What's your favorite faction flavor?

[RushAss]

Zinos has reached out to me.  All statements to sucking it have been retracted. 

Actually no, they have not been.  Keep on sucking it 

[RushAss]

Dark Elves...not a poll option!   

I'm reading this now and I can't believe these guys have been in development for over a year already!

  

So when a new Fantasy faction is settled upon, when would that be expected? 

[kemchua]

My fav is Umenzi 

______________
Self Certified Buy To Let Mortgages
Start a home based business

[kidbrock9]

I voted Orcs (as if there were any other choice ).  Seriously, "I kill you meself" and "both hands is fer killin.'"  How can you beat that?  Plus, they're Orcs.  OOOOORRRRCCCCSSS.  O-R-C-S.  Uh...   Waaaagh!  (ahem, sorry, wrong game).

[RushAss]

I like turtles.

Yeah, Orcs are pretty snappy.  They are 100% pure aggression and are not the type of faction that plays around.  Win or lose, I find that games involving the Orcs go pretty quickly.

[Hannibal]

Its funny, we were just talking about the Orcs last week, and I feel that their cards are a real mismatch with their stats.  Their stats connote a tanky faction, but they really lack the courage to be terribly tanky.  Unlike, say, the Dwarves which have high Toughness, 4 Green & Yellow boxes, and faction specific cards that are Courage bumps with a cookie.

Given that the Orks were one of the original factions, its clear to me they were influenced by WFB, which has Orks as a high Toughness faction.  Which is understandable, but in the benefit of hindsight I'd have thought the Orks would be a Def 2/2 but have a Pow 6.  It'd have given nice synergy with the other early releases:  Hawkshold is about leadership and tactics, Undead regenerate, Wood Elves are really dodgy but low toughness, Dwarves are high toughness tanks, and Orks would be the early high-Pow faction.

I dunno, just my thoughts with the benefit of several years of the game being in existence.  (i.e. had I been n the design team early on I probably would've made the same mistake).

[gornhorror]

I play the Orc's once in a while and I always have a blast.  I like the offensive/aggressive feel of the faction and their cards reflect this.  I know that people think that the courage is a problem with them but there are other factions that have courage shortfalls.  That being said, I think the average courage of the orcs is spot on.  Orcs(at least in my experience with many years of gaming) seem to be brave when they are on the attack and out number you, but once you start fighting back and getting the advantage they can run......Sorry, I just don't see a problem with the courage.  Not everybody can be High Elves, Dark Elves, Carthage or Hawkshold.  Anyways...Orcs are usually causing rout checks, not having to make them.

People shouldn't NOT play the Orcs because they only have 2 "I kill you me-self" cards.  If they do, they would be missing out on a very, very fun faction. 

[Moose]

I added Dark Elves to the poll and enabled people to change their votes to reflect changing tastes.

[Hannibal]

No-no-no, I'm not saying they're a bad faction at all.  Its just that they're kind of weird in that they tank pretty well due to their stats, maneuver pretty well due to their army ability, and attack pretty well because of their cards.  

Its just that they're odd because they don't do any of these things super-well.  Their tankyness is limited by courage and cards.  Their maneuver is a bit off because they don't have really decent fast units.  And their attacking power is paired with stats.  So they kind of have this "master of none" vibe that can lead to some serious RPS scenarios if you're not careful.

[kidbrock9]

I just solve the Orc courage problem through positive thinking and card motivation.  I.E.  I assume I'm going to pass, and if I don't, i threaten my cards with burning or tearing, so they won't do it next game. 

Seriously though, my Hawks run away WAY more than my Orcs. The Hawks hate me, but the Orcs love me.  Bravery sucks if your dice just can't get it through their tiny plastic brains not to roll 16's all the time.  Sigh.

[RushAss]

 Their maneuver is a bit off because they don't have really decent fast units.  

Goblin
Wolf
Riders

So they kind of have this "master of none" vibe that can lead to some serious RPS scenarios if you're not careful.

I can smell what you're cooking here, but I don't think that is such a bad thing because this faction is incredibly versatile.  The only thing they lack is a heavy cavalry unit and I'm not crying over that.

Their stats connote a tanky faction, but they really lack the courage to be terribly tanky.  Unlike, say, the Dwarves which have high Toughness, 4 Green & Yellow boxes, and faction specific cards that are Courage bumps with a cookie.

Yeah, well put.  I remember when I first got into the game and all I had where the Orc and Dwarf starters.  I looked at the Orc Swordsmen and thought that they where pretty much the same as Dwarven Axemen, and played them as such.  Boy did I learn the error of my ways with that one!

[BubblePig]

DECENT fast units!

Seriously, though, I think that you get more bang for your buck when the versatility comes from a variety of units (e.g. Ravenwood/Hawkshold) rather than getting lumped into every unit. That is a tactical consideration though. I think the flavor of the Orc faction is on point.

[Hannibal]

Goblin
Wolf
Riders

M'eh.  I get good use out of them, but I tend to think of each Wolf Rider unit as half a unit.  You have to take 2 because the first one is going to explode when it hits and enemy.  If it breaks that enemy it frees the second one to start pinching.  But its not a unit that hits an enemy, bust through, and then starts rolling up the flank by itself (although you wouldn't expect that at 180 pts).  But for 360 pts, I'd expect a bit more.

Wolf riders by themselves would make an awesome flank denier unit, that sits on the flank on Hold.  You can't turn your flank to them to try and flank my line (because I'll change their order to Close and flank you), but in going after them you'll take that attacking unit out of the game.  Unfortunately, the Orcs don't need a flank denier.

So they kind of have this "master of none" vibe that can lead to some serious RPS scenarios if you're not careful.

I can smell what you're cooking here, but I don't think that is such a bad thing because this faction is incredibly versatile.

Oh yeah.  I've come to appreciate them as a faction, but their real strength is that they are a Jack of All faction.  I'm just commenting (somewhat idly) that I don't think it was an intentional design decision.  But it is unique (Orcs as a versatile faction is something unusual in fantasy games).  I'm just saying (again, idly) that in retrospect, I wonder if they would've been better as a high-Pow faction.

[Bloodaxe]

The Umenzi are way in the lead? Really? They are the least interesting faction to me.

[BubblePig]

That surprised me, too. Not because I find them uninteresting, but I did not expect them to utterly crush the other factions that way.