Lance H
Sergeant
403 Posts
    
 | | 07/14/2006 2:48 PM |
| I'm honored to be the writer for "Passion." Please check out my first Dreamblade article, showcasing two new Passion miniatures:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dbm/article/20060714a
All the best to everyone,
Lance | |
Lance Hawvermale -- Writer/Editor, Necromancer Games
Completed Trades: 67
My Vision Quest: www.lancehawvermale.com | |
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Ragnaroque
Skirmisher
36 Posts
| | 07/14/2006 5:02 PM |
| Well done. I quite enjoyed reading the article. Passion is probably the aspect I'm most looking forward to putting in my warband when the game comes out.
Now, I haven't played enough games to assess the impact of Energize All, so what I'm wondering is in general how much of a hinderance is the extra 3 spawn points your opponent gets? Is it worth playing it more safe and relying on the Heartsblood Temple and Rainforest Shaman to give you extra spawn points? I can't decide whether allowing your opponent the opportunity to spawn more/bigger creatures or utilize spawn abilities is worth it. Obviously if the opponent's warband is not capable of taking advantage of the wealth of spawn points (if they have no spawn abilities etc) there is no disadvantage to you and you can only gain, but otherwise I can actually see the map turning into a kind of miniature blender, with both sides being able to throw everything they have at each other... a heated battle that would befit a passion-filled confrontation. I have a lot of jumbled thoughts and ideas on this subject, just got to see if I can put them together with some degree of coherence and I am wondering what insights other more experienced players can give me. | |
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Lance H
Sergeant
403 Posts
| | 07/14/2006 5:28 PM |
| Greenlife Dryad is a wildcard . . . which is really in synch with Passion's general attitude. I've been putting this mini into play when my opponent comes to the table with a band that is either (a) heavy on high-point figures, or (b) without any spawn abilities. The best benefit I've found is this: my opponent wants to collect those 3 extra points, so he tends to ignore the Dryad . . . at least until he realizes it's sitting on a high-point scoring cell.
This is certainly an interesting figure and I'm glad I had the chance to preview it.
Next article: Building the all-Passion warband. | |
Lance Hawvermale -- Writer/Editor, Necromancer Games
Completed Trades: 67
My Vision Quest: www.lancehawvermale.com | |
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Shivan Darkeyes
Warrior
266 Posts
| | 07/14/2006 5:57 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Lance H
Greenlife Dryad is a wildcard . . . which is really in synch with Passion's general attitude. I've been putting this mini into play when my opponent comes to the table with a band that is either (a) heavy on high-point figures, or (b) without any spawn abilities. The best benefit I've found is this: my opponent wants to collect those 3 extra points, so he tends to ignore the Dryad . . . at least until he realizes it's sitting on a high-point scoring cell.
I've found that usually exactly the opposite is true. It is best to have the dryad when your opponent is playing several cheap creatures and no spawn abilities because the Dryad's synergy can be "broken" by an expensive warband of your own. In general you are MUCH better off with a Heartsblood Temple (one of the best pieces in the game) rather than the crappy Dryad. The Dryad is more of a "for fun" piece rather than a competitive worthy piece. | |
13th Place at the 2005 DDM Championship in GenCon | |
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Lance H
Sergeant
403 Posts
| | 07/14/2006 6:59 PM |
| Hey,Shivan, don't be knockin' my Dryad! [:)]
Of course you're right. The Greenlife Dryad is more of a "for fun" piece, but it certainly throws a new spin on any match you play. I enjoy it because Passion is so damage-heavy; there are very few tech pieces in this aspect, with all the others boasting special abilities that deal damage. In fact, I'll touch on this very subject in my next article.
Is the Greenlife Dryad going to win you a hard-core tournament? Probably not. But do I love it just the same? You bet. | |
Lance Hawvermale -- Writer/Editor, Necromancer Games
Completed Trades: 67
My Vision Quest: www.lancehawvermale.com | |
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Ragnaroque
Skirmisher
36 Posts
| | 07/14/2006 8:35 PM |
| Thanks for sharing your point of views with me. Shivan, you've confirmed what I was feeling that the Heartsblood Temple is far better than the Dryad for generating spawn points overall. In serious play giving the opponent the gift of extra spawn points is costly.
