Sonlen's Special Powers

[Omahavice]

I have a few questions about Special powers and attacks. I got my first Heroscape ROTV set about a month ago and just got my $12 SOTM sets from Amazon yesterday. I picked Sonlen for each of my armies and have been very succesful with him. Can I use his Dragon Healing and Dragon Swoop, then do his regular attack all in one turn? There are other characters that have more than one special power, attack, or ability. The way I read the cards is that it seems like those are all EXTRA attacks, powers, or abilities. So do you get to use their SPECIALS on every turn you take with them?

Last question. Can I have as many Heroes on my Army as I want so long as I dont go over the 500 points?

[Draconious]

Sonlen gets to all 4 of these on his turn.

Heal
Move
Swoop
Attack

[OurSavior]

Yes. You can use all 4 of those in one turn. In the order heal, move, swoop, and finally attack. Also, you can do this every turn. Not just once in a game. Sonlen is one of my favorite figures because of that. He can also use the healing on himself. If he is paired with Raelin The Kyrie Warrior for the SotM set, it makes for a good defensive bonus. Hope this helped.

[thaddeus p whirl]

Part of the reason Sonlen is so good is because you can use all of his abilities every time you activate him. When looking at a card, check the wording and follow the card. If a character has a special that can be used before moving, and then one that can be used after moving and before attacking, he can use them both every time he is activated unless there are limits placed on the abilities within the wording. However, if a character has an ability that has "Special Attack" in its text, then this takes the place of a normal attack. You can't make a special attack and a normal attack in the same turn; you have to pick one or the other. Refer to page 12 in the SOTM rulebook under "Special powers and special attacks." Also look over the Special Powers section on page 14.

Also, yeah, you can have as many heroes as you want in your army up to the point cost.

Hope that helps you out!

[Omahavice]

Granted, Im still learning all the nuances of this great, addictive game, and Im undefeated against everyone in my family and have not had the chance to play any HS veterens yet, but it seems like heroes will always beat numerous squads in a 500 point game. I have been playing with Sonlen, Syvarris, Kaemon Awa, and the Krav Maga Agents and constantly wipe out numerous squads of Orcs, Zombies, Marro Warriors, Marro Stingers, Mimring, and the 2 robot guys. Is this normal in most HS games or does the rest of my family just not know how to play the squads?

[NecroBlade]

Even though you're playing some of the best squads/heroes out there, your experience doesn't seem to be consistent with most others. I'd say someone's doing something wrong.

[Billtog]

Originally Posted by NecroBlade

Even though you're playing some of the best squads/heroes out there, your experience doesn't seem to be consistent with most others. I'd say someone's doing something wrong.

Generally, loads of squads will kill anything besides Braxas and Q9. Then again, maybe you're a tactical supergenius.

[Omahavice]

LOL NO tactical super genius here. I just get to the high ground and start using range attacks and special attacks like crazy. If most games and tourneys only allow 500 point armies, what is the purpose of having over 100's of figures and multiple squads when 6 - 10 heroes and a couple of squads will get you through most games?

[Pallindromemaster]

Because sometimes, just sometimes, you have to play a glorious 1000+ point each game, just for the sheer glory. Also for variety! Different figures play a lot differently!

[rdhight]

Originally Posted by Omahavice

Granted, Im still learning all the nuances of this great, addictive game, and Im undefeated against everyone in my family and have not had the chance to play any HS veterens yet, but it seems like heroes will always beat numerous squads in a 500 point game. I have been playing with Sonlen, Syvarris, Kaemon Awa, and the Krav Maga Agents and constantly wipe out numerous squads of Orcs, Zombies, Marro Warriors, Marro Stingers, Mimring, and the 2 robot guys. Is this normal in most HS games or does the rest of my family just not know how to play the squads?

Clearly they don't know all that much if they're picking the two robot guys!

You talk about beating "numerous squads." But are they fielding multiple copies of the same common squad, or is it more like Tagawa Samurai Archers x1, Deathreavers x1, Minions x1, and so on?

Originally Posted by Omahavice

LOL NO tactical super genius here. I just get to the high ground and start using range attacks and special attacks like crazy. If most games and tourneys only allow 500 point armies, what is the purpose of having over 100's of figures and multiple squads when 6 - 10 heroes and a couple of squads will get you through most games?

Good question. A big part of it is just the need for choice. Also, it makes it possible for several people to have a good selection of armies when playing with just one person's collection. In lots of the OCD/hobby-oriented miniature wargames, I would buy and very laboriously prepare only the pieces for the army I want to play, and I would need to find an opponent who owns his separate army already. Heroscape is more like a traditional boardgame in that I can invite people over, and we can all have many units to choose from within just my Heroscape stuff.

For another, many Heroscape units, especially heroes, are just not that good. Just because a lot of units exist doesn't mean they're all worth using in a game that means anything to you.

[scarecrowking]

I have been playing with Sonlen, Syvarris, Kaemon Awa, and the Krav Maga Agents and constantly wipe out numerous squads of Orcs, Zombies, Marro Warriors, Marro Stingers, Mimring, and the 2 robot guys.

Also, you have a very good pick of models that you listed as your army. For a casual pick-up game at the house, I would use that mix.

[SVD997]

Originally Posted by Omahavice

LOL NO tactical super genius here. I just get to the high ground and start using range attacks and special attacks like crazy. If most games and tourneys only allow 500 point armies, what is the purpose of having over 100's of figures and multiple squads when 6 - 10 heroes and a couple of squads will get you through most games?

Like another poster said, sometimes you just have to have massive battles. There is no joy like the joy of playing a 4-player 800-1200 point battle. Between my friends and I, we have 3 ROTV, 2 SOTM, Wave 1, Wave 2, and 1 HSM:TCB. Talk about big. Also, as far as you winning all the time, there is quite a bit of strategy involved. Unlike Monopoly, if you don't think when you play, you won't be much of a threat. I have the same issue. I don't have much of a problem beating the guy I play with regularly, but he's still learning. Do what you can to help them. If you know why they lost, give them constructive criticism. They'll get better, and you'll have more challenging opponents.