Nomad Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:29 pm
NAME OF THE TEST UNIT: Aristeos
THEME TEST: Are there are any powers or stats on the test unit card that do not accurately reflect the theme or likeness of what the character should be able to do? Also consider whether or not this character's powers should affect destructible objects. PASS.
FUN TEST: Was the unit fun to play? PASS.
FUN OPPOSITION TEST: Was the unit acceptable to play against? Could it be considered annoying? PASS. Could be annoying if the 20-sider could work to remove OMs, but Aristeos either didn’t find himself in position too often to get the chance to play his flute or couldn’t pull off the roll.
USAGE TEST: Were all of the powers on this card used, or at least usable? PASS.
STRATEGY TEST: Does the unit offer any real strategy or interesting tactics to the overall game? PASS. A very subtle new strategy to the game. Aristeos doesn’t work well in an army with a huge number of unique figure OM hogs, but does pose a threat when in the right spot at the right time. His additional dice to ranged attacks for adjacent Ullar might be his biggest quality.
BONDING TEST: Compare the unit card with all currently existing Bonding abilities. Are there any Bonding loops that do not stop appropriately? PASS.
SYNERGIES TEST: Think of all the current cards that would have synergy with the unit card. Are there any factors that could break the game by making a unit too powerful or too weak? PASS.
POWER CHECK: When considering the test unit against all existing units (including released C3V and SoV units) and all glyphs, are there any powers that could be overamplified and break the game? PASS.
DRAFTING TEST: Is this unit worth drafting? PASS. A very thoughtful design and and a nice addition to any army.
MIRROR TEST: Consider the test unit against itself. Are there any loops that would upset the balance of the Game? PASS.
ARMY TEST
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] INCONCLUSIVE. We played two games based on his stats of last month before we changed them to the stats listed in the previous post. If those stats are approved, Derek and I think he is about ready to go.
Map: All five battles were on Derek’s custom map of BftU and TTx2.
Battles 1 and 2:
Army 1 (Derek): Aristeos, Wardens of the Wood, Arkmer, Morsbane, Kwyntela, Haduc = 490 points.
VS
Army 2 (Damon): Skahen, Krav Maga, Vindicators of Vydar, Microcorp Agents x2, Otonashi = 490 points.
Battle #1: Damon rolled really well, Derek did not. Battle was over who would control the Attack +1 glyph. Morsbane negated the Vindicators early on. The Wardens fell quickly. Aristeos did nothing. Krav Maga were incredibly awesome. Damon won with 470 points left with only one dead Vindicator.
Battle #2: Much closer battle in this one, but multiple attacks won out. Skahen was negated early by Morsbane. The Wardens faired better in providing defense and attacking when necessary. Aristeos proved some cover from the ranged attacks but was taken out before he could do much. Damon won with 217 points left, mostly Microcorp.
Battle 3 After the first two battles, we tweaked the stats for Aristeos.
Army 1 (Derek): Aristeos, Wardens of the Wood, Haduc Aubrien Archers x3 = 510 points.
VS
Army 2 (Damon): Skahen, Krav Maga, Vindicators of Vydar, Microcorp Agents x2, Otonashi, Jean de Ascalon = 510 points.
Battle #3: Again, Aristeos didn’t do much except for providing some ranged cover for the Archers. The Wardens provided much needed defense for the Archers, but they still didn’t have much luck rolling. The Wardens killed about 90 points worth of figures and saved a fair amount of points. This was a very close and exciting match-up, but Damon’s forces came out on top with 1 Microcorp and Jean remaining for a total of 53 points.
Battles 4 and 5:
Army 1 (Damon): Aristeos, Charros, Greenscales x3, Theracus = 520 points.
VS
Army 2 (Derek): Doggin Trackers, Master of the Hunt, Deathchasers x3, Dund = 525 points.
Battle #4: This was our most exciting and down to the wire battle the whole weekend. Very fun! Charros got caught in the middle of the map and was hammered by the fourth round. Theracus dropped Aristeos on a glyph on OM #1. Aristeos was an interesting threat – reducing defense and removing OMs – more of threat than anything else. The 20-sider was working real well, but being in position to remove OMs after the first won is hard to do. With 1 Chaser and 2-life Dund remaining, Derek came out on top with 73 points left.
Battle #5: Damon did a better job of protecting Charros early so that he would become a beast later in the game. Theracus dropped Aristeos on a glyph on OM#1 in the first round (pit trap). Aristeos would get OM#1 each round to be a threat for OM removal while the Greenscales and Charros would do the rest of the round. It was a good strategy as team Ullar won with 295 points in the bank.
Final thoughts: After 5 play tests, Derek and I recommend dropping Aristeos’s points to 90, changing the flute to reducing opponent’s defense by (more thematic for falling asleep), and increasing his attack by 1. Still, Aristeos needs to be in an army where he can get some OM love or keep him as a clean-up figure. He might possibly need another tweak or two but we feel he is pretty darn close with the stats posted in the previous post. Jacob, what do you think?
