Dragon Dice™ - SwampStalkers

The SwampStalkers

Heavy Melee	Light Melee	Missile	Cavalry	Magic
Warmonger	Striker	Sprayer	Bog Runner	Bog Adept
Ravager	Raider	Stormer	Marsh Swimmer	Marsh Mage
Annihilator	Invader	Deluger	Wave Rider	Swamp Wizard
Crocosaur	Mudmen	Ormyrr	Swamp Beast	Swamp Giant

Introduction

In the fetid swamps of Esfah resides a race of vile, slithering horrors. Those who speak of them do so in hushed whispers, and refer to them simply as the Swamp Stalkers. Ancient legends speak of disheartened soldiers fleeing the field of battle into the dense, impenetrable swamps, only to fall prey to Death, as he unleashed powerful sorceries at them, twisting and mutating their bodies and souls, driving them to the brink of madness. Only through the heroic intervention of Aguarehl was Death’s grip over these misshapen horrors loosened just enough to instill independence into these new creations. The Swamp Stalkers are a fearful sight to behold, strangling the life out of their victims deep in the muck and ooze of the marshlands.

The Swamp Stalker special abilities:

Swamp Stalker units count maneuvers as saves when rolling for saves in swampland terrain;

Swamp Stalkers have the power to mutate their enemies. At the beginning of your turn, one of your armies at a terrain may mutate if it contains at least one Swamp Stalker unit, and if you have at least one dead Swamp Stalker unit in your dead unit area. If these conditions are mat, target three health of an opponent’s reserves (your choice) which must save or die. For those that die, recruit/promote up to that many health-worth of Swamp Stalker units from your dead unit area to the mutating army.

The Swamp Stalkers are rather average icon count when it comes to melee, missiles or magic. Their greatest weakness is that next to the Undead they have the fewest total maneuver icons at 23. However, they make up for this shortfall by being very tough to kill. They have a total of 38 save icons, the third-best of all of Esfah’s races. However, place them in the swamplands, where their maneuvers count as saves, and the Swamp Stalkers are harder to kill than any other race. Place a common Bog Runner at a swampland, with its 3 maneuvers and 2 natural saves, and it will save better than any other unit in the game, and equally well as Dragonkin.

You’ll want to use plenty of cavalry units when playing with the Swamp Stalkers. First of all, you’ll have more luck maneuvering the terrains to where you want them, and second of all, you’ll be almost impossible to kill when in the swamps. Your best bet is to gather a bunch of cavalry together at a swampland, and maneuver the terrain all the way up to an Eighth Face, relying on their save power to withstand any damage from attacks thrown their way. Even better, in a multi-player game, you are less likely to be the target of attacks by other players until later on in the game, since players are more likely to attack where they can inflict more damage. By protecting yourself early, you can watch your opponents turn on each other instead, until they realize that you’re in a position of power. By then, it may be very difficult for them to thwart your plans.

Swamp Stalkers may be tough to kill, but they can achieve their greatest potential when a few of their number lie dead, and they have an opportunity to mutate their enemies. For this reason also, players tend to be careful about killing Swamp Stalkers early in the game, when they may wish to head to the reserves in order to re-deploy their troops to more favorable terrains.

SwampStalker Magic

The Swamp Stalkers also have some of the best spells in the game. They have access to black magic, allowing them to bury the dead of their enemies in order to boost their spell power. In addition, the 4-point Cantrip on the Swamp Wizard can bring back two Commons with Reanimate Dead spells, or kill off a troublesome Common here and there with a Finger of Death spell. The spell that most vexes their enemies is the Mire spell, which makes it temporarily impossible to maneuver a terrain. By casting Mire spells upon the other terrains, you can delay the progress of other players, and be the first to capture a terrain and consolidate your power.

The Swamp Stalkers are weakest when it comes to healing multi-health units. Reanimate Dead spells ensure that Commons are easy to bring back to life, but the lack of spells such as Breath of Life and Spark of Life mean that they must rely on being able to mutate opponents’ units, capture a City Eighth Face, or count on a lurking Troll to roll a Regenerate. In addition, Swamp Stalkers have little in the way of offensive spells. Once Swamp Stalker mages gather at an Eighth Face, a common tactic is to summon Black or Green Wyrms upon their enemies, in the hopes of that single massive dragon strike that will wipe out an opponent. Once enemy units lie dead, your mages can feast upon the energy still lingering in their corpses.

