Alastar in the trenches?

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

Say for example, you are using 3 squads of Macdirk Warriors along with Alastar on a large map.


Should I just overextend with him 4 - 5 times in my starting zone, or risk it and bring him to the fight?

I'd hate to lose Alastar and be left with 240 points of target practice though.

P.S. Long time no see.

[Metaknight]

:wave: :rtfc: :grandfather:

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

:wave: :rtfc: :grandfather:

I do realize that it would take 4 or 5 rounds to just overextend in my starting zone. I never said I could do it once per turn.

It is you who must :rtfc: .

[rdhight]

I think this is a strategy that works less well than it once did, and will continue to work worse and worse as time goes on. Assassination seems to have gotten some serious love in Wave 7-- almost every unique has high speed, some form of disengage, or both. Templars, Shades and Drudge are tearing around. Marvel is also full of speed merchants who can cruise into your starting zone long before the MacDirks reach the enemy's, no matter how large or small the map. Seems to me you're usually better off sending Alastair to the front.

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

I think this is a strategy that works less well than it once did, and will continue to work worse and worse as time goes on. Assassination seems to have gotten some serious love in Wave 7-- almost every unique has high speed, some form of disengage, or both. Templars, Shades and Drudge are tearing around. Marvel is also full of speed merchants who can cruise into your starting zone long before the MacDirks reach the enemy's, no matter how large or small the map. Seems to me you're usually better off sending Alastair to the front.

We don't have Marvel, and don't plan on it. We do have the wave 7 hero pack, but now I plan on drafting Jotun or something as a bodyguard. Smash whatever comes Alastar's way beneath the sword of Jotun.
So much overkill. That's the point. No one wants to raid a starting zone with Jotun and some Microcorp on a nearby hill in range of my starting zone.

[rdhight]

160 MacDirks x2
110 Alastair
225 Jotun

You're at 495 points of figures right there, and you mention MacDirks x3 and Microcorps. What size armies are we talking about?

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

160 MacDirks x2
110 Alastair
225 Jotun

You're at 495 points of figures right there, and you mention MacDirks x3 and Microcorps. What size armies are we talking about?

1000-1200. I've gotten sick and tired of not being able to draft all the units I want, and so has my friend. 40 space starting zones.

[Bach]

wow.

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

wow.

And? I don't want to have to restrict myself, so I had more points, and more terrian.

Can I get a second opinion on keeping Alastar back or not?

[Revdyer]

wow.

And? I don't want to have to restrict myself, so I had more points, and more terrian.

Can I get a second opinion on keeping Alastar back or not?I'm not at all sure how it would work with such large armies and starting zones, since we play the current tournament standards of 500 and 24; but, when I play Alastair and the MacDirks, (which is fairly often) I keep him forward enough that he can Over-extend on his first attack and perhaps the next round as well. I almost never over-extend when it does not mean he gets in two tries attacking someone else.

[NecroBlade]

I almost never over-extend when it does not mean he gets in two tries attacking someone else.:word: Two attacks of 5 is brutal. Wasting the overextend on something else is, usually, well, wasting it.

[LongHeroscaper]

It of course depends on the situation. For example, I have played a game against an Alister+ 3x McDirk army, where my opponent over-extended his hero a couple times to attack my heroes, took another couple wounds, then use the 4th time to retrieve the guy back to his starting zone (obviously all bonding with the McDirk). After that, the game became simple: He killed all of my units using McDirk guys with 7 attack dice.
I think if possible, bring Alister out to do some damage, but retrieve him back when he has 2 lives left.
Has anyone played the McDirks with Gilbert? Could it be a good combo?

[sashiel]

Maybe, but Alastair seems like the perfect compliment to them. If I'm using Gilbert, I'd probably want KoWs instead.

[rdhight]

Has anyone played the McDirks with Gilbert? Could it be a good combo?

Sure it could. That's why I was asking about point totals. If Alastair is the only human champion you can afford, it would really increase the penalties for leaving him in the starting zone. If you have space in your army to leave a wounded Chosen Champion in the start zone while another bonding hero, hopefully including Gilbert, accompanies the MacDirks forward, leaving Alastair behind doesn't seem as bad.

Partly, it depends on how passive your opponents are. If they've got their heads full of their own plans and don't like to get off course, things like leaving Alastair (or a last marro warrior) in the start zone might work better.

[Revdyer]

Has anyone played the McDirks with Gilbert? Could it be a good combo?

Sure it could. That's why I was asking about point totals. If Alastair is the only human champion you can afford, it would really increase the penalties for leaving him in the starting zone. If you have space in your army to leave a wounded Chosen Champion in the start zone while another bonding hero, hopefully including Gilbert, accompanies the MacDirks forward, leaving Alastair behind doesn't seem as bad.

