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Assembly Tile Selection

What better place to start than with the selection of your assembly tile. It is where the game starts so we will start there as well. Currently for organized play you've got five choices for an assembly tile. Two came from the Harbinger Starter, two from the Aberrations Starter and one has been released through the Retailer Kits as part of Organized Play. The Harbinger tiles weren't originally named or numbered and have since adopted the names "Rubble Assembly" (for the tile with the difficult terrain) and "Statue Assembly" for the tile with the statue on it. Since then, all new assembly tiles have been numbered (and I'd expect this trend to continue).

Note that there was an Assembly 5 posted on the Wizard's web site for a while (a few hours) but it was not intended for release. You can still find copies of it around but as it isn't legal for normal tournament play most folks don't use it for home play. I'm not going to discuss it here.

So, without further ado, here are your choices:

Harbinger
Statue Assembly Harbinger
Rubble Assembly Aberrations
Assembly 3 Aberrations
Assembly 4 Organized Play
Assembly 6

Which tile to use depends partially on your own particular warband, play-style and tile-placement strategies ... and partly on what you think you're likely to face in terms of opposing tiles and your opponent's strategies. Tile placement could change drastically depending on the scenario you are playing ... but there are some guidelines that are handy to know regardless of the scenario.

Note that some features may not be important to some highly-mobile troops, particularly those which are incorporeal (which can essentially exit from any space on the tile regardless). Flying or just plain fast warbands may chose to ignore some of these considerations for others. Troops with great resistances may not want to bother with shelter or cover. You're going to have to consider the tiles to use for your particular warband ... there is no single set of tiles that are useful for every possible warband (although there are some that shine for most).

So ... let's choose our Assembly Tile. In doing so we should consider the following:

(Multiple) Exits
Leading-Edge Starting Positions
Shelter and Cover
Movement Restrictions
Tile Placement Zone of Control (what?)

These are the things most of the "better" players with which I've had the pleasure to discuss the topic consider when choosing their assembly tile.

Multiple Exits

Assembly tiles with multiple exit points are handy ... if you've got one exit point and you get hit with a Mushroom Tangle or Spiked Stones Cave you may be in for trouble right off the bat. Assembly 6 and the Harbinger Rubble Assembly fit this bill. With a single exit you are vulnerable to this kind of placement by your opponent. Also, multiple exits gives you two paths with which to launch your troops, making some opponents have to guess which way you are really going and where combat will ultimately occur.

Single-Exit Tiles

Harbinger Statue Assembly	Aberrations Assembly 4

With a single opening for leaving your assembly tile, the Statue Assembly and Assembly 4 do not provide you with many choices concerning how to setup your figures and leave the assembly. They also expose you to some potentially painful situations if you face someone who's aggressively trying to hamper your movement with their terrain placement.

You can see how a single exit can be blocked easily by difficult terrain, particularly the Mushroom Tangle and Oasis.

Multiple-Exit Tiles

Harbinger Rubble Assembly	Aberrations Assembly 3	Organized Play Assembly 6

With multiple exits on multiple edges the Rubble Assembly, Assembly 3 and Assembly 6 are much more resilient. A single tile placement by your opponent can not completely block your path with difficult terrain. These exit tiles provide more security for a traditional ground-pounding band against an aggressive opponent. Often players include one tile to impede your movement out of your assembly tile but most would not include two that could fill this purpose ... and by the second placement you should have an idea of what to expect and be able to protect yourself if necessary.

Leading-Edge Starting Positions

This is a game about speed, movement and position. With many of the tournament formats (particularly Assault and Plunder), getting a one or two square lead on your movement may net you an advantage in points. If your goal is to get to the opponent or to a scoring tile quickly, maybe you want to consider an assembly tile that lets you start on the leading corner or leading-edge of the tile. Fast warbands (flying, incorporeal, etc.) may not consider this feature strongly as they can likely reach where the need from any starting tile.

Single Starting Position

Orientation-Dependent Starters

Harbinger Statue Assembly	Aberrations Assembly 4

You only get to start close to the center of the map on these if you're oriented the right way. If you can't get your orientation like you want it, you're going to be lagging behind ... and if you need every square you can get this can be a problem.

Multiple Starting Positions

Orientation-Independent Starters

Harbinger Rubble Assembly	Aberrations Assembly 3	Organized Play Assembly 6

Having starting positions on both edges allows the Rubble Assembly and Assembly 6 be used from either orientation and give you the best possible starting position. If you need every square, these two tiles give you a minimum of 5 starting squares from each direction ... getting you as close to the front of the map as possible, including the pure-corner starting position. Assembly 6 has a mess of difficult terrain but it does allow you to lead with large creatures which can be advantageous. Assembly 3 lets you start on the pure corner, but otherwise doesn't offer alot of options for starting multiple figures close to the edge. It does allow you to lead with a large creature (as Assembly 6).

