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2021 C3V Playtest Tournament (Congrats dok)

Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 2 until 10/4

Just finished with Vegie Dad.

Fun game; Kalagrith got a chance to shine (albeit in a loss).

I spent an early OM to develop Sonlen, which I think was a mistake as it let Vegie Dad charge in quick with 1 Basher + goblins (aided by Valda). I was able to kill the Basher, but not until the turn after he killed Raelin, which was a poor opening trade for me.

I had Kalagrith + greenscales on the hill protecting wanok most of the game after that, and Kalagrith killed a ton of goblins but was never able to kill the 2nd basher. Vegie Dad slowly killed Sonlen and the greenscales and eventually brought down Kalagrith (who had been dancing between the central 4 heights) with attacks from below. Vegie Dad won with 5 goblins, a full life basher, and a 2 life Urk (who did nothing but take a wanok wound).

I think that early Sonlen OM was the biggest mistake I made, since Raelin likely would have lasted most of the game without it.

gg!

Thoughts on testing figures:

Kalagrith - I like Kalagrith's SA a lot; it was fun and challenging to deploy (having to avoid hitting your own units, maximizing # of attacks while protecting the dragon, etc.). The dragon lasted a long time this game, even without Raelin, probably longer than it should have, but attacks of 2 aren't very high to do much damage with and the dragon had height most of the time. With the 7th life though survivability feels good (long, but not overpowering). I thought the figure played well, although I'm not sure where I'd slot it yet on a dragon power ranking list.
Playstyle wise, it feels most similar to Mimring with needing to avoid hitting your own screen with the SA, but definitely different enough to feel unique.

Ziggo - Ziggo hit his first Environment suit to avoid taking 3 wounds from a Kalagrith SA, which let him survive for a lot longer than he would have without it. After that, Ziggo mostly just held a high ground spot until he was used as expendable rabble for the last basher. Taunt wasn't super useful, but that's partly because I was using mostly SAs and didn't have a ton of greenscales for normal attacks.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 2 until 10/4

I played Shiftrex last Friday. I had his Kala/crypto/MW army, he had demons, corvor, and Caylus.

I moved Kala up early, but I forgot that Caylus boosts not just attack but move with Brutal Taskmaster, so shiftrex got three engagements I thought I was safe from. However, her defense held from the high perch, and it ended up being a beautiful mistake when I triple disengaged and fragged all three cultists (plus a hit on Caylus). The move glyph makes Kalagrith pretty amazing.

Corvor got out and held out for a very long time, killing Kalagrith and a crypto and taking another crypto down to 1 life. However, I was thinning out the cultists the whole time, and Corvor had 2 or 3 no-wound turns to take out Cultists for me. Shiftrex resigned when it was a 1-life Corvor, Johnny, and a wounded Caylus against 2 cryptos (one nearly dead) and the Marro Warriors.

Caylus was solid this game. Once Corvor is out a Caylus OM isn't worth the investment, but he's solid both in early game and, potentially, in late game too. The taskmaster boost was big and so was the one time Kala got enfeebled.

Kala was great. I had to take a big disengage to get the big hit in with her, but I like that risk/reward aspect to her play. She doesn't just sit behind a screen like the boring dragons do, she wants to mix it up.

Not much more to say here.

My perception of Kalagrath is much the same as it was last round. She is very good if she gets movement, I rolled pretty poorly on attacks vs her when I got the surround with 4a on my cultists early game and only got 1 for an LEA. That being said, the game showcased how she is a good risk vs reward investment.

I will echo the feeling on Father Caylus, he definitely is not worth an order marker while Corvor is on the field. Perhaps with a weaker demon but I'm not sure that you would want to rely on a weaker demon when their failure spells -1 cultist for you.

Enfeeble is good but Caylus being a melee figure means that you give up so much to use it, even being garunteed, that I don't think I'll use him often aside from early game or late game if my demon gets killed.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 2 until 10/4

Format: 550 points / 24 hexes
Map: Jabberwock
jabberwock.png

Glyphs: Valda, Wannok

Vydar_XLIII Army: Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the Kolbjorn moon? Mohican River Tribe x3, Teeth of the Makwa x 3, Brave Arrow, Kolbjorn
KnightOfLight Army: Marcus Decimus Antus Red Ants of Aunstrum x4, Kaemon Awa, Amberhive Queen, Marcus Decimus Gallus, Gen. Simon Fraser, Marcu Esenwein

Battle Report:
Spoiler Alert!
Surviving Units:
KnightOfLight Surviving Units: 5/16 Red Ants of Aunstrum, Kaemon Awa (3/4 wounds), Amberhive Queen (0/4 wounds), Marcus Decimus Gallus (0/6 wounds), Gen. Simon Fraser (0/3 wounds), Marcu Esenwein (2/6 wounds). 338 points surviving.
Vydar_XLIII Surviving Units: Brave Arrow (3/4 wounds), Kolbjorn (4/5 wounds). 28 points surviving.

Playtest Unit Statistics:
Spoiler Alert!

Additional Thoughts:
The Amberhive Queen didn’t do anything this game. Literally, no turns, no powers. No change in opinion.

Kolbjorn was really good with the Mohicans. Ranged bonding is good, no surprise to anyone. I wish I had more Mohicans and no Makwa this game. The idea of using the Makwa as a bonding screen didn’t really work well in practice since the MRT needs to be engaged to get the bonding. Kolbjorn got a few attacks off of war cries early until I brought in Brave Arrow to tie up Kaemon (which he failed at damaging for 3 rounds, but I digress). Giant Hunter would have been used in this game had KoL used the Amberhive Queen at all. After the game, KoL did say that the Giant Hunter power did scare him and made him play without her. So I guess it was indirectly helpful. Call to the Hunt is interesting in theory, but in this game the time that I would have swapped to Teeth came at the end of a round. I maybe could have done it a turn earlier but I don’t see it making much difference to the outcome. I’ll echo Dysole’s thought that this power is likely better with a late-game Hunter hero rather than the Makwa.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

Important Round 3 Announcement

If you and your opponent BOTH have 2 losses, please play your Round 3 games with the following changes:

Any set of players that would like to use these modifications for their match even if they do not have 2 losses we encourage to do so, but ONLY if both players agree to use these mods prior to army selections.

Spoiler Alert!


Round 3 is on Battlefield 23 (Dagmar, Holdir, Treasure Glyph x2).

The KnightofLight (2-0) v. BodaciousBlood (2-0) pool of armies is:
* Vortex spears : cathar spearmen X3, Altias of the Deep, Count Raymond, Byrikon the hiveless
* Marcus Decimus Antus : Red Ants of Aunstrum x4, Kaemon Awa, Amberhive Queen, Marcus Decimus Gallus, Gen. Simon Fraser, Marcu Esenwein
* Undead Legion.... IN SPACE! : Skeletons of Annellintia x2, Ataraxis, Cyprien Esenwein, Marcu Esenwein, Isamu
* Lizardfolk.... IN SPACE!: Greenscale Warriors x3, Maekor, Bambina, Etiana, Siiv
BodaciousBlood chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, KnightofLight chooses who places first.

The dok (2-0) v. Vydar's Girlfriend (2-0) pool of armies is:
* Arby's new Bacon, Rats, and Lizard special: deathreavers x1, Janos, Bambina, Rygarn, Maekor, Raelin (RotV)
* Sci Fi Double Feature: Greenscale Warriors x3, Goblin Slashers x2, Altais of the Deep, Ziggo, Kyntela Gwyn, Bol
* The Golden Queen: Greenscale Warriors x4, Kalagrith, Kaemon Awa, Eldgrim the Viking Champion
* The Bee Queen: Amberhive Protectors x4, Amberhive Queen, Byrikon the Hiveless, Major Q10, Siiv
dok chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Vydar's Girlfriend chooses who places first.

Please contact Vydar_XLIII to schedule games with Vydar's gf

The Knight of Scape (2-0) v. shiftrex (1-1) pool of armies is:
* The Guild of 90ish Point Heroes (+Ninjas): Janos, C'Rik, Rygarn, Etiana, Wastewalker Gage, Byrikon the Hiveless, Isamu, Otonashi
* Skeletons in Space: Skeletons of Annellintia x3, Ataraxis the Starlich, Marcu Esenwein, Iskra Esenwein
* The Court of Flames: Crypt Guardian x4 , Drow Chainfighter x2, Marro Warriors, Kalagrith, Eldgrim, Marcu Eldgrim
* Peaceful Missionaries: Acolytes of Vorganund x5, Corvor, Johnny Shotgun Sullivan, Master Caylus
Knight of Scape chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, shiftrex chooses who places first.

The S1R_ART0R1US (1-1) v. superfrog (1-1) pool of armies is:
* Buzz-killers: Amberhive Protectors x4, Byrikon the Hiveless, Amberhive Queen, Sujoah
* Fire From Above: Greenscale Warriors x4, Marro Warriors, Kalagrith, Syvarris
* Null and Void: Greenscale Warriors x4, Altais of the Deep, Raelin (RotV), Marro Warriors, Isamu
* Rebels with Causes: Capuan Gladiators x3, 53rd N. Carolina Sharpshooters x3, Crixus, Capt. Nathaniel Blount, Bol
S1R_ART0R1US chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, superfrog chooses who places first.

The kevindola (1-1) v. Captain Stupendous (1-1) pool of armies is:
* Acolytic Corverter: Acolytes of Vorganund x6, Corvor the Tainted One, Master Caylus, Marcu Esenwein
* Hunter's Moon: Mohican River Tribe x5, Kolbjorn, Van Nessing, Bol
* Not the Boss of Me!: Capuan Gladiators x3, 53rd N. Carolina Sharpshooters x3, Crixus, Capt. Nathaniel Blount, Otonashi
* Greil Mercenaries: Janos, Maekor, Bambina, C'Rik, Etiana, Maltis Tez
Captain Stupendous chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, kevindola chooses who places first.

The Dysole (1-1) v. Muskie (1-1) pool of armies is:
* Hit Me Baby one More Tribe: Mohican River Tribe x3, Teeth of the Makwa x 3, Brave Arrow, Kolbjorn
* Wherever I May Rome: Romans Legionnairres x4, Capt. Nathaniel Blount, Marcus Decimus Gallus, Azurite Warlord, Theracus
* Booooo!: Specters of Aldornx4, Ataraxis, Iskra, Rechets of Bogdan, Marcu Esenwein, Bol, Isamu
* Fire from above: Nhah Scirh Cultistsx4, Greenscale Warriors x1, Kalagrith
Muskie chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Dysole chooses who places first.

