A Journey through C3G: The Hi1 Experience

[hi1hi1hi1hi1]

Keep up with the journey here: Game 3: Cyclops and the X-Men vs. Wrecking Crew

Scoreboard:

Spoiler Alert!

Midgieboy3 - 2
quozl - 2
IAmBatman - 1
Good Pig - 1

- - -

I would imagine most of the people reading this don’t recognize my user name anymore, but there was a time I was a very active participant in the Comic Hero Custom section and a well-known super custom creator. But now, it’s been over 7 years since my first super custom, and more than two since my last creation.

I started this thread as a look back through time to the early days of the community, as well as a way to share my experiences as I embark on a new journey.

Five years ago, I joined a group that was just getting their feet beneath them – Comic Customs Creators Guild. It was a young group with grand plans and the strong personalities necessary to implement them. The first few weeks had no shortage of ideas… or arguments. So many decisions that are now C3G standards were fiercely debated over those first months. I don’t think anyone quite knew what they were starting. I certainly didn’t.

In reading through the “Thread that Started it All,” I came across this post:

June 10, 2009 @ 4:13pm

Originally Posted by hi1hi1hi1hi1

Ah, we need to stop talking about this because it gets me so excited for future sets. You have no idea how many figures I want to create through C3G, so lets speed this up and get to the next set.

Alas, it was never meant to be for me. As often things do, real life got in the way of fantasy. I went off to college and left the super custom creation world behind.

Fast forward 5 years. A lot has changed. Countless great people have come and gone. But one thing that has stayed the same in all these long years is the quality of the work produced by C3G. And while I haven’t posted much, I’ve always kept my eye on the group and marveled at their latest ingeniousness.

However, in my stubbornness at missing my opportunity to be a continued part of this program, I have never played with any C3G creations.

This past weekend, that fact changed. I’d like to share my experiences and have you all participate as I begin this exciting journey through C3G.

[hi1hi1hi1hi1]

The Map: Rocket Launching Platform


I find myself in the interesting situation where my Heroscape partners have tripled in the past few weeks. Now instead of getting in the very rare game with my brother (who lives in Philly), I have two roommates and a neighbor who want to play nightly. Heroscape has become a permanent fixture on my dining room table. This also has changed the majority of my games have to 3 player (3 of the 4 people are generally available). Since C3G has only one real map option for 3 players – Rocket Launching Platform – that’s what we built.

Upon first construction, it becomes immediately apparent figures without high mobility (flying, leaping, climbing, etc.) are at a severe disadvantage on this map. When you pair in range with that mobility, there is a big concern about being caught in the open. This is not to suggest anything negative about the map; in fact, we love it. There are plenty of ladders to help non-flying units up and the lack of battlements really helps to prevent line of sight issues which traditionally favor those on height. The start zones are in close proximity, so the melee fighters often meet at the base of the platform for their battles.

This map certainly emphasizes high mobility and range, but the short distances between players allows slow melee figures a chance. Rocket Launching Platform is a fun, balanced map that is exciting to play, but I would love to see another 3 player option which provides a different experience – if only for variety.

The Teams:


Chris (hi1) (1000pts) – Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing


Austin (1000pts) – M.O.D.O.K., Thor, Sandman


Steve (975pts) – Enchantress, Iron Fist, Elektra, Mystique

For my first C3G experience I wanted a cohesive unit that I knew was designed and tested to be played together. The Fantastic Four was the perfect option. As for the other two, they picked figures that they knew, or with abilities they liked.

The Battle:

Spoiler Alert!

Everyone moves out in the early turns, rushing to grab the height in the center of the map and not get caught in the open. Austin’s team of M.O.D.O.K., Sandman and Thor all take the top platform with ease. Human Torch, Invisible Woman, and Mr. Fantastic move up to greet them, while Enchantress and Mystique make their way up the backside for Steve.

I decided to move The Thing in towards Steve’s slower figures (Iron Fist, Elektra) rather than take the time to walk him up so much height. It paid off! Thing grabs height and smashes Iron Fist, destroying him in one turn.

Meanwhile up top, Sandman is whirling around inflicting wound after wound with Sandstorm, he couldn’t miss! A wounded Mystique takes a shot at Mr. Fantastic, severely wounding him despite the Force Field bonus. Then M.O.D.O.K. does what he was designed to do and kills Mr. Fantastic. With Mr. Fantastic gone, a clear path opens up to Invisible Woman, and Thor swoops in for a quick kill.

An angry Human Torch leaves engagement rolling 4+ for Flame On against both Thor and M.O.D.O.K. – 2 wounds each. He then Supernovas to inflict an additional 1 on Thor, 2 on Mystique (killing her), 1 on Enchantress, and 2 on Sandman. Enchantress takes the opportunity to finish off her Asguardian rival, Thor.

Thing finally joins the battle on the top of the Rocket Launching Platform, but it’s too late for Clobberin’ Time since all his teammates have been destroyed. That doesn’t stop his rampage though! Enchantress is the first to fall – already weakened by the Sandstorm and Designed for Killing auto-wounds. The Thing then sets his sights on Sandman, M.O.D.O.K. and Elektra, destroying them on 3 consecutive turns.



Hi1 and the FANTASTIC FOUR wins!

This was everyone’s first game with C3G, and as such it was slow to learn all the new cards and their abilities. But we all had a blast, flying around, punching our enemies.

