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!