The Blue Trails (1-1) v. Sir Heroscape (1-1) pool of armies is:
* Never Doubt a Man Named ""Innocent"": Acolytes of Vorganund x3, Master Caylus, Skull Demon, Cathar Spearmen x2, Count Raymond, Marcu Esenwein
* Away Down South: Armoc Vipers x3, 53rd North Carolina Sharpshooters x2, Azurite Warlord, Capt. Nathaniel Blount, Guilty McCreech
* Come at me Bro: Goblin Slashers x5, Bugbear Basher x3, Ziggo
* Alien Abduction: Children of the Dark Star x4, Gräbermund, Raelin (RotV), Swaysil, Marcu Esenwein
Blue Trails chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Sir Heroscape chooses who places first.

The Vydar_XLIII (1-1) v. vegie's dad (1-1) pool of armies is:
* Would you like to make Janos your default browser?: deathreavers x3, Janos, Bambina, Etiana, Maekor
* Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the Kolbjorn moon?: Mohican River Tribe x3, Teeth of the Makwa x 3, Brave Arrow, Kolbjorn
* Ziggo and the Blashers: goblin slashers x 5, bugbear bashers x2, Ziggo, Urk
* Big dragon, little dragon: Greenscales Warriors x2, Kalagrith, Sonlen, Raelin
vegie's dad chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Vydar_XLIII chooses who places first."

The vegietarian18 (1-1) v. AgentWard (0-2) pool of armies is:
* Why do the stars take so long to die?: Zombies x4, Zombie Hulk x2, Ataraxis the Star Lich, Marcu, Isamu
* Expeditious: Greenscales Warriors x2, Maekor, Bambina, Janos, Rygarn
* Sneaky or Tricky ?: Goblin Slashers x3, Nottingham Brigand x4, Master Caylus, Ziggo, Elaria, Arthur of Sherwood
* Z'THOTH!!!!!!!: Children of the Dark Star x4, Z'Thoth, Gräbermund
vegietarian18 chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, AgentWard chooses who places first.

The SchismaticSounds v. Chris Perkins pool of armies is:
* : Blade Gruts x2, Ataraxis, Isamu, Marcu, Iskra, Ornak, Bol, Torin
* Treacherous Deviants: Children of the Dark Star x2, Gräbermund, Death Chasers of Thesk x2, Gothlok, Guilty Mcreech
* God Save the Queen: Amberhive Protectors x5, Amberhive Queen, Byrikon the Hiveless, Eltahale
* Choose (Your Dragon) Wisely: Greenscale Warriors x4, Altais of the Deep, Othkurik the Black Dragon
SchismaticSounds chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Chris Perkins chooses who places first.

The Heroscaper Guy v. mtl1998 pool of armies is:
* : Children of the Dark Star x4, Z'Thoth, Gräbermund, Bol
* : Goblin Slashers x3, Nottingham Brigand x4, Bugbear Basher x2, Ziggo, Elaria
* : Acolytes of Vorganund x4, Caylus, Corvor, Kaemon Awa
* : Greenscale Warriors x3, Altais of the Deep, Krav Maga Agents, Sentinels of Grax
Heroscaper Guy chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, mtl1998 chooses who places first.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

The SchismaticSounds v. Chris Perkins pool of armies is:
* : Blade Gruts x2, Ataraxis, Isamu, Marcu, Iskra, Ornak, Bol, Torin
* Treacherous Deviants: Children of the Dark Star x2, Gräbermund, Death Chasers of Thesk x2, Gothlok, Guilty Mcreech
* God Save the Queen: Amberhive Protectors x5, Amberhive Queen, Byrikon the Hiveless, Eltahale
* Choose (Your Dragon) Wisely: Greenscale Warriors x4, Altais of the Deep, Othkurik the Black Dragon
SchismaticSounds chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Chris Perkins chooses who places first.

Playing Saturday (10/2) @ 10 am Eastern.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

Vegie Dad posting
Round 2 playtest game against Chris Perkins. He played my Kalagrith/greenscale army. I played the Slasher/Bashers and Ziggo.
The matchup was both of my armies and I wanted to see how much Kalagrith could kill with the scorched earth power. Kalagrith did not disappoint for kills, but did disappoint on durability. The slashers were constantly moving away from Kalagrith and giving her free reign to scorch. A normal army would crowd the dragon and force LEAs. I think Kalagrith needs to be able to take LEAs without punishment. This would improve the dragon quite a bit. If C3V wants a C dragon leave powers as is. If C3V wants a B+ dragon give it stealth flying.
The other figure that was tested was Ziggo. He pairs well with the slashers as nice range support. I used the Bashers as bonders more often. I was able to pull off and expendable rabble with the Bashers using Ziggo that freed up a height attack on Kalagrith. That was Ziggo's highlight. I would rate him at a B support figure.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

Just finished up a crazy game with SchismaticSounds.

I opened fairly conservatively, building a screen of bees around the queen (who moved forward just 1 turn to cover most of the middle of the map with her auras). Schismatic also moved slowly, trying to keep the children & death chasers relatively even and together across the map.

I took a few initiative risks with +1 for Byrikon & +8 Dagmar. All the initiative risks paid off, but the corresponding normal attacks (I was sending bees outside of the auras to get heighted attacks) mostly missed, just killing 1 death chaser. I lost about 6 bees through these risks, as they were unable to retreat after missing most of the 2 v 2 attacks and still being engaged when the next round started.

The middle game consisted of children & death chasers charging my position around the queen. Most turns I was bonding with Byrikon for a ranged attack and then taking 1-2 bee SAs and 1-2 bee regular attacks. I was using SAs into children and regular attacks into death chasers mostly. I lost a lot of bees quickly though without killing a ton (dice weren't with me, I was at 37.74% attack at this point and Schismatic was at 63.16% attack and 42.86 % defense). I was focusing on getting both squads at/below 1 full activation though and despite not having much dice I eventually removed 4 children & 4 death chasers. I had lost about 12-13 bees at this point and had a wound on the queen.

Grabbermund then moved slowly around the right side of the map, grabbing Dagmar, while my remaining bees & Byrikon fought Gothlok and a few DCs/children on the left side of the map. Gothlok was a tank, taking over a round for me to get any wounds through at all, but once the wounds started to land Gothlok fell in just 2 turns to Byrikon + bee regular attacks from height. The remaining DCs managed another wound on the queen while Guilty came forward, but he wasn't able to do much. The queen quickly chased him down and Guilty died after 1 attack each from her & Byrikon. The children were all dead & 1 DC was left.

Grabbermund used this opportunity to sneak into my SZ and kill a full life Eltahale in just 1 turn via the SA. The 2nd attack did 1 wound and Grabbermund then rolled a 19 (+1 for the wound) to swallow Eltahale. Yikes, that SA hurt there.

I had the Queen (2 life), Byrikon, & 2 bees v. Grabbermund & 1 DC at this point.

I had one bee on Holdir, and the Queen charged Grabbermund, dealing 3 wounds, while a bee finished off the last DC. Grabbermund killed the Queen in 1 turn though via the SA. Grabbermund also killed the one bee near him. I then got a Byrikon heighted attack with Holdir off on Grabbermund that did 3 wounds and positioned my last bee as a blocker between Byrikon and Grabbermund.

Grabber won init and killed that last bee. Byrikon grabbed the Scarab of Invulnerability glyph and put 1 more wound on Grabber. Grabber then moved onto height and took the SA. The 1st attack did 1 wound, the 2nd would have done 2 more but the Scarab hit a 20 to ignore both of them. The 3rd & 4th attacks did 1 combined wound, leaving me with a 1 life Byrikon.

Byrikon then took an attack up at Grabber that did 1 more wound, putting him to 7 wounds total. Had the old version of Grabber been in play, he would have died, but with his 1 extra life it wasn't over yet. Grabber then tried another SA into Byrikon, but did 0 wounds across all 4 attacks (amazing luck for me there).

I won init the next round, moved Byrikon on even ground, and killed Grabber with a 1/3 -> 0/3 roll to end the game. Had that attack failed, Byrikon would have had his 1st chance to use 'Rapid Response', but it didn't end up being needed.

I won with a 1 life Byrikon in a super close endgame.

gg Schismatic!

Thoughts on testing units:

Amberhive Queen : Allowed for over 10 frenzy opportunities (I lost track of the exact # but I think it was 10-12) and I hit 2 or 3 of them. Only once did it allow me to kill something that I otherwise wouldn't have. I got a ton of SAs in, mostly via the Queen's aura, but they didn't do much this game. Again only approximate #s, but the SA from the bees was roughly 3 / 9 for doing any damage. The queen did some wounds on her own in the late game though into DCs, Guilty, and Grabber (the latter with the aid of the Holdir glyph). Her 6 move flying let her catch those stragglers easily enough and the 4 defense held everyone off except Grabber.

Byrikon : MVP of the game. He blocked 2 attacks in the mid-game with 2/2 defense rolls (lower defense b/c children or Gothlok aura) and then did most of the big damage to Grabber in the late game. He also put a few wounds on Gothlok mid-game and killed a few DCs / Children with his ranged attack. I very much used him as a ranged bonding hero throughout the game, trying to keep him relatively safe and alive as his attack is more than the bees can throw out on their own. He definitely over-lived what he should have done, especially late-game v. Grabber, but Byrikon put in a ton of work. Would have had a chance to use 'Rapid Response' on the last turn if I had needed the 2nd turn. was in range for the init boost throughout the whole game until the queen died but that +1 never would have changed the init outcome. Personally I liked the +2 better with a pure bees build, but I can see how it might be too strong when he's actually taking OM1 turns in a non-bees build.

Grabbermund : Scary figure. That 19 that swallowed a 5-life Eltahale was crushing and would have lost me the game if Byrikon hadn't been so insanely good after it. I'm not a huge fan of figures with that much built-in variance (a certain NGS mind shackle from ScapeCon comes to mind), but he was definitely a force I had to work around the whole game. I kept most of my bee hive away from his threat range almost the whole game, which forced him to take some moves without any attacks but also let him flank around to get Eltahale. Clamber might be his most useful power though on the whole, as I was unable to really kite with Byrikon in the end-game because elevation didn't stop Grabber from catching me right away. Generally a ranged figure can kite a 2-hex non-flying figure well via terrain denial, but not Grabber.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

I think Kalagrith needs to be able to take LEAs without punishment. This would improve the dragon quite a bit. If C3V wants a C dragon leave powers as is. If C3V wants a B+ dragon give it stealth flying.

I agree that Kalagrith needs some help with mobility.

Stealth flying is one option, but allowing you to pick which hexes you fly over get hit by the dragon breath (so you don't burn your own screen) would be another possible change that would solve some of the same issues.

