Trial of Nightcrawler (custom by GreyOwl)

[whitestuff]

Originally Posted by Boromir_and_kermit

I think that 170 is pretty close, 160 might be closer with only 3 attack. PS. I can't seem to find my playtest session on this page...

Ditto to both of the above.

I've play-tested Nightcrawler twice. Here's the run down...

Team 1 was me - Nightcrawler (170), Nikita Agents (120), and the Marro Warriors (50) :- Total 340p
Team 2 was my brother-in-law - Spidey (160), Krav Maga Agents (100) and Crixus (90) :- Total 350p
Team 3 was wife - Q9 (180), Zettian Guard (70) and Retarius (90). :- Total 340p

The two other 150+ figures (1 in each army) where specifically chosen as figures that would be the most successful against Nightcrawler.
The map was smallish with lots of ruins. I'll put a pic up to give you and idea. *apologies for the SQUORPION quality pic*


Game 1
In the first game Nightcrawler Bamf!ed to the middle of the board and then onwards to start attacking Q9. In the 2nd round Q9 had no more turns so Nightcrawler didn't Bamf! away, instead inflicting his maximum number of attacks. Q9 was left with 1 life at the end of Nightcrawler's barrage. The Zettian Guards moved up slowly and found Nightcrawler in range. The first ZG attacked with two skulls, Nightcrawler (with 1 bonus for height) rolled 4 skulls, 1 shield and 1 blank. The second ZG rolls 3 shields. Nice. Smarting from the ZG's stinging attack, Nightcrawler then Bamf!ed away to take care of Spidey (who was ripping through the Marro) and reduced him to 1 life by keeping his distance. Spidey starts to chase Nightcrawler. On his last Bamf! before his death Nightcrawler rolls a 1 on the 20d and can only move 4 spaces away. Spidey Swing Lines in, close to Nightcrawler (but not close enough to trigger the Teleport Evade). Q9 slowly climbs a hill and is left only 1 space away from both Spidey and Nightcrawler. End of Round. Then Nightcrawler's luck disappeared. Next round and Spidey wins advantage and Web Attack's, rolling 2 skulls, Nightcrawler rolls... no shields. (Nightcrawler - 3 wounds, 1 life left). While licking his wounds from the vicious Spidey, Nightcrawler is then attacked from behind by the hurt and vengeful Q9. Q9 attacks with 2 skulls, Nightcrawler blocks both. Q9 attacks with 2 skulls, Nightcrawler blocks both. Q9 attacks with 3 skulls, Nightcrawler rolls 2 shields, taking his final wound and is out of the match. Spidey and Q9 had ganged up to the sorrow of Nightcrawler.
Lessons Learnt
1. The 20d roll is great for the Bamf! movement as it allows enough unpredictability to make Nightcrawler still vulnerable to chasers.
2. A couple of ruins or walls and Nightcrawler is one sneaky beggar.
3. Everytime my wife gets Q9, she kicks my butt.

Game 2
Team 1 was my brother-in-law - Nightcrawler (170), Nikita Agents (120), and the Marro Warriors (50) :- Total 340p
Team 2 was my wife - Spidey (160), Krav Maga Agents (100) and Crixus (90) :- Total 350p
Team 3 was me - Q9 (180), Zettian Guard (70) and Retarius (90). :- Total 340p

