Backers! Mr. Black here, and I’ve brought you some lovely Nasier and Shael Han treats this Friday!

First up we have a Shael Han preview: Hong Yao, the Red Demon, freshly painted up by our own Jen Haley!

Next up we have some more spoilers from Development, namely the Nasier Fel Warriors!

Specializing in overwhelming crushing power we have the Fel Hammers! These guys hit like a truck… A truck covered in boxing gloves… Wearing a yellow Bruce Lee jumpsuit…

… I am not good at analogies…

Focusing on the Nasier tactics of “All-in” offense we have a unit who already hits hard and can take some big risks to hit even harder! There is a very big risk/reward system here with the Fel Warriors, namely in their Unleash Fury special ability, which allows them to gain some truly monstrous offensive power at the cost of personal safety (Namely in that they just might explode after using it!). The savvy player must learn when best to use this ability, and the savvy opponent must know how to bog these guys down in low-ranking Infantry and targets in order to wear them thin.

When dealing (and playing) with the Fel Hammers understand that they are a ticking time bomb, growing strongest just before their explosive end, and just like a bomb, they can be a terrifyingly efficient tool to use, but should the opponent know how to work around them they might very well find a way to make that bomb detonate pre-maturely, which holds nothing good for the other nearby Nasier troops!

Leading the Fel Hammers we have their Rank 1 leader, The Unmasked. She carries much the same abilities as the Fel Hammers with the added ability of Master of Deception, which will allow her to react both offensively and defensively against enemy movement. On the defense she can dart away from an oncoming threat, and on the offensive she can use the same trick to launch herself into the enemy back-ranks (hopefully near some high-value targets, such as Leaders or Specialists)- just be sure you have a way out should you choose this all in approach… sacrificing a Leader is rarely worth it and can really come back to bite you in the end.

One thing to note is that, while the Unmasked truly is one of the better combat Leaders in the game she also carries the risks of Unleash Fury, so, once again, careless plays will end up only forcing a loss for both her and the Fel Hammers under her care!

Of course, being a Leader, she naturally Inspires the troops around her, and her Inspire is particularly useful for the Fel Hammers- basically making it so that high risk/reward move of activating Unleash Fury becomes all the more tempting…

Last, but not least, we have the Rank 2 leader for the Fel Warriors, Arkan Thesh. Sure, he may look just like a big Fel Warrior, but looking at his abilities we see he is anything but.

First and foremost, we see he does not have Unleash Fury. No, his aspect is much… darker… Arkhan Thesh is host to two fighting spirits, and this is represented by his Dual Possession ability, which on a successful Will Check rewards him with the benefits ofElemental Fury (sans the exploding aspect!)… On a failure, however, not only is he taking a nasty hit, but so is everyone near him, friend and foe a like!

… Of course there is nothing saying you couldn’t just fly him into the center of the enemy army and hope for the best, but I really expect you to make better use of a Rank 2 Leader than that!

Looking at his Inspire, he only moves to push the Fel Hammers to higher extremes, gifting them with additional attacks for the drawback of an even higher chance of killing themselves! I hope you understand by now that if you are a big risk-taker then the Fel Hammers were built specifically for you!

Of course, Arkhan’s Training works to counteract the negatives his dual nature bestows on the troops around him (or accentuates it if you want to see more explosions!) It’s a tricky tool, and it will take some hard tactical choices to determine whether saving your troops via the enhanced Will is the better move… or sacrificing them to an exploding death to harm any nearby enemies is the way to go!

Overall, the Fel Warriors represent the basic tenants of the Nasier army: Achieve victory at all costs. They present the option to really hammer (pun!) their way through even the toughest enemy army, but everything comes at a price, and its knowing when to pay this price that will separate the good generals from the bad!

That’s all for this week, dear players! I’ll check back with you all soon with some more goodies, and I’m sure we’ll keep the flow of model pictures coming as well!

Stay tuned!

-Mr. Black