[Hahma]

From Margloth:


I sent this to you once, but best as I can tell on my end it didn't go through. Since it's probably because I ran 5 tests (couldn't help myself, too much fun), I'm gonna split my results up. So expect 3 tests here, and 2 following with a complete summary. Hope your inbox has some wiggle room!

Also, I didn't use the Standard Playtesting sheet, since it didn't seem applicable. I can redo it if necessary.

ALL TESTS PERFORMED ON X MARKS THE SPOT

Test 1: Wrecking Crew, Kingpin (1020) vs. Fantastic 4, Ant-Man (1030)
Synopsis: All around, F4 seemed like a great team to run against the Crew. The match was very close, despite the F4 getting some bad luck and losing Invisible Woman very early. The Crew got 7 turns out of one OM here... scary at first, but ultimately they still felt balanced. Johnny really tore up the crew and exposed their biggest weakness... ranged flyers.

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Initiative Crew.
Kingpin moves up with Bulldozer. The entire Fantastic family moves up. Wrecker moves up, hits his d20 roll, moving up Thunderball, who also hits his roll and moves up Piledriver. Reed moves up with Johnny and Sue; Sue manages 2 wounds on Bulldozer, and Mr. Fantastic wraps him up. Wrecker engages Reed and smacks a wound into him; Piledriver also gets a turn and catches Sue... and pounds her out of existence, but just misses his Wrecking Crew roll. Reed gets a bad leader roll and manages only a single wound on Bulldozer.

Round 2: Initiative Crew.
Wrecker moves and tosses his crowbar at Johnny, but misses and fails his Crew roll. In a huge potential upset, Reed hits an 18 for his leader roll and the combined efforts of himself, Johnny and Ben inflict a total of 12 wounds and bring Piledriver, Wrecker, and Bulldozer each to 5 wounds. Wrecker clobbers Thing for a wound, and Piledriver gets two massive hits on him as well, killing him off and allowing Thunderball to strike at Mr. F. Thunderball misses, but hits his d20 roll and allowing Wrecker a turn, who opts for a ranged crowbar strike (that whiffs). However, Wrecker hits his d20 roll and allows Thunderball to finally get a wound on Reed... and also hit his d20 roll. Wrecker tosses another Crowbar at Reed, and misses, but gets his d20 roll, allowing Thunderball to smash another 2 wounds into Reed. All told, the Crew got 7 turns off one Order Marker... kind of scary. Reed gets a bad leader roll and can't finish Bulldozer. Wrecker hits Johnny for a wound, and gives a turn to Thunderball, who finishes Reed, taking OM 3 with him.

Round 3: Initiative Johnny.
Johnny, through a combination of Flame On! and a regular attack, kills off Wrecker, Piledriver, and Bulldozer. Thunderball hits him for a 4th wound. Johnny goes Nova, missing Kingpin but inflicting 3 wounds on Thunderball. Thunderball swings at him, but misses. Ant Man moves forward. Thunderball finishes Johnny.

Round 4: Initiative Ant Man.
Ant-Man moves forward. Thunderball engages him but misses, Kingpin moves up. Ant-Man punches at Thunderball and misses. Thunderball swing-and-a-misses again, but Kingpin steps up and squashes Pym beneath his heel.

Summary: Full health Kingpin, Thunderball with 3 wounds remains.

Test 2: Wrecking Crew (800) vs. Luke Cage, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Civilians x2 (810)
Synopsis: I figured Luke would perform well against the Crew, and Wolvie if he got his strikes right, and Spidey would keep 'em busy. Civvies were there to tie them down... but I quickly learned that the Crew eats squads for breakfast. Still a big win for the Fighters, though.

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Initiative Crew.
Wrecker and Bulldozer move up. Civilians move out. Wrecker moves up. Civilians move up. Wrecker kills a civvie, allowing Bulldozer to charge forward and mow down another, allowing Piledriver to move up (who hits his roll without any modifiers), allowing Wrecker to kill another civvie, allowing Thunderball to move up. Spidey moves up and fires an ineffective shot at Bulldozer, and Luke moves forward.

Round 2: Initiative Fighters.
Spidey ropes up Bulldozer, but throws a pathetic punch that fails to connect. Luke hits him for 2 though. Wrecker hits a civve with his Crowbar Demolition power and flings 2 civvies and Luke (Luke is the only one who gets a wound from the power.) Spidey fails to connect with Bulldozer again, but Luke hits Wrecker for a massive 5-wound punch. Wrecker puts a wound on Luke. Spidey puts a wound on Bulldozer, and Luke kills Wrecker, stealing OM 3 from him.

