Part 1

The blog for the underappreciated models

Part 1

Let me first thank you all for you overwhelming support for this. I will do my very best to ensure that you will get your times well spend reading these posts.

In each of these I will try to balance this by trying to do 1 of each of the factions. Little spoiler, I’m going to wait with the nights watch and free folk until I have a better understanding on these factions because I haven’t played many games with them.

Second part is that English is not my native tongue. I use a spelling checker from Microsoft Word to get rid of as many spellings mistakes as possible but I hope grammatically this all still makes sense. (I’m not using a translation program)

That all being said, let’s get started.

Stark

First we start with an underappreciated Stark Model: Greatjon Umber, Fierce Bannerman.

This is the 3 point attachment version.

His abilities are: Order: Fury of House Umber

When this unit makes a Melee Attack, after Attack dice are rolled:

This unit may re-roll any dice. Hits from rolls of 6 do not allow Defense Saves. This unit suffers D3 Wounds after this attack is completed.

Onslaught:

If this unit is targeted by [The Combat Zone], it may make a free Charge Action instead of an Attack action.

So, Onslaught is very straightforward. You can charge after or before you have done your activation. This is very useful in Fast and Charging heavy lists with commanders that use this. Robb Stark is one of the best that use these kind of tactics.

The other ability is handy because this is AFTER the attack dice are rolled. So you can actually see how many 6’s you rolled and then say “Yes this is worth de D3 wounds”. This is especially true if you have Critical Blow. Because this makes you have 2 hits that do not allow Defense saves for each 6 you roll.

So which units would we want to use with him? The best and cheapest is of course the Sworn Swords. With their Stark Fury and his Fury of House Umber, they will pack a serious punch. But you do take 2D3 Wounds in return. So only use his Fury if you see enough 6’s. 2 would probably be enough to use this but do not hesitate if you have 3 or more. Do be careful, if you are weakened, your opponent can still make you reroll after this.

Another good unit are the Tully Sworn Shields, but you take Rodrick Castel with you as an NCU. He gives you Critical Blow and with their 7/6/4 on 3+ they have enough attacks do make it hurt.

Now with Rodrick you can make almost any of your Stark units this death machine so why the Sworn Shields? Well because of their Shield order (When this unit is attack from the Front, after Attack dice are rolled: Automatically block D3 Hits.) you can compensate the D3 Wounds a bit each time your opponent attacks you in return. And also, who would expect a unit of Sworn Shields who just marched to assault you through the Tactics Board? They are pretty sure going to forget that you have that ability and think that you are setting up to receive a charge. This will be even more likely if you claimed an objective with them.

Lannister

Now let’s take a Lannister model under this scope. One that is unpopular online but a favorite in the Organized Play Scene is Tyrion Lannister: Halfman.

His order is :Superior Tactician:

When an Opponent plays a Tactics card:

Roll a die. On a 5+, cancel the effect of that Tactics card. You may discard a Tactics card to re-roll this die (this may be repeated).

Many people online seem to forget that if you use this version of him, you have both his commander Tactics cards and the regular Lannister Tactics cards at your fingers. For instance, you have counterplot in your deck that makes you do the same thing but on a 3+ (reroll able if you have the [crown zone]. If your opponent uses a Tactics card that you HAVE to STOP, if you have Counterplot in your hands, then use it. If you have it but the card isn’t that important to stop, use Superior Tactician instead. If you don’t have Counterplot but must stop the card, you can try to discard some other cards to make you reroll the effect.

But I need those cards, I don’t want to sacrifice them!

Well lets go over his tactics cards to discover something.

First up: Adaptive Tactics: Start of any turn:

Place this card at the bottom of your Tactics Deck and return 1 discarded Tactics card to your hand. If you control the [Tactics Zone], 1 opponent must also randomly discard 1 Tactics card.

With this card you can sacrifice your tactics cards more easily because you can get them back. Second good thing, your discard pile is open. If you get through your deck, all your cards are in an open pile that you can grab with this card, and your deck becomes 2 versions of Adaptive Tactics that you keep getting to get the right card at the right time.

Cunning Ploy: When a friendly Combat unit activates:

Instead of this unit performing an action, 1 previously activated combat unit may perform 1 action instead (this unit still gains an activation token). If you control [tactics zone], opponents may not play Tactics cards this turn.

Because of this card, Tyrion wants 1 or 2 cheap units (the mountain that rides comes to mind but a normal unit of Guardsmen with no attachment just sitting on a objective at your side will be good enough as well). One of the best units to keep activating is a 6 point unit of Lannister Crossbowmen. Combine this with the [Combat Zone] you can shoot 3 times at the same opponent if needed in 1 turn.

Delay Orders: When an enemy would activate a combat unit:

That enemy must choose a different Combat unit (if able).

If you control the [Tactics Zone], you may choose the unit that must activate instead.

