The Book of Crossbones

[Ronin]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Crossbones @160 points

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Crossbones @160, Red Skull, Civilians x2 (500) vs Captain America, Hawkeye (II), Wasp (I), Stan Lee (500)

Spoiler Alert!

Crossbones posted up on height and got activated by Master Motivator for a slew of Trigger Man attacks. Took him a while to pick off Hawkeye, thanks to some solid defensive rolls from Hawkeye (bolstered by Cap) and Stan Lee intervening.

He didn't have much success trying to pick off Captain America, though. Despite an initially strong offense from Skull (who picked off his own civilians early to activate Crossbones), Skull eventually went down and the match came down to Crossbones and Civilans versus Cap. They just didn't have the firepower to get past his shield, and Cap won the day.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): 1 wound to Captain America in 7 attacks, 4 wounds to Hawkeye in 6 attacks (destroyed; would have destroyed him on the 4th attack, but Stan Lee popped in to prevent it)
• Trigger Man: triggered 4 times
• Brutality: not used
• Human Shield: 1 roll, 1 success. Blocked the attack anyway, so no damage avoided.
• Damage Taken: 0 wounds from Hawkeye in 1 attack, 1 wound from Glyph of Orbital Laser Control, 3 wounds from Captain America in 4 normal attacks (destroyed)

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Captain America with 2 wounds

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Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Crossbones @160, Red Skull, Baron Zemo (Heinrich), Angel (Warren), Batroc the Leaper (800) vs Cheshire, Lady Shiva, Black Bat, Hand Ninja x3 (800)

Spoiler Alert!

Some fun play with Skull early here. Crossbones advanced to height quickly, but almost immediately got tied up by a Hand Ninja who popped him for a couple wounds. Skull transferred a wound off Crossbones to Black Bat and then destroyed the Ninja to activate Crossbones with MM. Crossbones picked off another Ninja, but then Black Bat charged in and put a couple wounds on him, putting him down to 1 Life. On Skull's turn, he used the Cube to disengage Crossbones from Black Bat to another point where he'd have height on Cass, then destroyed another Ninja to activate Crossbones again. Crossbones risked the Defensive Premonition and it paid off with 2 wounds on Cass.

Cheshire moved in to tie down Crossbones again, but failed to wound him with her attack or Poison-Tipped Claws. The Mastermind team, for their part, missed a big turn as Skull failed to wound with his normal attack. But that meant Crossbones had survived into the next round; the Masterminds got initiative and Skull was able to bounce another wound from Crossbones to Black Bat, destroying her. Skull then hit Cheshire for three wounds, giving Crossbones a chance to Brutalize her and finish her off. Skull had done so much damage that Brutality didn't really matter, but it didn't hurt.

The Ninja finally knocked the Cube away from Skull, but they'd taken pretty heavy losses by that point. Crossbones played a starring role in clean-up, as he took an LEA from a Ninja to get unengaged so that he could fire on Shiva from range (while Zemo locked Shiva down with Adhesive X).

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): destroyed 2 Hand Ninja in 3 attacks, 2 wounds to Black Bat in 2 attacks, 1 wound to Cheshire in 1 attack (destroyed), 3 wounds to Lady Shiva in 5 attacks (destroyed)
• Trigger Man: triggered 5 times
• Brutality: triggered 1 time against Cheshire, 1 time against Hand Ninja
• Human Shield:
• Damage Taken: 2 wounds from Hand Ninja in 3 attacks, 2 wounds from Black Bat in 3 attacks, 0 wounds from Cheshire in 1 attack, 1 wound from an LEA

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Crossbones and Red Skull with 3 wounds each, Zemo with 2 wounds, Angel and Batroc with 1 wound each

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Fun low-level hitter for the Masterminds. Really enjoyed him in the Skull/Zemo army.

EDIT: Realizing now that you'd asked about Penguin (II), but that completely slipped my mind. Sorry! Fwiw, I think Penguin (II) also wanting Criminals/Thieves might make the test big enough to the point that it wouldn't really be about Crossbones anymore.

[Arch-vile]

Crossbones is looking good!

[japes]

Looks like he played exactly how i had hoped. Thanks.

[MrNobody]

Looks good!

I actually didn't previously feel the Cobblepot is wasted in a standard Red Skull army. Being able to keep the Cube just a bit longer was that good. Haven't quite gotten the hang of new Skull yet so maybe I'd have a different opinion now.

Either way, no worries at all! I bet the next play tester can tackle it.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

I actually didn't previously feel the Cobblepot is wasted in a standard Red Skull army. Being able to keep the Cube just a bit longer was that good. Haven't quite gotten the hang of new Skull yet so maybe I'd have a different opinion now.

Maybe not. I'm still inclined to think that Skull-Penguin is its own axis of evil that's kind of defocusing Crossbones in the test, but I can see why you'd want to make sure you weren't excessively strengthening that.

I imagine the tweaks to Skull have moderated that synergy a little, but I'm not sure I've played him with Penguin since the reeval either.

[IAmBatman]

Looks like Ronin's test never got linked in the OP here.

