2022 C3V Playtest Tournament (Congrats KnightofLight)

[Blue Trails]

550 points
Map: Freezer Burn
Glyphs: Zawit, Ulaniva, TG x2

Captain Stupendous' Army: Cathar Spearmen x3, Z'Thoth, Mouth of the Abyss, Betacron, Nakita Agents, Bol
Blue Trails' Army: Janos, C'Rik, San Tiim, Clayton Pierce, James Murphy, Kate Crawford, Louis "Mad Dog" Malone

Which units survived?
Z'Thoth (5 wounds)
2 Cathar Spearmen
Bol

General Battle Report/Flow of game (be as detailed or general as you like)

Spoiler Alert!

My opening consisted of a steady push toward the center of the map with the majority of my army while sneaking Kate around the nearby 3- & 1-hex glacier cluster in case I wanted to grab Ulaniva; I mostly activate Explorers while relying on Clayton's regular movement from Sheriff's Posse to develop the rest of my pieces. In turn, Captain Stupendous slowly developed a Cathar presence at the base of the heights, using the nearby glacier as cover. He loses some Cathars to Expeditions, Shootouts, and stray shots but smartly restricts my plan of firing Murphy's Shotgun into the cluster of Nakitas and Z'Thoth in his start zone, then quickly destroys Mad Dog and Murphy while wounding my Explorers and Clayton.

Cap pivots to Z'Thoth as the Explorers begin to clear out the mess of Spearmen and fragile Heroes into which their perch has degenerated. San Tiim's Healing Trance allows me to take more risks, disengaging with Janos to deny height-boosted attack opportunities to the remaining Cathars and rushing C'Rik into a Braced Spear with impunity. Clayton and Kate also enjoy the effects of San's Trance while firing on a Cathar and a Nakita; I've kept Kate on lava field height so far because I've been confident in San's ability to erase any wounds incurred. Once Z'Thoth reaches the hill, it massacres my remaining figures, destroying C'Rik and wounding my other figures while bouncing them between a pair of Spearmen.

At this point I decide that my best option is a Janos / Clayton endgame. Using Kate and San as fodder to keep Z'Thoth from attacking Clayton, I run Janos to Captain Stupendous' start zone and begin firing on Nakitas, dodging 2 LEA's and Betacron's Sentry Fire in the process. Z'Thoth squashes Tiim and cleans up the remaining Lawmen while Janos destroys all three Agents, two of which unsuccessfully attack him. I give Clayton an Order Marker during this period, hoping to use Zawit to evade Z'Thoth and form a defensible postition with Janos, but the sheriff is destroyed before I can attempt this plan. Janos and Betacron then trade shots, with the Explore emerging victorious and unharmed.

The final stage of the game consists of Z'Thoth teleporting next to Janos and engaging in prolonged combat. I risk a LEA to grab a Treasure Glyph that turns out to be the Giant Hunter Stone, which swings the odds in my favor when combined with a lucky 4-wound shot from Janos's Tracking Fire. Ultimately, though, the Outsider prevails, leaving Captain Stupendous with a well-earned victory.

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?
Janos:

Spoiler Alert!

TRACKING FIRE SPECIAL ATTACK: used fourteen times; destroyed 1 Cathars and all Nikitas, and dealt 4 wounds to Z'Thoth.

EXPEDITION: used five times; see C'Rik's and San Tiim's sections for more details.

C'Rik:

Spoiler Alert!

HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTOR: attempted four times; protected C'Rik and San Tiim each from a Cathar attack.

QUAARN ASSAULT: see normal attack section below.

PHANTOM WALK: avoided various LEA's.

Normal Attack: used five times via Quaarn Assault; destroyed three Cathars.

San Tiim:

Spoiler Alert!

TELEPATHIC COORDINATION: moved Janos once.

HEALING TRANCE: used once; removed 2 wounds from C'Rik, 2 wounds from Clayton, 1 wound from Kate, and 1 wound from Janos.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?
Janos:

Spoiler Alert!

The head Explorer never disappoints in my tests.

C'Rik:

San Tiim:

Spoiler Alert!