That may not be the thematic design you're going for, but I wanted to suggest it as a possible alternative to stealth flying.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

Janos had an extremely dominant win today in my game with AgentWard. I won with only three wounds on Maekor and one wound on Bambina, no other casualties. It was a repeat matchup of my two armies, who also faced last round:

AgentWard: Zombies x4, Zombie Hulk x2, Ataraxis, Marcu, Isamu
vegietarian18: Greenscales x2, Janos, Bambina, Maekor, Rygarn

I went R1OM1 Greenscales to develop them up before I had any targets in range. Then, with the help of Rygarn, I fired off four consecutive Janos Expeditions R1OM2 R1OM3 R2OM1 R2OM2. The sheer offensive output of that completely melted through the twelve Zombies and their Hulks. Maekor's Plasma Blade landed two bonus kills on Zombies, Bambina was doing great with her ranged attack and occasionally Grav Hammer, and of course Janos was tearing things up with consistent Tracking Fire shots. I was on fire for skulls but it was a ridiculous showing. On the other side, the Zombies weren't able to do much at all, since I got into Onslaught denial locations, and the Ataraxis aura was completely offset by Company Defensive Formation. I barely used the Greenscales, one of them eventually got to Holdir but that was just for killing Marcu faster. A couple others took the long way over to knock a Zombie off Dagmar. After the initial quadruple Expedition it was really just cleanup, and I ended things in Round 4 or 5.

One thing I will say is I love playing this Hybrid Merc army. But I think it's too good.

Janos: Before I was hesitant because the army is so fun, but after this game I think I can confidently say he needs to be toned down. The offensive output he gives is just ridiculous. I know there's been some talk of a price increase, but I'd rather see a nerf to Tracking Fire. I think he should be relatively cheap so the Mercs can be playable below 600. So, I think reduce Tracking Fire to base attack 2, second attack 3 if on same figure. Probably remove the Rygarn synergy as well.

Bambina: The best showing I've seen from her. Grav Hammer was nice to throw Ataraxis into a hole when it was time, but just a good game for her normal ranged attack of 2. She very often got height and killed Zombies. This build more than others asks for a conservative Bambina since she also boosts the Greenscale attack. She's the crux of this army and makes it work, but I think this build is pretty cool, and she's not that OP. Maybe lower defense to 4 if you want to weaken her, but I would leave her as is.

Maekor: Great game for him too. He got the Heroic Rune Treasure Glyph which made his Plasma Blade lethal. Company Defensive formation was important as always. I would like to see Plasma Blade nerfed into the traditional Cleave, to make it easier to play around. There is not much you can do against a ranged Cleave. Did not use Lizardfolk War Cry but it's amazing as a way to make Janos not an Ulginesh figure. If Janos dies I still have bonding between my heroes.

Ataraxis: Not a whole lot she could do when her forces lost by so much. AW used Necrotizing Wormhole to move her up faster than I did when I played the army, which is cool but it sends a Zombie back into your startzone, costs you Zombie development. Her aura has felt a little small to me actually, but she's been going against a powerhouse build. Estivara has a 6 range aura, I think that could be appropriate here. The LEA lockdown was irrelevant. I tried to make this army a good place for her to repeatedly come back, with multiple Zombie Hulks and Marcu and Isamu. But Zombie Hulks just are not good, and you can easily ignore Ataraxis until the Hulks are dead.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

A pretty interesting team matchup, very well played by Chris.

The amount of times a difference was made by a single number felt quite high.

Starting off: even though the first round wasn't important to win initiative, Initiative was lost by 1 with Byrikons +1 where he would have tied if he still had his +2.
My attack rolls were certainly favoring and Chris's defense unfavoring through the early to mid game with his bees dropping like flies.
Despite the heavy loss of bees, the feeling of early victory was somewhat deceiving where my squads began to run out by the same time the bees began to run out. With Grabermund on the side, there wasn't many options left for multiple attacks when guilty tried to get involved and take advantage of Gothloks aura. Guilty killed a bee before getting charged.

One unexpected but perhaps game changing fumble to note with this match was that Gothlok had grabbed Scarab of Invulnerability. It seemed neither of us were too familiar with it's use. I for some reason thought a 1-15 had no effect so didn't immediately care that I'd forgotten to use it and it wasn't until after Gothlok had fell and a couple turns had passed before I realized I had to drop the glyph. The glyph would have had no reason to go unused which could have lasted Gothlok a moment longer, but most importantly wouldn't have been available for Byrikon in his clutching late game.

Checking Eltahale before the game, I was relieved to know that she was medium, (despite being a Goliath). I knew that Grabermund would be my only chance of dealing with her and that engaging him with bees would be forfeit. Keeping him on the side and landing on Dagmar, I'd win the next initiative. Gothlok dieing the previous turn,
winning initiative I advanced Grabermund. Mcreech was then taken care of.
Grabermund went in on Eltahale, inflicting 1 wound, rolling for Swallow twice then a third time with a Child, and then a fourth time, rolling a 19, Swallowing full life Eltahale.
Suddenly things felt winnable again.
The following engagement with the AH Queen and bee, Grabermund did quick work with his rending claws, but not without taking some solid hits from the Queen and Byrikon following.

The last two rounds, Byrikon survives by the skin of his teeth, rolling a 20 with scarab to block 2 wounds. Also rolled a 17 on Byrikon for swallow with a +2 from wounds. Lucky guy.
Byrikon then inflicts a wound, leaving Grabermund at 7, what would have killed him before his 8 life change. Byrikon wins the next initiative. I didn't realize he did not receive the initiative bonus without having his Hive mind partner, but it did not matter here.
Byrikon inflicts the final wound on Grabermund ending the game, and as noted would have had a second attack.

Amberhive Queen
Frenzied failed about 8 times, succeeded 2-3.
Was positioned very well by Chris the majority of the game. Was nice to finally see her used well in this game. Although the Frenzies did not go through very much during the game, there were many attempts for them, and the prospect of a continuous frenzy was threatening.

Amberhive Protectors
Also put to good use. Even though their normal attacks were weak and defense minute, they kept a steady blockade on my figures while getting many attacks in and had several height attacks, though they didn’t go through often. The access to both the AH Queen and Byrikon as bonding options felt really nice for them to position a wide area for Stings and Frenzies. Most of their stings did not go through this game, with a rate of about 4/12. The stings give the Protectors a nice lethality in numbers, but at a potentially not worth it cost.
The earlier of the game I kept track of whether they bonded or strategized, with x3 bonding and x2 taking a turn with 6. There may have been 1 more strat turn, but the rest were bonds.

Byrikon
Surprisingly had the most meaningful actions this game, making up for lacking rolls elsewhere, where it counted. Byrikon almost singlehandedly slew Gothlok and dealt half of Grabermunds life. He was very affective as a range bonder for the Bees and having him as an alternative to the Queen was a strong combination. His Initiative bonus was never used stackingly this game, perhaps because of its decrease, but also since his hive mind partner, AH Queen, was killed before a late game initiative roll.

Children of the Dark Star
There were two times, I took a turn with 5 CotDS. 1 of which, 4 were locked up by 2 bees. And 2 times they took a turn with 4, helping them get across the board.
Did not keep track of their Otherwordly Stench, but it was mostly used against bees which stood no chance in defending with such debuffs, Gothloks included.
Spirits of the Void went into affect twice without success.

Grabermund
Was kept slightly behind ranks on the side most of the game, in fear of being swarmed in any way. Wasn't till diminishing numbers that he took move around the outside onto Dagmar then onto Eltahale who he managed to Swallow in one turn on his last roll with a 19. He defeated the 2 health queen and bee with render claws, the last bee, and had a high chance to take out Byrikon in the end as well.
His last attack on Byrikon, he had the option of attacking with height for 5. I took the rending claws approach and did not get a single wound (Got one swallow roll)with Byrikon's higher defense rolls. So far in the times I have played Grabermund, his normal attack has had little if any opportunity. This last attack felt like somewhere it could have and maybe should have been used despite the haste thinking rending claws would finish things off.
6 Movement on a double spaced figure turns out to be not the greatest. 6 Movement with Clammer, watch out, this guy is quick across the board. Personally, I really like Grabermund how he is. A lot of fun to play, and the extra 1 life gives him that much more time for a fun time with him (Aka Swallowing Madness time). It is nice that he gets so many opportunities for swallowing, and the wounds helping with that is a very fun theme. I can see how his kit could be a bit stronger than not, and he does dwarf Grimnak in his multi attack, multi unit swallowing potential, ofc costing more. The only main negative that comes to mind situationally would be if he were up against more Large figures.
To note once more, his normal attack in the majority of cases is not preferred and so finds little use.
 
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Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

Very thought provoking game with Captain Stupendous last night.

He played his Janos Hero build (no Rygarn) - Janos, Bambina, Maekor, Etiana, C'Rik, Matlis

I played my Mohican/Hunter build (Mohicans x5, Nessing, Bol, Kolbjorn)

Round 1
These Mercenary Order Markers and orders (especially without Rygarn) are so fascinating to predict for the opponent and interesting to know what kind of situation you will be playing into

Captain Stupendous goes Maekor-Etiana (activates Maekor)-Janos (activaties-Bambina-Etiana)

I roll out all Mohicans and thanks to losing initiaitve I am able to take 3 potshots at Maekor (all miss)

2nd OM I go ahead and engage Maekor and the Mohicans/Kobljorn do 2 wounds to the Lizard. But the 4 ranged attacks kill both Mohicans (2 from Janos, 1 from Bambina, 1 from Etiana).

I keep sending out Mohicans but all 3 ranged attacks miss in final turn

Round 2
-Janos wins a nice initiative and claims the Bracers of Teleportation and puts 3 wounds on Kolbjorn. Janos activates Bambina (ranged attack kills Mohican) and Etiana (1 wound onto Kobl, 4 total) and really podding up around the treasure location.
-My 3 ranged attacks from Mohicans all miss again
-Maekor misses an attack and attempt on Plasma, but Bambina is activated and kills Kolbjorn
-another 3 misses from Mohicans (9 blocked attacks in a row)
-Etiana activates Maekor who kills a Mohican
-The gaps in the hero wall and my spreading out of the Mohicans gives me the opportunity to engage Janos with 2 Mohicans (no living Tribesman sadly), but they put 4 wounds on Janos to end the round


Round 3
-Janos wins a huge initiative (otherwise faced an attack of 4/3/2 with 2 life left. He zips out of engagement using the Teleportation Bracers and kills a Mohican. Maekor plasmas the 2 Mohicans who had previously engaged Janos, and Bambina moves into the startzone engaging Van Ness and 2 Mohicans (Hammer blocked)

-In a game turning chain of events though, the Mohicans attacks of 2 put the last 2 wounds on the 4 defense Janos to kill him.

