SFR, Inc.

[AC]

I understand that it's a popular sentiment -- that Firewalkers are fragile -- but unless it refers to a lack of defensive magic, I'm not sure if I see it. Every non-magic 6-sider has a save face and only the Adventurer (Light Uncommon) and Firestormer (Missile Rare) average fewer than 1 per unit health when they roll a save (man, how that Adventurer's lone shield face boldly mocks me from the squillions of them I own). In similar states are the Dwarves, Goblins, and Amazons. It wasn't until the later races that we started to see the exploration of extreme save faces and the 50% save rates. So Firewalkers are not nearly as tough as 5 of the latter 6 races, and lacking any defensive magic or terrain advantage that grants extra saves, they have no real ability to augment their natural saves, but in a neutral context, they can look out for themselves decently.

Coral Elves I'll grant, though I'd suggest that Watery Double and Wall of Ice help tremendously in that regard. I own very few Coral Elf mages, and I think that's why I disregarded them as too weak for so long. It wasn't until Swamp Stalkers that another Green magic race came out, so I really didn't have any avenue for appreciating it.

It's probably a matter of acclimation, too. By games played, a lot of my time in Dragon Dice was spent when there were only the original 4 races, or the first couple kickers. Then in my second stint it was all about the Undead (and Goblins; always Goblins), and I'd barely touch something so wimpy as a Firewalker. This time around, it's been a while, so I'm approaching everything with fresh senses. Maybe I'll sour on the fireballers before too long. We'll see.

[TheLazyhase]

[AC]

It is true that Firewalker mages are attractive and their relative softness may overshadow the race's overall survivability. Of note, in the original plan for my army, I was going to use all Coral Elf mages. I just don't own the dice, though, and prefer not to use a lot of proxies.

Prior to the advent of Flaming Shields, Firewalkers were kind of a mess if you were looking for reliability. However, since their Save icon is now dual-function, Firewalker Heavy, Light, and (dare I say it?) Cavalry are just as "focused" as their average contemporary. On the typical Heavy or Light, you will have 3 melee faces (plus ID) and two faces which, in melee, will be useless -- say, a save (usually) and a maneuver, or two maneuver faces. The Firewalker has this as well: his two melee faces, plus his save face and his ID give him the same 67% melee rate as any other. His two "useless" faces in a melee roll are his maneuver and his missile. The missile stands out, but the Firewalker is actually producing as well as, if not better than, most others.

[TheLazyhase]