What are you looking for in the (final?) round of tests here?

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

I think a Red Skull (C3G) + Penguin II test would be nice. Other than that, maybe just a test with an OM manager we haven’t tried yet? Robot?

Nvm, I can work off this.

[IAmBatman]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: CROSSBONES

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Crossbones (160), Penguin (II) (140), Red Skull (250), Bodyguard x8 (120), Hired Guns (130) (800)( vs Daredevil (II) (200), Luke Cage (190), Jessica Jones (220), Scarlet Spider (Ben Reilly) (190) (800)

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Initiative Criminal Syndicate. Penguin has the Hired Guns advance four spaces each.
Luke Cage and Jessica Jones advance.
Penguin has four Body Guards advance four spaces each.
Luke Cage and Scarlet Spider advance.
Red Skull has three Body Guards advance five spaces each, then he moves a fourth Body Guard up three spaces with his Cosmic Cube.
Luke Cage and Scarlet Spider advance.

Round 2: Initiative Criminal Syndicate. Hired Guns advance. The first targets Luke twice, but can’t get past his Impenetrable Skin with mere bullets. A second shoots at Scarlet Spider, who senses it and swings away. They have no more viable targets.
Jessica Jones and Luke Cage advance. He knocks out a Hired Gun from height.
Penguin has three Body Guards move up five spaces each and then has the Hired Guns try to take down Luke. They hit him for three wounds.
Luke Cage and Scarlet Spider go. They combine to KO two more Hired Guns.
Red Skull has three Body Guards circle Luke Cage, throws a four closer with the Cosmic Cube, then has the last Hired Gun try and fail to hit Luke.
Like Cage and Scarlet Spider take out the last Hired Gun and the first Body Guard.

Round 3: Initiative Criminal Syndicate. Red Skull has three Body Guards surround Luke Cage, then has Crossbones move forward three spaces with the Cosmic Cube.
Jessica Jones fails to hit a Body Guard from height and fails to hit the “X.” Luke Cage KO’s a Body Guard.
Penguin moves up four Body Guards with Criminal Syndicate and hits Luke Cage with an auto wound.
Jessica Jones KO’s a Body Guard and reveals the “X” on Penguin with Pound the Pavement. Luke Cage KO’s a Body Guard.
Red Skull advances, moves OM3 from Luke Cage to Daredevil, and whiffs his special attack rolls against Luke.
Daredevil advances towards the center of the map.

Round 4: Initiative Heroes for Hire. Jessica Jones KO’s a Body Guard, then reveals the “X” on Penguin. Luke Cage Kos a Body Guard.
Red Skull advances, then places himself on height with the Cosmic Cube and attacks Luke Cage. He KO’s Luke, Jessica gets Luke’s OM’s, and Master Motivator activates Crossbones, who attacks Jessica Jones twice from range and inflicts one wound on her.
Jessica Jones attacks Red Skull, but fails to hit.
Red Skull can’t hit Jessica.
Jessica Jones can’t hit Red Skull.
Red Skull hits Jessica Jones for one wound then uses Master Motivator on Crossbones, who attacks Jessica twice from range and hits her for one wound.

Round 5: Initiative Criminal Syndicate. Red Skull has two Body Guards move up, uses the Cosmic Cube to transfer OM1 from Jessica Jones to Daredevil, and hits Jessica Jones for one wound. Master Motivator triggers Crossbones, who KO’s Jessica Jones, but can’t hit Scarlet Spider.
Daredevil advances, but can’t hit a Body Guard.
Red Skull moves Scarlet Spider next to him on height disadvantage, but Spidey senses the attack coming and swings away.
Scarlet Spider fails to hit a Body Guard.
Penguin advances the two Body Guards next to Scarlet Spider and hits Spidey with the auto wound.
Scarlet Spider KO’s a Body Guard from height.

Round 6: Initiative Criminal Syndicate. Penguin gets another auto wound on Scarlet Spider with Criminal Syndicate.
Daredevil advances and KO’s a Body Guard.
Red Skull pulls Daredevil down to height disadvantage and hits him with three quick wounds. Crossbones shoots Daredevil from height and wound KO him, but for Going the Distance, and then fails to capitalize with his second attack.
Scarlet Spider targets Red Skull for an attack and Penguin uses his Political Investment to end the turn.
Red Skull uses the Cosmic Cube to move a wound from Daredevil to Scarlet Spider, hits Daredevil from height for a wound, then has Crossbones finish Daredevil off and fail to hit Spidey with Trigger Man.
Daredevil had OM3.

Round 7: Initiative Criminal Syndicate. Red Skull uses the Cosmic Cube to move Scarlet Spider to height disadvantage. Spidey doesn’t sense it, and Red Skull KO’s him.


Unit Summary: Crossbones didn’t do too terribly much here, but he was an addition to a pretty powerful combination (Red Skull, Penguin (II), Hired Guns), so he was certainly able to do what he seems to do best – hang back and act as a Trigger Man, sneaking in additional wounds on big Red Skull turns. It was too much for the Heroes for Hire to keep up with here.

