Lazy Orang & Family's Classic Customs - The Stiff Corpse

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin_King

Do the Chu-Ko come painted?

Nope - unpainted metal, and you have to provide your own bases, but the paint-job I used was fairly simple.

[Pumpkin_King]

Ah, gotcha! I like it, still.

[Lazy Orang]

The Tome of Mhadra


Custom Set Fifteen
A Prophecy Fulfilled

(Card by @mac122 )
Homeworld: Marr
The figure used for this unit is a Dungeons and Dragons figure from the Deathknell set.
Its model number and name are #02 Couatl

Disclaimer: This is my Mum's (Astral Herring's) design, not my own.

Card Text

Spoiler Alert!

Mhadra
Aquilla
Serpent
Unique Hero
Sage
Enlightened
Large 7
7 Life
Move 7
Range 3
Attack 3
Defence 3

Chakra Activation

Before taking a turn with Mhadra, you may place any Chakra Marker of your choice on this card. If there is already a Chakra Marker on this card, remove it. Mhadra may only use the power connected with the Marker currently on her card:

• Crown Chakra (Violet): Mhadra may not attack or make leaving engagement attacks, you may add 7 to your initiative roll and she may not be effected by attacks or special powers unless she is the only figure you control.
• Third Eye Chakra (Indigo): Before taking a turn with Mhadra, you may choose any two unrevealed Order Markers belonging to opponents and immediately view them.
• Throat Chakra (Blue): Before taking a turn with Mhadra, you may move two unrevealed Order Markers on any Army Cards you control to any other Army Cards you
• Heart Chakra (Green): Mhadra may not attack or make leaving engagement attacks and all figures within 3 spaces of her roll one fewer attack die.control.
• Solar Plexus Chakra (Yellow): Add 2 to Mhadra’s attack.
• Sacral Chakra (Orange): Mhadra may attack at any point before, during or after moving as long as she is on a space on which she could end her movement and never takes leaving engagement attacks.
• Base Chakra (Red): Add 3 to Mhadra’s defence.

Flying

When counting spaces for Mhadra’s movement, ignore elevations. Mhadra may fly over water without stopping, pass over figures without becoming engaged, and fly over obstacles such as ruins. If Mhadra is engaged when she starts to fly, she will take any leaving engagement attacks.

150 Points

Unit Bio

Spoiler Alert!

The sun had risen six times since they laid her to rest. For endless nights a writhing anguish of snake sisters had death-danced around her, keeping her soul safe. Time passed, and strong coils slackened, slumping deeper and deeper into the cradle of long grass, jewel scales dulling to blend with the dankness.of the earth: a warrior on her final journey. On this, the seventh dawn of their loss, the sisters’ keening grew in intensity, unleashing vibrations of wretched sound which scattered dew from leaves and heralded the sun as it began to rise, streaking pale fingers through the night sky to banish the last of the stars.
Suddenly, the sisters fell silent, and they raised their heads, flickering tongues tasting not the imprint of their beloved, but the emptiness and familiarity of forest particles. Slowly they moved closer together, bewildered by the change, knotting one with the other in a precious moment of peace until a snap of twigs, a shimmering in their peripheral soul-vision, a gentle breath wisping around their coils triggered waves of understanding, and they turned in one dreadful sway to behold their Goddess: new cells born from old; an ancient prophecy fulfilled.

Rulings, Clarifications and Errata

Spoiler Alert!

N/A

Combinations and Synergies

Spoiler Alert!

Synergy Benefits Received

Official Classic:

N/A

Valhalla Customs:

N/A

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

N/A

Synergy Benefits Offered

Official Classic:

N/A

Valhalla Customs:

N/A

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:
N/A

Immunities, Benefits and Weaknesses

Spoiler Alert!

Disclaimer: Given the sheer number of powers that do not affect Large figures that go uncompiled, it is highly likely this list is not exhaustive and will not be consistently updated. The Customs I Use section is especially likely to contain gaps - if your custom is in my collection, would qualify but is not listed, I can only offer my apologies.

