The Chess Game Played Within The Battle

[Oh Yeah! I'm Here]

Hi my fellow HSers. I have now come up with a new strategy article for you all to read and make fun of at your own free will!

Now, I was watching a friend of mine play Chess at school, and I thought about the importance of each piece. I thought some more about it, and how Heroscape figures could be categorized into positions, such as King, Queen, Bishop, Rook, Knight, and Pawn. I am here to explain each, and tell the importance of the role.

King~ A figure that can be classified as a King is the figure in your army that is absolutely vital. This figure is the backbone of the army it is a part of, any figure can be a King, for any figure can have an importance to a certain army to the point where it needs to be kept alive at all costs (Cept Dund, He can’t be a King. ) As an opponent to any army, an early and important task would be to identify the King, and find ways to exploit the armies weakness, exposing the King to attacks, causing the army to fall without it’s King. A good army also wants it’s King to be kept alive, but mobile and versatile enough to attack the opposing army and destroy it’s King. There should be no such thing as an army with two Kings, for the power balance is not there, rather, an army that looks like it has two Kings is indeed an army with a very good Knight. Basically, keep your King alive, but at the same time have the army able to have mobility to strike down the enemy King, thus crumbling the enemy army. If your King goes, you are most likely going to lose. (Not all Armies have Kings, only good ones do!)

Queen~ A figure that can be classified as a Queen is the figure, or several figures, (Yes, your armies can have more than one Queen), that is a nearly necessary component to your victory. A Queen is your leader of your shocktroops. The Queen is the most strategic figure in battle, for it can give you the advantage, or the bonus needed to win. The Queen is able to handle damage well, and is versatile against most foes (Q9 anyone? ). A Queen is able to dish out the pain, and cause the enemy to quake in it’s boots. A Queen is usually the first target for the enemy army to focus on taking out, besides the King. But, a Queen can handle this fact, using terrain and their own abilities to defend against the oncoming army, and even wade into the army, destroying them, piece by piece. To Recap, the Queen is a great offensive or defensive figure that leads your strike force in a fight, but is often the first target of enemy attacks, often by the enemy Queen.

Bishop~ A figure that can be classified as a Bishop is one that can move swiftly across the battle, taking little to no damage, striking, and avoiding the enemy. The Bishop often is in perfect harmony with the Queen, resulting in maximum chaos against the enemy Army. They can be the figure or figures that decide when and where the enemy King falls. An Army often contains several of these figures, for they help the Queen in battle. Often times, a Queen/Bishop group will be The KoW and Denrick, or The Heavy Gruts and Grimnak, or another combination of hard hitting bonding units. The Bishop often dies at about or a little before/after the Queen dies. In review, the Bishop can dish it out fast and quick, and get out fast and quick, but dies fast and quick.

Rook~ A figure that can be classified as a Rook is one that is more defensive and slow moving than an actual shark. The Rook can hold ground by itself, and often comes with a high defense or attack with a low movement. There is one quite used exception to a Rook. Deathreavers, whom can move fast, but with their ability, can’t be hit, and don’t attack very well. Rooks are often good for taking and holding glyphs, letting the Queens and Bishops do the hard work on the battlefront. A well balanced army will contain at least one rook, making sure they can hold the important choke point of the map, and give the boost and reassurance needed to protect a King, yet help the Queen and Bishops. In review, you want Rooks, for they help you win!

Knight~ A figure that can be classified as a Knight is one that gives out support on the battle field. They help the King, Queen, Bishops, and Rooks through the battle, maintaining a good cohesiveness in the army. A good example of a Knight is Kelda. With her ability to heal wounded heros, she can successfully keep the Bishops and Queens going. A Knight can be confused with a King, because both are there to support the team, but a Knight can be destroyed and not hurt the structure of the army too much. In review, Knights help the flow of battle go smoother, especially if the abilities and your dice are good.

Pawn~ A figure that can be classified as a Pawn is often front row cannon fodder, though they can play a good part in the fight. The main job of a Pawn is to fight hard and kill as much as possible. They are also used to absorb the initial shock of the Queen and Bishop groups. They die easily, but if last long enough, they can do massive amounts of damage. Every army should include at least three Pawn groups or heros. In review, Pawns are vital to the defeat of the enemy, for they have the numbers to lose and attacks to win.

