Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[quozl]

It should say "one additional turn". Thanks for clarifying!

[Shiftrex]

Nice! I'll put that in my playbook for scape grammar. Tis a finicky animal for me

[superfrog]

In the interest of keeping things moving, I vote to review the Wulflings. I echo concerns about infringing on the Beakfaces but we’ll see how they feel.

And I think Swaysil has officially gotten that 4th upvote! Exciting!

[DanieLoche]

Originally Posted by quozl

It should say "one additional turn". Thanks for clarifying!

It could also be "wounded at least one enemy figure" formulation, too.



I am curious to see how these hunters plays. Good luck for the reviewers !

[Scytale]

Swaysil by @Maklar the Silver Prince has received 4 Yea votes to induct (Scytale, Astroking112, BiggaBullfrog, and wriggz) and moves forward in the process (once again).

[Scytale]

The Wulfling Hunters by @Shiftrex have received 4 Yea votes to review (Scytale, BiggaBullfrog, wriggz, and superfrog) and move forward in the process.

[Sir Heroscape]

Originally Posted by Scytale

Swaysil by @Maklar the Silver Prince has received 4 Yea votes to induct (Scytale, Astroking112, BiggaBullfrog, and wriggz) and moves forward in the process (once again).

I've been looking forward to this addition for some time!

[Scytale]

Abe no Seimei, Kincho, and Ibaraki-doji by Astroking112

Masha Shingai's shift from Demon to Yokai inspired the birth of a new faction. As a serious anime fan, I'm excited to see designs based on Japanese fantasy. Given how tightly-woven the faction is in practice, I'm reviewing them together.

Balance

Theoryscaping is nearly impossible with the Yokai, given how unusual their abilities are, particularly with Abe no Seimei as the centerpiece. He both gives them all an amazing repositioning ability with Shapeshift and assuages their disadvantageous abilities with Night of the Yokai. That makes them all easier to use (including Masha Shingai).

Kincho and Ibaraki-doji can be used without Abe, of course. Kincho has some potential as a defender, as he has free positioning and some defensive trickiness, but single-figure defenders struggle in general. Ibaraki-doji has some pretty good stats (the slow Move is improved greatly by Flying) as well as a good mulit-attack special attack, but 120 is well-known for being a sweet spot for great figures. He doesn't feel quite as good as others in that class, especially when considering Insatiable Greed is a strictly negative power.

Theme

As a anime fan, this lore is quite familiar to me. Changing Abe no Seimei, a legendary onmyoji priest, into a Yokai feels strange, but stories and pop culture have given him increasingly fantastic powers. With this not being strictly based on the historical figure, but rather a homage to the legend, it works for me. Ibaraki-doji and Kincho are also based on oni and tanuki legends.

In terms of abilities, shapeshifting is a common part of Japanese yokai legends, especially with tanuki (that's their specialty). Swapping places isn't exactly a strong thematic interpretation, but it works pretty well as a sort of shapeshifting in gameplay. Night of the Yokai, presumably a reference to the "Night Parade of 100 Demons" (or various other names, based on original legends and translations), is alright thematically as a way for the yokai to "work together." As an onmyoji, Abe no Seimei was an astrologer, so Divination is a fitting power and works well thematically.

Kincho's abilities aren't particularly tanuki-ish (the most well-known tanuki trick, shapeshifting, is covered more broadly), but they work well to create a trickster martial artist. Ibaraki-doji's powers give him a fittingly violent feeling.

Creativity

The Yokai faction is an attempt at a faction that feels different than the existing ones. When originally looking at the cards, the factional ties through Abe no Seimei looked to me to be mostly just gimmicks, not really something that did much to tie the faction together. Fortunately that guesswork was wrong, and the faction not only feels unique, but also pretty tightly-knit. That's mostly thanks to Abe, but the general designs of the others and how they play off each other is also part of it.

Individually, Kincho is a neat concept for a single-figure defender, making up for a such a design's biggest weakness by providing (mostly) free positioning. Ibaraki-doji's viciousness comes through in stats and useful powers.

Playability

Abe no Seimei's contributions to the faction (really, it's only a faction because of him) seem merely like gimmicks. Shapeshift is neat and has a lot of potential, but really it's just situational if the faction is played like everything else. And Night of the Yokai merely makes up for the annoying negative powers the Yokai tend to have. When I started testing them, they played as I expected, and did pretty poorly, as they are somewhat weak individually and Abe does little himself for such a large investment.

