We remain knee deep in the rollout of Malifaux 4th Edition and I suspect we’re still a ways out from the community reaching its final verdict on each Master’s role in the new metagame. Players are still kicking the tires on things like skill floors, learning curves, and true potential. However, an edition change is when hype is at its peak and players who have always been curious about the game feel like they can enter the community with a clean slate.
For a lot of those new players, the fact that the game has yet to cement itself is a good thing; everyone is starting a little closer to fresh so they feel less “behind”. But for other newbies, the unknown can be scary. Whether you yourself are a new player - or you’re an experienced player trying to bring someone new into the game - starting with the wrong Master can feel like a mistake that will have tremendous consequences. What if you accidentally pick the Master with the highest-possible learning curve and your experience starting with Malifaux is just a string of humiliating defeats so absolute it’s hard to even learn from them?
I’m here today for the sake of those nervous folks. I’ve been playing consistently with the new rules since the launch of the 4th Edition Open Beta, and while I am just one man with a full-time job, I feel like I have gained enough experience to be able to weigh-in on some crews that would make good starting points for Malifaux 4th Edition.
What Makes a Crew Beginner Friendly?
The design philosophy of 4th Edition is interesting. The game is definitely less complex on a per-model basis; but we have traded an essay’s worth of text on each model’s card for the interlocking mechanics of Crew Cards, Master Titles, and unique Totems. Speaking for myself, this has meant a lot less forgetting specific abilities altogether, and a lot more “oh wait, if I had done X and Y, I could have done Z!” moments. To me, this is a positive type of complexity, because it is centered around rewarding practical experience, rather than rote memorization.
That said, figuring out those X/Y/Z moments takes time and practice. Realizing every implication and interaction isn’t something a new player will be able to do. I picked my “beginner friendly” crews based on how effective the crew will be if you are only following the most obvious queues on the cards. In other words, if you are playing a game of A then B, rather than X then Y then Z, will you still have a good time?
All About the Master
A common thread you will find among the crews I have dubbed “Beginner Friendly” is that a lot of their complexity and weirdness is concentrated in their Master. For many of these crews, their Henchmen, Uniques, and Minions will be either relatively simple, or will wear their role on their sleeve. The degree to which this is true will vary from crew-to-crew, but usually most of the remembering your abilities will be forced to happen during your Master’s activation, which - to me - is a pretty intuitive way to play the game. The Master is the centerpiece of your crew, after all.
While we are on the topic of Masters, it is worth noting that if I am bringing up a Master in this article, I am discussing the Title that comes in the 3rd Edition Core Box. The product line repackage for 4th is still a work in progress, so until the full range refresh is complete, I am going to assume that most people will be entering the new edition of the game with the old edition’s product.
The Starter Box Disclaimer
Malifaux 4th Edition is launching with a new two-player Starter Box that seems like a great entry point into the game. Both of the brand-new crews that come in the box look like they are extremely beginner-friendly, and the box also contains a ton of the hobby supplies that make playing the game a lot easier. Not only that, it’s one part of the new product line that we know is going to be available right away.
However, the two crews that come in the box are not complete. They are each about 40 Soulstones worth of crew. While this is a great start to a collection, if you love the game and want to start playing at your local shop, most people are going to be looking for 50 Soulstone games.
I’m not saying don’t buy the Starter Box, quite to the contrary - you absolutely should. What I am saying is that you might want to expand your collection sooner rather than later if the Starter Box teaches you that Malifaux is your game. What you will find below are some great options to expand your foray into the game.
So, without further adieu, let’s meet our four contestants:
Parker Barrows - Bandit
At the launch of the 4th Edition Beta, Bandit was one of the undisputed top crews. They combined an excess of mobility with powerful ranged attacks and a number of abilities (most notably widespread “Hard to Kill”) that made them difficult to put down. Without any obvious weaknesses, they were considered to be tippy-top tier. While the assorted balance patches they experienced over the course of the Beta brought them more in line with the rest of the game, they still stand out as a crew with extremely strong fundamentals.
They aren’t doing anything too flashy or technical, but they pack a lot of value into their activations. It’s very easy to get bonus movement or bonus attacks out of Bandit models, and just taking those low-hanging opportunities to eke out additional value from your little guys will sometimes be enough to win you the game - especially if you’re playing against another new player.
Bandit’s major weakness is that once they have drained their Soulstone pool, their ability to capitalize on their out-of-activation play drops substantially. This is a good weakness for a beginner crew, because it encourages developing the skill of resource management. While Bandit relies on solid rationing for their extra sauce, there are other crews that win or lose based on judicious budgeting. Getting your first reps of 4th in with Parker’s gang will mean you’re better prepared to pilot those more challenging crews further down the line.
Toni Ironsides - M&SU
If you were a Toni fan - especially a Toni 1 fan - in 3rd edition, picking up Toni in 4th might give you a bit of whiplash. While she can absolutely still take a punch, she has re-specced her character for a lot more damage. The trademark defensive aura of her crew has been flipped into an offensive one - giving allies that clump together positive twists on attacks. Meanwhile, the defensive benefits of union membership have been made into an ability that appears on a few cards throughout her crew, allowing some key models more survivability.
