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Scaper of the Month - May 2020 (delayed)

Posted August 15th, 2020 at 07:49 PM by HS Codex
Updated February 7th, 2021 at 01:32 AM by Xotli

’Scaper of the Month
OrcElfArmyOne
Author: quozl

My apologies as this has been sitting in my inbox for a few months now. The tension has been building for this interview with OrcElfArmyOne!

PROFILE

Who are you really?
Hi! I'm Mike Schober.

How old are you?
22 years old.

What is your occupation?
I just finished up my undergrad at a university, and will be attending law school in the fall (hopefully in person ...).

What’s the story behind your username?
I was a huge Lord of the Rings fan back in middle school (I still am), and my favorite races were orcs and elves. I think I thought that if I combined the two, the army would be number one ...

What are other games you enjoy and why?
I play a lot of board games, but my heart lies with 2-player games like Game of Thrones LCG, Star Wars Destiny, Keyforge, Star Wars Legion, Star Wars X-Wing, Summoner Wars, etc. ... I also love dudes-on-a-map-style games, such as Blood Rage, Rising Sun, Inis, and Cry Havoc. As you can guess, HeroScape is best of both worlds for me.

What other interests do you have?
My undergrad was in Jazz Studies for Trombone (essentially Jazz Performance). As such, listening to and performing music is my biggest hobby outside of gaming.

HEROSCAPE

When and how did you get into Heroscape?
My cousins bought me the Rise of the Valkyrie set when it came out (they knew I was big into Yu-Gi-Oh! at the time, and figured another nerdy game would be a good present ...). I think I was in second or third grade. I’ve played more games of HeroScape than anything else since then.

Casters of Valhalla: what got you started?
I am a big fan of podcasts, especially when I’m learning a game and want to get better quickly. All of my favorite games have podcasts, so I began tossing around the idea of a competitive HeroScape podcast with my buddies for a while, and a year and a half later, we finally recorded for the first time. I didn’t have a plan at first, but now I have a good idea for the direction it’ll be going. Special thanks to all my cohosts and all those who listen!

Favorite unit (official/custom):
This is a tough one for me. I love so many units, but I’m not sure I get as much satisfaction out of playing as Concan. His buff is perhaps the strongest in the game, yet he requires a lot of forethought, practice, and careful positioning to get value out of. I’ve spent the last two or three years playing him in a lot of different builds, yet I still haven’t mastered him.

Describe your favorite HeroScape moment.
My favorite HeroScape moment would probably be the weekend of GenCon 2017. I began going in 2012, but had to miss 2016. The return year was just a blast; catching up with friends and rolling some dice.

Is there anything you would change about the game (unit, rule, mechanic, etc.)?
There are a lot of balance tweaks I would make, but I don’t think there are any rules I would change. Line of sight could be better, but the simplicity of it helps keep the game extremely approachable.

What is your favorite aspect of HeroScape?
The community. Seriously. Having been a part of the competitive scene in other games (from Yu-Gi-Oh! tourneys in elementary school to Thrones tourneys in college), the community of this game keeps me around.

COMMUNITY

You’ve been in a lot of community customs projects. What are your favorite experiences from them?
I actually haven’t been in many. I was in a Lord of the Rings one years ago, although I’m forgetting the name. I’ve played with and against a lot of the VC units, but I’ve never really been a part of it. I like that VC gives new players easy access to figures. I have to shout out Dad_Scaper for starting the alternate minis thread to help keep units cheap.

Can you tell us how you’ve gotten to where you are now in the community?
I guess it’s just that I’m pretty vocal and have consistently performed well at GenCon (as well as local events in the early – mid 2010s). I’ve been a part of numerous competitive communities, so it’s pretty easy for me to draw parallels and use my experiences from my time in these other games to improve my knowledge of HeroScape.

