Thoughts on how good Captains are

[chucklehead]

Hi folks

I had a search on here and couldn't find much discussion on Captains, so I thought I'd start my own thread.

What is the general consensus on them? After admittedly only a handful of games, I'm not massively convinced by them. They aren't significantly better than the higher cost troops and over the course of a series of games (assuming they survive!), they eat up a lot of gold. Over 10 games, on top of their initial deployment cost, they could comfortably take another 500 gold? More? The only unique role that I can see them filling better than any other character is loading them up with armour to make them a tank.

I'd be interested to hear other thoughts, see what ideas people have for them that I haven't thought of.

Cheers!

[Ogrob]

My Captains always seem to do really well, so I've been pleased with mine in the few games I've played. Haven't gotten to really level one up yet, but I do like that you can stack some magic gear on them.

[Timeshadow]

I love mine for a great inital alpha strike with the +3 shoot trick and a crossbow. Then I send him in with one or two beat-sticks to take the middle where one in combat his decent Fight and great armor coupled with the +3 fight trick let him do very well. I like to give him +1 shoot to begin with and eventually give a luck stone so he can get a re roll with his alpha strike if needed :-)

[JohnDSD2]

Love mine. Black Angus, an angry Scotsman.

Maximised his armour and health and habitually possess him for armour 15, makes him pretty tough, so went the tank route.
I think the build is flexible enough for them to be tailored to your play style and though they are are better than a soldier they don't unbalance things.

[RedSquig]

I give him leather armour +1 mov, leadership and furious attack so i can hunt wizards with my capt and a few treasure hunters or move very quickly to the "objetive" of the scenario but.... its very expensive.

[Bishop Cockthrottle]

My regular opponent and I both hired a Captain for the last 3 scenarios of the Lich Lord campaign. We have found them to be great comedy value as both have died twice, mine is Missing Toes and they are worth a fortune in equipment that we are terrified will disappear with them at some point.

I have found that expecting them, and an attached fighter, to be some sort of super kill-team is the easy way to lose them. In the Lair of the Ghoul King last night they played as a good reserve and were able to pile in at the opportune moment to put enough pressure on the opposition's warband battle-line (it was a pretty bloody affair) to overwhelm the other captain and steal the Amulet from him while the enemy withdrew.

Our warbands are Knight/THunter heavy so we tend to be careful initiating combat as it can turn nasty quickly, the Captains are a psychological red herring that we both seem unable to overcome - it has added greatly to our games narrative-wise but as a force multiplier the jury is out for us.

[Bishop Cockthrottle]

Love mine. Black Angus, an angry Scotsman.

Maximised his armour and health and habitually possess him for armour 15, makes him pretty tough, so went the tank route.
I think the build is flexible enough for them to be tailored to your play style and though they are are better than a soldier they don't unbalance things.

Possess then Leap - Oh yes...  ;-)

[chucklehead]

The idea of an 'alpha strike' is interesting, and you could combine it with the tank option. You can have 1 good shot, then 1 decent round of combat, then should be able to tough it out until backup arrives.

Still doesn't sound like it's hugely impressive, considering he's taking at least 11% of all your gold

[punkrabbitt]

My initial use of a Captain involved sword, shield, mail, +1 Move, and Leadership. The Captain and 2 Infantrymen were killed by a single thief over a 3-turn combat.

Not an impressive start.

However, I am convinced that having a third group move will eventually pay off.

[Wyrmalla]

I'm planning on taking a captain during my next campaign.

Mail/ Vampiric Blade/ Shield/ Cloak of Protection/ Crystal Rose, plus +2 Health
Furious Strike/ Dodge

My warband's

2x Treasure Hunters
2x Rangers
3x Knights
1x Rangifer
1x Warhound

I usually split the band into two groups. Functionally, having a Captain could mean breaking into three groups. I'd treat the Captain like a Knight, but that's without having played a game yet with one.

I guess usage varies based on play style. Neither myself or my opponent have willpower based or AOE attacks for instance, and cover's pretty heavy, so we have quite a few scrums burst out.

[Pseudok]

Ah, Captains. Mine dealt the last hit on Ghoul King himself, stealing his amulet in the process.  (Well, technically rules don't enforce that, but I found the idea hilarious.)

So far I've had Captain for four games. She's gained one level, and has cost me 138 gold  from both treasures and selling stuff. Sword of Undead Slaying and the Amulet of the Ghoul King are permanently lost on her. In normal games she'd probably have cost even more, since Lich Lord treasures take average gold gains a little below what's to be expected.

Worth it? No, mathematically probably not. You're paying excessive premium for customization. There are definitely some pros in the customization options so it's not like Captains are totally useless compared to their cost, the cost just is greater than the extra punch.

That being said...

Captains are choice based entirely on your preferences and style. I mean, what's the gain on tweaking your car? Your audio system that already was top-notch? Heck, even re-furnishing your house that was perfectly fine before? If you like fine tuning a soldier and watch his or her story unfold within the games being played, you can do just that with some extra costs. The premium price isn't prohibitively expensive.