The Book of Black Lantern (William Hand)

[IAmBatman]

That looks pretty cool. Maybe Devourer for the class? Not really sure there.

One thing I'm wondering is if it wouldn't be better to just put Blackest Night on one or two figures to free up space on the rest of the faction? Or would that make it too hard to play the others by themselves and be a bad idea, since they'd need one of the figures with Blackest Night to charge up?

Or is everyone content with the idea of all Black Lanterns pretty much having variations of those two powers and just one unique power?

Also, Tickle, do you remember what Griff had for Nekkron or Scar at all? I don't have anything written up for either, I've realized.

[IAmBatman]

Hmm, their class could also be REANIMATE or CORPSEMEN

[Lord Pyre]

Revenant was used on Crow, and is pretty cool.

[IAmBatman]

Revenant's a bit too ghostly/romantic/non-malicious here. These things are evil incarnate.

[Lord Pyre]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Revenant's a bit too ghostly/romantic/non-malicious here. These things are evil incarnate.

Non-malicious? I've seen it used for straight-up zombies in various media.

Too bad zombie minis are hard to come by, I would totally just repaint a bunch!

And how powerful are they? My assumption would be really weak comparitively, being basically super-zombies.

[IAmBatman]

I think Tickle pegged them pretty well in his write up. In fact, I think Johnny and he are spot on - the best way to start this is with a Black Lantern Uncommon. It'll let me test them as an army, and then we can add on uniques from there.

I have two questions that need resolving first, though (which maybe I can take to the faction thread I just started):

1. Does all the text I have on Black Hand here fit on a card?
2. Are we OK (presuming the text is workable) with Black Lantern and Blackest Night both being standard powers on Black Lanterns? Or does that leave too little room for differentiation?

[A3n]

The text fit & it will be slightly larger (just) than Dr Doom.

I like the design. I think this will need quite a few playtests to really ensure it doesn't break the Undead faction. Tornado will be happy .

[IAmBatman]

Awesome! Good to know it fits (though barely). That's enough to encourage me to make Blackest Night not go on all Black Lanterns, just a few select ones. The ability to charge up the batteries alone can be a shorter power put on some of the others that will need more individual power text, like a Martian Manhunter.

[IAmBatman]

I'm putting this guy on hold until Tickle gets his Black Lantern Recruit LD wrapped up (basically so he can be tested with them and his powers can be updated to be consistent with the final versions of theirs).

[A3n]

Sounds like a plan .

[IAmBatman]

I'm taking this off hold in hopes of getting it done in time for the August wave and because the Black Lanterns are a vote away from Final Editing.

[IAmBatman]

C3G INITIAL PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT (BLACK LANTERN (WILLIAM HAND))

- THEME TEST/ Check to see if there are any powers or stats on the test unit card that does not accurately reflect the theme or likeness of what the character would and could do. Also consider destructible objects, and whether or not this characters powers should affect them.
PASS

- MIRROR TEST/ Check to see if the unit were played against itself, if there would be any loops that would upset the balance of the Game.
PASS

- BONDING TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing Bonding abilities to make sure there are no continual Bonding possibilities that do not stop appropriately or do not stop at all. This is to prevent loops in Bonding.
PASS

- SYNERGIES TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing synergies to make sure there are no factors that could break the game by making any unit to powerful or too weak.
PASS

- POWER CHECK/ Consider the test unit and all existing units and all glyphs to compare to and check for any powers that could be over amplified and break the game. Each power must define when it takes place, who or what it affects, and What are the stipulations on the power if there are any.
PASS

- FUN TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play.
PASS

- FUN COMPETITIVE TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play against.
PASS

- DRAFTING TEST/ Consider whether or not this design is worth drafting.
PASS After adjusting Black Hand 13 to “before attacking” instead of “instead of attacking” and dropping him to 370.

- USAGE TEST/ Consider whether or not all of the powers on this card were used or at least usable.
PASS

- STRATEGY TEST/ Consider whether or not the design offers any real strategy or interesting tactics to the overall game.
PASS It's fun risking forgoing Black Hand 13 wounds in hopes of finishing an enemy with Black Hand's normal attack in hopes of triggering Blackest Night 9.

Heavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 360ish?
- Give a brief overview. For ease of reading, I'll be referring to Black Lantern (William Hand) as Black Hand throughout this test sheet. Fewer targets makes it harder for Black Lantern to get markers on and earn his cost back. One-on-one he will probably never feel 400, but he might in armies, especially with other Black Lanterns. For now, I'm considering trying him at 360, since if he can't get a marker, he's not even as tough as Black Canary.

