Wrackspawn
ChristopherGroves
Warlord
6093 Posts
    
 | | 12/02/2005 3:20 PM |
| By Jesse Dean (doubtofbuddha) and Christopher Groves (ChristopherGroves)
Chaotic Evil is no longer THE faction for competitive tournament play, but it still maintains a strong position. After going through a period of stagnancy, it appears Chaotic Evil is being provided with some new options for competitive play with the Underdark era.
Core Toolkit
These are the “must have” pieces for 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.
Abyssal Maw (Chaotic Evil; 5 points; Dragoneye; 4)
An efficient 5 point piece, the Abyssal Maw provides a nice option for warbands that aren’t using any of the damage-boosting commanders that the Orc Warriors can benefit from. In addition to doing as much damage as a boosted orc warrior, the Abyssal Maw has an improved Armor Class, improved attack bonus, and a number of useful immunities and resistances. Additionally, as an outsider, it can be summoned by the Cultist of the Dragon, providing a bonus activation that is useful beyond its mere presence on the field.
Cursed Spirit (Chaotic Evil; 11 points; Archfiends; 2)
An incorporeal, undead who forces opponents to suffer a -2 penalty to all saves, the cursed spirit is one of the most effective support pieces in the game. The incorporeality alone is worth the point cost, but the ability to force -2 to enemy morale saves can become key in a wide number of situations. If only it was LE…
Eye of Gruumsh (Chaotic Evil; 44 points; Dragoneye; 1)
One of the four pieces that serve as the core of CE hitter bands, the Eye of Gruumsh is a fast effective commander that has the highest attack bonuses of any of the core CE hitters. In addition to this, he provides the orc champion and orc warriors with an additional 5 points of damage allowing good pieces to get even better. Unfortunately, he suffers from a low AC (11) and suffers 5 points of damage whenever he successfully damages an opponent.
Ogre Ravager (Chaotic Evil; 38 points; Dragoneye; 2)
Probably the least effective of the four core CE hitters, the Ogre Ravager has suffered in the face of the Justice Archon and the Chraal. Both have the AC necessary to make the ogre ravager’s attacks unlikely to hit, both have a DR that causes the Ogre Ravager to do no more damage than an Orc Champion, and both have other abilities that make the Ravager suffer. That combined with the Ravager’s large base and relatively slow speed, make it a less optimal option in chraal and justice archon heavy metagame.
Large Red Dragon (Chaotic Evil; 83 points; Dragoneye; 1)
While largely playing second fiddle to the Large Silver Dragon in the overall effectiveness and respectability field, the Large Red Dragon is still a very effective piece especially when backed-up by Chaotic Evil’s most cost effective hitters. His breath weapon is especially effective, particularly when paired against creatures that are vulnerable to fire or large amounts of fodder, and the Large Red Dragon itself is so tough that it can easily take out a single hitter in a one-on-one fight (or two if it gets off a particularly effective cone.)
Orc Champion (Chaotic Evil; 39 points; Archfiends; 2)
Another miniature frequently on the list of the most powerful miniatures in the game, the Orc Champion ruled the roost for many sets as far as hitters went. With its speed, hit point total, sheer ability to do damage, and cleave it remains one of the best hitters in the game, despite its lessened utility against pieces like the Chraal and Justice Archon.
Orc Warrior (Chaotic Evil; 3 points; Harbinger; 4)
Arguably the best piece in the game, the Orc Warrior is the most effective fodder piece in any faction. With a +4 attack for 10 damage and numerous synergies (both the Drow Sergeant and the Eye of Gruumsh can make that at a +4 attack for 15 damage), makes him incredibly useful. Required for any serious chaotic evil player.
Red Samurai (Chaotic Evil; 40 points; Dragoneye; 2)
While the Ogre Ravager has suffered with the introduction of the Chraals and Justice Archons, the Red Samurai has become even more effective. The Justice Archon’s justice strike is less useful against Red Samurai’s than any of the other CE hitters (as the Red Samurai still does more damage to the Justice Archon than the Justice Archon does to it, not accounting for the presence of the Couatl), and its combination of high level, fire damage, and attack bonuses put it into a better position to deal with chraals than any other CE hitter.
