Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
- me_in_japan
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Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
Prim has very kindly said I could post some info about my crews here, so in keeping with what our illustrious leader has set forth, here is a brief rundown of the lovely ladies of the Star Theatre: Ms. Colette DuBois and her Showgirls.
First up, the lady herself. Colette is very much a tricksy one. With a little preparation on the Showgirls player’s part, it is almost impossible to kill Colette. She has a number of triggers which move her somewhere else as soon as she takes damage, and can do this even if she is killed (presumably with a puff of smoke and a merry “ta-dah!”). Her usefulness lies in her ability to make the rest of her crew even better at what they already do well: produce scheme markers and move around. Should you ever manage to isolate her from the rest of her crew, however, she’s toast.
Angelica is the Showgirls Enforcer. She has similar effects to Colette, in that she allows friendly showgirls to be more mobile, but she also has a nasty defensive trigger that allows her to move an attacking model to any enemy scheme marker within LOS. Which could be very, very far away, in the wrong (right?) circumstances.
Cassandra is the Henchman, and does the usual Henchman trick of doing what the rest of the crew don’t. She’s pretty solid in close combat, and has the surprising ability to breathe fire. Coupled with her mobility she can get up close and in your face very quickly, causing a fair bit of trouble.
Performers are the standard grunts of the crew. They’re hardly hard-hitting, but are very slippery, able to do several useful things that most models can’t (producing scheme markers whilst locked in combat being a good example.) They can play around a little with enemy movement, and from time to time even poison them. Overall, though, they’re best used to drop scheme markers.
Mannequins are peons, meaning they don’t count towards objectives, and in fact can be used to fuel certain other models’ actions, destroying them in the process. They’re fairly sturdy, with good armour, so are generally useful for blocking enemy movement and facilitating scheme marker placement.
Coryphée are the killy variety of mannequin. Far more dangerous in combat, these two (and there will usually be two) are very fast and very dangerous up close. They’re also surprisingly hard to kill. The real danger comes from their ability to dance together, which combines them onto one base and turns them into a murder machine.
The Oiran is not technically part of Colette’s crew – she’s from the Ten Thunders faction. However, she is also a Mercenary, allowing non-Thunders crews to hire her for one extra SS over her base cost. This is good, as one of her characteristics is Showgirl, which gives her great synergy with Colette’s crew. Useful primarily for her trigger “No Witnesses” which prevents her attacker from attacking any Showgirl models. i.e. the whole crew. Other than that, she behaves similarly to the other Showgirls, with some movement/poison shenanigans.
Mechanical Doves are not usually purchased as part of the starting crew (although they can be). Instead, Colette pulls them out of her hat as the game goes on. They’re fast flyers which can either buff a showgirl or blow up an enemy. Basically flying bombs with perks.
So, there you have it. The Showgirls don’t win games by killing the opposition. They win by producing huge numbers of scheme markers, racking up VPs from mission objectives and staying the hell away from anybody who looks remotely dangerous. But watch out for the Coryphée and Cassandra.
ps - all these models, sans upgrades, come to 58 SS, but there will always be upgrades with this crew - they need them to set up a lot of their more useful triggers.
First up, the lady herself. Colette is very much a tricksy one. With a little preparation on the Showgirls player’s part, it is almost impossible to kill Colette. She has a number of triggers which move her somewhere else as soon as she takes damage, and can do this even if she is killed (presumably with a puff of smoke and a merry “ta-dah!”). Her usefulness lies in her ability to make the rest of her crew even better at what they already do well: produce scheme markers and move around. Should you ever manage to isolate her from the rest of her crew, however, she’s toast.
Angelica is the Showgirls Enforcer. She has similar effects to Colette, in that she allows friendly showgirls to be more mobile, but she also has a nasty defensive trigger that allows her to move an attacking model to any enemy scheme marker within LOS. Which could be very, very far away, in the wrong (right?) circumstances.
Cassandra is the Henchman, and does the usual Henchman trick of doing what the rest of the crew don’t. She’s pretty solid in close combat, and has the surprising ability to breathe fire. Coupled with her mobility she can get up close and in your face very quickly, causing a fair bit of trouble.
Performers are the standard grunts of the crew. They’re hardly hard-hitting, but are very slippery, able to do several useful things that most models can’t (producing scheme markers whilst locked in combat being a good example.) They can play around a little with enemy movement, and from time to time even poison them. Overall, though, they’re best used to drop scheme markers.
