The Book of Swordsman

[Hahma]

ERB from David:

Swordsman

Quote:
His Makluan sword was given to him by Mandarin and has buttons
on the hilt that can be pushed to send out a force beam or sort
(for the first effect) and flames (for the second effect option).
I’m geeking out over that description! Let’s check this out!

Swordplay
We could have a duel between him and Talia! It’s a really cool attack.

Makluan Sword Special Attack

You know how some people pronounce nuclear as “nu-ku-lar”? I keep wanting to type Malkuan instead of Makluan.

I like the options presented, as I can see myself selecting either one.

Counter Strike
What does this guy have against counters, anyway? I mean, you need a counter in the kitchen if you want to prepare a delicious meal. Seems pretty silly to… wait. Oh, never mind. I’m certain the sword will come in handy if he needs to chop vegetables.

Final Thoughts
“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

[IAmBatman]

Looks about right.

[johnny139]

Haven't chimed in yet but he looks solid enough to me.

[Hahma]

ERB from Margloth:

Everything looks good here, although Reformed strikes me as a bit odd as a personality. Should be a lot of fun to play!

[Hahma]

ERB from Porkins:

So if Swordsman has height advantage and Avengers bonus he could potentially attack the same figure 7 times. Is this thematic? Is it what you intended? Is it overpowered?

I think I would reword the SA to include the Flame / Force Beam options to retain more themey flavor. Maybe have the Force Beam give a Knockback Effect instead of just extra wounds.

Regarding the Avengers Marker and Height advantage, couldn't the same concern be said about Wolverine or Tigra to a degree when they are wounded and getting 3 attacks of 6 from Wolvie (-2 defense to opponent) or 3 attacks of 7 from Tigra. Talia would get up to 5 attacks and she's like 110 points. Sure there will be a rare occasion like that, but look at the concern we had about Daredevil getting +1 attack for each adjacent figure, not to mention Criminal Intimidation vs. Criminals.

Ultimately, Swordsman has only 5 defense and 4 lives. He shouldn't be that difficult to take out and if he happens to be teamed up with Cap or Miss Marvel, then the opponent should be ware of his melee potential and hit him first in melee or hit him with range. Someone might think about loading OMs on him to take advantage of that melee attack potential, but then again, he can get killed and ruin that.


Regarding the Makluan Sword wording, in the past we didn't give the themey names to the bullet options. And the extra wounds was for the Flame that gives burn damage, not the Force Beam. If anyting, the Force Beam could give knockback if there is room for the extra text.

[IAmBatman]

Agreed on both points.

[Hahma]

Looking again for Porkins' idea of Knockback for the force beam aspect of the power, I looked at Iron Man 3's Repulsor Ray Special Attack which is basically the same thing as Knockback and there's no way to add that aspect to the first bullet of the Makluan Sword. The proper wording alone takes up half of the text side of Iron Man's card, so no room here.

[IAmBatman]

KISS, right?

[Hahma]

C3G INITIAL PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT SWORDSMAN

- 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 too 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? 150
- Give a brief overview. . Swordsman has a nice ranged special attack that gives an option to hit harder against higher defense units or add extra fire damage wounds that is easier to pull off vs. lower defense units. He's really good in melee, though didn't really have any monster roll combos for Swordplay in these tests. Counterstrike is nice too. Swordsman's weakness is only having 4 lives and 5 defense that can be bested by ranged normal attacks or any special attack, as they both bypass Counterstrike.

