Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Typhon2222]

Wow, Killo, you rock. Thanks for the super-helpful summary!

Are those all waves so far? (How many have there been?) Or only the most recent?

Above all, I kinda dread the process of having to find online and order the various minis required. Don't mind rebasing them once I get them — I have lots of rebasing supplies, do it all the time with our own customs. But just getting the dratted figs...

[Killometer]

That's C3V Wave 1. Wave 2 is in the works; anyone looking for a sneak-peek (in exchange for a little work), should go check out helping via public play testing.

[Typhon2222]

Gents, we'd like to submit this unit for consideration: The Warforged Centurions.

WARFORGED CENTURIONS


Introduction:
The Warforged Centurions are the elites among Warforged squads. They share the same Warforged Resolve as the Soldiers they command; but they boast an additional Attack and Defense die. Their better stats come at the cost of numbers, however: fewer make the grade, leaving them a two-man squad. They specialize not in exchanging places with their opponents, but in inspiring and commanding other units in their army: Warforged Soldiers, Siege, Heirloom, and the Iron Golem can all be ordered forward through their Tactical Advance.

How They Play:
Two squads seems to be the sweet spot for these guys. They're good for moving the Warforged army forward, seizing higher ground themselves while Soldiers or a Hero follow in their wake to take position. They play much like a slower melee version of the Nakitas/Gorillinators, with something of the same rhythm, but more options: put an OM or two on the Centurions, then switch to the Soldiers directly, who are now hopefully close enough to engage the enemy and pull Tactical Switch. Or use them to set up Siege or the Iron Golem for their own attacks. There's lots of opportunity for neat one-two-three combos for those with good timing. Given their high defense, they're also not bad for taking glyphs in some cases; and given their automatic shield, they stand up well to ranged fire, crucial for a two-man squad (contrast the Death Knights here).

In short, we find that they open options for the Warforged faction, while still rewarding good OM management.

Cost:
They seem solid at 60 points. The best comparison is probably with the Death Knights, who also cost 60. Both units have Move 5. And the Centurions' attack of 4 is roughly comparable with the DK's attack of 2 combined with their Soul Weapons. True, the Centurions have an effective average defense of 6, which is 1 higher than the DK's. But while the DKs feature full bonding with a variety of heroes, the Centurions' Tactical Advance is a form of movement-only bonding (and a weak form at that).

In terms of base stats, they're also close to the Minions: both feature effective attacks of 4 and defenses of 6. Though comparing a flying three-man squad to a walking two-man squad is otherwise difficult....

How They Look:
Just awesome. They're exactly the same sculpts as those used for 2/3 of the Warforged Soldiers; but they come with ruddy bronze rather than blue as their accent color. So they mesh seamlessly with the Soldiers, while remaining visually distinct. They look amazing on the field together.

Figures/Availability:
Figures used are two from the D&D Miniatures line:

• Warforged Fighter #6 (Giants of Legend)
• Warforged Captain #12 (War Drums)

In line with ZBeeblebrox's suggestion, availability is more than enough to meet the sweet spot for 30 Scapers. At two squads per Scaper, that would work out to 60 of each figure.

A/B Prices shows 89 of the Warforged Fighter, with another 16 available from highly-ranked sellers on eBay not appearing on A/B Prices (i.e., no redundancy).

A/B Prices shows 52 of the Warforged Captain, with another 36 available from highly-ranked sellers on eBay (again, no redundancy).

Prices average around $3 per figure, but are considerably lower at the online stores which have the most of them (CoolStuff, Gold Dragon Horde, Strike Zone, Beholder The Bargains). You can get two squads from CoolStuff for $9 (including shipping), which is nifty.

Thanks for your consideration.

[William099]

Originally Posted by Typhon2222

Gents, we'd like to submit this unit for consideration: The Warforged Centurions.

WARFORGED CENTURIONS


Introduction:
The Warforged Centurions are the elites among Warforged squads. They share the same Warforged Resolve as the Soldiers they command; but they boast an additional Attack and Defense die. Their better stats come at the cost of numbers, however: fewer make the grade, leaving them a two-man squad. They specialize not in exchanging places with their opponents, but in inspiring and commanding other units in their army: Warforged Soldiers, Siege, Heirloom, and the Iron Golem can all be ordered forward through their Tactical Advance.

How They Play:
Two squads seems to be the sweet spot for these guys. They're good for moving the Warforged army forward, seizing higher ground themselves while Soldiers or a Hero follow in their wake to take position. They play much like a slower melee version of the Nakitas/Gorillinators, with something of the same rhythm, but more options: put an OM or two on the Centurions, then switch to the Soldiers directly, who are now hopefully close enough to engage the enemy and pull Tactical Switch. Or use them to set up Siege or the Iron Golem for their own attacks. There's lots of opportunity for neat one-two-three combos for those with good timing. Given their high defense, they're also not bad for taking glyphs in some cases; and given their automatic shield, they stand up well to ranged fire, crucial for a two-man squad (contrast the Death Knights here).

