The Book of Scarlet Witch (II)

[Arkham]

Splash's tests:

Originally Posted by Splash

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: (Scarlet Witch II)

Army Test
Map: Country Road.
Units:
Army 1 (me) 500pts: Scarlet Witch 255pt, Dr. Doom 245pt.
Army 2 (me) 500pts: Magneto 310pt, Mastermind 95pt, Toad 95pt.

Spoiler Alert!

Preamble: Having sworn off her father, Magneto, for good, Scarlet Witch has left the machinations of one megalomaniac and fallen to the manipulations of another, Victor Von Doom; fellow Romani, ruler of Latveria, and known for the occasional bent toward world domination. With Wanda’s immense and untapped potential, Doom plans for an all out assault, while Wanda, vaguely aware of Victor’s plans, embraces them, for now, to develop her own strength and seek revenge on Magneto, who seeks to yet again regain control of her as a pawn for his own schemes. While Wanda and Victor plot, the Master of Magnetism and his Brotherhood have already arrived.

Round 1: A tie at 13 and then Brotherhood wins initiative when Eastern Bloc rolls 1. Mastermind and Magneto move, then Doom and Scarlet Witch (with the Mind Exchange/Manipulated Mind combo). Mastermind hides under the bridge, while Magneto reaches the top and puts 2 wounds on Doom from high ground. Doom gets to level ground with Magneto, misses him, then unsuccessfully rolls for Wanda. Mastermind moves and misses Wanda, while Magneto puts another wound on Doom. Doom hits Mag for 1 and fails Mind roll again.

Round 2: Magneto wins initiative again, lowering his shield, moving forward, and throws Doom off the bridge with an 8 and then lands an 11 killing him. No one else is in clear sight. Wanda wastes no time, engages with Magneto, puts a Hex on him, and hits him with 1 wound. Mastermind moves and misses. Magneto rolls 3 skulls, but with hex reroll, it’s zero skulls. Order marker 2 was on Doom so that’s a no go. M&M attack. Mastermind actually lands two hits with low ground, of course it’s just 1 with Magical Defense, and Mags does nothing. Scarlet Witch hexes Mags again and rolls no skulls.

Round 3: Magneto wins initiative again! He shields up and swings with four skulls. Wanda rolls nothing and takes 1 wound. Wanda puts another hex on Magneto and attacks him for three skulls and he rolls four shields. With the removal of a hex it becomes one and he takes 2 wounds. Mastermind hits Wanda for 1 and then Magneto rolls three skulls, subsequently rerolled to one and Wanda is safe with one shield. Wanda places yet another hex on Magneto and attacks him for two skulls against his one and takes him out of the game. Mastermind hops up to level ground and desperately engages with Scarlet Witch, hoping to inflict that last wound. He rolls one skull and Wanda rolls… zero shields. A leaderless Brotherhood assumes victory.

Notes: The Mind combo was nice the one time it worked, however the focus probably should have been on getting those hexes out at the start, so more order markers on Wanda next time. Became a losing battle with Magneto’s high defense, lucky initiative, and the duel attacks from him and creeper Wyngarde. Toad was an unneeded last resort. It was pretty cool seeing Doom and Magneto face off on the bridge and seeing Scarlet Witch really mess with Magneto’s rolls.

Damage dealt by Scarlet Witch
4 wounds on Magneto = 310
Total: 310.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Mastermind {4/4}, Toad {4/4}.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Country Road.
Units:
Army 1 (me) 470pts: Scarlet Witch 255pt, Quicksilver 215pt.
Army 2 (me) 470pts: Raven 190pt, Nightwing 200pt, Beast Boy 60pt, Beast Boy (Bear) 20pt.

Spoiler Alert!