Tiim made a good first impression on me. Telepathic Communications was useful in the early game because I could move Janos while saving Expedition for a later turn, during which Janos could attack. Moreover, Healing Trance removed a substantial amount of wounds from my army and allowed me to temporarily ignore the ramifications of the Cathars' Braced Spear on C'Rik's survival. After expending Trance, San Tiim saw use as an impromptu blocker/sacrifice to prevent Z'Thoth from destroying Clayton, whom I believed I could use more effectively.

As an aside, I should mention that the unit is called "Sam Tiim" in Telepathic Communications' description.

Betacron:

Spoiler Alert!

Betacron has potential in this army despite its lack of results this game. A 5-space Engagement Strike aura is terrific for covering chokepoints, protecting cheerleaders, and guarding Glyphs, and units like Z'Thoth can extract further offensive utility from Sentry Fire. It seems significantly better against Heroes than squads, though.

Strictly as a non sequitur, can I convince anyone to rename the unit "Alphacron"? The sculpt has alpha-shaped markings on its hands.

[Cleon]

Played a pretty wild game with MegaSilver last night. He went with his Skeletons and Nidhogg, I went with my Knights and Patroller. It was a lot more difficult than I anticipated to approach his build with Gilbert-less knights and also being cautious of putting knights next to the viking heroes in fear of Nidhogg’s breath. I don’t think the map helped, either. But he put Nidhogg in a great spot on the level 2 rock where I couldn’t get knights easily on him without having to attack up.

I moved most of my knights out of the start zone and tried to have as little of them adjacent as possible along with my viking champs. I moved Thorgrim near the glyph in case I wanted to move Patroller out with extra defense early. MS moved pretty much all his skeletons out (and then Nidhogg in that good spot too). When the knights and skeletons clashed, the skeletons definitely came out on top as I was too afraid to use the viking adjacency boosts and very slowly moved knights in, having a hard time of finding more that two attacks with them. Nidhogg also killed and breathed I think 3-4 knights. The Skeletons hit their Necromancy rolls consistently (I think they were above 50% while Nidhogg was still on the board). I put Finn in the middle of the map and Thorgrim pretty close to where Nidhogg was but I was never able to really go in on him or keep the UA+1. I took a turn to move Patroller out of the start zone towards the other side of the map (left/zawit), hoping he could be closer to the action when I need him and maybe get an energy marker too.

The first half of the game was definitely won by MS. He killed two squads of knights and thorgim (maybe even a 9th knight), and locked down finn in the middle of the board, while I only killed one squad of skeletons and got 1 or 2 wounds on Nidhogg. Nidhogg had moved to the heighted lava in the middle of the map and I think took out a knight and/or thorgrim. I then did a triple disengage with Finn and got Finn and two or three knights on nidhogg (two boosted). Finn took two wounds and I believe I only got 1 or 2 wounds on Nidhogg after two turns of attacking him with Finn and knights. MS went Skeletons and soon cleared out the Knights and put a wound on Finn. He also sent a couple to Patroller and Patroller (with Thorgrim) ended up blocking both attacks, which ended up being MS’s downfall. After freeing up Patroller with some Knights I took a turn with him and grabbed a teasure glyph and hit Heroic Rune, which was killer for Patroller. Nidhogg moved closer to Patroller but couldn’t engage him. Finn ended up dying to lava and the next round I dropped any ideas with the knights (I had 4 or 5 left and a couple where in pretty useful spots to stop skeletons engaging Patroller) and went all Patroller.

I won a big initiative and attacked up onto Nidhogg with attacks of 6 (Finn, Heroic Rune, and -1 for having a wound from Nidhogg’s breath), have two energy markers to use. I took him down in two attacks, knocking an OM from his card, and that pretty much sealed the game. Patroller took out a few skeletons and the remaining knights took a turn too and killed a skeleton. After I won next initiative and killed some more Skeletons, MS conceded with one skeleton left, and I had Patroller with 3 life and two Knights left.

