Call It Shadespire!

Decision: Should You Play Soothing Companion? TL;DR: Most decks won't benefit from including Soothing Companion.  However, a few niche roles may see some real use from this card.  If you're playing Katophrane Tomes out of Mollog's Mob, Ylthari's Guardians, Thorns of the Briar Queen, Zarbag's Gitz, or any of the resurrect/summon warbands, it may be worth trying.  It won't blow your hair back like Upper Hand/Ready for Action, but you could find that it's subtle utility makes it well worth including. Factor: The Changing Meta Let's be honest, when the Grymwatch was released, we all pretty much dismissed Soothing Companion.  And who could blame us, with gems like Larval Lance, Survival Instincts, and Trophy Belt in the same pack?  But recent tournament results may have changed things a bit. Of the top four decks at the Southern California Open, 3 played Supremacy or a Supremacy-equivalent objective (In the Name of the King, for example).  Simi...

Decision: Should You Play Survival Instincts? Tl;DR : Gitz and Thorns should definitely be considering this one.  Rats, Eyes, Guardians, Grymwatch, and Wild Hunt may also think about picking it up to keep important 2-dodge models alive. Brendan Gleeson is the most underrated actor working today. Factor: The Guard Let's start out by taking a look at what you actually gain from upgrading your fighter with Survival Instincts.  First and foremost, you're gaining an increased chance to successfully defend against your opponent's attacks.  Just how much you gain is largely dependent on where you start from.  The table below summarizes what you gain from upgrading with Instincts against various attacks.  1 Dodge 2 Dodge 3 Dodge 1 Block 2 Block 1 Sword 6% 6% 5% 3% 3% 2 Sword 7% 9% 8% 3% 3% 3 Sword 7% 10% 10% 4% 5% 4 Sword 7% 10% 11% 4% 5% 1 Hammer 11% 11% 9% 6% 5% 2 Hammer 11% 15% 14% 6% 7% 3 Hammer 9% 13% 16% 5% 6% Kind of like Brendan Gle...

Decision: Should You Play Bull Charge? TL;DR: Beastmen strong like bull, smart like tractor.  Bull Charge good. Factor: Ties At first glance, getting innate results really throws a monkey wrench into accuracy calculations.  But, as we've discussed in our article on Champions of Sigmar , Innate results on attack rolls really only matter when your attack would have tied without the innate.  And just like the Hammerbois of Dreadfane, the Cattlefolk of Beastgrave only have a few attacks on which Bull Charge will be applicable.  So in reality, the math on Bull Charge is actually pretty simple. Bull Charge 1d 2d 3d 1b 2b 1g AVG 2 Sword (x8) 36% 30% 24% 33% 23% 30% 29.3% 3 Sword (x6) 27% 24% 21% 26% 20% 25% 23.8% AVG 31.5% 26.8% 22.4% 29.4% 21.7% 27.1% Wow!  Those are very strong numbers - creeping close to an Upper Hand level of accuracy.  Let's compare them to Determined Effort: Bull vs Determined 1d 2d 3d 1b 2b 1g AVG 2 Sword (...

Decision: Should You Play Hunting Aspect? TL;DR: It really sucks to say this, but probably not. Factor: The Numbers At first glance, this card is incredible.  Numerically, it's out of this world; no other card gives four characteristic points.  Essentially, Hunting Aspect combines Great Fortitude, Great Strides, and Enchanted Collar into a single card.  Let's take a closer look at what those stat points actually do for us. To start, Hunting Aspect hits us with +2 move.  Lighaen - the only legal target for Aspect - starts with 5 move, so Aspect will bump him to a truly impressive seven move.  This allows you to move Lighaen from almost anywhere on the board to almost anywhere else.  This point is probably better made with a visual representation.  Let's say your beginning setup looks something like this - with your hunters represented by the blue circles and Lighaen positioned in the back.  This kind of setup would allow us t...