Immunities

Official Classic:

As a Large figure, Mhadra cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers. These special powers include: Air Elemental's Swirling Vortex, Arkmer's Engagement Strike 13, Black Wyrmling's Fledgling Acid Breath, Braxas's Poisonous Acid Breath, Deathstalkers' Maul, Deepwyrm Drow's Poison Weapons, Drow Chainfighter's Chain Grab, Fyorlag Spiders' Entangling Web, Gladiatrons' Cyberclaw, Grimnak's Chomp, James Murphy's Whip 12, Jotun's Throw 14, Me-Burq-Sa's Paralysing Stare 16, Nakita Agents' Engagement Strike, Pelloth's Lolth's Wrath Special Attack, Rechets of Bogdan's Lethal Sting, Retiarus's Net Trip 14, Shurrak's Knockback 14, Wolves of Babru's Pounce Special Attack, Wyvern's Talon Grab, Zombies of Morindan's Zombies Rise Again.

Valhalla Customs:

As a Large figure, Mhadra cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers. These special powers include: Arashara Goshiri's Shifting Sands, Augamo's Ramming, Hoplitron's Shield Push.

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

As a Large figure, Mhadra cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers. These special powers include: Myji Coven's No More Than Crows, An Bláth Dúnmharú's Undergrowth Tendrils and Helpless Victim
As a Spirit, Mhadra is not affected by Brishon's Sea Fret special power. Brishon is a design by my Mum.


Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

As a Large figure, Mhadra cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers. Current Special Powers that Interact Differently with Large figures.


Benefits

Official Classic:

As a Large figure, Mhadra interacts differently with certain special powers. These powers include: Fortress Door's Reinforced Defence, Shiori's Shuriken Special Attack, Torin's Battleaxe.

Valhalla Customs:


As a Large figure, Mhadra interacts differently with certain special powers. These powers include: Achillean Gladiatrix's Skewer, Nicholas Essenwein's Bloodborn Rising, Siiv's Quick Stab Special Attack,

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

As a Large figure, Mhadra interacts differently with certain special powers. Current Special Powers that Interact Differently with Large figures.

Weaknesses

Official Classic:

The Axegrinders of the Burning Forge roll one additional attack and defence die against Mhadra thanks to their Fearless Advantage special power.

Valhalla Customs:

Major J15 adds one automatic skull to whatever is rolled when attacking Mhadra due to Breaching Scythe.
Mhadra may be replaced with a Zombie Hulk when destroyed by an Undead Savage due to Zombie Rises Again.

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

Atom (Al Pratt) rolls one additional attack and defence die against a Mhadra thanks to his Fearless Advantage special power.

[Lazy Orang]

Custom Set 16:
Foolish Filler

“No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.”
― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays


I wanted to make a little April Fools' Day update, throwing in a couple of the sillier concepts I've recently done designs for, both of whom happen to be nice, cheap filler units.

The first is Steve, the illithid. A character from a personal story I've been writing based on Heroscape, he started out as an intended one-off joke; I needed Isamu to work with an illithid for a scene and, based on C3V's Cxurgy'gyath, illithid names are bizarre and unpronounceable, so I decided that Isamu wasn't even going to try to say his comrade's real name and was just going to call him 'Steve'. From there, Steve became a recurring back-up character for Isamu, enough so that I wanted to see him in the game. I picked up an ancient metal, unpainted Games Workshop mind flayer figure from 1984 on eBay to represent him (the only illithid mini I could find at a decent price). He was missing a hand, but I decided that, since this guy was my own character, I could just write that in. Ux'urg'yar is his real name - I wanted it in a subtitle under his main name (Steve), akin to C3G Secret Identity rules.

Bio:

Spoiler Alert!

