The Book of Red Skull (II)

[Yodaking]

Yeah, when the X was removed and not counted, he needed all the OM just to get up to 3 re-rolls. But now with the X getting counted, I can see the need to limit it as just two reroll for everyone from the start of the round is a lot of dice being rerolled. Go ahead and run you second test with the cap of 2 rerolls and I'll update the SP.

[Lord Pyre]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

Yeah, when the X was removed and not counted, he needed all the OM just to get up to 3 re-rolls. But now with the X getting counted, I can see the need to limit it as just two reroll for everyone from the start of the round is a lot of dice being rerolled. Go ahead and run you second test with the cap of 2 rerolls and I'll update the SP.

[Lord Pyre]

Done! Sorry about the formatting. Firefox jacks everything up for some reason. I'll switch to Chrome to post any new playtests from now on.



Anyway, the changes make him feel much more balanced. He died extremely quickly to some bad rolls, it felt like, but not before using his boost to help Sinestro a ton. I almost want him to have a little more survivability, but I think in general the rerolls should be enough. I'm happy at 250 here so far. Maybe 240 (I just realized your SP shows 240 and I tested him at 250, whoops!). We're in the right ballpark either way.



I love the design. I'm surprised we don't utilize rerolls more often.

[Yodaking]

I use Firefox exclusively so I'm not sure what's going on for you. Thanks for the tests and feedback. I noticed you ran him at 250 in the first one, figured that was just how the points worked out. Good to hear you think he could come down to 240, didn't really want him to be the same price point as the first Red Skull.

[Lord Pyre]

My old laptop did the same thing constantly on firefox. I'm on my newer desktop and was thinking it was just the laptop. So weird.

[japes]

Originally Posted by Lord Pyre

My old laptop did the same thing constantly on firefox. I'm on my newer desktop and was thinking it was just the laptop. So weird.

just admit you like the purple...

[Lord Pyre]

Originally Posted by japes

just admit you like the purple...

In my document I have all the text I never change in purple so I can see where to put my notes easier. I made it purple because I like the purple.

[Arkham]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Red Skull (II)

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 1
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units:
Red Skull(240), Gorgon(300), Valkyrie(350) (890)
vs.
Cap(240), Ms. Marvel(350), Bane(190), Oracle(110) (890)

Spoiler Alert!

Normal Attack Damage:
R1T3: fails to wound Cap in 2 attacks from height.
R2T1: 1 wound on Cap in 2 attacks from height, kills him.

Servant of the Skull:
Chooses Gorgon.
R1T1: Moves Gorgon up.
R2T1: Gorgon engages Cap, puts 4 wounds on him with his SA.

New World Order:
R1T3: re-rolls 2 dice on defense for Valkyrie, nets 1 more shield for 1 less wound.
R1T3: re-rolls 2 dice on attack, does not result in a wound.
• re-rolls 2 dice on attack, does not result in a wound.
R2T1: re-rolls 2 dice on Gorgon's SA, nets 1 additional skull for 1 wound.
R2T1: re-rolls 2 dice on attack, does not result in a wound.
• re-rolls 2 dice on attack, results in 1 additional skull for 1 wound.
R2T1: re-rolls 2 dice on defense for Valkyrie, nets 1 more shield, but she is still killed.
R2T2: re-rolls 1 die on attack for Gorgon, nets 1 more skull, results in 1 more wound on Bane.
R2T3: re-rolls 2 dice on attack for Gorgon, nets 2 more skulls, results in 2 more wounds on Ms. Marvel.
R2T3: re-rolls 2 dice on defense, nets 0 more shields.
R3T1: can't re-roll defense due to no revealed OMs

Notes:
R1T3: Ms. Marvel puts 5 wounds on Valkyrie.
R2T1: Ms. Marvel kills Valkyrie.
R2T2: Gorgon kills Bane.
R2T3: Gorgon puts 3 wounds on Ms. Marvel.
R2T3: Ms. Marvel puts 2 wounds on Red Skull.
R3T1: Ms. Marvel kills Red Skull.
R3T2: Ms. Marvel takes 1 wound from LEA, then puts 2 wounds on Gorgon.
R3T3: Ms. Marvel puts 2 wounds on Gorgon.
R3T3: Gorgon kills Ms. Marvel.
R4T2: Gorgon puts 2 wounds on Oracle.
R4T3: Oracle takes 1 wound from Gorgon's PS.
R4T3: Gorgon kills Oracle.


Gorgon with 4/6 wounds.

