HS2010's Custom Units - A Challenge To Myself

[TheAverageFan]

I dunno, the 7 Life 5 Defense with high Move, Stealth Flyng, and chance to dodge attacks and move outside his own turn is gonna make him a serious pain to bring down. If he's single-spaced he'll basically almost always have Height Advantage during a game.

~TAF

[Sir Heroscape]

185pts might be warranted for how hard he'll be able to bring down...but I'm also not sure that makes a good design.

Looking at it again, I think the design feels a little flat. Seems like 7 live, 5 def, elusive and stealth flying are all built in to make this guy untouchable. Other than not dying and getting the occasional smack on a unit, I see him fairly uninteresting to play. There needs to be a little more spice imo.

[Shiftrex]

I notice the dragon has a class of lord. Was the idea to put a certain type of squad on it and "tank" while the skeletons reanimate? That's an interesting idea but probably not to most non-blue players

[Sheep]

4 new units! I actually got some testing done with the Goblins and really like them.



Minis Used: D&D Icons of the Realm: Goblin Warband (2 squads)

Officially, they bond with the Ogre Warhulk and Pulverizer, along with Tetraites. They also get synergy from Spartacus. Unofficially, they bond with each Ogre below.





Minis Used: D&D Icons of the Realms: Ogre Warband

The Howdah I really like. It's a play off of Mok but with it's own twist. And it bonds (conditionally)!

The Warrior card is for both the male and female melee ogres. I like the simple abilities of the Warriors and Spearer but I'm not sure if the idea is clear why these guys have Ogre Bonding and the rest of the Ogres don't. Maybe it doesn't exactly need to be? Maybe their personality could be changed to Young so it's adds some clarity and removes Death Chaser bonding? Anyways, they bond with the Warhulk and Pulverizer, as well as Gurei-Oni.

This Ogre pack is currently available for preorder. Early on I tried a different iteration of commonality for the pack: Unique Squad of (2), Uncommon Hero, and Unique Hero. I felt this would be ok because maybe you wouldn't need a 2nd Spearer, but the problem with it was spending another ~$60 just for another Spearer. This iteration makes them all Uncommon Heroes, so while you may not need more than one of the Spearer or Howdah, getting a second pack isn't a complete waste of a decent investment (and gets you 4 Warriors, 2 Spearers, and 2 Howdahs).

Thank you everyone for checking out my thread! I hope you enjoy these guys!

[AMIS]

I think that may be the most awesome conditional bonding I've ever seen. The Goblin Gladiators look awesome and I may have to accidentally steal this custom!

Outstanding!

[Blue Trails]

I think you've nailed the theme of the Goblin Gladiators. The reuse of Initiative Advantage is a nice touch!

The Ogre Howdah looks like fun; I especially like the idea of pairing it with the Goblin Slashers, as they lack an imposing "centerpiece" Hero and I rarely choose a fourth Slasher attack over a guaranteed Hero activation. Technically, though, the howdah is the platform mounted on the ogre's back, so I might recommend changing the unit's class to something like Mount or Warhulk.

Due to the frequency at which smaller figures are seen, I'm a little concerned by the potential strength of the Ogre Warrior's combination of Puny Things, bonding, and 4A/4D stats, but that's something that can be refined with testing. If you do decide to change the Warrior's and Spearer's personalities, I'd just like to mention that "Young" already exists as Othkurik's Class; I personally think Wild—and all that it entails—is fine, though.

[Sheep]

Originally Posted by Blue Trails

If you do decide to change the Warrior's and Spearer's personalities, I'd just like to mention that "Young" already exists as Othkurik's Class; I personally think Wild—and all that it entails—is fine, though.

Good catch! I was thinking of Othkurik but thought that Young was his personality, not his class.

Maybe “small or medium squad figure” would nerf Puny Things a little bit while also maintaining (maybe even strengthening) the theme.

I’m glad the Goblin Gladiator’s theme is coming through effectively. Thank you both for the kind words and critiques.

[caps]

Setting aside the Ogres for now, I like the Goblin Gladiators. It is a 3-figure squad, I take it? The bonding is thematic for them, and seems like (perhaps unfortunately) it will often trigger.

