It's time for our second instalment of hype for ValourBowl (event link). Today we will be looking at the top 10 Evil Heroes of Valour as they pertain to our event (i.e. how good are they at racking up kills, not how good they are overall). For this process we did the same as we did for the Good heroes: Dan Slob, Steve, Colm and Dave all independently made their own top 10 and we then assigned points (10 for 1st, 9 for 2nd etc) to see who would score highest. As before, we considered each hero with their most common loadout, as they are usually seen at tournaments (with only a couple of exceptions), and we also considered them more or less in isolation (i.e. we didn't give too much thought to the lists they might be in). Only 14 heroes featured between the four of us, let's start with the honourable mentions:
Honourable Mentions
Lurtz (1 Point): 10th place for Steve, Lurtz's high Strength and Defence make him a tasty choice for Isengard but he is let down by his weak Heroic stats and Fight value.
Tom the Troll (2 points): 9th place for Dan, everyone feature one of the Trolls but Dan was the only one who chose Tom. With his Lingering Cold halving Fight values and his Squash 'em to Jelly attack hitting everyone in the combat, Tom is suited to dealing with both troops and heroes. However he lacks Bill's F S and D of 7, only having a measly 6 himself.
Buhrdur (4 points): Everyone's actual favourite Troll scored 10th for Dan and Colm and 9th for Dave. He has a scary stat line and access to Strike, but lacks a way to double his attacks so couldn't make the top 10.
Spider Queen (6 points): 8th place for both Dan and Dave, the Spider Queen is very fast, has Monstrous Charge, and can poop out Broodlings to help with traps. Add to this Strike, Venom and Swift Movement and you have yourself a real scary piece. However D4 3W and 0F make her fragile and easily lost.
So now on to the top 10. There were only 8 points between 5th place and 10th place, but 12 points from 4th to 5th! What that really shows is that while places 5 to 10 really depend on your preferences, the top 4 are in a league of their own. Let's have a look.
Joint 9th Place: Bill the Troll (9 points)
Coming in joint overall 9th place (9th for Colm and Dan, 6th for Dave), Bill the Troll may be a surprising entry given that the Troll army isn't seen much at all. On his own though he's a powerhouse - high stats across the board, a fight value to dwarf most heroes (and the option to strike if needed). If he gets stuck with a hero as well, he has the option to Mince 'em Fine and make short work potentially by a contest strength check and a lot of wounds to save. The three attacks and high strength mean he can make light work of troops, but surrounded (providing they make it past his Terror) and his one fate point can let him down.
Joint 9th Place: Gothmog (9 points)
Placing 7th for both Steve and Colm, but not appearing on either of the other lists leaves Gothmog an interesting one. Master of Battle gives him a great deterrent to any heroes he might oppose and his hatred of men means he'll be more easily cutting through one of the more common races. What's more is that he has 3's in all the right places...apart from fate. Coupled with a fight of 5 means he really needs to be winning fights to keep in it. If he does win however, his three attacks and potential re-rolls are sure to cause some hurt.
Joint 7th Place: Khandish King (11 points)
The Khandish King is in an interesting place, he has a big potential in mowing troops down with a Heroic March chariot massacre, is fairly protected from attacks due to the chariot being in the way and a healthy amount of attacks to deal with anyone who happens to block him (or just didn't die from the charge). The chariot can however get bogged down, and throw any particularly heavily armoured opponent in the way and there's a good chance he'll just get stuck. The two Might also hurts his killing prowess as well by limiting his chances to Heroic March - this one is going to heavily depend on matchups leading Colm and Steve to place him 5th and 6th respectively on their lists.
Joint 7th Place: Mahud King (11 points)
Funnily, both mounted heroes with a pretty devastating charge take 7th place here (8th for Colm, 6th for Dave). Just like his Khandish contemporary, the Mahud King packs a nasty chance to wound just by charging - instantly boosting his kill potential. What he does have over the chariot lad however is that extra point in strength which is going to give him the edge over the strong defenses the chariot struggles with. Whilst he is likely to rack up kills, his lower defense, wounds and single point of fate could be his undoing if he get's unlucky in a duel.
