IshMEL's Customs: Updated 7/11/2018

[Arch-vile]

That looks great now, and I don't see 90 points as being too bad with the 6 space, and dwarf-only restriction. Keep up the good work!

[machinekng]

Originally Posted by ZBeeblebrox

:cough: :cough: Mohicans :cough: :cough:

They don't count. They're more of a hybrid melee/ranged unit, due to their squad size and low ranged attack.

Yeah, I forgot.

[IshMEL]

I was going through the cheap minis on Auggie's and spotted the Infernal Armor, which put me in mind of an empty suit of armor, animated by magic and protecting the spellcaster who created them. A little research gave me the D&D name for these: Helmed Horrors. My Helmed Horrors differ a bit from the D&D version: they don't fly, they don't outlive their Creator, and instead of being neutral, they're evil! I like the idea of the danger for messing with dark magics, hence the potential penalty for non-Utgar and non-Valkrill spellcasters.

The astute Heroscaper will note the similarity of these Helmed Horrors to the Greenscale Warriors, since they fulfill more or less the same function. The stats are mostly the same. The Helmed Horrors have higher defense when not near their boss, which makes sense to me since they're suits of armor. Their attack is lower when not near the boss, but comes up to the same within the range. On the plus side, they bond with many more units and have some Soulborg-type immunities. On the minus side, there's the potential "dark magic" penalty, and they fall to pieces when the boss dies. I priced them at 10 points above the Greenscale Warriors.

Any and all feedback welcome!




Helmed Horrors

Common Squad
3 figures
General: Valkrill
Race: Animate
Class: Construct
Personality: Mindless
Planet: Eberoon?
Life 1
Move 5
Range 1
Attack 1
Defense 3
70 points
Medium
Height 5


Infernal Animation
At the start of the game, choose a Unique Archmage, Arachnomage, Battle Mage, Cleric, Magician, Mystic, Sorcerer, Sorceress, Warwitch, Witch, or Wizard Hero you control to be the Creator of all your Helmed Horrors. If the Creator does not follow Utgar or Valkrill, roll the D20 once for each squad of Helmed Horrors. On a 1-5, the Creator takes 1 wound.

Creator Bonding
Before taking a turn with the Helmed Horrors, you may first take a turn with their Creator. The Helmed Horrors add 2 attack dice when they are within 2 clear sight spaces of their Creator.

Empty Armor
The Helmed Horrors are immune to all attacks that do not affect Soulborgs. If their Creator is destroyed, remove all Helmed Horrors from the battlefield.

Units which can bond with the Helmed Horrors:

Acolarh
Ana Karithon
Arkmer
Chardris
Emirroon
Eravan Sunshadow
Estivara
Heirloom
Jorhdawn
Kee-Mo-Shi
Kurrok the Elementalist
Kyntela Gwyn
Morsbane
Pelloth
Sharwin Wildborn
Sonlen
Ulginesh

C3G -- the spellcasters I could find
Doctor Fate
Doctor Strange
Scarlet Witch
Zatanna

[IshMEL]

New custom, Lord Revadac! Also looking for feedback on the Helmed Horrors. Thanks for taking a look.

Lord Revadac

Spoiler Alert!

Another cheap mini I got from Auggie's, in this case the Direguard. Wasn't sure what to do with him until I picked up the Skeletons of Annellintia, and decided they needed another Lord to pair up with. His basic stats are the same as Marcus.



Valkrill
Unique Hero
Undead
Lord
Terrifying
Medium 5
115 points

Cadaverous Touch
When defending against a normal attack from an adjacent figure, if the attack causes at least one wound on Lord Revadac, roll a single attack die. The attacking figure takes one wound if a skull is rolled. Cadaverous Touch does not work on Constructs or Soulborgs.

Necrotic Force
Once per turn, if a friendly Undead figure adjacent to Lord Revadac would receive at least one wound, Lord Revadac may take one wound instead of that figure.

