The New York City Gang Of Four

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Originally Posted by ThrasherDarkrai

With a week before the game, it's a good time to reveal the pods so that players can start to plan for the draft. Here's what's going to be available:

Pod 1 (ThrasherDarkrai):

Clayton Pierce 90
Louis "Mad Dog" Malone 60
Guilty McCreech 30
Kate Crawford 40
Kira Jax 30

250 Points, 5 spaces.

Pod 2 (ThrasherDarkrai):

Zelrig 185
Brute Gruts 65

250 Points, 6 spaces.

Pod 3 (ThrasherDarkrai):

Varkaanan Darkclaws 120
Varkaanan Greyspears 110
Marcu Esenwein 20

250 Points, 8 spaces.

Pod 4 (chas):

Agent Carr 100
Agent Nora 75
Phantom Knights x1 70

245 Points, 5 spaces.

Pod 5 (chas):

Clayton Pierce 90
James Murphy 75
Kate Crawford 40
Guilty McCreech 30
Isamu 10

245 Points, 5 spaces.

Pod 6 (chas):

Horned Skull Brutes x1 75
Bugbear Basher x1 65
Goblin Cutters x1 50
Goblin Slashers x1 55

245 Points, 12 spaces.

Pod 7 (kolakoski):

Ravenwolf 115
Kha 75
Tarn Viking Warriors 50

240 Points, 6 spaces.

Pod 8 (kolakoski):

Knights of Weston x2 140
Sir Orrick 50
Morgan's Riflemen 60

250 Points, 12 spaces.

Pod 9 (kolakoski):

Buccaneers of Tortuga x2 140
Elaria the Pale 60
Marro Warriors 50

250 Points, 13 spaces (drop a Buccaneer)

Pod 10 (Sherman Davies):

Anubian Wolves x3 225
Marcu Esenwein 20

245 Points, 10 spaces

Pod 11 (Sherman Davies):

Major Q10 150
Krav Maga Agents 100

250 Points, 5 spaces

Pod 12 (Sherman Davies):

Dreadgul Raiders x3 195
Guilty McCreech 30
Otonashi 10
Isamu 10

245 Points, 12 spaces

Pod 13 (Taeblewalker):

Omnicron Snipers x2 200
Omnicron Repulsors x1 40
Otonashi 10

250 Points, 10 spaces

Pod 14 (Taeblewalker)

Aubrien Archers x3 210
Theracus 40

250 Points, 11 spaces

Pod 15 (Taeblewalker)

Axegrinders of Burning Forge x2 140
Migol Ironwill 110

250 Points, 9 spaces

As a reminder, if you draft two pods that share the same Unique figure, you cannot use both! You have to sit the second copy out.

Guilty McCreech appears in three pods, Clayton Pierce, Kate Crawford, Otonashi, Marcu, and Isamu in two each.

[ThrasherDarkrai]

There being repeat figures between pods is fine so long as most of the pods are unique (and so long as nobody repeats figures within their own pods, which no one did), and I don't think being forced to sit out a second copy of Otonashi, Marcu, or Isamu will be all that impactful considering they're 10/20 point filler units. Nobody is going to double up on the two Cowboy pods, either, so the only thing this really affects is that it makes it more inconvenient to draft the Dreadguls pod with either of the Cowboy pods.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Two cards for testing (thanks to @mac122). Both related, believe it or not, to Martial La Hire. Apples and oranges to each other, but both passed through the fire that is @Dad_Scaper.

[chas]

Thrasher Darkrai will be over on Monday to build the map for his Wednesday game. I've discussed it a bit with him, but he always knows what he is doing. Like my last map, it features a certain type of terrain prominently, but also like my last game no one has chosen any figures that would benefit from it, since it has been kept secret from the players.

Besides the map plans, I have TD's complete pod list of all 15 as posted above printed out for your reference in drafting too, as we may not want to bother setting them all up just for drafting.

