Kolakoski’s Pre-SoV Custom Corner

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Initially, yes. But the things they miss can be provided by units that are also useful in other armies. For instance, Raelin doesn't have to be a Rogue to help them.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

As aforesaid, we'll be testing only the Shi-Tarkas on April 3rd. As this will be a free for all, as opposed to a team game, my army for then is (tentatively):

Spoiler Alert!

150 Shi-Tarkas x 2
100 Syvarris
80 Fyorlag Spiders x 2
80 Fia Bonny
80 Estivara
60 Izumi Samurai
600 points, 14 spaces

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Speaking to chas' earlier question, the units in question would be easier to test, without being tied so tightly together as Rogues, more generally useful, simpler, and cheaper.

Ravenwolf's stats are now identical (save for Range) to those of his original brother in arms (an earlier Valerios figure), Martial La Hire. Apples and oranges with Kaemon Awa, but decided to price them equally.

RAVENWOLF
General: Einar
Race: Human
Uniqueness: Unique Hero
Class: Fighter
Personality: Disciplined
Size: Medium 5
Life: 5
Move: 5
Range: 7
Attack: 4
Defense: 4
Points: 120

MARK OF THE RAVEN
Place two black Raven markers on Ravenwolf's card. If Ravenwolf wounds an enemy Unique Hero with his attack, place a Raven marker from this card onto that figure's card. The same target can receive up to two markers. The defending Unique Hero rolls one less defense die for each marker on its card when attacked by a normal attack. If the defending Unique Hero is defeated, return the marker(s) to Ravenwolf's card.

For Rieka the Wolf, being a Hunter makes more sense than being a Rogue. Cost could go down to as little as 75.

RIEKA THE WOLF
General: Aquilla
Race: Human
Uniqueness: Unique Hero
Class: Hunter
Personality: Ferocious
Size: Medium 5
Life: 5
Move: 6
Range: 4
Attack: 3
Defense: 3
Points: 75

GO FOR THE THROAT
When Rieka the Wolf attacks she may attack any or all figures adjacent to her, and she receives 1 extra attack die for each wound marker on the defending figure's Army Card to a maximum of 3 additional attack dice for Go for the Throat. Roll each attack separately.

STEALTH LEAP
Instead of her normal move, Rieka the Wolf may Stealth Leap. Stealth Leap has a move of 3. When counting spaces for Rieka the Wolf's leaping movement, ignore elevations. Rieka the Wolf may leap over water without stopping, pass over figures without becoming engaged, and leap over obstacles such as ruins. Rieka the Wolf may not leap more than 12 levels up or down in a single leap. If Rieka the Wolf is engaged when she starts to leap, she does not take any leaving engagement attacks.

CORNERED
If Rieka the Wolf has only 1 Life remaining or is the last remaining figure in your army, add 1 to her Attack and Defense.

Finally, there's Komura. Being a Scout (sans Sighted In) gives him a broader range of synergies at a reasonable price. Since he is now Uncommon, and still prefers to have a Wyvern to ride, he needs to retain his cost.

KOMURA
General: Ullar
Race: Serpentfolk
Uniqueness: Unique Hero
Class: Scout
Personality: Tricky
Size: Medium 5
Life: 4
Move: 6
Range: 7
Attack: 3
Defense: 3
Points: 75

WYVERN RIDER
If Komura is unengaged and adjacent to a Wyvern you control, instead of moving Komura normally, you may move that Wyvern 7 spaces. After moving that Wyvern, place Komura adjacent to that Wyvern. Komura may then attack normally.

POISON WEAPONS
Each time Komura attacks a small, medium, or large Hero with a normal attack or a leaving engagement attack and inflicts at least 1 wound, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 1-11, nothing happens. If you roll a 12 or higher, add 1 additional wound to the defending figure.

P.S.: As these customs evolved, their latent synergies made their Bonding superfluous. Ravenwolf is down to 1 power. In actual play, that was always what mattered, what you played for, focused on. Mark of the Raven.

The changes herein make each custom more thematically unique. Now, Rieka the Wolf can Dance with the Wolves, as originally conceived, through Arktos. And Komura has an identity of his own, apart from Kha. Which immediately prompts me to retain Komura's status as a Unique Hero. I never did change the language in his powers. All can be tested individually - over time.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Thanks to @mac122, we now have:

[kolakoski]

Well met!

