I hear this term used on the Hive Tyrant's podcast and I get the sense of what it means but not the particulars.

Anyone know the more specific definition?

Is there a glossary of the terms used in Conquest?

Thanks!

J--

It's a term basically imported from Magic the Gathering.

It basically means what is a unit with no text printed on it's card (i.e. its plain, or vanilla) worth for a given cost, atk value, HP value or number of hammers etc.

I hear this term used on the Hive Tyrant's podcast and I get the sense of what it means but not the particulars.

Anyone know the more specific definition?

Is there a glossary of the terms used in Conquest?

Thanks!

J--

Hey there! Sorry for using a bit of jargon on the podcast, but when Sam and I say that a unit "passes the vanilla test," we basically mean that the fundamental, base statistics of the unit are acceptable and the unit is therefore likely playable, if not amazing. Usually, a unit is decent and "passes the test" if it's cost is about half of its ATK + HP value, and the unit has one command icon, with an ability.

A good example is Blood Angels Veterans - they cost 3, have 3 ATK, 3 HP, a command icon, and an ability. So, they're at the very worst worth considering - and whether or not the ability is good will influence your decision to include them in your deck or not (and for BAV, their ability is fantastic).

Sometimes, units have one less point of ATK, one more point of HP, or they lose one of those for another command icon, etc, and they still count as "passing the vanilla test." But, if you have a unit that costs, say, 4, and it only has 2 ATK and 2 HP, that would not pass the "vanilla test," and would be a likely bad card. So, it's a nice little easy and preliminary means of assessing a card.

Thanks for listening!