Playing the game

   I know I haven't posted in a while, but I've also started two more jobs and that's kept me a bit busy.  But not so busy that I haven't been able to play 40k...

  Every weekend, my son and I throw down some models and toss about the dice using the new 9th edition rules.  I've been more than clear about my opinion of the new edition so far and I will stand by it.  But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to play or even keep up with my most consistent hobby, so we've made a point out of getting a game in every weekend since release.  And that gives me something to quickly blog about in between job shifts, so here we are!

  My Necrons have battled against the Dark Angels under the new system and have had a great deal of success.  Is this because of 9th edition's rules changes or just me figuring out how to play the army?  A little of both, but more of the new rules on top of taking advantage of my son's lack of experience are certainly more to credit.  See, the new rules change a couple of things that can really make a difference to scoring points.  

  First comes the table size and focus on terrain- the table is smaller, the terrain is more and more complicated.  This means that I will often take advantage of advancing behind woods and ruins to either avoid or mitigate my opponent's changes to hit.  Standing in a crater gives a better save against that shooting.  And with so much obscuring line-of-sight and the already famous resilience of the space robots from space, this means that my opponent has less of a chance of wittling down my own withering firepower in return.  This newer concept has certainly been something that I can take advantage of in a big way- I dread the day we play with little more than natural terrain and a generally open battlefield.  

  Second comes the modifier cap.  The fact that Necrons have very few buffs to help them out while the Space Marines have tons means that the modifier cap in shooting is much more balanced.  We've even run into the stacking modifiers not mattering because of this cap and it's been interesting.  Woe betide the pointy-eared Eldar when they finally hit the table.  It's not as big a deal as the terrain, but is coincidentally impacted by the terrain as well.  Who needs a psychic power that gives a -1 to be hit when just crouching behind the trees will do the same thing?

  Finally, it really comes down to objectives.  This is where my love and hate of the new edition really coalesces.  You see, previous editions rewarded you for killing the enemy and maybe holding some objectives once in a while.  But this new edition actually allows you to choose secondary ways to score points while also providing a boatload of victory points for holding those previously-ignored objective points.  And here's where the game becomes too 'swingy'.

  If you hold one of the four-to-six objective points on the table, your army gains five points.  If you hold two or more, you gain five more points.  If you hold more than your opponent, you gain five more!  And this happens every turn.  The rub is the fact that 'alpha strike' is still a thing as your primary goal at the start of the battle is to move to take objective points and then destroy your opponent's units that can also move up and take objectives.  Whoever has the first turn can literally 'cripple and conquer', while the player with the second turn is stuck having to force their opponent off with whatever units they have remaining.  And if the first player doesn't strike hard enough, then the second player can easily just force the first player off the objectives and dictate the rest of the game.  I've actually succeeded in both ways.  

  This objective-focus is further exacerbated with the choice of secondary objectives.  Admittedly, my son is still not associating those secondaries with his army builds and overall strategies, but he's still young and hasn't played wargames all his life while I have.  But it's really cruel to score points against your opponent because you killed more (while holding the most objectives), moved up the table quicker (to hold more objectives), and planted more flags or peed on some objectives (because you hold more objectives).  This scoring system becomes a dynamo- the quicker you gain those points the more points you gain.  

  To illustrate (and I have to disclose that this is me versus my son, not versus some expert-level ITC gamer), here are the scores of our battles since we started playing this edition:

1. 48-24 Necrons

2. 10-72 Necrons

3. 37-9 Necrons (game called in round 3)

4. 50-14 Necrons (game called in round 3)

5. 33-68 Necrons (game called in round 4)

6. 49-21 Necrons (game called in round 3)

  That's ridiculous.  I'm not saying this is proof that the game is unbalanced or anything like that.  But I was under the impression that this edition was designed to create more evenly-matched battles.  Instead, I'm seeing even more lopsided victories than I saw in last edition!  A complicated game that almost removes close battles?  Hmmm...

  9th Edition 40k is definitely different from 8th.  I still have my complaints about the theoretical stuff, but now I can complain about the practical as well.  I don't hate the edition, but I still find 8th to be more rewarding and simpler.  Let me know what your thoughts are on this rant.  Better, let me know what your experiences are with the new edition so far.  Who knows- you may completely disagree with me or you may find similar issues.  I'm excited to read what you think.

  Until next post- Happy Gaming!

Death of the flamer

  The changes in 40k between 8th edition and 9th edition are revealed ad nauseam all over the interwebs by now.  So of course I have to add a little bit as well.  One of the biggest changes to the game is how certain weapons work.  And there is one big change that really burns me up... 

  The biggest beneficiary of the Overwatch rules in 8th edition was the underrated Flamer weapons.  Being able to blast opponents charging from 8" or less with auto-hits made these weapons extremely useful- especially on defensive units (typically campers holding forward objectives).  In an offensive mode, flamers required some interesting maneuvering or even the so-called 'transport tax' to ensure that they were going to get used.  Which was okay, because who doesn't like burning stuff? 



