Savin Lightguard
Dwarf Retribution Paladin
Honor- 8
Armor- 3
Resist- 3
Health- 8
Grand Marshal’s Demolisher- 4 tick, 1 range, 7 melee
Crit- Damage +x, where x is the number of damaged allies (including this character)
Blessing of Wisdom- Each adjacent ally may pay 1 tick less to make a magical attack. If it does, also add 1 tick to Savin.
Now here's a character you can build a party around. The best way to milk Blessing of Wisdom is via 2-tick attacks. With two casters you can be making two attacks every tick. Sure Savin won't get another turn but who cares? He waltzes in, drops a 7 dice attack, and for the rest of the game can use tanking reacts to protect his trigger happy buddies.
Ta'zo
Troll Fire Mage
Honor- 8
Armor- 1
Resist- 2
Health- 5
Scorch- 2 tick, 3 range, 5 magic (fire)
Crit- Damage +1
Impact- When Tazo Crits with a Fire attack add 1 to the defenders clock.
The way in which these two characters interact is mouthwatering. It might cost 24 honor, but a party of Savin and 2 Ta'zo could likely lock an opponent out of the game. Sadly, they won't have the opportunity to team up, so I'll be looking for an Alliance equivalent to the fiery Troll.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
The Demo Characters, Dwarfed.
One of the minis leaked from Gencon is Grumpherys (near the bottom of the thread). This is an interesting character, a minimum range means your opponent can push him around the board, and the very low attack strength and tick cost makes him a specialist piece. He's designed to hunt down 1 and 2 def enemies. (He's close to useless against higher def characters). The thing that makes him noteworthy is that his efficacy is bound to the presence of his pet. Boosting his irrelevant 2 strength 1 tick attack to an efficient 3 strength 1 tick attack is critical. The problem is, Grumpherys comes with Bloodclaw, a fragile, aggressive pet. Removing the raptor from the board is nigh trivial, and that leads the dwarf...well...declawed. Maybe we'll see a suitably durable pet (a turtle?) in the first set for his constructed application, but that won't save him in limited. His other action bar card has good synergy with his abilities, a re-roll that you can trigger every turn is nothing to sneeze at.
I'm pretty happy with this piece, as the demo characters are a bit bland. At least Hodoon and Ruby cover each other's weaknesses. Lotherin and Gorebelly don't mesh so well. Both are aggressively geared, without much defense against a barrage of magic attacks. Lotherin's Heal just isn't efficient enough to contain large packets of damage, and Gorebelly's taunt doesn't sufficiently protect against ranged attacks in a 2v2 scenario. The main problem with the 4 starter pieces, is that their abilities don't really make for interesting deck construction. They seem very generic. Ruby is enough of a cannon to see play in constructed, but the others will struggle. Gorebelly is a big swinger and can absorb a lot of damage, but he'll only see action if Taunt turns out to be good. Lotherin and Hodoon just don't have the potency required. Naturally, any of these predictions could be overshadowed by talent-specific action bar cards.
I'm a bit surprised by UDE's choice of demo pieces, the rationale eludes me. I think they've set the complexity bar a little low, and the demo map doesn't promote interactive play. Pets are such a big part of the WoW experience, and so well implemented in the minis game that I think the absence of a hunter or warlock in the demo is a mistake.
I'm pretty happy with this piece, as the demo characters are a bit bland. At least Hodoon and Ruby cover each other's weaknesses. Lotherin and Gorebelly don't mesh so well. Both are aggressively geared, without much defense against a barrage of magic attacks. Lotherin's Heal just isn't efficient enough to contain large packets of damage, and Gorebelly's taunt doesn't sufficiently protect against ranged attacks in a 2v2 scenario. The main problem with the 4 starter pieces, is that their abilities don't really make for interesting deck construction. They seem very generic. Ruby is enough of a cannon to see play in constructed, but the others will struggle. Gorebelly is a big swinger and can absorb a lot of damage, but he'll only see action if Taunt turns out to be good. Lotherin and Hodoon just don't have the potency required. Naturally, any of these predictions could be overshadowed by talent-specific action bar cards.
I'm a bit surprised by UDE's choice of demo pieces, the rationale eludes me. I think they've set the complexity bar a little low, and the demo map doesn't promote interactive play. Pets are such a big part of the WoW experience, and so well implemented in the minis game that I think the absence of a hunter or warlock in the demo is a mistake.
Friday, August 15, 2008
On the Blocks
Although opening theory is a part of all games, it's not something I've ever had to explore a great deal. The games I've played the most: Magic; WoWTCG; and Star Wars: Epic Duels have opening plays dependent on the cards you've drawn. As there are a massive number of possible game states in the beginning of the game, opening strategies consist of general principles rather than a set of explicit moves.
