December Custom Contest Poll - CONGRATULATIONS TO THE DEWK

[Taeblewalker]

Congrats! It's nice to see at least one person voted for my entry.

[Astroking112]

Congratulations, Dewk! Your unit looks great!

I see that I need to brush up on the Marrden Hounds. I could've sworn that it was a poison instead of a plague, so I figured that the immunity to Poisonous Quills would make sense and be a nice nod to them.

I guess that I'll have to work harder for the next contest to make a more unique unit. In hindsight, I suppose that the first step would be to come up with a name...

[caps]

Congratulations!

Would you put the names of each entrant under their entry?

[Dr.Goomonkey]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

Congratulations!

Would you put the names of each entrant under their entry?

You'll see this happen once I save my edit. Edit: it is done.

[The Dewk]

Hey, cool! Thanks for the votes, you seven people, and thanks for running the contest @Dr.Goomonkey !

[Dad_Scaper]

I didn't see this contest when it was live, but Tarkus is an excellent custom, IMHO. Congrats, Dewk.

[DewNoHarm]

Congrats @The Dewk ! I've got a habit of losing to you.

[Scytale]

I've got a bit of time finally so I'll review the contestants. In order from the 1st post.

Tarkus by The Dewk
The stats are nicely restrained and Valkrill is a good fit for the design. I like the simplicity of the powers, particularly Terrifying Presence though that power seems a bit too tailor-made for the metagame. My greatest concern with Tarkus is a balance one: adding a multi-attack special attack to the already-solid Arrow Gruts is a frightening prospect. Yes, Mimring can already do that, but Fire Line's linear nature makes it tricky to use effectively. Piercing Quill volley can't deal many wounds but it's deadly against squad figures. It's one big drawback is limited range, which, combined with a sizeable price tag, may keep Tarkus in line. Overall, definitely one of my favorite submissions.

Crimson Manticore by DewNoHarm
A number of entries went with the anti-Human angle, an angle I'm not thrilled about. While I appreciate the thematic focus, I just don't see it being healthy to the playability of the unit despite the relative prevalence of Humans in the game. More importantly, though, especially on this design, is that powers that have no effect in many games do not deserve much card space. Let's take a look at Predator of Men. The +2 Attack against Humans is a situational bonus that works for the theme. The additional rule about not being able to disengage from Humans sounds neat on paper, but will have little gameplay effect. While disengaging is occasionally useful, it's usually avoided. Thus that effect will very rarely come into play. Similarly, the rule about being forced to attack Humans, while again thematic-sounding, will have little effect. While there may be times where one would prefer to attack a different high-value target, the +2 Attack vs Humans is hard to pass up. Actually, I would contend that the tension caused by having to choose between the +2 Attack or a more valuable target would be a positive. Last but not least, there is a healing ability attached to the power. Healing abilities are fine in general, but this is one that is immensely useful against some opponents and is entirely useless against others, which makes the unit useful only as a counterdraft (assuming appropriate costing). Quill Riposte is neat, though I struggle to understand how it negates wounds. Also, the height advantage boost is an additional rule to remember that has practically no gameplay effect; having height advantage is always preferable anyway.

Jungle Beast by WarBeast
I agree with others that using the name "Beast" but not using Beast as its class is somewhat confusing. I like the different direction used here, and Aquilla works well for it. I also like that it's not too focused on terrain for effectiveness. Though I would have preferred a different name for Jungle Sting. The name is not really generic enough for much reuse but also doesn't convey much about the creature itself. Poisoned Tail Barbs or something like that would have been more thematic.

Romitaen'c by Toogwick_tuk
I appreciate that this design does not rely on synergies for effectiveness. I have two issues with the design, though. First, it's not clear how many Tail Barb markers are removed in a single turn. Heroscape isn't very clear when it comes to technical details, so it's not clear for powers like this if the attacking phase has one instance of Tail Barb Flick Special Attack with three attacks or if Tail Barb Flick Special Attack is being used three times. This version of the wording in particular is vague, whereas other wording versions (such as Blood Hungry Special Attack) strongly suggest multiple instances of the power. The other issue is with the Tail Barb mechanic in general. In my experience with powers like these, the limitations and mechanics of the markers has little gameplay effect. Assuming one marker per three attacks, they won't be used up all that quickly, especially with it's potent normal attack option. Most likely it's a bunch of rules for something that isn't worth tracking in most games. If you use up three markers in a single turn, the opposite occurs: it will take too long to regrow them, so you probably never will. This is all theoryscape though (based on experience); I would need to playtest to really know how it plays.

Manticore by Taeblewalker
I like the straightforwardness of this design. I sort of feel that the poison damage of the special attack is unnecessary dressing, but the design might not stand out enough without the extra flair. I am concerned that it's pretty similar to Othkurik but significantly cheaper.

Manticore by Scytale
As this is my own design, I can't really critique it. Instead I'll explain my design reasoning. This is designed to be a D&Dscape unit, and as such is a port of the 4th Edition D&D manticore. That creature is relatively simple with multiple fang and claw attacks, with its range attack with the spikes on its tail being its key feature. The spikes are of course necessary for the port, though while a ranged special attack on a flier is interesting by itself, it bears too much similarity to other Heroscape units. It needed something else, and I wanted to give it multi-attacking potential. One overlooked but very important aspect of a design is to make it fun to play--to give the player and/or the opponent interesting choices. Making the normal attack higher than the special attack does that as it encourages bold play, but again that's nothing new. Adding the special attack to the normal attack is a new twist, and making the special attack only work against non-adjacent figures exaggerates the gamble aspect even further. To maximize the use of this unit one needs to make risky but tempered plays, and a smart opponent can tempt its owner into overextending. As for making it a Predator, I was originally going to make it a solo unit, but Predator fits the D&D unit pretty well, and creating useful synergies helps "play to the judges."

