SoA's Customs: ULLAR CAVALRY FACTION, 4/24

[Lazy Orang]

I've never seen any Mad Max films, but still, I absolutely love this guy as a post-apocalyptic mutant. Warhulk or Marauder sound best to me for classes - Warrior and Champion sound just a touch too generic.
Psychotic works for a personality, but my experience with C3G is kind of making me want to suggest swapping it out for Unstable or Insane.
Really glad you kept him on Earth - I feel like Arcturus risks becoming too much of a melting pot and losing its identity (I think it's kind of already there, really) and I feel like there's so much cool stuff you can pull from Earth outside the usual unaltered Humans, particularly when pulling from the future (something I've liked to dabble in a bit, too) or prehistoric periods.
Awesome work, chap.

[Son of Arathorn]

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

I've never seen any Mad Max films, but still, I absolutely love this guy as a post-apocalyptic mutant. Warhulk or Marauder sound best to me for classes - Warrior and Champion sound just a touch too generic.
Psychotic works for a personality, but my experience with C3G is kind of making me want to suggest swapping it out for Unstable or Insane.
Really glad you kept him on Earth - I feel like Arcturus risks becoming too much of a melting pot and losing its identity (I think it's kind of already there, really) and I feel like there's so much cool stuff you can pull from Earth outside the usual unaltered Humans, particularly when pulling from the future (something I've liked to dabble in a bit, too) or prehistoric periods.
Awesome work, chap.

Thanks for stopping by, LO!

I think for now, I'm going to settle on Warhulk, mostly because it's so darn awesome and I'd like to turn the theme of this design up to 11 wherever I can (without turning it into an absolute caricature).

The many flavors of Arctorus is its own issue, something I'd like to get typed up someday (long story short, I see its main themes as Steampunk, Mos Eisley Sci-Fi, and horrific Fantasy). So keeping post-apocalyptic dieselpunk on Earth is something I can get behind, especially since can fit there alongside cyberpunk, and it allows me to tie Motley Max into Mad Max.

And speaking of Mad Max, @johnny139 's idea of Motley Max's chains being an artifact from Valhalla itself, like Sgt. Drake's Katana of Thorian or Agent Carr's Sword of Reckoning, gave me an idea that might be too much. Instead of Spiked Chains of Abaddon, I'm going to call them the Dread Chains of Valhalla. If you don't get it, the most recent (and my favorite) Mad Max movie shows a cult of warriors who believe that when they die, they'll live again in Valhalla (because life in the nuked-out wasteland sucks). It might be a little on-the-nose, but come on- it's right there! I'd be silly not to at least take a shot!

[Tornado]

Fun design. Would be cooler though if they were Dredd Chains.

[Pumpkin_King]

Fury Road is my all-time favorite movie. Love this guy so much.

[Son of Arathorn]

I've got the miniature for Motley Max in-hand now, and it's exactly as awesome as it looked in the photos. Fantastic sculpt and paint job- I especially appreciate that they picked out the motley pattern on his pants.

Whether because of a bad photo, or the miniature was bent in shipping, it turns out that the chains that I thought might cause denial issues actually aren't a problem at all.

The size of the miniature isn't what I thought it would be- I was prepared for Large bordering on Huge, but it's actually more like Medium bordering on Large. In a pinch, it could maaaybe squeeze onto a large D3 single-spaced base (the legs are spread out in a lunge), but I'm more inclined to put him on a small peanut base, which will slow him down in certain situations, but will also give him more spaces from which to grab figures and flail at them with the Chains of Valhalla.

Despite his being smaller than I expected, Max is still very imposing. I actually like that he's big relative to other humans, but not unbelievably large. If he were standing up straight, he'd be an easy Large 6, but thanks to the aforementioned lunging posture, the miniature itself is exactly 5 levels high. I'll be updating the original post with the relevant information.

[Pumpkin_King]

The size is in my opinion good news. Makes it more believable.

[Son of Arathorn]

So... fixer units. I've made a lot of them. Like, a lot. I think it's a natural impulse, when you predominantly think about double-blind tournament meta, to look at units that can't compete in the tournament meta and think they're underpowered. And it's natural to think they just need a little help. Problem is, they can (and in my case frequently do) end up feeling tacked-on and unfaithful to the spirit of the card you're trying to make viable.

