ASOIAF: Tactics has many sets for different Factions available in the game. For Neutrals, they have the most releases that can be used across other Factions. The Secrets and Whispers Set will be one used by other Factions the most but can work very well on their own for Neutrals. Let’s take a dive into the characters of this set.
We have already looked at most of the other Sets for Tactics, with this being the third to last set to look at. This set is specifically about the Neutral characters that switch sides or play their own games with the Factions of Westeros and beyond. Secrets and Whispers is more like a supplement to the game than something that stands on its own, however it can be played on its own which is a nice touch.
Tactics is more personal than the main game as you focus on a smaller conflict, a small set of characters, and all their quick decisions. Everything matters in skirmish games, including who each member of your warband are, and with Secrets and Whispers, you get more depth in some of the characters that have been on the sidelines for a while.
Petyr and Varys can take command of a small warband to enact their plans for the Realm and is something we would never have gotten in the main game since they do not lead armies and for the most part NCU Commanders are no longer apart of the game. Although I do hope CMON would bring that back for some characters.
Varys – The Spider
Model Design – Varys is one of the oldest character models in the game, and whilst he doesn’t look awful, he is showing his age. This glow up is well deserved since he is a favourite pick for players, but also the designers have come such a long way with their talents that an update is welcomed.
Rules Design – Varys has some very interesting abilities that casts a daunting shadow of the battlefield. Casting a Shadow ability allows Varys for 3 Copper to force a model to take a move action away from Varys, this is only within short range, but you can spend 3 more Copper to select any model on the battlefield. This is a lot of copper to spend for the ability but could result in a model needing to take additional actions to get into position. We have only seen Tullys with movement abilities, but this effects allies, whereas this is the first one that impacts the opponents’ characters.
The third ability starts with little, so I believe this could be Little Birds since Varys set up that network of spies. It also says in the description “…include 1…” which to me suggests you may get a free Little Bird with Varys. This shoots his value up a lot due to what the Little Bird can do and for free it is incredible. We will talk more about the Little Bird in their own section, but they could be a real distraction to the opponent due to them being a pest more than anything.
Motivation Design – Varys’ design is based on the Letters token that is placed on the board. A Letter and Coins token are placed on the board for every game, with Varys and Littlefinger utilising the tokens for their scoring, however they can offer a bonus to those who pick them up with their Motivations. Varys spends 1 Gold to gain 2 VP when you claim the Letters token, and when a friendly Hero is killed, you may place a new Letters token down. A good way to play Varys is pairing him with a duelist hero/champion that can kill other heroes for Varys which would work very well when farming the Letters token.
If Varys is killed then his Motivation puts out a Nemesis token onto a Hero or Champion that killed him, if you then kill that model, you can spend 1 Gold to get 1 VP. Motivations tend to screw you over when you lose the character, however this is completely fine and doesn’t screw your game plan, it could have been much worse. Overall, I do like the design of Varys here, it is quite simple but has some character with Varys’ aim to remove powerful figures for the Realm, or even leaving a trap for the one that kills him.
Petyr Baelish – Littlefinger
Model Design – Petyr is one of the oldest models in the range, but unlike Varys he is not a great model. Whenever I have come to paint him, I have dreaded it and looked at the Dark Sword Alt model for Petyr due to my distaste. As I was looking into this, the Tactics Campaign showed off this set and the new version of some of the old models such as Petyr blew my mind. Finally, a Petyr model I can enjoy painting up.
The designers’ talents have come far since they can accurately portray a character’s expression with detail now, with Petyr, he gives off the sly cunning fox with his look alone. I love the Baelish bird sigil on the model as well as him grasping some letters or ledgers maybe in his hands. To be honest, anything would have been better just with how plain the previous model was, this is not because it was bad almost novice like the first Stark models. No one can deny some of the early stuff was good, but the newer versions are leaps and bounds above them.
