Ixe's Custom Units

[Ixe]

Originally Posted by Not User Name

I like how you round out what heroscape missed. Have you thought about Flag Bearers for Vakrill and Aquilla?

Glad to hear it. I certainly am a fan of cycles. A number of other designers have taken stabs at that very challenge but I have yet to give it a shot. I don't have a figure or build in mind yet but I'm sure I will get around to it eventually. I strive to design something new every week so any point of attack on a new design is something I look for. Thanks for commenting!

[Ixe]

I've seen customs like this one on the site before but that's no reason why I can't take a stab at it.

This is the Giant Caveweaver Spider from Pathfinder Miniatures- Heroes & Monsters.



NAME = Poisonspitter Spider
GENERAL = Auilla
PLANET = Toril
SPECIES = Arachnid
CLASS = Predator
PERSONALITY = Wild
SIZE = Large 4 (large single base)
COMMON HERO

LIFE = 1
MOVE = 7
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 4
POINTS = 30

CLIMBx3
When moving up or down levels of terrain, Poisonspitter Spider may triple its height.

POISON SPIT SPECIAL ATTACK
Attack 2. Range 3.
Small or medium figures roll 2 less defense against Poison Spit Special Attack.


The poisonspitter spider is a menace on the battlefield, able to hang back before rushing in and spewing its poison on an unsuspecting victim. As their

real world counterparts

real world counterparts

, the Poisonspitting Spider sprays a fluid combination of venom and webbing on its prey. While larger figures can more easily shrug off the poisonous webbing before it does too much damage, smaller figures can find themselves entangled and much more susceptible to the attack.

I have seen many other customs provide a simple bonding common hero for the Fyorlag spiders but I felt that was no reason I couldn't take a stab at the same problem. I wanted to make sure I had a distinct hero and wanted to focus on powers that made it compatible while still being distinct from other options and the squad itself. Poison spitting seemed like an interesting approach where I toyed with how or even if to represent that it is shooting both venom and webbing. I think this simple approach meets my goals nicely. I look forward to trying the lot of them alongside Estivara.

As always, comments are greatly appreciated.

[Scytale]

Halgo
I have to admit, I'm not thrilled about such a little giant from Feylund when Jotun sets a precedent, especially given plenty of other fantasy worlds to choose from. The name Halgo also carries lore weight, and while I agree that the term "brother" need not be literal, it makes the size difference even harder to swallow (at the very least, they shouldn't be from the same tribe). I really like the design though. Bouncing Boulder is a really cool power, though it gets thematically weird when dealing with overhangs.

Nightmare Riders of Droatha
Once again, I appreciate the not-good-for-the-price you have here for these cavalry units. Shrieking Charge is a nice change to the usual charge attack, though it's relatively weak. I don't usually think of undead as exploding upon destruction, though I don't have a problem with it either. It gives some value to the otherwise costly units and a nice bonus for being double-spaced.

Valena Rath
Nice rewrite to Combat Challenge; that's the way it should have been originally. I'm normally against any powers that trigger off of special attacks, but in this case it's in the same territory as Vanish so it's probably ok. May be some timing issues with powers like Poison Sting. Overall, a solid design, though probably not one that will see a lot of action. If nothing else, having to move after a dragon gets attacked seems like "too little, too late".

Poisonspitter Spider
I have to admit, it feels weird to see Climb on a Large figure, but it's entirely fitting. I like the simple, straightforward design here, as well as not making the expected hero-crushing poison ability. Range 3 feels a bit short for something this size, but then I haven't seen one of them spit. Looks like a solid addition to an Arachnid army.

[TheAverageFan]

Shoulda made the Spider a Nazi

Anyway, I like this addition--keeps the Fylorags nice and cheap, allowing for 70 point bonding groups which is about as good as it gets. I'm curious as to why he has Climb X3 though. With Climb X2, he'd have 8 Height for 7 move, which seems to fit perfectly. Why does he need 12 Height, for dropping down ledges or something? Otherwise, he's a good extra Predator for the Spiders.

~TAF, and you just got compliment sandwich'd

[Ixe]

Thanks for the comments!

Originally Posted by Scytale

Halgo
I have to admit, I'm not thrilled about such a little giant from Feylund when Jotun sets a precedent, especially given plenty of other fantasy worlds to choose from. The name Halgo also carries lore weight, and while I agree that the term "brother" need not be literal, it makes the size difference even harder to swallow (at the very least, they shouldn't be from the same tribe). I really like the design though. Bouncing Boulder is a really cool power, though it gets thematically weird when dealing with overhangs.

I have to admit that it is a stretch for him being from Feylund. Hill giants tend to run evil in D&D so the only other world I could really swing him would be Eberron (since it runs looser on alignment), but I think I'll leave it as is. It is taking a very liberal interpretation on how giants can function on Feylund, but I think it is possible to do so with only a sample size of one to go off of. I'm glad you like the bouncing bolder attack at least. It can lead to oddities with overhangs but I tend to err on the side of simplicity rather than adding on text to cover every thematic loophole.

