General description:
Hrothgar was the first Longship I had to face, and it hasn’t been pleasant. Good move (very good for the faction), average but over numbered cannons, good cargo space and decent price make this Drakkar an opponent to be remembered.
Uses:
Three 3S cannons that shoot twice (for a fire rate of 300%) make Hrothgar a good gunship (though a long cannon or two wouldn’t have hurt). I myself don’t think much or her special ability: it’s interesting if you are playing a heavy SM game, but in most cases it’s simply useless.
At 16 points Hrothgar is one of the cheapest three master longships (only the Huginn costs less, but with worse speed and worse cargo), I think a good role for her is main gunship in a standard game. Once manned she costs little more than 20 points, leaving enough room for he rest of the fleet.
Strategies and game play:
Hrothgar, like all Longships, has both advantages and disadvantages. We want to maximise the firsts and counter the seconds.
The main advantage is the impressive fire rate, comparable to the one of a six master junk. Contrary to junks, longships masts do block the line of fire, and since these are so wide it’s difficult to shoot all of them on the same target. Obtaining a good aim is quite difficult with this kind of ship, but here the ability to rotate on the stern at the end of the movement helps getting in the right position. Otherwise going in the middle of a couple of enemies would be wonderful, letting us cripple both of them in most cases. In any case Longships are the most difficult ships to position for shooting, this must be kept in mind in every movement!
Another advantage is the presence of oars. With an Helmsman we can bring back home a derelict ship at the good speed of S+S, and rebuilt it all in a few turns.
Combos with other miniatures:
I wouldn’t fill Hrothgar with too much crew:
- The omnipresent Helmsman gives her very fast speed, he’s important but not compulsory if you want to save points.
- A Captain is needed, no doubt about that. A generic one will do, otherwise we could pick Shayna Duex for a reroll (but with six cannons she might be redundant). The lack of good named crew for Viking faction is the main problem with them. There are very technical characters, like the “doctor”, but they miss most of the really important ones: first of all extra action and SAT. I’ll discuss the reason of this (or what I think it is) in another review, here we need only a captain.
- On a Longship a masts means two cannons, a Shipwright can thus fix two cannons in a single turn. A good choice if you ask me.
- In case we picked Shayna (and the reroll she grants), a good third option would be a Specialist shooter, a Firepot always welcome, otherwise a Chainshot to block an enemy ship...
So we have two different options: a 21 points (Helmsman-Captain) and a more expensive at 28 (Helmsman-Shayna-Shipwright-Specialist).
Ways to counteract it:
The main defence against Longships is attack. They are intimidating true, but since they have only 3 masts (meaning 3 hit points), the best tactics is front attack, being very careful to get the first hit. With a bit of luck they will be derelict before even knowing what hit them...
Strengths/Pros:
Good price,
Very good speed for the faction,
Good cargo space.
Longship ability.
Weaknesses/Cons:
Short cannons,
Lack of an interesting special ability.
Artwork and aesthetics:
The most beautiful Longship I’ve seen so far. Wonderful blue-white colour, and very beautiful golden prow.
Overall rating:
Good marks, I’d say a full 7/10. It would have been more with mixed cannons or a better ability.
Miniature Trading
