Shiftrex Customs (06/04/22... New Wulfing Hunters)

[Shiftrex]

Yeah

We've tried 3 attack for the last year and they just don't make the impact. 2 man squads need to have some pretty meaningful attack because they have inherently low damage output (and we've had staunch opposition to hunter bonding due to thematic issues). So instead of trying to make the points lower and just turning into... a really cheap army that does nothing except run out of spaces to use in the startzone. With 2 activations we made them better at actually killing something that they hunt.

Just some limitations of the 2 man squad model. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[caps]

Huh, when I look at this design I don't see something you build an army out of. I see something you splash 2x-4x cards of into an existing army to fill a role (specifically, hero hunting). A lower price point (say 35-40 points) and 3 attack would fill that role nicely without being a huge issue for army composition IMO. There's actually some comparisons to be drawn to the Sneaks--except the Sneaks have to attack in order to get their bonus movement, so you have to play them really aggressively, whereas you can play the Wulfing Hunters much more carefully.

Bumping attack up to 4 in order to make them work better as bread and butter for an army seems like the wrong design choice to me based on that interpretation.

[Shiftrex]

They aren't meant to be a bread and butter army, that's not what I'm accomplishing here. They are some splash figures that are fun to play with and can passively develop themselves to hunt a specific hero. I just have no data to support they are worth putting an order marker on at 3 attack with over 100 games of testing data in my records. In fact, that is one of the reasons they failed SoV last time is that they just failed to make any impact or perform as "good hunters."

When all is said and done they need to actually be able to kill what they are hunting or they are just a less efficient 3a/3d figure because of action economy concerns. My main pursuits for design are always rewards mechanics and fun gameplay.

[caps]

Originally Posted by Shiftrex

They aren't meant to be a bread and butter army, that's not what I'm accomplishing here. They are some splash figures that are fun to play with and can passively develop themselves to hunt a specific hero. I just have no data to support they are worth putting an order marker on at 3 attack with over 100 games of testing data in my records. In fact, that is one of the reasons they failed SoV last time is that they just failed to make any impact or perform as "good hunters."

When all is said and done they need to actually be able to kill what they are hunting or they are just a less efficient 3a/3d figure because of action economy concerns. My main pursuits for design are always rewards mechanics and fun gameplay.

I see what you mean. I guess I can't comment further without seeing your playtest results, except I wonder sometimes if this is why some of the classic unit are "bad:" making them "good" would involve too much power creep or theme inconsistency. But I'm making a mountain out of a mole-hill here. if the Death-Chasers can have attack 4, these sculpts can have it too.

[Shiftrex]

I think your comments are really valid, I'm thankful for them and I agree with where you are coming from.

My big struggle has been sorting through the powers that communicate theme here. I've had a version with an isolation power on here before where they get increased attack or autoskulls based on cornering what they are hunting. The card just fills up too quick!

Deathchasers were actually one of two things for the original inspiration of this unit back when I found the figures. The other was the Durgeth ravagers, my favorite VC design of all time.

[caps]

Ooh yes, the Ravagers also have 4 attack, don't they? That's another instance where gameplay perhaps trumped the mini to some extent. You're clearly in safe territory there.

[Alexandros]

I'm not sure if I said as much over DM on Discord, but I really enjoy the Wulfing Hunters and hope they get SOV approval. No notes.