Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Introducing the next series of articles

I have long advocated for things to differentiate Warhammer. While the basic system is good, there are only so many times I can line up and play “kill them all dead”. That is a strategy that favors whoever is best at pure killiness or survivability.




Whether the model removal is accomplished through magic, war machines, massed missile fire or close combat specialty, the army that has the stronger kill factor wins that game every time.



If one army can stand out of range of the other and drop template weapons on them all day, it is an easy win. Likewise, if one army can cast devastating, unstopped magic on the other without fear of reprisal, it is again an easy win. And of course if an army of unstoppable, untouchable death merchants falls upon weak, unarmored troops, it is going to be a slaughter.



So the idea then is for troops who are vulnerable to shooting to stay out of sight, range, or both. Troops that are going to get devastated in close combat should try to keep distance between themselves and better warriors. And magic users should be sent to the bone pile asap, as defense against magic is seldom effective.



So every game tends to have many similar elements. The same order of targets, the same goals, and so forth. I try to mix it up as much as possible.



In 7th we were rolling on a campaign that I was finding highly entertaining. Armies of different sizes instead of “I have x number of points, you do” were replaced by “I have x number of points, you have y number”. It was quite entertaining.



I also loved the elements of one battle’s outcome impacting the next. Instead of having the same size unit all the time, forces were fluctuating. It kept the game fresh and interesting.



But with 8th, many of the elements no longer worked. Just having straight up fight after straight up fight tends to get stale, but there was a hidden gem within the 8th rulebook.



Enter the scenarios.



While flat out tabling the opponent still works, now there are other ways to win or lose a game. There are a host of new tactics and strategies available. Even list building is affected as the clever list-builder will take into account the need to provide a unit to start in the watchtower, plenty of fortitude for Blood and Glory, and even how to handle not having his troops where he wants them.



However, not everyone has a grasp on how the scenarios work. So over the next few days or weeks, the plan is to briefly address strategies you might find helpful in playing the various scenarios.

1 comment:

Leather Key Fobs said...

Not everyone has a grasp on how the scenarios work. well thanks for sharing!