ArcturusII
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Unit Strategy Review
Unit: Sacred Band
Author: ArcturusII (with great thanks to the other Unit Strategy Reviewers)
This hand-picked band of devoted soldiers formed the elite core of the Greek army in 4th-century BC Thebes; you can read about their colorful history on Wikipedia. Their Einar Warlord Bonding ability allows them to march bravely across the battlefield with their chosen hero, while their Disciplined Army Defense Bonus gives them a chance to defend more readily when drafted with an all-disciplined army.
Many players have asked, "Why draft the Sacred Band when you can have the Roman Legionnaires for the same price?" This guide tries to answer that question, as well as more general questions about how to use the Sacred Band effectively in battle.
Let’s take a look at the Sacred Band's stats:
Analyzed Statistics
Cost - 50 - Pawn Class Unit
Squad - 4 - Large
Size - Medium - Vulnerable/Concealable
Move - 4 - Slow
Range - 1 - Close Range
Attack - 3 - Average
Defense - 2 - Poor*
Einar Warlord Bonding - Gives you an extra turn with an Einar Warlord when activating the Sacred Band - High Tactical Advantage
Disciplined Army Defense Bonus - Gives an extra defense die to the Sacred Band when fielding an all-disciplined army. - High Tactical Advantage
In-Depth Analysis
Below is an explanation of Agatagary's cost classification:
Pawn class (expendable, units that can be useful, but are not worth enormous trouble to protect)
Bishop class (more useful than a pawn, but still somewhat expendable)
Knight class (units that are interestingly powerful and can have a significant impact on the game in of themselves. It is advisable that they be kept alive, but if absolutely necessary they may be sacrificed)
Rook class (units that almost inevitably have a significant impact on the game, and whose death should be avoided as much as possible)
Queen class (devastatingly powerful or important units that should be protected at all costs)
Class:
The Sacred Band are Pawn class figures. At 12.5 points per figure, you can afford to lose some of them, as long as the sacrifice achieves important battlefield objectives. At 4 figures per squad, the Sacred Band enjoys the advantage of strength in numbers, and because they are a Common Squad, they can lose some of their number and still activate at full strength (assuming you drafted 2 or more squads of them).
Offense:
The Sacred Band have a medium attack strength of 3. With 4 figures per squad and Einar Warlord Bonding, the Sacred Band can have up to 5 attacks per turn, which is very strong. However, because the Sacred Band (and their Einar Warlords) are melee figures, they may have trouble getting close enough to the enemy to receive the full benefit of their attacks.
The Sacred Band have Move 4 plus Range 1, allowing them to threaten figures up to five spaces away on level terrain.
Survivability:
Don't consider drafting the Sacred Band unless you are sure that you will be getting the Disciplined Army Defense Bonus. At 3 defense dice, you can expect to lose several Sacred Band members in any battle, but if you leave them at 2 defense dice, you can expect a massacre. If you DO draft non-disciplined units, make sure to use Parmenio's Disciplined Army Influence to make them Disciplined, or commit your non-disciplined figures to the battle first, so that once you lose them, your Sacred Band can jump to 3 defense.
The Sacred Band are Medium figures, making them vulnerable to attacks that affect Medium figures, but also allowing them to benefit from a reasonably small hit zone.
Strategy:
As with any common melee squad, you can deploy the Sacred Band early to grab key positions and glyphs, or you can wait for the battle to develop, and commit them as shock troops or cleanup. Their affordable cost and bonding abilities make them a good value, but without ranged support, the Sacred Band can be vulnerable.
The Sacred Band shares many traits with the Roman Legionnaires--Move 4, Attack 3, Defense 2, Warlord Bonding, and the same cost (50 points) and squad size. Therefore, we must look at the reasons to draft one of these squads as opposed to the other.
The Roman Legionnaires can bond to any Warlord figure--not just Einar Warlords--which opens up Mi-Burq-Sa, Ne-Gok-Sa, and the Venoc Warlord. Both the Romans and the Greeks have a poor defense score of 2 and each of them can boost that score in a different way. The Romans must travel in formation, and in their more compact formations they can have a defense of up to 4. The Greeks, with their Disciplined Army Defense Bonus, have a steady defense of 3, but have no need to travel in formation.
These differences make the Romans much more flexible when it comes to unit selection; however, on the battlefield it is the Greeks that enjoy the greater flexibility, since they can travel in loose formation and still enjoy their defense bonus. This becomes especially true once you make contact with the enemy; the chaos of the battlefield often requires you to split up your figures in order to maximize attacks.
