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Thursday, September 14, 2023

If Tiberius Were King For A Day: Top 5 Heroic Action Changes I'd Make

Good morning gamers,

This is the last post in this mini-series where I talk about small changes I'd make to MESBG that I think would have good impacts. It's also our eight-hundredth post ever . . . wow, we've been busy. :-) One of the distinctives of the MESBG system (and part of what I think makes it the best tabletop game in town) is the heroic resources you get for your heroes - specifically Might points. Will and Fate are great and all, but Might points allow your heroes to be more heroic when you need them, and nowhere is this more visible than in the specialized Heroic Actions that heroes can have. 

Unfortunately, not all heroic actions are equal - some are viewed as incredibly niche and others border on completely unusable (and that's from a generous point of view - some players definitely DO see some of the heroic actions as pointless or a waste of time). Today I've taken five heroic actions that I think need a little help and offer a simple fix to each that I think would make them go from eh-to-ooh - let's see what they are!

Heroic #1: Heroic Accuracy

This is probably my least controversial heroic action to change, since some players already see this is a great heroic action. I've heard critique on my post where I talk about Heroic Accuracy being a waste of Might, claiming that the opportunity to hit a priority target past multiple in-the-ways makes the heroic action incredibly good. While many competitive players are in agreement that Heroic Accuracy can help you immensely, I can't get past the fact that in order for it to take effect, you need to a) hit with a shooting attack first, b) have in-the-ways between you and your priority target, c) have to fail in-the-way rolls that then turn into successes, and d) have to wound that target after you pass the rerollable in-the-ways. If any of these conditions aren't met, the Might point spent on Accuracy is wasted (for more on this, read the post linked above).

So how do we fix this? Well, that's easy - we add the following (red) to Heroic Accuracy: 

Heroic Accuracy enables a Hero model to reroll failed To Hit and In The Way rolls when shooting in the Shoot phase. If a Hero performing a Heroic Accuracy wishes, they may shout "Take Aim!" allowing all friendly models within 6" to also reroll failed To Hit and In The Way rolls when shooting in that Shoot phase.

The word "accuracy" is the key here - yes, there are already some factions that can reroll To Hit rolls on either their bows or siege engines, but these rerolls are always predicated on some condition (e.g. standing and shooting near your army leader for Rivendell or being part of a Heroic Shoot for the Fiefdoms). If you're trying to hone in on accuracy, then you're not just going to be more likely to miss guys who are in your way, but also more likely to hit the target in the first place! Getting to those in-the-way rolls is the most important thing - and so I don't think it breaks the game if a Might point spent by a particular hero also makes more arrows hit in the first place. Yes, the Rangers of Ithilien and the Rangers of Mirkwood will become devastating wherever that Heroic Accuracy is called, but they already were . . . but more on this in an upcoming post this Fall.

For some players, this change may not be necessary - so let's move from it to another heroic action I've said is never worth calling and that very few people seem to object to . . .

Heroic #2: Heroic Strength

Okay, Rythbyrt's ready to stone me for saying that - and if you want to know why, check out his five-part series on Heroic Strength, which is a really great read and the first set of articles he wrote for the blog. They may be older posts, but they're quite good and still as poignant now as they were then. Heroic Strength doesn't appeal to most players because a) most heroes who have Heroic Strength also have Heroic Strike OR already have a high Strength stat, b) to benefit from it, you need to win your duel - and Strike might help you more with that (this is actually not true - read the first post in Rythbyrt's series for more on this), and c) why spend the Might point before the fight when you could just boost your To Wound roll, knowing that it will have an effect and avoid wasting Might (I've actually made this claim in writing, and it's more or less true, despite what Rythbyrt said in his third post).

But I think there's a simple fix that can be made to this heroic action to make it better (new text in red):

A Hero model who declares they are using Heroic Strength adds D3 to their Strength characteristic for the duration of the Fight phase. This cannot increase a Hero model's Strength above 10. Additionally, a Hero model who declares they are using Heroic Strength will not count as being trapped and will not have to back away after losing a dueling roll.

