I'm going to cautiously resurrect this blog and see how I go. Been spending a lot (a LOT) of time blog-surfing and really enjoying the reading time and absorbing player perspectives on various interesting facets of Warhammer and for the sake of my own reflection I think it's time I tried this blog thing again. Like a freshly built Zombie it might very well crumble without achieving bugger all, but in the meantime a couple of people might find it amusing (if not a little apathetic and uneconomical).
So much has happened recently in Warhammer both the game system and army books and for me personally the game has shifted considerably. After various extreme and highly polarised reactions to the release of 8th edition Warhammer the general international community appears to have settled down considerably. I'm heartened by the response of the local community with fairly steady numbers and attendance at tournaments and nothing like the drastic drop-off in numbers experienced during 'The Sundering' in Australia.
The community is now awaiting the release of the third new army book for 8th edition - O&Gs and Tomb Kings having now been released and the current Net-vibe indicating they are 'balanced' (don't get me started on the subjectivity of that word!), reasonably on-par with each other, and there has been some relief that the startling concept of drastically reducing magic items in army books (starting with O&Gs) has at least been followed-through by the TK release (albeit with a vast increase in the actual usefulness of the magic items in the TK book vs the O&G book).
On a personal level I am enjoying 8th edition immensely as a 'Friday night with mates, beer and pretzels' affair while having some difficulty with the game at a tournament level. This is not to say I'm not enjoying tournament games (I most certainly am!) but it still feels to me like a system that is best when played against like-minded peers who are willingly driving what is acceptable on the table as opposed to having restriction and caps forced upon them. Clearly the second option is the sensible and reasonable one as far as a generic tournament format goes, but the best and most exciting games so far for me have been the casual games against mates. Every game has a 'weird and wonderful moment' (and I don't mean 6-dice casting of Dwellers ending the game prematurely) and builds an exciting story and narrative. 7th edition is for me a very distant memory and I feel lucky to not have the weight of knowledge that participation in previous editions of Warhammer would influence and impact my expectations on where the game is at now. Is it less tactical? I'm really not sure - but I'm finding it more enjoyable and FUN.
I'm still toying with Vampire Counts but most recently an all-Goblin army has been consuming my painting time and imagination. This army was the result of two very fortunate conversations with gamers who were looking to off-load their respective Greenskin collections and I essentially ended up with a HUGE Goblin force (3000pts+) for easily less than $150. I'm now neck-deep in a repainting frenzy and, while I'm sure I'll eventually get sick of the colour green, am finding the little blighters an absolute joy to colour in. The battlefield successes and fortunes of the Blue Moon Night Goblins and their dubious allies Spider-riding Forest Goblin allies has to this point been somewhat circumspect but despite the fact that decent wins are a rare occurence they are enormous fun to play with (and lose with!). Hard to see how this has not had an effect on my adjusted attitude to tournament play...
I've probably had 7 games or so with the 8th edition (O&)Gs now and will post up my list for the next tournament on the calendar (NiCon) and some thoughts about how it's been going (and goes at the tournament).
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Thursday, October 14, 2010
FluffyCon 2011 - Best get in now...
The players pack has been out for almost a couple of weeks. There are 40 spaces available at the tournament. Already I've been in close contact (i.e have received emails from) 26 players indicating they will be coming and have or are registering on the Battlecry website.
Of those 26 player I've seen draft lists from 14, signifying to me how seriously they are taking their entry and wanting to get in early and have time to communicate with me about appropriate list design.
40 available spaces, 26 players already keen. 4 months out from the event.
If you're hanging around and waiting to see how this pans out... I reckon get in now before you miss out.
Cheers.
Of those 26 player I've seen draft lists from 14, signifying to me how seriously they are taking their entry and wanting to get in early and have time to communicate with me about appropriate list design.
40 available spaces, 26 players already keen. 4 months out from the event.
If you're hanging around and waiting to see how this pans out... I reckon get in now before you miss out.
Cheers.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
FluffyCon 2011 - Players Pack
The players pack (and sample army lists) have gone out to all the players on my email database. Given this database now includes over 100 players and there is a 40 player limit at FluffyCon (as carefully and clearly expressed in the enail) I hoped to get an immediate reaction.
Far out - I'm not disappointed.
