Well, technically, it never says you fill half the map. It just says you expand one row at a time towards the center. That causes serious issues when you think of maps with odd starting areas, like Doom Gardens where you START in the center, meaning you can only expand your starting area away from the center, but then again, towards is relative - towards the center from who's perspective, if I add one row towards the starting area, do I pick which row I want (maybe starting on ab side, I pick row f to be the first one toward the center I want). They also don't specify if you get the full row, or only a portion as wide as the original starting area. The rules are really vague and no longer officially specify what to do if your figures don't fit in the area other than that the game can't start until they do, it seems wrong to base your "guess" on old, outdated rules because the current ones are too vague. The rules are currently too based on the players to properly interpret them how someone wanted them to, but didn't bother to spell it out like they should have.

Not very likely - pogs aren't used a whole lot at my venue.

nbperp has said you fill half the map.

Meaning when you get to the center, you've expanded as many rows as you can.

What you're referring to as a serious issue really only happens on one map. There I would guess that you would expand in the opposite direction. (Orange may say it is different.) Given that this will most likely rarely happen at an official event, I doubt you will see something in the Player's Guide to cover it.

No. You pick the next row. If ab are filled then you add c. (I'll just mention that the rows tend to be numbers and the columns tend to be letters.)

Quebbster clarified that it was an area of row the same size as the original starting area. (If the original starting area was rows 1 and 2 from columns E-L then the first addition would be row 3 from columns E-L.)

nbperp has said you lose if you cannot place your entire starting force.

One of your players must want to show up with a pog army.

So if your starting area in 1/2 the map does that mean no one can place special objects?

not just special, ANY objects since they couldn't be placed more than 4 squares away from all starting areas


EDIT i was a little wrong but ya no objects can be placed

PLACING OBJECTS
Between Steps 2 and 3 in the “Preparing For Battle” section, players can place objects. Starting with the first player, each player takes turns placing one of their objects. Objects must be placed in clear terrain outside of any player’s starting area. Special objects must also be placed at least 5 squares away from any player’s starting area

Objects are now part of your force, so if you've built such a large team that you cannot properly place your objects, referencing nbperp's earlier comments, you would lose.

Well, those were the reasonable answers. Here's the stupid one! Based on real made-up physics!

When starting areas extend so far that they must cross the middle of the map, the areas of overlap become a quantum entangled state! Both players may place pieces on those squares, but for each quantum entangled square with at least one figure in it, but at the start of each turn, you must roll a six-sided die for each quantum entangled square with at least one figure in it.

4, 5, or 6: your figure (if you have one in that square) is present in that square, or the square is empty (if you do not have a figure in it).

1, 2, or 3: Your opponent's figure (if he has one in that square) is present in that square, or the square is empty (if he does not).

Mind you, this is only a simulation of quantum mechanics. For the full effect, you would have to roll each time a square is observed by either player, or by any other person who happens to be nearby, and include a small but non-negligible chance that Schrodinger's cat will come by and knock your pieces off the table.

Well played Suttkus!!!
Quantum superposition has everything to do with getting a real answer to this question.

As stated above, there can be no overlap.

"If either player’s force will not fit within the purple lines, all starting areas increase by one row toward the center of the map. Starting areas can be extended until each player’s force will fit in their respective starting area."

Once you hit the middle, any further expansion goes away from the center.

Bear in mind the rule is based on a 300-pt build.

If you are going non-standard build rules, you might as well have non-standard map rules.

Basically, if you bring a team like that your leaving it up to the judge to do has he will...

He might not even be aware of the starting area extension rule, so you are taking a big chance to begin with.

If your team still doesn't fit, add the Iron Man Classic map to your starting area

See, the rules don't specify what "towards the center" means. If I add the row 24 to my starting area on the 1-2 side, it's closer than row 36, it's all relative what it means exactly. The rules also say "Starting areas can be extended until each player’s force will fit in their respective starting area", so why stop at the center if you still haven't met the second, equally important condition? And the idea that "there is only one map that starts you in the center, so it's irrelevant" is a pretty naive statement, what if that's the map a 40-figure team is on, how would the starting area expand, I highly doubt that will forever be the one and only map with such a nontraditional starting area. Also, so far every time nbperp said you lose, it's generally as a joke, or so it sounds. So, what is the ruling nbperp?

Also, that means if you reach the center of the map both players lose, because now neither player can place their entire army (objects). that seems a little cheesey if I can instantly make my opponent lose by bringing a large enough team...

I don't need to make a ruling on this. It's already out there - ask your judge. This CANNOT mathematically happen at an event I run until/unless WizKids creates a negative point character. All of the events that I run are 300 points. On a 2x3 map there are 432 squares on each half of the map. You cannot build a 300 point army that won't fit in that space.

As for the FF map, if that happened, I would rule in the spirit of the printed ruling - starting areas would expand by one row/column. They would continue to expand (equally for each player) until the each player had 25% of the map (since they are expanding out from the center. This will be sufficient for a 300 point game as this map is 3x3 which means 25% of the map is 324 squares.

It continues to AMAZE me how long this thread lasts. Of all the things out there to concern yourselves (you => a generic you, not anthony_barnstable in particular), how this thread goes on and on just stuns me.

See guys this is why this guy is the RA, he can count squares

EDIT: Maybe he can't! on a 2' x 3' map its 16 squares by 24 squares which is 384 squares total (not 432 a half)