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[Malifaux]2 Ed- Ripples of Fate! Victorian Horror skirmishgame
Posts
Okay, I'm totally going to finish painting the two sets I have this weekend. Having first gotten one whenever Mah Tucket was released.
I won't even hope to actually play a game, but, like... I won't not force somebody to play if the opportunity arises.
edit: aaaaaand done. Well, not so much done as playable. Amazing how much faster painting is when you lower your standards.
editedit: adding the other crew for good measure.
I used Titania with her upgrades tonight. Royal Indignation is okay. If you're facing a lot of minions it's great damage reduction. Unfortunately that game my opponent used Asami with Ama No Zako, Yasunori, Yin, Amanjaku and I think only a Thunder Brother. It hurt, but I eeked out a draw.
Second game we played a 4 way, 30ss each. I gave Titania Pact with the Grave Spirit. Wow. Destroyed Francois in 1 turn. Hit twice with Bloody Command, then Rot Within for 4 damage to finish him off. Then Killed a Thunder Brother from Bloody Command, +1 damage from a nearby scheme marker, then finished off with Rot Within. Last action took another Thunder Brother, who was in Defensive stance, to 1 wound again with Bloody Command and using a scheme marker to boost the damage. Rot Within sounds weak when it caps at 4 damage, 5 against leaders, but remember there's no damage flip. They simply suffer damage equal to damage already suffered to a maximum of 4. So you've got very reliable damage. Her strongest attack before this upgrade is Bloody Command, with a Severe of 4. Auto trigger to place a scheme marker when Rot Within kills the enemy also heals her and lets another model use it.
Also, holy shit make sure you have some terrain on the table if Misaki is running The Storm. Being able to place Blasts within 12" is massive. Our table was super light on terrain and she just annihilated my Changelings and Autumn Knights with repeated blasts.
But yeah, we finally did it! It was confusing and occasionally frustrating but I'm all starry-eyed over the various bits and pieces I've seen so far.
I set up everything in advance, and it was just a 2' by 2' board since I'm in the middle of making a bunch of tiles.
I'm actually really loving Hamelin's kit despite not having played him. The synergies between summoning all the rats and Blighting everything and then nuking Blighted things to make more rats... that's some good stuff! I didn't try to make too much use of the Gremlins' abilities, since I was winning pretty handily off of Schemes, so I can't comment as much on that but I liked the whole charging in and smacking stuff around parts.
This is about halfway through the match. I really like the whole Schemes thing, it gives the game a much different feel than just trying to murder each other.
Looking forward to playing another round in two years!
1. How do the abilities that list, like, "Ca X / TN Y / Rst Wp" work? My assumption was that the two models duel,and the caster has to beat both the TN and the opposing model (so the TN basically acts like a minimum?).
2. The abilities that are like Ca X[symbol] mean that you add the suit shown to whatever you flip, right? Does a trigger having two of the same symbol mean you need to somehow get two (eg one from the ability and one from the card flipped up?).
3. I'm assuming summoned models can't be activated the same turn they're summoned, otherwise Hamelin summoning a Lost which then becomes two Rats which then each activate is NuTs.
4. I did find a rules blurb saying that if an ability can only be used once per turn it'll say so, so does this mean all the stuff like movement, placing Scheme markers, attacks, etc. can be done multiple times? Or do some have "built in" once-per-turn clauses somewhere in the rules?
2. Yep as well. And yes you would need two in that case. Leaders and Henchman can stone for a suit as well.
3. Summoned models can activate the turn they are summoned but may not interact and are slow. Hamelin is notorious for activation control by doing things such as what you're describing, and yes he is nuts. He is currently regarded by the competitive community as being broken overpowered, especially in Gaining Grounds 2017 (The current tournament ruleset).
4. Yep those can be done multiple times unless otherwise stated.
It's sort of a gentlemans agreement to not give the opponent an NPE (Negative Play Experience). For new players playing against new players he's fine, but once you start expanding your collection, learning the importance of activation control, and start getting some good beaters like Killjoy or Ashes and Dust, he can be a real headache.
His new upgrades are fairly strong as well - Plague Pits gives you 3 50mm markers you place basically anywhere on the table and spread Blight to models within 3". At the end of the turn you can ditch a card to move one 6". Opponents need to get into base contact and spend an Interact to remove one (thus gaining Blighted in the process). His other upgrade lets two Rats in his LoS drop scheme markers and then sacrifice at the start of the turn.
Spoilered for lots of images.
Seems like they're aiming for this year but it's mobile development so... who knows.
