2022 C3V Playtest Tournament (Congrats KnightofLight)

[Cleon]

Crazy game vs. Tiamat. I had my Mohicans, he had the Cronroller. The units left on the board were Raelin with two lives left, Kolbjorn with one life left, and a full life Brave Arrow (he had two repulsors after the forfeit).

The beginning portion if the game I thought I didn’t play very well, and my defense dice were maybe the worst I’ve ever had (less than 10% for longer than a reasonable amount of rolls, then slowly crept up to 20% and hovered around there for a while. but eventually it finally got up to a normal percentage by the end). I did get some Concealment rolls off, though. I really wasn’t sure how to play this army into this, and in retrospect I probably should have gone with either of the other two builds for this matchup on this map. I slow rolled pretty hard but he advanced a couple repulsors and snipers out on the bridge (castle walks) and pinged away. I really was fumbling over how I should set up Raelin and move Mohicans in, and not leave their heroes behind. Plus utilize the Quasatch. I ended up being very cautious and tried pinging with Mohicans but then thought that wasn’t going to hold up, and I wasn’t able to kill the pesky initial Repulsor for far too long. I ended up switching two OM’s to Quasatch hoping they could do damage and get me out of that hole. But it was a pretty desperate play as they needed to do damage and block, and then continue. They ended up not even being able to kill the Repulsor and then just got shot down. I would have been much better off sticking with the mohicans and try to get Brave Arrow in the mix.

I was down to only 3 Mohicans and my full life heroes, while I only took out I think 2 Snipers and a Repulsor. I decided to yolo the 3 mohicans into the water over to tie up multiple Snipers and a Repulsor and get Brave Arrow to the battle. I was able to kill three units and get the initiative switch, which otherwise I think I would have lost there. I had a couple clutch concealments as well from close range. I was able to get Tiamat down to 2 (?) Snipers when my Mohicans fell. Brave Arrow finally took out the last of the Snipers and I had just my three heroes left. I left Brave Arrow away on the Rock 7 hex as he’s super safe there from range and went with Kolbjorn/Raelin for the rest of the game. I made Tiamat come to me on the other side of the lake with repulsors (and Omegacron close behind) making their way along the bumpy road path and threatening the wound glyph, which they grabbed several times. Kolbjorn took out some repulsors then I flew Raelin closer to Brave Arrow with Kolbjorn following. Tiamat was quite spread out and I kept picking off Repulsors, now on the other side. I stayed out if Omegacron’s range forcing him to put Omegacron lower to hit Kolbjorn or Raelin, and threatening the counter of Kolbjorn retaliating from height.

It eventually got to me set up on the Rock 7 hex side and Tiamat on the other side with the level 3 heighted road. I had put 2 wounds on Raelin from Wannok and I think maybe put 1 on Kolbjorn. I still had my three heroes, Brave Arrow and Kolbjorn with good health, and Tiamat had a full life Omegacron, Betacron, and 4 or so Repulsors. Tiamat got the defense treasure glyoh for Omegacron, but I also got quite fortunate with treasure glyphs - I picked up both without hitting the trap and got Heroic Rune and the Giant Hunter Stone. Kolbjorn now had 6 attack on Omegacron and while staying in Raelin’s aura I was able to kill Omegacron in three attacks while surviving with 1 life left. Not long after, Betacron missed his shot and I was able to take him down and the three Repulsors, despite rolling 6/6 in pings, couldn’t really do anything.

Hell of a game Tiamat, I thought it was over when I made the poor plays with the Quasatch and calling them in. Hope to play you again soon, and good luck in the rest of the tournament.

It’s hard to comment on this game, and the playtest units in it, as we actually played the Omnicron movement wrong; we had the repulsors and snipers get the road bonus. If we played it correctly, it would have been a very different game as my Mohicans could have developed much safer. And, Betacron really didn’t do anything. He was in the back for awhile and moved over to Omegacron with the repulsors to bunker down on the height opposing where I took, and then he just missed his one attack. Kolbjorn was really neat, though. I don’t think I played the Mohicans well with him and Brave Arrow, it was a lot of not knowing what to adavance with and not having a solidified plan. And his OM switch to the Quasatch unfortunately didn’t do barely anything for me this game (but that was my mistake for sure). But moving him 3 spaces for free at the beginning of the round is great. Especially when you have Raelin, and especially in the endgame. It was very fun. He has a lot of tricky things you can do with him knowing you have the early three move. I wasn’t able to get attacks with him through War Cry and the only hunters I had were annihilated. But I see a ton of interesting decisions from him.

