The Book of Red Wolf (1872)

[Ronin]

This passes

[Lord Pyre]

Looks like Jonah Hex is the obvious pair here, but anything else you'd like to see? Maybe I'll rope Gordon and some vigilantes in some tests. What would be the best way of taking advantage of Ambush? What powers could restrict line of sight?

[Yodaking]

I think Ambush is pretty hard to force, it either plays out or it doesn't. I've tried to maximize Black Panther's no LOS boost and it just isn't a valid option IMO.

[Ronin]

Yeah, there isn't really a cost effective way to hide him all the time with figures that can prevent clear sight, that I can think of. You're better off leveraging Ambush by playing on a map with a lot of cover/height and teaming him with figures that can move him around (Angel, Skycycle Hawkeye, etc).

Nothing in particular I was looking for, though! Feel free to get creative with it. Agreed that Hex is definitely one to get a game with.

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by Lord Pyre

Looks like Jonah Hex is the obvious pair here, but anything else you'd like to see? Maybe I'll rope Gordon and some vigilantes in some tests. What would be the best way of taking advantage of Ambush? What powers could restrict line of sight?

Shadow Lass, maybe? Shadowcat? Can't remember off-hand if Obsidian does anything with that or not or what Mastermind's updated version is like.

Edit: Index had frozen up but started working again. Obsidian is a yes, Mastermind is a no.

[Ronin]

Yeah, Shadow Lass and Obsidian can pull that trick. It's a lot of points to invest in that trick, though.

[IAmBatman]

Sure. I wouldn't build the army around it, but if you wanted to build an army around Shadow Lass or Obsidian, he might fit well into that build. One of those two, Red Wolf, and Black Panther in something like an Avengers (Cap/Ms. Marvel) build could potentially be interesting.

[MrNobody]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Red Wolf

Army Test
Map: City Park
Units: Team 1 (645): Red Wolf (140), Jonah Hex (130), Commissioner Gordon (90), Jason (175), Oracle (110)
Team 2 (650): Wildcat (240), Wolverine (280), Casey Jones (130)

Spoiler Alert!

Pre-game: Logan is Wildcat’s Trainee and Hex’s Bounty

Round 1: T1 wins initiative
-Casey takes a LEA
-Casey gives Hex 2 wounds, but gets reckless and Hex gives him a wound back
-Gordon kills Casey

Round 2: T1 wins initiative
-Hex gives Logan 5 wounds
-Logan kills Gordon
-Logan kills Hex
-Red Wolf kills Logan
-T2 loses a turn from having an OM on Wolverine

Round 3: T1 wins initiative
-Wolf gives Wildcat 2 wounds
-Wildcat gives Wolf a wound
-Wolf gives Wildcat a wound
-Wildcat kills Red Wolf
-Jason gives Wildcat a wound
-Wildcat gives Jason 2 wounds

Round 4: T1 wins initiative
-Jason kills Wildcat


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Jason (2/6 wounds), Oracle (0/4 wounds)

Pairing Red Wolf with a Contingency Plan-style character feels really good, allowing you to maximize his Timely Avenger. I didn’t use his other 2 powers this game, but that’s okay. He’s still a solid stat block with an occasional double attack, and the Fancy Shooting boost sure doesn’t hurt on top of that.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: City Park
Units: Team 1 (630): Red Wolf (140), Captain America (240), Wasp I (50), Atom (50), Beast Boy (Pterodactyl) (40), Oracle (110)
Team 2 (630): Iron Patriot (290), Batman (Dick Grayson) (170), Black Widow (170)

Spoiler Alert!

