Deathwalker 9000 proved he doesn't always choke.

[MBSowards]

I played a 600 point game tonight with my brother and dad. I picked a pretty crappy team actually, and had 9000 on my team. I had planned on using him last, but my brother was bunching stuff together like crazy, so I felt I should use him. I got him to my newly purchased bridge, and he reigned supreme the entire game.

I ended up losing because everything else of mine died, and my dad had Drake Alexander, who managed to kill my Deathwalker after sustaining three wounds.

But, Deathwalker didn't choke, and only died on an attack of 5.

It was awesome having him up on the bridge showing his dominance.

Just thought I'd share what I thought was a great story.

[Rodriquez]

that's kewl man...
on a side note there at 600 points..the dw doesna become as big an issue is if yer running 400 points...

DW9k can be a powerful fiqure...but it's that one life that just murders ye... all it takes is one bad roll....

[Teamski]

A whiff-free game with DW9000 is a memorable game to be sure. A true rarity in the annuls of Heroscape!

-Ski

[Hex_Enduction_Hour]

Make sure to give DW8K a spin. He's a 'blast' too.

[feekonea]

Everyone may not like deathwalkers, but I thinkeveryone can admit that they were cool additions to the game.

[Su-Bak-Na]

A whiff-free game with DW9000 is a memorable game to be sure. A true rarity in the annuls of Heroscape!

-Ski

My friend was able to keep it alive until the end, but I eventually stormed him with my Orc Archers, it made a shameful ending to Dethwaler 9k but he still survived till the end.

[feekonea]

A whiff-free game with DW9000 is a memorable game to be sure. A true rarity in the annuls of Heroscape!

-Ski

My fried was able to keep it alive until the end, but I eventually stormed him with my Orc Archers, it made a shameful ending to Dethwaler 90k but he still survived till the end.

Whoa deathwalker 90k??? How much defense dice does he roll? 90? awwwww I wish I had him. :lol:

[Su-Bak-Na]

A whiff-free game with DW9000 is a memorable game to be sure. A true rarity in the annuls of Heroscape!

-Ski

My fried was able to keep it alive until the end, but I eventually stormed him with my Orc Archers, it made a shameful ending to Dethwaler 90k but he still survived till the end.

Whoa deathwalker 90k??? How much defense dice does he roll? 90? awwwww I wish I had him. :lol:

Oops I meant 9k sorry will edit my post.

[negation]

When you say whiff-free game do you mean like rolling 9 def against 1 atk and losing? That happened to me once and now my opponent wont let me forget it.





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[MBSowards]

When you say whiff-free game do you mean like rolling 9 def against 1 atk and losing? That happened to me once and now my opponent wont let me forget it.


Yeah, that's what it means.

[Rodriquez]

yesterday's game......

came down to *loud drum roll* Wis's Dw8k...to my Dumatef....

outcome: ! fiqure left on the board celebrating....






after having to attack from low ground......














who was it?





















THE DUMATEF!!!!!!












poor dw' another whiff in the dust....and losing to the lowest cost fiq in the game.....

hehehe
cheers
Rod

[reapersaurus]

Make sure to give DW8K a spin. He's a 'blast' too.ironic you posted this only hours before matching up against me and I on a lark included DW8000 - and he ended up getting one defense die out of 10 on the FIRST SHOT from your 7th mass - end of story.

These Deathwalkers were simply one of the worst designed units in the game.

Scratch that - they BY FAR are the worst designed units in the game.
Probability practically dictates that they will miss a roll before doing their 1oo+ point cost worth. :headshake:

[MBSowards]

I don't agree that they were the worst designed. I killed all four knights and wounded Denrick with one shot from Deathwalker 9000 in the game last night.

Keeping them up high, and attacking with them strategically can keep them alive long enough to do great amounts of damage.

Deathwalker 8000 can be used the same way. He can take out entire squads in one turn also.

I think they are a good risk to take, as they are very destructive when working to their potential.

[Jason]

I personally love units that are high risk/high reward. The game would be boring without pieces like the Deathwalkers, Dan, Sudema, etc

[slackandowski]

I'm a noob but I played him once and he was my last figure on the board! Drake finally took him out but it was a lucky roll...I was 1 shield short from blocking it and I rolled like 3 (needed 4).

I'd take him again...just keep him protected...

[reapersaurus]

well i just looked at the HSprobabilities pdf, and there sure seems to be mathematical proof in there that the DW's were badly designed, strictly from a statistics and standpoint, not a fun playing standpoint.

DW8000 costs 130 points.
the 4th Mass cost 70 points.
Many times, the 4th Mass will have to be advanced upon.
So just like in the tourney game on Saturday, moving DW8000 forward to attemtp an advance on the 4th Mass' position results in the following scenario:

DW8000's 8 dice up against the 4th Mass's 4 4-dice attacks.

There will be an unblocked skull 24.630% of the time.
That means, ON AVERAGE, DW8000 will go down (all 130 points of him) in only ONE volley from a 70 point squad with height.

