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Pete wrote this initially as a series of posts to the mailing list back in 2001 and early 2002. Nick Simmonds (then just another player, now the other member of the Rules Team) and squirrel the strategy rodent made some comments on it as well. More recently, Pete has re read the article, and has made an initial comment at the end before a rewrite. The idea of this site is to help players develope, and this article is especially useful for newer players, as it gives an insite into the thought processes involved in deciding certain key tactical points-MatB The Rules of War I've been losing rather consistently lately, and I think that I've figured out why. In figuring this out, I've developed a theory about how to win the game, outlined below. Comments and criticism welcome: Premise: The object of the game is to kill the Warlord. You haven't lost until your Warlord is dead. You haven't won until your opponent's Warlord is dead. This is obvious. Less obvious at first is that, in general, the person with the most characters wins. Characters create a meat wall to protect your Warlord, and characters are the things that generate the strikes to break down your opponent's meat wall and kill your opponent's Warlord. It is possible to go more directly for the throat with combos such as Cordeos and some wound prevention, but in general, you're going to lose if you can't keep up with the rate at which your opponent is playing characters. It is therefore wise to play with 50% characters in your deck. This is the best way to ensure that you draw characters. [Nick: Almost always. One decktype, however, is a speed deck that puts a tough Warlord on the front without the intention of pulling him back.] [Pete's reply: Here is where I'd be careful in making exceptions to the lotsa characters rule. I used to think that my Rathe with his Tooth/Vorpal Blade was a super tough Warlord that could take all comers, but I continually found myself wanting backup from my other characters so that I wouldn't have to waste Rathe on taking out minor people. I'd watch how your Rac deck loses when it loses, and if it's due to character overflow on your opponent's part, add a few more characters into the mix...] It's also wise to draw at least five cards per turn. Drawing more doesn't hurt. Towards this end, it's wise to play all cards the turn that you draw them, if possible. If you can't play a card, then it's usually wisest to discard it. Why? Because it'll get in the way of drawing playable characters, and your opponent will end up playing more characters than you, which will cause you to lose. [Nick: It is wise to draw 5 cards in a turn, but certain very powerful cards are exceptions. Especially in a deck capable of drawing additional cards, it can be wise to hang on to certain power cards.] Specific example: I've had a tendency recently to hold onto the Assassinations that I draw in my Vorpal Fairy deck, hoping to combo them with the Vorpal Blade for the kill. I think that this is a big reason why I've been losing. The extra cards in hand get in the way of drawing characters, and my opponent generally has more characters than me by the time I get the Vorpal Blade/Assassination combo set up. This generally means that he can send his Warlord into hiding in the rear ranks so that I can't reach him with the combo, while the rest of his characters tear my delicate Elven ranks to shreds. I realize that I should just use early Assassinations on lesser targets, or discard them if worst comes to worst. I have three in the deck, so the chances are good that I'll draw another, and I won't risk falling behind in characters that way. Drawing from this logic, I present... The Rogue Elf's Rules of War: I. The person with the most characters wins. II. Play with 50% characters, minimum. More is better [Mat: It is possible, without cheating.] III. Draw five cards per turn, minimum. More is better. IV. Bigger decks have higher character ratios. Smaller decks draw better cards faster. Construct your deck accordingly. The Rogue Elf's Cautions: I. There are exceptions to every rule. II. The game isn't over until the opposing Warlord is dead. Corollaries to Rule I: - Multiple wounds, high ACs, Cleric backup, and multiple strikes give you what are essentially extra characters. - One impossible to hit character is better than a hundred lesser peeps (provided that said character can still dish out hits, and that your opponent doesn't figure out a way to hit him.) [squirrel: I have to disagree on this point. For starters, no one is impossible to hit. A natural 20 will always hit anyone and a few cards will even create a 20 for you. Also a single super-character is more vulnerable to cards that cancel individual strikes and actions, thus making it easier for opponents to shut off your main offensive weapon.] Corollaries to Rule III: - Play or discard all cards on the turn that you draw them. - Play three copies of essential stuff so that you won't fret about discarding it. Fare thee well, ~ PeteVG Rogue Elf Bringing you Dark Lores of Revenge(tm) for more than six generations. Postscript, 2005: I think I actually may have been dead wrong on a lot of the stuff; the game's more complicated than I originally gave it credit, and I think that there are a lot of situations where holding a card is a good idea. Not to say that drawing cards isn't good. It's just that winning seems to require knowing when to hold 'em, as the old song goes. |
TaKtiX@TaKtiX.Org Pete Vander Giessen is a California based player. A friend of DadofDavid, he can usually be found playing L5R and Warlord in the Pasadena Games Zone. |
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