A Warcry Lover's Welcome to Malediction

I think one of the biggest developments in the tabletop gaming space over the last year and a half has been the proliferation of fantasy skirmish games with apparent intent to be "in it for the long haul." Maybe it's just the type of game that indie devs are excited about, maybe it's a result of game companies like Corvus Belli rounding out their current miniature range, or maybe some in the business think that GW's relatively low support for Warcry and Underworlds opens up a soft spot in the market. Whatever it is, I couldn't be more excited about the wave of new games we've gotten in the past 18 months, and today I want to talk about my favorite of those games, Malediction.

I first encountered this game in the Adepticon vendor hall seven months ago. I've been playing it off and on since then, and I've been itching to create a sortof "welcome" orientation to the game for some time now. Why did I choose this moment? Well, on October 22nd, Malediction is going to preview it's first expansion to the core game that debuted on Gamefound in 2024. I think we'll learn a lot from the first two expansions about whether or not the game is set up to have real staying power as it gears up for a wide release into local game stores. With that in mind, I've created a welcome video for the game.

This won't be a learn-to-play resource. There are already so many of those out there, and I could never do better than what the game itself provides in the rules. Instead, I'll chat about game mechanics, factions, and seekers, to give you a sense of the world of this game, in terms of setting, miniatures, and playstyle. Hopefully you enjoy the video, and if you're on the fence about watching, here is a brief rundown of the game style, so you can decide if you want to learn more:

Fantasy skirmish combat.
A fairly deep set LCG (living card game) deckbuilding mechanics.
The battle plays out on a terrain-dense board between units that you've summoned as a direct result of your card-game battle.
Four Fleshed-out factions with contrasting lore, aesthetics, and playstyles.
Eight champions, or seekers, that help bring personality to your decks and miniatures.
A wide variety of investment levels, depending on whether you'd like to play using the intro boxes with standees, or whether you'd like to buy/print some of the miniatures
Still a somewhat limited number of cards and potential builds for most seekers. The next set of expansions being previewed on Oct 22nd will be fascinating in this context.

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Tags: Warcry | Podcasts | malediction