[Lazy Orang]

- Theme Test - Inconclusive - I don't know the character, but based on what I've gleaned from Tornado, he seems perfect.
- Mirror Test - Pass, though it could be amusing to see Torquemada possess the corpse of Torquemada.
- Bonding Test - Pass - He only bonds through My Terminators Are Watching! - it's conditional enough and none of his bonding options are broken.
- Synergies Test - Pass - Pure Vigilance! and My Terminators Are Watching! are great fun and pretty damn strong, but not OP, and it's cool to see someone who encourages you taking squads through means other than synergy with a specific squad. I will say, though, that we need more Fanatical Human Heroes now that this guy exists - Solomon Kane, cool as he is and as much fun as he is to pair with Torq, will get stale eventually if he's the only available hero (aside from Meggan, who doesn't really count because her whole gimmick is having all the synergies, and Reverend Stryker who can't fight anyway).
- Power Check - Pass - He's strong and he's scary, but he never felt unstoppable.
- Fun Test - Definite Pass - He's tonnes of fun to play with the interplay between his three powers, and Four Faces of Torquemada is ridiculously cool - this may just be me, but I've always liked villains who can cheat death, like Doctor Doom and Thanos - always serves to make them feel intimidating and diabolical, and Torquemada does it with style!
- Fun Competitive Test - Definite Pass - See power check. Also, it's really great to see someone else with this sort of ‘dies easily, but comes back easily and needs to be constantly swatted away' kind of survivability. The only other figure I can think of like this is Grundy, only he's still very different in that his resurrection is random while Torq's can be planned for, apart from the first time he doesn't become progressively weaker and he's a heavy hitter rather than a leader.
- Drafting Test - Pass, in a decent variety of builds as well - he's already served me well with HYDRA and The Foot Clan, and I know he works well with Civvies.
- Usage Test - Pass - All of his powers got a decent amount of use. Oddly enough, the power to get the least use each time was My Terminators Are Watching!, his bonding power - though, in all honesty, I expect that was more the style of armies I chose to play him in than the power itself.
- Strategy Test - Pass - He’s fascinating from a strategic point of view. The concerns about him not being worth targeting until last due to Four Faces of Torquemada are ill founded - you often can’t afford to leave him alone, and by killing him you can easily disrupt your opponent and leave Torq weaker for the next time he comes back, making him ever easier to dispatch until at last he’s killed utterly. When and where to bring him back is an interesting tactical problem too - sometimes you don’t want to bring him back yet in order to avoid making him vulnerable or bringing him back in a poor position, other times you’ll be willing to execute your own men to allow him to posess their corpses. Then there’s all the strategy surrounding Pure Vigilance! and My Terminators Are Watching! - he’s a really, really awesome card.

Name Of The Playtest Unit: Torquemada

Army Test 1
Map: Jotun’s Gap by Dignan (no glyphs)
Armies:
Torquemada, Red Skull (C3G), Solomon Kane, Meggan, Penguin (vII), 3x HYDRA Agents, 2x Skrull Infiltrators (1,200 points)
vs.
Captain America (C3G), Bucky, Deadpool, Cable, Luke Cage, Jewel (1,200 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Torquemada’s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 1 wound on Cable, 1 wound on Luke Cage
Extra wounds inflicted through Pure Vigilance!: 1 wound on Cable from Torquemada, 2 wounds on Cable from HYDRA Agents, 1 wound on Luke Cage from a HYDRA Agent
Times resurrected by Four Faces of Torquemada: Three
Turns taken through My Terminators Are Watching!: 1 with a HYDRA Agent
Figures moved through My Terminators Are Watching!: Meggan once, Solomon Kane once, 1 HYDRA Agent once.