Maybe you should go one or the other - either Kolbjorn with Brave Arrow and Mohicans, or Kolbjorn with Hunters and maybe Mohicans. But having him with Brave Arrow and Mohicans and Hunters might be too much. Just speculating. I definitely learned a lot about this build and am excited to get another go with it, as when I went into this match I really didn’t have a clue what strategy to go with.

[Tiamat]

Cleon’s battle report pretty much summed it up. He made a calculated risk early on when the dice were against him that worked and caught me completely off guard. That got him right back in the game. From there it was a clinic on how to leverage range + Raelin on a less mobile opponent. Kolbjorn hanging on with a single life to drop 5/6 skulls on Omega sealed the deal. It was an epic 3+ hour battle though that had a lot of swings and was a ton of fun. Great playing with you Cleon!

Thoughts on playtest figures:
Betacron: This was a pretty terrible match-up for Beta. The Mohicans and Kolbjorn both out range his Sentry mode ability which is clearly where most of his value lies. I didn’t see many opportunities to take advantage of him in this one and in the end he didn’t do much except whiff on a single attack in the endgame. Seems like a great design though and an interesting addition to the cron army based on the other battle reports that have been coming in.

Kolbjorn: I never anticipated how important Fearsome Stalker could be. I think it really adds a lot to this design. It was really clutch in this match. If it were up to me, I’d like to see it activate after rolling for initiative though. I think it would be much more versatile and would allow for some interesting strategic decisions if that were the case.

The ability to transfer order markers to the Quasatch, combined with the Quasatch’s threat to soulborgs, forced me to always have that on my mind when playing defense. I think it’s a great power that could really boost the Hunter units.

Mini-rant: I think Kolbjorn needs one more defense die. Without it, he will likely be relegated to the scrap heap of B- heroes despite the overall great design. That is of course unless you are using him in combination with Raelin. I know it’s an old story, but I find it so sad that so many figures in this game are only competitive when played with Raelin. I honestly think Raelin’s existence is the biggest design challenge for the future of Heroscape. If I had one wish for Avalon Hill it would be for them to make Delta pricing the official pricing for all figures. Or even better, they could have dynamic pricing through an army building app like how the X-Wing miniatures game does it. That's probably wishful thinking though...

[Brean of Philly]

Game 2
Point Total 555
Map: Embattled Fen
Glyphs: Wannok, 3x Treasure

Brean of Philly - Hounds on Patrol: Maarden Hounds x4, Raelin (RotV), Patroller E-25 (drop 2 spaces)
Earthling - 11 Lizards in a Trenchcoat: Greenscale Warriors x3, Janos, Maekor, Bambina, Isamu

Which units survived?
Raelin with full health
6 Hounds
Isamu

General Battle Report/Flow of game:

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1 - Earthling won initiative, led Janos, expedition for Maekor and Bambina
- Bre led Raelin to establish position
- Earthling Greenscales bonded, Bambina failed treasure reveal, failed attack on Raelin
- Bre Hounds moved 8, blocked road development
- Earthling Greenscales bonded, Bambina missed Hound attack, Greenscales developed
- Bre Hounds moved 8, claimed Wannok, stepped into engagement with Bambina and Greenscale, no plague, two wounds to Bambina
- Wannok killed Greenscale

Round 2 - Bre won initiative, led Patroller, moved with road bonus up to shoot and kill Bambina
- Earthling led Janos, special attack on Hound missed, Maekor stepped up and killed Hound
- Bre Hounds moved 8, stepped adjacent to Maekor and Greenscale, no plague, two wounds to Maekor
- Earthling Greenscales (Bambina dead so no Lizard King) two attacks to kill one Hound
- Bre Patroller shot Maekor for one wound
- Earthling Greenscales killed one Hound
- Wannok killed Greenscale

Round 3 - Earthling won initiative, led Janos, special attack wounded Patroller with two, Maekor stepped up and wounded Patroller
- Bre Hounds moved 8, no plague, one wound to Janos and one killed Greenscale
- Earthling Janos special attack killed Patroller
- Bre Hound plagued one greenscale and wounded Janos, killed Maekor and one Greenscale
- Earthling Janos killed one Hound
- Bre third order marker on Patroller
- Wannok killed Greenscale

Round 4 - Earthling won initiative, led Janos, missed Hound attack
- Bre Hounds moved 8, no plague, killed Greenscale
- Earthling Janos special attack missed hound attack
- Bre Hounds moved 2, plagued Janos, attack missed
- Earthiling Janos special attack killed Hound
- Bre Hounds moved 8, plague killed one Greenscale, missed attacks on Janos
-Wannok killed Greenscale

