The Book of Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond)

[Yodaking]

Thanks for pointing that out for me Japes!

T's comments on healing actually makes me think having skulls for healing and shields for attack is a pretty good idea as I too doubt I would choose to heal him once when I could instead dish out 1 auto-wound. If I had to choose between healing 3 wounds or doing 1 auto-wound (when you roll 3 skulls and 1 shield on 4 dice) though, healing 3 wounds is an easy decision.

[japes]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

Thanks for pointing that out for me Japes!

T's comments on healing actually makes me think having skulls for healing and shields for attack is a pretty good idea as I too doubt I would choose to heal him once when I could instead dish out 1 auto-wound. If I had to choose between healing 3 wounds or doing 1 auto-wound (when you roll 3 skulls and 1 shield on 4 dice) though, healing 3 wounds is an easy decision.

Yeah I guess my reason for not wanting that was that I thought he would be too powerful but maybe not. We will see.

[Tornado]

If needed perhaps a shield or a blank to heal.

[Viegon]

I had some free time and decided to knock out a couple of games. @Tornado , I know you're working on the Initial and I don't mean to step on your toes, I was just eager to try Firestorm out and figured a couple extra games wouldn't hurt.

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Firestorm

Army Test
Map: Sacred Shrine (no glyphs or special rules)
Units: Firestorm (@330), Ms. Marvel, Invisible Woman (895 points) VS Star-Lord, Mandarin, Red Skull (C3G), Spider-Girl (890 points)

Spoiler Alert!

UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal Attack: N/A
Firestorm Matrix: 1 wound to Red Skull.
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Mental Instability: Took 2 turns; rolled 6-15 both times.
Firestorm Matrix: Used 1 time, rolled 1 shield; inflicted 1 wound.

GAME SUMMARY:
It took both teams the full first round to move up out of their base. Winning initiative, Mandarin rushed at the beginning of the second round, pulled Ms. Marvel away from Invisible Woman, and wounded her. However, Ms. Marvel disengaged from him (without taking a wound) to move back into position, and in two turns obliterated Mandarin. While this was happening, Red Skull had moved in and pulled Firestorm out of range of both his allies, but Red Skull’s attacks failed him. Ms. Marvel and Invisible Woman kept repositioning to try to keep Firestorm within their range, but they couldn’t seem to wound Red Skull who just kept using the Cube to reposition Firestorm out of their sights again. Finally, Ms. Marvel got one chance to activate Firestorm, but he rolled only one shield on Firestorm Matrix; however, a single wound on Red Skull was enough to knock the Cube away, which was a pretty big move. But Firestorm was too beat up by that point, and Red Skull finished him off the next turn. The Avengers took initiative for the fourth round, which worked out great for them as they were able to kill Red Skull (losing that team an OM), followed by taking out Spider-Girl (who also had an OM). Star-Lord put up a good fight and got 3 wounds onto Invisible Woman, but it wasn’t enough and he too went down.

Round One: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel: Invisible Woman advances.
ARMY 2: Mandarin pulls Star-Lord forward.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel: Firestorm flies out.
ARMY 2: Mandarin pulls forward Spider-Girl.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel flies up.
ARMY 2: Red Skull repositions Star-Lord.

Round Two: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Mandarin advances, pulls Ms. Marvel next to him, and deals her 2 wounds.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel dodges a disengagement to reposition, and puts 3 wounds on Mandarin.
ARMY 2: Red Skull pulls Firestorm to him but fails his attack.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel and Invisible Woman kill Mandarin.
ARMY 2: Red Skull moves Firestorm out of Invisible Woman’s sights but again fails to wound him.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel grabs the Electromagnetic Rings but fails on Red Skull.

Round Three: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Red Skull moves an OM from Ms. Marvel to Invisible Woman, then puts 3 wounds on Firestorm, activating Spider-Girl who moves next to Ms. Marvel.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel and Firestorm put 1 wound on Red Skull (knocking the Cube away) and 1 wound on Spider-Girl.
ARMY 2: Red Skull kills Firestorm; Star-Lord fails.
ARMY 1: Invisible Woman grabs the Energy Rings and puts 1 wound on Spider-Girl.
ARMY 2: Star-Lord puts 1 wound on Ms. Marvel (knocking the Electromagnetic Rings out of the fight).
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel and Invisible Woman put 1 wound on Red Skull.

Round Four: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel and Invisible Woman kill Red Skull.
ARMY 2: Turn lost on Red Skull.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel and Invisible Woman kill Spider-Girl and put 2 wounds on Star-Lord.
ARMY 2: Turn lost on Spider-Girl.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel fails.
ARMY 2: Star-Lord dodges a disengagement to put 2 wounds on Invisible Woman (knocking away the Energy RIngs).

Round Five: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel grabs the Energy Rings and puts 2 wounds on Star-Lord.
ARMY 2: Star-Lord puts 1 wound on Invisible Woman.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel and Invisible Woman kill Star-Lord.

