Game Theory: Opponents

It's always worth considering what kind of player you're facing. An opponent might look aggressive but be easily intimidated, or look disorganized while setting three layers of traps for you.

Treat your mother right!

I've stolen the definitions from an article I read about poker players a while back and it places everyone on a tight/loose and passive/aggressive scale.

Tight players

A tight player calculates odds and determine his chances. Rarely will a tight player commit to the Hail Mary attempt unless there's absolutely no other options available to him. This makes a tight player dangerous but predictable.

Loose players

A loose player goes on instinct and gut feeling. The loose player is unpredictable and defending against him is incredibly hard. Loose players tend to do poorly in tournaments because their crazy plans inevitably blow up in their faces.

Opponent types

Combined with the Passive/Aggressive scale this produces four types of players. Recognizing these types will help determining the best ways to apply pressure in a game, but like most things in the Game Theory section this is just a tool that might give you a little edge, and not the answer to every question in the book.

Tight Passive

This is me. I run math and scenarios in my head and never play the long odds unless I'm forced to. I design my lists to absorb an impact and then sucker punch him when he fails to do me any real harm. The weakness is that an opponent that knows me can rely on being safe from long shot attempts, and that frees up some resources he can use to hit me harder. I wish I could play Tight Aggressive and I'm working on getting better at it.

Tight Aggressive

This is probably the strongest type of player. They calculate and apply pressure where it hurts the most, and a good TA will keep you off balance until it's to late. TA players are usually highly skilled because it takes a lot of mental resources to dictate how an entire game plays out, which makes them incredibly dangerous opponents.

Loose Passive

I think these are the weakest types of players. They never really get into the game and usually end up doing something silly with no real chance of success. There are very few successful LP players and they're complete cakewalks for a TA player.

Loose Aggressive

These guys will come for you without much planning, cannot be reliably predicted and it only takes one of them to knock you out of the top five in a tournament. It bothers me that they throw away game after game and then luck out and nuke someone. Recognizing a LA player is vital because you can dedicate a mountain of resources to defense and hope they mess up.

Spotting the types

The easiest to spot is the Loose Passive player. Look for sloppy deployment and lists with no offensive tools, no thought given to activation sequences, and an army of questionable choices. Don't let your guard down as they might still have teeth or be Tight Aggressive players in disguise, but unless you're also a LP player you're in for an easy ride. The one exception to this rule is a LP Menoth player, as several of their builds can pull a LP player through.

• Low offensive power.
• Key models/units missing.
• Sloppy deployment.
• Sloppy activations.

The Loose Aggressive player is next up, and sloppy deployment is key here as well. The LA player usually brings "up in your face" models with lots of power and very few tricks, but make no mistakes because these guys will come straight for you. The LA player is also marked by his sloppy advances and lackluster defense of their casters.

• Very high offensive power.
• Little thought given to survival.
• Sloppy deployment.
• Extremely aggressive advances.

The Tight Passive players are nearly impossible to spot before they deploy, but impossible to miss when they do. TP players often have systems they adhere to and I've even seen a guy with a sheet full of little formations (I've made them but never brought them).

• Armored and Tough lists.
• Lists with many deterrents.
• Organized deployment.
• Calculated advances. 

The Tight Aggressive player is a right bastard because he often disguises himself as a Loose player. There's a system you're probably not seeing and when the hammer drops it's to late to act. I've worked really hard on identifying these guys but so far the only thing I've come up with is to look for discrepancies.

• Streamlined lists with what looks like sloppy deployment.
• Balanced lists playing very aggressively or building castles.
• Cards, dice, tokens etc. are ordered and prepared.

The second part of this article will be up soon (I hope) and will deal with the best way of taking on the different types of players.

Game Theory: Deterrents

This is one of my favorite tools and most people use it without ever giving it conscious thought. If an opponent looks at your line and decides there's no way he can engage without losing more resources than he would destroy by doing it, you've effectively deterred him.

Deterrents can be almost anything in the game that creates a huge problem for your opponent so in order to make things easier I've decided to split them up into two types: Active and Passive.

Active deterrents

These are things that require activations when your turn comes around, like Bile Thralls that can basically go "you charge my lines... dude... your army melts" or Tartarus that goes "Did you know that ganging up on my chicken puts you in perfect Thresher formation?". Active deterrents are easy to use and makes it impractical or dangerous to hit your army where it hurts.

