Mars in February: We are all Heroes

[peteparkerh]

I'm going!

[fallow]

Originally Posted by Big Boa

Looking forward to tomorrow - I'm most certainly in!

Is anyone planning to play anything after the main event?
I'd be up for that. Would the store accomodate?

I'm going to McDonalds at 11:00 if you want to game early-see my earlier post. Also I pm'd you Boa

[Johngee]

Originally Posted by fallow

I haven't built any maps yet because I'm not home and waiting to hear if the game is still on before making them. Are we playing? If so what maps should I bring?

Well if you are bored, you could build: "Fulcrum Forever" (see the Downloads Section), since none of us have enough tiles for that monster ( hehehehe ); or you could build "Frozen Cavern" (see the First Page of this thread) because it's the only one requested by Spidy and not yet accounted for.

[fallow]

It would take several hours to build Fulcrum Forever John. I'd do it if I had help...

It's not that big, just 9 ROTV, 2 SOTM, 8 RTTFF, 8 FOTA, 2 TJ, 2 VW.

I built a map with 6 ROTV, 19 SOTM, 6 RTTFF, 12 FOTA, 6 Marvel, 6 TJ, 4 VW, 4 TT.

[fallow]

ACK! Can anyone bring an Otanashi card for me? I have 3 figures but cant find any cards.... odd.

[Johngee]

@ fellow League of Extraordinary Heroscapers: FALLOW ~ "Otonashi Card?" NOOoooo problem mon, I got cha covered.

@ ALL ~ I checked the Radar Map on TWC site and it looks like the snow/ice is mostly inland in the hill country, so Spidy and PPH will have the worst travel conditions getting there. I'm leaving in 2 min. and hope to reach McD's at 11-ish. I C'ed CC and they are also on the way.
C'ya soon ; - )
~ John G.
Over & Out

". . . . on the road again . . . ."

OFFLINE

[fallow]

$&@?! GPS @&%#ing screwed me over again!!!! Gggassjgggggggghhhhhh! I woulda been early and best the sleet!

Eta 11:40

[Johngee]

@ SpidySox ~

Thank you for organizing and adjudicating this event. I don't particularly like the Heroes Only and Full Card Scoring format (let's just say that it's not my favorite), BUT I had a great time and it was a fun filled afternoon.

Gosh, we've been doing this for how long? It's always good to get together with "old friends" for some competitive gaming. I hope we can establish a regular (monthly or bi-monthly) schedule for 2014 and these HS events don't become an Annual M.A.R.S. Reunion.

[Big Boa]

Yes, Spideysox THANKS for organizing. I had a great time and am very happy to have met new friends. Regarding our discussion of various formats post the event, lets come up with something so cool it forces us to try it sometime soon!

[spidysox]

Had a blast yesterday, stay tuned for the post-event thread. Hopefully I'll have it up either tonight or tomorrow sometime.

[Johngee]

@ Spidy ~

Why bother creating a separate Post Event thread when we can just continue adding to this one. I can see the need for ones in the past when our Pre-Event bantering threads reached more than ten pages in length, but this one is only 5 pages, so far. Maybe it's my age, but even though I wrote down some notes and took a lot of pictures, I'm still having a hard time remembering the details of the five games that I participated in yesterday. Although it is fun to read about how some of the battles went, the reality is - very few of us actually take the time to write a decent (what we called in the military an "A.A.R." for After Action Report) post event analysis.

So this is all I'm going to say on that issue:

Having seen his devastating effects in previous HS events, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to have an army that included the Silver Surfer. I thought having him as my center piece would be like bringing a C-130 Gun Ship to the O.K. Corral gunfight. But I drew up a matrix anyway to consider numerous (160) combination possibilities. I finally decided on . . .
Silver Surfer with a 6 dice Sonic Blast Special Attack @ 320,
Vampire Cyprien Essenwein with d20 Chilling Touch Special Attack @ 150,
and Eldgrim the Viking Champion with his Warrior Swiftness Spirit @ 30
Total: 3x figures @ 500 points.

My initial strategy was to always lead off with Eldgrim (i.e. my first two Order Markers) to get him killed off quickly by over-extending him and applying self inflicted wounds. This would enable me to give the WSS +1 movement enhancement to either the Surfer or Cyprien. Which might allow them a slight but crucial advantage over my opponents. However, this thinking also proved to be a disadvantage since it gave my savvy opponents an opportunity to send their high speed flying assassin units directly toward my Start Zone and threaten my higher value units.

