Where fate meets darkness

Although Malifaux Fourth Edition has been out for some time now, I only managed to play a couple of games. Life has an annoying habit of getting in the way of hobbies and without regular games, even familiar rules begin to drift back through the Breach. When James and I finally picked a date for a game a few weeks ago, I immediately started looking forward to it.

It also gave me the motivation I needed to finish another piece of terrain for my western table. A lonely market stall had been sitting unpainted for far too long, patiently waiting for inspiration to strike. Thanks to the school summer holidays, I found myself with an enthusiastic painting assistant. My daughter joined me for the project, and I was genuinely impressed by how steady her brushwork was. Together we finished the market stall in just two days, perfectly in time for Monday's game. Every gaming table tells a story, and now this one had a little bit of ours built into it.

James and I already knew we wouldn't have time for a full game before the club closed, so we agreed to treat it as a practice skirmish. That suited me perfectly. My rules knowledge needed dusting off almost as much as my measuring tape. For my crew I chose Kastore and the Returned keyword. Ancient vampires? A flying sword? What's not to love? James answered by bringing Seamus and the Redchapel crew, a master I'd barely encountered before. I had no idea what to expect, which in Malifaux usually means you're about to learn something the painful way.

By the time James arrived, the table was ready. Wooden houses lined the dusty streets, the saloon waited for its next inevitable bar fight, the gallows stood as an encouraging reminder to behave, abandoned carts littered the roads, and my freshly painted market stall proudly took its place among the scenery. Seeing painted terrain actually being used always feels strangely satisfying (the density is still not sufficient though, progress needs time).

The first duel went James' way, making him the attacker while I defended. Our strategy was Informants, with Runic Binding, Harness the Ley Lines, and Detonate Charges available as schemes. The Flank deployment immediately promised a very different game from the straight-line brawls I was used to.

Having only played Kastore once before, I knew mistakes were inevitable. And mistakes there were.

The first was forgetting to resolve Hunger tokens at the end of activations. Kastore was probably looking at me with centuries of disappointment while I quietly skipped one of his defining mechanics. The second was spreading my crew far too aggressively during the opening turn. I was so eager to occupy the board that several models wandered outside the range of abilities that rewarded staying together. It turns out that "divide and conquer" works much better when you're the one doing the conquering.

For my scheme, I chose Runic Binding. The objective is very thematic: place three Scheme Markers to form a magical triangle, then trap enemy models inside it. In my enthusiasm, I overlooked one tiny detail: the markers must all remain within fourteen inches of each other. My triangle was less "ancient ritual" and more "ambitious civil engineering project." To make matters worse, my final marker was placed by the last model I activated that turn. Since the scheme only scores at the end of an enemy model's activation, I'd missed my opportunity entirely. A perfectly avoidable mistake, but an excellent lesson. Despite that, the first turn wasn't without success. Both of us concentrated on the strategy, and I managed to score the opening victory point by controlling two Informant markers. I also received my first practical demonstration of just how much ground Seamus can cover. Watching him disappear from one part of the table only to casually reappear somewhere completely different is unsettling enough in the lore. Experiencing it across the tabletop is even worse.

Turn two became an exercise in damage control. I repositioned my Scheme Markers to create a legal triangle, finally bringing Runic Binding online. At the same time, Kastore and Seamus decided that diplomacy had failed and settled matters personally. Elsewhere, poor Gwyn found herself on the receiving end of Seamus and Madame Sybelle at the same time. Surviving that encounter felt like a victory in itself. While I slowly lost control of the strategy markers and was forced to retreat, I finally completed Runic Binding and scored two victory points from it. James answered by claiming another point from the strategy, leaving the game nicely balanced.

By then it was clear we wouldn't reach the end of Turn Three before the club closed, so we packed away the models and spent some time discussing the game instead. Practice had been the goal all along, and on that front the evening was a complete success. I'm still spending more time reading character cards than making brilliant tactical decisions, but every game makes the rules feel a little more familiar.

Most importantly, it reminded me why I enjoy Malifaux so much. Every crew feels wildly different, every master brings unexpected tricks to the table, and every game leaves me with a list of ideas to try next time. The Breach has finally reopened. And somewhere in the darkness, Kastore is still thirsty.

The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.

Custodian Hargrave

Rating the new 2026 promo cards

Two weeks ago, Black Chantry unveiled the 2026 promo cards, and I have to admit, I got very excited. Promo cards are usually handed out at tournaments and community events, and one thing I've quickly learned about the VTES community is just how generous veteran players are. At my first few events, several players quietly handed me promo cards they no longer needed. As a new player, that meant far more than they probably realised.