[hi1hi1hi1hi1]

At first glance, I really thought Mister Fantastic’s Fantastic Leader 4 would be overpowered. I mean, the power to take a turn with up to 3 additional figures – and with no line of sight requirement! After only one battle, I’m not sure whether to attribute it to bad luck or design, but I rarely took a turn with more than one additional figure. Yes I was taking a turn with 2+ figures, but Mr. Fantastic was always one of them. This led to a tendency to bring him too far forward, before the rest of the team could catch up. Invisible Woman then became the priority to move out for the obvious benefits of Fantastic Force Field 4. That left me in the heat of the battle with two weaker attacks. Even with Human Torch quickly joining the fight with his move of 7, my heavy hitter, The Thing, was left in the dust. Once the battle was underway, it was hard to sacrifice the attacks to move The Thing into the fight. I am going to try replacing The Thing with She-Hulk; Super Leap should fix The Thing’s movement problem without sacrificing a heavy hitter.

With all the new powers and interactions to learn, I definitely missed out on some of the finer strategy points. Rubber Wrap was hardly used at all, though the top level of Rocket Launching Platform does not offer much movement flexibility anyway.

It is odd to constantly want to disengage with Human Torch (a.k.a. run from a fight) in order to use Flame On 4. And with Supernova Special Attack encouraging him to get up close to as many opponents as possible, a viable strategy would seem to be: Fly Human Torch into the enemy start zone. Get some auto-wounds with Flame On. Blow up with Supernova SA for maximum carnage. I don’t know how I feel about Human Torch as a sacrificial dive bomber.

I’m glad Invisible Woman’s card specifies Fantastic Force Field 4 works on herself. Can a figure see itself otherwise? Raelin, watch out – Invisible Woman is the ultimate cheerleader. Invisible Woman will be a valuable addition to any army.

While I’ve already discussed The Thing’s movement limitations, let me say that’s where it ends. Even without Clobberin’ Time, Thing packs one mean punch. Figure out a way to keep The Thing near his friends and you’ve got one ridiculously heavy hitter.

[weebaer]

I would pick Thing over She hulk anyday. Clobberin time has no match in C3G. I played in an online tournament against a team I custom designed to demolish my 2nd army (a fan4team) My opponent used Mr fan with Puppet Master to punch Sue for 3 wounds on turn 1. Then he used Human torch to blowup Sue and put 4 wounds on Mr Fantastic. Luckily there was a glyph of Team Up on the map and Thing went berserk, first with the teamup glyph attacking 2 times for 11 dice (had height) and then was activated by Mr fantastic attacking an addition 2 times with 11 dice. 44 dice in 1 turn and 3 opponent heavy hitters dead.

Keeping thing in the thick of it is the trick. I usually make sure I have my damage up from ans Sue in the back. If I get 2 activations and both Human Torch and Thing are within striking distance, I willl activate torch and Sue, unless Thing can get a full Clobber.

[Midgieboy3]

FANTASTIC FOUR I just think the 4 of them are perfectly made, its one of my favorite groups to play with. My first favorite group of people to use is (Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Iron Man MIV(the Crime Fighter one), and Spider-Man(Peter Parker). If you haven't played with that unit, it's a good time.

[Porkins]

Originally Posted by hi1hi1hi1hi1

...I have never played with any C3G creations.

[hi1hi1hi1hi1]

Originally Posted by Porkins

Better late than never.

A short aside...

The reason I haven't played has nothing to do with C3G itself. It's that I have over 200 customs of my own that I put a lot of time and effort into creating. It's hard to just abandon all that work, especially when you've grown accustomed to how they play throughout the years. I have always regarded C3G as some of the best the community has to offer, but making the leap from designer (something I get a lot of joy out of) to strictly fan was not easy.

So what changed?

When I was in high school and college designing cards I had plenty of free time to make the art for the cards and tweak them as necessary. Now I have a full time career in engineering, which doesn't leave much time at all. I'd rather spend that time playing the game rather then reinventing the wheel for cards C3G already has. Once I decided to stop creating cards and use C3G it didn't make sense to mix in my own (not always tested) cards - not when C3G has so many options.

[Porkins]

Ah, you're an engineer. Cool. Me too.

[japes]

Originally Posted by hi1hi1hi1hi1

Better late than never.

A short aside...

The reason I haven't played has nothing to do with C3G itself. It's that I have over 200 customs of my own that I put a lot of time and effort into creating. It's hard to just abandon all that work, especially when you've grown accustomed to how they play throughout the years. I have always regarded C3G as some of the best the community has to offer, but making the leap from designer (something I get a lot of joy out of) to strictly fan was not easy.

So what changed?

When I was in high school and college designing cards I had plenty of free time to make the art for the cards and tweak them as necessary. Now I have a full time career in engineering, which doesn't leave much time at all. I'd rather spend that time playing the game rather then reinventing the wheel for cards C3G already has. Once I decided to stop creating cards and use C3G it didn't make sense to mix in my own (not always tested) cards - not when C3G has so many options.

Originally Posted by Porkins

Ah, you're an engineer. Cool. Me too.

Same here...

[hi1hi1hi1hi1]

Originally Posted by japes

Same here...

So what kind are you guys?

I'm a civil, with my masters in structural engineering.


EDIT: Hey, that's cool you're structural too japes! And mechanical isn't too far off. (Source: public profile)

[Spidey'tilIDie]

Subscribed. Looking forward to what else you have to share. (Especially on MODOK and Thor.)

[IAmBatman]

Fan Four's one of my favorite armies. I'd say that getting only 1 extra activate per turn is not typical. It happens sometimes, but it's common to get 2 extras regularly and to get one or two 3 extra activation turns per game. The timing of the good rolls can make all the difference for how well they perform.

The best use of Rubber Wrap, IMO, is to lock down threatening foes while Invisible Woman shields Mr. Fantastic, so they essentially protect each other.

Human Torch can definitely be used as a suicide bomber, but then he's pretty weak after that, so I prefer to keep him around for a while and use Supernova as more of a last resort.