With the pack going out last night I've already had 10 positive (i.e. "Sign me up - I'm coming!") responses, including one from a player who heard about FluffyCon from a friend! Excellent!
All the feedback and communication so far has been extremely encouraging - not just players congratulating and thanking me for the pack but also sending through some extremely neat and highly appropriate lists.
I must admit I was (somewhat) apprehensive about the reaction from the community. I'm really asking players to step out at this tournament and really try hard to get into the spirit of the event. Early evidence suggests to me this is potentially going to be far more successful than I had initially hoped. List feedback so far has been constructive, quick and efficient and the players are taking my advice on-board readily. Kudos to the players I've already had the pleasure of having an email conversation with - I'm extremely encouraged by your approach to this event. The lists so far are fluffy and AWESOME! Magic items are practically non-existent, full commands are flourishing and diversity within lists is huge... looks like the sample lists idea is paying off.
Far out - I'm not disappointed.
With the pack going out last night I've already had 10 positive (i.e. "Sign me up - I'm coming!") responses, including one from a player who heard about FluffyCon from a friend! Excellent!
All the feedback and communication so far has been extremely encouraging - not just players congratulating and thanking me for the pack but also sending through some extremely neat and highly appropriate lists.
I must admit I was (somewhat) apprehensive about the reaction from the community. I'm really asking players to step out at this tournament and really try hard to get into the spirit of the event. Early evidence suggests to me this is potentially going to be far more successful than I had initially hoped. List feedback so far has been constructive, quick and efficient and the players are taking my advice on-board readily. Kudos to the players I've already had the pleasure of having an email conversation with - I'm extremely encouraged by your approach to this event. The lists so far are fluffy and AWESOME! Magic items are practically non-existent, full commands are flourishing and diversity within lists is huge... looks like the sample lists idea is paying off.
Monday, October 4, 2010
First time using Orcs and Goblins
I played my good mate Mark McCall yesterday - Dwarfs (Mark) vs O&Gs (Me)
Dave's Orcs and Goblins
Black Orc Warboss with Shagga's and Armour of Destiny
L4 Orc Shaman - Talisman of Preservation
Black Orc Boss - BSB, Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone
Black Orc Boss - Ironcurse Icon, Heavy Armour, Potion of Toughness, Great Axe
40 Night Goblins - Netters, Full Command, 2 Fanatics
25 Orcs - Full Command
25 Orcs - Full Command
15 Arrer Boyz - Full Command
5 Wolf Riders
5 Wolf Riders
Goblin Chariot
Orc Chariot
Orc Chariot
6 Trolls
Rocklobber
2 Spear Chukkas
Giant
Mark's Stunties
Dwarf Lord - Shieldbearers, Dictionary (a bunch of runes) that gave him 5 attacks and some other stuff that didn't come up (translation: he didn't die)
Thane - BSB, 1+ save, flaming attacks
Runesmith - 2 Spellbreaking Rune (Dispel Scrolls)
Master Engineer
Bolt Thrower - extra strength
Bolt Thrower - extra strength, flaming
20 Thunderers (handguns) - full command
20 Quarellers (crossbows) - full command
20 Slayers - full command
20 Longbeards - full command, immune to fear/terror banner
20 Hammerers - full command, great weapons, +1 combat res banner
Mark deployed the combat units in the centre and a shooting blocks on either flank. The fast stuff, Giant (oh the Giant...) and Trolls were whittled down over three turns and never made combat. My shooting went into the Slayers and I managed to get through them in a couple of rounds with the General and his mates when we hit combat. I stupidly (after rolling a 6 for Animosity followed by another 6 TWICE) charged the Goblins into the Hammerers/Lord prematurely (should have let them charge me). Held out on Steadfast for a couple of turns and when I broke the Hammerers pursued and were handed a flank charge on my generals unit which had unwisely decided not to reform (having just finished with the Slayers) in anticipation of this. Dead Orcs/Gobbos all over the place, broken, run down, ashamed at my lack of intelligence. Realised with horror that, in using Orcs and Goblins, I was now playing like an Orc! In the same turn my other unit with Shaman and Black Orc Hero ran through the Longbeards/Dwarf BSB. Swings and roundabouts time boys and girls.
