Glad to hear you like it Gandalf.
Yes, I generally put quite a bit of planning into most of my games. I enjoy the planning almost as much as the game itself. If I don't participate this makes it even more important.
Is this becoming more a niche game? Perhaps, I suppose some will be strongly drawn to the concept, others may not like it. I certainly won't put a gun to anyone's head to play (well maybe just a few
). Victory conditions remain the same as any other team game.
Your right, it is good and important that we as a community continue to innovate in game design and offer game choices to players. Sometimes you just get tired of the same old, same old. FFA, Team, Comp Stomp, Team + Comp Stomp (NaV), RPG or Theme based, it's important to have all these types of games available for players not just games that really only differ from one another in in-game settings or map size.
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IMPERATOR·CAESAR·LVCIVS·SEPTIMIVS·SEVERVS·PERTINAX·AVGVSTVS·PIVS
Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men.
-Emperor Septimius Severus, to his sons shortly before his death, quoted in Dio Cassius (77.15.2).