Wastewalker Gage Public Playtesting

[superfrog]

The figure used for this unit is a Starfinder Battles figure from the Monster Pack set. Its name is Diasporan Space Pirate.



NAME = WASTEWALKER GAGE

GENERAL = UTGAR
PLANET = EARTH
SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = MERCENARY
PERSONALITY = WILD
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5
BASE SIZE = NORMAL SINGLE

LIFE = 5
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 4
ATTACK = 2
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 90

GRAPPLE RIFLE
Instead of his normal move, Wastewalker Gage may use his Grapple Rifle. Grapple Rifle has a move of 4. When counting spaces for Grapple Rifle, ignore elevations. Gage may grapple over water without stopping, over figures without becoming engaged, and over obstacles such as ruins. Gage may not grapple more than 45 levels up or down in a single Grapple Rifle move. If Gage is engaged when he starts his Grapple Rifle move, he will take any leaving engagement attacks. If Gage used Grapple Rifle this turn, he may not attack a non-adjacent figure.

CHAINSAW SWEEP SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1. Attack 4.
Choose a figure to attack. You must choose a figure adjacent to both Gage and the chosen figure to also be affected by Chainsaw Sweep Special Attack, if possible. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately. If you do not roll any skulls with Chainsaw Sweep Special Attack, Gage receives a wound.

[kevindola]

450

Map: Sludge
Glyphs: Lodin, Unique

kevindola: Dreadguls x4, Syvarris, Gage
HS 2010: Fire Ants x5, Brontos



Which units survived?
4 Dreadguls
Gage (3 life)
Syvarris (full)

Round 1
Syvarris misses some shots on Brontos while Gage and some dreadguls move up. Ants take Unique Attack and sting 1 Dread

Round 2
Syvarris kills 1 ant. Gage and the Dreadguls kill 4 more. The ants sting away another dreadgul

Round 3
15 ants, Brontos vs. 10 Dreads, Gage, Syv
Just locked in a constant battle now
-kill 3 ants (12 left)
-Sting 1 Dread (9 left)
-kill 4 ants (8 left)
-Sting 1 Dread (8 left)
-kill 2 ants (6 left)
-nothing

Round 4
6 ants, Brontos vs. 8 Dreads, Gage, Syv
-Brontos crushes Dread (7 left)
-Brontos takes 1 wound
-Brontos 1w Gage
-4 wounds to Brontos (5 total)
-Brontos crushs Dread (6 left)
-Syvarris 1 wound Brontos (6 total)

Round 5
6 ants, Brontos (3 life) vs. 6 Dreads, Gage (4 life), Syvarris
Dreads and Gage kill Brontos which wraps this up.


How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?

Grappled: 2 both important

Chainsaw with multiple targets
-2 targets, 2 kills (2 ants)
-2 targets, 2 kills (2 ants)
-2 targets, 1 kills (1 ants)
-2 targets, 1 kill, 2w Brontos (1 ant)

Ranged Attack
-kill ant
-2 wound to Brontos

damage: 9 ants, 4w Brontos (190points)

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?
Quite the showing here. I got a LOT of chainsaw double opportunities this matchup.

I loved the visual of the wild chainsaw wielder and his wild dreadgul squads.

[Tornado]

I am curious. How was the 45 levels for Grapple Rifle settled upon?
Is that the highest level restriction?

Fun design.

[kevindola]

Originally Posted by Tornado

I am curious. How was the 45 levels for Grapple Rifle settled upon?
Is that the highest level restriction?

Fun design.

SotM Drake is 45 levels. (Boy that arm sure can extend.)

RotV Drake is 25 levels.


I couldn't tell you where they came up with those values.

[Tornado]

Right on. Thanks.

[Captain Stupendous]

I recently played a game with Wastewalker Gage which also included a personal custom that I'm doing some preliminary testing for. I realize its not ideal to playtest multiple figures at once, but since my playtesting time is limited I figured this would be better than nothing. Please just let me know if the presence of Ianzhi invalidates the test and I would be happy to delete this post.

Map: Fossil

Army 1: Wastewalker Gage, Dreadgul Raiders x4, Major Q10 (me)

Army 2: Tagawa Samurai Archers x5, Raelin (RotV), Ianzhi Mito (custom, card below)

Which units survived? 6 Tagawa Samurai Archers survived.

Dysole began the game by developing Raelin and Ianzhi to the southern corner of elevation and podding up archers around them. I responded by developing Q10 to the northern elevation before advancing on his archer’s position with Gage and the Raiders. Gage and the Raiders were able to kill Raelin, and several archers, although their ranks were decimated in the process. Once my Raiders were mostly depleted, I began using Q10s Machine Pistol and was able to kill a number of archers before they were able to eventually break through his defense.

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?

Gage was instrumental this game in bringing Raelin down relatively quickly. His Grapple Rifle was used effectively to reach the position of height next to her, however, some solid defense rolls from the archers prevented his chainsaw from doing much collateral damage. If he hadn’t whiffed his final attack which killed himself, he could have done much more damage. As it played out, he ended up dealing 3 wounds to Raelin and killing 1 Archer, before dealing 1 wound to himself with a failed chainsaw roll.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?

I really like the theme of Wastewalker as his abilities play well into the sculpt, and an additional bonding option for the Raiders is definitely appreciated. However, mechanically he seemed a bit too similar to a downgraded SotM Drake without much of a distinctive niche of his own, other than the bonding. However, he may prove to be more unique than he appears at first glance, as there is a significant difference between a single attack of 6 and an attack of 4 that can hit two targets. Chainsaw definitely felt bad when he killed himself with it, although this was tempered by his low point cost and I never felt the ability was unfair.

Versions Tested
Wastewalker Gage

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = WASTEWALKER GAGE

GENERAL = UTGAR
PLANET = EARTH
SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = MERCENARY
PERSONALITY = WILD
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5
BASE SIZE = NORMAL SINGLE

LIFE = 5
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 4
ATTACK = 2
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 90

GRAPPLE RIFLE
Instead of his normal move, Wastewalker Gage may use his Grapple Rifle. Grapple Rifle has a move of 4. When counting spaces for Grapple Rifle, ignore elevations. Gage may grapple over water without stopping, over figures without becoming engaged, and over obstacles such as ruins. Gage may not grapple more than 45 levels up or down in a single Grapple Rifle move. If Gage is engaged when he starts his Grapple Rifle move, he will take any leaving engagement attacks. If Gage used Grapple Rifle this turn, he may not attack a non-adjacent figure.

CHAINSAW SWEEP SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1. Attack 4.
Choose a figure to attack. You must choose a figure adjacent to both Gage and the chosen figure to also be affected by Chainsaw Sweep Special Attack, if possible. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately. If you do not roll any skulls with Chainsaw Sweep Special Attack, Gage receives a wound.

Ianzhi Mito

Spoiler Alert!

IANZHI MITO
3L 6M R1 A3 D5
Human/Samurai/Unique Hero/Medium 5/Disciplined

Virtue of Honor
Whenever a friendly Samurai within 3 clear sight spaces of Ianzhi Mito is destroyed during an opponent’s turn, you may place an Honor Marker on this army card. Ianzhi Mito and every friendly Samurai within 3 clear sight spaces rolls one additional attack die for each Honor Marker on this card when attacking an adjacent figure. A maximum of 3 Honor Markers can be placed on this card.

Counterstrike
When rolling defense dice against a Normal Attack from an adjacent attacking figure, all excess shields count as unblockable hits on the attacking figure. This power does not work on other Samurai.