Strategy applied to the Order of the Griffon
Strategy applied to the Order of the Griffon |
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Griffon players must have great courage to have chosen this army and to have persevered with it game after game, because it's an army which demands a lot of practice to be effective and to bring victory. You will need as much craftiness and perseverance as the Griffons themselves have discipline to lead Akkylanie's legions to victory. But when this victory does come, it will have made an experienced player of you. Faith in Merin is truely a full-time job, but it pays well.
The Griffons have very many trump cards to take but also have important weaknesses in game terms.
Discipline
This is the main asset of the Griffons. More so than for any other people
of Aarklash, the Tactical Roll is essential. Thanks
to it, you will have an extra card in reserve
(useful to have your Exécuteurs act last, to place your
riflemen at the perfect firing angle against an enemy character or
to make a charge with your favourite Arkhos and have him begin the cascade
of mêlées with pursuit movements), you will separate
mêlées to your advantage and you will resolve them
in the order which is convenient for you.
Against opponents such as the Lions, Keltois, the Undead or the
Wolfen, you will generally have the better of the Tactical Roll,
even without enlisting a leader or War-staff (even
if one is recommended against the Wolfen and Undead ^ _ ^). Against Dirz or Dwarfs, you need the maximum discipline, so play
Melkion or Arkhos.
The synergy of Griffon troops
It is rather exceptional: if they're not invincible in all
situations, then they are frequently effective in all the scenarios
and the same composition can serve as both an attacking army and a defensive army. For example, an army consisting
for the most part of Templars, Thallions and Riflemen will be
able to attack and defend splendidly if your troops are
distributed well on the battlefield and in mêlées, but especially if your figurines are well co-ordinated.
At first sight, Griffons seem specialized in
defence and long, drawn-out hand-to-hand fights. This is
appearance given by the Defence characteristics of the
Lanciers, Templars and Inquisitors, because their
Defence is 1 point higher than their Attack.
Also, the resistance of Griffon armour is rated highly
and rightly so because the basic Lancier has a beautiful
8 in armor, the Templar a 9, like the Inquisitor, and there's even an 11 for
the Inquisition Templar. Even the Thallion has an armor of
7, which is really good for a light troop which can be played like the Reapers of Alahan.
However, it's by playing defensively and by letting
all the hand-to-hand fights drag on that the Griffons are certain to suffer a defeat.
Because in reality the Griffons excel in attack! Just listen to what I have to say:
the Exécuteurs are capable of turning a mêlée around in an instant,
with their attack of 5 and their competence Assassin,
the Templar troops all have the competence Warrior Fury
(albeit associated to a rather weak Strength in general,
but a bonus Damage Roll is still better than nothing), the Inquisitors have
the spell Incandescent Punishment or Justice of Merin, the Riflemen
have a Strength of 6 in shooting and in mêlée, and Arkhos is a
highly skilled Fencer with a colossal Strength. Plainly your Griffon
army is capable of inflicting considerable damage in an instant if you decide to go onto the attack.
What combinations of troops to use?
- Templar in a Warrior Fury with an Exécuteur of the Griffon
to take the initiative and butcher a target as fast as possible
- Rifleman and Thallion to oblige the enemy to maneuver his
troops caught between the fire of the marksmen and the permanent threat
of the elite Griffon scouts
- 1 (or 2) Inquisitor(s) with Justice of Merin and 1 enemy character whom
you attack relentlessly, taking wound after wound before
casting your spell (and, for example, end up with the unfortunate
Killyox/Lukhan Cypher with a critical wound) to turn the situation.
- 1 Inquisitor in defence with an Exécuteur/Templar in
a Warrior Fury in attack, to parry blows with the counter-attack of the Inquisitor.
Everything depends on the crucial choices you make to answer the following
questions: « In what mêlée am I capable of getting the upper hand
quickly enough to allow my victorious troops to pursue? » And «
How do I combine the various profiles of my troops to maximize my chances?
»
As it is impossible with a less numerous army to
make the opponent collapse under sheer weight of numbers, it is necessary to
create temporary overlaps in certain key places, which winning the Tactical Roll makes easier
with the cards you'll hold in reserve.