Patroller basically did everything for me this game. The army’s supposed to have both Viking heroes beef him up, but having Heroic Rune too was so powerful (and UA +1 was on the board, but I don’t think I had that glyph during his turns). Had I not gotten two energy markers earlier in the match I doubt I would have won it. He is a really promising endgame figure against squads, especially if you can get him to 4 def. 6 move helps him get to height. 5 range doesn’t prevent melee from getting to him but he wants to block attacks anyway. He seems right to me at his points but I’ve only played with him once. Looking forward to more games with him, he’s a really neat figure.

Nidhogg was very scary and cool. He seemed like a better option for the Skeletons than the other figures that work with them. You can plop him somewhere and threaten his breath while spawning skeletons from the 8 adjacent spaces. And he has a lot of survivability. It’s hard to say since this matchup is what Nidhogg loves to see, but the Necrotic Breath is hard to avoid while dealing with his regular attack too. 230 is pricey but I’d like to play some more games with him and see how he is into range or melee that can spread out more.

Fun game Tommy. Good luck in your next round.

[ryguy266]

Brean and I plan to play at 7pm CST tonight. He'll have my Beta Grindset army and I'll have his Greenscales.

[dok]

BB and I had a long (1:45ish) game. I had his engagement strike build, he had my cutters/Niddhog.

I won't resummarize since BB is summarizing, so some thoughts on the playtest units:

- Niddhog was hard to measure here because the defense glyph made him super good. Still, he had a tremendous effect on my deployment, and did a ton of damage. Definitely felt like the big threat piece he should be.

- Betacron was hugely impactful. Moreso for BB, probably, because he controlled the center of the map and Beta was able to make my advance very awkward.

All of Beta's powers were very fun. However it's worth noting that the Beta/Beta dynamic in the game was a huge factor in it becoming a posturing game with very little action for several rounds. IMO we should look at cutting the Sentry Mode range down by 1 to 4, so that it's less likely to lead to this sort of stand-off.

[MegaSilver]

I must mention, with the current point totals, Nidhogg is getting 3x Skeletons next to it. Most of the time, it's going to have 2x Skeletons.

[Chris Perkins]

Point Total 550
Map: Freezer Burn
Glyphs: Zawit & Ulanivia

Player 1 - Army: Chris Perkins - RTS, Drudge x5, Van Nessing, Seleena, Kolbjorn
Player 2 - Army: Superfrog - Patroller, Eltahale, Deathstalkers x3

Which units survived?
Kolbjorn (full health), Seleena (full health), RTS (1 life), 9 Drudge

General Battle Report/Flow of game (be as detailed or general as you like)
I opened developing RTS just onto the 2 hex rock outside my SZ, then rolled up Drudge around him while frog opened with a Stalker / Eltahale mix.
Frog went all in on Eltahale round 2, and I had OMs on drudge. I used Kolbjorn to switch OM 2 -> Nessing, who took 2 attacks into Eltahale but did no wounds. Eltahale sent a lot of dice into RTS & Drudge that round, doing 2 wounds to RTS and killing a few Drudge.
Frog went all in on Eltahale again in round 3, and I was all on drudge. I switched an early OM to Nessing, who did a few wounds on Eltahale, and Eltahale put 2 more wounds on RTS to bring him to 1 life. The drudge then finished Eltahale off, burning 2 of Frog's OMs. I also had a lucky turn where I killed all 3 forward Stalkers that round.
Frog switched to Patroller round 4. I missed the first attack on Patroller, giving him a marker, and he killed that Drudge. I then moved 3 Drudge up to height and took 2 attacks on Patroller, dealing 3 total wounds; I didn't take the last attack. Frog pointed out later that I should have used Kolbjorn to switch OM2 to Nessing, since he could have gotten 2 SAs, which don't trigger the markers. Definitely would have been better. Anyways, Patroller only had 2 attack dice and missed his shot on a Drudge. I switched OM3 to Nessing, who missed the SA but killed Patroller with a normal attack (I moved adjacent to tie him onto lava for the round).
The ending was mostly cleanup, although it feature 2 big turns. I wiped 3 stalkers in one turn with drudge, and a stalker hit a maul on Nessing (who had 2 lava wounds already) to wipe him. But drudge held easily.

