Charterstone Halftime Stats

Just a couple pictures and some thoughts.

Capacity Categories By The Numbers

Advancement Cards: 14

Minions: 9

Money: 5

Resources: 4

Nothing too surprising here. Advancement cards are an easy choice to prioritize since you get so many of them, and it sucks losing one of your boxes or buildings to the deck for another player to pick it up (just ask Amanda). I'm surprised to see money prioritized over resources, but with such a small sample size, I don't think its actually indicative of anything vis-a-vis their relative strengths. 

 

Extra Categories By The Numbers

Resources: 5 Players

Perils: 4 Players

Money: 3 Players

Extra VP: 3 Players

Minion: 3 Players

Capacity: 2 Players

Advancement Card: 1 Player

Persona: 1 Player

Reputation: 0 Players

You can see here I counted any category that had any investment in it, regardless of if it was completed or not. Again, no huge surprises here, I'm not surprised nobody has taken reputation for example XD. I don't think the extra VP is that good, but then again, the peril is basically 2/2.5 VP and it takes a worker action to utilize, so until the upgraded peril buildings are more common, the +3 VP extra definitely outweighs it. Daniel is the only player who went all out for capacity, which I think he's grateful for after winning the last two games in a row. Starting next game, we're going to have to start picking up extras in turn order because we could potentially see some players seeking to grab the same minions/perils. It will be interesting to say the least. 

Charterstone Chronicle, Game 6

We're now halfway done with the campaign! And it only took four months!

Needless to say this is one of the slower legacy games I've played, and it's not to our campaign's benefit. When new mechanics are being introduced constantly, it's easy to forget key things when your games are over 3-4 weeks apart on average. That being said, people can't help that they're busy, this was certainly a hectic semester for me, but I'm hoping we can bring the campaign to a speedy conclusion in the spring (especially since I'm sitting on Rise of Fenris).

This came up this game because we realized we had not been awarding stars to people for landing the guidepost for games #4 and #5 (being able to check this blog for a record of all our games was super helpful in that regard). We rectified that at the end of this game, but it's one of those oversights that can have a big difference at the end versus more cosmetic temporary rule changes like the companion rule from last game.

The most notable change in this game was that Danielle covered her constructor, and without efficient ways to generate more than one resource at a time, the pace of game was slowed considerably. This was also the first game income buildings came up big, with Megan, Daniel, and Caralee scoring 12 points each off of Caralee's VP generating one. For my part, I focused on objectives and buildings this game. I charter-stoned to get access to my banquet hall, and built it and my distillery on sky islands. I used my brewer this game, and will be able to access my 20 point buildings after charterstoning again next game.

This was also the game where I realized I had been functioning under a major rule misunderstanding to my marked detriment, thinking that I had to put out ALL workers and minions before withdrawing them. This led me to play in some influence intensive patterns that really hurt me this game and led to a pretty dramatic late game slow down on my part as I ran out of influence a la game 2. The slow game really benefited Megan and Daniel who had sustainable ways to generate points and were neck and neck up until Daniel pulled out ahead at the end. There ended with high scores of over 80 points apiece! Megan won via extensive cloud port use (winning that guidepost), and leveraging scrolls into VP via her Treasury. And Daniel...I honestly don't know where all his points came from. I will need to pay closer attention next time XD.

I loved the legacy mechanics that accompanied the end of this game. First off, I loved seeing all the other names people chose for their charters on the cute little map of Greengully. We scored significantly above the six player average, which I was pleased to see (although a fair amount of that was Daniel and Megan). Amanda got the big ghostie as her rubber-banding mechanic for being in last. It's no exaggeration to say I LOVE this mechanic, Legacy games desperately need and struggle with "fair" feeling rubber-banding mechanics, and giving her an advantage/handicap in the form of the ghost feels like a very solid way to help a player who is  lagging while not punishing the players who are winning.

At this halfway point in the campaign, it seems like a good time to assess everyone's campaign standings:

Total Glory, End of Game 6

Megan: 35
Daniel: 34
Dave: 29
Caralee: 29
Danielle: 25
Amanda: 25

There are pretty clearly three tiers of players. Megan and Daniel are neck and neck with commanding but not uncatchable leads. Indeed, just going back one game things were a lot closer. Caralee and I are holding up the middle of the pack, with opportunities to rise but also chances to slip. Caralee in particular seemed to struggle this game and ended with a glut of unused coins and resources. Pulling up the rear are Dani and Amanda, who I think suffer from some of the iffier charter specific buildings (lumber market, everything having to do with private objectives), but could potentially make some magic happen with the unique rule for next game (pay the player to use their building). For a game that has largely been solitaire up to this point, this will be an opportunity to embargo certain ascendant players *cough cough.* Danielle is really looking forward to seeing if people use her upgraded constructor.

What's most concerning is that in addition to tons of glory, Daniel and Megan also have the most developed charters and tons of personas used. It will definitely be an uphill struggle for the other four of us, but I'm confident it will be interesting. At the very least, I'm happy that this Legacy game is turning out more competitive than the two horse race of Seafall a couple years ago.

Amanda finally got her cat cafe out! I bought one on a whim as the game closed, at which point I will feel more confident ranking the minions. Right now I'm going with:

1. Robots
2. Chefs
3. Cats
4. Butlers
5. Golems
6. Ghosts

Notable that the two leaders have the probably worst minions. Shout out to Daniel for managing to snag a robot this game after going a number of games without one.

We're likely on about a month's hiatus for now, but should get started again sometime in early January.

Charterstone Chronicle, Game 5

This was the first game that I truly enjoyed with basically no complaints, as it feels like we reached something of a plateau in terms of game mechanics. Nothing earth-shattering was uncovered this game, and I felt like I actually got to sit down and work to min-max for a change, instead of having to constantly respond to new factors. The charters are all really beginning to acquire their specific flavors and it's really cool to see in action.

First up, whereas my guests carried me to victory last game, this game I missed out. This notably came up when Megan triggered her chalice of immortality to land a double income, generating her enough resources through her guests to build a structure. I didn't manage to snag any this game, and missed out on the hype train this time around.

The Sky Islands are a fantastic addition, despite my reservations at the end of last game. For one, they ensure there is a sizable leftover pool of peril tokens and meant that there was a less even distribution of the ones on the board. It invited some interesting questions about which buildings in your charter to cover, especially for charters like mine where every building fits together to form a cohesive whole or really developed charters like Megan's where lots of expensive buildings have already been built. Going forward, I see it giving people some really meaningful decisions to make in set up: which buildings do I want on the board, do I want an open building slot this game, etc. I also like just having more real estate as having to cover buildings feels punishing, especially when you know in the back of your mind that you're robbing yourself of end-of-campaign points every time you do.

So, this game, starting with an extra peril and having built by cupcakery last game, I aimed to focus on turning perils into VP (not the least of which because I was using the "1 VP when you pick up famine" persona). I managed to grab two famine and two red/unrest?/whatever. However, the true breakthrough came when I realized the best use of the "scroll" treasures - converting them into 4 VP via the cupcakery. This is a phenomenal conversion rate, especially after I got the +1 VP Friend. Essentially, it was 1 money/1 resource  -> 5 VP. But, considering I had double robots and got 2 of the 3 scrolls I used for free, it ended up being significantly less than that.

In the end, I netted 23 points off peril buildings of my 67 point winning total.

I also filled out by first item order this game, I think Danielle and I were the only people at the table to do so. At any rate, they feel....on the stronger end of okay. Having the artificiary (or whatever building produces two resources of your choice), would make them a lot easier to fill out. I think they might suffer from being a comparatively boring game play element, with no unlocks or anything coming with them. People fucking love stickers man.

