The Book of Toad

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Yeah ... I'm feeling motivated like I haven't in a while right now. I'm really getting eager to move through the rest of the X-Men stuff and get to ala cart right now. I might turn it up into overdrive in the next couple of weeks.

[SirGalahad]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

No - just like in Jotun's throw, you're placing the figure - the figure isn't being moved, so there'd be no roll for falling damage.
Since there seems to be such a departure in the playtests here, I'm having difficulty deciding on any final cost to propose. I think we might need a fourth playtest here ...

Just what I needed to know, thanks.

I hope to get the ranged army test in tonight as well.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by SirGalahad

I hope to get the ranged army test in tonight as well.

Awesome.

[Hahma]

I believe I was the first to start him so I did it at 120 and after a few HH tests recommended others to test him at 100. I decided to finish him off at 120 to see how he did.

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT ___Toad @ 120 pts__

C3G CHECK LIST FEEDBACK FORM
- Theme/ Does it pass, if not, list your Theme Check observations. Pass
- Mirror/ Does it pass, if not, list your Mirror Check observations. Pass
- Bonding/ Does it pass, if not, list your Bonding Check observations. Pass
- Synergy/ Does it pass, if not, list your Synergy Check observations. Pass
- Power/ Does it pass, if not, list your Power Check observations. Pass
C3G PLAY TEST FEEDBACK FORM
(Be sure to list what official units you used and what BoV map you used per section below.)

-Heavy Hitter/ Does it pass? Fail at 120 points but looks better at 90-100. His total of 2 victories came by way of good attack rolls vs. whiffing defense rolls.
-
-Played against Kaemon Awa (120 points) on Ruins of Pine Tree Marsh.
-
-Test 1 Kaemon Awa won with 3 wounds on turn 6 of round 2.
-Test 2 Kaemon Awa won with 3 wounds on turn 2 of round 2.

Toad didn’t score any wounds with Caustic Phlem and the three wounds he put on KA in on test was from a 3 skull/0 shield attack. He was also fortunate that KA didn’t roll very good defense, so Toad didn’t take any Counterstrike wounds in either test.

Played against Krug (120) on same map.

Test 1 Krug won with 2 wounds on turn 1 of round 2. Test 2 Krug won with 5 wounds on turn 2 of round 2.

Toad was able to Leap around and get height vs. Krug and got one Caustic Phlem wound on him, but it’s easy to wound Krug. The hard part is living long after wounding him.

Played against Allistair McDirk (100) on same map

Test 1 Allistair won with 2 wounds on turn 6 of round 1.
Test 2 Allistair won with 2 wounds on turn 5 of round 1.
Test 3 Allistair won with 5 wounds on turn 2 of round 2.

Hard for Toad to last long vs. an opponent with the ability to attack twice as Allistair did by Overextending.

Played against Agent Carr (100) on same map.

Test 1 Agent Carr won with 1 wound on turn 5 of round 2.
Test 2 Toad won with 2 wounds on turn 1 of round 2.

Carr was able to put a wound on Toad in each game with his ranged attack and in the first game he closed in and took it to Toad. The game Toad won was when he won initiative for the second round and got a 3 skull/0 shield attack to take Carr out.

Played against Crixus (90) on same map.

Test 1 Crixus won with 1 wound on turn 2 of round 2.
Test 2 Toad won with 0 wounds on turn 3 of round 2.
Test 3 Crixus won with 1 wound on turn 2 of round 2.

Tounge Lash had worked a couple times on several attempts and brought Crixus adjacent to Toad where Toad could attack with height advantage. He was also able to Leap around and keep height advantage pretty good and force Crixus to attack from below. Caustic Phlem put a couple wounds on Crixus. In Test 2, Toad was able to put 2 wounds on with Caustic Phlem because Crixus whiffed defense roll and on his next attack, Toad was able to finish off Crixus by rolling a 4 skull/0 shield attack. So while Toad beat Crixus that game, there was some luck involved with Crixus whiffing vs. a couple good attacks.



