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  #6805  
Old April 11th, 2020, 09:21 PM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

I would like to submit this revised version of Masha Shingai for SoV consideration. For context, here is a link to the original submission that was accepted for review.


Bio:
Spoiler Alert!


BALANCE
I spent most of my previous submission talking about why Masha wasn't too strong, but given that both of his negative votes were because he was too weak and felt underwhelming as a cheerleader hybrid, I think that it's prudent to discuss how he's been improved.

There are precisely three changes from a balance perspective that have been made: his attack debuff aura now works against unique squads but excludes Samurai, his Fiery Retribution now extends two spaces, and his move has been bumped up to 6.

These are all essentially improvements that make playing Masha less frustrating. There are now more builds that you can make with him (given that the Tagawa Samurai Archers are an option), he now has more positioning freedom and ways to get value with his Fiery Retribution, and each turn has a bit more value and options now that he can move a bit quicker. The many restraints on the design have been loosened ever so slightly, resulting in a unit that falls flat on his face less often and generally augments the Samurai in a more impactful way.

That's not to say that all of Masha's downsides have been removed, though. He still demands a third of your turns, refuses to play nicely with non-Samurai squads, and falls easily to heroes and ill-timed initiative losses. His anti-ranged power for the Samurai is now easier to set up and get value out of, but it also still only activates after a wound. The design still has plenty of built-in costs, and it represents a more balanced revision of the terrifying demon Samurai.

THEME
Pretty much every aspect of Masha's design stems from the idea of a demon Samurai. He has very aggressive stats befitting both demons and the aggressive Samurai like the Kozuke. His aura of terror excludes the Samurai as they guard him (simultaneously boosting their Counterstrike), and if one of his guards falls to a ranged attacker, he might even be annoyed enough to avenge them.

Masha lacks the faction's iconic Counterstrike, but he trades it for a very thematically appropriate ranged twist. It evokes the "attacking-while-defending" theme of the Samurai quite well. Ultimately, despite being a big angry demon, he still feels very much like a Samurai, and the figure looks right at home with the others.

Once again, big thanks to @BiggaBullfrog for the name Masha Shingai. It's a fantastic name meaning "Evil Being," and it's much better than my previous attempts from Google Translate.

CREATIVITY
Call it creator's bias, but I'd argue that this design is very creative. Terror of the Honorless is obviously a highlight, acting as a simple power that boosts one of the most iconic parts of a faction. However, it also comes with a steep cost by requiring a revealed Order Marker on a melee hero, resulting in a very unique and demanding playstyle.

Fiery Retribution is similarly simple, but it addresses one of the Samurai's main weaknesses, ranged attacks, in a new way while avoiding removing their weakness entirely. Both powers combine to create a unique cheerleader-attacker hybrid that is pretty much unlike anything else that we've seen in HeroScape.

PLAYABILITY
I've addressed this a bit in balance above, but Masha's improvements make him much more fun and exciting to play. He adds a high level of tension to the army as you try to plan where to leave him each round, whether you'll win initiative for his aura, and whether it's worth it to go for that tempting attack from height on an opposing figure but leave your army exposed.

Previously, his limitations were a bit too strict, resulting in some undue frustration. Now with 6 move, he can reach new spaces, waste less time getting into position from the starting zone, and strike out against isolated targets. With 2 spaces on his Fiery Retribution, he can more reliably find value in ways other than his Terror, subtly encouraging opponents to target other figures and indirectly protecting your Samurai. Even with those 2 spaces, you'll quickly find that setting up the ideal Raelin-Masha-Tagawa Samurai Archer anti-ranged anti-melee pod is difficult, though, given that Masha'll always want to take another turn again pretty soon.

Masha also plays much more nicely with the Unique Squads and Tomoe Gozen now. Neither of them offer the Samurai as much competitive power as Raelin, of course, but now that he's a little bit quicker and extends his Fiery Retribution further, the two no longer clash as frequently in practice. If you're trying to juggle him, her, and Raelin, though, then you'll quickly find that you just can't keep up with your opponent when using so many Order Markers to position supports.