• Bile Thralls (Purge)
• Withershadow Combine (Unbinding and Dark Industries)
• Tartarus (Death Toll)
• Machine Wraiths (Machine Meld)

Cryx is a faction with many active deterrents and I think that's why my Terminus list is so hard to beat. The list has deterrents everywhere and the ability to end a game with one charge if he doesn't commit, creating a no win situation for my opponent unless I mess up or he happens to be fielding one of the perfect counters to my deterrents.

Passive deterrents

These are hilarious but often harder to use well. The passive deterrents take effect in your opponents turn and makes his choices harder, his models die, or his actions fail. The Shadowhorn Satyr is a great example of a passive deterrent since missing him with a charge attack means getting knocked down. He has set defense so an charging heavy will need to hit defense fifteen (or be immune to knockdown) on his first attack to avoid the effect.

• Defensive feats (Harbinger, Old Witch, etc.)
• Defensive spells (Admonition/Enliven, Dragon's Blood, etc.)
• Defensive abilities (Riposte, Retaliatory Strike, etc.)
• Effects that trigger on hit/damage (Protective Fit, Hyper Aggressive, etc.)

The list of passive deterrents is pretty long and the more you stack them the better they become. If you have one model/unit with the ability to walk away or punish an attacker your opponent will attack something else. While the ability to decide his targets for him can be very useful, a couple of additional passive deterrents will force some very unpleasant choices on your opponent, and in some cases every possible choice is a bad one for him.

Combining deterrents

There's nothing that prevents you from stacking active and passive deterrents and it often ends up being some incredibly powerful options. Admonition (eSkarre) will prevent your Helljack from dying when an enemy Warjack comes gunning for it. Dark Industries (The Withershadow Combine) could turn an enemy heavy Warjack into a Seether after it destroyed your Helljack.

If you combine the two your Helljack survives and you get a Seether on top, gaining a massive lead in the war of attrition. There are several combinations out there, or deterrents that can be increased in power with the application of the right spell or ability, so keep an eye out for possible synergies when constructing your next list.

/Lamoron

Game Theory: Buffers

It's been a while since I've worked on the game theory section, but my last game got me thinking about Buffers again. A buffer is something that: cushions the impact of objects against each other, or keeps two or more objects distant from one another. There are several types of buffers, and of course some that fit in more than one category.

It's a shitty job, so use a spell

Damage

These are Caustic Mists, Storm Ravager templates, Scather Templates, Covering Fire templates, and the many other options the game offers to put down patches of damage dealing ground. We can use these buffers to deny an opponent access to vital areas on the table with a part of his army, depending on the nature of the buffer in question (Corrosion, Fire, Lightning, how powerful the damage etc. etc.).

Line of Sight

Blocking Line of Sight makes for a wonderful buffer effect. The ability to declare a charge is vital for the threat and hitting power of many models in the game, and removing that option severely limits the options a model has available. A Warjack/Warbeast could trample through the cloud but it will cost it a Focus/Fury and all it's initial attacks, thus cushioning the impact it has on your army.

Rough Terrain

This type of buffer is heavily dependent on your opponents list. In some games they will be completely irrelevant and in other games they can win you the entire game with one application. A well placed patch of Rough Terrain can take entire units or heavies out of the game for a turn or two while they struggle to get into position.

Obstacles

These buffers create artificial obstacles or obstructions. These can be used to stop non-reach models from physically reaching your army, granting cover, or blocking lines of effect. These are some of the hardest buffers to use correctly but also some of the powerful buffers in the game.

Combinations

Many buffers have more than one buffer ability, making them much more powerful. The most common combination is Line of Sight combined with Damage, which we find with Caustic Mist (Lich Lord Asphyxious), Mage Storm (Black 13th), and many more. Pillars of Salt (Mohsar) combines Line of Sight with Obstacles. Rapid Growth (pBaldur) combines Rough Terrain and Line of Sight, and a select few buffers combine three aspects like Eruption (Karchev) which blocks Line of Sight, deals Damage, and is considered Rough Terrain.

Applications

It's impossible to determine the correct way to apply buffers to a battlefield, as the best way is always determined by the battlefield and positioning of models on it, but there are some basic guidelines that should be considered when you have access to buffers.

• Use what is already there.

If your opponent is caught in a choke point between two pieces of terrain, buffer templates can completely shut down a large part of his advance (assuming he's dealing with obstructions or has no pathfinder). In one game with pKrueger I used his feat to block my opponents Nyss Hunters from advancing, and they never made it to the fight after being forced to run around several rock formations.