Originally Posted by Scytale

Nightmare Riders of Droatha
Once again, I appreciate the not-good-for-the-price you have here for these cavalry units. Shrieking Charge is a nice change to the usual charge attack, though it's relatively weak. I don't usually think of undead as exploding upon destruction, though I don't have a problem with it either. It gives some value to the otherwise costly units and a nice bonus for being double-spaced.

I don't often think of exploding undead as well, although there certainly are some types from different sources that do that. For this one, I noticed how one of the figures was holding its own head in its hands and though that killing one can cause an explosion of bits that would still be lashing out at everything around it. I liked what it did for the design in serving as a slight attack deterrent and adding value and tension of charging them in as deep as possible as opposed to picking off figures on the outskirts and keeping their nominal charge bonus.

Originally Posted by Scytale

Valena Rath
Nice rewrite to Combat Challenge; that's the way it should have been originally. I'm normally against any powers that trigger off of special attacks, but in this case it's in the same territory as Vanish so it's probably ok. May be some timing issues with powers like Poison Sting. Overall, a solid design, though probably not one that will see a lot of action. If nothing else, having to move after a dragon gets attacked seems like "too little, too late".

I would be surprised if she ever saw serious play and she won't save a dragon from an initial attack, but the big dragons don't necessarily die immediately when you attack them. Many have higher life and she gets to move even if there were no wounds were inflicted I suspect she'll be able to get in there and use Combat Challenge to draw away at least one or two attacks from a swarming squad or even ranged attacks. The real benefit is, like rats, she can eventually tie down figures without having to take order markers, leaving your dragon to take care of the figures that aren't being locked down.

Originally Posted by Scytale

Poisonspitter Spider
I have to admit, it feels weird to see Climb on a Large figure, but it's entirely fitting. I like the simple, straightforward design here, as well as not making the expected hero-crushing poison ability. Range 3 feels a bit short for something this size, but then I haven't seen one of them spit. Looks like a solid addition to an Arachnid army.

Poison Spitting Spiders in Action

They operate at pretty short range in nature and, besides that, I didn't necessarily want to add in a bonding range attacker. I may push it as high as 4 but I'm liking the short range for now.

Originally Posted by TheAverageFan

Anyway, I like this addition--keeps the Fylorags nice and cheap, allowing for 70 point bonding groups which is about as good as it gets. I'm curious as to why he has Climb X3 though. With Climb X2, he'd have 8 Height for 7 move, which seems to fit perfectly. Why does he need 12 Height, for dropping down ledges or something? Otherwise, he's a good extra Predator for the Spiders.

I was about to make it Climbx2 since that is basically the same thing but I decided to keep x3 since it is a spider after all. I felt that it was okay for it being extremely good at moving down heights. I'm glad to hear you like it.

[Ixe]

Here is a unique squad for Jandar.

This is Sajan, Human Monk from Pathfinder Miniatures - Legends of Golarian.


And this is Sajan, Iconic Monk from Pathfinder Miniatures - Iconic Heroes I.


NAME = Singing Fang Twins
GENERAL = Jandar
PLANET = Earth
SPECIES = Human
CLASS = Monks
PERSONALITY = Disciplined
SIZE = Medium 5
UNIQUE SQUAD

LIFE = 1
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 70

SINGING FANG DODGE
When defending with Singfang Twins, you may reroll all defense dice that did not show shields. Singfang Dodge may only be used once for each defense roll.

SINGING FANG STRIKE
When attacking with Singfang Twins, you may reroll all attack dice that did not show skulls. Singfang Strike may only be used once for each attack roll.


The Singing Fang Twins are, you guessed it, identical twins. They were trained from birth to master the Singing Fang style, a discipline only taught to twins. They claim that only twins can hope to learn the mystical connections of the fighting style to fate, where you and your twin's shared fate can be tapped in to to maximize your combat prowess. Even death cannot break that bond between them.

Re-roll powers can prove deceptively good and only become more powerful as the number of dice you have increases. It takes your chance of rolling a shield on a given die from 1/3 to 5/9, and for a skull from 1/2 to 3/4. This means that their attack of 3 averages more of one between 4 and 5 while their defense of 3 averages more like one of 5. Adding dice from any source only adds to their value, being essentially 50% more effective for attacks and almost twice as effective for defense. Despite their strong dice showing, they are still a unique melee squad of two figures and are fraught with all of the problems that entails. They will at most be able to kill two figures in a turn and losing one monk cuts their efficacy in half. Nevertheless they should be able to provide decent clean up between their cost and small footprint in the start zone.

When designing the monks I was originally going to give them a Stealth Dodge like power that worked on adjacent attacks as well but I couldn't pass up on the aesthetics of having two reroll powers for the twins. When paired with Emperor Andask, I believe the monks will be able to re-roll attacks up to three times, making their odds of rolling a skull on a given die a whopping 7/8. So if you give them extreme height on a Marro Hive with Master Win Chiu Woo and Emperor Andask standing nearby on respective glyphs of Astrid and Ulaniva, you can laugh at this ridiculous scenario while enjoying the fact that you are very likely to blow it away in one shot.

