Thursday, December 27, 2018

G.U.A.R.D.S. Test Run

What Have We Here?

In the spring of 2018, I was invited to go to my first War Game convention. I went to Little Wars in the Chicago area to demo a game with a friend of mine. While we were there, I had enough free time to try all of the other demo games in the room. Skirmish games seem to be a big thing lately for the reduced model count (and therefor price tag...) compared to the larger war games. This reflected in the demos with 2 small aircraft dog fight games, a samurai skirmish game, a small scale tanks only game, and even a high-octane western shootout style game!

The one game that I decided to pick up though, was a game called G.U.A.R.D.S. by Gaddis Gaming. This game was designed to let you use any models you have lying around to make armies from. Finally, I have found something that I can use all of my WotC Star Wars Miniatures for! So I picked it up, got busy for the whole summer, and finally am getting around to trying it out at home.

To Be Clear

I have decided to do this write up and review of the game system of my own accord. Gaddis Gaming is not backing or supporting me in any way.

How It Plays

I got to play at the convention with one of the Gaddis Gaming crew. This game is still in early development as the team finds time to work on it, and the rules are still filling out. There are some inconsistencies between sections on how to resolve some rules, and there are some page formatting situations that make the rule book a little tough to follow. Luckily, the Gaddis team is super responsive and willing to help clear up some rules. They also respond to feedback well and will take any that you think would be helpful to making the game as great as it can be.

I have played a few different games like this, but the Suppression mechanic seem to set this game apart from the rest I have played. Suppression is the 'moral' system in the game. It is nice that your units don't run away after taking 2 hits. Instead, they may be too scared to take action after being shot at! I like that the unit could potentially be stunned for a round, but is still on the table presenting a threat where as so many other games you have all or nothing.

Unfortunately, these rules are some of the hardest rules to follow throughout the rule book right now. How to you get suppression tokens, how many you can have, how to get rid of them, and what they do to a unit are spread around throughout the book. Additionally, these function as sort of a shield for your unit, or temporary hits that replenish as you activate (or try to activate) your unit. I am not sure if that is the intended feel, but some units that get dug in really well with a decent armor rating are nearly impossible to remove from the table.

The D10 system gives more flexibility for fine tuning house rules and custom weapons/gear. Along with the faction-less system being open for anyone to make whatever fits your fancy, there is a huge space to play in here that lets you play the way you always wished you could with dozens of men fighting along monstrous space bugs!

I haven't had enough time to try out everything, so I have only done one game with my wife. We played a modified version of the Battle for Endor. We focused mostly on infantry formations and I threw in one vehicle for the imperial forces just to try it out. As far as I can tell, I didn't put enough guns on it to make it worth the points, but it is hard to tell how many guns the rules 'want' you to put on a vehicle.

One of the biggest lessons I learned from the game with my wife is that Close Combat is SUPER lethal. Suppression cannot be used in Close Combat, so no shields allowed makes for a bloody conflict. My storm troopers just didn't put out enough shots to stop the ewok tides of fur. Ultimately, I was over-run.

I wrote up a battle report for some more play-by-play action soon, and linked it here!

Other Perks

The game has enormous potential and if you are willing to make some house rulings or assumptions, this game is well enough together for some friendly games. Unfortunately for me, I love the crunch, and if I can't rules lawyer my way into an iron-clad decision, I just can't function properly. However, if you buy a copy, they are willing to send you PDF updates as they come out, so you should always be up to date!

Again, the rules are pretty lose right now, but there is allowance for some pretty significant flexibility. I didn't get to using any of them, but there are 'hero' type units in the game that can have special characteristics, letting you make your own special leader or just generally awesome soldier. I could imagine a game being played skirmish style with hero units only to get a more personalized army.

I think it is also worth noting that Gaddis Gaming also makes miniatures and a Table Topper that lets you turn smaller tables into something more appropriately sized for your cinematic mayhem! Go ahead and check out their website here. You can pick up a copy of the rules in their shop for $15 and give it a try.

As always, happy gaming!
 -Zenfall

G.U.A.R.D.S.: Endor Battle Report



Setup

So I picked up a rule set called G.U.A.R.D.S. and finally found time to play it. I also have two storage containers full of Star Wars Miniatures that haven't been used much lately. This is the perfect chance to put together some storm troopers and shoot some lasers!