Round 3: Initiative Fighters.
Wolvie moves up and claws ineffectively at Bulldozer; Luke whacks Piledriver for 3 wounds. Piledriver fails to harm Luke. Wolvie claws 2 more wounds into Bulldozer; Luke's punch breezes by Piledriver's face. Piledriver manages a wound on Luke. Wolvie kills Bulldozer, Luke kills Piledriver. Thunderball hits Luke for a wound.

Round 4: Initiative Fighters.
Wolvie moves up; Luke pounds 2 wounds into Thunderball's face. Thunderball attacks Luke and misses. Wolvie carves 2 more wounds into Thunderball. Thunderball fails to kill Luke. Wolvie kills Thunderball.

Summary: Full health Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke with 4 wounds, and 5 civilians remain.

Test 3: Wrecking Crew, Hood, Bodyguard (995) vs. Ronan, Mar-vell, Kree Scouts x6 (1000)
Synopsis: I wanted to see how the Crew would hold up against range with excellent mobility. Ultimately, the Crew pulled out the win, as they crashed through the Scouts and Wrecker pulled off a game-changing Crowbar Demolition, and Piledriver managed a one-in-a-million killing blow on Mar-vell.

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Initiative Criminals.
Hood moves forward. Two scouts move out in flanking positions. One manages a wound on Hood. Hood activates his cloak, moves out, and kills a Kree, allowing Wrecker to move up. The surviving scout warps in a fellow scout and Ronan and misses a shot on Ronan; his fellow scout charges out and puts a wound on the Hood. Hood takes out another scout; Bulldozer mpves up. More scouts warp in; with Ronan's tactics they put 3 wounds on Wrecker.

Round 2: Initiative Crew.
Wrecker moves up and tosses his Crowbar, killing a scout, but fails his d20 roll. A scout warps in Mar-vell and a fellow scout and misses a shot on Hood; Ronan moves up and slams a 4th and 5th wound into Wrecker with the Universal weapon. Wrecker kills another scout; Bulldozer charges into Ronan, slamming him for 5 wounds and allowing Wrecker another turn. Wrecker uses Crowbar demolition on Mar-vell to throw the entire enemy team; Ronan is the only casualty. Bulldozer charges Mar-vell and slams into him for a wound, and hits his d20 roll, allowing Wrecker to wreck another Kree, allowing Bulldozer to kill the last scout, robbing the Kree of their OMs for the round. Bulldozer attacks Mar-vell, as he is on height, but gets a wound for his trouble.

Round 3: Initiative Kree.
Mar-Vell takes a rooftop and kills Wrecker. Thunderball moves up and hits Mar-vell for 2 wounds, hits his d20 roll (allowing Piledriver forward). Mar-vell hits Thunderball for a wound. Thunderball rolls a single skull against Mar-vell, who on height rolls 5 shields. Good-bye, Thunderball (and OM 3). Mar-vell blasts a single wound into Bulldozer.

Round 4: Initiative Mar-vell.
Mar-vell hits Hood for 2 wounds. Hood activates his cloak and takes to the rooftop, but gets killed by Mar-vell's counter strike. Mar-vell misses a shot on Bulldozer. Bulldozer almost makes it to the top of the roof, and hits his roll to allow Piledriver forward. Mar-vell cuts Bulldozer off at the top of the ladder and ruins him, stealing OM 3.

Round 5: Initiative Crew.
Piledriiver gets almost to the top of the ladder. Mar-vell cuts him off, but fails to harm him. In an amazing twist, Piledriver squeaks a single wound out of his attack, bringing Mar-vell to one life short of death and giving himself an opportunity for a Pounding Fist win... and he pulls it off with 4 skulls to Mar-vell's 2 shields (+1 autoshield), getting the win!

Summary: Full health Piledriver, Bodyguard remain.

PART 2

ALL TESTS DONE ON X MARKS THE SPOT

Test 4: Wrecking Crew (800) vs. Thor, Incredible Hulk (810)
Synopsis: I wanted to see how the Crew would perform against truly heavy hitters, given that they should be fairly effective thematically. This one showed an awesome run by a half-demolished Crew (7 turn OM reveal again), proving that they're always dangerous and should never be considered down for the count!

Spoiler Alert!

Wrecker moves up. Thor moves up. Wrecker backs up, to ensure first strike. Thor moves up. Wrecker tries for a Crowbar demolition to knock Thor to lower ground, but fails; also fails his Crew roll. Thor enters the enemy start zone and hits Piledriver with God of Thunder Strike.
ound 2: Initiative Avengers.
Thor smacks 3 wounds into Wrecker. Wrecker counters for 2 wounds on Thor, but for the 4th time, can't convince his crew to join the party. Thor smites him, taking OM 2 with him, then hits Thunderball for a wound. Piledriver fails to harm Thor, but gets his Crew roll; Thunderball rolls a respectable 4 skulls but Thor blocks them.

