Strategies for winning the Bridge to the Forgotten Forest?

[erniehacks]

Last weekend I introduced my brother to Heroscape. In order to get a quick game going, we set up the Bridge to the Forgotten Forest board and played a few games on it, using the scenario from the rulebook: I attacked with 425 points, he defended with 525, I won if I cleared the bridge within 10 turns.

But he went 3-0 in 3 games. I tend to fare pretty well in Heroscape, so I played the first game with a "fun" army, then ratcheted up the competitiveness of my drafts in successive games.

My brother played pretty much the same army every time:
- Marro Hive
- Stingers x2
- Anubian wolves
- That Egyptian wolfman
- Dumutef
- Maybe some other stuff

I get a little fuzzy on the other stuff, because the core of his army - Stingers x2 - dominated the game to an extent that he didn't really need his other units. So he played around with shuffling some other units - Marro Warriors, Krug, etc., in and out, but never really used them. He just blasted me from height with the Stingers.

In the last game I even pulled in Major Q9 but he rolled a 20 on his Anubian wolves in the first round and shredded the Major. It was a cakewalk from there.

So here's my question: if you were the assaulting player in the Bridge to the Forgotten Forest scenario, what would your draft be? Would it change if you knew you were facing a slew of Stingers? I've been thinking Zelrig might be good for clearing the bridge, and rats seem perfect for glyph grabbing (especially because soulborgs aren't threatened when they cross the river), but I have a hard time devising an army that I feel confident could dislodge a Stinger horde.

Any advice appreciated! Personally, I'm interested in builds that don't use more than 1-2 of a specific squad card, because I don't own many multiples.

Thanks!
Chris

[Bahde]

Dumutef
KMA
AE
NoNW
Raelin


Should be able to beat his two squads of stingers...you have much better range, defense and at least with AE you can muster four attacks which addresses one weakness of the stingers (3 figure squad). And this also allows you to not worry about having multiple commons.

[winonavampire]

I'm not real familiar with the scenario at hand, but how would Swarm Drake do? He can't get shot up by the Stingers, and his grapple gun should be able to get into good positions and 6 attack is, well... 6 attack.

I think Q9 should have done better, but a (un)lucky D20 roll hurts. I would play Q9 a few more times just to get a baseline.

[MarroCloner164]

Seeing how your brother's core is mostly common squads, I would suggest something like
Airborne Elite - 110 (110)
Zelrig - 185 (295)
Krav Maga Agents (395)
Have fun with the last 30 - pull out some greenscales, or some deathreavers.

Zelrig would be a good choice, because of his area of effect common defense decreasing special attack, but you will want some sort of screening unit (Rats, 'Scales) to prevent another situation like you did with those Anubians and Q9.
KMA are good at out-ranging and out-killing other ranged units, and the AE are a powerful long-ranged force, can take the height quickly, and have a decent area of effect special to take out some of the squad figures.

-MarroCloner 164

Edit - oops, I thought that it said that you got the more points...which would make it significantly more fair.

[ollie]

If it's the scenario I'm thinking of, you should also take note that it says that it is drastically tilted towards the bridge-holders (is it that one?).

One plan is to outrange him and drag him forward. Then put in some heavy hitting melee to complement your shooters.

Syvarris: 100
Krav Maga Agents: 100
Zetacron: 60
Dzu-Teh x2 (yes, really): 150
Isamu: 10
Total: 420pts, 13 hexes.

[aquamaniac27]

I would say Nilfheim over Zelrig, simply because you say that your bro mixes up the other half of his army up. You still get a good multi-special attack, and can still deal with heroes and such with his regular attack. And he can fly.

Other than that, "Rats Raelin and the Remainder."

[yamissflash]

Originally Posted by ollie

If it's the scenario I'm thinking of, you should also take note that it says that it is drastically tilted towards the bridge-holders (is it that one?).

One plan is to outrange him and drag him forward. Then put in some heavy hitting melee to complement your shooters.

Syvarris: 100
Krav Maga Agents: 100
Zetacron: 60
Dzu-Teh x2 (yes, really): 150
Isamu: 10
Total: 420pts, 13 hexes.

