The matchlock box, a highly defensive, range unit heavy square formation, has become known (and notorious) as the noobbox, because it appears to require relatively little skill to be effective with it. Some players hate it, some consider it a valid tactic, but there is a lot of discussion about it.


Here is a thought that occurred to me, when I was looking at the way the SP campaign works. At some point in the campaign players have to choose between embracing Christianity, which gives them access to matchlock guns but means that the monks don’t follow them anymore, or remaining traditional Buddhists, rejecting the “noisy and dirty” guns but retaining the support of the monks and their martial arts.

So what if we had a rule saying that a player cannot use monks and matchlocks in the same army, but has to make a choice for one of them?

Would it disarm the matchlock box to a point where it is no longer a controversial tactic?
Would it work well in tournaments?


I realize that many players would have to change their strategies for this, but would be interested to hear what people think about it.