The Early Bird Catches the Worm?
Moonstone has a unique system for generating objectives each game - the moonstone drop. One player holds a fistful of four-sided dice (7 dice being standard) directly above the centre of the board with their palm down. They then open their hand and the dice scatter.
From then on, each dice is considered a ‘moonstone’ and whoever manages to hold the most of these stones by the end of the game is the winner. After dropping the stones, players roll-off with the highest roller choosing to be Early Bird, choosing the table edge they want to deploy on, or gaining the Initiative for the game instead.
This unpredictable objective generation system ensures it’s impossible to fully plan your activations ahead of time and makes every game a one-off. To new players this can sometimes seem an unfair approach, where the side with the most moonstones seems to have a clear advantage. However, if you look at the data on Longshanks for rated Moonstone tournament games over the last 24 months (at time of writing), the win rates between Early Bird and Initiative are pretty close, and within the same tolerances of balance as your choice of faction.
There is undoubtedly a learning curve to reading the moonstone drop and whether or not it requires a Mulligan (re-drop) in order to avoid an uncompetitive game, as well as in knowing when you’re better-off choosing the table edge or Initiative bonus when you have the choice. And so, I decided to write this article with a few pointers.
The benefits of Early Bird seem obvious to everyone, but before returning to moonstone drops I just want to spend a moment explaining the benefits of Initiative which may not be so apparent until you have a body of games under your belt.
Why is Initiative so Useful?
Different troupe compositions will want to utilise Initiative differently. For example:
An aggressive Melee-focused Human list will usually want to activate first in a given turn to score a kill on an un-activated enemy, denying the opponent an activation and waste the energy potential of the slain model.
A fast Animal or Faun list may want to use Initiative to reach a key central moonstone before their opponent has a chance to activate and cover it with a their engagement zone.
Faerie lists may want to activate second on key turns, to Reaction Step away from incoming threats while they still have their full compliments of energy, offending back in the second half of the turn once enemies are exhausted and in range. This strategy also ensures they have last activation of the turn to heal key models back up to full health (and therefore full energy) to be optimally effective the following turn.
Norse have the ability to ‘stack’ the Arcane Deck, making a last activation on one turn immediately followed by the first activation on the subsequent turn particularly devastating.
Even if you don’t see an obvious benefit for your own troupe, there is a very good chance that in taking the Initiative for yourself, you are denying your opponent these sort of strategic advantages.
Regardless of your troupe composition though, here are some common benefits of Initiative that every player should be aware of:
Turn 1, Last Activation
You shouldn’t underestimate the value in activating second on Turn 1; either to shoot a key model (ideally a healer) as your last activation so that they have no chance to heal back up, or conversely to be able to heal as your last activation of the turn, undoing any harm your opponent was able to inflict before energy is restored at the start of Turn 2. This is particularly devastating if one side a has a long ranged Arcane attack that can be supercharged via support models (Flintlock, Gnomish Airship etc.); but most troupes will have some way to punish enemy models foolish enough to venture out of their own deployment zones, be it with a lowly pistol shot or high mobility melee threat (Jackalope, Sir Hogwash, Doug the Flatulent etc.) to ‘pip’* an enemy within relative safety.
*Cause enough Wds that the enemy starts the next turn with less energy.
Double Activation
The player with Initiative always chooses who activates first Turn 1 and, barring unusual character abilities (i.e. The Duchess), has an 81% chance to choose who activates first on Turn 2. If you go second Turn 1 and first on Turn 2, you will have back-to-back activations. Even if you don’t have a special trick up your sleeve for this opportunity (looking at you Norse), it can very often allow you to keep pouring damage into one already wounded victim, removing them from play before they can be healed and denying your opponent an activation for the turn, potentially giving you the last activation of Turn 2 as well, ready to repeat the trick on Turn 3.
Turn 3 Key Play
It’s common that taking the first activation on Turn 3 has a decisive impact on the outcome of games. For example, harvesting a critical stone before your opponent can move it to prevent you from doing so (or moving in to prevent them getting said key moonstone). Or perhaps you have an energy drainer like Diana, Queen of the Fae or Seasick Stu, who would love to activate before their main damage dealer has a chance to wreak havoc. The player with Initiative is usually more than twice as likely (68% chance) as the Early Bird to get their critical activation off first.
Deployment Order
Models are placed on the board in alternating fashion, starting with the Early Bird. There is a marginal benefit to Initiative in seeing where your opponent places their models (for example setting up an unobstructed Turn 1 shot with Flintlock against their healer, or deploying Sir Hogwash on the opposite flank of an Animal). But in competitive play, where players typically bring 8 models to the event, and choose 5 to take part in each game, a bigger advantage comes from seeing which models your opponent is choosing first so you can decide if you want to modify your choices with optimal counter picks (a moonstone stealer following placement of The Revenant for example, or a Goblin Airship in response to Brunhilde and Loubard).