Rules Design – Varys and Petyr are really two sides of the same coin. Both have huge impact on the game by controlling the battlefield. Whilst Varys is more about defence with his abilities negating effects and keeping enemies away, Petyr is about locking down the enemy with debuffs. He has a free action called Bribe which forces an enemy to make a Morale Test and, on a failure, must spend 3 Copper instead of 1 Copper to activate. Imagine this on The Mountain who needs to spend some more Copper to prevent themselves from going into a rage and hurting everyone. Deciding when to use this is important, as too early on and the opponent may not care, but later into the Round it could limit what the opponent can do, and you could do it three times if you wish.
Then, you can follow up with the Master of Coin ability which costs a whopping 2 Silver. You force your opponent to spend 6 Copper or lose 1 VP. Most will choose the VP, but then you are on the back foot. Imagine a situation where one of your models needs 3 Copper to activate and then you are going to lose 6 Copper. This could severely damage your activations, but more so the abilities you want to use. It paints a big target on Petyr’s head.
His last ability is Tax Collector and seems to rejuvenate some money when it is spent if you pass a Morale Test. This is likely the strongest ability out of the lot, imagine other abilities on other models being slightly cheaper, that could be a huge benefit. He isn’t that much more survivable than Varys though, he has one less wound but an Armour Save of 7+. One good arrow, or a sneaky Soldier model could bring about the end of Petyr quick, so protect him. Overall, for 1 Gold, Petyr is incredible.
Shae – The Consort
Model Design – This version of Shae is a better model due to the added detail. If the model designers were allowed to get a little risky with Shae, I would be half tempted to have her wrapped in a Lannister banner or tapestry with the hand of the king chain around her neck. It would have been a unique design you could do nowhere else and would have given it a remarkable presence for those to remember. But it does push the rating a little bit.
Rules Design – Most of the political characters in this set are easy to takedown, and Shae is less survivable than the two heroes we have talked about. Although she does bring some impactful abilities if you can use them wisely, just don’t expect multiple turns out of her. It perfectly portrays how Shae conducted herself throughout the story. She gets close to the top and her presence is felt against some of the players in the Red Keep, but she plays too close to the fire and ended up getting burnt since she was way out of her depth for the other players. In the books, everything she does is without a care for Tyrion since it is only to better herself, whereas the show lingers on it being possibility that it was real.
Shae has the Major Distraction ability which is an aura of debuffs for the enemy. For 3 Copper, everyone in three squares gains the Shaken condition, but in addition, if you spend 1 Silver, then they also gain the Routed condition. This can be a brutal moment in the game which shuts down the opponent if Shae can get to an ideal position to utilise it. However, she does have to pass a Morale Test for this to work which is a 8+ so not likely.
Or it wouldn’t be as likely if it wasn’t for Silver’s Allure which gives +1 to Morale Test rolls per unspent Silver. So, you are likely to get this off earlier in the game, but as it goes on Shae becomes less viable. Use her quickly but don’t throw her away. Which is a tough thing to achieve since she has 2 Wounds and an Armour Save of 8+, but the Persuading ability can result in Shae taking no damage. She is very good and more so in a control force like Petyr Baelish who can shut down some characters with activation costs, then Shae can shut down others with conditions. Essentially you are forcing the opponent to act with their hands tied down.
Janos Slynt – City Watch Commander
Model Design – It has been a long time coming, but we finally get the betrayer of Ned Stark. Whilst it was not orchestrated by Janos Slynt, it was he who fell to the corruption of Petyr Baelish’s gold and backing of the Lannisters. Something that was repaid by Tyrion of all people, and later Jon Snow at The Wall. The model looks perfect for the weak-willed Janos, the head piece is just the right amount of overcompensating that matches his ego from the books. I can’t wait to see a Night’s Watch version and another leader of the Gold Cloaks in Ironhand so you can see the difference.
