Welcome to another Monday Game Review! On today's plate: Malifaux. Very interesting game for a number of reasons, notably its unique randomization mechanic (cards rather than dice) and its unique setting (Western-steampunk-horror-comedy... or "Baconpunk" as the Wyrd boys say!).
What's it all about?
Malifaux is a skirmish game based heavily upon 1800's Victorian aesthetic mixed with early 1900's western/"Stheampunk" influences. Its a nice mix that may upset the history nerds out there, but flows well from "Oh, I get that pop culture reference" perspective.
Malifaux: Yeah, its kinda like this
The preface of the game is the world is run on magic, but our dimension is running out of it. Then wizards/scientists discover a portal to another dimension where magic is stored in rocks called "Soulstones', which contain concentrated energy. Settlers and would-be Soulstone Barons flock to the new dimension and start mining, only to the current residents of this new dimension less-than-gracious hosts.
The first thing you're apt to notice about Malifaux is there's no dice involved. Randomization is instead achieved via a deck of cards. When an attack/action is resolved between two models, both models compare their relevant statistics (e.g. - Ranged attack skill vs defense) and flip a card from the top of their decks. The resulting numerical total determines if the attack was a success and the magnitude of it (which has the nice effect of cutting out the old "to hit/to wound" double flip). Depending on the suit flipped, the result can also trigger additional effects (e.g. - flipping clubs may cause extra damage, if successful). That's a bit of an over-simplification (its an involved, but tight mechanic) and its a nice breath of fresh air.
The Good
You see, in this world there's two kinds of people my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig...
The card mechanic, as noted above, is one of the main draws of Malifaux. Its a nice change of pace and works well with the low model count of the armies involved. Speaking of which, Malifaux typically involves 6-12 models per army (more for some armies which summon lots of models). With the core rulebook costing $35, and a typically army running ~$100, you're looking at at an outlay of about $150 if you purchase all of the above plus a Malifaux card deck. Expect to pay $200 maximum for a good sized army, both books, and a card deck.
Malifaux is a great game if you're looking to play with a small number of models that can do a large number of things. Every model in your army can cast spells and generally can "combo" off one-another. Since Malifaux is an alternating-activations based game, it lacks the "I win after this combo" feel of Warmachine, but strongly favors taking models that interact with other.
Also of note, the game strongly encourages you take models of the same theme with their respective Masters (similar to warcasters in Warmachine, though you don't auto lose if your Master dies). Players who want a game that looks like the background on the table will really enjoy this facet of the game. On that, many Masters can hire models outside their respective faction via special rules, giving the "factions" of Malifaux a much more fluid feel.
Finally, its notable that a (relatively) large number of females play this game. If you're looking to get your girlfriend into a wargame, this is a safe place to start. That said, if you're someone who's interested in the above statement, you probably lack the prerequisites. Or, ya know, there's the alternative below...
Megatron says: "Decipticons, roll back!!!"
The Bad
Malifaux is decidedly a "thinking mans" game, almost to a fault. Much like the first edition of Warmachine, Malifaux relies heavily on legalistic interruptions of its rules. As such, FAQ rules decisions sometimes have game-breaking side effects.
Malifaux has struggled with this for roughly the entirety of its first year of existence and recently released Revised Rules have greatly helped this problem (for the first book). Unfortunately, the first expansion is having similar problems to the core book and will probably require multiple pages of errata to get the game back in good place (for example, Alp bombs with The Dreamer and the Haemlin unlimited (0) action tricks).
Another thing to note: As mentioned above, Malifaux strongly encourages you to take models "in theme" with a specific Master. The downside of this is that there are very few core "faction" models that play well across a number of Masters (Arcanists, Outcasts, and the Guild suffer to this the most). While its not an intrinsically bad thing, it does mean you'll be spending a lot more than you would in say, Warmachine, switching teams within a faction. As always, YMMV.
Final Thoughts
Malifaux's a fun game but requires a lot of mental gymnastics to play at a competitive level. If you enjoy the aesthetic and don't mind putting a little mental flexing, its a great game with some gorgeous models. Go check out Wyrd's page if this sounds interesting to you!
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