Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[UtahScott]

...and Kantono Daishi's in! Yahoo to 2013 SoV #2!

Thanks to qt.bangerang and all the judges.

[Super Bogue]

Kantono Daishi by qt.bangerang has received 4 YEA votes (nyys, 1Mmirg, Super Bouge, and Scytale) and moves to unified fanscape review.

Threforian Raptor by Fi Skitara has received 2 NO votes (Scytale and qt.bangerang) and is removed from the process.

[qt.bangerang]

Brimstone by Scytale

Balance
At first the 18 hex blast radius worried, but the requirement of Heat markers to use Heat Blast Special Attack really helps to keep that in check. The other aspect that helps to keep Heat Blast Special Attack is to get a full attack of 4, it requires using him 5 times for the first full attack and then 4 times every time after that. This creates some interesting playing situations … do I try to build up for the full power Heat Blast Special Attack, or use it before when I have say 2 or 3 markers on him?

Theme
I really like the feel of Brimstone and his special attack; it fits Valkrill’s persona of chaos and willingness to sacrifice your own units perfectly. Brimstone also fits along the D&D lines for a volcanic dragon too.

Availability
Doing a quick search I was able to find around 70 of them out there. 40 on Auggie’s … he had 63 when it was nominated and I feel a lot of those have gone to ‘scapers. So, easy pass on this.

Playability
The obvious choice here is to use him with the Greenscales, and rightly so with their bonding. This also helps get him the needed activations to build up the markers for Heat Blast Special Attack. However, Brimstone is a very unique dragon. He doesn’t have the long range as most, or the characteristics of Charos. Because of this uniqueness he puts a tactical twist on the Greenscale army, making you play them as a Guerrilla attack type army more often, than as a typical screen for your dragon.
Playing Brimstone is a challenge, he requires you make sacrifices whether you want to or not. I really found myself using two strategies when playing with him.

First, advance as fast as you can while building up heat makers to go off in the enemy start zone targeting as many units as possible. This was only effective against large, hoard style armies that can’t be moved out fast enough. When Heat Blast worked (rolling 3 or 4 skulls) it was devastating but when you whiff a role your 150 point dragon is now surrounded with no support.

Second, only let your markers build to around 2 and use him more as a shock wave, hoping your own Greenscales roll well enough to survive as your enemy surrounds him. This works okay against low defense units but in the end I typically found myself trying to move him into a position to target as many units as possible before he went down.

So, when playing him effectively it really came down to the support units in your army. I found myself taking fewer Greenscales to be able to use better units as support, because most likely you are going to lose Brimstone and once you do those Greenscales aren’t nearly as effective. Choosing your support units really helps you decide how you are going to play him…Raelin to help his staying power, Saylind to teleport him out of danger once he use Heat Blast, Kelda to heal him, or ranged units. Personally, taking multiple ranged units worked the best; they helped draw attention away from Brimstone while shooting from behind your moving time bomb.

Summary
Brimstone is a swingy unit, this will cause some to dislike him, but it is nothing new. Heroscape is full of swingy units and a lot of the customs out there try to “fix” these units. But that defeats the purpose a high reward/risk unit. I found his unreliability to fit the personality and theme of the figure and the general he follows. Brimstone is a refreshing unit with a nice twist on Deathwalker like power. He requires you to do more than just sit behind a screen and wait for your enemy to come to you.

I vote YES to induct the Brimstone into the SoV.

[qt.bangerang]

I am stepping down as an SoV judge. Also, I will no longer support this project (the SoV), the C3V, or any project that Capsocrates is a part of. He is a hypocrite and a thief, and I refuse to associate with people of his like.

With that I am withdrawing all of my customs that have been submitted here.

Tentacles of the Kraken
Wraith of Bleakwoode
Horned Skull Champion
Kantono Daishi

[Super Bogue]

Originally Posted by qt.bangerang

With that I am withdrawing all of my customs that have been submitted here.

Tentacles of the Kraken
Wraith of Bleakwoode
Horned Skull Champion
Kantono Daishi

I am sorry to see you leave qt. The above list of units have been withdrawn by the designer and have been removed from the process.

[Gurei-Ornery]

Originally Posted by qt.bangerang

I am stepping down as an SoV judge. Also, I will no longer support this project (the SoV), the C3V, or any project that Capsocrates is a part of. He is a hypocrite and a thief, and I refuse to associate with people of his like.

With that I am withdrawing all of my customs that have been submitted here.

Tentacles of the Kraken
Wraith of Bleakwoode
Horned Skull Champion
Kantono Daishi

Did I miss something? Sorry to see you go QT, I enjoy and appreciate your thorough and well thought-out input.

[Dad_Scaper]

Oof.

[Joseph Sweeney]

Originally Posted by qt.bangerang

I am stepping down as an SoV judge. Also, I will no longer support this project (the SoV), the C3V, or any project that Capsocrates is a part of. He is a hypocrite and a thief, and I refuse to associate with people of his like.

With that I am withdrawing all of my customs that have been submitted here.

Tentacles of the Kraken
Wraith of Bleakwoode
Horned Skull Champion
Kantono Daishi

I don't know what this is about, and I probably missed something, but Caps has been nothing but kind to me, and I doubt he is a "thief". I would suggest you re-consider, and perhaps, try and work out whatever came between you two, lest somethin really bad comes from this.

~JS, knowing this is none of his business, but doesn't think Caps is capable of "theviery"

[Heroscaper Guy]

I am among those who have probably missed something too, and am hoping this gets resolved. Sorry to see you go Qt and your input will be missed. I may not know that much about this but from all Caps has done in this community, I have to agree and say that I highly doubt this he was capable of doing this as well.

[UtahScott]

I am certainly out of the loop here, and don't want to see qt.bangerang take all his toys and go home; he's been busting his tail over customs for years, and I've been watching the progress here and on personal blogs. To pick the most obvious example, Kantono Daishi has been through a lot of work, and it's really frustrating to see it pulled after it has been voted in. I hope this can be worked out, qt.bangerang, this comes from out of nowhere.

[greygnarl]

Can we receive word on what happened? As far as I know caps and qt are both respected members of the community. If something happened in the SoV judges forum that would be considered thievery, I would expect that it would be caps being forced to step down. Something seems off here.

[Dad_Scaper]

I don't think now is the best time to try to sit in judgment on people, greygnarl. I don't know if there's ever a good time, but I do know this ain't it.