What I have done is set up a troop heavy battle that is inspired by the movie, but I didn't want to read through and try to build hero units, I wanted to get in and play. I understand the infantry rules for the most part and want to explore some of that space, and I want to expand my understanding to the vehicles. With those two sections figured out, I figure I can run some really fun scenarios. 

With all of the building restrictions in mind, the Rebels are a very heavy melee infantry build that use their little furry friends to try and over-run the installation while the commandos are there to disable/blow up the shield generator.

For the Empire, there is a core of storm troopers and a small sampling of scouts that should distribute very long range fire support. There was also a pair sweet bi-pedal walker that I wanted in on this, so I made 1 walker vehicle to fill out the points for the empire.

Units
Rebels (Model Count: 55 infantry)
Commando Squad (x2)
Models: 4 (1 leader)
Unit Level: Seasoned
Equipment:
-Blaster (Infantry Rifle)
-Thermal Detonators (Thrown Grenades)
-Blast Jacket (Light Armor)

Demolition Squad
Models: 3 (1 leader)
Unit Level: Veteran
Equipment:
-Blaster (Infantry Rifle)
-Thermal Detonators (Thrown Grenades)
-Blast Jacket (Light Armor)
Special Rules: Bunker Buster (This unit can place a high explosive package at the imperial bunker to destroy the generator. The package is placed one turn and detonated the next. If the package is detonated, the Rebels win the game.)

Ewok Pack (x6)
Models: 6
Unit Level: Green
Equipment: 1 axe and 1 dagger each (2 Close Combat Attacks)

Ewok Archers (x2)
Models: 4
Unit Level: Green
Equipment: Bows (Infantry Rifle)

Empire (Model Count: 19 infantry, 1 vehicle)
Storm Trooper Squad (x3)
Models: 5 (1 leader)
Unit Level: Seasoned
Equipment:
-Blaster (Infantry Rifle)
-Thermal Detonators (Thrown Grenades)
-Storm Trooper Armor (Medium Armor)

Scout Squad (x2)
Models: 2 (1 Spotter, 1 Sniper)
Unit Level: Veteran
Equipment:
-Blaster Rifle (Sniper Rifle - Sniper Only)
-Blaster Piston (Pistol - Spotter Only)
-Scout Armor (Light Armor)

AT-ST
Models: 1 Medium Armor Light Walker
Unit Level: Seasoned
Equipment:
-Heavy Repeating Blaster (Heavy Machine Gun)

The Empire is set up in one corner of the board with a building designated to be the Shield Generator that must be defended at all costs. The Rebels deploy diagonally across the table from the Empire.


The 'tide of fur' as I now call it is ready for a fight, and the game begins with us using the 'Move' action once each for a blazing movement range of 6" for everyone. Not much happens on round one as nothing is in range to do anything, but the tide is getting ready to move in, and they smell fear...

A nice, blurry picture from above. The Tide is rolling into town...

Turn two starts with one of my Scout Squads deciding that the high ground isn't really worth the time, so they fire off a shot into the tide, scoring 2 unsaved hits and dropping one fur ball. The tide continues to move forward, and then my walker fires of it's heavy repeating blaster scoring 4 of 4 hits! It feels good to get some solid hits in!

After the first activation round's slow movement, I house ruled a new action type that we called 'Hustle' so an infantry squad can move up to 9" for their 2 activation points. It isn't clear if you can do 'Move' twice, so we split the difference. The Rebel scum used this to great advantage on my flank, getting around the on-site storage containers these troopers need for spare walker parts and maybe some cold storage for rations.

Turn 3 is where the Tide crashes into the imperial front, and it turns out that Scout Squads do not do well in a fight.
A pack of fur balls spotted the source of some blaster fire and closed in. The scouts went down in the flurry of stone-age weapons. Turns out 12 attacks hurt. "How well does that plastic armor protect you?"

I lucked out in the movement and my walker was just out of range for the charge on turn 3. One of my storm trooper squads took a few arrows and lost 2 brave men. We fired everything we had, but even with the wall of blaster fire, the Tide would not stop. Somehow, we still haven't seen what has sent these local beasts after us. Are there Rebels afoot?


Desperate at the start of Round 4, I need an activation die so I can get my walker out of here! The Tide is too close...
As usual, the dice betray. The Tide gets first activation and my wife wastes no time in wasting my walker.

