I am an Anvil... part 1

Following up on the playstyle part, I`ve been pondering my wargames `career` yesterday, and my playstyle I developped over the years, and I`m sometimes amazed how I seem to try and pull this line through into whatever game or army choice I get into my hands.



I`m a defensive player, playing the waiting game and seeking for just that right moment to strike when my opponents initial momentum hopefully got depleted. Of course, it happens that this is not the case and he thunders through my lines big time, resulting in major defeats for my sides, but that is the risk of the game after all.

Admit it, it would be pretty boring if all battles went exactly as a science now wouldn`t it.

Thinking back, there are three game systems that have influenced my gaming life heavily, namely Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Magic The Gathering and A Call to Arms: Babylon 5, both played for literally years on end, till ever nook and cranny had been explored.

I think one can kind of look at that in a chronological way, evolving from Magic to Warhammer to ACTA, and now back to Magic. Of course, a lot of others have been played in between and still are, but those so far never managed to last longer then a year long or so, while games like ACTA lasted almost since day 1 of it`s initial release till the past year.

So how does it make me an anvil? Let`s look at the armies I fielded...

In Magic, I always played, and still play, a mono Blue deck. Why? Initially cause none of the other kids I played it with back when I was 13 or so wanted that colour, all opting for either black or green, so the cards where easy tradeable. The 10/10 Leviathan, though not a good card at all, was a gorgeous piece of artwork by Mark Tedin, and that helped me a lot as well of course in choosing a color.



I played a denial deck, the one stacked with Psychic Venoms, Errant Minions, Prodigal Sorcerers and the likes, topped out with all the kinds of counterspells blue is famous for. If green makes you a druid, red makes you Elminster, black one could say your the new Nagash, but Blue makes you... well, Houdini.

So then came the Warhammer era. The armies I fielded over all the years where The Empire, Wood Elves, Vampire Counts and the one true army, the Dawi Zharr.




I still have those last ones, as a trip down memory lane even though since Ravening Hordes they got zilch from support. Forge World is releasing new `kind of silly hats` (I really LOVED there Babylonian look) and I have hopes that for the first time in 2 editions, they might actually return as a viable army... maybe a definite WFB revival in the far future is in the pipeline?
So be it by cannon, longbow or blunderbuss, my lines stood ready to receive the charge and then break the enemy... or that was the theory at least.

Tonight I`m going to continue this walk down memory lane, a look into my gamer soul, and more random brabbling, but unfortunatly, that real life issue called `get yourself ready for work` is calling me right now, so armed with a warm feeling of musing memory lane (or is that the fever of the flu in the making?) I bid you all a good day and till later!