Malifaux (3rd ed.) - Crew Building
Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2021 7:14 am
Following a discussion regarding deck building in the thread for Warhammer Underworlds, I got to thinking about Crew Building in Malifaux and how that can follow a similar approach.
I am making this thread with the caveat that some players are fairly new (and we are all new to M3e), and most of us lack the flexibility in our collections to fully follow up on the information and musings below. Hopefully though it should help out people who are planning to add to existing crews and/or looking to buy something new.
To kick things off, I think a quick recap of the rules will help.
Hiring Rules
Players purchase their crews using Soulstones (50 for a standard sized game).
You may select 1 Master and their Totem for free. Dual Faction Masters must declare which faction they want to use.
OR
You may select 1 Henchman and their faction's Effigy for free.
After that you may select any number of models with a combined cost of your available stones from the following groups.
ANY model which shares a keyword with your Master. (Or Henchman if you went that route). These models do NOT need to be in the same faction, so long as they share a keyword.
ANY model from the same faction as your Master. If the model does not share a keyword, it will cost 1 additional Soulstone to recruit. Models with the versatile keyword ignore this extra tax.
All factions have generic upgrade cards that may be purchased and applied to models in the crew for the cost printed on the card.
A note on keywords - Some models have keywords that ONLY apply during recruitment. For example, Ulix (Bayou faction) has the Keyword Sooey. During recruitment he also has the Keyword Pig. During gameplay, he only has the Sooey keyword. This is important as some abilities only affect certain keyworded models.
Any Soulstones left over at the end of recruitment are added to your Soulstone Pool during the game where they can be used to modify attacks and abilities.
The Hiring Process
So, what makes any of this different to any other minis game?
Simply put, timing! When you start setting up a game, both players declare their factions early during set-up. You DON'T declare Masters or Crews until you are ready to deploy. You can build your crew knowing what the mission parameters are and with some idea of what your opponent is likely to put on the table. If the strategy and schemes for the mission call on you to murder your opponent's crew, you can select a more damage-output focused crew. If instead the aim of the game is to plant scheme markers everywhere, you may choose to spend your stones on fast, evasive models.
Similarly if you have a rough idea of the opposing crew, you can bring models to counter their strengths. Neverborn have a fair few Terrifying models, so bring some Ruthless models. Resurrectionists have access to a lot of summoning, so anything that interferes with that is good. Guild have a lot of figures with Armor, so be prepared.
I'm fairly sure that there is a commercial reason for this rule, as it does help Wyrd to sell more models, but from a gameplay point of view, it offers a cool list-building option where you try to second guess your opponent's plans and prepare good counters to them.
Now, personally speaking, I have 3 Masters for my Guild faction (I've been playing Guild since 1st Ed.) and I'm only a couple of figures away from being able to run a 4th. On top of that, I have a few Versatile models as well, giving me a lot of flexibility when it comes to picking a crew. For the sake of fairness, I'm happy to declare Master and Faction when choosing crews against anyone with only 1 Master in a given Faction. (I believe Underdweller has 2 or 3 Resurrectionist Masters, so we can try the Faction only thing as and when we play each other).
Of Crew Boxes and Keywords.
When first starting a crew, the Crew Box is (almost?) always going to be your first purchase. After that, you'll probably want more models in the same keyword, they are the logical choice after all. It is worth looking at the other models available to you though. Having every in-keyword model doesn't mean that all your bases will be covered, quite the opposite. Models with the same keyword tend to have similar strengths and weaknesses. Adding a couple of versatile models to your collection can help you shore up your weak points. It may even be worth adding some OOK (Out of keyword) models, even with the 1 soulstone tax, just because of what they can bring to your crew.
It should also be pointed out that some Masters really don't need their keyword models all that much, while others rely heavily on them. For example, from my Guild crews, Lady Justice has one ability that relies on having Marshal keyworded models nearby, and it is a minor buff, so I can happily mix in OOK models to my heart's content. Hoffman's main abilities are all focused on having friendly constructs nearby and nearly all of the Guild constructs are in his keyword, Augmented, so it's not usually worth bringing anything else.
