The Book of Morsbane
 

The Book of Morsbane

Zanafor's Discovery - Collection 4 - "Heroes of Trollsford"

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: The ninth generation Banisher in his family, Morsbane wields the Rod of Negation in the service to his queen. Enemies are brought low, the powerful become powerless, the mighty become meek. In some cases, the Rod is powerful enough to negate a being's very existence. (Hasbro)
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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• - ROD OF NEGATION : When to use
  When can I use Morsbane's Rod of Negation?
  At the end of any turn taken by Morsbane; after he has moved and attacked. (Hasbro FAQ)
  
  - ROD OF NEGATION: Negated Moresbane
  What happens when another Morsbane negates Morsbane's powers? Is the new negation marker just added to Morsbane's stock?
  No. The Negation Marker from the other Morsbane would automatically negate the opposing Morsbane's Rod of Negation special power. Any remaining Negation Markers still on the negated Morsbane would be rendered useless. (Hasbro FAQ)
  
  - ROD OF NEGATION : When to use negation markers
  If I roll a 20 and destroy a figure using the Rod of Negation, does that use one of my Negation markers?
  No. If you read on Morsbane's card it says if you roll a 16-19, place a negation
  marker on the card, but if you roll a 20, destroy the figure. You would not waste a negation marker if you are lucky enough to roll a 20. (Hasbro FAQ)
  
  - ROD OF NEGATION : Rolling without negation markers
  If you roll a 20 for Morsbane's Rod of negation, you don't have to waste a Negation Marker. If you don't have any Negation Markers left, can you still attempt the rod of negation only for the effect of the 20?
  No. Per the card you can only attempt to use the Rod of Negation "If you have at least one Negation Marker on this card" Even though the 20 would normally not use a Negation Marker, you exhausted the Rod of Negation's abilities
  when you used the 3rd marker previously. (Hasbro FAQ)

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Synergy Benefits Received

• - ACOLARH : Leaf of the Home Tree Aura
  As an Elf, Morsbane may benefit from Acolarh’s LEAF OF THE HOME TREE AURA defensive bonus.
  
  - ACOLARH : Ullar’s Amulet
  As a follower of Ullar, Morsbane may benefit from Acolarh’s ULLAR’S AMULET movement bonus.
  
  - KYNTELA GWYN : Strength of Oak Aura 1
  As an elf, Morsbane may benefit from Kyntela Gwyn's STRENGTH OF OAK AURA 1 defense bonus.
  
  - ULGINESH : Mind Link
  As an Elf Wizard, Morsbane may benefit from Ulginesh's MIND LINK activation synergy.

Synergy Benefits Offered

• - JORHDAWN.: Rain of Fire
  Morsbane adds an additional attack die, as an Elf Wizard within 3 clear line of sight spaces.

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

• - TBA

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-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Ranking and Master Index
Unit Strategy Review

• 
  Unit Strategy Review: Morsbane

Worth noting that if he kills a figure with a roll of 20, he doesn't lose a negation marker.

Essential to note that even if Morsbane is engaged, he may still attempt the Rod of Negation on another opposing figure up to 6 spaces away.

Then you my friend have not seen the look on the face of a player who just had his Krug or Ninjas of NW get their powers taken away.

Morsbane is worth it for that look alone :)

I agree that in tourny' play he is not going to see any table time but that certainly does not make him any less fun at home.

For some reason I have almost no luck with this guy. His negation just isn't reliable enough to waste turn markers on him, and he can't do anything else very well. I REALLY wish his attack was ranged so he could do a bit od damage before he tries to negate. I swear, Heroscape must be the only game that expects Wizards to get into melee range to do damage. As is you're much better off spending the points and turn just trying to kill whatever you're trying to negate.

All the same, he's got just as much of a chance (1 in 20) of killing a figure as Runa does. She's just likely to get a lot more chances. Of course, she also has to be in closer range, and take similar shots at any of her own figures that are close by. Then, on top of it, you get a 4 in 20 chance at wiping out the enemy figure's powers if you don't actually kill the enemy figure, which in cases like Krug, or Mimring, or even the KMA, can hurt a great deal. All this for 20 points less than Runa.
That said, I'd probably never really take Morsbane into an army over the Krav, or Runa over the Nakitas if I were really looking to be competitive.