Ms. Marvel with 3 wounds, Invisible Woman with 3 wounds.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Sacred Shrine (no glyphs or special rules)
Units: Firestorm (@330), Iron Patriot, Valkyrie (970 points) VS Ronan, Quasar, Kree Scouts x6 (970 points)

Spoiler Alert!

UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal Attack: 2 Kree Scouts.
Firestorm Matrix: 3 wounds to Quasar.
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Mental Instability: Took 5 turns; 1-5 rolled 1 time, 16+ rolled 3 times (added 1 die to Firestorm Matrix).
Firestorm Matrix: Used 1 time, rolled 3 total shields out of 5 dice; inflicted 3 wounds.

GAME SUMMARY:
Things looked bad for the Dark Avengers right off when the Kree, boosted up by Ronan, put 4 wounds on Iron Patriot in a single turn. However, Iron Patriot and Firestorm proved to be a deadly duo, quickly thinning the ranks of Kree Scouts (they managed to take down 3 in one turn). Quasar did her best to take on Valkyrie, but Firestorm was such a threat to her that she had to spend most of her turns avoiding him. The Kree did manage to finish off Valkyrie in the third round, but by that point it was down to just Quasar and a single Scout, and Iron Patriot and Firestorm was able to take them both down the next turn.

Round One: Army 2 wins Initiative (Ronan Accuses Valkyrie; 1 OM moved due to Chaotic Leadership).
ARMY 2: Kree advance.
ARMY 1: Firestorm moves out.
ARMY 2: Kree fail.
ARMY 1: Iron Patriot fails.
ARMY 2: Kree put 4 wounds on Patriot.
ARMY 1: Patriot kills 1 Scout and moves up Valkyrie.

Round Two: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Kree put 1 wound on Valkyrie.
ARMY 1: Patriot and Firestorm kill 3 Kree Scouts.
ARMY 2: Kree put 2 wounds on Firestorm and 2 wounds on Valkyrie.
ARMY 1: Patriot and Firestorm kill 1 Scout.
ARMY 2: Kree put 2 wounds on Valkyrie (Quasar takes a disengagement wound to stay away from Firestorm).
ARMY 1: Patriot and Valkyrie put 5 wounds on Ronan.

Round Three: Army 1 wins Initiative (Firestorm moves with Chaotic Leadership).
ARMY 1: Patriot kills Ronan; Firestorm uses the Matrix to put 3 wounds on Quasar.
ARMY 2: Quasar and the last Scout kill Valkyrie.
ARMY 1: Patriot and Firestorm kill Quasar and the last Scout.

Iron Patriot with 4 wounds, Firestorm with 2 wounds.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Sacred Shrine (no glyphs or special rules)
Units: Firestorm (@360), Iron Patriot, Valkyrie (1,000 points) VS Batman (II), Huntress, Batgirl (Stephanie), Oracle, Batgirl (Cassandra), Nite Owl, Robin (Damian) (1,000 points)

Spoiler Alert!

UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal Attack: 3 wounds to Nite Owl, 1 wound to Robin, 3 wounds to Batman, 3 wounds to Oracle.
Firestorm Matrix: 2 wounds to Robin, 1 wound to Batman, 1 wound to Oracle.
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Mental Instability: Took 14 turns; 1-5 rolled 4 times, 16+ rolled 4 times (added 1 total die to Firestorm Matrix).
Firestorm Matrix: Used 4 times, rolled 5 total shields, used to inflict 4 wounds (1 shield was excess).

GAME SUMMARY:
Huntress rushed the Dark Avengers, and did manage to put 3 wounds on Valkyrie, but she didn’t last long. Cassandra Cain was able to move up with her to tie down Iron Patriot, who at first kept disengaging from her not wanting to risk attacking her, but when he finally did her dice failed her and he killed her in a single turn. Stephanie Brown then moved with with Nite Owl, and they also managed to deal Valkyrie a couple wounds, but they both also fell to Iron Patriot’s wrath. Patriot, still unwounded, was getting cocky, and he left himself exposed (out of Valkyrie’s range) for a single turn; in that turn, Batman and Robin teamed up to take him down. This left the Dark Avengers with 3 dead OMs, which the Vigilantes used to kill Valkyrie. Opening into the fifth round, only Firestorm remained standing on his team. However, with some good dice, he was able to take out both Robin and Batman in one round while only taking 2 wounds himself. A duel between him and Oracle lasted three rounds as Firestorm continued to evade her while his attack rolls failed him. He eventually took her down to claim the win.

Round One: Army 2 wins Initiative (Batman chooses the Shurikens, Smoke Pellets, and First Aid Kit.).
ARMY 2: Steph, Cassandra, and Nite Owl advance
ARMY 1: Firestorm advances.
ARMY 2: Huntress, Cassandra, and Robin advance.
ARMY 1: Iron Patriot flies out.
ARMY 2: Huntress, Cassandra, and Nite Owl fail.
ARMY 1: Patriot puts 3 wounds on Huntress and moves up Valkyrie.

