The natural cycle of gaming is starting to push me back towards Malifaux. I'm sure I'll still be getting in Warmachine games here and there, but it's not going to be my primary goal for a little while. Normally I channel my excess gaming energy into posts here, but that hiccup with Malifaux makes it trickier to write about than Warmachine (which is very, very easy to prattle on about in the dojo.)
I think I've come up with some ideas though. Looking at the various Masters, how they'd approach a game (generally), and the crews they'd build (generally) is probably a good way to go, and it'll help me flesh out ideas that I have for the Masters and Factions I play.
The other idea, and the bulk of this post, is a set of ProTips that may help newer Malifaux players (or players transitioning from Warmachine to Malifaux.) I am by no means a Malifaux expert - the first edition of the game damn near made me quit it entirely, so I didn't play much then - but I have noticed some things as I've been playing that may be helpful.
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| As tempting as it is, I will not be using emoticons to communicate my feelings on various models. But that one for 0.5 covers certain ones very effectively. |
When applicable I'll try to relate concepts back to other games (most likely Warmachine/Hordes) to help illustrate the point. These aren't necessarily hard and fast rules, but guidelines that I've found helpful. Let's get to it!
Action Points (AP)
AP Are Your Key Resource
Every game has a key resource; the thing that determines if you're likely to win or lose the game, based on your ability to manage it.
In Warmahordes, that key resource is "attacks" (defined as: any action which kills, disables, or otherwise hinders your opponent's models.) The core mechanic of each game system is Focus/Fury, but those are the currency you use to then make/enhance/prevent attacks.
Every model in the game brings a certain number and quality of attacks to the table. Success in Warmahordes is going to largely be determined by how well you manage your pool of attacks (starting all the way in list building, when you determine the pool of attacks you'll be working with,) while also trying to mitigate how effectively your opponent can leverage their pool of attacks against you.
Malifaux has a similarly obscured key resource: it may seem like the resource is your hand of cards, but that's similar to Focus/Fury; it's just currency (or more accurately: the ability to explicitly change outcomes to your favor.) The actual key resource in Malifaux is AP.
Every model in the game brings a minimum of 2 AP to the table (Masters bring 3, some models bring special bonus AP.) All non-Insignificant models (i.e. the majority) have a wealth of potential with those AP because they are ultimately what you're going to use to accomplish your schemes, or deny your opponent theirs.
In any crew you create, be mindful of how many non-Insignificant AP your crew is bringing to the table. It can make a big difference when dealing with Strats/Schemes that don't require you to kill enemy models, but even when the Strats/Schemes demand blood, more AP give you more attacks.
Not All AP Are Equal
While it may be tempting to go to extremes - load the table up with cheap models and out-activate/out-AP your opponent, or pick a core of very powerful models that have fantastic attacks - there are significant risks in doing so.
Cheap models often have lower defenses, fewer wounds, and weaker attacks than their expensive counterparts. While you can flood the table with cheap models in a lot of crews, you run the risk of not having enough beef or business to hold up until the end of the game.
Conversely, while a smaller crew of powerful models is going to be much more powerful offensively and defensively, it also doesn't have much in the way of spare AP to devote to accomplishing Strats/Schemes.
As with all things in Malifaux, this varies wildly based on the game state and the crew. But as a general rule I find it best to fill a crew with different "qualities" of AP: one or two powerful models that can threaten damage, then a handful of cheaper models that I don't mind sending off to accomplish errands if need be (or in some cases, models that are strictly dedicated to running errands.)
Managing Activations
The Importance of Activation Numbers
One of the biggest differences between Malifaux and a game like Warmahordes is that Malifaux uses an alternating activation system: I activate a model, resolve all of it's actions, then you activate a model, resolve all it's actions, etc, until all models on both sides have activated.
When building a Warmahordes army, you don't necessarily need to worry about the size of your list. The bigger concern is often number and quality of attacks; a dense army can have roughly the same output as a voluminous army if it brings the right kinds of attacks to the table.
Malifaux works out roughly the same - a more expensive model is often much more capable than a cheap one, so a dense crew can usually get a lot of work done - but there is a mechanical concern that makes crew size an important consideration in Malifaux: alternating activations means that someone always gets to activate last.
The phrase "gets to activate last" may seem odd. You'd naturally assume it'd be more important to activate first, and there are many times where getting the first activation for the turn can make a big difference. However, the final activation can also be a big deal: the last model activating in a turn doesn't need to worry about any attacks coming at it immediately, so it can act with (relatively short lived) impunity.
Furthermore, if you can get the last activation in a turn, then win initiative the following turn you can potentially get back-to-back activations without any interference from your opponent. If you can pull that off with a powerful model like a Master or Henchman you can do a lot of work without a chance for reprisal.
Because of that, it is important to keep crew size in mind when putting your crew together. Having a Dirty Half Dozen may sound really fun, and they may be 6 of the baddest mofos to step through the breach, but it also may be an uphill fight when your opponent is consistently getting two, three, or even four activations without any chance for you to respond.
Also, it is crucial to bear in mind that winning in Malifaux is 100% determined by how well you achieve the Strategy and your chosen Schemes (more on this later.) Having a small crew can be a big help in some situations (fewer, tougher models makes it easier to protect them if the Strat/Schemes are calling for murder,) and a big detriment in others (a small crew sucks to work with when trying to keep up with Squatter's Rights or Reconnoiter.)
