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Budget Bayou

Introduction
Welcome back to the Bayou. This week, let's talk to everyone looking to start playing in the swamps. In an ideal world, you'd want to buy all of the boxes that are out there, right? Well that isn't always possible so I'm going to try and break down the best boxes for starting Bayou and how to build on them to create good lists for games but not bust your wallet.

Core Boxes
In the world of Malifaux, Core boxes are always the place to start. Some are a bit more tricky than others though when it comes to value per dollar. 
The 3 best boxes right off the gate belong to Mah, Zipp and 2e Ophelia box.
Mah Tucket's box gives you bushwhackers and Trixie. Strong models and bushwhackers are one of the few minions you can take 3 of and still feel pretty good about it.
Zipp gives you The First Mate, arguably one of the better models in the faction, and Iron Skeeters, another strong minion with Fly with Me and Concealment
At the time I'm writing this, Ophelia's 3e edition box hasn't been released or even teased to us yet, so finding the 2e Kin box is a buffet of good models. It comes with Francois, Rami, Rapheal and Pere Ravage. Rami and Franc alone are worth the box.
Captain Zipp — Wyrd GamesAmazon.com: Malifaux 3rd Edition: Mah Tucket Core Box: Toys & GamesMalifaux: The Kin – Ophelia Box Set | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

These three boxes will give you a good place to start building solid lists. I'll get into the other good picks for your budget in a second but lets talk about why I skipped some of the others.

Som'er Teeth Jones has an excellent box, with Lenny and some Good Ole Boys, but unfortunately to really play Som'er you need access to most if not all his summons and that requires buying quite a few extra boxes to keep up. For a player looking to save some scrip he's not recommended to start

Ulix is the same way unfortunately. His core box comes with good models but he requires the whole keyword to play effectively. 

Zoraida and Wong I'll get to shortly. 

Supplementing
So with those 3 core boxes, you already have enough to put together some fun lists that won't honestly be bad lists all in all. Any of the models there compliment each other pretty well. The Kin love Iron Skeeters toting them around, Franc and Mah would pair well together. The First Mate is always a choice when you need a model to scout the flanks and Bushwhackers are one of the best 6 point models in the game. So where do we go from here?

My first thought is 3 extra boxes that give you the most bang for your buck: Luck Fate. The Emissary is one of my favorite models and it plays really well into the Gaining Grounds 1 pools. He is never a bad 10ss pick for a list. Pig Trouble gives you access to Gracie, who is a power house of Bayou Bacon and lastly, the Gautraeux Bokor box gives you access to one of our most outstanding support pieces. 

With these 6 purchases you have 3 very good masters, and plenty of options to build different lists to experiment with. I'd recommend stopping here for a while and experimenting. These 3 masters cover a lot of Bayou ground and you can really get that feel to see if the Bayou is the right faction for you. 
Malifaux 3E: Pig Trouble - Game NerdzGautraeux Bokor – Wyrd Miniatures - Online Store

Moving Along 
Ok, ok so you can't help yourself. Once you get a taste of the Bayou you just keep coming back for more. Well I'm still here to guide you along. Remember when I said we'd talk about Zoraida and Wong later? Well its later. If you still want the most bang for your buck, these 2 boxes are right for you. As I write this, Zoraida box hasn't been released and the new Wong box is just now in stores. You want the new Wong box, Alphonse is a power house and you can get Mancha in a supplementary box with wrestlers. Zoraida box you will have to get 2e until her new box comes out (My theory is they are switching Silurids with Waldgiests in the new box).  Now you have 2 new masters to play with and some cross over in keywords as the First Mate goes with Zoraida, Gracie and Burt are Whizzbang and the Bokor go with both of them. 

From here you should know what you like and what you want. You can fill out these keywords or slowly start to build up Som'er and Ulix. These recommendations allow you to get your feet wet in the Bayou without buying the whole thing. Any other suggestions feel free to comment! Until next week.

*all images are property of Wyrd Games

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