Confred's Workshop: X-Men Unique Squad!!

[Confred]

* Newest
X-Men

DC
Anti-Monitor
Aquaman
Batman
Granny Goodness
Parademon
Superman
Wonder Woman

Marvel
Black Panther
Black Widow
Captain America
Daredevil
Deadpool
Elektra
Galactus (Ibechief edit)
Ground Assault Drone
Hawkeye
Incredible Hulk
Iron Fist
Iron Man
Iron Man (Mark V)
Jessica Jones
Loki (Bonus Edits)
Luke Cage
Moonknight
Nick Fury
Puppet Master (hi1hi1hi1hi1 edit)
Spider-Man (Web) (Discussion)
Thor
Valkyrie
X-Men (Unique Squad)
Wakandan Royal Guard

Other

Spoiler Alert!

Halo
UNSC Spartan Soldier

TMNT
April O'Neil Team
Casey Jones (Boromir & Kermit edit)
Donatello Solo
Leonardo (Boromir & Kermit edit) Team 2
Master Splinter Team 2
Michelangelo
Raphael Solo

 

[Confred]

TMNT

My first customs will be from the childhood Classic: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and inspired by B&K's thread, using his cards as base. I worked with him in his original TMNT thread but had creative differences and I split. Kudos to his designs. With each character I have commentary touching on their development and interactions with B&K's blueprints.
His original post can be found here: http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=28924

With the turtles I had the mantra "Think Ninja". They each had to be tricky in their own particular ways. Also, they are to be a hero squad so I want synergies and quirky interactions. Finally, I wanted some way of having them not get mowed down by range. This final part never really materialized, but is dealt with by their small hit zones and fast movement.
I don't have cards mocked up yet and names of special powers are not final.
Leonardo

Spoiler Alert!

Mutant
Unique Hero
Ninja
Precise
Medium 4

Life 4
Move 6
Range 1
Attack 5
Defense 4
Points 115

FEARLESS LEADER
After taking a turn with Leonardo, you may move up to 3 Ninjas you control up to 2 spaces each. All figures moved this way must be within 8 clear sight spaces of Leonardo prior to moving. Leonardo cannot be moved with Fearless Leader.

PROTECT 14
If a figure within 3 clear spaces of Leonardo attacks a friendly figure and rolls at least one skull, before defense is rolled, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 1-13, roll defense dice normally. If you roll a 14 or higher, move Leonardo adjacent to that figure and attack it with a normal attack. If the figure survives, roll defense dice normally. When Leonardo Protects, he never takes leaving engagement attacks.

Leonardo Commentary

Spoiler Alert!

-3/26
Renamed 'Protector 14' to 'Protect 14'.
-3/8
Tuned Leonardo's Protector 14 power to work only if skulls are rolled. Originally you rolled for the power after the attack was declared and before the dice were rolled. Not only did this hiccup game play and felt awkward, such tech isn't officially in place. This newer version is more 'official' and includes rules for what happens when you roll below 14. Additionally, the newer version adds flavor as Leonardo doesn't slaughter the weak. And it reduces the powers potency, keeping his points down.
-3/1
Leonardo was the first of B&K's cards I audited and edited in his thread. That continued process lead to this rendition. The ability names are his and are not final.
Fearless Leader varies from his in that he doesn't rearrange order markers and moves 3 ninjas instead of 1. I found moving 3 cute, not only does he have exactly 3 brothers, but there are 3 ninjas of the northern wind. Moving them 2 would put the turtles at 7 move, which is one more above Leo's. He scouts ahead and clears the way and then moves the other boys up. The range of 8 is also cool because when Raphael eventually rebels he will run out of range. And Leo ultimately loses his control over the red turtle. Leo has move 6 and the other two have move 5, they hold back their movements until Leo gives the go ahead, that is except for Raphael
Protector 14 is more or less functionally the same. His used peripherals to mark specific characters that he would protect, longer range, and boosted attack. Mine has slight functional differences and I love the feel of the changes -no knocks to B&K though . I also changed the power to a d20 ability to pay homage to Ninjas of the Northern Wind and to build synergy with Donatello.
Stats: B&K's turtles were a static Move 5, Attack 3, Defense 5. (Which turns out to be wrong, but that's how it was in my head). I bumped the movement up to 6 to pay homage to HS samurai and ninja, and had his attack 4 and defense 5, which eventually switched. The attack went higher to match other sword-wielding heroes and the defense went lower to keep his costs down

Michelangelo

Spoiler Alert!

Mutant
Unique Hero
Ninja
Tricky
Medium 4

Life 4
Move 5
Attack 3
Defense 4
Points 110

TAUNT 14
After moving and before attacking, choose one opponent’s figure within 3 clear spaces of Michelangelo and roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 14 or higher, move that figure adjacent to Michelangelo and it must attack Michelangelo with one less attack die. Taunted figures are never attacked for leaving an engagement.

COUNTER STRIKE
When rolling defense dice against a normal attack from an adjacent attacking figure, all excess shields count as unblockable hits on the attacking figure.

Michelangelo Commentary

Spoiler Alert!

Michelangelo Play Tests: http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showpost.php?p=1027463&postcount=8
-8/03
Card Streamlining - Removed Whirlwind
-3/30
Whirlwind changed a special power to reduce its powerlevel, but height and glyphs made it unintentionally more powerful. This change returns it to a Special Attack and the desired benefits thereof but reduces the Attack to keep the power in check. I like this more actually because it annoyed me before that he whirlwinded every time unless he had height, even when attacking singular targets. Now there are more choices
Additionally, changed text positions so that the Order is Taunt > CS > Whirlwind for thats the order they play out mechanically.
-3/26
His power level is high against squads and in fear of being undercosted, his SA has been reduced to just a special power.
-3/5
Even though he gets Mowed down by range and isn't that exciting, his ability combinations have powerful or at least unique interactions and thus +10 points (Donatello drops 10)
-3/2
Defense Changed from 6 to 4. His Counter Strike is a second attack utilizing the defensive nature of the weapon = Attack 3 +1 = 4. This is further offset with his Taunt Ninjitsu p) 3+1+1=5, for height: 3+1+1+1=6 and the scale leaves no room for a higher counter. Even without the bonuses, 5 seemed too high and 6 immediately so. 4 is just low enough that it is useful but not grossly intimidating. With this change his power lessens and his points need to drop. To what level? Testing will tell.
-3/1
I had immediate plans for this guy. I wanted him to taunt, offset and lure his opponents into a knock on the head. I also wanted him to have whirlwind attack, envisioning him dancing around and attacking multiple foes - homage to the movies. Special attacks are harder to block, which is how I dealt with the unique nature of his weapons, and homage to Maxi from Soul Caliber. He would be the anti squad element to the ninja team.
Now all of this was in place before I looked at B&K's Mikey. Turns out we had similar thoughts . But completely different executions. I don't like catch-phrases as abilities and apart from the taunt, which is only thematically comparable, our designs parted there.
Taunt couldn't replace movement, because then he would stray too far from the group. The range of 3 is because I like to use 4 as the base for effective communication, and 3 gives it that more personal feel, and this way the opponent isn't moved too far from its starting position.
Stats: I have a special place in my heart for Nunchaku and their defensive capabilities, thus defense 6. I wanted Mikey to have the highest defense to match his personality and play-style. Plus the high defense with counter strike work nicely.
I wanted his points low to keep the team's total points low. He was originally higher but was reduced to give Raphael more power. I thought taunt was 'neat' but risky with his low life. He did seem good, but not overpowered.

Raphael

Spoiler Alert!

Mutant
Unique Hero
Ninja
Rebellious
Medium 4

Life 6
Move 6
Range 1
Attack 4
Defense 3
Points 115

DOUBLE ATTACK
When Raphael attacks, he may attack one additional time.

FRENZY
After you take a turn Raphael, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 16 or higher you may take another turn with Raphael.

Raphael Commentary

Spoiler Alert!

