If you enjoyed this podcast, you can find all of our others sprinkled across our site or you can visit our iTunes.  If you’d like us to discuss anything specific next week, post below! We look forward to hearing from you.

So now… I want to talk for a second about the honors and awards that are going to be bestowed upon those of you who complete the journey within a few weeks of me writing day 31. Part of what you’ll be getting is a SICK shirt that you can only get by finishing the challenges in the appropriate time frame. You’ll also be included in something that I am putting together later AND you’ll be getting some exclusive goods. Part of what you will be getting involves the new community site, which of course I cannot announce just yet, and another part involves some honors you’ll get if you show up at MonCon.

So now let’s get back at it. Day 18. One of’s? Did I read that right? Yes, you did. We’ve picked a monster, built an army, searched out units far and wide, built cities, chosen maps, covered tactics, and decided how our early game would go… What a ride! So what’s up next? Where do we go from here?

Refinement

When we first decided on our armies we had barely used them… Now it’s time to make them more efficient. One Of’s is a term I picked up playing card games, but it transfers to miniatures pretty well.

So what is a one of? It’s a figure that you only use one of in your army. This isn’t a monster, but rather a unit or a building that you specifically include for certain situations. Examples would be using a pterdactix for tow, a spikodon for explosion, or a fire kami for ignite.

What I have found as I have progressed at Monsterpocalypse, is that in time my armies start using more and more one of’s. Let’s go back… back in time to when I first started playing Monsterpocalypse.

Oh, these were the days. I was using Sky Sentinel and Steven was convinced he could make planet eaters work. I started off using 2 rocket choppers elites and 3 grunts, 2 g1 elites and 3 grunts, 2 repair vehicle, 2 mobile ops centers, and 1 g-tank. As time progressed and new sets came out, my list began to change… I cut back to only using 2 grunt rocket choppers and no elite, 1 repair vehicle, 1 fuel truck, etc. My list was getting more efficient and I didn’t really even notice.

At this point Now! came out and I switched to Gakura / Kondo. In the beginning I was using all kinds of doubles, but if you read my BashCon report (BashKondo) you’ll notice there are all kinds of one of’s in my list: pterdactix, shadow spikodon, brontox, fire kami, raptix, command ape, etc. But why is this relevant? Does it really improve efficiency? Let’s take a look.

The Army

In any given army, you’ll find 15 units. There is no negative associated with running a full 15, so it’s somewhat pointless not to. If you and your opponent have been playing for a while, it’s likely that at max in any given game you’ll have 10 or 11 units out. Even this is rare. Yet, why is this relevant. Why does it matter that we only have at most 10 units out at any time?

It’s because if you consistently have the same units left over no matter who you are playing and which army you are against, some of these left over units can be converted to one of’s. Knowing that most of the time you’ll only use 10 or so of the units in your army can really effect your army list.

Let’s take an example, the fire kami. I believe that almost every army should at the moment include a fire kami for ignite. The idea that on a unit turn even if you aren’t the protectors agenda, you can pay 2 to spawn, 1 to move, and 1 to ignite for a damage is devastating. The damage it does is actually more of a mental game than anything else. Your opponent now looks at rubble tiles as guaranteed damage. In fact, I’ve had games where what I thought the opponent would and should do was take the 1 damage hit for the optimal move… They see the fire kami and just know they have to avoid rubble.

Another example is pteradactix. This is one I consider splashing in every army I run. I generally splash the grunt. The main purpose of this is so that if I am going second, my opponent knows I can pay 2 to spawn, 1 to move, and 1 to tow and dismantle his power base. More times than not, my opponent sees this and now is forced to over-secure his power base. He has to make sure that my pulling away one unit doesn’t ruin his entire plan. Because of this, I generally don’t use pterdactix at all. His best use is just sitting over in my unit pool making my opponent think a bit more.

