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Old December 12th, 2008, 11:33 PM
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Efficient Play Wins the Day

Efficient Play Wins the Day

(and here's why)

I’m going to let you all in on a little secret. Productivity will only get you so far in Heroscape. You need to be at a certain level (get 3 or 4 attacks per turn with a decent amount of dice) to win games, or place in the top 50% in a tournament. But if you want to win close games, or place in the top 25% repeatedly, you have to play efficiently.

But what does that mean? If we look at what wikipedia has to say about Economic Efficiency, I think the part of the definition I like the best is “More output cannot be obtained without increasing the number of inputs.” If I’m talking about order marker efficiency, the number of inputs refers merely to the number of order markers. Get the most output out of your order markers.

So, to play efficiently, the first step is to put your order markers where they’ll create the most output, i.e. be more productive. [For more on how to place OM’s efficiently, I recommend UPC’s article]. While fairly obvious, an Order Marker on a dead card will not be a productive use of your limited resources: there will literally be zero output. This is one reason why commons are inherently more efficient than uniques, the chance of losing turns due to figure death is very low, until you’ve received a lot of casualties. Even for unique squads, losing just one figure severely reduces your output for awhile, and they therefore become a less efficient order marker choice. Even while unique squads (or heroes for that matter) are at full health, they are often a less efficient order marker choice because they can only move and attack from a few places at once: it’s easy to engage Deathwalker 7000 and limit his options, but 16 4th Massachusetts Line? Good luck. Common squads that can bond are even more efficient; they explicitly give you an extra turn with each order marker, and without the risk of placing any order markers on their bonded heroes. Although Unique figures are generally less efficient than commons, those that have Special Attacks are usually more efficient, not necessarily because special attacks themselves are required, but because a special attack represents an alternate way of using an otherwise limited turn.

Aside from order marker placement, figure placement is key as well in efficient play. Good, efficient players will be using most of their attacks every turn. They will get the most out of the attacks they do make by securing height advantage and using any other beneficial auras to their benefit. They will move up additional figures when it’s appropriate and always have a back up plan. One die roll will rarely cost them the game. I could go into great detail about explaining efficient plays, but UranusPChicago already did that better in Don’t Forget to Move, To Disengage or Not to Disengage..., and In Game Point Value. His articles should be required reading for anyone wishing to improve their play.

I already touched on why commons and bonding are efficient, but there are a number of other factors which improve efficiency. If the number of attacks and attack dice rolled are the hallmark of order marker productivity in Heroscape, Range, Defense, and Movement are the three key efficiency stats, and in that order. Having a high range, or even one of 5 or above ensures that you will almost always be using all of your potential attacks each turn- melee figures are inherently less efficient than ranged ones, all else being equal; extremely high range often means that you can even move far enough away that your opponent won’t be able to attack you back at all. Having solid defense is extremely important in Heroscape; not only does it allow you to maintain your position on the map and allow you to stay in range of your opponent’s figures to attack them on your own [efficient] turns, it also reduces the efficiency of your opponent’s turns- an attack which is blocked entirely is essentially wasted. Movement, the third efficiency stat, allows you to get where you need to be to make your attacks. Movement enhancing powers, such as flying and disengage add to this factor of efficiency.

These last few sentences should start to make something abundantly clear. The key to winning in Heroscape is not just making efficient plays on your own turns, but to set yourself up in a way that you reduce the efficiency of your opponent’s turns. Tossing your 1 or your 2 on your Deathreavers or Sentinels in the middle rounds of a game is almost always a reduction in your own offensive output, but doing so can sometimes reduce the output of your opponent even more. In that case, the net change in efficiency can be in your favor, even though you are rolling fewer attack dice. Even the X can be placed in such a way that it decreases the efficiency of your opponent's turns by drawing fire away from your real attackers- it should be used efficiently too.

To sum up the concept of efficiency, I’ll compare three popular squads: the 4th Massachusetts Line, Knights of Weston, and Heavy Gruts. The 4th Massachusetts Line have the lowest productivity of the three squads, but their Range makes them the most efficient. The Knights of Weston and Heavy Gruts have comparable productivity with their bonding and base Attack of 3. The Knights’ defense alone increases their efficiency above that of the Gruts, even though the Heavy Gruts have 1 more movement and Disengage. In order to increase their efficiency, a wise Knights player would do well to include Sir Gilbert for movement, and an Orc general should select Nerak to boost their defense; these two squads are so productive that while Grimnak and Alastair are great, they should not necessarily be the first picks. What the basic productivity levels also suggest is that in ideal situations or in the hands of a more efficient player, the Knights of Weston or Heavy Gruts can outperform the 4th Massachusetts Line.

