Malifaux by Wyrd

[PeteRock]

I'm a part of beta testing for this game and I've got the clears to talk about this game publically.

Anything is available to discuss short of posting stats.

Game should be released at Gencon with a price of @ $35. They have released some great box sets $20-30 that has everything you need to field an army. A bunch more boxes to come by end August. There will be some sweet new characters, new masters, totems, base inserts, etc. I've seen some of the new sculpts, and they look ace as always.

They are making a sweet deck of cards in 4-5 colors that will be @$7 as well, some really cool art on them.

You can easilly jump into this game for less than $70. (game, box set and deck of cards). It's a fun, innovative, clever, skirmish game with great mechanics, balance and fluff. Characters are very complex with lots of differnt abilities and actions. The main thing that sets it apart from most is it uses a standard 54(52 +2 jokers) deck of playing cards(per person) instead of dice.

Get excited and paint up a group if you have one, you'll want it ready soon!  

So who wants to know what? I can talk about what I know.   

[Skullcrafts Moderator]

I've heard of Wyrd miniatures before, in fact I have one of them somewhere in a box unpainted. Never heard of Malifax before though. Sounds strange that a miniature game would involve a deck of cards though. No dice? I'm a little skeptical already. I do really enjoy most of Wyrd's mini figurines though. Can you tell us more about the game and how it plays?

[PeteRock]

Nope no dice at all.Bummed me out at first because I like the rush of rolling those dice and checking what you rolled. But you still get that with this game, it's just flipping cards over instead.

Basic example of mechanics.
Lilith cast spell x on Perdita. Lilith flips a card from the draw pile and adds her Cast ability. Perdita does the same and adds either her Will power or her Defense, (depending on the spell) they compare these numbers. The loser can now "cheat fate" and replace the flipped card with one from their hand to improve the total. Say Perdita loses and cheats fate and is now ahead, the winner then has a chance to cheat their card and get back on top. After each player has had a chance to cheat, you compare the final totals and calculate the difference(how well you hit) This difference will determine a second mechanic of damage. a weak hit flips two cards and you take the lowest (Called Fate-), a normal card is flip one(fate), a Strong (Fate+) you flip two and take the highest. Unless you are fate-, you can always cheat fate and replace the card with one from you hand.

There are a bunch of layers as to how bad you need to cheat in situations to ensure you never get to fate- and connot cheat fate. Sometimes cheating a 4 with a 6 would seem silly to hit, but what else are you going to do with a 6 in your hand and if it bumps you up into a different bracket, well then your odds are much better for damage. It really makes you think about how to use your control cards (cards in your hand@4-6 per turn). There are modifiers and buffs, debuffs, cover, etc all the normal things you'd want from a game that come into play and effect these totals and flips. Nothin to bogg downish and time consuming but good factors that add that depth that allows for strategy and tactics.

Keep in mind also that there are suit based attacks. ex. Say you need a 13+ to cast spell x, oh yeah did I mention you also need one spade and one heart as well. Now you have to consider what high cards do I have, what suit are they, do I want to activate that unit early or late in the turn etc. You really have to make wise decisions based on the hand you draw, your opponents actions, what you need to work the most, everything.

Again I'll say the mechanics of this game are really quite clever and the more I play it the more I see the depth it has and the skill it requires to play it most effectively. Less relyable on chance of the dice and more reliable on how well you use what you are delt. I just hated in 40k when you sent something to accomplish something and you came up all 1s. thats silly, in Malifaux you can invest resources into an action to guarantee it is works even if you flip a 1 (ace).

Ok done with my Sunday morning rant. I wanna Malifaux now, lol.

[athanadros]

Hey Pete,
  This sounds like a pretty interesting and very very unique system! I'm looking forward to seeing some of the mini's for this system! As wyrd has always put out great minis I'm confident these will be just as cool!
So im not sure if you can give this info away but what is some of the fluff for this game. Is it sci fi, steampunkish, etc.? Do you have different factions that battle one another or is it more character based? I am very interested to hear more!

