So somehow the week I had said the next post would take, turned into a month. I've got a lot of life stuff on the boil right now, so these are certainly exciting times. Things should hopefully even out soon, and we can start seeing some regular postings here.
A few weeks ago, I played a couple of small games of Warmachine, and I feel like I'm starting to get a bit of a handle on how the game works. First though, a bit of a disclaimer. As with every game I take a look at, there are more in depth resources to be found elsewhere. I'll start collecting resource pages as time goes by, but the purview of this blog is a brief look at many different games. Comments are of course always welcome, but just keep in mind that the odds are good I won't go into enough depth on any given topic.
My buddy and I got together at our friendly local gaming store (FLGS) for a couple of quick, 15 point matches (35 and 50 being generally considered the "standard" tournament sizes). This would give us the chance to keep the number of combos in play at a manageable level, and ensure that it played relatively quickly (as there would be many rulebook checks). We played a simple mission, the 'caster kill (I'll get into this after). We each chose simple 15 point lists, with no solos. I played my Retribution of Scyrah list, with prime Vyross as my warcaster, a full unit of Dawnguard Sentinels with command, and a Phoenix Heavy Myrmidon. To the best of my recollection, my opponent brought his Protectorate of Menoth list with prime Kreoss, a 5 man Choir, 2 light warjacks (a Repentor and a Redeemer, I believe), and a heavy warjack (a Vanquisher?). Both games we played, I won the first turn. I was going to need it, as a complete lack of shooting on my part meant I was going to move my models across the board quickly.
The 'caster kill mission is a simple one that also just sits over the top of any other mission. Kill the enemy warcaster, and win the game. In many basic ways, Warmachine plays like Chess. In this, a 'caster kill is simply capturing your opponent's King. Threat lines and ranges are some of the most important aspects of Warmachine, and this is true of Chess also. Force your enemy to move his pieces into your threat bubble so that you get the first shot, and not the other way around. It's important to establish that despite this, the pace of Warmachine is also much faster than many other games I've played. One cannot play the game in a Mexican standoff, and all the more common scenarios enforce this (for example, "Killing Field",where objectives must be captured in the middle of the board, or "Mosh Pit", a king-of-the-hill type scenario).
We set up a simple, symmetrical board. A building in the middle of the board to obstruct fire lanes, a patch of trees on each side, and a wall on each side. This would allow us to play with the cover rules. I deployed as far forward as I could, with my Phoenix in the middle, and three groups of Sentinels bunched around it. Vyross sat in the back, with one of the Sentinel groups. My buddy deployed his Menoth in a firing line, fairly far back. Given that his list was almost all shooting warjacks, there was a good deal of sense in that. He put Kreoss behind the Vanquisher, and the Choir was conga-lined across the whole firing line.
My strategy was to have Vyross cast inviolable resolve on the Sentinels, bringing them up to ARM 19 with their unit buffs. They would run beside and behind the Phoenix, who would have hallowed avenger cast on it. Between that, and the Sentinels' vengeance, I was hoping this would get me up the board much quicker than their stats would indicate. Hopefully there would be enough units left over that I could chew him up with much stronger melee once I hit his line.
He did not make it easy for me. I took a great deal of hits before I got up to his gunline, and even then it was only on a fluke roll that I managed to live through an assassination attempt. That attempt left his 'caster exposed, and after dusting themselves off, my Phoenix and 'caster took him out in a single turn. A few learning points. My buddy learned about the importance of managing unit coherence. His Choir was strung out fairly thinly, and this ended with one of the Choir failing command and falling back off the table. This was the Choir that was using his brutal buffs to make the Vanquisher a serious pain in my side. This ended up costing him his Vanquisher. On the flipside of that coin, I learned not to bunch up against Menoth, even for ARM buffs, as their sprays will punish close groups. Secondly, playing that game made me glad about my choice of gaming partner. We had a problem at one point deciding whether leftover focus (the spell currency of the game) could be used to boost warjack attacks on off-activation attacks. We couldn't find it in the rulebook, so we rolled off. We know now that you cannot do that (which proved beneficial for me), but I was glad that it had been resolved so amicably. Thirdly, I learned to play it a little closer when estimating charge distances. I ended up falling short by a half inch for a charge attack with my Phoenix, and this meant he spent a turn doing nothing other than collecting damage. A little more conservative guessing would have meant I never lost that attack. Finally, I learned not to expose my 'caster as badly as I did in that game. I ended up lucking out, but I cannot count on lousy rolls all the time. To quote Eddings, never leave live enemies behind you.
