Thoughts on Escalation League we just finished in Vancouver, WA

[indytims]

Last night was the last night of our Infinity Escalation league up here in the Couv, run by George, playing at SuperSalty.

 

It was an enormously fun learning experience for me. Even in my last game last night (300 points). I faced a guy with 20 models and 26 orders!!! I'd read about folks using two max-sized combat groups, but I got to be on the receiving end of it for real and man, was that a -learning experience-! It was funny, because my opponent went first with his 26 orders... and that alone took 90 minute! George called time, RIGHT when it was my turn to start moving my 1st turn. LOL! George gave us a little more time, and I pretty much blew off most of my stuff except for my HERO of the game - my Vet Kazak specialist who dashed forward toward the nearest objective.... suffered 6 hits from ARO - and made FIVE SAVING THROWS! Thank goodness for NWI! He then reached forward with bloody palms and SUCCEEDED at activating the objective, giving me a 3-0 win. LOL It was simply the weirdest experience I've had in a minis game - ever. But I had fun and my opponent seemed to have fun as well.

 

For the league weeks and 'escalation' part, I loved starting at 120 points, then 150, then 200, 250, then 300. That was really cool. As with most games I play, I have more fun at the mid-level (or smaller) tiers, and though I enjoyed all the games I played, I actually had the most fun at 120-200 points. When I read about people playing this game at 400???  Errr, No thank you!

 

The missions, in my opinion, were all awesome. I know ITS has a ton of missions (some of them similar to each other), but the chosen ones each week were interesting and very challenging.

 

Every person I played was awesome. In most groups I've been a member of in past years, there were always those 1 or 2 guys that I just hated playing. But that was definitely not an issue here. I feel very fortunate to have found this group of guys to play with.

 

The terrain George and the gang supplied to play with was super-awesome, too. And Salty was spacious (though a bit warm at times), roomy, and had the old Z-games boards to play on. Greg and the guys there were always welcoming and even did some special orders for us to get some figs.

 

I definitely need to work on 'play speed'. If an ITS game is 90 minutes, I need to be able to focus, think quicker, and resist the urge to goof around and shoot the breeze at a casual pace like I am so used to doing. I haven't done 'tournament play' in many years, but I gotta be quicker, I know. I have my first chance next week (Sep 26) when I participate in my first minis tournament in quite awhile. It filled up quick, and I know there are a bunch of vets on there. I think the goal is to spread folks out so they aren't playing people they usually play day in and day out (at least for the first round). I am really looking forward to it, and just wish they had Ariadna t-shirts I could buy so I can represent my clan properly! Maybe a kilt? Hmmm!!

 

Erik ended up placing 1st with his Aleph bastages. I finished 2nd with my vanilla Ariadna. Johnny-boy finished 3rd with his Tohaa. Not sure where the other fellas finished, and I know at least one that wasn't able to play every week (and if he had, he likely would have finished near the top). George somehow had prizes for us which included some figs, buttons, and cards. Of course, the prizes were just gravy. The main thing I came out of it with was knowledge, and meeting a great group of guys to game with.

 

I know there was already talk about someone running the next league (John I think?), but personally, I'd love to see another Escalation that goes 120, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, then 300. 8 games instead of 5, but a slightly slower growth rate.

 

Anyway, just my random thoughts. Pretty psyched. :)

 

-Tim

[NakedPanda]

Did you guys take pics? 

I hope you took pics!

[rudra34]

I don't know this guy and I don't want to sound like I'm attacking him or anything, but taking the entire game just to do your first turn seems like a real dick move.  I understand that with 26 orders it may be difficult to get things done quickly, but it seems very unsportsmanlike.  I'm glad that you were able to pull out the win even with those shenanigans going on.  Hopefully he was a good guy. 

[indytims]

He is a really really really good guy. The league itself was a lot more laid-back than a tournament. The organizer was just giving us an example of how long a tournament game is, and had it BEEN a tournament game, yeah... we both would have been screwed. LOL. We weren't rushing at all, and we're both still in that 'learner phase'. But it was a very important lesson for both of us: With big order pools, comes a sense of urgency. In a tournament where a game is 90 minutes, that means 30 minutes a turn, which means each player should have about 15 minutes each. 15 minutes for 26 orders means using almost 2 orders a minute... which means you HAVE to be FAST. By comparison, I had 14 orders, which would have given me a solid minute per order to operate.

 

I learned a lot, especially since my opponent was playing Ariadna as well, and I look forward to playing him again. But we're both definitely 'laid back and take your time' players, while there are others who look at the game as more a 'business-like' approach once that first die is rolled. :)

 

-Tim

[rudra34]

That's good to hear!