Meggan Empathically Metamorphs to mimic Solomon Kane

Round One

Bucky and Captain America advance, Captain America keeping to shadow while Bucky clambers to a level 4 ledge on the western side of the valley.
Four HYDRA Agents advance, two up each flank. The two on the western flank open fire on Bucky, but fail to harm him. Red Skull advances into the shadow of the valley before using the Cosmic Cube to move Torquemada into another patch of shadow and opening fire on Captain America with his Dual Lugers, inflicting a wound.
Cable advances up the western hill and opens fire on Torquemada from height, blowing him away in two shots.
The two HYDRA Agents on the eastern flank advance before, under orders from Red Skull, they turn and try to kill each other, but fail to do so. The HYDRA Agents on the western hill advance, turn and open fire on their fellows to the east - the first shot fails, but the second guns a HYDRA Agent down, allowing Torquemada to inhabit his corpse. Red Skull uses his Cosmic Cube to move Bucky into a low ground puddle of water next to him before punching him in the face, inflicting two wounds. This inspires Torquemada to charge Cable, striking him for a wound and inspiring Meggan, Solomon Kane and a HYDRA Agent to advance up the eastern hill.
Cable commands Deadpool to advance before firing two shots at Torquemada at point blank range, inflicting a wound.
Two HYDRA Agents advance up the western flank and open fire on Luke Cage from height, but both miss wildly. The two HYDRA Agents to the east advance, one drawing a knife and charging Cable, inflicting a wound thanks to Torquemada, while the other opens fire on Cable from high ground, inflicting another wound. Red Skull advances a HYDRA Agent to height on the western side of the valley with his Cosmic Cube before crushing Bucky’s skull. This inspires Torquemada to strike Cable, who blocks his blow.

Round Two

The Avengers claim the initiative. Captain America holds his ground and throws his shield, knocking out a HYDRA Agent on each flank and inflicting two wounds on Red Skull, causing him to drop his Cube.
One HYDRA Agent from reserve advances into the valley while a second to the rear of the western flank advances and they both open fire on Captain America, but their bullets bounce off his shield. Two more HYDRA Agents pull out their combat knives and charge Cable and Luke Cage respectively, inflicting a wound on Luke Cage due to the fervour lent to them by Torquemada.
The HYDRA Agent in the valley clambers up to the eastern hill, firing an ineffectual shot at Cable, while the HYDRA Agent on the western flank opens fire on Luke, failing to harm him. The two HYDRA Agents in melee combat strike, inflicting a wound on Cable thanks to Torquemada, leaving the Mutant near death. Red Skull punches Captain America, but fails to harm him.
Jewel’s power remains at a standard mean as she flies up to Torquemada and punches his head in, killing him. Luke Cage punches and kills the HYDRA Agent in combat with him, and Torquemada claims his body as a host.
One HYDRA Agent advances up the valley and fires an ineffectual shot at Captain America. The two HYDRA Agents on the eastern flank move to low ground to be in range of Torquemada and draw their knifes, striking Cable in melee but failing to harm him. The Agent on the western hill draws his combat knife and charges Luke Cage, but fails to harm him. Red Skull runs from Captain America, taking a blow to the back as he does so, and charges Luke Cage, but fails to harm him.

Round Three

The Fascists claim the initiative. The HYDRA Agent in the valley advances and clambers to the foot of the western hill, firing an ineffective shot at Captain America, while the Agents in melee combat strike - two strike Cable to no avail, while one strikes Luke Cage for a wound (he rolls 2 skulls to 1 shield, so Impenetrable Skin keeps Pure Vigilance! from having any affect). Red Skull punches Luke Cage, inflicting a wound. Torquemada strikes Luke Cage, but Luke blocks his blow.
Captain America holds his ground and throws his shield - he knocks out a HYDRA Agent, fails to harm Torquemada and inflicts a wound on Red Skull, leaving him near death. Solomon demands retribution against Captain America.
A HYDRA Agent in reserve advances up the western hill, while the one on the western hill advances, firing a shot at Captain America which bounces off his shield. The two HYDRA Agents in combat with Cable strike him, the second burrying a knife in his neck, killing him (he rolled 2 skulls to 1 shield (on eight dice!), and Cable was one wound off death, so Pure Vigilance! was unnecessary). Red Skull punches Luke, but his blow is blocked.
Deadpool shoots Torquemada through the head, killing him, before attempting to fire a shot at at Red Skull, but Penguin prevents him from doing so.
One HYDRA Agent on the western flank and fires a shot at Captain America, inflicting a wound on him. Two HYDRA Agents fire shots at Luke Cage, failing to harm him, while one charges him to no avail. Red Skull kills the HYDRA Agent who charged Luke, allowing Torquemada to inhabit his corpse and inspiring Torquemada to strike Luke Cage, inflicting a wound. (Once again, Impenetrable Skin results in Pure Vigilance! being irrelevant). He commands the HYDRA Agent on the western hill to charge Luke Cage (he’d rather a Hero, but all Fanatical Heroes are too far away to strike Luke Cage, and he wants Luke dead). He pulls his dagger, but fails to harm Luke.
Jewel’s powers fluctuate to be as deadly as possible. She charges Torquemada and crushes his face, finally ending his miserable existance. Luke Cage would strike Red Skull, but Penguin pulls his last strings to keep him from doing so.

