Public Design Workshop

[MrNobody]

There seems to be a desire to avoid units where their names are their species + their class.

[Yodaking]

I guess I missed that. Soldier makes sense here to me for an uncommon soldier. Since they have a primary synergy set-up with an AI figure, seems doubtful they will find their way into generic soldier armies and use that synergy soldier very often either way. The Kryptonian Solider isn't really a guy I grab when building around Bucky's solider bonding or back when I was doing some soldier synergy testing for my GI Joe Project.

[MrNobody]

Maybe it was just Ronin that said that. But I get the point. Zod, for example, calls out Kryptonian Soldiers, which is obviously intended to refer to the unit. But if somebody wanted to make a new Kryptonian that is a Soldier it would be really unclear if that was designed to reference the specific unit or anyone with the species of Kryptonian and class of Soldier. Same with something like Amazon Warriors.

[Yodaking]

I see where you are coming from.

[Ronin]

Yeah, I've been beating the 'can we not do (Un)commons where the name is just Species + Class' drum for a while now, but I think that's just me. You're basically committing to ambiguous synergies, or never reusing the species + class combo, or never synergizing with it, when you do that.

I do actually have a real old Phalanx write-up that predates my current feelings on the Species + Class naming convention, though:

The figure used for this unit is a Heroclix figure from the Hammer of Thor set.
Its model number and name are #008 / Phalanx Soldier.

NAME = PHALANX DRONE
SECRET IDENTITY =

SPECIES = PHALANX
UNIQUENESS = UNCOMMON HERO
CLASS = DRONE
PERSONALITY = SUBSERVIENT

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 4

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 5
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 5

POINTS = ???

PHALANX HIVEMIND
After revealing an Order Marker on this card and instead of taking a turn with this Phalanx Drone, you may either move any two Phalanx Drones you control or take a turn with one other Unique Hero you control that has the Techno-Organic Virus special power.

SELECT ASSIMILATION 18
After taking a turn with this Phalanx Drone, you may choose a Unique Hero adjacent to this Phalanx Drone that is not a Construct and roll the 20-sided die. Subtract 2 from the roll if the chosen Hero is a Mutant. If you roll 18 or higher, take control of the chosen Hero. For the rest of the game, the chosen Hero has the species of Phalanx and must use the Techno-Organic Virus special power. Whenever the Techno-Organic Virus special power refers to this Phalanx Drone or this Phalanx Drone's card, it refers to that Hero or that Hero's card instead.

TECHNO-ORGANIC VIRUS
If an adjacent figure receives one or more wounds from this Phalanx Drone's normal attack, you must roll one combat die. If you roll a skull, remove one Wound Marker from this card. If you roll a shield, place one Wound Marker on this card.

SUPER STRENGTH
_________________________________
Bio - The Phalanx are a species infected with the Techno-Organic Virus. The Virus drives them to assimilate and conquer as many worlds as possible. They became a threat to the entire galaxy when they assimilated Ultron and he directed their efforts to assimilate organic life.

(Definitely not claiming ownership. Got way too many things on my plate and this is an old write-up, like I said. Just comparing notes)

T-O Virus is off N'astirh - I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary to portray it the same way, but it felt like a cool little nod for consistency.

Could always go Invaders for class.

I'm not as up on the history of the Phalanx outside Annihilation: Conquest, but I'm not sure if the Annihilation Wave style 'choose a ruler' makes sense for them. My impression was more that they're usually doing their own hivemind-y thing and Ultron commandeered them. My thought on how to work Ultron in was always more to the tune of 'Phalanx Ultron' (because he does have his own mini and I'd love to get that 'Ultron on the throne' cover on a card.

[MrNobody]

I thought about Phalanx Ultron, but what I ultimately came up with was a “why do we need that?” He spends most of A:C bossing the Phalanx around, transferring into other bodies, shooting lasers, and using his Encephalo Ray. Then at the end he turns giant for that big final boss moment. So I feel like Phalanx Ultron would end up just looking a lot like Ultron I.

Maybe he could have some sort of Phalanx/Robot Control power, and then something like Consciousness Transmission off of Zola. I guess that could be unique enough for a vII.

[IAmBatman]

I would try to rename the Phalanx Soldier unit itself to something more specific and then give it the species and class of Phalanx Soldier. I think that we run into these issues when the unit title is too generic. We should be able to put a class that fits on a unit.

