Malifaux, down the drain

[RepublicsFury]

Malifaux is going plastic.

As with many miniatures companies Wyrd Games is opting to go plastic.  I can't say that I approve of the move. For me I wont buy minis that are plastic. If it aint lead it's dead.  I suppose it would have been one thing if the price went down significantly but the prices aren't going down.  Oh don't get me wtong, I'll still play the game but won't buy new figs.

Am I in the minority, or are most miniaturists out there willing to play with plastics?

RF

[obsidian3d]

I don't really care as long as they're reasonably priced, well sculpted and well produced.  I've seen some extremely well done plastics, and some atrocious metals...and vice-versa.

Switching over to plastic models without providing any kind of cost savings to the customer doesn't seem right though. I think the Malifaux models look great for the most part, but their prices are high even for metal models. I don't play, and the switch certainly doesn't sound like it will entice me to change my mind.

[DeafNala]

Within reason, I don't care what a mini is made of as long as it's a decent cast & reasonably priced for the quality. Plastics do have the benefit of being easy to convert/modify.
For the mini maker the cost of equipment necessary to produce plastics is SO MUCH more than that of metals, he'd better be sure of his market before investing.

[TwoGunBob]

I'm not one to say placcie minis are heretical or anything but a good 90% of my collection is metal. I've never really gotten to interested in a game with plastic minis for some reason. I've got the Warzone plastic troopers and some Tyranids but the rest of my collection is metal. Usually it's that the price is invariably the same as metal so if I'm parting with change I want the heft of lead.

[DoctorPete]

Plastic or resin doesn't bother me as long as the quality and cost are attractive. Seems like producing plastic minis for a game where you need only one of each figure is very expensive compared to Perry or Wargames Factory, etc...who produce figures for building armies.  Even though I know it is quite costly to produce a plastic mini, I hate paying the same price for a single plastic toy as I paid for a weighty, hard, shiny metal toy.

[Doomsdave]

It's going to be ABS plastic though, so I think it should hold detail pretty well and be somewhat damage resistant.  We'll see how they turn out.  I'm not opposed to plastic in general, but it has to look good.

On a side note that Troll Cast stuff the chap on Frothers was casting in looks fantastic.  I would buy anything made in it.

[FramFramson]

I do like metal myself. I've probably mentioned that I do all my metals (armour, swords, etc) as unpainted ink washes whenever possible.

[tnjrp]

Even though I know it is quite costly to produce a plastic mini, I hate paying the same price for a single plastic toy as I paid for a weighty, hard, shiny metal toy

Well, they do promise to include more option bitz per kit in the future so it would compensate a little for the "same price for plastic as for metal" part. One notes that moving to plastic is only part of the deal - they are going to CAD as well at the same time. So it's pretty much a complete reboot of the entire line.

As a side note, I don't play Malifaux, or plan to, although I have one or two random minis from the line gathering dust somewheres. Might get a few more even if they are "cadded placcies"

[robh]

I am another fan of plastics. I like the ease with which they can be converted and find that painted hard plastic figures do not suffer paint rubbing/chipping the way metal ones do (despite varnish coats). The material is certainly not stopping me.
The excessive price on the other hand has. Malifaux is far too expensive, if plastic = cheaper then I may have been tempted.

On a side note that Troll Cast stuff the chap on Frothers was casting in looks fantastic.  I would buy anything made in it.

Agreed this material is amazing. I have a set of the goblins he does and they are wonderful. Very crisp detail, no flash, no holes or miscasts, good undercuts and it has a surprising degree of flexibility and snap resistance for a hard plastic. To my mind the perfect gaming figure material.

[Lawful Evil]

As interested as I have been with the mish-mash setting of Malifaux, I've yet to buy a single mini. With the move to plastic, and the previews they've shown for the new minis, I can say for certain I'll be getting into this game in a big way.

[The Dozing Dragon]

Too expensive for me in metal so it's a no-hoper anyway.......

[abdul666lw]

