Thinking about starting: have questions

[MadmanMSU]

So I'm very interested in starting Malifaux and/or getting my gaming group(s) involved in Malifaux. However, there are a couple things I'm not sure about.

1) I've been following Malifaux at a distance for awhile, and I know that 2nd edition is out now. Other than the core rulebook, are there any other rulebooks or sets that you need to play the game? I wasn't sure what all the "extra" rulebooks (the avatar stuff, Rising Powers, Twisted Fate, etc.) were for.

2) Given that 2nd edition is out now, are there any factions that aren't available to play? For example, I'm leaning towards playing the Neverborn faction. Can I just pick up any of the crews that interest me and be good to go for 2nd edition? Or are there some that still need rules for 2nd edition?

[Dracomax]

1) Not currently. Having the M1E books is nice, but completely unnecessary.

2)about half of the crews are currently in Beta. ALl of the Wave 1 stuff(which is in the M2E book is available to play, but you might not be able to find models for the new stuff, and will need an arsenal deck if you want to play with M1.5 metal models.

[DavicusPrime]

1) I second Dracomax... The only book you need is the M2E rulebook. The old edition books are just sources of fluff now.

2) Of my old edition crews, 2 out of 3 made it into the first wave and almost as soon as I got my copy of the rulebook, the remaining models' rules/cards/etc. became available via the open beta test. They aren't set in stone until they get officially published, but it makes everything playable.

To get set up, rules wise, for M2E you just need the M2E rulebook and an arsenal deck for your chosen faction(s) to replace the old stat cards. Alternatively, you can photocopy the cards out of the rulebook as needed.

For models, you can easily grab the older metals, or pick up the current new starter boxes. They're releasing 2 new boxed sets every month so hopefully you won't have to wait long if you were wanting to wait for a specific crew in plastic. For the most part they've been good about not invalidating anyone's existing miniature collections so grabbing the metals isn't a bad move either.

-DavicusPrime