Unit Strategy Review: How to use Sir Hawthorne

[Taeblewalker]

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Unit Strategy Review
Unit: Sir Hawthorne
Author: Taeblewalker (with thanks to my sewing circle)

Sir Hawthorne. Utgar’s first (but not only!) Human. He of the Knight of Weston repainting, he of the second GenCon exclusive; he who is yours – but only until he belongs to someone else. How do you use him? How do you make the most of 90 points that might not be yours with one unlucky roll—this madman that may suddenly decimate your forces by turning on you, and all without inconveniencing your opponent with an order marker spend on Mindshackle?

In spite of this glaring fault, rest assured that Sir Hawthorne, though a bit of a gamble, can be used in a way that will both maximize his time spent in your army and minimize the damage he can cause if he turns traitor.

We will begin with his stats.

Vital Statistics
Cost – 90 – Knight Class
Size – Medium 5 – Vulnerable
Life – 6 – High
Move – 5 – Average
Range – 1 – Melee
Attack – 4 – Good
Defense – 4 – Average
Tournament Readiness - Medium
Blind Rage Special Attack – 50% chance of being able to attack again – semi-reliable.
Stab in the Back – 5% chance of losing control of Sir Hawthorne to another player – longshot

In-Depth Analysis:
We shall now look carefully at Sir Hawthorne’s statistics, and draw strategies from our conclusions. Let us start with cost. Below is an explanation of Agatagary's cost classification:

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:
Sir Hawthorne is a 90 point Knight class unit. He is used to heavily impact your opponent’s units, taking out squad figures and wounding or destroying heroes. You can afford to lose him and still win the game, but you will want him to take out his share of foes before this happens.

To examine Sir Hawthorne’s core stats, we will break them up into two categories—offensive ability and survivability.

Offense:
Sir Hawthorne has an Attack of 4. With his Blind Rage Special Attack he can take on multiple foes at once, although his chance of hitting is reduced to average. His threat range is 6 spaces (Movement of 5 + Range of 1).

Survivability:
Sir Hawthorne’s survivability is good. He has a Life of 6 and a Defense of 4. While he is vulnerable to all powers that affect medium figures, he is not too large and therefore somewhat concealable.

Tournament Readiness: Sir Hawthorne is a fun unit to play, and he even bonds well with certain squads. His point cost makes him viable and leaves room in your army to draft virtually any combination you want. Sir Hawthorne does quite well in support of any strategy. However, it would be a shame to lose a tournament because of a bad roll! His slight chance of turning on you increases as you move from one game to another.

Strategy:
Sir Hawthorne is one of the most enigmatic figures in the game. His point cost is reasonable, his stats are better than average overall, and as a Human Champion he can even be induced to take extra turns...but he can turn on you.

That said, his chance of turning on you is remote. You will do well to play him with the expectation that he won’t turn on you, although this is best done if you keep a contingency plan in play for how to deal with him if he does. We will discuss this at the end of the guide.

Sir Hawthorne’s survivability will allow him to weather many attacks, and your opponent will either have to spend a good deal of effort to bring him down or suffer much at his bloody hands. Send him in like a hellion! Use him early and use him often. His Blind Rage Special Attack will let him hack away at your opponent’s forces, causing disarray and setting up your other units for the kill. He gets an average of 2 strikes per turn with his Blind Rage Special Attack.

Sir Hawthorne can clear crowds of low Defense squad figures with his Blind Rage Special Attack. Against higher Defense squad figures, he still has a good chance of getting a second swipe in the case of a miss on the first try. Against heroes, you will have to use your judgment. Sir Hawthorne’s unmodified normal Attack doesn’t give him any advantage over Blind Rage Special Attack. Don't use his normal Attack unless you get some kind of bonus and his target's Defense is high. If you can boost his Attack to at least 5, however, and his target has a Defense of at least 5, your odds of wounding the target with his normal Attack improve over Blind Rage.

Once you have Sir Hawthorne engaged, he is in his element. If you feel the need to use him against a prime target a short distance away, his Life of 6 will allow him to withstand one or two leaving engagement strikes. Otherwise, use him to chop at whoever is standing closest. Sir Hawthorne seeks the blood of his enemies; don’t deny him! If your enemy won’t engage him, use his Move of 5 to seek out the most important target in range.

Drafted all by himself, Sir Hawthorne is a powerful unit you won’t mind putting order markers on. However, the small chance of his turning and the benefit of Human Champion Bonding almost demand that you draft him with friends. One fine choice are the Knights of Weston he is so famous for betraying. Send him ahead of them and soften the enemy, then bring them up to finish off any units on which he has started. If the enemies Sir Hawthorne has engaged do not have Disengage, he will be able to keep them from running away while the Knights rumble on over in their metal suits. Once in combat they are no slouches themselves with an Attack of 3 and a Defense of 4. If you can back up Sir Hawthorne with these guys, you will have a hatchet crew that can take down anybody. As a bonus, Coward’s Reward will make the enemy think twice about running away from this irresistible force.

