It’s been a while since I posted a review as I’ve been busy with work over the summer and then school starting back up. Sorry to everybody whom I’ve kept waiting.
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Uzog by Kinseth
Durgeth were introduced in the fiction of RoTV, but they’ve never appeared in HeroScape. With a squad of Durgeth in the C3V pipeline, Uzog is here to be their leader, as the biggest, baddest, and savagest of all of them.
Balance
Uzog has a bunch of life, a decent attack, and at least one bonding squad. But his defense is low, and he has a power that could end up being a big negative. As just a quick comparison, we can use Martial La Hire. Uzog has an extra life, but gives up a defense. Both have a single attack, that triggers a questionable benefit on success. Uzog’s negative seems to be bigger, and his upside smaller, but he bonds with a pretty good squad in the DCoT. So we’ll call it a wash.
Theme
I like Uzog as a Durgeth rather than an Ogre. Savage is a well-fitting and under-used class, and Wild works here. Trophy Skulls shows that this unit was designed for the sculpt, and marries sculpt with gameplay very well. Theme is strong here.
Creativity
Not sure if this is on purpose, but the stats (excluding range) are 6/5/4/3, which makes it really easy to remember. Gruesome Display and Trophy skulls are well-designed powers. As I’ve said before, I really like this powerset, and it’s unlike anything I’ve seen.
Playability
Uzog works best with 1 of 2 different squads. One is the Deathchasers, and the other is a super secret special squad that I can’t tell you about. Uzog isn’t at a huge price point, so in a DCoT army, it’s a choice between Uzog as a secondary bonding option, or adding a ranged bonding option like MBS+filler, or an additional squad of Chasers.
If Uzog is played as a secondary bonding hero, it’s hard for him to get up into the action originally. If you try to use him at the beginning, he becomes a liability if he comes up with a kill and “succeeds” on his roll for Trophy Skulls. If you leave him until turn 3, he sits for 2 turns to get pounded on. So either way, his ability makes him risky to use.
Risky abilities are fun, though, so it’s not a terrible issue if the upside is worth the potential downside. Unfortunately, a +1 attack bonus is not a very good reward. his attack is decent to start with, but it’s only equal to the attack that the Deathchasers have themselves. If the bonus was +2, it might start helping him crack through heroes better, because he rarely gets up to two markers. If the bonus was an additional attack, he’d be worth taking the risk with. As it is, the bonus is not worth the liability of sticking out a 75 point sitting duck.
Summary
I loved Uzog. I really wanted to pass him, but I didn’t feel like he had enough offensive output. At a lower price point, he'd stand a better chance, or with a better bonus, I’d pass him in a heartbeat. For me, Uzog was right on the edge, and just fell towards the wrong side.
I vote
to induct Uzog into the Soldiers of Valhalla.