Anyone Play Heavy Gear or Malifaux?

A small quick "scrap level" game involves maybe 4-5. Game can be scaled easily to larger games and the bigger games are are "brawls" which can involve twice as many figs and also you use 2 masters instead of 1 like the basic games. Even in larger games, the game moves fairly quick once you get the core mechanics figured out.

The Malifaux is pretty cool. The student is an idiot, but it shows the game real well.

I wish they had PDF rules so I could do some more research.

Here is a reference sheet kinda give the outline of basic turns and what not.
http://tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/downloads/malifaux/reference/Malifaux_Reference_Sheet_alt.pdf

ShadowMaster wrote:The Malifaux is pretty cool. The student is an idiot, but it shows the game real well.

I wish they had PDF rules so I could do some more research.

It would be nice if they did after how bad the rulebook turned out too. They had to put out a 14 page errata for the stupid book, lot of errors in it and rule tweaks that they missed in rule testing. No word on a 2nd printing, but it's pretty annoying and would be nice if they had put out the rules for free anyways with how bad the book is right now.

Kyle do you play the game or just reading all the reviews like I am? I ask because I am trying to figure out what master to pick. I'm torn between the Red Chapel Gang, Witch hunters, and Viktorias. All look amazing just want to know if you have any game play advice

Just did some demos, currently building up a Guild crew with some buddies so we can start playing some real and bigger matches. Getting some more figs by end of the week hopefully so I got enough for a regular sized game.

The game itself is simple since most of it boils down to card dueling mechanic that is mostly used for everything in the game. Every character has strengths and weaknesses, and the game is very much not so stat dependent. It is kind of overwhelming in a way since EVERY model in the game has so many special rules too it.

Unlike most games where you can quickly figure out what something does, in Malifaux everything has unique actions, spells, triggers, etc. It is similar to how in Warmachine that every model has it's own special rules, though in Malifaux it's taken a bit further... though it is not so bad since the game is played with lot less figues than a Warmachine/Hordes game.

Viktorias are cool, buddy is playing them, they hit damn hard and you get 2 masters for the price of one basically. Only downfall of Viktorias is that they can only use minions that are mercenaries.

The Witch Hunters box with Sonnia? They are good anti magic with their own magic abilities, Sonnia herself has some powerful spells that are quite destructive.

If you pick a faction you can easily change things up by simply switching out the Master figure before the game. Though do note that the Outcasts are not really a true faction, they are collection of neutral characters and such in the universe so you have lot of special rules and mercs in the list. The gremlins for example in the Outcasts are limited to be used with other gremlins and such, but they aren't mercs, so they can't work with other outcast figs like Victorias. Outcasts though are very powerful, though often at a cost. None of their masters start with Soulstone caches either.

I have the Malifaux rulebook if anyone wants to check it out.

How does Malifaux play compared to WM/H?

Just like with WoTR, I like the toggle of player actions during the turn sequence.

I wouldn't mind trying Malifaux out one night.

It is similar in some manners, though it is pretty different. No squads of figures, everyone acts on their own. Almost all have multiple hit points, damage is variable based on how well your card duel goes.

When you create a crew, you choose a master who is the leader figure, and then you add in minions or totems. The game is not master dependent though so unlike WM/H, you don't lose the game or basically are screwed if the master is lost. Also the game is designed to be objective based with a list of different objectives you have to achieve, the game is generally not about killing the opponents team, but scoring the most amount of victory points. Players also can get secret objectives which give them bonus points at end of game for achieving.... like sneaking a model into opponents deployment zone could be one of your secrets. Though you can announce what your secrets are to your opponent, and if you do, you get bonus points for having revealed your secret and still achieving it.

Almost every figure in the game also have what are called 'triggers' that can go off depending on various factors which lead to unique game effects that can be surprising. For example a figure might have a trigger effect that happens if someone hits them and drew a certain suit of card, or a special effect trigger if a specific model did some other variable, etc. Often triggers are defensive in nature giving a semblance of protection against opponent attacks so you don't have the WM/H type of play where one side goes and attacks without risk of retaliation most of the time.

The dueling system also makes the defensive side have a more active role other than sitting their and watching the current player run amok stabbing your dudes. You actively play your cards and try to alter fate in your favor.

The only real similarity between the game and WM/H is that you have a central master like character in your force.

Well we have been playing the game now for a bit and really enjoying it so far. The game once you get into it, really is nothing like WM/Hordes, it is pretty unique game system which the fate system really adds a bit of a gambling aspect to the game.

Whenever you do an action it will often be opposed by an opponent, and this creates a duel where both players play cards. Now when you have a duel, the person currently losing the duel, gets to "cheat fate" first, playing a card from hand to alter the totals. This can lead to all kinds of bluff plays later down the line and such which really is kind of unique and tense at times. It's not like most games where you roll a dice and it's done, here you flip cards and then take turns seeing who can come out on top.

Really good game so far, only bad thing I can say about the game is that it's the first game ever by Wyrd miniatures, and they have lot of mistakes in their book. The errata for the game is HUGE.

I really liked the Infinity figures and the free rules are great - the problem I found there is it seems almost too complex.

The Malifaux system seems great - I'm just not overly drawn to too many of the figures.

Torn (and broke) so I've been playign 40k with models I already own.

Infinity seems complex at first because it's like nothing else on the market imho. But really once you get in a few games in, it kinda all makes sense and plays much faster. The whole complexity and core of Infinity is it's ARO system, which takes some time to fully get a hold of. It really is simple though once you get past the initial learning hump.

When we started there was lots of mistakes and slow progression as we would try to figure out what can and can't be done at certain points, but it eventually clicks. Very unique system and it also to me lends to the feel that the game has an extremely balanced environment. Never did I really feel like any figure or faction was better than another. Even a shitty cheap grunt could prove deadly to an expensive elite model if an opponent takes a risk or mistake.

It's like anal sex, an acquired taste.

But a social skill (convincing your partner) that all should have for the benefit of our girlfriends and wives.

JerryB

You should work at a booth at Gencon and demo games with such analogies.

Anyways I think in a way Infinity is something that helps to have someone who is familiar with the game show you how it's played, cause it will likely confound people at first.

Some systems appear on the surface complex, and yet once engage properly discover that it is fact well structure.
I believe a lot of people on opening the hood of their car think initially that they are only able to change the oil and nothing more. And yet soon discover that changing spark plugs wasn't as hard as they thought, then the belts and so on. But if you were to read the tech manual only, you may never even attempt opening the hood (as a metaphor).

So, is this game truly overwhelming or thoroughly define. The game designers may be avoiding the typical method of writing the rules to head off players who want to take advantage of lack of definition seen in other games. How games almost immediately after release require a FAQ. Hhhmm... all them?

Now I am interested. I will download the manual, but the lack of resources I will probably not play in the near future.

I would love to work at the company, ah, any company for that matter.

JerryB

One issue with Infinity I think is that the way it's written, is kinda stiff. The company is from Spain and have released the game in several languages, so some parts of the rules can feel a bit literal and not flow as smooth as one would hope. The unique system plus the language it's written in can make it seem harder than it is as well.

Rackham has similar issues since it releases it's games in so many languages and it's designers are all French. Lot of ruling issues between versions, and from what I understand there is some differences in rules between the English and German versions of the game that R has never answered us about. Of course there was lot of bitching when while back also when it was found out that the person they had translating their new stuff didn't actually speak French lol.

Tate's is now carrying Malifaux, they have most of the starter crew box sets and the rulebook. Also saw some folks playing the game at the store today.

The games first expansion is also premiering at Gencon.