Withdrawal Symptoms...

On the same day that I finally grabbed the chance to play against Nids, I also grabbed a game against YC in 8th Ed Fantasy. 1k Points. I was using a hastily drawn up DE list and YC was using a hastily drawn up HE list by Defu. The game was to let me get some knowledge on the changes in 8th Ed.

What an eye-opener the game was.

The changes are in a few rules of the game, but these rules have made the game so different.

One of the most core part of Fantasy was Charging, and now Charging is randomised. No longer does our experienced eye gives us the ability to decide if a charge is possible. With the 2D6 implementation, the success of a charge now lies in the luck of my roll.

How it really really affects our meta-game still bears testing out. But can Fantasy gamers recover from a failed charge that resulted from a bad roll? Things become more fast and furious.
HE is really boosted in 8th Ed. ASF now gives them hatred as well as they get to re-roll failed hit rolls if their Initiative is equal or higher. This makes Swordmasters ridiculously nice. Hatred + high WS + ASF + Str 5 + 2 attacks each = Yes Sir, may I have more?

YC used to complain that he prefers Hatred to ASF. Now HE gets both. This makes it more important for DE to get the ASF banner for our unit-killer. ASF will cancel each other out and we still get our Hatred. I guess my CoK won't get retired any time soon. Or maybe it is time for my Black Guards to step up to the batter's mound.

For HE, Dragon Princes with their I6 also appears attractive. MSUing Dragon Princes/Swordmasters may reap benefits while I only have one ASF banner.

Magic is also fiercer now, and bringing a decent-levelled Wizard seems to be a must now, if only to get the bonus to dispel to cancel the opponent's bonus to cast.

I went to PI (which was nearby) after the games and was seduced by something innocuously mild.

MUNCHKINS!!

Since CM has the card game, I went ahead and bought an expansion set to go along with his. I'm looking forward to getting some games with him and Eileen. Backstabbing is back with a vengeance. =D

Together with the introduction of RPG-ness into my life, I began to suffer from withdrawal symptoms. It's been literally months since I had immersed myself in RPGs. The current game of the month is Starcraft 2, but I've already completed the campaign and is now in multiplayer mode. And this is after a month of playing Civ 4 Colonization and a few months of Civ 4 HoTK mod. And the game before this was Anno 1404.

I need a Dungeon Crawler and I would love for anyone to recommend me a good Dungeon Crawler that I can sink into. One that has replayability and random rewards. Already, Diablo 2 has started its beckoning to me. Perhaps I may re-install this excellent game...


Now.