If you are pleased with the unit selection available to the Greeks, then go with the Sacred Band. Otherwise, stick to the Roman Legionnaires.
As mentioned above, the Sacred Band grants extra turns through Einar Warlord Bonding so it is important to draft one or more Einar Warlords along with the Sacred Band. Currently, there are three Einar Warlords available in Heroscape and each one has his own set of advantages.
Parmenio's Disciplined Army Influence ability lets you to convert any Unique army card to the Disciplined personality type, allowing you to use them and still enjoy the benefit of the Sacred Band's Disciplined Army Defense Bonus. This is the main reason to draft Parmenio. Additionally, Parmenio's Sacred Band Defy Death ability gives your Sacred Band figures more survivability when charging into battle. However, it's important to remember: if your entire army is Disciplined, you don't have to draft Parmenio!
Marcus Decimus Gallus is a superb addition to any Greek army, giving your Sacred Band figures a +1 movement bonus, and +1 attack die when adjacent. These bonuses also apply to any other Soldier figures you draft. The movement bonus is critical, since the Sacred Band's normal movement of 4 makes it difficult for them to maneuver into contact with the enemy. While it may be possible to field the Sacred Band without Marcus, you will need a very compelling reason to do so -- Marcus is just that good. If your army is all Disciplined, consider drafting Marcus before Parmenio.
Valguard's extremely high durability and First Assault ability make him a fearsome warlord in battle. However, Valguard doesn't address the Sacred Band's primary weakness, which is its lack of range. Also, because Valguard is Wild, you must draft him with Parmenio to make Valguard Disciplined. If you also intend to draft Marcus, you may end up without enough points to spend on ranged support. See the Valguard strategy guide for more ideas on Valguard.
With your Warlord(s) at the helm, you are ready for battle. Assuming that you've drafted good ranged support figures, a standard strategy with any combined-arms force is to secure a good position with ranged figures on high ground, then bring in your melee units either to break up the enemy position or to protect your own ranged figures from a close-range assault. To accomplish this, it is often wise to keep your army close together during the initial rounds, giving you the flexibility you need to respond to different types of threats.
If you've drafted both Marcus and Parmenio, bring Parmenio to the battle first, keeping your Sacred Band clustered around him (unless your opponent has explosive attacks). Parmenio's Sacred Band Defy Death will help keep your soldiers alive during your initial charge, whereas charging with Marcus will only expose you to the risk of losing him early, and all of his bonuses will die with him. Once you engage the enemy, you will probably need to split your figures up in order to maximize your attacks. Don't be afraid to do this--destroying enemy figures is more important than relying on a lucky D20 roll to save an occasional Band membber. This is also where the Disciplined Army Defense Bonus outshines the Shield Wall Defense of the Roman Legionnaires: the Sacred Band can easily break formation to engage the maximum possible number of enemy figures, and still enjoy their extra defense die.
Once Parmenio has fallen, feel free to bring Marcus into the melee. His Soldier Attack Enhancement will help you to clean up remaining enemy figures, though keep in mind that the enhancement only affects adjacent figures, so its uses are limited.
If you have not drafted Marcus, you will find the Sacred Band to be a bit more limited in mobility. However, if you have solid ranged figures, you can use them to hold the high ground and rely on the Sacred Band to protect your ranged figures from enemy encroachment. Generally, if you force your opponent to come to you, you can more easily overcome a speed deficit.
Another tactic is to use the Sacred Band to quickly grab glyphs in the early stages of the battle. This works well if those glyphs also have cover from enemy ranged figures.
Disciplined Army Defense Bonus:
As mentioned before, it is critical when using the Sacred Band to maintain your Disciplined Army Defense Bonus when drafting your army. This means making sure that your entire army is Disciplined. Below are the various Disciplined units available, and a brief explenation of how they might fit into a Sacred Band based army.
As Pawn-class grunts, the Sacred Band should generally avoid no one. Even against Huge squad-busting figures like Braxas, Nilfheim, and Jotun, the Band can go point-for-point and still come out on top. Major Q9 can pose problems for the Band, but if you bring Marcus along, his Soldier Attack Enhancement should be enough for the Band to pierce Q9's armor.
Entrenched long-range figures with height should be avoided, unless you have enough movement to engage them in one turn. Otherwise, your charge may become nothing more than a bloody massacre.
