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First Picks: Always the same?

Posted October 15th, 2008 at 05:10 PM by Nadi
Updated October 15th, 2008 at 05:15 PM by Nadi
It's the magical moment when you sit down and start what could be either a long (or short) round of HeroScape. The markers have been dealt out, the dice divided, the army cards stacked and neatly in each group next to you. And then you hear it: the sound of the d20 being rolled by the first person in the draft. The first draft pick always seems to be such a crucial moment in our games. Granted, the SHS crew isn't as 'hardcore' as most other Scapers that you would meet on here. Still, we love the game for what it is: an absolutely fun and addictive game. Most of our games are on larger maps (we love the long drawn out battles), but from time to time, we manage to sneak a small on in there.

So, the d20s are rolled and it comes down to you having the first draft pick. Who do you pick, if you are given the first pick of all units? Is it different each time? Or, do you have a unit that you must absolutely have on your first pick, no matter what?

For myself, it comes down one thing:

The map. Most of our maps that we play on are SHS map layouts. With that, comes a lot of room to move around and the possibility to hide with a good number of LoS blockers thrown into the mix. If these two conditions aren't met, then my first pick could really be anyone at that point. But, if the map is the norm, then it's on to drafting my first pick:

Syvarris.

Ever since my first HeroScape game (where Turo beat me in the end with a mind-shackle. I'll never let you live that down, man... ) I've always been just... obsessed with using Syvarris as my first round draft pick. It never fails, unless I'm just completely cramped on the map, he's going to be the unit that I go for. There's such a running joke with the SHS crew that they often try to draft him first, not because they want him... but they get a kick out of taking him away from me.

Still, I find Syvarris to be a character that I can rely on time after time again. It's not just the fact that he has such a high range, or the double attack, but for just a meer 100 points, I find him to be a very effective character in terms of what he has to offer. But I guess I see a lot of others use Syvarris and he normally gets destroyed right off the bat and I think I contribute that to one simple thing: I see him way more effective as a defensive unit, rather than an offensive unit.

Most of the time when I play HeroScape, I usually tell my teammates one thing: "Wait till you are in range before you fire." Now, not all units can benefit from this approach, but I find a good number of them seem to work best when you allow you enemies to come in with guns blazing and then on your next turn, take the high ground (if you can) and then return the favor. And this is where I love to use Syvarris so much. His range keeps him at a safe distance while most units are fighting around (or trying to charge in), but if you manage to get to the higher ground, you return fire at not just 3 attack dice, but 4.... TWICE. Keeping out of reach most of the time and allow you to keep shooting over and over and over again.

For 100 points, I just can't justify drafting anyone else on my first pick. I'm sure there are PLENTY Scapers out there that would say that I'm insane, or argue why anyone OTHER than Syvarris would be a better first draft pick. But for my record book, Syvarris has always proven himself to me time and time again. Oh sure, he has his days where he forgets to actually LOAD ARROWS into his bow when he fires... but thankfully those are few and far between.

So, how about you? Who's your first draft pick when making an army? Is it a unit that you rely on a lot, maybe you don't have a particular unit that you like to use... or maybe even more so you just reach in a bag and pull on out randomly.

Who's your first draft pick?

(Again, realize... we always play by draft. I don't think we've played a game where we brought pre-made armies. Like I said, we are ' more frequent casual Scapers.' We love the game, but I'll be darned if I can't tell you half the figure's names...)
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flameslayer93's Avatar
If I have absolute first pick, I like to take a weak, cheap unit to give me another round to feel out my opponent's army. I havent drafted in a while lol
Posted December 6th, 2014 at 12:41 PM by flameslayer93 flameslayer93 is offline
 
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