Another review from yours truly. In case anyone is wondering, I'm not rushing these out or anything, I just like to review my assignments as a group. That I have time to take a step back and reflect on card while I'm working on someone else and not get burnt-out on one guy. So the end result is my reviews tend to come out in spurts like this, but I'd like to assure everyone that they're all getting plenty of review time from me.
Jaraptara by
Kinseth
Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an SoV submission,
Be she balanced, or be she broken
I'll grind her bones to make my bread... No wait, that's too violent (and not very tasty).
Actually I think I'll just see if she has what it takes to become one of the Soldiers of Valhalla!
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Balance
Jaraptara has a decent stat line for her point cost, especially compared to some of the other giants and big monsters near her price range. She is a low variance figure though, what you see is pretty much what you get here. While part of a unit like Shurrak's (who shares her stats, but is 30 points more expensive) cost is covering the unlikely-but-devastating chance that he'll knockback 3 heroes into molten lava and other craziness, all Jaraptara will ever do is give you a single attack that's sometimes long-ranged. Even with bonding, her point cost doesn't seem unreasonably low to me.
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Theme
I love the idea of a rock chucking giant, it's a very iconic image. The long range on Boulder Toss really works for me here; the 'thrown weapon' range in Heroscape is apparently 3 spaces for medium figures, makes sense that a giant is getting around double that distance. I'm not a fan of Reach in general, but it fits in well here considering she's clearly more of a ranged fighter than the other giants.
She's a little petite for a huge figure, but honestly the difference between large and huge is so vague it really doesn't bother me. It makes more sense for her to be huge mechanically (no Deathchaser bonding) and I like that it makes her vulnerable to Sir Denrick's Giant Killer.
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Creativity
It's nice to see another 'ammo' mechanic in the game, and this one is implemented in a reasonably simple, thematic way.
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Playability
Jaraptara is a fun addition to the Dreadgul army, even if I find Dreadguls bonding with Giants a little nonsensical personally, she gives them a decent heavy hitter and a ranged special attack for a decent price. She's not terribly useful solo, but that's true of many bonding heroes.
You're not always going to use Boulder Toss that much, especially since she also has Reach, but I love the options it brings to the table. The long range plus the lob means she can force melee and low range units to come to her and the Dreadguls, and that can make a big difference, especially in the end game. Granted, I also had games where I only threw one rock and never had a good reason to pick up another, but that's not a terrible thing; the Airborne's Grenade SA is still plenty useful as a one time deal.
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Summary
I really love having a rock throwing giant around, it's just plain fun. Jaraptara fits the bill without being overpowered, or unfun for your opponent, or what-have-you. Overall, she seems like a worthy addition to me.
I vote
to induct Jaraptara into the SoV.