A detour through the Breach

One of Kirai's spooky ghosts, a Shikome in particular

Just as I've been delving in alternate models, I've been exploring games outside the Games Workshop umbrella. The one I've been playing most often is Malifaux, Wyrd Game's skirmish based game that takes steam-punk, the weird west, and Asian horror, and puts it all in a blender.

The pros:

• Individual models matter (four wounds on a model is somewhat weak)
• Turns are activation based, as each model moves, fights, and casts until it's done, and then your opponent can respond, giving crewes consisting of weaker models a distinct advantage later in the turn.
• Dice, the great betrayers that they are, are not used. Instead, a customized version of the standard poker deck is used with a control hand, allowing the player to manipulate fate by legal "cheating."
• With each model doing 2 standard actions and one zero action (think free action) each turn, you'll feel like each model is getting their points cost worth.
• How much you succeed by matters; the greater the success of an action, the more hurt it does (generally)
• The models are pretty darn keen
  

The cons:

• the rules for each model is set, with no customization. Every Shikome works just like every other Shikome. Every Gaki, etc..
• The individual model's rule are all every complex, and model activation timing is crucial. It's easy for a beginner to forget rules or to do things out of order. 
• Synergies exist, but research and experimental play is crucial for the new player, so they can discover what their models can do, and how far their abilities can be pushed.
• The rules are not as transparent as some systems, and the learning curve can be steep

The good news is that Malifaux 2nd Edition is coming out, and will likely address a number of those issues. Masters will be simplified, and some of the standard abilities they have will become upgrades. Synergies might suffer a bit from that, but at least you'll be able to be surprised by a model and what it can do instead of knowing all "Kirai"s can Evolve Spirit, cast Chill of Death, Sooth Spirit, etc. And you won't have to pay for abilities you don't use. Since I'm heavily invested in Kirai as a caster, I'm hoping she doesn't change too much, but I'm sure she'll still be the Master of Spirits she has been.

M2E is being released at Gencon, and it's going to be one of my first purchases, so I'll give you my thoughts then. Oh, yeah, I'll be at Gencon.

Gencon and NOVA Open

Having put Adepticon behind me (and that was hell, because I took ill at the con), I've got two major cons coming up. You might have already guessed what they are by the post's title. Of the two, only NOVA is 40k related exclusively, but let me take a chance to sing the praises of Gencon for the hardcore miniatures player.

First of all, Fantasy Flight is there in force. I've signed up for sessions of Chaos in the Old World, and I'm looking forward to them immensely. And let me state, unreservedly, that CitOW is one of my favorite games, so much so, that I'm bringing it to NOVA to unwind from the massive amounts of 40k I'll be playing that weekend. Being a 40k player, what's not to love about being one of the four gods to destroy the world of square base heresy? Fantasy Flight will have that, and their multiple GW based games out to play, including RPG products. You'll see the GW universe from a different angle, refreshing your game play.

Secondly, Privateer Press always makes a huge splash. Yes, I'm not -technically- a PP player, but I already have two factions from my Adepticon swag bag, Khador and Legion. As much as I feel like I'm cheating on my wife (GW) by considering playing these systems, you have to admire PP for getting right everything that GW is getting wrong. For instance, they're at Gencon, playing demos, building relationships, and generating goodwill. Their system is solid, the rules are tight, and the models are always interesting.

You also have Wyrd Miniatures, makers of Malifaux, and, if you're a pure painter, Dark Sword Miniatures produces great work, with the Game of Thrones and Masterworks miniatures. I mean, look at this thing:

That's incredible. And the lion is sculpted on. Seriously. Tom Meier is a genius. This mini was on display there last year, and the picture doesn't do it justice. Cool Mini is also there as well, with all of their bizarre and painterly miniatures there for you to peruse. Battlefoam is as well, so you can cart your ill gotten gains back home. And that's perhaps 1% of what's there. I even played a cyberpunk Cthulhu game last year. If it's possible to play, it's possible to find it there. If you go with an open mind, you'll be rewarded, I assure you.