Over the weekend there was some banter on the NZ Fantasy What's App group about broken lists in KoW.
My viewpoint has remained pretty much the same over the past six months. Play KoW in its entirety and it's a very balanced game. But what does "entirety" mean for competitive play?
You need to use the following components:
- Scenarios - and with Win criteria heavily weighted
- Terrain - need the right density and diversity (found 8-10 pieces is about right - including a couple of obstacles)
- Timed Turns - not to win by death clock but to make sure the game moves along and both players get a fair shake)
- No Comp - with the above there is no need
Personally I hate community based comp rules. All they do is shift the goalposts which achieves nothing other than added complexity. No comp and imposed comp are still going to have most efficient builds regardless.
To date in KoW, I've found nothing that can't be countered by taking a balanced list, a little thought and some experience. You might lose to a list a few times but by altering your tactics (and maybe aspects of your build) then you should be able to be competitive with most armies.
Again this is all premised on playing scenarios and have the right terrain.
Sure there are things that look cheap but to my mine these are largely in the Artifacts section where there is no differentiation for unit size. I'm pretty sure over time the KoW Rules Committee will look at these but I like their current thinking of doing this through the alteration of scenario conditions rather than comp.
Posted with Blogsy
I agree, it's far too early to talk about comp yet. If there are any artifacts or units causing problems in 12 months, then maybe.
ReplyDeleteBut I think we need to let the dust settle and get some more games under our belts before we introduce any additional restrictions; it's all still too new to make any informed decisions.
No comp required. Haven't seen a single list/army dominate all before it in a way that couldn't be explained using combination of experience/list creation/smart play. Until we see lists or armies winning games instead of players I don't see the need for comp. With KoW being built from the ground up as a tournament game the core mechanics support flexible yet balanced wargaming.
ReplyDeleteMy comp ideas:
ReplyDelete1 - Increase all Ratkin units points values by 20%.
2 - Decrease every unit I use by 20%.
3 - If you play a Heal (bazillion) list, make sure you bring a hammer for your opponent so they can smash themselves in the face with it because (a) its more fun and (b) at least you feel like you have achieved something.
4 - If you ever time out in a game, you must immediately go to the table that Neil Williamson is playing on. If he finishes his game within his time allowance, you must crawl around the gaming hall 3 times like a snail while everyone chants "Shame....Shame.....Shame..."
5 - All questions and idle chit chat must be done in the opponents turn.
6 - Fast playing somebody is a legitimate tactic.
7 - All army lists must be presented to your opponents digitally, and on the smallest screen available.
8 - Forgetting your tape measure and using your opponents should add tournament points to your tally.
9 - If you dont like your opponents list, you can give them zero for sports.
Thats all I can think of for the moment. Give me time.
Genius
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