[Lazy Orang]

- Theme Test - Inconclusive - I don’t know the character, but nothing seems wrong. I’m assuming it’s thematic for her to be basically powerless unless she’s lost her loved one? A single attack of 2 on a 280 point cosmic level Lantern is... beyond pathetic, to be frank.
- Mirror Test - Pass
- Bonding Test - Pass
- Synergies Test - Pass
- Power Check - Pass - Outright resurrecting a hero is a big deal and really powerful, but when it means draining power out of your other heroes to a degree roughly equivalent (mostly...) to the given hero’s power-level, it’s not too devastating.
- Fun Test - Pass - She’s a lot of fun and fairly evocative to play. It will feel especially evocative those times that the best hero to resurrect is her Beloved.
- Fun Competitive Test - Pass - She never felt unreasonable.
- Drafting Test - Pass - I’m starting to want to draft both her and the Uncommon Star Sapphires now! (I actually really like those, having tried them - those Violet Crystals can be a pain in the arse.)
- Usage Test - Pass - You really need to plan your long-term strategy about using her powers, but if you do, you’ll be able to fairly effectively.
- Strategy Test - Definite Pass - You have to plan how to use her from the drafting stages and all the way through the game... from choosing a Beloved who’s likely going to get him or herself killed, to using Miri Riam in combat herself once her loved one’s gone, to picking the right character to resurrect, to timing that resurrection correctly - late enough so that you make the most out of your Star Sapphires and are hopefully sacrificing the least but, at the same time, not so late that Miri Riam’s killed and you miss your chance.



Name Of The Playtest Unit: Star Sapphire (Miri Riam)

Army Test 1
Map: Jotun’s Gap (no glyphs)
Armies:
Star Sapphire (Miri Riam) (270), Iron Monger, Liz Sherman, Hawkeye (Clint Barton) (Skycycle), Speedy (Mia Dearden), 2x Star Sapphires (1,200 points)
vs.
Citizen V, Atlas, Meteorite, MACH-I, Songbird, Techno (1,200 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Miri Riam’s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 2 wounds on Meteorite, 1 wound on Songbird, 1 wound on MACH-I, 2 wounds on Atlas, 3 wounds on Techno
Powered up by ‘Til Death Do Us Part when Liz Sherman was killed on the second turn of the first round.
Extra attacks through ‘Til Death Do Us Part: Six
Live to Love Again used to resurrect Iron Monger at the end of Round Three
Battery Markers burned through Live to Love Again: Three from Star Sapphires

Liz Sherman is Miri Riam’s Beloved.

Round One

The Power of Love claims the initiative and Hawkeye flies forwards, carrying Liz Sherman to the edge of the eastern cliff. She then runs down the hill towards the Thunderbolts and lets loose with a Firestorm - Atlas, Techno and MACH-I receive a wound each, Meteorite receives two wounds and Songbird and Citizen V receive two wounds each. Liz Sherman herself receives a wound.
Songbird flies up and blasts Liz Sherman to no avail. MACH-I flies to height and opens fire on Liz with Diversionary Fire, gunning her down a
nd allowing Meteorite and Atlas to reposition. Miri Riam is overcome by the loss of her lover, and her ring reaches full power.
Iron Monger Turbo Boosts up to MACH-I and attempts to punch him in the face, but the blow is ineffectual.
Songbird blasts Iron Monger from low ground, inflicting a wound. Atlas charges Hawkeye and punches him, but fails to harm him.
Iron Monger punches MACH-I, inflicting a wound.
Citizen V activates Justice Like Lightning. MACH-I punches Iron Monger, but is blocked. Atlas clambers up the cliff and punches Iron Monger, punching through his armour and inflicting a wound.

Round Two

The Power of Love claims the initiative. Speedy advances up the eastern flank and looses a diamond tipped arrow at Atlas, but to no avail.
Songbird blasts Iron Monger from low ground to no avail. Meteorite flies up and blasts Iron Monger, but his armour blocks it.
Iron Monger punches MACH-I, inflicting a wound, and knocking him back three spaces.
Wonder Woman slashes at Wolverine for a wound, plus an additional one thanks to Sword of Hephaestus.
Songbird flies into melee with Iron Monger and blasts through his armour, knocking him out. Atlas punches Hawkeye from height, inflicting a wound and knocking him back a space.
Miri Riam flies forwards, but can’t blast anyone thanks to Meteorite’s Blinding Light.
Citizen V activates Justice Like Lightning - Meteorite blasts Miri Riam to no avail. Atlas charges Miri Riam and punches her, but she is unharmed and only knocked back a space.