For additional information see the Book of Sacred Band
Unit Strategy Review
Unit: Sacred Band
Author: ArcturusII (with great thanks to the other Unit Strategy Reviewers)
This hand-picked band of devoted soldiers formed the elite core of the Greek army in 4th-century BC Thebes; you can read about their colorful history on Wikipedia. Their Einar Warlord Bonding ability allows them to march bravely across the battlefield with their chosen hero, while their Disciplined Army Defense Bonus gives them a chance to defend more readily when drafted with an all-disciplined army.
Many players have asked, "Why draft the Sacred Band when you can have the Roman Legionnaires for the same price?" This guide tries to answer that question, as well as more general questions about how to use the Sacred Band effectively in battle.
Let’s take a look at the Sacred Band's stats:
Analyzed Statistics
Cost - 50 - Pawn Class Unit
Squad - 4 - Large
Size - Medium - Vulnerable/Concealable
Move - 4 - Slow
Range - 1 - Close Range
Attack - 3 - Average
Defense - 2 - Poor*
Einar Warlord Bonding - Gives you an extra turn with an Einar Warlord when activating the Sacred Band - High Tactical Advantage
Disciplined Army Defense Bonus - Gives an extra defense die to the Sacred Band when fielding an all-disciplined army. - High Tactical Advantage
In-Depth Analysis
Below is an explanation of Agatagary's cost classification:
Pawn class (expendable, units that can be useful, but are not worth enormous trouble to protect)
Bishop class (more useful than a pawn, but still somewhat expendable)
Knight class (units that are interestingly powerful and can have a significant impact on the game in of themselves. It is advisable that they be kept alive, but if absolutely necessary they may be sacrificed)
Rook class (units that almost inevitably have a significant impact on the game, and whose death should be avoided as much as possible)
Queen class (devastatingly powerful or important units that should be protected at all costs)
Class:
The Sacred Band are Pawn class figures. At 12.5 points per figure, you can afford to lose some of them, as long as the sacrifice achieves important battlefield objectives. At 4 figures per squad, the Sacred Band enjoys the advantage of strength in numbers, and because they are a Common Squad, they can lose some of their number and still activate at full strength (assuming you drafted 2 or more squads of them).
Offense:
The Sacred Band have a medium attack strength of 3. With 4 figures per squad and Einar Warlord Bonding, the Sacred Band can have up to 5 attacks per turn, which is very strong. However, because the Sacred Band (and their Einar Warlords) are melee figures, they may have trouble getting close enough to the enemy to receive the full benefit of their attacks.
The Sacred Band have Move 4 plus Range 1, allowing them to threaten figures up to five spaces away on level terrain.
Survivability:
Don't consider drafting the Sacred Band unless you are sure that you will be getting the Disciplined Army Defense Bonus. At 3 defense dice, you can expect to lose several Sacred Band members in any battle, but if you leave them at 2 defense dice, you can expect a massacre. If you DO draft non-disciplined units, make sure to use Parmenio's Disciplined Army Influence to make them Disciplined, or commit your non-disciplined figures to the battle first, so that once you lose them, your Sacred Band can jump to 3 defense.
The Sacred Band are Medium figures, making them vulnerable to attacks that affect Medium figures, but also allowing them to benefit from a reasonably small hit zone.
Strategy:
As with any common melee squad, you can deploy the Sacred Band early to grab key positions and glyphs, or you can wait for the battle to develop, and commit them as shock troops or cleanup. Their affordable cost and bonding abilities make them a good value, but without ranged support, the Sacred Band can be vulnerable.
The Sacred Band shares many traits with the Roman Legionnaires--Move 4, Attack 3, Defense 2, Warlord Bonding, and the same cost (50 points) and squad size. Therefore, we must look at the reasons to draft one of these squads as opposed to the other.
The Roman Legionnaires can bond to any Warlord figure--not just Einar Warlords--which opens up Mi-Burq-Sa, Ne-Gok-Sa, and the Venoc Warlord. Both the Romans and the Greeks have a poor defense score of 2 and each of them can boost that score in a different way. The Romans must travel in formation, and in their more compact formations they can have a defense of up to 4. The Greeks, with their Disciplined Army Defense Bonus, have a steady defense of 3, but have no need to travel in formation.
