The Book of Skywarp

[Yodaking]

This is more of a final editing concern, but I noticed we should make it clear the SA only works if he can use his flying power. Not many ways to negate flying, but better to account for it should it happen. Does this work?

BOMBING RUN SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 5.
Instead of moving and attacking normally with Skywarp, you may have Skywarp fly up to 10 spaces in a straight line. Choose up to 3 figures on or within 2 spaces of the hexes flown over to be affected by this special attack. Each figure rolls defense dice separately.

[fret_gurglo]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

This is more of a final editing concern, but I noticed we should make it clear the SA only works if he can use his flying power. Not many ways to negate flying, but better to account for it should it happen. Does this work?

BOMBING RUN SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 5.
Instead of moving and attacking normally with Skywarp, you may have Skywarp fly up to 10 spaces in a straight line. Choose up to 3 figures on or within 2 spaces of the hexes flown over to be affected by this special attack. Each figure rolls defense dice separately.

I don't think that works in 1.0. You would have to use the "if Skywarp uses the flying special power" language. Honestly don't think its worth it.

[Yodaking]

Life has slowed back down and I'm working on getting set up for some initial tests here. Recalling how effective the double attack was when testing Starscream and finding the need to pull back on that, has me thinking I should do the same here before testing starts if I want the two other Seekers to come in under Starscream's 300 points. First thought was to just make the second normal attack granted by Seeker Assault be on a different target. What's the most efficient way for me to make that clear in the power text?


SEEKER ASSAULT
After revealing an Order Marker on this card and making a normal attack with this figure, you may make one normal attack, on a new target, with any Seeker you control.

[Yodaking]

First test is in, I'll update this post as I finish more.

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = SKYWARP
CYBERTRONIAN UNIQUE HERO SEEKER MISCHIEVOUS

SIZE/HEIGHT = HUGE 15 (DOUBLE BASED) LIFE = 5/6 for the last game

MOVE = 7 RANGE = 6 ATTACK = 4 DEFENSE = 6 POINTS = 280?
SEEKER ASSAULT
After revealing an Order Marker on this card and making a normal attack with this figure, you may make one normal attack, on a new target, with any Seeker you control.

BOMBING RUN SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 5.
Instead of moving and attacking normally with Skywarp, you may have Skywarp move up to 10 spaces in a straight line. Choose up to 3 figures on or within 2 spaces of the hexes flown over to be affected by this special attack. Each figure rolls defense dice separately. Skywarp always has height advantage when using this power.

TELEPORTATION AMBUSH
Once per round, instead of moving Skywarp normally, you may place Skywarp on any empty spaces between 4-5 spaces of his current placement. If you do, figures attacked by Skywarp this turn roll 2 fewer defense dice. When Skywarp moves with Teleportation Ambush, he will not take any leaving engagement attacks.

FLYING & SUPERSTRENGTH

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NAME OF THE TEST UNIT (Skywarp)
Army Test 1
- Give a brief preview. Red Skull has recruited some new allies to help him kick the WC out of some territory he wants for himself. Red Skull & Crossbones are the center of attention with their OM1 reveal for 4 attacks at range. Firefly will see if he can score a few auto-wounds on the hard to his WC and soften them up a bit. Skywarp will then come up mid-game and try to Ambush Wrecker while still in range of Red Skull for the re-rolls.
Map: Jurrasic Park Entrance (custom map, grassy hills & trees)
Units: Skywarp @280, Red Skull II, Crossbones, Firefly (800) vs. Wrecking Crew (800)

Spoiler Alert!

