Today, I'm going to start my new series: Caster Profiles. I'm hoping to do this weekly. I'll go over casters in depth, reviewing their spell lists, their feats, their tier lists, good model synergies, and an example army list. Today I'm going to start with a caster very near and dear to my heart, the Menoth Battlebox caster, High Exemplar Kreoss.
Let's start with the statline and special rules. Kreoss is pretty standard here. His 14/15 defensive stats are a bit below average, though his Reach MAT 7 POW 14 weapon is very respectable-- moreso because it has Dispel, an excellent effect. This leads to my first observation: Kreoss is NOT a frontline caster, except under certain circumstances which I will discuss later. He is simply too fragile.
Kreoss's spell list is where things start to get interesting. Let's go over them one by one.
Cleansing Fire is a somewhat pricey (3 FOC) AOE attack. It has a decent POW on its direct hit, but the low POW of the blasts means that it's only likely to kill very lightly armored targets (Gun Mages, Nyss Hunters etc.) Furthermore, it's a small AOE, unlikely to catch more than one or two enemies. Critical Fire is a nice effect but not reliable, and we have much much better fire AOEs. This is not a great spell.
Defender's Ward is one of the best upkeeps in the game-- only Eye of Menoth is more powerful. +2 DEF and +2 ARM can make an already high-DEF unit a nightmare to hit, or an already rock-hard unit almost impregnable. On a unit with mixed defensive stats it can push both up to sky-high levels. If you do not upkeep Defender's Ward during any turn in the game it should only be because you plan to cast it that turn. Ending any turn with Defender's Ward inactive is foolish. I'll go over how to target it later in the analysis, with one exception: note that if you cast it on Kreoss himself, he goes up to 16/17 base defensive stats, which is much more powerful. The combination of that and camping focus puts him at 16/23, which is nigh-impossible for most enemies to crack, barring Blessed or Arcane Assassin. Under those circumstances, Kreoss can become a bit of a beatstick, as he can spend two or three focus a turn boosting his attacks and buying more and still keep his ARM above 20. This is purely a lategame strategy, but you should not be afraid to cast Defender's Ward on yourself and run around wrecking face. Note that slams will knock Kreoss on his butt and heavy warjacks or weapon masters will kill him-- so you should think carefully before you throw the High Exemplar into melee. Also note that dispel effects will remove his DEF bonus, rendering him much easier to hit. You should look very carefully at what is still in the game on your opponent's side before you use this strategy.
Immolation is Kreoss's go-to attacking spell. RNG 8, COST 2 and POW 12 are all very standard for an offensive spell, and Critical Fire, while nice, is nothing to rely on. Generally you will get more mileage out of Kreoss's support spells or focus allocation, although this is useful to snipe out Incorporeal targets. Also you should realize that both of Kreoss's offensive spells are fire-typed, meaning some things (Assault Kommandos and Strakhov, Druids of Orboros, Feora, Cleansers) are immune to them.
Lamentation is very good upkeep spell with a few caveats. It doubles the cost to cast or upkeep spells if the enemy is in your control area. A few things to note about this spell:
First, all you have to do is end your turn with the enemy in your control area to force them to pay extra to upkeep. After all, they'll have to start their turn in your control area. Against some enemies, such as Damiano, this is often enough, as he'll have to spend all six of his Focus just to keep his three upkeeps going. Against others, such as pMagnus, Absylonia, the Old Witch, and Doomshaper, this is less useful, since they don't have to pay to upkeep one or all of their spells.
Second, remember that you can't have this and Defender's Ward active on Kreoss at the same time. So if you're going for the endgame strategy described above, you'll have to do it without Lamentation.
Third, remember that the enemy can just back out of your control area to cast at normal cost. This will often mean that they're out of range with their offensive spells, but if they have arc nodes this won't be a problem. If Lamentation is part of your game plan, you should have a way to lock down arc nodes. The easiest way to do this is to engage them, as with one exception engaged models can't channel. The best models to use with this strategy are in the synergies section.
Fourth, 14" seems like a long distance but isn't really, especially if the enemy caster is behind their own front line. You'll have to make sure that Kreoss isn't putting himself in harm's way in order to get use out of this spell.
Purification is Kreoss's last spell, and it's a real doozy. This spell removes ALL continuous effects, upkeep spells and animi in his control area. This includes your own, so if you're planning to cast Purification, drop Lamentation and Defender's Ward and recast them after you've pulsed. Generally in using Purification, you should ask yourself two questions: first, what will I do with one turn of freedom from enemy upkeeps; and second, am I costing myself more than I am costing the enemy? Fortunately the second question is easy: Kreoss has only defensive upkeeps, so as long as they're up at the end of the turn, you're getting the full benefit of them; so it's a simple matter to drop and recast them. If you had Lamentation and Defender's Ward active, you're costing yourself 5 Focus in recasts. You are also costing your opponent in recasts, so that's a simple measurement to make. However, it's not as easy as comparing costs. If your opponent has Admonition on, say, the Deathjack, that's only 2 Focus in recasts, but by dispelling it you are giving yourself the chance to destroy or cripple the Deathjack without it being able to escape. That might be worth it, even if you have to pay more for recasts. The first question-- what will I do-- is key. What upkeeps does your opponent have? If he's got Crippling Grasp on a unit of yours, blasting it off renders that unit able to function for the turn-- that's definitely valuable. If he's got Defender's Ward on a unit of his, getting rid of it can help you wipe that unit out. In the end Purification is a spell that you can't just fire and forget. You have to have a plan for what you're going to do with it. In the end, though, it's an invaluable tool, destroying magical protections and forcing the enemy to spend critical Focus recasting upkeeps. With a Hierophant and Wracks Kreoss has an effective 9 Focus to play with, so he often comes off well just by force the opponent to spend their more limited supply.
Next, we've got Kreoss's feat. This is a real doozy, as powerful as it is simple: enemies within 14" of Kreoss are knocked down. That's it. This is an incredible assassination feat, as a knocked-down foe can't move (via Admonition, Enliven, etc.), can't block line of sight to a caster, and has his DEF reduced to 5. Many games end with "Ok, Kreoss drops his upkeeps, allocates 2 FOC to each of his Redeemers and his Reckoner, pops his feat and shoots you to pieces." Furthermore, units can't Shake Effects or make free strikes, so if you knock over a melee unit and walk out of melee range with it that unit won't be attacking anyone for a turn. There's two ways to use this feat, as I see it: a knockout punch or a body blow. A knockout punch would be killing the warcaster with it: simple, direct, and game-ending. If you don't quite think you can pull that off, you can do so much damage to his army that he can't keep slugging it out with you-- that's a body blow.