• Know what you're up against.

You'll be sad when the the models with fire immunity and Pathfinder completely ignore your buffer and destroy you. Some buffers can be removed/destroyed, so make sure you take that into consideration when placing them.

Dealing with buffers

Being on the receiving end of a buffer zone is brutal, and most of them can't be moved or ignored. The only thing you can do is to acknowledge the possibility that buffers will impede your advance and try to position accordingly. This means spreading out, flanking, and generally attempting to avoid situations where you'll need a lane since you know it will be blocked if you do.

Another way to deal with buffers is to put pressure on his caster, as this will often force him to use the buffers to defend his caster. If you're facing Lich Lord Asphyxious and he's surrounded by Caustic Mists then you're doing it right. You might not be getting him down, but he's not impeding your movements and dictating the flow of the game.

Conclusion

Buffers are incredibly powerful tools, and even access to a single buffer template is something that makes a caster very impressive. These are also one of the hardest tools to be up against because it mostly depends on your opponents ability to place them, and if he's good there's very little you can do about it. There are very few things you can do to counter them, and there's no easy solution to be found unless you happen to play one of the few casters that can manipulate or ignore cloud effects, in which case you have a tool against maybe half the buffers in the game.

Game Theory: Spotting Linchpins

As you know I've been playing around with some Circle lists, and I've discovered a few linchpins I didn't know about (since there are so few Circle players in my meta). That got me thinking about the many opportunities I must be missing against other factions as well.

Identifying linchpins can be a difficult task, so I've spent a little time thinking up some guidelines to make it easier. In case you're not familiar with the term, a linchpin is something you can remove to cause a larger structure to collapse. In the case of Cryx our best known linchpin is Bane Lord Tartarus, because Banes are a lot more manageable without him cursing enemy units and replenishing their ranks.

Unit Attachments

The obvious place to begin is with Unit Attachments, because they're easy to spot and nearly always worth killing. The things to look for in Unit Attachments are abilities that are:

• Orders
• Granted abilities
• Mini-feats
• Command range

These things all disappear when the attachment dies, so take a quick look at his Unit Attachments and see if they're worth the extra effort. An example of an Unit Attachment that isn't a linchpin could be the Gun Mage Officer, since he's just a Gun Mage with +1 RAT unless he's marshaling a Warjack, while the Satyxis Raider Sea Witch would leave her entire unit high and dry if she died.

Unit leaders/members

Just like Unit Attachments, there are several unit leaders/members in the character units that are worth another look. If you bring down Blackbane the Ghost Raiders lose Reanimation, the Nyss Hunters lose CRA when Cylena dies, the Great Bears lose Steady when Kolsk dies, Boomhowlers lose 4+ tough, and the list goes on.

You can really neutralize a lot of the character units with a single kill if you pay attention, and there are several abilities based around the number of models in a unit as well, like the Withershadow Combine needing all three members to use Dark Industries and the Shifting Stones can't teleport unless they're at full strength.

Solo characters

These are by far the hardest to spot. It can be hard to tell what one ability does before the hammer comes down on you and it's to late to act, and knowing how every solo interacts with models/units in factions you don't play is almost impossible. Let's take a tour of the common Cygnar solo characters, to illustrate the problem.

• Journeyman Warcaster. This guy is worth considering a linchpin if his Arcane Shield is making your life difficult, but he's not a real linchpin unless he's controlling a jack. If he is controlling a jack it has a huge impact when you take him down, so go get him.
• Stormsmith Stormcallers. Taking down just one has a significant impact on the rest of them. These we can spot because of the way their numbers interact with their abilities.
• Squire. This ridiculous little machine adds so much power to it's warcaster, that it's always a linchpin. Taking it down makes just about every Cygnar caster more manageable, though actually killing it is damn hard.
• Arlan Strangeways. If there's a solo character mechanic hanging out, you can bet he does something interesting. The thing is that he really isn't a linchpin, because while he does add something to his jacks, you're not making a huge impact by killing him, unless of course you have several disruption effects to apply.
• Archduke Runewood. There's a picture of this guy in the dictionary under "linchpin", as his Battle Plan ability is a real force multiplier. Removing Runewood, right when a unit parked itself behind terrain expecting his Pathfinder to help them through, can turn a game around. It's worth noting that his Elite Cadre ability is permanent, so killing him doesn't remove it's effect.

