Has the code been broken ? Of course not !

[WathLab]

 

 

 

 

(EDIT & UPDATE June 16, 2019)

As some of you might remember, some time ago I did a little maths, looking for Warband Tiers... In fact, I do not really know what took me when I embarked on this doubtful adventure. Here are the updated results of all this mess...

Notice to the reader : of course the code has not been broken, and my analysis IS NOT an evaluation of the meta, or a real top-tier evaluation, which both would be far more complex and would have to consider billion of other things : synergy with universal cards, factions' playstyles, players' strategies, playing trends, current match-ups analysis, known and unknown combos, local sub-metas, and so on...

Overall, with such an issue, I think that relying on top players' statement is much much wiser...

This whole thing I tried is only a modest sub-mathematical analyisis, which while being so simple surprised me by matching some of statements many players make these days. The first part was made for private purpose at the beginning, but then I thought it could be interesting to have some constructive feedback about it.

(And again, by the way... Being a Fyreslayer, and since English is not my native tongue... please forgive me for my grammatical and spelling errors in this disputable wall of text !)

 

 

TEST n°1 / A WAY OF ANALYSING FIGHTER'S CARDS

Note : I have to admit this test does not fully convince me but the overall vision seems interesting and somehow surprisingly accurate.

Here's the method :

 

STEP A

For each warband, add :

- All cards characteritic numbers : Move, Defense, Wounds, Attack Dice, Damage, Level of Magic,

- All cards specials : Actions, Reactions, Skills (+1 for each),

 

Notes :

- Only count 'best' Attack, but +1 bonus for each additionnal Attack printed,

- Attack dice score correction : total Furry x 0,85,

- Bonus for all ranged Attacks (+1 per warrior and per attack), and for 2-damage ranged Attacks (additional + 1 per warrior and per attack),

- Because of current abundance of Cleave, Shield Defense and Dodge Defense count the same,

- Bonus for all additional members beyond the fourth (+1 per warrior), and for additionnal members beyond the sixth (additional +1 per warrior),

- For special actions, also include characters who are concerned (ex : Varclav's is + 1 action + 5 chainrasps = + 6),

- And of course : because of Mollog's so special special rules :+25% overall buff to him, regarding his characteristics & special skills.

 

STEP B

Simply divide the total by the number of warband members...

Do it for Uninspired (U) and Inspired (I) sides of all warbands' cards.

 

STEP C

Compare all U / I scores.

 

 

RESULTS

 

SHADESPIRE

Average Uninspired / Inspired Score.....12,5/14,75

 

Garrek's Reaver..........................................................12/14

Steelheart's Champions...........................................13/16

Sepulchral Guard................................................12,5/14,5

Ironskull's Boyz..........................................................11/13

Chosen Axes................................................................11/14

Spiteclaw's Swarm..................................................13/14,5

Farstriders....................................................................14/16

Magore's Fiends.........................................................14/16

 

3 Best Scores : Magore's Fiends, Farstriders, Steelheart's Champions

3 Worst Scores : Ironskull's Boyz, Chosen Axes

 

 

NIGHTVAULT

Average Uninspired / Inspired Score.....13,5/15,25

 

Stormsire Cursebreakers.................................15,5/17,5

Thorns of the Briar Queen..............................13,5/15,5

Eyes of the Nine..........................................................13/14

Zarbag's Gitz.................................................................13/15

Mollog's Mob............................................................13,5/16

Godsworn Hunt...................................................12,5/14,5

Ylthari's Guardians....................................................15/16

Thundrik's Profiteers.............................................13/15,5

 

3 Best scores : Stormsire Cursebreakers, Ylthari's Guardian, Mollog's Mob

2 Worst scores : Godsworn Hunt, Eyes of the Nine

 

 

FINAL RANKINGS ACCORDING TO TEST n°1

 

