The Book of Sir Dupuis

[MalignantT]

Careful who you call a 'rapier', the partially-educated might call the po-lease.


Especially with you guys talking about Sir Du-Pee-Wee's 'thingy'.




After a couple of uses (and heinously bad dice rolls) DuPuis has yet to hold up his points in our games.
Granted, it's mostly been operator error, and not the best terrain (What do you think you're doing hiding Tor-Kul-Na behind a tree with 3 Nagrubs adjacent to him? Aww, Hell. I'll attack him anyway).

Jumping those horses up on height even with the road bonus doesn't help when you can only fit one double spaced figure at a time in the attack zone.


Moral of the story... don't be stupid.

[rdhight]

Dupuis is 150 points of total frustration for me. Tried him a couple times with Templars. The whole army just goes *insert implosion sound here* in no time.

Playing him with KoW is much... less bad. Giving him four attack-boosters instead of three, with 4 defense instead of 3, for 50 points less-- there's just no competition. I've tried this combination several times, always using both my squads of KoW, Dupuis, and various helpings of range and Human Champions.

Typically, my method is to advance the KoW first, with a marker on Dupuis sometime early to get him in range of bad guys. The knights collide with the enemy first, and Dupuis then rides into a scattering of friendly and enemy figures and deals out skulls with his stubby sword of righteousness. Then he dies, really fast. Even when I do manage to get several turns with Dupuis, there's no guarantee those turns are going to be better than a turn with the knights. If I'm going to spend 150-ish points on a front-line hero with little or no range, I want one who either bonds (Grimnak, Alastair), moves across the battlefield independently of support (Venom, Cyprien), or both (Mimring).

[Matthias Maccabeus]

I concur with your frustration. For 40 points cheaper you can get a pretty powerful hero that bonds with the knights in Alastair.

Dupuis is a lot of fun to play, but he's more for taking out heroes than squads. Also with his tactical disengagement, you can go after the enemy's support units. Crash the front line with a bunch of knights, while Dupuis sneaks around the side to smack Raelin, or whoever it may be.

[SpartanNinja]

Originally Posted by Matthias Maccabeus

I concur with your frustration. For 40 points cheaper you can get a pretty powerful hero that bonds with the knights in Alastair.

Dupuis is a lot of fun to play, but he's more for taking out heroes than squads. Also with his tactical disengagement, you can go after the enemy's support units. Crash the front line with a bunch of knights, while Dupuis sneaks around the side to smack Raelin, or whoever it may be.

Or Taelord, talk about easy prey... to bad he's never around...

Personally, I enjoy using him without any knights (which really chops into his cost, I know). I've used him as a back-up to Crixus and/or an end-game piece... matter of fact I've won quite a few games with this army or a variant of it... 600 pts

Sir Dupius 150
Dund 110
Airborne Elite 110
Crixus 90
Guilty 30
Otanashi 10

And either Krav Maga 100 or
Me-Burq-Sa 50 and Marro Warriors 50

I could probably work it without the last two options as well...

It relies a lot on gambits, but I've always saved Sir Dupuis for last and controlled the board with a very dominant figure. He's a mighty expensive end-game piece though .

[A_Train]

The problem is, he can't be too endgame, due to the fact that he is useless without a few friendly knights kicking around.

[Snotwalker 8000]

Originally Posted by A_Train

The problem is, he can't be too endgame, due to the fact that he is useless without a few friendly knights kicking around.

Well, he has his issues, but I wouldn't say he's "useless" without knights... Move 8 & attack of 4 ain't nothing to sneeze at. (granted, an attack of 7 with a couple knight buddies around is much much better!)

[Kobu]

Being a knight and not a champion really hamstrings Dupuis. Alternatively, I think he should at least get specific bonding with the cavalry.

These guys ought to work well together but they just don't in practice.

He's cool (except for the dagger thing), but I don't see much practical use for him. He's on my "to be revised" list.

[Revdyer]

Originally Posted by Matthias Maccabeus

Dupuis is a lot of fun to play, but he's more for taking out heroes than squads.

I think you've got this exactly right, Mattias Maccabeus. Dupruis, like Dendrick, is a knight, not for all seasons, but for bashing the big enemies.

[Hex_Enduction_Hour]

Originally Posted by Matthias Maccabeus

Dupuis is a lot of fun to play, but he's more for taking out heroes than squads. Also with his tactical disengagement, you can go after the enemy's support units. Crash the front line with a bunch of knights, while Dupuis sneaks around the side to smack Raelin, or whoever it may be.

Originally Posted by Revdyer

I think you've got this exactly right, Mattias Maccabeus. Dupruis, like Dendricl, is a knight, not for all seasons, but for bashing the big enemies.

Something a bonded Human Champion and a set or two of KoWs can perform as well. Of course they get tied up with engagements, but that's where Dupuis comes through with Tact. Disengagement.

Dupuis doesn't need to be bonded to be appreciated, but drafting him with templars in a lower-points army won't do much for his or the army's potency.

He is indeed the hammer to be brought down on heroes or unique squads (catching Kravs, AE, Nakitas, etc) in use with the KoWs. He'll have more chances to get Knight's Courage with a bunch of foot knights than Mounted.

I keep comparing him to Cyprien as they're the same cost bracket.
Cyprien seems to get more mileage for his cost, but Dupuis really can bring the attack on a target when the KoWs are about.
His Chalice kicking in at 4 wounds and the base 3 Defense stat reflect he will be used often with the KoWs. The opponent has his hands full with KoWs and a bonded champion. The choice to target Dupuis in the midst of a battle becomes less defined.
Initially, Dupuis should be able to stay out of ranged fire with his 8 Movement and swoop in when ready. That leaves him vulnerable once he IS in ranged. But Tact. Disengagement and 6 Life give him some protection.

