or failing that, have a good look at your opponent’scards. With practice, you’ll be able to quickly identifythe basics of the model, as well as any talents orspells that could cause your crew issues. Identifyingthe more intricate combos within your opponent’screw can be more difficult, but you’ll get better atthis with time. As you play more games against aparticular crew, you will eventually become veryfamiliar with the many ways in which that crew candestroy you!The Importance of Strategies and SchemesForgetting your strategies and schemes can bedeadly. It’s the most common mistake you see in<strong>Malifaux</strong> games, even amongst the best players. Inthe heat of the game, it can become very easy to getcaught up hunting down your opponent’s modelsor even just keeping your own crew alive. However,unlike most other tabletop wargames, winning isdetermined not by who killed the most models, butwhether you achieved the strategies and schemesfor that game. In fact, I have played two gameswhere my crew was completely wiped out, but I stillwon because I had scored more victory points thanmy opponent. The Ultimate <strong>Malifaux</strong> Player alwayskeeps his eye on the prize!During games I always keep a record of what bothmine and my opponent’s objectives are, eitherby noting them down on some paper or by usingprinted out cards, freely available from Ratty’s<strong>Malifaux</strong> site. Having the cards at hand is especiallyuseful, as it becomes much easier to double checkthe achievement conditions and all the rules text.This is important since, if you are not careful, it canbe easy to misinterpret or mix up the achievementconditions for certain strategies and schemes. Forexample, unlike Kill Protégé, Grudge requires youto kill that model in melee with a non-Master. Andwhile both Steal Relic and Deliver a Message requireinteracting with your opponent’s Master, only StealRelic requires you to make a successful opposed Wpduel. Mixing these sorts of schemes up or missingkey details in how they are achieved is a very easyway to lose you the game!Challenge YourselfThe games where I’ve learned the most are notthose games where I’ve convincingly beaten myopponent. Contrary to common opinion, they’re notnecessarily the games where I’ve lost either. My mostinformative games have instead been those timeswhere, win or lose, I’ve felt as though I’m playingat a distinct disadvantage against my opponent. It’stimes like these where my mind goes into overdrive.With the perceived odds against me, I suddenly findmyself carefully weighing odds, coming up withmultiple contingencies and identifying whatevercombo, trick or weakness I can use to squeeze outevery victory point possible and pull out a win. Winor lose, it is during these challenging games whereI feel like I improve the most as a <strong>Malifaux</strong> player.And it’s a significant part of why I’m always tryingnew and interesting crews or combos in my games.The Ultimate <strong>Malifaux</strong> Player seeks not the win orthe loss, but the challenge!Fortunately, a game like <strong>Malifaux</strong> lends itself verywell to challenging yourself in-game withoutdeliberately playing badly, or seeking out the bestplayers in your local gaming community. Forone, not all schemes are created equal. Schemeslike Exterminate and Eye for an Eye are usuallymuch more difficult to achieve than Bodyguardor Holdout; therefore favoring the more difficultschemes in your games is an easy way to make gamesa little more difficult for yourself.Crew selection is another good way to make yourgames more challenging. Unlike large-scale tabletopwargames where you might spend hundreds ofdollars buying new units or regiments to fit intoyour list, <strong>Malifaux</strong> normally requires the additionof just a few models to completely change how yourcrew will function. It’s often a simple matter ofswapping out your more optimal models, like Lilituand Lelu, for less “appreciated” minions, like Candyand Kade.You can even go as far as buying a completely newcrew! This is actually a very good way of challengingyourself. A new crew not only encourages you tolearn the dynamics of a new set of models, but willinvariably have a very different playstyle to yourold crews. This helps you to better understand the24 © Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC
strengths and weaknesses in other crew types, aswell as train yourself to think a little less rigidly.For instance, I’m most accustomed to using crewslike Marcus or Zoraida, which work very well witha hit and run style of play. But early last year I beganplaying with Lucius, who’s crew works best in closesupport of each other. With Lucius I had to keep mycrew close together as I achieved my objectives, ratherthan spread across the board to harass my opponent.In a sense, such a drastic change in playstyle forcedme to relearn how I played <strong>Malifaux</strong>. But I feel thechallenges I faced by playing with such a differentstyle of crew made me a better <strong>Malifaux</strong> playeroverall, and I’m much better able to understand thestrengths and limitations to the sort of playstyle thata Lucius crew encourages.ConclusionIn writing this article, my aim was to give players,both new and old, some helpfuladvice for improving their skills inplaying <strong>Malifaux</strong>. However, this justscratches the surface ofwhat you can learn aboutStrategies and Tactics for<strong>Malifaux</strong>. I hope to go furtherdown the rabbit hole in future issues of Wyrd<strong>Chronicles</strong>. In the meantime, be sure to checkout the massive amount of other tactical adviceavailable. The previously mentioned Wyrd Forumsand PullMyFinger wiki are always a source of goodinformation, as are the many <strong>Malifaux</strong> Podcasts andblogs currently available.Until next time,Adrian25 © Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC
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