Ixe's Custom Units

[Kinseth]

He could be fun on an mcdricks army.

[Ixe]

Thanks again for all the comments on Famine! That one drummed up quite the response.

Here's a new squad for Einar. What if he finally was able to summon units from Alpha Prime?

The figures used are the Asterian Cyphers with Charge Gloves. They are the three in the front of this picture.



NAME = Myrmech Blasters
GENERAL = Einar
PLANET = Alpha Prime
SPECIES = Soulborg
CLASS = Blasters
PERSONALITY = Disciplined
SIZE = Medium 5
COMMON SQUAD

LIFE = 1 (3 Figures)
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 5
ATTACK = 2
DEFENSE = 2
POINTS = 60

KINETIC BLASTERS
When each member of the Myrmech Blasters attacks, if it is on a lower elevation than it started this turn, it may attack one additional time.

TACTICAL DISENGAGEMENT 13
When a Myrmech Blaster recieves one or more wounds from a leaving engagement attack, immediately roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 13 or higher, ignore any wounds for that leaving engagement attack.


The Myrmech are yet another Soulborg faction on Alpha Prime and have finally been summoned by Einar. Even among the Soulborg the Myrmech are known for their discipline and coordination. The Myrmech Blasters are speedy ranged units renowned for their Kinetic Blasters. Just like how a roller coaster gains kinetic energy from going down hill, these Soulborg channel this kinetic energy from gravity to charge their secondary Kinetic Blaster and fire off an additional attack. The Myrmech Blasters are also skilled tacticians in their own right and can use their speed to help them get out of engagement unscathed.

I'm not all that sure myself of what to make of the Myrmech in battle. In a sense, I like the tension of putting your range on height only to pull them down and gain an additional attack, potentially losing your advantage. Choosing between those options seems all well and good on paper but this concerns me about the practice. If you can get set up with them, you could potentially follow a pretty average turn of 3 attacks of 3 against your opponent with 6 attacks of 3 if you can still maintain height. That sounds pretty devastating for 60 points, although it is worth noting that it is not easily repeatable. If they instead fall short of this ideal, their stats are pretty inferior for those same points. I think they can about work out but I can see some potential swinginess there.

Thematically I was a little on the fence with giving Einar sci-fi units but I think that this can serve as long as the Myrmech faction carries a distinctly Einar feel. I'm contemplating having the faction as a whole be pretty devout and be built around some sort of machine religion.

As always, comments are greatly appreciated!

[Ixe]

I think I used up all the comments on Famine and left nothing for the Myrmech Blasters. Let's see if I have any luck with the next one.

This is the Thundertusk Cavalry from D&D Miniatures - Blood War:



NAME = Rordin Ironbeard
GENERAL = Aquilla
PLANET = Toril
SPECIES = Dwarf
CLASS = Knight
PERSONALITY = Fearless
SIZE = Large 5 (Double Based)
UNIQUE HERO

LIFE = 6
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 4
POINTS = 170

GORING CHARGE SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1. Attack 2.
Instead of moving and attacking normally with Rordin Ironbeard, you may move Rordin up to 4 spaces. Rordin can attack up to 4 times with Goring Charge Special Attack at any point before, during, or after this move as long as Rordin is on a space where he could end his movement. Rordin cannot attack the same figure more than once on a single turn. When a small or medium figure rolls defense and is not destroyed by Goring Charge Special Attack, you may move that figure 1 space. The space must be same level or lower than its current location. A figure moved by Goring Charge Special Attack never takes leaving engagement attacks. A non-flying figure moved lower by Goring Charge Special Attack can receive any falling damage that may apply.


Rordin Ironbeard is a dwarf knight who fearlessly charges his boar into battle and uses his mount to batter aside the rabble that stands in his way. Once he closes with his target, he is ready to trade blows back and forth with his hefty axe.

