Welcome to a special Trollbloods: Kith, Kriel, and Kin article. As always, this is Kyle (IAmSweeps on the various interwebs), and I have been invited to possibly write articles for Hand Cannon Online, an amazing source of Warmachine/Hordes articles, the Removed From Play Podcasts, as well as a slew of other hobby and gaming resources. Check them out at: Hand Canon Online. For this article I want to tackle a more general topic but then reel it in and look at how the Trollblood player (and anyone else, really) can tackle the issue.
Time Restricted Formats
Right now there are two different Time Restricted formats most commonly played in tournaments, Timed Turns and Death Clock. Each format poses challenges that every player must overcome in addition to trying to win the game.
For those who are not familiar with these formats they break down like this:
Timed Turns (2013 Steamroller, p.4)
The basic concept here is that you have a set amount of time to take your turn and if you run out of time you may use a time extension, once per game, otherwise you don't move another model, roll another die, or anything. Your turn is over as the models lay.
Examples of turn times based off army size are as follows: (2013 Steamroller, p.8)
Army Size
|
Turn Time
|
Extension Length
|
25
|
5
|
2
|
35
|
7
|
3
|
50
|
10
|
5
|
Death Clock (2013 Steamroller p.7-8)
Death clock differs from timed turns because rather than having a series of quick turns you have one large pool of time to play your whole game and players alternate who's clock is decreasing based off who's turn it is as well as a few other factors, like rolling tough.
Examples of Death Clock times based off army size are as follows:
Event Point Size
|
Player Clock
|
15
|
18
|
25
|
30
|
35
|
42
|
50
|
60
|
I believe if you ask tournament players who have played in both formats would say they prefer death clock. This is because rather than having many short turns you have one large pool of time to play your whole game. So, when you get to that feat turn of doom with dozens of dice rolls and models moving you don't get cut short before the firing stops. Despite this there are still quite a few tournaments that use the timed turn format.
Time Management
Time management is a skill that every player needs to work really hard to actually succeed at. Trollbloods have a unique challenge when it comes to time management because our faction lives and dies by synergy and we tend to bring a lot of infantry. We hear (and experience on the table) all of the time that order of activation is crucial. While this is true, the game is not a script. It is fluid. So, your gameplay needs to be fluid.
Have a plan: Before you ever deploy your army you should know what your list is designed to do. The plan doesn't have to be super complex, in fact, it is probably best to keep it simple. Your plan should be executed from the time you deploy your army until the game is over. You might find a turn where you could potentially do something cute but if it takes a long time to unravel and it deviates too far from your original plan it is probably not going to pan out and you may want to just avoid it. Let's face it, dice happen and the clock is ticking, friend.
Modular Play: When building your list you might think of your models/units as part of a bigger module comprised of those little bits. A module might be a synergy chain or the core of your list or your support suite. You might build a module to take and hold a zone and another to split to another. Whatever the best breakdown of your army into groups is for you is great. Deploy your modules in such a way that you can activate all of the models in a given module without clogging or negatively effect the others and then just quickly shift to the next module. Activate your offensive support staff first, then your working units, beasts, solos, then your defensive support staff, and throw your caster in there where appropriate for the turn. Whatever game plan you come up with that you can execute almost without thinking is going to significantly reduce the time it takes for your turn.
One example of a module could be a Fell Caller, a maximum unit of Fennblades, and a Stone Scribe Chronicler. The purpose of this module could be to alpha strike your opponent's front line and jam in real hard. I hope it would be obvious in this example to activate the Fell Caller first and fell call War Cry onto the Fennblades. Then the Fennblades can maybe use their minifeat (If appropriate) and charge/run in. Finally you could activate the Stone Scribe Chronicler and tell the Fennblades the tale of Heroes Tragedy (or if they are sitting out in the open Tale of the Mists might be more appropriate). That module is done and you can move on to the next one.
Trim the fatty activations: As you come into your turn take a really quick look at your models and see if there are any models or units that you can quickly activate and move on. Are Burrowers burrowing this turn? Then just do it, right away, and get them out of the way. Do the Krielstones have fury on them? Maybe activate them next, Protective Aura, Warp whatever and run to open charge lanes for worker bees while still providing the support. Fell caller needs to fell call and get out of the way.
Another consideration when looking at your activations is the effectiveness of attacking. Don't waste time attacking with models that you don't reasonably expect to kill or seriously damage something. Rolling dice takes time and while you don't want good attack opportunities to pass by if a low MAT model is just as effective running and blocking a charge lane or engaging a model with a gun, maybe go with that rather than failing to hit or hitting but failing to damage and more time is gone. Depending on the scenario or the specific format you might have a turn where a unit activates and all they do is move to a position to do work on the following turn while your other models do work this turn. With so many infantry models or just long activations you may have to accept this type of situation.
It is a common mistake when you are first training for timed turns to constantly ask how much time you have left. Asking the question and waiting for an answer or leaning over and checking the clock takes the same amount of time a model or maybe a unit could activate (if they were not attacking). The exception to this, that I think can be ok in certain cases, is an assassination run and you want to see if you have enough time to see it through. I don't typically play for assassination and if I see one that is less than 50% I just move on without even giving it another thought.
Returning the Favor
When I play a game I try to have as many of my model's stats memorized as possible so when my opponent makes attacks I can tell them my DEF and ARM without having to shuffle through a pile of cards or flip through a binder. I feel like this makes you a courteous opponent. Both of you are on the clock and I don't want to waste your clock and I don't want you to waste mine. In a timed turns format you can pause the clock while your opponent finds the info for you but that long pause can derail the momentum of your turn and make the length of the game unnecessarily long. Even if you don't memorize your stats look at what your opponent has that can and probably will attack your models and look at those stats before they ask for them.
You can take the pressure off your opponent to continually feed you stats during the game by asking for the base DEF and ARM of your opponent's models and write them down somewhere for quick reference. It is a good idea to take notes during a game anyway.
Playing in a time restricted game is quite a challenge to get the hang of but can lead to more games, more experience, and better play. You will make decisions faster and take charge of your game, giving your opponent your best. I hope this article has given you things to think about when preparing for a timed event and some helpful tips in play.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I would also like to thank Hand Cannon Online for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts through the site. As with all Kith,Kriel, and Kin articles this is not meant to be the end of the discussion but, rather, the beginning.
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