Chased the Runesmith off the board and magic got me the Master Engineer (squish). Smashed a Bolt Thrower in combat and the other one with a shot from the Rocklobber. The Arrer Boyz deployed in a building, failed Animosity twice on a 1, threw some near-awesome shooting into the Hammerers (killed 3 with 10 shots! Amazing!), then failed Animosity again,left the building and ended up charging the Hammerers and getting whipped.
A win to Mark in the end by about 300VPs. Good bash though - I reckon O&Gs are perfect for the Beerhammer that is 8th edition. We had a blast!
Things I learnt in summary:
- units of 20 Dwarfs are tough, doesn't matter whether they have. The 20 Thunderers saw off the Chariots and the buggers fled in the last turn, surviving under half strength
- two Hammerers survived the game. Starting to think twice about the lack of 1/2 strength and not gaining points for fleeing enemy units at the end of the game (Thunderers, Arrer Boyz were both fleeing at the end)
- Shagga's is awesome when it gives your character 6 str7 attacks
- Trolls are awesome. But even Trolls can't face down 20 Thunderers and two magical Bolt Throwers
- don't even risk Khemrian Quicksand. Easiest way to lose a Giant I've ever seen :(
- Fanatics are good fun. Even when they throw themselves into reverse and careen through your own troops
- I understand a bit more how people feel about Animosity
- I need to play with the army more to remember the toys I've given it (Preservation, Nets!!) and the instrinsic abilities (Choppas, Waagh! - good grief I completely forgot about it... Actually as I write this I realise Mark completely forgot Dwarfs have Hatred against Greenskins!!! Argh!)
- my goodness but Spear Chukkas suck
- str3 Stonethrowers are average. Took a toll (about 5 Slayers, Bolt Thrower... the rest of the time it scattered unfortunately) but nowhere near as much as it would have in 7th with higher strength. I can see multiple stonethrowers being more of a threat. Then again, I was shooting at Dwarfs :/
Keen to try the Greenies again - pretty hilarious if you can learn to laugh at your own crappy rolling and extremely mediocre troops screwing you with random movement :)
Dave's Orcs and Goblins
Black Orc Warboss with Shagga's and Armour of Destiny
L4 Orc Shaman - Talisman of Preservation
Black Orc Boss - BSB, Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone
Black Orc Boss - Ironcurse Icon, Heavy Armour, Potion of Toughness, Great Axe
40 Night Goblins - Netters, Full Command, 2 Fanatics
25 Orcs - Full Command
25 Orcs - Full Command
15 Arrer Boyz - Full Command
5 Wolf Riders
5 Wolf Riders
Goblin Chariot
Orc Chariot
Orc Chariot
6 Trolls
Rocklobber
2 Spear Chukkas
Giant
Mark's Stunties
Dwarf Lord - Shieldbearers, Dictionary (a bunch of runes) that gave him 5 attacks and some other stuff that didn't come up (translation: he didn't die)
Thane - BSB, 1+ save, flaming attacks
Runesmith - 2 Spellbreaking Rune (Dispel Scrolls)
Master Engineer
Bolt Thrower - extra strength
Bolt Thrower - extra strength, flaming
20 Thunderers (handguns) - full command
20 Quarellers (crossbows) - full command
20 Slayers - full command
20 Longbeards - full command, immune to fear/terror banner
20 Hammerers - full command, great weapons, +1 combat res banner
Mark deployed the combat units in the centre and a shooting blocks on either flank. The fast stuff, Giant (oh the Giant...) and Trolls were whittled down over three turns and never made combat. My shooting went into the Slayers and I managed to get through them in a couple of rounds with the General and his mates when we hit combat. I stupidly (after rolling a 6 for Animosity followed by another 6 TWICE) charged the Goblins into the Hammerers/Lord prematurely (should have let them charge me). Held out on Steadfast for a couple of turns and when I broke the Hammerers pursued and were handed a flank charge on my generals unit which had unwisely decided not to reform (having just finished with the Slayers) in anticipation of this. Dead Orcs/Gobbos all over the place, broken, run down, ashamed at my lack of intelligence. Realised with horror that, in using Orcs and Goblins, I was now playing like an Orc! In the same turn my other unit with Shaman and Black Orc Hero ran through the Longbeards/Dwarf BSB. Swings and roundabouts time boys and girls.