Round 5 - Bre won initiative, Hounds moved 8, plagued Janos, killed Janos with attack

Game called - Bre won with 6 hounds, Raeling (full health), Earthling surrendered with Isamu

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?
Unfortunately, we were not able to thoroughly test Patroller before his death at the beginning of the third round. Patroller was activated twice before his death, killing Bambina with the first attack and wounding Maekor with the second. However, neither attack utilized the Energy Pulse Rifle as he was never hit with a normal attack and so did not accumulate Energy Markers. Patroller fell after three attacks, the second and third defense attempt boosted by Prioritized Power Systems but ultimately it was not enough. My intended strategy was to establish an optimal place for Raelin, a screen of hounds for future activation, and then run Patroller out. Patroller would then be active as long as possible, focusing on Maekor as his Plasma Blade Arc could be troubling for the Hounds, and intentionally drawing fire with the hope of utilizing the Energy Pulse Rifle. I wish we had the opportunity to test his unique powers so I could speak more specifically about their value, but in the end I would still put my support behind Patroller as an interesting and balanced figure.

Any additional comments?
This game did not go how either I or Earthling expected. Bambina’s early death greatly swung the battle in my favor, as the Lizard King bonding was broken and Expedition less optimal. Patroller also did not last long, but ultimately my army could function perfectly well without him, and he did enough damage before his death to be considered valuable. My biggest takeaway from this game is the potential fragility of a Janos/Lizardfolk build that should be played much more defensively of the linchpin figure (in this case, Bambina).
On a separate note, I overall enjoyed playing on this map but was frustrated by the seemingly random 1-height hex along the shorter road that drops down between two 2-height hexes. This would have made movement difficult for my two-space hounds along that path and in general seems an odd choice for terrain. I understand map design is not the purpose of this tournament, but wanted to share this comment in case others have similar sentiments.

[dok]

Nidhogg popped off this evening. V43 got tempted to range past the rats to get a couple early potshots at big bony, and while he did manage a couple wounds, Nidhogg got a hold of Janos and Bambina and had them dead in just a few turns. I took a big disengage to get at the last heroes, and while I wasn't able to get the kill on C'Rik, I was able to wound him enough to force the San Tiim heal. Final tally was Janos, Bambina, Otonashi, 3 rats, and the wounds on C'Rik.

After that it was a bit of a slog working my way through the rat screen to dispose of the last heroes, but in the end 20 cutters were too much to overcome. V43 resigned with a 2-life San (tied down), 3 rats, and Isamu, against 13 goblins and a 1-life Betacron (trap wound).

Betacron remained very impactful. He only attacked once and only rolled for sentry twice (hitting a wound on C'Rik) but as in the previous game, Betacron influenced movement decisions.

The most disappointing hero on the other side was definitely San Tiim. It's not great that in order to heal Janos, you have to either take a non-expedition OM with Janos, or shut San down before he can be activated with Janos. Aside from that, it was tough to judge Janos and Bambina since Nidhogg iced them so fast, but C'Rik did good work in a tough situation.

[kevindola]

Important Round 3 Announcement

If you and your opponent BOTH have 2 losses, please play your Round 3 games with the following changes:

Any set of players that would like to use these modifications for their match even if they do not have 2 losses we encourage to do so, but ONLY if both players agree to use these mods prior to army selections.

Spoiler Alert!

• Betacron Sentry Mode Range Reduction to 4
• C'Rik attack=2

Round 3 is on Bad Moon Rising (Wannok, Valda).

The Cleon (2-0) v. dok (2-0) pool of armies is:

* We Found Him in the Forest: Knights of Weston x4, Patroller E-25, Thorgrim, Finn
* We Found Him in the Jungle: Mohicans x3, Quasatch x1, Raelin (RotV), Kolbjorn, Brave Arrow, Eldgrim
* Lizard with Kyrie Wings: Greenscale Warriors x3, Bambina, Maekor, Raelin (SotM)
* Cut to the Bone: Goblin Cutters x5, Nidhogg, Betacron, Marcu

dok chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Cleon chooses who places first.

The Brean of Philly (2-0) v. KnightofLight (2-0) pool of armies is:

* Hounds on Patrol: Maarden Hounds x4, Raelin (RotV), Patroller E-25 (drop 2 spaces)
* 11 Lizards in a Trenchcoat: Greenscale Warriors x3, Janos, Maekor, Bambina, Isamu
* Cron Brawn: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2
* Peanut Butter and Javelin Sandwich : Greyspears, Swiftfangs, Arktos, Bahadur, Kolbjorn, Mezzodemons x1

KnightofLight chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Brean of Philly chooses who places first.

