[miniatures] Malifaux - My new obsession

[hepcat]

I've spent WAY too much money on this game lately.

Doesn't hurt that the game involves:

1) gothic horror
2) gunslingers in the old west
3) witch hunters
4) steampunk monstrosities
5) necromancers and zombies
6) cards instead of dice

We played a half game last Saturday (the other player had to go pick up his son early from a museum outing) and it...was...fantastic.  Reminds me of Heroscape on steroids (probably even more so since I was using a bunch of my old heroscape terrain for the game...it worked remarkably well).

I've got 16 figures now and I'm going to put my purchasing on hold for more until I figure out how to play these.  Each character has at least a half dozen special abilities and spells, so it's definitely a skirmish level game. 

[Turtle]

I like it overall, but the dealbreaker was the card based resolution system. The way they implemented it gives it no advantages over dice, and instead the system they have slows the game down to a halt every time something happens, just to try and shoehorn in a poker deck based resolution system.

I'd much prefer it if they went ahead and made custom cards, like board games have, that make action resolution a lot more streamlined, while also keeping it just as interesting. Right now, it just bogs down the game, especially with how dense the abilities and rules are packed into each unit.

[hepcat]

I disagree that dice would offer the same advantage as cards.  Hand management becomes a resource function in the game and many abilities play off that.  And quite frankly, I enjoy NOT using dice.  Most mini games haven't appealed to me because they're just cookie cutter versions of each other, for the most part.  Determine hit number, roll dice, take hits.  In Malifaux, I have to figure out if I'm going to substitute my 8 of Rams for a 4 of Tomes to reduce damage, or if I want to use the 10 of masks to completely negate it, leaving myself open for a later attack,  do i want to fuel my trigger by playing more cards from the same suit, etc..

Sure, it's slower than dice.  But the trade off for me is that it's more fun.  I'll take that over brevity any day.  

[kronovan]

I've noted this game at our monthly game meet and have been itching to get in on a session. I really like the look of the figs, but the thing that's kept me from getting too enthused is having to pay close to $30 for a core rule book and that the minis are 32mm, which makes it harder use them in my tabletop RPG's.

I recently went down the miniatures-game-without-dice path recently when I picked up 2 of the Dungeon Command series boxes. I have to say that for the most part I like it more than it's D&D Miniatures predecessor which used d20 dice. One thing that's true for that game series though, is you really need more than 2 boxes (minimum for a 2-player game) to accumulate enough cards to get the unknown factor that you have with random dice. I'm completely ignorant of the play mechanics in Malifaux, but I'm curious if you get all the cards in 1 purchase, and if not how much of an investment it is before you can accumulate a decent enough hand to make it challenging?

[hepcat]

I've noted this game at our monthly game meet and have been itching to get in on a session. I really like the look of the figs, but the thing that's kept me from getting too enthused is having to pay close to $30 for a core rule book

Is 12 bucks better?  That's the core rules without the fluff.  All the backstory is available on www.malifaux.com anyway.   As well as an online version of the core rulebook I just mentioned sans some illustrations and examples.  

Malifaux is actually one of the cheaper miniature games to get into.  A 15 dollar rulebook and a starter box for one of the factions for less than 30 bucks online and away you go.

As for the cards, the deck you use is just a standard poker deck with different suits than hearts, spades, etc..  The rulebook has a conversion chart for using a normal poker deck, or you can buy a Fate Deck (as they call it) for about 8 bucks.  The cards are used strictly for the results number and the suits.  It's not like Dungeon Command in any way in that regards.

By the way, I really dig Dungeon Command.  The only problem I have with it is that my cards are so horribly warped that I can't really use them.  It really ticks me off that they released at least the first print run with such amazingly bad quality.   

[kronovan]

Is 12 bucks better?  That's the core rules without the fluff.  All the backstory is available on www.malifaux.com anyway.   As well as an online version of the core rulebook I just mentioned sans some illustrations and examples.

 
Good to know and thanks for the info. I might just dive in on these miniatures then.  I have noted that they sold out a LGS's rather quickly, so as I noted at our game meets - local gamers are liking this series.

As for the cards, the deck you use is just a standard poker deck with different suits than hearts, spades, etc..  The rulebook has a conversion chart for using a normal poker deck, or you can buy a Fate Deck (as they call it) for about 8 bucks.  The cards are used strictly for the results number and the suits.  It's not like Dungeon Command in any way in that regards.

Awesome, that means I could use my Savage Worlds Initiation deck which is just a standard card deck, but with some great gameplay-inspiring artwork on the cards.  

By the way, I really dig Dungeon Command.  The only problem I have with it is that my cards are so horribly warped that I can't really use them.  It really ticks me off that they released at least the first print run with such amazingly bad quality.  

Yup, that was a problem with my 1st box set (Heart of Cormyr) too, along with slightly warped map segments. I always place tiles and maps under plexiglass, so the latter isn't too much of a problem. The card warping wasn't enough to prevent me from effectively using them. My 2nd newer set (Tyranny of Goblins) didn't have warping though, so maybe WotC has resolved that quality issue.

[hepcat]

I've got a game set for Saturday.  Going to bring out Lucius the Governor's Secretary, as well as some Guild Guards and an Exorcist.  I really like the steampunk/victorian horror/hammer films in the wild west look of the game.  I bought a terraclip's Buildings of Malifaux set that's pretty damn impressive too. 


Lucius


Exorcist

Note:  these are not MY painted figs.  I'm still a novice in that arena.