Chased the Runesmith off the board and magic got me the Master Engineer (squish). Smashed a Bolt Thrower in combat and the other one with a shot from the Rocklobber. The Arrer Boyz deployed in a building, failed Animosity twice on a 1, threw some near-awesome shooting into the Hammerers (killed 3 with 10 shots! Amazing!), then failed Animosity again,left the building and ended up charging the Hammerers and getting whipped.
A win to Mark in the end by about 300VPs. Good bash though - I reckon O&Gs are perfect for the Beerhammer that is 8th edition. We had a blast!
Things I learnt in summary:
- units of 20 Dwarfs are tough, doesn't matter whether they have. The 20 Thunderers saw off the Chariots and the buggers fled in the last turn, surviving under half strength
- two Hammerers survived the game. Starting to think twice about the lack of 1/2 strength and not gaining points for fleeing enemy units at the end of the game (Thunderers, Arrer Boyz were both fleeing at the end)
- Shagga's is awesome when it gives your character 6 str7 attacks
- Trolls are awesome. But even Trolls can't face down 20 Thunderers and two magical Bolt Throwers
- don't even risk Khemrian Quicksand. Easiest way to lose a Giant I've ever seen :(
- Fanatics are good fun. Even when they throw themselves into reverse and careen through your own troops
- I understand a bit more how people feel about Animosity
- I need to play with the army more to remember the toys I've given it (Preservation, Nets!!) and the instrinsic abilities (Choppas, Waagh! - good grief I completely forgot about it... Actually as I write this I realise Mark completely forgot Dwarfs have Hatred against Greenskins!!! Argh!)
- my goodness but Spear Chukkas suck
- str3 Stonethrowers are average. Took a toll (about 5 Slayers, Bolt Thrower... the rest of the time it scattered unfortunately) but nowhere near as much as it would have in 7th with higher strength. I can see multiple stonethrowers being more of a threat. Then again, I was shooting at Dwarfs :/
Keen to try the Greenies again - pretty hilarious if you can learn to laugh at your own crappy rolling and extremely mediocre troops screwing you with random movement :)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
FluffyCon 2011 - What's Hot?
That is indeed the question! In order to establish this I've emailed about 12 or so players in the community to gather some opinions. Hopefully this removes some of the absolute bias that I'm bringing to building the red flag list (i.e. it doesn't just become stuff that Dave hates) but rather is built on trends I can see in the responses of my fellow gamers.
With the relative newness of 8th edition this could potentially have been a difficult task but most of the obvious answers aren't rocket science. I'm looking for the 'hidden' awesomeness that players have experienced themselves either facing the or using them themselves.
Feedback is coming in thick and fast and I'm already seeing consistencies in the responses. Will post these up next week when I've got most of the replies in.
With the relative newness of 8th edition this could potentially have been a difficult task but most of the obvious answers aren't rocket science. I'm looking for the 'hidden' awesomeness that players have experienced themselves either facing the or using them themselves.
Feedback is coming in thick and fast and I'm already seeing consistencies in the responses. Will post these up next week when I've got most of the replies in.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
FluffyCon 2011 - Getting Closer
Almost have a finished tournament pack. Starting to shape up like this:
Battle - 120pts
Composition 30pts
Painting - 20pts
Sportsmanship - 30pts
Battle - 120pts
6 rounds with the standard 20 points on offer for each round. Will be using most of the scenarios from the rulebook (not the length-wise one) with a couple of changes. Battleline (twice in rounds 3 and 6), Meeting Engagement, Dawn Attack, Blood and Glory, Watchtower...
Watchtower will become "King of the Hill" where the building is replaced by a terrain piece (hill or equivalent) in the centre worth a sizeable VP bonus to whoever is holding it at the end.
Looking at additional mission options tying bonuses to fulfilling certain other objectives each round. Things like Recon (getting into the enemy deployment zone), Tall Poppy Syndrome(bonus points for killing off enemy Special or Rare choices), Giantslayers (killing a Monster or Large Target - I don't expect many to turn up though).
