Ixe's Custom Units

[Ixe]

Thanks again for the comments on the latchers. I have recently been making an effort to design evenly across the Valkyrie generals and so it has finally come time to add Vydar back into the fold for new designs (I had designed a lot for him early on with my Sci-fi Wave). Given that I am also working on multiple cycles, continuing them with him is a good way to start.

This is the Master of Gales from Pathfinder Miniatures - Skull & Shackles.



NAME = Eobard Stormcaller
GENERAL = Vydar
PLANET = Toril
SPECIES = Human
CLASS = Battle Mage
PERSONALITY = Tricky
SIZE = Medium 5
UNIQUE HERO

LIFE = 5
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 120

DOUBLE ATTACK
When Eobard Stormcaller attacks he may attack one additional time.

THUNDERSTORM
Instead of attacking, Eobard Stormcaller may use Thunderstorm. When using Thunderstorm, you must roll the 20-sided die for all figures within 3 clear sight spaces of Eobard Stormcaller, one at a time. Add 5 to the roll if that figure is on a water space. If you roll a 20 or higher that figure receives 1 wound. Eobard Stormcaller's Thunderstorm does not affect Eobard Stormcaller or figures under overhangs.

ARCANE RIPOSTE
When Eobard Stormcaller rolls defense dice against a normal attack, all excess shields count as unblockable hits on the attacking figure.


Eobard Stormcaller is a battle mage, equally skilled in both melee combat and the arcane arts. He trains in weather magic and uses that power to call forth terrible storms to devastate the battlefield. Storms can be a fickle weapon, however, and can prove just as likely to devastate his own side as well as the opponent. The lightning strikes are particularly dangerous to those in water who can be electrified even without a direct hit. Otherwise he relies on his sword to make lightning strikes of its own and deliver attacks in the blink of an eye. Like all battle mages, those who attack must beware less he turns their efforts back against the opponent.

In keeping with my cycle of battle mages, Eobard Stormcaller follows the typical trends while not being terribly good. On a water (or at least swamp water) heavy environment, his Thunderstorm could potentially prove devastating to an opponent's army. More likely he'll act similarly to Runa and not amount to much. While his storm hits a wider area and he's more intimidating to try to attack, he is less maneuverable to get into position and must forgo his more impressive attack in order to use it. Even if lightning does strike, the single wound is not terribly useful against heroes (although just as deadly for most squads).

As always, comments are greatly appreciated!

[Kinseth]

Love him! Love that mini too.

[Ixe]

Thanks for the comment on Eobard Stormcalller. In my efforts to keep my cycles going, here is my sniper for Einar.

This is the Crossbow Sniper from Awaken Realms - The Edge. As you can see, the miniature is supplied unpainted.


This shot is of a miniature with a different pose but it gets a better look at that massive crossbow.


NAME = Maddox
GENERAL = Einar
PLANET = Arctorus
SPECIES = Human
CLASS = Sniper
PERSONALITY = Precise
SIZE = Medium 5
UNIQUE HERO

LIFE = 3
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 9
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 4
POINTS = 110

LIGHTNING BOLTS SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 4.
Choose 9 spaces in a straight line from Maddox. All figures on those spaces who are in line of sight of Maddox are affected by Maddox's Lightning Bolt's Special Attack. Roll 4 attack dice once for each affected figure. Each figure rolls defense dice separately. Maddox can only use Lightning Bolts Special Attack if he did not move this turn and he is not engaged.

PHANTOM WALK
Maddox can move through all figures and is never attacked when leaving an engagement.


Maddox comes the steam punk age in Arctorus where steam-powered armor was used for enhanced protection and to provide the strength to carry massive gear. Maddox is a sniper who wields an enormous crossbow that can launch bolts fast and strong enough to punch through anything. When given a reprieve, he can have his crossbow draw power from his armor to unleash a torrent of electrified crossbow bolts that cut straight through a line of enemies. Despite his heavy armor, the steam power keeps him nimble enough to slip past and away from any enemy.

From his stats alone, Maddox is pretty powerful. His low life leaves him vulnerable but he can otherwise remain far enough away and unleash some powerful shots against the enemy. He's obviously at his most potent if you can manage to pull off his Lightning Bolts Special Attack (name might be a little too clever for its own good) but setting that up might be difficult. Since he cannot move (or be engaged) to use the power, the enemy may often have a turn to break up their line to avoid getting slammed by it. This isn't the worst thing in the world if you can place him in such away to keep the threat present and break up some strategic points on the map (especially if you pair him with my 72nd Spotters for some more versatility and a double attack). Otherwise he'll do best with an initiative switch to move into position and unleash with two consecutive turns. I'm a little on the fence about Phantom Walk but I felt he looked stealthy enough to justify some sort of power. The disengage aspect should help keep him alive and firing at least.

As always, comments are greatly appreciated!

[Ixe]

As far as cycles are concerned, there has been a big one that I've been avoiding. Here is my ninja hero for Aquilla.

This is Psylocke from Heroclix - Giant Size X-Men.


NAME = Hikari
GENERAL = Aquilla
PLANET = Earth
SPECIES = Human
CLASS = Ninja
PERSONALITY = Tricky
SIZE = Medium 5
UNIQUE HERO

LIFE = 3
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 70

ENERGY DAGGERS SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 5. Attack 3.
Hikari may use this special attack 2 times in the same turn if she is engaged after moving. Hikari may target the same figure or a different figure with this attack.

PHANTOM WALK
Hikari can move through all figures and is never attacked when leaving an engagement.


Pulled from Earth's future, Hikari is equipped with powerful energy daggers that can fire blasts at their targets from afar. When used in close combat, the energy is held on the dagger and allows quick swings to slice through the target. She is otherwise a skilled assassin capable of striking deadly blows with her Katana.

