So, the
first bit of news is that I’ve finished my move to Iowa. It’s been kind of a
long year, looking for a new job and helping my wife finish out her nursing
school, but I’m glad to report that things will hopefully be settling down in the
near future. With luck, that should also result in content from Malifaux
Musings being a little bit more regular in the future. Maybe I shouldn't overpromise, but look for things to get a bit more involved soon.
Additionally,
the move means I’ve changed regions for the upcoming Malifaux competitive
season from the Capital Conference to the Central Conference. To be honest, I
never played enough in VA for that to make much difference or to compare the
two to each other, but what it will really mean is not having to drive four
hours every time I want to participate in a tournament, which is a welcome
change to be sure. My local area doesn’t have an active play group at the
moment, but Des Moines has been going strong for a while now. As a matter of
fact, I’m planning on attending the Central Faux Tour Kickoff tournament in a
couple of weeks. Moreover, this gives me the opportunity to meet up with some
of the folks from my original Malifaux Meta in Lincoln, NE from time to time as
well. They’re some good folks, and I’ve missed them since I moved away.
Admittedly, 6 hours is a bit of a long haul just to say hi, but I’m sure we’ll
run into each other at the events from time to time.
This leads
into my current quandry, however. M3E is on the way, and my faction selection
options are going to change pretty dramatically when it does. For almost all of
M2E I’ve been a Neverborn player. I floated into Guild and Ten Thunders from
time to time, but the Malifaux natives have more or less always been my home.
The crews I played most often during that period were NB Lynch, Lillith, and
Collodi. And, as you likely know, those three are either leaving the faction or
going into the Dead Man’s Hand whenever that happens.
Which sucks.
So I’m in a crossroads at the
moment. What faction should I play for this last stretch of time in M2E,
heading into the new edition? Probably the most competitively sound choice
would be to stay with the Neverborn for the time being. I know them best. It could
even be a sort of going away party. The combination of crews I have overlap
their strengths in a way that allows them to complement and cover for most
different types of scheme/strat combos. And, there will still be some crews
that interest me left in faction in M3E, at least thematically. I have a
Nekima, of course. I like Pandora and Zoraida. Dreamer's always interested me, though that's as far as I've ever gotten with him. And I was a big advocate for
Titania before she went and broke my faction apart with her civil war. Sigh. I’m
not gonna lie. It’s a little tough to get excited for them at the moment. Maybe
it’s just fatigue from playing them for so long, or maybe it’s looking ahead
and feeling some serious #notmyNeverborn vibes. The fact that I’m writing this
is probably a good indication that it’s time for a change.
Do I go back to my first love, the
Guild? The very first crew I ever bought and, indeed, the crew that brought me
into Malifaux initially was Perdita. I had spent a week recovering from
tonsillectomy as an adult (I don’t recommend it, btw) and spent a large part of
that time reading The Dark Tower series. The Gunslinger definitely played a
role in drawing me to the Ortegas, and I’ve had a soft spot for them ever
since. Additionally, I have a full Hoffman crew, including an alternate Joss
and Howard to include some of the new Arcanist flavor. I like the aesthetic of
that crew quite a bit. I own Lady Justice and have a painted Sonnia crew. I’ve
always wanted to get Lucius, and the fact that his M2E box set is going to be
the best deal in Malifaux once M3E drops, since it contains two masters, makes
picking one of those up pretty tempting. That plus various other Guild odds and
ends mean I could play that faction pretty comfortably.
Or do I follow Lynch (my favorite
crew) to the Ten Thunders? Another crew I liked a lot was Lucas McCabe, who
has apparently been fired by the Guild and now works exclusively for the
Thunders. And I have a Misaki crew, plus a few additional odds and ends from
the faction, like a Ten Thunders Brother, Terracotta Warrior, and Monk of the
High River. But that’s literally it. I don’t own half of the masters in the
Thunders and am missing a lot of the key pieces people utilize, like Yasunori
or the Mysterious Emissary. Of course, the new job also means I’ll have greater
ability to actually get these things (hurray for no more paycheck to paycheck),
but it also means more painting time before I’m fully up to speed, which is
problematic for the remaining M2E period.
I’m inclined to go with the follow Lynch
plan for the time period and just say damn the consequences. I'm playing him in the Malifaux Vassal league that's running right now, so I can get an idea of how I feel about him in faction. Plus, from everything we
understand of M3E, having a full faction may be less important in the grand
scheme of things, as the crew theme and synergy are being much more emphasized.
The Honeypot crew have appealed to me from the first time I saw them, so that’s
my thought for now. That, and Cheating Bastard Lynch is a lot of fun, so I can
honestly see myself playing a lot of that during the time remaining. Whether
that is for the old bosses in the Neverborn or the new bosses in the Ten
Thunders remains to be seen. Maybe you have some ideas? There's a good chance that whatever I end up picking will get a lot of coverage on Malifaux Musings, so if you want to see me write about something in particular that'd be a good idea. Feel free to comment in
the various places, and I’ll take them under advisement.
Oh, and did you see my article in
the most recent Wyrd Chronicles? It's called Soulstones in the Rough, and It deals with some common themes to this post. More specifically, it pulls out some models that have been relegated to the M2E dust bins of some people and makes an argument for getting them back out and on the table, as well as discussing some of the changes coming to those models (and their theme crews) in M3E. A lot of that info is currently unavailable outside of the alpha/beta forums. You should go check it out.
Later, Wyrdos.