Composition - 30pts
This needs to be substantial enough to be worthwhile aiming for but not so substantial or implemented in such a way that someone who gets consistently poor battle points results somehow pogos up the table to podium. Here's what I'm going for:
- each army scored on a sliding scale 0-5 by me
- '0' is the baseline equivalent of "normal tournament soft"
- your comp score compared to your opponents and this differential artificially added into the draw calculcation
- your comp score at the end of the event truly added to your final score to determine the final rankings
Example One - Tony gets a score of '0', Dave gets a score of '5'. Dave plays Tony and gets hammered 19-1 (obviously nothing to do with player skill and everything to do with the power difference between their armies!). This gets Tony 19 points and Dave 1 point but when it comes to calculating the draw for the next round Tony will still get 19 points, but Dave will get 6 points (1 for the battle itself + 5 for the difference between their two comp scores)
Example Two - Next round Dave (comp score 5) plays Nick (comp score 4). Dave manages a win (glory hallelujah!) and the result is 12-8. Nick carries his 8 points into the next round, Dave gets the 12 + a bonus 1 for the different in their comp scores.
This is a bit like what I encountered at DogCon earlier this year and it seemed to work out ok there.
At the end of the event each player gets their comp score added into their final score, multiplied by 6 for the games they have played (giving a total comp score out of 30). So Dave, with his awesome comp score of 5, gets an extra 30pts. Tony, with his lacklustre comp score of 0, gets no extra points.
This pushes Dave up the ladder (quite a bit! - remember though that most players will get a reasonable comp score and very few players are likely to get 5/5 for comp!) BUT the important thing is that Dave hasn't necessarily been able to lurk on the lower tables for the whole event playing bunnies - his comp score has forced him up the tables artificially to play some of the tougher armies and opponents.
At least I think it works! :/
With the comp system including a description of the above and a list of army red flags as well as a strong brief about the nature of the event and much open consultation from me I'm happy with how this looks. Also, at 15% comp it will add in enough of a boost to make a difference without (hopefully) adding in so much of a boost that someone can come from absolutely nowhere and nab first place!
I realise many players are happy (happier?) with hard caps so they know exactly how hard they can go before getting slapped. Fair enough but I'd like the choices and variety to remain open albeit with some personal guidance from me as TO.
Painting - 20pts
Scoring either 0/5/10/15/20 for no painting/some painting/half painted/mostly painted/fully painted. Most players will score either 15 or 20pts.
Sportsmanship - 30pts
5pts for each round. The standard Sports questions and tick boxes.
Next on the list - firming up those red flag/"what's hot" lists for each army. This will be based on what the current tournament environment demonstrates in terms of the most powerful/common choices for each race. Some of these will be easy (Hellpit Abomination/Hydra/Rumination/Cupped Hands for example), some not so much as they are a bit more situational.
Hoping to get some sample lists (of my own devising) up here soon.
Battle - 120pts
Composition 30pts
Painting - 20pts
Sportsmanship - 30pts
Battle - 120pts
6 rounds with the standard 20 points on offer for each round. Will be using most of the scenarios from the rulebook (not the length-wise one) with a couple of changes. Battleline (twice in rounds 3 and 6), Meeting Engagement, Dawn Attack, Blood and Glory, Watchtower...
Watchtower will become "King of the Hill" where the building is replaced by a terrain piece (hill or equivalent) in the centre worth a sizeable VP bonus to whoever is holding it at the end.
Looking at additional mission options tying bonuses to fulfilling certain other objectives each round. Things like Recon (getting into the enemy deployment zone), Tall Poppy Syndrome(bonus points for killing off enemy Special or Rare choices), Giantslayers (killing a Monster or Large Target - I don't expect many to turn up though).
Composition - 30pts
This needs to be substantial enough to be worthwhile aiming for but not so substantial or implemented in such a way that someone who gets consistently poor battle points results somehow pogos up the table to podium. Here's what I'm going for:
- each army scored on a sliding scale 0-5 by me
- '0' is the baseline equivalent of "normal tournament soft"
- your comp score compared to your opponents and this differential artificially added into the draw calculcation
- your comp score at the end of the event truly added to your final score to determine the final rankings
Example One - Tony gets a score of '0', Dave gets a score of '5'. Dave plays Tony and gets hammered 19-1 (obviously nothing to do with player skill and everything to do with the power difference between their armies!). This gets Tony 19 points and Dave 1 point but when it comes to calculating the draw for the next round Tony will still get 19 points, but Dave will get 6 points (1 for the battle itself + 5 for the difference between their two comp scores)
Example Two - Next round Dave (comp score 5) plays Nick (comp score 4). Dave manages a win (glory hallelujah!) and the result is 12-8. Nick carries his 8 points into the next round, Dave gets the 12 + a bonus 1 for the different in their comp scores.
