The Book of Talon (Uncommon)

[fret_gurglo]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

It was easily their best power in my tests.

Same

[tcglkn]

Time got away from me today and I never got to run my test. But it seems like things are still kinda up in the air here anyways and I doubt my tests would finalize these designs so I’m just gonna hold off till after the Con.

[tcglkn]

Been in a combo of a funk/busy since the Con. But I promised you a test here SW and I finally got a map set up today. Everything in the SP good to go for testing here? I thought we discussed testing them at 120 so I wasn't sure.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Originally Posted by tcglkn

Been in a combo of a funk/busy since the Con. But I promised you a test here SW and I finally got a map set up today. Everything in the SP good to go for testing here? I thought we discussed testing them at 120 so I wasn't sure.

We talked about it a bit, but we changed up Assassation Tactics to the stacking version instead.

The SP is up to date here and on the Court.

[tcglkn]

Cool, hopefully I'll get you at least one test tonight.

[tcglkn]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Talons (with a splash of Court)

Version tested:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = THE COURT OF OWLS
SECRET IDENTITY = N/A

SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNQUIE SQUAD
CLASS = MASTERMINDS
PERSONALITY = TORMENTING

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

SQUAD = 6

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 2
DEFENSE = 2

POINTS = 200

ELECTRUM INVESTMENT
Start the game with 6 gold Electrum markers, you may choose any number of Assassin Unique Heroes in your army and distribute your Electrum markers among the chosen Heroes' Army Cards. At the start of each round, you may either:
• Choose any number of Heroes you control that each have one or more Electrum markers on their card and are not on a snow or ice space, and remove one Electrum marker from each of their cards. If you do, remove 1 wound marker from each of the chosen Heroes' Army Cards.
• Choose a destroyed Hero in your army and remove a number of Electrum markers from that Hero's card equal to its Life Value. If you do, remove all wound markers from that Hero's Army Card, then place that Hero on a space in your Start Zone.

BEHIND GRANITE AND LIME
An Owl cannot be targeted by opponents' non-adjacent figures for any attacks or special powers that require clear sight as long as that Owl is in your Start Zone.

ASSASSIN COMMAND
After revealing an Order Marker and instead of taking a turn with the Court of Owls, you may choose up to two Assassin Unique Heroes you control with the same name. Move both chosen Heroes, then attack with one of the chosen Heroes.
___________________________________________________________________
NAME = TALON
SECRET IDENTITY = N/A

SPECIES = UNDEAD
UNIQUENESS = UNCOMMON HERO
CLASS = ASSASSIN
PERSONALITY = RELENTLESS

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 3

MOVE = 6
RANGE = 3
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 2

POINTS = 140

NIGHT OF OWLS
Before placing Order Markers for the round, if this Talon is on the battlefield and is not engaged, you may place this Talon on this card. At the end of the round, if this Talon is on this card and not destroyed, you may place them on any empty space on the battlefield, so long as they are:
*not within clear sight of any opponents’ figures; and/or
*within 4 clear sight spaces of a Mastermind you control.

ASSASSINATION TACTICS
When attacking with this Talon, subtract 1 from the target figure’s defense for each Assassin adjacent to that figure. A maximum of 3 dice may be subtracted with this special power.

UNSTOPPABLE RESILIENCE
If this Talon would receive one or more wounds, ignore one of those wounds.

Army Test
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Court of Owls (200), Talon x2 (280), X-23 (220) (700) VS TMNT

Spoiler Alert!

Damage Dealt: Only a couple of wounds, they were supporting X-23 here.

Night of Owls: Didn't use

Assassination Tactics: Their bread and butter, really nasty when they can tie down figures for X-23.

Unstoppable: Always good

Decided to be aggressive and put all the Court markers on X-23.

Never got the full 3 Assassins engaged with the same Turtle, but it was easy to get -2 defense from Talons and -2 from X-23. They were able to mow down 2 turtles before the first Talon even fell. That really hurt the Turtle's activations and it felt like it snowballed quickly from there.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): X-23 ressurected once and at full health, one Talon with 1 wound and all 6 Court of Owls.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Court of Owls (200), Talon x2 (280), X-23 (220) (700) VS TMNT

Spoiler Alert!

Damage Dealt: .

Night of Owls: Used at the start of the game.

Assassination Tactics: Their bread and butter, really nasty when they can tie down figures already engaged with X-23.

Unstoppable: Always good

Replayed this test cause I completely misplayed Tactics. I still put all the Court markers on X-23.