What do these models have in common: nothing. That's a problem with no easy solution right there, and while there are plenty of linchpins that are instantly identifiable like General Slaughterborn (with two abilities that specifically support Bloodgorgers), most of them are hard to spot.

• Things that support a caster. These are models like the Skarlock, Sylys, Hierophants, Druid Wilders, Succubus, Wracks, and more. Terminating these models can mess up your opponents Focus/Fury economy, and activation sequences. These are very often linchpins, though more so in Warmachine lists.
• Things that support XXX. The game has more than a few models that boost/buff  models/units, and some models like Kovnik Joe or Tartarus have abilities that only work on a specific unit, while Rhupert and Fell Callers can support just about anyone and would be harder to spot if we didn't already know where to look.
• Things that break the system: This is Madelyn Corbeau, Anastasia di Bray, and other solo characters with the ability to break the system. In my Terminus list I have Madelyn, and while she lives my Bile Thralls are incredibly potent, to the point of being broken, but when she dies they're reduced to being "a good unit".
• Things that control others: These are things like Lesser Warlocks, Journeyman Warcasters, and Jack Marshals. These are all fairly squishy models that have big expensive models depending on them, so getting them down earns you a solid lead in resources.

Honestly though, most of the solo linchpins are hard to spot, and you'll just have to remember how bad it was and kill them the next time around. In a tournament with limited time to read up on your opponents list, you should stick to watching for easy targets in the UA and Character unit departments, while watching for obvious targets like Kovnik Joe or caster attachments in the solo department.

/Lamoron

Game Theory: Threat and Risk Assessment

Most people who know me would wager their lives on me forgetting my own birthday, so I've had to design a system that allows me to identify and track my opponents most dangerous abilities. It had to be very simple, while being flexible enough to cover every possible opponent, and so I decided on the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

 

The Feat, Spell, and Model system is really simple, and it involves picking up your opponents cards, with the intent of remembering just three things about his list. 

• Feat

Feats have a tendency to derail your plans if you don't anticipate them. Everything is going well, you line up to crush the puny Legion skank, and suddenly her entire battlegroup becomes immune to melee attacks. I've seen plenty of games lost because someone forgot his opponents feat, so don't.

• Spell

The second place I look is the spell list, because nasty tricks tend to hide there. These are never as obvious as the feat threats, but occasionally it saves your bacon. I choose a single spell to remember, and this is usually something like Purification on the Harbinger, or Warpath on Kromac. It's great if you can remember all the different tricks a caster can pull, but you rarely need to remember more than one to stand a chance.

• Model

The third thing I memorize is my opponents main threat. I usually decide on the most obvious ones at first (if Molik Karn is on the table, then Molik Karn is on the list), but occasionally an opponent will reveal his hand/spell/ability, causing a new evaluation to occur.

This does not mean you actually need to Focus on the model/unit, nor even kill it, but it means you need to keep it in mind. You know that Molik Karn can come at you from 20+ inches away, but only if you leave models he can use to sidestep, so remembering to keep models away from that zone is the key.

• Summary

There are more than a hundred different casters in the game, and I've given up on getting to know them all. The Flying Spaghetti Monster is not the solution to every problem in the game, but it does allow you to dodge the most obvious deaths, and diminish the impact of many feats in the game. You still need to think, you still need to ask questions, and you still need to know as much about his list as you possibly can, but the Flying Spaghetti Monster will allow you to dodge the worst of it.

Game Theory: Pushers

The table is forty eight inches across, and the deployment zones take up eighteen of those (we'll handle radial scenarios some other time), leaving us thirty inches between the forces. A model with speed six, can run twelve inches in the first turn, leaving just eighteen inches between the armies. If that same unit has offensive potential, they present your opponent with a choice. If he advances more than eight and half inches, he comes within charge range, and if he doesn't he'll be left out of position. A pusher is a model/unit, that forces an opponent to advance less than he would like to. This gives you a major boost in board control, and allows you to take initiative.

YOU SHALL NOT ADVANCE!

In order to be a good pusher, the unit will need several abilities, but two stand above the rest: Advance Deploy/Move. If you go second, your pushers will be useless, unless they have one of those abilities, because your opponent will probably already be pushing you. If you advance deploy, the distance between your armies will be just twenty four inches, and you have the opportunity to really push, but this requires some accurate guessing. I'm not talking about guessing the right range, but guessing how far back you can push an opponent, before he goes all in.

