Star Belly Geek's Diskwars Pages

Command and Control

Critical command decisions have to be made several times during each Diskwars game. As in chess, such decisions can make or break your chances of winning. The loser is often the person who makes the last mistake.

There are several general principles Diskwars players must keep in mind. First of these is that moving first and last are important, for different reasons. Moving last lets you see where your opponent's disks end up before you commit your most powerful attacks. If you will move before your opponent on the next turn, you can attack with the last move on one turn, then withdraw with the first move on the next turn, a "hit and run" tactic that is popular with fast armies. You can also move disks into position for special abilities or spells without fear of attack when you move last. Moving last requires having at least as many Activations available as your opponent.

Moving first lets you get your attacks in before your opponent can react. You can move to pin dangerous opponent disks, taking them out of action. You can pin groups of opponent disks, giving you a temporary advantage in Activations, helping you to move last (see above...). You can use spells or special abilities that will assist your army this round before your opponent can act to prevent them. You will always be able to move first some rounds during the game, determined solely by turn order. The only active effect you can have is by using spells (Freeze) or abilities (Lephram Duesich, Lucera the Pious) that allow you to move additional units before your opponent can react.

The second principle, related to the first, is that you want to count Activations when you create and move your army. High numbers of Activations can give you an advantage, as noted above. With the advent of the Wastelands expansion, the "benchmark" for numbers of Activations in most scenarios is around 7 or 8 per 50 points of army. Some factions have an easy time doing this (getting 21 to 24 units in a 150-point army), while others definitely do not. Based on this benchmark, remember that units that cost more than 6 points are generally not helping your Activation total, so they had better have a high impact on your army to justify the cost. Big exceptions are made here for units that can Activate twice in a round - they can prove to be bargains from an Activation count perspective. If you are not able to meet the benchmark in numbers of Activations, you should be prepared to either attack early (to knock your opponent down quickly) or be out numbered. When you line up your 18-unit Acolyte army opposite a 35-unit K'Ryth army, don't say I didn't warn you. Note, by the way, that there are spells and special abilities that can give you a temporary Activation advantage - use them carefully, because once they're gone, they're gone.

The third overriding principle Diskwarriors should keep in mind is that Fireballs are dangerous. While this may seem obvious, it should influence your army composition and movement tactics. First, you'll want to consider taking Fireball spells and a spellcaster that can cast them. Only the K'Ryth lack such a spellcaster. The spell does 6 points of damage at a great distance, and can quickly change the shape of a battle, but the total cost of Fireballs can be high for small armies. Second, you'll want to consider what would happen to you if your opponent used Fireball. Do you have disks that would die if hit by 6 points of damage, and are they in vulnerable positions? Keep fragile, expensive disks behind a wall of tough or cheap units to prevent your opponent's spellcasters from sniping your backfield with Fireballs. If a unit is primarily an attack disk, yet could die if hit by a Fireball, consider its cost versus the chances that it will be killed without ever drawing opponent blood.

The fourth general principle is that Spells are not cost-effective. This is not a complete truism, because spells offer surprise and flexibility to your army, but in general spellcasters are expensive (see second principle, above), and spells take the place of units without providing Activations (did I mention that Activations are important?). Even the Familiar and Alchemist's Apprentice, both of which help add flexibility and increase the effectiveness of spells, do not help you in the Activation department. Therefore, you should have a plan for the use of a spell (even Fireball) before you expend points on it and its caster. Don't take a spell because you find it "neat:" take it because it works well with a tactic that you are fairly certain you will use. It won't generally be a straight point-cost issue. Some spells are much easier to justify than are others.

Fifth, Archers cost Activations. Even a very cheap Archer (such as Goblin Crossbowz) can pull down your Activations if you try to use it to shoot, since it cannot Activate during the Activation Phase. Setting up a potent barrage of crossbow bolts, arrows and boulders is fun, but you have to accept that your opponent will be able to react to you, rather than the other way around, because you are holding units unactivated in preparation to fire. If you are very bad at dropping arrows, Archers may not really help your armies at all.

Sixth, in play, watch your unit spacing. You want to keep your front line close enough together to prevent Fireballs and attackers from slipping through, but you also want to prevent your opponent from pinning several units at once. More importantly, you want your troops behind the front line to be free to move around, and it can be devastating to your plans to have several support units pinned at once back there. Fairy Swarms and Uhk'set Wasps can destroy well-laid plans, and a Teleported swashbuckler can eat all of your archers and spellcasters at once.