Insane Commander
Before moving, roll the 20-sided die. On a 1-3, Lord Revadac may not move. Instead, he must attack an adjacent friendly figure, if possible, and then end his turn. Lord Revadac may not use Necrotic Force on a figure he attacked. If no friendly figure is adjacent, the turn ends immediately.


6 Life
4 Move
1 Range
3 Attack
3 Defense

Bio: In life, Lord Revadac was ruthless. "There is no cost too high for victory" was his motto, and while he crushed his enemies, it was his own people who paid the price. Many a time did Redavac lead his troops to be slaughtered, heedless of whose blood stained the battlefield. And so his own people named him in whispers "Revadac the Cruel," although none dared oppose him. But one night a witch appeared in the Great Hall of Castle Revadac. Her son had been killed in a needless assault that had claimed the lives of the sons of twelve villages. She demanded that Lord Revadac turn from his evil ways. Taking his sword and shouting his motto, he killed her on the spot -- and watched in horror as his sword arm turned cadaverous. The witch's dying curse wasted his body away, and he was doomed to wander the land in skeletal form, giving his ebbing life force to those same soldiers he so cruelly scorned.

OK, so that bio needs some editing....

[Arch-vile]

I like that bio. Cadaverous touch looks like fun, if he is fighting melee he'll take a couple down with him without even an Order Marker. I am not sure when I would ever use Necrotic Force, since Revadac is essential to keeping the Annelintia alive. Though it would have its uses when Revadac gets to 5 wounds and he has no Skellies on his card.

Insane Commander weakens him considerably. With his stats, I think he is worth about 70 points. The other powers boost him to 115 (maybe). Insane Commander lowers him probably 15 points. I think 100 is a better cost, he doesn't have a ton of attack power. Comparing to Marcus, I think they are about equal. Marcus gets the bonus of a 5th attack in his army due to bonding while the Skellies get to rise again.

Cool custom!

[IshMEL]

Thanks for the feedback! I think you're right about the usefulness of Necrotic Force. It might work if you had a second Lord / Lady / Duchess as a "backup" for the Skells' Reanimation. And/or perhaps it would work better as a sort of anti-Holy Relic? Like this:

Necrotic Force
Once per turn, when the 20-sided die is rolled for a special power for a friendly Undead Squad figure within 2 clear sight spaces of Lord Revadac, you may either add 2 to the die roll, or you may add 5 to the die roll and give Lord Revadac one wound.

Which would help the Skells with Necromancy, and the Shades with Soul Devour.

[Arch-vile]

I really like that change to Necrotic Force, Ish.

Shades would be pretty powerful with it, I would remove the "you may either add 2 to the die roll" part, to fit the theme more. To help his allies Redavac must give his own life force, very Valkrill-ish. Shades will never be overwhelmingly powerful anyway due to the prevalence of common squads.

[IshMEL]

Sounds good, I'll make that change. Do you still think his cost should be 100 with the revised Necrotic Force?

[Arch-vile]

I think with that change Shades will be better with him than Skellies, and I am not sure about cost. 100-120 should be fine, Shades are mighty expensive anyway. Skellies will enjoy the reanimation boost early on though if you have a backup Lord/Lady/other. Iskra, Skellies and Redavac could be a good army. Necrotic Touch gives the Iskra-led Skellies the hero killing they need.

[IshMEL]

OK -- I'll keep him at 115 for now. Here's the revised card, with updated hitzone as well. Thanks for your advice!

[IshMEL]

Souls of Vengeance

Changed 7/31 to clarify the SA

I was looking on Miniature Market for some figs to round out my order for more Skeletons, and the X-Ray Heroclix figure caught my eye (only 50 cents!) They looked like phantoms to me, so here you are, an Einar Undead squad!



Einar
Common Squad
Undead
Spirit
Relentless

Life 1
Move 7
Range 1
Attack 1
Defense 3
60 Points

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
Souls of Vengeance do not start the game on the battlefield. Instead, you may replace one of your destroyed figures with a Soul of Vengeance, if it is not a Soulborg, Construct, or Undead.