The last unit example I want to highlight actually won me a game at BashCon: command ape. I run 1 copy of this guy and usually use him to secure a building as far away from my opponent as possible on my very first turn. Most games, he will just sit there in the same spot for the rest of the game. But sometimes he does much more than this. He sits there all game securing a building and in the last minute of a game I remember I have command. I can now get a unit across the board for that critical extra unit in a combined attack or for that critical soft disruption. I think for most armies there are nice one of’s nestled within the faction (cough*brontox*cough).

And finally we get to buildings. There are lots of copies that by their very nature are one of’s due to their limited skill (monuments, etc.). Although I do see Statue of Liberty and Imperial State Buildings on most maps, I hardly ever see a map that doesn’t have at least 1 Insurance HQ. Of course, the creation of Anti-Insurance HQ Buildings (Stock Exchange) are also not to be seen on most maps along with the good ole Privateer Press building. While these buildings are the typical one of’s I’m more interested to see what other buildings are being used as one of’s. I know I’ve personally use Electrical Power Plants, Sports Arenas, Oil Refineries, and Radar Arrays as one of’s. Let’s see what you’ve got!

Day 18 Challenge

1. Post a new blog on the community site entitled Day 18: YourTitleHere
2. Go find your original army list and copy and paste it into a new blog on the community site
3. Although I’m sure your armies have changed since then, discuss what could potentially be taken down to a one of or a two of in your current army to open up space for more options. Also discuss what other changes you have made to your army.
4. End the blog with your current deck list in light of one and two of’s. Below the deck discuss how your army has progressed since the beginning.

If you have yet to start Mastering Monsterpocalypse, you can find all of the challenges here. While it may seem like a large burden to catch up, I promise it’s not that bad. Of course, the longer you wait the harder it will be to catch up but at this point you’ve got time to catch up. Until next time, have a blast! (or a brawl…)

Zach

Daniel Fackleman (orchestrator of the Smashathon Monsterpocalypse event at BashCon) escorted us in with all of our goods. I want to take a moment here and highlight the man… also know as Daniel Fackleman. Without a doubt, he (and Kris) made this event come together. These are the guys out on the front lines of Monsterpocalypse doing the heavy lifting. In one way or another of the thirty or forty Monsterpocalypse players at Smashathon (excluding Team Covenant), Daniel or Kris had some hand in bringing them into the game. I would encourage anyone attending MonCon to find Daniel and thank him for his contributions to Monsterpocalypse.

Where was I… Oh yes. We get inside and we set up our booth with all the best looking figures. To the right you can see me, Kris, Daniel, and Val (artist who painted Defender X) watching our twenty minute teaser (thanks Jonathan) that we had playing throughout the entire Con. The entire weekend people would catch the video from afar (hundreds of feet) and just stare. Eventually they would make their way over to hear about MonPoc.

There was one kid who was standing over and watching at Magic The Gathering game. I see him look up and the video and just stare for about fifteen minutes. A little later I see him talking MonPoc with Jonathan…You can see me talking it up with one of Val’s friends about how awesome Monsterpocalypse is… He must have believed me because later that day he bought an entire Martian army. It was awesome to have a hand in getting more people playing Monsterpocalypse.

The Army

Monster:
King Kondo
Quantum King Kondo

Units:
2 x Airborne Ape
2 x Airborne Ape [Elite]
2 x Airborne Ape [Glass]
3 x Stealth Ape
1 x Command Ape
1 x Brontox
1 x Pterdactix
1 x Raptix
1 x Shadow Spikodon
1 x Fire Kami

Structures
1 x Imperial State Building
1 x Insurance HQ
1 x Statue of Liberty
2 x Electrical Power Plant
2 x Apartment Building
2 x Oil Refinery
2 x Posh Apartments
1 x Sports Arena

Round 1: Drillcon (Josh 0-0) vs. Kondo (0-0)

In my first round I was paired up with a Drillcon player. When Now! was first released, my brother Tim played Drillcon and has since heavily played Grindix and Mega Yasheth. So, I knew the monsters and the units pretty well. I lost the initial roll so I was able to play the map of my choice, which was Highway to Hellevue. I was allowed to keep my power base for the majority of the game, so this game ended fast with me taking a large number of monster turns in a row.

