Favorite Formats

[OEAO]

Thanks for all the feedback! I look forward to trying some of these out.

On Escape: I feel like Rats x whatever would be insane in that.

Just tried out United Generals. It was fun, definitely something I want to play a bit more.

[Dysole]

There was an event like that in Oregon where you had a number of hexes to work with determined by your most expensive hero. I basically had every unit with a d20 destroy power (except 7k I think) and most of the single hex bruisers (I think I didn't have Eltahale because I didn't own her). I won that event with my like 1700 point army.

Another event I liked that Kevin ran once was betrayal where at the start of the game you and your opponent both pick an army card in the other army. You get all figures attached to the card (or cards if common) and then play it out. I'm not sure if it's a degenerate meta but I think there's room for a decent bit of variety.

Part of me has always been amused by the idea of having a tournament where all units in your army must start with the same letter (although that really just means massed commons) and one where all units have to have a d20 power and you must roll every time you could (you don't have to attack your own units) and if you roll a 1 a figure on that card (or cards) takes a wound (but probably just means stingers are the best call). They're fun ideas but probably bad tournament suggestions.

I'm sure more things will pop into my brain as I have a chance to mull them over more.

~Dysole, noting that OHS has about 35 seasons and some of those have some formats she's forgetting about

[kevindola]

Originally Posted by OrcElfArmyOne

Thanks for all the feedback! I look forward to trying some of these out.

On Escape: I feel like Rats x whatever would be insane in that.

Just tried out United Generals. It was fun, definitely something I want to play a bit more.

If you're curious, here's the United Generals Tournament

vegie's dad (5-0) won it with 10th Regiment x2, Braxas, Hydra, Eltahale

I went 4-1 with Templar Cavalry x2, Taelord, Kaemon Awa, Agent Skahen, Syvarris

And it was a really fun tournament

[OEAO]

Originally Posted by kevindola

If you're curious, here's the United Generals Tournament

vegie's dad (5-0) won it with 10th Regiment x2, Braxas, Hydra, Eltahale

I went 4-1 with Templar Cavalry x2, Taelord, Kaemon Awa, Agent Skahen, Syvarris

And it was a really fun tournament

Thanks! I’ll check it out.

[dok]

If you're talking about a home game format, I know kevindola came up with a fun one where you drafted a series of mini-armies, and as soon as one was eliminated you got to deploy the next one and keep going, so it was a continuous battle until one side had had all its armies exhausted.

[kevindola]

Thanks for the shout out on that one dok:

Originally Posted by kevindola

I am open to start a game in the next hour if anyone is able.

Classic figures only.

Gauntlet match

Make 3 armies. Each army can be no more than 200 points and 10 figures.

-None of your three armies can share any figures.

-Each person selects one of their armies to play (simultaeneously through the 'X' order marker'

-Play as normal kill em all. When 1 army is completely destroyed play stops. The player whose army was destroyed places one of their remaining armies in their startzone and order markers are reset. The player whose army 'won' will remain in their exact position.
***A player may 'surrender' at any point before any order marker is revealed and remove their army from the board to start the next match set (This may be beneficial to prevent your opponent from improving their board position in an already lost game)***

-This style of replacing defeated armies continues until one player has had all 3 of their armies defeated.

EDIT: Map will be Mayberry with (Lodin, Kelda) Kelda will NOT reset each army reset

Here's my first time playing this format. I've had a half dozen or so. Always fun, but I have a heard time thinking it would work competitively without restrictions. Some of the choices are just too obvious.

vs. @Bengi

Spoiler Alert!

I chose for my 3 armies:
1) Black Wyrmling x6, Marcu Esenwein
2) Blade Gruts x2, Grimnak Mohicans x2, Brave Arrow, Isamu
3) Phantom Knights x2, Marro Warriors

Benji chose

1) Cyprien Esenwein, Sonya Esenwein
2) Blade Gruts x2, Grimnak Mezzodemons x3
3) Stingers x3, Marcu Esenwein

Yes we both chose Grimnak and Blades and decided to both throw it out for another choice.

