Wrackspawn
ChristopherGroves
Warlord
6093 Posts
    
 | | 12/02/2005 3:19 PM |
| By Jesse Dean (doubtofbuddha) and Christopher Groves (ChristopherGroves)
Lawful Good has traditionally been known for having slow units with high armor class moderate hit points, and poor damage. Unfortunately this combination hasn’t proven to be particularly successful and until Angelfire and Deathknell the only truly competitive Lawful Good warband included a fast, high hit point, moderate damage unit: the Large Silver Dragon. Fortunately it appears that Lawful Good is being fleshed out quite a bit, and has made a pleasantly surprising come back with the last two sets. Underdark has introduced a number of interesting figures to the Lawful Good stable, including two that can serve as hitter components, and one new titan.
Core Toolkit
These are the “must have” pieces for Lawful Good competitive play. If you wish to build around the pieces are at the bleeding edge of efficiency and the most useful for competitive play, then these are the pieces you should acquire. Please note that the number at the end of the stat block is the quantity that you are most likely to need for warband building purposes.
Aramil, Adventurer (Lawful Good/Chaotic Good, 13 points, 1)
Aramil is a useful support caster thanks to both its inexpensive price and its useful spells: magic missile and ray of enfeeblement. The rays of enfeeblement are typically the most useful of its array of spells, nerfing dragons almost completely, and hurting any figure that relies on melee damage to dominate. Probably the best support piece in its slot for Lawful Good.
Azer Raider (Lawful Good/Lawful Evil; 5 points; Harbinger; 4)
The Azer Raider is one of the best low-cost units in the game, serving as an excellent fodder choice for lawful good bands. It combines decent speed (especially for lawful good fodder), armor class, and damage potential into a combination that is difficult to beat in similarly priced units. It is almost always better to take an Azer Raider and a 3 point unit then it is to take two 4 point units.
Barbarian Mercenary (Any; 9 points; Dragoneye; 3)
The Barbarian Mercenary was at one point an excellent piece for many lawful good warbands who lacked pieces with the damage-to-cost ratio that the barbarian mercenary provided. With the increased competitiveness of faction specific pieces for LG (and the distance between starting locations and scoring areas), the barbarian mercenary’s utility has gone down. He is still useful in certain warbands and certain tactical situations, and thus deserves consideration.
Cleric of Dol Arrah (Lawful Good; 45 points; Angelfire; 1)
The second commander 7 released for the game, the Cleric of Dol Arrah has a host of special abilities and spells that make him a useful commander. Her 30 hit point heals are perhaps the only truly activation-worthy heals in the game, her outsider banishment is useful, especially with the continually increasing quantity of competitive outsiders in the game, her aura of protection is a great bonus against evil warbands, and her divine retributions are just icing on the cake. Her speed 6 also allows her to be placed where she needs to be in order to cast her spells as well as to keep up with the ever-increasing speeds of the more competitive figures in the Lawful Good arsenal.
Cleric of Order (Lawful Good; 24 points; Harbinger; 1)
The Cleric of Order has long stood as one of Lawful Good’s better commanders. With a commander rating of five and a number of useful spells for a mere 24 points, he provides the most bang for your buck as far as low-cost commanders go. Also, while his AC buff is useful, his save buffs are becoming increasingly useful with the rise of high DC LE creatures. Another positive feature is his speed 6, which is down right fast in this faction right now.
Cleric of Yondalla (Lawful Good; 14 points; Harbinger; 1)
The Cleric of Yondalla’s claim for fame lies in the fact that it is the cheapest commander that LG has access too. Unfortunately he is slow and weak and very vulnerable to commander assassination. He makes a reasonable combo with the Couatl or the Large Silver Dragon and gives the benefit of being able to bring a reasonable ranged attacker (Lidda, Adventurer) into Lawful Good.
