Being really bored I decided to throw together some Scaverous lists. I already know what I'll be running the next couple of weeks, but sometimes putting together a few random lists, makes things clearer to me. As I put in Croe's Cutthroats, I got the distinct feeling I was about to embark on another "pDenny adventure".
Against an experienced opponent with an assassination list, a slightly worse player won't learn anything. He will deploy, he will advance, and he will die. I discovered this fact with pDenny, but eCaine will also take out newbies in turn two, and so will eMakeda, and Scaverous with the right list.
I've always been a fan of balanced lists, with the ability to play both assassination and attrition, but with Mortenebra I found a love for assassinations. The problem arose when I got good at it, because a game just isn't fun when it ends thirty seconds into your opponents second turn, and you didn't get to roll a single dice.
With Mortenebra an opponent could block my vectors, build a castle, and while it rarely worked they still learned a few things and enjoyed the game. I've had a lot of really close games with Mortenebra, but I've had exactly two close games with pDenny (including the first game, which I lost). With eGaspy I've had exactly one close game (decided on victory points, which I lost), and with Scaverous I've had a couple of close games, but only because I deliberately avoid playing assassination lists.
I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this, but I think what I'm trying to say is, that in a game between players with a different skill level, an assassination list will ruin the fun. In attrition the experienced player will have a lot more opportunities to make mistakes, and one mistake wont automatically cost the new player the game. It's a hard balance to strike, but perhaps we can keep it in mind, and gain some better (and happier) opponents in the long run.
Against an experienced opponent with an assassination list, a slightly worse player won't learn anything. He will deploy, he will advance, and he will die. I discovered this fact with pDenny, but eCaine will also take out newbies in turn two, and so will eMakeda, and Scaverous with the right list.
I've always been a fan of balanced lists, with the ability to play both assassination and attrition, but with Mortenebra I found a love for assassinations. The problem arose when I got good at it, because a game just isn't fun when it ends thirty seconds into your opponents second turn, and you didn't get to roll a single dice.
With Mortenebra an opponent could block my vectors, build a castle, and while it rarely worked they still learned a few things and enjoyed the game. I've had a lot of really close games with Mortenebra, but I've had exactly two close games with pDenny (including the first game, which I lost). With eGaspy I've had exactly one close game (decided on victory points, which I lost), and with Scaverous I've had a couple of close games, but only because I deliberately avoid playing assassination lists.
I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this, but I think what I'm trying to say is, that in a game between players with a different skill level, an assassination list will ruin the fun. In attrition the experienced player will have a lot more opportunities to make mistakes, and one mistake wont automatically cost the new player the game. It's a hard balance to strike, but perhaps we can keep it in mind, and gain some better (and happier) opponents in the long run.
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