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Why Malifaux?


Emberlost

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My wife and I were talking last night about me wanting to get into Malifaux. She says her problem with it is she doesn't want me buying into another game when I don't play with the minis I have. (I've got two Hordes armies.) This lead me to thinking: Why was I interested in Malifaux? What was it about Malifaux that so had my attention at the moment?

And this morning, it hit me. It was my local Hordes/Warmachine meta that had my stymied. I like small games. I like putting a small, crack team of minis on the table and sending them off to do or die. I love it when the death of an individual model can mean the game.

So what about Malifaux first interested you? What led you to it dangerous streets?

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Similar. I loved Hordes when I could just take my caster and several beasts.........when I had to have to have multiple units of infantry and big giant expensive monstrosity models, I quit.

Also, dice hate me.......I'm that guy that'll roll ten d6 and nine of them will be ones.....but wait I get a re-roll.......ones again. The card mechanic, along with having a hand of cards to cheat with gives me a little more control when I want it.....but it is another resource you have to manage properly.....do I spend this big card now to get this hit? Or wait until my master gets targeted later and use it for defense.....I love that.

I'm a massive Clint Eastwood fan.....especially his old spaghetti westerns........as soon as I saw the Ortega box, I was in.

All the crazy genres mashed together that actually make sense together thoroughly amazes me.......western, horror, victorian, steampunk, gothic......how the hell? But they do it, and it all makes sense. I actually had an Infinity player tell me that it was bad because....ready for it? It would be like having his cake and eating it too....there were too many good things...........uhm, what? I was blown away........'so, you'd rather play something that only scratches one itch....instead of something that scratches every itch?' That's like getting poison ivy all over and only putting medicine on one leg.

People amaze and confound me.

Edit: Oh, and price. How many other games can present such a deep experience for only about $100-$150? For that price, you're playing lots of Malifaux....full-on games with options to spare. That's barely a start in most other games....hell, that's just the books for GW.

Edited by dgraz
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Small Model Count (low cost of entry). Versatility in how you use your collection (You collect factions, not masters). And it didn't take me long to wrap my head around the rules/mechanics of the game.

I escaped from 40K and went looking for new games to try. I played Heavy Gear Blitz for a while but I just couldn't seem to really get the rules and my opponent typically tabled me every game.

That opponent suggested we give Malifaux a go next time we met. So I picked up a Ramos Crew off ebay and bought a couple blisters of models to fill things out to about 35 stones (by 1.5v reckoning). My enjoyment level was much higher that HGB, though I still wasn't winning (but that's normal for me. :-P). I added Kaeris to the mix and started having a little more success. Then I switched over to an Ophelia crew and I actually started winning. Turns out semi-suicidal shooty folk is more my thing than an old dude with his clockwork melee swarms.

The one thing that kept me out of Malifaux when I first heard about it back around the release of the second book in 1st Edition, was the whole zombie hooker thing. I know that angle is exactly why some folks jumped into the game, but I found it rather distasteful (No, I'm not a prude. But there are things I'd rather not have to explain to my kids just yet :-\). However, I've been noticing that some of the new sculpts are heading toward the not as "inappropriate" as the old (ex. Taelor actually gets a whole shirt now!). There may still be zombie hookers, but at least I don't have to break out the greenstuff to PG-13 my models.

Edit: Also, dice hate me. A lot. Really, really hate me.

-DavicusPrime

Edited by DavicusPrime
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Also, dice hate me.......I'm that guy that'll roll ten d6 and nine of them will be ones.....but wait I get a re-roll.......ones again. The card mechanic, along with having a hand of cards to cheat with gives me a little more control when I want it.....but it is another resource you have to manage properly.....do I spend this big card now to get this hit? Or wait until my master gets targeted later and use it for defense.....I love that.

Edit: Oh, and price. How many other games can present such a deep experience for only about $100-$150? For that price, you're playing lots of Malifaux....full-on games with options to spare. That's barely a start in most other games....hell, that's just the books for GW.

There's a Warmachine player around here that has much the same luck with dice. For those that know Hordes, he once had The Butcher charge Krueger with a full load of focus. Krueger took practially no damage and proceeded to do unkind things with his lightning rod on my turn.

Me, I'm the other way around. Dice love me, cards hate me. So the cheating fate mechanic has an appeal. And the fact that I can do that for any model when I need it is really nice.

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I can understand you. I used to play Hordes too, I had a metal Legion of Everblight Hordes collection (from 1st edition) and my girlfriend replied me the same as your wife did, when I told her I discovered Wyrd and Malifaux. After some time I decided to sell my Legion of Everblight collection and get into Malifaux. The fluff is awesome, models too and there's a really good community, just look at how people are involved in M2E beta... it's awesome.

By the way... even though dice don't hate me, I hate them! I find there's less strategy on dice roll vs cheating fate with cards from your hand.

Malifaux is really really cheap compared to many other games and since you play with less models, you can spend more time in modeling and painting (if you like the hobby).

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Zombie hookers.

See, I say this, and my wife looks at me funny. It's nice to know there's people out there that understand.

For me, it was the idea of putting 6 models on the table and playing a complex but fast game where those models are so much more fleshed out than random greenskin with spear #243. Then throw in the fact that you can pretty much play the game for zero dollars (proxy a few models, pull a deck of cards out of the junk drawer in the kitchen, pull rules off internet (back before 2e) which lets you decide if you like it and exactly which masters you want. That was a huge reason I have since then bought well into Malifaux models, books, cards, etc, which is another reason my wife looks at me funny.

But really. Zombie hookers.

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What drew me in at first was the detail in both figures and the game. With only 5 to 10 models I could have cinematic battles with mini's doing all kinds of cool stuff. Often more so as with any big army games.

The fluff is what nailed it down as my number 1 game! Their combination of different themes makes the world and setting a vast range of imaginative stuff where everyones favours are catered for.

Also the card mechanic and the combo and synergy potential is brilliant!

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I happen to like some of the guild aswell, the absolute law, enforced by Lady Justice, Judge and the Death Marshalls. Also a rat of a man using his minions as resources and taking over enemy resources, well, just because he can. Lucius. But that is about it with Guild for me.

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And look at what's on the horizon for gremlins: A gang of Drunk Asian'ish Greenies with a giant freaking Golem Made of Freaking Beer Kegs! And a gang led by some crazy old lady gremlin with a freaking spanking spoon! If I wasn't already playing Malifaux, these two masters would have been all it took to get me in.

But then, if launching explosive piglets with a "pigapult" didn't get you excited before, maybe this isn't your game after all.

-Davicus "Say no to Undead Prostitution" Prime

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the idea of a steam punk western land of zombie hookers who walk the streets, rats that dance to the music of a plagued piper and a set of show girls who use the art of misdirection....SOLD!

I also fell in love with the fact I could build a team and draw from other crews in the faction to give me diversity. Also the sheer fact that I could buy a total team for $40ish dollars was so wonderful.

... zombie hookers FTW

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