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Scaper of the Week # 52

Posted December 4th, 2010 at 09:47 PM by rym
'Scaper of the Week # 52
Well, I've never been out of the country (except for that one time during spring break back in college when my buddies and I drove to Matamoros, Mexico and had one heck of a night involving Tequila shots, transvestite, a Mexican jail and Naughty By Nature's O.P.P., but I digress).

If I were to ever go out of the country again, I would love to go north of the border this time and visit some of our Canadian brethren.

Our latest 'Scaper of the Week hails from Canada and is probably one of the most well-known and well-liked members of this community. Certainly we've all seen his Pictured Battle Reports, which has to be one of the most watched and talked about threads at 299 pages!

I present to you our latest 'Scaper of the Week, eh!

A_Train

-Scaper of the Week # 52!-





Who are you?

A-Train, resident battle reporter. My parents called me Adam. I'm pretty sure they had another name picked out for me, but then the neighbours used it for their dog, and there was this whole thing....anyway yeah. My name is Adam.

Here I am with some of my crew. I'm in the middle, with Chazz on the left and Patrick and my oldest son on the right (Sadly he not longer has much liking for either Heroscape or the Pittsburgh Penguins).



Who, or what, is your avatar and how did you come up with your username?

My user name is based of a combination of the Duke Ellington jazz song "Take the A Train", the initial from my first name and my fantastic....love making abilities which I liked to exaggerate to "Taking a ride on the A-train." You can't unknow that now.
At least it has absolutely nothing to do with this guy:



My avatar is an animation of a martial artist performing a jumping spin kick to KO some chump. I was studying Tae Kwon Do for a while, and found this avatar in those days. I drifted away from the art myself, but kept the avatar for two reasons: 1) I like it. 2) I identify a lot of people on here (and other forums) immediately by their avatars. I figure some people do the same of me, so I keep it the same. (For example, there was a member of the forum who was using the same avatar as truth at one point, and I saw his threads thinking they were from the man himself. It took a closer look to make sense of it).

Age: 31

Occupation?

GIS Analyst for a Mineral (Gold) Exploration Company. I churn out geological maps, maintain databases and make 3d models of mineral deposits. It's not terribly exciting but I managed to hold onto my job when the economy took a downturn and the staff of nearly 300 dropped to 12.

Allegiance and why?

Valkrill. It just makes the most sense.

Ok, not really. I guess my allegiance would mostly be to Utgar, with a small percent leaning towards Jandar. I like Utgar due to his massive amount of units. He has a large selection of anything you need: overwhelming range or melee squads, special attackers, big hitters, cheap filler units, overpriced attack boosters and a lot of common heroes. But Jandar gets a little bit of love because I love knights. They're just cool, and it doesn't hurt that Heroscape's Knights look awesome (and it really doesn't hurt that they are a strong unit. At least when talking about the Weston Knights, not so for the Templar).

Are you glad there is a 7th general, Valkrill, and why or why not?

I wouldn't say I was glad, but I wasn't upset at all. I don't overly care about which general the figures serve. To me its more of a good guys vs bad guys; Utgar was bad, and everyone else was good (and even that never stopped me from mixing Utgar with Jandar). Now it will just be Utgar/Valkrill are bad and everyone else is still good. Granted I often grouped Jandar, Einar, Ullar and Aquilla together while treating Vydar like the red headed stepchild that he is.

As soon as I heard Valkrill was added, I figured it was a good way to add DnD Orcs, without having to question why they were different from Utgar Orcs. Others suggested that it was because Utgar was getting too big, or that there were far more monsterish DnD figures than heroes, so they needed a place to go, and I guess that makes sense too. It does suck that Valkrill will wind up with only 4 official units, and no heroes. I'll probably wind up treating them like side allies of Utgar. Kinda like the Dreadnoks were to Cobra in GI Joe. Or Hordak's Horde to Skeletor's forces in He-man. Ok, so the Horde was technically part of She-ra, but they were so damn cool. I'm really dating myself with the cartoon references, aren't I?