Rythbyrt's first post talks about how you can use Heroic Strength to avoid being Knocked Prone by cavalry and most Monstrous Charge models, but here's the thing: have you ever had a hero who was in a tight spot, surrounded by models, and you were worried they were going to be gronked? If you have Heroic Defense, you could count on your opponent not getting natural 6s, but it's certainly possible even with this option (assuming you have it) that you could be killed. What if, instead of counting on your opponent rolling not-really-well, you instead just said, "yeah, I'm gonna hold my ground and not be trapped . . . and I might even ignore the Knocked Prone penalty from cavalry . . . and if I win, I'm gonna knock all your blocks off!" You may lose the fight - and you may even take wounds, but you also might not.

This is huge for monsters too - especially those without Strike. Most monsters have large bases, allowing lots of enemy models to engage them - and often times, a big hero is counting on felling one of these things by trapping it with the help of a bunch of friends. While many monster heroes have Heroic Defense (Gwaihir, Treebeard, Beorn, Grimbeorn, Gulavhar, the Spider Queen, Dragons, and Bert/Tom the Trolls), there are others who don't have Defense but do have Strength (Beechbone, Buhrdur, The Dark Lord Sauron, Mordor Troll Chieftains, Smaug, the Goblin King, Cave Drakes, the Watcher in the Water, and Bill the Troll). That's quite the list - and most of these heroes would LOVE to not count as being Trapped . . . though admittedly, Sauron and Smaug are probably less concerned about it.

There's also the non-monster heroes who might benefit from this a lot too - guys like Boromir of Gondor, Erkenbrand, and Wild Warg Chieftains come to mind because of their relative fragility, but it might also be a great way for an army leader who can't get +1 To Wound to boost their wounding potential if they know they're trapped and could be coughing up VPs if they take a bunch of wounds (like Thranduil, Imrahil, or Brand). Not backing away from an objective/strategic position and not counting as being trapped sounds like it's worth investigating to me . . . and that's kind of the point of doing all this, no?

Okay, let's move on to another rarely used heroic action that I feel was a HUGE missed opportunity, since its current application is incredibly niche . . .

Heroic #3: Heroic Resolve

In general, when you call a heroic action, you expect to get some benefit from it that makes your hero (or those around him) better - not because you feel like you need to play defense. Sure, you might call a Heroic Defense or even a Heroic Shoot to protect yourself, but the strongest defensive play you can make is calling Heroic Resolve. This heroic action is completely useless if your opponent left his offensive magic behind and keeps the hero who calls it from being able to move. If you don't mind staying where you are, this is fine - but if you're a big hero and you'd rather be fighting, this heroic isn't for you.

But I think it's cool that there's a heroic that makes you stand still, urging those around you to fight. But how do we make this worth calling? Well, with one simple and fitting change (in red again):

Friendly models that are within 6" of a Hero model that declared a Heroic Resolve, including the Hero themselves receive one free additional dice to any Resist tests they make for the remainder of the turn. Additionally, friendly models within 6" of a Hero model that declared a Heroic Resolve, including the Hero themselves, automatically pass any courage test they have to take. A Hero who declares a Heroic Resolve cannot move in the same turn, however they may still do anything else that they would usually be able to do, such as cast Magical Powers.

It's entirely possible that you won't face offensive magic in a game of SBG - and it's also entirely possible that your opponent won't invest in Terror. You might even have an army that doesn't break in a game - but in general, you should expect to have to take Courage tests. The stationary requirement is in play, so calling a Heroic Resolve means you need to be happy with where your hero is, but auto-passing your break test (or a series of Terror tests) can also be exactly what you need. There are twenty-seven Forces of Good factions and seventeen of them have at least one hero with Heroic Resolve in them. Similarly, there are seventeen Forces of Evil factions (excluding Smaug) and seven of them have Heroic Resolve (as I said in a previous post on Heroic Resolve, this is pretty rare for Evil). By having Heroic Resolve provide benefits for passing Courage tests as well as providing a place of protection against magic, you have the ability to give your forces a leg-up when they need it. There may still be games where you don't need Heroic Resolve right away, but you can at least have the option to call it later.