WoWminis is a different beast. There isn't any random input until an attack is made, which means there is quite a lot of room for opening theory. A lot of it will be pretty simple stuff. Example:
You're playing a Warlock character with Summon Hukkrit. In order to mitigate the summon's hefty 4 tick cost, you want to play it at a point where tempo* is not a factor. The first tick of the game is one such point. On the Warlock's first turn, he will move 2 spaces towards the nearest VP location and summon his pet, which sets his personal clock to 5. This gives him anther 2 moves to get adjacent to the VP location and score in the first VP phase. To accommodate the warlock getting off to a slow start, the other characters on the team will set up a defensive position around their home VP square.
This sort of strategy is pretty simplistic. More interesting will be the strategies designed to exploit such an opening move. It's possible that forcing a quick confrontation isn't practical for every party. I'll have more to say on this after some proper matches.
*Tempo is a factor in the thick of battle, when a tick of time costs a tick of time. When parties are maneuvering and not taking actions, paying ticks comes with less opportunity cost. It is during these breaks of action that heals and summons and other buffs will shine.
WoWminis is a different beast. There isn't any random input until an attack is made, which means there is quite a lot of room for opening theory. A lot of it will be pretty simple stuff. Example:
You're playing a Warlock character with Summon Hukkrit. In order to mitigate the summon's hefty 4 tick cost, you want to play it at a point where tempo* is not a factor. The first tick of the game is one such point. On the Warlock's first turn, he will move 2 spaces towards the nearest VP location and summon his pet, which sets his personal clock to 5. This gives him anther 2 moves to get adjacent to the VP location and score in the first VP phase. To accommodate the warlock getting off to a slow start, the other characters on the team will set up a defensive position around their home VP square.
This sort of strategy is pretty simplistic. More interesting will be the strategies designed to exploit such an opening move. It's possible that forcing a quick confrontation isn't practical for every party. I'll have more to say on this after some proper matches.
*Tempo is a factor in the thick of battle, when a tick of time costs a tick of time. When parties are maneuvering and not taking actions, paying ticks comes with less opportunity cost. It is during these breaks of action that heals and summons and other buffs will shine.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Game On
I played my first game on the weekend, courtesy of the downloadable demo (and Swathi). The game plays as I thought it would; the base 10 mechanic, low attack ranges and simple terrain rules make for a very smooth experience. The board felt a bit roomy with only two figures per side, and the strategy seemed a little on the simple side. No doubt the addition of an extra character will up the permutations, but it makes me wonder if 3v3 games will provide enough complexity to separate the very good players from the good players. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not seeing all the depth in the game quite yet; I don't have a lot of experience with competitive miniatures play.
A big part of playing the game successfully is reading how a match will progress before it even begins. Which character will you target? Which character will you opponent target? How will you push an advantage? Does the map allow for easy consolidation of a victory point location, or will you have to aggressively pursue withdrawing enemies? Which team relies more on their action bar? In constructed tournaments, you should know how your match will play out against all the major archetypes. You have to know how you will go about winning.
Right now I'm pretty clueless about all this. I'm not even sure what Horde's game plan should be in the demo game. It seems quite difficult for Gorebelly and Lotherin to take out Ruby without exposing themselves to a lethal level of firepower. I think examining the demo scenario might give me some insight into how to use the time system to create avenues of attack. Alliance seems to have a more obvious directive, Hodoon isn't afraid of attacks and I know that a succession of assaults from Ruby and the paladin will bring down Lotherin about 3/4s of the time. Thanks to Tien Pham for providing me with the calculator.
Next: More musings
A big part of playing the game successfully is reading how a match will progress before it even begins. Which character will you target? Which character will you opponent target? How will you push an advantage? Does the map allow for easy consolidation of a victory point location, or will you have to aggressively pursue withdrawing enemies? Which team relies more on their action bar? In constructed tournaments, you should know how your match will play out against all the major archetypes. You have to know how you will go about winning.
Right now I'm pretty clueless about all this. I'm not even sure what Horde's game plan should be in the demo game. It seems quite difficult for Gorebelly and Lotherin to take out Ruby without exposing themselves to a lethal level of firepower. I think examining the demo scenario might give me some insight into how to use the time system to create avenues of attack. Alliance seems to have a more obvious directive, Hodoon isn't afraid of attacks and I know that a succession of assaults from Ruby and the paladin will bring down Lotherin about 3/4s of the time. Thanks to Tien Pham for providing me with the calculator.