Seeker Assault Usage: R1T3, att. Bulldozer & Piledriver from HG, blocked x2 (all 4 re-rolled dice became shields!). R2T2, see Ambush power below. R3T3, Ambushed 2 again. R4T2, attacks Piledriver from HG, re-rolls 2 skulls, Piledriver goes down, attacks Wrecker from LG, blocked. R4T3, attacked Wrecker, uses 2nd attack on tree in an attempt to have it fall on Wrecker, blocked.
Bombing Run SA Usage: R2T3, opts to use SA while not engaged and able to hit 3 WC members with the SA while not leaving Red Skull's re-roll aura. Rolls 3 skulls initially, re-rolls for 1 more skull, 4 hits, 2W on Wrecker, 2W on Thunderball, 3W on Bulldozer. I gave Skywarp HG for all. He started out on HG to all, landed on LG to all.
Teleportation Ambush Usage: R2T2, teleports away from Bulldozer to gain HG on Wrecker & Thunderball for a pair of attacks while remaining within 5 clear sight spaces of Red Skull for the re-rolls. 2W to Wrecker after 1 re-rolled skull, Thunderball blocked. R3T3, teleports away from Piledriver, attack Thunderball on even ground, Piledriver from HG, can re-roll dice.
Normal Damage Dealt: 3W to Wrecker from HG while Ambushed (2 attacks). 1W to Piledriver from HG while Ambushed (1 attack). 3W to Piledriver from HG (re-rolled 2 skulls for a 5 skull att). 1W to Wrecker (re-rolled 1 skull).
Damage Received: 1W from Charging Headbutt (re-roll for a shield helped),
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Red Skull w1W, Crossbones w/2W, & Skywarp w/1W won.

Recap: Both teams move towards each other and I have Skywarp move up last so he can get in a few shots while getting set up for maybe a bombing run next turn. Plans changed when Wrecker gives Bulldozer an extra turn and he charges Skywarp. Red Skull & Crossbones can only move up to even ground with Bulldozer by engaging him, costing them 2 attacks in the process. Skywarp ambushes Wrecker, then goes on a bombing run and puts down a bunch of wounds. Crossbones has a clutch defense roll to avoid defeat at the hands of Wrecker, Bulldozer falls to Redskull & Crossbones, then Firefly falls to Piledriver. It doesn't help get a bonus turn, but OM2 is lost. Skywarp ambushes again. Crossbones continues to stand up to Wrecker, while the d20 remains cold for WC. Re-rolls heat up though and Thunderball falls to Crossbones, then Red Skull starts picking away at Piledriver from HG at range. OM2 was lost on Thunderball, Skywarp takes out Piledriver and OM3 is then lost. Skywarp can't teleport to even ground with Wrecker, so he just flies there normally & attacks Wrecker & a tree. Crossbones finishes off Wrecker.
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes, he's definitely fun to play.
- What should be the unit's point value? Might need to scale back on a few things as this was a pretty solid win. WC only had 1 bonus turn in the whole game though, so it wasn't like they were at peak performance here. Also the re-rolls started off cold but really heated up after a while and were a significant source of skulls on attack and shields on defense. Without the chained turns, the WC couldn't take out Red Skull and shut them off. Thoughts on where to tweak include reducing the def reduction to -1 from Ambush, lowering the SA to 4, or having the Ambush power be a once per game deal. *update, after the Red Skull/Thunderscracker team-up (see that initial) lost to the WC, I'm not as concerned about the big win here.

Army Test 2
- Give a brief preview. A new 1000 point Decipticon team to try out here with Starscream willing to turn on Megatron if things don't go well. Megatron can roll enough dice to hopefully overcome the Fan4's high defense. The Seeker's Assault could also wear down that defense with enough attacks, only worried that spreading out the wounds will make Thing too strong. Skywarp Ambushing Sue will be a key move to make if he can pull it off.
Map: Jurrasic Park Entrance (custom map, grassy hills & trees)
Units: Skywarp @280, Starscream @310, Megatron (1000) vs. Fan 4 (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Seeker Assault Usage: Died too quickly. R2T3, flies up and shoots a Reed from LG, then Starsceam shoots at an engaged Johnny from HG. R3T2, after teleporting and attacking Sue, Starscream attacked Reed for 1W.
Bombing Run SA Usage: R1T2, used the SA's straight line move to quickly head out 10 spaces, Reed was also within 2 spaces of where he landed so I rolled 5 dice, 1 skull, block. R3T1, flies up to HG, bombs Reed/Johnny/Thing with 4 skulls on 5 dice, 1W to Johnny & Thing.
Teleportation Ambush Usage: Died too quickly. R3T2, teleports next to Sue (setting up a perfect 4-5 space move that ends adjacent takes planning) scores 3W on her.
Normal Damage Dealt: Died too quickly. 3W to Sue after an ambush.
Damage Received: 3W from Thing on LG (defensive whiff), 1W from Reed on LG (4 skull attack roll), 3W from Thing on LG. 3W from Supernova SA. 3W from Thing (7 dice rolled).
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Skywarp is dead, everyone else is unwounded. Reed w/1W & Ben w/2W's won.