Tried out a new group that has popped up fairly near me. Looks like it'll work for the occasional game but nothing too regular, but I'll take what I can get. There seem to be a moderately decent amount of players around but just split over a number of clubs in dribs and drabs.
I was excited for new opponents, and landed a new guy but Lillith again... He learned the surprising punch of the riflemen + Lucius + Dashel as a mature Nephilim was gunned down turn one for getting too keen in his moving forward, but then I foolishly let everything evolve into a giant central scrum which did me no good with black blood splashing all over. Won by a single point in the end.
Now planning a second game there, certainly vs Arcanists and probably Ramos.
Both Frame for Murder and A Quick Murder in the pool. Not sure how to play that...
What's the Strategy?
Deployment: Flank Deployment (13)
Strategy: Interference (Masks)
Schemes:
* Claim Jump (Always)
* Frame For Murder (Rams)
* Leave Your Mark (Tomes)
* Undercover Entourage (2)
* A Quick Murder (12)
I'm thinking I'll take quick murder expecting Langston as the target as even if he's a frame target, it'll only ever be a minion killing him so that's still 3-2 to me if I do it quick enough. Bonus points if I can pull off using Poison from Lawyers or Assaulted from Reporters for the final blow and deny the frame.
Then probably frame myself on my Wichling Thrall and charge it hell for leather at Langston or Joss.
Leaves everyone else free to do the interference stuff, which as I think I'm facing Ramos will be mainly spider clearing.
I took Headhunter, Eliminate the Leadership and Hunting Party. Such a killy crew for such killy schemes.
Titania continues to be a wrecking ball with Pact with the Grave Spirit. I'm going to stop taking Fears Given Form, she doesn't tend to get that close. Trying to think of a third upgrade for her. I like On Wings of Darkness for the card draw, but its a bit of a waste since she already has Flight. Over the course of the game she killed the Nothing Beast and Killjoy with combined Bloody Command and Rot Within. Aeslin didn't get to do much - Killjoy absolutely destroyed her. The Claw didn't do much - he ended up in Killjoys path, but did a few wounds with his throwing spear. The Thorn likewise didn't do much.
The Cyclopses, holy shit. They don't hit that well at Ml 5, but once they're down 4 wounds and Cyclopean Rage kicks in, Ml 7 with blasts on moderate and Severe is nasty. Tara took one to 1 wound, but stopped at 1 because of Hard to Kill. Raging Cyclops then wrecked Tara, getting a Skewer trigger to also take wounds off Karina. Other Cyclops was basically chipping away at Killjoy and picking up some heads.
Overall I won 7-0, but that's mostly because my friend was more trying to figure out what Tara does than trying to win the game.
I picked both murder schemes and they both went brilliantly with the Witchling Thrall cheating in the red Joker on the damage flip to deal 9 to Sidir for my Quick Murder, and then being prompty being taken out by McCabe to give me the Frame for Murder points.
The Hunter is great for Interference due his end of turn 3" push to get where he needs to be. And a couple of reporters always ruin the day of anyone trying Claim Jump.
He scored his three all from Undercover Entourage, whipping McCabe across the table at high speed on his horse on the last turn and then dismounting to activate again and finish the run on foot.
Here's hoping it goes as well tomorrow vs Ramos.
Both upgrades are amazing! Misaki took some hits but with Risk and Reward (3 soul stones stored, Risk+3) and Equality she healed up to full at the end of every turn. Also Storm is ridiculous. The blasts are nice but just the crow trigger to be able to cheat even on a negative is amazing on it's own.
It could have gone either way, I was on track for 5 murder points but jeez, Inteference vs Ramos is just impossible. What can you do vs the spider swarm? The little buggers are surprisingly resilient and just pop back up in greater numbers to out activate you and swarm all over the board.
I can't think of a plan beyond ignoring them and gunning for Ramos himself.
He's not easy to kill, with Armour +2, Hard to Kill and Overload, but if you manage to catch him with a good beater it's doable.
On a related note the Schemes and Stones quick references are really nice for masters you're unfamiliar with. Slightly outdated at this point but fairly current. https://schemesandstones.wordpress.com/category/quick-reference/
Played a game with a Shenlong sniper crew and the Lone Swordsman against Perdita tonight. We stopped turn 3 and agreed I would have won with 5-0. Turns out Lone Swordsman is an amazing pick against Perdita and the Peacekeeper. Bulletproof+3 with the ability to ignore armor/hard to kill/etc and reactivate.
I could sit around making these all day.
Also, whoever designed the printing press is sick and needs help. Some of those legs had to be glued together lengthwise.
$10 for every card in the game on your phone. Bargain.