[MrNobody]

I mostly went with Soldier because that’s what the Clix figure is named. I think Phalanx Soldier or maybe even just Phalanx for title and Drone or Invader for class would work well. Giving them Soldier synergies doesn’t really make sense.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

I thought about Phalanx Ultron, but what I ultimately came up with was a “why do we need that?” He spends most of A:C bossing the Phalanx around, transferring into other bodies, shooting lasers, and using his Encephalo Ray. Then at the end he turns giant for that big final boss moment. So I feel like Phalanx Ultron would end up just looking a lot like Ultron I.

Maybe he could have some sort of Phalanx/Robot Control power, and then something like Consciousness Transmission off of Zola. I guess that could be unique enough for a vII.

That's fair, but I guess I'm still iffy on the Phalanx keying that hard into Ultron to make the current Ultron work smoothly with them. Annihilation Conquest is definitely their biggest story, but it's not their only story, and turning them into straight-up Ultron support units feels like kind of a niche take.

On the class, pretty sure I also originally started with Soldier, but moved away from it because it felt weird.

[Yodaking]

I kind of like the idea of using Techo-Organic Viris, then using that power as a key word for some synergy.

[MrNobody]

Yeah my experience with them is all from that one event, so my version is very keyed-in on them being “those guys from Annihilation 2: Annihilate Harder.” If somebody wants to play them as X-Men villains or whatever it makes sense that they wouldn’t have to bring Ultron along with them.

I definitely want Ultron to be able to take over the bodies of the “Infected” so if we go for Techno-Organic Virus as the keyword power that could be another reason to do a Phalanx Ultron that keys in on that power.

[MrNobody]

NAME = PHALANX DRONE
SECRET IDENTITY = N/A

SPECIES = PHALANX
UNIQUENESS = UNCOMMON HERO
CLASS = INVADER
PERSONALITY = CALCULATING

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 3

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 5
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 5

POINTS = ???

PHALANX HIVEMIND
After revealing an Order Marker on this card and instead of taking a turn with this Phalanx Drone, you may either move any two Phalanx Drones you control or take a turn with one other Unique Hero you control that has the Techno-Organic Virus special power.

SELECT ASSIMILATION
Start the game with 2 Select Markers for this Phalanx Drone. When using this Phalanx Drone's Techno-Organic Virus special power after attacking a Unique Hero that is not a Construct, if you roll a blank, you may place a Select Marker on that Hero's Army Card. Whenever you place a second Select Marker on the Army Card of a Unique Hero, take control of the chosen Hero. Any figure with one or more Select Markers on their card must use the Techno-Organic Virus special power. Whenever the Techno-Organic Virus special power refers to this Phalanx Drone or this Phalanx Drone's card, it refers to that Hero or that Hero's card instead.

TECHNO-ORGANIC VIRUS
If an adjacent figure receives one or more wounds from this Phalanx Drone's normal attack, you must roll one combat die. If you roll a skull, remove one Wound Marker from this card. If you roll a shield, place one Wound Marker on this card.

SUPER STRENGTH

NAME = ULTRON
SECRET IDENTITY = ULTRON PYM

SPECIES = ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
UNIQUENESS = EVENT HERO
CLASS = CONQUEROR
PERSONALITY = CALCULATING

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 10

MOVE = 6
RANGE = 5
ATTACK = 6
DEFENSE = 6

POINTS = ???

PHALANX CONQUEST
Whenever a figure you control rolls a combat die for the Techno-Organic Virus special power, they may roll 1 additional die.

ENCEPHALO MIND PROBE
Before attacking with Ultron, you may choose a figure within 4 clear sight spaces of Ultron without the Mental Shield special power and view all Order Markers on that figure's Army Card.

TECHNO-ORGANIC VIRUS
If an adjacent figure receives one or more wounds from Ultron's normal attack, you must roll one combat die. If you roll a skull, remove one Wound Marker from this card. If you roll a shield, place one Wound Marker on this card.

PHALANX PROGRAM TRANSMISSION 20
After moving and attacking with Ultron, you may choose one figure within 10 clear sight spaces of Ultron. Chosen figures must be Androids, Cyborgs, or have the Transmode Virus special power. Roll the 20-sided die, adding 4 to the roll if you control the chosen figure. If you roll 20 or higher, destroy the chosen figure and Ultron. Immediately place Ultron on the space previously occupied by the chosen figure and remove all Wound Markers from Ultron's card.

SUPER STRENGTH

FLYING

How does this look? Kind of a merging of the two with more emphasis on T-O V and an Ultron added in. This version of Select Assimilation is probably too good with Zatanna around.