How many Ice Pillars are enough?

[KenStorm989]

Hey Folks, Long time 40k Player , Brand Spanking New Malifaux Player, I decided to go with the Raspy box, and also bought a hoarcat pride, december Acolyte and Essence of Power. I havent actually played a game yet, was wondering would 6 Ice Pillars be enough for a game? or should I make 8? 10? 12? Just from reading i figure 6 should be enough, but like i said, reading and playing are two totally different things, how many will i usually use? i'd hate to be playing at the game store and be short, kinda embaressing.

Kenny

[Ropetus]

I think 6 should be enough most of the time. You can cast it only once per turn and 6 will clog up the table so badly your opponent will want to get rid of some of them by that point. At the moment, a friend of mine has 4 finished and that's certainly too few.

If you want to be sure, make 8.

-Ropetus

[KenStorm989]

Thanks i really appreciate the help!

[mythicFOX]

To some extent it also depends on play style and how much terrain you usually have on the board. I never normally need more than four.

So I'd agree with Ropetus six is probably the right number, that way you're covered.

Incidentally has anyone ever built any 'broken' ice pillar markers? For the severe ground left when they're destroyed.

[KenStorm989]

For those i was just going to trace the 50mm circle on a piece of spare floor tile,cut it out, sand it, put some really small scraps of jagged Polystryene on it, and some snow flock, and paint it up to look like broken ice...since its supposed to be height 0, but i actually wanted to put the Pilliars on bases, wa gonna do the pillars out of polystryene too.

[Gremlin Swarm]

How many is enough? Many. (At least 6.)

A friend of mine uses them a lot whenever he plays 'Tina. As mentioned above, though, I tend to start knocking them down as soon as I practically can. I think the most we've had up on the board at a time is 7 or 8.

Mythicfox is right, though. It really depends on how you play her.

BTW: If you are familiar with AT-43 (the Operation Frostbite box specifically), the crystal formation bits in there make great ice pillars. You can just glue them to a 50mm base, or do that and touch them up a bit, it you want to get a bit fancier.

Edited July 20, 2010 by Gremlin Swarm

[Angus Khan]

I made 8, since I've found that occasionally 6 is too few... however, 6 should be enough most of the time

Incidentally has anyone ever built any 'broken' ice pillar markers? For the severe ground left when they're destroyed.

Yeah, I just traced out some cardboard circles and put "rough" terrain on them to simulate rubble.

[Major_Gilbear]

Well, assuming you probably don't want to cast Ice Pillars on turn 1, and the the usual maximum game length is 6 turns, I'd say 10 pillars will be all you will ever need... Ever.

Also, yes, I made the pillars two-parters so that I could show them destroyed.

[Ropetus]

assuming you probably don't want to cast Ice Pillars on turn 1

Why? Turn 1 is when you will most likely have a free AP to do so from Casting Expert as your others spells will be out of range. Cast it through Ice Mirror for a nice range. It is later when you might have more important Actions to take and have no AP left for Pillars.

It is a very rare situation when placing some impassable terrain near your deployment zone is not useful.

-Ropetus