The Best from Crits Kill People 2014

Ending the New Year is a Top 5 of Crit's Kill People.  Something quick and light to finish out the year. Also, Wishlist Wednesday happens to be New Years, so lists for the list throne and all that.

I'm fancy

Top Five Most Popular Articles
Crits Kill People has only been around for 4 months and damn we've grown.  I'd like to thank our readers by showing what is probably our best in show. The most shared, most popular articles that if you missed don't need to troll through archives to read.

5. New Release: Antipode Assault Pack - My first "big" article, helped in part by being a quick release on the Infinity boards. I think it is also the analysis that set me on the right track to help me understand my reader's needs. If you've got questions, I'd be glad to help with a response but a more helpful article. In fact, my most successful articles have been direct responses to players asking me a question. So please, provide me with content that you want to see because it is something everyone wants to see!

Le Fromage

4. Avoiding the Cheese - Crits Kill People's first controversial article, the initial replies were positive to Endalyon's work but then a furor occurred with many angry people with pitchforks. Endalyon was asked to write a check list for someone who was concerned that they might be playing a "cheesy list" and this article was born.  I think it has very valid points but most of the intelligent discussion on the nature of being cheesy was washed away. Again, it's designed to be a check list for yourself if you're concerned over being cheesy, such as running something complex or "front loaded" against a new player. If you're going against old hats then who cares? Bring the pain.

3. 3 Maxims to Immediately Improve Your Game - It was the #1 most popular article that made me think of what to write.  People want to not suck at games when they play and in Infinity, the game mechanics can be quite elusive to those raised on six-sided dice. I don't go quite into detail but give justification of why you need to perform the three golden rules with Infinity to immediately improve.

2. N3 Rules Spoilers - I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the degree of sharing.  I am running about, updating this puppy as much as I possibly can.  Hopefully not too much false information is in it.  These rules have made me more excited for N3. With just a few days of collecting the information, CB released the N3 rules.  If you've missed the PDF release, the Link is here.

1. The Perfect Composition - Wow, I can't believe the popularity of this article but I guess it's true that you should understand your audience and then give them what they need.  Some of the voracious readers on gaming sites are not the old hands but new players and they just want more, more, more information.  One of the biggest subjects when it comes to Tabletop Gaming is your list and this helps aid the new player.  Shared on Reddit and Data-Sphere, I'm astonished and pleased with it's success.

Top Five Aritcles I Think You Should Read
Get ready for the hipster meme photo I will eventually place within these paragraphs. These articles didn't get a lot of love and I'd like to change that. They have some awesome inside them for either Infinity or Batman players. With that in mind, here are a few articles that need some love!

Dat Acrobat Combat Doe

5. Acrobats on Defense - One of my Batman articles that I think is criminally overlooked in comparison to other tactics that we publish. It's very easy to ignore Defense in a game where there are so many characters with great offensive capabilities.  In most games, I'm used to Rocket Tag being the name of the game and Batman, in it's Storytime Fighting aspect, is not.  If you want to be a defensive, cautious fighter the game will shine and let you do that.  If you want to go balls deep all the time without consequences, well there will be consequences for that.  In a hobby that consists mostly of men, the BMG is the only wargame I've seen women play because of the possibility of being the strong women in comics.  This game does not neglect this possibility, even if Lobo appears initially to be sexist with Main Man.

4. Mission Monday: Grudges - Penemue wrote this Mission for our Mission Mondays, it's a great scenario for beginners of Infinity. It takes the "Let's just shoot each other" and adds a bit of kick! Essentially, you're looking for models to get Kill Streaks and you're rewarded for that.  The bigger kill streaks models get or interrupting your opponent's collection makes for a fun game that is right out of a FPS. You don't need stupid Specialists for this, it's just an all out frag fest for fun! I think this is a perfect scenario for two players who just got a grip on the rules but not willing to dive into ITS or a very complex scenario.

3. Mission Monday: Turning Point - A scenario that is applicable to either game we cover, I think it is a fundamental fashion to improve your game.  The idea is to switch sides in the middle of the game, especially if the newer player feels like they've lost. The previous winner tries to turn it around while the previous loser gets a better understanding of their opponent's model's strengths and weaknesses.  It is just one of the ideas mentioned in Shaping Up Your Strategy.  The idea is instead of relying on an "After Action Report" of what went right and wrong, you get a chance to see what it looks like on the opposite side of the board immediately instead of letting your memory let it all fall apart.  If you're new to the game among a group of experienced players, ask them to have a Turning Point.

2. Building a Collection - Endalyon gives an amazing example of how to grow into a pretty complicated hobby.  Batman and Infinity have so many good looking models you don't know where to go, but worse off is that it is easier to justify purchases.  A single blister from either game can easily set you up for so many different configurations, before you know it you own them all. A lot of new players, after getting a taste for the game ask "What should I get next?" This article gives so many different strategies for how to work and possibly an explanation of why you end up with buyer's remorse.  Speaking of buyer's remorse...

1. Roller Coaster Models - Yes, I am biased that the most "underrated" article is my own. But it's true. Looking at the stats, I either go big or go home with my audience. Very much the polarizing personality I understand that I am. So, I think Roller Coaster Models are a dangerous phenomenon with a budding group of players which I think both Infinity and Batman can be very much accused of harbouring.  These are models that with little effort will begin to have you win, which might result in one or two things: your foes quitting the game because it's "unbalanced" or beginning to understand the counters and devastate your previous golden model.  Most players I've seen react by buying another model that's listed as awesome and it is... Until someone learns to beat it.  Stick to your guns, learn your miniatures and you can have fun games!

As Proven by DNews

Top Five Missions From Monday
These are missions that I rank in important of: fun and then education with a distant third towards awesome idea.  The first few missions of Infinity I had were absolutely absurd, where we had to go to a convenience store and buy our general a pop can - or that we had to have our units pee into a city's water supply.  That's the thing that people forget: missions are macguffins for an excuse to fight over stuff.

5.  Turning Point - Seriously.  This mission is applicable to both Batman and Infinity players. It teaches players how to play the game better, it's awesome.
4. Hot Potato - This is a classic Infinity scenario straight from the game creators.  It is a lot more complex than the other scenarios I'm going to list but classic with a simple twist.
3. Important People - Simple scenario for Infinity that makes even a loss feel like you've done something.
2. Unlikely Alliance - The first thing people want to do once they grasp the basics of Batman is have an all out brawl with their friends.  Here's some rules to do just that.
1. Supply Drop - A bit more complex of a scenario for Infinity than Important People, it is easy to play with no special setup.  Just put your guys down and start playing!

Top Five Books I Read This Year
Books are especially a medium that rise over time, so only one of these picks actually came out in 2014.

5. Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
4. Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
3. Skin Game by Jim Butcher
2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
1. Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Top Five TV Shows I Saw This Year

I saw it in 2014, so shaddup

Ranked by how excited they made me to watch the very next episode.

5. The Blacklist
4. Person of Interest
3. House of Cards
2. Penny Dreadful
1. Hannibal

Top Five Movies I Saw This Year
I know my list is pretty blasphemous to some but movies that I know are going to be successful don't get me all a jitter like some gambles.

5. Edge of Tomorrow
4. John Wick
3. Snowpiercer
2. The Wolf of Wall Street
1. The Raid 2