The Book of Raelin the Kyrie Warrior (AoA)

[Strack9]

The Book of Raelin the Kyrie Warrior (AoA)
Age of Annihilation - Master Set

Basic Side Army Card

Spoiler Alert!

No PDF download for printing at this time.​

Biography: Raelin the Keen, Raelin the Brave… Raelin the Unyielding. Once a beacon of light in Jandar’s army, the ominous amulet about her neck now signals a new, sinister master of her mind and heart.

But all may not be lost. The will-bending magic of Kee-Mo-Shi has been beaten before. As Raelin defies the amulet’s influence from within, her allies work tirelessly from without to rid the world of the necklace’s power once and for all.



Power Text:

TERRIFYING AURA

While opponents' figures are within 4 clear sight spaces of Raelin the Kyrie Warrior, they lower their defense by 1.

TWIST tHE BLADE

If Raelin inflicts at least 1 wound with a normal attack or leaving engagement attack, she inflicts 1 additional wound.

FLYING

_____________________________________________________________________​

- Rulings and Clarifications -

• TBA

_____________________________________________________________________​

- Combinations and Synergies -

Synergy Benefits Offered:

• LOVIÄTAK THE KYRIE WARRIOR: Dynastic Leadership
  
  As a Unique Kyrie Hero who follows Utgar, Raelin can fulfill the requirements of Loviatäk the Kyrie Warrior's DYNASTIC LEADERSHIP special ability so that all figures you control who follow Utgar increase their Move Value by 1.

Synergy Benefits Received

• LOVIÄTAK THE KYRIE WARRIOR: Dynastic Leadership
  
  If you control Loviatäk and another Unique Kyrie Hero who follows Utgar (like Raelin herself), Raelin increases her Move value by 1.
  
  
• MINIONS OF UTGAR: Utgar’s Orders
  
  As a Kyrie warrior that follows Utgar, Raelin the Kyrie Warrior may benefit from the Minions of Utgar's UTGAR’S ORDERS activation synergy.
  
  
  
• KHOSUMET THE DARKLORD: Relentless Assault
  
  Having a Relentless personality, Raelin the Kyrie Warrior may benefit from Khosumet the Darklord’s RELENTLESS ASSAULT attack bonus.
  
  
  
• ORNAK: Red Flag of Fury
  
  As a unique hero that follows Utgar, Raelin the Kyrie Warrior may benefit from Ornak’s RED FLAG OF FURY activation synergy.
  
  
• DEATH KNIGHTS OF VALKRILL: Unholy Bonding
  
  As a Large hero with a Relentless personality, Raelin the Kyrie Warrior may benefit from the Death Knights of Valkrill's UNHOLY BONDING activation synergy.
  
  
• ATLAGA THE KYRIE WARRIOR: Kyrie Leadership
  
  As a Kyrie, Raelin the Kyrie Warrior adds 1 to her Move due to Kyrie Leadership.

C3V and SoV Custom Synergies

Spoiler Alert!

Synergy Benefits Offered

• KNIGHTS OF BLACKGAARD : Relentless Army Attack Bonus
  
  Having a Relentless personality, Loviatäk The Kyrie Warrior may aid the Knights of Blackgaard with their RELENTLESS ARMY ATTACK BONUS.

Synergy Benefits Received

_____________________________________________________________________​

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Rankings

OEAO: B

(Subject to change)

Matthias Maccabeus (Melee Perspective): C+

(Subject to change)

Dok (VC Inclusive): TBA

(Subject to change)

Master Index

Unit Strategy Review

TBA.

Images

AoA Concept Art

Spoiler Alert!

 

[FIRE_LORD510]

Her and Loviatak feel made to synergize well together. I'm glad that level of care and dedication went into the figures as well as the lore behind them. Her riding a flying saber tooth tiger feels like the Utgar thing to do.

 

[Nukatha]

Death Knights are a fun bonding choice, as they already reduce the defender's defense by 2. Along with Evil Raelin, they're 2 atk vs. -3 defense, meaning a lot of foes aren't rolling at all.

 

[Good Pig]

For funsies I'd like to try her with a few squads of the Death Knights to set up a screen. Then have Deathwalker 8000 within range to use Rapid Fire SA on the opponent's figures with lowered defense.

 

[Sherman Davies]

That tiger being purely cosmetic is so sad. I honestly doubt whether this design would've passed muster with C3V or SoV.

 

[Myriadite]

That tiger being purely cosmetic is so sad. I honestly doubt whether this design would've passed muster with C3V or SoV.

Hey, that tiger clearly gives her the ability to fly around the battlefieldohwaitnevermind

Still, it is a fun miniature, and that wins popularity points for the kids.

