[DDM] Ghaele Eladrin - Worth its cost?

[Kae'Yoss]

Ghaele Eladrin
#19/60; CG; Angelfire; Rare; 124 pts
Commander 4
Lvl 10; Spd F12; AC 22; HP 65
Melee: +21/+16 (20 magic)
Ranged: +11/+11 (15 magic)
Type: Outsider
Commander Effect: Whenever a follower's attack roll is a natural 19 or 20, that follower can activate 1 extra time this round.
Special Abilities:
- Flight
- Blindsight
- DR 5
- Gaze Attack (Replaces attacks; range 6; morale save)
- Immune Electricity
- Improved Initiative 8 (Commander rating counts as 8 for initiative checks)
- Resist 10 Cold, Fire
- Spell Resistance (May ignore spells unless the caster rolls 11+)
Spells:
3rd - legion's magic weapon [] (your warband; attack +1, ignore DR);
6th - empowered cure critical wounds [] (touch; heal 50 hp)

Emphasis mine.

The mini has a lot of neat abilities: Commander 4 (Imp Init 8) which will let you win init most of the time. Neat attack and damage ratings. Interesting Commander effect. Nice spell selection. Immunities and resistances. And a gaze attack that will discourage anyone from making ranged attacks on this one unless they're far away.

But it is very expensive (most expensive non-huge CG unit, and even with huges, it is on place three) and has very few hit points. 65 HP for 124 points!

My question is: can the Ghaele serve as an Anchor for a 200 point Warband without being wiped out in a couple of rounds?

 

[Anti-Sean]

The buzz I hear from people much more in the know than myself is that its low HP makes it not quite worth it in 200 point constructed matches, but people seem to have higher hopes for it in 500 point games. Sealed tournaments, however, may be a somewhat different story. I pulled the Ghaele Eladrin as one of my rares in the prerelease tournament last week, and couldn't resist using it. I wound up with a 3-2 record by the end of the day.

This was my first tournament ever, and the first time I had played in a relatively competitive setting; I'm used to much more casual, slowly paced matches against my wife and my brother with fun bands that would be summarily destroyed in a competitive environment. I pulled a chain devil as my other rare, and due to the rest of my booster contents, wound up using those two figures plus a Dwarf Wizard and a Dwarf Mercenary. Like I said, I couldn't resist using the Eladrin after pulling her I knew that such a low activation band would be a definite gamble, especially with my two big hitters being such glass jaws (only 50 HP on the chain devil), but as long as the dice gods smiled upon me, I faired relatively well. My two losses were to two very skilled players who dismantled me quickly and brutally.

Stone Giant: " Ha Ha! I laugh at your puny AoO, Chain Devil! Here, Ms. Eladrin, have 20 points of damage, free of charge!" *thump*
Cleric of Dol Arrah: "Oh, below 50 HP now, I see? Here's a Dismissal!"
*Eladrin fails her save and disappears from the battlemat*

(damn, now that I've typed that up, I just remembered she has SR, and I think I forgot it that day! poop!)


My wins were against skilled players, but were mostly the result plenty of dice rolls in my favor. The Chain Devil was able to take advantage of the Eladrin's CE twice that day, and the gaze attack worked at least 5 or 6 times across the 5 matches. Her blindsight came in *very* handy against some imps and direguards, and her magic damage, Legion's Magic Weapon, and DR were great assets in the sealed tourney environment. Improved Init was great, I think I only lost initiative 2 or 3 times that day!

I think it all boils down to luck, and your willingness to gamble. I'm normally an incredibly risk-averse person, but since I showed up to the tournament mainly to get some boosters a week early, I went with it, and was very pleased with the results. I've been tempted to try building a few 200 point warbands with her in it for casual play, but my wife just brought home a booster with an Archmage in it today, so I may have to shelve those plans for a while!

 

[Jack of Shadows]

Yes,

I did very well at the pre-release tournament with one. However, I learned the hard way that they're better used as shooters than melee fighters. The Commander effect can really be worth it when the 19's and 20's come up. Don't forget that they have the empowered cure which is like having another 50 hitpoints.

Jack

P.S. Steel Predator is better thought.

 

[Nightfall]

Steel preddy IS better. The only real problem, it's ignoring morale boosters from commanders. Thus a lot of LE commanders get screwed, since they are (next to LG) among those that have the highest command ratings.

Ghaele can serve as an anchor but its probably worked better in conjunction with say a dragon or perhaps some other heavy melee damager.

Now its cousin, Trumpet Archon, that has some interesting potential in 200 games, especially with say, a commander like Paladin of Torm and/or Sword of Hernious.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Don't forget that they have the empowered cure which is like having another 50 hitpoints.

I thought of that, too. The only problem is that you might not get the chance to even use that.

Well, I think I'll try the Ghaele out in some friendly games and see how it goes. I think I'll shield it with some high hp creatures or something.