This year's promos immediately caught my attention, since they're all full-art cards. Normally I'm perfectly happy playing with regular versions, but some of these illustrations deserve every millimetre of cardboard they can get. They're simply gorgeous. So I thought it would be fun to go through all eleven promo cards and rate them.

Now, before anyone sharpens their Stakes, this isn't a power ranking. I'm nowhere near experienced enough to tell you which cards are tournament all-stars and which belong in the binder. Orpheus regularly reviews cards based on how strong they are and I genuinely enjoy those articles but my approach is much simpler:

How excited am I to own and play these cards?

Since I apparently can't resist turning everything into an office process, my inner Ventrue came up with the rating system:

Rejected During Grooming (1)

Needs More Stakeholder Buy-in (2)

Approved for Development (3)

Fast-tracked to Production (4)

CEO Personally Invested (5)

With the quarterly performance review complete, let's begin.

Aaradhya: CEO Personally Invested (5)

A while ago I confessed my growing affection for the Sabbat preconstructed decks. Technically only two of the Paths, but let's not let facts interfere with enthusiasm. Aaradhya is the superstar of Path of Power political decks and unfortunately one copy isn't usually enough. Competitive lists often run four or even five copies, which can become a rather expensive investment. That's why I'm delighted Black Chantry included her as a promo. It lowers the barrier for players like me who want to build a serious Path of Power deck without first selling a kidney. Politics? Check. Fantastic artwork? Check. More copies for my collection? Absolutely!

Aelswith: Approved for Development (3)

A Sabbat Malkavian Cardinal with solid disciplines and a useful ability. Her Path doesn't really call to me, but I can definitely imagine trying her in other archetypes one day. She's firmly in the "interesting enough to keep around" category.

Algirdas: Needs More Stakeholder Buy-in (2)

The Path of Caine continues to be the Sabbat archetype that hasn't managed to tempt me. Algirdas has perfectly respectable disciplines and a decent ability, but nothing here makes me want to rush home and build a deck. If someone offered me an interesting trade... I'd probably listen.

Ashur-uballit: Fast-tracked to Production (4)

Now we're talking! A huge Hecata Cardinal, excellent disciplines and tied to the Path of Death, which I'm increasingly interested in. I haven't built around him yet, largely because I'm waiting for the New Blood decks, but once those arrive he's moving straight to the top of my project backlog.

Barachiel: Approved for Development (3)

Barachiel is undeniably good. The problem isn't Barachiel. The problem is that my recent experiences with Salubri have convinced me that power bleed is much more entertaining than charging around the table waving swords at everyone. Combat is fun. Bleeding six pool is... also fun.

Bone Shambler: Fast-tracked to Production (4)

As a certified zombie enthusiast, I want to love this card. A zombie that can bleed sounds wonderful. Right now, though, I feel other Hecata allies steal the spotlight a little. That could easily change with more experience, but regardless, I still want several copies because... well... zombie. Sometimes "because zombie" is all the justification you need.

Eulogio: CEO Personally Invested (5)

This card is magnificent. A Tremere with every in-clan Discipline at superior plus superior Oblivion? Yes, please. His ability is fascinating, his Path affiliation is perfect and the artwork is among my favourites in the entire set. I don't even know what the finished deck looks like yet. I just know I want to build it.

Grazyna: Rejected During Grooming (1)

Tzimisce. Path of Caine. Unfortunately that's already two strikes against her before I even start reading the text box. Nothing against the card itself, it simply doesn't fit what I enjoy playing. I'd happily trade her to someone who'll appreciate her far more than I would.

Hel-Bla: Fast-tracked to Production (4)

Another Hecata? Another interesting necromancy ability? Another fantastic piece of artwork? Black Chantry clearly understands my weaknesses. I can absolutely see myself building around Hel-Bla in the future.

Maddji: Rejected During Grooming (1)

I'm sure there are Tzimisce players reading this wondering what on earth is wrong with me. To them I say... nothing is wrong. I simply continue to have the same reaction every time I see another Tzimisce card: "That's lovely. Would anyone like to trade?" The artwork is excellent though!

Venceslava:  Fast-tracked to Production (4)

Path of Power? Excellent disciplines? Great artwork? A useful ability? This card is checking all the right boxes. The political ambitions continue!

Overall, I think Black Chantry has done an excellent job with this promo set. It contains a great mix of established tournament staples, exciting build-around cards and some absolutely stunning artwork. More importantly, it's another reason to attend tournaments, meet the community, and hopefully come home with a few shiny new additions to the collection. Now if you'll excuse me, I have several performance reviews to complete and a procurement request for additional Aaradhyas that somehow keeps getting approved by upper management.