This game I also was never able to fully surround a turtle but -2 defense was still pretty good against the turtles. They had a hard time landing hits on X-23 and it was usually only 1-2 wounds that she quickly healed. I used 1 of her Court markers early to heal but never needed to ressurect her.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): X-23 with 2 wounds, one Talon with 2 wound and all 6 Court of Owls.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Court of Owls (200), Talon x3 (420), X-23 (220) (840) VS Star-Lord, Drax (II), Rocket Raccoon (II) and Stan Lee (845)

Spoiler Alert!

Damage Dealt: They were able to pick off Rocket and Stan Lee, but Drax was nigh unstoppable

Night of Owls: Used at the start of the game. Never decided to later.

Assassination Tactics: Solid, counteracts the Star-Lord buff really well.

Unstoppable: Always good

2 Talons got 3 markers each this game.

The Talon got early positioning and were able to take down Rocket fairly early, but Drax was punching them out quickly. Even when they came back he was just obliterating the Talons. They did have some less than stellar attack rolls against him, but the one really good attack got stopped by Stan Lee. X-23 was able to finish off Star-Lord before Drax knocked her out in one hit while she only had 1 wound. The Court got cleaned up quickly by Drax.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Drax with 2 life left

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: The Assassinations tactics is a brutal power (even when played correctly). I really like them. I basically only used Night of the Owl at the start of the game and when they were ressurected to get them back into battle. They were fun and worked well with the Court. I like them as is.

[tcglkn]

One test done. Was a bit rough for the TMNT.

[Karat]

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Talon

Talon Version Tested

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = TALON
SECRET IDENTITY = N/A

SPECIES = UNDEAD
UNIQUENESS = UNCOMMON HERO
CLASS = ASSASSIN
PERSONALITY = RELENTLESS

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 3

MOVE = 6
RANGE = 3
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 2

POINTS = 140

NIGHT OF OWLS
Before placing Order Markers for the round, if this Talon is on the battlefield and is not engaged, you may place this Talon on this card. At the end of the round, if this Talon is on this card and not destroyed, you may place them on any empty space on the battlefield, so long as they are:
*not within clear sight of any opponents’ figures; and/or
*within 4 clear sight spaces of a Mastermind you control.

ASSASSINATION TACTICS
When attacking with this Talon, subtract 1 from the target figure’s defense for each Assassin adjacent to that figure. A maximum of 3 dice may be subtracted with this special power.

UNSTOPPABLE RESILIENCE
If this Talon would receive one or more wounds, ignore one of those wounds.

Court of Owls Version Tested

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = THE COURT OF OWLS
SECRET IDENTITY = N/A

SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNQUIE SQUAD
CLASS = MASTERMINDS
PERSONALITY = TORMENTING

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

SQUAD = 6

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 2
DEFENSE = 2

POINTS = 200

ELECTRUM INVESTMENT
Start the game with 6 gold Electrum markers, you may choose any number of Assassin Unique Heroes in your army and distribute your Electrum markers among the chosen Heroes' Army Cards. At the start of each round, you may either:
• Choose any number of Heroes you control that each have one or more Electrum markers on their card and are not on a snow or ice space, and remove one Electrum marker from each of their cards. If you do, remove 1 wound marker from each of the chosen Heroes' Army Cards.
• Choose a destroyed Hero in your army and remove a number of Electrum markers from that Hero's card equal to its Life Value. If you do, remove all wound markers from that Hero's Army Card, then place that Hero on a space in your Start Zone.

BEHIND GRANITE AND LIME
An Owl cannot be targeted by opponents' non-adjacent figures for any attacks or special powers that require clear sight as long as that Owl is in your Start Zone.

ASSASSIN COMMAND
After revealing an Order Marker and instead of taking a turn with the Court of Owls, you may choose up to two Assassin Unique Heroes you control with the same name. Move both chosen Heroes, then attack with one of the chosen Heroes.

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes
- What should be the unit's point value? Seems about right. Luck skewed it a bit but 140 & 200 for the Court seem to be holding up.
- Give a brief overview. This was a slaughter. The Court and Talon got some early wounds in on Cage but then Fist went on a tear and wrecked the other side while healing Cage just enough to keep him in the fray. notable the dice favored the Fighters in this matchup.

Map: Sewer Labyrinth
Units: 2xTalon, Court of Owls, Ra's I, X-23 (900) vs Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, Daredevil II (900)

Spoiler Alert!