• You've got first turn.
• You deploy Satyxis Raiders with AD
• He has no AD units
• You run them up ten inches

You're now parked fourteen inches from his deployment zone, with a unit that can reach fourteen inches with desperate pace. If you think he's just going to sit there, you're dead wrong, because you've just forced his choice. The trick with pushers is, to look at the terrain and determine, where you can make him park his army.

As a general rule, I try to reduce his general speed by an inch. It doesn't sound like much, but it really changes the way a game flows, to have him a couple of inches further from the objectives. In some cases you can push him a lot further, especially in scenarios such as killbox, but if you're not sure then stick to an inch. This means that if he has an army of predominantly speed six units, you should threaten around ten inches from his deployment zone (adjust for terrain). Most people won't put themselves in range of a charge, simply to gain two inches on the board, but you gain no matter what he does.

A pusher unit with AD and high threat, can even push before your turn even begins. Satyxis Raiders going second, can charge a target that moved more than ten inches out of his zone. This means that speed six models will need to reduce by an inch (like we wanted) and AD units will be limited to a four inch move, completely negating his AD advantage.

I hope you get the concept, because this is getting a bit text heavy. Ranged units are poor pushers, because they almost automatically end up threatening to far, and forcing your opponent forward. So what do we look for in a great pusher unit.

• Advance Deployment
• High offensive capacity
• High threat range
• Resistance to ranged attacks
• Some way of circumventing terrain

The obvious choice in Cryx are the Satyxis Raiders. They have AD, they have power swell (giving them a round of weapon master), they have one of the longest threat ranges in the game, defense sixteen against ranged attacks, immunity to blast damage, and pathfinder. In short, they're the kings of pushing, but other units do fine. Any unit can push if you win the first round, but only a true pushing unit can do it before your turn even begins.

Game Theory: Gobbers

This is NOT my work.

The Gobber maneuver is easy to show, and hard to fully explain, so I'll just give you a little teaser from the original article, and make you go read the real thing instead.

Red 1 and Red 3 are now either partially or entirely stuck. The rules of the game say that the big scary Red warthingies can’t just ignore the useless Gobbers free of charge; they either need to move another model up to kill the Gobbers (which will often mean blocking access with his OWN models even after he’s cleared yours), Trample over them (paying one valuable focus/fury and losing all of his initial attacks, making it unlikely he’ll hurt 1 on the follow-up attacks), or spend a turn uselessly killing Gobbers with his 7-12pt models.

The full length article can be found here, and should be considered required reading.

Game Theory: Sweepers

Sweepers are essential in any list, so let's begin by getting the concept straight. Sweepers are responsible for clearing the way of obstructions, and doing it without getting in the way themselves. Whenever someone is talking about "opening up a lane", or "freeing up a unit" they are talking about using sweepers.

So what makes it worth thinking about sweepers during list construction? The simple fact that, otherwise you end up using a lot of resources doing things, that a dedicated sweeper model/unit could have done better, and cheaper. You also risk not being able to sweep for a unit, without messing up your activation sequence, or even being stuck for an entire round, killing one or two models with a full unit.

• Offensive sweepers. These models are tasked with opening up the enemy defenses, allowing your main hitters access to juicy targets. These are often ranged models, preferably with multiple shots per round, or a spray.

• Defensive sweepers. These are either melee models with the ability to get out of the way, or ranged models with sprays. This is because defensive sweepers usually have to clear out models engaged in melee, making regular shooting hazardous.

A model with a spray can play both type of sweeper, so I usually favor them when in doubt. If we use Cryx as an example, I'll give an example of each type of sweeper. You all know your factions better than I do, so finding your faction sweepers shouldn't be hard.

• Offensive: Pistol Wraiths, with good range and multiple shots.
• Defensive: Satyxis Raider Captain, with Sprint and multiple attacks.
• Dual purpose: Warwitch Siren, with a spray and seduction.

The Pistol Wraith is superior as an offensive sweeper, due to multiple RAT 7 shots and it's 18" threat. The Raider Captain is a superior defensive sweeper, due to multiple attacks at MAT 8 (with weapon master), and the ability to move away after removing the threats. The Warwitch Siren is able to perform both assignments, with a 15" threat, and a RAT 7 spray, making her a great allround sweeper, though weaker in both aspects.