Rordin Ironbeard is the next installment in my growing mounted knight cycle. His main strength is in pushing aside a screen and making room for your forces to follow. While he cannot avoid leaving engagement attacks during his special, the intent is to then push aside those figures to avoid the attacks. The movement he can inflict is overall quite limited, but that can still work to rearrange the battlefield and is possibly better than I'm giving him credit for. It is likely particularly potent when coupled with a bonding squad who can then pour through the gap Rordin made and overwhelm the opponent.

As always, comments are greatly appreciated!

[flameslayer93]

I am digging this dwarf. I can see him being about 160-170 though. The value of throwing enemies into a disadvantagous position for your dwarves to follow up with is huge. Melting people in lava is pretty neat too.

[TheAverageFan]

Myrmech Blasters: Bizarre yet unique design that somehow does feel right for Einar. 60 points for a potential 6 attacks a turn is dangerous, but their poor stats and limited uses seem to balance them out. Looking forward to see how the Myrmech faction fleshes out over time.

Rordin: Balanced Custom Dwarves are hard since they automatically get bonding with an A- squad. True to that, Rordin is alright on his own but giving Dwarf armies the potential of 8 attacks a turn is dangerous indeed, especially when you get to move the foes into better positions. That being said, he's not so bad when on his own.

~TAF, who is not (and never was) an expert

[Dysole]

So, why is the SA not split up like ramming and headlong charge or knockback and sweeping sword? Be careful on lava.

~Dysole, who likes the figure otherwise

[Ixe]

Thanks for the comments, everyone! Some good things to consider here.

Originally Posted by flameslayer93

I am digging this dwarf. I can see him being about 160-170 though. The value of throwing enemies into a disadvantagous position for your dwarves to follow up with is huge. Melting people in lava is pretty neat too.

The movement he can impart is fairly limited since he only moves them one space from their current location (as opposed to similar powers which move them relative to the active figure), but I nevertheless wouldn't be surprised if I'd need to ramp up his cost to that range. It's possible to avoid getting lava dunked by simply not placing figures adjacent to molten lava, but I suppose an initiative switch can be dangerous with him on the board.

Originally Posted by TheAverageFan

Myrmech Blasters: Bizarre yet unique design that somehow does feel right for Einar. 60 points for a potential 6 attacks a turn is dangerous, but their poor stats and limited uses seem to balance them out. Looking forward to see how the Myrmech faction fleshes out over time.

I'm curious about this faction as well. I suspect that they'll end up being a little map dependent where they can either be good on a map with the right kind of elevation changes or just not amount to much.

Originally Posted by TheAverageFan

Rordin: Balanced Custom Dwarves are hard since they automatically get bonding with an A- squad. True to that, Rordin is alright on his own but giving Dwarf armies the potential of 8 attacks a turn is dangerous indeed, especially when you get to move the foes into better positions. That being said, he's not so bad when on his own

That is a good point. Given his bonding squad, I definitely think I'll need to ramp up his cost.

Originally Posted by Dysole

So, why is the SA not split up like ramming and headlong charge or knockback and sweeping sword?

I looked at how both of those were done but they apply to normal attacks as well as special attacks. Given that I only wanted it for the special I figured I'd just roll it all into one power. My concern beyond that was space. Those are two long powers crammed into one.

Thanks again for the comments!

[Scytale]

Myrmech Blasters
Interesting unit. It feels weird that they can attack additional times by walking downhill, but that's not a big deal and I like the gameplay implications. Tactical Disengagement feels a bit extraneous here, though it's occasionally helpful and it fits the general feeling of them always wanting to be moving. As for Einar getting Soulborg, I have no issue with that. Some militaristic, disciplined soldiers? Yeah, he wouldn't care if they're made of metal.