The rules are not clear if Close Combat attacks work on vehicles. Most other weapons have an Infantry Dice value and a Vehicle Dice value that tell you how many dice to roll depending on the target. Close Combat doesn't make a distinction, so we decided that the ewoks can get there tools into some weak spots and probably do some damage, but it maybe should be tougher to do? To show the 'tougher' part, we applied a +2 penalty to the attack rolls. 6 fur balls still scored 5 hits.

With the 5 hits, I roll and get 3 saves. 2 rolls on the table are: 8 and it doesn't matter because the 8 killed the walker in a big ball of fire, killing the crew.

With the walker down, the commando squads finally made it into position to help the archers put shots into my storm troopers. The masses of fire were just too much before the wave of fur overtook the rest of my main front.

One ewok was a hero this day. In 3 bouts of blaster fire and a thermal detonator, he lost all of his comrades. Unwilling to let their lives be lost in vein, he charged fearlessly into battle against these white terrors that live in his forests. Making 8 saving throws on 9+ to save, this beast rolled into a squad of storm troopers taking two gun butts to the head, still chopping down two of his foes and watching another pack swoop in to finish off the last two troopers.

By round 5, the Scout Squad that was left on the top of the bunker is all that remains of the imperial forces. Armed only with a Blaster Rifle and a Blaster Pistol, the scouts hold their ground firing into the freshly revealed demolitions team headed strait for the generator.


There isn't much to be done as the Tide of Fur rolls over the last bastion of defense right after the spotter takes a blaster shot to his bucket, leaving the sniper alone to be mauled by mini bears.

By the end of the fight, the Rebels had lost a total of 17 ewoks (2 of which were archers) and no commando models.

The imperial forces were eliminated to the man. Quantity won over Quality by a long shot.

Wrap Up

The game went reasonably well with all things considered. I think we missed one retreat that should have happened on one of the Ewok Packs. Otherwise, I learned 3 things:

Sniper Rifles Don't Feel Like Sniper Rifles-
The rifles have a great 32" shooting range and 2 Infantry Dice. They would be solid in large numbers, but they do not feel like sniper rifles. Shooting into a mob and putting 1 suppression on a unit might slow them down, but I was expecting them to feel more like the 'one shot one kill' type of weapon. The way they are set up, they don't play they way I expect. These should maybe cause suppression and remove a model for 1 Attack Die. That would maybe give them a better feel.

Vehicles Need More Guns!-
I couldn't find clear rules on how to equip a vehicle, so I grabbed a support weapon. Turns out, I should have put 3 heavy machine guns on the walker. 4 dice was not enough for the points it cost in my army. I needed to be able to wipe out an entire squad of fuzz, not just slow one down and maybe do some damage. It also seems that a vehicle with 1 gun or 100 guns costs the same. I know the rules are still being refined, but I think some guidance for weapon systems limitations would be a good add for these.

Also, maybe clearing up that Close Combat thing would be good too. I think what my wife and I did works ok, but that mob of ewoks is 36 points and my walker was 130. I know I under equipped my unit now that I have played, but it did not feel like it was even 60 points worth of unit.

Close Combat Kills -
The suppression mechanic is the key mechanic to this game. It sort of acts like a shield that refreshes itself after every activation though, so ranged attack hits can be 'soaked' by suppression markers instead of losing fighting power. Close Combat attacks don't allow suppression to be taken, casualties only. I didn't think that 6 bear folk with two attacks would be so devastating. I guess I should have done some math and figured out how many dice that is and realized that those hits are going to kill, not just scare someone.

Signing Off

At any rate, my wife and I had a pretty good time. I hope we play a few more games and iron out some of the rules confusion. I would like to field a few more vehicles, but they don't seem to be worth the points. We will likely stick to non-hero units for a few more games. On top of that, we haven't even gotten to Command Points and Special Abilities yet! So much to do!

As always, happy gaming!
 -Zenfall


Thursday, September 13, 2018

Battle for Greyport

Harbor Heros

Coming back from a hard day of adventuring, the heroes return to town intending to hang out at their favorite place: The Red Dragon Inn. Instead, they find the city of Greyport under attack!

Based on the Red Dragon Inn characters and setting, this co-op deck building game is fantastic. The game is for 2-5 players and sports a very engaging turn system. Instead of players waiting for the game to get back to them, everyone can participate on every player's turn, keeping everyone engaged and allowing them to make the difference between success and defeat!

