Unit Strategy Review: How to Use Sir Denrick

[Fezzikthedoor]

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Unit Strategy Review
Unit: Sir Denrick
Author: Fezzikthedoor (with thanks to the other Strategy Guide Authors)

Sir Denrick is generally derided as having the least effective special ability in the game, Giant Killer, since most of the “giants” it is effective against can crush him like a bug. He is a unit that didn’t see a great deal of play before the valiant Sir Gilbert and the treacherous Sir Hawthorne arrived, let alone after. He is the quintessential example of a unit that isn’t regarded as bad, exactly, but not nearly as good as a host of others you could choose from. Perhaps we can find an unusual niche for Sir Denrick that isn’t quite so obvious as what those other units bring to the table.

First we’ll take a closer look at his stats:

Analyzed Statistics
Cost - 100 - Bishop Class Unit
Size - Medium – Vulnerable/Concealable
Life - 5 – Average
Move - 5 – Average
Range - 1 - Close Range
Attack – 4* – Above Average
Defense – 4 – Average
A Coward’s Reward – Roll two dice for leaving engagement strikes – medium tactical advantage
*Raised to 6 (Deadly) when attacking Huge units – medium tactical advantage

In-Depth Analysis

Each unit is complex, and must be well analyzed to be truly understood. For Sir Denrick, let us begin with his cost. By cost, we refer mostly to his value in points, but also to his importance in your army. To simplify analysis, Agatagary has created several categories of cost, based off of chess, for comparison and nomenclature. For reference,

Pawn class (expendable, units that can be useful, but are not worth enormous trouble to protect)
Bishop class (more useful than a pawn, but still somewhat expendable)
Knight class (units that are interestingly powerful and can have a significant impact on the game in of themselves. It is advisable that they be kept alive, but if absolutely necessary they may be sacrificed)
Rook class (units that almost inevitably have a significant impact on the game, and whose death should be avoided as much as possible)
Queen class (devastatingly powerful or important units that should be protected at all costs)

Class:
Despite having the title of “Sir” in front of his name, Sir Denrick is only a Bishop Class Unit, albeit a very expensive one. The key to this unit, as we shall see, is a player’s willingness to expose him to danger and situations that could quite possibly lead to his demise. This devil-may-care attitude, combined with a fairly unremarkable “skill set” (he has no ranged attack, doesn’t enhance any other units, and is seriously limited in the use of one of his special abilities) relegates him to the role of Bishop.

To examine Sir Denrick’s core stats, we will break them up into two categories – offensive ability and survivability. We will start with his offense.

Offense:
Although his threat range (movement + range) is only 6, Sir Denrick is a capable enough offensive unit. His Attack of 4 makes him a threat to most squads and many heroes. Giant Killer brings his Attack value up to 6 versus Huge units, although the boost is seldom enough to allow him to prevail over those units by itself. Given the point advantage most of those units have over Sir Denrick, though, means it is unrealistic to expect him to be a one-man Jotun-killing machine.

Survivability:
Sir Denrick is a solid hero with 5 points of Life and a Defense of 4 that combines to make it unlikely that he will fall in a single round. He is relatively concealable, which is good since he is vulnerable to so many special abilities as a Medium sized unit. A Coward’s Reward actually hurts Sir Denrick’s survivability rating because it encourages units to stay and finish him off rather than risk a disengagement attack from him. This can be used in his favor, however…

Strategy:
When it comes to Coward’s Reward, rolling an extra die when a unit leaves engagement with Sir Denrick just doesn’t seem like that big a deal. In fact, many rookie players don’t see the benefit of disengaging at all and will stay tied up by a unit without a second thought, thus negating Coward’s Reward. Why, even some veteran players frown upon the idea of disengaging since it can lead to unblockable damage; this inclination is magnified when tied up with a unit that has Coward’s Reward. What you must do with Sir Denrick is make the enemies choose to disengage or pay the consequences.

The way to do this is by teaming up Sir Denrick with automatic destruction units that can strike from range such as Dead-eye Dan, Morsbane, Braxas, or Sudema. Of the four, Braxis and Sudema are the best choices since they have more than a 5% chance of removing the target from play, and, while targeting Huge units plays to one of Sir Denrick's strengths, any size unit can be caught in this trap.