Now obviously, the biggest problems with this feat are models that can't be knocked over (models with Steady, models in base contact with Pirate warjacks), models that don't care about being knocked over (Magnus, Shae, Amon ad-Raza) or models that can get back up after being knocked over easily (Bane Thralls with UA, Tyrant Commander). If a model protects other nearby models from knockdown-- Satyxis Raider Captains, Bosun Grogspar, warjacks with Lash, Paingiver Task Masters, the Covenant-- it should be a priority target and should go down before you feat. If a model doesn't care about knockdown, you should plan your feat turn around that. For example, you can't really go for a knockdown assassination against Phinneus Shae, but if you can knock over his troops you can cripple his army. Finally, if you are going for a body blow you should be sure to take out models that can stand up other models, like Gatormen Wrastlers, Fell Callers, Tyrant Commanders and Bane Thrall UAs.
Now, the tier list. This is an interesting one, as it has most of what you want, but tilts a bit differently than you'd expect. There are a key models and units missing, but you can make an interesting tier.
You can have all warjacks except for the Avatar, Blessing of Vengeance, Scourge of Heresy and Blood of Martyrs. The only one there you're likely to miss is the Avatar, but you can make do without it. You can take Choirs, any exemplar units or solos, and Vassal Mechaniks. The tier 1 bonus cheapens Exemplar Venger units-- putting them at an even two points per model-- and allows you to take two units. Kreoss lists usually tilt towards range, but Vengers make an interesting choice. Note that on the feat turn you can take maximal advantage of the Cavalry rules. Your Vengers have a 13" threat range and can charge right through enemy models, hitting them automatically with impact attacks as they are knocked down. The only things to worry about here are Tough enemies or enemies with high armor, as the impact hits are only POW 10 and any failure to kill arrests your charge. Nothing is forcing you to take Vengers, though, so you can decide whether they're worth the points investment.
Tier II requires Gravus, and gives him and any Vengers Advance Deployment. This sweetens the pot a little, though with their high speed they're likely to outpace Kreoss. That's not good, since the whole point of the combo is for his feat to knock down enemies so they can ride right over them. If the Vengers have to wait up for Kreoss's feat bubble to get in range their Advance Deployment doesn't make too much sense. Still, if you're going for this combo you might as well take Gravus, as he's a POW 11 Weaponmaster that protects your own Exemplars from being knocked over. Since you can't take the Covenant in the tier, he's a decent buy.
Tier III requires two or more units of Exemplars Errant. Since I'd recommend taking these guys in every Kreoss list anyways this is an almost no-brainer tier, though I would recommend one max and one min unit over two maxes. This tier gives your army Pathfinder in the first turn, which is a nice bonus-- especially for the ADing Errants and horses (though your UA unit of errants will already have Pathfinder).
Tier 4 requires two arc nodes and allows Kreoss to start the game with his upkeeps active. This seems like a decent bonus, but it costs Kreoss 5 FOC to set up his upkeeps on turn 1, allowing him 2 to let 'jacks run-- 3 or 4 if he has a hierophant, wracks, or both. And two arc nodes seems like a lot, since Kreoss only has two middling offensive spells.
Overall, I would only bother with the tier if you're going for the Venger strategy. Otherwise, you are restricting yourself from some key solos and support models for little gain.
So let's look at some key model synergies.
Warjacks:
Kreoss loves ranged warjacks. I'd say the ideals are Redeemers and a Reckoner, with the Vanquiser and Repenter occupying the tier directly below them.
Redeemers have a frankly absurd 21" threat range on their missiles, with POW 14 with the Choir buff. They can also shoot up to three times each. Even unboosted, six POW 14s will put paid to a lot of casters, and you can get two boosted damage shots per 'jack-- four boosted POW 14s is likely to kill most non-camping casters in the game. Their only downside is their inaccuracy, being only RAT 3 even with the Choir buff, but that's enough to hit a knocked down model on any roll but double ones. Against DEF 5, RAT 3 is the same as RAT 20.
The Reckoner has only one shot with less range and no AOE, but it makes up for it with melee potency and the ability to protect Kreoss with Ashen Veil. With Defender's Ward it goes up to a respectable DEF 14 against most ranged attacks and ARM 21, which should keep it going for a while. Furthermore, the Flare effect of its gun puts aiming Redeemers up to an effective RAT 7 with the Choir bonus, meaning that even outside of the feat turn they have a chance at hitting the broad side of a barn. The Assault ability means that the Reckoner can do some serious damage in close combat, at an effective MAT 10 if the initial ranged attack hits and doling out some POW 19 loving'. It's an all-around great jack that gets better with Kreoss.
The Vanquisher is another heavy that can perform a hybrid role. Its 4" AOE autofire gun will blow huge holes in Shield Walls and can catch support solos hiding behind warjacks or warbeasts. Its range is a bit shorter, but it focuses more on an anti-infantry role than that previous two 'jacks. With a POW 16 gun and a POW 18 melee weapon, though, it's more than capable of putting some serious hurt on anything. The primary purpose, though, is to punish enemies for grouping up. Even if they ignore blast damage, setting a big chunk of their army on Fire will dissuade them from sticking together.
The Repenter is the only 'jack on this list that natively ignores Stealth. With clever placement, you'll be setting lots of enemies on fire, and you can cleverly target models you can't see using rangefinders (friendly or enemy models you can target that place the spray template over the enemy). This is mostly an infantry clearer, but it's so good at that that it makes the list on that strength alone. It's also super cheap!
Units:
Exemplars Errant are Kreoss's best friend. Yes, they're the best unit in Menoth, but they're even better with Kreoss, who synergizes well with them. Choirs are essential, as Kreoss relies heavily on his battlegroup. Deliverers are sometimes popular, but I personally don't like 'em-- I'll go over them though. Vengers have been covered above. Kreoss also likes Juviah Rhoven and his honor guard, and I have a soft spot for Zealots.
Go ahead, make a Kreoss list. If you did not start off with a Redeemer, Choir, and full Errants + UA I question your dedication. Let's go over some of the ways that Errants rock.
1) They are the perfect targets for Defender's Ward. Their DEF and ARM are both JUST high enough that they can benefit from it. The difference between DEF 12 and DEF 14 is huge-- MAT 6, the average in the game, goes from needing 6s to hit (below average) to needing 8s (above average). Warjacks and warbeasts will need to boost to reliably hit them, massively cutting into the number of attacks they can make. Many infantry units will just bounce off of them. Standard POW 10-12 shooting goes from killing Errants on 7s or 5s to killing them on 9s or 7s-- a pretty huge drop.
2) Quick Work loves knocked down models. One of the biggest flaws with Quick Work is that you can't make a ranged attack while you're engaging or engaged. If the enemy is knocked down, they can't engage or be engaged, and you'll hit with all of your melee attacks, so you'll be making lots and lots of shots. You haven't lived until you've seen the look on the enemy's face when six Exemplars Errant kill a full unit of Rangers and a full unit of Gun Mages.
3) Errants crossbows are Blessed. You don't have to bother Purifying the Arcane Shield off of your opponent's Sword Knights if your shots ignore it.
4) Errants are excellent for locking down arc nodes, as you can keep Self Sacrificing to keep the lockdown model in melee.