This is a bit like what I encountered at DogCon earlier this year and it seemed to work out ok there.
At the end of the event each player gets their comp score added into their final score, multiplied by 6 for the games they have played (giving a total comp score out of 30). So Dave, with his awesome comp score of 5, gets an extra 30pts. Tony, with his lacklustre comp score of 0, gets no extra points.
This pushes Dave up the ladder (quite a bit! - remember though that most players will get a reasonable comp score and very few players are likely to get 5/5 for comp!) BUT the important thing is that Dave hasn't necessarily been able to lurk on the lower tables for the whole event playing bunnies - his comp score has forced him up the tables artificially to play some of the tougher armies and opponents.
At least I think it works! :/
With the comp system including a description of the above and a list of army red flags as well as a strong brief about the nature of the event and much open consultation from me I'm happy with how this looks. Also, at 15% comp it will add in enough of a boost to make a difference without (hopefully) adding in so much of a boost that someone can come from absolutely nowhere and nab first place!
I realise many players are happy (happier?) with hard caps so they know exactly how hard they can go before getting slapped. Fair enough but I'd like the choices and variety to remain open albeit with some personal guidance from me as TO.
Painting - 20pts
Scoring either 0/5/10/15/20 for no painting/some painting/half painted/mostly painted/fully painted. Most players will score either 15 or 20pts.
Sportsmanship - 30pts
5pts for each round. The standard Sports questions and tick boxes.
Next on the list - firming up those red flag/"what's hot" lists for each army. This will be based on what the current tournament environment demonstrates in terms of the most powerful/common choices for each race. Some of these will be easy (Hellpit Abomination/Hydra/Rumination/Cupped Hands for example), some not so much as they are a bit more situational.
Hoping to get some sample lists (of my own devising) up here soon.
Friday, September 24, 2010
FluffyCon 2011 - Restrictions?
By their very nature gamers are devious little animals, many of whom will seek any potential advantage they can over their opponents by pushing the absolute boundaries of acceptability when it comes to building a tournament list. It's an almost recognised art form - how hard to push without getting an equivalent veto. I don't much like this attitude but it's an ingrained part of tournament gaming and looks like something we have to live with. I think my problem with it is that it reflects the general distrust of humanity - that if I don't tool up I won't be competitive with all the raving cheese-mongers and I can't trust the TO to provide a platform of well-intentioned moderation to ensure all lists will be on an even playing field.
So that got me thinking about FluffyCon and the tournament system I'll need to implement to attempt even a modicum of appropriateness from the lists that will be submitted.
In the past Nick has presented a pack with a long list of hard caps - 'x' amounts of shooting, magic, movement types, unit types, magic items etc - that basically put a dampener on the worst excesses of your average tournament player. So for example, everyone knows there is no chances of them seeing a Dragon or Greater Daemon at FluffyCon. Ergo the Empire players feel less inclined to field 2 Great Cannons (which there is probably a hard cap on anyway). In essence I feel that this worked very well - everyone was clear on what they wouldn't see. On the flip side it meant that you could also build right to the edge of acceptability and quite naturally this is where some players went straight away.
It was also difficult to see where the inspiration was for trying something really out of the box - taking items from your army book that were never used in tournament games, units that were extremely sub-optimal etc and trying to make them work on the pitch.
My thoughts at the moment are a REALLY strong opening statement about the unique nature of the event. Most tournaments preface their players packs with a blurb about having a good time and playing nicely with an appropriate list - I'm looking at spelling out what I expect more finely. The wording isn't exact yet but I'm thinking:
" Welcome to FluffyCon! This tournament is unique on the tournament calendar and should be recognised for promoting the use of armies and list builds that are much much softer than the standard tournamant list. Of all the events you could attend this year - this is the one to be trying something really different. Get far away from the net-listed omptimisation of your units and characters, forget the the equipment and items you always see from the army/race in question - take things we NEVER see in a tournament army! Units that are supposedly terrible in this edition of Warhammer. Magic items you normally ignore when looking for the most competitive selections. Get into the spirit of the tournament itself - celebrating our wonderful game with strategic thinking and tactical brilliance with clever play instead of relying upon scary toys/monsters/magic/shooting. It's time to get soft. It's time to tone it down. It's time to get fluffy!"