The original game comes with five heroes that players can choose from to represent them in the game. These heroes come with their own small starting deck of cards. As the game progresses, the each player hero will 'level up' and players will get to spend their hard earned coin to buy better equipment and hire local heroes, collectively called 'recruits', that will help the players along the way.


First Few Forays

Each mission in the game has a difficulty rating, mostly based on the difficulty rating of the enemy monster decks being used to generate the monster groups. This game is actually quite difficult if players don't work together. For groups with any number of new players, probably play an easy mission.

One of the missions is a tutorial type mission. If there is at least one player in the group that has played before, your group may not need to start here, but it is still a ton of fun and the whole game has great replay value because of the randomized nature of the player's draws from their decks as well as the order of recruitment cards. Our group has played this starter mission half a dozen times and it is still great fun!

The edition of the game that my wife and I have printed this mission as a two location adventure, but Slugfest Games has (through feedback and additional play testing) decided to provide a free errata to this mission, making it an easier (and I would say more fun) three location mission. I have played it both ways and while two locations is doable, the change does three big things for the mission that are worth noting:
1. With three locations, all missions in the box now have three locations
    -This is more relevant to recruitment coins than anything else, more on that later
2. The mission has more time to 'ramp up' to the boss
    -With only two locations, you get a 'trash mobs' fight and then you dive right into a boss fight! 
3. The players get more recruitment purchases
    -While two locations was exciting, the boss fight is a little tougher as the players get half as many upgrade cards for their decks before they have to take on a potent adversary.


Tandum Tactics

I cannot stress this enough, especially in the higher difficulty missions: You MUST WORK TOGETHER. The turn structure is brilliantly designed to let players get through it, but the more crafty players are with their order of operations and play choices, the more successful the whole group will be. There are quite a few tips that I could give, but to make sure the game isn't 'solved' by the time you buy it, I will only give a couple here.

1. Make plans for the round, not just the turn.
Each player has a hand of five cards. These cards have to make it the whole round! The defending player will get to replenish their hand at the end of their turn, but everyone else's resource pool will continue to dwindle. 

By nature of the replenish timing, this means that more often than not, a player will actually be responsible for the monster's in front of the player to their left because the defending player will likely have played out most of their hand by  the time it is their turn and will not be able to defend themselves.

2. Use Random Damage before Static Damage.
All of the cards that players can use will either have a colored die that they will roll to determine damage (random damage) or the card will have a set number that tells you how much damage it does (static damage). If Static Damage will kill a monster, don't waste Random Damage on it, but if their is a high priority target, throw the Random Damage first. Good rolls might kill the monster, but other times, bad rolls will mean that the attack comes up one or two damage short. If the Static Damage is used first, a good roll on the Random Damage can be overkill, and that kind of waste in this game can actually be devastating in the long run.


Saved! For Today...

The base game has six standard missions that have an extremely high replay value because of the random nature of most game pieces. Because of this, a group could play a mission a dozen times and still not get bored! On top of that, the hard missions really are tough and may take a few runs to finish successfully. 

The whole time I have been playing Battle for Greyport though, the players have really only ever had a problem with the recruitment cards will sometimes come up with choices that the buying player really doesn't want. That wasted money feels terrible on the purchase and drawing the card later never feels good either. We have a house rule for recruitment cards that has worked pretty well and we have a few other ideas that we might try to see if we like them better.

Overall, I would give this game a 9/10 and my game group plays it fairly regularly. We have some house rules in action and some more in the works, ideas for new playable characters, and we are even working on monsters and missions! I will most certainly be posting more on this game in the future to cover these ideas as well as some in-depth ideas on game mechanics and play strategies.


As always, happy gaming!
 -Zenfall



Wednesday, August 22, 2018

My First Blue Tron

Budget for Me

I have some paper pauper decks that I have been making to try and give my friends something they can play with when they visit so I can jam some games and they don't have to spend two weeks remembering how to build a deck.

One of the decks that I built is an Urzatron deck based on the fabled Urza lands to make huge mana fast. It turns out this deck isn't as 'budget' as I thought, but I had all of these cards just lying around. At any rate, here is what I have!

Deck: Blue Pauper Tron {w}{u}{g}
LandsSpellsCreatures
8Island4Chromatic Sphere3Accomplished Automaton
4Urza's Mine3Echoing Truth4Mnemonic Wall
4Urza's Power Plant3Forbidden Alchemy4Sea Gate Oracle
4Urza's Tower2Ghostly Flicker4Self-Assembler
4Prophetic Prism1Tilling Treefolk
1Remember the Fallen
3Scour from Existence
4Take Inventory
20cards24cards16cards
 Display deck statistics

The Urza lands themselves make up about $37 of this $47 deck. I picked up a playset of them in a bulk box for $2 when I was a kid and couldn't figure out how to run them. Now, they are paying off I guess!