The basic idea is simple: Place your X bluff and 1st order markers (or your 3rd…this can certainly carry over between rounds) on Sir Denrick. Move Sir Denrick into contact with the unit of your choice and take a swing as normal. If you’re lucky, you’ll do some damage; if not, that’s ok too. Have your 2nd and 3rd order markers placed on Sudema or Braxis, and move them up close enough to attempt their automatic destruction ability. If it does not activate on order marker 2, your opponent is now faced with a choice: either stay a sitting duck for Sudema or Braxis by trying to overpower Sir Denrick—whose survivability will hopefully make difficult to do quickly—or risk the unblockable wounds from the knight as he tries to get closer to the larger threat. Depending on the unit, this isn’t an easy choice.

Of course, the Knights of Weston fit with this strategy perfectly and magnify its effectiveness for they too possess Coward’s Reward. Thanks to their Human Champion Bonding, a player can use the Knights to surround a single target along with Sir Denrick, all but assuring that the target is trapped in place—after all, who wants to risk 10 unblockable attack dice? The target might have 9 Life or a Defense of 8, but engulfing it in a swarm of knights ties it down as well as Cyberclaw could ever hope to. Not only is that unit trapped, but you can also continue to attack it up to 5 times a turn. Oddly enough, a powerful unit who's special ability is virtually neutered when tied up by Sir Denrick and the knights is Tor-Kul-Na; should he move to Stomp on a knight the rest will get to use Coward's Reward and his Defense of 5 won't help him at all. Be careful though: taking on an enemy like the Hivelord is a little like grabbing a bull by the horns so should you do so be sure to pour all your resources into destroying him before he bursts free.

Instead of swarming a single unit, one could also split them up into two teams of two that, in addition to Sir Denrick, could almost tie up two average size squads (six units) while Braxis wings her way towards the fray, ready to devastate them with her Acid Breath. The squad members, having but a single Life, won’t dare to move and risk a 66% chance of being destroyed, and, as they sit there between the rock of Coward’s Reward and the hard place of automatic destruction, your opponent is sure to seethe at his helplessness to prevent their demise.

A similar ploy is to instead team Sir Denrick up with one or more squads of the Shades of Bleakwood. Once Sir Denrick is engaged with a unique hero, the Shades engulf the target. On their next activation, each Shade will have a 10% chance to activate Soul Devour on the victim. If they are unsuccessful, simply fly them away, leaving the target tied up with Sir Denrick and unable to move without risking the Coward’s Reward. You can use this “two-step” as often as you like until Sir Denrick is killed, or, if the target is sleeping, don’t even bother flying the Shades away—just concentrate on swallowing their souls!

These tactics aren’t perfect—they are useless against orcs, ninja, and other units that have Disengage, and they do require a sizable point investment beyond Sir Denrick. It could even be argued that while this is a fine idea the Knights of Weston don’t need Sir Denrick to perform the maneuver, and there is some truth to that as well. When faced with the choice of which human champion to choose, however, don’t overlook the fact that Coward’s Reward gives you the power to control the battlefield by dictating to your enemy which units will be allowed to move freely, and which will pay a price.

The units that will fear Sir Denrick the most will fear him not only for Coward’s Reward, but also for Giant Killer. Common knowledge holds that Giant Killer is an underpowered ability that is useful on only a handful of units; the first is incorrect while the second is becoming less true as time goes on.

What players forget is that Sir Denrick only costs 100 points to draft while all of the “giants” he gains a bonus against are priced anywhere from 120 to 225 points. Were he able to take them on one-on-one and triumph with ease he would be under-priced. Instead, rolling two extra attack dice is an improvement of 50% on his attack power—putting him into the upper echelon of heroes in terms of attack power—and adding an extra skull, on average, to Sir Denrick’s attack allows him to do significant damage before he dies and, with a little help from his Lilliputian allies, he might just make those Huge units remember that the bigger they are the harder they must fall.