 

[ThrasherDarkrai]

It's a fun sculpt, but I have to agree with Sherman Davies here. The worst thing about Raelin (AoA)'s design is that this exact same design could be used for an unmounted Raelin and literally nothing would change. In fact, it'd arguably make more sense; are we to believe that the only thing the Manticore is providing to Raelin is a single point of life? Just another instance where AoA prioritizes style over design sense IMO.

But speaking about gameplay for a second: reducing enemies' defense by 3 with the Death Knights is a neat trick, but that's basically all Raelin (AoA) has going for her. I doubt she'll see all that much play without Death Knights unless you're trying to get Loviatak's Dynastic Leadership to function, which doesn't seem worthwhile to me in most instances.

 

[Owlman]

It's a fun sculpt, but I have to agree with Sherman Davies here. The worst thing about Raelin (AoA)'s design is that this exact same design could be used for an unmounted Raelin and literally nothing would change. In fact, it'd arguably make more sense; are we to believe that the only thing the Manticore is providing to Raelin is a single point of life? Just another instance where AoA prioritizes style over design sense IMO.

But speaking about gameplay for a second: reducing enemies' defense by 3 with the Death Knights is a neat trick, but that's basically all Raelin (AoA) has going for her. I doubt she'll see all that much play without Death Knights unless you're trying to get Loviatak's Dynastic Leadership to function, which doesn't seem worthwhile to me in most instances.

I dunno, that Aura can be pretty mean against all melee bonding armies. Against range she's in trouble, but who isn't?

I don't think she's more than a B+ rating at best, but I think she will see plenty of play, at least at first. I agree tho, wish the Manticore had some sort of special, or a pseudo Chomp like 'ol Grimnak.

 

[chas]

The mythological Manticore is supposed to have a "scorpion's tail," that can launch poison stingers! So this one seems like a missed opportunity. This feature seems an integral part of the creature in most interpretations of it, looking at wikipedia.

This is doubly disappointing to me, since oddly enough I actually have a small board game footnote with a Manticore. It was a promo card in the original Cyclades (Metagot), which used many mythological creatures. Years ago, I went to an old Italian printer to get my own card made up--I guess someone else had the card or a photo of it, but I didn't. The craftsman worked hard for me to make me a card that matched to the standard creature cards, although in the end the color tone was just a bit off. I took out this card from the old game just now to take a look. Its shown with a lion's head and bat wings, but a distinct scorpion's tail, which it has in both its picture and its symbolic icon version.

 

[SkyWhale]

May be worth noting that Raelin's mount does in fact have a scorpion's tail. You just wouldn't know it by looking at the card.

 

[Robotech Master]

If 'Twist the Blade' had its name changed to imply its an effect of being stung by the tail, that would alleviate any sculpt/rules relations without even having to change the text of the rules themselves.

Not a big deal to me because there's an additional reason for having the mount vs. not having it: its a better model to paint.

 

[nyys]

We never saw the card during the AoA campaign, right? I wonder if this is what it looked like then or if Renegade messed with it. The mount serving no purpose is mind boggling.

C3V Repaint?

 

[TGRF]

Interested to get your thoughts on this - I wonder if the Raelin/Deathknights combo will cause an increase in popularity of the Iron Golem (and other warforged) as a counter?

Unless Raelin/Deathknights get an attack dice buff (like from Taelord), Iron Golem is literally immune to the DKs, because he always has at least two shields. That means regardless of how much his defense goes down and how well the DKs roll, they can't touch him. He's then free to wade through them with his 6 attack, engaging as many as possible.

Obviously Iron Golem is crap for taking out squads one by one, but I'm kind of curious to know if you guys think he and other warforged could see a rise in popularity purely as a counter to Raelin/DKs?

~TGRF.

 

[MegaSilver]

Interested to get your thoughts on this - I wonder if the Raelin/Deathknights combo will cause an increase in popularity of the Iron Golem (and other warforged) as a counter?

Unless Raelin/Deathknights get an attack dice buff (like from Taelord), Iron Golem is literally immune to the DKs, because he always has at least two shields. That means regardless of how much his defense goes down and how well the DKs roll, they can't touch him. He's then free to wade through them with his 6 attack, engaging as many as possible.

Obviously Iron Golem is crap for taking out squads one by one, but I'm kind of curious to know if you guys think he and other warforged could see a rise in popularity purely as a counter to Raelin/DKs?

~TGRF.

Iron Golem's 2+ auto shields only works against Special Attacks.

Death Knights are still going to have a problem with their movement and low number of attacks. Yes they will be more dangerous now, but I think at best it will actually make them playable, but not meta defining.

 

[TGRF]

Iron Golem's 2+ auto shields only works against Special Attacks.

