HOLDER'S HEROES

Contained within the pale green Brigade, the Assyrians are one of the biblical civilizations featured in Redemption. The Assyrians are a strong force that have become a common site in pale green defenses. Let's take some time to explore the Assyrians.

Follow up:

The Assyrians are represented rather well when compared to other civilizations in Redemption. With four Evil Characters and eight evil Enhancements, it may be possible to use only them as your defense, but as far as I have seen, this is rarely - if ever - used in actual game play . More often than not, you're going to have some other pale green Evil Characters and Enhancements while you feature the Assyrians as a focal point of your defense.

There are several strong points for the Assyrians, which is also why they are played so frequently. First is that each of the Assyrian Evil Characters have high numbers, so they fare very well in FbtN battles. These high numbers also allow the player to take advantage of the many interrupt cards that Pale Green has. Second is that each of them has a very useful special ability, with the possible exception of King Shalmaneser V, since he discards a Samaria site and that probably isn't going to be of much use. The Rabshakeh, with his "weapon class Enhancements cannot be negated or discarded" ability, arguably has the best special ability out of the remaining three, but King Sennacherib's cannot-be-negated first strike ability, and King Tiglath-Pileser III's capture ability are nothing to sneeze at.

The best Enhancement card for the Assyrians has to be Two Thousand Horses. Allowing you to draw two cards and play the next Enhancement is extremely strong and there are only a handful of situations where the rescuing Hero would be able to play an Enhancement before an Evil Character holding Two Thousand Horses. The Rabshakeh with Two Thousand Horses is a very powerful and common combination that you would definately want to take advantage of. However, don't be afraid to use Two Thousand Horses with the other Assyians either, as it gives them much benefit as well.

The other Assyrian Enhancements may not win a battle outright, but they can be very good nonetheless. Many of them gain cannot-be-negated status when used in conjunction with an Assyrian or an Assyria Site, making them a little bit better. Most of the time a majority of the Assyrian evil Enhancements don't get much use because of the other great Enhancements pale green has. That said, when used in the right deck with the right strategy, they all have some very good uses.

The Assyrians are arguably the strongest civilization that Redemption features. For another view of the Assyrians, I encourage you to check out the article by Bryon Hake entitled "The king of Assyria sent...the Rabshakeh.".