Introduction
Hello fellow swamp denizens, its been a while. The great beast that is 2020 has certainly done a number but let's not dwell on that, in fact lets move forward into the future of Malifaux and the future of the Bayou. Recently its come to my attention that some new people have arrived and are causing trouble. Mayhem if you will and have not invited a single gremlin to their party. I also saw the post on the Bayou FB page about content you guys were looking for and I gotta say thanks for the boost in confidence. Anyways this week's article is applicable to all factions but we'll, of course focus in on the Bayou.
Unpacking
Alright, lets do some gamer definition time. Unpacking is the process of getting out of your deployment zone without getting in your own way. Its all about learning how to create a first turn that puts you in to a position to score on turn 2. For some crews with lots of moving pieces and built in synergies this can be a rote procedure that looks the same almost every single game. For more straight forward "front to back" crews (using Swampfiends terminology, Seriously. go listen to the podcast) there isn't a set in stone way to deploy and move your crew on turn 1. Regardless, learning how to unpack your crews effectively will allow you to not only play turn 1 faster but also give you more time to process the state of the game instead of worrying about who goes where each game.
Strange Geometry
So Malifaux currently has 4 deployments, two are along a diagonal line and two are along the straight line. This can be impactful to the game in a lot of ways. For instance, schemes that require you to drop markers near the center line get a lot harder to deny if the center is longer like in flank of corner. Alternately its usually a little harder to get to the far corner of the board in diagonal deployment. So right away this changes your scheme choices and of course how you deploy and move the first turn. Always be aware of just how far you have to go to score with your models. Extra walks are wasted actions.
Another consideration is how deployment can change the speed at which models will be engaged. Wedge and Flank facilitate much quicker action than Standard and especially Corner deployment. If your crew requires a lot of set up on turn one deploying further back might be a safer move in the fast deployments. Crews like Nephilim or Frontier will punish you for getting to greedy.
Battlegrounds
Another consideration for deploying and unpacking your crew is being able to determine where the action is going to take place. Often times schemes and strats will give you a clue as to where the fight is going to go down. For instance, a pool with Corrupted Ley Lines, Claim Jump and Leave Your Mark means the fight will almost guaranteed be in the middle of the board. Where as a pool with Public Enemies, Assassinate and Vendetta will happen nearest the deployment of the slowest crew. It is very important to recognize your role in game sets like this. A ranged heavy crew doesn't even have to leave its deployment zone in the Public Enemies example. If the opponent is forced to come to you, the crafty Ophelia player can just focus up and shoot them as they run up the board.
Ready, Set, Go!
So let's get onto the meat of the article: How do you unpack your crews on turn 1? Well there's a reason that isn't covered much on podcasts and tactica. Its very dependent on your goals, the terrain, deployment, and crew.
Let's look at a rote crew, one that plays roughly the same way every turn 1. Best example I can think of in Bayou is Kin. In most Kin games, you probably aren't gonna walk your crew more than once or twice a game. In fact, usually you are using Young LaCroix to pull your crew into position, leaving the big pieces actions free. So the first thing you need to do is determine where you want your models to be at the end of the turn. Ophelia shouldn't walk more than once on turn 1 and ideally can shoot something that turn as well. Then you have to know your model's ranges. I Need An Adult is a 6" range and Pushes a model into base contact with it. So you should have your Young set up to be within 6" (they have a 5 inch mv) and have unrestricted push lanes to their target. Young are actually kind of nice in that Adult says pushed into base contact and not toward. Toward always means center to center. Into Base contact has more wiggle room. A lot of Ophelia players spend their first 3 activations Walk, Adult, Bonus with Young giving them more space to put models where they need to be without having to activate big models first.
Crews with more models on the board can be tricky to deal with and Bayou is certainly no exception. Sooey, Big Hat and Whizz Bang can be pretty model heavy early on and Sooey comes with a lot of 40 and 50 mill bases to get around. Each have their own ways to help you steer through the clutter. Penelope is From the Shadows, and its easy to want to put her up the board, but 5 inches outside of Deployment lets you Herd 'Em twice, making 2 pigs walk and hopefully getting Ulix and Slop Haulers to hitch a ride in the process. In Big Hat I often like to take a banjo if I'm starting in corner deployment. His 2 inch move can alleviate a lot of space issues in a cramped spot
Any abilities like Ride With Me or Toss are great at clearing the way for you to get your models out into the world.
Clean Up
A few important considerations as final thoughts on the subject. Its very important to measure out where you intend to go and if you can get there. Remember auras and charge ranges. Do not just place a model where you think its within 8" for an aura and you measure later in the turn and it is not. I like to make sure I express my intent to my opponent clearly as well just to avoid unpleasant surprises later. Don't think you are giving away any gotchas if you say "My intent is to be within 8 inches of this guy." or "I'm putting him just outside of 7 inch charge plus melee range" Real life games are imperfect and its easy to mess up placement by a fraction of an inch. Good opponents will respect intent if it is clearly communicated.
Watch your push lanes! Nothing is more frustrating than thinking you have the correct placement to get where you need to be only to be blocked by the corner of a building. Once again, expressing intent is important. Keep a couple bases handy to set out and proxy movement, measuring widgets can help too. Remember that humans on the whole are pretty bad about eyeballing measurements.
Practice! Practice! Practice! A lot of the time, the first turn of Malifaux is about proper placement for turn 2 and until the end of the turn its often not about engagement (there are exceptions). If you have space at home, set up a table and practice unpacking your first turn. Learn where you need models to be to not get in the way of other important things. The more you do it, the more confident you will get and the faster you will be on tourney day. Have a clear plan of which schemes you want to take and where you need to be to accomplish them. You don't even have to go past turn 1. Just play it out, reset and play it again.
Conclusion
There's a lot to be said about these sections of the game that multiple pods or articles could cover in depth but hopefully this gives you a primer on what to think about. If you've stuck around since my last post in August, thank you! If you are just now reading for the first time welcome aboard! If you have an idea for an article leave me a comment!
*All images belong to Wyrd Games, I'm just borrowing them.
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