Bio - Almost nothing is known about Ux’urg’yar’s past. Even Utgar, who summoned him, knows only what he saw in his vision - the illithid rogue cornered outside the Smouldering Corpse Bar in Sigil, about to be cut down by Mercykiller enforcers. How he had arrived in Sigil or what he had done to provoke their violent response, none can say.
In Valhalla, Ux’urg’yar stood out among the other mind flayers in Utgar’s horde, lacking some of their mental power and skill in combat, and a great deal of their hardiness, causing Utgar’s commanders to consider him worthless, a waste of time and resources, and make little use of him. This suited the illithid down to the ground, though - each battle he was deemed not worth deploying to was a battle he survived, and what he lacked in power and toughness, he made up for in deviousness and subtlety.
Only one member of Utgar’s forces saw the potential in the illithid - Isamu, the red ninja. Needing someone to go with him on an off the books mission for another Valkyrie General - someone who could manipulate minds, someone with no loyalty to Utgar or his cause, and someone who wouldn’t be missed - Isamu employed the mind flayer to aid him, and the illithid, knowing opportunity when he saw it, agreed. Being unable (or unwilling) to pronounce Ux’urg’yar’s name, Isamu called the illithid ‘Steve’, thinking it would be funny, and the appellation stuck. From then on, ‘Steve’ followed Isamu throughout many other jobs, mostly moonlighting for forces other than Utgar himself, during one of which he lost his right hand. Duplicitous, and with a knack for playing with other’s minds and giving his ninja ‘friend’ a chance to strike, Steve may not be a great warrior, but he is certainly someone to be wary of, and Isamu and Steve - partners in crime - are sellswords well worth the price.

My other figure for this update is Katto, an animated pair of scissors. My decision to design that isn't as random as it may seem - when designing the Jubokko and Koji-Danuki last year, I got one of my first tastes of the bizarre panoply of creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore. One such creature is a Tsukumogami - an inanimate object that has reached its 100th anniversary and attained animation and sentience. Remembering a bizarre Dreamblade figure that was a pair of scissors standing on its points, I decided I had no other choice but to make this bloody goofy thing a reality.
I decided to aim it as a 10 point filler unit for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we could use some more of those to make Isamu a little less of an auto-draft (though SoV's recent inductee, Bol, does help with that a lot already), but also because, come on - it's a pair of scissors! How can I justify that being anything other than a filler unit! His (I made the scissors a he - there's a little masculine face there ) main conceit is that he implacably but slowly moves forwards, and, once he finally reaches his prey, can try to slash to inflict some damage. While most filler tends to be left as a late-game reserve, Katto does not want to be that - he only has an attack of 2 on his turn, and without Unnoticed keeping him safe he'll be broken quickly. He's pretty good for his points, though - not needing OMs to work makes him reasonably efficient and good value, and Unnoticed can make him a pain to hit once he gets into melee. However, with 1 Life and 2 Defence, it'll likely only take one hit to bring him down, and if you can spare a shot before he gets into melee, you can likely completely negate him. Still, that's a shot you're not hitting someone else with, so he's not entirely without value then. Is he a little stronger than his points would indicate? Maybe. Is he as strong as Isamu? No, not even close. Is he worth taking instead of Isamu? He's a good alternative who provides something completely different. I'm happy with that for a 10 point hero.
Oh, and I'm particularly proud of the bio for this one - took quite a bit of inspiration from Derelict Places, a site my Mum often browses, for that one.

Bio:

Spoiler Alert!

