Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Dysole]

Nothing glaring jumps at me about Aggy Nathy. to continue in the process.

~Dysole, unsure how good the figure will end up

[vegietarian18]

To be honest I have a little concern with adding a flying and bonding 5 attack Whirlwind Figure to the game. Classic does have Ogre Warhulk, but his Whirlwind is not a guarantee and it hits friendly figures too.

I think overall VC has not been restrained enough with Whirlwind powers, which isn't the fault of this design, but it's the world it lives in. Classic Scape had Monks and Swarm Raelin and kind of Quasatch, all of whom are not very good. VC has made the Monks much better, and added very solid Whirlwind figures like Kuthnak and Azazel and even Viceron.

Whirlwind is a very scary mechanic that constantly defines how your opponent plays the game. Especially a high attack Whirlwind like this. If the design was doing other special things I think I'd be more okay with it, but the new Starved effects gameplay even less, it's basically just a flavor negative power like Fire Elemental Negative Element. Mechanically all the card is doing is Whirlwind, which for the reasons I've laid out here is not my favorite mechanic.

[Scytale]

Nordlung has received 5 Yea votes to review (wriggz, Scytale, superfrog, Vydar_XLIII, and Dysole) and moves forward in the process.

[Scytale]

I like the changes to Agrith-Naar. to review.

[superfrog]

I personally think the A-N card scans as more than just whirlwind. Like yes, in general you do take the big whirlwinds with Woo etc. if you can get them, but I find a lot of playing those figures is choosing the moment to full send. My theoryscaping says that it’s dangerous to not full send A-N, and it’s obviously dangerous to full send him as well. Plenty of potential for risk management.

to review

[Vydar_XLIII]

Rujin by Sir Heroscape

Creativity
‘Scape has a few trolls by now. It has Feral Trolls, Ice Trolls, and a Krug troll. Rujin is decidedly different. He isn’t a D&D troll; he isn’t a Pathfinder troll; and he isn’t a troll straight out of Norse mythology. He is a Swamp Troll that feels unique while keeping enough of the “trollishness” for him to feel right. There is some part of me that wishes the Valhallan troll leaned heavier into real-world Scandinavian mythology, but Norse Valhalla isn’t necessarily HeroScape’s Valhalla so I can set that personal wish aside.


Theme
The common thread that runs through most or all the existing Trolls is a power that increases its attack output and (for the D&D trolls) a power that heals wounds. Through Territorial and Devour, Rujin hits the “troll checkboxes” while doing them in his own way. Eating enemies instead of regenerating and swamp strength instead of a wound or frenzy mechanic. There is more than enough room in canon for Rujin without him stepping on the toes of the other trolls.

Devour is a power that really suits the miniature. The massive jaws and massive stomach really portray this troll as a man-eater and a savage. Thick Skin is interesting. At first glance, the card reads as 3 Defense most of the time and the miniature doesn’t look to have thicker skin than any of the other trolls. Upon deeper reflection, it serves a bigger thematic purpose. Thick Skin, together with Territorial, really sells the relationship with the Durgeth Ravagers. They both mechanically benefit from swamp terrain, and they are both weak to Special Attacks. I’ll address the gameplay effects of this similarity later, but I love the mechanical parallels between these two units.

I have one nit-pick about the power names. Territorial seems like a generic name for a terrain-specific power. Units in the future could want the same effect relating it to a different type of terrain. I would prefer a different name that is less generic.


Balance
I’ve addressed Rujin’s relationship to the other trolls thematically, and while they are a good comparison in that respect, here not so much. When assessing Rujin’s balance, the other trolls barely came up. Rujin is in entirely different synergy webs. The only circumstances where they are comparable are when solo, where Rujin doesn’t match the power of other high-tier 120 point units; or in an Ornak Army, in which Rujin honestly doesn’t have a place for the same reasons. I think I’d want Krug or a Hydra every time.

The real balance comparisons are within the Durgeth Ravager’s synergy web and are of a similar cost to Rujin; the other Savage heroes Uzog and Pel. For simplicity, see the chart below.

