Rangers of Shadow Deep or a new beginning

I’ve been muddling around with miniature gaming stuff lately.  By muddling, I mean endlessly thinking about it when I should be focusing on larger projects.

 

              Saturday WMTG and I set up for a good old game of frost grave.  We’d been planning something like this for a while and then it came together at the last minute.  We opted for the first mission in the Thaw of the lich lord campaign.  He played a summoner with leap, summon demon, reveal secrets, possess, and telekinesis.  I played an elementalist with elemental bolt, wizard eye, strength, scatter shot, and leap.  We had more stuff but it isn’t relevant to this story.  The game ended when I tabled his warband claiming 4 treasures (3 of mine and one of his.)

I had a couple huge advantages in this game.  In no particular order, the line of sight limiting element for the scenario meant telekinesis and his ranged element were severely hobbled.  Elemental bolt smokes unarmored starting troops and characters.  Wizard eye plus elemental bolt is way more powerful than I thought it would be (it’s absurdly more powerful when you can use wizard eye to extend line of sight past the scenario limits.)  Since this was game I, he hadn’t had time to raise his wizard’s fight score which left him and the apprentice vulnerable.  Finally, we haven’t been deploying treasures before choosing table side…which means we usually end up on whichever long board edge we belly up to at setup.  That means I don’t have to focus on 30% of his warband because they’re off the board before I can get in range or contest.

              Nothing about that victory felt good.  Oh, frost grave is a great game.  WMTG is a great opponent.  I had fun…but I did not enjoy the technical aspects.  My goal going into this campaign was to skip the random utility and engine building I tend to default towards.  I noticed in our last campaign (hunt for the golem and sells word) that I was relying on my marksmen to apply board pressure but that by relying on 2 warband members to aid my wizard (who cast bone dart a lot) I had a 66% chance of the NPCs stealing the kills and bonus experience.  Also, they sat there on elevated terrain raining death from above but didn’t actually help me take objectives.  I found myself looking at spells like enchant weapon and imbed enchantment to build a janky resource engine while WMTG jumped on absorb knowledge and reveal secrets.  This time I wanted to skip the intermediates and go right to the bloody work.  It felt weird going in without a bunch of if-this, then that, utility spells but it turns out I didn’t need them.  WMTG had a round of honestly bad luck—His wizard critically failed his summon demon roll putting him in combat at the worst time.  His apprentice lost a couple rolls putting him at 1hp in front of my wizard eye but most of the game came down to me having a toolbox that was Taylor made to exploit my opponent’s unleveled characters and the scenario’s particular restrictions.

All of that might have been fine but then I rolled up mind control as a spell from my only grimoire drop.  Ever get a reward that you really want but you know is going to suck all the joy out of your life?  Well that’s how I feel about mind control.  It’s a feel-bad spell and not just because I lost my wizard to my own mind-controlled knight in our LGS’s league during the finals a couple years ago (no, I’m not over it.)  Mind control lets you steal your opponent’s scoring models especially easily when combined with wizard eye on a 2-player game.  WMTG might have handled it well but I would have felt guilty.

That moment has forced me to look back at what I actually want out of mini gaming as opposed to just playing anything available.  With covid I miss people and want to spend any time I can justify with friends and family.  If you give me a shot at gaming on top of that…well I’m in.  The problem is that I don’t want the same things I used to savor from 1-1 wargaming.  We game so rarely that a bad taste from poor rules or a blow out feels way worse than it used to.  I’m not in a tournament any more so nobody is paying for the right to have me try and kick their metaphorical teeth in.  I want to play my figures, have a drink, and generally let fortune send her slings and arrows where she wills.  I also want my opponent to enjoy the experience such that both of us are champing at the bit for the next game.  I want a certain amount of book keeping and upkeep.  You can call it army building, character creation, or crunchiness but I like having choices during and after games.  So, what to do?

              It turns out that frost grave’s author wrote a cooperative campaign game called rangers of shadow deep with a recent deluxe version.  I read a couple reviews, WMTG was down, and that’s our next project.  It has a lot of things I love between narrative development and actual character building.  This lets me bring out my 3d printed frog folk villager models I kick started recently.

So, here’s my first ROSD ranger and companions:

Sir Selver, knight of the realm

Move 7/6 (+1bp), Fight 3 (+1bp), Shoot 1, Armor 10/12, Will +5 (+1bp), and Health 18.

Heroic abilities:

DISTRACTION

The ranger may use this ability whenever an evil creature is called upon to make either a random move or a move towards the Target Point. The player may instead move this creature anywhere he wishes following the standard rules for movement, provided this move does not cause the creature direct harm or force it to make Swimming Rolls (i.e. no walking off a cliff, or moving into fire or deep water).

FOCUS

The ranger may add +8 to any one Skill Roll.  He must declare he is using this ability before he rolls.

 

Spells:

AMPHIBIOUS

The target of this spell automatically passes all Swimming Rolls for the rest of the scenario.

STRENGTH

The target of this spell does +1 damage in hand-to-hand combat for the rest of the scenario. In addition, it receives +5 to any Strength Skill Rolls it makes.

TELEPORT

The caster may immediately move up to 9” in any direction, including up. This may not take the figure off the table. The figure may take no actions for the rest of the turn after casting this spell.

 

Skills (2bp):

Acrobatics +2, ancient lore +0, armory +2, climb +0, leadership +2, navigation +2, perception +2, pick lock +0, read runes +0, stealth +2, strength +0, survival +2, swim +0, track +2, traps +0

 

Base Recruitment points 100

Equipment: heavy armor, two-handed weapon, rope, and spell book.

 

Companions (3 max for 2-player game)

Gorf the arcanist +3 Swim

Forg the rogue +3 Swim

Crunchy the bloodhound/stag beetle

 

I toyed with making a paladin build with all the holy spells but It seemed rather niche.  Instead I chose to play on the frog theme with his spells and abilities while focusing on personal combat and survivability.  His companions cover skills he doesn’t have and can act as backup combatants.

