The Pre-SoV Workshop

[Good Pig]

Originally Posted by Shadowking

I think you’re only supposed to post tested designs in here for refinement, rather than initial concepts.

EDIT: Sniped by Shiftrex, haha.

Sounds good. I figured that would be the case for an official submission, did not know it was a requirement for workshop feedback as well.

Thanks for the critiques, everyone. I will improve both designs and run some play tests before reposting.

[ryguy266]

Outside the design but related, the Izumi repaint doesn't do it for me. It looks too similar. I would like to see some different colors other than just "it's darker now." The samurai squads have the red, blue, and bronze while the heroes' paint jobs are more complex. Perhaps a light green, teal, or even purple repaint over the red armor would make this one stand out.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

After quite a bit of testing and thought:

Originally Posted by greygnarl

Hello all, the goal of this thread is to get people a chance to have their customs examined before they are submitted to the SoV. I know that at least 4 of the judges monitor this thread, so it's a great way to get some feedback.

Just make a post with your card/stat block and see what people say.

Originally Posted by kolakoski

RAVENWOLF
General: Einar
Race: Human
Uniqueness: Unique Hero
Class: Fighter
Personality: Disciplined
Size: Medium 5
Life: 5
Move: 5
Range: 7
Attack: 4
Defense: 4
Points: 120

MARK OF THE RAVEN
Place two black Raven markers on Ravenwolf's card. If Ravenwolf wounds an enemy Unique Hero with his attack, place a Raven marker from this card onto that figure's card. The same target can receive up to two markers. The defending Unique Hero rolls one less defense die for each marker on its card when attacked by a normal attack. If the defending Unique Hero is defeated, return the marker(s) to Ravenwolf's card.

* * * * *

RIEKA THE WOLF
General: Aquilla
Race: Human
Uniqueness: Unique Hero
Class: Hunter
Personality: Ferocious
Size: Medium 5
Life: 5
Move: 6
Range: 4
Attack: 3
Defense: 3
Points: 75

GO FOR THE THROAT
When Rieka the Wolf attacks she may attack any or all figures adjacent to her, and she receives 1 extra attack die for each wound marker on the defending figure's Army Card to a maximum of 3 additional attack dice for Go for the Throat. Roll each attack separately.

STEALTH LEAP
Instead of her normal move, Rieka the Wolf may Stealth Leap. Stealth Leap has a move of 3. When counting spaces for Rieka the Wolf's leaping movement, ignore elevations. Rieka the Wolf may leap over water without stopping, pass over figures without becoming engaged, and leap over obstacles such as ruins. Rieka the Wolf may not leap more than 12 levels up or down in a single leap. If Rieka the Wolf is engaged when she starts to leap, she does not take any leaving engagement attacks.

CORNERED
If Rieka the Wolf has only 1 Life remaining or is the last remaining figure in your army, add 1 to her Attack and Defense.

* * * * *

KOMURA
General: Ullar
Race: Serpentfolk
Uniqueness: Unique Hero
Class: Scout
Personality: Tricky
Size: Medium 5
Life: 4
Move: 6
Range: 7
Attack: 3
Defense: 3
Points: 75

WYVERN RIDER
If Komura is unengaged and adjacent to a Wyvern you control, instead of moving Komura normally, you may move that Wyvern 7 spaces. After moving that Wyvern, place Komura adjacent to that Wyvern. Komura may then attack normally.

POISON WEAPONS
Each time Komura attacks a small, medium, or large Hero with a normal attack or a leaving engagement attack and inflicts at least 1 wound, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 1-11, nothing happens. If you roll a 12 or higher, add 1 additional wound to the defending figure.

Originally Posted by Scytale

Single heroes don't have much of a chance with VC these days.

Hope springs eternal!

[Scytale]

Ravenwolf
When I first glanced at the stats I saw red flags. And the power didn't change that. While I appreciate a single-power card, a fairly simple and useful power even, this unit lacks interesting gameplay. The power is neat and all, but it's just gravy for a unit that kind of does it all. Range 7 with Attack 4 is mean. The weakness here is that he can only attack a single figure per turn, which makes him more dull than weak. If he was a lost-cost, weak hero that could place the markers, then the unit would be interesting as a carefully used add-in to debuff an enemy hero, but as is he just isn't interesting in gamplay.