Round Four

The Fascists claim the initiative. A HYDRA Agent advances from reserve, up the eastern hill. The one already on the western and eastern hills fire an ineffectual shots at Jewel, while the one in melee with Luke Cage strikes him to no avail. Red Skull opens fire with his Dual Lugers, gunning Luke Cage down and eliminating the Avengers’ second turn.
Captain America holds his ground and throws his shield, knocking out two HYDRA Agents but failing to harm Red Skull.
Solomon Kane runs up the eastern hill and fires his flintlock at Captain America, failing to harm him.
Solomon Kane charges Captain America and unleashes his rage - for his first strike he also channels his mastery of swordplay, adding an auto-skull with the X. His first blow inflicts a wound, but his others prove ineffective.
Deadpool fires two shots at Red Skull, but shockingly fails to kill him.

Round Five

The Avengers claim the initiative, and Captain America punches Solomon Kane for a wound.
Two HYDRA Agents advance to the west while one advances to the east - the one to the east fires a shot at Captain America, but achieves nothing. Another eastern HYDRA Agent fires a shot at Jewel, but fails to harm her. Red Skull charges Jewel and strikes her for two wounds, prompting Solomon Kane to wheel around Captain America and lay into her with his blade, inflicting a wound.
Deadpool shoots Red Skull through the head, killing him and prompting Solomon Kane to demand vengeance! He fires a second shot at Solomon, inflicting two wounds.
Solomon channels his mastery of swordplay and lays into Jewel with his blade, inflicting a wound and leaving her close to death.
Deadpool shoots Solomon and a HYDRA Agent dead - however, Solomon Kane turns out to have been a Skrull Infiltrator the whole time! What a twist!

Round Six

The Fascists claim the initiative. Meggan flies forwards and strikes Captain America from range and height, inflicting a wound.
Captain America strikes the Skrull with his shield, but fails to harm him.
Meggan flies forwards and strikes Deadpool from range with a devastating blow, inflicting four wounds.
Deadpool opens fire on Meggan, inflicting three wounds and leaving her near death before healing.
Meggan strikes Deadpool with another devastating blow, shockingly killing him and eliminating the Avengers’ last turn.

Round Seven

The Avengers claim the initiative and Captain America knocks out the Skrull Infiltrator.
Meggan strikes Captain America from height again, but to no avail.
Jewel’s powers remain at a mean as she flies up to Meggan and punches her, but the blow is blocked.
Meggan strikes Jewel, but her blow is blocked.
Jewel temporarily loses her powers of flight and superstrength, but manages to knock Meggan out regardless.
The last three HYDRA Agents advance and open fire, achieving nothing.

Round Eight

The Avengers claim the initiative and Cap advances, throwing his shield and knocking out a HYDRA Agent.
The last two HYDRA Agents open fire on Jewel, but fail to harm her. Jewel flies across the valley and knocks out a HYDRA Agent.
Penguin waddles forwards.
Jewel charges and knocks out the last HYDRA Agent.
Penguin advances into the shadow and fires a shot at Jewel, missing wildly.

Round Nine

Captain America charges Penguin and punches him in the face, inflicting a wound.
Penguin pummels Captain America over the head with an umbrella, but to no avail.
Jewel flies up to Penguin and punches him for a wound.
Penguin fails to harm Jewel.
Jewel’s powers fluctuate to their upper limit, and she knocks Penguin clean out.

Avengers victorious, Captain America 4 wounds, Jewel 4 wounds.

