Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Have you taken note of what takes a long time?

From my personal experience, multiple blast units take forever, as do constantly checking and re-checking line of sight to both gain and deny cover saves. Pure footslogging armies take longer than mech armies because of more model shifting.

Complex units with multiple saves like Nobz and seer council also eat up the clock, although those are both smaller forces.

Do you guys find yourselves spending the majority of your time moving models and rolling dice, or making measurements and checking minutiae?

How does battle-points work?

I make a detailed table for my complex units to keep track of wound allocation. It really speeds things up and also keeps everything on the square. I really think it's the best way to do it.

I think with 2500 points not everyone will be able to get in six turns. It's just not always possible. I'm not saying people slow play intentionally it's just how some games go when you are playing that big of an army. People should develop a mindset how to win based on these missions with only four to five turns.

I did see GW put it in black and white how daemons must deploy and I think it's a good thing. Adepticon had this spelled out in all their missions this year. That way there will be no question in that regard.

Probably we will see a lot more great unclean ones this year for daemon armies since they are by far the most resilient. The thing is if players focus on killing daemonic HQ it just leaves their armies wide open to being assaulted by the other daemonic units. I have heard people often say all you have to do is kill all their troops... In theory it sounds like a good plan but in practice it can be next to impossible. Daemons typically deploy right next to your army, you've got one turn to deal with them then they are assaulting you by and large. Two missions feature night fight which only helps daemon armies in a big way. Some armies are just basically screwed by daemons while others their best option is to simply run away if your army is fast enough. It's not easy against a good daemon player.

G

skipdog172 wrote:

Sarigar wrote:2.5 hours is more than enough time for 2500 points. After playing my Orks for awhile, it's a rare day to not finish a tourney game. With Eldar, it would only be faster.

To be fair, the bummer part is the Ard Boyz draws folks who will try to play a horde army and not really know how to play it, thus not finishing games. Some will think their IG gunline/Tyranid Horde/Ork Horde will crush all, when all it really does is take forever to finish a turn. Frustrating, but that's what happens in free tourneys.

Have any advice on how to play faster?

Our gaming group doesn't understand it...we've been playing with a 2.5 hour clock and trying to play fast, but we have yet to get beyond turn 4(and we've had to go beyond the time limit to complete turn 4, which we won't be able to do in the tournament).

Seriously, any advice from anybody would be appreciated. It also seems like most of the ard boyz battle reports I've read from last year, they rarely got past turn 4 and sometimes didn't even get beyond turn 3.

In not sure what your group is doing differently, I have played maybe 10 practice games now with my Ard Boyz list and have never failed to finishe the full game in 2.5 hours. I have lots of shooting as well so its not like there isnt a lot going on. I do use multiple dice colors for multiple weapon shooting from the same unit. When my Chimeras fire I roll 3 white dice for the heavy stubber, 3 yellow dice for the multilaser, and when applicable 3 blue dice for the heavy bolter. It makes things go by very quickly.

Im sure the fact that I have no complex units helps. Games where both players have complex units can take a lot longer especially when assaults get rolling between two large complex units.

So along with the 188 model Green Horde I have planned, I should probably make movement trays?

Yea, honestly if you can't finish in 2.5 hours then you or your opponent is slow playing.

I have played some practice games with my friend who still barely has everything in his army memorized and is pretty slow with decisions. And we still finished in about 2 hours.

Last year I ran into the slowest orc player ever. We got to turn 3 or so I think. Long story short, he won the short game, however if it would have gone to 6 turns I woulda easily destroyed him.

I just figured it was his army numbers at first. Until the next game when I play against nids with even more models. We finished in under 2 hours I think.

They need to almost switch times to 3 hours and if someone is slow playing kick them for poor sportsmanship.

Agreed, I finished last year every game I played and one was against a foot slogging IG army. That said I think what was said earlier about people bringing hordes that don't normally play them being the reason some things get bogged down pretty badly since they have no idea how to move fast.

I guess you could say that I play pretty slowly...a 2500 point game with me usually takes 4-5 hours.

I'm not really sure how to play faster though. o.O

Think during your opponents turn is a huge way to reduce your time.. You really gotta know what you want to do before your turn starts

4-5 hours for 'ard boyz game really isnt acceptable if you wanna do decently and not piss people off too :p

skipdog172 wrote:

Have any advice on how to play faster?

Our gaming group doesn't understand it...we've been playing with a 2.5 hour clock and trying to play fast, but we have yet to get beyond turn 4(and we've had to go beyond the time limit to complete turn 4, which we won't be able to do in the tournament).

Seriously, any advice from anybody would be appreciated. It also seems like most of the ard boyz battle reports I've read from last year, they rarely got past turn 4 and sometimes didn't even get beyond turn 3.

