Hello Westeros!
Today we will analyse the characters included in the Greyjoy Heroes 2 box. I finally had some time to finish painting them, so here they come in all their glory!
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Dagmer Cleftjaw
Let’s start with one of the two Commanders included, Dagmer Cleftjaw.
Dagmer is a very interesting guy, who brings lots of new mechanics to the faction.
First, “Martial Training” is great, making an attack more reliable by rerolling and giving out a “Vulnerable” token. “Gang-up” goes very well with the rest of his character, helping units to get even better when surrounding the opponent.
His cards all synergize well with each other:
“Lust for Glory” is a great round 2 card, giving you some extra-punch straight from the start. Ideal for many Greyjoy units, especially Trappers (who are defense 6 anyway so do not care about a minus to their stat) or Ironmakers (defense 3 is still very good, especially to get a 2+ to hit attack).
“Coordination Tactics” is another brilliant card, which can turn your flimsy units in tanks, or your noodle-hitting ones in Stag Knights equivalent. Note that it only happens for the turn duration, so you will have to choose whether to use it for offense or defense (unless you have Asha’s “Sentinel” available and can use it for both, defending with the first unit and charging with the second).
Finally, “Knowledge Paid in Iron” costs you 2 Pillage tokens, but allows you to either grab a card from your discard pile, or look at your opponent’s hand and remove one card! 2 Pillage tokens is expensive (remember to bring Erik NCU with Dagmer to make the most of this card), but the mere possibility of getting a “We do not sow” or removing a “Final strike” from a Baratheon player’s hand is fantastic!
I could see Dagmer in many units, he is a very flexible commander regarding his abilities. I would say Ironmakers is probably the best choice overall, to protect him a bit.
Dagmer attachment is basically Strong Belwas for Greyjoys. Something about scarred maniacs with a belly drives enemy blades at them apparently. His ability is quite simple: the more attacks you defend against, the more bonuses you receive. He is the best way to turn your Ironmakers from a bunker into a tank, for only 1pt!
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Baelor Blacktyde
The new unkillable commander! With all the new options Greyjoys have access to, he can be even more durable than Eldon Estermont in Stag Knights.
His profile card grants his unit two very defensive abilities: “Hardened” makes sure they can block some hits from a strong attack, a feature always appreciated with Greyjoys poor defense, while “To the Last” gives you 2 extra-opportunities to stay on the field, which combined with the “What is dead may never die” card makes your unit very hard to remove.
His tactic cards are very strong ones as well.
“Lash out” is the ultimate punishment card, which goes fantastically well with both his abilities, making his unit less susceptible to die on the last rank, which means 4 wounds and a Panicked token on the opponent’s unit.
“Blacktyde Resentment” is a great round 2 card, allowing you to boost your units before they get hurt. You won’t need healing at the start, so you can at least use the card to its fullest for 1 to 2 rounds. The fact that it gives a unit “Vicious” synergizes perfectly with Baelor’s favorite unit: the Silenced Men.
SPOILER: This is particularly ironic given the fact that those are the ones killing him in the books. Same thing with Theon and Bastard’s Girls I guess…
The last one, “Blacktyde Conviction”, can be quite helpful to pass a Panic test at the end of the game, when your units are in bad shape and really need to pass those critical tests.
As mentionned, Silenced Men seem a natural fit for Baelor: he protects them defensively, while their inner ability protects them from panic. Add Beron NCU to the mix and you have a very hard to remove bunker.
Baelor attachment is another story. For 2pts, he gives you “Boldness and Courage” and “Unyielding”. These 2 abilities are good on their own, but combined can basically turn your one-rank left unit into a more durable and potent unit. He’s good, but I think in Greyjoys 2pts might be better spent elsewhere.
As in for example…
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Asha Greyjoy
Yes, Asha gets a new sculpt, and 2 profiles to go with it!
Her new attachment profile brings a lot to the table.
