Spring Season

[Genestealer]

It's up on the league site.

April 23rd the Spring season begins.

[Edge]

If you still have room, I am interested in getting back into the game. I still have a huge Menoth army and a beginning Legion hordes. I do not know the league website or how/who is conducting it.

Jeff Lowe

[DoomedToRepeatIt]

I'm down for it, of course. Like this season, I'll miss a couple weeks, but I'll play when I can.

[Rorschach]

Ryan will be running the Spring League, so I'll let him specify fees, dates, rules etc.

I do know there's some discussion about including HORDES, but also some negative reaction to that. There will probably be a combined Spring League at Castle for those preferring a HORDES fix anyways. :-)

One recommendation I'd put out there is for people to pick their Factions early, contact like minded individuals, and set those Teams up ahead of time.

-D

[Blackraine]

Hrmm... well, if we do allow Hordes, I'll probably be playing Circle... but if not, Menoth all the way.

[ColGreeley]

If I play, I will be once again, fielding Mercs.

[Genestealer]

Count me in as a Menoth player this time.

[Genestealer]

From the PP site, though how official I don't know. Some have to deal with Hordes in the league, some deal with people who have added to this season.

"Hordes won't be officially included in the Call to Arms league this year in any season. However it was confirmed in the last issue of No Quarter that there will be a 6 week mixed Hordes and Warmachine league this summer called Summer of Rage."

"Likely between seasons... I seem to recall reading somewhere that they're taking a longer break between Spring and Summer than they did between Winter and Spring because of the con season."

"The one imbalance I have seen is that it is somewhat easier for Hordes players to make "Iron Man" boasts where they only use warbeasts."

"All the Warmachine factions are allowed and such plus he is makeing a team of Hordes players as well. They are lumped into one or two teams."

A number seem to have matched each Hordes faction with a WM faction. I like the above quoted method better. Make Hordes their own faction.

I didn't see anywhere that PP had allowed both.

[Genestealer]

This is a link to other ideas of changes: http://forums.privateerpress.com/index.php?showtopic=109693

I like the reverse ladder idea. If you are playing someone lower than yourself you don't get as many points for a win. It was not fully described in the above post but something like this:

If your opponent is 4-6 spots below you -1, 7-9 -2, 10+ -3. So a 500 point game with someone eight spots below you gets you only 3 points for a win. This would slow down the surge in points for beating on the new guys.

[Rorschach]

I like the reverse ladder idea. If you are playing someone lower than yourself you don't get as many points for a win.

While I can see some use of that, I don't like it, as play against players who fall behind or are not as experienced will be actively discouraged.
Likewise, if one has trouble pinning down high-ladder opponents, you could be screwed. High Ladder players could pull ahead, stop playing at certain times, and make it even harder for others to catch up.
No sir, I don't like it...

As for Hordes, my 2 cents is this: IF allowed (which I disfavor pending more playtest balance), Hordes armies should each have their own Faction teams. But for purposes of Bounties and what scenarois to play each week, they "count as" a WM faction. So say Legion = Cygnar. During the week, Legion Teams would play whatever the Cygnar vs X scenarios were, and share the same Bounty as Cygnar players. For lining up play styles (not fluff) I'd make the following correspondences:
Legion = Cygnar
Skorne = Menoth
Circle = Cryx
Trolls = Khador

Hordes Teams could have Mercs in their Team just as for the corresponding faction as well.

Lastly, I read some comments on limiting the number of games. I think this is mainly an issue of perception that the High Score overall is the big win. The Team score is, actually. They have the Team mechanic EXACTLY to mitigate those playing 8 games a week and so on. I think the pin for most games is kind of redundant in this case, but maybe that's for the enthusiastic newcomer who can't win but never stops trying.
From many many past Leagues and Campaigns, I can verify there are only two good ways to run a League:
-- One or two games per week, following a set match schedule.
-- Play who you want when you want.

I vastly prefer the second method. Now its worked in the past for Blood Bowl, Necromunda, and Mordheim because we've used Win-Loss records and gang ratings for the score ranks. AND had a set of 4 player Finals. None of that really applies here though. So unless PP comes up with a new scheme, I say don't change anything. If you do, it's a homegrown League, and no one should be wearing the patches.

-D

[Genestealer]

I really liked how it ran as well. I also like the Hordes as their own team, not part of another faction. Then again, I did not see anywhere that showed PP "officially" allowing Hordes as part of the league. The "Summer of Rage" looks to be a stand alone league later this year.

PS. Dale - Check your email.

[eldanesh69]

The most difficult thing about the league was trying to get games. I posted almost every day trying to line up games - all times all days. I wound up playing against the same players over and over again because people were not showing up even on WM nites. I think that if you sign up for this kind of league you should at least play 1-2 games a week. That is unless you have a problem, I was out for a whole week due to being sick. Not every player has as understanding spouse as I do either. When you join a community event such as a league you have not only a responsibility to yourself but to the other players. By using a rule which penalizes higher level players when they play lower level players then why would they accept challenges from them? Gee the #1 rank player gets punished for being number one. As far as team score being the highest placed award, I have no problems there as long as all the teams have three players. Play the league as written by PP, everyone in the league should play like they have a pair!

