The Book of Venom (Symbiote)

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by Lord Pyre

These look like interesting games. How did he feel in general? Did venomozing your own figures feel better than your opponent? Or vice verse? Curious what the actual optimal strategy is here.

Yea either way. More info will come the more testing is done!

Bonding with enemy figures is a bigger deal, but it's a lot harder to pull off and leverage.

The army I was running in the last couple tests was designed with the intent being to bond with one or two enemy figures, but then have a couple good friendly choices to fall back on afterward - which almost panned out in game two, but Rogers got dropped fast after bonding with Venom, so nothing really came of having the friendly fallback.

I'm not sure I totally nailed an optimal strategy, since Venom's army lost pretty bad in the game where he performed well. I had fun, though.

[Ronin]

Still need one more vote here. I know it hasn't actually been that long, just worried about him falling off the first page, at the speed we're moving.

[Arkham]

yea

[Ronin]

Thanks Ark. This passes.

[Lord Pyre]

At first I was going to do 2 games, one where I give him to allies, and one try to infect enemies. Then I figured that one game wouldn't be enough of a feel, so I did two allied games, and I hammed up the boost as much as I could figure.

Even though Crime Master can't pick Venom as the symbiote, he can pick a savage figure who is the symbiote's host! Having a monster of a figure running amok is pretty strong. Doesn't seem broken though.

So after I run some other tests if you would like I can swing back this way and get a feel for Venom infecting opponent's characters, now that I know the other side. Up to you!

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Venom

Army Test
Summary: Mister Hyde with the boosts is extremely nasty. Obviously his defense still lacks, so that’s why I have Cap in the mix. +3 attack and +1 defense is huge. Unfortunately Cap died extremely early, but even still this ended up being a very close game.
Map: Custom
Units: Venom, Crime Master, Mister Hyde, Captain America, Beat Cops (900)

Vs.

Wrecking Crew + Ragdoll

Spoiler Alert!

Recap: Going all-in on attack boosters. Crime Master, Venom, and Cap are there solely to boost up Mr Hyde. Bulldozer rushes Cap and deals him 4 wounds! Hyde moves up but whiffs attack. Bulldozer kills Cap! Wrecker grabs height and shoots Hyde for 4 wounds! Hyde grabs height, dealing 2 wounds with 9 attack dice! Hyde attacks all adjacent, slaughtering Bulldozer, dealing 3 wounds to Ragdoll and Piledriver! Hyde then kills Piledriver. 4 wounds to Thunder ball! Hyde keeps going crazy, tearing them apart, until Ragdoll locks him down long enough for Wrecker to grab height and roll 7 skulls. Crime Master puts up a good fight, dealing 3 wounds to Wrecker and the cops dealing 1, but he’s still no match for Wrecker.

Damage dealt: All damage to opponents team aside from Wrecker!

Symbiosis: Immediately fused to Mr Hyde for maximum damage!

Asserting Control: N/A

Losing Control: N/A



Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Wrecker with 4 wounds.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Summary: I was banking on Weapon X’s big multi attacks, but the FF just shot him from range. His defense wasn’t big enough to make full use of the boost. That said, when Thing engaged him, dealing a few sounds, X completely destroyed Thing in a single turn. Beast Man and the Man Bats with Crime Master’s boost is one of my current favorite combos, and they picked apart the FF real easily.
Map: Custom
Units: Venom, Crime Master, Beast Man, Man Bat Assassins, Weapon X (995)
Vs.

Fantastic Four (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Recap: Venom fused to Weapon X right from the start. X rushes forward, getting slammed by the other team, but with all those wounds X murders Thing in one turn with 4 attacks. Torch finally kills him with Flame On. The Man-Bats grab Reed and drop him on low ground, allowing Beast Man to destroy him with ease. Then the Man Bats clean up Torce easily, and Beast Man finishes Sue.

Damage dealt: Kills Thing completely.

Symbiosis: …..

Asserting Control: N/A

Losing Control: N/A


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Beast Man with 3 wounds, 2 Man Bats left, and Crime Master unwounded.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Summary:
Map: Custom
Units: ..............

Spoiler Alert!

R1:...........
[/B]

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): .....

___________________________________________________________

[B]THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY:
Obviously I went completely into the friendly boost in these games. First game was real balanced as you can see, the second was rough, but the Man Bats are great at tearing apart the FF, so without them it might have swung the other way more. Paying 175 for an attack and a move point seems pretty hefty, but Crime Master essentially does the same at 160, so I feel like we’re in the right ballpark, considering Venom doesn’t have a figure and stats to fall back on once his host goes down.


GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT:
The boost is cool. The Crime Master, Cap, and Venom combo is huge. For 1005 points you could have those 3, Beast Man and Man Bats, which might be something. Beast Man is really strong, but you lose out on the multi attacks from Mr Hyde or Weapon X. Boost units are always fun, and this guy is a bit of a weird one.

[Ronin]

Thanks LP! Quick turn around on those.

I've never turned down extra games, but don't feel obligated.

Definitely feeling like the "boost a friendly" strategy is looking okay, balance-wise. He's real easy to stack with other boosts and doesn't come with a lot of conditions, but his price tag (and the fact that he does nothing else for you once you bond him to a friendly) seem to keep it in check pretty well.

[Lord Pyre]

Yeah multi attackers is nasty with it (Like Hyde who seriously cleaned house), but putting all your eggs in a single basket is a bit of a risky proposition.

Throwing him on a few bigger heavy hitters might be interesting. Mine were mid-level since I wanted to cash in with Crime Master also.

(Kids stayed sleeping last night, haha)

[tcglkn]

Would love to see a Punisher Venom. May have to try that out myself.

[Lord Pyre]

Originally Posted by tcglkn

Would love to see a Punisher Venom. May have to try that out myself.

Yep, Punisher, Bane, John Stewart, and Cap might be absolutely killer.

[tcglkn]

This design looks like a ton of fun, but I'm trying to focus on initials to fill up playtesting more before the contest goes live or I would snap this up.

[Ronin]

Cool to hear! No rush, though. Only been in testing a day.

I'm more concerned with exploring the "try to bond with enemies" stuff in further testing - I think that's where there might be more need for tweaks. The "bond with a figure you control" strategy feels like a pretty known quantity.

[Lord Pyre]

I'm wondering if it'd be more interesting to have your figures fight for control also, so it's not just a static boost all the time. Then there's a chance for him to hop off and on someone else throughout the whole match.

Just a thought.