First game of WWX, and some thoughts thereon

So, I finally got the chance to play a couple of small, $500 games of Wild West Exodus last night.  We had a couple of things we were concerned about, most notably true LOS.  Yes, WWX uses true LOS, which is a departure from many other games, which treat miniatures as occupying a cylindrical space the diameter of their base and extending a certain distance upwards.  WWX does not do that; it harks back to the "If you can see it, you can shoot it" rule.

Overall, it worked fairly well, but neither of us were being jerks about it.  In a tournament, however, I suspect that things would be very different.  And that brings me to my biggest criticism of WWX - it is not, and probably never will be, a game suited to tournament play.

That's not entirely a bad thing.  WWX "suffers" (so to speak) from the same club-level mentality that is the case for WFB and 40k.  Those games work just fine when you are playing with your friends, and you play in the same group from week to week.  But, when you move away from your local circle, and go to a convention, you can very quickly find that, because the rules (and sometimes tournament guidelines) are so "loose," there is a lot of room for interpretation.

By contrast, Warmachine has a very tight ruleset.  There is not much wiggle room, and you are pretty much assured that, whether you play in Chicago, Pittsburgh or Seattle, you are going to be playing under the same conditions and rules for terrain.

It's not a bad thing that WWX is not really a tourney game.  (Yes, they are having one at AdeptiCon.  I am playing in it, but I am expecting a lot of "Well, we can always dice to see who is right about [X]," or possibly a few full-bore, alchohol-fueled arguments.)  It's a fun game to sit down with some friends, have a few drinks, and shoot a lot of varmints full of lead.  It's fun, and I am enjoying it, but as a tournament game, it is going to be lacking.

Oh, and for the record - I lose both games.  The first one badly (very badly), the second I managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with my usual stellar dice rolls.