Nicholas and his Thralls

[Tai-Pan]

I am a late-entry to C3V and am just now chasing down figures for these great customs and the first of my thralls arrived today. I am wondering what your thoughts are to a full Thrall army - viability and how you would use it. That conversation can obviously be new and fresh with the recent addition of the Deathhounds.

[kevindola]

I have used thralls on multiple occasions and find them to be very competitive.

I like to run

Nic
Thralls x7
Marro Warriors

for a 400 point base. Expand from there.

[Tai-Pan]

Which Thralls and what role do each of them play?

[wriggz]

I really wanted to like the Thralls, but They haven't worked well for me.

In my play testing Nick plus 3 or 4 Bloodbursts and 3 Dark prowls were the most enjoyable.

[kevindola]

Far and away, I prefer a mix of Bloodburst and Deathstrike thralls.

Preybloods have their place but only in niche situations would I select them. And not competitively.

Deathstrike have the 6 move and consistent melee 3 defense and a large number of attack dice.

Bloodburst have a nice 3+/4 stat line. Along with a counter strike ability that makes it a real pain when they come back, usually already engaged with someone.

Darkprowls I have only used a few times in playtest, but I did not like their survivability upon respawn compared to the other options. Their pounce, while certainly useful in a variety of situations, did not make up for their weakness of being engaged (2/1). Deathstrikes by comparison have a reasonable option to use their normal attack in situations, where with darkprowl it is not likely the ideal scenario.

[Leaf_It]

I like to have a majority Bloodburst, with the other 3 being used in varying quantities depending on the format.

I've had the most luck from Bloodburst, just because their 4 defense, and potential auto wounds give them the survivability, and damage that you need in a tight situation. They are my preferred thrall to bring back after killing something with Nicholas, though that changes based on the situation.

Preybloods are very nice against armies with multiple heros, but fall flat against armies that only have 1 or 2. I've had a few times where the +3 move, and attack have really changed the game to be more in my favor, but again, it's situational, and having very few heros is the counter.

Deathstrike with their 6 move can get across the board faster than the other two, and have more staying power than the Darkprowl thralls. Having to destroy your thrall upon the 6 attack activation, generally deters me from using it as much as I sometimes should, and I've rolled all blank sides with it before. Despite this, they are definitely more all around useful than the Preyblood, simply because they don't need a hero with wounds to use their ability.

I haven't used Darkprowl very much yet, but the few times I have, they have really shown me their potential. I took down a full health Executioner 616 with pounce just yesterday, right after failing to deal any damage with a Deathstrike. They really are weak to most melee armies, but if you think of them more like a ranged Deathstrike thrall, with 1 less damage, that is the best way I've found to use them.

[wriggz]

Originally Posted by Leaf_It

I like to have a majority Bloodburst, with the other 3 being used in varying quantities depending on the format.

I've had the most luck from Bloodburst, just because their 4 defense, and potential auto wounds give them the survivability, and damage that you need in a tight situation. They are my preferred thrall to bring back after killing something with Nicholas, though that changes based on the situation.

Preybloods are very nice against armies with multiple heros, but fall flat against armies that only have 1 or 2. I've had a few times where the +3 move, and attack have really changed the game to be more in my favor, but again, it's situational, and having very few heros is the counter.

Deathstrike with their 6 move can get across the board faster than the other two, and have more staying power than the Darkprowl thralls. Having to destroy your thrall upon the 6 attack activation, generally deters me from using it as much as I sometimes should, and I've rolled all blank sides with it before. Despite this, they are definitely more all around useful than the Preyblood, simply because they don't need a hero with wounds to use their ability.

I haven't used Darkprowl very much yet, but the few times I have, they have really shown me their potential. I took down a full health Executioner 616 with pounce just yesterday, right after failing to deal any damage with a Deathstrike. They really are weak to most melee armies, but if you think of them more like a ranged Deathstrike thrall, with 1 less damage, that is the best way I've found to use them.

Sadly your kill of 616 was an error. They can only pounce on Small or medium figures. I made the same mistake myself when testing.

[Leaf_It]

Originally Posted by wriggz

Sadly your kill of 616 was an error. They can only pounce on Small or medium figures. I made the same mistake myself when testing.

Darn, that was such a fun game too. I was thinking it was just Huge figures they couldn't pounce.