Hopefully that was a useful tangent, now back to moonstone drops!
Are Uneven Moonstone Drops a Problem?
Generally speaking, an uneven Moonstone drop does not by itself lead to unbalanced games or forgone conclusions. This is because as well as being counterbalanced by the advantages of Initiative described above, the troupe on the Moonstone-laden side of the board is very likely to use up the majority of their energy harvesting for the first couple of turns, and then become Slow for the rest of the game. Meanwhile the player on the ‘disadvantaged’ side is able to operate with their full energy for extra movement via Steps, attacks and all their other abilities.
This example is a fairly typical for a Moonstone drop, and in this case five of the Moonstones are in one half of the board and only two are in the other. As a tournament judge or going into a casual game I would have no worries about proceeding to play with this, regardless of what troupes each player had with them. The blue deployment zone is clearly the stronger choice if you elect to be Early Bird or your opponent chooses Initiative, but as 5/7 of the Moonstone are easily contestable by both sides, this Moonstone drop should make for a close and competitive game either way. With Initiative and Early Bird benefits broadly in balance, the roll-off winner has a difficult choice to make with individual preference and troupe compositions ultimately steering the decision.
However, while more stones being on one side of the board than the other is very rarely a reason on its own to mulligan, the depths of the stones, how far they are spread apart, and the style of list each player is bringing are all factors. Around 1 in 5 times, either a wildly uneven drop will occur or, more commonly, some combination of the above factors compound in such a way that a more enjoyable game for both players could be had by simply re-dropping the stones (know as a Mulligan).
So When Should we Mulligan?
For tournaments this responsibility generally falls to the Judge to decide, but for causal games both players hopefully have a shared desire to avoid uncompetitive games and should Mulligan if they think one of the scenarios below is at play:
Example 1: Skew and Depth
Moonstone locations are significantly skewed to one side AND the Moonstones on that side are low values (Depth Value 1-3).
Although this example might at first glance seem similar to the 5:2 split in the example above I said was fine, the fact that all the Moonstone Depths on the red side (left of the image) are low, and the main cluster is just beyond red’s deployment zone rather than being more central, add-ups to a much more significant an advantage for the Early Bird.
For most troupe compositions it’s far from a foregone conclusion that red would win and most of the time I’d be happy to play-on in a casual game, ignoring the Moonstones and going into ‘chase down and kill’ mode if deploying in blue. But as a judge at a tournament I would re-drop it as the Early Bird advantage here is more than I’d like to see in a high stakes game.
However, if the two ‘1’s in the upper left of the map were both ‘4’s and the ‘4’ near the centre was a ‘1’, that would likely be enough to put the balance between Early Bird and Initiative back into acceptable margins, since the red side would need to use so much of their energy harvesting they’d be able to do little else before the blue side reaches them.
Troupe composition also plays a part when undecided whether or not to Mulligan in situations resembling this example. If one or both players has brought a ‘smash and grab’ specialist list, which excels at harvesting Moonstones quickly before fleeing as their primarily method of achieving victory, then I would certainly Mulligan this drop since the roll-off could easily decide the outcome of the game. If both players have brought more combat oriented lists that primarily plan to win by having more models left alive, picking up the stones dropped by their slain foes late in the game, then the imbalance here is much less of an issue.
Example 2: Spread and Distance to Deployment
Moonstones are spread far from the centre AND 4 or more of them are close to, our within, one deployment zone.
This example is a solid Mulligan, no matter what troupe each player has. The reason is that 4 Moonstones are required to win. A player choosing the Blue deployment zone could easily collect the stones just in front of their Deployment Zone in turn 1 and then begin retreating, collecting the stone that fell deep in their deployment zone as they went. The player on the red side will be forced to ignore all the stones on their side of the board and pelt full speed at the opponent to try and catch them, regardless of their original game plan.
The game is still not necessarily a forgone conclusion; depending on the exact placements and depths of the Moonstones, as well as the speeds of the troupes involved, the red side may be able to overcome the challenge. But this drop is a huge advantage to the blue side and is likely to produce a much less interactive game than normal.
If just one of the stones on the right hand side of the board was instead within a couple of inches of the centre line, suddenly this drop would be absolutely no problem; it would be game-on since, while it is quite a wide spread, all the player on the red side has to do is get an engagement zone over that central stone (i.e. put it fully within the Melee Range stat of one model). Retreating with only 3 stones is a guaranteed loss, and so both sides would be forced to engage to contest the centre stone.
Example 3: Clustered and Melee / Aura Troupes
Moonstones are very clustered in the centre, AND one side is highly dominant in melee / benefitting from proximity based buffs, while the other does not.