-Maekor moves, but is far away from the action so no attacks. (Part of what really helped is not engaging the Mercenary pod directly. The Mohicans range really helped in splitting up the Mercs and minimizing their defensive boosts and exposing their melee heroes) It was part of what made this match so fun so planning around these powers and weaknesses.

-Tough call on whether to engage Maekor or not and give him that extra defense but I decide to eventually (1 wound, 3 total)

-Super AWESOME COMBO! Van Nessing was 11 spaces away from Etiana, but Bambina activated with Support Fire uses the grav hammer to shift Van Nessing into range for an Etiana attack. Both attacks do 1 wound to Nessing

-Mohicans kill Maekor

Round 4
-Van Nessing gets his first order marker, disengages (miss) from Bambina and puts 1 wound on Bambina and then 2 wounds on Etiana
-Etiana's range shot is missed via concealment
-Mohicans kill Etiana
-NO OM (Etiana)
-Mohicans do 2 wounds to C'Rik
-Bambina kills a Mohican


That's pretty much game. Bambina would kill 2 more Mohicans (1 with Hammer, 1 from Range), but C'Rik (0/7 with new projector d20) and Maltis would never get a turn and eventually Bambina went down as well.

I won with 4 life Nessing, Bol, and 5 Mohicans


I will edit with powers/thoughts on individual units later today

EDIT - Powers/Thoughts

Kobljorn - Moved twice, activated once (blocked attack by Maekor). I think he was fine here even with only 1 activation. I made a bad placement with my Pre-Round 2 movement (could have moved him out of an initiative loss threat range). But he still drew a lot of fire that in the end saved probably 3 Mohicans which was worth it really. Had he survived I could definitely have seen a use to shift to Van Nessing with Call to the Hunt.

Janos - Killed 2 Mohicans and 3 wounds on Kolbjorn. I like everything except his personal strength. I would not raise his points, but I would like to see some combination of range=4 on tracking fire, reduction of total attack dice on tracking fire, life down to 5. I think some combination of those 3 will lock him in.

Bambina - Also really like Bambina. She killed 4 Mohicans and put wounds on Kolbjorn and Nessing, also had multiple uses of Grav Hammer, the biggest one being that tech move combo with Etiana on Nessing. This was the first time I really saw the ranged attack be significant. It was really damaging to the Mohicans and quite annoying.

Maekor - Having range army really was crucial to neutering Maekor as I was for the most part able to do this game. Maekor did kill 3 Mohicans (1 died from Plasma arc), but having range I was able to minimize both plasma arc targets and defensive formation. I think Maekor is good to go for me.

Etiana - Rolled lots of blanks on defense which was brutal, but utilized that 9 range 3 attack really well when able. I like how Support Fire works although probably a line of sight or range requirement would be good.

C'Rik - Went 0/6 on project although 2 of them would have been successes under the old rule. Something for the design team to think about. Otherwise died in those 6 attacks and never received an OM. It was of note that because of the ranged army and the early pings, C'Rik was left behind in the expidition. It seems in the other reports I've read he was a critical front line force, but not here.
 
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Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

@BodaciousBlood and I will be playing our round three game tonight at 7:15. He will be using my red ant army: red ants X4, Marcus, kaemon, gen Simon, Marcu, amberhive queen.
I will be using my cathar army: cathar X3, byrkion, count Raymond, altias.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

@BodaciousBlood and I will be playing our round three game tonight at 7:15. He will be using my red ant army: red ants X4, Marcus, kaemon, gen Simon, Marcu, amberhive queen.
I will be using my cathar army: cathar X3, byrkion, count Raymond, altias.

I took the victory over KnightofLight, last night with the ants/Queen bee!

Altais came out to bomb the start zone and immediately killed 3 ants. Unfortunately, that is all the dragon was able to accomplish, as Kaemon Awa dispatched Altais swiftly.

I moved the Queen out early to take the treasure glyph and draw cathar attention away from Kaemon. Kaemon then took over slaying every spearman that came his way. He only took one wound this game and it was from a braced spear engagement.

Then the ants came and were able to engage from the startzone thanks to MDG and Gen. Simon Fraser. Luckily, KoL's d20 wasn't loving him today. Only 2 or 3 ants were killed.

I rolled 50% success with the Queen's frenzy ability. This was critical in some key engagements with Cathar and each time I succeeded with a frenzy, the Cathar fell. (Once again due to some sad dice from KoL)

Byrikon is a lot less powerful with the +1 initiative boost when compared to the previous design of +2. However, he was also bested by my +11 initiative boost from Dagmar and Gen. Fraser.

In the endgame, the ants killed Byrikon before he could move and Kaemon kited away from Raymond and shot with normal attacks on height and with the Heroic Rune to kill Raymond in 2 shots.

GG, KoL! I loved your armies!


THOUGHTS:

Queen:
I think the combo of MDG, Gen. Fraser, and the Amberhive Queen make the red ants a SCARY combo. In fact, I would go so far to say that they could tussle with some A-tier armies.

The Queen, herself is tough. She drew plenty of attacks from the Cathar and was protected by the defense boost. She didn't dish out any damage, but she was only activated once this game and she did her part by stirring the ants into a consistent frenzy.


Altais:
Altais is tough to master. Its abilities remind me of Othkurik, with a slightly better Special Attack and lacking Lurking Ambush. A slight point deduction would be beneficial. I'm thinking 140 or 150. OR a cool adjustment would be a range increase of the special like Zelrig. That will make Altais way better. So the question is... Is Altais more like Othkurik or Zelrig? If Othkurik, Altais needs less cost. If Zelrig, Altais needs more range.

The opportunity to set up braced spear engagements was cool but hard to set up.

Byrikon:
Byrikon was an endgame nightmare when paired with another solid hero. Now, with the much-needed reduction in initiative boost, he is much less potent. Tough to gather much else from this matchup.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

Playtesting Map #3

Me: Acolytes of Vorganund x4, Caylus, Corvor, Kaemon Awa
mtl1998: Greenscale Warriors x3, Altais of the Deep, Krav Maga Agents, Sentinels of Grax
Which units survived?: 2 sentinels
Spoiler Alert!

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?

I used enfeeblement one round (so 2 of mtls turns) on his dragon, which let him not use his Special and reduced his normal giving quite some power in my favor. His taskmaster boost was used in two rounds, causing some damage and making some speedy clerics.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?

I rather liked him as a turn one play, letting the clerics speed out and cause some damage, its not broken as it requires an om on him, but hes not weak cause he can do stuff like enfeeblement also providing support for the acolytes. Also liked the dragon, but I should have maybe played around their special a little more, but sleepy things. It was a fun close game (stupid sentinels regening like each turn).
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

550 Points
Map: Battlefield 23
Glyphs: Dagmar, Holdir, and 2 Treasure Glyphs
@Heroscaper Guy - Army: Acolytes of Vorganund x4, Caylus, Corvor, Kaemon Awa
mtl1998 - Army: Greenscale Warriors x3, Altais of the Deep, Krav Maga Agents, Sentinels of Grax

Which units survived?
Both Sentinels

Battle Report:
Spoiler Alert!


How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?
Altais: Vortex was used twice (would have been more but was enfeebled by Caylus) and killed 2 Acolytes on 1 skull attacks. I think 7 different figures had to defend against the two attacks in total. The movement part of this attack is really fun as the attacker. I would also say the attack part of the attack did not feel too powerful because I never rolled more than 1 skull.

Caylus: I really like the figure. The movement and attack bonus is really good with the acolytes. You can put Caylus in a position with Round 1 OM1 where the acolytes in the startzone are faster than normal and the acolytes that have already moved forward once are speedy with Caylus to threaten a big swing turn. Enfeebled is a good power too. It was very good against Atlais and forced the dragon into engagement. I could have waited another round and hung back but I liked that I had a decision with what to do with my weakened figure.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?

I thought both armies were fun. I had fun playing Altais with the greenscales and playing against the acolytes and Corvor being supported by Caylus. I think Altais is pretty balanced. It's easy to hit multiple figures but not as easy to actually hit them hard. Caylus felt like a figure I wanted to get rid of but alternatively could have done just as well getting rid of the acolytes instead.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

@BodaciousBlood and I will be playing our round three game tonight at 7:15. He will be using my red ant army: red ants X4, Marcus, kaemon, gen Simon, Marcu, amberhive queen.
I will be using my cathar army: cathar X3, byrkion, count Raymond, altias.

I took the victory over KnightofLight, last night with the ants/Queen bee!

Altais came out to bomb the start zone and immediately killed 3 ants. Unfortunately, that is all the dragon was able to accomplish, as Kaemon Awa dispatched Altais swiftly.

I moved the Queen out early to take the treasure glyph and draw cathar attention away from Kaemon. Kaemon then took over slaying every spearman that came his way. He only took one wound this game and it was from a braced spear engagement.

Then the ants came and were able to engage from the startzone thanks to MDG and Gen. Simon Fraser. Luckily, KoL's d20 wasn't loving him today. Only 2 or 3 ants were killed.

I rolled 50% success with the Queen's frenzy ability. This was critical in some key engagements with Cathar and each time I succeeded with a frenzy, the Cathar fell. (Once again due to some sad dice from KoL)

Byrikon is a lot less powerful with the +1 initiative boost when compared to the previous design of +2. However, he was also bested by my +11 initiative boost from Dagmar and Gen. Fraser.

In the endgame, the ants killed Byrikon before he could move and Kaemon kited away from Raymond and shot with normal attacks on height and with the Heroic Rune to kill Raymond in 2 shots.

GG, KoL! I loved your armies!


THOUGHTS:

Queen:
I think the combo of MDG, Gen. Fraser, and the Amberhive Queen make the red ants a SCARY combo. In fact, I would go so far to say that they could tussle with some A-tier armies.

The Queen, herself is tough. She drew plenty of attacks from the Cathar and was protected by the defense boost. She didn't dish out any damage, but she was only activated once this game and she did her part by stirring the ants into a consistent frenzy.


Altais:
Altais is tough to master. Its abilities remind me of Othkurik, with a slightly better Special Attack and lacking Lurking Ambush. A slight point deduction would be beneficial. I'm thinking 140 or 150. OR a cool adjustment would be a range increase of the special like Zelrig. That will make Altais way better. So the question is... Is Altais more like Othkurik or Zelrig? If Othkurik, Altais needs less cost. If Zelrig, Altais needs more range.