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?
Kolbjorn definitely made playing Nessing easy, as my OMs each round were 1,2,3 on Drudge, X on Nessing, so I could switch a double turn onto Nessing whenever I wanted. Kolbjorn never actually moved himself.
Patroller was scary to play against with low attacks. The risk of giving him multiple attacks of 5 made my decisions of when to attack with Drudge quite hard. I ended up doing 3 wounds before he had a chance for a multi-attack this game though. Frog & I talked some after the game that leading with Patroller might have been a better play, where he could claim the center high ground and just rain dice down on my pod.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?
Patroller forced hard decisions on both sides, while Kolbjorn made decisions trivial (even though I missed a clear OM switch in hindsight after Frog told me). Patroller feels kinda boom or bust, like if you miss the first 3 attacks he's just gonna smoke your army with 4 attacks of 5 from 6 range; that'll kill anything.

[S1R_ART0R1US]

Point Total: 550
Map: Freezer Burn
Glyphs: (Zawit, Unique, Treasure x2).

Player 1 - Army: Dysole's
* If At First You Don't Succeed, Tribe, Tribe Again: Teeth of the Makwa x3, Mohican River Tribe x3, Kolbjorn, Brave Arrow
Player 2 - Army: S1R_A's * Eco-warriors of the 21st century: Greenscale Warriors x3, Zogross, Protector E-25, Raelin (RotV), Zetacron

Which units survived?
I conceded with one squad GSW, full Raelin versus full Brave Arrow and three squads of Makwa left.


General Battle Report/Flow of game (be as detailed or general as you like)
Dysole had a great strategy of opening with the longer range MRT. I opened double GSW then Zetacron to try for a snipe on Kolbjorn after grabbing Ulaniva - those plans were thwarted when the GSW on Ulaniva fell and then Zetacron whiffed while in Raelin's aura against a MRT on the 4 height lava.

With Zogross overextended and engaged with several figures after going for a treasure glyph and whiffing two attacks in a row, the MRT piled on and took out any reinforcing GSW for my development while Raelin was still in my SZ. I was able to slowly winnow the MRT with Zogross, and with one left Kolbjorn shifted OMs to the Makwa who developed where Zogross was right by the lower treasure glyph.

I transitioned to E25, removing them towards Zawit and Kolby, who had been slow developing on that side of the board without an OM all game. I went for the TG and received a trap wound, but luckily blocked Kolb's OM1 attack after getting one lower ground wound beforehand. I went for the TG again, succeeded getting the heroic rune, then unloaded two attacks of 5 from down below taking Kolb out. The Makwa had continued to pound on Zogross, and he eventually fell around then. I moved Raelin up to the center 4 height on OM3. On the critical turn Dysole moved up a few Makwa, and with a 2/3A and a 4/4A dealt the last three wounds to E25 on Zawit (who had one energy). If E25 had blocked or at least survived they would've started the next round on height, backed by a full Raelin and made this a much closer game.

I did not read the map/matchup well and thought a pod by Ulaniva after grabbing TGs would be the best play, when taking the center 4 height and letting Dysole come to me would've been better. My tension was whether I wanted just one beefy ranged attack a turn against MRT or Makwa who both have a d20 to ignore damage, or if I wanted to continue using my extended melee component for more opportunities to take them out. My original plan may have also worked out better if the dice weren't quite as bad for me - I think after two rounds Dysole was around 65% on attack while I was ~30% (and both of us were ~20% on defense IIRC).


How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?

Kolbjorn moved with Fearsome stalker every round and was able to develop quite well using it. Giant slayer wasn't used, and CttH was used once to get a full Makwa turn instead of activating a lone MRT.

Patroller E25 played his role well, and I think I could've utilized him a bit better by staying closer to Raelin and going for Makwa instead of Kolby. Even just getting one energy marker was useful for a big double attack on a hero (two OMs and three attacks to kill effectively 5L3D). I liked the speed/range combo. Faster to develop than Zetacron/Q9/etc, but the shorter range makes him more vulnerable.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?