The Chris Perkins (2-0) v. ryguy266 (1-1) pool of armies is:

* Challenge!: Greenscale Warriors x5, Bambina, Tandros
* Goliath Robots: Patroller E-25, Deathstalkers x3, Eltahale
* Beta Grindset: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2
* Bulk Up: deathreavers x3, Nidhogg, Cyprien Esenwein, Sonya Esenvein

ryguy266 chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Chris Perkins chooses who places first.

The superfrog (1-1) v. Blue Trails (1-1) pool of armies is:

* : Repulsors x3, Snipers x2, Betacron, Taelord
* : Marro Drudge x5, Re-Tak-Shi, Van Nessing, Kolbjorn, Seleena
* Space Cowboys: Janos, C'Rik, San Tiim, Clayton Pierce, James Murphy, Kate Crawford, Louis ""Mad Dog"" Malone
* Danger Zone: Cathar Spearmen x3, Z'Thoth Mouth of the Abyss, Betacron, Nakita Agents, Bol

superfrog chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Blue Trails chooses who places first.

The Grey Waves (1-1) v. Vydar_XLIII (1-1) pool of armies is:

* : Goblin Cutters x6, Nidhogg, Marcu Esenwein (drop 2)
* : 10th Reg x4, Betacron, Marutuk
* Do do do do do, Dora!: deathreavers x3, Janos, C'Rik, San Tiim, Bambina, Isamu, Otonashi
* I look once more, just around the River Tribe!: Mohicans x5, Kolbjorn, Himmelskralle, Marcu Esenwein

Vydar_XLIII chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Grey Waves chooses who places first.

The Tiamat (1-1) v. Dysole (1-1) pool of armies is:

* Rolling with the Cronies: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2
* Graveyard Smash: Nidhogg, Skeletons of Annellintia x3
* If At First You Don't Succeed, Tribe, Tribe Again: Teeth of the Makwa x3, Mohican River Tribe x3, Kolbjorn, Brave Arrow
* Heal of Fortune: deathreavers x2, Saan Tiim, Ana Karithon, Laglor, Raelin (RotV), Heirloom

Dysole chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Tiamat chooses who places first.

The Earthling (1-1) v. Captain Stupendous (1-1) pool of armies is:

* Nidhogg is my Mummy: Nidhogg, Crypt Guardian x5, Marcu Esenwein
* Explore with Raj: Ranjit Singh, Janos, San Tiim, C'Rik, Wastwalker Gage, Eldgrim, Bol
* Betacroncan: Knights of Weston x3, Sentinels of Grax, Alastair MacDirk, Concan, Betacron
* Mad Dogs With Rabies: Woves of Badru x2, Werewolf Lord, Van Nessing, Kolbjorn, Louis 'Mad Dog' Malone

Captain Stupendous chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Earthling chooses who places first.

The BodaciousBlood (1-1) v. Sir Heroscape (0-2) pool of armies is:

* Now That's a Spiky Cactus... Now from range!: Cathar Spearmen x3, Nakita Agents, Drow Chainfighter x1, Motley Max, Betacron
* Tribesmen and the Mummy Slayer: Mohicans x5, Van Nessing, Kolbjorn
* Kolby Jack Cheese!: Teeth of the Makwa x3, Zettian Deathwings x1, Kolbjorn, Arktos, Greyspears
* With soul or without soul?: Greenscale Warriors x2, Nilfheim, Raelin (RotV), Patroller, E-25, Betacron

BodaciousBlood chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Sir Heroscape chooses who places first.


The S1R_ART0R1US (0-2) v. MegaSilver (0-2) pool of armies is:

* Feed Your Pet Lizard(folk): Janos, Bambina, Maekor, San Tiim, Rygarn, Marcu Esenwein
* Eco-warriors of the 21st century: Greenscale Warriors x3, Zogross, Protector E-25, Raelin (RotV), Zetacron
* Hoggin the Skeleton Key: Nidhogg, Skeletons of Annellintia x3
* Kol/Cal of the Wolves: Quickblades, Swiftfangs, Greyspears, Darkclaws, Cal the Smuggler, Kolbjorn

MegaSilver chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, S1R_ART0R1US chooses who places first.

The Dompredator77 (0-2) v. kevindola (0-2) pool of armies is:

* I-Robot: deathreavers x2, Blastatrons x1, Gladiatrons x1, Major Q10, Patroller E-25, Zetacron
* The Mouth of Utgar: Marro Dividers x3, Nagrubs x1, NidHogg, Tul-Bak-Ra, Isamu
* : Amberhive Protectors x5, Sujoah, C'Rik, Kira Jax
* : Dreadgul Raiders x3, Janos, Maekor, Wastewalker Gage, Guilty McCreech, Bol

Dompredator77 chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, kevindola chooses who places first.