Aside from the stationary Marro Hive—which Denrick will decimate in short order—the Huge unit he is best able to hold his own against solo is Brunak, due to his low Life and relatively low Defense. Mimring is a good target as well, for the same reasons but remember that Mimring can fly from Sir Denrick while roasting him with Fireline. Ideally, you will need to corner the dragon on the edge of the map or send in weaker units to hold him down. If your opponent plays Mimring properly, it can be frustratingly difficult to get close to the dragon without taking a wound or two. That said, Fireline only has an Attack of 4 against Sir Denrick's Defense of 4, so luckily Mimring is unlikely to seriously hurt Sir Denrick in one shot.

Both Nilfheim and Braxas have short enough ranges on their specials that they must either place themselves within Sir Denrick's threat range to attack or stay far away. Unlike Mimring, Braxas cannot weaken Sir Denrick from range, only destroy him (a mixed blessing, that). If you can time Sir Denrick's approach so he gets to attack first, your odds of doing serious damage are good. Better yet, weaken them with ranged attacks or expendable Pawn Class units before moving in with Sir Denrick, then your Valiant Knight can perform the death blow on one Huge unit after another, staying alive long enough to do so.

This type of timing becomes critical against Su-Bak-Na: a few well-placed blows from Denrick can seriously hurt him since he only has a Life of 5 and Defense of 3, but an Attack of 7 is a thing to be avoided. You really need to strike first against Su-Bak-Na. Fortunately, the Marro is relatively easy to hurt from range due to his low Defense, and thus easy to weaken up for Sir Denrick's final touch.

Not all huge units are ideal targets for Sir Denrick. Charos can survive an endurance test due to his high Life, even if weakened somewhat from range; Sir Denrick will not want to test his valor against Charos unless the dragon is down to just a few Life points and Denrick is fairly close to full health ( since even a 6 Attack will occasionally fall prey to Counterstrike). Don't be fooled into taking on Grimnak—his low point cost and entourage of Gruts will make him a low benefit for a high risk. Instead use large units, such as the Knights Templar, to inflict some damage on Grimnak without fear of Chomp. Avoid Krug, as he just gets stronger and stronger until he batters down Sir Denrick’s defenses, although if you have the support of a squad of knights you might just be able to prevail before he causes massive casualties. Sujoah is dangerous since it can keep damaging Sir Denrick with Poison Sting after a single assault and while his Life of 5 might let him survive one successful sting, it is unlikely to sustain him through multiple piercing. Tor-Kul-Na and Jotun simply hit so hard that he can’t withstand their assault for long, but if you can bring down these Queen Class monsters after whittling away their Life with his allies, it is a mighty coup for Sir Denrick.

Sir Denrick is not the only human champion to benefit from the bonding abilities of the Knights of Weston or the MacDirk Warriors, of course. All three of the Viking champions fall into this category. Some would say that Sir Denrick is not as good a choice as Sir Gilbert, who can move any Jandarian squad each activation, or Sir Hawthorne, who has the benefit of his Blind Rage Special Attack, or even Alistair MacDirk, who can Overextend for an extra turn each round. Hopefully, having read this far, the reader realizes that this isn’t the truth, rather he simply serves a different purpose than those other heroes. Regardless, it is a bad question—after all, why choose just one?

While Orc hordes might be the stereotypical bonding army, there is no reason that Human Champions can't exploit bonding as well. In drafting Sir Denrick along with Sir Gilbert, not only do you gain a huge boost to your movement, but you also still have the option to control the battlefield with A Coward’s Reward. Should a player wish to see the Black Knight and the White Knight fight side-by-side he will have both a rabble sweeper and a giant killer! Combine the knight with any of the Viking champions except Eldgrim and you gain strong fighters that give bonuses to all adjacent melee units in addition to the benefit received when they are dead (and Eldgrim at least still contributes that). Adding Alistair gives an army an unmatched flexibility that only Overextend can provide. When using any combination of these heroes with a squad or two of Knights of Weston or MacDirk Warriors order placement becomes less important and one can instead concentrate upon responding to the battlefield as it changes around his forces. As an added bonus, with so many Valiant warriors marching in such a force, it is fairly easy to add in the ranged support of the always-dependable 4th Massachusetts Line.