GAME #1. on Map A vs. SpidySox
He brought Sujoah, Spiderman, and Venom to the table. Immediately the Big Bug ignored the little Viking and was bearing down on my S.Surfer with it's powerful sting attack. Somehow Elgrim's meager two Attack Dice put the first wound on it and then I luckily got rid of the monster. Then Cyprien was eliminated and I was left with the fast Surfer (8 Move plus 5 more if I used Hyper Speed) to corner and damage both Spiderman and Venom, which both kept swinging away from my attacks. I kept him going back and forth across the board to avoid one while attacking the other, taking advantage of every piece of isolated high ground. Eventually, to my own amazement, I WON...yeah! ( W=1 / L=0 )

GAME #2. on Map B vs. Xanth
He brought The Incredible Hulk, Atlaga, and Guilty McCreech to the table. While my Eldgrim was plodding up the center of the map, Xanth's Atlaga did an end run around my left flank and was positioned to take a easy Witherwood Bolt shot at my Silver Surfer. Forunately he missed his d20 role and flew off to a single high ground hex in the center of the board. I must have Sonic Blast'ed Atlaga at least six times, consistently rolling the statistically accurate 50% Skulls ( 3 out of 6 ) ever time. Somehow he was able to shrug off my attacks by rolling 3 shields on only five Defense Dice ( 4 +1 for height ) every time. That's twice the natural probability, but what I call "Xanth's-LUCK." Then he brought the Hulk into the battle. The critical moment occurred when I rolled EIGHT skulls on EIGHT dice as an unsuccessful defense for the Silver Surfer and he took four wounds. Since Cyprien and Eldgrim were already destroyed, I now felt desperate and determined to at least get some points by going after the not yet activated McCreech still in the Start Zone before being crushed by a now angered Hulk in a painful defeat. My first LOSS of the day.
( W=1 / L=1 )

GAME #3. on Map D vs. Tom
He also brought a Silver Surfer, but then had Atlaga the Kyrie Warrior, the big soulborg Zetacron, and Marcu in his army... hmm that's one combo that had not made it to my Top 160 List, since I had completely overlooked the "Z-Robot." I don't remember the details about how Elgrim, Atlaga, Cyprien, and Zetacron took wounds and died, but after I Sonic Blasted the unsuspecting Marcu as a easy target of opportunity, who was still asleep in the Start Zone, it only left our two Surfers to duel it out. With alternating Sonic Blasts and Hyper Speed escapes to high ground we "danced" around the entire map and my dice were luckier than Tom's. This may have been the first time that I have ever beaten him in a HeroScape game. My second WIN ...whoohoo!
( W=2 / L=1 )

GAME #4. on Map C vs. PeteParkerH
His army included: Thanos, Siege, and Isamu. Thanos was proving to be a dangerous beast and little Eldgrim didn't stand a chance ( as was intended ). I took a chance with Cyprien going after him and nailed the Chilling Touch roll with a 19 on the first OM of Round Two. But with four OM's still on him, it wasn't long before PPH rolled a 20 and Thanos was Rejected by Death and back on the battlefield pounding on my Cyprien and S.Surfer. I think I killed both Siege and Isamu during Thanos's brief absence, but this became my second LOSS.
( W=2 / L=2 )

GAME #5. on Map D vs. Fallow
He had an unusual army of six figures: Red Skull, Dund, NeGokSa, Atlaga, Isamu, and Otonashi. "Unusual" because the largest grouping of figures on my 160 List was only five ( Cyprien, Sonya, Sudema, Atlaga, and James Murphy ); there were forty-something with four figures, but all the rest were three or less. It had been a long day and my dice apparently had gotten cold. Nothing was working out in my favor. Fearing the Kyrie's instant one shot of death and the Marro's mind shackling ability, I feared them more than the Marvel Super Hero so I concentrated my Chilling Touches and Sonic Blasts on their destruction. But nothing was working. Wounds were accumulating all around, but only Otonoshi was actually dead. We went back and forth in what seemed like a stalemate. When a Dund stare pulled two OM's off of my Silver Surfer I was at Fallow's mercy and eventually my three figures were off the board and he still had a couple of survivors. My third LOSS of the day, oh well it was fun.
( W=2 / L=3 )

[Arcus]

Thanks Spidysox for continuing this tournament after Mad Wookie got the ball rolling. It had been way too long since I had seen everyone; I had an absolute blast playing and catching up with everyone. I hope there are more chances like this in the near future!