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  #6781  
Old March 6th, 2020, 06:42 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

In the firsts posts the link to the Lija Book is missing
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  #6782  
Old March 6th, 2020, 09:53 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeldarck View Post
In the firsts posts the link to the Lija Book is missing
Fixed. Thanks for the heads-up.
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  #6783  
Old March 9th, 2020, 11:08 PM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Beakface Rogue by @wriggz and @Sir Heroscape

I reviewed the Rogue and Archer together before, and enjoyed them as a combo. While it took some convincing for me to get on board with the Archer, I had a much easier time with the Rogue.

The Rogue is unchanged from its previous version, although it loses its synergy with the Archer. The Rogue fits much more neatly into an army with the Sneaks, and has the Brigand synergy web that still works.

2 or 3 Rogues work well as a high-attack strike force for a Sneaks army, with the potential for 6 attack dice from height. That’s also a helpful addition to the Nottingham Brigands, who don’t have an attack option that cheap with that high of an attack potential.

The Rogue is by no means high on the power scale, and would love to be helped out by some version of the Archer, if one is still coming. If not, it makes a thematic option for Sneak or Brigand armies. I vote to induct the Beakface Rogue into the Soldiers of Valhalla.
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  #6784  
Old March 26th, 2020, 08:42 PM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

I'd like to withdraw the Dwarven faction. In the last several months I have reworked them, and I am no longer happy with the version currently submitted, being the version that could be approved. It's not unbalanced, but it's not the best version it could be. I will be resubmitting soon...
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  #6785  
Old March 27th, 2020, 10:03 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Dalmar Stonewall and the Great Axes of Ironstone have been withdrawn by the designer and have been removed from the process.
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  #6786  
Old March 27th, 2020, 03:38 PM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Swaysil by @Maklar the Silver Prince

HeroScape is no stranger to familiar clichés and fantasy tropes, but we’ve never seen a centaur tread the grounds of Valhalla before. Is Swaysil worthy of being the first one, or will she have to return to her Northlands?

BALANCE
Swaysil has an interesting balance: she’s a very swingy unit when played as intended, which is somewhat uncommon in VC. Sometimes she’ll land a devastating Run Down and Point Blank Shot 1 to win the game; sometimes, she’ll just fail spectacularly and outright lose the game. In my testing, I found the temptation of this combo to often be a trap—killing two figures is nice, but not if it gets Swaysil killed prematurely—especially because of her meager 4 life and 2 defense. Ironically, she was most effective by maximizing her distance and avoiding engagements at all costs, only utilizing her abilities as a last resort to avoid getting cornered.

This resulted in some natural comparisons to Me-Burq-Sa. He’s obviously an exceptional figure, but Swaysil is essentially him without bonding, slightly worse durability, no Paralyzing Stare, and improved offensive power in close quarters. Given that she won’t last long in those close quarters anyway, she manages to avoid overshadowing Me-Burq-Sa and instead exists as an alternative. If anything, I find that Me-Burq-Sa is generally the better choice, but she’s unique enough to carve out her own niche.

Overall, I found Swaysil to be well-balanced, even if she often fell on the lower end of the power curve in my tests. Much like Me-Burq-Sa, she certainly still has plenty of devastating potential in her ideal clean-up scenarios, aided by Point Blank Shot and the potential for a double kill.

THEME
Swaysil has a perfectly serviceable theme. She’s a fast archer with very aggressive stats and powers. She is also surprisingly weak for a centaur, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. I do feel like there’s a better personality out there than Bold, though—especially since both of her powers encourage a reckless playstyle and are most effectively used cautiously. Bold certainly works, but it doesn’t add a ton of flavor there.

These are all relatively minor qualms, though. Her theme is fitting to the character and there’s nothing really wrong with it.

CREATIVITY
Swaysil takes the niche of a Me-Burq-Sa without bonding and twists it into something more aggressive and swingier. It’s a neat take on a centaur while still fitting many of the fantasy tropes common in HeroScape.

The true creativity of the design comes from pairing Run Down with Point Blank Shot 1, though, which creates a fun tension. A failed Run Down essentially removes both bonuses from play and leaves Swaysil in an incredibly dangerous position, but if it works, it can set up a great shot afterwards. Her low durability exacerbates this point, as she often falls after a single poor turn. Overall, I thought that Swaysil is a creative addition to the game that doesn’t detract from any of the other units.