Round 2: Zor-Magna (Matthew 1-0) vs. Kondo (1-0)

In the second round I was paired again with a familiar foe in Zor-Magna. Last August Steven had a stint with her just before GenCon and even used her at the masters. We tested pretty heavily against one another in the weeks preceding GenCon. I had never played against her while wielding Kondo, but I knew that she was a beast when handled properly.

Early in the game Matthew believed he could throw me from his base which would do lots of damage and I believe this miscalculation could have spelled doom for him during the rest of the game. After this error on his part I took my sweet time getting at his monster after clearing his power base. I lured him to my side of the board towards the end of the game to get some unit damage in and finish out round 2.

Round 3: Xaxor (Sean 2-0) vs. Kondo (2-0)

At this point I was feeling pretty good. I could have calculated my odds of t8-ing even if I lost, but there was only one thing on my mind… Defender X. The night before, Daniel had brought in the glorious prizes and I was immediately drooling over Defender X. I remember talking to Steven and just continuously reiterating that I was going to get Defender X. Yes… I WAS going to get Defender X.

Sean had actually taken Steven down in round one of the tournament… A guy using planet eaters (the love of Steven’s life)… beats… Steven… I knew this guy was no joke, but being Steven’s sound board for two months about how to make the Planet Eaters work I felt I could exploit my experience to gain the upper hand.

As I sit there and look over Sean’s army, I just keep picturing me and Defender X shooting up bad guys… ok. You caught me. What I was really picturing is having Defender X sitting there on my desk to look at and about bringing Defender X to events and tournaments and letting people drool. And shooting up bad guys at his side… I had to win.

The game is under way and we are going toe to toe. Sean was able to successfully couple blue charge with his explodomites, explodohawks, crawlers, and destructomites to get in damage on his unit turns on my 5 (thanks to weaken and flank sometimes 3 and 4) defense monster. I did the usual taking back to back turns and keeping the focus off of my power base. I gave up my form early in exchange for his alpha form knowing I had greater damage output (thanks to back to back + my insurance hq) in hyper than he. I could also heal… He couldn’t.

I was at 3 health and Sean was at 3. We were base to base on his side of the map. I was in Quantum. He had a monster turn coming. I had 3 p-die. 7 spaces away laid a hazard. I bleed for temporal displacement to get super damage. I pick up 3 a-die leaving 0 in my monster pool. I am securing the Imperial, the Insurance HQ, and have a stealth ape mid map on a power zone. I roll the power up…

Miss… and here came the gut punching feeling. The feeling of a game that was firmly in my hands. One that was well thought out and perfectly played. Sliding. Right. Through. My. Hands.

I decide to brawl Sean and use beat back to get out of base to base contact and further away from his spawn zones. He sits at 1 health and I am at 3. He takes his monster turn and uses weapon master on his blast to hit for 2. I am sitting at one. He is at one.

My turn. With no a-die in my monster pool, I take a unit turn. I have a stealth ape mid map that can reach Xaxor. I have a Pteradactix on his side of the map. The two together can roll a 40% chance for the game. I’m looking over the board… Tim is called. This is it. I get one turn then Sean gets a final turn. Who can do one damage. After a few minutes of examining the map I have an epiphany. I have a command ape out!

I spawn a stealth ape, move the pterdactix, the newly spawned ape, and the one that is mid-map. I then command the newly spawned ape and all 3 are adjacent. 3*5 against a 5 defense. I roll…

Hit. GG.

