The Book of Kenshi

[Spidey'tilIDie]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Fwiw, Kenshi's power set definitely also raised an eyebrow for me - felt like Ark was doing a good job keeping an eye on his balance in the initial, though.

For the record, I 100% agree with this. Ark did a great job monitoring it in his tests. I have little doubt the results of Public Playtests will not be equally scrutinized and either show balance or evidence that further tweaks are needed. Either result Ark will be on top of and proactive.

[Arkham]

Lord V's tests:

Originally Posted by LordVenoc

Two rousing wins here. Teaming him with Cap, Ms. Marvel, and Havok was exceptionally strong, so I tested it twice. Stayed strong in both cases. Let me know if you have questions.

- THEME TEST/ I felt like this nailed the blind telekinetic vibe. Slowly pushing someone away is awesome.
- MIRROR TEST/ Nothing I saw here.
- BONDING TEST/ Ms. Marvel, Cap, and Havok is quite a team to pair him with.
- SYNERGIES TEST/ Outside of the above, you could throw him in a League build, which I find fun.
- POWER CHECK/ I think it might be interesting for Blind Warrior to cancel all terrain bonuses (such as Jungle Terrain).
- FUN TEST/ No issues. Very fun.
- FUN COMPETITIVE TEST/ I think the Lanterns are great, especially the ones that don’t have the Power Shield abilities, as I know people can get frustrated by those.
- DRAFTING TEST/ Fun unit that feels in the point range. He can do real damage in the right builds. When teamed up with people like Ms. Marvel and Cap, they have the bigger targets which lets him sneak around and get some solid damage in.
- USAGE TEST/ Bind Warrior is Niche, but a good theme.
- STRATEGY TEST/ Moving foes around provides some fun strategic options, such as trying to knock the F4 out of Invisible Woman’s range.

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM
NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Kenshi
Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Havok, Kenshi, Skrull Infiltrator, VS Professor X, Wolverine, Deadpool, Quicksilver
Unit Summary
Damage: 13 damage total
Abilities: Counter damage happened 3 times. Swordplay failed twice.

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1 – Armies advance. Quicksilver goes down in round 1 thanks to some bad defensive rolls against Ms. Marvel. Kenshi moves up, but immediately fails his first attack roll with 0 skulls on five dice.
Round 2 – Cap fails to harm with Shield throw. Deadpool and Wolverine try to gang up on Cap, but no wounds are dealt. Kenshi gets two wounds on Wolverine, knocking him off height. Wolverine takes three wounds in the process of attacking Kenshi from Sento’s Guidance. Kenshi gets a wound on Wolverine, leaving him with 1 life left and pushing him out of Xavier’s protection range, then killing him.
Round 3 – Cap puts three wounds on DP. Kenshi follows it up with 2 more wounds, leaving him with one following his healing factor. Professor X prevents further attacks. DP puts 2 wounds on Cap. Kenshi fails to score more hits, but Ms. Marvel blasts DP off the map with a five skull roll.
Round 4 – Professor X blocks Cap’s initial 6 skull punch from height. Kenshi moves up and with a chain of 2, 5, 4, 2, 2, 1 skulls, completely decimates the Professor from the map.

Who won and how many wounds did they have? Team Kenshi wins. 2 wounds on Cap, no one else wounded. Skrull unused.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Havok, Kenshi, Skrull Infiltrator, vs Mister Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman
Unit Summary
Damage: 8 wounds.
Abilities: Swordplay used on all attacks, got at least 3 attacks always, typically made it all the way to 1 die. Only attacked once, saved by the blank (all skulls, 1 blank)

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1 – Armies converge. No attacks made.
Round 2 – Cap takes a wound. Havok’s strategic intervention brings him up, letting him get two wounds on the Thing. Kenshi moves up with Attack Command, landing a wound on Thing and knocking him off height. Ms. Marvel gets a wound on Fantastic.
Round 3 – Cap fails to wound with his shield, and the strategic intervention of Kenshi fails to scratch Thing. Kenshi and Ms. Marvel fail to scratch foes, and Thing nearly one shots Kenshi, if he wasn’t saved by a single blank, taking three wounds. Best Defense wounds Fantastic. Kenshi puts two wounds on Thing, trying to push him out of Invisible Woman’s range. Ms. Marvel fails to wound Fantastic, but scores another wound with The Best Defense.
Round 4 – Cap takes down Thing with his shield. Fantastic gets two wounds on Ms. Marvel but takes a wound in the process. Kenshi sneaks around to try and hit Invisible Woman, thanks to his Blind Warrior, he gets 3 wounds on her. Ms. Marvel finishes off Fantastic. Kenshi goes after Invisible Woman, getting the final 2 wounds on her. Ms. Marvel gets 3 wounds on Torch.
Round 5 – Captain America finishes off Human Torch