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand vs. Black Adam (380)
This was an easy victory for Black Adam. With no ability to use two of his powers and the threat of taking wounds if he rolled less than 18 on his Black Hand 13 power, Black Hand relied on his normal stats, which are so much lower than Black Adam's.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Black Adam with Full Life wins Turn 5, Round 1.

TEST 2
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand vs. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) (350)
Green Lantern failed all three Fearless Charge rolls here, but one-on-one his superior stats won out. Black Hand hit both of his Black Hand 13 rolls and with a little more support to help him survive, could have finished Hal off.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Green Lantern with 2 Wounds and Full Batteries wins Turn 1, Round 2.

TEST 3
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand vs. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) (350)
This one went down in very similar fashion. It's just tough to price Black Lanterns in heavy hitters, since they need to get in kills before their power kicks in.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Green Lantern with 1 Wound and Full Batteries wins Turn 1, Round 2.

TEST 4
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand vs. Atom (50), Green Lantern (Hal) (350) (400)
Black Hand had trouble getting an edge here. Atom and Green Lantern stole height early and Black Hand couldn't crack Atom for a wound, spoiling his attempts to get in a quick kill. Then Green Lantern just demolished him from height.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Green Lantern with Full Life and Full Batteries and Atom with Full Life win Turn 5, Round 1.

TEST 5
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand vs. Atom (50), Green Lantern (Hal) (350) (400)
Black Hand had a ton of dice luck here and managed to sneak in a round one kill on Atom. He hit his Blackest Night roll and put a marker on, but removed it right away the next turn due to Green Lantern's big attack. Before long, Green Lantern finished him off. Black Hand went two of two on Black Hand rolls and Green Lantern went zero of one on Fearless Charge rolls. Black Hand couldn't have had better dice luck and still lost big.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Green Lantern with 1 Wound and Full Batteries wins Turn 3, Round 2.

TEST 6
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand vs. Spoiler (50), Alfred (60), Robin (Jason Todd) (70), Robin (Damian Wayne) (80), Rorschach (140) (400)

Spoiler Alert!

I don't think Black Hand will show his true potential until he's paired with other Black Lanterns, but having multiple targets and rolling 3 of 4 for Blackest Night 9 sure helps. He got up to 3 wounds fairly quickly, so he put the first two markers on for protection (and shed them both by the time the game was done), then used the third to take over Jason Todd. He got one wound quickly from Damian's Deadly Shot, then killed Damian. Then he squared off with Alfred (who shotgunned Rorschach for a wound on accident) and Rorschach, taking them both out in Round 2. Then he took out Jason Todd in Round 3 and took him over, before putting all the wounds on Spoiler to win it.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Black Hand with 4 Wounds and no markers and Robin (Jason Todd) with 1 Wound win Turn 2, Round 5.

TEST 7
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand vs. Black Canary (190), Robin (Damian Wayne) (80), Rorschach (140) (400)
Ouch. Black Hand couldn't finish Robin off in time to roll for Blackest Night 9 before Black Canary went crazy with Fists of Fury, hitting 4 straight attacks, and was the followed by a two skull Deadly Strike from Robin.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? ?Black Canary and Rorschach both with Full Life and Robin with 2 Wounds win Turn 6, Round 1.

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Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 300?
- Give a brief overview. Black Hand hit 2 of 4 Blackest Night rolls but couldn't get timely kills in when he needed them in Round 2 to get more Markers and the Spear Volleys overwhelmed him.
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand vs. Amazon Warriors x4 (400)

Spoiler Alert!

.Black Hand took out three Amazon Warriors in Round 1 and got two quick Markers from Blackest Night rolls. However, in Round 2 the Amazons managed to get in three volleys with 9 attack, 8 attack, and 8 attack to make him shed the two markers and then take the last two wounds. He failed his only Blackest Night 9 roll of the round and failed to kill an Amazon Warrior attacking from height to get another chance.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Amazon Warriors with 8 of 12 figures left win Turn 6, Round 2.

_____________________________________________________________

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 460?
- Give a brief overview. .Kree Scouts couldn't get wounds in fast enough and Black Hand went 5 of 7 on Blackest Night rolls. He didn't roll on his eighth kill, as his markers were full already.
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand vs. Kree Scout x9 (360)

Spoiler Alert!

.Blackest Night just piled on faster than the Kree could counter with their attacks of 3. He got in one kill in Round 1, three each in Rounds 2 and 3, and two in Round 4. He had four markers by the end, so he would've been very tough to take out even if they started getting wounds. He healed 2 wounds in all, removing one marker to do so.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Black Hand with 4 Wounds and 4 Markers wins Turn 3, Round 4.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? Significantly less.
- Give a brief overview. Black Hand just didn't feel like he matched up with the other heavy hitters here. Before drastically lowering him, though, I'd like to try the following adjustments: lowering the Black Hand roll to 11+ and making it before attacking rather than instead of. That should give the power a bit more utility and make an Order Marker on him seem at least as worthwhile as one on the Black Lantern Recruits, as opposed to much less worthwhile like it is now.
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand (390), Black Lantern (uncommon) x4 (700), Oracle (110) (1200) vs. Green Lantern (Hal) (350), Blue Lantern (Bro'Dee Walker) (280), Jade (240), Sinestro (330) (1200)

Spoiler Alert!