Errants are just great in all kinds of ways. Pathfinder and Advance Deployment mean they can lurk in terrain and can shoot up the board quickly, somewhat mitigating their slow SPD. They tarpit like crazy, protective the fragile Kreoss from assassins. They can shoot, they can fight, they're even immune to enemy magic that could drag them out of position or mess with them. You should always, always take a UA-- min unit + UA is better than a max unit. I would recommend just one unit, since more than that is often overkill and without Defender's Ward, Rhupert buffs and a UA they're much less useful.
You should always take a Choir with Kreoss. I'm not going to explain why. Just do it. If you don't know why, you don't play Menoth. He relies so heavily on his 'jacks to get the assassination that +2/+2 is a no brainer.
Deliverers are interesting. At first blush, they're great: a unit of Redeemer missiles! Then reality starts to set in. They're a unit of Redeemer missiles that can't benefit from the Choir and are thus stuck at POW 6 blast damage and POW 12 direct damage. They're a unit of Redeemer missiles that can't boost attack or damage rolls, meaning that they'll bounce in many cases. They're a unit of Redeemer missiles that can't fight in melee like a real Redeemer can, can't get extra shots from the Vassal, and are vulnerable to a whole separate set of stuff. They do have that Rocket Volley, which is neat, but it means you're paying 5-8 points for one shot per turn. Admittedly it can get decently accurate but Kreoss's feat does that anyways. I personally don't like them. They can make it rain templates on Stealthy infantry, but a Redeemer or Vanquisher seems more useful for that, being more powerful and with larger templates.
Juviah Rhoven is key. In addition to providing some melee punch, Rhoven has a suite of useful abilities. Cleanse and Negation are cornercase at best, with Cleanse able to somewhat replicate the effects of Purification without getting rid of upkeeps. Menoth's Sight is the money ability. A large suite of casters such as eLylyth, Deneghra, and Garryth may think themselves safe behind their Stealth, relying on it over their low ARM to keep them protected. A dose of Menoth's Sight on a Redeemer or Reckoner will let it reach out and touch them from a distance. Since these casters typically have low ARM stats, one 'jack can be enough to put them down, especially if they neglected to camp ARM. Make sure to keep Rhoven safe-- Gius and Cassian are expendable, Rhoven's not. Defender's Ward works well on these guys if the Errants are gone.
Zealots are an interesting unit. They're cheap as hell, and like Redeemers they pack extremely high POW and extreme inaccuracy. The knockdown effect of Kreoss's feat can help them hit with those bombs, but unlike Redeemers they're POW 14 blast 8, meaning they can damage a wider variety of targets. They also have crate fire, but that's nothing to rely on. Zealots are mostly useful because of the Monolith Bearer, however, who can render them immune to almost everything for a turn. Combined with their leader's prayer granting them spell immunity, and they can only be damaged by pAsphyxious, Harbinger, Cassius, Old Witch, and Morvahna's feats or by spells targeted at a nearby model. Combine them with Errants for a block of spell immunity. Zealots are mostly useful for jamming up enemies and providing cheap souls to your Reclaimers, but their ability to drop a bunch of POW 14 bombs on your feat turn should not be discounted.
Solos of interest include epic Eiryss, Vassals of Menoth, Exemplar Errant Seneschals, the Covenant, Rhupert Carvolo, Reclaimers, Vassal Mechaniks, Wracks and Hierophants.
eEiryss is key for assassination runs. Kreoss assassination lists often rely on four to six Redeemer shots at POW 14, which will have trouble cracking ARM 20 or higher. eEiryss will strip the Focus right off that enemy, as well as any protective spells he's got, rendering him a sitting duck for your missiles. She won't have any trouble hitting a knocked-down model either. Other than that, she's useful at Disrupting enemy arc nodes, forcing the enemy to come in close and put themselves in Lamentation range. Just make sure to keep her away from your warjacks so as to not trigger her Technological Intolerance.
The Vassal is probably the most important in-faction solo for many Kreoss builds, and I can't recommend it highly enough. In fact, bring two. Enliven will keep your jacks safe until you need them, but Ancillary Attack is where it's at. Six POW 14 missiles? Why not 8? Why not drop two Vanquisher pie plates and set two chunks of the enemy on fire? Why not get two Reckoner shots, Flaring two different targets? For a list whose basic plan is "knock the enemy on their butt and then shoot them to pieces while they're vulnerable" having as much lead in the air as possible is essential and these guys are basically ammo belts.
Exemplar Errant Seneschals are sweet, but they're really only there if you have Errants. Granting Errants Hunter not only gives them an absolutely absurd number of rules, but means they ignore almost every protection in the game: no forests, no camouflage, no concealment, no cover, no spells. Nothing stops their crossbows. With Hunter and Pathfinder they can also ignore forests entirely, charging right across them if you want. They make the central unit in the list better. Why not take them?
The Covenant is a defensive solo, and it's not a bad one. Preventing knockdown makes Tough a better ability (and Rhupert will be handing it out) and it also ensures Enliven will trigger, even after headbutts and slams. Flames of Wrath is also useful for a ranged-heavy list, since even if an enemy survives your shots they will be on fire. Works well on Errants with Quick Work since both their melee attacks and crossbow shots will cause fire.
Rhupert has basically one job in this list: giving your Errants tough. And sometimes +1 DEF, putting them at 15, but mostly Tough. Tough Errants are a nightmare to remove, since even if you crack their 14/18 defensive stats they're still getting a Tough rolls; if they pass it they stay standing (due to the book), if they fail you can then choose another one to die in their stead. If you fail a Tough check, after all, you are still Disabled before you go on to being boxed, so you get to trigger Self-Sacrifice. And since Tough only knocks you down if you pass, if you're outside of the Covenant's range, if you fail a check but Self-Sacrifice onto someone else, you are not knocked down. This is a brutal tar pit.
Reclaimers have a fairly simple job. Kreoss's assassination turn involves handing out a lot of FOC. If you don't want to or can't, you can have a Reclaimer juice up one of your 'jacks. It's worth looking into running this guy with Zealots or Temple Flameguard-- if your only troops are Errants their Self-Sacrifices won't give up souls (since they are technically destroyed by Self-Sacrifice, not an enemy attack-- the same reason it doesn't trigger Berserk, Carnivore, or any other on-kill abilities like Soul Harvester). Include one or not depending on your list.
Vassal Mechaniks are in charge of keeping your guns firing. They also only cost one point, so they're a good list fill. If a Redeemer or Reckoner loses its gun to a lucky shot, you're out of luck unless you have a Menofixer on hand to tune it up. They also put cortices back in action, in case a 'jack loses that.
Finally, Hierophants and Wracks are the generic "focus-extenders." Kreoss's ability to play Focus games with Purification against upkeep-heavy casters (see above) can make these choices valuable. He also wants to hand out as much as possible on his feat turn. Other than that, they're not essential.