PLAYABILITY
Swaysil may not be reliable enough to truly upset the balance of the game, but she’s far from unusable. After a bad string of initial games where she failed to make an impact, I was concerned that she might disappoint too frequently, but it quickly became clear that playing her more carefully (mostly using Run Down as a Hail Mary to get out of a bad situation) was far more effective and gave her a decent chance of making a sizable impact.

She obviously benefits a lot from being saved for the endgame, when the opposing forces are limited and scattered. Against melee, she can kite for a decent time while taking potshots, but Me-Burq-Sa already does this (and better, too, thanks to his Paralyzing Stare). Even in these scenarios, she’s far from overwhelming and can be cornered with smart play.

Swaysil doesn’t really have any synergies of note, but that could certainly change in the future if more suitable centaur sculpts are found. In that case, she is an easy addition to any potential faction, providing a solid first step while keeping the design space open.

SUMMARY
Swaysil doesn’t set the game on fire, but she still exists as an interesting new clean-up option. If more centaurs are designed down the line, then she’ll fit right in to any potential army with her risky playstyle. Ultimately, she was a pleasure to play with, and I look forward to more games with her.

I vote to induct Swaysil into the Soldiers of Valhalla.
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  #6787  
Old March 28th, 2020, 09:52 PM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

After some consideration, I'd like to withdraw Agrith-Naar. I've made a slight - but significant - change to the design and will need a little time to iron it out before resubmitting. For those interested, I'll be posting his card in the Pre-SoV and then moving on to my own playtesting.

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  #6788  
Old March 30th, 2020, 09:50 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Agrith-Naar has been withdrawn by the creator and is removed from the process.
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  #6789  
Old April 3rd, 2020, 12:23 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Hmm, two units withdrawn for redesign within less than a month of each other. Are designers giving their designs enough time to cook before submitting them? A question to ask yourself before submitting a design, I think.

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  #6790  
Old April 3rd, 2020, 10:05 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by capsocrates View Post
Hmm, two units withdrawn for redesign within less than a month of each other. Are designers giving their designs enough time to cook before submitting them? A question to ask yourself before submitting a design, I think.
Leaf_It withdrew the Dwarves based on the feedback in my review, and Sir Heroscape withdrew his due to feedback I gave him privately as I am unable to post my review of Agrith-Naar at this time (due to reasons...).
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  #6791  
Old April 6th, 2020, 11:48 PM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

To be fair, Bigga also gave me feedback privately from his playtests, just before I withdrew, so it wasn't entirely based on your review.
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  #6792  
Old April 8th, 2020, 01:38 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Kate Crawford by @Pumpkin_King

We all know and respect the gunslingers as having the fastest hands in the West, but guns weren't all they were good at. They were also excellent at washing their hands. So be cool like the gunslingers and wash your hands too, kids.

Balance

Kate Crawford is a sort of jack of all trades and master of none type of unit. This means that with all the tools in her arsenal, there are several comparisons that can be drawn across other figures, but none of those comparisons solidly define Kate’s balance without further context.

The first comparison to draw is Guilty, a fellow Lawman with a multi-attack who costs 10 points less than Kate. While Kate’s survivability is better with 4 life and Tenacity, Guilty has stronger offensive power with a 7 range double attack, whereas Kate only gets one attack at 7 range and 3 attacks at 5 range at one figure unbooosted by height (lots of conditions making Guilty’s simple Double Attack more desirable). Kate is more likely to survive, but Guilty is more likely to deal damage.

Another similar Wild West figure is Josie Whistlestop, who also sports 3 attacks at 5 range. Again, Josie’s offensive output is much higher than Kate’s, as she can be boosted by height and target multiple figures. However, Kate’s triple attack is a Special Attack, which can ignore some powers, and their survivability is pretty close. Balance here is a close call especially since Josie is 30 points more than Kate, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that while Kate’s 7 range normal and Special Attack give her more tricks, Josie is more likely to actually do a decent amount of damage while she’s around.

There’s also a comparison to be made with Patrick Ferguson, who has the same range, slightly better survivability, and is limited to targeting one figure per turn. Patrick can hit harder with Deadly Shot, but is missing the Special Attack that Kate has. Again, Kate’s toolkit keeps a straight comparison from being entirely fruitful, but the comparison to Patrick of only being able to attack one figure at a time seems to be close, though she trades survivability for the option to utilize a Special Attack.