The second game was more of an anomaly, as another player in the FLGS was looking to play his first game, and we made it a multiplayer game. I was caught in the middle of the two on the middle edge, so I decided to charge the Menoth player and kill him outright before then attacking the Cryx player. With the same strategy as before, I charged his gunline as fast as I could. As I was reaching his line, he stepped Kreoss out in front and popped his knockdown feat, hoping to kill Vyross in turn 2. Unluckily for him, I had kept focus on Vyross as an ARM buff, and he lived. This, in addition to some activation order problems, resulted in his army not having much to shoot at (as Kreoss was in the way). A few cooked Sentinels and a slightly singed Vyross were all that ended up happening. On my turn, Vyross and the Phoenix got up, and one-shot Kreoss. Meanwhile, the Cryx player had been making his way across the board with his Deneghra battlebox list. I was out of position from the Menoth attack, and ended up losing the match to especially sneaky attacks from Denghra and the Slayer. This match wasn't as instructive as the first, given that it was a multiplayer match, and my buddy's early fluke got him eliminated quickly. It was, however, a good opportunity to cement some of the things I knew about activation order priority and become familiar with some of my models' statistics. I did a better job of keeping Vyross buttoned up, but Kreoss' brutal knockdown feat is not something against which one can easily prepare.
I was hoping to give some of the warjack power attacks a go in these games, but the opportunity never came up. Also, a strict reliance on melee meant I wasn't using terrain, and I wasn't using any of the fun aiming or combined attacks. Next time I play, I think I'll be putting a little more shooting in my list, and maybe upping the points to 25 to see if I can't squeeze in a couple of those excellent Retribution solos. With Ravyn and some Mage Hunters on order, I think that might be a great way to really give my buddy a run for his money.
Assuming I don't go dark again, next up in the hopper for review will probably end up being either Catan or Power Grid. If there are any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Cribbage: First Thoughts
I realize cribbage probably isn't exactly one of the more popular boardgames in existence right now, especially given it's age and how far gaming has come in the last twenty years. That said, I think there are some very real benefits to getting to know the strategies involved in this game.
Essentially, cribbage is a boardgame for two or three players. The players attempt to move their pieces from one end of the board to the other, faster than the other players. They do this by scoring points with playing cards. There are two broad means of scoring points after the cards have been dealt, and the hands have been selected. One, players attempt to construct the most points-lucrative four-card hands possible, given the cards they were dealt. A good deal of this is luck, especially given that the communal card is flipped after the hands are selected. Two, players play cards in turn, adding up to piles of thirty-one. The players will attempt to play combos off of each other in an attempt to gain additional points. This phase benefits from a flexibly constructed hand.
Cribbage teaches players the ability to make the best out of a bad hand, something lacking in games where the setup or list-building is crucial to gameplay (original Catan, Warhammer 40k, etc...). One especially good or bad hand can reverse your fortunes entirely. It teaches the player to account for the element of chance, and use it as best they can. When forming your hand at the beginning of a turn, sometimes it is best to give up a point or two in the final count if it means having a more flexible hand during the first phase of play.
It also incentivizes players to create flexible hands, and try to anticipate the other players' play during the first phase of the turn. A player who draws a card popular in the construction of sets of fifteen (say, a 5), but has no 10s with which to gain points, might still be advised to keep it given that face cards are all valued at 10, and will show up often in play. This may seem confusing, but I'll briefly outline the scoring system, and this should hopefully make what I'm saying somewhat clearer.
Scoring in cribbage is reminiscent of blackjack and poker. Points are counted from your hand in the second phase of a turn's play, and include the communally flipped card. Runs are worth the number of cards in the combo (three cards in a row will buy you 3 points). Four cards of the same suit (a flush) will gain you 4 points. Pairs are worth 2 points, three-of-a-kind will buy you 6 points, and four-of-a-kind will buy you 8 points. If you should have in your hand the jack of the suit that is flipped, or you are the dealer who flips it, you gain a point in your final count. The real bread and butter of the cribbage hand is the set of 15. Any different combination of cards in your hand (including the communally flipped card) that adds up to 15 will net you 2 points.
As an example, say a player is dealt the five of hearts, the five of diamonds, the jack of spades, and the king of spades. The Queen of spades is flipped as the communal card. The player would receive points in this order:
Cribbage rules have been detailed elsewhere in more depth, and with better clarity. All I am attempting to convey in this post is that cribbage has the necessary complexity to be strategically interesting (as opposed to, say, the cardgame war), but is still contingent on a large element of chance. People who enjoy the strategies of poker or 7 Wonders might well find cribbage interesting. As you play more games with a given player, you begin to learn how their style of play works, and you can be rewarded in cribbage for knowing this. A given player may, for instance, be risk-adverse to the point where they choose not to play runs, and stick to combinations of 15. This is useful to know as that player's opponent, as you will be more likely to score off them in the first phase of play. Additionally, that player will be punished for being strategically inflexible in the second phase of play.
Cribbage is one of those games that have survived the test of time because the replay value is immense. Every opponent brings a fresh set of strategies. The rules are easy enough to learn in one sitting, yet complex enough to take years to master. There is no purchasing barrier for different players. It is a great way to learn how to game on a budget. I would say it is easily one of my favourite games, and I would highly recommend it to any tactically-minded gamers.
Essentially, cribbage is a boardgame for two or three players. The players attempt to move their pieces from one end of the board to the other, faster than the other players. They do this by scoring points with playing cards. There are two broad means of scoring points after the cards have been dealt, and the hands have been selected. One, players attempt to construct the most points-lucrative four-card hands possible, given the cards they were dealt. A good deal of this is luck, especially given that the communal card is flipped after the hands are selected. Two, players play cards in turn, adding up to piles of thirty-one. The players will attempt to play combos off of each other in an attempt to gain additional points. This phase benefits from a flexibly constructed hand.
