Malifaux Died Out...

[Hardlec]

I play: Anything but warhammer. I usually call it "warvacuum" because to me it sucks.

When I can I go to the friendly local game store wherever I am. I am scouting ANY store within 50 miles of Gainesville Fl. for a place to play. (Yes, I am a follower of the opponant finder.)

Lately I have heard store owners say: "Malifaux died out here(implied: why don't you play warvacuum)

Well: I won't dwell on negatives save one. GW/Citidel have terrible business practices. They compete by defamation, and by pressuring vendors and venues to drop competing products.

Apart from having a great need to play, I put out a warning of a sort. Malifaux sells to the bare wall anywhere I can find it. I don't think it's going away.

[Koali]

well even if Malifaux died in your local area.. try to ranimate...

Its all about keep people having fun with the game...

[Lucidicide]

Are you just being informative? Are you looking for advice?

I'm not sure the point of your post. I don't say that to be negative, but rather that I know the community on the forum has a lot of great ideas and is willing to help if you need it. It's just not clear if you're looking for suggestions or something or not.

Let us know.

[Dustcrusher]

Under the assumption you're looking for advice (if you're just venting, feel free to ignore me):

Ask the store owners why "it died out." If they try to sell you on Warhamster politely tell them the truth- you've played it before and want to move on to something new.

Ask them if anyone plays anything else- even historicals. If they do, see if you can play some of those games with them. If things go well, then broach the subject of trying Malifaux and offer to demo it. If you are a fun player and are willing to try the regulars' favorite games, you're more likely to succeed (plus you might find a good second game, too).

If it's literally all GW all the time, ask if you can schedule a demo day. Have your models painted and ready to go along with two Fate decks. Play a strat-only game with counters like shared Treasure Hunt or shared Claim Jump. The worst reaction I've gotten so far is "Yeah, it's interesting. I'm just not sure the theme/card thing is my style."

If all of the store owners give you the "GW or nothing" treatment (what store owner in their right mind wouldn't at least explore a route of potential additional income?), look for "games wanted" boards and post there. See if you can go the club route and host a game night somewhere. The upshot of the club route is that if you can get established, you have no reason to avoid savings through online retailers

You could also try other message boards like Board Game Geek, Meetup.com, or Florida gaming boards. Surely one of them has Malifaux players or potential players.

I know this is likely painfully obvious- sometimes when I am really frustrated I just need to hear what I know from from someone else before things sink in...

[notmikehill]

The same can be said about any game that no one in the area plays, yet people have invested in. My LGS around here is very Warhammer oriented. They have Dakka Con and other crazy events around Philly.

The best peice of advice I can give you is just play the game. Pick a night and go up there with two crews (even ask a friend to use the other) and play to generate interest. Once people see the game and figures it sells and people are eager to play.

[Sybaris]

Alot of stores will want to funnel gamers into the Warhammer franchise. It's easy to understand: they have a ton of those models on the shelves (GW force them to keep a high inventory) and want to get profit out of it...so they flaunt and parade for GW.

I've even had a "Bloodbowl? mm we're not really encouraging it" See even if it was another GW game...they want you to play the 2 flagships, because that's where the $ is.

Edited February 27, 2012 by Sybaris

[T3tsuya]

True story, Malifaux completely died out in my area for almost a year because of bad henchmanning. New henchman stepped forth. About 8 months now and Malifaux is one of the most popular games in our area, we pull higher numbers for Mali tournaments than almost any other tournament, and new people are coming in all the time.

We just had a gaming convention in AZ that had tournaments for Warhammer, Warmachine, Fantasy, and Mali. Mali pulled the most people.

Just make a showing of it, get more people interested again, try new things. Malifaux spreads like a wonderful disease. I cant tell you how many people I've gotten interested in the game just by showing them Teddy.

Make an effort and you'll see results eventually.

[the imp]

I'm not a henchman, but I am trying to grow the game in my area. I had a false start about a year ago, but now I've got a couple eager players ready to help me. I have to admit, my local store owner hasn't been a lot of help. He invested heavily in Anima Tactics and WarmaHordes, so I can understand that he'd prefer to not dilute the player base any farther.

[Cornelious1424]

The game has dwindled some at my shop as well. Last year at this time we had our second league start at like 14 players, but by the end I believe half of that either dropped out or never got their games in. We shot for a tourney in October, but no one came down accept the Henchmen (who was running it) and my self (who was acting as co-henchmen). It has died down, but I'm looking to bring it back into the fold before Infinity takes over. It's just really tough to get all these people the let go of their dice!!