The opportunity to set up braced spear engagements was cool but hard to set up.

Byrikon:
Byrikon was an endgame nightmare when paired with another solid hero. Now, with the much-needed reduction in initiative boost, he is much less potent. Tough to gather much else from this matchup.


Thank you @BodaciousBlood! Good report of our game last night! It was hard to get a solid opinion of the new byrikon as he died before he got a turn, however, I will echo Bodacious' thoughts on how he was considerably less potent with the toned down initiative buff! He went from a late game monster to a non-factor, due to this overall positive change I think he will be more limited to amberhive protector builds and the explorer/mercenary builds. I only say that because for 60 points, I'd rather have marro warriors and isamu then +4 to initiative. Altias did not perform well this game due to me overestimating her survivability. However, I think a slight point decrease is a great idea. The attack of three really limits the offensive output, but too much range could make it impossible for squads to get at her due to her figure movement ability.
Despite my awful luck with the dice (35% skulls, 25% shields), it was an absolute pleasure seeing my ant army function as intended! I felt the queen played her part really well! She tanked attacks really well, and the frenzied swarm was critical in killing a few of the cathar. She seemed solid to me! GG BodaciousBlood!
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

The S1R_ART0R1US (1-1) v. superfrog (1-1) pool of armies is:
* Buzz-killers: Amberhive Protectors x4, Byrikon the Hiveless, Amberhive Queen, Sujoah
* Fire From Above: Greenscale Warriors x4, Marro Warriors, Kalagrith, Syvarris
* Null and Void: Greenscale Warriors x4, Altais of the Deep, Raelin (RotV), Marro Warriors, Isamu
* Rebels with Causes: Capuan Gladiators x3, 53rd N. Carolina Sharpshooters x3, Crixus, Capt. Nathaniel Blount, Bol

Map was Battlefield 23.


Superfrog took initiative and the first three OMs were moving up bees/GSW. I moved up with my Marro Warriors who combined to put two wounds on Sujoah, who I saw as the biggest threat since punching through 2/3 defense on my heroes would be easy and the d20 could end Kalagrith prematurely. With the Queen in a nice spot, four bees took out the four Marro warriors (dying in the process) with the help of 3/3 frenzy rolls. I hadn’t expected to lose all of the MW in a turn, planning on having them fall back and clone but instead lost my OM3.

I took initiative (19 to SF’s 12+1 from Byrikon), and with Syvarris put another wound on Sujoah. SF flew her onto low ground the next turn to kill Syvarris with a 2 wound attack and two stings in a row-hot d20! I flew Kalagrith over to Sujoah, opting to use the normal and boosted greenscales (almost all attacks with height) to finish off the last three wounds but only got two of them. Luckily for me Kalagrith blocked Sujoah's attempt at stinging back, but then took 5 wounds from stinging bees who were now out of frenzy range. On my OM3 I moved Kalagrith back towards my SZ and finished off Sujoah, then three greenscales combined to take out the queen on some poor defense rolling from her. The round ended with Greenscales all blocking bee attacks - I had moved many of them up previously to try and tie down bees since with 6 move flying they could easily get next to my big dragon.

SF got an initiative switch (13+1 and at some point had grabbed Dagmar too over my 8), and was able to use Rapid Response to get two turns on OM1. He grabbed the treasure glyph and selected Giant Hunter Stone. He took out a greenscale then unloaded a 2/5A on Kalagrith who whiffed the 3D and died. GSW surrounded Byrikon who was right by the palm tree by my SZ and gave him two wounds. Byrikon took out one of the surrounding GSW while one bee was able to sting and kill off another. I took out Byrikon and two more bees on my OM2, and we called it for me there with 5 bees left to face 8 GSW.

2-1

I never used Kalagrith’s power as she never had a chance to attack more than two opposing figures since the bees are fine to spread out easily even though they’re melee figures. I like her strong baseline attack, as two of those counted for 3 wounds against Sujoah, but it’s not so strong as to discourage Scorching Earth if you get the chance. She was attacked 5 times with 4 dice and once with 5 before falling, which I think is decent survivability. Not having Valda on this map did make me play her less aggressively, as she didn’t have the range to fly back after doing some roasting. Like in my last game, I like that she prefers to stay near her Greenscales more than some of the other dragons who tend to hang back a bit more and lob acid/fire/ice over them.

I’ll let superfrog speak more to the Buzz-killers, but I was more impressed with them in this game than my last. I think SF did a good job of developing the bees and Queen to stage them for future frenzied stings, and using them to clear out the Marro Warriors in a single turn was a great strategic use of them (although we noted this was a total points wash). The bees always bonded and the only time they used their normal was when Byrikon was moving up and they were all blocked, even with height on a couple of them. I still feel they a bit overcosted since the only way they can kill things is with the Sting special, but then they die too.

Byrikon’s Rapid Response was used perfectly to capitalize on an initiative switch and shoot down with height on Kalagrith, but in hindsight it didn’t feel like that switch would have been a given without Dagmar, as the initiative boost (we used +1) never would’ve changed the outcome. He killed more than his points worth, but getting a Stone-boosted attack from height on Kalagrith certainly played a big role and as he was swarmed with GSW the next turn and fell quickly, it felt like a good balance.

The Queen played a great cheerleader role, enabling 3 frenzies to kill off the MW. Ignoring one early ping from a GSW below her, she fell in just three attacks of 2 which was unlucky rolling (1 shield on 13 dice!) so I hesitate to call her flimsy especially since she never got the evasive bonus against my GSWs. Her flying also made it pretty easy to put her in a good supporting position.

Sujoah is a great add to this build because she likes to be in the action (and can quickly catch up to the bees with her move of 8) while the Queen doesn’t.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

The Dysole (1-1) v. Muskie (1-1):

Muskie Played: Specters of Aldornx4, Ataraxis, Iskra, Rechets of Bogdan, Marcu Esenwein, Bol, Isamu
Dysole Played: Nhah Scirh Cultistsx4, Greenscale Warriors x1, Kalagrith

round 1 and 2 was all positioning as I surrounded Ataraxis with Specters and Kept my heroes closed enough to save Atar if she died. Dysole moved up the Cultists and got them into position just outside of my Terror Bubble.

Round three I took a pot shot with Atar as I moved her up using Wormhole and missed, but the Rechets arrived on turn three and jumped into action. They took an even ground spot within the terror bubble (that spot gave me an advantage the whole rest of the game) and got a kill, tried to get Kalagirth and missed.

round 4 started with two attacks on Kal by the rechets (both missed since Dysole had a good spot and I was swinging up). The rechets were wiped out the next turn but the specters now moved forward, and we spent the next 2 rounds exchanging specters and Cultists as they battled in the Terror bubble.

Later rounds (we had quite a few, so I did lose track). Eventually, the specters and cultist were withered down to one on Dysoles side and 4 on my side. She launched the Dragon. I moved Ataraxis to take a shot (one wound) and then the dragon moved in and engaged Atar on even ground. We went at least a round with trading blows of dragon vs. Atar and Iskra, with the dragon taking a couple of wounds and killing both the evil heroes. Atar ended up on Kalagirth, and the race was on to finish off the rest of my 1 life heroes and a couple of specters before I could take the last two lives off of the Dragon and get Atar back. Kal flew around and scorched my last couple of specters and bol, but Isamu came up got a wound before dying. it was now Marcu vs a one life Kal and one cultist. Marcu did not betray and positioned, I got the initiative switch and marcu went in for the kill on Kalagirth.

Dysole conceded with one Cultist left to my full health Ataraxis and a one wound marcu.

Thoughts about Ataraxis: I love what she does for bringing back some of the undead armies. She is expensive and low life, so it balances out what she can do. I used her terror field constantly the whole game, worm holed twice to get a good position to attack, and brought her back to life once at endgame. I never used the ability to "terror" lock down any figure, but it was one of the biggest influences in how Dysole approached the game. Kalagrith was very muted since she could not fly in without getting locked down. I think that this power is too strong for all figures. I could see it only for small and medium, since Atar has other powers to help in battle. I do not think she should be able to lock down huge dragons and such.

Thoughts about Kalagrith: Didn't really see her power until the endgame once Atar was killed. It is cool, and would work well against other armies, but is really muted against Ataraxis. I hope to play her in the future against other armies. Dysole used scorched earth 2-4 times, and it worked well to clear some figures in the endgame. Most of the time she used her regular attack since she was pinned down.

Great game and always love playing against Dysole. I learn a ton every time!
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

550 Points
Battlefield 23 (Dagmar, Holdir, Treasure Glyph x2 [Bracers of Teleportation, Scarab of Invulnerability])

Knight of Scape's Army: Janos, C'Rik, Rygarn, Etiana, Wastewalker Gage, Byrikon the Hiveless, Isamu, Otonashi

shiftrex's - Army: Crypt Guardian x4 , Drow Chainfighter x2, Marro Warriors, Kalagrith, Eldgrim, Marcu Eldgrim

Which units survived?
Shiftrex resigned at Janos, C'Rik (1 wound), Etiana, Byrikon (2 wounds), Rygarn, Isamu, and Otonashi vs. 1 crypt guardian, Marcu, and Eldgrim (1 wound).

General Battle Report/Flow of game (be as detailed or general as you like)
This was another dominant win for the mercenary explorers against a dragon army. As usual, I was my OMs as 1 on Janos, 2,X on Byrikon, 3 on Etiana for the whole game. Rygarn stayed at the front of the startzone all game, while Janos was careful to stay within 6 spaces of him.

Shiftrex led out with Kalagrith, and grabbed both treasure glyphs, but my heroes were able to spread out enough to deny any good scorched earth attacks, and they quickly took down half of Kalagrith's life, leading Shiftrex to retreat her back to the startzone with her bracers of teleportation.

The crypt guardians came out next, while the mercenary heroes more or less held their ground and gunned them down. Between Janos's and Gage's special attacks, Tough wasn't too much of an issue. The Marro Warriors were the third round of assault, but C'rik rushed them down while Janos and Etiana continued to shoot, taking down the warriors fairly quickly.

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?

Janos: Expedition was again the MVP. Tracking Fire was also extremely useful in this game, since it let Janos double attack a crypt guardian while ignoring tough. Between damage to Kalagrith and to the guardians, Janos more than earned his points back just with his own attacks, besides the benefits of Expedition.

C'Rik: Holographic Projector activated 1/3 times, allowing C'Rik to make a useful retreat to high ground. Quaarn assault was very useful for letting the merc army get a ton of attacks in one turn. Phantom walk didn't really come into play this game.