01 Stormsire Cursebreakers........................15,5/17,5

02 Ylthari's Guardians...........................................15/16

03 Magore's Fiends.................................................14/16

04 Farstriders............................................................14/16

05 Mollog's Mob...................................................13,5/16

06 Thorns of the Briar Queen......................13,5/15,5

07 Steelheart's Champions..................................13/16

08 Thundrik's Profiteers...................................13/15,5

09 Zarbag's Gitz.......................................................13/15

10 Spiteclaw's Swarm.........................................13/14,5

11 Eyes of the Nine.................................................13/14

12 Sepulchral Guard........................................12,5/14,5

13 Godsworn Hunt...........................................12,5/14,5

14 Garrek's Reaver.................................................12/14

15 Chosen Axes........................................................11/14

16 Ironskull's Boyz..................................................11/13

 

 

A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT TEST n°1

 

1.1

To begin, even if it has major defects, we must say this simple test seems to work suprisingly well. It seems to confirm many things we already know. See recent event results, recent tier-based articles, etc. Their rankings are quite similar to this one.

 

1.2

Of course there are exceptions. There are some warbands whose strenght seems not so well measured by this test : Zarbag's Gits for instance... But as always, extremes cases (such as weird numbers) are the most difficult to seize... Also applies for Farstriders - are their real results deceptive because they struggle a bit against a certain Throggoth ?

 

1.3

Also, Ylthari's guardians' case is intriguing... Are the test results biased because the warband is so balanced and so versatile ? Or is there a new dreadfull warband in town ?

 

1.4

Overall, from this peculiar point of view, Nightvault warbands seem better. Uninspired AND Inspired sides. Average difference of 1 point between Shadespire and Nightvault Uninspired characters seems quite big.

 

1.5

Stormsire is the best ! Fear woodspririt newcomers ?!

AND sign this petition : *For Less Gifted Warbands : We Want Balancing Cards !*

 

 

 

TEST n°2 / A WAY OF ANALYSING INSPIRATION CONDITIONS

Note : As before, the test does not fully convince me but it's a way among others to objetctify things.

 

 

For each warband, I suggest to count :

- If inspiration only depends on player (+2), partly depends on player (+1),

- If inspiration is not disruptable (+2), disruptable but not easily (+1),

- If inspiration does not highly rely on randomness – like unlikely dice rolls or card draw (+1),

- If inspiration doesn't have a cost – like card-action, damage, suboptimal strategy, etc. (+1),

- If inspiration has huge cost - like an entire Round 1 – or comes with high risk (-1),

- If inspiration can usually be reached early - like before end of Round 1 (+1),

- If inspiration concerns several warriors at the same time (+1),

- Bonuses because of Inspiration Strikes and of Regal Vision for one-fighter dependant warbands (+1) and of course for Mollog's (another +1), and also for three-members-warbands (+1),

- Bonus for inspiration faction specific cards – which at that time only means Magore with Furious Inspiration and Godsworn with Spoils of Battle & Goulish Pact (+1),

 

 

SHADESPIRE Average Score.................... 4,5

 

Garrek's Reaver.................................................4

Steelheart's Champions..................................4

Sepulchral Guard...............................................4

Ironskull's Boyz..................................................4

Chosen Axes........................................................3

Spiteclaw's Swarm.............................................7

Farstriders............................................................4

Magore's Fiends..................................................6

 

2 Best Scores : Magore's Fiends, Spiteclaw's Swarm

Worst Score : Chosen Axes

 

 

NIGHTVAULT Average Score..................5,25

 

Stormsire Cursebreakers..................................7

Thorns of the Briar Queen................................5

Eyes of the Nine.....................................................5

Zarbag's Gitz...........................................................6

Mollog's Mob..........................................................6

Godsworn Hunt.....................................................5

Ylthari's Guardians...............................................5

Thundrik's Profiteers...........................................6

 

3 Best scores : Stormsire Cursebreakers, Mollog's Mob, Godsworn Hunt, Zarbag's Gitz, Thundrik's Profiteers

 

 

FINAL RANKINGS ACCORDING TO TEST n°2

 

01 Spiteclaw's Swarm..........................................7

01 Stormsire Cursebreakers.............................7

03 Magore's Fiends...............................................6

03 Mollog's Mob....................................................6

03 Zarbag's Gitz.....................................................6

03 Thundrik's Profiteers.....................................6

07 Ylthari's Guardians.........................................5

07 Thorns of the Briar Queen...........................5

07 Godsworn Hunt...............................................5

07 Eyes of the Nine................................................5

11 Farstriders..........................................................4

11 Garrek's Reaver................................................4

11 Sepulchral Guard..............................................4

11 Steelheart's Champions.................................4

11 Ironskull's Boyz..................................................4

16 Chosen Axes........................................................3

 

 

A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT TEST n°2

 

2.1

Again, from this peculiar point of view, Nightvault warbands seem a bit better. Average difference of 1 point between Shadespire and Nightvault Uninspired characters again could be significant.