As always, comments are greatly appreciated.

[Kinseth]

I really love these Monk brothers. I feel though that they maybe too fragile for a Unique Squad. On average you are rolling 1.66 shields when defending with these guys without any bonuses. With Raelin or other bonuses they are really good. It is hard to balance a 2 man melee unique squad. 70 feels high for them, I almost feel like they should be dropped down to 40? Think about Isamu by himself at 10 points as a comparison. If Isamu were a 2 man Unique squad, how much would he cost? Would they be better than the Monk Twins?

[TheAverageFan]

Never underestimate the power of re-rolling dice, except with the Einar Imperium because they always seem to die 99% of the time anyway. Ahem, anyway... I assume, like Kinseth implied, that they are meant to be paired with Raelin for the +2 defense, or better yet with Master Woo for the +1 attack and defense. Otherwise I suppose they might be tough to play as is, but they do really almost look like they'd be official RotV figures.

I suppose my only gripe (and a personal one at that) would be them being Jandar figures. Well, I guess it's already too late for them to be one unified faction anyhow...

~TAF

[obfuscatedhippo]

I really like the Singfang Twins!!!

So much so that I went to find them on eBay and the first one goes for about $15. The second one is a new release, so only about $5. $20 for a Unique Squad .. maybe.

What do you think about making the second sculpt into a Common Hero with Wyrmling-style bonding? maybe including bonding with the Shaolin Monks as an option?

You could get 4 common heroes for the cost of the Unique Squad.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Yeah the first figure is worth some crazy cash, I managed to get one randomly and I've been planning to sell it back to Troll and Toad at some point. It's not that good of a figure honestly, the left arm looks really stumpy in person.

I like the Singfangs, very neat idea. Though I'm not a fan of the name personally, doesn't seem to roll off the tongue very well.

[Ixe]

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I have a lot of good notes to go over.

Originally Posted by Kinseth

I really love these Monk brothers. I feel though that they maybe too fragile for a Unique Squad. On average you are rolling 1.66 shields when defending with these guys without any bonuses. With Raelin or other bonuses they are really good. It is hard to balance a 2 man melee unique squad. 70 feels high for them, I almost feel like they should be dropped down to 40? Think about Isamu by himself at 10 points as a comparison. If Isamu were a 2 man Unique squad, how much would he cost? Would they be better than the Monk Twins?

Interesting questions and I'd probably need to test them. I envision these guys as clean up more than anything, which then begs the question how well they can function in that role. I am trying to be particularly mindful of how easily they can take advantage of boosts as well when factoring their costs, but I won't really know for sure without some testing. In any case, I am intentionally aiming high with their cost for now, not because of how they do on their own but how they can function with other units that are not priced with them in mind.

Originally Posted by TheAverageFan

Never underestimate the power of re-rolling dice, except with the Einar Imperium because they always seem to die 99% of the time anyway. Ahem, anyway... I assume, like Kinseth implied, that they are meant to be paired with Raelin for the +2 defense, or better yet with Master Woo for the +1 attack and defense. Otherwise I suppose they might be tough to play as is, but they do really almost look like they'd be official RotV figures.

I suppose my only gripe (and a personal one at that) would be them being Jandar figures. Well, I guess it's already too late for them to be one unified faction anyhow...

~TAF

Oh I have tried to make the Einar Emperium work enough times to know that 3 defense with reroll is never enough. It's why I always try to add Raelin on as well to keep their defense dice nice and high. I am glad to hear that you like them and how well you think they'd fit in Heroscape canon, although the ship has indeed sailed on the monk being all in one faction. C3V has already announced plans to make certain monk heroes who at the very least have a color scheme more suited to other generals as well.

Originally Posted by obfuscatedhippo

I really like the Singfang Twins!!!

So much so that I went to find them on eBay and the first one goes for about $15. The second one is a new release, so only about $5. $20 for a Unique Squad .. maybe.

What do you think about making the second sculpt into a Common Hero with Wyrmling-style bonding? maybe including bonding with the Shaolin Monks as an option?

You could get 4 common heroes for the cost of the Unique Squad.

I'm honored to hear that you like them so much. Miniature limitations will be the death of me. I was having aspirations for perhaps submitting them to SoV at some point but the availability and price on the older hero sounds like a real nail in the coffin. I will perhaps consider other designs for the figures (likely revolving around Unique heroes with synergy or even common if the latter is incredibly abundant), but I will still let this design stand for posterity. I largely don't restrict myself to availability for most of my designs.

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

I like the Singfangs, very neat idea. Though I'm not a fan of the name personally, doesn't seem to roll off the tongue very well.

I see your point. I'll consider different names for them. I wanted something that called to the fact that they are fighting with those curved blades while retaining their martial arts theme.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Honestly, even 'Singing Fang Twins' or just 'Singing Fangs' would probably work. I like the idea of the name, it just doesn't quite work when spoken aloud for me.