Dragonfly2099 customs

[Dragonfly2099]

I’ve been making customs for a long time, and recently decided to join and share a few with the community. I’m not very well versed in photoshop and the like, so these will be text only at the moment. Hopefully they’ll be enjoyed in spit of the lack of ascetic beauty.

I wasn’t sure where to start. I’ve made dozens over the years. Here’s one of my more recent customs. I made this one to lead the Animata faction I’ve developed.

General: Einar

Name: Grax
Species: Human
Rarity: Unique Hero
Class: Archmage
Personality: Militaristic
Size: Medium 5

Life: 5
Move: 5
Range: 8
Attack: 2
Defense: 2

Perpetuate Eternal War
If there is an Ebon Armor figure on this Army Card, before taking a turn with Grax, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 14 or higher, you may place that Ebon Armor figure on any empty space adjacent to Grax. When Grax is destroyed, you may move any unrevealed order markers from his Army Card to any Unique Animata Army Card or Cards you control.

Animata Protection
When rolling defense dice for Grax, if he is adjacent to at least 1 Animata figure you control, add 1 automatic shield to what is rolled.

Spell Caster
When attacking a non-adjacent figure with Grax, roll 2 additional attack dice.

Advanced Levitation
When counting spaces for Grax’s movement, ignore elevation changes of 2 or less. Grax does not take falling damage and may ignore all effects from terrain tiles he moves onto or occupies.

Points: 115

The figure I used is the Sith Lord from the Star Wars Jedi Academy miniatures set.

He was made primarily to fix the one issue I found when I played the Ebon Armor. It seemed that no matter how I played them, all their re-spawning ever did was rob my opponent of an attack or two. I was never able to utilize them to their full potential. If you put a marker on their card, your opponent leaves your humans alone and you lose a turn. If you don’t put orders on them, they pop up and can’t be used for another round. It was order marker chaos.

I envision Grax using all his wizardry to create all sorts of Animata for both protection and conquest. His name obviously comes from the other C3V Animata card. Ironically, he doesn’t help them quite as much as the Ebon Armor, but they make excellent guards for him.

I really liked the C3V Animata cards and wanted to expand that faction. Grax here was made simultaneously with a variety of other cards that I will post at a later date.

[Tornado]

Welcome. Cool design. 8 Range with 4 Attack and an easy time of gaining high ground feels a little strong on top of everything else he offers but my Classic meta is not super strong.

[Dragonfly2099]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Welcome. Cool design. 8 Range with 4 Attack and an easy time of gaining high ground feels a little strong on top of everything else he offers but my Classic meta is not super strong.

I thought that too, and was hesitant on the range at first. However, after playing him many many times, it hasn’t proven to be game breaking or changing.

His class and personality limit his synergies greatly, and it’s surprising how quickly he falls without any Animata to give him an auto shield.

As a stand alone hero, he will crumble to others in his weight class. Drake and Kaemon Awa, for example, would crush him.

Now, if you pair him with the two official C3V cards, he becomes a powerhouse. But, then you’ve also spent 225 points to make him so. Even the Animata and wizards I designed to be his soldiers and followers don’t break him. Because not matter what, you have to spend points on something to keep him from being a glass cannon.

Oddly enough, as I write this, I realize what a great counter Drake is to Grax. I don’t play Jandar all that much, sometimes I forget oldies can still be goodies.

[AMIS]

Drake is 170 so he's not really an on par counter...although a good counter he may be...Unless you're talking about the ROTV version - which you could be.
With a move of 5 and range 8, that gives essentially a range of 13. If you leave the points for 115 I would suggest dropping the range to 6 and the 2 additional attack dice to 1 die. Or up the point cost for play testing (IMHO it'll probably be around the 140 mark).
For my customs I tend to stay away from more than three abilities but the ones you have here are really pretty good and certainly do not seem over the top. Of course, I'm not up to par on the knowledge of the Animata Army Cards so take anything I've mentioned up to this point with a pinch of salt.

