Starting to play Malifaux

With time being in short supply these days, I've found myself more attracted to skirmish level games. The idea being that you don't have to paint up as many models. With this in mind, I've decided to give Malifaux a try.

Out of the five factions in the setting to choose from, I've decided to go with the Arcanists. The first box set I painted up was the Rasputina crew. I plan to add in the Ramos, Colette, and Marcus sets later on.

Rasputina box set finished!

At the time I had purchased and painted up the Rasputina crew box, my friend Sam had also bought and painted up a Seamus box. We'd both been on the fence about trying Malifaux for a long time and decided to finally give it a try. There's more of an incentive to try a new game when you know you're buddy is going to be trying it out as well. If you can't find opponents at the local game store, then who will you be playing with then?

Our very first Malifaux game was his Seamus versus my Rasputina. With no veteran player to watch over us, we missed a few things here and there. For instance, Sam didn't utilize the companion rule with his Rotten Belles. I didn't use any of the Ice Gamin's ability to cast "Bite of Winter" and augment the damage of his friends. However, the game was able to give me a very satisfying first impression. I definitely was going to continue to play this game.

My first Malifaux game

Around the time I started to get interested in Malifaux, the existence of local players seemed to be practically gone at the local stores. However, I didn't let that worry me too much. I had heard that there were more players at stores across town. I figured if I really wanted to meet some Malifaux players, I can drive a bit further. In the meantime, I figured my regular opponent would be my friend Sam. When getting into a new game, I usually prefer to go through the learning process with my regular gaming friends. That's usually more comfortable.

The thing is, with as many other games Sam likes to play as well, I could see there being a time when I could be in the mood to play Malifaux and he wouldn't be available. So, just in case I could convince another friend to give this game a try, I painted up a second starter box.

I heard the Lady Justice box is one of the more beginner friendly starters and so I painted it up as a loaner set for demos. Recently, I've been able to demo the game to three other friends. All three seemed to enjoy the game.

Lady Justice box set finshed!

Not sure what I'm going to be painting up next. I have a lot of things in a queue on my painting desk. I'd like to finish up some more of my Eldar for 40k, I'd like to finish up 50 points of Cygnar and I wouldn't mind taking some time to construct more terrain. Somewhere in there I think I'll add more Arcanists models to my collection. A Silent One, Snow Storm,  and an Arcane Effigy for sure. Then after that, most likely the Ramos crew.

When I get some time, I'll write up an article that will go into more detailed thoughts on my first impressions of the Malifaux rules and the hobby surrounding it. Until then, time to do more painting!