Playing a faction vs playing crews

[Jinx]

Normally in a miniature game it's beneficial to staying with a single faction, it gives you a lot more options and diversity and in skirmish games like Warmachine/Hordes you can further customize with Warcasters and Warlocks.

Now I'm really really new to Malifaux but I've been reading a lot and from what I can tell there isn't really that much overlap in minions taken with the Masters within a crew. I'm going to be playing a lot of Jakob Lynch and I've ordered his box and such but I don't really see me using his models with anyone else in his two factions, they seem Master specific for that...

Now I'm considering to in the futur, when I've gotten a few games in, getting Rasputina instead of another Neverborn/10T Master and I'm basically wondering if it would be a mistake to stray out of faction early for a player or if it's generally better to build up a faction force?

[Adran]

Some Factions mix together better than others. Likewise some leaders mix up more than others.

I can See a Neverborn Jacob Lynch Crew looking very different to a TT Jacob Lynch crew for example.

I've yet to play either with or against Bad debts so I'm not the best to answer this, but even though a lot of the new models work around Brilliant, I think they can be viable else where.

UKRocky just won the UK GT with Jacob lynch, and made little use of the Box set. So whilst you might find that his crew box isn't used much else where, models you buy for his crew can be used with other crews. (I think his crew lists are in the TT forum)

But there is a lot to be said for playing the crew you like, and focusing on gettign what you enjoy. The real advantage to sticking within faction shows up in tournement play more than anything else, and even there you would do better playing a master you know well rather than one that is slightly better for your mission that you don't know as well.

http://www.wyrd-games.net/showthread.php?36915-Jakob-wins-the-UK-GT-Ten-Thuders-Hoooo!

Edited November 20, 2012 by Adran
Added Link

[Kadeton]

Some Masters and Factions encourage it more than others. The Resurrectionists, for example, all share minions very well, and encourage players to collect the whole faction. The Guild also tend to share a lot of minions. The Neverborn have a few models which are commonly taken in many crews, but each Master generally prefers slightly different stuff, and the Arcanists are similar. The Outcasts share almost no models with each other, although they often share models with other factions.

In general, I'd say you should expand your collection in whatever direction you feel like at the time. If you feel that your Lynch crew currently works well and you'd like to start Rasputina, go for it. Once you've got the core of a crew, you can easily fill in gaps with single purchases.

The only downside to the piecemeal approach is that many tournaments will use a "Fixed Faction" restriction, where you can only play with Masters from one faction but can otherwise freely pick your crews for each game - having only one Master obviously limits your options. On a smaller scale, regular opponents in your gaming group will know that if you nominate Neverborn as your faction in a game, you'll be playing Lynch. Whether that's really an issue is up to you.

Personally, I started out with Colette (Arcanists), then picked up the Viktorias (Outcasts), then Seamus and Molly (Ressers) and Lucius (Guild) before I went back and filled out the rest of the Outcasts. I'm now starting to fill out the Arcanists. I've found it quite interesting to jump between factions, and when I felt like I was running up against the boundaries of limited crew selection due to available models, I just added whatever seemed to fill the gap in my collection.

In short: don't stress about completing a faction. Play whatever takes your fancy, and fill in the blanks later.

[Jinx]

okay ^.^ When I thought about starting Malifaux and looking through the models and rules I was pretty much completely set on starting Arcanist since I tend to favour the ice theme and they had some really cool masters(pun unintended). Theeeeen I stumbled onto Jakob Lynch... it was love at first sight *swoon* he looks absolutely PERFECT for what I like playing, his theme and fluff is super awesome and the model is gorgeous! So I'm kinda want to go back to Arcanist once I've finished up his crew with some of the models that aren't out yet (like Beckoners) might get Candy because I think she looks fun and I'm probably picking up Mr. Tanner as well ^.^

[Argentbadger]

I’ve found that one of the facets of Malifaux that keeps it different from other table top games I’ve played is that you can select your crew after you find out the strategy and your opponent’s faction. So there is no need to build a ‘take all comers’ list as is common in other games. For that reason alone I’d advocate initially staying within a faction, at least until you’ve built up a tool box of miniatures to use. It’s true that most of the Ten Thunders faction is not yet released but if you have the Storm of Shadows book then you could proxy anything that’s not out.

Still, who am I to tell you how to enjoy your hobby? I’d say pick up the miniatures that appeal to you most and have whatever kind of fun you like.

[Lurkerz]

If you pick a master and round out that crew in one or two factions you will most often find that many of the support models you have still easily fit in with another master. Some do this more than others.

[nix]

It's been said above very well, so I will try and add some more depth. It's your hobby so if you are interested in multiple factions, grab models from whatever interests you. Some Masters have a crew set that works really well with them and they are a bit self contained. An example of this is I am getting a Kirai crew which will be my first foray into Ressers. I am not a big Resser fan, and Kirai is pretty self contained within the faction as she really only likes spirits. I will be eventually (when he is released) picking up Yan Lo, but as I will have a complete Ten Thunders faction, he will be semi-self contained within my Ressers as well.

The next thing to consider is what type of gaming will you be interested in doing? If your looking to play in tournaments, you will want to flesh out a single faction that you are comfortable with. This does not mean necessarily owning everything in the faction, but I recommend 2 masters and a henchman and a strong selection for those crews. The reason for this is that a significant percentage of tournaments will be fixed faction, where you cannot go outside faction with your crew selection.

On the other hand, if your primarily playing casual games, grab whatever looks interesting to you. I doubt your friends will force you into a single faction, and you can swap the crews you want to play game to game.

I suspect that you will eventually end up in a position similar to me though. I look around and see a full set of Guild (at the faction level), a full set of Neverborn (at the faction level), 3/5 of a Ten Thunders faction, 4/6 of the Arcanists, and all the gremlins (making it 2/6 of the outcasts), 1/6 Ressers, plus a variety of mercenaries.

[rancor709]

Nix and above stated it excellently all i have to add is 10t is a. Potentially great way to collect an entire faction while sampling the other factions at the same time

[LupusFerreus]

All I'd add is don't rush too much to get into all the factions. I've got most guild, bar Hoffman and McCabe, and will be shortly making a foray into Ressers (Kirai) and Arcanists (Kaeris). It's best to know how to play your Masters before doing what I did, which is buy every Master you like the look of and not learn how they play.

On a lighter note, Cheated Fates make me want to play Ressers, and Gamers Lounge make me want to play Arcanists. I swear they've made so much for Wyrd from me!