This will probably all blow up in my face but such is gaming😉

"you don't know what you've got till it's gone."

              Have you ever had one of those moments that forces you to fundamentally reconsider your goals?  I had such a moment last week.  It was a sad and joyful realization—the kind that makes you happy you have found the truth but sad it took you so long to get there.

              I have spent the last 5 years seeking group wargaming opportunities—mostly through war machine and Warhammer 40k.  I caught the original bug at a hole-in-the wall gaming store 16 years ago.  I loved learning every aspect of the game from the challenge of matching wits with my opponent to the hobbying side to the world lore.  That initial foray into competitive wargaming grew into a thirst for high-level play that I have sought to slake ever since.

I should point out here that wanting something doesn’t make the desire reasonable, actionable, or achievable.  It is all-too easy to rationalize our goals based on the outcome rather than critically looking at what it will take to bring the dream to fruition.  I dropped 40k back in 2012.  I bounced around war machine and FOW with a smattering of magic after that—hoping against hope that I could find that lost mantle of competitive play—the perfect alchemy of fight, friendship, and fun.  The seed did not grow.  All my attempts were thwarted.

              Stores closed; leagues ended; jobs changed; and the empty recreational hole in my life remained unfilled.  Then last year GW brought out a new edition.  Desperate for a competitive outlet, I researched my prospects and found an undiscovered local 40k community, a worthy army, and a painter/assembler to take my cash.  That was all it took to drop me back into GW’s clutches.  To their credit, they’ve embraced their customers, built a great rule set, and really turned the company around.  I dropped my tax return into an adeptus custodes army, shipped it to a painter ‘R’ recommended, and started listening to podcasts.  I was going to do it!  I was going to triumphantly reenter the arena after 7 long years.  I was finally going to step into the squared circle again.

              Then reality started to pick away at my carefully constructed dreams.  Further inquiries revealed that the local store only took event registration through face book—a company I swore off using years ago.  I got the custodes back and they were shattered—requiring a return to the assembler and a significant re-build.  Some of that was due to a bad packing job but most of it was due to far more delicate design than I had been led to believe.  I got the rebuilt models back last week.  After a solid re-working, 30% of the figures were broken or damaged despite the use of magnets, custom cut foam, and an excellent packing job.  I looked at a couple thousand dollars in parts and labor, hundreds of hours of research, a dream long denied and wondered how I got to this point.  All my problems could have been avoided if I had researched more.  If I had stepped back and really done my homework, I could have saved myself 9 months of disappointment let alone the material costs.

              First, let’s talk about what I need to play any wargame competitively in open play.  I’m blind so my needs are similar to most players’ requirements but very particular in some aspects.

·       I need a game with quality accessible rules that I can practice and consume.  This means I need a rule system I like, that is available in an accessible electronic format (usually PDF or word), and an update/FAQ vector that is also accessible.

·       My models need to be able to take some ruff handling in transport and on the table—preferably with as little conversion as possible.  Since I can’t see, I interact with the game on a purely tactile level.  Easily broken bits, week joints, and poorly balanced models are guaranteed to suffer constant mishaps as I move them around and find them through the course of setting up, playing, and putting them in the case again.

·       I need a somewhat local gaming community that I can regularly access for games and league/scenario play.  That community needs to be friendly enough that my particular issues are not a deal breaker.

·       If the game requires it, I need a dependable painter/assembler that fits my budget and grasps my particular needs (strong assembly and affordable fee structure holding the top spots in that list.)

·        I have to have a competitive format that is forgiving of my fumble-fingered play.  War machine in its current form (steam roller…masters…etc.…) is a good example of a game I’d love to play but that is too unforgiving in its precision.

·       I have to be able to use a model roster of manageable size—usually 50 models or less.  This keeps the variables and turn length down to a workable complexity. 

A close reading of those requirements shows my needs have not changed over the years.  What has changed are my standards and my access to certain resources—especially local painters/assemblers and a regular gaming group.  As I have gotten older, I have grown to want the best in life such as a professional paint job, quality opponents, and a place to fit in—a community to join if you will.  I want to be able to relive my glory days with ‘R’ and the crew traveling over the weekend to kick ass and take names or nurse my wounds over an adult beverage.

That last bit is the most important.  I want to be part of a community of friends where I am a member in good standing.  I want that sense of fraternity and camaraderie back.  I think in this instance I let those hopes and dreams push me to a rushed decision.  I am not lonely—far from it.  I have fewer close friends than I used to though.  I have changed; our friends have changed; and our friends’ group has evolved as careers and family units have reconfigured themselves.  I used to game every week—in person—at least twice.  I used to spend at least 2 hours a day talking about gaming or actively researching game related material when I couldn’t actually sling card stock or put little dudes on the table.  At one time it was 40k.  Then it was dragon storm.  Then it was dragon dice.  Gaming used to be my social outlet, my creative wellspring, and my reaffirmation…and then it wasn’t.  People moved.  My work schedule changed.  A couple of my usual compatriots just cut ties without notice.  All of the sudden gaming was a once or twice a month kind of thing.  My circle of friends got smaller—better—but smaller.

              How does that song go?  “don’t it always seem to go; you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”  Yeh, that feels about right.

              After a couple days moping around the house brooding, I see where the mischief happened.  I predicated my happiness on other people and material things over which I had no control.  I valued competitive play over social interaction and a creative outlet.  While the lesson was expensive in terms of time and money, I think I got off easy.  I am going to seek out some gaming and creative outlets that are not dependent on others.  I have been looking at doing a podcast for a while.  I have been thinking about running an online gaming group using the dungeon world system.  These are within my power.  These are things I can do on my own terms.  I am going to stop thinking about the way things were and start focusing on how I can make better use of the way things are. 

