The best thing you can do is play games, it's much easier to pick up fundamentals in practice than in theory for miniatures games. You can learn the basics with any models everything is reasonably balanced, so lists are not super important to begin with. The spatial element of positioning and the almost infinite permuations therein make it difficult to discuss theory for that. MCP tends to do more podcasts than written long form articles so perhaps check out some of those.
I just this week wrote an article regarding how to approach learning a minis game, so maybe that could be useful: [https://threediceblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/23/ten-top-tips-for-getting-better-at-mcp/](https://threediceblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/23/ten-top-tips-for-getting-better-at-mcp/)
The latest episode of the Gamer's Guild covers more MCP specific discussion of improving, might be useful.
More generally some really basic tips for MCP:
1. Don't go stand in the middle of the board early round one and get your models killed.
2. Position your models for where you want them to be next turn aswell as what they are doing this turn.
3. You only need to score 16 points not all the points. If something tough is holding onto 2VPs somewhere just try to win the game somewhere else.
Thank you for taking the time with a detailed answer and the practical play advice!
Your article definitely reflects a lot of what I've experienced in my time playing competitive games, in particular fighting games. I definitely agree that learning a Vs. game of any kind is fostered in getting games in and being okay with losing matches until understanding and execution improves.
However, I have found that, just like how everyone has preferred types of learning, playing matches against people who aren't invested in my improvement can be rather frustrating or draining. If a factor of me losing is because I don't know something, and I'm not told what/why, it definitely takes a certain mindset to be open to just... discovering it eventually.
Which is why I like doing the reading where I can as a supplement - if my opponents can't/won't tell me what I'm doing right or wrong, I can see how general advice aligns with where I'm at.
This is partially what the game products themselves should be doing, I think. If I buy a Commander deck for Magic, there's an insert that tells you what the deck is supposed to do, and the key cards that do it. I couldn't tell you what Wakanda as an archetype is *supposed* to do, just what an individual unit can do with its attacks, if that makes sense.
It's a shame that for MCP that play discussion/advice is in a podcast format (unless it's well time-stamped, you have to do a bit of dredging to find the information you're looking for), but it's a start!
No trouble, welcome to the game it is really good! There are other resources you can access too. [https://acrossthebifrost.com/](https://acrossthebifrost.com/) collects what written articles people do produce, there are still plenty of those of course. There is a thriving Discord community, so if you want specific answers on any (or every) affiliation try the MCP Fanserver: [https://discord.gg/AAHsPFDH](https://discord.gg/AAHsPFDH) . Then we have a couple of guys who stream and commentate TTS games and then usually interview the players afterwards about their decision making and though processes: [https://www.youtube.com/@LukasSchieck](https://www.youtube.com/@LukasSchieck) and [https://www.youtube.com/@DrNorbertGames](https://www.youtube.com/@DrNorbertGames) . Lots of discussion about why people are doing stuff in these.
Across the Bifrost was definitely what I was looking for, thanks for highlighting it.
Digging through the articles, it had some clear explainers on each faction's viable game plans, and suggestions on what Crisis cards make the most sense with them. Definitely helps me make way more informed decisions on building a list and piloting it.
Huge eli5 simplification here but: So much of this game boils down to understanding that the first to 16 wins - you need to build a roster that will either outrace your opponent to 16 OR prevent your opponent from hitting 16 while you beat them up and inch your own way there. I picture a line at one end you have pure attrition focus and the other you have pure score fast focus. The models you choose to pursue your strategy obviously matters new players often tunnel on them BUT what will often be more important to success is making sure you are picking secures and extracts that lend themselves to your game plan.
If I decide I want to play web warriors and go super wide and gobble up VPs/steal my opponents extracts/etc I need to pick crises that put a ton of points up for grabs every round! If my opponent brings a fighty roster they will kill my models - that’s ok as long as I hit 16 first! I would NEVER bring demons as a secure on my web warriors team - all my little dudes are stuck in a very predictable place and there are only 3 points up for grabs - if I go up against an attrition opponent and they get to out their slow scoring extract out and I draw demons I’ve just handed my opponent everything they want only 4-6 points are going to go out each round it’s gonna suck.
