Jim Whitecloud by
@Pumpkin_King (submitted by
@Leaf_It)
Jim’s a man of two worlds. On the one side he is loyal to his people leading them into battle with his six-shooter and providing support with his tomahawk and lasso. On the other side he is bound to his oath to uphold the law, working with a posse to roundup outlaws on Earth and perhaps even as far away as Valhalla.
Balance
The prospect of adding another Lawman into Clayton’s posse instantly invites comparison to the existing Lawmen. Looking at Jim’s Aquilla brother, Louis “Mad Dog” Malone who has identical base stats for 10 points less. Mad Dog rolls one fewer attack die when engaged but has more staying power with an extra defense die (even from non-adjacent attackers). Additionally, Malone can attack twice which is slightly more likely to destroy squad figures (6-8%) and apply more wounds to heroes (0.14 to 0.35 wounds per turn). Comparing attack output to James Murphy, Shotgun Blast is a ranged special attack that can impact multiple figures, which can be enhanced by his whip, causing significant damage. Finally, for the price of Jim you can get both Kate Crawford and Guilt McCreech both of which are more dangerous from range. In a Lawman build it is only Jim’s Lasso that differentiates him, and even then, it is a bit of a wild card. Only triggering 50% of the time, Lasso 11 is difficult to price as it can pull a key figure out of position or allow Jim to engage a figure that would have otherwise remained out of range. Occasionally, Lasso can be the play of the game, while often is comes off as more of a novelty, and in some cases has a negative effect of limiting Jims movements on subsequent turns.
Of course, Jim has a dual role after all, able to slot into Mohican River Tribe and Teeth of the Makwa builds as well. As a Mohican, Brave Arrow is a superior melee choice, whereas 2 Makwa Tribesmen provide superior Range support for the same price. The same holds true for the Makwa, except they can also pull from the various Scout heroes available. All this is not to say that Jim is completely outclassed as a Tribesman. While not stellar as range support and not the strongest melee option, he is able to provide both, along with the bonus of his Lasso allowing him to be a fine addition to either army.
In the armies mentioned above or as a solo hero, Jim is a jack of all trades, which normally results in a weak Heroscape unit. However, Jim can do a bit of everything which can augment both Lawmen and Tribesman builds in ways not offered by other options. Due to the low hero point totals that the Lawmen and Tribesmen occupy it is easy for Jim to complement rather than compete in these armies.
Theme:
Firstly, I wanted to discuss “Law of the Land”. As written in the current meta this power functions identical to “Jim has the class of Lawman as well as what is listed on the card”. While the wording could be simpler there is a theme being expressed here that has value. Instead of Lawman being intrinsic to Jim, it is conditional in a way being a Tribesman is not. This subtle but important distinction shows how Jim is dedicated to his people first and foremost. While Heroscape is only a game, every representation can fortify stereotypes. As a Canadian, we are a country coming to terms with a dark part of our past (See Residential Schools), where those in charge literally tried to “take the Indian our of the child”. This is a recent trauma, but each positive representation brings us all closer to healing.
Aside from that, the card does a great job representing a man walking the line between his tribe and the law he is trying to uphold. All 3 of the weapons the miniature is sporting are well represented cribbing off existing powers, making the unit feel familiar. Nothing seems out of place when looking at the stat box, as he is in alignment with other Lawmen and Outlaws. I love when a personality is reflected in game play, with Jim’s fearlessness coming out when he Lassos a murderous Robot, Alien, or Bugbear only to hit them with his Tomahawk.
Creativity:
As a consequence of his 3 weapons, Jim can do a lot of different things on a map, but nothing particularly outstanding. While I’m not particularly fond of Jack of all Trades, in play Jim can be hard for an opponent to predict. When running with Clayton or the Mohicans, Jim can sit back and take potshots with his revolver, or he can run in fearlessly and take a big swing at a troublesome hero. Lasso, like Chain Grab, is hard to protect against, forcing opponents to pay special attention to cheerleaders and or a key figure’s position since nothing is worse than having Raelin pulled off her perch. Targeting a mid to low point total works in Jims’s favor, since a higher price would likely result in him outclassing other Tribesman and Lawmen, while lowering points by lowering his life or attack would have made him far less effective in his role.
Playability:
Running Jim with Clayton and the gang offered some interesting tricks that were not available to the other Lawmen. I took the liberty of playing the Lawmen against the new Pirate faction and in one game Jim was able to use Lasso an Exile negating his Stealthy 13 power while taking a turn with Shootout. Jim’s 4 attack Tomahawk fits in nicely with the Lawmen potentially cracking bulletproof armor. In another game Jim was able to use a lucky initiative win to use Sheriff’s Posse and his own move to engage Q10 and while Jim would end up as Swiss cheese from Q10’s machine gun, he did serve 2 wounds to the Soulborg. Jim may not be the first choice to run with Clayton, but he I didn’t find myself regretting his inclusion at the expense of another hero.
As a Tribesman Jim normally took second place to the existing units. The Teeth of Makwa work well with the Makwa tribesman who can gain the benefit of a second attack, but moving Jim up to threaten a key figure or potentially remove a figure from a Glyph was a neat trick. With the Mohicans, Brave Arrow’s Concealment and superior move mean you will likely want to lead with him, leaving Jim for more of a clean up role. I did enjoy mixing Clayton, Guilty and Jim with the Teeth of Makwa since you can gain impressive board control and the second wave of Lawmen could already be in position after the Makwa fell.
Without any synergy Jim is a middling cleanup standalone figure as is common with low to mid costed heroes. You are almost always better off spending your points on another squad or a couple of Wyrmling’s since Jim is not going to cover any obvious hole in your army due his jack of all trade’s nature. I did enjoy running Jim in a Battle for the Underdark like campaign, where range and a deeper life pool benefits your heroes.
Summary:
When playtesting a unit I pay attention if I’m “wishing” for a change like an extra defense dice or a lower D-20 threshold. When playing with Jim, I felt the card was correctly balanced and he preformed as expected for the price. Jim was interesting to play and his Lasso and Tomahawk combo lead to some play of the game moments. In the end I found that Jim was like a good Swiss army knife, not particularly good at any thing particular but his blade is sharp enough to cut down stronger units.
I vote
Yea to induct
Jim Whitecloud into the SoV.