Frost Grave-The stars are wrong

              Several weeks ago, WMTG and I hit the gaming table for the first scenario in the sells word mini-campaign of the frost grave folio.  Fresh off the hunt for the golem, the stars are wrong promised some interesting challenges.

              As per usual, we set up on a three by three board covered in WMTG’s excellent 3d printed terrain.  This board was packed with line of sight blocking pieces save for the epic tower in the center of the far-left side which had sight to most of the board if you got up to the top.  Per usual, we set up our treasure tokens.  Not per usual, I set up an uneven distribution—with one side’s tokens in the clear and the other in difficult terrain.  This made the choice of sides more important—especially for WMTG who has fewer movement tricks than I do.  I won the roll for sides and picked the easier treasure side with the tower—all according to plan.

              Next, we set up 6 pillars; one on each of our starting sides and two on the other non-deployment edges.  We would roll off at the beginning of each turn and if the odds were against us, a +3 bolt of energy would hit everything between those 2 pillars.  Also, we secretly chose a school of magic our opponent couldn’t use for this game.  I chose illusion because screw teleport.  WMTG chose enchanter because he hates telekinesis.  Spoiler, I chose poorly.  Let’s just say I hate the stupid shield spell—a lot—really—a lot.

              Right off the bat on turn one a bolt zapped lots of my soldiers including my apprentice knocking him down to 3 health.  I leaped my wizard to the top of the tower and my ranged elements started climbing up the back of the building.  The apothecary healed the apprentice to 8 and the apprentice leaped a bear off to the right.  My fortune hunters went after the treasures—making good use of the open board edge lanes I created in token placement.  WMTG ran the entire enemy list at my front lines using the edges of buildings to cut off line of sight angles from above.

              After that, we ran the best game of frost grave I have ever played.  WMTG had a problem.  By turn 2 my entire ranged cadre, including my wizard with a +5-bone dart spell, was standing on the top tower levels.  I had or was about to have control of all my treasure and my bears were running the city in search of easy targets.  I used one of my figures to backstop the other 2 ranged models and my wizard had his back to a wall so push wasn’t an option. I also had a problem in that WMTG’s troops—especially the wizard—were really good in melee—as in I wanted no part of that fight.  My problems got worse when shield went up on the opposing wizard and apprentice.

              What followed was an epic battle between an entrenched defense and a mobile assault element.  I shot or killed 5 of the opposing warband—two of which came from my wizard’s bone darts.  One kill came when a ranger won a combat with an infantryman and pushed him off the edge of a landing where he fell to his death.  WMTG forced me further and further back as I lost troops to treasure scoring and to delaying tactics.  The enemy did for both my bears in single combat at which point I abandoned the field as I was about to be over-run by elite close quarters fighters.

              The game ended on a far more technical level than our previous games as we delayed moving our last treasure off the board on the chance that we might score more kills or grab an extra treasure from the opponent.  I think we used every rule in the base book this game squeezing every advantage from the scenario.

              I ended with 320 XP—70 for spells, 150 for treasure, 80 for two soldier kills, and 20 for the energy bolts.  My wizard’s bear is down for a game (hopefully I can summon a new one at the beginning of the next session.)  I earned 180 gold, a Grimoire of Possess, and a Grimoire of Planar Tear—which is just enough to not get me another spell—though possess is really tempting.  I used my 3 levels to boost health, lower the casting cost of bone dart to 8, and lower heel’s cost to 11.  That leaves me with 462 gold and a decent toolbox for the next game.

              I found that while defensive tools are nice, my forces thrive on aggressive long-range attrition.  If WMTG continues with this full-bore melee plan, I’m going to have to start using beauty more often.  Also, I need to look at ways to cast more spells and generate more resources.  Assuming we stick with this campaign plan, I have 8 more games with this character.  I feel like I’ve held my own lately but WMTG’s overall resource engine is better than mine between his base, absorb knowledge, and the ability to brew potions.

Round 2 of the grave "Fight!"

              Recently WMTG and I finished up the 3-part Hunt for The Golem mission for frost grave.  Both of us had planned our moves and built our warbands well in advance of the game so this was a final showdown between our design philosophies.

              The last mission “In the House of the Golem” featured standard treasure placement, a centrally placed golem, and a random golem move post deployment.  If one of us killed the golem with a magical attack, it had the potential to explode.  The board looked like a ruined city with little city blocks of ruined terrain blocking line-of-site to board edges and such.  There were several other variables in the scenario description that did not come into play—which is one of the reasons I’m interested to add random monster roles to our future games.

              The first 2 turns played pretty normally with our runners grabbing our treasure and moving toward the board edge.  I made two mini castles with my casters each with a marksman for priority ranged support.  I sent my ranger and animal companions off to the right to work on killing the golem and running down one of WMTG’s treasure carriers.  Finally, I used my apothecary to hold one of the treasures after he healed my apprentice so my combat troops were free to run the board.  My wizard gunned down one of WMTG’s warband with a well-placed bone dart spell earning an extra 40 experience.

              The rest of the game saw us splitting our remaining forces to try and force the other player off the board in search of a 50-experience scenario reward.  My crew got into a huge fight with the golem, WMTG’s apprentice, and an infantryman.  I managed to bring down the golem with a lucky ranger shot using the magical bow from last game.  I rained down ranged death at WMTG’s troops to little affect.  No matter how well I rolled it seemed like the opposing roles were higher.  I think I strategically dominated the battlefield but WMTG ended up pushing me back forcing me to end the game prematurely lest I risk my casters in direct combat.  My long-shot run for one of his treasure carriers fell flat leaving me with 2 troops down, 3 treasures collected, and 8 spells cast.

              I netted 270 experience, 250 gold, a grimoire of reveal death, and potions of strength, teleport, and elixir of life.  I chose to sell off all my loot including my magic bow netting me an additional 475 gold for a total of 782gp in the bank.  I spent my 3 upgrades on maxing out my fight, adding more health, and learning enchant weapon which cost me 500gp.  This leaves me with 282gp on tap and a reasonable toolbox for future games.  Both of my downed soldiers came back with no injuries so I lucked out there.

