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Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Diorite Defender by @ryguy266

I'm all for propping up the Granite Guardians.

Balance

In my prior review I didn't know how to compare this unit against existing ones, and I still don't. It has a mix of extremes, with crappy offense but great survivability, and terrible movement but a great adjacent boost. The same price as a squad of Granite Guardians is a reasonable guess.

Theme

Thematically, as before, this feels like an Elementar Hero, including slow movement, toughness, and a height advantage-based cheerleading power. The miniature works ok, though it lacks the fully humanoid look of the Granites.

Creativity

I am still a fan of the concept here. A rock thing raising up the ground around it is a cool mental image, and it fits perfectly with the high ground-based Elementar army. It's unique and fits very well.

Playability

The change to Rock Pillars from the prior version is an excellent way to limit the Diorite Defender's boost to range units (except for the Granites, of course). It's still possible to use, but having to put the first order marker on an Elementar army card is a huge disadvantage. A turn with the Diorite is basically a waste, even if he gets an attack in, and Granite Guardians are not a unit you just splash in. Granites are very sharky due to Gain High Ground and their need for height advantage to be effective.

On the other hand, mixing Granites with a ranged unit such as Krav Maga Agents works quite well on certain maps, or even better, in scenarios where you need to defend a point at or near your starting position. Granites works as combat screens while your Kravs get the rest of your order markers with a Rock Pillars boost.

The thing is, in a standard ~500pt 1v1 format, the Diorite Defender just isn't good enough on most maps. Turns with the Diorite are, sadly, a waste. A single attack of three just doesn't get much done, but you rarely even get that because you only move the big guy when you have a strong advantage to press. That weakness would be fine if you didn't have to activate the big rock, but the adjacency requirement pretty much ensures you do. At least, as long as you are winning, as you need to press your advantage with the Granites while you have it. Sadly, any turn you take with the Diorite for positioning is a turn you are not pressing that advantage and potentially losing it. It's not that this never works, and the Hero is amazing when parked in a good position, but in most cases I found I would have been better off sticking with the Granites (and wishing I had another squad of them).

This vote ends up being a question of what determines unit viability. There is a place in Heroscape for units that are dependent on maps or scenarios. Units with terrain-based powers are an example, as are units from the D&D era (and VC units that continued the tradition) that work best as dungeon crawlers or dungeon baddies. The Diorite Defender is great in some scenarios, particularly defensive ones, as well as formats like Heat of Battle. But it just isn't good enough in any other formats or scenarios where you need to move your army.

Summary

What it comes down to, for me, is that the unit design suggests general use, not scenario- or format-specific. That's vague criteria, I admit, but the Diorite Defender doesn't have, for example, terrain-based abilities like the Obsidian Guards or abilities that seem tailor-made to challenge heroes in a dungeon crawl like the Feral Troll. The mix of the defensive adjacent-based powers Rock Pillars and Heavy Stone are offset by the advancement power of Gain Higher Ground, making the unit well-rounded as a general-use cheerleader. But it just doesn't quite pull it off as the cost to keep the Diorite in useful positions is just too high. That is, sadly, not an easy problem to solve; it's not a question of points, it's a question of activation cost.

I vote Nay to induct the Diorite Defender into the SoV.
 
It’s an interesting thing to be told an SoV submission isn’t powerful enough. I’ll be curious to see if other reviews find strength to be an issue.
 
Balance



At first blush the High Dune Scorpions with Venom and Estivara look a bit overpowered compared to other melee units, but the Underbelly ability helps to bring it back in line. In standard points, 70 pts appears to be fairly close to the mark.



Theme



A venom mechanic on scorpions makes sense. The fact it works on all units is a big plus. We don’t need more anti-hero squads, common squads are already anti-hero by default. Underbelly as a trope is not something I’m familiar with as per Scytale’s vote. Still, it helps to keep the cost of the unit down.



Creativity



The Underbelly ability in particular creates some interesting and counterintuitive play styles. For experienced players, you’re constantly working against your instincts to always take the high ground on both sides of the match.