Bio - Somewhere, in the Sabishi Woods of central Grymwold, there lies a single-floor log cabin, alone and isolated in the gloom. Several of its windows are smashed, and ivy covers most of it, blocking every entrance, growing inside, then out again, sprawling among the wood of the structure, making the logs used in its construction part of the order of the forest once more.
In the dining room, the table lies set, though the table-cloth has grown green around the edges, stained by lichen, and across the entire table lies a thick coating of dust. The tapered purple candle lies in its holder, snuffed two-thirds down, in the centre of the table. One place is set, one plate remains out, the dinner only half eaten, with years of mold growing upon the spoiled food. The knife and fork still lie upon the plate, their handles rusting. Whatever happened to whoever it was who lived here, whatever caused them to leave, it was clearly unexpected.
The kitchen remains in quite the state. The pans used to cook the meal remain unwashed - one left in the sink, presumably once submerged in water long since evaporated, the other still upon the stove. If someone saw them, they’d think that the cultures of mold and bacteria have probably been given enough time to enter a renaissance, let alone develop language skills.The wood of the cupboards is rotting away, crumbling - if you were to try to open one, it would fall apart in your hands.
The cabin only has one other room - the bed-and-living room, south of the dining room, towards the front door. The bookcase is sparse, though not for lack of books - half of them seem to have been thrown haphazardly to the ground just in front of it, where they have settled for days uncounted, sitting as though they have always been there. Cobwebs run between the books that remain on the shelves, and down from the legs of the table, and the settee, and across the posts of the unmade bed. A single book, titled ‘The Creatures of Éadóchas’, lies open upon the settee, face down, its cover caked in dust - and upon the table, sits a pair of scissors.
Suddenly, a gust of wind rushes through the windows, blowing the ragged curtains and disturbing motes of dust which blow in the air, swirling around the scissors on the table. The pair of scissors begins to twitch, to move - to think. It stands upon its points, and with its first thought it gives itself a name: Katto.
Who was it who once lived here? Who once owned these scissors? What was it they were doing the day they left, and why did the leave so unexpectedly, leaving everything as it was, never to return? Katto does not know. Katto does not remember. Katto does not care. Only one thought, one impulse, one clear realisation, reverberates through the seconds-old mind of this once inanimate object: Alive!

~Lazy Orang, making acknowledgement to @Soundwarp SG-1 for Katto's General and Homeworld.

[Tornado]

Fun stuff.

[Lazy Orang]

The Tome of Steve

Custom Set Sixteen
Foolish Filler

(Card by @mac122 )
Homeworld: Sigil
The figure used for this unit is a modified (read: slightly broken) Games Workshop Dungeons and Dragons figure from 1984.
Its model number and name are C22 Mind Flayer

Card Text

Spoiler Alert!

Steve
Ux’urg’yar
Utgar
Mind Flayer
Unique Hero
Rogue
Devious
Medium 4
1 Life
Move 5
Range 1
Attack 2
Defence 3

Partners in Crime

After revealing an Order Marker on the Army Card of any Ninja or Rogue who follows Utgar and before taking a turn with that figure, you may take an immediate turn with Steve.

Illithid Mind Tricks

After moving and instead of attacking with Steve, you may choose any opponent’s figure within 4 clear sight spaces of Steve without the Mental Shield special power and either subtract 2 from that figure’s defence for the remainder of your turn or roll the D20, adding 10 to the roll if that figure is common. If you roll a 17+, take temporary control of that figure and immediately take a turn with the chosen figure. At the end of the turn, control of the chosen figure returns to the player who controlled the figure before the Mental Manipulations.

Hide in Darkness

If Steve is attacked with a normal attack and at least one skull is rolled, roll the D20. If Steve is on a dungeon space, add 3 to your die roll. If Steve is on a shadow space, add 6 to your die roll. If you roll a 1-15, roll defence dice normally. If you roll a 16+, ignore all damage that would be inflicted by the attack.

15 Points

Unit Bio

Spoiler Alert!

