The Book of Spartacus

[dnutt99]

The Book of Spartacus

Thora's Vengeance - Collection 5 - "Gladiators and Agents"

If you cannot see the Army Card graphic, check Hasbro's Unit Page for stats and special powers, plus "character biography" and other non-game unit info.

Character Bio: A fully-armored man stands on a hillside, silhouetted against the setting sun. The deafening chants of a hundred thousand voices call out his name. Captured as a slave, trained as a gladiator, the warrior now fights, leading his fellow man against the throes of servitude. The mass falls silent as the man slowly, purposefully steps forward, draws his sword with his right hand, and begins crashing it
against the shield in his left. The thunderous sound echoes throughout the entire Roman Empire. The crowd pounds out the same rhythmic beat as their voices amplify and scream the name of the one man that fears nothing...Spartacus! (Hasbro)

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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• - GLADIATOR INSPIRATION : Using the ‘X’ Order Marker
  Gladiator Inspiration states that all Order Markers must be placed on Gladiator Army Cards and at least one Order Marker must be placed on Spartacus in order for it to take effect. Can the X Order Marker be placed on Spartacus in order to activate Gladiator Inspiration?
  Yes. The X Order Marker is a valid Order Marker. (Hasbro FAQ)

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Synergy Benefits Received

• - N/A

Synergy Benefits Offered

• - GLADIATOR INSPIRATION : Gladiator Units
  * Crixus
  * Retiarius
  * Capuan Gladiators

C3V and SoV Custom Synergies

Spoiler Alert!

Synergy Benefits Offered

SPARTACUS : GLADIATOR INSPIRATION

* PRISCUS

Synergy Benefits Received

COUNT RAYMOND : MANEUVER 9
As a Human who follows Einar, Spartacus may benefit from Count Raymond's MANEUVER 9 ability.

EBON ARMOR : ANIMATED MATERIEL & ETERNAL WAR
As a Unique Human, a destroyed Ebon Armor you control may be placed on Spartacus' Army Card to replace Spartacus upon his own destruction.

PRISCUS : TASTE OF FREEDOM
As a Gladiator, Spartacus may benefit from Priscus' TASTE OF FREEDOM attack bonus.

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• - TBA

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-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Ranking and Master Index

Originally Posted by MKSentinel

Power Ranking
Spartacus- Spartacus is bad. F

Edit: With the release of the Capuan Gladiators, the value of Spartacus went up radically and his Power Ranking is now a B+

Spartacus
Sucks? http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=2787
Sucks? http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=6864
Overpriced? http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=7652

Unit Strategy Review

• 
  Unit Strategy Review: Spartacus

[nickmodaily]

Originally Posted by Roufus

Would a squad of common gladiators really justify 200 freaking points? In a normal game that's almost half your bloody army right there in one man.

Yes, he would most definitely be worth 200 points. Here's why:

Spartacus is basically Finn, Thorgrim, and Eldgrim all rolled up into one figure. Except, you don’t have to have him adjacent to any other figures, he doesn’t have to be dead, and his ability works on multiple figures. Also, you don’t have to activate him or have him within line of sight to use the ability. You just have to place the X marker on him, and the other markers on gladiators.

I would imagine spending around 80 points for a 5 Life, 5 Move, 6 Attack, and 4 Defense melee figure (without any special abilities). This would make his special ability to be worth around 120 points.

I think the ability to add an additional move, attack, and defense to at least two other figures is close to being worth 120 points. Add in a squad or two of gladiators and he may become under-priced.

Even with only two figures to enhance, his ability is awesome. Just remember that taking the three gladiators against other melee figures (specifically heroes) is the best way to use them. Taking them against range is suicide, just like it is with most other melee figures. It's all in how you use him.

[Roufus]

But at the same time, having 380 points tied up in three figures for that special ability to make any kind of sense seems kind of off.

I see what you're saying nick-, but it just doesn't seem to be practical, even with a gladiator squad.

As soon as someone picks a gladiator, they'll go all range, and then picking any other gladiator would be 'suicide'. The game is made with range, and the gladiators just don't have what it takes to be competitive at those prices (yet). And even for tough melee fighters, they can only attack one guy at a time.

The extra stats are NICE, don't get me wrong, but rediculously easy to overcome, and with much less points.