Round 4: Cthugrosh (Austin 2-0-1) vs Kondo (3-0)

Before this match Steven interviewed me and Austin and in the interview I express my uncomfortable-ness about playing against Cthul. I had only seen Tim use Mega Yasheth a handful of times and had never played against Cthugrosh. Austin seemed like a nice guy and in general was confident in his game play.

This was… the finals. You can see everyone setting up for round 4, with the camera filming the match between Austin and I.

At this point, I was pretty sure that I had Defender X coming my way. Either way, being sure wasn’t enough. I was ready to go to war for that figure. And to war I went. You can see the focus in mine and Austin’s faces below.

While I won’t spoil the game just yet (as we do have it on video), I will say that this game was intense. After examining Cthugrosh (and realizing how hard he would be to kill) I decided to employ a tactic I had yet to use. Early in the game I went into Quantum form so that I could ’spread the damage’ throughout the game. You’ll see this in the video.

Kondo came out on top leaving me unscathed at 4-0 after all was said and done. Steven ended the day at 3-1 after losing his first round and placed second. We had joked with one another about playing a 1st vs. 2nd place game to decide the real winner, but have yet to do so. If you’d be interested in seeing such a match, post below. We might just make a video of it!

You can see me claiming my prize below.

Updates on my bad guy shooting adventures with Defender X will come down the road. If you ever see me at a convention and want to take a gander, be sure and ask and I’m sure I’ll have Defender X. Until now, he guards my desk with an ever-watching eye.

Zach

P.S. Thanks to Dylan for the awesome photography!

]]> http://teamcovenant.com/03/09/2010/bashkondo/feed/ 16 http://teamcovenant.com/03/08/2010/the-covenant-podcast-monster-quiz-contest-part-8/ http://teamcovenant.com/03/08/2010/the-covenant-podcast-monster-quiz-contest-part-8/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:48:56 +0000 Team Covenant http://teamcovenant.com/?p=4730 The faction you’ve all been waiting on… or at least me… Empire of the Apes!!! Mike posted a blog on MonsterInsider.net earlier today that gave some info and hints as to what would be on the new ape units and monsters. Tune in to see which monster gets Juggernaut… Is it White Dajan or General Hondo? Does the Frontline Ape have jump? Is gang red? All these questions and more are answered in tonights podcast!

The Monster Quiz Contest continues and the gap for first place stayed the same between Theodore Lehman (1st) and ym (2nd). You can go here to take this week’s active quiz and to check out the scoreboard! This week we will be asking which units the character units are based on for each faction so the scores are bound to be shaken up!

Be sure and head to our store to get your Big in Japan faction pack, character units, and monsters pre-ordered to make sure you are getting exactly what you want! After Mike posts his article next week you’ll want to chime in on our blog about it and get any specific questions you have answered. Until then, enjoy!

We’re told about the Ape units right off the bat.

Frontline Ape will be sporting Gang.  In case you missed it the first time, Frontline Ape will have Gang.  As if Berserk on the Ape monsters wasn’t bad enough (particularly when mixed with a Brontox’s Fortify) there’s now another way to give your Stealth Apes additional boost dice.  Brawling never looked so good.

Rocket Ape is pretty obvious.  He’s got Explosion and a boost on his blast attacks.  It remains to be seen if this will finally make Howitzer Apes more viable, but if you like boost dice (and who doesn’t) I expect the Howitzers will finally get some much desired play time.

Finally we’ve learned the name of the infamous armored ape, General Hondo.  And a General he seems to be.  With Armored and Forcefield, he’s going to be keeping those pesky units alive long enough to wreak even more havoc.  In Alpha he has Follow Through (seemingly on brawl) while in Ultra he changes it out for Chain Attack to add a power attack after he punches.  Based on the fluff, it also sounds like the General will have Riled on one or both forms.

Bigfoot is real, and his name is White Dajan.  We’re not told a whole lot about Dajan, but he does have a Riot trigger (though I’m not sure for what) and Synchronized Move on his power attacks.  His Ultra has Lightning Attack (on Brawl).

