Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Killometer]

Green Wyrmling by killercactus has received 3 NO votes to review (1Mmirg, Killometer, qt.bangerang) and is removed from the process.

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by 1Mmirg

Wow. A lot to get caught up on.

First, kc, have you considered a power where if the GW rolls shields on ALL dice, he inflicts a wound (and takes no damage?)? (Like a reverse Maul.)

In that case, lower defense wouldn't be as big of an issue (3-4 is right on) and Raelin actually lowers the chance of a Counterstrike.

For now, I agree with my peers and don't feel comfortable about this version of "Counterstrike." I vote NO to review the GW.

Okay, on to the others, now...

I hadn't considered that power, to be honest, but rolling all shields on 3 dice happens about 5% of the time, which I don't feel is useful enough personally. 2 out of 3 dice might be a possibility, but then I'm going to start feeling like he doesn't have enough survivability to be a screen or a tank, which is what I think he needs to be if he's gonna be a baby Charos.

I've got 2 more iterations of baby green up my sleeve, one of which is a bit out of the box but I think might fit the theme better than many people will admit. I'm gonna run some tests on that one and see if I can feel good about a price for it to submit. If that fails, I'm probably looking at the 2+ excess shield power, which I don't care for but might have to accept.

Thanks for the consideration, guys. Back to the drawing board, but I'm gonna get li'l green through you dudes!

[Kaemon Awa 123]

Just a thought on the Takers... I really like the custom, and I feel like it fills a nice hole as far as gameplay goes. However, it fits in with the Star Wars canon, and I feel like the SoV is not the place for Star Wars units. There is already a HoSS project to make SW customs, as well as Greyowl's large library.

Not that I would't play them, but SoV for me is designed to make customs that fit into the classic 'Scape area, and customs that are based off of other works and storylines do not belong, though they have their place.

[Tiranx]

Originally Posted by Kaemon Awa 123

Just a thought on the Takers... I really like the custom, and I feel like it fills a nice hole as far as gameplay goes. However, it fits in with the Star Wars canon, and I feel like the SoV is not the place for Star Wars units. There is already a HoSS project to make SW customs, as well as Greyowl's large library.

Not that I would't play them, but SoV for me is designed to make customs that fit into the classic 'Scape area, and customs that are based off of other works and storylines do not belong, though they have their place.

If it was Darth Vader I would agree with you, but since I would have no clue that those were Star Wars characters without seeing the info on the bottom of the bases, I don't see a problem with them on that front.

The same thing could be said for Dok's Hoplitron custome, but again I would have no idea that his custom was using a star wars figure without someone telling me or seeing the base info.

[nyys]

Yeah, it depends on how hardcore of a SW fan you are. Outside of the major players, I wouldn't know the difference between a SW mini and a classic Scape mini outside of scale and maybe the art style.

Take the Resistance Fighters. All SW minis, but none that I, or many typical fans, would realize until told.

[Killometer]

The Deepwater Warrior by dok is mechanically quite solid. It's water-related powers make sense, it's well-balanced for its points, and it relieves some pressure from requiring Kurrok in an Elemetal build, as well as opening the door to include the Greater Ice Elemental.

Unfortunately, the way it handles those last two points, limiting bonding specifically to Aquilla and Jandar, isn't very elegant, in my opinion. Aquilla's an obvious choice, since that's the general it fights for, but including Jandar seems like an awkward and forced attempt to broaden the playability of the GIE (especially awkward since the GIE's Ice Cold power negates Blend into Water and Water Movement).

Blend into Water combined with Water Movement make it safe to sit in the back directing other elementals, or to close with ranged opponents by charging from pool to pool, but generally the Deepwater Warrior doesn't bring much play variety over what the Water Elemetal already offers, and thematically Elemental Bonding drags him down. I found his biggest contribution was to act as an OM sink for multiple GIEs, but those eat of a lot of points, minimizing army and play variety.

I vote NO to induct dok's Deepwater Warrior into the Soldiers of Valhalla.


Deepwater Warrior by dok has received 2 NO votes to induct (Killometer, nyys) and is removed from the process.

[qt.bangerang]

Skeleton Archers by Sertorius and Typhon2222

Game Play
As mentioned in the nomination post these guys are very weak…until you look at their abilities and give them a melee screen to hide behind and a good hard hitting Hero(s) like a couple of Hydras. With their two abilities them become 2/3 (attack/defense) unless your opponent is using a figure with a Special Attack, which means that he has gotten through your screen and your big Hero. I found it very easy to quickly gain height because of their move of 6 and then decimate my opponent with their range of 7 and increased attack and defense due to height…now they are ¾.

Cost
I think they are currently undercosted as a 4-man squad and maybe even as a 3-man with how fast they move and that huge threat of 7 range.

Models/ Availability
I agree is Dad_Scaper and think that if they are sold in packs of 3 then they should be a 3-man squad…which would also help in the availability argument.

Conclusion
They have great theme and are fun to play…they are just too good in their current form even with the restrictions in their abilities because, it is very easy to avoid them. I would like to see them have a shorter range, move slower, and be a 3-man squad…

I vote NO to induct the Skeleton Archers into the SoV.

[Killometer]

Skeletons Archers by Typhon2222 and Sertorius have received 2 NO votes to induct (Dad_Scaper, qt.bangerang) and are removed from the process.

[dok]

Originally Posted by dok

I'd like to nominate my Gargoyle:

Spoiler Alert!

The figure is the "Earth Element Gargoyle" from the Blood War D&D Minis release. It's got decent availability online, but more crucially, you get three of them (unpainted) with the Castle Ravenloft game. Auggie has 37 of them listed right now between Ravenloft bitz and this custom. The paint job on this guy is obviously not a hard one.

Design/Flavor/Balance notes:

Spoiler Alert!

This is arguably the simplest design I've made, and it was pretty easy to dial in and balance to my liking. They drip with theme and don't break anything. They basically play a filler role in whatever army you use them in. The temptation to spam 6+ of these guys in an army is really not there, because the more OMs they take, the less time they have their auto-shield.

What I like about these guys is the way they make you really think about how many you want and when to use them. If you just save them for cleanup, then their signature power (stone form) becomes much less useful. So you want to get them in spots where they annoy your opponent quickly, but this, too, can be a problem, since their 4 move and single activations make them pretty slow to move out. (The Warden can help here, making these guys more handy in guard builds.)

The only time you would pick these guys over rats (if you really want to win) is in a heroes-only environment, on a very flyer-friendly map, or if you only have a couple startzone spaces left. But this doesn't worry me very much.

The availability on this mini has declined quite a bit. This is a pretty old mini, so that may just be random cyclical fluctuation and/or Heroscaper activity. However, given the weight that availability concerns have carried around here of late, I'd like to do a mini swap. Instead of the D&D mini, I'd like to ask the judges to consider the mini from the Legendary Encounters line:



Stats and powers are unchanged from the original nomination. This figure is in print and available from Auggies and many other retailers. I will also note, again, that the mechanic of Stone Form inherently discourages horde builds with this figure.

[nyys]

Works for me.

[ZBeeblebrox]

Originally Posted by nyys

Works for me.

[qt.bangerang]

I like that mini better so, it works for me too.