Close finish that saw a lot of influence from Red Skull for some good data. Felt like anyone's game, and Gorgon pulled out the victory in the end.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 2
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units:
Red Skull(240), Gorgon(300), Bane(190), Angel(90), (820)
vs.
Luke Cage(190), Iron Fist(260), Daredevil(200), Tigra(170) (820)

Spoiler Alert!

Normal Attack Damage:
R2T1: 1 wound on Iron Fist. (+2 from CT2 and +1 from Bane)
R3T1: 1 wound on Iron Fist. (+2 from CT2 and +1 from Bane)

Servant of the Skull:
R1T2: moves Gorgon.

New World Order:
R1T3: re-rolls 2 dice for Gorgon's SA, nets 0 skulls.
R1T3: re-rolls 2 dice for Gorgon's defense, nets 1 additional shield, resulting in 1 fewer wound.
R2T1: re-rolls 1 die on attack, nets 1 additional skull, resulting in 1 wound.
R2T2: re-rolls 1 die for Bane on defense, nets 1 additional shield, results in 1 fewer wound.
R2T2: re-rolls 1 die on defense, nets 0 shield.
R2T2: re-rolls 1 die for Bane's attack, nets 0 skull.
R2T3: re-rolls 1 die for defense, nets 1 additional shield, keeping himself alive by 1 life.
R3T1: re-rolls 1 die for attack, nets 1 additional skull, resulting in 1 wound on Fist.
R3T1: re-rolls 1 die for Bane's defense, nets 0 shield.
R3T1: re-rolls 1 die on defense, nets 0 shield.

Notes:
R1T3: Gorgon puts 1 wound on Luke Cage.
R1T3: Daredevil puts 2 wounds on Gorgon.
R2T1: Iron Fist takes 1 wound from Gorgon's PS, then heals 1 wound off Luke Cage. Luke Cage kills Gorgon(botch).
R2T2: Iron Fist puts 1 wound on Bane. Cage puts 1 wound on Red Skull.
R2T2: Bane puts 1 wound on Iron Fist.
R2T3: Cage puts 3 wounds on Red Skull.
R3T1: Fist puts 1 wound on Bane, then heals 1 wound. Cage kills Red Skull.
R3T2: Bane puts 1 wound on Iron Fist, then kills him with his Back Breaker.
R3T2: Daredevil puts 3 wounds on Bane in 2 attacks. Cage kills Bane.
R3T3: Daredevil puts 1 wound on Angel. Cage kills Angel.


Luke Cage, Daredevil, and Tigra unwounded.

Bit of a big loss here. Gorgon dropped early, which really hurt Red Skull's potential, both in the double turn once per round, as well as the X-OM reveal upping the dice re-rolls.

___________________________________________________________

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY:
Pretty interesting design. I like the method of leadership, though I feel choosing 1 Terrorist at the start of the game feels a bit unnecessary for already such a small faction. Leaving it open to any Terrorist when he reveals the X, would give it just a tad bit more longevity IMO without really affecting his balance. Sort of suffers when his 1 Terrorist drops early. Dig him overall though, as well as the dice re-rolling. Gives you enough reasoning to use him at least once per round, and I like the Cap mirroring that offers. I could see him at 230-240, depending on the overall performances.

[Yodaking]

Thanks Arkham! With really only a couple of good options for the Terrorist bonding at the moment anyway, and the X reveal requirement limiting it to once per round, how do others feel about opening it up to any Terrorist you control instead of just one guy?

While I'd be okay with it opened up to multiple terrorist, that could lead to some fun builds in the future as more Terrorists get made with him in mind, I do have a small concern that new forces end up making him worth more points in the end. I also kind of like the theme behind just having one guy he 'trusts' to team up with directly. Plus the idea of losing that one ally lowering his effectiveness with the re-rolls just a bit as a way to keep him in check just a little bit. If you are having troubles killing him, you can instead try to kill his goon and chip away at his plans. I'm willing to go either way on it though, if people want to see more Terrorist heavy armies for him I can live with that.

[IAmBatman]

If you are wanting him to be more leader than tank, opening up might make sense.

[Arch-vile]

It seems like a pretty good upgrade, allowing Skull to bond with more figures and activate the one reroll more reliably. If you think he could use the boost go for it, otherwise it may end up raising his cost. Either way is a reasonable direction.

[Arkham]

Personally, I'd say 230 without the change, 240 with it. Based only on my experience of course. He's quite crippled once his goon falls, which if early like in my game 2, really limits his usefulness.