nyys custom figs - DRACUL - 7/7/11 *indexed in OP*

[nyys]

INDEX:

NEW 7/7/11
Dracul*

NEW 4/11/11
Black Slaad*

Tracker - Removed
Jandar's Medics
Fire Ants*
Alligator Snappers*
Rhac Fireforge
Marro Biosphere*
Eld'sul*
Body Guards*
Bi-Kul-Ra and Biospores*
Unnamed Viper Warlord *

Deathwalker Help
Tech Bots and MasterSlave5000*
----------

Abilites/Special Attacks with no unit to go with at this time.

Force Field*
Deflection Shield*
Proximity Charge*
Laser Line Special Attack*
Triangulate*
Panic*
Paralyzing Fear*


* = in progress

[Sev_]

What program are you going to be using for the cards?

GIMP and PS are similar but there are differences that are hard to follow if you're using a tutorial for one but using another program.

Here is JJ's tutorials.

http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=4731

[Eckels]

Originally Posted by nyys

I'm not sure if Disciplined is the right personality, but I couldn't think of anything better.

Relentless?

I would think of a tracker as unrelenting, until he finds what he's tracking.

[nyys]

Wow, been a while since I've been back in this thread. I sort of randomly had an idea come to me that I've been working on lately. Before that though, and just to get it in the same thread, here is the Unique Squad custom I made for Tablewalker's contest from last... summer I think it was.

Credit to Lord Pyre for making the card... thanks again!

[nyys]

Now here's what caused me to 'wake' this thread up in the first place.

FIRE ANTS (squad of four)
Aquilla

Insect
Common Squad
Soldiers
Relentless
Small 2

Life 1
Move 7
Range 1
Attack 2
Defense 1

Points 40

Fire Sting Special Attack
R1:A6 - If three Fire Ants you control are adjacent to the same enemy figure, they may roll their attack dice as one combined attack. The defending figure compares height to the lowest Fire Ant to determine any height advantage. If at least two wounds are inflicted by Fire Sting Special Attack, roll the 20 sided die, on a 1-15 nothing happens, 16-20 inflict an additional wound. If Fire Sting Special Attack is used, the 4th figure that moved this turn cannot attack.

Swarm Defense
If a Fire Ant is attacked by a figure that is adjacent to at least two other Fire Ants you control, add one defense die.

Climb x4
When moving up or down levels of terrain, Fire Ants may quadruple their height.

Burrow (Edit: changed from Tunnel, see next post for explanation).
Fire Ants may move through all figures and are never attacked when leaving an engagement.

NOTE: I only want to use two of the three latter abilities, I'm just torn on which to go with.

--

I suppose an argument could be made that the latter two abilities are both better than Swarm Defense, and to get rid of that one and possibly just start their defense at two (EDIT: Did exactly that but kept defense at one).

This being a swarm themed common squad I wanted to keep the cost low, so in order to justify the other abilities, I figured making them easy to kill would balance it a bit.

--

Ants can go anywhere, in fact this whole thing was inspired by the fact that my house gets infested at this time each year and I have to call the exterminator (yay fun). There's pretty much no space I haven't found them tackling, which is what is behind the climb x4 ability with only a height of two (yes that allows them to go up elevations of eight as long as they have some help, like a move glyph, or Marcus since they are soldier ants).

The same thinking is also behind the Tunnel ability, which is actually Phantom Walk word for word, though for theme I called it Tunnel (looking for a better thematic name, since there is already a tunneling ability that works differently).

Speaking of soldier ants, that name for the squad would probably be more appropriate, but then I wasn't sure if it made sense considering their special attack (which is the same as the Ashigaru Yari, with an additional wound possibility, which ties in theme wise with Sujoah, but not as deadly).

Also the relentless personality I gave them comes from a TV show I watched on one of the Science/Learning channels about African Fire Ants (I think they were Fire Ants). They were an absolute horror to watch, clearing the landscap of anything that lived in their path (relatively speaking, though they have been known to take down an injured animal or unaware human on occasion). So Khosumet can give them a boost.

--

OK, now to the preliminary points cost I assigned it (40). I know, it's very low and I'm not sure how much the defense of one balances things out. Also I'm not sure if all that text (from whichever three abilities are decided upon) will fit, which is also a consideration.

--

Fire away. All input is welcome and appreciated.

EDIT: Changed height from 3 to 2 to fall in line with the Fyorlag Spiders and changed climb x3 to climb x4 to keep with the same crazy climbing ability. Also changed the tunneling ability to read like Phantom Walk instead of ghost walk. Thanks to GameBear for the suggestions.

Decided on removing Swarm Defense and keep defense at one to justify low point cost.