-Squad/ Does it pass? Pass @ 90-100
-
-Played on Ruins of Pine Tree Marsh

Toad vs. 10th Regiment x 1 (75)

3 10th Reg. survive to take victory on turn 4 of round 2. Toad did well early on by using his mobility and size to keep the 10th from being able to be in range or to have LOS on him. He had the last turn of the first round and successfully Tongue Lashed a 10th Reg. and attacked with height for a 3 skull to 0 shield attack/kill. Toad had initiative in the second round, moved and tried to TL another 10th Reg from 3 spaces but failed and was out of range for Caustic Phlem. The 3 remaining 10th Reg. used Wait and Fire to put 2 wounds on Toad. Toad then Leapt across the river and attacked with height but the 10th Reg defended successfully. On the next turn, they took him out.

Toad vs. Minions x 1 (110)

Toad tried to single out a Minion and failed a TL and then defended a single attack from that Minion. He then Leapt to height and killed a Minion with a 3 skull to 0 shield attack. He won initiative and moved to within the next Minion and attempted TL but failed, so he attacked with Caustic Phlem but missed. Minions moved adjacent to Toad and put a wound on him. Toad Leapt away and TL a Minion and brought it to lower space adjacent to him but couldn’t kill it. He defended against another attack by the Minions but missed on his next attack. Finally on turn 6 of round 2, the Minions were able to take him out.

Toad will have trouble vs. ranged squads, but is better suited against melee squads.

Melee Army/ Does it pass? Pass @ 90-100
-
Played on Ruins of Pine Tree Marsh

Toad (120) Krug (120) Minions x 3 (330) for 570 points.

They went against Hawkgirl (225) Warriors of Ashra x 3 (150), Crixus (90), Retiarius (90) and Isamu (10) for 565 points.

4 Minions survive to take victory on turn 5 of round 8. Warriors of Ashra tied things up early. Hawkgirl was taking out Minions pretty easily with her Swoop, but she wasn’t able to take advantage of double attack with far Swoop because Minions weren’t adjacent to each other to allow that. She and her team pretty much left Krug alone, but he kind of created a bottleneck of sorts and tied up Crixus, Retiarius and a couple WOA. Toad came into play on turn 1 of round 4 and was able to use his mobility to get into 3 spaces of a WOA and succeed in TL her and used his Caustic Phlem Special Attack to bypass their Defensive Agility that was giving Krug and the Minions fits. He kill that WOA and killed another one on turn 6 of that round as he was able to Leap into position to do that. His team won initiative in round 5 and Toad had the first OM on him, so he Leapt into position to attempt a TL on Crixus, but failed. Since Crixus was 3 spaces away, Toad decided to attack a WOA that was 2 spaces away with his Caustic Phlem and killed that (his third WOA kill) WOA. Hawkgirl didn’t like what Toad was able to do vs. the WOA, so she flew over and killed Toad with her double Swooping attack. Hawkgirl had a wound on her card when a Minion killed her with a 4 skull to 0 shield attack. Krug eventually got attacked and then he proceeded to take out Crixus and Retiarius. WOA were able to take Krug down but then they whiffed many defensive rolls vs. Minions and died. Isamu failed to vanish and died as well.

Toad killed 3 WOA before being killed. That was cool killing 3 WOA on 3 attacks, but I wouldn’t expect that to happen all the time. While his army won with him priced at 120, I’d say that it was more of a function of unlucky die rolls for the opponent. Hawkgirl taking final 4 wounds from a whiff defense roll was ugly, as was the whiffs by the WOA near the end of the game. Same thing for Crixus whiffing on a 6 skull attack from Krug. The game could have easily gone the other way and was looking like that would happen early in the game, but the defensive whiffs came out in force for Hawgirl’s team and the tide turned dramatically.

-Ranged Army/ Does it pass? Pass @ 90-100
-
-Played on Ruins of Pine Tree Marsh.

Toad (120) Stingers x 3 (180) Kaemon Awa (120) and James Murphy (75) for 495 points.