I finally rolled a 20 with Morsbane!
I was in a random-draft game today with my dad, who had a rather better army than me, and it was getting down to now-or-never strategies so Morsbane took charge and went for Major X17 (who we know gets extra defense from normal adjacent attacks) so i wanted to neutralise his abilities. So i rolled the D20, praying for a 16-19 but got a 20 instead! My dad wasn't happy! :lol:

I happen to love morsbane. he's very good for tying up the big heroes if you have a good ranger to back him up.

I bet Morsbane will get a little more use if Marvel units come into the fray. However, I doubt he would last long against the Hulk. I suppose a good tactic would be to pair Morsbane with some Gladiatrons, or Major X17. That way they can lock down the Hulk while Morsbane attempts his negation rolls.

This is a good tactic, one I hadn't thought of. Locking down anybody dangerous so Morsbane can work them over is viable, you just have to screen Morsbane so he can work relatively freely. :ponder:

Finally got the Flagbearers last week and played a game against my brother with themed armies. I won the initiative and Ornak waved the Red Flag of Fury. Brunak carries Kee-Mo-Shi and Kee-Mo-Shi takes the second turn to occupy the centrally located hill. Theracus calls on Ullar's Amulet worn by Acolarh and Morsbane mounts up for the ride. I take a turn with a different unit thinking Kee-Mo-Shi is safe for the moment. Morsbane has Turn Marker #2...Rod of Negation on Kee...D20=20. 130 points flushed.

I hate the elf. One of Mrs. AgentCarr's favorite pieces. Charos was eating her alive with flying and Counterstrikes...til he got negated.

my persona; best in a 1v1 game was negateing Saylind's, Krug's, and Mimring's powers in 4 turns, that being one of those crazy good rollingdays.....however in general ive found he works a bit better in team games with your team mate provideing cover while you attempt to negate from a lighty safer vantage point.

and lets not forget his negation scares people usually makeing him a prime target thus he can be used as a second option..BAIT!..sure it may seem like a bit to many points to throw away as bait, but sucking in the opnnent(s) to a deathtrap and with the possibility of negateing said suckers failing for the bait is a viable tactic...AND when said tactic works as planned it makes Morsebane even MORE intimidateing on the field :)

When does a negation counter LEAVE the army card?
Does it stay there for the duration of the game? Or until all the units on that army card have been destroyed?

I ask because in the unique situation in which units are resurrected, when it is revived, does it still have the marker?

How would Morsebane work against common squads that are being brought back to life by, say, a Marrow Hive?
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EDIT: Disregard that second part. Morsbane only targets uniques, and the Hive only brings back commons squads.

Have you actually read Morsbane's power?

It specifically says the power is negated until the end of the game.
It also says that his power only affects unique figures, so common squads would not be affected. However the Hive, is a unique figure and negating it would eliminate the growing of new marro figures.

He might prove a good counter for Kato Katsuro - especially with ashigaru. That is, if he can ever get close enough to try.

Theracus starting next to Acolarh lead by the Venoc Warlord could drop him in for the kill, er, negation...

Great, I have to draft 370 points to counter a 200 point unit. Just great. Plus, if the negation doesn't work, I'm screwed over.

I use him mostly for defense. I've stopped my opponent from having Braxas storm over and wipe out my army just by having him.

Best Krug killa, period.
What's a Huge fig with 2 att die, 3 def, and 8 life? A sitting duck.

I'd like to mention something here about Morsbane. I think he's a good addition to a castle defending army. I just played an all elves and Theracus army against a Vydar agents / Braxas / Dund army. I had some hot dice rolls and managed to negate Braxas and kill Dund and a Krav Maga by rolling 20s.

Morsbane's biggest weakness is his low defense. Kept high on the castle walls with a defense bonus he can attempt to negate anyone who gets too close and have a chance of surviving longer. Sudema is great for this purpose as well.

I second that notion. I leave him back at the base to scare off evil-doers.