But having the cards on hand and tracking wounds and conditions in the app is a game changer. Being a 1 time purchase with all Erratas and expansion books added for free makes it a complete no brainer to use the app.
Overall I think the biggest need is in the Encounter set up after you create your encounter, the ability to create a new crew rather than select a premade crew. You can get around it with you and your opponent juggling QR codes but it just seems like a design oversight. Also the filters need to be patched to work in the crew selector. Filtering out owned and painted when selecting a crew would be super handy.
For example, when you attach an upgrade, it adds the actions to the models actions. That's really great. However, it doesn't add triggers inline on actions (so Titania taking Behold my Glory doesn't have the new trigger added to her attack actions, it's just on its own at the bottom as another option to tap on for information). It also doesn't remove what it adds if you discard the upgrade, which is bad for masters who swap upgrades like Parker Barrows or Ophelia Lacroix.
Also, when you add up upgrade mid game, it's a rather short list of upgrades, not filtered by faction. It's all upgrades that are designed to be added during the game, like Jack Daws Curses. However, there's other upgrades that get added during the game, like A Thousand Faces being discarded to add a different Neverborn upgrade. This can't be done. You can discard A Thousand Faces, but the Neverborn upgrades are not on the list to add.
Also, after actually using it I'm not a fan of the information being hidden until you tap an ability which brings up a box out. Unless you really know your cards, there's a lot of information you'll miss. Just having the smaller text information beneath the abilities would have been much better. I would increase the need to scroll for information, but it's not like you've got limited vertical space.
Overall it's a great start, but I think it's in need of a few updates before it's ready to actually be used for anything but crew creation and encounter set up/points tracking.
As an in pocket browser of units however I love it. Makes it much easier to make a crew while pretending to work!
Faced Shen Long for the first time the other day and his friendly Katakana snipers. Ouch!
I’m starting to feel that Guild Riflemen get the short end of the stick with their 14” range. Everyone else’s snipers seem to be able to shoot clear across the table.
Yeah but,. I mean, they put a lot of effort into making it work as a game tracker including models. It just not quite there. WIth a few updates it absolutely could be there. Though I don't think it'll ever replace putting down tokens for conditions. Having the visual reminder right there on the table helps a lot.
Personally I want it to work as a game tracker because it allows them to push out erratas so much more efficiently. Change a model, update the app, everyone who has paid for the cards gets it. For that alone the $10 for the card unlock is absolutely worth it - I paid $20 in the last big errata alone including shipping.
The other thing that makes it great for tracking games is you can load your opponents crew into the encounter. No more constantly asking to see their cards.
Shen Long with Katanaka Snipers is horrible. Though last time my opponent did that he put them on huge tall buildings to be smart, so I took Transfixing Gaze on Lilith. 12" Lure on Ca 8. Sniper charged himself off his perch and fell flat on his face.
Guild Riflemen are, overall, not good. They either need a points drop or a buff. As a summon for Dashel they're good, but for the same reason as any other summon, you're not paying for them.
Due to their limited range I like Riflemen when I'm expecting a big brawl in the middle. Punish anyone who makes a melee kill and leaves themselves open, and as I play Lucius it's fun to shoot them at your friendly engaged doppelganger as she can't be randomised on to.
Dashel can also hang in the mid ground, buffing both the back line rifles and the front line wardens while summoning more guards into the fray.
General Fixes
Upgrade Fixes
Model Fixes
- Jack Daw no longer charges mercenary tax for Outcast models
- Hamelin can now hire models with the Lost characteristic when Sewer King is added as an upgrade
- C. Hoffman no longer may hire Living M&SU models when the Arcanist Assets is equipped
- Sandeep Desai may now hire Academic models outside of faction when the Unaligned Sage upgrade is equipped
- Stuffed Piglet cost increased to 3 Soulstones to match errata change
- Young Nephilim's Feast action now listed as an Attack Action instead of a Tactical Action
- Removed Creep Up on Them ability from C. Hoffman
- Added Gremlin characteristic to Som'er Teeth Jones
- Misaki now allows hiring according to her 'Infiltration (Last-Blossom)' ability properly
- Sammy LaCroix now has access to upgrades of the crew's Master leader
- Removed 'Followers of the Void' ability from Scion of the Void
- The Tooth is now properly restricted by its rarity
- Lucius' 'Guild Intelligence' Tactical Action is now the correct cost of 0 AP
- Tara now allows hiring according to her 'The Herald of Obliteration' ability properly
- Wrath's actions have been added to the 'Wrath (50+ SS)' leader version
- Freikorps Trapper's Willpower and Walk stats have been added to the model
- Moved a model image from 'The Illuminated' to 'Rail Worker' where it belongs
- Jorogumo model image now loads properly
- Cassandra's 'Breath of Fire' Attack Action now displays all icons properly
Known IssuesIt holds a lot more than I expected. Should hold 2 full crews, or if you're going single master, quite a lot of options for them.