Finally Nellie synergizes well with the models in her Journalist keyword. However, Journalists are not the toughest of fighters, so a few OOK minis will help out a lot.
As standard, summoners only summon models in their own keyword, so you should probably buy models in keyword for summoning. On the other hand, since you'll be summoning models that synergize, you have a bit more leeway in crew building and OOK options.
Malifaux Burns & Titles
The latest release for the game is Malifaux Burns. (There is 1 expansion book per year with new minis and rules around GenCon time. The model releases are then spaced throughout the year). Malifaux Burns introduces a new concept to the game, each Master gets a new variant with the addition of a Title. Partly this is done for the narrative of the game to show how the characters have evolved over time, and partly to really shake up the meta of the game by giving players a load of new stuff to try.
For example, I could field Lady Justice or Lady Justice, Death-Touched. The first is the standard melee beatstick that Lady J has been since the game started, the second is a more seasoned veteran who leans more heavily into her keyword (see above where I said Lady J doesn't synergize very well) and buffs the abilities of her Marshals.
There are new minis coming for every master, with each one in a dual pack with a master for a different faction and a shared (dual keyword) model between them.* Again, this is partly a sales ploy to get players to start new crews, but no more so than GW's battle boxes and at a fraction of the price. The cards have all been spoilered online and will be coming to the app soon-ish. With a few exceptions where base sizes are different (hint, put a bigger base under the mini), there isn't any problem with using version A as version B that I can see. There are already a load of alternative and limited edition sculpts in the game, so just make it clear which version you are using. This effectively doubles the number of Masters everyone has in their collection. Yay!
Gaining Grounds
Every year Wyrd releases a set of rules called Gaining Grounds. This addition to the core rules is for tournament and organized play, but also offers alternative strategies and schemes that can be used in casual play.
Did you have a point here, Prim?
Ultimately it comes down to how much you enjoy the game and how much you want to spend on playing it, but there is a lot more depth to the game once you have got the feel for the core members of your crew. You don't need more than a 50 stone crew to enjoy the game, but if list building is your thing, then it is certainly a viable option in Malifaux.
*I'm probably going to pick up a few of these new Master minis because A) I want to support the game/company, B) I like the models and C) I have serious self-control problems when it comes to miniatures.
I am making this thread with the caveat that some players are fairly new (and we are all new to M3e), and most of us lack the flexibility in our collections to fully follow up on the information and musings below. Hopefully though it should help out people who are planning to add to existing crews and/or looking to buy something new.
To kick things off, I think a quick recap of the rules will help.
Hiring Rules
Players purchase their crews using Soulstones (50 for a standard sized game).
You may select 1 Master and their Totem for free. Dual Faction Masters must declare which faction they want to use.
OR
You may select 1 Henchman and their faction's Effigy for free.
After that you may select any number of models with a combined cost of your available stones from the following groups.
ANY model which shares a keyword with your Master. (Or Henchman if you went that route). These models do NOT need to be in the same faction, so long as they share a keyword.
ANY model from the same faction as your Master. If the model does not share a keyword, it will cost 1 additional Soulstone to recruit. Models with the versatile keyword ignore this extra tax.
All factions have generic upgrade cards that may be purchased and applied to models in the crew for the cost printed on the card.
A note on keywords - Some models have keywords that ONLY apply during recruitment. For example, Ulix (Bayou faction) has the Keyword Sooey. During recruitment he also has the Keyword Pig. During gameplay, he only has the Sooey keyword. This is important as some abilities only affect certain keyworded models.
Any Soulstones left over at the end of recruitment are added to your Soulstone Pool during the game where they can be used to modify attacks and abilities.
The Hiring Process
So, what makes any of this different to any other minis game?
Simply put, timing! When you start setting up a game, both players declare their factions early during set-up. You DON'T declare Masters or Crews until you are ready to deploy. You can build your crew knowing what the mission parameters are and with some idea of what your opponent is likely to put on the table. If the strategy and schemes for the mission call on you to murder your opponent's crew, you can select a more damage-output focused crew. If instead the aim of the game is to plant scheme markers everywhere, you may choose to spend your stones on fast, evasive models.