Raphael Play Tests: http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showpost.php?p=1027876&postcount=19

-8/03
* Life 5 -> 6
* Attack 3 -> 4
* Defense 4 -> 3
-3/2
Defense lowers from 5 to 4. This puts him on par with the other turtles, with Donatello being the highest, where he should be. His damage is quite high and he is ferocious, but his staying power put that aggressiveness out of balance. Reducing it balanced his power to slightly edge out over 110 and 100pt figures, but still fall to 120 point figures.
-3/1
Raphael is good enough without the others, he is a loner. His abilities are self-providing and don't seem to interact well with the others, which is the part that makes me smile. Looking closer there are hidden interactions. His points are 115 to match the other most expensive turtle: Leo, because he is arguably more powerful and believes so himself. His move 6 is equal to Leo's because he doesn't hold back like the others, eventually he will outrun Leo's influence. Donnie's advice will also become ignored as he runs off and does his own thing.
I wanted him to have simplistic abilities with cute/subtle interactions.
At first he had Overextend Attack, and that changed to a d20 variant of the same ability, ultimately streamlining to the existing Frenzy power. His life5 is a remnant from this, but was cool enough that it agreed with 'more powerful than Leo', so it stayed.
-
B&K's version had more complex abilities and offered little to me except to set the mood of Raphael's arrogant and reckless behavior.

Donatello

Spoiler Alert!

Mutant
Unique Hero
Ninja
Introspective
Medium 4

Life 4
Move 5
Range 1
Attack 3
Defense 5
Points 90

KEEN OBSERVATION
Anytime you roll the 20-sided die for a Ninja Army Card, you may add 3 to your die roll. At least one figure on the Army Card must be Donatello or within 4 clear sight spaces of Donatello before the roll.

TINKER
Instead of moving, Donatello may Tinker. Instead of attacking, Donatello may Tinker. To Tinker, choose an adjacent Robot or Destructible Object without any Order Markers on its card and roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 16 or higher you may remove 2 wounds from its card, add 2 wounds to its card, and or take an immediate turn with it.

WHIRLWIND ASSAULT
Donatello may attack any or all figures adjacent to him. Roll each attack separately.

Donatello Commentary

Spoiler Alert!

Donatello Play Tests: http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showpost.php?p=1027921&postcount=21

-8/03
Made more relevant and reliable
* Added Whirlwind Assault : Moved from Michelangelo
* Attack 4 -> 3 : Reduced to balance WA inclusion, spread difference from Raph's attack increase.
* Observation 2 -> 3
* Disable / Enable Device combine for Tinker
> DO valid target
> Cannot have an OM on its card
> Taking a turn with it as option
> Can do any/all abilities on each success
-4/10
Out of 14 games, his Observations have never influenced anything. The bonus increases from +1 to +2.
-3/5
Calculating was always 'off' as his personality. Wikipedia calls him Introspective and I liked it, and now he has it. His Device powers have activation requirements changed to add subtle bonus flavor. Now, he can sacrifice a move to use the ability, which means he can sacrifice the bonus move from Fearless Leader. Leo eggs him on to work on that device faster! And sacrificing moves can mean he separates from the group easier, as if he is introspective and loses himself within himself. This distraction means he can no longer tell others his Keen Observations - I dislike that name by the way.
His points drop to 100 because he doesn't cut it at that level and Michelangelo needed to be closer to Dund in cost.
-3/1
This guy had me stumped and I battled with his abilities for a better part of a day. At first he had reach, but two hexes is a lot of terrain to cover and his bo isn't that long. Thus his attack bumped to 4.
Keen Observation: He is the idea man and his input helps guide the turtles. Paying homage to Ninjas of the Northern Wind, I represented that influence through d20 adjustment, which in turn altered the abilities of the other turtles, so that all the ninjas have a d20 ability. The limitation to keep it in check, 4 represents his effective communication range, and makes it easier for Raphael to run out of range.
Devices:I agreed with B&K that he should interact with Soulborgs to represent his tinkering propensity, but B&K's reprogram was too unique to use and was a direction I didn't want to go -although I respect the source reference. I wanted Donnie to be cheap and thus the ability couldn't be too powerful. I read wiki's and watched episodes and then came on what we have here. The healing factor with Q9 is disturbing, but is it really worth the lost attacks? I think not, so it stays.
Like Michelangelo the power couldn't replace movement, because he doesn't want to stray too far from the group.

April O’Neil

Spoiler Alert!

Human
Unique Hero
Journalist
Determined
Medium 4

Life 4
Move 5
Range 1
Attack 1
Defense 2
Points 30

MUTANT SYMPATHY
After you move a Mutant you control, you may move April O'Neil up to 2 spaces. The figure must be within 8 clear sight spaces of April O'Neil prior to her movement.

REPORTING 6
Add 6 to your initiative rolls if an opponent's figure is within 4 clear sight spaces of April.

April O'Neil Commentary

Spoiler Alert!

-4/10
Added range and LOS restrictions to Mutant Sympathy.
- Draft 2
The +4 to initiative wasn’t exciting enough and having two abilities to get that far wasn’t appealing. She was too passive. This version gets her in the action and plays off the team’s synergies. And Her defense bumps to 4 as a nod to the iconic glyph-grabbing rats. Originally two abilities added to +4, now one ability gives +6 and the other bonds with Mutants to keep her in the action.
- Draft 1
I respect B&K's source reference with the reprogramming, but it was a direction I didn't want to go. Her height of 5 was also a cool nod, but I also didn't take it. Determined personality was independently chosen .
-
Basically I wanted her to suck, to be a weak character. But why would one want to draft such a character? Cheerleading. Since she is a reporter I wanted her to be a scout. I played with 'once an opponent's figure is X spaces away, its OM's become revealed' but it was clunky and dull. Initiative rolls ties with her determination and ambition to get things done, to get the story told, to get the information out there. Mutant Sympathy continued with this, and was actually instated first. She reports their story. As an added bonus, the Mutant bonus warmed my heart since I've been working on the X-Men C3G.
Her defense is 3 instead of the original 2 because even though she is a weak civilian, she manages to survive long enough to get saved.

Casey Jones

Spoiler Alert!

Human
Unique Hero
Vigilante
Wild
Medium 5

Life 7
Move 5
Range 1
Attack 3
Defense 3
Points 70

BEAT DOWN
When the defending figure rolls no shields, Casey Jones may attack an additional time.

Casey Jones Commentary

Spoiler Alert!

-8/03
* Life 6 -> 7 : Separate from Raph's Life 6 and to encourage OM usage.
* Reworked BD wording
-
The development of Casey Jones was an extension on working with B&K. I am not a fan of using catch-phrases as abilities and thus renamed one of the original powers by B&K. It was so perfect to the character that it was an immediate in. I wanted Casey to be a clear cut character and the design for him was an immediate draft. 70pts because I personally only have two 70pt figures I want there to be more! And it matched with the turtles to = 500. Hunter? Warrior? Vigilante? Something else? Wikipedia gave me that answer. Wild seemed like a natural fit. His attack/defense/life are just where I want them. I like that he can take out both squads and heroes and is a nice cleanup for the turtles, taking revenge if you will

Master Splinter

Spoiler Alert!

Mutant
Unique Hero
Sensei
Disciplined
Small 3

Life 3
Move 7
Range 1
Attack 5
Defense 3
Points 170

NINJA GUIDANCE
Instead of taking a turn with Master Splinter, you may take a turn with up to 2 different Ninja Heroes you control.

DISENGAGE
Master Splinter is never attacked when leaving an engagement.

SCALE 4
When moving up and down terrain, Master Splinter may add 4 to his height.

Master Splinter Commentary

Spoiler Alert!