Next: More musings
Monday, August 11, 2008
The First Leg (Left)
Two other broad components will round out my pre-release preparation:
Practice:
No matter how much affinity I have for a given game, practice always helps me. There's an art to practicing efficiently. Playing matches against random opponents online has its benefits, certainly, but you can do better. To do better requires appropriate practice partners. The ideal practice partner is someone you like spending time with, who wants to improve their game, who admits their mistakes, who is good at spotting yours and who is better than you are. Practice games should have minimal emotion attached. It's hard to practice when you care too much about losing. You're not practicing to win, you're practicing to learn. You want to avoid a situation where your partner thumping you three times straight makes you want to call it quits for the night.
I'm looking for likely candidates to practice online with. I expect there'll be a Vassal mod up and running inside the next month or so, until then I'll have to settle for playing the downloadable demo. I found two likely practice buddies on the official forums, Jeff and Corle. Both have called dibs on being the inaugural WoWminis World Champion, so they should be prepared to put in some hard yards. They both seem like nice, yet opinionated guys and Corle already has quite a gamer resume. He nearly was World Champion of the Mechwarrior game published by Wizkids.
Theory:
There are some things practice can't tell you. Questions like 'what are the chances that a combined Arcane Blast and Fire Blast will kill a full health Gorebelly' aren't really answerable except through the application of statistics and/or programming. While you'll get a feel for these sorts of probabilities through play, I'd rather remove the fallibility of perception from the situation and have some raw figures to mull over. I'll want to have a rough idea of the damage distributions of common attack/defense combinations, find out who the most efficient figures are in terms of simple slug-fests, and get a feel for the importance of hills and forests. To this end I'll need to code up a statistical application that can accept a variety of arguments. It'll also give me a chance to work on my programming skills.
I've got about 10 weeks.
Next: First Impressions.
Practice:
No matter how much affinity I have for a given game, practice always helps me. There's an art to practicing efficiently. Playing matches against random opponents online has its benefits, certainly, but you can do better. To do better requires appropriate practice partners. The ideal practice partner is someone you like spending time with, who wants to improve their game, who admits their mistakes, who is good at spotting yours and who is better than you are. Practice games should have minimal emotion attached. It's hard to practice when you care too much about losing. You're not practicing to win, you're practicing to learn. You want to avoid a situation where your partner thumping you three times straight makes you want to call it quits for the night.
I'm looking for likely candidates to practice online with. I expect there'll be a Vassal mod up and running inside the next month or so, until then I'll have to settle for playing the downloadable demo. I found two likely practice buddies on the official forums, Jeff and Corle. Both have called dibs on being the inaugural WoWminis World Champion, so they should be prepared to put in some hard yards. They both seem like nice, yet opinionated guys and Corle already has quite a gamer resume. He nearly was World Champion of the Mechwarrior game published by Wizkids.
Theory:
There are some things practice can't tell you. Questions like 'what are the chances that a combined Arcane Blast and Fire Blast will kill a full health Gorebelly' aren't really answerable except through the application of statistics and/or programming. While you'll get a feel for these sorts of probabilities through play, I'd rather remove the fallibility of perception from the situation and have some raw figures to mull over. I'll want to have a rough idea of the damage distributions of common attack/defense combinations, find out who the most efficient figures are in terms of simple slug-fests, and get a feel for the importance of hills and forests. To this end I'll need to code up a statistical application that can accept a variety of arguments. It'll also give me a chance to work on my programming skills.
I've got about 10 weeks.
Next: First Impressions.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The First Leg (Right)
Preparation for the pre-release involves a few tasks, the first couple of which I've outlined below:
Learn the Rules:
If you're going to play a game at a competitive level you need to do this. I don't mean the basics, I mean all the corner cases. You should never leave rules adjudication to a judge, the judge is just the guy your opponent will listen to. Usually the judge will back you up, although sometimes you'll have to point him to section Q.N(x) in the comprehensive rules because he doesn't know the rules as well as you do. The best way to keep on top of the rules (apart from reading them) is to maintain a presence in the official rules forum and judges forum(s). Answering questions is a good way to practice explaining to practice partners and judges what the rules of the game are.
Rules for the game have been trickling from the official website for the last 7 or 8 weeks. It appears to have culminated in the release of the rulebook that will accompany the starter set. The basic rulebook is a pretty scant affair, it'll serve as the primary reference until the comprehensive rules are released. When the game develops more momentum I'll be able to do more than trawl the general discussion forums for rules queries.
Learn the Pieces:
The pre-release will be a sealed pack format. You'll be given some boxes to open and will play using the pieces (figures and cards) you receive. Ideally, you won't have to read a single card, because you've been playing with the pieces online and reading about them in the forums for the past several weeks. Reading and evaluating the pieces at the pre-release is wasting time that should be spent trying to maximise what you've been given. Although I like the excitement of experiencing everything at pre-releases for the first time, I like doing well more.
