Strategies and Schemes Statistics

[Vangerdahast]

I have made some statistics with the results of the tournament I played yesterday and I would like to know what are people's feelings about the statistics hereunder and if different metas have other feelings about the perceived difficulty fo Strategies and Schemes. Informations about the different rounds can be found in the last post of this thread: https://themostexcellentandawesomeforumever-wyrd.com/topic/147563-france-bordeaux-malifaux-in-bordeaux-saturday-07-december-2019/

 

Turns played each game

3 Turns: 29%

4 Turns: 50%

5 Turns: 21%

 

Strategies

Reckoning

1 player scored 0 point

11 players scored 1 point

4 players scored 2 points

I think there is no surprise here as this strategy is generally perceived as the hardest to score.

 

Plant Explosives

1 player scored 1 point

11 players scored 2 points

3 players scored 3 points

1 player scored 4 points

No surprises here, this strategy seemes the easiest to score.

 

Turf War

3 players scored 1 point

12 joueurs scored 2 points

1 player scored 3 points

Less easy than Plant Explosives but not very difficult

 

More to say about the Schemes

1- Asssassinate: 1.38 point Chosen 8 times

For me, a surprise. I did'nt think it was so easy to score.

2- Outflank: 1.25 pt Chosen 8 times

Quite simple to score, no surprise here.

3- Claim Jump: 1.25 pt Chosen 8 times

As Assassinate, I thought it was harder to score.

4- Deliver a Message; 1.23 pt Chosen 13 times (available in two rounds)

Quite simple even if the second point can be tricky to score.

5- Search the Ruins: 1.16 pt Chosen 19 times (available in two rounds)

Despite being slighty nerfed by Gaining Ground always a popular choice quite simple to score.

6- Harness the Ley Line: 1 pt Chosen 10 times

A popular one even if I think that it is difficult in a tournament. It needs 6 interactions and if you don't play 5 Turns, can be complicated to score twice.

7- Take Prisoner: 1 pt Chosen 8 times

I think that the end point  is easy but the reveal point can be tricky to score.

8- Power Ritual: 1 pt Chosen 5 times

Not very easy but even more in a tournament. It requires a lot of movement and interact and some crews will really struggle with this one. Not playing full 5 turns makes it even harder.

9- Dig their Graves: 1 pt Chosen 1 time

Difficult to judge the difficulty but not a popular choice.

10- Detonate Charges: 0.80 pt Chosen 5 times

Seems to confirm that this is a difficult one.

11- Breakthrough: 0.50 points Chosen 2 times

A bit surprised that it wasn't taken more often. Seems difficult but I personnaly think it is an average one (more easier if you have a movement-based crew).

12- Vendetta: 0.42 pt Chosen 6 times

Even with the slight buff from Gaining Ground, it seems to stay one of the hardest to score.

13- Hold up their Forces: 0.33 pt Chosen 3 times.

Not very popular but I thought it was a relatively easy one especially versus elite crews. It was available with the Reckoning Strategy. That can explain why she hasn't been chosen more often.

 

Do your have similar experiences or are you surprised by some of these statistics. Of course, no final statement can be made as it is only collected in one tournament but can it influence your selection of schemes? Please share your feelings and comments about this.

 

[Maniacal_cackle]

I have some thoughts, but a major one is some schemes are super easy to score at least one point off of.

Assassinate and claim jump you're often going to be in a position to score one point, but once you reveal or signal, they'll deny you hard. So it makes sense they have a high average (since the 'minimum' score most of the time is one for those schemes).

Schemes like breakthrough on the other hand I would imagine are more common to see two points off of, but 0 points will also be common.

So I think breaking it into average points scored for reveal and end would provide more strategic information.

Personally I'm a bit surprised by turf war and reckoning placements. I figure they'd be swapped. But maybe my meta is too minion heavy/kill oriented.

Also important to keep in mind you play to win, not necessarily to high score.  Hold Up Their Forces has some good utility of a 'free' point in reckoning before everything dies, which can be a solid advantage over a two point scheme that takes several interact actions.

[Vangerdahast]

Thanks, that is exactly why I posted this. To see if local metas have different approach about Strategies and Schemes.

So for your meta Reckoning is an easy one. Don't you build elite crews for this strategy in order to limit the the opponent's possibilities to score (tough Enforcers for example).

Why is Turf War difficult? Minion heavy crews let you kill often to easily neutralize ennemy Strategy Markers?

 

 

[Maniacal_cackle]

@Vangerdahast our meta is primarily composed of people that started in M3E or beta. As such, people mostly own keywords rather than factions. So you tend to see heavier minion use. Additionally you don't see optimised play with people always declaring Yan Lo for instance. So scoring points from going enforcer > henchmen > master for three points is doable.

Turf war... Requires so much movement to claim turf, and then they can negate it by just killing a model. I think high points is common if one side dominates, but is going to be a struggle to score past two in an even game. And since I u can often deny a point and work towards scoring a point in the same action, there is an incentive to flip your opponents markers.

Reckoning, IMO, is extremely scheme based. All positioning on the table basically comes down to the scheme pool. As such, locally we see schemers in the pool. It is not uncommon for me to have a crooligan hidden behind a building turns one and two, then have him come out and score for the remaining turns. Such plans are vulnerable to schemer sniping, and this means high risk, high reward.

Overall, Reckoning is about action efficiency like everything else. But here, going and killing your opponents stuff, simultaneously advances your denial plan and your scoring plan. If an enemy only takes tanky heavy hitters, you can dance around them and scheme. If they only take mobile heavy hitters, you can rush them down. If they only take tanky, mobile, heavy hitters... Something has gone wrong with game design. Thankfully, Grave Golem doesn't have leap. This action efficiency is also why I like hold up their forces (being able to score while engaging), but that is extremely matchup dependent.

That said, all of what I wrote above is vulnerable to pure enforcer lists (such as dead rider, Archie, rogue necromancy), but even then you have the necrotic machine for an easy first point and a master for a third point. It also has its own weaknesses (not being able to take henchmen is a hell of a cost).

EDIT: to elaborate a bit more... For example, someone might take an impossible to kill crew against me with Dig Their Graves in the pool. As a response, I just avoid them all game and keep a one point lead via Dig (since ressers can score it without killing. Thanks grave digger). That creates a setup where they have to come to me (or at least cross the centreline) or lose. All the killing power in their crew can be out maneuvered and forced to play on my terms by a point differential. As a result, you tend to see crews that can both kill and scheme (and in turn, are vulnerable to being killed).