C3G Armies and You

[CharosInCharge]

This thread was inspired by Jexik's "What's in an Order Marker" which is possibly one of my favorite threads of all time! I hope to build upon his ideas and apply it here to the C3G community.

My first game of Heroscape was over 4 years ago now. I walked into it with no knowledge of the game and how it's played, but instantly fell in love with it! I went home that night and studied all of the cards. I began associating the units with specific roles they would have in my army like a football team.

You have your Offensive Line that basically protect everyone. Your Quarter Back that acts like the Queen in chess and should be protected at all cost. Your Recievers and Running Backs that do all the scoring (or killing!) And the Cheerleaders that support the entire team.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic to see Jexik's post on this which was very similar to my way of looking at a army. And for the sake of this thread I will use his format in writing the rest of this thread.

Warm colors describe units on which you will place the majority of your order markers.

Cool colors describe units that are good even when they don't take many turns.

Purple and dark red describe units somewhere in between.

Core
These units tend to never be a waste of a Order Marker and generally get a lot out of each turn in the form of multiple attacks or ease of OM placement. They are usually effective common squads, squads that bond with heroes, or heroes that make OM placement a no brainer. These units are often the focal point of your army.

Examples: Hand Ninja, Street Thugs, SHIELD Agents, Professor X, Red Skull.

Cheerleaders
These units get their point value not based off what they kill, but what they add to your units or take away from your opponents. They tend to be effective while requiring little to no Order Markers on them, and usually have some sort of stat boosting/decreasing ability or aura.

Examples: Count Vertigo, Angel, Alfred Pennyworth, Black Canary, Black Mask, Commissioner Gordon, Jean Grey, Kilowag, Deadpool, Bob, Captain America, SHIELD Spotter. Note* some of these can fill multiple roles*

Defenders
These units act as the front line of defense and are meant to slow your opponent down or take the brunt of there attacks. You want to get them in the action sooner rather then later so they can protect more valuable units your opponent may want to kill. They often have decent defense, life, some sort of defensive ability.

Examples: Blob, Civilians, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Lex Luthor (with criminals), Plastic Man, Sentinels.

Attackers
These units are all about offense! They tend to have a strong attack, special attack, or range. Once they are activated you want to keep activating them because they tend to draw a lot of attention but can't quiet withstand the punishment.

Examples: Black Canary, Bullseye, Cyclops, Elektra, Hawkgirl, Iceman, Penguin, Punisher, Pyro, Solomon Grundy, Swamp Thing, Toad, SHIELD Sniper.

Menacers
These units are somewhere in between. They usually have a strong attack/special that is paired with nice defense/defense ability, which means you don't have to worry about leaving them in a battle while you bring up reinforcements. They will draw attention, but can withstand it a little longer then Attackers

Examples: Colossus, Deadpool, Daredevil, Darkseid, Deathstroke, Doomsday, Flash, Green Lantern's, Hulk, Superman, Thor, Wolverine, Sinestro, Wonder Woman.

Manipulators
This is a type of unit that I feel is unique to C3G when compared to standard scape. These units play and act like Cheerleaders except you actually have to activate them to get the best use out of them. Manipulators usually have some sort of special ability that will allow you to throw/move friendly/enemy figures, or allow you to switch/remove Order Markers that are in play. Like Cheerleaders these units should be protected whenever possible.

Examples: Magneto, Jean Grey, Joker, Riddler, Spider-Girl.

So how do you put these roles into into use when drafting an effective army?

One of the biggest mistakes I see some of the guys at my game night make when drafting C3G armies is they sometimes draft too much of one type of character which makes there army vulnerable to a more balanced army in most cases. Generally they would get blinded by the sheer power of 300+ point Menacers/Attackers and don't draft any supporting cool color to support them and I am usually able to find some sort of weakness because of that.

To build a balanced army we first need to recognize what groups work best with others. For example Attackers weakness is there survivability, right? What would best support that then? A front line of Defenders to take the attacks for them. Attackers can also benefit from Cheerleaders/Manipulators that can either make there attacks stronger or get them into position to be more effective.
Core units work great in numbers, or when paired properly with the various other figures they bond with. They also tend to benefit from Cheerleaders who's abilities can really shine in the army.
Manipulators are often seen as excellent counters for some of the games most notorious units. They work well with Defenders and Menacers as they tend to draw the fire from your opponent and allowing them to turn the tides in your favor longer.

In conclusion.
Very similarly to sports, defense really seems to win games. If you draft nothing but highly offensive units with no support your opponent will likely have a way to cut through your army. On the other hand, if you draft nothing but supporting figures with no offensive hitters you will find yourself equally as doomed. This is not to say that you need every type of figure listed to have a winning chance. In fact that wouldn't be a very good idea either. I just hope I am able to get you to think about what actually goes into an army and pick pieces that compliment each other rather then picking 5 heavy hitting heroes.

This is a work in progress, I'll do my best to keep it updated as new ideas come to me. I plan on adding more to this soon though, so keep an eye out for that.

Useful Links
Karat's C3G Figures by Power/Abilities

Cheers!

[Karat]

I to read What's inn an Order Marker, and it has helped me vastly when building an army, and I believe this is a great addition to that

[IAmBatman]

Cool! I hope you'll (eventually) sort out all the units in all of the categories.

[SirGalahad]

Great read!

vBulletin Message

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to CharosInCharge again.

[CharosInCharge]

Thanks guys

If anyone has any suggestions on how I can add to this, please let me know

[DEATHWALKER 1970]

I would like to see all the C3G figures categorized, maybe in spoilers, and seeing the OP updated regularly with new releases...
And it might be fun with a post once in a while that describes/breaks down an army of your choice/liking...

[tcglkn]

I think you should have people submit armies or parts of armies and suggest how they could improve/complete it.

[omael]

Great post, maybe you should add a link to the thread called something like C3G power analysis

[CharosInCharge]

Originally Posted by DEATHWALKER 1970

I would like to see all the C3G figures categorized, maybe in spoilers, and seeing the OP updated regularly with new releases...
And it might be fun with a post once in a while that describes/breaks down an army of your choice/liking...

I'll work on categorizing all of the units. In C3G some units can truly be placed in 2 categories... Well maybe just a handful I plan on updating it as new figures are released.
I do enjoy breaking down armies, so that is something I could do too

Originally Posted by tcglkn

I think you should have people submit armies or parts of armies and suggest how they could improve/complete it.

I am willing to do that for anyone that wants some army ideas, however an army I feel is complete may work for my playstyle but not for theirs. Feel free to throw a army at me though and I will critique it.

Originally Posted by omael

Great post, maybe you should add a link to the thread called something like C3G power analysis

Good suggestion. I am a fan of Karat's post and I'll link it here.

[Karat]

Speaking of which, I should probably start working on that again. It's been a while since I last looked at it.

[tcglkn]

If they can be placed in two categories, just make their name both colors and place them in both.

[CharosInCharge]

Originally Posted by tcglkn

If they can be placed in two categories, just make their name both colors and place them in both.