From Scytale:

Ravenwolf
When I first glanced at the stats I saw red flags. And the power didn't change that. While I appreciate a single-power card, a fairly simple and useful power even, this unit lacks interesting gameplay. The power is neat and all, but it's just gravy for a unit that kind of does it all. Range 7 with Attack 4 is mean. The weakness here is that he can only attack a single figure per turn, which makes him more dull than weak. If he was a lost-cost, weak hero that could place the markers, then the unit would be interesting as a carefully used add-in to debuff an enemy hero, but as is he just isn't interesting in gamplay.

Rieka the Wolf
The design is fine, but not interesting enough for VC approval these days. She's just a lone hero that fights decently, but the design lacks a role. As an early- or mid-game unit she lacks board control ability and survivability to use reliably, and the multi-attack of Go For the Throat is largely wasted in cleanup. Actually, the design would be better without the multi-attack, as it focuses it better as a cleanup unit. Alternatively, if the species was Hybrid she might have value as-is in Hybrid builds.

Komura
This one comes out better as it has some unique built-in synergy, but the synergy ends up coming off as forced when looking at the overall design. The design is a long-range assassin, but not especially good at it, and not in a way that's interesting to play. Get on nearby high ground, take a shot at a hero, hope to do bonus damage. Wyvern Rider can help with the first part, but he has a large threat range on his own which greatly diminishes its value. It does help to move a Wyvern into a better position too, but really, all this does is add a long-range attack to a normal Wyvern positioning turn. There isn't counterplay to a unit like this either, despite the mediocre survivability, as the threat range is so long and a user of Komura probably won't want to put more than a couple order markers on him.

As I said to him, these are all cogent comments.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

The Shi-Tarkas are being tested as Uncommon Heroes on April 3rd. However, . . .

Originally Posted by Scytale

Single heroes don't have much of a chance with VC these days.

As there are so many of these extant, I could make them a Common Squad:

SHI-TARKAS
General: Aquilla
Race: Vespoid
Uniqueness: Common Squad (3)
Class: Scouts
Personality: Fearless
Size: Medium 5
Life: 1
Move: 6
Range: 1
Attack: 2
Defense: 2
Points: 60

ACID SPIT
When a Shi-Tarkas attacks an adjacent opponent's figure, roll the 20-sided die. On a roll of 17 or higher, that figure may not roll defense dice this turn. An opponent's figure rolls only once for Acid Spit regardless of the number of adjacent Shi-Tarkas attacking it.

THRI-KREEN ASSAULT
If a figure is within 2 spaces of a Shi-Tarkas, and its base is no more than 1 level above or 1 level below that Shi-Tarkas' base, that Shi-Tarkas may add 1 to her Range when attacking that figure. Up to 3 Shi-Tarkas may combine their attack dice against the same figure.

EVASIVE 2
When a Shi-Tarkas rolls defense dice against an attacking figure who is not adjacent, add 2 defense dice to the defending Shi-Tarkas.

[ThrasherDarkrai]

If you're making them a Common Squad, you might want to use different sculpts (in addition to the one sculpt you've already found). The Thri-Kreen (Spear) and Thri-Kreen (Chatkcha/Shuriken) models - D&D Storm King's Thunder #16 and #17, respectively - seem like good candidates, but I'm not sure how available they are.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Originally Posted by ThrasherDarkrai

If you're making them a Common Squad, you might want to use different sculpts (in addition to the one sculpt you've already found). The Thri-Kreen (Spear) and Thri-Kreen (Chatkcha/Shuriken) models - D&D Storm King's Thunder #16 and #17, respectively - seem like good candidates, but I'm not sure how available they are.

The Spears are at least as available. The Chatkcha/Shuriken don't have long weapons.

There are also these:

Thri-Kreen Ranger - Harbinger - Dungeons & Dragons Miniature

P.S.: The Thri-Kreen Ranger doesn't really fit either. Let's try a 4-figure squad.