Bio - Almost nothing is known about Ux’urg’yar’s past. Even Utgar, who summoned him, knows only what he saw in his vision - the illithid rogue cornered outside the Smouldering Corpse Bar in Sigil, about to be cut down by Mercykiller enforcers. How he had arrived in Sigil or what he had done to provoke their violent response, none can say.
In Valhalla, Ux’urg’yar stood out among the other mind flayers in Utgar’s horde, lacking some of their mental power and skill in combat, and a great deal of their hardiness, causing Utgar’s commanders to consider him worthless, a waste of time and resources, and make little use of him. This suited the illithid down to the ground, though - each battle he was deemed not worth deploying to was a battle he survived, and what he lacked in power and toughness, he made up for in deviousness and subtlety.
Only one member of Utgar’s forces saw the potential in the illithid - Isamu, the red ninja. Needing someone to go with him on an off the books mission for another Valkyrie General - someone who could manipulate minds, someone with no loyalty to Utgar or his cause, and someone who wouldn’t be missed - Isamu employed the mind flayer to aid him, and the illithid, knowing opportunity when he saw it, agreed. Being unable (or unwilling) to pronounce Ux’urg’yar’s name, Isamu called the illithid ‘Steve’, thinking it would be funny, and the appellation stuck. From then on, ‘Steve’ followed Isamu throughout many other jobs, mostly moonlighting for forces other than Utgar himself, during one of which he lost his right hand. Duplicitous, and with a knack for playing with other’s minds and giving his ninja ‘friend’ a chance to strike, Steve may not be a great warrior, but he is certainly someone to be wary of, and Isamu and Steve - partners in crime - are sellswords well worth the price.

Rulings, Clarifications and Errata

Spoiler Alert!

N/A

Combinations and Synergies

Spoiler Alert!

Synergy Benefits Received

Official Classic:

N/A

Valhalla Customs:


As a Rogue, Steve may be activated by Nottingham Brigand's Rogue Hero Bonding.

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

As a Rogue, Steve may be activated by Captain Cold's Cold Gun Special Attack.
As a Rogue, Steve may have a Micro-Bomb Marker placed on his card with Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad special power.


Synergy Benefits Offered

Official Classic:

Steve may take a turn before any Utgar Ninja you control through his Partners in Crime special power. Current Utgar Ninja include: Isamu

Valhalla Customs:

Steve may take a turn before any Utgar Rogue you control through his Partners in Crime special power. Current Utgar Rogues include: Cormin the Dark, Elaria the Pale



Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:
N/A

Immunities, Benefits and Weaknesses

Spoiler Alert!

Immunities

Official Classic:

N/A

Valhalla Customs:

N/A


Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

N/A


Benefits

Official Classic:

N/A

Valhalla Customs:

N/A

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

N/A

Weaknesses

Official Classic:

N/A

Valhalla Customs:

N/A


Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

Steve may not affect figures with the Mental Shield special power with his Illithid Mind Tricks special power. Figures with the Mental Shield special power include: Dr. Gudruna Vogt

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

Steve may not affect figures with the Mental Shield special power with his Illithid Mind Tricks special power. Figures with the Mental Shield special power.

[Lazy Orang]

The Tome of Katto


Custom Set Sixteen

Foolish Filler

(Card by @mac122 )

Homeworld: Grymwold

The figure used for this unit is a Dreamblade figure from the The Base Set.
Its model number and name are #046/ Spellbound Scissors.

Card Text

Spoiler Alert!

Katto
Aritima
Tsukumogami
Unique Hero
Yokai
Sharp
Small 2
1 Life
Move 4
Range 1
Attack 2
Defence 2

Speed Snip

After revealing an Order Marker on any other Army Card you control and after your player turn, you may immediately move Katto up to 2 spaces. If Katto ends this move adjacent to an opponent’s figure, you may choose an adjacent opponent’s figure and roll one unblockable attack die against that figure.

Unnoticed

Opponents’ figures which are engaged with any other figure without this special power may not target Katto for an attack.

Disengage

Katto is never attacked when leaving an engagement.

10 Points

Unit Bio

Spoiler Alert!