              This game was more aggressive than past scenarios largely because we were trying to push the other player to end the game prematurely.  It changed the feel of many of the smaller decisions making it more interactive than the first two runs.  Today we take another run at the grave.  I cannot wait to see how this plays out!

Starting the Frost Grave Folio, The hunt for the golem

              There are some games that pull you in like a good B movie.  You know they aren’t polished gold but you just can’t help coming back for more.  That’s frost grave—reasonably well written—simple enough to play quickly—and a resource management mechanic which gets me every time.  A couple days ago WMTG and I kicked off our inaugural 2019 gaming season with a fresh new campaign working through the 15 adventures in the frost grave folio.

              Building starting warbands is its own minigame.  I agonize over how to spend my cash, what spells to pick, whether I want to focus on meta mechanics, and how to put my own spin on things.  I feel a compulsion to try something new with every warband just so I can feel like each iteration is unique unto itself.  This time I went for a less physically aggressive witch build focusing on board control.  My starting lineup was an apprentice and wizard with staves and the following spell list:

              POISON DART, FOG, ANIMAL COMPANION, TELEKINESIS, LEAP, BONE DART, BEAUTY, and HEAL

This gave me a variety of ways to control the board, mess with movement, block line of sight, and get out of sticky situations.  I learned last campaign that wizards always want a cheap magical ranged attack to pick off opposing warband members hence bone dart.  I’ve learned to pick spells with reasonable casting requirements (preferably 10 or less) because the higher the target number the more health you are going to spend to bring the noise on average.  I wanted to keep my spell casters out of combat so I focused my resources on boosting my warband.  My starting roster was 2 thugs, 2 thieves, 2 war dogs, a marksman, and an apothecary.  Apothecaries are essentially a free healing potion every game which means they pay for themselves in 2 deployments.  I like having that potion around in case I have to empower a spell early on.  I love marksmen.  Pop them up on a building or covering key territory and they don’t have to move.  They have an outstanding ranged presence on a body with excellent defensive stats.  This means they are pretty hard to kill while projecting threat.  The dogs are just place holders till I get my animal companion spells off.  The thugs are warm bodies for combat and blocking.  The thieves are for grabbing treasure.

Game 1 of the hunt for the golem—the attack sight:

              The board was pretty standard with a huge central tower and random ruins evenly covering the rest of the table.  WMTG did 3d printing magic to create a wonderful selection of home-grown terrain which always makes me feel smug even though I didn’t do anything to put it there.  We placed 5 tokens each which when revealed could become up to 6 treasure, 1 survivor, 1 golem notes, and 2 zombies (randomly rolled upon an attempt to pick them up.)

              This game when very quickly.  I got off one of my animal companion spells netting me a bear replacing one of the war dogs.  WMTG got an initial hot run grabbing 3 treasure and the golem notes.  However, I was able to bully the board with my larger warband and managed to take out 2 soldiers while resuscitating the survivor and grabbing the three remaining treasures.  One of WMTG’s infantrymen killed a thug which was totally acceptable all things considered.  I ended up with the golem notes and command of the board for a total of 280exp and 3 treasure.  That netted me 250gp and grimoires of time walk, planes walk, and undead control (none of which I particularly wanted.)  I took an inn as my base and spent my 2 level upgrades on fight and HP.  I spent all my gold on 3 treasure hunters and a discounted thug for 10gp due to rescuing the survivor.  That left me with a warband built from 1 bear, 3 treasure hunters, a marksman, an apothecary, 2 thugs, and a war dog.

Game 2 of the hunt for the golem—Field Research:

              WMTG picked up absorb knowledge and a laboratory base which left me a little concerned.  That plus reveal secrets was a strong economic engine.  The opposing ground game featured shield to armor casters and a couple 2-handed weapon users.  Teleport gave good reach.  It’s easy to look at my warband and my offensive capacity and think I had the upper hand but I think WMTG was well-placed to outpace my wizard if I wasn’t careful—especially since many of those spells were designed to take out my models for a turn or 2 like petrify.  We both glommed on to the value of +2 damage weapons which means the game is a lot more lethal than it has been previously.  That means I have to think about which models I want to throw out as blockers because one infantryman assisted strike can put my troops down.  It means I’m having to team up more often which leaves me covering less ground than I’d like.

              This board featured a central square with a “Golem” represented by Lego Thanos for the fucking win.  The terrain did not offer many chances for elevation or heavy line of sight blocks.  In addition to the normal treasure, we had goals to hit the golem with a non-damaging spell, get our wizard close, engage it in combat, and get one of our soldiers close to it—all without killing the golem.  If the golem died, we got no experience and the mini adventure ended.

              I started off by successfully bringing in my apprentice’s animal companion (another bear.)  This game went off the rails right from the beginning.  By turn 2 my marksman managed to 1-shot WMTG’s apprentice because crossbow.  We were throwing random models all over the board in an attempt to draw the golem’s attention to less valuable (i.e. easily replaced) models while key pieces grabbed treasure and got the extra mission experience.  Thanos got pushed toward me while I blocked line of sight using fog.  I managed to hit Thanos with poison dart seriously limiting his output.

              The game ended with WMTG leaving the field after getting half the treasure and both of us earning all the bonuses.  I ended up with 250 experience which gave me 3 more levels.  The treasure rolls netted me 260gp, grimoires of invisibility and crumble, and a bow of +2 damage.  I spent 5gp to upgrade my base with carrier pigeons so that all my future soldiers cost 1gp less.  I spent 99gp on a second marksman and another 99gp on a ranger so I could do something with the magic bow—leaving me with 57unspent gold.  I upgraded fight and health again and spent my final upgrade to reduce bone dart’s casting cost to 9.  This left me with 9 soldiers comprising 2 marksmen, 1 ranger, 1 apothecary, 3 treasure hunters, and 2 animal companions.

