The Book of Atlas

[laughing matter]

Yes.

I look forward to seeing this faction form. I've got plans for a Charlatan of my own, so if I can get the points soon I'll probably put him up for a public design vote!

[japes]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

Looks cool. Wasn't the Goliath that died in Civil War a black dude?

There were a few Goliath's and yes one was black.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

Looks cool. Wasn't the Goliath that died in Civil War a black dude?

Yeah. The first Goliath was actually Hank Pym, in one of his earlier attempts to reinvent himself. Then Hawkeye started using Pym Particles and took the name for himself, and then after him came Erik, and then the guy who died in Civil War (who actually existed before Erik, but as "Black Goliath", and streamlined to plain ol' Goliath a little while after Erik dropped the name).

Originally Posted by laughing matter

I look forward to seeing this faction form. I've got plans for a Charlatan of my own, so if I can get the points soon I'll probably put him up for a public design vote!

I'm planning on filtering them in slowly at first, but the Thunderbolts are gonna be my main long-term priority for a while. Really love their corner of the MU, and it's going fun to be able to piece them together in C3G.

[Ronin]

Alright, no concerns have been raised (and I'm not anticipating any), so I'm proposing we move Atlas to Initial Playtesting.
@IAmBatman -yea
@johnny139 -yea
@Viegon -yea
@TrollBrute -yea
@Karat -yea
@SirGalahad -yea

[johnny139]

Yea

[Viegon]

Yea

[Karat]

Yea

[TrollBrute]

Yea

[SirGalahad]

yea

[IAmBatman]

yea sorry missed this one in some confusion while doing Adminny things yesterday!

[Ronin]

This passes. I should have the initial up this weekend. EDIT: Gonna be a couple more days. Had a few things come up and I want to wrap Kal-L first.

[Ronin]

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT ATLAS

Heavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes
- What should be the unit's point value? 270-280?
- Give a brief overview. Looks like a pretty good spread of results for Atlas. He has some trouble with healing factored folks, and he really lives and dies on his d20 rolls. Three wins, two losses and one draw.
Map: Sewer Labyrinth

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Units: Atlas vs Deathstroke (280)

Damage Done: 1 wound to Deathstroke with his normal attack, across three attacks. 0 wounds with Ionic Imbalance.

When they were KO’d: Round 2, Turn 2.

Ionic Imbalance: Used one time out of one possible time. Reduced wounds from 2 to 1

Gigantic Reach: Used once, to hit Deathstroke when Atlas was unable to move close enough.

Atlas had really poor attack rolls here (2 skulls, 2 skulls, no skulls). Deathstroke absolutely loves that, and was able to do most of his damage with Calculated Defense. Atlas only took 2 wounds from Slade's normal attack. Atlas dealt a wound to Deathstroke on his first attack, but Deathstroke healed it off.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
Deathstroke with 5 Life wins Round 2, Turn 2.

TEST 2
Units: Atlas vs Fandral (280)

Damage Done: 6 wounds to Fandral (across 9 attacks). 0 wounds with Ionic Imbalance.

When they were KO’d: N/A

Ionic Imbalance: Used one time out of one possible time. (No effect)

Gigantic Reach: not used

Both figures were rolling very poorly on offense for the most part. Atlas actually did 3 wounds to Fandral on his first attack, dealt just one wound on his next seven attacks, and then finally finished Fandral off on his ninth attack. Fandral's bad luck was no less notable, as it lasted across a much higher number of (albeit smaller) attack rolls. He was able to deal a few wounds to Atlas.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
Atlas with 2 Life wins Round 4, Turn 1.


TEST 3
Units: Atlas vs Super-Skrull (Rl'nnd) (280)

Damage Done: 5 wounds to Super-Skrull (across 6 attacks). 0 wounds with Ionic Imbalance.

When they were KO’d: N/A

Ionic Imbalance: Used 0 times (out of 0 possible times).

Gigantic Reach: not used

Atlas is rolling well on defense here, and never even gets a chance to use Ionic Imbalance, because he never takes more than one wound at at time. His offensive rolls aren't too shabby either.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
Atlas with 2 Life wins Round 3, Turn 3.


TEST 4
Units: Atlas vs Wolverine (280)

Damage Done: 6 wounds to Wolverine (across 2 attacks). 2 wounds to Wolverine (destroyed) with Ionic Imbalance.

When they were KO’d: Round 2, Turn 1

Ionic Imbalance: Used 3 times (out of 3 possible times). Reduced wounds taken from 3 to 1, from 2 to 1, and then destroyed Atlas and Wolverine.

