The Book of Syvarris

[Einar's puppy]

Syvaris always gets his points back for me. (range with 3 attack is good, but when you factor in double attack it is great! Dead Eye Dan is the only character who can out-range him, without a glyph/Laglor boost. For me, he almost always has hight and can wreck a battlefeild.At 100 points he isn't that big of an investment either. My freinds and I usually play 800-1000 point games so he is really cheep. Even in the 500 point games we sometimes play he does well.

[MKSentinel]

Originally Posted by NFCfan

the secret to the zettians is that their attack and range are only slightly below syv, they have the same amount of attacks, have more than double his defense combined with soulborg immunities, and cost 30 points less

Let's also not forget that he is a HERO which protects him from more stuff than the Zettians. AND he has multiple lives...so he can get killed more than they can AND he doesn't lose an attack if he loses a life (Zettian dies and you don't get his attack). He smokes those little loser droids.

Fred

[syvarris0]

How's this army:
syvarris-100
Marro Stingers-120
Sonlen-160
Izumi Samurai-60
Shiori-60

[NecroBlade]

Not the most competitive army, but definitely should be solid and fun.

[syvarris0]

You send Syvarris out in early game and take out his sleeping rangedd figures and moving back to your start zone while he advances.when you get behind the front line charde with stingers&samurai.sonlen and Syvarris are ranged support,Shiori melee/ranged.After the big battle send Sonlen to clean up.

[Hexbringer]

This is an army I'm going to bring to a tournament.

Q10-150
Syvarris-250
Theracus-290
Krav Maga-390
Raelin-470
Eldgrim-500

This army playtests extremly well all because Syvarris gets height advantage right off the bat and can outrange everyone with his 9 range. Theracus works the best with this guy. Very much worth his 40 points.

[DualReaver]

One of my friends got really annoyed with me during a game becuase of Syvarris. I had the castle, and was high enough to get 2 extra dice. He took Nilfheim up to the top and started attacking me. Both figures were untouched in terms of damage, but Syvarris took 2 damage from the attack. I didn't really need him anymore, since my army was retreating from the castle, so I jumped him over the side of the castle.

Magic.

He lived. And then I decided to attack, and I managed to destroy 2 Marro Stingers that were approaching my retreating army.

In the end, Syvarris managed to continue running away, and eventually he shot down the dragon. Now my friend calls Syvarris the chicken whenever I pick him.
Chicken or not, he rocks.

[mccombju]

Originally Posted by Jexik

Although I posted that only 11 days after my first game of Heroscape, I still feel that way. Syvarris almost never sees our table. KMA and AE are better for their points, and they came in the same set. Theracus+Syvarris is the same number of points as two squads of 4th Mass, or Kaemon Awa+Marcu, or KMA+rats, or AE+Guilty, etc... I think Syvarris is weak.

Also, I hardly ever play with castles.

I'm not going to try and convince you that Syvarris is the greatest unit or that he is better than the Krav or the AE.

However, I will say that he can kill entire armies by himself (with proper support and height), and I will say that his role differs considerably from the Krav and AE even though they share the ~same point value.

Since I'm not writing a Krav strategy guide, I will simply state that they have more mobility and greater durability against attacks (damage dealing) independent of support figures than does Syvarris, based upon their stealth dodge and move 6. The general consensus is that they are superior to Syvarris. They are also a very popular unit choice, so most opponents will anticipate facing/countering the Krav when building or drafting an army. They are also unique squad figures, which makes them vulnerable to auto-wound (i.e. Marro Plague) or auto-kill abilities (i.e. Braxas d20 > 8 ). In contrast Syvarris has low defense but moderate life, so he can withstand an auto-wound or low attacks. Likewise, Syvarris can disengage when it serves him. With the Krav, disengagement is a greater gamble. In other words, he's a different kind of animal. He's a hero who will fall to sustained fire, and his greatest virtue is his superior range of 9 matched with his respectable offensive firepower of 2x 4 from height.

The AE are such radically different units that I hardly think the comparison is valid. I love the AE. That being said, they are (obviously) unpredictable when they will join the battle. Syvarris is not. Order markers from the very first round of the game can be spent maneuvring him into position and supporting him. Syvarris will never appear in an enemy's start zone on order marker 1 of the first round and ruin an opponent's chances single-handedly. He will, however, consistently and reliably position himself at the start of any game. The AE have broken games open for me when I had conceded strategic board position and it seemed like there was no hope. They are all-stars. They are shock troopers. They are, once again, squad figures with vulnerabilities based on having one life point. They are unpredictable. Syvarris is consistent and reliable.