Post session thoughts:

1.       It took a bit of work to get back into the swing of things.  WMTG had to gently prompt me a couple times because I’ve played so many miniature wargames at this point that turn order and certain rules get crossed in my head.  That being said, it amazes me how clean this rule set is and how most often a misunderstanding is due to my own error and nothing on the designer’s part.  The strategic and tactical elements combine in subtle ways to make the game self-balancing in interesting ways.

2.       This session proved to me that where possible I’m going to use the google assistant to roll my dice.  At first, I felt bad because I wasn’t using my braille dice but more and more, I like the energy surrounding a role that both of us learn about at the same time in the same way.  It feels honest and freeing in a way that I haven’t felt in a long time what with having other people read my dice for years.  Also, Google’s luck is way better than mine and it makes the die rolling noise.

3.       I find it interesting that both of our first moves were to pimp our warbands to the highest level.  When I started my first campaign my driving instinct was to pump up my wizard with magic gear.  Now I’d rather just have competent help that lets me address problems in different ways.  I’m only on game 2 and I’ve already maxed out all my warband slots with top-flight minions.  I feel like I powered up because buying crap for squishy characters doesn’t actually help sometimes because you’re just making them a bigger target.

4.       I enjoy the way scenario requirements make competition challenging and different every time.  Wizards who focus too much on a single mechanic or spell will find themselves in trouble sooner rather than later.  I feel like this game lets WMTG and I put our decades of gaming experience to use solving complex strategic problems as our initiative ebbs and flows separate from our board control.  It gives the experience a spice that is lacking in some legacy games like blood bowl—especially as the season gets on towards the end.

5.       There is a pacing to scenario play that I have only recently come to appreciate.  The game ends when someone doesn’t have any more models on the board or all the treasure has been moved off a board edge.  This means that while I have a better ranged game, WMTG actually controls my window of opportunity.  Since 2 of my soldiers can’t carry treasure, I have to mix it up quickly if I want to keep even.  Although we didn’t do it this time, I am going to suggest we try the random monster rules after the third and final mission of this pack.  I want to see if it changes how we approach our deployment and strategy.

6.       I need to read the rules—again—paying attention this time.  The excellent rum is no excuse.

7.       I really really love being able to use random miniatures.  This time I went with a plastic bag full of pre-painted minis from magic the gathering the board game and its expansion.  It is so nice not to have to glue my guys back together again or worry if one falls off a building.  My wizard and apprentice even have little spells coming off their hands.

The next game is slotted for early on March 16^th.  My dream is to finish the last game of this pack and finish the next pack for 4 games total but road to hell and all that…Frost grave scratches lots of itches—the need for a stimulating competitive game—my love of resource management—my love of story gaming—but best of all it’s a judgement-free place to talk, drink, and renew a friendship I wish I had more time to enjoy.  At 42, I know my time miniature gaming won’t last for ever but while it lasts, I’m loving having the disposable income, friends, and opportunity to make the most of this excellent product.

Taking the field or desert as it were

              Over the last month I’ve been fortunate to play 3 games of FOW with my loyal opponent!  I thoroughly enjoyed the games, the company, and the chance to share an adult beverage with friends.  This has been part of our commitment to playing more regularly and dedicating ourselves to a single game system for a season or two.

              I find myself looking back at the last year with some new insights.  WMTG’s 3d printing addiction has let us try terrain, models, and scenarios that would otherwise have been foregone due to cost, convenience, and availability.  We’ve played more often with a larger variety of components than in the past which has let us move beyond the stage of “how does that work again?”  WMTG has also kindly typed out a summary of the 3^rd edition FOW rules in google docs which means we now have an accessible organized rules document.  This has made learning and playing the game far more rewarding than previous go-rounds.  I have lots of thoughts but first, let’s look at the games.

Game I (1250 mechanized Germans against British infantry.)

              This game featured a desperate defense by an outnumbered force waiting for reinforcements against a numerically superior attacker.  As WMTG had a mechanized company and I had my 4^th Indian infantry, I was the defender.  I had 4 full infantry platoons backed up by antiaircraft guns, antitank trucks, a light machinegun platoon, and light aircraft interception.  WMTG had 2 full infantry platoons carried by 8 lightly armored transports each of which carried 2 machineguns.  He also had a platoon of P3s and some serious air assets—a significant problem considering my lack of durable antiarmor.

              This game played out on a 4x4 table.  The board consisted of a beautiful village in the lower left quadrant facing a diagonal line of area terrain running from the upper left to the lower right quarter.  I placed my objective as deeply into the village as I could manage.  WMTG put his right in the middle of nowhere.  If he started any of his turns within 4 inches of either objective without any of my contesting models nearby, he won.  I had to last long enough for my reinforcements to come in and bolster my lines.

              I had to put at least half my army in reserve so I kept an infantry platoon, my machine gunners, and my AA guns on the board—hoping I could stand off his army with my volume of fire.  The MGs took their places in the village where they would be nearly impossible to dig out.  The AA went in front of the village where they could cover the most probable approaches.  The infantry mobbed up around the exposed objective.  I started in prepared positions so life seemed pretty good.

              In the first 2 turns WMTG rammed his tanks down my left flank, straight at my infantry platoon.  I held off his air support while 8 heavily loaded transports rushed my lines partially protected by area terrain.  I quickly found that by hunkering my MGs down in the village I had rendered them unable to draw line of sight to the approaching swarm.  I lost some of my AA guns but managed to knock half of the troops out of their transports.

              Turn three, was…bad.  The tanks hit my infantry and drove them off the objective.  My AA guns were completely eliminated.  I failed my motivation test to rally and move back to contest—leaving WMTG in control of one scoring zone and no way to move they’re without abandoning my village defense.