Kreoss is more than just a feat on legs, but that feat should be central in your planning. It'll either net you the kill or a turn of brutal damage to your opponent's army. Here's a sample pKreoss 35 point list:
High Exemplar Kreoss: +5
Redeemer -6
Redeemer -6
Reckoner -8
Minimum Choir -2
Full Exemplars Errant + UA -10
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution -3
Vassal of Menoth -2
Vassal of Menoth -2
Vassal Mechanik -1
Total 35 +5
This is a pretty straightforward list. The 'jacks advance with the Vassals behind them and the Choir behind them. Eiryss lurks until she's needed to strip Focus or blast an arc node. The Errants soak up most of the fire. You can drop one Vassal for Rhupert if you find yourself wanting a more stable frontline, but it's not necessary. This list lacks Juviah Rhoven and has trouble with stealth-heavy enemies, but you can make it rain templates to clear their infantry, and the Reckoner is a top-tier melee beatstick. Expanding to 50 points, you can pick up Rhoven and a second melee unit-- min Zealots + UA or full Temple Flameguard. That leaves space for a Covenant, a Reclaimer, and Wracks.
I hope this was informative! Next week I hope to look at either Garryth, pAsphyxious, or Karchev the Terrible.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
How to be safe!
In Warmachine, there are three fundamental ways to keep a model (usually your caster) safe. I will go over them today. Briefly, I call them You Can't Hurt Me, You Can't Hit Me and You Can't Touch Me.
You Can't Hurt Me is simple. It means setting yourself up so that you will take little to no damage from attacks. The canonical example of this is high ARM stacking. Models that rely on this method include Terminus, Venethrax, the Devastator, and in fact much of Khador. This is, in my opinion, the weakest of the three defenses, as there are numerous ways around it-- everything from autoplinking via Sniper or Anatomical Precision to rolling four 6s on a Bane Thrall's charge. However, the tradeoff is that this is often the easiest defense to set up. You just stack armor buffs or start with an extremely armored model (Devastator, Demolisher) etc. Furthermore, every Warmachine caster has access to focus camping as a strategy, which will (in almost all cases) push one's ARM up to 20 or even past it.
Of course, it's not just ARM stacking. Effects like the Agonizer's Gnawing Pain, feats like Rasheth's, Ossyan's and Fiona's, and other effects that reduce STR play into this strategy. There's also an offensive side: Disrupting enemy warjacks or taking out the Body system on warbeasts can reduce the number of damage dice they throw at you.
The second defense, You Can't Hit Me, is equally simple. It means setting yourself up so that attacks directed at you are likely to miss. The canonical example of this is DEF stacking, such as Quicken on Ashlynn d'Elyse or the rock wall of Janissa Stonetide. Other examples include Iron Flesh'd Kayazy, both Morghouls (and eMorg's feat), Dug In models, etc. This is in many ways a stronger defense, because a model that is not hit suffers no ill effects at all. However, the downside is the existence of knockdown/stationary effects in the game, which completely obviate any precautions you have taken, and the fact that if an attack connects you are often quite frail. This defense is also not particularly hard to set up, but thinking outside the box can help: terrain is your friend here, including hills and forests.
There's an offensive side here, as well-- Disruption will prevent boosting to hit, and taking out the Mind makes beasts less accurate. Models with Powerful Charge or Cavalry get bonuses to hit when charging, so denying them the charge can help preserve your DEF-based protection. Finally, some models CMA or CRA to improve their accuracy, so the ability Perfect Balance falls into this category.
The third defense, You Can't Touch Me, is often the hardest to set up but the best of all. If no attacks can be directed your way, the chance of being hurt is reduced drastically. Your opponent's accuracy and hitting power, as well as your DEF and ARM, become irrelevant if they're not attacking you. There are lots of ways to pull this off. Many of them are feats: Saeryn, eSkarre, eHaley, and Zerkova all have feats that deny your opponent the ability to attack you. Other ways are more subtle: Rasheth and pSeverius survive by simply staying a huge distance from the frontline. Staying out of LOS or having Stealth can help, although there are models that ignore these restrictions: it's important to note who will and won't be able to attack you through your protection. For example, if I am running Rasheth in a Krea bubble behind a forest, the only models in my opponent's Retribution of Scyrah list that will be able to hit me are his Mage Hunter Strike Force, who cannot hurt Rasheth at all (since they only roll 1d6 for damage against him due to Impervious Flesh and his ARM is 16 due to the Krea, whose benefit is not ignore by Arcane Assassin as it is not a spell if she cast it herself). Thus, I am safe. If, on the other hand, my opponent is Dawnlord Vyros with Hydras, I am in danger as the models he has that can ignore my You Can't Touch Me protection are also capable of hurting me.
The above example was a bit convoluted, but I hope it demonstrated how stacking different types of defenses can help keep you safe, and the importance of noting which models are capable of striking through your defenses. You Can't Touch Me can happen in many different ways: tying up ranged attacks in melee denies them the ability to shoot, blocking charge lanes denies enemies the ability to charge, and using elemental immunities (especially Fire against Protectorate and Legion, Corrosion against Cryx and Legion, and Lightning against Cygnar) can render certain models useless. Spells like Crippling Grasp and Rebuke form the offensive side of this, preventing enemies from engaging at all.
The safest caster is the one who is not being attacked at all, but if you must be attacked, you should ensure that the attacks will either miss or do no damage. Warmachine is a game of assassination: once you have identified the threats (as I went over in a previous post), you should figure out how you are going to defend yourself from those threats. Which philosophy of defense will you follow? How will it be enacted? What are its weaknesses? Plan, and you will stay safe.
You Can't Hurt Me is simple. It means setting yourself up so that you will take little to no damage from attacks. The canonical example of this is high ARM stacking. Models that rely on this method include Terminus, Venethrax, the Devastator, and in fact much of Khador. This is, in my opinion, the weakest of the three defenses, as there are numerous ways around it-- everything from autoplinking via Sniper or Anatomical Precision to rolling four 6s on a Bane Thrall's charge. However, the tradeoff is that this is often the easiest defense to set up. You just stack armor buffs or start with an extremely armored model (Devastator, Demolisher) etc. Furthermore, every Warmachine caster has access to focus camping as a strategy, which will (in almost all cases) push one's ARM up to 20 or even past it.
Of course, it's not just ARM stacking. Effects like the Agonizer's Gnawing Pain, feats like Rasheth's, Ossyan's and Fiona's, and other effects that reduce STR play into this strategy. There's also an offensive side: Disrupting enemy warjacks or taking out the Body system on warbeasts can reduce the number of damage dice they throw at you.
The second defense, You Can't Hit Me, is equally simple. It means setting yourself up so that attacks directed at you are likely to miss. The canonical example of this is DEF stacking, such as Quicken on Ashlynn d'Elyse or the rock wall of Janissa Stonetide. Other examples include Iron Flesh'd Kayazy, both Morghouls (and eMorg's feat), Dug In models, etc. This is in many ways a stronger defense, because a model that is not hit suffers no ill effects at all. However, the downside is the existence of knockdown/stationary effects in the game, which completely obviate any precautions you have taken, and the fact that if an attack connects you are often quite frail. This defense is also not particularly hard to set up, but thinking outside the box can help: terrain is your friend here, including hills and forests.