Objectives actually played a bigger role than normal this game, compared to their near non-existent presence for the last couple. My winning move in a horse race with Megan was to grandstand for the two assistants objective with the Maestro and Longshoreman in hand (a combo you may recognize from the first game), for 6 points and a rep placement in one turn. I'm curious if personal objectives will ever come into play in a real way, nobody has yet actually scored one. I may look into it next game, especially since Amanda has an income building built for it. On that note,Caralee built her income building this game, 2VP for 3 metal and an influence. That feels really strong. It will definitely be one I target early next game.

This game we notably got the other two minions out. Dani unlocked her Butlers and build the Manor. They provide a gold on placement, which her and I had speculated they probably did. The big surprise came when Caralee unlocked Amanda's cats, netting a slew of cat associated buildings and a persona meant for Amanda. The cats grant a VP on placement, which I must say feels really strong. On a side note, Caralee was rocking a persona this game that allowed her to pull back all her workers once they were all put out - which was really nice as it allowed her to more or less avoid those wasted turns of having to pull all your workers back. At any rate, I felt bad for Amanda, but you snooze you lose. Dani has also just informed me that the cat cafe has gone back into the general supply, so who knows who will pull it next game. This was the first real example of someone aggressively unlocking an opponent's boxes, and I think it put the fear of god in everyone. At any rate, I know I reclaimed by Brewery from the market by the end of the game, as all my high level buildings are waiting for me behind it. I am not going to rank minions yet, as I don't have a good feel for their relative power at present with the new ones included. All I will say is that I still think ghosts are generally the worst (sorry Megan).

This game featured an actual reputation battle, with every slot being filled. It ended in a three way tie for first between me, Danielle and Megan, with only Caralee not placing on the track. The sky port was also utilized to a greater degree this game, with 4 slots in it getting filled.

At the end, we discovered we had forgotten to incorporate the Temp rule on this week's guidepost (small worker can't replace big worker). This probably wouldn't have mattered much, as people could have played around it had they known, although I think me, Dani and Caralee all did double worker cycles which would have been impossible had we been playing with this. Dani and I realized afterwards that this rule was meant to reflect the guidepost story, with the big meeple representing our persona and the small one representing our companion. With that in mind, I feel less guilty, as it seems Stonemaier just added the rule for theming. We won't forget next game's temp rule (role the die when you use a building in someone else's charter to see if you both get a VP), although I anticipate being more annoyed by having to remember to do it than anything else. This game already suffers from feature bloat and having to remember yet another non-obvious board interaction just adds unnecessarily to the mental load.

I thought that due to Megan's level of unlocks, she would win this game's guidepost handily. However, it turned out that Caralee had 9 personas to her 8 (by comparison I had 5). She chose to make the Forever King angry. I think basically everyone chose the extra capacity. For me it was an obvious choice, since I knew I was going to win and therefore would not be getting an extra capacity after this game. For my next glory track, I started bubbling in a minion, although it occurred to me after perhaps having an additional persona on the board (if indeed that is how that extra works), might be better for me.

It's worth noting that we have a pretty solid play group, after an uneven first three games, we've now settled into a fairly tight VP grouping for each game. This time the range was 40-67 (which through the power of rounding meant that everyone got 4-6 glory and my 7 extra were a waste).  This should make for a pretty competitive campaign, and I imagine scoring will matter a lot by the end of the campaign. Each win is only worth 6-8 points at the end of it all, but reaching that next star threshold over the opponent is just a flat 10. This is one reason I think that flat glory on our companion cards was actually really good and probably undervalued by the table.

I have won 3 games now (though one was technically a tie), and feel like I'm in decent standing glorywise. What's weighing on me is my lack of personas and buildings. Megan has all three of her 20 point buildings built, and 8 personas, whereas I have none of mine built and only 5. I just haven't been nearly as aggressive in pursuing charterstone unlocks. I did build the portal this game, rounding out my trio of 'neutral' buildings, but nothing in my charter is worth near as many points as some of the buildings in other ones. Even Dani now has a selection of high value buildings built while I am lagging. Next game, my priority will be construction and netting as many personas as I can. My strong win rate and glory standing will be for naught if I don't keep up in the construction race.

Loadout Ideas: The Grenadier (PS2)

Sometimes you get a period marching tune stuck in your head and design a PS2 class based off of it.

You've all heard the song, even if you don't know the name. It's perhaps the most British tune ever outside "God Save The Queen" and "Colonel Bogey's March"

The British Grenadiers

So, how do we make a Grenadier in PS2?

Obviously the role should emphasize explosives, lots of them, with the idea of being kitted out to breach a secured point room by excessive application of explosives.

Heavy Assault seems to be a natural place to start. For someone who is going to be doing close quarter fighting, a SMG or shotgun seems like a natural choice. So my Grenadier is going to rock a Gladius, being the standout SMG the NC has access to.

Sidearm doesn't really matter too much in this case. As for launcher, I want one that can dumb fire and do damage to infantry.

For ability slot, the Nanite Mesh Generator seems far and away the best, since ideally you will only be exposing yourself for short period of times and you critically won't have the benefit of Flak or Nanoweave Armor.

For suit slot, this is where we dispense with the HA's usual stand-bys (NW and FA) and instead take Bandolier so we can carry an extra 3 grenades. I could see an argument for taking C4 in the Utility slot and becoming the ultimate explosive expert, but I'm more interested in explosives I can pitch, and for that reason, I'm going to just leave tried and true med-kits in the slot.

No Implants stand out to me here, so I'm just equipping Battle Hardened and Ocular Shield as two useful implants to have for a CQB situation around point rooms. And...voila.

Is it a super good build? Eh, I'm not sure about that. Does it feel fun to fling a bottomless sack of grenades at fools while you listen to a fife and drum blaring in your ear? I'll let you be the judge XD

Planetside 2: The Ideal Squad Composition

Dave, are you still writing posts about a game that is 5 years old? Yes, yes I am XD

At any rate, I've given quite some thought over the past 4 years to what the ideal squad composition in Planetside is, and I'm finally ready to start articulating it. I always dreamed of having a squad where everyone could specialize into roles and know their place, and with 6 members in the Arkansas Rangers all approaching level 20, I can start doing that.

To be clear, this is a general squad comp, aimed at being able to deal with a wide variety of situations. Primarily though, this is an all infantry squad composition aimed at being able to take or hold a point, and as such this squad comp doesn't call for any maxes or vehicle support.


Fireteam Diamonds - Command Section

1. Squad Lead
    Class: Any
    Equipment: Squad Beacon

For the time being, this will generally be the role I will fill, and as such, it requires a great deal of flexibility in contrast to other roles. Indeed a decent amount of the time I will need to be an infil to hack a terminal and pull a cloaked sundy for the squad, or a light assault so I can put the beacon in a good place. The main skill for a squad lead is being able to read a map, and about 40% of your time will be spent with the map screen open and making sure you're in a winnable fight and everyone is where they need to be.

2. Pathfinder
    Class: Infiltrator
    Equipment: Sniper Rifle/DMR and Sidearm you are comfortable with, Upgraded Cloak, Squad Beacon.

The eyes and ears of the squad. The pathfinder will be typically called upon to pull a Flash or Valk and go ahead to the next prospective base to scope out the opposition. As such, this role requires a level of independence and self-sufficiency. If called upon to scout out an enemy base, in the time between scouting out a base and the squad arriving, the Pathfinder should try to hack turrets, vehicle terminals, and pull a sundy is necessary. The Pathfinder will also be responsible for placing a beacon so the squad can drop in when there are not other spawns available. When the squad arrives/in the event it is a friendly base you are trying to defend, the Pathfinder should find high ground overlooking the point. Once their, their primary role is to call out threats approaching the point and attempt to thin them out with their sniper rifle. Finally, if the point has been held and the squad is starting to push out, the Pathfinder should scout around the base and attempt to find and mark any enemy Sunderers. In sum, the role of the Pathfinder is to be the first in, and to vector the squad towards targets/alert them to threats.