[nyys]

Though of something that could be a better name thematically for the Tunnel ability.

Burrow - One of the dictionary definitions is "to construct by tunneling."

So even though it's the same thing, there is no conflict with the Tunneling ability as far a name goes with the Drudge, and in imagining how it would work to leave engagements or get past enemy/engaged figures, it can be pictured as the ants digging into the ground to a place of safety or a shallow hole to get past the front lines.

EDIT: Another ability I would have liked to add but there simply would be no room on the card for more:

Squish: Fire Ants roll one less defense die against all but small figures.

Not sure if I would have raised base defense by one had I gone with that.

[dok]

They look fun; fast Yaris without Harq help, but with phantom walk. They seem reasonably balanced, but the combination of 7 move, phantom walk, and encircle might make them unreasonably effective assassins for only 40 points. Hard to say.

On the medics, I'm not sure whether they're a squad of 3 or 4. I'm also a bit concerned with the bookkeeping involved in the healing, and I'm not sure the language of the Adenaline rush is clear enough. But I like the idea of the figures, and I've got visions of hiding a medic between Nilfheim's wings.

[nyys]

Thanks for the input dok, I think I may actually give the ants a whirl while waiting for Wave 9 to arrive.

The Medics are a squad of four (guess the lack of a pic causes that issue), and I was never happy with the adrenaline rush wording, but I ran out of time to submit differently.

[fostorial]

Those ants look pretty cool! I like the idea of having a swarm of those guys.

Think if you added Squish you'd have to increase defense or they would just automatically die against most figures. Personally that would put me off using them but it depends on the balance really.

Any idea on what figures to use with them? Imagine getting enough ant figures to create a swarm could prove tricky...


Just thought I'd mention this applet. I wrote it to make my custom creating easier but uploaded for public use because I found it easier than doing the whole card in GIMP or PS.

www.fostorial.webs.com/applet.html

Needs java script enabled and preferrably java 1.6 installed (will work with 1.5 but some stuff won't) but this might help making your own customs.

[nyys]

Thanks for fostorial. That was another reason I didn't add Squish, nearly zero survivability.

As for figures, the only ones I can think of are the cheap plastic ones that come in the bug packs that my son somehow finds every time we go into an 'odd' toy store.

I can't open your program here at work (darn blocking software), but it sounds exactly like something a GIMP/PS challenged person like myself needs. Thanks!

EDIT: I played around with the applet last night at home, this thing is GREAT... THANK YOU!

[nyys]

Even though it's now become obvious (with the Wave 9 previews) that Aquilla is not necessarily the leader of the Animal Kingdom, my newest creation belongs to her nonetheless.

ALLIGATOR SNAPPERS (squad of three) - AKA Giant Turtle
Aquilla

Reptile
Common Squad
Snappers
Aggressive
Large 4

Life 1
Move 4
Range 1
Attack 3
Defense 3

Points 60

Shell Defense
When defending against a figure with height advantage, Alligator Snappers roll two additional defense dice.

Soft Underbelly
When defending against an adjacent figure on a lower level, Alligator Snappers roll two less defense dice.

Float
Alligator Snappers do not have to stop their movement entering water spaces.

NOTES: The only thing I'm really wrestling with on this one is whether to make their base defense four and chage the additional defense dice in Shell Defense from two to one, and then in turn change Soft Underbelly from two less defense dice, to three less.

Float is just another name for Slither, which obvioulsy doesn't work for these guys thematically.

The Shell Defense/Soft Underbelly combination of ability/disability I think will make for some interesting choices during a game. Whether to just take on the Snapper on even ground, go for height and the extra defense be damned, or get below him for the weaker flesh but risk the height advantage they'll have if you fail on your attack.

The Snappers still get their height advantage bonus when defending, which is why (for Soft Underbelly) I went with (when I choose one definitively) three base defense and minus two (for a net of two defense with height bonus), or four base defense and minus three (for a net of two defense with height bonus).

The points cost I'm really not sure about, will really need to test their staying power to decide if it should be more or less. Right now I keep equating them to Stingers since they cost the same, and obvioulsy the Stingers are a much much better squad... I think.

EDIT: This is still a work in progress, I got some great feedback from GameBear on this one that I have yet to incorporate.

[Lamaclown]

Nice!
Having lived in GA for quite some time I can appreciate the swarming stings of fire ants. I think you did a good job of giving them thematic abilities.
Their move of 7 might need some playtesting to prove balanced but I really like them.
Of course with a defense of 1 a move of 7 may simply mean a moving shooting gallery. I can see the rationale behind the move/defense ratings.

Anyhow, good job!