The Book of Sir Soundwave

[Lazy Orang]

Is it worth making his class Knight? Even if it's a bonus class through a power?

[Tornado]

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

Oh, something I was thinking on. I'm probably going to change his personality to Enthusiastic since that's what Mikey (the ninja turtle) has and Soundwave is fairly similar to him.

Unless we want to go whole hog into silly and start having a 'Gnarly' personality ready for when we do Bill and Ted.

We already have a TARDIS, so that feels halfway to Bill and Ted.

[johnny139]

Tough to say on the "sir" thing. Really, to match precedent, it would be Sir Soundwave with a regular "Soundwave (AU)" secret identity, matching other characters with titles - General Ross, Commissioner Gordon, so on. I can't imagine there ever being relevant "target Soundwave you control" mechanics, but I also can't imagine diving into AU Soundwaves to begin with, so clearly I have a limited imagination!

Don't mind a goofy personality here, but Enthusiastic works fine too.

Some slightly funky wording in the powers, but nothing that can't be fixed in editing. Is the first power meant to be "knocked away by sound waves" movement, or "confused and disoriented" movement? Thinking for, like, size limits and stuff.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

Is it worth making his class Knight? Even if it's a bonus class through a power?

I don’t really see a reason to. Like the title is not something that really comes up or that he uses to influence people or whatnot, its more just a silly background thing that happened. I think Entertainer more or less works for his class and gives him some buddies that I like thematically, so Knight would have to be coming from a power and we don’t have one already on the card that we could attach that text to.

Originally Posted by johnny139

Tough to say on the "sir" thing. Really, to match precedent, it would be Sir Soundwave with a regular "Soundwave (AU)" secret identity, matching other characters with titles - General Ross, Commissioner Gordon, so on. I can't imagine there ever being relevant "target Soundwave you control" mechanics, but I also can't imagine diving into AU Soundwaves to begin with, so clearly I have a limited imagination!

Don't mind a goofy personality here, but Enthusiastic works fine too.

Some slightly funky wording in the powers, but nothing that can't be fixed in editing. Is the first power meant to be "knocked away by sound waves" movement, or "confused and disoriented" movement? Thinking for, like, size limits and stuff.

Yeah I think I’m going to add the Soundwave (AU) as his ‘secret’ identity. I think there’s a Monitor or something designed planned with a general ‘dudes with the same name’ synergy power or something.

Having a ‘Soundwave Corps’ is not out of the question as a thing that could happen in Transformers. Closest right now is a one off thing in a comic for fake Legos though.

There is already a team of nothing but Optimus Primes (and like one GI Joe) and a version of Optimus Prime (more or less) that would specifically lead dudes named Shockwave thanks to a nightmare ouroboros of back and forth references with another franchise. Anything is possible.

The first power is meant to be ‘confused and disoriented’ movement. But even if it was ‘knocked away by soundwaves’ movement (which is Cyberverse Soundwave’s thing) I wouldn’t want size limits given he’s a giant robot that fights other giant robots and all. Would be a little weird for a TF to toss around Godzilla or something, but we don’t have a clean way for them not to do that.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

OK, I made a few adjustments and did checks and lists, so advance to initial playtesting y/n?

COMPETITIVE REVIEW BOARD CHECKLIST

Spoiler Alert!

Efficiency- Check to see if your design is providing armies with turns/moves/etc. to a degree that would make it difficult or impossible for an opponent to keep up with your output.

1. Does your design allow itself or figures to move/attack/take a turn/etc. instead of/in addition to your normal turn for revealing an Order Marker? Is it granting these benefits to too broad a range of units? Does it combine with other powers to create overly long or powerful chains of actions?
Only for a tiny slice of units a limited number of times

2. Does your design allow you to take actions during an opponent's turn? Can it combine with other powers to create tediously long reactions to enemy actions or a restrictive environment?
Yes, but it's fairly limited

3. Does your design allow you to rearrange your Order Markers or otherwise bypass the costs of Order Marker requirements on the special powers of other figures?
No

4. Is your design doing anything outside of a player's turn, at the start or end of the round? Is the effect too powerful by itself or when combined with other powers?
No

5. Does your design have any powers that trigger anytime it moves as opposed to only when it moves normally on its turn? Will it be too efficient when combined with figures that grant extra moves to figures?
No

6. Is your design adding or subtracting from initiative rolls? Will it pair too easily with other figures that alter initiative or have powers triggering on the results of initiative rolls?
No

Potency- Check to see if your design is wounding/removing/etc. enemy figures, increasing the chances of other figures in your army doing so, or otherwise directly effecting the number of figures available to players to a degree that would make it difficult or impossible for an opponent to recover from.

