Thursday, September 30, 2004

Activation Number vs Activation Efficiency

Greetings to all. In this article I'm going to discuss a somewhat controversial topic: the number of activations in a warband vs. the efficiency of those activations.


Definitions

First of all let me state my definitions of "Number" and "Efficiency":

Number: This is rather obvious. This is the size of your warband. The maximum currently allowed is 12 and it is good practice to try to reach this number as often as you can while maintaining a solid warband core.

Efficiency: This is not so obvious. What I mean by activation efficiency is how important is that figures activation? Did it kill something? Does it have a good chance to kill something? WILL it kill something? Will it cast a spell or use an ability that tips the scales of the match in your favor? These are all important questions when considering what figures to place in your warband and also what actions to take with any given figure once you are playing the game.


Number and Efficiency Theory

A general rule in the game is to get your warband as close to the 12 figure mark as possible. While it is a good thing to shoot for, you should not sacrifice figures that serve as a backbone for your warband for figures that will up your activation count. This is a reduction in efficiency. Example: Taking out a Thayan Knight for a Dreadguard and a Xill. You gain one activation but you have reduced your activation efficiency as those two figures don't offer the same melee capabilities of the Thayan Knight.

What you should try to accomplish is to achieve a stable base of figures that create a strong back bone for you to launch your combat assault from. Once you achieve a solid core, then you fill your warband with as many units as you can to reach the 12 figure mark.

Lets use this sample warband to illustrate this....(A warband I generated using the WotC Warband Generator)

1 Eye of Grummsh
3 Orc Champion
1 Tiefling Captain
6 Orc Warrior

As you can see you have a very solid melee base here with 3 Orc Champions and an Eye of Grummsh. The Tiefling adds a higher commander rating and it's very nice commander effect. This is a solid core. Now that we have established our "backbone" we can look into filling out our band with as many figures as we can to reach the 12 figure mark while at the same time trying to create synergy between the troops and commanders. Luckily for the CE faction there is the orc warrior, the most efficient three point unit in the game. This unit also has synergy with the two commanders in this warband. Now we have reached 11 activations. All of those activations are efficient as in they can deal a significant amount of damage or offer a support ability that is an important factor to achieving victory. The CE faction is currently the only faction that can reliably achieve a high number of activations that are also efficient. This is one of the main reasons it has risen to dominance over the other factions.


Now lets take a look at a band that has low activation number, but tremendous activation efficiency (A warband created by me and piloted by my team, Team Malice, to much success):

2 Large Red Dragon
1 Abyssal Maw
1 Drow Wizard


As you can see, this warband only has 4 activations. This is incredibly risky to some people but to players like myself this a very even trade off, if not a non issue altogether.

Despite this band only having 4 Activations it wins consistently vs bands that hit or almost hit the 12 figure mark. Why is that? Its because weenie figures do not have anywhere near the power to take on or incapacitate one Large Red Dragon, let alone TWO. Between their melee, movement, and breath weapon capabilities, you NEED power figures (thus reducing your own figure count; you're trading activation number for activation efficiency) to combat figures like the dragons.

My opponent may "control initiative" by having 12 figures, but when I make two activations and 85% of his warband dies to cone attacks, or 2-6 figures in his band die to melee attacks but ZERO in my band die when he activates turn after turn, where does that leave my opponent? Up the creek without a paddle. The Dragons are examples of tremendously EFFICIENT activations and this is far more important then having superior activations. Now if you can have superior activations and the majority of those activations are efficient, such as the orc band above, you are going to dominate.


Conclusion

I hope this article has helped people gain the ability to differentiate between activation number and activation efficiency. Thank you for reading and if anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to post in the Maxminis forums and I will help as best as I can to further elaborate on this subject.
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A Look At the Future of the Chaotic Good Faction

Greetings to all. Today I'm going to be taking a look at the future potential of the Chaotic Good faction. As many of you may know, Chaotic Good (CG) has suffered in terms of quality figures vs the other factions since the days of Harbinger. I would like to start by taking a look at the history of CG and how it has advanced over the last few months.