There's an offensive side here, as well-- Disruption will prevent boosting to hit, and taking out the Mind makes beasts less accurate. Models with Powerful Charge or Cavalry get bonuses to hit when charging, so denying them the charge can help preserve your DEF-based protection. Finally, some models CMA or CRA to improve their accuracy, so the ability Perfect Balance falls into this category.
The third defense, You Can't Touch Me, is often the hardest to set up but the best of all. If no attacks can be directed your way, the chance of being hurt is reduced drastically. Your opponent's accuracy and hitting power, as well as your DEF and ARM, become irrelevant if they're not attacking you. There are lots of ways to pull this off. Many of them are feats: Saeryn, eSkarre, eHaley, and Zerkova all have feats that deny your opponent the ability to attack you. Other ways are more subtle: Rasheth and pSeverius survive by simply staying a huge distance from the frontline. Staying out of LOS or having Stealth can help, although there are models that ignore these restrictions: it's important to note who will and won't be able to attack you through your protection. For example, if I am running Rasheth in a Krea bubble behind a forest, the only models in my opponent's Retribution of Scyrah list that will be able to hit me are his Mage Hunter Strike Force, who cannot hurt Rasheth at all (since they only roll 1d6 for damage against him due to Impervious Flesh and his ARM is 16 due to the Krea, whose benefit is not ignore by Arcane Assassin as it is not a spell if she cast it herself). Thus, I am safe. If, on the other hand, my opponent is Dawnlord Vyros with Hydras, I am in danger as the models he has that can ignore my You Can't Touch Me protection are also capable of hurting me.
The above example was a bit convoluted, but I hope it demonstrated how stacking different types of defenses can help keep you safe, and the importance of noting which models are capable of striking through your defenses. You Can't Touch Me can happen in many different ways: tying up ranged attacks in melee denies them the ability to shoot, blocking charge lanes denies enemies the ability to charge, and using elemental immunities (especially Fire against Protectorate and Legion, Corrosion against Cryx and Legion, and Lightning against Cygnar) can render certain models useless. Spells like Crippling Grasp and Rebuke form the offensive side of this, preventing enemies from engaging at all.
The safest caster is the one who is not being attacked at all, but if you must be attacked, you should ensure that the attacks will either miss or do no damage. Warmachine is a game of assassination: once you have identified the threats (as I went over in a previous post), you should figure out how you are going to defend yourself from those threats. Which philosophy of defense will you follow? How will it be enacted? What are its weaknesses? Plan, and you will stay safe.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Worldviews
Real quick one this time. I know when I say that they turn out long, but:
I watched Jesus Camp the other day. It really got me thinking about worldviews. This is going to be expanded on in a later post, probably, but the religious (especially fundamentalist) worldview really does not understand the scientific one. This is why you get people trying to "refute" evolution by claiming (erroneously, by the way) that Darwin renounced his ideas on his deathbed. Religion is informed by revelation, which is its own evidence; the only quality revelation needs to have to be authentic is to come from a legitimate revelator. The actual content is irrelevant. They believe that the non-religious view the world through the same lens, so to undermine a view they don't like they attack the "source," the person who propagated it. They think this renders it illegitimate.
What they do not understand is that in the secular, scientific world, data is divorced from the discoverer. Darwin was wrong about lots of things. He may (or may not) have held various morally or scientifically questionable beliefs. This does nothing, nothing to undermine the fundamental truth of evolution through natural selection. We don't believe in revelation. A statement is true or false on its own merits and an idea succeeds of fails on its content, not based on the presenter.
There's a lot more I want to say: Religion accepts the unknowable, supports magical thinking, and denies the possibility of understanding fundamental truths. If science had not won out over religion in the field of medicine, we would have no interest in discovering the root causes of ailments. Science believes that the universe is a fundamentally understandable place where effects mostly follow causes (let's avoid quantum for now, folks) and the mechanism by which this occurs, even if it is not currently known, can be studied and understood. It is knowable. This is what sets it apart from the magico-religious view and why science is ultimately triumphant: because it says "Yes, we can understand this."
I watched Jesus Camp the other day. It really got me thinking about worldviews. This is going to be expanded on in a later post, probably, but the religious (especially fundamentalist) worldview really does not understand the scientific one. This is why you get people trying to "refute" evolution by claiming (erroneously, by the way) that Darwin renounced his ideas on his deathbed. Religion is informed by revelation, which is its own evidence; the only quality revelation needs to have to be authentic is to come from a legitimate revelator. The actual content is irrelevant. They believe that the non-religious view the world through the same lens, so to undermine a view they don't like they attack the "source," the person who propagated it. They think this renders it illegitimate.
What they do not understand is that in the secular, scientific world, data is divorced from the discoverer. Darwin was wrong about lots of things. He may (or may not) have held various morally or scientifically questionable beliefs. This does nothing, nothing to undermine the fundamental truth of evolution through natural selection. We don't believe in revelation. A statement is true or false on its own merits and an idea succeeds of fails on its content, not based on the presenter.
There's a lot more I want to say: Religion accepts the unknowable, supports magical thinking, and denies the possibility of understanding fundamental truths. If science had not won out over religion in the field of medicine, we would have no interest in discovering the root causes of ailments. Science believes that the universe is a fundamentally understandable place where effects mostly follow causes (let's avoid quantum for now, folks) and the mechanism by which this occurs, even if it is not currently known, can be studied and understood. It is knowable. This is what sets it apart from the magico-religious view and why science is ultimately triumphant: because it says "Yes, we can understand this."
Monday, August 29, 2011
Assassination
Another game lesson. This one will be shorter. The lesson here is on assassination.
Sometimes plans fail. In Warmachine, a failed assassination run can be the end of the game. Not only is your assassination piece heavily exposed, but you usually spent all of your resources that turn preparing for the kill, so you're out of position and you didn't apply force to the most immediate threats. Furthermore, you often were able to skimp on defensive measures that you'd normally take, figuring the game would end this turn.
So what do you do? First of all, some degree of exposure is inevitable. How much is necessary? I think that depends greatly on the kill possibility. If your assassination is a Hail Mary that might or might not work, it's probably best to assume the game will continue. If it's charging a non-camping, weak caster with a buffed heavy, you can take more risks.
Second of all, how do you prepare for an assassination? You need to identify the steps you will need to complete in order to perform the assassination. "In order" is key here-- what happens first, second, third, etc? You should also identify the obstacles to each step, and how you will overcome them. Then you should remove the obstacles in order from first to last. The reasoning for this is simple: if you exert great effort clearing obstacles from your path but fail to clear the very first one, all your effort will be wasted and you will likely be in a rough position, having used valuable resources on a failed plan. If, on the other hand, you go from the beginning to the end, then if at any point your preparations fail you can either abort the plan or adjust it to handle this new situation. Thus you can realign your resources where they will do the most good.
