Tuesday 17 February 2015

SDE Monsters 03 - Kobolds 03

The last two Kobold types I want to review here are the most powerful of the Kobolds. They are the Dragon Priests and the Kobold Ogres.
Dragon Priests are Kobold Minions and the boxed set of Super Dungeon Explore comes with two of them. To help differentiate between them I have painted one with red skin and the other with grey skin. I have also given them different coloured clothing.
Often leaders of warbands in the deep dark, Dragon Priests are granted arcane powers by their close communion with the dragon, Starfire. Once bestowed these gifts they never hesitate to use their favour to bully and cajole the lesser Kobolds into fighting for them.
Dragon Priests come with a good set of stats. Their four main stats (Attack, Armour, Will and Dex) all use two dice, usually 1 blue and 1 red, although Attack only uses 2 blue dice, which isn't as good. Still, these are not meant to be front line fighters. They work best supporting their colleagues from afar. In addition they have 3 actions per Turn and 3 Wounds. Not bad at all!
As you might expect, their main offence comes from Magic, and with a range of 8 squares that makes them as good as most Magic-wielding Heroes. If they do get close in, they also have the Mob ability, which is common to all Kobolds. They have two Augment spells that can help their comrades - Dragon Rage and Shadow Breath. Dragon Rage affects all allies within 3 squares and grants them a +1 blue die to their Attack rolls. Shadow Breath has an even larger range of 5 squares and grants all allies within range the Stealth ability. Stealth works like this - when a model with Stealth is targeted by a ranged effect they may immediately make a DEX roll. Subtract the number of stars rolled from the attacker's range. If the  roll causes the attacker to be out of range the attack is considered to have failed.
The Kobold Ogre is a Mini-Boss, second in command of the Dungeon Boss. The game comes with two of these fearsome monsters. The game designers have named him Rex, but I thought they can't both be called Rex, so Rex is the red skinned Kobold Ogre and I have named the grey skinned Kobold Ogre, Reg. Rex and Reg are twins, despite their different colouration.
Rex and Reg have collected more than a few new friends since going to work in the Consul's dungeons. Most are unwary adventurers not quite quick enough to get out of the reach of their enthusiastic hugs.
Mini-Bosses are very tough!  Rex and Reg have 5 Wounds, 3 Actions per Turn and excellent Attack and Armour stats - 2 blue dice and 2 red dice for Attack and 2 red dice for Armour.  Because of their huge size they have a Reach of 2, allowing them to attack targets up to 2 squares away. Also, because they are part Kobold, they have the Mob ability.
Rex and Reg come with three offensive abilities, which in order of power are Rex/Reg Smash, Rex/Reg Cuddle and Thwomp. Rex/Reg Smash costs 3 Actions to use but causes Massive Damage, which grants him a +1 green die to his Attack rolls. Ouch! Rex/Reg Cuddle costs 2 Actions to use and if successful causes the target to be Immobile and Weak. Finally, Thwomp, which costs just 1 Action, can push a target up to 5 squares away if successful. Most times this won't be very useful but if there is a lava pit, for example, behind the Hero then it might be worthwhile using.
As promised here is a group shot of all of my SDE Kobolds with the grey-skinned Kobolds to the left and the red-skinned Kobolds to the right. You can see from this photo just how tall the Kobold Ogres are. Rex and Reg should be in the second row from the front, along with the Gougers, as they all have Reach 2 abilities. The Ironscales and Knuckleheads should always be at the front of any attack. Keep the Flingers and Dragon Mages to the rear if you can as they work best from a distance.
Next time I'll be reviewing the last of my Monsters from the basic SDE boxed set - Dragons! Yes, I'm keeping the best to last.

16 comments:

  1. Good grief!! Its not until the group shot that you realise just how ruddy big those Ogres are Bryan. They're huge!! One of my faves, alongside the Druid and Bear for sure :-) Fantastic stuff, really enjoying this and certainly if you want to swap your boxed set for mine then I'll pop it in the post now ;-) Dragons next eh? I trust you'll never dare call me a tease again on my blog :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the Kobold Ogres are HUGE! Just look at the size of the clubs they're wielding! In one game I played, Rex and Angry Bear battled each other and neither could get the upper hand. They were very evenly matched. But, alas, Starfire arrived before the fight ended and he burnt Angry Bear to ashes. Game over, man! Still, much respect to Rex/Reg!

      Ha, ha, ha, ha! You cheeky devil asking for a swap. Sorry, Simon, it's not going to happen but full marks for trying!

      Yes, dragons next. I'll try to remember not to call you a tease again. :) The trouble is, teasing is fun and it generates interest for the next post. Oh, and there will be a group shot of all my Dragonkin. Is that another tease? I think it is!

      Delete
    2. Truly you are the Titan of tease, Bryan ;-)

      Delete
    3. Now that's a title I can live with! Cheers, Simon!

      Delete
  2. Very nicely done Bryan the whole group looks great. You could get some games of Songs Of Blades and Heroes in with a lot of these figures If you ever fancied a change.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Simon. That's something I shall certainly keep in mind. I've read numerous good reviews of SOBH.

      Delete
  3. I didn't pick up why you had painted them in 2 different colour schemes. Is this something that will make the game easier to play, or just a personal whim?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a bit of both, Hugh. In game play it helps identify the two Kobold Ogres and Dragon Mages, who both have multiple Wounds.

      Delete
  4. Lovely painting Bryan! I still prefer the grey colour scheme, although I'm rather taken by the red mage's purple cloak. Rex and Reg are bloody massive, a real bane for the heroes I'll bet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Bob. Rex and Reg can be a real pain in the ass for the heroes but they can be defeated by good tactics.

      Delete
  5. Aw cute big ogres! I'm with Bob I like the grey skin better on the ogres but I liked the red better n the priest go figure? Anyway don't misconstrued my lack of comments I've simply fallen behind on my blog reading.
    Cheers
    Rob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Robert. Don't worry about your lack of comments. I fully understand, mate.

      Delete
  6. Great looking miniatures Brian, colours are spot on, great work.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am not too impressed with the design of the last two Kobolds (I always imagined them as no more than easy-minded mob!), but I am impressed with the group shot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hear what you're saying, Mathyoo, but it all comes down to tactics and how you use Kobolds in your game. Yes, they can be mindless grunts but they can also be cunning and deadly if used correctly. I'm glad you like the group shot. Everyone likes group shots. :)

      Delete