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Re: The Book of Masahiro Arashi - Public Playtesting Phase
Here's some games with Masahiro. Overall, things are looking good for him; he and his team had a couple strong showings a bad one.
One thing I realized in the last game: as currently written, Masahiro doesn't receive the boost from Ruthless Command, but can be sacrificed if they fail to kill the target. I assume the intent was that he doesn't get affected by it at all, and that's how I played the third game (otherwise he would have had to kill himself as the rest of his team was dead at the end of the round)
C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM
NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Masahiro Arashi
Army Test
Map: Sewer Labyrinth (no glyphs or special rules)
Units: Masahiro, Boomerang, Merlyn, Talia al Ghul (560 points) VS Luke Cage, Iron Man (Mark IV), Firestar (560 points)
Spoiler Alert!
UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal Attack: 2 wounds to Luke Cage, 1 wound to Iron Man, 3 wounds to Firestar.
Ruthless Counter Strike: 1 wound to Luke Cage.
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Yakuza Oyabun: Used 6 times.
Ruthless Command: Used 1 time out of 3 rounds. Order of use:
- Chose Firestar, boosted 1 attack, Merlyn destroyed as punishment.
Ruthless Counter Strike: Defended against 2 normal adjacent attacks, triggered 1 time.
GAME SUMMARY:
The dice didn’t favor Masahiro’s allies, even though it favored him heavily. Both teams spent the first round moving out. Before the start of the second, Masahiro targeted Firestar for Ruthless Command. However, the Crime Fighters got initiative and ran Firestar back to safety. While this did cause Merlyn’s death at the end of the round, it had the side effect of leaving Luke Cage exposed on the front line; needless to say, Luke took a lot of hits. Both Talia and Boomerang went down within the second round, and Merlyn at the end, though not before he sniped Iron Man for three wounds. Going into the third round, only Masahiro remained against all three Crime Fighters. With good dice keeping him alive, Masahiro was able to take out Iron Man while Luke Cage fell to Ruthless Counter Strike. Luck hit a cold streak for both Firestar and Masahiro when they clashed, but finally Masahiro scored a hit and won.
Round One: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Masahiro and Talia advance.
ARMY 2: Firestar and Luke move out.
ARMY 1: Masahiro and Boomerang advance.
ARMY 2: Iron Man and Luke advance.
ARMY 1: Masahiro and Merlyn move up.
ARMY 2: Luke and Firestar put 2 wounds on Talia.
Round Two: Army 2 wins Initiative (Masahiro targets Firestar).
ARMY 2: Luke puts 3 wounds on Boomerang while Firestar flees to safety.
ARMY 1: Masahiro puts 1 wound on Luke while Boomerang dodges a disengagement to go after Firestar, inflicting 1 wound.
ARMY 2: Luke and Iron Man fail.
ARMY 1: Masahiro and Talia put 3 wounds on Luke.
ARMY 2: Luke and Iron Man kill Talia and Boomerang.
ARMY 1: Masahiro fails while Merlyn puts 3 wounds on Iron Man.
ROUND END: Merlyn dies from Ruthless Command.
Round Three: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Masahiro take a disengagement wound to go after Iron Man, but fails.
ARMY 2: Iron Man fails and Luke dies to Ruthless Counter Strike after dealing Masahiro 1 wound.
ARMY 1: Masahiro kills Iron Man.
ARMY 2: Turn lost on Iron Man.
ARMY 1: Masahiro puts 2 wounds on Firestar.
ARMY 2: Firestar fails.
Round Four: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Masahiro fails.
ARMY 2: Firestar fails.
ARMY 1: Masahiro fails.
ARMY 2: Firestar puts 1 wound on Masahiro.
ARMY 1: Masahiro kills Firestar.
Masahiro with 1 life left.
