Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Of pig's ears and purses.


Many of us will know the saying "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"
A sow is a female pig, and incidentally a sounder is a male pig.
The saying is meaning, you cannot make something noble out of something that is common. Very common in this case. *oink*

But if you think about it, the saying holds true in reverse. You cannot make a chrome vanadium spanner out of a gold nugget. Or, to put it this way, you cannot make something practical out of something almost purely decorative. Well, you can, but it won't do the job very well and would cost a ridiculous amount.

So what am I saying?

A thing is what it is. Trying to make that thing into something else, will not often bring as much success as if it were used for its apparent purpose.

For RoS, our Myrmidons are not simple, dedicated mêlée Warjacks. They are, for better or worse, hybrid shooting and mêlée units.
Similarly, our Infantry are really very good, and perhaps superior to other factions Infantry overall.

Trying to make Myrmidons perform like dedicated units just isn't going to work, unless coincidence of convenience comes along.

Likewise, if RoS Infantry is high quality, then that is a fantastic thing.

Why am I saying this?

When someone has played with another Faction, it is quite natural for them to transfer that knowledge and experience onto their expectations of RoS.
Now when they try to run RoS in the way they would a typical Faction, they will be confused and disappointed about how the Myrmidons operate. Or they won't be using many of our quality Infantry, because, in Warmachine, the games is "all about" the Heavies [Jacks or Beasts].

Fortunately for me, and other WM n00bs who have not played with other Factions, we won't have to "unlearn" how to play WM. Whilst that could then put us at a disadvantage when we start playing with different Factions, having our RoS knowledge and experience interfering with how that Faction plays, our greenness to WM means we haven't been moulded into playing any other style than RoS.

Sweet!

A thing is what a thing is. Our units are what they are. By using them how their intrinsic strengths demand, will enable a far more harmonious result to come from them, garnishing success for the user.

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