2022 C3V Playtest Tournament (Congrats KnightofLight)

[kevindola]

Congrats to those who made the playoffs and a big Thank you to everyone for helping get in these valuable tests!

@Cleon
@KnightOfLight
have earned a bye into the semifinals

The Quarterfinals are on Volcarren Paradise (TG x4).

The Chris Perkins (3-1) v. Grey Waves (3-1) pool of armies is:

* Challenge!: Greenscale Warriors x5, Bambina, Tandros
* Goliath Robots: Patroller E-25, Deathstalkers x3, Eltahale
* : Goblin Cutters x6, Nidhogg, Marcu Esenwein (drop 2)
* : 10th Reg x4, Betacron, Marutuk

Chris Perkins chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Grey Waves chooses who places first.

The Blue Trails (3-1) v. Dysole (3-1) pool of armies is:

* Space Cowboys: Janos, C'Rik, San Tiim, Clayton Pierce, James Murphy, Kate Crawford, Louis ""Mad Dog"" Malone
* Danger Zone: Cathar Spearmen x3, Z'Thoth Mouth of the Abyss, Betacron, Nakita Agents, Bol
* If At First You Don't Succeed, Tribe, Tribe Again: Teeth of the Makwa x3, Mohican River Tribe x3, Kolbjorn, Brave Arrow
* Heal of Fortune: deathreavers x2, Saan Tiim, Ana Karithon, Laglor, Raelin (RotV), Heirloom

Dysole chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Blue Trails chooses who places first.

[Chris Perkins]

The Chris Perkins (3-1) v. Grey Waves (3-1) pool of armies is:

* Challenge!: Greenscale Warriors x5, Bambina, Tandros
* Goliath Robots: Patroller E-25, Deathstalkers x3, Eltahale
* : Goblin Cutters x6, Nidhogg, Marcu Esenwein (drop 2)
* : 10th Reg x4, Betacron, Marutuk

Chris Perkins chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Grey Waves chooses who places first.

Playing Saturday @ 10 pm EST.

I took the Nidhogg / Cutters build. Grey Waves army TBD.

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Edit: We had to re-schedule the game. Likely will happen next week. I'll update this post when a new time is setup.

[Chris Perkins]

Originally Posted by Chris Perkins

Playing Saturday @ 10 pm EST.

I took the Nidhogg / Cutters build. Grey Waves army TBD.

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Edit: We had to re-schedule the game. Likely will happen next week. I'll update this post when a new time is setup.

Re-scheduled for tomorrow (10/4) @ 8 pm EST.

Grey Waves went with the 10th.

[MegaSilver]

I'd really rather Nidhogg worked with the Tomb Skeletons and TS Archers than the Skeletons of Antellia. TBH in my games the SoA did more work in the games than Nidhogg. He's hard to fit in the map with his large size and slow move. And the range 4 special power that is Explosion-esque also makes it hard to trigger. So while he looks like a big threat it's hard to actually get his points worth.

[MegaSilver]

Koljborn is a cool guy, but I used him more as a support in a Vark list as OM management since I figured no one else would. I only used that about once per game, not sure if losing access to Arktos is worth it, probably not.

I also need to note these were large point totals, which made it easier to fit in Nidhogg. Nidhogg's best army is all high point figures, which means it's harder to fit a functional list together with him. Tombies are cheap so it's easier to make a meaningful army with him and them.

[Chris Perkins]

Point Total: 550
Map: Volcarran Paradise
Glyphs: TG x4

Player 1 - Army: Chris Perkins - Nidhogg, Marcu, Cutter x6 (sit 3 cutter)
Player 2 - Army: Grey Waves - Marutuk, Betacron, 10th x4

Note: We played with Betacron's range reduction to 4 on Sentry Mode

Which units survived?
6 Cutters

General Battle Report/Flow of game (be as detailed or general as you like)
At a high level, the matchups I wanted in this game were Nidhogg -> 10th & Cutters -> Marutuk.

I ended up going all 3 OMs on Nidhogg to open round 1, wanting to engage 10th where I could and try to hit some Breath rolls into SZ clusters. GW opened Beta, 10th, 10th and won init. Beta moved up, and I moved up Nidhogg. GW started to spread 10th out. Nidhogg flew into the center, killing 2 10th (1 Breath, 1 regular attack). 10th then spread out more and did 1 wound to Nidhogg. Nidhogg left engagement (LEA missed) to take a better spot in the south where he could hit 2 10th with breath, and killed both, plus a 3rd to the regular attack. Another 10th took a lava wound to end the round.

I went all Nidhogg in round 2, and GW went 10th, Marutuk, Marutuk. I won init and killed 2 more 10th (1 Breath, 1 normal attack). 10th took some shots at Nidhogg, doing 3 wounds. Nidhogg then killed another 10th. Marutuk moved up but wasn't able to engage yet. I took another LEA (missed again) to engage Marutuk and throw 2 Breath rolls at 10th. Both Breaths missed though and Nidhogg only did 1 wound (despite having Giant Hunter Stone). Marutuk then hit a 5/8 -> 2/6 to kill Nidhogg. Another 10th died to lava.