Mannequins are peons, meaning they don’t count towards objectives, and in fact can be used to fuel certain other models’ actions, destroying them in the process. They’re fairly sturdy, with good armour, so are generally useful for blocking enemy movement and facilitating scheme marker placement.
Coryphée are the killy variety of mannequin. Far more dangerous in combat, these two (and there will usually be two) are very fast and very dangerous up close. They’re also surprisingly hard to kill. The real danger comes from their ability to dance together, which combines them onto one base and turns them into a murder machine.
The Oiran is not technically part of Colette’s crew – she’s from the Ten Thunders faction. However, she is also a Mercenary, allowing non-Thunders crews to hire her for one extra SS over her base cost. This is good, as one of her characteristics is Showgirl, which gives her great synergy with Colette’s crew. Useful primarily for her trigger “No Witnesses” which prevents her attacker from attacking any Showgirl models. i.e. the whole crew. Other than that, she behaves similarly to the other Showgirls, with some movement/poison shenanigans.
Mechanical Doves are not usually purchased as part of the starting crew (although they can be). Instead, Colette pulls them out of her hat as the game goes on. They’re fast flyers which can either buff a showgirl or blow up an enemy. Basically flying bombs with perks.
So, there you have it. The Showgirls don’t win games by killing the opposition. They win by producing huge numbers of scheme markers, racking up VPs from mission objectives and staying the hell away from anybody who looks remotely dangerous. But watch out for the Coryphée and Cassandra.
ps - all these models, sans upgrades, come to 58 SS, but there will always be upgrades with this crew - they need them to set up a lot of their more useful triggers.
current (2019) hobby interests
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things
Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things
Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...
Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
@MiJ
Your painting looks great. Take a look my crew at other tread.
Your painting looks great. Take a look my crew at other tread.
Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
The final part of my Cult of December, Ice Gamin
The Ice Gamin are the minions of the crew. They are distinctly average in many ways, a simple melee attack, a simple shooting attack and unimpressive stats. They do have a couple of selling points, first is the Cult's signature ability Frozen Heart, which let's Rasputina use them as a channel for her spells. They come with a zero action that boosts the damage of Frozen Heart models nearby, making them somewhat useful if they themselves can't reach a target. Finally, they explode upon death making them a threat to everything (friend and foe) around them. It's not much damage, but it does bypass enemy Df triggers and Hard to Wound. Overall they are cheap, disposable and convenient to have around.
The Ice Gamin are the minions of the crew. They are distinctly average in many ways, a simple melee attack, a simple shooting attack and unimpressive stats. They do have a couple of selling points, first is the Cult's signature ability Frozen Heart, which let's Rasputina use them as a channel for her spells. They come with a zero action that boosts the damage of Frozen Heart models nearby, making them somewhat useful if they themselves can't reach a target. Finally, they explode upon death making them a threat to everything (friend and foe) around them. It's not much damage, but it does bypass enemy Df triggers and Hard to Wound. Overall they are cheap, disposable and convenient to have around.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
Lady Justice and Scales of Justice.
Lady Justice is the Guild's undead hunting swordswoman and leader of the Death Marshals. Over on the Wyrd forums, they rate Lady J as one of the worst Masters in the game. Note that I said worst, not weakest. Lady Justice has a fearsome melee attack that will give all but the toughest of models a cause for concern. A high Melee score, good damage and the ability to trigger more damage or an extra attack is Lady J's claim to fame. Couple in the three attacks that Masters can pull off, a built in Heal action and the use of Soulstones and it's easy to see why most players have a healthy respect for her engagement radius and try to give it a wide berth. So why is she rated so poorly? Well, quite simply put, she doesn't do anything except turn enemy minions into paste. If you see her on the table, you can have a pretty good guess at what she is going to do. (Walk towards you and start swinging). She has few tricks up her sleeve, even with upgrades and has almost zero synergy with other models. The few abilities she does have are all geared towards playing her a certain way. (Walk towards you and start swinging). Admittedly, she is very good at doing what she does, but she suffers from a certain level of predictability.
Her lack of synergy does offer her the chance to be less picky about her crew though. Unlike some Masters, she works the same (Walk towards you and start swinging) regardless of who she gets partnered with. So while she may not be full of surprises, her crew can provide a lot of versatility to complete schemes.
While she lacks any stand-out abilities, she has a few utility abilities that she can make use of if need be. When she kills an enemy model, it doesn't drop any markers, which can cut down on corpse/scrap that other Masters need. Killing enemy models also inspires her own crew, giving them positives to attack flips. Lady J also comes with an Undead killing pulse effect, allowing her to potentially damage all undead models nearby. It's nowhere near as scary as her sword, but can help to thin out mobs. When she doesn't need to heal herself, she can get rid of conditions on friendly models nearby, great for ending Posion or Burning.
