The Book of Star Sapphire (Uncommon)

[quozl]

It takes away the nullifying of defensive powers but I like it. Why would someone under the power of love not defend themself from an attack?

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by A3n

Getting there, what about this:

Now the thing about this now will be that if the Unique Star Sapphires have a power to put the battery marker on a card it will also be subject to this. But I don't think you were planning to use an ability like that though .

If it just triggers on "your" (Player's) markers, though, not the individual Star Sapphire's, then that power would stack with the uncommons, right? I think leaving that last line in there would prevent the stacking, though.

What's nice about that wording is it's still clear that you continue to roll even if the Star Sapphire that originally placed the marker is now dead.

[IAmBatman]

SP updated again. I'm thinking (hoping) we have a winner.

Still, one more initial to do before I get to this, so we have some time to suss it out still if need be.

[A3n]

[IAmBatman]

Sweet. I've started on the heavy hitters for you-know-whom today, but this one's next up for me after I finish the rest of that initial.

[IAmBatman]

Any concerns before I start on the initial (finally) here?

[IAmBatman]

C3G INITIAL PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT (STAR SAPPHIRE (UNCOMMON)

- THEME TEST/ Check to see if there are any powers or stats on the test unit card that does not accurately reflect the theme or likeness of what the character would and could do. Also consider destructible objects, and whether or not this characters powers should affect them.
PASS

- MIRROR TEST/ Check to see if the unit were played against itself, if there would be any loops that would upset the balance of the Game.
PASS

- BONDING TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing Bonding abilities to make sure there are no continual Bonding possibilities that do not stop appropriately or do not stop at all. This is to prevent loops in Bonding.
PASS

- SYNERGIES TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing synergies to make sure there are no factors that could break the game by making any unit to powerful or too weak.
PASS

- POWER CHECK/ Consider the test unit and all existing units and all glyphs to compare to and check for any powers that could be over amplified and break the game. Each power must define when it takes place, who or what it affects, and What are the stipulations on the power if there are any.
PASS

- FUN TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play.
PASS

- FUN COMPETITIVE TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play against.
PASS

- DRAFTING TEST/ Consider whether or not this design is worth drafting.
PASS

- USAGE TEST/ Consider whether or not all of the powers on this card were used or at least usable.
PASS

- STRATEGY TEST/ Consider whether or not the design offers any real strategy or interesting tactics to the overall game.
PASS

Heavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 110-120.
- Give a brief overview. Star Sapphires don't have a lot of offensive output, but the ability to essentially render turns worthless keep them in a lot of games. Their ability to take over another figure is very streaky, but it has a big pay off.

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Map: Custom
Units: Sinestro Corps Soldier (110) vs. Star Sapphire (120)
Star Sapphire almost won this one, getting a marker on the Sinestro Corps Soldier and making him waste two turns in futility before he could finally attack again. During this span, she hit him for one wound, then made him burn a battery marker, then had her final attack blocked. Then he came back with a vengeance and tore through her superior defenses. I think she wins this match up more often than not, but he has the additional benefit of bonding.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Sinestro Corps Soldier with 1 Wound and 1 Battery Marker wins Turn 4, Round 2.

TEST 2
Map: Custom
Units: Sinestro Corps Soldier (110) vs. Star Sapphire (120)
This time the Sinestro Corps Soldier wasted a total of 9 turns as Star Sapphire dumped both markers on him (the second after the first was removed). However, her resulting poor attack number stopped her from cashing in effectively.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Sinestro Corps Soldier with 2 Wounds and 1 Battery Marker wins Turn 4, Round 6.

TEST 3
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire (120) vs. Typhoid Mary (110)
Star Sapphire gets in a nasty attack from height for two quick wounds on Typhoid Mary, then Mary attacks and gives two wounds back. Then Star Sapphire blocks an attack and puts a marker on Typhoid Mary, which wastes a turn for Typhoid Mary. Then Star Sapphire finishes Mary off.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Star Sapphire with 1 battery marker and 2 Wounds wins Turn 6, Round 1.

TEST 4
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire (120) vs. Typhoid Mary (110)
Typhoid Mary only attacked once and missed her next 7 turns due to Star Sapphire's marker.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Star Sapphire with 1 battery marker and Full Life wins Turn 5, Round 3.

TEST 5
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire (120) vs. Firefly (120)
Firefly shakes off both markers on the first try, and a weakened Star Sapphire's low attacks can't keep pace with Firefly's strong ones.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Firefly with Full Life wins Turn 3, Round 2.

TEST 6
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire (120) vs. Firefly (120)
Firefly shook off one marker on his first try and the other on his second try, but Star Sapphire still had good enough rolls to sneak in a few wounds with her lowered attack.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Firefly with 3 Wounds wins Turn 6, Round 3.

TEST 7
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire x2 (240) vs. Stepford Cuckoo x3 (240)
The plan was to get markers on each Cuckoo and then use the Star Sapphire who still had a boosted attack to rip them apart. But it didn't work that way. Star Sapphires spent their efforts placing markers instead of attacking, and two markers were removed within the first four rolls. The game ended with one marker still on a Cuckoo and one marker still on the final Star Sapphire to fall. The Star Sapphires had no good counter to the Cuckoos' special attack and Order Marker flexibility.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Stepford Cuckoos with all three at Full Life win Turn 2, Round 2.