In the first game I was quite gun-ho with Nightcrawler which lead to some early wounds. My Brother-in-law (BiL) took a much more staid approach. He moved the Nikita Agents into position to protect Nightcrawler in various positions around the board. Spidey and the Krav were moving towards the centre of the board, as was Q9 and the Zettians (s...l...o...w...l...y). Spidey Web Attacked a Nikita (we call her Demi) and kills her. The Nikita fight back but Spidey-Senses are too good for them. Q9 moves towards the ruckus and finds the Krav in range. 2 dead krav later (Q9 rolled a single die 9 times, eventually 2 of the poor Krav couldn't pull a shield out of their collective hats) and Nightcrawler Bamf!s into action (my BiL has made it a rule that you have to exclaim "Bamf!" when you Bamf!), attacks Spidey, who Sensed the attack and Swing Lined away. Q9 climbs the hill, firing upon the Nikita Agents. Oprah blocks the first attack but bites the bullet (literally) on the second attack. Susan's (the last remaining Nikita) life is ripped away as she rolls no shields to block Q9's sad, solitary skull. Nightcrawler Bamf!s next to the Zettians, using a height advantage to attack Q9 (1 wound to Metal Mickey). After Nightcrawler's second attack, my BiL realizes that he has miscounted the number of attacks and has left Nightcrawler unprotected in the middle of the board, engaged to an enraged Q9. While Spidey beats Retarius senseless, Q9 turns and attacks Nightcrawler. When Nightcrawler finally gets a chance to limp away, he does so with only 1 life left. ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY Q9!! Nightcrawler Bamf!s as far as he can away from Q9 and starts to pummel Crixus, which proves to be a difficult prospect. Spidey moves away from the inert body of Retarius and starts to track down Nightcrawler. The damage of miscounted attacks has unnerved Nightcrawler who Bamf!s to hide after damaging Crixus with 1 wound. Q9 mounts the apex of the hill and turns the Marro into hapless victims. Spidey moves closer to Nightcrawler who in turn was attempting to hurt the Zettians (never successful). Nightcrawler has not been paying attention to the trap that has been set by Spidey and Q9. Nightcrawler finds that in order to Bamf! out of danger, he needs to roll higher than a 16, which he fails to do. Accepting his demise, Nightcrawler Bamf!s into Spidey and attacks for all he is worth. Spidey's Senses fail him twice, leading to his death. As Nightcrawler revelled in his small victory, Q9 wiped him from the board.
Lessons Learnt
1. Always remember to count Nightcrawler's attacks carefully.
2. Those playing Nightcrawler needs to have board awareness so that Nightcrawler doesn't get trapped to easily.
3. How good is Q9?

Originally Posted by GreyOwl

What if I keep his points at 170 and bump his life up to 5? Or maybe keep his life as is and raise his attack by 1?

A 5 life or an extra attack would justify 170p in my mind. Without either then probably 160p.

This guy is close to the stamp...

[whitestuff]

If anyone has any other play-test, pm me the link. Thanks

[Boromir_and_kermit]

I think because of the triple attack, I would raise the life by one (to five) and that would be 170 no probs. Also it would give him the lastability against ranged figures (whom he can't BAMF! away from until his turn).

Very thorough playtest sessions whitestuff!!! Great job.

I just had another game with Nightcrawler and he was brutal!

We just had a pure supers game this time.

Captain America and Iron Man VS. Doctor Doom and NIGHTCRAWLER

The first turn saw Nightcrawler cautiously move forward and BAMF! onto a high spot. He was happy with the location so his two extra attacks went begging. Cap and Iron man moved forward, as did Dr.Doom

The next turn saw Doom and Cap exchange blows, causing 1 wound each. Iron man advanced, Nightcrawler BAMF!ed in and attacked once, then BAMFed away... I love that ability. No damage yet.

Doom and Cap exchanged blows with no results. Ironman could get Nightcrawler in range (BAMFED away too far) Nightcrawler BAMFed in with height advantage, attacked, 1 wound on Iron man, second attack, 2 wounds on Iron Man.

Next round saw Doom off Captain America, Nightcrawler take a wound from Iron Man and then saw Nightcrawler take out Ironman with 3 skulls on 4 dice. Iron man rolled skulls. Lucky rolls, maybe??? But Nightcrawler was still on 3 life and with his BAMF! ability, he is hard to lock down.

After this game, I would be happy with 170 or 160. His ability to move really makes him a powerful character. 170 and give him 1 more life. (Then he's the same life as Spiderman, but with more movement options) With the lack of range, 170 seems right.