Okay, on to the one we've all been waiting for . . .

Heroic #4: Heroic Challenge

Ah, Challenge. I'm probably the only player in the game who likes it as-it-is and has declared it many times. Yes, there are bad times to call it (suicidal times, even). Yes, it's a risk because your opponent can call their own Heroic Action in response if they accept (like, I dunno, a Heroic Strike?) or they can often just decline the challenge and live their lives. Sure, declining a Challenge makes it so you can't get as much out of Heroic Moves or Combats (or Accuracies/Resolves, I guess) and you can't call Stand Fasts for the rest of the game, but most heroes are happy to suffer those penalties if something really big has issued the Challenge.

But what really turns most players off from Heroic Challenge is that if the Challenge is accepted, the opposing hero can not only declare his own Heroic Action to counter yours (like a Strike), but if he can gronk you on that turn, he gets Might back. This is the big draw for Heroic Challenge (both for the guy calling it and anyone who wants to accept it), so our fix needs to be two-pronged and address both the risk of having your opponent make himself better with his own heroic action and that there be some benefit to the hero issuing the Challenge if it is declined (not just a penalty on the recipient). So here are the changes I propose (once more in red):

A Hero that is in base contact with an enemy Hero, of the same Heroic Tier or higher, may declare a Heroic Challenge. If the enemy Hero accepts the Heroic Challenge, the enemy Hero cannot declare any Heroic Actions during this Fight Phase (or benefit from a Heroic Action that has already been declared) and all other models that are part of the same combat, including supporting models, may not roll dice for the Duel roll, provide their Fight value to the fight, or make Strikes if their side wins the fight. From this point on, both Hero models involved in a Heroic Challenge must charge each other if able to do so until one of them has been slain. Other models may not Charge either of the Hero models involved in the Heroic Challenge. Whichever Hero is successful in slaying their opponent will immediately gain D3 Might points; this can take them above their starting level. If the Challenge is declined, then the Hero who declared the Heroic Challenge will roll a D6: on a 4+, the Hero may declare a different Heroic Action without spending additional Might points. Additionally, any Heroic Actions called by the declining Hero will not affect friendly models until the Hero who issued the Challenge is slain. Additionally, if the Challenge is declined, the declining Hero may not use Stand Fast! for the remainder of the game.

As I mentioned, there are two things in play here: first, we remove the ability for the recipient of the Challenge to call a Heroic Action to lay the beat-down on the challenger. Nope, both heroes agree to use their base stats for the first round of the fight. This change also gives Challenge an interesting strategic purpose: if Aragorn - Strider with Anduril (F6) is facing off against Thrain (F6) and Thrain has called a Heroic Strike, Aragorn could declare a Heroic Challenge, forcing Thrain to choose between a) giving up the Heroic Strike he just called, or b) his battlefield-wide Stand Fast! See, it's useful no? The Stand Fast part is already in the game, but most Thrain players would probably be like, "Sure, I'll stick it out with you for a while - who knows, I might kill you!" Now, it's more like, "Well, if I accept, I'll have tied Fight Values without an Elven-made weapon and may even die this round . . . do I actually want to accept this?"

The second change is simple: if you take the gamble and declare a Heroic Challenge against someone and they decline it, you get a chance to change to a different Heroic Action. Lurtz in the Lurtz's Scouts Legendary Legion gets the ability to get his Might point back - you issue a Challenge, it gets declined, you get the Might point back. Simple enough, but Lurtz still can't call other Heroic Actions during the Fight Phase - this change would allow him to effectively call a free Heroic Strike if he issues a Challenge and it gets declined. In the worst case, you've deprived an enemy hero of a Stand Fast, but you might also get to call that other heroic action, which is nice.