ACCESSIBILITY
Masha uses the Oni Mage sculpt from Pathfinder's Kingmaker set. He released a while ago, but the sculpt is still available at most online retailers and averages $3 to $5. Here's some quick numbers for proof:
  • MiniatureMarket: 20+
  • RPGLocker: 36
  • SunCity Games: 5
  • NobleKnight Games: 3
  • Auggie's Games: 3
  • TrollandToad: 3
  • Amazon: 2
That's a total of at least 72 sculpts out there, before even delving into eBay which has plenty of further copies. Furthermore, Masha was also under SoV consideration for nearly a year, so it is very possible that other members of the community already own a copy of the sculpt.

Overall, Masha's not going to change the face of the meta or suddenly make melee infeasible, but he can give the Samurai a fighting chance and makes them significantly more fun to play. I think that he's an excellent addition to the game, and he's been a fun staple at my table for the past year.

Whew. I think that that's everything that I have to say in this post. Sorry for my verbosity and thank you for your consideration.
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  #6806  
Old April 11th, 2020, 09:48 PM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Nice design Cool figure. Good luck.
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  #6807  
Old April 11th, 2020, 10:10 PM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

I like it.

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  #6808  
Old April 12th, 2020, 12:02 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

I don't know if I will ever love Masha Shingai, but I see how this iteration addresses the issues of the previous ones. to review.

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  #6809  
Old April 12th, 2020, 12:15 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

@Astroking112

Why do you keep insisting in have him as a demon? Why not a Japanese name for a Demon?

Have you tried Hexscape? 3D Heroscape Multiplayer Battle program!

Looking for a C3V/SOV miniature? Try one of these sites.
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  #6810  
Old April 12th, 2020, 12:47 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kinseth View Post
@Astroking112

Why do you keep insisting in have him as a demon? Why not a Japanese name for a Demon?
Because Demon is the most fitting species for him based on past precedents. Gurei-Oni, for example, has Ogre as his species instead of Oni (despite literally having Oni in his name), so Oni wouldn't feel right. Demon is the closest word for the intended vision here, and I think that it looks neater overall to stick with the convention anyway unless there's a strong reason to change it.
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  #6811  
Old April 12th, 2020, 12:49 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

You know there is a strong reason to change it.

Have you tried Hexscape? 3D Heroscape Multiplayer Battle program!

Looking for a C3V/SOV miniature? Try one of these sites.
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  #6812  
Old April 12th, 2020, 01:03 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kinseth View Post
You know there is a strong reason to change it.
Yup, there very much is. to Masha Shingai as a Demon with an attack reduction aura.

I'd probably upvote him as a Half Demon or something else so he would be standalone (I've never loved the Oni angle because he doesn't look like an Oni, and because of Grey-Oni). He seems a little on the gimmicky side as far as "let's make Samurai better," but I'm willing to try that out in testing.

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  #6813  
Old April 12th, 2020, 01:06 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kinseth View Post
You know there is a strong reason to change it.
There is some accompanying synergy, of course. It is not a particularly strong synergy, though (I also like cross-factional synergy like that and view it as being very HeroScapey). Since it doesn't hurt the theme for either side, I don't see the synergy as a strong reason to sacrifice on the theme of this card.
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  #6814  
Old April 12th, 2020, 01:11 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

I think the synergy in question is something for the judges to consider in testing.

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  #6815  
Old April 12th, 2020, 01:12 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Clayton Pearce by a collaboration of people


Balance- Are the points correct?
Clayton's points are in the right ballpark. He could probably be slightly cheaper or slightly more expensive and still be balanced. You can't consider his value on his own (where he would be overcosted) but when combined with Shotgun, Murphy, and Guilty as a 270 point package you get an interesting, tricky, and swingy bundle of figures. I found they worked best with another army component that can hold its own and be worth consistent order markers. I particularly enjoyed playing them with the Ebon Armor and adding in a squad of Tarn Viking Warriors or Krav Maga depending on the target point value. Future Lawmen will give players more options when creating their armies, but I probably wouldn't want to have more than 4 lawmen in any army--Clayton makes the Lawmen a solid *component* of a larger army, but on their own they're missing way too much to function as a full army. I doubt we will see future Lawmen change that.