The Past


Harbinger

This era was by far the worst for CG. With the best front line fighter being the 15 ac, 55 hp, single attack Axe Sister, CG could not stand up to units such as Human Blackguard, Displacer Beast, Mummy, Troll, and swarms of Dwarf Axefigthers. Often times a lone Hound Archon was enough to give many CG warbands fits due to the high concentration of caster and archery based units in the faction.


Dragoneye

A slight improvement over the Harbinger days but nothing compared to the monstrosities that are the Ogre Ravager and Red Samurai. The Drunken Master, Halfling Outrider, Bladesinger, and Brass Dragon (although difficult 3, low attack, and low damage make this a hard unit to use) show up to strengthen the front lines and the Silver Sorcerer to strengthen the rear (although at 48 points it was restrictive). The Elf spearguard improves the weenie front although at 6 points (twice the cost of the speed 6, 10 damage orc warrior while having speed 7, 10 damage and melee reach 2 itself) it was no where near as efficient as the orc warrior.


Archfiends

Archfiends was the first wave of strength for CG. Bringing in such staples as Drizzt, Clay Golem, Moon Elf Fighter, and Champion of Eilistraee to add a drastic boost to the front lines. The low cost figure front improves with the Halfling Ranger, Halfling Wizard, and Greycloak Ranger. Unfortunately, Lawful Good bands get to pull over the Halflings with its Cleric of Yondalla giving it access to CGs best archer to date (Archfiends era). CG still has a hard time competing against the other factions due to the fact that their staple figures are mostly commanders and are restrictively priced to prevent using multiples of any of them.


Giants of Legend

This is a step in the right direction for CG but still offers restrictively costed melee units in the Githyanki Renegade and Half Giant Psychic Warrior at 42 points each. The Fire Genasi Dervish adds some power to the 30 points and lower pool (though it really should have had a second attack) and the faction gains some utility in Aramil and Eberk.

In the 500 point game CG gains one of the most powerful figures in the Storm Giant. If huges were legal in non 500 point games, the Treant would be a huge player and a welcome boost to the front ranks of CG. But alas, it was not meant to be.


The Future

Abberations

Abberations just may be the savior of the CG faction with the options that it offers. I will go in depth and discuss each figure that has been revealed to lend a tremendous boost of power to the faction.


Frenzied Berserker

This figure has been stated by WotC staff as hitting harder then any other non huge CG figure to date. That would put it at a minimum of 30 damage to surpass the Half Giant Psychic Warrior's 25 damage. Taking a look at the Frenzied Berserker prestige class (Complete Warrior) we see that the class offers several upgrade to the power attack feat and we may just see it at a higher damage then even 30! The drawback of course is that if she invokes power attack, her attack bonuses will be lower as a result. She also has the tremendous drawback of taking 5 damage every time she activates. I feel because of this drawback the Frenzied Berserker will be very aggressively costed and may be the Ogre Ravager/Orc Champion the faction has needed for a while.

Fearlessness also seems to be an ability of this class. I suspect that they will give the figure Deathstrike to simulate its "Deathless Frenzy" ability that allows it to keep attacking even while at negative hit points, instead of falling unconscious as normal. Also, this would allow it to get one last attack off if its current activation would reduce its current hit points to zero (a fair trade IMO).


Adventuring Wizard

The Adventuring Wizard has been stated as having "one big damage spell" (I suspect this may be the new fire cone spell), "a couple empowered magic missiles, and a couple spells that help it team up with heavy hitters".

This sounds like a good support unit. Hopefully it is not overcosted as I feel the Silver Sorcerer was.


