The Book of Ares

[Arkham]

It's hard to say if the answer is strictly "no".

Pertaining to his being a war god, violence, anger, hate, death, and bloodshed make him stronger and heals any wounds he may receive as his soul is able to absorb the psychic energy created by such events.

Either way, the easy fix if it is "no" would be to simply make it any "other" figure takes a wound.

[dok]

Originally Posted by Arkham

Would making the markers boost Range and making his base Range 1, with a max of 4, suffice? Obviously, at best maxed out you're still getting your attack of 9 at a range of 4, but it would make it something that will get worse as he loses markers.

That doesn't seem to address my concern, really.

[Arkham]

Army Test 1
Map: Custom
Units:
Ares(550), Merlyn(160), Jean Grey(180), Civilians x 2(90), Beast Boy Cheetah(20) (1,000)
vs.
Luke Cage(190), Spider-Man(250), Wolverine(280), Firestar(120), Swordsman(160) (1,000)

Spoiler Alert!

Attack Damage:
R1T3: 1 wound on Luke Cage.
R4T3: 3 wounds on Luke Cage(botched defense). (+3 attack, -1 defense)
R5T1: 3 wounds on Wolverine. (+3 attack, -1 defense)
R5T2: 5 wounds on Wolverine(botched defense). (+2 attack, -1 defense)
R5T3: 4 wounds on Spider-Man. (+3 attack, height, -1 defense)
R6T1: 6 wounds to Spider-Man(botched defense). (+1 attack)

God of War:
R1T3: +1 marker. (Ares on Luke)
R2T1: +1 marker. (Luke attacked Ares)
R2T1: -1 marker. (Jean failed to cause a wound)
R2T2: -1 marker. (Only Civilians were killed)
R2T3: +1 marker. (Merlyn killed Firestar)
R3T1: +1 marker. (Jean wounds Cage)
R3T1: -1 marker. (Cage killed Civilian)
R3T2: +1 marker. (Merlyn wounds Swordsman)
R3T2: -1 marker. (No wounds caused due to blocked attack and Jean holding Cage)
R3T3: -1 marker. (Merlyn caused 0 wounds)
R3T3: +1 marker. (Swordsman uses SA to score 1 wound on Jean)
R4T1: +1 marker. (Merlyn kills Swordsman)
R4T1: +1 marker. (Cage puts wounds on Jean)
R5T1: -1 marker. (Wolverine fails to wound Ares)
R5T2: +1 marker. (Ares kills Wolverine)
R6T1: -1 marker. (Ares fails to wound Spider-Man)
R6T1: -1 marker. (S-M fails to wound Ares)

Healing:
R2T3: 1 wound. (Firestar destroyed)
R4T1: 1 wound. (Swordsman destroyed)

Notes:
R1T2: Spider-Man kills a Civilian.
R1T3: S-M kills a Civilian.
R2T1: Luke puts 2 wounds on Ares.
R2T2: Firestar kills 3 Civilians. Cage kills a Civilian.
R2T3: Merlyn kills Firestar(botched defense).
R3T1: Jean throws Cage adjacent to Civilian, puts 1 wound on Cage.
R3T1: Cage kills Civilian.
R3T2: Merlyn puts 2 wounds on Swordsman(botched defense).
R3T3: Swordsman puts 1 wound on Jean.
R4T1: Merlyn kills Swordsman.
R4T1: Cage puts 2 wounds on Jean.
R4T2: Merlyn can't leave engagement, puts 1 wound on Cage.
R4T2: S-M can't leave engagement, denied pulling Jean, kills Civilian. Cage kills Jean.
R5T2: Spider-Man kills Merlyn.
R5T3: S-M puts 1 wound on Ares.


Ares with 1 wound, Beast Boy Cheetah with 0 wounds.

Alright, this game definitely was much much closer to what I want out of Ares. It's worth noting, Jean's rolls were HOT this game. She prevented the movement of Spider-Man, Swordsman, Luke Cage, and herself(Spider-Man's Web Slinger) at least 10 times collectively. That's obviously more than one would normally get with her, but it does show how great she can be. As for the game as a whole, I'd say it definitely shows we're close with this design. Close enough that a small tweak is all that is needed, then should be good to move further. This is likely ideal scenario here, other than having enough points to toss in Graviton in as well, but overall it shows Ares' potential in combat. The constant marker flux was a lot of fun,
and kept the whole game exciting.

With this game being what I had hoped for from the design, I think we're ready to push this into testing. We can make the 2 changes that seem to be requested the most, 6 defense and War Markers only applying to adjacent attacks.

I propose a vote to move to Initial Playtesting.
@Viegon
@TrollBrute
@johnny139
@japes
@Tornado
@Yodaking

[Tornado]

Yea

[TrollBrute]

The constant marker flux seems like a lot to track to me, but I'll let it go if none of the public testers end up having an issue with it, so Yea.

I would like to see some specific army build suggestions from the CRB, just to make sure we don't overlook anything in testing. I think the recent changes will help keep things in check though.

[Viegon]

Yea, I like a lot of the changes here. One thought though: what about dropping the movement boost from the markers? 6 Move and Flying is generally plenty of mobility, and cutting that boost would clean up the wording nicely.

[Arkham]

Originally Posted by Viegon

Yea, I like a lot of the changes here. One thought though: what about dropping the movement boost from the markers? 6 Move and Flying is generally plenty of mobility, and cutting that boost would clean up the wording nicely.

If we bump the move up, I'd be open to it. He is supposed to be on par with Hermes when he's powered up, so I feel 6 is a bit low for that given Hermes would likely be 10 or so I'd imagine. Not saying it needs to be 10, but 7, maybe 8 would make me more on board, especially with his attack boost being adjacent only, it is useful for him.

[Viegon]

7 base move seems reasonable to me.

[Arkham]

Alright, that's fine I suppose. Updated. I'd have to guess his points have come closer to 500 at this point.

[japes]

I'd still prefer this...

GOD OF WAR
After a player takes a turn, if at least one other Unique Hero or Event Hero receives one or more wounds, place 1 black War Marker on this card, to a maximum of 3. After a player takes a turn, if no figure received one or more wounds, remove a War Marker from this card.

But I do feel better about what's in the SP now so YEA

[Arkham]

Alright, the SP is completely up to date. @dok @Dysole @Soundwarp SG-1

What builds do you feel need tested?

[Dysole]

Trying to consider if Fire Ants are better fodder. Given that the engagement thing triggers later, I might just try with a couple long range options (Deadshot and Merlyn are probably the best due to cheapness) and then like Blob or Jean Grey or Diablo or someone who can just stop you from getting there and just ignore running a bunch of fodder. I think at lower point values Ares is going to be much more containable, but as point costs increase, I think he gets better and better.

~Dysole, trying to think of other ways she'd try to exploit this