              The game ended on the top of turn four with none of my reserves having arrived, most of my forces dead or combat ineffective, and the Germans largely untouched save one transport.

Games II and III (1750 Fortified Italians against British infantry.)

              Game two was identical to game one except the direction that reserves entered the table and my approach toward the far short board edge.  I had three full infantry platoons, a platoon of nine carriers thanks to the wonders of 3d printing, a platoon of antitank trucks, one platoon of three Valentine tanks, my usual antiaircraft guns, and 3 dice of anemic AA interception.  WMTG had 2 fully fortified infantry platoons with mine fields and barbed wire plus the usual gun pits, two AA trucks, two platoons of tanks, two artillery platoons, and his usual Falco aircraft.

              Games II and III were played on a 6x4 table to accommodate the larger points spread.  While building the board, WMTG’s son, Pidge, asked me what I was doing.  I told him I was setting up a balanced board.  He asked what that meant.  I said making a board that neither of us would enjoy—it’s possible my 40k tournament experience influences my opinion of what a “good” board should be.  The major elements of this setup were the same village as before but placed in the middle of the far-short board edge.  The middle section was broken up by several ruff terrain segments and oasis.  The far-left corner featured a rocky outcrop.

              WMTG dropped his objective as far back on my right as he could manage.  I placed mine as far forward and left as I could manage—hoping to use a central oasis to partially shield me on the approach.  I only had to worry about the left most platoon and fortifications as there was no point pushing for the farther objective.  This let me deploy in a left running refuse flank maneuver.  My AA guns, darned immobility, were effectively out of the game but considering how the scenario played I don’t have room to complain.

              This game played very quickly.  As Brits, I exercised my option for night fight which screwed the Italian aircraft and artillery.  I lost most of my carriers and infantry on the approach but rammed my tanks into WMTG’s fortifications.  I lost 2 Valentines piece meal to the mines but my remaining Valentine broke the Italian defense winning me the game at the top of turn three.  Infantry hitching a ride on tanks are particularly easy to kill since they go from a 3-up save to a 5-up save but I still like the universal carriers as transports.

Game II, Free for All!

              This was the most instructive and least interactive game we’ve played in some time.  WMTG deployed his defensive down the far long board edge.  I put my 2 objectives in the far-right trench blocking out as much of the fortification as I could.  WMTG put an objective on either side of my deployment forcing me to split my defenses.  I chose to bulrush his objectives while leaving a token force to defend my far-left zone.  WMTG’s artillery bracketed the far-right quarter with his tanks dead center—waiting to react to wherever I chose to push.

              Much like game II, I rushed my tanks at the right-most artillery battery and fortified platoon.  The carriers, thanks to a reconnaissance move, were in the Italians’ face turn one hosing the artillery down with MG fire.  By the end of turn two I had taken out half of his artillery and driven the infantry out of the trench with my
valentines.  My carriers died in glory while my infantry covered the back-board edge double contesting each objective.  We called the game when it was clear that my tanks were going to run the table before he could score on my backfield.

              This game was the first I can remember where we really “played” the game.  Even at deployment we were trying to bate each other into prematurely committing to a flank or leaving an objective open.  While the outcome was the same as the two previous games (tank takes objective in three) it was nice having to strategize in the moment rather than just throwing dice at my opponent.

              Considering these games, the easy call is to say that tanks are broken—especially my tanks—and we should try and play around armor for a while.  However, WMTG pointed out something incisive on the way home that night.  This is the first set of games where we’ve really tested the limits of our armies and force selection.  He claims he employed his forces badly seeking binary solutions to complex problems.  Infantry die to tanks on their own but infantry paired with armor pose a significant challenge to enemy tanks.  Both of us could have as easily used tanks as defensive assets which would have drastically changed the game tempo.  In our first game, I should have ambushed my AA guns.  I should have payed for sticky bombs for my HQ and troops.  Once all those infantry were out of their transports, my MG teams would have been invaluable. 

              I’ve done a lot of thinking about how FOW plays V.S. other wargames and I think WMTG is correct in that we need to think more big-picture about army construction and strategy.  For one thing, 1250 points doesn’t leave us many platoons or utility to answer strategic questions.  FOW, unlike GW and PP doesn’t have units that outright remove opposing resources.  Direct fire artillery and some anti-aircraft guns are probably the closest shooting analogs while tanks assaulting infantry are the closest CQB comparison.  Even then, it’s difficult for all but the most expensive units to bring the pain in such a way to render a single unit irrelevant.  While it does mean longer play times, 1500-2500point games will give us more ways to respond to varied missions and deployment.

              Another issue unique to FOW is how shooting interacts with given models.  My to-hit role is determined by the enemy skill not my own ability.  This makes my trained French more vulnerable to Veteran Germans and less effective in return.  That’s also why WMTG holds my horde of armored cars in such high regard while I remember how easily they died.  FOW is designed to mimic actual historic forces not to create a balanced engagement per say.  There are steps I could have taken to maximize my chances in game I but realistically I should have lost that game given our capabilities and correlation of forces.

              That dynamic is what makes historical gaming interesting.  The Germans, especially at the beginning of WWII, were fighting the next war.  The French were fighting the last war.  My Brits are better off than my French specifically because their forces were better positioned to fight Germany’s mechanized tactics.  The problem with this dynamic is that it is sometimes difficult to remember that FOW is only an approximation of historical conflict.  Sure, artillery is decent against tanks but Valentines armor is 1 less than the Italian general artillery which makes them functionally immune to direct fire save highly improbable dice luck.  Machine guns should mowed down infantry but the mechanics of bullet proof cover mean I through 36 shots at WMTG’s artillery in one round and didn’t remove a single model.  I think our expectation for some units is often incorrectly colored by how we think the unit should perform based on our understanding of history rather than a straight mechanical analysis.  That has driven me to some unfortunate strategic blunders—something I hope to remedy as we play more games with the same rule set.