[BodaciousBlood]

Nidhogg went to work in the early game. He removed just about his point totals worth of figures from dok’s army.



I did pick up the defense glyph. Don’t give Nidhogg 5 defense. He was very good. 7 life feels appropriate. I still don’t see him being any better than Niflheim, or Quahon. I think he is more dynamic than Braxas. I really liked being able to use Necrotic Breath and his powerful normal attack. 



That’s very fun! 



Although eliminating 230-ish points… He is a tad overpriced imho. He survived at least 3 turns longer than he would have normally because of the Defense treasure glyph. Matching points with Braxas… Maybe 215. would feel appropriate to me. He’s a standalone hero with no bonding and not the craziest stats/abilities.



Very fun unit. I look forward to playing Nidhogg again.




Betacron is so fun! The mirror Betacron + melee common squads combo near the end was a little wild. But it was very fun. Planting him in the center of the board made dok’s advance very awkward. 



With just enough threat to make your opponent think twice about entering Beta’s zone, it’s well worth the 50 points. 



My Betacron’s highlight of the game was on a risky end of round OM, I stepped out from my wall of goblins and sniped Motley max for 2 skulls (double skulls with Deadly shot) Max took his last 3 wounds and died.



I won initiative and was able to retreat back behind my gobbo screen. 




All of this cool stuff was to no avail haha! My goblin cutters failed to kill anything after Nidhogg died. Had they done so, it could have spun back in my favor. 



Dok wins with 4 cathar, Betacron, and a drow chain fighter. Great game to the champ champ.

[ryguy266]

Lost my game against Brean last night. It wasn't too close on paper, but it was a fairly tense game. Doing my playtesting review duties now since the game ran late.

Point Total 550
Map: Freezer Burn
Glyphs: Zawit & Ulanivia

Player 1 - Army: Brean of Philly - Omegacron, Omnicron Snipers x2, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Betacron
Player 2 - Army: ryguy266 - Janos, Maekor, Bambina, Greenscale Warriors x3

Which units survived?
Omegacron - 1 wound
2 Omnicron Repulsors
2 Omnicron Snipers

General Battle Report

Spoiler Alert!

Brean won the dice off and chose my Beta Grindset army. Since my other army contained Cyprien, and her other army contained the Marro Hounds, this was pretty much my only option. The first round was very slow. There was not a single attack made, as I wanted to keep my Greenscales together near my Lizard King, Bambina, and I had an OM on Janos for Expedition. Brean also slow rolled, wanting to keep her snipers behind a protective line of repulsors. I think a critical moment here was moving Betacron up on one of Omegacron's Mobilizations. Initially I had been moving my Greens to the center to try to control the only safe 4-height area on the map. With Betacron there, I didn't want to risk losing Greenscales or taking unnecessary wounds, and with Janos the only one who could fight him from outside Sentry Mode range, I swung them around toward the Unique glyph, where Brean had placed a repulsor that probably was crucial. The snipers took out three Greenscales, and then expedition hit. I took out the sniper on the 4-height snow with Janos (who picked up the Heroic Rune treasure glyph on that side) and missed a Graviton Hammer attack with Bambina. Maekor was still too far away to engage. On her turn 3 (last turn of round 2), Brean used Omegacron to target Bambina, putting three wounds on her thanks to the extra glyph die. A repulsor took lava damage and we reset for round 3.
I won init again, and got to demonstrate the power of Expedition with Janos as my 1st OM. I dropped the treasure glyph, Betacron blocked tracking fire, a repulsor blocked Graviton Hammer, but Maekor picked up the Heroic Rune and killed a sniper and a repulsor with Plasma Blade Arc.
That wasn't as much damage as I was hoping to deal, but Bambina blocked both of Omegacron's attacks with height and Mercenary Defensive formation. Maekor was my two, and he took an LEA wound to move to Betacron (missing yet another Sentry Mode). With the Heroic Rune and a solid roll, he 1-shot Betacron and killed another repulsor with Blade Arc. Omegacron took more shots at Bambina after moving more repulsors into position, but they were low and she blocked. This was good as she had one life left, and my three were the Greenscales. That turn fell apart for me though. Despite getting a Graviton Hammer kill, all three of the very good Greenscale attacks were blocked. On the bright side, Bambina blocked Omegacron's attacks again with solid defense.
I won the initiative for round 4, which felt crucial at the time, although it turned out to be useless. I used Janos' tracking fire on Omegacron, which Brean blocked. If I could pick out one mistake from the game, that was it. Maekor's attack of 1 was also not enough to break through Omegacron's defense. Bambina was too far away and went for the repulsor on the Unique glyph instead. With Maekor down on 1-height next to Omegacron, he was easy pickings for the Omnicron snipers, and went down under their concentrated fire. Maekor was my 2 (banking on Lizardfolk War Cry, and so Janos and Bambina fell as well. I thought about surrendering at this point, but my Greenscales 3 OM actually got two kills. I thought with only 4 Omnicron squaddies and 6 greenscales left, I would see what happened.
Unfortunately, that was the last kill the Greenscales got. It was a very frustrating next 5 turns. I failed to get a single kill on an Omnicron despite only whiffing once. Brean even blocked the 2/2. Omegacron, who now had the Heroic Rune, had no problem cleaning up the Greenscales. I moved Isamu up as a last-ditch attempt, picking up the Giant Hunter Rune and dodging an Omegacron attack. He, out of all my figures, was the only one to put a wound on Omegacron. But he failed a Vanish and that was game.

