W1 Richter - Released

ARMY TEST 2

Did the unit perform adequately? What should be the unit's point value? Give a brief summary. [insert pass/fail, point value, and brief summary] Bionic Guy got about 115 points in wounds. He seems pretty good against squad, low defense figures, but can't slug it out with figures like Tor-Kul-Na. Even with Gladiator bonding, I'm not sure if he is worth 180 points.

Map: Sirocco

Units:

Army 1: Bionic Guy, Priscus, Capuans x3 = 490 points

VS

Army 2: Tor-Kul-Na, Stingers x3, Nagrubs x3 = 490 points

Rd 1. Different strategy this time. Caps and heroes charge to the middle. Stingers hit the flanks. At the end of the round, 2 Stingers are dead and 2 wounds are on Priscus.

Rd 2. Bionic Guy used the Hammer kill 1 Stinger. The Capuans only managed to kill 1 Stinger despite multiple attacks. The Stingers took out 2 Caps. On OM#3, Tor-Kul-Na was brought into action, killing a Cap. Two Nagrubs engage Bionic Guy, who killed 2 Grubs with the Shockwave.

Rd 3. Bionic Guy safely leaves engagement and takes out a Stinger while a Cap kills a Grub. A Stinger took out a Cap. Bionic Guy leaped and rolled 5 dice against a Stinger, Tork, and a Grub . . . but only got 1 skull. The Stinger died and a Cap took out another one. Tork landed 5/6 skulls against Bionic Guy for 2 wounds while a Grub killed a Cap. Bionic Guy couldn't wound Tork in hand to hand combat, but the Capuans took out the last two Stingers.

Rd 4. Again, no damage on Tork from Bionic Guy rolling 6 attack v. 5 defense. Tork Trampled a Cap and then placed 2 more wounds on Tork in an attack. Another Cap falls at the hands of a Grub. Bionic Guy finally places a wound on Tork. Bionic Guy defends against Tork, another Cap falls to a Grub. Tork defends and laughs at Bionic Guy. At the end of the round, Tork squashes Bionic Guy and a Grub scurries over to grab the Unique Attack glyph.

Rd 5. Tork snacks to full life while two Grubs engage Priscus and the last Capuan. One Grub dies. Tork smacks Priscus for 2 wounds and then a Nagrub takes him out with 1 skull (Priscus whiffed with his 5 dice). Tork finally finishes off the last Cap on the next turn.

Final thoughts: Much funner army to play and I thought the Gladiators had a shot, but Tor-Kul-Na was too strong. A full life Tork and 2 Nagrubs were left for 250 points. I'm still thinking Bionic Guy might be over priced at 180. Would I rather have Bionic Guy or Crixus and Retarius for the same points? Not sure. I'm going to play the same two armies again, but leave Bionic Guy in the back for clean-up. I'm also going to switch to Crixus instead of Priscus.

ARMY TEST 3

Did the unit perform adequately? What should be the unit's point value? Give a brief summary. [insert pass/fail, point value, and brief summary] Big change in this game. Bionic Guy doled out 380 points in wounds (although Tork did some snacking to get some of it back. He played much more like a 180 pointer. Not sure were to go with the points now. I do like him in the Gladiator army.

Map: Sirocco

Units:

Army 1: Bionic Guy, Crixus, Capuans x3, Isamu = 490 points

VS

Army 2: Tor-Kul-Na, Stingers x3, Nagrubs x3 = 490 points

Rd 1. Stingers flank, Caps and Crix head right/center. 2 Stingers die and 1 wound on Crix.

Rd 2. Bionic Guy didn't want to get into the action this early, but Stingers were about to bear down on him, so he lept to the left of the map to use his Shockwave to take out a Stinger on the Initiative Glyph. Caps kill 2 more Stingers. Stingers kill 2 Caps. Bionic Guy tries out the hammer, but fails. Stingers kill a Cap, but can't wound Bionic Guy with two attacks. On OM#3, Bionic Guy hammers two Stingers dead. Tork rushes into the center of the map where the Caps were massing, but can't kill a Cap who was hiding in the shadows.

Rd 3. Team Tork wins initiative . . . TRAMPLE STOMP! 3 Capuans get crushed and a 4th dies from Tork's attack. OUCH. Bionic Guy uses Shockwave and rolls 1/5, but manages a wound on Tork while the Capuans kill 2 Grubs. Tork tramples another Cap while Grubs move up. Bionic Guy rolls 4/5 with the Wave, placing 3 wounds on Tork and taking out a Grub. Tork attacks, but Bionic Guy defends. Tork defends against BG's attack of 6 while the last Capuan kills a Stinger on the other side of the map.

