Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Astroking112]

I would like to nominate my custom M.A.R.S. for consideration by the SoV.

Balance
M.A.R.S. is interesting in that, like many other SoulBorgs, he is very all-or-nothing. Some of my games have seen his deadly Missile Barrage be used to great effect, but other games see him quickly engaged and whiff a crucial defense roll. He definitely has a great amount of power for 125 points, but 3 dice will whiff a surprising amount of the time on his Special Attack, and since he doesn't get to re-roll, it can feel like a bit of a wasted turn. In my games so far, he's generally killed either at his points level or slightly below it, depending on how many turns he can set up a good attack.

Playability
As a single-spaced large SoulBorg, he definitely has some built-in defenses. However, unlike some of his more... powerful brethren, he only has 5 defense with a meager 3 life. He can take some hits, but he won't be lasting long once engaged. Most of his playability comes from adding a strong long-ranged attack (along with a great anti-swarm Special Attack) at 125 points, which gives him a good niche to fill.

Both of his powers are fairly simple and straightforward, and he has no complex synergies beyond being a SoulBorg. He's definitely a simple design, but one that is still interesting and engaging to use. He also doesn't visually look like any pre-existing unit, which makes him easy to identify while still fitting the aesthetic of HeroScape, especially the Vulcanmechs.

Creativity
While we have definitely seen some of the same themes and styles of play before, M.A.R.S. puts a unique spin on things. He combines slow movement with a long range, making opponents rush to engage him and quickly put an end to his murderous spree. He has an Explosion Special Attack similar to what we've seen before, but by allowing two figures to be targeted, his potential threat level is greatly elevated and makes him stand out.

Raised Chassis serves several purposes: beyond being a thematic interpretation of the mini (having it in my collection, I can say with confidence that it looks like Nagrubs or other small units should be able to fit through the legs), it also adds some nice interplay with sizes and is a neat, thematic negative power for players to keep in mind. It mostly comes into play with spiders, dwarves, or Nagrubs, leaving it somewhat in the realm of A Coward's Reward, but it adds some umph to the overall design and strengthens its unique identity.

Theme
As an expansion of Valkrill's SoulBorg faction, M.A.R.S. (Mass Artillery Response SoulBorg) definitely has a place in the lore. The Incendiborgs are a great addition by C3V to the canon, having burned Alpha Prime to the ground in the past, and adding a new hero that acted as a terrifying destroyer during the time period is a natural expansion of that idea. He fits the purely destructive theme of the Vulcanmechs and Valkrill quite well with his Missile Barrage Special Attack, and also thematically ties into his SoulBorg brethren by having 3 life (much like the markers for his squad).

Because the Vulcanmechs are already quite strong, I didn't build in any direct synergies with them, but he still wears many of the same themes on his shoulder, much like Zetacron with the Omnicron Snipers or Major X17 with the Gladiatrons before him.

For the name, @Lazy Orang made some great points about just how well it fits the theme. Each general's SoulBorg faction has a unique naming scheme for their heroes (be it Major letter-number, Greek letter-cron, or Deathwalker X000), which means that Valkrill's SoulBorgs would need a new naming convention. We haven't seen acronyms before, letting M.A.R.S. stand out, and the actual abbreviation itself is inspired by the Roman god of war. This ties perfectly into the destructive nature of the unit, along with matching the Latin use of Vulcan in Vulcanmechs.

Also, to quickly touch on the theme of his Missile Barrage Special Attack, it is specifically designed to target two figures before rolling dice to simulate the feeling of a targeting system "locking on" to multiple opponents before finally releasing a large volley of missiles. This is a style of weapon used in many other games, but unlike anything that we've seen in HeroScape so far.

Accessibility
M.A.R.S. is noteworthy in that many fans of C3V and SoV already own him. He is one of six figures included in the Mechwarrior Solaris VII Heavy-Class pack, of which 4 are already being used (Deathcommander Mark 3, Executioner 616, Major J15, and the currently-in-playtesting Deltacron). Because of this, he only adds more value to a purchase for many members of the community, whether they have made it yet or not.

For people who do not yet own the miniature, the entire pack is still sold from Hill's Wholesale Gaming for just $15. They do not seem to have a maximum limit on the amount of copies that can be placed in the cart from what I can tell. There are also of course copies floating around eBay and Amazon for sale, as is the case with most other miniatures.

[Tornado]

The mech is a Catapult. Love Marauder as the Class.
Would be even cooler if the mech was a Marauder.
Good luck.

[Dysole]

Solid figure. I like the special attack. I'm slightly worried about him being a glass cannon, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I also like the idea of raised chassis although part of me wishes it was a bit more universal. I like the use of acronyms and Valkrill. All in all, a solid unit I would personally only have minor quibbles with. Best of luck.

~Dysole, always happy to add more fodder for executioner to blow up and he actually might be a real solid mid-late game target for her

[Dad_Scaper]

I don't share a concern about a glass cannon. That's quite a bit of survivability, weighed against the two options for powerful ranged attacks.

[Astroking112]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

I don't share a concern about a glass cannon. That's quite a bit of survivability, weighed against the two options for powerful ranged attacks.

