Having played a bunch of games with Lannisters recently, taking them to tournaments and casual games for the past few months, I have come to realise they are struggling to compete with the other factions in the game. Even the statistics on ASOIAF-Stats shows their decline almost to a point where pure neutrals are better than Lannisters and everyone says neutrals are not a faction. But as one of the two founding factions, why has this happened?
The Tactics Deck
As with most games with a perk based system (Destiny Exotics, Characters in 40k etc), any perk or ability that you have to do something to get a benefit is automatically worse than any other perk/ability that just gives you a benefit. For example, in 40k one faction gets a 5+ ignore wounds after armour saves ability whilst another gets a 6+ when it is within 6 inches of a character with a specific keyword. One is automatically worse than the other. In terms of ASOIAF, the Basic Lannister Tactics Deck has over half its cards in a state of ‘must do something to get anything’.
A Lannister Pays His Debts – You must first attach this to a unit, and once you lose a unit then you gain a buff, and then to gain the extra buff you must hold the Crown Zone.
Fealty to the Crown – An enemy unit must fail a panic check and a friendly unit must be in Long Range that is injured. Most units in the game are now 7+ morale or better with a select few worse than this, and on average two dice will result in an 8/7/6, so most often or not without interference on both ends this card is worthless before you look for an injured Lannister unit within Long Range.
Subjugation of Power – When an enemy unit activates they must make a morale with possible negatives to suffer a debuff. Same as above most are unlikely to fail a morale due to the high quality morale across all factions, however this is easily achieved if you have used your NCUs to take some Tactics Zones. Either way they must fail a morale, a lucky roll or an average roll makes this card worthless.
Bribery – You must spend your activation on a NCU on the board and replace it with this card’s effect. Although the card is a useful card it can easily be thwarted by a simple pass of a morale or a NCU taking the coins. Is this worth not taking the soon and wasting a tactics card for it to be removed by something that is very likely to happen swiftly in the game?
Hear Me Roar! – When a morale test is being taken, debuff the morale test. Again, most units have decent morale and thus this will help swing the likelihood of failure, but is -1/-2/-3 so useful? You are unlikely to use this when you get the full effect as the unit you target is likely already dead or at a point where the card would be worthless. -2 is the best outcome however unless utilised with the armies abilities or piled on top of other cards it is likely to be useless.
Counterplot and, Intrigue and Subterfuge are great cards and very likely to be used when you draw them. No issues here.
Other factions gain a benefit from their card and then another if a further requirement is met. There are so many barriers blocking the Lannisters from benefiting from their deck, where for others it is as easy as playing the card. For example, the Stark deck gives an initial benefit and then a further one depending on a Tactics Zone you control. This is the same for the Baratheon Deck, Targaryen Deck and Night’s Watch Deck. The Free Folk Deck and Greyjoy Deck are filled with powerful cards that don’t need requirements but still have some that need requirements that weaken the deck.
A rework to the cards to add an initial benefit to each one would improve the deck immensely. One way to fix the Tactics Deck is to patch it up with a Commander, however I am afraid that most of the Commanders have this same weakness.
Commanders – Joffrey, Jaime, Tywin, Gregor
What’s worse than needing certain events to allow you to use your cards? The cards give you buff but at the same time dealing out a brutal punishment for using them. Joffrey is a terrible Commander and dare I say it worse Commander in the game fighting the Mother of Dragons for the spot. A Commander with a legendary deck that has caused me to lose units due to band rolls that gives away 3 VPs when they die (a third of the points your opponent needs to win by the way) is not worth the Kingsguard unit you get for 6pts. I wonder why Rickon is actually so worth taking for the 1 VP he gives but getting access to Shaggydog and Osha is actually useful to Starks unlike the easily killed Kingsguard that gives 3 VPs. Rework needed, no more no less.
Jaime suffers from main character syndrome. With the recent 2pts Attachement Marbrand Jaime has become better, however poor wording means you actually get nothing for the ability. If you don’t have Jaime, you use his card to draw the basic Lannister Deck, which as we have discussed, is terrible. It will all be about keeping Jaime alive just to use his deck that isn’t that special anyways.
Gregor is surprisingly useful. Assault orders are everywhere in the game and the outcome more often than nought is very beneficial. Resulting in Overrun becoming a useful card when you mix it with Clegane units, Price of Failure tends to be a dud but has potential. A well made Commander who is predictable. However, if you cannot get in combat and stay there enough to take advantage of these cards, then you will have dud cards you can’t easily get rid of.
You can break down most of the Lannister Commanders in this way and thankfully Adam Marbrand and Kevan Lannister are good enough to improve the faction at the cost of the rest of the faction receiving a reduced playtime.
Units – Nothing Unique
Free Folk have giants, mammoths and chariots pulled by wolves.
Night’s Watch have ballistas, catapults and a half ice zombie riding an elk.
Baratheons have fire spam and soon a cheap endless garden of lance and pikes.
Starks have direwolves, and affiliation focused armies of bears, axes and tough fish scale armour.
Targaryens are so varied that listing would be long whereas I can just say dragons.
Lannisters have what exactly? A few mad alchemists, a honour guard unit that looks vile, oh and Kingsguard but you have to take the worst Commander in the game and equip him to the unit that is easily killed jst to use them. There is nothing unique that makes the army stand out. In terms of units, Mountains Clansmen, Marbrand Cavalry perhaps even Gold Cloaks could bring this flavour to the faction, however Lannisters are all about the scheming, the plotting, the back stabbing. Maybe the NCUs should be the standout of the army?
NCUs aren’t oppressive from the Lannisters, Kevan and Tywin are powerful but their points cost can cost you activations and the deprived Lannister factions need every activation they can get. Joffrey isn’t as strong anymore, Cersei and the Tommen Cersei allow you to reuse or demand the terrible cards from the deck. The list goes on until you realise it is better to take neutrals.
Flayed Men are everywhere and seem to be better than the Lannister Cavalry in every way. Roose, Petyr, Varys are amazing NCUs that perform so well in the faction. Mummers are more useful to Tywin than any of the Lannister units, the cheapness of Stormcrows, the Morale tricks of the Boltons, all the neutral units fit better than the army’s own units.
I hope CMON has some clever releases in store to help fix the army, and the faction as a whole is reworked come the next rules update. Until then, the Heroes Box 3 is a brilliant patch to the failing faction and we may see a resurgence in the army once the characters are more play tested.
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