[Chris Perkins]

The Chris Perkins (2-0) v. ryguy266 (1-1) pool of armies is:

* Challenge!: Greenscale Warriors x5, Bambina, Tandros
* Goliath Robots: Patroller E-25, Deathstalkers x3, Eltahale
* Beta Grindset: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2
* Bulk Up: deathreavers x3, Nidhogg, Cyprien Esenwein, Sonya Esenvein

ryguy266 chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Chris Perkins chooses who places first.

Playing tomorrow (9/1) @ 7 pm Central Time

ryguy266 chose to pick first. Chris Perkins chose to place first.

[KnightOfLight]

Brean and I just finished, I had my cron build again and she took her greenscales.

Round 1:
Brean won initiative and began slow rolling with greenscales. Bambina was their lizard king and she pushed towards the wannok glyph. I began to fan out repulsors and betacron towards the center of the board. We spent the whole round positioning. Brean had turn 3 on Janos who just expeditioned Maekor up next to Bambina. I took a couple potshots throughout the round but the omnicrons couldn't find their targets. Wannok placed a wound on Betacron and we moved to round 2.

Round 2:
Brean won initiative again and slow rolled more greenscales through the board. My turn 1 I got first blood as a sniper picked off a greenscale. Brean continued to slow roll on turn two passing on attacks that would expose Bambina. I continued to develop and shoot at max range at the green horde slowly approaching my robots. I picked up another kill on a greenscale and Brean had turn 3 on Janos. Janos killed a repulsor with Tracking Fire and used expedition to charge Maekor forward. This went poorly for the big green guy as I quickly placed a repulsor next to him and used 2 sniper shots (both 2/3 skulls) to kill Maekor before he was able to do anything. I used a Wannok wound to ice a repulsor this round.

Round 3:
I lost initiative this round and Brean opened with an expedition turn. Janos killed another repulsor as he positioned himself out of Omegacron's line of sight and Bambina shot at a sniper but missed. I took the opportunity to run a repulsor next to Bambina and my 3 2v5s dealt 2 wounds. Greenscales got her OM 2 and Bambina smashed the repulsor with her hammer. Greenscales invaded my hill and killed another repulsor. Betacron tried to hit a sentry mode shot but failed. We both then spent OM 3 dealing no damage.

Round 4:
This would be a great time to win initiative for me as there are 3 greenscales engaged with 2 repulsors. However, a 4 was not going to win and Brean got to go first. She killed 1 Sniper and 1 repulsor between the greenscale attacks. I then took an LEA with a sniper (miss) in order to get my one forward repulsor engaged with 3 greenscales. This ploy worked well and I picked up two greenscale kills. We traded casualties throughout the round and on my OM 3, I had finally removed all the greenscales. It was a full health Janos and a 3/5 Bambina facing off against 1 repulsor, 3 snipers, 1/2 Betacron and 0/4 Omegacron.

Round 5:
Brean won initiative again to my dismay, but her attack dice went cold and between Janos and Bambina, no wounds were dealt. my turn 1 I moved my last repulsor next to Bambina and took 3 2v6s with snipers to deal 1 more wound. Bambina missed another hammer attack turn 2 which allowed me to use 3 more buffed snipers attacks to finish off Bambina. It was at this point we realized Isamu had pulled a vanishing act and was supposed to be part of Brean's army, but she decided at this point in the game, it wouldn't matter. Janos took turn 3 to kill a sniper and then on my turn 3, Omega moved up and dealt 4 wounds to Janos, with 2 3v4s. We called it there.

GG Brean, that was a fun game!

Betacron:
I have played Beta each round of this tournament and I really like him. The range reduction to 4 for sentry mode did not have a huge impact in this particular game, but it does allow for range 5 figures to safely ping at him without him shooting back. Nothing else new to say.

Maekor:
Very disappointing showing from Maekor as he did nothing, however he was a very scary figure to play against. Plasma blade arc could have been very deadly against my crons.

Bambina:
Bambina was interesting this game. Despite getting a turn every turn through expedition and greenscale bonding, she only killed 2 repulsors and a sniper I think. As the lizard king it makes sense to sit back and utilize her ranged attack. Brean used normal attacks 4 times and graviton hammer twice. Combat challenge never came into play but her 5 defense seemed very solid. I am not sure how I feel about the lizard king role for her, it is hard to imagine greenscales without a big dragon, but I could see an interesting case for 2-3X greenscales with Bambina as a screen.