              Finally, I’m beginning to dislike the way in which FOW balances quality and quantity of fire.  Tanks, mobile units, can’t fire their main guns more than once on the move.  Many of my primary guns don’t even have H.E. meaning I can’t easily pass my firepower check to bypass bulletproof cover.  Machineguns have the rate of fire required to do damage but again lack the FP to deliver on that promise.  This isn’t a condemnation of the system—just a general frustration that we’ve been playing such small games for so long that I’ve failed to notice how smaller games push the scenario in favor of heavy armor.  It creates a dynamic where the defender ends up killing off a ton of ancillary elements but still looses the game due to one unit that they couldn’t really deal with in the first place.  That is a somewhat overbroad generalization—I mean that it is less fun to spend a game watching most of your army die, only to have the invincible juggernaut win you the contest because your opponent couldn’t affect your key component.  It feels “bad” to groan as you loose model after model only to punk your opponent who never really had a chance to begin with.

It’s fun to roll dice and play with toy soldiers.  It’s equally fun to spend time with good friends over a shared experience.  I think knowing the rules more, putting the time in to better learn the game, and getting the reps in will make FOW even more fun in future.

Unto the fields of WWII

Saturday, I return to the fields of WWII with my 4^th Indians.  WMTG and I are going to slug it out before gaming.  I’ll have read the rules at least once since WMTG kindly transcribed the details to google for universal access.

 

My list:

 

HQ:

25-points

Two Rifle teams

 

Combat Platoons:

·       Four Rifle Platoons

HQ plus three squads for 175-points=700-points

HQ consists of a command rifle/MG team, a light mortar team and an AT rifle team

Each squad consists of two rifle/MG teams

 

Brigade Support Platoons:

·       One MG Platoon

HQ plus two MG sections for 145-points

HQ consists of one Rifle team

Each section consists of two heavy MG teams

 

Divisional Support Platoons:

·       One platoon of Royal Artillery antitank portee

HQ plus four 2 pounder portees for 180 points

HQ consists of a rifle team and a truck

These guys are 8^th Army, and are Confident Veteran.

·       One platoon of anti-aircraft artillery

HQ section and four Bofors AA guns for 175 points

HQ section is a rifle team.

These guys are 8^th Army, and are Confident Veteran.

 

Infantry and Gun Team Stats:

Rifle Team:

Range 16”, ROF 1, AT 2, FP 6

Rifle/MG Team:

Range 16”, ROF 2, AT 2, FP 6

Light Mortar Team:

Range 16”, ROF 1, AT 1, FP 4+, Can fire over friendly teams, can fire smoke

AT Rifle Team:

Range 16”, ROF 1, AT 4, FP 5+, Tank Assault 3

Heavy MG Team:

Range 24”, ROF 6, AT 2, FP 6, ROF 2 when pinned

Range 40” Bombardment, no AT or FP value.  Cannot do much against hard targets, but can tear up and pin down soft targets.

Bofors AA Gun:

Immobile, Range 24”, ROF 4, AT 6, FP 4+, Anti-aircraft, Turntable

 

Vehicle Stats:

 

Trucks and tractors:

Wheeled, no armour

Bofors Portee:

Wheeled, no armor, AA machine gun, Tip and Run

Bofors gun – Range 24”, ROF 3, AT 6, FP 4+, No HE, Portee

2 pounder Portee:

Wheeled, no armor, AA machine gun, Tip and Run

2 pounder – Range 24”, ROF 3, AT 7, FP 4+, No HE, Portee

 

This gives me a nice versatile force at 1250 points that can take and hold objectives while not throwing too many points into artillery.  Now…on to homework—I mean reading the rules—again😉

A letter to DGI re-Crippled System

Dear discount games Inc.,

I’m not sure if I am addressing this to the correct organization so I apologize in advance if you aren’t the people I am looking for.

I have been a loyal listener and customer of DGI and the muse on minis podcast network for the last year.  The numerous podcasts are one of the shining points of my day—especially on my 2-hour daily commute.  Even though I barely ever get to play war machine, it has been a pleasure to live vicariously through battle driven, dark guidance, and many other fan-produced shows.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to delete the network from my feed going forward.

This morning I popped on my headset for one of the few quality quiet moments my schedule affords.  I started with an episode of crippled system—usually an entertaining ramble through food, movies, and pop culture with a sprinkling of gaming.  One of the hosts, Nathan, went off on a rant about Wisconsin’s Governor’s attack adds stating that to say he is like a sack of shit is not a simile because the governor is scientifically provably exactly that.  He then said, I can only assume while turning to face the live stream, “to all our Republican listeners, Fuck you.”

I understand that in today’s deeply polarized political climate that a certain amount of political acrimony is unavoidable.  I have no issue with a gaming podcast dipping into ruff language and political commentary—especially if it’s limited to the hosts’ personal beliefs.  As a conservative leaning independent though, I do take issue with the host telling 40%-50% of the voting population to fuck themselves.  I would have the same reaction if he had told his Democrat listeners to fuck off too.  I listen to gaming podcasts to get away from the real world.  Gaming is my hobby and escape.  Especially since the other 3 hosts seemed fine with Nathan’s outburst, I have to assume that this sort of thing is acceptable to them.

I wanted you to know why I won’t be listening to the network any more in case this is an issue you wish to address.  I’m going to continue following chain attack, battle driven, and buying my gaming products from DGI but I will not be listening to the MOM network any more.  I have no interest in even passively supporting intolerance.

Thank you for your continued support of various gaming communities.  I realize that crippled system doesn’t represent DGI’s views on any given subject.  I do not hold you responsible for my frustration.

Please have a great holiday weekend.

 

Setting down the game.

I recently set out to play more war machine, build up to a tournament footing, and attend a couple local events.  I listened to podcasts, read a ton of material, and played a couple starter games to get my toes wet.  My goals were modest and, I thought, obtainable.  Sadly, I’ve concluded that war machine in its current form just isn’t for me.  That is hard to admit—I’ve been playing in one form or another for 15 years now—but I think I’m done.