6th Place: Amdur (14 points)
Amdur has so many toys at his disposal which makes him very strong against heroes. Does this make him a good troop killer though? Dan, Steve and Dave certainly thought so (placing him 7th, 5th, 7th respectively). Where previous heroes may have struggled in duels with the fight value of pesky elves, other heroes or elite troops, Amdur towers above them with a fight value of 6, an Elven blade and being able to integrate into a phalanx and countering Heroic Strikes with his own for free. All this means he's more likely to get into nitty gritty of racking up his kill count, the only thing letting him down being a Strength 4 which isn't bad at all - it just limits his potential. Like the previous entries he's also let down by that single point of fate!
5th Place: Khamul (17 points)
The only wraith aside from the Witch King to make it on this list, Khamul isn't exactly great stats-wise; A fair fight value, average hero strength and a lower will pool than his Ringwraith brethren. As with any of the nine, throw him on a Fellbeast and his killing potential already flies up with that monstrous charge. His main reason for being picked here (Dan 5th, Colm 6th, Dave 5th) is his staying power. He may only have 2 fate (better than the previous entries), but couple that with his high defense and he's a tough one to wound - although it's worth bearing in mind that he only has the one. Compared to other wraiths potentially succumbing to the Will of Evil rule, Khamul replenishes his pool of will as he kills or at least keeps him topped up as he boosts his own stats.
And now for the big jump...it's safe to say that with the previous entries there was a great deal of variance given the pool of heroes to choose from. The following however featured in everyone's lists, and in the top four slots for each no less!
4th Place: The Witch-King of Angmar (29 points)
Starting off with a base Ringwraith profile doesn't give the ol' With-king much in the way of killing potential, but throw a Fell Beast, the Crown of Morgul and a Morgul Blade and he jumps up to our number four position. How do all his bonuses help though? It's a combination of those along with his ability as an incredible spellcaster. The potential to lock a foe down with transfix, a monstrous charge, three attacks to improve the chances of killing and if he really wants to kill a hero model he has a way to bypass all their wounds once per game. He is hampered a little by his single wound however, as all wraiths are. One bad duel or a well place arrow is all it takes to take this combat monster down. Still his multitude of pro's put him 4th place on our combined rankings.
3rd Place: Bolg (31 points)
Not only do we reckon Bolg would be one of the best model killers of valour for the evil side, he fully revels in it. With an incredible stat line (apart from the single fate point perhaps), burly to go along with his great strength, the Master of Battle ability (if leading Azog's Legion), a Fell Warg mount and a hatred for his ancient enemies of Dwarves and Elves he has one of the best killing potentials out of the Heroes of Valour in general. Where other heroes may get worn down through a game however, Bolg has the potential to just get better. By killing his foes he gains extra rules, the first couple being better defensively (great for staying potential) and the big one netting him the Mighty Hero special rule. Whilst killing ten models in a game may be a tall order, he'll still be racking up a lot of kills n the process.
Joint 1st Place: Dragon and Gulhavar (38 Points)
Gulhavar, The Terror of Arnor and Dragon, the...Dragon. Both of these evil heroes of Valour both took the top spot in our combined rankings. First up, Gully: Well you've got a regenerating, 4 wound monstrous spirit who can fly, inspires terror, is a Harbinger of Evil, has a fight value that outranks the majority of heroes and given enough room can steamroll through lists as he gobbles them up. Their defence is a little lacking, and fighting potential does decrease the more wounds it's taken but that aside, and you have one monster of Valour capable of incredible killing power.
As for the Dragon, they already come equipped with an impressive stat line. As with Gulhavar they outfight the majority of heroes but shine more in the wounds, defence and fate departments. The most useful upgrades for them however (and this is strictly our own opinions here) are Fly and Tough Hide. The latter is of particular use given the Survival Instinct special rule where they may flee after taking one wound (the frailty of the evil heroes here seems to be a running theme!) Both of these upgrades keep the Dragon in the fight longer and where they want to be - killing as many models as possible! It is worth noting that fully kitted out, they come out to an eye watering 350pts but it pays off!
