Is it too easy to win a game by killing a general in Warmaster?

[Geep]

Yes, but if you just get a tie every game it can't be too satisfying. Plus even on ties there's still a sort-of victor (it may not be recorded as a victory in the history books, but if I'm 20VP up at the end of the game I still feel more proud than when 20VP down).

[forbes]

I've consulted the rules!!

General Slain is the same as reaching the Break Point. This army is said to have Withdrawn - this ends the game.

At that point calculate Victory Points, the best the Withdrawing army can do is tie.


We've had very few games end due to death of the general - usually this happens if someone throws in the General to a combat, rather than the opponent hunting down the General.

[empireaddict]

That's been my experience as well.  Even in tournaments, most WM players tend to be there for the enjoyment of the game rather than the win-at-all-costs.  So the 'death of general' scenario usually occurs when either a game is very finely balanced with both sides close to break, or a player is in deep trouble and they throw their general in to try and swing a combat that they (usually wrongly) believe will turn the tide.  Frequently preceded by their opponent saying "are you sure you want to do that?"

[honestmistake]

It's happened in our games a fair bit ( I am very reckless with my General while playing Orcs or Ogres  ) What we do depends on what time it is. It's happened very early because of a misjudged measurement and we just ruled that that the army was confused,  the player selected a Hero to take control as the new general and we carried on as normal. On the otherhand, if you've stuck your general into a fight deliberatly then its your own damn fault if he dies and you lose 

[Dave]

That seems like a decent house rule:

If the general dies nominate another character to count as the general. Their command value does not change, but if they fail to give an order, no further orders can be issued by any other characters in that Command phase.

Your army won't automatically withdraw, but a dead general (especially on a mount) is a hell of a lot of victory points to your opponent.

[wellspring]

I've consulted the rules!!

General Slain is the same as reaching the Break Point. This army is said to have Withdrawn - this ends the game.

At that point calculate Victory Points, the best the Withdrawing army can do is tie.


We've had very few games end due to death of the general - usually this happens if someone throws in the General to a combat, rather than the opponent hunting down the General.

This is my experience as well. Personally, I think it fits the concept of the game better to keep the rule as is.

[Geep]

The rules as-is can be a bit of a shame at times- For example, it's just more cool to have the general on a monstrous mount than a hero, but that's a bad idea. It also pretty much means I'd never field a Bretonnian Hipogriff or Slann on Stegadon, or any other mount limited to the general.

[honestmistake]

We quite like generals fighting. It's pretty much a given in the Ogre Kingdom army and happens at least half the time with Orcs but basically never with Skaven or Undead. However in order to encourage this behaviour we are going to trial a rule where a General that joins a unit which destroys at least 1 enemy unit (while he is with it) will have a +1 command rating (max 10)  for any orders he issues this unit (or it's brigade) on the Generals next turn. This will represent the rush of loyalty shown by troops who see their Boss taking the same risks they do, if it works we might even trial it with Heroes (but that's probably going too far)

[Lex]

We quite like generals fighting. It's pretty much a given in the Ogre Kingdom army and happens at least half the time with Orcs but basically never with Skaven or Undead. However in order to encourage this behaviour we are going to trial a rule where a General that joins a unit which destroys at least 1 enemy unit (while he is with it) will have a +1 command rating (max 10)  for any orders he issues this unit (or it's brigade) on the Generals next turn. This will represent the rush of loyalty shown by troops who see their Boss taking the same risks they do, if it works we might even trial it with Heroes (but that's probably going too far)

Nice house-rule

[Dranask1]

@ honestmistake, An interesting house rule.

At our club many of us tend to play historical armies in such games as, Black Powder, BKC2 and Hail Caesar!
Often the sides are very imbalanced as we copy historical events and see if we can fare any  better than the Generals there at the time.
Win or lose its the game and losing more slowly than the general, if you like postponing the inevitable defeat can be satisfying especially if their is a time/turn limit then you win.

I digress; when we play the game ends when one side breaks or the general dies, we have tended to ignore VPs, you win, lose or draw.

So on occasion a side that is being hammered will try to target a General.

I recall my  Waagh being mauled by Dark elves [mounted crossbows within 15cm hurt]. However my opponent attached his general to a cold one riders unit in a brigade of 2 units, despite my suggestion that he didn't he continued to do so. In the end a Goblin unit with supporting archers finished off the cold one riders and general.

It wasn't easy, and I had to rely on his persistence in reattaching the General.