There are a lot of reasons for this decision.

1.       Let’s start with me.  In the halcyon days of MKI, the game wasn’t exactly blind friendly but it was workable.  Games were small enough and casual enough that my friends could mark my cards—even my tournament opponents were happy to assist.  MKIII is a bigger more technical game than the version I cut my teeth on.  The app is not accessible to those who depend on text to speech.  You can’t buy cards any more—you can print them out yourself but it’s not ideal.  I have to touch models—mine and my opponent’s—to understand the board-state.  With the current focus on precise placement it is borderline cheating if I bump a model—especially if it’s one of my opponent’s.  The game has become so technical that I have to get handy to understand the board state.  That necessity means I am constantly nudging models, terrain, zones, and objectives.  For someone who wants to play in local steamroller events that’s not good.

2.       I’m not happy with my faction.  Khador is in a great place.  I think it is genuinely competitive and has plenty of unexplored depth.  It also doesn’t play like I want it to.  Part of this is the fact that many of the things that used to be uniquely Khador’s have been appropriated by other factions—medium based infantry, the cold North, crazy berserkers…etc.  This isn’t specific to big red but given how much of the faction’s design is based on the things it cannot have, it is frustrating to see other factions doing the things that used to be uniquely part of my shtick—often better than I can.  I freely admit to a bad case of faction envy.  I want the faction to be in a different place especially with the lack of spell channeling and slow low defense jacks.  Someone said recently that the MOW CID was what every CID should be—a measured balanced exploration of the theme.  I agree.  The problem being that some factions get a reasonable approach and some get entirely new toolboxes and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to which is which.  I wanted something out of left field.  Something to take the faction in a hither-to unexplored direction…that…didn’t happen.  It just feels like PP has a different vision of Khador’s faction identity, design space, and viability than I do.  There are a lot of issues from my lowly perspective but the biggest is the fact that Khador’s raw stats (in particular boxes and armor) seem to rank higher in PP’s estimation than in my experience—especially when my jacks’ run range is less than the length of a zone and the base charging threat of other factions’ heavies. 

3.       Themes.  I hate themes.  People say you don’t have to play themes if you don’t want.  In reality steamroller is the only format being played.  The current SR packet requires solos, units, and jacks/beasts to score scenario elements.  In most cases you’re going to have to sacrifice models to contest.  You know what makes that easier? Free units!  Free solos!  The points really aren’t important.  The extra scoring and contesting models are huge though—especially in a faction that values quality over quantity.  Themes force me into an arbitrary game of rock paper scissors.  If I don’t buy in, I’m giving up free scoring elements.  If I do buy in, I’m seriously limiting myself as to model selection—often to minimal benefit just so I can keep scoring parity.

4.       Competitive play.  This is ironic since one of my goals was/is to play competitively.  The more I’ve read, played, and tried to prep for local steamrollers though the more dissatisfied I’ve become.  It started with a podcast discussing a certain elite tournament in which a player made a mistake, a judge was called, and both players got a warning—one for making the mistake and the other for not catching it when it happened.  We’ve become a community so obsessed with perfect play that it is driving the game to absurdly frustrating extremes.  I’ve spent the following months watching technical tournament play dominate the hobby and drive public play in uncomfortable directions.  This covers a gambit of problems but some of the big items are the move to 2D terrain which makes me feel like I’m playing a board game, the decline in the hobby side (painting, conversions…etc.), the focus on the game as less narrative and more about flags and zones, and a rise in an unhealthy MTG-like focus on “getting good.” 

5.       CID.  I love the idea of CID.  I hate the reality.  I love the fact that defined faction elements get a universal overhaul.  I hate the down time between cycles—something on the order of 14 months or more if they keep adding mini factions.  I hate the way the cycle tunes one theme up to 11 while leaving others to suffer in obscurity.  There are just too many parts of too many factions that need fixing—and waiting 14 months or more to have only one of several pain points addressed grinds my gears.  There are single units like assault commandos and sword knights that deserve their own themes.  We’ve waited years already and we’ll be waiting more years at this rate.  Commandos don’t even count for points in their current theme even if they were playable.  It’s…maddening.

6.       The loss of heart.  In the dark days of MKI, PP had a certain style.  It wasn’t just page 5, though that was a part.  They built their legend on all-metal—all-the time.  It was literally full-metal-fantasy.  When hordes was previewed, Matt Wilson got down in the weeds and did the online release in the forums himself.  The early books were magnificent combinations of fiction, art, and marketing.  I still love some of those old stories to this day.  The RPG, the miniatures, the fiction, all melded as a unified artistic gaming endeavor.  Each book was an exploration into a new aspect of a fascinating universe.  Most of that magic is gone for me.  There are no more books really.  Models are produced with no eye to a bigger story.  It isn’t all-metal any more and page 5 is gone.  I don’t feel like the game is tied to a unified story being told at many levels…it’s just a company running a tournament miniatures game—one I enjoy but lacking the magic of old.

7.       Production quality.  I used to cut PP as a young miniatures company, some slack.  I cannot do it anymore.  I’ve had to send in for recast parts or mispacked components in a third of my recent purchases.  I’m talking stuff like 2 left halves of a horse or a gun arm that is a plastic blob at one end.  I’ve been doing mini crate and they sent me 2 of the promotional models for signing up for 6 months and completely forgot the actual monthly model.  Sure, they will fix these issues at no cost to me without complaint.  It just feels like they don’t care anymore.  Mini gaming is a labor of money and time.  I feel like they’ve lost focus on the simplest part of being a miniatures company—to produce useable miniatures.

I’m going to sell off my Khador in the next month or 2.  I’ll keep my pigs for the novelty and since I have almost all of the faction.  Who knows, maybe I’ll want to give it another try in a couple years but for now, I’m just done.