A good sweeper should be as cheap as possible, as activating a five point unit to clear out one or two models, is a waste of resources. Secondly the sweeper unit should be able to ignore as much as the battlefield as possible, with either Pathfinder, Ghostly, Incorporeal, Parry or similar abilities.

Deciding on a sweeper is fairly simple, as it's main purpose is to support your main units. If you bring a Satyxis Raider unit, the Raider Captain becomes an obvious choice, and if you're fielding other Incorporeal units, the Pistol Wraiths become attractive. The Warwitch Siren will always be my main cryxian sweeper though, as she brings other abilities to the table, in case I don't need my sweepers.

Multiple sweepers are great, as it allows them to perform other assignments, without you ending up with no sweeper in range of the problem.If you bring multiple sweepers, they need other assignments as well, or you'll be playing with less active points that your opponent.
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Game Theory: Screens

It's a basic principle to hide expensive models/units behind cheap ones to protect them, but in Warmachine the tactic takes a little more effort. Gearjock has made an excellent video explaining the basics of screening with parts of your own unit (screening begins around six minutes into the video), so if you're unfamiliar with the basic concept of screening in Warmachine, you should watch that first.

With the concept of screening defined, I'll move on to talk about why this concept often fails. As you can see in the video, Gearjock uses a part of his unit to screen the remaining models, and keeping them safe that way. This sounds great, until you realize that the screen is part of the unit, which means that what an opponent does to the screen, is applied to the unit as well.

Assuming an enemy simply charges, the setup is great, but when you include debuffs, morale, counter screens, and a host of other options in the game, the idea becomes hazardous. As an example we could take the Khador Winterguard Deathstar, with Iron Flesh, Bob & Weave, and Courage of the Forefathers.

A veritable army of Defense 17, Fearless, and Tough models, with devastating short range firepower (and they're not to shabby in melee either), but without a screen, a prepared player can rip them apart. This game has plenty of ways to negate upkeep spells, and many casters have access to a defense debuff, which means that your precious immortal unit becomes very mortal again, and without a screen they're entering a world of hurt.

With a screen unit you not only make it harder for an enemy to even remove the Iron Flesh, or apply the debuffs, but you also ensure that even if he succeeds in bringing the WG down to manageable levels of defense, they still have protection. So what do we need from a good screen?

• Positioning. A screen is worthless if it's not in position. Every good screen needs to be faster than the "client" unit, or otherwise able to get in position.
• Deterrent. A screen needs something to prevent enemy units from simply engaging it without fear. This is usually just a high offensive capacity, but in rare cases other abilities can work as a deterrent.
• Defenses. A screen needs a way to avoid being free kills. This ability can be almost anything that either denies an enemy kills, or punishes him for getting them.
• Screening: A screen needs to be able to actually screen. Reach models are the kings of screening, but models with knockdown abilities, freezing abilities, or simply high enough damage to scare anything away, will do fine.

Since I'm using Khador as an example, I'll bring up their usual screen unit, which is of course Doomreavers. Doomreavers posses just about every quality we need in a screen.

• Positioning: Advance Deployment and good speed.
• Deterrent: Massive offensive potential.
• Defenses: Fearless & Spell Ward.
• Screening: Reach and massive damage.

Here we have a unit that can deploy in a screening position, and outrun most of the army anyway. They're hard to shift with Fearless and Spell Ward, though their defensive stats could be better. What really makes these guys shine as a screen is their massive offensive capacity, as they function as a main offensive unit if left alone. This forces an opponent to deal with them, which is what you as a player really want. A free strike from a Doomreaver will dent even heavy warjacks, and reach allows them to layer-screen a massive part of your army with very few models.

In a Cryx army, our ideal screening unit is Satyxis Raiders with Captain, and while other units can and will do fine, these girls are brilliant.

• Positioning: Advance Deployment, Pathfinder, and excellent speed
• Deterrent: Good offensive potential, Feedback.
• Defenses: Force barrier, Immunity to blast damage, Immunity to knockdown, high defense.
• Screening: Reach and critical knockdown.

The Satyxis Raiders need a captain though, because it solves their leadership issues, keeps their speed ahead of otherwise fast Cryx units, and the captain can function as a sweeper (moving in to kill 1-2 models trying to lock down you Raiders, and then moving away with Sprint).

