Waldo's Weekly - Gaining Grounds Season 4

[Hobby Wyrd]

In roughly 2 weeks, we’ll be releasing our seasonal update to Malifaux’s Strategies and Schemes. It has been over a year since the release of GG3, so we wanted to provide some insight into the design process and goals for Gaining Grounds 4.

The development of Gaining Grounds 4 began with several high-level goals in mind:

• Change the meta from Gaining Grounds 3.

• Provide a spread of Strategies that would make a wider variety of play styles more viable.

• Increase the usefulness of Scheme Markers and Interact Actions.

• Remove some staple Schemes that have been a part of many previous Gaining Grounds.

• Increase the usefulness of Interacting or Dropping Scheme Markers early in a Round.

Defining a Strategy Pool

The Strategies available in a Gaining Grounds season have a dramatic impact on which Crews are most viable. As such, having a spread of Strategies focused on different scoring techniques allows for multiple playstyles to exist within the same Gaining Grounds. For this season our goal is to provide a space where every Crew has at least one Strategy that they can excel at. To do that we identified factors that were helpful to score each Strategy and built Strategies that allowed Crews to lean into a variety of strengths.

Let’s take a look at the Strategies for Gaining Ground 4.

Raid the Vaults

This Strategy will be familiar to anyone who has played Guard the Stash. Raid the Vaults uses the same scoring framework, except that Markers on the enemy table half are worth more points. This small change has a big impact on Crew composition, so much so that we felt it beneficial to make this a new Strategy rather than to update Guard the Stash. That way those who enjoy Guard the Stash can continue to play it in GG All.

Why is the scoring change a big deal? In Guard the Stash, a Crew needs to have bodies to deny points and to score points themselves. As each Marker is worth 1 point, if a Crew is trying to gain 4 VP from the Strategy, they need to have at least 4 models alive at the end of Turn 5 to score. This favors high model count Crews that can claim the center of the board. In Raid the Vaults, a Crew can score 4 VP by claiming 2 Strategy Markers on the opponent table half. This means that while controlling the center is a valid strategy, an elite crew can also score by focusing on controlling the backfield.

Stuff the Ballots

In Stuff the Ballots, players attempt to gain control of Strategy Markers by placing Vote Tokens on them. If there are too many Vote Tokens on a Strategy Marker all Vote Tokens are removed.

Why is this unusual? First of all, it is very Interact-heavy. In previous Strategies, it generally takes a single Interact to control a Marker. Here a player has to balance ‘locking down’ a Marker with multiple Interact Actions with the threat of a reset. Additionally, as the Strategy Markers are stationary, models with Don’t Mind Me, Agile, Slippery or similar Abilities are more useful than in the past.

This Strategy also opens up a new strategic direction. Enemy models can be Obeyed to Interact with Strategy Markers. Allowing enemy models to be Obeyed into Interacting with Strategy Markers is a big change as only allowing ‘friendly controlled’ models to Interact with Strategy Markers has been a standard for most of M3e. In this Strategy we felt that enemy Obeys, while still very strong, were balanced by the volume of Interact Actions that occur in this Strategy. It also feels very fluffy to have someone coerce you into voting against your better wishes.

Notice how this compares to and compliments Raid the Vaults. Where Raid the Vaults favors smaller, elite Crews, Stuff the Ballots favors larger Crews with more expendable models that can be used to pump out more Interact Actions.

Cloak and Dagger

Cloak and Dagger tries to simulate collecting intel from a group of skittish informants. When a player gains an Intel Token from a Strategy Marker that Marker is moved by the opposing player. Models are also able to steal Intel Tokens from each other in this Strategy.

This Strategy has a lot going for it. It gives highly mobile, fast, and fragile Keywords a Strategy they can excel at. Enemy-controlled Marker placement makes for some unexpected outcomes, as Markers don’t have a defined direction to move in. For example, a Crew may move a Strategy Marker behind themselves to prevent enemy Interacts or in front of themselves to provide Concealment.

Intel Tokens can also be stolen from other models. Allowing models to steal Tokens is something we haven’t seen very often and it changes the way the Strategy has to be approached. Stealing Tokens from enemies early in a Round mixes things up and makes every Activation exciting, not just the last one.

Plant Explosives

Plant Explosives is a fan favorite Strategy making its return in Gaining Grounds 4. This season, the Strategy has two significant revisions. First, we removed the ‘friendly’ restriction when Dropping a Strategy Marker. Now, Strategy Markers can never be Dropped less than 6” from any other Strategy Marker, friendly or enemy. This change makes Dropping Strategy Markers early worth more as they can deny placement for the opposing player’s Strategy Markers.

