The Book of Abigail Brand

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Scapey doing my old job. Keeping things bumping.

He's trying to catch up to that post count. (I gave up trying a loooong time ago)

[IAmBatman]

It’s a fool’s errand to chase a fool.

[Spidey'tilIDie]

Only 70K and some change to go.

[Lazy Orang]

Anything happening here, @Soundwarp SG-1 ?

[dok]

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

I believe she's supposed to have a history with Beast, at least. I'd be tempted to try to discourage mind control, though, unless she iconically worked with any mind controllers... what about changing Agent Backup to:


After revealing an Order Marker on an Agent Hero you control and taking a turn with that Agent, if that Agent you did not attack or inflict any wounds during that turn, you may choose 1 other Agent Hero or an Agent Squad you control and take an immediate turn with that Hero or Squad. If you do, you may not take any additional turns with other figures you control.

Just wanted to give my approval to this approach. Simple, easy fix.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Alrighty, finally got some tests written up here. Sorry for the delay. I only have three tests done, but that seems to be the standard amount now so hopefully that's enough.


NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Brand @170 points


Army Test 1
Map: Island Plane Crash (no e-glyph)
Units: Fire and Fury: Brand (170), Nick Fury (220), Thor (430), Shield Agents x3 (330)- 1150 total vs Grape Apes: Solovar (260), Gorilla City Warriors x4 (500), Gorilla Grodd (225), Super Ape (orang) (170)- 1155 total

Spoiler Alert!

Game Summary:

Brand is basically just here to turn Thor into an Agent for this one. It was a worthwhile investment, as Thor backed by Shield Agents was pretty nasty (though it helped that I intentionally gave them a pretty decent match-up to go against). Brand basically did nothing active for the whole game, though after Thor and Fury went down she did act as an OM hub for the leftover Shield Agents as they did the Monkey Mop-Up.

Overall, I didn't find her ability to give Fury a new toy to strong. She can't let her new recruit aboard the Helicarrier, her own efficiency power is mostly wasted, and she's not terribly impressive as an offensive force, so it's taking the brunt of her 170 point price tag we used this way.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): None
• SWORD Recruitment: Made Thor an Agent for as long as he was alive.
• Agent Backup: Used to take turns with the Shield Agents for the last few turns, with the idea that she could take turns if she needed to. Ultimately, she just moved onto height once and waited around, as it wasn't worth attacking with her and losing the Agents' turn.
• Contact Pyrokinesis: Not Used
• Damage Taken: None

Result: Brand stands unwounded as the last remaining SHIELD Agent makes his way back to base.

Army Test 2
Map: Sewer Labyrinth
Units: Brandy and the Beast (and Banshee): Brand (170), Beast (170), Banshee (160)- 500 total vs Two Arrows and a Lance: Black Canary (190), Green Arrow (Ollie) (150), Green Arrow (other dude) (130), Skrull Infiltrator x3 (30)- 500 total

Spoiler Alert!

Game Summary:

Trying out a tight-knit little army here with Brand providing OM flex and everybody having someway to work around Agent Backup's restrictions a bit. Beast negotiating an OM off Black Canary before Brand or Banshee got to blasting was particularly effective. There's not much else to talk about, this was a quick game that only lasted 3 rounds as the Mutants and archers ripped through each other very quickly after the first round positioning was over. Brand herself fell on the enemy's first turn of round 3, but Beast was able to go the distance and avenge her.

Overall, she definitely made her team feel fun and cohesive. I think she serves pretty well as a mini army leader.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): Did a nice hit of 2 wounds on Canary at one point, then 1 wound on Ollie before she died. Mostly she was used to route turns to the other two more than attack herself though.
• SWORD Recruitment: Made Beast an Agent while she lasted.
• Agent Backup: Triggered five out of the seven turns she was there for, mostly it was used more like a OM shift power (with a free move added in), but the turns she could combo it Negotiation where pretty potent.
• Contact Pyrokinesis: Not used, she didn't really want to engage Canary and never got a good opportunity to try it on either Arrow.
• Damage Taken: Took 2 wounds from Canary's cry early on, Ollie eventually took a turn to finish her off.

Result: A 2 life Beast needs to go looking for a new Belle.

Army Test 3
Map: Sewer Labyrinth
Units: Agency X: Brand (170), Cyclops (I) (190), Banshee (160), Jean Grey (180)- 700 total vs 250 Heroes for Hire: Luke Cage (190), Iron Man Mark IV (250), Spider-Man (C3G Peter) (250), Skrull Infiltrator x1 (10)- 700 total

Spoiler Alert!

Game Summary:

Brand is basically functioning as a suped up Mutant sidekick (that also turns Banshee into a 'sidekick') for Cyclops here. Like the last army, this team was just a nice little bundle of efficiency, with only Jean not being able to Backup Cyclops as a 'weak link'. Unfortunately, the other team was rocking synergy of it's own and was just a lot more durable overall. After a few solid turns of Cyclops activating everyone, Spidey knocked out Scott and the mutant team just wasn't able to come back from that. Brand made a nice back-up leader for awhile though, as leading with her Pyrokinesis worked pretty well against this particular team, but she's not a pillar of durability herself and was taken out by Iron Man in short order in what turned out to be another short game.

Overall, I felt she worked well as a sidekick/sub-commander here.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): Did a wound on both Cage and Spidey with Contact Pyrokinesis, she never managed to land a hit with her normal attack though.
• SWORD Recruitment: Made Cyclops an Agent, eventually switched to Jean after Summers bit the dust.
• Agent Backup: Triggered as part of big Cyclops turns three times, Also triggered the one time she missed her Contact Pyrokinesis roll.
• Contact Pyrokinesis: Actually used this time as it got around annoying defense powers. She hit two out of three rolls.
• Damage Taken: Iron Man ended up nuking her with two attacks.

Result: Spidey rides alone with 3 wounds on his back and a song in his heart.

Overall: Overall, she feels good to me. She has a lot of different ways to slot into an army, and offers some interesting decisions during the game. I do need to tweak the wording on Agent Backup a smidgen though.

[Scapemage]

Three pretty close games! This figure has more utility than initially expected looking at the power set. 170 seems good for now!

[Ronin]

Looking good to me. I'm a pre-yea on moving forward.

Great to see this one moving again!

[Tornado]

Nice work!

[IAmBatman]

Looks good! Here's my pre-yea for public testing as well.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Ok, I tweaked the wording on Agent Backup a wee bit. So I guess I propose she moves to public playtesting at 170.

Though it looks like notifications aren't sent out for that anymore?

[IAmBatman]

Correct. You just need a combo of 5 Hero/Legend yeas and at least 24 hours.