They went against 10th Regiment x 4 (225) Green Arrow (150) and Agent Skahen (120) for 495 points.

James Murphy survives with 0 wounds to take victory on turn 6 of round 7. Toad was able to use his mobility to get adjacent with height against Agent Skahen (who had 2 wounds forever and was staying alive with Defensive Agility) and he bypassed DA to put final wound on Skahen. He was also able to use his mobility to get close enough to Green Arrow to put a wound on him before Green Arrow put final 2 wounds on Toad. Green Arrow was able to take out Stingers 1 at a time early in the game and had opportunity to use Explosive Arrow to attack 2 adjacent Stingers, but he didn’t want to put himself in a bad position to get attacked by Kaemon Awa with height. Stingers were able to roll good defense most of the time vs. Skahen and 10th Reg., and while they had trouble with Skahen, they were able to out kill the 10th Reg. Kaemon Awa killed a couple 10th but struggled vs. Skahen and he didn’t want to get too close to get attacked by 10th with Wait and Fire. Green Arrow eventually took Kaemon Awa out. After Toad was killed, Murphy moved out and between him and the remaining Stingers, they were able to take down the rest of the 10th Reg. (shotgun took out 2 at a time once). Early in the game, Green Arrow was rolling really good for Skill Shot, but at the end, he rolled poorly every time and just got normal attacks which he rolled poorly. Murphy was able to put final 2 wounds on Green Arrow with a Shotgun blast.

Analysis –

Toad can be a nice figure to use to surprise attack opponent’s units, due to his nice mobility with a move of 6 and Leap Frog move of 4, tied in with his Tongue Lash power and his Caustic Phlem special attack. He can hide behind a battlement on a castle wall and then spring into action to Leap down from a single height wall and attack an unwary opponent. It’s nice to have a special attack to bypass certain defenses as well. His small stature makes avoiding LOS much easier than taller figures and he can use Leap Frog to get height much of the time.

On the negative side, Toad doesn’t have a special defensive power or high life to give him much staying power once he does get into the mix, though being able to leave engagements helps somewhat. The limited range of his Tongue Lash and Caustic Phlem force him to get close to the opponent. If he fails a Tongue Lash at 3 spaces, he is out of range of Caustic Phlem and puts himself in a possible vulnerable position.

Toad is fun to play, so the fun factor is there. While his army tests came out good even with him priced at 120, I think it was more a function of his teammates’ good performance and bad dice rolls for the opponent. He doesn’t offer any auras or benefits to teammates and he as yet has no synergy to add value to his card. While he may be passable at 100 points, I think he’d see much less play at that price point. He’s a situational unit that offers no benefits to other units, has no bonding or synergies (aside from any Mutant synergies). I would recommend Toad be priced at 90 points.

[IAmBatman]

Awesome! I'll update the first page.

[Hahma]

Updated post #148 with completed playtest sheet for Toad.

[Griffin]

Great Job Hahma! Now only one army test left from SirGal. I would propose his final cost at 90, but I can't remember if we decided that we needed an extra test or not, so I will wait for Bats, I am sure he remembers.

Front page updated.

~ Griff, exercising my new Mod powers in a Batsy/Aldiny sorta way

[IAmBatman]

Sir G's test is still in progress and he seemed pretty set at 100. That said, everyone else is looking pretty solid at 90. I think we can wait to at least hear from Sir G. on the topic before proposing. Maybe he'll be able to finish up his tests today?

[Griffin]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Sir G's test is still in progress and he seemed pretty set at 100. That said, everyone else is looking pretty solid at 90. I think we can wait to at least hear from Sir G. on the topic before proposing. Maybe he'll be able to finish up his tests today?

Actually he told me by PM that he was going to be out of town for a while. I may just do this test for him to finish up the sheet.

[IAmBatman]

That's not a bad idea! Then we get yet another view on it.

[SirGalahad]

Finished Playtest - sorry it took a little bit. Had to take the map down for company. Long story.