Let's go with an example: I have Molik Karn and I want to bullet him in. What are my obstacles? Well, there are models in the way. Karn is in rough terrain which will hinder his movement. The enemy caster has a high ARM stat. There's an anti-magic solo like Orin Midwinter blocking my casts. The enemy has a counter charger near their caster who could do serious damage. There are transfers open that could lead to a failed assassination.
Let's handle these one at a time. How will the assassination ideally go? First I'll cast spells on Karn to increase his movement and get him out of the rough terrain. Then I'll charge him forward, sidestepping towards the enemy caster. Then I'll hit the enemy caster a bunch of times and kill him.
First obstacle is the spell-blocker. If he lives then none of this can happen. So the first thing I do is go after Orin Midwinter. If he lives and I don't think I can remove him without endangering the rest of the plan, I abort and try something else.
Next obstacle are the intervening models. If they live then no amount of spellcasting can get Karn to his target. So then I activate some infantry to clear the way. If they fail, at least they did some killing, and I haven't risked Karn or spent fury on needless spells yet.
Next problem is the caster's defenses. Can I kill any of his beasts? Can I add Fury to them with Paingivers? Can I throw them out of the control area? If I can, I will. This will not only damage his army but also prevent him from surviving through transfers. Can I get a Thrullg or a Hex Blast onto the enemy to remove his magical defenses? If I can, I will. Can I engage his Counter Charger to prevent Molik from being taken out? If I fail at any of those things, I have introduced some uncertainty into the assassination. I have made it more survivable. I have to decide then whether to abort or press forward.
Having done all of that, I can activate my caster, cast the spells, Enrage Karn and charge him in. If I have cleared all of the obstacles, it can work. Had I failed at any stage, I would have to re-evaluate and decide if it was possible to make it. If not, I'd abort for this turn-- just because you start the turn thinking "I could go for the caster kill this turn" does not mean you are bound to do so.
I hope this helps. Assassination is the #1 way new players lose games. It's also a fun way to win! Try it out!
Sometimes plans fail. In Warmachine, a failed assassination run can be the end of the game. Not only is your assassination piece heavily exposed, but you usually spent all of your resources that turn preparing for the kill, so you're out of position and you didn't apply force to the most immediate threats. Furthermore, you often were able to skimp on defensive measures that you'd normally take, figuring the game would end this turn.
So what do you do? First of all, some degree of exposure is inevitable. How much is necessary? I think that depends greatly on the kill possibility. If your assassination is a Hail Mary that might or might not work, it's probably best to assume the game will continue. If it's charging a non-camping, weak caster with a buffed heavy, you can take more risks.
Second of all, how do you prepare for an assassination? You need to identify the steps you will need to complete in order to perform the assassination. "In order" is key here-- what happens first, second, third, etc? You should also identify the obstacles to each step, and how you will overcome them. Then you should remove the obstacles in order from first to last. The reasoning for this is simple: if you exert great effort clearing obstacles from your path but fail to clear the very first one, all your effort will be wasted and you will likely be in a rough position, having used valuable resources on a failed plan. If, on the other hand, you go from the beginning to the end, then if at any point your preparations fail you can either abort the plan or adjust it to handle this new situation. Thus you can realign your resources where they will do the most good.
Let's go with an example: I have Molik Karn and I want to bullet him in. What are my obstacles? Well, there are models in the way. Karn is in rough terrain which will hinder his movement. The enemy caster has a high ARM stat. There's an anti-magic solo like Orin Midwinter blocking my casts. The enemy has a counter charger near their caster who could do serious damage. There are transfers open that could lead to a failed assassination.
Let's handle these one at a time. How will the assassination ideally go? First I'll cast spells on Karn to increase his movement and get him out of the rough terrain. Then I'll charge him forward, sidestepping towards the enemy caster. Then I'll hit the enemy caster a bunch of times and kill him.
First obstacle is the spell-blocker. If he lives then none of this can happen. So the first thing I do is go after Orin Midwinter. If he lives and I don't think I can remove him without endangering the rest of the plan, I abort and try something else.
Next obstacle are the intervening models. If they live then no amount of spellcasting can get Karn to his target. So then I activate some infantry to clear the way. If they fail, at least they did some killing, and I haven't risked Karn or spent fury on needless spells yet.
Next problem is the caster's defenses. Can I kill any of his beasts? Can I add Fury to them with Paingivers? Can I throw them out of the control area? If I can, I will. This will not only damage his army but also prevent him from surviving through transfers. Can I get a Thrullg or a Hex Blast onto the enemy to remove his magical defenses? If I can, I will. Can I engage his Counter Charger to prevent Molik from being taken out? If I fail at any of those things, I have introduced some uncertainty into the assassination. I have made it more survivable. I have to decide then whether to abort or press forward.
Having done all of that, I can activate my caster, cast the spells, Enrage Karn and charge him in. If I have cleared all of the obstacles, it can work. Had I failed at any stage, I would have to re-evaluate and decide if it was possible to make it. If not, I'd abort for this turn-- just because you start the turn thinking "I could go for the caster kill this turn" does not mean you are bound to do so.
I hope this helps. Assassination is the #1 way new players lose games. It's also a fun way to win! Try it out!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Warmachine, Brokenness and Counters
I was recently at a Warmachine tournament. I finished with an undefeated 3-0 record, splitting the first place prize with the other undefeated guy. I had fun, but I noted that some attendees-- most particularly, three other members of my local gaming scene-- did not seem to. And that made me mad, because we play this game for fun, and especially if you're paying for entrance you want to have some fun that makes it worth it. I'm not even going to go into the story of the guy who was turned away, because that's a separate set of issues.
The thing is, tournaments always bring out powergaming. And powergaming in Warmachine is very much focused on a set of counters. That's why we bring multiple lists. "How to be a good player" is a topic I could write about for days and never finish, but I sincerely want to help my friends (and even though our relationship is sometimes a little difficult I consider all of the local game store guys my friends) to be better players.
In Warmachine, to win, you must 1) identify the threats your opponent's army is capable of projecting 2) identify the threats your army is capable of projecting 3) identify the weaknesses in your opponent's list 4) identify the weaknesses in your list. It is most important to do that in that order. I am going to use two games I played to illustrate that. No names will be named.
The first game was against a Cryxian force led by Asphyxious. I identified each threat in this list: first, the arc nodes that allow Asphyxious to cast his powerful spells; second, the bile thralls that could effectively clear infantry; third, the bane thralls that could kill my heavy beasts; fourth, the pistol wraith that could shut down a heavy beast for a turn; and fifth, the Slayer that could hit like a train with three Focus on it. Finally, the caster himself poses a significant melee threat.