Byrikon: Hive-Mind integration allowed me to win 1 initiative that I otherwise would have lost (and it would have been enough to swing the init even with a +3 boost). As I've observed before, putting 1 OM on Janos and 2 on Byrikon is almost free for this army, so Byrikon's init bonus is a nice plus that you can get with no extra thought.

Etiana: Support fire was useful for taking turns with Gage and Byrikon on the turns when I couldn't Expedition. The restriction to not move and only attack enemies adjacent to my heroes was not a big deal since Shiftrex's army had a bunch of heroes, and I already wanted to engage them with C'Rik and Gage, so unlike in some previous games, I was able to keep Etiana parked on height near my startzone and just snipe at people. Acrobatic did nothing this game. I don't think that Etiana was ever attacked.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?

I continue to enjoy playing the Mercenary Explorers. The flexibility that Janos provides allows for a lot of interesting decisions, and I find myself using different hero combos from turn to turn depending on the board state. I also enjoy the element of planning ahead to ensure useful support fire turns for Etiana (which was easier to do this game than it was in the previous rounds). I have noticed that the large number of interactions can often make the army confusing for other people to play against, but I think that part of that is an inevitable effect of having an army with 5 unreleased units in it.

I do agree with the general sentiment that the power level of the army is probably a bit too high, though. In particular, I feel like Janos himself is too strong offensively. One interesting aspect of Expedition compared to other commander powers, like Ulglinesh, Kato, or Kurrok, is that Janos himself has to be one of the three heroes you take a turn with. As things stand, this is barely a restriction, since the fact that Janos gets a double special attack at range makes him someone you'd almost always want to take a turn with anyway. The amount of firepower that Janos contributes on his own also means that trying to snipe him early feels like the main hope that a lot of opponents have against the mercenaries (something that's not easy to do with Janos's general bulk and C'Rik's holographic projector).

Rather than making Janos easier to kill (which I feel would lead to swingy games whose outcome depends on how effective a few crucial attacks on Janos are), I'd rather nerf his offense so that taking out the other mercs one by one becomes a more effective way to weaken the army (similar to elf wizards, where many of their powers depend on having lots of elf wizards around, so targeting Uglinesh isn't necessary to wear down the army).

My inclination would be to just remove Janos's special attack. Expedition is already a game-changing power that defines the army, and the army is already fairly complicated, so I think Janos would be fine with just one power. He doesn't need to the special to incentivize you to take turns with him, since he's guaranteed a turn every expedition anyway, and he'll still be able to do something useful with his normal ranged attack.

Also, the Mercenaries already have access to other special attackers in Gage and Bambina, so I don't feel like removing Janos's special would kill the army's potential against rats and such.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 4 until 11/1

Important Round 4 Announcement
*There have been additions

If you and your opponent BOTH have 2+ losses, please play your Round 4 games with the following changes:

Any set of players that would like to use these modifications for their match even if they do not have 2+ losses we encourage to do so, but ONLY if both players agree to use these mods prior to army selections.

Spoiler Alert!

Round 4 is on Wyrmwalk (Treasure Glyph x4).

The Knight of Scape (3-0) v. Vydar's Girlfriend (3-0) pool of armies is:
* The Guild of 90ish Point Heroes (+Ninjas): Janos, C'Rik, Rygarn, Etiana, Wastewalker Gage, Byrikon the Hiveless, Isamu, Otonashi
* Skeletons in Space: Skeletons of Annellintia x3, Ataraxis the Starlich, Marcu Esenwein, Iskra Esenwein
* The Golden Queen: Greenscale Warriors x4, Kalagrith, Kaemon Awa, Eldgrim the Viking Champion
* The Bee Queen: Amberhive Protectors x4, Amberhive Queen, Byrikon the Hiveless, Major Q10, Siiv
Knight of Scape chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Vydar's Girlfriend chooses who places first.

Please contact Vydar_XLIII to schedule games with Vydar's gf

The BodaciousBlood (3-0) v. dok (2-1) pool of armies is:
* Undead Legion.... IN SPACE! : Skeletons of Annellintia x2, Ataraxis, Cyprien Esenwein, Marcu Esenwein, Isamu
* Lizardfolk.... IN SPACE!: Greenscale Warriors x3, Maekor, Bambina, Etiana, Siiv
* Arby's new Bacon, Rats, and Lizard special: deathreavers x1, Janos, Bambina, Rygarn, Maekor, Raelin (RotV)
* Sci Fi Double Feature: Greenscale Warriors x3, Goblin Slashers x2, Altais of the Deep, Ziggo, Kyntela Gwyn, Bol
BodaciousBlood chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, dok chooses who places first.

The S1R_ART0R1US (2-1) v. kevindola (2-1) pool of armies is:
* Buzz-killers: Amberhive Protectors x4, Byrikon the Hiveless, Amberhive Queen, Sujoah
* Fire From Above: Greenscale Warriors x4, Marro Warriors, Kalagrith, Syvarris
* Acolytic Corverter: Acolytes of Vorganund x6, Corvor the Tainted One, Master Caylus, Marcu Esenwein
* Hunter's Moon: Mohican River Tribe x5, Kolbjorn, Van Nessing, Bol
kevindola chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, S1R_ART0R1US chooses who places first.

The Blue Trails (2-1) v. vegie's dad (2-1) pool of armies is:
* Never Doubt a Man Named ""Innocent"": Acolytes of Vorganund x3, Master Caylus, Skull Demon, Cathar Spearmen x2, Count Raymond, Marcu Esenwein
* Away Down South: Armoc Vipers x3, 53rd North Carolina Sharpshooters x2, Azurite Warlord, Capt. Nathaniel Blount, Guilty McCreech
* Ziggo and the Blashers: goblin slashers x 5, bugbear bashers x2, Ziggo, Urk
* Big dragon, little dragon: Greenscales Warriors x2, Kalagrith, Sonlen, Raelin
Blue Trails chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, vegie's dad chooses who places first.

The vegietarian18 (2-1) v. KnightofLight (2-1) pool of armies is:
* Why do the stars take so long to die?: Zombies x4, Zombie Hulk x2, Ataraxis the Star Lich, Marcu, Isamu
* Expeditious: Greenscales Warriors x2, Maekor, Bambina, Janos, Rygarn
* Vortex spears : cathar spearmen X3, Altias of the Deep, Count Raymond, Byrikon the hiveless
* Marcus Decimus Antus : Red Ants of Aunstrum x4, Kaemon Awa, Amberhive Queen, Marcus Decimus Gallus, Gen. Simon Fraser, Marcu Esenwein
vegietarian18 chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, KnightofLight chooses who places first.

The Muskie (2-1) v. mtl1998 (1-2) pool of armies is:
* Booooo!: Specters of Aldornx4, Ataraxis, Iskra, Rechets of Bogdan, Marcu Esenwein, Bol, Isamu
* Fire from above: Nhah Scirh Cultistsx4, Greenscale Warriors x1, Kalagrith
* : Acolytes of Vorganund x4, Caylus, Corvor, Kaemon Awa
* : Greenscale Warriors x3, Altais of the Deep, Krav Maga Agents, Sentinels of Grax
mtl1998 chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Muskie chooses who places first.

The Chris Perkins v. Captain Stupendous pool of armies is:
* God Save the Queen: Amberhive Protectors x5, Amberhive Queen, Byrikon the Hiveless, Eltahale
* Choose (Your Dragon) Wisely: Greenscale Warriors x4, Altais of the Deep, Othkurik the Black Dragon
* Not the Boss of Me!: Capuan Gladiators x3, 53rd N. Carolina Sharpshooters x3, Crixus, Capt. Nathaniel Blount, Otonashi
* Greil Mercenaries: Janos, Maekor, Bambina, C'Rik, Etiana, Maltis Tez
Captain Stupendous chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Chris Perkins chooses who places first.

The Sir Heroscape v. Dysole pool of armies is:
* Come at me Bro: Goblin Slashers x5, Bugbear Basher x3, Ziggo
* Alien Abduction: Children of the Dark Star x4, Gräbermund, Raelin (RotV), Swaysil, Marcu Esenwein
* Hit Me Baby one More Tribe: Mohican River Tribe x3, Teeth of the Makwa x 3, Brave Arrow, Kolbjorn
* Wherever I May Rome: Romans Legionnairres x4, Capt. Nathaniel Blount, Marcus Decimus Gallus, Azurite Warlord, Theracus
Dysole chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Sir Heroscape chooses who places first.

The shiftrex v. superfrog pool of armies is:
* The Court of Flames: Crypt Guardian x4 , Drow Chainfighter x2, Marro Warriors, Kalagrith, Eldgrim, Marcu Eldgrim
* Peaceful Missionaries: Acolytes of Vorganund x5, Corvor, Johnny Shotgun Sullivan, Master Caylus
* Null and Void: Greenscale Warriors x4, Altais of the Deep, Raelin (RotV), Marro Warriors, Isamu
* Rebels with Causes: Capuan Gladiators x3, 53rd N. Carolina Sharpshooters x3, Crixus, Capt. Nathaniel Blount, Bol
superfrog chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, shiftrex chooses who places first.

The Vydar_XLIII v. Heroscaper Guy pool of armies is:
* Would you like to make Janos your default browser?: deathreavers x3, Janos, Bambina, Etiana, Maekor
* Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the Kolbjorn moon?: Mohican River Tribe x3, Teeth of the Makwa x 3, Brave Arrow, Kolbjorn
* : Children of the Dark Star x4, Z'Thoth, Gräbermund, Bol
* : Goblin Slashers x3, Nottingham Brigand x4, Bugbear Basher x2, Ziggo, Elaria
Vydar_XLIII chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, Heroscaper Guy chooses who places first.

The AgentWard v. SchismaticSounds pool of armies is:
* Sneaky or Tricky ?: Goblin Slashers x3, Nottingham Brigand x4, Master Caylus, Ziggo, Elaria, Arthur of Sherwood
* Z'THOTH!!!!!!!: Children of the Dark Star x4, Z'Thoth, Gräbermund
* : Blade Gruts x2, Ataraxis, Isamu, Marcu, Iskra, Ornak, Bol, Torin
* Treacherous Deviants: Children of the Dark Star x2, Gräbermund, Death Chasers of Thesk x2, Gothlok, Guilty Mcreech
AgentWard chooses which army to play first or may defer. After armies are picked, SchismaticSounds chooses who places first.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 3 until 10/18

550 Points
Battlefield 23 (Dagmar, Holdir, Treasure Glyph x2 [Bracers of Teleportation, Scarab of Invulnerability])

Knight of Scape's Army: Janos, C'Rik, Rygarn, Etiana, Wastewalker Gage, Byrikon the Hiveless, Isamu, Otonashi

shiftrex's - Army: Crypt Guardian x4 , Drow Chainfighter x2, Marro Warriors, Kalagrith, Eldgrim, Marcu Eldgrim

Which units survived?
Shiftrex resigned at Janos, C'Rik (1 wound), Etiana, Byrikon (2 wounds), Rygarn, Isamu, and Otonashi vs. 1 crypt guardian, Marcu, and Eldgrim (1 wound).

