065 - Malifools Radio

Something seems to have happened in the wider Malifaux community in the last three or four months. I'm not sure what's caused it, but it's definitely noticable, and it's definitely a good thing. I'm referring to the growth in the list of fan-created Malifaux podcasts, Youtube channels and blogs.

Looking back to the start of 2012, if you wanted a fix of Malifaux media content you needed to wait a month or two for Ian and Julian over at The Aethervox, or Bill at Gamer's Lounge to release their next episode. There was basically nothing else, and the intervals were sometimes long. Compare that to today - there's now so much to listen to or watch that you'll struggle to find enough free time to fit it all in!

New upstart podcasts on the scene include Cheated Fates Radio, Lost Boys Radio, Tartan Skirmish Radio and Malifools Radio,. and fledgling Youtube video series include Joeyfaux and Soulstone Train. All of these are excellent,  make for ideal background listening/viewing material for a painting session, and I cannot recommend them strongly enough. I expect there will be others that I've forgotten to mention, or that I'm just not aware of, so please let me know and I'll check them out!

Recently I've been getting up to date with the aforementioned Malifools Radio podcast, presented by Mike, Conrad and Jon. It's only six episodes in but it's gotten off to a great start, and their release schedule is astonishingly frequent.

The thing I like most about the Malifools is their relaxed presenting style. Never taking themselves too seriously, the three contributors chat about Malifaux in an informal, affable, way, with as much time given over to teasing, self deprecation and banter as to Malifaux. The content is always interesting, and although I'm sure they'd be the first to disagree, their production values are very very high - the introduction featuring Dom "Dumb Luck" Westerland is particularly spot-on. Although seasoned wargamers of other systems, Mike and Conrad are relatively new to Malifaux, and full of the enthusiasm that comes with that. Jon is their resident Henchman, with a little more knowledge and experience, and the three differing points of view makes for a balanced and insightful discussion.

Each episode, the Malifools tend to chat through a couple of topics arising from the forums, give an update on the games they've played recently, have a Q&A session of listener submitted questions, and interview the occasional "special guest". Champions of their Malifools ethos (patent pending?), the presenters are not especially competitive players (yet), instead emphasising the importance of having fun, and making sure your opponent has fun, rather than winning at all costs. Obviously an ideal to be commended - it's no surprise at all to me that they've walked away with two Sportsmanship awards at recent UK tournaments.

If there's one thing that I see perhaps causing them trouble in the future, it's that they're recording so frequently, and with each podcast clocking in at longer than 2 hours, that it's concievable that they may find that they run out of things to talk about, especially once GenCon preview season is passed.

Although I rubbed shoulders with Mike and Conrad at the Doubles GT in March, I haven't met Jon or had the pleasure of playing against any of them, but hopefully we'll be able to cross fate decks at an upcoming tournament or two.

Congrats on a great podcast guys - long may it continue!