100% Theoryscape

[Flavius Maximus]

Hey, I was just listing squads. Those little apes took down Zelrig losing only one squad. (Man, I wish I could play like that...)

But yeah, come to think of it, they did have trouble with Nilfheim. Still a win, though.

[Darkmage7a]

...

[Sarpedon]

Interesting response, Flavius Maximus.

If identical armies (whether competitive or not) meet on symetrical maps, then the better player will usually win. If the players are equally skilled, then each, in the long run, will win half the games.

My point was that generalist armies, like seagulls, are not the best at anything in particular, but give players decent chances to win game in and game out. Specialist/one-dimensional armies give a player great chances to win occasionally, but far poorer chances than average usually. In a tournament, the number of times you win determines how well you do from the point of view of performance.

As for having fun, that's simple: never play Heroscape (casually or competitively) unless you can have fun doing it. Why waste your time? Heroscape should always be fun, whether you like playing the same units or different ones. There's no right or wrong there.

[Toddredd]

For the reasons already mentioned, a 24 space starting limit has become THE WAY. And, many fantastic armies fit in those 24 spaces. My favorite army, however, does not. And, it's not entirely one common squad. It just seems silly that for ONE SPACE I have to start out with a dead guy every time I play this army:

120 KRUG 2 spaces
60 ZETACRON 2 spaces
120 ARROW GRUTS x 3 9 spaces
200 MARRO DRONES x 4 12 spaces
----------------------------------
500 25 spaces

Every turn I take with the Arrow Gruts gives me a free turn first with Krug (who gets 2 attacks and keeps getting stronger.) With 12 Drones, it takes a while before they whittle down to less than 9, so I get many opportunities (with the d20) to attack with 9 DRONES per turn!!! Having Zetacron on the outskirts getting good distance attacks with double hits really adds to the fun of this army! But, it just happens to be 1 over the 24 footspace limit. Nothing I can do about it.

[Toddredd]

Originally Posted by Kinseth

With any good tournament map, the height should be in the middle, forcing each to make a play for the high ground. If you win that battle, I don't think it is turtling to use what you have gained. Now if you have Guys all set in the back line and you never move, and you just let your ranged guys sit around Taelord, that is Turtling.

I often "turtle" one or two powerhouse figures in my start zone, and only bring them forward late in the game to clean house. Maybe not the same as pure turtling. Warden 816 is good for that. Zetacron too.

[Sarpedon]

Sarpedon's Dreams I

I was jogging down my favourite path in the park. The early morning sky was grey and the path was quiet and desolate. Up ahead I saw a copse of trees which appeared black and ominous, but I (foolishly) ran on. As I was about to enter the tree tunnel, I heard a horrible mechanical sound and with an earth-shaking series of thuds, I suddenly found DWK 9000 blocking my path.

"Deathwalker 9000," I stuttered, "what are you doing here?" His ultra/infra red eyes focused on me and he answered, "As if you didn' knows chump!" I assured him that I had no idea and asked what he wanted and why he was talking jive. "I iz been way down, down in da dumps 'cause o' whut you done wrote 'bout me; even mah ebonics filter iz disorientated." I remembered what he meant and tried to make amends via a foolish attempt at humour by suggesting that he should be: "Way up, up on the top shelf," gathering dust with his buddies.

If he had been angry before, he became absolutely livid after my jest and fired a shot at me that narrowly missed. I was in shock and didn't know what to do. I spotted an indestructible pine tree next to the path: it was the only available cover. I dove behind it just as DWK 9000 refocused and fired a second Howitzer at me. Let me tell you: pine trees are not indestructible! Only a smoking stump was left and I was totally exposed to his next shot. His laser targeting was square on my chest and with his over-compensating gun pointed at me he told me to say my prayers.

It's a good thing, too. It gave me time to think. I'm far from religious, but I was desperate. I looked up to the heavens and recited the prayer that the famous Achilles voiced when the river god was about to drown him: "Zeus, save me! It is not my destiny to die this way!" High on mount Olympus, Zeus heard my prayer, but not one of the gods wished to go up against DWK 9000. Even his (highly specialized) pet Eagle dared not answer the call. Zeus was about to shake his head in refusal when a seagull that chanced to be flying by screeched loudly, demanding the assignment.