 

2.2

And again, Chosen Axes.......

 

 

 

TEST n°3 / A WAY OF ANALYSING FACTION-SPECIFIC CARDS

Note : This one is a trickier, as it depends on so many things and is very hard to measure. Many people agree Stormsire or Thorns have some of the best faction-specific cards, so do dwarves, etc. but finding a way to make it appear trough simple maths seems nearly impossible ! Here, to begin, I'd simply suggest to simply have a look at cards' popularity... The first two tests (A,B) will be used as guidelines...

 

 

A / ON UNDERWORLDS-DECKERS CARD LIBRARY 

 

Just counting :

- How many faction-specific cards are used by more than 75 % of a given warband's decks,

Note : Of course, for both Ylthari's Guardians and Thundrik's Profiteers warbands, we need more time...

 

01 Chosen Axes.........................................................9

02 Ylthari's Guardians............................................8

03 Stormsire Cursebreakers................................6

04 Magore's Fiends..................................................5

04 Thorns of the Briar Queen..............................5

06 Thundrik's Profiteers........................................4

07 Steelheart's Champions...................................3

07 Sepulchral Guard................................................3

09 Zarbag's Gitz.........................................................2

09 Spiteclaw's Swarm..............................................2

09 Mollog's Mob........................................................2

09 Eyes of the Nine...................................................2

09 Garrek's Reaver....................................................2

14 Godsworn Hunt....................................................1

14 Ironskull's Boyz.....................................................1

16 Farstriders...............................................................0

 

 

 

B / ON UNDERWORLDSDB TOURNAMENT DECKS LIBRARY 

 

Just counting :

- How many faction-specific cards used in Tournament decks (average*),

 

*Note : This one is so puzzling, because you have to mitigate the effects of cards pool increasing.... which is of course impossible. Here I'm not couting early Season 1 decks – at times when card pools were way too small. So I'm beginnig the test around March, 2018 and ending it around May, 2019.

 

01 Chosen Axes............................................................9

02 Garrek's Reaver......................................................8

03 Thorns of the Briar Queen.................................8

04 Ylthari's Guardians................................................8

05 Thundrik's Profiteers............................................8

06 Steelheart's Champions......................................7

07 Sepulchral Guard....................................................7

08 Stormsire Cursebreakers....................................6

09 Farstriders.................................................................6

10 Magore's Fiends.......................................................6

11 Ironskull's Boyz........................................................6

12 Spiteclaw's Swarm..................................................5

13 Eyes of the Nine.......................................................4

14 Mollog's Mob............................................................4

15 Zarbag's Gitz.............................................................3

-- Godsworn Hunt...........................................................-

 

 

 

 

C / CONSIDERING FACTION-SPECIFIC CARDS THEMSELVES

 

Here I'mcounting many things :

 

FOR ALL

- How many faction-specific cards give access to restricted list effects – like Activated Runes, Raptor's Strike (+4 per card),

- How many faction-specific cards give access to restricted list effects, but with less efficiency or with some restrictions – like Unkillable or Grimnir's Blessing (+2 per card),

- How many faction-specific cards give access to duplicate effects from universal cards (+0,5 per card), with bonus for strictly better versions of universal cards – like Oath of Conquest (additional +0,5 per card),

 

FOR OBJECTIVES

- How many score-this-immediately objectives (+0,5 per card), with a bonus for easy / reliable ones (additional +1 per card),

- How many other easy / reliable objectives (+ 1 for each glory point),

 

FOR GAMBITS

- How many faction-specific gambits provide strong unique effects – like There are always more (+2 per card),

- Bonuses for faction-specific gambits with the following effects : put a guard token, remake failed attacks (+1 per card),

 

FOR UPGRADES

- How many faction-specific upgrades are not character-restricted at all (+1 per upgrade),

- Bonus for faction-specific gambits with the following effects : innate spell value (+1 per card),

 

SORT OF IN REAL LIFE CORRECTION

- Bonus of +1 for being top-tier in both considered Deck Libraries (see A,B). Faction-specific cards' popularity must mean something. At least a bit.