Pre-Game: Dick chooses the Bolas and Batarangs for his Glyphs

Round 1: T1 wins initiative
-Troops advance and attacks are made, but no damage is done

Round 2: T1 wins initiative
-Wasp gives Norman a wound
-Norman kills Wasp
-Widow gives Atom a wound
-Atom gives Widow a wound then hops onto her
-Norman kills Beast Boy
-Widow gives Cap 2 wounds

Round 3: T2 wins initiative
-Norman kills Red Wolf
-Cap kills Norman
-T2 loses the rest of the round from having OMs on Norman
-Cap kills Dick, causing him to drop the Utility Glyphs

Round 4: T1 wins initiative
-Cap picks up the Bolas
-Widow gives Babs 3 wounds
-Cap gives BW 2 wounds, knocking Atom off of her
-Widow takes a LEA
-Cap kills Widow


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Captain America (2/5 wounds), Atom (1/2 wounds), (Oracle (3/4 wounds)

The plan here was to use the cheap figures as sacrifices to get some boosted double attacks out of RW, but it didn’t work. He didn’t really do anything this game, just ended up being fuel for the Osborn Motivation Machine.

___________________________________________________________

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: He has some highly niche powers and some decently useful stuff. Other than that, he’s just a cheap stat block who pairs well with Jonah Hex, who is a very sturdy design.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: Never used 2/3 of his powers, but I could see using Tracker. (I mean, I use Bucky’s move boost a lot and that’s basically the same thing.) He probably will never be the centerpiece of an army, but I could see myself taking him as semi-filler in a Lawman or Avengers build.

Here you go!

[Ronin]

Awesome, thanks Nobody!

[Lord Pyre]

Alright here we go. My more in-depth thoughts are at the bottom of the sheet, but my summary is that he's kinda lackluster. It's just so hard to use his abilities, and since abilities are what make this game fun, he falls kinda flat. I think he's only worth 140 when they activate, so honestly I'd rather this guy be 100 or so, and the potential to possibly be worth more than his points, then the other way around. I'd rather just pick Gordon who is 50 points less if I had to choose between them.

I played a game before these, where Martian Manhunter moved Wolf up a bit, but then he got eyeblasted by Cyclops before doing anything else. And that was in Round 3. He didn't have any impact on the game (And didn't even absorb an attack, he was collateral damage from Cyclops attacking MM). Cyclops was insane in that game and this one, rolling 5 skull at least 5 times between the two games.

The FF game was amazingly close, as you can see. I really like that second Lawman army with Cap leading them. Tons of fun. But Red Wolf was still the odd man out, not adding anything to the faction.

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Red Wolf

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Red Wolf, Star Lord, Obsidian, Martian Manhunter, AntMan (Hank)
Vs.
X-Men

Spoiler Alert!

R1: Starlord and Red Wolf move first, the latter missing an attack on Angel. Cyclops hits Wolf for a wound. Obsidian teleports forward, but his attack is blocked.

R2: Cyclops hits Wolf for a wound. Wolf moves next to Obsidian, and shoots but misses. Cyclops misses Star Lord, and Beast misses Obsidian. Starlord covers MM as he moves up. Beast leaps away from Obsidian, and misses a few attacks. Cyclops deals 1 wound to MM and 3 to Starlord! Red Wolf uses Obsidians envelopment to Ambush Beast, rolling 5 dice! He deals 3 wounds to Beast. Cyclops obliterates Starlord.

R3: MM kills Beast, Cyclops hits MM for 3 more wounds, and Iceman moves up to protect the Professor. Obsidian hits Cyclops for 2 wounds. Jean throws Wolf for a wound, and Cyclops kills MM. Obsidian teleports to the Prof. Iceman hits him for 2. Cyclops misses Wolf. Obsidian’s Envelop misses Prof and Iceman both.

R4: Iceman hits Obsidian for another 2 wounds. Obsidian misses Jean. Jean kills Obsidian. Jean kills Wolf, Cyclops kills Ant-Man.



Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Cyclops with 3 wounds, Beast dead, everyone else untouched.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Red Wolf, JonAh Hex, Commissioner Gordon, Durham Red, captain America, Bishop, Wasp I
Vs.
Fantastic Four.

Spoiler Alert!