Zeus bowed his head and thunder rolled through the sky. Even DWK 9000 was taken aback for a moment. Then, just over the tree tops, the seagull came into view. A hideous mechanical laughter issued from the robot and he taunted, "Is that your saviour? Is that the best you can do?" I must admit that I looked at the bird with what must surely have been the picture of dismay and despair. I thought I was doomed.

The seagull circled low over both of us, cocked its head and winked at me and somehow made me understand that it was paying me back for what I had written about it! DWK 9000 cocked his gun and took aim, but, as he was about to fire, the seagull flew over it dropping a prodigious "bird bomb". Thunder again overhead and, looking up, I saw nine Heroscape dice in the sky, but not a single shield showing!!! There was a great explosion and when I looked back, a junk pile of metal lay where DWK 9000 had just stood.

The grateful seagull flew away towards the rising sun and I followed it, sidestepping the unrecyclable, smoldering, metal trash heap on the path.

[clancampbell]

Great dream/story! +rep for you good sir.

[scottishlad5]

Great stuff, I enjoyed reading it. Have some rep.

[Flavius Maximus]

Ah, a prophetic dream! Look out for wave 10. There shall be a seagull figure in it that destroys soulborgs.

But that was cool. +rep

[Sarpedon]

Hello again, everyone.

Have you ever noticed that, often, when competitive players experience a series of bad rolls, whether offensive or defensive, they go "on tilt"? This phrase is used in poker to describe the mental state of a player who has just had (astoundingly) bad luck and lost a lot of money on a bet that he felt he should have won.

When a player is on tilt, he is both frustrated and emotionally aroused and, consequently, his judgement is impaired. This is important to keep in mind whether it is you or your opponent who is in this condition. Symptoms include making "Hail Mary" attempts at the opponent's best-defended figures and stubbornly refusing to reposition one's units to avoid further losses. This is especially damaging in tournaments where point totals are counted when time runs out in a game. The more points (active units) you have left over after the buzzer, the better your chances of winning tie-breakers.

If it is you who have suffered the wrath of the dice gods, take it in stride. Bear in mind that those gods are fickle and, just as they smiled upon your opponent this time, they may smite him down the next. Shrug your shoulders and continue to focus on what you can control so that, if fortunes should change, you'll be optimally positioned to take advantage of opportunities.

If, however, it is your opponent who feels ruined, press your advantage! Keep the pressure on and try to make him believe that his game is indeed over and that all is lost. Continue to secure glyphs, gain high ground and eliminate his vulnerable units if it is possible to do so from safety. Each unit he loses while in this emotional state will seem huge, no matter how small or insignificant it truly is, just as the smallest issue can make you go off when you've had a really bad day already. Whatever you do, do NOT give him a chance to get back into the game psychologically by exposing/losing your units and in this way boosting his morale.

All players who care at all whether they win or lose have been on tilt at some time to a greater or lesser degree. If you can consistently minimize its effect on your play and maximize it in your opponents' you will significantly improve your odds of winning.

[nyys]

This happend to me recently. Both myself and my opponet had Nilfheim in our armies and there was also a Kelda glyph (Healer) on the board.

Due to the composition of our armies the glyph was very important.

Long story short, I had my opponents Nilfheim down to just one wound (with mine only taking two so far). I thought I had positioned myself so that my opponent could not take the healer glyph on the next turn, and then I could take it myself later.

My mistake was that for some reason I had it in my head that Nilfheim only had a move of 5, which is pathetic considering he was in my army and his card was right in front of me the whole time. So in positioning my own figures to block the healer glyph from his Nilfheim, I was doing it with a move of 5 in mind. Then on the next turn my opponent flew his Nilfheim down and took the glyph.

At first I was about to protest, and then looked at the card and.... ugh!

I was completely thrown from that point on for making such a dumb error, and made more dumb mistakes afterwards on my way to being defeated.

[killercactus]

I've seen people go on tilt (In Heroscape and poker), and I've done it myself. It definitely effects the way you play for the worse, and it's going to happen in any game where luck is a key factor.

That's one reason I think that the Deathwalkers are so tough to use. When that small attack sneaks through and kills one, the owner has a tendency to go on tilt. Deathwalkers should be renamed "Hellmuths".