Hikari is a versatile addition to the Ninja faction, able to deliver a double attack like Moriko for a fraction of the cost and a more consistent ranged attack than Shiori. While this is useful, Hikari is still vulnerable and lacks Shiori's benefit of Concentrated will that she can enjoy under Kantano Daishi. In that army she should be good for providing a ranged attack and a little versatility.

As always, comments are greatly appreciated!

[TheAverageFan]

Tatsu: She looks pretty futuristic for an Aquilla figure, but given Aquilla's ranks (bugs, dwarves, Mariedians?) that's hardly an issue. She seems pretty versatile but suffers from the same problem as Shiori and Khosumet--abysmal survivability given the price tag.

If she's engaged with one figure and kills him with her Special Attack, does she still get the second attack?

~TAF

[Ixe]

I have not given up on Viceron and have gone through many tests with him in this new form. One of the reasons he was costed as he was was because I was future-proofing him to bonding (my personal hope is to one day see knight bonding). I went out of my way to force that instead of just making him relentless like he should have been. While he is and pretty much always will be a fairly swingy unit (just by the nature of his special attack), the 4 life was pushing things a bit too far on that front as well, compounding to make him untenable in his submitted form.

I've been testing him more with the death knights (I had tested them together before) and at his higher life total. He'll still lose in a head-to-head fight with many lower-cost heroes but thrives against squads and common hero pseudo squads, particularly those with lower attack and defense values. He's still not an elite unit. A ranked squads and armies are just going to beat him most of the time, especially since he bonds with a B- ranked squad.

Speaking of the Death Knights, this point total drops him into a point gulf as well as providing them with a sort of special multi-attacker that they otherwise lack. He doesn't synergize with them like the Skull demons but their defense and limited numbers means it isn't too difficult for him to use Bloodstorm ritual and avoid hurting his own team. He's expensive enough that they could still reasonably choose other options depending on the point total.

I plan on running out some more tests still to make sure I have him where I want him but I'm hoping for an expedient turn-around to get him back in the hands of the SoV.

[Son of Arathorn]

FWIW, I like the changes in Personality and Life.

[Kinseth]

I think that you just need to work on his points, I like all that he offers right now. Bumping his life +1 is good. I don't think he needs to bond with a squad.

Try his point cost at say, 135 and see how he feels. I wouldn't give up on the design.

[Ixe]

My hope was to always have him bond eventually. I'm just making him do it now which makes even more sense given the Knights of Blackgaard synergy anyway.

Right now I'm running him through a ton of different match ups and just seeing what he earns each time. Variance is pretty high, unfortunately, meaning a true mean and error on that is going to be hard to find short of running 500 some tests. I'll put a little wiggle room in there considering how his power is one that the opponent is often forced to play around and the fact that he is pretty good at tanking attacks away from the rest of your army.

[Ixe]

Here's something cool for Jandar.

This is Wand Expert from D&D Miniatures - Angelfire.


NAME = Oberras Willowcore
GENERAL = Jandar
PLANET = Eberron
SPECIES = Eladrin (ugh)
CLASS = Artificer
PERSONALITY = Tricky
SIZE = Medium 5
UNIQUE HERO

LIFE = 5
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 2
DEFENSE = 2
POINTS = 80

FIRE WAND SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 3.
Choose 5 spaces in a straight line from Oberras Willowcore. All figures on those spaces who are within line of sight are affected by Oberras's Fire Wand Special Attack. Roll 3 attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately.

ACID WAND SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 5. Attack 3.
Choose a figure to attack. All figures adjacent to the chosen figure are also affected by Acid Wand Special attack. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately. Oberras Willowcore can be affected by his own Acid Wand Special Attack.

DUAL WAND EXPERT
After attacking with a special attack, if Oberras Willowcore did not move this turn, he may attack again with special attack. Oberras Willowcore cannot attack with the same special attack more than once each turn.


Oberras Willowcore is an Eladrin (ugh) artificer from Eberron specializing in making and using wands. He fights with a fire wand in one hand that shoots out lines of flame and an acid wand in the other that fire an orb of caustic liquid that splashes outwards on impact. He is so adept at using these wands that he can use one in each hand and fire them in rapid succession.

As a solo hero with pretty poor stats, you'll need to be careful how you move and place Oberras Willowcore. His obvious best use is when you can combine his special attacks but that requires him to not move that turn, making it particularly tricky to set up an effective Fire Wand Special Attack. I suspect setting him up around an initiative switch would be best. I could also see a unit like Rygarn doing wonders to give you the flexibility you need to set him up to hit a lot of units. More often than not I suspect he'd function like a cowboy and just fire his Acid Wand at range until he can set up a two-wand strike.

As always, comments are greatly appreciated!

[TheAverageFan]

Oberras: Another Eladrin (ugh?) with subpar stats and a unique twist on things. I like the strategy involved with his Special Attacks, although I do wonder why he can only go Fire-then-Acid and not vice versa. You could just say "after using a special attack, if this guy didn't move this turn, he may attack again with a special attack. So-so cannot use the same special attack twice in a single turn" or whatever. Regardless, he's pretty handy to have around, crowd-control wise. Your opponent will have difficulty minimizing casualties when he's got two ways to blow squaddies up.

~TAF

[Ixe]

The "ugh" to Eladrin is because I really hate that 4e decided to break up elves into two different races and use Eladrin in the first place. It is a mistake that 5e did not repeat, but it's what Heroscape used so I'm kind of stuck with it.

I'm pretty sure you almost always want to use Fire first and then Acid if you can help it and I was trying to stream-line the wording but I think I can afford to use something along the lines of what you suggest.