How useful were playtesting powers and how often did they come into play?
Bambina:

Spoiler Alert!

I liked Bambina. I chose her as my Lizard King because of her obvious survivability over Maekor. Combat Challenge never came into play against an exclusively ranged army, but I can see it being extremely useful positionally to protect important figures or even Greenscales. Graviton Hammer was fun. I don't think I ever used her ranged attack. Why shoot when you can smash? Plus, failing a kill still gives a bonus. I can see this being really powerful on other lava maps. Also a great failsafe against a glyph-holder, although she did kill the repulsor on the glyph when she went for it. It's cool that she bonds with the Greenscales, and if I had to choose a not-dragon, I would prefer her over Zogross just because of Graviton as a handy utility. However--dragons. I think she's best as part of a Janos build, not a Greenscales build.

Maekor:

Spoiler Alert!

I have very mixed feelings about Maekor. He was my only heavy-hitter in my army, especially with the Heroic Rune equipped. Plasma Blade Arc is an amazing ability. At the very least it forces your opponent to position their units awkwardly. At best, it's pure carnage. That being side, the rest of his abilities feel...useless. It's nice that they're there, I suppose, if he's going to cost 115 points. But I didn't use Lizardfolk War Cry once, and Mercenary Defensive Formation came into play twice (a double attack from Omegacron). Both of these are so incredibly hard to set up. I was honestly pretty proud of my play this game. Tactically and positionally it's such a complex setup. In retrospect, I don't think it was worth trying to setup War Cry (and it's not because I'm bitter about that lost order marker, I swear!). If he fails to eliminate the threats around him, great! You get a turn with Bambina, not amazing. If he gets kills, great! He got two at most, and your turn is over. I think putting those two OMs on the Greenscales would have upped my damage output and my board control. Defensive Formation feels the same way. Janos can keep Bambina and Maekor together with Expedition. Once an OM goes on the Greenscales, wave goodbye to the extra defense. I have to move them apart at some point, especially against ranged threats. The abilities are unique, but it has to be such a specific situation for either of those abilities to be useful. I am not a huge fan of Maekor in this current state. The explorer faction seems so much stronger than the mercenary faction at this point. Get rid of his first two abilities and drop his points by 30? I'd never stop playing with him.

Janos:

Spoiler Alert!