R1: Wasp is the chosen Non-Avenger for the Lawmen. Jonah and Red both pick Ben as their Bounty. Cap leads the charge as usual, and Reed has a poor roll. Gordon leads the Lawmen, bringing all of them with him (Save Bishop, who is still not on the battlefield. Ben and Sue move up. Gordon takes a shot at Reed, and with his boosts deals a wound! Torch hits Jonah for 2 wounds.

R2: Torch misses Jonah, and Reed misses Wolf. Cap engages Reed and deals 2 wounds! Ben runs by Cap, risking an attack that misses, to engage Jonah, dealing 2 wounds to him. Gordon grabs height, and since Ben rushed forward to try to take out Jonah, Gordon rolled 5 dice with an auto skull to deal 4 wounds to Ben! Sue flies up but misses Jonah. Red opens fire on Ben, but can’t crack his defense even with all the boosts.

R3: Ben finally kills Jonah. Reed misses Cap. Cap misses Reed. Ben hits Cap for 2 wounds. Red rolls a lucky four skulls to finish off Ben! Torch runs forward, and take a wound to deal 2 wounds each to Gordon and Cap! Reed finishes Cap! Red misses Reed.

R4: Bishop joins the fray! Red runs forward, and attacks Sue for 3 wounds! Torch takes a wound to kill Gordon, and deal 2 wounds to Red. Bishop closes in on Sue, and deals a wound. Torch kills Red, Sue deals a wound to Wolf, and Reed engages Bishop, dealing 3 wounds! Bishop attacks Reed, cracking his defense and taking him out!

R5: Torch misses Bishop, charging his Energy Absorb. Bishop disengages, taking a wound, and uses his Concussive Blast to kill Sue, then turns it on Torch, but misses. Johnny uses Flame On! On Bishop and Wolf, killing Bishop, wounding WOlf, and then finishing WOlf with his normal attack! It’s down to Wasp with 1 life, and Torch with 1 life!

R6: We’re at an impasse. Both figures have a single life, and ways to auto wound. Whoever moves closer first will most likely lose. So Instead of calculating odds, I just move the person who wins initiative first, which was Wasp.Torch engages, not risking the Flame On, and goes Supernova. Wasp rolls all skulls and that’s that.



Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Torch with 1 life left.

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THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY:

Red Wolf is a cool design on paper, but his abilities are too restrictive. I used Tracker once, and that was at the beginning of the game to move a little more before anyone was in range. Ambush was used once, it was a hefty attack, but it needed some setting up with Obsidian, and I probably could have done smarter moves. Timely Avenger ironically was never timed properly, so I couldn’t use it. As is, I would draft him in a Lawman army like my second test, but once another similarly costed Lawmen is designed, he’ll be the first to be dropped.



GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT:

I really like his abilities, but he needs something interesting to do that’s not tied to something situational. Or at least easier to activate. Having Ambush trigger on shadow tiles would let him combo easier with people like Obsidian. Tracker is probably fine. Avenger is hard to activate since I don’t like putting Order Markers on him, compared to pretty much every other Lawman. Oracle would be a good teammate to help with that. Honestly I think having a defense of 5 would make him seem much more worth it. Most of the other Lawmen are also pretty squishy, with only Bishop going over 4 defense. Or maybe if Timely Avenger would let you move an Order Marker to his card, that would nearly guarantee its use, unless of course he’s killed first.
It’s a really cool card on paper, it’s just lackluster in the game. Of the 5 Lawmen (that aren’t their own factional pieces), Jonah adds the attack boost, Gordon adds the movement, and Durham and Bishop are the muscle. Wolf just doesn’t really add anything right now.

[Ronin]

Thanks, LP!

Did he also feel a bit lackluster to you? @MrNobody

Honestly right now my inclination is just to soft drop his points by 10-20... I think he'd benefit from a more robust Lawman faction, but I don't really feel like I want to make him the design to beef it up, y'know?

[Karat]

I think adding the shadow tile activation for Ambush would be a good way to boost his effectiveness. Seems like he should be more of a specialist type.