The Book of Kang (II)

[IAmBatman]

If the design is playing really well (I like the idea that he starts out really tough but if you weather it you his effectiveness diminishes - very thematic), my preference would be keeping him as is and just doing the cost bump.

Looks fun!

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by TrollBrute

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: The current write-up is very good. I don’t think it’s broken at all, but he is very strong. The ability to save you OMs moving figures up, and keep those figures protected until the right moment to unleash them is extremely helpful. You can build some armies with nasty tricks up their sleeves, especially bombing the startzone. However, once Kang has emptied his bag of tricks, he loses a lot of his effectiveness, and if you can outlast him, you can beat him. So many wins, but few huge wins makes me think we’re close. A point bump might be enough (I would suggest 400), but you could also try lowering his Defense by one, making Timestream Reinforcements a once-per-round power, or weakening Damocles Orbital Assault by putting a range limit on it or moving it to the end of the round.

Good to hear that he's close. 400 is a little higher than I was angling for, but it's not unfitting for the first guy to conquer the Earth.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: Man, do I love Timestream Reinforcements. So many cool options for Army building, from the strong, to the gimmicky, to the weird. Super fun.

Awesome!

I never got a chance to destroy another Kang to save Kang (II), and in general I feel it’s not a very useful trick, but it’s a nice bit of theme, and I could see it in the right situation.

Yeah, that was intended to be a niche theme bit. Kang I isn't quite cheap enough to just be throwing away willy-nilly.

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

If the design is playing really well (I like the idea that he starts out really tough but if you weather it you his effectiveness diminishes - very thematic), my preference would be keeping him as is and just doing the cost bump.

Looks fun!

Agreed! I like the idea that he's not so tough when he's used up all his resources. It's very in line with the way he goes down in Kang Dynasty, which was the main inspiration for this design. Despite leading a successful military conquest of the world, when it comes down to a 1 on 1, Captain America beats the crap out of him.

I'm a little torn between leaving things at a cost bump, or maybe bumping him a little less and putting a range on Damocles, just to give opponents at least a turn or two to get out of the start zone before Kang starts bombing it.

[TrollBrute]

I only used Damocles once or twice on the first turn, so it's not like he was blowing them away before they could move. On the other hand, the opponent always spread out in the SZ, and not having to do that might give them more of a chance to get their armies going.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by TrollBrute

I only used Damocles once or twice on the first turn, so it's not like he was blowing them away before they could move. On the other hand, the opponent always spread out in the SZ, and not having to do that might give them more of a chance to get their armies going.

Yeah, I think I'd like it if he didn't apply pressure immediately, since he's already pretty tough on start zones. Even a pretty generous range like 8 spaces would give the other army a hair more freedom in the way they set up. Would you still peg him at 400 with the range restriction?

[TrollBrute]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Yeah, I think I'd like it if he didn't apply pressure immediately, since he's already pretty tough on start zones. Even a pretty generous range like 8 spaces would give the other army a hair more freedom in the way they set up. Would you still peg him at 400 with the range restriction?

I'm definitely on board with with a range restriction. 8-10 spaces seems reasonable. I don't know that it would have had a huge impact on my games. Particularly the SZ-bombing ones, which is the strategy that worries me the most. You could try him at 380-390 there though. Another possibility is reducing the placement range on Timestream Reinforcements; placing the figures within 2-3 spaces rather than 4.

[IAmBatman]

I'm on board with a space restriction for the Damocles.

[Ronin]

My inclination would be to try him at 390, with an 8-space restriction on Damocles, then.

DAMOCLES ORBITAL ASSAULT
Before moving Kang, you may reveal an "X" Order Marker on this card and choose a space within 8 spaces of Kang. Roll the 20-sided die for each figure on the chosen space and for all spaces within 1 space of the chosen space, one at a time. If you roll 14 or higher, the figure receives 1 wound.

[IAmBatman]

You have my support. Sounds more than reasonable.

[TrollBrute]

Works for me. We can tweak more during testing if needed.

[Ronin]

Alright then. SP updated, so I'm gonna go ahead and propose we move Kang into public playtesting.

@IAmBatman - yea
@TrollBrute - yea
@johnny139 - yea
@Karat - abstain
@Viegon - yea
@SirGalahad

[IAmBatman]

yea

[TrollBrute]

Yea

I'd push for plenty of testing with startzone bombing strategies, as that one worries me. I also found Blob and Angstrom Levy very good options. I didn't get a chance with the turn-prevention figures like Spider-Girl and Diablo, but that might be worth a shot. War Machine is another one I wanted to fit in.