Scenario Review – Smoke and Mirrors

I am pleased to present the following guest article from Keith Conroy. Keith is a member of the Unplugged Gamers from Connecticut, USA.  He currently plays Herd and Dwarfs and is starting a mostly-Mantic Nightstalkers army for 3^rd edition.

Why Write a Scenario Review?

Like many other miniature wargamers who used to play Warhammer Fantasy back in the day, I often fall into the trap of choosing units for my lists based entirely on their ability to kill other units. However, it is important to remember that “Kill” is only one out of the possible twelve scenarios in 3^rd edition, and it stands alone as the only attrition based scenario in the most recent pack. What separates our game of Kings of War from others is the use of scenarios as the primary win condition. As a result, our list building should ideally reflect the myriad scenarios and variety of win conditions across a two-day Grand Tournament. I personally need to get in the habit of remembering this when it comes to building lists. Instead of “what unit packs the biggest punch” I should start asking myself “which unit is going to carry my tokens in Push?” and “do I have any speedy units I can redeploy if I get tricked in Smoke and Mirrors?” I could also benefit from playing with the scenario in mind from the first turn instead of remembering at the end of turn five, but that’s an entirely different story…

All too often we deem a unit “unusable” or “broken” in our minds based purely on their ability to remove other units, not their effectiveness in a scenario. For example, the Planar Apparition for the Nightstalkers may not look like a threat in Melee with its 4 Att and 13/15 Ne, but I can think of few better units to hold your Loot counters with its Regeneration 4+, Pathfinder, Stealthy and Ensnare special rules. My hope is that by taking a deeper dive into the new scenarios we can reevaluate some of our less popular units, which may actually shine in scenario play. Except for the Planar Apparition, as that one should be a no-brainer in every Nightstalkers list!

The Scenario

Initial Thoughts and Setup 

As you read this scenario, you may be reminded of a beloved childhood game: Stratego. The presence of “hidden” objectives as well as the “game within a game” component of tricking your opponent into chasing after the wrong tokens is all too familiar for fans of the 1961 classic from Milton Bradley. Indeed, a common tactic in both games can be to make your opponent believe a heavily guarded token is a “2” (Flag) which in reality it is just a “0” (Bomb)! In both gameplay and design, Smoke and Mirrors certainly lives up to its name.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you set up and prepare for the scenario. First, remember the Bluff Counters are placed after you choose sides but before units are placed. This lets both you and your opponent take a minute to try to make your best guess and a tentative plan for which Bluff Counters you should try to capture before any units are placed and committed to the table. This is an instance where having more drops than your opponent can give you a tactical edge. Remember, when moving your units during the game, always have a contingency plan to hastily move a unit back onto an objective, or on to a new objective, just in case it actually turns out to be worth points! 

When making your plan for the game, it is also important to remember that all Bluff Counters are essentially revealed by the conclusion of the fourth turn. By nature of having a set amount of Bluff Counters, you will always know the value of the remaining fifth counter on your side of the board by process of elimination. In some games, if you reveal the “2” and both of the “1” or the “0” counters, you can divine the remaining values as early as the end of turn three.  This is important to keep in mind if you were hoping for that bluff to stall your opponent’s units for that much-needed extra turn.  If your opponent discovers that the counter they have been guarding with their 200+ point Phalanx Horde for four turns is, in fact, a dud, you’d better believe they will try to make up for that lost time by going after your units with extreme prejudice. 

Three Big Takeaways

The immediate takeaway you may get as you set up for your first game of Smoke and Mirrors is the presence of ten (10!) Bluff Counters on the board. While four of these Bluff Counters are actually worth zero points in the end, players have to take calculated risks over which ones they believe are worth victory points and which they believe are decoys. This scenario specifically highlights the importance of not only of Unit Strength in 3rd edition but also the very presence of scoring units. With ten Bluff Counters scattered across the board, elite armies or those overly reliant on Individuals may struggle to claim multiple Bluff Counters. In fact, a wise player may choose to combat the elite, low drop lists by placing their Bluff Counters worth “1” or “2” points spread out in hard to reach places, preventing the opponent from claiming all of them.  

The second takeaway is that you reveal tokens on YOUR side of the board. This is something to keep in mind early in the game if you are worried that your elite Horde is, in fact, sitting on a Bluff Counter worth “0” and would need a few turns to deploy onto an actual scoring Bluff Counter. For elite armies and those with low Speed, this scenario requires some careful planning about how to best maximize your scoring potential across six or seven turns.  

Third, this scenario is deceptively balanced. At first thought, you may feel like the advantage would go to elite, fast units that can spread out and capture Bluff Counters all across the board.  However, unlike the old Occupy scenario, units can score any Bluff Counter regardless of which side it is on. This means that a fast army that pays more points for high Speed, Nimble or Fly may end up wasting some of their alpha strike advantage if they have to “babysit” Bluff Counters on their side of the board.  

List Building and Gameplay

Lastly, here are a few pieces of advice when creating an army list for an objective-based scenario such as Smoke and Mirrors. I played a practice game of Smoke and Mirrors at my LGS using 1800 points of Nightstalkers versus Goblins.  Shameless (un)plug, the Unplugged Gamers are hosting the Harvest of Souls GT using 3rd edition rules at the Portal in Manchester, CT on November 16th and 17th. Anyways, while my Shadowhulk and Horde of Butchers did all of the heavy liftings when it came to Melee, it was my single regiment of Scarecrows who sat on a Bluff Counter all game and a Troop of Phantoms who were able to redeploy across the board to claim a Bluff Counter (after being fooled) who were the real MVPs in that game.  

When building a list with Smoke and Mirrors in mind, it can be useful to have at least one cheap, throwaway scoring unit. My opponent left two Bluff Counters deep in my deployment zone and gave me the choice of either moving up to engage or sit back and try to claim them. Luckily, I had a cheap Regiment of 80 point Scarecrows to sit on one of the Bluff Counters without having to hold back a more expensive unit such as the Butchers or Void Lurker.  If that Bluff Counter had ended up being a “0”, at least I was not holding back one of my key Melee units for the first half of the game. Having inexpensive units in your list to sit on Bluff Counters and a quick unit or two to “redeploy” in case a Bluff Counter you’ve been guarding is, in fact, a “0” can be very helpful to winning this scenario.