To be honest, it took me a minute to come to grips with the Bralani's card. I started at the top, as usual, and saw that he has a pretty respectable melee attack. "Close combatant," I thought, "got it." Then I glanced at his HP and realized how very, very wrong I was. Moving down the card, I got to Whirlwind Arrow. "Archer," I thought, "got it." Then I realized that this "archer" shoots at your Reflex Defense and realized that that was a Close rather than Ranged attack symbol. "Ah," I thought, "sort of a breath weapon thing. Got it." And then I realized that there are no checkboxes next to Whirlwind Arrow. "Aha!" I thought, "unlimited line attacks! That's what the Bralani is for."
This is pretty cool, especially given how much more flexible lines are in the revised rules. The Bralani can use that great mobility that Flight grants you to get in position, then pick any square within 10 of his position and let fly with his tornado ammunition.
As neat as that is, it's probably not enough to justify 43 points, at least not with that HP total. Fortunately, the Bralani has a couple of other tricks available. He's a Champion with a great rating, and his first Champion power lets you have a temporary monopoly on Flight (or at least slow down enemy flyers to the point that they may as well not be moving).
His other Champion power is something you shouldn't plan for, since a 16 may or may not come up at a time to make it matter, but it'll be pretty cool when it does happen. I can't imagine the circumstance when you won't welcome a +4 on an attack.
If only he had more hit points … . As it is, keep him away from enemies, unless those enemies have 20 or fewer hit points at the time. In that case, feel free to swoop in and finish them off with that respectable melee attack.
SynergiesPick a map that favors flyers, because you'll be the only one that can rely on your flying ability. Then make sure to use a bunch of flyers.
Consider the Hierophant of the Seventh Wind as a partner. He flies, and he can even grant temporary Flight to others (*cough* Dire Tiger *cough*). Throw in a Giant Eagle or two (it reaps a handsome +4 to hit from the Hierophant), and you have an extremely mobile warband that should be able to fly circles around the enemy.
500-Point PlayIn larger-point battles, the Bralani becomes a harassment piece and an anti-flying tech piece. This isn't a bad thing. He may also be able to pick off some fodder while throwing a little extra damage on the big guys, thanks to that line attack.
Ter Abr 22, 2008 7:30 am