WoWminis tosses an unusual ball when it comes to learning the pieces. Although each class (paladin, mage, etc) of figure can use any two of that class's action bar cards, figures are packaged such that they always come with the same two cards. That means if your opponent is playing a Bog Elemental figure, you know that they also received the Entangling Roots and Lifebloom action bar cards*. As each player's cards start unrevealed to their opponent, knowing what cards come with what figures tells you what abilities you have to play around. So far, only the 4 starter figures and their 8 action bar cards have been spoiled. This leaves a further 66 figures and their associated cards to learn. I suspect a significant number of these will be revealed in reports of the convention events. For now, there isn't a whole lot I can do.
*I'm making these up, for the sake of an example.
Next: The other First Leg
Learn the Rules:
If you're going to play a game at a competitive level you need to do this. I don't mean the basics, I mean all the corner cases. You should never leave rules adjudication to a judge, the judge is just the guy your opponent will listen to. Usually the judge will back you up, although sometimes you'll have to point him to section Q.N(x) in the comprehensive rules because he doesn't know the rules as well as you do. The best way to keep on top of the rules (apart from reading them) is to maintain a presence in the official rules forum and judges forum(s). Answering questions is a good way to practice explaining to practice partners and judges what the rules of the game are.
Rules for the game have been trickling from the official website for the last 7 or 8 weeks. It appears to have culminated in the release of the rulebook that will accompany the starter set. The basic rulebook is a pretty scant affair, it'll serve as the primary reference until the comprehensive rules are released. When the game develops more momentum I'll be able to do more than trawl the general discussion forums for rules queries.
Learn the Pieces:
The pre-release will be a sealed pack format. You'll be given some boxes to open and will play using the pieces (figures and cards) you receive. Ideally, you won't have to read a single card, because you've been playing with the pieces online and reading about them in the forums for the past several weeks. Reading and evaluating the pieces at the pre-release is wasting time that should be spent trying to maximise what you've been given. Although I like the excitement of experiencing everything at pre-releases for the first time, I like doing well more.
WoWminis tosses an unusual ball when it comes to learning the pieces. Although each class (paladin, mage, etc) of figure can use any two of that class's action bar cards, figures are packaged such that they always come with the same two cards. That means if your opponent is playing a Bog Elemental figure, you know that they also received the Entangling Roots and Lifebloom action bar cards*. As each player's cards start unrevealed to their opponent, knowing what cards come with what figures tells you what abilities you have to play around. So far, only the 4 starter figures and their 8 action bar cards have been spoiled. This leaves a further 66 figures and their associated cards to learn. I suspect a significant number of these will be revealed in reports of the convention events. For now, there isn't a whole lot I can do.
*I'm making these up, for the sake of an example.
Next: The other First Leg
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Macro
I have picked 3 WoWminis tournaments to act as indicators of my progress over the next year: The pre-release event; a Regional Qualifier in Canberra; and the Australian National Championships. This gives me a journey of four legs and four points at which I'll evaluate my performance.
There will be other tournaments along the way. The release of each new set will be preceded by a tournament and I might use a Regional Qualifier in Sydney as part of my preparation for the National Championships.
I aim to blitz every event I attend. I have to, I'm trying to demonstrate to the WoWminis community that I'm a favourite for the world title. However, there is a question that will remain unresolved for a while. Am I prepared to purchase the top-tier minis for events I expect I can win without?
The pre-release tournament is the first on my calendar, but I am not sure when this will be. I know that the first event of any kind will be held at Gencon Indy in a couple weeks time, and there will be events at the Penny Arcade Expo (Seattle) and Blizzcon (Anaheim). These don't help me much, apart from the information the reports will provide. Until I get some real info on the pre-release, I'll use October 19 as a target.
Next: Target Acquired
There will be other tournaments along the way. The release of each new set will be preceded by a tournament and I might use a Regional Qualifier in Sydney as part of my preparation for the National Championships.
I aim to blitz every event I attend. I have to, I'm trying to demonstrate to the WoWminis community that I'm a favourite for the world title. However, there is a question that will remain unresolved for a while. Am I prepared to purchase the top-tier minis for events I expect I can win without?
The pre-release tournament is the first on my calendar, but I am not sure when this will be. I know that the first event of any kind will be held at Gencon Indy in a couple weeks time, and there will be events at the Penny Arcade Expo (Seattle) and Blizzcon (Anaheim). These don't help me much, apart from the information the reports will provide. Until I get some real info on the pre-release, I'll use October 19 as a target.
Next: Target Acquired
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