But *why* to feel compelled to play Malifaux with 'official' figurines?
Coming from historical (almost: Hyboria) gaming I can't but feel the 'compulsory' association of a setting with a set of rules and a range of miniatures totally... artificial (if a clever marketing trick). If you want to re-fight Gaugamela, you enjoy a free choice from very different rules and a cornucopia of miniatures ranges. Then, this is also true of any fictional setting: a GW fanboy will know illumination when realizing he can play in the WH40K intriguing universe with Stargrunt2 rules and a mixture of 15mm minis! Thus I'm sure Malifaux can be enjoyed with very different figurines; as a fan of ('alternate', specially) 18th C.  http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Dilwnimo0MI/RuAd3SB9FII/AAAAAAAAAK4/7rhD0NXq_kg/s1600-h/Absurdie.JPEG when I read exciting reports of 'adventure' games traditionally set in other periods (earlier -3 Musketeers type swashbuckling- or later -gothic horror, Lovecraftiana, VSF...), or view movies such as 'Gingersnaps - the beginning' or 'Werewolf - the beast among us', I dream of having them set in the tricornes era.
Such commercial games do exist, 'A touch of evil' http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35815/a-touch-of-evil-the-supernatural-game / http://www.flyingfrog.net/atouchofevil/ and 'Carnevale' http://www.vesper-on.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=12&lang=en but why staying 'enslaved' to them (though they can be a good source of minis and ideas)?
When enjoying to read a 'Chaos in Carpathia' campaign http://geektactica.blogspot.fr/search/label/Gothic%20Horror%20Campaign I fail to see why it could not be played with minis in tricorne. And can't help thinking 'Pike and Shot and zombies' could be used to play 'Pride and prejudice and zombies' by the time of Barry Lyndon
A 18th C. transposition of 'Strange Aeons' was successfully attempted http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.fr/search/label/Strange%20Aeons%2018th%20century (could as well be done with 'Mansions of Madness', I'm sure), so I regularly bore the TMP readers with suggestions to play 'Empire of the Dead' http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=276792 and even 'Malifaux' http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=251127 by Lace Wars times.
(and since I joined the LAF I don't spare its members http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=44255.msg517366#msg517366  /   http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=32208.msg472801#msg472801   /  http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=42516.msg514954#msg514954   / http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=43074.msg503774#msg503774 )

[Belgian]

But *why* to feel compelled to play Malifaux with 'official' figurines?
Coming from historical (almost: Hyboria) gaming I can't but feel the 'compulsory' association of a setting with a set of rules and a range of miniatures totally... artificial (if a clever marketing trick). If you want to re-fight Gaugamela, you enjoy a free choice from very different rules and a cornucopia of miniatures ranges. Then, this is also true of any fictional setting: a GW fanboy will know illumination when realizing he can play in the WH40K intriguing universe with Stargrunt2 rules and a mixture of 15mm minis! Thus I'm sure Malifaux can be enjoyed with very different figurines; as a fan of ('alternate', specially) 18th C.  http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Dilwnimo0MI/RuAd3SB9FII/AAAAAAAAAK4/7rhD0NXq_kg/s1600-h/Absurdie.JPEG when I read exciting reports of 'adventure' games traditionally set in other periods (earlier -3 Musketeers type swashbuckling- or later -gothic horror, Lovecraftiana, VSF...), or view movies such as 'Gingersnaps - the beginning' or 'Werewolf - the beast among us', I dream of having them set in the tricornes era.
Such commercial games do exist, 'A touch of evil' http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35815/a-touch-of-evil-the-supernatural-game / http://www.flyingfrog.net/atouchofevil/ and 'Carnevale' http://www.vesper-on.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=12&lang=en but why staying 'enslaved' to them (though they can be a good source of minis and ideas)?
When enjoying to read a 'Chaos in Carpathia' campaign http://geektactica.blogspot.fr/search/label/Gothic%20Horror%20Campaign I fail to see why it could not be played with minis in tricorne. And can't help thinking 'Pike and Shot and zombies' could be used to play 'Pride and prejudice and zombies' by the time of Barry Lyndon
A 18th C. transposition of 'Strange Aeons' was successfully attempted http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.fr/search/label/Strange%20Aeons%2018th%20century (could as well be done with 'Mansions of Madness', I'm sure), so I regularly bore the TMP readers with suggestions to play 'Empire of the Dead' http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=276792 and even 'Malifaux' http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=251127 by Lace Wars times.
(and since I joined the LAF I don't spare its members http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=44255.msg517366#msg517366  /   http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=32208.msg472801#msg472801   /  http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=42516.msg514954#msg514954   / http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=43074.msg503774#msg503774 )

Abdul666lw you always make me laugh because of the sheer number of links you use in your posts! About Malifaux strange they choose for plastic as I thought malifaux was a skirmish game with not so much miniatures on one side?

[tnjrp]

Maybe they are enjoying the good fortune of having made the players want to buy into much more than a single faction and moreover to want to get everything for every faction they buy into? When everybody buys one of everything, it sums up to a not insignificant amount, one supposes.

---

Thus I'm sure Malifaux can be enjoyed with very different figurines

This point of view seems not to be shared by a considerable number of people. There are a good many who mix and match miniatures fairly freely of course but some just don't seem to want to do it. Perchance they are in the more-or-less official tourney circuit for their specific games, or play at gaming clubs/game stores with more-or-less official reps from the respective companies - several of which do like to proscribe limitations to use of third party stuff and in some cases even conversion.

[Kitsune]

Not really bothered what they make the minis out of as long as they are good.

If they keep the same price for plastic as they do for metal, then I think I've bought my last from Wyrd.