Damocles playtesting

zellak

Date: Wednesday, 24-Oct-2012, 10:58:46 | Message # 1

Generalissimo

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After some consultations with a few club members, it was brought to light that there was no structure to how the playtesting would be applied.

I would suggest that people do their playtesting and then post their findings on that particular thread.

Hopefully we will be able to build up a picture of what is working and what needs additional tweaking or a complete rethink.

Can i suggest that the playtesters have a face to face meeting every six months ( followed by a multi-player game biggrin

) to vote on each thread.

Every April / November ???????? (next one would be April 2014) ?????

Each playtester gaining the right of veto (though i would suggest on only one thread, or we may never achieve anything), meaning we would continue to work on that item until everyone was happy with it. ???

it might be a good idea to sticky this thread.

DEMON : " When next we meet, i shall tear you limb from limb...there will be no escape. "

Hero: " You bring balloon animals and i'll hire a clown..... we can make it a regular party. "

Che

Date: Wednesday, 24-Oct-2012, 16:36:29 | Message # 2

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Quote (zellak)

(next one would be April 2014)

Do you mean 2013 or are you using the Therian calendar?

Wargamers like to paint their privates!!

zellak

Date: Saturday, 27-Oct-2012, 16:42:06 | Message # 3

Generalissimo

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Quote (Che)

Do you mean 2013 or are you using the Therian calendar?

Oops .....yeah 2013.

Added (26-Oct-2012, 10:56 AM)
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And could a Moderator please sticky this thread.

Thanks.

Added (27-Oct-2012, 4:42 PM)
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The objective of the playtesting done by the Damocles group of playtesters, is to ratify new rules and units for use as optional rules for AT-43.

The items currently to be tested are,

Grenades.

Bashkir-43 (RB transport)

Wyvern ( Therian transport)

Balancing the Red Block ; it would be better if this was not just an optional rule, but a house rule (once ratified ).

But that is up to the community and umpires of future campaigns.

(Also.....see Pavlov's thread)

Message edited by zellak - Saturday, 27-Oct-2012, 17:02:36

DEMON : " When next we meet, i shall tear you limb from limb...there will be no escape. "

Hero: " You bring balloon animals and i'll hire a clown..... we can make it a regular party. "

Morgoth

Date: Saturday, 27-Oct-2012, 22:06:46 | Message # 4

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Hi z ... Just out of curiosity, how would u go about playtesting?

It's not something I've every done myself, but I'm sure u said u & Banksi have done a bit before? Is playtesting an exact science, i.e. do u pre-set die rolls or record random dice rolls from the playtesting to analyze later on?

Would u test your ideas by placing the various units in a full 2000pts army or do a unit Vs unit situation/comparison or ???

Should be interesting ... give us a shout if you need another dice roller! ... Walts

"The thing's hollow .. it goes on forever .. and .. oh my God! ... it's full of stars!"

zellak

Date: Tuesday, 30-Oct-2012, 18:45:37 | Message # 5

Generalissimo

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You add the unit to your army and use it in game.

Then assess whether it was worth the AP paid for it.

A lot of people will tell you that you can look at the numbers and (without doing any Playtesting) they can give their opinion.

Dont listen to them, their opinion means nothing. Its better if they kept their armchair general opinions to themselves.

Only real, on the table, Playtesting is of any use. Trust me !

And only people who have done Playtesting have the right to give their opinion.

When it comes to assessing the true value of a unit there are different things to take into account.

The obvious ones like morale/ movement/ firepower/ armour / combat ability etc etc etc....

But you must assess a unit not only in relation to the enemy but also relative to the units own army.

Are there alternatives ? what do they cost ?

If units are similar but have different special abilities how does that impact on the game ?

Comparing trooptypes is difficult.... the EE allow no comparison between trooptypes of different armies on their forums.

But people always do it ( and get hassled by the Mods).....simply because sometimes the opposing sides are very similar.

I dont have a problem with comparing different armies.

But the core rules i always used were WRG, and a close order spearman was 4 points, and did exactly the same thing on the table whether he was a Sumerian from 3500 BC, or a medieval spearman from 1300 AD.

The EE on the other hand change points values to encourage the buying of certain troops......which leads to rules creep and spamming.

DEMON : " When next we meet, i shall tear you limb from limb...there will be no escape. "

Hero: " You bring balloon animals and i'll hire a clown..... we can make it a regular party. "