Toni herself is an absolute monster - one of the most punishing hand-to-hand combatants currently in the game. Her damage output might not look like much, but her attack is Skill 7, often with a positive twist thanks to her Crew Card ability, and she hands out debuffs like candy. Additionally, it is incredibly difficult to get away from her once you are close enough for her to reach you, so it’s often a death sentence to get stuck in with her - the only question is how long it’s going to take you to drop.
The crew around Toni does have some fiddlyness to it - especially if you bring Amina Nadu - but if you have a decent grasp of Malifaux’s basics, it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out what everyone’s “job” is. False Claim on your Journeymen and the proliferation of bonus movement effects throughout the crew mean that setting up Schemes is forgiving; meanwhile Joss and The Captain are great back-up beaters if you don’t want to lean too heavily on Toni.
M&SU has the tools to play a really strong game of “fair” Malifaux, and they don’t require a ton of set-up to do it. Ironically, the majority of their models have the tools to perform their given role quite clearly printed on their cards without support, working together is just the secret sauce that takes them from good to great.
Euripides - Savage
Euripides and the Savage keyword have had one of the most notable glow-ups between 3rd and 4th edition. In 3rd, they looked like a brain-off, unga-bunga, melee crew, but were actually all about setting up complex lines of play that ensured you always had the right card on the top of your discard pile. In 4th, they’re still not the Age of Sigmar Ogors some people wish they were, but they are a hell of a lot simpler. What Savage is - particularly with the Euripides, Hierophant title - is forgiving.
While Euripides’ collection of chonky bois may not be as damaging as you might expect, they are extremely tough. The combination of widespread healing actions, large health pools, and defensive abilities printed on the front of nearly every card means that Savage can best be described as a “meat wall”. Their durability is backed up by a ton of bonus movement to pull you out of sticky situations, and a Crew Card ability (The Land Yields) that will often let you auto-pilot your choice of Schemes and makes you a massive favourite on one particular Strategy (Informants).
There are some, let’s say - mixed blessings - for Savage. If I were talking to more advanced players, these would firmly be disadvantages, but in the context of a beginner, an argument can be made for these qualities being a boon.
Because Savage has some extremely powerful actions, many of their best buffs and bonus movement tools are locked to targeting Allies (which in 4th means both hired by you and in-keyword). This restriction means the Savage player is strongly incentivized to hire in-keyword, and Savage is a very small keyword with limited options. This will feel like a handcuff when you have a large stable of Neverborn Versatile models, but when you’re a new player, the limited roster means you can focus on learning a small subset of rules. Figure out the Gigant, Cyclops, Crookskin, and Geryon cards and you’re all set.
The other mixed blessing is the high points cost of the models. Because they are all so meaty, Savage models tend to be priced at a premium, and thus you are almost always going to be outnumbered. There is more nuance to this supposed “drawback”, but I’ll save the conversations around activation control for an article not focused on brand new players. So for now I will just say - fewer models on the table means fewer decisions to make, means an easier time keeping track of the action.
Savage is definitely a step above Bandits and M&SU in terms of complexity, and probably has a higher skill ceiling, but they also have a remarkably low skill floor with room to make a ton of mistakes and still put up a convincing showing.
Anya Lycarayen - Syndicate
If we want to talk about keywords that got a glow-up from 3rd to 4th - Syndicate’s makeover is probably the most dramatic. Anya’s crew went from a loosely-affiliated collection of models scattered across three+ factions to a deep, powerful toolbox that can play well into pretty much any match-up. One of the reasons for this versatility is their trademark “Price of Progress” ability: take 1 damage, add a suit of your choice to an action. This trade is a lot less punishing in the context of 4th and you are way more likely to pay the price without thinking twice.
If you take a look at the triggers across Anya’s crew, she has a powerful tool for pretty much every job. Add to this key models that actively reward you Empowering your actions, thus increasing the likelihood that you will hit your TNs (the only obstacle between you and those powerful triggers), and you have a crew that snowballs one powerful effect into another - rewarding you for stuff you probably wanted to do anyways.
Anya does require some understanding of the game’s mechanics to truly make the most of her potential. For example, if you are still learning the importance of Scheme markers, you might not really get why being able to slam-dunk the Ram trigger on your Surveyor’s “Field of Steel” is so important. But, like with Toni, even a basic understanding of Malifaux will make Anya a strong pick for a novice. Syndicate is definitely a crew that gets much weaker once an opponent has some reps against it, but if you and a few friends are all learning together - starting with Anya is a great way to become your playgroup’s boogeyman.
Off to the Races
Whether you are new player mulling over using the edition change as an opportunity to jump into Malifaux fresh; a returning player who wants to get an idea of good crews to learn the new edition with; or a veteran who is looking to lend a crew to a friend to get them started - I hope this brief list helps you out!
Overall, I think that 4th Edition has achieved the goal of making Malifaux more accessible, and this is only going to be compounded once the Starter Sets start hitting wide distribution and people get their hands on Banished and Ampersand.
Canny observers may note that this list represents half of the available Factions. I am hoping to pen a follow-up that will present good beginner crews for the Guild, Resurrectionists, Ten Thunders, and Bayou - but my local meta is light on Guild and Ressers; and I am wavering on my choices for the Thunders and Bayou - so more reps are required.
Oh, thanks for the info! I just wandered into Substack the other day and didn't really find anything much going on with Malifaux.