Couatl (Lawful Good; 42 points; Deathknell; 2)
THE definitive Lawful Good commander at this time, it is difficult to consider a Lawful Good warband that does not include the Couatl. Its commander effect is excellent, giving Lawful Good bands the ability to withstand fireballs, various breath weapons, and line of sight energy attacks with some ease, resulting in their relatively slow speed to be less of a hindrance than it would be in any other faction. Add to that its ability to generate 15 points of automatic sonic damage to a target, heal for 10, and allow another member of its warband to get an additional attack makes the Couatl both the best commander Lawful Good has access to and the best support spell caster. Its only real weakness is its commander rating which results, in many warbands running the Couatl with a less pricey secondary commander such as the Cleric of Order or Cleric of Yondalla.
Githzerai Monk (Lawful Good; 34 points; Underdark; 4)
The second truly competitive mid-ranged hitter for Lawful Good, four things make the Githzerai Monk effective were previous mid-ranged Lawful Good hitters were not. First off, he moves over twice as fast as Lawful Good hitters in previous eras, and faster than most hitters even in the relatively speedy Chaotic Good and Chaotic Evil factions. Second off, his Armor Class of 25 makes up for his relatively low hit points (55), especially when combined with something like the Couatl that gives him protection from auto-damage. Third off, he has more (three) stuns than any previously released monk with a DC (18) that is very respectable even against creatures with a reasonably high save. Fourth off, he can automatically hit once, allowing for a crit against anything not immune to critical hits.
Hill Dwarf Warrior (Lawful Good; 4 points; Aberrations; 3)
Another effective fodder piece, the Hill Dwarf Warrior especially benefits from the presence of the Couatl and the increase of energy damage in the metagame. Its saves are phenomenal for its point cost, allowing it the capability to avoid entirely even high DC effects like a chraal’s breath weapon.
Justice Archon (Lawful Good; 32 points; Angelfire; 4)
The Justice Archon revolutionized the tournament capabilities of Lawful Good warbands, sitting as the first cost-efficient hitter in the 30-45 point range. Its Justice Strike is the primary reason behind this rise to prominence, allowing it to damage an opposing miniature at the same level that it could inflict damage, resulting in it be an excellent piece to counter the high-damage warbands found in the Chaotic factions. The fact that it has flight, DR 5, and bold (fearless when under command) added up to a nice combination of abilities that allowed it to be competitive with the chaotic evil and chaotic good hitters. Its weaknesses are those its attack bonus (+10/+5) and its level (6), both of which have made it less competitive against the Lawful Evil bands that have slowly become more powerful, but the use of the Couatl has helped to counter-act this to some degree.
Large Silver Dragon (Lawful Good; 122 points; Archfiends; 1)
One of the best unit that lawful good has access to, the Large Silver Dragon is a tough, hard to kill titan that has many strengths and few weaknesses. Despite its large point cost, it is typically very tough for warbands outside of the multiple-hitter CE builds to beat it, and is the center of some of the most effective point-denial warbands. LSD warbands are near the top of the list of warbands that must be able to be defeated for a warband to be considered truly competitive.
Man-at-arms (Lawful Good; 3 points; Harbinger/Aberrations; 4)
The standard 3-point filler for Lawful Good, he works better than the near-useless options of the human commoner and the city guard, and specializes in the role of flow control. Putting a wall of them between your opponent and your vulnerable units makes it unlikely that your opponent will be able to engage during the most optimal round. They are as vulnerable to breath weapons and other area effects as any other fodder, but their armor class makes very few melee attacks certain. They may be very likely, but that uncertainty is enough to make them worth their 3 points.
Purple Dragon Knight (Lawful Good; 45 points; Dragoneye; 1)
For a long time the Purple Dragon Knight ruled the roost as Lawful Good’s premiere commander thanks to a combination of sturdy hit points, reasonable damage, and the ability to shoot a cone of fear that could send non-fearless enemy units running. With the arrival of the Couatl and the Cleric of Dol Arrah (and a number of reasonably good fearless unit options) his position is no longer assured, but he still is a solid, cost-effective commander option.