Who won and how many wounds did they have? [COLOR=red]Team Kenshi wins. 3 wounds on Ms. Marvel and Kenshi, 0 wounds on Havok and Captain America. Skrull unused. [/COLOR
THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Kenshi was surprisingly powerful. Where he was saved in the game against the Fan 4, it made him able to unload some serious damage on Wolverine against the X Men. So I’m feeling mixed on the blank. This team was a real powerhouse, and it had two rousing wins here. Probably of note, Fan4 rolled terribly for their bonding. Only once did they get 2 adventurers, and it was about an even split on 1 other and 0. Never did they roll for all three. Based on this build I could see him going up in price, but that may just be a comment on how strong Carol and Steve really work together, as he walling Mr. Fantastic was key in game 2. She was basically just a bonding tool in Game 1.
GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: He’s a fun unit that I think hits the theme near perfectly. I partially think Blind Warrior should cancel jungle terrain as well, but that is neither here nor there. I think he overperformed both games, especially game 2, but that is likely more on the Fan 4 severely underperforming.

[Arkham]

The Fantastic 4 doing so poorly activation wise may be clouding his power a bit. Gonna drop his defense by 1 for further testing at 190.

[Scapemage]

Sounds good. The Fantastic Four can be swingy, as can the Wrecking Crew.

[Scapemage]

C3G INITIAL PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Kenshi


Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
Map: Violation.
Units: Kenshi (190), Nomad, Commander Rogers, Cheetah, and Elongated Man (850) vs. Darkseid, Giant-Man, Firefly, and Huntress (850).

Spoiler Alert!

Normal Attack Damage:
1 wound(s) on Giant-Man in R1T3
1 wound(s) on Giant-Man in R1T3
1 wound(s) on Giant-Man in R2T3
1 wound(s) on Giant-Man (kill) in R3T1
1 wound(s) on Firefly in R3T1
1 wound(s) on Firefly in R3T1

Telekinetic Swordplay moved figures 3 spaces.
Sento’s Guidance healed Kenshi 0 wounds and did 0 extra wounds.

Giant-Man and Firefly stuck their heads out a little too far too early, allowing Kenshi and Cheetah to enter the fray quickly while Elongated Man set-up for some fancy engagements. Giant-Man fell prey to Kenshi’s multiple attacks, followed by Firefly while Elongated Man was beaten up by incoming Darkseid. Darkseid moved onto take lava with Kenshi, and he won out the duel, taking out Cheetah before Commander Rogers and Nomad could put up a fight. By some good rolls, Nomad and Commander Rogers survived the New God and proceeded to duel Huntress in an extremely close end of the game.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Commander Rogers w/ 4 wounds.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes.
Map: Violation.
Units: Kenshi (190), Nomad, Commander Rogers, Cheetah, and Elongated Man (850) vs. Venom, U.S. Agent, Zatanna I, and Vixen (850).

Spoiler Alert!

Normal Attack Damage:
1 wound(s) on U.S. Agent in R2T1
1 wound(s) on Zatanna in R2T3
1 wound(s) on Zatanna (kill) in R3T1
2 wound(s) on Vixen in R3T2
1 wound(s) on U.S. Agent in R4T1

Telekinetic Swordplay moved figures 4 spaces.
Sento’s Guidance healed Kenshi 0 wounds and did 0 extra wounds.

Vixen and Venom took the lead along the icy path, and were met with an early Elongated Man. Just as he got into a good position, U.S. Agent showed up and along with Venom, ended him easily. Commander Rogers and Kenshi teamed up on offense to perch on some height and take continual shots at incoming Zatanna, who failed to negate Rogers. Kenshi took Zatanna out and moved onto Vixen and U.S. Agent, all the while Venom skirted around taking out Kenshi in the end. Cheetah eventually took down Venom, but U.S. Agent clawed back and brought the game to just him and Nomad, winning out in the late rounds by just a scratch.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? U.S. Agent w/ 4 wounds.

_____________________________________________________________


THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Kenshi is an interesting character. I purposefully tried him in two ragtag builds and was not disappointed. He provides a real offensive threat with the ability to move figures and attack numerous times, even though his range is short. The extra shield on defense did help his survivability though he never rolled quite well enough to heal or deal additional wounds. 190 is feeling pretty good after these games.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: I have no knowledge of this character, but he plays well. A blind, telekinetic movement guru taking pot-shots all over the place is pretty fun..

Thoughts in red.

[Arkham]

Looking good. One more set should do it. Thanks for the tests!

[Ronin]

Dang. I realized this guy had been sitting a while, but not how long.

I have my tests set up, I'll have results up tomorrow night. EDIT: Sorry, gonna be have to be Tuesday night. Called a couple friends to catch up and wound up on the phone all night.

[Ronin]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Kenshi @190 points

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Kenshi @190, Kirigi, Hand Mystics, Hand Ninja x2 (680) vs Black Canary, Green Arrow (Ollie), Oracle, Robin (Dick), Batgirl (Cass) (680)

Spoiler Alert!

Kenshi got Brainwashed in this one to become a bonding partner for the hand - thought was to really leverage the movement on TK Swordplay by bumping folks to low ground with it and then having the Ninja move in.