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Toad (100)

C3G CHECK LIST FEEDBACK FORM
THEME TEST – Pass
MIRROR TEST – Pass
BONDINGTEST–Pass
SYNERGIES TEST– Pass
POWER CHECK – Pass

C3G PLAY TEST FEEDBACK FORM – All games played on Ruins of Pine Tree Mars

hHeavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero/ Does it pass? – Pass

Game 1: Concan (80) – Leap Frog makes it easy to gain height. Tongue Lash moves Concan to lower height, so Toad can roll 5. Toad wins on Turn 1 of Round 2 with 2 wounds.

Game 2: Retiarius (90) – Same as above. Net Trip misses. Toad wins on Turn 1 of Round 2 with 1 wound.

Game 3: Atlaga (90) – On turn 3, Tongue Lash = 20 brings the Kyrie in, where Toad rolls 5 skulls to no shields. Atlaga dies without firing a shot. Rematch required.

Game 4: Atlaga (90) – Atlaga’s only attack nets 3 wounds (WW = 4). No TL this game, but Toad still wins on Turn 6 of Round 1 with 3 wounds.

Game 5: Ne-Gok-Sa (90) – TL works twice to drop NGS to height disadvantage. Toad wins on Turn 1 of Round 3 with 3 wounds.

Game 6: Moriko (110) – TL again works perfectly, dropping the ninja to height disadvantage for the final blows. Toad wins on Turn 1 of Round 3 with 2 wounds.

Squad/ Does it pass? – Pass

Game 1: Knights of Weston (70)
Round 1: Initiative Toad. TL = 4 not enough to bring any KoW to attack. 2 KoW adjacent on Turn 4, and hit for 1 wound. Toad drops a knight. 2 more adjacent; no wounds. Toad Leap Frogs across the stream, but misses special.
Round 2: Initiative Toad. TL = 20 drags KoW across the river. Really pissed off knight proceeds to roll 4 shields on defense, and being the only one adjacent, rolls 3 skulls on offense to finish off the mutant. KoW win on Turn 2 of Round 2 with 3 figures remaining.

Game 2: 4th Mass (70)
Round 1: Initiative 4th. Toad turtles. (mixed reptiles?) 4th advance to sniping positions. Toad Leap Frogs to within 3 of leading 4th, TL = 12, and pulls him off height à dead 4th. Return fire yields just 1 wound. Toad Leap Frogs again, but misses TL, so uses special and takes out another 4th.
Round 2: Initiative 4th. 2 WTF net 2 wounds. TL = 15 à another dead 4th. WTF misses. TL misses, as does Phlegm. Last WTF works.
4th Mass win on Turn 5 of Round 2 with 1 figure remaining.

Game 3: Granite Guardians (100)LF and TL work 3 out of 4 times, moving figures off of height, usually to height disadvantage.
Toad wins on Turn 4 of Round 2 with 1 wound.

Game 4: Warriors of Ashra x2 (100)Special Attacks avoid Defensive Agility, so Toad just hops around, picking them off one by one with his Phlegm. WoA get 1 hit.
Toad wins on Turn 4 of Round 3 with 1 wound.

Game 5: Protectors of Ullar (110)
Round 1: Initiative Toad. LF/TL combo drags flier into water, where he is drowned by 5 skull attack. Combined Arbalest puts 2 on the mutant. Phlegm good for 4 skulls. Last PoU puts Toad at critical.
Round 2: Initiative PoU. Flies to even height, but is blocked. Phlegm FTW.
Toad wins on Turn 2 of Round 2 with 3 wounds.

