Deployment Variation
In scenario #10 of the Bladestorm core set, called Iron Legacy, for reasons that aren’t fully explained, nine humans attempt to raid a cave and are ambushed in turn by four sea trolls. The deployment for this scenario is a hidden gem that should see a lot more use. The humans deploy first anywhere in the red or blue circles, and the sea trolls deploy second anywhere in the blue.
Significantly, the humans take the first activation in this largely IGOUGO system. The catch in the system is that melee attacks are simultaneous, such that instigating a melee means picking which fights happen where. As with most skirmish games of its sort, in Bladestorm, flank and rear attacks make it easier to hit your opponent, an advantage that should go mainly to the humans, and standing up-slope gives you a slight bonus to your defensive score. Both sides move a maximum of 6-inches per turn, and the bow-armed humans have to move or shoot each turn – never both. Finally, the human leader gives a boost to melee attacks and defensive scores for every ally within five inches. All of these things matter, as we’ll see in this mini-essay on how to deploy where and why.
Do the humans deploy in a cluster at the top of the hill (A)? Staying tight will give them the high ground, making them much more resilient. The trolls can respond by deploying almost right on top of them. With the first activation, the humans have to choose between taking one round of bowfire or deciding which trolls get double or triple teamed. Arrows don’t do a lot of good in this ruleset, serving to soften up opponents before the meat and potatoes of the up close and personal kicks off in earnest. That makes it an interesting option.
Do the humans deploy way in a group outside the trolls deployment? They’ll get one round of bowfire before the trolls are in their faces, and they have the same concerns outlined above, only on a different hill.
On the other hand, the humans might spread out, putting men on each of A through D, but that seriously waters down the effects of their leader. Still, it might be worth sacrificing a man or two in the hopes that you can draw off a sea troll for a few turns. With better odds in the main scrum, he’ll face a bunch of half-dead foes who outnumber him. Or the trolls might respond in kind – send one troll at the biggest group to occupy their attention while the rest gobble up any overmatched stragglers.
Rather than go into the complexities of if-then statements, let’s just leave this short post with the observation that each of these games will play out very different from the others. The tactics change dramatically, and that keeps the scenario fresh through multiple play-throughs. The overlapping deployment zone really adds a lot of interesting options to what could otherwise be just another line-em-up scenario. It’s a shame we don’t see more deployment scenarios like this.