If you want to be sure you’ll have your Apes in hand as soon as they’re available, hop on over to the store and make your order for the Ape faction packs.  Better hurry though before Zach decides that he needs the extras to decorate his desk.*

As always, post your questions for the podcast with Mike later today!

* – Just kidding… Zach only decorates his desk with spare Quantum Kondos and Metal Cyber Khans.**

** – I’m making this up.  I don’t know if he even has a desk.

* * *

It’s hard to retreat, not physically, but mentally. There was a recent talk on the next big motivating factor in videogames. Rather than fun or interaction or success, the suggestion was made that embarrassment will soon be the prime motivator to play and do well at games. We’re so public now – Facebook, Twitter, MySpace (where aesthetics go to die) – that even when we’re playing by ourselves (by ourselves, you dirty-minded son-of-a-gun) we’re looking to make leader boards or gain “achievements” and “merits.” To retreat from battle doesn’t win you anything, and it can make you look cowardly. You might charge in, not because it’s the best idea, but because even when it’s just you and your opponent, you feel like everybody is watching.

* * *

It takes my dad two monster turns to reach his Repair Vehicle and heal a point of damage. Luckily for him, my groundbound Armodax can’t easily pursue him. Now I’ll have trouble taking him out in one shot as well, since all of the buildings on this side of the board (heck, the middle of the board, too) have been destroyed. I stomp the G-Tanks and Mobile Ops he has surrounding me – he’d decided the best way to buy time was to hem me in. I’m about to tell him the problems with his plan when my dice come up embarrassingly blank.

* * *

Embarrassment keeps a lot of people from having fun. Take Monsterpocalypse. There’s a lot of potential fear in this game – fear that you’ll be seen as infantile, fear that you won’t have the strategic capacity to do well, fear of the Lords of Cthul on general principle. To counter fear, there must be a public relations campaign.

The obvious PR for Monsterpocalypse comes from Privateer Press itself. It wisely releases previews of upcoming sets to whet the appetites of those already interested in the game. It’s putting out a Voltron-themed set to encourage those who might be overwhelmed by the complexity of the full thing. It has great staff members. I had an idea for a new reaction, which I called Burster: if this monster is hit by an attack, place 1 FAC unit from your reserves adjacent to it. Floating said idea to a developer is not something that you’d think would go anywhere, but I sent a PM to Mike at Privateer Press through the official boards. He responded, and didn’t just respond but noted that he had an idea where the ability might be appropriately used someday (no, I couldn’t get any spoilers out of him). That’s great customer interaction.

The unofficial public relations campaign is undertaken by us, the players. We run demos. We get our family/friends/significant others interested. We put our geekiness on the line, attempting to get someone to smash plastic figures. The official campaign seems to be paying off. What about ours?

* * *

I advance some Bellowers, take a pot shot at one of his G-Tanks, and Extinguish a fire hazard so that I can smash Defender X on my next turn. Seeing the writing on the wall, my dad advances and fires, using Beatback to shove Armodax away from his monster. It’s not enough, though, and he’s not screened. With a mighty roar, Armodax rears up and charges, smashing Defender X with all available dice. Two points. Down for the count.

My dad has had a great time. It took us about three weeks to play his first game, perhaps three hours of playtime all told. He wants to set up another game for next weekend. Maybe he’ll field some of the G1 Strike Fighters I sent him. Maybe he’ll continue tweaking his understanding of G-Tanks. Maybe he’ll win. Maybe he’ll lose. Doesn’t matter. He wants to play.

* * *

I have two big questions for the readers out there.

One, how have you interested people in Monsterpocalypse? I’m not asking you to get involved in any pyramid schemes, and I’m not working on behalf of Privateer Press. I like the game, but there’s slight difference between reporting on fun times with it (and even admiring the way PP does business) and actually shilling for it. There are a number of folks, though, who want to get others into the game just because it’s fun. Let’s help them out.

