Summoning in small games

[dfunkateer]

Howdy folks,

long time player, first time poster....

I'm about to start a Path to Glory campaign this weekend using my starter box Khorne vs my buddy's Sylvaneth which means that Dryads may be summoned. I know how summoning is treated in larger games (sideboard, keeping reinforcement points back etc), but in a game with only ~6 units per side, I don't think these options would work, so how should this be handled?

Using Roused to Wrath as an example, if a Branchwraith summons 2d6 dryads in a 6 unit game, this could conceivably be equivalent to almost 3 extra units which would significantly imbalance the game. Conversely, if you leave 3 units off the board at the start to summon later, half your army is missing at the start.

TL/DR: how do you handle summoning in very small games.

Thanks y'all, 

Dave P.

[BaldoBeardo]

Discuss with your opponent.

Unrestricted summoning can ruin games for the opponent, just as over-restricted can ruin it for the player.

Have a chat, figure out what you want to do, and go with it.

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[dfunkateer]

Thanks Baldo. The only problem is that as we are both relative noobs to AoS I wouldn't even know what to suggest.

Any suggestions of how to balance summoning in a small game would be gratefully received

Ta..

[BaldoBeardo]

Um.. okay. If you want something that's not too off, try limiting to only summoning units to a maximum of one unit over what you started with - e.g. if you start with 6 units, you can't have more than 7 units at any one time.

Or change it to unrestricted, but you only summon D6.

Or (bit more off the wall) no "summoning" as such, try modding it to 'Resurrect D6 Dryads in a unit within 12" of the BW and 6" of a wildwood, or 2D6 if unit is inside a wildwood anywhere on the board'.

Just to be clear, all of these restrict you in some way without removing summoning completely. They're all better options from your opponent's POV.

It'll take a bit of time to get a feel for the game. You may decide you don't like summoning.

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[dfunkateer]

Awesome - Thanks very much BB, you're a star

Dave.

[RuneBrush]

I'd also suggest getting a couple of games under your belts before dabbling in summoning (that does sound a little nefarious).  This will allow you to get to grips with the bulk of the core rules and you can easily integrate summoning once you're more comfortable.  As Baldo says you may be completely happy with how the army plays without adding summoning in!