General Battle Report/Flow of game (be as detailed or general as you like)
This was another dominant win for the mercenary explorers against a dragon army. As usual, I was my OMs as 1 on Janos, 2,X on Byrikon, 3 on Etiana for the whole game. Rygarn stayed at the front of the startzone all game, while Janos was careful to stay within 6 spaces of him.

Shiftrex led out with Kalagrith, and grabbed both treasure glyphs, but my heroes were able to spread out enough to deny any good scorched earth attacks, and they quickly took down half of Kalagrith's life, leading Shiftrex to retreat her back to the startzone with her bracers of teleportation.

The crypt guardians came out next, while the mercenary heroes more or less held their ground and gunned them down. Between Janos's and Gage's special attacks, Tough wasn't too much of an issue. The Marro Warriors were the third round of assault, but C'rik rushed them down while Janos and Etiana continued to shoot, taking down the warriors fairly quickly.

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?

Janos: Expedition was again the MVP. Tracking Fire was also extremely useful in this game, since it let Janos double attack a crypt guardian while ignoring tough. Between damage to Kalagrith and to the guardians, Janos more than earned his points back just with his own attacks, besides the benefits of Expedition.

C'Rik: Holographic Projector activated 1/3 times, allowing C'Rik to make a useful retreat to high ground. Quaarn assault was very useful for letting the merc army get a ton of attacks in one turn. Phantom walk didn't really come into play this game.

Byrikon: Hive-Mind integration allowed me to win 1 initiative that I otherwise would have lost (and it would have been enough to swing the init even with a +3 boost). As I've observed before, putting 1 OM on Janos and 2 on Byrikon is almost free for this army, so Byrikon's init bonus is a nice plus that you can get with no extra thought.

Etiana: Support fire was useful for taking turns with Gage and Byrikon on the turns when I couldn't Expedition. The restriction to not move and only attack enemies adjacent to my heroes was not a big deal since Shiftrex's army had a bunch of heroes, and I already wanted to engage them with C'Rik and Gage, so unlike in some previous games, I was able to keep Etiana parked on height near my startzone and just snipe at people. Acrobatic did nothing this game. I don't think that Etiana was ever attacked.

Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?

I continue to enjoy playing the Mercenary Explorers. The flexibility that Janos provides allows for a lot of interesting decisions, and I find myself using different hero combos from turn to turn depending on the board state. I also enjoy the element of planning ahead to ensure useful support fire turns for Etiana (which was easier to do this game than it was in the previous rounds). I have noticed that the large number of interactions can often make the army confusing for other people to play against, but I think that part of that is an inevitable effect of having an army with 5 unreleased units in it.

I do agree with the general sentiment that the power level of the army is probably a bit too high, though. In particular, I feel like Janos himself is too strong offensively. One interesting aspect of Expedition compared to other commander powers, like Ulglinesh, Kato, or Kurrok, is that Janos himself has to be one of the three heroes you take a turn with. As things stand, this is barely a restriction, since the fact that Janos gets a double special attack at range makes him someone you'd almost always want to take a turn with anyway. The amount of firepower that Janos contributes on his own also means that trying to snipe him early feels like the main hope that a lot of opponents have against the mercenaries (something that's not easy to do with Janos's general bulk and C'Rik's holographic projector).

Rather than making Janos easier to kill (which I feel would lead to swingy games whose outcome depends on how effective a few crucial attacks on Janos are), I'd rather nerf his offense so that taking out the other mercs one by one becomes a more effective way to weaken the army (similar to elf wizards, where many of their powers depend on having lots of elf wizards around, so targeting Uglinesh isn't necessary to wear down the army).

My inclination would be to just remove Janos's special attack. Expedition is already a game-changing power that defines the army, and the army is already fairly complicated, so I think Janos would be fine with just one power. He doesn't need to the special to incentivize you to take turns with him, since he's guaranteed a turn every expedition anyway, and he'll still be able to do something useful with his normal ranged attack.

Also, the Mercenaries already have access to other special attackers in Gage and Bambina, so I don't feel like removing Janos's special would kill the army's potential against rats and such.

Nothing further to add in the play by play breakdown.

My impression of the explorer/mercenary army is that it is quite strong, the offensive power it has is complimented by the fact that it is a hero based army so it doesn't suffer from development or tempo losses in the same way that a squad based army would. I found it a bit overwhelming to play against because they can deal so much damage.

That combined with they fact that they are a ranged army makes them pretty oppressive to play against, especially considering that I used Kalagrath who is not a traditional dragon. I assume that if I used something like Nilfheim or Quahon then I wouldn't be as hard pressed in a ranged shoot out. I'll go over each hero individually:

Byrikon: Some shenanigans occur here that gets the initiative roll quite high, I agree with the nerf to +1 instead of +2 per OM on the hive mind maker holder. In the +2 version, I generally roll poorly for initiative as it is (I've got it charted, no johns) so it was quite oppressive and made it so that if I ever wanted initiative I had to rely on a very poor roll from the opponent or holding Dagmar. The nerf should bring this guy in line where he would be less oppressive to play against.

Rapid response seems like a fine clean up power, haven't seen it in action yet.

Janos: Too much and too many things going on. I agree with the life total nerf and the SA nerf that is going into effect. I think those changes would make him less oppressive. Pre-nerf perspective, as a 6 life hero there is just no punishment for him playing aggressively as he will likely have the initiative and gun down more than a few targets with his psuedo squad.

The special attack will feel better after the adjustment, gives him a reason to use his normal attack once in a while as well after the life drop.

Expedition is worded strangely to enable the rygarn play, I don't see a reason for this at all. Why isn't he just worded like Ornak? OM 1 reveal will give you bonding with two heroes and no Rygarn shenanigans. Functioning as a squad essentially for 2/3 turns with additional flexibility options makes me wonder why the complication instead of just giving him full bonding? I feel like this is an example of design trying to say "if you stand on your head you get a bonus," and in this case it is including rygarn in your build. Either he should have 1 bond per round with am OM 1 reveal or an X marker reveal, or just have regular bonding. No extra theme is imparted here and its just a weird mechanical function every turn that reminds me of Yugioh's wasted movement.

Etania:

No issues with this hero. I like that support fire gives you a reason to put order markers on someone other than Janos in this army. The stats are nice and Acrobatic is fine. From a futuristic unit I would have liked to see the theme of 1 shield blocking specials so she is showing that she is good against the futuristic weapons of her own world, or using tech to deal with magic, but dealing with normal attacks is completely acceptable and strong.

C'rik:

I agree with the nerfs here. Holographic projector on 15 just "seems" to make the army too durable but I agree that this army should have it to protect the explorers that can go down more easily. Miniature fits having this power.

Quaarn assault was a bit weird, it gives the group access to a ton of attacks if you set it up correctly which is fine but I'm not able to clearly identify the army as a glass canon or a durable army pre-changes. Pre-changes it just does it all really well, only settling down a bit on turn 3 with its offensive potential. What's the theme of Quaarn only being able to smack someone twice if he has 4 arms and we are giving him Quad-attack in the first place. I'd rather just see him with plain whirlwind attack here... or even just 4 attacks without the ability to double attack something, the choice to attack a figure more than once isn't really meaningful because it is just good. It will always be double attack against a figure that I want dead, and if it just happens that I killed my target on the first go then I'll move my attack to another figure.

I get that the power is tied to his species but without any kind of bio or explanation I don't get 'why' he functions this way. I would need additional information to justify why he does this in my mind. Theme isn't coming across, I don't have exposure to any alien or other multi-armed entity that would function this way given choice.
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 4 until 11/1

Finally getting off my lazy butt to report my game.

Armies were:
Blue Trails: Acolytes of Vorganund x3, Master Caylus, Skull Demon, Cathar Spearmen x2, Count Raymond, Marcu Esenwein
Sir H: Children of the Dark Star x4, Gräbermund, Raelin (RotV), Swaysil, Marcu Esenwein

The map had Holdir and Dagmar. Neither was particularly useful or game-changing to maintain so I figured a more central position would probably be a better bet for general positioning. Looking at the map though, treasure glyphs actually seems like a really good possibility. With low defense heroes like Grabby and Swaysil I felt like I was actually going to get some value if I could rush out to get the treasures. What's more, I realized that Swaysil was able to grab one in 1 move from the SZ AND (depending on the position of enemy placement) take the 2nd treasure in the next turn. I also realized that having a full melee Army, Blue Trails would have to come to me if I dictated the game early with Swaysil. So I decided to lean into her fast and furious movement/range and drop all OM's on her for the first 2 full rounds (and I think some of the 3rd round). That actually ended up playing really well into my favor as she commanded the battlefield. She was able to pick up the Talisman of Defense on turn 1 (literally the best glyph she could have gotten) and I then proceeded to kite her around the board sniping Acolytes 1 by 1 as they tried to develop and coral her. It didn't really work as her defense was rolling quite good with the t-glyph (and usually height) and I was even able to disengage 2 times without taking wounds. At one point, I was engaged by 2 Acolytes and a Skull Demon on an Init Switch, but then proceeded to disengage (after taking no wounds from attacks) because I wanted Swaysil back in Raelin's aura and not to die where the Skull Demon could grab the glyph. so I figured if she was going to die it was going to be back near the SZ, in Raelin's aura and close enough for Grabby to pick up her glyph. All said and done, Swaysil was able to pick off 6 out of the 9 Acolytes and only take 3 wounds. I counted that as a big win on my end. But, now with her a bit out of commission, I needed to switch over to Children. Unfortunately, I grossly misjudged the matchup by not realizing Children didn't effect Caylus, the Skull Demon or the Acolytes...so the developed Skull Demon and Caylus really made it insane to get anything done. What's more, Blue Trails never failed to lose an initiative (I think maybe near the end he did 1) and he religiously put om's on Caylus OM1 in order to nerf Grabby each round...which I didn't realize until it was too late, REALLY kills GRABBY. For a Dragon who can fly and still has a mean attack or a Robot who can shoot from far away, Caylus doesn't do too much...but Grabby loses literally everything he can do when Enfeebled. This made it extremely difficult to develop a strong offensive with Caylus and the Skull Demon in my face and with Grabby nerfed each round (I just started loading up the Children) and the Children trying to pull their weight. That said, the Children actually kept me in it for quite a while. I figured my win condition was having them kill as many Cathar as possible and kill Caylus and then I should be able to trade Grabby against the Skull Demon, a few cathar and Ramond. Unfortunately none of those happened. While children traded pretty decently against Cathar and got them down to just 3 before they all died, it wasn't quite enough. Marcu came in for me and did quite a bit getting a couple big attacks and then locking up Caylus and the skull demon in engagements for a solid round+. Unfortunately, when I was looking for a big attack, I made the mistake of showing my hand by not placing an X on Grabby and so when Marcu got too close to Caylus, Caylus enfeebled Marcu, leaving him with a measly attack. The endgame a full life Grabby, 1 life Swaysil vs 1 life Caylus, Full Skull, Full Raymond and 3 Cathar. I actually still liked my odds because if I could finish off Caylus, I felt Grabby with full life could trade against the skull demon fairly well, Raymond could get swallowed and 3 cathar could get swallowed as well. But, 3 Cathar are still Cathar and Blue Trails baited me into going for Caylus (Because I couldn't not, I HAD to make sure he died otherwise Grabby does nothing). So instead of OM1 on Caylus he went Skull demon to get a big attack down with engagement and then 2 and 3 on Cathar. Grabby did virtually nothing and took a lot of damage very quickly before eating dirt. It was rather a sad ending for him. In hindsight I maybe should have killed Swaysil with Grabby just to make sure I can get him the Def +1, but I didn't like not having a ranged option in the endgame and couldn't bring myself to making that play.

