The Shieldmaiden

The Shieldmaiden is a great all-around unit with a variety of uses.

Her attack not only does 1 damage, but also pushes targets back 1 space. Keep this in mind when trying to use her attack to not only damage the target but to push it into position for another one of your pieces to attack it as well or to just slow down the target by pushing it into a less-favorable position. On the flip side, don’t make the mistake of helping your enemy by pushing them into a better position than they are already in or out of reach of another unit of yours that could have attacked the target too if your Shieldmaiden hadn’t pushed it out of the way first.

The Shieldmaiden’s defense action causes her to plant her shield in front of her, negating the next attack against her. This action lasts for either 6 turns, if she moves, attacks or is attacked. 'The most important thing to know about the Shieldmaiden is she does ABSOLUTELY NO damage if she tries to attack straight out of her defensive stance. Even if she is buffed with +1 damage.' If you wish to attack and your shield is still active, you must either move your Shieldmaiden first or attack her with one of your own units to break the shield so she can attack without having to move.

With the Shieldmaiden, it’s useful to think “Move, attack, shield, repeat.” or “Break shield, attack, shield, repeat.”

When playing against a Shieldmaiden, try to find ways to have 2 units attack her in the same turn; 1 to break her shield, 1 to actually damage her. When her shield is active, it is often safer to move in and stand right next to her and leave her shield unbroken rather than moving away. Lastly, it can be helpful to place a unit right behind your unit that is in contact with the Shieldmaiden so as to prevent the Shieldmaiden from being able to push it back.

A Plague Doctor makes a good counter to the Shieldmaiden because he can attack her to break her shield, then move to the side and poison her with his defense action. She will lose one health immediately, then 1 more at the start of her turn, leaving her with 2 health. Whatever she does on this turn, even if she engages her defensive shield action, the Plague Doctor’s poison will break her shield at the beginning of the next turn. The Plague Doctor will still need some help in finishing her off at this point unless her attack did not push the Plague Doctor away due to a blockage, allowing the Plague Doctor to repeat his stab, move, poison maneuver; this time killing the Shieldmaiden instantly since neither attack was wasted on breaking the shield first.