Stop Playing The Game Wrong ; AKA Why I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Combat Squads (Actually, I Loved Them Before...)

I have seen mention of how the Combat Squads rule, and the Reserves Mission Special Rule interact aplenty recently.  In fact, you could even say I've seen it brought up TOO MUCH...mostly, because most of the opinions, comments, and 'facts' I have seen regarding the issue are wrong, lies, or stupidity masquerading as intelligence.

The Basics - Interlude (Ramona A. Stone/Heart of Lothian/Troops at 1750)

Congrats, and have a whole bunch of internets for correctly identifying either of the the artists who own the songs mentioned in today's title.  Identify them both without Googling etc, and earn my respect in greater measure than at present.  ;)

Anyway, what we're going to discuss today kids is a VERY basic framework (hence, the title) for how many Troops you want to take in a game at 1750 points (again, title.)  None of these are hard-and-fast rules...as ever, if depends on some degree on your playstyle, and very heavily upon the rest of your list.  Taking more Troops than recommended is something that can nearly be as bad as not taking any...let's overview.

'The Basics' Part One point Five - What Kind Of Pokemon Are You?

This is just a brief posting to try and give a better set of examples of different armies that fit into either the 'ethos of continuation' or the 'ethos of perseverance' as identified in the previous article of the series.


This is by no means intended to be a definitive list, and some, lucky (/exceptional), armies can truly straddle the gap, and refuse to be defined as either comprehensively. 

'The Basics' - Part One: Choosing An Army.

At it's most fundamental (yeah, that's right - straight into the meat of the article, no exposition, nothing! lol) there are two ways to win at this game.  By killing, or by surviving.

Obviously, the game is slightly more complex than that, the two aren't (of course) mutually exclusive, and both require a little bit of exploration and explanation before we can proceed...but, before THAT, let's come back to that 'winning' comment.

This article series is designed, primarily, to help those starting the game, coming back to the game after a long absence, or those starting to move into the sphere of not going 'pewpew' in the basement.  In no way are they exclusively for Tournament Gamers, or even just for novices, experienced gamers will hopefully be able to gain from them too, especially if coming to a new army, or new system (ie, [re]forme[d]r Square-basers.)