Bio - Somewhere, in the Sabishi Woods of central Grymwold, there lies a single-floor log cabin, alone and isolated in the gloom. Several of its windows are smashed, and ivy covers most of it, blocking every entrance, growing inside, then out again, sprawling among the wood of the structure, making the logs used in its construction part of the order of the forest once more.
In the dining room, the table lies set, though the table-cloth has grown green around the edges, stained by lichen, and across the entire table lies a thick coating of dust. The tapered purple candle lies in its holder, snuffed two-thirds down, in the centre of the table. One place is set, one plate remains out, the dinner only half eaten, with years of mold growing upon the spoiled food. The knife and fork still lie upon the plate, their handles rusting. Whatever happened to whoever it was who lived here, whatever caused them to leave, it was clearly unexpected.
The kitchen remains in quite the state. The pans used to cook the meal remain unwashed - one left in the sink, presumably once submerged in water long since evaporated, the other still upon the stove. If someone saw them, they’d think that the cultures of mold and bacteria have probably been given enough time to enter a renaissance, let alone develop language skills.The wood of the cupboards is rotting away, crumbling - if you were to try to open one, it would fall apart in your hands.
The cabin only has one other room - the bed-and-living room, south of the dining room, towards the front door. The bookcase is sparse, though not for lack of books - half of them seem to have been thrown haphazardly to the ground just in front of it, where they have settled for days uncounted, sitting as though they have always been there. Cobwebs run between the books that remain on the shelves, and down from the legs of the table, and the settee, and across the posts of the unmade bed. A single book, titled ‘The Creatures of Éadóchas’, lies open upon the settee, face down, its cover caked in dust - and upon the table, sits a pair of scissors.
Suddenly, a gust of wind rushes through the windows, blowing the ragged curtains and disturbing motes of dust which blow in the air, swirling around the scissors on the table. The pair of scissors begins to twitch, to move - to think. It stands upon its points, and with its first thought it gives itself a name: Katto.
Who was it who once lived here? Who once owned these scissors? What was it they were doing the day they left, and why did they leave so unexpectedly, leaving everything as it was, never to return? Katto does not know. Katto does not remember. Katto does not care. Only one thought, one impulse, one clear realisation, reverberates through the seconds-old mind of this once inanimate object: Alive!

Rulings, Clarifications and Errata

Spoiler Alert!

N/A

Combinations and Synergies

Spoiler Alert!

Synergy Benefits Received

Official Classic:

N/A


Valhalla Customs:

N/A


Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

As a Small figure, Katto may be moved with Lightspeed's Small Carry special power.

Synergy Benefits Offered

Official Classic:

N/A

Valhalla Customs:

N/A

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

N/A

Immunities, Benefits and Weaknesses

Spoiler Alert!

Immunities

Official Classic:

As a small figure, Katto may not be attacked by Warden 816's Eviceraxe Special Attack.


Valhalla Customs:

N/A

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

N/A


Benefits

Official Classic:

N/A

Valhalla Customs:

N/A

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

N/A

Weaknesses

Official Classic:

N/A

Valhalla Customs:

N/A

Competitive Unit Congress:

N/A

My Classic Customs:

N/A

Other People’s Customs I Use:

N/A

Marvel and C3G:

N/A

[Dad_Scaper]

I love it. So weird and whimsical and fun. Thank you for sharing, LO!

[Heroscaper 101]

Nice customs that you have on this thread.

[Lazy Orang]

