I recently played a game with the Honored Soul Guides, and I thought I could help this project by sharing my results. I will say, the phrase "There can be only one Human Champion" on the MacDirk Warriors' Army Card has never before seemed so apt.
PLAYTEST REPORT
475 points
Map: THE BOROGROVES by Typhon2222
Glyphs: Valda (West), Wannok (East)
Army A (southern start zone): Sir Gilbert, MacDirk Warriors x4, Honored Soul Guides
Army B (northern start zone): Kato Katsuro, Ashigaru Harquebus x3, Ashigaru Yari x2, Isamu
Survivors:
Kato (2 life)
2 Harquebusmen
Isamu
Summary:
Spoiler Alert!
Round 1:
Army B wins initiative.
This round was mostly positioning from both sides. Army B forms an Ashigaru wall in front of Kato, who sits on the western side of the board. The mobilizing Ashigaru take height and send a spearman and two gunmen to cover Wannok. Meanwhile, Gilbert and the MacDirks slow roll to the west, with the knight taking cover near the rock outcrop to avoid Harquebus attacks and the squaddies reaching into the shadows at the center of the map. On OM2, the Honored Soul Guides fly up to the same outcrop and attack Gilbert to bolster the MacDirks, resulting in two wounds. This round's Jandar's Dispatch rolls were small, but they allow a MacDirk to grab Wannok on OM3, killing a Yari. One clansman falls to an Ashigaru potshot, but no other casualties occur.
Round 2:
Army B wins initiative.
OM1:
The Harquebus finish advancing and post up near Valda, with one gunman taking the glyph, and the Yari move to block access to Valda and engage the MacDirk front lines; a barrage of Ashigaru attacks destroys three more MacDirks one the first turn, including the Wannok holder. Gilbert then moves up to draw fire from the vulnerable MacDirks and whiffs an attack against a Yari, while the MacDirks assert themselves by reentering the shadows to destroy two Harquebus and a Yari, and then tying down the Yari near Wannok.
OM2:
The Yari and Harquebus each destroy two MacDirks, with the Harquebus refraining from firing upon Gilbert to prevent the MacDirks from growing stronger. This gives Army A the chance to kill the Valda holder with Gilbert and advance more Warriors along the western hills, destroying a Yari in the process.
OM3:
Two Yari engage and destroy the last MacDirk near Wannok, a third Yari falls back to cover the path to Kato against a potential MacDirk rush, and the Harquebus fire three Wait-Then-Fire-boosted shots at Gilbert from height, leaving him with one life remaining, then launch a single failed attack at a nearby MacDirk. In response, Army A moves Gilbert into the shadows near Valda to prolong his survival, then rolls well for Jandar's Dispatch, allowing four MacDirks to engage and destroy three of the Harquebus on height; the fourth whiffs an 8v1 versus the glyph-holding Yari, whom Gilbert also failed to harm.
Round 3:
Army B wins initiative.
OM1:
This is a big turn for the testing army. The eastern Yari rush a MacDirk near the southern spawn zone, while the western Yari engage Gilbert and the MacDirk; meanwhile, one Harquebus ties down another MacDirk and two members of the sole Harquebus squad left in Army B's start zone spread out to repair Kato's screen. One MacDirk is destroyed by the effort, but Gilbert destroys the Valda-holding Ashigaru to even things out, then rolls well on Jandar's Dispatch to throw a MacDirk into the opposing start zone, where it engages Kato. The daimyo perfectly blocks the 7v4, but the three other MacDirks destroy a Yari and a Harquebus near Valda and one Yari in the southern spawn zone.
OM2:
The remaining two Yari engage Gilbert and the MacDirk fighting Kato, destroying both, but the following Harquebus volley fails to take down any Warriors. In response, the MacDirks destroy two Harquebusmen near the northern rock outcrop, tying down another in the process, and enter the central shadow area for protection until the Honored Soul Guides can revive their champion the next round.
OM3:
The Yari attack a MacDirk near Kato and one of the Soul Guides in the south, trying to limit the number of times Gilbert can return, but are can only destroy the MacDirk. The Harquebusmen fire three shots at the MacDIrk in the north, but fail to deal a wound. One Harquebusman subsequently falls to two MacDirk attacks in the shadows, while the other two MacDirks unsuccessfully attack the Yari near the Soul Guides.
Round 4:
Army A resurrects Sir Gilbert using the Honored Soul Guides' LAST WILL power, then wins initiative.
OM1:
Gilbert moves into the cover of jungle and shadow to better his odds at surviving for a full round and uses a fortuitous Jandar's Dispatch roll to fling three MacDirks into Army B's start zone; Kato survives two more 7v4's with three wounds inflicted, and the third Warrior is unsuccessful in damaging the only target within his reach: a Yari. The fourth MacDirk mops up his own Yari opponent in the southern start zone. This gambit is ultimately unsuccessful, though, as the three northern MacDirks are promptly destroyed by the Ashigaru.
OM2:
Sir Gilbert slowly moves toward Valda, sticking to the shadows and using Jandar's Dispatch to pull the last surviving MacDirk and Soul Guide with him, but he is destroyed by the approaching Ashigaru.
OM3:
The last MacDirk races two Harquebusmen to Wannok; the Ashigaru win and use the glyph's power to destroy the MacDirk.
Round 5:
Army B wins initiative and activates Isamu while waiting for the final Soul Guide to enter the range of the Harquebusmen. The Soul Guide is forced to approach Wannok but cannot close to attacking distance in a single move, and it is shot and destroyed by the Ashigaru on the next turn.
Power Usage:
LAST WILL: used round 4 on Sir Gilbert; approximately 130 points worth of damage inflicted
STEALTH FLYING: used three times to scale uneven terrain
Normal Attack: used once each; two wounds inflicted
Comments:
The MacDirk Warriors were my first thought when I saw this unit, and the Soul Guides worked about as well as expected here. Last Will effectively gave the MacDirks a precious second chance at victory after losing Gilbert, but I made some mistakes that prevented me from capitalizing on it. I would be willing to pay more than 50 points for the Honored Soul Guides in this specific composition, but I think that Raelin would be a better investment for most armies as the Soul Guides' points increase.
I would consider this one of the HSGs' stronger uses: the MacDirks love having their champion alive with a single life, hate losing said champion early in a game, and don't mind leaving the champion in a different area of the map with the Soul Guides; moreover, Sir Gilbert can move the Soul Guides without spending an Order Marker. Interestingly, the MacDirk army was transformed into something reminiscent of a Wildwoods army, although the Soul Guides are easier to stamp out than are the Wildwood Runners, and it is significantly more dangerous to leave the MacDirks' Champion alive with low life than it is to treat the Wildwood Monarch that way.
Finally, I agree with the thought that the HSGs are much better with bonding. Maybe you could give them the ability to freely move Order Markers onto a figure they revive on a turn-by-turn basis, similar to Rygarn's Chrono Key. That way, a player doesn't lose as much if a non-bonding Last Will recipient dies early.