Round Three

The Thunderbolts claim the initiative. Songbird flies up and blasts Miri Riam, to no avail. Atlas charges Miri Riam and punches her from height, inflicting a wound.
Miri Riam flies away from Atlas, taking a blow in the process, before flying up to Meteorite and letting loose, in two blows pounding Meteorite into the dirt.
Songbird engages Mirir Riam and strikes her for a wound. Atlas punches Speedy in the face, inflicting two wounds and knocking her two spaces backwards.
A Star Sapphire flies up to Atlas and encases him in a Violet Crystal.
Citizen V activates Justice Like Lightning and Songbird and MACH-I gang up on Miri Riam, but Miri Riam defends against all their blows.
Miri Riam knocks Songbird out, before turning around and flying into a rage, taking MACH-I’s head off with absolute savagery, avenging her beloved Liz Sherman.
The remaining power of the two rank and file Star Sapphires is used to resurrect Obidiah Stane with the power of love... seems like an odd choice for that, but okay...

Round Four

The Power of Love claims the initiative. Miri Riam blasts Atlas twice from height - the first blast would inflict three wounds, but his Ionic Imbalance instead causes Atlas to be unharmed and inflict a wound on the adjacent Star Sapphire. The second blast is blocked.
Atlas fails to break free of his violet prison.
Miri Riam blasts Atlas twice more, inflicting a wound.
Citizen V activates Justice Like Lightning. Atlas fails to break free from the crystal and Techno flies forwards, blasting Iron Monger twice from low ground to no avail.
Miri Riam blasts Atlas twice more, inflicting a wound.
Atlas remains trapped.
Speedy takes a wound from her health failing.

Round Five

The Thunderbolts claim the initiative, and Citizen V activates Justice Like Lightning. Atlas breaks free from his confinement and punches the Star Sapphire who imprisoned him - he inflicts a wound on her and sends her flying backwards into Speedy; the impact knocks both women out. Techno flies up to engage Iron Monger and Miri Riam before blasting Hawkeye from high ground, blowing up his Skycycle and leaving the archer prostrate in the middle of the valley.
Miri Riam unloads her rage and despair over the loss of Liz on Techno, knocking him out in a savage volley of blows.
Atlas charges Miri Riam, punching Miri Riam in the face and inflicting a wound, leaving her battered and bleeding.
Miri Riam unleashes her fury on Atlas, but he blocks both blows.
Atlas crushes Miri Riam, eliminating the remainder of the enemy’s round and allowing her to rejoin her beloved Liz Sherman in the afterlife.

Round Six

The Thunderbolts claim the initiative. Citizen V activates Justice Like Lightning. Atlas charges Iron Monger and, despite Obidiah’s intimidation tactics, he strikes - Iron Monger is unharmed, but is knocked into the valley. Citizen V charges Iron Monger and lays into him, inflicting a wound.
Iron Monger throws a punch at Citizen V, but misses wildly.
Citizen V slips into the shadow with Obidiah and lays into him with his blade, inflicting a wound.
Iron Monger claims height and punches Citizen V in the abdomen, inflicting a wound, and leaving him bleeding profusely from the mouth.
Citizen V lays into Iron Monger again, but cannot harm him.
Iron Monger claims the initiative and knocks Citizen V out.

Round Seven

Iron Monger claims the initiative and slams into Atlas, knocking him out cold.

Power of Love victorious - Iron Monger 2/3 wounds, 1 Star Sapphire 0/3 wounds and 0/2 Battery Markers.

Overview: That was fun, and quite effective. Making Liz Miri Riam’s Beloved and using her for a ‘Fire Bomb’ strategy (taking vernacular from Classic’s Theracus Bombs) is potentially devastating, as it can nuke the enemy’s start-zone while quickly powering up Miri Riam, allowing her to pick off what remains. Just add someone to resurrect (Iron Monger was picked due to having one of the lowest life values in the game for a comparatively high-cost fighter), and this can be quite effective. It does require both a map in which the Fire Bomb is viable and for said Fire Bomb to do a worthwhile amount of damage to be effective, though - you should ideally know by the end of the first turn whether you have a chance of victory or not.
And I swear, the LGBT overtones were implemented for purely strategic reasons... granted, I was quite happy when I noticed those strategic reasons, but still.

Army Test 2
Map: Avernus (No Glyphs)
Armies;
Star Sapphire (Miri Riam) (290), Hawkgirl, Hawkman (Katar Hol), 2x Star Sapphire (1,010 1,020 points)
vs.
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Lantern (Kilowog), Blue Lantern (Brother Warth), Green Construct (Tactical Bomber) (1,020 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Miri Riam’s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: None
Powered up by ‘Til Death Do Us Part when Hawkgirl was killed on the second turn of the third round.
Extra attacks through ‘Til Death Do Us Part: None
Live to Love Again used to resurrect Hawkman at the end of Round Three
Battery Markers burned through Live to Love Again: Two from Star Sapphires, three from Miri Riam.

Hawkgirl is Miri Riam’s Beloved.

