Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Super Bogue]

This wyrmling doesn't even have Wyrmling Bonding.

[Elginb]

What's interesting about the lack of Wyrmling bonding on the card is that it can still be the recipiant of the bonding, it just can't be the initiator-- that would make for some interesting order marker placement (though it could just be confusing).

If the availability of the sculpt is low, then I'll have to vote no with the other guys. I also think the card could be touched up considerably, so again, I vote no to review the Green Wyrmling.

[Killometer]

The Green Wyrmling lacks Wyrmling Bonding, one of the key unifying features of the Wyrmlings. I'm also a little concerned about the strength of this interpretation of Fledgling Counterstrike when facing small and medium heroes. I vote NO to review Green Wyrmling by chief.

chief's Green Wyrmling has received 3 NO votes to review (Dad_Scaper, Killometer, ZBeeblebrox) and is removed from the process.

[dok]

Originally Posted by Elginb

What's interesting about the lack of Wyrmling bonding on the card is that it can still be the recipiant of the bonding, it just can't be the initiator-- that would make for some interesting order marker placement (though it could just be confusing).

Huh. Interesting. This does go some ways towards mitigating their value as filler in a 4th Mass army, too. I'm not sure I like it on the balance, but it's definitely interesting.

I do prefer 4A/4D to 3A/5D with the GreenW. It seems easier to balance.

[robbdaman]

There are actually 60+ of the Bronze Wyrmling just listed on abprices, include ebay and other sources and there really should be plenty. Still I would prefer killercactus update his version with nyys's changes for resubmission, not that my opinion matters.

[nyys]

Yeah, I don't recall availability being one of the issues with KC's submission, though maybe price was a little on the high side.

It was how powerful the Green Wyrmling got once you piled on all the bonuses. One particular play-test I ran had 5-6 Green Wyrmlings (with Raelin) annihilate a Knight army before any of the 4th got an OM. A slightly toned down version I think would do the trick and be a perfect match into the Wyrmling brotherhood.

[personwholives]

So that makes the real question of interest here "why hasn't KC tweaked his version and resubmitted it?" Anyone know? Did he make the original submission, or did someone else do it for him?

[Dad_Scaper]

The first two posts of this thread are unbelievably well indexed by Killometer, our faithful leader.

KC did not nominate his own creation. I don't remember who did but you can find that and anything else, including who voted what and where, just by clicking around in those first posts.

[personwholives]

And that's what I get for asking a stupid question without reading the OP recently.

Thanks DS.

[caps]

Originally Posted by personwholives

So that makes the real question of interest here "why hasn't KC tweaked his version and resubmitted it?" Anyone know? Did he make the original submission, or did someone else do it for him?

You should check out KC's customs thread if you have any suggestions. Better yet, playtest it and offer him some feedback.

[nyys]

Priscus by Filthy the Clown

Game Play
Priscus offers a very nice alternate option when building a Gladiator Army. I found that he was usually a better option than Retarius, but will never outclass Crixus.

Taste of Freedom makes him a sort of mini-Spartacus, giving adjacent Gladiators an extra attack die, and his Grapple Special Attack I found to be very useful in taking down low defense units.

With Priscus as an option there were some very interesting army build considerations to make. Immediately I thought to include both Priscus and Spartacus in the same army (albeit a high point game) in order to double up on the attack bonuses. Add in height to that mix and the Steam Roller now becomes a wrecking machine... in theory. This is where I think a very smart design decision was made for Taste of Freedom. In order for it to work Priscus must have at least one order marker on him, but the same goes for Spartacus as well in order to give his bonuses. What it means is that one of them will have to have at least one numbered order marker on his card, which in turn takes it away from the Capuans and really messes with that strategy. Any concern over Priscus making the Caps too powerful was extinguished very quickly.

I found the best builds for Priscus were the ones that did not include Spartacus, but did include an extra squad of Capuans with the point savings.

Outside of a Gladiator build I didn't find much use for Priscus. I'm big on themed armies, so that was a big reason why. But also I don't see why I would allow him to eat my order markers when there are better options IMO.


Cost
I think I would have liked to see Priscus priced at 90pts just to keep him in line with the other non-Sparty Gladiator heroes, but it's not a big deal.

As I mentioned above, if you have Priscus in your army, you probably don't have Spartacus, which allows for more Capuans to be included. Definitely not a bad thing.

The lure is definitely there to try and double up the attack bonuses, but I think there are too many moving parts to make it work effectively making his current cost pretty much right on target.


Model
The model I was very iffy on when I first saw the nomination, I wasn't sure he quite captured the Gladiator feel. I proxied Priscus in my playtesting, but as I started leaning towards a final vote I decide to pick up the figure. After rebasing him, wow, the transition is seamless. The sculpt absolutely works with the rest of the Glads.


Availability
Availability isn't so great at the moment. A quick check of ABprices.com shows that it's actually crazy low right now. At the time of nomination there were enough to go around (relatively speaking) and I think I have to use that information since this unit has been sitting in a review status for quite some time. Giving it a knock on rarity at this time I feel wouldn't be fair.

As for the price, I think the most I saw it for was $3 (and as low as $1.50), which is fair IMO.


Conclusion
I went back and forth on Priscus with my vote for a while. I wrestled with wanting more consistency with the other non-Sparty heroes (like the points and normal attack dice, though they all do have an ability that affects defense) and at the same time knowing this is absolutely a solid unit and meshes in with Scape very well.

The tipping factor was the figure, which is why, for me, the last step in the process when I am leaning towards a yes or teetering, is to acquire the figure and see how well it fits. As I said above, once rebased you can't tell it's not a Scape figure if you didn't know better.

I vote YES to induct Priscus into the SoV.

[The CEE]

I received my order for four squads of Zettian infantry today. I'm hoping that this particular unit achieves SoV status. Keep up the great work SoV!