Islandscape XIII Cluster Draft

[kolakoski]

Well met!


You got me thinking . . .

130 Kee-Mo-Shi
40 Blade Gruts x 1
170, 5 spaces

120 Bahadur
50 Nerak
170, 3 spaces

90 Myrddin
80 Varkanaan Swiftfangs
170, 5 spaces


P.S.: Maybe this is not so good, as the winner of Initiative leaves two synergistic pods to his opponent.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Originally Posted by WarBanner

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?

Somehow missed this post. [Must have Ninja'd it.]

[WarBanner]

So, this is starting to sound like the prisoner's dilemma:

Here your options are to either take synergistic pods, or totally independent ones. If you take independent ones, you do best if the other person brings synergy, and you can steal them.

If you and your opponent both bring synergistic armies, you both do well, but not as well as the person who steals your synergistic pods. And if you both bring independent armies, neither is as good as a synergistic army.

Great, now there's a psychological meta-game. Like I need that kind of stress in my life.

I'm a trusting soul by nature; I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with synergy, and hope my opponents are also. What will make it *really* interesting is if some of my pods have synergy with some of their pods, which is even more likely if players have independent pods.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Originally Posted by WarBanner

So, this is starting to sound like the prisoner's dilemma:

Here your options are to either take synergistic pods, or totally independent ones. If you take independent ones, you do best if the other person brings synergy, and you can steal them.

If you and your opponent both bring synergistic armies, you both do well, but not as well as the person who steals your synergistic pods. And if you both bring independent armies, neither is as good as a synergistic army.

Great, now there's a psychological meta-game. Like I need that kind of stress in my life.

I'm a trusting soul by nature; I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with synergy, and hope my opponents are also. What will make it *really* interesting is if some of my pods have synergy with some of their pods, which is even more likely if players have independent pods.

I have created independent pods of roughly equal value, with no units having significant synergy with any potential opponents' units. I will not be responsible for the draft Initiative roll being decisive . . .



P.S.: Although I did take note of what you said about including Common Squads, so if you create two pods with the same Common Squad(s), we might end up with three pods featuring the same Common Squad(s) . . .

[WarBanner]

So, I'm looking an additional army build or two, and will probably bring all of them and maybe decide randomly?

Build B:
Tornak, Heavy Gruts (170)
Grimnak, Blade Gruts (160)
Nerak, Brute Gruts, Blade Gruts (155)

Alternately, sub in Mimring, Isamu, Bol (170) for some range power.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Originally Posted by WarBanner

So, I'm looking an additional army build or two, and will probably bring all of them and maybe decide randomly?

Build B:
Tornak, Heavy Gruts (170)
Grimnak, Blade Gruts (160)
Nerak, Brute Gruts, Blade Gruts (155)

Alternately, sub in Mimring, Isamu, Bol (170) for some range power.

So . . .

If your opponent has independent pods, and you win Initiative, your opponent will be able to get 315-330 points worth of Bonding Gruts. Now, if one of those pods were non-Grut, it would mitigate the risk.

[DoomCarrot]

I'm thinking:

Stingers x2: 120
Me-Burq-Sa: 170

Brunak: 110
Izumi: 170

Arkmer: 50
Warriors of Ashra x2: 150

None of these pods are greatly functional or difficult to beat, but they are definitely functional enough to be competitive with the right combinations. I'm liking this as a mix of stuff to see if my opponents bring any other elves to the table, heroes worth carrying, or some tanky stuff that Burq can take some pot-shots at.

I originally had a more A+ build with raelin, drake, and major Q10, but I really don't want to deal with the possibility of having to fight a raelin buffed Q10 without a charos or a jotun to beat him up.

Alternatively, I considered just bringing a bunch of Su-Bak-Na's and forcing whoever loses the draft roll to end up with one army less, lol

[WarBanner]

I've always had a deep love for Brunak, for no one reason I can identify. I also considered him, paired with something cheap, like Brave Arrow or Iskra Esenwein. And if my opponent brings a 150 point hero I can pair with him, all the better.

Also, 2 maps will have lava. Just saying.

[DoomCarrot]

Yep, I am aware of the lava maps lol,

I lost one game last year to the bloody lava. Had a full squad of stingers and two ninjas left against one marcu esenwein, and I got cocky enough to leave my stingers on lava field (height) and roll for stinger drain to end the game with 3 attacks of 5.

Rolled a 1, other two stingers died on the lava field, marcu killed off my remaining ninjas and miraculously failed to get the eternal hatred roll 3 turns in a row, which would have also ended the game cause I would have just flown him into lava.

Brunak is a great unit for them though, and I agree he is cool for some strange unidentifiable reason lol.

[chas]

Thanks to Kolakoski and everyone for such an interesting pre-tournament thread! I'm just going over it while selecting my armies for tomorrow.

You're all doomed, of course. Unless, as usual, I have the Worst Luck!

(I sure hope the store's air conditioner is working during the Heat Wave...)

The question is, do your teams have a counter for any teams that defect to the enemy?

[DoomCarrot]

But, if you make your pods a triangle of rock paper scissors, then if you draft your paper your opponent will just draft your scissors, if you get what I mean.

Honestly I find this drafting format really interesting and I’m curious to see which route people go with it individually

[chas]

My three armies are independent pods, but I'll miss using them all, since two are units I haven't used yet, and the other is my priority pick. But over the course of several games, hopefully I'll get to try them all!

In the even smaller tournament held here earlier this year with the NYC Gang of Four, I was incredibly lucky with the draft rolls, using both of my synergistic armies together for the win. I even made up a trophy for myself (I've never won a tournament before).

This time around, who knows...