Custom Set Seventeen
Suicidium Scourge

“In summer the empire of insects spreads.”
― Adam Zagajewski

As some of you may know, @Dr.Goomonkey 's latest contest has finished - as always, I entered, but for once, I actually won this time! I know, right? I'm as shocked as you are. I'd like to make a call-out to @All Your Pie 's Vorelanj and Dread Locust Dragoon coming in second place and @Yodaking 's Poxi Vespimic and Insect Drone in third.
This contest was a unique challenge; rather than designing one unit, I had to design two, a Unique Hero and a Common Hero - twice the work! Not only that, but I felt I'd be best off trying to encourage some sort of synergy between them...
Conceptually, I cast my mind back to conversations I'd had with my brother years ago, when he'd described the quite frankly disturbing life cycle of at least one species of insect, which, if I recall correctly, paralysed - or something along those lines - another insect, laid its larvae within it, and whose larvae would, upon developing sufficiently, eat their way out of their still living host, taking their first meal in the process. Yeah, I know, it's as horrible as it sounds... nature can be pretty nasty at times. I didn't want to do something exactly like that, but I definitely wanted to do something in a similar vein - to convey a species of insect with a bizarre, unorthodox and horrifying life cycle, and to do so in a way which would be tactically interesting and fun to play.
I then noticed the spears of the drones and thought; what if those spears were actually oversized stingers? A bit of a stretch, I know, but it could work, and if they were, then using them could be fatal, as it is for a bee. By cribbing slightly from the biology of bees and that other species I recall my brother mentioning but whose name I can't remember (seriously, if anyone has any idea what I was describing, tell me, I'd love to know), I could create a unique insect species with an interesting thematic and strategic duality - they die when they kill, and then can use the corpses of those they kill to nurture their larvae to a (very quick for gameplay purposes) adulthood.
This allowed me to get a nice synergy between the drone and the queen without anything too standard like bonding - the drones die in droves, and the queen's main power is to plant larvae - which develop swiftly into more drones - into corpses. Strategic, symbiotic, disturbing - checks all the boxes I was looking for.
Suicide Swarm is there because, both thematically and to be effective, I knew the drone needed a swarming power, but I didn't want to go for Wyrmling-esque straight-up bonding or something too much like the Marro Drones, and so I decided to double down on the whole 'suicide' aspect - they only get to bond if they're dead at the end of the turn, making for a nice natural limiting factor and consistent theme. Note that it doesn't just work if they die to their own SA - it can also provide compensation if one of them dies to something like Engagement Strike. Larval Cannibalism on Atharm is there because I feared that, for someone so key to this group, she could be assassinated too easily, but I didn't want to make her too tough and any stat-boost felt unthematic anyway. With this power, I was able to convey another disturbing natural behaviour found in the insectoid/arachnid kingdom (I swear whenever a spider in my house has children she eats 80% of them...), allow for further strategic decision making (healing Atharm costs you larvae, which means lost drones in the future) and adds yet more nastiness to the whole concept so that the whole unnerving cycle of death and life oozes from the designs' theme.
Couple of final notes - the Volucris Suicidium were named with the intention of it being their scientific name, and their name translates from the Latin to 'winged suicide creature'. I'm also rather proud of the bios for these two.

Without further ado - Atharm and the Volucris Suicidium!

Bio

Spoiler Alert!

Excerpt from the vox-text Flora and Fauna of the Eastern Frontier, composed by Zaeus of the Primadon Applied Sciences Bureau:

As we ventured deep into the Cik-Cyakk Swamp, we encountered the most remarkable species of insect. Known as volucris suicidiae, or ‘winged suicide insects’, they grow remarkably large, and rather quickly too - properly cultivated larvae can develop into fully grown examples of the species in mere minutes. This is a necessity, as their strategy of reproduction is rather brutal. You see, each volucris suicidium is born with a large, spear-like structure, which is so cleverly attached, and is carried in such a way, that unless you look very closely it easily passes as the real deal. This ‘spear’ is used to pierce their prey, injecting enough toxins to fell most creatures, but in doing so, the spear breaks away from the body of the volucris suicidium, leaving a gaping wound which results in the death of the insect. Such weapons, though admittedly on smaller scales, are far from unheard of among the insectoid kingdom, but are typically used as weapons of last resort, to defend the hive, and I’ve never seen one so unbelievably well disguised. The volucris suicidium is, to my knowledge, unique in that it actively seeks out organisms to slay in this way, ensuring its own demise in the process.
The average volucris suicidium - the drone - is exceptionally short-lived, lacking any biological directive to eat once it has passed the larval stage of development, though the queen organisms defy this standard. The role of the drone is purely to kill other organisms, and to die in the process. In doing so, they allow the queen to deposit the next generation of larvae within the host corpse, which will provide them with warmth, protection and sustenance for the exceptionally short time it takes for those that survive to develop into fully grown drones. Then, the hunt will begin once more with the freshly developed drone. It is an evolutionarily ingenious, fascinating, yet fundamentally depressing and pointless existence.