This, I really like:
"Advanced Levitation
When counting spaces for Grax’s movement, ignore elevation changes of 2 or less. Grax does not take falling damage and may ignore all effects from terrain tiles he moves onto or occupies."

It's a great designed ability for a Militaristic Archmage, but again it really expands his range.

[Dragonfly2099]

Originally Posted by AMIS

Drake is 170 so he's not really an on par counter...although a good counter he may be...Unless you're talking about the ROTV version - which you could be.
With a move of 5 and range 8, that gives essentially a range of 13. If you leave the points for 115 I would suggest dropping the range to 6 and the 2 additional attack dice to 1 die. Or up the point cost for play testing (IMHO it'll probably be around the 140 mark).
For my customs I tend to stay away from more than three abilities but the ones you have here are really pretty good and certainly do not seem over the top. Of course, I'm not up to par on the knowledge of the Animata Army Cards so take anything I've mentioned up to this point with a pinch of salt.

This, I really like:
"Advanced Levitation
When counting spaces for Grax’s movement, ignore elevation changes of 2 or less. Grax does not take falling damage and may ignore all effects from terrain tiles he moves onto or occupies."

It's a great designed ability for a Militaristic Archmage, but again it really expands his range.

I was indeed talking about Drake the first. The 170 version is not worth the points in my opinion. Others my disagree, and that’s fine. It’s what makes this game so great. Variety.

I’ve played him quite a bit and found that the 115 isn’t breaking in my games. I figure price points by comparing things to tried an true existing units.

Syvarris, for example. He’s 100 can shoot twice from 9 spaces. Similar stats. Kaemon has better stats, and can double attack as well for 120.

Grax does have 4 powers, but 2 of them require at least 1 other army card to work. As a stand alone hero, he’s very mobile and hits hard from range. However, he gets 3 shots at best from range per round. In a hero only match up I can see your point, and he might be undercosted. (I may have to test that a bit more.) However, factor in squads and he’s toast. For the same points you can get a lot of commons that could catch him. Rats. Orcs. Greeks. Romans. Elves.

I’ve found that once he’s based. He crumbles fast. He’s a lot like Parmineo, he shines on the team he’s supposed to be on. Take him away from that though, and you’ve spent points on a bunch of nothing.

I’m glad you liked the Advanced Levitation! I absolutely loved Levitation when it made its debut. I felt like Grax would have mastered it at a greater level than his creations. He can’t fly, but he’s working on it.

[Dragonfly2099]

Here’s another of my Animata customs. It’s a common hero primarily designed to impede movement.

General: Einar

Name: Protector of Grax
Species: Animata
Rarity: Common Hero
Class: Protector
Personality: Loyal
Size: Large 7

Life: 1
Move: 6
Range: 1
Attack: 3
Defense: 6

Halberd Strike
If a Protector of Grax rolls a skull against a figure leaving an engagement with it, that figure may not leave the engagement with that Protector of Grax this turn.

A Coward’s Reward
A Protector of Grax rolls one additional die against each figure leaving an engagement with it.

Levitation
A Protector of Grax does not take falling damage and may ignore all effects from terrain tiles it moves onto or occupies.

Points: 30

The figure I used for this one is the Imperial Sentinel from the Star Wars Jedi Academy miniatures set.

This is just a basic tie-up piece. It’s size and defense make it hard to hit, but it doesn’t hit back all that well either.

Ascetically, these minis blend beautifully with the Sentinels of Grax. The most difficult part of this custom was rebasing the mini. I still have all my fingers, but man was it tough to cut the original base of the mini. I’m pretty sure it was molded as one piece.

Thanks for looking. I’m liking the feedback. It’s making me rethink a few details I thought I had figured out already.

[Dragonfly2099]

I apologize for text only here, but photoshop and I just don’t get along very well. Here is another of my Animata customs. This one is basically a filler unit. It works well with or without other Animata in the army.