These differences make the Romans much more flexible when it comes to unit selection; however, on the battlefield it is the Greeks that enjoy the greater flexibility, since they can travel in loose formation and still enjoy their defense bonus. This becomes especially true once you make contact with the enemy; the chaos of the battlefield often requires you to split up your figures in order to maximize attacks.
If you are pleased with the unit selection available to the Greeks, then go with the Sacred Band. Otherwise, stick to the Roman Legionnaires.
As mentioned above, the Sacred Band grants extra turns through Einar Warlord Bonding so it is important to draft one or more Einar Warlords along with the Sacred Band. Currently, there are three Einar Warlords available in Heroscape and each one has his own set of advantages.
Parmenio's Disciplined Army Influence ability lets you to convert any Unique army card to the Disciplined personality type, allowing you to use them and still enjoy the benefit of the Sacred Band's Disciplined Army Defense Bonus. This is the main reason to draft Parmenio. Additionally, Parmenio's Sacred Band Defy Death ability gives your Sacred Band figures more survivability when charging into battle. However, it's important to remember: if your entire army is Disciplined, you don't have to draft Parmenio!
Marcus Decimus Gallus is a superb addition to any Greek army, giving your Sacred Band figures a +1 movement bonus, and +1 attack die when adjacent. These bonuses also apply to any other Soldier figures you draft. The movement bonus is critical, since the Sacred Band's normal movement of 4 makes it difficult for them to maneuver into contact with the enemy. While it may be possible to field the Sacred Band without Marcus, you will need a very compelling reason to do so -- Marcus is just that good. If your army is all Disciplined, consider drafting Marcus before Parmenio.
Valguard's extremely high durability and First Assault ability make him a fearsome warlord in battle. However, Valguard doesn't address the Sacred Band's primary weakness, which is its lack of range. Also, because Valguard is Wild, you must draft him with Parmenio to make Valguard Disciplined. If you also intend to draft Marcus, you may end up without enough points to spend on ranged support. See the Valguard strategy guide for more ideas on Valguard.
With your Warlord(s) at the helm, you are ready for battle. Assuming that you've drafted good ranged support figures, a standard strategy with any combined-arms force is to secure a good position with ranged figures on high ground, then bring in your melee units either to break up the enemy position or to protect your own ranged figures from a close-range assault. To accomplish this, it is often wise to keep your army close together during the initial rounds, giving you the flexibility you need to respond to different types of threats.
If you've drafted both Marcus and Parmenio, bring Parmenio to the battle first, keeping your Sacred Band clustered around him (unless your opponent has explosive attacks). Parmenio's Sacred Band Defy Death will help keep your soldiers alive during your initial charge, whereas charging with Marcus will only expose you to the risk of losing him early, and all of his bonuses will die with him. Once you engage the enemy, you will probably need to split your figures up in order to maximize your attacks. Don't be afraid to do this--destroying enemy figures is more important than relying on a lucky D20 roll to save an occasional Band membber. This is also where the Disciplined Army Defense Bonus outshines the Shield Wall Defense of the Roman Legionnaires: the Sacred Band can easily break formation to engage the maximum possible number of enemy figures, and still enjoy their extra defense die.
Once Parmenio has fallen, feel free to bring Marcus into the melee. His Soldier Attack Enhancement will help you to clean up remaining enemy figures, though keep in mind that the enhancement only affects adjacent figures, so its uses are limited.
If you have not drafted Marcus, you will find the Sacred Band to be a bit more limited in mobility. However, if you have solid ranged figures, you can use them to hold the high ground and rely on the Sacred Band to protect your ranged figures from enemy encroachment. Generally, if you force your opponent to come to you, you can more easily overcome a speed deficit.
Another tactic is to use the Sacred Band to quickly grab glyphs in the early stages of the battle. This works well if those glyphs also have cover from enemy ranged figures.
Disciplined Army Defense Bonus:
As mentioned before, it is critical when using the Sacred Band to maintain your Disciplined Army Defense Bonus when drafting your army. This means making sure that your entire army is Disciplined. Below are the various Disciplined units available, and a brief explenation of how they might fit into a Sacred Band based army.
- Parmenio: Parmenio is the Sacred Band's "gateway" figure that allows non-disciplined figures to fight with the Greeks. Use his Disciplined Army Influence to draft powerful ranged figures that you otherwise could not field, like Braxas, Nilfheim, Major Q9, Syvarris, or the Krav Maga Agents. You can also use Parmenio to draft support figures like Raelin and Taelord, or a heavy-hitter like Sgt Drake Alexander, who as a Soldier could also benefit from Marcus Decimus Gallus. Remember, Disciplined Army Influence does not apply to common figures.