Round 3: Initiative Avengers.
Thor finishes Piledriver. Bulldozer backs up, hits his Crew roll, and Thunderball hits Thor for a wound (and also hits his Crew roll); Bulldozer slams into Thor for 2 more wounds and also continues the Crew roll streak; Thunderball manages a 6th wound and hits his d20; Bulldozer backs up (taking a wound) and hits the Crew roll again; Thunderball fails to connect with Thor but does manage his d20 roll; Bulldozer crashes into Thor from 6 spaces away but only rolls a single skull... Thor counters easily and the lucky d20 streak finally ends. Thor punches another wound into Thunderball. Bulldozer swings ineffectively at Thor but gets his Crew roll; Thunderball is unable to exploit the advantage but does manage his d20 as well; Bulldozer backs up. Thor fails to harm Thunderball. Bulldozer crashes into Thor for another wound.

Round 3: Initiative Crew.
Bulldozer attempts to punch Thor and fails. Thor slams 3 wounds into Bulldozer, then sets down his hammer and closes his eyes, resigned to his fate. Thunderball misses Thor as well. Hulk super leaps forward. Bulldozer kills Thor and hits his d20 roll; Thunderball lashes out at Hulk from height but misses. Hulk puts a wound on Thunderball.

Round 4: Initiative Hulk.
Hulk swats at Thunderball to no effect. Bulldozer crashes into Hulk for 2 wounds and gets his Crew roll; Thunderball gets a lucky strike against a whiff and manages another 3. Hulk gets hella mad and squashes Thunderball with ease, taking OM 2 with him. Bulldozer cringes as the shadow of the raging beast falls over him; he falls a second later.

Summary: Hulk remains with 5 wounds.

Test 5: Wrecking Crew (800) vs. Batman, Robin, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Beat Cops x2 (790)
Synopsis: I wanted to make sure the Crew wasn't too punishing against mid-levels. They pretty much dominated this one, but it was less because they were especially effective and more because the Vigilantes especially weren't. Also, the Crew are good against commons, so Beat Cops don't ruin their day as much as other Commons (although they do eat up their attacks).

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Initiative Vigilantes.
GBeat Cops move up. Wrecker moves up. More cops move up. Wrecker, Bulldozer, and Thunderball all move up. Green Arrow moves up and hits Wrecker for a wound. Wrecker obliterates a cop but fails to hit his crew roll.

Round 2: Initiative Vigilantes.
Black Canary runs up and screams at Wrecker; Dirk is used to being screamed at by angry women and shrugs it off. Wrecker kills off another cop, allowing Bulldozer to slam into Dinah for a one shot kill. Dinah was carrying OM 2, so Wrecker continues the spree, killing another cop; Bulldozer charges forward and kills a cop; Thunderball hits Green Arrow for 2 but a cop takes the fall. Green Arrow hits Bulldozer for a wound. Bulldozer slams into Robin for a one-shot kill; Wrecker misses a crowbar throw at Ollie but hits his d20; Bulldozer slams into Ollie for 3 wounds and gets his Crew roll; Wrecker kills Ollie; Bulldozer slams into Bats for 2 wounds.

Round 3: Initiative Crew.
Wrecker whiffs against the last cop. The cop backs up adjacent to Batman. Wrecker wrecks the cop. Batman grapples adjacent to Wrecker and hits him for 2 wounds. Wrecker strikes back but misses. Batman kills Wrecker.

Round 4: Initiative Crew.
Bulldozer backs up; Thunderball moves up and fires at Batman but gets a batarang in the eye. Batman attacks Thunderball to no effect. Bulldozer charges toward Batman but falls short. Batman attempts to go for a roof and hurls a batarang at Thunderball (no effect), but Bulldozer catches him before he can reach it and pulverizes him.

Summary: Bulldozer and Thunderball each with 1 wound, full health Piledriver remain.

FINAL SUMMARY
I very much love the Crew, and I think 800 points is a great place for them. They never felt dominant, but never felt steamrolled, either. They definitely suffer against ranged flyers (especially if buildings are around), as only Thunderball and Wrecker have any chance of getting them. Wrecker is a great place for their OMs, but he's also far from invulnerable and once he goes down, I'd say the group's effectiveness falls by about half, which seems perfect.

Ultimately, the Crew is a one trick pony: Get initiative, get to the enemy first, and get wreckin'. It's a good trick, and terrific fun, but there are plenty of ways for a skilled opponent to counter it, and plenty of ways their own best laid plans fall flat. Great team, great designs, great fun!