Overview: One of the things I try to do with tests now I'm in the Sanctum is test designs in not necessarily the best combos but combos that I think will work really well but no one else is trying - therefore, no Civvies! I really wanted to try him in a HYDRA build, firstly because it's super thematic, secondly because I reckoned he could make the bonding HYDRA Agents significantly more of a threat (which he did), and finally because I thought a bonding chain of HYDRA Agents to Red Skull to Torquemada to Fanatical Human(s) could be quite terrifying. I'm sure it is, but it's also difficult to trigger - that's a long chain that requires you to keep hurting things, and you need to move your Fanatical Heroes up before you can strike with them this way; I was never able to attack with them on a My Terminators Are Watching! turn because they never close enough.
That being said, I think this team worked really well - Torquemada made the HYDRA Agents a genuine threat rather than the usual ‘we'll distract you with pea-shooters and occasionally maybe inflict a wound while our leader does things' squad they are, and, when you have Penguin in the back, a front line of Red Skull, Torq and HYDRA Agents offers your opponent no easy, juicy targets - HYDRA Agents are more dangerous with Torq around but still basically expendable, Torq can keep coming back and Red Skull has the ablative armour of three investment markers before you can really threaten him. In the end, I ended up hitting Torquemada alot of the time since I knew I could kill him easily to disrupt the opponent if not eliminate him, and that each time he dies killing him becomes a little easier, only really hitting Red Skull on my last attack of multi-attack turns, to try to either get some wounds in with an attack he didn't consider threatening enough to waste a marker on or to burn one of his markers with the minimum of affect to my own activations. The Avengers were able to leverage Four Faces of Torquemada to their own benefit - forcing a 2-Life Torq to a low ground, snipe-able position or forcing HYDRA to take time out to execute one of their own in order to bring him back quickly and make use of him (which felt awesomely thematic, by the way), but it's still, obviously, a remarkably useful and fun power.
I love Torquemada - he was unique, fun to play, strategically interesting for both sides and felt really, really cool. I also really like this build for him - it feels like a really thematic ‘crossover' build, and one that was actually really good - if I'd been more lucky and got that chain-bonding to work effectively, this could easily have been a Fascist victory (though it should be noted that the Fascists' Woman of the Match was Meggan for shockingly managing to murder Deadpool in two strikes). Honestly, I might have been better off having Meggan mimic Red Skull's left-hand stats in this game so she could bond with HYDRA and use the Cube, but I was testing Torq, so...

Army Test 2
Map: Conflict Chernobyl (no glyphs)
Armies;
Torquemada, Shredder, Karai, Solomon Kane, Oracle, 3x Hand Ninja, 3x Skrull Infiltrators (1,200 Points)
vs.
Professor X, Cyclops, Beast, Storm, Wolverine, Angel (Warren Worthington III) (1,200 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Torquemada’s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 2 wounds on Storm, 2 wounds on Wolverine, 1 wound on Professor X.
Extra wounds inflicted through Pure Vigilance!: 1 wound on Storm from a Hand Ninja, 1 wound on Storm from Torquemada, 1 wound on Beast from a Hand Ninja, 2 wounds on Wolverine from Hand Ninja, 1 wound on Wolverine
Times resurrected by Four Faces of Torquemada: Three
Turns taken through My Terminators Are Watching!: 1 with Solomon Kane, 1 with a Hand Ninja
Figures moved through My Terminators Are Watching!: None

Round One

The Foot and the Fascist claim the initiative and Torquemada runs forwards.
Angel flies a little bit forwards, carrying Professsor X but staying next to Wolvering. Storm flies forwards and blasts Torquemada with lightning, inflicting a wound. Solomon Kane swears vengeance.
Karai runs forwards and looses an arrow at Storm to no avail. Three Hand Ninja advance.
Cyclops runs forwards and fires a blast at Torquemada, failing to harm him. Storm advances slightly and calls lightning down on Karai, inflicting a wound and allowing Karai to leap to equal ground.
Shredder advances. One Ninja throws a shuriken at Storm, but fails to harm her, while two more charge in, both within range of both Shredder and Torquemada, one on low ground but one on equal ground. The one on low ground is blocked, but the one on equal ground, bolstered yet further by Oracle’s Secret Attack Plan, stabs Storm for two wounds.
Cyclops blows one of the Hand Ninja in combat with Storm away, but it turns out to have been a Skrull and stays put! Storm slips away, shockingly taking no damage from leaving engagements, and moves to low ground, conjuring a Lightning Tempest - she blows away two Hand Ninja and the Skrull, and inflicts a wound on Torquemada, but Shredder and Karai remain unharmed.


Round Two

Thanks to Oracle’s Tactical Surveillance, the Foot and the Fascist claim the initiative. Torquemada runs to height and strikes Storm, inflicting two wounds, prompting Solomon to charge her in a rage, decapitating her with his second blow.
Beast runs forwards while Cyclops blasts Torquemada from extreme range, obliterating him.
Karai charges Beast, striking him with an ineffective blow before vaulting to height and throwing a shuriken at him, failing to harm him. Three Hand Ninja advance.
Beast charges, taking out two Hand Ninja, one of whom Torquemada inhabits. Solomon swears vengeance. Cyclops runs forwards, engaging Karai and blasting her and Solomon Kane with an Optic Blast, inflicting a wound on Karai as she swiftly dodges away but shockingly failing to harm Solomon.
Karai charges Beast, striking him twice and inflicting two wounds. Two Ninja advance, throwing insignificant shurikens at Beast, while one charges him in melee while being boosted by Shredder, Torquemada and Oracle, inflicting two wounds with his blow.
Beast leaps down, surrounding himself with Solomon Kane, Torquemada and Shredder - it’s suicide, but he knows what he must do. He strikes Solomon Kane first, inflicting two wounds on the fanatic, before striking Torquemada, inflicting two wounds on him as well, leaving him near death and knocking him backwards a space. Finally, he strikes Shredder. Oroku Saki slashes his throat as he delivers his blow, mortally wounding the mutant and leaving him dead in seconds, but Beast achieves his goal none the less - Shredder receives two wounds from his blow and, more than that, is knocked backwards into an evergreen tree which collapses on top of him, inflicting a further wound. Beast may die, but he has died with honour, sacrificing his life to achieve his objective. With this blow delivered, Cyclops rushes south, not willing to let his friend’s sacrifice be in vein - he blasts Torquemada, Shredder and a Hand Ninja with an Optic Blast, killing Torquemada and the Hand Ninja and inflicting another wound on Shredder, leaving him close to death. Solomon swears vengeance on Cyclops.

