Scytale's customs

[Scytale]

unit highlight 3/30/15

One of the first things I wanted to do with customs was to use the two Man-at-Arms D&D figures as a squad. They are two figures that were made in separate waves that had the same name and looked very similar with different poses. Perfect for a squad.

Once I started working with them, though, I decided I wanted to make them a larger squad if possible. Two-man squads are fine but difficult to make effective. So I looked for some other figures that could work with them. The Mercenary Sergeant figure worked fairly well, though the armor wasn't an exact match. The Sword of Glory figure was ok, but he wielded a double-bladed sword and didn't carry a shield. Some modding fixed that. Add some paint and a squad is born.

While looking for usable figures I stumbled across the Warpriest of Vandria. While the armor was a good match, I did not use him for the squad since he did not have a helmet or shield. But he is different enough to make for a good hero for the faction.

While they were all heavily armored with swords and shields, their armor was different from figure to figure. That would be unusual for a normal regiment, but it seemed appropriate for a mercenary band. I did some digging online and read about the historical Catalan Company and their founder and leader Roger de Flor (aka Rutgar von Blum), which made a name for themselves in the early 14th century.

Catalan Mercenaries -- To make them different and give them a mercenary feel, I devised Cut and Run. The idea is that if things get too hot and heavy, the remaining members may simply run away. Since their only ability is a negative ability, their stats are exceptional. Great bargain, but they may turn tail when you need them the most.

Rutgar van Blum -- Putting Rutgar in your army greatly minimizes the chance the Catalans will run away (though doesn't completely eliminate it), but you have to give up 120pts for him. Still, his Warrior Leadership is almost worth it alone, and is useful with other warriors. Kyrie heroes, particularly Raelin, work well with the Catalans for this reason.


Man-at-Arms (D&D Harbinger) slightly repainted
Man-at-Arms (D&D Aberrations) slightly repainted
Mercenary Sergeant (D&D Underdark) repainted
Sword of Glory (D&D Giants of Legend) modded and repainted


Warpriest of Vandria (D&D Night Below) slightly repainted

[TheAverageFan]

Simple, cool, probably a better design than my own Cunaxa Mercenaries, who simply betray you when things get bad (but then they can also rejoin you if things get good again). Only problem is, there's not much else to say about them. I guess you could argue wether or not Rutgar is worth the 3 extra squads you could have instead? Idunno.

~TAF

[Ixe]

Catalan Mercenaries
These guys are powerhouses for their cost, although they are parasitic enough that they want as many of them as possible to swell their ranks and make it harder to cut and run. I'd imagine that they could fare quite well in low point games. A 200 point match against 20 of these guys seems like a daunting prospect for most armies to face. In higher point games, you'll be running into figure limits well before point limits with them, allowing you to round out your army with Rutgar van Blum and other expensive heroes pretty easily. I still suspect they shine brightest in low point, high figure limit games.

Rutger Van Blum
The movement bonus alone with the mercenaries probably makes him worth it (especially since their cost is so low), but making it so you would lose them 1 out of every 10 rounds as opposed to a little over 1 in 3 only encourages his use further. Now you just need to get your hands on a glyph of Lodin. Helping a Kyrie like Raelin move is just gravy. While he is practically an auto-include with the mercenaries for mid to higher point games, I think I could justify using him alongside a warrior heavy army like the Warriors of Ashra for the movement bonus.

Another cool faction, Scytale.

[dok]

Those who played the Scytaleverse event know that I was ripping it up with mercs x5 and Rutgar. Oh, and I added Q9 to that army, because I was feeling evil. But if you can keep Rutgar safe, the Catalans might be Scytale's strongest design.

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by dok

Those who played the Scytaleverse event know that I was ripping it up with mercs x5 and Rutgar. Oh, and I added Q9 to that army, because I was feeling evil. But if you can keep Rutgar safe, the Catalans might be Scytale's strongest design.

I did change Rutgar's boost from +6 to +5 based on your performance. It's a minor change, but it doubles the chance they'll defect alongside Rutgar.

The Scytaleverse tournament dictated that a large portion of each army was made from my designs. By the simple fact that my customs are mostly melee, the tournament as a whole was melee-heavy. Range can be tough on them, especially with screens, as the mercs lack any means of dealing with them.

Even still, they may be my strongest unit; you get a lot for the price. That's really the point of the unit: cheap, but offer nothing else and come with some risk. The question is, are they too strong.

[Maklar the Silver Prince]

I'm surprised nobody has commented on your dragons yet, @Scytale ! So I'll do it.

Nilkanta's special attack is definitely potent, much like Quahon's, so I can see the large price tag for a squishy hero. Other than that, there not much more for me to say about him. It may just be me, but he feels a bit bland when compared to your other designs. Is Nilkanta a Icarian dragon, or a D&D dragon.