Rules Design – Janos is not great in combat, but you can pay some Copper to make him a little better, and same can be said for his survivability. Whilst he is better than the Corrupt Gold Cloak, he is not significantly better to a point to shout about. His true power comes in the form of his other abilities. Official Orders can have Janos swap places with another model which could allow the model swapped not to spend actions on moving and more on attacking. Or you could have it pull someone out of danger like Petyr Baelish. The possibility behind the rule is incredibly interesting to theorise.
However, Honourable Man could see Janos betray the player due to his shifting loyalties. It would be so funny to have Janos with Eddard and the opposing Lannister player ends up taking control of him. Be careful with Janos. A cheap trick that could pull of something incredible may backfire on you.
Jaqen H’ghar – No One
Model Design – Our current model for Jaqen has a lot of detail going on with the model but doesn’t do well to represent the state he was in when we first met him. I would love to see a game night kit with various versions of Jaqen H’ghar like the Maester version in Oldtown, or a Lannister Guardsman version, priest version etc. But getting a lowkey, prisoner disguise version is a nice touch. Something players do is use alt sculpts for different versions, so Heroes Box 2 Jaqen would be my NCU Jaqen, and Tactics Jaqen would be my Attachment version.
Rules Design – Jaqen could have been a Hero for the game since they are a master assassin, but that would be out of character for a Faceless Man. He is undercover and even to this day we do not know why, but we do know it has led them to taking a position in the Citadel with the Maesters alongside Samwell Tarly. So, a lowkey character, with the potential to explode and kill almost anyone he comes across, such as when Arya was handing him names to end.
Jaqen’s stats are incredible, and at 3 Silver I expected no less. A 3+ Armour Save is likely the best save in the game representing his ability in combat and unlikeliness to by defeated. 2 Wounds makes a lot of sense considering how vulnerable he is, if someone was to catch him with a blow from a weapon, it is unlikely that the rags will protect much of his body. His Melee Attack is not great at three attacks on a 7+, which may seem lame, but its all an act as you can spend 5 Copper to give him +3 to your rolls turning him into one of the best fighters.
I would be using Jaqen to take out someone very specific to utilise his assassin skills to the max. Catelyn Stark in both of her versions is high on my list, with the likes of great fighters following closely behind like any of the Kingsguard or Brynden Rivers. He is quite reliable and hard to breakthrough with 3+ defence, so blocking his path to the target or going in with something that can deal damage automatically like Gendry is the best course of action. Or you can look to debuff him with conditions like Shaken to force the 5 Copper spending to be useful.
Corrupt Gold Cloaks
Model Design – It is very interesting to see such a different design for the Gold Cloaks from Tactics to The Miniatures Game. It is likely that it is two different designers that did not link up designs for both models, however some Attachment Boxes have very different versions in design to their respective Units,
This model drops the Roman Legion theme from the main Unit and picks up a more traditional City Watch aesthetic. Since it is a corrupt version of the model, we could be looking at someone who portrays their inner character on the outside with a more brutal brigand version when you look at the savagery in their pose. But the right paintjob may show these characters being good at combat which pays more from bribes and merc work on the side. There is a lot of freedom to portray these models in your own way.
Rules Design – An all-round decent Soldier for the Neutral Faction. 7+ for Morale, Armour, and Melee is okay, it could be worse. They can be paid to roll 3 dice for their attack which means a lucky roll could bring down some of the better opponents. However, they are corrupt. The opponent can pay Copper to debuff the model with a Shaken token making his next roll -2 to the result. Whilst fun, and thematic, they cost the same as a Flea Bottom Sellsword who does everything the Gold Cloak does but better. The only argument I could see for the Gold Cloak is 1 Copper cheaper to have the exact same dice roll, or to be bait for the opponent to spend Copper debuffing rather on their own Units. The opponent should never spend this Copper but a sprinkle of fear may force them to do so. This is not enough to warrant them to be taken, might need a little glow up before release.