Gigantic Reach: not used

Some big action in the first round. Atlas dealt enough wounds to kill Wolverine (Atlas's attack rolls were average, but Wolverine only rolled a total of 1 shield on defense). Wolverine healed off enough to keep himself alive. Likewise, Wolverine would have dealt enough to take down Atlas in the first round, but Ionic Imbalance protected Atlas.

On Wolverine's first turn of the second round, he hits Atlas for what would be 3 wounds, enough to kill him. Atlas rolls for Ionic Imbalance and improbably hits a 1, destroying both himself and Wolverine for a no-contest. This might be my favorite test ever.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
Draw on Round 2, Turn 1.


TEST 5
Units: Atlas vs Kang I (270)

Damage Done: 3W to Kang (across 4 attacks). 1 wound with Ionic Imbalance.

When they were KO’d: N/A

Ionic Imbalance: Used 2 times (out of 2 possible times). Prevented 4 wounds and dealt a wound to Kang, reduced damage taken from 2 to 1

Gigantic Reach: Not used

Atlas's attack rolls were just okay here (and Kang's defense was weak), but Atlas had one big break when Ionic Imbalance blocked a big attack, and dealt a wound back to Kang.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
Atlas with 3 Life wins Round 2, Turn 4.


TEST 6
Units: Atlas vs Sabretooth (290)

Damage Done: 6 wounds to Sabretooth (across 6 attacks). 0 wounds with Ionic Imbalance.

When they were KO’d: Round 3, Turn 2

Ionic Imbalance: Used 3 times (out of 3 possible times). No effect, then reduced 2 wounds to 1 (preventing Atlas from being destroyed), then no effect.

Gigantic Reach: Used one time, to attack Sabretooth when unable to move adjacent.

Pretty straightforward slugfest. Atlas's Ionic Imbalance rolls are a little weak, and he can't put wounds on Sabretooth quickly enough for them to stay on. Sabretooth brings him down early in the third round.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
Sabretooth with 5 Life wins Round 3, Turn 2.

_____________________________________________________________
Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes
- What should be the unit's point value? 270-280?
- Give a brief overview. Atlas narrowly wins one and narrowly loses one. He doesn't like multi-attacks, but melee squads run the risk of setting themselves up for a big Ionic Imbalance hit. This happened in the second game and turned the game around for Atlas.
Map: Sewer Labyrinth

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Units: Atlas vs Amazon Warriors x3 (300)

Damage Done: 8 Amazon Warriors destroyed in 12 attacks

When they were KO’d: Round 4, Turn 3

Ionic Imbalance: Used 3 times (out of 3 possible times). Reduced wounds taken from 2 to 1, from 3 to 1, from 4 to 1

Gigantic Reach: Used 1 time

The Amazon Warriors are reluctant to unnecessarily engage Atlas (and risk a high Ionic Imbalance roll wiping them out), so they favor using their special attack at first, and do most of their damage that way. Once Atlas wears them down to a single squad, they switch to their normal attack. The last Amazon Warrior hits a key defense roll to survive and take out Atlas.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
1 Amazon Warrior wins Round 4, Turn 3.
TEST 2
Units: Atlas vs Gorilla Warriors x2 (250)

Damage Done: 3 Gorilla City Warriors destroyed in 4 attacks. 3 GCWs destroyed with Ionic Imbalance

When they were KO’d: N/A

Ionic Imbalance: Used 3 times (out of 3 possible times). No effect, then reduced 3 wounds to 1, then prevented destruction and destroyed 3 adjacent Gorilla City Warriors.

Gigantic Reach: Used 1 time

The Gorilla City Warriors went to town here. While Atlas swatted a couple, they managed to hit him for 5 wounds. Unfortunately for the Simians, on an attack that would have destroyed him, Atlas hit an 18 on his Ionic Imbalance roll and took out 3 of them. He finished off the straggler on his next turn.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
Atlas with 1 Life wins Round 2, Turn 5.