 

 

RESULTS

 

SHADESPIRE Average Score........................13

 

Garrek's Reaver.................................................10,5

Steelheart's Champions....................................11

Sepulchral Guard.................................................10

Ironskull's Boyz.................................................10,5

Chosen Axes...........................................................19

Spiteclaw's Swarm............................................11,5

Farstriders..............................................................17

Magore's Fiends................................................13,5

 

2 Best Scores : Chosen Axes, Farstriders

Worst Score : Sepulchral Guard, Steelheart's Champions

 

 

NIGHTVAULT Average Score....................14,5

 

Stormsire Cursebreakers.................................19

Thorns of the Briar Queen...............................18

Eyes of the Nine..................................................9,5

Zarbag's Gitz.........................................................13

Mollog's Mob.....................................................13,5

Godsworn Hunt................................................16,5

Ylthari's Guardians..........................................13,5

Thundrik's Profiteers......................................14,5

 

3 Best scores : Stormsire Cursebreakers, Thorns of the Briar Queen, Godsworn Hunt

Worst Score : Eyes of the Nine

 

 

 

FINAL RANKINGS ACCORDING TO TEST n°3

 

 

01 Stormsire Cursebreakers................................19

02 Chosen Axes.........................................................19

03 Thorns of the Briar Queen..............................18

04 Farstriders.............................................................17

05 Godsworn Hunt................................................16,5

06 Thundrik's Profiteers......................................15,5

07 Ylthari's Guardians..........................................13,5

08 Magore's Fiends................................................13,5

09 Mollog's Mob......................................................13,5

10 Zarbag's Gitz..........................................................13

11 Spiteclaw's Swarm............................................11,5

12 Steelheart's Champions.....................................11

13 Garrek's Reaver.................................................10,5

14 Ironskull's Boyz..................................................10,5

15 Sepulchral Guard..................................................10

16 Eyes of the Nine....................................................9,5

 

 

 

A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT TEST n°3

 

2.1

Again, again, why are Nightvault warbands' average score better than Shadespire's ?

 

2.2

Finally ! Chosen Axes did it : they seem to be top tier somewhere. But still so cruel for Ironskull's Boyz...

 

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS TEST ! / A WAY OF MAKING A KIND OF CONCLUSION

Note : Here I propose something very simple to summarize all this mess = for each warband, add its rankings of each of the 3 tests above. The lower final score, the better...

 

 

FINAL RANKINGS ACCORDING TO THE 3 TESTS

 

01 Stormsire Cursebreakers........................3

02 Magore's Fiends........................................14

03 Thorns of the Briar Queen....................16

04 Ylthari's Guardians..................................16

05 Mollog's Mob..............................................16

06 Thundrik's Profiteers..............................17

07 Farstriders...................................................19

08 Zarbag's Gitz..............................................22

09 Spiteclaw's Swarm...................................22

10 Godsworn Hunt........................................24

11 Steelheart's Champions..........................30

12 Eyes of the Nine..........................................33

13 Chosen Axes.................................................33

14 Garrek's Reaver..........................................38

15 Sepulchral Guard.......................................39

16 Ironskull's Boyz...........................................40

 

 

A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT FINAL TEST

Let's compare the test results to some various other things an draw some simple conclusions if we can !