Recap: Skywarp raced ahead and then rolled terrible defense dice and died right away. So I just stopped the game and restarted, won't rush forward with him this time. First game results in blue. R1. Skywarp hangs back as a second wave this time, trying to maximize Megatron & Starscream's set up to soften the Fan4 up first for a later abmbush. Fan4 move up and make a few ranged attack to no avial, while Starscream trys to defend Megatron from Reed/miss, then shoots Megatron at Thing but gets blocked. R2. Starscream shoots Megatron at Thing again, another block. Starscream deals 1W Johnny when he engages Megatron, Thing & Reed deal 1W to Megatron each, while Sue scores 2Ws! Megatron responds by kicking Johnny for 2W. Thing slams Megatron for 7 skulls on 9 dice and takes him out. Skywarp joins the fight & Starscream give Johnny his 4th W. Johnny goes Supernova, 1W to Starscream and 3W to Skywarp, then Reed gives Starscrea another W. R3. Skywarp makes a bombing run and takes out Johnny, Thing takes a W too. Reed & Thing attack one Seeker each, 1W to Starscream. Skywarp abmushes Sue for 3W. Sue & Thing attack Skywarp, Reed attacks Starscream, all blocked! Starscream takes a LEA (1W) to go after Sue and takes her out! Thing smashes Skywarp, while Reed gives Starscream 2 more Ws. R4. Thing ends it.
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes, he's a lot of fun to play with the teleporting ambush, bombing run SA, & the assault power kind of shined here with another Seeker to take advantage of things like HG.
- What should be the unit's point value?He had a decent showing for himself in the second attempt, it just really hurts when the solid defense lets you down for a big hit. Thinking about bumping his life up. Megatron going down without doing much is what really put this team in the whole, 2 attacks of 10 should have done something and 8 life/7 defense should hold up longer. I'll reevaluate after Thunderscarckers next test and see if a life bump is in order for both.

Army Test 3
- Give a brief preview. All the Seekers together, along with a fellow flying Decipticon, will try to knock out some Autobots, who are guarding a new energy source that the Decipticons want for themselves. Seeker Assualt and Skywarps SA could chip away at seveal Autobots at once. With this Autobot build not being hyper competative, I'm running this one first with the life boost and change to Sonic Boom. If this match is competative then I'll give it a go at the Titans and see if it holds up.
Map: Jurrasic Park Entrance (custom map, grassy hills & trees)
Units: Skywarp @280, Thundercracker @270, Starscream @310, Laserbeak 140 (1000) vs. Prime, Grimlock, Bumblebee (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Seeker Assault Usage: R1T3, Thunderscarcker moves up and shoots Grimlock, 1W, then Starscream (unengaged) shoots at Prime from HG, 2W. R2T2, Skywarp flies up & shoots at Prime from HG, blocked, Starscream (unengaged) shoots at Grimlock from HG, 2W. R3T2, Thundercracker attacks Grimlock, 1W, dead, Starscream (unengaged) shoots Prime from HG, 3W. R3T3, Skywarp teleports and attacks Prime from HG, 1W, Thunderscarcker then attack Bee, blocked. R4T2, Skywarp attack Prime from HG, 1W, Starscream (engaged) attacks Bee from HG, blcoked.
Bombing Run SA Usage: R4T1, flies across the board to land on HG, bombing Prime & Bee, 3 skulls on 5 dice, Prime Blocked, Bee took 2W.
Teleportation Ambush Usage: R3T3, Skywarp teleports away from Prime (Laserbeak was also engaged), then attacks him from HG, 1W.
Sonic Boom 13 Usage: R2T1, wins initiative, flies 8 spaces in a stright line, Prime (1 & Bee (1 both lost an OM, Grimlock too far away.
Areial Advantage Usage: Advantage gained vs. Grimlock, Prime, & Bee.
Normal Damage Dealt: Thundercracker: 2W to Grimlock in 2 attacks,
Skywarp: 1W to ambushed Prime from HG, 1W to Prime from HG,
Starscream: 5W to Grimlock in 3 attacks (unengaged, HG), 7W to Prime in 3 attacks (unengaged, HG), 2W to Bee (unengaged, HG) in a frantic attack, 1W to an adj. Bee in a frantic attack to finish him off.
Damage Received: Grimlock dealt 4W to Thundercracker (whiff on d), 2W to Skywarp from Bee on HG boosted by Prime +1, Starscream took 1W from Bee (LEA), 4W to Skywarp from an adj. Prime, 1W to Starscream from adj. Bee on LG while boosted by Prime +1, Prime dealt 2W to Thundercracker and wiped out OM1 in the process, 4W to Starscream from Prime at range on LG
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Starscream w/6W won.