For example, X-Wing has changed how I look at the board. In X-Wing, you need to get the correct engagements, at the right spots on the map, at the right ranges, all the time. That’s how the best player consistently wins. I now analyze the map completely differently than when I used to. I actively find the places I want to be, as well as the places my opponent wants to be. If I’m where I want to be and my opponent isn’t, and I don’t make some major mistake, I win. This is just one example, but basically, my recommendation is to get decent/good at a lot of games. If you do, you’ll naturally get better at HeroScape.

What do you enjoy most about Heroscapers.com?
I think it has to be seeing what other people are up to, be it Flash_19’s map thread, Bigga’s “10 Points Under” series, Vegie’s latest meta analysis article, or dok’s latest terrible take on Marvel movies.

Is there any member of Heroscapers.com you’d really like to play against?
kevindola. I think I played against him once online, but I’d really like to play him in person. I’m a very visual person, and I really struggle to analyze a map within the online interface. I know he’s a top 5 player, so I’d really enjoy playing him and talking to him about the game. It’s always cool to hear how different players think about things.

LIE DETECTOR
Three Truths And A Lie
  1. The Wii U (which is ridiculously cheap nowadays) is far better than the Nintendo Switch for its price.
  2. Empire Strikes Back is better than Rogue One.
  3. The Harry Potter movies butchered a great book franchise.
  4. There are a lot more good anime shows than good American television shows.

Last Month’s Lie (Necroblade)
  1. I owned a hamster-derby-winning hamster.
  2. I name all my pets after various deities. (False: only applies to cats & dogs.)
  3. I once applied to work as a chocolatier while wearing a Willy Wonka jacket.
  4. I once solo-ed an entire start zone of Stingers with just Krug at 1 Life.

THREE FUN FAVORITES

Favorite Movie Genre and Movie:
I guess action? The Lord of the Rings trilogy is my top three, followed by Avengers: Endgame.

Favorite Book Genre and Book:
I read a lot of gaming blogs and rule books, if that counts ...

Favorite Song Genre and Song:
Jazz (specifically, post-bop). I’ve been really into Elliot Mason recently, so the Mason Brothers Quintet’s “The Fate of 1958” probably takes the cake for me right now. Elliot is a freak.

CLOSING

Can you tell us about your BoV Map Tier List and your Modern Power Rankings?
Well, the Modern Power Rankings are really just supposed to be common sense (in my opinion) changes to the original rankings, reflecting more experience with the newer units (and revised experience with the older) than the official rankings. I was building it for myself (for use in alternate formats at home), and then decided to post it on here. I had no idea it would take off like it did.

As for the BoV Map Tier List, I wanted to help budding players and tournament organizers avoid some really bad maps. It was a very different game back then, and just because a group gives a map a seal doesn’t mean that you should use that map in tournament play.

What message do you have for the ’Scaper community?
STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT DICE. IT’S NOT YOUR DICE!

But seriously, be a courteous opponent. Telling your opponent “You only won because of dice” is unsporting and childish. It’s just a game. At the end of the day, none of this matters in the slightest. Help build the community.

Whom do you pick for the next ’Scaper of the Month?
I’ll go ahead and nominate Matthias Maccabeus. He’s probably the top player in the game, all things considered. He’s also a really stand-up guy, and cares more for the community than most people know.
Total Comments 2

Comments

Old
Dad_Scaper's Avatar
The idea just came to me, OEAO. I also encourage people to proxy freely, but if my Alternate Minis thread helps people, so much the better.

I think you actually prefer Rogue One to Empire. Or maybe I'm projecting, because I do. It's an interesting pair, though: the best of the original trilogy compared to the best since the original trilogy.

And I'm listening to your jazz album on Spotify. And enjoying it.
Posted August 15th, 2020 at 08:29 PM by Dad_Scaper Dad_Scaper is offline
Old
Taeblewalker's Avatar
I am the one who bought your 2016 Main Event ticket after George told me that you had to back out from attending GenCon.
Posted August 15th, 2020 at 11:08 PM by Taeblewalker Taeblewalker is offline
 
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