Crow Shaman

The Crow Shaman has potential to be a staple in every CG warband with its FOUR castings of snakes swiftness. It also heals, Casts Cats Grace, and has two castings of a swift cast spell that grants flying movement speed for one turn (implied to be self only). All in all this sounds like a tremendous support unit. I suspect though that it will be costed somewhere around 40 points.


Cleric of Garl Glittergold

This Cleric commander effect has potential to cripple your opponents forces: "Enemies within 6 squares that miss with a ranged or melee attack cannot make any other attacks that turn". Denying Ogre Ravagers and Orc Champions their sencondary attacks is very good in my eyes. We may see Ogre Ravagers fade in popularity in favor of Orc Champions (with the higher attack bonus) because of this figure. The cleric is also said to have new spells never seen in the game before.


Ryld Argith

Ryld is an iconic dark elf character from the War of the Spider Queen series of novels. His official D&D stats place him at 18th lv. He will most likely be toned down as Drizzt was, and is a commander much to my dissapointment. Regardless, Ryld is a very strong fighter in the novels and even if toned down, should be a strong force in CG (he is also usable in CE). He sets new trends in the game by actually having a different commander effect based on what faction your warband is. If your CG, humanoid followers gain melee attack +2. This is subpar as it only boosts a specific type of creature and its not a very big boost. I would much rather have had the CE commander effect: Evil humanoid followers score critical hits on a 19 or 20. He also has the improved initiative feat which in skirmish, adds 4 to all initiative rolls. So on top of Ryld's commander 4, you can a +8 bonus on initiative checks! CG and CE currently have the highest initiative modifier in the game! Hows that for crazy? I suspect though that there will be a figure in the lawfuls that surpass even this because it would be strange to have the "low commander rating" guys have advantage on initiatives. Then again, it just might be allowed to fly unchallanged since the lawful factions will still have the advantage in the morale department.


Valenar Commander

This figure will change the face of archery bands in CG forever. His commander effect is as follows: "Followers making ranged attacks can target any noncommander enemy". This is a very powerful effect. The next gen of Selective Shot. No more putting your feeble units out front to stop ranged attacks. CG archers now get to hit what ever they want as long as its not a commander.


Wyvern

A strong cousin of the dragon, he is most likely going to have a version of the new "strong poison" as is typical of wyverns. This may make for a good assassin unit. Fly in, poison the commander, and fly out.


Conclusion

As you can see the Chaotic Good Faction is getting a tremendously large boost in Abberations. Chaotic Good fans everywhere rejoice! Your time is coming!

Thanks for reading. Feedback is always welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow Fox, signing off. (0 comments)

Evaluation of the Chaotic Evil Faction

Greetings to all. This will be the first of my weekly installment of articles for Merric's Information Page and I would like to thank Merric for allowing me to contribute to his excellent site. I hope that my articles prove to be a valuable source of information to help people improve their skills in the D&D Miniatures game be it warband building, or in game strategy.

This weeks topic is the Chaotic Evil faction (referred to as CE from here on out). I will take an in depth look at the figures that have allowed CE to rise above the other factions to become the strongest and most "broken" among them.


The Figures

CE has had a history of units that cost less then they really should. This allows them to fit more power per point then any other faction and has lead to an overwhelming advantage over the other factions.

Ogre Ravager (Dragon Eye)
#56; Rare; CE; 38 pts
Large Giant
LVL 9; SPD 6; AC 17; HP 80
Melee Atk +10/+5 (30)
SA: Aura of Fear 2 (Enemies in squares threatened by this creature gain Morale Save -2); Melee Reach 2; Resist Fire 10; Smite +10 []

The Ogre Ravager is an example of getting more bang for your buck. His medium speed of 6 combined with Melee Reach 2 allow him to get to where he needs to be most of the time. Melee Reach 2 is really nice as you can stop one square away after moving to take a swing at your opponent and they are forced to move and attack you (unless they also have Melee Reach) and give up their multiple attacks if they have them or else face your multiple attacks at reach next initiative.