Rieka the Wolf
The design is fine, but not interesting enough for VC approval these days. She's just a lone hero that fights decently, but the design lacks a role. As an early- or mid-game unit she lacks board control ability and survivability to use reliably, and the multi-attack of Go For the Throat is largely wasted in cleanup. Actually, the design would be better without the multi-attack, as it focuses it better as a cleanup unit. Alternatively, if the species was Hybrid she might have value as-is in Hybrid builds.

Komura
This one comes out better as it has some unique built-in synergy, but the synergy ends up coming off as forced when looking at the overall design. The design is a long-range assassin, but not especially good at it, and not in a way that's interesting to play. Get on nearby high ground, take a shot at a hero, hope to do bonus damage. Wyvern Rider can help with the first part, but he has a large threat range on his own which greatly diminishes its value. It does help to move a Wyvern into a better position too, but really, all this does is add a long-range attack to a normal Wyvern positioning turn. There isn't counterplay to a unit like this either, despite the mediocre survivability, as the threat range is so long and a user of Komura probably won't want to put more than a couple order markers on him.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Scytale, thanks for the above. I seem to have "cogent" on my mind (see my last post in HeroScape is coming back! All of your points are cogent to me. I'll see what I can do (where anything can be done).

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Would this be a problem?

INHERITED LOYALTY
All Monk, Ninja, Shadow Assassin, or Assassin, hero or squad figures you control follow Utgar instead of the General on their cards. After revealing a numbered Order Marker on this card and taking a turn with Kâramanè, if she did not inflict a wound on an opponent's figure, you may take a turn with any Monk, Ninja, Shadow Assassin, or Assassin, hero or squad, you control. Any figure that is taking a turn with Inherited Loyalty must be within clear sight of Kâramanè before moving.

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by kolakoski

Well met!

Would this be a problem?

INHERITED LOYALTY
All Monk, Ninja, Shadow Assassin, or Assassin, hero or squad figures you control follow Utgar instead of the General on their cards. After revealing a numbered Order Marker on this card and taking a turn with Kâramanè, if she did not inflict a wound on an opponent's figure, you may take a turn with any Monk, Ninja, Shadow Assassin, or Assassin, hero or squad, you control. Any figure that is taking a turn with Inherited Loyalty must be within clear sight of Kâramanè before moving.

A problem in that it sounds boring. Why would I use Karamane until endgame? I'd put her in a safe position to see most of the board and use her as an order marker hub all game. Order marker freedom for all Monks, Ninjas, Assassins, and more? Those factions don't need that, and they don't need to be combined.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

How specific can I be then?

INHERITED LOYALTY
If Moriko and the Ninjas of the Northern Wind are in your army, they follow Utgar instead of the General on their cards. After revealing a numbered Order Marker on this card and taking a turn with Kâramanè, if she did not inflict a wound on an opponent's figure, you may take a turn with either Moriko or the Ninjas of the Northern Wind. Any figure that is taking a turn with Inherited Loyalty must be within clear sight of Kâramanè before moving.

[Curt]

I would love feedback as to the viability of this being a candidate to submit in the SOV thread. It's a design I've been tinkering, testing, and getting feedback on for a little over a year, but I think I'm finally happy where I'm at with it. I'll apologize for the wall of text, but I wanted to give context as to the specific design choices. I'll need to reach out to admin about photo uploading privileges, but for now, please see the imgur link to the card. https://imgur.com/a/wQkqkoz. The mini is Snowbound #34 Warforged Titan, note that the blue "impact" part is easily removed and not intended to be part of the unit. The mini appears to still have great stock from a handful of retailers and tends to run between $6 and $15. https://www.miniaturemarket.com/ddsnw-34.html

Colossus
Vydar
Unique Hero
Titan
Huge 10

Life - 5
Move - 5
Range - 1
Attack - 6
Defense - 5

SMASH AND CLEAVE SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1, Attack 3
When Colossus attacks with his Smash and Cleave Special Attack, he may attack one additional time.