Janos:
Janos is great. Expedition seems really fun and tracking fire is a great special attack. Not a whole lot to say here, he seems like a great addition to heroscape as he is the heart and soul of the explorer build. Expedition was used 5 times and tracking fire was used for every attack 6 times. That would probably be my only suggestion, bumping his normal range to 7 would make it more distinct from tracking fire, however hitting the 7 threshold for range has its own problems.

[Brean of Philly]

Game 3
Point Total 555
Map: Bad Moon Rising
Glyphs: Wannok, Valda

Player 1 - Army: Brean of Philly - 11 Lizards in a Trenchcoat: Greenscale Warriors x3, Janos, Maekor, Bambina, Isamu
Player 2 - Army: Knight of Light - Cron Brawn: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2

Which units survived?

- Brean of Philly - Janos (4/5), Isamu
- Knight of Light (Winner) - Omegacron (0/4), Betacron (1/2), two Snipers, one Repulsor

General Battle Report

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1 - Brean won initiative, led Greenscales with Lizard King bonding to develop Bambina and screen
- Knight led Omegacron, developed Betacron and Repulsors
- Brean Greenscales moved Bambina up, claimed Wannok with Greenscale
- Knight Omegacron moved and attacked Greenscale, missed
- Brean Janos moved, expedition to move Maekor but Bambina stayed
- Knight Omegacron developed Snipers and Repulsors, missed attacks on Greenscales
- Wannok wounded Betacron

Round 2 - Brean won initiative, Greenscales developed without Bambina moving
- Knight Omegacron developed Snipers, killed one Greenscale
- Brean Greenscales moved Bambina a bit forward, Greenscale screen developed
- Knight Omegacron developed Snipers, killed one Greenscale
- Brean Janos killed Repulsor, Maekor moved forward
- Knight Omegacron developed Snipers, killed Maekor in two attacks!
- Wannok killed Repulsor

Round 3 - Brean won initiative, Janos killed Repulsor, Bambina missed Repulsor
- Knight Omegacron, Snipers wounded Bambina for two
- Brean Bambina hammered Repulsor, Greenscales stepped up to kill one Repulsor and shield Bambina, Betacron’s Sentry triggered but missed
- Knight Omegacron, Snipers killed one Greenscale
- Brean Bambina missed Repulsor, Greenscales missed all attacks
- Knight Omegacron, Snipers missed all attacks
- Wannok killed Sniper

Round 4 - Brean won initiative, Greenscales, Bambina killed Repulsor, Greenscales killed one Sniper
- Knight Omegacron, Sniper took LEA that missed, Snipers killed two Greenscales
- Brean Greenscales, Bambina wiffed, Greenscales killed two Snipers and engaged Betacron, Sentry wiffed and is now turned off because engagement
- Knight Omegacron, Snipers killed two Greenscales
- Brean Janos killed Repulsor, expedition moved Bambina to perch and attack but she wiffed
- Knight Omegacron, Snipers wounded Bambina, killed last two Greenscales

Round 5 - Brean won initiative, Janos retreated and wiffed, Bambina hammer wiffed
- Knight Omegacron moved, Snipers wounded Bambina once
- Brean Bambina wiffed hammer
- Knight Omegacron, Snipers killed Bambina
- Brean Janos moved and wiffed attack
- Knight Omegacron wounded Janos for 4

Game called for Knight
- Janos survived with 4/5 wounds, Isamu
- Omegacron survived with no wounds, Betacron with 1/2 wounds, two Snipers, one Repulsor

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

Spoiler Alert!

Maekor
Maekor’s early death was a major disappointment. I placed him a bit too aggressively and he failed to defend against two attacks. Had he survived, I believe he would have done a lot of damage against the Repulsors and Snipers. The Plasma Blade Arc is an intimidating power for any predominantly squad army, and I am still interested in seeing his Mercenary/Explorer synergy play.

Bambina
Bambina certainly held her own this game, but not in the way I expected. In practice, Bambina was able to be activated almost every single turn this game through either Lizard King Bonding or Expedition, but her impact was surprisingly low. She absorbed a lot of attacks thankfully but in return hardly did much damage herself, only killing two squad figures out of seven attacks. It is nice to have a relatively cheap bonding figure for the Greenscales, especially one with five-defense and decent range and melee attacks. I think the trouble is in the fragile army build that relies on one figure surviving to synergize with two factions - as soon as that linchpin fails, both the Greenscales and Mercsplorers are suboptimal. I think as a figure Bambina fits well within both, but may play better when allowed to solely run as a Lizard King or Mercenary, and lean into the relevant strategy.

