Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Super Bogue]

Dashi Tokainto by qt.bangerang has received two NO votes (capsocrates and nyys) and has been removed from the process.

I'm looking forward to seeing this design again with a few changes.

[DanieLoche]

I supposed that Dashi was for Valkrill because of his "devilness" and because Valkrill is one of the 2 valkyries without a ninja. Indeed, every general has a ninja except Valkrill... and Aquilla! So I think that Aquilla might be the 2nd best choice... ?

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by DanieLoche

I supposed that Dashi was for Valkrill because of his "devilness" and because Valkrill is one of the 2 valkyries without a ninja. Indeed, every general has a ninja except Valkrill... and Aquilla! So I think that Aquilla might be the 2nd best choice... ?

I do like the sound of that!

[dok]

Personally, I'd lean towards Utgar, assuming the backstory doesn't change. Aquilla and Valkrill can get their ninjas in due time; no need to shoehorn Dashi into those spots.

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by dok

Personally, I'd lean towards Utgar, assuming the backstory doesn't change. Aquilla and Valkrill can get their ninjas in due time; no need to shoehorn Dashi into those spots.

That's true too.

[superfrog]

Hoplitron by dok

Balance

At first glance the Hoplitrons look too good to be true. Bonding, 6 defense, 4 attack, large figure, and a special that messes with your opponent’s figures for only 35 points? Seems very powerful. However, when compared to some other units, it seems much more reasonable. The hoplitron has a few roles, and I will examine each individually in terms of balance.

First, as a melee filler, let’s compare 2x Hoplitron to Martial la Hire. They both have the potential for 2 attacks, though Hoplitrons get it more often. Martial has 5 life and 4 defense vs. 2 figures with 1 life and 6 defense. Hoplitrons tie in with more army choices, such as X17. On the whole, it’s pretty even.


Second, as an army core, we can compare to Minions. Very similar stats, similar bonding-with-unused-figures abilities. The minions have -1 move and flying, have deadly strike/2 attack vs. 4 attack. Shield Push is a small bonus, as is the slightly lower cost of 3x Hoplitrons to a squad of minions, and the Hoplitron’s large/soulborg immunities. The Hoplitron’s biggest advantage over Minions is the ability to tie into an army more nicely. Major X17, while by no means good, is much easier to work into an army than Taelord or Runa, who benefit from Utgar’s Orders. Minions still have a slight advantage, but relatively even.


Theme

The Hoplitron is the first common hero soulborg seen thus far in ‘Scape, but given the nature of soulborgs, it really makes sense to have a common hero soulborg. Shield Push is a very thematic power, and brings out the pose of the Hoplitron. His colors work very well with Vydar. Some of my fellow judges expressed a concern with the Hoplitron being a Champion, and although many other classes would be applicable, Champion seems fine. They have high attack and defense and so fit the role of a champion, based on their powerful stats, if not perfectly in all areas.

Creativity


Shield Push is a neat way to capture the pose of the sculpt and is based off the existing mechanic of Shurrak’s Knockback, so it fits well. Melee Soulborg Bonding is a good way to pull in some under-used figures without giving high-powered units, like the Q brothers, any sort of bonding.

Playability

As mentioned above, the Hoplitron can fill two roles, either as filler, usually at 70 points, or as an army core, at 105-175 points. Despite their high defense, they can be worn down fairly consistently by many attacks. Even when boosted by Raelin to have up to 9 defense, ranged squads demolish Hoplitrons, who are very slow, but most melee squads are on par as far as playability. Dwarves are very good against a hoplitron army, because the Hoplitrons are large, but other melee squads are very comparable. The best use of the Hoplitrons that I found was at ~3x with X17. Getting just hoplitrons really did not work well, because with only one life, they aren’t feasible, and can die from just one bad roll. Even though they are cheaper that the Deathwalkers, who also have the low life/high defense combination, because they are melee, they have a problem staying away from multiple attacks per turn. Deathwalker 7000, although he could be used in an army with Hoplitrons, really is not useful enough to warrant the points. X17 is preferable in almost every situation. Although X17 only gets an extra attack of 4 due to the Hoplitron bonding, it also gives him greater OM flexibility, allowing an additional attack and not wasting the OM if X17 is destroyed, and the Hoplitrons can set up Cyberclaw with Shield Push. It is really important to play the Hoplitron conservatively, as overextending can get your entire contingent of Hoplitrons demolished, one at a time. Shield Push, although it is a cool power, is not super useful. It does come into play sometimes, pushing opponent’s figures off height, off a glyph, or into Cyberclaw, but usually it doesn’t change the game very much. The hoplitrons really do well in a heroes-only format, because they tend to stay alive against the fewer attacks typical of heroes. When the hoplitrons shine, they can do a terrific amount of damage, but usually they are not quite so flashy.

Summary

The Hoplitron, Vydar’s most recent Soulborg, fills in a ‘Scape hole, and provides a variety of uses and strategies. Although the Hoplitron generally won’t be the show-stopper, it can compete with every mid-range army and can occasionally beat some top-tier armies. I enjoyed playing the Hoplitron, and think it is a worthy addition to the canon.

I vote YES to induct the Hoplitron into the Soldiers of Valhalla

[DanieLoche]

Hoplitron's passing through the process??

[UtahScott]

Yahoo, 4 YES votes of 5 = first SoV figure of 2013!

[Hive Lord 1233]

[superfrog]

For those looking to pick up the Hoplitron, I just checked availability:

46 visible at abprices, not including paizo

11 at the eBay troll and toad store listed there.
37 at the paizo store
20 at the live2play games eBay store
5 at Lee's clix eBay store
4 at the original now and then eBay store
1 in the last store, which is Australian

giving a grand total of 124 still available, just on abprices.

[Seb from space]

Hoplitron is a very nice hero. We bought 3 hoplitron. We've tried to play with them and X17...

[nyys]

Just keep in mind there is one final vote that goes through the C3V to make sure all the 'Is' are dotted and 'Ts' crossed.