Brimstone is definitely a classic. I'm not sure if you've ever commented on this before, but how do you find Brimstone does with the Greenscale Warriors?

[TheAverageFan]

Originally Posted by Maklar the Silver Prince

Brimstone is definitely a classic. I'm not sure if you've ever commented on this before, but how do you find Brimstone does with the Greenscale Warriors?

Brimstone definitely needs Greenscales to help buy him time so he's not just a single-attacking hero 3 out of 4 turns most of the time, I think.

I randomly got Brimstone once in a casual tournament match a long time ago, fought Ninjas of the Northern Wind, rolled 4 attack dice on the SA against all three of them and flopped. We haven't spoken since. >__<'

Looking at him objectively, however, he fits in well enough with other dragons in his price range. Somewhat weak, but with the potential to kill a lot of units in one blow. Swingy indeed. I just wish he didn't take so long to power up. It'd be nice if it were like Jorhdawn's SA where it started with 1 die plus the additions--however many markers you had and he only got 3 instead of 4. But that's just me, and it's a little late for patch notes anyway.

~TAF

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by Maklar the Silver Prince

It may just be me, but he feels a bit bland when compared to your other designs. Is Nilkanta a Icarian dragon, or a D&D dragon.

Nilkanta is comparatively bland, as the design of a blue dragon is mostly dictated by precedent (bigger version of the wyrmling).

Originally Posted by Maklar the Silver Prince

Brimstone is definitely a classic. I'm not sure if you've ever commented on this before, but how do you find Brimstone does with the Greenscale Warriors?

As TheAverageFan noted, Brimstone really wants Greenscales by his side. You get more than just a single attack of 4 while building up, and they can clean up the survivors after Brimstone rushes out and blasts.

[Maklar the Silver Prince]

Originally Posted by Scytale

Nilkanta is comparatively bland, as the design of a blue dragon is mostly dictated by precedent (bigger version of the wyrmling).

So, D&D? If so, I was going to suggest a change in general, as blue dragons are evil in D&D, but I just realized that that breaks precedence with the wyrmling.

Originally Posted by Scytale

As TheAverageFan noted, Brimstone really wants Greenscales by his side. You get more than just a single attack of 4 while building up, and they can clean up the survivors after Brimstone rushes out and blasts.

But Brimstone does this thing where he blows up people around him, ya see. :P
Basically, how do Greenscales work with him, not the other way around. Does the bonding allow Brimstone to go ahead and blow people up, then allow Green scales to follow and pod up around him, or does the strategy fall flat and require you to compromise parts of your plans? Sorry to be so persistent on the question, but its been worming through my brain this afternoon.

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by Maklar the Silver Prince

So, D&D?

Yeah, D&D. Eberron specifically, where dragon alignments aren't set.

Originally Posted by Maklar the Silver Prince

Basically, how do Greenscales work with him, not the other way around. Does the bonding allow Brimstone to go ahead and blow people up, then allow Green scales to follow and pod up around him, or does the strategy fall flat and require you to compromise parts of your plans? Sorry to be so persistent on the question, but its been worming through my brain this afternoon.

In general with Brimstone you want to hit as many units with the blast as possible, which means flying behind enemy lines (and away from friendlies). After the blast goes off, hopefully killing most of the enemy units, the Greenscales rush in and pound on the remaining figures. Though sometimes you find yourself blasting your own Greenscales; sometimes sacrifices are necessary. Brimstone doesn't care, and neither does Valkrill.

[Ixe]

You stopped doing your highlight posts off of your main page. Was there a particular reason that you stopped.

Nilkanta
There's not as much to say about this one with Quahon around now. They have a lot of similarities (unsurprising when both based on the blue wyrmling), but I must admit that I'm glad VC has a huge dragon to fill that roll in the cycle rather than a young one. I do think it is interesting that the lightning only arcs from the primary target rather than chaining through multiple, although it probably works pretty similarly for the most part.

Brimstone
I've always really liked Brimstone's design, particularly the explosion ability (as you might have guessed from my own custom going through SoV right now). He can be a little tricky to use to try to charge up the heat high enough, although I have come to appreciate the value of 1 or 2 attack against a cluster of squads.

VARS'T
This one seems like he'd struggle against ranged squads. Unlike with melee, ranged isn't punished for piling on him to cut through his 3 defense and can potentially distance himself so the Void Chill and an attack are difficult to pull off. He is a bit more threatening against melee with that aura, however, and I really like the idea of him slipping past defenders to maximize those affected by the aura. His special attack certainly intrigues me. It is nigh useless against squads over his normal and I can even see the debate over it for many heroes. It seems a decent tool to kill a low defense, high life target like the Feral Troll but I could see still relying on 5 attack more often than not. Cool hero in any case.

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by Ixe

You stopped doing your highlight posts off of your main page. Was there a particular reason that you stopped.

Uh... whoops. I just forgot. I'll remedy that.