For example, allowing Lanciers to be outnumbered is a good idea,
because in a 2 against 1 they tie-up enemy troops and benefit
from Sustained Defence with both a good score in defence and a
good resistance. Besides, their 2.3 in Attack.Strength often
provokes just sniggers so the enemy generally tries to kill them quickly. So in most cases
place 2 dice in defence and a die in attack to oblige the opponent
to defend a little. As everyone knows, a Strength 3 hit always has the
very dangerous appearance of being nothing, and then even if the Lanciers
are there to strike it, you might as well take advantage of it.
On the other hand, charging Exécuteurs into fights that are
already 1 against 1 is fearsome.
Ideally, charge into mêlées where a Templar is present and make use of Warrior Fury.
In the same manner, charging your Arkhos against a wounded or weak opponent
is guaranteed to let him continue on into another mêlée, where he can then tip the balance and so
free a Templar, who then comes to help his neighbour, and so on…
Do not underestimate your Riflemen: even if recouping their value
in PA is difficult for a missile troop, they are excellent. By
wounding the enemy figurines, you give yourself the means to control mêlées where you are outnumbered
and, above all, you have the possibility of killing the troops engaged
with your elite troops in 1 or 2 turns. As soon as mêlées are joined, do not hesitate to
make your marksmen charge, because they then come to play the role of Lanciers, with
a beautiful defence of 3, and they are very effective when their
attack carries a 6 in Strength.
To return to the previous point, it is really
important to ask these two questions, because in trying to answer them you'll have already grasped the logic
of the Griffon's gameplan. It's not a question of throwing a horde of Keltois Warriors into
an assault or of crudely mutagéning
whole blister packs of Warriors of the Dawn. It's true it'd be nice to do that sometimes, but hey! ^ _ ^
The Warrior-Mages and the Griffon Characters
The Griffon Warrior-Mages are among the most effective of the game, capable of casting
devastating spells, able to counter-spell and sometimes to absorb, while still fighting
as well as the best elite troops. The Inquisitors
are rightly feared, both for their great violence (who has
never been surprised with the speed with which an Inquisitor's
strike sends to you into orbit?) and their ability
to counter-attack from a defence of 5, which
is plainly brilliant. The Hunters of the Darkness
are more fragile and have much less impact in mêlées, but their two Strength 6 shots per turn,
combined with a disengagement at the end of the movement phase, thanks to winning the Tactical Roll, are
fearsome. The no-brainer is obviously to disengage,
cast the spell Penalty and fire twice at a magician.
Arkhos, Saphon, Mirà, Melkion are the only really worthwhile characters
in the game. Forget dear Abel, little Caïrn, The Priestess
and even The Exécuteur: the first is a nameless nonentity
for his abusive price, the second is no big deal,
the 3rd fundamentally lacks miracles, but that should
soon change, and the famous Living Legend is certainly great for
Rag • Narok but unplayable in Confrontation
it has to be said.
On the other hand, there are enormous possibilities for the others.
Arkhos is very multi-skilled and is essentially a
complete War-staff on his own with the Crown or a bulldozer in attack with his competence
Fencer and sometimes a little object such as the Fist of Arcavius. If you
play him in an adventure, equip the experience card Eye
of the Strategist which will allow you to rethrow your Tactical Rolls (and
to avoid the infamous 1 which ruins your game turn). Also, The Art
of War can be very effective as well because holding a spare card in reserve is rather marvelous for Griffons.
Mirà costs less and is less hard-hitting in mêlée but she does the business of
clearing enemy troops very well. With some cards of experience, Hauteclaire
and possibly the Fist of Arcavius, if you have the
PA or wish to show real style, she is capable of really
being worth her cost. Do not forget her counter-shot and her possibility
of disengaging to fire.
Saphon is a good marksman, and a nice warrior-monk if he is surrounded
with Thallions. By making an army of shooters, with him, Riflemen
and Thallions for the most part, you're going to treat yourself, but
do not count on him too much to tip the balance of the battle either.
Melkion is an excellent mage, without doubt a little bit expensive, but who can turn
out very useful in certain configurations. First
of all, take him only when you face an army which does not cause Fear because
you're heading for complete collapse without a War-staff (unless you can buy
both, but hey, I've never been there). Equip him with the Scepter of Mysteries, or
The Iron (or even both). In this case, play troops such as
Templars and Inquisitors, cast Angel of Fire, Immolation and above all Pillar of Energy.