Overall, all 3 of them are fairly evenly matched in terms of raw stats. Rujin is notably more maneuverable and has more life than the other two but is weaker outside Swamp and vulnerable to Special Attacks. As a terrain-specific unit that should be priced based on its play in its favored terrain, I think pricing Rujin just above Uzog is about right.


Playability
As I’ve said already, Rujin doesn’t have much use on his own. Especially outside of the swamp. If I wanted a Defender unit weak to Special Attacks, I’d go with 3 squads of Deathreavers. If I wanted a big attacker, I’d choose Krug, Kaemon, or a Hydra. His niche is as the new best option for the Durgeth Ravager’s Savage Cry. The primary use of the Savage heroes is as a 4th big attack on the Durgeth’s turn if it can be triggered. Pel and Uzog both have hindering abilities that prevent them from moving and therefore prevents the player from attacking optimal targets. Rujin has no such downside and has life enough to spare a few leaving engagement attacks to get to the more… delicious… targets. I’ve found the most consistent army core to be Rujin, Olog (as a cheap utility piece), and 3-4 squads of Ravagers.

Rujin sharing the strengths and weaknesses of the squad that he will most often be played with makes the faction even better in the swamp and even worse against special attacks. He has the effect of making the faction more powerful overall while also increasing its matchup dependance. They can plow through melee units of similar power ranking such as Nhah Scirh, Shieldsmiths, and Honor Guard. And Rujin betters the range matchup by providing a meat-shield to soak damage while the Ravagers advance. But as soon they go up against a special attacker that can be moderately well protected, they struggle a lot.

Once I discovered that Rujin would be the obvious first choice for the Ravager’s pseudo-bonding, I began to worry that the other 2 main options might become overshadowed and power-crept out of playability. Uzog still has offensive utility enough to leave him his niche in the Durgeth army. But everything Pel could do alongside Uzog is now done better by Rujin. Normally, I’d have a problem with a new unit completely outclassing an existing one in an army. But because Pel is in several other synergy webs, is a fairly decent option for the Dreadguls, and as it stands, a pretty bad pick for the Durgeth overall, I have concluded that this particular instance is not a problem.


Summary
I like how Rujin was designed to be a different kind of troll than the ones HeroScape already has. Sir Heroscape did a really great job designing a unit that really fits the powers together with the miniature. Rujin fits in with the Durgeth Ravagers both thematically and mechanically and ends up being quite a boon to the faction.

I vote YEA to induct Rujin into the SoV. Well done, @Sir Heroscape !

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And I just want to say, as an aside, that I really wish Uzog and Olog’s names weren’t so similar to each other. I can’t count the number of times I typed the wrong name while writing this.

[Knox]

Hooray for Rujin! Super excited.

[Knox]

Originally Posted by wriggz

With 6 life, 3 defence and a wound every turn without a kill, it seems like A-N would go down fast even with being summoned up map with the acolytes.

I love everything about the design except how squishy he seems and that there are hero heavy matchups where he seems like he would get wreaked. 5 move even with flying seems like it would limit options and being tied down with a stout hero would force leaving engagement if you want to target weaker commons or go for whirlwind strike before his life timer runs out.

This is all theroy at this time, and I trust Sir H to have playtested, so I'm happy to vote up to review.

A figure that wrecks common squads and struggles against all heroes is not a bad thing for "squadscape"

[Shiftrex]

I've played with Rujin a lot, excited to see a great review on him ^^

[NecroBlade]

Originally Posted by Vydar_XLIII

I have one nit-pick about the power names. Territorial seems like a generic name for a terrain-specific power. Units in the future could want the same effect relating it to a different type of terrain. I would prefer a different name that is less generic.

This needs emphasis. It's a very-reusable power for other terrain type, so just generic "Territorial" shouldn't be tied to swamp.

[Dysole]

WHAT ARE YA DOIN IN MY SWAMP?

~Dysole, who couldn't resist

[Vydar_XLIII]

Originally Posted by NecroBlade

This needs emphasis. It's a very-reusable power for other terrain type, so just generic "Territorial" shouldn't be tied to swamp.

I brought this up to a few of the other judges privately prior to my publishing my review. I will bring it up prior to the final fanscape vote.