Playability



The Scorpions in particular seem to want same level attacks as much as possible to maximize their use of Venom’s ability to subtract defense, and deny the Underbelly.



The timing of the Venom roll is a bit annoying, I tend to remember to roll for it right before anyone attacks instead of before moving. Which is funny since I remember to roll for Anubian Wolves’ Unleashed Fury before moving. I’m not entirely sure why I forget the right timing for the Venom roll, but I do feel like it’s still the best time to roll for it as if you want to gamble on taking the high ground to remove some key units you will know the defense reduction you’re applying.



Opposing melee units want to take the low ground attacks or high ground attacks into Scorpions whenever possible. Positioning to deny even ground attacks back is also key. Anytime a Scorpion has to attack into high ground, most of the time the Venom will just be counteracting the height advantage defense. Scorpions attacking down are very vulnerable to counterattacks due to Underbelly, so sometimes it’s worth baiting the Scorps into taking the high ground to make it easier to clear them, especially on an upcoming initiative switch. On some maps it's very difficult to deny Underbelly, as with Height of 2, some areas of maps can only be engaged in melee on a medium level.



Opposing ranged units have an easy time sticking to lower ground to attack up into the Scorpions. On several occasions I retreated my ranged units from level ground to low ground to make it easier to destroy Scorpions. Range in general can have a much better time dealing with Scorpions, especially on maps with level 0 that the Scorpions have to approach on level 1. Marro Warriors go brrrr!.



Estivara is just about a mandatory unit to play with them. They really need the punch with +1 attack even with Venom, as they are often on the lowest ground possible to deny Underbelly. This means that sometimes they are tethered to certain areas of a map. Having a ranged unit to help pull units in is always great (Kaemon Awa in particular was nice). I feel at minimum I wouldn’t want to play them without Estivara around, but that might just be me.



Summary



All in all, the Scorpions playstyle feels counterintuitive to the “correct” way to play Scape, but not in a bad way. The Venom helps to counteract the proper way to play them (sticking to low ground) and thrive when fighting units on level ground. If an opponent is not aware of the best way to fight against the Scorpions, they will probably think they are an overpowered/undercosted unit. Against Ranged units in particular, the Scorpions can be mowed down pretty quickly with few options to deal with it other than trying to catch and kill those units quickly.



The Venom roll timing and playstyle that evolves playing around the Scorpions feels a bit odd, but not necessarily in a bad way. I could see both of these issues as a legitimate reason to downvote the Scorpions, but overall I still like them enough to vote YES to SoV Induction.
 
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Master of Aldorn and Visages of Aldorn by @Leaf_It:

The Master of Aldorn, along with his Visages, seeks to add on to the Aldorn faction and terrify his opponents with ghostly efficiency.

Balance:
The Master of Aldorn clocks in at 90 points (120 for the whole package) and his stats reflect this cost quite well. His 4 attack with 5 range can pack quite a punch when you factor in his phantom walk, but his low defense and average life means he can fall quickly to a concentrated assault. His Terrifying Influence aura is quite small at 3 spaces but benefits from not needing clear sight and boosts a fair amount of figures in both classic and VC. His most unique power is his ability to summon the Visages in addition to bonding with them. This recursion can be quite potent as reviving up to 2 figures and then getting to take a turn with them is not something we have in Heroscape. This is well balanced because the units he revives/bonds with are not exactly very powerful. The Visages of Aldorn are a mere 30 points and their stats exemplify their low cost. They have low move, low attack and a defense value not even Ashigaru would be proud of, where their true power lies, is in the Master.

Creativity:
These units are quite creative, I really enjoyed the mechanics of the constantly reviving, albeit incredibly weak Visages, all being controlled and empowered by the Master from the shadows.

Theme:
The theme is my favorite aspect of these two units. They feel right at home with the specters, Phantom Walk and Levitation being key aspects of the Aldorn faction. The ghostly clear figures blend right in, and the theme of a single master of the specters empowering them worked really great for me. The Visages are great representations of their namesake, weak, and ethereal nuisances more than actual threats that fade in and out of existence.