Similarly if you have a rough idea of the opposing crew, you can bring models to counter their strengths. Neverborn have a fair few Terrifying models, so bring some Ruthless models. Resurrectionists have access to a lot of summoning, so anything that interferes with that is good. Guild have a lot of figures with Armor, so be prepared.
I'm fairly sure that there is a commercial reason for this rule, as it does help Wyrd to sell more models, but from a gameplay point of view, it offers a cool list-building option where you try to second guess your opponent's plans and prepare good counters to them.
Now, personally speaking, I have 3 Masters for my Guild faction (I've been playing Guild since 1st Ed.) and I'm only a couple of figures away from being able to run a 4th. On top of that, I have a few Versatile models as well, giving me a lot of flexibility when it comes to picking a crew. For the sake of fairness, I'm happy to declare Master and Faction when choosing crews against anyone with only 1 Master in a given Faction. (I believe Underdweller has 2 or 3 Resurrectionist Masters, so we can try the Faction only thing as and when we play each other).
Of Crew Boxes and Keywords.
When first starting a crew, the Crew Box is (almost?) always going to be your first purchase. After that, you'll probably want more models in the same keyword, they are the logical choice after all. It is worth looking at the other models available to you though. Having every in-keyword model doesn't mean that all your bases will be covered, quite the opposite. Models with the same keyword tend to have similar strengths and weaknesses. Adding a couple of versatile models to your collection can help you shore up your weak points. It may even be worth adding some OOK (Out of keyword) models, even with the 1 soulstone tax, just because of what they can bring to your crew.
It should also be pointed out that some Masters really don't need their keyword models all that much, while others rely heavily on them. For example, from my Guild crews, Lady Justice has one ability that relies on having Marshal keyworded models nearby, and it is a minor buff, so I can happily mix in OOK models to my heart's content. Hoffman's main abilities are all focused on having friendly constructs nearby and nearly all of the Guild constructs are in his keyword, Augmented, so it's not usually worth bringing anything else.
Finally Nellie synergizes well with the models in her Journalist keyword. However, Journalists are not the toughest of fighters, so a few OOK minis will help out a lot.
As standard, summoners only summon models in their own keyword, so you should probably buy models in keyword for summoning. On the other hand, since you'll be summoning models that synergize, you have a bit more leeway in crew building and OOK options.
Malifaux Burns & Titles
The latest release for the game is Malifaux Burns. (There is 1 expansion book per year with new minis and rules around GenCon time. The model releases are then spaced throughout the year). Malifaux Burns introduces a new concept to the game, each Master gets a new variant with the addition of a Title. Partly this is done for the narrative of the game to show how the characters have evolved over time, and partly to really shake up the meta of the game by giving players a load of new stuff to try.
For example, I could field Lady Justice or Lady Justice, Death-Touched. The first is the standard melee beatstick that Lady J has been since the game started, the second is a more seasoned veteran who leans more heavily into her keyword (see above where I said Lady J doesn't synergize very well) and buffs the abilities of her Marshals.
There are new minis coming for every master, with each one in a dual pack with a master for a different faction and a shared (dual keyword) model between them.* Again, this is partly a sales ploy to get players to start new crews, but no more so than GW's battle boxes and at a fraction of the price. The cards have all been spoilered online and will be coming to the app soon-ish. With a few exceptions where base sizes are different (hint, put a bigger base under the mini), there isn't any problem with using version A as version B that I can see. There are already a load of alternative and limited edition sculpts in the game, so just make it clear which version you are using. This effectively doubles the number of Masters everyone has in their collection. Yay!
Gaining Grounds
Every year Wyrd releases a set of rules called Gaining Grounds. This addition to the core rules is for tournament and organized play, but also offers alternative strategies and schemes that can be used in casual play.
Did you have a point here, Prim?
Ultimately it comes down to how much you enjoy the game and how much you want to spend on playing it, but there is a lot more depth to the game once you have got the feel for the core members of your crew. You don't need more than a 50 stone crew to enjoy the game, but if list building is your thing, then it is certainly a viable option in Malifaux.
*I'm probably going to pick up a few of these new Master minis because A) I want to support the game/company, B) I like the models and C) I have serious self-control problems when it comes to miniatures.