Pro Tip: Misunderstanding Rules

Even the most skilled and experienced players misunderstand rules sometimes.  While Privateer Press does a great job writing their rules with various specific phrases, sometimes we miss out on certain qualifiers.  I'm no grammar expert and I sometimes misunderstand a rule because I missed one key work or phrase in the description of said rule.  Sometimes as players we get really excited about a certain tactic or possibility that we get "tunnel vision" where we focus on trying to do something so badly that we forget one word that actually means we can't do what we want.  Similarly, when playing against other players we can make the mistake of not seeing that same key word and it suddenly means the difference between safety and assassination.  Today I want to share some words that are often mistaken or accidentally ignored that you should look for carefully.

Editorial: Open Letter to Games Workshop

I've been thinking about writing this article for some time now.  I've been spending a lot of time talking to my good friend (the one who made the 40k diorama) about why I've been disillusioned with Warhammer 40k and Fantasy and Games Workshop in general.  It's been difficult to put into words over these last couple of years but the other day I think I finally figured out exactly why I'm having so much more fun with Warmachine/Hordes and why, even with the impending release of 6th Edition 40k I'm generally not excited - and in fact pessimistic about its release.  I think that Games Workshop (GW) has been making decisions that impact me, as a customer, in very negative ways recently, and they have a policy of keeping things exactly the same as they are.  I think that's dangerous and if GW wants to win back more customers like me, I think they have to take some big steps forward and change.  Please note that I am not trying to preach to anyone here, that is not my point.  I am not trying to "convert" anyone, but merely trying to share what I believe to be steps for GW to take to make their game more enjoyable overall.  As much as they claim that they are a 'miniatures company' first, without their games, they would doubtfully sell as many miniatures as they do now.

I warn you that this is a really long article and a giant wall of text.  I will first share my story, as I think it informs my pessimism about the upcoming release of 6th edition, but the end of the article is where you can find my open letter to Games Workshop, so if you wish to skip all of the background, feel free to jump right there.  First, I would like to share my story.

Steamroller Theory - Reinforcements Part 2

Steamroller 2012 brings a lot of new elements to the table in tournament games, and the most different of these is the idea of reinforcements.  Yesterday we took a general look at the rules for reinforcements and analyzed the kinds of considerations one needs when choosing what models to take for said reinforcements.  The biggest factors, in my opinion are: low time usage, ability to dislodge an opponent from a scoring zone, and defensive capabilities or staying power.  I already looked at the choices that a Circle player might have to fill the 7-point reinforcement slot in a 35 point game, and that seems to be the trickiest to fill, compared to the 10 points that a 50 point game would have to fill.  Consequently, today we will look at some solid choices (in my opinion) for each faction that attempt to fit all three of the criteria established yesterday.

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table: Updated Rules!

The Templecon 2012 Scenario Table has been finished for a few weeks now.  It has been living at The Whiz Store back in MA (my "local" game store) so that the usual crowd there could playtest the scenario and offer feedback while I'm in another state.  When I initially dropped off the table, I observed some games and made some tweaks to the rules, but after a few weeks of testing, I have released version 1.2 of the rules.  Here are the major changes and the justifications for them, as well as some observations that I've made regarding the scenario itself.

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Rules [Updated]

While the table is finally finished, there is one last thing that needs to be done with it before it's ready for Templecon: playtesting!  Any good scenario should be tested to make sure that any rules questions are resolved in advance so that players can focus on having fun instead of arguing or asking questions.  Today I will be transporting the table to the LGS where it will undergo some vigorous testing and I will sift through some questions and thoughts on the table.  While I know it looks great, I want it to be fun too!  Therefore, I have created a beta for the rules here that you may sift through them for any questions/comments!  The most up-to-date rules can be found here.

Editiorial: Being "Competitive"

"I never really played sports when I was younger because I'm not really a competitive person."

EXTREME!!!

I have said that line on many occasions and I now believe that there are many flawed assumptions in such a statement.  Yes, it's certainly true that I never really played sports, not even baseball, soccer, football (aside from a brief exploratory period in high school), nor any other kind of sport.  When I was young I never really had the drive to try any of these activities and my parents never had me try because of that.  In hindsight, I find that a little strange considering that they always encouraged me to try new things, but I digress.

Learning Center: Warmachine/Hordes Core Mechanics

So its been a busy week but I hope that my articles have inspired you to at least be curious about Warmachine/Hordes if you have not played before!  If you have played before, I hope that I might have inspired you to start playing again.  I will be writing two more articles that will follow in the next couple of weeks, explaining the differences between fury and focus, and some of the more common special rules in the game.  If you want to learn the basics, this is an article for you! 

Warmachine and Hordes are two different sides of the same coin - a miniatures game where big steam-powered machines called warjacks are thrown into combat against giant beasts of flesh and bone!  Do you dream of giant robot combat?  Do you get excited by the idea of giant 6-limbed elephants slamming giant werewolves into the ground?  This is definitely a game of brutal combat, hardcore, aggressive and tons of fun!