I think that's the first time I've seen the guys in an army, at least other than my games.

I would also say Z is a killer. Assuming is stingers line up on the bridge, you could be easily taking out 2-3 stingers a turn. The AE can even be sacrificed by dropping them in the middle of you opponents army, especially next, but not adjacent to, stingers. Then just put OM 1 and X on them. Grenade stingers and other forces. Once the AE are there, they don't last too long (obviously), so two OMs make it look like 1 and 2. This helps make sure your opponent kills them, giving you time to bring up other forces. Cyprien is nice to chill out his stingers, as well as Bacon.

[flargen507]

First off, do not use the AE. They will not help you. I have played this scenario many times, and I know that the highest points on the map are all in the opponent's starting zone (highest being the bridge). That loses you the key advantage of the AE, gaining height. I like the Zelrig idea, it sounds good. For a fun AND successful army, try the arrow gruts and Mimring. This is one scenario he rocks at. You can hit EVERY UNIT ON THE BRIDGE IN ONE SHOT, plus several in front or behind. Use Mimring as a sacrifice unit and kill as many stingers as possible, then use the fast arrow gruts plus Swogs. My army idea:

Mimring
Swogx3
ArrowGrutsx3
Thorgrim (Charge him forward then put the spirit on Mimring)
420 points, 18 hexes.

If you feel like being a little more out of the box, try:

DW 9000
Zettian Guards
Dzu-Tehx2 (liked the former post)
Johnny
425 points, 10 hexes.

Not an A+ army, but I think it could surprise him!

[killergoat72]

phantom knights!

little chance of stingers doing much good.

[tcglkn]

It always helps if you post what you do have so we can make armies using your figures.

[Ivellius]

I was able to win against a mostly samurai army using Raelin, 2 squads of Sentinels, Zetacron, and Johnny "Shotgun" Sullivan. The idea is to lock down everything with the bacon-wrapped Sentinels and then use your range to whittle everything else down. Against Stingers, it still seems like it should fare pretty well.

You probably don't have Sentinels, though. Deathreavers are nice; I like the 'reavers and Zelrig on this thing.

[erniehacks]

Wow, these are all great strategies. I have 1 squad of sentinels, so I could give that a shot.

I did play Johnny in my first game, but my brother intelligently blocked the bridge with Krug (or possibly Dumutef - my memory is failing). Johnny's a great squad killer but he couldn't get past a big bad to do much damage.

I love the Drake concept - he's the perfect counter, especially with Raelin buffing him and the likelihood of controlling the +1 attack glyph.

I also considered using shooters to pull him forward, whether AE, 4th Massachusetts, or red coats. I also think Mimring + orc archers could be a lot of fun because the board pretty much demands a line of shooters straight down the length of the bridge.

I didn't play AE, for the reasons mentioned above - the defending player has 525 points and starts the game controlling all of the high ground (and, as it was mentioned, the scenario flavor text says it's hard for the attacker to win with 425 from low ground). I did find rats to be very useful on the board because the attacker needs to grab and hold 3 glyphs (+1 attack, +1 defense, and +8 initiative), all of which lie within the defender's field of fire. So a good attacker draft must include some glyph grabbers, at least 1 big bad killer (to uncork a potential barricading hero at the entrance to the bridge), and some good squad busting options.

I also tried with phantom knights, though admittedly played them poorly by using them to try to hold glyphs instead of taking high ground or attacking the flanks. I think they could fare well, especially with several squads.

I have 1 of nearly every unit except ninjas, elves, vampires, and the 2 most recent D&D expansions. So I think that if I were going to play again, I'd field either of these drafts:

Slash & burn:
Zelrig - 185
Original Drake - 295
Original Raelin - 375
Rats - 415
Isamu - 425

Roasted kebabs:
Mimring - 150
Arrow gruts x2 - 230
Raelin - 310
Deathreavers - 350
Swog - 375
Marro Warriors - 425

2 final build options I tossed around were a) some blend of Capt. America + 4th Massachusetts and b) some mix of the wyvern (to open a hole in the bridge) plus shaolin monks or some other unit that could take and exploit the gap.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts!
c