In-Depth Unit of the Day: The Feylund Vanguard and Sylvis
Character Bio: Not all Elves are frail. The Feylund Vanguard are an elite battalion of Elves summoned from a Feylund long before the era of the Nine and Cyprien in a time when no Elf could afford the luxury of frailty or the calm studies of the Magic Arts. Trained to stand in formation around their leaders and each other, the Feylund Vanguard beat their enemies into submission, much akin to the Knights and Roman soldiers of Earth. Their commander, Sylvis, can issue them orders in the heat of battle. This Elf commander finds himself a worthy opponent and engages them relentlessly, never showing signs of stopping until one of them falls.
The Feylund Vanguard are a powerful Elf soldier unit--a squad of 4--that when played correctly can easily transform into a fearsome steamroller unit. While they may not synergize great with the Elven Wizards (especially Jordawn), they can hold their own in battle against other powerful Melee foes.
The idea of this Unit was to make a
formation squad similar to the Romans AKA they gain bonuses from sticking together.
Frontline Defense ensures that the Vanguard and any Elf Heroes near them will gain an extra defense die from adjacent attacks. This puts them at a much better 4 defense, and it's adjacency requirement means that they can't just stand around Ulginesh and friends while they sit on top of a hill with Haduc and throw fire at people. This power needs you to be in the action.
Similarly,
Aggressive Positioning means that Feylund Vanguard must attack in pairs to do their true damage potential. Keep in mind that the power states that any Vanguard may be used to activate this power, so Sylvis will work too, if there is only one Feylund Vanguard fighting. Additionally, with three Feylund Vanguard, an enemy may not escape, making it all that much easier to mow them down with ranged fire or beat them down with Sylvis.
At 70 points, these guys are strong, but without bonding their competitive uses with similar units may be limited. Luckily, Sylvis gives them a bit of bonding, one way or another. With
Quick Command, Sylvis may attack with all adjacent Elf Melee squads as he moves in--taking a quick turn with the Vanguard (or WoA) before he begins his assault. While a touch more difficult to set up, this can allow 5 Activations per OM if used correctly.
Lastly, Sylvis' power
Unyielding Duel enables him to cripple any unit he wounds, making it all the easier for him to finish them off next time. In a one-on-one fight to the death, this can be incredibly powerful.
At 60 and 120 points, they make a somewhat tidy 180 point combo. They are quite powerful in a group against Melee foes. Ranged fire may be their undoing, however, as Frontline Defense only works against adjacent attacks. As such, these guys might not be the best for charging straight into the fray. They can be useful as a guard to your own ranged Elves, able to protect them and destroy any force that gets too close.
Anyway, these guys are really cool I think. Feel free to leave feedback and stuff.
~TAF