Kl3mnop
1581
I’d like to see us organize some LIVE 10 minute and/or 30 minute game sessions. Playing asynchronous is convenient, for sure, but there is something to be said for having the clock ticking and having to make a decision. Prior to Shard-O-Rama I would have strongly advocated for 10 minute games as it was exceptionally rare that the mechanics of playing your turns would force you beyond the 10 minute limit. But shards, literally, take time to play and I find myself hitting the limit far more frequently because of it.
Wow, sounds like an epic win Skieblade. LOL at Kl3mnop’s comment about Mithrophon!!!
That’s true, but you can also argue that flipping over cards for a player who desperately needs a gamebreaker is bad process. A buddy taught me once that in every board game, there are strategies and tactics. Strategy = fundamental planning that should lead to good outcomes, so to me, good strategy = good process. However, tactics are niche strategies that are applied on specific turns based on how the game is evolving. I truly don’t know if killing two cultists here is the optimal move, but I do believe it’s the safest move, and the way this game is going, we just need to play safe. If Dave’s hand was different (ie mix or runes and swords), I’d definitely say we kill the fiend, but because Dave most likely has 8 runes (meaning he can buy any card other than a monster), there’s nothing he can do next turn other than become more inefficient by buying infantry and mystics, or keeping his current efficiency by punting. As long as the board stays as it is, we win. I don’t know much about football, but basketball is big here, and to me, our position right now is up 3, with the ball, and a few seconds to go. We have an open 18 foot jumpshot and can seal the game with a make (ie killing the fiend), but we can also hold the ball, get fouled, and hope we convert the free throws to put the game out of reach. There’s no reason for us to take the jump shot at the moment - we’ve pretty much got the game sealed. The only way the opponent can win is if we miss, they get the rebound, and hit a miracle three. I know the analogy isn’t perfect, but that’s how I feel about our current game, and that’s why I’m advocating the boring cultist play.
Holy crap did iNikonFX finish with just 2 deathdealers, 1 delver, 1 scion, 1 scrap finger and 1 reactor?? Was he just drawing his entire hand every turn? And on a related note, how on earth did you (IronCub) allow that to happen??
Kl3mnop
1584
So we’re not going to make our play because we fear one of the five (5) 7 or 8 rune heroes is hiding under Terrorizer? And how many shitty cards might be under Terrorizer that Dave would have to decide to eat up in chasing the possibility that yet another hero is under that one?
It’s a cute play to kill the Cultists. But unnecessary and somewhat detrimental to us (as well as opponent.)
At this point I’d like to see you go for it. I’ll sit back and toss peanuts at you from the gallery.
We’re not up by 3 with a few seconds to play. We’re up by 15 with 10 minutes left to play. And you wanna go stall-ball now? I can tell you exactly how that ends…
Muscle reflex is forcing me to type TERRORIZING FIEND (since it’s my favorite/most hated monster) even as my brain registers that MacroAdayu makes a good case. It is the safer course of action since we probably can’t capitalize on whatever’s going to show up next and Dave has runes coming up in his next hand. That said I think TERRORIZING FIEND TERRORIZING FIEND TERRORIZING FIEND TERRORIZING FIEND TERRORIZING FIENDTERRORIZING FIENDTERRORIZINGFIENDTERRORFIENDTERRORFIEND
If I had to rationalize this decision I’d say that Dave has a better chance of getting to the TERRORFIEND next cycle first, and that could go as badly as uncovering a choice card now.
I think that’s a great analogy switcheroo!
Even if Dave killed the fiend in round 10, the chances of him drawing 3 mystics and 2 infantry are quite low to make it a gamebreaking hand.
You’re definitely right Kl3mnop that the odds of a 7 or 8 hero turning up are slim (and let’s face it, even if one comes up, it’s not the end of the world for us), but I really feel if anything, we should force him to flip the board over for us, and not vice versa. There’s also another thing I’d like to add in. Yes, we become less efficient the next cycle, but we also have two shots at the everbloom instead of one. Let’s say next turn we get the everbloom, 2 apprentices, a militia and an animus. We’ve already gotten rid of 3 of the inefficient cards anyway (yes, it’s a turn later, but in this case, I don’t think it’s that important since we’re not racing for anything on the board, just trying to string together cards in our deck), so is our deck really becoming as inefficient as we think? There’s also the possibility of flipping over a construct, which would help Dave out, and if we flip over a mech construct, it’s doubly bad since we lose the points we could have gained with the watchtower. It’s really an interesting choice, but it’s looking like we’re gonna kill the fiend anyway because the only people on board with the crazy cultist idea are Ironcub and I. Too bad we can’t save the current state of the game and try both options though (that’s probably the only advantage of playing live!)
I’m on board with the cultist idea. Switching my vote.
This sort of decision (whether you should flip the board) is everpresent in the game Neuroshima Hex, a much more enjoyable game (if you ask me), and one that is way underplayed by Qt3. In Neuroshima Hex, one is often faced with the decision to initiate a battle or force the opponent to initiate it. I love that tension.
Here we see the same tension, but like 1 in 1000 people are going to pay attention to this detail in Ascension. 999 of them are going to kill the “draw two” monster and get on with it.
I like this better. The Hive Mind helps make Ascension a more interesting game.
I think I count 3 for the cultist (Micro, Delirium, & Fecub); and 3 for the Fiend (me, Kl3m, and Soon). Is that right?
Sometimes the Queen has to decide, so it’s Fiend, which reveals Nietzsche. The draw two gives us more drawing cards, resulting in a Lifebound bonanza.
Burn the runes, or buy a Heavy?
Haha, and would you look at that? Gotta love the taste of crow =P
bows down to Kl3mnop
Might as well buy a heavy. I think from now on we might as well buy heavies, like Mithrophon suggested earlier. We’ve gotten 8 points out of our lifebound combo and are sitting real pretty now. Might as well set up our next cycle for heavies and put Dave out of his misery.
But but but PROBABILITIES!
Lol 23-0
Prolly cuz I got cute on him :)
Ugh, this game has done nothing but rain luck down upon the Hive Mind from the start. Not to take away from the interesting and smart decisions you’ve made, but sheesh.
I hope someone has the bouncy balls to trace everything back to me not taking a Wolf Shaman, so I can laugh my ass off. Because perpetual rows of monsters happens every game.
Wolf Shaman is the new Rocket Courier. Didn’t you know that? Shoulda woulda coulda!
Just take a heavy or don’t, it probably won’t matter. I’m about to hit the road for hours, and it would be a lot more fun for the Hive Mind to discuss the next full turn rather than this tiny subplot.
Kl3mnop
1599
Take a Heavy now. I’m cool with that.
Will be interesting to see the hand that Dave Turns over and what might have been. For a couple of plays we can follow the possible paths of other outcomes.