1. Does your design have a chance to inflict wounds or destroy figures? Is it getting these chances too frequently or having to high a chance of success? Is the power balanced against expensive targets that can cause a massive swing in the game when destroyed?
His only 'auto-wound' power is roundabout and once a game

2. Is your design adding to the stats or 20-sided die rolls of other figures in your army? Is it a boosting a broad enough range of units effectively enough to become a 'mandatory' draft or inhibit future design space? Can it be combined with other boosts too easily?
No

3. Will your design benefit from stat boosts or other enhancement to an overpowering degree? Will it restrict future growth within its faction or point cost by limiting available boosts to others?
No

4. Does your design take control of enemy figures permanently or temporarily? Is it too difficult to for your opponent to regain control of their figure or recover from the losing the figure? Does the method of taking control expose the enemy figure to the powers of other figures in your army that can easily destroy it?
No

5. Can your design heal itself or others or revive itself or others? Is it doing so in a way that an opponent cannot hope to overcome in certain scenarios?
No

6. Does your design place enemy figures on its card or otherwise have an unconventional method of temporarily removing enemy figures from play? Will it guarantee your victory against a single remaining enemy figure?
No

Chicanery- Check to see if your design is preventing your opponent from taking actions with too much ease or is otherwise causing negative play experience through tactics that make your opponent feel you're 'not playing fair'

1. Does your design restrict the movement of enemy figures, or allow you to move enemy figures? Can it do so in a way that results in an unwinnable scenario for your opponent if they are down to one figure, posses only figures with a range of 1, etc.? Can your design easily combine with other figures to greatly impede enemy figures or otherwise gain an excessive advantage?
He can only move things a tiny bit once per game

2. Does your design effect/change the placement of an enemy's Order Markers, or remove their Order Markers entirely? Can it force Order Markers to go onto cards that have no figures on the battlefield? Can your design easily combine with other figures to completely dictate the placement of an enemy's Order Markers or remove all of their Order Markers?
No

3. Does your design inhibit your opponent from attacking your figures or make attacking a losing proposition? Are there scenarios or combinations that make your opponent totally unable to harm your figures through attacking?
He can punish attacking a bit, but nothing severe

4. Does your design directly negate the powers of enemy figures or otherwise ignore them in a way that can completely disrupt the opponent's strategy or leave them feeling like they are stuck playing figures without special powers?
No

5. Does your design become overly powerful in a podded group of figures, or provide significant benefit to your army without leaving your Start Zone?
You can keep him in your start zone and still do stuff, but I wouldn't say it's crazy impressive.

6. You can attack your own figures in Heroscape, does your design have any powers that will trigger off of doing so or otherwise wounding/destroying your own figures? Is this intentional on your part? Will the design be too efficient or potent when doing so?
Nothing to gain here

CONSISTENCY CHECKLIST (SHORT FORM)

Spoiler Alert!

Consistency Concerns
Name and Identity
Verify character is named in a way that is clear, accurate and feels consistent with the way other characters are named.
Verified

Uniqueness and Type
Verify that the power text reflects the listed uniqueness and type, that the uniqueness fits the character, and that squad size is listed for squads.
Verified

Left Box
If the character's species, class or personality is reused, verify that the character feels thematically consistent with other figures that have that species, class or personality. If they are not reused, verify that there is no pre-existing species, class or personality that would make more sense.
Verified

Size and Height
Verify that the listed size and height are accurate. Standing the mini up next to a stack of tiles, and a few other minis of various sizes, is encouraged.
Verified

Super Strength and Flying
Verify that these special powers are present if they make sense, and not if they don't.
Verified

New Powers - Names
Verify that any new powers are not using power names identical to, or very similar to, pre-existing powers. Verify that any new powers are actually new and not old powers with new names.
Verified

New Powers - Effects
Verify that the effect and timing of all new powers is clear. Verify that any logical immunities, benefits, or weaknesses (whether those be necessary for thematic or mechanical reasons) are implemented: consider whether defensive powers that work against normal attacks should also work against special attacks, whether or not a power has an elemental component that some figures should resist, and whether or not unliving figures (such as Undead and Androids) should be affected.
Verified

Reused Powers
Verify that the design is reusing powers in place of creating new ones, where reused powers could implement the same theme and mechanics with no differences or only trivial differences. Verify that any reused powers have the correct text.
Verified