Rd 4. Tork snacks and rolls 6/6 skulls on BG, but only deals out 3 wounds. A grub takes out the last Capuan and OM#1 from the Gladiators. Tork snacks again, but only rolls 1/6 on BG. BG rolls 4/6 on Tork for 3 wounds and Tork is down to his last life. Tork - snack, 3/6 skulls while BG rolls 3/5 shields. BG rolls 2/6 skulls on Tork, who whiffed and died!

Rd 5. BG hammers some Nagrubs and then a whole lot of whiffing went on for 4 turns. BG jumped on the Initiative glyph to set up the next round.

Rd 6. Prixus decimated the last Stinger with a 5/5 roll. Next turn, he did the same 5/5 skulls against the last Nagrub. Game over.

Final thoughts: Great battle! Bionic Guy really showed his stuff with 380 points in wounds delivered and he finally was able to go toe-to-toe with Tor-Kul-Na. Crixus helped in that he had more staying power than Priscus, but the biggest thing is that I figured out how to play BG better. BG is a great addition to the Gladiator army, but mixing him with Spartacus is not advisable due to too many points.

I think the stats and powers are perfectly designed. Using the Special Attacks does make him vulnerable because he will be in range of opponents figures on their next turn. Fun and exciting design - well done, Kai.

RECOMMENDATION
If he remains a Gladiator, 180 points does seem about right. If not a Gladiator, 150 or so should be the target. My biggest question is this: If Bionic Guy is a Gladiator, who will want to play him outside of a Gladiator build? 180 points would be a lot without the bonding option. I could go either way, but if he is a Gladiator I think he would see less playing time on the battlefield.

Awesome, thanks for squeezing in 3 play-tests!!

What would you think about increasing the range of Lightning Hammer from 4 to 5? That was one change I was considering. It gives him a little more of a threat range, and I think it would help.


What would you think if he was Cyborg Gladiator at 150-points? This way he's a Gladiator to be Inspired but he's not able to Bond with the Capuans? I think it would add a nice Special Attack to the Steamroller. But I am guessing that the flexibility of bonding between Gladiator Heroes was pretty cool. Especially in that third battle when you planned to hold Tanarus/BG back - but needed to leap out and attack the glyph holder.

I'd be okay with him Bonding at 180-points. The SoV folks felt that a big special attacker bonding with Capuans was too much - but I sort of disagree since the Greenscales bond with all sorts of heavy-hitter Dragons.

You could bump the Hammer to a range of 5. There were a number of times I gave up a better position so that I could get off two shots at two figures. This would keep him out of harms way a little more effectively.

I don't think a Cyborg Gladiator could get inspired by Spartacus because it is a different class than Gladiator. Brandis is a Half Elf, but he doesn't receive any of the Elf synergies. Besides, running Spartacus and Bionic Guy at the same time was not real fun = too many points tied up in the two.

I don't think having him bond with Capuans is too much at 180. Like I said though, I think he will pretty much only be played with Capuans if he is a Gladiator. Drop him to 150 or so and he might see a whole lot more action in other army builds . . .

For Cyborg Gladiator, I meant he would be:

Species: Cyborg
Class: Gladiator


He would no longer be "Human" which his why he couldn't bond with the Capuans - who only Bond with Human Gladiators.

Spartacus' power works on all species of Gladiators, but bonding doesn't.


And yeah, if he didn't bond I would put him at 150-points. He's be like a mini Major Q-10 ... a couple of various of Special Attacks but no Bonding. Single-spaced though, which might help make our SA's more mobile.

Oh, I got you. Thanks for the clarification.

Bionic Guy (150), Spartacus (200), Capuans x2 (140) = 490

I think running Bionic Guy and Spartacus in the same army is too tough for the points. I would rather do Spartacus and Caps x4 for 480 or Spartacus, Crixus, Caps x3 for 500 with the bonding option not available for Bionic Guy.

I do prefer the 1000 points games and larger maps myself, so my personal preference is to make Bionic Guy a Human and a Gladiator that bonds with Capuans . . . but that might not go over super well with the 500 point crowd.

Lots of options to think about.

Well I am okay keeping the Bonding. We don't have to pass any SoV or C3V 'testing.' These figures are for us ..

Let's compare:

Nilfheim ... 185
Greenscales x3 ... 180
= 365

Tanarus ... 180
Capuans x3 .. 210
= 390

These are almost equivalent armies, in my mind. Nilf is stronger, since he can get in 3 attacks of 4. The Greenscales are 6 Move, 3 Attack, 4 Defense if they are within the Lizard King aura. Seems pretty close.

I am suggesting a rewording of the Hammer to follow the text of Deathwalker 8000. I am running out of space on the card for these powers and it shortens it a bit . . .

LIGHTNING HAMMER
SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 4. Attack 4.
If Bionic Guy's Lightning Hammer Special Attack destroys a figure, he may attack again with his Lightning Hammer Special Attack but must roll 1 less attack die.

We also need a name for this figure. Ignore my previous suggestions . . . we need something short to get all of the powers to fit on the card. Yes - I've been working on the card.

