FFG has posted the Tornement Rules for the season on the news page www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp . The rules also include a New/ Updated battle builder (intended for 400 pts. and below as thats where  they think the metagame changes). Some of the new Battle Builder stuff is pretty cool. Also new game night kits will be out in July.

DoomOnYou72 said:

Yeah, I'm thinking in any future battlebuilder games, I'll use the tourney version instead of the one in the book.

 Hopefully this means we'll have the Zverograd book in time for the new league

 Are these guys seriously going to introduce tournaments with the rules in its current state? They must be desperate to sell miniatures now that they have exhausted the sales of rule books. Better start hoarding Markus, Angela, Rosie and Fireball minis quick so I can make big bucks on EBay.

 The rules are fine in their current state.  Not sure what you mean by desperation of selling miniatures and they haven't exhausted the sales of their rulebook.  The rulebook went to a second printing because the first one completely sold out.  And they have never had an issue with selling miniatures so far.  So hoard all you wish (and why a fireball?  I understand the campaign heroes, but you got me confused by a heavy that is currently available), it won't matter much.

It'd be nice if the pages that are meant to be printed in multiples were also supplied in a simpler form. Even with black and white printing, the Player Score Sheet and Player Reporting Sheet have a lot of unnecessary chrome that will just use up ink.

slainex said:

Why are the current rules not fit for tournament use?

I guess not many people have had the experience of two fully loaded fireballs air dropped on their flank.

Nope, I wouldn't give my opponent the chance.  With the amount of cohesion between squads, and over 200 points (out of 300, since that's what FFG have implied their tournaments would be run at) he invested in that useless combo.  I would spread out enough or leave him a corner of my choosing for him to land in and take out the very small amount of troops he starts with.  

slainex said:

How does dropping multiple fire balls have any effect on viability of tournament rules? 

slainex said:

Agree and disagree:

You are correct on two fronts:

1. Air Drop should not be allowed for Heavy Walkers, or at a minimum Air Drop point cost should scale with the unit size.  Something like 5 for soldiers, 8 for light walkers, 12 for medium walkers, 25 for heavy.  Air Dropping the most powerful units in the game distorts the balance, and it is not clear this was the designer's intent or was sufficiently playtested.
2. In general Heavy Walkers are not well balanced against other units.  Heavy Walkers are fun and add an interesting element to the game, but point-for-point their armor is unbalanced:  It is very difficult for a force without a Heavy to make a dent in a reasonably well played and well supported Heavy.  Hopefully FFG will realize this and make a correction to the armor value, increase armor penetration of other units, nerf the Mechanic special ability or institute some other fix.  (note: recent update to the Battle Builder makes me optimistic that FFG understands game balance and will make course corrections)

But the game has also changed in a subtle way:  read the Battle Builder in the new DW Tournament rules closely.  2 of 4 scenario objectives reference Soldier units holding terrain and the 4th references assassinating an opposing command section.  Have not played it out, but likely to decrease Heavies dominance.

 A well played non heavy force can compete well with a force with a heavy.  I rarely take one and though they're beefy, there are a lot of ways to deal with them.

 @ Dr. Cornelius - I'm not sure you could nerf the mechanic ability any further and make it even worth wasting an entire unit's action on it. Unless you just see a lot of Rosie. I watched my opponents go the whole game tonight (team game) attempting to repair their walkers every turn. 7 out of 7 failures. By sounding their Walkers, my daughter & I kept their command squads tied to one location the entire game. We didnt bring any mechanics, and her Ludwig made it to the end with two wounds, my Sturmkönig with 1. Both of our command sections got wiped out, but played integral roles in our win by eliminating more points worth of the enemy than they cost. Mechanic, if anything, needs to allow other special actions to make it worth while (medic, mechanic, reload all at the same time is worth an action. 33% chance to heal 1 wound, not worth it at all IMO, unless there is literally no other action the mechanic's unit can do). 

 I use the medic a lot for anti-suppression, if I get a heal out of it, bonus.  Never have I used the mechanic.

blkdymnd said:

Ditto. Except I occasionally use mechanic to put a fire out. But I don't use either anymore unless it's to clear suppression or vehicle damage effect. Healing a wound, bonus, not end-goal. 

blkdymnd said:

Two specifics:

1. Knowing I would face a Königsluther, I fielded two Pounders, The Gunners w/ upgrade and Tank Busters w/ Air Drop.    Net result, KL survives with round half damage, both Pounders one-shotted and the infantry AT units suppressed by infantry protecting the KL's vulnerable rear.
2. The key thing that makes heavies viable is the Mechanic special ability.   Heavies are difficult to destroy due to high health, but the cumulative effects of several hits could leave them Blind, Burning and Weaponless - except for the Mechanic SA, which automatically removes on condition.

That being said, would be very interested in seeing battle reports where non-heavies carried the day over heavies.

Dr.Cornelius said:

Lately I've been running a Red Devil platoon, so no armor rolls for them.  I've also taken out two in a game using hammers and Rhino on rear attacks.  Try to get a close in deployment.  That's seemed to work for me so far.