I'd assume that if someone can't show up at the last minute, his pods will not be available for the game.

Although I've noted that we could take a sixth player and invited everyone to join us, as usual no one has responded for Heroscape on my own Game Update Newsletter (GUN) where I send out my schedule of Game Dates here to our local buddies in the upcoming weeks. Perhaps the new Renegade games Con will motivate some new blood to join us for Scaping; I'm publicizing that to them also!

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Originally Posted by chas

Thrasher Darkrai will be over on Monday to build the map for his Wednesday game. I've discussed it a bit with him, but he always knows what he is doing.

Just talked to chas. Thrasher will begin building around 11:00. I'll show up at around Noon, to playtest Ravenwolf and Rieka the Wolf. Tentatively, at 600 points, we'll field the following armies for them.

Ravenwolf
150 Romans x 3
150 Major Q10
115 Ravenwolf
100 Marcus
50 Me-Burq-Sa
35 Nottingham Brigand
600 points, 19 spaces

Originally Posted by ThrasherDarkrai

Cornered could also create interesting strategic decisions, since it encourages opponents to try to push aggressively to defeat Rieka before the end of the game.

Originally Posted by SkyWhale

And it doesn't quite force it, but makes saving her for the endgame the best option.

Originally Posted by kolakoski

"Building an army with her in it, I might go with heroes only, . . ."

Rieka the Wolf
140 Racheim
120 Tandros Kreel
115 Rieka the Wolf
115 Ashi-Dhulu
110 Rhogar Dragonspine
600 points, 6 spaces

Of course, we wouldn't mind some company . . .

P.S.: We could play them against each other.

P.P.S.: Of course, DW9000 would probably be better than Racheim here, duh! But not as interesting or as much fun.

[chas]

Don't we have to play them against each other? There are only two armies here...

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Originally Posted by chas

Don't we have to play them against each other? There are only two armies here...

Added more:

Ravenwolf

150 Romans x 3
150 Major Q10
115 Ravenwolf
100 Marcus
50 Me-Burq-Sa
35 Nottingham Brigand
600 points, 19 spaces

200 Romans x 4
115 Ravenwolf
100 Marcus
100 Jarek Guy
50 Me-Burq-Sa
35 Nottingham Brigand
600 points, 22 spaces

Rieka the Wolf

140 Racheim
120 Tandros Kreel
115 Rieka the Wolf
115 Ashi-Dhulu
110 Rhogar Dragonspine
600 points, 6 spaces

140 Phantom Knights x 2
120 Kaemon Awa
115 Rieka the Wolf
115 Boreos
110 Ninjas of the Northern Wind
600 points, 12 spaces

Others

210 Heavy Gruts x 3
130 Deathcommander Mark 3
120 Grimnak
80 Raelin RotV
50 Nerak the Glacian Swog Rider
600 points, 18 spaces

210 Knights of Weston x 3
185 Nilfeim
105 Sir Gilbert
100 Sir Denrick
600 points, 16 spaces

P.S.: For my March Hosting, with a 12 space limit, for Ravenwolf, I'd planned on fielding:

140 Phantom Knights x 2
120 Kaemon Awa
115 Ravenwolf
80 Estivara
75 Kha
70 Nottingham Brigand x 2
600 points, 12 spaces

Now, I plan to replace the 4 squad Roman army (with Jarek Guy) with that above.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

This is a classic Roman army:

150 Romans x 3
150 Major Q10
115 Ravenwolf
100 Marcus
50 Me-Burq-Sa
35 Nottingham Brigand
600 points, 19 spaces

Since the proliferation of special attackers, any Roman army should expect to face one. So, if facing Rieka the Wolf:

140 Racheim or Othkurik
120 Tandros Kreel or Kaemon Awa
115 Rieka the Wolf
115 Ashi-Dhulu
110 Rhogar Dragonspine
600 points, 6 spaces

which is also a good test for Rieka the Wolf.