Here's an interesting question to ponder. Going with the fact that the dryad is better utilized against lower cost creatures, how could you use an all-passion warband (using dryads) to try to win against the fodder swarm being discussed elsewhere? I say all-passion as with the characteristic low defence and life of the aspect, I could easily see the passion player being overwhelmed if they weren't careful.
Oh and while we're on the subject of loving minis... the Flame Harrower is definitely one of my favourites ;). Mmmm, all that good assaulty goodness all wrapped up in a kick-ass looking mini! | |
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Shivan Darkeyes
Warrior
266 Posts
| | 07/14/2006 11:27 PM |
| A note:
If you make multiple attacks with assult during the same spawn phase with different Harrowers even if they are in the same cell you do NOT make a "single 15 power attack" like your article states. Rather you make 3 seperate 5 power attacks. This can be important when attempting to destroy rather than disrupt a miniature.
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13th Place at the 2005 DDM Championship in GenCon | |
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Lance H
Sergeant
403 Posts
| | 07/15/2006 5:54 PM |
| | Yeah, I realized that a few days after I submitted the article, in the middle of my exam for Rules Advisor. One of the questions on that test made me question what I'd written in the article. My mistake. You actually make three separate attacks. But as you know, we wrote these articles without a whole lot of practice playing time (or even a whole lot of minis on hand, in fact). So that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it. [:)] | |
Lance Hawvermale -- Writer/Editor, Necromancer Games
Completed Trades: 67
My Vision Quest: www.lancehawvermale.com | |
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Shivan Darkeyes
Warrior
266 Posts
| | 07/16/2006 2:27 AM |
| Its ok, I said that the Skeever Hatchling was a loner... lol. I am sort of disappointed our editors didn't catch this though. Oh well, I guess we will just have to be more personally responsible for content mistakes like those.
I did like the article it was well-written to be sure. | |
13th Place at the 2005 DDM Championship in GenCon | |
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DireKobold
Skirmisher
21 Posts
| | 07/16/2006 9:27 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Shivan Darkeyes
I am sort of disappointed our editors didn't catch this though.
What I'm disappointed the editors didn't catch is the fact that the example warband has 17 pieces in it. | |
Dreamblade Generator | |
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Shivan Darkeyes
Warrior
266 Posts
| | 07/16/2006 1:39 PM |
| | The articles are really long and I'm sure when editing people are mostly looking for grammatical errors and what-not. Its hard to catch things like this in my opinion. | |
13th Place at the 2005 DDM Championship in GenCon | |
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striderlotr
Commander
3370 Posts
| | 07/20/2006 8:27 AM |
| | After playing against a Greenleaf Dryad, I can say I wanted it dead fast. Sure getting the extra 3 was nice, but I surely did not want my opponent getting those extra 3 for his big creatures either. I think we got the bonus points once before I took it out. | |
Sean Banks
Champion of Elementals
Official Organizer
Gen Con 05 maxminis Event | Winterfantasy 06 maxminis Event | Gen Con 06 maxminis Event | Winterfantasy 07 Community Event | |
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Shivan Darkeyes
Warrior
266 Posts
| | 07/20/2006 1:26 PM |
| | Regardless of the spawn points it generates the Dryad still have a massive FIVE power, which is enough to make it a good hitter too. I still don't think it is a very good piece though. The Heartsblood Temple just seems better in every way. | |
13th Place at the 2005 DDM Championship in GenCon | |
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Lance H
Sergeant
403 Posts
| | 07/25/2006 9:32 AM |
| My second article is up, hopefully free of mistakes!
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dbm/article/20060725a
Go Passion!
Lance | |
Lance Hawvermale -- Writer/Editor, Necromancer Games
Completed Trades: 67
My Vision Quest: www.lancehawvermale.com | |
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