Ah, my bad. Don't know how I missed that.

It could still increase the playability of the Warforged Soldiers a bit I think. They only get 1 automatic shield, but it is against normal attacks. Means the DKs need to roll 2 skulls to kill them. Still, with the 5 defense I don't see the WS really chewing through them - more useful for locking them down most likely.

It's a fairly minor thing, of course. None of this will be meta-defining, obviously. Just theorycrafting.

~TGRF.

 

[ryguy266]

Iron Golem's 2+ auto shields only works against Special Attacks.

Ah, my bad. Don't know how I missed that.

It could still increase the playability of the Warforged Soldiers a bit I think. They only get 1 automatic shield, but it is against normal attacks. Means the DKs need to roll 2 skulls to kill them. Still, with the 5 defense I don't see the WS really chewing through them - more useful for locking them down most likely.

It's a fairly minor thing, of course. None of this will be meta-defining, obviously. Just theorycrafting.

~TGRF.

The warforged (my army) just lost to a deathknights build with Loviatak and RAoAlin in the current OHS season. My opponent rolled very well with two attack, and it was enough. The real MVP was my Syvarris, who managed to take out Raelin and one death knight before they could even reach my start zone. The death knights biggest weakness will be good range because they are an average moving two man squad. Having solid inexpensive bonders is a bonus for them, but "gimmicks" like the auto-shield aren't any better into death knights than they are into anything else.

 

[Shurrig]

Iron Golem's 2+ auto shields only works against Special Attacks.

Ah, my bad. Don't know how I missed that.

It could still increase the playability of the Warforged Soldiers a bit I think. They only get 1 automatic shield, but it is against normal attacks. Means the DKs need to roll 2 skulls to kill them. Still, with the 5 defense I don't see the WS really chewing through them - more useful for locking them down most likely.

It's a fairly minor thing, of course. None of this will be meta-defining, obviously. Just theorycrafting.

~TGRF.

The warforged (my army) just lost to a deathknights build with Loviatak and RAoAlin in the current OHS season. My opponent rolled very well with two attack, and it was enough. The real MVP was my Syvarris, who managed to take out Raelin and one death knight before they could even reach my start zone. The death knights biggest weakness will be good range because they are an average moving two man squad. Having solid inexpensive bonders is a bonus for them, but "gimmicks" like the auto-shield aren't any better into death knights than they are into anything else.

I'll jump in here and add that at Raelin's very worst, she's a fast sharking unit. In the game mentioned above she ended up doing nothing, but that was due to a mixture of poor attack and defense rolls (1/6 for attacks and 4/22 for defense) and the accursed auto-shield. When she doesn't do that, her capabilities as a 3rd attacker for death knights can be brutal.

 

[TGRF]

Iron Golem's 2+ auto shields only works against Special Attacks.

Ah, my bad. Don't know how I missed that.

It could still increase the playability of the Warforged Soldiers a bit I think. They only get 1 automatic shield, but it is against normal attacks. Means the DKs need to roll 2 skulls to kill them. Still, with the 5 defense I don't see the WS really chewing through them - more useful for locking them down most likely.

It's a fairly minor thing, of course. None of this will be meta-defining, obviously. Just theorycrafting.

~TGRF.

The warforged (my army) just lost to a deathknights build with Loviatak and RAoAlin in the current OHS season. My opponent rolled very well with two attack, and it was enough. The real MVP was my Syvarris, who managed to take out Raelin and one death knight before they could even reach my start zone. The death knights biggest weakness will be good range because they are an average moving two man squad. Having solid inexpensive bonders is a bonus for them, but "gimmicks" like the auto-shield aren't any better into death knights than they are into anything else.

I'm curious if the WS at least slowed the DKs up - obviously they won't last long, but the auto shield is bound to block some attacks and thus keep the DKs engaged while range can take them out. Were they useful in that respect, or did the DKs chew through them easily anyway?

~TGRF.

 

[Shurrig]

I'm curious if the WS at least slowed the DKs up - obviously they won't last long, but the auto shield is bound to block some attacks and thus keep the DKs engaged while range can take them out. Were they useful in that respect, or did the DKs chew through them easily anyway?

~TGRF.

They did a great job of blocking my attacks of 1, but I was rolling an uncanny amount of 2/2's near the endgame with my DKs so it's tough to tell. The only unit they really stopped was my Raelin, and that's really just due to her dying early and having 3 crappy attack rolls.

 

[Scapemage]

I updated the OP with some formatting and consistency checks. I am not fully versed in C3V/SoV synergy webs, if you know of any additional synergies, please let me know.

I will be going through this process for all AoA-era units and then updating the index threads at the end.