Last week the first round of an epic compilation of Monsterpocalypse games occurred, code named Monday Night Monster. The report that follows is an in depth look into one of the games. The specimen? From on High author Zach Bunn.
Round 1: Nate Winchester
The game started off as normal for me. I had my way in placing the majority of the buildings where I wanted them and a few of them were disrupted by Nate’s placements. Overall, I was comfortable with the board after we placed our buildings and monster.
My plan for my monster turn at this point was to step down 4 times, brawl the Mt. Terra, and then use riot to rampage 6 space down through the posh apartments.
On my unit turn, I performed the usual and secured the insurance HQ and the Imperial State Building. For some reason I thought that the pteradactix could only stop me from securing either the Imperial or the Insurance HQ, but as soon as I passed the turn I realized I was wrong. I should have placed the stealth ape up and to the left one space. This would have guaranteed I secured one building or the other.
Either way, at the end of my unit turn I used attraction to gain a p-die from the Imperial State Building. Having that 1 p-die without having to power up with Kondo is critical to that first turn stomp or rampage.
As I expected Nate played like a pro and used his pteradactix to tow away the head stone in my power base. If you are ever playing Kondo, realize that he is taking at least 2 monster turns almost always if not 3-4. That being said, letting me not secure the HQ takes away a lot of power dice.
Even though my power base was disrupted and I would be getting less p-die on my back to back monster turns, I went through with my original plan and stepped four downward, brawled the Mt. Terra, and rampaged south. This allowed me to clear the pathway, get rid of some Mt. Terra’s, get some needed p-die, and get to the other side of the board.
Although I half expected Nate to come over and body slam me into the posh apartments, I wasn’t sure if he would or not. If he did, I was planning on throwing him left into the Mt. Terra. He would be trading 2 for 3, which is not a good way to win a game. If he didn’t, he would have to be far enough away from me so that I couldn’t spend my 1 a-die to move and then attack.
I think that Nate made a very smart move here, aiming at the electrical power plant hoping to get his 6 p-die and hit and run away. Sadly… he missed an 80%ish roll and was unable to move. This put him in a rough position and I was looking forward to taking advantage of it.
In case you don’t know anything about me, realize that I love to put my opponent in a position where they have to choose between two extremely difficult decisions. I decided to take a unit turn here forcing Nate to make a tough choice on his next turn. He will either be able to take an extremely weak turn with his monster OR he can use his units to disrupt / do damage.
I took a slight gamble here by moving a raptix within 2 of Nate’s pterdactix for flank and then brawling him with a stealth ape at 1*2 (thanks to blue berserk). Assuming I hit, I could hit and run back to ensure that a spawn -> move -> tow from Pterdactix would only make me not secure 1 building.
Fortunately for me, I hit gaining the p-die and the extra security. At this point I’m hoping Nate is distracted by my monsterous power base. And of course, who wouldn’t be? But Nate knew better. He left me with my power base (see the win-win here? I either get him to do what I want or I get to keep a sweet power base).
Surprisingly to me, Nate decided to brawl the Electrical Power Plant and move to where you can see him above. Seeing his positioning, the fact that he had to take a unit turn next, and the number of p-die I had, I could look two turns in advance and see the fact that I could body slam into the last Mt. Terra (no more beacon) for 3. Then on my subsequent turn throwing him up into the oil refinery for a form kill. All of this and he might do 2 on his unit turn, but statistically only 1.
I think this is perhaps the one mistake that was made in Nate’s gameplay. Going down a form and losing your last installation all to get 6 p-die and 1-2 damage on my monster is just not balanced. This is the turning point in the game.
Nate took a surprisingly good unit turn almost getting in two damage. He did successfully hit for one. I continued with my plan.
And everything worked out. I got the form kill and the p-die.
I’ll be the first to admit… Shuffle is annoying. Especially when you are going up against the likes of King Kondo. It’s frustrating to consistently have things like the body slam / throw happen over and over. Nate felt the same way and decided it was time to cancel my insurance policy. I think against Kondo this move is necessary very early. The problem here is that I think it came a little to late.
Although the above move might not seem obvious, I couldn’t find a more efficient one. I could remove any hope of Nate having that power base, get a ton of p-die, and heal all in one turn. There’s not much else you can ask for from a turn. Combine this with the extreme advantage I had already built and I knew it would be a very uphill battle for Nate the rest of the game.
A punch and a stomp later, I was feeling really good about the way this game was looking.
Nate followed my turn up with a unit turn and I returned the favor.
This was probably the second most critical moment in the game. Nate went to brawl the Imperial State Building and missed. On my turn, I power up, hyper up, move in for the throw, and hyper down.
At this point I’m fairly confident that the game is over. He has one health left and I should be able to win on my unit turn.
Nate followed up with a unit turn. not being able to get to my monster and not having a power base to worry about, he knocked off my brontox that had been planted the entire game as well as my airborne ape and shadow spikodon. Now it was time for me to finish the game.