Playablity:
Now the playability is where the designs fall a little short for me. The theme is excellent, but unfortunately, the master competes almost one to one with Ataraxis. Stats wise, they are similar, both have a decent ranged attack, both have an aura that enhances the same set of units, and both have comparable survivability. Ataraxis does have less life, but her higher defense paired with nanobot soulcage makes her harder to kill in most scenarios. The Master does have more flexible mobility, but generally I prefer Ataraxis’s Necrotizing wormhole to 5 move phantom walk, especially for a figure I want to move once at the start of the game. Granted, Ataraxis lowers defense while the Master boosts attack, but Ataraxis’s aura is 2 spaces larger, and ultimately is much harder to play around than the Master’s aura. One advantage that the Master does have over Ataraxis is the Visages, getting to bond with them and get extra attacks means that he has better offensive output. The Visages are interesting for me, I love the theme and the recursion, however, due to the Incorporeal power, it is super easy to just ignore them, walk through them, and try to get the Master, and any units that can’t reach the Master, can easily wave their hands in the general direction of the Visages and kill them without any trouble. The other big issue I ran into with the Visages is that they are incredibly slow. They want to be out in front of the Master, but he is faster than them, and with a unit that has such a strong cheerleader ability he isn’t a unit you want to put a bunch of turns on early game, you want to move him once, and then go all in on your main core.

I tried all kinds of different combos for these units, I tried Master of Aldorn with the Visages, I tried them both with Ataraxis as well, I tried solo Master, and I tried both in armies they synergize with as well as armies they didn’t synergize with to try to find the ideal playstyle for these very cool thematic ghosts. When running both Ataraxis and the Master, I found you are investing too much in Cheerleading powers (even in delta) so your main force often feels too thin. When running just the Master and his Visages, I felt his aura was too limited to leverage effectively, against range he is too easy to snipe, and in all of these cases, the Visages proved to be of little effect. The best use I found for the Master was as an assassin type lead or as an endgame cleanup figure. His Phantom Walk paired with his range gives him quite a bit of punch and the Visages add quite a bit to him either as blockers standing on adjacent spaces, or rushing out to try to clear out groups of enemies. The main problem with this is that A) in standard points the Master (when paired with the Visages) is competing with some of the best standalone heroes for their point value. Krug, Kaemon, and Hydra are pillars of endgame units and it is hard to choose the Master and his Visages over those units. And B) This clearly wasn’t the intent of the unit. The Master of Aldorn doesn’t read like he was intended to act as an assassin unit nor was he intended as a clean up hero.

Summary:
I really like these two units, the theme evokes a very clear image, however in practice, the unit feels like it’s trying to do too many things, the aura is hard to leverage, the combo of Phantom Walk+range makes for a very effective and slippery unit and overall it feels like a unit that wasn’t intended to be a jack-of-all-trades unit unfortunately, falls better into that category than the intended role. It also doesn’t help that the Master has a large overlap in use with an already existing unit. The Visages are incredibly thematic, however, that same creativity and vision has robbed them of being effective. They want to be immortal protectors, but have a hard time protecting their master, and are a little too easy to ignore and easily dealt with. These feel right at home in the Aldorn faction, and bring a lot of creative flair to the table, but once on the table, they fall regrettably flat. I vote NO to induct the Master of Aldorn and the Visages of Aldorn into the SoV. These two are very close, but as the SoV is the best of the best, I think they fall a little short of that status.
 