This sounds far fetched but Morsbane was vital in my LUCKIEST GAME EVER.

It was a 2v2 game on a rather large board (had to sit on the ground as there wasn't a table big enough). We rolled for teams, and it ended up me and another vet against 2 relative noobs. That was fine with them so we drafted armies (somewhere around 750 points as I recall... this was a BIG map 10 masters, 7 roads, 10 castles...) and began.

Morsbane had just recently come out and none of us had had a chance to play with him. Being a wizard I was intrigued but also noted his d20 roll was a bit tricky, so I left him in the base (in the window right above the door) and played other units.

The other team got initiative, and after some minor piece trade and squabbles in the central area, they were able to get Jotun near our fortress. Having nobody else readily available, I put a order marker on Morsbane to try and negate from the safety of the castle.

Sure enough, I rolled a 20 and the giant was no more. deceased. vanished.

My teammate and I were completely blown away by the amazing luck, and made enough noise to **** off the other guys even more (the just lost 225 points in one dice roll after all). With Jotun out of the way we had a few more options as to how we should continue.

They still had quite a few guys clumped at the start zone, but my opponent kept missing his rolls for the ABE to drop, so instead I started moving Saylind closer and closer and summing a trail of guys in his wake. By the time he made it close to the start location, it was just Saylind and Valgaurd faced with a ton of squads and Braxas while the rest of our team was catching up. Braxas was the only thing they had REALLY going for them at this point, and they had complete confidence in him based on all the hype.

I figured Morsbane had already done more than enough for the game and summoned him over just to sacrifice and buy more time to give the Q9 and others time to catch up.

I rolled for his negation and the damn dice landed on 18 but was slightly crooked because it landed on the board between hexes. Our opponents were nice guys and didn't DEMAND that I re-roll, but since it WAS crooked for the hexes, I offered to re-roll on a flatter surface. They said that would be good (I don't think they wanted poor Queen Braxas to become fodder just yet) and I re-rolled... ANOTHER 20!

I was cackling and laughing like an insane fiend. So was my partner. High fives and all the "Can you BELIEVE that just happened?!?!?!"

Needless to say, we destroyed what was left of them after that and they forfeited a few turns later. Morsbane ALONE took out 435 points worth of there "heavy hitters" and never even negated anyone. I realized that this was a ONCE IN A LIFETIME event, and quickly retired Morsbane. I realize that the numbers are running against him now and I can't rely on THAT little trick any more.

It was a big enough victory that as a downside, the two guys we defeated don't care for Heroscape any more.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Possible to counter to Kato Katsuro?

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

If a player were able to negate Kato's special power earlier on in gameplay, that would be pretty friggin' devastating to his opponent.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Suddenly Morsbane and Dund are a lot more scary.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

My group pretty much plays pre-built armies all the time. I appreciate the nuaces of the draft, but it also slows game night down and eats up our already short time to Scape.

I would get a lump in my throat if Dund attempted to negate one order marker, never mind three... :p

I'm playing in a tourney on June 28, a full two weeks and a day after the new releases hit the shelves, plenty of time for folks to get out and aquire them. I expect to see plenty of builds with Kato and the Samurai, the Elves, and Kosumet with his new Wolves To go a different rout I'm thinking of going all counter to those units.

Morsbane, Dund, large figs for the wolves... could be interesting.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

It's probably not a big deal, but why does Morsbane's power say "at the end of the turn"?

What turn? Anyone's turn? Each of my turns? Is it just one particular turn?

I assume it means at the end of a turn with Morsbane, but wouldn't it have been just as simple to write "at the end of his turn"?

I just thought I'd check to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

It would take an extreme rules' lawyer, in my opinion, to read that "the" as meaning anything other than Morsbane's turn; but we've seen a few such folks around here (though they don't tend to stay long). So, I don't think you're missing anything.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

A good idea, if you have room for the shelf. I'm stuck with rifling through stacks, and I usually know what I want before I start whereas my girlfriend doesn't dedicate as much time to studying the game as I do. I've always wanted a book to hold my cards in. What kind would you suggest to be compatible with the uniquely-shaped cards of HS?

