Let's face it, the 5th edition codexes are making Special Characters more and more a part of regular gameplay. Some folks love the chance to field their favorite characters in regular play or in story telling missions - and some loathe it, they throw up a little each time they see one on the field..
Tonight's question then becomes "Where do you stand on Special Characters? Love them? Hate them? Don't care Either way? Let us Know what you think"
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I ask the question because it seems that some tournaments have banned them - which is odd to me since some codexes have entire army builds built around them that are not overpowered and then there are the one-off characters, which can be nasty, but most times prove gimmicky. It also seems that you limit your player base by doing so, but if you allowed them, I think the other players who hate them would have still shown up.
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Anyway, Let's talk about our local scene and the Evo crew;
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Capt. Obvious used to have a hard-nose 3rd Edition opinion that special characters have no place on the table, yet lately has started to thaw toward them and even fielded Sanguinor on Wednesday.
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CVinton, as far as I can tell hates them and buys up every copy of every codex just to rip them out so he will never have to see them fielded (let me know if I went a little too far with that one CV.)
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Lord Solar Steve seems to like his Marbo and Straken, but the Homeless would rather put his entire collection through the garbage desposal than ever field a character.
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Farseer re-rolls is ... FarSeer Re-rolls and well ... nobody can fathom the mind of the Farseer.
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Me personally, I can see where some people would balk at the idea of the Master of Ultramar showing up to pick-up games against the local newb, but at the same time, I don't think they become characters just to sit around playing bridge with all the other folks who were unfortunate enough to gain their own fluff backround - I mean, I am sure that Vulcan He'Stan and Kharn the Betrayer are actively fighting somewhere. Why not in your army as a part of your Warband or chapter, even if it is a counts as guy.
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With all that said, the ball is in your court, let's hear your opinion!
Mmmm Marbo... actually I am a far bigger fan of Kell and Creed, but love the idea of Straken's boys charging into the fray. The problem is that some codex's are built around special characters in order to be really effective in bigger games. Mass infantry guard is a main example, to only have 4 orders a turn at 12 inches from your two HQ's is rough which is why Creed has the 4 orders at 24 inch rule. They knew they limited how vox's work so they gave a work around with a special character who can talk further.
ReplyDeleteAs for marbo... well who will ever forget him taking our 10 black templars and 7 plague marines in one game? I mean really? Just ask Old School or Captain Obvious.
I love them. There are a few I prefer not to face, sure, but I'm man enough to take on any opponent list, and I don't feel anyone should be prevented from taking anything GW sees fit to put into their Codex. As far as I'm concerned, GW makes the rules, not us...if I want to make my own rules, I will, but I don't expect other people to play by those, and would never impose them.
ReplyDeleteI started playing in 3rd edition and back then I hated Special Characters. Now you have to play them to get the flavor of some armies or builds, so I am fine with them and have even started to use them myself.
ReplyDeleteApril 4, 2010 at 11:25 PM
i dont like emm...havent played since third edition. Just getting back into the game, but i never liked the idea of special characters. I like building your own captains with your own weapons and stuff like that...but i also play tyranids soo..
ReplyDeleteI love the depth and individuality that Special Characters can bring to the table. But I also love the depth and individuality that unnamed Independent Characters can bring the table (especially my Emperor's Champion).
ReplyDeleteLucky neither can be labelled more competitive than the other... they are just two different beasts.
I actually disliked the old rules of 3rd Edition that limited the use of Special Characters. Especially the old Cypher rules in White Dwarf.
What I have found humorous is the poorly balanced net-lists that field an 'uber cheesy Special Character'. Very few of Stelek's lists actually have SC and he is viewed by some as a master of listhammer. Of course when SC are included they have a multiplier effect of a similar nature to unnamed Independent Characters (like my Emperor's Champion with Vows).
These are just my views.
Messanger
I freaking love special characters.
ReplyDeleteI dont mind special characters. Most are very expensive and are a "Eggs in one basket" scenerio. Other if played right enhance an entire army.
ReplyDeleteAs for Sly Marbo....i hate that guy. Never have i seen on model kill so much. That he rightfully shouldnt have.
As for Stelels lists.....they are mostly just spam lists. I watched some of his lists in action and was inpressed some times....and other times i watched them get dismantled piece by piece and kill point by kill point.
I don't mind them myself, in their current incarnations.
ReplyDeleteBack in 2nd ed or so, "Special Characters" were deliberately over powered and were almost never balanced for gameplay to cost. They were something for friendly, fluffy play and rightly had no place in most tournaments.
Of course, older edition codexes also had different tiers of Independent Characters too. These were upgrade versions that had more WS, BS, W, ability to cast more powers and so on. Most current SCs aren't much more than this. Yeah, they might have an unique special rule or two, but you (usually) pay through the nose for it.
Plus, every SC is Unique, so players can't spam them either.
Thus why I don't think they're a big deal. The only thing I don't like? Many tournaments require that the representative model be based off the official one. I'd much rather see someone's custom built "Uber Farseer Kik'yer'booty" instead of yet ANOTHER appearance of just Eldrad.
A fair point, Dverning, though WYSISYG is critical too. :)
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