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Alright friends! I got a lot for you all to peruse this NYE. My apologies that this is all coming at once. The testing for the Assassin and the Wraith have been done for months but I've been doing a lot of writing at work this year and so it has been nearly physically impossible for me to make myself write in my free time. So I sat myself down the past days and churned these out.
Drow Assassin by Leaf_It
Drow-Elf.jpg
Creativity
The Drow Assassin could be the second Drow to make it through the SoV, but she would be the first addition to the Drow faction since Wave 11. That’s a long time without any support for any faction, let alone an underperforming one (recent delta notwithstanding). The boost is sorely needed. For the most part, this unit hides in the shadows right along with the rest of the faction, not really breaking new creative ground. The themes are already in place without much work and two of the powers are either re-used (Hide in Darkness) or slightly tweaked (Barge into Battle -> Shadow Shift). The creative highlight of this design is Drow Ambush and how it interacts with Shadow Shift, which I’ll get into more detail about in the Playability section.
Theme
As I mentioned already, the themes for this design are already baked into the faction. This miniature matches the other 6 Utgar Drow figures quite well. It’s almost like Wizards of the Coast has a pretty narrow design space for Drow miniatures. Obviously, the miniature depicts a Drow, but the Army Card alone does too. Hide in Darkness is iconic. I’ll echo Scy’s comments on the lack of Poison Weapons; it would have been nice to include on an Assassin's card somehow, but these cards only have so much real estate. HiD is definitely the correct choice if only one “Drow power” can be included (Yes, I know Darrak has it too, so it’s not solely a Drow power). The card and the mini both paint the same thematic picture of a Drow lady who you thought wasn't there suddenly appearing and stabbing you.
Balance
Every Common Hero in the game but one has some sort of multi-activation synergy. (Sorry Sahuagin Raider.) Because of the wide range of figures in this category I’m going to functionally limit this analysis to the couple units that are the closest in points and stats.
Screenshot-2023-11-09-141641.png
The Drow Chainfighter is the first, most obvious point of comparison. The Assassin is faster, and hits harder. But the Chainfighter is tougher and has the incomparable utility of chain grab. So they don’t really overlap in terms of role in an army. The Dumutef Guard and Swog Rider also match the Assassin’s point value but can act as a cheerleader at the same time. So once again,

comparable in terms of stats, but not really in role. Therefore, I think the closest point of comparison is actually the Beakface Rogue. They’re both fast, can benefit from movement powers like Shadow Shift and Flocking. They each get a conditional attack boost and a conditional defensive power. The Drow Assassin, purely comparatively, feels right at 25 points. She does have more explosive potential than the other comparison points, which makes me feel that she’s less expensive than is actually warranted. Which I think is fine in order to compensate for the overpriced Deepwyrm Drow. In classic points that is probably necessary, Delta will sort itself out later.
Playability
I enjoyed my games playing with Drow Assassins. They feel low-risk, high-reward because of how she can be launched into an opponent’s forces at any time. But at the same time, it isn’t always easy to know the right time to launch her. It took me some practice to learn how to develop her and the Drow that she wants to shift with safely so they will still be alive when the optimal moment to ambush is at hand. Hint: these assassin armies really, really like initiative switches. I found myself prioritizing Dagmar in more situations than I usually would.
As I said in the Creativity section, the way Shadow Shift and Drow Ambush work together is the best part of the design. These powers combine to allow a player to launch an assassination attempt at nearly any moment. Drow Ambush unpairs the Drow Assassins from many Order Marker decisions that would otherwise be the bane of a 1 turn assassin type unit. As long as your OMs are on common Drow you can wait for the opportune moment and your opponent must be always on their guard. If you had to time your assassination attempts with your OMs opponents would be much more ready for them and so the unit would be less playable and a less well-executed design.
Adding Assassins to a Deepwyrm army is a straight upgrade. 1 extra activation per round is better, not even assessing the utility of this lady’s powerset. Adding Assassins to a Guards army (Crypt Guardians + Drow Chainfighters + Other) isn’t a straight upgrade since you don’t get more activations than you otherwise would. It’s always 2 per OM: Crypt Guardian escorting another guard/queen or an Assassin ambushing on a Chainfighter’s OM. The assassin could be a 1 or 2 of in a guard army to give it a new tool (and it combo’s quite well with a well-timed Chain Grab) but she isn’t as essential as she feels in a Deepwyrm army. Once I played the games that proved to me that she is less valuable in a guard army and that there weren't any pain points there, I stopped playing around with the guards and focused on her alongside the Deepwyrm. (Although, now that Qhyrion is released, I kinda want to revisit Crypt Guardians, Chainfighters and Assassins, with Queenie Q just for fun.)
Lastly, I want to remark that I do think that both parts of the “Before or after moving” clause at the beginning of Shadow Shift is necessary. I don’t have any specific examples (because it took me way too long to write this review) but I know that there were enough instances where only one was useful that I made specific note of it in my notes.

