Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[qt.bangerang]

I agree with ZB and have to vote NO to review Jarek Guy.

[Scytale]

Khophawet by Typhon2222 and Sertorius

I've always held a fondness for Anubians. While never consistent enough to win tournaments, playing them from time to time has always been good fun. I was excited to see a hero that worked with them, especially with a scuplt that fits in with them beautifully. Working with big (in age only) brother Khosumet as opposed to replacing him is important as well.

But when I sat down to playtest Khophawet, I realized a problem arose with Fury of Anubis. Unleashed Fury states: "Before moving, roll the 20-sided die...". Note it says "before moving", not "before taking a turn". This indicates that the Anubian's turn has already started when the Unleashed Fury roll occurs. Khophawet's Fury of Anubis power allows him to "immediately take a turn" if an Unleashed Fury roll is 2-11. This means that Khophawet takes a turn during the Anubian Wolves' turn.

This is a problem I refer to as "turn stacking". No official cards allowed multiple turns to be active simultaneously -- all bonus turns are taken before, after, or instead of. Having multiple turns active at the same time can cause problems with powers or effects that last for the duration of a turn (e.g. like the Goblin Cutter's Scurry) or powers or effects that activate once per turn (like Elaria the Pale's Slippery 6). I could not think of an example where this currently causes an issue, but the existence of duration of a turn and once-per-turn effects makes turn stacking troublesome. Additionally, turn stacking is a potentially slippery slope where allowing more and more turns-within-turns can create deepening stacks. All in all I find turn stacking to be at best unclear and at worst problematic.

I did play Khophawet in a few games to get a feel for him, and I have reservations. I do not feel that the Anubians are weak and need help; it's true they don't see much play in tournaments, but that's due to their highly swingy nature. Units with high swing factors don't see a lot of tournament play because, while they will win some games, they will lose some games too. Khophawet compensates for their bad Unleashed Fury rolls by giving them a key 4th figure activation as well as providing an attack boost. From my limited playtesting this seemed like overcompensation; not only did they get bonding but also their crappy attack jumped up to respectable. The key feature of the Anubians is their wildly swingy behavior. Normally they range from terrible to amazing; with Khophawet they range from good to amazing. It would take me more playtesting to decide if Khophawet is balanced point-wise, but it felt to me like he stripped away some of the key flavor of the Anubians.

I vote to induct Khophawet into the SoV.

[William099]

Originally Posted by Scytale

I am a bit concerned about adding powerful heroes to the Mariedian forces due to the free movements offered by the M-43s, but I would have to playtest to really get a feel. Overall a solid use of existing powers to make a hero to fit in a new faction.

But there are problems with this card. A few spelling errors (Heroscape uses the "defense" spelling, "ajacent" should be "adjacent", "effected" should be "affected"), and the powers should be reworded to match Heroscape precedent (use the Microcorp's Stealth Armor and Deathwalker 9000's Explosion Special Attack for reference).

I'm also not convinced we should be going to unpainted minis. I might be persuaded for squads, but there are still lots of pre-painted minis to be used for heroes.

I vote Nay to review Jarek Guy.

Ntm presice needs to be spelled precise in the left box.

[Killometer]

Unassembled, unpainted is also a deal breaker for me at this point in fanscape.

I vote NO to review Jarek Guy by fishguy1.

And thanks for everyone's patience-op will hopefully be updated tomorrow.

[qt.bangerang]

deleted

[Scytale]

I really like the changes to the Horned Skull Champion.

I vote to review.

Edit: I just noticed that the potential bonding chain is still there, since Rabble Rouser does not have the "After revealing an order marker" wording. I do not quite want to change my vote to no as no bonding chains currently exist, but it does bother me.

[ZBeeblebrox]

To review Horned Skull Champion by qt.

[qt.bangerang]

Originally Posted by Scytale

I really like the changes to the Horned Skull Champion.

I vote to review.

Edit: I just noticed that the potential bonding chain is still there, since Rabble Rouser does not have the "After revealing an order marker" wording. I do not quite want to change my vote to no as no bonding chains currently exist, but it does bother me.

Fixed with "After revealing an order marker" wording, since t doesn't effect game play and eliminates possible future bonding chains.

