So here's a dumb idea I am thinking about with Ankaur Maro.

Maro adds trays to Archers to give them rerolls and you use the stupidly cheap Daqan Deathstar as your main force instead of reanimates.

The Spearmen spit the Blight they start with via War Crier during the initial approach.
Alternatively I would drop one Worm for Heartseeker on Maro and to replace War Crier with Hexer on the Spearstar. That can then mess up the opposing large unit by wreaking Panic in their ranks.

Interesting list. My only comment is we aren't sure which upgrades the spearmen would be able to take. There is a chance you won't be able to take the golem.

44 minutes ago, Klaxas said:

Interesting list. My only comment is we aren't sure which upgrades the spearmen would be able to take. There is a chance you won't be able to take the golem.

I am taking that into consideration. To be honest I expected the ruling to be included on Maro's pamphlet. Depending on the ruling it will be the list above or they could get this instead.

Unfortunately the ruling is not with maro. Also keep in mind it is possible you won't be able to take ardus either. I seem to remember that possibility of only neutral upgrades. Which I think I would prefer.

5 hours ago, Klaxas said:

Unfortunately the ruling is not with maro. Also keep in mind it is possible you won't be able to take ardus either. I seem to remember that possibility of only neutral upgrades. Which I think I would prefer.

My bud says you can take your army upgrades and put them on them. It seems like you should be able to take your own army upgrades on them. Though this can be crazy with combos like combat ingenuity on leonx riders.

2 hours ago, TallGiraffe said:

My bud says you can take your army upgrades and put them on them. It seems like you should be able to take your own army upgrades on them. Though this can be crazy with combos like combat ingenuity on leonx riders.

Lingering Dead on any Cavalry in case someone snipes you with a ranged attack before you do your long charge.

5 hours ago, Polda said:

Lingering Dead on any Cavalry in case someone snipes you with a ranged attack before you do your long charge.

Why would that be useful since you can't really regenerate them?

1 hour ago, TallGiraffe said:

Why would that be useful since you can't really regenerate them?

Because you won't lose trays (threat and rerolls) from a ranged attack before you reveal your dial, so that first charge you make will still be full-strength.

2 hours ago, Parakitor said:

Because you won't lose trays (threat and rerolls) from a ranged attack before you reveal your dial, so that first charge you make will still be full-strength.

Does it work that way though?

36 minutes ago, TallGiraffe said:

Does it work that way though?

I don't see why it wouldn't. Game effects like rerolls and threat reference the number of trays in the unit. If you don't remove the trays, they're still on the board, so I don't see why you wouldn't count them.

Yeah, part of its point is for the dead to get their retaliation strike in. Being able to reanimate back into your tray and save it is a bonus.

On 6/28/2017 at 8:46 PM, Klaxas said:

Unfortunately the ruling is not with maro. Also keep in mind it is possible you won't be able to take ardus either. I seem to remember that possibility of only neutral upgrades. Which I think I would prefer.

This is all just heresay, speculation, and what some folks would prefer at this point.

There is not as much ambiguity on this as people pretend.

The rules are very clear. There is no need for a ruling of any kind. (Unless the designers' intent is contrary to the rules as written, but THAT is indeed speculation)

RRG page 20, RR-88.7 "Upgrade cards that have a faction icon can only be equipped in armies of that faction"

Not units. Armies.

There is no rule that contradicts this. There is no rule that calls this into question. There is no precedent to doubt it.

Can it change in the future? Yes, absolutely. Anything can.

That doesn't matter now, though. The rules dictate that upgrade faction is tied to army faction, not unit faction.

I think I will contravene the Rules Lawyers Union edict and put only neutral upgrades on mine as that is what feels right

Also I may respectfully point out to opponents that not matching the faction of the unit to the faction on the card seems stretching logic, but I will happily accept the RLU ruling for my opponent

7 hours ago, Corto said:

I think I will contravene the Rules Lawyers Union edict and put only neutral upgrades on mine as that is what feels right

Also I may respectfully point out to opponents that not matching the faction of the unit to the faction on the card seems stretching logic, but I will happily accept the RLU ruling for my opponent

Cute. I love being called names.

It's one rule, in plain english.

You act like this is a scenario the rules never considered.

There's a hero that does this in the core box.

But you go ahead and try to subtly shame your opponents into playing the game the way you feel it should be played. That's much better.

9 hours ago, Corto said:

I think I will contravene the Rules Lawyers Union edict and put only neutral upgrades on mine as that is what feels right

Also I may respectfully point out to opponents that not matching the faction of the unit to the faction on the card seems stretching logic, but I will happily accept the RLU ruling for my opponent

Well, some people think it feels right to put a hero's whole scenic base into an infantry unit by replacing a tray from the upgraded unit, but that's not how the rules are written.

I agree that the rules cover this question but there's certainly enough people asking and wondering what's allowed and what's not to warrant an official clarification. Better yet, some examples.

From a real world (or at least as real world as a fantasy game can get) standpoint, why wouldn't Kari's "Aymhelin Allies" bring their own support upgrades? Why wouldn't Maro's "Secrets of the Shadow Council" give him the knowledge to animate a Rune Golem to accompany those Spearmen he's bent to his will?

The rules seem clear to me, but they don't make sense... if that makes sense? Asking for the game designers to weigh in and settle it with an example or two isn't uncalled for. Plus there's always the chance the rules are wrong, or they now think they are wrong.

On 7/3/2017 at 5:51 PM, Daverman said:

I agree that the rules cover this question but there's certainly enough people asking and wondering what's allowed and what's not to warrant an official clarification. Better yet, some examples.

From a real world (or at least as real world as a fantasy game can get) standpoint, why wouldn't Kari's "Aymhelin Allies" bring their own support upgrades? Why wouldn't Maro's "Secrets of the Shadow Council" give him the knowledge to animate a Rune Golem to accompany those Spearmen he's bent to his will?

The rules seem clear to me, but they don't make sense... if that makes sense? Asking for the game designers to weigh in and settle it with an example or two isn't uncalled for. Plus there's always the chance the rules are wrong, or they now think they are wrong.

World Realistic gameplay vs. Mechanically sound Rules vs. Time

Pick two, you can't get all 3.

However, I agree, a clarification, even on these forums or in an article would be beneficial, if nothing else than to give people who have questions somewhere to reference. I agree with Tvayumat, it is to me very clearly spelt out.

As for the OP, while I love Maro's ability for Shadow Council, nothing is really standing out to me as a "go-to" option. What I would swap instead is Maro into the block of Reanimates, and start whacking them away to add to your Archer blocks. I have a similar list i'm toying around with the 2x blocks of Reanimates (1 with Maro as a sacrificial block to add trays to the combat block). The combat block is rocking Column Tactics and a Fallen Hero carrying Fortuna's Dice. Make the **** think as long as I can to increase threat, and then just set the double damage red dice down when attacking at Init3.