[superfrog]

Sundol by vegietarian18

With Sundol, vegie brings a new bonding option for the Dreadgul Raiders and a twist on DW7K’s or Brimstone’s timebomb. Sundol is a different feel of Fire Giant than Shurrak, but brings across his fiery theme well anyways.

Balance

Sundol comes in at 130 points, placing him in some pretty tough company with the likes of Kaemon Awa, Krug, the Fen Hydra, all near his price point. Compared to Krug, he has 2 less life but 1 more defense, 3 more attack, and Blaze of Glory to Krug’s Double Attack for 1 fewer points. Not too bad balance-wise. Compared to Brimstone, who has a similar area of effect mechanic, Sundol has one more life, one more attack, one less defense and a one-time only power for 20 points less. Sundol’s power is significantly weaker, though, over a bigger range. Decently balanced, on the whole.

Theme

Lava Resistant is a given. Blaze of Glory really is creative and makes you think of a fiery juggernaut running in a suicidal mission across the battlefield. Wild fits him with the Dreadgul Raiders, and Warrior is fine as well.

The one issue I have thematically with Sundol is his price point. At only 130 points, he is the cheapest of the Giants, and near the cheapest of the Huge figures. I expect a little more out of a Huge Giant. Given that is a a small sculpt, it is not a huge deal, but it did strike me as odd.

Creativity

Sundol is very simple. Lava Resistant only comes into play on certain maps, and Blaze of Glory is a once (or even zero times) per game power. Reusing the 14 from Searing Intensity was smart. The overall creativity of the design is great. It is both simple and innovative, an impressive combination.

Playability

Sundol was designed as a bonding hero for the Dreadgul Raiders. Without them, he doesn’t perform very well. A few scattered attacks, and he can fall pretty easily without doing much damage. With the Dreadguls, he still struggles. His 3 defense is too low to keep small attacks from getting to him, and his 5 attack only does so much. His main usefulness comes out of his distraction. Because a good Blaze of Glory roll can do so much damage, the opponent will often try to take down Sundol, even trying too hard and leaving himself exposed. Baze of Glory is very hard to set up, however, and rarely pays off. To get him near so many opponent’s figures without dying is a nearly impossible feat, especially against ranged squads. Sundol always seemed at least a little overpriced to me. Not so overpriced as to kill the design in and of itself, but noticeably underperforming.

Summary

Sundol is a nice creatively packaged design. It is really run to think of him sweeping across the battle. But his low cost, combined with a disappointing offensive output, makes Sundol not play like the Wild Giant that he was designed to be. This was a very hard decision for me, but I (unfortunately) have to vote NO to induct Sundol into the Soldiers of Valhalla.

I hope to see him join VC in some essence, either this version or another.