Malifaux Crew - Seamus and The Red Chapel Gang

"There's no problem that cannot be solved by throwing a few dead hookers at it."

Malifaux Ressurectionists - Seamus and the Red Chapel Gang

That quote, allegedly from one of the Malifaux developers, caught my attention.

I was in the mood for something different, something new and something I could get on the table and play quickly without spending a vast amount of money on it.

Malifaux seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Card-based mechanic, scenario driven and low model count. Victoriana-Steampunk-Horror-with a dose of Wild West and the entry cost was low; awesome-hobby-sauce!

The fate decks are superbly flavoursome.

Without any clue as to what sort of tactics I might favour with any crew, I did what the sensible hobbyist does.

I browsed the pretty figures and chose the ones that made me go "Oooooh perty!"

I settled on Seamus Crew Boxed Set: The Red Chapel Gang, a fate deck and a copy of the updated small rules manual, all from Arcane Miniatures. The rulebook is well laid out and easy to read but worth noting it doesn't contain any background or fluff.

For a change, I actually missed the fluff

The models were a little awkward to assemble and I broke the end off Sybelle's riding crop. With no hope of re-attaching it I had to model something from scratch, it ended up a little too bit, but it won't be breaking off anytime soon.

The crew took about 3 sessions to finish and they first saw action a few weeks back.

The bases are miliput and I have a battened 3'' by 3'' board ready to model in a similar style.

First impressions of the game are great. Easy to learn mechanics gain depth when characters combine abilities and 'trigger' enhanced outcomes and the scenario-driven gameplay means there's not always a stand-up fight leading to a tactical, though-provoking exchange rife with cunning and shifty looks as you figure out what on earth your opponent is trying to achieve. AND... there's zombies in it! :)

Poor undead ladies got macerated by mechanical Shelobs!

I'm sold on it and plan to model the game board later this year before picking up a few new additions to the crew.