Warlord CCG Traveller's Diary....

2006-09-07T08:48:00.000Z

L5R World Champs - Brussels

Well, I have the opportunity to visit the Legend of the Five Rings World Championships in Brussels on a VIP Pass. What has this to do with Warlord I hear you cry? Well, I am going primarily to meet with Mike Leader and some other Euro TOs and DLs to try to help with a "post Euro Rep" strategy to help keep Warlord in Europe at least at the level it currently is, and hopefully use Epic Edition to push the frontiers of expansion!

Epic Edition

For Some reason Epic Edition has left a few poeple out of sorts, but from the feedback I have had of those who have actually played the game, there are more positives than NPEs (Negative Play Experiences.)

For those casual or lower tier tournament players, Epic gives the chance to make those build deck work, allows you to play higher level characters and have a lot of fun with the new Stealth rules, in particular!

Top tier players may still be playing around with Tavis/Mantle and Jin Blitz decks, which is fine, but where's the fun?

Warlord made it big in Europe because we, as a community, prized fun over winning. Sadly that seems to be abating as ever more people try to deliberately break the game rather than enjoy it.

Here's hoping KOHIT V will be as awesome as ever and that I don't bum out with a negative record!

2006-07-05T14:17:00.000Z

Aarschott & Selene's Release

Well, we made it there, and had a blast! I din't play Tavis in the end, I played Lady of Mercy, who actually shows none at all. ;)

Superblitz obviously doesn't work for me as my die rolls go off too often.....I'll have to switch to those boring build decks just to get some ratings.....If I cared enough!!!!

Give me fun over placing anytime you please!

All the Euros made us feel welcome, as usual, and it was great fun watching the Germany v Argentina game with the Germans in the pub. Seb crouching at the bar during penalties is a sight to see!

Tom & Ellen were the best hosts again and Diedrik's driving seems to have calmed down a little....;)

We had a great time and thankyou for everyone who helped babysit us throught eh weekend!

And get the hotel to put that cat on a diet!!!!!! haha!

2006-06-24T12:56:00.000Z

Prince of the Storm - Aarschott, Belgium

Well, next weekend I am off to Belgium for the final World Conquest tournament and the Belgian nationals, I believe.

The deck I have been testing may go with me, but the power of decks at EL:ITE last weekend has meant a strong rethink and change in the meta-game.

Thankyou once again Team Humiliation for providing the game breaking decks that we all know you love to build....

I am taking a back-up deck with me sent by a good friend from the US and I may well end up playing that.....

Carl & I are due to fly on Friday morning at some god-forsaken hour and arrive in Belgium around 10am.....Local time.

Then it's off to the hotel and then to the games shop/tournament venue and to the pub!

Yay! Belgian beer and Belgian prices! :)

2006-06-03T12:40:00.000Z

More Tuning for Tavis Jape!

WEll, I got to thinking about this a bit last night at the club and tried the following additions to the deck:

Cast Asunder

Very situational, but amazing power card when used correctly....Stopped Cathel Rowan from spending me at last!

Command Horror

Tavis makes this card horrific! Even though he's not a Dev, the -3 makes it DC20 not to go -5ATK & -5AC! Very, very powerful!

Elemental Madness

I'm not yet totally convinced about the blanket utility of this card, but I am assured by those who are better players than I, that it is top notch! Personally I found that it can be hard to hold ranks long enough whilst waiting to cast it.....

Bansidhe

Sorry ol' fella, you gotta go! You have no useful ability other than the fact you are a wizard. Looks like Keridwen or Ss'saurth may well make a return....Or maybe a Demon of Kvar? Maybe even Brine Fiend could make a comeback?

2006-05-30T09:58:00.000Z

Tavis tuning

I will be tuning the TavisJape deck over the next week or 2, but the first cards to come out are the Blue Willow Staff and Armor of the Earth......In their place will go...Elemental Madness!

2006-05-26T16:15:00.000Z

Tavis Jape it is then!

Seems like the best bet to test is still Raziel and Tavis......I may try a Simon deck over the next week or so, but I still think that Tavis can outblitz him; mainly because the tavis deck doesn't need to be ready to inflict damage!