TEST 8
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire x2 (240) vs. Stepford Cuckoo x3 (240)
Three markers were placed (the fourth was still on the second Star Sapphire when she died) and on five rolls, two turns were missed, two markers were removed, and one Cuckoo was taken over by the Star Sapphires. Unfortunately, even with the Cuckoo moved over to them, the Star Sapphires couldn't keep up with the superior offense and bonding of the Cuckoos.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Two Stepford Cuckoos with 1 Wound each win Turn 6, Round 4.

TEST 9
Map: Custom
Units: Sinestro Corps Soldier x3 (330) vs. Star Sapphire x3 (360)
(Sinestro Corps Soldiers rolled 16 times for the crystal markers in this game, removing 4, losing 11 turns, and (on the final roll) hitting a 20 so that the last Soldier was taken over by the Star Sapphires.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Two Star Sapphires, one with 1 marker and one with no markers, with 1 Wound each, and a mind-controlled Sinestro Corps Soldier with Full Life and 2 markers win Turn 2, Round 9.

TEST 10
Map: Custom
Units: Sinestro Corps Soldier x3 (330) vs. Star Sapphire x3 (360)
Sinestro Corps Soldiers only rolled for the markers 7 times this game, removing them 3 times and losing 4 turns. The Star Sapphires couldn't muster enough offense this time around.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Sinestro Corps Soldiers with 3 figures left (all with Full markers, two with one wound each, one with Full Life) win Turn 5, Round 6.

_____________________________________________________________

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 110?
- Give a brief overview. Once the Inmates get on even height, the Star Sapphires fall easily.
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire x2 (240) vs. Arkham Inmates x4 (240)

Spoiler Alert!

Without their markers coming into play, the Star Sapphires fall to superior numbers.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Arkham Inmates with 8 of 12 remaining win Turn 1, Round 4.

_____________________________________________________________

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 120.
- Give a brief overview. With no powers coming into play here, really, this was an attack dice fest.
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire x1 (120) vs. Joker Goons x1 (120)

Spoiler Alert!

Star Sapphire's flight let her get height earlier, which helped, but other powers didn't come into play. She rolled 4 skulls three times to rip up Goons, but their superior numbers still wore her down.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Joker Goons with 1 life win Turn 3, Round 2.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 110-120.
- Give a brief overview. Star Sapphire markers ended Superman's last seven turns and three of Batman's, but they only managed one wound on Superman and their army just didn't have enough offense.
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire x3 (360), Oracle (110), Green Arrow (Connor Hawke) (130) (600) vs. Batman (200), Superman (400) (600)

Spoiler Alert!

(Oracle worked well with the Star Sapphires and Green Arrow's auto skulls combined with Oracle's Secret Attack Plan were nice, but when they aren't stealing turns, the Star Sapphires are taking up a lot of points for something with little offense. Batman hit 3 key Evasive Strike rolls against the last two Star Sapphires to pull this one out.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Batman with Full Life wins Turn 1, Round 9.

_____________________________________________________________
Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 130+
- Give a brief overview. This game swung in a huge way very early when the first marker placed on the first roll went 20 and the Star Sapphires took over Mister Fantastic. After that, the three Adventurers cobbled together some wounds, but they didn't have a hope.
Map: Custom
Units: Star Sapphire x4 (480), Oracle (110), Joker (190), Red Skull (220) (1,000) vs. Mister Fantastic, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Thing (1,000).

Spoiler Alert!

In addition to having the huge game impact of stealing Mister Fantastic in Round 1, the Star Sapphires stole 1 turn and put 1 Wound on Human Torch, 2 Wounds on Invisible Woman, and 4 Wounds on Thing. The combination of Joker and Oracle was enough to make life miserable for the Fantastic Four, and Red Skull being in the picture made for some easy auto wounds and some great extra activations for the Star Sapphires to place markers on get in attacks. One Star Sapphire was being used more offensively and died with both markers still on her card. One was never activated. The other two placed both markers, but the Fan Four rolled fairly well other than on the first roll, removing markers on 3 out of 4 tries after that.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Joker with 2 Wounds, 3 Star Sapphires (two with 1 Wound each and one with Full Life) and Full Life Oracle win Turn 6, Round 5.

[IAmBatman]

All wrapped up. They're definitely swingy, but a lot of fun (especially in the right army where there's enough offense behind them). I like them as is at 120, but could be talked into 130 if we're afraid of how they could combo for competitive players. They felt really nasty in that last test, but a ton of that came down to a huge 20 roll right out of the gate.

[A3n]

That second test was a pretty huge win. What made it so much so?

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by A3n

That second test was a pretty huge win. What made it so much so?

The Star Sapphires put a marker on Mister Fantastic in Round 1, he tried removing it and rolled a 20 on the first try, so they got to take him over, which was a devastating round 1 loss for the Fan Four.

[TrollBrute]

I'd feel better about 130. They'll be much stronger in 800-1000 points games than 600. Toss a couple of them in an army with some solid heavy hitters, plus Sage for OM control and a D20 boost, and I could see them doing very well.

[IAmBatman]

Sounds good. I'll update the SP to that. I think they're one of those units that can fizzle in a lot of armies, but if the D20 goes their way, they can be nasty.