The Book of Hand Ninja

[IAmBatman]

Three heavy hitter tests done. Oye, squads take longer! I'll have to finish the heavy hitter tests and do the squad tests tomorrow. The army tests will hopefully come the day after.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Three heavy hitter tests done. Oye, squads take longer! I'll have to finish the heavy hitter tests and do the squad tests tomorrow. The army tests will hopefully come the day after.

Good job Bats. And yeah, they take a bit longer.

[IAmBatman]

Heavy hitter tests all done! Just have a squad test and two army tests to go!

[IAmBatman]

In my army tests, the Ninjas got owned in one and owned the other team in the other.

[IAmBatman]

Sounds good, just don't blow it.

[GreyOwl]

So are these guys ready for an initial playtest? Any objections?

[Hahma]

I don't have any objections, other than I have to finish up Thing, I have 1 Army Test done and still have to do another one and the write up. Bob from the public forum still needs to be initial playtested, GL Guy Gardiner I think is also ready to be initially tested. So we kind of have a slight logjam at the moment, but hopefully it'll open up soon.

[IAmBatman]

Any estimate for point cost here? Always good to know where to start for playtesting.
I've finished Mr. Fantastic, but I'm grading the next three days, then Bob (who's been waiting the longest) is top priority if Hahma or Necro hasn't already started him. Like Hahma, I'll be happy to give this a go when I get a chance, but, yeah, a bit of a playtesting logjam with all the extra initial tests we've been doing for Fan Four.

[GreyOwl]

70-80 points?

[IAmBatman]

Sound about right. I say we start at 80 and work from there.

[GreyOwl]

First post updated.

[IAmBatman]

C3G PLAY TEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT HAND NINJAS

- 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.
?(Going to test Ninjas of the Northern Wind and the other unique hero Ninjas to find out!)

- 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 (Just b/c it will make unique ninjas more viable if nothing else!)

- 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 (Choosing which Ninjas to take/activate with the bonding alone is a huge one).

- Heavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero/ Does it pass?

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Map: Platforms 5 and 6
Units: Hand Ninjas x3 vs. Iron Man (240)
The Hand Ninjas only put one wound on Iron Man before being taken out. They just couldn't overcome his superior range and flying on a map that favors ranged fliers. They were at height disadvantage the entire game. On a map like this against a ranged flier, without their bonding ability coming into play, I'd say 80 points is too high. We'll see if that remains true after exploring a few more matchups and the army tests (which should be their best chances to shine).

TEST 2
Map: Platforms 5 and 6
Units: Hand Ninjas x3 vs. Daredevil and Alfred (240)
I think Daredevil is perfectly built to bust these guys up! He wins with only one wound, and Alfred has full life. Alfred didn't really come into play - he never used any of his powers. Daredevil charged over to the Ninjas and his Radar Sense often limited them to single attacks and gave him height advantage. His Man Without Fear allowed him to kill several in a single turn and rarely failed to kill any on his turn. With only a range of 3, the Ninjas couldn't really keep spread out enough to deny him multiple targets most turns.
So far, the Hand Ninjas are feeling overcosted at 80 points. Daredevil isn't quite the ranged flying thread Iron Man is, but he did just as well.

TEST 3
Map: Platforms 5 and 6
Units: Hand Ninjas x4 vs. Abomination (320)
Seven of twelve Ninjas survive to pick off Abomination in only round two. Finally a test where they shone! The Ninjas used their superior range and phantom walk to keep spread out (though Abomination did manage to Stomp three of the Ninjas he killed in a single attack). The Ninjas managed to get height advantage fairly often, and Abomination's defense didn't hold up well to their attacks. They're starting to feel closer to 80 points each now.

TEST 4
Map: Platforms 5 and 6
Units: Hand Ninjas x4 vs. Black Canary and Jonah Hex (320)
Ninjas strike again! They won this one on Turn 2 of Round 5, with four Ninjas left. Each Hero took out 4 Ninjas before falling to superior numbers. I think Iron Man on this particular map, and Daredevil in general (which I really love) are just bad matchups for them. I'm starting to think 80 is dead on.

TEST 5
Map: Platforms 5 and 6
Units: Hand Ninjas x2 vs. Sentinel (160)
Last test for Heavy Hitters! The Sentinel won on Turn One of Round Three with two wounds. The Hand Ninjas shine a lot more with four squads than with two! They struggled against the Sentinel's 7 defense (he rolled 3 shields pretty often) and his attack of 5 and ranged flying made it pretty easy to kill one of them almost every attack.
Nothing makes me think 80 is horrible so far. I could possibly see them going down 5-10 points (definitely couldn't see them going up) but I think when they're used in big numbers and once they get their bonding, they'll feel worth the 80 points.

_____________________________________________________________

- Squad / Does it pass?
Map: Platforms 5 and 6
Units: Hand Ninjas x2 vs. Street Thugs x2 (150)

Spoiler Alert!

I'm starting to feel really, really good about 80 points. This one was extremely close and came down to two Ninjas vs. one Street Thug (on height) at the end. The Thugs used the occasional street bonus and their superior numbers and range, but the Ninjas used their superior stats and speed. It was a really fun, balanced match, in which Ninjas x2 felt like it was worth just a tad more than Street Thugs x2! Good stuff!

_____________________________________________________________

- Army Test/ Does it pass?
Map: Platforms 5 and 6
Units: Hand Ninjas x3, Kumiko, Shiori, Otonashi, Isamu, Bullseye (575) vs. Punisher, Daredevil, Robin, Toad (575)

Spoiler Alert!

As I suspected, Vigilante armies own these guys. The Vigilantes won on Turn 1, Round 6 with Robin dead, and two wounds on Punisher (Daredevil, Punisher, and Toad remained alive at the end). I'm definitely still thinking 75 points is a possibility - 75-80 points seems like a solid range right now. Vigilantes are just built to eat up squads - especially with Robin tagging along. Toad was never activated in this one.

_____________________________________________________________

- Army Test/ Does it pass?
Map: Platforms 5 and 6
Units: Hand Ninjas x4, Kumiko, Shiori, Moriko, Ninjas of the Northern Wind, Otonashi, Isamu (700) vs. Flash, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow (700)

Spoiler Alert!

Whenever I start to doubt the Ninjas being worth 80, they charge back with a game like this! Green Arrow fought valiantly to make it closer at the end, picking off numerous Ninjas and Shiori from range and height, but the Ninjas overwhelmed the heroes here with superior numbers. Ninjas won with full life Kumiko, Moriko, Isamu and Otonashi left, as well as two Hand Ninjas. They're definitely worth 75-80 points. I lean towards 80 and favor 80 at this point, but can be swayed to 75 depending on results from the additional playtests.

Closing comments: These guys are a blast to play and I love how they make Ninjas more relevant! I love sending hordes of them at the heroes and have no complaints about the design. Vigilante/Sidekick armies are consistently horrible matchups for them (which works for me), but they perform as if they are worth 80 points or more in all the other matchups I tried. In building armies with them, I'd suggest using at least 4 sets of the squads rather than adding more bonding heroes/squads. Bullseye and the Ninjas of the Northern Wind and maybe Shiori bring the most to them in armies.
Great stuff! I had a lot of fun on this one.