by Budgernaut
MScrivner wrote:
Give me the cut-throat Runewars assholes! The bitch Cylons who cackle with evilgasms when they reveal themselves to the group! The grognardy Amerithrashing High Frontiersmen, the Soul-Lannisters! Give me players who can read a 40 page rulebook without flinching! Give me the opponents who aren't afraid of a little extra chrome, who aren't afraid of a little complexity! Who aren't afraid of a game lasting longer than thirty fucking minutes before their cubicle engineer hemorrhoids start acting up! Give me the COIN players, the chit-clippers, the the Napoleonic monsters! Give me snarling Frank Laterra's and Kuhrusty's, the philosopher Sgosaric's, the mad Hivegods, the vicious and unapologetic Michael Barnes' and the critical and uncompromising Clearclaws' (yes, even that Funmurderer is preferable to the Soccer Dads who swoon over cheap, shallow, accessible trash like Ticket to Barf and Kingdom Barfer!) You can tell the measure of a man by whether or not his eyes glaze over or glimmer when you pull out your Fantasy Flight coffin box game, and who demand you sit through his latest 18xx purchase because of some nuanced subtlety in the game calculus you will need a TI-86 to even grok. You can tell the measure of a man by the fact that he doesn't demand his games be "simple" or "easy" or "quick." Give me that man (or woman, really, since this is beyond gender) who would rather navigate complexity, and plummet into the depths of a difficult, arcane, nuanced, challenging game than snivel about "complexity" or "unfairness." Give me that man and I will call him brother, friend, compatriot, ally. And then I will smile and slit his throat on the battlefield for more VP!
Wow, man. Wow. Well said.
The part that stood out to me most (but was certainly not the only thing I agree with) is the part in bold: reading a 40-page rule book without flinching. That's the kind of gamer I am. I love reading rule books. That's what got me into Runewars in the first place. I found the PDF online and it looked interesting since I had Rune Age already, so I read the rules -- and I was hooked!
Anyway, back on topic, here is my advice to the OP. I highly recommend reading the rules a couple times before playing. It will make everyone's experience much more pleasant if you can explain how the game flows without having to constantly check the rules. If you have to consult the rules, that's fine, but try to get yourself so you don't have to do it so often.
Anecdotal story: For my first game, I was in Australia for study abroad and found a guy through the forums who owned the game. We set up a time and got together to play. Because I knew the game fairly well, I was able to just get right in and start playing. In fact, I already had my strategy picked out (buy max heroes with Latari Elves). In fact, I was even able to correct him on a couple rules. We had a great time and it only took us 2.5 hours or so before his Daqan Lords took the final Dragon Rune.
I understand that not everyone gets excited about rules, but let's be honest -- this rulebook is not ever winning any awards for design and layout. It's hard to find specific rules in the rule book, so the more you know before you play, the better experience you will have. And trust me, this game is totally worth the extra effort to learn!!
