RPS question

[fireball_85]

So similar to Rock-Paper-Scissors, which factions have you found to be especially helpful against certain other factions? HE manuevers trump Dwarfs slowness? Lizzie's speed beats Undead's Stand-and-Shoot? Anything army matchups that you think one goes in ahead on.

[ajax98]

I haven't found any faction that that I would refuse to take against any other faction. They all have pros and cons, you just have to be able to understand what you are trying to achieve and how to do it.

There are certain combos that give distinct advantages.
Lizards against Undead - the Lizzies get into Blood Frenzy very easy, a huge combat multiplier. Any other faction with few green boxes would offer the same inducements.

Umenzies against the Dark Elves - Lots of abilities to choke the DE's advantages. Other factions that focus power in a few units offers the same inducements.

[gull2112]

I have found Orcs to be most dangerous against all other factions. Lashed Marauders with Frenzy are the single most heart stopping attack in the game, and you can do it twice with proper card flow.


This may be the single most provocative post on this board.

[gornhorror]

I think Ravenwood can handle any faction if played correctly.  It certainly has a few tricks up it's sleeve.  It just has so much variety of units.  Anchor the battle line with the Treant, flank with the Stags, and shoot'em up with the archery.  Bring on your orcs!!!!!!!!   

[Kevin]

In general the RPS effect in battleground is pretty minimal. 

Probably the worst RPS I've seen is Rome & Carthage beating up Lizardmen--their skirmishers can lead the powerful but stupid dinosaurs on a wild goose chase, while their pila make it likely that equivalent line units will hit the yellow first, having to make a rout check without the benefit of blood frenzy.)

But even there the Lizardmen have a fighting chance.  Battleground is very nicely balanced.

[gull2112]

I think Ravenwood can handle any faction if played correctly.  It certainly has a few tricks up it's sleeve.  It just has so much variety of units.  Anchor the battle line with the Treant, flank with the Stags, and shoot'em up with the archery.  Bring on your orcs!!!!!!!!   

I am bringing it, but you ain't a comin'! I might show at Council, but if you stay away from that on my account... 

[gornhorror]

Council it is then.   Yeah.  Sorry I can't make Totalcon this year.   

[RushAss]

Umenzies against the Dark Elves - Lots of abilities to choke the DE's advantages.

Until the DE player decides to bring Drake Riders to the party.  As BubblePig pointed out in another thread, the Umenzi simply have no answer for this unit.

Not a true RPS issue, but Dwarves vs Hawkshold can produce a brutally long fight since both factions are just so solid.

[Niko White]

In general there are a lot of things about Battleground that reduce this particular issue, but probably the biggest is that the rules and culture of the game support building your army after you see who you're facing.  This is a big contrast to for example WH40K where the relative value of heavy weapon choices varies a ton based on the opposition but you traditionally don't know who you'll be facing when you make the choice, among other similar things that create a RPS feel.  Obviously both sides are more complex than that, but I think that's a large part of Battleground's resistance to that particular effect.  The fact that we tend to give all the factions a variety of tools helps as well.

(Aside to Rush and BubblePig: I don't think Drakes are as big a problem for the Umenzi as y'all do; generally a deployment zone that's saturated with questionable dudes is not a very favorable situation for the Drakes.)

[BubblePig]

(Aside to Rush and BubblePig: I don't think Drakes are as big a problem for the Umenzi as y'all do; generally a deployment zone that's saturated with questionable dudes is not a very favorable situation for the Drakes.)

I agree that the ability to build your army after you know what you are facing helps to minimize the RPS effect of one race versus another. I feel my position on the threat of Drake Riders has been amplified or modified beyond what I was originally trying to say. I think that when you are building your army, you sometimes get a shell-game feel versus some opponents more than others e.g. which shell did the Dark Elf player put the pea under: the close-and-hose, the stand-and-shoot, or the fly-and-pinch?

[Niko White]

(Aside to Rush and BubblePig: I don't think Drakes are as big a problem for the Umenzi as y'all do; generally a deployment zone that's saturated with questionable dudes is not a very favorable situation for the Drakes.)

I agree that the ability to build your army after you know what you are facing helps to minimize the RPS effect of one race versus another. I feel my position on the threat of Drake Riders has been amplified or modified beyond what I was originally trying to say. I think that when you are building your army, you sometimes get a shell-game feel versus some opponents more than others e.g. which shell did the Dark Elf player put the pea under: the close-and-hose, the stand-and-shoot, or the fly-and-pinch?

Ah yeah - I'll agree with you on that one.  Sorry for the misrepresentation via grapevine!

[Chad_YMG]

We playtest each new faction against the field and any major RPS matchups are seen as a design problem.  They aren't necessarily a deal-breaker (see Lizardmen vs. Undead) and we won't always catch them all, but we try to keep them minimal.  I think any faction should be able to have game against any other faction and so far I think we've done a pretty good job on that.

I'm torn on how dangerous Drake Riders are vs. Umenzi.  The sheer numbers of cheap Umenzi troops helps, but they're all slow which can make it a challenge.