2006-05-22T09:24:00.000Z

OK, this past weekend there was a World Conquest Qualifier tournament in Stuttgart, Germany. I couldn't make that tournament but the results:
1. Matthias Waegemans, Raziel, 5-1
2. Sebastian Bugla, Elves (buh!!! ), 4-1-1
3. Mikael Deleu, Tavis Jape, 4-1-1
4. Marco Wellmann, Jaqueline, 4-2
5. Andreas Leide, Inq. Chyre, 4-2
6. Marcel Harz, Tavis Jape, 3-1-2
7. Martin McGoff, Tavis Jape, 3-1-2
8. Arne Reuter, Durin Kortouched, 3-1-2
9. Florian Hüpper, Raziel, 3-2-1
10. Thomas Nonnez, Raziel, 3-2-1
11. Michael Wild, Lekar Osud, 3-2-1

kinda start making me wonder what deck to take to Belgium! Notice here that the 4th placed deck Jaqueline Windson ended up winning the tournament....Old tech beating new? Certainly looks that way. That, and of course the fact that Marco is actually one of the few in the game to have actually beaten a Medusan Lord!

So, I was planning to take Tavis Jape and Raziel to see how it panned out, but now, because I cannot see a Cathel Rowan deck in the field, and only 1 Durin deck, it kinda leads me to thinking about building a new deck completely!

This is always the hard part of travelling to European tournaments; having to decide what decks to take and play as the local environment is very different from my own, and on top of that, you have the travelling band of Warlord players that play around the WCQ tournaments making a sub-metagame almost! So is it spell blitz or counter-spell or straight fighter blitz that is the best choice?
Currently, it is either spell blitz or counter-spell that are the winning strategies, but this could be down to perceived strength rather than real strength! The truth always lies somehwere in between, but with Tavis, the threat is real and definite. Raziel has always been relatively strong and unless you are fast from the beginning, you are hardly going to play a card!

See Florian's excellent serires of articles at the

Taktix Website for a good expalanation of this.

So, with only 6 weeks or so to go until my travels begin this season, I have no deck....How will this affect my chances? Not much, but will it affect anyone else? Doubtful also ;)

2006-05-20T13:34:00.000Z

Well, it occurred to me that I have not really posted much about the web side of what I/we do. Basically you can find out all about playing Warlord ccg in Europe (and the World) by logging onto the major discussion forums: Warlord EU and the Temple of Lore.

There you can find information about players, tournaments, conventions, deck building, story and background stuff as well as many, many in-jokes and discussions about the miniscule semantics that go with every game.......But don't be put off!
The reason I have continued to play Warlord ccg for it's entire lifespan is the people! Those that travel a lot and play in a lot of tournaments are really what makes this game worthwhile. A real community and when you get to know those people they are no longer just wierd alter-egos on the web, they become people. You can actually hear what they are saying in your head as well as reading what they have written. Words become voices and voices have personalities. There is a lot of interaction in Warlord and a lot of what we like to call socializing, which translates as going to pubs, bars and restaurants after the final Sunday tournament and making merry!

If you visit a few tournaments, you soon find the faces you have played before and, being human, you gravitate towards them, and thus a community arises!

Have I been talking rubbish? Maybe, but games are about people and travelling to play games means meeting people! How much more sense it now makes to me about Italian hospitality! The clichés are not always correct though....I was led to believe that the Germans were a cold, hard race of people......Bunkham! The guys I met are generous, warm-hearted and even shy on occaision! Then again, the one or that aren't are not really German......I have been told over and over again they are Bavarian! :LOL! The French (Hi Mike, Thomas and Jean-Michelle!) were pretty much as expected and no real suprises except Morroccan take-away! What a revelation that was! Highly spiced cous-cous....Delivered! Yum! Can't we have that in the UK, please?

I have also met Greeks (Hi Manolis, Playtesters and Chris!) and Danes, Spaniards and those wonderful Belgians mentioned somewhere a few days ago! Friendly, good food and incredible beer!

Enough! I'm off to book the Eurostar for Aarschott in July....See you in the pub!