Ryld Argith (Chaotic Good/Chaotic Evil; 55 points; Aberrations; 1)
Ryld Argith is one of the more solid commanders in the game, combining good combat stats and reasonable commander effects with the highly useful “Improved Initiative” ability which can be key in a game where winning initiative can often be the difference between victory and defeat. This will only become increasingly important with the change over to maps, as improved initiative will be useful both in determining map selection but also piece placement.
Tiefling Captain (Chaotic Evil; 21 points; Harbinger; 1)
One of the best commanders in the game, the Tiefling Captain combines an excellent for CE commander rating (4) with a reasonable level of survivability and a great commander effect. Played in most serious CE warbands, he is typically only left out when using a single, high-power commander or when using the drow sergeant for maximum offensive potential.
Troglodyte (Chaotic Evil; 7 points; Dragoneye; 1) AND/OR
Taer (Chaotic Evil; 8 points; Aberrations; 1)
The Troglodyte, Taer, and the Cursed spirit share a similar role, providing a mobile automatic debuffer that persists as long as the creature it is attached to lives. Unfortunately for the troglodyte, while its debuffer is stronger, the troglodyte itself is considerably weaker than the cursed spirit. Still, if you have room in your warband there are few fodder units that are better choices for helping your other Chaotic Evil units effectively demolish your opponent’s warband.
The Taer is similar to the Troglodyte in role, but has enough unique abilities to make him worthy of consideration. He is immune to cold, which is useful in a metagame with Chraals and Silver Dragons present, and hits with a single +3 attack for 10 damage, rather than the Troglodyte's 5. Basically, it comes down to how many points you have. If you have 7, run the troglodyte, if you have 8, run the Taer.
Warrior Skeleton (Lawful Evil/Chaotic Evil; 3 points; Archfiends; 4)
The Warrior Skeleton has gained increased popularity lately due to the increase viability of cold-based effects in the metagame. As it is though he is reasonably effective for his cost, giving the benefits of cold immunity and fearlessness at the cost of having only a +1 bab. This is not very significant if you are involved in a fodder war against orc warriors or goblin skirmishers but it can become so if you are going against men-at-arms.
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.
Bugbear Champion of Erythnul (Chaotic Evil; 34 points; Angelfire; 1)
The one, true viable option for 30ish point commanders in Chaotic Evil, the Bugbear Champion of Erythnul provides a reasonable commander effect with useful spells, and, a somewhat sturdy frame. He serves particularly well with figures such as the Large Red Dragon and other figures that do non-magical damage.
Burning Skeleton (Chaotic Evil; 13 points; Deathknell; 2)
An excellent screener piece, the Burning Skeleton is immune to the most common mass energy types (cold and fire), and provide a fearless, reasonably tough way to clear away both enemy activations (either from attacks or forcing the enemy to take fire damage when attacked) and provide protection against things like the gauth or beholder, which are stymied by one of the burning skeleton’s abilities.
Choker (Chaotic Evil; 14 points; Aberrations; 2)
The Choker is primarily useful for his dual activation ability, one of the few ways that Chaotic Evil has to get activations beyond the 8 figure limit. His constrict ability is reasonably good, even if it has a low DC, and gets even better when combined with the DC enhancement of the Dark Naga. If cave victory areas ever become popular, he becomes even more useful.
Deathlock (Chaotic Evil; 12 points; Deathknell; 2)
Another good tech option, the deathlock provides several activation control options, which are useful both in the early game (magic missiles) and the late game (cause fear) once warbands begin to engage. Even in situations where his spellcasting is less useful (low fodder situations or when dealing with creatures that are spell resistant), the Deathlock still works reasonably well as a fearless blocker.
