Which one of these would you pick for your vanilla Swarm strategy?

Kobolds are well-established for obstructing parts of the map as well as providing a high damage rate once they become numerous.

Reanimates propose an interesting alternative to Kobolds, with basically much better durability at the price (although only slightly) of mobility.

The number of figures cannot really be compared, Kobolds starting with three but growing as time goes by (if allowed by the heroes), Reanimates starting with their full group.

Obviously both monster types have different traits so not every quest would allow both.

Ignoring Blast effects for the sake of the discussion

The Reanimates are the monster group I am most looking forward to from Mists of Bilehall.

I like Kobolds, although the group I play with have become annoyingly good at wiping out the master kobolds.

The phalanx ability of the Reanimates looks excellent and encourages a different style of play as a tight group. I expect this will make blast effect attacks popular with the heroes. I also want to match the Reanimates with the skeleton archers - for a skeleton theme.

Undead are a common enough option to allow Reanimates to be played fairly regularly. Mixing Reanimates and Kobolds could lead to some interesting swarm possibilities. Also area of effect spells would be less effective against Reanimates in phalanx due to their reanimate ability. The reanimate models look great as well - assuming they do reflect the miniatures pictures unlike the amorphouse blobs I got with Shadows of Nerakhall :-(

The reanimation skill seems powerfull. Mainly against rookie heroes.

I agree with Ravencour. I'd also mention the fact the Reanimate minion can't miss an attack, whats pretty awesome if an attack is properly planned with dirty fighting/Dark might. It can be a certain KO.

By the way, is Reanimate 1st Ed. only? I cant see him in any H&M packs.

By the way, is Reanimate 1st Ed. only? I cant see him in any H&M packs.

They´re from the Mists of Bilehall expansion, which just got released.

Ahh, ok!

While Reanimates look to have staying power (tough to kill,) kobolds offer a rare ability for the OL to reinforce regardless of quest reinforcements. Even though the minion kobolds are quite squishy, sometimes it's enough to counter a hero party strategy of "we'll just stonewall until he is low on monsters, then take our time completing the objective."

I'd say it depends on the situation, but I lean much more heavily towards Kobolds.

However, if you need to blockade an area within the first few turns of the quest, then Kobolds will not have the opportunity to grow strong enough to do so and will get over-run quickly before they can reach their full potential.

Reanimates get their full group right away, and they have the ability to do more reliable damage than the Kobolds due to having unerring strikes. This is especially nice on heroes without armor.

So in general I'd say the Reanimates seem really strong early on in Act I and early in Act II, before the heroes have the opportunity to get powerfularmor/weapons. In the absence of strong attacks, the Reanimates can be really sticky and suffocating.

They also laugh in the face of the Spiritspeaker, making an already weak class even weaker, as well as many popular crowd-control skills such as Andira Runehand's heroic ability, Disciple Radiant Light, and the Bard's Dissonance skill. Conventional kobold elimination tactics just won't work.

However, once the heroes acquire strong weapons/skills/feats capable of one-shotting them this all changes.

All it takes is one or two solid strikes/kills to cause the Reanimation ability to falter and crumble. Then they quickly become a slower, weaker harpy. The poor speed that carries into Act II really hurts too, as their superior offensive ability is undermined by how darn slow they are. No scamper either!

They also are very unremarkable as a quest reinforcement.

So in general, I prefer Kobolds. A monster's value is in its ability to consume hero actions so they aren't put towards the quest objective. Three master Kobolds that are given time to bolster their forces and then hiding behind a wall of bodies that continually refreshes is just more time consuming to cut through than the Reanimates.

Finally, two other things I forgot that make Kobolds better still:

1) Kobolds are still the best monster group to use with an Agent. Giving up multiple minions and a master is nothing for the Kobolds, making the Agent practically free outside the threat cost. This is borderline imbalanced for super strong agents like Baron Zachareth.

2) If a quest allows a full monster group to be placed AFTER setup, then the Overlord is allowed to place all 12 kobolds at once. Small Beginnings does *not* trigger.

This can be... rather ridiculous and may cause the heroes to tear their hair out

Can kobolds use the Spawn ability even on encounters with no reinforcement option?

Spawn is a separate mechanic than Reinforcements. No matter how the rules for the latter are, Kobolds can always Spawn.

+1 for Kobolds. You just can't beat the wall of flesh. I rarely even attack with them, just use them to soak up action after action.

I am just wondering, is the act 2 minion reanimate supposed to use a miss die? Is this an intentional omission? If so, why do the act 2 minions hit for less damage than an act 1 minion? Sure, it uses a yellow die, but I feel like if this omission was intentional it would use a red power die.

What are the thoughts of the other members of the community?

It is an intentional omission. A yellow die cannot miss, making it quite good when a reliable strike is needed.

They also do not hit for less damage than an Act I minion if they manage to surround a hero and surge for Swarm, which happens fairly often on a yellow die. A red die would be worse because there is only one surge face on it.

Seems well designed to me.

I did send an email to FFG customer service to try and get an answer. I believe it is supposed to use a blue and yellow die. Basically, one less die than the master version of the monster.

I did send an email to FFG customer service to try and get an answer. I believe it is supposed to use a blue and yellow die. Basically, one less die than the master version of the monster.

I can say without really any doubt that there is no blue on the minion act 2 reanimate. It's similar to the "Shadows of Nerekhall" Rat Swarms who only roll a green. They cannot miss amd surges have the potential for a massive boost (if you have a completely surrounded hero, a reanimate's surge is +7), but unless they roll a surge they do almost nothing.

Kobolds are the ultimate monster group if they are allowed to patiently reinforce before facing the bewildered heroes who will finally open the door behind which they were viciously hiding.

I wanna see OL's face who places Kobolds after a Tempest...

EDIT
In 1st act, obviously. In second - Tempest + Ancestor Spirits

Or revised Break The Rune + Exploding Rune

I wanna see OL's face who places Kobolds after a Tempest...

If the heroes are unfortunate enough to have a Spiritspeaker, just drop some Reanimates instead of Kobolds

Or revised Break The Rune + Exploding Rune

Break the Rune and Exploding Rune can't be used together because they are separate skills. You can use blast on a weapon though.

The same goes for let's say, the Berserkers Counter and Rage. He can only use Counter with a regular attack.

Break the Rune and Exploding Rune can't be used together because they are separate skills. You can use blast on a weapon though.

The same goes for let's say, the Berserkers Counter and Rage. He can only use Counter with a regular attack.

Yeah, agreed. Need to get a rune with blast

Break the Rune and Exploding Rune can't be used together because they are separate skills. You can use blast on a weapon though.

The same goes for let's say, the Berserkers Counter and Rage. He can only use Counter with a regular attack.

Yeah, agreed. Need to get a rune with blast

There are only two.

Magma Blast (LoTW) in Act I

Lightning Strike (Core) In Act II

But since Break the Rune will only be available in Act II this is not a very reliable strategy. A bit more reliable if you play without expansion though. But the downside of that is quite obvious I think:p