So here’s the secret project that I’m going to be running
this year. I’m going to be taking part in a “Tale of” series for a brand new
game I’m jumping into Malifaux! I used to love as a kid reading the Tale of
Gamers series in the old White Dwarfs, reading about the team slowly but surely
building and buying their armies month by month and watching them grow was a
really good way of keeping your spending down while also making a fully
playable army in due course.
Now I’m completely new to Malifaux and towards the end of
the year I was getting an itch to play it. The game is rather cheap to get
into, the crews are slowly getting some stunning looking plastic crews and best
of all for me there’s no dice involved so I can’t be failing on dice-rolling that
much! The game uses a normal deck of cards including two jokers.
I’ve already got the
rulebook and expansion book and bought the Children of December plastic crew
box with the Rasputina master. I’ve never played a game with her and more
wanted her to paint up which I’ve almost finished. I think with this ToMB2
it’ll be the ideal to learn the game with a small crew to start off with and
then build upwards from there as I get confident. Being a complete newbie I’ll
also be able to give my thoughts on the rules as well as revealing what I’ve
been learning as I play more games. It may sound ambitious but my main goal for
this year is to go to a Malifaux tournament towards the end of the year with my
new crew and feel confident enough with the rules that I should be able to play
without having to worry too much.
So what are the rules of this then? Well it’s going to be
ran by Ben at the Malibros Blog, everyone starts with £40 in month one to buy
their crew box set and then £15 every subsequent month to build up your crew,
obviously if you want to save some left over money from month to month to
purchase more than your monthly allowance then that’s fine. At the end of every
month you need to have your minis purchased that month built and painted or
face a forfeit, and you’ve got to show your progress throughout (games,
tactics, painting, etc). It’ll run initially for four months but if there’s
enough interest it’ll be extended to six months.
So now the important bit….Which crew will I pick?
Well being completely new to this I’ve got a plethora of
choice, as mentioned the new plastic crews feature some stunning models and my
weak wargamer self has switched between so many different ones in the last week
trying to find the right one. Here are the options I’m toying between; I’ve
given my initial impressions of each master from reading the books. If I’ve got
anything wrong about them apologies!
Pandora - Neverborn
We all know bad stuff happens when you open Pandora’s box and
no that isn’t a euphemism. She controls
the enemy and manipulates them rather than going out and out damage dealer. In
her crew box you get the two creepiest models to find in a skirmish game, Candy
and Baby Kade. These two models easily optimise the vast styles of factions
that are available in Malifaux. You also get the rather impressive looking Poltergeist
and three Sorrows to fill out the crew. Seven models to start isn’t too bad.
The lure of getting the much loved Teddy model included in the crew is
definitely a pull for this crew but for a complete newbie to the game I think
all of Pandora’s tricks and skills might be a little overwhelming to learn
with.
Sheamus – Resurrectionists
How much cooler can you get than a master that’s a mix of
Jack the Ripper and The Mad Hatter and is backed up by Zombie Hookers and a
copycat midget? It looks like Sheamus has one of the most deadly ranged weapons
in the game managing to cause 8 damage on a severe damage flip before
disappearing the other side of the table as long as he’s out of sight. The fact
his Rotten Belles can use a skill called Lure to move an opponent’s model
towards them so Sheamus doesn’t even need to get up close and in harm’s way is
an awesome skill to have. I could see a lot of synergy with this crew and not
many skills/rules to learn the game with; but until the additions in month two
the first month I can see the crew being very one dimensional. It’s a
possibility and I know for a fact if I don’t do Sheamus for #ToMB2 I’ll be
picking him up in the future.
Perdita Ortega – Guild
The Latigo Posse, a very much ranged based crew to start
with but with Perdita meaning to be very forgiving for new players to learn. I
love the mix of Mexican and Cowboy attire and this box features my personal
favourite model in Nino, who seems to be carrying a gatling gun but sets up as
a sniper anywhere on the table! The rest of the family is just as potent and
have little clever skills to utilise with each other. A lot of synergy possible
with this crew and I think I’d be much more comfortable learning the game with
ranged guys first before having a predominantly focussed melee army.
Von Schill – Outcasts
Another ranged themed crew full of mercenaries of the Freikorps.
Von Schill himself is pretty adapt at both ranged and melee combat, he has
decent movement and buffs his surrounding Freikorps with the A Legend to Live Up To ability.
Included in the box are two normal Freikorpsmann troops, a Freikorps Librarian
who is tasked at healing his comrades in battle, a Freikorps Trapper who is a
traditional sniper model and finally my favourite model in the box set the
Freikorps Specialist who wields a big beefy flamethrower! Like the Perdita crew
box, this is more of a ranged box set and has potential additions in the
following months of either ranged or melee focussed mercenaries. Compared to
the other crews though the Freikorps are not really the most interesting models
in the game. When you compare all the weird and wonderful creations for the
Arcanists, Ressurectionists and the like; having normal mercenary troops seems
a bit meh.
Time to deliberate until Sunday when I’m going to be putting
in my order for my crew. I have a feeling who I’m going to be choosing but you
never know I might go completely different. Tale of Malifaux Bloggers Month 1 begins on Sunday!
The full rules for Tale of Malifaux Bloggers 2 #ToMB2 can be
found here.
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