Screens are not meant to be thrown away, and should be units that will make it easier for the client unit to shine, while hampering an opponents efforts at the same time. This is very important, because few things that can perform screen duties, are cheap. You can put all kinds of units in front of something and call it a screen, but I often see people giving me free kills instead, or simply placing something in front of their units I can safely ignore. I hope this clears up a few things, and feel free to comment or question the article, as your questions help me clear things up for future readers.

Update:  05.09.2011.
I came in fifth in the Danish Masters, and the player who booted me of fourth, was the guy that inspired this article in the first place. When we talked a couple of months ago, he was on a six game loosing spree, and before that he went 0-4 in a local tournament. This weekend he lost a game on some poor dice, but still took fourth in the Danish Masters.

Some of it was practice, but it's hard to deny, that he had a four game winning streak, and a fourth place in the masters, after making just one little change to his army (Doomreaver screen).
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Game Theory: Announcement

In a recent discussion I found myself defending the idea that list construction matters. A player was repeatedly told that his lists were fine, and his lack of experience with it, was his only problem.

I can't blame the player, because the people who told him this are amongst the best players in the country, so why would he question that particular piece of advice? These are players that teach me important lessons on a weekly basis, and players that are responsible for my greatest defeats, but nobody can know everything.

The player in question was on a six game losing streak, and whenever he actually won it was against poor opponents, or due to favorable dice. The thing that caught my attention was, that he kept telling people he made to many mistakes, and they kept agreeing. I had faced him before, and I just couldn't recognize him in the picture they put together.

We argued back and forth for a few weeks, but in the end he took my advice. Personally I would have chosen another unit, but he caught the idea behind the tool, and gave it his own personal touch. The player won his next five games, and is now an opponent I hope to avoid during the masters. Update: With the Masters done, I can safely say, that he turned out to be a great player. I managed a fifth place, and using just that one little change to his army, he came in fourth.

I'm not going to argue that knowing your list isn't important, or even tell you that you can win any game without knowing your army, because that would be nothing short of stupid. I am going to tell you, that constructing the right list is important, and having the right tool is more important than you know.

Now before I begin this project, I'll be honest and tell you that it might take a while. These are complex tools to be explained, and I'm not even sure I've named/mastered them all yet. Many of them tamper with the Warmahordes doxa, and will need some detailed articles in order to avoid confusion as well. Using these tools will not make you a fantastic unbeatable player, but they will make it easier to become one.

Obvious Tools:

• Screens
• Defenses
• Counters
• Assassins

Less obvious Tools:

• Sweepers
• Pushers
• Gobbers
• Buffers

Obscure Tools:

• Breakers
• Baiters
• Deterrents

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Game Theory; Psychology

When you play a game of Warmachine, you simultaneously engage in another game, though many do not realize it. This game is called psychology, and it will make or break a game in seconds. Playing Psychology is also a dangerous game, and you can suffer some real life consequences if you mess it up.

• A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.
  - The Art of War

Alright so quoting Sun Tzu is about as unoriginal as it get's, but the man had a lot of things going for him. I've been an active wargamer for fifteen years, so though I'm still new(ish) to Warmachine, I'm a veteran at miniature wargames. This means, that when I face players with years of experience, they tend to underestimate me. These are players with years of Warmachine experience, but when they assume they're in for an easy fight, they loose a game they should have won.

• For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.
  - The Art of War

When playing Psychology it's vitally important that you do not lie. When someone asks me about my Scavengers, I truthfully tell them, that I think they're amazing, but most people on the forums disagree. If someone asks me why I think they're amazing, I will explain it, but they either don't ask. or stop listening after the words melee light jack. Then I lean back, and watch his assumptions cost him a game.

• If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him.
  - The Art of War

As I explained in my article about Water Theory, it will cost you the game to loose your temper. This also means, that making your opponent loose his, is a great way to gain an advantage. In order to do this, you must make very certain that you annoy him on the table. Annoying people away from the table makes you an complete twat, but annoying them on the table is perfectly acceptable. There are thousands of ways this can be achieved, and since the optimal course of action is unique for every opponent, I'll leave that up to you.

• Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.
  - The Art of War

 It has won me several games. If you have a close game, then attempt to dictate your opponent actions, by supplying an opportunity that is not quite as golden as it looks. You could give him a way to retreat, and then win on scenario, or give him a poor shot at your caster, which will leave him open if it fails. A miniature wargame is about tactics, armies, dice, and psychology. Your opponent is a mind encased in flesh, and that is the source of his tactics. If you can play with his mind, you can win against any opponent.

