I just don't know wether to buy into P-wars or not

[Ratty]

Have you played Super Dungeon Explorer? It looks like a load of fun, and it has full-sized minis that look like they'd be just as fun to paint as to actually play the game.

I'm still a fence sitter about Puppet Wars. Yes, I now own a copy, thanks to my gf suggesting her folks buy it for me (online for far less than retail) for a Christmas present. I'd bought the Teddies during the Black Friday Sale, not so much thinking I'd ever get into PW (despite having it on my xmas list), but because they're Teddies. [Heck, just the inspiration they gave me to do the alternate shadow idea (postponed work in progress) made them well worth it.]

I need to get some actual games in before I weigh in with my opinions on the game. I like most of the puppet versions of the characters, and have liked them since I picked up my puppet deck last year. So that's a plus. Aside from waking up to a wretched dream that I'd dropped my puppets in the snowy road across from my LGS, all due to the horribly flimsy box they come in, I think it'll grow on me.

They are very different games tbh, Puppet Wars is closer to chess in a way, the deck mechanics are innovative and quite different from Malifaux, so often have I seen the look on my opponents face and how it fades 2 seconds later when they realise they are not playing Puppet Wars.

SDE feels so similar too Heroquest, down to the specialist dice which your card tells you how many to roll, the randomised loot decks and the multiple players vs a GM. It's nice but in the long term I don't think it would grab my attention. It's major unique feature is the style of the models.

Quality of the model/package you can see where each game comes from. Puppet Wars is a board game with a lot of the features of a Wargame. You need some prep work and painting to get the most of them. But the models are very detailed.

SDE the models are not as detailed and can just be plugged together though some glue is needed.

When it comes to box, Nothing short of a proper figure case would work for Puppet Wars so saying the box is flimsy is a bit pointless, no-one is ever going to use it.

Where as with SDE I would be tempted not even to paint the models, they are in the big slightly rubbery plastic that looks OK non-painted, So I could see just bundling all the stuff into the box, like you would do with old Space Hulk or Hero Quest, So the box needs to be heavy duty.

[i_was_like_you]

SDE feels so similar too Heroquest, down to the specialist dice which your card tells you how many to roll, the randomised loot decks and the multiple players vs a GM. It's nice but in the long term I don't think it would grab my attention. It's major unique feature is the style of the models.

When it comes to box, Nothing short of a proper figure case would work for Puppet Wars so saying the box is flimsy is a bit pointless, no-one is ever going to use it.

If that's how SDE plays, then I suppose I could wait until the price drops some time down the line to reconsider picking it up. I already have HeroQuest (plus two expansions) and HeroScape.

As far as using the Puppet Wars box, I would like to use it until I can get something much larger to put all of my Malifaux miniatures into. The PW specific bag from BattleFoam can only accommodate both decks, the board, the rules, and 24 of the 48 puppets released so far. It's no stretch to say that at some point, all of the 'Faux models will have PW counterparts, right? So a Malifaux bag full of small sized trays might give it plenty of room to grow.

Meanwhile, I've already reached capacity at two Malifaux bags, and my gf just got started on Gremlins. Judging by people's signatures and posts here on the forums, I'd say I'm not the only one who has or is running out of room for Malifaux models. Is there another BattleFoam bag that people recommend?

[Ratty]

If that's how SDE plays, then I suppose I could wait until the price drops some time down the line to reconsider picking it up. I already have HeroQuest (plus two expansions) and HeroScape.

As far as using the Puppet Wars box, I would like to use it until I can get something much larger to put all of my Malifaux miniatures into. The PW specific bag from BattleFoam can only accommodate both decks, the board, the rules, and 24 of the 48 puppets released so far. It's no stretch to say that at some point, all of the 'Faux models will have PW counterparts, right? So a Malifaux bag full of small sized trays might give it plenty of room to grow.

Meanwhile, I've already reached capacity at two Malifaux bags, and my gf just got started on Gremlins. Judging by people's signatures and posts here on the forums, I'd say I'm not the only one who has or is running out of room for Malifaux models. Is there another BattleFoam bag that people recommend?

