Earlier this month, we looked at the DnD: Attack Wing starter set. At the same time, WizKids released a fairly large Wave 1 expansion wave. Since it was so large, let's break it into the Good models and the Evil models.
The Evil models include a Frost Giant, a pack of Wraiths, and a Hobgoblin warband. They provide something very unique for these Flightpath game systems.
First up, we have the Wraith expansion. It comes with two wraith models. You can take the basic wraith, or the unique version, Lord Maxamillan. As of now, the wraiths are the only models with the "Incorporeal" rule, which is very strong - it allows all of your attacks to ignore armor, and provides a defensive bonus as well. With Lord Max's FOUR defense dice, it's sure to come in handy.
The model also has the sidestep action, which is similar to X-Wing's barrel roll. Combined with Lord Max's ability to make an extra 1-maneuver, the wraiths are super mobile. My favorite Wraith upgrades include Life Steal, which heals you whenever you do damage, and Create Spawn, which lets you summon a brand new wraith when the upgraded creature gets a killing blow.
The Frost Giant is the first ground-only unit we've looked at. But fear not- it has a range-3 ranged attack to hit pesky fliers. Being a ground unit, he's fairly maneuverable for a large based model, including having the option to pivot in place. The named version, Jarl Horn, can charge a distance of two, which combined with the large base size, means he can move up the board very quickly.
The Hobgoblin warband is our first unit of troops. I like how they make the troop mechanic in this game. You can take a unit size anywhere from 1-6 models, with the cost increasing per model. Your opponent can pick out individual models to attack, provided he has LoS to it, but most of the time, you're only going to lose 1/6 of the unit a turn, unless they are targeted by an AoE such as Fireball or a breath weapon! In that case, hopefully you purchased a Scatter upgrade to save the unit!
Troops have a card like any other unit, but the card is just for a single troop. You get cardboard tokens that represent the state line of additional troops, and they stack ontop of the stats on the left side of the card. When you take a casualty, remove the top one, and you have the units new stats!
Generally more troops adds more attacks, but also less defense dice. It's hard for a formation of troops to dodge!
Overall, I'm not super impressed with the Hobgoblins. They don't really bring a lot to the table unless you're playing a themed Evil-only list, in which case they are a good range 3 attack.
The biggest winner of the Evil wave 1 expansion is the Wraith kit - specifically Lord Max. He is just a beast with his four armor-penetrating attack dice. The giant isn't bad either - a lot of tournaments have seen the giant being used as an anchor for ballistas and other squishy units.
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