Strategies

Here are a few strategies when building a Swamp Stalker army:

Use plenty of cavalry units, for protection and maneuvering ability;
Ensure that you either have a way to bring back multi-health units (e.g., a Troll) or use all Commons instead;
Consider combining the Swamp Stalkers together with other races that will complement their special abilities. For example, this could mean teaming them up with Goblins, who gain the ability to double their maneuvers in the swamps. A Swamp Stalker/Goblin army maneuvers well and saves well at a swampland;
Since your Swamp Stalkers are well-protected to begin with, consider combining them with some offensive magic, such as that of the Firewalkers.

Strategy for playing a Swamp Stalker army:

The Swamp Stalkers tend to do well in capturing a terrain early, and then either looking for opportunities to snag a second Eighth face, or using Dragons to terrorize their opponents.
Do your best to win the horde roll, so as to have at least two swamplands in play; stick mainly to the swamplands because that is where you are the safest. If you appear to be untouchable, your opponents will likely turn on each other first, leaving you with some time to reach an Eighth face.
Use Mire spells to slow down your opponents while you march towards an Eighth Face. If you have the opportunity along the way, don’t hesitate to cast an Open Grave on your cavalry units and then charge, dealing out more damage along the way. If you’re at a Swampland, and you have some Goblin cavalry mixed in, then so much the better.
Once you have an Eighth Face, send fleets of Dragons (preferably Wyrms) down on your opponents. Use Foul Water spells to get rid of pesky Commons here and there, and don’t forget to bury your opponents’ units wherever possible, to double your black magic.
Once the war of attrition has tipped enough in your favor, you’ll want to make the final move to capture a second terrain. Send a contingent of Bog Runners (or other cavalry) to a second terrain (preferably a swampland) and proceed to steadily move it up while your hapless opponents look on.

Army Construction

Mixed Swamp Stalker/Goblin army:

18 Bog Adepts
12 War Dog Riders
6 Speed Slippers

This army (and slight variants of it) have had much success at GenCon in recent years, particularly when the Swamp Stalkers had greater powers of mutation than they do now. Still, this remains a potent army.

The Bog Adepts protect the War Dog Riders as they march their way to an Eighth Face, and woe betide the unlucky opponent who gets in the way of a War Dog Rider charge at a swampland! The Bog Adepts gather at an Eighth Face and summon Dragons. Once strategy is to bring a swampland Standing Stones to the game, in which case, the Swamp Stalker mages can cast gold magic, opening up the possibility of a Path-Transmute Rock to Mud victory at a crucial point in the game. An army very similar to this won the World Championship in 1999.

Mixed Swamp Stalker/Firewalker army:

14 Bog Runners
8 Sunflares
2 Sunbursts
4 Speed Slippers

The Bog Runners work to run a swampland up to an Eighth face, while the Firewalker mages seek to help them out with Wind Walk spells, while at the same time whittling their opponents down with offensive spells such as Firebolt and Lightning Strike. This army won the World Championship in 1997.

Pure Swamp Stalker army:

6 Marsh Swimmers
6 Bog Runners
6 Delugers

Combine the maneuvering ability of your cavalry with the deadly missile potential of the Deluger, striking down your opponents with volleys of arrows (and the occasional Bullseye) while you march your way toward an Eighth face. Make your opponents think twice about sending Dragons your way. Once you fell the Dragon with a steady rain of arrows, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to promote your units as a result.

The Deluger is one of the best missile units in the game, combining 9 missile icons and 4 Bullseyes with 3 saves, rendering the Deluger less susceptible to Lightning Strikes than most of the other missile Rares in the game.

In general, you’ll need some patience in order to play this army most effectively. You’re not likely to gain a quick 2-terrain victory. Once you enlist the Swamp Stalkers into your armies, you’d best be prepared to dig in for a war of attrition. If done properly, though, you’ll watch as your opponents’ forces are slowly whittled away, and as more and more of their units fall, the effects will snowball, until you’ve won the day.