Cribbage teaches players the ability to make the best out of a bad hand, something lacking in games where the setup or list-building is crucial to gameplay (original Catan, Warhammer 40k, etc...). One especially good or bad hand can reverse your fortunes entirely. It teaches the player to account for the element of chance, and use it as best they can. When forming your hand at the beginning of a turn, sometimes it is best to give up a point or two in the final count if it means having a more flexible hand during the first phase of play.
It also incentivizes players to create flexible hands, and try to anticipate the other players' play during the first phase of the turn. A player who draws a card popular in the construction of sets of fifteen (say, a 5), but has no 10s with which to gain points, might still be advised to keep it given that face cards are all valued at 10, and will show up often in play. This may seem confusing, but I'll briefly outline the scoring system, and this should hopefully make what I'm saying somewhat clearer.
Scoring in cribbage is reminiscent of blackjack and poker. Points are counted from your hand in the second phase of a turn's play, and include the communally flipped card. Runs are worth the number of cards in the combo (three cards in a row will buy you 3 points). Four cards of the same suit (a flush) will gain you 4 points. Pairs are worth 2 points, three-of-a-kind will buy you 6 points, and four-of-a-kind will buy you 8 points. If you should have in your hand the jack of the suit that is flipped, or you are the dealer who flips it, you gain a point in your final count. The real bread and butter of the cribbage hand is the set of 15. Any different combination of cards in your hand (including the communally flipped card) that adds up to 15 will net you 2 points.
As an example, say a player is dealt the five of hearts, the five of diamonds, the jack of spades, and the king of spades. The Queen of spades is flipped as the communal card. The player would receive points in this order:
- 5 of hearts + jack of spades = 2 pts
- 5 of hearts + king of spades = 2 pts
- 5 of hearts + queen of spades = 2 pts
- the same three face cards, but with the 5 of diamonds = 2 pts each, total 6 pts
- pair of 5s = 2 pts
- run of jack, queen, king = 3 pts
- jack of the flipped suit = 1 pt
Cribbage rules have been detailed elsewhere in more depth, and with better clarity. All I am attempting to convey in this post is that cribbage has the necessary complexity to be strategically interesting (as opposed to, say, the cardgame war), but is still contingent on a large element of chance. People who enjoy the strategies of poker or 7 Wonders might well find cribbage interesting. As you play more games with a given player, you begin to learn how their style of play works, and you can be rewarded in cribbage for knowing this. A given player may, for instance, be risk-adverse to the point where they choose not to play runs, and stick to combinations of 15. This is useful to know as that player's opponent, as you will be more likely to score off them in the first phase of play. Additionally, that player will be punished for being strategically inflexible in the second phase of play.
Cribbage is one of those games that have survived the test of time because the replay value is immense. Every opponent brings a fresh set of strategies. The rules are easy enough to learn in one sitting, yet complex enough to take years to master. There is no purchasing barrier for different players. It is a great way to learn how to game on a budget. I would say it is easily one of my favourite games, and I would highly recommend it to any tactically-minded gamers.
Hello Boardgamers!
Given that this is the first post, the blog itself is going to be a little on the ugly side until I settle in. The Catan background, for instance, is something I've borrowed. Once I get a little more gaming in, I'll put something a little better suited together.
The reach on this blog is pretty broad, so don't expect the same depth that you might get from Bols, Boardgamegeek, Kotaku or any of the myriad of gaming subreddits. What I will do, though, is try a bunch of different games. Something in the vein of Watch It Played!, or Tabletop, but a little more budget friendly, and a little more diverse (say, Ticket to Ride one week, and Mordheim or DnD the next).
Where possible, I'll also try to avoid game-specific jargon, or at least explain it, so as to make reading a little easier on first-time players (the intended audience of these posts). Also, just given the sheer variety of games I'm invested in, don't expect any larger games. People looking for Warhammer 40k Apocalypse writeups should probably seek elsewhere.
Having just played a game of cribbage last night, I think I'll start there. Tomorrow, I've lined up a 15 point game of Warmachine with a buddy. I'll do a writeup of that sometime tomorrow evening. If there are any questions or requests, please feel free to let me know.
The reach on this blog is pretty broad, so don't expect the same depth that you might get from Bols, Boardgamegeek, Kotaku or any of the myriad of gaming subreddits. What I will do, though, is try a bunch of different games. Something in the vein of Watch It Played!, or Tabletop, but a little more budget friendly, and a little more diverse (say, Ticket to Ride one week, and Mordheim or DnD the next).
Where possible, I'll also try to avoid game-specific jargon, or at least explain it, so as to make reading a little easier on first-time players (the intended audience of these posts). Also, just given the sheer variety of games I'm invested in, don't expect any larger games. People looking for Warhammer 40k Apocalypse writeups should probably seek elsewhere.
Having just played a game of cribbage last night, I think I'll start there. Tomorrow, I've lined up a 15 point game of Warmachine with a buddy. I'll do a writeup of that sometime tomorrow evening. If there are any questions or requests, please feel free to let me know.
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