-8/03-
* Climb > Scale
-4/10-
Removed +1/+1 bonus to nearby Ninjas
Reduced link from 4 to 2 Ninjas
Ninja Master changes to Ninja Guidance. NM should be reserved for uber ninjas. Guidance can be used as a verb and shows influence.
-3/1-
B&K's version was not what I wanted at all and shares little with my rendition of the sage rat.
The elves were always an inspiration with this hero squad and thus Splinter was Ulginesh. Nodding to Sonlen not being a wizard, Splinter isn't a ninja. I didn't want him boosted by the turtles, but to boost them
He stays in the sewer all day so his influence has no range limitations and doesn't need clear sight. The bonus to surrounding ninjas was sort of tacked on and originally had a range of 4. I wanted them to perform better in front of their master and under his direct guidance, and this way perhaps they could protect him better should it come to that.
He needed disengage to run away should he need to, and he is a rat so he should be slippery, move7. Ghost/Phantom Walk just looked bad so the basic disengage stayed. His attack was boosted from 3 to 5 to show that he can fight with the best of em should it come to that. His defense is 3 because he is old and frail. His life is 3 for the same reasons and because the turtles are 4 and he should be less. And that fragility creates a certain tension for the turtles to take action and defend their master.
He is expensive, but his one OM orders 4! heroes.

4 Turtles = 430pts + Casey = 500pts
4 Turtles + Splinter = 600pts
4 Turtles + Splinter + Casey + April = 700pts

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

I love what you can get in a 700 point army there!
I'd argue that Michaelangelo's "Taunt 14" power is more than just "inspired" by B&K though. That seems like a borderline rip off, so you might consider swapping it out for something more original ... Also, looking at his card, 100 points seems a bit low for what he brings to the table. 140 maybe? 6 defense and counter strike and whirlwind special attack is pretty fierce.

 

[Griffin]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Beat Down
After Casey Jones attacks, if the defending figure rolled no shields, Casey Jones may attack again.

That is a really cool power.

Master Splinter has a life of 3 and a defense of 3, and he costs 170 points???? I am certain that he is grossly overpriced. I wouldn't draft him at 70 points, when I could pay 10 more and get Raelin. I think with his card the way it is, he is probably worth like 15 or 20 points at the most.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

20 points? Did you read "Ninja Master"? I know he's glass jawed, but that's a pretty nice power ... I mean, it's not 170 points on its own with how glass jawed he is, but he's more than 20!

 

[Boromir_and_kermit]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Spoiler Alert!

I would also say that Michaelangelo's Taunt is more than "inspired" as well.

Leo's specials are also similar to mine.

Additionally, if you also reference the Casey Jones special attack, it is completely ripped off from mine as well. Almost word for word. The only change is that I called it "Meet the boys"....

*sigh* - if you lift a power, at least acknowledge it please. Don't pass it off as your own. Especially not on the exact same character.

Cheers,
Ben.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Agreed. That's pretty lame.

 

[Confred]

Michelangelo Tuning

Before PlayTest Commentary:

Spoiler Alert!

Michelangelo was an interesting character to me. Taunt is good, but he has 4 life. What if he taunts and whiffs and they don't and he dies for free? They are getting free attacks against him. I want him at 100 points. I could scale him down a bit. Perhaps remove the -1 to attack after the taunt. I wanted that to represent them getting unnerved by the taunt.
I suppose I could also/instead use "After moving and instead of attacking". This will probably be the change to bring him down to level but dang I pictured him taunting and then smack smack!
And another note with Taunt was to setup a Whirlwind.
-Edit 3/2
Taking another look at classic figures. The original RotV figures aren't as powerful as I remembered them. Mikey with his current stats plus Counter Strike alone might land him at 100pts.

Michelangelo
Mutant
Unique Hero
Ninja
Tricky
Medium 4

Life 4
Move 5
Attack 3
Defense 6 (4)
Points 100 (110)

Taunt 14
After moving and before attacking, choose one opponent’s figure within 3 clear sight spaces of Michelangelo and roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 14 or higher, move that figure adjacent to Michelangelo and force it to attack Michelangelo with one less attack die. Figures moved with Taunt 14 are never attacked for leaving an engagement.
Whirlwind Special Attack
Range 1. Attack 3.
Michelangelo may attack any or all figures adjacent to him with Whirlwind Special Attack. Roll each attack separately.
Counter Strike
When rolling defense dice against a normal attack from adjacent figures, all excess shields count as unblockable hits on the attacking figure.


- The Play Test (at Defense 4): 1-4
Michelangelo vs. Kumiko (-20)

Spoiler Alert!

The board is flat, basically the shape of original RotV packaging with a center pond of swamp and water.
Mikey wins initiative and runs up 5 spaces and taunts for an effective range of 8. She rolls 3-1=2 attack into his fierce 6 defense and he immediately gets nerfed down to 4defense for the rest of the test. They both whiff and he cannot penetrate her 5defense on his follow up attack. Getting a double attack off of Taunt is cool.
She rotates around, gets height and attacks inflicting one wound.
Round two Mikey moves on equal height and then taunts her back down. This feels odd but I allow it. He attacks with height.
From here each turn Kumiko climbs back up and special attacks to bypass his Counter Strike. The fight is a bit dull, perhaps it's just me.
Kumiko Wins Round 2, Turn 2, with 2 Wounds.

Michelangelo vs. Ne-Gok-Sa (-10)

Spoiler Alert!

Change starting zones to lengthen distance between the figures.
NGS gets initiative but nowhere advantageous to move to so he turtles. Mike sneaks up, still out of range. NGS turtles. Mike runs in and Taunts NGS down a level inflicting 1 Wound with counter strike after NGS rolls -1 and Mikey +1 die. Whiffing on attack.
NGS climbs back up, fails Mindshackle but inflicts a wound. Mikey Taunts NGS back down and inflicts a CS wound. The smacks a massive 4 skull blow against only 1 shield. Still sort of a boring match, perhaps it is still just me.
Michelangelo Wins Round 1, Turn 3, 1 Wound
Counter Strike and Height + being able to position is powerful, but not fun yet. The positioning once already engaged is dubious, threatening to be nerfed.

- Taunt isn't automatic . Continuing tests appropriately
Michelangelo vs. Atlaga (-10)

Spoiler Alert!

Rolling for the Taunt COMPLETELY changes how he plays. Before he would move just enough and then pull the enemy closer. Now he has to run in adjacent just in case the taunt fails. In this case, Atlaga was steadfast the entire way through and the guardian didn't pay heed to the ninja trickery.
Mikey wins initiative but cannot engage, but Atlaga can on his turn so he runs to the best possible position and passes. Atlaga misses with his withering bolt but scores an arrow wound for 1.
Mikey runs adjacent in case taunt fails and it does. He rolls max skulls at 3 and Atlaga blocks 2 and then he rolls max skulls for 4 and Mikey blocks 3.
They duke it back and forth each rolling impressively, but Mikey can never undermine the Kyrie and ultimately fails
Atlaga Wins Round 1, Turn 3, 2 Wounds
Without Taunt automatically working, the gameplay was much more entertaining and the ability wasn't degenerate. I'm starting to think the altered 4Defense is too low. But I will play a few more and find out.

Michelangelo vs. Agent Carr (-0)

Spoiler Alert!

These two were closely matched.
Agent Carr wins initiative and kites Mikey around for the first 3 turns, eventually scoring one wound. On the third turn Michelangelo finally covers the gap and once toe to toe Carr couldn't handle the pressure and is taunted into the water. But that Sword of Reckoning is friken scary! Carr is wounded by CS but not by the chucks.
Carr disengages and kites some more, but it clearly isn't working. Mikey taunts two more times from height but 5dice vs 5dice has some tension. They cancel each other both times. But Mikey's attack scores 2 wounds for 3 total and Carr uses his sword and lo' and behold 2 wounds. 3v3, 1v1, Mikey whiffs and Carr doesn't.
Carr Wins Round 3, Turn 1, 3 Wounds
This fight was very close and very heated. Against hard-hitters, Taunt loses its shine.. that is with the current defense of 4. At this strength, he feels closer to 90pts.
He wishes he had Disengage, but he doesn't and he won't.

Michelangelo vs. Sgt. Drake Alexander <RotV> (+10)

Spoiler Alert!