Worse, a super Grut army with an explosion special attacker (and Raelin, oh my!):

210 Heavy Gruts x 3
130 Deathcommander Mark 3
120 Grimnak
80 Raelin RotV
50 Nerak the Glacian Swog Rider
600 points, 18 spaces

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Oddly enough, the figure for Rieka the Wolf, which was ordered after that for Ravenwolf, arrived yesterday. Even if Ravenwolf's figure doesn't arrive before Monday, I'm still confident it will arrive by Wednesday's game day.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

On my way! Testing begins at Noon with the following:

150 Romans x 3
150 Major Q10
115 Ravenwolf
100 Marcus
50 Me-Burq-Sa
35 Nottingham Brigand
600 points, 19 spaces

140 Racheim
120 Tandros Kreel
115 Rieka the Wolf
115 Ashi-Dhulu
110 Rhogar Dragonspine
600 points, 6 spaces

40 Phantom Knights x 2
120 Kaemon Awa
115 Ravenwolf
80 Estivara
75 Kha
70 Nottingham Brigand x 2
600 points, 12 spaces

210 Knights of Weston x 3
185 Nilfeim
105 Sir Gilbert
100 Sir Denrick
600 points, 16 spaces

[chas]

PRESIDENT'S DAY PLAYTESTS

We had a two good 3 Player Free For Alls today! We playtested Kolakoski's two pre-SOV customs, Ravenwolf the Einar Rogue and Reika The Wolf Aquilla Fighter. Part of their intent is K.'s project to improve the fan created Rogue Faction. These games used three of the four 600 point armies listed upthread made by Kolakoski and one by Thrasher Darkrai as follows:

Game One
Kolakoski: Roman Army
Thrasher Darkrai: Varkaanan Army
(Arktos, Baradur, Darkclaws, Grayspears, Quickblades)
Chas: Reika Army

Game Two
Kolakoski: Reika Army
Thrasher Darkrai: Knights Army
Chas: Roman Army

Thrasher Darkrai's new map is called Magma Cone; we'll have some photos posted of these games later on, and probably take more on Wednesday when four of us are playing his Pod Draft scenario for our regular monthly game with four of us. The map uses more kinds of terrain then I had realized; so I was glad TD's did the building. I was pulling most of the pieces he needed but letting him do the actual construction. It features lots of Lava Field and Molton Lava in the center, which we don't use often. Almost all of the heights are made up of Lava Field, so there was some end round rolling when some figures ended up staying on it, although many got off in time safely.

In Game One, Thrasher destroyed half my army with distance attacks (Varkaanan thrown spears) before I could kill more than one figure of his. I ended up running away with just Reika and Rhogar. Later I healed her a point with the Dragonborne after doing some damage with her, but then she was taken out. Rhogar was my last figure but waded in against Kolakoski's guys anyhow. After hitting TD once for revenge, I had to ally with him against K., who was ahead and did win, despite our best efforts against him.

Ironically, at the start of Game Two when TD's Nilfheim was getting ready to try and fly over the center area, I bushwacked him with K's new Ravenwolf (so I got to play both of the new customs) and the dragon flew at me instead. With some great die rolling I then took the dragon out; certainly a memorable moment! No one else ever entered the volcanic center area in either game!

There were a number of temporary alliances as the balance of power changed with mor casualties taken. I went defensive behind the new walls, and it took a while, but eventually TD came at me through doorways. Although I had been fighting K., I then allied with him against TD. Finally the other two engaged at K.'s end of the battlefield, and I trooped over there with what I had left: Me-Burq-Sa with whom I was very lucking twice with Paralyzing Stare, one full squad of Romans, and the Nottingham Brigand, who moved up but never got to take a shot, as he also didn't in the first game. Just as Sir Denrik and a few knights were fighting Reika the Wolf and Tandros Kreel, I came up and finished them off on the hill on the far side of the battlefield, and won the game!

