Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Ixe]

I really don't like the addition of Terrifying Presence. The true value of it diminishes as the normal attack value gets higher, but, for defense 3, it equates to a little better than +3 defense against an attack of two, between +2 and +3 against an attack of 3, and about +2 against an attack of 4. Against your average attacker, that means he effectively has 6 life and between 5 and 6 defense for a 65 point unit. Even if he ends up being balanced point-wise, I feel that level of life and defense is not only inappropriate for a unit of that cost but also counter to the design.

Perhaps I could be convinced in testing, but for now I will vote NO to review Uzog.

[dok]

Originally Posted by Leaf_It

When it comes to the issues of Evasion Instinct; I have had games while testing, where Maltis would hold a choke point very effectively. Each turn she took she would attack, not with the intention of killing, but with the intention of re-positioning with Evasion Instinct to engage a figure, and prevent them from moving forward on their next turn.

This sort of gameplay is quite contrary to the apparent theme of Evasion Instinct, though.

[TREX]

Originally Posted by dok

This sort of gameplay is quite contrary to the apparent theme of Evasion Instinct, though.

I agree here. Evading someone, pretty much means that they are dodging out of the way. If you character dodges out of one figures way to hold another figure still by engaging it, that is not evading. It might be better to word it where Maltis can not be engaged to a figure after using evade much like Isamu's disappearing act for theme standards.

[Leaf_It]

A note: "Evasion Instinct" used to be called "Jump Back" which, I suppose, makes more sense in light of the last two posts.

I'll see what the judges say after testing. I feel it's likely that She will not pass the initial testing. However, I feel confident that the next re-submission will get her through. I can't wait to see what they think of the other figures I want to get through here... but they need more time and testing before they are ready.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

to Uzog. I never cared for the weird 'waste the rest of the round skull polishing' thing in the first place, now to mitigate that negative he has a new power that's annoying for the other team. So now when he randomly decides that the guy he killed on his first OM1 has teh purdest skull everyone can waste time doing nothing for a round.

I like the general concept of a skull-taking monster-man, but it just feels like the card is jumping through a whole bunch of hoops for little gain when a simple streamlined card could do the job just as well.

[Kinseth]

Thanks for the consideration guys. I have a couple of other versions I have playtested, going to re-visit those.

[Scytale]

Uzog has received 3 Nay votes to review (superfrog, Ixe, and Soundwarp SG-1) and is removed from the process.

[Ixe]

Jaraptara by Kinseth

Can Jaraptara toss her way into SoV or will she fall flat of the mark?

Balance

Jaraptara is a solid bonding hero for her stats with an interesting ranged special attack. Points-wise, she isn't noticeably stronger than other heroes and is priced competitively. For the Dreadgul Raiders in particular, she falls into a similar price point as Valguard and clearly eclipses the warlord in enough categories to be the preferred choice if price allows.

Theme

This is an area where I have some significant reservations. On a minor note, the submission says she's from Feylund, but it also mentions the Werewolf Lord in the bio. The Werewolf Lord is from Toril and stone giants are similarly a well established D&D monster. Either her planet or her bio would have to be corrected to keep consistent with the established lore. My major issue is with her having Reach. It is frankly unacceptable to me. For me, there needs to be stronger thematic and mechanical reasons to include the power besides the fact that it looks big. This is especially egregious when you consider Jotun, whose sword is nearly as tall as she is, is in the same bonding pool and lacks the power. This is a shame since a stone throwing giant is so iconic and having to pick up stones is strongly thematic and intuitive.

Creativity

While I have established my ire over Reach, her other powers are both novel and creative. Improvised Weapon and Boulder Toss are an interesting exploration on limited ammunition that can be reloaded.

Playability

In addition to disliking Reach for thematic reasons, I find that it interferes with her design. Jaraptara will often start a match by moving up and hurling a rock at her opponent. After the first salvo, she'll seldom ever bother to pick up a rock again since she can just as easily pull up to the enemy and smack them for even more damage with Reach. While the range benefit of Reach is subtle, it is just enough that she can often maintain high ground or stand safely behind a screen of Dreadgul Raiders to maintain her attack.

However, the problem with using Improvised Weapon and Boulder Toss cannot solely be placed on the shoulders of Reach. While it can make even a steady supply of boulders unnecessary, the fact that she gives up an attack to reload makes it a dubious option given the alternatives offered by the Dreadgul Raiders. If they are accompanied by another bonding option it is often better to just take a turn with them instead, either to attack or take advantage of getting them into position. Even if Jaraptara is their only bonding option, it could easily be better to forgo reloading altogether and instead get an extra attack die with the common squad. While the rare occasion of grabbing a rock does crop up from time to time, it feels that this iconic power set is wasted on Jaraptara.

Summary

The inclusion of Reach on thematic reasons alone would have sunk Jaraptara for me. While she certainly earns her point, her design feels disjointed and key pieces interact poorly with her powers and her supporting armies.

I vote NAY to induct Jaraptara into SoV.

[Scytale]

Jaraptara has received 2 Nay votes to induct (Scytale and Ixe) and is removed from the process.

[Kinseth]

Thanks for your consideration.

[Scytale]

Matlis Tez by Leaf It did not pass United Fanscape review and is removed from the process.

The primary reason it did not pass was that Evasion Instinct was deemed to be overly complex. Also, the added benefit of the complexity, the ability to tie down enemy units, is contrary to the theme of "evasiveness." There were also concerns about the unit being overcosted.

[Leaf_It]

Originally Posted by Scytale

Matlis Tez by Leaf It did not pass United Fanscape review and is removed from the process.

The primary reason it did not pass was that Evasion Instinct was deemed to be overly complex. Also, the added benefit of the complexity, the ability to tie down enemy units, is contrary to the theme of "evasiveness." There were also concerns about the unit being overcosted.

That's fair. I figured something like this would happen when some of the more senior members made posts about those things. With that likelihood in mind, I've already been working on a revised version that is 30 points, and uses a version of evasion instinct suggested by dok. The problem is, I'm really bad a points, and I thought 50 was right. She filled that value the majority of the time. Though the complexity of evasion instinct certainly helped that. I feel it would be best to wait a bit before resubmitting though.

Maltis Tez will see you all again in a few weeks or so. Will anything major change in that time? Probably not, but we'll see...