The best approach I've found is to feel out the activation number you're comfortable with as a general rule (I lean towards 7 activations no matter what crew I play) and then scale it up or down based on the Strat/Scheme pool as appropriate (or feasible; some crews are naturally more or less voluminous than others.)
Chain Activations Come With Activation Interest
This one is a bit more of a newbie tip, as it was something I had to sort out.
The Companion and Accomplice rules are very powerful abilities that allow (under different triggering conditions) a model to activate immediately after another has finished it's activation. These rules are exactly as useful and potent as they seem - any chance for activations without interruption is potent in Malifaux.
These abilities also carry a hidden cost: by chain activating, you are collapsing two of your activations into one (duh) which also means that you are going to get to the end of your list of activations that much faster. You're essentially borrowing against your future; by taking a chain activation now, you're giving up activations later and potentially giving your opponent (faux) chain activations of their own later on.
Because of that, it is important to not overuse Companion or Accomplice. It usually isn't worth it to collapse your activation pool just to get the brief initial boost from the back-to-back activations.
The time to use these abilities is when the chain activation allows you to avoid the enemy activation in between the two models you're using that would otherwise screw up what you're trying to accomplish.
Silurids are great models to illustrate this point: they are hyper-mobile models that are very useful for accomplishing Strats/Schemes, and they have Companion. So if you needed to pull off a last minute VP swing, you could activate a model that needs to clear the way (kill an enemy model, move them, remove enemy Scheme Marker, etc,) then activate the Silurid and have it do it's thing.
Don't Get Too Eager With Powerful Models
Although it can be very tempting to activate your most powerful model (often a Master, Henchman, or high cost Enforcer) early in the turn to do damage before your opponent has a chance to do anything, be very careful when doing so. You're giving up any chance to react to what your opponent can do by activating a powerful model early, and losing that threat may free them up to make more bold moves (even if it's just taking the mental weight off of them.)
There is also the potential issue of over extending yourself when you activate early. Your opponent can respond to any model that you put forward with the entirety of their crew (sequentially or possibly with chain activations.) By exposing your model early in the turn you make it that much easier/more likely to garner dangerous attention, especially if your opponent can really pile it on.
For those reasons, it can often be best to save your powerful models for late turn activations. Just the threat of what they can do may force your opponent to play more cautiously, and that alone can be worth it; even if you don't attack at all when you finally activate.
Get Your "One Last Use" Out of Models When You Can
If a model is in serious danger of being killed, consider activating it early in your turn. You don't want to be too reactionary with your activations - you need to set some of the pace of the game yourself - but it's often better to get some use out of a model's AP before it dies. Even if the model doesn't do any damage, it may pull high cards out of your opponent's hand/deck, or you may be able to debuff/hinder your opponent's models before your model is killed.
The inverse of this is also applicable: if you're likely to be able to kill an opposing model with a single activation and that model hasn't activated yet, consider bumping that up the priority list. Denying your opponent AP is a big deal in Malifaux, and the best way to do that is to dirt nap enemy models. Don't overextend yourself to do it, but always keep it in mind when deciding what to activate next.
Prioritize Your Activations, Then Activate Accordingly
There is a principle in Warmahordes that applies when you're trying to play under timed turns: prioritize your activations, then make sure you're going down the priority list as you go through your turn. The restriction of timed turns means you may not always be able to activate everything, but if you follow that directive you will at least (hopefully) rarely have turns where you don't activate key models.
This principle is also very valuable in Malifaux. Although you're not dealing with timed turns, you are still restricted: you can only activate one model at a time (give or take, as previously mentioned with Companion and Accomplice) and your opponent gets to respond after every activation you make.
Once you form a hierarchy of the importance of your activations, you can then sketch out when you want certain models to activate. Ideally, you'll want your most important models to activate late in the turn to minimize what can happen to them. Less important activations can go earlier in the turn to help space that out.
Alternatively, you may realize that some things absolutely have to happen early in the turn (key interacts, buffs/debuffs.) Putting those things into perspective can help to focus you on what needs to be done, and the order it needs to be done in (two things that can be easy to lose sight of when playing Malifaux, especially coming from other game systems.)
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I think that's all for the super-general Malifaux tips. I also have some thoughts about cards and hand usage, but that whole topic can get kind of murky so it may best be saved for another time. Hopefully these tips are helpful!
With the Wave 3 Beta looking to start up again sometime soon (previous estimate was "after GenCon", and we'll have the Wave 2 Arsenal Decks soon to get us caught up on all the rules,) I'll probably have more Malifaux on the brain in the coming months, so look forward to more musing about Malifaux.
I had one good use out of Companion back in Mk1 Malifaux, when I got a serious family alphastrike chain on my opponent. That was cool. And I immediately knew it probably isn't the best idea in general. ;)
ReplyDeleteI was playing Ortegas exclusively back then (to keep the amount of models required to play low).
The mega-companion chains of M1.5E were absolutely nuts. The Ortegas were one of the most obvious places you could run into that (they were designed around that, and they still kind of are,) and The Dreamer's crew could do some terrible, terrible things with it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things they did with M2E was put rules in place preventing those kinds of mass chain activations. I feel like that makes chain activating even more of a tactical choice than it was previously. The alpha strike you get is much less pronounced, so you need to consider the pros and cons.