The Book of Wrecker

[Hahma]

Have a boatload of HH tests done and am working on more. I did a bunch on custom map w/o structures and just started on HYDRA Base Gehenna.

Didn't need to use Demolition on other map, but wanted to see how it worked (or not) on a map with plenty of height for ranged flyers/leapers/grapplers to snipe from.

Test 1 vs. Bats (Bruce) had Wrecker move, Bats grapple to top of structure, Wrecker move to center of map, Bats miss with Batarang from topside, Wrecker get adjacent to wall that Bats was on and rolled 13 for Demolition to bring Bats down adjacent to him on the ground. Rolled a skull for falling damage and a skull for Demolition damage for 2 wounds on Bats. Bats was able to put one wound on Wrecker at the end of the round but missed on T1R2. Wrecker finished him off with a 4/1 attack and Bats just missed ES with a roll of 14.

Test 2 vs. Bats (Bruce) had Bats stay off the structure and move to hill on side of map and after Wrecker got close enough and missed with Crowbar Throw, Bats moved adjacent with height and put 3 wounds on Wrecker with a 4/1 attack. Then Wrecker missed on T1R2 and Bats finished him off with 5/1 attack with height vs. Wrecker on Shadow space.

Bats learned a lesson, stay off of structure vs. Wrecker.

[IAmBatman]

Cool. He's sounding 200 so far based on that limited report! But I bet he'll feel worth more with the Wrecking Crew assembled.

[Hahma]

Here's pre-that limited report, on flatter custom map.

Beat Bats (Bruce) with 2 wounds
Lose to Strong Guy with 0 wounds
Beat Strong Guy with 1 wound
Beat Doc Oc with 3 wounds
Beat Quick Silver with 3 wounds
Lose to Baron von Strucker with 4 wounds
Beat Baron von Strucker with 3 wounds
Beat Gambit with 3 wounds
Beat Cap (hasbro) with 2 wounds
Lose to Cap (hasbro) with 4 wounds
Beat Clayface with 2 wounds
Lose to Clayface with 2 wounds

On HYDRA Base Gehenna

Beat Bats with 1 wound (Bats got 1 falling and 1 Demolition wound)
Lose to Bats with o wound
Beat Iron Man (220) with 3 wounds (Iron Man got 1 Demo wound)
Lose to Iron Man (220) with 3 wounds (Iron Man got 1 Demo wound)
Lose to Red Skull (C3G) with 1 wound
Beat Red Skull (C3G) with 4 wounds (RS got 1 falling damage wound from Demolition).

Still want to do tests vs. Storm, Aquaman, Hawkgirl and Green Goblin

It's fun seeing Demolition work. While he can give up a Crowbar Throw attack vs. a figure with height, it is worth it when it works and brings the enemy down to the ground in a heap of rubble for up to 2 wounds. Certainly changes strategy for ranged flying figures when he's near enough to "wreck" a building.

At the moment, I'd say he's a good 220 in HH tests. But may suffer a bit from squaddies unless they cluster and he can Demo them.

[IAmBatman]

Cool, yeah, I think 220 will probably hold up and can work with the Wrecking Crew as a whole. Still hoping (thinking) we can get the four of them in at a nice even point value like 800 points.

[Griffin]

Great work here Hama. I am looking forward to giving the entire Wrecking Crew a run in the near future.

[Hahma]

We'll see. If we have to tweak anything I guess the WC 14 power would be the one or reducing by 5 for destroying a figure. As far as his base stats, Crowbar Throw and Demolition powers, I really like where he's at. He can be a beast and it shows at times while other times he's not hitting his attack or defense rolls he shows he can be taken down.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Griffin

Great work here Hama. I am looking forward to giving the entire Wrecking Crew a run in the near future.

Thanks Griff.

There's a lot of work ahead for them, but I really think that it will be worth it.

[Good Pig]

Cool. Good work so far Hahma. I can help run an army test or two with these guys as well.

