Through the Breach - Choosing Your Allegience - The Guild (Part 1)

Each of the factions in Malifaux has it's own general theme with the various 'Masters' of that faction representing aspects of it. As your allowed to select your crew after mission is selected there is obviously a significant advantage to having a lot of choices available and as your selections are (for the most part) limited to your chosen faction you need to pick one that our going to both enjoy using and like the models of...I therefore thought that a series of articles on the various factions might be useful...

We'll start with the Guild...

The Guild are the law, the government and the people who come for you quietly during the night...or loudly during the day. They existed solely to facilitate the production of Soulstone and desperate to maintain control of this priceless resource, conjurers, magicians, and wizards came together to establish the Guild in Malifaux. Together they ensure that the Breach is never closed and that Soulstone production is never threatened. They're also meant to be the people who maintain peace and justice...and they do...occasionally...if it suits them...which isn't often...


Lets first look at the three original Masters (though perhaps Mistresses would be more accurate) who enforce the will of the Guild...

Lady Justice.

The Death Marshals were created to combat the growing Resurrectionist threat, however finding some-one to lead them in their purpose was a bit trickier. Unfortunately the weapons needed to combat the undead are as corrupting as the Resurrectionists own techniques for raising them in the first place so 'real danger of going bat-shit insane' wasn't exactly causing candidates to line up for the job....that is until Lady J volunteered. Her past is a mystery to all but it is rumoured that the same incident that cost her her sight is the same one that granted her her immunity to the corruption that plagues others who take up the path of the Death Marshall.

A rare picture of Lady Justice from before the accident...

In game terms she's most useful for hunting undead though her melee abilities work well against practically anything. She has abilities that allow her to remove counters left by removed models and is also able to inspire other models when she kills something...and as she'll be killing shit anyway you might as well take advantage of the fact...

Sonnia Criid.

Sonnia's mandate from the Guild is to eliminate the threat to it that comes from those magic using rebels who work outside their authority, namely the Arcanists. Though to the outside observer her loyalty to the Guild seems absolute, her loyalty is actually to the pursuit of magic and she sees the Guild's theories and procedures as the last gasps of a dying art. With the Breach's opening she has discovered vast repositories of mystical knowledge which point to mastery of Soulstones as the truest arcane art Malifaux can offer her and she hopes to use this knowledge to remove the Arcanist threat and increase her own power. Illegal practitioners of magic are subject to harsh penalties under Guild law and Sonnia hunts them down using methods even other Guild members see as draconian...but she gets results...and that's what's really important...

If your crew rely's extensively on spells to get the job done then Sonnia is an absolute bloody nightmare to deal with due to her Advanced Counterspell ability. Though not as potent in melee as Lady Justice she is still very proficient with her own weapons and her ranged spells such as Violation of Magic and Flame Burst do considerable damage. Under the right circumstances she can even create new Witchling stalkers to assist her.

Perdita Ortega.

Perdita and her family are somewhat of a legend in Malifaux and their are few who have not heard of them and their beautiful and deadly raven haired leader. Their battles against the Neverborn are so famous that they even are the subject of dime store novels Earthside and boys and girls play out their battles during their games. The rest of the Ortega family have embraced the life of a frontier celebrity but not so Perdita who prefers to shun the limelight and rarely leaves the family compound for any purpose other than the hunting of Neverborn. Her ability to bend bullets around corners, see in the dark, even her lighting fast reflexes which give her the appearance of predicting the future aren't things she has pride in as she perceives them simply as natural talents...the thing that she takes pride in is killing monsters...and she's extremely good at it.

The fact that Perdita has one of the highest Df (Defence) scores in the game, has the 'Fast' Ability (giving her an extra Action each turn) and has Triggers and Abilities that allow her to interrupt an enemy models attack and shoot them first means you need to be really sure you can succeed in your attack before targeting her. Additionally, she can companion with any of the models that count as her family and create a seriously powerful torrent of attacks against any threat.

Next week (or thereabouts depending on how loud Lauby shouts at me) we'll look at the rest of the Guilds Masters...

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.