The Pre-SoV Workshop

[Kinseth]

I think 3 base attack would be fine, not sure about the cost without hearing how the figure performs.

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by Maklar the Silver Prince

How do people feel about this? Does it take away too much from the mechanics of Swaysil? Is simplifying the card somewhat worth it?

I've tested this with Swaysil having only 2 attack, and she performed poorly. Would giving her a base attack of 3 be too much?

Completely depends on how you want her to play. If you want her to be a run-and-gun, drop Powerful Shot and give her 3 base attack. I think it makes her too similar to other run-and-gunners, though, and she'll probably be outshined by Guilty. I like the 2 base attack + Powerful Shot + Run Down, as it leaves run-and-gunning open but encourages bold rushes when the time is right.

[Maklar the Silver Prince]

Swaysil of the Northlands a bold Feylund Archer Centaur

Spoiler Alert!

Swaysil of the Northlands

Centaur
Unique Hero
Archer
Bold
Large 6 (Double-based for sure now)

Life - 4
Move - 8
Range - 6
Attack - 3
Defense - 2
Points - 50

RUN DOWN
After moving Swaysil of the Northlands, you may choose a small or medium figure adjacent to her that was not adjacent at the start of this turn. Roll the 20 sided die. If you roll 9 or higher, the chosen figure receives one wound.

POWERFUL SHOT
When attacking a non adjacent figure within 3 clear sight spaces, Swaysil of the Northlands rolls 1 additional dice.

I'm really liking this version of Swaysil, and I think she's just about ready for submission to the SOV.

At 50 points she adds a lot to an army as filler, but don't fool yourself, she is extremely squishy. She has a nice offensive punch and is very quick, but you need to use a lot of strategy when using her or playing against her. She leads to extremely bold gameplay in the late game (a big plus I think). She can run and gun, but if the enemy is quick, or the odds aren't looking great, you want to crash her into melee, stomp some people, and fire off some powerful shots. If she gets engaged, you're gonna want to make a run for it, but just back up a few spaces so she can loose some lightning bolts. It all takes a bunch of guts to let the enemy take free shots at your last figure on the field, but it can be worth it.

Is she priced a bit low? Possibly. However, I don't think she's quite at the same level of Guilty McCreech.

What does everyone think about changing the name of Powerful Shot to Powerful Shot 1? The ability doesn't seem like something just one archer would utilize, and a more powerful archer might have a better close range attack.

[Ixe]

I'm curious how she plays. Run Down is somewhat reliable at 9 or higher so I wonder if an auto-wounding ability like that would make her a nice counter to a tough unique squad like the Tagawa Samurai. She'll be vulnerable in the process but sometimes that it is worth trading slightly more points to cripple a unique squad like that.

I think Point Blank Shot is more resonant that Powerful Shot. Point Blank Shot 1 seems a fine name for an ability that would be easy to reuse.

50 may be a bit low if you compare her to someone like Me-Burq-Sa but without synergy she may work out.

[Maklar the Silver Prince]

Originally Posted by Ixe

I'm curious how she plays. Run Down is somewhat reliable at 9 or higher so I wonder if an auto-wounding ability like that would make her a nice counter to a tough unique squad like the Tagawa Samurai. She'll be vulnerable in the process but sometimes that it is worth trading slightly more points to cripple a unique squad like that.

I think Point Blank Shot is more resonant that Powerful Shot. Point Blank Shot 1 seems a fine name for an ability that would be easy to reuse.

50 may be a bit low if you compare her to someone like Me-Burq-Sa but without synergy she may work out.

Run Down is fairly reliable, however, it can backfire very very easily. She is good at taking down a high pointage, high-defense figure or two, or even some ranged figures due to her speed and Run Down. She's usually good for taking down one of the Krav, however, return fire, especially if she fails her Run Down roll, does lots of damage to her.

50 is a bit low, I feel I priced her a bit low and I like that. She's a bit of a gamble really. If your Run Down rolls are falling, she's not much good (unless you're using her as run and gun cleanup {and a lot of the time she's crash and smash cleanup}).

I believe Scytale suggested "Point Blank Shot" as well. It sounds good to me.

[Ixe]

I wanted to discuss this with my fellow judges but it can apply to multiple people so I figured I'd do that here. What do we think for using figures from the Magic: Arena of the Planeswalkers as common figures?

The game itself is pretty cheap and can be easily found for around $20. Getting individual figures from it is a little harder to find but I have found color sets selling for around $8. As a point of reference, the D&D Master set included only a single squad of the Drow.

The Magic miniatures face an additional problem in that they are unpainted. The particular design that I am workshopping themes the squad as animated black blood to get around that.

Here is the full design in question, although my main point is whether these figures would be an acceptable route for SoV in the first place.

Spoiler Alert!

Restless Zombies from Arena of the Planeswalkers:


NAME = Ichor Minions
GENERAL = Utgar
PLANET = Toril
SPECIES = Undead
CLASS = Minions
PERSONALITY = Loyal
SIZE = Medium 4
COMMON SQUAD

LIFE = 1 (3 Figures)
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 2
POINTS = 50

MERCILESS BONDING
Before taking a turn with Ichor Minions, you may first take a turn with a Merciless Hero you control.

PROTECTIVE ICHOR
When an Ichor Minion you control is destroyed by a normal or special attack from a friendly Unique Hero, you may place the destroyed Ichor Minion on that figure's Army Card. When a figure with one or more Ichor Minions on their army card rolls defense dice, they may remove all Ichor Minions from their army card and add 1 automatic shield for each minion removed this way.


Merciless bonding would extend to Andask and another rework of Viceron (bumping his life back to 4 and possibly a drop in defense).

[Scytale]

I doubt VC would go along with $20 per squad, especially unpainted (even if there's a good reason for the colorlessness). If box had more useable stuff, then it's possible.

[johnny139]

About 40% of the Arena miniatures are translucent - two squads of shimmering blue illusions, two squads of cats/phoenixes made of fire. They're not really any different than the Elementals, so I think they're fully justifiable.

[Ixe]

Originally Posted by Scytale

I doubt VC would go along with $20 per squad, especially unpainted (even if there's a good reason for the colorlessness). If box had more useable stuff, then it's possible.

I would contend the box does have more usable stuff as johnny139 pointed out. The other black squad could carry a similar theme, the green plants are at least feasible, and the blue and red squads could be easily done. However, where would the onus on using these squads be placed? I have a single design requiring multiple squads but we'd probably want several more options there for it to make sense (5-7 squads+unique heroes doesn't sound too bad for around $20).

[wriggz]

I can say having a copy of AotP, I don't think that the Black Zombies are feasible. They clearly look unpainted. The Red and Blue units (not to mention the planes walkers themselves) look great, but not the Black, white or green.

I would vote no on the unpaintedness alone.

[caps]

I'm not sure about the black units. I agree with wriggz about the green ones. I think (some of) the White Units could pass as animated granite constructs or something.

[dok]

There's also, of course, the planeswalkers themselves, which are painted and make for 5 perfectly serviceable fantasy-themed heroes.