Counting down to #1– the top 10 abilities in Factions: Battlegrounds (#4-#3)

We enter the final 4! Here is a refresher on the rest of the best: Top 10 Abilities #10-#8 and Top 10 Abilities #7-#5. Which abilities make my top 4?? Let’s see!

#4- KIDNAP

(Doom Sand- Doom Sand Outlaw)

(Doom Sand- Tyrant Chieftain)

(Units with Kidnap can target adjacent units with a Prowess (Attack attribute+ Health attribute) less than or equal to their own Prowess plus 2. The kidnapped unit is removed from the game, but not eliminated. The kidnapping player receive points as though they eliminated the unit, however, the opposing player can buy it back by paying its gold cost to you at any time they have the activation. If your opponent buys the unit back, you’d lose the victory points.)

Factions: Battlegrounds is predicated upon player choices. If you make strategically sound, relatively thought-out choices, then you usually will have a chance at victory. Kidnap is such a good ability because it forces your opponent to make a choice. Only with this choice, all options benefit you and none benefit your opponent. Kidnap is a bit of a complex ability, but well worth it to understand. Units with Kidnap simply take their attack attribute, add it to their health attribute (the total of this number is called Prowess), and then add 2 to that number. This number is known as the “kidnap number”. Any unit with a Prowess equal to or less than the kidnap number is an eligible target.

Kidnap is a chaos creator at worst and a massive treasure chest of gold or a game winner at best. Units that are kidnapped are gone from the board, which is helpful for board control. Your opponent’s rock and hard place choice can have game long consequences, as they have to decide to let you keep a big point boost or pay YOU (not just pay) the unit’s gold cost. Let’s focus on the resource element of Kidnap. Your enemy pays to recruit their unit (1 payment) then that unit gets kidnapped… and they pay again so you don’t get points (2 payments). The previously kidnapped unit returns to the warband- NOT the basecamp, so if your opponent wanted to re-recruit the unit, they’d have to pay again (3 payments). That is a significant amount of resources! Oh, and Kidnap is not single use. If your kidnapper is still lurking around, guess what? You can repeat that whole cycle again.

Of course, your opponent may just cut their losses, and let you keep the victory points. Scoring a chunk of points on a unit that you might not be able to outright eliminate is not such a bad outcome either. Kidnap in the right circumstances can be used as a game-ending maneuver- and there is nothing like a walk-off kidnapping! Kidnap disrupts and pressures your enemy into making a difficult choice, one that usually provides you with a big advantage.

#3- SKIRMISH

(Parada- Parada Militia)

(Parada- Centaur Skirmisher)

(Parada- Elf Bladelord)

(Zyan- Sunfire Angel)

(Zyan- Royal Swordfighter)

(Moonshadow- Elite Spearfighter)

(When enemies enter an adjacent space, units with Skirmish make an immediate melee attack. If the unit entering the adjacent space has Skirmish as well, there is no Skirmish attack made.)

Other abilities (like Kidnap) have more powerful and game changing potential but when it comes to practical use, Skirmish is the best. It might sound like an offensive ability, but Skirmish is actually a defensive- based ability. Enemies that enter an adjacent space (yes, this includes Aquatic units popping up next to units with Skirmish and also Aerial units that land on a space next to a unit with Skirmish) get whacked automatically, before anything else happens- meaning they get hit even if they are just passing through, and they get hit prior to attacking themselves. Skirmish might never get triggered in a battle, but still completely take over through the amount of attacks that are completely deterred.

Where the offensive element of Skirmish does come into play is actually in unit movement. It’s much easier to be aggressive and press across the board when you know that your unit will get a free hack on any enemy that wanders too close. When used well, Skirmish units can shrink the battleground by getting into the opponent’s zone and making key spaces dangerous. Skirmish might not be the most obviously powerful ability, but it’s so useful it’s hard to keep out of the top 3.

Well, we have reached the top 2…. next week we will reveal the top 2 abilities in the game! Which ability do you think is #1?