Fireteam Clubs - Assault Section

Both fireteams will have five members are be similar in a lot of ways. However, Spades will include a couple specialists and for that reason, Clubs is the fireteam charged with being the front line. If there is a point hold and a close range knife-fight to be had at a pair of doors, this is the fireteam that will be charged with holding it.

3. Assault
    Class: Heavy Assault
    Equipment: Jackhammer, Crow

To really deal with a given situation, the squad requires at least one shotgun. To that end, the assault will be the tip of the sperk for Fireteam Clubs. If there is a door, the assault is the first one in.

4. Gunner 1
    Class: Heavy Assault
    Equipment: LMG, Hawk

While the Assault will sit in the front of the squad, the Gunner will hold the mid-field and lay down suppressive fire. They're also the one charged with combating air should it appear.

5. Combat Engineer 1
    Class: Engineer
    Equipment: Auto-Turret, Hardlight Barrier

The assault engineer is charged with supplying ammunition to Fireteam Clubs, and setting up their hardlight barrier and auto-turret in an advantageous location to help with the hold. Intelligent hardlight barrier placement is the key to a hold, as it impedes enemy movement and protects the Assault.

6. Combat Medic 1
    Class: Medic
    Equipment: Upgraded Medic Tool, Revive Grenade, Fully Upgraded Grenade Bandolier, Shield R egen, C4

The most important member of the squad in any fight, the combat medic is charged with staying in the back, providing covering fire and keeping the squad healthy and on their feet. Revive grenades are essential to this end, alongside a fully upgraded bandolier so you can carry 4 of them. Combat medics should also place their shield regen devices in advantageous spots, one near the door to support the Assault, the other near the middle of the zone to cover the other squad members. Finally, Combat Medics are charged with carrying C4 for the squad, for countering maxes in a knife fight and taking out enemy vehicles and hardpoints.

7. Combat Medic 2
    Class: Medic
    Equipment: Ditto to Combat Medic 1

Ditto to Combat Medic 1


Fireteam Spades - Support Section

In contrast to Clubs, Spades contains a number of specialists and consequently has less raw firepower at their disposal. In the classic example of an indoor point hold, Spades will be charged with covering "Long Stairs" and "Short Stairs" while Clubs protects the "Double Back" and the point itself.

8. Gunner 2
    Class: Heavy Assault
    Equipment: LMG/SMG, Hawk

Without an Assault in the Squad, Gunner 2 is the focal point of Spades, and will serve as the squads front line. For this reason, they have a bit of flexibility in their loadout and can take an SMG if it fits their playstyle better.

9. Scout
    Class: Infil
    Equipment: SMG, Upgraded Motion Darts, Upgraded Cloak, Flash Bang

To supplement the spotting of the Pathfinder, the Scout will continually fire motion dart trackers around the combat zone (resupplied by Combat Engineer 2). They will generally play on the edges of the combat zone, using their cloak and SMG to surprise and flank opponents. However, they should not wander so far as to be unrevivable. Their flash bang should be used in conjuction with the main push into an enemy held point, or in response to a major enemy push. Their primary purpose, however, is to keep the squad updated on threats and incoming enemy waves through use of motion darts.

10. Archer
      Class: Engineer
      Equipment: Archer, Sidearm you are comfortable with, MANA Turret, Hardlight Barrier

The Archer (Anti-Material Rifle that is very strong versus MAXes) generally has limited usefulness. But when you need one, you need one. To that end, the primary purpose of the Archer is to combat enemy MAX threats, and should be called up whenever an enemy MAX is encountered. On a point hold, their secondary purpose is to set up their Hardlight Barrier and MANA Turret in advantageous positions (preferably the latter with a long avenue of fire), and serve as a base of suppressive fire for Fireteam Spades. Since they will be likely sniped quite a bit on their turret, Combat Medic 3 should keep a close eye on them.

11. Combat Engineer 2
      Class: Engineer
      Equipment: Ditto to Combat Engineer 1

Ditto to Combat Engineer 1

12. Combat Medic 3
      Class: Medic
      Equipment: Ditto to Combat Medic 1

Ditto to Combat Medic 1, but with the added note that as the only medic in Spades, you have quite a bit more pressure on you. Moreover, you should pay special attention to the Scout so that they aren't wandering outside where you can revive them, and to the Archer to keep them off the ground.


In sum, this squad setup has:

3 Heavy Assault
3 Medics
3 Engineers
2 Infiltrators
1 Flex

And in terms of equipment has:

1 Sniper Rifle/DMR
1 Shotgun
1-2 LMGs
1 Anti-Material Rifle
2 Auto-Turrets
1 MANA turret
3 Hardlight Barriers
1 Crow
2 Hawks
2 Beacons
3-12 Revive Grenades
3 C4's

While this squad isn't specialized and is not the best at punching into a room, it can handle a variety of situations well and is very well-rounded. Whether it needs to attack a point, defend a point, face MAXes, chase off air, fight in close quarters, or suppress at 100 meters, it has tools at its disposal to tackle the situation.

Charterstone Chronicle, Game 4

After over a month's hiatus for Daniel being in Japan, we finally resumed our Charterstone game last night. To that end, having this blog was super useful as I was able to remind myself of where I was and my general plans before we started the game. And, in a surprising turn of events, I was able to tie Daniel for the win at 55 points each. This allowed me to finish filling out the glory needed to start next game with an additional peril - which, I'm beginning to suspect may not be very strong because by the time you've finished seeding the map with them, there may not be any of the color you want left, but eh, c'est la vie.

At any rate, junkyard was super useful this game, and indeed, my opening robot placement (enabled by my saved resource and my free resource) netted me two guests - although only one of them granted VP. No worries, I already had one going into this game and was able to net another one soon after. Then I scored a coup and got the friend who helps me with gold generation within my charter, perfect for making the granary not suck. Between these four advancement cards, I netted somewhere in the neighborhood of 19 VP and ~15 Gold, a very respectable haul and the major factor contributing to my tied win. I was able to get the number up that high through using the Chalice of Immortality to get an extra income proc, which benefited me more than my competitors.

All in all, robots seem to be the best minion. The free market indicates so at least, as all six were taken up this game. I will say, having to constantly pass the advancement hand around the table does slow the game down dramatically though. The amount of each minion people bought this game (3 robots, 2 chefs, 1 golem), does seem to roughly correspond with my power ranking for them. I feel bad for Megan with her ghosts, but she's still doing okay. Megan's big achievement this game was not only unlocking all three of her final tier 20 point buildings, but then constructing them as well. Coalumbia has become an industrial hellscape, but it pushed her to win this game's guidepost. I think myself and Daniel had aspirations of beating her on the guidepost for this game, which we quickly discovered was to no avail.

Daniel got out to a big lead early by leveraging his persona that granted VP and automatic worker pick-ups for reds, then cashed those in at his armory. Combined with Booker, this put him in the lead for the entire game, and it was only the slow build up of my Guest VPs combined with 10 points from the Reputation track that allowed me to tie him at the end.

This week on the whole had a much narrower spread, with everyone really hitting their stride and finishing between 40-55 points. All but one slot in Dani's charter have now been constructed, and I think a total of 7 buildings have additionally been built over.