Court places 3 Electrum Markers on each Talon and the Talons vanish.
R1
Fighters have Initiative.
Both sides maneuver. The Talons reappear near Ra's.
R2
Court has Initiative.
Ra's sends one of the Talon's up inlficting a wound on Luke and the other follows up doing the same. Spidey engages Ra's and Cage gives a Talon 2 wounds. Ra's takes an LEA from Spidey to setup his Death's Head having a Talon give Cage 2 wounds and take 1 (UR). Fist Leaps up taking down a Talon and using his Chi to heal Cage who disengages the other Talong to engage and give Ra's a wound. Ra's gives Cage a wound. Daredevil moves in striking a Talon for a wound.
R3
The dead Talon returns. Fighters have Initiative.
Fist Leaps up striking down a Talon and focusing his Chi on Cage who strikes Ra's for 2 wounds. Ra's moves up engaging Spidey and using the LAzarus Pit to heal. Fist leaps up punching Ra's for 4 wounds and Cage moves in finishing him off. The Court sends up X-23 who gives Spidey 2 wounds. Fist Leaps up punching X-23 for 3 wounds. X-23 heals.
R4
The Talon returns. Fighters have initative.
Fist moves up to even height finishing off X-23 and Cage takes her spot. OM on X-23. Fist engaged a Talon and Cage moved up. OM on X-23. Fist takes height finishing off a Talon. The Court send the last Talon to even Height with Cage and engaged to Fist.
R5
Court has initative.
The Court moves in giving Cage a wound. fist Leaps next to Cage and becomes a Force of One taking out 2 members of the Court and focusing his Chi to heal Cage and Cage gives Talon a wound. Talon misses Cage. Fist Leaps up becoming a force of One taking out a member of the Court and Cage gives Talon another wound. The Court close in giving Cage another wound. Fist Leaps up Taking out 2 more members of the Court and Cage finishes off Talon with a 5 skull roll!
R6
Fighters have initiative.
Fist moves in finishing off the Court.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Fighters won with Luke Cage bearing 4/5 wounds, Spider-Man bearing 2/5 wounds, and Daredevil and Iron fist unwounded.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes
- What should be the unit's point value? Luck swung the other way here, but 140 & 200 still seem good.
- Give a brief overview. This game almost swung entirely the other direction. Red Skull and the Talons laid on the Hurt Early and the Ninjas just did not have enough staying power to make a comeback.

Map: Sewer Labyrinth
Units: 2xTalon, Court, Red Skull I, Cheshire I (900) vs Karai, Noob, Wraith, Cyrax, 3xHand (900)

Spoiler Alert!

Court places 3 Electrum Markers on each Talon and the Talons vanish.
R1
Court has initiative.
Both sides move up and RSkull moves OM 3 from Hand to Karai.
R2
Both Tallons appear behind Noob. Ninja's have initiative.
Noob pulls RSkull through a Blackhole and hits him for 2 wounds. RSkulls hits Noob for a wound. Noob summons the Wraith who gives RSkull another wound and the Hand give a Talon 2 wounds. RSkull gives Noob another wound and a Talon finishes off Noob. Cyrax moves up dropping a bomb under RSkull and the Hand move in taking down a Talon. The Court has the remaining Talon disengage grabbing the Cube and use it to move back to height and giving Cyrax 3 wounds (whiff).
R3
The fallen Talon returns. Ninja's have initative.
Cyraax moves up dropping another Cyber Bomb and giving RSkull a wound and the Hand close in giving a Talon a wound causing it to drop the Cube under Karai. The Court has a Talon take out a Hand. Cyrax finishes off RSkull and the Hand close ranks giving a Talon a wound. A Cyber Bomb goes off with no effect and the Court sends the Talons up annihilating Cyrax and taking out the bomb threat. Karai engages a Talon and the Hand close in wounding it. The Court send in the Talons giving Karai 3 wounds as she Acrobatically moves forward.
R4
Ninjas have Initiative.
Karai takes out a Talon with a Focused Strike and the Hand take dow the other Talon. The Court Sends Cheshire up to engage and take out a Hand. Karai Focused a strike on Cheshire giving her a wound and the Hand move in giving her another. The Court has Cheshire finish off Karai. The Hand close in giving Cheshire a wound. The Court has Cheshire take out a Hand.
R5
The Court uses the last of their investing powers to bring a Talon back. Ninjas have initiative.
The Hand move in. The Court sends Talon up. The Hand closes in losing 1 to Ruthless Seduction. The Court has Talon attack a Hand but the blow misses. The Hand move in. The Court has Talon Take out that Pesky Hand.
R6
Ninjas have initiative.
The Hand move in giving Talon a wound. The Court has Cheshire take out a Hand. The Hand move in giving Talon a wound and losing 1 of their number to Ruthless Seduction. The Court has Talon take out a Hand. The Last Hand moves up trying to take a tactically defensive position. The Court sends Talon in finishing the last Hand off.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? The Court of Owls won with Cheshire bearing 3/4 wounds, 1 Talon remaining with 2/3 wounds and 6 Court of Owls remaining.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes
- What should be the unit's point value? 140 seems fine.
- Give a brief overview. This was a case of being outclassed and bad dice for the Court and Talons. Several whiffs both on attack and defense. Just didn't enough good options to handle the opposing team.