How about "Tanus"?

Nomad wrote:I am suggesting a rewording of the Hammer to follow the text of Deathwalker 8000. I am running out of space on the card for these powers and it shortens it a bit . . .

LIGHTNING HAMMER
SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 4. Attack 4.
If Bionic Guy's Lightning Hammer Special Attack destroys a figure, he may attack again with his Lightning Hammer Special Attack but must roll 1 less attack die.

New wording is fine. Can you bump the Range to 5 please?

Nomad wrote:We also need a name for this figure. Ignore my previous suggestions . . . we need something short to get all of the powers to fit on the card. Yes - I've been working on the card.

How about "Tanus"?

What do you think of:

Krieger ( .. like Blitzkrieg)

or

Richter (.. like Richter Scale for measuring earthquakes)

Yes - I can bump the range to 5 . . . I was just going off the OP.

Gladiator? Crixus, Spartacus, Retarius, Prixus . . .

If not Tanus, how about . . .

Krieigus or Richtus? Or Riktus?

Oh, I like Riktus.

I'm just brainstorming with you and tossing ideas out there . . . your choice.

The -us ending is Roman (Latin) .. so very historical. But this Cyborg Gladiator is from a future Earth, so the -us is not typical.

OK, then my vote is for Richter.

Range bumped to 5 and dropped the "must" . . .

LIGHTNING HAMMER SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 5. Attack 4.
If Bionic Guy's Lightning Hammer Special Attack destroys a figure, he may attack again with his Lightning Hammer Special Attack rolling 1 less attack die.

Bionic Guy DRAFT card. I know some things might not be settled . . . but I wanted to get a start on it.

Wow, the card is super cool. The angle of the pic makes him look like a super-hero for sure : )

And let's go with Richter as his new name.

THANK YOU

For the card I could see changing the wording of Lightning Hammer SA from what it reads to

Damon wrote:LIGHTNING HAMMER SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 5. Attack 4.
If Bionic Guy's Lightning Hammer Special Attack destroys a figure, he may attack again with his Lightning Hammer Special Attack rolling 1 less attack die.

Also, for the figurine with being bionic and having all that armor I could see his defense upped to 5 and his life dropped a little. No big deal just thought I throw in my 2 cents.

LIGHTNING HAMMER SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 5. Attack 4.
If Bionic Guy's Lightning Hammer Special Attack destroys a figure, he may attack again with his Lightning Hammer Special Attack rolling 1 less attack die.

Nice catch, Derek. That is what it was changed it to, but I forgot to include it on the card. Darn, it gets tough remembering what has been changed, etc. At least this was a first attempt . . . I seem to miss things when I build the card off the OP. Oh, well. Good thing we have you to proof and double check - thank you!

Regarding the change in def v life - I will let Kai comment first.

I wouldn't mind him having a Defense of 5 but I am concerned that bumps his points a bit. I'd like to keep him at 180 or below.

And if he stays a Human Gladiator, in those big point games with Spartacus that would make him a 6/6.

Yeah, I wasn't trying to change his points. It is pretty late to make suggestions for change and all, but just making sure you saw the last part of the thought

Derek wrote:and his life dropped a little.

part. Not sure if one extra defense die is worth dropping life to 5 or 4 without point changes, I am good with whatever, fun character as he stands.

Richter is not in final editing yet - still play-testing, so stats are still flexible. I do think that a bump of 1 in defense dice is more valuable than a drop of 1 in life. So, unless we want to bump his points I would rather keep it the same. I didn't think of the Spartacus bonus if he is a gladiator, which would be even more of a potential bonus.

I can't wait for our 1000+ point wars:

Spartacus, Richter, Retarius, Crixus, Priscus, Capuans x5 = 1010. Gladiators have some range and specials! Kai, I would love this guy as a Gladiator . . . but probably frowned upon by SoV workshop and the 500 pt crowd. Yes, it does bump his points by 20/30 or so, but I like it!

Kai, I hear that you are good with the numbers/powers as is. Do we need more play tests? I would be happy to. Or, can we move to final editing?

I do think Richter needs some more play-testing. I'd like to keep him in the 180-point range and keep him a Gladiator. I see him as a parallel to Nilfheim + Greenscales (hence the same Life and Defense).

And yeah, I'd love to see him in one of the Schafte 1,000 point games : P


Work will be heating up for me this month. I'm at an off-site Wed-Fri this week so I won't have much free time. This weekend is looking open at the moment so I can probably sneak some play-testing in (either solo or a visit to Mill Creek).

Kai wrote:This weekend is looking open at the moment so I can probably sneak some play-testing in (either solo or a visit to Mill Creek).

When you say this weekend, do you mean today which is about to become Monday (still Labor Day) and part of this weekend, OR, September 9/10?

Either works for me - let's discuss via e-mail.