[Q'iq'el]

I'm of the opinion the game grows too fast for casual players. 1 Book a year and a tight monthly release schedule is quite a pace to keep for a second game... If you switch to Malifaux as your primary game things get better, but you still need to maintain 2~3 crews from the same faction to play competitively... that can be a lot even for a dedicated player.

[marshimartian]

We had Malifaux die down here as well. My LGS started running Warhammer tournaments in October, and for various reasons, I started playing 40k. Now I've kidnapped several Warhammer players and Malifaux is back on track. Interesting how Warhammer tournaments helped to revitalize Malifaux in my LGS...

[Bruglyother]

I think in a lot of places, warhammer as an addiction can be a factor. Yes, lot's of people like or even love Malifaux. But many of them started with warhammer, and that addiction will always suck them back in. That's not to say they won't still play Malifaux, but Malifaux will usually be second in their minds. Once in a while you will see someone who fully switches, (or mostly) like myself. But most people will do the "hey, xyz warhammer tournies are coming. Need to practice." Since there are so many Warhammer GTs out there, people are always preparing, which leaves little time for other games. That I think is one of the biggest problems smaller/starter companies face. Until another company can achieve similar market saturation, this will likely remain an issue. The only way for that to happen is for us gamers to continue to support the smaller companies despite our addiction to GW.

[Sybaris]

It may also simply be that Wyrd and GW are just not on the same level when it comes to market and business model. With GW you have the feeling of being part of something big, while with Wyrd you feel more at home in a closed set.

GW flagship (WhFB and 40k) used to appeal to me back then in my teens, but certainly no longer do.

I probably would not want to play Malifaux at the competitive level, so i am just throwing a bone here, but perhaps the drop of its presence in stores is simply due to the fact that people who play the game are of a different mindset than those who keep to GW's.

[Joel]

I am a Warhammer player, recently brought into the malifaux fold by other Warhammer players. I went to maelstrom to watch some of the masters WHFB games, and got chatting with malifaux players whose enthusiasm sold me on it.

Now myself and another club member have crews, another has played the game (with me helping), and loves it and the rest of th club are queuing up to give it a try! also, kids at the school games club I run are buying into it and gamng most weeks.

Neither myself or any of us will be giving up Warhammer for malifaux, we will be having fun with both, and malifaux is beginning to grow in Leicester.

[Dezzo]

it takes a bit of dedication from a henchman and his crew to keep a new system like malifaux going in a gaming community that have been spoilt by choices or monopolistic practices of other game systems.

the common reasons why players jump to malifaux from other systems is

1. low model count

2. low cost of starting out

3. interesting background

4. need smaller space to play

5. cheating fate mechanic

and the common reasons why players leave malifaux is because

1. got competitive too quickly (eg. 5/10 players play neverborn)

2. always the same old faces

3. lack of experimentation

4. weak community bonding

5. players too entrenched in their old systems (esp GW system users)

the malifaux players here are mostly also war machine / horde players or veteran GW system users. when it comes to table top gaming, most people's entry point is GW because that is what most of the store push.

but it is not difficult for people to make the transition to PP/Wyrd because to many people, the draw of having a low model count system is too good an idea to pass over! *grin*

[Hardlec]

Thanks for the help, I still need more. I am subscribed to meetup, I did not know board game geek had an opponant finder section.

I used to demonstrate with corporate Sponsorship a GW game. They bullied me into buying a new expansion set, then dumped the game a month later. Three LGS owners I knew were ruined financially by GW. I could go on, but that's enough "why not play war vacuum..."

I love the Malafaux game system. I've been gaming since 1969, so that should say a lot. I also like how you can start for under $100 and have a decent force (OK, I have all 3 Terraclips sets, so I will pay for good stuff ....)

I do not think I know the game well enough to be a henchman. I recently picked up a second starter set purely for the purpose of having Two Factions so I can limp through some demos. I have moved recently and my painting facilities are limited, but I know the value of well painted minis. I will have to devote some time to this.

[Joel]

Price point is big incentive. For £40 you can have a complete and competitive crew, the rulebook and a fate deck. Within 2 weeks you can have a fully painted army or less money and time than it would take to get a single WHFB unit up and ready!

This alone is tempting players in, especially in the current financial climate - who can afford a new GW army nowerdays??