_____________________________________________________________
Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 280-300?
- Give a brief overview. Atlas gets some good mileage in this one. His attack rolls are just average, but Team 2's are much worse; just 37% skulls. On top of facing a very low caliber of attack, Ionic Imbalance also comes through for him big time, allowing him to salvage a game that looked like it was turning against his team.
Map: Sacred Shrine
Units: Atlas (280), Red Skull, Robot, Doctor Fate (1000) vs Ms. Marvel, Valkyrie, Wonder Woman (1000)

Damage Done: 5 wounds to Ms. Marvel (destroyed) (3 attacks, 1 wound from Ionic Imbalance), 3 wounds to Valkyrie (dest) (3 attacks), 5 wounds to Wonder Woman (3 attacks, 2 wounds from Ionic Imbalance)

When they were KO’d: N/A

Ionic Imbalance: Used 2 times (out of 2 possible times). Prevented 2 wounds and dealt a wound each to Ms. Marvel and Wonder Woman. Prevented destruction and destroyed Wonder Woman.

Gigantic Reach: not used

Spoiler Alert!

The battle is joined fairly quickly thanks to Team 1's mobility. Robot takes a big hit in the first round, and goes down to 1 Life remaining. Fate and Atlas teleport in and Fate gets lassoed, but he takes no damage.

Second round: Robot goes down in the second round, but not before Red Skull moves a couple wounds from him to Valkyrie. Carol and Valkyrie team up to put 4 wounds on Skull. In return, Skull and Atlas manage to deal a wound to Valkyrie and 2 to Carol, but Skull goes down.

Third round: The Avengers take initiative, but Red Skull improbably survives two attacks of 7 to get his OM1 turn. Red Skull and Atlas take out Valkyrie. Carol and Diana start attacking Atlas, but just do a wound.

Fourth round: Atlas has an Ionic Imbalance roll come up for him on his first turn, doing some damage to Wonder Woman and Carol, and giving him a chance to take out Ms. Marvel on his next turn. He and Wonder Woman deal a couple wounds back and forth.

Fifth round: Wonder Woman attacks Atlas and would have destroyed him, but Ionic Imbalance kicked in high and took her out instead.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
Atlas with 3 wounds and Doctor Fate unwounded win Round 5, Turn 2.
_____________________________________________________________
Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
- What should be the unit's point value? 270-280?
- Give a brief overview. Bad luck on both sides here. Team Zemo takes an early edge when Reed comes up short on a series of Fantastic Leader 4 rolls, but then Atlas takes himself out of the game and puts Team Zemo in a hard spot, allowing Ben and Sue the chance to save the day.
Map: Sacred Shrine
Units: Atlas (280), Red Skull, Baron Zemo (Heinrich Zemo), Meteorite, Ragdoll, Skrull Infiltrator x2 (1000) vs Fantastic Four (1000)

Damage Done: 2W to Human Torch (destroyed) (1 attack), 3W to Mister Fantastic (destroyed) (2 attacks), 1W to Thing (1 attacks)

When they were KO’d: Round 3, Turn 5

Ionic Imbalance: Used 1 time, out of 1 possible time. Destroyed Atlas and dealt 2 wounds to Thing, destroyed a Skrull Infiltrator.

Gigantic Reach: Used twice to attack past Red Skull from height, once to keep distance from Ben and avoid Rock Wall Bounce Back

Spoiler Alert!

First round: all mobilization. Reed has some lousy rolls (hitting a 4 twice and a 1 once), and the FF don't get very far.

Second round: Red Skull uses the Cube to snag Johnny away from Sue's protection, and he and Atlas team up to destroy Johnny, who rolls no shields twice in a row. They pull the same trick on Reed, but can't pull him out of Sue's force field range and can't quite finish the job. Reed's lousy luck continues and Thing can't quite get close enough to hit Skull.

Third round: Reed finally hits a decent FL4 roll (now that it's largely irrelevant) and Thing jumps in and takes out Red Skull in one hit. Reed deals a wound to Atlas, but Atlas destroys him (costing the Adventurers an OM) on his next turn. Thing retaliates by attacking Atlas, who uses Ionic Imbalance and self-destructs, dealing 2 wounds to Thing and destroying an adjacent Skrull that had replaced Reed.

Rest of the Game: With Atlas taking himself out, the tide suddenly turns against Team 1, which is suddenly lacking in options that can beat the Sue/Ben combo. Despite Team 1's tricks to slow him down (Adhesive X, Skrulls, etc.) Ben manages to clean up Team 1 in a few rounds.

Who won and how many wounds did they have?
Ben with 3 wounds and Sue with 4 wounds win Round 6, Turn 3.
_____________________________________________________________

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Slightly unreliable, but with good d20 rolls he can be a monster. Still thinking about dinging him one point of Life, but he's definitely close on cost.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: I'm happy with where Atlas is. Feels like a thematic play.