So, I wasn't glad or excited about another general, but it didn't bother me. To be honest, I wasn't thrilled about Aquilla. Maybe I just fear change.

When did you get into HeroScape and why?

I had picked up the box a few times at Wal mart but didn't get it until Xmas of 2007. My son was looking at things he wanted for Christmas and was looking at the Crossbows and Catapults set when I may have suggested the Heroscape. He indicated he would like it, and that holiday we wound up getting ROTV, Zombies, Wave 6 Heroes and the Tundra.
Unfortunately he never really grew to love Heroscape and rarely plays now.

Favourite aspect of HeroScape and why?

Probably its ease to learn. If Heroscape had been a complex game I probably never would have gotten into it, or been able to convince a rather large group of my friends to try it.

Favourite Hero and why?

This is a tough one, so I'm going to go pre DnD and post DnD. From the start Su Bak Na was the hero that caught my eye. I loved the sight of him: a Marro Hivelord wielding a huge scythe weapon from atop a bone dragon. Awesome. Orms Return was one of my first online purchases and it was all for Su Bak Na. I was a little disappointed with his 5 life and 3 defence, but his 7 attack more than made up for it. Hivelord bonding made up for the shortcomings, and made that 7 attack all the better. Special abilities are great, but sometimes I think my favorite 'ability' in the game, is a huge attack. Only Jotun has a higher attack, and he is far more expensive (and less maneuverable). It may not count much against squaddies but SBN's attack once helped me take out Major Q9 and Braxas in one round of Order Markers, a moment I will always remember.

But as squads can easily overwhelm Su Bak Na, a new favourite has caught my eye. The Fen Hydra. People can complain all they want about DnD scape, and how they wish it were canceled before any DnD was released, but I will forgive a million shrimpy Ice Trolls and out of scale Drow just to have the Fen Hydra. A beefy 6 defense with a thematic heads = multiple attacks = life mechanic that complete captures what a Hydra should be. The Hydra does stress me out to use though, as I hate having it get injured too early, and feel the Hydra was wasted if I do. I try to combine them with Kelda or Dragonspire when possible.

Favourite Unique Squad and why?

I think I will say the Airborne Elite, as I have been using them a lot lately. There is a finesse on how to drop them. I tend to lean towards the safe side, and drop them on elevations far closer to my own start zone. It helps keep them alive longer. I also almost never use the grenade attack unless I am facing Vipers or perhaps Goblins. In most cases, 4 attacks of 4 (from elevation) from up to 8 spaces away seems much more beneficial than the explosion grenades.

Favourite Common Squad and why?

I tried to answer this question by thinking of the squad I use the most, but I really try to use a wide array of units, and don't like to repeat armies too close together. So even though I don't use any particular squad a ton, my favourites are can probably be summed up as "strong melee squads". I really like the Knights, the Heavy Gruts and the Minions of Utgar.


Favourite Special ability and why?

I thought about this for a while, and really couldn't come up with a favourite. So I'll say this: anything that helps me survive, and do damage. Thorian Speed, warforged resolve and Scurry are great for closing in on ranged units while abilities like Deadly Strike/Shot, take them down nicely.

As mentioned above though, sometimes I think I just enjoy a very large attack to a special attack. Though I suppose Double Attack makes any huge attack better.

Anything you'd change about the game - a unit, rule, or mechanic?

At a glance I'd probably say that I'd like to make most defensive special abilities (Tough, Thorian Speed, Insubstantial etc.) worked against special attacks. But this had probably been considered and was made this way for a reason. Rats for instance, would be brutal if special attacks triggered scatter. I guess I'll say the designers did a darn good job, and I would try to correct them.

Something that I would have always liked changed about Heroscape would be more figures in an attacking pose. In a lot of the squads, more than half of the figures are positioned more in a walking pose (especially ranged figures). I guess I never noticed it until I started taking a lot of pictures of my matches, but I'd prefer more aggressively posed figures. Not that it is going to happen at this point.

What do you enjoy most about Heroscapers.com?