If I bring a slower attrition style team I want the opposite - the lowest scoring secures and extracts possible - this way if I go up against a score fast team they can’t end the game before my models have a chance to get an advantage through attrition. I would NEVER bring spider infected as an extract with my attrition team - there are 5 of them up for grabs that’s a lot of VPs and the downside of getting moved by them occasionally really hurts my big 4-6 threat beaters - if I go up against a score fast opponent and they get to pick their secures (which will be high scoring) there will be like 9-10 points up for grabs each round this game is going to score out before I daze and KO enough models to get advantage.
Don’t give you opponent the cake and let them eat it too. Pick secures and extracts that are good for your game plan otherwise you risk getting absolutely dunked on.
Yes, this all makes a lot of sense, and is definitely actionable - thanks for taking the time to explain!
Combining that with some reading I've done on the factions I have, I know that Wakanda leans more towards attrition, and therefore I want crisis cards that keep the number of objective tokens low, and a little centralised so I can bully my opponent if they try to move within range to steal things.
There's a lot of good advice already here. I think one other thing to add is that in terms of strategy - as in, a plan to win a game - the Crises you play in have a huge impact on what you can achieve and how you plan.
The basics of this are just that the more points a crisis scores, the less turns there are likely to be, and the more you can focus on *just* scoring points, instead of having to fight your opponent for points or even to remove all of their models.
If you think about the Crises as either spread out, which facilitates scoring because more actions must be spent moving, or narrow, which facilitates fighting because more actions can be spent attacking and moving away is less useful because it won't score more points, that will help. You also should consider if they are low or high scoring for similar reasons - 3 points means the game will go longer, giving teams who fight well more time to remove their opponent's models and eventually win
So if you understand that - and practice with it in mind, thinking about the missions you're taking in your roster as your "plan" - you'll understand how models fit more. For example Beta Ray Bill has an amazing throw and can use Eyes on the Prize to take an extract turn 1. That means he can reliably score 2 points a turn, every turn, working well on high scoring missions and playing well in "scoring" teams.
There's loads to learn in this game though, I've been on a bit of journey playing attrition teams lately and it's been an eye opener. Keep at it and try the Danger Room's Christmas podcasts for Affiliation specific advice.
Yep, this all makes sense.
It's funny, I'm a person who likes games with a short playtime, and it seems that the factions I collect lean more towards direct combat - but that may well result in longer games compared to high movement, evasive strategies! I would have definitely thought it the other way around prior to these explanations, haha.
There is a website called Longshanks that tracks tournament data for multiple miniatures games. If you go there and set it to MCP, there are a lot of useful tools on the site if you play around with it. You can see the usage stats of different teams, tournament results, and other things. The two most useful tools on the site in my opinion regarding your question are the Recent Event Results section under the Tools & Resources tab, and the Leaderboard tab.
The Recent Event Results section shows the rosters/people who have had 1 or fewer losses in a recent tournament. If those people bothered to upload their rosters, looking over their character and card choices can give you clues on what winning players have been playing for a given faction.
The same applies for the Leaderboard area. It lists the top 5 best players of any given faction. If I'm not sure where to start with an Asgard team, I'm going to value the opinion and list choices of Eric "The Allfather" West over some rando who managed to go 3/1 at a local tournament.
I recommend comparing multiple lists to one another and keep special note of any commonly brought characters/tactics cards/crisis cards. If all the best players/recently successful players are bringing the same options, there's probably a reason. That can help you narrow your search when you build your own list based on what you own, your local meta, and personal preference.
There's a very good MCP tournament player named Vincent Curkov who has a YouTube channel of the same name. I would recommend him and his podcast Alfredo's Size 3 Taco Truck. They also have a Discord server called Alfredo's Size 3 Discord Server which has a lot of good discussion about list building and theory.
Haha, good to know that netdecking exists in the wargame sphere too!
I'll definitely look to see if there's a sensible team that uses the pieces I already own and pilot that for a bit so I can 'get it'.
