That TCG Blogger

You’re at the edge of you’re seat, the tides have turned in your favor. The units in your command are about to charge your opponents final defenses to their base. Then the unthinkable happens, those few minis you forgot about sitting near the back of the map charge forward and start taking out your rear defenses. Suddenly, their so-called final defenses move up and attack as well; you’re the one who is now being put to their final defense. This happens all too much in the war based board game, a player never strategizes and inevitably falls into the trap the other player sets up. For continuity’s sake, I will be referring to a very basic war-style game that I have created specifically for this tutorial. The game will be referred to simply as “Combat”, and be played on a 25x25 neutral map with 20 pawns on both corners. The battle system is also made simple, just each player rolling a die, if the attacking player gets a higher number then the other is destroyed, if the defending player gets a higher number they stay alive; pawns have to be adjacent in order to start combat and the have a movement of five on each (and yes, they can move then attack). Please keep that in mind for the following technique tutorial.

Now that you’re twenty pawns are set up in your corner, what do you do next? The first thing you want to do is to devise some sort of a strategy. In doing this, you want to know what you plan to do: lure them into a false sense of security, charge them head on, conqueror the most efficient way. In a scenario like this with neutral pawns that are able to take each other out with ease, the charge option is the least successful option however, next week I will discuss the strategy in customizable miniature games and talk about when that would be a reliable option. Anyway, the pawns are set and you decide to take them out as efficiently as possible (note how I did not say quickly). You’re probably wishing you were awake in history class the day you studied all of Napoleon’s war strategies, but never fear you don’t need to be a war buff to be successful in strategizing a combat scenario such as this. The greatest advantage you can have over your opponent is being able to watch the board and know what’s happening on all sides, and then being able to plan around that. Conquering the opponent involves taking out all of their units, so the most common ways of doing this (while still having a strategy) is trying to flank them by separating the units into small groups (usually of 3-4, depending on your total units, remember to consider these strategies differently with other games) or watching your opponent and reacting based on that (the “tic-tac-toe” method). Also be sure to note that these methods mentioned are easily recognized by a professional player and that you need to strategize on a more personal level.

Now you may be asking, “Okay, I know what I want to do, but how do I actually go about doing it?” That’s where a bit of knowledge of military strategy might come in handy (I would suggest maybe reading up on common terms and such), but once again never worry. Let’s start off with the flank as an example; the basic principle of the maneuver is to surround the opponent in order to take them out in a swift strike. You start in one corner of the map with twenty figures packed in there, so in order to flank the opposing force your first move should consist of the following: mentally separating your units into three or four groups, then sending each group in opposite directions toward the enemy (the one heading straight for the opposing force should move slower so it meets up with the others at the same time). That’s the basis of putting a military strategy on a board, you first figure out the meaning of the technique in real combat then use your figures speed and power to make it happen as you see fit. A plan is nothing unless you put it into action.

In the end, all of your plans are nothing unless you watch your enemy’s side of the field. Be prepared to have to suddenly change your game plan due to the fact that your opponent is doing something that completely counters your original plan. Any great miniature gamer could tell you that flexibility is a key source to being a better player. One thing that I forgot to mention, purposely, is to be aware of any effects your figures might have; I chose not to mention it this week so I could write more on this come next technique blog.

-That TCG Blogger-

Got a question, comment, concern, or just want to know more? Email me at Ecomicsinc@gmail.com