The second change was the addition of ‘without Summon Upgrades’ to the section regarding who gains Explosive Tokens after a model is killed. We felt this change made the Strategy’s rules with regards to Summoned models more consistent, as previously it was a little confusing that a Summoned model could put down a Strategy Marker, but not pick one up.

Scheme Pool Revisions

Changes to the Scheme Pool are expected in each new Gaining Grounds. This season focused on three goals:

• Remove overused Schemes.

• Increase the potential to bluff your opponent.

• Place more emphasis on Dropping Scheme Markers.

This will be the first M3e Gaining Grounds without Assassinate, Breakthrough, and Vendetta. All three of these Schemes are amazing at showing off the strengths of Malifaux as a game and are good at teaching newer players how to identify threats and move across the board. That being said, with them filling one-fourth of the Scheme Pool it’s easy to choose them over newer offerings.

Bluffing has always been a factor in Malifaux, and Scheme marker-focused Schemes have always been great ways to facilitate that ability to bluff. To capitalize on that, this Gaining Grounds has a number of Schemes that are easily bluffed by Dropping a Scheme Marker or two. There are also more Schemes where later points can be scored with Scheme Markers on the friendly table half, which helps bluffing and scoring.

Let's look at a couple of the new Schemes.

Ensnare

The Ensnare Scheme treads well-worn Malifaux territory: Get Scheme Markers near enemy models. But this time, there’s a twist! Instead of needing Markers down at the end of the Turn, they need to be in position before the enemy model’s Activation. This incentivizes Crews to Activate Scheme Runners early to Drop Markers, rather than holding them until the last Activation. By extension, this also means that enemy Scheme Markers will stick around on the table longer, allowing for more opponent interaction.

Ensnare also creates difficult choices for opponents and room to bluff. Do I save a model until the end of the Round, making them a target for Ensnare? Or do I Activate them when there is only one Scheme Marker down, and try to deny my opponent’s point?

Information Overload

Information Overload is a Scheme that rewards volume. As it is scored by having the most Markers on the board, it is a synergistic second Scheme choice for Crews that want to focus on Dropping Scheme Markers. It’s also one that a savvy opponent can easily deny with their own Marker Drops, quickly turning a game into a Scheme Marker arms race. This back and forth separates it from Schemes like Load ‘Em Up as you do not need special tech to deny points, just Interact Actions. Even if you do not take this Scheme, it is an easy one to bluff by Dropping a Scheme Marker or two, which can help you accomplish your real objectives, like Ensnaring an opponent!.

Summoned Upgrade Rules Change

Finally, let's talk about adjusted rules. This Gaining Grounds, we are closing a loophole regarding Summon Tokens. As many of you noticed during last week’s Big Hat preview, Som’er Teeth Jones’s new Family Gathering Upgrade no longer has the Summon Limitation. That’s because starting with GG4, whenever a model is Summoned, if it does not have a Summon Upgrade it always gets a Summon Token.

For example, when Perdita, Neverborn Hunter Summons a Pistolero de Latigo, it will always have a Summon Token, regardless of whether or not it Attaches a Specialty Upgrade.

We hope all of you are as excited for the new Gaining Grounds as we are. It will be available on the app within two weeks and that's when it will be considered live but until then enjoy a look at the Gaining Grounds Season 4 Document. Let us know which part of Gaining Grounds 4 you’re the most excited to try out! The image below will also take you to the new GG4 ruleset! 

[johnp]

It has come to our attention that the text for outflank doesn't match some other Scheme descriptions. 

The GG4 wording is:

Quote

Reveal: At the end of the Turn, if you have two models, each within 3" of where the Centerline meets a different table edge or corner and at least one of them is within 3" of a friendly Scheme Marker, you may remove one such Scheme Marker to gain 1 VP.

End: At the end of the game, if you have two models, each within 3" of where the Centerline meets a different table edge or corner and within 3" of a friendly Scheme Marker, you may remove each such Scheme Marker to gain 1 VP.

The 'if you have two models' wording is an artifact from M3e go-live.  If this were to be fully rewritten today it would be 'if you have 2 friendly models' to be more clear on the model ownership.  Sorry for any confusion, please play it as '2 friendly models'.

[Greenman]

I noticed under Henchman Hardcore it still references using Plant the Explosives from Gaining Grounds Season Zero. As I tend to make my own refrence cards for seasons, I just wanted to double check this was intentional, and that the rework shouldn't be used. My guess is yes, but... figured it couldn't  hurt to ask. 

[Shadowdragon]

For something like Raid the Vaults, how does strategy marker placement work with deployments such as corner and flank? Do you just end up with 4 markers down the centerline and only one in each player's side of the table?

[santaclaws01]

4 hours ago, Shadowdragon said:

For something like Raid the Vaults, how does strategy marker placement work with deployments such as corner and flank? Do you just end up with 4 markers down the centerline and only one in each player's side of the table?

Yes