Having finished Step 1, I went on to Step 2. My army is EXTREMELY fast, with Nihilators being capable of running up to 14" and having a 2" melee threat. They can't attack after that, but the ability to engage the enemy from 16" away is a BIG deal, since engaging on your own terms is an invaluable tool. More on this later. My second threat is Molik Karn, but he actually doesn't hit any harder or more accurately than a Slayer-- the Slayer's two POW 16 arms are about equivalent to Karn's POW 13 Weapon Master attacks, though Enrage changes that calculus somewhat. Karn does outdamage a Slayer due to his capacity to buy more attacks and the efficiency of being able to boost after rolling, but he also costs almost twice the Slayer's price point and is equivalently fragile (one more armor, several less hitboxes). Karn's threat is mostly due to his extreme movement distance. Attacking first is the most powerful threat of all, and he's great at that. So my army's threat is the extreme speed of movement.
Step 3 came next. Each aspect of my opponent's army had a different weakness: Bane Thralls, while excellent at dispatching beasts, struggle to deal with infantry, because of their low MAT, low threat range and one attack each. Bile Thralls can do nothing once engaged in melee. Arc Nodes have the same weakness as Biles, being unable to channel or shoot once engaged.
My own weaknesses include my reliance on beasts, of which I have only two, and my lack of ranged ability.
Having completed all four steps (last one was up there, checking own weaknesses) I settled on a plan of action. By accelerating my Nihilators via Road to War and running, I was able to engage the arc nodes and bile thralls, locking them down. By engaging the Bane Thralls on my own terms, I was able to deny them access to the kind of targets they want to hit. In order to prevent them from being killed by Hellfire, Banes and the Slayer or locked down by the Pistol Wraith, I held my beasts back. This plan was phenomenally successful. How could it have been countered?
Let's switch sides. How would I have dealt with that? The Skorne army I was running really only had two types of threats: tons and tons of Nihilators, who are Tough and Fearless but have low armor and average defense; and two beasts. I would feel confident that the Pistol Wraith could keep the Titan mostly locked down, so I would focus my efforts on Karn. I have a Slayer and Banes; either one of which can deal Karn a crippling blow. I could use one to bait him and the other to kill him when he took the bait. So that's the beasts planned for. Once I started the game, I would see that my opponent was going to head in with the infantry first. That changed the game a little. I would know that the Biles would be essential, so I would hold them back. Having brought four arc nodes, I would know that I could afford to sacrifice two of them to lure out the Nihilators.
In fact, that's very similar to what my opponent did. He simply moved his biles up a bit too far. Unfamiliarity with the extreme threat range of my army was a factor, certainly. But Warmachine is a game of trades, and making the trades go in your favor. By tossing out two Breath of Corruption clouds, he could put huge holes in my formation and block off charge lanes (indeed, only three Nihilators were able to charge on one flank because of the cloud). I could not afford to let this remain, so I had to send in the Nihilators to shut down the arc nodes. If the Biles were far back enough, my opponent could have waddled them forward and Purged my Nihilators. That would take care of one flank. The other would require a different approach. The Bane Thralls were ill-suited to that job, but he had two undamaged bonejacks. Unfortunately, they were both Ripjaws. If he had sent the Ripjaws up forward and held the Defiler back, then he'd have Bile Thralls on one flank and a boostable spray on the other-- easily enough to chew through a formation of Nihilators.
I have sort of rambled, but I hope I have made my point: what won me the game was identification of the threats my opponent could project, as well as the best way to shut them down. I was able to take the one resource in which I had a clear advantage-- speed-- and leverage it to victory. In an upcoming post (possibly tomorrow) I'll talk about another game, and how contingency planning can rescue a game that seems lost.
The thing is, tournaments always bring out powergaming. And powergaming in Warmachine is very much focused on a set of counters. That's why we bring multiple lists. "How to be a good player" is a topic I could write about for days and never finish, but I sincerely want to help my friends (and even though our relationship is sometimes a little difficult I consider all of the local game store guys my friends) to be better players.
In Warmachine, to win, you must 1) identify the threats your opponent's army is capable of projecting 2) identify the threats your army is capable of projecting 3) identify the weaknesses in your opponent's list 4) identify the weaknesses in your list. It is most important to do that in that order. I am going to use two games I played to illustrate that. No names will be named.
The first game was against a Cryxian force led by Asphyxious. I identified each threat in this list: first, the arc nodes that allow Asphyxious to cast his powerful spells; second, the bile thralls that could effectively clear infantry; third, the bane thralls that could kill my heavy beasts; fourth, the pistol wraith that could shut down a heavy beast for a turn; and fifth, the Slayer that could hit like a train with three Focus on it. Finally, the caster himself poses a significant melee threat.
Having finished Step 1, I went on to Step 2. My army is EXTREMELY fast, with Nihilators being capable of running up to 14" and having a 2" melee threat. They can't attack after that, but the ability to engage the enemy from 16" away is a BIG deal, since engaging on your own terms is an invaluable tool. More on this later. My second threat is Molik Karn, but he actually doesn't hit any harder or more accurately than a Slayer-- the Slayer's two POW 16 arms are about equivalent to Karn's POW 13 Weapon Master attacks, though Enrage changes that calculus somewhat. Karn does outdamage a Slayer due to his capacity to buy more attacks and the efficiency of being able to boost after rolling, but he also costs almost twice the Slayer's price point and is equivalently fragile (one more armor, several less hitboxes). Karn's threat is mostly due to his extreme movement distance. Attacking first is the most powerful threat of all, and he's great at that. So my army's threat is the extreme speed of movement.
Step 3 came next. Each aspect of my opponent's army had a different weakness: Bane Thralls, while excellent at dispatching beasts, struggle to deal with infantry, because of their low MAT, low threat range and one attack each. Bile Thralls can do nothing once engaged in melee. Arc Nodes have the same weakness as Biles, being unable to channel or shoot once engaged.
My own weaknesses include my reliance on beasts, of which I have only two, and my lack of ranged ability.
Having completed all four steps (last one was up there, checking own weaknesses) I settled on a plan of action. By accelerating my Nihilators via Road to War and running, I was able to engage the arc nodes and bile thralls, locking them down. By engaging the Bane Thralls on my own terms, I was able to deny them access to the kind of targets they want to hit. In order to prevent them from being killed by Hellfire, Banes and the Slayer or locked down by the Pistol Wraith, I held my beasts back. This plan was phenomenally successful. How could it have been countered?
Let's switch sides. How would I have dealt with that? The Skorne army I was running really only had two types of threats: tons and tons of Nihilators, who are Tough and Fearless but have low armor and average defense; and two beasts. I would feel confident that the Pistol Wraith could keep the Titan mostly locked down, so I would focus my efforts on Karn. I have a Slayer and Banes; either one of which can deal Karn a crippling blow. I could use one to bait him and the other to kill him when he took the bait. So that's the beasts planned for. Once I started the game, I would see that my opponent was going to head in with the infantry first. That changed the game a little. I would know that the Biles would be essential, so I would hold them back. Having brought four arc nodes, I would know that I could afford to sacrifice two of them to lure out the Nihilators.