Summary
I've very much enjoyed the addition of the Drow Assassin to the games at my table. She's fun, thematic, and boosts a faction that sorely needs the help.
I’m very glad this version of the design has removed the self-activation feature of the previous version.
I vote YES to induct the Drow Assassin into the SoV, congratulations Leaf_it!
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Shadow Wraith by Sir Heroscape
Shadow-Wraith.png
Creativity
The Wraith is unsurprisingly intended to shore up a weakness of the faction, namely, that the shadows fall quite quickly. Her power set isn’t breaking any new ground mechanically, but it doesn't have to. Giving her a power set that relies on positioning and adjacency bonuses in a faction that relies on positioning and adjacency makes her feel right at home in the dark with the other Shadows.
Theme
I think the Shadow Wraith was designed in a different way than the rest of the faction. The Hound, Fiend, and Binder very obviously use their respective miniatures to inform the powers. The powers were then crafted together to give the faction mechanical cohesion. They all want to be next to other Shadows but each in a way that references the miniature. The Fiend feels very impish, taking cheap shots from the air while his foe is distracted by other Shadows on the ground. The Hound’s powers very much evoke hunting in a pack, given how they get faster and hit harder when another Shadow is in the mix.
The Wraith feels a bit different to me. Her powers feel less informed by the miniature and more by the existing faction’s mechanics and needs. The miniature is just the one available. Nothing about a spectral and possibly tattered-looking humanoid reads as if she would give a defense boost. It is, I think, only because of the context of the rest of the faction that this design works. If this were a stand-alone design, I don’t think it works. But because the rest of the Shadows exist and because I can instantly recognize the translucent purple figures as those belonging to the Shadow faction, I can get behind this.
All that verbiage when I could have just said what Bigga said in his review:

“The mini is a purple ghosty thing. The card is a shadow (because purple) ghosty thing. And it makes shadows stronger for its shadow allies. Not much more to say, but it definitely works, and simple is never a bad thing.”
That just about sums it all up.
Balance
The other judges have compared The Wraith to the other Shadows, to Raelin, and to Kyntela Gwyn. Of these, the Shadows don’t overlap in role, and Raelin is in a league of her own. So of those, Kyntella seems to be the best comparison to the Wraith. I’d also posit that the Swog Rider might actually be a better comparison.
Screenshot-2024-12-29-202207.png
A Wraith and a Swog have identical Life, Range, Attack, and Points. They both rarely take turns on their own order markers. Their movement is comparable. 8 move is probably going to be even with Shadow Phase most of the time. There are situations where one would be preferable to the other, definitely. But I’m going to call their movement even, too. That leaves Orc Archer Enhancement vs Deepened Shadows and the Swog’s 1 additional defense die.
The Swog comes out ahead. The defense boost stacks, he also boosts attack, and he has the extra defense die. With this 1-to-1 comparison in a vacuum , I’d say that the Wraith could easily drop to 20 (where the Swog Rider is in delta) or even 15. Yikes...
But then this isn’t actually in a vacuum. And outside the vacuum we have “Azazel, Bane of Shadows” to consider. And I have to say 15-point Wraiths with Azazel look pretty frightening. I think in a perfect world *cough, delta, cough* the Wraiths can exist at 15 no problem, but the way the game is now, 25 is definitely the safe and probably correct choice and I applaud the restraint of the designer for making that difficult choice.
Playability
I really don’t want to talk too much about Azazel anymore, he made me sad in the last section. I think the whole faction could be discounted more if Azzy didn’t exist. Suffice it to say that I don’t think a Wraith-inclusive Azazel army is any more or less degenerate than a Shadow army without Wraiths. Much for the same reasons as the other judges.
Anyone who can competently play Raelin (I’m only sometimes in this category) knows that you position her early before the fighting starts. Often on your first order marker. And then you have to be VERY deliberate on when and if she ever gets a second OM. I’ve found the Wraith to be the same. You position your Wraiths early, within the first few order markers, as a sort of a staging ground for the rest of your Shadows. Allowing you to set up a defensive pod from which you can send the rest of your shadows out to attack. Rae and a few Wraiths have similar OM

