SDE Heroes 04

When my good friend, Steve, first suggested I might be interested in Super Dungeon Explore I was a bit sceptical. After all, this was fantasy gaming unlike any other I had done before. The Chibi look of the figures certainly did not put me off but I did wonder if this game could sustain my interest. So I researched the game to see what was available for it and that was when I got hooked. I discovered that there were two expansion sets available for the game - Caverns of Roxor and Von Drakk Manor. Von Drakk Manor REALLY caught my imagination in a big way and I just fell in love with it. Here were the undead as I had never seen them before - Chibi style! I had to have this set.
For those of you wondering why I have been so heavily promoting SDE on a blog devoted to all things undead then wonder no more. Von Drakk Manor is THE set that firmly ties in SDE to my blog. I'll be doing a full review of it this month, starting off with a look at the four Heroes.

At the far left is the Celestial Herald. For millennia Celestials have remained aloof from the world below. As the Dark Consul's power grows his shadow extends even across their sacred lands and at last they have begun to recognise that the threat concerns all the peoples of Crystalia. The arrival of their Heralds signals that Celestia will not submit quietly. She is quite powerful with good stats apart from Attack. No matter. She excels at ranged combat using her magic bow with a range of 6 squares. She has two very potent Special Attacks which she can use with her bow. Both cost 2 Actions to use. First up is Arrow Storm, which spreads out in a Wave before her for 4 squares in a cone that is 7 squares wide at extreme range. That can affect a LOT of enemies in just one attack. Secondly, she has Heart Seeker, which adds +1 red die to her Dex (Dex is used for ranged attacks instead of Attack) and it adds Hookshot, which allows her to shoot around corners. No hiding from this shot! Finally, she is Immune to Knockdown and she can Fly.

Next up is a human Hero - a Sister of Light. Chapter Houses for the Order of Light can be found throughout Crystalia. From their hallowed halls, paladins, priests and slayers are trained to bring light to the dark corners of Crystalia. Sisters of Light are drawn from the order's orphans who have lost their loved ones to the creatures of the night. Their unique experiences give them not only the strength to seek vengeance but the empathy to assist others in need. The Sister of Light has much in common with the Royal Paladin in that she is good in melee combat, has a very good Armour stat and can heal others with her Purification ability. She has one Special Attack - the Hammer of Judgement, which frankly, is not all that good. All it does is Push enemies away from her for one square. Meh! However, she does have one ability which is very useful against the undead - Holy. This allows her to reroll a single die when making an attack roll versus undead or demons.

Third in line is the human Hero called Von Wilding. Generations ago the Von Wilding family saw the destruction of their family estate and a curse put on their entire line by Baron Von Drakk. The family's fate was meant as a grim warning to any noble family who dared oppose the Baron. Now, sworn to the life of a slayer, successive generations of Von Wilding travel Crystalia searching for clues that will allow them to remove the curse and end Von Drakk's blighted reign over their homeland. Von Wilding has good stats across the board. He wields a whip with a Reach of 2 squares. For 2 Actions he can use Whip Master which Pacifies an opponent, meaning it can't use any Special Attack. For 1 Action he can Crack the Whip, which is not a Special Attack but which can Compel an opponent to move 2 squares in ANY direction. This is similar to the Push ability but with greater options. He is armed with 2 potions, both of which can harm opponents. Von Drakk Manor introduces a new rule to the game - offensive potions. Previously, all potions aided the Heroes in some way - now, certain potions can hurt the Consul. Finally, and I have left the best to last, Von Wilding can transform into Von Wilder, a werewolf!

Von Wilder is a Shapeshifter, specifically, a lycanthrope or werewolf. Through rigid discipline the Von Wildings seek to tame their inner beast. Though not entirely successful, they have become very adept at "aiming" their Wilder side in the right direction. Von Wilder's Attack and Armour stats are identical to that of Von Wilding, which did surprise me. I expected them to be a lot better. He is faster with a Move of 8 instead of 6 but his Will and Dex stats are lower. He is Tough and Vulnerable to Magic. Heroes who are Tough may remove a single Wound Counter at the start of their activation before any Status Effects are resolved. Von Wilder has just one Special Attack - Shag Fest. It comes with four components. It adds a +1 red die to his Attack roll; it has Sweep 1, which allows it to target the four squares in front of him; it is Dangerous, meaning it will affect any hero who is standing in the way and finally, it transmits Lycanthropy. What this means is that wounded models who are not removed from play gain a +1 red die to their Attack rolls and suffer from Vulnerable to Magic. This makes it a double-edged sword ability - both good and bad to use. Good against single wound models but bad against multi-wound models.
These figures are truly amazing sculpts, especially the Celestial Herald and Von Wilder. The Celestial Herald is literally in a kick ass pose. I was very pleased to see one of the inhabitants of Celestia make an appearance as it helps to open up the world of Crystalia.
I deliberately painted the Sister of Light's tabard in the same colours I used on the Royal Paladin's shield - white background with a gold cross. Also, just like the Royal Paladin she wears a blue cloak. I see them as coming from the same Order.
Von Wilding is a very nice figure but he suffers from the same complaint as the Deeproot Druid - why use him when you can use the much cooler looking Shapeshift version? I didn't expect to see a werewolf as one of the Heroes but they have traditionally been known to oppose vampires so why not? The figure of Von Wilder is one of the coolest figures I have ever seen and just exudes menace and power. I am not surprised that in multi-player games arguments can break out over who gets to play Von Wilder. I have read that some players feel Von Wilder is too powerful. Rubbish! No Hero in SDE can be too powerful. In the first game that I used these four Heroes they did not fare well against Von Drakk and rather surprisingly, I thought Von Wilder was the weakest of them all. He died first. Maybe I just had an off day with them. I shall try again with them and hope for better luck next time.