Rordin Ironbeard
It's a single-power unit but that's a pretty complicated power. Reuse of existing concepts, but a lot of text. It makes sense though once you understand it. Overall a very solid unit: strong stats, a multi-attack special attack, and bonds with a good squad. Alone 170pts feels high, but giving all that potential to the Axegrinders is nothing to scoff at. My only "complaint" is that I don't like Knight as the class. It doesn't fit the general feel of dwarves in HS nor is it a D&D class (4th). It's not bad, but it feels out of place here.

[Ixe]

Thanks for commenting!

Originally Posted by Scytale

Myrmech Blasters
Interesting unit. It feels weird that they can attack additional times by walking downhill, but that's not a big deal and I like the gameplay implications. Tactical Disengagement feels a bit extraneous here, though it's occasionally helpful and it fits the general feeling of them always wanting to be moving.

Their power is weird and a bit of a distortion of physics but I'm willing to chalk it up to some exotic sci-fi sort of thing. I'm more interested in the game play interaction myself. Tactical disengagement is also game play motivated to allow them to keep moving up and down to charge their shots. It's still not terribly likely and taking a leaving engagement is always risky with a squad since you may lose your attack as well.

Originally Posted by Scytale

Rordin Ironbeard
... Overall a very solid unit: strong stats, a multi-attack special attack, and bonds with a good squad. Alone 170pts feels high, but giving all that potential to the Axegrinders is nothing to scoff at. My only "complaint" is that I don't like Knight as the class. It doesn't fit the general feel of dwarves in HS nor is it a D&D class (4th). It's not bad, but it feels out of place here.

I originally had him at 150 but working with the axegrinders compelled me to raise him up. My Iron Maidens of the Ozammon are nothing to scoff at, either, so I think a price increase isn't the worst thing in the world. As far as knight goes, I could always change the world but I'm not really going to limit my designs based on 4e. I did want to do a cycle of mounted knights (so far have the existing Sir Dupuis and my own Sabina Arabasti) and I wanted to do one for Aquilla. I chose her iconic dwarf to fill the capacity but it is worth considering making him a warrior and just using some mounted human that fits her color scheme down the road. I'll keep it this way for now since I suspect I will give Ullar an elf knight hero at the very least.

[Ixe]

Thanks again for all of the comments on my other units. Here is a new one this week, continuing my Sniper Hero cycle.

This is the 28mm: Guardsman Sniper from FRP Games (designed by Jaroslaw Smolka). The miniature is supplied unpainted.


NAME = Lt. Gill Harlow
GENERAL = Jandar
PLANET = Earth
SPECIES = Human
CLASS = Sniper
PERSONALITY = Precise
SIZE = Medium 5
UNIQUE HERO

LIFE = 4
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 9
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 2
POINTS = 95

PENETRATING SHOT
When Lt. Gill Harlow attacks a non-adjacent figure, if Lt. Gill Harlow did not move this turn, you may choose a figure adjacent to the defending figure. If the defending figure receives any wounds from Lt. Gill Harlow's attack, the chosen figure receives 1 wound.


Lt. Gill Harlow was a World War II sniper recruited by Jandar to fight in the battle for all time. He specializes in taking well placed shots that not only take out their intended target but can pass straight through and hit someone standing right next to them. The lieutenant took the whole "two birds, one stone" expression a bit literally.

Even without standing still to line up a shot, Gill still packs some solid fire power of 4 attack at range 9. His true merit comes when he can line up those shots, however, and take out two figures in one. As a stand alone hero, he may be useful in harrying a priority figure from afar or slipping a wound on a defensive opponent by going through an adjacent figure. He's otherwise vulnerable and a single attack is not always worth the order marker, giving his biggest use with my 72nd Spotters.

As always, comments are greatly appreciated!

[flameslayer93]

I like it! I did something similar in my line of mercenaries, making it a special attack instead, and I can tell you that it is quite a versatile power. Giving up movement is worth it.

[IshMEL]

One Two! One Two! And Through and Through! The Vorpal Blade Went Snicker-Snack!

A long-range Cleave is pretty great.