Perhaps this wasn't enough to save Challenge, but I don't think it's broken and I think there's utility in it. Okay, now for my final change - and in many ways my favorite one!

Heroic #5: Heroic Channeling

I am a huge fan of Magical Powers in MESBG - they can provide niche ways of dealing with the "more teeth" dilemma and casting spells is both a big risk and incredibly rewarding. Some of the boosts you get from declaring a Heroic Channeling are huge - making Blinding Light permanent, getting a +1 to your Resist Tests when you channel Fortify Spirit can be absolutely devastating to a magic-heavy foe, and you can guarantee the Necromancer has the higher Fight Value if he channels Shroud of Shadows on himself.

But most of the time, channeling is a huge risk and isn't worth doing. I've written a bunch of articles about this - one in 2019 where I talked about what spells are always worth channeling vs. situationally worth channeling vs. never worth channeling, a little bit in a 2020 post where I looked at the best heroes at calling Heroic Channeling, and a whole set of articles in our Mastering Magic series (which you can find in the magic section of our Tactics page). When it comes down to it, there are some spells that change the way your opponent plays when you channel a spell . . . and there are some that just don't. Let's look at a few of the critiques.

First and foremost, there are lots of spells that go from applying +1 resource (Strengthen Will, Blessing of the Valar, Renew) to +D3 resources or that go from applying -1 resource/stat (Drain Courage and Wither) to -D3 resources (Sap Will falls into this category of spells, but goes from a D3 reduction to a D6 reduction). When this happens, there's a chance that the Might point you paid to increase the value of spell does absolutely nothing new for you. For more on this, you can check out this article.

The second critique has to do with spells that target enemy models - whether it's a multi-model damage spell (Sorcerous Blast, Nature's Wrath, Wrath of Bruinen, Tremor, channelled Panic Steed/Collapse Rocks), neutralizing spells (Immobilize, Transfix, Compel, Command), precision damage/neutralizing spells (Banishment, Chill Soul, Black Dart, Flameburst, Paralyze), or item-breaking spells (Shatter, Your Staff is Broken), if your target is an enemy model, it's easier to resist a spell than to get its effects to stick. Yes, if you're casting against someone who has no Will or special rules that grant them at least one die for a Resist test, you "know" it'll work - so long as you can cast it. But even if you get the casting difficulty (which you might not), your opponent just needs to match your roll and he's safe. Wasted Might point? Yeah, definitely.

The final critique has to do with casting the spell: if you commit to channeling a spell, it needs to be cast successfully - and because you have to commit to the channel before you know what your roll is, you can't guarantee that the spell will actually be cast. This applies to spells that are cast on the caster themselves or those cast on friendly models - why risk investing a Might point into something that might not work (see what I did there? Yeah, that one never gets old . . .). I've advocated for a long time that if you're going to channel Blinding Light with Galadriel, Gandalf, or Cirdan that you should use two Will points (one from your store and one that's free). Even though it has a 2+ casting value (basically don't get a 1), I've had SO many situations where I've rolled a single die and gotten a 1. When I roll two dice, almost every time one of those dice is a 1. Sure, you can still make the spell work if you're willing to spend ANOTHER Might point, but let's face it: we'd all prefer to spend the extra Will point than spend a second Might point.

So how do we fix this - I think it's really simple:

A Hero model who uses Heroic Channelling uses the Channelled versions of any Magical Powers they cast this turn. Additionally, a Hero who declares a Heroic Channelling adds +1 to their casting roll.

I'm a big fan of keeping it simple - and this definitely qualifies. We want to make casting a channeled spell easier? Get +1 to your rolls. This simple modification makes it so that a channelled Blinding Light will always be cast on a single die - always. Additionally, if you want to channel a Transfix or a Compel, you are not only more likely to reach your casting difficulty, but your opponent also has a more difficult task of resisting it (unless you got a 6 at the start, of course). A model that rolls a 6 on the Resist Test will still stop any spell that comes his way, but now he has to work a bit harder for it - and I think that's a good trade.