Death Slaad (Chaotic Evil; 53 points; Underdark; 3)
One of the more interesting new pieces in Underdark, the Death Slaad’s viability is enhanced by the lawful faction’s increased competitiveness in the larger metagame. His chaos hammer is a nice bonus ability, allowing him to punish lawful warbands before he engages with them. His deadly rend is equally useful against chaotic hitters, allowing him to eliminate low-save creatures like Rikka, the Grimlock Barbarian, Orc Champion, Goliath Barbarian, and the (Lawful Good) Justice Archon from play without having to go through all of their hit points. In addition he has a solid amount of hit points for his cost, the ability to regenerate, and an exceptionally good Armor Class for a Chaotic Evil piece. Unfortunately his commander rating and commander effect are poor, usually requiring that he be combined with another commander such as the Tiefling Captain.
Drow Sergeant (Chaotic Evil; 16 points; Archfiends; 1)
The lowest-cost CE commander available, the Drow Sergeant allows you to pack as much cost-efficient CE muscle into a warband as possible or serve as a reasonable secondary commander, though at some risk. Its commander effect is also useful in combination with the most cost-efficient fodder in the game (Orc Warriors), allowing them to hit for 15 damage. On top of this the Drow Sergeant’s conceal and spell resistance abilities provide it with some protection from likely threats, leaving it truly vulnerable only to breath weapons (or a lucky shot that gets past its protections.) She suffers a bit from the introduction of pieces like Rikka and the Mounted Drow Patrol, making her less viable for primary commander status.
Gnoll Skeleton (Chaotic Evil; 5 points; Aberrations; 4)
While in general inferior to Chaotic Evil’s other 5 point options, the Gnoll Skeleton serves as an excellent blocker against both arrow fire and beholder eye rays. In addition he currently exists as the best possible option for the Lich Necromancer’s commander effect, providing a tough, fodder option to set up flanks, block passages, and provide a no victory point target for enemy effects.
Grimlock Barbarian (Chaotic Evil; 28 points; Underdark; 4)
The lowest cost effective hitter in Chaotic Evil’s arsenal, the Grimlock Barbarian serves as an excellent option for warbands (such as those with the Hezrou) that require high-cost figures to fill them out or use various tech that prevents them from reaching the three or four hitter benchmarks. In addition, possibilities exist for using the Grimlock Barbarian in five hitter bands that do not suffer from the same activation problems that using 5 mainline Chaotic Evil hitters cause. His biggest weaknesses are his low attack bonus and his 60 hit points. Even when enhanced form his bloodlust effect, he attacks only at a +11, which is barely sufficient to hit some of the higher-end titans such as the Marut and the Large Silver Dragon. Also, one hit from an ogre ravager, or an eye of gruumsh-enhanced orc champion is likely to make him route, resulting in a decreased utility in comparison to the mainline hitters. However, he is also ten points less than the cheapest mainline hitter.
Harpy (Chaotic Evil; 15 points; Dragoneye; 2)
The harpy’s warband-targeted stun effect is particularly effective at knocking out enemy fodder and low level commanders and hitters out of the picture for a round. While this can be very effective against Chaotic Evil and some Chaotic Good and Lawful Good bands, it has become increasingly less useful as the field has began to vary. Even still, the harpy isn’t a bad set of tech to include in a warband, and when used at the right moment can pull off some wins.
Hezrou (Chaotic Evil; 80 points; Angelfire; 1)
The toughest commander that Chaotic Evil has available to it, the Hezrou serves as an excellent commander for warbands that have a need for a tough commander who is unlikely to be defeated over the course of a match. His great hit points combined with his resistances, armor class, and stench ability make him a difficult to defeat unit, unfortunately he suffers from his high point cost, he costs the same as two Chaotic Evil hitters, and his low damage potential, making him a difficult fit into most standard hitter bands. With the introduction of cheaper CE beaters such as the Grimlock barbarian, his value may go up, but for the time being he is a risky proposition.