The horde of Black Lanterns flew forward first against Green Lantern and Blue Lantern, but suffered the first casualty from their ranks due to early attacks from height. They managed to soften up both Lanterns, but Hal protected Saint Walker with his shield and Saint Walker healed Hal, and they finished off the Black Lantern Recruits before there were any kills (and thus any Blackest Night rolls). Black Hand moved in next and failed two Black Hand rolls before hitting Hal for one wound on an attack (with Oracle's help) and then finishing Hal off on a third Black Hand roll (but this didn't trigger Blackest Night). By now Jade was there and did recharge Hal once, but it wasn't enough. Sinestro came in next, while Black Hand was busy punching out a seriously drained Saint Walker, taking down his last two life. Black Hand hit the subsequent Blackest Night 9 roll, and got a marker, but Sinestro used a double special attack (burning a marker) to quickly dispatch of the Black marker and finish Black Hand off. After that, it was a simple matter of Sinestro burning a second marker to double special attack Oracle into dust.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Sinestro with Full Life and 2 Battery Markers and Jade with Full Life and 1 Battery Marker win Turn 2, Round 4.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 400+
- Give a brief overview. .That last adjustment is looking like overkill after this one, in which Black Hand runs roughshod over the X-Men without the Black Lanterns hitting their single Blackest Night 11 or Blackest Night 9 rolls, thus never getting a Black marker on any of their cards. Using Black Hand 11 a lot, Black Hand puts 3 wounds on Rogue, 4 wounds on Psylocke, and all 4 wounds on Professor X. I'm putting it back up to Black Hand 13 for next game.
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand (390), Black Lantern (uncommon) x4 (700), Oracle (110) (1200) vs. Professor X (220), X-23 (220), Psylocke (250), Gambit (210), Rogue (300) (1200)

Spoiler Alert!

This one was quick and fierce with Gambit and Psylocke leading the pack and quickly dispatching one Black Lantern in Round 1, followed by Gambit's death before he could ever use his special attack (probably needed more defensive figures in this army build). The ensuing Blackest Night 11 roll failed. Then Black Hand came into play as Rogue and Psylocke took out two more Black Lanterns, but he managed to put the last three wounds on Rogue and kill Professor X's Order Marker efficiency. Black Hand finished Rogue with a normal attack, but failed what would have been a huge Blackest Night 9 roll with him and one Black Lantern left. Once it was down to just Psylocke, Black Hand took several wounds, but rolled well enough on Black Hand 11 (5 of to take her down. After that, Professor X put up a valiant effort, but only mustered two wounds on a Black Lantern before Black Hand took him down.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Black Hand with 4 Wounds and no markers, one Black Lantern recruit with 2 Wounds and no markers, and Oracle with Full Life win Turn 3, Round 4.

_____________________________________________________________
Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 360?
- Give a brief overview. I like him as is. Unfortunately, the decision to use the black marker early to take over Martian Manhunter instead of protecting Black Hand was ill-fated. Ultimately, though, this was more a matter of Wonder Woman being too strong a counter for the entire Black Lantern Corps. I think this was closer than it looked. Black Hand only put one wound on Martian Manhunter before dying, but it was the final one, and he hit his Blackest Night 9 roll to take over MM and charge up his buddies.
Map: Custom
Units: Black Hand (390), Black Lantern (uncommon) x4 (700), Oracle (110) (1200) vs. Martian Manhunter (300), Wonder Woman (300), Green Lantern (Hal) (350), Flash (Barry) (250) (1200)

Spoiler Alert!

(I maintain this was closer than it looked. In Round 1 after the Black Lanterns lost one recruit but took over Martian Manhunter and charged everybody else up, it was looking good. But Green Lantern and Flash targeted Black Hand and his deadly Black Hand 13 ability (which he failed his only roll on in this game) and took him out quickly in Round 2. Then despite Martian Manhunter's best efforts and Black Lantern recruits slowly accruing wounds on Flash and making GL burn batteries to protect Flash's multiple attack, Wonder Woman started lassoing and one-shotting Black Lanterns and any chance they had disappeared.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Wonder Woman with Full Life, Green Lantern with 2 Wounds and 1 Battery Marker, and Flash with 3 Wounds win Turn 5, Round 4.