Megan clearly had the most point value in buildings at the conclusion of the game, and she chose to not expand into the sky islands without the increasingly sinister Forever King's permission. I think she passed up an opportunity to score herself about 70 points here, but we'll find out when the game ends. At any rate, we now have sky islands! The least well hidden "surprise" in the box. I think we've actually discovered all the game systems at this point, as there are no empty rule slots left so its likely the only changes coming will be rule changes.

Amanda discovered income associated buildings, but there is only one currently available for players in her charter. At the very end, Danielle discovered items, which seem good but hardly game breaking or paradigm shifting. This was all despite players charterstoning at just about the same rates as before. I'm secretly really glad the feature explosion is finally settling. We still really need the last two minions though, I really want to see what they do.

Caralee it seems has the "Charterstone" building equivalent that she can place in The Lab. Dani's Constructor was very popular this game, and the possibility of combining it with the treasure that allows you to skip a building's cost seems extremely strong. In the south, Megan has turned her charter into a treasure collecting and exploiting juggernaut. Amanda has the Grandstand replacement, but objectives and cloud port are both still being I think a tad underutilized. I also expected I would see people try to go for more private objectives (which we ruled this game you may keep hidden), but to date, it's a feature people aren't making much use of. We'll see how this changes as the building slots and charterstone boxes dry up.

One thing to sort for next game will be whether or not you need to place sky islands over your charter at the outset of the game to build on them, and whether this effects what buildings you get access to. For my part, I really like where my Charter is at currently (completed the Windmill this game in a vain attempt to win the guidepost), and am very content with my current raft of buildings.

For my part, next game I will be trying to utilize my Famine busting persona, as I finished the Pastry Shop on the second to last turn of this game for the possibility of mimicking Daniel's opening from this one. However, my first move from now until the end of this campaign will probably always be placing a robot on the Junkyard. Starting off with two extra advancements, especially two extra guests, is just amazing and promises to allow me to rake in a lot of free stuff in the games to come.

Final side-bar: Dani and I got to finally have our joke a few weeks in the making with this game. We went to a pumpkin patch over fall break, and spend $3 on a half dozen mini-pumpkins to use as the "pumpkins" in this game instead of the little wooden miniatures. Totally worth it, and the highlight of the night :)

Dave's Cert Guide (PS2)

So, recently I've been trying to pull friends into playing Planetside 2, an aging MMOFPS, with varying degrees of success. It's a game I've played off and on for years, but that I keep coming back to as a it scratches my itch to for a casual FPS. This round of playing it has been a lot more fun thanks in large part to Daniel, Hubert, Luke, and Michael. The game is just a lot more enjoyable when you have a squad to coordinate with, and the bigger the better. While I've been a member of a number of outfits over the years, it's really nice to finally be in one with friends, even if we just play on a weekly basis.

At any rate, for as much as I love it, PS2 is at times a deeply flawed game - and nowhere is this more apparent than the new player experience, which many of the recruits for our unit, the Arkansas Rangers, are currently experiencing. Perhaps most unclear is what you should be spending certs on. Certs, and the proficiencies and abilities they unlock, truly are what make the game pop and allow you to be able to be effective on the battlefield. But, without premium, they are an incredibly precious commodity - so efficient investment of them to get the most bang for your buck is a must. With this in mind, here is my quick guide to what you should be investing in right off the bat. These are not hard and fast rules, but should be taken as strong suggestions.

If you realize you haven't invested your certs well, never fear, at BR15 you can get all your cert spending refunded to spend again.


Planetside 101

1. Nanoweave/Flak Armor

You should at the very least invest in level 1 (preferably up to levels 3/4) for one of these in all your classes, depending on whether you are encountering more explosive damage or getting in more gunfights with that class. The reason you keep losing 1v1's at low BR levels is because your opponents have these suit slots fully upgraded and can simply out-tank you. The low levels are cheap to invest in, and will go a long way towards increasing your survivability.

2. Lock-On Launchers (HA Only)

For the NC, grab the Crow for ground units, the Hawk for air units. Or you can save up and grab the Annihilator to be able to lock-on to both at the cost of being able to dumb-fire your weapon. I would recommend just grabbing the two specialized ones and equipping the one you need as necessary. I would generally recommend the Hawk first as you can still fight ground units with it (or with your default Shrike), while the lack of a lock-on launcher leaves you completely helpless when facing air. Having these tools on hand will also go a long way towards increasing your Cert income.

3. Medical Tool (Medic Only)

Having trouble getting kills? Support your team by being a medic! In all seriousness, medics and engineers statistically get the most income of any class and are completely invaluable. Indeed, a squad that rolls in without at least 33% of its composition being medics is headed for trouble. Each level in your medic tool decreases the time to revive, increases the range at which you can revive, and gives the person you revive more starting health. Each revive is essentially 80% of a kill XP-wise, and leveling up your tool means you can do it more often and more safely.

4. Repair Tool (Engi Only)

Much of the same logic applies here. Engies are always in demand, especially with maxes around or on vehicle pushes. Leveling up this tool allows you to repair longer before it overheats. Another solid way to provide utility to your team even if you aren't giving kills, and getting yourself lots of certs in the interim.

5. 1x/2x Red Dot Sights

Having trouble hitting things? Improved optics for most guns are only 5 certs away. Play around in the VR room and see which sights you like the most (or maybe you just prefer the iron sights), but  even the most troublesome starter guns can be improved by better optics.

Honorable mentions here that improve certain gun sub-classes: Forward grip for LMGs and Compensators for carbines


Planetside 201


Beyond the most basic proficiency listed above, what you cert more into is often more a matter of your play-style and what niche you seek to fill in your squad. These are the ones that will benefit you in the widest variety of situations and will lead to the most cert income, but can be deviated from if you have something specific you are upgrading towards.

Before we go any farther though,

6. Weapons

Most weapons are strictly speaking, side-grades, having clear strengths and weaknesses that reward a player for maximizing them and punish a player for using them outside their niche. With this in mind, I generally don't recommend buying weapons early, as they are prohibitively expensive and the default weapons you can access are solid in most situations with enough experience using them. To my mind though, there are a couple exceptions to this.

6A. The MGR-S1 Gladius

This is a ridiculous SMG that only the NC has access to, and makes you extremely potent at close-mid range engagements while still retaining some efficacy at range. Slap soft point ammunition and a advanced laser sight on this thing, and you can win most 1v1 engagements at 35 meters or less. What's even better? All classes have access to SMGs. Buying this gun is a solid way to improve combat efficacy on all of your classes.

6B. The MGR-L1 Promise

My big complaint with NC Heavy Assaults is that the Gauss Saw, while a truly godly weapon, is very hard for new players to use. Thankfully, the NC has access to one of the best LMGs in the game in the form of the Promise. It combines high rate of fire and unrivaled accuracy at long ranges while still maintaining good damage. If you play a lot of HA, invest in this gun.

7. Tank Mines (Engy Only)

2-3 tank mines kills most things, and you would be amazed how often you score multi-kills with these them. Just remember to switch to Engi every 20 minutes or so, mine a road that will probably be frequented by opponents, and watch the certs roll in.

8. Revive Grenades (Medic Only)

Want to revive 20 people at once? Invest in Revive Grenades! These are truly the item that take Medic cert generation above and beyond, and the tool that make medics so crucial to holding crowded indoor point rooms where a defensive position can be wiped in a second by a well placed brick of C4. Cert into Bandolier to carry up to 4 of them into combat, and you can turn your medic into a cert generating machine who can singlehandedly save a point hold.

9. C4 (Light Assault and Medic)

I hesitate to recommend this, because proper delivery of C4 is difficult and often ends in your death. However, C4 is the best infantry tool available to deal with vehicles and MAXes in close quarters. A skilled light assault with C4 is truly a force to be reckoned with, so if you want to carve out a niche for yourself there are the ultimate terror of the rooftops and MAXes, grab C4 for your Light Assault (and maybe medic too) - just be aware you that while the certs will be rolling in when you pull it off, you will be dying often in trying to pull it off.

