Money in miniatures games

The Malifools had a very interesting discussion this week regarding limited pools which led into a discussion about if a player with more money has a greater chance of winning games against a player with less money, due to owning more models. This got me thinking as it was a great topic and I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the subject. So with absolutely no request for my opinion or thoughts on the matter I'm putting on my size 14's and jumping in, cause hey, that's what the internet if for, 

One of the hosts Mr Ben Sime who I believe has a background in the MtG game strongly felt the player who was able to buy more models would be more successful in the Malifaux game. Now having once played a few CCGs in my time I would agree that normally this is the case.

From a business case there is a natural progression to this, you can see if the most powerful cards are more challenging to obtain then the more booster packs will be sold. It was certainly my experience that those players who could afford more cards had a better chance of being successful. This was known as being “Mr Suitcase”.

However in the Malifaux world the focus of the game seems to be high quality models and rules. The business model which follows that a great looking game with good rules leads to people buying more models/books.

Personally I’m fortunate that I’ve reached a point in my life where if I really want a model then I can go ahead and pick it up without too much worry. It’s fair to say that miniature games are a luxury hobby at this point and the assumption is you that most players have a fair amount of disposable income to be involved in the game most players provided they plan purchases can pick up the models that they need.

Because (with a few notable exceptions) there is a free availability of Wyrd miniatures the cost of the models is less of a factor as opposed to the 2 other key factors which are play group and experience.  Both topics could take a full discussion but in short if you have strong competitive players in your local meta you are likely to develop into a stronger player. Equally if you have a diverse meta where you can play against a range of masters and factions you will be better equipped to deal with these masters when facing them in a competitive environment.

Finally knowing your crew and how to use them (experience) I believe will contribute to a stronger player. Someone who has played 7 games with one master I believe would have a great ablity to defeat someone who has played 7 games with each different master from the same faction. This is because it allows the knowledge of abilities and tactics to become more of a habit rather than constantly needing to remember all of the rules and interactions of the crew that they are using. Allowing them to formulate tactics and strategy while there opponent is still trying to remember the difference between Hard to Wound or Impossible to Wound and which suits he needs to keep in his hand.

Just a bit of my own thoughts, great discussion and if you’ve not checked out the Malifools (which considering you are reading this blog seems unlikely) you really should, they are on a great run of episodes at the moment, event without Spoons.