The final point to mention about Lady Justice is a warning for those who try to play her at her own melee game, Don't Miss! Lady Justice doesn't have a great defence, though she can sustain a few good hits if need be. She does however have a defensive trigger that allows her to strike her opponent if they miss a melee attack against her.
To sum up, Lady Justice is the very definition of a beatstick. She isn't subtle, she doesn't have any razzle-dazzle, she just walks towards you and starts swinging.
The Scales of Justice is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Lady J's totem. The Scales is a wannabe Resurrectionist who was caught by the Death Marshals. Bound to a giant set of scales, the hapless necromancer now follows Lady Justice around helping her stamp out undead and their crazed creators.
As with most Totems, the Scales is about as tough as a wet paper tissue (and nearly as fast). The Scales serves as a support model for the crew, giving out an extra point of Willpower to models nearby as a passive ability. It has two useful actions and a pathetic melee attack, which it will ideally never use. The first action is a card draw. If the opponent has more cards in hand than the Scales' controller, it may draw a card. Since your control hand is one of the most precious resources you have in the game, being able to add to it is a potentially game changing ability. Or you could draw a low card with a useless suit, who knows? The second action the scales can take is a Cast action. It can either hand out a positive or a negative flip to a model for it's next action, stacking the odds in favour of it's own crew. The downside is that the Scales needs an 11 or higher to pull this trick off.
Lady Justice is the Guild's undead hunting swordswoman and leader of the Death Marshals. Over on the Wyrd forums, they rate Lady J as one of the worst Masters in the game. Note that I said worst, not weakest. Lady Justice has a fearsome melee attack that will give all but the toughest of models a cause for concern. A high Melee score, good damage and the ability to trigger more damage or an extra attack is Lady J's claim to fame. Couple in the three attacks that Masters can pull off, a built in Heal action and the use of Soulstones and it's easy to see why most players have a healthy respect for her engagement radius and try to give it a wide berth. So why is she rated so poorly? Well, quite simply put, she doesn't do anything except turn enemy minions into paste. If you see her on the table, you can have a pretty good guess at what she is going to do. (Walk towards you and start swinging). She has few tricks up her sleeve, even with upgrades and has almost zero synergy with other models. The few abilities she does have are all geared towards playing her a certain way. (Walk towards you and start swinging). Admittedly, she is very good at doing what she does, but she suffers from a certain level of predictability.
Her lack of synergy does offer her the chance to be less picky about her crew though. Unlike some Masters, she works the same (Walk towards you and start swinging) regardless of who she gets partnered with. So while she may not be full of surprises, her crew can provide a lot of versatility to complete schemes.
While she lacks any stand-out abilities, she has a few utility abilities that she can make use of if need be. When she kills an enemy model, it doesn't drop any markers, which can cut down on corpse/scrap that other Masters need. Killing enemy models also inspires her own crew, giving them positives to attack flips. Lady J also comes with an Undead killing pulse effect, allowing her to potentially damage all undead models nearby. It's nowhere near as scary as her sword, but can help to thin out mobs. When she doesn't need to heal herself, she can get rid of conditions on friendly models nearby, great for ending Posion or Burning.
The final point to mention about Lady Justice is a warning for those who try to play her at her own melee game, Don't Miss! Lady Justice doesn't have a great defence, though she can sustain a few good hits if need be. She does however have a defensive trigger that allows her to strike her opponent if they miss a melee attack against her.
To sum up, Lady Justice is the very definition of a beatstick. She isn't subtle, she doesn't have any razzle-dazzle, she just walks towards you and starts swinging.
The Scales of Justice is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Lady J's totem. The Scales is a wannabe Resurrectionist who was caught by the Death Marshals. Bound to a giant set of scales, the hapless necromancer now follows Lady Justice around helping her stamp out undead and their crazed creators.
