Malifaux Story Background and Overview

Malifaux is described by the Wyrd Miniatures LLC as a brutal 32mm miniature scale skirmish tabletop game. It is set in a Gothic Victorian horror alternative-Earth setting with a dose of the Wild West, in the year 1901.

The history is found on their website here. Boiled down it goes as follows:
Magic using humans opened a gate to another place in 1787 and changed history. Most survivors became empowered with abilities. In this other place was an existing large city, called Malifaux in found records, with no trace of its inhabitants. A mine located nearby had stones which could be used as a magical power source and recharged with the souls of the dying. Earth thrived for 10 years as the world of Malifaux was colonized and this new magical power was used. Then the gate closed after a message was gruesomely sent to our wold...ours.
An organization of magic using humans took up the job of protecting the soulstones that were in our world and called itself the Guild. They were brutal but dependance of our world on this new power had to be controlled, according to them.
One-hundred years later the gate opened and although traces of battle were found in the ruins of the city, no trace of its residence could again be found. The Guild moved in and colonization by miscreants and criminals, those the Guild could control, began again.
Four years have passed and other factions are making their presence known. The factions in the Malifaux game currently are:
Guild: Fascist protectors of the system of mining, hording and selling of soulstones.
Neverborn: They are the horde of legends, dreams and monsters made real. They also want the world of Malifaux to remain theirs.
Arcanists: Mostly all humans that come to the world of Malifaux exhibit minor magical abilities. Some that gain greater powers become Arcanists. They are on the run from the law and often fight the Guild.
Resurrections: Those whose magical abilities lead them to the closer study of the nature of the soulstones and its ability to draw power from the dying, often find their way to this group.They also seek the secrets of the dead.
Outcasts: Those who fit in no group are part of this one.

Pros: The background has a hockey-sock full of genres and ties them together nicely, with room to grow. It feels right and that's why i like the background.

Cons: It has a hockey-sock full of genres. Many people prefer one or two themes mashed together but with 4 I can see it being imposing to some. To focus, find a master for a gang you like the genre for and get their starter box. The Malifaux website has several excellent suggestions for models to expand the starter boxes.
Here's the Perdita one as an example. They suggest her totem (Enslaved Nephilium) to cast spells through, Abuela Ortega (another family member, healer and more), Guild Guard (for fodder), Guild Austringer (for more ranged attacks but behind cover), and Executioner (for a really really good and tough close combat model).

I only played five games before i jumped in and bought/painted the Lilith box and Perdita box (with extras). Very inexpensive compared to horde type tabletop miniature games and comparable in cost to other skirmish games like Infinity (which I also got miniatures for). So try it out at a store near you. Victoria BC's nearest dealer is Dice Bag Games in Duncan. A great bunch of guys there and they offer a discount to military, police and firefighters.