The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.

Custodian Hargrave

Task failed successfully: A Salubri experiment

I always enjoy finding time to play VTES, although with work, family and life generally behaving like an overzealous predator, those opportunities are rarer than drawing Giant's Blood exactly when you need it. So when Cristina invited us over for a game, I was genuinely excited. That excitement briefly turned into disappointment when I checked the family calendar and realised I was already committed elsewhere. Fortunately, some careful diplomacy worthy of a Ventrue elder took place at home, plans were rearranged and before long I was packing my cards. This time it would just be the four of us: Cristina, Manuel, Aaron and myself.

The game was particularly interesting for me because of Aaron's deck. About six months ago, when he first started playing, he told me the idea of sword-wielding Salubri marching into combat sounded incredibly cool. So I built exactly that: a deck full of rushes, weapons and opportunities to introduce vampires to the pointy end of medieval technology. Over the following months, however, I noticed something. Aaron was improving every game, but combat was still asking a lot of him. Between strikes, presses, maneuvers, prevention, additional strikes and all the timing windows, every combat felt a bit like assembling IKEA furniture without the instructions. Before our game at Cristina's, I decided it was time for an experiment. Inspired by the terrifying Salubri power bleed deck I had faced at the Scottish Nationals, I stripped away most of the combat package, kept only the damage prevention and replaced the swords with bleed modifiers, reaction denial and block denial. The crypt barely changed (there simply aren't that many Salubri to choose from) but the deck's personality changed completely. My hope was simple: if Aaron could focus on bleeding instead of remembering the entire combat sequence, the deck would become much easier to pilot.

As it turned out... I may have created a monster.

Cristina brought her ever-improving Path of Death deck, Manuel arrived with an Antonio d'Erlette + Nephandus swarm deck that I had been curious about for ages and I continued testing my trusty Hecata. My undead workforce was ready for another performance review.

The seating ended up as Cristina (Path of Death) > Aaron (Salubri Power Bleed) > Me (Hecata) > Manuel (Nephandus Swarm).

My opening crypt couldn't have been much better. Seeing Mora there immediately made me happy, knowing I could influence her out at the end of turn two. Cristina started with Sakura, Manuel brought out Antonio and Aaron introduced Abaddon. Every time I read that name I smile. Whether the Warhammer reference is intentional or not, my inner nerd chooses to believe it absolutely is.

Very early in the game I discovered something about Manuel's deck. Antonio is good at recruiting Nephandus. Very, very good. One moment there was one cultist. The next moment there seemed to be enough of them to start applying for planning permission. Worse still, they proved remarkably efficient at dismantling my carefully recruited zombies. Apparently every Nephandus attended the same anatomy classes because they consistently knew exactly where to hit (Target Vitals baby!). Meanwhile Manuel's extended master package kept his deck cycling at an astonishing pace. Every turn felt like watching a well-oiled machine quietly become more terrifying.

Unfortunately, my own problems didn't stop there.

My predator had become... enthusiastic. Aaron wasted no time putting the redesigned deck to work. One particularly brutal turn combined block denial with heavy bleed and removed six of my pool in one go. Watching your own deck modifications being used against you is a surprisingly educational experience. Somewhere, Frankenstein was probably nodding sympathetically.

Cristina quietly did what Path of Death does best. While the rest of us were busy trying not to die, she steadily built an impressive board using Freakish Conglomerations, constantly threatening the table and reminding me why I find that archetype so fascinating. I genuinely can't wait for the Path of Death New Blood deck later this year. (No pressure, Black Chantry. None whatsoever.)

To make matters worse, several of Cristina's bleeds were politely redirected in my direction. Apparently my domain had become the table's preferred forwarding address. With around twenty minutes left on the clock, Aaron launched another devastating turn. More block denial. More bleed. This time there was no surviving it. My Hecata became the first casualty of the evening, handing Aaron a victory point and the extra pool that comes with it. The remaining three players continued their struggle until time was called, each finishing with half a victory point.

So the experiment was a success.

Aaron finished the evening with 1.5 VP and looked more comfortable with the Salubri than ever before. That alone made the experiment worthwhile. Sometimes the best optimisation isn't squeezing out another point of bleed, but reducing the player's mental load so the deck can shine. The project met every design goal... except one rather important KPI: don't get ousted by your own creation. Task failed successfully. Next time, I'll try to conduct my experiments from the other side of the table.

The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.

Custodian Hargrave