Units to Avoid:
A solid all-around melee hero, Sir Denrick doesn’t have any unit that he should avoid (nor, on his own, should many units avoid him) beyond the normal dangerous enemies that plague a medium size, non-ranged unit. There is at least one combination to be wary of, though.

Blastatrons/Gladiatrons with Deathreavers: An all too common swarm army, this is a combination that can play havok with Sir Denrick and his Knights, especially if a player is trying to use the melee fighters to aid his automatic destruction unit. The Deathreavers can slip past your assorted knights with Disengage while the Gladiatrons turn the tables on them, locking down the armor-plated fighters while the Blastatrons cut them to shreds with Homing Device-aided ranged attacks. If you see your opponent selecting this type of army early in the draft you may want to consider a different hero and strategy.

For additional information see the Book of Sir Denrick

[Swamper]

One thing you might want to think about with Tor-kul-na is that if he has nagrubs with him,he can shrug of the damage.If all the nagrubs are alive,than tkn has 9 life,or more depending on how many squads you have.

And if you work on destroying the nagrubs,then TKN gets free shots at you.thought it was worth considering.

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Swamper

One thing you might want to think about with Tor-kul-na is that if he has nagrubs with him,he can shrug of the damage.If all the nagrubs are alive,than tkn has 9 life,or more depending on how many squads you have.

And if you work on destroying the nagrubs,then TKN gets free shots at you.thought it was worth considering.

Sir Denrick can send in the Knights first to take them out. A cheaper unit, like the Venoc Vipers, might also be used to do that.

[HeroscaperHuh]

I find that Giant Killer really puts Sir Denrick in a spot of power, because you don't have to worry about high point cost or low defense for a unit with 6 attack and 4 defense.

[boogle]

What players forget is that Sir Denrick only costs 100 points to draft while all of the “giants” he gains a bonus against are priced anywhere from 120 to 225 points.

Are you including Brunak? He's a huge character susceptible to Sir Denrick's giant killer special ability. Sorry if I'm nit picking I just wanted to point it out in case you cared. Good thread, I agree that for his cheap price and bonding ability as well as the introduction of more adn more huge characters Sir Denrick, like wine, will grow better with age. [/quote][/quote]

[boogle]

Fezzikthedoor said:
"What players forget is that Sir Denrick only costs 100 points to draft while all of the “giants” he gains a bonus against are priced anywhere from 120 to 225 points."

Are you including Brunak? He's a huge character susceptible to Sir Denrick's giant killer special ability. Sorry if I'm nit picking I just wanted to point it out in case you cared. Good thread, I agree that for his cheap price and bonding ability as well as the introduction of more adn more huge characters Sir Denrick, like wine, will grow better with age.

[ThrasherDarkrai]

Brunak is the exception, so that's why he worded it that way. Brunak should try to stay away from Denrick anyways, and he should be able to with 7 move. His rider can get him out of a tough spot if he's in trouble.

[killercactus]

Brunak only has 6 move, but he should be able to stay away from Denrick anyways.

I really have to get this guy into a game soon.... i just always pick Gilbert instead, but I have to find a way to work this guy in.

[Jexik]

Why not both? Leave the vikings aside for once and play with 3x Knights, Sir Gilbert, and Sir Denrick. It might not win, but it will look really cool.

[Fezzikthedoor]

Originally Posted by Jexik

Why not both? Leave the vikings aside for once and play with 3x Knights, Sir Gilbert, and Sir Denrick. It might not win, but it will look really cool.

And that's how you get the chicks.

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Fezzikthedoor

And that's how you get the chicks.

Then maybe they won't be cluttering the shelves in Wal-Mart.

(wave 5 joke)

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by Jexik

Why not both? Leave the vikings aside for once and play with 3x Knights, Sir Gilbert, and Sir Denrick. It might not win, but it will look really cool.

I thought of that. It's not the Vikings that get in the way, it's Alastair. If I had Hawthorne, I would put him before Denrick also. However, you're right. The next game of scape I play, Denrick is hitting the table and thats it.

At least I know I'll be able to draft him last....