Bringer of Death, picked up a cardboard KRMulticase for about £20 which carries 100 puppets, 4 decks, counters and boards.

[fritz the cat]

I was looking at the puppet wars stuff on warstore, and it appeared that theres doubles of the puppets in the starter box in the boosters... is this correct? if so are they dif sculpts atleast?

[Ratty]

I was looking at the puppet wars stuff on warstore, and it appeared that theres doubles of the puppets in the starter box in the boosters... is this correct? if so are they dif sculpts atleast?

Nope there is only 1 sculpt for each model.

[fritz the cat]

Nope there is only 1 sculpt for each model.

but amongst the starter and the booster there is doubles?

[Visquaz]

Everything isn't doubled, but yes, there are 12 models that are repeated in the boosters (so 36 unique models, and then 12 more for a total of 48 if you buy one of everything)

It feels a bit cheap but I think it works quite well, especially if you are the only one in your group who owns it so that you draft every time. Then there are options for several players to use those models.

Some of the duplicates feel suboptimal though, 2 December Acolytes, really?

While some, like the Bayou Gremlin who really needs bro's to shine, aren't duplicated.

[fritz the cat]

Everything isn't doubled, but yes, there are 12 models that are repeated in the boosters (so 36 unique models, and then 12 more for a total of 48 if you buy one of everything)

It feels a bit cheap but I think it works quite well, especially if you are the only one in your group who owns it so that you draft every time. Then there are options for several players to use those models.

Some of the duplicates feel suboptimal though, 2 December Acolytes, really?

While some, like the Bayou Gremlin who really needs bro's to shine, aren't duplicated.

see, this unfortunately would deter me from really diving into PW's. I may eventually grab the starter set or something for a little quick side game amidst other gaming if I find a deal on it.

But with doubles in the set when its only 48miniatures deep really deters me from buyin a whole set. One of the main reasons I switched gaming companies (gw -> PP -> wyrd) was to avoid having more than 1 of the same model.

[micahwc]

I had two friends who playtested puppet wars. What threw me off the most was the description of the game. Everytime they described it they started with "It's kinda like Malifaux, but...". My first question was always, "if it's kinda like Malifaux then why don't we play Malifaux?"

Then they attempted to describe the rules, which while similar, are different enough to have to relearn. Then I saw how much it cost. To be honest, I would rather spend money on more Malifaux models.

I was told while they were playtesting that Puppet wars would be easier to play than Malifaux, and therefore would appeal more to casual gamers. Everytime they tried to explain it to me it seemed just as complicated as Malifaux. If it were easier I would try to get my wife to play. She is not a gamer. Malifaux's rules are too complicated for her to get interested in trying to learn, Puppet wars has the same problem.

I have never played puppet wars, though I would if someone else provided the game. I would probably enjoy it and even recommend it for some situations. But it just doesn't seem to be in the cards for me.

[AcesOfBooks]

From my experience the best way to explain it is. The rules are only slightly less complicated than malifaux (which ruleswise isn't as complicated as teaching it seems). Malifaux has deeper and considerably more complicated character interactions. (ie this guy causes this guy to get power a but another bad guy causes you to gain debuff b and all of my guys can do cool thing c if they are in so many inches of another guy etc). Puppet wars minimizes that (in comparison to malifaux) making it more accessible to non gamers. I have it and love it (especially as my girl friend can play as well). If you have no nongaming special folks in your life you might be better off getting more malifaux stuff. But overall I think you're missing out on a fun game. I tend to prefer the puppet wars myself because the list building is easier and I can concentrate on just playing

[Visquaz]

It is really fun though, and a lot easier to just pick up and play than Malifaux, lots faster (on 2 player) and you can play 4 which opens up for a lot more social gaming.

Also you don't have to lug terrain around which makes it easy to bring to friends.

The humor is great and girls seems to like it, which is of course a plus.

When learning the rules of PW it helps to be a miniature gamer but it seems like board gamers get it relly easy as well.

It takes quite a quite when playing 4 player though.

