Agrith-Naar by
@Sir Heroscape
A miniature this awesome-looking deserves to be in the game. Believe me, it's fantastic in person.
Balance
Agrith-Naar is terrifying to behold, and I mean both in terms of stats and powers and the fearsome miniature. Whirlwind Attack with Attack 5, and not just Flying but bonding to get into position? Terrifying indeed. While his hunger weakens his survivability a bit, Life 6 and Defense 3 are solid, though not exceptional.
The Fen Hydra is a useful comparison point at a similar cost, with the Hydra also known for its devastating offensive output. Its Attack value is lower than the Demon's, and Agrith can theoretically get more attacks in a turn, but Reach and the versatility of Hydra Heads (allowing the Hydra to focus its attacks on a single figure if it prefers) make up for that. The Hydra's Defense 6 is a lot tougher to crack than Defense 3, but doing so also cuts into its offensive power. Hard to say which one is better, so at least Agrith's price tag is in the ballpark. Though it is worth noting that Agrith can bond while the Hydra cannot.
Theme
An excellent multi-attack is very fitting for the miniature, with it's many arms wielding blades. Being a Ravenous Devourer fits the miniature well too, and the theme of Starved ties well into that mental picture. I don't like the power name "Starved" though. I was active in Sir Heroscape's custom thread when the design shifted towards this version, and the theme was that he was driven mad with hunger when he was unable to devour the meatsack right in front of him. I don't get that from the name "Starved," though. With that power name I wonder why he doesn't suffer when isn't taking turns, and why doesn't his starvation end after a good meal?
Creativity
This design takes familiar territory (Whirlwind Assault) and gives it a whole new spin. The addition of Starved brings a danger and a gamble to maximizing Whirlwind, even beyond the existing dangers of jumping in the middle of enemy figures. The more figures he ends up next to, the more likely he will take starvation damage. That's the kind of clever interaction, using mostly existing powers, that I really enjoy, as it's easy to understand but also with interesting gameplay decisions.
Playability
First off, is Agrith-Naar overpowered? His offensive potential is terrifying, so much so that a wise opponent will do his or her best to minimize Agrith's first strike damage. Which is much easier said than done; it's rather difficult to spread figures enough to prevent the Ravenous one from tearing into more than two figures. And it's not merely offensive "potential." When Agrith flies in, squad figures die.
His Life/Defense make up for that, though, despite looking fairly solid. We all know too well what happens when you put Mimring a little too close to the front lines for that perfect attack. Agrith-Naar's survivability is about on par with Mimring when you add in Starved. The Demon is more likely to clear out the figures near him (unlike a painful whiff with Fire Line), but being a Whirlwind melee figure he doesn't want to just get close to the front lines, he wants to jump past it into enemy territory. He kills a lot, but falls quickly too.
Which is fun and dynamic, and he's pretty easy to use effectively. Dive in headfirst and kill as much as possible. But therein lies the problem. The design ends up undermining its most unique features thanks to its stats.
Attack 5 is really great. Good enough to do damage with nearly every attack, tearing through squads. It's too good to pass up, really. But doesn't the potential blowback from Starved make it worrisome to do that? No. Taking one wound isn't a deterrent for the amount of damage Agrith is likely to inflict on his opponent's army and formation. He's a cruise missile that you know won't last long, but will land with a bang. Starved may cause a wound now and again, but it just isn't a concern.
So as interesting as the design seems, with tension between Whirlwind Assault and Starved, there really isn't. Ultimately, I felt that Starved was mostly extraneous. If I played Agrith aggressively, I didn't pay it much mind. If I played him conservatively, I didn't worry about it either, since I wasn't engaging many figures anyways. It didn't even give me pause when attacking a hero he was unlikely to kill, since I was willing to accept the wound to get an attack of five (often six with height, thanks to Flying) on the hero plus one or more other figures. In theory one has to avoid placing him adjacent to a friendly figure, but with the Acolytes' ability to Summon him in the middle of the fight that wasn't a concern, nor was it a concern when I was playing him without bonding, as he's pretty sharky anyway.
Summary
I love the idea of a dangerous whirlwind-assaulter held back by Starved, and a terrifying short-lived whirlwind-assaulter is fun too. This design is the second, but is held back from greatness by trying to be the first. As it stands, Starved just feels extraneous, neither important to the design nor necessary for theme (as being a Ravenous Devourer already handles the theme, and he very much plays that way). Give him one less Life and he'd play the same. Agrith-Naar is fun to play with and against and isn't overpowered, but needs to either make Starved an important part of play or get rid of it.
I vote
Nay to induct
Agrith-Naar into the SoV.