So these days, when I draft up a unit that happens to "help" an underused unit, I try to be extra careful about staying in line with the theme of the units its supposed to work with. What makes that unit special? What aspects of it can be amplified? Which weaknesses can be left intact? How do I avoid making it just another bland B+ tourney-viable unit, and keep the bits that made it unique while building on them?

Enter Connor MacDirk; for clan and highlands!


The figure used is a Pathfinder Battles Hakon, Iconic Skald, from the Iconic Heroes Set 4 pack.

NAME = CONNOR MACDIRK
GENERAL = JANDAR
PLANET = EARTH
SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = CHAMPION
PERSONALITY = WILD
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM/5

LIFE = 6
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 4
POINTS = 110

WILD BATTLE FRENZY
After a Connor MacDirk, or a Wild Human figure you control that is within 2 clear sight spaces of Connor MacDirk attacks an adjacent figure with a normal attack, you may roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 16 or higher, that figure may attack again with a normal attack.

CLAN PROTECTION
When a Wild Human you control that is adjacent to Connor MacDirk receives 1 or more wounds from an attacking figure who is not adjacent, you may instead place those wound markers on Connor MacDirk.


Synergy and Benefits: As a Wild Human Champion, Connor receives bonding from the MacDirk Warriors, Dreadgul Raiders, and Knights of Weston. Obviously, he's designed to be more useful to two of those squads than the other one.

Design Philosophy: Connor MacDirk is explicitly a patch on the MacDirk Warriors, who have a hard time matching up to other melee squads by virtue of their low defense; rather than buff that outright, I tried to maximize the MacDirk's offensive potential by giving them extra attacks before they die, and redirecting wounds dealt to them to a multi-life hero. If Connor's chosen as the hero for Highland Fury, redirecting wounds from the Warriors to Connor also gives them an attack buff. At least, until he dies. I wager Connor's a tad underpriced as-is, but when you're competing with Alastair MacDirk, you kind of have to be.
He's not a bad take with the Dreadgul Raiders, either, since he can give them the extra attacks and second chances, too. However, at 1 fewer attack per order marker, the MacDirks have better odds to nail another attack with Wild Battle Frenzy. The flip side is that, with 1 extra defense die on the Warriors, the Raiders might not rely on Clan Protection as much, and so might have their Champion around a bit longer.

The Miniature: I love this miniature, and have had it for a long while. However, the pack it comes in isn't exactly cheap (30-45 bucks) and comes with 5 other figures. Those figures are great, and have potential (there's a gunslinger and a swashbuckling pirate in there), but suffice to say I'm not holding my breath. If Connor proves fun enough to warrant pursuing him with the SoV, I might look into a repainted Tarn Viking Warrior as an option.

[Pumpkin_King]

I've been wanting to use this mini for a long time too. Well done.

[superfrog]

If it was my design I'd make Wild Battle Frenzy also affect Connor MacDirk. But it's a cool idea, and not the worst bandaid I've ever seen

[Son of Arathorn]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin_King

I've been wanting to use this mini for a long time too. Well done.

Originally Posted by superfrog

If it was my design I'd make Wild Battle Frenzy also affect Connor MacDirk. But it's a cool idea, and not the worst bandaid I've ever seen

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Letting Connor be affected by his own Frenzy is a neat wrinkle, I like it!

One thing I’m unsure of with this design is reconciling the theme of the left box and the power set. I wonder if anyone would object to a Wild, frenzied Highlander stepping in front of enemy fire to shield other wild, frenzied highlanders (or Vikings). It makes sense to me, but I drafted the thing.

[Ninja Status]

You might've just given me a new repaint idea, Tarn Viking exclusive would be neat. I dig the card too

[flameslayer93]

I really dig Wild Battle Frenzy. Eating wounds for other MacDirks might be a bit weird, but I really think Wild Battle Frenzy has teeth.

Would MacDirks Defy Death (ripped from Parmenio) be a suitable band-aid power that hits the right themes?

SoV potential here.