Survived: Marcu (3L), Raymond (Full)

Performance:
Swallow 0/0
SA 4/7
Clamber - used whenever he moved

Damage
1w Caylus
1w Skull (normal)
3w Skull (SA) - 1W was used to negate using SoI t-glyph


Thoughts on Grabby:
To be honest, it was going to be a tough endgame against that many figures, but with them all wounded, and multiple OM's to place (and potentially lose), I felt like Grabby was going to shine with his high life, mobility and terrifying swallow potential and SA's. He bit the dust. Me saying his weak just because he lost seems a bit unfair, but I truly believe a 160 hero with that terrifying potential in and endgame state like that is ideal and quite frankly should perform really well. Maybe I misplayed it? not sure, but I really felt like he would shine in that board state. I'm inclined to think a Def of 4 might be warranted, but that's hard to say considering how big of a move 3 --> 4 def is to a figures' balance...so I'm not exactly sure.

Thoughts on Caylus:
This was the first game I've ever seen Caylus be 1) Relevant and 2) Terrifying. Caylus nerfed my turns/rounds multiple times by well placed OM's and his 5 attack 6 from height when next to the Skull Demon. It was a good combo pairing the two and tanking with the skull demon then smashing with Caylus. That said, 4 attack seems high for this support figure. I'm not convinced by the nature of the model OR the design that his "Brother" or "Father" cleric can smack as hard as Grabby (a huge alien demon horror thing). Other suggestions have said a ranged attack feels more in line here. I actually think I like a short range of 4-5 for Caylus and a reduction of his attack to 3. Attack of 3 seems well suited for the design and mini and a short ranged attack will help his usefulness without feeling overpowered...but it was just hard to swallow that this guy could smack me for 4 base attack.
 
Other Thoughts

Very much in favor of the change to Ataraxis. The Terror field can be brutal especially with figures that like disengaging. It stopping dragons though is a bit hard to believe and most of the large/huge really need to have the option to run away. This can make it hard to get to her if you just have melee figures. I like this figure a lot still.

Kala is also very good. You can't really play around the special. You just hope you don't get nuked by it. In the mid-end game 7 move flying is so good. I know some people have suggested she have disengage but I am firmly against it as she will be an absolute terror if she doesn't have to think about disengaging to burninate the countryside.


~Dysole, briefly
 
Re: 2021 C3V Playtest Tournament - Round 4 until 11/1

Sir Heroscape already explained our game well, so I am just going to tack on my commentary on the units involved.
Finally getting off my lazy butt to report my game.

Armies were:
Blue Trails: Acolytes of Vorganund x3, Master Caylus, Skull Demon, Cathar Spearmen x2, Count Raymond, Marcu Esenwein
Sir H: Children of the Dark Star x4, Gräbermund, Raelin (RotV), Swaysil, Marcu Esenwein

The map had Holdir and Dagmar. Neither was particularly useful or game-changing to maintain so I figured a more central position would probably be a better bet for general positioning. Looking at the map though, treasure glyphs actually seems like a really good possibility. With low defense heroes like Grabby and Swaysil I felt like I was actually going to get some value if I could rush out to get the treasures. What's more, I realized that Swaysil was able to grab one in 1 move from the SZ AND (depending on the position of enemy placement) take the 2nd treasure in the next turn. I also realized that having a full melee Army, Blue Trails would have to come to me if I dictated the game early with Swaysil. So I decided to lean into her fast and furious movement/range and drop all OM's on her for the first 2 full rounds (and I think some of the 3rd round). That actually ended up playing really well into my favor as she commanded the battlefield. She was able to pick up the Talisman of Defense on turn 1 (literally the best glyph she could have gotten) and I then proceeded to kite her around the board sniping Acolytes 1 by 1 as they tried to develop and coral her. It didn't really work as her defense was rolling quite good with the t-glyph (and usually height) and I was even able to disengage 2 times without taking wounds. At one point, I was engaged by 2 Acolytes and a Skull Demon on an Init Switch, but then proceeded to disengage (after taking no wounds from attacks) because I wanted Swaysil back in Raelin's aura and not to die where the Skull Demon could grab the glyph. so I figured if she was going to die it was going to be back near the SZ, in Raelin's aura and close enough for Grabby to pick up her glyph. All said and done, Swaysil was able to pick off 6 out of the 9 Acolytes and only take 3 wounds. I counted that as a big win on my end. But, now with her a bit out of commission, I needed to switch over to Children. Unfortunately, I grossly misjudged the matchup by not realizing Children didn't effect Caylus, the Skull Demon or the Acolytes...so the developed Skull Demon and Caylus really made it insane to get anything done. What's more, Blue Trails never failed to lose an initiative (I think maybe near the end he did 1) and he religiously put om's on Caylus OM1 in order to nerf Grabby each round...which I didn't realize until it was too late, REALLY kills GRABBY. For a Dragon who can fly and still has a mean attack or a Robot who can shoot from far away, Caylus doesn't do too much...but Grabby loses literally everything he can do when Enfeebled. This made it extremely difficult to develop a strong offensive with Caylus and the Skull Demon in my face and with Grabby nerfed each round (I just started loading up the Children) and the Children trying to pull their weight. That said, the Children actually kept me in it for quite a while. I figured my win condition was having them kill as many Cathar as possible and kill Caylus and then I should be able to trade Grabby against the Skull Demon, a few cathar and Ramond. Unfortunately none of those happened. While children traded pretty decently against Cathar and got them down to just 3 before they all died, it wasn't quite enough. Marcu came in for me and did quite a bit getting a couple big attacks and then locking up Caylus and the skull demon in engagements for a solid round+. Unfortunately, when I was looking for a big attack, I made the mistake of showing my hand by not placing an X on Grabby and so when Marcu got too close to Caylus, Caylus enfeebled Marcu, leaving him with a measly attack. The endgame a full life Grabby, 1 life Swaysil vs 1 life Caylus, Full Skull, Full Raymond and 3 Cathar. I actually still liked my odds because if I could finish off Caylus, I felt Grabby with full life could trade against the skull demon fairly well, Raymond could get swallowed and 3 cathar could get swallowed as well. But, 3 Cathar are still Cathar and Blue Trails baited me into going for Caylus (Because I couldn't not, I HAD to make sure he died otherwise Grabby does nothing). So instead of OM1 on Caylus he went Skull demon to get a big attack down with engagement and then 2 and 3 on Cathar. Grabby did virtually nothing and took a lot of damage very quickly before eating dirt. It was rather a sad ending for him. In hindsight I maybe should have killed Swaysil with Grabby just to make sure I can get him the Def +1, but I didn't like not having a ranged option in the endgame and couldn't bring myself to making that play.

Survived: Marcu (3L), Raymond (Full)

Performance:
Swallow 0/0
SA 4/7
Clamber - used whenever he moved

Damage
1w Caylus
1w Skull (normal)
3w Skull (SA) - 1W was used to negate using SoI t-glyph


Thoughts on Grabby:
To be honest, it was going to be a tough endgame against that many figures, but with them all wounded, and multiple OM's to place (and potentially lose), I felt like Grabby was going to shine with his high life, mobility and terrifying swallow potential and SA's. He bit the dust. Me saying his weak just because he lost seems a bit unfair, but I truly believe a 160 hero with that terrifying potential in and endgame state like that is ideal and quite frankly should perform really well. Maybe I misplayed it? not sure, but I really felt like he would shine in that board state. I'm inclined to think a Def of 4 might be warranted, but that's hard to say considering how big of a move 3 --> 4 def is to a figures' balance...so I'm not exactly sure.

Thoughts on Caylus:
This was the first game I've ever seen Caylus be 1) Relevant and 2) Terrifying. Caylus nerfed my turns/rounds multiple times by well placed OM's and his 5 attack 6 from height when next to the Skull Demon. It was a good combo pairing the two and tanking with the skull demon then smashing with Caylus. That said, 4 attack seems high for this support figure. I'm not convinced by the nature of the model OR the design that his "Brother" or "Father" cleric can smack as hard as Grabby (a huge alien demon horror thing). Other suggestions have said a ranged attack feels more in line here. I actually think I like a short range of 4-5 for Caylus and a reduction of his attack to 3. Attack of 3 seems well suited for the design and mini and a short ranged attack will help his usefulness without feeling overpowered...but it was just hard to swallow that this guy could smack me for 4 base attack.

How useful were playtesting units' powers and how often did they come into play?

Master Caylus:
Rod of Enfeeblement: used thrice on Grabemund and once on Marcu; combination with adjacent figures and obstacles denied some attack opportunities to Grabermund; neutered Marcu for an entire round.
Brutal Taskmaster: used on the first and third rounds; affected eight Acolyte moves; helped the Acolytes maneuver uneven terrain in the early game and chase Swaysil; boosted a few Acolytes' Attack values.
Normal Attack: used 4 times; wounded Raelin and Marcu and struck a Child.


Any additional comments (theme, balance, fun factor with and against)?

Master Caylus:
Spoiler Alert!



Outsiders:
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