The Book of Metamorpho

[Yodaking]

Man, I completely missed that he was an Interloper. If 290 gives you 3 Interlopers at 650, that seems like a good place to start. You can then build up to 800 with any fun 150 point figure as a clean up unit, I like Moon Knight in that role since I can just send him up into his plane on OM1 of the game and leave him there until near the end of the game, then have him drop out right into the action. Batman Beyond is another effective 150 point clean up unit for me. Black Knight can be good in that role too.

If 950 is an important mark to hit, then I really like Wonder Woman or Red Tornado for a 300 point add to any army and make it better figure.

If you want a 1000 point army though, for the remaining 350 points I'd consider adding in another Interloper in Jade at 240 and then the remaining 110 points you can spend on Oracle.

[IAmBatman]

Ooh I like Jade + Oracle. Good call.

[IAmBatman]

And yeah, working on building up the Outsiders (Interlopers). Black Lightning, Halo, Looker, and Geo-Force are high on the priority list.

[IAmBatman]

@Yodaking any thoughts on a better fourth for that Cap/Star Lord army than X-23? I like her with 6/6 stats but I'm worried the group feels a little range light.

[Scapemage]

Blackfire is the same amount of points and a good range option since she has potential multi-attacks to be boosted.

[IAmBatman]

Yeah, that six range and flying sound good. Good pull. I can go with that.

[Yodaking]

Blackfire has some potential as a ranged double boosted figure, another one I feel is overlooked at 220 points in Marrow. When she's at full health already the 1 wound for 3 ranged attacks at -1 is no big deal at all. Double boosting her means you get 3 ranged attacks of 5 before considering any high ground bonus. The double boost to her defense would be pretty good too since she has that counterstrike type of power. Then she's an X healer, an X healer with 6+ defense should be able to stick around for a while. As a Mutant Terrorist she can fit into any Star-Lord & Cap army that doesn't already have a Mutant in it.

[IAmBatman]

Oh man, another good call! I haven't used Marrow in forever. Looking like an A3n design either way. I know I have Marrow's card for sure, so that's probably the winner.

[IAmBatman]

Updated the match ups. I should be able to run these tonight, I'm thinking.

[IAmBatman]

Army tests are in. I'm liking him at 290 points for playtesting. Before I propose moving forward, though, I'm realizing I want to do something to streamline his elemental forms. This isn't because I think he's too complex or fiddly or anything, but simply because I wasn't using all of the options and didn't find all of the options to be good strategic choices at any point. Mostly I just wanted to get him to 7/7 form and pound away at people, so I'm hoping that if we condense the forms (think gas, liquid, solid or thereabouts) we can make each more of a strategic worth.

Here's what I'm thinking:

NAME = METAMORPHO
SECRET IDENTITY = REX MASON

SPECIES = METAHUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = INTERLOPER
PERSONALITY = DISCONTENTED
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 5
MOVE = 7
RANGE = 5
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 320

RAPID SHAPESHIFTING 2
Start the game with two white Shapeshift Markers. At the start of Metamorpho's turn, you may place or remove any number of Shapeshift Markers on this card. Add two to Metamorpho's Attack and Defense values and subtract two from his Move and Range values for each Shapshift Marker on this card. A maximum of 2 Shapeshift Markers can be placed on this card.

ELEMENTAL FORMS
While this Army Card has exactly:

• 0 Shapeshift markers, Metamorpho gains the Flying Special power, cannot be targeted for special powers or attacks from non-adjacent figures, and is never attacked when leaving an engagement.
• 1 Shapeshift marker, when rolling defense dice against a normal attack from an adjacent attacking figure, all excess shields count as unblockable hits on the attacking figure, and when Metamorpho attacks, he can attack one additional time. He may not target the same figure twice.
• 2 Shapeshift markers, Metamorpho may not be moved by any special power on an Army Card unless the player controlling Metamorpho allows him to be moved.

SUPER STRENGTH

What do folks think? If you just hate that and prefer it how it is, that's fine, but I think it's at the very least worth considering folding 0 and 1 in together somehow, as 1 by itself was not getting any play.

[IAmBatman]

Option B, if folks prefer, would be something like this:

NAME = METAMORPHO
SECRET IDENTITY = REX MASON

SPECIES = METAHUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = INTERLOPER
PERSONALITY = DISCONTENTED
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 5
MOVE = 7
RANGE = 4
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 4
POINTS = 320

RAPID SHAPESHIFTING 3
Start the game with three white Shapeshift Markers. At the start of Metamorpho's turn, you may place or remove any number of Shapeshift Markers on this card. Add one to Metamorpho's Attack and Defense values and subtract one from his Move and Range values for each Shapshift Marker on this card. A maximum of 3 Shapeshift Markers can be placed on this card.

ELEMENTAL FORMS
While this Army Card has exactly:

• 0 Shapeshift markers, Metamorpho cannot be targeted for special powers or attacks from non-adjacent figures, is never attacked when leaving an engagement, and gains the Flying Special power.
• 1 Shapeshift marker, when Metamorpho attacks, he can attack one additional time. He may not target the same figure twice.
• 2 Shapeshift markers, when rolling defense dice against a normal attack from an adjacent attacking figure, all excess shields count as unblockable hits on the attacking figure.
• 3 Shapeshift markers, Metamorpho may not be moved by any special power on an Army Card unless the player controlling Metamorpho allows him to be moved.

SUPER STRENGTH

I might prefer this version as it keeps the aesthetic of the markers being 1/1 and it makes it less punitive to be in 0 marker form (as 4/4 stats are less vulnerable than 3/3). I lowered his range by one as well so that he'd still be completely melee at full markers, but I kept his move high so the 4/4 area could still move quickly into battle from the start zone.

It still streamlines the markers a tad, though, and combines the 0 and 1, which were really getting the least play.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Option B, if folks prefer, would be something like this:

I might prefer this version as it keeps the aesthetic of the markers being 1/1 and it makes it less punitive to be in 0 marker form (as 4/4 stats are less vulnerable than 3/3). I lowered his range by one as well so that he'd still be completely melee at full markers, but I kept his move high so the 4/4 area could still move quickly into battle from the start zone.

It still streamlines the markers a tad, though, and combines the 0 and 1, which were really getting the least play.

I'm liking this one.