Cerebrax and Runed Skull Beetle

[Climbing ice]

On ebay the other day I picked up a few customs which I don't believe the community has had the opportunity of playtesting or looking over. One is called Cerebrax and the other, Runed Skull Beetle. As someone who has done quite a lot of research on insects and their ecology, I was naturally very interested in these guys. In my opinion, they are pretty underpriced for what they can do, especially when pared with Sujoah and a few others. I would love to hear what you guys think so that I can perhaps give them new point values for more even matchups in casual games. https://imgur.com/a/UEFyxbJ



@Dad_Scaper

[Dad_Scaper]

Here are the cards:





I just used the "copy link address" and pasted it into the "add image" button.

[Shiftrex]

Interesting customs! I'd like to meet the designer.

I'd say Cerebrax as worded currently is more like 150 or 160 but he has some language issues that make him hard to play with. The Beetle is probably closer to 70 points because of its defenses but since it has one life it'll be swingy and probably not as fun to play with or play against as some might think. If you're interested in redesigning the cards a bit I've got ideas.

Spoiler Alert!

I definitely like the sculpts, I agree that they are underpriced and they reference some things that are typically not referenced in standard heroscape customs (for good reason) and they have some interesting wording going on. I think it'd be helpful to contrast them to the current insects we have from c3v and go from there to check on statlines, power level, abilities and overall theme translated to valhalla.

That being said we are looking at these 4 cards, I'm including spiders because bugs though technically not insects are still on point:

Red Ants of Aunstrom
Xualtiacan Fire Ants
Sujoah
Fyorlag Spiders

http://haccs.bplaced.net/ is a great place to view their cards all together without multiple windows and reference some of what is going on / what is shared in common between them.

Cerebrax is easier so let's start there. As a unique hero he has some hive mind themes going on with standard health pool, low defense though. He reminds me of the wizards and he would definitely compliment the Ants that we currently have in our canon. His first ability should probably resemble something more like Emperor Andask and read something like this:

SWARM OVERMIND (probably a cooler name we could find here)
When an insect figure you control within 4 clear sight spaces of Cerebrax attacks an adjacent figure with a normal attack, before defense dice are rolled, you may re-roll all attack dice that did not show skulls. Swarm Overmind may be used only once per turn.

This is more clear and useable wording because typically customs outside of c3g do not reference blanks because there are a set of red and blue dice for attack and defense respectively that are still legal with the game and could complicate things if you use them with a figure like Cerebrax.

Psychic Distress Call looks like a really fun power but it's going to get into a whole crazy mess of power that could be accomplished in a different way. Could get some inspiration from Zettian Infantry or some other d20-dodge powers for the wording and limit the range to something more reasonable so you actually have to position the figure accordingly to use your powers.

PSYCHIC DISTRESS CALL 11
If Cerebrax is attacked an at least 1 skull is rolled while you have a friendly insect figure within 4 clear sight spaces, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 1-10, roll defense dice normally. If you roll an 11 or higher, Cerebrax takes no damage and you may destroy a friendly insect figure within 4 clear sight spaces instead.

With these changes Cerebrax would have a lot less trouble with other figures and current rules. He could probably keep his price point around 120 as well.


The Beetle would take a few more tweeks, especially as a common hero. They would likely involve lowering its overall stats to be more in line with the other insects.

Attack -> 3
Defense -> 4

Which is much more in line with what is out there as far as the other insects go if we want to say a beetle should individually be more formidable than an Ant, this would allow the card to keep Sand Strength because its fine and there are similar powers for snow in heroscape. Defensive Wards should just go away completely, it complicates the figure for no reason. Counterstrike could also stay but it would have to update language to what "Counterstrike" is in heroscape which includes not affecting Samurai with the power. It may be simpler to change it to a different but functionally similar power:

CURSED EXOSKELETON (Can change the name to be more natural or thematic to your taste)
When rolling defense dice against a normal attack from an adjacent figure, if you roll any excess shields then the attacking figure receives 1 wound.

With those changes the beetle could definitely be comparable to a figure like Drow Chainfighter in the 25 point bracket, so 25 points would be fine with those changes I'd think.

[Dad_Scaper]

I like the beetle design. There are a few reasons why it wouldn't work in the competitive environment - C3V or the SoV - based on things you won't care about in your home games. Concepts like rolling "blanks" aren't a thing, for instance. But it has a few entertaining bells and whistles. With one life, maybe it should be 40 points? I don't know. Whatever seems right for your home games.

The same is true of Cerebrax, but it's harder for me to get a sense of its price point. I think 150 seems high, but I could be wrong. Its survivability is not high, but the Distress Signal power is situationally going to provide all the defense any unit could ever ask for. Maybe try 120 points? I don't know.

They both look like fine customs, and I hope you enjoy playing with them. I like the minis, too. They aren't really suitable for the SoV, but that's not what you came here to ask. As I understand it.

I would try to track down a few more of those beetle minis. They're common, so you can run a bunch of them.

[Climbing ice]

Thank you both for your recommendations! I agree that the non-standard wording and powers are a bit off putting on both figures. Since neither of these will likely ever be part of a tournament, I will most likely just keep the cards a little weird but bump up their point values to make casual games at home a little less one sided.

I actually bought out the seller on ebay for the beetles since she had several, and I have found that paired with Cerebrax and sand if I can get it, they are crazy strong with no order marks. They are great for engaging ranged figures to buy time until I can get Sujoah out there (also boosted by Cerebrax). With essentially 6 attack (4+ auto skull from Cerebrax) Sujoah can get his poison sting special almost every time. (Writing this now though, I see another problem with the wording on Cerebrax's card, technically boosting a special attack....)

[Dad_Scaper]

Yeah, I wouldn't workshop the powers. You're having fun with them and it's obvious enough what their powers are supposed to be.

Enjoy, and thanks for sharing. I had fun looking.

Welcome to the board, climber! Don't be shy!

Also, if you want to keep expanding your collection of figures, if you look at the C3V/SoV units (link in my signature box), you can print all the cards you want, and just find the minis. In each thread we tell you what the minis are.

Those units have all been stress-tested for suitability for competitive play and compatibility with the canon. I'd vouch for all of them.

[Climbing ice]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Also, if you want to keep expanding your collection of figures, if you look at the C3V/SoV units (link in my signature box), you can print all the cards you want, and just find the minis. In each thread we tell you what the minis are.

Those units have all been stress-tested for suitability for competitive play and compatibility with the canon. I'd vouch for all of them.

For sure! I actually already have a good number of your guys' customs and have been enjoying getting to know them as well as I do the originals.

[Dad_Scaper]

Oh good! I'm glad to hear it.