 

4.1

Recent tournaments on Underworldsdb : CB / MF / MM / TBQ are dominant, YG are emerging. The final test states almost the exact same thing.

https://www.underworldsdb.com/decks.php

 

4.2

Katophrane Relic end of season tier ranking article : CB then MM / MF / TBQ / ZG. Again the final test seems to be matching quite well. And following tiers are almost as accurate.

https://katophranerelic.com/2019/04/30/end-of-season-tier-ranking/

 

4.3

Wigglehammer Even Data, which is a huge and very interesting work, although it is only a part of the whole story : MM / CB / ZG / GH / TBQ. Here the test seems a bit less efficient, with Zarbag's Gitz and Godsworn's Hunt a bit higher. Tournament win rates are not the meta and are not perfect reflects of tier-rankings either, - but indeed, Zarbag Gitz are probably slightly underated by the test, which is something I've been keeping repeating since the very beginning. This may also be true for some other warbands : Thundrik's Profiteers, Garrek's Reavers, Sepulchral Guard, also slightly underated by the test.

https://wigglehammer.wordpress.com/2019/05/14/q3-event-data-final-results/)

 

4.4

SteelCityUnderworlds Snapshot of the meta of February, 2019 : here what's interesting is that the test seems to highlight one the main conclusion of the article – Nightvault warband just seem better than Shadespire's. In the tests, this was confirmed on every single level of analysis : fighters'cards, inspiration conditions and faction-specific cards.

https://steelcityunderworlds.com/2019/02/04/a-snapshot-of-the-meta-post-warhammer-world-grand-clash/

 

 

 

Here we are. I'm done. Nothing much to say anymore !

 

Oh yes.

 

Khazâd ! Khazâd !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by WathLab

[Vextol]

What I get from this more than anything is that GW hates khardrons completely.  I thought maybe they just hated them in Sigmar but alas, it seems as though their hatred runs deep.

Their hatred consumes them....good....good...

[Reuben Parker]

It will have some correlation to results as gifted warbands with better fighters will score highly. 

 

However as always with something like that I don’t think it really reflects the true story. 

Mine there’s no link to how good that warband is at scoring objectives. Then as you say your excluding inspiration conditions and faction specific cards which play a huge part. 

Sepulchral guard are super strong along with Gitz. Having rubbish fighters isn’t an issue when you can give them free move actions to sit on objectives. 

In some ways your list shows the “easier” warbands to play. 

Your top 5 is all smaller number of fighter  warbands as obviously each fighter needs to be better in those. Smaller number warbands fall apart quickly as soon as one or two fighters die and you have no useful actions. 

I do agree though that ironskull and axes are the worst. Melee warbands that are slow without reach and without easy to score non fighting objectives. 

[PlasticCraic]

5 hours ago, Vextol said:

What I get from this more than anything is that GW hates khardrons completely.  I thought maybe they just hated them in Sigmar but alas, it seems as though their hatred runs deep.

Their hatred consumes them....good....good...

Yeah given that Ironjawz are Da Worst in both games, I have little sympathy for KO!

[belly318]

While the list seems mostly accurate (Farstriders 4th strongest?!), there's much more to assessing the strength of warbands.

The primary thing I'd consider are good faction specific cards. Look at the Cursebreakers - not only strong fighter cards, but 3 great objectives in harness the storm, Magical supremacy and Measured Strike. Then they have two very solid upgrades to go with that.

The guardians could live up to their supposed 2nd ranking  with Lithe Spirits, Song of Hatred and Strike Quickly, but i'm not sold as yet.

8 hours ago, Reuben Parker said:

Sepulchral guard are super strong along with Gitz. Having rubbish fighters isn’t an issue when you can give them free move actions to sit on objectives. 

Are they though? Gitz are definitely in the top half, but I can't see the Skellies being anywhere but just above the Fyreslayers and Orcs.

Edited May 10, 2019 by belly318

[PlasticCraic]

5 hours ago, PlasticCraic said:

Yeah given that Ironjawz are Da Worst in both games, I have little sympathy for KO!

Although I would also reiterate the point made by others elsewhere, that the tiers in this game are relatively compact. 

I feel like I have a WAY better chance of competing with Ironskullz Boys against the top Warbands in Underworlds than I would have competing with Ironjawz against FEC / Hag Narr / most armies in the game.

It's one of the things I love about Underworlds 

[Reuben Parker]

8 hours ago, belly318 said:

While the list seems mostly accurate (Farstriders 4th strongest?!), there's much more to assessing the strength of warbands.

The primary thing I'd consider are good faction specific cards. Look at the Cursebreakers - not only strong fighter cards, but 3 great objectives in harness the storm, Magical supremacy and Measured Strike. Then they have two very solid upgrades to go with that.

