The Book of Raelin the Kyrie Warrior

[Jonny Jon]

I hate this chick. She doesn't fit my style so I don't like to user her (pod up). "I like to get my offense on." My friend uses her quite often. I'm pretty sure I've never beaten him when she's been on the board. He positions her well where it is really hard to get at her but you really can't let her live now can you.

I wonder how this girl got beyond playtesting! I feel like the only way to counter her at 80 points is to use her too. Even at 100, a consistent counter would be impossible to find outside of the krav maga. Even then, I dunno. To get in range to attack raelin, they would have to get in melee range of the enemy attackers.

[Jexik]

Originally Posted by Jonny Jon

I wonder how this girl got beyond playtesting!

She was made during a simpler time.

[Jonny Jon]

sorry about my frustration. It is aggravating, but I also realized that my map is built for that style of play. Just outside of each starting area is a good place to sit with the middle being a no man's land of potential death. We didn't play with any glyphs (a mistake I shouldn't have made knowing that he will not ever leave a spot with advantage). I will make a new map with massive height in the center, tomorrow.

I am the more mobile and aggressive player, and it will be advantageous to me for there to be something of value in the middle.

*even with a map change, my first post is probably still correct.

[Jexik]

I'm not chastising you at all.

Just saying that way back in 2004 when Raelin was probably tested, there wasn't a whole lot else out and they didn't have nearly the body of experienced players and other units that the community does today for comparison, evidence, and peer review.

[Jonny Jon]

I didn't think you were. Sorry if I gave that impression. I wish I had Deadeye Dan.

[fireemblemrox]

There has been a proposed errata by Dignan(I think that's how it's spelled as to the point values of the old Raelin and the new Swarm of the Marro Raelin. Setting both at 100 seems reasonable, giving the choice between a concentrated, powerful aura, or an extended, weaker aura and extra combat readiness. At my house my brother and I use a policy to never use the same figures two games in a row, and that has kept matches interesting.

Raelin is a great figure to boost low defense heroes, and many squads. High defense heroes enjoy the bonus, but it isn't essential for them, while low defense heroes, particularly those with high life, bask in the brilliance of extra defense. The Feral Troll is a tough opponent with 3 defense to go along with 8 life and regeneration. Ranged squads like the Airborne Elite are worth protecting, and Raelin can fly to the drop zone. Decent melee defense squads, like the Tarn Viking Warriors and Kozuke Samurai, are definitely worth boosting.

Raelin brings great help to all manners of units, but is least helpful to fast, mobile units like Cyprien because of tricky OM management, and terrible defense melee squads, like the Ashigaru Yari. A squad that is both fast and frail is the Venoc Vipers. The vipers are meant to be a shock troop, and time used to bring Raelin up is too little, too late in the situation, usually leaving the vipers to get slaughtered rather than to do the slaughtering.

Raelin also brings a couple psychological impact to the board: she makes a high priority target and a major thorn in the side of any opponent. Annoyance at Raelin can lead to angry lashes at the boosted opponents rather than calm, methodical play. Conversely, a team with Raelin encourages tight, formational play, leaving units with area of effect attacks like Deathwalker 9000, Deathwalker 7000, Mimring, Othkurik, and the Airborne Elite with an advantage and potential to maximize the number of figures affected.

As a fighter Raelin doesn't clock in as a powerhouse, but that's not her primary concern on the battlefield. She can swat the occasional ranged figure and land a couple wounds on a pesky hero, but her primary functionality is to protect the heavy hitters while they do the dirty work.

Also slightly worth noting is the gap between her wings. It actually allowed my 4th Mass to shoot between it at a figure she was engaged with(the three figures were all in a direct line.)

Just my thoughts on this unit, and thanks for reading, if you managed to finish it.

[megalofred]

Reported

[DBZMagus]

As soon as we bought the original master set in my house the first thing we did was ban her, and we've never looked back. I have no problem with the Marro set Raelin, but this one is ridiculously undercosted and overpowered.

[flameslayer93]

Originally Posted by DBZMagus

As soon as we bought the original master set in my house the first thing we did was ban her, and we've never looked back. I have no problem with the Marro set Raelin, but this one is ridiculously undercosted and overpowered.

Magus, you also have to understand that when she came out there were only 15 other units in the game. Back in the day, she wasn't nearly as overpowered. Try making a pool of only RotV figures, see how overpowered she really is. In a way, yes, but only on something like Migol's Tomb. On the other maps, she won't always have the LOS she needs.

[DBZMagus]

That's all well and good, but the fact is other sets DID come out and her cost never went up. I just feel that she's not good for the game as a whole as she encourages turtling, empowers ranged squads even more, and creates stagnation in team building due to her overuse.

[flameslayer93]

Originally Posted by DBZMagus

That's all well and good, but the fact is other sets DID come out and her cost never went up. I just feel that she's not good for the game as a whole as she encourages turtling, empowers ranged squads even more, and creates stagnation in team building due to her overuse.

How exactly does a game designer tell the entire population of people who bought HeroScape how much she will be now be priced at? Quite frankly, if I had never found this site, I would have never seen her as overpowered. She was merely another 80-point option.

[TheSparkleInYourWater]

Originally Posted by flameslayer93

Magus, you also have to understand that when she came out there were only 15 other units in the game. Back in the day, she wasn't nearly as overpowered. Try making a pool of only RotV figures, see how overpowered she really is. In a way, yes, but only on something like Migol's Tomb. On the other maps, she won't always have the LOS she needs.

I would guess they had already designed several units when RoTV was released and knew Raelin was powerful.

Craig Van Ness stated about the new game Battleship Galaxies that they had designed (at least partly) 8 factions, but were only selecting the best
for the first set. Heroscape was probably done in a like manner. They didn't give Grimnak orc enhancehment for no reason. The vikings bonding with knights, ne-gok-sa with the romans, mimring with the gruts all had to be forseen to some extent.

So why make Raelin so powerful?

1. To influence everyone to take her. She's one of the most widely available figures, that likely wasn't a mistake. They knew everyone was going to 'need' her.
2. Their can only be one Raelin (there are 2, of course, but you can only have one per army). If she'd been less powerful and there had been more protective figures like her, it would cause a big muck up. Imagine having all of these auras of defense from different figures stacking on one another, or if every general only had their own Raelin that only affected that generals troops.
3. She's the face of the game. You can't have your face be anything but one of the best. She's the face of the game to me anyways. She does have 2 figures and is a main feature in the storyline.
4. The protective figure is a key component to a lot of armies and can add a lot to the strategy of both sides. OM management for the Raelin player, placing her in the best spot, and protecting her. The opponent must find ways to manuever through and attack her or decide if its best to ignore her or lure figures out of her aura. See reason 2, this role, as vast as the choices for units are, was best and still is best served by one figure. If Raelin wasn't worth it, why would the effort be?
5. In Raelins case it was probably best that she be undercosted rather than overpriced. The designers likely thought this and undershot her cost by a bit. If she had turned out to be a waste of points, you couldn't go back and replace her or you'd break reason 2.

Or maybe they just messed up.