Finally... don't be a Twat... It's a game, so keep that in mind. Having friends left, should be considered more important than winning, so keep this game in reserve for important tournaments.
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Game theory

The original announcement can be found: Here

Tools

• Buffers (17.03.2012) 
• Deterrents (21.03.2012)
• Gobbers (Updated 13.10.2011) 
• Pushers (Updated 14.10.2011) 
  
• Screens (Updated 05.09.2011)
• Sweepers ( Updated 01.09.2011)

Articles

• Threat and Risk Assessment (12.12.2011)
• Water Theory (27.06.2011)
• Game Psychology (27.06.2011)
• Spotting Linchpins (14.02.2012)

Game Theory; Water

When I play I adhere closely to the water theory. It's a holistic system incorporating both army construction, table strategy, and a state of mind. It's a concept I've stolen somewhere (I do believe it was from Irondog Studios) ages ago, and expanded on since then, so I can't take full credit.

Water theory takes it's name from the phenomenon we know as a Tsunami. This unstoppable wave of destruction, has several abilities that can be used on the table. I'll walk you through the most important of them, and do my best to answer any questions.

• Remove a portion of water, and the remaining liquid will even out
  It means, that if you specialize your units to much, you'll end up without an answer to a looming threat. If you choose models/units that can cover several aspects of the game, your army will be likely to remain functional, when faced with heavy losses.
• A Tsunami carries deadly debris
  It means bringing units that grow stronger when your enemy grows weaker. This actually increases your own strength, while diminishing your opponents, and such models/units can turn a game around.
  
• A Tsunami flows around objects it cannot crush
  It means bringing models/units that ignore parts of the table, or even your opponents models. Incorporeal units are the undisputed kings of flow, but many other abilities come close. These units can avoid the unbreakable barriers, and hit your opponents weak points instead.

The best example of how this works, is to look at Bane Knights. They can cover multiple purposes, since they can slaughter both heavy warjacks and infantry. They can swell their numbers when Bane Lord Tartarus swings his mighty Axe, and they've got the second best flow ability in the game (Ghostly).

The thing to remember here is, that several of these abilities can be granted by other models in the game. Bane Thralls can bring along Saxon Orrik to fix their flow issues, and several casters can either boost a model/unit, grant flow, or swell the number of models in a unit.

• A Tsunami will collapse a wall at it's weakest point
  There's no point in throwing your might against the strongest point, unless you're absolutely certain it will break. If you can apply pressure to a weaker spot, it will crumble and allow your forces to roam freely.
  
• A Tsunami kills by retreating, and returning with greater force
  If running away is beneficial to you, then retreat, and return with your full force instead. You could also use bait, and sacrifice a model/unit without value, in order to lure your opponent on to the "beach".

If you have superior flow, this is an excellent way to play. Retreat where your enemy is strong, and then hit him with twice his numbers where he's weak. There are so many ways of achieving this, that listing them would be futile, but keep it in mind when looking over your lists, and you'll notice.

• A Tsunami doesn't care if the first ten billion gallons did nothing
  I've seen many games lost, because players gave up, and I've won quite a few before, where spectators had left because the game was over. Your opponents will activate in the wrong sequence, they will be violated by dice, or they will simply forget vital information.
  
• A Tsunami does not care about failure
  I've seen people lose games to anger and frustration, when they could have won with a clear mind. This is a hard thing to do, when playing games that are influenced by dice, but it's a vital thing to control. I was once told, that I was violated by my dice, and that's why I lost my game. This simply wasn't true, because while I was indeed manhandled statistically, I lost because I made some questionable choices. I told my opponent that, and her facial expression was worth the loss.
  
• A Tsunami is a destructive wave of water
  I'll sound the hippie alert, but when I see games played in tournaments, I see coffee, cola, energy drinks, snacks and a truckload of things that make your body go "flrghblargh". Your body needs something like three liters of water per day, and nothing but clean water counts. A large tournament can easily go for eight to ten hours a day, and most miniature wargamers are sweating and gasping for air near the end. Get outside for a quick breather, snack on something that won't sour up your body, drink your three liters, and you've just bought yourself an advantage.

That's the basics of Water Theory. It's not something I apply to every move I make, but it does govern the way I play miniature wargames. Try it on for size, and I guarantee you'll see a vast improvement over time.
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