View Single Post
  #11  
Old October 3rd, 2018, 10:20 PM
Astroking112's Avatar
Astroking112 Astroking112 is offline
 
Join Date: March 15, 2011
Location: USA - VA - Arlington
Posts: 3,302
Images: 41
Blog Entries: 59
Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun Astroking112 is a penguin with a machine gun
Re: Autumn Custom Competition Poll - Vote by October 8

Here are some more thoughts on each entry:

San Francisco Giants
As someone who has very little interest in Baseball, I have to admit that little of this card appeals to me. I didn't even get the Baseball card format until it was mentioned here. I'm definitely not the target demographic for this one.

Large also feels slightly off to me. I know that it was mentioned as the size in the prompt, but the idea of Sir Denrick not getting his "Giant Killer" bonus against giants irks me. That's a really minor complaint (and one that of course applies to many more entries), though.

Ogre Clubbers
This card made my eyes pop more than once at its sheer power. The constant stream of puns are appreciated, but being able to constantly revive figures with kills is extremely strong with 5 attack, even with 3 defense. Add in the ability to attack with all of the Clubbers at the end of every round, and I feel like these guys would be nigh unstoppable in a normal game.

Ogre Brutes
Bonding with a Unique Squad feels a little weird, especially when it's ogres bonding with any Giant hero. Most other bonding powers have a clearer connection, whether it's relentless figures or specific champions, but I'm not seeing a clear link between these ogres and any giants. 7 Attack against most figures is also really strong, as I'm sure has been mentioned already.

I'm also not a fan of Wild for a Giant squad because it's close to the requirements for C3V's Dreadguls, but to be fair, VC is not something that designers are required to take into mind.

Mountain Gaints
This design seems rather straightforward. I'm a little concerned about the synergy with Zogross Hardscale (since with an auto-shield and 4 defense, these guys are pretty tanky), but the Order Marker headache might help combat that.

It's interesting that these guys only have 3 attack. While you could argue that most of the force of the attack is represented by Knockback, it might feel a little bit better if the base attack was increased proportionately.

Hill Giants
It's interesting how many people made a 100-point squad. There's nothing wrong with it of course, I just find the coincidence to be amusing. As for this unit, Slow Swings 6 is a thematic interpretation, but I feel like it'd also slow down the game to have to roll before every attack. I'd personally prefer to see a reuse of Pel the Hill Giant's Heavy Axe: it conveys the same theme, but is much simpler and easier to deal with.

Clumsy Attackers is interesting, but I think that it might be even better if you could choose the attacking Hill Giant. It reminds me of the Ogre Pulverizer giving opponents engagement strike, but only slightly less harsh and able to be spun off into a positive power for the Hill Giant with careful positioning.

Hill Goliaths of Goldcrest
Giant Resilience feels off to me. At first I was wondering why it wasn't simply an automatic shield, and then I realized that it only works once per turn. Why does one giant being resilient suddenly make the other giants less resilient? I know that adding more limitation/clarifications would complicate the power, but I think that it could use some refinement.

Hill Giant Brute Squad
Rampage is an interesting take on Frenzy, but I worry about its implications on a figure with 5 attack and 7 defense and with significantly better odds. With 6 move they also aren't terribly slow, so I can't help but feel like 130 points is too low. Maybe my theoryscaping is just off.

Counterstrike also doesn't gel well with the theme of wild giants to me. When I think of being able to "attack" outside of a figure's turn, I think of trained warriors quickly taking advantage of a weakness, not a giant smashing something with a club. The way that it's worded, I believe that it would also trigger Rampage again on opponent's turns, which I'm not a fan of at all.

Grimm Giants
I think that Brute Squad could be cut out and the base attack could be raised without sacrificing too much of the design. That kind of power works fine for Sir Dupuis because he's a single hero, but I wouldn't want to count how many Giants/Ogres are within 2 spaces before every attack with these guys.

I'm not seeing the theme with Kill Streak and trophies ignoring wounds. If anything, I would expect it to increase their attack (or maybe their defense) as they get more kills. Size Matters' theme similarly seems a little weird to me and more like it is there solely for the sake of gameplay.

Giants of Eberron
I'm a little concerned by that Special Attack being able to ignore defense for any size of figure, since that was always avoided in the past so that Deathwalkers and whatnot stood a chance. Still, getting into position to get those kills on a Unique Squad with 2 defense (and Tough, admittedly) seems like it'll be pretty difficult, so it's probably not a big problem in practice. Plus, the theme is almost immediately recognizable, which is a plus in my book.

Giants of Barrenspur
I really like this one. The single power keeps things simple and straightforward, and although the stats seem like they might be a little high for 110 points (they seem like they could be stronger than the Tagawa Samurai to me), I think that the direction on this unit is really strong. The price is probably the only thing that I would change here.

Giant Gruts
I think that calling these guys Orcs is a bit of a stretch, honestly. The design idea could still work, but I'm not convinced that these miniatures are the right fit. Swinging Mace is an interesting combination of Trampling Stomp and Throw, but I'm not sure about combining it with heroes like Grimnak and Tornak, either, or how much it really fits the theme of the orcs.

Fi, Fo, and Fum
Naming each member of the squad is a neat touch, but it leads to some confusing wording problems in the powers. For example, I believe that Slow & Steady says that each figure in the squad may use it once per turn, but then Dumb & Numb only works once per turn for the entire squad. The entire card would probably be more immediately readable with a simpler name.

Dead Mountain Ogres
4/4 stats, an improved version of Throw, and range (plus 5/5 stats) on a common terrain type seem very powerful to me for an 80 point common squad. I don't really have any major issues with the theme itself, but I'm inclined to believe that it would easily be upwards of 100 points based on the stats and Throw alone.

Blackened Teeth
By far the worst part of playing AotP to me was having to put markers on figures' bases. Lifting them up to carefully line up the small cubes, only for them to fall off the next turn when I moved the figures, was a huge headache. I would much prefer to just see markers placed on the card like is the norm for HeroScape units, but I could see potential power concerns with that method essentially granting extra lives to the entire squad every turn.

That said, these guys give a great reason to use the Ashigaru Yari. For the low price of 40 points, you can fill up their markers and get them enough lives to actually make it to an opponent!

I think that all of these designs had some really interesting qualities to them! Thanks to everyone who participated in developing a unit!
Reply With Quote