Bambina Public Playtesting

[kevindola]

-Figure Photo

Spoiler Alert!

The figure used for this unit is a [MANUFACTURER] figure from the [SET] set. Its model name and number are [NAME - ##].

Version 2 (general change, point increase, slight change to Graviton)

-text version of card

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = BAMBINA
GENERAL = VYDAR
SPECIES = LIZARDFOLK
RARITY = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = MERCENARY
PERSONALITY = RECKLESS
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM/6

LIFE = 5
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 5
ATTACK = 2
DEFENSE = 5
POINTS = 130

COMBAT CHALLENGE
If an opponent’s figure that is adjacent to Bambina attacks with a normal or special attack, it must attack a figure with Combat Challenge.

GRAVITON HAMMER SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1. Attack 4.
When a small or medium adjacent figure rolls defense dice and is not destroyed by Graviton Hammer Special Attack, you may place that figure on any empty land space adjacent to Bambina. A figure moved by Graviton Hammer Special Attack never takes any leaving engagement attacks. A non-flying figure moved lower can receive any falling damage that may apply.

-Combinations and Synergies-


Synergy Benefits Received
- Greenscale Warriors: Loyalty to the Lizard King
As a Unique Lizardfolk Hero, Bambina can be chosen as the Lizard King for the Greenscale Warriors.

- Greenscale Warriors: Lizard King Bonding
If Bambina is chosen as the Lizard King for the Greenscale Warriors, the Greenscale Warriors may take a turn with Bambina before taking a turn themselves.


Synergy Benefits Offered
- Greenscale Warriors: Loyalty to the Lizard King
If Bambina is chosen as the Lizard King for the Greenscale Warriors, Greenscale Warriors within 2 clear sight spaces of Maekor receive an additional attack and defense die.


Rulings and Clarifications:

R&C:

Q: If Bambina attacks Rygarn with Graviton Hammer special attack, what happens first, Temporal Jump or the Graviton Hammer movement?
A: Temporal Jump. This may result in "pulling" Rygarn back to Bambina.

Q: If Bambina attacks Tul-Bak-Ra with Graviton Hammer Special Attack, what happens first, Teleport Reinforcements or Graviton Hammer movement?
A: Teleport Reinforcements.

[Vydar_XLIII]

Bambina's Combat Challenge is subtly different than Tandros' version. Am I correct in assuming that Tandros' Combat Challenge essentially supersedes Bambina's?

For example: if I have both Tandros and Bambina adjacent to an opponents' Knight of Blackgaard; that knight must attack Tandros based on the wording of his power.

Originally Posted by Tandros Kreel

COMBAT CHALLENGE
If an opponent’s figure that is adjacent to Tandros Kreel attacks with a normal or special attack, it must attack Tandros Kreel.

Correct?

[superfrog]

Correct.

[kevindola]

500

Quasatch Playground (Kelda, Valda)

Army: Armocs x2, Greenscales x2, Zogross, Bambina
Army: Romans x4, Forgehammer, MBS, NGS

Round 1
Romans slowly plod moving up Mog and MBS x2 (one potshot at an Armoc fails)
Cold Blooded ones take Valda and move up Bambina and Zogross together

Round 2
Zog takes 3 wounds from a Roman + Paralyzing Stare MBS, also a Viper is killed. Meanwhile 3 Romans drop. The positioning allows the two Lizard Heros to be on height together getting a nice combo of combat challenge + Opportunity Strike threat.

Round 3
The lizard heroes slowly grind forward absorbing ranged strikes from Forge and MBS. They cut through another 4 Romans due to a really hot Opportunity Strike.

Round 4
Another strong showing for the cold blooded ones as they chop through another squad or Romans and take out MBS, Bambina takes a few wounds and most of the Vipers are gone

Matchup: 7 Romans, Forge (3 life), NGS vs. 2 Vipers, 4 Greenies, Zogross (2 life), Bambina (4 life)

Round 5
Bambina take a huge hit to get dropped this round allowing Mogrimm to climb out of the water, but with only a single hit point left, but he does work swinging his hammer and using his Strike to knock out the Greenscales around. He then makes towards Kelda with 1 life left. OM3 on Armocs allows Zogross to get a kill and have the Armocs block off Kelda setting up a showdown.