As with most Totems, the Scales is about as tough as a wet paper tissue (and nearly as fast). The Scales serves as a support model for the crew, giving out an extra point of Willpower to models nearby as a passive ability. It has two useful actions and a pathetic melee attack, which it will ideally never use. The first action is a card draw. If the opponent has more cards in hand than the Scales' controller, it may draw a card. Since your control hand is one of the most precious resources you have in the game, being able to add to it is a potentially game changing ability. Or you could draw a low card with a useless suit, who knows? The second action the scales can take is a Cast action. It can either hand out a positive or a negative flip to a model for it's next action, stacking the odds in favour of it's own crew. The downside is that the Scales needs an 11 or higher to pull this trick off.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
Guild Guard and Guard Sergeant
The Guild Guard is a cheap minion with fairly average stats. They have a handful of wounds and Armour +1 which might keep them alive if they are lucky. Their main role is in denying enemy schemes and generally being a nuisance. If they begin their activation within 5" and LoS of an enemy scheme marker, they may be placed in contact with the marker and then they remove it. Place effects allow them to escape from combats, so be careful where you drop your markers. The Guild Guard's attacks are nothing to write home about, but their shooting attack has the trigger to stick a nasty little condition on their target. If the trigger goes off, the target must discard cards to walk or charge when they activate. If there are two or more Guild Guards standing together they increase their defence, making it harder to hit them. I currently only have one though. Their final ability requires a medium card with the Ram suit and lets the Guard push towards an enemy model, causing a horror duel in the process.
The Guard Sergeant is an Enforcer and unsurprisingly works well with other Guild Guard models. He is a little faster, tougher and a better fighter than his juniors, but his main role is to buff them and help them get on with the job. Guard models nearby increase their walk speed and get a bonus to Willpower, though the Sarge gets neither of these. While the Guild Guard gets rid of enemy scheme markers, the Sarge gets to move friendly ones around. As a zero action he can move friendly scheme markers a few inches, which might make all the difference in a close game. His combat skills are slightly better than the standard Guard and he has a better damage track, but he is best served supporting the other Guard in the crew rather than piling in on the enemy.
The Guild Guard is a cheap minion with fairly average stats. They have a handful of wounds and Armour +1 which might keep them alive if they are lucky. Their main role is in denying enemy schemes and generally being a nuisance. If they begin their activation within 5" and LoS of an enemy scheme marker, they may be placed in contact with the marker and then they remove it. Place effects allow them to escape from combats, so be careful where you drop your markers. The Guild Guard's attacks are nothing to write home about, but their shooting attack has the trigger to stick a nasty little condition on their target. If the trigger goes off, the target must discard cards to walk or charge when they activate. If there are two or more Guild Guards standing together they increase their defence, making it harder to hit them. I currently only have one though. Their final ability requires a medium card with the Ram suit and lets the Guard push towards an enemy model, causing a horror duel in the process.
The Guard Sergeant is an Enforcer and unsurprisingly works well with other Guild Guard models. He is a little faster, tougher and a better fighter than his juniors, but his main role is to buff them and help them get on with the job. Guard models nearby increase their walk speed and get a bonus to Willpower, though the Sarge gets neither of these. While the Guild Guard gets rid of enemy scheme markers, the Sarge gets to move friendly ones around. As a zero action he can move friendly scheme markers a few inches, which might make all the difference in a close game. His combat skills are slightly better than the standard Guard and he has a better damage track, but he is best served supporting the other Guard in the crew rather than piling in on the enemy.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
@All
I'd like to know which faction or crew is the easiest one to master Malifaux system for beginner.
I love the looks of Ulix crew from Gremlins but after reading their stat card I feel too complicated for beginner.
Could you tell me your opinion.
I'd like to know which faction or crew is the easiest one to master Malifaux system for beginner.
I love the looks of Ulix crew from Gremlins but after reading their stat card I feel too complicated for beginner.
Could you tell me your opinion.
Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
Malifaux is not such an easy game, every model does something different or unique, so there is a lot to remember from each card. Ullix is not a complicated master for what he does, but he might be difficult to use well without understanding his style of play. Lucius (Guild), Colette (Arcanists) and Dreamer (Neverborn) are all difficult Masters to use as you need to have a solid plan about what you need to do with them and when to do it.komura wrote:@All
I'd like to know which faction or crew is the easiest one to master Malifaux system for beginner.
I love the looks of Ulix crew from Gremlins but after reading their stat card I feel too complicated for beginner.
Could you tell me your opinion.
Sonnia's crew seem fairly simple and Rasputina is easy to use as well I think. The Viktorias have a good crew which is very straightforward, but the Viktorias can be tricky to use well as they are both quite fragile. I don't know the Resurrectionists that well, maybe Underdweller could provide some help for Seamus and Nicodem?
