Friday 5 December 2014

Getting Great at FoW - Part 1

Mastering FoW - hi everyone, I thought I would display my arrogance finally and talk about being 'great' at FoW. Am I 'great'? No, am I better than I was this time last year definitely - and over the course of the tournaments and games I've played I've developed a few insights into getting really good at this game. The areas I think you need to master are 'lists' , 'rules' and 'Implementation'. So here's another trio of articles exploring these.

Rules - this one is simple, 'know the rules' here endeth the lesson until next time... Of course it's not that simple. I do not know every rule in the game, there are so many forces and special characters I can't know about them all.

Not knowing can cost games, at the Welsh open I played against NZ cav, their 'swanning about the blue' rule is very different to the French 'higher command' rule but I didn't realise this -  this almost cost me the game. Equally playing against soviets when I hear 'ISU/SU' I need to know which is AT15+ and which has a breakthrough gun, these bits will change my target priorities as I play - sometimes the best way to learn is to play everything.

I will admit that knowing every rule for every character and force is a tall order, knowing the common rules though is key, this can only come by playing with these varied forces, or playing against these forces - oh and making sure the other person knows it too - the number of times I've had someone tell me something which I've disputed (and often not disputed to their face) and then found it to be wrong is almost endless.

I think this is one of the hardest things to do, stand up for yourself. I've been there debating with my opponent about a rule, frequently someone has missed something, or is still confused by a V2 rule - but if you know your rules, stand up and make sure you don't get done over. 

This is a hard thing to do, none of us want to be 'that guy' but we have all come across that moment where we know the rule and the opposition disagrees, sadly in the end 'rules as written' and a page reference help the most to settle these, especially in close situations where tensions are running high. The other area to also remember here is terrain - just make sure you are clear on it from the start, do you both know you're playing true LoS? Or is your opponent thinking of hill more abstractly?

Conversely though I think it is equally important to let your opponent know about your rules - I hate winning/ losing because of a rule I'm not aware if? Seriously where is the skill in that? I keep coming back to a game I played with my Canadians when I started playing - some panzerfaust trap teams assaulted my lorries (with troops in) on turn one - killing them. Having never used soft skin transports I never knew the rule - I never forgot it after, but the game was then pointless.
If you want to actually be good at this you need your opponent to know your weakness's and strengths. Whilst it is hilarious to not tell my opponent of the great interaction of 'mike target' and 'medium support', what does not telling them teach me? Nothing. On the other hand letting them know about that combo and seeing how they react teaches me lots. What does this mean ? If you want to get better help your opponent as much as possible - don't rely on tricks to win, in the long run it's not effective.

Anyway I hoped this (slightly drunken) rambling has helped, until next time.

5 comments:

  1. Knowing your own rules is a good idea! If you don't because your new let people know. I had a vary frustrating game playing a Russian player who didn't know his own rules... I asked him a lot of questions about hen and chicks and his artillery rules and he didn't seem to know a thing... about half way through the game he confessed that he had been focused on painting his army up and had only read the rules once since he got them about 2 weeks earlier... I was like "why didn't you say so! We can do this as a learning game!"

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  2. I think we've all been there!

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  3. I have a friend who, when he doesn't agree with the opponent, tells them this. - Oh is that how the rule is? I didnt know that, can you tell me where in the book it is written so I can check it up and learn more!
    I'ts a way of dissagreing in a more civilized maner...

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  4. I hope some one can tell me what 'medium support' is and how it interacts with 'mike target'

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    1. 'Medium support' is a rule for the British airlanding light battery in market garden (not available in overlord) when you do an 'all guns repeat' your artillery bombardment changes from AT3 FP6+ to AT5 FP 2+, 'Mike target' is a rule to simulate british forces dropping everything in an artillery bombardment, as such when you do an 'all guns repeat' your opponent has to reroll successful saves for targets under the template hit by the bombardment.

      Therefore if a unit is hit by a repeat bombardment from some 75mm with medium support they are rerolling saves and the AT and FP are significantly better.

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