Honestly, I could go on for a while with comparisons, since she’s also similar to Seleena (same range, more fragile but has 1 shield blocks all, and gets +1 attack against adjacent figures instead of the Special Attack), Kira Jax (same range, more attack, lower survivability, able to negate powers like a Special Attack can), Wyrmlings (bonding common heroes again makes it difficult, but they also have a Special Attack that is usually stronger offensively), and even Siiv (melee, lower life/higher defense, but also a Special Attack that’s stronger than Kate’s). In the end, though, these comparisons seem to be putting Kate in the arena of the balanced — she usually has more tricks than the other figures, but is worse at each one overall.

Theme

Probably the best thing about Kate Crawford is how much theme is squeezed into such a simple card. She clearly portrays the Wild West gunslinger that she’s meant to portray. She’s got the basic stats common to a gunslinger, but Fan the Hammer Special Attack brings in an element of desperately trying to gun down an enemy that enhances her character. Tenacity also does well in bringing out her character, helping her fit the trope of a gunslinger who powers on after taking a hit or two, hanging in there long enough to get off another round and (hopefully!) win the day. The Bold personality is just icing on the cake here.

Even the mini does a good job of carrying the theme on the card. I was dubious about the mini during the nomination process and wasn’t really sold on it until I got it in person. The ready-to-fight pose that Kate has helps to sell the theme of a gunslinger ready to do what it takes to win, fitting her special powers. I was really surprised at how well the mini looks and works with this theme on the battlefield.

Creativity

The creativity of Kate Crawford is the toughest hurdle for her, in my opinion. The powers are certainly new and creative, but her role in an army gave me hesitation. Though there is merit in the jack of all trades/master of none trope, I don’t find it particularly inspiring and was concerned by just how many figures are doing a similar job as Kate (or, rather, that Kate is doing the same job as). This was compounded by the fact that all of these figures are filler, which means that when drafting an army you’re usually looking for something to cover your weaknesses. If trying to do a theme-based army, Guilty is a Lawman at the same point range who you can easily slide into a cowboy army. There’s merit to the mindset of “but I want allllll of them,” but that mindset alone won’t pass a figure into SoV canon.

This made me worried that even if Kate was thematic and balanced, she would get lost at the bottom of the bin as other figures were chosen over her. This is particularly a concern for me in the increasingly crowded design space of filler units. On the bright side, in my early brainstorming I was able to theoryscape armies her toolkit could fit into, but whether she would be dynamic enough on the battlefield to warrant that inclusion would be seen later in our favorite section:

Playability

Kate Crawford does a few things really well on the battlefield. First off, I have to throw back to the theme section to reiterate just how great she is thematically. She takes long shots when needed, fans the hammer when cornered, and after taking a hit or two grits her teeth and pushes through the pain to keep with the fight. Games I played with her were akin to telling a story in addition to the tactical implications, which is something I love to experience with Heroscape.

Next, Kate takes her jack of all trades role and really owns it. She adds a lot of versatility to an army and allows for a good amount of decision-making. 7 range allows her to be used to kite figures and pull them out of hiding spots without too much chance for counterattack, and her Special Attack, while only able to target one figure per turn, allows her a decent chance of wounding a hero or killing a squad figure that you need a Special Attack to really hurt. While she’s naturally more suited to endgame cleanup, her survivability also makes her decent to use at almost any point of the game — she won’t win any early- or mid-game skirmishes, but has enough range and toughness to be able to get a first strike and interrupt the development of your opponent’s figures.

With the versatility that Kate brings to an army, she ends up having a lot to offer as a filler unit, despite my reservations of there being more specialized units. Her firepower is definitely lacking compared to other units, but the arsenal of tricks up her sleeve never had me thinking “if only I had [insert other figure name here] instead,” but rather “how can I use her abilities to my advantage this game?” Each game was a different experience in trying to maximize the various ways to get value out of Kate. This, coupled with her excellent theme, ended up with Kate adding more to general gameplay than the usual filler, even when she didn’t always carry out a job as well as another figure might have.

Summary

Despite my concern about fitting into the design space, Kate turns out to be an excellent addition to an army that she’s drafted in. She offers dynamic and interactive gameplay, with a strong theme that really knocks it out of the park.

I vote Yea to induct Kate Crawford into the Soldiers of Valhalla.

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