Starting Malifaux Part 1

Malifaux is a game I have talked about wanted to start before, you can read why I was looking for a new wargame and why Malifaux appealed to me here.

I have finally decided to take the plunge and get started with it.

I had already done some research on the game and factions but wanted to do some more before I started spending money.  I started by watching battle reports from Guerrilla Miniature Games on YouTube.  His battle reports for Malifaux are really well done, they do not used a fixed camera so it is easy to keep track of the action and everything that goes on is well explained.  The Malifaux playlist starts out with some introduction games that help teach the game.  If you are interested the channel also has reports for a whole range of miniature wargames including 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Age of Sigmar, Warmahordes, Infinity and The Batman Miniatures Game.  It is a channel worth checking out for battle reports.

Next up I downloaded the free "rules only" rule book so I could read through the rules for myself.  I had already read so much and watch enough battle reports that I knew mostly how the game plays but it was good to be able to read them for myself before committing myself.

At this point I had decided that I wanted to get started so needed to decide what faction I wanted to play.  This was probably the hardest part of the whole thing.  The factions in the game are all very well thought out and have great models.  I flicked back and forth between factions for a while before deciding on one.  There were a few I was trying to decide between.

Outcasts
Outcasts were the first faction I was considering.  I really liked the masters in the faction especially the Vikorias who come as a pair and Jack Daw who comes with lots of executed sprites.  I also like the Freikorps models with their metal steampunk style powersuits.

I was close to starting them but watching the battle reports I started to get interested in other factions.

Gremlins

Gremlins were another faction I was interested in early on and was even considering getting both Outcasts and Gremlins at one point.  I liked that, like Orks in 40K, they are a comedy faction that can still compete with the others.

The models are interesting and there wasn't anything about them that put me off them.  Again it was just my interest in other factions growing that stopped me getting them.

Neverborn

When I started watching battle reports it was 3 factions that I started to become more interested in, my final pick was out of these three.  The first of them was Neverborn.  I had always like their models and their fluff.

I really liked the nightmare/HP Lovecraft feel to the faction and watching their gameplay they seemed very flexable with some interesting options.  Also the Neverborn came in the new 2nd edition starter boxset which was a real selling point for them.  Getting everything you need to play and models to boost a faction you are playing is a real plus.

The main reason I decided against them in the end was that while I really liked the faction none of the masters really jumped out to me.  I would like to play them but with the other factions I thought about there was always one master that I knew I wanted, with Neverborn I didn't feel that.

Arcanists

The second faction I was trying to decide between was the Arcanists.  I really liked the mix of magic users and miners and railworkers.

The fluff of the Miners and Steamfitters Union hiding rogue magic users was something I really liked and the mix of the two made the faction really appealing.

Unlike the Neverborn they did have some some masters that I liked.  There wasn't anything I didn't like about them and this really came down to the wire.  I was so close to buying Rasputina's box instead of what I went with.

Resurrectionists

The faction I ended up going for was Resurrectionists.  It really did come down to a toss up between them and the Arcanists.  What really tipped it was Seamus as a master.  I really liked the whole Jack the Ripper feel and the model is really nice.  As a faction I like the undead and summoning themes and that is what drew me to them to start with.

The Guild and Ten Thunders were the only two factions I didn't really go for.  There is nothing wrong with them but the Wild West and Far East themes weren't ones that really appealed to me so that is why I didn't consider them.  Although The Guild being the second faction in the starter set was one positive for them.

Last thing for me to do was get the things I need to start playing.  I have picked up a couple of fate decks and a couple of crew boxes and I am waiting for them to be delivered.  

Hopefully their will be a lot more Malifaux posts on this blog soon.