Slayer of Domiel (Lawful Good; Underdark; 1)
One of the pieces in the set with potential to be devastating in the right warband, the Slayer of Domiel’s primary ability is its capability to score double victory points from the first creature that it kills. This can be a game winner in a timed tournament, and has the capability of completely winning said tournaments if applied to the right, high-cost opponent. Even in situations where that isn’t viable, even killing a smaller fodder piece might be enough to ensure victory in the last round of the game. On top of this, the Slayer is a reasonable competent combatant especially against evil opponents or those who are vulnerable to sneak attack damage. She has a high save, Evasion, Concealment, and the proper minimum amount of hit points for most competitive hitters (65), and a reasonable armor class (20.)
Extended Components
These are the pieces that, while nice to have, aren’t mandatory for highly competitive bands. These pieces can and will be used in competitive play, but aren’t the ones you “need” to own.
Aspect of Kord (Chaotic Good; 65 points; Underdark; 2)
The Aspect of Kord, which can be brought into Lawful Good via the Couatl, provides a fast, hard hitting low-level titan that gains especially well from some key synergies that Lawful Good can bring into play: reasonable commander ratings and the presence of snake’s swiftness on one of its most competitive pieces. On rounds where the Aspect of Kord moves first this allows him to move up to a fairly large portion of the board and hit once for 40, and again for another 30 with a near-complete certainty of being able to successfully pull this off thanks to his high attack bonus.
Cleric of Lathander (Lawful Good; 27 points; Archfiends; 1)
A reasonably good mid-line commander, he lacks anything to push him from reasonable to exceptional. His commander effect is nice, but does little to alleviate a situation where you are already forced into a bad position by a routing piece. His Turn Undead is only useful in an undead-heavy metagame. His spells are largely useful, however, and the magic weapon can especially be useful when using units such as a justice archon and his searing light is an excellent range option in a faction that lacks many of them.
Cleric of Moradin (Lawful Good; 14 points; Dragoneye; 1)
A reasonably good support piece, the Cleric of Moradin is particularly effective in boosting the armor class of two units. This has two problems: 1) It forces you to keep your hitters back as the cleric buffs them. 2) It leaves you less points for offensive potential. Some argue that this is worth it. Others argue its not. I lean more towards the “Its not worth it camp (except when combined with the large silver dragon),” but he is effective enough that he might prove to be otherwise when future synergies emerge.
Dwarf Phalanx Soldier (Lawful Good; 12 points; Deathknell; 4)
The most resilient fodder piece available to any faction, the Dwarf Phalanx Soldier combines a greater than 2:1 hp:cost ratio with a perfectly reasonable save. Unfortunately it lacks the damage really needed to make it effective, but with new damage boosting effects it is likely to get better with time.
Half-Orc Paladin (Lawful Good; 48 points; Underdark; 1)
The first truly useful damage boosting commander, the Half-Orc Paladin suffers from the simple fact that he only hits for 10 damage. If he hit for 15 damage he would be a reasonable replacement for the Purple Dragon Knight or the Cleric of Dol Arrah based on commander effect alone, and would work reasonably well as a secondary commander based on his fearlessness and acceptable attack bonus. Unfortunately, he doesn’t and it is difficult to justify him as a second commander (in addition to the Couatl, of course) when adding him may reduce your total damage potential rather than add to it.
Healer (Lawful Good/Chaotic Good; 12 points; Archfiends; 1)
One of the few effective healers in the game, the Healer provides the ability for units to survive just a little bit longer at a reasonably efficient price. Her remove paralysis is especially effective in a LSD-heavy metagame.
Lidda, Adventurer (Chaotic Good; 9 points; Giants of Legend; 1)
Only useful in certain warbands (involving the Cleric of Yondalla), Lidda, Adventurer provides a slow, hidden ranged attacker. In most warbands she is overshadowed by the greycloak ranger, but with the CoY the greycloak is not an option and there are few other competitive ranged units allowing her to gain some level of effectiveness.
Marut (Lawful Good; 74 points; Underdark; 1)
A hard hitting titan who rarely, if ever, misses, the Marut is one of the few constructs that does not suffer from a commander-based restriction. Combined with its spell-resistance, blind sight, DR, and general ability to deal damage, it makes a perfectly serviceable titan, especially when combined with the Couatl and appropriate side-kicks in the 30-40 point range. His main weakness is his poor hp : cost ratio, which is barely less than 1:1. This is made up for slightly with his high AC and immunity to crits, but it is still a definite weakness.