So Nidhogg traded for 10 10th + 1 wound on Marutuk. I was pretty happy with this trade, thinking I could get even trades cutters for 10th and then had a good matchup with lots of cutters into Marutuk.

The game got a lot more campy & developy from there. A single 10th went north to engage cutters while the rest went south to group in Beta's range. The north 10th traded for 1 cutter, and then I slowly rolled my cutters into the south. Beta ended up being on fire, going 3/5 on sentry rolls into cutters while the cutters killed 3 more 10th and the 10th killed cutters in exchange.

Marutuk had moved up to cover Beta by this point, so I couldn't get 3 cutters adjacent to Beta easily. I took 3 OMs on Marcu across 2 rounds, developing him first to the center T-glyph (hit the trap sadly, as 2 of the 3 glyphs left were great for him) and then flew him into Beta. The sentry roll hit, but Marcu killed Beta on his first attack. Marutuk then put 3 wounds on Marcu, who took an LEA (successful) and killed the last 10th on the center sand 3 hex area. Marutuk then pursued, killing Marcu. I was able to surround Marutuk on that spot on my OM 3 with cutters, keeping her pinned there for the rest of the game where I could get 2 even ground attacks per turn.

That left and end game of 11 cutters v. Marutuk.

It took several rounds of grinding from there, but I eventually killed Marutuk with 6 cutters left.

gg Grey Waves, was a fun one!

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?
Nidhogg - Had a strong game in a good matchup. Facing 10th on the lava map, it was easier for Nidhogg to get high percentage attacks than it was for the 10th (without risking lava). Hit 4/9 Breath rolls to get 4 kills on 10th, and the threat of Breath forced the 10th to spread out so much in round 1 & 2 that they only got 1 WtF turn in. Also killed 4 10th via his regular attack, and 2 10th died to lava they took fighting Nidhogg. Put 1 wound on Marutuk before dying.
Betacron - Was an absolute beast this game. Hit 4/6 sentry rolls to kill 3 cutters and put 1 wound on Marcu before Marcu killed him.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?
I still don't love Nidhogg; this feels like one of his best map/matchups, and it was strong for him, but I still don't think I'm running him in any kind of double blind format at his current point cost.
Betacron...is quite a thing. I feel like he's done WAY more damage than he should on average in games I've played with him this tournament (4 wounds on Nessing in 1 shot, 4/6 sentry this game), but when he's on he's an absolute force in the game, and his threat makes for fun decision points.

[Grey Waves]

^ I have little to add to what Chris said besides the fact that we played with Sentry Mode's range reduction and it proved huge. The drop from 5 to 4 range meant that Betacron wasn't able to cover the far side of the southern sand spaces adjacent to where I'd placed my 10th. Betacron still proved annoying enough for Chris that he spent a turn attacking him with Marcu when he could have instead gone for Marutuk, and overall I think he's in a good spot right now bar Omnicron patrol, which feels like a useless ability 98% of the time. Overall pretty happy with how this tournament turned out; I haven't made playoffs in almost a year and while it would have been nice to make it further I'm satisfied enough with the games I did get to play.

[kevindola]

@Dysole @Chris Perkins @Cleon @KnightOfLight

The Semifinals are on Caothland (Dagmar, Holdir).

The Cleon (4-0) v. Dysole (3-1) pool of armies is:

* We Found Him in the Forest: Knights of Weston x4, Patroller E-25, Thorgrim, Finn
* We Found Him in the Jungle: Mohicans x3, Quasatch x1, Raelin (RotV), Kolbjorn, Brave Arrow, Eldgrim
* If At First You Don't Succeed, Tribe, Tribe Again: Teeth of the Makwa x3, Mohican River Tribe x3, Kolbjorn, Brave Arrow
* Heal of Fortune: deathreavers x2, Saan Tiim, Ana Karithon, Laglor, Raelin (RotV), Heirloom

Dysole chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Cleon chooses who places first.

The KnightofLight (3-1) v. Chris Perkins (4-1) pool of armies is:

* Cron Brawn: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2
* Peanut Butter and Javelin Sandwich : Greyspears, Swiftfangs, Arktos, Bahadur, Kolbjorn, Mezzodemons x1
* Challenge!: Greenscale Warriors x5, Bambina, Tandros
* Goliath Robots: Patroller E-25, Deathstalkers x3, Eltahale

Chris Perkins chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, KnightofLight chooses who places first.

[Knox]

Really hoping some of these test results result in some kind of bonding option with Nidhogg and Tomb Skeletons or Tomb Skeleton Archers. Even if it's just a movement thing (or if he can heal with them a la TKN)

[Chris Perkins]

The KnightofLight (3-1) v. Chris Perkins (4-1) pool of armies is:

* Cron Brawn: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2
* Peanut Butter and Javelin Sandwich : Greyspears, Swiftfangs, Arktos, Bahadur, Kolbjorn, Mezzodemons x1
* Challenge!: Greenscale Warriors x5, Bambina, Tandros
* Goliath Robots: Patroller E-25, Deathstalkers x3, Eltahale

Chris Perkins chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, KnightofLight chooses who places first.

