W1 Zaiken (new name) Released

Figures: Heroclix Fear Itself
Name: Attuma

HEROSCAPE CUSTOM STATS

Unit Name: ZAIKEN

General: Utgar
Species: Primordial
Type: Unique Hero
Class: Commander
Personality: Ferocious
Size: Medium 5
Points: 100
Stats
Life:        5
Move:      6
Range:    1
Attack:    3
Defense:  3


MARINE COMMANDER
After taking a turn with Zaiken, you may take a turn with 3 common heroes with the Amphibious or Water Mastery special powers.  Units taking a turn with Marine Commander may not use other bonding powers.


SUPERIOR WATER MASTERY
When Zaiken is on a water space, add 2 to attack and 1 to his defense.  Zaiken does not have to stop his movement when entering a water space.  

WALL OF WATER
When Zaiken is on a water space, when defending each shield rolled counts for one additional block.

Fairly mundane stats for a Unique Hero but he is there to bring the Sahuagin Raider off the shelf (and turn them into a squad).  He can also provide a Bonding option for Water Elementals, or even the Armoc Vipers (Slither).  I thought about him bonding with the Marro Drudge as well .. but wasn't sure that worked.  Maybe I'll take out the Slither in favor of Drudge.

Original Stats:

HEROSCAPE CUSTOM STATS

Unit Name: ZAIKEN

General: Utgar
Species: Alkalian
Type: Unique Hero
Class: Commander
Personality: Ferocious
Size: Medium 5
Points: 100
Stats
Life: 5
Move: 6
Range: 1
Attack: 3
Defense: 3


MARINE COMMANDER
Before taking a turn with Zaiken, you may first take a turn with one of the following:
- Three Common heroes with the Amphibious special power
- Two Common heroes with the Water Mastery special power
- One Squad with the Slither special power

Units taking a turn with Marine Commander may not use other bonding powers.


SUPERIOR WATER MASTERY
When Zaiken is on a water space, add 2 to attack and 1 to his defense. Zaiken does not have to stop his movement when entering a water space.

WALL OF WATER
When Zaiken is on a water space, one shield will block all damage.

Intriguing . . . I will check that Marine Commander special power more closely. I am all for making the S-Raiders worthwhile.

Would like a different name than Attuma unless we want to represent Attuma himself- which means we would be delving into the superheros.

I like this guys attributes. I wouldn't mind seeing him be like Kato, where it is instead of taking a turn (although it's ok if it isn't). I'd prefer to keep them with the slither option over a drudge option. You could also drop the slither option and make it "take a turn with 3 common heroes who have the amphibious or water mastery powers.

For simplicity I was using Attuma as a name placeholder while working on Stats and Powers.  Same with Tanarus and Trianii Sniper.  These sort of names are subject to change .. and their bio will need to reflect their moniker in the world of Heroscape.

My preference would be that a created name stay unless they clash with an existing idea, character, or concept.

Changed name to ZAIKEN.
Changed race to ALKALIAN (which is a name that I made up - and a race that I will detail in a Bio once the powers are worked out).


It is probably simpler to have this figure be like Kato or Kurrok - taking a turn with either the Unique Hero or the Squad/Commons that they command. But I see Zaiken (new name) as leading forces into battle as opposed to staying back and giving orders.

Current bonding options and activations:

Zaiken and 3 Sahuagin Raiders. (4 attacks = one at 3 dice and three others at 2 dice unless attacking a wounded hero)
Zaiken and 2 Water Elementals (3 attacks = one at 3 dice and two others at Range 5 of likely 4 attack if in water)
Zaiken and 3 Armocs, Elite Onyx, Venocs (4 attacks = all four at 3 dice but possible Venoc frenzy)


I think the Slither option is pretty powerful .. so I am considering dropping it. Besides, I already made a figure to help the Vipers : )

I see the Zaiken army build having a mix of Sahuagin Raiders and Water Elementals. It might be simpler to have the option to take a turn with a mix of Raiders and Elementals. Personally I don't have 9 Sahuagin Raiders in my collection (maybe 3 ?) but they are inexpensive. We could make more Amphibious figures though .. this Pathfinder figure is a possibility:

http://www.miniaturemarket.com/pbss-009.html

http://www.miniaturemarket.com/pbhm-10.html


Also considering making this figure a Primordial for Water.

Ideas still in development.

Kai wrote:I see the Zaiken army build having a mix of Sahuagin Raiders and Water Elementals. It might be simpler to have the option to take a turn with a mix of Raiders and Elementals.

I agree here and with the slither thoughts that you have.

This is why I wouldn't mind the bonding option be to take a turn with 3 common heroes who have the amphibious or water mastery powers. Lets you have a mix and keeps it open for future designs.

Kai wrote:For simplicity I was using Attuma as a name placeholder while working on Stats and Powers. Same with Tanarus and Trianii Sniper. These sort of names are subject to change .. and their bio will need to reflect their moniker in the world of Heroscape.

Sorry about the Name confusion, I thought that was what you were going with, not that it was a placeholder of sorts.

Kai wrote:My preference would be that a created name stay unless they clash with an existing idea, character, or concept.

Along with this if there are ever any suggestions or thoughts or ideas about names I have submitted for designs I am leading, I hope you all would present them so that we can all weigh which is best.

I agree with dropping Slither from the power. Slither just means that the snakes can get through the water but they don't receive any real benefit from the water. Both the Amphibious and Water Mastery power figures get benefits/boosts from being in water.

What do you think about just making it 3 common heroes to bond with? It would make it simpler and those Water Elementals cost a bit more than the Raiders, so having the extra dice when attacking would be OK. And, this would allow for a mix of the figures when taking a turn. I'd be fielding an army with 3-4 of each anyways.