Map: Sewer Labyrinth
Units: 3xTalon, Court, Typhoid, Ra's II (1,000) vs Ms. Marvel, Drax II, Red Tornado (1,000)

Spoiler Alert!

Court places 3 Electrum Markers on each Talon and the Talons vanish.
R1
Court has Initiative.
Both sides move up in turns 1 & 2. Ra's has Typhoid use her Pyrokinesis to give Drax a wound. Ms. Marvel flies in giving Typhoid a wound.
R2
Avengers have initiative.
Red Tornado flies up moving Marvel and Drax up and Typhoid from hieght finishing her off (whiff). Ra's moves up. Ms. marvel sends Drax in giving ra's 3 wounds and she gives him another. Ra's whiffs on Drax. Ms. Marvel has Drax finish off Ra's over 3 attacks. OM on Ra's (chose not to move OM's to Court).
R3
Talons Appear. Avengers have initiative.
Tornado shifts his team around. Talons converge on Tornado. Tornado shifts2 Talons and Marvel around and Marvel gives a Talon 2 wounds. Talons Converge on Tornado giving him a wound. Tornado shuffles the Talons and Marvel and Drax around and gives a Talon 2 wounds and Marvel finishes off a Talon. Two Talons move in.
R4
The court invest in Resurrecting a Talon. Court has initiative.
Talons converge on Drax. Drax proceeds to Destroy the Resurrected Talon. The Talons give Drax 2 wounds with their Assassination Tactics . Tornado flies in and takes out 2 members of the Court and Marvel finishes off the wounded Talon. The Court surrounds Tornado. tornado takes out 2 more Members of the Court and Marvel gives the last Talon 2 wounds.
R5
The court Invests in the last Talon Healing. Avengers have initative.
Tornado finishes off the last 2 members of the Court and Marvel blasts the last Talon away.

Who won and how many wounds did they have? Avengers won with Drax bearing 3/6 wounds ,Red Tornado bearing 1/6 wounds, Ms. Marvel wounded.

Karat's THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Overall I think the Court and Talon are fine. I do think higher 200's+ is kind of their achilles heel but that feels appropriate. I notably had horrible luck with them but from playing against them they seem to be a decent threat. I think I like both them and the Court as they are...just want better dice luck

Soundwarp's THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: I'm very happy with the Talons and Court, they felt spot on thematically and I thought they played well outside of having terrible luck a few times. The Talon's package of powers really plays up the 'unrelenting assassin' angle the way I wanted and I think they make good 'back-up Assassins' for an army, which is what I wanted them to be. They'll be even better once some of the Unique Talons get made and their 'name synergy' with the Court gets stronger. The Court's resurrection power didn't feel crazy broken or whatnot, which was a big concern for me, and with the life value restriction (and Assassin not really being a class that lends itself to super high point cost dudes) I'm not too worried about it restricting future design space.



Cummaltive Dice Stats over the 3 Games:
Karat

Attack rolls: 174 out of 338 (51.48%)
Defense rolls: 58 out of 185 (31.35%)
Total dice rolled: 523
Time used: 1h, 38m, 53s


Soundwarp

Attack rolls: 123 out of 253 (48.62%)
Defense rolls: 74 out of 237 (31.22%)
Total dice rolled: 490
Time used: 1h, 32m, 24s

[Yodaking]

I see Karat used the units for an extra 6 minutes, a little pep talk at the beginning or a scolding at the end?

[Karat]

I hung out for a bit before he joined.

[Yodaking]

I figured as much, I see you guys on Discord talking about being logged in a ready so I was just kidding around. Thought it was funny you posted the time info at all.

Just in general, I thought the skull & shield percent rolled was much more useful when you posted it after just one game. Gave me some good insight into how I should view the results of that game. Giving the info on all 3 games total I don't find as useful. One of you might have been hot in the first game, cold in the 2nd, and even on the 3rd. While the other player was even in all 3 games. Over all total shows even dice for both of you, but that's not how each individual game played out.

[Karat]

I just copy and pasted. Didn't even think about it.