10. Nanite Auto-Repair Systems/Vehicle Ammo Dispenser (Sunderer Utility Upgrades)

I don't recommend vehicle upgrades and air upgrades to new players - there are simply more important things to be investing in, and unless you are coordinating with a squad, you will frequently fall victim to significantly more experienced pilots and drivers in more upgraded vehicles. The cost of making a vehicle combat efficient is very high, and you're better off saving this to later in your career as a player. However, there is a notable exception to this in the form of Sunderers.

You have to learn how to drive, properly place, and deploy Sunderers, full stop. Offensives live and die by Sunderer placement and availability. You'll also find that a properly deployed Sunderer is a cert machine, cranking you out at least 5 XP per spawn off of it. In a large battle, that adds up fast.

Upgrading your Sunderer to dispense ammo to friendly vehicles, or alternatively repair them, is a great way to increase your passive cert income and support your team while already driving a cert grinding monster. For example, a common tactic is to park 1-2 repair sundys around a deployed sundy to keep it alive, and if its being shot consistently, this will make you boo-koo cash while you fight on foot. Think of these upgrades as the bonds or index funds of cert generation while you go out on foot to earn your daily salary killing spandex weirdos.

At any rate, those are my top suggestions for how to invest your Certs as a new player. Feel free to post questions - especially if you want a class specific suggestion.

Armada - 9/17 Battle Report

So, Hubert and I are both apparently over the squadron fatigue we had over the summer, because last night there were a grand total of 16 squadrons on the table. I quickly remembered why we moved away from it, having to remember escort, intel, Gallant Haven, and BCC bubbles on my part. Hubert had the additional concerns of Torryn Farr and Adar Tallon. At any rate, before anything else, let's get to Hubert's fleet:

MC Carrier (398/400)

MC80 Command Cruiser (106)

 - Boosted Comms (4)

 - Electronic Countermeasures (7)

 - Fighter Coordination Team (3)

Nebulon-B  Escort Frigate (57)

 - General Dodonna (20)

 - Flight Commander (3)

 - Yavarris (5)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)

 - Adar Tallon (10)

 - Boosted Comms (4)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)

 - Torryn Farr (7)

 - Comms Net (2)

Squadrons: 

Corran Horn (22)

Ten Numb (19)

Wedge Antilles (19)

Dutch Vander (16)

VCX-100 Freighter x 2 (30)

Dagger Squadron (15)

X-Wing x 1 (13)

Contested Outpost

Precision Strike

Superior Positions

It's still weird to me to see Hubert not playing the Empire, but frankly with where Imperial squadrons are at right now, I can't say I blame him. He also really enjoys flying the MC80. I was super-pumped to see one as a legitimate battle carrier. My concerns about this list I shared with him were twofold: 

1. Not enough bombing power/No intel/Not sure what the VCX's really do

2. MC80 needs at least Leading Shots. 

So, at 4 activations and 8 deployments, going second was more appealing than normal, so Hubert elected that I go first. I selected his Precision Strike, which turned out to be a weak red choice as he was only able to use two of the concentrate fire tokens and neither of us made use of the effect for bombers. I find that every time we use precision strike, while it is tempting to flip cards, the damage is almost always better. 

Anyway, I think Hubert out-deployed me pretty hard with me going first and the equal number of deployments. 

I really wanted to get Admonition where it could dunk Yavarris, and Gallant Haven opposite his MC80. The reverse of this ended up playing out. At any rate, we slowly advanced with the majority of my strike craft under the Gallant Haven umbrella - a couple detailed to the right flank to proc Sato's ability on the MC80. Going first against his fighter ball was a nice perk, as he could have launched a pretty devastating first strike. 

There was some skirmishing on the bottom of turn 2 as he launched some probing bombing runs on the Gallant Haven, but the real action kicked off on turn 3 when I  activated the Gallant Haven first and tried to wail on Yavarris. Hubert had positioned his escorting X-wings well where I could not engage the Yavarris and remain in Gallant Haven/BCC range. I probably should have just engaged his fighters and counted on Ruthless Strategists to carry the day, but I over committed 3 Y-Wings to assault Yavarris and ended up doing negligible damage.  

The bow flak from Gallant Haven, combined with RS did a number on some of his squads though. With my Y-Wings out of position and not much escort (or non-heavy squads) on my side, Hubert began bombing the Gallant Haven to great effect, detailing Dutch and the 2 VCX's to defend the MC80. I managed to prevent a double B-wing double-tap from Yavaris, but GH's days were clearly numbered. One thing I need to be better about if I fly this fleet again is not running over my own squadrons and putting my crucial escort YT-1300 out of position. 

In the midst of all this, an ineffectual volley and move from the MC80 left Admonition in its side arc, double-arcing it with Sato's effect ready to proc. I took a deep breath, and rolled off the side with a concentrate fire command and a CF token ready to go. Here's what I got. 

6 dice and 4 rerolls later, I rolled into.....3 hits. No APT crit....

Well, at least I have the front arc right?

I wish I could say this was before the OE reroll. 

I rolled three hits on the first go, and rerolled all 3 to try for the APT crit. So, 9 dice, 16 individual rolls, for 4 damage...

Daniel was nearly on the floor laughing at the absurdity of these rolls. In fairness, it was pretty funny, and I prefer things like this happening here than at a store tournament. I also have benefited at times from absurdly good dice rolls (like in my last game versus Hubert) - but jeesh, this was rough. 

Anyway, I didn't unload the two APT crits I was aiming for on the MC80 on t3, and things were looking bad for me. I moved Yavarris in position to pursue, and started off t4 by double-arcing the MC80 again with Admonition, double-tapping two y-wings, and firing a volley off the front of Yavarris. 

I promise this is the last picture of a dice roll gone awry, but it was just one of those games XD

At any rate, I underolled damage across the board again, but managed to produce just enough to kill the MC80 before it could activate. However, Yavarris and Admonition  were now effectively out of the fight, and while I was busy killing the MC80, Hubert finished off Gallant Haven and Jan Ors. 

Without their support or a carrier to activate them, my Y-wings started going down fast, with Wedge tearing through them like a hot knife through butter. I ended up losing all my squadrons this game, taking Dagger, Corran, Ten-Numb, and the X-wing with me. Not bad considering the total lack of anti-fighter presence in my build, but I dream of what I could have done had I managed to keep GH alive longer and not been dumb about Y-wing squadron placement. I also probably should have activated GH second on t4, instead of going for the kill on the MC80. I was too worried the MC80 would land a lucky hit and kill Yavarris. But, boxed in by Admonition, it wasn't going anywhere. I probably could have gotten one last really good activation off GH before it died had I been playing better, but I was making mistakes all over the board trying to remember all the squadron effects. 

Anyway, Hubert mopped up GH and my squadrons, but still needed one more kill to surpass me in points. My BCC transport was running away at full speed, 1 health left. 

He would need 3 hits off his two VCX's in a row to kill it, but with Torryn Farr and Adar Tallon, it wasn't impossible. In a nail-biting finish, he produced the 3 hits necessary to kill it with a final Torryn Farr reroll. 

Good game Hubert! Excellently flown. 

I was really impressed with the squadron build - it managed to bomb decently well on top of shredding my fighters. The VCX's actually ended up being really helpful. The lack of intel was a little rough on Hubert, and we talked about altering the build to get Jan Ors in. This was Hubert's first time with Yavarris and needless to say he now understands the power. 