Sgt. Drake Alexander Wins Round 1, Turn 3, 1 Wound.
This fight revealed some interesting thoughts. 4 defense is enough to be somewhat effective but not enough to be intimidating. I like that it is basically a +1 attack and I like that it becomes +2 with taunt.
Taunt doesn't happen often at all but when it was auto it wasn't fun. I like this rate and at +1 with Donnie it will be better and appropriate.
I think I like his stats as is now. But his points might very well drop to 90 or 80. Testing of the other turtles will show if their points need adjusting and any increases will come from Michelangelo's point pool.

Results: Defense drops from 6 to 4, Points drop pending.
On Second thought, Michelangelo should be imposing and intimidating to approach with his twirling display of Nunchaku.

- The Second Play Test (at Defense 5):
Michelangelo vs. Kumiko (-20)

Spoiler Alert!

Kumiko intends to move just enough to be out of range, but miscalculates. Michelangelo uses that knowledge to cook something fierce and the taunt is successful, -1 Attack +1 Defense is huge and takes her down to 1, his following attack of 4 skulls seals the deal.
Michelangelo Wins Round 1, Turn 1, 0 Wounds
With height and taunt bonuses working together, the ability scales quickly and fast. 5 just might be too high; more testing will tell.

Michelangelo vs. Atlaga (-10)

Spoiler Alert!

The match doesn't finish because all needed information is gathered. 5 Defense is too high and feels wrong.

Result: Keep Defense at 4.

-
Splinter Commentary

Spoiler Alert!

With Master Splinter I did the classic 'with customs, err to overpriced'. I used Ulginesh as the base and well he controls two more characters and isn't limited in range of influence.

Responses to Criticism

Spoiler Alert!

I mentioned you in the original post. I wanted to be apart of your project and you didn't.
Most of what I wanted to do was tweak. And that is what this is: A variation of your stuff. Posted from the point of where our creative differences split. You didn't want to budge and I kept thinking about it so I made my own post and continued.
-
Leonardo was the first of your cards I poured myself into and I agreed with what you were doing and this is my deviation of it.
In fact, for all the cards yours had inspiration to it. But so did the shows. So did the movies. So did the wiki. The personalities and classes, except precise from Leo, where all me, turns out ours are similar.
We are making characters not from scratch, but to emulate existing figures.
Even tackling the TMNT so close after dealing with your posts was inspired by the Super Hero Custom makers where they each make their own versions of known superheroes. And their cards are similar, even in color and appearance.
-
Our Michelangelo's are completely different.
-
But in the end, we creators are kin and shouldn't be at war. I returned to the characters and wrote thoughts on each. Turns out that approach is more pleasing in the end. Now I know. Give credit where credit is due.

 

[Boromir_and_kermit]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Spoiler Alert!

I was quite happy for you to be involved in my project. But you wanted to emulate the cartoon characters, not the comic characters. If you had left your posts up, people would be able to see that in some cases, some major changes to the turtles. They weren't tweaks.

Even though the wording on my cards may not yet be streamlined, the effects are well playtested. I have spent quite alot of time playtesting them and had no intention of going back to scratch on them all. I thought this was quite clear. Its like when an NM24 card goes up - you don't all just rewrite the whole card - you try and keep it in context with the posters vision.

I was looking for help with the wording and 'tweaking' the specials - not complete rewrites which is what you were suggesting. Also, I didn't appreciate the tone of your posts, almost demanding changes - very condescending indeed. After explaining this to you and again making sure you understood that I'm happy for help, as long as you understand the vision I had for them. You proceeded to post more ideas on how the turtles 'should' be. It was at that point that I said that our ideas would probably not mesh and that you hadn't even looked at my cards, yet were already proposing how characters should be. You then deleted all your posts and left. No problems.

You want to do your own set of turtles - that's fine mate - but don't take my ideas for them and then say that you are just 'emulating the same character'... for example, you just renamed my casey jones ability, but kept the special the same. Its lame mate.

The reason Taunt isn't working on your version of Mickey is that it was meant for him to have height so that the enemy would be forced to attack him to get rid of their penalty. Mickey would have height so they couldn't reach him that turn. Then he would use his Cowabunga special attack on them. This is why you can't just grab an ability and paste it on another card. When a card is created it is created to flow as a whole.

Anyway, good luck Confred, but I have Glyphs to work on. Please don't take them too.

If you find my tone too harsh, perhaps its because I don't like the way you have conducted yourself.
Cheers,
Ben.

 

[Confred]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

And our Michelangelo's are different. Your version of Mikey had him jumping from buildings and ambushes and the like.
Mine has him break-dancing area affecting and invoking challenges as in the movies, regardless of height advantage. Similar but at the same time different.


Responses to Criticism

Spoiler Alert!

Continue on developing, I wanted to workshop and tweak and edit and rewrite your characters. But they were your characters, your art. I packed up and left. As a cop-out I can blame the new pills the doctor put me on which have a side-effect of depression/mood swings, so the leave was a bit dramatic and out of character.
Buut you have your realm to design and these are my rewrites .
Aand the reasons why I openly jotted down my ideas in your posts before delving into the actual cards was because I wanted to get my direction out their first before being influenced by your cards. Your box art was magnificent and had my mind racing, I was really excited. For the record I had two posts where I made before reading your cards, and a primer before that warning that I would do so. The second post was written the same time that you wrote your response saying I should read the cards before posting, so it wasn't intentional insubordination.
-
Plus, this version of Mikey was crafted before I read your card and was indepent to your design. In that second, now deleted, post was an outline of each figure, most were vague or scattered ideas, but Michelangelo had taunt/whirlwind/counter strike. The details were hashed out later. And now reading your card, Throw Insult is not Taunt at all. It uses peripherals, doesn't move the character, is a much stronger debuff, and doesn't force an attack. It's not the same at all!

 

[Boromir_and_kermit]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

I felt it was more the concept of Taunt and the fact it had been around a long time - but all water under the bridge mate.

I like your thoughts on each character. Thanks for uploading them Confred.

I also really like your cartoon version of April - very fitting. I can just see her in her Yellow jumpsuit.

In the comic, April actually helped to create the Mouser at Baxter Stockman's business. Baxter attempted to kill her with his Mousers which had been used to rob banks (as she found out about it). Hense the reprogramming ability.

I do like your cartoon version of both April and Don actually. They both fit the cartoon well.

Cheers,
Ben.

PS. My wave 2/3 releases have some comic/cartoon characters which I have laid out already (Rocksteady, Beebop, Leatherhead and Baxter Stockman as a fly, Metalhead and Slash) When I get to them, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on them.

 

[Confred]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Yeah I ended up reading the comics throughout this project and I liked your programming ability for that reason.
-
I thought about continuing with Rocksteady and Beebop
Perhaps a charge attack for one and a rapid fire attack for the other, both with a chance to bumble and fail, friendly fire on miss for the rapid fire for example.
But to be honest, not having figures is disheartening. For the ones I made, I think I will sculpt them. But there are obvious flaws in that route.
Oh, and your Foot are perfect. I might redo Shredder (although I never cared for him as a kid, so meh) but the Foot don't need anything.

 

[Griffin]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Well now that everyone is all lovey dovey despite the plagiarism (although I will admit that there is a C3G wannabe group that mirrors everything we do, and it is kinda annoying), we can get back to talking about these cartoon TMNT.

Casey Jones' Beat Down power is a cool power that you didn't come up with. Good job on picking a good one though.

Mutant Sympathy
If you control at least one Mutant figure, add 2 to your initiative rolls.
Reporting 12
If there is at least one opponent’s figure within 12 clear sight spaces of April O’Neil, add 2 to your initiative rolls.

Mutant Sympathy is worded rather oddly, and it doesn't make thematic sense to me that your entire army moves quicker to the fight because April and Mutants are working together, and that somehow reflects her sympathies to mutants. However, Reporting 12 is cool, it makes perfect thematic sense.

 

[Boromir_and_kermit]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Shredder from the cartoon was quite different - lead from the back more.

