First Blood with Malifaux…

So the beginning of this weekend was all about PLAYING Malifaux for the first time arther than just reading or talking about it.

The board was ready, we (myself and best man/gaming partner Bull) had dug out some semi-appropriate terrain from the massive 40k collection, models were painted – kind of – (actually my Scales of Justice wasn't even built properly and the Death Marshals were barely clothed, but who cares when you're out on your maiden voyage).

We actually got three games in over Friday evening and Saturday which has been a fantastic learning experience, if slow to start. I took some photos along the way, though they're not in any order they do show off the gaming board I think!

Game 1 on Friday night was a very slow affair (nearly 4 hours by my reckoning) and was full of mistakes on both sides, but fun none the less – the red wine helped. A good night's sleep and early morning bacon sarnie later and we were raring for Game 2 – infinitely faster, still contained mistakes but also had an element of strategy and tactics to our play. A fantastic lunch followed (thank you Mr. Bull) accompanied by gaming (and none-gaming) chat and we decide to squeeze in a Game 3 (outside in the sunshine!) before my trek back to the coast. Strategies and Schemes were decided and this became a very tactical affair and less of the pub-kicking seen in the previous games. Very few mistakes (we think), much better use of cheating fate and soulstones, though we're still in the learning curve.

So, outcomes and conclusions?

First of all we both agreed this is a fantastic game, and has so much potential for character/plot driven gaming it's all very exciting – I haven't had a gaming buzz like this in a very long time so thank you Wyrd! Virtually every member of your crew is an individual (certain in the case of the Viktorias' crew) so there's lots of individual rules to learn and remember, but the game is so much better for it.

The board and terrain worked exceptionally well. There have been plenty of creative chats over the last 24hrs about terrain moving forward and terrain-driven encounters, so that is exciting.

The crews worked well and provided plenty of entertainment, despite both being primarily melee orientated. I'm still trying to find a use for The Judge – he just didn't seem able to contribute much over the 3 games. Lady J is the absolute nuts in combat and I even had success with her pistols on occasion – she can be vulnerable in defence though so you have to pick your fights and not get outnumbered I think. Bull struggled a little with Bishop, although we both agreed the potential was there. We didn't see much of Johan and he was put on the sub's bench after the first game to give the Vikki's more soulstones. Taelor was rather fantastic and I think Lady J has built up a bit of a grudge against her thanks to the pain she's been over these games! Bull also took issue with the sword Vikki miniature and more specifically the hand joints which kept falling off they were so delicate.

Very eager now to get painting the rest of the crew – Lady J and even The Judge looked good but the rest looked awful on the table (hence few photos). I'm also keen to try new units but I won't make any fresh purchases until this little lot is complete.