Waking Dead

Royal Mail has conspired to keep it out of my hands for nearly two weeks, but my Malifaux stuff finally arrived this morning. I’ve been undecided for a while about whether or not I wanted to play it, but somebody on the Warhammer Forum was selling the rulebook, two starter sets and two fate decks for a reasonable price, so I took the plunge.

The first thing that hit me was how tiny the miniatures are. They’re roughly the same scale as the humanoids in Warmachine and Hordes, but the metal is very thin. Consequently they are extremely light and feel very fragile. Even the Warpig, which comes on a 50mm base, is nowhere near as chunky as similar-sized pieces from other manufacturers. That’s not to say that they aren’t well sculpted – the level of detail is pretty high – it’s more that they require a little more care than other games.

Whilst I’m on the subject of the miniatures, I thought I’d mention what I think has been my major stumbling block with this game right from the beginning. All the talk about Malifaux being the new hotness seems to stem from how awesome the miniatures and background to the game are. Honestly, I just don’t get it. Firstly, the miniatures range varies massively in quality and tone. Compare the Executioner to Wuppwecht – they might as well be from two completely different games. From a range of about 50 individual sculpts, only a handful are even remotely appealing.

Secondly, the background or ’story’ behind the game is equally as disjointed. It reads like fan-fiction, or worse a homebrew LARP setting. I guess for me a game has to be aspirational in that it features characters I can relate to and even be in awe of. Malifaux has ‘bog gremlins’ and little ice creatures that look like somebody has sneezed. Look, I’m all for a bit of humour in my games, but I like my humour with a healthy dose of awesome. Take GW’s Orks for example; sure, they’re packed with humour, but they also tick all the badassery boxes as well.

In a nutshell I’m really regretting this purchase. Instead of convincing me that everyone was right about this game, actually holding the stuff in my hands has only confirmed my worst fears. With Infinity looking increasingly more interesting, and the re-release of Hell Dorado around the corner, Malifaux at the moment isn’t firing my synapses as much as it has for other people. Unless the game itself is something special, enough to overlook my issues with the background and miniature range, then I can see this being sold on again.