Okay, as always with day 2 assessments of brand new figures, these impressions are based mainly on what I've managed to pick up in the 2 years I've been playing MK.

Horned Hunter
The possibilities with this guy and the Wylden Forest Domain are very, very cool. Too bad the only nons he can formation move to bring along through hindering terrain also slow him down considerably. Leadership is nice, I can see him leading a formation of trolls into base contact with an opposing unit, then having the trolls commence the beatdown, gang-up style with Horny here hanging out of base contact and taking the action token to the trolls can keep attacking. At 65 points, he's a solid unique, but right now... not the best. He's going to shine after an expansion or two when the Elementals get more figure options.

General Volkare
A solid, low-cost melee unique is something the Atlanteans have been needing for a long time. At 69 points, Volkare is highly playable, even if the fact that he has no clicks of Demoralized on his dial means he can't make full use of his Imperial Legion subfaction ability. He's made to surge, picking up counterattack on his second click. Nice stats all around.

Anunub
The new 'Nub is 2.0s version of the Magus. Since Magic Enhancement and Magic Levitation no longer exist in the 2.0 world (funny, with the increase in magic throughout the land, you'd think there's be more of it) he has to make do with both types of :wand: offensive SA - Stormfire and Mage Blast. Great attack value, 12" range and liberal clicks of Command for 77 points makes him a solid Atlantean leader. Later on he becomes a powerhouse Golem healer as well. No complaints about this guy.

Black Thorn
She's a melee beast, but for 114 points you better slap a relic on her to keep her safe from ranged powerhouses or she'll be 114 points of dead elf pretty quick. Counterattack and Parry are a great combo, but for me the fact that she doesn't utilize her subfaction ability, can't deal with soaring figures, and costs 100+ points means I probably won't use her very often.

Blackwyn
Here's another figure that would make a great combo with the Wylden Forest domain. Lots of Dodge pretty much ensures that he'll be a pain to get rid of. Leadership and Stealth are nice, too. But, he's 117 points and very specialized. Someone with Blasted Lands or another terrain-neutralizer just made his best SAs worthless, and for 4 points more I could play my Solonavi Tormentor, another Dodge figure with better values in all stats. For what he is, he's good, but too specialized for my tastes - I don't think I'd get the opportunity to take full adavntage of his abilities very often.

Deathspeaker Aerodon
Where to begin? First, he's probably way too expensive to field reliably in 300 point games, although there are some army builds that seem plausible. Deathspeaker + Pye Spirit? Every opposing unit the Pyre Spirit kills becomes fodder for the Revenant ability. Revenant doesn't restrict use if Deathspeaker is based by an opposing figure, either, so he can actually use the opposing army against itself if he gets in trouble. Unlike most other necro support figures, Aerodon can actually fight. He's loaded with abilities. Terrify, Ghostform, Life Drain, Hex, Summon and Necromancy. In large point games, he's a reanimation engine that could be a nightmare for unprepared opponents. I've got no complaints about his stats, the guy is a monster, but he's too costly to get much use out of in standard format.

Kossak Darkbringer
A solid, costly (193) beatstick. No range means he'll need to go toe-to-toe, but Ram, Charge and huge values let him do it easily. Regen later in the dial and Vampirism throughout thanks to Order of Vladd will make him very hard to effectively fight when he gets close to your troops. Invulnerability, loads of Toughness, and Magic Immunity help keep him safe from damage. Unlike the other high cost figures, I think Kossak is one that will be worth his points in standard format and will probably see a lot of play.

Khan Harrowblade
A surge beast, although maybe a tad expensive for what he does. I love the combination of Thunder Blow and the Broken Tusks ability. If you miss your Thunder Blow increase rolls, you can still push him to get the +3 damage out of the attack. Regeneration on an Orc is nifty, especially with the Broken Tusks ability. Pair him with the Souldrinker relic and you have a nearly unstoppable killing machine that will tear through weaker figures and ask for more.

Khan Rava
Hey look, it's the Swordsworn Balac of Mage Knight! 22" striking range? Check. Piercing damage? Check. Low Defense? Check. Rava is mighty, and there are ways to get around that low defense. Concealing terrain springs to mind, or relics. Heartdrinker grants +2 defense, and there are others. His ranged attack never drops below 9, and his ranged damage is fixed at 4. Put him up on top of a watchtower with Heartseeker and he's got a 19 defense, 3 targets, 4 damage and a striking range with a 28" diameter around him. Arcing Fire and Precise Shot let him fire into melees, and he can easily cover 2 objectives with that range. Rava is my favorite unique in the set, hands down.

Prophet-Priest Tremelen
Every set gets one of these - the unique that costs too much and does too little. Why would you field him at 92 points when you can use the Emerald Warder for 68 and get much the same value in a Magic Healer? His raneg is good, and the nexus gives him offensive power with Mage Blast, but overall, underwhelming and my least favorite unique in the set. I liked where we were going with the elementals with the Horned Hunetr, but Tremelen brings us full circle to every Magic Healer the Elementals have ever had.

General Vale
Okay, now we're back on track. Knights Immortal have lots of nice melee uniques, but Vale does things substantially differently from your High Elf General or Temple Lord to make him a valuable addition. He's a bit more than I like to spend for base melee unqiues, but he does a lot for his cost. The interesting thing about Vale is that his attack and damage values increase for the first few clicks, while everything else decreases. Defend, Leadership and Spell Resistance make him excellent support on the way to combat, and the fact that he gets Smite later in the dial, with an 11 attack and 4 damage, is very nice. Equip him with the Paladin's Greatsword and his Defend value hops to 19, and he can take zombies and skeletons out of the game with no chance for them to be brought back. On top of everything else, he can Force March his Free Armies buddies along at 10".

