I've recentely came up with a game variant/set-up which might be advantageous to the players and the community.

The settings are identical with ladder 1v1 games with the crucial difference that both players get 1 SANCTIONS CARD(40%,1000 turns) at the very start of the game.

The Rookie plays the Sanctions card at the very beginning.

The Vet **pledges** to either never play the Sanctions card or he chooses AT THE START of the game in which turn he is going to use it and informs the Rookie about it.

I suppose the role of the Rookie can take anyone with less than 100 1v1 games and a feeling that he is a rookie.
The Vet should be someone who can hold his own against the top 10 ladder players.

This game setup is thought as a possibility for players with highly unequal skills to have fun playing each other. It will also help to bridge the gap between the newcomers and the Veterans which will be good for the community. As a extra bonus we might watch extraordinary games where brutal strenght fights stellar skill ( think along the lines of MIKE TYSON versus BRUCE LEE )

Until now I've played only one game with this settings : [BabyPossum v gilgamesz](http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?GameID=1724496) and I had lots of fun.

I will take the liberty and I will set up games with this settings and send invitations to some players - hope they will not mind and join.
If possible please post some of those games in this thread so that we all can have a look.

This is the template for this variant : [template](http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?TemplateID=131270)

I'm a rookie!

It seems that I have made a mistake writing about not playing the card at all by the vet, as an option. This is obviousely ( as pointed out by many) a suicide mission. For the game to be fun and for the Rookie to learn, the vet needs to play his SC card in first 10 turns.

I would consider myself a rookie, but though I like the concept, 40% seems a bit too much. 10-20% maybe? Personally I don't have fun in any game where one player is easily dominating, regardless of whether or not it's myself.

Which turn he pledges to play the SC card depends on his assesment how good the rookie might actually be, how much time he has ( the later he plays the SC card , the more time he might need to outplay/teach by playing the rookie) and other factors.

@ emoose :
believe me the vets are really good and Warlight is a game of skill. I am sure that if lets say Impaller or Troll play the SC card in turn 3 against a rookie with less than 30 games they will win every time. I mean it : EVERY TIME

Look at this game: http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?GameID=1724496

I am not a vet, if anything I am a halfvet :-)

I've played the SC card in turn 10, was tired, played till turn 9 real time ( not my speciallity ) played against quite a good rookie and I still had a shot at victory !

Is there a special reason why you don't just use a sanctions card for, let's say, 10 turns? The veteran discards it immediately (no sense having it count against his/her hand limit), the rookie plays it immediately. That way, after 10 turns, it's a fair fight again, with far less hassle than the 1000-turn approach you suggested.
Also (and I'm not sure how relevant this is, but might as well mention it), when the sanctions card wears off, both players will be playing with "normal" amounts of armies, instead of severely restricted numbers. Fighting with approximately normal numbers might be better (at least, more relevant) practice, don't you think?

I agree with RvW in this aspect.. the sanctions card should be used to stunt the vets initial growth, since many vets can maximize their approach.. but having the solution just be to stunt the usefulness of individual bonuses will get rookies used to playing in a manner which is not common in warlight, and could in fact be a hurtful experience for their warlight career

@RvW:
I was aiming at a template which a vet could use with open seats and customize after learning who is his opponent ( e.g. "X" with 5 multiplayer games and level 1 single player - the vet plays SC card in turn 12; "Y" with 95 games and crazy done in single player - the vet plays SC card in turn 3)

Late customization and easiness to use it with open seats , that was my goal.

[http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?GameID=1757928](http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?GameID=1757928)

Here's another game that just played out. I did a turn 7 sanction and I barely squeezed out the win.

I think the game would be longer if it was not played in real time - thats where the gap in skill might be even slightely bigger.
Very good match and although Baby Possum lost, he was really good for a new player playing against a legend. The other thing is that with game like that, rookies can see and test game mechanics in later stages of the game, around turn 10-15 whereas without the use of SC card the rookie is destroyed almost at the very start.

Thank you very much for playing guys, congratulations to Ruthless for winning and best wishes to BabyPossum to use the gained experience to destroy some duchebag me and him know :-D

@gilgamesz: well, I joined one you invited The Impaller to, so I'll see first-hand how true that is.

Also, I can agree with the people saying it's better to tailor the duration of the SC instead, just that that would require the vet altering the card settings based on the rookie that joins, which doesn't really work if the rookie is joining an open seat.

Lets hope Impaller is not busy and accepts the invitation. I am curious though which turn would/will he pledge to play the SC card against you , **with the aim to make the game as balanced and as long as possible ...**

You not a rookie yet - with your 0 played games you are barely human :-)

and the real Fizzer is allready invited

the fizzer impersonator seems a bit too infatuated.

...What's this?

How did this guy change all those names?