Best move on Hubert's part was never forgetting to use Adar Tallon and putting Torryn Farr in the perfect position. I swear, for every time I use Torryn Farr well, there are 2-3 times I place her on the wrong side of the battlefield and get no use out of her. Hubert was constantly using her ability last night though, and it really amped up the power of his squads. 

For my part, I'm pretty happy with how my fleet flew, if I'm not entirely happy with how I flew it. I think I need one escort/dedicated anti-squadron squad to help keep GH alive in the face of enemy fighters. I also need to be better about keeping my Y-wings close to their carrier and not running over my strike craft, so this game was a learning experience to that end. I might slim down the number of Y-wings in future incarnations of this build, but I will say, getting to cover such a broad front and threaten multiple targets simultaneously with cheap disposable squadrons felt strong. 

It's worth noting the flak played a big role this game, with both of us getting really good flaks on the opponent to whittle down squadrons. 

At any rate, I continue to love Y-wings, and I was pleasantly surprised at how effective GH was. Ruthless Strategists also feels really strong, allowing a sacrificial bomber wing to punch above its weight when facing opposing fighters. Yavarris and Admonition were both amazing, but I already knew that. I really want to continue tinkering with some combination of Sato/Y-Wings/GH. To that end I've been considering overlooked ships that potentially syngerize well with him. Then it hit me, the Assault Pelta! It can't take OE, but is better suited for long-range APT throwing than and MC30, and it cheaper. I could also potentially throw Projection Experts on it to help make GH tankier. 

Depending on how I'm feeling next time I play Armada, this may be the route I go. It sounds like it's worth investigating at least. Maybe I even buy a second Pelta for me, Hubert, and Daniel's collection XD

Armada Time

Hubert and I are playing Armada tomorrow evening! It's been a few weeks, so I'm rather excited. I'm also on a winning streak in Armada that I don't think will continue XD

So, Hubert sent me a fleet he's playing with last week, I purposely did not refresh on what is in it before drafting up a fleet tonight. I just remember it was using an MC80 as a carrier, and had at least Wedge, Dutch, Dagger and Corran. It's a really fascinating build informed by the European finals, and when I saw it, I knew I wanted to either play it or play against it. Hubert specifically requested a "kill ship" fleet or a squadron heavy fleet - so I aimed for both!

Name: Experimental Sato Fleet
Faction: Rebel
Commander: Commander Sato

Assault Frigate Mk2 B (72)
 - Skilled First Officer (1)
 - Ruthless Strategists (4)
 - Electronic Countermeasures (7)
 - Gallant Haven (8)

MC30c Scout Frigate (69)
 - Lando Calrissian (4)
 - Ordnance Experts (4)
 - Assault Proton Torpedoes (5)
 - Admonition (8)

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)
 - Commander Sato (32)
 - Flight Commander (3)
 - Yavaris (5)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
 - Bomber Command Center (8)

 - 5 x Y-wing Squadron (50)
 - Gold Squadron (12)
 - Jan Ors (19)
 - YT-1300 (13)

Assault: Most Wanted

Defense: Fleet Ambush

Navigation: Superior Positions

Total Points: 399

Now is where I go look at the list he sent me and find out I am screwed on the bid...

At any rate, this fleet combines a few ideas I want to test out. I continue to be intrigued by the idea of a "sacrificial" bomber wing - so tomorrow I will be breaking out my favorite Rebel squadron again alongside the ubiquitous Jan Ors and a YT-1300. I do know Hubert has some really meaty anti-squadron aces, so this will be a good opportunity to see how it works when the opposition is fierce. I took a cue from 2016 worlds, and am taking an assault frigate in my fleet for the first time ever purely so I can grab Gallant Haven. Combined with Ruthless Strategists (which I think is really good combined with the Y-wing's 6 health), I hope this will be enough to get some licks in. 

Oh, and it's a Sato fleet! I always struggle building for Sato. And indeed, various versions had Han and Tycho. I'm going to take a chance on just having bombers though. We got Yavarris, because what's a rebel fleet without it? And, completing our tour of top tier rebel stuff, I have what has become a standard Admonition build. The idea here is to throw bombers with him, chew threw his squadrons with Ruthless Strategists, and while my strike craft are dying, hopefully produce enough extra damage (and APT crits) with Sato to carry the day. This list is really slimmed down from my wishlist (Dreylin on the AF for extra tanking power), but indeed, it actually probably needs to be slimmed down further. On the plus side, most of my stuff won't die in one hit, so going second wouldn't be the worst. Since Hubert has a lot of squads too though, he would probably take my Superior Positions. But, it's what I would take in the wild with a build like this, and even if he takes it I think (trademark), I can utilize it better.

At any rate, we'll see how it goes!

Decathlon Results

Wrapped up the Decathlon last night with the tensest and best game of Jenga I have ever seen. Kudos to Dani for suggesting Jenga as the final event - it went over really well and I'm honestly tempted to use it again. At any rate, I did a bad job recording participants and winners last year, so this year I'm making a point to do it immediately.

2nd Annual D&D Decathlon Results

The Participants

Dave Harris - 6 Points*
Danielle Rosson - 5 Points*
Megan Prettyman - 1 Point
Daniel Halford - 8 Points
Kader Riddick - 4 Points
Amanda Ayers - 6 Points
Abigail Lee -
Brittany Castille-Webb - 3 Points
Luke Castille-Webb - 3 Points
Jeremiah Glusica - 5 Points
Bri McDougall -
Wells Thompson - 3 Points
Brianna LeBeouf - 4 Points
Kyle Dineen - 5 Points
Caralee Shephard - 4 Points

*Opted not to compete in the final

The Events

Seven Wonders

1. Brittany

2. Kader

3. Danielle

Amanda

Luke

Megan

Daniel

Jeremiah

Dave

Abigail

Wells

Scythe

1. Wells 

2. Brianna

3. Jeremiah

Kader

Megan

Jeremiah

Danielle*

Amanda*

*Filling In

Machi Koro

1. Caralee

2. Dave

3. Jeremiah

Bri

Amanda

Wells

Megan

Kader

Danielle

Shogun

1. Dave

2. Kader

3. Danielle

Megan

Daniel

Alhambra

1. Kyle

2. Brianna

3. Danielle

Wells

Abigail

Amanda

Small World

1. Amanda

2. Daniel

3. Jeremiah

Bri

Brianna

Caralee

Wells

Megan

Dave

Danielle*

*Filling In

Evolution

1. Amanda

2. Kyle

3. Dave

Danielle

Caralee

Abigail

Eclipse

1. Daniel

2. Jeremiah

3. Megan

4. Kader

5. Kyle

Settlers of Catan

1. Daniel

2. Danielle

3. Caralee

4. Abigail

5. Kader

6. Dave

7. Megan

8. Danielle

Jenga

1. Kyle

2. Jeremiah

3. Amanda

4. Daniel

The Winners

The Golden Sailboat - Kyle

The Silver Dice Tower - Jeremiah

The Bronze Knight - Amanda

The Jeremiah Award - Dave (Small World and Settlers of Catan)

The Caralee Award - Jeremiah (Eclipse)

The Farmville Award - Amanda (Evolution)

The Hero Bomber Award - Kyle (Eclipse)

The Austin Award - Brittany (Seven Wonders)

The Beth/Taylor Friendship Commemorative Medal - Daniel/Megan (Eclipse/Shogun)

Congratulations to everyone who took an award home last night and thank you to everyone for participating. Last up, some pictures from the competition!