[letsallchant]

who wants to line the pocket of those bastards anyway

[Cthulhurising]

Its kinda dying here as well, and I'm actually struggling to find what I want to by next to continue my Skaven/Ogre armies. I prefer the deck, and the uniqueness of Malifaux to Warhammer, but I started with Warhammer and got used to the idea of flanking, charging, magic, heroes lords and armies rather then crews. If Wyrd stepped up and managed to start an army setup in the world of Malifaux I'd love it. It'd be impracticable and silly, but I always wanted to try Mordheim or Necromunda but never got to.

So really its not a matter of one or the other, they both just fit different tastes. Somedays I want to command an army cutting a bloody swathe across the field, others I'd rather have it be a little more personal.

I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate GW, their whole "increase by 2 bucks, but cut out a model" every month so no one knows the change or with all the new books models get cheaper (TK players skeletons are the same stats as the old book, but now cost 4pts instead of 8pts. That reduction points wise is partially to reflect the changes to the rules with fear and all taht... but that means twice as many skeletons for the same points!)

However, the customer service for GW has been the best I have ever seen. Quick, clean, polite, helpful. Still... GW is like Wal-mart and Mcd's... we hate it, but we still go there. :/

And likewise with the bringing pieces out to show people, I stole someones idea of Som'er Teeth on a porch and my Taxidermist has a full work bench behind him... They've both gotten a lot of praise around here. And how can you not be enthueseastic about the story?!

[Absolution Black]

I have been playing Warhammer for over 25 years now (started with third edition) and still really enjoy the occaisional casual game or two. I would personally still say that it is my first gaming system, mainly because I am yet to sample the playing side of Malifaux!

I can understand the feelings towards GW but hate is a strong word. They are after all, a company and out to make money whether we like it or not. And as long as people keep buying their stuff they will keep churning it out, and raising prices etc until it reaches that point where we all say enough is enough. But they do make some of the best models I've ever seen.

But I guess the appeal of Malifaux to me was the small crews and ease of starting. After two decades of playing huge armies (I own 10,000pts of dwarfs) it looks to be a refreshing change.

The only trouble I can see will be finding opponents as I know of no gaming clubs in my immediate vicinity apart from the GW hobby centres. Luckily i have a gaming addict in my brother who pops around from time to time so I aim to persuade him to learn with me.

From what i've seen though, in general, Malifaux seems to be on the rise and i think its down to us players to ensure that if we have a LGS, we encourage them to stock and play the game.

I will never switch completely from Warhammer, I love the lore, the models and to be honest, I don't really need to buy anything (apart from the gorgeous new dwarf models that will no doubt accompany the new book) so thats probably why I am so indifferent to GW as a company and their alleged bullying ways.

This has turned into a sidetracked mumble rather than staying on topic...oops!

[Cthulhurising]

I actually don't know much about the ways they supposedly bully stores and the like, my hatred for them comes from talking with a few guys who used to work for them and finding out how much they really cost to produce the miniatures vs what they put out on the shelves. Companies make money to stay in business, I get that. But they're outright raping us with some models O.o

Hate may be too strong a word for some, but this is from a view point of knowing to much and being unemployed ><

That said, I want it restated that I have no issues with the customer service, lore, or anything of the sort. My only issues with the models is a few seem too detailed and they look kinda silly, and I'm jokingly convinced the older metal Varguhlf is haunted. Taking it out of the package, it managed to fall on a friends foot, cleaning it off the metal sprues it shot into another persons eye, gluing it together cut a finger of mine, and when it first got put in its case, I had it sitting on the back of my car in a bag (where I have always put the same bag and case for years) and it decided then to fall off, busting a lot of my peices... things haunted I tell ya!

[Inquisitor Wall]

Over the years I have seen many games go through a flux. Currently at our store everyone is playing Warmachine since there is an official league being run. Two months ago nobody was playing it. Once that is finished, I will start playing Malifaux again. Basically all you need is one other person that will commit to playing and the two of you will be able to get things moving again. I have found that some fun one day events can be really great to get things going.

[Hardlec]

The use of cards alone makes Malifaux a better option than any GW product. The ability to cheat fate is more of the same good stuff.

Would a historical miniatures game with Malifaux mechanics be desireable?

[Dustcrusher]

Being that our FLGS owner is an old grognard, I think he said there were one or two old historical systems that used cards to resolve combat, including having a hand. I'll have to ask him tomorrow.

[Pappybfc]

Hardlec,

Im out of Jacksonville and am looking to try and get some demos together at the local shops, I currently have 3 crews painted and ready to go, if you are interested we could partner up and work something out. Hell, just getting together to play would be fine with me!