Or words to that effect.
Next up would be a list of red flags or "what's hot" both generically and for each army race. Basically the same old boring predictable things you always see in tournaments. Level 4s with "those" Lores of Magic, template death, monsters like the Hydra, Abomination, and Ancient Stegadons. The usually toys and kit that everyone always takes. The reason why you aren't the least bit surprised to be facing a Lizardman army across the table in a virtual mirror-match :)
For each race I'll be asking players who specialise and are well-known for their use of those races in tournaments to share the best their lists can offer. This might be something like (but not necessarily limited to):
Skaven - Doomrocket, Abomination, Grey Seer, Brass Orb, Furnace, double Gutter Runners, lots of templates et al.
Lizards - Slaan, Rumination/bulk powers, Salamanders, double Saurus with spears, a BSB!
Vampires - big magic, Helm, not just Ghouls in Core, Barrows Grave Guard, Coach.
And other stuff besides. Obviously the idea here is to encourage players into getting stuck into the rarely seen units and options, try something different, maybe surprise themselves (and each other!) with some hitherto "inefficient/sub-optimal" units.
So that got me thinking about FluffyCon and the tournament system I'll need to implement to attempt even a modicum of appropriateness from the lists that will be submitted.
In the past Nick has presented a pack with a long list of hard caps - 'x' amounts of shooting, magic, movement types, unit types, magic items etc - that basically put a dampener on the worst excesses of your average tournament player. So for example, everyone knows there is no chances of them seeing a Dragon or Greater Daemon at FluffyCon. Ergo the Empire players feel less inclined to field 2 Great Cannons (which there is probably a hard cap on anyway). In essence I feel that this worked very well - everyone was clear on what they wouldn't see. On the flip side it meant that you could also build right to the edge of acceptability and quite naturally this is where some players went straight away.
It was also difficult to see where the inspiration was for trying something really out of the box - taking items from your army book that were never used in tournament games, units that were extremely sub-optimal etc and trying to make them work on the pitch.
My thoughts at the moment are a REALLY strong opening statement about the unique nature of the event. Most tournaments preface their players packs with a blurb about having a good time and playing nicely with an appropriate list - I'm looking at spelling out what I expect more finely. The wording isn't exact yet but I'm thinking:
" Welcome to FluffyCon! This tournament is unique on the tournament calendar and should be recognised for promoting the use of armies and list builds that are much much softer than the standard tournamant list. Of all the events you could attend this year - this is the one to be trying something really different. Get far away from the net-listed omptimisation of your units and characters, forget the the equipment and items you always see from the army/race in question - take things we NEVER see in a tournament army! Units that are supposedly terrible in this edition of Warhammer. Magic items you normally ignore when looking for the most competitive selections. Get into the spirit of the tournament itself - celebrating our wonderful game with strategic thinking and tactical brilliance with clever play instead of relying upon scary toys/monsters/magic/shooting. It's time to get soft. It's time to tone it down. It's time to get fluffy!"
Or words to that effect.
Next up would be a list of red flags or "what's hot" both generically and for each army race. Basically the same old boring predictable things you always see in tournaments. Level 4s with "those" Lores of Magic, template death, monsters like the Hydra, Abomination, and Ancient Stegadons. The usually toys and kit that everyone always takes. The reason why you aren't the least bit surprised to be facing a Lizardman army across the table in a virtual mirror-match :)
For each race I'll be asking players who specialise and are well-known for their use of those races in tournaments to share the best their lists can offer. This might be something like (but not necessarily limited to):
Skaven - Doomrocket, Abomination, Grey Seer, Brass Orb, Furnace, double Gutter Runners, lots of templates et al.
Lizards - Slaan, Rumination/bulk powers, Salamanders, double Saurus with spears, a BSB!
Vampires - big magic, Helm, not just Ghouls in Core, Barrows Grave Guard, Coach.
And other stuff besides. Obviously the idea here is to encourage players into getting stuck into the rarely seen units and options, try something different, maybe surprise themselves (and each other!) with some hitherto "inefficient/sub-optimal" units.
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