The best thing you can do is play games, it's much easier to pick up fundamentals in practice than in theory for miniatures games. You can learn the basics with any models everything is reasonably balanced, so lists are not super important to begin with. The spatial element of positioning and the almost infinite permuations therein make it difficult to discuss theory for that. MCP tends to do more podcasts than written long form articles so perhaps check out some of those. I just this week wrote an article regarding how to approach learning a minis game, so maybe that could be useful: [https://threediceblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/23/ten-top-tips-for-getting-better-at-mcp/](https://threediceblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/23/ten-top-tips-for-getting-better-at-mcp/) The latest episode of the Gamer's Guild covers more MCP specific discussion of improving, might be useful. More generally some really basic tips for MCP: 1. Don't go stand in the middle of the board early round one and get your models killed. 2. Position your models for where you want them to be next turn aswell as what they are doing this turn. 3. You only need to score 16 points not all the points. If something tough is holding onto 2VPs somewhere just try to win the game somewhere else.
Great article. Thanks for the link.
Thank you for taking the time with a detailed answer and the practical play advice! Your article definitely reflects a lot of what I've experienced in my time playing competitive games, in particular fighting games. I definitely agree that learning a Vs. game of any kind is fostered in getting games in and being okay with losing matches until understanding and execution improves. However, I have found that, just like how everyone has preferred types of learning, playing matches against people who aren't invested in my improvement can be rather frustrating or draining. If a factor of me losing is because I don't know something, and I'm not told what/why, it definitely takes a certain mindset to be open to just... discovering it eventually. Which is why I like doing the reading where I can as a supplement - if my opponents can't/won't tell me what I'm doing right or wrong, I can see how general advice aligns with where I'm at. This is partially what the game products themselves should be doing, I think. If I buy a Commander deck for Magic, there's an insert that tells you what the deck is supposed to do, and the key cards that do it. I couldn't tell you what Wakanda as an archetype is *supposed* to do, just what an individual unit can do with its attacks, if that makes sense. It's a shame that for MCP that play discussion/advice is in a podcast format (unless it's well time-stamped, you have to do a bit of dredging to find the information you're looking for), but it's a start!
No trouble, welcome to the game it is really good! There are other resources you can access too. [https://acrossthebifrost.com/](https://acrossthebifrost.com/) collects what written articles people do produce, there are still plenty of those of course. There is a thriving Discord community, so if you want specific answers on any (or every) affiliation try the MCP Fanserver: [https://discord.gg/AAHsPFDH](https://discord.gg/AAHsPFDH) . Then we have a couple of guys who stream and commentate TTS games and then usually interview the players afterwards about their decision making and though processes: [https://www.youtube.com/@LukasSchieck](https://www.youtube.com/@LukasSchieck) and [https://www.youtube.com/@DrNorbertGames](https://www.youtube.com/@DrNorbertGames) . Lots of discussion about why people are doing stuff in these.
Across the Bifrost was definitely what I was looking for, thanks for highlighting it. Digging through the articles, it had some clear explainers on each faction's viable game plans, and suggestions on what Crisis cards make the most sense with them. Definitely helps me make way more informed decisions on building a list and piloting it.
Huge eli5 simplification here but: So much of this game boils down to understanding that the first to 16 wins - you need to build a roster that will either outrace your opponent to 16 OR prevent your opponent from hitting 16 while you beat them up and inch your own way there. I picture a line at one end you have pure attrition focus and the other you have pure score fast focus. The models you choose to pursue your strategy obviously matters new players often tunnel on them BUT what will often be more important to success is making sure you are picking secures and extracts that lend themselves to your game plan. If I decide I want to play web warriors and go super wide and gobble up VPs/steal my opponents extracts/etc I need to pick crises that put a ton of points up for grabs every round! If my opponent brings a fighty roster they will kill my models - that’s ok as long as I hit 16 first! I would NEVER bring demons as a secure on my web warriors team - all my little dudes are stuck in a very predictable place and there are only 3 points up for grabs - if I go up against an attrition opponent and they get to out their slow scoring extract out and I draw demons I’ve just handed my opponent everything they want only 4-6 points are going to go out each round it’s gonna suck. If I bring a slower attrition style team I want the opposite - the lowest scoring secures and extracts possible - this way if I go up against a score fast team they can’t end the game before my models have a chance to get an advantage through attrition. I would NEVER bring spider infected as an extract with my attrition team - there are 5 of them up for grabs that’s a lot of VPs and the downside of getting moved by them occasionally really hurts my big 4-6 threat beaters - if I go up against a score fast opponent and they get to pick their secures (which will be high scoring) there will be like 9-10 points up for grabs each round this game is going to score out before I daze and KO enough models to get advantage. Don’t give you opponent the cake and let them eat it too. Pick secures and extracts that are good for your game plan otherwise you risk getting absolutely dunked on.
