There are 30 borderlands creatures, 26 civilized creatures, 23 underdark creatures, and 33 Wild creatures. Of the 14 creatures that cost 40 points and over, 8 are borderlands, 4 are civilized, 4 are underdark, and 5 are Wild. Of the 12 creatures that cost 15 points and under, 7 are borderlands, 6 are civilized, 7 are underdark, and 4 are Wild.

 

The average AC of all figures is 22. The lowest AC is 14 (Gelatinous Cube) and the highest is 29 (Angel of Vengeance). Over a quarter of the set has an AC of 25 or higher. The lowest AC for minis that cost 40 points or more is 23. The average is 26.

 

The average hp of all figures is 55. The most common hp value is 65. The highest hp value is 90, with two minis (Ragedrake and Angel of Vengeance) having this hp value. The lowest is 10 hps, possessed by the farmer. With the exception of the Sahaugin Baron (which only has 60 hit points), all minis that cost 40 points and over have at least 65 hit points.

 

The average best melee attack roll of all figures is +13. The highest attack bonus is +20 from the Angel of Vengeance, and the lowest is +7, from the Militia Archer (He apparently does not have as high of an attack bonus as the Farmer.) Of the creatures that cost 40 points or more, The lowest melee attack bonus is +14. The average is +17. This means that the Angel of Vengeance will be effectively missed half the time. This also means that, when attacking each other, the highest cost minis will be typically hitting on a 9 or better.

 

The average melee damage value of all figures is 20. The highest damage value is 25. This is shared by 6 creatures, though one, the Werewolf Champion, can easily increase that value to 35. The most common damage value is 10, with 1/3 of the set doing 10 points of melee damage. The lowest cost mini that hits for 20 damage is currently the Dwarf Brawler, at 23 points. This makes the Sellswords typical damage of 20 particularly exceptional. The average damage of 40 points or more minis is 20. Four of them do less than twenty. Three of these are commanders, and the fourth is able to mitigate its low damage due to an easily refreshed special ability.

 

It appears to me that the majority of the high cost minis are pretty consistent in relative power level. While some appear to have more room for abuse (the Eternal Blade being the biggest offender there), it looks like any faction will be able to build a warband that takes advantage of a combined arms sort of set-up with hybrid units, dedicated melee units, and dedicated ranged/artillery units. For mixed or dedicated artillery units, borderlands has the Astral Stalker, Maticore Sniper, Drider, Halfling Enchanter, Militia Archer, and Halfling Rogue. Civilized has the Cliffwalk Archer, Elf Conjurer, Yuan-ti Malison, Halfling Enchanter, Milita Archer, and Halfling Rogue. Underdark has the Astral Stalker, Drider, Spined Devil, and Flame Snake. Wild has the Cliffwalk Archer, Elf Conjurer, Manticore Sniper, Yuan-ti Malison, Spined Devil, and Flame Snake. Underdark appears to have less options that the other factions, but this is probably due to its relatively low amount of Underdark figures in the set. Night Below is likely to be a correcting force in this matter, considering the high number of Underdark creatures likely to appear in that set.

 

The relative quality of the factions is difficult to determine at this time thanks to the changes in the rules and the appearance of relative figure parity. Despite this, it is not too difficult to guess that Borderlands will have some an early lead thanks to the presence of the superb Eternal Blade and the fact they have an easier time hitting 10 activations with the presence of the Farmer (a strength that Civilized shares). Whether this strength remains pending further testing, is unknown at this time. At the very least the other factions should be able to compete thanks to their ready access to a wide range of decent figures across the point costs.

 

Other figures that are particularly noteworthy include the Nightmare, who has values in attack, armor class, and damage that are rather exceptional, particularly considering the ease in which it can gain combat advantage on a flank. The Osyluth and the Rage Drake both have particularly high levels of burst damage. The Osyluth’s is particularly noteworthy because it has an easy recharge condition. With its attack bonuses and the hit point values of most minis in this set, it should be able to use its Reaping Claws every other round at the very least. The Rage Drake’s high base damage potential and ability to gain an immediate melee attack when necessary enable it to unleash a large amount of controlled damage when necessary. It might not be able to do it as much as the Osyluth, but when it does do it, it has a higher damage potential. The Blood of Vol Fanatic and Blade Spider both have very good hit points for their costs, despite their relatively low attack values they look like they have at least some competitive viability.

 

The minis that I most want to build around are the Astral Stalker, Fire Archon, Nightmare, Werewolf Champion, Eternal Blade, and Mercenary General. However I suspect that I will try to investigate a lot of the lower cost figures too. I think something like Mercenary General + 9 Sellswords + Nightmare shows a LOT of promise. With the Mercenary General buffing the Sellswords attacks up to a +15 every round of engagement (or +19 when using their finishing blow) I suspect that there are very few warbands that can stand up to its sheer hit point totals and damage output in melee. Granted the warband isn’t particularly fast and might end up being overly vulnerable to ranged, burst, and line attacks but I think it still has some serious potential.

The Angel of Vengence got VERY powerful in the update, and you can use it with the Fire archon.

 

The Gelatinous cube also got a major boost, it may be useful in skirmish now

WotC Ian has hinted (see link below) that perhaps Evermelt will be made DCI-legal and/or most of the maps will be converted over to 2.0.

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=979372&highlight=evermelt