I messaged them on facebook and they said they were still working through them, and when mine was done (make sure to give them your backer number) they would give me tracking info. Sure enough, a few days later I got another message saying it would be shipped by the end of the week, and on the Friday I got a tracking number.
I think they're a bit busy considering right after the kickstarter ended they decided to move warehouses/offices, start up making a boardgame and do another kickstarter (which was insanely successful with thousands of backers). They said it wouldn't impact the skirmish box delivery, but they said they would have them fulfilled by the end of October, and here we are in November. Not that late considering how Kickstarters usually go, but I think they overextended themselves a bit.
Also we tracked the whole game using the official app, aside from conditions. This was really handy, and the only time cards were used was my friend who wasn't very familiar with his stuff so it was easier to read it on the card. You definitely need to be familiar with your stuff to use the app, since every ability needs to be tapped to get the text, but once you know your stuff it's a lot better than tracking the game with cards.
Anyway, we did GG2017, and got Extraction, with Claim Jump, Eliminate the Leadership, Leave Your Mark, Covert Breakthrough and A Quick Murder. Forces below.
Pandora - The Box Opens, Fears Given Form, Aether Connection
Poltergeist
Widow Weaver
Doppleganger
Baby Kade
Insidious Madness
Insidious Madness
Sorrow
Friend took Covert Breakthrough and A Quick Murder (so the target was my Widow Weaver).
Tara - Emptiness, Knowledge of Eternity, Out of Time
Karina
The Nothing Beast - Void Shield, Voiceless Words
Killjoy
Johan
Void Wretch
Void Wretch
Anyway, started with the usual shuffle for the Extraction marker. Pandora moved her way up, using Incite to get extra movement. Insidious Madnesses and Sorrow dropped some scheme markers on the centerline to try to bluff my opponent into thinking I took Claim Jump, also because if they over extended they'd have died. Turn 2 saw my opponent badly time Taras ability to give everything Fast, which led to a Fast Pandora who charged his Nothing Beast. I got a really good hit the first attack, which he tossed aside with Void Shield. Red Joker gave me an unmodified second damage flip, which gave it Moderate leaving it on 2 wounds, with Misery pinging it to 1. I wanted it dead so I spent her last 2 actions finishing it. Then Killjoy dumps near Pandora. Killjoy charges her, she passes her Wp duel and nopes the fuck out of there. Insidious Madnesses make a bolt for his backline.
Turn 3, more jostling for the Extraction marker. Killjoy has to charge the Poltergeist, and kills it. Pandora charges Killjoy, stays out of his Black Blood range, and hits him with his own Severe. Then his own Moderate. Dead Killjoy. Opponent was not amused. He charges Tara into Pandora, who passes her Wp duel and nopes out again. Turn 4, Pandora charges Tara and kills her through attacks and Misery pings (there was a Sorrow nearby for 2 damage pings). I've now moved the Extraction marker pretty far from him, so he can't control it. Once Madness is dead but the other is zipping around dropping scheme markers.
We flipped a turn 5, and Johan made a run for Pandora. She charged him, making him beat himself with his own hammer. Dead Johan. Game ended, I had a full 10 points and my opponent had no models left and all I lost was the Poltergeist and a Madness. He was on 4 points from Johan dropping markers for Covert Breakthrough and one turn of Extraction before I started moving it.
That was the most brutal beatdown I've done with Pandora. I'm starting to get the hang of using Incite to push her (I'm toally taking Rile Them Up next time) and remembering all of the little auras like Misery. I'm forcing myself to use the Poltergeist, as while it is common thought that the Primordial Magic is the default best totem for Pandora, the Poltergeist is actually really useful. Decent Walk, and use Pandoras abilities in a pinch, and Distraction is actually SUPER handy. Negative flips to opponents taking Wp duels is just rude.
The last few games the Doppleganger and Baby Kade just haven't done much, but I'm not sure if that's because my opponent has been learning Tara and just isn't good with her yet. He's swapping to Parker Barrows soon, so that should see them get more useful. If they don't, I'll find something else that can fill that slot. Pandoras bodycount was absurd - the Nothing Beast, Killjoy, Tara and Johan.
I ended up removing the black felt though because it was interfering with the magnets on my minis. I actually peeled it away initially thinking there wasn't any metal sheeting at all. It was there, just felt was too thick.