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Have you seen any examples of people gaming this system to get the Ruse? I have noticed myself that power level can definitely be abused after a couple games using it.

 Primark G wrote:
Have you seen any examples of people gaming this system to get the Ruse? I have noticed myself that power level can definitely be abused after a couple games using it.

The ruses by in large aren't worth the delta in PL.

And PL is a fundamentally different game than points.

The open war cards are super open to abuse. We played them for a while, but found that in general they're just not that great. Some of games are over before they even start. That's not good design.

we've been using the open war deck in my playgroup and everybody loves it. granted, if you abuse something on purpose and "game" the system it prob wouldn't be fun. but all of us don't play min/max and every game has been fun and little to no repition. I've never even thought about playing to get the rise, so can't answer OP's initial question. I'll ask on Thursday what's everyones opinion on it.

I enjoy Open War as a quick and easy way to get a fun and different match - I use it in "Garage Hammer" all the time.

If somebody is abusing something in Open War they are probably missing the point.

My 2 cents is that both players should know in advance that part of the game allows you to have a "powerup" (Ruse) if you have a weaker army... and deliebrately game it.

So you add a small metagame of bidding for the ruse by taking a weaker army, or ignoring it and going full on.

Some of the ruses can be super OP, particularly in smaller games - play a 50PL game and take a Leman Russ or similar PL10 T8 unit. You opponent struggles for 3 turns to kill it at great losses and sacrifice. Then you play the ruse and bring it back on the table for free.

Feelbadsies.

However if it's something you can anticipate and aren't totally gotcha'd by, it's not too bad.

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As for the Open War cards... they are good for quick games but I feel some of the random twists and victory conditions can create a sense of "well that greatly favours one side over the other".

Eg... you are playing a scary assault army and your opponent has a gunline, and you draw the one that reduces range.
Or, you are playing vs Guard with an elite army, and you draw the one that means morale has no effect.
Or you are playing vs Death Guard and get the one that gives all models +1 attack.

If you can roll with these punches or just say to your friend "yeah that's not a good one let's redraw" then they're a good little add on

In my experience, open war is good for pick-up games, when both players already have their lists made.

If you are facing a regular opponent, better go with CA or ITC missions.

I love the open war deck. Sure, some of them are a bit imbalanced but they are fun for pickup games as long as nobody is a douchebag who will try to get an objective immediately to win the game.

I have not heard of anyone trying to game Ruse/Sudden Death (normally when I use them, each player gets a Ruse card anyways as sort of a "trump card").

We use the open war deck quite a bit. However, it is definitely not for min/max powergaming.