Kheris Fehn by DanieLoche et al
Lone medium-sized heroes have been a part of Heroscape since Sgt. Drake Alexander headlined the Rise of the Valkyrie Master Set. While such heroes without obvious synergies do not see as much tournament play as common squads or certain large/huge heroes, they do have a place.
Balance
Strictly by the numbers Kheris seems a touch weak. Five attack and 5 life/3 defense is certainly respectible, but Crixus does that for less points. Kheris is also competing in the key 120 point slot, filled by numerous high-powered figures like Krug, the Fen Hydra, and Kaemon Awa. For a single-attacking melee figure without strong synergies, it's up to the powers to make up the difference.
And that they do, at least when utilized well. Slayer Jump increases the Slayer's threat range considerably, and also puts him right where he wants to be. That definitely makes up for his moderate speed. His defensive powers are also offensive in the same way Counter Strike is. Actually, Deflection is nastier than Counter Strike. Counter Strike requires rolling more shields than the attacker's skulls, which doesn't happen often unless the number of defense dice is significantly larger than the number of attack dice. Deflection simply requires Kheris to take no damage from an attack -- just think of how many times you've seen a 3-defense squad figure survive one or more attacks. It's more complicated than all that, and I'll get to it later, but suffice it to say that Deflection is exceedingly potent, especially with Nhah Scirh Shield.
Theme
The Nhah Scirh cult, unseen in Heroscape or Fanscape (yet), is something people have been clamoring for since their appearance in the official bios. A brutal hero of that group that slays dragons (and anything else he chooses to) fits well for the cult and for Valkrill. The sculpt does not scream to me "leaper" or "deflector," but that doesn't make it a bad fit. Really, the sculpt could lend itself to countless interpretations, of which this one is fine.
Creativity
I like reuse of existing powers, or as in this case, reuse with tweaks. Slayer Jump is a fairly simple change to Pounce, and Deflection and Nhah Scirh Shield are not too far removed from Counter Strike and Stealth Armor, respectively.
The biggest issue I have with the figure is the level of complexity in the powers. While the powers are twists on existing powers, each tweak adds additional complexity. Each power has lot of little details about where and when and against what it can be used, all different. Not all of the details are necessary. Nhah Scirh Shield, for example, goes a long ways to give Kheris Fehn a bonus against nearly anything any dragon can do to him. It's a lot of detail for a little flavor. The interaction between Nhah Scirh Shield and Deflection also feels inelegant to me, making it feel like a custom instead of an official unit.
I realize I can only complain about this just so much, as there are official Heroscape units with plenty of complexity. Jotun, Nakitas, and Eltahale come to mind. Though I feel that Kheris goes a step beyond them with the amount of details and conditions.
Playability
Despite the name of the game,
Heroscape, heroes have had it rough since the advent of the common squad. In general, there are three ways that heroes bring value to an army in a standard format game: 1) synergies, such as bonding and boosts (Marcus, Raelin); 2) anti-squad capabilities (Q9, Braxas); 3) hero-killing power (Drake, Iron Golem). While he's not as good of a can opener as some, Kheris Fehn definitely belongs in the third category, and may be the best assassin the game has yet seen.
But before I get into that, Kheris does have some potential as a defender, at least on paper. Three defense isn't anything special, even with 5 life, but Deflection is really something. Everything is better wrapped in bacon, but in Kheris' case it's a match made in heaven. Five defense is enough to defend against a lot of average-level attacks (3 attack dice), which can spell doom for squads that try to take him on in that state. True, weaker attacks are less likely to bounce back, but they do so often enough. Even if you do roll a 3 or more skull hit and get past his defense, there's a 20% chance it will be deflected back at you due to Nhah Scrih Shield. Death to a squaddie, and crushing to a heavy-hitting hero.
There's one catch to using Kheris as a shield, however: a smart (or frightened) opponent simply ignores him. One single-based figure has a hard time being a wall, and even if he is in the way it's worth disengaging to go after easier targets (especially the cheerleader giving Kheris the defense boost). Sure, his attack of 5 will sting if you leave him alone, but at least he is only able to kill one thing per turn. If you can get Kheris Fhen into the one key bottleneck with Raelin behind him, yeah, he can be nasty just sitting there, but ideal situations like that rarely happen.
Of course giving him Thorgrim's Spirit works for this too, but that works well on Kheris no matter what role you have him in.
Kheris Fehn's real value comes more from Slayer Jump than his defensive powers, though they play a role here too. Kheris is an incredible assassin, very difficult to stop and very good and bringing down his target. You can try to tie him down with screening units like Rats, but a smart Kheris player will take the leaving engagement attacks and focus on taking down a key target such as Raelin or Nilfheim. Slayer Jump is key for this, as it allows him to jump over obstacles such as hills, water, and enemy figures to get where he needs to be. Once in place, the combination of Deflection and Nhah Scrih Shield help keep him alive long enough to bring down his mark; the Shield gives him some survivabilty and heavy-hitters are afraid to go after him with their powerful normal attacks due to the possibility of a Sheild + Deflection. A well-played suicidal Kheris is a frightening thing for an opponent; if Kheris wants a particular figure dead it probably will be. A real terror to the heroes in dungeon crawls.
Summary
Kheris Fehn is fun and worth drafting into an army. But is he worth the detail and complexity? That's a matter of personal taste, one I find myself on the fence about. Honestly he feels a bit more like a custom than an official unit. But when playing the Slayer I didn't find myself bogged down with details; the concepts are simple enough that he plays smoothly. And I certainly don't mind adding a unit to the game that is very good at hunting down Raelin (even if he is more expensive).
I vote
to induct Kheris Fehn into the SoV.