Wargrounds of Scape (WoS) - discussion thread

[Typhon2222]

I'll toss this in here for consideration.

Mome Raths
Uses: 2 BftU, 1 TJ



What to say about it? Maps using 2 BftU and 1 TJ aren't new, of course. But most of the previous ones — such as The Borogoves, Jabberwock, and, most recently, the excellent Canary — have explored a single central shadow pool, something that goes all the way back to Mad_Wookiee's seminal Sirocco. Mome Raths, in contrast, essentially splits that single central shadow pool (and its doubled defense through jungle) into two, deploying it to provide cover for units advancing from either side towards a central high ground.

It's appeared at two tournaments in its current form:
Utah Monthly August 2022
Wisconsin Monthly Tournaments

And will soon appear in its third tournament here (its second appearance at Utah, thanks to @BiggaBullfrog ):
Utah Monthly February 2023

Positive feedback comes from @Cor7770 , organizer of the Wisconsin tourney, who wrote:

Originally Posted by Cor7770

The map played great! I was playing wyverns and spiders and I went up the middle with most of my army. Even though it was lower ground the shadow made it competitive to be there. It was interesting because my opponent that match stuck to the sides that game, so seeing how that map can play in two different ways made it a lot of fun to play on!

Thanks for your consideration!

[superfrog]

Mome Raths by @Typhon2222



As Typhon noted in his submission, Mome Raths has some similarities to existing maps with the same terrain combo (more on that in a moment), but it particularly stands out by splitting the shadow rather than focusing it in the middle. That and the classic Typhon 24-hex suspensions :P

Mome Raths improves on The Borogoves (imo) by bringing the level 4 heights inside the 3-hex outcrops, which makes them more contestable. But the 3-hex outcrops on Mome Raths pose a similar issue for me as some of the central blockers on The Borogoves: they (combined with the height differences) make it difficult for figures anywhere vaguely central on the board to reach the edges (in this case, to attack the glyph).

Speaking of the edges, I never found the edge paths useful in my games, which meant the 4 jungle bushes deployed to that region of the map never boosted any defense rolls. I'm not sure that finding would hold up forever but those 4 jungle pieces seemed incidental to the map rather than a feature for armies to benefit from.

And then there's the other 4 jungle pieces, and how they interact with shadow. Obviously the jungle/shadow double buff has been done before, and I'm not one who thinks it's inherently problematic (heck, I just submitted a map with 14 such spaces, compared with 10 on this map), but I do take issue with the placements of them here.

8 of the 10 spots (the level 1s) are very yours/mine, making them a natural place to develop advancing figures. The problem there is that this 4-hex pool is too far from the action to reach some important spots (particularly the 3-hex level 3 perch). Really, both the best defensive spot (the level 1 4-hex shadow pool) and the best offensive spot (the level 3 3-hex dungeon perch) are far enough removed from the center that neither player really wants to continue development in a range/melee matchup.

I did find melee-melee matchups to be more enjoyable, and the 2-hex level 3 dungeon perch in the center makes fighting there very dynamic.

In general, Mome Raths is a well-designed map, but the isolated edges and overall distribution of development real estate mean that gameplay lacks enough momentum to be among the upper echelon of tournament maps. I vote to induct.

[Typhon2222]

Originally Posted by superfrog

Mome Raths by @Typhon2222



As Typhon noted in his submission, Mome Raths has some similarities to existing maps with the same terrain combo (more on that in a moment), but it particularly stands out by splitting the shadow rather than focusing it in the middle. That and the classic Typhon 24-hex suspensions :P

Mome Raths improves on The Borogoves (imo) by bringing the level 4 heights inside the 3-hex outcrops, which makes them more contestable. But the 3-hex outcrops on Mome Raths pose a similar issue for me as some of the central blockers on The Borogoves: they (combined with the height differences) make it difficult for figures anywhere vaguely central on the board to reach the edges (in this case, to attack the glyph).

Speaking of the edges, I never found the edge paths useful in my games, which meant the 4 jungle bushes deployed to the map never boosted any defense rolls. I'm not sure that finding would hold up forever but those 4 jungle pieces seemed incidental to the map rather than a feature for armies to benefit from.

And then there's the other 4 jungle pieces, and how they interact with shadow. Obviously the jungle/shadow double buff has been done before, and I'm not one who thinks it's inherently problematic (heck, I just submitted a map with 14 such spaces, compared with 10 on this map), but I do take issue with the placements of them here.

8 of the 10 spots (the level 1s) are very yours/mine, making them a natural place to develop advancing figures. The problem there is that this 4-hex pool is too far from the action to reach some important spots (particularly the 3-hex level 3 perch). Really, both the best defensive spot (the level 1 4-hex shadow pool) and the best offensive spot (the level 3 3-hex dungeon perch) are far enough removed from the center that neither player really wants to continue development in a range/melee matchup.

I did find melee-melee matchups to be more enjoyable, and the 2-hex level 3 dungeon perch in the center makes fighting there very dynamic.

In general, Mome Raths is a well-designed map, but the isolated edges and overall distribution of development real estate mean that gameplay lacks enough momentum to be among the upper echelon of tournament maps. I vote to induct.

A fantastic review, @superfrog : detailed, insightful, helpful. Thanks for putting so much time into testing and thinking about the map!