In fact, that's very similar to what my opponent did. He simply moved his biles up a bit too far. Unfamiliarity with the extreme threat range of my army was a factor, certainly. But Warmachine is a game of trades, and making the trades go in your favor. By tossing out two Breath of Corruption clouds, he could put huge holes in my formation and block off charge lanes (indeed, only three Nihilators were able to charge on one flank because of the cloud). I could not afford to let this remain, so I had to send in the Nihilators to shut down the arc nodes. If the Biles were far back enough, my opponent could have waddled them forward and Purged my Nihilators. That would take care of one flank. The other would require a different approach. The Bane Thralls were ill-suited to that job, but he had two undamaged bonejacks. Unfortunately, they were both Ripjaws. If he had sent the Ripjaws up forward and held the Defiler back, then he'd have Bile Thralls on one flank and a boostable spray on the other-- easily enough to chew through a formation of Nihilators.
I have sort of rambled, but I hope I have made my point: what won me the game was identification of the threats my opponent could project, as well as the best way to shut them down. I was able to take the one resource in which I had a clear advantage-- speed-- and leverage it to victory. In an upcoming post (possibly tomorrow) I'll talk about another game, and how contingency planning can rescue a game that seems lost.
Back
Ok, so I've resolved to keep this thing updated. I have free time now, having graduated, so I can do that. I'll start by posting a little parable I wrote.
Lots of injokes in here. Names have not been changed because nobody is innocent.
Say we all live in a village called PVCCopolis. There are 100 people living in this village.
Say we each have $100, exactly the same amount of money. Say that we could buy generators-- one generator provides enough electricity for one person and costs $90, because you have to construct an electrical line to your house and set it all up and buy the generator and fuel and whatnot. We each only have $10 left. Let's assume that a generator is an indispensable utility, so everyone wants one-- and in any case, everyone has to pay, because anyone can get benefit from the generator by running a line to their house.
Now say we could buy a big generator for $8000 that provides enough electricity for everyone. This cost would cover the generator, fuel, hooking up everyone's house etc.
The liberal solution is to tax everyone for $80 and buy the big one, giving everyone electricity and $20 left each.
The conservative solution is to let the market figure it out. Now, in this village, naturally the market would decide to buy the big generator, netting the same result.
Now imagine PVCCopolis has lots of different kinds of people. There's the town doctor, Shogs, whose medical practice and musical career have made him wealthy. There's Prince Ali, the son of the king, who lives in luxury from his inheritance. On the other end of the scale there's Georgeson who is poor and stupid and spends his welfare checks on Old Crow. Say Shogs and Ali have $200 and Georgeson only has $40. In all other respects the situation is the same as before.
Why don't we buy the big generator? Well, no one person can afford it. Furthermore, Georgeson can't afford to pay the $80 required. He can only pay $40. "But wait!" cry Shogs and Prince Ali. "Why should we have to pay the full $80 when Georgeson is only paying $40? Also, will we have to pay more to make up the shortfall? Screw that, we're buying our own generators!"
As a result, some people go without electricity and some people buy more expensive, less efficient generators.
The liberal solution is progressive taxation. Sygerrik, the town's long-suffering accountant, puts it this way: "Well, Prince Ali, you use a lot more electricity than Georgeson. He just runs his lights and electric stove and maybe a TV. You have all that plus your blender, your stereo, and the electric nipple clamps for your erotic homosex torture dungeon. Maybe you should pay more since you get more benefit out of it." Some people are so poor that they just get given electricity for free, so nobody has to freeze or starve. We get a big, efficient generator.
The conservative solution is "let the poor die in the streets if they can't afford to live." Or alternatively, Georgeson spends $40 on a terrible generator that shorts out constantly and he's still cold and hungry, and now too poor to afford enough alcohol to let him forget that.
We could expand this parable further-- discussing what happens when we can prevent poor people from using the generator if they haven't paid in-- but that involves making the situation much more complex and adding in variables like Prince Ali's Egg Farm, which employs Georgeson (he is a trustworthy worker, since he won't eat any eggs), and thus how Prince Ali and society as a whole are negatively impacted by inefficiencies such as expensive, crappy generators.
Lots of injokes in here. Names have not been changed because nobody is innocent.
Say we all live in a village called PVCCopolis. There are 100 people living in this village.
Say we each have $100, exactly the same amount of money. Say that we could buy generators-- one generator provides enough electricity for one person and costs $90, because you have to construct an electrical line to your house and set it all up and buy the generator and fuel and whatnot. We each only have $10 left. Let's assume that a generator is an indispensable utility, so everyone wants one-- and in any case, everyone has to pay, because anyone can get benefit from the generator by running a line to their house.
Now say we could buy a big generator for $8000 that provides enough electricity for everyone. This cost would cover the generator, fuel, hooking up everyone's house etc.
The liberal solution is to tax everyone for $80 and buy the big one, giving everyone electricity and $20 left each.
The conservative solution is to let the market figure it out. Now, in this village, naturally the market would decide to buy the big generator, netting the same result.
Now imagine PVCCopolis has lots of different kinds of people. There's the town doctor, Shogs, whose medical practice and musical career have made him wealthy. There's Prince Ali, the son of the king, who lives in luxury from his inheritance. On the other end of the scale there's Georgeson who is poor and stupid and spends his welfare checks on Old Crow. Say Shogs and Ali have $200 and Georgeson only has $40. In all other respects the situation is the same as before.
Why don't we buy the big generator? Well, no one person can afford it. Furthermore, Georgeson can't afford to pay the $80 required. He can only pay $40. "But wait!" cry Shogs and Prince Ali. "Why should we have to pay the full $80 when Georgeson is only paying $40? Also, will we have to pay more to make up the shortfall? Screw that, we're buying our own generators!"
As a result, some people go without electricity and some people buy more expensive, less efficient generators.
The liberal solution is progressive taxation. Sygerrik, the town's long-suffering accountant, puts it this way: "Well, Prince Ali, you use a lot more electricity than Georgeson. He just runs his lights and electric stove and maybe a TV. You have all that plus your blender, your stereo, and the electric nipple clamps for your erotic homosex torture dungeon. Maybe you should pay more since you get more benefit out of it." Some people are so poor that they just get given electricity for free, so nobody has to freeze or starve. We get a big, efficient generator.
The conservative solution is "let the poor die in the streets if they can't afford to live." Or alternatively, Georgeson spends $40 on a terrible generator that shorts out constantly and he's still cold and hungry, and now too poor to afford enough alcohol to let him forget that.
We could expand this parable further-- discussing what happens when we can prevent poor people from using the generator if they haven't paid in-- but that involves making the situation much more complex and adding in variables like Prince Ali's Egg Farm, which employs Georgeson (he is a trustworthy worker, since he won't eat any eggs), and thus how Prince Ali and society as a whole are negatively impacted by inefficiencies such as expensive, crappy generators.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)