Playability-
Each of the cowboys were already very playable--I have personally brought James Murphy to the GenCon main event, where he was a valuable addition to my army.Guilty has always had value as a filler even before he became a bonding hero for the Dreadguls, where he is very good. So Clayton doesn't do anything to make the Lawmen more playable than they already were. Instead he creates a new way to play all of the Lawmen *together* in a way that they couldn't do so effectively before. They're not particularly competitive, and the need to have other figures to fill out points and fill other army roles means you probably aren't looking at an army that is any more *thematic* than it was before.
Powers: Are the powers clear and understandable?
I found the powers to be very playable. Shootout is fun as a big bang once-a-round, and with the right army composition the once-a-round nature of it doesn't hurt you too much. It is easy to forget to use Sheriff's Posse the first few rounds you play with Clayton, due to the odd timing of when it occurs. But after a few games I got the hang of it, and it really makes Shootout "work."
Appropriate Stats: Are its master stats appropriate?
This is one of the most significant problems on the card for me. The difference between his stats and the stats of the other lawmen is jarring and unnecessary. I can understand one (maybe two) changes from the standard lawman lineup of 5/7/2/2, but changing almost every number there is a bridge too far.
Visual Distinctness: Is it visually distinct from pre-existing units?
From looking at the card, I felt pretty "meh" about the visual distinctness of Clayton. Although I don't have the mini, several of the pictures I saw of it online make it appear more dynamic than the angle in the submitted card shows. Not the coolest cowboy mini in the game, but good enough.

Creativity- Does it add something new to the game?
Several different "leader" or "commander" figures have been canonized, and many many more have been dreamed up in the halls of the Heroscapers Customs forums. But Clayton has the most unique take on a commander figure that I've seen. I confess that I was in the camp that opposed the idea of Clayton out of principle when I first saw him. I agree with the likes of Ollie that many figures in Heroscape were intended to stand alone and should be left that way. I still believe that. But Clayton does what he does without taking away from the roles the other Lawmen already fill. I would splash Guilty or Murphy or even Shotgun Sullivan in my tournament armies whether Clayton is part of the canon or not.

Theme- Does it fit in the HS universe?
Although Sheriff's Posse feels more like a concession to playability than a strong thematic tie-in, Shootout feels very thematic and evokes many scenes from John Wayne era westerns, with the good guys and the bad guys shooting at each other as the penultimate or even climactic scene of the movie.

--

Playing with Clayton really changed my mind about his place in the canon. I would be all in on moving him forward but for one thing: the difference between his stats and that of the other Lawmen. My advice would be to pick which stat to emphasize as being different from the other Lawmen, and adjust only that one.

I vote on Clayton Pearce

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  #6816  
Old April 12th, 2020, 01:13 AM
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Re: Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

Beakface Rogue by @wriggz and @Sir Heroscape


I reviewed this unit when it was submitted along the Beakface Archer. The unit and my thoughts are unchanged since then.

Balance- Are the points correct?
The rogue is well pointed and offers some punch to Raptorian and/or Rogue builds that both factions lack, but his relative fragility keeps him in line.

Playability-
The Beakface Rogue is very playable. I enjoyed the games I played with them alongside a bushel of Sneaks and the Quorik Warwitch. Significantly, many of my friends chose the Raptorian armies I had put together when we did army drafts; they all liked playing the army and felt like it had some fun potential. I agree. I particularly enjoyed mixing Raptorians with Rogues; using the Sneaks as a screen, the Beakface Rogues as heavy hitters, and the Merry Men as the main draw. It never lived up to my hopes, but it feels similar to an army I might see at Reverse the Whip at GenCon; maybe alongside Raelin.
Powers: Are the powers clear and understandable?
Check. Every power on the card is re-used from somewhere.
Appropriate Stats: Are its master stats appropriate?
Check. It feels like the other Raptorian figures we've had before.
Visual Distinctness: Is it visually distinct from pre-existing units?
The Beakface Rogue looks good alongside the other Raptorian figures. They appear to be just distinct enough to not blend in to the crowd of sneaks.

Creativity- Does it add something new to the game?
There are at least two kinds of creativity in new Heroscape cards; new powers, and old powers used in new ways. The Beakface Rogue is a combination of all old powers that work very nicely; as @dok said "It's a Beakface. It's a Rogue. It's a Beakface Rogue."

Theme- Does it fit in the HS universe?
The Rogue is a nice fit alongside the other Beakface cards and fits nicely in Heroscape.

--

I enjoyed my games with the Beakface Rogue. I think it's a great addition to the Merry Men and a great addition to any army that uses at least a few squads of Beakface Sneaks.

I vote to induct the Beakface Archer into the Soldiers of Valhalla.

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Remixed Master Sets - challenge yourself with new terrain combinations!
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caps's Customs Redux - caps's multiplayer maps - caps's maps - Seagate

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