Ol' Scratch by Sam
The use of the 'X' order marker is a clever and necessary way to limit the terrifying effectiveness of Unearthly Voice. Combining Ol' Scratch with Arrow Gruts, Death Chasers, or Ornak could have terrifying results. The reduction to Attack seems like overkill, honestly. I don't think the price is high enough either. He's almost as good as Iron Man (from the Marvel set), but also bonds with good squads and has a powerful aura effect, all for 50 pts less.

Manticore by NecroBlade
Another design that doesn't rely on synergies; I approve. I love the reuse of Legendary Creature, and I'm always a fan of anti-range. I do somewhat feel like the second figure in Spike-Tail Shot is unnecessary and that a lower d20 roll would have been adequate, and it's a little weird that it can only fling spikes when provoked, but these are merely quibbles.

Akul by Lazy Orang
The tension created between the multi-hit special and the self-healing normal attack is the design's strongest point. There's nothing inherently wrong with a 4-power unit, but I would argue that it is something that should generally be avoided. In this case, while Flying is a standard (though wordy) power, 4 powers feels like too much. The standout is Legendary Creature. While that's a very appropriate power for a manticore and fits well with the design, it's addition isn't really necessary here. You could easily drop it and bump the defense by 1 and it would be an overall tighter design.

Manticore by flameslayer93
Ferocious Jump is exciting, but unfortunately not very useful on this design. 6 Attack is a lot, but you're risking a 125pt 5 Life/4 Defense figure to do it. On your last life, possibly, but just too risky in most cases. Unfortunately that's where the tension on the design should come from. Poison Spikes has no requirements other than being able to use it after attacking normally (do you intend that it can be used instead of a normal attack, or only after a normal attack?), so there's not a lot of decision points with it. Possibly adjusting positioning for singular engagement in the hopes of maintaining a wider range of Poison Spike options.

Manticore by Confred
It's a little odd to me that a bunch of quills works as an area lob effect unlike most things in the game, but it does give it a uniqueness. Devour Whole is a curious addition. Very rarely does it matter, and on the places where it does (Zombies, Dividers, etc) the act of devouring the enemy does not thematically stop powers like Zombies Rise Again (which is, thematically, a new Zombie). Points for creativity though.

Madyakhor by capsocrates
A nicely restrained design. Only some interesting softer synergies and just one new, pretty simplistic power. That does make it a little dull, though, as the only real ability rarely happens (triple skulls). But really, a flier with solid stats and a ranged special attack really shouldn't need anything more.

Manticore by Astroking112
Poisonous Quills is curious. Other poison powers in Heroscape don't have Soulborg restriction (and I don't really understand the Wulsinu one), so it's odd to see it here. Without it you could just make it's Range 4. If you did that, though, you'd lose the thematic description as to why it has range. Kind of a pickle. Feast on Flesh has a problem I noted in a different unit: it's incredibly important to the unit's survivability but only has an effect in certain games. Assuming it's costed effectively for the best case, it will only be useful as a counterdraft.

Manticore by aksisu11
I mentioned in an earlier review that I'm not a fan of the Human-only powers, but I like the simple implementation here. It's all that's needed to get the theme across. Spiked Tail Defense is a nice, thematic twist on Counter Strike, though Soulborgs are not immune to other poison powers so I don't think they should be here. I would argue that the Move value is excessive, but otherwise it's a solid design overall.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Scytale

Akul by Lazy Orang
The tension created between the multi-hit special and the self-healing normal attack is the design's strongest point. There's nothing inherently wrong with a 4-power unit, but I would argue that it is something that should generally be avoided. In this case, while Flying is a standard (though wordy) power, 4 powers feels like too much. The standout is Legendary Creature. While that's a very appropriate power for a manticore and fits well with the design, it's addition isn't really necessary here. You could easily drop it and bump the defense by 1 and it would be an overall tighter design.

Thanks for the review! Yeah, the tension between the multi-hit special and closing in to heal off the normal attack was a big thing I wanted to convey. Dropping Legendary Creature is something I actually strongly considered, for the exact reasons you mentioned, but decided against it in the end. I looked at the card without it, and it felt... solid, but not exciting, and bringing Legendary Creature back gave it the pop I felt it needed. Plus, having played him, it also has a major effect on his gameplay that I was looking to achieve - he preys on squads, but is terrified of heroes, and I think, for that reason, it's necessary for what I'm trying to achieve. I recognise it's not the call most people would have made, and I think there are good arguments for dropping it, but in the end, I thought a lot about it, and I'm happier with the design as it is.

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

Thanks for the review! Yeah, the tension between the multi-hit special and closing in to heal off the normal attack was a big thing I wanted to convey. Dropping Legendary Creature is something I actually strongly considered, for the exact reasons you mentioned, but decided against it in the end. I looked at the card without it, and it felt... solid, but not exciting, and bringing Legendary Creature back gave it the pop I felt it needed. Plus, having played him, it also has a major effect on his gameplay that I was looking to achieve - he preys on squads, but is terrified of heroes, and I think, for that reason, it's necessary for what I'm trying to achieve. I recognise it's not the call most people would have made, and I think there are good arguments for dropping it, but in the end, I thought a lot about it, and I'm happier with the design as it is.

Sometimes you really need to play a unit to know what's necessary for the design. I can see Legendary Creature having a real effect as you said. I'd have to test it both ways to get a handle on the difference. I do love the theme of being terrified of heroes.