I would suggest sticking to one crew as you learn the game and then trying out something different. For your Sonnia Crew I would suggest trying something like:
Sonnia
Samuel Hopkins
Purifying Flame
Witchling Stalkers
Guild Guards
Guild Austringer
The Stalkers are meant for fighting with their swords if they can. The Guard and Austringer are better for moving around and trying to complete schemes/stopping enemy schemes.
Sonnia and Hopkins should be shooting at people and trying to set them on fire.
From what I understand about Sonnia, her playstyle is:
Is the target on fire? - No - Try to set the target on fire.
Is the target on fire? - Yes - Try to kill the target and summon another Stalker.
Sonnia's spell can cause the Burning Condition, as can Samuel Hopkins if he has the Witch Hunt upgrade. The Stalkers can also cause the Burning Condition with all of their attacks, though their sword is more accurate than their pistol.
Once the target is Burning and within 10" of Sonnia, focus on killing it either with melee attacks from the Stalkers or by shooting it with Sonnia/Hopkins. So long as you have the Reincarnation upgrade on Sonnia and a couple of spare cards, you get a free Stalker.
Both Sonnia and Hopkins are ranged attack models. They don't want to get too close to the enemy if they don't have to. Sonnia is ok in combat, but she is better off using her spells.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
- The Underdweller
- Legend
- Posts: 1168
- Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 3:08 am
Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
@Komura: I have only played with Nicodem twice, and Seamus once, but I can give you an idea, anyway.
Seamus is good at movement tricks, but he is pretty fragile, so a bit tricky to play.
Nicodem might be easier to start with. He is an undead summoner and buffer. For your crew, you could use something like this:
-Nicodem
-Soulstones, as many as possible - to help you summon undead
-Mortimer - to make Corpse Tokens for you
-Vulture - to channel spells with, and help with Buffing and Corpse Tokens
Other Models: Take some of the following
-Punk Zombies - For close combat
-Gaki - they are cheap, and good at fighting near Nicodem
-Crooked men: They make a good screen because they are hard to shoot
-Rotten Belles - They can lure things in to use the Crooked Men's Shafted action
Keep Nicodem back as far as possible. He is an old man, so not good at fighting. Keep him near Mortimer and 1 or 2 Bodyguards (Punk Zombies, Gaki, or maybe Crooked men).
Have some Undead models ready to summon. Make sure to save high Crow cards for this, and Soulstones. You can summon Mindless Zombies easily with the Maniacal Laugh Upgrade to block charge lanes while still acting as Corpse Tokens.
For completing objectives, Rotten Belles are a little faster than your other minions (the same as Gaki, although you can't sumon Gaki). Punk zombies ignore severe terrain, so are not bad for this either. (I think Canine Remains or Necropunks are better for this, if you want to proxy some)
I am still learning how to play this game too, so please give me feedback if you play any games with Ressurectionists!
Seamus is good at movement tricks, but he is pretty fragile, so a bit tricky to play.
Nicodem might be easier to start with. He is an undead summoner and buffer. For your crew, you could use something like this:
-Nicodem
-Soulstones, as many as possible - to help you summon undead
-Mortimer - to make Corpse Tokens for you
-Vulture - to channel spells with, and help with Buffing and Corpse Tokens
Other Models: Take some of the following
-Punk Zombies - For close combat
-Gaki - they are cheap, and good at fighting near Nicodem
-Crooked men: They make a good screen because they are hard to shoot
-Rotten Belles - They can lure things in to use the Crooked Men's Shafted action
Keep Nicodem back as far as possible. He is an old man, so not good at fighting. Keep him near Mortimer and 1 or 2 Bodyguards (Punk Zombies, Gaki, or maybe Crooked men).
Have some Undead models ready to summon. Make sure to save high Crow cards for this, and Soulstones. You can summon Mindless Zombies easily with the Maniacal Laugh Upgrade to block charge lanes while still acting as Corpse Tokens.
For completing objectives, Rotten Belles are a little faster than your other minions (the same as Gaki, although you can't sumon Gaki). Punk zombies ignore severe terrain, so are not bad for this either. (I think Canine Remains or Necropunks are better for this, if you want to proxy some)
I am still learning how to play this game too, so please give me feedback if you play any games with Ressurectionists!
Re: Welcome to Malifaux - Prim's Breachside Blog
@Primarch @Underdweller
Thank you for posting good advice. I appreciate them.
I'll read again carefully on Sonia, Victoria, Nicodem and Seamus stat.
And will try some crew at February gaming with you.
Thank you for posting good advice. I appreciate them.
I'll read again carefully on Sonia, Victoria, Nicodem and Seamus stat.
And will try some crew at February gaming with you.