Viceron the Dark Knight by Ixe
Evil Knights are cool. Ever since Hawthorne, I think the game has been implicitly asking for more of them. While we now have Phantom Knights and Death Knights and Knights of Blackgaard, we haven’t gotten another evil Knight Hero. So how well does Viceron (a Dark Knight) fill that void?
Balance
For anybody who is confused as to the main difference between balance and playability, playability makes sure that a unit is engaging to play and powerful enough for its point cost. Balance ensures that a unit doesn’t do the same job as another unit for a cheaper cost, or is strictly better than another unit for the same or similar cost. New units shouldn’t stop old ones from being used.
So Viceron is hard to evaluate on Balance. He does something that really nobody else does. He has a decent attack and defense, an area of effect special attack, a power that wounds him, and a power that heals him. That’s a unique combination.
For a very rough approximation, we can compare him to Eltahale. Viceron has an extra defense, can target more people with his special attack, and has the possibility to heal himself, but gives up 2 life and 10 points. Seems about even.
Theme
A magic bloody Dark Knight seems pretty cool to me, at least after you get over the fact that he’s not Batman. I love the name Bloodstorm Ritual, and it perfectly translates to the mechanics of the power. Sanguine Sword also works for me, although I’m not sure exactly on the theme as to why he can’t heal from Special Attacks. It doesn’t bother me too much, though.
Creativity
Bloodstorm Ritual is a fun new power, which borrows ideas from Heat Blast Special Attack and also from figures like Eltahale or the Azurite Warlord which wound themselves for benefit. I also think the interplay between Sanguine Sword and Bloodstorm Ritual is smart. It provides a way for him to heal, but it forces him to switch between attacking normally or with his special.
Playability
Viceron starts out with the weakness of being a non-synergizing Unique Hero. To make up for that, he has a high attack (to help kill heroes or to “ensure” a kill on squad figures if he needs to heal), and a multi-attacking special attack (to deal with massed squaddies). It theoretically should work relatively well. He uses Bloodstorm Ritual when there are a few squad figures around, and then follows up with a normal attack to get his life point back. 5 defense ought to be enough to fend off most attacks to allow for at least a few Bloodstorms a game.
But I found it rarely worked that way. 4 life is fairly low for such an expensive figure, and much lower than any other figure with a self wounding ability (6 on Eltahale, 8 on Azurite Warlord). Although Viceron also has a higher defense of 5 (compared to 4 on Eltahale and 3 on the Azurite Warlord), it still leaves him more vulnerable. He needs Bloodstorms to keep the number of opponent’s attack down, because 3 attacks of 3 still reliably wounds him at least once, and he needs normal attacks to gain his life back. If either one fails, he’s quickly overcome.
The problem with Viceron is that his two powers aren’t enough to keep him competitive. Swarms squads like Vipers or Red Ants don’t mind losing 2 or 3 figures, because they can just keep coming, especially if he takes a break to try to heal himself. More expensive melee squads like Heavy Gruts or Axegrinders also have more attack output, and are more likely to survive his Bloodstorm blasts. Ranged Squads just need to spread out and avoid clumping, and that negates the threat of Bloodstorm Rituals. Unlike Brimstone, Viceron has no backup bonding squad, and much less maneuverability. The inability to fly behind enemy lines is a big negative.
Summary
Long story short, Viceron just isn’t as effective as he needs to be. He needs to roll well on every turn to prevent enemy squads from running over him. His opponents only need a few good rolls to take him down, and he needs good rolls every time to keep his head above water. I never had Viceron earn his points back in a game. I really wanted to like Viceron, but in the end, he just wasn’t powerful enough to justify 150 points.
I vote
to induct Viceron the Dark Knight into the Soldiers of Valhalla