Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[caps]

I do not see the connection between the mini, the powers, and the class for Kate Crawford. Does the mini even have a gun? Setting aside the availability, I am a to review Kate Crawford.

[Pumpkin_King]

I can provide alternate photos of the mini - I will admit the one on the card isn’t the best, given her pose. The mini does look very western-ey and does have a gun. The original mini is called Gunslinger.

[superfrog]

I, for one, like to count eBay availability if it's from a store (a "more than 10 available") kind of thing.

I'd like to see those numbers and maybe another angle at the mini (since you said you could get some pics) before voting.

[Astroking112]

I have the figure. It clearly has a gun in a holster on her hip. You can barely see her reaching for it in the hitbox on the right side of the card.

If there are multiple eBay sellers with "10+" copies of her, I'm willing to take that into account. Otherwise, the numbers from the common websites don't sound good.

I believe that alternate sculpts with a different hair color and clothing were thrown around on the Discord or Pre-SoV workshop. Do you know the status of these and whether any of them are close enough to Kate to be acceptable, @Pumpkin_King ?

[wriggz]

Originally Posted by Astroking112

I have the figure. It clearly has a gun in a holster on her hip. You can barely see her reaching for it in the hitbox on the right side of the card.

If there are multiple eBay sellers with "10+" copies of her, I'm willing to take that into account. Otherwise, the numbers from the common websites don't sound good.

I believe that alternate sculpts with a different hair color and clothing were thrown around on the Discord or Pre-SoV workshop. Do you know the status of these and whether any of them are close enough to Kate to be acceptable, @Pumpkin_King ?

I have them. the black widow red head is identical. the eletra burnette is also identical but has a flimsy sword

[Pumpkin_King]

Here's another picture of the original mini that I believe shows off her Western theme a lot better. Her top is a fringed shawl/poncho, and she has a holster on her right hip, supported by several big leather belts.








A survey of ebay sellers:

User champions_forge: 10+
User kingsoflight: 10+
User luckydicecafe: 6
User majesticollectibles: 8
User untappedgames: 10+

User amazingbookstore: 4

User blazenje: 5
USer roningac: 8
User knightly582: 8
User clixthegathering: 10+
User game_heroes: 13
USer soaring_pilgrim: 5
User gongaiigamesinc: 10+
User armbo_comics: 13?


The alternate figure mentioned by Astro is Black Widow:



TnT: 8
CSI: 8


There's a few more of her scattered about.

[Gabrielsab]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

Beakface Archer (primary) and Beakface Rogue (secondary)

Balance- Are the points correct?
The archer and the rogue are both well pointed for what they offer. The archer would be overpriced splashed into another army, but alongside other Raptorian figures she adds her value nicely. The rogue offers some punch to Raptorian and/or Rogue builds that both factions lack, but his relative fragility keeps him in line.

Playability- Both cards are very playable. I enjoyed the games I played with multiples of these two alongside a bushel of Sneaks and the Quorik Warwitch. Significantly, many of my friends chose the Raptorian armies I had put together when we did army drafts; they all liked playing the army and felt like it had some fun potential. I agree. I particularly enjoyed mixing Raptorians with Rogues; using the Sneaks as a screen, the Beakface Rogues as heavy hitters, the Archers to move the other around, and the Merry Men as the main draw. It never lived up to my hopes, but it feels similar to an army I might see at Reverse the Whip at GenCon; maybe alongside Raelin.
Powers: Are the powers clear and understandable?
Check. Improved Flocking is a mouthful, but less so than many others that have been through VC. Every other power on the cards is re-used from somewhere.
Appropriate Stats: Are its master stats appropriate?
Check. Both figures feel like the other Raptorian figures we've had before.
Visual Distinctness: Is it visually distinct from pre-existing units?
Both figures look (in their pictures, I didn't buy them) good alongside the other Raptorian figures. They appear to be just distinct enough to not blend in to the crowd of sneaks.