[Genestealer]

I think two games per week could easily be done for a total of 12 games per season, the only reason I got 18 was because of Spring Break. Mike you had 27 at last count...it would seem to me that you got in a good number of games.

The point of the lower score is so that a player who is ranked first can't just pick up the easy points for playing a much lower seeded person. Again, I liked the league as is and just threw it out as a suggestion from the current postings of possible changes.

I still think people could play just to learn and have fun and still be a part of the league. I know Jeremy lost every game he played. He was still fun to play and I hope he learned a lot from each game he played and enjoyed playing them.

We all want to win the games we play, but we need to play first to have fun, which IHMO includes your opponent having fun. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't, but we should all at least try.

[Edge]

Is there a link to the league website?

Do I need to sign up somewhere to get into the league?

Is there a roster of other Menoth players I can hook up with?

[Stephan]

As a purely Hordes player, I'd like to get into the league, but if I have to go to Castle I suppose that's what I'll do. Dale/Ryan, who should I talk to at Castle to sign up for their WM/Hordes league?

[Rorschach]

You'd talk to Jeff, the Owner, or whoever's working. OR to Robyn Calloway, the PG who's running it.
However(!) Ryan has not utterly ruled out Hordes integration for the Haven League yet either. So I'd wait and see a bit longer.

[LordKroeker]

Let's talk tonight and see what people think about Hordes integration. After the awards for winter are handed out, I'll answer any questions I can, and we can discuss the Hordes thing. I have a game over at Castle soon after so we'll have to make it quick.

I'll be setting up a "League Meeting" on the thursday PRIOR to April 23 to give out details to all participants. If you can make it please do so. For those of you unable to make it I'll post a summary of details here on the following Friday.

Also I'll bring a League Sign up sheet to the Haven tonight. If you wish to sign up for Spring season, please be prepared to pay in advance please. I'll leave instructions with Rob/Troy/Tim to collect $ at time of sign up. Entry fee will be determined tonight, and can be added to the list of items to discuss tonight. My thinking is to charge a tad more than necessary so we can give out some solid store credit as auxiliary awards.

It's unlikely I'll be here to check any questions you have before we meet tonight, but if you have them post them here and I'll answer asap tomorrow.

Ryan

[LordKroeker]

Sorry double post.


If you DO have some urgent "need to know now!" questions. Always always feel free to call my cell phone before tonight. I'm not currently working so I'm pretty much free during normal "waking" hours. If I can't answer solidly, I'll add it to the list for tonight, and then get back with you either here or with a return call.

Cell#: 210-1757.

Hope to see most of you this evening, and if not, give me a shout to let me know if you're interested.

R

[DoomedToRepeatIt]

I cannot make it to the store tonight guys, but Ryan -- I am interested in the Spring League and will continue to play my Menites.

[Genestealer]

Hey Ryan,

From the PP site and PPS_Biggie:

Per our Spring document:

The Winter League scenarios have a number of terrain feature requirements. The following is a list of the terrain features mandated by this seasons scenarios:
One (1) 12” diameter forest.
Four (4) 4” diameter forests.
Nine (9) 3” diameter forests.
One (1) 12” diameter hill.
Four (4) 8“ diameter hills.
One (1) 6” diameter hill.
One (1) 8” diameter mud pit.
One (1) 3” x 48” river.
Six (6) 1” diameter standing stones.
Two+ (2+) 3” x 10” trenches.

It looks like this is the terrain needed for the spring season. Maybe we can all get together and make some for the store? Bring in precut felt for the forests. Mud pit could be brown felt. How do we make trenches w/o going 3-D (grey felt)?

[YourHero]

I think two games per week could easily be done for a total of 12 games per season, the only reason I got 18 was because of Spring Break. Mike you had 27 at last count...it would seem to me that you got in a good number of games.


This might be overly complicated, but....What if you could still play unlimited games a week but only counted your best two. This way we could still have a clear iron-man award, players would be less likely to cheese games so that others can win (as now scores would be much closer). Just a thought?

[Edge]

Let's talk tonight and see what people think about Hordes integration. After the awards for winter are handed out, I'll answer any questions I can, and we can discuss the Hordes thing. I have a game over at Castle soon after so we'll have to make it quick.

I'll be setting up a "League Meeting" on the thursday PRIOR to April 23 to give out details to all participants. If you can make it please do so. For those of you unable to make it I'll post a summary of details here on the following Friday.

Also I'll bring a League Sign up sheet to the Haven tonight. If you wish to sign up for Spring season, please be prepared to pay in advance please. I'll leave instructions with Rob/Troy/Tim to collect $ at time of sign up. Entry fee will be determined tonight, and can be added to the list of items to discuss tonight. My thinking is to charge a tad more than necessary so we can give out some solid store credit as auxiliary awards.

It's unlikely I'll be here to check any questions you have before we meet tonight, but if you have them post them here and I'll answer asap tomorrow.

Ryan

I was at Gamer's Haven t about 7:30pm and there were ZERO WM games going on, just 1 table of anachronism....

[ColGreeley]

I think after 6 weeks of League play everyone took a night off. There was a game earlier in the evening, Warmachine VS Hordes.

[LordKroeker]

Sounds like there should be enough to accomodate. Some of the wierder stuff we can get creative with.

[Stephan]

Ryan,

I had to miss last night's Spring league discussion. Any results?