A good army combining all of these should include:

1 King
1-2 Queens
2 Bishops
1-2 Knights
1 Rook
3+ Pawns

Of course, a good army can contain any amount of the above, but usually, that is how a good army should look. Figures can double as most of those, being Kings/Pawns, or Queens/Knights.

Just my input for the time. I may come up with more strategy articles soon, as I am starting to enjoy these! Feed Back is welcome!

[arp12]

Looks interesting. Reading it now.

[Warlord Alpha]

Didn't they sort of do this with the Unit Strategy Articles though? They have like Rook, Pawn, etc. classes for each unit they do an article on.

[Oh Yeah! I'm Here]

Originally Posted by Warlord Alpha

Didn't they sort of do this with the Unit Strategy Articles though? They have like Rook, Pawn, etc. classes for each unit they do an article on.

Gah, didn't know.

[KCU Master 2007]

Yup. I'm pretty sure they use the same basic definitions for each rank as well.

It was a good idea, some one just beat you too it.

[killercactus]

We do use Chess classifications - a little differently though.

We don't have the King classification, and we mainly use the pieces as a strength / army importance indicator. We have the strength of the pieces ranked like this (which is, I believe, the generally accepted chess power order as well)

Queen
Rook
Knight
Bishop
Pawn

[arp12]

Also, in the unit strategy reviews they're slightly different- it's more of a level of importance(Q, R, Kn, B, P) than a playing style guide as you use here.

[dok]

You could argue that Ulginesh, Kato, and Spartacus are king-like figures in certain armies - taking them out early pretty much kills the army. Aside from that, there aren't really kings in Heroscape, IMO.

[Oh Yeah! I'm Here]

You could also argue that Raelin is King in a ranged army, and if you took her out, it would mess up that army.

[Toad Rocket]

I think it is a challenge to classify HS units into Chess units. Take for example the rook. In chess they are slow to move out, but once they are out they are very powerful pieces to gain position a board control. To me their offense is just as great as their defense.

Same with kights, they are more of a special attack unit. Knights would have the "Tricky" personality. It is very hard to call them a support unit because every unit in chess is a support unit to some degree because of how you want have units protecting each other.

And for HS, you can have very good armies without kings or queens (at least by your definetions). Take for example the 4th en masse army where it just 7 squads of 4th. Is that army all pawns?

Anyway, valiant effort, tough to pull off.

[Heroscape Elffy]

Originally Posted by killercactus

We do use Chess classifications - a little differently though.

We don't have the King classification, and we mainly use the pieces as a strength / army importance indicator. We have the strength of the pieces ranked like this (which is, I believe, the generally accepted chess power order as well)

Queen
Rook
Knight
Bishop
Pawn

I actually think, in points, it's Q, K, R = B, (K), P

[Oh Yeah! I'm Here]

Originally Posted by Toad Rocket

I think it is a challenge to classify HS units into Chess units. Take for example the rook. In chess they are slow to move out, but once they are out they are very powerful pieces to gain position a board control. To me their offense is just as great as their defense.

Same with kights, they are more of a special attack unit. Knights would have the "Tricky" personality. It is very hard to call them a support unit because every unit in chess is a support unit to some degree because of how you want have units protecting each other.

And for HS, you can have very good armies without kings or queens (at least by your definetions). Take for example the 4th en masse army where it just 7 squads of 4th. Is that army all pawns?

Anyway, valiant effort, tough to pull off.

Prepared for the eventuality, I did point out that a unit could in fact take up several roles of my list. Like a King could also be a Knight, or a Queen a Bishop. I would even suspect an army of Fourth Mass to be Pawns and Kings at the same time in some definition. Besides, in a real game of HS, you can't have more than three copies of any unit in your army. Good theory, but sadly the rulebook says no.

To those that said this is like the Power rankings:

My guide is more of a way to build an army than to rank figures. A well balanced (For Toad Rocket) will usually contain these figures. A good player should be able to identify the roles of each unit. My loosens up to the fact that any figure can be any of these roles. I don't power rank them. It is just how you decide to build your army, for every unit in an army can make or break it.