How It Plays

To be perfectly honest, it needs work. I know I am not running the best payoff cards like Ulamog's Crusher, but the Automaton lines up better at 7 mana. Really, I need to pull some Scour from Existence and Remember the Fallen/Tilling Treefolk should change to Pulse of Murasa so I can dig out some lands from the graveyard and stabilize after the early game. Against most of the other decks I have though, it seems to be about the right power range.

The blue version I built here is mostly because I just don't have the pieces for the mono green build. I could use some Expedition Maps in either build, but the green Crop Rotation I just don't have. Some day soon though, I might pick some up so I can have a tier pauper deck.

The fact that most of the early game is blue mana with some minor splashes in the later game make islands ideal for supplemental lands. The artifact mana fixing package cantrips and goes for any color needed, which means that there is hardly any turn in which a spell can't be cast. I had tried an earlier run of the deck with Unknown Shores, but having a land filter to blue made the deck at least one turn slower all the time. I put in islands and immediately found that the deck was more smooth from one turn to the next.

There is a big issue with colored mana though. Even after changing to islands, I find that I run out of colored mana sources much faster than I run out of cards I want to cast! I have had turn 4s and turn 5s where I have untapped tron lands making 4 or 5 mana go to waste! I need a better filter into blue than these one time use or tap to filter stones or some colorless cantrips I can play instead of something like Take Inventory.

Final Thoughts

Before anybody goes too crazy in the comments, I have around a dozen paper pauper decks built so I have some on hand. Most of my blue cantrip spells are in other decks that I think need them more or get played more often. I am trying to get some more of these cards, but there just aren't enough Preordain to go around.

I am looking for turn 3 payload cards and I might just switch out to pauper's Crusher king. The Self-Assemblers are like big Squadron Hawks and I think it is fun to get turn after turn of 4/4s on the table.

I am sure I will be updating when I get around to buying some pieces for decks. Next printing on any of those key cards might be when I snag a few, but we shall see. If anyone has other fun ideas for this kind of super size colorless mana fountain, I would probably give it a shot!

As always, happy gaming!
-Zenfall

It Really Is Magic

Standardized Slinging

Recently, I have started playing magic again with my wife. We have played off and on again over the years and I have been trying to get more opponents. I like to brew and build, crafting cunning card combos and recently I have been pursuing the 'perfect' play environment in my pauper cube. I have played some small local tournaments when I was younger, never really placing well and now that I know more, I understand I was usually playing jank.

I have been listening to Mark Rosewater's 'Drive to Work' pod cast [Link to the Wizards Pod Cast page] which is mostly about Magic the Gathering from an R&D perspective. I have listened to some episodes, but I found it when he was in the late 300s for episodes already. I have found that I personally enjoy the technical parts of the game design and have found these types of episodes to be very useful in developing my cube.

The other format I have been trying to get to take off with the folks I like spending time with is Pauper. I thought it was going to get more people in the game with inexpensive cards to build decks from, but I seem to be wrong. What I really could use is a paper version of Penny Dreadful which would really be WAY too much work to track.

(No)Power Cube

My pauper cube gets the most mileage these days. My wife and I play sealed from it regularly and we found a micro sealed format that we also play extensively.  I have been trying to balance it so each of the two color pairs has something solid to play and get some crossover options into other pairings for additional options in case a player gets color cut in the draft.

I have been making some tweaks and changes. Red/White agro is a little pushed right now, but more importantly, I have been having trouble sorting out a solid 'identity' for Green/Blue and for Blue/Black. I think I am also missing finisher cards for mono Blue.

For some frame of referance, here is what I have been trying to make happen with the colors. Some of the descriptions may seem contraindicative, but I would like each color to be paired with each other color, so I need to keep the options.

For each single color, I have the following themes I try to stick to:

White - Agro and Control
Blue - Card Draw and Control
Black - Graveyard and Control
Red - Burn and Agro
Green - Tokens and Big Creatures

Combinations of colors let me carve out a more niche space. Here is what I imagine my color pairs should be decent at:

White/Blue: Control or Tempo
Blue/Black: Discarding Bounce or Evasive Long Game
Black/Red: Turbo Reanimator or Turbo Agro
Red/Green: Value Agro
Green/White: Enchantments Matter
White/Black: Tempo or Token Snacks
Blue/Red: Cantrips and Burn
Black/Green: Graveyard Value
Red/White: Agro and Burn
Green/Blue: Token Control/Ramp?

