The Book of Kingpin (II)

[Ronin]

Viegon actually stepped down as a Hero, so his vote isn't needed. You've passed to public playtesting.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Viegon actually stepped down as a Hero, so his vote isn't needed. You've passed to public playtesting.

Oh ok, sorry I must have missed that. So this Proposal Passes.

[japes]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

Oh ok, sorry I must have missed that. So this Proposal Passes.

Thinking back I'm not sure if we ever actually made an announcement. We may have thought we would let him announce but I don't recall.

[L0B5T3R]

Originally Posted by japes

Thinking back I'm not sure if we ever actually made an announcement. We may have thought we would let him announce but I don't recall.

He made an anouncrment in the Welcome To Thread.

[japes]

Originally Posted by L0B5T3R

He made an anouncrment in the Welcome To Thread.

OK Good...Thanks. He deserved the opportunity to say his goodbye.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Alright, sorry for asking, but now that this is in public playtesting, is there anything I'm supposed to do? Or do I just wait for tests?

[Ronin]

You could probably make a post in the playtesting thread to say he's available? Not that big a deal here since he's in the public. Otherwise, it's a waiting game.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Originally Posted by Ronin

You could probably make a post in the playtesting thread to say he's available? Not that big a deal here since he's in the public. Otherwise, it's a waiting game.

Ah ok, wasn't sure if I was supposed to post there or if that was for Heroes only.

[Ronin]

One game in so far. Definitely a thinker for army builds. Had the Elite League Assassins go on a tear in the first game - they're a very good candidate for the Assassin attack boost.

[Ronin]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Kingpin II @220 points

Army Test
Map: Ivy's Greenhouse
Units: Kingpin II, Street Thugs x2, Black Mask I, Elite League Assassins, Vulture, Shocker, Crime Alley Crooks x2 (1000) vs Captain America, Bucky, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Iron Man Mk IV (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Kingpin initially went with the triple-boost here, and it was initially pretty fruitful. Double-boosted Street Thugs had one really nice turn where they racked up a bunch of damage on Iron Fist, but then Danny and Luke busted some heads, taking down the Street Thugs as a threat and cutting off Kingpin's option to go for the Criminal/Assassin/Thief boost. Shocker got some good hits in as well, but Cap ultimately took him out.

At that point, Kingpin switched and just put all his numbered OMs on the Elite League Assassins, and they managed to clean up pretty effectively with an extra attack die boosting their Deadly Strike.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): not used
• Criminal Frame-Up: used on Iron Man to shut down his Luke Cage bonding
• Kingpin of Crime: used for Criminal/Thief/Assassin boost at first, switched to Assassins only when the Heroes for Hire did a number on the Street Thugs
• Damage Taken: none

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Kingpin and Vulture unwounded, 3 Crime Alley Crooks, 2 Elite League Assassins

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Ivy's Greenhouse
Units: Kingpin II, Lady Shiva, Bullseye, Black Bat, Man-Bat Assassins, Elite League Assassins, Zombie, Oracle (1300) vs Original X-Men, Jubilee, Armor, Spider-Girl (1300)

Spoiler Alert!

Wanted to go all-in on the attack boost here, but you only have so many options for putting together an efficient Assassin build where the Assassins have the OMs.

They were very lucky to do as well as they did here, sending waves of souped-up assassins after the X-Men and wearing them down before the dregs of the Mutant army could take out Kingpin.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): 3 wounds to Beast in 4 attacks (1 boosted by Oracle)
• Criminal Frame-Up: not used
• Kingpin of Crime: boosted Assassins throughout
• Damage Taken: 4 wounds from Beast in 3 attacks, 1 wound from Armor in 4 attacks (destroyed)

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Professor X with 1 wound, Beast with 3 wounds, Armor unwounded

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Definitely a strong leader, but the specificity of his OM requirements limits his options and turns building Kingpin armies into a puzzler (in a good way!). I went through a lot of different ideas for exactly what armies I was gonna build. The Criminal/Thief/Assassin option is tempting, but it's also the most finicky way to play him. He'll definitely be a go-to for testing with any future Criminals/Thieves/Assassin designs that can bond with other Criminals/Thieves/Assassins (particularly if those new bonding designs are squads).

Worth noting that he has a lot of options when working with Vigilantes - he can flip one into a Criminal, Shiva can flip one into an Assassin, and Azrael (who really benefits from an attack boost) can flip himself into an Assassin. At one point I was contemplating a bigger army (1600+ points) that paired Kingpin with Superman III so that Superman could rack up some JL markers from Vigilantes before they all broke bad and started working for Kingpin.

