Brimstone by Scytale
Balance
At first the 18 hex blast radius worried, but the requirement of Heat markers to use Heat Blast Special Attack really helps to keep that in check. The other aspect that helps to keep Heat Blast Special Attack is to get a full attack of 4, it requires using him 5 times for the first full attack and then 4 times every time after that. This creates some interesting playing situations … do I try to build up for the full power Heat Blast Special Attack, or use it before when I have say 2 or 3 markers on him?
Theme
I really like the feel of Brimstone and his special attack; it fits Valkrill’s persona of chaos and willingness to sacrifice your own units perfectly. Brimstone also fits along the D&D lines for a volcanic dragon too.
Availability
Doing a quick search I was able to find around 70 of them out there. 40 on Auggie’s … he had 63 when it was nominated and I feel a lot of those have gone to ‘scapers. So, easy pass on this.
Playability
The obvious choice here is to use him with the Greenscales, and rightly so with their bonding. This also helps get him the needed activations to build up the markers for Heat Blast Special Attack. However, Brimstone is a very unique dragon. He doesn’t have the long range as most, or the characteristics of Charos. Because of this uniqueness he puts a tactical twist on the Greenscale army, making you play them as a Guerrilla attack type army more often, than as a typical screen for your dragon.
Playing Brimstone is a challenge, he requires you make sacrifices whether you want to or not. I really found myself using two strategies when playing with him.
First, advance as fast as you can while building up heat makers to go off in the enemy start zone targeting as many units as possible. This was only effective against large, hoard style armies that can’t be moved out fast enough. When Heat Blast worked (rolling 3 or 4 skulls) it was devastating but when you whiff a role your 150 point dragon is now surrounded with no support.
Second, only let your markers build to around 2 and use him more as a shock wave, hoping your own Greenscales roll well enough to survive as your enemy surrounds him. This works okay against low defense units but in the end I typically found myself trying to move him into a position to target as many units as possible before he went down.
So, when playing him effectively it really came down to the support units in your army. I found myself taking fewer Greenscales to be able to use better units as support, because most likely you are going to lose Brimstone and once you do those Greenscales aren’t nearly as effective. Choosing your support units really helps you decide how you are going to play him…Raelin to help his staying power, Saylind to teleport him out of danger once he use Heat Blast, Kelda to heal him, or ranged units. Personally, taking multiple ranged units worked the best; they helped draw attention away from Brimstone while shooting from behind your moving time bomb.
Summary
Brimstone is a swingy unit, this will cause some to dislike him, but it is nothing new. Heroscape is full of swingy units and a lot of the customs out there try to “fix” these units. But that defeats the purpose a high reward/risk unit. I found his unreliability to fit the personality and theme of the figure and the general he follows. Brimstone is a refreshing unit with a nice twist on Deathwalker like power. He requires you to do more than just sit behind a screen and wait for your enemy to come to you.
I vote
YES to induct the Brimstone into the SoV.