Niche - Customs

[Darkmage7a]

Many of us recently participated in the custom design contest held by Taeblewalker. In the process I noticed a number of figures appeared to be designed to fill in gaps in the ranks of specific armies. I think a number of specific niches were identified, particular types of units in the game are missing that could really enhance certain armies or promote play of lesser used units. It was quite interesting to see that the first two units entered into the contest utilized the predator bonding ability of the spiders, Nutting and Albertic the Arachnid.

The main purposes of this thread is to
1. Identify existing niches in the heroscape universe.
2. Share ideas, figures and customs that can fill niches and enhance the game.

Niches can take almost any form. From a gap in a particular generals point rank ie: 10pt unit for each general would be nice. To an underutilized or unused personality, class, or species. ie: there is nothing that makes the "confident" personality and more or less important than "tormenting" while the "valiant" personality on the other hand is very significant.

I wanted to add this chart as a reference tool for anyone who might decide to hold a contest or is simply looking for that gap in the point value setup. Hope it helps some one.

By using the chart you can easily get an idea of what army card values are missing or not as common. Making a custom to fill a gap for a particular point value might not be a bad idea from a playability standpoint.

Here are some niches and figures from the contest:

The Marro Warlord who works well with the Groks.
Ny-Gi-Ra, Je-Din-Sa, Tu-Kil-Sa
Something to relieve the DeathWalker Curse
dr-1000, Bob "Doc" Johnson
The Undead zombie lords
Korps, King of the Undead, Shade of the Darkmage (better image)
The 15pt figure gap
Funiko
An Omnicron leader
Gammacron
The missing aquilla flagbearer
Rhac Fireforge
A soldier organizer
CPL. Anthony Hicks
New Gladiator Heroes
Karjlan, Brutus the Bestiarus
The Aquillia ninja
Kasai Masutaa, Kokuei
A Roman who works with the archers
Consul Dominicus
A leader of lawmen
Sheriff Barty Black
Hunter/wolf helpers
Reklaw he Artic Wolf, Telpac the Devourer, Darklord of Kurtsburg
A figure that finally utilizes the "Terrifying" personality
Baron Tobrand

There are also a variety of others in there as well. Sorry if I missed any, I'm certain I did. If you notice one please post it here and I'll add it to the list. I'm not trying to say any of these customs are better than others, just that there are holes in the world of heroscape that we can target as a community to fill the gaps. If you think of any niches, please add them to the thread. Or just share your own niche filling creations.

Oh and thanks to everyone who participated in the contest!

Niche ideas waiting to be filled:

Melee Samuri Hero
35 pt unit
Aquilla Dragon

[Bloodthorn]

Maybe Im a little biased, but I thought my custom filled in a nice little niche with Terrifying Command. All the undead and a few Marro heroes have the terrifying personality and when playtesting if was alot of fun with all the options you have when using Baron Tobrand. Im definitely not bad mouthing anyone else's customs, just saying that mine filled a niche and should be included here. The link is in my sig, he is in the first post.

[Darkmage7a]

Originally Posted by Bloodthorn

Maybe Im a little biased, but I thought my custom filled in a nice little niche with Terrifying Command. All the undead and a few Marro heroes have the terrifying personality and when playtesting if was alot of fun with all the options you have when using Baron Tobrand. Im definitely not bad mouthing anyone else's customs, just saying that mine filled a niche and should be included here. The link is in my sig, he is in the first post.

You're right! That's an excellent niche. I'll add it promptly. My apologies.

[wriggz]

Melee Samurai Hero.

[rouby44]

Rhac Fireforge's Valkrie-dice ability is very creative, balanced, and fitting for Aquilla since about half of her units use the D20. I recommend checking it out.

[Agatagary]

The Aquillia ninja
Kasai Masutaa

I made an Aquila ninja too:

http://www.heroscapers.com/community...t=25207&page=6

(2nd one down; Kokuei)

Not sure if it is what you mean by a unit that fills a niche, but it is the only unit I know with what essentially amounts to a functional Invisibility power (as opposed to mere thematic versions, such as Concealment x).

[Darkmage7a]

Added - Kokuei, niche for melee samuri

yes, Kokuei fills a niche. All the other generals have a ninja, why not aquilla.
Think of it this way, there are trends in the design of heroscape. If we can find the trend. most generals have a ninja. We can find the holes/gaps. Aquilla is the only general without a ninja right now.

I also added dragon to the list because everyone else seems to have a dragon while aquilla has a giant wasp. Thematically is ok. But the real role of the other dragons is that they are powerful squad killing creatures. Sujoah is more of a single target assasin.

What I mean by a point gap in the generals ranks is this. There are only 2 pieces in the game that are 10pts. So if you are gearing up for a game of general wars and your army is 10 points short. Then you are out of luck unlesss you are playing one of the 2 generals wth 10 pt units.

So lets bring our ideas together find the gaps and fill them.

[rouby44]

Originally Posted by Agatagary

Again, sorry about the poor quality of the picture and lack of a hit zone picture. The hit zone is, of course, the same as that of that ninja of the Northern Wind

I like the Ninja Concealment ability, but placing a wound underneath a hex is logistically a little difficult and sort of "whacky" for lack of a better word to describe it. Inspired by the idea I came up with the Shadowstep ability:

[Agatagary]

Originally Posted by rouby44

I like the Ninja Concealment ability, but placing a wound underneath a hex is logistically a little difficult and sort of "whacky" for lack of a better word to describe it.

Wacky it may be, but there is no other way to keep track of where Kokuei is while hidden. I like your remake of Otonashi (much more useful than the original), but the difference between his power and Kokuei's is that his is flexible-he could be anywhere. Kokuei, on the other hand, is in one very well defined location, just waiting for the right opportunity to jump out and strike. I personally cannot see any other way to keep track of this type of invisibility.

Also, note that there should be few difficulties raising the hex, as the power specifies that at least one of its sides must be free. I agree that the power is worded very differently than other powers, and feels more awkward, but I do not think that its implementation should cause much of a problem.

[Darkmage7a]

Nice revamp of otonashi by the way. Although it not often you see a card with 4 abilities on it.

Originally Posted by Agatagary

Wacky it may be, but there is no other way to keep track of where Kokuei is while hidden. I like your remake of Otonashi (much more useful than the original), but the difference between his power and Kokuei's is that his is flexible-he could be anywhere. Kokuei, on the other hand, is in one very well defined location, just waiting for the right opportunity to jump out and strike. I personally cannot see any other way to keep track of this type of invisibility.

Also, note that there should be few difficulties raising the hex, as the power specifies that at least one of its sides must be free. I agree that the power is worded very differently than other powers, and feels more awkward, but I do not think that its implementation should cause much of a problem.

Perhaps I can offer a suggestion. It seems the biggest problem everyone has with the ability in question is the need to remove and replace a few hexes. If you were to place multiple markers face down on the board with only one true marker it might be more practical. You could place them on top of the map and when figures crossed over them they would find out if they walked into a trap or not. You could use almost anything as markers, glyphs, paper, or even pennies as long as there is only one true hiding place marked differently than the others on the underside. You wouldn't have a 100% unknown location but that wouldn't exist using your current terms either. How many maps really have a single hex in several advantageous locations. This would let you pick anywhere on the map regardless of the build.

[Agatagary]

That is an excellent idea! I think I will do this. I cannot change Kokuei immediately (because of the contest), but when I can I will change him. Thanks.