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Army Test
Map: Sewer Labyrinth (no glyphs or special rules)
Units: Masahiro, Lady Shiva, Black Canary, Ubu, Hand Ninja x2 (795 points) VS Batman (Terry), Daredevil, Oracle, Nite Owl, Robin (Damian), Batgirl (Cassandra) (790 points)
Spoiler Alert!
UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal Attack: Didn’t attack.
Ruthless Counter Strike: N/A
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Yakuza Oyabun: Used 3 times.
Ruthless Command: Used 3 times out of 4 rounds. Order of use:
- Chose Batgirl, boosted 2 attacks, Batgirl successfully destroyed.
- Chose Nite Owl, boosted 2 attacks, Nite Owl successfully destroyed.
- Chose Batman, boosted 1 attack, Batman successfully destroyed.
Ruthless Counter Strike: Was never attacked.
GAME SUMMARY:
Both teams rolled forward in the first round. Masahiro targeted Batgirl in the second round, and despite Batgirl attempting to run away, Canary, with Shiva’s training and Masahiro’s boost, was able to close in on her and take her out, killing Robin along the way. Daredevil was working his way through the Ninja before finally confronting Canary at the end of the round, but when he did, Canary took him down too. Masahiro chose Nite Owl for the third round, though Canary would have been able to handle him easily anyways. Batman (Masahiro’s target for the fourth round) had bad dice and wasn’t able to do much damage at all. Oracle was able to take down one of the last Ninja, but Canary killed her too.
Round One: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Daredevil, Batgirl, and Robin move out.
ARMY 1: Ninja and Ubu advance.
ARMY 2: Daredevil, Batgirl, and Robin advance.
ARMY 1: Ninja and Canary advance.
ARMY 2: Daredevil, Batgirl, and Robin advance.
ARMY 1: Ninja and Canary put 1 wound on Daredevil.
Round Two: Army 2 wins Initiative (Masahiro chooses Batgirl).
ARMY 2: Daredevil kills 2 Ninja, Batgirl moves back, Robin fails.
ARMY 1: Ninja fail while Canary kills Robin.
ARMY 2: Daredevil kills 2 Ninja while Nite Owl advances.
ARMY 1: Ninja put 1 wound on Daredevil while Canary kills Batgirl.
ARMY 2: Daredevil and Nite Owl put 2 wounds on Canary.
ARMY 1: Ninja and Canary kill Daredevil.
Round Three: Army 2 wins Initiative (Masahiro chooses Nite Owl).
ARMY 2: Batman moves out.
ARMY 1: Canary and Ninja put 1 wound on Nite Owl.
ARMY 2: Batman and Nite Owl put 1 wound on Canary.
ARMY 1: Canary and Ninja kill Nite Owl and put 1 wound on Batman.
ARMY 2: Batman fails.
ARMY 1: Canary and Masahiro fail.
Round Four: Army 2 wins Initiative (Masahiro chooses Batman).
ARMY 2: Batman fails.
ARMY 1: Ninja and Canary kill Batman.
ARMY 2: Oracle kills 1 Ninja.
ARMY 1: Masahiro and Canary put 2 wounds on Oracle.
ARMY 2: Oracle fails.
ARMY 1: Masahiro and Canary kill Oracle.
Masahiro unwounded, Lady Shiva unwounded, Ubu unwounded, Black Canary with 3 wounds, 1 Hand Ninja.
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Army Test
Map: Sewer Labyrinth (no glyphs or special rules)
Units: Masahiro, Boomerang, Azrael, Ubu, Hand Ninja x4 (900 points) VS Mystique (II), Destiny, Magneto (II), Archangel (890 points)
Spoiler Alert!
UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal Attack: 1 wound to Magneto.
Ruthless Counter Strike: N/A
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Yakuza Oyabun: Used 0 times.
Ruthless Command: Used 2 times out of 4 rounds. Order of use:
- Chose Archangel, boosted 3 attacks, Ubu destroyed as punishment.