I was thinking for Rocksteady and Beebop that they should either have a high attack, but 2 skulls count as one
OR

UNDER PRESSURE
After attacking, reroll a number of dice showing skulls, equal to the number of shields the defender rolled. Then apply any wounds as normal.

The second one makes them very succeptible to Counterstrike - which I like. They come in strong and stuff it up. They are very low cost characters I think. Would be great to hear your thoughts on them.

Cheers,
Ben.

 

[Confred]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Mutant Sympathy is worded rather oddly, and it doesn't make thematic sense to me that your entire army moves quicker to the fight because April and Mutants are working together, and that somehow reflects her sympathies to mutants.

I have the idea that Mutants are ostracized and left out, discouraged. Well here is somebody sympathetic to their plight and genuinely wanting to help them, and it's uplifting.
The other is that her sheer enthusiasm enhances the whole.
But mainly, even though she doesn't have an OM on her, she is busy, jotting, writing, recording.

 

[Griffin]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Well I don't wanna tell you how to do your own customs, but I find two initiative powers kinda lame and well... boring. Seriously, where is the fun in that? Why not consider something that affects the game-play and not just the order of who goes first? Like allowing April to immediately move upto 5 spaces if you win initiative, or a power that prevents opponents from attacking April in any way if she is adjacent to at least one Mutant you control. I would just suggest you try and make her a bit more fun that's all.

 

[Confred]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

...I find two initiative powers kinda lame and well... boring... Why not consider something that affects the game-play and not just the order of who goes first?...I would just suggest you try and make her a bit more fun that's all.

Ah I see.
But she is only 30pts and is sort of just a glyph. That +4 initiative could be that little edge needed to get the swift but 4life heroes to their positions and tasks before they get cut down. I'm not stubbornly defending my position, but I am from a Magic the Gathering background where it is fine to have a figure get boosted in the same area by two different conditions.
But then again, since she is just a glyph, drafting Isamu+Otonashi would possibly be more powerful in this army.
Good points, I will sleep on it.
-
Edit:

... Like allowing April to immediately move upto 5 spaces if you win initiative...

I really should sleep on it, but what about a Mutant Reporting special power that moves her every time you move a Mutant. Beef up the Reporting 12 bonus and she moves along with the turtles and eventually free-moves all the way to the action where she reports for the initiative bonus.
With Splinter's 4 activations and Leo's 3, she can be quite mobile. The Mutant Reporting would probably move her not a complete move, 2 or so. 14 spaces total with the full synergy going..
This would keep her more active, more involved in the action, and more a target for your opponent.
Sounds neat actually, I don't like the double use of 'Reporting' and in my sleep hopefully I will come up with a better word for one of them.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Confred's Customs 3/1- TMNT

Glad to see everything got worked out here.

 

[Confred]

Raphael Tuning

Raphael
Mutant
Unique Hero
Ninja
Rebellious
Medium 4

Life 5
Move 6
Range 1
Attack 3
Defense 5 (4)
Points 115

Double Attack
After Raphael attacks, he may attack one additional time.
Frenzy
After taking a turn with Raphael, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 16 or higher, you may take another turn with Raphael.

- Play Test 4-2
Raphael vs. Atlaga (-25)

Spoiler Alert!

Atlaga wins initiative and misses with a withering bolt but hits with a normal arrow for 1. Defense 5 and Life 5 make their presence immediately known.
Raphael closes the gap and there are just too many attacks to dodge.
Raphael Wins Round 1, Turn 3, 1 Wound
His points are almost certainly going to go up by the end of this.

Raphael vs. Agent Carr (-15)

Spoiler Alert!

The two rogues battle it for initiative, 20>20, 1>1, 2>8. Carr wins and advances to maximum gun distance and wounds Raphael. His defense is so strong.
Raphael is quick and closes the gap in the one turn and sends a flurry of attacks that do little than make Carr look worse as he whiffs and takes one wound. Frenzy fails.
Carr hacks into Raphael for 2 wounds. 5 Defense is still beastly and the +1 life gives a completely different feel from Michelangelo. Raphael responds with 2 more wounds of his own. Frenzy fails.
Carr cleans up with his big sword.
Carr Wins Round 1, Turn 3, 3 Wounds
Double attack is impressive. Typically 3 Attack doesn't seem like much but when backed by a hardened body for staying power it is consistent enough to get the job done.

Raphael vs. Sgt. Drake Alexander <RotV> (-5)

Spoiler Alert!

Raphael rolls an 18, but Drake gets 20 and inches forward. Raphael moves up just out of range and fails Frenzy. Drake hacks into him for 2 wounds. Raphael answers back with 1. Drake hacks another 2 into him. Raphael answers with 2 of his own, Frenzies but froths more than fights. Drake whiffs for the upset.
Raphael jumps the initiative and his attacks are just too consistent to block.
Raphael Wins Round 2, Turn 1, 4 Wounds
I like that he is just flat out tougher than the other turtle, and that's how I designed him. But is he too tough? I'm thinking either his Life or his Defense will drop 1 by the end of this.

Raphael vs. Migol Ironwill (-5)

Spoiler Alert!

Raphael's speed really shows against the steely dwarf, picking his Life away 1 at a time. Migol's heavy hammer seems too easily dodged by the ninja.
But then with just one more skull rolled Migol turns beastly. Raph goes down quickly and soon they are tied.
Migol holds out to win the initiative and then the game.
Migol Wins Round 3, Turn 1, 4 Wounds
Raphael goes toe to toe with iconic beaters of the past. But he still has higher potential. Then again he has lost twice and all fights have been by a hair. And all have been against cheaper units.

Raphael vs. Deathwalker 8000 (+15)

Spoiler Alert!

Raphael wins initiative runs half the way and then frenzies and then rolls 3 skulls on his first attack. Deathwalker rolls 2. And that's why they are infamous.
Raphael Wins Round 1, Turn 1, 0 Wounds.
I suppose this one can be chalked up as 'fun'.

Raphael vs. Major Q10 (+35)

Spoiler Alert!

Raphael wins initiative and frenzies to Major Q10's face, leaving 3 skulls unanswered. Q10's first rocket is parried and the second misses completely.
Q10's armor holds out for the first stab, but not the second.
Raphael Wins Round 1, Turn 2, 0 Wounds
We all know Major Q10 is fragile, but goodness. 3 seems right for Raphael's Attack, but the DPS is just too high. I'm considering dropping his Attack to 2 and his Defense to 4, leaving his Life at 5.

Result: Defense lowers from 5 to 4.

- Play Test 2 (at Defense 4) 3-1
Raphael vs. Agent Carr (-15)

Spoiler Alert!

Rolling 4 defensive dice immediately felt right and taking the blows at +1 life was like the savage he is. They trade blows; Carr blanks. Frenzies are heavy swings.
Raphael Wins Round 1, Turn 2, Wounds 2
In a Bonus Rematch Round Raphael tries his size 2 Sai and it felt immediately wrong and returned to Attack 3, ending the match.

Raphael vs. Sgt. Drake Alexander <RotV> (-5)

Spoiler Alert!

The reduced defense made a significant difference here.
Sgt. Drake Alexander Wins Round 1, Turn 3, Wounds 2

Raphael vs. Migol Ironwill (-5)

Spoiler Alert!

Raphael maintained his aggressive spirit and whittled Migol down with a frenzy of attacks. Migols strikes hit hard against the newly lowered defense, having Raph at just the right amount of vulnerability.
Raphael Wins Round 1, Turn 3, Wounds 2

Raphael vs. Major Q10 (+35)

Spoiler Alert!

Raphael quickly closes the gap with frenzy and each trade blocks 2 at a time and eventually Q10 whiffs twice and at Life 4, that's all that's needed.
Raphael Wins Round 1, Turn 3, Wounds 0
-Edit: I just realized that for that fight I was rolling 4 defense dice. Q10 probably would have lasted another turn or two where he could have removed the flawless from Raphael's victory.

Result: Made weaker, but still has a better record. Frenzies are massive swings, but uncommon enough to be ok for now. Attack is a proven 3 and not 2. More testing is required, but at another time, with another composition and setting.

