Dungeon Command: Tyranny of Goblins Mini Review

The latest army set that I've been able to check out for Dungeon Command is the Tyranny of Goblins army pack.

In my original review, I focused on the pros and cons of Dungeon Command.  And, while doing so, I was using the Sting of Lolth and Heart of Cormyr sets (though I didn't necessarily go too much into details about the sets themselves).  If you haven't checked it out before, I'll encourage you to go ahead and read my Dungeon Command Review, as this review will be focus on mentioning some of my favorite elements of the new set.

The first thing to mention about the Goblin set is the leaders.  I actually like both of the leaders, though their powers are quite different.  "Snig the Axe" has a special ability that allows you to deploy creatures during your Refresh phase.  This does a couple of nice things - first, it allows you to react to what your opponent is doing each round.  Second, you don't have to wait an entire round to have your reinforcements join the fight.  The other leader is "Tarkon Draal."  Tarkon's ability costs his opponent an extra Morale any time they cower.  This is a small thing, but it really helps you finish off their troops, as an extra Morale really adds up if they start cowering.

A new friend, and an old one.

A couple of creatures deserve to be mentioned.  First is the Feral Troll.  And, specifically, I need to say "hello" to this figure, as it feels like it is becoming an old friend.  Dungeon Command is (at least) the third different game in which this figure has been sold - he was in the original Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures game, Heroscape, and now Dungeon Command.  However, he is also fairly useful - he has a "Regenerate 10" ability that allows him to heal 10 damage at the start of each turn.  This, along with 120 hit points is a pretty amazing combination.  But, the figure that is probably my favorite is the "Bugbear Berserker."  Why?  Because he has Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution (thus making it easy to actually play order cards with him), and he also untaps each time an adjacent enemy creature is destroyed.  So, as long as you're killing, you get to keep on killing!

Some of my favorite new order cards.

When it comes to Orders, there are some cards that would be useful in any set, and also some nice combinations that are provided within this set.  One of the cards that I would currently put in most any Order deck that I built would be Grovel.  It is a Level 1 that can be played by any creature, and it prevents 30 damage at the cost of 1 Morale - an exchange that I'm willing to make (after all, it's Cowering at 1/3 the cost).  The more interesting combination in the set centers around "Mortal Wound."  Mortal Wound allows you to prevent all damage to a creature from one source.  However, it attaches to the protected creature, and will kill him during your next Deploy phase.  Fortunately, there are four other cards that allow you to remove all attachments from a creature.  So, if you can use Mortal Wound to prevent large amounts of damage, and then remove it on your next turn, then you have suddenly been able to save yourself quite a bit of Morale.

Overall, I give the Dungeon Command: Tyranny of Goblins set an 8.5/10.  I thought that it added some useful creatures and order cards that can be included into your other sets, and the leaders are strong enough to warrant playing with the Goblins if you enjoy their faction.

If you're interested in Dungeon Command, you might also want to check out Heroscape, Yomi, and Legend of Drizzt.

I would like to thank Wizards of the Coast for providing me with a review copy of Dungeon Command: Tyranny of Goblins.