Partly, it depends on how passive your opponents are. If they've got their heads full of their own plans and don't like to get off course, things like leaving Alastair (or a last marro warrior) in the start zone might work better.Unfortunately, at the beginning of the game, you have to choose ONE human champion for the MacDirks to bond with for their Highland Fury. You can't change or share champions in a single game for that bonding. You can, however, move different champions for their Champion Bonding.

[Onion Knight]

I like to send Allister in to put a hurtin' some other hero or stud, let him get his damage, and then use Saylind to summon him back to a safe place. The only down side to this is that it requires you to place an order marker on Saylind which may not get used (if Allister isn't ready to be summoned back yet.) There is also Saylind's D20 gamble, but it is fairly reliable.

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

I like to send Allister in to put a hurtin' some other hero or stud, let him get his damage, and then use Saylind to summon him back to a safe place. The only down side to this is that it requires you to place an order marker on Saylind which may not get used (if Allister isn't ready to be summoned back yet.) There is also Saylind's D20 gamble, but it is fairly reliable. :ponder: Saylind does come in the same pack, so i'd have her. I think i'll try that, unless my opponent picks some uber army specifically for destroying Alastar.

Okay, i'll just ramble on and on about how leaving him in your starting zone is such a good strategy while we are drafting, so he'll be tricked into drafting stuff not suited to destroying Alastar. I'll counter MacDirk-Berserk (It ryhmes) charge. I'm going to be defensive.

[rdhight]

Unfortunately, at the beginning of the game, you have to choose ONE human champion for the MacDirks to bond with for their Highland Fury. You can't change or share champions in a single game for that bonding. You can, however, move different champions for their Champion Bonding.

Yes, I am well aware of that, thank you very much. What I'm talking about is using Alastair as the chosen champion, leaving him in the start zone, and then later bonding with Gilbert on the way to battle and in battle. I know that you cannot switch Chosen Champions in the same game, Rev.

I like to send Allister in to put a hurtin' some other hero or stud, let him get his damage, and then use Saylind to summon him back to a safe place. The only down side to this is that it requires you to place an order marker on Saylind which may not get used (if Allister isn't ready to be summoned back yet.) There is also Saylind's D20 gamble, but it is fairly reliable. :ponder: Saylind does come in the same pack, so i'd have her. I think i'll try that, unless my opponent picks some uber army specifically for destroying Alastar.

Okay, i'll just ramble on and on about how leaving him in your starting zone is such a good strategy while we are drafting, so he'll be tricked into drafting stuff not suited to destroying Alastar. I'll counter MacDirk-Berserk (It ryhmes) charge. I'm going to be defensive.

You might try Stingers with this army. When I play them, I tend to have some Stingers left in my start zone in the midgame, so that if I go for the drain and lose, I don't destroy a figure I spent order markers advancing. Those guys could serve as Alastair bodyguards.

[IAmBatman]

With 1000-1200 points to spare, and another big life hero like Jotun around, you might want to consider the Saylind/Kelda combo to bring them back to the starting zone for healing purposes.
Too bad you're not down with Marvel, though, Red Skull really makes that strategy work with Order Marker flexibility.

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

With 1000-1200 points to spare, and another big life hero like Jotun around, you might want to consider the Saylind/Kelda combo to bring them back to the starting zone for healing purposes.
Too bad you're not down with Marvel, though, Red Skull really makes that strategy work with Order Marker flexibility.

I don't have Kelda.

[killercactus]

Funny enough, I've only played the Macdirks with Gilbert, and never with Alastair. Even funnier, Gilbert has never been my "Fury" champion. I've played with this:

Sir Gilbert - 105
Macdirk Warriors x2 - 160
Thorgrim - 80
Major Q10 - 150

Total = 495

I choose Thorgrim for Highland Fury and spend an order marker shooting with him Q10. I like to get 2-3 wounds on him and then send out Gilbert with the Macdirks. If they get wiped out, Q10 assassinates Thorgrim and walks about with 6 defense.

[Pallindromemaster]

You don't feel bad about seriously wounding Gilbert and killing off 80 of your own points outright? I prefer to attack my opponents figures, not my own...

[killercactus]

I don't feel bad in the slightest if my Macdirk Warriors / Q10 can kill an extra 80 points worth of figures because of the boosts that a wounded Thorgrim gives them. Plus, with Thorgrim sitting wounded in the starting zone the entire game guarded by Q10, it makes him a lot harder to kill for my opponent, especially when he's dealing with Macdirks attacking anywhere from 4-6 every turn, depending on how many times I shot Thorgrim or Gilbert's adjacency.