In a defensive scenario such as defending a bridge,
cast Pillar of Energy and, at the right time, unleash Burning Breath: it's very funny. Possible variants
include a good old Ball of Fire on an annoying Gidzzit ^ _ ^
For more detail on every troop, do not hesitate to see the appropriate comments for each.
The Price in P.A.
The Griffon troops are very expensive, reflecting their
quality. Unfortunately, in a system
based on outnumbering, it becomes tricky to play Griffons if
we take too many expensive troops. If you're not careful, you'll
find yourself playing only with figurines which are certainly absolutely
brilliant but extremely expensive. For example, an Inquisitor equipped
with Justice of Merin costs altogether 49 PA, and Arkhos
already costs 120 PA unequipped.
The average price of the troops Griffons is 20 PA, between the little Lancier
and the Inquisitor, at the level of the Exécuteur and basic
Templars. In other armies, the average is in the region of
10-15 PA. So, it is necessary to plan to compensate for this
great imbalance.
A Middling Competence for the Army
The competence Fanaticism is one of the most ineffective of the game, because
in the end it is not enough of an influence on numerous parts, and it
no longer works all the time. All your troops have a strong
Discipline, so the disciplinary test made after the Fear test
is made on a good characteristic. However, in general you use
the characteristic of your central
figure because of Leadership, so it's a competance of little use to the figurine which has it.
Fanaticism is not the major asset to the Griffons that Born Killer is to the Wolfen,
Hard-boiled is to the Dwarfs or magic is to Alahan.
The Courage
The longest running problem to Griffons is Fear. Without a
commander such as Arkhos or Abel + staff (which I do not advise),
your disciplinary score and your Fanaticism will not be
enough to make you hold your position. Worse, if you do not flee, you still have the penalties
associated with Fear, which leaves you with little hope.
The problem is obvious: only two characters benefit
from the competence Leadership, and they're Abel and Arkhos, who
respectively are ineffective (4 in Courage - mouahahaha) and expensive. To
take a magician such as Melkion prevents you from taking Arkhos, and in the same way taking Arkhos prevents you from playing Caïrn, because that already
costs you more than 160 PA without any spells.
The only solution to the problem of Fear is to play Arkhos.
Against Dirz or Mid-Nor, Arkhos will be broadly sufficient with his 7 in
Courage in 10 cms. Against an Undead or a Killyox, it will be necessary to
bring out the Crown to obtain an invaluable 8 in Courage within 25 cms and count
on a little luck.
Note that the Templars have the competence Bravery, which makes
them ideal troops to face the peoples of Dirz and Mid-Nor who do cause too much Fear, but which still leave you the possibility
of rolling a one on the Courage Test. Templars fail only
very rarely in their Fear tests if you have a War-staff or a commander.
A weak Initiative
In spite of the recent arrival of Thallions, Griffons
are not really endowed in this domain, which is a pity given the number of troops equipped with Warrior Fury.
All the Templars have 3 in Initiative, which is rather weak,
and Lanciers have only 2. Only the Exécuteurs, the Thallions
and the Hunters of Darkness have 4 in Initiative. The
first are fragile troops needing careful use,
the second are often a little stranded from the bulk of the mêlées
because they are Scouts (to place them aside is not always a good choice to my opinion, it is better to play them invisible and position them to fire some centimeters away from the main part of the force)
and the last ones are expensive and very specialised.
In summary, to win the Initiative with certainty for
Griffons, it is necessary to have already wounded figurines with shooting and to charge them
with Thallions, Exécuteurs or Arkhos.
The Magic
First of all, magic costs the eyes out of your head for Griffons:
the magicians are expensive because they know how to fight in hand-to-hand,
the spells are also expensive (17 PA for Justice of
Merin, 56 for
Burning Breath, 22 for Ange de Feu) and the difficulties are high enough,
especially for the Hermetism spells of Melkion, calibrated to fit
Méliador.