Flea Bottom Sellsword
Model Design – Whilst we have been waiting for Hedge Knights on foot, we have gotten some new generic mercenaries for us to play with. The Flea Bottom Sellsword models are plain and simple as to allow the painter to come up with their own design and tell a unique story with the models in front of you. The bandaged model is giving me Karl Tanner vibes from the TV Show who joined the Night’s Watch after been caught for being an assassin in King’s Landing, he then ended up killing Jeor Mormont and drank wine from his skull at Craster’s Keep. It is this sort of storytelling the player is encouraged to come up with when approaching models like these.
Rules Design – Similar to the Gold Cloak, the Flea Bottom Sellsword is good at everything but master at nothing. The same stats, other than less dice unless you have the Copper to spend, the Sellsword doesn’t have the potential of being debuffed and instead can remove some movement restrictions with the Street Smarts ability. Whilst I am unsure if I would be spending Copper on any of the abilities, you need some Soldiers to bulk up your force, especially to block engagement to your more vulnerable characters.
For both the Gold Cloak and the Sellsword, having some standard troops that don’t need help from Copper will result in more activations and less resources needed to have them operating. This may be the true power behind these models, and the Copper abilities are for later stages of the game when you have fewer options or when you need someone to perform in a dire case. At face value they are bad, but overall, they are very interesting to the Faction as a whole.
One point I find interesting is that they are very unlikely to be taken outside of the Neutral Faction considering you can only have one and that is better spent on something like a Hedge Knight or some Brotherhood models. It is a nice change of pace to not see Stormcrow Mercs or Bolton Cutthroats in every Faction under the sun and instead only really useable within Neutrals.
Little Birds
Model Design – We do have some child characters in the game, namely through the children of leading houses like Baratheon, Lannisters, and Starks. For the Little Birds you can almost do anything since Varys has an insurmountable reach with his spies, but street urchin is likely the most common spy available to him, and all the characters in this box are King’s Landing based so Flea Bottom urchin fits perfectly. The girl Little Bird is the best one here since she is in motion and carrying a message or a secret in hand. I wish there were three Little Birds in this set to represent the amount of tokens Varys has in The Miniatures Game, it would have been the perfect token tracker.
Rules Design – Whilst the Little Birds have an attack, likely due to them being used to murder more helpless players of the great game like Pycelle, you are unlikely to use it at all when it takes two actions to do so. But their strength comes from debuff abilities, but also for other Factions looking to pick up a Neutral Soldier model to help with control. Beg is a free action so you can do it three times and force Routed conditions on to models you are engaged with. You can also hand out the Routed condition through an Aftermath ability which can have a model endlessly locked in restricted activations. Further to this, there seems to be a targeting ability, likely due to Varys having his Little Birds seemingly everywhere without a spy ever being captured.
Little Birds are strong for controlling what the opponent can do and as Littlefinger taught Sansa, once you know who a piece in the game is, then you know how to move them. With Little Birds you can shut down threats no matter their stature. Jaime Lannister, Robert Baratheon, Jon Snow, Daemon Targaryen, or even Mag the Mighty could all be tripped up by the debuffs. Further to this, you get a free Little Bird with Varys, and you can have all your Copper spent on Little Birds if you wish, although I wouldn’t recommend it.
Summary
Secrets and Whispers is a great set to give you an interesting Neutral Faction to play with outside of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and unlike the Brotherhood they integrate well as a supplement to other Factions in the game such as bringing Petyr with Tyrion Lannister or Varys with the Targaryen Loyalists during Robert’s Rebellion.
Whilst some models are a little disappointing in terms of rules like the Gold Cloaks, others have a fantastic design such as Jaqen H’ghar. Some models are an outstanding improvement in design like Petyr and Varys, whilst others are up for interpretation like the Flea Bottom Sellsword or the Little Birds. I love the diversity in the box from control-tech pieces or combat specialists.
Secrets and Whispers is the ideal box to pick up no matter which Faction you want to play. But it is also a grand addition to The Miniatures Game with some of the most popular picks for lists getting a much-needed model update. We have only one box set left to look at which is the stretch goal set from the far North: The Battle Beneath The Wall.
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