Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Well met!


chas, Taeblewalker, and I are going to Islandscape XIII a week from Saturday.

Tournament Rules:

• The tournament will be 5 rounds, Swiss-style, with ranking based first on W/L scores, then point dominance. Squads count for full points if eliminated, otherwise they count as zero.
  
• We will use the Cluster Draft format used at GenCon.
• All players bring (3) 150-170 pt armies, 7 figure limit for each, SoV and C3V customs allowed. No supers.
• Uniques used in one army can't be used in another. You may draft more than one of a unique unit, but then can only field one.
• Armies are drafted in a 1-2-1-1-1 format.
• First round, players will roll off to choose who goes first in the draft. Subsequent rounds the player with the worse record will choose.
• Maps will be BoV maps.
• No glyphs will be in play
• Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, along with the traditional Worst Luck trophy.

The C3V/SoV-inclusive Power Rankings for the Clusters I have chosen are included below. They were constructed before I looked up their Rankings. The Rankings imply balance, but I may have missed something . . .

Foresters in Green
100 Syvarris B+
70 Arthur of Sherwood [B]
170, 3 spaces

Ladies in Red
100 Mindflayer B-
60 Elaria B+
10 Isamu A
170, 3 spaces

Men in Black
105 Van Nessing B+
65 Johnny Shotgun B
170, 2 spaces

Any advice on drafting/playing in this format is also welcome.

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Interesting to go with all-unique pools. I think I would have thrown some commons in at least one pod, probably two. It's a good place to put 3x Death Chasers or something, in my opinion.

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Well met!

Note: 7 space limit. You could take 2 squads of any 3 figure squad plus a hero. Or a Unique Squad plus . . . ? What pods would you suggest to go with these?

130 Deathcommander
40 Deathreavers x 1

100 Sir Denrick
70 4th Mass x 1

95 Major J15
75 10th Reg or Brutes x 1

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Sgt. Drake Alexander (SotM)

Shaolin Monks x2, Isamu

Aubrien Archers x2, Guilty McCreech

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Well met!

Taeblewalker's Pods

170 Sgt. Drake Alexander (SotM) A-
170, 1 space

160 Shaolin Monks x2 B
10 Isamu A
170, 7 spaces

140 Aubrien Archers x2 B
30 Guilty McCreech B+
170, 7 spaces

Superfrog said he'd have "thrown some commons in at least one pod, probably two." All your pods complement one another (without synergy), and are very different in form and function. Whether the latter is detrimental to balance remains to be seen.

Originally, I went with

Foresters in Green
100 Syvarris B+
70 Arthur of Sherwood[B]
170, 3 spaces

Ladies in Red
100 Mindflayer B-
60 Elaria B+
10 Isamu A
170, 3 spaces

Men in Black
105 Van Nessing B+
65 Johnny Shotgun B
170, 2 spaces

Now, I'm inclined to replace Ladies in Red with

Desert Song
90 Myrddin B
80 Prince al'Kahora B- [I rate him a bit higher . . . ]
170, 2 spaces

In both our sets of pods, the Power Rankings are within a narrow spread. I really like this format. Pod building is about balance, as opposed to power. Even the weakest of one's favorite units can see play. If I were so inclined I could place Moriko C, Mika Connour C+, and Dund C- in three separate pods, with no loss of competitive balance.

What no one wants is for the outcome of the game being determined by the first Initiative roll. One pod being far superior to the others would do that, and makes placing units such as Raelin in a pod problematic. That's why I made my pods similar in focus, each built around a 90-105 point ranged figure. Earlier pod drafts had the remaining units also being ranged. Desert Song and Foresters in Green diversify the supporting units.

I really like this format. There is no "embracing the suck." I can play my favorite units without sacrificing competitiveness. There is no advantage to secrecy, so this discussion can be had freely.


P.S.: No suggestions were made about balancing the following - either among themselves or with other pods.

130 Deathcommander Mark III B+
40 Deathreavers x 1 A+
170, 5 spaces

100 Sir Denrick B-
70 4th Mass x 1 A
170, 5 spaces

95 Major J15 A-
75 10th Reg A or Brutes x 1 B+
170, 6 or 5 spaces

How about

130 Deathcommander Mark III B+
40 Deathreavers x 1 A+
170, 5 spaces

95 Major J15 A-
75 10th Reg A
170, 5 spaces

90 Atlaga A-
80 Microcorp Troopers x 1 A- [Would have to proxy with Microcorp Agents]
170, 5 spaces

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

The question for me is, do you go with three pods that work as a whole, and hope to get all of them (you can always get at least 2), or do you go with three distinct pods, and see what you can steal off the other person?

I'm of a mind to bring three pods that work well, with 2 of them being hero + squad, and 1 being multiple squads.

Alternatively, you can bring a crappy army and try to stick your opponent with it...

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Well met!



If you "go with three pods that work as a whole, and hope to get all of them (you can always get at least 2)," and you win the Initiative roll, you could only get one of them. Going "with three distinct pods" doesn't feel like seeing "what you can steal off the other person" to me. That being said, how important is it to you avoid the outcome of the game being determined by the first Initiative roll? It seems to me that could happen with either of your approaches.

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

If you bring units that synergize with each other, but not necessarily with the other guy's army, you can build fairly freely, IMO. So yeah, no Raelin (and no loss there), but you can still build an army that potentially all works together.

I'm bringing:
Sgt Drake (170)
Capt. Varan, Pathfinder x2 (150)
Pathfinder x4, Isamu (150)

I'm considering swapping out the 2 pathfinders, leaving me 90 points, but I'm not sure what else I might put in there. Spiders x2? Rats x2?

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Hm, you're right, I missed that. I was thinking that b/c you always pick 2 before the other person gets their third, you can always get 2 of your own, but that's wrong. And, keep in mind that after the 1st round, drafting order is NOT based on a roll. The player who is lower ranked *chooses* who picks first.

Of course, if I have 3 pods that synergize well, and the other person picks 2, the question then is, do I hate draft and pick the 3rd, and does that mess me up more than it does them?

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Well met!




Can't be Rats x 2 - too many spaces. But I take your point.

How about

130 Locksley
35 Nottingham Brigand x 1
165, 2 spaces;

70 Arthur of Sherwood
60 Darrak Ambershard
35 Nottingham Brigand x 1
165, 4 spaces; and

75 Cormin the Dark
60 Elaria the Pale
35 Nottingham Brigand x 1
170, 3 spaces?

Includes all the Rogues except Bol.

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Show you how far behind I am in following C3V units - I don't know any of those units except for Darrak. And I can just leave 2 rats off the table.

Re: Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft
 

Well met!



You don't?! You would?! Wow! Why?