Medium Earth Elemental (Lawful Good; 13 points; Archfiends; 2)
Before the advent of the Justice Archon, the Medium Earth Elemental was the best flanker in the game thanks the supreme maneuverability that the ability to burrow gave it. Even now it is an effective flanker, a decent low-level melee combatant (especially with cleave), and a reasonable assassin.
Medium Silver Dragon (Lawful Good; Underdark; 1)
The Medium Silver Dragon’s competitiveness, much like that of the Large Silver Dragon’s, is based around its twin breath weapons. It also has a reasonable amount of hit points, and a Morale Boosting effect but suffers from its low damage potential and its vulnerability to fire.
Mialee, Elf Wizard (Lawful Good/Chaotic Good; 6 points; 1)
The cheapest source of magic weapon in the game, Mialee allows high cost lawful good units to damage creatures protected by damage reduction. Her use has only increased as effective non-magical and DR-based creatures have increased in frequency. Still, she should only be used when another caster with magic weapon doesn’t provide a better fit for the warband.
Skullclan Hunter (Lawful Good; 36 points; Deathknell; 2)
A solid mini that would probably be competitive if it was slightly faster, the Skullclan Hunter has numerous abilities that are useful and rare in Lawful Good. Of particular noteworthiness is its ability to do 20 points of damage, when performing a sneak attack, in a faction that had long had difficulty getting past the 15 point damage barrier, Hide, and Sidestep combined with reasonable saves and the all-important 65 hit point threshold. Still, it has potential, and there is always the hope that some currently unreleased figure will be able to bring it up to the point it needs to be at to be effective.
Standard Bearer (Lawful Good; 10 points; Giants of Legend; 1)
Another reasonable support piece, the Standard Bearer for allows for a commander effect and rating to cover a much larger portion of the board while protecting units within 6 with a countersong. Unfortunately, there are very few units that currently benefit much from either of these effects, but it is solid enough that it is something to consider as more Lawful Good commanders come out. One current commander it has interesting synergy with is the Couatl.
Sun Soul Initiate (Lawful Good; 8 points; Harbinger; 1)
The main use of the Sun Soul Initiate is tile-grabbing. He is fast, reasonably resistant to ranged attacks, and unlikely to run away if attacked by a minion. Beyond that he doesn’t have much of a place in most bands, and with the distance between starting areas and tile grabbing locations with the new rules, he is unlikely to increase in usability as time goes on.
Ulmo Lightbringer (Lawful Good; 77 points; Angelfire; 1)
A reasonably competitive titan, Ulmo Lightbringer combines speed, a high armor class, incredibly high attack bonuses, and the capability of doing up to 20 damage in each of three melee attacks in a powerful engine of lawful good destruction. Unfortunately Ulmo suffered a bit when forced to go against miniatures who are immune to his sneak-attacks, and with the rising prominence of the Chraal that ended up being quite a few warbands. There is a potential he might have gotten better with the release of Underdark and the new competitiveness of the Young Master, but that remains to be seen.
Rikka, Angelic Avenger (Chaotic Good; 31 points; Underdark; 1)
An efficient piece, who is already warping the metagame, Rikka, Angelic Avenger allows one to do a number of interesting strategic moves thanks to her Waylay ability. Weaker support pieces and commanders (Cleric of Order, Dragon Cultist, Elf Pyromancer, Inspiring Marshal) are all vulnerable to her ability to appear on any victory point area and strike at a very large attack bonus for moderate (20 magic) damage. She can appear behind enemy lines in other situations where you only have one figure in position to strike at some important target and need two (to set up a flank, for example.) She can also, if all else fails, guarantee that you get first turn tile points. She can also be brought into Lawful Good by virtue of being an outsider.
Timber Wolf (Any; 5 points; Deathknell; 1)
The Timber Wolf serves a similar purpose as the Wolf in every band that does not include the Greycloak Ranger. It is tougher, with a higher attack bonus and level than a regular wolf, and serves as a great speed 10 tile grabber. With the change in the out of command movement rules, the Timber Wolf has increased viability as a tile grabber, as other competitive options lack the speed and hit points for the cost.