I moved up my raptix, spawned a brontox for fortify on all my brawlers within 2, move in stealth apes, etc. I was rolling with 3 units at 3*9 and a -1 def to my opponent. Something like a 96% chance for the game.
Turns out the dice Gods wanted to balance out the whiffs and I rolled an epic miss…
Nate did what he could without killing himself and that was to kill some of my units and hope that the flames were enough to keep me away.
I went for the self inflicting, game winning body slam and this time the dice Gods smiled upon me, granting me victory over Nate.
Game in Review
It appears as though there are some things to be learned from this game:
1. Sometimes dice suck. When you are deciding which move is best, even on a 96% chance of hitting be sure and look at what is likely to happen if you miss. This can make lots of moves not so appealing. Of course, you cannot let this stop you from making all of your moves. It’s just something to understand.
2. Looking a few moves ahead is important. I always try to get into the mind of my opponent and see what they are looking at doing. The turn where I body slam and back to back for a throw was a critical oversight. Sometimes it’s difficult to decide what is likely to happen 2-3 turns down the road, but I’m telling you it can be the difference in the game.
3. Win-win is the name of the game. If at all possible, force your opponent into a situation where no matter their decision, it works out to your benefit. What’s the point in a move that gives you an advantage that your opponent can reliably prevent?
For now, I’m outta here! Nate played a solid game and I think I made most of the right moves to take advantage of his whiffs. Later this week I’ll be posting about my game with the Theorist this past weekend. At some point I will also be playing round 2 of Monday Night Monster against Marcus Utley. I’ll be sure and post in the comments of this blog when Marcus and I pick a time. Until next time, go smash someone’s monster into the ground.
Zach
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Zach is a long time collectible gamer who has been writing content for games since he was a young lad. In 2007 he founded Team Covenant and has since been joined by several awesome individuals who have helped in pursuing the ultimate mission of Covenant: enhancing the gaming experience for players worldwide. 
I’m glad your game went well for you! Very enjoyable recap for what looks like a short and bittersweet game. Hopefully I get a better first round matchup in next month’s tournament!
Nice report Zach and congrats on the win. I’m excited about this upcoming round. It’s going to be fun.
Thanks man. I’m looking forward to it as well. Grats on your own victory. Hopefully we’ll see each other in round 3.
It didn’t really matter after that first whiff. If I stayed there or moved to any position you would have form killed in two turns. Ideally I was aiming to bait you in a position where we could trade blows and my units would be able to surround and ping you. Without that mess of p-dice I wasn’t going to be doing much of anything.
Zach, nicely written recap. All the flavor and strategy without any unnecessary detail.
Nate, my first round was so bad I’m in no real position to ask. But I have to, have you had a lot of success with Rakadon? He’s the only Radical monster I haven’t played because I just don’t see him (it?) getting the job done. What am I missing?
Oh he was crap, but with some of the new stuff I thought I’d give him a try.
EPP’s help a lot since Rak’s hit & run allows you to gain 6 pD without injury.
The Stealth Apes are a much nicer addition to his army as well.
Ultra Rak is nicer now that you can fill the board with healing spires that he’s immune to but…
Yeah, he’s still not up to A-level play. He’s a monster that you can almost never have a missed roll with.
Hey, Zach. Congrats on the win. You made some nice moves, and I gotta admit that first monster turn was well played. Nice use of Riot.
I’ve been reading your strategies for a while now, though, and I can’t help but think you sound a little too sure of yourself.
I’d love to put your game plan to the test.
Would you be up for scheduling a game on Vassal sometime? I want to see how my Macros stacks up against your Kondo.
So, what do ya say? Can we schedule a day and time in the coming weeks, mayhaps?
I would love the chance to take you up on the challenge. We definitely can after this Monday Night Monster tournament is over. Hopefully I’m doing a solid job of riding that line between confidence and cockiness. I understand that I’ve got a lot to learn and a lot of areas to improve in, but lack of confidence is the number one reason people lose.
I enjoy playing against other confident players (reason for playing the Theorist) because I know I’m getting their best game. When you are playing someone who has shaky hands when they pick up a mini, it’s hard to tell if they are at their best. Of course confidence under pressure is part of being a master, isn’t it?
The nice thing about vassal is that you can relax a bit more and play several times with the same opponent. At the end of the day, everyone gets better because of it. I’m looking forward to the matchup.
You make a good point, Zach. Confidence is important, and Vassal does take away some of the pressure of playing face to face.
Though, that said, from my small amount of experience with the system, I gotta say – it can’t beat the real deal.
But Vassal does have its advantages, and I like being able to reach out and crush someone from across the globe. That’s a definite plus.
Can’t wait to face your King.
The primary advante is the fact that I can log on at any time and pretty much find a game. Not only that, but I get the chance to play against players from around the world who I probably wouldn’t play otherwise, like you and the Theorist.