Previews/expansion

[Ingwe]

Hello everybody,


It s been a while since we had any previews. The forum has been very quiet for that same period of time. Anything big happening in the forges of mount doom, Veldrin?

Grtz

[Veldrin]

Well, what can I say without violating my NDA....

I guess it is safe to say that the end of the testing of the Strategy Expansion (the things that you can add to the main game) is near. Only minor balance issues left.

Then we are on to the Operational level game with the Battle for Rohan as the first stop.

[glow=green,2,300]Veldrin[/glow]

[Ingwe]

Is this an illusion or were the previews going to be weekly? I don t want to start a flame war or whatever if you ve run out of previews so be it.

Grtz

[Veldrin]

Yes they were supposed to be weekly but Nexus have been moving their office the last couple of weeks so the designers have been busy lifting heavy boxes instead of writing preview articles.

Hopefully you agree that it is more important that they finish the move so they can get back to developing/testing the actual expansion instead of writing preview articels about it.

I am sure the articels will appear as soon as they can find the time.

[glow=green,2,300]Veldrin[/glow]

[Ingwe]

Absolutely and if the expansion is as good as the basic game,.... Then my winter eve will be filled.

Grtz and thanks for your friendly replies.

[tompy]

This "Operational" game...

What is it? Are these stand alone battle games?

I have to say that I'm not so excited about the "new figures" for the big war. I like the way the events are abstract and do not happen the same way every game.

The combat system is elegant, straightforward and seems to exist with the minimal amount of work. Kudos there. Some of these new figures, etc. seem to break this. Just my opinion.

If the Rohan and Gondor games are standalone, I'm very excited about this expansion.

Later,
Jeff

[Veldrin]

The expansion consists of three parts:

1 The expansion to the main game (here you will see Galadriel, the Balrog etc..)

The new Characters, Factions and cards don't break the old mechanisms. They simply add more strategical options. None of the new additions are a sure thing every game but you have the option to use thme if you want to.

2 The Battle for Rohan

3 The Battle for Gondor

What the different games will be called exactly I do not know yet.


[glow=green,2,300]Veldrin[/glow]

[tompy]

I'm still leary about the "added tactical decisions" the new piecees and rules will bring. Sometimes less is more.

Adding complexity does not add "tactical decisions." For example, Go has more tactical depth than Advanced Squad Leader.

On the other side of the coin, this game has real genre feel. I think that the extra figures and rules will give a different game with more of this ambiance.

I look forward to the expansion in all its variety and flexibility.

I just wanted to express my opinion but also maintain my support for the work that is being done. I will now stand back and leave it to the creators and what they do best...

Thanks,
Jeff

[Veldrin]

Thanks for the support!

One of the main issues during playtesting the expansion was to be able to add the things people seemed to miss but without adding comlexity and I am happy to say that I believe none of the additons adds any complexity as all the new things follow the old system very well.

The only thing there is really more of is choices fort he players to make.

[glow=green,2,300]Veldrin[/glow]

[AussieLurker]

Also remember, Tompy, that the key word in all of this is 'Expansion'. That means that the players are really free to add whatever elements from this new source to the game they feel is necessary to improve their games. For instance, I for one always felt that true siege warfare-and naval battles-were missing from the basic game, so am looking forward to such things as Corsairs and siege engines. The Balrog and Galadriel, OTOH, I might choose to leave out of the game. See what I mean !

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[tompy]

Yes, I understand it is an expansion.

I would find an expansion featureing more "event cards" to my liking.

Let's take the Balrog for example. You can muster the Balrog without an event card. I'm assuming this means that it can be done regardless of the situation (in a vacuum away from strategic decisions of course). Eventually a strategy will develop where one always musters the balrog or never musters the balrog. As an event card, you may want to muster the balrog but don't have the card, or vice versa. The FP can call the bluff, or perhaps the SP had to burn the card in combat earlier, etc.

In my opinion the event cards have the power to create variety in the games. If the Balrog mineature replaces the Balrog event card, I'll not like that so much.

I appreciate the expansion is a set of systems and components the designers are choosing to make available most likely based on their fan base (or personal whim).

In my opinion I'd like to see more event cards, diluting the events so that a given game would see much less than half of the events turn up, allowing for more bluffing and gut check plays.

As I said, less is more sometimes in the realm of strategic gaming.

[Veldrin]

Don't worry!

The expansion features more event cards and the Balrog card isn't gone it has simply changed to accomodate the Evil of the Ancient World's new incarnation.

[glow=green,2,300]Veldrin[/glow]

[Smash62]

Veldrin,

Are all of the cards going to be reprinted with larger type and clearer wording--or are just the replacement/additional cards going to be included?

Thanks.

[Veldrin]

As far as I know only the new cards will be included.

[glow=green,2,300]Veldrin[/glow]

[Smash62]

Thanks. I understand this approach, especially from the cost angle.

Reprinting all of the cards could take care of the small font and the unclear wording--the biggest complaints about the initial game, if I remember correctly. It would also make it less of a deal if the ink colors drift a bit between printings (so that the new cards don't stand out in the deck). And it would be good for those whose cards are showing wear.

By the way, I found one of the best ways to reduce card wear is to use the card stands that came with "Memoir '44". These little plastic trays hold all of the cards so you can read them--the cards end up suffering less from sweaty hands and frequent rearranging.