Heroscape: Age of Annihilation is here! Back it on Haslab!

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"Four-Arms"


Does this guy look anything like a figure from classic Heroscape to y'all? Me neither. His sculpt screams offense to me.

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Today's Designer's Notes posted in Discord:

Originally Posted by Encarmine

DESIGNER'S NOTES - DAY 02 - FACTION LORE - The mercenaries of the syndicate call no Valkyrie their master, refusing to bend the knee to any of the warring factions on Valhalla. With motivations as varied as the composition of those species that call the Syndicate their own, the Dawn Raiders take to the battlefields of Valhalla for whichever side pays their high price for temporary loyalty. Often found in the shadows of the main advance, they fight for more than just the spoils, booty or carnage, but because they enjoy the challenge of battle. The Dawn Raiders are led by a charismatic council of captains, who collectively function as the Syndicates governing body in deciding the path of the Dawn Raiders, negotiate terms with the other factions on Valhalla, which contracts to honor, confirm new members into the group etc. With such a diverse mix of characters and specialties within their ranks, there is always a willing crew available for the required task at hand, coming into each battle hard, and making their impact felt, fighting like madmen.

EDIT: Note the text at the bottom: this is a Unique Squad!
EDIT2: A Unique Squad with two different species in it!!!

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And another Designer's Note with actual special powers!!!

Originally Posted by Encarmine

DESIGNER'S NOTES - DAY 02 FACTION POWERS - To highlight the awesome powers and synergy between our unique squads and the Dawn Raider Syndicate heroes, lets take a look how these "Monster Slayers" and "The Widow" work together to overwhelm their enemies on the field of battle:
THE CAPTAIN’S WAY - POWER OF UNIQUE SQUAD
At the start of the game, choose one Unique Captain you control to be their chosen assigned Captain. While within 4 clear sight spaces of their chosen Captain, roll one additional defense die against attacks from non-adjacent figures. Before taking a turn with ("The Monster Slayers"), you may first take a turn with their chosen Captain or a Dawn Raider hero you control.

PIRATE COMMANDER - POWER OF UNIQUE HERO
If there is an Order Marker on ("The Widow"), all Dawn Raider figures you control gain one additional attack die when attacking adjacent figures.

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Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

"Monster Hunters" and "Widow" are both placeholders. Make of that what you will.

DS would know.

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Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

If one of you fine folk would port all that stuff over to a thread in the Heroscapers news & announcements sub, I'll be happy to discuss some things about what you're looking at here.

@Dad_Scaper , I summon thee, to fulfill your pledge.

[Dad_Scaper]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

And another Designer's Note with actual special powers!!!

So, the pirate faction is one that I spent a lot of time with. What you're looking at here is a couple of powers that are (of course) not final, but are pretty far along in the design stage. "The Widow" is a pirate commander, and the "Monster Hunters" are a pirate squad.

One of the coolest things about pirates, both real and fictional, is the colorful personalities of the captains. So, when setting out the basic structure of the faction, I wanted the relationship of captain and crew to take center stage. What you're looking at here is what I came up with: a sort of bonding power, that interacts with (among others) captains, who in turn might reflect effects back onto the pirates themselves. It's sort of like a Greenscales army, if only the dragons/lizardfolk synergy was a two way street.

I can't reveal entire designs, but I can talk about the faction a bit. I have a few minutes now and I'll have more later.

[foofoofun]

Will they get cool pirate hats?

[UtahScott]

@Dad_Scaper --
Monster Slayers -- a three or four-unit squad? There are five different figures in that Update #2 art page...Also, is there a second squad in the figures that have been revealed so far?

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So a whole pirate faction on the way (probably spread over multiple releases?) with pirate captains and perhaps additional pirate squads. I really like the idea. I'm curious if there will be pirate common squads as well. I like the bonding with other Dawn Raider heroes.

Is Dawn Raider the name of the faction/"general" or is it a class or something?

Is the pirate squad truly unique? How are y'all handling the Species there?

Do they have additional powers beyond what has been spoiled? (Yes/no question)

Are there any Captain characters in Classic Heroscape or VC already?

[Dad_Scaper]

Originally Posted by foofoofun

Will they get cool pirate hats?

Of course!

[Dad_Scaper]

Originally Posted by UtahScott

Monster Slayers -- a three or four-unit squad? There are five different figures in that Update #2 art page...

Currently 3. Some people already correctly discerned that we are looking at a multi-species squad here.

[Dad_Scaper]

Cap:

1. They are pirates, as you now see. The “Dawnraider Syndicate” is the name of the faction.

2. This squad is unique. There are other Syndicate squads, though.

3. Yes they have other powers.

4. Captain is a new thing.