Jaraptara by Kinseth
I remember how excited I was when Jotun was first previewed. Since then we've seen a few other Giants join the war for Valhalla. And I for one wouldn't mind seeing more.
Balance
A natural comparison is Shurrak, also a Huge Giant with the same stat line except cost. Jaraptara trades in Shurrak's sometimes useful Sweeping Sword and unreliable Knockback for a solid albeit slow ranged special attack and Reach. The giantess's single base is usually better than Shurrak's double base, but she lacks the sometimes-awesome othertimes-useless Lava Resistant. Multi-target special attacks are a big deal for heroes, but then so are ranged special attacks. Reach shouldn't be underestimated, nor should the ability to bond with a decent squad. 130pts looks to be on the low side compared to Shurrak's 160pts.
The Ogre Warhulk is another good comparison point; he has pretty similar stats and also bonds with a solid squad. The Warhulk does not have any special attacks but does have an (unreliable) multi-attack ability. He also has a negative ability, though it does not often come into play. Once again, Jaraptara comes out looking on top at 20pts less.
But ultimately it comes down to how she plays.
Theme
It's already been established that giants can appear quite different in Heroscape, so a smaller stone giant does not bother me. The designation Huge somewhat does bother me, though. Size is something that is definitely not defined by hard-and-fast rules in Heroscape; height is definitely a factor but not the only factor. This sculpt is only just barely eligible for the Huge designation, mostly because she's a touch taller than the Huge 7s. It's sad how tiny she looks next to a Feral Troll, but not all size designations in official scape make sense to me. In this case there's a reason for it: to be able to bond with Dreadguls but not with Death Chasers. I reluctantly accept.
As far as overall theme, a boulder-throwing stone giant is spot-on. I also like that a boulder takes more effort than other ranged attacks. I do have some thematic issues with it, however. Is it really so hard to find a nearby rock that she has to give up her whole attack? Maybe it takes effort to lift, but then why isn't it bothersome to carry? One would think even a relatively small boulder would be awkward to lug around. And why can't she find any rocks in the water? I also think that Range 7 is awfully far for a thrown weapon.
As far as Reach is concerned, I don't see anything on the sculpt that would suggest such a power, but then I feel the same way about the Fen Hydra. It's simply a fighting-style thing that some units can do, and I'm ok with that.
Creativity
The key design piece here is the "ammo" mechanic used for the boulder. It's simple and not fiddly and carries a lot of theme (despite my thematic issues). I don't want to see an overabundance of additional markers in the game, but the occasional addition is fine to me, even welcome.
Playability
Jaraptara is not a cheerleader-style bonding hero like Marcus, she's a combative type like the Ogre Pulverizer. You can see that in her impressive stats. She plays pretty well solo and even better with the Dreadguls. She has the speed to get into position, enough attack power to lay on the hurt, and enough Defense/Life to stand her ground.
I expected Boulder Toss to be the defining feature of the unit and Reach to be lesser-used (after all, once she's engaged it's no longer useful), but I was wrong. Giving up an attack to pick up a rock is really painful in the midst of battle; I often went whole games without picking up a second. It's not just the loss of the attack that made my decisions, it's also her speed, attack power, and Reach. After the first turn of positioning (usually with a Boulder Toss), it was usually easy to get in close enough to use her more powerful normal attack, often with height advantage thanks to Reach. And I wasn't really afraid to do so with her solid survivability.
That turned out to be my biggest issue with the unit. Her natural ability combined with the tactical freedom Reach gives made tossing the boulder, the exciting and unique part of the design, little more than a novelty. One bonus ranged attack is always good, and on occasion I found it helpful to recharge (especially when running away!), but for the most part I felt I would rather attack with 6 dice from height than give up my attack. Essentially, her natural abilities combined with Reach overshadowed 2/3rds of her powers. Had her speed, attack, or defense been lower, or had she not had Reach, taking turns to recharge the boulder would have been a more attractive option.
Cost-wise, she is on the low side. I don't think she makes Shurrak or the Orge Warhulk obsolete as they have different uses, but almost. She's not vastly better than the powerhouses at the 120pt sweet spot either though. I felt she was pushing the lower bounds of what I consider acceptable, mainly due to the fact that I'd usually take her over Shurrak or a Frost Giant.
Summary
The price is a bit iffy, but the main issue I had with Jaraptara is that the design feels like it undermines itself. The boulder mechanic is unique and interesting and promises a lot of good decision points, but in practice her natural stats combined with Reach leave it almost unused in normal games. A figure like this with Reach is interesting and more fun to play than I expected, and a figure with an "ammo" mechanic is interesting, but I don't feel like they meshed together well.
I vote
to induct
Jaraptara into the SoV.