Lack of news!

[steveowen]

Not much going on here at present. Any more sneak peeks Kristofer or are we now waiting for the pictures and action from GenCon in three weeks time? I presume we will then learn that the arrival date is being set back again!

[steveowen]

Replying to my own posts as usual! It would be helpful if fantasy flight gave Kristofer some stuff to showcase on the site as they must have it by now and they are, after all, providing a link to this site from the game description on theirs.

[Francesco]

steveowen said:

Replying to my own posts as usual! It would be helpful if fantasy flight gave Kristofer some stuff to showcase on the site as they must have it by now and they are, after all, providing a link to this site from the game description on theirs.

I'm quite disappointed by the various publishers lack of promotion. Everything significant you've seen so far on the net has been posted by us designers or Nexus. And while this is all too natural considering that everything regarding the game originates from here, I hope this will change soon, and Devir, Tilsit, Phalanx, Fantasy Flight and so on will start to promote the game.

[redsimon]

Yes, I wish Phalanx Games (which will sell the version that I'm going to buy [German]) would do some more promotion in the net or with retailers. Their website has done almost nothing so far, and their forum still has no sub-forum for WotR (perhaps later, AFAIK release date of German version is August).
As for retailers, the retailer I asked in mid-July had heard nothing of that game so far. But maybe that was an exception.

[deadeyethingy]

I absolutely agree... the publishers are dropping the ball here... Maybe they are planning on getting this out a little closer to Christmas and intend on really starting an info campaign closer to then...

But I think early buzz is much better than holiday-centric buzz any day.

I know FFG is busy restructuring their entire online setup, so perhaps over the next couple of weeks they will add more content to their WOTR site.

I for one would really love to see more stuff - everytime some new tidbit comes out, I spread the word, and it has thus far garnered a lot of interest in the game!

Thanks to all the designers for their consistent feedback and time! And thanks Veldrin for this site!! Both of these are even more important in light of the lack of Publisher info. Thanks a million!!!

[Veldrin]

Hi guys!

I wrote an email to Fantasy Flight asking for any images from the game (like the English map).

On the 20th of July they answered that they where not ready to release any such information to the public.

So I guess we just have to wait!

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

[stevehope]

I'm surprised/depressed by the lack of new information on this game as well...I'm hoping that GenCon will spawn a bunch of new discussion here and elsewhere about the game.

In the meantime, I'd love it if the playtesters and/or designers wanted to start a thread talking about their favorite strategies, favorite aspects of the game...Whatever. There's a lot of narrative in the playtest reports, but not as much "I think you really want to get a 2x advantage in troop numbers before you can attack Minas Tirith, preferably with at least 3 Elites. And if you lose there, it's a lot of wasted action dice having sent the army there in the first place etc. etc. etc."

This example actually raises the question for me--Given that it takes an action die to move an army, it seems like Sauron's "historical" strategy of amassing huge forces before launching any sizable attacks makes sense--since there's no payoff (other than preventing enemy mustering) from attacking earlier, wouldn't SA benefit from doing ALL the mustering they hope to need for the full game before moving into attack mode?

[Francesco]

stevehope said:

wouldn't SA benefit from doing ALL the mustering they hope to need for the full game before moving into attack mode?

Just a quick reply: certainly not, as this would mean that the FP player would have done the same by that time. The better thing about starting an early siege is that this prevents normal mustering.

[stevehope]

But won't the FP just respond by mustering elsewhere within that nation? Given that you need 10 VPs to win as SA and there's no intermediate benefit to owning the various sites, what would stop FP from responding to an early attack on MT by mustering the same army that would have defended MT in DA? Is it because only so many armies can defend a particular stronghold, so the number of strongholds held by the FP is a critical measure of future ability to resist?

This raises ANOTHER question: do armies ever meet in the field? I get the impression from most of the playtests that the SA forces are sufficiently overwhelming (and have the need to conquer) that most battles are fought as seiges of one stronghold or another.

[Francesco]

stevehope said:

But won't the FP just respond by mustering elsewhere within that nation?

A possibility. But what to do with the newly raised armies now that a stronghold is lost? To be effective in repulsing the invading force and get back the lost points you will be tempted to move that army, and to do that you must expend precious actions... and that is what exactly a good SA leader wants.
That kind of reaction is what me and Marco called the 'lure of war' - when the FP player is tempted to fight SA on its own ground, reacting to attacks with new attacks. Sometime it pays off, but it's a very dangerous ground.

This raises ANOTHER question: do armies ever meet in the field? I get the impression from most of the playtests that the SA forces are sufficiently overwhelming (and have the need to conquer) that most battles are fought as seiges of one stronghold or another.

That's the way we wanted it to be, as we feel that that's what happened in the books. Helm's Deep, Minas Tirith before Pelennor, the attacks on Lorien, the battle at Erebor were all mainly sieges, followed or preceded by open battles. In the game this what usually happens: an army attacks another army in front of a stronghold; the defenders try to hold their ground as long as possible, then retreat behind the defensive works. Event cards and good strategy can turn a broken siege in a bloody sortie, or let rescuers try to break a siege.
Anyway, areas that are not strongholds and often see battle are in or around Osgiliath, the fords of Isen, Pelargir, Edoras, the Iron Hills, and also the Shire.

[stevehope]

Thanks for responding, Francesco. See? We can fill up the blank spaces by just testing the designers' patience for answering questions!



Your response to the second point is more or less what I'd expect...As the FP you wouldn't want to give the enemy a free shot at your forces when he has to come to you anyway.

On the first point, it sounds to me like there are several strategic reasons not to pursue the strategy as I described it (do all musters then move). Before I itemize them though I guess I should point out that the action dice system makes it an impossibility (which is probably a good thing, since again given the time it takes to move troops and the fact that there's relatively little advantage to accruing VPs until you get to 10 I think that would be a very strong strategy in many cases):

1. IF SA starts with a significant force advantage, it is worth pressing that in places where equal mustering will diminish SA's relative strength.

2. Knocking out mustering capability at the national level seems a worthwhile objective.

3. Overcommitment to a particular area telegraphs your moves to the FP and lets him focus on defending there.

4. Ignoring other theaters of war to concentrate on trying to get your VPs in one area may lead you to leave strategic resources unused (i.e. if I start with 3 regulars and an elite near 2 regulars of yours but it's not one of my "target" areas b/c I'm planning on getting 10 VPs elsewhere, I may never take advantage of this numerical superiority).

But again, this is all moot since you CAN'T simply build to your heart's delight then go marching out. You have to intersperse the two, which sounds a lot more fun.

[steveowen]

Yes, the key to this game is flexibility. Over several games as the Shadow player during playtesting I lost by following the same strategy of gradually building up my forces, delaying Saruman's entry to prevent Gandalf the White appearing and the Witch King even more so to avoid activating the Free Nations. I then switched roles with my regular opponent who went on to beat me! He was much more ruthless bringing in both Minions in early for their dice and throwing everything into the fray and effectively ignoring the fellowship if the situation favoured this. One of the pleasures of this game is learning the strategies and refining them as you gain more experience but always being prepared to try a completely different approach if you run into trouble.

[deadeyethingy]

Getting back to the lack of news from publishers thing (not to say that the strategy info isn't welcome)...

I posted on FFG's new boards about the lack of WOTR info... and the other posters there told me to come here for info...