costs for positioning (Raelin: 1-2 OMs over the course of the game. Wraiths: 1-2 OMs total by adding up multiple 1/3 OM over the course of the game.), but whereas a second Raelin OM is regularly purely defensive, additional Wraith activations can be used offensively too. This feels like somewhat of a contradiction. Do you want to be using your defensive pieces offensively? No, not really. But the Wraith often must in order to keep up the pressure.
Anyone who can competently play against Raelin (once again, I’m only sometimes in this category) knows that you either kill her as fast as possible or you fight through everything with boosted defense. Here the Wraiths don’t feel quite as similar. In many of my testing games, all the Wraiths were dead before I had lost more than one or two other Shadows. Their low defense and cheerleader abilities make them a really appealing target. And unlike Rae, the Wraiths don’t have the staying power to survive more than a few attacks. Opponents don’t have to pick against Shadows, they can just take the most opportune attacks knowing they will get value from any attack going through. A wounded Raelin is still outputting a full defensive aura. A wounded Wraith is a dead Wraith, and a dead Wraith isn’t useful to you anymore. This target on their head(s) really makes the Shadow player want to use them conservatively.
So now we have a defensive unit that often needs to be used offensively but also wants to be used conservatively. That's a recipe for a unit that's quite difficult to use effectively.
Until you realize that she never has to do all of that at the same time. You get to choose which of all the tools she gives a Shadow army are most useful to you at any given time. Early game she sets up defensive checkpoints, mid game she can phase into an ideal position to give other Shadows a defense and D20 buff. Then once she’s in an annoying position your opponent wants to attack her rather than a more valuable Fiend or Hound. You have to be very careful and precise with her, and it doesn’t always work out in your favor, but I’ve found that she can be really useful to the core Shadow Army.
Summary
So here I am, once again in the position to make the deciding vote. Not a position I’d envy if I were you. She’s good in terms of Creativity and Theme, in a really weird place Balance-wise and she’s really difficult to play.
Xundar’s Shadows are an army that's all about the little optimizations. One space here or there can make a huge difference. The Shadow Wraith is another tool in the toolbox. A way to get some more of those small optimizations. She won’t be built around, but she’ll be included as a 1 or 2 of in some armies. I don’t know if even one of her is in the “best” Shadow army. But I think that's part of the fun with her. The Shadows army isn’t solved in the way that some other armies are. (Like Nilf + Greenscales + Rae.) I like what she brings to the army. She’s versatile, tactical, and really damn difficult to use.
I vote YES to induct the Shadow Wraith into the SoV, congratulations Sir Heroscape!
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Nordlüng by @Sherman Davies
Starfinder-Alien-Archive-Dragonkin.jpg
You can find my review of the previous iteration of this design HERE. A good bit of it is still relevant to this design. I would recommend reading or re-reading that review before continuing. But in case you don’t want to, here is the summary of the important bits.
“I love the miniature. I love the big idea. I think some of the thematic elements could be a little more polished and cohesive. One small thematic issue could be justified in deference to mechanics or clarity. But Nordlung has more than one “I think that could be better” moments. (For clarity, I’m referring to the overshadowed axe, 2 power names, and range 8 on the rifle.)
That larger issue is that the Soulborg matchup is just unfun. The Soulborg player just doesn’t get to play HeroScape for a good chunk of the game. Omnicron Pulse Rifle is massively overpowered in these matchups and Nordlung is not priced appropriately for it.”
Changelog:
  • Renamed Nordlung to Nordlüng.
  • Omnicron Pulse Rifle Special Attack removed and replaced by Shock Rifle Special Attack.
  • Princeling Ice Shards Special Attack renamed to Hoarfrost Special Attack.
  • Points decreased from 165 to 160.
Let’s go through these one by one. The name change gets a thumbs up by me. I think it fits in well with Classic Scape’s Norse roots.
Omnicron Pulse Rifle was the reason Scytale and I downvoted the previous iteration of this design. So I’m happy to see it and its OM removing ability gone. I have no issue with Shock Rifle’s “Soulborgs who do not follow Jandar” clause. It still makes the power an anti-soulborg attack, albeit way less oppressive, which is good. Also, the range was lowered to 7, which I like.
I have a distinct memory of writing up a detailed reason why I liked the name Hoarfrost so much. But I cannot find it. So, I hope I’m not contradicting my past self. If I am, well I’m just smarter now than I was then. --- Hoarfrost is better. No two ways about it. I elaborated why Princeling isn’t a good name in the previous review. Hoarfrost evokes a very specific image of, well,