Hyena (Chaotic Evil; 4 points; Harbinger; 2)
An excellent choice when you are using the Orc Druid (or Greenfang Druid), the Hyena has the same threat radius as the Goblin Skirmisher, without having to deal with the potential of cover and melee bonus to AC. The Hyena also serves as the best tile-grabber in the game, being the cheapest Speed 10 creature available.
Hunched Giant (Chaotic Evil; 48 points; Underdark; 1)
The main advantage that the Hunched Giant has over the less expensive Chaotic Evil hitter options, is his high hit point total. His higher armor class and level are also useful, but the fact that he must take 60 points of damage before routing allows for strategic options that the mainline Chaotic Evil hitters do not have available to them. Unfortunately, he suffers from a lower attack bonus, and a lack of mobility (large base with speed 6) in comparison to most other Chaotic Evil hitters.
Lich Necromancer (Chaotic Evil; 64 points; Giants of Legend; 1)
A very solid choice for Chaotic Evil, the Lich Necromancer will become even more solid with the arrival of the 8 figure limit and its ability to bring in 3 hitters for support. The Lich’s paralysis effect is very useful, especially when combined with a trologdyte and/or a cursed spirit, and in rounds where it can’t effectively use these spells it has an empowered magic missile that hurts almost every creature in the game. Even after it is based or it runs out of spells the lich necromancer is still an effective melee combatant with a large amount of hit points, a reasonable AC, and the ability to paralyze enemy melee combatants. Unfortunately, it suffers from its high point cost, and many players prefer other options.
Mountain Orc (Chaotic Evil; 12 points; Aberrations; 2)
The Mountain Orc provides the best option for the two piece availability of minions for the Orog Warlord. He also serves as reasonably good secondary beater for Eye of Gruumsh oriented bands when you have a 12 point block of points available, but generally having tech such as a cursed spirit or deathlock is a better option in such situations.
Mounted Drow Patrol (Chaotic Evil; 27 points; Underdark; 2)
An interesting tech piece, that allows for the first truly effective use of the Mounted Combat special ability, the Mounted Drow Patrol is the perfect hit-and-run piece, possessing the ability to move in, strike an opponent, and fall back without suffering any sort of retaliatory attacks of opportunity. Unfortunately it suffers from a low attack bonus and the fact that a part of its damage is reliant on cold damage, making certain creatures that would be likely targets (such as the Couatl and the Orog Warlord) resistant to its effects.
Orc Druid (Chaotic Evil; 27 points; Dragoneye; 2)
The reason to use the orc druid lies in one area: its three snake swiftness spells. These spells allow a CE hitter band to pull off a large amount of impact-round damage, enough to break opposing warbands. As a bonus he has beast-master allowing you to command hyenas and timber wolves, the best tile grabbers in the game.
Orc Skeleton (Chaotic Evil; 5 points; Underdark; 4)
A nice alternative to the Gnoll Skeleton as likely fodder for the Lich Necromancer’s commander effect, the Orc Skeleton provides the capability to hit for 10 damage, where the Gnoll Skeleton hits for 5. The Gnoll Skeleton is tougher, and harder to kill, and thus more useful in certain situations, but the Gnoll Skeleton provides flexibility when dealing with low-AC/high-damage enemy hitters.
Zombie White Dragon (Chaotic Evil; 37 points; Deathknell; 1)
A large, high hit-point blocker, the Zombie White Dragon serves more as a mobile battlefield control mechanism than anything else. It is easy to control the tempo of battles in more enclosed terrain, when running the Zombie White Dragon, allowing you to cut off portions of the enemy warband, and even commander hunt. Unfortunately, you are sacrificing 37 points for this ability, which is probably be better suited for being used on another hitter. This piece still has potential though, especially when combined with pieces like the Mounted Drow Patrol.
Notes
By ChristopherGroves
Where to start?
Chaotic Evil has been largely dominant for a number of years ... and has done so with relatively old pieces. A CE one-of-each Quad with a Tiefling is still a multi-headed and versatile beast packing tons of damage output and hit points. With the Tielfling the larger pieces stand ground and do not rout a reasonably decent amount of the time and with two commanders (Eye and Tiefling) you have a chance to rally and keep those points on the board.