The information. When I first joined, I did a lot more reading than posting. I really loved going through all the Official Books reading about all the units I didn't have (but soon would). Now I really just enjoy talking about Heroscape. I loved and will miss the lengthy discussions analyzing units that weren't even out yet. I like reading about other peoples games, and different ways they've played. I'm not the greatest player, so I sort of stick away from the serious strategy and army building talks, as I have little to contribute there, but I do enjoy reading what others say. Same sort of idea on customs. I'm not really good at making them, and never really use them, but I love seeing what others have done. I especially enjoy seeing what comes out of the Star Wars custom thread.(Can't wait for a General Grievous)..


How long do you plan to do A-Train's Pictured Battle Reports?

For as long as people show interest in seeing them, I imagine. I really enjoy doing them. I first started because I liked looking at pictures of other people battles, but there just weren't enough to look. I decided to take some pictures of my own, and added the Predict the Victor part to garner interest. It seems to have worked.

Favourite HeroScape moment:

Every single time I get to roll a huge attack against a big defender or figure with lots of life, and it comes up mostly skulls. There's nothing like dropping 6 or 7 skulls on a full health Q9 and watching the opponent sweat.

Another board game you enjoy and why?

I like the typical favourites like Settlers of Catan, Dominion and Last Night On Earth. But I'll mention another favourite that isn't as well known as the other games mentioned, and that is Kingsburg. If you enjoy games like Settlers, I can't see you not enjoying Kingsburg. The basic premise is you are building up a territory over a five year period, doing your best to impress the king. You use the rolls of the dice to influence advisers and gather resources. When you raise buildings, i really feel that you can picks the ones that will benefit you, rather than just generic buildings for Victory points. The game is really popular with my group (several members claim it is their favourite game of all), so I highly recommend it.


Three true things and one lie about yourself:

1. I've eaten moose.

2. I've eaten kangaroo

3. I've eaten scorpion

4. I've eaten llama


Other interests?

Well after Heroscape opened the door, board gaming has become among my top interests. As has painting miniatures, though I'm not very good at that. I also enjoy some video gaming, with Mass Effect being among my favourites there.

Any Heroscapers member you'd really like to play against?

I'd play Hersocape against anyone. I've got a pretty good feeling that while I tend to win a lot in my own crew, I'd get crushed by most of the players on the forum. (I wouldn't mind though).

Have you ever traveled to the states to play 'Scape?

I haven't traveled more than 10 km from my home to play Scape. I like to fantasize about playing at a tournament in the States or even another province, but its really unlikely.

Five Fun Favourites
(because, let's face it, you won't find these things out in the middle of a Competitive armies thread or the What's In An Order Marker discussion )

Favourite TV Show: I'm LOVING the new show Walking Dead. But since that is only 4 episodes in, I'll also mention that I am a big fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Californication (Though it could have ended after one season). Hopefully, I'll soon be able to say my favourite show is the Song of Ice and Fire mini series.


Favourite Movie Of All Time: Snatch and Shaun of the Dead would probably be my two favourite movies. But honourable mentioned go to Pulp Fiction, Lucky Number Slevin, JFK, Dogma and Clerks.

Favourite book: The Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin, I've read the books that are out about eight or nine times each. I wish he would hurry up and finish the next book, the spaces between them is too long. Very excited about the mini series

Favourite sport: Hockey, eh.

Favourite food: Probably Snow Crab and Pizza. But don't combine the two.


What message do you have for the community?

You're standing in front of two doors, with two guards. One door leads to Heroscape classic waves 14-20, the other door leads to a lifetime of WOTC blunders. One of the guards will answer any question with a lie, while the other will only answer with a truth, yet you cannot tell which guard is which. You are only permitted to ask one question. What do you ask to determine with certainty which door leads to the Heroscape?

Who do you pick for the next 'Scaper of the Week?