-Play Test 3 - All Star Royal
Raphael vs. Kaemon Awa (+5)

Spoiler Alert!

Raphael wins when using Defense 5, but this was in error so rematched with Defense 4.
Kaemon Awa eats Raphael up. Raph's power comes in his Double Attack, but against other multi-hitters, he doesn't shine as brightly. KA's attacks hit harder and out race him, and the Counter Strike fills in the gaps
Kaemon Awa Wins Round 1, Turn 2, Wounds 2

Raphael vs. Krug

Spoiler Alert!

Raphael knows he is in trouble and gives it his all, with 3x! Frenzies in a row inflicting a total of 5 wounds. Krug smacks for 3 and then 2, too many dice to defend against.
Krug Wins Round 1, Turn 2, Wounds 5

Results: Raphael trades with 100 and 110 point figures with a slight edge in his favor and potential to do more, however when faced against 120 point figures, his place is shown. That potential to do more might win him against such a fight, but it will be rare. 115 points is agreeable for now.

 

[Griffin]

Re: Raphael Tuning

Raphael
Mutant
Unique Hero
Ninja
Rebellious
Medium 4

Life 5
Move 6
Range 1
Attack 3
Defense 5
Points 115

Double Attack
After Raphael attacks, he may attack one additional time.
Frenzy
After taking a turn with Raphael, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 16 or higher, you may take another turn with Raphael.

Excellent work. This is a great custom, and you know what, I would draft him at 130 even. Perhaps a bump in cost?

Seriously, really good custom.

 

[Confred]

Donatello Tuning

Donatello
Mutant
Unique Hero
Ninja
Calculating
Medium 4

Life 4
Move 5
Range 1
Attack 4
Defense 5
Points 90

Keen Observation
Anytime you roll the 20-sided die for a Ninja Army Card, you may add 1 to your die roll. At least one figure on the Army Card must be Donatello or within 4 clear sight spaces of Donatello before the roll.
Disable Device 16
Instead of moving, Or instead of attacking, you may choose an adjacent Soulborg figure to disable. Roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 16 or higher, remove all Order Markers from that figure’s Army Card.
Repair Device 16
Instead of moving, Or instead of attacking, you may choose an adjacent Soulborg figure to repair. Roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 16 or higher, remove all Wound Markers from that figure’s Army Card.
-
I suspect him to be a solid character solo, and have his true tests when paired with friends.
-Play Test 1 Solo
Donatello vs. Atlaga (-10)

Spoiler Alert!

Donatello Wins Round 1, Turn 2, Wounds 0
Attack 4 Defense 5 readily feels perfect. I love that his defense is higher than the rest. Whereas the others were too powerful at 5+ defense, Donnie doesn't really do anything by himself so it is OK.

Donatello vs. Agent Carr (-0)

Spoiler Alert!

The same problem continues with heavy hitters versus Life 4.
Agent Carr Wins Round 1, Turn 2, Wounds 2
4/5 continues to feel perfect. I feel as if it will be enough to encourage drafting him as a tag a long in the army.

Donatello vs. Sgt. Drake Alexander <RotV> (+10)

Spoiler Alert!

Donatello holds on tight with his 5 defense. But a low roll or a whiff against a mighty katana means certain doom.
Sgt. Drake Alexander Wins Round 2, Turn 2, Wounds 0
I've played enough with him to pass him. His stats are elegant and full of flavor. His play style complements this. He defends well, staving off attacks with his reach. His attacks are slow but powerful. He feels reluctant to fight, almost disassociated with the whole ordeal. I love it!

Donatello vs. Major Q10 (+50) Bonus Fight

Spoiler Alert!

Major Q10 was having none of this anti-Soulborg nonsense, beating out an initiative roll of 19 with a 20 and advancing to outrange Donatello at 7 spaces and attacks 4 times with a stunning 4x two-skull rolls. Donatello frantically defends but suffers grieviously, 1 Life remaining. He advances and still out of range. He side steps a rocket and takes shrapnal from the second for exactly one wound.
Major Q10 Wins Round 1, Turn 2, Wounds 0
His move 5 is spot on.

Results: His stats are exactly where I want them in solo play.

- Play Test 2 - Team Matches
Donatello & Michelangelo (200) vs. Atlaga & Migol Ironwill (+0)

Spoiler Alert!

What a cool combo of Atlaga and Migol, I never used them together before
The turtles win initiative and the plan is to position Donatello at a good observing point on OM1 and then use the boosted Mike for OM2&3. I miscalculate the move and go too far. Migol engages Donatello but has his attacks defended. Michelangelo runs up to the only place he can reach Migol, against the left wall. He fails the taunt and the attack.
Atlaga fires a bolt of withering wood at Donatello but misses and then attacks Michelangelo from range for 1 wound. both turtles are engagement locked with Migol. Mikey fails the taunt but inflicts a wound.
From this cramped position, Michelangelo cannot move Migol to where he wants him. Come to think of it, he could. I was thinking you had to move the figure 3 spaces and have him end his move next to Michelangelo and if he doesn't the move is illegal. Turns out you can pull figures through pathways otherwise blocked by engaged figures. This is possibly a clarification nerf waiting to happen.
Atlga attacks Michelangelo again and misses.
Donatello gets frustrated at Mikey's failed attacks and takes over and inflicts grievious wounds to Migol across the round. Migol gets tired of Atlaga and takes things into his own hands, but forgets Michelangelo's Counter Strike and takes a wound, sending him to 4 wounds. Michelangelo has 3. Donatello Crushes Migol with a 4 skull attack, he valiantly defends with his one shield, but one wound was all it needed to take.
The next plan was to send in Michelangelo and engage the Kyrie, forcing it to attack into CS. I however forgot about Mikey's Life perdicament. Atlaga seeing this opportunity fires a deadly 4 skull attack into the adjacent orange turtle. But Michelangelo defends with 4 shields! and saves the 2 remaining OM's. He uses this fact as bait and successfully taunts the Kyrie into a height disadvantage, counter striking him to death to salt the wound.
Team Ninja Wins Round 2, Turn 2, Donnie (0), Michelangelo (3)
The enhancement wasn't really that impressive. The times that taunt worked, it did so without the bonus. But a 4/5 is still respectable for 100pts. I don't exactly like how Donatello sits back 2 spaces and lets Michelangelo do all the work, I would assume they would gang up on the fight, not have Donnie coach. More testing with this team is in order

Donatello & Michelangelo vs. Marro Stingers x2 (-90)

Spoiler Alert!

Game 1: Stingers Win. Team Ninja 'wins' initiative and Donatello advances first with the intention of setting of an observation point while Michelangelo runs in and takes out as many as he can with his multiple attacks before his 4 defense/life fails. The stingers blast away at the turtles for several turns with their 3+3+3 dice rolling too many combined skulls to handle. Mikey never engaged and failed his only attempt at Taunt 16 (which I later realized was Taunt 14, so it would have succeeded). Donatello endures to the front line and takes out two Stingers on his next two turns, but ultimately dies.
Game 2: Turtles Win. The problem for the first game was that I severely underestimated the frailty of Michelangelo's 4 Defense/Life and lost several turns worth of Order Markers. The plan this time was to do as much as I could with Donnie and then cleanup with Michelangelo. The Marro win initiative and spread out so that each can attack Michelangelo without being whirlwinded, and so that at least one can attack Donatello should Michelangelo die. They failed to account for the range 3 of Taunt and Mikey pulls one into the swamp for height disadvantage, kills him/it and then normal attacks the other to death, leaving 1 of the originally advanced Stingers remaining. From here the turtles advance and hunt them down, cornering them so they cannot spread around as freely. Some still do, but it isn't enough. Michelangelo kills 4 and Donatello kills 2.
Michelangelo is impressive versus squad figures. Donatello's Keen Observation bonus hasn't really come into effect, but I predict it will once he has influence over more figures.
The battles were won/lost in part by my bad strategies and I am certain I played the Stingers wrong and should Drain more. A rematch is due
Game 3: Stingers win initiative and position themselves so that all three can attack both Michelangelo and Donatello and that none can be 2-for-1'd with Whirlwind. There isn't a way to avoid the Taunt-coupling, but the idea is to kill Mikey before he can respond. The Marro charge their weapons, warming them up for a full stat-boosting Drain and send a salvo of sickly discharge at Michelangelo for 2 wounds. Donatello avenges his brother by slaying one of the aliens with his singular powerful stroke. The Stingers drain their fully charged weapons for an impressive 4 dice attack each. Michelangelo cannot handle it and perishes, revealing OM3. Donatello rushes two Stingers still at their starting zones and crushes one of them but then is shot in the back with a fully charged stinger blast. Stingers Win Round 1, Turn 3, 4 Figures Remaining.
Michelangelo has destructive potential against squads. I would like to test him more in those areas. I am pretty sure he can take on Warriors of Ashra x2 without much trouble.
Stingers are more powerful then I remember. 2x are only 120pts! They are vicious.