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units:Swordsman vs. Electro (135)
Electro wins with 0 wounds on T5R1/ Swordsman took a risk by engaging Electro to use Swordsmanship but took 3 Electric Skin wounds in a row to put final 3 wounds on him after Electro hit him for 1 previously.
TEST 2
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Electro (135)
Swordsman wins with 3 wounds on T5R1/ .This time Swordsman stayed away and just used his ranged special attacks as did Electro. They were both sending out attacks of 5 since Swordsman chose +1 die option and eventually prevailed..
TEST 3
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Plastic Man (145)
Plastic Man wins with 0 wounds on T2R2/ . Plastic Man rolled some really good attack dice in this one and his 6 defense helped as well.
TEST 4
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Plastic Man (145)
Swordsman wins with 0 wounds on T2R2/ Plastic Man wasn't rolling as good attacks here and even took 1 Counterstrike wound. Swordsman hit him for 2 wounds with special attack +1 die and then finished him with Swordsplay.
TEST 5
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Green Arrow Ollie (150)
Green Arrow wins with 0 wounds on T5R1/.. Ollie rolled 20 for Skill Shot with his first attack and landed 1 wound from a 1/0 attack, then he rolled 18 for Skill Shot with his next attack and finished Swordsman with a 3/0 attack. Some dice luck helped Ollie.
TEST 6
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Green Arrow Ollie (150)
Swordsman wins with 1 wound on T5R1/ It was Swordsman's turn for some dice luck. Ollie hit him for a wound with his first attack but missed with his second. Then Swordsman blasted Ollie with a flame attack from his Makluan Sword and hit him with a 2/0 attack and rolled a skull on each die for fire damage to finish Ollie..
TEST 7
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Batman Terry (150)
Swordsman wins with 0 wounds on T3R2/ Swordsman hit Terry for 3 wounds early with flames (2 initial wounds and 1 extra) and Terry just rolled terrible dice with a whiff and a 1 skull attack. Finally, Swordsman put last wound on him with Swordsplay attack of 3/2.
TEST 8
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Batman Terry (150)
Swordsman wins with 1 wound on T1R2/ Terry just doesn't match up well with a once per round ranged attack or boost to his attack with the X. His attack and defense aren't that great and flying wasn't overly helpful vs. a ranged opponent with different attack options.
TEST 9
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Shocker (160)
Shocker wins with 0 wounds on T5R1/ Shocker's double attacks were brutal vs. Swordsman.. .
TEST 10
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Shocker (160)
Swordsman wins with 3 wounds on T1R2/ Shocker hit Swordsman for 1 wound early and then Swordsman engaged and managed only 1 wound from Swordplay. Shocker disengaged for 0 wound to avoid Counterstrike and hit Swordsman for 2 more wounds. Swordsman hit Shocker for 2 wounds from flames and then won initiative for round 2 and engaged Shocker and put final wound on him with Swordplay...

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? .YES
- What should be the unit's point value? 140
- Give a brief overview. .Multiple attacks from the Vamps hurt Swordsman. 1 Vamp died from Counterstrike, but Swordsman wasn't rolling great defense. Stealth Dodge kept his ranged special attack from being useful and he only managed to kill 1 Vamp with Swordplay.

Map: .X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Vampire Minions x 1 + 2 (5 figures for 150 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Who won and how many wounds did they have? 3 of 5 Vamps live to win on T1R2.

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? .YES
- What should be the unit's point value? 160
- Give a brief overview. . Swordsman's special attack with +1 die options was helpful to bypass Blood Curse and his Counterstrike was able to kill a demon. .

Map: . X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. Blood Demons x 1 (160)

Spoiler Alert!

Who won and how many wounds did they have? Swordsman wins with 1 wound on T5R1.

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? .YES
- What should be the unit's point value? 130
- Give a brief overview. Multiple ranged attacks from squads are brutal against Swordsman as it bypasses Counterstrike and they don't need to engage to offer him multiple opportunities with Swordplay.

Map: . X Marks the Spot
Units: Swordsman vs. A.I.M. X 2 (140)

Spoiler Alert!

Who won and how many wounds did they have? 4 of 6 AIM Agents live to win on T6R1.

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No?.YES
- What should be the unit's point value? .150
- Give a brief overview.. . Thanks to Hawkeye's Orders, Swordsman with height managed to kill an LCS on ladder with Swordsplay, and also thanks to Hawkeye's Orders was able to put 2 wounds on Sandman with Swordplay. Sandman healed up over the next couple turns and Swords hit him for 3 wounds with Swordplay but then Sandman killed him. While he did some damage for sure, it was aided in large part by Hawkeye getting him to the rooftop and then giving up his attack so Swordman could attack. Hawkeye ended up getting killed by Sandman on turn 3 round 2, so Swordsman's gain was Hawkeye's (and his team's loss). Sandman occupied a lot of the heroes effort and Black Mask and his Thugs rolled great attacks vs. MK on roof . Later Falcon rolled terrible attacks vs. Thugs to do limited amount of damage.
Map: X Marks the Spot
Units: . Swordsman (150) Hawkeye II (160) Moon Knight (150) and Falcon (140) for 600 points. VS. Thugs x 2 (150) Black Mask (100) Sandman (210), Lex Corps Security x 1 (130) and 1 Skrull Infiltrator (10) for 600 points.

Spoiler Alert!