WARFORGED RALLY
After taking a turn with Colossus, you may take a turn with 1 squad of Warforged Soldiers. Any Warforged Soldiers that move during this turn and use their Tactical Switch special power cannot roll attack dice after switching spaces with the opponent's figure.

TACTICAL STRIKE 12
If an opponent's figure is moved adjacent to Colossus by a special power, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 12 or higher, the opponent's figure receives one wound.

My intent for Colossus is to give the Warforged Soldiers a unique army build centered around his Tactical Switch power and his ability to act as a can opener when the WS's 3 attacks of 3 get outpaced by other squad's offensive outputs.

Colossus is intended to act as a vanguard and initiate the offense for the WS to rally around. As he engages the enemy, he can try to free up real estate with either his powerful normal attack, or try to vanquish two units with the much weaker Smash and Cleave SA (named due to one hand being a hammer and the other a blade). Smash and Cleave can also help with crowd control if he gets swarmed, the death knell for most huge units.

If Colossus can clear room for the WS, they can then rally to his position. However, if they move then they essentially only get to choose to either attack or switch. If they choose to switch, and the figure is not adjacent to Colossus, there is a 45% chance of an auto wound.

This might sound high, but in my testing, I started with a higher proc number and it led to the switch rarely happening. A 3 attack vs. 3 defense roll will result in a wound 51% of the time, and a 3 attack vs. 4 defense will result in a wound 41% of the time. This forces the player to think about their decision and factor in the current turn number, enemy placement, and placement of enemy order markers. Note also I went with this power over Engagement Strike as I want to reward strategic play as it's not always easy to pull off in a battle.

Balance-wise, 170-180ish points seems about right and allows for up to 4 sets of WS in a 500-point game. He has the same stats as Breach, but requires WS to reach his potential. While he does help give the WS offensive fire-power, the high point cost for both means quality over quantity, and they will be unable to maximize potential against larger figures or those who attack surrounding units. Sorry again for the wall of text, and I'd appreciate any constructive feedback.

[SkyWhale]

Having seen a picture of this figure on a battlefield, I think it may be wise to include a picture of that here. To add a picture, you can click on the icon of a picture (the one with mountains) and insert the Imgur link like you have above.

[Curt]

For sure Skywhale!

I'm not able to get the insert url of an image to show anything, even if just attempting a single image. But please see the imgur links for 3 pictures.

The hammer arm does hang very close to the ground, but luckily mostly slots between two hexes. The blade arm clears medium units easily and also hangs over between two hexes. The hammer arm itself is malleable and allows the arm to rest on a single level higher, albeit with the unit being angled back slightly (The arm could be reshaped easily to angle higher up). There may be issues with tighter maps or steep elevation changes, but nowhere near what Xenithrax is going to have to deal with.

The pictures and their respective links are as follows.
1. Top-down - https://imgur.com/o5SLyz2
2. Same picture as No. 1, just from the front. https://imgur.com/xAn1o8S
3. Colossus with his arm on a higher hex. https://imgur.com/gTl0010

[ThrasherDarkrai]

How well does another double-spaced figure fit when placed directly in front of the Colossus, out of curiosity? And, on a similar note, what does the process for removing the blue energy effect around the Colossus' hammer entail? Is it attached directly to the hammer, or is it attached to the base?

As for the design itself, I really like it! Tactical Strike 12 is a really smart riff on Engagement Strike, adding much more interactivity to the power and synergizing very well with one of the Warforged Soldiers' primary tricks. I also agree with you that the relatively low roll required for an autowound makes a great deal of sense considering that you're essentially passing up an attack with a Warforged Soldier to even get the chance to inflict an autowound. I do think a design like this requires Tactical Strike to be consistent enough where it's something the player actively wants to go for, because otherwise you just use your bonding turn to attack normally with the Warforged, at which point the Colossus is just a big bonding hero. That said, it seems like you've tested the Colossus enough to be happy with where Tactical Strike 12 is (and it also depends on what specifically you're facing, since Tactical Strike 12 is a lot more enticing against higher-defense squads and figures than it is against normal squads with 2 or 3 defense, though this is hardly anything new for auto-wound powers).