General: Einar

Name: Guardians of Grax
Species: Animata
Rarity: Unique Squad (2 figures)
Class: Guards
Personality: Resolute
Size: Medium 5

Life: 1
Move: 4
Range: 1
Attack: 2
Defense: 5

Reach
If an opponent’s figure is within 2 spaces of a Guardian of Grax, and its base is no more than 3 levels above that Guardian’s height or 3 levels below that Guardian’s base, that Guardian may add 1 to its Range when attacking that figure.

Arcane Energy Pike
When attacking a non-adjacent figure, all skulls rolled count for one additional hit.

Steadfast
Guardians of Grax cannot be moved by any special power on any opponent's Army Card.

Levitation
Guardians of Grax do not take falling damage and may ignore all effects from terrain tiles they move onto or occupy.

Points: 40

The figures used are two Emperor's Shadow Guards from the Star Wars The Force Unleashed set.

Normally, I try to create new powers for customs. Something that’s not been tried before. However, sometimes the sculpt just designs itself. Such was the case with the Guardians. Three of their four powers are recycled, and the fourth is more of a tweak of an existing power. But as was pointed out on a different thread, recycled powers are not necessarily a bad thing.

Thanks for looking.

[Dragonfly2099]

I’ve been working on a new faction for ‘Scape lately. I bought several mouslings to make some custom characters for Mice and Mystics, but ended up using them here instead.

The figure is a Reaper mini, mousling thief. I painted his cloak a crimson red, and took my inspiration for him from the main character in the Star Wars Crimson Empire comics, Kir Kanos.

Name: Kenix Kil
General: Einar
Species: Mousling
Rarity: Unique Hero
Class: Guard
Personality: Loyal
Size: Small 2

Life: 5
Move: 5
Range: 1
Attack: 4
Defense: 4
Points: 90

Bodyguard
When an adjacent opposing figure makes a normal attack, it must attack Kenix Kil. When a friendly figure begins its move adjacent to Kenix Kil, for this turn, that figure is never attacked when leaving an engagement.

A Coward’s Reward
Kenix Kil rolls one additional die against each figure leaving an engagement with him.

Grit
When Kenix Kil attacks, he may attack one additional time for every two wound markers on this Army Card.

Climb X3
When moving up or down levels of terrain, Kenix Kil may triple his height.

Design notes:
I’m on the fence about the Life and Attack values. I want him to fall into the 80-100 point category, and am not sure he’s there yet. GRIT gives him the potential for 3 attacks of 4 or 5 as it stands. True, he’s almost dead at that point, and I feel he will get destroyed quickly due to Bodyguard, but the potential may out-way the cost.

[Good Pig]

Looking at the design I would say Grit and Bodyguard are both good and useful abilities. Thinking as a player I would only ever try and use him in one role though. As it's written Grit looks more enticing to me because he'd function like a cheaper version of Krug. I would use him as a cleanup figure at the end of the game.

[Dragonfly2099]

I never thought of the clean-up aspect. He would be very good in that role.

A watered down Krug is an interesting comparison. I didn’t think of that one either. Mostly because Krug sees very little play time in my games. However, the life and attack issues may not be as relevant as I think they are, given that Krug is only 30 points more with similar synergies and a size that gives him several immunities.

Thanks for the input.

[caps]

I see why you have Coward's Reward on there... However, I suggest dropping it to get a simpler card. I can see you have a propensity for 4-power cards: I think it's worth re-examining how often you really need all four powers.

[Dragonfly2099]

Originally Posted by caps

I see why you have Coward's Reward on there... However, I suggest dropping it to get a simpler card. I can see you have a propensity for 4-power cards: I think it's worth re-examining how often you really need all four powers.

Funny you mentioned this. I’ve noticed that on a lot of my cards too. I’m redoing a few of them for that reason. And yes, I put the Cowards reward on there for theme, but you are correct it’s superfluous.

Thanks for the input. Truthfully, streamlining is tough.