[Leaf_It]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

I wonder how often, during playtesting, "Drow Assassinate" was used for some purpose other than attacking a high value target. I imagine that power is very helpful for repositioning, grabbing glyphs, activating from the rear, or trying to eliminate some low-defense figure from the front, rather than assassinating at the rear.

I see the theme "assassinate" but the mechanics make me wonder if it plays that way.

The mini is holding a rapier, correct? Does it look like an assassin?

Sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult. Just trying to talk through the issues I'm seeing at first glance.

I like Shadow Shift (sharing Scy's preference for making it before *or* after, not both) and I like the mini. I'm just not in love with the assassin power or theme (or power name, as dysole said).

I don't think the sword is a rapier. I'm not really sure what kind of sword it is, but it's curved, and rapiers are straight. The stance the figure is in is definitely that of someone who is trying to be stealthy, so I think the Assassin theme fits pretty well.

In regards to Assassinate, you certainly can use it to do literally anything you would do on any other turn. The real defining feature is that +2 attack. You only get that once per round, so you almost always want to use it where it's going to be most impactful. That's usually going to be something that you really need a higher attack value to break through. But even if it isn't Major Q9, or Raelin, I would like to challenge the idea that only a hero like Raelin can be considered a high value target worthy of assassinating. Sometimes the real "hero" unit in a game isn't Raelin, but the Deathreaver that refuses to die, and keeps blocking your path. Sometimes if that one "hero" Deathreaver died 2 turns sooner, it would have changed the course of the game. This is especially true of bonding squads. If you could have killed that last Knight of Wesson a turn sooner, Sir Denrik would not have had a bonding turn to attack your Dragon. I don't like denying the option to use the +2 attack on common figures, when they can be the linchpin in a given situation, or an entire army. Just thinking about it logically, why would an assassin go easy on a squad figure, especially in a situation where they are preventing them from getting to a hero? Regardless, you usually want to use the 6 attack to hit something with more than 1 life, simply because it's better to deal more damage. Sure you'll use it on a squad figure if that's your only option, but if the opportunity presents itself, you almost always prefer to hit the bigger target.

Originally Posted by Dysole

Yes, that is in fact a thing you can do and that does make me pause. I do wonder how easy that is to set up. Is it worth it for a single attack of 6? I don't know. Sometimes yeah, but it is doing 2-2.5 wounds against a hero of 3 depending on whether or not you can get height. If Drow Assassin self bonding wasn't tested, I'm probably changing my vote to a no.

~Dysole, suspecting that it might be fine but that's a big leap (pun kinda intended)

Yes. Theoretically, if you had your units in just the right places, you could activate Assassinate after taking an Assassin's turn, and Shadow Shift your way across the entire map, to try and get a cheeky kill. In 99% of situations where you could feasibly pull this off, you are already winning, which is why you were able to get 22 spaces away from where you started. Opportunities like this present themselves maybe once per game, if you're lucky.

I have heard stories of a certain competitor at Gencon that ran 18 Drow Chainfighters and made it to day 2 before being eliminated. That's amazing, and I wanted to make sure that the same was possible with the Assassin. I have tested this, and while it was fun (for me) the Chainfighters are definitely way more consistent. 2 defense just doesn't hold up, and even with an once per round attack of 6, the rest of the time you would be better off using a Chainfighter, and pulling key figures off of height with Chain Grab, not to mention surviving way more attacks with that defense of 4.

Originally Posted by vegietarian18

I definitely like the idea of boosting the Drow. The once-per-round free activation feels like a post-hoc way to buff a bad faction, but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that, there's plenty of post-hoc buffs in VC. I do see the argument that mechanically you're unlike to actually use the Drow Assassin as an assassin, since you already have the anti-hero Deepwyrm Drow. Better to use the big attack of 6 to take an important squad figure to set up the Deepwyrm. But at the end of the day I don't really care, I think the figure looks like an assassin, and the design fits the figure. Maybe he changed strategies in Valhalla.

What kind of builds did you typically run the Drow Assassin in? I do share the concern on self-bonding. Was 2-4x Drow Assassin with no other Drow as a strike force tested?

The Assassin can be splashed in just like a Chainfighter. Unlike the Chainfighter you loose one of their defining abilities unless you have another Drow figure in the army, though they are still a nice addition because of Assassinate. Pairing them with themselves, or Chainfighters is pretty good.

Here's a few Drow centric Builds at around the 500 point range:
Deepwyrm x5, Assassin x3, Chainfighter x3. 495 points.
Deepwyrm x4, Assassin x3, Chainfighter x2, Pelloth. 505 points.
Deepwyrm x4, Assassin x3, Chainfighter x3, Estivara. 510 points.
Assassin x6, Chainfighter x14. 500 points. (this is a meme, but it's fun, and better than you might expect. Still probably the weakest army in the list.)

You can exchange any number of Chainfighters with Assassins if you want to. Depending on the matchup, one will be better than the other. The biggest weakness of the Assassin is their 2 defense. They fall very easily, especially to Special attacks. Generally you want more Chainfighters if you are facing an army with 4 or more attack, or a lot of Special attacks. If you are facing 3 or lower base attack, you don't need the Chainfighters as much.