Matchup: 3 Romans, NGS, Forge (1 life) vs. 3 Greenscale, 2 Armocs, Zog (2 life)

Round 6
Wow believe it or not Forgehammer swings the initiative (6-8 loss changes to 9-8 win)
-Forge kills his engaged GS
-Zog kills a Roman, Armoc kills a Roman (1 left), Armoc fails to kill Forge
-Roman/Forge kill a Snake each
-Greenscale engage Mog, but are blocked
-NGS moves
-Zogross kills the last Roman

Matchup: NGS, Forge (1 life) vs. Zogross (1 life), 2 GS

Round 7
Forgehammer wins initiative and disengages from the Greenscale (miss) and claims Kelda.

I don't play it out much past this. NGS and Zogross are attacking each other, but the round ends with a lizard forfeit.

2 Greenscales and 1 life Zogross left vs. Full health NGS and Mogrimm




Powers:
Graviton Hammer
-4v3 killed Roman
-4v3 killed Roman
-4v2 blocked by Roman (but Roman dropped into water and opening a path for other Scales)
-4v3 blocked by MBS (too fat to move)
-4v3 kills MBS
-4v2 2 wounds on Forgehammer (drops him into water)
-4v2 2 wound on Forgehammer


Combat Challenge: Force attacks on Bambina twice.

[SchismaticSounds]

edit: This card is outdated

Prototype Card

Spoiler Alert!

[Blue Trails]

450 points
Map: HIGHWAYS AND DIEWAYS
Glyphs: Dagmar, Ulaniva
Army A: Amberhive Protectors x2, Byrikon the Hiveless (2021 Playtesting Tournament Version), Etiana, Honor Guard of the Blasted Lands x3
Army B: Greenscale Warriors x2, Bambina, Raelin (RotV), Nakita Agents, Marcu Esenwein

Which units survived?
2 Greenscale Warriors
Bambina (1 wound)
Raelin (3 wounds)
Marcu Eisenwein

General Battle Report/Flow of game (be as detailed or general as you like)

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1:
Army B wins initiative, moves the Nakitas to cover the heights near its start zone, and positions Raelin's aura to protect the Agents and the mass of unactivated Lizardfolk left behind. Army A takes an aggressive approach with Byrikon and the Protectors that yields poor results; an attempted assault during Order Marker 3 is foiled by the losses of three Protectors to Engagement Strike and one shot from Byrikon to Smoke Powder. The Honor Guard then use Defensive Repositioning to begin a gradual crawl out of their start zone.
Round 2:
Army B wins initiative. A Nakita volley fails to harm the insect force, allowing Byrikon and two bees to charge the Nakitas and destroy two by Sacrificial Sting, which significantly hinders the following Nakita turn. Byrikon takes a couple of shots at Raelin, inflicting one wound, and the remaining three bees take both Glyphs and block the road leading out of the opposing start zone, dodging an attack from Bambina as the Lizardfolk begin to move.
Round 3:
Army A wins initiative and uses Byrikon's Rapid Reaction to unload two attacks of four dice at Raelin, but both are blocked by Smoke Powder. The insect mercenary continues to run and gun via Etiana's Support Fire power as his bee blocker falls, dealing two more wounds to Raelin before fatally blanking against Bambina's Graviton Hammer. Etiana herself takes nearby height at the end of the round, while the lizardfolk shoot a bee off of Dagmar and take the Glyph for themselves.
Round 4:
Army A wins initiative. The Honor Guard move to form a small pod near Etiana. Bambina destroys one guard with her normal attack as the lizardfolk approach Army A's pod and destroys another with Graviton Hammer in the ensuing clash. Etiana destroys a Greenscale but the Honor Guard are less successful, failing all attacks this round and losing another member to a Greenscale.
Round 5:
Army B wins initiative. Bambina replaces a destroyed Honor Guard on height and attacks Etiana with Graviton Hammer, dealing two wounds and moving Etiana into water, then destroys her with two more swings. Meanwhile, the Greenscale-Honor Guard melee results in two casualties for each side; some attacks are diverted to Bambina due to Combat Challenge, but the mercenary is unscathed by the effort.
Round 6:
Army A wins initiative. The remaining guards destroy one more Greenscale and deal a single wound to Bambina before the lizardfolk destroy them. Bambina fires on the Army A's sole survivor, a bee holding Ulaniva, but whiffs.
Round 7:
Army B wins initiative and Bambina destroys the Protector with Graviton Hammer.