Round Three

The Foot and the Fascist claim the initiative (again...). Solomon Kane flies into a rage and charges Cyclops, laying into him with his blade and cutting him down with ease. Torquemada inhabits Cyclops’s corpse.
Angel flies up, carrying Wolverine, and takes Karai by surprise, knocking her out, shockingly, with a single blow. Wolverine charges Solomon and strikes him from height, but misses wildly.
Shredder charges Angel and Wolverine - he strikes Angel, who flies away with Wolverine before he can strike again. The last three ninja advance, one of them charging Angel with his katana and striking him from height, in range of Shredder but not Torq, but benefitting from Oracle’s Secret Attack Plan, inflicting two wounds before Angel flies Wolverine up higher. Another ninja throws a shuriken at Angel, but fails to harm him.
Angel flies back down, carrying Wolverine with him, and attempts to punch Shredder - his blow is way off, and Shredder punishes him for it by running him through. Wolverine responds by decapitating Shredder.
The last three Hand Ninja surround Wolverine, drawing their katana while inspired by Torquemada. He blocks one of the blows, but the two others draw blood, savaging him, leaving him only one wound off death.
Wolverine flies into a rage, slaughtering Solomon Kane and two Hand Ninja before healing. He doesn’t heal a wound at the end of the round, as Professor X has the X to defend himself.

Round Four

Torquemada claims the initiative (because of course he bloody does...) before drawing his blade and charging Wolverine, taking advantage of a Secret Attack Plan from Oracle. He runs the Mutant through, killing him and prompting the last surviving ninja to advance and throw a shuriken at Professor X, inflicting two wounds.
Professor X advances and telepathically assaults the last Hand Ninja, taking him out.
Torquemada charges Professor X, but is kept from striking by Psychic Defence X.
Professor X assaults Torquemada’s mind, obliterating it, but the dictator is replaced by a Skrull. Oracle moves the last Order Marker on Torquemada to the Skrull.
The Skrull punches Professor X for a wound.

Round Five

The last Skrull attempts to punch Professor X, benefitting from Oracle’s Secret Attack Plan, but Professor X, panicking, prevents him from doing so.
Xavier fails to harm the Skrull.
The Skrull punches Professor X, but misses wildly.
The Professor kills the Skrull, obliterating his mind, and Torquemada’s spirit reluctantly inhabits the hateful alien’s corpse.
Torquemada decapitates Professor X.

The Foot of Termight victorious, Torquemada 3 wounds (last incarnation), Oracle unwounded, 1 Skrull Infiltrator (undeployed)

Overview: A Torquemada/Shredder team-up is somewhat fragile, but remarkably deadly, resulting in incredibly bloody battles and extremely fun, fast-paced games. Torq, and this build in general, did a little better than I expected, managing to close out a tight victory against a strong (if not top-tier) X-Men build. It should be noted that this was pretty much a nightmare for Wolverine - a sudden barrage of multiple, significant strength attacks is exactly what he doesn’t want to face, as it can usually kill him a lot more quickly than he can manage to heal, and his defence isn’t really good enough to hold up. I could see an argument for boosting his cost to 215 to be on the safe side, but 205-215 definitely feels like the right area to bring him in, and I'm not sure enough either way to push for either cost specifically. Looking good, Tornado!

Final Thoughts On The Tested Unit:
I really, really like this guy, and I’m excited about adding him to my collection (almost certainly with Solomon in tow). I’m also quite excited by the possibility of some Terminators of Termight to fight alongside him down the line, that sounds cool. Great job here, @Tornado ! Looking forward to seeing 2000AD expand again - I'd love to see it become a significant corner of C3G. I might not know it personally, but it feels really cool, interesting and most of all different.