  In 9th edition, the flamer has lost the ability to Overwatch without spending a Command Point.  This means that only one unit can take advantage of the strength of the weapon, which further means that players will be extra-selective when it comes to which unit to waste this on.  I have two units of Flamegressors and I used to love putting them straight out front and letting my opponent charge right at me.  The fire was glorious.  Now I will need to combine the units to take advantage of that.  Or change the unit's role to 'offensive' and pay that transport tax.

  Now all is not lost.  Vehicles, Dreadnoughts, and Monsters can still fire their flamers while engaged!  This is amazing and you'll see far more walking sarcophagi with underslung flamers.  You'll also see Land Raider Redeemers actually hit the table once in a while- especially for the boyz-in-blue!

  On that note, Ultramarines maintain their top-level ranking among the Astartes because of that Chapter Tactic that allows them to still fall back and shoot.  In 9th, units that fall back can do NOTHING else.  They can't even cast psychic powers, much less shoot or charge again.  But the Ultramarines...  yeah.  This means that my Flamegressor units are still vicious, having teeth that other colors of marines lose now.  And I enjoy that, obviously.

  Much like most of my complaining with this edition, it's not really a big deal.  But I hate to see the oft-forgotten flamer fall to the wayside like it did for so many editions previously.  8th edition really brought it back into the fray as a legitimate weapons option and I worry now that 9th is going to re-retire it.  I like my flamers.  And my wife, with her infantry-based army of Sisters of Battle, really likes hers as well.  Now to get up the nerve to tell her...

  Let me know what you think or if you already realized this and I'm just late to the party.  Until next post, Happy Gaming!

 Public Service Disclaimer- Please note that I IN NO WAY condone setting things on fire in the real world.  This is just a game and representative of the horrors of war in a grim and dark universe.  Setting things on fire in real life is known as arson and is classified as a crime (often a felony).  I will not be held responsible for any actions or threats from arsonists or pyromaniacs instigated by this, or any, post.   

Nine lives and no more

  I have my hands on it.  You know what I'm talking about.  The entire interwebs has been talking about it for months now.  It only became available for preorder a couple weeks ago.  This was the harbinger of the awesome new age.  And it's mine.

Pandora's box, er, awesomeness!

  If you haven't figured it out, I mean the Indomitus launch set for 40k 9th Edition.  I had the connections to get my box and begin digesting the new rules and I took full advantage.  This box is such a great deal that it was irresistible.  The models are amazing, even if I'm not a fan of returning the Space Marine aesthetic to the 'skulls and chains' motif.  I'm more of a fan of the 'sci-fi' motif that kicked off 8th edition.  But they still look awesome and the Necrons are much more alien-looking (it's becoming generational!), so I'm not unhappy about spending money on this set.

  The rulebook, to me, is far too long and heavy.  It's a great quality and with a bunch of new stuff that wasn't present in any of the older editions.  But I was all about the 8-panel pamphlet of rules and the three-page printout update that drove 8th.  Now, I need 40 pages of the rulebook and an immediate FAQ/errata from the Chapter Approved just to have the basic rules!  I really, really, really enjoyed the simplicity of 8th edition.  I absolutely abhorred the complications of 5th-7th.  It wasn't fun playing those complicated versions of the game.  And now we're back to that level of complication- terrain is four pages of rules by itself! 

  I've already mentioned how much I loved 8th edition a few times (here and here).  I've also mentioned how high my hopes are for the new stuff and expressed some of my skepticism.  I can go through this post dissecting every rule change and wax on about how I think it'll affect the armies I own, but everyone else on the interwebs is already doing that.  What I will note is why this has to be the last.

  40k 8th Edition was promised to be the last- a living ruleset that would be updated every year to keep things in balance.  The codices were published at a pace that made Formula One drivers jealous.  The Chapter Approved books came out with small changes and even entirely new missions to keep things somewhat fresh and balanced.  And all of that lasted... three years.  Three years is much less time than the promise implied. 

  The so-called 'codex creep' was insane- not at all different from editions previous.  Imperial Knights completely broke the game and then did so again even when the game around them changed drastically.  Eldar got nerfed.  Tau didn't.  And then the new Space Marines were released and... wow.  The attempts at balance in this edition were sporadic and often ineffective- just like previous editions.  And just like AoS's Stormcast armies, GW just kept releasing new models and new books to keep up.  It wasn't cool.  And owning almost every army meant that I never got a breather. 

  In fact and on that note, the fact that my 'mini-marines' have been basically obsoleted is still a major sore point for me.  I'm not one of those unhappy ragers that is angry that GW felt the need to invalidate years of collecting.  I'm unhappy that I have quite honestly have many thousands of dollars of that old stuff sitting in my garage, taking up shelf space, and reminding me daily how much of a waste of money that was.  I'd be just as angry if I'd just bought all of that at discount as I am having purchased it all over decades.  And all to simply sit on the shelves, never to be used again and having almost no value for resale.  I wish there was a plastic recycling plant anywhere near here...