[Hahma]

Thanks GP. Extra top notch testing will help for these guys.

One thing that will be really nasty when playing with optional DO rules, Battlements will be affected as well by Demolition and if a chosen figure is on a space with battlements or adjacent to a space with battlements, they can be brought down as well and while they won't roll for falling damage, they will roll for Demolition Damage and that can be especially nasty since Ruined Battlements dish out auto wounds. So Wrecker will definitely make opponents think twice about where they place their figures. Not to mention, he can target a Battlement and if he rolls for Demolition, bring it down and a host of Battlements attached to the same space or adjacent space and that's a whole lot of nasty raining down on figures below.

That said, I might see raising the D20 roll from 11 to 13. He's hit it several times so far but he's rolled good d20's in 13's 14's and up. I'm sure there will be a stretch where he misses a bit.

[Hahma]

ERB sent

[Hahma]

ERB from David:

Wrecker
I took a look at this last night, but didn't have enough to prepare an ERB response before going to bed. Last time I tried to rush an ERB, I regretted it.

So now I'm taking my morning tea break. Nice, calm, serene! Let's see what we've -- oh NO! It's another one of those nasty Wrecking Crew dudes! Keep him away from my teapot! Oh, dear. My full leaf tea is going to be turned into broken leaf before this is over!

Crowbar Throw
I like having split attack values for melee and ranged attacks, such as Agent Carr. Still, an Attack of 4 will leave a knot on the head. Ouch!

Demolition
I've commented in other ERBs about whether placement abilities should go though floors or obstacles, and I've been warming to the idea due to the explanation of why it is thematic in Superhero Scape. However, this ability makes me a full convert, especially if I'm correctly imagining the way this is going to work.

You have a level cap on lower figures, but there is no cap on upper figures. What this means is that Wrecker can be at the base of a castle, and select a figure at the top. I'm not picturing Wrecker striking the figure directly. I'm picturing him smashing the building itself, causing the figure(s) above to topple. I'm even imagining figures dropping through the roof to the ground level. Nice! If he's at the base of a cliff, he's triggering ground tremors and rock slides. So I'm really getting a mental vibe with this.

One wording question: I know you folks have been looking for ways to streamline wording, such as using this attack instead of quoting the name of the special attack. Due to the definition of engaged being adjacent to an opponent's figure, would you be able to make room by deleting with an opponent's figure on the basis of redundancy? I do have problems understanding abilities, but I think I would still understand this if those words had been removed.

If I understand destructible objects correctly, this would also knock out battlements next to the chosen figure as well. Wrecker would basically shake the battlements loose, and the battlements would land as ruined battlements. If the ruined battlement is destroyed by falling damage or the Demolition die, that'll trigger the 1 wound on adjacent figures! That's definitely a scenario you'll want to try in a playtest!

This is probably not the smartest move for a player, but Wrecker could choose an adjacent friendly figure. That would affect Wrecker as well.

Final Thoughts
Some designs, such as Fire Ant Swarm, really leave a visceral impression with me. This is such a design. I have thoughts of buildings toppling and people falling all over the place. You're really tearing up these designs.

[Hahma]

Have lots of HH tests done. Just finished several squad tests. Several because he got owned by SHIELD Agents in 4 games and lost to Skrull Warriors. While he can be nasty vs. heroes, ranged squads can whittle him down with his single attack. Demolition is a risk vs. squads with height as if he misses, he's facing multiple attacks with height. He didn't get to try it vs. SHIELD Agents on Gehenna structure for them to have 2 chances of taking wounds (they stayed apart from each other so only 1 would be affected) but tried it vs. them on one of the side hills and missed once and hit but missed both Demo wounds, then he was in trouble vs. Killbox. So while there is some potential for nasty Demo damage, there is a risk too. I had raised the d20 to 13 from 11 in HH tests as I was rolling hot and it was nasty. I still think 13 should be good as it's still a 40% chance and can be sweet, but should also be risky to a degree as well.