Janos is king. This is no surprise to anyone. Expedition is ridiculously good. It is truly beautiful to command the Explercenaries like that. I used Expedition every round until Janos died. It makes no sense not too. I also liked the power of the OM switch, and with a well-timed init switch it would be even more powerful. The potential for 6 turns in a row, or even 6 turns broken up by only one opponent turn, creates such a dangerous threat, but the timing of it is tricky and is what I think separates playstyles and skill levels, which is exactly what you want in an ability. He's a little fragile, but his range allows his sturdier pals to protect him for the most part. Tracking Fire is cool--I wish it would have done damage. Lesson learned, this does not work against a 6-defense figure. I was a little disappointed that it didn't at least damage Betacron, but I rolled very low with TF both times I used it. It was worth the risk though. It is strange; it's hard to see a reason to ever use his normal attack. His range is only 1 more than the tracking fire. Otherwise, even with height his attack won't be higher than the second round of TF. But that's fine, it's another creative power and he needs a little something besides Expedition to justify his points.

Any additional comments?
It's no doubt that Janos was the MVP of my army. Ultimately, my downfall was a lack of a hefty attack. I had plenty of firepower, taking out 14 Omnicron squads figures while only losing three greenscales. But nothing could penetrate Omegacron's hull (except for Isamu), and that realization dawned on me too late. There's a lack of a "heavy hitter" in the Explercenaries build, and it will take practice to rally them against another 6-defense figure. Plasma Blade Arc was my favorite ability; Maekor was my least-favorite figure. And ultimately, I think the Greenscales should just stick to their dragons. But it was a good game, and thematically Expedition is just fun, continuing to reinforce the Hero in Heroscape.

[kevindola]

I think all the Round 1 games that are being played are complete. I am out of town until Monday, and will get Round 2 up then although it might not be until the afternoon. Thanks everyone for playing the VC games during these exciting times!

[kevindola]

Round 2 is on Embattled Fen (Wannok, Treasure x3).

The Dysole (1-0) v. KnightofLight (1-0) pool of armies is:

* If At First You Don't Succeed, Tribe, Tribe Again: Teeth of the Makwa x3, Mohican River Tribe x3, Kolbjorn, Brave Arrow
* Heal of Fortune: deathreavers x2, Saan Tiim, Ana Karithon, Laglor, Raelin (RotV), Heirloom
* Cron Brawn: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2
* Peanut Butter and Javelin Sandwich : Greyspears, Swiftfangs, Arktos, Bahadur, Kolbjorn, Mezzodemons x1

Dysole chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, KnightofLight chooses who places first.

The Cleon (1-0) v. Tiamat (1-0) pool of armies is:

* We Found Him in the Forest: Knights of Weston x4, Patroller E-25, Thorgrim, Finn
* We Found Him in the Jungle: Mohicans x3, Quasatch x1, Raelin (RotV), Kolbjorn, Brave Arrow, Eldgrim
* Rolling with the Cronies: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2
* Graveyard Smash: Nidhogg, Skeletons of Annellintia x3

Tiamat chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Cleon chooses who places first.

The Vydar_XLIII (1-0) v. dok (1-0) pool of armies is:

* Do do do do do, Dora!: deathreavers x3, Janos, C'Rik, San Tiim, Bambina, Isamu, Otonashi
* I look once more, just around the River Tribe!: Mohicans x5, Kolbjorn, Himmelskralle, Marcu Esenwein
* Lizard with Kyrie Wings: Greenscale Warriors x3, Bambina, Maekor, Raelin (SotM)
* Cut to the Bone: Goblin Cutters x5, Nidhogg, Betacron, Marcu

Vydar_XLIII chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, dok chooses who places first.

The Earthling (1-0) v. Brean of Philly (1-0) pool of armies is:

* Nidhogg is my Mummy: Nidhogg, Crypt Guardian x5, Marcu Esenwein
* Explore with Raj: Ranjit Singh, Janos, San Tiim, C'Rik, Wastwalker Gage, Eldgrim, Bol
* Hounds on Patrol: Maarden Hounds x4, Raelin (RotV), Patroller E-25 (drop 2 spaces)
* 11 Lizards in a Trenchcoat: Greenscale Warriors x3, Janos, Maekor, Bambina, Isamu

Brean of Philly chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Earthling chooses who places first.