Creativity- Does it add something new to the game?
There are at least two kinds of creativity in new Heroscape cards; new powers, and old powers used in new ways. The Beakface Rogue is a combination of all old powers that work very nicely; as @dok said "It's a Beakface. It's a Rogue. It's a Beakface Rogue." The Beakface Archer presents a new power called Improved Flocking which is really two separate powers with an "or" clause between them: Improved Flocking (Flocking without the attack requirement) and Raptorian Hero Bonding. This is something new to the game, but I would have rather seen either power instead of both powers mashed together. Improved Flocking that moves 4 Raptorians after an attack could be cool. Raptorian Hero Bonding is simple and thematic and would work. Visually the Archer looks very much like the other Raptorians that have Evasive, so passing on that power feels like a missed opportunity to make the Archer feel more like a Raptorian instead of just an Order Marker Hub.

Theme- Does it fit in the HS universe?
The Rogue and Archer are a nice fit alongside the other Beakface cards and they all fit nicely in Heroscape together.

--

I enjoyed my games with the Beakface Archer and Rogue. I like the Rogue as-is and would definitely approve it on its own. I think it's a great addition to the Merry Men and a great addition to any army that uses at least a few squads of Beakface Sneaks. But the Beakface Archer's Improved Flocking feels just a little over-designed.

I vote to induct the Beakface Archer into the Soldiers of Valhalla. Unfortunately that vote applies to the Beakface Rogue as well because of how they were submitted.

A big disappointment for it...


I hope to be able to associate Beakface archer with clawfoot interceptor and teeth of makwa... it will have been very fun.

Pity and gragratulation for this creation...

[wriggz]

After looking at the comments for the Beakface Rogue it seems he may be worth including as a solo submission. I would still like to see Archer get modified since I think there is design space there.


This was a Joint effort between myself and @Sir_Heroscape

Beakface Rogue is the D&D Icons of the Realms: Storm King's Thunder #10 Kenku Sword
The Beakface Rogues on the other hand were trained to attack when an opponent's back was turned, gauge when an enemy was otherwise distracted, cut at their ankles and soft spots and stab when they least expected. Though fighting without honor, the Raptorians quickly welcomed their comrades to the fight after having been saved countless times from the grips of an overpowering opponent only to find that a fellow Rogue had stuck them in the back.

[Scytale]

Goodness, so much activity.

The Beakface Archer and the Beakface Rogue by @Sir Heroscape and @wriggz have received two Nay votes to induct (Soundwarp SG-1 and capsocrates) and are removed from the process.

I'm pretty lax about availability, and the numbers for Kate look ok to me. I like the overall restrained design and the combination of stats and powers work for me. to review Kate Crawford.

I voted Yea for the Beakface Rogue before, and I felt they were more at home in a Brigand build than a Beakface one. So to review the resubmitted Beakface Rogue.

[caps]

to review the Beakface Rogue.



--

Originally Posted by Pumpkin_King

Here's another picture of the original mini that I believe shows off her Western theme a lot better. Her top is a fringed shawl/poncho, and she has a holster on her right hip, supported by several big leather belts.








A survey of ebay sellers:

User champions_forge: 10+
User kingsoflight: 10+
User luckydicecafe: 6
User majesticollectibles: 8
User untappedgames: 10+

User amazingbookstore: 4

User blazenje: 5
USer roningac: 8
User knightly582: 8
User clixthegathering: 10+
User game_heroes: 13
USer soaring_pilgrim: 5
User gongaiigamesinc: 10+
User armbo_comics: 13?


The alternate figure mentioned by Astro is Black Widow:



TnT: 8
CSI: 8


There's a few more of her scattered about.

Thanks for posting these pics. She *does* look like a Western character. But still not like a Lawman.

[wriggz]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

:up

There's a few more of her scattered about.

Thanks for posting these pics. She *does* look like a Western character. But still not like a Lawman.[/QUOTE]

might be the brests and long hair.

[Sir Heroscape]

Originally Posted by wriggz

I would still like to see Archer get modified since I think there is design space there.

Agreed.

I really appreciate the meticulous playtesting, evaluation and feedback for such an important (or rather impactful) unit by all those involved. I’ll take this back to my customs thread for some help on fleshing this out.