Donatello & Raphael (215) vs. Major Q10 & Tagawa Samurai Archers (-0)

Spoiler Alert!

Major Q10's plan is to hide behind the archer wall and maximize the multi-attacks. He has OM1&3 and the Archers have OM2 to cover his position. He machine pistols Raphael for 1 wound and Raphael unexpectedly runs through the swamp water to just barely get adjacency and then attack at height disadvantage. He wounds the Major but fails the Frenzy with a roll of 5. He is already out of Donatello's range and the +1 wouldn't have helped.
The Tagawa engage Raphael to engagement lock him x2 and the third claims height. All miss. Donatello sprints to his brothers aid, engaging both the archer with height and the one in the swamps adjacent to Raphael, sending the latter back to the mead hall. I almost called a re-do due to my tactical mistake here with the Archer placement, but I let it slide. The Major rockets Raphael for 2 wounds. Raphael attacks first the Samurai Archer, showing it just how bad and pathetic it is, killing it, and then attacks the Major but no weak spots are found in the 5+1 armor. Raph Frenzies with a 20 (KO still unused), climbs up to regain height and wades around so that the Major cannot attack both turtles in a single turn. He wounds the Major and whiffs both the last attack and the frenzy with Donnie's observations on thermal dynamics not assisting at all. Raphael is sent back for pizza and beer.
Donatello snaps out of his introspection and smacks the major twice for 1 wound each, putting the bucket to rest.
Turtles Win: Round 2, Turn 2, Donatello 0 Wounds - Raphael dead
This was a mismatch due to Raphael being able to respectively spar with Major Q10 and the Tagawa sucking far worse than I had given them credit.
Donatello is an odd nut to crack because his abilities haven't come into effect at all thus far and he's just been used as a solid beater, clean-up unit. Agent Carr is a relatively simple figure at 100pts and so is Syvarris, so perhaps that is just how they are. I do admit that he feels off. I like him though, so he is close.
No more testing with Raphael is needed.
On a side note, I did smile when Raphael immediately ran off and did his own thing.

Donatello & Raphael vs Stingers x2

Spoiler Alert!

Stingers Win with 2 remaining. After playing with the tender Michelangelo, I err in the ways of caution. 2OM's on Don and 1OM on Raph for two rounds. Raphael killed three but just sat there as Donatello whiffed and wasted his order markers as the squad toasts Raphael. Keen Observations did nothing. Drain kills 1. Donatello cannot handle the remaining two.
Keen Observation hasn't helped in a single game and I am starting to doubt the fun level of this rendition. He might be too 'vanilla'/uncreative.

Donatello & Major Q10 (250) vs. Brave Arrow & Elite Onyx Vipers & Krav Maga Agents

Spoiler Alert!

This seems like a fun build. Brave Arrow conceals himself against Q10's attacks and boosts the attacks of the Vipers that also dodge Q10's attacks, the Agents trade shots from afar while they too dodge bullets. Donatello gets his chance to use his other abilities.
Major Q10 wins initiative and fires his pistol at the Agents. Agent Black goes down. Agent Bono goes down. miss. Black Mamba darts and watches the bullets pass in slow-mo. Agent Girl shoots at the Major and misses.
Donatello observes the mistake of taking OM2 instead of 3 and passes. The vipers slither to the pistol-wielding menace and manage to inflict a singular wound out of three attacks and fail their frenzy by a deviation of 10. Menace indeed; two vipers go down. Brave Arrow advances to support his scouts.
Donatello eventually takes a turn but instead of repairing one wound he fights and kills the Viper. Q10 moves adjacent to the Mohican and knocks him down to 1 wound, and in turn is knocked down to 1 wound. And then finished off. Donatello bashes the native for the last wound. The Agent anticipated this and uses her OM3 to attack at max range, Donatello takes 2 and then 1 as he closes the gap and the Krav Maga loses her running space. She doesn't fight as well as her name suggests.
Team Bucket Wins Round 3, Turn 1, Donatello (2) Major Q10 (-1).
These tests have been showing how rusty I have gotten at strategy, but luckily design observations still come in turn.
Donatello falls under that category where he is drafted for his special powers but they never work so he isn't that popular but might have a special spot in somebody's heart.
16 (15) is too high to be relevant. Completely removing OMs is powerful. But the targeting is limited. And he must be adjacent. And when he fails, he cannot attack or do anything else. The heal is complete and not some minor increment, so that too is powerful, but again the fail rate is high, the attacks are lost, and the targeting is limited to 2 or so units currently. The one time he could have healed, he chose to attack instead. His Attack, Defense, and Life are just where I want them. There is something to be said about Keen Observation not working yet out of this many games, but I will still hold that judgement until after the NoNW and Splinter testing rounds. I'm still thinking that once his activation becomes 'bonus' off of Splinter or other synergies that his misc powers will be appreciated.
Thematically, it takes awhile to repair/disable something so he shouldn't be able to attack. If the abilities stay, that still won't change. I could do a 'instead of moving or attacking'. That way he could do both device abilities by sac move then sac attack, do one off of Leo by sac the bonus move, or do one and then attack. If the movement sacrifice causes him to stray too far from the troupe, one could blame it on his introspective nature. In fact, I could change his personality to introspective and make that change. It's 3am; I will sleep on it.
The more I think about it, the more I like it. Because he is smart and intelligent, sure, but he isn't 'calculating'. He might make some good observations to save the day, but I can easily imagine him bottling up into his own thoughts, or getting distracted towards some random gadget or device. Imagine the guys in an alien space vessel. Leo is advancing the squad and they are fanning out, Raphael is ripping ish up, but Donatello is pondering the runes and the doorways and the devices, ultimately discovering something that saves the day. Surely doing this pulls him further from the group and his observations are keyed to this distraction, not benefiting said left behind group. But anyway. Sleep is the important word here. goodnight.

Donatello Changes v1.1
Points change from from 100 to 90
Personality changes from Calculating to Introspective
Device abilities change from 'After moving, instead of attacking' to 'Instead of moving, Or instead of attacking'.

Donatello & Ninjas of the Northern Wind (200) vs. Marro Stingers (120)

Spoiler Alert!

Donatello moves into observing position on turn 1. The stingers swarm and attack in mass, taking him down to 1 Life. Whiffs with Life 4 are hectic and intense, I like it. Next the Ninjas move in and cover a target each, one Stinger goes down. The stingers continue their focus on the weakened turtle, but his 5 defense survives some impressive rolls. The Ninjas take out two more targets and now have all stingers covered. The stingers attack one of the Ninjas out of Donatello's range of influence but he rolls a 20 anyway and disappears without a scratch. The remaining stinger targets Donatello but it is blocked.
Ninjas Win Round 2, Turn 1, Ninjas (3), Donatello (1)
The Ninjas of the Northern did most of the work, but the cheerleader status of Donatello drew decoy fire and held them off with his respectful Defense. I like how in the canon Donatello is the unofficial #2 in command and that is how he plays: Like a Leader, like a supervisor, and not afraid to jump in for assistance should his Attack 4 be needed.