The guardians could live up to their supposed 2nd ranking  with Lithe Spirits, Song of Hatred and Strike Quickly, but i'm not sold as yet.

Are they though? Gitz are definitely in the top half, but I can't see the Skellies being anywhere but just above the Fyreslayers and Orcs.

Maybe it’s just me that likes them   As I’ve seen a few people say they think of them as trash  

However without being super arrogant I see a lot of people that I believe misplay sepulchral guard. Both in terms of objectives taken, power deck  and also just in the way they deploy and play. I do think being a 7 deployment and having multiple choices of action to do they are a warband with a very low floor as the obvious play isn’t always the right one.

However I think played properly they also have a very high ceiling. Some of the top warbands listed have very high floors but don’t necessarily have higher ceilings.

They have two faction specific attack action cards plus restless dead. They also got so much better now the card pool has things like faneway crystal and hidden paths. 

Get thee hence and no armour are easy to score instant objectives for them. 

The main weakness they have I believe are faction specific objectives only skills unforgoton and March of the dead being any good and with the better card pool even March isn’t the best. 

[WathLab]

On 5/9/2019 at 7:22 PM, Reuben Parker said:

Then as you say your excluding inspiration conditions and faction specific cards which play a huge part. 

 

 

INSPIRATION CONDITIONS - see above

 

 

As a way to keep this good thing going, I suggest to finally have a quick look at...

Edited May 16, 2019 by WathLab

[WathLab]

FACTION-SPECIFIC CARDS - see above

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2019 by WathLab

[WathLab]

Image again.

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by WathLab

[Reuben Parker]

Interesting! As you say faction specific will be weighted depending on the size of the card pool. Brings me to one of my thoughts around what GW has planned. 

If they do more than one more season the card pool will be too large I think. Then they will need to look at other games and phase older cards out. Or maybe it will be one more season (24 warbands which is a lot) and then the game is frozen in time. 

Also I personally would like to see either the restricted card pool heavily expanded or maybe tournaments have a rule as to how many faction specific cards must be included. Downside is that unfortunately it appears that often the better warbands natively also have the better cards. 

[WathLab]

 

As far as my beloved Chosen Axes don't vanish in the Mirrored City...

And I would like to see faction-specific cards only tournaments !

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by WathLab
Edit jpg

[WathLab]

It seems they did not completely vanish...

Chosen Axes ended 4th at St Petersburg GT...

[VarCleave]

 

On 5/10/2019 at 3:40 AM, belly318 said:

While the list seems mostly accurate (Farstriders 4th strongest?!), there's much more to assessing the strength of warbands.

The primary thing I'd consider are good faction specific cards. Look at the Cursebreakers - not only strong fighter cards, but 3 great objectives in harness the storm, Magical supremacy and Measured Strike. Then they have two very solid upgrades to go with that.

The guardians could live up to their supposed 2nd ranking  with Lithe Spirits, Song of Hatred and Strike Quickly, but i'm not sold as yet.

Are they though? Gitz are definitely in the top half, but I can't see the Skellies being anywhere but just above the Fyreslayers and Orcs. 

Neither Do I... Maybe because I don't know any good SC player ?

[WathLab]

On 5/10/2019 at 5:47 PM, Reuben Parker said:

Downside is that unfortunately it appears that often the better warbands natively also have the better cards. 

I completely agree with you on this - which is why I think the test is relevant despite being doubtful & inaccurate - it shows that some warband have everything : strong characterstics, better faction-specific cards, and off course easy inspiration conditions...

[WathLab]

On 5/10/2019 at 12:46 PM, Reuben Parker said:

Maybe it’s just me that likes them   As I’ve seen a few people say they think of them as trash  

However without being super arrogant I see a lot of people that I believe misplay sepulchral guard. Both in terms of objectives taken, power deck  and also just in the way they deploy and play. I do think being a 7 deployment and having multiple choices of action to do they are a warband with a very low floor as the obvious play isn’t always the right one.

Skellies being my third choice after dwarves and skavens, I would love to read more about this !

I've never been able to build a real effective deck with them...