His high HP guarantees he will be around for a long time to do his job and his low AC may actually be a benefit in this case as it lowers his over all point cost and allows you to stick two of him in a 100 point warband. Clerical Ravaging (a warband created in the Dragoneye Era that consisted of two Ogre Ravagers and one Cleric of Grummsh) was a major force when Dragoneye hit the metagame. Nothing else in the game could rival the twin Ravager's ability to deal a possible 120 damage each initiative. Combine that with the Cleric of Grummsh's commander effect (it grants cleave to all followers) and the Ogre Ravager's innate Melee Reach 2, and you had the potential for a grand total of 180 damage under Ideal circumstances (cleave allows for an extra attack if your last attack reduced a unit to zero HP; this attack is made at the attack bonus of the attack that killed said creature).

No so far many people would think: "Well that certainly is enough power for a 38 point figure". Well WotC R&D didn't think so and gave the Ogre Ravager Resist Fire 10 (granted by Hide of fire resistance on its D&D quickreferance stats), and Aura of Fear 2 (granted by the ravager prestige class) on top of his already overpowering abilities. The only real drawback of the Ogre Ravager is that its attack rolls are very low for the 200 point metagame. But with the prevalence of CE warbands (who historically have very low AC) in most metagames, the Ogre Ravager is a prime canidate to counter the low AC hordes.


Orc Champion (Archfiends)
#55; Rare; CE; 39 points
LVL 7; SPD 9; AC 15; HP 80
Melee Attack: +13/+8 (25 magic)
Humanoid (Orc)
SA: Cleave

Archfiends, the next set released after Dragoneye, features a new weapon in the CE arsenal. The Orc Champion is very similar to the Ogre Ravager but does have its differences, some better, some worse. The Orc Champion has a blazing speed of 9 and gains +3/+3 to his attacks over the Ogre Ravager. It's melee damage is reduced by 5 but it gains the magic descriptor (magic damage bypasses Damage Reduction; DR) It loses the fire resistance, melee reach 2, and aura of fear 2, but gains cleave. If placed with the Eye of Grummsh, the Orc Champion can achieve the 30 damage (magic to boot) that is enjoyed by the Ogre Ravager. All for only one point more then the Ogre Ravager. Honestly, based on the Ogre Ravager's abilities and how they costed it, the Orc Champion should be cheaper according to their point scale. Thank goodness its not.

Did CE really need the Orc Champion? I don't think so. Now CE has 2 figures that are extremely overpowering vs the other factions who still to this day do not have a heavy hitter along these lines (this will change with aberrations as Chaotic Good gets the Frenzied Berserker who has been stated by WotC staff as hitting harder then any other non huge figure in the faction; this places it at a minimum of 30 damage

Orc Warrior (Harbinger)
#75; Common; CE; 3 points
LVL 1; SPD 6; AC 13; HP 5
Melee Attack: +4 (10)
Type: Humanoid (orc)

The Orc warrior isn't much of a figure at 3 points, but look at what it gets for its 3 points. A medium speed of 6 and melee damage of 10. Those two factors alone should bump it up to at least 5 points. No other figure in any other faction gets this for 3 points. Throw in the fact that combined with the 16 point Drow Sergeant, or the Eye of Grummsh in an orc band, and the Orc warrior becomes capable of dealing 15 damage. Also, take into the consideration the Drider Sorcerer. You can move the lowly orc warrior (a piece you don't mind risking) up to threaten one of your opponents troops, then use Baleful Transposition to switch that orc warrior with your heavy hitter (who now doesn't have to move and give up any of its attacks). This leads me to the next figure...