Both games were close and could have gone in different ways. Thrasher's map plays well--he had revised it a bit. Kolokoski's two customs are fun to use. The armies were interesting ones to match against each other. All in all, these factors made for an entertaining session.

We changed armies and seating positions for Game Two. Kolakoski won Game One and I won Game Two. I noted that this was the first time in a while that Thrasher didn't win any games (but he easily could have). Wednesday should be fun. We'll be eliminating the 3 pods Taeblewalker would have brought, since he notified us that he can't make the Wednesday games.

Thrasher supplied figures I requested which will be used for the Pod Draft on Wednesday rather than on Monday's session. As usual, he came up with several we've never seen before from his own interesting collection. We left out all the figures and cards we had--without Sherman Davies' figures, since he'll be bringing his own for our regular monthly game--that we'll be using Wednesday on the table, alongside this map, also most of the game equipment we'll be using. I printed out a list of the pods so that we don't have to set up all of them until we are ready to start the first game after the drafting. I'll be adding a few more figures to the table using this list which we did not use today.

After the second game we discussed the customs a bit, an how the games had gone. We agreed that they were nicely evolved after Kolakoski had input from Dadscaper, Me, and others in developing them for SOV. (the Soldiers of Valhalla committee; who are now part of the C3V fan customs, together now known as "VC".) They follow up on his Serpentfolk Kha, who was previously accepted by that group.

All three of us made a mistake or two while playing which we regretted, during one game or the other. In two or three cases we made mistakes and allowed redoes of turns to compensate. In both games we forgot to bond the new Ravenwolf with the Nottingham Brigand!

The 3D Printed AOA Walls Kevin brought over are strikingly similar to those we saw in the Haslab offering (made by another Scaper). They make for an interesting terrain feature, as they are configured differently from the old castle walls we've been using in my AOA Revival Project so far. My own mistake while playing one game was to actually miss where one doorway was placed, which I only discovered when TD's knights attacked me through it. The walls are flat and don't have the arched entry gate that the old castle walls have, and I was sitting so this wall section was straight in front of me, and the opening hard to see! We made sure to take some pictures of the games that included these new walls!

Then we did some speculating on what we may see on March 1, now less than two weeks away, when the Renegade Con comes onto youtube. Their new three official Age of Annihilation products will then be available for preorder, and we may be able to add these newly official products to our games with fan proxies, modifying some of the ones by Anitar and Me that we've been using in the last year or so in my Age of Annihilation Revival Project (see the Age of Annihilation site section for her cards, and upthread for my rules for Illusory Walls) and the games we've been playing both seperately and integrated into some of our regular monthly games. We did not use these rules in our games today for the walls.

Thanks to both Kolakoski and Thrasher Darkrai for their contributions to a fun Monday and what should be an enjoyable Wednesday. Playing two Heroscape sessions here in one week goes back to the old days when we used to playtest more often. But Kolakoski and Sherman Davies continue to test a few new customs now and then. K. has also been testing his Captain Xue here, and SD some Supers he's developed on his own.

And I didn't have to build the map this month. TD was over early to build it, and K. arrived just minutes after he'd finished at Noon! We then spent an hour pulling K.'s four armies for the playtest; since I hadn't had time to do it previously. So the logistics for the session went particularly smoothly. I was just finishing my breakfast when TD arrived. We took a snack break between games. And we finished around 6 PM, so I ate dinner after my guests left.

There will be four of us on Wednesday with DS, and Taeblewalker will rejoin us in March for Kolakoski's The Dirty Dozen Freeze game, noted upthread.

[ThrasherDarkrai]

Salutations! As chas said, the games yesterday went really well; I'm happy that the map plays as nicely as it does. Since I don't think I explicitly stated it, the actual games tomorrow (so after drafting) will be free-for-alls. The last player standing is the winner (or, if nobody wins by the end of round 10, the game will be decided on who has the most points remaining).