- Chose Magneto, boosted 2 attacks, no one destroyed.
Ruthless Counter Strike: Never attacked in melee.
GAME SUMMARY:
While the Outcasts moved out, the Assassins attempted to roll forward to meet them, but Azrael’s System Suppression roll triggered twice in the first round, messing them up. For the second round, Masahiro target Archangel as he was sitting close to them and he already had a wound. Boomerang and the Ninja were able to deal him 4 wounds in the second round, bringing him to the brink of death, but he ran for cover. Boomerang died during the second round, so Azrael came out on their last turn and closed in on Magneto dealing him 4 wounds in one turn. Due to Archangel still hanging around, Ubu was sacrificed by Masahiro’s power. Masahiro decided to choose Magneto for Ruthless Command in the third round due to him being down to 1 life, but his team’s luck went dry and they couldn’t take him out. Magneto and Mystique worked their way through both Azrael and the last of the Ninja, leaving only Masahiro at the end of the third round. Masahiro was able to take out Magneto by himself in the fourth round, but Archangel and Mystique quickly finished him off.
Round One: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Ubu and Ninja advance.
ARMY 2: Mystique and Archangel move out.
ARMY 1: Azrael gets stuck due to System Suppression; Ninja put 1 wound on Archangel.
ARMY 2: Mystique and Magneto kill 1 Ninja.
ARMY 1: System Suppression kicks in again; Ninja fail.
ARMY 2: Mystique kills 1 Ninja.
Round Two: Army 1 wins Initiative (Masahiro targets Archangel).
ARMY 1: Boomerang puts 2 wounds on Archangel while Ninja put 2 wounds on Mystique (Avenging Angel kills 2 Ninja and puts 1 wound on Boomerang).
ARMY 2: Mystique and Magneto kill 1 Ninja and put 1 wound on Boomerang.
ARMY 1: Boomerang and Ninja put 2 wounds on Archangel, but Avenging Angel kills Boomerang and 1 Ninja.
ARMY 2: Mystique and Magneto kill 1 Ninja.
ARMY 1: Azrael puts 4 wounds on Magneto (Avenging Angel puts 1 wound on Azrael and runs Archangel to safety); Ninja fail.
ARMY 2: Mystique and Magneto kill 1 Ninja.
ROUND END: Ubu dies as a sacrifice.
Round Three: Army 2 wins Initiative (Masahiro targets Magneto).
ARMY 2: Magneto and Mystique kill 1 Ninja and put 1 wound on Azrael.
ARMY 1: Azrael and Ninja fail.
ARMY 2: Magneto and Mystique kill 1 Ninja and put 1 wound on Azrael.
ARMY 1: System Suppression kills a Ninja; the last Ninja fails.
ARMY 2: Magneto and Mystique kill Azrael and the last Ninja.
ARMY 1: Masahiro charges.
Round Four: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Masahiro fails.
ARMY 2: Mystique, Magneto, and Archangel put 1 wound on Masahiro.
ARMY 1: Masahiro kills Magneto (Avenging Angel puts 1 wound on Masahiro).
ARMY 2: Mystique and Archangel kill Masahiro.
Mystique with 2 wounds, Archangel with 5 wounds, Destiny unwounded.
THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Masahiro adds some fun strategies and synergies to the game. The boosts he offers are nice, but very well balanced. He plays best as back-up to a Hand Ninja army, using Ruthless Command throughout the game and then his bonding power after the Ninja go down if needed. When building armies I realized that Lady Shiva's Assassin Training opened up Masahiro's synergy web to the Vigilante heroes, which offers him some great choices. His best builds are probably with Shiva and a Vigilante, though I'm pretty confident he's still balanced in those builds. 160 seems to be a fair cost.
GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: The theme of a ruthless commander comes through nicely with Masahiro. Deciding if and when to use Ruthless Command, and who to use it on, makes for some fun tactical decisions that can really have an impact on the game.
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