Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Curt]

I'd like to formally submit Colossus for SoV consideration:



Link to how it looks on the field. https://imgur.com/xAn1o8S

Bio: Colossus, a Warforged Titan from Eberron, has been summoned to carry out his familiar role as a Warmachine in Valhalla. Despite being a precursor to the modern Warforged, Colossus's size and strength makes him an effective vanguard, crushing the enemy's front and allowing the Warforged Soldiers to rally to his position, forcing surviving units to either defend against their sword or be thrust within Colossus's violent reach.

Card Text:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = Colossus
GENERAL = Vydar
PLANET = Eberron
SPECIES = Warforged
UNIQUENESS = Unique Hero
CLASS = Titan
PERSONALITY = Militaristic
SIZE/HEIGHT = HUGE 10

LIFE = 5
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 6
DEFENSE = 5
POINTS = 160

SMASH AND CLEAVE SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1, Attack 4
When Colossus attacks with his Smash and Cleave Special Attack, he may attack one additional time.

WARFORGED RALLY
After revealing an Order on Colossus and taking a turn with him, you may take a turn with 1 squad of Warforged Soldiers. If an activated Warforged Soldier uses Tactical Switch, subtract 3 from that figure's attack value this turn.

TACTICAL STRIKE 12
If an opponent's figure is moved adjacent to Colossus by a friendly unit's special power, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 12 or higher, the opponent's figure receives a wound. Figures may be targeted only as they are moved into engagement with Colossus.

Balance: At 160 points, Colossus is in the ballpark of other huge figures that have bonding or can utilize squads to carry out additional attacks, at least when considering Delta. Namely, Mok (220 OG to 155 Delta), Hrognak Mounted (205 to 170). Without his "mostly bonding" power, Colossus's stats and lone usable power would make him very comparable to Breach (145 to 125), with identical stats and a similar power-level Special Attack. Considering the steep cost of Warforged Soldiers at 80 points, which are essential to fully utilize Colossus, 160 points have felt to be a fair cost.

Playability: On their own, Warforged Soldiers are an expensive 3-man squad with limited offense, offering a unique ability in Tactical Switch, which is largely terrain and enemy-dependent as to whether it's useful in a fight. Colossus adds to the versatility of the Warforged, while also acting as a can-opener against those with stingier defenses. When attacking, Colossus can either utilize his powerful 6-level normal attack or attack individually with his bludgeoning arm and slicing arm with his Smash and Cleave SA. Smash and Cleave also helps him address situations where he gets swarmed or becomes engaged with too many figures switching to him.

Warforged Rally acts as a lesser reverse bonding. After Colossus has led the charge, a squad of Warforged Soldiers is then activated. However, these soldiers are limited in their actions. After moving, if a Warforged Soldier utilizes Tactical Switch, their base Attack Value drops to 0. This is to prevent the Colossus/WS user from attempting 2 attacks with Colossus, 3 Tactical Strikes chances and then up to 3 additional attacks with the Warforged. Since there are units that cannot be switched, the Warforged Soldiers retain their attack value if they choose not to switch, so there aren't situations where the army grinds to a halt if engaged by a Huge figure.

Lastly, Tactical Strike is a play on Engagement Strike, but one that rewards good play instead of punishing a player for playing the game. The 45% chance to inflict a wound is the middle ground between the odds of inflicting a single wound with a 3 attack dice versus 3 defense die and the odds of the same attack inflicting a wound against 4 defense dice (51% and 41% respectively). This means the user must factor in positioning and current battle conditions when choosing to attack or switch against the more common defense values, rather than defaulting to the best odds.

