Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Typhon2222]

Oh boy, more self-nominations here! Sertorius and I would like to submit our EQUICEPH BONECHARGERS for consideration.


EQUICEPH BONECHARGERS
Skeletal Equiceph (D&D Underdark)


INTRODUCTION

Spoiler Alert!

These guys have seen lots of play in our group games, mainly because they’re just so much fun. Thematically they’re a blast. But there’s also the sculpt, which is just one of the strangest, weirdest, most bizarre — and most compelling — sculpts around. They’re skeletons. They’re horses. They have horse hooves for feet, but stand on two legs. Also horse heads, which look seriously evil. Then there’s their armor, which recalls ancient Roman battle dress. Except that theirs has an unexpected purple hue to it. Oh, and they’re wielding huge polearms of some kind. They’re totally kooky, and of all the hundreds of D&D minis we’ve bought for customs, they’re absolutely near the top of my list. Click on this thumb for a close-up shot of the sculpt:



Being half-horse and looking speedy, waving huge weapons, we imagined them as fast-moving, hard-hitting, low-defense shock-troops. A skeletal version of Vipers, or Death Chasers.

We also wanted them to have the same defensive ability against missiles which all our skeletons have, reflecting the fact that arrows and other projectiles are likely to pass right through their bony forms. In game terms this is represented by their Skeletal Form 1 ability, which gives them 1 additional defense dice against ranged attacks, as long as they’re normal. (Doesn’t work against specials: being composed only of bones may help against arrows, but it doesn’t do anything against fireballs and dragon breath right?)

Their class is “Bonechargers”; their personality "Terrifying", much like the Zombies. As for their race....originally we wanted to give them “Skeleton” for that. But that would make them immune to Ana Karithon’s Turn Undead special. So we decided their race needed to be “Undead”.

Since Valkrill’s own symbol is a skull, our Equiceph Bonechargers serve him with pleasure.

STATS / ABILITIES / HOW THEY PLAY

Spoiler Alert!

These guys are zippy shock troops. Their Move 7 gives them great mobility — same as the Vipers. (Although with no kind of Venoc Warlord equivalent, they have no way to increase this, and no Slither over water.)

Their Defense is 3, which is on the low side. It's really low for a unit that costs this much.

What makes them interesting is their offensive power. At only 2, their native Attack is utterly pathetic. But if they start the turn unengaged, their Galloping Thrust can increase this by 2. Given their speed, they’ll usually be able to get height too, for a total of 5 attack dice. That begins to approach Minion damage output. But everything depends on killing their target. If they don’t kill it — or if they get swarmed — then they lose all their offensive punch. And given their low defense, that turns them into sitting ducks. They’ve got to depend on keeping a steamroller momentum going, or focus on picking off stragglers. Do that, and they’re nasty. But a failed attack or two which leaves them engaged — or an enemy who can keep clumped together or move flexibly enough to engage the Equicephs in turn — can quickly turn things against them.

It’s fair to say that few units hate Rats and Goblins more than these guys do. Being swarmed leaves them almost incapacitated. But they hate clumped Romans too, and high-defense Knights, and, being Large, Dwarves above all.

COST/BALANCE

Spoiler Alert!

We’ve found their abilities and stats to be right where we want them. It’s just fine-turning the cost that is always the hardest. We originally priced these guys at 80 points, and have never felt a strong need to change that. Out of curiosity, we recently posted in our thread asking for feedback on pricing, and the results were interesting: responses ranged from 65 to 90. Some compared them to the Templars, and thought that their cost should be similarly high. Others compared them to the Armocs, and pushed their cost way down.

Personally we found ourselves comparing the Equicephs to the Death Chasers more than anything else. They occupy a similar niche in our minds. The DCs have 1 fewer Defense die than the EBs. And 2 fewer Move. But the DCs Attack with 4 all the time, with no restrictions, which is huge. Whereas the EBs only get 4 if they start unengaged; otherwise their Attack drops to 2. The DCs also have bonding (!). And cost 55. Compared to that, we’ve almost wondered if 80 for the EBs isn’t too high.

On the flip side, the EBs do get 1 additional Defense die against normal ranged, bringing them up to 4 then. And they’re also Large, which gives them immunity to abilities which can only target Small/Medium figures. It’s hard to know what this is worth, since it’s so match-specific. But 80 seems a good price-point for them. They’ve usually killed close to their points in most of our games anyway.

Of course we’re willing to tweak the price if there’s strong feeling on the matter.