Really like this design. Very, very hands-off and most all your strategizing around him happens in the drafting phase, but that's perfectly thematic.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Awesome, glad to see he played well for you. Thanks for the tests

[Arkham]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Kingpin II

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 1
Map: Custom
Units:
Kingpin II(220), Gamora(310), Daredevil(180), Hydro-Man(190) (900)
vs.
Luke Cage(190), Iron Fist(260), Wolverine(280), Tigra(170) (900)

Spoiler Alert!

Attack Damage:


Kingpin of Crime:
R1: 1 OM on each
R2: 1 OM on each
R3: 1 OM on each
R4: 1 OM on each

Notes:
Daredevil is a Criminal
Gamora puts 4 wounds on Iron Fist with a botched defense (+1 from KoC)
Iron Fist rolls a decent 5 skulls but Gamora counters back with 6 shields + an auto shield to destroy him! Wow! (+1 from KoC)
Gamora kills Luke Cage with a roll of 4 skulls + 1 auto, in an unfortunate botched defense on his behalf. (+1 from KoC)
Hydro-Man puts 4 wounds on Wolverine. (+1 from height and KoC)
Daredevil kills Wolverine
Gamora obliterates Tigra with a roll of 6 skulls + 1 auto, Tigra is dead. Wow. (+1 from KoC)


Hydro-Man with 2/5 wounds, Kingpin with 0/5 wounds, Gamora with 0/5 wounds, and Daredevil with 0/4 wounds.

Wow, what a game. The Kingpin's minions just railroaded the fighters...possibly unlike I've ever seen before. It was quick, it was painful.
Every round I stuck with the same strategy of getting the complete benefits of having an OM on each. The X was always on Kingpin, and 1-3 were dispersed between Gamora, Daredevil, and Hydro-Man. Giving each of these figures a +1 to Move, Attack, and Defense is huge, as each already has decent movement, attack, and resilience. The rolls were certainly in their favor as they made some big hits with lots of skulls and lots of shields. I'm going to run the same game again, as I believe this matchup should be much closer.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 2 (Rematch)
Map: Custom
Units:
Kingpin II(220), Gamora(310), Daredevil(180), Hydro-Man(190) (900)
vs.
Luke Cage(190), Iron Fist(260), Wolverine(280), Tigra(170) (900)

Spoiler Alert!

Attack Damage:


Kingpin of Crime:
R1: 1 OM on each
R2: 1 OM on each
R3: all other OMs on Gamora
R3: all other OMs on Gamora

Notes:
Daredevil is a filthy no good rotten scumbag Criminal
Tigra is killed by Gamora's MMA after her 3rd attack
Luke Cage puts 3 wounds on Hydro-Man due to botched defense
Iron Fist destroys Hydro-Man, and thus the seams are starting to show
Daredevil seeks vengeance and kills Iron Fist
Gamora kills Wolverine with a devastating attack of 5 skulls +1 auto, then followed up with a successful Godslayer roll of 14 on the dot. "Thanks for coming bub."
Gamora keeps cutting away at Luke Cage until he finally can't take it anymore


Kingpin with 0/5 wound, Gamora with 0/5 wounds, and Daredevil with 0/4 wounds.

Yeesh. This time I can't say it was a complete railroading, but Kinpin's team still dominated quite definitively. Wolverine once again got plastered before he could do much, and Tigra tried as hard as she could with several attacks against Gamora but it didn't work. Iron Fist managed to do some damage on Hydro-Man, with Luke Cage able to take him out. That prevented the total bonus starting the next round, with all the eggs now in the Gamora basket for the + to her attack being the best option, and she just cut away at the rest until it was game over. Kingpin never had to get his hands dirty either game.

___________________________________________________________

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: First of all, I love the theme of the design. I was a big fan when it was first presented, so I'm happy it plays as well as it looks. It's thematic, it's strategic, and encourages you to draft different classes together in a seamless fashion. It felt very much like heroes/villains for hire, and there's a good selection within the Assassin/Criminal/Thief ranks, along with the potential of nabbing a Vigilante/Crime Fighter/Lawmen to fill the Criminal role. A LOT of range covered there, in such an elegant way. Huge props. Overall, the first game was filled with luck, and the 2nd game a bit less so, but I felt I got a gauge on the potential of the design. I'm thinking 230-250 based on my experience. We'll see where it all shakes out.