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?

Byrikon:
Hive-Mind Integration: marker placed on Etiana. Used once; did not affect initiative outcome.
Rapid Reaction: Used once; both turns' attacks were nullified by Smoke Powder.
Normal Attack: used six times; missed a Nakita, dealt three wounds to Raelin, and lost three shots to Smoke Powder.

Etiana:
Support Fire: used once to take a turn with Byrikon and deal two wounds to Raelin.
Acrobatic: used on one defense roll; blocked no additional wounds.
Normal Attack: used twice; destroyed one Greenscale but failed to harm another.

Bambina:
Combat Challenge: slowed the loss of Greenscales during the endgame by denying Arc Lance-boosted attacks to the Honor Guard.
Graviton Hammer Special Attack: used nine times; destroyed Etiana over three attacks, destroyed Byrikon in one attack, and destroyed two Honor Guards; threw Etiana off of height once and moved an Honor Guard into water twice, leading to its destruction by the Greenscales.
Normal Attack: used four times; destroyed two Protectors and one Honor Guard but missed a third bee.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?

Byrikon:
I arranged this test because I didn't have the opportunity to try the change to Byrikon's initiative boost during the playtesting tournament, but I didn't have the chance to really use the power during this game due to my aggressive use the unit. Hive-Mind Integration was only used once, and neither of the power's iterations would have changed that round's initiative order. Meanwhile, Byrikon missed the majority of his attacks, including two Ulaniva-boosted shots at Raelin enabled by Rapid Reaction, but ultimately dealt three wounds to her. Overall, the addition of a ranged attack with which to harass cheerleaders was a nice complement to my strategy of using the bees to trade up with the expensive Nakitas and make things easier for the Honor Guard.

Etiana:
Etiana saw little use in this game; only one of her attacks landed, and Byrikon was destroyed quickly enough that switching to the Honor Guard was the only way I could keep up with the offensive output of the Greenscales. Blanking three consecutive defense rolls on the fifth round certainly didn't help, as I had assumed that Acrobatic would have been able to protect Etiana fromm at least one attack. I will note, though, that the ability to use Etiana as a noncombatant Mercenary Order Marker hub seemed thematically odd for a power called "Support Fire."

On another thematic topic, Jandar doesn't seem like the best general for Etiana. The unit's defining traits are pseudo-bonding, extreme Range, and Acrobatic; Support Fire's synergies are spread across multiple generals, of which Jandar does not possess the most beneficiaries, while the units with the longest Range values or special powers that block all hits of a particular attack variety with a single shield are most commonly followers of Ullar or Vydar. Given Ullar and Valkrill are the only generals without a hold in the Mercenaries & Explorers superfaction, switching Etiana's allegiance to Ullar would be a nice way to emphasize these themes while distinguishing Etiana from her fellow mercenaries in an immediately visible way.

Bambina:
Bambina was easily the star of this game due to consistently amazing rolls, destroying anything attacked for five consecutive turns. Graviton Hammer Special Attack was a fun power whose movement-forcing capabilities were useful in stealing beneficial positions and granting height advantage to subsequent Greenscale attacks, but the explicit and specific restriction on molten lava spaces feels artificial, albeit necessary. Moreover, a bonding piece with Combat Challenge is very powerful against melee because it mitigates the risk to a player's Order Markers once its corresponding bonding squad loses a significant number of figures.

Thematically, Bambina reminds me of a scene in the Hasbro web cartoon "Jandar's Army" in which a blue-scaled lizard-man is seen fighting with the aid of sci-fi heavy weaponry. If this reference is intentional, I appreciate the design team's attention to obscure details.

[kevindola]

Played this game recently

As far as the Lizard Lady, it showed that Greenscales/Bambi are clearly outclassed by Knights, however Graviton Hammer (and opponent figure movement in general) is a really fun ability.

Also Combat Challenge can be quite a challenge for your opponent when paired with bonding. Especially if the map dictates an ideal position (and of course you are playing against all melee)

[kevindola]

New card updated. Point increase, general change, slight change to Graviton wording