Turns out that wasn't even necessary against Canary - she had an unusually poor showing where she failed to take out a couple ninja, and they put two wounds on her in response. Kenshi moved in next chance he got, and finished her off by himself, then took a potshot at Robin to no avail.

Next Kenshi ended up mixing it up with Batgirl. She put a couple wounds on him, but he got three on her and bumped her to low ground, then his attack dice got low and he took another ineffective potshot at Robin. Then, all according to plan, the Ninja moved in and finished her off thanks to height, in one attack (and as she goes down close to the Mystics, she's marked for Resurrection). Then they hit the lottery and took out Robin in their next two attacks.

At this point, Green Arrow had to risk counter-strike wounds from Kenshi and go for a non-adjacent attack. Things looked bleak for Team Arrow, but the Hand's lucky streak had come to an end. Ollie busted out a nat 20 for Skill Shot, and took out Kenshi without giving him a chance to redirect anything.

That said, even with that victory, Green Arrow and Oracle alone did not have the efficiency to fight off the ninja horde - Kirigi was mostly fresh and all but one of the squaddies was still standing, and Cass came back as a brainwashed pawn of the Hand. It turned into a sizable victory for the Hand.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): 2 wounds to Black Canary (destroyed) in 2 attacks (1 TK Swordplay attack chain), 0 wounds to Robin in 2 attacks (2 TK Swordplay attack chains), 3 wounds to Batgirl in 2 attacks (1 TK Swordplay attack chain)
• Blind Warrior: not used
• Telekinetic Swordplay: allowed for multi-attacks. Moved Black Canary to low ground, but didn't end up making a difference because he took her out in the same turn. Moved Batgirl to low ground so that attacking Hand Ninja could get height on her (leading to her destruction)
• Sento's Guidance: 0 auto-shields. 0 wounds dealt.
• Damage Taken: 2 wounds from Batgirl in 1 attack, 2 wounds from Green Arrow in 1 attack (destroyed)

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Kirigi with 3 wounds, Brainwashed Batgirl unwounded, 4 Hand Ninja, 3 Hand Mystics

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Star-Lord, Kenshi, Groot (Baby), Rocket Raccoon (II) (740) vs Ninja Turtles, Skrull Infiltrator x4 (740)

Spoiler Alert!

Kenshi got put down by Leonardo weirdly quickly here on flukey rolls. Also, I realized I accidentally put him into a match where one of his powers (the counter-strike bit of Sento's Guidance) had no chance to come up. Didn't finish this one out after Kenshi (the first casualty) went down, drew up a different opposing army (with at least some room for that ranged counter-strike to come into play) and restarted instead.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): 1 wound to Raphael in 5 attacks (1 attack chain)
• Blind Warrior:
• Telekinetic Swordplay: allowed for multi-attacks. Moved Raphael off height
• Sento's Guidance: added 0 auto-shields
• Damage Taken: 4 wounds from Leonardo in 2 attacks (destroyed)

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): ~

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Star-Lord, Kenshi, Groot (Baby), Rocket Raccoon (II) (740) vs Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Firestar, Songbird (740)

Spoiler Alert!

Rocket, Quill and Groot move up first for Team Guardians. Rocket takes an early focus, facing a few attacks from the Crime Fighters. Then Kenshi moves in and gets a double turn on an initiative switch, with a couple attacks from Rocket to boot. He rolls pretty well on offense, and gets a couple wounds on Luke in the first turn, but then Luke shuts him down on the second turn with some great defense rolls. (This is despite the fact that Luke started out with height and then was on level ground during the first turn, but then Kenshi had height for the second turn)

Then it was Spider-Man and Luke's turn. Spider-Man yanked him out of Star-Lord boosting range, then attacked him to no avail. Then it was Luke's turn, and Luke flattened Kenshi in one attack. Sento's Guidance did yield an auto-shield, but it was Kenshi's only shield against a 5-skull roll, and he went down. An OM went down with him, and Peter and Luke went to work on the Guardians with some really horrifying efficiency.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): 2 wounds to Luke Cage in 9 attacks (2 TK Swordplay attack chains)
• Blind Warrior: not used.
• Telekinetic Swordplay: allowed multi-attacks. Moved Luke Cage to low ground.
• Sento's Guidance: added 1 auto-shield. Redirected 0 wounds.
• Damage Taken: 0 wounds from Spider-Man in 1 attack, 4 wounds from Luke Cage in 1 attack.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Luke Cage with 2 wounds, Firestar with 2 wounds, Songbird with 2 wounds, Spider-Man unwounded

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Slightly sideways luck for ol' Kenshi in these games. He definitely feels like he has the potential to be pretty nasty, and he showed that in the first game, but it didn't quite come through in the match against the Crime Fighters. Durability is low enough to keep him in check. Plays nicely; I'd draft him again at 190.

[Arkham]

Thanks! Should be good now.

[Ronin]

Pre-yea for editing.

[Scapemage]

Wow, been close to two months since I playtested this guy. Pre-yea for Editing, my results still stand.

[Karat]

Pre-Yea, need to get this one moving again.