M.A.R.S. has significant trouble defending himself, and once he gets engaged, it's generally over for him before too long. He can be affected by his own SA, which means that if he gets swarmed, he'll have a lot of trouble defending himself (and if he gets engaged even by just one figure, then he only has one target). With just 4 move, one of his biggest struggles is keeping opponents away from him.

The 5 defense lets him tank a couple of hits, but with only 3 life, it's still not often reliable for him to survive when he's taking fire. His relatively low threat range for a unit of this type also forces him to be placed in some riskier situations to use his SA (he has a threat range of 10 for his SA, and his full threat range of 12 for his normal attack only lets the player get off 1 ranged attack of 4 or 5, which means there is generally a better place to put that Order Marker). Screens also don't typically work as well for him as a result of this, on account of his tendency to need to blow up everything.

He definitely has some elements of survivability, but this has been far from overpowered in my tests. He's lucky to get off more than a couple of explosions against a smart player.

[Lazy Orang]

I've never played them, but I'm guessing he might pair well with the Nhah Scirh? A screen of melee who don't have to worry too much about getting blown up due to their SA resistance?

[caps]

I like MARS quite a bit. I was wary of the acronym at first but after reading the explanation I like it.

[Leaf_It]

I like M.A.R.S., but I wish raised chasis allowed M.A.R.S. to also pass through small figures himself. It's kind of weird that it only works one way.

I would expect it to be something like this:

Raised Chassis:
Small figures can move through M.A.R.S., and M.A.R.S. can move through small figures. Small figures do not take leaving engagement attacks from M.A.R.S., and M.A.R.S. does not take leaving engagement attacks from small figures.

Of course, this is only a suggestion, though I feel like this is what the name of the power suggests.

[Dad_Scaper]

The Ewoks disagree with you.

[Kinseth]

Missile barrage has to large of an area affect. You could target figures that are far away from eachother and potentially hit 20 figures(2 double spacers surrounded by figures).

[Astroking112]

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

I've never played them, but I'm guessing he might pair well with the Nhah Scirh? A screen of melee who don't have to worry too much about getting blown up due to their SA resistance?

They're definitely one of the stronger options for a screen for him. The main downside is that it'll require strict Order Marker management to maintain the screen properly, but I would personally rather take that headache over constantly blowing up your own figures as M.A.R.S. has a tendency to do.

Originally Posted by Leaf_It

I like M.A.R.S., but I wish raised chasis allowed M.A.R.S. to also pass through small figures himself. It's kind of weird that it only works one way.

I would expect it to be something like this:

Of course, this is only a suggestion, though I feel like this is what the name of the power suggests.

This is a fun take on the power, but I don't want to turn it into a positive effect for M.A.R.S. Being engaged is one of his primary weaknesses, so even if he could disengage freely from just small figures, it would greatly improve his power level against dwarves and other small-based armies.

Thematically, I think that Dad_Scaper is also right. M.A.R.S. is bulky and not as quick as the smaller figures, so he has a harder time taking advantage of them running around him than they would striking at him as he lumbers away.

Originally Posted by Kinseth

Missile barrage has to large of an area affect. You could target figures that are far away from eachother and potentially hit 20 figures(2 double spacers surrounded by figures).

The best scenario that I can envision for this would be against Grut armies, where all of the gruts swarm around their chosen heroes but choose to keep them fairly close together (unless one hero and eight gruts can get behind M.A.R.S., which would very rarely happen in a normal game). This is of course the best scenario, however, in which case he would still be engaged the turn afterwards (even assuming he rolls 3 skulls and the gruts roll no defense dice, the heroes should survive) and promptly silenced.

Assuming that it was Heavy Gruts (the most expensive Grut units), he would've been able to kill up to 16 squaddies in that scenario, at 17.5 points a piece. Of course, that's one attack of 3 against many defenses of 4 (assuming they only get the Grimnak/Tornak bonus and not Nerak as well), so the odds are highly against him being able to kill all 16 figures. Even the two heroes would likely only take a couple of wounds.

That's one of his strongest match-ups, though, and assuming that the other player made some questionable decisions. Of course he'd be more powerful in that scenario, but in a normal game where both players are trying to win, he will almost never get those perfect shots.

All of the armies that incentivize bunching up also have ways of dealing with him. Orcs have disengage, so any kind of a screen is unlikely to do him any good. Elves have far fewer figures, and he can't attack the same figure more than once, leaving him only slightly more effective than a Cowboy. Even just smart positioning ensures that he can kill no more than two figures per turn, leaving him as a significantly worse Syvarris.

M.A.R.S. definitely has some potential kick to him, but I do not believe him to be overpowered from everything that I have seen so far. I fully believe him to be one of the units that are terrifying on paper, but hard to take full advantage of in practice.

[Kinseth]

I disagree, you have to consider the most potent scenario and take that into account. This is too big of a concern for me and his current price. And Honestly, even at a higher price, I dont like how devastating this could be.

Giving him a double DW9000 special...

I would say No to review if I were a judge soley based on this.