The Joy of Wargaming

So, I am sure you all want to hear about my reflections on the nerdish pastime of wargaming - for me, the principle games are Warhammer 40k and Infinity (though I've dabbled in Warhammer Fantasy as well). I just started wondering why it is that I like it - and I really don't know.

I don't really care about winning, though I do try to win when I fight; winning is not a high priority - having a good time is. If I win, that is fine, but only if, in the process, the person I am playing also had a good time. I like the strategic thinking elements, I like the numbers game of constructing an army - but these are secondary pleasures for me. I guess it is the social context in which the game occurs that I enjoy the most - it is why I tend to play with only a select group of people.

After my attempts at a couple of games in conventions, finding min/maxing running rampant and attempts at cheating an obfuscation being more the norm than civility, I prefer to stick with people I know - from our group or from the group that I know at the local game store.

Not that min/maxing is really wrong - of course there has to be an element of mathematical efficiency in terms of army selection, but the tourny version consists of mathematical and army min/maxing. Using lists from armies that everyone knows are unbalanced with the rest of the game - but everyone at the tournament is using those armies, so it doesn't matter to them - it only matters if you are not playing one of the uber-optimized armies, like Tyranids or Imperial Guard...

But enough complaining - on to my critique of 5th Edition of 40k. On the whole, the rules are actually an improvement - they allow for an increase in tactical thought, while preserving the rapid play elements. For the most part the rules are very balanced, but then they had to release the Space Marine codex - of course, marines are even tougher now. With their new ability of being able to break 10 man squads into two five man squads (vital in the new troop based objectives of the game) and the ability to choose to pass or fail any morale test they want, in addition to the "And They Shall Know No Fear" special rule makes them a formidable foe for any assault based army. Terminators assaulted by Genestealers, no problem - voluntarily fall back (risking the wipeout from sweeping advance - some small balance at least) - then unload on them with stormbolters shredding them to bits. That coupled with the alteration of the "Rending Claw" rule that leads to a drop of an average of 22% in my lethal efficiency, and you can see why I am a tad upset over the turn of events.

But on the whole, the game is pretty balanced if you do not play space marines. Apocalypse is another story - Eldar and Space Marines rule the day in this game, but the 'Nids have a few tricks up their sleeves (if they ever wore sleeves). Since everyone has access to ridiculousness, it can be fun, but you run into the problem of since there are no restrictions, the person who spent the most money getting the cool Forge World models will likely win. But if you do not play douche-bags, it is still fun, and honestly, many people have had those Forge World models a long time and dumped a good deal of cash on them - why shouldn't they get the joy of playing them in a battle every now and then? As long as they are doing it for the fun and not trying to just overpower everyone because they spent the most money, thats cool.

But on to my latest joy - Infinity. This game is very, very cool, allowing for a great deal of flexibility in assembling armies while still maintaining balance. It is a skirmish based game (not unlike Necromunda or Mordheim) but it is so much better than any other it is ridiculous. The story is that we are several hundred years in the future, the makeup of the power structure on earth has changed dramatically, as well as wormhole travel opening up various planets for exploration. The fluff behind the game is really cool, but it really shines because of its mechanics.

You have an "order pool" based on the number of model, and you may spend those orders on any of your models in a turn (for example if you have 8 orders, you could spend all 8 on 1 model, 1 each on 8 models, or anything in between). This allows for immense tactical flexibility, but there is a price. Unlike most games, both players act on each turn. Any action by the offensive player generates a "reaction order" in any model from the opposing side that can see it. Use of smoke, crawling and keeping models in cover is very much the order of the day, and if you take a shot at someone who can see you, they may jump behind cover as a reaction, or they may shoot back - and if they are a better shot than you, you could lose your model on your own turn. Add to this the high tech doctors, engineers, and hackers on the board, and you have a very diverse game - with one side shooting while moving hackers up to try and take control of enemy mechs, while the other side responds with anti-hacking protocols and return fire - you get the idea - it is a very dynamic game.

Plus the number of special abilities that add depth to the game but do not overpower, and the special weapons that offer the same advantages - they introduced a value called "SWC" in addition to points cost for models. SWC is the special weapons cost, and you can have as many SWC as points in your army divided by 50. Since most games are 300 points, this means you can have 6 SWC - making you choose what you want your army to specialize in. Because of this you absolutely cannot have everything - for example, a heavy infantry with a missile launcher costs 70 points and 2 SWC, while a trooper costs 10 points and 0 SWC, and there are a ton of other options - you could field an army of all remotes and robots, or a infiltration based force, or an airborne deployment force, or even an undisciplined force of irregulars (they do not contribute to your order pool - each model keeps his own order, limiting, but much cheaper on points and SWC), or you can mix it up. I would love more people to give this game a try. Raveboy tryed it and really enjoyed it, and NTT's Brain enjoyed watching it (and I think he even tried a game). I think that the Acupuncturist played a game or two as well, so maybe we can play a few games with more of us next time...

Also, I am putting together a larger skirmish/battle game for L5R so that we can actually use some of the mass quantities of models that I own. My laptop charge is almost gone, however, and I am done blabbing for now.