The Book of Blanka

[TrollBrute]

Originally Posted by johnny139

I'd be hesitant to bring Electric Skin up too far if only because, against figures with any Range at all, it's mostly useless without shenanigans - since Blanka, unlike Electro, doesn't have a ranged option to snipe.

I'd be good with 12-13 though. That'd make him no more attractive than Electro for aforementioned shenanigans.

Most ranged figures are going to stay away regardless of what the roll is. Unless you have a good power that only works in melee, or you're really worried about that one-time hit from the SA, you're going to stay back and snipe. And with the restrictions on the SA, it won't be hard for any mobile range to keep away from it. In fact, raising the roll is more likely to draw people in, because now it's less risky, so that auto skull from CCE might be worth it.

[Viegon]

to bumping the Electric Skin roll to 13+.

[johnny139]

Bumped to 13+.

[Viegon]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Blanka (@140 points)

Army Test
Map: Mysterious Crash Site (a custom 1 RotV/1 TJ/1 VW map)(no glyphs or special rules)
Units: Blanka, Frankenstein, Living Mummy, GL John Stewart (1,000 points) VS Hand Ninja x4, Gamora, Lady Deathstrike, Talia al Ghul (1,000 points)

Spoiler Alert!

UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal Attack: N/A
Special Attack: 2 Hand Ninjas.
Electric Skin: 3 wounds to Gamora.
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Lightning Cannonball SA: Used once, affected 4 figures (doubled-skulls on all 4 of those figures), 1 skull rolled.
Electric Skin 13: Triggered on Gamora, did 1 wound; triggered on Gamora, did 2 wounds.
Jungle Leap: Not used.

GAME SUMMARY:
John Stewart got the first two OMs for his team, rushing in and dropping the Creatures right outside the enemy base. Frank and Blanka tag-teamed for the final turn of the round, and Blanka used his SA to take out a pair of Hand Ninja. Unfortunately for the Creatures, Gamora and the Ninja were rolling well, while Frank failed multiple attacks against Gamora, taking wounds from MMA. Stewart went down with two batteries still on his card, leaving Frank exposed. Mummy nearly took down Gamora by moving her next to Blanka to trigger Electric Skin, but he couldn’t do it fast enough, and all three of the Creatures were KOed by the start of the third round.

Round One: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Stewart flies out with the Creatures.
ARMY 2: Gamora and Ninjas put 1 wound on Living Mummy.
ARMY 1: Stewart drops the Creatures in the thick of things, but fails his attack.
ARMY 2: Talia fails; Ninjas put 2 wounds on Blanka and force Stewart to burn a marker.
ARMY 1: Frank and Blanka kill 3 Ninjas.
ARMY 2: Gamora puts 3 wounds on Stewart; Ninjas put 2 wounds on Blanka.

Round Two: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Frank takes 2 wounds from Gamora’s MMA; Mummy pulls Gamora next to Blanka (1 wound to her from Electric Skin), then puts 2 wounds on Talia.
ARMY 2: Gamora and Ninjas kill Stewart.
ARMY 1: Frank kills Talia; Mummy fails on Gamora.
ARMY 2: Gamora and Ninjas put 1 wound on Frank.
ARMY 1: Frank takes a wound from MMA; Mummy tosses Gamora next to Blanka (2 wounds from Electric Skin), but fails his attack.
ARMY 2: Gamora and Ninjas kill Frank and Blanka.
ROUND END: Gamora heals 1 wound.

Round Three: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Gamora (hitting her Godslayer roll) and Ninjas kill Mummy.

Gamora with 2 wounds, Lady Deathstrike unwounded, 9 Hand Ninjas.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Mysterious Crash Site (a custom 1 RotV/1 TJ/1 VW map)(no glyphs or special rules)
Units: Blanka, Ms. Marvel, Meteorite (700 points) VS Cosmic Boy, Timber Wolf, Lightning Lad (700 points)

Spoiler Alert!

UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal Attack: 1 wound to Timber Wolf.
Special Attack: N/A
Electric Skin: N/A
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Lightning Cannonball SA: Used once, affected 2 figures (doubled-skulls on 1 of those figures), 2 skulls rolled, no wounds.
Electric Skin 13: Never triggered.
Jungle Leap: Used 1 time.