Two, are the significant others/family members/friends-who-don’t-necessarily-play still reading this column? I’ve gotten a little more technical in the last few episodes, filling in fewer of the blanks, assuming somewhat more knowledge of the game. I do that because Kate’s advancing in her understanding, as is my dad. But this column is first and foremost for the casual players, for the people who love people who play Monsterpocalypse. I don’t want to leave you behind.

* * *

A final bit of PR. I noted this in a response to my last column, but I have to make something clear. I will never actually ever be made to sleep on the couch. I’ve slept on the couch twice in our nearly seven years of marriage, and both times were simply because I was kicking in my sleep (bad dreams – bad). The last time that Kate beat me, in particular, she earned it. I got caught unawares on the first move of the game, not expecting her to take advantage of a barely-weak position. Then I got caught by the dice. Thanks to everybody who is cheering for me to finally take a match against her, but don’t worry, I’m not really pulling my punches anymore. I might do stupid things at various times – again, casual player here – but it’s real.

Phil already spoiled it, but the basic idea was abusing Red Leadership, Explodomites, and Xaxor.

The winners from last week:

Mark Garton
Tekkactus
Carlos
Morgan Kilimnik – Winner $15 Store Credit
Nate Winchester

Now. I hate to do this to you. It’s another Destroyer bit. They just have some interesting intricacies about them that I like. I’ve been sitting on the idea for this puzzle for a while and I thought it was time. DOWN WITH SOFT DISRUPTION. Nova ESR has retreated with 1 health and is hoping that her unit advantage will win the game. You have a unit turn and monster turn to prove her wrong. This is the duel of the century.

Setup: You are playing as Blue (Destroyers). It is your turn. You may take ONE unit activation followed by ONE monster activation (pretend that your opponent is forced to take an inconsequential unit activation).

Goal: Kill Nova ESR. (1 Health)

The way these puzzles work is similar to the old Kaiju Conundrums from the strategy guides (RIP). No dice rolling actually occurs. Instead, you calculate a hit using the following method:

Action Die = 3
Boost Die = 4
Power Die = 5
Defense Point = 5

Your total points for the attack must match or exceed the total points of the defender. For instance, let’s take Grindix. Grindix has a Defense of 6, and so a value of 6 * 5 = 30. If I want to hit Grindix, I need to spend enough dice to match or exceed 30. So, let’s say 3 A-Die and 6 B-Die. 3 * 3 = 9, and 6 * 4 = 24. That gives our 3A 6B attack a total value of 33. This exceeds the Defense value of 30, so it counts as a hit and the dice are spent. Use this method for anything, including powering up. You need to hit a 1 to power up, so the roll has a defense of 5. 2 A-Die (6) will always be successful. 1 A-Die (3) will never be successful.

Now, while puzzles are nice on their own, why not throw in some prizes? You will have 48 hours from the time of this posting to send in a correct solution. After the 48 hours have passed, we’ll randomly select one of the correct answers and award its author a prize. Also, everyone who correctly solves the puzzle in 48 hours will have their name forever etched in this post!

Send your solution to team@covenanttcg.com as either a step-by-step e-mail or a vassal saved game. A vassal file of the puzzle can be downloaded here. (updated) Whatever you sign your name as in the e-mail is the name that will go on the list of solvers.

Cheers and good luck!

If you enjoyed this podcast, you can find all of our others sprinkled across our site or you can visit our iTunes page. If you’d like us to discuss anything specific, post below! We look forward to hearing from you.

The Monster Quiz Contest continues and the gap for first place narrows between Theodore Lehman (1st) and ym (2nd). You can go here to take this week’s active quiz and to check out the scoreboard! This week there are 3 questions.

If you have anything you’d specifically like us to discuss, post below! We will sneak some of your questions into our interview with Michael.  If you enjoyed this podcast, you can find all of our others sprinkled across our site or you can visit our iTunes page.