Moon Knight used Frenchie's Airdrop early to get picked up to be dropped later. Hawkeye carried Swordsman to the rooftop of near building after using Quick Shot to attack (and miss) an LCS on roof but he got to move the extra 3 spaces to get him and Swordsman up there. After Black Mask and Thugs take a turn, Hawkeye ordered Swordsman to take out an LCS on the roof, and he did.



But then the other LCS and Sandman bonded and Sandman became a real problem. Swordsman attacked him at but Sandman killed Hawkeye and messed up the nice combo he had going on with Swordsman. Moon Knight had wanted to drop and Crescent Dart vs. Thugs to whittle them down, but Sandman was a beast and kept healing, so after Moon Knight dropped to kill the last LCS (to eliminate the bonding with Sandman) he had to help put final wounds on Sandman with his Crescent Darts. This allowed Black Mask and Thugs to take shots at Moon Knight on the roof and whittle him down while also making their way to Falcon.



Thugs and Black Mask had some good attack rolls and Moon Knight had bad defense rolls with height. After he died, it was just Falcon left and after putting 1 wound on Black Mask, he only killed 1 Thug and rolled 1 skull an other attacks to miss a couple more opportunities to kill Thugs and then he was overwhelmed and died.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Black Mask with 1 wound, Skrull Infiltrator and 7 of 8 Thugs live win on T6R4.

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? .YES
What should be the unit's point value? .150 (his success was partially from being left alone)
Give a brief overview. . Over the course of 3 bonding turns with Luke Cage, Swordsman killed Piledriver with Swordplay, and also put final 2 wounds on Wrecker. Swordsman had free reign for awhile as WC were concentrating on Luke Cage but then when they did turn their attention to Swordsman, Bulldozer hit him for a couple wounds while adjacent already and Thunderball clobbered him with a ranged attack to kill him. This is another case were Swordsman was able to do some nasty damage partly due to being left alone while his bonding teammate was being concentrated on by the enemy. That said, when he does get to attack, he can be pretty effective, but there has to be a balance where his attacking isn't at the expense of a teammate.

Map: .X-Marks The Spot
Units: .Swordsman (150) Luke Cage (190) Iron Fist (260) Spidey (250) and Jewel (150) for 1,000 points VS. Wrecking Crew (800) and Kraven (200) for 1,000 points.

Spoiler Alert!

Kraven had named Luke Cage as his Prey and got to move quite a bit thanks to LC being OM hog. But then when Kraven got to attack, he missed Bolas and also missed Nerve Punch both times. He was then pounded by Iron Fist and later finished off by Spidey. Kraven did no damage as once he got huge wounds from Iron Fists first attack, it was too risky to put an OM on him.



Wrecking Crew started off slow and didn't really get many double activations and had only one triple activation. Bulldozer had Iron Fist lined up for a huge Charge but only put 1 wound on him and then was hit for 3 wounds by Iron Fist. Wrecker came in and hit Iron Fist hard with a flying Crowbar and WC10 allowed Bulldozer to put final wounds on Iron Fist.



Wrecker and Piledriver teamed up against Luke Cage to whittle him down 1 wound at a time, but that allowed Swordsman to kill Piledriver over 3 turns and then put 2 wounds on Wrecker before being killed by Thunderball.



Eventually it came down to Spidey and Jewel vs. Thunderball and Thunderball clobbered Spidey after Spidey missed Spidey Senses twice in a row and rolled bad defense (though only had 3 dice). Then Jewel never got more than her normal attack of 4 and couldn't hold up to Thunderball's huge attacks.



Who won and how many wounds did they have? Thunderball with 0 wounds survive to win on T3R6.

[SirGalahad]

Looks good.

[IAmBatman]

Looks good. I could see a possible drop to 140 from those tests, but I don't mind going into public testing a tad too high rather than too low. Pre-yea for playtesting at 150.

[Hahma]

Between his ranged specials and Swordsplay he has potential to do some damage, but 4 lives also keeps him killable too and while counterstrike is nice vs. normal adjacent attacks, it can be bypassed by range, special attacks or an attacking figure with 5 or 6 attack that isn't too afraid of the counterstrike wound.

He was back an forth in HH tests and kicked butt vs. Blood Demons at 160 but got smoked by AIM x 2 at 140. His armies lost both times when he was relying on another figure for activation, so we'll have to see how public tests go. Not opposed to dropping his cost to 140 if the public tests come in similar to mine.