Lastly, the miniature itself, which is double-spaced, is a striking figure that separates itself visually from other Construct-like units. Note that the mini itself has a blue "visual impact shockwave" on the Hammer. The part is easily removed by clipping one side and sliding it off. I also imagine you could just pull it off as well as the shockwave is separate from the rest of the mold. Note that the Hammer arm hangs a little low, but slots almost between two hexes. I've tested all the problem figures and all could be adjacent to Colossus between his arms in at least one hex. (See the SOV thread for links of pictures https://www.heroscapers.com/communit...47761&page=444) Also, I've seen various heights of the hammer arm, the arm itself is very malleable and can be heat adjusted very quickly and easily so that it easily clears a higher level of Terrain, (see this link as an example https://www.ebay.com/itm/385173687518) otherwise it mostly fits and slightly bends.

Creativity: Colossus improves the Warforged army, but with a symbiotic relationship rather than just adding to their strength with normal bonding. While Tactical Strike is semi-original at best, the harmony of Tactical Strike/Switch is a fun 1-2 punch of abilities.

Theme: Colossus is a Warforged Titan, an actual Warforged type in D&D. The lack of Warforged Resolve and their differing shape/size is explained by them being precursors to the modern Warforged.

Accessibility: This figure is Snowbound #34 Warforged Titan from the D&D Icons of the Realms Snowbound set. It still has decent stock at a decent price for its size. I've found 61 total from the following 4 sources, with the prices hovering around $12 to $13:
There are 28 available at Miniature Market, 7 on Kings of Light Ebay Store, 11 at Clix the Gathering Ebay Store , 15 at GameHollow. I've also found an additional dozen or so as one-offs on Ebay or other miniature sites. Also of note, while I know it's not part of the consideration, there is an unpainted miniature with a different pose. I've found about 50 of those but they're also more expensive.

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Thank you to everyone who provided feedback in the Pre-SOV feedback and in advance to the judges for your time and consideration.
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[Scytale]

Please welcome our new Judges! To help get through the backlog, with units that have been waiting too long, we decided to bring on four new Judges:

KnightOfLight
Xiegfried
Shurrig
MegaSilver

[nyys]

[superfrog]

Originally Posted by Curt

I'd like to formally submit Colossus for SoV consideration:

Does Tactical Strike work on opponent's moving powers? If an opponent's Eltahale Thunder Steps adjacent, or a monk Leaps adjacent, do they potentially take damage? I would imagine not, just want to be sure on intent since the wording currently allows for it.

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Big welcome to our influx of judges!

[Scytale]

I'm not thrilled about reverse-bonding with the Warforged Soldiers, at all. In this case it seems more like it exists to work with Tactical Strike, but they still get most of a regular turn. So it doesn't quite feel it's there to force bonding onto the Warforged Soldiers, but just barely. I do like the rest of the design.

Edit: revoking vote to wait for the answer to superfrog's question.

[Curt]

Originally Posted by superfrog

Does Tactical Strike work on opponent's moving powers? If an opponent's Eltahale Thunder Steps adjacent, or a monk Leaps adjacent, do they potentially take damage? I would imagine not, just want to be sure on intent since the wording currently allows for it.

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Big welcome to our influx of judges!

The intent is no, the wording should be updated to state it only applies to a friendly unit’s special power.

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by Curt

The intent is no, the wording should be updated to state it only applies to a friendly unit’s special power.

Ok, cool, I'd appreciate it if you updated the image with updated wording.

to review.

[ThrasherDarkrai]

Congratulations to the four new SoV judges! It's great to see such qualified people added to the judges' ranks; I look forward to reading your myriad contributions in the near future!

[Curt]

Originally Posted by Scytale

Ok, cool, I'd appreciate it if you updated the image with updated wording.

to review.

Yes, I'll update the text now and the image later tonight.

[superfrog]

to review.

[Curt]

Hopefully, this isn't some kind of record for withdrawing a nomination without any downvotes, but now that I've submitted, I'm finding myself agreeing with Scytale that the "bonding" can be improved, which, if the Warforged Soldiers couldn't attack, would actually reflect the initial concept for the unit. So for the sake of staying true to the initial concept and figuring out a better design, I'm going to withdraw the nomination for now.

[Tornado]

Grats and thanks to the new judges.