- Melee Based Army/ Does it pass? – Pass

Team 1: Toad (100), Sir Gilbert (105), KoW (70), Sentinels of Jandar x2 (220) = 495
Team 2: Spartacus (200), Crixus (90), Capuan Galdiators x3 (210) = 500

Round 1: Initiative Steamroller. Crixus and Caps out. Gilbert out, JD = 2, moves SoJ. Crixus to height, Caps engage KoW for naught. JD = 6!!! Sentinels take perches everywhere. 2 Caps down. Crixus skewers a KoW. JD = 2, Knights take out a 3rd Cap and put 1 wound on Crixus.
Round 2: Initiative Steamroller. 2 each of Caps, SoJ and KoW out this round.
Round 3: Initiative Steamroller. Crixus puts 4 big ones on Gilbert. Sentinels wound Crixus again and dust another Cap. Gilbert goes down, Sentinels lose another. 3rd wound on Crixus.
Round 4: Initiative Team Toad. 4th wound on Crixus. Sentinels out. Toad takes out the nearest Cap. Last KoW down. Only Toad remaining against 1 life Crixus, 2 Caps, and full-life Sparty. Toad moves adjacent to Crixus, TL = 10, but finishes him off. Caps put 1 wound on Toad.
Round 5: Inititative Team Toad. LF’s to height; takes out another Cap. Another wart-wound. Sparty’s still too far away. Another LF, another dead Cap. OM2 on Caps, so Toad LF/TL = 13 à Sparty goes for a swim. Four big skulls, but 3 bigger shields. Sparty feasts on frog legs, as Toad whiffs.
Steamroller wins on Turn 6 of Round 5 with 1 wound Spartacus.

- Range Based Army/ Does it pass? – Pass

Team 1: Toad (100), Iron Man (240), Stingers x3 (180) = 520
Team 2: Dr. Doom (245), Krav (100), 10th Reg x2 (150), Guilty (30) = 525

Round 1: Initiative Team Toad. Stingers and 10th out. Stingers take out two 10th on OM 2. Return fire removes a Marro. Iron Man takes another half-squad of 10th. Krav roll 3, 2, and 3 skulls, but can only put one lick on that shiny suit.
Round 2: Initiative Team Doom. Krav (with height) can only muster another wound on IM. IM gets adjacent and takes out two agents over 2 OM’s. Doom puts IM to critical life, then Mind Exchange = 18, and IM takes out 2 of his own Stingers. Stinger Drain = 13, take out last Krav (defense whiff) and another Redcoat.
Round 3: Initiative Team Doom. Doom takes out IM from heighest point on the map. OM 1 on IM, so Doom again. This time another Stinger gone. Stingers’ revenge – Drain = 11, 2 wounds on Doom. 10th take out a Stinger. Toad gets just close enough to Phlegm Doom for 1, putting him at critical life.
Round 4: Initiative Team Toad. Stinger Drain = 17 takes out two more 10th. Doom whiffs attack roll from height (6 shields, 1 blank) and pays for it, as Toad Leap Frogs adjacent (TL = 5), and puts the bad doctor away with an even height attack. Last 10th WTF for 1 wound on the reptile. Toad takes him out. Guilty removes a Stinger.
Round 5: Initiative Team Toad. It takes 2 OM’s, but Stingers put the Lawman 6 feet under.
Team Toad wins on Turn 3 of Round 5 w 3 Stingers and 1-wound Toad remaining.

When played well, he can (Stealth) Leap Frog to within two hexes of an opponent (often gaining height), attempt Tongue Lash to bring the opponent down from height, thereby gaining height advantage for himself, where he's rolling 5A. If Tongue Lash doesn't work, he's still rolling like Migol at range 2.

He is a blast to play. To have the opponent work so hard to get even with Toad on a 2-hex plateau, only to have Toad Tongue Lash the opponent over his head down to an adjacent space with height disadvantage -- With Leap Frog, Toad is coming from behind ruins and trees, avoiding getting swarmed by squad figures, and just making life miserable for the opponent.

Against Range, you have to keep him out of harm’s way until the end-game, but he works well in that capacity.

Pine Tree Marsh is the perfect map for him (I've discovered), because Toad can simply Leap Frog back and forth across the river to separate perches.

PASS at 100.

[Griffin]

Thanks SirG! Would you mind cleaning it up a bit though? If you hit the enter button a few times where it is needed, this will be much easier to read.