But after a while I learned how to play the faction. It's definitely different than the other factions out there if played well. The key is optimizing Shapeshift. This requires thinking a couple of turns ahead, but the payoffs are massive. When used well, you can keep your figures in positions where they are most valuable, keeping enemy figures locked down with defenders while freeing up the attackers to strike where they can do the most damage. Night of the Yokai helps here too, as it allows the faction to focus order markers where they're needed instead of forcing spreads.

Unfortunately, with just the three of them the faction is rather underwhelming. Only having a couple figures to Shapeshift greatly limits options. Additionally, Ibaraki-doji is the only attacker of any worth, and the group is generally lacking in defense. Adding Masha Shingai to the mix completely changes this, adding in more (highly valuable) Shapeshifting options, providing another solid attacker, and giving the group some defensive help. I wouldn't say he's key to the faction working, as any addition exponentially improves Shapeshifting, but he fits in really darn well.

As far as individuals, Abe no Seimei's only real contribution is support for the faction, so you'd never draft him outside of a Yokai build. Shapeshift is worth the points alone, and Night of the Yokai is great. Divination can be nice, and not just for the order marker knowledge--the "cost" of revealing an 'X' on a Yokai is generally a boon, though the loss of the hidden information does sting for a faction that relies on order marker placement. I did find Abe to be a decent opener, surprisingly. Instead of moving up a melee figure that can't get close enough to attack, move up Abe for a ranged potshot or two, then Shapeshift up a melee figure from the back to take a turn while putting Abe back in safety. Abe has enough Life and Defense that it's not much of a risk.

Kincho is underwhelming as a fill-in defender outside of a Yokai army. Tanuki Trickery is very helpful as a defender abillity, but it still requires a revealed order marker. Once he's in position, he doesn't really live all that long either. Athletic Defense is neat, but honestly doesn't do much to keep him alive. Abe no Seimei's presence changes everything, making Tanuki Trickery easy to pull off. Even without that, having a cheap defender to swap out with Shapeshift is amazing, freeing up Ibaraki from being surrounded and letting him roam free while the other units stay pinned in engagement. Tanuki Trickery is also helpful for setting up a Shapeshift waypoint to swap in a more potent figure. Lastly, Athletic Defense is also helpful for Shapeshift, as it can get Kincho out of a disadvantageous spot and into one ripe for Shapeshifting in a strong attacking Yokai.

Ibaraki-doji is a solid attacker with or without other Yokai. Insatiable Greed is troublesome for him, though, as it either forces him to be a sharky lead-off figure or having to sacrifice an order marker to him instead of using units more important at the time. There are a few other 120-pointers I would rather choose in most circumstances. For a Yokai army, though, he's essential. He is far and away the best damage dealer of the group, to the point that much of the rest of the army exists to keep him marauding. (Especially true with only Abe and Kincho!) His special attack isn't game-changing, but it's solid, and even without that he can hit pretty hard. With good use of Shapeshift, his Flying (and Demon of Rashomon movement) allows him to pick and choose his targets pretty well.

Even with Masha Shingai, the Yokai faction isn't particularly strong. Good enough to win some games, but isn't going to beat top armies. The faction has tons of potential for growth, though, and could become a force with the right additions.

Summary

It took a few games to learn how to play the Yokai at all effectively, and it took Masha Shingai's addition to make the engine churn. Even played well, without Masha they're underwhelming largely due to the low number of units in the faction so far. It's difficult to really judge something like this, looking at both its current barebones state and its potential. My final feeling is that what was submitted here is enough, barely, to stand on its own, and Masha's addition showed me enough of the potential to believe that it won't blossom out of control.

I vote Yea to induct Abe no Seimei into the SoV.
I vote Yea to induct Kincho into the SoV.
I vote Yea to induct Ibaraki-doji into the SoV.

[Scytale]

The Wulfling Hunters by @Shiftrex have passed United Fanscape Review and move forward in the process.

[superfrog]

I vote to review compact powder.

[Muskie]

Question. Beside Tyrian, have people suggested repurposing classic scape pieces for new characters? I have tons of extra raelins, krav, and Tarn that I could repaint. I know that others do as well. I have seen an anti raelin called Pestilence that removed defense dice. Stuff like that that would help reduce all of the extra ROTV figures that are floating around.

[Taeblewalker]

How about a version of Grimnak that has more than two attack? Or Tarns as a common squad?