Janos
Comparitively, Janos was a more successful figure than Bambina. His kill rate was certainly higher, and Expedition was utilized every round. Granted, having one of your Mercsplorers killed so early puts a damper on things, and I will reiterate my support for a build more committed to a particular synergy. Had there been another figure Janos could activate to replace a fallen Maekor, Expedition would have continued to deliver and possibly turned the tide. Tracking Fire was relatively impactful, and there were no conditions that warranted attacking normally. I wonder if that single hex of additional range is enough of a difference to affect strategy, but that answer is wholly matchup dependent.

Betacron
Sentry Mode did not inflict any wounds, but did influence how I developed. This particular matchup benefited by reducing the range to 4, as both Bambina and Janos could make attacks from their greater range and keep the action on the outskirts of Betacron’s threat zone. In the two games I’ve played with Betacron so far in this tournament, Sentry Mode has not actually resulted in any damage or death - whether this is a fluke or not, I wonder if the 16 threshold is too high for the intended value of the figure.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?
Curious to see what other changes there may be for the playtested figures!

[Chris Perkins]

Point Total 550
Map: Bad Moon Rising
Glyphs: Wanok, Valda

Player 1 - Army: Chris Perkins - Patroller, Eltahale, Deathstalkers x3
Player 2 - Army: ryguy - Omegacron, Snipers x2, Repulsors x3, Betacron

Which units survived?
Omegacron (full health), Snipers x6, Repulsor x1, Betacron (full health)

General Battle Report/Flow of game (be as detailed or general as you like)
I opened mostly on Patroller with a few early Stalker OMs trickled in. Patroller killed Repulsors in his first 2 tries, but the 3rd attack failed, which let that Repulsor get next to him, and snipers then hit 2 2/2 attacks to kill him. I had an early Stalker get a 3 v 3 into Betacron, but the attack missed. I never got next to Betacron again.

Patroller hadn't killed enough Repulsors, so the Stalkers had a rough go of it. They tried, and killed 6 Repulsors, but got killed by Snipers who were mostly well protected.

Eltahale tried a last ditch effort, but I failed to get an init switch I needed and snipers threw 3 attacks from height into her, starting with a 3/3, to finish it off.

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?
Betacron - Sentry drastically affected where I was willing to put Patroller in the early game. I was quite worried about losing an attack dice given the need to stay away from the repulsors.
Patroller - Never got a chance to use power cells, as ryguy refused to attack until he got boosted attacks, which then killed Patroller on their first turn. Had 1 opportunity with extra defense (6) but couldn't block a 2/2 from a sniper.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?
Patroller is fun to try and maximize, but feels like he's gonna end up being boom-or-bust most of the time.

[ryguy266]

Game 3
Point Total 555
Map: Bad Moon Rising
Glyphs: Wannok, Valda

Player 1 - Army: Chris Perkins - Goliath Robots: Deathstalkers x3, Eltahale, Patroller E-25
Player 2 - Army: ryguy266 - Beta Grindset: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2

Which units survived?

- ryguy266 - Omegacron (0/4), Betacron (0/2), 6 Omnicron Snipers, 1 Omnicron Repulsor

General Battle Report

Spoiler Alert!

The game ended pretty 1-sided by virtue of me being able to pick my army first and Chris having to choose the least-worst option out of 3 bad matchups. It started out fairly interesting, though. Patroller E-25 is a unique counter to the 'Crons. I didn't want to attack him without a Targeting Beacon boost, so he was able to bounce around and pick off two Repulsors while staying out of their movement range. Eventually I rolled up enough Omnicrons that he had to send out some stalkers for some board control. Wannok was another tough break with the highly mobile 'Cronroller army able to hold it pretty easily. The big break for me came at the end of a round when Patroller failed to kill the only Repulsor close to him on shadow. With my OM 3, I got two 2/2s from Snipers to cleanly take E-25 off the board without a single cell boost.
After that, it was just a matter of forcing Chris to engage my repulsors to get to my Snipers. The deathstalkers didn't defend very well, often rolling 1/5 or less against 1 skull sniper shots. What's interesting is that my attack percentage was only 41% since I did blank a lot, but when every skull is doubled, it doesn't matter too much.
Chris played well but it would be a feat for any player to take a soulborg army into the Crons and come out on top.

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

Spoiler Alert!

