The Book of Tul-Bak-Ra

[GGGames]

when i look at these new figures you can see how melee battle has taken a big step forward against the dominate range units out there. To me TBR is going to teleport around and engage a squad of range guys who are going to have to shoot him. Teleport reinforcments to tie up that unit and repeat till he's dead. My order markers will be turn one TBR followed by #2 being support units followed by #3 TBR who's going to do it all over again. Its going to be great....

[Thatcher]

Originally Posted by Mr Migraine

Attacking an order markerless figure isn't very efficient for you either.

Since when? Just because you're not going to make someone lose their turn doesn't mean raelin or a power hitter sitting in the back that hasnt been used yet is a bad call to pick on. Think about it if your at the front line and all of their order markers are on the front line as well then out of no where you are ten spaces behind hitting an important figure they have to haul ass back to either stop you or sacrifice that figure. 3 attacks of 4, 5 if you gain height, will do some damage on almost anybody

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by Thatcher

Since when? Just because you're not going to make someone lose their turn doesn't mean raelin or a power hitter sitting in the back that hasnt been used yet is a bad call to pick on. Think about it if your at the front line and all of their order markers are on the front line as well then out of no where you are ten spaces behind hitting an important figure they have to haul ass back to either stop you or sacrifice that figure. 3 attacks of 4, 5 if you gain height, will do some damage on almost anybody

Or they could just ignore you killing their Raelin and use their Order Markers to kill the rest of your army. That's what I'd do.

[Tai-Pan]

I remember reading about it, but the answer didn't seem really clear. If Sujoah is rolling for poison sting against Tul-Bak-Ra and keeps adding wounds until Tul-Bak-Ra dies, do you get to teleport reinforcements for the wounds (except the last one) incurred in the attack?

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by Tai-Pan

I remember reading about it, but the answer didn't seem really clear. If Sujoah is rolling for poison sting against Tul-Bak-Ra and keeps adding wounds until Tul-Bak-Ra dies, do you get to teleport reinforcements for the wounds (except the last one) incurred in the attack?

Yes.

[zcythe]

Originally Posted by killercactus

Or they could just ignore you killing their Raelin and use their Order Markers to kill the rest of your army. That's what I'd do.

Your kind of forgetting that whoever owns Tul-Bak-Ra is probably going to have an order marker on there marro squad incase of summon, if you dont attack him the squad of marro isnt summoned and they can fight back just like normal. Except when you need it, you dont have your little old Raelin to keep your main lines working correctly.
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[killercactus]

Originally Posted by zcythe

Your kind of forgetting that whoever owns Tul-Bak-Ra is probably going to have an order marker on there marro squad incase of summon, if you dont attack him the squad of marro isnt summoned and they can fight back just like normal. Except when you need it, you dont have your little old Raelin to keep your main lines working correctly.
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But, I they have OMs on squads instead of TBR, then I still have Raelin, and his squads are out of position because he spent 2 turns activating TBR.

My main point is I would sacrifice Raelin if it meant I got a bunch of free shots atthe Marri squads that can really hurt me.

[Elginb]

I agree with Aldin that Tul-Bak-Ra looks like a superlative anti-range unit. He may not be able to attack too many figures at one moment, or cause too many wounds with one attack, but that doesn't mean he can't tie up several figures at once or one fairly powerful ranged unit for a couple rounds; and once he starts teleporting figures up, he has the potential to tie up more ranged figures or one figure for a longer period of time.

I also like that Tul-Bak-Ra can steal the high ground from his opponents. Maybe this is an elementary point, but if he climbs to a peak on one end of the board, he can teleport to a peak of equal height at the other end of the board, thus stealing that high ground from the opponent's ranged units, without exposing himself to intermediate attack.

Yes, Tul-Bak-Ra looks to be a great anti-range unit. If only he wasn't another blasted Marro figure

[Obsidian]

Originally Posted by scorpiusx

Actually, Su-Bak-Na is a Montague, and Tor-Kul-Na is a Capulet. Wo-Sa-Ga is the prince.

-scorp

I think you mean a princess.

Back to Tul-Bak-Ra, I think it would be great to have a team game where one has TBR, Kelda, and filler while your partner has marro squads. Then you can keep putting turns on TBR to ensure attacks/withdraws while your teammate puts preasure on the enmey with teleported figures.

[Shades fan]

I absolutely love this guy in play, but can't find an army where he can really shine.
If he had been a warlord, he would be to powerful, and is to weak to be a Hivelord hence his current state at Overlord.

He is truly a very confusing, but fun to play figure. On Little Rampart he really shines, because his teleport works so well their.

I love the figure, but can't seem to find a specific place for him!

[spiteofthedice]

Originally Posted by Shades fan

I absolutely love this guy in play, but can't find an army where he can really shine.

Agreed. I keep fielding him with the Dividers and the conclusion is always the same: "Well, the Dividers are great. Wish TBR worked."

[gwydion9]

Originally Posted by spiteofthedice

Agreed. I keep fielding him with the Dividers and the conclusion is always the same: "Well, the Dividers are great. Wish TBR worked."

I consider his ability to teleport other units to be incidental, and not terribly useful. Much like Deathwalker 7000's self-destruct ability, it's not the real point of the figure, but rather a flavorful add-on. Like self-destruct, it *can* be useful in some very specific situations, but it's not something you should build an army concept around (except, of course, for fun! I love the idea of teleporting grok riders!).

I think his main abilities are his extreme mobility and his capacity to attack figures from positions where they can't possibly strike back. His ranged attack is weak numbers-wise, but since it doesn't require line of sight, he can attack through walls, trees, and other obstacles. He's an assassin/harrier unit, like Cyprien Esewein, and should be used in similar fashion. His attack is somewhat weak, so I see him working best at taking out troublesome squad figures rather than heroes. He should work fine filling that role in any army, even those that don't use marro common squads, in fact, perhaps *especially* in those armies, since there is no temptation to teleport him right into the middle of enemy forces and suicide him just to move a few common figures into range of certain death.

Mind you, I also think Cyprien is a better choice for an assassin figure...he's only twenty points more, but he's a lot more deadly and has a lot more potential staying power.