If you don;t like the realistic example of having to advance on the 4th Mass' position (and them having height and Wait & Fire advantages), then simply compare him to Krav Magas on level ground.
They will on average hit him in just over 6 attacks (that's only 2 turns), and he only has around a 14% chance to hit them, only one shot per round unless he gets very lucky. He is very likely not to even kill one Krav Maga before they kill him, and they are only a 100 point squad. And many squads can regularly get 3 attack dice - heck, the MArro Warriors get that with height, so 2 activations and on average, 130 points of DW8000 is toast.

I am really not seeing any statistical evidence to have these glass-jaw units priced so high.
Now froma game balance perspective, I believe DW8K is costed that way because of the possibility they can come up against the Vipers and obliterate them all. That simply is not a reason to up his cost, is in the case of one unit as an opponent. From a game design stanpoint, I think it's more important to allow a unit to be effective counter against one type, than it is to nerf him against every other type.

Heck, compare DW8000 to Major Q9. Q9 is only 50 points higher, and he can kill DW8K on even ground in ~2 turns of his Queglix Gun attack, or in less than 3 attacks of his normal attack with height.
In 2 turns, DW8000 doesn;t even have a 40% chance of doing one damage to Q9.
And here's the rub - Q9 still would have 3 Life remaining if it did hit him once.

Personally, I think statistics clearly shows that the Deathwalkers should have more than 1 Life for their cost. Or else lower their cost.

But that's just what my analysis shows - I'm open to other statistical analysis that proves their worth.

[MBSowards]

Nothing says that you have to advance upon them though.

[justin]

I oddly enough HATE all DW's because they mercilecly kill me from 50 spaces up, Heck I practically lose before my first turn starts. My jerk brother 'Dracothehalfdragon' always gives himself both of the initiative glyphs and all of the range, attack, defense, move Glyphs. I meanwhile recieve 4 brandars, 2 mitonsouls, and 2 keldas. I rarely go first and the 8k with that height just murders all of my fragile squad/Samurai army in under a turn. If even half of my army makes it to his castle gate I'm lucky, if I get through the gate I am extremely lucky, if I get up to the top I should sign up for the Lottery, if I win; well lets just say I could step out of a space shuttle naked and survive.

[dracothehalfdragon]

ha ha justin, your lucky if i dont have Q9 AND DW8K up there

[TexMex]

Despite the stats though, I gotta say, I love my Deathwalker 9000. He's the only figure I can consistently slay with. But granted, the downside is that he has to have adequate back-up or great positioning. I just got Deathwalker 8000, and I'm thinking he'll have what it takes in a big point army 8)

[Ugly-Caco]

Ahhh DW 9000...I'll never forget how I rolled 11 skulls to block Syvarris' 1 skull attack. Gotta love that borg!

[LtBardolph]

well i just looked at the HSprobabilities pdf, and there sure seems to be mathematical proof in there that the DW's were badly designed, strictly from a statistics and standpoint, not a fun playing standpoint.

DW8000 costs 130 points.
the 4th Mass cost 70 points.
Many times, the 4th Mass will have to be advanced upon.

I agree that DW is overpriced. However, your example is not fair.

#1 - If DW is advancing on 4th Mass, DW 8000 fires first.
#2 - DW is firing 3 attack dice vs 2 defense dice. This roll definitely favors the DW (63% chance of wounding and killing).
#3 - Each time the DW wounds a figure, it gets to fire again. If the DW is lucky, this can be devastating.
#4 - DW has higher range than 4th Mass (7 vs 6), so 4th mass will have to advance (and lose its bonus die) in order to fire back. The DW would then retreat again to 8 spaces and fire again with its special.
#5 - When the MM fire back, it's 2 attack dice vs 8 defense dice (remember, the MM have to move to fire back...). That's about a 1 in 15 chance of wounding per figure.

Given all of this, I'd say that the DW 8000 definitely has an advantage over a single squad of minutemen (which it should, given the point cost). Against 2 squads in a straight shootout, I still wouldn't be surprised to see the DW come out on top, unless the MM have a map advantage or synergy bonus from other units (which, granted, are easier to accumulate with MM than with the DW).

[TexMex]

Amen Lt.! A single Deathwalker can definately take down a squad the majority of the time. As for DWs being overwhelmed, like I said, it all depends on positioning and who's backing him up 8)

[ProfessorDocker]

The Deathwalker personality is Tricky, and it's true, they're tricky to work with. If you use them right, they can devastate. If you don't, they're devastated. The key to using Deathwalker 8000 or 9000 is paying attention to its special and its range. You have to keep them away from fire. A melee squad or two ahead with a Deathwalker hidden behind is dangerous. Always keep in mind when to use Explosion Special Attack, because it's potentially extremely powerful. The problem with Deathwalkers is that it only takes one error to lose them, so you have to be experienced with them if you want to win. The player who gives up after the first loss with them will never lead them to victory. It takes practice, practice, and more practice.

!Docker

[Mr.Zolt]

I love the Deathwalker.. these things kick. I was playing a game the other day against my friends and we were doing a free-for-all.. and then all of a sudden they both came after me, killing all my units except Deathwalker.. but he had the high ground and they couldn't kill him. He killed Drake, Dragons, Carr, and some marro warriors before they both gave up. He was invincible.

[NecroBlade]

My friend and I were teaching his friend the game today, and he chose Mr. 9000. He rolled 4+ shields a number of times, but only killed a few figures in explosions before he was taken down. Still, one of the best showings I've seen DW9 make.