Village Priest (Lawful Good, 21 points; Angelfire; 1)
The Village priest provides a nice low-cost option between the Cleric of Yondalla and the Cleric of Order. His spells are useful, providing magic weapon to hitters who either need the attack bonus (Justice Archons or Githzerai Monks) or the magic damage (Aspect of Kord, Large Silver Dragon). The bless spell is additionally useful for almost any build, with additional utility provided for those same builds that can benefit from the increased attack bonus.
Warforged Hero (Lawful Good; 36 points; Aberrations; 1)
The Warforged Hero would have been a very popular miniature if he had only hit for 15 damage. As it stands he is only a reasonably powerful miniature, with a host of immunities thanks to its living construct nature, interesting tactical options with its ability to ignore rough terrain, and high attack bonuses, armor class, and hit points. It has largely been superseded by the Justice Archon.
Young Master (Lawful Good; 43 points; Giants of Legend; 1)
A few weeks ago there would have been no way I would have ever included the Young Master on a list like this. However, with the release of the second truly cost effective monk, and the first in the mid-range beater slot, the Young Master has gotten a new lease on life. When combined with multiple Githzerai Monks (and perhaps) Ulmo, the Young Master’s commander effect becomes particularly effective, allowing them to hit as hard as heavy hitters of other factions in certain circumstances, with attack bonuses that have the capability of even hurting the high-armor class figures of other warbands. The Young Master himself is not competitive without pieces like the Githzerai Monk, with it he allows the potential for a fairly competitive theme warband.
Notes
Some things ...
First, this represents the collected thoughts of a good dozen to twenty experienced folks. I think I hit a few folks in most of the areas ... heck I can't even remember who all I asked. Obviously, nearly everyone agreed on the "core" kit ... things varied somewhat on the extended kit.
Second, I'm going to sticky a link to this in the Resource thread above so new folks can find it and older folks can point new players to it.
Third, this list is really a base guide. It represents a point in time (now) with our understanding of the current and near-term environment for 200 point play. As that changes we'll be able to modify the list or discuss here on this thread and get more input from the community. Let's discuss here ...
Fourth, what we specifically did NOT include were figures to watch. LG as a faction is poised to have some pretty wicked synergies in the future and there are a number of promising pieces that just haven't made it into successful competitive play just yet. No one is saying that they are bad, just that they aren't the first things a new player should go out and grab.
Things to Watch
- Redgar, Adventurer - As more uniques come into play Redgar might see some use bridging in useful unique folks.
- Soldiers, Fighters, Guards, Militia - This is a group that can grow for quite some time; given the usefulness of the Village Priest and Cleric of Dol Arrah WITHOUT using their commander effects this area is just gravy.
- Dwarves - With the Battle Plate Marshal (and including the Marshal himself and the Ancestor) there's a small-in-stature but growing segment of LG forces that could break out in themed efficiency.
- Loyal Earth Elemental - He's got the base stats, but I haven't seen any great builds with him. So far there are other things that are better options in most cases.
- Big Dudes - Justicator, Stone Giant, Sword Archon, Mounted Paladin - These guys have some successful 200 point builds but don't perform as well as having two smaller hitters in their place. Watch them though; they have the stats to break out. In 500 though this could be a very different story.
- Stat buffers / tech spellcasters - Artificer, Wizards, etc. have not had a good showing in timed competitive play. They do well enough in untimed matches, etc. but in timed play they have not seen their hey-day.
- Warband building subjects - The CoY can bring in Halflings and whereas there haven't been a ton of essential builds using Halflings in LG, it could happen. Pay attention to the warband building options of your faction and keep a few of those pieces around if you like to experiment or invest in the future.
You don't need these today, but if they are commons or uncommons it might be worth while holding onto a few just in case. Besides, you might want to try out something interesting or different. If you want to break into competitive play though and you want to know the best pieces to grab (espescially from the older sets), this is a good guide. | |
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