  So let's see- I'm not happy about the complications being injected into the rules.  I'm not happy about the short lifespan of the game.  I'm not happy about the lack of balance that is sure to become worse.  And I'm not happy about the amount of money that I've spent on useless stuff ever the decades, from 'mini-marines' to strategem cards and redux-codices.  I could quite literally own a nice house based on the money that I've spent.  I'm not sure that my excitement for this edition will remain very high for very long.  In fact, much of my skepticism (though not all) can be expressed on the ever-popular BoK page here.

  So this is it.  I'm going to keep up with this edition as best as I can.  But I won't buy another edition after this.  If you read my previous article linked above, you'll remember that I have almost everything for the previous eight editions of the game and will have everything for this one too.  And just like D&D, where I have the exact same problem (sans miniatures), I am more than happy to just play at home with friends and family using older rules.  I love 2nd edition D&D and I love 8th edition 40k.  Games Workshop is like a cat to me- it has nine lives and it's on the last one now.  Quit being a curious cat, Geedubs.  It's almost over. 

  Let me know if you think I'm being a bit overdramatic or if you agree (even a little bit).  Now for me to get back to digesting that rulebook (and painting Necrons).  Until next post- Happy Hobbying!

New technology for old format

  As my readers may have noticed, I'm a bit of a gamer.  I may focus this blog on GW games (especially 40k), but I'm certainly not limited to just those.  In fact, the right-hand rail of this site is packed with links to game companies that I also support, including card games (deck-building and collectible), board games, and other miniature-wargames.  In fact, I even have a bi-weekly group to play poker and lose even more money to (which is still less expensive than GW).  But my first gaming love was RPGs, especially that Dungeons & Dragons game.

  I've run a few groups and campaigns over the last few years, almost always focused on abusing the captive audience of my family plus a friend or two.  The last campaign I ran was a homebrew that just finished up a couple months ago with everyone's character leveling up to five.  But with the current limitations on getting together and work schedules being exceptionally precious, that campaign had to come to an end.  I can't live without throwing some d20s and some people have asked me to get another game going, so my problem-solving brain had to get to work.

  And that's where the new technology comes in.  While my wife and kids are already here (and when the wife is not working), other people that want to play may not have the ability to join us.  That leaves me in a bit of a conundrum.  As it turns out, there's a great many programs to allow people to play over the internet and adhere to the social-distancing rules.  Plus, most of my friends live hundreds of miles away and only visit once or twice a year.  So I started looking into those programs to see how they could work. 

  I had a cacophony of suggestions come from every direction.  In addition to my research (great article here), I found that I wasn't doing anything groundbreaking.  I'm no pioneer (in fact, I'm known as a "late-adopter" or "laggart" in marketing terms), so seeing that other people had the same thoughts years ago was helpful.  Those suggestions and my research narrowed everything down to three main options:

1. Discord- everyone suggested Discord as a great site to run voice-chat and even store some documents for people.  But this was too generic for me and wasn't what I was looking for.  If you're playing some video games, then this is definitely the site.  But role-playing?  Not so much.

2.  Roll 20- This program is awesome!  In fact, it's specifically made to create that virtual environment for people to role-play in.  It contains all kinds of graphic interfaces and tools to be able to show all players where their characters, foes and stashes are in well-designed rooms.  But it still didn't have that thing that I'm wanting...

3.  Zoom-  This video-conferencing program allows for people to speak to each other and, most importantly, see each other face-to-face.  This is what I want in a game.  I've been a DM since the late 80's and I have outstanding storytelling skills (yes, I even do voices).  This means I don't need the visuals of Roll20 to immerse the characters.  However, I still need the face-to-face ability and video-conferencing turns out to be the only way to accomplish this.

  Now, I am BY NO MEANS promoting Zoom to people.  I am not paid by them, nor do I work for the company.  But I'm an instructor and this is the program that I use and am familiar with.  In fact, I play Star Wars Armada over this program with a buddy from New York (I'm a good 'ol Texan, so a bit far away to get together) and it works great!  Plus, we have certain tools such as setting up a 'virtual background' and changing profile picture (although I've forgotten how to do that recently), which can be very useful in the game.  This platform meets my needs specifically and that's what I needed (see what I did there?).

  Being a D&D player since the old days of yellow-bound 1st edition and trying to capture that same imagination-based concept in today's video-driven society is often difficult.  I've already had two other potential gamers decline joining my group because they "don't have the imagination" (something I can't understand, but I also didn't think there were people without an internal voice, so...).  My skills as a storyteller come from decades of narration-to-immersion and my love of video games is limited because of that.  Luckily, it's often the tools you use for unrelated activities that can be the most useful (who thought pipe-cleaners could be used for making animals in kindergarten?). 

  I'll be kicking off this group in a week.  We'll play the Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure from the D&D Starter Kit and then work into an adventure book.  This use of published material will serve as the 'control' in this experiment of modern tools so that I can focus on managing the interaction of the party.  After all, I don't have a table to rap on when they start to get out-of-hand.

  Let me know if you've found some esoteric answers to interesting problems like this in your gaming life.  Have you used real-life programs or tools to aid your gaming adventures?  I'd LOVE to hear your suggestions and stories below.  Until next post- Happy Gaming!