I'll also point out that although 3 attacks of 3 isn't the most productive or offensive use of a turn, Major Q9, Raelin, and Laglor is the most efficient combo in the entire game. Compare to The Einar Imperium, who can make 6 attacks of 3, but are limited by their range of 1 and defense of 3.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fomox View Post
(I've also played many matches with great, fun people who were using Q9. So using Q9 doesn't make you a tool. But being a tool sure seems to make you use Q9.)

Last edited by Jexik; December 13th, 2008 at 05:43 PM. Reason: Replaced an input with an output. :shock:
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Old December 13th, 2008, 12:32 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

As I replyed to your blog, another excellent article and it will really help me out. Except this time I can rep you for it.
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Old December 13th, 2008, 12:39 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

Very well done! Not only is this a good article, but it has links to other good articles!

+rep!

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Old December 13th, 2008, 12:59 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

I was playing my oldest today and was contemplating on how I could decrease his effectiveness! Right on and Thank you for the outstanding article! JL
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Old December 13th, 2008, 01:05 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

Quote:
Originally Posted by J4Jandar View Post
I was playing my oldest today and was contemplating on how I could decrease his effectiveness! Right on and Thank you for the outstanding article! JL
You could also try the..."If you beat daddy I will ground you" strategy. Sorry...haven't gotten around to writing it all out yet though.
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Old December 13th, 2008, 01:12 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

Quote:
Originally Posted by Onacara View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by J4Jandar View Post
I was playing my oldest today and was contemplating on how I could decrease his effectiveness! Right on and Thank you for the outstanding article! JL
You could also try the..."If you beat daddy I will ground you" strategy. Sorry...haven't gotten around to writing it all out yet though.
I'm going to have to wait at least 10 years until I get to try out that strategy. I play the Basic Game with my 6 year old nephew, but I usually let him win by picking the guys with less range and defense... oh wait!

Quote:
Originally Posted by fomox View Post
(I've also played many matches with great, fun people who were using Q9. So using Q9 doesn't make you a tool. But being a tool sure seems to make you use Q9.)
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Old December 13th, 2008, 01:14 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

Quote:
Originally Posted by Onacara View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by J4Jandar View Post
I was playing my oldest today and was contemplating on how I could decrease his effectiveness! Right on and Thank you for the outstanding article! JL
You could also try the..."If you beat daddy I will ground you" strategy. Sorry...haven't gotten around to writing it all out yet though.
Never had to play that card yet Onnacara... Have you?
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Old December 13th, 2008, 01:43 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

Great article Jexik, very well done.


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Old December 13th, 2008, 07:02 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

Quote:
Originally Posted by J4Jandar View Post
I was playing my oldest today and was contemplating on how I could decrease his effectiveness! Right on and Thank you for the outstanding article! JL
You can't .... that's why I tell everyone to take advantage when they are young and don't try to help them or balance the playing field to their favor. Because when they get older they certainly will not do it for you.

Beat them while they are young... you will not get a chances latter.


Also, Jekix - kind of on this same topic - Your articles are moving up some peoples learning curve too fast .... Can you at least let me win a few games against these folks and let them learn some of this on their own . I'm not going to be able to win any games pretty soon

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Last edited by Codeman; December 13th, 2008 at 07:41 AM.
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Old December 13th, 2008, 10:22 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jexik View Post
What the basic productivity levels also suggest is that in ideal situations or in the hands of a more efficient player, the Knights of Weston or Heavy Gruts can outperform the 4th Massachusetts Line.
I've been saying this for years!!

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Old December 13th, 2008, 10:36 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthias Maccabeus View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jexik View Post
What the basic productivity levels also suggest is that in ideal situations or in the hands of a more efficient player, the Knights of Weston or Heavy Gruts can outperform the 4th Massachusetts Line.
I've been saying this for years!!
But it also helps explain why even though you really like Alastair, you have more success with Sir Gilbert with the Knights. Until there is a figure that increases the Range of melee units, one of the best ways to increase the efficiency of Knights (who already have high defense) is to increase their movement. You've played with the Knights so much that you've become very good with them. On the right maps, or with a little luck from your Jesus dice, you've shown that an experienced player can do well with a mostly melee army.

This line of thinking also help explain why Deathreavers work so well with Unique units- they help bring your opponent's efficiency levels down below the level of a Unique army's.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fomox View Post
(I've also played many matches with great, fun people who were using Q9. So using Q9 doesn't make you a tool. But being a tool sure seems to make you use Q9.)
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Old December 13th, 2008, 11:40 AM
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Re: Efficient Play Wins the Day

Yet another good angle on Heroscape. Thanks, Jexik.
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