After a decision of the points is made, this guy is getting my stamp.

Congrats on a great custom mate!!!

Ben.

[rdhight]

My Marvelscape arrived today! I playtested Nightcrawler against Kaemon, Spidey, Venom, and his weight's worth of a couple squad armies. Full report later... short version: He. Is. So. Much. Fun.

For a figure that's going to be blazing into enemy start zones and onto glyphs all over the place, and seldom giving up height advantage even to fliers, he feels fair to me. Non-annoying. The very real possibility of teleporting only 4 spaces on that third attack, combined with 4 life, make him almost as big a risk for his own side as for the opponent. If you always had to slowly grind him down, or if he was reliably dealing too much damage over and over, he would really make the other players sick and tired of seeing him.

You don't need to change a thing except for dropping the points to 160 or less. Honestly, I think 3 attack and 4 life with 5 defense is perfect. He definitely doesn't need 4 attack or 5 life to bulk him up to a solid 170-pointer. Just as with the Airborne's 2 defense, his fragility is part of the fun, and I think 150-160 with current stats is the best place for him. Probably 160. But follow the example of the Rechets and AE and don't take away the uncertainty that should go along with fielding an ultra-high-mobility figure.

I really like the skill-testing decisions his powers force on both his player and the opposing player. He deserves my stamp ASAP, but I continue to be convinced that 170 is just a little too high.

Very nice work, GreyOwl.

[Boromir_and_kermit]

Well, shall we agree to leave as is then and put the points at 160?? Then we can stamp away ???

[GreyOwl]

Originally Posted by whitestuff

my BiL has made it a rule that you have to exclaim "Bamf!" when you Bamf!

We do this, too. It is so much fun, that it should officially be a rule on the card!

As for changing his life/attack/points, we have 2 judges voting for bumping the life up to 5 and leaving the points at 170, and one judge for leaving the stats as is and dropping his points to 160. Shall we go with the majority then? I kind of like him better with more life, too, but I could go either way. I have to remake the card anyway to changed "Swashbuckler" back to "Adventurer", so it wouldn't be any extra effort.

EDIT: Hmmm...just saw that Boromir_and_Kermit is okay with dropping the points to 160. So the opinion seems to be about even both ways. Which way to go?

[Boromir_and_kermit]

Only because he is rather wily (pronounced while-y... like the coyote ) and hard to lock down. Personally he becomes a safer option with the extra life at 170, but is a real nice risk reward trade off at 160... it's too hard!!!!! I'm happy either way. What would you prefer GreyOwl... it's your custom I think my final stance (for this moment in time ) is that leave him as is and put his points at 160.

The last few games I ran with him, if I played him cleverly, he was able to get clear of danger easily enough for his 4 life to not become an issue. The only thing he needs to worry about is ranged attacks... yeah, keep him as is and put his points 160 I think.

EDIT: I'm happy either way really. I just need to find a figure for him!!!!!

Cheers,
Ben.

[rdhight]

Originally Posted by GreyOwl

EDIT: Hmmm...just saw that Boromir_and_Kermit is okay with dropping the points to 160. So the opinion seems to be about even both ways. Which way to go?

Remember that as a mutant, he'll probably see some nice synergies come his way later. Shouldn't make him too tough to start with if he's ready for Cyclops, Professor X, etc. to appear and boost him. Already, he strikes me as a natural draft with TNT Magneto because of Revolutionary Action.

[GreyOwl]

I'm okay with dropping his points to 160. That will make him more likely to be drafted, anyway. I'll make a new card with the point change and the change of class, and post it momentarily.

[GreyOwl]

Okay, here's the new card. Only changes were dropping his points to 160 and changing his class to "Adventurer".

[rdhight]

Not much else to say but

[whitestuff]

What can I say? Nightcrawler is a great addition. He gets my stamp. Excellent work GreyOwl