Amanda in the final

The Awards

Catan (sorry not sorry Megan :P)

Jeremiah in the final

Jeremiah after pulling out a particularly tough Jenga block

Shogun

Eclipse

See everyone next year :D

Charterstone Chronicle, Game 3

So, after a rather disastrous game 2, game 3 went pretty well for me. Dani and I both continue to be hamstrung by the comparative worthlessness of the grain and lumber markets, but we both made strides this game in critical areas. However, until we have other personas equivalent in value for us as the "1 VP for using a building with your resource as a cost" has been for everyone else, we're both in trouble.

So first off, as a result of my missed coinflip last game, I knew exactly where my minions were. I turned out to get the Chefs, perhaps the second best minion in the game at present with their ability to pull back influence (especially good for me since I am so dependent on my granary). Critically, this ability isn't found elsewhere in the game outside of Richie, who I finally relinquished this game.

This game revealed perils, which I am curious to see how they play. As far as I can tell, there are no negative effects associated with them, and they merely offer incentive to spread out and use a variety of buildings to get the requisite perils for those 4 VP conversion buildings. That feels like a pretty good rate, so I started leveling up my "start with a free peril" glory track on my box at the end of this game.

The big reveal though was charter buildings that offer more efficient/rewarding exchange rates than the ones in the commons. Amanda revealed the fairground, which seems solid but ended up being a trap for her this game with the "Fewest Objectives" guidepost. The real coup was Dani unlocking the Constructor, suddenly giving everyone access to a very favorable 2 influence + 3 coins rate to build, at the cost of one VP. That's frankly kinda amazing. She's going to want to get a minion on that building as soon as possible next game to capitalize on other people surely using it.

For my part, having access to that building allowed me to easily cram out two high value buildings this game: the restaurant and the junkyard, which I purchased from the market. I have high expectations for these two buildings, as I predict people will really want chefs next game, and the junkyard is just super useful as the only way outside a couple treasures to control the all important advancement deck.

I was coasting into the end of the game with 30 VP, about ~10 behind the leaders, but not too bad considering how poorly I set myself up for this game. Then a number of great things happened. First, because I tied for the objective (everyone did but Amanda), I got a free glory. Dani won the guidepost in a tie break with Megan, and elected to be absurdly generous considering her only 10 points of constructed buildings, and allowed everyone to count them in their final scores. My building push this game had taken me from 7 to 21 points, up there with the leaders (and only a few below Megan), so while this ended up being basically an extra 2 glory for everyone, it was timely for me. This shuffling of the scores gave Caralee the last push she needed to squeak out a win by 1 point over Megan, getting to bubble in a trophy for the second week in a row. Much to her own chagrin as it were, as now she is two capacity behind everyone else.

I had drafted a robot during the game, and was able to keep one and a chef at the end of the game, along with a charterstone unlock, a guest, a wheat, and a coin. Not bad all things considered. The next objective is the highest point value of constructed buildings. Considering I have a unique 8 point building, I just might be able to make a push for it next game. In contrast to only being able to bubble in 2 stars last game, this time I was able to fill out 6 to finish up my "free resource" glory track and start the aforementioned peril track.

So, plan for next game. First off, I need to be better about managing my influence and cramming out easy cloud port uses at the end of the game. I was not able to this time and I regret it. I will be grabbing a second chef as early as possible and trying to leverage my restaurateur persona to actually generate a respectable number of VPs. My first move is also super obvious. I place my robot on the junkyard to grab one free advancement card, then discard, draw, and grab another one. I'm thinking an additional 2 guests (if they are up) right off the bat so I can grab a grand total of 18 VPs over the course of the game.  We'll see what's available anyway.

I'm pretty happy with my chefs. They don't compare to robots, but they're niche and offer a critical ability. At present, I would rank the four minions thusly:

1. Robots
2. Chefs
3. Golems
4. Ghosts

Yeah, Megan got a little screwed by ghosts - they just aren't that great. We still have yet to see a game where people fill out the reputation track. The problem remains that there just are better influence to VP conversion rates and you don't generally lack for opportunities to place them on the track. The wood and grain markets would be so much better if Dani and I had exclusive access to them, but at present, anyone can compete. And on top of all this, friendly ties disincentivize too much competition over it. At any rate, we'll see how the ability to pull back influence changes how people interact with the reputation track.

The Decathlon - Looking Ahead

Last night we wrapped up the last regular competition event for the 2nd Annual D&D Board Game Decathlon. All that's left now is for the finalists to come play their event next week and to give out awards. I'm pretty happy with how things went this year on the whole - no event had a lack of sign-ups, and there was no major drama. Last year it was immediately obvious that a couple events didn't really fit compared to some of the others (Munchkin, and Game of Thrones/Dick). This year, all the events fit the competition a lot better. My only complaint would be with the nomination process, but Megan had an excellent suggestion for how to handle it next year, so I'm more optimistic moving forward.

The competition is looking very healthy on the whole, the board has 7 unique winners, so nobody was really dominating the competition. Moreover, of 14 competitors, 11 scored points with two of the scoreless only competing in 2 games or less and thus having a significantly smaller chance of scoring points in the first place. Perhaps best of all, 4 out of 9 events (5 arguably), were won by people who were playing that game for the first time that night. Of our top four, two of them got all their points off of games they were playing for the first time that night. Dani and I try to design the competition so that someone completely unfamiliar with all the games can roll in, learn them, and triumph, and this was certainly borne out this year. 

This goes back to what I regard as the primary purpose of the decathlon, to introduce people we know to games they might not ever play otherwise, and continue to build and expand our fun community of gamers and friends. Dani for the record, views the event more as a competition first, so she keeps me grounded from getting too touchy-feely with how the competition is run. However, she is onboard with my idea to offer free point next year to anyone who brings a new person not on my invite list for at least one event. I think the competition is in a good place to expand it, but we'll address that next summer. 

So, every year we aim to replace at least two events and one award, what games are on the chopping block at the end of this year? Let's start with: 

The Mainstays

Scythe

Machi Koro

Small World

Settlers of Catan

These games will never leave the competition. Scythe to me is the perfect mid-high level strategy game that's easy to pick up. Since players can score off of 6 events at max (and that will generally be the most I let someone sign up for), we always aim to have 6 events in the competition that can be picked up and learned in 10-20 minutes. However, for the other three, I like to make them all "high-level" strategy games that reward the really experienced board gamers, and with their inclusion, reduce sign-ups among this group for some of the less complex games and make it more likely a new player can win them. Scythe perfectly straddles the line, where a new person can join in and still reasonably be able to figure out what they're doing, while at the same time appealing to this more experienced crowd. 

Machi Koro was one of the first games Danielle and I bought together, and has always been extremely popular with our friends. It's beginner friendly and can be run as a bracketed game without it taking too long, giving us a lot of flexibility with how many people sign up for it. 

Small World is one of the few "simpler" games that is a true war game - and keeping at least a couple non-Euro style games is important because these games fuel the award nominations in a way worker placement games do not. Besides that, this game is consistently popular, and serves as the venue for players to get to see the previous winners of the Decathlon (represented as in-game races), and get an idea of the stakes for landing that Golden Sailboat. 

Finally, Settlers of Catan is a game that everyone is likely to know how to play before coming into this competition, and for that reason always has a high number of sign ups. It's also pretty adjustable as a game I can bracket, and can take up to 12 players. It typically gets the most sign-ups of any event, and for that reason, I like to put it as the final event of the competition as a last minute free-for-all opportunity for even the most behind player to run up the score and make into the top 4. 

So, now for the games on the chopping block. 

The Variables

Seven Wonders

Shogun

Alhambra

Evolution

Eclipse

So, three of these games (Seven Wonders, Alhambra, and Eclipse), were first time additions this year. Evolution was a break-out success that has proved extremely popular with people. I also really love it because among a host of games that encourage empire/city/civilization building, this one has radically different theming. It also is easy to bracket if need be, as games will typically run for an hour or so, even with 6 players. For this reason, there is an excellent chance this game will be promoted to mainstay status and is safe for this year. 

