Wargroove WG1-WG3 Spoilers: WG3 has spoilers in the fog

[Cheater Hater]

As I mentioned in the main thread, it'll be interesting to both play a 4-player FFA and against players who have played a decent amount of the game--the AI has some problems, and Quickplay opponents have been easy (though apparently there's MMR in the background, so if I keep playing they should improve).

Edit: Spoilers of WG2 start here.

[Cheater Hater]

Forgive me if my reporting is a bit more sparse, I'm busier than I was back when I was more regularly playing Civ and reporting; in fact I wasn't even going to make a spoiler thread at first. Feel free to ask me anything though.

We just started the second turn, and not much has happened--everyone starts with their Commander and one Soldier, a single Barracks, and a relatively large number of Villages. Everyone captured their second Barracks and moved in that direction, so let's examine the differences in turn order, and I'll use the opportunity to explain the differences in each army (which is only the commander's Groove Power):

scooter (Mercia): Mercia is your default protagonist in the campaign, and just like Andy she has a healing power. It's strong though (5 HP healed in a cross that extends 3 tiles out, including her), and one of the characters that seems the strongest. scooter built a Soldier, which is fine, and will give him 1200 gold this turn, enough to build any unit (though a Giant would mean he doesn't build from both Barracks, something I wouldn't recommend).

CH (Naru): Naru's power lets you build any unit you could normally build next to her, and while you have to pay for it, it comes in active, which is powerful, in particular if you're teleporting in a surprise Trebuchet. I built a Spearman, which I like slightly better than a Soldier since the map is very slow and we have plenty of fund.

Brick (Emeric): Emeric's power puts down a crystal that emits a defensive field for his units. I haven't found it that great since it's mostly a defensive power that can't handle if the battlefield moves, though this map is small enough that it might work. Brick built an Archer, which is interesting--it can still capture villages, but I haven't found them to be that great overall since they're expensive. I'd rather build them after a chokepoint occurs instead of before.

superdeath (Valder) Valder's power raises a free Soldier that's immediately active. That's fine, but I don't like the opportunity cost--your commander is best if it's fighting a decent amount (and when it's not fighting it's often healing) and giving up your turn just for a soldier doesn't seem great. superdeath also built an Archer

Hopefully the other players posted a map, since I don't feel like it right now

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Hey, I'm just posting to let you know that I'm lurking with interest! Good luck!

[Cheater Hater]

Thanks!

scooter built a Spearman in the Barracks closer to me and Knight on in the Barracks closer to Brick--he still isn't spending that much. I took a more interesting line: building a Spearman in the Barracks closer to scooter (and moved my other Spear in that direction, since Spears get critical hits if they're next to another Spear), but I built a Trebuchet in the Barracks closer to superdeath. My plan is to contest the northern cities and win economically.

[haphazard1]

Another lurker keeping an eye on this game. Thanks for playing and posting! Trying to decide if I want to buy this one.

[Cheater Hater]

Thanks for all the lurks--though the answer is yes

Still not my turn yet, but Brick built an Archer towards scooter and a Spear towards superdeath, while superdeath built a spear towards Brick and a Knight towards me. Nothing too worrisome, though I have to make sure to protect my treb--that'll be key to whether I win or not.

[haphazard1]

How important is the split between going for more/cheaper units vs. fewer/expensive units? You mention protecting your treb, so I am thinking that it represents a significant investment of resources?

[Cheater Hater]

How important is the split between going for more/cheaper units vs. fewer/expensive units? You mention protecting your treb, so I am thinking that it represents a significant investment of resources?

In general, Advance Wars strategy is focused on lots of cheaper units--flooding a map with foot soldiers is pretty much the standard in competitive play. Wargroove feels like it's trying to change that, as there are fewer production buildings per player and more expensive units are much cheaper than their AW equivalents. As for protecting it, the Treb is a powerful indirect unit, but it's made of tissue paper--I have no clue if it's right to build here, but I'm experimenting.

[Bobchillingworth]

My general impression so far is that Wargroove was successful in reducing the overwhelming power of indirect units (reduced range, higher cost), but Infantry spam is more powerful than ever. There aren't many units which can 1-shot the two cheapest foot soldiers, and a horde of basic Infantry can cost-effectively kill just about anything they can attack, short perhaps of a Giant or CO on a mountain.

[Cheater Hater]

My general impression so far is that Wargroove was successful in reducing the overwhelming power of indirect units (reduced range, higher cost), but Infantry spam is more powerful than ever.  There aren't many units which can 1-shot the two cheapest foot soldiers, and a horde of basic Infantry can cost-effectively kill just about anything they can attack, short perhaps of a Giant or CO on a mountain.

Yeah, Soldiers are powerful (and the increase to four move is nice), but you can't make nearly as many as in equivalent AW maps (and Knights are still going to beat them in a one on one fight), and you get more value out of the limited healing (you only get so much healing from cities, and the cost of the Mage's healing is fixed--I think Mages are being underestimated in non-air maps).  The Archer being very underpowered is a big deal, though Trebs still seem great (and the Ballista somehow got worse in exchange for being able to plink ground units).  Critical hits are a big part, in particular Trebs, Spears, and Knights (and to a lesser extent Soldiers).

And now, because I felt motivated today, an actual report with pictures!


Yes, I'm putting Naru in danger, but only by a couple units (and not Valder).  More importantly, my Treb is still safe, and if superdeath attacks my Treb will get some hits (which they avoided last turn).  You also see my Knights trying to protect things, while superdeath has a more varied army (including a Dog, which doesn't seem that good when it's not providing vision, especially on a relatively small map). I'm not sure what I've doing next--we'll see what superdeath builds next, but I'm worried that splitting my focus (even relatively lightly) might cost me.

Now let's check out some of the more interesting things in the south (which has little relevance to me initially other than my advancing Spears):


Combat! Note this is after Brick's turn, and I think he's fighting off scooter nicely. The only thing in range of scooter's Treb is a Soldier, and that Giant is going to cause havoc. Combine that with my advancing Spears diverting scooter's attention and things don't seem great for him.