Malifaux V2 Announced - Changes Incomming

Well, the announcement has shown up and the community is buzzing about the incoming Malifaux V2. Those of you who did not get a chance to read the Wyrd newsletter you can find it here:

http://www.wyrd-games.net/Newsletter_v2/2eNews.html

There are a number of podcasts that are also releasing interviews with Mack Martin and Justin Gibbs, the two new designers of the Malifaux game. I have to admit that its nice to see, after posting my previous article, that Wyrd decided to reach out to Malifaux podcasts to provide some interviews to the core playing audience for this big change. In many cases, the Malifaux podcasts beat the non-malifaux outlets to the punch on releasing the interviews in conjunction with the announcement.

Here are some of the places the interviews can be found:

• Malifools
• Tartan Skirmish Radio
• Aethervox
• Through the Breach
• Cheated Fates Radio
• Lost Boys Radio (not yet released)
• Voices of Mars
• Wargamers Consortium 

As I understand it, more interviews are coming on other outlets as well, so keep an eye on the interwebz folks. As mentioned, there seems to be only one place there will not be an interview, and that's Gamers Lounge. This is my own choice, as I am very unhappy with what I have seen of V2 and chose not to do an interview with EricJ this year because of the back and forth I have had with him (and Mack and Justin) on this topic. While I admit it would have been nice to have been asked if I wanted to do the interview, I think Eric, Mack, and Justin are all pretty clear on where I stand. As such I understand why I was pointedly left out.

Moving Onto the Article

All of that said above, I am not really focusing on that in this article. I really wanted to follow up the last Article (Surviving Adepticon 2013) with some writing about the high points of my games at the Masters and Avatars, along with a series of articles with my overall thoughts on the Competitive Malifaux scene. I wanted to.

To be honest, the announcement of V2 has spun me back to being off kilter and upset over the changes again. Do to this, I have lost my focus on the games and I am not sure if I will get back to writing up that small series or not. I am currently at the point where I have seen some division in my own playing group over Malifaux V2 to the point I am no longer enjoying going to the game store on my normal gaming night. This is likely to also impact the podcast, which really disapoints me as well.

All that said, I figured there was a better article to post at this point. I want to take some time and write about what I love with Malifaux Classic (V.1). My recent interactions with Wyrd representatives have been less than positive lately. This has been further exacerbated by my local group splintering, which has really started to decrease my enjoyment in the game. I think that setting some of those thoughts about what I love in Malifaux Classic in a post will be helpful to me, and also might be interesting to others. This is also a timely article as the upcoming Open Beta test of Malifaux V.2 will have the new rules and models in everyones hands after May 31. Having this list will help me take a closer look at what I might consider both good and bad about Malifaux V.2.

Then again, maybe this is going to be passed over to the dark depths of the ignored internet. It's a vanity project (the blog that is), but I have the keyboard to type and type I will.

What I love about Malifaux Classic

There is an awful lot I love about this game. Starting with my first demo game of Malifaux there were portions of the game that grabbed me. This feeling only grew as I played more and expanded my collections of models. My first demo game was set-up between Jay and I with Jay setting up Nicodem and some zombies while I was handed Perdita and her family of gunslingers. The first turn was a little intimidating, trying to figure out movement, activation, AP and the cards. At some point during turn 3 things really came together for me and I fell in love. I started to read abilities on the cards like Companion and figure out the combo's that would work. I started to really feel the character of the models in how their rules worked together to create a complete package. It took a couple more games, but I knew there was something magical in this game after the end of that turn 3. I'm not sure if they knew it, and I am pretty certain Jay doesn't want the credit, but Dan and Mike answering questions and mostly Jay playing through that demo really gave the start to the game that has defined the last 3 years of my gaming life. June 2010, that demo really changed things for me.

So, looking back over the game that will be consigned to extinction this coming Gencon 2013, what are those things that still make me love the game? What are those things in Malifaux that I want to see in any other miniature game I am going to fall in love with?

The Models
This is a pretty simple one, but its important as well. Wyrd's miniatures really hit a asthetic for me that I truly prefer. This is the first game I have seen where the majority of the minis in the game are ones I think look good. Overall I have very few models in the Malifaux line that I do not like the look of. Overall I am not a fan of undead models, so the bulk of the Reserectionists do not strike my fancy.  I do love the spirit models and the hanged however, and like some of the new models getting released from Storm of Shadows. As a whole, I even like the look of some models which I do not actually prefer to use in game. I have no love for Outcasts in general, but I really like the look of several of the models for Leviticus' and Viktoria's crews. Wyrd's move into plastic was a great move in my opinion. The models are maintaining or increasing in detail overall, while becoming much easier to work with overall. I have to say, I am really looking forward to the new Malifaux models to come.

Skirmish Game
Malifaux is a skirmish game, which is not something I truly understood until I played the game.  I moved into Malifaux from an Army Scale game, Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Fantasy. The idea of playing with less than 50 models on the table was not something I had even considered prior to seeing Malifaux. Even the GW Lord of the Rings skirmish game was something I was never interested in. Once I was introduced to the mistress that is Malifaux, I learned about the joys of small numbers of models on the table. I even love this over other games that took on a skirmish moniker such as Privateer Press's Hordes and Warmachine. Malifaux is truly balanced around being skirmish sized with only 5-10 models on the table. Even the horde crews such as Gremlins and Reserrectionists would typically field less than 12 models total, with many of them being easily kill-able. Having this small amount of models on the table really opened up a couple different aspects of the game which added to its strength for me. First, I could focus on painting a small set of models as well as I could (for me, I was happy with Table Top Quality). This allowed me to be very comfortable in only playing with fully painted and based crews, which I really enjoy. Second, it made the entry into the game very reasonable. I could get started playing the game regularly after only a couple nights painting and be comfortable with having a "full crew". I was playing full sized games while still growing what ended up becoming a massive collection. Lastly, this means that every model in the game has some meaning. On the one hand, they have meaning because there are not really any "line troop" type models that are just there for chaff. On the other hand, each of the models had a lot of character and that leads to my next love.
 

Character Driven Game
Malifaux is a Character Driven game. Each model in the game had a story and a character behind putting it on the table. Even the swarm of gremlins each had character built into not only their models, but supported by their rules. There were still line troops in the game such as Death Marshals, Ronin, Bayou Gremlins, and Steampunk Arachnids, but they did not feel like a swarm of faceless chaff. Rarely were these models taken in large numbers, and each had a set of rules that made them work really well together with your crew. The models and their special combination of rules built upon and supported their role in the Malifaux world. This character and feel was only further expanded and strengthened as you moved to non-unique rare models, through unique named models to Henchmen and Masters. There has been some commentary that many models got too complex with multiple rules, and even I agree with that to some extent when I look at a model like Mei Feng. At the same time, these rules all built together to create a complex picture of a very singular character represented in a model. Each rule contributed to a better and clearer picture of who and what that model was in the world of Malifaux.

**I'm realizing this article is growing fairly lengthy, so I figured I would split it over a couple days. Herein ends Part 1, with What I love about Malifaux Classic Part 2 returning tomorrow.