Master Cyrus
A solid, slightly costly 12" Stormfire figure with the additional bonuses from Quickness, Command and built-in Defend for his Temple Masters pals. Ranged damage of 3 is good. Nothing spectacular, but not a bad figure to build an army around.

Drakor
Too expensive for a melee unique, but also the only Thunder Blow figure in the game that's likely to land his full potential of 7 damage against just about anything. Venom is nice to keep the pressure on figures he's just pounded.

Caldera
Say, wasn't she supposed to be a Hero? Oh well. Expensive but beastly, she's worth the extra points over Drakor because of the 19 Defense and 12 Speed. Defend and Toughness is a nice combo to see. Move her with some Whelp Monks and a relic that boosts defense and you've got a powerhouse melee formation. Serpentfang seems tailor-made for her - it boosts attack and defense by 1, giving her a 13 attack and 20 defense and the ability to cancel SAs on targets she hits. Mighty.

Vithzerai
It's a Mage Knight base set - there has to be a ridiculously expensive Draconum. At 214 points Vithy is the most expensive non-MDF, non-Titan in the game. And he's unplayable in 300 point games because he has that glaring achilles heel - his :wand: attack type means that he'll have to go toe-to-toe with any Magic Immune figures, and he probably won't survive an encounter with Kossak Darkbringer. Still, he's also likely to win 300 point games against unprepared opponents, but players will catch on quickly and he'll be relegated to high point games only. Bound, Stormfire, Invulnerablity, Toughness, Hex and Command are a hefty chunk of the games SAs on one figure, though.

Varatrix
The sole Solonavi of the set, and one of the most controversial figures already. In sealed or against armies that can't effectively deal with his soaring Ghostform, he's nearly unstoppable. Guys like Kossak will probably eat Varatrix's lunch, but this is a figure that has already warranted a change in the wording of a relic that would make it all but invincible. At 156 points for what he does, he's highly playable in 300 point armies. Expect to see a lot of him in the coming months. Goodbye Amazon Draconum, hello Varatrix.

Great review! I have to say, though that the new 2.0 Uniques don;t really capture my imagination. I will probably stick with Starsdawn (with his new Enchanted Fuser Gun) and Stoneheart, when I get him! :)

For me, I think I would rather have a tough Steam Mauler than a few of the Unique guys!

QUOTE:

Prophet-Priest Tremelen
Every set gets one of these - the unique that costs too much and does too little. Why would you field him at 92 points when you can use the Emerald Warder for 68 and get much the same value in a Magic Healer? His raneg is good, and the nexus gives him offensive power with Mage Blast, but overall, underwhelming and my least favorite unique in the set. I liked where we were going with the elementals with the Horned Hunetr, but Tremelen brings us full circle to every Magic Healer the Elementals have ever had.

nah -

fist of all, this has to be the greatest looking fig of the bunch.
He's by far the the most underratted fig...

Give him an elemental totem staff
20Def - ghostform
11 speed
Uber Healer

bring him into base with a friendly fig fighting a bad guy and keep healing your fig. Regardless of magic immunity... the staff heals.

get a ** rockgriffin and fly him form skirmish to skirmish

he'll work



---- right:rolleyes:

The staff gives Pathfinder according to the units section.
Max

How do you figure that Kossak will eat Varatrix for lunch? Varatrix will get the first hit in with a surge leaving Kossak down 5 clicks and Trix's stats intact. Next turn, Kossak will most likely miss and Varatrix will counterattack. Plus, the price difference would allow Varatrix to wield a relic. Goodbye, Kossak.

What Relic was changed and how? I don't see it in the FAQ.

Chunga

Never mind. I found it.

Pretty solid review. I think you under-estimate Drakor, and like 99% of the people drastically over-estimated Varatirx. Varatrix is actually quite easy to take down(so far there have been numerous accounts of him falling in a sealed booster match). Drakor, while not have the speed and GF of 'Trix, has a bit more offensive prowess for 46pts. cheaper. Drakor with a Gaelshi Sunsword is cheaper than Varatrix and accomplishes much more.

and then give kossak the blade of dominance and laugh at varatrix desperatly trying to hit kossak. goodbye varatrix.

varatrix is highly over rated IMO, and I'm really tired of the Kossak bashers on here.

I agree with you except for two things.

Kossak Darkbringer is overrated. His 17 defense + no Command would mean that he is capture bait by many, many other figures. Especially a 31-point Helkate Hookjaw, because she only needs a 7 to capture (and that doesn't account for ganging up). Yeah, you could give him a relic, but that makes him 220-250 points, meaning that you would have little to no objective defense.

(To be fair, with Kossak's subfaction ability, you can surge and still be on your starting click on a successful hit.)

And Khan Rava (I agree, the best figure in the set) is actually MUCH BETTER noting that he has virtual Toughness on every click due to his subfaction ability. With almost ANY relic that doesn't cancel Arcing Fire or reduce speed, it's like a bounding, unrammable Storm Golem...

Kossak doesn't need to Surge, he has Charge in his Nexus. He also has Invulnerability, so, Capture, at least on his first click, is not a worry.

Kossak + Blade of Dominance = dead Varatrix.

Varatrix isn't overrated.

The thing is, in theory he looks almost unbeatable. In practice it comes down to a careless mistake.

it just takes skill and patience to use him.

People will overextend Varatrix and become more confident than they should. This false sense of invincibleness leaves one to often disregard certain dangers.

might i add emphasis on " IN THEORY"

For your first, didn't see that, sorry. Homer nods. :D

For your second, Invulnerability no longer prevents capture (on either side).

Ew... Well, better run some harassment with him to lock down those Amazons, hadn't we?