Round One

Hal flies forwards and blasts Miri, inflicting one wound.
Hawkgirl swoops towards Hal and smashes him twice, inflicting a wound.
Hal creates a Tactical Bomber Construct and bombs the enemy’s start-zone, inflicting a wound each on Hawkman and Miri Riam, and inflicting two wounds on one of the rank and file Star Sapphires.
Hawkgirl swoops in and smashes the Tactical Bomber construct apart.
Hal blasts Miri Riam, inflicting two wounds.
Hawkgirl swoops in and smashes Hal with a devastating blow, forcing him to burn a marker to shield himself.

Round Two

The Green Lantern Corps claim the initiative. Kilowog flies up and blasts Hawkgirl from low ground, to no avail.
Hawkgirl engages Kilowog and smashes him, inflicting a wound and knocking him two spaces backwards.
Kilowog burns a marker to inspire Hal before flying up next to Hawkgirl, punching her and inflicting three wounds, enraging Hawkman.
Hawkgirl strikes Kilowog - he is unharmed, but she knocks him backwards into a rocky outcrop, and the impact smashes the rocks and inflicts a wound on the Bolovaxian.
Warth flies up and recharges Hal and Kilowog with Calming Energy.
Hawkgirl flies up and smashes Kilowog into the dirt.

Round Three

The Star Sapphires claim the initiative. A Star Sapphire flies forwards and encases Hal in a violet crystal.
Hal breaks free from the crystal prison and blasts Hawkgirl, knocking her out before continuing his Fearless Charge by striking Hawkman, inflicting three wounds. The loss of Hawkgirl causes Miri Riam’s ring to reach full power.
Hawkman strikes Hal twice, inflicting two wounds with his first blow and forcing Hal to burn through some of his battery with his second.
Hal strikes Hawkman twice, knocking him out with his second blow, eliminating the enemy’s next turn.
Warth flies up and uses the last of his charge to recharge Hal’s ring.
Miri Riam uses channels two battery markers from the badly wounded Star Sapphire to the back and three from her own ring to resuccitating Hawkman.

Round Four

The Green Lantern Corps claims the initiative, and Hal blasts the rank and file Star Sapphire who retains charge, but she blocks his blow.
This Star Sapphire uses the last of her ring’s charge to again attempt to encase Hal in a violet crystal.
Hal is trapped within this crystal and cannot act.
Hawkman swoops up and strikes Hal twice, forcing him to burn through half of his charge to block both attacks and keep himself alive.
Hal breaks free from his confinement and lays into Hawkman in utter desperation, punching him twice and inflicting two wounds with each blow, leaving Hawkman near death once again.
Hawkman strikes Hal twice - the first blow forces him to burn through some of his battery power, while the second Hal risks attempting to dodge, and successfully evades.

Round Five

The Green Lantern Corps claim the initiative, and Hal throws a desperate and powerful all-skull punch at Hawkman, which Hawkman nevertheless manages to block.
Hawkman brings his mace down on Hal’s head, forcing him to burn through the last of his ring’s charge, before striking again, which Hal manages to evade.
Warth punches Hawkman, but misses wildly.
Hawkman knocks Hal out before smashing Warth for a wound.
Warth strikes Hawkman, who blocks.
A Star Sapphire flies up and punches Warth, inflicting a wound.

Round Six

Warth claims the initiative and punches Hawkman, but Hawkman blocks the blow.
Hawkman smashes Warth twice, inflicting a wound with each blow.
Warth strikes Hawkman, but Hawkman continues to hold on.
Hawkman knocks Warth out.

Star Sapphires Victorious, Hawkman 4/5 wounds, Miri Riam 4/5 wounds and 1/4 Battery Markers, 1 Star Sapphire with 0/3 wounds and 0/2 Battery Markers, and 1 Star Sapphire with 2/3 wounds and 0/2 Battery Markers.

Overview: Well... most of the Star Sapphire’s team survived, but everyone was battered to hell by the end (except for one Star Sapphire, who was just.. out of charge). Miri Riam worked well in this build, and getting back an enraged Hawkman is a good use of her powers. Of course, she, herself, did nothing, but that was more because she was beaten to near death by the GL blitzkrieg before the first round was done - if she’d attempted to engage in combat before Hawkman were resurrected, she’d have been killed, and Hawkman would have been lost - he was more valuable here than she was, so blunting her offensive potential to get him back was the best call. Notably, this was a significant victory, but if the GLs could have inflicted one more wound on Miri Riam to put her down before she brought Hawkman back, it would have been an entirely different story.

Thoughts On The Tested Unit's Cost, Balance, & Draftibility:

I really, really like her, and she’s starting to actually get me excited about the Star Sapphires, which... I admit, I expected would be a hard sell for me, but she’s suitably fun to play and thematically evocative. Good show!