DaddyScaper
Total Comments 20

Comments

Old
rym's Avatar
Dude, I don't know which one the lie is, but I'm guessing you like to eat meat!
Posted December 4th, 2010 at 09:53 PM by rym rym is offline
Old
Chardar's Avatar
Could you elaborate on "snow crab"? Also the lie is Kangaroo.
Posted December 4th, 2010 at 10:10 PM by Chardar Chardar is offline
Old
Dad_Scaper's Avatar
Patrick looks pretty smart in the picture.
Posted December 4th, 2010 at 10:11 PM by Dad_Scaper Dad_Scaper is offline
Old
Paronychodon's Avatar
I'm guessing the llama is a lie. After all, who hasn't eaten moose in Canada? Ha, stereotypes are hilarious.
Posted December 4th, 2010 at 10:22 PM by Paronychodon Paronychodon is offline
Updated December 4th, 2010 at 10:23 PM by Paronychodon (Wait, do I have to post my truths and a lie record here somewhere?)
Old
whitestuff's Avatar
NOOO...! Not the llama!!
Posted December 4th, 2010 at 10:32 PM by whitestuff whitestuff is offline
Old
ABOMINATION's Avatar
You would say to either one of the guards:

"Which door would the other guard tell me to take?" Would that work?


I've always enjoyed reading A_Train's battle reports, and I'm glad to see that he's getting some recognition.
Posted December 4th, 2010 at 10:41 PM by ABOMINATION ABOMINATION is offline
Old
Shockma Ranyk's Avatar
Daddy_Scaper? Who's that? I think there's just a Dad_Scpaer around here now...

I'm going with Kangaroo for the lie.
Posted December 4th, 2010 at 11:43 PM by Shockma Ranyk Shockma Ranyk is offline
Old
Kaiyu's Avatar
You ask: If you were the other guard, which guard would you say you were?

EDIT: "If you were the other guard, which door would you say waves 14-20 is behind?"

EDIT 2: That's not the whole paradox, you're only allowed to ask your one question to only one of the guards.
Posted December 5th, 2010 at 12:05 AM by Kaiyu Kaiyu is offline
Updated December 6th, 2010 at 07:42 PM by Kaiyu
Old
Chardar's Avatar
Moose is great! So is elk. And Bison...
Posted December 5th, 2010 at 12:08 AM by Chardar Chardar is offline
Old
I'll guess #3.
Posted December 5th, 2010 at 08:36 AM by Fen_Hydra Fen_Hydra is offline
Old
Filthy the Clown's Avatar
Quote:
There's nothing like dropping 6 or 7 skulls on a full health Q9 and watching the opponent sweat.
Patrick in a sauna?
Posted December 5th, 2010 at 10:11 AM by Filthy the Clown Filthy the Clown is offline
Old
NilfheimPwns's Avatar

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!

The lie is MOOSE! Stereotypes can be lies, and he is trying to trick us. Or maybe thats what he wanted us to think. Then the moose part would be true. But maybe THAT was what he wanted us to think... MY BRAIN HURTS!! WHY A_TRAIN WHYYYYY!!
Posted December 5th, 2010 at 11:08 AM by NilfheimPwns NilfheimPwns is offline
Old
Killer Lawnmower's Avatar
I dont think you've eaten scorpion...
Posted December 5th, 2010 at 09:14 PM by Killer Lawnmower Killer Lawnmower is offline
Old
arp12's Avatar
Ask, "Which door leads to the Classic waves 14-20?"
Posted December 6th, 2010 at 05:00 PM by arp12 arp12 is offline
Old
dok's Avatar
Anyone who's seen Labyrinth knows one answer, which is the one Abomination came up with.

However, I don't want to bother reversing the instructions, so I would ask, "If I had asked you which door leads to classic waves 14-20, which door would you have told me?" The truthteller tells the truth, and the liar lies about the lie he would have told. In logic, two wrongs really do make a right.

In classic "outsmarting myself when guessing something A_Train put up" fashion, I'll guess Moose. I've eaten a termite (didn't taste like much of anything), and I figure scorpion probably isn't much worse.
Posted December 7th, 2010 at 12:27 PM by dok dok is offline
 
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