Playing against your friends at the local store will always, always take longer than playing against a stranger simply because you'll end up chatting and socializing more, either with your opponent or with others nearby.

We had the same problem last year when we were running practice games for the tournament over the course of a month or two. Out of the 6 of us, I don't know if anyone was able to get past turn 4 in a practice game, but none of us had any trouble finishing all 3 games at the actual tournament (both preliminaries and semi-finals). People tend to stay focused at tournaments and play quickly.

Unless you get stuck with someone who doesn't know the rules and insists on looking everything up you should have no problem. Or if you're running a horde vs another horde.

I've actually had the opposite experience. Because we know each other we can socialize and play at the same time (assuming we're not drinking ) and we normally finish in about 1.5 hours at 2k. But if I play a stranger then things tend to slow down.

So who has evil genius plans for 'Ard Boyz? The scenarios make me giggle like....like....well, I'm not sure what like, but I like them!

I think Rhino rush is going to work surprisingly well, since night fight will be in effect for two missions and in the first scenario you effectively get to go to midfield before anyone can shoot you.

Dashofpepper wrote:I guess you could say that I play pretty slowly...a 2500 point game with me usually takes 4-5 hours.

I'm not really sure how to play faster though. o.O

That would make me start looking at someone for slow playing.

-Cookie sheets or some type of movement tray for the army is critical, which you've discovered. During the game, it is best to keep all your casualties organized so when the game is over, you can simply move your tray to another table with minimum fuss.

-Ensure both players know how the terrain works. It saves time to do this prior to playing. Nothing like a heated debate during a critical moment during the game.

-A brief explanation of what you are about to do prior to rolling bunches of dice helps. Your opponent won't try and stop you and interrupt the process. Folks typically don't like it when their opponent just starts rolling dice w/o knowing what it is for. A quick explanation can save time by avoiding a lengthy conversation further into the game.

-Don't walk away from the table at times when you are needed (armor saves, assault, rolling dice, during your turn) if at all possible.

-Try not to get on the phone during the game and hold a conversation.

-As mentioned previously, allocating dice ahead of time and understanding wound allocation are biggies for an Ork army. GF9 movement stick is also a time saver. Some other points to mention:

-Know the rules. Things that pop up a lot in my games are complex units and what armor is hit with blasts in the event the blast scatters.

-Know the rules to your opponent's army. You don't have to memorize every codex, but having a pretty good understanding of each codex out there helps gameplay. A lot of questions to your opponent about his/her army slows things down a lot as well. Since 2nd edition, I've made a habit to buy the codexes as they come out. I only own two armies, but have read each codex and at least have a basic understanding how each army works.

-Have all the necessary materials to play the game. Codex,rulebook, templates, dice etc...

-WYSIWYG. It is a rule for the Ard Boyz and should be strictly followed. This makes things easier for your opponent and you won't be questioned as much as to what each model has.

-Give your opponent a copy of your army list. Another rule that is in the Ard Boyz. Have extra copies available. Saves time when your opponent can just look up what you have rather than asking you during the game.


Some of this may sound silly, but I wouldn't mention it if I haven't experienced it first hand. Individually, they aren't all that time consuming, but when compounded, it becomes very difficult to finish a game.

Another old chess trick is to think during your opponents turn. You should be able to start thinking about where your going to move as soon as your opponent finishes their movement phase. Don't get locked in, but at least you don't have to start fresh after the assault phase

Sarigar wrote:

-As mentioned previously, allocating dice ahead of time and understanding wound allocation are biggies for an Ork army. GF9 movement stick is also a time saver. Some other points to mention:

What's a GF9 movement stick?

The red whippy thing that you get in box sets. Many people cut them at set intervals like 6"/12" to make measurement very obvious.

I also use the GF9 Blue movement thing. It's got a 6" side, a 2" side, and a 4" Side meaning I can check my coherency with any unit, infantry or tank, and it makes moving very easy without having to open and close a tape measure or hold it akwardly. Also reduces the chances of people "accidentally" moving to far.

I love those things. Wish my store carried them so I could buy one.

Ask your store to order one. Shouldn't be a hard to get item.

It does work pretty well. 6" side for movement; 4" side for vehicle squadron; 2" side for normal coherency and ease of measurement for disembarking from vehicles.

Oh man....

I went through 4 black reach boxes, and didn't keep any of them. I thought it was a poor man's tape measure, so I tossed them when I got a tape measure. Boy do I feel foolish now. :(

Lol, most of the shops that carry a lot of gaming materials will have the little blue measurers. They are only $6 or so. If you pick one up when you get there you should be good makes things way faster!

Red whippy sticks are great for beating on n00bz !



G