In short, we find that they open options for the Warforged faction, while still rewarding good OM management.

Cost:
They seem solid at 60 points. The best comparison is probably with the Death Knights, who also cost 60. Both units have Move 5. And the Centurions' attack of 4 is roughly comparable with the DK's attack of 2 combined with their Soul Weapons. True, the Centurions have an effective average defense of 6, which is 1 higher than the DK's. But while the DKs feature full bonding with a variety of heroes, the Centurions' Tactical Advance is a form of movement-only bonding (and a weak form at that).

In terms of base stats, they're also close to the Minions: both feature effective attacks of 4 and defenses of 6. Though comparing a flying three-man squad to a walking two-man squad is otherwise difficult....

How They Look:
Just awesome. They're exactly the same sculpts as those used for 2/3 of the Warforged Soldiers; but they come with ruddy bronze rather than blue as their accent color. So they mesh seamlessly with the Soldiers, while remaining visually distinct. They look amazing on the field together.

Figures/Availability:
Figures used are two from the D&D Miniatures line:

• Warforged Fighter #6 (Giants of Legend)
• Warforged Captain #12 (War Drums)

In line with ZBeeblebrox's suggestion, availability is more than enough to meet the sweet spot for 30 Scapers. At two squads per Scaper, that works out to 60 of each figure.

A/B Prices shows 89 of the Warforged Fighter, with another 16 available from highly-ranked sellers on eBay not appearing on A/B Prices (i.e., no redundancy).

A/B Prices shows 52 of the Warforged Captain, with another 36 available from highly-ranked sellers on eBay (again, no redundancy).

Prices average around $3 per figure, but are considerably lower at the online stores which have the most of them (CoolStuff, Gold Dragon Horde, Strike Zone, Beholder The Bargains). You can get two squads from CoolStuff for $9 (including shipping), which is nifty.

Thanks for your consideration.

So quick question it says you make take a turn with any three warforged soldiers, so why not just say you may take a turn with a warforged soldiers squad? Or did you mean any three warforged soldier SQUADS?

Incidentaly amazing idea... as a consumate warforged junkie when I read the name my jaw dropped.

[Killometer]

Originally Posted by William099

So quick question it says you make take a turn with any three warforged soldiers, so why not just say you may take a turn with a warforged soldiers squad? Or did you mean any three warforged soldier SQUADS?

Incidentaly amazing idea... as a consumate warforged junkie when I read the name my jaw dropped.

Not the designer, but...

First, and importantly, you don't get to take a turn with the selected warforged, you just get to move them.

As to why not specify moving a squad of Warforged, the way it's worded you could move 3 WF soldiers, 2 WF Soldiers and a WF Centurion, 3 WF Centurions (even though they're a squad of 2), or whatever other combination of common WF that might someday come up.

[Killometer]

I'm a little concerned about the durability of 5 squads of these guys boosted by Raelin rolling themselves across the battlefield, but I imagine that getting only 2 attacks per round will temper their threat significantly.

I vote YES to review the Warforged Centurions by Typhon2222 and Sertorius.

[William099]

Originally Posted by Killometer

Not the designer, but...

First, and importantly, you don't get to take a turn with the selected warforged, you just get to move them.

As to why not specify moving a squad of Warforged, the way it's worded you could move 3 WF soldiers, 2 WF Soldiers and a WF Centurion, 3 WF Centurions (even though they're a squad of 2), or whatever other combination of common WF that might someday come up.

Ah my bad on the turn vs move thing. That looks like an amazing ability I like it a lot!

[quozl]

Originally Posted by Killometer

As to why not specify moving a squad of Warforged, the way it's worded you could move 3 WF soldiers, 2 WF Soldiers and a WF Centurion, 3 WF Centurions (even though they're a squad of 2), or whatever other combination of common WF that might someday come up.

Actually, no. Just 3 Warforged Soldiers.

[Killometer]

Originally Posted by quozl

Actually, no. Just 3 Warforged Soldiers.

Aaaand I'm dumb.

[Dad_Scaper]

I don't normally consult with KidScaper on these nominations but he looked them over and expressed the same concern I have: they look like they should cost more. But we both love them and I am particularly interested in Tactical Advance, which looks fun and clever and strongly thematic.

That's theoryscaping, and I'm willing to put them in the queue to find out about the pricing.

Typhon, are your playtests all done at Legacy pricing?

[Typhon2222]

Originally Posted by quozl

Just 3 Warforged Soldiers.

Heh, that's right. Originally we thought about allowing the Centurions to move themselves — but realized that a two-man common squad moving 8 spaces would be, well, rather silly.

Restricting them to moving other units also preserves the motif of command.

[ZBeeblebrox]

I vote Yes to review Warforged Centurions