If you go down to the Bayou today...

Gremlins! Aren't they cute? I always seem to go for the humorous option rather than the cool option when it comes to minis (hence I posses various incarnations of Warhammer and 40k Orcs/Orks)

I was talked into buying some Malifaux models recently (well talked myself into it), and last week played my first game. I have to say, at first I was really sceptical. A miniature game without dice? Madness! A mixture of dark gothic fantasy, steampunk and zombie hookers? Just plain daft! I was sure that this game would be yet another fad game that I would get into and then end up with no one to play against. Again! (Still have a large collection of Confrontation minis, English Civil War and War of the Roses stuff that will never see the light of day).

Anyway the friendly crew down at Heroes and Legends down in Surbiton were a plenty encouraging (not in a pushy way). And witnessing one of my good gaming pals play his first game was such a laugh I was determined to join in the fun! Their enthusiasm for the game is infectious. Like Swine Flue.

The thing that finally swung me to go with the Gremlins, rather than the Rasputina box set I was eyeing up, was Deliverence. Any special rule that references a film such as that needs to be in my possession! What other excuse will I ever have at humming Duelling Banjos at talking in a mock yokel accent?

Anyway, I got the Sommer' Teeth Jones starter box and a blister pack of piglets and got them painted in about a day. I have to say, they were a joy to paint even tough the light in my room left me paranoid as to how they would look on a shop table.                            

Squeal! Squeal like a... well... you know...

I Headed down to Heroes and Legends to have a game and despite being thoroughly defeated by my mate, had a really enjoyable time. I was right to go with the humorous crew as the special rules and general character of the gremlins provided a lot of laughs, win or loose. And I got to kill Lady Justice by using a spell called Pull My Finger. 

The lack of dice was odd at first to get used to. But the use of cards was surprisingly refreshing and made for a smooth game. The basic game mechanics are dead simple to pick up, draw a card add your relevant stat looking to beat the opponents draw. The use of suits to trigger special effects was a really cool mechanic and by the end of the game I found myself not missing dice at all...

So I highly recommend giving Malifaux a try. A really characterful and unique little game with plenty of quirky and dark humour. It is surprisingly affordable to get into as well as the average crew is half a dozen models, often which can be played straight out of one of the many themed starter boxes. I spent less than £30 on a box and a blister and that was enough to have a very decent game (and I outnumbered my opponent!). Any game where you can get away with putting together a working force for less than £50 is worth a look in my opinion. 

Next for Malifaux will be the immensely characterful Hog Whisperer and some slop haulers for more pig based antics. Also massively tempted to pick up the other Gremlin crew for some variants and maybe to use as stand ins for normal Bayou Gremlins when I use the spell Get Yer Bro.

That's all for now folks, next time I will be starting to report on longer term projects and a series of articles on how to wargame on a budget. Since I recently quit my job I have been doing my best to still get a decent hobby fix on a limited budget and thought I would share some of my conclusions with you good folks.

Until next time

-Banchou Badger