The MacDirk Warriors are another interesting choice. They may have chosen another Human Champion for Highland Fury, but they can still take turns with Sir Hawthorne. If you want to try something really creative, have them choose him for Highland Fury! Granted, there is a longshot chance that he will turn on you and they will not be able to attack him. However, his Survivability is high enough that any wounds he takes are likely to stay on his army card long enough for the MacDirk Warriors to benefit from the extra attack dice. Just be sure that if you use him this way you keep him far away from them, causing havoc on the other side of the battlefield. This way, he will accrue his wounds from the scrapes he will get into, but in the event of Stab in the Back, you will have plenty of time to send in someone else to take him out and spare the MacDirk Warriors the ignominy of dying by their beloved Champion’s blade.

With the advent of the Death Knights, Sir Hawthorn sees even more potential for use, being a Relentless Hero. It seems fitting, somehow, that the Black Knight would come over the hill with Death Knights in tow. He is a much more solid tag-along than the Air Elemental, the Dumutef, or Khosumet, and he is a not a unit you will want to protect like Venoc Warlord. The best part is, if he turns on you, the Death Knights will be right at his heels with Soul Weapons and their Defense of 5, plus a relatively moderate price tag, to do the dirty work of removing the turncoat from your organization.

All of this brings us to how to deal with Stab in the Back. The Glyph of Lodin, that lucky 20-sider glyph, is a great boon to you since while you hold it you can take turns with Sir Hawthorne with impunity. If that is not an option, you will need to keep at least one unit on the field as a watcher. That role of that watcher is not to stand idly by, babysitting Sir Hawthorne and taking him out when the bad boy turns really bad. The watcher will be a unit, probably ranged, that will see much use throughout the game, but will be able to stay alive long enough and be near enough to Sir Hawthorne to carry out your assassination orders if necessary. Syvarris is an excellent example, as is Kaemon Awa. These two units can use their superior Ranges to strike across the battlefield while Sir Hawthorne is with you, then instantly turn on him if he turns on you.

Most ranged squads will do as watchers as well; any of the human agents who follow Vydar and the Airborne Elite especially come to mind. Other ranged squads, including the 4th Massachusetts Line, the Arrow Gruts, the Ashigaru Harquebus and Aubrien Archers are only useful in this role if they are on higher ground, preferably in a castle. The Roman Archers can take him out too, but only if you can use their Arrow Volley Special Attack. Dead-eye Dan’s Sniper power is too much of a longshot, and other figures with instant destroy abilities are best deployed elsewhere.

If you are defending a castle, you can place Sir Hawthorne on the ground in front of the castle to attack units that try to approach. This placement puts him in the enemy’s midst where he can wreak great havoc. It also makes it extremely difficult for him to come back to haunt you should you have to give him to your opponent. Unless your opponent can open your castle door, you may not need to take out Sir Hawthorne before time runs out.

Finally, don’t save Sir Hawthorne for the endgame. If he is all or almost all you have left, the effects of Stab in the Back are devastating. You can lose the game on a single, passive roll. Use him early, so that if he does stab you in the back, you can still deal with the loss to your army. Also, if you get him killed before the endgame, he can’t turn on you.

So who gets a turncoat Sir Hawthorne? To whom do you give him? In a two player game, the question is moot. In multi-player games, if you have an opponent who is relying heavily on Disciplined Army Defense or Valiant Army Defense, you can disrupt that by giving Sir Hawthorne to her, making the best of a bad situation. (Just be careful if your valiant opponent has the Knights of Weston who can give Sir Hawthorne immediate turns!) Otherwise, there are two schools of thought. You might consider giving Sir Hawthorne to the weakest player as that player poses less of a threat, especially if Sir Hawthorne is located near someone else's forces and not near your remaining forces. Your other opponent(s) will be the only ones the weak player can attack! You should be able to take Sir Hawthorne out after he serves the function of distracting your stronger opponent. The weak player might even be willing to help you in exchange for keeping him in the game! The other school of thought is to give him to your strongest opponent, causing him to divide his order markers among Sir Hawthorne and his other forces, or to simply leave Sir Hawthorne sitting there, useless.

For what it’s worth, if Sir Hawthorne has left you through Stab in the Back, Mindshackle or Soul Devour, he just might return to you on your opponent’s order marker!

Optional Strategy:
Butchers, Inc.
Ornak’s strategy guide offers suggestions for using Utgar heroes other than the various Orc Champions. Even if you have built a mostly Orc army around Ornak, if you have a large number of points you might consider the duo of Brunak and Sir Hawthorne. You can use Red Flag of Fury Aura to activate Brunak, Carry Sir Hawthorne, then activate Sir Hawthorne. These two share the ability to make multiple attacks. Another companion to Sir Hawthorne in this bloodbath is Deathwalker 8000.

If you wish to eschew Ornak altogether and simply have one other multi-attacker working alongside Sir Hawthorne, consider also Major Q9 and Major Q10.