For anyone that plays magic, most of these terms make sense. In case my made up gibberish isn't explanatory enough though, 'Evasive Long Game' is small evasive threats and control because these threats will need at least a few turns to get the job done, and 'Token Snacks' is make a pile of token creatures and then sacrifice them to something that has a game changing (even ending) payoff.

At any rate, I am looking for ideas on what I could put in to make Blue/Black and Green/Blue feel more playable. If anyone has ideas, I would certainly be willing to try them out. Right now, I am thinking about trying the mill strategy in Blue/Black which is usually decent in 40 card decks. I also have been thinking about trying the 'Awaken' mechanic from Battle for Zendikar in Green/Blue to make the lands matter from Green and give Blue the control aspect. This mechanic also sort of feels like 'Kicker' in the sense that you can get more out of cards as the game goes on with the alternative casting cost and perks.

Testing and Tuning

My infatuation with exclusively playing pauper has worn off, but this cube has been great fun to play and endless fun to refine. I will definitely be trying out some other projects like a more powerful cube and a Ravnica guilds themed 'battle box' of 10 decks designed to play against each other.

If anyone has ideas for my cube, let me know. I would also enjoy knowing how it drafts/builds on Cube Tutor if you want to give it a shot.

As always, happy gaming!
-Zenfall

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Real Time Strategy (RTS) Games

Remembering the Learning Curve

I was playing some Company of Heroes 2 today with one of my good friends. We have played many Real Time Strategy games together throughout our friendship and this is the latest hit. My buddy really enjoys reading up on World War II, so this series of games has been right in his wheel house. I haven't played much in probably a year by now though, so I am basically relearning the game, which reminds me of all the other times I went through this process.

So Many to Choose From

I play quite a few different RTS games. I started on Warcraft III when I was in middle school and didn't figure out how to beat a computer in 1v1 until I was most of the way through high school. After I got into college, I got Axis and Allies, picked up Ages of Empires II and Starcraft. Now days, I am trying to get my slow reaction times to pick up on positioning for Company of Heroes 2 and sometimes I take it easy on some 8-bit Armies/Hordes/Invaders.

I have played a variety of these games, but I still haven't gotten around to finishing the campaigns in most of them or taken the time to play some of the other classics like Command and Conquer, Warcraft I or II, or most of the Total War games.

Information Overload

There is a HUGE checklist of things a player will have to do in one of these games. There is:
  1. Base building (usually)
  2. Force building
    1. Combat
    2. Non-Combat (usually)
  3. Discovery
  4. Conflict
  5. Force adjustments
Usually, the players start at the top of the list and very quickly add on additional steps. The tough part is that most games you can stop doing some of these actions because one time is enough. The catch with these kinds of games is that they focus on resource management, and there are some critical resources most new players don't consider.

Normally, these games are nice enough to let you know what the in game resources are like money, population limits, etc., but there are two or three others (depending on how you look at it) that need to be managed.

Hidden Resources

The two primary 'hidden' resources are Time and Focus. We can only process information so quickly and we have to respond to it after not only understanding it, but also figuring out a response. This takes Focus to sort out, which is directly impacted by Time. After you make a choice, the action takes Time to finish, and you have to make more choices, and you will likely have to remember to come back to whatever you queued up and spend more time with it to progress.

Really, this all comes down to counting, waiting, reacting, and already knowing what you want or need to do. The first games you play are always learning what the game even has to offer, or if it is your first game ever, just getting your control bearings. As luck would have it, there are things you can do to alleviate the Focus strain: Practice and Plan.

Strategy, Tactics, and Training

I spent most of my earlier years playing these games in blissful ignorance on how to really become proficient at these games. Then, I found Day[9] on YouTube. Now days, he has branched out, but when I started watching his videos, he did Starcraft II strategy, training, and game analysis videos along with my favorite weekly feature: Funday Monday! I highly recommend digging through his backlog of videos one YouTube or Twitch.