You might also want to consider a Mulligan if all the Moonstones have stayed in a very tight cluster at the centre of the board, and one troupe is predominantly made up of hard-hitting Melee models and ‘Aura’ support models (for example Commonwealth Soldiers or Gnomes), while the other troupe is more focused on mobility (example Goblins or Fauns). In this match-up, the tight cluster will favour the one troupe considerably and a more enjoyable game for both players could be had with a little more spread. Re-drop from a slightly higher height.
Example 4: Far Spread and High Mobility Troupes
Moonstones are spread far across the board AND one side has extremely high mobility (Fauns, Goblins, Animals), while the other does not.
The exact opposite of Example 3, where too wide a spread skews the game in favour of mobile forces that care little about being close to their friends. If you think this is risk factor, re-drop from a lower height aiming for a closer spread.
Side Note: Very wide spreads present challenges to both sides and models sent off after far flung stones can feel a bit ‘out of it’, especially if sent after stones at high depth values or very near the board edges. It can make for an interesting experience every now and then, with unique decisions on where and how much to hold your synergies together, and who to ‘sacrifice’ on a one-way Moonstone run. But in general, the game is likely to be more interactive when the Moonstones are a little closer to the centre, so you may just want to Mulligan for that reason.
Mulligans for Competitive Advantage in Tournaments
In sanctioned tournaments, the Moonstone drop is done by the Tournament Organiser (TO) or assistant judge. They have the experience to asses the criteria above and will re-drop the stones as many times as needed, if they feel a given drop will create a significantly unbalanced game. However, each player still has one opportunity to call a Mulligan if they choose to, requesting the judge to re-drop the stones.
If you have a troupe composition (Commonwealth Giants for example) that would particularly benefit from a tight central cluster of low depth value stones, while your opponent is playing a troupe composition (for example Leshavult Fauns) that would benefit more from a wide spread of high depth value stones, you may exercise this option tactically. Be warned though, the second drop may be even less favourable, or your opponent may use their own Mulligan, so use of a Mulligan can be a gamble.
Deployment Zone Stones
You might be tempted to think that the further into your own half Moonstones land the better, but this is not always true. A Moosntone landing deep in your own deployment zone is sometimes better just ignored and is only really of significant value if you can collect it while retreating. I tend to look at the placement of stones something like this:
Green Zone - Your happy place. You’ll usually be able to pick up these stones by your choice of character, ideally a support character who is then nicely placed to offer help to the front liners in the amber zone.
Amber Zone - The contested stones. You’re going to have to either get in-and-out somehow, or prize these stones from the still warm grip of a slain foe. Even though getting these stones will be harder than in the red zone, every stone you do get from here is one denied to your opponent, making this area of the board where games are typically won and lost.
Red Zone - Stones in the red zone can be a bit of a trap. You can send a model after them, and you’ll get them easily. But if you do, you’ll be short of a model contributing to the scrap in centre. As often as not, unless that model has specialist movement abilities, that decision could lose you the game.
Early Bird or Initiative
You won the roll off! You’ve studied the board, the choice is yours, Early Bird or Initiative, which do you choose? There is a lot of subtlety to this question. It’s a major part of the tactics and I can’t really crunch it down to an exact formula, but here’s a couple of situations where the decision should be easy:
The Moonstone drop is pretty even. Take Initiative.
The Moonstone drop moderately favours one side. Then ask:
Are you, or your opponent, playing for a ‘grab and run’ victory? Take Early Bird. Otherwise,
Do you, or your opponent, have a trick leveraging back-to-back activations? Take Initiative. Otherwise,
You’re on your own – sorry!
Knowing Your Troupe and Your Opponent’s
Some troupes are going to like seeing lots of low depth value stones (for example Giants with their scant energy, or Faeries due to their unfortunate abundance of Weakling).
Perhaps you’ll be delighted by a drop with a depth 4 stone in one of the deployment zones that you can easily scoop up with Moris, while your opponent would struggle with it.
Brother Daniel loves to see a nice low value Moonstone just around the deployment zone edge he can scoop up Turn 1 to power his Look at the Shiny Thing.
Muridae and Grub can easily swipe an otherwise impossible to reach stone if it happens to be near a building/obstacle and Faun players will love to see Moonstones landing inside of wooded patches.
These sorts of factors are innumerable and aren’t usually reasons to Mulligan. But being aware of the unique opportunities of a given drop, to both yourself and your opponent, can make the decision of Initiative or Early Bird even more complex.
Conclusion
Moonstone drops are an intricate topic and in some ways I feel this article is still only scratching the surface. The tactical considerations that result from each Moonstone drop are so varied, I do feel that while at first glance it may seem too random to reliably result in closely competitive gaming, our tournament records prove otherwise. In fact, reading the moonstone drop is an area requiring some significant player skill and contributes to the high re-playability of the game.
If you’d like to discuss any aspect of this in more detail, why not head over to the #tactics-discussion channel on the Moonstone Discord or join the Moonstone Players Group on Facebook!