There aren't many opportunities for me to play Malifaux, so whenever one appears, I have developed a very sophisticated decision-making process: I say yes.
A new gaming club recently opened nearby, offering tables for local players, so obviously we had to investigate. When we arrived, the place was already busy with D&D adventurers, Star Wars: Legion armies and the distant thunder of Warhammer 40K. We, however, had brought something different. A box of strange miniatures, several decks of cards, an unreasonable amount of scenery and everything else required to briefly open the Breach in an otherwise perfectly respectable gaming club.
This time I was joined by Aaron and his son, Isaac, neither of whom had played Malifaux before. My first challenge therefore wasn't tactical at all: I had to decide which crew to give them. I eventually settled on the Guard. Dashel Barker, riflemen, mounted officers and an Executioner seemed like the perfect introduction, particularly because I suspected the western law-enforcement theme would appeal to them. I wasn't wrong.
For myself, I had something rather less civilised planned. Over the previous few weeks I had been painting Titania and her Fae, and although the crew wasn't completely finished (several bases were still awaiting attention) I was far too impatient to leave them at home. The Autumn Queen was finally going to war.
Before any fighting could begin, however, Malifaux demanded its traditional sacrifice: fifteen minutes spent arranging tiny buildings until everyone agreed that the table looked suitably dramatic. Our western saloon took centre stage, joined by the nook and market, while abandoned houses, fences and a broken-down cart filled the surrounding streets. By the time we finished, it looked exactly like the sort of peaceful frontier settlement where absolutely nothing terrible was about to happen. Then Titania arrived.
Because this was primarily a teaching game, I built Aaron a straightforward Guard crew: Dashel Barker, the Dispatcher, an Executioner, a Mounted Guard, a Sergeant and two Riflemen. At around thirty Soulstones, it offered enough variety to demonstrate different mechanics without requiring Aaron to study an organisational chart of the entire Guild before his first activation.
My own crew consisted of
Titania, the Erymanthian Boar, Ithanna, a Carnivorous Wyrdwood, a Rougarou and two Bultungin. I had read the cards. I had considered the synergies. I had even formed some vague strategic ideas. This naturally meant I was completely prepared to discover that I had misunderstood half of them.
We kept the encounter deliberately simple. The main goal was to teach duels, positive and negative flips, Cheating Fate, movement and the basics of Malifaux's action economy. We played Plant Explosives as the Strategy but left Schemes out entirely. There would be plenty of time for secret objectives later. For now, learning how to shoot an ancient Fae creature seemed complicated enough.
Deployment immediately revealed our different philosophies. Aaron positioned his Guard conservatively, forming something resembling an actual defensive force. I did the opposite. The Carnivorous Wyrdwood went as far forward as possible, while the Rougarou started near the edge of the battlefield ready to sprint into enemy territory. The Fae apparently considered subtlety optional. Then the battle began.
Dashel started barking orders (yes, I am absolutely taking that pun) while one Rifleman climbed to the first floor of the saloon and established a firing position overlooking the street. Dashel himself advanced towards the centre alongside the Executioner, creating a rather intimidating welcoming committee. I suddenly became considerably more interested in careful positioning. I didn't yet know how durable Titania's crew would be, but I knew perfectly well what happens when Guard models carrying enormous weapons get close enough to demonstrate their job descriptions.
The first turn was therefore mostly a dance for position. There were a few minor clashes, but both crews concentrated on spreading across the town and planting explosives. My more aggressive deployment paid off and I managed to place two explosives in Aaron's half while the Guard planted one in mine. The opening score was 1–0 to the Fae.
For a brief moment, everything was going according to plan. Turn Two corrected that misunderstanding.
The Executioner and Dashel descended upon my Erymanthian Boar and proceeded to transform it from a terrifying mythical beast into what I can only assume became several reasonably priced cuts of meat. Meanwhile, the Riflemen opened fire on Titania herself from across the town, while the Sergeant and Mounted Guard quietly got on with the actual objective and started planting explosives.
My Fae responded with the sort of card flips that make you wonder whether Fate has developed a personal grievance. Attacks failed, opportunities disappeared and the Guard continued advancing. Ithanna, at least, provided one particularly entertaining moment by using Lacerating Roots to lash out at several nearby Guard models at once. There is something very Malifaux-y about watching uniformed enforcers discover that the local vegetation has become actively hostile.
By the end of Turn Two, both crews had three explosives planted, earning us one victory point each. The score was now 2–1, but the battlefield was beginning to tell a rather different story.
By Turn Three, the Guard had apparently decided that it was time to address the fairy infestation directly. Both of my Bultungin were killed, leaving me three models down overall. The Sergeant and Mounted Guard began removing my explosives with the calm efficiency of council workers cleaning up after a particularly supernatural festival, while Dashel, the Executioner and one Rifleman continued applying pressure in the centre.
Titania fought back by spreading Underbrush Markers across the battlefield, trying to divide the Guard and control their movement. At one particularly important moment, the terrain helped prevent the Executioner from reaching Ithanna, which probably saved her from joining the Boar in the rapidly expanding casualty department. The Autumn Queen was finally beginning to reshape the battlefield around her. Unfortunately, the Guard had guns. And numbers. And an Executioner.
By the end of Turn Three, Aaron had managed to plant
four explosives on my side of the table while I had only two remaining on his. That earned him the final point and brought the score to
2–2.
We didn't have enough time to play the fourth turn, so that was where our little invasion of Malifaux ended. Officially, it was a draw. Unofficially, considering I was already three models down and the Guard were steadily dismantling my position, I suspect another turn would have ended with Dashel filing a very confident report explaining how law and order had been successfully restored.
But winning wasn't really the point.
Aaron and Isaac got their first taste of Malifaux, learned the core mechanics and seemed to genuinely enjoy commanding the Guard. I finally got Titania onto the table after weeks of painting her crew and began learning how the Fae actually function outside the comforting theoretical world of reading stat cards. We made mistakes, discovered interactions and watched a little story bloom naturally from the game.
An ancient Neverborn Queen emerged from the wilderness, leading beasts and twisted creatures into a dusty frontier settlement. The Fae crept through the streets, strange forests began growing where they had no business growing, and explosives appeared around the town. Then the local brute gathered his men. The rifles came out, the streets filled with gunfire, and Titania discovered that conquering Malifaux is considerably easier when the town doesn't have an Executioner waiting in the middle of it. Will the Queen return? We shall certainly see. One failed invasion is hardly enough to discourage the Autumn Queen, and I strongly suspect her plans for this little frontier town are far from over.
The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.
Custodian Hargrave