2006-05-18T08:59:00.000Z

The one thing I failed to mention was Mancon! Having been part of the team that made it happen, I should have pointed out that visiting Manchester made me some great mates! It also taught me that European players do not like travelling to the UK because of the high transport costs!
Really, you don't realise how different the UK is until you try to convince a few GerBel players to pay us a visit. We may think that £35-£50/night in a travelodge is a good rate, but you are sadly mistaken! Great hotels in Europe cost that in Euros....For the room! Not per person.....It seriously hampers the ability of keen T.O.s to get anyone to visit merely due to costs!

Overview of the past 2 or 3 years

2006-05-17T15:14:00.000Z

Up until about 3 years ago, I had only ever left the UK once.....When I was 12 on a school daytrip to Calais. I had no passport or desire to travel because I was "seeing the UK" first.

Well, after meeting a bunch of guys at GenCon UK in London in '02 I was invited to visit Muenster in Germany to play Warlord CCG. Well, I ummed and ahhed about it and eventually decided to go. It was my first plane trip (previously I had been to the Scilly Isles on a helicopter, but only a year before!) and my first experience abroad. What I had been missing!

There were guys who I knew form various UK games shows that were there and I was even invited to run a large game of Strategic Warlord which had around 70 players!!!

After that I knew no bounds and the following May saw me & friend MatB in Bologna for EL:ITE, the Italian Warlord Nationals. Luca and Simone were great hosts and I met my now very good Buende buddy Seb as well as Marcel whislt there as well as Dominic who hailed from Poland....
Italy is a great country! You must visit there to play games or just to eat and drink!
I recall Roberto winning this and becoming Caesar!

Then back to KOHIT in November 2004 at a new larger location! It worked a treat and the Strategic game grew to about 80 players whilst the main tournament hit around 170!

On to 2005 and I attended the French Nationals at Battle for the North in Lille over Easter. Never been on Eurostar before! Great fun and we stayed at the great Hotel Olivar Appatrtment hotel, where the organizer works! We had sleepless nights because we were taught to play Spank the Monkey by Arne until around 3am!

Next up in May 05 was EL:ITE 2 and this time my good buddy DJ came with me as well as Vince and MatB. I nearly qualified for the cut, just losing my final match by 1 game and ended up tied in the 20s.....Hottest summer in living memory, apparently!!!
This was where I really made friends with Tom & Ellen, having briefly met them at Lille.

Then, with the launch of the new Dragon Lord looming (Altus darkhart) I decided to go and see my good friends in Belgium and so I took my stack of Dragonlord decks to Aarschott where Prince of the Storm was being held. Well, I have to say Wow! What a great town, friendly country and wonderful tournament. The hotel was a large country house and we got a lift every morning by Diedrik, a great Belgian player and official CoL chauffeur.......:)
This was a great tournament, good locationa dn all the great guys from the rest of Europe were there again.....Let me list a few: Arne, Arnout, Diedrik, Seb, Florian, Iain, DJ, Nick, Vince, Chris, Tom, Ellen, Olsch, Fred, Roberto, Matthias and many more whose names have disappeared in a drunken haze that are the memories of Aarschott :)

Then I had to wait until November again to travel to KOHIT as there were no more tournaments until then! Bummer!
Still KOHIT4 was host to the world champs and I palced 63rd out of 153 or so players. I was
happy with that. In the doubles, DJ & I placed 33 out of 72, which we were a bit upset with, but we had some of the most fun games I ever think we'veplayed, so it was fun!
Oh, and what a great way to meet Americans! AEG assisted players travel to Germany for the World Conquest series of events and got to meet a lot of the "names" of the US game!
People like Azraelana, SoulDK, Zechnophobe, Fury of Hate and remeet Rich Carter, who is always a laugh! Todd was also there again....Although I think we may have kept him up late on the Friday after Florian delivered his "care package" crate of beer that Adam arragned!

It is now May 06 and I have missed 3 tournaments aleady this year and will miss EL:ITE for the first time due to personal circumstances. I am upset about that as it is in Roma, and I would love to visit Roma.......Maybe soon.....

I will shortly be travelling to Aarschott at the end of June for the Prince of the Storm tournament again and more Dragon Lord shinannigans against the best Euro players!
I look forward to seeing the guys again, and can't wait to get killed in the DL challenges, quiz and tournaments!