[Sheep]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

Setting aside the Ogres for now, I like the Goblin Gladiators. It is a 3-figure squad, I take it? The bonding is thematic for them, and seems like (perhaps unfortunately) it will often trigger.

Thank you for dropping in, caps! Much appreciated!

Yes, they are a 3-figure squad. I’m glad you like the bonding! It does trigger quite often because of several reasons. Yes, their attack is not entirely overwhelming, but also sometimes you purposely forgo 1-2 attacks to ensure you get a high dice attack with the Ogres. While I find it ok thematically to forgo attacks (they have to keep the Ogres in check), in gameplay it has been somewhat underwhelming.

I’ve continued working on their card. One thing I’ve considered is replacing Initiative Advantage with some sort of defensive ability but I haven’t figured out what that would look like yet, or if I even want to replace IA. Do you think IA is a must-have to connect the GGs with the CGs?

[caps]

I don't think you need to keep IA. I see why you put it there but I would probably leave it to the Capuans.

When playtesting I would suggest always attacking. An actual wound successfully inflicted by a goblin that attacked is better than a theoretical big attack from an ogre. Of course if you have more goblins to pull up from the back then its a more complicated decision.

[Sheep]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

I don't think you need to keep IA. I see why you put it there but I would probably leave it to the Capuans.

When playtesting I would suggest always attacking. An actual wound successfully inflicted by a goblin that attacked is better than a theoretical big attack from an ogre. Of course if you have more goblins to pull up from the back then its a more complicated decision.

Right. I have found in testing that you can kind of run your Ogres into the ground by overusing them as your main attack force. Getting as much attack value out of your goblins as you can is definitely crucial for your Ogre’s success.

Appreciate the input on IA. Like I said, I was already looking into a replacement power but this kind of reinforces that direction.

[caps]

Spoiler Alert!

Originally Posted by heroscaper2010

4 new units! I actually got some testing done with the Goblins and really like them.



Minis Used: D&D Icons of the Realm: Goblin Warband (2 squads)

Officially, they bond with the Ogre Warhulk and Pulverizer, along with Tetraites. They also get synergy from Spartacus. Unofficially, they bond with each Ogre below.





Minis Used: D&D Icons of the Realms: Ogre Warband

The Howdah I really like. It's a play off of Mok but with it's own twist. And it bonds (conditionally)!

The Warrior card is for both the male and female melee ogres. I like the simple abilities of the Warriors and Spearer but I'm not sure if the idea is clear why these guys have Ogre Bonding and the rest of the Ogres don't. Maybe it doesn't exactly need to be? Maybe their personality could be changed to Young so it's adds some clarity and removes Death Chaser bonding? Anyways, they bond with the Warhulk and Pulverizer, as well as Gurei-Oni.

This Ogre pack is currently available for preorder. Early on I tried a different iteration of commonality for the pack: Unique Squad of (2), Uncommon Hero, and Unique Hero. I felt this would be ok because maybe you wouldn't need a 2nd Spearer, but the problem with it was spending another ~$60 just for another Spearer. This iteration makes them all Uncommon Heroes, so while you may not need more than one of the Spearer or Howdah, getting a second pack isn't a complete waste of a decent investment (and gets you 4 Warriors, 2 Spearers, and 2 Howdahs).

Thank you everyone for checking out my thread! I hope you enjoy these guys!

I like what you did with the ogres. The howdah is a little complicated--I would drop the goblin-riding mechanic as adding more complexity than it is worth--but pretty neat, and so closely imitating Mok sidesteps a number of mechanical/wording issues you might have run into.

Thematically it is odd to me that the Ogre Warrior gets automatic skulls and shields even against heroes. It also makes him pretty strong, especially with such a high base attack and defense. Did you consider making it only work against squads? Is this uncommon ogre hero really so good that it needs to be so tough for small and medium heroes to crack it's defenses?

I would encourage you to rethink the spear power just because I hate Javelin so much, haha. Two attacks of 4 is pretty good. Maybe too good? I would consider dropping the defense and/or attack to 3.