We started off with PK/MW vs. Stingers/Marcu. I led with Marro Warriors but was only able to take out 2 stingers. My phantoms fared much better and took out all his stingers with a whole squad intact. However Marcu plodded through the whole squad never rolling Eternal Hatred and Benji won the first skirmish with a 2 life Marcu Esenwein.

I was in a very tough spot next, because Benji and I had such good counters to each other. I went ahead and selected my wyrmling army as my second placement. I had a lot of thought that went into this, but I will keep it brief here. Benji burned Kelda (thought he would save it for Cyp) and although his Marcu got the better of mine, the Wyrmlings finished him off without any dying. I won skirmish 2 with all my wyrmlings.

Benji correctly picked Cyprien, but here started my really hot d20 rolling. Benji also had a back to back double wiff which kept me alive. I was able to win this skirmish acidding Cyprien and Sonya while still have 3 whole black wyrmlings left.

Benji placed his Mezzos as his final army, and I was only able to hit 1 acid (in 3 tries) before they finished up the black wyrmlings.

I placed my Native Americans on the board to start the 5th and final skirmish. I hit an obscene amount of concealments, but I could not get through the tough defense of the mezzos. Eventually he wore me out (and the mezzos should be heavy favorites in this matchup anyway).

Benji won The Gauntlet with 3 Mezzodemons and 1 Exoskeleton marker left. Bodies were everywhere.

Fun matchup and interesting decisions involving placements and army choices. Winning the first skirmish turned out to be huge as it allowed Benji to play the counter army game in the 3rd skirmish. (even though the wyrmlings got the better of Cyprien)

Game time was around an hour and fifteen minutes, which I didn't think was too bad. I would be interested in playing this format or some variation of it again. Thanks for the game Bengi!

Originally Posted by Bengi

I don't know who came up with this format, but it was a ton of fun. I think 3 armies/200 points/10 figs was a very good choice too. Our game was very back and forth, but he's right, winning the first skirmish was very important and allowed me to dictate the play.

I guess one negative could be that a lopsided game could get frustrating. It's possible to win the first skirmish by a landslide and have map control going into the next round. Could be pretty match up dependent.

I wonder if a nice variant could be that you can begin putting OM's on your next army whenever you want, but as soon as you reveal one from your next army, you wipe the remaining units from the first army and place the new army. Could make for some more interesting decisions.

If you ever get a chance to try this scenario out, I would go for it. Very solid.

[superfrog]

Very similar to @Sir Heroscape ’s Burnout format.

[caps]

My favorite formats are all draft formats.

I would currently rank them

Pod Draft
Reverse Draft
Take 2

2v2 and 3v3 are my favorite ways to play, but they're not "formats" per se. I tend to use the above draft methods when I have people over, and we all play on the same board. Heat of Battle FFA also works well for multiplayer games.

[superfrog]

How do you do Reverse Draft with FFA multiplayer?

[caps]

Oh, I'm not sure Reverse draft works for FFA or multiplayer in general. It is the only one I've never tried there.

[superfrog]

I think you could do reverse draft with multiplayer FFA.

Player 1 makes an opening bid on any army.
Player 2 can bid down the army or pass. Then continue around the circle to player 3, etc.
If every player passes, the bid is accepted.
Next player makes a bid on any of the remaining armies, and you continue as before, but leaving out the person with an army chosen already.
Continue until there is one army remaining and one player. That army is played full strength.

[caps]

Originally Posted by superfrog

I think you could do reverse draft with multiplayer FFA.

Player 1 makes an opening bid on any army.
Player 2 can bid down the army or pass. Then continue around the circle to player 3, etc.
If every player passes, the bid is accepted.
Next player makes a bid on any of the remaining armies, and you continue as before, but leaving out the person with an army chosen already.
Continue until there is one army remaining and one player. That army is played full strength.

Nice. I like that idea. Could be a little long. Probably longer than any of the other draft formats for a multiplayer game (which is ironic since it is probably faster than them in 1v1 formats).