A site dedicated to competitive play of the ASOIAF Miniatures Game by CMON.
Tactics Talk: House Bolton’s Bastard Girls PART II: Pairing with House Stark Character Greg Young Rebel Light Works Welcome back! We’re going to get right into the meat of this […]
Welcome back! We’re going to get right into the meat of this article, talking about Character Attachments and Commanders that we can pair with the Bastard’s Girls. If you missed our first Tactics Talk on the House Bolton Bastard’s Girls, make sure to check it out here.
What are we looking for? Well, the newly updated Umber Champion has given us a juicy and attractive option, especially with the cheap price point. Can any of the Characters muster up something better to justify the cost?
Brynden Tully – Unyielding Knight (2 / 5) Not likely to get much use out of gaining additional dice, mostly due to the requirement to begin the turn engaged. The +1 to hit is always nice when you can get it. Stalwart giving them +2 to Morale Tests is a nice addition. Overall, while the abilities are all useful, this may not be the appropriate chassis for the Blackfish.
Jojen Reed (X / 5) Jojen Reed is an interesting case. He has a very unique set of abilities that surprisingly, synergize quite well with our lovely Girls.
Random Dice Tables: They’re the bane of competitive players. Jojen, in particular, has an interesting set of outcomes. Horrific Visions is universally bad, but on the Bastard’s Girls, it is not so terrible. A Vulnerable token on a 6+ Defense Save unit is laughable, as you are almost as likely to not have a legal usage of it as using it. The Panicked token is a little more upsetting, but with our Morale stat of a 5+, it’s not overly concerning. Guiding Hand is a great ability for us, as even if we’re charging, we benefited from the re-roll on the Ranged Attack. The Path is Clear is situationally great, yet unreliable. Best case scenario is using the free Maneuver to a surprise double-tap, but if you get this result while engaged, it’s effectively useless. Perfect Clarity is just great. I hope you have cursed dice that only roll 6s when you need them to.
Meera Reed (3 / 5)
Meera is a thief! She spent way too much time spying on Freefolk Trappers and stole their identity. Hidden Traps is a great ability, with a slightly limited scope. Being able to effectively one-shot a Direwolf or severely cripple a Giant or heavy cavalry unit is exceptionally useful. I’m also willing to bet you’ll be able to stick a Dragon leg into one of those traps when they take the field…
Currently, only Howland Reed has anything that operates off of the Crannogman moniker, but having another unit with that tag that is also trying to be sneaky on the edges of the field of battle is very handy.
Syrio Forel (3 / 5)
Who doesn’t love making your unit harder to hit? I personally feel that this ability is stronger on a unit like the Girls that have bad armor saves, rather than something like the Tully Sworn Shields with their native 3+. Since there’s also the mandatory inclusion of Arya Stark, and her ability to give a maneuver at the beginning of a round, you can play swift advance on this unit after targeting them with Arya and get them surprisingly far up the field before they start their wombo-combo. At the same time, there are other units that can do this exact same thing with similar or better results.
Maege Mormont (3 / 5)
Oh, Maege. Such a fun ability combo, but it comes at a price. A price of 3 points. While her buffing the Girls to an amazing Morale stat of 4+ and dealing out extra wounds whenever they pass a Panic Test, she’s just expensive for what she does. If she were cheaper, she’d be the Mother of all these adorable Bastards, but alas, it is not meant to be.
Rickon Stark and Osha and Shaggydog (2 / 5)
I’m really torn on this combo, as I think they could really shine, and then I remember that my opponent is going to rain on my Rickon shaped parade as often as possible. Rickon himself is just a liability, but that liability brings a 1 point discount on the normal 3 point Direwolf Tax. Osha brings a chip damage ability which is useful, but relying on it by itself to get work done is troublesome . Shaggydog is one of the better Direwolves, as Vicious is a great keyword, and we can give him other keywords through our Tactics cards. This combo is going to be more at home in a unit that is going to sit on objectives, rather than a unit that is going to bring the fight to the enemy.
Bran and Hodor (2 / 5)
The Girls are fairly aggressively minded, making this a risky unit to have a Direwolf leashed to, despite the d3 extra hits provided by this combo. Ultimately, there are units which bring more keywords or attack abilities that make Hodor want to carry Bran elsewhere…
Robb Stark – The Young Wolf (2 / 5)
Ah, the Trackstar. This young man is so impetuous, no one can keep him in formation. The extra inch of speed is very helpful, and the extra pivot before marching lets you reposition the Girls to be a foot away from where they just were very juicy, but they already have a charge option built in with Sic ‘em. Leave Robb to practice the marathon with the Greataxes, he’s just a much better fit there.
Greatjon Umber – Loyal Bannerman (2 / 5)
His ability can be amazing, but you need that extra large dice pool to increase the chances of rolling those 6s. Bastard Girls with their measly 6 dice pool just get outdone by other units in the Stark toolbag. Also, they already have a charge mechanic? Let Greatjon lead his own Umber forces into battle, and leave his Umber Champions for the Girls.
So, that makes up the non-commander Character Attachments, and while there’s some good stuff there, none of it seems like a perfect fit for our Bastard Girls. Will any of the Commanders be able to dethrone the Umber Champion?
Check in with us next time when we go over the Commanders. Until then, who’s your favorite Character to lead the Girls with?
Greg Young is a guest writer and owner of RebelLightWorks.com