She first has the “Sentinel” order, giving you some fast responsive abilities to your other units being attacked. She also gets “Gang-up”, making your units more efficient when attacking in group, which actually synergizes pretty well with the “Sentinel” order: the opponent charges another unit, you use Sentinel to charge them, and then both your units get +1 to Hit and +1 Attack dice.
A very aggressive attachment, she would go well in a Victarion list, his cards helping her to have an 11” reach, and getting even more attacks or charges.
Her NCU version is entirely different, and focuses on motivating your troops, helping them to pass panic tests and taking less wounds if failing them. At 4pts, she is a good option, but might be overshadowed by more polyvalent ones (Erik or Wendamyr for example). I could see her supporting a Baelor commander in Ironmakers, for an all-rounded resilient tank.
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Moqorro
Moqorro was one of my most anticipated releases, both for his look and my love of Victarion’s chapters. He was really fun to paint, and I picked the Greyjoy colors for his garb, instead of red robes (he is in the Greyjoy faction after all, so should be represented when on board of Victarion’s ship, his old washed up red priest robe thrown out at sea).
Profile-wise, he comes with two options.
His attachment is worth 2pts, and brings some interesting tools in a Greyjoy list. He can first give one of your units Vicious, while letting them roll their highest attack value. This can be good for a more panic-heavy list, giving you some panic punch, most Greyjoy units not having the Vicious keyword. His second ability is “Supply Aid”, which is fantastic in many armies (think Davos in Baratheons), but in Greyjoys might be a bit redundant, with all the healing they already possess. Depending on the situation, it could save some of your units however, so I wouldn’t throw him of the ship just yet. I could see him in a variety of units, from Ironmakers (these guys tank so well that you might be alright with leaving them at 2 ranks to “Supply aid”) to Trappers (cheap unit with expensive attachment).
His second profile is his NCU one. At 5pts, he is in the expensive ones category, but requires many factors to be worth his cost. Once per game, you can replace a zone he claims with a “bringing a friendly attachment back” effect, which is pretty neat depending on your attachments. Normal attachment limitations are cancelled when using this, so you could for example have a unit with Victarion and Qarl the Maid after using his ability. Wicked.
Moreover, twice per game, you can use Moqorro’s orders to look at the top card of one deck, yours or your opponent’s, and decide whether you want to keep it or shuffle the deck. Both options have merit, for example it lets you know whether using Wendamyr’s order to heal and pick a card at that moment is a good idea or not, or you can find an “Assault Orders” card on top of a Stark’s deck and say “Nope! Let’s try again!”.
I feel like this ability is more or less a way to make him worth his 5pts, 4pts on an NCU to bring back an attachment being quite cheap.
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Tristifer Botley
Tristifer is a control NCU. This is quite new for Greyjoys, but opens the door to new ways of playing.
For 4pts, you get 2 “Once per game” abilities, which help you to control the zones you want or at the very least prevent your opponent to use them.
I could see use for him in scenarios like “Dark Wings Dark Words” or “Winds of Winter”, where zone control can have a direct impact on victory points, or against an opponent like Lannisters or Baratheons, for whom the zones are quite important. He could be very useful in a 3 NCUs vs 3 NCUs battle, cancelling the use of one of your opponent’s NCUs once per game by turning the zones count to 4 instead of 5.
He is a very situational NCU though, so needs some preparation before using.
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Beron Blacktyde
Last but not least, the new “must-have” in most Greyjoy lists, Beron Blacktyde.
The ultimate protector, he basically turns one of your units into giants for a round. Simple as that.
Be careful however, his influence gets removed if the unit fails a panic test, so he might be better used on units with a higher morale, such as Silenced Men…
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And there you have it, the Greyjoy Heroes 2 box!
Some fantastic options for the sea-raiders, which make them a very well-rounded faction, and insanely fun to play!
Hope you enjoyed!
Grob’
Chez Grob 