Now I haven't fixed the +1 to +D3 problem - that's something that would require a modification to the magical powers. I don't intend to tackle that now, but I will say that there is room for improvement there and a lot of players know it. I'm happy fixing two of the problems for now - let me know in the comments if you think I went too far here.

Conclusion

So that's it for now - it's been fun thinking about how to improve this game (and hopefully not breaking it in the process). If you have changes you'd like to see to these (or other) Heroic Actions, let us know below! Until next time, happy hobbying!

14 comments:

  1. Hey, i think that the change of heroic accuracy would need a change in the rules of duinhir as well in some form. Since in the way you proposed, heroic accuracy would yield the special rule of duinhir and the blackroot vale archers useless.
    Greetings

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    1. (As being near duinhir is not that hard for your ranged warband)

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    2. It actually adds flexibility to the Blackroot Vale Archers - you have the choice of calling an Accuracy with Duinhir to get the reroll To Hit and the reroll for In The Ways, or you can have someone who doesn't have Heroic Accuracy (like Forlong) call a Heroic Shoot if you're just mowing down front-line guys. Right now, if you want to reroll To Hits and hit a priority target in the back rank, you need to burn 2 Might points on two different heroes . . .

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    3. Duinhir's rule allows Blackroot Vale Archers who stayed still within 6" to reroll 1s to hit (the Fiefdoms army bonus extends this to Duinhir himself, too). Heroic Shoot allows Blackroot Vale Archers to reroll all failed to-wound rolls.

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    4. You're right - this is why you should look up the rules instead of shooting from the hip. Yes, the rules for Duinhir would need to be changed a bit . . .

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    5. I was thinking about this again and it occurred to me that Duinhir's rule only works if the Blackroot Vale Archers near him haven't moved - so changing Heroic Accuracy as outlined above would have utility for the archers if they wanted to move and reroll all To Hit rolls. Once they're where they want to be, he can save his very limited Might and just lean on his normal rule.

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  2. Great ideas all around; I think in a lot of cases what most heroics could use is just less text - part of what makes Strike and Defence so good is that they're simple. So things like "rerolling all the stuff involving hitting someone with shooting" and "passing courage and more likely to resist magic" is a great idea for changes.

    I wonder if a better solution for Heroic Challenge wouldn't just be, "The character spends a Might Point to declare a Challenge: select a hero of the same tier or higher near the hero: for the rest of the game the challenger gains Fight Value +2 and Strength +1 against that model." No question of agreeing to the challenge or not - if you don't want to challenge the person, run away from them. If you want to fight them with your friends, you can.

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    1. Very interesting idea - though if you're challenging someone and the challenged hero can still call a Heroic Strike, getting +2FV is nice, but will probably result in the same problems we have now ("I'll just Strike, beat your FV, then squish you). I think either preventing a heroic to be called on that turn or allowing the Challenger to swap would still be a good plan.

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  3. Actually, I think the rule Lurtz has in the LL is a very good improvement on the Challenge: if accepted, the thing is a gamble; if refused, the challenger gets the might back (a reward for trying), fleeing gets punished somehow - what could be another good way to fight/bind/limit big heroes

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    1. As someone who has issued lots of Challenges with Lurtz in his Legion, it can be really good . . . and you really need to have your shield with you (or have knocked the other guy to the ground) if it gets declined. I think getting your Might point back is very helpful, but on its own, it basically just ensures that he can boost his dueling roll.

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  4. Seems like some cool changes.

    I like the Heroic Channelling change. There's nothing worse than spending a might to call a channel, then rolling double 1s to cast blinding light. It would also make the channel transfix (or whatever offensive spell) more appealing to attempt.