The move to eight figures gives CE some interesting choices ... heck you can include a single piece of tech costing in the teens somewhere in a quad now ... and that will be interesting. The move to eight also allows you to really field a strong commander and three hitters without running less than the maximum number of activations. Figures such as Ryld and the Lich Necromancer will only get more popular.
Remember, these toolkits are truly the "core" items a player should have. There are plenty of other "close" creatures or fun things to include in your warband.
Some Gambles for the Future
The kit above includes the Death Slaad, Hunched Giant and Grimlock Barbarian. We're making some assumptions and guesses based on the limited play since Underdark about the usefulness of these figures. The Grimlock fits a nice price-point ... the Death Slaad has at least one scary build that's been successful ... the Hunched Giant has a mess of HP and high-level that provides a much more resilient CE hitter.
The Gray Render is a piece with excellent efficiency; it remains to be seen how much of a drawback his limitations are in reality. Several folks I know consider it a sleeper.
Orcs and more orcs
We put the Orc Warrior, Mountain Orc and Orc Skeleton on the list ... but don't forget about the Brute, Raider, Spearfighter, Savage, Berserker, candle-maker, farmer, baby-sitter and politician. Nearly every orc produced is VERY effective for the points and with the Eye and others boosting abilities of orcs or humanoids in general all over the place.
Just haven't made the cut
Some figures have the core stats but just don't fit into a good build. Maybe it is because they can't be paired with the right other units or maybe it is because they have a weakness that existing CE can't quite overcome. Just as the Young Master was on the outside looking in until the Gith Monk was available CE has some pieces that are close but simply don't fit in just yet.
Against that backdrop there are a number of pieces. Commander-wise the Yuan-Ti Abomination is a beast ... but really unusable at this point in time. Nice speed, nice, AC, nice HP, nice commander rating ... no good synergy. Maybe he'll pair up with an Arachnomancer for some poison-fun bands, but right now that's all he is. The Orc Wolf Shaman also falls into this category. Yes, there are some nice animals and bests but just not enough to fully capitalize on this piece.
The Chuul has great stats and would be played ALOT in LE ... but its shortcomings can't be marginalized effectively in CE. The Draegloth simply doesn't do enough damage. I'm always going to be toting Lareth the Beautiful around in my box, but I do so knowing he's sub-optimal to the Lich.
The Gnoll Sgt is a nice figure that has been largely eclipsed by the Bugbear Champ ... the hyenas are a nice inclusion but not enough to catapult him into a requirement for your toolkit. The Drow Wizard is in the same spot ... the Bugbear Champ is much sturdier and in a faction that doesnt' tend to be overprotective of their commanders this is a big deal. Still, both could see additional play.
Fun Techie Pieces
CE has plenty of fun pieces in this area but none of them are required. The Arcane Guard, Winter Wolf, Quasit, etc. can be fun and quirky pieces. Need an AoE cone? Sure!
I'm also a BIG fan of the Cultist of the Dragon; doubtofbuddha and I went back and forth on this one. It all depends on how the game shifts and the actual appearance rate of Rikka and/or the Wizard Tactician. If they show up, the Cultist is free points for your opponent. My bet is that they will not show up as much and running a Cultist will be relatively safe, but the kit errs on the side of caution.
We also debated the Kenku Sneak but with decreasing numbers of fodder these will have limited usefulness. You might want to keep one or two around in case you need to make the points work and stay under the 8-activation mark.
Final mention needs to go to the Drow Cleric of Lolth. She doesn't have a home yet but a commander 5 in CE is unique. If paired with some good solid things up front she could certainly be active on the tournament scene (and I'm not just talking about drow-fan bands).
Remember, their are tons of pieces that are fun to include in your warbands ... but we're betting that the bulk of the super-competitive builds use the items in the toolkit above. | |
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