Thanks for the info Pete!
 

[TheBugKing]

Wow.

Long time no post.  Sorry.  Been hung up with working on Malifaux as well as building the demo board for Wyrd Miniatures. 

As for the miniatures for the game, you should go check out http://www.wyrd-games.net/shop/home.php

Just look under the headings Guild, Neverborn, Arcanists, Resurectionists and Outcasts.

Those are the figures that are already out for the game.  A lot of the figures that were previously released are being used in the game.  It's actually what prompted the creation of the game in the first place. 

As for the fluff it's Steamvictoriohorrorwestpunk.
So:
Steampunk
Victorian Horror
Western

All of these flavors are rolled into the game.  It's set in an alternate Earth that has a breach to Malifaux.  Basically a tear in space time.  Malifaux is so magic saturated that almost everyone that goes from Earth side to Malifaux develops some form of magical talent.  The really magical ones become masters. 

Some background on the mechanics:
Unlike Warmachine or Hordes where if you lose your Warcaster or Warlock the game is over if you lose you Master you continue playing.  It's actually possible to win a game even if your opponent wipes out your entire force.  Every game is objective driven.  There are 5 strategies that are randomly selected before a game and about 15 to 20 minor schemes that you can choose from.  The strategies are always revealed.  The schemes are not.  So you can have hidden objectives in the game that you can reveal when you complete them.  Also, since the strategies are random (And will be for tournament play as well) it is really hard to build a min max force that targets only one aspect of the game that remains competitive. 

The game will remain a skirmish game and will not grow up into a full on war game like Warmachine has.  The game size mechanics are built in such a way that the rules actually prevent it from happening.  That is not to say that you couldn't play a massive game.  You just need to tweak the rules for yourself a bit to make it happen.

[James]

   I know that Wyrd has been working on this for quite some time, but I thought their release date was much much further down the road. Glad to see that they will implement current models into the playable game, that's what I've been hoping for. Personally, I like the seemingly random outcome of proposed battles (gives you a fighting chance, no matter what). I sincerely hope that the game stays a skirmish style play, a lot of other tabletop games have gone the way of convoluted ruleset wargaming.

 

[PeteRock]

Thanks for the back up TBK, You OG Alpha creator you. (I'm just a lowly Beta Bitch) 

If you are interested in the fluff and setting of Malifaux, I'd download the ezines on the home page http://wyrd-games.net/index.php, great quick reads that let you peak into the world. And best part? They are free and packed with cool mini articles and sweet art.

It will be a great, fun game to play. I'm prob. going to be promoting the game as a minion for them so anyone who wants to play or test it out in the NW, drop me a line, and we can demo it. I'll also post here if I'm doing an event in the area. 

Get your Wyrd painting on!!!

[James]

Thanks for the back up TBK, You OG Alpha creator you. (I'm just a lowly Beta Bitch) 

If you are interested in the fluff and setting of Malifaux, I'd download the ezines on the home page http://wyrd-games.net/index.php, great quick reads that let you peak into the world. And best part? They are free and packed with cool mini articles and sweet art.

It will be a great, fun game to play. I'm prob. going to be promoting the game as a minion for them so anyone who wants to play or test it out in the NW, drop me a line, and we can demo it. I'll also post here if I'm doing an event in the area. 

Get your Wyrd painting on!!!

   Downloaded and printing. Dude, I forgot you were up here. We are going to have to hook up and play test this. I have many of the models (a lot unpainted) from Wyrd. Hmm...the next few weeks are busy for me, but I'm down for early to mid August. Let me know and we can meet.

 

[PeteRock]

yeah no prob, I'd be down to play whenever! Early/Mid August works pretty good for me as well. I'm available most Saturdays and Sundays before 5pm. I'd prob have to be my place (@SE 27 and Bellmont) since I sold my car, but we could figure something out. Just PM when you want to set something up and I can have the room all ready to throw down.

 

[goat89]

The miniatures in this range are absolutely fantastic! I am in love with their Ronin models too!