Betacron didn't roll for Sentry Mode. It did force Chris to make a lot of placement decisions that ultimately helped me. Patroller E-25 got killed in a 1-2 Sniper combo, and also didn't get to use his abilities. (Technically prioritized power systems, but it wasn't quite enough.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?
First time playing a game with Patroller E-25 in it. Really cool figure, really fun puzzle to play against and Chris utilized him well. Betacron continues to be a beta. Still don't think there is a point to Omnicron Patrol. I'd be interested to know if there is some theoryscape or example where this ability would be used. Still think it's worth dropping the ability and dropping Betacron by 10 points. Then at least the debate between him and a repulsor squad would be more relevant.

[Grey Waves]

Game 3
Point Total 555
Map: Bad Moon Rising
Glyphs: Wannok, Valda

Player 1 - Army: Grey Waves - Nidhogg, Goblin Cutters x6, Marcu (drop 3 cutters)
Player 2 - Army: Vydar_XLIII - Marutuk, 10th Regiment x4, Betacron

Which units survived?
- Grey Waves: Nidhogg (5/7 wounds), 21 Goblin Cutters, Marcu (0/6 wounds)
-Vydar_XLIII: 10 10th Regiment

General Battle Report

As soon as I saw this map, I knew that I was going to pick Nidhogg Cutters if I got the chance. Bad Moon Rising is the rare map where Nidhogg can get a SZ bomb OM2 Round 1, and even better, he can do so from an incredibly safe position - the 3 height 7 hex space just outside the opposite SZ. The game was as much a story of Nidhogg being absolutely deadly on the right map as it was anything else.

Vydar won initiative and deployed Betacron to the road space just adjacent to the 7 hexer and then moved Marutuk up on his second turn. For my own part, I flew Nidhogg up to the edge of my 7 hexer and then over the shadow pool to the middle of Vydar's, where Nidhogg was able to catch 5 10th in the start zone with a single Necrotic Breath (3/5 kills). Vydar’s third OM was on the 10th; he moved a squad of them up to try and limit the amount of figures Nidhogg could target with any further NBs and took a few 2v6s at him, which failed to do any damage. I was able to target a group of 3 10th with NB the following turn but whiffed all 3 rolls; a normal attack of 7v3 on an adjacent 10th was somehow blocked.

Round 2 Vydar won initiative and went all in on Marutuk in a desperate attempt to kill Nidhogg before he could melt any more 10th. However, some only average attack rolls combined with solid defence from Nidhogg (he rolled 2/4 shields every attack) meant that Marutuk was only able to put 5 wounds on Nidhogg by round’s end. There were still a bunch of 10th in range of NB from where I’d placed Nidhogg the previous round, so I targeted them with that for the first 2 turns (3/5 kills total) while using Nidhogg’s normal attack on Marutuk himself, dealing a few wounds. Final turn of round 3 I targeted Betacron, who was adjacent to Marutuk, with NB, dealing a wound to each, while also taking a 6v4 on Marutuk, dealing him another 2 wounds and leaving him at 3/9 life. At this point Vydar really needed to win initiative again to have a chance of finishing off Nidhogg, but it was not to be. I got the switch and killed Betacron with a second NB wound before Marutuk whiffed against my 4/6 attack roll; Vydar conceded with only 10 10th remaining.

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

Nidhogg basically solo’d Vydar’s army. I was able to kill 6 10th from 13 Necrotic Breath rolls, plus put 2 wounds on Betacron and 1 on Marutuk. Being able to target non-adjacent figures with NB while also being able to attack normally was huge; it meant that I could thin out the 10th while still throwing a big attack at Marutuk each turn, being able to damage to both components of the opposing army simultaneously. Skeletal form was useful in preventing Nidhogg from taking any wounds from the 10th potshots in the first round.

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

I’m going to say it now: I think Bad Moon Rising is Nidhogg’s best map. As previously mentioned, he can bomb the opponent’s SZ turn 2 round 1 while remaining completely safe on the elevated 3 height hex. As such, while the fact that he killed 350+ points this game might sound a few alarm bells, I think it was very much an extreme performance that was magnified by the map and how Vydar split his OMs in Round 1. (If he goes full 10th, I don’t have any good opportunities to bomb stuff; if he puts 2 OMs on Marutuk then Marutuk can hop up onto the 3 height and ‘stinger denial’ Marutuk from landing there with his sword). Nidhogg has only performed about average in my 2 previous games, and I don’t think his complete annihilation of Vydar’s army this game is a sign that he’s broken or unhealthy. Just very very good on this map in particular.

[BodaciousBlood]

Sir H beat me pretty soundly. Unfortunate part is there wasn't any playtesting worth reporting haha.

He played Nilfheim and scales and I played Cathar and Motley max. I lost all cathar and Motley and he lost 3 scales. I conceded before any playtest units were activated because I am petty ;P haha