Recap: The map has two hills with a valley in between and the Seekers were able to quickly fly out to HG on either side, while shooting down at the Autobots stuck down in the valley. The Autobots just could not move fast enough to not get trapped and the dice were pretty bad for the first few rounds. Grimlock went down first without biting anyone, Prime had a bunch of wounds too and it looks like it might be a blow out for the Seekers. The dice started slowly doing better though and Prime and Bee managed to hold on long enough to take out Laserbeak, Skywarp, & Thundercracker before Bee fell. Prime rushed Starscream and shot at him attemping to finish it, scored a big hit, but came up 1W short. Starscream then finished him off for the win.
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Yes, I think seeing them all together like this made me feel better about how it all works. If you can tie up the opponent with Skywarp & Thunderscarcker, leaving Starscream unengaged on HG, using his attack of 6 as the second attack in Seeker Assualt is pretty good. Thundecracker & Skywarps powers all were used at least once to good effect as well.
- What should be the unit's point value? Looks like Skywarp did more damage in total (4W, 2 each to Prime & Bee vs. 2W to Grimlock), but Thundercracker was able to knock out 2OMs. Both attack bonded with Starscream as well as each other too, while tying up the enemy so Starscream could remain unengaged, so it's pretty even between them. Skywarps a little more 'fun' to play IMO, so I'd still give him the slight points edge if they are not equal.

[Yodaking]

Quick temperature read here before more tests are run (I've run one each with Skywarp & Thundercracker). I do like having the two attacks split up between two different targets, it gives them a nice chaotic assault feel while keeping them from targeting and destroying one figure at a time. Only time I couldn't use the second attack on a figure I used it on a tree DO to try and score a W that way.

Wasn't sure how to assign height advantage when using Skywarps SA, but with the theme being he transforms into his jet mode and bombs people from above, I went with he has height advantage for all targets. Thinking I'll just clarify that in the power text. As such I'm also thinking we could drop it down to an attack of 4 going forward.

Thoughts?

[Yodaking]

I propose Skywarp for Initial Playtest.

YK - yea
Bats - yea
Fret - yea
Nobody - yea
T - yea

[IAmBatman]

Yea

[fret_gurglo]

Yea

[MrNobody]

Yea

[Yodaking]

Yeah, I guess since you target figures 'flown over' it kind of limits what you can do if you can't fly anyway. A straight line move of 10 and no stealth, no ghost walk. I guess you could still hit figures you were adjacent too.

[Tornado]

Yea

[IAmBatman]

He doesn’t technically roll for the special attack until he has moved so the height advantage would be based on where he lands unless specified otherwise.

Could lift from aerial advantage?