Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 10:45 pm
I have been playing Malifaux since it was first released way back in the before-time. Locally we have a small group of players and I have a large pile of unpainted, semi-painted and (a few) painted minis for it. As it is something that I will work on as and when the mood takes me, I figured a blog might be the best way to keep everything in the same place.
So, welcome to my Malifaux blog, a place for me to post pictures of minis, share my thoughts on the game, discuss crews and ramble on at length on various points.
There should be some pictures coming up at some point soon, but I'd like to kick things off with a look at how crews are put together in Malifaux.
Building a crew in Malifaux is different from most other games because you get a lot more control over how you approach the game. Before selecting your crew you get to see which strategies and schemes are available and have a rough idea of what your opponent will bring. We don't usually do this locally, (why not?), but crew selection should happen after nearly everything else. All that you do at the start is declare which faction you will be using.
So, once you know the mission you need to start planning what to put on the table. There are several roles to fill in a crew and it can be hard to cover all your bases. Generally speaking, you want to consider filling the following roles.
Beatstick - Tough and able to dish out the hurt, whether at range or up close.
Bodyguard - Someone to keep your key models alive a bit longer.
Assassin - Need something dead ASAP? Fast and killy is the way to go.
Scheme Runner - A lot of schemes need you to move fast and drop markers.
Denial - Depending on the strategy, having a way to remove markers or deny their placement is great.
Support - Healing models, boosting their abilities or pushing figures around, support models increase your crew's odds of victory.
Summoner - Because sometimes you just want more models.
Some models fulfill more than one role. Masters and Henchmen are usually quite versatile and can usually cover a couple of the above positions in a crew. Of course, they are still only one model, so you can't expect them to be dropping markers, wiping out enemy crews and moving your own crew around all at once.
Henchmen often do what their associated Master cannot. Your Master is a melee beatstick? Expect the Henchman to support them. Soft and squishy guy leading the crew? The enemy will need to get through your hard as nails Henchman first.
Certain crews favour certain styles of play of course, but a mix of roles can help generate those extra VPs to win you the game. Look at which schemes are in the pool, if you see 'Kill' schemes and you know your opponent likes to run Beatstick Masters, investing in Bodyguard styles models may help, or take an Assassin or two and get them before they get you. If the pool has 'Marker' style schemes, having someone fast and nimble to get your markers into position is going to help you win the game. Being able to remove enemy markers will also help out.
More often than not, Malifaux is a game about knowing how your crew wins. It's not always about killing enemy models (though that usually helps), but about playing to your crew's strengths. Picking your crew with the mission in mind helps you to build on those strengths and focus on generating the VP you need to win.
So, welcome to my Malifaux blog, a place for me to post pictures of minis, share my thoughts on the game, discuss crews and ramble on at length on various points.
There should be some pictures coming up at some point soon, but I'd like to kick things off with a look at how crews are put together in Malifaux.
Building a crew in Malifaux is different from most other games because you get a lot more control over how you approach the game. Before selecting your crew you get to see which strategies and schemes are available and have a rough idea of what your opponent will bring. We don't usually do this locally, (why not?), but crew selection should happen after nearly everything else. All that you do at the start is declare which faction you will be using.
So, once you know the mission you need to start planning what to put on the table. There are several roles to fill in a crew and it can be hard to cover all your bases. Generally speaking, you want to consider filling the following roles.
Beatstick - Tough and able to dish out the hurt, whether at range or up close.
Bodyguard - Someone to keep your key models alive a bit longer.
Assassin - Need something dead ASAP? Fast and killy is the way to go.
Scheme Runner - A lot of schemes need you to move fast and drop markers.
Denial - Depending on the strategy, having a way to remove markers or deny their placement is great.
Support - Healing models, boosting their abilities or pushing figures around, support models increase your crew's odds of victory.
Summoner - Because sometimes you just want more models.
Some models fulfill more than one role. Masters and Henchmen are usually quite versatile and can usually cover a couple of the above positions in a crew. Of course, they are still only one model, so you can't expect them to be dropping markers, wiping out enemy crews and moving your own crew around all at once.
Henchmen often do what their associated Master cannot. Your Master is a melee beatstick? Expect the Henchman to support them. Soft and squishy guy leading the crew? The enemy will need to get through your hard as nails Henchman first.
Certain crews favour certain styles of play of course, but a mix of roles can help generate those extra VPs to win you the game. Look at which schemes are in the pool, if you see 'Kill' schemes and you know your opponent likes to run Beatstick Masters, investing in Bodyguard styles models may help, or take an Assassin or two and get them before they get you. If the pool has 'Marker' style schemes, having someone fast and nimble to get your markers into position is going to help you win the game. Being able to remove enemy markers will also help out.
More often than not, Malifaux is a game about knowing how your crew wins. It's not always about killing enemy models (though that usually helps), but about playing to your crew's strengths. Picking your crew with the mission in mind helps you to build on those strengths and focus on generating the VP you need to win.