Does it implies using keys (which I don't like so much...) ? Or is it something else ?

 

[Reuben Parker]

48 minutes ago, WathLab said:

Skellies being my third choice after dwarves and skavens, I would love to read more about this !

I've never been able to build a real effective deck with them...

Does it implies using keys (which I don't like so much...) ? Or is it something else ?

 

I used to use keys back in the shadespire season but I think there’s a lot better options now. 

You can go for mass tomes on one character and the end of game objective but I find this style boring. 

My preferred method is just making a super fighter whilst having an easy to score objective deck. 

Then deployment is key I often see people put petitioners at the front which is such a poor choice I feel. I also see people pick boards with blocked hexes as a slow warband I feel as much open space as possible is normally best. The warband really hums when your opponent charges one of your 3 good fighters (most situations I want champion as top of the spear but there are occasions for harvester or prince depending on matchups) you then have them inspired either via inspiration strikes or restless dead and just start chopping away. 3 dice hammers is one of the best profiles in the game and with 4 damage upgrades they can get dangerous quickly.

Something like

martyr

what armour 

get thee hence 

precise use of force 

advancing strike

skills unforgotten 

escalation 

keep chopping 

escape the city 

keep them guessing 

march of the dead

Supremacy 

———

ceaseless attacks

the necromancer commands

restless dead

last chance 

rebound 

ready for action 

distraction 

terrifying screams 

hidden pathways / spectral wings (I can never decide which I prefer in this slot)

inspiration strikes 

——

Frightening speed

deathly charge

great strength

incredible strength

gloryseeker

faneway crystal 

Tome of offerings 

dark darts 

shade glass darts

(the new push every time make a successful attack card name eludes me)

 

 

 

[WathLab]

Thanks so much ! Everything makes sens. (I was also positioning petitioners backward but was strugling with objective scoring.)

I'll give a try as soon as possible.

(The last upgrade you mention is Blessing of Hydragos : I was using it with Profiteers, but that was before... Time to shift to danse macabre !)

[WathLab]

Hi everyone ! The most doubtful test ever has been updated. See above...

[WathLab]

New (and probably last) update today !

[WathLab]

Even if it's (somehow) a complete different story, here's the Chart of the week :

 

Now season 2 is (almost) over, I was wondering if there were any pattern in the sucession of major tournament winners since Shadespire's release...

 

So...

 

Which warbands have been the most successfull in major tournaments since 2017 ? And what was the succession of leading warbands over time ? Can we see any pattern here ?

 

The charts* are not perfect (and informations are missing for a few events**), but I thought they were precise enough to help us understanding a few things...

 

In particular, in chart n°1 showing Grand Winners, we can see :

• how Steelheart's Champions (8 Victories), Magore Fiends (4V), Stormsire's Cursebreakers (4V) and Thorns of the Briar Queen (4V) have regularly won major events since their respective release,

• how Spiteclaw's Swarm (4V) and Sepulchral Guard (3V) also have regularly won major events from their release, but stopped around November 2018 (first BAR List),

• that every warband won at least one major event, except Godsworn's Hunt...

 

In chart n°2 showing Recurrence in Top 3, we can see :

• how Steelheart's Champions and Magore Fiends did well since the very begining and how regularly they continued their climbing to the top since then,

• how Spiteclaw's Swarm did well since their release and continued placing top 3 until November 2018 (around first BAR List), to then stop,

• how fast and regular Stormsire's Cursebreakers rising is since December 2018... the warband placing in top 3 of almost every single major event since that time,

• how warbands like Thorns of the Briar Queen, Zarbag Gitz and Mollog' Mob regularly placed top 3 since their respective release,

• how Ylthari's Guardians' start seems to be good...

• and again, that every warband placed Top 3 in at least one major event, except Godsworn's Hunt...

 

*Note 1 : How to read the charts ? Every time a given warband wins a tournament (chart n°1) or appears in top 3 (chart n°2), it gains one point and climbs one place on the ladder. So for a given event, the warband's position on the ladder shows how many events it won at that time since their release...

**Note 2 : The source is the very nice Tournament Deck List from https://www.underworldsdb.com

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by WathLab