The Chris Perkins (1-0) v. Captain Stupendous (1-0) pool of armies is:

* Challenge!: Greenscale Warriors x5, Bambina, Tandros
* Goliath Robots: Patroller E-25, Deathstalkers x3, Eltahale
* Betacroncan: Knights of Weston x3, Sentinels of Grax, Alastair MacDirk, Concan, Betacron
* Mad Dogs With Rabies: Woves of Badru x2, Werewolf Lord, Van Nessing, Kolbjorn, Louis 'Mad Dog' Malone

Captain Stupendous chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Chris Perkins chooses who places first.

The Sir Heroscape (0-1) v. Grey Waves (0-1) pool of armies is:

* Kolby Jack Cheese!: Teeth of the Makwa x3, Zettian Deathwings x1, Kolbjorn, Arktos, Greyspears
* With soul or without soul?: Greenscale Warriors x2, Nilfheim, Raelin (RotV), Patroller, E-25, Betacron
* : Goblin Cutters x6, Nidhogg, Marcu Esenwein (drop 2)
* : 10th Reg x4, Betacron, Marutuk

Grey Waves chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Sir Heroscape chooses who places first.

The ryguy266 (0-1) v. kevindola (0-1) pool of armies is:

* Beta Grindset: Omegacron, Betacron, Omnicron Repulsors x3, Omnicron Snipers x2
* Bulk Up: deathreavers x3, Nidhogg, Cyprien Esenwein, Sonya Esenvein
* : Amberhive Protectors x5, Sujoah, C'Rik, Kira Jax
* : Dreadgul Raiders x3, Janos, Maekor, Wastewalker Gage, Guilty McCreech, Bol

ryguy266 chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, kevindola chooses who places first.

The MegaSilver (0-1) v. Blue Trails (0-1) pool of armies is:

* Hoggin the Skeleton Key: Nidhogg, Skeletons of Annellintia x3
* Kol/Cal of the Wolves: Quickblades, Swiftfangs, Greyspears, Darkclaws, Cal the Smuggler, Kolbjorn
* Space Cowboys: Janos, C'Rik, San Tiim, Clayton Pierce, James Murphy, Kate Crawford, Louis ""Mad Dog"" Malone
* Danger Zone: Cathar Spearmen x3, Z'Thoth Mouth of the Abyss, Betacron, Nakita Agents, Bol

Blue Trails chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, MegaSilver chooses who places first.

The S1R_ART0R1US (0-1) v. BodaciousBlood (0-1) pool of armies is:

* Feed Your Pet Lizard(folk): Janos, Bambina, Maekor, San Tiim, Rygarn, Marcu Esenwein
* Eco-warriors of the 21st century: Greenscale Warriors x3, Zogross, Protector E-25, Raelin (RotV), Zetacron
* Now That's a Spiky Cactus... Now from range!: Cathar Spearmen x3, Nakita Agents, Drow Chainfighter x1, Motley Max, Betacron
* Tribesmen and the Mummy Slayer: Mohicans x5, Van Nessing, Kolbjorn

S1R_ART0R1US chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, BodaciousBlood chooses who places first.

The Dompredator77 (0-1) v. superfrog (0-1) pool of armies is:

* I-Robot: deathreavers x2, Blastatrons x1, Gladiatrons x1, Major Q10, Patroller E-25, Zetacron
* The Mouth of Utgar: Marro Dividers x3, Nagrubs x1, NidHogg, Tul-Bak-Ra, Isamu
* : Repulsors x3, Snipers x2, Betacron, Taelord
* : Marro Drudge x5, Re-Tak-Shi, Van Nessing, Kolbjorn, Seleena

Dompredator77 chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, superfrog chooses who places first.

[Dysole]

Kolby : Didn't do a ton this game but the threat of him was good and it was very nice to flex an OM to Teeth when I ran out of Mohicans.

Patroller : I very much did not want Patroller to go off and I managed to make that happen with the only casualty being a Kolby I was fine to sacrifice. Feels like a figure you need to play very carefully with and had he been in Raelin's aura, could've been an absolute nightmare to deal with.

~Dysole, informationally