The Book of Marcu Esenwein
 

If you cannot see the Army Card graphic, check Hasbro's Unit Page for stats and special powers, plus "character biography" and other non-game unit info.

Character Bio:Marcu Esenwein found himself summoned from Feylund by Utgar just as his brother cursed him. Instead of gaining a clean-limbed, human-like undead creature of the night, Utgar summoned a mangled monster with webbed hands and feet, a misshapen body with shards of bone along his back, and exposed, crimson flesh.

Still a member of the Esenwein undead family, Marcu has the deadly ability to drain life essences from foes that challenge him. His terrifying aspect is made more horrible as he glides over the heads of the enemy and attacks from behind with colossal fangs and the fatal strikes of his claws.

Marcu Esenwein has no idea when or if the curse that transformed his body will ever be removed. This haunting uncertainty often causes him to fly into a rage, especially during combat. Marcu longs to lead armies and give orders as he did with the Esenwein armies on Feylund. When nothing issues from his monster throat but growls and squeals, his fury knows no bounds. When he can’t communicate his ideas, rage turns Marcu treasonous. He turns on Utgar’s troops, especially targeting members of the Esenwein family. These maniacal episodes never last long, but have resulted in the killing of valuable Utgar troops when they were desperately needed to defeat Jandar forces. (Hasbro)
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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• ETERNAL HATRED : Using Ornak to take a turn with Marcu Esenwein
  For Marcu Esenwein's Eternal Hatred ability, it states "After revealing an order marker on this card, you must....." Using Ornak's Red Flag of Fury, you can activate two Utgar Unique Heroes without them having an order marker. If I use Ornak's Red Flag of Fury power to take a turn with Marcu, am I still forced to roll for Eternal Hatred?
  No. Marcu was activated by another units power and therefore did not use an order marker for this activation. Therefore there is no order marker to reveal when activating Marcu Esenwein in this fashion. (Heroscapers Community Consensus)
  
  ETERNAL HATRED : What Bonuses Are Received
  If I roll for Eternal Hatred after revealing an order marker on Marcu Esenwein's card, and am forced to temporarily give control to an opponent, which army do I still receive bonuses and enhancements from?
  If you are forced to give temporary control of Marcu Esenwein to an opponent, Marcu may receive any bonuses / enhancements from the army who has the temporary control. When this happens, Marcu cannot receive any bonuses / enhancements from your army until he is back under your control again. (Heroscapers Community Consensus)

ETERNAL HATRED : If Marcu is the last figure you control
If Marcu is the last figure I control, and am forced to temorarily give control to an opponent due to Eternal Hatred, do I lose?No. A ruling on DW7k's Self Destruct stated that victory/loss condition resolution does not happen until the end of the turn. Since you get Marcu back at the end of the turn, you will not have fufilled the loss condition.

- ETERNAL HATRED : Regarding disengagement
If my opponent's Marcu is engaged with one of my figures, and then my opponent loses control of Marcu due to Eternal Hatred, would I be able to roll for disengagement if I moved Marcu away from my figure?
No. Marcu is considered a friendly figure for the duration of the turn, and thus is no longer considered to be engaged with your figure.

- ETERNAL HATRED : Glyphs
If I have control of some glyphs, and I gain control of Marcu due to Eternal Hatred, would my glyphs affect Marcu?
Yes. Marcu is considered a friendly figure for the duration of the turn, so any glyphs you control would affect him.

- ETERNAL HATRED : Two Marcus in opposing armies
If two or more players have Marcu in their armies, do we still roll for Eternal Hatred?
No. Since you cannot have two copies of the same unique figure in one army, there is no need to roll for Eternal Hatred, even after one of the Marcus dies.

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-Combinations and Synergies-


Synergy Benefits Recieved

• - ORNAK : Red Flag of Fury
  As a Unique Hero that follows Utgar, Marcu Esenwein may benefit from Ornak’s RED FLAG OF FURY activation synergy.
  
  - DUMUTEF GUARD : Devourer Attack Enhancement
  As a devourer, Marcu Esenwein may benefit from Dumutef Guard’s DEVOURER ATTACK ENHANCEMENT.

Synergy Benefits Offered

• N/A

C3V and SoV Custom Synergies
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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• - TBA

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-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Rankings

Jexik: Marcu Esenwein- Provided Marcu never backstabs you, he is perhaps the best filler unit in the game. Given his 20% of betraying you, Marcu can often hurt you more than help. A-

OEAO: A

Cleon: Tier 9 (7/208)

dok (VC inclusive): A


Unit Strategy Review
TBA

Seems to me like the most fun end-game unit. Any game that comes down to Marcu vs. an opposing army will be thrilling with him turning on you every other turn.

Strategy-wise i would save him until the end of the game as you wouldn't want him to damage your own units. He actually has some staying power with his 6 life, and with his high attack it looks like he could easily earn back his pts. Such a cheap and useful filler unit. Too bad his sculpt is kinda crappy with it's lack of detail and lack of a variety of colors.

Marcu vs an opposing army seems like a very bad deal for you. As soon as he turns, wouldn't it be game over since you no longer control any figures?

A good question. I'm not sure what to think; we should give that to Hasbro post-haste.

I would assume not because you get him back at the end of the turn. It's a really good question, and should definately be asked about to Hasbro.

I thought about this an I would say you don't automatically lose if this happens. Yes you lose control, but you gain it back at the very end of the turn. I agree with the above.

So do I. You get him back at the end of the turn. The DW7K ruling (which creates a tie condition), states that the result of the game is not determined until the turn is completely over. Therefore, you don't automatically lose like you would with Hawthorne.

Anyone notice that this is our first figure in the whole game in which you want to roll LOWER on the d20 when rolling? Every other roll you want to get as high as possible.

That's odd I think. I wonder why they made that decision. Were they specifically trying to make him immune to glyph boost?

I did notice that, jcb, and it annoys me. But at the same time, I think a couple units with the reverse of the norm could add a bit of interesting tension. Still, I think I prefer everyone to follow the model.

Marcu seems to be a very fun unit to play.
I've been wanting to see a tragic hero in this game for some time (I've wanted an agile hunchback like Quaismodo since forever!).
Or at least I think he's an individual with a curse or some morphed malady.

He seems like such a bargain for 20 points - 6 life, 7 Move, 4 attack, Life Drain. Yowsa!

I don't know. From the Master Game Guide, p. 10; "The Game Scenario sets the victory conditions for each game." From Battlefield & Game Scenario Booklet, p. 3, Table of the Giants Battlefield (the first game scenario); "When the other side has no figures left on the battlefield, you win." (Emphasis mine.) Not, "When at the end or the turn ..." or "When ... with the exception of ..." I'm kind of leaning in the direction that, game over if Marcus switches.

Marcu reminds me of my favorite card from when I played Magic: Erhnam Djinn. He is cheap to bring into play, but he can cost you in other ways.