    IMO heroic strength could just be a flat +1 to wound, and prevent the hero from being knocked prone, (in addition to trapped, and/or push back immunity proposed). It's a lot simpler, and less RNG, though GW does love their D3 rolls.

    I think you could just add all the proposed accuracy rerolls into the heroic shoot rules, and get rid of Heroic accuracy. I've called an accuracy once to snipe the driver off a Mumak, and I don't think I've ever seen a heroic shoot called. Combining them both together with the rerolls to-hit, might make it a more enticing use of might. Maybe instead of rerolls to-hit it could just be a +1 if rerolls are too powerful.

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    1. I wouldn't mind seeing Accuracy getting rolled into Heroic Shoot - but since those annoying Iron Hills Ballistas get to call Heroic Shoots for free . . . so rolling these into Shoots could break something . . .

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  5. Great article! I've missed a few of the recent ones and am going back and adding some thoughts now, so apologies for the thread-necromancy.

    I agree with a lot of these changes, but do think a few have some unintended consequences. With Heroic Accuracy in particular, you mention that it gives a big boost to heavy shooting armies, but I think it really deserves more exploration. Assuming that they're moving to kite their opponents, this means one Heroic gives a 50% damage increase to the shooting of these gunlines. That's likely to create a lot of very miserable games, especially because it's also making it easier to pick out your heroes with the vast hail of shots. Even on more standard builds with Aragorn tagging along, that's a truly terrifying damage boost for free. I'm imaging something like Elessar + Hurin + 2 Bolt Throwers with maxed bows, all bubbled and doing crazy damage every turn.

    Honestly, I think Heroic Accuracy is already a perfectly valid heroic for heavy-shooting builds. even if it's too weak for more 'standard' lists. I think it looks like you're trying to balance it for the standard builds here, but I don't think that's possible without making the gunlines oppressive.

    I love your Strength fix, and the Resolve one certainly opens it up for more play. I would actually wonder whether it might be simpler to just remove the 'unable to move' qualifier from Resolve and whether that would be enough to make it useable. Your fix likely still leaves it as something that only support heroes are willing to call (Aragorn not getting to move is often as bad as whatever your opponent's magic might have done anyway!), which feels like it's only addressing the issue for some profiles and not for others.

    I initially had strong views against the fact that Striking enemy heroes lose their Might point if they accept the challenge (and don't get to benefit from the Strike), but given that you're spending a Might for the privilege I think it's actually probably fine. Honestly, it's a really creative fix that feels more balanced the more I think about it, so great work.

    Finally, Channeling is a solid fix, although I think your comments about the problem often being spell-specific are probably correct. Heroic Channeling is great already if you've got Blinding Light, Shroud of Shadows or Compel, it just feels bad for a lot of other spells where the improvement is much more marginal. This fix makes the spells that already have a good Channeled version even better, and may not be enough for the ones that just add a S6 hit or whatever. I think ultimately the only real fix is just rewriting its effects spell-by-spell, but I get that that's kind of outside the scope of this article.

    The one broader QoL fix I'd love for Channeling would be for it to be called when the model is moving. It would be a bit of a buff (you can't charge/Transfix them after they've called it), but really it would just make life so much simpler when you don't have to remember at the very start of your turn.

    Great article as ever!

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    1. There's certainly an argument that Accuracy doesn't have to be fixed - I am probably in the minority of players who think it's not worth calling, but that's fine. Gunline lists would get nastier, but would also require investment in Accuracy heroes. Aragorn's got it, sure, but he's also expensive and alliance restrictive if you like Hobbit era lists.

      Minas Tirith-Fiefdoms lists that want to run Boromir and Imrahil will have to look to cheaper heroes like Duinhir or Madril to get them Accuracy, which they might do already, but it's a choice. Since only two evil heroes have access to Accuracy (Vrasku and Narzig), most evil lists won't be able to capitalize on this without army bonus concessions (and none of the Legions would have it). This may be too much, but I think it's worth exploring.

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