Drider Sorcerer (Giants of Legend)
#44; Rare; CE; 30 points
LVL 6; SPD 6; AC 17; HP 45
Melee Attack: +6 (5+poison)
Ranged Attack: +5 (5)
Type: Large Abberation
Special Abbilities: Conceal 6; Poison; Spell Resistance
Spells: Sorcerer Spells 2nd- [][][] Baleful Transposition (range 6; any two creatures switch position; DC 14), blur (touch; target creatures gains Conceal 6), 3rd-[][][] Lighting Bolt (line; 20 electricity; DC 15)

This isn't a piece meant for melee, its a piece meant for utility. You have the choice of placing conceal 6 (a very potent ability; every time your opponent lands an attack on a figure with conceal 6, they must roll their die and get 6 or higher. If not the attack is a miss) on your units, or using the aforementioned Baleful Transposition to move your units around to your advantage. You can even move your opponents pieces around if you want to risk them passing DC 14. Add in ok AC/HP, conceal 6, spell resistance, and a medium speed of 6, this unit can cause serious damage through its support capabilities.


Tiefling Captain (Harbinger)
#76; Uncommon; Cmdr 4; CE; 21 points
LVL 3; SPD 6; AC 16; HP 30
Melee Attack: +6 (10)
Type: Outsider
Commander Effect: Score critical hits with melee attacks on a roll of 19 or 20.
Special Abilities: Blind-Fight; Conceal 6; Resist 5 cold, electricity, fire.

This looks like a pretty balance figure until you consider the Commander Rating, and commander effect. A commander rating of 4 on a 21 point unit in a chaotic faction is very powerful. Chaotic Good comes close to this with the weaker Cleric of Corellon Larethian at 25 points. The Tiefling's commander effect adds a devastating twist to an already overwhelming figure like the Ogre Ravager or Orc Champion, doubling their chance to score a critical hit

All of the above mentioned figures showed up in droves at gencon and were in all but one band in the top 8 (in various configurations) and were ALL in the band that took 1st.

Red Samurai (Dragoneye)
#58; Uncommon: CE; 40 points
Humanoid (Human)
LVL 9; SPD 8; AC 14; HP 75
Melee Attack: +14/+9 (15 magic + 5 fire)
SA: Breath Weapon [] (Replaces attacks: cone; 20 fire damage, DC 14); Resist Fire 5.

The Red Samurai was released in the same set as the Ogre Ravager and followed the same mold. Low AC, High HP, and High damage output. While in some ways weaker then the Ogre ravagers, it is also stronger in other areas. It has lower AC/HP but gains speed, attack bonus, and a cone attack. It also has the draw back of having its damage output partially resisted by units prepared for fire. The Red Samurai has made more of an impact in 100 point games then in 200, primarily due to its lower ac/hp/damage and higher cost when compared to the Orc Champion and Ogre Ravager.


Large Red Dragon (Dragoneye)
#55; Rare; CE; 83 points
Large Dragon
LVL 13; SPD F8; AC 21; HP 125
Melee Attack: +14/+9/+9 (20/10/10)
SA: Breath Weapon [] (Replaces attacks: cone; 30 fire damage; DC 19); Flight; Immune Fire; Vulnerable Cold

The Large Red Dragon is a formidable foe. I wouldn't call this unit broken (though powerful), but it may be undercosted by a few points as apparently its vulnerability to cold counts for a lot when considering its point cost. The major factor when considering the LRD is that two of them can fit into a 200 point warband and still leave room for a variety of commanders. Two LRDs are hard to overcome with their flying 8 speed, high (for CE) ac, Tremendous HP, DC 19 30 damage fire cone, and good melee damage output.

Conclusion

As you can see, the Chaotic Evil faction has been given some tremendously powerful pieces when compared to the other factions. The power of this faction will most likely ebb as WotC tries to correct their mistakes by giving more power to the other factions. Indeed, Abberations looks as if it will give much needed support to Chaotic Good bands. Thank you all for reading. Feedback is most welcome

Next weeks topic: A Look at the Future of Chaotic Good.

Until Next time, This is Jason Phillips aka Shadow_Fox signing off. (0 comments)