Round Two: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Huntress and Cassandra put 3 wounds on Valkyrie.
ARMY 1: Patriot fails.
ARMY 2: Huntress and Cassandra fails.
ARMY 1: Patriot kills Huntress; Firestorm fails.
ARMY 2: Batgirl, Cassandra, and Nite Owl fail.
ARMY 1: Patriot kills Cassandra and Firestorm puts 3 wounds on Nite Owl.

Round Three: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Batgirl and Nite Owl fail.
ARMY 1: Patriot and Valkyrie put 3 wounds on Batgirl.
ARMY 2: Batgirl and Nite Owl put 2 wounds on Valkyrie.
ARMY 1: Patriot kills Nite Owl and Batgirl; Firestorm puts 1 wound on Robin.
ARMY 2: Batman and Robin fail.
ARMY 1: Patriot is thwarted by the Smoke Pellets

Round Four: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Batman and Robin kills Patriot.
ARMY 1: Turn lost on Patriot.
ARMY 2: Batman and Robin fail.
ARMY 1: Turn lost on Patriot.
ARMY 2: Batman and Robin kill Valkyrie.
ARMY 1: Turn lost on Patriot.

Round Five: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Batman and Robin put 1 wound on Firestorm.
ARMY 1: Firestorm kills Robin.
ARMY 2: Batman puts 1 wound on Firestorm.
ARMY 1: Firestorm puts 3 wounds on Batman.
ARMY 2: Batman fails.
ARMY 1: Firestorm kills Batman.

Round Six: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Oracle advances.
ARMY 1: Firestorm fails.
ARMY 2: Oracle advances.
ARMY 1: Firestorm fails.
ARMY 2: Oracle advances.
ARMY 1: Firestorm fails.

Round Seven: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Oracle advances.
ARMY 1: Firestorm puts 1 wound on Oracle.
ARMY 2: Oracle moves.
ARMY 1: Firestorm fails.
ARMY 2: Oracle moves.
ARMY 1: Firestorm puts 1 wound on Oracle.

Round Eight: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Oracle moves.
ARMY 1: Firestorm puts 1 wound on Oracle.
ARMY 2: Oracle puts 1 wound on Firestorm.
ARMY 1: Firestorm kills Oracle.

Firestorm with 3 wounds.

___________________________________________________________

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: I was expecting Firestorm to come in somewhere around low 300, but after these games, I think he's much closer to 350. Being fast and having good ranged offense, he plays wonderfully with figures like Ms. Marvel and Iron Patriot. For his cost he's relatively fragile, which helps keep him balanced, but you can generally mitigate that by running him with a defensive figure or a figure like Iron Patriot who is a high-priority target and absorbs the attacks. Overall, I'd say he's well-balanced for the 340-360 points range.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: I really enjoyed playing Firestorm. He's fun and very thematic, with some nice options and flexibility without being overly complex. Mental Instability adds a fun touch of swing that doesn't get too overwhelming (you can always just fall back on his normal attack when needed). Firestorm Matrix is a lot of fun, though I'm a little worried that the healing part won't be used much. In my games it was almost always better to deal damage then to heal. Increasing his life and/or defense might help here, I'm not sure. I also didn't get a chance to destroy a glyph, but that's because his opponents were very careful to keep their glyph-carrying-figures away from him. Overall though, he totally passes the fun and theme tests.

[japes]

Great news!! That's more the level I was expecting.

[Arkham]

Cool beans. If he's good to go for more playtesting, I can run some tests later tonight at 350.

[japes]

Originally Posted by Aggressive Sock

Cool beans. If he's good to go for more playtesting, I can run some tests later tonight at 350.

Not yet we have more testing to do before the vote for public testing. Thanks for the excitement though.

[Arkham]

Originally Posted by japes

Not yet we have more testing to do before the vote for public testing. Thanks for the excitement though.

Sorry, I should have clarified, I meant I can run some more tests for you if you want more results at 350.

[Arkham]

If not that's cool. Had everything still setup, so I was willing to help out if needed. It's all good.

[Tornado]

I can combine my Heavy Hitters and Squads tests with Viegon's team matches to complete the Initial if we want to speed this up.
I think making healing working on shields and blanks may make it a little more useful.
Let me know.

[Tornado]

Thanks for the tests Viegon!

Looking them over it looks like Firestorm actually did not do a lot of damage.
Is there something I am not seeing?

I will not be able to finish until Saturday, most likely. I can combine my tests with V's for the Initial if that is OK and japes wants to move to vote for Public Testing. I will still do my army tests but apply them to the public test phase. Just an option. We should take advantage of A_S's ferocity in devouring playtests lately.

I think 330 looks good for public tests but I think we should tweak healing to work on shields and blanks.

[Viegon]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Looking them over it looks like Firestorm actually did not do a lot of damage.
Is there something I am not seeing?

Well, the first game he certainly didn't do much, but that's because he only got one turn while in the fight and he rolled badly (despite that, causing the wound to knock the Cube away from Red Skull was very important). In the second game he killed roughly 300 points, while also forcing Quasar to play suboptimal because of the threat of destroying her glyph. And in the third game he killed over 500 points.

Overall, I'd say he did fair for a unit in the mid-300s range.