[1Mmirg]

YEA to review the Horned Skull Champion.

[Super Bogue]

to review of the Horned Skull Champion.

[qt.bangerang]

Vargach by Kaemon_Awa_123

I like Scytale saw no real problems with Vargach on accepting him for review, however as Scytale has pointed out there are some wording issues with the card. These are easy fixes to help clarify what each power is supposed to do, without giving any room for people who pick up the card to error when playing him.

I like the ideas, and think he could make a nice addition to the Lizardfolk once he sees some more refining. So, to help continue our process and move things along without wasting time on our part or the designers parts:

I vote NO to induct Vargach into the SoV.

[Super Bogue]

Cxurg'gyath by Tolamos

•Balance: Once again when to see if a unit is balanced I compare it to official units. There only unit with 6 Life, 5 Move, 1 Range, 4 Attack, and 3 Defense is the Ogre Pulverizer. However, the stats are where the comparison ends. Cxurg’gyath has a special attack, a boost for an uncommon hero, and a terrain specific defensive ability. The Pulverizer bonds with a melee squad, has double attack, and gives any melee figure Counter Strike against him. I think a better comparison would be Rhogar Dragonspine who has similar stats except for one more point of defense. Certainly Psionic Explosion is a better special attack, but Lay on Hands is a better boost to other heroes than Enslave Enhancement. Lurk in Shadows is one of those powers with such limited opportunity for it to be effective that it is hard to assess how much it affects a unit’s cost. Rhogar is priced at 110 while Cxurg’gyath is at 140, so is Psionic Explosion much better than Dragon Breath to justify Cxurg’gyath costing 30 points more? Probably not, but also bear in mind that currently there are not any synergies that can help build an army around Rhogar. Cxurg’gyath’s boost isn’t much help for Mind Flayer Masterminds, but enough for me to try out a dungeon scenario with him and a mass of other Mind Flayers. Pass

•Playability: The powers are clear. Psionic Explosion Special Attack follows Psionic Blast Special Attack by not requiring a clear line of sight to the target though it doesn’t remove order markers, but it is an explosion attack. Enslave Enhancement is just like Frenzy Enhancement. Lurk in Shadows is recycled from Pelloth. Six life does seem on the high side for this figure, but the overlord should have some survivability. The paint jobs with Legendary Encounters figures can be a bit of a gamble (for instances my werewolf is gray not brown), but this one is spot on. The figure looks great with the Mind Flayer Mastermind. In a tournament style game or a generic blind draft game, Cxurg’gyath does not really shine. I did find him to be very enjoyable though in a dungeon crawl. Enjoyable enough in fact that I will probably purchase a few more Mind Flayer Masterminds to go with him. I would also look forward to any other Mind Flayer hero with the Enslave power. Pass

•Creativity: What I like so much about this design is that it ties up a lingering issue for the D&D waves. I never liked that the Mind Flayer Mastermind is an uncommon hero. I understand why they went that way with that figure and the Werewolf Lord, but if it is an uncommon can we use a different word instead of “Mastermind”. Ok enough of that rant, what I like is that Cxurg’gyath gives the existing Mind Flayer unit a leader. He works great as a boss type in a dungeon crawl. The powers are not earthshaking but they fit thematically. Pass

•Theme: Cxurg'gyath is definitely a kind of card that I think we would have seen if Scape were not cancelled, especially if D&Dscape continued. Pass

•Accessibility: I did not find that many of this figure doing a quick check on the online stores I frequently visit, but the Legendary Encounters figures are still supposed to be in print. Assuming that is still true then there should not be a problem finding this figure. Hopefully you will get the paint job on the card (like I did) because the green and gray one that is in the stock photo wouldn’t look nearly as good with the Mind Flayer Masterminds. Pass

Overall, Cxurg'gyath is not a unit that will radically alter the tournament scene (he may not affect it at all), but he is one that fits very thematically with D&D Scape. I would like to see another Mind Flayer unit either come through our reviews or through C3V to build on this design and the Mastermind. All things consider, I vote YES to inducting Cxurg'gyath into the Soldiers of Valhalla.