Bio

Spoiler Alert!

Excerpt from the vox-text Flora and Fauna of the Eastern Frontier, composed by Zaeus of the Primadon Applied Sciences Bureau. Please be aware, therefore, that the Primadon Science Laboratory 32 hour clock has been used, and that all times / measurements recorded are scientifically calculated for absolute precision, in accordance with PrimaGov requirements:

We made contact with the Gorillinator scouts at 25:43 hours and 6 seconds - they had been exploring the Cik-Cyakk Swamp for months, reading the terrain, keeping out of the way and attempting to predict the ease of Marro advance through this territory. The news they brought was dire - the Marro had finally begun to advance deep into the marsh, already annexing 36.8 percent of the territory for the Hive Mind. The scouts had done their best to avoid direct combat and simply observe, but one of the three had been lost. The two that remained, however, told the most amazing tale.
When the Marro first entered the territory, they encountered fierce resistance from the volucris suicidiae, mostly due to one queen organism who ruled over a hive at the border of the swamp. Reports indicate that this queen showed immense cunning and intelligence, seeming to lead in combat and formulate strategies in a way that seemed unexpectedly advanced. She would be near the thick of combat, sending out her drones in force to dispatch small groups of Marro invaders, then, once the Marro had been picked apart, she would fly up and fertilise their corpses with larvae. In larger battles, she would fertilise Marro bodies in the midst of combat, allowing felled drones to be replaced in the midst of battle. By using the Marro themselves to replenish her forces, she was able to keep her hive at maximum battle-readiness for longer than could be reasonably expected. She even displayed as yet undocumented behaviours that, while disquieting, proved quite effective; when the Marro had her wounded in battle, she often ate her own larvae which she’d only just deposited, rejuvenating herself through their sustenance and allowing her to survive at the cost of her larvae. From a long-term perspective, making such sacrifices to keep the queen alive is an effective survival strategy, however distasteful it may be to civilised minds. The scouts gave her a name - Atharm, an old Primadon name meaning ‘she who is without sentiment’.
Despite her best efforts, though, she could not win this war - her drones were not the only ones who could reproduce with great efficiency, and the Marro always had reserves. She held the Marro at bay for 9 days, 27 hours and 43 minutes before falling, losing an average of 0.236 miles of ground a day - a rate slower than some of our outer colonies have achieved. Eventually, though, she was cornered by a vanguard of Marro Stingers, with none of her larvae nearby to sustain her. Our scouts report, however, that they didn’t see her die. Instead, just before the Stingers opened fire, there was a blinding flash of light, and, once it cleared, she was gone. I would wonder if it were some other evolutionary defence mechanism we haven’t identified yet, were it not for reports of similar occurrences among soldiers on our borders. Something strange is happening, mark my words.
After she disappeared, the remainder of her hive was exterminated within 12 minutes and 46 seconds, and no other queens have proven able to hold out for more than 2 days against the Marro advance. At this rate, we estimate that the the volucris suicidiae will be rendered extinct within 2 months and 17 days, and without this lethal species causing the Cik-Cyakk Swamp to be virtually uninhabitable, our eastern borders will be compromised. Strategic reorganisation advised.

Cards by @mac122

~Lazy Orang, making acknowledgement to @Soundwarp SG-1 for these two units' General.

[Yodaking]

Have you ever seen Alien or Aliens? Your brother bug story made me think of them.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

Have you ever seen Alien or Aliens? Your brother bug story made me think of them.

Given the fact that I'm planning on reviving that faction with @Hellfire for C3G, yeah. I think that may have been what kickstarted that conversation - I think he may have been talking about that bug's life-cycle as a possible inspiration for the Alien or as an example of how their life-cycle is disturbingly borderline realistic.