In addition, Griffon magic is based on fire. Only Melkion has access
to Light for the moment, and to play Melkion completely
with Light is not very effective. Fire is opposed
to Water and the main users of Water spells
(which we can absorb easily) are Wolfen. Wolfen magic
is not very often played, because the prices
for the magicians are exhorbitant. Griffons thus have an element
which in practice cannot absorb anything but Darkness, and their
scores of power are generally rather weak (whether they are
Caïrn, Melkion or the Warriors Mages). It will be impossible to
counter or to absorb spells such as Telluric Slip, Bow of Mana, Thousand
Tears (which are very popular and devastating spells),
because the Power and the Mana reserve of the magicians are too
weak (2 for the Warriors Mages). Besides, Griffons have only few characters to choose from: We play mainly Arkhos, Melkion or Mirà,
who are very heavy in PA, and who are unable to
manage an enemy magician playing direct damage spells. How are we going to counter Salias Yesod with Thousand Tears accompanied
by a Biopsiste with Bow of Mana when we play Mirà or Arkhos? It's
the same to manage an unleashed Babayagob,
the little sod Gidzzit or the blessed Méliador.
Personally, I think that you should not hesitate
to play a Hunter of Darkness with Penalty. For 40 PA,
you have an assurance against the enemy magic if, obviously, you
keep the Hunter shielded from the damage spells
of the enemy magicians. Also Thallions make excellent
magician-beaters with their versatility, their competence Scout
and their ability to shoot.
Except for Arkhos, whom I really like for his ability
to distribute slaps at top speed, my preferred Griffon figurine
is without doubt the Hunter of Darkness.
Whether he's in a scenario, in Incarnation or for his utility appropriate
for a battle, he is very interesting to play. Indeed,
he's a troop with a very great potential that does
not always do fabulous things in every battle, simply because the player
has no opportunities. But sometimes he does wonders.
The last-minute disengagement and double shot can make anything fall over,
because it is all about those two Strength 6 hits. In the same way, ambushing
of an enemy magician will always pay off.
For a little story, I played a Hunter of Darkness
having faced for the first time Malal
d' Aran (the Shadow from the Diary of Journeys 2) in a scenario where he had
nibbled away at my army, unavoidably, from the height of his 180
PA, and where it was impossible for me to hurt him with a spell
because he is an Adept of 4 Elements and so absorbed all my
spells. The next day, I played my Hunter of Darkness
and Penalty, and having placed the figurine some centimeters
away from the mêlée between Malal and a Thallion who
waited to be chopped to bits, I successfully disengaged the Thallion
and fired a force 12 blow, a force 6 blow and another Thallion shot.
The unfortunate Malal was put in a critical state and was finished off the following turn.
All this is to say that the Hunter of Darkness is symbolic
of the Griffons: it is an ultra-specific figurine, either
effective or useless according to the situation, but, with a little bit of success,
it is broadly worth its PA for the number of wounds which it inflicts,
the number of spells which it absorbs and its 4 in Initiative.
There is only a single order of battle for Griffons according to me: play 2 Riflemen as
soon as the game allows it. Why 2? Because it allows you to
threaten two complete and distinct areas of the gaming table, and because it generally forces
the opponent to advance towards you split apart, without having compact groups of figurines, which is very
useful for the outnumbered Griffons. Besides, it gives you the chance
to hurt important figurines before hand-to-hand.
From there, I like to play 2 Lanciers to block the
enemy figurines.
Here are some example compositions of playable armies in 300 PA, from the moment you play in a scenario. If you play without a specific scenario, play smaller figurines and prefer a character such as Mirà towards the 100 PA maximum.
Composition against an army without fear Mirà with Hauteclaire and the experience card Ancestral Awakening 3
92 PA |
Composition against an army with fear Arkhos with Seal of the Temple 150 PA |
Composition for a very fast scenario Incarnated Thallion and Fist of Arcavius 84 PA |
Composition without person 1 Inquisitor and Incandescent Punishment 40 PA |
Composition with Magic Melkion with Scepter of the Mysteries 148 PA Or Melkion with The Iron 145 PA |
Anti-magic Composition Mirà with Hauteclaire and Ancestral Awakening 3 92 PA Or 1 Hunter of Darkness with Penalty 40 PA |
Composition with Shooting Saphon with Hand of Merin 83 PA |
The army of the Griffon has an enormous potential in Confrontation
from the moment we play in a scenario. Without that, it presents
very big gaps in term of available troops and suffers far
too much from outnumbering: a good basic troop around
18 PA, such as the Warrior of the Dawn, the Fianna or the Sword Player is missing in Griffons.
If that ever comes..!
Miles Teg