The biggest things I had gotten from his videos were as follows:
  1. Micro and Macro Play
  2. Strategy
  3. Build Order
  4. Muscle Memory
  5. It is a game, have fun!
To get better at any of these things, you just have to put in the time to practice. All RTS games benefit from these core concepts and are much more manageable when you don't have think about every little detail every time you need to push a key to build you tank or quickly build another farm.

I remember most of the concepts, but 8-bit Armies game play doesn't care quite as much about positioning or 'counter' units as Company of Heroes. 

Putting In My Time

As far as tonight's performance went, I was not doing as well as I would have liked. I always seem to want infantry to be better against any kind of vehicle than they ever are. I have only played Russia so far, and conscripts are really not good. On top of that, I can't figure out a good place to put a field gun. I get shot by them enough to know how good they are, but I can't seem to cover their backs to get off shots of my own.

I am pretty sure this game is not going away anytime soon for us, so I need to put in a bit more practice time getting my build order sorted out and quit relying on conscripts to carry me though the whole game. I could always seem to use a T34 or a some T70 go-karts.

As always, happy gaming!
-Zenfall

I Love Gaming

I Do Love Gaming

Like many people, I play games. I use them to pass the time, occupy my brain, and socialize (sort of). At nearly 30 years old now, I am playing games just as much now as I did when I was a teenager. Some games I have left behind while others have been on and off over the years. Naturally, as new games come out, I have been picking them up to play around the table.

The two best things I have found out about games are socializing with good friends and that I have an outlet for my incessant need to always be getting better at something. The need to be better goes pretty well with any part of life it seems, but certain things get lonely. Many games are designed to be played with 2+ people and can be even more fun and exciting when your gaming partner/opponent, and by extension game play, changes.


What I Remember

I assume I started with all the same games that most kids played in the 90's. Some of what I did then I don't even personally consider a game now like that card activity called 'war'. I remember playing Chess against my dad and getting destroyed pretty much every time we played and playing Trouble with my brother and sister. Chutes and Ladders happened, though now that doesn't quite fit the bill of a game for me anymore either.

Naturally, the games I played became more complex, advanced, and some became digital as I got older. I sunk plenty of hours into my PlayStation game console and actually beat Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles on the Sega Genesis thanks to the first true save feature I can remember on a counsel.

The two games that have stuck with me the longest though I picked up around the turn of the century. Both have had a huge impact on my time and what I hope to get from my games.

The first is Magic the Gathering which I had gotten parts for but finally invested the time into figuring out how to make a decent and functional deck when I was a young teenager. I have still not gotten past how expensive some of the cards are, and that is reflected in my card collection now with the more expensive cards being older and some were not worth much when they came out. My collection has swelled with a larger expendable income which means that I now just have too many cards.

The second game is Warcraft III. I still haven't played the first two games in the series and I did play the huge MMO for quite a while, mostly throughout college. Real Time Strategy games always seemed perfect to me as players start with an equal opportunity with victory given to the superior skill and decision making player. This unfortunately breaks down some when the matches are no longer 1v1. My favorite aspect of the game is how you had to make choices quickly, but you had a few seconds to figure out what was happening instead of other games where the warnings really meant that you just lost everything you were not paying attention to.


These Days

I have either stopped playing or greatly reduced my consumption of a few game categories like party games and little children's games, though with a niece, a nephew, and a son of my own, I will likely have to get back into that second set. I have personally found the games to shallow in strategy or victory conditions are subject to personal preference.

I find that I am drawn to games with deeper rule sets and/or configuration variants. Table Top War Games have been very interesting to me lately and I have been getting a little deeper into Magic once again. I have also been dipping my toes into the game design side of gaming by making some custom game scenarios, building my own drafting cube, and working on alternative loot tables.

My wife and I tend to find a game and play for a week or two, I usually start to burn out on it (sorry sweetheart), and then we find something else to pass the time. On top of that, we try to have friends over weekly to play games and we have gotten a chance to play a few games I wouldn't have even thought to get like the Bob Ross painting game.


What I Aim To Do Here

Along with reviews and opinions on games, I will probably try to share some research notes from other parts of the gaming hobbies like miniatures painting research, alternative game scenarios, and maybe some house rules to use with different games. In the long run, I imagine these posts will be as much for me to remember as they are for anyone else to discover.

I will certainly wander though as I feel paint selection and terrain building is just as important as deck lists, new game experiences, sweet new computer hardware, and gaming server settings. I hope I can keep some things grouped together and that any of it makes sense.

Happy Gaming
-Zenfall