AVAILABILITY

Spoiler Alert!

A major plus is the availability of these guys. They’re widely available, and can easily be gotten for around $1.50. At that price you can get a squad of three for $4.50, which is less than what original ‘Scape squads cost back when they were still in production. Given the Large size (they're big guys) and high quality of the sculpt, that’s a steal. It's one of the reason that we leapt on these guys in the first place.

Just to give some sense of availability......

AlterReality: $2.95 (8 in stock)
Auggie's: $1.99 (15 in stock)
BeholderTheBargains: $1.69 (3 in stock)
CardHaus: $2.00 (2 in stock)
CoolStuffInc: $1.25 (14 in stock)
GoldDragonHorde: $1.75 (4 in stock)
GameHollow: $1.49 (6 in stock)
MeepleMart: $1.50 (3 in stock)
Paizo: $2.50 (6 in stock)
StrikeZone: $1.01 (6 in stock)
Troll & Toad: $1.99 (3 in stock)

and untold number on eBay, generally in the $2 - $3 price range.

BASES

Spoiler Alert!

These guys come on the standard ‘large’ bases used by the D&D mini line for War Drums and before: exactly the same as the large D3 bases of the last wave of ‘Scape. So they fit on a single hex perfectly; no rebasing or trimming necessary to get them to fit.

THANKS

Spoiler Alert!

To the judges for your consideration and previous help.

And to to all those who have posted in our customs thread with feedback on these guys along the way: Scytale, Super Bogue, Dad_Scaper, quozl, and Fi Skirata.

[nyys]

Great looking unit Typhon, but I wouldn't consider this a widely available unit for a 3-figure common squad. Based off the numbers you listed there are enough for 23 squads on the market currently, and with the sweet spot for most common squads at 3, that is only enough for 7 people.

For common squads, IMO, we need to be at 100 available minimum and even then it's a case by case basis.

I vote NO to review the Equiceph Bonechargers.

[Typhon2222]

Originally Posted by nyys

Great looking unit Typhon, but I wouldn't consider this a widely available unit for a 3-figure common squad. Based off the numbers you listed there are enough for 23 squads on the market currently, and with the sweet spot for most common squads at 3, that is only enough for 7 people.

For common squads, IMO, we need to be at 100 available minimum and even then it's a case by case basis.

I vote NO to review the Equiceph Bonechargers.

Oh poop.

In addition to the 70 listed, I count another 50 available on eBay (none of which duplicate the 70), bringing the total to 120. Is this still borderlinish?

[Dad_Scaper]

Not enough for a single sculpt common squad. I love the c3v synergy, though.

to review the biped horse skeleton thingy.

[ZBeeblebrox]

I agree with my fellow judges...just not enough availability for e common squad.

I vote NO to review the Equiceph Bonechargers.

fwiw, the days of good common squads are nearing the end as the pre-painted minis dry up. But with the Pathfinder Line coming soon and the new D&D Skirmish Line by WoTC...they may come back. Meanwhile Unique Squads are going to more of the norm, and if these were tweaked to be a cool Unique squad, the availability would be about right.

[Elginb]

I vote NO with the others, considering the availability.

[Killometer]

Typhon2222 and Sertorius' Equiceph Bonechargers have received 4 NO votes to review (Dad_Scaper, Elginb, nyys, ZBeeblebrox) and are removed from the process.

[mac122]

Just wondering if the judges would add the figure availability guidelines to the OP? I have some units that I may one day nominate. It would be helpful to know the guidelines ahead of time. Thanks.

[boromir96]

Hey,
I noticed on the first page it says the Zettian Infantry have 4 yes votes and 3 pending votes,But Lamaclowns name is on both lists.It should be 5 yes votes and 2 pending votes.

Edit:Kilometer fixed it.

[Tiranx]

Interesting, Elginb, the newest judge, is a potential swing vote on the two closest units.

[caps]

Originally Posted by boromir96

Hey,
I noticed on the first page it says the Zettian Infantry have 4 yes votes and 3 pending votes,But Lamaclowns name is on both lists.It should be 5 yes votes and 2 pending votes.

Edit:Kilometer fixed it.

Same deal with Priscus. It says he has 2 yes votes and 6 votes pending, but it should say 3 yes votes and 4 votes pending.

[Typhon2222]

Originally Posted by mac122

Just wondering if the judges would add the figure availability guidelines to the OP? I have some units that I may one day nominate. It would be helpful to know the guidelines ahead of time. Thanks.

Echo this.