SOUL FORCE SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1, Attack Special. Instead of moving normally, choose an opponent's figure within 6 spaces. Move the Soul of Vengeance through that figure, ending on a previously empty space. Roll 2 attack dice. Each subsequent Soul Force Special Attack on the same figure this turn adds 1 attack die, to a maximum of 4 attack dice. Common figures roll 2 fewer defense dice. Soulborgs, Constructs, and Undead are not affected by Soul Force Special Attack.

ETHEREAL MOVEMENT
A Soul of Vengeance adds 3 defense dice when rolling a defense against a normal attack from a figure who is not adjacent, and is never attacked when leaving an engagement. When counting spaces for this unit's movement, ignore elevations. This unit may move over water without stopping, pass through figures without becoming engaged, and move through obstacles such as ruins.

Bio:
Ana Karithon hesitated before answering Einar's question. "Resurrection? It is possible, General. But such magics can be dangerous -- and the resulting creatures hard to control..." "You misunderstand me, Cleric. I do not want an army of gibbering ghouls or walking bones. I want my soldiers to be able to fight on, even after they have fallen. I want my soldiers to carry on the fight in the Next World -- and, perhaps, to tip the balance of battle here in Valhalla. Can you do that, Cleric?" Karithon nodded. "I cannot raise whole armies. But to bring back a few spirits, bent on revenge? Who could disrupt the very souls of our enemies in ethereal combat? That, General, I can do." "Good. I only hope it will be enough..." And thus did the armies of Einar release their weapon of strange magic: The Souls of Vengeance.

I based them off of the Phantom Knights (which I don't own yet) and knocked 10 points off for a weaker normal attack, and for the tricksiness of placing them only after your other figures have gone down. The Soul Force SA is good against Commons; I think against Uniques / Uncommons you'll need to line up several Souls for a multiple attack.

Anyway, your comments are welcome as always. Thanks for taking a look!

[IshMEL]

Souls of Vengeance

Updated the Souls of Vengeance, I think this is the final version. I reworded Soul Force Special Attack to cover the case where not all squad members use the SA. As always, let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!



Einar
Common Squad
Undead
Spirit
Relentless

Life 1
Move 7
Range 1
Attack 1
Defense 3
60 Points

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
Souls of Vengeance do not start the game on the battlefield. Instead, if one of your figures has been destroyed, you may replace that figure immediately, if possible, with a Soul of Vengeance. Construct, Undead, or Soulborg figures cannot be replaced by a Soul of Vengeance.

SOUL FORCE SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1, Attack Special. If a Soul of Vengeance has not attacked normally, and if it moved through an opponent's figure and ended on a previously empty space, it may use Soul Force Special Attack. If this is the first Soul Force Special Attack on that figure this round, roll 2 attack dice. If it is the second, roll 3 attack dice. If it is the third or higher, roll 4 attack dice. Common Figures attacked by Soul Force Special Attack roll 2 fewer defense dice. Constructs, Undead, and Soulborgs are not affected by Soul Force Special Attack.

ETHEREAL MOVEMENT
A Soul of Vengeance adds 3 defense dice when rolling a defense against a normal attack from a figure who is not adjacent, and is never attacked when leaving an engagement. When counting spaces for this unit's movement, ignore elevations. This unit may move over water without stopping, pass through figures without becoming engaged, and move through obstacles such as ruins.

Bio:
Ana Karithon hesitated before answering Einar's question. "Resurrection? It is possible, General. But such magics can be dangerous -- and the resulting creatures hard to control..." "You misunderstand me, Cleric. I do not want an army of gibbering ghouls or walking bones. I want my soldiers to be able to fight on, even after they have fallen. I want my soldiers to carry on the fight in the Next World -- and, perhaps, to tip the balance of battle here in Valhalla. Can you do that, Cleric?" Karithon nodded. "I cannot raise whole armies. But to bring back a few spirits, bent on revenge? Who could disrupt the very souls of our enemies in ethereal combat? That, General, I can do." "Good. I only hope it will be enough..." And thus did the armies of Einar release their weapon of strange magic: The Souls of Vengeance.