Seven Wonders is similarly unlikely to leave the competition anytime soon, and indeed I really like it as the first event. It can take a high number of players (up to 14 when bracketed), plays fast, and can be understood with relative ease. It also features only indirect player conflict, which is good for a first event when people are still trying to figure out what's going on. More likely to leave (because the theming for the game very much overlaps with Machi Koro, Small World, and Settlers of Catan. But safe for now!  

Okay, now the actual three we're thinking about cutting. 

Alhambra

So, Alhambra is a fantastic game, easy to learn (this year it was won by a first time), easy to bracket, indeed it has many of the qualities that make me favor Seven Wonders and Machi Koro. 

However, like many of our more Euro-style games, it doesn't produce many opportunities for people to do notable things that win awards. And, moreover, it's a empire/civilization/city-building game in a competition already glutted by them. So, not a bad game, and I'm not unhappy with how it went this year, but it's on the short list to be cut because its too similar to other games we have in the competition that people simply like more. 

It is one of the the six "simpler" games though, so it will need to be replaced by something similarly straightforward. 

Eclipse

I love this game, truly. It is maybe not the best Decathlon event game though. Even for high-level strategy games, it has a true glut of mechanics and interactions to learn. It's also long, can't be bracketed and can foster a lot of animosity between players. This is not necessarily the worst thing, and the game routinely produces a lot of award nominations with it's big memorable moments and inter-player conflict. 

The thing is, if I do replace it, I want it to be with another high-level strategy game. So, depending on if I am able to find any of those in the next year, the game may remain in the competition. 

Shogun

We're considering dropping this game for all the same reasons as Eclipse, although Shogun is a less engregious offender in almost all regards. It's complex, but simpler than Eclipse, it's long, but not as long as Eclipse. You can only take 5 players in it, but I really don't mind having 1-2 five player only games in the competition. Likewise, it would need to be replaced with a decently high level strategy game, which may prove difficult. For these reasons, this one is on the short-list to be replaced, but likely the only ones we replace will be Alhambra and Eclipse. 

So, what are we considering bringing in. 

The Candidates

We really want to bring at least cooperative game into the competition. These presented a challenge to us to figure out how to score, but we've settled on having people sign up as teams and having the teams compete against each other by a common scoring rubric. Our three options are as follows: 

Sentinels of the Multiverse

Pandemic

X-Com

X-com is perhaps my favorite of the three, but the downside of it is that you really need a referee there to make sure people are abiding by the time, and it's not as beginner friendly. The time pressure is likely to cause tempers to flare too. Pandemic is perhaps the simplest choice, and is relatively easier to balance and score, but unlike the others, Pandemic is susceptible to one person alpha-gaming the table, and we truly want this event to be a team effort. 

For these reasons, we're likely going to make Sentinels of the Multiverse the cooperative game next year. It's difficult to alpha-game, easy to learn, and offers a lot of fun possibilities for players to tailor their teams and develop fun synergies. It will be difficult to score, and I'm putting a lot of thought into figuring out how to balance the villian deck and what villain to choose, but I think of the three it would be the one players enjoy the most. It's also been very popular with our friends, so there's that. 

As far as other new games from our collection, I like the idea of replacing one of our strategy games with a miniatures strategy game. Star Wars Armada is way too difficult to pick up quickly, but Heroscape would be quite doable, and is even approachable by a complete newbie. The only issue is the potential length of games and the problem of finding the right competition format for it. 

At any rate, finding a new high-tier strategy game may prove difficult, but I am already really looking forward to hosting Sentinels next year. It's been a great competition this year, and look forward to continuing to host this little shin dig next summer. 

Fleet Admirals: Playtest 1 Results

Okay, so we played our first game with the Fleet Admirals expansion last night, a four player game with Daniel, Jeremiah, and Kader. On the whole, I'm happy with how it went. Admirals were a presence but not a game-defining one. I was concerned they would turn into a "win harder" button, but thankfully that was not the case. A total of five were bought, which was a couple fewer than I would have liked, but one player had a really rough game and was not really in position to really utilize them.

So, let's review the admirals that were used and my early thoughts (combined with commentary from the other players) on how they are balanced.

Broadside Admiral (Ackbar) - Solid, no changes needed.

Generic Admiral - Solid, no changes needed.

Bureaucratic Admiral - Possibly a little too strong for its price, but I want more data before making a firm decision. Jeremiah used the admiral to great effect to get a couple actions in one turn, as a tool for dealing with his lack of money as Orion. Indeed, presently at its four resource cost, and considering when you use it each influence disk is likely to cost you 2-3 gold, it effectively works out to be a 4 science/materials -> 5 gold conversion.

That's....really strong. Like, the best trade rate in the game is only 2 -> 1. Having something like this in the game is not innately too strong, but the problem is that most admirals are niche, and Bureaucratic Admiral works for basically anyone anywhere. That's not as interesting from a gameplay perspective. Now, something like this in the admiral market is not without precedent. Improved Hull, for example, is nearly always the right choice when its in the tech market. Having an almost equivalent admiral, good in almost every situation, to further incentivize passing early to go first on the next round might not be a bad thing.

At present though, they probably need a slight price increase and the necessary resources need to be changed. I'm leaning towards 2 gold, 3 resources. This way, it still works as a way to efficiently convert other resources into gold, but at a reduced rate.

I want at least a couple more games before deciding on that though.

Shipyard Admiral - Probably needs a slight buff. The issue is that they're a really hard admiral to maximize the effect of, since it simply isn't gold efficient to use their ability every turn, as you only want to build when you can maximize the benefit. The limit of only on their tile almost makes it harder to pay off this investment. I utilized their ability three times, so in effect I got a single 1 money -> 1 materials conversion out of them. Meh.

Someone could still break them though, so leaving as is for now, but I'm leaning towards reducing the price by 1 materials to make for a shorter payback window.

Tank Admiral - Oye, this one nearly caused a fight at the table. There was an interaction I had not considered in making this admiral which quickly became apparent. What happens when you fight ancients? Or other things with a targeting rubric?

The case from last night. Jeremiah was fighting an Ancient Cruiser. If the Admiral was not present, the Ancient could have killed either one of Jeremiah's cruisers. Tank Admiral was loaded on one, making it impossible to one hit kill. We eventually ruled that it attacked the one it could one hit kill, but this does work to make tank admiral pretty meh against ancients, unless you're rolling in with just a battleship. Instead of trying to clarify this interaction, we came to the agreement it would be better to just give the admiral a different ability altogether. Ironically enough, the ability Jeremiah and I decided upon ended up being exactly what Danielle suggested when I got home, great minds think alike!

Other Notes

I'm going to change Fearless Admiral's ability, no because he's unbalanced, but because I don't want to have an admiral who can only be used with the expansions to Eclipse.

Marking ships with the Admirals continues to throw players, who think they can kill the admiral. Moreover, while this did not come up last night, what happens if you mark a ship, and another player kills it before you can proc the ability (like with broadside admiral)? In my mind, the marking doesn't happen until right before the ship you want to equip it goes, and in the event its killed, you move the ability to another ship in the event it's a multi-use ability - but this needs to be clarified. I want players to perceive the admiral as a ghostly presence in the sector, rather than being loaded on a specific ship, but abilities that call on you to mark a ship confuse this for players. This will be something to keep this in mind, and definitely a clarification I want to emphasize before I farm this expansion out to another group to play test.

Finally, I also need to clarify that you can only buy an admiral before doing a normal action in my rules for the expansion.

All things considered though, I'm happy with how they played last night, and am looking forward to seeing the other admirals trotted out.