The Book of Fortress Door

[Boozehammer]

Aside from the port-shooting / melee dodging madness that is involved with technical interpretations of the rules, the door sucks to beat down. I don't care, melee, range, huge figure, small figure... with it's auto defense and 10 life, and your opponent raining down arrows, lasers, weasels, and all kinds of other forms of death from above, it's nigh impossible to overcome. I want to hear from people that destroyed all 10 HP on the door, and how many army points it ended up costing you. I've never done it. Not once. Everyone I know house-rules the HP to 5, 3, or anything a little more sane. And we don't "do" house rules.

The crazy defense of the door makes me cringe thinking about playing on maps with no alternative routes into the castle, i.e., exterior ladders, routes around to the sides, ramps, etc.

The door makes the castle set the crazy dysfunctional wife of Heroscape: You love her for what she adds to the family, but she makes your life hell with her shenanigans.

[rdhight]

Choosing only from classic figures, I don't really have an answer for you; even Jotun and Krug don't always get the job done, that's for sure. Among the new guys, Tor-Kul-Na could bring it down eventually with Nagrubs to keep him alive, but I don't think that he will offer any improvement over Jotun's 8 attack in terms of points.

Marvel figures are the only ones who truly answer or counter the door. Just use a super-strong hero for your battering ram. As an added advantage, many of their flight-like powers are not affected by the wind glyph, so they're the best at going through the wall or over it.

[that guy]

We have a door team at my house. Krug, Kaemon Awa, and the Nakitas. With a few lucky roles from Krug before he dies Kaemon Awa finishes it off. We've taken the door down plenty of times.

Also if door questions are being sent, ask if you can open the door while on the move or do you have to stop your movement phase on the door space.

[rdhight]

I just received a long-delayed reply to my melee-dodging question from customer support. Here it is:

Originally Posted by Wizards of the Coast Customer Service

Hi there Ross,

Thank you so very much for your patience while waiting for an answer to your questions. The rules team has found the time to get back to us regarding these issues, and I'm providing your questions as well as their official answers below.

"I have questions about the Fortress of the Archkyrie castle door. The rulebook says that if I occupy the door control space No. 4, I can open and close the door even if it is not my turn."

"Now, suppose that I control the closed door and an opponent's Jotun wishes to attack it from the outside. He walks up and ends his movement adjacent to Door Space No. 1."

"If I now open the door, moving it to Door Space No. 3, Jotun will no longer be adjacent to it and therefore unable to attack it. When his next turn comes up, I can do the same thing again as soon as he ends his movement but before he attacks, and keep doing it whenever I want in order to stop any and all melee figures from ever hitting the door. So my questions are:"

Question 1: The rules do not seem to place any limitation on when and how many times the controller can open the door. Is there in fact such a limitation that will stop this scenario from happening?

Answer 1: At this time there are no limitations to opening and closing the door. However, strategies like that, may lead people to not want to play with you any more. Keep watching the FAQs at www.heroscape.com, if at any point there were limitations placed on the door, they would be added to the FAQs.

Question 2: If enemy figures are outside, adjacent to the closed door, when it opens, do they inflict any leaving engagement attacks on it?

Answer 2: No. The door is not a figure.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact us again using our Help system and we'll answer them as soon as possible. The turnaround time will be much faster in the future. Thanks again!

Take Care and Good Gaming!

And there you have it. Melee-dodging is the law, officially enshrined until further notice.

[theGuru]

At least they referenced the FAQs, could be an update around the corner, who knows.

[Sphere]

I've always been in favor of following the official rules and sticking strictly to official rulings, but this will be the exception. The notion that you can swing a door open and closed and thereby prevent a melee figure from striking it is more than I can swallow.

[1Mmirg]

My favorite line:

At this time there are no limitations to opening and closing the door. However, strategies like that, may lead people to not want to play with you any more.

Yes, it is technically allowed, but clearly discouraged. (This is a point that definitely needs a FAQ. There should, at the least, be a way to engage the door, but I think the whole opening the door to shoot, opening the door to avoid melee damage, closing the door whenever it benefits you, etc., needs to be addressed. I like the Davidlhsl reading/[writing] of the text, for what that is worth...)

[peteparkerh]

This came up this weekend, if the door has height, does it roll 5 instead of 4 dice?

Thanks for the help.

[Revdyer]

Originally Posted by peteparkerh

This came up this weekend, if the door has height, does it roll 5 instead of 4 dice?

Thanks for the help.

We play that way.

[peteparkerh]

Originally Posted by Revdyer

We play that way.

Thanks Rev. I think that is how we will play for now on.

Anybody else want to weigh in?

[oracle92]

Well, to be technical, the door should not get height according to the rules, because it is neither a figure, nor has a base. But of you want to house rule it otherwise go ahead.

This is a stupid question, but in they FAQ, when they say a power won't work, they mean you can't use it against the door right?

[Revdyer]

Originally Posted by oracle92

Well, to be technical, the door should not get height according to the rules, because it is neither a figure, nor has a base. But of you want to house rule it otherwise go ahead.

This is a stupid question, but in they FAQ, when they say a power won't work, they mean you can't use it against the door right?

Well, "to be techincal," the FotA rules on page 5 say, explicitly, that the door gets height defense. It's not a house rule. It is the rules.

The very same paragraph in the rules also answers your other question.

Originally Posted by FotA Rules

Attacking and Defending: The Door may be attacked by a normal attack,
a special attack, 0r by special powers that only cause wounds. Add Height
Advantage where appropriate. The Door may receive wounds the same way
that a figure may receive wounds. The Door cannot be targeted or attacked
by special powers that may "destroy" it in one attack.