I know it's all in the tactics and everything, but most games aren't much more than 380 points to begin with, and to have the best tactical advantage, you'd want a more balanced army. The high cost of having this ability to work, squad or no, doesn't seem to lend itself to having a army that's well rounded.

[Matthias Maccabeus]

The only time I've ever played Spartacus is in a team game. It was 4 players 2 on 2 of 400 point armies. My partner picked Spartacus and the other 2 glads. I picked a team with agents (KMA & Nakita), Raelin, James Murphy (I think...it was a long time ago). The glads really shined in that game along with Spartacus. We won pretty handily, but they (the glads) were supported heavily with range and Raelin.

[NoIntentions]

to avoid serious ranged counter drafting, you DON'T take Spartacus first. take Crixus, as he's easily the best one. he's a melee beast, and even without Spartacus you'll tear the map up.

[Riptide]

I think that he is great. In a game over the weekend, I played him, Retarius, Crixus, and Kaemon Awa in a 500 point game. My opponent used Grimnak, Zettians, Heavy Gruts, Eldgrim, Thorgrim, Finn, and Marro Warriors.

Kaemon Awa and Grimnack were the first to fall, Grimnack falling to Kaemon then Kaemon to the Zettians. My gladiators performed perfectly... Retarius used his net well and Crixus slaughtered the marros leaving Spartacus to take care of the Vikings. Crixus had 1 life left, Retarius had 1 nad Spartacus had 3 at the end.

I do hope that a squad eventually emerges to compliment Spartacus, but his 2 buddies are quite the power houses with the bonuses they recieve.

[Fezzikthedoor]

I've been trying for the longest time to think of a reason for Spartacus' cost, because--laugh if you will--I really do like him and think the "F" is a bit harsh. I enjoy playing him, and I do pretty well with him and his buddies. So how to justify his cost?

How about this? His inspire ability is the same as all 3 of the viking triplets rolled into one, and he doesn't even have to die first? Their total cost is 190 points, his is 200. His ability also effects two figures at once. His life is higher than theirs, as is his defense and attack. He doesn't have their auras, although one could argue that inspire is more like an unlimited sight aura rather than a spirit power.

So, my rational for his point cost is that he rolls 3 big powers into one and is a strong brawler all by himself.

...now if they'd just release one stinkin' squad for him...

[Blackrock]

I just picked up the Nakitas & gladiators and I must say I was frustrated at first at Spartacus's severely high price. I almost always play 400-point games (the books all tell me to do that for the Master Set skirmishes, unless you can suggest a board that works with a 450-to-500-point game; plus the first tournament I'm going to enter at the end of the month is 400 points for some reason), and choosing the three glads only leaves 20 more points left over. I could drop Isamu in, if I had him, but I don't know how much that'd help.
I really love those customs you made, nether. Where did you find the figures? Are they about the same scale as Heroscape figs? I wouldn't mind getting some to paint up and play that squad myself.
What's wrong with a unique squad, though? The gladiators are pricey enough as-is, it might be troublesome to try and fit two or more of the same squad into a team with the big man. It's less stress to have to buy one unique squad, too But I suppose you could knock out Crix and Ret for an entire militia of gladiators.
However, it all boils down to the big question: Is Hasbro going to get on the ball with this or what? They've put out two waves and preview pics of a third wave (and none of those figures look like gladiators) since Spartacus and his boys came out, so can we expect them to work on this potentially-devastating hero by providing more units for his ability by Wave 9 or should we just give up and stick with customs?

[TexMex]

I used Spartacus along with the other gladiators and the Nakita Agents for a 500 point game last night - weird combo I know, but hey, they all came in the same box It worked out pretty well - those gladiators pack a punch with Spartacus backing them!

[zettian_guard]

Assuming that you placed all of your order markers on Gladiators, if Spartacus is killed early in the round do the other Gladiatoras still recieve the bonuses for the rest of that round?

I say they do but would like some confimation.

[zettian_guard]

Spartacus' card is not worded the same as Raelin's, or any of the others that you mentioned. His card specifies for the entire round.

It sounds to me like the power is received at the start of the round once you place your markers properly. And that power is there until the end of the round.

[Tiberius]

Yeah, you are right, it does say specifically for the rest of round, my bad. I guess you would be correct.