Shelter

Assembly tiles that allow you to start in a sheltered position can keep you safe from harm if you don't get intervening feature tiles placed. First-turn fireballs, confusions, abyssal blasts, etc. can be a royal pain. If you're hit by one of these you could be hosed. If your opponent is fielding Lareth, a Pyromancer, Lord Soth, a Red Wizard, anyone with Scare, etc. you can almost bet he's looking at ways to hit you with it first turn. If you're running a Clay Golem or something with a metric ton of resistances, perhaps you're not as concerned with shelter as other bands you wouldn't consider this as strongly. Also if you're running a ranged band (HEBIs, etc.) you may care more for a good starting position to start volleying attacks than for shelter. To each his own I say.

Low-Shelter

Aberrations
Assembly 3

Assembly 3 is open to attacks from a large portion of the center of the board. In and of itself it provides no shelter from incoming attacks. If you're going to need shelter you're going to have to expend one of your terrain tile placements to get it.

Moderate-Shelter

Aberrations
Assembly 4

With a few hard edges and one extending to the leading corner Assembly 4 can provide a moderate amount of cover. The 5-square wall on the short side can block a fair amount if the tile is oriented in the same direction as the map itself ... and if you do need more cover it's much easier to achieve with a single blocking terrain tile.

Good-Shelter

Harbinger Rubble Assembly	Harbinger Statue Assembly	Organized Play Assembly 6

These tiles provide a functional leading L-shaped area behind which you can hide your troops. This L-shape gives you cover from a wide angle of incoming attackers. If you need a place to hide, these can give you protection from most of the board without requiring you to rely on any other intervening tiles.

Movement Restrictions

Large warbands will often field more creatures than can fit on the leading edge of the assembly tile. If your second, third or additional creatures have to move through difficult terrain to enter the larger map area this could slow you down. If you've got fast creatures, creatures that ignore difficult terrain or creatures you intend to hang back regardless then this isn't an issue for you.

Difficult Terrain

Aberrations
Assembly 3

Assembly 3 has only a difficult-terrain exits. Troops behind the first rank may be hindered by this terrain, so this could be a problem.

Mixed Terrain

Organized Play
Assembly 6

Assembly 6, while it lets you lead with a large creature on the corner, may slow down many of those large units due to the difficult terrain. Yes, you can lead with your Clay Golem ... but he's going to take some extra time getting off of the tile.

Clear Terrain

Harbinger Rubble Assembly	Harbinger Statue Assembly	Aberrations Assembly 4

These give your second and later ranks clear movement out into the field of battle. Good for bands that need to move out those vast hordes of ground-pounders.

Tile Placement Zone of Control

Huh? What I mean by this is the amount of influence the assembly tile exerts on the playing field and placement of other key tiles. Tiles with hard edges / corners must be spaced at least two squares away from other tiles with hard edges / corners during terrain placement. Granted, often players will include at least one tile with soft sides or corners (mushroom tangle, ancient temple, aftermath, etc.) that can be snuck in, but those are exposed. Players usually prefer a sheltered location to score their assault points ... and shelter means hard corners and sides. With an assembly tile that has hard edges and corners you can influence where your opponent can place their scoring tiles.

Less Control

Harbinger Rubble Assembly	Aberrations Assembly 3	Organized Play Assembly 6

Assembly 3 and 4 have only difficult-terrain exits. Troops behind the first rank may be hindered by this terrain, so this could be a problem.

More Control

Aberrations Assembly 4	Harbinger Statue Assembly

These tiles have two hard edges and a hard leading corner. They prohibit the placement of any walls within two squares of the majority of their surroundings. Assembly 4 has a larger 5-square opening which could allow for some sneaky single-wall placements.

A placement like the one in the picture above blocks your opponent from placing tiles in many advantageous places for assaut / plunder scoring. Tiles like the Mushroom Tangle, Creeping Tangle, etc. can be placed easily but those will allow you good vision / access to his scoring tile(s).

Summary

So, that's our breakdown of basic things to consider. There may be other nuance factors that may favor one warband or another, but in general that's a good starting point.

	Harbinger Rubble Assembly	Harbinger Statue Assembly	Aberrations Assembly 3	Aberrations Assembly 4	Organized Play Assembly 6
Tile
Exit Points	Multiple	Single	Multiple	Single	Multiple
Starting Positions	Single	Multiple	Multiple	Single	Multiple
Cover & Shelter	Good	Good	Low	Moderate	Good
Movement Restrictions	Clear	Clear	Difficult	Clear	Mixed
Zone of Control	More	Less	Less	More	Less

Anyway, I hope this helps with understanding the basic functions and features of each tile. You've still got three other tiles to pick ... and that's complicated as well. Once we've picked them we've got to have strategies to actually PLACE the tiles ... and I'm not talking a "strategy", I'm talking multiple strategies ... strategies for getting points, denying points, determining where the battle takes place, etc. That will take a better man than I to describe ...