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The truth about the Steamroller

Posted June 29th, 2009 at 03:24 PM by Rÿchean
Updated June 29th, 2009 at 03:43 PM by Rÿchean
The Steamroller has been getting lots of forum debate ever since Grungebob first teased it back in April.

For those they may still not know, it is 3xCapuans, Crixus and Spartacus for 500 pts.

I think it has been largely misunderstood. I think many have associated the hype with it being somehow unstoppable or the cream of the crop. In fact, I contend that if the Steamroller wasn’t hyped so much, the Capuans and the rather obvious steamroller build would be receiving praise at the present, not discounts. I don’t mind saying that I think the Hype created some unrealistic expectations.

However, I offer no apologies for the hype. I think it is justified. Spartacus went from being dust covered to playable with the release of the Capuans. That in of itself is worth applause. I do not wish to change anyone’s mind about the Capuans or the Steamroller. The Steamroller build is just a simple build, a fun build, and at least a some what competitive build. It also served as a fairly consistent, straight forward measuring stick for other units and builds along the way.

The reason it is called the Steamroller is not because it dominates but because when it dominates, that is what it feels like is happening: You are getting steamrolled. Also, once the army starts rolling it is hard to stop, especially against an unbalanced army. For these reasons, the term Steamroller just evolved over time. A classic Steamroll ends with the Gladiators killing the last opposing figure in the starting blocks. There are already reports around the forums of players who have seen the Steamroller work, and there will be more to come. Against strong armies, the steamroller has a fun fighting chance; against weak armies, the Steamroller wins often and easily.

I hope that everyone eventually sees through the hype and the nickname and ends up appreciating what the Capuans bring to the Heroscape party.
Total Comments 4

Comments

Old
rym's Avatar
I've playtested this army. And I must say, part of what makes it work is knowing how to play it. I think it has to be played more offensively than defensively to be effective. At least, that's how I've seen it work.

Good article, Rÿchean.
Posted June 29th, 2009 at 05:03 PM by rym rym is offline
Old
Cleon's Avatar
My friends (and dad) and I have been playtesting Wave 9 for an upcomming tournament I'm hosting with my figures (all the rules and things are set, I just need my order and we'll do it hopefully next week). I have basically built everyone's army off of what they wanted to play from Wave 1/9 (it's in celebration of Wave 1's rereleasal and Wave 9's releasal, thus the main rule being your army must include at least 2 different Wave 9 units, or 1 Wave 9 unit and 1 Wave 1 unit) so they can have an equal chance against my dad and I. About all my friends I'd say are still at the beginner level, maybe my cousin is a little higher.

Anyways, one friend I'm having play Steamroller + Retiarius + Roman Legos x1 (640pt. limit) and we have playtested three times total now by him playing it while I play either my or another player's army for the tourney. I do think you captured it correctly, Rÿchean, it can be tough and really 'roll' at times and at the same time isn't the new top, elite army. But it is very fun and really brings a brute vibe to the table with its strength balanced by its simplicity.
Posted June 30th, 2009 at 12:29 AM by Cleon Cleon is offline
Old
Eirikr's Avatar
I still can't help but want to play this army for the championship this year. I doubt that it is going to win the tournament but I do think that I could play it well enough to be fairly confident of a day 2 showing, depending on my day 1 matchups of course. I do believe that this is a more competitive build overall than the all melee knights builds which are some of my favourite armies to play.
And before anyone reacts to this statement I am not saying gladiators are better than knights, nor that they would beat the knights in a heads up battle (although you'd better bet they will MM) but that this particular build will perform better against other competitive army builds than the all melee knights builds. Did I say this already...
Posted June 30th, 2009 at 01:35 PM by Eirikr Eirikr is offline
Updated June 30th, 2009 at 04:48 PM by Eirikr
Old
Jexik's Avatar
My initial impressions of the Steamroller is that it's pretty brutal against a lot of the 'lesser' armies.

I'll need to try it against some annoying 3x Rats armies and see what happens. So far it has been pretty lethal.
Posted July 5th, 2009 at 12:09 AM by Jexik Jexik is offline
 
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