Units to Avoid:
Braxas, Grimnak, and the Rechets of Bogden: While these units have only an unreliable chance to take out Sir Hawthorne, it isn’t worth the risk if you have a choice. If either Braxas or Grimnak is well-wounded, however, Sir Hawthorne stands an excellent chance of finishing off either.

Shades of Bleakwoode: Their Defense is too high and their numbers too many for Sir Hawthorne to risk engaging them. You might lose him as it is; why increase that risk just to take out one or two of these figures? Throw your squads at them instead.

Kaemon Awa and Major Q10: Unless you can get close to either one quickly, they can really hurt Sir Hawthorne with Quick Release or Wrist Rocket Special Attack. Counterstrike, at least, won't hurt Sir Hawthorne if he uses his special attack. Go after these two only if you have Sir Hawthorne at or near full strength.

For additional information see the Book of Sir Hawthorne

[Ullar rocks 4553]

Very good, very good...
Next time, please choose a figure that most people have, and also the point of these articles are to pick up unused figures, Sir Hawthorne, if you have him, is a formidable foe.
Good way to point out to use a watcher, good idea.

[ThrasherDarkrai]

Very nice article!
However, are you sure your ally counts as an "opponent"?

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Ullar rocks 4553

Very good, very good...
Next time, please choose a figure that most people have, and also the point of these articles are to pick up unused figures, Sir Hawthorne, if you have him, is a formidable foe.
Good way to point out to use a watcher, good idea.

Thanks! And dear gods, you read that fast!

[nerdyninja]

yet another great guide

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Bloody the Marro Stinger

Very nice article!
However, are you sure your ally counts as an "opponent"?

Spare me the pain! In which part of the guide did I make this mistake?

[ThrasherDarkrai]

Originally Posted by Taeblewalker

Under the catagory: Strategy

... Of course, if you play a team game, Stab in the Back is moot. You and your teammate can simply trade Sir Hawthorne back and forth, unless one of you is taken out of the game entirely ...

There you go, Taeblewalker. The part I bolded.





EDIT MALECHI: Edited for ease of finding.

[Malechi]

Nice, quote the entire thing, you're a great help ...

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Bloody the Marro Stinger

There you go, Taeblewalker. The part I bolded.


EDIT MALECHI: Edited for ease of finding.

Right. I blame it on my head cold. Deleted.

EDIT: I fluffed up the section on "Who gets Sir Hawthorne?"

[Sisyphus]

Originally Posted by Taeblewalker

Sir Hawthorne can clear crowds of low Defense squad figures with his Blind Rage Special Attack. Against higher Defense squad figures, he still has a good chance of getting a second swipe in the case of a miss on the first try. Against heroes, you will have to use your judgment. Sir Hawthorne’s unmodified normal Attack doesn’t give him any advantage over Blind Rage Special Attack. If he has at least one extra die from glyphs, height, etc., then his odds of killing heroes with more than 1 Life and high Defense (5 or higher) is at least slightly better than if he uses Blind Rage Special Attack. The take home message – for heroes with a Life of 2 or more, if Sir Hawthorne’s Attack is 5 and the target’s Defense is at least 7, use normal Attack; if his Attack can be boosted as high as 6 and the target’s Defense is at least 5, use normal Attack.

By my calculations, Sir Hawthorne should always use his Blind Range Special against heroes with defense less than 10 (i.e. always) if he doesn't have height advantage. If he does height advantage or some other attack bonus, he should use Blind Range Special against heroes with defense less than 3. Engaged with crowds of squad figures, Sir Hawthorne should always use his Blind Range Special Attack if he does not have height advantage. If he does have height advantage or some other attack bonus, Sir Hawthorne should use his special attack against squads with defense less than 6.

As you correctly observed, Sir Hawthorne will average 2 attacks of 3 per turn if he uses his Blind Rage Special. So what you have to do is compare the advantage of getting in 2 attacks of 3 to getting in 1 attack of 4 or 5. Of course, please correct me if I missed something.

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Sisyphus

By my calculations, Sir Hawthorne should always use his Blind Range Special against heroes with defense less than 10 (i.e. always) if he doesn't have height advantage. If he does height advantage or some other attack bonus, he should use Blind Range Special against heroes with defense less than 3. Engaged with crowds of squad figures, Sir Hawthorne should always use his Blind Range Special Attack if he does not have height advantage. If he does have height advantage or some other attack bonus, Sir Hawthorne should use his special attack against squads with defense less than 6.

As you correctly observed, Sir Hawthorne will average 2 attacks of 3 per turn if he uses his Blind Rage Special. So what you have to do is compare the advantage of getting in 2 attacks of 3 to getting in 1 attack of 4 or 5. Of course, please correct me if I missed something.

I'll recheck the math, but not tonight!

[NecroBlade]

Why is Counter Strike so deadly for Sir Grunge? He has a Special Attack.