hoarfrost. Look up some images if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Which I think can fit right in the middle of Fledgeling Ice Shards and Nilfheim’s Ice Shard Breath.
The points reduction makes sense. The first special attack is worse (in terms of strength, not in terms of design). So, the points come down a little.
Summary
I still love the miniature. I still love the big idea. A lot of the thematic elements that needed polish before have been buffed out. This version of Nordlüng fixes my biggest issue and 3 of my 4 smaller issues. The only one left being the overshadowed axe. 5 attack can easily be the Dragon’s natural melee attack or it could be the axe. So, the only one left is the smallest of them all.
I vote YES to induct Nordlung into the SoV.
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Scytale said:
If that's true, then we're bad at our jobs.
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I wouldn't say that you're bad at your jobs. It's just that most peoples' ability to accurately assess a unit's power level has improved over time. From a glance at the OP, I can say with near certainty that there are at least 3 previously-inducted units that would not pass the review process were they to be submitted today, due to them simply not being powerful enough. It's no-one's fault really - it's just that the community as a whole was not as good at judging units' strength from 2010 ~ 2016 as it is in the modern day, which resulted in a couple of units 'slipping through the cracks', so to speak.
 
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Grey Waves said:
I wouldn't say that you're bad at your jobs. It's just that most peoples' ability to accurately assess a unit's power level has improved over time. From a glance at the OP, I can say with near certainty that there are at least 3 previously-inducted units that would not pass the review process were they to be submitted today, due to them simply not being powerful enough. It's no-one's fault really - it's just that the community as a whole was not as good at judging units' strength from 2010 ~ 2016 as it is in the modern day, which resulted in a couple of units 'slipping through the cracks', so to speak.
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I don't think this is the issue, I think the SoV has just been historically conservative as a safety measure; better to induct a new Dund than a new Raelin.
 
Grey Waves said:
I wouldn't say that you're bad at your jobs. It's just that most peoples' ability to accurately assess a unit's power level has improved over time. From a glance at the OP, I can say with near certainty that there are at least 3 previously-inducted units that would not pass the review process were they to be submitted today, due to them simply not being powerful enough. It's no-one's fault really - it's just that the community as a whole was not as good at judging units' strength from 2010 ~ 2016 as it is in the modern day, which resulted in a couple of units 'slipping through the cracks', so to speak.
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What do you mean by "not being powerful enough" exactly? There's a very important difference between being too costly to be competitive and being non-functional. The former is probably unfortunate though may be intentional; for example, while Cxurgy isn't meta-competitive, his place to shine is in a dungeon crawl scenario. The latter is, however, a serious problem. If the design simply does not function as intended (for example, DW7k just doesn't work as an assassin bomb because it doesn't have Disengage), then we failed at our jobs. The Diorite Defender is an example of one that I felt just didn't succeed at what it was trying to do--the activation cost was too high. Of course it can still be meta-valuable if it's cheap enough. Would I play it in a tournament at 10pts? Yes, but not necessarily for the purpose it was designed for.
 
Jim Whitecloud by Pumpkin_King

This review will not be very long, it's been a while for me but I recently have read some old SoV reviews and have been reminded that sometimes there's not a lot that needs to be said.

Jim Whitecloud uses a great miniature that very obviously fits into both "sides" of the Heroscape Old West trope. PK's design cleverly allows both uses of the figure.