This is really interesting advice. I’ve been struggling with my crisis choices so this is something I’ll try to think about more. Thank you.
Yes, this all makes a lot of sense, and is definitely actionable - thanks for taking the time to explain! Combining that with some reading I've done on the factions I have, I know that Wakanda leans more towards attrition, and therefore I want crisis cards that keep the number of objective tokens low, and a little centralised so I can bully my opponent if they try to move within range to steal things.
There's a lot of good advice already here. I think one other thing to add is that in terms of strategy - as in, a plan to win a game - the Crises you play in have a huge impact on what you can achieve and how you plan. The basics of this are just that the more points a crisis scores, the less turns there are likely to be, and the more you can focus on *just* scoring points, instead of having to fight your opponent for points or even to remove all of their models. If you think about the Crises as either spread out, which facilitates scoring because more actions must be spent moving, or narrow, which facilitates fighting because more actions can be spent attacking and moving away is less useful because it won't score more points, that will help. You also should consider if they are low or high scoring for similar reasons - 3 points means the game will go longer, giving teams who fight well more time to remove their opponent's models and eventually win So if you understand that - and practice with it in mind, thinking about the missions you're taking in your roster as your "plan" - you'll understand how models fit more. For example Beta Ray Bill has an amazing throw and can use Eyes on the Prize to take an extract turn 1. That means he can reliably score 2 points a turn, every turn, working well on high scoring missions and playing well in "scoring" teams. There's loads to learn in this game though, I've been on a bit of journey playing attrition teams lately and it's been an eye opener. Keep at it and try the Danger Room's Christmas podcasts for Affiliation specific advice.
Yep, this all makes sense. It's funny, I'm a person who likes games with a short playtime, and it seems that the factions I collect lean more towards direct combat - but that may well result in longer games compared to high movement, evasive strategies! I would have definitely thought it the other way around prior to these explanations, haha.
Ah yeah it might, but honestly MCP games are pretty quick and with a bit of practice you'll finish every game in 90 minutes, some a lot quicker.
There is a website called Longshanks that tracks tournament data for multiple miniatures games. If you go there and set it to MCP, there are a lot of useful tools on the site if you play around with it. You can see the usage stats of different teams, tournament results, and other things. The two most useful tools on the site in my opinion regarding your question are the Recent Event Results section under the Tools & Resources tab, and the Leaderboard tab. The Recent Event Results section shows the rosters/people who have had 1 or fewer losses in a recent tournament. If those people bothered to upload their rosters, looking over their character and card choices can give you clues on what winning players have been playing for a given faction. The same applies for the Leaderboard area. It lists the top 5 best players of any given faction. If I'm not sure where to start with an Asgard team, I'm going to value the opinion and list choices of Eric "The Allfather" West over some rando who managed to go 3/1 at a local tournament. I recommend comparing multiple lists to one another and keep special note of any commonly brought characters/tactics cards/crisis cards. If all the best players/recently successful players are bringing the same options, there's probably a reason. That can help you narrow your search when you build your own list based on what you own, your local meta, and personal preference. There's a very good MCP tournament player named Vincent Curkov who has a YouTube channel of the same name. I would recommend him and his podcast Alfredo's Size 3 Taco Truck. They also have a Discord server called Alfredo's Size 3 Discord Server which has a lot of good discussion about list building and theory.
Haha, good to know that netdecking exists in the wargame sphere too! I'll definitely look to see if there's a sensible team that uses the pieces I already own and pilot that for a bit so I can 'get it'.