This is very useful in terms of controlling objectives but also to disrupt your opponents plan. Let’s say that if you can choose to activate the Tywin’s Mad Dog (Gregor Clegane) before he was in position to charge because he hasn’t had the time to use the [Manoeuvre Zone], he might be forced to do an almost impossible charge action. This is also with other units that were waiting for you to come closer.

Now we all know that the best NCU for him is Varys. His ability with the Intrigue and Subterfuge Tactics card, you now almost neuter your opponents army every turn.

The unit I would put this version of Tyrion would be a regular 5 point unit of Lannister Guardsmen. So he can lay back on the battlefield and claim objectives. Do be careful with outflanking units or other fast paced units (Dire wolves and cavalry).

Neutral

I can’t really talk about Tyrion without mentioning Bronn The Sell sword.

I’m going to focus on putting him on units of the Neutral, Stark and Lannister faction, but I’ll mention him with some potential Nights watch units as well.

Let’s start with his ability that I’m guessing most of you will know but for the newcomers who didn’t had the chance of buying him, here we go:

Extra Incentive: While you control the [Wealth zone], this unit gains +1(SPD), rolls +2 Attack dice, and gains +2 to Morale Test rolls.

He is 2 points so in the middle to most people but I call it cheap.

You can put him in a Bolton Cutthroats unit but even with 5+ morale I don’t think that he will last long in there but will do a bunch of damage. The only problem is that for 1 points you can have the dreadfort captain that will do more morale damage to other units than Bronn does with 2 extra dice on the unit he is attacking.

The better unit of the neutral faction he can be put on right now (21^st of may 2019) is the Bastard’s girls. Why? Well give them 3+ moral, 6 SPD, on range attack 6-6-6 and on melee it is 8-8-5. Combine him with this unit if you use the High Sparrow as your commander and you will not be disappointed.

If you play Stark, he is a bit more trickier to use because of the fact that you need to control the wealth zone. In case you do use him, don’t use him on the Beserkers, that would be wasting him. In theory, Bronn works with almost everyone else. Remember that you can never use all of his abilities at the same time anyway, unless you charge. You can use him with the Sworn Swords in order to use more attack dice, same is with the bowmen. The drawback is that they still have a 4+ to hit, not counting Stark Fury. But Bronn will shine the most with Umber Greataxes or Tully Sworn Shields. Same as you use Robb’s attachment, their speed will increase the most. In both cases, having 10-8-8 or 9-8-6 will help a lot. But I must remind you, with Brydon Tully, Unyielding Knight, you have almost the same all the time you started the turn engaged and not if you control a zone you don’t care about.

Now let’s talk about the faction he is the most welcome with: House Lannister. The guardsmen even become a fast, steadfast killing machine with Bronn. Don’t believe me? Okay, let’s go over theirs stats with him combined. If you control the [wealth zone], the stat line would be: 5SPD, 8-7-5 on a 4+ in melee (that is better than sworn swords without using Stark Fury). 3+ defense, 5+ morale so meaning that Lannister Supremacy will more likely than not be triggered if your opponent does attack. With these stat line you should attack with these guys more often than you would normally defend. 5+ morale is better than the auto pass by killing a model that the captain gives. Especially because that is an Order that people are going to try and trigger. With the Lannister halberdiers he could be good their main problem is their 4+ to hit, not the fact that they need more dice. Same can be said about the guards but they have another way of dealing damage. For 1 point less you have the assault veteran or for the same points The Hound and his ability will do a lot more damage than 2 dice can do. Next unit are the Mountain’s men. Upping their speed and dice is fun, their moral as well but for 1 point less you have the dreadfort captain. And for 1 more the feared Mad Dog Gregor Clegane himself but I’ll leave him for another blog so I can use him there. So you can use him in this unit but there are better attachments. Now the best in my opinion: the crossbowmen. Why? Well having a 9-9-5 on a 3+ attack with 14” range (we count the 2” shift in this), they are a pain. Combine this with Tyrion as your commander, it is not unthinkable you get to shoot a unit 3 times with them in 1 round. (you will have to claim the [combat zone] as well) With sundering, that is a pain. I don’t have Pyromancers but with only a 6+ save I don’t think he will live long with them. But I you play a “Blitzkrieg” style and try to get as much damage in before you die. But this unit has not much staying power even with a 5+ morale for 9 points. You can have expensive troops, but they must survive in order to benefit from these expansive costs.

With the Nights watch, the best unit to put him in right now is the Sworn Brothers. You can put him in the veterans or the ranger hunters but you are paying a hefty price for him. If you do use him on veterans, consider using Donal Noye as an NCU in order to increase your defensive skills and try to use the Sword in the darkness on a different unit. This makes your opponent choose between taking the Combat zone and the Wealth zone. And they normally can’t take both.

What do you guys think?

Let me know in the comments.