Power Level
Verify that the character's movement, attack, range, and defense (in conjunction with any special powers that enhance those stats) feel consistent with the capabilities of characters with analogous powers and abilities. Verify that the character falls into a similar point range to characters with comparative powers and abilities.
Verified

[MrNobody]

Yea

[tcglkn]

Yea

[Ronin]

yea

[Tornado]

Yea

[Yodaking]

yea

[Soundwarp SG-1]

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Sir Soundwave @320 points

Set 1
Map: Island Plane Crash (No E-Glyph)
Units: Heavy Metal Machine: Sir Soundwave (320), Ravage (110), Laserbeak (140), Robot (210), Vision (285), Electro (135)- 1200 total vs Marvels of Asgard: Ms. Marvel (350), Thor (430), Beta Ray Bill (420)- 1200 total

Spoiler Alert!

Results:
Game 1: Thor with 4 life, Beta Ray 2.
Game 2: Vision with 4 life.
Game 3: Beta Ray with 2 life.


Basically just tossing him into a relatively generic army that has pieces that can enable solid uses of IHNMYIMR and can get something from his Calvary moves. It was decent enough. Soundwave is definitely a bit more of an incremental value dude than most things in his point cost, but I felt like he contributed to his team and he's not like a terrible attacker when it comes down to that.

IHNMYIMR is a neat flashy once per game thing, but it never did anything back breaking or the like. It's mainly useful as a threat you can hold over peoples' heads to influence positioning. Calling in the Calvary is useful, but it has enough limits to it that I'm not concerned about it. It's definitely not on the level of Angel or whatnot. Eject is nice, but Regular Soundwave gets better use out of it since he can keep bonding afterward with Relay Orders.

Overall, I'm not worried about him going forward so far.

Set 2
Map: Sewer Labyrinth
Units: Shout the Powers that Be: Sir Soundwave (320), Ravage (110), Doctor Strange (280), Laserbeak (140), Megatron (410), Regular Soundwave (340), Psyche x1 (50) - 1620 total vs Wilson's Wreckoning: Wrecking Crew (800), Kingpin II (230), Shocker (160), Clock King (90), X-23 (220), Fire Star (120)- 1620 total

Spoiler Alert!

Results:
Game 1: Kingpin and Clock King at full health.
Game 2: Kingpin, Clock King, Fire Star full health, X-23 1 life. This looks like a blow out, but if 23 had gone down the 'Sit in the Starting Zone' squad would have been toast.
Game 3: Doctor Strange with 4 life remaining


(the Psyche was put on Wrecker all 3 games)

Trying out a pretty high point game because in general that seems to be where Transformers want to play. Interestingly, with both Soundwaves, the Cassettes, and Doctor Strange II you can do some funky turn tossing around. It was pretty cool, but nothing broken given the Cassettes aren't terribly high powered and their good stuff is once per round.

Double Soundwave bros was generally a fun concept (though you do have to make sure regular Soundwave's once per game thing doesn't mess up Sir Soundwave's once per game thing). I felt pretty good about Sir Soundwave being a hair cheaper after comparing them one on one, especially since regular Soundwave in effect has an extra power over Sir Soundwave since his Relay Orders power has two separate things going on.

IHNMYIMR got a few finishing blows in during this set which was super helpful (though Regular Wave's once per game thing was a bit more impactful over all I think). Calling in the Calvary getting to move giant robots around is impressive looking and Megatron gets some decent use out of it. Regular Soundwave is a better Ejector, but splitting the tapes between them worked out pretty well.

Oh something I should mention here, I played Meg's 'Cower Before Megtron' as only triggering on the 'after moving and before attacking' 'phase' of his turn instead of triggering whenever he moves but if it's supposed to work off of other moves this team would be even better.

Overall: I like him, but you know, I like all Soundwaves. He's a bit tricky at the moment though because I'm not quite sure he has an army that truly makes him sing yet. I'd be kinda curious to see something like.. forgoing Cassettes and pairing him with some Flashes to really get the most of Calling in the Calvary or something like that but I still don't think that would break him by any means.

I never really tested him in an army that could massively swarm around people, which would probably be a good place to use IHNMYIMR, but in looking at the options to do stuff like that it seemed they usually either weren't that good or already had their own thing that could give similar results to IHNMYIMR for cheaper and more often. But if anything is breakable here I think it's probably IHNMYIMR and not Calling in the Calvary though.