- Marcus Decimus Gallus: As discussed earlier, Marcus Decimus Gallus is a superb choice for the Sacred Band, primarily due to the movement bonus he grants. Draft him if at all possible.
- Airborne Elite: These figures are an excellent addition to any Greek army. Being Soldiers, they benefit from the presence of Marcus Decimus Gallus (if you drafted him), and their range of 8 spaces make them extremely dangerous on any battlefield. Keep in mind, however, that because of The Drop, you cannot guarantee when these figures will appear, and your melee units may be vulnerable until then.
- Kaemon Awa: Another excellent figure to fight alongside your Greeks. His powerful ranged attack and devastating Quick Release Special Attack can do great damage from afar, opening the door to a full assault from the Sacred Band and their chosen warlord.
- Tagawa Samurai Archers: These ranged shock troops are a fine choice for any Disciplined army. They are fairly sturdy, and their Counterstrike ability allows them to engage enemy squad figures without fear.
- Ashigaru Harquebus: Another fine ranged choice. They can potentially hit much harder than the Tagawa Samurai Archers, but their frailty makes them harder to protect.
- Roman Archers: These ranged figures are cheaper than the Tagawa Samurai Archers or the Ashigaru Harquebus, but are also harder to use effectively, due to their frailty. However, their Arrow Volley Special Attack is the most powerful ranged attack in the game (excluding Marvel Legends), and should be considered if you need to crack high-defense figures.
- Isamu: As a 1-shot assassin or last-chance figure, Isamu isn't bad at all, and because he is practically free at 10 points, you should draft Isamu any time you can afford him, which will probably be quite often.
- Ninjas of the Northern Wind: These figures lack range, but their high move and Disappearing Ninja ability give them a reasonable chance to close the gap quickly. With Disengage, Ghost Walk, and 4 attack dice, the Ninjas are good figures to assassinate heroes which might pose problems for the Sacred Band.
- Einar Imperium, Empress Kiova: Combining the Sacred Band and Einar Imperium can yield interesting all-melee strategies. Because the Imperium are Soldiers, they combine well with Marcus Decimus Gallus, giving them 6 move with Stealth Flying. If you manage to keep your army moving close together in the early stages of a battle, you can use the Sacred Band and Einar Imperium as a powerful 1-2 punch to knock out your opponent's army. Empress Kiova can be a nice addition as well if you plan on drafting 2 or more squads of Imperium. However, these figures are expensive enough that you may not have enough points left over for ranged support.
- James Murphy, Theracus, Major X17: These heroes all have unique abilities which may benefit the rest of your army depending on the scenario and your overall strategy.
- Roman Legionnaires, Ashigaru Yari: These figures tend to duplicate abilities that you already have with the Sacred Band, though the Yari are a decent filler unit if you have 40 points left over, or if you need their Encircle Special Attack to puncture high-defense heroes.
- Izumi Samurai, Kozuke Samurai, Tagawa Samurai: These melee squads can add interesting tactical options to your army, but are generally redundant to the all-melee abilities of the Sacred Band.
- Shaolin Monks, Master Win Chiu Woo: Like the unique samurai squads above, these figures can add some interesting tactical melee options, but they lack the ranged attacks that the Sacred Band so desperately needs.
- Blastatrons, Gladiatrons: Depending on your map and strategy, it may be useful to sweep in with these soulborg and rely on the Sacred Band and Marcus to clean up, but once you commit to such a draft, you will find that other units support them better than the Band. Besides, you will probably run out of starting spaces before you hit your army point limit.
- Hatamoto Taro, Kato Katsura: These expensive samurai support figures do well to benefit all-samurai armies, but when you devote 190 or more points to the Sacred Band and their warlord, you just aren't getting enough value out of these Samurai heroes.
As Pawn-class grunts, the Sacred Band should generally avoid no one. Even against Huge squad-busting figures like Braxas, Nilfheim, and Jotun, the Band can go point-for-point and still come out on top. Major Q9 can pose problems for the Band, but if you bring Marcus along, his Soldier Attack Enhancement should be enough for the Band to pierce Q9's armor.
Entrenched long-range figures with height should be avoided, unless you have enough movement to engage them in one turn. Otherwise, your charge may become nothing more than a bloody massacre.
For additional information see the Book of Sacred Band