I like the name and planet change.

Excellent design!

Updated the OP with changes to:

Marine Commander - dropped Slither option and made it 3 common heroes (mix and match Raiders and Elementals).

Wall of Water - dropped the Krav Maga style One-Shield block in favor of Sentinels of Jandar double-shields when on water tile.

Interesting change on Wall of Water. This guy looks to be intriguing.

Kai wrote:MARINE COMMANDER
Before taking a turn with Zaiken, you may first take a turn with 3 common heroes with the Amphibious or Water Mastery special powers. Units taking a turn with Marine Commander may not use other bonding powers.


SUPERIOR WATER MASTERY
When Zaiken is on a water space, add 2 to attack and 1 to his defense. Zaiken does not have to stop his movement when entering a water space.

WALL OF WATER
When Zaiken is on a water space, when defending each shield rolled counts for one additional block.

I like the change of Marine Commander . . . is the last sentence needed? What powers do the common heroes (Water E's and Raiders) have that would enable them to use other bonding powers? Please let me know.

I like the Wall of Water change as well. With a defense of 4 on water, 1.33 shields on average = 2.67 blocks. Hardly invincible. Plus, he would most often be giving up height.

I propose we move this guy to play-testing to see what his points should finalize at.

Nomad wrote:I like the change of Marine Commander . . . is the last sentence needed? What powers do the common heroes (Water E's and Raiders) have that would enable them to use other bonding powers? Please let me know.

Originally it was in case of Armoc Vipers with Slither, so not necessary but since we are dealing with Common Heroes and we could possibly make more, it might be good to keep it in.

After play-testing, if it has no effect, we could easily remove it.

--
And some play-testing would be nice.  I put up a trade thread on Heroscapers.com looking for x9 Sahuagin Raiders : )   Just in case.

Sahuagin Raider card

Spoiler:

The Raider isn't that great.  He only has an attack of 2, defense 3. Granted he gets 5 defense in water, but is pretty much giving up height. They could be vicious as Hero-Killers though .. especially if one gets a wound on a Hero, then it basically boosts the next attack and so on. Sort of like a "feeding frenzy" : ) Makes me wonder if Zaiken should take his turn first - to give the Raiders more of a chance. Though it could be that Water Elementals blast the target from Range (attack 4), and if a wound is inflicted on the hero then you charge in with a Raider's Blood Frenzy. *chomp*

Hmm . . . interesting. I think you said that you see Zaiken as one who leads the charge into battle, so maybe taking a turn with him first is good. Then attack with some water elementals, and then "POW" with the Raiders if you have a wounded Raider.

I'm good either way . . . it will just be a matter of the points that Zaiken ends up at. I am thinking that Zaiken, Water E's, and Raiders will be an awesome army, as long as there is water on the map.

That is a pretty interesting idea about having him go first. Both ways have merits. I also remember seeing some shark/pirate sculpts that were going to be released by Pathfinder. Here is just a thought for his bonding options- do we also want to include the option of a squad that has water mastery or amphibious. So

MARINE COMMANDER
Before taking a turn with Zaiken, you may first take a turn with 3 common heroes with the Amphibious or Water Mastery special powers or 1 common squad with the Amphibious or Water Mastery special power.

Realizing this could be worded/arranged better.

Good idea!

I like the option of 1 common squad for down the line, just in case. I could see that as an option for something we create.

Being able to bounce ideas and offer suggestions will result in the best possible creation, in my opinion.

Derek S wrote:
MARINE COMMANDER
Before taking a turn with Zaiken, you may first take a turn with 3 common heroes with the Amphibious or Water Mastery special powers or 1 common squad with the Amphibious or Water Mastery special power.

Realizing this could be worded/arranged better.

Sure, we can word it to allow for future potential common squads.  It won't affect play-testing, since there aren't any .. so we can see how powerful Zaiken is with just Raiders and Water Elementals.

--
Potential Army Builds:

RAMMING RAIDERS
Zaiken .. Hero .. 100
S. Raider .. Common x5 .. 125
Water El .. Common x4 .. 120
Augamo (c3v) .. Hero 155
= 500 points


FROM THE DEPTHS
Zaiken .. Hero .. 100
S. Raider .. Common x4 .. 100
Water El .. Common x6 .. 180
Fen Hydra .. Hero .. 120
= 500 points


BLUE BLITZKRIEG
Zaiken .. Hero .. 100
S. Raider .. Common x2 .. 50
Water El .. Common x7 .. 210
Blue Wyrmlings .. Common x4 .. 140
(or Eltahale or a Special Attacker)
= 500 points

Awesome army combos!

I propose we move to play-testing.

I so want to play-test this guy.

I think he needs a paint job!

This guy seemed to playtest well over the weekend. Still need to decide if it is going to work with a squad as well (I am in favor). I think this guy is close to moving to final editing.

Great design. I second that we go to final editing.

Adding a "or 1 common squad" to the power wouldn't be much of change. I also like this potential.

Thanks for contributing Jacob. We could do a wash to add a little depth to the figure.

Kai, if you get a chance, can you send me a few more pics of this figure so that I can get started on the card. The one in the OP has same glare from the flash, but I can make it work.

Yeah, I liked the way this figure played. He was fun, and it was nice to see the Sahuagin Raiders get in on the action : )

I'll see about pics later this week.

I have a ZAIKEN for each of you now .. rebased (thank you for those bases!) and ready to go : )

Thank you!

Bump.

Kai, if you get a chance, can you send me a few pics of this figure so that I can get started on the card?

No biggie - but I've got some free time the next week or so . . .

Emailing pictures now.

Changed Species to Primordial.

I will have the Primordials be a "race" of Elemental Lords.