Unit Strategy Review: How to use Sir Hawthorne

[Revdyer]

Very nicely done, Taeblewalker. A lot of us have Hawthornes or substitute a "someday I'm going to paint this guy" knight in for him and enjoy playing with him as a "fun" choice. You've given us reasons to think about him as a serious game choice.

[Ullar rocks 4553]

Who's the other Utgarian human?
Don't kill me for this, I'm all into Wave 8 now, not 1-7.

[Matthias Maccabeus]

Nice article.

The knight that actually disgraces chivalry.

[Revdyer]

Originally Posted by Matthias Maccabeus

Nice article.

The knight that actually disgraces chivalry.

You've got to conclude that it wasn't just Jerry Hawthorne who inspired this figure, but also the Black Knight from Monty Python's Holy Grail.

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Ullar rocks 4553

Who's the other Utgarian human?
Don't kill me for this, I'm all into Wave 8 now, not 1-7.

Isamu.

Originally Posted by Revdyer

Very nicely done, Taeblewalker. A lot of us have Hawthornes or substitute a "someday I'm going to paint this guy" knight in for him and enjoy playing with him as a "fun" choice. You've given us reasons to think about him as a serious game choice.

Thanks! I had a lot of help.

[ArcturusII]

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.

Can you print your math? I have somewhat different findings. EDIT: Never mind... I have the same findings after all.

For squads and 1-life heroes, I used this chart (which represents the probability of scoring at least one wound):

Defense | Attack 3 | Attack 4 | Attack 5 |
------------------------------------------
    3   |  50.93%  |  65.51%  |  76.62%  |
    4   |  40.74%  |  55.56%  |  67.94%  | 
    5   |  32.10%  |  46.30%  |  59.18%  |
    6   |  24.97%  |  38.00%  |  50.74%  |
    7   |  19.20%  |  30.77%  |  42.88%  | 
    8   |  14.63%  |  24.63%  |  35.77%  | 
    9   |  11.06%  |  19.51%  |  29.50%  |

Assuming you have a bonus die (Attack 5), you should still be using Blind Rage all the way up to Defense 5, and switch to your normal attack only if your opponent has Defense 6 or greater.

===================

Now, for heroes with 2 life or more, it gets a little squirrely. The problem is that the calculation of "average damage per attack" changes based on how much life the victim has remaining, since a figure with 2 life can't take more than 2 wounds, and so on. If your opponent has 4 or more life remaining, then you are correct: a normal attack of 5 is superior to Blind Rage against a Defense of 3. However, if your opponent has exactly 3 life, the threshold becomes 4 Defense, and if your opponent has exactly 2 life, then it's 5 Defense.

However, I see that it's a royal pain to remember all of these numbers, so I suppose it's a good "rule of thumb" to use your normal attack against heroes with Defense 3 or better, if you have an attack bonus.

===================

So, umm... yeah. What Sysiphus said. (Apologies to Taeblewalker, since I supplied him with faulty calculations...)

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by ArcturusII

Can you print your math? I have somewhat different findings. EDIT: Never mind... I have the same findings after all.

For squads and 1-life heroes, I used this chart (which represents the probability of scoring at least one wound):

Defense | Attack 3 | Attack 4 | Attack 5 |
------------------------------------------
    3   |  50.93%  |  65.51%  |  76.62%  |
    4   |  40.74%  |  55.56%  |  67.94%  | 
    5   |  32.10%  |  46.30%  |  59.18%  |
    6   |  24.97%  |  38.00%  |  50.74%  |
    7   |  19.20%  |  30.77%  |  42.88%  | 
    8   |  14.63%  |  24.63%  |  35.77%  | 
    9   |  11.06%  |  19.51%  |  29.50%  |

Assuming you have a bonus die (Attack 5), you should still be using Blind Rage all the way up to Defense 5, and switch to your normal attack only if your opponent has Defense 6 or greater.

===================

Now, for heroes with 2 life or more, it gets a little squirrely. The problem is that the calculation of "average damage per attack" changes based on how much life the victim has remaining, since a figure with 2 life can't take more than 2 wounds, and so on. If your opponent has 4 or more life remaining, then you are correct: a normal attack of 5 is superior to Blind Rage against a Defense of 3. However, if your opponent has exactly 3 life, the threshold becomes 4 Defense, and if your opponent has exactly 2 life, then it's 5 Defense.

However, I see that it's a royal pain to remember all of these numbers, so I suppose it's a good "rule of thumb" to use your normal attack against heroes with Defense 3 or better, if you have an attack bonus.

===================

So, umm... yeah. What Sysiphus said. (Apologies to Taeblewalker, since I supplied him with faulty calculations...)

I made a very simple edit. Any objections? On the up side, now the rest of the world gets an insight into how we bang our heads trying to get these written.

[jcb231]

In the "Offense" section you mis-label his special attack.

Good article. I think that Hawthorne is one of those no-brainer sorts of figures to use, like Krug of 4th Mass, but you still managed to point out someinteresting tidbits. Namely the strategy behind who to give him to when he turns. I agree with your logic....I also suggest giving him to a player that has only one card left, if there is such a losing player in your game. That way the losing player will likely need to take frequent turns with Hawthorne, giving more chances for him to turn. A strong player with lots of options might only have to use him once (and certainly doesn't deserve more help!)...a weak one will need to take five or six or more turns with him sometimes, if he's all they have, and will be obliged to you. He might just come back to you should he turn on the losing player.

Using Hawthorne to disrupt a Valiant or Disciplined army is a great option. I'd caution against giving him to an opponent with lots of Human Champion bonders though...something that might be in that Valiant army (Knights of Weston). If your opponent has a lot of Knights and has order markers on them, they will INSTANTLY be able to take a turn with Hawthorne. Hawth will likely be in a bad place for you (ie near your troops, at height advantage, etc) just after the turn, so they may be able to do serious damage right out the gate, catching you with your Heroscape pants down.

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by jcb231

In the "Offense" section you mis-label his special attack.

Good article. I think that Hawthorne is one of those no-brainer sorts of figures to use, like Krug of 4th Mass, but you still managed to point out someinteresting tidbits. Namely the strategy behind who to give him to when he turns. I agree with your logic....I also suggest giving him to a player that has only one card left, if there is such a losing player in your game. That way the losing player will likely need to take frequent turns with Hawthorne, giving more chances for him to turn. A strong player with lots of options might only have to use him once (and certainly doesn't deserve more help!)...a weak one will need to take five or six or more turns with him sometimes, if he's all they have, and will be obliged to you. He might just come back to you should he turn on the losing player.

Using Hawthorne to disrupt a Valiant or Disciplined army is a great option. I'd caution against giving him to an opponent with lots of Human Champion bonders though...something that might be in that Valiant army (Knights of Weston). If your opponent has a lot of Knights and has order markers on them, they will INSTANTLY be able to take a turn with Hawthorne. Hawth will likely be in a bad place for you (ie near your troops, at height advantage, etc) just after the turn, so they may be able to do serious damage right out the gate, catching you with your Heroscape pants down.

Fixed Offense section; added note about Knights. Thanks!

[Taeblewalker]

I made a few edits, fixing some typos and a glitch or two. It should read more smoothly now.

[Taeblewalker]

I added a Tournament Readiness section.

[Sherman Davies]

Can an admin please fix the typo in this thread's title? I like the Books and Unit Strategy Reviews enough that I like the threads to be as perfect as they can be.