Lawman builds are fragile but fun. Jim gives them another way to throw 4 dice in melee (helpful) and a way to reposition units, even on a shootout turn (shotgun special attack, anyone?). Perhaps the coolest thing I found, which I didn't see mentioned in other reviews, was a combo Mawka/Clayton army with Jim as the swingman. In these hybrid builds, the Shootout OM is surrounded by other bread-and-butter units, like Dreadguls. Using Teeth is nice because of their passive staying power, but Jim (the Tribesman) gives them development on Jim (the Lawman)'s Shootout turn, making for a smoother board presence across the round for the Teeth.

Lasso is unreliable enough to not be OP, and the same-level limit helps rein him in as well. And really, 5/5/7/2/2 is nothing to write home about for 70 points.

To sum up, Jim adds some extra depth to the synergy webs of some of my favorite armies, looks great on the battlefield, allows you to do some cool figure movement stuff, and fits in seamlessly with both Lawmen and Tribesmen. While I'm a little sad he isn't Fearsome, I will cast the fourth vote :up: to induct.
 
Shards of She-Kal-Ra by @SkyWhale

When the Shards of She-Kal-Ra were submitted I found the concept pretty interesting, something of a Marro leader broken into multiple pieces that is still capable of influencing others. The boost, which is neat but seemingly not amazing due to blowback potential, gives the unit reason to hang around in the battlefield until endgame, where Shared Mind proves its worth as a good cleanup power.

However, I quickly found the unit problematic. We all know that Marro Stingers are strong even if you never roll for Stinger Drain. Anyone who has played against a kid in a tournament that rolls for it every time and never seems to fail can tell you how brutal they can be with a consistent Drain. The way that She-Kal-Ra's Influence works, Stinger Drain can be used relatively safely every turn simply by having the three Shards surround a single Stinger in the back of the starting zone.

Normal Stinger Drain is a 20% chance of critical failure and 55% chance of success. With Shards that changes to a 4% chance of an (even worse) critical failure (additionally losing a Shard), an additional 2% chance of unfortunate failure (losing a Shard but still get to attack), and an almost 80% chance of success. That is a huge swing in capability for 80 points of investment. That is troublesome for an already strong unit, but the simplicity of the setup makes it much worse. It takes no activations or positioning for the Shards, or even putting them near danger. This is the best use of the Shards, in which sadly they are never used and Shared Mind doesn't even matter.

I vote Nay to induct the Shards of She-Kal-Ra into the SoV.
 
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Thank you for taking your time to test them out and for your review, Scytale!

I had thought they'd be strong with the Stingers when I initially submitted them, but my experience with competitive army building and playing was admittedly lacking and I overlooked just how problematic this combo can be.

I still think the Shards are an interesting concept, and want to see them through SoV, but with this review I think it is best for me to remove them and rework before submitting again.

If anyone other judges have had a chance to play, and has any thoughts on aspects they liked beyond this problematic interaction, feel free to reach out so I can make this unit the best it can be!

Thank you again for the time spent testing out and reviewing this iteration of the Shards of She-Kal-Ra.
 
The Shards of She-Kal-Ra have been withdrawn by the submitter's request and are removed from the process.
 
I would like to finally resubmit a new version of Jan Sobieski, the new card image here:

ZG7mSG8.png

Card text:
Spoiler Alert!
 
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I really do not like that Jan gives +1 Move and +1 Attack to adjacent 10th Reg, which is dangerous and encourages a pod of 10th surrounding Jan. But then Marcus does the same thing for less. (Not quite the same, but close.) So I can't complain too much. Stats are fitting, Expert Rider + Galloping Charge are interesting, and he has lots of good synergies. I would have liked him better as a Warlord, but he's interesting as a Human Champion too (despite the crowded field).

:up: to review Jan Sobieski
 
150 is a steep price considering all his competition (Marcus/Sir G being the most notable). He has a huge synergy web, and I think his stats will encorage endgame play more than mid game. However I respect that not everyone has access to every figure so I think he might be a good addition to new fans.

Up to review.
 
I have a lot of reservations about the pool of figures that Jan buffs, but 150 points is a huge investment, so it may very well level itself out.

:up: to review
 
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