When you compare Syvarris' point cost to 2x 4th Mass., you are overlooking the tactical advantage of two attacks of 4 from height at 9 range. This kind of firepower can force an opponent to come to you and reduce approaching/attacking squads like the 4th Mass to less than a full squad's power when attacking (i.e. no Wait Then Fire; loss of squad members). This is where Syvarris really shines: in taking the first shot(s) and in providing support to melee units as they advance/screen for him.

Perhaps some anecdotal evidence will help to illustrate my point and provide justification for using Syvarris.

The first one-on-one game of Heroscape I played (as a new player vs. an experienced one) consisted of the following army:

Syvarris - 100
Theracus - 40
Zetacron - 60
Zombies x2 - 120
Raelin - 80

I was facing Mimring, Kaemon Awa, and the Tarn Vikings (plus something else - I can't remember) in a 400 point game. Order marker 1: Raelin is placed behind a strategic hill so that she can see the top (she takes fire from an aggressive Mimring). Order marker 2: Theracus flies Syvarris to the highest point within Raelin's aura (Raelin gets shot by Kaemon Awa). At this point, most of my turns were spent unloading upon Mimring and the approaching Kaemon Awa. Raelin was reduced to one life before Awa fell, and meanwhile Syvarris and Theracus brushed off attacks by Mimring. Raelin died and so Theracus retreated Syvarris back to my starting zone. Mimring engaged Syvarris and was thus swarmed by zombies enabling Syvarris to disengage and finish the dragon off. The game ended with a zombie vs. Tarn Viking battle. Svyarris was still alive and well, albeit wounded.

More recently, Syvarris has proved his worth in similar army setups. I find his value improves dramatically with the support of Raelin on height (this is when his 4 life becomes a true asset). From here Syvarris can provide wonderful cover fire for advancing melee armies (especially zombies) while staying safely out of reach (or at least able to return fire).

Now, having said all this, I'll be the first one to suggest that the combination of zombies, Syvarris, Theracus, and Raelin doesn't necessarily sound like a tournament-winning army. Nonetheless, the synergy between Syvarris-Raelin cover fire and advancing melee troops is fantastic and will, more often than not, stop opponents in their tracks and force them to fight on your terms. This is the beauty of Syvarris: his ability to reach out and touch somebody at range 9 on height while sitting comfortably in Raelin's aura as zombies/deathreavers clog the battlefield.

Syvarris was my first favourite unit of the game, and I often draft him for his ability to alter the flow and pacing by influencing the opponent's decisions with his range of 9. At times his 9 range doesn't even seem fair. Other times, however, when I've used Syvarris without Raelin, I've found him to be frail and to die quickly having done little damage. He requires support and height to function optimally.

[donjake]

I have always used Syvarris right from the time I tore open ROTV Iv been using him ever since the range of 9 destroys most of my friends Utgar army and with realin by his side hes not going down.

[Chardris1287]

My Ullar army dream team.

Aubrien Archers 70
Syvarris 240
Warriors of Ashrax2 340
Venoc Warlord 460
Acolarh 490
either Isamu, or Otonashi for the last 10 points. I usually prefer Isamu for his vanish 9

[Frylock]

Originally Posted by Chardris1287

My Ullar army dream team.

Aubrien Archers 70
Syvarris 240
Warriors of Ashrax2 340
Venoc Warlord 460
Acolarh 490
either Isamu, or Otonashi for the last 10 points. I usually prefer Isamu for his vanish 9

The Venoc Warlord isn't doing much in this army. Why not add an extra squad of aubriens and warriors:

AA x2
WoA x3
Syvarris
Acolarh
Isamu

This looks more solid to me.

EDIT: I think you meant to include 2 squads of AA? Anyways, the point still holds; sub in one of each squad for Mittens.

Syvarris is my favorite archer.syvarris only has 2 defense but if you put them in a safe place up high he is hard to kill unless a opponent has alot of kyrie or people that can fly.He's one of my favorite people because of his double attack and his 9 range.