Results: Donatello passes Tuning Phase 1

 

[Boromir_and_kermit]

Re: Confred's Customs *3/3* - TMNT: Donatello Teams PlayTest

Wow! Talk about alot of playtesting in a short amount of time.
Nice work getting that all done Confred.
Some interesting thoughts on the way the figures interact. I'd be very interested to see how do they go against Marvel Heroscape figures.
Cheers,
Ben.

 

[Griffin]

Re: Confred's Customs *3/3* - TMNT: Donatello Teams PlayTest

Some Team Tests would be an obvious next step once they have all done some Heavy Hitter tests to nail down their costs a bit more.

 

[Confred]

Re: Confred's Customs *3/3* - TMNT: Donatello Teams PlayTest

Yes Team tests are definitely creeping up.
But, can you explain more about the Heavy Hitter test? I know we use it in C3G, but I don't know how to gather information from getting completely owned by Krug?

 

[Confred]

Re: Confred's Customs *3/3* - TMNT: Donatello Teams PlayTest

Leonardo
Mutant
Unique Hero
Ninja
Precise
Medium 4

Life 4
Move 6
Range 1
Attack 5
Defense 4
Points 115

Fearless Leader
After taking a turn with Leonardo, you may move up to 3 Ninjas you control up to 2 spaces each. All figures moved with Fearless Leader must be within 8 clear sight spaces of Leonardo prior to moving. Leonardo cannot be moved with Fearless Leader.
Protector 14
If a figure within 3 clear sight spaces of Leonardo attacks a friendly figure, and rolls at least one skull, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 1-13, roll defense dice normally. If you roll a 14 or higher, immediately move Leonardo adjacent to that figure and attack it with a normal attack. If the figure survives, roll defense dice normally. If Leonardo is engaged when he uses Protector 14, he doesn't take any leaving engagement attacks.

Spoiler Alert!

Old Wording:
Protector 14
Whenever a figure within 3 spaces of Leonardo attacks a friendly figure, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 14 or higher, immediately move Leonardo adjacent to that figure and attack it with a normal attack. If the figure survives, its attack continues as normal. If Leonardo is engaged when he uses Protector 14, he doesn't take any leaving engagement attacks.

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Since his abilities require teammates, that is where we will start the testing.
I predict his Protector ability will be powerful, but once drawn into engagement he will simply become the focus and not just ping all over the place. His Defense 4 and Life 4 should keep him in check and his points down.
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I like how Leonardo wants the opponent to be engaged and thus force their attacks and trigger his Protector. This should encourage Donatello not to just sit back and watch. He will be adjacent, moved there with Fearless Leader, and protected by Leo and his 5 defense, all the while contributing with his observations. Donatello is second in command, but Leo is first, and when Leo is around, Donatello fights with the rest of them. +Flavor Points.
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I also like how Leonardo doesn't have Disengage. Not only does it save text space, it keeps his powers in check and point costs down.
Play Test Duo Testing
Leonardo & Donatello (205) vs. Deathwalker 8000 & 10th Regiment of Foot

Spoiler Alert!

The Turtles win initiative and start their standard practice of sending out Donatello first to absorb what he can with Defense 5. Deathwalker activates and puts 1 wound on Donatello but nothing more. Leonardo activates and charges in just shy of engagement and then his Fearless Leader inspires Donatello to move 2, engaging him with two soldiers. Great power. I like it already. The waiting soldiers fire at Leonardo, wounding him twice, the other two fix their bayonets and stab at Donatello. Leo rolls a 1. Donatello doesn't block and is down two 2 Life. The second attacks and Leonardo rolls a 13+1 with Keen Observation = 14 = free move adjacent to the soldier and DW8k attacking the soldier for 4 skulls. The attack doesn't continue. That turn of events was quite nasty! Perhaps Leo should be 120pts, but I will hold my reserves. Also, I want to roll attack dice first and then trigger the ability if skulls are rolled. More testing will tell if I need to make that change.
From here it is downhill for Team Turtle Buster. Deathwalker shows why he sucks. Donatello attacks him with 3 skulls, but he blocks. Leo attacks him with 4 skulls, and he doesn't block. He dies with inflicting 1 wound total against a 90pt figure. The remaining regiment wiggles around engagement to attack Leonardo and try their best but ultimately fall to the mutants.
Turtles Win Round 3, Turn 1, Leonardo (1), Donatello (2).
The Turtles are glass cannons but have high mobility and attacks. They are potent, but I am not convinced that their points need boosting. I was afraid Leonardo's Attack 5 wasn't flavorful enough with most sword-wielding heroes having Attack 6, but after playing with him, Attack 5 is just right. So is his Defense 4 and Life 4 and Move 6. His Protector 14 is potent, but needs to be set up. Leonardo is more fun to play with than I originally gave him credit.

Changes v1.1
Protector 14
If a figure within 3 clear sight spaces of Leonardo attacks a friendly figure, and rolls at least one skull, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 1-13 roll defense dice normally. If you roll a 14 or higher, immediately move Leonardo adjacent to that figure and attack it with a normal attack. If the figure survives, roll defense dice normally. If Leonardo is engaged when he uses Protector 14, he doesn't take any leaving engagement attacks.
This change reduces the potency of the power. Leonardo only dashes in when the teammate is actually in peril. Also, it requires clear sight, which was the intention of the original but was left out due to oversight.
-
Play Test 1.1 Duo Testing continued
Leonardo & Donatello (205) vs. Marro Stingers (120)

Spoiler Alert!

Since Donatello is practically a non-element that happens to benefit from Leonardo he can be a base test partner. This match should prove interesting if they defeat the squad since the others haven't even come close.
Marro Stingers win initiative and range both turtles, charging up with a roll of 18 and blasting Leonardo with a 3 vs. 0 roll and a 4 vs. 3 roll. Leonardo dead. Disgusting. Concede Round 1, Turn 1. The turtles are quite fragile and even 5 range can be too much for them.
Rematch This time the Stingers inflict 2 wounds and Leo survives. Donatello had order marker 1 and he advances to engage two Stingers on the left side of the pond while the 3rd remains on the right. He kills one. The pond skimmer moves closer to Leo and two more from the starting zone advance. All attack Leonardo and none hit. Leo runs through the pond and engages the 2 that just moved forward. His Attack 5 is beastly and reminds us why he is a glass Canon and not just glass. The 3 attack but their power fails and one explodes by Donatello. Protector 14 cares about the opponent's position and not Donatello, so even though Donnie was within 3 spaces, he couldn't have leaped in to save him. When I rename that power perhaps it will have 'Dash' in its title.. After that disabling defeat the Turtles knock them down in turn until 1 remains. He blows himself up.
Turtles Win: Round 2, Turn 3, Leonardo (2), Donatello (4)
Because of his fragility, he doesn't play as he should and flavor points are lost, thus some change needs to occur. His 'Protector' ability lands a free attack, often a kill, once in awhile but it moves him into engagement and from that point on he just takes the attacks and at Defense 4 Life 4, he cannot handle it. He should be tanking now that I think about it, he should be drawing that fire. Thus I propose his Life increase to 6. This way his low defense and potent power will still draw the attacks, but his higher life will keep him in the fight and he will still be able to keep his Attack/Defense stat where they are - I had loathed to make him 4/5 and equal Donatello. The full team test will give more insight

Result: Proposal to increase Life to 6, or +1(5) Life +1(5) Defense

Play Test Queue
Leonardo & Michelangelo (225) vs.
Leonardo & Raphael (230) vs.
Leonardo & Ninjas of the Northern Wind (225) vs.
Play Test Trios Testing
Leonardo, Donatello, & Michelangelo (315)
Leonardo, Donatello, & Raphael (320)
Leonardo, Michelangelo, & Raphael (340)
Leonardo, Donatello, & Ninjas of the Northern Wind (315)
Bonus: Leonardo, Donatello, & Major Q10 (355)