SHI-TARKAS
General: Aquilla
Race: Vespoid
Uniqueness: Common Squad (4)
Class: Scouts
Personality: Fearless
Size: Medium 5
Life: 1
Move: 6
Range: 1
Attack: 2
Defense: 2
Points: 55

ACID SPIT
When a Shi-Tarkas attacks an adjacent opponent's figure, roll the 20-sided die. On a roll of 17 or higher, that figure may not roll defense dice this turn.

THRI-KREEN ASSAULT
If an opponent's figure is within 2 spaces of a Shi-Tarkas, and its base is no more than 1 level above or 1 level below that Shi-Tarkas' base, that Shi-Tarkas may add 1 to her Range when attacking that figure. Up to 3 Shi-Tarkas may combine their attack dice into a single attack against the same figure.

EVASIVE 2
When a Shi-Tarkas rolls defense dice against an attacking figure who is not adjacent, add 2 defense dice to the defending Shi-Tarkas.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

This is the card for Shi-Tarkas as an Uncommon Hero.

As thee are only 2 appropriate sculpts

Thri-kreen
D&D Sand & Stone


Thri-Kreen (Spear)

I'm thinking:

SHI-TARKAS
General: Aquilla
Race: Vespoid
Uniqueness: Common Squad (2)
Class: Scouts
Personality: Fearless
Size: Medium 5
Life: 1
Move: 6
Range: 1
Attack: 3
Defense: 3
Points: 40

ACID SPIT
When a Shi-Tarkas attacks an adjacent opponent's figure, roll the 20-sided die. On a roll of 17 or higher, that figure may not roll defense dice this turn.

THRI-KREEN ASSAULT
When a Shi-Tarkas attacks, she may attack any or all figures adjacent to her. If an opponent's figure is within 2 spaces of a Shi-Tarkas, and its base is no more than 1 level above or 1 level below that Shi-Tarkas' base, that Shi-Tarkas may add 1 to her Range when attacking that figure. 2 Shi-Tarkas may combine their attack dice when attacking the same figure.

EVASIVE 1
When a Shi-Tarkas rolls defense dice against an attacking figure who is not adjacent, add 1 defense die to the defending Shi-Tarkas.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

I would prefer to use just this sculpt.

Thri-kreen
D&D Sand & Stone

I'm thinking:

SHI-TARKAS
General: Aquilla
Race: Vespoid
Uniqueness: Uncommon Hero
Class: Scout
Personality: Fearless
Size: Medium 5
Life: 1
Move: 6
Range: 1
Attack: 3
Defense: 3
Points: 75

SHI-TARKAS BONDING
After revealing an order marker on this Shi-Tarkas' Army Card, before taking this Shi-Tarkas' turn, you may take a turn with one other Shi-Tarkas you control.

THRI-KREEN ASSAULT
When this Shi-Tarkas attacks, she may attack any or all figures adjacent to her. If an opponent's figure is within 2 spaces of this Shi-Tarkas, and its base is no more than 1 level above or 1 level below this Shi-Tarkas' base, this Shi-Tarkas may add 1 to her Range when attacking that opponent's figure. You may add 1 to this Shi-Tarkas' Attack if there is another Shi-Tarkas within 2 spaces of both the targeted figure and this Shi-Tarkas.

EVASIVE 1
When this Shi-Tarkas rolls defense dice against an attacking figure who is not adjacent, add 1 defense die to her roll.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Given the changes in this custom, a different army for 4/3:

Spoiler Alert!

150 Shi-Tarkas x 2
140 DW9000
120 Krug
80 Fia Bonny
60 Izumi Samurai
50 Brave Arrow
600 points, 10 spaces

I'm thinking fielding at least 4 Shi-Tarkas would be better but, for the time being, I only will have 2.

So many edits, internally and externally. It's a good thing nobody reads these . . .

[Blue Trails]

You'll probably want more than 1 Life per Shi-Tarkas if the design is an Uncommon Hero now.

The Species you're using is starting to raise questions for me. Vespoid implies a wasp-like creature, but the sculpt chosen better resembles to a mantis. Also, is this a D&D thri-kreen, or is it an original creation from a Heroscape world?

Originally Posted by kolakoski

So many edits, internally and externally. It's a good thing nobody reads these . . .

Oh, am I not supposed to be commenting here?