My defense of Dupuis is probably paper thin, but I really like this hero and his coolness will keep me drafting him often for a long time to come.

Originally Posted by SpartanNinja

Personally, I enjoy using him without any knights

I have not tried Dupuis solo. I should, but counting up the KoWs within 4 clear sight spaces is such a fun endeavor, won't make me draft him alone anytime soon.

[Aldin]

HEH,

He can also be a lifesaver if you are running a KoW army and you run into Glad/Blast, Braxas, or any of the other Medium abusers.

~Aldin, who has never been unhappy with including Sir Dupuis in an army

[Snotwalker 8000]

Originally Posted by Hex_Enduction_Hour

The opponent has his hands full with KoWs and a bonded champion. The choice to target Dupuis in the midst of a battle becomes less defined.

A good point to always remember! This is, in some ways, similar to the conundrum opponents have when facing an approaching NGS backed up by Grok Riders on the fringes... do you start targeting "the tank" first, knowing it'll take some pounding to knock down the warlord, or do you go after the supporting Groks first?... thus allowing NGS to continue advancing unscathed?

Dupuis certainly has a big 150pt bullseye on him, but if you bring him in after your knights and bonded champ are in the frontline mix... the choice gets harder as you mentioned. In that instance, it becomes really important to have good order marker management to keep your opponent's eyes on BOTH the knights/champ AND Dupois. In other words, keep them guessing on who's activated next and who the biggest threat it. If they see 3 OMs on Dupuis at the start of the round, they'd be foolish to NOT focus all fire on him... but if the OMs are split between the knights and Dupuis, the choice becomes much harder.

SW8K

[Hex_Enduction_Hour]

Originally Posted by Aldin

HEH,

He can also be a lifesaver if you are running a KoW army and you run into Glad/Blast, Braxas, or any of the other Medium abusers.

Ahhh, I like it! I'd be more inclined to throw him at Braxas than the Glads and Blasts as Homing device could still tear him apart and the numerous Glads engagements make Tactical Engagement a bit more precarious to perform.

~Aldin, who has never been unhappy with including Sir Dupuis in an army

Okay, it's confirmed. You're definitely

Originally Posted by Snotwalker 8000

A good point to always remember! This is, in some ways, similar to the conundrum opponents have when facing an approaching NGS backed up by Grok Riders on the fringes... do you start targeting "the tank" first, knowing it'll take some pounding to knock down the warlord, or do you go after the supporting Groks first?... thus allowing NGS to continue advancing unscathed?

Dupuis certainly has a big 150pt bullseye on him, but if you bring him in after your knights and bonded champ are in the frontline mix... the choice gets harder as you mentioned. In that instance, it becomes really important to have good order marker management to keep your opponent's eyes on BOTH the knights/champ AND Dupois. In other words, keep them guessing on who's activated next and who the biggest threat it. If they see 3 OMs on Dupuis at the start of the round, they'd be foolish to NOT focus all fire on him... but if the OMs are split between the knights and Dupuis, the choice becomes much harder.

SW8K

I was going to state something similar with the order markers, but thought it might be too obvious. Glad you mentioned it.
1 or 2 with an 'X' keeps things vague for the opponent. Chalice, Dupuis' Size, 6 Life, and the nearby threat of KoWs with a Champion might sustain him until his next activation.

And to be honest in my defense of Dupuis. The maps I've used him on are small-medium in size 16-19 hexes in width and length with lots of coverage and low height (3-4 levels max).
I won't say I have success with him every time or consider him competitive-worthy. He's just really a cool figure in my opinion. Plus Knight's Courage and Tactical Disengagement are quite fun to enact.

Chalice hasn't yet made an impression on me. But I like that at 4 wounds, Dupuis earns the default Defense of a true Knight class and some of the Human Champions. It's fair enough. Big base attacks (or in Dupuis' case, the potential to be a huge) seem to come at a price or weaker stat somewhere else (Tor-Kul-Na and Drake 2.0 are some exceptions with solid all around stats, but they still do come at a pretty penny), so for 150 points, Dupuis is fair and accurate.

~ HEH, writing at recess


EDIT
Just to add on here rather than post again:
The only sour point for me with Dupuis and the KoW is in their bonded Champion.
Gilbert very often fits the bill perfectly, but creates stagnancy in Dupuis/KoW drafts.
I really enjoy Gilbert's move bonuses, hefty life, and defense, but would like to forgo him to try other Champions.
Knights plodding at 4 stinks.

Originally Posted by Snotwalker 8000

A good point to always remember! This is, in some ways, similar to the conundrum opponents have when facing an approaching NGS backed up by Grok Riders on the fringes... do you start targeting "the tank" first, knowing it'll take some pounding to knock down the warlord, or do you go after the supporting Groks first?... thus allowing NGS to continue advancing unscathed?

Dupuis certainly has a big 150pt bullseye on him, but if you bring him in after your knights and bonded champ are in the frontline mix... the choice gets harder as you mentioned. In that instance, it becomes really important to have good order marker management to keep your opponent's eyes on BOTH the knights/champ AND Dupois. In other words, keep them guessing on who's activated next and who the biggest threat it. If they see 3 OMs on Dupuis at the start of the round, they'd be foolish to NOT focus all fire on him... but if the OMs are split between the knights and Dupuis, the choice becomes much harder.

SW8K

Another reason I like Gilbert more other bonded Human Champions - He's so often times looked over as a target, yet can be major threat in the mid to late game with even a couple of KoWs surviving with him.