Thinking of Starting - A Thread For My Questions

[Electric]

Today at my wife's birthday party, a friend of mine gave me the Malifaux pitch. I'm intrigued. I got some positive feedback on the Infinity forums, where I mostly hang out these days (Infinity is my favorite game), and I decided to take the plunge and make an account here so I could get the opinions of the people who are really in the know - the people who definitely play this game and love it enough to hang out on its boards.

In addition to generally reading what you think is so awesome about this game, I'd particularly like deciding which faction and Master to start with.

I'm most interested in the Arcanists (I dig the steampunk style, and I like that they are both semi-heroic and union agitators) and so far, I'm most interested in Kaeris, because I think her steampunk wings are awesome. Also, she sets things on fire.

That said, what else can you tell me about the Arcanists, and Kaeris in particular? Are there any Masters she has good synergy with so I can - as I wrote above - buy that Master's starting box and a few models they share to expand my collection quickly?

I should probably tell you a little about my preferences here, so you can help me out.

I like factions that are fast, strong, and mobile. I prefer having awesome models - and spells that make my guys more awesome - to having powers that make your guys less awesome. Toughness is less important to me than speed and power. I've been known to enjoy both durable factions (Blood Angels in 40k, ALEPH in Infinity) and glass hammers (Everblight).

Thanks in advance. I'm looking forward to learning about this game.

[xeth1313]

Kaeris is a great starting box because she is a Henchman. AS such her unit selection when leading a crew is limited but she and her minions can be hired by other Arcanist Masters. If you should find another mater that you like you will be able to socket her right into their crews. http://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/ is a great wiki that details the figures and their playstyles and interactions without specifying card stats.

[Joel]

The arcarnists have a real mix in their faction, but all are potent spellcasters. I have seen kaeris run on her own and with rasputina, Marcus and Ramos so far.

Marcus would bring the speed you like, but since the beasts in his box set aren't actually the best choices for him, it might be more of an investment than you are initially looking for.

Ramos is a slow-moving summoner who benefits from kaeris' firepower and mobility. She can benefit from his mobile toolkit too.

A pairing of rasputina and kaeris is very blasty! Fire and ice combo looks good too.

Kaeris on her own has a limited minion selection, but can get lots of jobs done. Gunsmiths, union miners and fire gamin are all good in their own roles.

[Kabosan]

Just a note about potential bias: I'm exclusively a Neverborn player. The Neverborn, in general, are the 'fast and strong' faction as a whole which seems to fit how I like to play. You might consider them to fit your playstyle. That said, however, if you like the models and fluff of the Arcanists more (and I think a major portion of choosing a faction should be about liking the models and fluff) you should consider Collette. She's a very mobile master that, in my games against her, has seemed to play much more of the mobile precision striking, hit and run style that I'm used to with my Neverborn crews. If I were to branch out of my faction I think she'd be the first master I'd pick up. I think her fluff is great... A troupe of showgirls with clockwork dancers and mannequins, what's not to like? She's fairly cheap to field a competitive list with, (her boxed set, a couple of clockwork doves, and a blister (if you magnetize them) or two (if you don't) of the Coryphee and you're good to go (I think... Neverborn player after all). I can't speak to how she works with Kaeris. I'll have to let an Arcanist player let you know about that.
What I know about Kaeris: In my games against her she's seemed to be more of the gunline/hold my ground and let them come to me type master. That may be just how my local opponent plays her though, so again I'll have to differ to the Arcanist players for more info.

[Electric]

You know what? I'm pretty sold.

I'm definitely going to start with Kaeris. After that? Probably Rasputina (fire and ice!) or Ramos (lightning and... fire? Eh, they've got steampunk in common). After that... we'll see. It depends on how much I decide I like this game.

I'm still open to any other starting advice you might be able to offer me.

[Halflingspy]

Kaeris is my most recent box, and honestly, one of my favorites just because her playstyle is a lot of fun for me. I won't like, it is a little difficult, as they don't have as much immediate killing power of some other groups, and they don't have as many wounds to lose as others. However, setting up a good range of control with Gunsmiths and stacking burning tokens is an effort with payoff that's just fun.

One issue is that she is, for the moment, a bit limited in her crew alone. I'm pretty sure that book 4 is expanding special forces lists a bit (I hope!), but inside the faction she can only take Large Steampunk Arachnids, Union Miners, and Soulstone Miners as additions to her crew. Don't let this hamper you, because as other people have said already, she is a henchman, and thus can be taken as a model by other crews herself. Right now, I am building a Ramos crew centered around her as a sort of mobile shock trooper. I haven't had much luck putting her into a Colette crew (she sort of stands with her showgirls alone for the most part), but I'm not going to stop trying.

I hope you enjoy Kaeris - if you like a more precision approach to your playstyle, she's certainly a good start. Pick her up, and then look at the Arcanist Masters individually to see which way you want to branch out next.

[Electric]

I hope you enjoy Kaeris - if you like a more precision approach to your playstyle, she's certainly a good start. Pick her up, and then look at the Arcanist Masters individually to see which way you want to branch out next.

Ramos comes with swarms of mechanical spiders, a giant steampunk spider cyborg, and synergizes well with more giant robot spiders. It's really no contest. Rasputina and Kaeris would have an awesome fire-and-ice thing going on, but... it's probably going to be Ramos.