Astro's Custom Units [Update 5/26/21: WWII Medic]

[Astroking112]

Thanks for the feedback, TAF! It's greatly appreciated as always.

Originally Posted by TheAverageFan

This design's definitely dripping with theme. It does seem odd that such a massive figure is only 90 points (and has such a high speed to boot). It'd be pretty fun to lull a bunch of gruts or drones around her and then blast her with DW9000 or Zelrig, though I'd imagine her true use would mostly just be as a screen for your ranged figures. Melee armies essentially have to kill her before they can get to any of your ranged units, at least on a smaller map.

Hmm. I hear you on the size to cost being a bit disconcerting (it's probably less strange than Zetacron only costing 60 points, but I know that his points generally come as a shock to people after only seeing the sculpt). There is a significant incentive to keep Ogumo as a more mid-cost investment, though, since Abe no Seimei is 130, Kincho is 60, the cheapest heavy hitter is Ibaraki-doji for 120... That's already 310 points, so a good foundation for the Yokai gets expensive very quickly. The Kirin already exists as a ~200 point investment for the army, so despite Ogumo's size, I think that the Yokai would really benefit from her sticking a bit below the 100 point mark (that also gives the Spiders another cheap alternative to the Wyvern instead of just Sujoah and Quahon).

The speed could probably decrease to 6, though. The idea behind 7 was to pay homage to the Fyorlag Spiders and offer an alternative to Nure Onna for achieving 7 move (which is very useful for Seimei's Shapeshift to develop each position further before switching back). I am a bit concerned about Predator Bonding driving Ogumo's price, though, especially since getting her back onto the battlefield is much easier with free turns of 7 move. Perhaps dropping it to 6 won't hurt the Yokai too much while keeping the Spiders a bit more in check?

Using her as a general screen for a ranged army is also definitely interesting. It does take basically wasting an OM each round to set up (the 4 range helps a bit, but you probably have better ranged attacks waiting if you're relying on that strategy), but it has decent potential to be frustrating for the opponent, especially if Raelin is backing up Ogumo. Of course, Seimei eases these OM requirements a good deal, but he also doesn't come cheaply.

So is her design broken? She does cost you at least one OM a round. And enemy ranged units can simply choose not to move and attack from a distance. I'm not really sure

This is pretty much where I'm at, too. It's really difficult to tell just how much she actually impacts the game. I do like that she almost penalizes ranged figures more than anything else--melee figures would already have to break through Ogumo (or whatever they're currently engaged to) anyway, but she really limits the flexibility of ranged units to choose their footing and optimize their placements.

I think that a big part of whether "forcing" an opponent within range of Ogumo to engage one of your figures is tenable or not depends on how easily she falls down herself or how well she pairs with stuff like Rats. Raelin could potentially safely back Ogumo, but melee figures can limit their engagements and most ranged figures can simply stick to their spot and shoot from a distance. I feel like it shouldn't work, but I've been struggling to come up with concrete areas where it definitely won't. It's a super weird design either way for sure.