GAME SUMMARY:
This one was a freakishly fast game due to some big rolls. Meteorite and Ms. Marvel went out first to face off against Lightning Lad and Timber Wolf, but Meteorite was killed in a couple of big attacks before the first round was even over. Blanka leapt in (using Jungle Leap), and set up to use his SA on Lightning Lad and Timber Wolf, but despite getting initiative and rolling 2-skulls on it, he didn’t manage any wounds. Ms. Marvel picked up the slack and KOed Timber Wolf, but Blanka went down the very next turn. At that point, luck turned against Ms. Marvel as she rolled poorly for one attack roll, and then was hit by Magnetic Throw Defense on the next one, while Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy pounded on her. Ms. Marvel was down by the final turn of the second round.

Round One: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy fly out.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel: Meteorite positions but fails her attack.
ARMY 2: Timber Wolf and Lightning Lad put 2 wounds on Meteorite.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel puts 3 wounds on Timber Wolf.
ARMY 2: Timber Wolf and Lightning Lad kill Meteorite.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel and Blanka put 1 wound on Timber Wolf.

Round Two: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel and Blanka kill Timber Wolf.
ARMY 2: Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad kill Blanka and put 1 wound on Ms. Marvel.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel fails.
ARMY 2: Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad put 2 wounds on Ms. Marvel.
ARMY 1: Ms. Marvel is stopped and wounded by Magnetic Throw Defense.
ARMY 2: Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad kill Ms. Marvel.

Cosmic Boy unwounded, Lightning Lad unwounded.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Mysterious Crash Site (a custom 1 RotV/1 TJ/1 VW map)(no glyphs or special rules)
Units: Blanka, Graviton, Electro, War Machine, Atom (995 points) VS Professor X, Dazzler, Bishop, Blink, Storm, Spider-Girl (995 points)

Spoiler Alert!

UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal Attack: N/A
Special Attack: N/A
Electric Skin: 1 wound to Storm.
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Lightning Cannonball SA: Not used.
Electric Skin 13: Triggered on Storm, did 0 wounds; triggered on Storm, did 1 wound.
Jungle Leap: Not used.

GAME SUMMARY:
I wanted to see if there was any concern with spamming Electric Skin and Auto Chain Gun, hence why I ran this game, but despite a win for Graviton’s team, I don’t think it’s an issue. Graviton had some pretty amazing luck, and would have been better off dropping Atom and either Electro or Blanka for some defensive support.

Graviton hit his key first three rolls to move up his entire team on OM 1, while Storm moved up the X-Men on the other side. Graviton positioned his allies for some crazy shenanigans, but Blink reacted and hit Blanka for a couple of wounds; unfortunately for her, she rolled a 2 on Phase Javelin, only moving Blanka a couple of spaces. Spider-Girl was Graviton’s first victim as she was pulled in and shredded by Auto Chain Gun before Blanka even got to roll for Electric Skin. Blink kept up her offense and hit Electro for 2 wounds, rolling high on Phase Javelin and sending him to the other side of the map. Storm managed to avoid Auto Chain Gun and position for her SA, but could only manage to wound Blanka. Graviton retaliated the next round by tossing Storm all over the place, killing her in two turns, but not before she got off another SA blast to kill Blanka and charge up Bishop. Blink hit War Machine for a couple of wounds and sent him over to sit with Electro. With Graviton standing alone, the Mutants teamed up and scored 3 wounds on him. However, Bishop fell to lava field immediately after that, leaving Blink and Dazzler to take on Graviton, and despite their best efforts they couldn’t get any more wounds on him. They did, however, finish off War Machine before being taken down themselves. Without any students, Xavier stood no chance against Graviton, and he was KOed a while later without doing any more damage.

Round One: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Graviton flies out with Atom and pulls along his other three allies.
ARMY 2: Xavier: Storm uses Gale Force Winds to move up her team while Dazzler moves behind a ruin.
ARMY 1: Graviton moves up and tosses Blanka up.
ARMY 2: Xavier: Spider-Girl fails; Blink puts 1 wound on Blanka and teleports him 2 spaces.
ARMY 1: Graviton repositions War Machine, tosses Spider-Girl next to Blanka but she dies to Auto Chain Gun before Electric Skin triggers, then pulls Electro forward.
ARMY 2: Xavier: Blink puts 2 wounds on Electro and teleports him to the other side of the map; Storm dodges Auto Chain Gun to use her SA, but only does 2 wounds to Blanka.
ROUND END: Blanka takes a wound from lava field.

