Aristeia! - Scenario Breakdown - Witchland

Into The Witchland

For Managers who are relatively new to the action in the Hexadome, one of the best steps to expanding your Aristeia! experience can be looking at the wider range of Scenarios available from the Downloads Section of the Aristeia Website.

Along with the selection of more advanced Scenarios for the standard board layout, there are a series of Scenarios which use the "B-Side" of the Aristeia! board and introduce the concept of "Ziggurats".

These holographic columns designate new Zones on the table, which are used for Scoring instead of the standard Deployment Zones. 

For those of you new to the concept, the Ziggurats use the three legged symbols printed on the B-Side of the board. They mark the three hexes in contact with the Ziggurat, but we've found that adding a template to the board is very useful.

It's their location in the Hexadome which really kicks these Scenarios up a notch. The distance from the Deployment Zones to the nearest Ziggurat is only two spaces, so even a slow poke like Maximus can get into the Ziggurat and punch someone in the face with his shield in a single Activation. But it's ALSO only 8 hexes to go from one Ziggurat to the opposite Ziggurat, so most Aristos can fling themselves across the Hexadome with a double Move action and arrive to score no matter where the Zone is moved.

This means that pinning Aristos with solid Brawn, and totally repositioning them is usually stronger than smaller displacements (although the latter is still very useful in terms of controlling who is in the Scoring Ziggurat THIS turn). You are also going to want to look for solid Initiative, as getting into the Zone first, and into a strong blocking position, is a strong and easy play for most Aristos. Straight blocking your opponents from the Zone is very possible.

For more on the new Scenarios in general check out the official Corvus Belli write up here:

https://aristeiathegame.com/blog/item/634-new-scenarios-for-the-hexadome-b-side

When considering Witch Land specifically as a Scenario it's good to nod to the "standard" Scenario which it draws from, Assault. Starting closer to the Scoring Zone, and with the Ziggurats being closer together than the Deployment Zones, means that there is less of an emphasis on extreme movement in Witch Land, however.

This opens up a wider range of Aristos, particularly slower Melee Aristos like Shona Carano and 8-Ball, and makes them stronger in terms of Team selection. It's even possible for the likes of Maximus to get into a Scoring Zone from one of the two nearest Deployment Zones with just the one Move Action, and he doesn't need a lot of help to cross from one to the opposite if that's where it goes in the following Activation (often pulling that off thanks to his Automatic Displace).

With the Deployment Zones split 1, 3, and 5 or 2, 4 and 6 both Teams have a good chance of getting even their slower Aristos into the first Scoring Ziggurat, as both are able to deploy into one of the two closest Deployment Zones. As these same Deployment Zones continue to be used for deploying from the Bench this situation is maintained throughout the Match. This also means that there is no real opportunity for aggressive Melee Striker spawning, and the central Deployment Zone is largely a safe space for more vulnerable Aristos to stalk.

As with Assault, the Scoring Ziggurat does not shift if nobody scored any Victory Points in the round. This can make for interesting last turn plays, 'though the actual scoring can make this challenging.

Unlike Assault there is no reward for holding the Scoring Ziggurat unopposed, and getting only one Aristo to the Ziggurat will net you only one point. You need to get an Aristo into all three of the hexes in order to score the max. This tends to slow down scoring, and regularly results in 2-1 scoring splits which helps to keep matches closer and results in few early finishes.

While this might seem to encourage Frags (and eliminating an opposing Aristo certainly helps to prevent them scoring in that Round) be somewhat careful that you aren't gifting your opponent a positioning advantage. The short range from the Deployment Zone and the Ziggurats means that every Aristo can move to score even with a -2 Energy State. At the same time, your opponent needs 3 Aristos on the board to get 3 VP, so if you can consistently put at least 2 into the Infirmary then they will struggle to pull back an early lead.

Obviously, Displacement and Immobilisation are still going to be powerful key elements in engaging in this scenario. Don't rely too heavily on movement penalties, as many Aristos will still be able to cross the shorter distances required for the Ziggurats. Just like the Scoring Zones the Ziggurats tend to be relatively exposed so having a strong Ranged Striker to sweep can be a powerful choice.

With the requirement to stack three Aristos into the Ziggurat in order to obtain maximum points there is a premium on Aristos who can offer strong close range support. Aristos who have the Defense and Hit Points to be able to take a beating and keep running will also be useful, as are any abilities which prevent Displacement (Automatic Abilities like Valkyrie, Hidden like Dart and Tactics like Gata).

The Deepwater Dragons Pre-Season Team of Dart, Maximus, Mendoza and Valkyrie was very strong in this Scenario. They were regularly able to get full 3-point opening Turns and then maintain scoring pressure with Valkyrie and Dart cutting in, and/or eliminating 2 opposing Aristos. Mendoza was a sleeper Strike option and also helped keep the whole team up for the duration. Maximus is amazing drawing Hit Point damage off the other Aristos, and Dart is fantastic for picking off the opposition and chip scoring.

Other fantastic PanOceanian options for this Scenario include Prysm (who will nearly always be in range for her Taunt), Gata (who is always an amazing Scorer, but also has the opportunity to do a lot of Dazzling with the Zones closer) and Gaia (who is fast becoming one of my favorite options for movement control, especially aggressively offensively). For a totally different approach you could also build around Hannibal and maximising damage output, on the logic that a team permanently in the Infirmary can't score.

Looking across at the Rivals, obviously hEXx3r is going to bring a lot to this Scenario, as is Hammerhead. Both have good movement and the ability to Displace opponents to score and prevent others from doing so. Likewise 8-Ball and Mushashi are going to be strong choices for their abilities.

For an example of Witchland being played, you should check out my recent match with the Deepwater Dragons vs the Cherry Bombs. This match highlighted how effective Frags can be to disrupt your opponents scoring, and showcases Valkyrie as a potent force in the Scenario:

So, that's Witchland. We've really been enjoying the Ziggurat Scenarios, and we highly recommend that anyone should give them a go. They aren't really any more complex than the Scoring Zone based Scenarios, so there isn't a barrier to newer Aristeia! Managers taking them on either.

One thing is for sure, they open up a much wider range of competitive Aristos, and for that alone they deserve a place in your play rotation.

Let us know what you think about this Scenario, and our writeup. Obviously this is the first of a series, so we'd love to know if this suits what you want to know about Aristiea! Scenarios in general.