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): Inflicted (4) wounds on (Jessica Jones (3) and Daredevil (1))
• TRIGGER MAN: Used (5) times to get in double attack from range with Crossbones.
  [*BRUTALITY: Never used.
• HUMAN SHIELD 12: Never used.
• Damage Taken: Never attacked.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Red Skull, Crossbones, and Penguin (II), all with Full Life, win.

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Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Crossbones (160), Robot (210), Winter Soldier (240), Baron von Strucker (210), Viper (180) (1,000) vs Captain America (240), Iron Man (Avengers) (270), Falcon (140), Hawkeye (I) (150), Black Panther (200) (1,000)

Spoiler Alert!

Viper chooses Winter Soldier as her assassin. Winter Soldier chooses Captain America as his mark.
Round 1: Initiative HYDRA Terrorist Cell. Winter Soldier and Viper advance.
Captain America advances.
Robot has Crossbones and Baron von Strucker advance.
Hawkeye advances.
Robot has Baron von Strucker and Viper advance.
Falcon advances.

Round 2: Initiative Avengers. Iron Man advances with his attack plan.
Robot advances.
Hawkeye can’t get Baron von Strucker from height.
Robot flies to height, carrying Crossbones, but can’t hit Hawkeye.
Falcon engages Robot and Crossbones, but can’t hit Crossbones.
Robot attacks Falcon, hitting him for one wound. Crossbones, even with Brutality help, can’t hit an adjacent Falcon.

Round 3: Initiative Avengers. Iron Man decides to attack and hits Viper for two wounds from height, but can’t hit Crossbones from height disadvantage.
Baron von Strucker advances and tries to hit both Hawkeye and Falcon with his Death Spores. He succeeds against Falcon and the Avenger takes one wound.
Iron Man hits Viper for a wound from height, but can’t hit Winter Soldier.
Winter Soldier advances and fails to hit Hawkeye from range. Viper engages Iron Man, fails to hit him, but inflicts one wound on him with a Poisoned Strike.
Hawkeye fails to hit Baron von Strucker in Close Combat, from height.
Robot KO’s Falcon, freeing Crossbones to blast away from height with Trigger Man. Crossbones shoots at Iron Man twice, landing one wound.

Round 4: Initiative HYDRA Terrorist Cell. Winter Soldier marks Cap for death, but can’t get around that pesky shield. Viper KO’s Iron Man.
Cap advances and tosses his shield, failing to hit Viper and Robot, but putting two wounds on Strucker.
Robot inflicts three wounds on Hawkeye from height. He has Viper engage Cap and hit him for one wound, then make it two with Poisoned Strike.
Iron Man had OM2.
Robot KO’s Hawkeye. He has Winter Soldier mark Cap for death and Cap takes one wound.

Round 5: Initiative Avengers. Cap circles Viper and engages Robot and Baron von Strucker. He fails to KO Viper.
Winter Soldier fails to hit Cap with his mark for death, Viper fails to hit him with an attack, but Poisoned Strike hits Cap for a fourth wound.
Cap goes with his shield, KO’ing Viper, but failing to hit Strucker or Robot.
Robot KO’s Cap, Winter Soldier goes into Cryogenic Stasis, and Crossbones advances and fails to hit Black Panther in two attempts.
Cap had OM3.

Round 6: Initiative Black Panther, who advances.
Robot fires down on Black Panther and misses. Crossbones shoots twice from height and finishes Black Panther off.

Unit Summary: That’s the second big win for Crossbones. He’s been in some good armies, with solid figures like Red Skull and Robot, but even so, he pairs best with those types of figures, and he makes what they do better by adding a pretty solid ranged attack to what they do. He’s not the sole reason his teams did so well (they also had decent dice luck, it seems) but he’s feeling a bit undercosted as is to me.

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): Inflicted (5) wounds on (Iron Man (1) and Black Panther (4))
• TRIGGER MAN: Used for the double attack (3) times.
• BRUTALITY: Used to subtract defense (1) times.
• HUMAN SHIELD: Never used, as he was never attacked from range.
• Damage Taken: None.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Baron von Strucker with 3/5 Life, and Robot and Crossbones with Full Life win.

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[japes]

Whoa..how much of those massacres were results of Crossbones?

edit: Doesn't actually look like much. 9 wounds in two games and not much else contributed.

The only games he comes off as undercover are with Robot or tea.ed with penguin II and hired guns. In general he looks about where most double ranged attacker's are but his double attack isn't an always thing.

Not saying you are wrong just when a figure only does 4 damage in a game where his only real use is damag ing things, to hear the phrase undercosted seems off.

[IAmBatman]

His damage was timely, though, and helped finish things off. It's not that he himself is that tough, but that he's a solid and cheap addition to already good things that makes their strengths stronger.

[Yodaking]

I'm a little troubled that he never seems to use the human shield power.

[MrNobody]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

I'm a little troubled that he never seems to use the human shield power.

I noticed that as well. Still soaking in the data here, but thanks Bats!