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Am I the only one who is seeing Morsebane as a potential anti-Q9 unit? I know this sounds crazy, but follow along:

Say that you have Jorhdawn, Arkmer, Morsebane, and Kyntela Gwyn all clustered together as snug as a bug in a rug with Ulginesh nearby. This sounds tricky, but with Emirroon around this is not actually too difficult. Now, if your opponent has Q9 his initial idea is to tie you up with something like rats, and then Queglix you for the kill. But here is the problem: Morsebane's Rod of Negation has the same range as the Queglix. With there being a 1/4 chance of Q9 being either negated or killed, your opponent will probably be a bit wary of charging Q9 in there to kill Morsebane, especially since he can use the rod even when his is engaged. So naturally, he will use his secondary attacker to clean things up. The only problem for your opponent is that Arkmer and Jorhdawn are using ranged attacks of 4 to demolish anything that comes within range (unless if they have something like Minions, Zettians, Sentinals, etc.)

Would this work?

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

I see where you're coming from, but even if Q9 loses his ability, he still has an attack of 4, a range of 8, and a defense of 7, all of which are pretty darn good. I would rather use my order marker to attack Q9 and potentially kill a great figure than to try to negate Q9 and demote him into a really good figure.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

But see, there is more intimidation here than anything. Nonetheless, I understand your view point, but he becomes alot less deadly without his Special Attack. Though solid, he is not invincible, and is still wary around Runa/Morsebane/DED/Sudema.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

I want to make sure I am understanding this right. When trying to negate a squad with Morsbane, if you roll a 20 you only get to kill one figure not the whole squad? Do you have to choose to kill one figure on 20 or can you choose to negate instead because it seems to me that when using Morsbane against a squad a 20 would be less desirable then getting to negate?

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

You destroy the figure you chose before rolling the d20.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Not sure I understand Necro's comment. Topher, you must destroy the fig, but it doesn't cost you a marker. As to which is preferable... dunno. Sometimes knocking out a quarter to a half of an elite squad is better than nullifying it (the Zettian Guards are an obvious example here). For others, you can debate - is a dead Nakita better than a full live team without their specials?

~Aldin, saying before rolling the D20?

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Say an order marker comes up on Morsbane. After moving and attacking, the only target available for the Rod of Negation is one that has already been negated. He wants to take another shot at that figure in hopes of getting a 20 and finishing it off.

1. Can he roll in the first place against an already-negated unit?

2. If he can and does, will he waste a negation marker if he rolls a 16-19 against the unit?

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Looks to me like yes and yes.

~Aldin, who would kill for a 20

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

I think this guy deserves better than a D+, (though it may have been mentioned) try killing krug, with and without, disabling him.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Or Braxas.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Even better, you'll have a giant walking lizard. :lol:

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

MY personal best with Morbane came in a 2 v 2 game. It was a random computer drafted army game. I was down to Morsbane and a squad of Aubriens. My teammate was down to 2 squads of Nagrubs. The opponents had Charos (with only 1 pt of damage) on one team and a full health Guilty on the other. I was able to Negate both of them. 8)
Unfortunately, I rolled terribly on defense and my Aubriens were unable to 1) put one single point of damage on Guilty, 2) get a frenzy roll, and 3) roll a shield when they were attacked. :x

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

I just have to give Morsbane props. After soul shackling two of my wifes units with one squad of shades! She gets 20s with Morsbane on Cyprien and on Isamu. Isamu cant run away from that. Morsbane ended the game with Zero wounds and all three of his Negate markers. We didnt even have the wave eight elf pack yet. I dont want to play the elves anymore.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

How did Charos even manage to catch up the the Aubriens? Remember, his flying is negated too!

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Guilty came one direction and Charos the other. I moved toward Guilty and he shot them up. Charos didn't catch them.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

Ah, I see. A bit unfortunate. Oh well! Better luck next time, as the elves are fun to play, though a bit of luck is required with the d20, but not as much as the marro.

Re: The Book of Morsbane
 

What does it exactly mean by "Special Powers"?
Does that mean you can only negate your abilities that say special, or
all abilities?