Preamble: Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, has been growing more unstable by the day. Her brother Pietro, has done all he can to stave off another catastrophe, but there is no stopping it. In secure isolation, out in the countryside of their childhood, a crimson sphere of energy emanates from Wanda and grows to roughly the size of a ten story building, bursts with a deafening sound, and then dissipates. Pietro, expecting the worst, sees nothing has changed other than a slightly darker and cloudier sky. Wanda whispers, “I am sorry, Pietro… we are not where we were… and it is not over.” They both see a dark shadow quickly streak to the western sky.
Meanwhile in Titans Tower, Garfield “Gar” Logan, having just finished off an enormous bean burrito, is badgering (figuratively and literally) his fellow teammates. Raven, in a kind of trance, returns from what has seemed like hours, just as Gar waves a hand in front of her face. Startled he falls back, reverts to his usual green self, and then asks, hunched over a couch cushion, “So what were you doing out there in the ether or whatever?”. “I sensed something”, Raven spoke with a look of venomous concern. As Nightwing enters the room, he offers a concerned, questioning glance, “What’s wrong?”. Raven replies “We need to leave, NOW!”.

Round 1: Titans move first with initiative and Robin, urm, Nightwing’s ‘Titans Go!’. Scarlet Witch moves, then Beast Boy, then Quicksilver. Raven moves up on the bridge and lands 3 hits on Scarlet Witch! Enraged, Wanda engages with Raven and Beast Boy and retaliates with a hex and 1 wound on Raven.

Round 2: Maximoffs win initiative and Scarlet Witch hexes Beast Boy, while again attacking Raven with another wound. Nightwing uses Titans Go! and Raven moves a wound marker to Scarlet Witch killing her. Wanda’s Twisted Reality misses Raven, but hits Logan. Robin/Nightwing, recognizing a speedster when he sees one, orders the team onto the bridge’s center to avoid Quicksilver’s Whirlwinds. Beast Boy moves up on the bridge and heals, but Grayson isn’t quite there yet. A furious, albeit grief-stricken, Pietro moves across the bridge and heads off Nightwing, then misses Raven. Beast Boy does nothing as he doesn’t leave the bridge and Raven is between him and Quicksilver. Marker #3 is Scarlet Witch who is gone. Nightwing moves up, but still on lower ground, and attacks Pietro, but misses.

Round 3: Titans win initiative. Titans Go! Raven moves a wound to Pietro, Nightwing misses again, and Gar still can’t do anything. Pietro Whirlwinds Robin/Nightwing and deals 1 wound. Nightwing attacks Pietro, missing, but moves up to the bridge. Maximoff races to the other side of the bridge, but is one space away from hitting BB. Nightwing moves to the center and hits Pietro for 2 with range. Quicksilver hits Beast Boy for 2.

Round 4: Titans win initiative. Beast Boy turns into a bear and swipes with a mighty claw that gets blocked. Pietro hits him and he reverts.and takes 2 wounds. The Titans Go, Dick moves back and misses. Raven moves adjacent to Gar and misses. Gar misses. Pietro misses Gar. Raven moves all wounds from BB to her and then one to Pietro with Soul Self. Pietro hits Gar for 4.

Round 5: Initiative goes to Quicksilver who hits Beast Boy for 2, finishing him off. Nightwing does a Go Titans and they both surround Pietro and Raven misses, but Robin rolls four skulls and Quicksilver finally collapses.

Notes: Titans have some of the best synergy and bonding in the C3G and that won them the day. One really good first strike with high ground from Raven set the game off-kilter to where Scarlet Witch went down fast. I wanted to see two Magical Defenses get past each other and they certainly did immediately. There was really no choice but for each to try to oust the other, as Raven’s wound transfers and Maximoff’s hexes can mess up the game for the opponent.

Damage dealt by Scarlet Witch
2 wounds on Raven = 76
1 wound on Beast Boy = 12
Total: 88.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Raven {3/5}, Nightwing {3/4}.

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: You really are measuring some probabilities with these hexes and dice rolls which feels pretty thematic. Honestly more fun than Wanda I’s curses. Powers on the whole are great! Twisted Reality allows for gleeful retaliation and Manipulated Mind reflects the instability of the character. We need some Rebel synergy (maybe something similar to outcasts), there isn’t any that I’m aware of; none for self-doubting either I think. Just draft with the rest of the mutants I suppose.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: I think Wanda had some bad luck here, maybe in some larger armies she’d do better. On top of that, Hex Phenomena offers an amazing amount of control, but it’s not foolproof. That being said, I wouldn’t raise the point value at all. Maybe lower, but I’m no expert. Overall, fun and variable build.