that got me were the things without description on cards like evasive and bulletproof for example.

Well, eventually you should have them down the same as Feel No Pain, or And They Shall Know No Fear from 40K.

Unfortunately, there's no other way around it than to carry on playing the game. But it's a fun game, so it shouldn't seem like a chore or anything XD

[Spiku]

Essentially it depends on what your actual Strategy and Schemes were, because sometimes you're forced to run to the enemy deployment zone, for example, and the dogfood bowl wouldn't be a problem ;3

Check out: http://tabletopgeeks.com/malifaux-downloads/

Specically, anything by our very own Ratty:

http://tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/downloads/malifaux/reference/Malifaux_Reference_Ratty.pdf

Gives you easy reference

http://tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/downloads/malifaux/reference/Malifaux_Strategy_Cards_Ratty.pdf

Strategies

http://tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/downloads/malifaux/reference/Malifaux_Scheme_Cards_Ratty.pdf

Schemes

[Mirarii]

Essentially it depends on what your actual Strategy and Schemes were, because sometimes you're forced to run to the enemy deployment zone, for example, and the dogfood bowl wouldn't be a problem ;3

Check out: http://tabletopgeeks.com/malifaux-downloads/

Specically, anything by our very own Ratty:

http://tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/downloads/malifaux/reference/Malifaux_Reference_Ratty.pdf

Gives you easy reference

http://tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/downloads/malifaux/reference/Malifaux_Strategy_Cards_Ratty.pdf

Strategies

http://tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/downloads/malifaux/reference/Malifaux_Scheme_Cards_Ratty.pdf

Schemes

I've used about 50 sheets of paper printing out Malifaux stuff and references, I just now realized i needed the common ability reference though.

Strategies were Deliver a Message for me and Claim Jump for him. I picked Sabotage and Bodyguard as schemes and he picked Assassinate and Eye for an Eye.

[Spiku]

basically there's 3 pages of rules you want to have on hand, and the explanation for the goals =)

In your case; he had a bit of an advantage because you're forced to go to him, so he could have just sat pretty at the back of the map waiting for you to arrive! Canny picks!

[micahwc]

With only a few exceptions, in my experience the first turn is always movement. Turns 1 and 2 go by quickly, though 2 takes longer than 1.

Turns 3 and 4 drag on for a long time, and sometimes turn 5 does.

Turns 5 and 6 are usually pretty quick, unless it is still a close game in which case they can drag on as well.

Turns 7+ are either very long as you try to figure out how to win in your last turn, or very quick as you have nothing left on the board to move.

For this reason turns 3-5, and 7+ are usually the most intense.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

With only a few exceptions, in my experience the first turn is always movement. Turns 1 and 2 go by quickly, though 2 takes longer than 1.

Turns 3 and 4 drag on for a long time, and sometimes turn 5 does.

Turns 5 and 6 are usually pretty quick, unless it is still a close game in which case they can drag on as well.

Turns 7+ are either very long as you try to figure out how to win in your last turn, or very quick as you have nothing left on the board to move.

For this reason turns 3-5, and 7+ are usually the most intense.

That is interesting I always felt turn 1+2 to take longest. We play 1:30 game at 35ss. Most people I play with take longer getting models in position and the 1/2 marker is called around the close of turn 2. But then the game speeds to a close in 20-30 mins.

Maybe its perception but I think next time I'm going to time turns to see how it is scaled. I have been playing a lot of new crews so I know I have been playing slower than I normal do.

I agree each turn that goes by the more tense the game gets. It's usually not till turn 4 where a winner is pretty clear.

[szma76]

So what were the 40 pages of references? Where they quick reference info from online or pages from the book?

I ask because it sounds like you may be playing the rules from book 1. If this was the case then I can see where a lot of the confusion is coming from. The rules manual is formatted in a much clearer and is easier to understand than book one. The common abilities, common triggers etc.... Are all at the back of the book. You could print/ copy them but we just pass the book back and forth.

Also suggestion on the terrain, it sounds like your terrain is similar to mine stuff from around the house. If you have some spare cloth cut about twelve 3" to 5" shapes as forests and scatter those on the table. With a setup like that you won't be traveling around a bowl with a 40" circumference with models that move 4." We did something similar with shoe box for a building without doors. The game sucked as we never actually engaged.

[Spiku]

turn times depend on your opponents. Dreamer Vs Som'er Teeth Jones, for example, means that turn 1 is probably the single most busy turn in the game!

Often, however, I find turn 1 is quick, turn 2 is the most complex; given I play gremlins a lot I usually have rami opening fire and am preparing for turn 3; turn 2 and 3 tend to be the bulkiest, with 4 being round up time on strategies and schemes. 5-6 often being quicker but crucial due to limited models remaining, and 7 being when SOMEONE is crying because they go from winning to losing ;3

[hippieshopper]

I am all for taking it simple until you get the flow of things.

I would also suggest maybe trying two "Slugger" masters for your first few games. Masters like Colette and the Dreamer are a wee bit finicky at first until you get the other rules down.

For the time being try out Masters like Perdita, Lilith, McMourning, or the Viktorias. These are masters that win by usually beating the tar out of the enemy...while that may not be your style, they are usually the easiest to get the hang of.

[TheOneWhoFell]

I know that when I run Demos at the store, I don't start new players off on the edges of the table. I set three models on the board for each player, and have them do JUST a melee attack... or JUST cast spells... or JUST shoot at people. This way they can see how the combat and spell casting work, without worrying about moving or funky special abilities (for the most part).

I also think there might be some demos on YouTube... so it might be advantageous to watch a few of those. Good Luck!!