Round Two: Army 1 wins Initiative (Bishop timeslips unto the board).
ARMY 1: Graviton tosses Storm around (into and out of Auto Chain Gun and Electric Skin), dealing her 4 wounds.
ARMY 2: Xavier: Storm uses her SA, killing Blanka and charging Bishop 2 markers but putting 1 wound on him too; Dazzler dazzles War Machine.
ARMY 1: Graviton kills Storm and puts 2 wounds on Bishop.
ARMY 2: Xavier: Blink puts 2 wounds on War Machine, teleporting him away; Dazzler dazzles Graviton.
ARMY 1: Graviton puts 1 wound on Bishop.
ARMY 2: Xavier: Bishop and Blink put 3 wounds on Graviton.
ROUND END: Bishop dies to lava field.

Round Three: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Xavier: Blink and Dazzler fail.
ARMY 1: Graviton tosses Blink for 2 wounds.
ARMY 2: Xavier: Blink and Dazzler fail.
ARMY 1: Graviton puts 1 wound on Blink.
ARMY 2: Xavier: Blink and Dazzler kill War Machine.
ARMY 1: Graviton kills Dazzler with a couple of tosses and Electric Skin.

Round Four: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Graviton kills Blink.
ARMY 2: Xavier moves.
ARMY 1: Graviton moves.
ARMY 2: Xavier fails.
ARMY 1: Graviton tosses Xavier for 1 wound.
ARMY 2: Xavier fails.

Round Five: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Xavier fails.
ARMY 1: Graviton puts 1 wound on Xavier.
ARMY 2: Xavier fails.
ARMY 1: Graviton puts 1 wound on Xavier.
ARMY 2: Xavier fails.
ARMY 1: Graviton fails.

Round Six: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Graviton kills Xavier.

Graviton with 3 wounds, Electro with 2 wounds, Atom unwounded.

___________________________________________________________

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Both Electric Skin and Lightning Cannonball SA have a lot of potential, making Blanka a scary figure to face, but like most solo-heroes at his cost, he’s just as likely to do nothing as he is to overperform. With the change to Electric Skin, I think he now fits nicely at 140 points.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: Figuring out how to set up for his SA is fun, and it’s even more fun when you actually get to pull it off. Jungle Leap gives him some nice mobility on jungle maps, and Electric Skin is great at making your opponent second guess their strategies, even if it doesn’t often do much damage. Like I said above, he’s scary to face, but in a good way. Overall, .

[johnny139]

I'm happy with that - he's tricky to use well, can occasionally do some huge damage, but needs support/a good map/some real luck.

Added to the first post and I PROPOSE WE MOVE TO FINAL EDITING!

[Viegon]

Yea

[Tornado]

Looks like I am not getting tests done here, the only SF character I did not get dirty with.

Sorry all. I promise to be useful after Gen Con.

Great work everyone.

[Yodaking]

yea

[TrollBrute]

Yea

[Zettian Juggernaut]

Yea

[Viegon]

Originally Posted by johnny139

I'm happy with that - he's tricky to use well, can occasionally do some huge damage, but needs support/a good map/some real luck.

Added to the first post and I PROPOSE WE MOVE TO FINAL EDITING!

I believe this passes.

Wording looks good except Jungle Leap is missing this:

JUNGLE LEAP
If Blanka ends his normal movement adjacent to an Evergreen Tree or Jungle Piece, he may Jungle Leap. Jungle Leap has a move of 3. When counting spaces for Jungle Leap, ignore elevations. Blanka may leap over water without stopping, leap over figures without becoming engaged, and leap over obstacles such as ruins. Blanka may not leap more than 10 levels up or down in a single leap. When Blanka starts to Jungle Leap, he will not take any leaving engagement attacks.

[TrollBrute]

I took the liberty of updating the SP with the above wording. Looks like johnny has everything set up for art, so we should be good to go here, @japes . If any of the options don't live up to your standards, let me know, and I'll ask for more pictures/look for more options.