Next experment will be introducing it to friends who aren't miniature gamers or hard-core board gamers.

I understand how the cost can be a bit prohibitive, but I managed to pick it up when my LGS had a 30% sale so it wasn't that much more than a normal board game.

I recommend it.

[bringer of death]

Ratty It's 180 puppets and pluck and pick for tokens.

I am hoping to get so more games in soon

I do love puppet wars

[Ciaran]

Doubles work out REALLY well when people are drafting their toy boxes from the pool. It can help to allow people more options.

I think describing it as being "like Malifaux" is much like saying "apples are like oranges." There's definitely enough that's different to make it its own game, with the exception of the characters. Even those are different enough interpretations to make it interesting.

[Justin]

I had two friends who playtested puppet wars. What threw me off the most was the description of the game. Everytime they described it they started with "It's kinda like Malifaux, but...". My first question was always, "if it's kinda like Malifaux then why don't we play Malifaux?"

Then they attempted to describe the rules, which while similar, are different enough to have to relearn. Then I saw how much it cost. To be honest, I would rather spend money on more Malifaux models.

I was told while they were playtesting that Puppet wars would be easier to play than Malifaux, and therefore would appeal more to casual gamers. Everytime they tried to explain it to me it seemed just as complicated as Malifaux. If it were easier I would try to get my wife to play. She is not a gamer. Malifaux's rules are too complicated for her to get interested in trying to learn, Puppet wars has the same problem.

I have never played puppet wars, though I would if someone else provided the game. I would probably enjoy it and even recommend it for some situations. But it just doesn't seem to be in the cards for me.

It's a mistake to describe the gameplay of puppet wars as "like Malifaux."

While the models are based visually on Malifaux models, the two games share absolutely nothing in common except that they both use a deck of cards, which they use entirely differently.

Saying that "Puppet Wars is a lot like Malifaux..." is like saying "Warmachine is basically like Warhammer 40k..." because they both use dice and are miniature games. Or "Poker is basically like black jack..." because they're both gambling card games.

In fact, I would argue that Puppet Wars is less similar to Malifaux than Warmachine is to 40k, because both 40k and Warmachine are tabletop miniatures games which require terrain, etc. Where Malifaux is a tabletop miniatures game with terrain and Puppet Wars...is not.

It's natural to compare the two because the Puppet models are based on Malifaux models and they're made by the same company, but the two games have significantly less in common than almost any other two miniatures games out there.

[Bohemian]

I agree with all the above that it is a different game than Malifaux. Although I would not call it a beer and pretzels game (takes too long IMHO, especially with 3 or more players), it is a fun quick game that allows for a group to play a couple of games in an evening with different crews and set-up. It is not a repeat of the same thing each game. Set-up is a lot easier and takes less space than Malifaux as well.

I have been gaming for over forty years and I consider it more of a board game than a miniatures game. I can think of several board games where I have used miniatures instead of simple (boring?) tokens. I think it is a great game to take a break from all of the hack and slash miniature games on the market.

If you can find a demo in your area, take your significant other to see how it plays, as the girlfriends and wives seem to like it more than the miniatures games I mostly play.

[Omenbringer]

Although I would not call it a beer and pretzels game (takes too long IMHO, especially with 3 or more players), it is a fun quick game that allows for a group to play a couple of games in an evening with different crews and set-up. It is not a repeat of the same thing each game. Set-up is a lot easier and takes less space than Malifaux as well.

To make it more beer and pretzels, instead of playing a standard shoebox game only use 4 puppets and a master (1 of which may be a sidekick). This is how I play most of my games.

[Ciaran]

To make it more beer and pretzels, instead of playing a standard shoebox game only use 4 puppets and a master (1 of which may be a sidekick). This is how I play most of my games.

AND pour a couple of pints, and put out a big bowl of pretzels!

[Omenbringer]

AND pour a couple of pints, and put out a big bowl of pretzels!

Well that would potentially make everything beer and pretzels now wouldn't it.

[Ciaran]

Well that would potentially make everything beer and pretzels now wouldn't it.

I won't deny that.