As I mentioned in my last post, I have decided to play in the Malifaux one day event at NiCon this year. This decision has shown up two glaringly obvious problems: I have no idea how to play the game and my crew isn't painted. The paint problem has been rectified, as shown in my last post, however, I still need some game time. Luckily for me, the local Henchman (Malifauxs version of a Pressganger) lives around the corner from me and is helping me with that problem.
Yesterday saw me around at Peters, playing my first full game of Malifaux (I had a Crew box intro game about 6 months ago), complete with schemes and strategies. Peter also had the great idea of playing the same crew as me, so I got to see what my guys did from both sides of the table. This was an excellent idea and really helped me get a handle on the myriad of abilities and interactions available to my dudes.
Mr Graves, just as beat sticky as he looks. And Mr Tannen - super annoying.
The game itself is a lot of fun. The Strategies and Schemes ensure no two games are ever the same, while also adding a cinematic quality to your games. The option to either keep your scheme hidden, to make it easier to complete or reveal it to your opponent before you start to make it more difficult, but worth more VPs, adds yet another layer and denying your opponents schemes can play a big part in winning.
The card drawing mechanic is truely different and will take some getting used to. It gives some true randomness to the winds of fate, although it will still occasionally throw up what would be commonly refered to as "dice spikes". At one point yesterday, I had a double negative flip for damage (flip 3 cards, choose the lowest) and managed to flip three 13s in a row to smash my target into the dirt at a crucial time.
The crews lend themselves to building combos, an aspect of Warmachine and X-wing I have always enjoyed and playing a named master/caster/lock with thier own, unique set of rules is always going to be better than having an army led by "generic space marine captain". In yesterdays game, my crew was very much all the dudes I could fit into 50SS, but I think I will probably drop one of the Illuminated to make room for a few choice upgrades. The ability to bring back my Hungering Darkness is sure to be a game changer at some point.
Till next time....