Playing Friday @ noon EST.

(I picked first)

[KnightOfLight]

Chris Perkins and I just finished, he had my Vaarks, I ran Omnicrons.

Round 1:
This was probably the most crucial initiative of the game, with dagmar on the board and both of us playing powerful armies, whoever lost the first initiative would be in a good place to utilize dagmar and deal lots of damage to their opponent. Kolbjorn moved towards the center, and Chris won initiative. He went swiftfangs first, they bonded with the greyspears and developed towards the center hill. I went all Omega and began by developing Betacron and a sniper towards dagmar, and then a repulsor towards the center. Turn 2 we both trade a couple of attacks that fail and we roll into Chris's turn 3, due to dagmar, Chris was forced to play defensively and retreated the Greyspears behind the central rock outcrops hidden from Omega's gaze. I used turn 3 to grab dagmar with Betacron and took out a swiftfang.

Round 2:
Kolbjorn continues to scale the center hill and I barley win initiative with 7 to 14, Dagmar giving me a 15. I used the opportunity to retreat as Betacron was exposed on dagmar and I only had line of sight to one swiftfang, so I protect my crons and let Chris come to me. Chris had turn 1 on the swiftfangs who bonded with Arktos, who took out a repulsor and then used 2 swiftfang attacks outside my startzone to kill one sniper. I used turn 2 to kill one more swiftfang and Chris now with turn 2 on the greyspears had to decide if he was going to use Kolbjorn's call to the hunt now in order to maximize damage or wait and save his turn 3 on mezzos to get attacks with greyspears. He elected to keep his turn on the greyspears and took out another repulsor. Turn 3, I used Omega's normal attack to try and clear out the swiftfangs, I pick up another kill but fail to kill both. Chris moves turn 3 on the mezzos to the swiftfangs and tries to deal big damage to Omegacron with Arktos boosted greyspears, but his attacks go sour and does no damage.

Round 3:
I win initiative again and gain a massive momentum shift as I pick up a key 2v4 kill on a greyspear freeing up 2 snipers on height to get 3v3s on two other greyspears. After 2 3/3 skull attacks, Chris was put in a rough spot with only one of each squad figure. Chris takes turn 1 to attack Omega again with a 5v6 from Arktos, but his 1/5 skulls was blocked by 3/6 shields. He then retreats the last greyspear and kills the closest relpulsor. I spent turn 2 trying to take out the last greyspear but my attacks of 1 were blocked and Chris got a turn 2 with the greyspear. He ran Bahadur up to kill another repulsor as well as threaten an engagement with Omega and the greyspear attempted to kill a sniper but his attack was blocked. Turn 3 I focus attacks on Bahadur as I can get 3 3v4s on him and dealt 4 wounds. Chris kills another repulsor and doesn't risk the LEA with Bahadur, instead moving Arktos, who tried to kill a repulsor but was blocked, and finally killing Betacron who had been on and off dagmar all game with the greyspear.

Round 4:
Chris rolls his second 2 in a row for initiative and I focus fire on the greyspear with 3 OMs killing it. With all his OMs gone, I used the rest of the round to pick off the rest of the Vaarks and we enter the end phase of the game.

Round 5:
Kolbjorn and the 2 mezzos face off against 4 snipers, 5 repulsors and a full health Omegacron. I win initiative again and place 1 wound on Kolbjorn. Here we realized Kolbjorn can't move OMs to himself and Chris spent a turn developing mezzos. I took turn 2 to kill Kolbjorn with boosted sniper shots and the we spent the next couple of rounds as Omega chased the mezzos while they whittled down the squadies.

The game ended with a full health Omegacron, 1 repulsor and 3 snipers.

GG Chirs Perkins!

Betacron:
This wasn't the most exciting game for Betacron as the Vaarks were all too big for his sentry mode and that relegated him to the dagmar dance, which I want to say, having a figure with 2 lives was quite nice to have. Gives a little more opportunity to holding glyphs without being that much better then a squad figure. He survived 2 attacks and was crucial in winning this game by being the guy on dagmar. He would have been useful against the mezzos but died before they were deployed.

Kolbjorn:
Kolbjorn is great, He used fearsome stalker 4 times, and call to the hunt twice, the flexibility he offers hunter armies is really handy. I would be curious how people would react to him being able to move OMs to tribesmen as well? Could be interesting, but not game breaking I don't think. He adds a lot of thought to OMs for both parties and I like how he offers lots of options for the player and lots of possibilities that the opponent must consider. Especially in the Vaark army, he just offers so much versatility.

[Chris Perkins]

Don't have a ton to add beyond what KnightOfLight already said, except to add-on to the last paragraph by saying I had thought I could use Kolbjorn to switch OMs onto Kolbjorn, and was surprised when I couldn't.

gg though to KnightOfLight, well played